Loading...
09. Draft MinutesCUPERTINO DRAFT MINUTES CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting Tuesday, April 20, 2010 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At 6:45 p.m. Mayor Kris Wang called the regular meeting to order in the Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California, and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Kris Wang, Vice -Mayor Gilbert Wong, and Council members Barry Chang, Orrin Mahoney, and Mark Santoro. Absent: none. CLOSED SESSION - None CEREMONIAL MATTERS — PRESENTATIONS 1. Presentation of Presidential Service Awar for volunteers (continued from April 6) and recognition of 41 community groups that assisted in an emergency preparedness exercise. (No documentation in packet). Mayor Wang presented letters to 43 community groups: • Boy Scout Troops 400, 407, 408, 452, 466, 476 and 494 • Girl Scout Troops 60043, 60517, 61405, 61614, 61205, 61615, 60264, 60288, 61232, 60400, 60868, 60720, 6143(), 60620 • Whole Foods, Target, Cupertino Library, AMC Theater, Ranch 99 • De Anza Oaks, Sunny View Retirement Community, Oak Valley, Podium, Chateau Retirement Community, Montebello, Seven Springs • KMVT (Channel 15), De Anza College (Channel 27/28), KVTO AM1400 & FM96.1, Sing Tao Daily Newspaper • Tzu Chi Foundation, HoChi Institute, Rotary Club, California Scholarship Federation, Interact Club, Octagon Club 9 -1 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 2 Mayor Wang also presented Presidential Service Awards to volunteers: • Gold 250+ hours presented to Andy Huang, Vince LaPorta and Isabel Rodriguez • Silver 175- 249 hours presented to Andy Huang • Bronze 100 -174 hours presented to Doug Frieson, Steve Hill, Vince LaPorta, Barbara Jobe, Paul Petach, and Leroy Wilkinson POSTPONEMENTS WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Deputy City Clerk Grace Schmidt distributed the following written communications: • Amended page 12 from the April 6 draft minutes correctly showing Rhoda Fry as speaking under public testimony for the Scenic Circle item, Item No. 2 • Email from Finance Director David Woo answering a fee question for Item No. 12 • Staff PowerPoint presentation for Item No. 13 regarding the historic preservation policy • Staff PowerPoint presentation for Item No. 14 regarding CDBG and human service grants • Staff PowerPoint presentation for Item No. 15 regarding the landscape ordinance • Two emails from Denise East for Item No. 16 initially not supporting the Siemens contract and then changing her opinion to support it • Staff handout showing the streetlight and irrigation system project cash flow, Item. No. 16 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Roberta Hollimon, League of Women Voters of Cupertino - Sunnyvale asked Council to place a discussion regarding Proposition 15 (Fair Elections Act) on the next Council agenda and she briefly explained the proposition's intention. Shirley Lin Kinoshita, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, said that the group is working with the League of Women Voters of Cupertino - Sunnyvale and other groups to support the proposition. Vice Mayor Wong noted that Mayor Wang would send this issue to the Legislative Committee for review and recommendation. Cathy Helgerson said that the Lehigh Southwest Cement Company is operating without a legal Title V permit and is in violation of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. She also said that the nitrogen oxide and the sulfur dioxide levels have become dangerous, and that selenium from the plant is polluting the Permanente Creek, Stevens Creek, and the watershed. She urged residents 9 -2 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 3 to call the federal, state, and local environmental offices to push for results. Mayor Wang asked staff to arrange for the local water companies to give a presentation to the Council. Adrian Kolb, Cupertino Library Commissioner, updated Council on the Cupertino Library statistics and the Library Commission work plan. Vice Mayor Wong thanked Roseanne Macek for her service to the Cupertino Library and asked staff to prepare a proclamation for her. Joyce Eden asked about the draft letter from the Legislative Committee to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding regulation of the Lehigh Cement Plant. Council member Mahoney said that the committee is still working on the leti.er and it should be ready for the next Council meeting. Ray Crump said that he was still waiting for someone from the City to contact him on how to find public information about the Below Market Rate program in Cupertino. Mayor Wang said that someone would get back to him with information. Jennifer Griffin talked about neighborhood notification and said that there has been talk to reduce written notification through the mail. She urged Council to continue that avenue of notification even though it might be expensive and takes time. She said access to building plans is important for residents. CONSENT CALENDAR Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to approve the items on the Consent Calendar as recommended, with the exception of Item Nos. 10 and 11 which were pulled for discussion. