MINUTES OF THE
CITY OF SAN RAMON – COUNCIL MEETING

APRIL 25, 2000

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was called to order on April 25, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the PG&E Learning Center, 3301 Crow Canyon Road, Mayor Kinney presiding.
PRESENT: Councilmembers Hudson, Raab, Tatarka and Mayor Kinney.
ABSENT: Councilmember Wilson
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Herb Moniz, City Attorney Bob Saxe, Police Chief Obie Anderson, Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Eorio, Planning Director Phil Wong, City Engineer Joye Fukuda, Transportation Director John Dillon, Public Services Director Jim Estep, Senior Planner Deborah Raines and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane

* * * *

Mayor Kinney led Council, staff and those present in the audience in a pledge of allegiance to the flag.

* * * *

Mayor Kinney said Cm. Wilson was unable to attend the meeting because he was in New York on business.

* * * *

Mayor Kinney read a proclamation declaring Friday, April 28, 2000 Arbor Day in San Ramon and presented it to Doug Graver, Bob Ingalls and Robin Ludlow, members of the Environmental Affairs Advisory Committee.

Mayor Kinney read a proclamation declaring April 30 – May 6, 2000 Arson Awareness Week and presented it to Assistant Chief Craig Bowen of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.

The Senior Planner introduced Ken Hansen and told about his many years of service on the Architectural Review Board.

Cm. Hudson talked about Mr. Hansen’s accomplishments while serving on the ARB and specifically noted his attention to detail.

Mayor Kinney thanked Mr. Hansen and gave him a proclamation recognizing his contributions.

* * * *

The City Clerk said five applications had been received for the seven member Forest Home Farms Advisory Committee. She said after interviews by the Parks and Community Services Commission, it was recommended that all five applicants be appointed.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to appoint Pam Henry, Lisa Cook, Gladys McWood, R. Nathan Greene and Patricia Boom to the Forest Home Farms Advisory Committee and direct staff to continue recruiting for the two remaining vacancies was seconded by Cm. Tatarka and passed 4-0.

Cm. Hudson said the Council might want to consider recommending that the two Council liaisons to the Committee become more active members.

Cm. Tatarka talked about the City’s program that would place signs at all of the City’s projects and notable locations such as the Forest Home Farms that would tell the residents about the project and let them know what was happening in the City.

* * * *

Kevin Walters and Nancy Ecker talked about Youthfest 2000 scheduled at Cal High May 20 and 21 and encouraged the Council, staff and audience to participate in the activities.

Bob Ingalls spoke about Family San Ramon’s recent garage sale and the $3,000 contribution made to the Discovery Center as a result of the sale.

Robin Ludlow said the Family San Ramon contribution would be well used by the Discovery Center and would benefit the whole community.

Sally Garrison, President of the San Ramon Library Foundation, told the Council and audience about the upcoming May 13 "Human Race" walk around the Lafayette Reservoir. She said the walk would benefit non profit organizations and encouraged everyone to either walk or support someone that had signed up to walk.

* * * *

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Cm. Raab’s motion to approve the minutes of the April 11, 2000 Council meeting was seconded by Cm. Tatarka and passed 4-0.

* * * *

Cm. Raab’s motion to approve the following Consent Calendar was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 4-0.

FINANCE 
Register of Demands dated March 31, April 7 and 14, 2000 in the amount of $211,874.04

CONTRACT QUARTERLY REPORT
City Manager and Designated Directorates Contract Quarterly Report – January to March 31, 2000

RESOLUTION NO. 2000-63

ADOPTING THE FINDINGS TO COMMIT FUNDS IN THE CITY’S TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT FUND

RESOLUTION NO. 2000-64

RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO ORDER ASSESSMENTS AND SET A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 23, 2000 GEOLOGICAL HAZARD ABATEMENT DISTRICT 1990-01 WEST BRANCH AND GALE RANCH/SHAPELL INDUSTRIES AND WINDEMERE/BLC PARTNERS FISCAL YEAR 2000-01

REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 99-71 AND AMENDING THE MASTER STREET LIST (EXHIBIT A) BY ADDING PARKING RESTRICTIONS IN VARIOUS AREAS IN SAN RAMON

RESOLUTION NO. 2000-67

EXPRESSING THE CITY’S INTENT TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY KNOWN AS "THE WOOD LOT" FOR USE AS A PUBLIC PARK AND REQUESTING THAT THE SAN RAMON REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PURCHASE SAID PROPERTY

