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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTC Minutes 2017-09-19 TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING — 6:00 P.M. On September 19, 2017, the Council held a special meeting as follows: CALL TO ORDER Councilmember Fredericks, Councilmember Kulik, Councilmember Thier,Vice Mayor O'Donnell, Mayor Fraser CLOSED SESSION 1) Conference with Legal Counsel—Anticipated Litigation Significant Exposure to Litigation Pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subdivision (d) of Government Code Section 54956.9: (1 Potential Case) INTERVIEWS FOR VACANCIES ON TOWN BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (Planning Commission—One vacancy for Tiburon appointee) • Roy Crumrine (Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission—Three vacancies for Tiburon appointees) • Jim Wood ADJOURNMENT—to special meeting SPECIAL MEETING — 7:30 P.M. Mayor Fraser called the special meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California. ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Fraser, Fredericks, Kulik, O'Donnell, Thier PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Manager Chanis, Town Attorney Stock, Director of Community Development Anderson, Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Barnes, Director of Administrative Services Bigall, Chief of Town Council Minutes #19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page I Police Cronin, Management Analyst Creekmore, Town Clerk Stefani ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. PRESENTATIONS On behalf of the Heritage &Arts Commission, Victoria Fong presented Jim Wood the 21sT Annual Heritage Preservation Award to honor his outstanding work and contributions to the Tiburon community. On behalf of the Council,Mayor Fraser expressed gratitude for Mr. Wood's work in the community. CONSENT CALENDAR CC-1. Town Council Minutes — Adopt minutes of August 16, 2017 regular meeting (Town Clerk Stefani) CC-2. Town Council Minutes — Adopt minutes of August 30, 2017 special meeting (Town Clerk Stefani) CC-3. Town Council Minutes—Adopt minutes of September 12,2017 special meeting(Town Clerk Stefani) CC-4. Investment Summary — Adopt report for month ending July 31, 2017 (Director of Administrative Services Bigall) CC-5. Marin County Civil Grand Jury Response — Approve Town's response to Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report: Public Engagement in Marin: A Pathway to Inclusive Government (Office of the Town Manager) CC-6. Tiburon Tourism Business Improvement District — Consideration of resolution of intention to disestablish the Tiburon Tourism Business Improvement District(Office of the Town Manager) CC-7. Trestle Trail—Consider award of contract to Oak Grove Construction for Trestle Trail project (Department of Public Works) Town Manager Chanis requested CC-7 (Trestle Trail) be removed for discussion. Councilmember Thier requested CC-5 (Marin County Civil Grand Jury Response) be removed for Town Council Minutes #19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 2 discussion, and made a correction to CC-2 (Town Council Minutes) by noting that she and Vice Mayor O'Donnell were also present at the meeting. MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Items 1-4 and 6, as amended. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Kulik VOTE: AYES: Unanimous CC-7. Trestle Trail—Consider award of contract to Oak Grove Construction for Trestle Trail project (Department of Public Works) The Town Manager thanked Jim Wood for his great work on this project. MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item No. 7, as written. Moved: Thier, seconded by O'Donnell VOTE: AYES: Unanimous CC-5. Marin County Civil Grand Jury Response — Approve Town's response to Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report: Public Engagement in Marin: A Pathway to Inclusive Government (Office of the Town Manager) Councilmember Thier requested a continuance for this item. She said she would like to work with staff on several of the public engagement recommendations that were made. Town Manager Chanis said staff could request an extension from the grand jury to have more time to review the issue. MOTION: To continue the item to a later Town Council meeting following further review with Councilmember Thier. Moved: Thier, seconded by O'Donnell VOTE: AYES:Unanimous ACTION ITEMS AI-1. Adopt Resolution and Recognition of Town Services — Honoring Sergeant Steve Hahn, Tiburon Police Department (Mayor Fraser) Chief of Police Cronin said retiring Tiburon Police Sergeant Steve Hahn had been with the Tiburon Police Department for 22 years, and he and the Mayor presented Sergeant Hahn with a resolution commemorating his time with the Town of Tiburon Police Department. Sergeant Hahn said it has been a pleasure to work, serve and live in the Tiburon community. AI-2. Appointments to Town Boards and Commissions—Consider making appointments to Planning Commission and Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission (Town Clerk Torvn Council Minutes#19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 3 