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. Abstain: None. 2. Approve the minutes from the April 6 City Council meeting. Written communications for this item included: an amended page 12 from the April 6 draft minutes correctly showing Rhoda Fry as speaking under public testimony for the Scenic Circle item. 3. Adopt resolutions accepting Accounts Pay for April 2 and 9, Resolution Nos. 10 -074 and 10 -075. 4. Adopt resolutions accepting Payroll for April 2 and 16, Resolution Nos. 10 -076 and 10- 077. 5. Accept the Treasurer's Investment and Budget Report for February 2010. 6. Adopt a resolution approving the destruction of records from Code Enforcement and the Public Works Department, Resolution No. 10 -078. 7. Fulfill the City's obligations under the City Attorney's Employment Agreement by Authorizing the Mayor to execute the "Agreement between the City of Cupertino and 9 -3 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 4 Carol Korade regarding Housing Assistance and, when the housing assistance is provided, to complete and execute the "Tenancy -in- Common Agreement ". 8. Authorize the City Manager to sign the Joint Powers Agreement to become a member of the Silicon Valley Regional InteroMrability Authority (SVRIA) and sign the amendment to the Second Amended Joint Funding Agreement (JFA) to allow the JFA and its assets to transition to the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority JPA. 9. Reinstate the City of Cupertino's participation in the Cal -ID program ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR (above) 10. Adopt a resolution accepting a Quitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Atamparkash Singh Sandhu and Harjit Kaur Sandhu, 1699 S. De Anza Boulevard APN 366 -10 -120, Resolution No. 10 -079. Cathy Helgerson said she was concerned that the residents aren't notified about the City removing their water rights. She also said that the water comes from Stevens Creek Reservoir which is full of mercury and then goes into the aquifer, and that the water companies don't say what is in the water after it is tested. Mahoney moved and Santoro seconded to adopt Resolution No. 10 -079. The motion carried unanimously. 11. Approve expenditure from the Mayor's discretionary fund for presentation and travel by Mayor Wang to the World Expo in the amount of $1,20790. Chang moved and Mahoney seconded to approve the expenditure. Council also concurred to discuss during the budget the creation of a City Manger fund for overseas travel. The motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARINGS 12. Adopt the fiscal year 2010 -11 fee schedule (Resolution No. 10 -072), as submitted, and consider a separate proposal to increase fees for long -range planning and permit system improvements (continued from April 6). Written communications for this item included an email from Finance Director David Woo which answered a fee question. Finance Director David Woo reviewed the staff report and Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava talked about a possible new online permitting system. At 8:14 p.m. Mayor Wang opened the public hearing. 9 -4 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 5 Jennifer Griffin said that regarding the online permitting system, it would be good to have all the departments integrated and suggested that staff look at how quickly the software could be updated, is it upgradeable, is the vendor going to stay, would the City have to spend money for staff training, and would the City have to hire more staff to maintain the system. She also urged Council to keep the reconsideration fee where it currently is as an avenue for democracy for residents. Marty Miller (also speaking on behalf of Claudette Miller) said that increasing fees doesn't necessarily mean more revenue if demand is declining, and decreasing fees could increase revenues dramatically. He noted that none of the projects are being built due to lack of funds and the City is losing revenue. He proposed cutting the housing mitigation fee for commercial development as an incentive to build and explained that he took a poll of developers who said that this idea would be a motivator for them. He urged Council to not raise fees right now but to reduce salaries instead until we get past the economic downturn period. John Vidovich said he developed in Cupertino in the 80's and 90's and that the City Council at that time eliminated the Below Market Rate (BMR) fee. He suggested that the current Council make the BMR fee more reasonable in light of the economic difficulty of building housing in Cupertino right now. Ile said that subsidized housing is a great thing to have but that small builders are having trouble affording that right now and it's an unfair burden. He answered questions