A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was called to order on August 8, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 2222 Camino Ramon, Mayor Kinney presiding.
PRESENT: Councilmembers Hudson, Raab, Tatarka, Wilson and Mayor Kinney
ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Herb Moniz, City Attorney Bob Saxe, Police Sergeant Roger Striek, Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Eorio, Planning Director Phil Wong, Administrative Services Director Jim Randall, City Engineer Joye Fukuda, Transportation Director John Dillon, Associate Planner Charlie Mullen and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane

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After calling the meeting to order Mayor Kinney said the Council had met in closed session pursuant to Section 54956.9(c) of the Government Code to consult with the City Attorney to determine whether or not to initiate litigation.

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

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David Ernest, San Ramon American Little League, asked for clarification on the decision made by the Council at their last meeting regarding the report by the Athan Downs Task Force. He said in addition there was a provision adopted by Council in the minority report that he would like the Council to reconsider. He said the confusion came from approving both a new sign requirement regarding parking, stopping or standing for 150 feet on either side of the crosswalk during specified times and a requirement that the sports leagues recruit and provide volunteers to be crosswalk attendants to assist parents when they stop and leave off their children. He said the sign ordinance enforcement would be in the hands of the police department but yet they were being asked to help parents violate the ordinance. He asked that the requirement for the sports leagues to provide crossing attendants be eliminated. He also asked that the Council permit baseball teams to play Sunday games on field 4 during the months of June and July each year. He said they felt it was a bad policy to put field usage approval in the hands of residents and take it away from the field user committee of the Parks and Community Services Commission. He concluded by saying they were going to ask the Parks Commission at their next meeting to restore usage of field 5 at Athan Downs for the next baseball season.

Donna Kerger, General Plan Review Commission Chair, said there would be a full commission workshop on August 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the PG&E Learning Center. She said on another subject Bonnie Linton, San Ramon Soccer Vice President of Administration, had asked her to seek clarification on the decision made by the Council regarding the Ascot Drive Task Force report. She asked was that decision for one year and was field 4 open this year to San Ramon soccer for its games and tournaments and if it wasn’t they would like a letter in writing to the board clarifying that position.

Mayor Kinney said the sports tournaments that had been scheduled would be excluded from the decision to not allow the use of field 4.

The City Attorney said a resolution would come to Council for approval summarizing the motion approved by Council regarding the Athan Downs Task Force report.

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Cm. Hudson’s motion to approve the minutes of the July 25, 2000 meeting was seconded by Cm. Raab and passed 5-0.

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Cm. Raab said regarding item 8.4, in a Council meeting a few months ago there had been concern expressed regarding Alta Mesa and the cost of slope stabilization. He said to alleviate those concerns he would like everyone to know the costs for this project had come in and they were approximately $27,000 to $28,000 under the estimate discussed by Council. He said he would like the public to know that staff was doing a good job in fiscal responsibility.

Mayor Kinney confirmed the agreement for the Alta Mesa Slope Stabilization project was contingent on the Army Corps of Engineers’ authorization to permit construction.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to approve the following Consent Calendar was seconded by Cm. Raab and passed 5-0.

FINANCE     Register of Demands dated July 28 and August 4, 2000 in the amount of $746,124.18

ACCEPTING CERTAIN ROAD AND STORMDRAIN IMPROVEMENTS CONSTRUCTED IN SUBDIVISION 7979 FOR MAINTENANCE  (SHAPELL INDUSTRIES/BRIDGES AT GALE RANCH/CREST BRIDGE)

AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH HENRY RANCH LLC/WILLIAM LYON HOMES, INC., FOR  LIGHTING AND LANDSCAPING DISTRICT 1984-1 SPECIAL ZONE 17 HENRY RANCH

AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH BUTTE CONSTRUCTION FOR THE ALTA MESA PARK SLOPE STABILIZATION PROJECT (CIP 8207) IN THE AMOUNT OF $798,350 CONTINGENT UPON AUTHORIZATION BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS TO PERMIT CONSTRUCTION

AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH SELECTRON, INC., FOR AN INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR) SYSTEM FOR THE BUILDING AND SAFETY SERVICES DEPARTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $54,900

APPROVING THE FINAL MAP FOR SUBDIVISION 8188 LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF SAN RAMON VALLEY BOULEVARD FROM 900 FEET NORTH OF PINE VALLEY ROAD TO 600 FEET SOUTH OF WOODBOROUGH WAY (HENRY RANCH LLC/WILLIAM LYON HOMES, INC.)

