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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes 02/02/2004February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page~341 ~ ~, L U~ a ~ .. - ~: C~~ of`'Peta-lu~aa, Calfo~°n~a L85a MEETING OF PETALUIIIIA CITY COUNCIL City Council Minutes Monday, February'2; 2004 - 3:00 P.M. Regular Meeting 1 CALL i'O ORDER 2 3 A. Roll Call 4 5 Present: Mayor Glass, Harris, Healy, Vice Mayor Moynihan, O'Brien, Torliatt 6 Absent: Canevdro 7 8 B. Pledge. of'Allegiance: Harris 9 10 PUBLIC COMMENT 11 12 Jim Ricci, Petaluma,.Old East Neighborhood Association, spoke regarding the past five 13 years of promises of the City to repdir'sidewalks!in the neighborhood, particularly Payran, 14 Vallejo, Edith, Wilson and Jefferson Streets;. which.. are-in the redevelopment district. 15 Sidewalks have been .marked twice for replacement and each, time have been 16 removed from the budget. New lights, trees', and sidewalks were promised over 5 .years 17 ago, The redevelopment `funds are there and should. be the number one project. Their 18 November 2001 newsletter mentioned sidewalk improvements would be moving forward T9 next spring (of 2002). Also mentioned the sidewalk across from the Opportunity Center 20 on from East D Street to approximately 1.50 feet north on Payran Street. People who visit 21 the Center park their cars on the. sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street. 22 Believes solution is to replace the swale gutter with a standard curb to discourage 23 people from parking on the sidewalk. 24 25 COUNCIL COMMENTS 26 27 Council Member Torliatt has exchanged several ernails with Mr. Ricci and told him the 28 City would be looking, at the midterm budget review, the redevelopment budget 29 coming up soon. The sidewalks were part of a promise that the City made when the 30 Opportunity Center was relocated to its existing location. She hoped to see it back in the 31 budget. She thought it was a $75,000 allocation at the time, and would like to see this 32 move forward in'the Redevelopment Agency when the budget comes back in the next 33 fiscal year. 34 35 She attended the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) meeting this morning. The 36 committee discussed what should be left in the OB~M fund for the Water Agency, and 37 the ,possibility of increasing from a three month to2,a four-month reserve for the Water 38 Agency budget. They also discussed the 2004'-2005"water transmission system budget, 39 and will be bringing that back, at the next WAC meeting for a final approval. Council will 40 probably need agendize that for action between now and the next meeting in March. 41 The committee discussed the Santa Rosa: wastewater disposal options; specifically, the 42 option to discharge in the Russian River upstream of the Water Agency collectors that Yu' a . Vol. 39, Page 342 February=2, 2004 1 provide our drinking water. Many of the contractors expressed. concern about that 2 option, especially if it resulted'in the water~quality being degraded to a level that 3 required a service water treatment facility. - 4 ~~ 5 Santa Rosa talked about their proposed allocation methodology for watersupply b shortage,. The will be meeting with all the contractors to discuss concerns with their initial 7 proposal, which cd_Ils for the City of Petalum6 to pump well water during. a shortage;.. 8 while Santa Rosa would not. She thought the City of`Petaluma and the other contractors 9 had significant issues with that proposal:, • 10 l l Vice Mayor MogniMan wanted to acknowledge fhat the Finance Department has 12 'undergone some significant changes in the .last year and has successfully brought the. 13 CAFR' in-house, which is a cost savings.. They have. converted, for the most. part, to the 14 new Pentamation financial software system. Any conversion•to a new system is a major 15 undertaking.. On top of thdt, there are so_ me new government regulations that had to be 16 implemented. ' 17 - ]$ He received a letter from George Schaeffer regarding City'streets. T.he City responded 19 rapidly to Mr. Schaeffer's concerns, thanks'to Directorof' Public Facilities and Services 20 Rick Skladzien. He reminded Council and s'faff that;, `'we=are being watched." If the City 21 can provide more funding to maintain there properly, it should definitely need do so. 22 23 CITY IVIANAGER'COMMENTS ~ ' 24 25 City Manager Bierman .announced that'C.ity Clerk Gayle Petersen was .injured. in a fall .,_ 26 today and is receiving rnedi,cal treatrnenf., He called Council's atfention to information 27 ~ they received on the dais this afternoon, including a' revised ordinance, for item 46 28 ("Waterways"),.'which revises old titles, and additional information on the;Aquatcs 29 Program. and Boulevard Apartments items on .tonight's agenda. 30 31 Regarding Mr. Ricci's comments about the Payran sidewalks, he noted that in last June's. 32 budget discussions .Council agreed to make the adjusfinents'for the sidewalks. at mid-= 33 year. They will be programmed to be paid for and done 'this fiscal year. We said we'd do 34 it and we'll do it. That doesn't include the curb thing, Cha't's a new one, so we'll have to 35 think about that: 36 ~ - 37 Mayor Glass .noted this is a very challenging;tim_e fiscally for the City of Pefaluma, and f_or 38 every municipality; and for every special agency, and every county in the Stafe of 39 Cdlifornia. at will'be more challenging if' the bond issue, which'-.will be presented to tfie 40 voters on March 2; should fail. The whole situGton for California. is literally'"up in the a-r" 41 and it will be up to the voters. 42 43 AGENDA CHANGES AND DELETIONS (Changes to current agenda only). 44 45 Vice MayorMoynihan requested that Council tdke no action on ahe appropriations ifem 46 until. after the budget hearings and the .reviews, 47 48 City Manager ,Bierman clarified~that today's~item followed direction he received from 49' Council. I# was the introduction .of an ordinance: It would come back to Council on 50 February°23~d, leaving the interval between the .meetings for review. It does follow the 51 direction received from the City Couneil~to bring the deficit from $1:9 down to $1.2. by 52 using two sources of funds. It also .moves some ,money :from gas tax to street rehabilitation February 2, 2004 Vol. 39; Page 343 1 for street maintenance, and .makes changes in the CIP program that will allow the City to 2 spend more money this year in capital improvemenfs,. including about $500,000 more in 3 water main work, and .moving a project up from 2Q06'to this fiiscal year. These are fairly 4 simple changes. There: will be mote changes to the budget, especially if the March bond 5 issue fails. 6 7 ~ Vice Mayor Moynihan thought Council needed to have a more thorough discussion 8 before making a decision. When an ordinance such as this is introduced, it needs to state 9 what the changes and appropriations are across all departments. He reminded Council 10 that he was looking fora 5~o reduction in compensa#ion expenditures this mid-year l1 budget. 12 13 Council Member Torliaft asked to have the discussion deferred until the item was 14 reached' on the agenda. 15 16 Mayor Glass summarized that Council Member Moynihan was asking that th.e item be` 17 removed from the agenda. As there did not appear to be support for that from the other 18 Council.. Members, it would remain on the agenda and would be discussed at the 19 appropriate time. 20 21 PRESENTATIONS'/PROCLAMATIONS 22 23 Declaring February 14, 2004 as "Mrs. Grossman's Day." Mayor announced; no one here 24 to accept. 25 26 "Free E-Mail Sign-Up Day" - BiII.Hammerman accepted with. brief comments. 27 28 APPOINTMENTS 29 30 A. Recommendation to the. Mayors' 8~ Councilmembers' Association for 31 Appoinfiment to the A'BAG Regional- Planning Committee (two positions; both 32 terms will expire September 2005). 33 . 34 Mayor Glass explained that two positions are open, but he had not received any 35 information about applicants. - 36 37 Council Member Torliaft answered that Janet Kurvers of Cotati had applied, and 38 Jake Mackenzie,. who currently serves on the committee, and was looking for 39 reappointment. I would make a motion to move those two people forward. 40 41 MOTION. to recommend Janet Kurvers and Jake Mackenzie for appointment to 42 the ABAG Planning Committee. M/S Torliaft/Healy. 43 44 AYES: Mayor Glass, Harris, Healy, O'Brien, Torliaft 45 NOES: None 46 ABSENT: Canevaro 47 ABSTAIN: Vice Mayor Moynihan. 48 49 B. .Sonoma. County Tourism Council's Investor's Committee -One City Council 50 Representative Needed for 2004 Calendar Year. 51 Vol. 39, Page 344 February 2, 2004 1 Council Member O'Brien, said he would be more than happy'to continue oh this 2 committee. 3 4 MOTION to appoint Council. Member O?$rien to the Sonoma County Tourism 5 Council's Investor's Committee. M/S Torliatt/Healyy. 6 7 MOTION carried unanimously (Canev:d~oabsent). 8 9 ~ 1, APPROVAL OF~ PROPOSED AGENDA. 10 1 1 A. Approval of Proposed Agenda for Council's. Regular Meeting of February 12 23', '2004. Council~Mem6er~Healy asked. if the prequalification of bidders item was ready'for action and should it be ;agendized. as .Discussion and. Possible. Aetioh or only for discussion. City Manager Bierman. believed it was just for discussion. Council would heed to give direction oh some .items. Council Member Healy thought the last item, on the- evehing calendar foc the possible Arts fee would be -for discussioh ahd direction. City Manager Bierman concurred. Vice Mayor Moynihan asked: to agendize g'special meefing to discuss'the budget. City Manager Bierman told Council he would inform Them when he had determined-a possible date for that meeting. M. OTION to approve the tentative agenda for February 23, 2004'..M/S Torliatt/Healy. MOTION carried uhanimously (Caneva~o absent). 2. PUBLIC' HEARING A. Resolution 2004-0.11 N.C.S. Amehding Resolution No. 2002-129 ,N:C:S., and 'Resolutioh No: 2003-128 N.C:S. Setting the Appropriations Limit' for Fiscal Years .2003 a_ nd'2004. (Thomas) ,(This item was continued fro-ri the January 26, 2004 City Covncl Me.efing;) Bill Thomas, Finance Direcfo[, provided a brief staff report. MOTION to adopt Resolutioh 2004-011 N.C.S. M/S O'Brien/Torliatt: PUBLIC HEARING OPEN MayorGlass opehed the'Public Hearing. Hearing no one wishing to speak, the Public Hearing~was closed. 