from. City Council members. Darrel Lum talked about the reconsideration fee. His points included that paying a fee shouldn't be a factor in determining whether reconsideration has merit; those who don't want to pay the fee could speak under oral communications but the Council cannot make a decision; after the public speaks on a reconsideration hearing and Council begins to deliberate, sometimes additional information comes to light that the public cannot speak on; and cost analysis issues. Keith Murphy noted that that in 2006, the reconsideration fee was initially raised from zero to $500 and then due to his and Dr. Lum's reconsideration of the reconsideration fee, it was changed to $259. He said that members of the community that want to be helpful to the community should be able to bring issues forward without having a financial burden placed on them to ask for reconsideration when they are mandated to do this first. He said that the City would be better served by reverting back to not charging a fee. He asked what the City was trying to address by raising the fee, such as is it being overloaded with building project reconsiderations. At 8:48 p.m. Mayor Wang closed the public hearing. Mahoney moved and Wong seconded to adopt Resolution No. 10 -072 and include no general increase in fees except for non- residential fees, enterprise golf fees, and a reduction of building fees for small residential additions, home swimming pool demolitions, and window replacements. The motion carried with Santoro voting no. 9 -5 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 6 Mayor Wang reordered the agenda to continue with Oral Communications. Christopher Moylan, Sunnyvale Vice -Mayor and Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board member, representing five of the six Northern California cities, requested that Council place on the next agenda the reconsideration of the vote on the VTA reorganization proposal. He explained that the proposal doesn't affect Cupertino directly but does affect five neighboring cities. He noted that Cupertino and Sunnyvale share a lot of transportation interests and if Sunnyvale and the other cities are marginalized on the Board, the joint interests that the cities share would be less represented. Council recessed from 9:25 p.m. to 9:33 p.m. 13. Consider authorizing staff to move forward with the Historic Preservation Policy and related General Plan Amendment, Application No. CP- 2007 -03, City of Cupertino, Citywide (continued from April 6). Written communications for this item included a staff PowerPoint presentation. Assistant Planner Leslie Gross reviewed the staff report. At 9:47 p.m. Mayor Wang opened the public hearing. Jennifer Griffin said that Cupertino doesn't have a policy to protect old Victorian homes and other cities do. She said it's very important to set up a preservation policy now so that children know where their city came from. She also asked Council to include a memorial plaque at Apple One on Bubb Road. At 9:50 p.m. Mayor Wang closed the public hearing. Committee member Mike Sanchez thanked Council for paying attention to the historical sites in Cupertino. He advocated that education is the last good thing we can do with what's historically left in Cupertino through plaques or other educational devices. Wong moved and Santoro seconded to authorize staff to move forward with the application with the following amendments: 1) Remove Palm Avenue palm trees from the list; 2) Change the wording for "Crossroads" to say "Crossroads Intersection" at Stevens Creek Blvd. and De Anza Blvd. and keep it as a "commemorative site "; 3) Keep the Interim City Hall as a "commemorative site" and put a cap of $500 on historic commemorative signage. Mahoney added a friendly amendment to drop the dollar cap on signage for the Interim City Hall and to add an additional amendment to check sites to see if more are outside City limits and move them under "honorable mention." The friendly amendment was accepted. The motion carried unanimously. 9 -6 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 7 14. Consider adopting a resolution adopting the 2010 Annual Action Plan and the use of eighth program year (2010 -11) Commwiity Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Human Service Grant Funds Resolution No. 10 -080. Written communications for this item included a staff PowerPoint presentation. Wong moved and Santoro seconded to adopt Resolution No. 10 -080. The motion carried unanimously. 