Peter Bassett, Community Outreach Coordinator, gave a brief overview of the staff report, the background of the Study and recommendations presented by the Task Force. He referred to the current noticing procedures as noted in Attachment A. He noted the objectives of the Task Force, the number of meetings held and the development for Outreach Guidelines and targeted areas. He provided the Task Force and staff recommendations and requested comments from the Commission to be presented to City Council.

Comm. Swegles commented that the $10,000 estimated cost for the additional noticing seems high. Ms. Ryan responded that it is based on the current cost and with increased noticing, there would be increased inquiries requiring additional staff time. Comm. Swegles commented that the previous study issue was due to public concerns over not receiving notices. Ms. Ryan commented that noticing has been increased since that study issue.

Comm. Swegles asked staff whether the Outreach Task Force would be an on-going committee. Mr. Bassett responded that the formation of the Task Force was not meant to be on-going but the idea can be presented to the Council. Comm. Swegles asked staff about the composition of the Task Force. Mr. Bassett responded that there were Boards & Commissions members and city staff.

Vice Chair Moylan commented that the Community Participation sub-element should be updated and suggested that the Socio-Economic sub-element should be updated first to be a useful tool. Ms. Ryan responded that the Community Participation does not rely on the Socio-Economic element data and also noted current data is available from the Census 2000.

Vice Chair Moylan asked staff based on the targeted areas whether the Task Force discussed applying the outreach efforts to recruitment of Boards and Commissions. Mr. Bassett responded that it was not discussed as it was not part of the guidelines provided by Council. Vice Chair Moylan commented that it appears that the Task Force's recommendation could be applied to the Boards & Commissions recruitment.

Comm. Chu stated that he is a member of the Task Force and commented that the comments made by Vice Chair Moylan were discussed about increasing advertisement in some areas such as prominent display of the Boards & Commissions recruitment. He also provided a breakdown of the additional cost which is attached in the staff report noting that the Task Force considered the cost to be minor to have the additional outreach to the neighborhood.

Comm. Simons was pleased with the cost estimates provided in the staff report. He asked staff if there were any discussions about the savings gained by the additional notification noting the Wright Avenue project and the Crematory on Sunnyvale Avenue notification issue. Staff noted changes in noticing practices since those projects were approved. Comm. Chu added that the rationale for the additional outreach is to ensure broader outreach to neighbors to alleviate complaints about the lack of notification.

Comm. Simons further asked staff about additional outreach efforts on public projects such as street widening or permanent modification or change in level of service. Mr. Bassett responded that for major public improvements outreach efforts were discussed and the result was to have a checklist to make sure affected citizens are notified.

Comm. Simons suggested creating a threshold to trigger level of service additional notice.

Comm. Chu commented that Comm. Simons' suggestion was discussed and the Task Force suggested that the best alternative and cost effective method is a newspaper advertisement in the San Jose Mercury News.

Comm. Swegles asked if the City is looking for funding to support the additional notification cost. Ms. Ryan responded that it depends on the Commission recommendation for any funding source. She added that one of the concepts was raising fees to cover the cost but this also has controversies. Comm. Swegles suggested increasing the fee with $100 to cover the cost if it is a possibility.

Comm. Simons suggested using temporary roadway signs. Mr. Bassett responded that his suggestion was brought up but was determined to be more of a hazard and could cause accidents. Comm. Simons responded that from his experience, he finds this notification effective and that the issue of danger could be the speed.

There was no one in the public to speak on the item.

Comm. Swegles offered a friendly amendment to have an on-going outreach committee. Ms. Ryan advised the Commission that there is added staff cost supporting a new committee.

Comm. Chu accepted and added that added notification should include Neighborhood Associations and Home Owners Associations.

Comm. Chu commented that he volunteered for the outreach task force as he supports expanding the notification process especially on development projects. He stated that additional notification is improvement and acknowledged that to have a on-going task force is good but funding is an issue.

Comm. Swegles supported the motion and commented that it is important to continue the task force. He stated that giving the leaders of the neighborhood associations a chance to voice their opinion is great opportunity.

Vice Chair Moylan supported the motion and commented that the additional recommendation will cost money but the additional cost would or may save a possible lawsuit, therefore, a cost savings for the city.

Ms. Ryan noted that the item will be considered by City Council on October 21, 2003.

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