MINUTES

SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL

December 7, 2004

7:30 P.M.

The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale adjourned from a 4:30 p.m. Closed Session Conference with Real Property Negotiator Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8, Property: City-owned Property Within Town and Country Vicinity,  a 5:00 p.m. Closed Session regarding Conference with Real Property Negotiator  Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8, Property: Town Center Mall, a 6:00 p.m. Joint Study Session with the Sunnyvale Board of Education regarding School District Facility Planning Study, and  met in regular session in the City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, California at 7:30 p.m., with Mayor Chu presiding.

SALUTE TO THE FLAG

Mayor Chu led the salute to the flag.

ROLL CALL

SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY

Mayor Chu recognized the four Sunnyvale companies that placed in the Silicon Valley Business Journal 50 fastest growing private companies in Silicon Valley.  He presented certificates to Hirsch Machine, Adeza Biomedical, cMango, and Atheros Communications (the fastest growing company in Silicon Valley).

Mayor Chu, joined by Brian McQueen, Chair of the Sunnyvale Heritage Preservation Commission, honored Mr. Terry Hawkins for moving the historic John Hendy House to California Avenue, thus saving the building from destruction.  He presented Mr. Hawkins with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Mayor Chu, who was joined by B.C. Gibbons from the Sunnyvale School District, presented the awards to the winners of the Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Councilmember Howe reported he attended the swearing in ceremony for the Fremont Union High School District and had the honor to administer the oath of office to Nancy Newton.

Councilmember Lee reported on the following Closed Sessions:

Conference with Real Property Negotiator Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8.    Property: City-owned Property Within Town and Country Vicinity.  Direction was given and no action was taken.

Conference with Real Property Negotiator Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8.    Property: Town Center Mall.  Direction was given and no action was taken.

Judy Hernandez, a member of the public, announced the Lakewood Village parade on Saturday, December 11, at 11:00 a.m. which begins at Lakewood School.

Werner Gans, a member of the public, announced that today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day.

Mayor Chu announced that the City received the silver award for recognition of innovation in municipal government at the National League of Cities Convention.

Councilmember Miller made the following announcements on behalf of the Council:

The City of Sunnyvale is holding a public meeting to discuss the Cable Television Franchise Evaluation at 7:00 p.m., December 8, at the Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 E. Remington Drive. Members of the community are invited to share their opinions on cable TV reception, broadband services, cable-related services, mix of programming, customer service and more. For more information, contact Ernie DeFrenchi at (408) 730-2759, or e-mail edefrenchi@ci.sunnyvale.ca.us.

CALSTART recognized six companies and individuals as the 2004 winners of the Blue Sky Awards.  Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling received a Blue Sky Merit Award for its fleet of five different types of natural gas refuse vehicles as well as the installation of a public CNG refueling station off of Highway 101.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is currently offering Santa Clara County residents cash rebates up to $300 per household for trading in their wood-burning stoves and fireplaces for gas appliances.  The program runs from now until 1,800 stoves have been changed on a first-come, first-served basis.  For additional information call 1-800-HELP-AIR or visit www.sparetheair.org/changeout.htm.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Councilmember Howe requested Item 1.E be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately.  Councilmember Miller requested item 1.H be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately.  Councilmember Lee requested item 1.G be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately. Councilmember Lee moved, and Councilmember Howe seconded, approval of the Consent Calendar for Items 1.A, 1.B, 1.C, 1.D and 1.F.  The motion carried unanimously.

Fiscal Items

Katrina Ardina, Housing Programs Analyst, responded to questions posed by Councilmember Howe regarding the priority and position of the loan, the interest rate, amount of equity in the property, staff’s financial analysis for receiving rental income, and owner maintenance of the property.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 8:05 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Howe moved, and Councilmember Lee seconded, to approve additional request and loan of $476,688 from CDBG funds for the acquisition of Plaza de las Flores to Christian Church Homes.  The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Personnel Items

Jane Fleenor, Interim Human Resources Director, presented the staff report.

Councilmember Lee clarified that this is a pilot program only without impact on City hours of operation.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 8:08 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Lee seconded, to approve the request to implement the pilot program for reduced staffing during the year-end holidays, and authorized the Human Resources Director to execute the terms and conditions of the program.  The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

RESOLUTION NO. 143-04 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE APPROVING A PILOT PROGRAM FOR REDUCED STAFFING DURING THE DECEMBER 2004 HOLIDAY SEASON FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003-2004

Other Items

Lori Gervin, Environmental  Division Manager, presented the staff report.

Councilmember Miller posed questions regarding when the Legislative Policy comes before Council.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 8:12 p.m.

Thom Mayer, a member of the public, advocated for the Council to take a negative position on this issue.

Betsy Wolfe, a member of the public, spoke in opposition of hunting waterfowl in this area.

