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Home My WebLink AboutTC Minutes 2013-04-17TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor O'Donnell called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California. POLI, CA 1J, PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Doyle, Fraser, Fredericks, O'Donnell Collins (excused) PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Manager Curran, Town Attorney Danforth, Director of Community Development Anderson, Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Nguyen, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi Prior to the regular meeting, the Council met in closed session and conducted an interview. CLOSED SESSION - 6:45 p.m. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL--ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9: 1 claim INTERVIEW - 7:15 p.m. (For vacancy on Heritage & Arts Commission) • Phillip Ramirez, 111 Ned's Way CLOSED SESSION ANNOUNCEMENT, IF ANY Mayor O'Donnell said there was nothing to report on the matter discussed. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page I PRESENTATION Marin Clean Energy award of "Green Power Community" designation to Town of Tiburon (Justin Kudo, Marin Clean Energy) Justin Kudo, representing Marin Clean Energy (MCE), said the Town of Tiburon exceeds state energy usage requirements through its participation in the Marin Energy Authority (MEA) and therefore is eligible to become a Green Partner Community, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mr. Kudo said the Town of Tiburon was ranked No. 13 in Green Power Communities nationwide and he presented the Council with two signs that could be displayed at the entrance of the town to infonn residents of this designation.. Mayor O'Donnell asked Mr. Kudo how many Tiburon residents had signed on to Marin Clean Energy. Mr. Kudo did not have the exact numbers available, however, he described the levels of energy available to residents through MCE. Mr. Kudo noted that he had worked with Councilmember Collins who, he said, had been a "strong voice" on the Marin Energy Authority Board. The Council thanked him for his presentation and then took several photos to send to Councilmember Collins to memorialize the occasion. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Town Council Minutes - Adopt minutes of March 6, 2013 meeting (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) 2. Lyford Drive Parking Project - Adopt resolution accepting project as complete and authorize filing of Notice of Completion (Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Nguyen) 3. League of California Cities - Authorize Vice Mayor Fredericks to act as voting delegate for proposed League of California Cities Bylaws Amendments (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) 4. Downtown Restrooms - Approve agreement with Sam's Anchor Cafe for maintenance of downtown restrooms and contribution to restroom renovation (Town Attorney Danforth) Town Manager Curran asked the Council to remove Item No. 4 from the Consent Calendar. She said that while there was agreement between the parties, the actual written document had not been received in time for the meeting tonight. She said it would be on a subsequent agenda. Councilmember Fraser asked to remove Item No. 1. He made a correction on page 4. Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page 2 MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 2 and 3, as written. Moved: Fraser, seconded by Doyle Vote: AYES: Unanimous ABSENT: Collins (excused) MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1, as amended. Moved: Fredericks, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous ABSENT: Collins (excused) ACTION ITEMS 1. Marie Telecommunications Agency - Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing the Mayor to Execute the First Amendment to the Agreement of the Formation of the Marin Telecommunications Agency (Town Attorney Danforth) Town Attorney Danforth gave the report. She said that in 1998, the County and all cities and towns in Marin except Novato executed an Agreement of Formation creating the Marin Telecommunications Agency ("MTA"). The MTA negotiates and administers franchise agreements with various service providers. The Formation Agreement provides that the net franchise fees received by the MTA (i.e., the total franchisee fees received less the MTA's operating budget) shall be distributed to the members based on each member's percentage share of the total number of subscribers to the MTA franchise. Thus, under the Formation Agreement, the Town's percentage share of the net franchise fees paid by Comcast equals the Town's percentage of total Comcast subscribers living in the MTA's jurisdiction. The same distribution provisions govern MTA's distribution of AT&T franchise fees. Danforth said that AT&T and Comcast now operate their video programs in Marin under state franchises granted by the CPUC pursuant to the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (known as "DIVCA"). Under DIVCA, state video franchisees are not required to report their number of subscribers to local jurisdictions. Instead they must report their gross revenues for the purposes of calculating the local 5% franchise fee. She said that AT&T has refused to provide