ACCEPTING A GRANT DEED FOR PARCEL "A", AN 18.62 ACRE PARKSITE, FROM JERROLD N. AND RUTH C. HENRY TRUST, AS PART OF SUBDIVISION 8188 HENRY RANCH DEVELOPMENT 

ACCEPTING OFFERS FROM JEHOVAH’S WITNESS CHURCH FOR CERTAIN ROAD AND EASEMENT DEDICATIONS ALONG SAN RAMON VALLEY BOULEVARD IN CONJUNCTION WITH FINAL MAP 8188 (HENRY RANCH LLC/WILLIAM LYON HOMES, INC.)

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ABAG HOUSING NUMBERS

The Associate Planner said in March 2000 staff had reported to the  City Council on the Association of Bay Area Governments’ (ABAG) release of preliminary housing needs determination numbers. He said after a 90 day review period on the numbers a comment letter signed by the Mayor was forwarded to ABAG indicating that we were objecting to the housing numbers and in particular the amount of affordable housing units that San Ramon was obligated to provide as preliminarily projected. He said ABAG released the third set of numbers on May 30 with a review period deadline of September 1. He said as a result of the ABAG Board placing a heavier emphasis on jobs/production areas, the cities were taking a greater share of future housing growth within their spheres of influence and San Ramon’s housing needs increased from 4,254 units to 4,447 units, an increase of 193 units. Staff’s report stated they felt the City could meet the total housing numbers but would continue to fall short on the affordable housing unit obligation. He said staff also continued to believe the methodology was flawed in establishing and distributing regional housing needs. He said staff had prepared a revised response to ABAG addressing the City’s concerns and issues.

Cm. Hudson made a motion to receive the report and direct staff to write a letter to ABAG for the Mayor’s signature expressing the City’s concerns.

Cm. Raab seconded the motion and said at the Mayors’ Conference where the ABAG numbers were presented there was not one city that liked the numbers. He said these are state mandated numbers through ABAG and no city in the past had ever been punished for not meeting their numbers. He said this was strictly a numbers game being played at the state level. 

The City Manager explained the ABAG state mandated housing numbers issue to the audience.

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EBMUD SOUTHERN LOOP PIPELINE

The City Engineer said the East Bay Municipal Utility  District (EBMUD) was undertaking a district wide seismic improvement project and one of the components of the program is the Southern Loop Pipeline Project. She said the project would connect the service area in the San Ramon Valley with the area west of the hills which is Castro Valley and Oakland. She said the proposed pipeline would begin at a tunnel entry located along Crow Canyon Road at the west city line and then proceed east along Crow Canyon Road to Bollinger Canyon Road, north on Bollinger Canyon Road to Deerwood Drive, Deerwood Drive to Deerwood Road to San Ramon Valley Boulevard where it would connect with an existing EBMUD pipeline on San Ramon Valley Boulevard. A public information meeting was held on July 19 and as a result of that meeting the Deerwood Highlands Homeowners Association requested the opportunity to address the Council and provide comments regarding the project.

Jay deFrance, Board of Directors Deerwood Highlands Homeowners Association, spoke about the lack of notification regarding the pipeline project. He said there had been construction in his area routinely since they bought their home in 1997 and most of it had not been disclosed to him. He expressed concern about the size of the pipe, the possibility of an earthquake and the damage that it could cause. He said a greater effort has to be made to protect his family and his neighbors.