15. Consider a Municipal Code Amendment to repeal the existing Xeriscape Landscaping Ordinance (Chapter 14.15 of the Cupertino Municipal Code) and adopt a new Landscape Ordinance (Chapter 14.15), in order to comply with the California Water Conservation in Landscaping Act Application No. MCA - 2010 -01, City of Cupertino, Citywide. Written communications for this item included a staff PowerPoint presentation. Associate Planner Piu Ghosh reviewed the staff report. At 10:42 p.m. Mayor Wang opened the public hearing. Jennifer Griffin said that this is an important ordinance due to California water issues. She talked about desalinization plants and asked if Cupertino would have access to one of those plants when they began working. She said the City may want to look into this in order to have non potable water for plants :'In case of drought. Public hearing closed at 10:45 p.m. Mahoney moved and Wong seconded to approve MCA - 2010 -01 with the following changes: 1) Fix a typo on Appendix A — checklist under turf to say, "turf (if utilized) is limited to slopes not exceeding 25 % "; 2) Change the trigger point to 3000 square feet for single family homes. The motion carried ,, A , ith Chang and Santoro voting no. First reading of Ordinance No. 10 -2058: "An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino repealing the existing Chapter 14.15 of the Cupertino Municipal Code, Xeriscape Landscaping, and adopting a :;yew Chapter 14.15, Landscape Ordinance, in order to establish new landscaping regulations pursuant to the California Water Conservation in Landscaping Act." The Deputy City Clerk read the title of the ordinance. Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to read the ordinance by title only, and that the City Clerk's reading would constitute the first reading thereof. Ayes; Mahoney, Santoro, Wang and Wong. Noes: Chang. Council recessed from 11:05 p.m. to 11:10 p.m. s -7 April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 8 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 16. Consider- authorizing the City Manager to enter into an energy savings performance contract with Siemens in substantially the same form as attached for an amount not to exceed $2,133,845. Consider appropriating 2009 -10 capital improvement funds of $2,133,845 for this project, financed by $438,000 in Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Funds, $562,000 from capital improvement reserves and $1,133,845 from a private financing lender. Written communications for this item included two emails from Denise East, initially not supporting the Siemens contract and then changing her opinion to support it and a staff handout showing the streetlight and irrigation system project cash flow. Environmental Affairs Director Rick Kitson reviewed the staff report via a PowerPoint presentation. Larry Hillman, General Manager of Siemens Local Energy Division, said that they have been working since January to be sure that the project meets the goals of the City that were originally outlined in the best time frame. He noted that this was a cash neutral project, meets sustainability goals, and reduces consumption. He answered questions from Council. Mahoney moved and Wong seconded to authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Siemens using $438,000 funding from the Energy, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), $562,000 from the Capital Improvement (CIP) Fund, and $1,133,845 from the Economic Uncertainty Fund. The motion carried with Chang voting no. NEW BUSINESS - None 17. Second readings of ordinances relating to the Housing Element a. Ordinance No. 10 -2056: "An Ordinance of the Cupertino City Council amending the Cupertino Municipal Code to comply with the Housing Element of the City of Cupertino General Plan" b. Ordinance No. 10 -2057: "An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino approving the rezoning of (Z- 2010 -02): • Approximately 59.13 acres, consisting of 27 parcels located in the North De Anza Boulevard Conceptual Plan Area generally located west of North De Anza Boulevard, north of Lazaneo Drive and south of the 280 Freeway from Planned Development (CG, ML, Res 4 -10) to Planned Development (CG, ML, Res) s -s April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 9 • Approximately 3.15 acres located in the North De Anza Boulevard Conceptual Plan Area west of Bandley Drive, from Planned Development (CG, ML, BQ, Res 4 -10) to Planned Development (CG, ML, BQ, Res) • Approximately 6.21 acres, consisting of 25 residential parcels located on Arcadia Court and along the north side near the terminus of Greenleaf Drive, from Planned Development (CG, ML, Res 4 -10) to R1 -7 The Deputy City Clerk read the title of the ordinances. Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to read Ordinance No. 10 -2056 by title only and that the City Clerk's reading would constitute the second reading thereof. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to enact Ordinance No. 10 -2056. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to read Ordinance No. 10 -2057 by title only and that the City Clerk's reading would constitute the second reading thereof. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to enact Ordinance No. 10 -2057. