MINUTES
SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL
JULY 27, 2004
7:30 P.M.

The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale adjourned from a 6:00 p.m. Closed Session regarding Personnel Matters - SEA Labor Negotiations Pursuant to Government Code 54957.6, and a 7:00 p.m. Closed Session regarding Town Center Mall Negotiations Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8, and met in regular session in the City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, California at 7:30 p.m., with Mayor Howe presiding.

NOTE:  Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953, subdivision (b), this meeting included teleconference participation by Councilmember Otto Lee from Boston, MA.

SALUTE TO THE FLAG

James Osorio, of the Serra Little League, led the salute to the flag.

ROLL CALL

Mayor Howe announced that Sunnyvale staff submitted Councilmember Miller’s name to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for “Clean Air Champions” award as someone that advocates programs that reduce air pollution.  Although BAAQMD members are not eligible for the award, Councilmember Miller was honored with a Leadership Award.

SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY

Mayor Howe presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Cindy Hardy, Serra Little League Vice President, and Scot Strotman, Player Agent and Board Member of Serra Little League, in recognition for winning the District 44 Championship. He also presented certificates to each player on the team.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Vice Mayor Chu announced the Council met in Closed Session prior to the meeting regarding:

• Personnel Matters - SEA Labor Negotiations Pursuant to Government Code 54957.6. No direction was given and no action was taken.  The meeting will reconvene following tonight’s Council meeting.
• Town Center Mall Negotiations, Pursuant to Government Code 54956.8.  No direction was given and no action was taken. The meeting will reconvene following tonight’s Council meeting.

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

Mayor Howe has been elected as the Vice Chair of LAFCO, Local Agency Formation Commission.

There will be two Open House meetings for the public to review the proposed redevelopment plans for the downtown mall:

• Monday, August 2, at the Heritage Building from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Monday, August 2, at the Community Center from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Additionally, the proposed project will be considered at the following two public hearings:

• Planning Commission Meeting, Monday, August 9, 8:00 p.m., in Council Chambers.
• City Council/Redevelopment Agency Meeting, Tuesday, August 17, 7:30 p.m., in Council Chambers.

For more information, contact the Planning Department at 408-730-7444, or visit the web site at www.sunnyvale.ca.gov.

There will not be a City Council meeting next week.  The next meeting is scheduled for August 10.

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety will be sponsoring a National Night out on Tuesday, August 3 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. For more information call Mariana Alvarez at 408-730-7117, or email  malvarez@ci.sunnyvale.ca.us.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Mayor Howe requested item 1.F be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately per a request from a citizen. Vice Mayor Chu moved, and Councilmember Swegles seconded, approval of the Consent Calendar with the exception of item 1.F.  The motion carried unanimously.

Fiscal Items

Contracts

Other Items

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, responded to questions from the Council.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:02 p.m.

John Brown, a member of the St. Cyprian Peace and Social Justice Committee, submitted and read a letter to the Council advocating for approval of the pre-development loan.

Mayor Howe closed the Public Hearing at 8:07 p.m.

Councilmember Swegles moved, and Vice Mayor Chu seconded, to approve Alternative 1, approve a pre-development loan of $28,177 to Charities Housing for incurred costs associated with the pre-development of an affordable senior housing project.  The motion carried unanimously.

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD

There were no comments.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

Diana Perkins, Plan Checker, assisted by Ali Fatapour, Chief Building Official, presented the staff report.

Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding monitoring the hours of construction, relationship to the noise ordinance, if the number of complaints include complaints received by the Department of Public Safety, interior construction hours,  single family and attached housing construction hours, and the number of  permits not closed versus the number granted.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:23 p.m.

Harriet Rowe, a member of the public, advocated for reduced hours of construction during the weekend and expressed concern that other citizens were not present to comment.

Mayor Howe Closed the Public Hearing at 8:31 p.m.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Swegles seconded, to introduce an Ordinance of the City of Sunnyvale amending Section 16.08.110 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code related to hours of construction for homeowners – time and noise limitations to reflect the following hours: Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Councilmember Hamilton offered a friendly amendment to allow interior work at any time as long as it does not exceed the Noise Ordinance. The amendment was accepted.

Councilmember Hamilton offered another friendly amendment to extend hours on Saturday to a period of 12 hours from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The amendment was not accepted.

Vice Mayor Chu offered a friendly amendment to restrict extended interior hours to only single family homeowners. The amendment was accepted.

Councilmember Hamilton requested staff to provide information regarding the Saturday hours per the Noise Ordinance.

Mayor Howe offered a friendly amendment to put two motions on the table: To introduce the ordinance with the amendments to the hours as proposed by Councilmember Miller and, to direct staff to do a study to look at attached housing units versus detached single family housing units in terms of duration, construction hours, number of building permits in a given time period. The amendment was accepted.

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

ORDINANCE NO. 2760-04 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE AMENDNG SECTION 16.08110 OF THE SUNNYVALE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO HOURS OF CONSTRUCTION – TIME AND NOISE LIMITATION TO REFLECT THE AMENDMENTS MADE TONIGHT

The motion carried unanimously for the first motion.

Mayor Howe moved, Councilmember Miller seconded, to direct staff to do a study on attached housing units vs. detached single family housing units in terms of hours of construction, duration, and number of building permits in a given time period, in accordance with the Noise Ordinance regulations. The motion carried unanimously.

Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood and Community Services Manager, presented the staff report.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:49 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing

Vice Mayor Chu moved, Councilmember Miller seconded to accept Alternative 1, to appoint Mayor Howe as representative to the Santa Clara County Cities Association Joint Economic Development Policy Committee.  The motion carried unanimously.

Vice Mayor Chu moved, Councilmember Fowler seconded, to nominate Councilmember Lee as the alternate for this committee. The motion carried unanimously.

Heather Tennehill, Manager in the Department Public Safety, presented the staff report.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:57 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Mayor Howe seconded, to introduce and adopt an ordinance awarding a non-exclusive franchise for taxicab service to USA Express Cab for the period of August 19, 2004 through August 18, 2006 per applicant request, and authorize the City Manager to execute necessary documents of agreement. 

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

ORDINANCE NO. 2760-04 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE AWARDING NONEXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TO KULWANT LASHER AND BALJIT SINGH DOING BUSINESS AS USA EXPRESS CAB

The motion carried unanimously.

NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS

COUNCIL

Councilmember Miller requested adding an item to the agenda to enter an agreement with the Downtown Merchants Association to reimburse the City of Sunnyvale for PG&E utility and maintenance costs for one year in exchange for tree lighting services on Murphy Street.

Mayor Howe requested staff to place the item on August 10 or August 24 agenda and requested staff to send a letter to the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Association about this agenda item. He stated that in the meantime, continue tree lighting services on Murphy Street.

Councilmember Miller requested for an update on the three traffic lights that are not synchronized on Homestead Avenue (Bernardo, 85 and Bellville).

Mayor Howe requested staff to provide a memo to the Council with this information.

Mayor Howe announced the next meeting of the City Council is August 10, and there will be a Special meeting at 2:30 p.m. with Supervisor Liz Kniss and Pete McHugh and a regular meeting at 7:30 p.m.

STAFF

There were no comments.

ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Howe declared the regular meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.  At this juncture, the Council reconvened to the Closed Sessions regarding Personnel Matters – SEA Labor Negotiations, and Town Center Mall Negotiations.  The Closed Sessions adjourned at 12:05 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Ramos, City Clerk