Michael Spratlin, President of the Deerwood Highlands Homeowners Association, said he believed the pipeline was a necessary project however he did not believe that the proposed route would be of the least impact for the neighbors. He asked Council to reconsider and ask EBMUD to change the route back to the route that had been originally proposed on Crow Canyon Road. He said everyone that lives in their development enters and leaves from three entry ways off of Deerwood Drive. He said the inconvenience of noise and construction for four to six months would be a major impact to everyone that lives in Deerwood Highlands. He presented a petition signed by many families protesting the proposed route. He also expressed concern about the lack of notification for the July 19 meeting.

Cm. Hudson asked Mr. DeFrance for clarification on his comments concerning a 1998 city notification regarding the pipeline.

Mr. DeFrance said he was told by someone that works for the City that a notification was mailed to all of the homes, including the Deerwood homes, in 1998 saying that the pipeline proposal was being discussed. He continued to say EBMUD held a meeting on July 19, 2000 for the residents of his neighborhood but he and his neighbors were not made aware it.

Patrick Beard, said the impact of the project on families like his would be greater than the impact on commuters. He said his neighbors would have to endure the construction, endless noise, the inconvenience of having the streets torn up when there was no other access and they would have to live with construction 24 hours a day when commuters would be inconvenienced only part of the day. He spoke about the lack of notice and disclosure of the project.

Charlotte van Warmerdam, expressed concern that the construction project would compromise the integrity of the hillside. She also talked about construction noise and inconvenience due to the lack of access to their homes. She said the best bet for the pipeline was to reroute it along Crow Canyon as originally was proposed.

After addressing the concerns of the residents EBMUD Director Frank Mellon proposed that an another meeting be held with the residents to discuss these and any additional issues.

He said EBMUD would hire someone to do door to door leafleting of the meeting. He said to the comments about changing the route, EBMUD was basically a month away from letting contracts for the project. He said if EBMUD was going to look at another route they need to know how the City Council and the engineering department would view the other route in light of traffic mitigation issues. He said Crow Canyon Road would be affected its entire length with this project.

Mayor Kinney asked Mr. Mellon why they were concerned about a lawsuit from Walnut Creek and not San Ramon.

Mr. Mellon said EBMUD believed that the project that would be directly affecting San Ramon would be unduly held up. He said the project that EBMUD was spending well over $100 million on would directly benefit this area and address issues about insufficient water pressure and sufficient flows to the San Ramon area. He continued to say the Walnut Creek treatment plant could not handle the water flow that was necessary to take care of San Ramon as well as the cities coming south.

Mayor Kinney said EBMUD did not have approval to construct the pipeline in San Ramon and the City’s response to the EIR would not have been positive.

Mr. Mellon said he felt that EBMUD did have a project that had a certified EIR with all of the comments that have been presented and they were at the stage of letting contracts

Pursuant to fulfilling their legal obligations to having a certified EIR.

Mayor Kinney said the statement that was made to the Walnut Creek people was the reason they are putting this pipeline through from the Walnut Creek station through Walnut Creek streets, which their businesses and some of their residents are opposed to, was because of the 11,000 houses that were going to be developed in the San Ramon Valley. He asked what 11,000 houses were being referenced.

Mr. Mellon said he did not know where the 11,000 houses were that were referred to by the Board Chair but he did know for sure it was not Dougherty Valley. He said within the EBMUD service area, east of the hills, was a substantial area for housing development which EBMUD was required to service because it was in their service area. He said he would ask the Board Chair to clarify his comments in a letter to Mayor Kinney regarding the 11,000 homes.

Mayor Kinney said he did not feel EBMUD should be letting the contract until the City had agreed to the project.

Mr. Mellon said Mayor Kinney’s comments had been duly noted.

Mayor Kinney said he had had a conversation with a DSRSD Board Member and she had informed him that DSRSD water was available at Montevideo case of a disaster so we really don’t have to rely on EBMUD. He expressed concern regarding inequities in the EBMUD rate structure. He said he seriously doubted whether or not San Ramon needs this pipeline.