Stefani) Town Clerk Stefani said there are currently 5 special vacancies on Town boards and commissions: one on the Design Review Board, one on the Planning Commission and three on the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission. She said that because only one application was received during the Design Review Board application period, staff has reopened the vacancy for applications and the Town Council will consider that appointment at a later meeting. She said the Town Council interviewed three applicants for the single Planning Commission vacancy: Daniel Amir, Roy Crumrine and Jeff Tsai; and the Town Council interviewed five applicants for the three vacancies on the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission: Bruce King, Angela McInerney, Isaac Nikfar, Leonor Noguez, and Jim Wood. Mayor Fraser inquired about the Town's procedure for appointing individuals to serve the remainder of the existing term of office. Stefani replied that if an individual serves for less than two years after being appointed to a special vacancy, that individual is eligible for automatic reappointment. Vice Mayor O'Donnell moved to nominate Daniel Amir to the Planning Commission. The Town Council deliberated the merits of the candidates. Councihnembers Kulik and Thier agreed Jeff Tsai's extensive legal knowledge and active community life would benefit the Commission. Councilmember Fredericks suggested Daniel Amir's experience with Town history would represent a good connection between policy and community on the Commission, and seconded the Vice Mayor's nomination to appoint Daniel Amir to the Planning Commission. Mayor Fraser believed Daniel Amir had demonstrated his contributions to the community in many ways and he was impressed with the way Mr. Amir had approached neighborhood land use issues and his sense of reason. He supported Daniel Amir's nomination to the Planning Commission. MOTION: To appoint Daniel Amir to the Planning Commission. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks VOTE: AYES: Unanimous Councihnembers Kulik and Thier both noted that they changed their vote because they felt it was important for this appointment to be made unanimously,and encouraged the other applicants to stay involved. The Mayor then entertained nominations for the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission. MOTION: To appoint Angela McInerney to the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks VOTE: AYES: Unanimous Town Council Minutes #19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 4 MOTION: To appoint Jim Wood to the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission. Moved: Thier, seconded by Fredericks VOTE: AYES: Unanimous MOTION: To appoint Isaac Nikfar to the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission. Moved: Thier, seconded by O'Donnell VOTE: AYES: Unanimous AI-3. Consider Financial Contribution and MOU with County — to study westbound Tiburon Boulevard widening project to relieve traffic congestion at the Highway 101 interchange Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Barnes said he was reporting on a project to investigate adding another lane at the Tiburon Boulevard/101 NB interchange. He showed one conceptual proposal of what this project could look like. Barnes said the next step is a "pre-design study", which the County of Marin has offered to do in partnership with the other affected jurisdictions. He said the cost to the Town for this study would be $62,000,and the funds would come from the Planning Area Mitigation Fund. He added that this fund is specifically for traffic problems outside of Tiburon's jurisdictional boundaries. Vice Mayor O'Donnell inquired if the Town would be obligated to be a part of the partnership for the entire reconstruction. Director Barnes said the Town would not. Mayor Fraser said he was in support of contributing money to this project,but expressed concern that the widening of the onramp by CalTrans is conditional on the CalTrans metering project moving forward, which does not have unanimous support. Mayor Fraser opened the floor for public comment. A citizen from the audience said the Town should "go for it" if it improves traffic. Christina Goebel asked how bicycles will be kept safe if there are two turn lanes onto the freeway. Director Barnes said the presentation was simply a conceptual idea, and the staff will need to determine the placement of the green bike lane. MOTION: Moved: Fredericks, seconded by Thier VOTE: AYES: Unanimous AI4. Hawthorne Undergrounding District — Consider adoption of Mitigated Negative Declaration and approval of the Preliminary Engineer's Report (Department of Public Works) Town Council Minutes #19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 5 Councilmembers "Thier and Kulik recused themselves. Town Manager Chanis gave a brief history of the project, including district boundaries and an overview of actions taken thus far by the proponents of the district to gather petitions and subscription deposits. Chanis also reminded the Town Council of the Town's policy on undergrounding districts, specifically the notion that residents are encouraged