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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2010-01-19SRCC Minutes (Regular) 1/19/2010 Page 1 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2010 AT 8:00 P.M. Regular Meeting: San Rafael City Council Also Present: Ken Nordhoff, City Manager Robert F. Epstein, City Attorney Esther C. Beirne, City Clerk OPEN SESSION — COUNCIL CHAMBERS — 6:30 PM Mayor Boro announced Closed Session item. CLOSED SESSION — CONFERENCE ROOM 201 — 6:30 PM Present: Albert J. Boro, Mayor Damon Connolly, Vice -Mayor Greg Brockbank, Councilmember Barbara Heller, Councilmember Marc Levine, Councilmember Absent: None Conference with Labor Negotiators— Government Code Section 54957.6(a) Negotiators: Jim Schutz, Leslie Loomis, Cindy Mosser, Robert Epstein, Ken Nordhoff Employee Organization(s): San Rafael Fire Chief Officers' Assn. Western Council of Engineers San Rafael Firefighters' Assn. San Rafael Police Mid -Management Assn. San Rafael Police Association Local 1 - Confidential SEIU Miscellaneous & Supervisory SEIU Child Care Unit Unrepresented Management Unrepresented Mid -Management Elected City Clerk and Elected Part -Time City Attorney City Attorney, Robert Epstein announced that no reportable action was taken. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN URGENCY NATURE: 8:17 PM Plastic Baqs, Marin Clean Energy. Televised Council Meetinqs: - File 9-1 Barry Taranto thanked the City Council for their continued support and participation in the Marin Clean Energy program. Mr. Taranto urged the City Council to pass an ordinance prohibiting the use of plastic bags in San Rafael. He suggested the City work with the new Media Center in San Rafael to obtain a grant and begin televising City Council and other agency meetings. Campaiqn Reform: - File 9-1 David Maver requested that the issue of Campaign Reform be made a priority this year, particularly in light of an anticipated Library measure in June, 2010. Anticipated Storms in San Rafael: - 9-3-40 x 13-11 Steven Hancock, Emergency Services Manager, reported that with regard to the storms, to date nothing major had occurred; the most significant event seen in Marin County was the lightening strike in the Kentfield area. The biggest Any records relating to an agenda item, received by a majority or more of the Council less than 72 hours before the meeting, shall be available for inspection in the City Clerk's Office, Room 209, 1400 Fifth Avenue, and placed with other agenda -related materials on the table in front of the Council Chamber prior to the meeting. American Sign Language interpreters and assistive listening devices may be requested by calling (415) 485-3198 (TDD) or (415) 485- 3064 (voice) at least 72 hours in advance. Copies of documents are available in accessible formats upon request. Public transportation is available through Golden Gate Transit, Line 22 or 23. Paratransit is available by calling Whistlestop Wheels at (415) 454-0964. To allow individuals with environmental illness or multiple chemical sensitivity to attend the meeting/hearing, individuals are requested to refrain from wearing scented products. CC 01-19-2010 concern currently was a major storm anticipated to occur at approximately 4:00 — 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, lasting until approximately 11:00 a.m., which would produce a serious amount of rain accompanied by high winds. Mr. Hancock reported that staff had developed the traditional San Rafael unified and collaborative approach — instant action plan working with Public Works and the Police and Fire Departments on how to respond should the situation worsen. A small team of Emergency Operations Center staff was on standby, in the event the EOC was activated, the situation was being continually monitored working with Marin County, and staff was proactively communicating with the community. The Emergency Hotline had been updated and information had been transmitted through Snapshot and Twitter, etc., informing the community of their responsibility to be prepared. Sand bags were available at fire stations and the community was being requested to take those measures ahead of time. Mr. Hancock reported on the preparatory work done by Public Works employees ahead of time: sand bag distribution, checking storm drains and pump stations and realigning staff as necessary. He stated that all departments, including fire and police, and especially Public Works, were ready and would do what it took to get through this event. Nader Mansourian, Assistant Public Works Director, reported that crews had been divided into two operations; one responding to parks as trees were damaged, and the other responding to drainage issues. To -day, twenty-four incidents were responded to for small flooding situations and the system worked very well. Crews were preparing for tomorrow's event, working in shifts from 5:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. and Marin County Public Works had offered assistance also. All Public Works staff would be utilized; however, should an incident become larger, necessitating more assistance, engineers and administrative staff would be used. Mr. Mansourian confirmed for Councilmember Heller that high tide tomorrow would be at 2:30 a.m. and would be less than 5 -feet. He noted that next week's tide would be 7 -feet high and with a lot of rain, there could be some serious flooding. Mr. Hancock indicated that, with the increased tides and ground saturation next week, some tidal flooding could be expected. Mr. Mansourian acknowledged the hard work of the Public Works staff. Councilmember Connolly moved and Councilmember Brockbank seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as follows: CONSENT CALENDAR: RECOMMENDED ACTION: ALL MATTERS ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR ARE TO BE APPROVED BY APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING ONE MOTION, UNLESS SEPARATE ACTION IS REQUIRED ON A ACTION: PARTICULAR ITEM: 2. Approval of Minutes of Regular City Council Meeting of January 4, Approved as submitted. 2010 (CC) Adopt Plans and Specifications for the Non -Motorized Transportation Approved staff recommendation. Pilot Program (NTPP) Northgate Gap Closure Bikeway Improvements, Project # 11117, and Authorize the City Clerk to Call for Bids (PW) File 4-1-613 4. Adopt Plans and Specifications for the Non -Motorized Approved staff recommendation. Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) Terra Linda -North San Rafael Improvements, Project # 11118, and Authorize the City Clerk to Call for Bids (PW) — File 4-1-614 AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Heller, Levine & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None CC 01-19-2010 PUBLIC HEARINGS: 5. RESOLUTION APPROVING MAXIMUM RATES COLLECTED BY MARIN SANITARY SERVICE FOR REFUSE AND RECYCLABLE MATERIAL COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES, TO BE EFFECTIVE RETROACTIVELY FROM JANUARY 1, 2010 (CM) — FILE 4-3-32 x 13-2 Stephanie Lovette, Economic Development Coordinator, reported that this item concerned approval of the maximum rates collected by Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) for 2010. The City has a franchise agreement with Marin Sanitary Service for refuse and recycling collection and with surrounding public entities in a franchisors' group jointly hires Hilton, Farnkopf & Hobson (HF&H ),Consultants, to review the rate application for MSS to ensure it conforms with the franchise agreement. HF&H prepared their review and had established a rate requirement which would result in an increase of 3.18% over the next year. Staff recommended that this rate be equally imposed on all accounts. It represented approximately $1.00 per month for residential customers and less than $5.00 per month for commercial customers. Attachment C to the staff report identified what each customer would end up paying. Mr. Lovette reported that at staff's request, MSS also prepared an alternative rate schedule, included as Attachment C-1, which moved towards a differential between 32, 64 and 96 -gallon cans. Most San Rafael customers already used the 32 -gallon can; however, some had migrated to the smaller can (20 -gallon). She noted that the majority of customers used 32 -gallon cans, some used 64 -gallon cans with very few using 96 -gallon cans. Ms. Lovette stated staff was not recommending that this rate differential be implemented at this time due to the fact that Ross Valley South would be moving towards this differential, and although smaller, they were very similar to San Rafael in terms of their customer base. She indicated staff's concerns were that, should a lot of people migrate to using a much smaller can, there could be a rate increase due to cost of service still needing to be provided for. Additionally, MSS was concerned about recycling contamination and she explained that, should people move to a smaller can inadequate for their needs, garbage would end up in the recycling can. Ms. Lovette stated staff suggested monitoring Ross Valley South. Marin Sanitary Services' rate application would be available in July; staff would work on the issue over the fall and return to the City Council with a recommendation for 2011. Mayor Boro declared the public hearing opened. Referring to page 5 of the staff report regarding the decline in projected revenue due to loss of customers, Councilmember Heller inquired whether the City checked to ascertain that customers had moved or businesses had closed, as she did not favor the idea of stopping service and taking advantage of public receptacles. Ms. Lovette explained that there had been a decline because of some businesses closing, especially the impact of Northgate -- rehabilitation having had a big impact. She reported that Marin Sanitary Service submits a list of those customers behind in their accounts, for both residential and commercial; however, in terms of tracking the accounts, she would defer to the company for the answer. Councilmember Connolly requested that Marin Sanitary Service also address the basic issue of a rate increase relative to the overall sense of where the economy was currently. Councilmember Brockbank stated that, although he had no problem with the report or Marin Sanitary Service, he personally believed there should be a much greater rate differential, which should begin sooner rather than later. Marin Sanitary Service should charge a fraction for 20 -gallon cans, noting the small number of customers who had migrated to this size can, and charge a lot more for the 32 -gallon cans — this would be revenue neutral to MSS. To motivate users to throw less away, the difference should be much more than a dollar to go from using a 32 -gallon to a 20 -gallon can Councilmember Brockbank stated that he did not understand the two rationales of not to go to the mere 5% rate differential this year as was the case with Ross Valley South: • Loss of Revenue — A difference of only 15%, or $1 - $2 per can, did not appear too much loss of revenue, and could be offset with higher prices for the 32 -gallon; • Recycling Contamination — He would like to know what examples there were as it was difficult to believe that people would fill up 20 -gallon cans and then dump in the recycling can. If so, he inquired whether there was a way of deterring this as it appeared to be an unrealistic reason not to go with the rate differential sooner. CC 01-19-2010 Councilmember Brockbank stated he wished to register his desire for a much steeper rate differential, and sooner rather than later. He was not necessarily unwilling to vote affirmatively this evening should that be the consensus and staff recommendation; however, in the future he would like to receive answers to those questions. Understanding HF&H was not an auditor, Councilmember Brockbank indicated he had perhaps mistakenly believed they were the City's advocate — they were hired at MSS's expense to fine tune or perhaps arrive at better numbers. In the last couple of years HF&H had reduced Marin Sanitary Services' recommendations; however, this time they had modified MSS's numbers upwards and he inquired how this occurred. He commented that this did not appear to be operating in the City's or ratepayers' interests unless they were checking numbers or advocating for policies set by the City Council -- he had not seen such an opportunity. Councilmember Brockbank indicated he had requested an earlier hearing; however, understood it could come with the contract, whereas this issue was rates. Councilmember Levine stated that it would be important to learn more about the contamination together with what could be learned from ironing out the kinks of what was happening in Ross Valley South, which would assist in understanding why the City Council would not be making any of those decisions this evening. In speaking with Marin Sanitary Service management he indicated he learned a little about future programs which also could be helpful in exploring lowering the cost of the 20 -gallon cans, and he requested more information on this. Pattv Garbarino, President, Marin Sanitary Service, thanked Ms. Lovette for her staff report and introduced the MSS staff in attendance: Todd Start, Commercial Recycling; Steve Rosa, Operations; Neil Roscoe, Chief Financial Officer; Nick Minton and her assistant, Joe Garbarino. Discussing the progressive can rate, Ms. Garbarino stated that the 85% reduction per 20 -gallon can was made as a recommendation from Bob Hilton, HF&H, several years ago when the 20 -gallon can rate was introduced. Because of his experience in other areas where with a direct gallon -for -gallon reduction, a lot of contamination was found; therefore, a break was given in order to reward people for producing less waste. Reporting that 70% of customers in San Rafael were currently at the 