Cm. Raab inquired why the City was not involved in the meeting noticing process and asked was it because it was an EBMUD project. He asked if DSRSD had a proposal and had it been discussed with its board.

Mayor Kinney said this was something that was an agreement supposedly between EBMUD and DSRSD and we can verify it. He said Cynthia Jones, EBMUD board member, said water was available as far north as Montevideo for the City and there was a mutual agreement with EBMUD allowing DSRSD to hook into the line.

Cm. Raab said that is something that needs to be brought out and he asked if the DSRSD board was willing to write a letter to the Council stating the terms and their willingness to discuss the issue. He thanked EBMUD for offering to schedule another meeting with the residents and said he felt an alternative route should be looked at in a timely manner and, if possible, brought back at the next Council meeting..

Cm. Wilson expressed concern that EBMUD was so close to letting contracts for the project when the Council did not have a comfort level. He asked how could the Council possibly vote on an issue when the residents’ concerns had not been addressed. He said the Council had many concerns about the project and not just about the pipe.

Cm. Tatarka apologized to the residents in Deerwood about the lack of notification. She said she had real concerns about the pipeline project being in the residents backyard.

Cm. Hudson said in regard to disclosure there had been at least five public hearings in 1998 regarding this project. He said he did not feel anyone had made a conscious effort to hide the pipeline and the disclosure documents could have been in the multitude of papers that one signs when buying a house. He said many of the residents had not purchased their homes or had not moved in when the meetings were being noticed.

Mayor Kinney said he guessed the direction to staff was to not release any permits and if the Council needs to discuss legal issues that can be done in closed session.

Cm. Tatarka asked for clarification on where the City was going on this issue.

Mayor Kinney said EBMUD would schedule a meeting with the residents to discuss their concerns and if the residents want to bring the issue to back to Council they can contact staff and the issue would be reagendized.

Mayor Kinney said the following speaker cards had been received stating opposition to the pipeline project; Sandra Lucas-Santos, Ennhee Song, Summer Haider, Imran Haider, Shaqhid Habib, Nasreen Habib, and Sarah Agha .

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COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM REQUESTS 

The Administrative Services Director said recently the City had received a number of requests for City funding support for local social service programs. He said it had been suggested that a formal process be drafted for the Council’s consideration of these social service funding requests. He said that staff had drafted a community service grant program proposal and after submitting it to the finance committee for comment it was refined and subsequently approved by the committee with a recommendation that the Council also approve the program. After summarizing the program he said the intent was to implement the community service grant program with the FY 2001/02 budget preparation process. 

Cm. Tatarka asked if there were a timeframe for the application.

The Administrative Services Director said staff would anticipate contacting the known applicable agencies directly in late January and advertising to let other agencies know the program is available. Staff would compile the applications and present them to the finance committee for review with the anticipation they would be returned to staff with guidance as to what additional information might be needed. Staff would then solicit the additional information and present recommendations to the finance committee in May.

Cm. Tatarka confirmed the program announcement and application would be made available on the web.

Cm. Wilson suggested the community grant service program be evaluated after the second year to make sure it meets the City’s needs.

The Administrative Services Director said one of the other considerations that was discussed was there may be some programs that the Council determines ought to be a regular part of the budget and they would come out of the funding for the grant application and be a part of the regular budget process.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to approve the City of San Ramon community service grant program including the application form and the program guidelines was seconded by Cm. Raab and passed 5-0.

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SAN RAMON VALLEY BLVD LANDSCAPING PROJECT 

The Economic Development Manager introduced a  resolution celebrating the completion of the Northerly San Ramon Valley Boulevard Landscaping and Overlay Project and ordering the temporary closure of San Ramon Valley Boulevard between Purdue Road and Hooper Drive. She said the project process started in April 1991 when the Conservation and Enhancement Program for the Crow Canyon Redevelopment Area was first adopted. She said there would be two new businesses opening in that area and it seemed appropriate to time a celebration with the completion of the boulevard landscaping and the grand opening of the two businesses with a proposal to include all of the businesses in the area to bring out residents and neighbors and to raise awareness of the businesses in the area. She noted the closure of the road would be for a two-hour period to allow for the easier movement of pedestrians and traffic could be routed to Omega Road so that traffic would not be disrupted. 