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 February 2, 2004 PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED MOTION carried unanimously (Canevaro absent:). 3. CONSENT CALENDAR (None) 4. NEW BUSINESS Vol. 39, ;Page ~34'S~ A. Fiscal 2003 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (Thomas) Bill Thomas,. Finance Director, gave a brief overview of the CAFR, which changed significantly in 2003. The CAFR implemented GASB 34, which was a significant undertaking by the Finance Department. The City complied with all aspects of GASB 34. Mr. Thomas acknowledged Cinde Rubaloff, Accounting Mandger, and Chris Jones, Administrative Secretary, for their efforts in working with the auditors and producing this document in-house. Mayor Glass appreciated the work, and the easy-to- read report. Introduction (First Reading) of Ordinance 21.73 N.C.S. Amending Chapter 13.24 of the Petaluma Municipal Code, Entitled "Waterways" to Restrict Mooring or Anchorage on Certain Sections of the Petaluma River Waterways, as well as Vessel Size/Length Upstream of the Balshaw Bridge. (Skladzien) Rick Skladzien, Public Facilities and Services Director, gave brief overview of amendment to Waterways Ordinance. PUBLIC COMMENT- None. Vice Mayor Moynihan asked if the City's original waterways ordinance, adopted about 15 years ago, was not submitted to 8oating and Waterways and was therefore not enforceable. Mr. Skladzien said that could very well be. This ordinance has been submitted for their approval. Vice Mayor.Moynihan asked if the provision in the original ordinance which empowered the Harbor Master to carry guns and board boats had been eliminated. Mr. Skladzien agreed. MOTION to introduce Ordinance 2173 N.C.S., with the revisions presented to Council. M/S O'Brien/Healy. MOTION carried unanimously (Canevaro absent). Vol. 39, Page 346 February 2, 2004_ C. Presentation by Jeff Mayne of 'the Petaluma Downtown Association on Results of Survey of Downtown Merchants/Antique Vendors Regarding Number of Permitted Antique Faires. Jeff Mayne, Pefaluma Downtown Association, reported on the last antique faire. Two surveys were conducted: on'e to merchants in ;town and another to the antique dealers: that participated in the last faire. O'f the 174 surveys seht to. the downtown merchants, 49 were returned. Most supported two faires each year:.. Of the 170_ surveys sent to the antique vendors who. participafed in the September 2003 faire, 63 were returned. All b,ut one supported two' fai~es each -year. Council Member Torliatt thanked N1'r Mayne for carriing to speak to Council and the community on this issue. She asked if any information. regarding total sales at the faire was elicited in the surveys. Mr. Mayne explained that theyfound that most merchants don't track he .actual sales ono day-to-day basis. Antique dealers coming to town are. afraid to tell of their actual sales because they~anticipate a tax or levy for .corning. to town. Council Member Tbrliatt wanted. to be sure the City reaped the ,;benefit of dealers from outsider the community doming and selling their wares here. She believed the State of California; required'that. they report those. sales, so she didn''t know why they'would be opposed to giving the City that ihformation.'She asked Mr Mayne to continue to try to get that information from the vendors. Mr. Mayne. replied that the PDA would try to compile thaf data for the ahtique faire scheduled for the day after the Butter and Eggs Day Parade. Vice Mayor Moynihan mentioned. thaf a couple of downtown .businesses have. had some on-.going prot7lerns with the antique faires:in the, pasf - Couches, Etc., Petaluma .Market; in particulgr: He asked': Mr. Mayne if'they were included in the survey and'if`th'eir concerns were addressed. Mr..Mayne explained that-there was:an appdrent'miscommunieation in the past between the Downtown Association and the'two merchants. They believed the intent was to "land lock'' them with the faire and block off not only Western.Awenue, but 4t~ and Kentucky Streets, so they would be prevented from .doing business on a majorsales day. We have. assured'them we have no such intent and Western Avenue. At this point, they are supportive of the faire. 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 PUBLIC COMMENT -None. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Introduction (First .Reading) of an Ordinance. 2174 NrC.S. Amending Ordinance. 2155 N.C.S. to Change Certain;Appropriations for Operation of the City of Petaluma.. (Thomas) February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 347 1 Bill`Thomas, Finance Direatoc, gave a brief introduction to the amending 2 ~ ordinance thdt allocated funds for the 2003-04 budget and the changes 3 that are reflected in the amendmen- ts. The overall financial impacts to-all 4 funds is $922,850. 'This is the inifial amendment to the appropriations 5 ordinance. 6 7 City Manager'Bierman :noted that this the first of .many amendments you 8 will. beaeeing to~the budgef:as we go-through the remainder of the state 9 budgetahd the remainder of what the state. plahs to do to us on the 10 11 PCDC budgef`also. 12 Mr. Thomas. explained that instead; of appropriating to individual 13 departments,. dppropridtions are being made to ~d general fund 14 expenditure contingency. That allows the City Manager the flexibility to 15 appropriate funds when and where they are needed. Unused funds go 16 back:to the fund': balance. The City Manager and he will be having 17 meetings.wifh the departments to go over the numbers and the vacant 18 positions and cut ou some unnecessary spehding. 19 20 Vice MayorMoynihan thought that during this mid-year budget review 21 process,,. fhe dppropc'iations should. actually be reduced and money taken 22 frorn~department~ budgets, instead of v`~aiting until next year. 23 24 City Manager Bierman pointed out that instead of changing 25 appropriations; the City is "forcing the savings:" Expenses are being 26 controlled, with the help of variance reports. It wouldn't be reasonable to 27 bring ordinance: changes before Council every time there was a savings 28 in a departmental budget. 29 30 Mr: Thomas commented that he would. like to see -the City Charter 31 amended~so this. process could be accomplished through resolutions. 32 33 Vice Mayor Moynihan asked'Mr. Thomas if he would bring back ayear- 34 end change in appropriations. 35 36 Mr. Thomas answered that there would be many changes coming to 37 Council over .the course of the next five months. 38 39 Vice Mayor Moynihan thought it important fo identify the "important" 40 _ vacant positions in each department; those that are backfilledwith 41 contract labor or overtime, and either fill' the positions or adjust the 42 budgets, appropriately. If any of the vacant positions are going to be 43 eliminated, it should happen. at the mid-year budget review with 44 adjustments to the departments' budgets. The variance reports can show 45 each department head exactly how they fall on their budget. 46 47 If the City's compensation expenditure is lowered by 5%, or 2-1 /2%, as 48 applied to the second. half of this fiscal year,. the City will be better 49 positioned for-the increase in PERS .next year. He stated again that he 50 thought it should be possible to identify the critical and non-critical 51 ,positions for this midyear budget review. Elimination of those should be an 52 alternative. The City has a financial problem right now, and if these Vol. 39, Page 348 - February 2, 2004 adjustments are,not .made now,. more lay offs may come jri ,July. He was trying to save positions by controlling expenditures now. Ne asked the Council for te-edb:ack. - Council Member O'Brien thinks_;Mr. Thomas shows a great deal of {eadership for the City. He works very closely. with the Gity.Marager. Their teamwork and'their leadership are inValuable.'He moved-`to follow: the City ~ivlanager's recommendations on the_ compensation: policy. Council Member`TorlidtFseconded Council Member O'Brien's motion. She told N1r. Thomas he hdd done a great.job at identifying some major issues that we've had to deal with. as tar~as-ldbilities for the city: She ;believes all positions in the. City I think:are critical. ,Ever every single department'is understaffed for the amount of"service that this community really needs. She wondered what Council Member~Moynihan believedto be he'`non- critical" positions in this community. She values every job done by everybody who comes to work for this City everyday. Obviously;:, emergency services are a very high priority,, but there is a lot-of work that .gets done in this City in every department; and all those positions are: "critical" Council Member Flarris commented on -the: many uncertainties and complexities fo thin process. Council and staff are looking at: the future budget while simulfa,neously adjusting the current budget. Hard choices. have already been. and they'd continue to be. made. The. City Manager and Finance;DiFector and staff should definifely be commended with what they are- going through with. the cards: that have been dedlt to the City. He looks forward to the ongoing discussions throughout the process: Vice Mdyor Moynihan thinks the. City Manager and. Finance Director are doing: a fine job, He•clarified that when he said it was time'to show some leadership, he was referring to the: CouneiJ. For Council to show leadership, they must weigh in and give: direction. The. City Managerdnd Finance Director generally offervery;good recommendations that should be followed, but. Council should~dlso show some foresight and make the appropriate changes, and adjustments: if Council directed, the City Manager and City :Finance Director~to reduce compensation byS%, and eliminate th:e non-critical vacant positions, he thought it would be possible to not lay. anyone off.. That would be a policy decision this Council is quite entitled to snake and gdirection-that would show the leadership, necessary to start trimming the fat out of the budget, what liftle fat there is: No .budget is perfect,: and. not every pos'ifion is critical if'it can be left vacant without senLice levels suffering,; - City Manager Bierman; countered that all. budgeted positions, are critical positions. If theyare vacant because'somebody left, they are still critical position, but because of these economic times theyare not behg filled. Vice.Nla.yor Moynihan reiterated that if adeguateaervice levels are 'being maintained with positions: vacant, those positions arse non-critical: If vacant positions