HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02/24/1975387
MINUTES OF MEETING
OF .CITY COUNCIL
PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA
.FEBRUARY 24, 1975
COUNCIL MEETING An.Adjourned meeting of the City Council of the City of
Petaluma was called to order by Mayor Putnam at the
hour of 7:30 p.m.
ATTENDANCE Present: Councilmen Brunner, Cavanagh, Daly, Harberson
Mattei, Perry, and Mayor Putnam.
Absent: None.
CONSENT CALENDAR With the approval of the Council, Item #3 was removed
from the Consent Calendar and deferred until March 3.
A motion was then made by Councilman Mattei, seconded
by Councilman Perry, adopting the Consent Calendar,
Items #1, #2 and A. Motion:carried unanimously.
Agenda Item #1 Resolution #6834 N.C.S. authorizing and approving
Management transfer of monies from Reserve Account #145.610 for 3 7
Insurance Program Management.Insurance Program, approved by Resolution
Res #6834 NCS #6794 N.C.S, was introduced by Councilman Mattei,
seconded by Councilman Perry, and approved by 7 affir-
mative votes.
Agenda Item #2 Resolution #6835.,N X .S. requesting support for Senate
CETA Personnel Bill #312; was introduced by Councilman Mattei, seconded
Senate Bill 4312 by Councilman.Perry and approved by 7 affirmative
rtes #6835 NCS votes.
Senate.Bill,#312 -would exempt City personnel from
Public:Employees.Retirement System.
Agenda Item X64 Resolution #6836 N.C.S. authorizing the purchase and
Carpeting - installation of - carpeting-.for Five Corners Community U
Five Corners Center and calling for bids, March 25, 1975, was
Community Center introduced by Councilman Mattei, seconded by Councilman
Res 46836 NCS Perry, and approved by 7 affirmative votes.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT City Manager Robert.Meyer referred to a letter addressed 1,
PROJECT 1972 -- to Director. .Works- :David'A. Young, dated 1 MARSHLAND February 14,,.1975; from the United States Department
of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. . A copy of the
letter is on file with the City Clerk.
Mr: Meyer explained in order.for the City to-obtain a permit to construct the
outfall.into- Petaluma River from the .Corps of'.Engineers, the City had to agree
to permit 80 acres adjacent to.the Petaluma River at the ponding site, to
revert to marshland. He further reported Director of Public Works David Young
raised numerous questions regarding the breaching of dike and Mr. Young
felt it was not the City's responsibility to determine where the dike should
be breached, but that of the Fish-and Wildlife.Service or the Corps of Engineers.
Mr. Meyer reported further that instead of.losing this 80 acres of land to .
marshland, there may be a,possibility of reimbursement from the Federal government.
The area is bounded on three sides by the proposed San Pablo National Wildlife
Refuge. Councilman Mattei expressed a great deal of concern over the fact
that the dikes-,had to be breached,, .he _felt the City-Council--should take a more
agressive attitude on this matter:- .:_He- .didn't feel the -Fish and Game Commission
is really an authority to take care of running the whole coast line or river
line, Councilman Mattei expressed concern for the•acreage along the river
which has. been reclaimed over the past 40, 50 or 60 years.- He also'questioned
whether or not if a dike- were•broken, would this-automatically mean the land
would revert to marshland-and the would take -its natural course.
City Manager Robert Meyer felt the City had already lost the battle on this 80
acres which was a portion of the Wastewater Treatment Project land; however,
still to be determined is the Environmental Impact Report on the 212 acres the
38 8 February 24, 1975
WASTEWATER .TREATMENT City purchased -for spoils area. When the 80 acres
PROJECT 19.72 -- under question was considered, the Fish and Wildlife
MARSHLAND Service placed the stipulation that this land revert
(Continued) to marshland. Councilman Mattei felt that by being
pressured into the release of this land, the City may
be setting a pr'eced'ent which could affect a lot of
_ farm.:land: all along the river.
Mr. Young advised the Council when he learned
the Federal Government was going
to establish a fish and
wi- ld'life refuge in the
area and had already purchased
acreage across the river
from the 80 acres in
question, he asked if the City
could not be reimbursed
rather than just lose
the 80 acres. The Regional Group
is in agreement with Mr.
Young's request and it
will be sent to Washington;
D.C., for approval.
In answer to Councilman Perr y ' _s question whether or.not the 80 acres could. be
used as a Young felt we could not get a permit from the Corps.
of Engineers because one of the.concessions made when requesting the permit
for the outfall across the land was that it be returned to marshland.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Mayor Putnam asked the City Attorney to
research the questions posed by Councilman Mattei to determine whether or not
future policy would call for the reversion of the river to its natural state.