Cm. Raab’s motion to adopt the resolution celebrating the completion of the project was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 5-0.

CELEBRATING THE COMPLETION OF THE NORTHERLY SAN RAMON VALLEY BOULEVARD LANDSCAPING AND OVERLAY PROJECTS AND ORDERING THE TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF SAN RAMON VALLEY BOULEVARD BETWEEN PURDUE ROAD AND HOOPER DRIVE

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RAINBOW PROJECT FUNDING REQUEST

The Parks and Community Services Director introduced a  request for funding from the Rainbow Project in the amount of $28,000 for the 2001/02 school year and recommended the Council review the request and provide direction to staff. He described the program, currently in three San Ramon schools, as an elementary school based mental health program for students experiencing school adjustment problems. He said the program uses trained paraprofessionals under the supervision of the school psychologist and a county mental health therapist.

Carol Rowley, Country Club Elementary School Principal, said the Rainbow Project had been at her school for nine years and had proven to be a very effective program that builds self esteem. She said it was one of the most positive programs she had seen in her educational career because it really makes a difference in so many children’s lives.

Cm. Hudson confirmed there were approximately 25 San Ramon students in the program and that there were still Site Councils at each of the schools.

Ms. Rowley said the Site Council and the PTA support the Rainbow Program and it also received financial support from the Country Club cookie dough sales.

Cm. Wilson confirmed that the other schools supplement the Rainbow Program the same way as Country Club School.

Debbie Roof, Rainbow Project, said she had been involved in the project since 1994 as the on-site school psychologist at Country Club and Bollinger Canyon Elementary Schools. She said they were asking for $28,000 and stated this was a very cost effective program that would serve many children. She said in all of the different kinds of assignments she had had as a school psychologist she had found this program was one of the best uses of her time. She said this was a very unique program that serves children that are mildly at risk and it was their goal to prevent further problems from occurring in the future.

Robin Ludlow, spoke in favor of the program and asked the Council to approve the request for funding. She said she was a parent of a participant in the program and could speak to its effectiveness.

Cm. Hudson said he felt this request was a classic example of how the grant program could be used. He said he was prepared to propose that the Council grant $5,000 to each of the elementary schools and ask the lead person to apply for another $5,000 grant for each site. He said he would like to see this program started in all of the San Ramon elementary schools and when school resumes in September applications can be made to the businesses for funding. He said if they receive $5,000 now and another $5,000 in February they would have a good basis to be included in the City’s rotation permanently.  

Cm. Tatarka said she could not think of a better way for the City to spend its money than to fund this project. She said she agreed with Cm. Hudson that the program should be in all of the elementary schools.

Cm. Wilson said the program was proactive rather than reactive and it was important that it be implemented in every school. 

Cm. Raab said it was much easier to take care of problems at a younger age than having to deal with them in later years. He agreed this program should eventually be expanded to all of the City’s elementary schools. He said he would like to see the program fully funded at $28,000 and asked Cm. Hudson how he had come up with a $5,000 figure.

Cm. Hudson said he was recommending the grant program be site based and the site councils could determine each year what they needed and then go out to help raise the funding. He said he did not feel the City should get in the business of starting to take over school programs and funding them. He said with this particular request he had taken the $28,000 or $30,000 figure and recommended granting $5,000 now with an application in January which would bring it to $10,000 for the whole year. He said that way they would be ahead of the game with seed money to get started. He said the most important thing was to get the program site based so that it would be established citywide. He said if the recommendation was to go higher than the $5,000 then his motion could be amended.

Mayor Kinney said he was not opposed to the site proposal but he would suggest on the first go around that we give each site $10,000 rather than $5,000 and not make them come back in February with an application.

Cm. Raab said the three schools were asking for $28,000 and recommended going with the figure they had requested and then the schools could go through the grant application next year.