are being back-filled. with overtime or contract labor 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 February 2', 2004 Vol. 39, Page 349 they should either be filled, .or the budget should be adjusted to reflect the money being spent on contract labor or overtime. Mayor Gldss enumerated some of the things that have-been accomplished in the last few years through the leadership of this Council, from the development-commuriity, from City staff. That's the beginning of getting well.. There are 28 vacant positions right now. The City Manager will do an evaluation;-he will have a meeting with City staff and City staff will. offer their alternatives. Everybody. at City Hall certainly knows the situation that not only this City is in but the entire state. The agendized item here is a motion and a .second on the initial step toward dealing with the budget crunch. The City Mari'gger's responsibilityis to take steps to present a balanced budget for next year- and to make prudent steps toward moving this budget this year somehow into balance, and it may require some reserves. Council Member Healy supported the ordinance. He thought it likely, as events develop at the state level, that more steps that will be needed. The City is ;being proactive in dealing with the situation and exhibiting leadership. This is a very solid step forward. He looks forward to more discussion on the subject in .the near future. Vice Mayor Moynihan didn't see this. ordinance as leadership because it is riot proactive in making the necessary ffeductions in expenditures to keep the City fiscally sound. Mayor Glpss clarified that the City Manager was given direction by this Council to deal with specific issues. This ordinance is the initial step. MOTION to introduce Ordinance 2174 N.C.S. M/S O'Brien/Torliatt. AYES: Mayor Glass, Harris, Healy, O'Brien, Torliatt NOES: Vice Mayor Moynihan ABSENT: Canevaro ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. :MONDAY. FEBRUARY 2. 2004 -EVENING SESSION 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Glass, Harris, Healy, Vice Mayor Moynihan, O'Brien, Torliatt Absent:. Canevaro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 3'6 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Vol. 39, Page 350 February 2, 2004 B. Pledge,of Allegiance: Council Member Healy' C. Moment of Silence PUBLIC. COMMENT Mr. Huade, no other information given,. to'Id Cou .Heil he is a. business owner: He and several other 'business owners have: received complaints from custorriers about a panhandler who .harasses those who refuse his requests. Mr. Huarte asked Council for more .police presence in the ,downtown area. , Vince Landof; Pefaluma, ~spoke_ regarding,completion of .the., Payran Flood Control project and removal of the railroad trestles. COUNCIL,COMMENTS Council Member Torliatf believed the bid for the flood control projecf had .gone. out. or was going ouf shorfilq, and the Cify was well on i'ts way fo securing a contract to complete the work'within 12 to 18 mon"ths. Mayor Glass referred to his trips. to Washington D.C. and'stated`the City is using. every diligence to see thdt the project is completed. Bofih the House and Senate have agreed on the full funding. of $7.3' million. By the end of the rainy season of next year, the project will,be completed. Vice Mayor Moynihan reported that the Library Advisory Board. met last week. The Community Roorn F-xpansion project is moving forward. The library bookstore is: being expanded as well, and will be called ".Dorothy's Place" in honor of Dorothy Bertucci. He noted that a number of parks are coming on line about which he is. He will give: information fo the City Clerk for circulation to Council. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS -None. 6. UNFINISHED. BUSINESS A. City Council Discussion and Possible Action Regarding the Request for Edrly Opening of the.Swim Center„ Carr) Jim Carr, Parks and Recreation Director; presented ;fhe staf# report. When the 2003-2004 budget was prepared, .budget cutbacks were. already being faced.: Late closure:'of the pool, had been funded.. In the budget narrative, he had indicated there were not availak~le funds for an early opening of the swim center, acid also#or'fireworks. At Council's last meeting they requested information.regarding the cost to open;the pool early. Reports were>provided #o Council outliping the' costs forfhe ent'ii-e. season;, as well as the' actual month-to=month costs. He compared current costs and revenue to figures from 2001. Council Member He_ aly+asked if the $7,000/month for aquatic staff in the report given to Council today reflected the, full schedule or the abbreviated schedule. - 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 february 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 351 Mr. Carrreplied that the numbers were based on the full schedule, morning, afternoon, and evening; For the audience's information, he explained that an abbreviated schedule of opening ih the late afternoon and a few hours on Saturdays was also being considered. Council Member .Healy asked what the costs would be with the abbreviated schedule. Mr. Carr said that'the cost. would be about $4,000/month. Vice Mayor Moynihan noted that as Council liaison on the Recreation, Music and Parks Commission he had worked with Mr. Carr, Parks and Landscape Manager Ed Anc.hordoguy, aril Recreation Supervisor Don Phoenix. He thanked them for ".taking the flak" from frustrated members of the public. He referred to a cost analysis. provided with the report that showed the cost of electricity and gas as higher in the early months of the year. He thought some of the program costs might be lower, but the operating costs were as high if not higher. Mr. Carr explained that the "constant'° cost is electric, as the electric pumps run 24 hours per day, year round. Gas is the variable. The cost goes down as the weather becomes warmer. The solar collectors are used begihriing in April, and are helpful, if obsolete. In the fall, the gas prices start to rise again. Vice: Mayor,Moynihan asked about discussion of modifying and/or upgrading the solar collectors, and other potential capital improvements to the pool. Mr..Carr explained that all' options. have been considered, including not heafing the pool dt all,. or usirig~the solar collectors only. It would cost $1 1,000-$1.5,000 to replace all the solar panels; however, with new panels, cost of gas would go down apprecidbly. The replacements should pay for themselves in, twelve to eighteen moriths. Council will also be asked to approve application for Proposition 40 funds. Council Member Healy pointed out that if the electric cost would be the same regardless of when the pool opens,. that figure should be deduced from the total cost of early opening, because it would be spent in any case. That would reduce the total cost from about $30,000 to about $23>000. Council Member Torliatt noted that the Aquatics Committee put together a plan in 2001 to try to get the pool open year round by 2004. The plan included many suggestions for revenue enhdncement. She asked how the City has solicited and pursued additional revenue sources for the pool, such as additional swim teams, diving classes, and ways to increase interest in the pool ahd programs. Mr. Carr described the system of individual passes that was developed with the committee's help. He knew of no other swim clubs in the area that might be interested in using the pool Vol. 39, Page 352 February 2, 2004 Council M_emberTorliatt,thougM Petaluma''s was the. only 50-meter pool in the County and would be in ,high demand. Mr. Carr noted. there are two pools in Sdnta Rosa that are. open year- round. Swim teams don't come to the Petaluma pool', except for countywide meets: Vice Mayor Moynihan asked. for clarification about suggesfions from the Aquatics Committee about adjusting the current fee schedule. Mr. Carr explained that the suggestion was for a series of passes for early season, lap swim, gnd`late season; and in, another category, during. the June through Labor Day season, passes for recreation and lap swim:. These are going through fhe City Manager's Office for approval. Vice Mayor-Moynihan asked if significantly higher revenues were anticipated: from the passes. Nlr. Carr answered that revenues were expected; however, he couldn't predict an .amount at this, point. Vice Mayor Moynihan .had heard discussion of people getting into the - swim. center without'paying. Mr. Carr had also heard such. comments, The Swim Center has a good • staff this year; dnd fhey have been made aware of the problem. ... Council Member Torliatt remembered that Council had discu'ssed'th'e Swim~Center:boiler, and the possibility of applying for Proposifiion.40 funds to,replace it, during last year's budget meetings. -She asked IvTr. Carrwhei't . the status was on this. issue: Mr. Carr. ,explained that a Resolution would. come before Council on February 23 to allow~the City fo seek approval from the state for`about 30 different maintenance projects throughout the Parks .and Recreation system. Public Comment The following individu"als spoke in support of early opening of the: Swim Center. Scott"Goulding; Twin Valley Aquatics,. Petaluma Andy Eber, Aquatics Advisory Board, Petaluma D:eeAnn Joslin, Twin Valley Aquatics and Private Instructor, Petaluma • Kay Drew,. Petaluma Lori Mafthews, Twin Valley Aquatics, Petaluma Annie Matthews, Twin Valley.Aqu,atics, Petaluma Lisa Gutt, Twin Valley Aquatics, :Petaluma February 2, -2004 Vol. 39, Page 353 1 COUNCIL COMMENT 2 3 ,Mayor Glass noted the City has a lot of challenges. Orie of the goals of 4 the Ci#y`s-General Plan. is to effectively use facilities to serve the greatest 5 number of Petalumans. He believes in order to have programs such as the 6 Swim Center,. fees will have to be increased. The Parks and Recreation 7 Department currently issues City Resident cards that enable the holder to 8 savemoney on green fees at local golf courses. With these cards, Mayor 9 Glass suggested using two scales on a swimming pass-City resident and 10 out-of-town. Although the City Resident cards cost $15.00, it currently 1 1 costs only $1.00 to renew the card each year. He thought that amount 12 was too low. He added that this year would be unique in terms of what 13 the City :faces. 