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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTC Minutes 2015-01-21TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Doyle called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California. ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Doyle, Fraser, Fredericks, O'Donnell, Tollini Town Manager Curran, Town Attorney Danforth, Director of Administrative Services Bigall, Director of Community Development Anderson, Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Barnes, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi Prior to the regular meeting, the Council met in closed session, beginning at 6 p.m., to discuss the following: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW (Section 54957) Titles: Town Manager CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL --EXISTING LITIGATION (Paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9) Mittelman v. Town of Tiburon (CIV 1404795) ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION, IF ANY Mayor Doyle said there was nothing to report from closed session. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There was no public comment, however, Mayor Doyle spoke about what a "family" the Town is, both at a personal level in his case, as well as a staff level, and how the sudden, unexpected passing of Planning Secretary Connie Cashman had affected everyone so deeply. Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page I �— Mayor Doyle praised Connie and said a few words about her. He said that Connie had served as the Planning Secretary for 14 years. He said she was well-read and astute, with a great sense of humor; also that she was a terrific proofreader. The Mayor said Connie loved sports, loved being a wife, mother and grandmother, and loved working for the Town. Mayor Doyle said we are so very sad to lose our co-worker and friend. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Town Council Minutes —Adopt minutes of November 19, 2014 regular meeting (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) 2. Town Council Minutes —Adopt minutes of December 3, 2014 regular meeting (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) 3. Vacancies on Town Boards, Commissions and Committees —Announce pending vacancies in 2015 (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) 4. Town Investment Summary — Adopt report for December 2014 (Director of Administrative Services Bigall) 5. Town Audit Report —Accept report for FY ending June 30, 2014 (Director of Administrative Services Bigall) 6. Retirement of Police Capt. Hutton — Adopt resolution commending Capt. David Hutton for 33 years of service upon his retirement from the Town of Tiburon (Police Chief Cronin) 7. Retirement of Building Inspector Dailey — Adopt resolution commending Building Inspector George Dailey on his retirement from the Town of Tiburon (Director of Community Development Anderson) 8. Annual Development Fee Report— Receive annual report on the status of the Town's Development Impact Fees pursuant to the California Government Code (Director of Community Development Anderson) 9. Street Impact Fees — Receive required five-year report of the Town's Street Impact Fees and adopt resolution making the required findings pursuant to California Government Code (Director of Community Development Anderson) Mayor Doyle asked if anyone wanted to remove an item from the Consent Calendar. Town Clerk Crane Iacopi said that a letter had arrived at 4:52 p.m. which had been placed on the Council dais as "Late Mail". Town Attorney Danforth noted that the author of the letter was Chris Skelton from Riley Hurd's office, and said that his letter contained comments on Consent Calendar Item Nos. 8 and 9. Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 2 Mayor Doyle removed these items for discussion. j MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1 through 7, as written. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fraser Vote: AYES: Unanimous Consent Calendar 8. Annual Development Fee Report — Receive annual report on the status of the Town's Development Impact Fees pursuant to the California Government Code (Director of Community Development Anderson) 9. Street Impact Fees — Receive required five-year report of the Town's Street Impact Fees and adopt resolution making the required findings pursuant to California Government Code (Director of Community Development Anderson) Mr. Skelton addressed the Council. He said he spoke on behalf of the Peterson as well as out of personal interest. He said that the agenda items pertaining to fees were appropriate for public discourse, especially the Street Impact Fee. He said that this fee did not appear to be as reasonably related to costs as it could be. He suggested that the Council might want to explore other ways to calculate its cost recovery in order to bridge this analytical gap. As an example, Mr. Skelton said that a 12,000 square foot home that utilized cheap materials might represent more of an impact that a 3,000 square foot home that utilized high-end materials. Due to the way the fees are calculated by the Town (by permit valuation) the 3,000 square foot home might pay higher fees than the other home. Skelton thought it might be more appropriate to tie the impact to a data point, such as square footage. He said that the City of Sacramento, for instance, had looked at setting an arbitrary $5 per square foot valuation for projects. Councilmember O'Donnell asked whether Mr. Skelton was asking the Council to retroactively consider changing the Town's fee structure and ordinance for the benefit of the Petersons. Mr. Skelton replied, "not at all"; that he was "not allowed" to do so. But he said the Mitigation Fee Act requires the Town to make findings reasonably related to the impacts, and he offered by way of example the Peterson project, where calculating fees prospectively may not relate. Council added its comments to Item Nos. 8 & 9. Vice Mayor Tollini said that she would not object if the Council wished to discuss the matter further, however, she said that tying the street impact fee to the project cost was more reasonably related, in her opinion. According to Tollini, ahigher cost project is more likely to have more trucks and more people on the site, specific to the project. She said that a square footage valuation would not necessarily take into account the complexities of a high-end project. Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 3 -- Councilmember Fredericks said that the Council had visited this issue before and had indicated its concurrence with the Town's fee structure and how it was determined. However, she said that a discussion item might be added to the upcoming retreat agenda, for an exploration of how other agencies handle their fee structure. Councilmember Fraser and Mayor Doyle said they agreed with their colleagues' commentary. MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 8 and 9, as written. Moved: Fredericks, seconded by O'Donnell Vote: AYES: Unanimous ACTION ITEMS 1. Town Council Board and Committee Assignments —Consider appointments to 2015 Town Council committees and board representation (Mayor Doyle) Mayor Doyle asked if any member of the Council wanted to make changes to their current committee assignments. Vice Mayor Tollini said she would like to serve on the Town's ad hoc budget committee. Councilmember Fredericks said she would step down in favor of Tollini, or if Councilmember O'Donnell was also stepping down, she would continue to serve. A consensus was reached that Vice Mayor Tollini and Councilmember O'Donnell would make up the 2015-16 budget committee. Councilmember O'Donnell said that he was unable to attend the Water Emergency Transit Authority Citizen's Advisory Committee meetings because they are held in San Francisco, during the regular workday. Town Manager Curran suggested that a local citizen representative might be appointed in lieu of a Councilmember. The Council concurred with this recommendation. [NOTE: Since the January 21 Council meeting, staff was informed by the WETA that the Citizen's Advisory Committee is no longer active and therefore no representation is required of the Town.] The Town Manager noted that the staff report also contained a recommendation to sunset various ad hoc committees — Peninsula Sirens and Lyford Drive Parking Lot, as well as add an ad hoc Attorney Search Committee, and the recommendation to add retired Capt. Dave Hutton to the roster as delegate to the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA) on a volunteer basis, under the auspices of appointed representatives Chief Cronin and Vice Mayor Tollini. Council concurred with these recommendations. MOTION: To adopt the Council Committee Appointments list, as amended. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Tollini Vote: AYES: Unanimous Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 4 PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. 2015 Fee Schedules —Recommendation to adopt fee schedules for the Community Development Department and Public Works Department (Director of Community Development) In his report, Director Anderson said that Town staff is proposing revisions to the fee schedules used by the Community Development Department and by the Town Engineer/Public Works Department. He said the revisions are a mixture of fees for permit types not previously existing, increases in fees when warranted, updates of state and county -imposed fees, and changes to reflect new state law. Anderson said that these proposed revisions to the fee schedules are highlighted in the exhibits to the staff report. He noted that the fee schedules were most recently updated (with minor changes only) in January 2013. Councilmember Fredericks asked about the large initial fee for maps listed on page 1 of the schedule. Anderson explained that the change was to the initial fee for subdivision maps. He said that applicants are required to file a tentative map, and later a parcel map. He said staff recommended reversing the amount of the charges because in fact, there is more time spent during the review of parcel maps, rather than tentative maps, initially. Councilmember Fraser asked whether any of the proposed fee revisions were mandated by law. Anderson said that they were not mandated; rather some are set by the State (such as Fish & Game fees) for CEQA review. Anderson said that the other fee increases were included in the DPW schedules to reflect current hourly billing rates. Fraser said that he had two surprises recently concerning fees. By way of example, he said he wished to remove a dead cypress tree on his property and discovered that it would cost $925 to physically remove the tree, plus a $170 permit fee on top of that. Fraser wondered whether some of the fees might be "add-ons" or whether they were for work that is simply part of a staff member's job description. He went on to say that the Town is a fiscally responsible agency with a balanced budget, and that at the end of the day, "we're in the customer service business". He said he hears this comment from members of the public as well, particularly with regard to plan check fees, design review, and the like. Fraser said it seemed that we are charging people for "what we do" and that it seemed like an "a la