Cm. Wilson said it would be an on-going process to work with the Rainbow Program as well as other organizations to assure that the funding was adequate and would continue.

Cm. Raab recommended amending the motion to grant the amount requested by the Rainbow Foundation for each site plus the additional for a total of $28,000.

Cm. Hudson agreed with the verbiage of the amended motion.

The motion was seconded and passed 5-0.

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Mayor Kinney declared a ten minute break.

All Councilmembers were present when the meeting reconvened.

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MAYORS’ CONFERENCE 

Mayor Kinney said the major issue at the August 3 Mayors’ Conference was a discussion regarding a request by an organization not associated with the Mayors’ Conference or the County to use the Mayors’ Conference title or name. He said the vote was 8-7 to allow use of the name.

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GENERAL PLAN REVIEW SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

Mayor Kinney said he had spoken three times before the Board of  Supervisors and the Contra Costa County Planning Commission  and each time he had told them that San Ramon was considering a sphere of influence in the Tassajara Valley and that we were in the process of updating the City’s General Plan and that would take approximately 18 months. He said he had also told them the General Plan Review Committee had taken a straw vote of 31-2 in favor of having the sphere of influence in the City’s General Plan and the issue would be placed on the ballot to see what the voters wanted. He Expressed concern that two of the Councilmembers spoke otherwise after he left the meeting and asked for clarification. He referred to minutes of a February 2000 Council workshop regarding a sphere of influence discussion and to minutes of a June 1998 Council meeting where sphere of influence and agricultural preserves were discussed. He said the work plan the Council voted on for the Task Force included language about the EIR. He said in the executive summary the Task Force had chosen the option that was the far most reaching of three options that would incorporate all of the valley up to the county’s then current urban limit line. He said that option would add about 4,900 acres to the City’s current planning area. He said if a Councilmember wants to speak for himself that is fine but he did not feel it was appropriate based on this documentation for someone to say what the Mayor said was inappropriate.

Cm. Raab said the motion in the minutes of the June 1998 meeting regarding the Tassajara Valley becoming part of an agricultural preserve did not pass on a 2-2 vote. He said the minutes of the February 2000 Council workshop state to confirm an interest in Tassajara Valley they do not say enact it as a sphere of influence. He said he wasn’t sure the Council could legally vote on that issue at the workshop because it was not an agendized item. He said as far as his comments at the Board of Supervisors meeting were concerned the vote that was taken by the General Plan Review Commission was 25-2-1 and what they voted on was not a sphere of influence but a planning area.

Cm. Hudson said at the February workshop he had asked that the issue be agendized through the facilitator and he had asked the question was Tassajara going to be in our sphere of influence. He said at that time it was a 5-0 vote for Tassajara to be included in the City’s sphere of influence.

Cm. Tatarka referred to two letters, one stated "planning area" and the other "sphere of influence" and asked for clarification and definition of these two phrases.

Mayor Kinney said in regard to the letter that states "planning area", the planning area that our general plan is talking about is part at least of Tassajara Valley and whether or not we want sphere of influence. He said it doesn’t say anywhere that we were demanding sphere of influence it is merely talking about what the Council directed at the workshop people to do. He said at the workshop people were directed to look at the Tassajara Valley as a planning area and whether or not it should be in our sphere of influence.

Cm. Raab said the workshop minutes say confirm interest in Tassajara. They don’t say the Council wants Tassajara in our sphere of influence. He said the issue was listed under short term goals and objectives on the workshop agenda and he had voted yes that we need to have an interest in it and look at it and discuss it as an item for this coming year. He said his vote was not meant to state that he wanted Tassajara in our sphere of influence at this time. He said he would like to ask the City Attorney if it was legal, if as Cm. Hudson states, the Council took a vote specifically to incorporate Tassajara Valley into our sphere of influence without duly noting a public hearing with the issue as a specific agendized item.

