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Home My WebLink AboutTC Min 2000-02-02 ~ '"' ,--. TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES CALL TO .oRDER Mayor Gram called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:34 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2,2000, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California. A. INTERVIEWS - (MARIN COMMISSION ON AGING - Tiburon Representative) 1) Mary Rogers, 7:15 p.m. B. ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Bach, Gram, Hennessy, Matthews, Thompson PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Attorney Danforth, Planning Director Anderson, Finance Director Stranzl, Town Engineer Schwartz, Superintendent of Public Works Iacopi, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi C. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTION (If any) Mayor Gram said no action was taken in closed session. /~ D. PUBLIC OUESTIONS AND COMMENTS None. E. COUNCIL. COMMISSION & COMMITTEE REPORTS Councilmember Matthews said that TCI Channel 31 was featuring a report on Tiburon during the month of February. He said that Mayor Gram and CounciImember Thompson had both done an excellent job explaining the Town's economic activity and growth in the 1/2 hour program. 2) CITYOF BELVEDERE'S REED WATERSHED DRAINAGE DIVERSION PROJECT - (Council ad Hoc Committee Report - Mayor GramlCouncilmember Bach) Mayor Gram said the committee had met with Belvedere representatives and had successfully worked out the issues raised by the Town concerning the proposed grants of easement for drainage diversion project. Both Mayor Gram and CounciImember Bach said there was a lot of good will on the part of Belvedere to resolve the issues. 3) BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE - (Status Report - Vice Mayor Thompson) Vice Mayor Thompson said the committee had met on several occasions and were prepared to make their recommendations to Council. Thompson suggested that the committee might have more projects to oversee and advise the Town on once the report was complete. -- Town Council Minutes # 1183 February 2, 2000 Page 1 ~ ,-.., ~ -- F. 4) 5) 6) CONSENT CALENDAR MONTHLY TOWN INVESTMENT SUMMARY - As of December 31, 1999 - (Accept) AMICUS BRIEF REQUEST - Ame/co Electric v. City of Thousand Oaks (in Division Six of the Second Appellate District Court, Civ. No. B129406) - (Approve) NED'S WAY - a) Vacate a portion of 40-foot wide Access & Utility Easement - (Resolution) b) Accept Quitclaim Deed for portion of Street as Public Roadway - (Resolution) PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN EASEMENT - Portion of87 & 91 Via Los Altos; La Cresta Roadway and Utility Easement - (Consider Acceptance of a portion of said Easement for Pedestrian Ingress & Egress Purposes) - (Resolution) 7) MOTION: Moved: Vote: To approve Consent Calendar Items 4 through 7 above. Bach, Seconded by Hennessy AYES: Unanimous G. APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS. COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES 8) MARIN COMMISSION ON AGING - (One Vacancy) MOTION: To nominate Mary Rogers for the Tiburon representative to the Commission. Moved: Matthews, Seconded by Hennessy Vote: AYES: Unanimous 9) PARKS & OPEN SPACE COMMISSION - (One Vacancy) 10) DESIGN REVIEW BOARD - (One Vacancy) Town Clerk Crane Iacopi said that one more application had been received since the agenda was prepared. Council deferred taking action on Items 9 & 10 and directed the Town Clerk to schedule an interview with the applicant, Patricia Scott, for February 16. H. NEW BUSINESS 11) STREET IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FY99-00 - (Authorization to Utilize Traffic Impact Funds for additional streets in current fiscal year) Finance Director StranzI said that $115,000 in Street Impact Fees (STIP) had been received since the beginning of the fiscal year, thereby allowing additional streets to be added to the FY99-00 Street Improvement Program. Councilmember Matthews noted that the Town estimated receiving a total of$175,000 (in STIP funding) by the end of the fiscal year. Council authorized Stranzl to increase the total amount budgeted for the current year's Street Improvement Program according to whatever was the maximum available at the time the project went out to bid. Councilmember Bach said there was no incentive to hold the funds in reserve. In response to comments by the Council, Town Engineer Schwartz said the seven (7) additional streets listed in the Staff report had been added to the list because they were in the worst shape. Town Council Minutes #1183 February 2, 2000 Page 2 . -- Schwartz also informed Council that no work would be done to streets where heavy construction was currently underway until after it was completed. Vice Mayor Thompson asked the Town Engineer whether the technical data compiled to support the 1996 streets tax ballot measure was being utilized. Town Engineer Schwartz answered affirmatively. 