32 -gallon rate, Ms. Garbarino indicated that unlike neighboring communities such as Ross — predominantly 64 -gallon and 96 -gallon — offsetting with a progressive rate would not produce much savings. She stated that Marin Sanitary Service was committed to informing staff in the summer how the first six months went so that next year's increase would be less because of rearranging the rates. She felt the approach this time was more equilateral and beneficial across the board. Ms. Garbarino reported that the Commercial Recycling Department reached out in the last year to 174 businesses in downtown San Rafael. Positive responses were received by 121 of those businesses while many of the remainder had issues of space in some of the smaller locations. She noted that the newly dedicated hotline was working well and many of the calls requesting additional commercial recycling services had been from businesses responding to MSS' new mailer, copies of which she submitted to the City Clerk. Addressing Councilmember Connolly's comments on the economy, Ms. Garbarino stated that MSS was, relatively speaking, a regulated utility. As the economy went down, Marin Sanitary Service had a guaranteed or established infrastructure that could not go away, despite the dip. An example being — rates as they came in last year were not realized; therefore, part of the 2% of the 3.18% was because of money that did not come in to support that infrastructure, be it the hauling of solid waste, recycling or green waste collection. Regarding future programs, Ms. Garbarino indicated these would be in food waste composting - residential and commercial. Three separate pilots of residential food waste collection would be rolled out on March 1, 2010. and it was hoped to expand that into the green waste can throughout Marin Sanitary Services' area by the end of 2010 or into 2011. Mr. Garbarino explained that, when an establishment closed, they returned to ensure that no one was utilizing the space. This was also the practice with residential service, and the information was provided to the City. Ms. Garbarino reported having submitted in September, 2009, a shortfall of 2.9% to HF&H, who indicated that in order to be made whole a rate increase of 4.2% would be required. After further analysis, HF&H reduced this figure to 3.3% - currently 3.18%. She explained this was as a result of predicting where fuel was and would be: the first 6 months of the year were analyzed and then extrapolated and projected over the following 6 months. She stated that Marin Sanitary Service was proud to serve and be part of the San Rafael community. Concerning fuel, should the actual cost be less that estimated, Councilmember Brockbank inquired whether the saving would be rolled into next year. 4 CC 01-19-2010 Ms. Garbarino confirmed that the excess would be pulled out resulting in a savings to ratepayers the following year. Expressing the hope that this would happen she stated they were doing everything possible to cut costs in this economy. Councilmember Brockbank confirmed that underestimating one year would result in a higher rate increase the following year, while overestimating would result in a lesser rate in the next year. Understanding that in 9 out of 10 years, building in standard wage increases was normal, Councilmember Brockbank inquired however, as to what others in the industry were doing regarding wage increases in these abnormal times. Believing Councilmember Brockbank was referring to the other portion of the 3.18%, Ms. Garbarino explained that the 1.18% was a result of the union contract settled two and a half years ago. She explained that contract was settled by evaluating information from other companies in similar jurisdictions and arriving at the average in all arenas. She believed that for negotiations in March, 2010, the circumstances would be different. Marva Sheehan, Hilton Farnkopf & Hobson explained that HF&H reviewed the application submitted by the company and noted that this year fuel was the main adjustment. She indicated that when Marin Sanitary Service submitted their application they anticipated a significant reduction in fuel for the 2010 rates — approximately 35% - when in fact it had been staying fairly flat. Adjusting it back amounted to $450,000; however, other adjustments were found that negated this. Indicating he had no problem with Marin Sanitary Service, Steve Patterson stated that Patty and the Garbarino family were incredible leaders, particularly in the recycling area and had demonstrated real innovation. He recalled having appeared before the City Council two years ago to point out some difficulties and inconsistencies regarding how the rates and rate structure were set up for a building he owns. Mr. Patterson stated that his high-quality building in Gerstle Park comprised 10 studios, occupied by ten single people, all of whom were high quality. He reported that every week without exception, he puts one 96 -gallon can at the curb. Commenting that his water, electricity and gas are metered and he is charged for what he uses, with garbage he is subjected to an artificial threshold that mandates the charge, which has no bearing on reality or the amount of garbage generated by the building. Because of this, Mr. Patterson believed he overpays for services that he does not want or need. Marin Sanitary Service as a by-product, was unjustly enriched for essentially doing nothing. He wanted to be charged for what was picked up at the curb and every week that was one 96 -gallon can. Mr. Patterson believed he was being charged for 320 gallons when he was only generating 96 gallons because of studios with single people. Additionally, he felt the thresholds were out of date, given how serious people were about recycling, composting and the overall environmental consciousness that people had. He stated that those in his building recycled everything. Noting a City budget item was on the agenda this evening and the need to be sensitive to the City's financial needs, Mr. Patterson requested sensitivity to his budget and financial needs. In these difficult financial times with rents not increasing, renting a unit took time and was invariably empty for a month or two; therefore, he believed there should be more of a tier system to reflect buildings and situations such as his. David Maver concurred with Mr. Patterson and noting the term "regulated utility use" used this evening, he indicated he found it rather ironic that there was no competition in this arena, yet the City Council voted to join Marin Energy Authority because it wanted competition. He stated that on one hand, the City wanted competition for green energy; however, there was no competition for trash services. Referring to a prior rate increase, Mr. Mayer reported that at one point gasoline and diesel went very high — gasoline was $4.50 per gallon and then dropped to $3.00 per gallon. Inquiring as to where that savings went, he suggested using this money to offset future rate increases. Mr. Mayer stated that competition was about business being competitive; however, a garbage company with no competition and a guaranteed profit was a good deal that most business owners in private industry did not have. He noted there were four partners where composting was dumped and stated that should they decide to raise the tipping fee of $18 per ton, the increase would be passed on to the consumer. Concerning loss of customers, Mr. Mayer suggested that perhaps this was due to how the City was run — businesses had moved elsewhere because of high costs. Regarding the letter from Noah Berry, Broken Drum, Mr. Mayer believed that eventually Mr. Berry would have to lay off more people because of these rate increases. Regarding a service issue he had with Marin Sanitary Service, Mr. Mayer reported that he had called on numerous CC 01-19-2010 occasions because his green can was not regularly picked up. Placing his cans on the curb he reported that in the last 9 months, they were not returned to the curb, rather dropped in the street in a parking space. This was a reduction in service to him because he had to remove the cans from the curb. Indicating that he supported unions, Mr. Mayer believed, however, that this union was receiving a large wage increase while state workers had taken a 13.65% wage cut, which was non-negotiable. He commented that Governor Schwarzenegger was currently proposing a 5% cut if he were to take away the furlough days, which would affect a large population of the community. Concurring with Councilmember Brockbank that migration to smaller cans should be encouraged, Mr. Mayer felt it unfair that those who recycled had to subsidize those with a 96 -gallon can. He lived in a building with four adults with two 20 -gallon cans which were rarely full; however, the recycling bin was overflowing. Having looked at the rates on Attachment 4 for Novato versus San Rafael, Mr. Mayer reported that Novato's was $17.22 with San Rafael at $24.95, which was 50% more for the same trash pick-up. Regarding HF&H's report, being a privately held company, he believed the numbers were useless and meaningless unless they were presented by a certified public accounting firm who had done an audit, and this needed to be looked into. Noting police and firefighters were being requested to have positions eliminated, Mr. Mayer commented that Marin Sanitary Service was being permitted to have a guaranteed profit business and those union members made more than any others. He stated that during this bad economic time everyone needed to take a hit, including the garbage company owners. He expressed the hope that rates would not automatically be increased again and suggested using consultants only every five years, noting the once a year consulting fee could save one firefighter or police position or street maintenance workers. Kiki LaPorta, Sustainable San Rafael, believed that there had been many intelligent, well thought-out and articulate comments this evening. The City of San Rafael was very proud to have passed a Climate Change Action Plan, a key element of which was waste reduction and zero waste efforts. About 6-8 months ago, she and some members of Sustainable San Rafael met with staff and indicated they wanted to work with the City to devise ways to follow the R3 Consultants' Zero Waste Feasibility Study, that suggested they work with the franchise hauler to incentivize waste reduction; however, they did not receive information back or any pathway to work with the City to explore this. Remaining interested in doing this, she indicated they found it extremely important to find ways to make it feasible for the garbage hauler, the City, families and businesses to reduce their raw materials consumption, and the upstream costs both in materials and greenhouse gasses of 70 times what ends up on curbs and goes to the landfill. Regarding waste reduction, Ms. LaPorta believed there was a smaller tipping fee with a smaller can and questioned whether this smaller tipping fee and the reduction in the cost to the waste hauler was being passed back to the resident or business owner. She indicated she would like to see a willingness and intention on the part of the City Council to address the issue from a standpoint of equity. David Haskell, Sustainable San Rafael, stated he was not very happy with the process and was not able to access a lot of the information on the website. He felt the staff report was insufficient, particularly regarding the handling of green waste. He noted the statement was made that Zamora, 90 miles away, was the closest composting facility; however, there were a half dozen facilities closer. He recalled that when the Garbarinos purchased the Zamorian site, in conversation they indicated it was too far — 180 mile return on trucks would blow out greenhouse gas and obviously their budget, because the biggest cost increase related to fuel and San Rafael residents and City Council would not favor it. He believed there were ample composting facilities closer. The Garbarinos purchased the Zamorian site taking the green waste there — Marin Clean Energy wanted to create energy from green waste and Redwood Landfill indicated they wanted the compost. Noting this evening's issue concerned rates and not contracts specifically, Mr. Haskell believed they went together. Referring to the comments that recommendations ten months old could not be included, he questioned the reason. Mr. Haskell noted the 20 -gallon can was charged at $1.06 per gallon and the 96 -gallon at 0.88 -cents and he questioned the incentive for reducing. Referring to page 6 of the staff report and the reference to a 9.5% cost plus profit, he inquired how this compared to Nor Cal in San Francisco, which he believed was working on a 6% and 7% cost plus profit. Indicating that more discussion should take place, and inviting Marin Sanitary Service to join this discussion, Mr. Haskell believed this was where the transformation would be made. There were obligations to those who operated in good faith in the Climate Change Action Plan which were not being met. Wishing the City Council the best of luck he believed further discussion rather than action this evening was needed. There being no further comment from the audience, Mayor Boro closed the public hearing CC 01-19-2010 Referring to comments regarding a Zero Waste Plan, City Manager Ken Nordhoff reported that a City Council Retreat would take place on Wednesday, January 27th and one of the agenda items was to highlight a number of items in the plan and where they were going, as it was about to be finalized. He would address several ideas that included updating solid waste ordinances, amending language and franchise agreements, considering construction and demolition ordinances and adopting multi -family dwelling and business recycling ordinances. He