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. STAFF REPORTS - None COUNCIL REPORTS Council members highlighted the activities of their committees and various community events. ADJOURNMENT At 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday, April 21, the meeting was adjourned. Grace Schmidt, Deputy City Clerk Staff reports, backup materials, and items distributed at the City Council meeting are available for review at the City Clerk's Office, 777 -3223, and also on the Internet at www.cupertino.ora Click on Agendas & Minutes, then click on the appropriate Packet. Most Council meetings are shown live on Comeast Channel 26 and AT &T U -verse Channel 99 and are available at your convenience at www.cupertino.org Click on Agendas & Minutes, then click Archived Webcast. Videotapes are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased from the Cupertino City Channel, 777 -2364. 9 -9 EXHIBIT S BEGIN HERE C(=. Linda Lagergren From: Darrel Lum [drlum @pacbell.net] Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 4:06 PM To: City Clerk Cc: City Council Subject: Correction of April 20, 2010 City Council Meeting Minutes /Page 5 /Paragraph 4 With reference to my statement on Agenda Item # 12: ...; after the public speaks on a <reconsideration> hearing and Council begins to deliberate, sometimes additional information comes to light that the public cannot speak on; The word <reconsideration> should be deleted. The above was discussed with respect to one of the criteria for reconsideration: Proof of facts which demonstrate that the City Council failed to provide a fair hearing. I stated, "To illustrate, when the City Council is deciding an issue, the staff gives its report, the City Council asks questions. The applicant presents its case, the City Council asks questions. The public comments. Then the City Council deliberates. During its deliberations sometimes new additional information is brought forward. The public is not able to comment on this new data." 1 c sly/le # Page April 20, 2010 Cupertino City Council g eS \-\#/".- VA 1 1/ Jennifer Griffin said that regarding the online permitting system, it would be good to have all the departments integrated and suggested that staff look at how quickly the software .:/ could be updated, is it upgradeable, is the vendor going to stay, would the City have to wys ' pr� spend money for staff training, and would the City have to hire more staff to maintain the „UPERTINO system. She also urged Council to keep the reconsideration fee where it currently is as an avenue for democracy for residents. Marty Miller (also speaking on behalf of Claudette Miller) said that increasing fees doesn't necessarily mean more revenue if demand is declining, and decreasing fees could increase revenues dramatically. He noted that none of the projects are being built due to lack of funds and the City is losing revenue. He proposed cutting the housing mitigation fee for commercial development as an incentive to build and explained that he took a poll of developers who said that this idea would be a motivator for them. He urged Council to not raise fees right now but to reduce salaries instead until we get past the economic downturn period. John Vidovich said he developed in Cupertino in the 80's and 90's and that the City Council at that time eliminated the Below Market Rate (BMR) fee. He suggested that the current Council make the BMR fee more reasonable in light of the economic difficulty of building housing in Cupertino right now. He said that subsidized housing is a great thing to have but that small builders are having trouble affording that right now and it's an unfair burden. He answered questions from City Council members. Darrel Lum talked about the reconsideration fee. His points included that paying a fee shouldn't be a factor in determining whether reconsideration has merit; those who don't want to pay the fee could speak under oral communications but the Council cannot make a decision; after the public speaks on a reeensidefatien hearing and Council begins to deliberate, sometimes additional information comes to light that the public cannot speak on; and cost analysis issues. Keith Murphy noted that that in 2006, the reconsideration fee was initially raised from zero to $500 and then due to his and Dr. Lum's reconsideration of the reconsideration fee, it was changed to $259. He said that members of the community that want to be helpful to the community should be able to bring issues forward without having a financial burden placed on them to ask for reconsideration when they are mandated to do this first. He said that the City would be better served by reverting back to not charging a fee. He asked what the City was trying to address by raising the fee, such as is it being overloaded with building project reconsiderations. At 8:48 p.m. Mayor Wang closed the pubic hearing. Mahoney moved and Wong seconded to adopt Resolution No. 10 -072 and include no general increase in fees except for non - residential fees, enterprise golf fees, and a reduction of building fees for small residential additions, home swimming pool demolitions, and window replacements. The motion carried with Santoro voting no.