MINUTES
SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL 
MARCH 16, 2004

The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale adjourned from a 6:30 p.m. Closed Session regarding PSOA, and met in regular session in the City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA at 7:30 p.m. with Mayor Howe presiding.

Mayor Howe led the salute to the flag.

ROLL CALL

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Vice Mayor Chu announced a Closed Session on PSOA Negotiations. No direction was given and no action was taken.

Mayor Howe announced that on Saturday a Special City Council meeting was held and there will be a continuation of that meeting later this evening regarding ranking public services for Office of the City Manager, and the remainder of Parks and Recreation.

Keith Fellows, a member of the public, announced that on April 8 there will be a Fremont High School Alumni grand reopening celebration and the public is invited.

Elizabeth Conning, Vice President of the Historical Society, announced a fund raising walkathon on April 17 around the orchard at 9:30 a.m. The public is invited and the donation is $15.00.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Councilmember Miller requested Item 1.E. be pulled from the Consent Calendar and discussed separately.  Mayor Howe requested item 1.D. be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately.  Vice Mayor Chu moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded approval of the Consent Calendar with the exception of 1.D. and 1.E.  The motion carried unanimously.

Fiscal Items

Mayor Howe inquired if the Council was being asked to approve an expenditure that was already paid by the City.  Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, responded that the consultant has not yet been paid and that this is additional work that was charged.

Mayor Fowler questioned the contractual obligation.  Ms. Ryan responded the consultant did not indicate there would be an extra cost for the additional work so she did not think the City is obligated to pay.

Councilmember Miller inquired if the contract included a fixed price and expressed concern over these types of contract amendments. Ms. Ryan responded that there was a fixed scope and a fixed price, and that this was work outside the scope. She noted the consultant’s work was subject to certain timelines.

Councilmember Hamilton inquired if the project funds were solely designated for this contract.  Ms. Ryan reviewed the project funding that included community outreach, preparation of a model and an environmental impact report as well as traffic studies.  Ms. Ryan clarified that only $85,000 has been paid to date.

Councilmember Hamilton inquired if the funds were solely designated for this project.  Ms. Ryan responded the funding included community outreach, preparation of a model and an environmental impact report as well as traffic studies.  Ms. Ryan clarified that only $85,000 has been paid to date.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 7:46 p.m., and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing. 

Mayor Howe moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to continue the item for one week and directed the City Attorney to check the conrtact and see if the City is obligated to pay.  The motion carried unanimously.

Contracts

Barbara Keegan, Assistant Director of Public Works, presented the staff report.  She stated they are not asking for any additional funds as this can be absorbed in the project contingency amount.

Councilmember Miller expressed concern over the amount of the contract going to a consultant of almost $600,000 and inquired if there would be a second amendment to this contract.  Ms. Keegan responded that a second amendment was not anticipated. Councilmember Miller expressed concern regarding the need for a consultant.  Ms. Keegan further clarified that staff has had to make more requests from them beyond the original contract as the scope of the project has expanded.

Vice Mayor Chu inquired if Amphion Environmental have come to the end of the contract and the work is not complete and now staff wants to expand their work.  Ms. Keegan responded that is correct and the project should be completed with the additional $60,000 requested.

Marvin Rose, Director of Public Works, clarified that the original $100,000 contingency went to the Council for direction for funding and that the work that remains on the project must be done. Staff does not have the expertise or time to do this work and could run into delay charges.

Councilmember Hamilton requested information on the waterproofing problems.  Ms. Keegan responded that the waterproofing problem has mostly been addressed and clarified the steps that were taken to address it.

Councilmember Fowler questioned the $859,000 budget modification. Mary Bradley, Director of Finance, explained that capital projects get carried over to the next year and need to be re-appropriated.  When the amount of this project was calculated, it should have been $4,090,397 net of the existing expenses of last year so the report is in error.  She clarified the funds are not gone, they are just not appropriated to this project.

Councilmember Miller asked what the status of the financial scorecard report is and where the other $250,000 of the contingency went.  Councilmember Miller inquired if it was possible to renegotiate the additional $60,000.  Ms. Keegan responded that the consultant hourly rates are on the reasonable side.  She also expressed concern that  taking time to renegotiate fees with the consultant could cause delays which would negatively impact the project.  Ms. Keegan clarified that the other contingency which has been expended was for construction changes and modifications so that the project can be completed and meet its intended function.