indicated there were a number of Phase 1 and Phase 2 items that would be explained by staff as the plan unfolded. Stating there were many waste haulers and franchising agencies in Marin County, Mr. Nordhoff explained that there were a number of opportunities where the City could explore new programs; some of which were noted by Ms.Garbarino; however, there were others that could help not only with diversion but with reduction also. He commented that some of this was wrapped up in additional education efforts that he and Ms. Lovette had expressed to MSS, where people's ability could be enhanced to find and obtain access to information on how they could choose a lower level of service, pick up an extra yard waste bin or schedule clean-up days, whatever was appropriate given the circumstances, whether a neighborhood or business issue. He noted that MSS had historically worked very closely with staff and with its customers and would continue to do so in the future. Noting Mr. Patterson's comments regarding some very earth -savvy tenants in his 10 -unit building, Mr. Nordhoff explained that an ordinance was in place which required that each dwelling unit or commercial establishment have waste service. The threshold that was historically set at the 32 -gallon level had been lowered to allow 20 -gallon cans in single-family residential — this modification had not yet been applied to multi -family residences; however, it could be considered in the future with an ordinance modification. With regard to the comment that those not contributing a lot of waste believed they were overpaying relative to those using the full capacity in a can, Mr. Nordhoff explained that there were communities that used a weight -based system. Figuring that out was a very extensive process; the transition was costly because of equipment conversion, and there needed to be a means of metering. Noting a lot of volatility with fuel, Mr. Nordhoff stated that the amendment to the agreement with Marin Sanitary Service adopted by the City Council and referred to in the staff report, sets a 3 -year process where a baseline review takes place annually, with interim reviews using indices commonly used and established to gauge fuel, cost of insurance, benefits, etc. These are reconciled annually; therefore, there always is a clean-up provision where over or under estimations are corrected. With regard to Ms. LaPorta's comments on Zero Waste efforts, Mr. Nordhoff indicated he was aware that Sustainable San Rafael because of their involvement in the Climate Change Action Plan and the area of solid waste would be willing and interested to work with the City and neighboring jurisdictions as ordinances and other documents were developed for Council consideration — this would be as a result of the work of the Solid Waste JPA. Sustainable San Rafael members were involved as part of the Task Force and at some point that group would become involved in the development and formation of this work. Councilmember Brockbank reiterated that he had no problem with the franchised hauler or the report. He continued to learn what it did and did not do and in the future, he believed there should be more public discussion concerning how to develop new concepts. Perhaps the garbage hauler was doing everything perfectly within its purview and HF&H was doing everything in its report perfectly within its purview; however, he believed there should be a wider discussion concerning broadening the purview. Unsure as to when that discussion would occur, Councilmember Brockbank stated it appeared as though hearings inevitably occurred at the last minute. Not wishing to be obstructionist and express opposition because of lack of clarity as to what came under the category of rates or under the category of contracts, he had requested an additional hearing to answer these questions; however, this did not materialize. He indicated he favored a broader discussion well in advance of the next rate hearing or contract discussion and was pleased that Zero Waste would be discussed at next week's Retreat. Responding to Mr. Patterson's comments regarding the unfairness of having to pay for far more than he uses, Councilmember Brockbank stated that, if the City was really serious about reducing waste, regardless of fairness between one customer and another, people should be incentivized to generate less waste, which they would do if metered; however, paying a flat fee for a half -full can was not motivation to reduce waste. Aware of the expense to retrofit trucks, etc., he suggested opening that discussion. Recalling his report on a booth at a League of California Cities Convention some months ago discussing this concept, he indicated there were demonstrations utilizing a tiny computer chip embedded in the handle of the cart to weigh the contents. Believing the benefit would be in reduced waste, Councilmember Brockbank favored moving towards "Pay as you Throw." Addressing Mr. Mayer's comments regarding choice, Councilmember Brockbank believed in certain areas society had decided choice was not appropriate and had empowered government to make one choice for one franchise. CC 01-19-2010 Other than garbage companies the best example was electrical utilities where it was not desirable to have many electrical utilities competing for every house on the block, repeatedly tearing up streets to place their equipment; therefore society had decided it was more efficient to empower one franchise to serve everyone with that electrical power. Similarly with garbage companies, he was not convinced that many companies would mean more efficiency; therefore, he believed choice was inappropriate in utilities such as electrical power or garbage hauling. Recalling Mr. Patterson's similar comment two years ago, Mayor Boro believed there was some progress. There could be some long-term solutions; however, in the shorter term reduction in the can size could be appropriate. Mr. Nordhoff stated that multi -unit apartments needed to have service. In some cases people did not use much while in others, cans were full. Staff had been trying to work towards some common ground assuming people could choose the level of service they wanted as long as their service remained intact. In the case of Mr. Patterson's, tenants, another ten -unit building could need larger rather than smaller cans. This had a lot to do with behavior, density and a variety of factors. He indicated that part of the City's effort was to ensure that garbage service was provided to avoid vector or other problems and that it was picked up, cleaned up and handled regularly across the community. The variety of types of buildings, properties, customer needs and demographics produced a number of variables and staff would be glad to look at these as long as they were done in the context of looking at similar units across the City. Regarding some policy and contractual issues, Mayor Boro believed it would be worthwhile to schedule a Study Session to discuss these, independent of the rate hearing. Councilmember Levine moved and Councilmember Connolly seconded, to adopt the resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 12906 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING MAXIMUM RATES COLLECTED BY MARIN SANITARY SERVICE FOR REFUSE AND RECYCLABLE MATERIAL COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES, TO BE EFFECTIVE RETROACTIVELY TO JANUARY 1, 2010 AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Heller, Levine & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None 6. GREEN BUILDING REGULATIONS (CITYWIDE): PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE SAN RAFAEL MUNICIPAL CODE TO UPDATE GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS BY REPLACING SECTION 14.16.365 WITH A NEW CHAPTER 12.44 (GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS) AND AMENDING CHAPTERS 12.16 (CALIFORNIA PLUMBING CODE) CHAPTER 12.20 (CALIFORNIA ELECTRICAL CODE) AND CHAPTER 12.12 (CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE) TO INCLUDE LOCAL CODE AMENDMENTS REQUIRING PRE -WIRING AND PRE -PLUMBING FOR FUTURE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC AND SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS IN NEW BUILDINGS, INSULATING EXPOSED HOT WATER PIPES IN REMODELING PROJECTS AND ADDING A RADIANT BARRIER IN CERTAIN REROOFING PROJECTS. APPLICANT: CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, FILE NO.: P09-020 (CD) — FILE 10-2 x 10-3 x 115(2020) x 13-1 Mayor Boro declared the Public Hearing opened. Councilmember Brockbank stated that it was a pleasure to Chair the Marin Green BERST Task Force consisting of representatives either of the City Council or the Planning Commission of each of Marin's cities plus the County. Besides the fact that he enjoys working with his colleagues from other cities, he believed that reducing waste, identified in the Climate Change Action Plan as an important contributor to greenhouse gasses, was such an important topic. Councilmember Brockbank stated that the City Council depends on staff for "nuts and bolts" knowledge -- it was elected officials' not staff's job to have long-term vision -- however, Bob Brown, Community Development Director had both the vision and knowledge and was perhaps the only one in Marin County who could pull this all together as well as he did. Mr. Brown was able to take the San Rafael Climate Change Action Plan in that direction, pull together everyone in the County and do a tremendous and incredibly impressive amount of work. Councilmember Brockbank indicated it was a pleasure and quite easy to Chair the process to the conclusion of the model Green Building Ordinances, which apparently San Rafael was the first to attempt to pass. He hoped the other cities would follow suit with something very close. Mr. Brown reported that San Rafael adopted its first green building ordinance in 2007 which only addressed new construction, since at that time, good tools to look at remodeling were not available. The Climate Change Action Plan was adopted last year and one of the significant recommendations was to adopt a new green building ordinance that included remodeling. Rather than tackling this in a vacuum it was realized that most of the CC 01-19-2010 jurisdictions in Marin either wanted to adopt a Green Building ordinance or update theirs on the same lines as San Rafael; therefore, it was realized that a collaborative effort would be best. He indicated that the Task Force included an elected representative from each jurisdiction, together with the Technical Advisory Committee. The process began with 18 participants rising to between 40 and 50 at the conclusion — four of the regular attendees were present this evening. Mr. Brown explained the idea was for these regulations to come from industry experts up, and not be top down. The Technical Advisory Committee included some building officials for practical purposes. Mr. Brown explained that in generating the Climate Change Action Plan, staff realized that approximately two-thirds of greenhouse gasses emanated from transportation, which was a difficult area for local government to address, one-third came from the use of buildings — energy in buildings -- an area typically regulated, with the remainder from the waste stream and municipal operations. In deciding how to reach the 15% reduction the City was responsible for, Mr. Brown reported that among the discretionary programs to eventually be implemented, approximately 10% comes from green building, which was significant. As a result of the Climate Change Action Plan, San Rafael's goal was an approximate 20% average energy savings from every building in San Rafael in ten years. The City would need to move expeditiously towards it — he could not imagine achieving this — and noted the Public Utilities Commission had a goal of 40%. Mr. Brown indicated this meant that a 20% reduction in energy use was the equivalent of reducing approximately half of the cars on the roads through and in San Rafael. If not a lot could be done concerning transportation, the City could do a lot about building and energy use. Mr. Brown reported that the objectives resulting from the effort included primarily to achieve some consistency, as sought by the Marin Builders Association. They had been very supportive of green building; however, with 6 dramatically different ordinances to -date, consistency was huge for contractors and architects. Among all the other good reasons to do this, the top three in terms of priority were 1) energy savings; 2) greenhouse gas reduction; and 3) water conservation. This process and ordinance had been endorsed first by the BERST Task Force at the conclusion of their process and also by the Marin Builders Association Green Building Committee. Mr. Brown explained that for new single-family homes and new duplexes, the Green Point rated new homes would be used. Green Point Rated was the standard adopted in California and hopefully would spread nationwide. He indicated that as the home size increased, the concept was that the minimum number of points needed to be achieved by incorporating various measures off a very long checklist would increase based upon the size of the home; therefore, greater impacts, greater requirements. Regarding energy efficiency, Mr. Brown stated that GreenPoint Rated starts off by requiring that projects be 15% more energy-efficient than California Code, Title 24. He indicated that San Rafael would go beyond that with 4,000 square -foot homes and larger. These projects for new homes would be verified by a third party GreenPoint Rater - the highest proportion of GreenPoint Raters were in the North Bay, since many of these requirements existed in Marin and Sonoma Counties. In this case, San Rafael would request that it be certified by Build It Green (BIG) in the East Bay, due to its becoming