Kevin Jackson, a member of the public, requested that an Environment Impact Report be done before Council makes a decision.

Werner Gans, a member of the public, spoke in opposition to hunting in this urban area.

Mayor Chu closed the Public Hearing at 8:20 p.m.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Howe seconded, to deny this request.

Councilmember Miller amended her motion to deny the request for hunting and direct staff to develop a legislative policy in opposition to the provision of waterfowl hunting on the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and develop and send a letter from the Mayor to this effect. The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles absent and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD

Skip Gottschalk, representing the Lakewood Village Neighborhood Association, requested the City re-implement the program to spray City sewers to mitigate the growth of pests and rodents.

Councilmember Fowler offered to sponsor a budget issue to mitigate rodents and other pests in the City including the sewer infrastructure for consideration at the Fiscal Issues Workshop on January 20, 2005.

Richard Parenteau, a member of the public, advocated for Council to study how to promote economic development in Sunnyvale through synergies with the new Kaiser Hospital facility.

Councilmember Fowler offered to sponsor a study issue to explore synergies with the new Kaiser Hospital facility, located on the southeast border of Sunnyvale, for potential economic development.  Councilmember Howe offered to co-sponsor the study issue.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

Councilmember Lee moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to continue this item to the January 25, 2005 Council meeting.  The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Steve Lynch, Project Planner, assisted by Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, presented the staff report.

Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding who the Board should advise.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 8:42 p.m.

Jim Rea, a member of the public, advocated for private property be included along with public property as part of the Board on Accessibility for Physically Challenged. 

Don Yeager, a member of the public, requested the scope of the Committee be expanded to make the Committee responsible to all departments of the City.

Thom Mayer, a member of the public, spoke in support of the creation of the  Advisory Committee and recommended the Advisory Committee report to the Council to set policy.

Kevin Jackson, a member of the public, spoke in support of the creation of an Advisory Committee utilizing the experience of citizens.

Mayor Chu closed the Public Hearing at 9:00 p.m.

Councilmember Fowler moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to approve Alternatives 2, approve the creation of an Advisory Committee on accessibility that meets fours times a years and would be advisory to staff, and approve an initial  budget of $8,500 per year indicating the source of the funding, and 5, to approve expanded publicity of the single answer point for public contact with the City, with the following amendments: approve recommendation of the City Manager to take the funds from the current fiscal year non-recurring events reserve fund for this year and direct staff to develop a budget recommendation to appropriate the funds for ongoing implementation costs by the City Manager’s office; to ask that Board meeting minutes be shared with Council; and to return in one year from now with a report regarding the activities of the Advisory Board, lessons learned and whether the Board deals with implementation or policy issues.

Councilmember Miller offered a friendly amendment to include that implementation would include citywide issues.  The amendment was accepted.

Councilmember Lee offered a friendly amendment to change the meetings to at least four times per year.  The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Susan Ramos, City Clerk, presented the staff report.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 9:34 p.m.

Monica Draganowski-Davis, Chair of the Sunnyvale Arts Commission, reported on the Arts Commission ranking of the seven 2005 study issues they reviewed.

Bob Lawson and Robert Locke, of the Sunnyvale Parks and Recreation Commission, reported on the Commissions ranking of the ten 2005 study issues they reviewed.  Mr. Lawson advocated for PRD-07 (Reopening the Creative Arts Center Gallery) be reopened as a facility that is open to the public.  He advocated support for PRD-01 (Develop Exclusive Use Permit policies for Sunnyvale Parks and Open Spaces) and PRD-05 (Consider new policies to reduce or waive fees for community use of City recreation buildings for specific types of events).

Robert Haswell, a member of the public, advocated for a study issue on the Patriot Act.  He distributed a document to the Council of the resolution adopted by the City of Santa Clara.

Councilmember Fowler offered to sponsor a study issue to develop a resolution of the provisions of the Patriot Act.  Councilmembers Lee and Miller offered to co-sponsor the study issue.

Catherine Curtis, a member of the public, spoke in support of the study issue on the Patriot Act.

Pamela Anderson, Chair of the Sunnyvale Board of Library Trustees, reported the Board unanimously supports the two Library study issues and urged Council support.

Tom Flaherty, member of the Sunnyvale Board of Library Trustees, advocated for Council support for LIB-1C (Assess the future library facility needs) and they would be bringing forth a budget proposal.

Jim Griffith, a member of the Sunnyvale Board of Library Trustees, advocated for the Council to support Lib-1 (Analysis of children’s material funding).

Werner Gans, a member of the public, urged the Council to rank DPW-01 (Liquidamber street trees – nuisance fruit problem), CDD-7 (Tree removal Ordinance Update) high for study.  He advocated for a policy on donation limits for City Council elections.