14 15 Council Member Healy thought that the fact that Council had learned 16 this evening that some costs are irrelevant for decision making because 17 they are incurred whether the pool is opened or not, "changed the face 18 of Things."This reduced the expected cost of early opening by about 19 $1 O;QOO per month. This could be lower if'the abbreviated schedule were 20 adopted. He agreed with Council Member Torliatt's desire to move 21 forward to increase the capacity of the solar heating system, so that the 22 City does not face these kinds of heating costs in future years. He 23 reminded Council they had made well over $500;000 in budget 24 adjustments in the afternoon session. He was prepared to move forward 25 with early opening of the pool. 26 27 Vice Mayor'Moynihan countered that not many expenditures were cut, 28 and Parks and Recreation was over budget at mid-year. He was 29 sympathetic to the need for a good swimming facility. Unfortunately, the 30 City clearly did: not have the cash in this year's budget to open the pool 31 early. He thought the capital improvement projects to upgrade the boiler 32 and solar heating system would definitely help. He would like further input 33 from the Recreation, Music and Parks Commission regarding the possibility 34 of enclosing the pool and potential cost savings, at least during the winter 35 months, from lower heating costs. He agreed that some of the fees could 36 be increased, and thought swimming lessoris were definitely a possible 37 moneymaker. He could not recommend opening the pool early this year. 38 39 Council Member O'Brien mentioned that in written Chinese, Two 40 characters represent "crisis": danger and opportunity. The City is facing a 41 crisis about recreation and finances. The danger in this case is the 42 possibility of Dosing the swimming program. The opportunity is for the 43 aquatic community to raise at least a portion of the $20,000 to make an 44 early opening of the swimming pool possible. He did not want to say "no" 45 to an early opening, but did not see'how the City could. afford it. He 46 would love to hear more ideas about possible fundraisers. Without any 47 way to raise the additional funds, and' with five City police officer job 48 openings unfilled, he could not say "yes." 49 50 .Council Member Torliatl pointed out that no one wanted to say no to an 51 early opening. The Aquatics Committee has worked since 2001 to put a 52 plan together. She would like Council and staff to be committed to Vol. 39, Page 354 February 2, 2004 having a March 1 .opening'in 2005 and work ;together to increase. revenue. and awareness'of pool's existence. She added that Proposition 40 funds to fix the boiler would lower.costs significantly. This year, the City is forced with .cutting. $1.2; million. from,the budget. Opening the pool on March. 1 Sr' this year would add $20,000 that would have fo b.e found. by making cuts in otherplaces.~.Other revenues would have to be found in order for the pool to open March 1. Council Member Harris had been. prepared to vote. "no" on this tonight in light of the. City's current fiscdl'situa.tion. However, `the discussion about deducting the electric cost from tfie cost of .early opening, the abbreviated schedule; he additional revenue ideas, the potential for increasing. some. fees, and the cost savings- to be realized with the repair of the boiler,. he felt that if might be possible to open the pool on March l . .Mayor-:Glass :also: came to thee. meeting prepared to say that the pool could not open early. The best argument he .heard for opening the pool on March 1, came from Annie Matthews; who said, "It's the only pool you can go o without.being a member.°" He'thought there was some interest on the, part of the Council to explore the issue further. Mr. Carr explained that if the City followed the recommendations in the .Revenue. Cost Study,. there would be an additional $10;000 in .revenue during normal swim season. When the study was released, Council. chose' not to'fully implement the recommended increases. Council.Member To"rliatt wondered if it would be possible to;getcorporate sponsors to help:-offset costs. She encouraged the community to solicit ~ _ that kind of revenue;. so the City can make. a commitment loran early opening.in 2005. Qouncil had received three. different sets of cost figures. - She would like to ee some refined numbers'based on tonight's discussion, from both.. an expense and revenue point of view. Mr: Carr explained that the different figures are the result of the switch'in finance software from Profund to Pentamation. Utility costs came straight from the utility .companies: He felf confident that the figures Council received tonight were as accurate as possible... Council~Member Healy pointed out thatifian additional $T~:O,000revenue was realized by following the recommendations in the. CostStudy, the cost of opening fhe pool early dropped to $12,000 - $T$,000. Vice MayorMoynihan noted that a comparison,of'lastyear and this year would need. to include an adjustment of utility rates: Referring toahe Aquatics Report that came out in.2001, he sdd that many of th;e ideas. it contained were speculative:innature. Thesuggeston to hire afull-time Aqudtics Manager and develop a marketing program may be the answer in the long run, but not yet. In order to achieve 100% cost recovery., fee increases would .have. to be quite steep. City Manager Bierman said that based on the abbreviated hours, there would be about $22;000 difference for the two months. If there were an February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 355 1 additional $10,000 iri revenues, .the difference would bereduced to 2 $120.00.•At that°point; help must be<solicited from the corporate and 3 ~ aquatics. commuhities: if thatsupport were: not°forfhcoming, the program 4 would-shut down fbr the last two months of the season. _ 5 6 Mayor Glass asked how many recreation cards the City sells. 7 . 8 Mr. Carrreplied tha he would get that information. The cost of the cards 9 is $12'iniaially and $1.00 to renew. 10 • 1 1 Council. Member Healy had one;.concern with the abbreviated schedule, 12 which was Monday through Thursday,. 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays 1 1 13 a..m. to 1 p:m. If wondered if that was a little too restrictive. He asked Mr. 14 Carr what the full schedule hours were. 15 16 Mr. Cdrr;replied that the hours would be 5 a.rn. to 7 or 8 p.m., Mondays - 17 Thursdays, and 11 a.rrm. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. 18 19 __ ~ .May.or Glass would be willing to look of the abbreviated schedule with 20 extended' hours during school vacations if the weather was nice. 21 22 Council Member Torliatt summarized that she. thought Council was willing 23 to go with the abbreviated hours, and raise between the aquatics 24 communify'and fhe,corporate sector about'$12,000. She would be happy 25 to have staff look at raising additional funds, but.without them, she did not 26 think the- extended hours could be considered. 27 28 Mayor Glass stressed that it is not just the City's responsibility to raise 29 money - it also the swimmers'.. 30 - 31 Council Member O'Brien was willing to support the City Manager's 32 recommendation. and challenge the aquatics community with the 33 challenge to go out and raise the difference before the next Council 34 Meeting. He thought it was possible.. If that happened, Council could look 35 at the extended hours. The time has come, with the City's budget deficit 36 problems, for the community to help themselves, as well. 37 38 MOTION to open the Swim Center on Ma"rch 1 on an abbreviated 39 schedule of Monday through Thursday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays 11 40 a.m. to 1 p:rn. If fund raising efforts on the part of the aquatics community 41 and the City are effective ih offsetting ahe additional cost to the City, the 42 Swim. Center hours may be extended. If the-fund raising efforts are not 43 successful, 'the abbreviated schedule will remain in place and the Swim 44 Center may be closed prior to the end of the regular swim season. M/S 45 O'Brien/Healy. 46 47 Vice Nlayor AAoynihan stated that it's very difficult to say "no, " but 48 sometimes it is the responsible thing to do. The City is facing the possibility 49 of laying off employees in July, and underfunding•key maintenance areas 50 righf now. He thoughfi some of the suggestions made were good, and 51 could be used to come back with a whining program next year. 52 Vol. 39, Page 356 February 2, 2004 Mayor Glass replied that the pool has~a quality,.lasting,irnpacf, particularly for children; in the community. To; have "the pool sit idle'when people dre begging to use it doesn'trnake sense:. He encouraged the community to go out and help raise money'and to suppo.r•t the fee increases.. Council Member Torliatt clarified that with corporate sponsorship, the expenses would be offset with revenues and donations. AYES: Mayor'Glass, Harris, Healy; O'Br•ie"n, Torlia_tt NOES: Vice Mayor Moynihan ABSENT: Canavaro 7. PUBLIC. HEARING A. Boulevard Apartmerifs '(Buckelew Progranisj Request 'Mitigated Negative Declaration;; Rezone to PUD; Adopt Proposed Unit Development Plan; Adopt Proposed Development Standards. forPUD. (Gaebler) • RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: { Resolution Adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration,, Including a ,Mitigation. Monitoring Plan for fhe .Boulevard' Aparfinents Project. ,Introduction (First Reading) of an Ordinance .Rezoning the Property 'Located at 945 Petaluma .Blvd. North. (APN 006-450-018) from the CH'- .Highway Commercial to the FUp-Planned Unit District. Resolution Approving; a _PJanned Unit: Development Plan ahd Development Standards and Associated Conditions of Approval for the Boulevard Apartments- Project. Bonne .Gaebler, Housing. Administrator,. presented the staff. report, with help, from Lyn"n Goldberg, Projec# Planner; a"nd~ Kdtie~Crecilius; of BucKelew Programs. Public Comment P oje of owin individuals s oke in support of the Boulevard .Apartments g p Lynn, Berard;-Petaluma . Vera Ciammetti,Petaluma> Petaluma Ecumenical Properties Carol; Cinquini,; Santa Rosa Paula Cook, Petaluma, ;Petaluma Ecumenical Properties: Dianne Davis; Petaluma Duane DeWift, Santa Rosa, Community Builders Corporation Daymon Doss, Petaluma, Petaluma Health Care District Helana FitzGerald, Petaluma; Cathy Geary;: Santa.. Rosa; Sonoma County; Division of Mental Health Nlajida Gil7son, Petaluma, affordable housing.. consultant Dev Goetschius, Petaluma Guy Guillon, Petaluma _ February~2; 200'4 Vol. 39, Page 357 1 Gabe-Kearney, Petaluma, Sonoma County Mental Health Board 2 Jeanine Lanouette, Petaluma. 