a tool and benefit upon resale, which he hoped would help brand these homes. Mr. Brown reported that during the last Study Session on this issue Mayor Boro specifically inquired about costs and although he was providing what he could, in many cases it was only anecdotal. He noted some of the hard costs involved: • GreenPoint Rater involved in a new home construction would be in the $1,500 - $2,500 range; • Certification - a little under $500. Therefore, costs could be in the $2,000 - $3,000 range for a new home costing anywhere from $750,000 to several million dollars. Mr. Brown reported that the cost of the energy upgrades for the green building requirements was approximately $1.00 per square foot — approximately half a percent of a project budget, achieving an approximate $200 annual cost savings on energy bills. He noted that once the initial investment was paid off the savings would continue, amounting to approximately $40,000 over the life of the building. In the area of multi -family building, Mr. Brown stated that the GreenPoint Rated Multi -Family tool would be used and as the average unit size increased, the number of points required would increase. It would be required to be verified by an outside GreenPoint Rater and certified by Build It Green. Indicating that the real challenge was in renovations, Mr. Brown explained that in residential renovations for single - CC 01-19-2010 family and duplex (no current rating system for renovations of multi -family), any projects less than $50,000 in cost would have very minimal requirements. Between $50,000 and $100,000 would require the homeowner to obtain a home performance audit, which would inform a property owner exactly how their home performs, what they could do and how cost-effective it would be to make improvements. That education would hopefully assist in directing them in terms of where to invest in their home remodeling. Going beyond $100,000, the GreenPoint Rated Existing Homes checklist would be used, and again, the minimum points would increase as the size of the project increased. He indicated that here, the verification would be by a GreenPoint Rater; however, no certification step would be necessary. Mr. Brown stated that the cost estimates for the Home Performance Audit would usually cost around $500, with the expectation that as more were done, the cost would decrease. A GreenPoint Rater for a renovation project would cost approximately $750 - $1,500; however, this could be the project architect. He noted that many architectural firms had certified GreenPoint Raters on their staff. Mr. Brown stated that good data on the cost of renovations for green buildings was not available because of such a wide variety of these types of projects. Regarding commercial institutional work, Mr. Brown stated that for new construction LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) would be utilized -- the national standard with various guideline types by the type of project. Any building less than 2,000 square feet would be exempt; those between 2,000 and 5,000 square -feet would only have to meet some of the LEED prerequisites. Projects above 5,000 square -feet would be required to be LEED Silver and over 50,000 square -feet would be LEED Gold. Verification would be required by a LEED Accredited Professional (AP) -- a GreenPoint Rater, but for the LEED system -- certified by the parent organization. Buildings over 50,000 square feet would be required to be certified by the Green Building Certification Institute. This could be a somewhat lengthy and costly process; therefore, it would only be used for the largest buildings — one annually or biannually. Mr. Brown commented that there had been a number of studies on costs for new LEED office buildings. The LEED AP would not necessarily be an extra cost, as that could be the project architect, and most firms typically had a LEED AP on staff. Costs of these upgrades would be approximately $1.50 - $2.50 per square foot — approximately half a percent of the project budget. The overall costs in BERST's analysis and what had been seen nationwide was an approximate 1%-6% increase in cost; however, there was a very good return. LEED office buildings typically rent at approximately 6% more and sell for approximately 16% more and with certification only required on the largest buildings, this could be a significant cost, $10,000 or more. With regard to renovations to commercial, Mr. Brown reported that these had been revised based upon input from the commercial real estate brokerage community; therefore, currently, anything less than $500,000 on a remodel would have minimal requirements. Projects of $500,000 - $5 million would only require three LEED prerequisites, while projects over $5 million — one seen every two to three years — would be required to be LEED Silver. The rating system would be a LEED commercial interior or operations and maintenance, with verification by a LEED Accredited Professional, who could be the project architect. Mr. Brown reported that a Cost Effectiveness study was carried out, which had to be submitted to the California Energy Commission (CEC) because of the proposal to have more stringent energy requirements than with Title 24. He indicated that the study explored twelve prototypical new single-family homes, four new multi -family and four new office buildings and found that the cost of the energy upgrades was approximately $1.00 per square -foot. The simple payback period of these was typically 13-20 years, which did not factor in any increase in utility costs or the cost of money. The study met the CEC's requirements and their approval should be forthcoming. Going forward, Mr. Brown stated that the next steps would be adoption by the City Council, hopefully this evening. The Board of Supervisors would introduce the ordinance next week, and most of the other jurisdictions in Marin would introduce this ordinance, or a variation of it, typically in the March/April timeframe. He explained that subsequent to adoption by the City, the ordinance would be submitted on behalf of all the jurisdictions to the Energy Commission and the California Building Standards Commission. The Energy Commission process would typically take a couple of months to review; therefore, the ordinances would not be effective until those approvals were received, probably around April or May. Once adopted, one of the benefits would be that Building Officials would be able to collaborate on implementation. Referring to Mr. Nordhoff's comment regarding the Zero Waste Study and the recommendation that San Rafael, among a few other agencies, adopt a Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling and Reuse Ordinance, Mr. Brown reported that that was embedded in this ordinance. Mayor Boro thanked Mr. Brown and Councilmember Brockbank for their leadership and suggested they provide their thoughts on what they believed the success might be throughout Marin County, i.e., how many of the other 10 10 CC 01-19-2010 cities and towns would support the ordinance. Mr. Brown believed the great majority would support it, although there might be one or two stragglers. Santa Clara County did a similar process a few years ago with a much more basic ordinance, with only Gilroy holding out; however, communal pressure brought them around. Councilmember Connolly stated that he looked forward to hearing public input on the matter; however, preliminarily, he wished to thank Councilmember Brockbank and Mr. Brown for a tremendous amount of work and a great job. Having kept abreast of this over time, to some extent based on his work on the Climate Change Action Plan Committee and involvement with Marin Clean Energy, he indicated that everything he had heard about the work done was outstanding. Councilmember Connolly endorsed the idea of taking this countywide, which was a key strategic step and, as Mr. Brown noted, it lent consistency to this field, as well as allowing a lot of diverse viewpoints. Noting Mr. Brown commented on the number of people involved, he believed it truly reflected a lot of diversity of views and experiences. He believed Mr. Brown brought that to bear, because over time, he had modified the proposal to account for some of those suggestions and concerns. Regarding not just the regional effect, but also the effect in San Rafael, Councilmember Connolly stated he was particularly delighted that the City took the lead through Councilmember Brockbank and Mr. Brown in this regard and the City should be out on a lead on this type of measure, not just because San Rafael was the best city in Marin, but also San Rafael had taken the lead. San Rafael was the first city in Marin County to implement a Climate Change Action Plan and with this subject and Zero Waste, the City needed to remain committed to staying out on a lead. Noting there would be associated cists, Councilmember Connolly stated that there would be a net increase in value for properties undertaking these measures and he believed an entire cottage industry was developing around that correct valuation. Based on conversations offline, Councilmember Connolly inquired whether it was true that this would put San Rafael in the position of having the strongest green building standards in the nation. Mr. Brown believed this ordinance would put San Rafael up there in terms of having one of the most significant ordinances nationwide. Councilmember Connolly commented that this was a pretty good place to be in. Councilmember Heller recalled that at one of the earlier meetings discussion took place regarding the European Union concept of the "passive house", and she inquired whether any of these were in the United States. Mr. Brown believed that currently there were about 20,000 such buildings in Europe; however they were refining the standard. There were those in the U.S., particularly in Northern California, who were beginning to do these as demonstration projects. The work force and design community needed to be educated in this; however, as previously indicated, green building was changing so rapidly that in a couple of years there would be entirely new standards. Mr. Brown confirmed he would keep the City Council apprised of developments. Councilmember Brockbank recalled previous speakers discussing passive house, noting there were two or three examples in West Marin. Referring to Page 37 of this evening's packet - Incentives — Councilmember Brockbank stated that without question there was an eye -glazing number of charts, levels, limits, tiers, square footages and prices which clarified that it was a win-win for everyone in terms of resale value and increased rental values. He inquired as to why incentives were needed, especially when the cost was almost insignificant from the 1 % of the San Rafael Corporate Center to perhaps 6% for the Marin Health and Wellness Campus at the County. Noting an insignificant increase for the payback, he questioned why the increases were needed. Mr. Brown reported that very few of the incentives were cost items for the City; a lot was publicity and trying to make sure people were given recognition for taking these steps. He noted that a couple of the cost items were only triggered by people going significantly above minimum thresholds; therefore, it was inducement for property owners to go beyond base ordinance requirements. Councilmember Brockbank commented that he did not recall discussing this issue much in the meetings or in the written materials. As to incentives 1 and 2, specifically as to cost items for the City, these were for residential projects that achieved at least 100 green points: 11 CC 01-19-2010 1. Expedited building permit plan check (typically two-week turnaround) — Councilmember Brockbank inquired as to whether this was a two-week turnaround with or without the incentive. Mr. Brown clarified that typically it was a three-week turnaround; however, with the incentive this would be reduced to two weeks, which was not much of a burden for the City. 2. Reimbursement for the cost of the GreenPoint Rater services — which was insignificant in large projects and a little more significant for smaller projects; however, this was nothing compared to the benefits and he inquired whether this would be a City cost. Mr. Brown stated that it would be out of pocket for the City. This was in place with the current ordinance for two and a half years; however, no one had availed of it, perhaps due to the high threshold. Expressing surprise that 100 green points was a high threshold, Councilmember Brockbank indicated he had assumed everyone would be in the 70, 80 or 90 range and that this would push them over to getting it done faster, saving $350 - $500 on the cost of a GreenPoint Rater. Indicating all minimum point levels had been raised to now start at 75, Mr. Brown believed that the additional tier to reach 100 to be fairly significant. Roger Roberts, Marin Conservation League, reported that he was a representative from the environmental community on the Technical Advisory Committee. He wished to reassure the City Council that the Technical Advisory Committee had a broad spectrum of interested parties and stakeholders to develop what was before the City Council now. This was not done without broad participation and there was a considerable amount of effort, led by Mr. Brown particularly, in creating consensus. Mr. Roberts stated it was no surprise that the Marin Conservation League supported the green building ordinance and urged that it be put into place. Referring to Ordinance Sections 12.44.040 and 12.44.060 — pages 18 and 19 - the modification of the green building ordinance, Mr. Roberts stated it was unclear to him when the trigger for meeting these compliance standards would take place, i.e., when the applicant had completed an application or when ground was broken and a building permit