The City Attorney said he did not feel that is what was done. He said as he understood the agenda it was something that came up among the goals and objectives. He said the Council obviously had not taken an action to initiate an application to have the sphere of influence because no application had been submitted. He said he felt what Mayor Kinney was saying was that at the workshop the Council’s position was that it should be pursued.

Mayor Kinney said he had been asked the question by Supervisor Gerber at the Board of Supervisors meeting if this had been a unanimous decision and he had responded he did Not remember whether or not it was unanimous but it was at least a majority opinion of the Council and it would be going to a vote of the people anyway. He said he told her the reason why the Council was doing this was because they didn’t want the county controlling our destiny anymore and that was why we became a city in the first place. He said if the Council agrees to something and then an individual Councilmember does not agree to it then lets make sure that whoever the messenger is carries the message of the majority of the Council.

Cm. Hudson said there was not a doubt in his mind that all five Councilmembers agreed to this and if we were changing our minds that night lets state it or lets place it on a future agenda and vote on it. He said he would guarantee that all five Councilmembers voted for and directed staff to include Tassajara in San Ramon’s sphere of influence.

Cm. Tatarka said the reason she spoke at the Board meeting and said that she did not vote for it was because when Mayor Kinney spoke before the Contra Costa Planning Commission and was asked if it had been a unanimous vote, Mayor Kinney said the City Council was unanimous in wanting the sphere of influence of Tassajara Valley under San Ramon’s influence not the county’s. She said the City Attorney had stated it was not a unanimous vote and that was why she said it was not unanimous because she had not voted that way.

Cm. Raab said if he had known Mayor Kinney was going to make those statements at the Supervisors meeting he would have objected. He said after hearing the inaccurate comments he felt compelled to go to the meeting and rectify the comments.

Cm. Wilson said he felt the Council was playing word games and the point was that Tassajara Valley was going to affect San Ramon just as Dougherty Valley affects us. He said if he had the chance to have Tassajara under San Ramon’s control so that we have some say over it, common sense would say why give it to the county when San Ramon could have more input. He said the issue is what is best for the citizens of San Ramon and the citizens would say the Councilmembers with their input know what is best for the residents of San Ramon, not the county. He said the bottom line was the residents and the Council should have input working with the adjoining communities to decide what goes in Tassajara.

Cm. Hudson said the City Attorney was not at the workshop. He said if the Council was going to change the direction of the workshop and staff we need to direct staff what we want them to do.

It was the consensus of Council to place this issue on a future agenda.

Cm. Raab said the Council would not be giving the county anything, Tassajara Valley was already in the county.

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CCTA 

Cm. Hudson said he had come before the Council regarding a discrepancy with the Tri-Valley Transportation Plan and what was being presented to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority. He said there was a discrepancy between Danville and San Ramon regarding Tassajara Road and Danville felt it should be a two lane road. He said in a memorandum it states Tassajara Road will be planned as a four lane road which is consistent with what the county and San Ramon. approved in the Dougherty Valley agreement.

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EBRPD 

Cm. Hudson said East Bay Regional Park Board was looking at an ordinance that would state that any dog with a responsible owner that bites a person or another animal in an East Bay Regional Park, which the Iron Horse Trail is has to do certain things including making a report to the East Bay Regional Park police within 24 hours. He said this makes it a misdemeanor and he was concerned our police chief was going to have a lot of calls when our dog park was constructed next to the Iron Horse Trail. He said the ordinance also establishes that anyone with more than three dogs does not have control of the dogs.

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EMERGENCY POWER NOTIFICATION 

Cm. Hudson said recently there had been brown outs and we will be seeing more of them. He said at stage two we were down to 5% in reserves and at stage three there were guidelines that must be followed. He said he would like to see this information go on the web and to our businesses. He said it is apparent that rolling brown outs and some of the black outs are a thing of the future. He recommended the Council stay posted as to what was going on with the PG&E meetings and where they were proposing to get some of the new infrastructure. He said he did not want to see the line enlarged taking power out of San Ramon.