3 Jim Leddy,. Santa. Rosa, Sonoma Coun;fy Housing Coalition 4 Regie Livingston, Petaluma 5 Jim March, Petaluma 6 Michele. McCabe, Petaluma, Maria County Public Guardian 7 Margo Warnecke Merck= Healdsburg, Communi.tq Housing Development 8 Corporation 'of Santa Rosa. and Sonoma County Housing Coalition 9 James C. Mobley, Jr:; Petaluma 10 John Morgan, Petaluma 1 1 Julie Morgan, Petaluma 12 Corinne Ivluelrcfth, Petaluma 13 Debi Nunes,. Petaluma 14 Dorothy O'Brien, city not .given 15 John Records, Petaluma 16 Noreen Ririglein, Petaluma 17 Kenneth T.:Schmidt, Petaluma 18 Kendall Smith, Petaluma 19 Richard Speel, Petaluma 20 Len Svinth, Petaluma, Petaluma, Petaluma Ecumenical Properties 21 22 The following individuals spoke in opposition fo the Boulevard Apartments 23 Project: 24 25 Rubie Amramov, Petaluma 26 Angelina Arrington, Petaluma 27 Anita Flett, Petaluma 28 Doug Frampton, Petaluma 29 Norm Hilliard, Petaluma 30 Tamara Miller; Petaluma 31 Russell Pleech, Petaluma 32 Jeff Ray, Petaluma 33 Cliff Stock, Petaluma 34 Marcie Stock, Petaluma 35 David Wright; Petaluma 36 Dawn Wright, Petaluma 37 38 At the request of Council Member Healy, the remainder of the meeting minutes 39 is a verbatim transcription. 40 41 Response to Public Comment 42 43 Mdyor Glass: Would staff or the applicant wish to respond to any of the 44 Public Comment? 45 46 Ms. Gaebler,introduced Jay Zlotnick, Executive Director of Buckelew 47 Programs. 48 49 Mr. Zlotnick responded to the following issues raised during Public 50 Comment: 51 Vol. 39, Page 358 February'2, 2004 Supervision: There will'be a person on'site to do the property management and, collee# fhe rents. Vera.: Ciametti` [Petaluma Ecumenical Projectsj,spoke to that issu.e..They're not thereto do mental health counseling. The people: wha hopefully will live at Boulevard Apartments don't need.24-hour supervision -just like the folks who live of our Novato project,,:our Fairfax. project; and several apartment buildings in San R,afael.. if "they: needed 24-hour supervision; theywould not:be~at Boulevard'A'partments:.If they're living at Boulevard Apartments, they don't need it. If, their situation deteriorates, such that they do need 24-hoursupervision, then we will intervene. and.arrange that for,,them. O:f the 19,people who have lived at Qlive• Avenue Apartments in Novato. in' b ;years, 3 are rio longer there:, one died, one moved. to'New. Jersey, and one was hospitalized. The one that was hospitalized was the one who mdde most of those calls. My point being, if~ people are not' able to maintair independent living, we intervene,. sometimes with fide help of the police, sometimes with the help of socialservices,wth mental,:health departments, and we get-the person fhe care that they need,. So while there isn't a mental health person on. the grounds 24 hours aday, -that's not what`s needed. StafF: Contact:.Everyone who lives at Boulevard Apartments' will have a staff member from Buekelew Programs assigned to them,: and that staff member will see the clienf as".often as necessary. We; have some programs where our staff"is seeing people several dimes a day; we; have programs were,~people see.our clients once a'week or once every two weeks. It totally depends on what the client needs; and we're there to respond to that. Medication: First of all, not everyonewho has a psychiatric,dsorder goes off .his/her medication. But, it does happen. When thaf happens, we find out about it. They either tell us, or their roornmafes or housemates or neighbors tell'vs, their friends tell us, or vve, figure it out, because we know our clients well, and we,know whenthey're "deteriorating. When that happens, we:~ intervene. M. any times; duY clients are very receptive to~.this, pnd we:get them back on their medications,-ora different medication; or, if need be, we help them get more. supervision in a more interisiv,e facility. Screening Process: There are: many levels of screening before someone`s goingto live at Boulevard Apartments, The first screening happens at the County Mental Health Department level. Cathy Geary and her staff .know what`it takes "for someone to live independently, and they will not'refer so,meorie to Buckelew Pr©grarns unless they feel that person is ready to live independently. Then we meet with the client, sometimes with Cathy's,staff, sometimes on :our own, and we'll do an informal meeting, jusf',kind of .explain the,rules and doing an assessment right'there. Then. we'll falk'again with Cathy's staff, read all sorts of reports,.. get a ;good idea of the history of the person; and only after fhat will we have a fina`f interview with the client, and a very thorough interview.,lfthere•are any gaps in the history, any quesfions we have, we'll fill fhose gaps. 'So it's a very thorough screening. February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page' 359 1 2 I'm veryconfident in our screening process. There have been 3 uggestions here that Buckelew Programs can't make. guarantees, 4 can`t make promises about peoples` future behavior. There are many 5 promises and'many guarantees l can make to you. I can guarantee 6 that our screening will be thorough. I can guarantee that if there's a 7 problem, we''ll follow through, and I can make these guarantees 8 because that's exactly what we've done for the 31 years we've been 9 in existence, it's exactly what we`ve done in San Rafael, and Fdirfax, 10 and Novato, and not- once .have we had a complaint from a public 1 1 service agency, a fire department or police department, of abuse of 12 their services. In fact, we're in the same business as they are: the 13 .business of public service. 14 15 I want to tell you a brief story about a client who was in one of our 16 .programs many, many years ago, who, because of her paranoia, 17 would periodically pull the alarm and call. the fire department, 18 because she thought she was going to be harmed. After awhile, the 19 fire department said to us, "You know, we want to help, but every time 20 we roll those trucks, it causes a real, liability. What can we do?" We 21 worked with the fire department, we figured out a great plan for the 22 client. Part of the fire deparfinent's suggestion was that when they 23 were on a routine call, they would stop by and check in with the 24 client, rather than waiting for a problem.. That's an example of how 25 .Buckelew: works with. other organizations in the community, to make 26 our clients successful. 27 28 You've heard some comments from several nurses and a marriage 29 and family counselor about, frankly, horror stories; about someone 30 with a mental illness. Unfortunately, those horror stories exist. They are 31 rare, but they do happen. There are not the folks Buckelew Programs 32 works with. That goes back to our screening process. The whole 33 purpgse of the screening at the County level and our level is to insure 34 that those issues will not be happening in your community. 35 36 Property Values: You've also heard comments about property values. 37 There are numerous studies that show that awell-managed affordable 38 housing project has no impact on property values. In fact, I suspect 39 that the project will'help sustain, if not increase property Values, 40 because it will be well managed. 41 42 In closing, l want to say that I can't guaranfee you that there won`t be 43 problems, butY don't think any of-you could guarantee me that in any 44 . enterprise you're involved in, there won't be problems. It's the nature of 45 any kind of Human interaction that there will be problems.-What I can 46 guarantee you is that we will follow through in a professional, thorough, 47 collegial; and responsive way, like we've done for the past 31 years. 48 Thank you. 49 50 Vice. Mayor AAoynihan: Who are the current owners of the site? 51 Vol. 39, Page 360 February 2, 2004 Ms. Gaebler: The City of Petaluma purchased it, and Buckelew has an option on it. Vice-Mayor Moynihan: And;is thisa contract2 I don''t' see the contract as part of the agenda packet. Has that been negotiated Ms. Gaebler: What contract? The option Vice Mayor Moynihan: Yes Ms. Gaebler:. The :option was negotiated probably a year or two years ago. . Vice Mayor Moynihan: Has it ever been approved by Council? - Ms. Gaeblerr lt's been approved by the City Manager. I don`t remember if it ever came to Council.. I don't`think it did. I-don''t know that any of bur options have:. _ ViceMa,yor Moynihan: I would think,. based on our Charter...most of our City assets, when we go to purchase them or ell them; there's a contract, wh'ich.hasao'be approved by the Council. Ms. Gaebler: 1Ne'v.e had options with most of our- probably all of our - non-profits. over time. I don"fi k"now that they've come to Council'. They clearly state that once .the Gouncif has allocated funds for dnon-profit, there's do agreement that within X number of years, affordable~'housing will be built,, or the land refers back to the City, Vice M_ ayor Moynihan: Buf didn't the City purchase 'this properfy, ih part, for an expansion of the police station?. Ms'. Gaebler; The site was purchased in .1997,or 199'6' for $267;000',. as a housing opportunitysite. Vice: M'ayor;Moynhan:.And that was in cooperation with Burbank Housing? Ms. Gaebler: Burbank did.the actual'purchase because) don"t have t_he experfise to do all of. that`, and they do: Vice Mayo"r Moynihan: The ,proposed project; at that time, included an expansion of the police station oh a portion of that site: Ms. Gaebler: Council 'Member,, all I can tep yo.u. is that. the resolution that we have states fhat it was purchased by the'housirg division ofi PCDC as a housing opportunity site.: Am ),saying that nobody has ever looked ,a"f that and said it seems to make sense'that if the police'were~ to expand,. they would go in that direction2 L've falked to the police about this probdbly fiveaimes, with various chiefs. We had oricginally•designed-tMs, as, a matter of'faet, so that-police could share parking with us. That'was not' a site plan anybody liked:. Quite frankly, the police have'no money to February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 36l 1 expand or construct. As I said, we've tried. to work. that out with them a 2 number of ;times. First of all, it's not my-job to help the. police expand. No 3 police chief has said that's something`thaf's in the cards in any 4 reasonable. time. 5 6 Vice Mayor Moynihan: Are you familiar with the police facilities plan? 7 8 Ms. Gaebler: No, I' m not. I' m only do affordable housing. I' m sorry. 