* * * *

DOUGHERTY VALLEY TRUNK SEWER TUNNEL PROJECT 

The City Engineer said the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (CCCSD) was proposing a tunnel and trunk sewer project in the  City of San Ramon stating it would start at Dougherty Road and proceed west toward Alcosta Boulevard and from Alcosta it would go down Estero Drive and up Mangos to the existing Larwin pump station. She said the District had made two presentations to the City Council and had responded to questions raised at those meetings. She also said at the March 28 meeting a representative from the Dublin San Ramon Services District had offered to facilitate a meeting between the District and the City and that meeting had occurred on April 17.  She said staff was recommending an alternate route through Bollinger Canyon Road with a dual pump station alternative. She concluded by saying CCCSD was requesting the City Council grant an encroachment permit to do the project.

Paul Morsen, Administrative Services Director CCCSD, discussed some changes CCCSD had made to its approach as a result of meetings with the City staff and requested The City grant an encroachment permit for their project. He explained why CCCSD felt that a good technical approach to the City’s sewering service was very important. He talked about mediation efforts and discussed the Bollinger Canyon option, the PG&E option and the Estero option and listed the impacts of each option. He talked about making the Larwin pump station more attractive so that it would blend into the neighborhood better. He concluded by saying the Estero route was technically, environmentally and health wise the best route that CCCSD could find.  

Cm. Hudson confirmed there was nothing in CCCSD’s report regarding enlarging the Larwin pump station.

Cm. Raab asked about providing service for developments outside of Dougherty Valley.

Mr. Morsen said there was a pump station currently serving the development in Danville in the Dougherty Valley and the flow from that pump station would not be changed until the District had conferred with the City.

Steven Jones, said the neighbors were not being listened to by CCCSD and asked the Council to not support the project as proposed. He also asked the Council to look at DSRSD as a possible solution and locating two pump stations out in Dougherty Valley. He talked about the long-term effects, the impacts to homes in the neighborhood and the hazards to children the sewer tunnel would cause. He asked Council to deny the request. 

Sandy Barclay, said she shared all of her neighbors concerns and asked Council to deny CCCSD’s request for an encroachment permit.  Rosalind Rogoff, 9913 Mangos, said none of her neighbors were opposed to CCCSD building a tunnel sewer to serve the Dougherty Valley but felt the Bollinger Canyon option was the preferred route with less impact to the residents.

Craig Giacomotti, suggested looking at building a new facility for the southern district at Camp Parks, or somewhere in that area, as another alternative that would solve the problem for the next 40 years.

Cornelius Steward, said this project would impact all of the neighborhoods. He recommended giving the project back to the developers. He said the burden should be on the neighborhood that was being developed.

Jan Peterson, said digging up Estero Drive would not be a short term disruption and it was not a viable route for the trunk sewer. She said Estero Drive was not the only option and urged the Council to not grant the encroachment permit.

Paul Ernst, asked where the tunnel would be located in the street and if the residents would be able to easily access their homes and garages.

Paul Morsen said the sewer line would be installed south of the centerline on Estero. He said anytime construction was in front of someone’s house and they wanted to get out, construction would stop and a plate would be installed for easy access to the street. He continued to say when construction was complete for the day, plates would be installed for residents to come and go at anytime before construction began again. He requested the Council take action at that meeting and approve CCCSD’s request for an encroachment permit.

Mayor Kinney said the following had submitted speaker cards against the sewer but did not wish to speak; Julie and Steve Pelley, Kim and Bert York, Bill Scudder, Thomas Gallagher, Ramon Carreno, Steven Wood, Anthony Coyne, Allen Stahl, Peggy and John DiNocco, Donna Dickey, Deanna and Clayton Clark, Jan Soderstrom, Nancy Bryant, Bill Deuel , Joan Ernst, Andy Pederson, Cheri and Gerry Ng, Elena and Izcait Tsoyrif, Craig Giacomotti, Brennan Tisa, Victor Levin, Jodi Pascual, Mark Tandowsky, James Coleman, Tina Vizenoir, Theresa Skrentny, Linda Morse, Pam Borris, Michelle Becker, Cathy Green, Jose Barron, Vicki Tandowsky, Beverly Demmel, Richard Bowman, Bobbie and Jim Pringle, Jan and Don Roe, Valeria and Gil Gouveia, Debbie Galletly, Joyce Wahlig, Peggie Davie, Suzanne and Ken Siu, Cheryl and Garry Chaban, Margaret Jones, Pat and Wayne Green, Sherri and Ken Michelini, Marcy and Steve Unger, Jacque and Steve Foster, Joyce Seibles , Ron Bryant, Fred Rad, Christa Freihofner, Hamed Tafaghodi, Ron Morse, Blair Levy, Anna DeLillo, and Sheridan Dickey.