NOTICE OF SALE Resolution No. 6837 N.C.S. providing for the issuance
0\ 1975 LIBRARY BONDS of $750,000 principal amount of "'City of Petaluma 1975
RES .#683.7 NCS Library Bonds "; pre-sc'r..ibing the date and form of. the
bonds and of .the coupons to be attached thereto;
fixing the 'maximum rate of interest on the bonds, and
prescribing the maturity thereof; authorizing the execution of the bonds -and
coupons; providing for the levy of, a tax to pay the principal and interest
thereof; and directing notice of sale of the bonds to be given,.was introduced
by Councilman Brunner., seconded by Councilman Perry and approved by 7 affirmative
votes.
Mr_. Herman Zelles of the.firm of Stone and Youngberg, financial consultants,
spoke to the City Council advising that the resolution before diem this eve-
ning calls for the sale of the bonds and setting the sale 'date of March 17,,
1975. The bids are to be received'by the City Clerk in the afternoon and '
presented to the City Council that evening. Provisions have been made for two
alternate maturity schedules; one for 20 years and the other for 25
The reason.for the two schedules is the bond market has been up and
down, recently and these. bonds call for a maximum of 7% interest. Mr. Zelles
stated everything is complete and ready to'go forward on'the sale of the'bonds
and he ,did feel that they would have some bids on the bonds.
PREPARATION OF Resolution #6838 N.C.S.. authorizing the employment of
SPECIFICATIONS Lieb and Quaresma as consultants to prepare plans and
MC NEAR TENNIS specifications for.McNear Park tennis courts was in-
COURTS troduced.by Councilman Harberson, seconded by Councilman
RES'#6838 NCS Perry, and approved by 7 affirmative votes.
The Council had requested the City.'s.Engineering staff to determine whether or
not`they could prepare the plans and specifications for facility. Director
of David,Young. stated his staff is capable of preparing the plans
and specifications; however, it would largely be a matter of priori
tes' and
staffing,. The item is not included in his Program of Service for the 1974 -75
year. The Engineering staff is still working on projects included in the
Program of Service as well as other projects which became necessary through no
fault-of the City. One of the projects not-included in the Program of Service
which must be done by June 30, is to determine corrections for storm water
infiltration into the City's Wastewater, Treatement System. -This is a requirement
of the Water- Quality.Control Board. The staff must also design a wash -water
reclamation system. In addition Mr. Young'advised the Council that Federal.
Aid Urban funds are now becoming available and his staff must prepare the
right -of -way plats. Mr. Young further stated the proposal from Lieb and
Quaresma was a reasonable one and was probably as cheap as the City's staff.
could do it.
February 24; 1975
ADDITIONAL REPAIRS Resolution #6819 N..C.S. calling for bids for additional s�
INGERSOLL -RAND repair to air blower,:Wastewater Treatment Plant, was
AIR BLOWER iritroduced.by Council"man'Harberson, seconded by Councilman
WASTEWATER.TREATMENT Daly, approved A affirmative, 3 negat9ye votes. Council -
PLANT men Cavanagh','Mattei, and'.Perry voted no.
RES 46839 NCS Before the above resolution was approved, Mr. Fred
Schoeneweis, Water Pollution Control Superintendent,
read a letter from Christie Machine Works, San Francisco,
indicating the additional repairs needed on the air compressor for the Wastewater
Treatment Plant. The cost above the $7,387 bid previously awarded to Christie
Machine Works is $5,000. Mr. Schoeneweis explained when Christie Machine
Works tore the compressor down, they discovered additional repairs were necessary.
No work is.being done on the equipment at.the present time.
Director of Public Works David Young .felt the original notice to bidders
covered this eventuality in the paragraph which stated d "Should any additional
`work need to be performed by a contractor after disassembly and inspection is
made, the contractor shall be compensated for same on the basis of additional
work, labor and= materials cost,.plus 15%. Contractor must secure authori-
zation from Water Pollution Control Superintendent before proceeding with any
additional work." Mr. Young stated the problem arose when the City Attorney
gave his opinion that because the additional work.is. over $3.,000, it is.neces
sary for the City to go out to bid again. If .Christie Machine Works would be
the successful bidder on the second bid, Mr. Young could foresee no problems;
however, if another company was successful, there would be problems because
the compressor is already on the premises at Christie Machine Works. Councilman
Mattei asked what anew unit.would cost and Mr. Schoeneweis advised with
installation it. would be:approximately.$15.,000. :However, the difficult was
the length of time it would .take for delivery on a new unit.
