MINUTES

SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL

February 1, 2005

The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale adjourned from 6:00 p.m. Closed Session Conference With Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation, Significant Exposure to Litigation, Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9.b: SMaRT Station Operating Agreement, a 6:30 p.m. Closed Session Conference With Legal Counsel Pursuant to Government. Code Section 54956.9(a), Pending Litigation, Case Name and Number: Schrick, WCAB SJO 0226946 and 0226950,  and met in regular session in the City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, California at 7:00 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 presented a proclamation to Susan Denniston, Interim Director of Sunnyvale Libraries, declaring February 2005 as Silicon Valley Reads Month in Sunnyvale.

CLOSED SESSION REPORT

Vice Mayor Swegles reported on the following Closed Sessions:

• 6:00 p.m. - Conference With Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation, Significant Exposure to Litigation, Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9.b: SMaRT Station Operating Agreement.  Direction was given and no action was taken.

• 6:30 p.m. Conference With Legal Counsel Pursuant to Government. Code Section 54956.9(a), Pending Litigation, Case Name and Number: Schrick, WCAB SJO 0226946 and 0226950.  Direction was given and no action was taken.  Councilmember Howe recused himself from this item due to a potential conflict of interest.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Councilmember Lee made the following announcement on behalf of the Council:

The City Council will host a Judicial Town Hall meeting with a panel of judges from the Superior Court of Santa Clara County on Thursday, February 10 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.  For more information call (408) 730-7472.

Werner Gans, a member of the public, announced the Liquid Amber trees are dropping  seed pods which can create a hazardous situation.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Councilmember Hamilton requested Items 1.A and 1.E be pulled from the Consent Calendar and considered separately. Vice Mayor Swegles moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Items 1.A and 1.E.  The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 7:20 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Hamilton seconded, to approve the minutes with the amendment to reflect Councilmember Hamilton abstained on item 1.A because she was not present at the January 11 meeting. The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

Fiscal Items

Jack Witthaus, Transportation and Traffic Manager, presented the staff report.  Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding the funding, the budget and developer fees.

Vice Mayor Chu opened the Public hearing at 7:30 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing.

Councilmember Miller moved, and Councilmember Hamilton seconded, to approve staff’s recommendation to award a contract in an amount not to exceed $201,633 to DKS Associates to provide engineering and landscape design services for the Frances Street Transit Corridor and authorize a design service contingency in an amount not to exceed $30,000 if approved in advance by the Director of Public Works; authorize the City Manager to execute required agreements for a $236,002 Federal Transit Administration grant; adopt Budget Modification No. 22 to accept the $236,002 in additional Federal Transit Administration Grant Funds, appropriate the grant to the project and appropriate an additional $306,909 in City Regional Traffic Mitigation funds to the Frances Street Transit Corridor project.  The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

Other Items

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD

There were no comments.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

Jack Witthaus, Transportation and Traffic Manager, presented the staff report.  Staff responded to questions from the Council regarding response from the neighborhood on the ballot that was sent out, speed hump effects for Public Safety emergency response, and the impact  and cost of an additional speed hump.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 7:38 p.m.

Mary Depew, a member of the public, advocated for more traffic calming measures and distributed a photograph of the street to the Council.

Karen Owyeung, a member of the public, spoke in support of an additional speed hump and noted that drivers speed between the existing speed hump and traffic circle.

Arthur Low, a member of the public, opined that the traffic calming measures that are currently in place are sufficient.

Werner Gans, a member of the public, spoke in opposition of planting in traffic circles due to the expense of maintenance and water.

Steve (name eligible), a member of the public, opined the current measures in place are not sufficient and advocated for another speed hump.

Mayor Chu Closed the Public Hearing at 7:49 p.m.

Councilmember Hamilton moved, and Councilmember Lee seconded, to direct staff to add an additional speed hump between the two traffic calming devices. The motion failed with Councilmembers Miller, Howe, Vice Mayor Swegles and Mayor Chu dissenting and Councilmember Fowler absent.

Councilmember Miller moved, Councilmember Lee seconded, to direct staff to install additional temporary traffic calming measures midway between the two permanent measures.

Councilmember Howe offered a friendly amendment to include a cost for the additional traffic calming measure in an amount not to exceed $5,000 and return the remainder of the funds to the General Fund. The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried with Councilmember Hamilton dissenting and Councilmember Fowler absent.

Jack Witthaus, Transportation and Traffic Manager, presented the staff report.  Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding the proposed traffic circle.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 8:34 p.m. and, there being no public comments, closed the Public Hearing. 

Councilmember Howe moved, and Vice Mayor Swegles seconded, Alternatives 1 and 2, approve the installation of a permanent 4 way stop sign at the intersection of Norman Drive and Bryant Way, and approve the installation of trial traffic calming measures on Norman Drive.  The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, presented the staff report.  Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding future grants, the funding cycle, the source of the $1.5 million funds, use of the funds, interest accrued from the $1.5 million funds, funding for projects not on the priority list, wireless service, improvements for Plaza Del Sol, Block 18 priority, and improvements to Block 2.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 9:05 p.m.

Arthur Schwartz, a member of the public, advocated for additional funding for Plaza Del Sol improvements.