9 10 11 Vice Mayor Moynihan: Thank you. 12 Council Member O'Brien: Ms. Gaebler, just a real quick question. You said 13 that there was a memo from Captain Hood that was in the packet, 14 regarding the calls in Novato. I couldn't find one. We did get one on the 15 ~ dais that was dated January 30 and received into the City Manager's 16 Ofifice today. There is absolutely no recommendation in here, one way or 17 the other, that I can find. 18 19 Ms. Gaeb,lee.And actually, just a conclusion, which is what Captain Hood 20 said, and he spent a lot of time with the Novato police department. I 21 thank him and Chief Simms for this. We went down every single incident 22 that happened. That's. on the sheet that they put out with all the names 23 crossed out. If is true; there was that large number, in the year mainly 24 2002, done by one resident. And so, in terms of a recommendation, it was 25 just.a conclusion, more than a recommendation, that it wasn't anything 26 out of the ordinary. 27 28 Council Member O'Brien: I hope we're talking about the same document. 29 Actually, it was written on the 29+h, yourcovermemo was dated the 30+h, 30 and ifi-was received into the City Manager's Office on the 2^d. I can't find 31 a conclusion in here OR a recommendation. 32 33 Ms. Gaebler: The .conclusion was from Captain Hood to me. 34 35 Council Member O'Brien: Also, the staff'report says he would be here 36 tonight to answer questions. 37 38 AAs. Gaebler: I apologize. This is Captain Hood's day off, and he could not 39 be here. 40 41 Council Mem-ber Torliatt: Mr. Zlotnick addressed the screening process. He 42 addressed the supervision issue. The other couple of issues that came up 43 were the cost of the project, :and from. the City's standpoint, where that is 44 coming from.. I think the community arid: the people in the audience need 45 to understand the dollar amount and where it originates, because a lot of 46 people in the community think that the City is just handing over $300,000 47 or $500,000 of general fund money that we could use on many different 48 City services, and that isn't, in fact, the case, so I'd like Ms. Gaebler to 49 verify that with the redevelopment funds and the housing set-aside. 50 51 Also, there was a question about medications and .criminal records and 52 how that factors into the people that may occupy this facility and what Vol. 39, Page 362 February 2, 2004 type of criminal. records people have; because I' m not sure whether if's shopliftng.'or disturbing the peace or.what, and I would also like Ms. Gaebler to cldrify the neighborhood ..meeting issue, because I .believe someone had sdid there was one: neighborhood meeting and no more and'. they were promised. I know'I attended the first neighborhood meeting, which was at Old EIm Villdge;-but I believe there was a second neighborhood meeting,.and meetings of the; Planning Commission, and. obviously at the City Council level. Ms, Gaebler: Regarding the money -there -were two'Council allocations to Buckelew Apartments. The first one'was block grant. L think that'was approximately $80';200. Th'at's fhe only amount that has been drawn done: The second amount was two allocations ;given from, as you stated, the redevelopment low-rnod housing set-aside, and that's housing by state law that can only be spent on low and moderate income housing, and that was~in the amount of $300,000. To. date, they've drawn down just the block grant funds. .: We did... have two.neighborhood.rneetings., one af.Old Elrp Village. dnd .one at Elim Lutheran Church.;The first one~was well dttended, the second riot: so, so we did not have a third one, until the Rlanning Commission, which was noticed; and this one, which was noticed. .Regarding the criminal records, and so forth, I would not have the answer to that; but` I know Mr. Zlotnick does: Mr. Zlotnicks Somepeople who are in Buckelew Programs have a criminal record.. Most don't, but some do. I .think:a lot_of other folks in the room, somewhere ..back there, ran afoul of the,law one wqy or another. With most of fhe folks who have~a criminal record at Buckelew Programs.it's for things like petty theft, defrauding:an innkeeper, which isnot paying d bill in a hotel or a .restaurant. Ifi might be a' drug offense:.. Those are the sorts of criminal records that bring. people `to Buckelew Programs.. There was an e- mail floating around about a week ago that l know at least one of you saw, dnd it used the term "ex-convicts:"' Especially referring to people'n our FACT -Forensic .Assertive. Community Treatment Program. I can assure you'that people in that program:are not hardened ecimindls; ex-convicts who have done hard time. They are, people wh.o'have had the kinds of experiences I already talked about. But whether or not a person has a crimindl record, fhere,'s something that's much more important to us: Is the person ready and_ able and appropriate to live independently in the. community? Is the person going, to impose a fhrea;t to the neighbors, to themselves; our staff? That's where our screening comes in. And I would submit to you that that. is;: in fact; a much more important criferia to look at than someone's criminal. record. I think,. in'my comments, Ms. Torliatt, I addressed the `medication issue, but was there something. else? 'I talked about medications... Council Member Torliatt: Could you speak more to the issue of how often Buckelew checks'in with people who live atthe facility? I"m assuming that they have regularly scheduled appointments with folks to check in about taking their medication. February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 363 1 2 Mr: Zlotnick It .varies; as I said before. It .could be several times a day, 3 several. dimes ~a week, once a week, or every couple of weeks.. It totally 4 depends on how the:'client:is doing, and what I'evel of assisfance they 5 need, and. we're staffed in such. away - we have people on call 24 hours 6 a day, 7 days a week:.lNe have staff on duty 7 days a week. The staffing is 7 such. that we can flex the falling, so if a particular person needs greater 8 attention, then we're able to :do that. 9 .~ 10 Council;Member Healy: I actually wanted to ask the City Attorney, whose 1 1 previous advice was honored. primarily in the breach, to perhaps be a 12 .little less subfile this .time,.: and' go~ over,. both for the Council, and for the 13 community, what some of the~constraints are on the Council's legal 14 inability to exercise-discretiori.`In particular, of course, as Council Members 15 know, vve've received an attorney/client memorandum late last vJeek 16 seating forth some rather black'letter law propositions that would not be a . 17 secret to ,any attorney who delved into this.. 18 19 City Attorney Rich Rudnansky: As a legal .advisor to the City; it's not my 20 role to, nor do I intend to weigh in'on some of the emotional issues that 21 were brought up on either side. Certainly, it was d very respectful 22 presentation by both sides. My role is with respect to the legal issues, and 23 as I read the law, state and federal housing laws, the issue of disability, 24 mental' or~physical, ~is riot an. issue that should be taken into account when 25 deliberating relative to a (and use issue, such as affordable housing. It's 26 clear fhat,to deny a project merely because it's fordisabled individuals 27 could be interpreted as discrimination, and the cases have held that. So, 28 to the extent that any kind. of decision has some kind of disparate effect 29 on rnentdlly handicapped, physically disabled -and there's a variety of 30 othercategories - in my view; would be risky. The issue here is affordable 31 housing, as I said in the beginning, and whether or not you approve or 32 disapprove an affordable housing project such as this should rise and fall 33 on the:facfs relative to the planning laws and the zoning issues that exist 34 and are applicable.to this project. That's the way I read the Iqw, and I 35 think it's pretty clear. 36 37 Vice Mayor Moynihan:' Could I ask the Planning Department -the parking 38 was discussed, and there's a letter in the packet outlining why we're 39 having 12 stalls of parking on the site.. I'm curious, for the 15 units on this 40 size acreage, what would the normal number of parking installs be? 41 42 AAr. Moore: The .parking ratio for multi-family housing, I believe, is 1-1 /2 43 `spaces per unit. 44 45 Vice Mayor Moynihan: So we're looking at 22-23 parking stalls? 46 47 Mr. Moore: Yes. 48 49 Vice Mayor Moynihan: The access, as it's designed.:.would it be a right 50 turn in off Petaluma Boulevard southbound, and a right turn out? Because 51 L: notice-that there''s do island or d barrier to cross the two lanes to go north 52 at that point.. Vol. 39, Page 364 February 2, 2004. ~Mr. Moore:; Yes, thaf's correct. Vice M'ayo.r Moynihan .:That's ..not a normal. access; is it, for a project like this? Does that require a .variance of any fype? . - Mr. Moore: No. As part of the environmental review; there was a traffic analysis done. That would ,look dt that access as ,being a, potential'issue. Mayor Glass: In terms, of th°e .parking,. when we get into low income housing, there are statistics that do verify.. that there is;.fess of a need for parking spaces. for this type of housing and quite often there. are exceptions made .on the number of parking spaces, ds a mafter of course; isn't that~.right? Nlr. Moose: lJnde~ the Planned Unit District~zoning, -the, Planning Commission and the Council have the abilify to modify or waive certain requirements, and this would applyto anyprgject`that is zoned under that category. Typically;. parking'is one of the issues that is looked at. For example, in most PEF projects,. because they're for'seniors; there`'is information to support the -fact that you can reduce the parking ratio; and l think the same.. kind of consideration was. given 'here due to the clientele. Council'Member Healy:l raised that same issue at the~Planning Commission level and had concerns similarto what Vice. Mayor Moynihan invoicing here,.and was persuaded that the experience with Buckelew's _ _.