carte" environment. Councilmember O'Donnell countered with the comment that many of the Town's fees are "user fees" and are necessary for a number of reasons. He gave an example of what if Fraser's neighbors objected to removal of the tree; then, the town would have to get involved on his behalf to review the matter. And other fees, like the per page copy fee, O'Donnell said was a way to pay for a staff member's time to copy a requested file. Mayor Doyle opened the public hearing. L_ Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 5 Chris Skelton said he agreed with Councihnember Fraser's comments and reiterated his statement that the Mitigation Fee Act says that fees cannot exceed the costs of the service you provide. He said the Town was not in the revenue -generating business, and that the Council should look at the data that supports its fees. He said if they are based on fees collected from past users, he said that he is not sure that material has been provided to support this. Councihnember O'Donnell clarified that fees are sometimes averaged out to recover costs. He said that sometimes the Town may be on the plus side, and sometimes it may be on the minus side, but it averages out. Councilmember Fredericks said that she was sure that what goes into the costing out of fees was done on a legal basis. Town Attorney Danforth said that Councilmember O'Donnell's comments were correct. She said that the Town was allowed by law to collect, over time, the amount of fees it needed to provide services and recover costs; she said these fees were recovered by department and then could be allocated. Mayor Doyle closed the public hearing. He said this was an interesting topic to discuss further at the Town Council/staff retreat. MOTION: To adopt the updated Community Develop fee schedule resolution, and the updated Department of Public Works fee schedule resolution, as written. Moved: Fredericks, seconded by Tollini Vote: AYES: Unanimous 2. 2015 Hourly Billing Rate Schedule — Recommendation to Update Hourly Billing Rate Schedule for Town Personnel (Director of Community Development Anderson) Director Anderson said that the Town periodically reviews and updates its Hourly Rate Schedule for Town Personnel to reflect salary and benefit adjustments, as well as position changes. He said the hourly rate schedule was last updated in January 2008, seven years ago, and has not been updated since the recession. Anderson said the hourly rates set forth in the schedule represent the straight hourly cost to the Town of each employee in terms of salary and benefits. He said it is used to calculate recovery costs for individual staff hours spent on typical permit processing, research, or other tasks involving recoverable costs. He said that staff had prepared a draft resolution adopting the revised hourly rate schedule based on current positions, salaries and benefits. Councihnember O'Donnell asked whether the hourly rates for Town staff were in line with other cities and towns in Marin. Town Manager Curran said that they were, by town policy, linked to regional salaries. Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 11, 2015 Page 6 Mayor Doyle opened the public hearing. There was no public comment. Mayor Doyle closed the public hearing. MOTION: To adopt revised hourly rate schedule resolution, as written. Moved: Fredericks, seconded by Fraser Vote: AYES: Unanimous 3. 110 Solano Street —Consider appeal of Planning Commission review of permit to operate a portion of an existing two-family dwelling as a Seasonal Rental Unit (Community Development Department) — continued to March 4, 2015 meeting Owners/Applicants: Courtney and Sandy Anderson Appellants: Cathy and Joe Haraburda Address: 110 Solano Street Assessor Parcel No.: 059-143-35 TOWN COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmembers Fraser and O'Donnell reported on the Yellow Bus Challenge 2.0 committee. Fraser said that the results had been received from the Godbe survey and that the plan was to hold a public meeting on February 24 to present a plan to the community. He said Stacy Achuck was heading up the marketing committee (on behalf of the school district) and had done tremendous work, along with the other volunteers. Fraser He said that six [new) routes were planned and that Chief Cronin had been working very hard doing drive-arounds to study the proposed stops, lines of sight, and other important considerations. He said the presentation promised to be a good one. Councilmember O'Donnell said the only thing remaining was the cost, which would also be discussed at the meeting, for Council's approval. On another topic, Mayor Doyle said there was continuing interest in having a kayak launch ramp in town; also he had received a letter from "Fitness America" about providing fitness equipment at Blackie's Pasture. He said he would like to agendize these items for a future Council meeting. Councilmember Fredericks said they sounded like good items to discuss at the retreat. Mayor Doyle said he was hoping the Council might discuss them sooner. Councilmember Fraser said he, too, would like to discuss these items sooner rather than later. Vice Mayor Tollini wanted to know more about the kayak launch area; Doyle said that it might even be a temporary structure. Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 7 TOWN MANAGER REPORT WEEKLY DIGESTS • Town Council Weekly Digests January 9 & 16, 2015 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Doyle adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. in memory of Connie Cashman. FRANK X. DOYLE, MAYOR r1161MIq DIANE CRANE COPI, TOWN CLERK Town Council Minutes #02-2015 January 21, 2015 Page 8