Mayor Chu Closed the Public Hearing at 9:10 p.m.

Vice Mayor Swegles moved, and Councilmember Howe seconded, to approve Alternatives 1, 2 and 3, adopt the priorities as shown in Attachment A for the downtown improvements;  select Priority 1 improvements (Attachment A) to be implemented with the Downtown Improvements capital project:

and direct staff to seek grants and other outside funding to complete projects on the prioritized list, and move those projects into Priority 1, if outside funding is obtained, and to include city matching funds in Priority 1.

Councilmember Miller offered a friendly amendment, under the Priority 1 listing, to remove any reference to PBID and change it to “a reserve for downtown projects”.  The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

Mayor Chu declared a recess at 9:18 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 9:30 p.m.

Councilmember Howe commented that he was instrumental in this item coming back to Council and the scope of the study, as presented by staff in the Study Issue Paper, was not his intent.  He stated he is sensitive to staff's time and resources.  He noted the goal is to have an effective BMR program, and by opening this up to the public for their comments, is hopeful that it will enable the Council to make some decisions that will aid in that effort.  He further stated that Sunnyvale has a successful BMR program and wants to make certain that continues into the future.

Robert Paternoster, Director of Community Development, presented the staff report.  Staff responded to questions posed by the Council regarding continuing items for Community Development, and the implementation of the new BMR administrative procedures.

Mayor Chu opened the Public Hearing at 9:42 p.m.

Tim Persyn, a member of the Sunnyvale Housing and Human Services Commission, stated there is a continuing need for affordable housing and a Below Market Rate (BMR) program, and requested that any changes made to the program be done in an open process.

Bob Hines, Executive Director of the Tri-County Apartment Association, recommended that the City not study the BMR program and noted a memo that was sent to the Council outlining concerns on new administrative procedures adopted by the City staff for the BMR rental program and the impact on BMR rental units.  He advocated for Council support to rescind the new procedures or have the item agendized.  Mr. Hines reviewed the new procedures and their impact on applicants and the resulting higher vacancy rate.  He responded to questions from the Council regarding the new BMR procedures.

Ryan Minniear, a member of the and property manager, stated there would be speakers from the audience that are impacted by the new BMR procedures.

Kathy Thibodeaux, Vice President of Property Management for Hartman Communities, stated the new procedures will delay their ability to fill BMR rental units and raised concerns about the ability to rent to employees who would otherwise qualify.  She requested Council rescind the new qualifying procedures.

Mark Hyde, representing Avalon Bay Apartment Communities, expressed concerns about not being able to continue living on the property because he is an employee.

Jeff Dennison, speaking for Felipe Barajas, stated that Mr. Barajas was also an employee of an apartment complex and would not be able to continue to live in a BMR unit under the new procedures.

Bernard Ward, Senior Vice President of Avalon Bay Apartment Communities, stated the new procedures cause impediments to renting BMR units and they are turning away otherwise qualified applicants that puts them at a competitive disadvantage.

Elaina Najeebrush, a member of the public, raised concerns about the new one year lease and ineligibility of employees of apartment complex requirements.

Irene Nazareno, a member of the public and property manager, relayed her frustration with the new BMR requirements and asked that the new procedures be lifted.

Jason Villarreal, a member of the public and property manager, expressed concern about the requirement that applicants live and work in Sunnyvale, the twelve month lease and not being able to rent BMR units to employees.

Nancy Smith, Chair of the Sunnyvale Housing and Human Services Commission, addressed concerns expressed by members of the public regarding the new BMR procedures and proposed that staff and the Commission have meetings with stakeholders and then decide what changes need to be made to the ordinance.  She noted concerns raised in a memo to the Council from Nancy Tivol.

Scott Dennison, speaking on behalf of the Tri-County Apartment Association, stated that many of the new procedures were not part of the new ordinance approved last year.  He stated the request to rescind the new procedures are all pro-tenant. 

Jack Brush, a member of the public, spoke in opposition to the new requirement to not rent to employees which would displace him and his family, and the twelve month lease requirement.

Mayor Chu Closed the Public Hearing at 10:40 p.m.

Councilmember Howe moved, and Councilmember Miller seconded, to approve the CDD study issues as presented and recommended by staff on January 25, 2005 and removing the item that is already complete.

Mayor Chu offered a friendly amendment to not delete items that have been completed from the list, but label them as completed. The amendment was accepted.

The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Fowler absent.

It was the consensus of the Council to request the City Manager to review all of the administrative procedures for the City’s  BMR rental units program and come back to the Council on March 8, 2005 with a report as to the changes made, what has been approved by the Council and staff and the reasons for the changes, and implementation of the changes.

NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS

COUNCIL

There were no comments.

STAFF

There were no comments.

INFORMATION ONLY ITEMS – Received and Filed

2005 Tentative Council Agenda Calendar (.doc file)

Parks and Recreation Commission Unapproved Minutes of January 12, 2005

ADJOURNMENT

Vice Mayor Swegles moved that the meeting be adjourned in memory of Ruth Ann Moore, wife of developer John Moore.  Mayor Chu declared the meeting adjourned at 11:05 p.m.

Susan Ramos, City Clerk