-.. other projects in Marin County led to a justification of this kind of d parking level, and f'the applicant or staff would just..like to briefly repeat that, buf f think we were .talking About yourfacilifies in Novato and ,Fairfax,. and _, particularly the Novato one where,if I recall correctly, most of the tenants do. not-have their own automobiles: Mr. Zlotnick: Th"dt's correct, Council Member Healy. In your packe#, attachment 6 discusses the justification for reduced parking requirements: This issue actually came up on Friday, when; Dayrnon Doss [Petaluma Health Care District] visited the situ with Ms. Gaebler and me and we actually asked one' of the tenants who was there, "How many people here have cars?" There are 1~5~unifs, and I think she:'came up with 8 _ people. That site'has been thera since 1997. About half the folks have. - _ . ears. .. ' Council Member O'Brien:, To continue on the .parking, you .had mentioned. before that the. way you "find about problems is that sometimes peoples' roommates call you. 1s there going to be more than one individual to a. unit here? Mr. Zlotnick: Conceivably; there could be. Ln our experience,;in all of our affordable. housing', it hasn't been. But'°,;if someone formed, a relationship, with someone else.,, there is nofhing prohibiting him or her from. bringing, in someone they're having; a relationship with: When. I was talking about roommates who will tell us aboufipeople who are: off their- medications, I was ;thinking of a congregate living situation that we "have in Fairfax; February 2;`2004 Vol. 39, Page 365 1 where people are sharing living room and dining room, and in many of 2 our 24-hour facilities there are roommates: That's how we often find out. 3 4 Vice Mayor Moynihan: Following up on the parking; if we're not to 5 consider the use, as such,-.specifically as mental health, I'm kind of curious 6 why, in looking, at this as a land use situation, we' wouldn''t consider other 7 potential uses or similar uses, or potential subsequent uses in determining 8 what a proper parking ratio is. Why are we relying simply on the 9 experience of a like-kind mental health facility or housing facility for this 10 11 particular clientele? 12 Mr. Moore: When we present this information to the Planning Commission 13 as we do to the City Council, the parking ratio "is what it is," as provided 14 by the .zoning ordinance. As I mentioned previously, the Planned Unit 15 District allow the Commission and'the Council to waive or modify certain 16 requirements. That .information is presented to the Commission and the 17 Council ands they have the discretion to address that, as they deem 18 appropriate. 19 20 Vice Mayor Moynihan: So we're looking at roughly half the parking of 21 what the normal ratio would be. If we were looking beyond this use, and I 22 know if'it`s a 40-year loan it could be way beyond the normal time frame, 23 but if~we're looking for a normal residential use of apartments, market 24 rate, we would be enforcing the 22 or 24 stalls? 25 26 Mr. Moore: All I would say at this point is you would have the discretion to 27 make that a requirement, if you felt'that was appropriate. It could be, in 28 forty years, that-you wouldn't need any parking stalls at all. 29 30 Council Member O'Brien: I .feel the same concerns on the parking. In 31 reading the staff report, approximately 50% of the people would have 32 ears. So with 14 residents, we're talking 7 cars. You've got a manager: I'm 33 going fo assume he has a car. It also says PEP or some property 34 manager's. going to be stopping by. That's nine spots. That leaves three 35 spots for visitors. l feel 12 is way too low. I'm in agreement with Vice Mayor 36 Moynihan on the parking. I don't think 22 or 23 is reasonable, but I think 12 37 is too -flew. 38 39 Vice Mayor Moynihan: The other issue I had is the way they're positioned, 40 relative to the lot. You're driving in on a driveway, and you're snaking 41 around one building and going to these others, and as a result, you have 42 a. lotof driveway, and a lot of parking lot. I think I read it's 50% asphalt 43 coverage of-the site, just to accommodate what appears to be less 44 parking. I'm not sure if this is a design problem. If we didn't have three 45 separate buildings, but had one building, for example, and it was set 46 back from the street and had parking at the front as a buffer -could that 47 be a more efficient use of the site, and we're not looking at all this asphalt 48 as a percentage of the property. 49 50 Mr. Moore: I think I would let Katie Crecilius from BUckelew and. perhaps 51 their architect address that issue, relative to the site design. 52 Vol. 39, Page 366 February' 2;:2004 Katie Crecilius, Bu.ckelew Projects: lt's along, narrow sife, ahd very constraihed ih terms:of parking a circulation~oh the site, for a'number of reasons..Numbergne; we needed to put the driveway on the: south side to avoid cgriflicting with the police department driveway on the north 'side: We also wanted to'put the garden and' the=landscape area on the outh side, w,'lich was SPARC:'s `~ecommendation'> and we also concurred with it: We need to enter from'the south, and getao the parking on the horth. The 'other problem we've `had. is the fire department increased the size of`their fire trucks; and increased the size. of'the fire truck turnaround. So the large area. in the middle is all fire truck turnaround. We doh't like it', either: Vice Mayor Moynihan: What about garbage trucks?,How are those going to be accommodated? Christine Vargas,,Kodama Diseno, Architects: The garbage trucks would use the same turnaround as the fire,trucks'so thatwe`re not providing extra pavement: ' Vice Mayor Moynihan: Is there,going.to be.a )ovation for a community dumpster? Ms: Vargas: There is. I;t's located on, the north side of the .site (walks to .easel to point out'locafion):. Vice' Mayor IlAoynihan: I'rn a little eoncercied because it's a rightturn in and aright turn out of the boulevard. l actually took the time fo go down to Novato and look at the: Olive facility, and I can see.it's a roughly similar site. layout, .but you had two single-story units there and it looked. like `two two-story units to, the back with the .gardens: and the packing, in a residential area. Itwas at the edge of'an ~oleier residentialneighborhood, which'.had. a residential road, which you could turn in and out'of in both directions; and`it seemed like local traffic. It`'S.kind of a quiet area b,uf i# backs up aggnst a commercial building that..doesfront on some major ' corridorsimilar to this, Redwood. Boulevard. l'just see the turning in and turning out is not as easy a .movement as people think.. Especially if you're tryingfo head north, of'course, you'd have to'pull a U somewhere and get around: There-used to be access off Mggnoli,a, and there was Hawthorne Court. Is that not available? Ms. Vargas: It doesn'tgo through at this point, and I don't know that there are pla"ns for it to go through: Uice Mayor Moynihan: Other than that;. there. ace a lot of similarities between-this;and the project in Novato, We're being asked, in approving a project under amixed=use land-use designation and a'PUD zoning, to find 100,% resideential:, I understand that this. is now~being driven by the: HUD finaricing, requiring no commercial or mixed use-Pike was originally proposed: But the project is supposed to be designed to be compatible with the surrounding areas; and~,neighborhood. This°seems~fo me quite in contrast with the uses. at least adjoining and certainly down the corridor. February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 367 1 If''s residential ins a' pocket next to a big ,institutional building next to old 2 commercial storefronts, across from a shopping center. 3 4 Ms. Vargas: I would argue; against that. We'have a two-story building in 5 the front that has similar setbacks to the commercial and the police 6 station properties adjacent to if.'We've also incorporated perforated steel 7 a_nd storefront windows to fit into that context. In the rear portion of the 8 life, you do have more residential development surrounding it, so those . 9 . buildings in the interior portion reflect that. They're smaller in nature. They 10 11 are mostly single story with one two-story elemenf incorporated. 12 Vice. Mayor Moynihan: So you believe this is compatible with the adjoining 13 uses? 14 15 M .Vargas: Yes. 16 17 Vice Mayor Moynihan: I had one. other question that'dealt with the City's 18 Inventory of commercial land. It seems to me that we're doing a General 19 Plan update and we have a limited supply of commercial land. Can we 20 address that? It seems to me -this is a place we're taking from commercial 21 and we're making it residential, and we do have rather an insatiable 22 appetite for sales tax revenue at this point in our lives, municipal-wise. 23 What is the available inventory of commercial property and does this 24 have an impact on that? 25 26 Mr. Moore: Only the. zoning is commercial. The underlying land-use 27 designation is -mixed use, which does allow for the development of a 28 residential project on the property. The Council, when it made the 29 decision several years ago to purchase the property as a housing 30 opportunity site, at least that Council, at that point, made the 31 determination that housing was appropriate-for that location.. 32 33 Vice,Mayor Moynihan: Do you know what the available commercial land 34 is? 35 36 Mr. Moore: Not off the top of my head. 37 38 Council Member O'Brien: In the report, it .says there was originally a 39 headstone carving business located there. What kind of chemicals do 40 they use in that type of operation, and has any soil analysis been done? 41 42 AAr. Moore: I believe there was a Phase 1.analysis done when the property 43 was purchased.. 44 45 Council Member O'Brien: There was a Phase 1 done on Washington 46 Street, too, and now we've got problems. 47 48 Ms. Gaebler: There was a Phase 1 study done when we purchased the 49 property, and it was my understanding that the only problem with. the soil 50 right now is compaction -not toxics. This .problem can be solved during 51 construction. 52 Vol. 39, Page 368 February 2, 2004 Council Member O'Brien: So we don`t really know what: contamination there is down there: Ms. Gaebfer: There is a clean; current'Phase .1.study o.n the site. Vice Mayor Moynihan: John Galliaci, North Bay Monument, was the owner at one time.., .Council Member O'Brien: Also in the staff report, it says,: "Superior design will ensure an attractive>, comfortable and. healthy living environment:" I don" t want to say this project is not of superior design; because it's a good project: But where: is the superior design? 