12) CPUC WORKSHOP ON RULE 20A FUNDING FOR UNDERGROUNDING OF UTILITIES - (Discussion of Support for Continued Funding) Vice Mayor Thompson said he had spoken to a representative of the PUC who had informed him that a "position paper" from the Town would not be necessary until after the hearings on February 11 & 12, 2000. Thompson informed Council that he would attend the hearings on the Town's behalf 13) COUNTY-WIDE BAN ON JET SKIS - (Conceptual Consideration of Ban on Jet Ski Use in Town Waters) Town Attorney Danforth said the matter was before Council for discussion and conceptual consideration. She said one of the questions, which would have to be addressed if the Town adopted such an ordinance, was the issue of enforcement within Town waters. -- Danforth said there were two additional considerations: a) the advancement of technology which could reduce the noise and pollution levels of the watercraft and b) the fact that the County had already been sued over the recently adopted ordinance. On the,Iatter point, Danforth recommended that the Town take a "wait and see" approach before adopting a similar ordinance. Town Attorney Danforth also stated that no other city in Marin County had yet adopted the ordinance. Vice Mayor Thompson noted that if the Town did not pass an ordinance banning jet skis it would leave Tiburon waters open to incursion by the vehicles by default. Councilmember Matthews questioned how long the litigation would take to be resolved and also mused that there was not as much need to address the issue during the winter months. Mayor Gram opened and closed the public hearing. There was no public comment. Mayor Gram said he would like to ban jet skis but not at this point. Councilmember Bach said he would prefer to wait. Councilmember Thompson said there had been no Richardson Bay Regional Agency meeting since December and that he would raise some of the same issues at the next meeting. 14) DOWNTOWN MAIN STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - (Impacts upon Business Community) Planning Director Anderson said the contractor had just completed its 8th workday out of a r- projected 50. He said the Town Manager was requesting a waiver of the sign permit review Town Counci/Minutes #1183 February 2, 2000 Page 3 .' r process during the project in order to assist the downtown merchants. Anderson said the ad hoc review process would discontinue as soon as the project was completed. Councilmember Bach said there were two issues: 1) additional street signage and 2) additional signs in store windows. He said the Town had put up signs and that the Chamber of Commerce was planning to erect a sign describing the project. Town Engineer Schwartz added that the Contractor, Maggiora & Ghilotti, was also planning to erect a sign with the dates of the project and their office telephone number. Councilmember Thompson said is was a great idea to provide street signage but that some store owners on Main Street had a history of making the street look "trashy" with window signage. Vice Mayor said the sense of the Council was not to allow more storefront signage, but Councilmember Bach said he thought the Town should help the merchants as much as it could during the project. Town Attorney Danforth asked how long the sign permit process normally took. Planning Director Anderson said the Town could waive the design review portion of the process but keep a log of "over the counter" approvals. - During public hearing, Mrs. Trieber said she and her husband had experienced a 75% drop in sales and would have to close their store unless they could put up red sales signs. Councilmember Matthews asked Council what the downside would be of granting such a request for 90 days. Councilmember Bach said the reluctance was due to past abuses of the Town's sign permit process but said he thought it would be all right to allow the current request as long as the period had a sunset and there were penalties attached. Councilmember Hennessy concurred. Councilmember Thompson asked Staff to "keep it tasteful. " Mayor Gram asked Mrs. Trieber asked if the Town could count on them to remove the signs at the end of the period. She said it would not be a problem. Town Attorney Danforth suggested that Staff include an acknowledgment on the form that any signs left up would result in a specific fine. Council concurred. L STAFF & TOWN MANAGER REPORTS 15) DOG WASTE DISPENSERS FOR TffiURON PARKS & MULTI-USE PATH - (Status Report) Planning Director Anderson said the Parks & Open Space Commission and Superintendent of __ Public Works had