Mayor Kinney said he had met twice with Central San and last night he had a meeting with a group of concerned residents.

Cm. Tatarka said the construction would have a major impact on the residents and after receiving all of the information she was not convinced all of the alternatives had been thoroughly explored. She said there was no way she would consent to granting an encroachment permit at this time.

Cm. Raab said he agreed with the statements made by Cm. Tatarka. He said the neighborhood that would be affected was not even in the CCCSD District. He suggested looking at a special sewer assessment district within Dougherty Valley and stated that process was not an uncommon way to cover costs. He said he liked the Bollinger Canyon option and at this time he would not give consent to the project.

Cm. Hudson said while the route was extremely important, the addition to the Larwin pump station also had people extremely worried. He said he could go with either of the two alternatives proposed by staff, Bollinger Canyon or PG&E, and felt they were both environmentally superior but he would push for Bollinger as the first alternative.

Mayor Kinney read the following statement from Cm. Wilson, "Dougherty Valley should stand on its own and the infrastructure should be handled by the developer or the residents in the Dougherty Valley".

Mayor Kinney said he thought the Bollinger Canyon option would affect the least number of residents. He said it would be very easy to form a special district in the Dougherty Valley to cover the sewer tunnel issue.

Cm. Raab’s motion to deny consent for Central San’s plans for Estero and to incorporate Mayor Kinney’s comments regarding having the City work with Central San and the developer in obtaining right of way easements to get the Bollinger Canyon option with two pump stations to work was seconded by Cm. Tatarka.

The City Attorney suggested the motion state an intent to deny the request for approval of the Estero route with a resolution of findings to return at the next meeting.

Cm. Raab amended his motion to state an intent to deny Central San’s request with a resolution of findings on the May 9 agenda.

Cm. Tatarka seconded the amended motion and it passed 4-0.

* * * *

Mayor Kinney declared a five-minute break.

Councilmembers Hudson, Raab, Tatarka and Mayor Kinney were present when the meeting reconvened.

* * * *

DISCOVERY CENTER FUNDING REQUEST

The City Manager said the Discovery Center had made a request from the City of San Ramon for $50,000 in unencumbered funding to support their services, programs and facility operations. He said approximately 40% of the Discovery Center’s clients were from the City of San Ramon and the funding request was commensurate with the services provided the City. He said the City Council’s Finance Committee met twice and agreed that the request for funding should be tied to services rendered or offered to the City. He reviewed the criteria drafted by the Parks and Community Services Department to determine services rendered or offered. 

Mayor Kinney said it had been his original intent to give the Discovery Center $100,000.  He said the services rendered by the Center were very beneficial to the City and they assist kids at risk which also aids the police department. He said the Center had recently had to lay off staff.

Cm. Hudson said the Finance Committee had discussed increasing the amount to $100,000 to be set aside for services with a confirmation those services were needed and utilized. 

Doug Smith, president of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center, said the Center had been in existence in the Valley for over 25 years and they had continually tried to meet the needs of the residents in youth guidance and drug and alcohol abuse. He said the Board would welcome an opportunity to work with the City to try to develop a program that would meet the needs of the City. 

In response to Cm. Tatarka’s question on how the Center was funded, Mr. Smith said through private donations, fund raisers, Friends of Discovery Thrift Store in Danville, and contracts with Contra Costa County. He said there was not one big benefactor and they depended on a number of small donors.

Robin Ludlow said the Discovery Center did not just handle extreme cases, they handled everyday issues that come into a child’s life. She said it was a wonderful resource and recommended the Council consider funding the request at $100,000.

Nancy Morgan, Discovery Center office coordinator, said because of the layoffs the Center could not handle the workload.

The City Manager said the details of the City’s donation could be decided by the Finance Committee.

