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MINUTES OF THE January 8, 2002 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was called to order on January 8, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 2222 Camino Ramon, Mayor Tatarka presiding. PRESENT: Councilmembers Cambra, Dickey, Hudson, Wilson and Mayor Tatarka ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Herb Moniz, City Attorney Tom Curry, Police Chief Brian Lindblom, Administrative Services Director Jim Randall, Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Eorio, Planning Director Phil Wong, Engineering Services Director Joye Fukuda, Transportation Director John Dillon, Economic Development Services Director April Gray, and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane * * * * PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Tatarka led Council and those present in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. * * * * SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS The Police Chief introduced new employee Theresa Sanchez, Office Technician. The Public Services Director introduced new employees Greg England and Ray Lowery, Maintenance Technician’s I. Mayor Tatarka welcomed the new employees and gave them City pins. Mayor Tatarka presented a proclamation to Dr. Sandy Bigman recognizing and thanking him for his many contributions to the community. * * * * PUBLIC COMMENT Cynthia Jones, President of the Board of Directors, Dublin San Ramon Services District, presented certificates of appreciation to past Councilmembers Curt Kinney, Ron Raab, and Jim Livingstone. Jim Blickenstaff, encouraged citizen input be given higher consideration over consultants and City staff for the details regarding the City Center project. Rosalind Rogoff, announced the schedule of meetings by Central Contra Costa Sanitary District regarding the continued construction of the Trunk Sewer line and encouraged the community to attend. * * * * APPROVAL OF MINUTES Cm. Hudson’s motion to approve the minutes of the November 27, 2001 meeting was seconded by Cm. Wilson and passed 3-0. Cm. Dickey’s motion to approve the minutes of the December 5, 2001 meeting as amended was seconded by Cm. Cambra and passed 5-0. Cm. Dickey’s motion to approve the minutes of the December 11, 2001 meeting as amended was seconded by Cm. Cambra and passed 4-0 (Cm. Wilson abstaining). * * * * CONSENT CALENDAR Cm. Dickey’s motion to approve the following Consent Calendar was seconded by Cm. Wilson and passed 5-0. Finance Register of Demands dated December 10, 16, 23, 30, 2001
and January 4, 2002 in the amount of $2,767,642.38. City Manager and Designated Directorates Contract Quarterly Report - October to December 31, 2001 * * * * Library Advisory Committee Annual Report Yvonne Kimber, Committee Chair, presented the Library Advisory Committee’s Annual Report. The report covered the charge, history, operations and a review of the committee’s 2000-2001 accomplishments. She covered the goals for 2002-2003 which included assisting in the development of a new County Funds Expenditure Plan, participating in the development of a joint venture program for the City Center Library, visiting different libraries, increasing public awareness, continuing involvement in the planning process for the Dougherty Valley Library, increasing the use of library volunteers and studying library governance. Mayor Tatarka said because of the proposed workload for 2002-2003 she recommended the committee meet monthly versus every other month. Cm. Hudson’s motion to accept the report and the recommendation for the committee to meet monthly, was seconded by Cm. Wilson passed 5-0. * * * * SHAPING OUR FUTURE The Economic Development Services Director stated this was a proposal for the Contra Costa Cities and the County to join together in an effort to develop a vision and growth management strategy for Contra Costa County. She stated that 14 of 19 cities in the County have voted to participate and the cost for San Ramon’s participation would be $29,400. When questioned on how the dollar amount was computed, Millie Greenberg, Danville Councilmember and representative of "Shaping our Future", said it was $.60 per capita, per resident, countywide. She also stated that an additional city had joined so the total was now 15 of the 19 cities that have agreed to participate. No one spoke at the public hearing. Cm. Hudson reviewed his concerns for this plan. He stated the plan, which encompassed the development of a civic gathering place for the County, was contradictory to the 10 year effort made to develop a City Center/Civic Center for San Ramon. He said that "Shaping our Future" speaks of civic gathering places while San Ramon is the only city in the county without a downtown. He said another purpose of "Shaping our Future" was developing a sense of identity and self-awareness of the County and the member cities as a region, and stated he felt our region was the Tri-Valley area. He stated that change is not always for the better and the community this project speaks of is the