was issued. He believed it should be when the building permit was issued to include those who had obtained approvals; however, had delayed construction. Casev Mazzoni, Legislative Analyst, Marin Builders Association, thanked Mr. Brown for initiating this effort as the Marin Builders Association was pleased to have a uniform green building ordinance. She indicated that it had been a struggle for many of their members to figure out the different ordinances in towns and cities, which caused indirect cost and frustration. Ms. Mazzoni urged enforcement of the new standards when the ordinance was adopted. Roger Smith, Commercial Real Estate Broker in Marin, expressed concern about the cost and effectiveness of the ordinance. Indicating that it would be great if everything turned out as planned as fighting global climate change was important , he requested that there be some type of monitoring process as part of this evening's action as the matrix used in many of these studies were relatively new, not well vetted and not very academic. This could include the number of projects affected by the ordinance, additional costs imposed on the applicant, the energy saving enjoyed, etc. Mr. Smith noted that these ordinances were a set of building codes and as such, they were bureaucratic, had a tendency never to go away and rarely were reviewed and reprocessed. While he wanted to see the ordinance passed, he reiterated that it should have some formal review process, to include all stakeholders. Mr. Smith commented that as the building stock in San Rafael was approximately 40-60 years old, most of this would be remodeling, which was more expensive than new construction. Bill Carnev, Co -Chair of Sustainable San Rafael, agreed that this was a great first step and that it would be a dynamic process going forward. Sustainable San Rafael looked forward to working with the City Council and City staff in furthering and implementing this ordinance. As a member of Sustainable Marin also, Mr. Carney believed that there was interest countywide in this evening's action. In the spirit of looking ahead, Mr. Carney reminded the City Council that the ordinance was the first part - the first letter in BERST was Building. The remaining four, Energy Retrofit and Solar Transformation was the second part of this significant effort which he hoped would be before the City Council in the next few months. A grant was pending that grew out of BERST, which hopefully would provide funds to begin implementation on a regional level. 12 CC 01-19-2010 He believed that portion of the effort would go hand in glove with this evening's action — the ordinance was the hand of government guiding the process, while the glove provided some financial incentives to make improvements in energy efficiency in homes and businesses, and also in the introduction of renewable energy generation on site, primarily with solar; however, also possibly with wind. Mr. Carney stated that this was the beginning of a process, also referred to as PACE, which had been batted around in some discussions concerning Marin Clean Energy as though it was some alternative; however, it also went hand in glove with Marin Clean Energy, and in fact, the incentivizing of energy efficiency and renewable generation on site would be a big part of the work of the Marin Energy Authority, moving forward. With regard Mr. Smith's comments regarding the importance of the ordinance in relation to climate change, Mr. Carney stated that buildings represented 34% of the community's footprint and believed that in these discussions, it was necessary to routinely step back and realize the significance of the issue. He reported having seen a film and heard back from a delegate to Copenhagen on Friday at a session hosted by Sustainable San Rafael. It was very sobering that what this exquisitely balanced planet and a biosphere had been banking away for 500 million years in the way of carbon was now being released -- and a lot had been released in the last 150 years, which was very disruptive to the planetary system and needed to be curbed. He stated that every small step such as this was one in the right direction. Mr. Carney stated that while energy was primary, green building also encompassed a number of other issues that directly impacted on climate change — noting a lot of buildings, particularly residential, were primarily constructed of wood. Where that wood came from was incredibly important in terms of sustainable forestry practices, which now had to include sequestration of carbon. He noted that the manufacture of cement released a tremendous amount of carbon, not just from the energy to heat up the lime, rather from carbon embedded in the limestone; therefore, concrete that was sustainable was an important step forward, as was steel. Mr. Carney urged the City Council to move forward with this ordinance so that zero net buildings could be achieved in ten years. Jerry Belletto, San Rafael, recalled addressing the City Council approximately three years ago to express his embarrassment that Novato had passed a green building code when San Rafael did not have one; however, he felt better now. Jon Mitcivard, San Rafael, thanked the City Council for moving ahead with Marin Clean Energy and the Green Building Ordinance. As a GreenPoint Rater, Mr. Mitguard stated he was excited about the idea of it becoming more unified throughout the county. Currently, each town or city had its own manner of interpreting the code, which in some cases cheapened the overall effect. Regarding Councilmember Brockbank's comments on incentives, Mr. Mitguard reported that he had encountered a lot of people who really appreciated the $1,000. James Bell, Zero Impact Architecture, indicating that he had attended some of the meetings reported that his firm was designing the first passive house in California. This affordable, single-family house would be build in the next week or two in Point Reyes Station and was so energy efficient that it would heat almost 80% of its water and space heating with solar thermal. Expressing appreciation to Mr. Brown for his incredible leadership, Mr. Bell stated that having evaluated green ordinances and how other cities were trying to deal with the issue he realized the issue of greenhouse gas and carbon reduction was huge. Mr. Brown had put tremendous effort into building momentum around building a great ordinance; however, ultimately it did not get very far. As to the number of buildings the ordinance would effect, he believed a 20% or 40% reduction in the next ten years would be a huge task; however, it was a great step and he encouraged the City Council to proceed. There being no further comment from the audience, Mayor Boro closed the public hearing. Responding to questions from Mr. Roberts, Mr. Brown stated that the requirements would be imposed when an applicant applied for a building permit. They would be informed at the planning stage; however, it would be applied at the building stage. Noting a grandfather provision in the ordinance, he explained that previously approved planning applications or projects with a previously issued building permit could go forward without complying with this regulation if they complied with the current ordinance. Regarding Mr. Smith's comments concerning the lack of good data, Mr. Brown concurred, noting that he had added the last paragraph to the staff report that specifically stated that data would be assembled, applicants would be interviewed in the process and staff would report back within a year on the data obtained in terms of how this would 13 CC 01-19-2010 be accomplished in San Rafael Councilmember Levine stated that two weeks ago the City Council addressed another policy the City had adopted to deal with climate change in the environment and it was wonderful to observe the dedication of the City, staff, and the community that was engaged in developing this policy, and how, San Rafael had one of the highest standards in the nation. This standard was arrived at by engaging as much participation as possible and in doing so he saw so many wins for the City. Councilmember Levine expressed the hope that this policy would be adopted this evening to demonstrate that the City was looking to address the Climate Change Action Plan in a number of ways. He applauded Mr. Brown, Councilmember Brockbank and the entire community that served on the BERST committee, where there were stakeholders from all different sides of the issue and who came out with one of the strongest policies in the nation. Mayor Boro recalled that this process began approximately eighteen months ago by scheduling a meeting with the mayors of the different cities and towns to discuss the issue. Together with Councilmember Brockbank representing the City Council, Mr. Brown had brought the issue to life and Mayor Boro thanked him once again for his dedication in this and other projects. The title of the ordinance was read: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE INCLUDING: 1) AMENDING CHAPTER 12.44 TO REPLACE ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR SINGLE FAMILY DWELLINGS WITH GREEN BUILDING REGULATIONS; 2) AMENDING CHAPTERS 12.16 (CALIFORNIA PLUMBING CODE) AND 12.20 (CALIFORNIA ELECTRICAL CODE) TO INCLUDE REQUIREMENTS FOR PRE -WIRING AND PRE -PLUMBING NEW RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS FOR SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC OR SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS; 3) AMENDING CHAPTER 12.16 (CALIFORNIA PLUMBING CODE) TO INCLUDE A REQUIREMENT FOR INSULATING HOT WATER PIPES WHEN EXPOSED DURING REMODELING; 4) AMENDING CHAPTER 12.12 (CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE) TO INCLUDE A REQUIREMENT FOR INSTALLATION OF A RADIANT BARRIER DURING REROOFING; 5) ADDING CHAPTER 12.46 CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS; 6) DELETING SECTION 14.16.365 (GREEN BUILDING); AND 7) DELETING DEFINITIONS PERTAINING TO GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS FROM CHAPTER 14.03. Councilmember Brockbank moved and Councilmember Levine seconded, to dispense with the reading of the ordinance in its entirety and refer to it by title only, and pass Charter Ordinance No. 1879 to print by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Heller, Levine & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None Councilmember Connolly moved and Councilmember Heller seconded, to adopt the resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 12907 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Heller, Levine & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None The City Council meeting resumed after a five-minute recess OTHER AGENDA ITEMS: 7. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL OF AND PARTICIPATION IN THE SAN RAFAEL PUBLIC LIBRARY STRATEGIC PLANNING TASK FORCE 2010 (LIB) — FILE 9-3-61 David Dodd, Library Director, reported that at the December 15, 2009 study session when contemplating what the result of a 10% cut to the Library budget could be, the City Council requested further information regarding library operations Subsequent to that meeting, staff generated a plan whereby reserve funds would be utilized for the next six months during which time a serious look at the library's operations would be undertaken, returning to the City Council with information prior to budget season. Mr. Dodd stated that the staff report contained an outline for the work of the proposed Library Task Force, together with a request for a maximum of two Councilmembers be appointed to participate. He noted that the first meeting 14 CC 01-19-2010 had been scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Dodd stated that the Task Force already consisted of quite a few excellent members with whom it would be a pleasure to serve, including almost the entire library staff, Raffi Boloyan, Principal Planning, Robert Epstein, City Attorney, Carlene McCart, Community Services Director, Library Support Group members Ray Frost, Foundation, Carol Manashil, Friends of the Library, Tom Allen and Sean Prendiville, Board of Library Trustees, Library Director from the City of Benicia, Diane Smikahl and a library school intern, Heather Powell. Mayor Boro thanked Mr. Dodd for his work and the outline presented, noting that it was thorough and complete. He recommended that Councilmembers Heller and Levine serve as the City Council representatives on this effort with Mr. Dodd over the next couple months. Councilmember Connolly moved and Councilmember Heller seconded to approve the concept and plan for the Library Strategic Planning Task Force. Councilmembers Heller and Levine were appointed to serve as City Council representatives. Indicating he would have been happy to serve, Councilmember Brockbank inquired as to the process and whether he should have consulted with Mayor Boro in advance; however, he approved of the appointments of Councilmembers Heller and Levine. Mayor Boro clarified that he believed everyone would wish to serve; however he had invited Councilmembers Heller and Levine to serve, noting all Councilmembers would have agreed to serve if requested. Councilmember Levine inquired whether it would be appropriate to have an alternate for such a committee. City Attorney, Robert Epstein stated he would prefer to have just two members serve. Should the need arise in the short timeframe of the committee, a substitute could be appointed. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Heller, Levine & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None Mr. Dodd stated the meeting would be held in the Carnegie Reading Room at the Library on January 28, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. 