Mayor Howe directed staff to provide the Council with a memo regarding contingencies that have been spent to date.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:16 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Hamilton seconded, to approve an amendment to the Downtown Plaza Design Services Contract in the amount of $60,000, and approve Budget Modification No. 32.

Councilmember Fowler offered a friendly amendment to direct staff to not combine budget modifications that have two separate issues in the future and instead provide the issues in two separate reports to Council.  The amendment was accepted

The motion carried unanimously.

Other Items

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD

James Furgas, a representative for the Teamster’s Unit for SMART union workers, expressed concerns about the low wages and other poor working conditions of union workers and the Union’s unsuccessful negotiations with Green Team.  He requested the Council look into any assistance they can provide.

Councilmember Fowler moved, and Mayor Howe seconded, to direct staff to investigate previous proposals made by General Manager Nelson of Green Team, requesting to adjust the diversion rates in the contract in order to fund increased benefits to their workers and return with its findings on April 6, 2004.  The motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, presented the staff report and described the details of the requested variance and stated the Planning Commission denied the request.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 8:52 p.m.

Michel Frostig, applicant, presented a Powerpoint presentation and described his request. He named the three criteria that need to be met and stated if the proposal is not acceptable, he is willing to look at other options. He stated there will be little noticeable difference to his neighbors of the proposed changes.  He further stated his plans would not do any damage to the beautiful neighborhood and all the criteria for variance are satisfied and urged Council to approve the variance and application.

Mayor Howe closed the Public Hearing at 9:02 p.m.

First Motion:

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Hamilton seconded to approve staff’s recommendation to deny the appeal and deny the variance as recommended by the Planning Commission.

Councilmember Lee offered a friendly amendment to uphold the appeal and approve the variance with recommended conditions.  It was the consensus of the Council to state this as a separate motion.

The motion carried with Councilmember Swegles and Vice Mayor Chu dissenting.

Second Motion:

Councilmember Miller moved, and Mayor Howe seconded, to waive variance fees if the applicant submits a new variance.

Councilmember Swegles offered a friendly amendment to apply the waiver of variance fees to the entire process for the re-submittal including multiple appeals if any.  The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried unanimously.

Mayor Howe noted that this item was put on the agenda by his direction and there is no written report.  He explained that there is a potential problem with one of the commissioners on one of the boards who could be named as Chair next year.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 9:28 p.m., and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing. 

Mayor Howe moved, and Vice Mayor Chu seconded, to encourage the Parks and Recreation Commission to continue with the current chair for another year or select another member who has previously served as chair, except the current Vice Chair.  The motion failed with Councilmember Swegles dissenting, and Coucilmembers Hamilton, Miller, Fowler and Lee abstaining because of the lack of background information.  

Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, provided the following updates. She stated on February 24 the Council considered the matter of outreach related to the Town Center Mall and discussed a number of ideas of how outreach could be conducted.  The Council directed that the applicant make an aggressive outreach effort and also the Planning Commission hold at least two public outreach meetings prior to the public hearing.  The plans could be submitted in early April and the applicant can receive input from the community at that time, and at a subsequent meeting present some modifications to the plans.  The first meeting will be at the Senior Center on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. and a second meeting is being set for a convenient location.

Mayor Howe announced that Vice Mayor Chu requested that this item be agendized.  Vice Mayor Chu reported the VTA has several projects that require funding which are referenced in the letter. He stated that the Cal Train Electrification and the New Rail Corridors projects are two important projects that would affect the North County area. He stated that Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View have all approved this letter. He asked for Council’s approval of the letter as an official request from the City of Sunnyvale.

Mayor Howe opened the Public Hearing at 9:42 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Vice Mayor Chu moved, and Councilmember Fowler seconded to approve the letter to the VTA Board of Directors, as presented.  The motion carried unanimously.

NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS

COUNCIL

There were no comments.

STAFF

There were no comments.

ADJOURNMENT TO REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

On a motion by Mayor Howe, and seconded by Councilmember Miller, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. in memory of Wilamine K. Sweat, and convened to the Redevelopment Agency.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Ramos, City Clerk