to pursue the formation of undergrounding districts,but 100%of the cost will be borne by the property owners in the district, and there is no assurance of the availability of other fiends. The Town Manager said the Council is considering the Preliminary Engineer's Report tonight,which provides a preliminary cost estimate of total project costs,determines general benefit and the special benefits assessed to each parcel.He said staff has provided a detailed analysis o_fthis estimate in the staff report. Chanis said the Council has several options before them tonight: to accept the Preliminary Engineer's Report and pursue the project, provide direction to staff about additional actions or information needed before further consideration, or to reject the report and abandon the project. Mayor Fraser opened the floor for public comment and the following people spoke: • Robert Chandler, district resident, spoke in opposition to the project and cost. • Adrian Gordon, St. Hilary Church and School, spoke in opposition to the project. • Peter Snoek, district resident, spoke in opposition to the project. • Bill Aicorn. district resident, spoke in opposition to the engineer's report and ask that the church be removed from the district. • Tracy Turner, district resident, spoke in support of the project but in opposition of the engineer's report. • Quentin Hills,Belvedere Tennis Club,spoke in support of undergrounding,but said the BTC could not support the project in its present form due to the engineer's report. • Jack Ryan, district resident, spoke in support of the project but in opposition of the engineer's report. • Cristen Goebel spoke in support of the project,but expressed concern over the fairness of the engineer's report, particularly if larger parcels are not included. • Joseph Bell spoke in support of the project,but said the engineer's report was unsatisfactory. • An unnamed district resident spoke in opposition to the project due to the imposed expense and loud construction noise. • Ken Wyle,district resident, spoke in support of the project but in opposition of the engineer's report. • John Lake spoke in opposition to the engineer's report. • Elena Stephens spoke in favor of the project,but requested the Council reject the engineer's report and instead fund construction plans so district residents can vote on the district based on a realistic cost estimate. Toi,i,n Council A4inziles#19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 6 • Leonor Noguez, St. Hilary Church, spoke in opposition to the engineer's report and asked that St. Hilary Church and School be removed from the district. • Father William Brown, St.Hilary Church and School,spoke in opposition to the project and report, and asked St. Hilary be removed from the district. • Barbara George, Community Congregational Church, spoke in opposition to the project and engineer's report. • Frank Mulberg, legal representative of St. Hilary Church and School and Community Congregational Church, spoke in opposition to the project and report. • Terry Hennessey, St. Hilary parishioner, spoke in opposition to the project and report, and commented that district residents who are also parishioners of one of the churches will be paying the assessment twice. • Richard Povak, Community Congregational Church, spoke in opposition to the project and commented that undergrounded utilities are more difficult to repair. • Bahram Seyedin-Noor spoke in support of the project for safety reasons, in opposition to the report due to the great disparity between assessment estimates. Mayor Fraser closed the floor for public comment. Councilmember Fredericks asked if the district proponents were involved in choosing the district engineer. Town Manager Chanis confirmed the proponents were involved. Fredericks asked if it was possible to remove the churches from the district. Town Attorney Stock replied that the churches could not be removed from the existing district if they received a special benefit from the district, but the Town could create a discount for these parcels. Fredericks asked if this project were to be abandoned,if a new district could be drawn that excludes the churches. Bob Whalen, bond counsel, said the district must include all parcels that are determined to have a special benefit by the district engineer.Fredericks then asked for confirmation that the churches have been determined to have a special benefit in this district. Mr. Whalen confirmed this point, and explained that this is why the churches must be included, but the Town could still adjust their assessments. Vice Mayor O'Donnell asked for further explanation about why the churches must be included. Mr. Whalen explained the analysis of several factors required to determine if a parcel would receive a special benefit, and in this case, it is the district engineer's opinion that the churches would receive special benefit, so they must be included in the district. O'Donnell asked if the churches still needed to be included if they received power from another source. Mr. Whalen said that would be a factor for consideration,but there are still safety, aesthetic and view factors to consider. Mayor