8. BUDGET UPDATE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2009-2010 AND 2010-2011: (CM/FIN) — FILE 8-5 a) RESULTS FROM OUTREACH MEETINGS b) DISCUSSION OF OPTIONS: - COMPENSATION CONCESSIONS - SERVICE REDUCTIONS c) NEXT DATE FOR RECOMMENDED ACTION Mr. Nordhoff, City Manager, stated that there would be no resolution or formal action this evening for additional budget considerations. With regard to the next date for recommended actions noted in the staff report, he confirmed this to be January 26, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Summarizing some of the information in the staff report, Mr. Nordhoff explained that several workshops were held in an attempt to address budget deficits caused by declines in sales tax and other revenues, which were impeding the City's ability to continue the service levels currently existing, particularly in looking at the next fiscal year. Mr. Nordhoff reported that at the December 15, 2009 workshop, the City Council gave direction to staff on some issues and a public outreach outline was ratified on December 21, 2009. Additionally, staff was requested to present a first round of recommendations, formal action on which was taken on January 4, 2010. That addressed approximately half of the existing deficits of $3.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 and $4.4 million in Fiscal Year 2010-2011. He issued a reminder that included in those numbers was a commitment to rebuilding $500,000 of reserves. Mr. Nordhoff reported that from the December 15, 2009 workshop the City Council requested staff to provide additional responses on issues, such as that referred to by Mr. Dodd, and also to organize extensive outreach efforts. This was done with assistance from Nancy Mackle, Deputy City Manager, and other staff members creating public information displays for sessions held on January 12 and 14, 2010. The comments from these meetings were summarized and were part of this evening's record and report. He clarified it was not deemed appropriate to bring action this evening because of insufficient time; therefore, formal action was deferred to 15 CC 01-19-2010 January 26, 2010 Mr. Nordhoff stated he believed that an extensive amount of outreach and public process had been carried out and suggested that the City Council give consideration to whether this effort had been satisfied or whether additional steps should be taken prior to formal decision-making next week. Mr. Nordhoff reported that staff summarized both the public comment received by email and comments from the workshops and from the break-out sessions and this was included with this evening's packets. Comments received subsequent to preparation of the staff report on January 15, 2010, were also made available this evening. Regarding some of the public input, Mr. Nordhoff reported that there were presentations concerning maintaining the CERT Program, which he indicated would continue. The longer -terms courses had been decreased from four to two annually; however, this was being augmented with mini -courses in an attempt to match different ways of providing CERT and Get Ready programs. Regarding doing something different with unfunded mandates, for which he would be a strong proponent, Mr. Nordhoff explained that some of the issues staff was involved with, such as updating General Plan 2020 and the Housing Element, were steps that needed to be taken to fulfill obligations. On the question of building reserves at this time, Mr. Nordhoff stated he would leave it to the City Council's discretion as to whether to continue on the course in place or whether something else should be considered. Noting a number of public safety related comments, Mr. Nordhoff stated he would commence with the County Communications Center and the ability of Dispatching to be able to properly locate where emergency response services were sent into the City. He invited Fire Chief, Chris Gray, to comment on what the City had been able to accomplish. Fire Chief, Chris Gray, reported that it had been almost eleven months since the decision was made on March 2, 2009, with approximately six months of preparation. Noting the transition was seamless, he recalled that three staff positions were eliminated at that time, resulting in cost savings and an enhancement in service. He also recalled that at that time one dispatcher worked a 48-hour shift; however, in moving to the Communications Center there now were three fire dispatchers and a supervisor, and at any given time, at least seven dispatchers, plus one supervisor, were on duty. In making that transition direct training was also provided to all the dispatch and administrative staff; therefore, during the daytime hours an additional four administrative staff members were on duty to assist as necessary. Chief Gray stated that both classroom and field training had been provided to afford a proper orientation to San Rafael and staff was committed to doing this at least annually, ensuring that even through attrition, this number could be dealt with fairly. As with any new service, Chief Gray explained there would be a period of transition and a knowledge base that would be built. It was difficult to compare this to perhaps a 25 -year employee providing service in a limited jurisdiction to someone doing this for a shorter period of time in a larger region. Indicating that there had been a learning curve, Chief Gray reported that the Communications Center had addressed any issues readily and staff was satisfied with the service. Noting there were electronic maps and premise history information, Chief Gray reported that a specific address might have details on special, identifiable things that needed to be known from a fire or medical standpoint that were actually listed in a computer file, which made it transparent. Whether the call was occurring in Tiburon, Novato or San Rafael, all of the information is shared across the board and the biggest advantage identified was the broad spectrum of resource management, as Marin County's Communication Center manages all of the fire and medical resources within the County. They were aware of the resource status of all of those units and could make split-second decisions that are assisted by Fire Department personnel in the field to get those resources moving to San Rafael quickly and efficiently. Chief Gray reported that he listened to this actually happening today — firefighters were dealing with a structure fire in Santa Venetia, while simultaneously a medical call and an accident were occurring in San Rafael. He reported that those dispatchers are cross -trained to work either on the radio, or on the phone and they handled the situation in a seamless, professional and timely manner. For the most part, with days like today, firefighters were literally going from call to call dealing with problems from flooding to fire, to accidents, all storm related. He added that the Fire Department's experience with the Communications Center to date was that the calls were processed quickly and efficiently. Chief Gray reported that to assist the human element in dispatching, Automatic Vehicle Location in GPS technology would be introduced. Apparatus currently had some equipment to make this available; therefore, it was just a matter of coordination at the central point, so that the closest available, appropriate units could be sent to the call, 16 CC 01-19-2010 when seconds counted. Chief Gray believed that calls were being managed very effectively and in addition to the efficiency, there had been a cost savings to the City that had been represented now and would be into the future. Councilmember Heller noted comments concerning dispatchers having trouble with San Rafael locations and she inquired as to whether this was a learning curve. Chief Gray confirmed that there had been a predictable learning curve and problems arising were addressed. San Rafael had some unique aspects; however, no more so than other communities in the county and he believed this had been handled very readily and would continue. Mr. Nordhoff noted specific comments during the public input process concerning the Mission City police boat. He invited Chief of Police, Matt Odetto, to explain how the program would continue should a permanent position be lost, together with open space proactive enforcement. Questions were also raised concerning seven versus six beats and a quote that 42% of the crime in Marin County was attributed to San Rafael. Noting several comments in the recent study sessions concerning the police boat and whether or not it would be in operation in the event the position was eliminated Chief Odetto explained that the Marine Ranger position was unique in that it was dedicated not only to waterways but open space and parks also. The boat operates on a 4/10 program, two days on the water and two days in the open space area. In examining the position, staff determined that the waterways could still be covered by bringing back an experienced marine operator to man the vessel during the weekend. Chief Odetto indicated that the problem with this position was that open space would not be proactively patrolled. He reported that at this time a plan was in place concerning the boat on the weekends, the busiest time; however, there also were times when the boat was called out for special circumstances, such as the recent apprehension of a suspect. Councilmember Connolly inquired as to how the level of service would compare. Chief Odetto confirmed that the service reduction would affect the open space only, not the water. Councilmember Brockbank noted that firefighters were trained to drop everything and be in their trucks and on their way within seconds or minutes, which was also true of police officers when they were in their car or even in the station. With regard to the boat he inquired as to the time involved. Chief Odetto confirmed that this would be approximately one to two hours. Councilmember Brockbank commented that this was not as good in an urgent call situation. Chief Odetto confirmed this was travel time from the location of the marine patrol operator. Responding to Mayor Boro's question on current response time, Chief Odetto stated it was similar. Should the service on the patrol boat be covered, with the reduction occurring in the open space, Councilmember Levine inquired as to the transition and planning to pass on the knowledge of encampment locations and the specific characteristics involved in policing the open space so that officers arriving from their beat or patrol car could deal with the issue. Chief Odetto stated it would have to be part of the transition, since there were a lot of areas in the open space which could not be seen from roadways or pathways; therefore, experience with the area would be a benefit. He confirmed that training would be needed for both the water and open space applications. Should this go forward, Mayor Boro stated he assumed that over time there would be a plan, especially with regard to open space, as he envisioned open space as seasonal, shutting down in fall and winter, whereas the boat was year-round. Chief Odetto stated that the open space was still patrolled; however, not as regularly as in the summer. Regarding square mileage, Councilmember Brockbank confirmed that San Rafael had seventeen square miles of land and five square miles of water and of the seventeen square -miles of land he inquired as to how much was open space. An audience member indicated it was approximately 400 -acres. If San Rafael consisted of 22 square miles, including 5 square -miles of water, with the open space another few, Councilmember Brockbank stated that arguably, that one position between the water and the open space covered a huge chunk of the City's 17 square miles of land and 5 square -miles of water, and he thanked Councilmember 17 CC 01-19-2010 Levine for inquiring how the knowledge would be passed on. Chief Odetto suggested consideration be given to patrolling the open space on a per diem level, bringing qualified personnel back, or utilizing overtime. Mr. Nordhoff believed Mayor Boro would like the City Council to have a more formal workplan response prior to the spring season addressing sustaining open space patrolling. Chief Odetto stated that staff would develop a plan to submit to the City Manager for presentation to the City Council. Regarding comments at the last Town Hall meeting concerning violent crime in San Rafael, Chief Odetto reported that in 2007, 280 violent crimes were reported in San Rafael which the speaker equated to be 20% of the population of Marin. Chief Odetto reported that in 2008, reported violent crimes dropped to 202 — a 28% change — and with an additional 7% in 2009, this brought the total reduction in violent crime since 2007 to 35% Responding to Mayor Boro on whether this was Class 1 crime, Chief Odetto stated the sources were the department of Justice and San Rafael Police Department records. Mayor Boro invited Chief of Police Odetto to define Class 1 crime. Chief Odetto explained that these were violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, etc. Councilmember Heller inquired whether San Rafael was on a par with Novato in this area. Chief Odetto responded affirmatively Councilmember Heller inquired whether Novato had similar percentages Chief Odetto reported that in 2007, Novato had 157 reported violent crimes — San Rafael had 280. The most recent report indicated that San Rafael was at 202 and Novato 119, with a population difference of 10,000. Mr. Nordhoff suggested taking into account a large daytime population increase in San Rafael, which was less so in Novato. Councilmember Heller confirmed that the daytime population increased from 50,000 to approximately 100,000. Councilmember Brockbank inquired whether the two primary factors that led to the higher -than -average crime rate, despite having the finest police force in Marin County, were density and income level. He recently learned that