Mayor Kinney said that he and Cm. Raab had met recently with the PUC and their environmental impact advisor and told them what San Ramon’s position was with respect to the new route of the loop. He said it was PG&E’s current recommendation that San Ramon not be included in the loop.

Cm. Raab said an independent Environment Impact Report filed by the PUC listed an alternative route that would bring a new line out of San Ramon into east Dublin and that would require a trench and upgrading of an existing line into the City. He said there were no benefits to the City and we told them that the Council had no interest in this route. He said he told them if you want to underground the existing wires along with this new line maybe we could talk. He said their alternative proposal using San Ramon basically as a conduit for east Dublin didn’t fly with them. He said a letter stating our position has been drafted to the PUC and their environmental impact people.

The City Manager said this was an interesting dilemma because the notification guidelines incorporated since the independent environmental analysis would include the station upgrades and we should notify the community.

Cm. Raab said the burden to notify should be on the PUC and their environmental impact people.

The City Manager recommended noticing people within approximately 600 feet of the right of way and the power lines.

Cm. Hudson said when a stage two alert is reached we should probably start posting in some of our public places that there are times when the ISO will ask you to turn off some of your power before it becomes mandatory.

Mayor Kinney said the problem with the current configuration was we wouldn’t have the burnouts or blackouts if we weren’t giving 45% of the power that comes through the substation to Pleasanton.

Cm. Hudson said he agreed to some extent but clearly we are short on infrastructure. He said if our neighbors or whomever want to detour building the infrastructure they can pay the price.

Cm. Tatarka said more and more people are going to become aware of the situation and she felt this information should be on the web.

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MOTORIZED SCOOTER UPDATE SB 402 BINDING ARBITRATION 

Mayor Kinney said all of the Council had received a  number of calls and letters regarding the noise of motorized  scooters being on ridden on the sidewalks and streets by juveniles not wearing helmets. He said he was aware of a City ordinance that talks about 16 year olds and he was not sure how it was being enforced and maybe there was a need for an additional ordinance that contained verbiage regarding fines and confiscation.

Cm. Raab said he had received comments about what was occurring on the Iron Horse Trail. He suggested the City work with East Bay Regional Park and have our officers that are on bikes patrol that area more.

Cm. Hudson said he did not feel the ordinance needed to be changed. He said day or night motorized vehicles are prohibited on the Iron Horse Trail and it was just a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed.

Cm. Wilson recommended enforcement of the current City ordinance and said once word gets around that San Ramon is not the place to ride a scooter without paying the consequence, it would stop.

Cm. Tatarka said she agreed with enforcement and made a suggestion as scooters get more popular that the City do some education through the schools.

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BINDING ARBITRATION 

Cm. Wilson said SB402 mandates a system of compulsory and binding arbitration for cities and counties and special districts for the resolution of collective bargaining between police and fire employees. He said SB402 provides a process that states the arbitrator will narrowly apply the economic issue only but unfortunately with the state they did not define what is economically feasible. He said we have a great relationship with police and firemen and he felt SB402 will destroy that. He said this would put more and more burden on the city and for some cities it would destroy their budgets He said this was a double standard because this measure applies only to local police safety employees and excludes state safety employees. He said he would like the Council to send a letter to the governor and our representatives to say that basically the San Ramon Council is opposed to this bill.

Cm. Raab said the City did not have any direct say in negotiations with firefighters because they are in a special district and our police deal directly with Contra Costa County.

Cm. Wilson said this bill would take control away from local government and give it to the state. He recommended the letter say we support cities that have their own police forces and have to negotiate. He said while it does not directly affect us now it may in the future.

Cm. Hudson said a letter was appropriate and he felt we should go even further and say that we support this 100%.

Cm. Tatarka said whatever the City does it has to be done in a timely manner.

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Cm. Tatarka reminded everyone about the signups for San Ramon Habitat for Humanity Day on September 16.

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There being no further business to come before the City at 10:05 p.m. the meeting adjourned.

Curt Kinney, Mayor
Judy Macfarlane, City Clerk

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