Mayor Kinney said $100,000 would not solve the Discovery Center’s problems but it would go a long way in helping to alleviate their problems. He said he had been assured San Ramon’s donation would not be spent on buildings or infrastructure, it would be spent on counseling services for children from this area. He recommended giving $100,000 up front and monitoring how it was spent. 

Cm. Raab said he would like to look at contributing $50,000 this year and if the City’s goals were being met the $50,000 would be donated yearly. He said another worthwhile organization that had contacted him was Rainbow, a group that deals with children in elementary schools. He said he felt a similar program should be made available to them.  Mayor Kinney said the reason why he had asked for $100,000 was because the Discovery Center had to lay off people recently and $50,000 would probably not put those people back to work this year. He said he agreed with a $50,000 contribution in the following years if the City’s criteria is met.

Cm. Hudson said the San Ramon Valley’s Youth Safety Advisory Committee had just gone through an intense study and the City had made a commitment at the end of that study that it was going to do something for the youth. He said there were certain groups that were highlighted in the study including the Discovery Center and CASA and this contribution was one step in that direction. He said the Discovery Center was a group that was starting to go in the wrong direction and this would help turn them around.

Cm. Tatarka said she would like to see the City start at $50,000 and continue the contributions over a period of time. She said she would also like to see the community become more aware of the services provided by the Center and what other funding sources there were in the community.

Cm. Raab said his main objection to the $100,000 was there were a number of qualified organizations in the community. He recommended the Council look at this type of funding. He said he would support the $100,000 with a guarantee the funding be tied to San Ramon and then recommended looking at it on a yearly basis at the $50,000 level.  He said he would like the other groups such as the Rainbow Group to come forward to the Council with valid proposals.

The City Manager said this was a one time emergency funding request to keep the programs going and to allow the Center to get back on its feet. He said he would strongly suggest in the future with the budget cycle that the City have a justifiable policy on funding non-profit social service community groups.

Cm. Hudson made a motion that the Council increase the funding from $50,000 to $100,000 and that this item be referred to the Finance Committee to develop criteria.

After Cm. Raab recommended the Council seriously consider shifting funding from other City sources for this purpose, he seconded the motion.

The motion passed 4-0.

* * * *

MAYORS’ CONFERENCE AGENDA 

Mayor Kinney said on the upcoming Mayors’ Conference agenda was the appointment of the representative to the Airport Land Use Commission. He said he would be interested in serving on this commission.

* * * *

SKATEBOARD PARK 

Cm. Raab said there had been an incident at San Ramon’s new Skateboard Park on April 15 that involved youths getting into an altercation. He said it was an extremely rare incident that was handled very quickly and asked how the Council could prevent this type of thing from happening again. He said the incidents of graffiti and vandalism had been sharply curtailed at Athan Downs and Central Park by the use of surveillance cameras. He also said there were a lot of concerns in regard to safety and compliance with the helmet law at the Skateboard Park.

Cm. Tatarka said she felt the installation of surveillance cameras was a good idea. She said it was a positive proactive approach that would ensure the protection and safety of the residents and would be a deterrent to any illegal actions.  

Mayor Kinney said he felt they should give the kids a chance to prove that they could police themselves. He said the recent altercation at the skateboard park had nothing to do with the park and it could have happened anywhere.

Cm. Hudson said he was not a big proponent of surveillance cameras. He said the Council made a commitment to the kids, when the park was built, that they were responsible for the park and were going to have to police themselves. He said he did not feel to turn around and put cameras in the park right after it opened would be a good idea. He said if the Council was interested in pursuing this, the issue should be on an upcoming agenda to allow the public to give input.

Cm. Raab said the cameras would not be used for policing the park, they would provide information if an incident should occur. He said staff was not at the park at all times. He said the public he had talked to, both parents and kids, were in favor of cameras.  

Cm. Tatarka said this would ensure the safety of the kids using the park when the staff was not there.

Cm. Hudson recommended this item come back on a future agenda.  

Cm. Raab said he would have no problem with discussing this issue on the next agenda when the public would be allowed to give input. 

Joyce Olson said she was the mother of the victim in the incident at the skateboard park and was very much in support of surveillance cameras. She said she would save her additional comments for the public hearing on the issue.

* * * *

There being no further business to come before the City, at 10:15 p.m. the meeting was adjourned.

Curt Kinney, Mayor
Judy Macfarlane, City Clerk

Home | City Council | City Council Minutes Index