San Rafael receives a 40% share of the County's CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) funds through a poverty based formula — San Rafael has a higher level of poverty. Strictly looking at density and poverty, particularly in certain areas, he inquired whether this would account for a higher crime rate, all else being equal, regardless of the quality of the police force. Chief Odetto confirmed that density was absolutely an issue. Mayor Boro recalled in the past seeing Class 1 crime rate reports issued on a monthly or quarterly basis and, while he was unaware whether this could be done by different areas of San Rafael, he suggested that it could be worthwhile, if available. Chief Odetto confirmed that, if it was not available, it could be developed. Lieutenant Ralph Pata displayed maps of the San Rafael Police Department's beat structure system and how it appeared today. He explained that 7 geographical areas were established a long time ago. In theory, one patrol car was assigned to each area: 2 in North San Rafael; 2 in Downtown Areas; 1 in East San Rafael; 1 in the Canal Neighborhood; and 1 in South San Rafael. Based on staffing levels, Lieutenant Pata reported that adjustments need to be made and the best case scenario was to staff each geographical neighborhood. When this comes up short, the beat structure is broken down and responsibility shared to the most logical area — South San Rafael, south of Second Street from city limit to city limit from San Anselmo to the Richmond Bridge. That large area is broken down into three different areas and shared with the West Downtown beat. 18 CC 01-19-2010 Regarding the 7 geographical parts of town, Mayor Boro inquired whether this represented 6 or 7 beats. His recollection that at one point there were 7; however, for a while this has been 6 beats. Confirming that there were 7 beats, Lieutenant Pata noted that the 7 beats were patrolled with the equivalent of 6. Noting the structure of the 7 beats and acknowledging that two needed to be in Terra Linda and one in the Canal, Councilmember Brockbank indicated he thought that perhaps the remaining four beats south of the hill would be divided into three. He noted from the maps the red lines doubling the size of Beat 2 and encroaching into Beat 5; however, leaving some orphan areas of Beat 5, and he inquired what this represented. Responding that there should not be any orphan areas, Lieutenant Pata explained that the Beat 1 area took everything from the regular beat responsibility, going south past Second Street to San Anselmo. The downtown core area, Beat 2, goes down to the different neighborhoods south of Woodland Avenue. The remaining segment of Beat 5 — South City — is covered by Beat 3, Canal to the Richmond Bridge. Councilmember Heller noted some unincorporated areas on the maps, which supposedly were patrolled by the County. Lieutenant Pata responded affirmatively. Councilmember Heller added that she was quite sure that the City's Police Department would take care of any problems in an emergency. Lieutenant Pata stated that, if help was requested in an emergency, officers would respond; however, the general day-to-day routine patrol was usually picked up by the Sheriff's Department San Rafael car or Central car. Councilmember Heller stated she believed that most of those living in the white areas (map) had no idea they did not reside in the City and; therefore, should not be calling San Rafael Police. Lieutenant Pata explained that if they called 9-1-1, they would usually get the Sheriff's Department. Councilmember Brockbank stated he believed officers in the various beats were either in their car or back at the station taking care of paperwork. In the event a scheduled beat car was back at the station, he inquired whether the neighboring patrol cars shared resources and patrolled that beat also. Lieutenant Pata believed this to be a fair assessment. Regarding the use of volunteers, Mr. Nordhoff reported that Volunteer Coordinator, Cory Bytof would make a full presentation at the City Council Retreat next week regarding how the volunteer program works citywide and how volunteers are used in the City. Mr. Nordhoff stated he did not intend to comment on other specifics from the outreach comments; however, Department Directors were in attendance and could provide clarification or more information. Going forward, Mr. Nordhoff stated in the staff report staff tried to provide some additional comment regarding some of the issues being listed in service reductions, staffing losses and layoffs that would be part of Round 2 — attachment included in the report. He indicated he had attempted to embellish some specific answers concerning the Mission City Boat and Open Space. There was quite an amount of discussion concerning planning processes and to clarify, he explained that, when an application was received, there was an obligation to provide a response in 30 -days regarding its completeness or adequacy. Therefore, to consider reducing staff in those areas, an assessment would need to be made to ensure that remaining staff could balance the various types of permits that needed to be processed with the available resources. Mayor Boro confirmed having discussed with Mr. Nordhoff the fact that the net cost when accounting for billing hours was approximately $35,000 annually Confirming this, Mr. Nordhoff noted it was listed on the attachment to the report. Mayor Boro requested that staff return with an option as to what the impact would be if the process was continued. Noting a lot of items on the list were coming all at once and had not been studied, he believed that discontinuing such things as public outreach, attention paid to use permit hearings, Design Review Board, etc., might not be a smart thing to do. Therefore, he would like to continue the process for a period, carry out a review and return with a 19 CC 01-19-2010 more finite list. Should the cost increase because of lack of applications, this could be evaluated; therefore, unless the City Council disagreed, he would like this issue returned with the idea of continuing that particular activity, to be reviewed in six months. Regarding street sweeping, Mr. Nordhoff recalled Mr. Mokhtari, Public Works Director, stating there were several issues that could be considered; however, staff believed that the vacant position warranted reduction -- the associated scheduling changes were noted in the staff report. Referring to the Attachment — Round #2 Reductions — Mr. Nordhoff stated that he intended to bring these back for formal consideration. As discussed a couple of times, staff had been in some fairly extensive labor negotiation processes to evaluate whether there were ways where compensation could be reduced in varying ways, shapes or forms, up to a limit of 5%, which would generated an approximate $1.3 million. Mr. Nordhoff invited Assistant City Manager Jim Schutz, to provide an update of the negotiations status and what might remain, which would influence the conclusion of his report. Mr. Schutz reported that since the December 15, 2009 workshop, staff had been presenting that employee concessions would help in reducing the level of other types of reductions, such as layoffs and other position eliminations. Staff held discussions with each bargaining unit requesting a reduction of 5% for fiscal year 2010- 2011; however, it became clear some weeks ago that it would not be possible to complete the ten MOUs or Side Letters by the time of this meeting or even the meeting of January 26, 2010 because it was found that some wanted to discuss a Side Letter, some wanted to extend an MOU or amend and discuss other items at the same time as the MOU, discuss various types of compensation to reach the 5%, the time that it takes for groups to ratify, vote on these changes, all of which took time. Therefore, it was realized that with the number of units having discussions, together with the number of legal documents under discussion, some type of simple tool was needed to take a snapshot of the current status and staff's best estimate of the situation regarding compensation reductions for fiscal year 2010-2011 to be in a position to inform the City Council's decision-making. Mr. Schutz reported that a non-binding Statement of Intent was created which each group was invited to sign, which basically stated that the group intended to work with staff to eliminate 5% of the compensation over the next couple of months for fiscal year 2010-2011. He reported that as of this evening, all bargaining units had signed the statement indicating their concurrence to work to a 5% reduction, except for the Police Association, Fire Association and the two mid -management groups associated with those groups — Police Mid -Managers and Fire Chief Officers' Association. Mr. Schutz acknowledged that the statement was focused on fiscal year 2010-2011. Some groups had taken actions to save funds in 2009-2010; however, this particular document was a request to save 5% in the General Fund in fiscal year 2010-2011. Staff would continue to work with these groups to put forward the formal documents that would be before the City Council over the next few months. Addressing the $1.3 million situation, Mr. Nordhoff stated that, rather than getting into Round 2 and Round 3 lists, staff would present a package of items to the City Council for consideration. He explained that current year furloughing amounted to approximately $500,000; however, with the size of the organization being decreased this was estimated to be an approximate $450,000 value going forward, with the current committed groups. Subsequent to the City Council meeting of January 4, 2010, Public Works staff had been working to try to package together two years worth of curb ramp improvements through the use of Block Grant Funds. There was a commitment to assign the cost of an engineer to this which would save the General Fund approximately $100,000; therefore, staff had been exploring resourceful ways. Absent hearing from the public safety groups that they would offer concessions of some range up to 5%, Mr. Nordhoff stated he would be bringing back to the City Council additional staffing reduction options in the areas of Information Technology, Public Works and additional layoffs that would be necessary in the Police Department to close the deficit. This would include officer positions as well as potentially, an evidence technician. Mr. Nordhoff stated that this information would be presented to the City Council for consideration next week. Staff was available to answer questions or provide additional information on specifics. The report would be completed on Friday, January 22, 2010 and made available to the public. It would be distributed to those involved in the meeting processes over the last couple of weeks. A fairly wide notification process would be carried out regarding the upcoming meeting and the types of issues the City Council would consider. Councilmember Heller clarified that at the meeting of January 26, 2010, the City Council would consider the entire package and taking action. Mr. Nordhoff confirmed that there would be an entire package, including a staff report and resolution for Council 20 CC 01-19-2010 consideration. Regarding the Street Sweeper position, Councilmember Brockbank indicated it appeared to him that some of the reductions would be doable; however, the reduction from once a week or every other week to once every six weeks would be very noticeable. Regarding leaves and littler, he believed it would take a massive education campaign and questioned whether a mailing could be undertaken indicating that streets would be swept less frequently and in some cases, not at all, and list options. Leaves could be dealt with easily by individuals and in the case of littler he suggested that those walking got in the habit of bringing a bag and pick up the litter. This type of education, perhaps with a citywide mailing, could retrain people. Responding, Mr. Nordhoff stated that part of the effort in re -looking at a number of possibilities concerning how sweeping is done includes an education effort somewhat tied into conversations earlier this evening around solid and yard waste services. The staff report delineated preventative sweeping —January to October, not the heavy leaf season -- preventative work was still being carried out primarily by hand crews who had experience with the areas. He commented that residents would need to be educated about a whole number of issues, not just limiting it to street sweeping. Ed Berberian, Marin County District Attorney, commenting that he did not envy the task of the City Council, noted a number of his staff had attended the B Street Town Hall meeting last week and confirmed that they really believed what they stated and the feelings and experiences expressed were their own and not crafted by him Commenting that he did not envy the jobs of Mr. Nordhoff, Marin County Managers or County Administrator, Mr. Berberian noted Mr. Nordhoff would return to the City Council next week to recommend more cuts, perhaps some in the Police Department and specifically, an evidence technician. He indicated that much of the perception today focused on how evidence was handled in court cases. With regard to statistics, he reported that San Rafael had the largest percentage of cases filed — approximately 25% annually. Novato had approximately 14%, with 12% for the Sheriff's Office. On the question of evidence and how this was handled, Mr. Berberian stated it was critically important how this was processed. It was looked at with a fine tooth comb with regard to how a case was attacked; therefore, should decisions have to be made about where cuts needed to be made, he urged the City Council to look carefully at this before going forward. Mr. Berberian commented