Fraser asked if the district could be redrawn if the Town hired a new engineer. Mr. Whalen replied that redrawing the district would require the petition process to begin again, but if the Town Council Minutes#19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 7 proponents of the new district left out specially benefited parcels on the periphery,they would still need to be included in the district. Fredericks asked if the original petitions were signed with the awareness that costs had increased and the general benefit figure had been reduced. Chanis explained that the first petitions circulated included a cost estimate of$6.3 million and no mention of general benefit. When it was deemed necessary to obtain additional petitions, the second round of petitions included a revised cost estimate and an early estimate of the general benefit, which was a higher figure than it is now. Fredericks expressed concern with how contentious this project is. She said both sides are contesting industry standards, many people cannot afford their assessments, and there seems to be a misunderstanding of availability of government funds. Fredericks believed the report's cost estimate is credible, as projects often escalate in costs, particularly for a project so complex. She further reiterated that any contribution or expenditure from the Town would be using Tiburon taxpayer money, and could deprive the rest of the community of a broader spectrum of benefits. She felt the proponents of the district had a responsibility to build consensus in the district, and the lack of consensus in this district created a great risk of litigation and risk to Tiburon taxpayer money. She did not feel bringing this project to a vote would set a good precedent for future districts. She said her conscience to protect taxpayer money, the community discomfort and potential consequences all helped her to decide that she would vote to abandon this project. Vice Mayor- O'Donnell expressed support of undergrounding districts. He said he would like to pause this discussion and work with the staff to improve the report. He believed the proponents had unrealistic expectations that the costs of this project will decrease, and said it would be better for them to expect a higher figure and then work to reduce costs as the project goes forward. O'Donnell also questioned the logic of the report in the apportionment of the general and special benefits. He did not believe the general benefit should be so low, and did not agree with the methodology used to determine special benefits for individual parcels or the churches. He agreed there was a great disparity among the assessments, and he hoped the churches could be assessed more fairly. He volunteered to work with the staff and the engineers on these issues, and he hoped the formation of a different formula could be brought back to the community for a vote. Mayor Fraser also expressed support of undergrounding districts. He agreed with the rest of the Council about the proponents' unrealistic expectations that the cost of the project would go down, but said he would like to see the engineer validate those figures to the satisfaction of the community. I-le was concerned about the dramatic increase in cost between estimates and the apportionment methodology. Fraser said he would consider funding a set of engineered plans so the Council and the community can be confident in the real cost of the project. He agreed with the Vice Mayor that the report's determination of general benefit was quite low, and agreed with Councilmember Fredericks that the decision to contribute to the district cannot be taken lightly as Tiburon taxpayer money is being spent. He said he would support putting the project on Toivn Council Minutes #19-2017 September 19, 2017 Page 8 hold while Vice Mayor O'Donnell works with staff and the engineers to solve some of these issues with the preliminary report. Fredericks said she still felt uneasy about the risks to the Town, but she trusted her fellow councilmembers' vision to make it work. She said if something can be done to lead this project to a positive outcome, she could withhold her objection and support further exploration. Town Attorney Stock said the Council's recommendation is feasible, and this item can be brought back to the Town Council once staff is able to work with Vice Mayor O'Donnell to further refine the estimate with the assessment engineer. Town Manager Chanis confirmed staff is available to work with Vice Mayor O'Donnell at an accelerated pace. MOTION: To direct staff and Vice Mayor O'Donnell to reconsider the report based on discussions and recommendations made by the Town Council. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks VOTE: AYES: Fraser, Fredericks, O'Donnell DISQUALIFIED: Kulik, Thier TOWN COUNCIL REPORTS None. TOWN MANAGER REPORT None. WEEKLY DIGESTS Received. ADJOURNMENT ii There being no further business before the Town Cou it the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Fraser adjourned the meeting at 10:30 p.m. i JIIVI/'FIAAYO ` ATTEST: I R LEA STEF NI, TOWN CLERK Townn Council Minutes #19-2017 Seplember 19, 2017 Page 9