subscriber numbers to the MTA, thus the MTA has been unable to distribute the AT&T franchise fees to its members. Initially, the MTA received a very small amount of franchise fees from AT&T, but these fees have increased significantly and the accumulated funds now exceed $440,000. While Comcast has continued to report subscriber numbers to the MTA, it need not do so, according to the Town Attorney. Attorney Danforth said that the solution that the MTA Board arrived at was to change the formation agreement to reflect revenue instead of usage numbers, and that on December 12, 2012, the MTA's Board of Directors approved the First Amendment to the Agreement of Formation of the MTA. The Amendment will allow MTA to distribute the AT&T franchise fees and ensure that there will be no future delay in distributing Comcast's franchise fees, according to the Town Attorney. Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page 3 Specifically, Danforth said that the First Amendment provides that the distribution of net franchise fees to the members of the MTA will be based on each franchisee's revenue report. Each member will receive franchise fees based on the gross revenues generated by each video provider in its jurisdiction. She said this change would result in a benefit to the Town of Tiburon of several thousand dollars. Danforth said that the MTA's new method of distributing Comcast franchise fees between its members will benefit Tiburon by several thousand dollars. She said Exhibit 3 showed the Town's quarterly distribution will increase by more than 13 She said the Town will also receive a lump sum payment of $558 as its share of the accumulated AT&T franchise fees. Franchise Fees are unrestricted general fund revenues. Councilmember Fraser, the Town's representative to MTA said that the Board had voted unanimously to move forward with an amendment to the Agreement after attempts to negotiate with ATT were unsuccessful. He said this left the Board no choice but to amend the agreement. He recommended approval by the Council. MOTION: To adopt the resolution, as presented. Moved: Fraser, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous ABSENT: Collins (excused) 2. Appointments to Town Boards and Commissions - Consider appointments to fill vacancies on the Heritage & Arts Commission, Design Review Board, and Planning Commission (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) Mayor O'Donnell noted the vacancies on the three commissions, as more fully described in the staff report. He said the Council had conducted interviews for these vacancies at its March 20 meeting, as well as tonight's meeting. He asked the Council if anyone would like to nominate any of the candidates for these positions. MOTION: Moved: Vote: MOTION: Moved: Vote: To appoint Gordon Cousins to the Design Review Board. Fraser, seconded by Fredericks AYES: Unanimous ABSENT: Collins (excused) To appoint Phillip Ramirez to the Heritage & Arts Commission. O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks AYES: ABSENT: Unanimous Collins (excused) Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page 4 The Council declined to make an appointment to the Planning Commission. Councilmember Fraser suggested that because the vacancy had only recently occurred, and given the importance of the position, it might be prudent to continue to advertise for a while longer. Mayor O'Donnell also noted the pending vacancy [in June] on the Library Agency Board. Town Clerk Crane Iacopi said the Town had recently received one application which had appeared in the Council Digest. She also said that the Council had interviewed a candidate last year who still had an interest in the position and had submitted a letter of continuing interest. The Clerk noted that Council policy did not require a second interview of this candidate. However, the Council thought it would be fair to ask him to come in for a second interview and directed staff to proceed with the scheduling. Town Clerk Crane Iacopi said that the interviews were tentatively scheduled for the May 15 Council meeting. TOWN COUNCIL REPORTS None. TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT Town Manager Curran reported on plans to make improvements to the downtown restrooms. She said there was still no written agreement from the State for early termination of the lease but that progress was being made. She said that construction was now expected to commence on October 1; she noted that the Zelinsky Properties lease for the space precluded any construction during the summer season. Curran said that the delay in renovating the restrooms raised the issue of the current condition of the space. She reported that Sam's Anchor Cafe recently committed to perform a "face lift" to the restrooms consisting of cosmetic improvements such as new paint, replacement of broken tiles and light fixtures, etc., so that they would look better this summer. WEEKLY DIGESTS • Town Council Weekly Digest - March 22 & 29, 2013 • Town Council Weekly Digest - April 5 & 12, 2013 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Fraser adjourned the meeting at 7:53 p.m. EMMETT O' DONNELL, MAYOR Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page 5 ATTEST: DIANE RANE IACOPI, TOWN CLERK Town Council Minutes #05 -2013 April 17, 2013 Page 6