that Mayor Boro and Councilmembers had done so much over the last several years to try to put San Rafael in a position where it would attract business, build an infrastructure and create a tax base that would support the City and its residents. They had worked diligently and hard on this and should not now put programs in place that would sacrifice the gains. Business looked to public safety when they decided whether to locate somewhere, or invest money and resources in a community; however, should the perception be that the follow through was not as expected, there could be some push back. Mr. Berberian urged the City Council to keep the police as staffed as possible. There was an awareness of having to do more with less; however, the police were vital to keeping the promise to build the community economically. With regard to relationships made in districts, territories and neighborhoods and how the police when needed did what had to be done, Mr. Berberian noted that gang issues in particular areas had been dealt with effectively by the police officers over the years and the District Attorney's Office would work with them to clamp it immediately. The San Rafael Police Department had been excellent in building community relations, which was not evident everywhere in the state or other parts of Marin County. San Rafael had officers who worked with communities; they had built a trust and residents were willing to come forward, unlike San Francisco. He commented that San Rafael did not have the same push back as seen in other places, which was to the credit of the San Rafael Police Department, to the officers, dispatchers, clerks and sworn officers on the street. San Rafael emphasized community policing and how it could be made effective; however, resources being cut would begin pulling back in that area also. Reiterating that he did not envy the job of the City Council, Mr. Berberian urged that in setting priority, the police and public safety needed to receive the first priority. Belen Anava, Records Clerk, Police Department, stated she was the clerk many of her co-workers had mentioned in addressing the City council. She indicated she would be forever grateful to those who had stood up for her, all of whom she regarded as family. Ms. Anaya reported that she began working for the San Rafael Police Department when she was eighteen. Growing up in the South Bay she came to San Rafael to attend Dominican University for one year. She began working as a police cadet her second semester and immediately fell in love with the agency and community. 21 CC 01-19-2010 Unable to afford to return to school the next year, she commuted over 100 miles daily to earn $13 per hour Ms. Anaya stated she had grown so close to many of her co-workers and the community in such a short time. Her fellow clerks Kelly, Laurie, Julie and Lynn, were very protective of her and had seen her grow into the woman she was today -- strong, confident and with a good head on her shoulders. They had seen her stumble through some parts of her life and had always been there to help. Because of the possibility of being laid off, they had spoken on her behalf. She commented that she had turned down opportunities to work at other agencies because San Rafael was the best organization to work for and this was where she belonged. Ms. Anaya reported that being bi-lingual had helped the Police Department in so many ways. There was something about a person who understood their native tongue that helped the San Rafael Hispanic Community feel at ease with the Police Department. Ms. Anaya urged the Council not to make any more cuts. San Rafael's citizens deserved a well -staffed Police Department and she questioned how San Rafael could claim to be the best law enforcement agency when citizens waited before speaking to a police officer. Staff needed to be available twenty-four hours, seven days a week; they did not have weekends or holidays off, they worked ten to twelve hours daily and dealt with horrific issues. The Police Department gives so much to the community and was only asking for an opportunity to continue providing excellent care for citizens. Paul Carroll, SEIU, reported that SEIU signed the non-binding agreement and intended to furlough next year; they also were discussing other potential ideas that would perhaps save jobs. As indicated in the past, the City was a sum of many parts and to cite Vallejo as a reason not to cut public safety was somewhat ironic, because many would believe that public safety drove Vallejo to bankruptcy by not conceding on certain issues. Everyone needed to come to the table and in these times, no one could leave unscathed — things could not be expected to continue as they were going. Mr. Carroll stated he represented many cities, the vast majority of which were in fiscal crisis and for him to request no cuts, was irresponsible. The City needed to consider its citizens and what type of City it wanted and there were many facets. He commented that, but for the fact that it was 11:15 p.m. and they had to report for work at 5:00 a.m., more Public Works employees would be in attendance — noting three Public Works employees were on the next list. Mr. Carroll stated that the City Council needed to look for balance. Businesses did not just look for police, rather they looked for an atmosphere and to see how the City ran, and should it be one dimensional, they would go away. Therefore, even if the City had to be shrunk, it needed to be well-rounded. Caron Parker, Associate Planner and SEIU member, concurred with Mr. Carroll's comments. She stated she admired everything the Council had done, reaching out to the community and trying to obtain all the information. A lot of opinions were represented this evening; however, she disliked fear tactics which did not work in a crisis situation. Ms. Parker believed there were things people could not be afraid to do, noting people gave their lives to register to vote, etc. She believed San Rafael was a whole city; it was not just about safety, rather about all departments which were valued for different reasons. Indicating that each job was important, Ms. Parker stated that each department was a link in a chain and one could not outweigh the other. Not wishing to see anyone lose their job she stated the offer before employees was to take a 5% cut across all departments. She realized the time could come when that was not sufficient and jobs would be lost; however, the time had not yet come to take that path. Reporting that she took a $400 monthly pay cut with the existing furlough, which was a big chunk of her family's budget she would take a further 5% cut if it saved a job. If everyone did this, time could be saved, perhaps staving off getting to next point of losing a further job. Barry Taranto, stated that at last week's Healthcare District Board Meeting, it was announced that Sutter Health would not develop Marin Square as a medical facility. He believed it important that the City have discussions with Sutter Health to try to develop the property for sales tax revenue and also to have Target operating and Wallgreens come in and operate as soon as possible. He believed the City would do well with sales tax because of the Police Department maintaining a safe city. Concurring with Mr. Berberian's comments regarding Vallejo, Mr. Taranto believed San Rafael needed to protect what it had and even improve. He considered the report identifying the amount of authorized positions very telling, except it did not indicate how many were filled and he believed it important to show this. Mr. Taranto noted the Police Department had lost over ten positions in the last five years; the Fire Department had also lost ten positions in the last five years; however, the Community Services Department had not lost any, while Management lost only 2.5 positions, and he believed some departments had not taken their fair share of reductions. 22 CC 01-19-2010 Mr. Taranto believed the Police Department had done a very good job with community policing and Chief Odetto `s officers could probably be paid to teach the San Francisco Police Department how to do it and in that way, make the Mission District even safer. He believed the relationship with the Police Department and the Press was fantastic in terms of getting information distributed With regard to the Police Department's relationship with the homeless, Mr. Taranto stated he felt safe around homeless people in San Rafael, which was not true of San Francisco. He believed it important to maintain the relationships with the community by having bi-lingual employees in the Police Department. Noting the distance between North San Rafael and Downtown San Rafael, he believed it important that police response not be hurt. Mr. Taranto wished to hear more about the City Council Retreat next week and whether the public could attend. Anne Derrick, Administrative Assistant, Community Development Department and SEIU member, stated that in light of the potential layoffs to all bargaining groups, non -safety and safety, she believed that everyone must do whatever was reasonably necessary to prevent layoffs. She stated she understood that an idea on the table was for a 5% reduction in the form of a wage reduction or furlough across the board, which would save approximately $1.3 million, and more importantly, prevent a number of layoffs among several bargaining groups. Ms. Derrick commented she could sleep better at night if she knew that sacrificing 5% of her salary would allow those service employees whose work was vital to the function of the City to continue working and providing quality service to the community. All bargaining groups should do the correct thing and take the 5% pay cut, whether in the form of a furlough or salary reduction. Ms. Derrick stated that SEIU non -safety members such as she had already sacrificed a 5% pay cut, without any choice, as well as several layoffs. All groups were now being requested to sacrifice a little for a while for fellow comrades and she noted it was always better to do the right thing. Nicholas Crescenzi, Parks Maintenance Worker II — Public Works Department, stated he had been informed recently that over thirty years ago there were over 20 employees in the Public Works Parks Department and in the Streets Department; however, currently ten were employed in Streets and twelve in Parks. Believing the issue concerned trading jobs, Mr. Crescenzi noted that should he lose his job he would be alright and the reality was that the City would do what was necessary. He stated that if everyone took the 5% pay cut so much of San Rafael's family could be saved. If groups were selfish, which they appeared to be, should he receive a call to assist in his job he would be professional and do his job, even though he had everything on the line to lose. Indicating that the City pays into employees' pension funds, Mr. Crescenzi stated that, should he be laid off and be unable to find a job in six months that had reciprocity, he would lose everything the City paid into his retirement. Mr. Crescenzi quoted: "They first came for the Communists, then they came for the trade unionists, then they came for the Jews, then they came for me, and then there was no one left. No one else to cry for me." He believed that City employees, as a group, had to come together; otherwise San Rafael would become Vallejo, where safety is all that is left and there would not be anything left to cut. David Maver, SEIU member, inquired where SEIU leadership was defending jobs this evening. SEIU leadership did not support him when he ran for City Council in 2009 and as to what was more important, he would prefer to deal with a pothole than a bullet hole. He urged that police not be laid off because public safety would be in jeopardy. He indicated he probably would not be able to obtain a concealed and carry permit to own a gun; however, by cutting the police he could do so illegally because of laws not being enforced. Noting a lot of City employee positions could be outsourced, Mr. Mayer believed Fire and Police could not. Planning and administrative tasks could be outsourced, noting parking ticket collections had been outsourced. Expressing disappointment that the unions wanted a fight, he questioned the whereabouts of the North Bay Labor Council who like SEIU had not supported him, Mr. Mayer believed public safety was the number one role of government, not administration. In response to Mr. Taranto's comment, Mr. Nordhoff confirmed that the City Council Retreat was scheduled for Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at Falkirk Cultural Center, commencing at 8:30 a.m. An agenda would be published on Friday through the City Clerk's Office. Being a public event, the public was welcome to attend and remain for as little or as much of the day as they wished. Reiterating his comments of some weeks ago regarding the City being a family, Mayor Boro stated the City Council's goal was to save as many jobs as possible; however, they needed help. The family needed to help each other, themselves and the City and hopefully negotiators from the public safety unions would work with staff in an attempt to bring this issue to a close. Mayor Boro believed it important that there was participation on the 5% 23 CC 01-19-2010 contribution to save as many jobs as possible. Accepted report. Special Meeting to be held on January 26, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: None. COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS: (including AB 1234 Reports on Meetings and Conferences Attended at City Expense) 10. None. There being no further business, Mayor Boro adjourned the City Council meeting at 11:32 p.m. ESTHER C. BEIRNE, City Clerk APPROVED THIS DAY OF , 2010 MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL 24 CC 01-19-2010