County. He challenged the organizational structure and the management committee proposal stating San Ramon would not have fair representation, in fact it would have 1 vote in 21. Cm. Hudson read from several excerpts of the proposal and expressed his concerns for the County making decisions regarding real estate development issues, land use, marketing and employment trends for the residents of San Ramon. He said this plan does not support San Ramon’s desire for local control and that implementation of this plan calls for San Ramon to add "Shaping our Future" to its General Plan, noting we have just spent a million dollars to update it. Cm. Wilson agreed with many of Cm. Hudson’s concerns but said he felt San Ramon needed to be represented to respond and protect the vision and quality of life in the City. Cm. Cambra stated it was important to be at the table, to expand our vision, and become a leader in the County. He stated San Ramon is in a unique position of being in the Tri-Valley and being part of Contra Costa County and we should participate in this program to protect our interests there and of our General Plan. He said this would give San Ramon an opportunity to become a regional leader and continued by saying this was a voluntary program and we could withdraw at any time. Cm. Dickey stated she has always believed in a regional overview and stated our cities are inter-connected. She felt if San Ramon was not part of this program, it would be very remiss to not participate. Mayor Tatarka said she found "Shaping our Future" an opportunity for San Ramon to work regionally. She agreed with Cm. Cambra’s statement that this gives San Ramon the opportunity to be a leader in the County. She said this was our opportunity to show the County what a good General Plan is, and to assist and work with them. She stated that there is already representation from businesses within our community that are committed to "Shaping our Future." She said she felt this would not detract from our General Plan but shows that San Ramon is a leader and can retain local control. Cm. Dickey’s motion to adopt Resolution No. 2002-09 appropriating funds for San Ramon’s allocation for "Shaping our Future," was seconded by Cm. Cambra and passed 4-1 (Cm. Hudson dissenting). Resolution No. 2002-09 * * * * City Center – Performing Arts Theater The Planning Director said at the City Center Workshop held December 20, 2001, the Council discussed relocating the proposed City offices and council chamber to the 7.5 acre site and re-examine the size of the Center for the Arts. He introduced Bob Bailey of AMS Planning and Research, and Rose Steele of Landry, Bogan & Associates, to provide an overview of the feasibility and programming work completed to date. Mr. Bailey presented to Council:
At the end of the presentation, Mayor Tatarka declared a short recess. All Councilmembers were present when the meeting reconvened. Mayor Tatarka opened the public hearing. Rosalind Rogoff said she did not like the idea of placing the City Hall at a separate location. She said the facility should be kept together on one location and the 7-acre parcel could be kept open space. She said this should be a City Center, not a Regional Center, and suggested the 7-acre parcel be utilized as a sports complex. Mark Ballock, Chair, Arts Advisory Committee, said the committee recommended a 800 seat theater, and the gallery portion be increased by 1,000 sq. ft. to allow more freedom of movement. Alan Ramos, member of the Arts Advisory Committee, requested that a facility be built that works for this community, the artists that are going to use it and the audiences that are going to enjoy it. He requested Council adopt the recommendations made by the Arts Advisory Committee. Mayor Tatarka closed the public hearing. The consultant answered Cm. Dickey’s question regarding the economic feasibility of an 800-seat theatre by responding that no theater supports itself by ticket revenues alone. He stated that parking revenue helps support some theaters, and in general, it is relevant to the type of programming and pricing of tickets versus the number of seats. He estimated that if the City built an 800 seat venue, it would require approximately $200,000-$600,000 a year in support from the City. Cm. Wilson said while it was understood that the proposed theater would not support itself, there is a need for culture in San Ramon. He said until it is proven that the City could support a larger theater, he felt we should proceed with an 800-seat venue. He stressed his desire for a practical, quality product that is financial feasible for the City and its’ residents. Cm. Hudson questioned the operating costs, the bond financing, and the ability to draw audiences without any synergy such as restaurants, etc., with relationship to the size of the venue. He said we need to make a decision as to what size theater to put before the people to vote on. The consultants answered Cm. Cambra’s questions stating the Fremont, Concord, San Leandro and Oakland areas were not included in the market analysis