recommended an initial $6,000 outlay to install 52 "Dizpoz-a- Scoop" Town Council Minutes #1183 Febrnary 2, 2000 Page 4 - - .. /""' dispensers with bags in the Town's parks and along the multi-use path. He said the matter would come before Council during the budget review process. Mayor Gram asked whether the Town could adopt a dog-licensing requirement, which could help defray the cost of installing and maintaining these dispensers. Town Attorney Danforth said she could research the question. During public hearing, Maureen Meikle, 45 Harbor Oak Drive, said she had received a grant from the County Open Space District to study the problem of dog waste along the fire road in St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. She said she had looked in detail at the cost of installing the "Dizpoz-a-Scoop" and said there were discrepancies in the Town's cost estimates. She said she preferred the alternate bag considered by the POSC. Mayor Gram agreed with Ms. Meikle that the "Dizpoz-a-Scoop" bags would not work well for large dogs. Mayor Gram said he had been using regular "zip lock" bags for years and that they worked well. Ms. Meikle said that Bell Market currently donated plastic bags to the Old St. Hilary's Open Space District and that Mill V alley Refuse Service had agreed to pick up the disposal cans free of charge. -- Superintendent of Public Works Iacopi said the Town needed to find a clean, safe solution for the disposal of dog waste. He said the problem with regular plastic bags was that dog owners did not tie them off and that they spilIed open in the collection cans. He said his men were becoming sick from the smell and having to handle runny waste when they collected and emptied the 48-gallon cans. Iacopi said the Public Works Corporation Yard was beginning to smell like a dog kennel. Mayor Gram said the Town wanted to do something about the problem by investigating a way to pay for the new disposal system and to determine the best way to dispose of the dog waste. Councilmember Hennessy directed Superintendent Iacopi to get a cost estimate from Mill Valley Refuse to pick up the cans instead of having it done by the Town employees. Mr. Iacopi said the last estimate he had received for a thrice-weekly pick-up was $70,000 per year. Councilmember Hennessy asked for further analysis during the budget process. 16) HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE - Review of ABAG Regional Housing Needs Determinations - (Planning Director) Planning Director Anderson said the ABAG study called for the Town to provide for up to 150 units by 2006. He said the last ABAB report in 1988 had called for 394, and stated that Staff and the Planning Commission had not found the current numbers to be unreasonable. Anderson said the Town would be required to zone property and have general plan provisions so that this number of units could be built. He said that did not mean they would necessarily be built. r Town Council Minutes #1183 February 2, 2000 Page 5 - - r- Anderson said Staff and the Planning Commission did not recommend an appeal of the findings. Mayor Gram said even if the Town did not appeal the findings it was important to comment on them in order not to lose [the Town's] right of appeal. Planning Director Anderson said he believed that the comment period had been extended from the end of the month. He said there were 175 buildable lots left within the Town limits, not including the Martha Company property, which was currently in th~ County of Marin. In response to a question from Councilmember Hennessy, Anderson said that 67 below market rate units were included within the total number of units allocated by ABAG. J. COMMUNICATIONS 17) TffiURON FERRY FEEDER BUS ROUTE NO. I I - (Letter from Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District to Town Manager, dated January 20, 2000) Council directed Staff to send a copy of the letter to CAL/TRANS and Little Reed Heights' HOA since Golden Gate was changing their ferry feeder route to avoid the difficulty of exiting onto Tiburon Boulevard at Stewart Drive. -- 18) MARIN COUNTY TRANSPORTATION FUNDING BALLOT MEASURE - November 2000 Election - (Board of Supervisors & Congestion Management Agency Actions to Support) Mayor Gram said the Congestion Management Agency had "fast-tracked" the measure in case a bill currently before the State Legislature passed which would allow a majority vote on transportation-related measures. He said the new Marin County ballot measure included provisions for bicycle, bus service, and SMART (train) service. K. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Gram adjourned the meeting at 8:43 p.m., sine die. 0/ TOM GRAM, MAYOR ATTEST: s/ DIANE CRANE IACOPI, TOWN CLERK r-- Town Council Minutes #1183 February 2, 2000 Page 6 - - -