It was the hope of the staff, in order to avoid further delay,.that the provision
in the original bid could be used as a basis for awarding the contract for the
additional work. City At:torney.Matt Hudson said he agreed with Mr. Young and
Mn Meyer that administratively and for practical purposes, it would be-better
not to have to go to bid again. However, the provisions of the City Charter
call for going out to bid again. He felt that the proviso in the original bid
which would provide for additional work could cover anything less than $3,000.
Mr. Hudson stated legally he.feels. the City has to go out to bid again. Mr.
Young asked the Council.that if they decided to.go to bid again, the second
bid document be revised.by omitting Item 1, 8 and 'a part 9 of the bid docu-
ment. This work, Mr. Young indicated, had already been awarded to Christie
Machine Works and this bid should be geared toward a subcontractor to work at
Christie Machine Works. Councilman Mattei felt the Council had an obligation
to save the taxpayers' money by awarding the additional work to Christie
Machine Works without going to bid again. Mayor Putnam stated if the $3,000
limitation is no lon.ger.a reasonable figure, she felt some provision should be
made for changing the Charter; and if the bidding process were not exercised
in this instance, the Council would run afoul of their own law. City Manager
Robert Meyer indicated he was not too sure if Christe Machine Works is not
awarded the second bid whether or not they would have the prerogative to sue
US. Some discussion was held as to the probable successful bidder on the
second contract. The question was asked how many bids were received on the
first notice to bid. The only bid was from Christie Machine Works.
Mr. Francis Powell, speaking from the audience, advised the Council it was
common practice to send bearing cages from Sausalito to Texas for overhauling
and have them returned. He further stated that on a root blower before he
would.make a bid he would know whether or not the bearing carriage or the
bearing was out and bid accordingly. Mr. Powell further stated it was common
practice to remove bearing cages and send them out to be repaired and be
reassembled.
At the conclusion of the discussion and before the introduction of the Resolution,
Councilman Harberson asked that the specifications be changed to delete Item
#1, Item #8, and Item #9 starting with the words "and the Petaluma Water
Pollution Control Plant" and substitute "to Christie Machine Works." He
further requested a new paragraph be added "Successful bidder to be subcontractor
to:Christie Machine Works and cooperate and coordinate construction rework
with Christie Machine Shop."
390
February 24, 1975
ADDITIONAL REPAIRS At, the, conclusion of :the. approval of -the call .for
INGERSOLL -RAND - bids;, ::Mayor: Putnam again :asked City Attorney.: Matt _.
AIR , BLOWER Hudson- to do. some research; to determine what other
WASTEWATER TREATMENT cities have , set: as ,a imaximum amount which would. require
PLANT a bid and to "determine when and how often the City of
RES #6839 NCS Petaluma had raised the
(Continued)
AIR -QUALITY Director-of-,Community .Development Frank 'Gray' reported
3 DESIQNATI'ON to the Council he :had; P.oznanovich,
Sonoma. County.',s representative•, - Bay ,Area" Pot -1 -ution
Control .District, :.for.:'a clarification on •the three
classes of air quality designation. Mr. Poznanovich had Milton Feldstein,
Deputy-.Air Pollution , Control' •Officer;. - respond to Mr. 'Gray's':request. A -copy
of the. letter from Mr. .Feldstein;; ":dated: February- 14. and'_:addressed toy Mr-.-
Dennis. Boehlje, Senior Planner.,_ s on _file_ the - City. :Cl.erk.,: -The 'letter
specifies- the air- iquality, determination is..- notF tied: -in with - parking management
plans or indirect source.review. The different classifications are- explained
in the letter and. Mr.-Gray indicated. if the City of Petaluma wanted to assure
itsel -f.' that one ; of the 18 maj or, .sources of.. pollutants would not be built in
Petaluma, Air Quality ..Des ignation�,should ;b'e Class -l. 1 Mr 'Gray further
stated bur *General Kan. does'• not: envision any type -'of 'heavy industrial - growth
in If - at some -future date Petal-uma to build industr-ial:'
plants, they would have to apply: a- change •in cl'assi- ficdtion.
Councilman Cavanagh asked the question be'-.as easy= to•change =the•
classlif,icati_on as it is to'designate: the..classification, to- which Mr: Gray
responded it would not. The City would.:$ave:to.make application to-the to -the Air
Resources Board by presenting :a case indicating Petaluma would not'exceed the
standards for certain contaminants.
At the conclusion of the discussion a motion was mad'e'by Councilman-Daly.,
seconded by. Councilman Mattei designating Petaluma_as'. Class. , 1.; for=- .thee'pre-
venttion.of•significant air quality deterioration.. Motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT There being :Jio further, business to come before-- the.'.
Council;, the. meeting was" adj burned •at 8:40 p-. m.
Attest.:
ity Clerf
1