portion of the presentation as potential audiences. The phrase "don’t duplicate Lesher" (Key Leader Interview Themes) was clarified by stating the Council not confuse the numbers on the report with regards to the use of regional versus community theater use. Ms. Steele stated a 650-seat venue is the limit for untrained voice without amplification, a small sized orchestration, and would still be playable if the balcony is not used for smaller drama. Mr. Bailey stated it was a decision for the Council to make as to the type of retail/theater combination to best accommodate the mission and vision San Ramon desired for creating a downtown atmosphere. Cm. Dickey’s questions on which type of theatre, regional or community, would best for creating San Ramon as a cultural destination, was answered by Mr. Bailey’s statement that this was solely a mission, vision and economic decision for the City to make. Cm. Wilson said the residents had voted for this Council to make decisions for the City. He said a decision needed to be made on what is right for San Ramon. We have the need for a theater here in San Ramon and commented on the success of the theater in Walnut Creek. He encouraged the Council to make a decision while being cognizant of the financial implications. He said he supported an 800-seat first class theater versus a 1,200 second class theater. Cm. Cambra’s questioned the breakdown of the market analysis and asked if there was any determination of what San Ramon residents were looking for in a theater. Mr. Bailey answered that this data was not compiled from a survey of the residents, but secondary data assembled by consumer and financial organization and overlaid on the household data in the marketplace. He stated San Ramon’s population characteristics are likely to stay the same baring any major catastrophe, and that the Tri-Valley is a great market, but does not have as many people. Cm. Dickey stated she didn’t want San Ramon to be in the theater business and felt the 800-seat theater would be desirable. Cm. Cambra said he liked the vision for the future and felt there was no problem exploring the regional concept. He said while we are not committing to it, he wanted to program it into the element and give the consultant the 400-500 local theater along with a 1,200-1,800 seat theater to see how it would look on the site. He said if the 1,200-1,800 seat proposal failed at some point in time, we would always fall back to the small theater. He expressed his desire to explore the regional theater concept in addition to incorporating Mr. Ballock’s suggestion from the Arts Advisory Committee to expand the visual arts gallery by 1,000 sq. feet. Cm. Wilson stated he viewed this as not a "community theater", but that of a quality theater that will attract and retain businesses; one that the community will accept and support. He again voiced his support of an 800-seat theater. Cm. Wilson’s motion to proceed with the Performing Arts facility concept of an 800-seat theater with additional space added for visual arts , was seconded by Cm. Cambra, passed 5-0. * * * * MAYORS’ CONFERENCE REPORT Mayor Tatarka said at the Mayors’ Conference held in San Pablo, Julie Pierce was appointed the new chairperson, and Maria Alegria, vice-chairperson. She also said it was announced John Gioa had been appointed Chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, information on Measure K was reviewed and the Metropolitan Commission Report discussed. * * * * TEEN COUNCIL UPDATE Cm. Dickey reported the Teen Council was looking for a temporary location for a teen center. She said since rents were so costly, they were exploring the possibility of having a modular unit placed on the future City Center site. * * * * TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATE Cm. Cambra stated there was not a quorum at the meeting however, they discussed "yield to pedestrian" signs. * * * * SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATE Cm. Wilson reported that the Senior Center expansion plans would be heard by the Parks and Community Services Commission on January 9th. He said the San Ramon Rotary was offering a free smoke detector battery changing service to the seniors on February 9th. He said the Senior Center has an extensive video lending library and that care management service was available by calling the Senior Center. * * * * SOUTHWEST AREA TRANSPORTATION (SWAT) COMMITTEE UPDATE Mayor Tatarka said the main focus of the meeting was Danville’s request for discussion of the County’s compliance with CCCTA Growth Management program. * * * * Mayor Tatarka announced that she would be attending the Mayor’s Conference in Washington D.C., and would not be present at the next Council meeting, January 22, 2002. She said she would be making the "State of the City" address at the February 12, 2002, City Council meeting. * * * * There being no further business to come before the City, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 P.M. Signed:Nancy Tatarka, Mayor |
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