Brian McQueen, Chair of the Sunnyvale Heritage Preservation Commission, and Rose Kausek, a member of the Sunnyvale Heritage Preservation Commission, spoke in support of CDD-1 (Visual streetscape standards for Murphy Avenue).

Kevin Jackson, Vice Chair of the Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), spoke in support of DPW-03 (Policy for allocation of street Space) and presented pictures of over crowed streets with cars as opposed to bicycles, buses and pedestrians.

Richard Parenteau, a member of the public, offered to volunteer his time in assisting staff for working with Kaiser to explore synergies for potential economic development, if the study issue is ranked for study.

Betsy Wolf-Graves, a member of the public, thanked the Council for the study issue on the Patriot Act and related her personal experience.

Samna Faheen Sundas, Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice, expressed concern about the Patriot Act and advocated for a resolution in opposition to its provisions.

Harriet Rowe, a member of the public, advocated for Council support of CDD-28 (Community rooms/club houses for multi-family development).

Mayor Chu closed the Public Hearing at 10:23 p.m.

Mayor Chu declared a recess at 10:25 p.m. and reconvened at 10:35 p.m.

Chuck Schwabe, Deputy City Manager, presented the staff report.

Staff responded to questions posed by Council regarding 20 year budgeting process and financial planning, programs that the City does not review every year, grouping of services, and the budget review process timeline.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 10:51 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Howe moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded,  to approve Alternative 1, direct staff to implement the service and budget review process so that all city programs are reviewed at least once every eight years, as described in the report, and include direction to staff to report back to Council in a brief memo the cost to cut the review period in half.  The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Susan Ramos, City Clerk, presented the staff report.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 10:55 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Howe seconded, to approve Alternative 2, to reaffirm the Sunnyvale Code of Ethics for Elected and Appointed Officials and approve the Code as it is currently written with no changes with an emphasis on the spirit of the law.  The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Susan Ramos, City Clerk, presented the staff report.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 10:58 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Fowler seconded, to accept the Code of Conduct and reaffirm the modifications as presented by staff with no changes, and bring back for an annual review. The motion carried unanimously with Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

Marilyn Crane, Information Technology Services Manager, presented the staff report.

Phil Veletzof, of MetroFi, inc., and staff responded to questions regarding the type of technology, hot spots in the City and interference with existing equipment, the City’s utility tax, height of the transmitter, timing of installation and availability to public, company location, location of installations, marketing strategy, revenues to the City, the franchise agreement, free service for selected City locations, City use for this technology, risk and liability, mounting requirements for transmitters and deployment strategy.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 11:23 p.m.

Jack Rowe, a member of the public, expressed concerns regarding the visual impact and presented photographs of installations.  He advocated for a better design.

Harriet Rowe, a member of the public, requested clarification on staff’s recommendation regarding agreements with PG&E.

Mayor Chu closed the Public Hearing at 11:30 p.m.

Councilmember Fowler moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to approve Alternative 1, to introduce an ordinance awarding a non exclusive franchise for provision of a wireless services network to MetroFi, inc. for a five year period and authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents and any associated agreements with PG&E that may be necessary.

Councilmember Lee offered a friendly amendment to require the applicant to come back in a year to consider alternative new designs at that time.

Councilmember Fowler restated the friendly amendment to request the applicant to come back to Council no later than 2.5 years with options on aesthetic improvements to their radios and also include the appropriate CEQA language in the ordinance as determined by the City Attorney. The amendment was accepted.

Councilmember Miller offered a friendly amendment to ask staff to check with other cities in Santa Clara County who have entered into an agreement with MetroFi whether they have requested the same design information of the equipment and provide that to the Council so they may not need to wait 2.5 years. The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried with Councilmember Howe dissenting, and Vice Mayor Swegles and Councilmember Hamilton absent.

At the request of the Mayor, the City Clerk read the title of the ordinance.

ORDINANCE NO. 2770-04 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE AWARDING A NON-EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TO METROFI, INC., TO INSTALL COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT ON CITY-OWNED LIGHT POLES FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE

NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS

COUNCIL

There were no comments.

STAFF

There were no comments.

INFORMATION ONLY ITEMS – Received and Filed

2004 Tentative Council Agenda Calendar (.doc)

RTC 04-422, Appeal of Planning Commission Items of November 22 and Administrative Hearing Items of November 24, 2004

Arts Commission Unapproved Minutes of November 17, 2004

Heritage Preservation Commission Unapproved Minutes of November 10, 2004

Planning Commission Unapproved Minutes of November 22, 2004

ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Chu adjourned the meeting at 11:41 p.m. in memory of the Americans who lost their lives in 1941 at Pearl Harbor.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Biles, Deputy City Clerk