'I see a normal ~d`e"sign. I don't see superior. Mr. Moore: I think the project architect eqn speak fo this, but the project will be subject to SPARC review: They will look.at all of the eleva"tions, the landscapirg, and all of that. They've already looked, at it twice on a preliminary basis, and' have :given recorrimendations, which Buckelew has followed in preparation of :this site plan,. They:wll have discretion to review the project and make any other recommendations that they feel. are necessary, once this project moves on. Council Member O'Brie.n I'm asking, for a defihition of what "superior'' would be. If's a nice word. to use, 'but I''d Like to know what' qualifies it, as ~ ' it's a condition in the report. ~ . Mr. Moore: It would be. superior design if the Council adopts those findings in approval of the project,, with .the- expectation that SPARC will follow ~- . through on that when they approve'it at the, appropriate time. . Council Discussion Council; Member'Healy: I 'firsf b,ecdme'invol~ed. in'local govefnirment here y because of issues in my neighborhood, so f'we always been very solicitous _' neighborhood concerns on whatever issues .may come forward....Certainly, here tonight,, I think that the fears of the greater neighborhood are. very ' heartfelt and very palpable, .but;in my opinion, `in the 'find) analysis, the weight, of the evidence indicates that those fears. are misplaced, primarily for two reasons: One, ds Dr. Gullion and Mr. Zlotnick have indicated, the; -;screening .process that is going.. to take place her will' assure that appropriate individuals are given the opportunity to line in this project; and the kind of care that goes :into that ^has been discussed. with some .detail liege tonight;. Secondly, Buekelew has ;a very strong track record in . running similar programs in Morin County and, here in Sonoma County . over fhe years. This speaks to their ability to, run this kind of a program in a way that's compatible with the existing cornmumity. `' . 1Another point: that was very eloquently spoken to by several speakers is ;that the. need for this kind of 'h;ousing opportunity i our own corrimunity here is very strong;,: and •the~ fact that, on average; something like 5~ of the general population suffers from serious mental illness, would.. mean something in the neighborhood of 2,500-3,000 people already in Petaluma February 2, 2004 Vol. 39, Page 369 are suffering from .serious mental illnesses: The screening ,process. that will 2 . take place will assure that only the: tiny handful,. the very best qualified 3 individuals within `that population will be chosen to live in this. kind of an 4 operation. 5 6 L actually think. this is a good location. It's close to transit, shopping, 7 walking distance fo downtown, and I've been struck by the fact that a lot 8 of the folks in the neighborhood who are opposed actually don't -live 9 terribly close to it - in fact, they live several blocks- away, up side streets. 10 For the life of me, I can't understand why a resident of this project would, 1 1 with any frequency at all, find a need to walk up to White Oak Circle. 12 Quite. frankly, and speaking ds the Council Member who lives closest to 13 this project, if people living here choose to walk downtown and back, 14 they'll be walking in front of my front door, and I have no problem with 15 that. This Council and previous Council have dllocated hundreds of 16 thousands of dollars of our low and moderate-income set-aside funds for 17 this project. We have also invested hundreds and hundreds of hours of 18 staff time. I think it would be huge waste to abandon this project at this 19 time. 20 21 Council' Member Harris: We've done many things in the community that 22 we should be ,proud of to help the less fortunate. We .passed the most 23 talked-about linkage fee for housing; we've come up with low income 24 housing opportunities throughout the City. We have the new homeless 25 shelter coming oh board. - 26 27 As everyone's seen tonight, applicant Buckelew has a proven track 28 record and they're good neighbors in their regions with their properties 29 and programs. There are a lot of things to look at with respect to this 30 proposal:. One, what is the community's needs at large, what are the 31 neighbors needs at large, what are the needs of people living at this 32 , proposed site, and finally, is this the best and most appropriate site in the 33 community. Personally, I do think that it is appropriate that the 34 .government does have a small roll in those less fortunate; however, after 35 hearing all the sides tonight and having all these facts put together, I just 36 can'tt reconcile all of this with being the correct and appropriate location 37 for this affordable housing opportunity' at this time. So, it`s with a heavy 38 heart that 1 will not be voting in favor. of this project tonight. 39 40 Vice Mayor Moynihan: I want to acknowledge people in the audience. 41 who got up .and spoke on both sides of this ,and their fears. The neighbors' 42 fears. ar.,e justifiable. I know that Buckelew has'a tremendous program and 43 a greaf reputation. What Council is being -asked, even though we seem to 44 be talking about pros and cons in ferms of mental health, is to adopt a 45 land-use project. The questions f asked were to determine if the project 46 made sense for the site.. I also asked if this was the highest and best use of 47 a City asset? The mixed-use findings to make a 100% residential project, I 48 don`t believe had been found. Specifically, I don't think the project's 49 design is compatible with the surrounding area. I don't think it would have 50 a beneficial impact, and to the extent that it eliminates commercial land, 51 it would have a detrimental impact. This site is on highly traveled four-lane 52 Petaluma Boulevard. The Buckelew project in Novato is built in a Vol. 39, Page 370 February 2, 2004 residential area. The site. proposed for Boulevard. Apartments is too noisy a place for a residential project. Moving the buildings brick from the .front of the property` and dealing with. fhe. parking, in a different-way could .have mitigated this. I understand why the parking lot was designed the way it was; but I. do :not support the .design. I don't believe HUD financing should be. driving the Generaf Plan or the zoning ordinance. When you look: at a project of this, mdgnitude; yo.u have to. find the right site for it. Atone point I Iboked at~the cost-roughly $,1.60;000 aunit of taxpayer.,money. HUD is coming up.with some money,,and we"re coming up with sortie local money, but to me,'it`s all; taxpayer money, and I like to see decent value- for a project. Old Elm Village was about $143';000 a -unit; and that included the eight studios that are partly occupied. by Buckelew clients now; but also, that is a differentstyle. product, It's afamily- product,. larger units, not one bedroom or studio units`. $160;000versus $143,000 is a substantial increase. .I had suggested about a year ago that Buckelew, togethec_with COTS and Burbank Housing,.consider purchasing the Casa Granae'Hotel. To use ' that as a comparison, because at that tune, for $.1.2 million, which is half the cost, you could get like 23 units -about 1.50% of the units: Lt's not ' .- apples. to apples, by any means. Modifications would have to be done; but to-give an'idea about proximity to shopping and fo the.,new transit mall, and the like, I thought it vyas a very central location.lt's closer in fo _ . down#own. For whatever reason - ma.yb;e HUD didn't support it, maybe it didn't work for the design alterndtiVes, but I was told in part that fhe shopping wasn't close, enough. to that site. And then I find out that ~ . Albertson's, which is across the street from this (the proposed site :for . Boulevard, Apartments]; has got a' ease 'thdt' up in July. They're not, at this point; renewing., and I don''t. know who's going to go in there.,They may, or maybe anofher market~will,come in there. Butwe don"'t know that,.and ifiyou look at second market opportunities, it could be a very long walk. A,little of the history of the'site North Bay Monument had sold it, and at one point a ;project proponent. was coming: forward for this particular site believe it was. mini-storage that was~proposed. That' applicant was .told, "That's our police station expansion, site." Then somehow we worked our way-out :to purchase. that sife,, dna itsounds like we did' it with PGDC funds, and certainly I understood Burbank was interested, but also the police expansion was taken into the cri#eria. 1Nhen I call and I talk to the police station and people where; and,find out They're converting closets for offices so that the officers can have a place to sit, I have a very hard time disrespecting the fact that the. facility needs to be expanded. Apparently,; Dick Lieb, when he was, still with' us., was looking for ways fo expand. it at Ghat time. So; it's not new, ;and how we"re going fo come up with the funds;. I .don't know. But it would be ternbly.-short sighted for us,to taKe a Gityasset and dispose ,of it and prevent the expansion of The police tafion: People even point out that this. is d .great place for Buckelew to go because, it"s next fo a police station, and I always retort, "Well, it didn't seem fo do Bar Ale much good being next door do the-fire station!" If you really look at The situation, and 'they do move in there, and there's not expdnsion space, they're going to be compelled to relocate February 2, 2004. Vol. 39„Page 371 1 ~at a very large cost. If you look at the land use and trying to put a square 2 peg in ,a round hole;; I don't think this particular site vvorkS for it. I would 3 welcome this type of.program in Petaluma.. Ljust think we need to find a 4 better.sife for it. 5 6 CouncihMemberQ'Brien: I think that with the neighborhood there is a lot 7 of fear of`the°unknpwn,~ and that's what's driving a lot of the 8 neighborhood comment: As~far as`property values being reduced; I 9 honestly d`on''t see'it happening. When I was sifting on the Planning 10 Commission, we approved one' project that was low income, and we had 1 1 a "qualified, realtor" get up and say if we approved the project, every 12 house in there would be worfh 50% of market value. After the project was 13 built, the house directly behind it vwas put on the market and they got into 14 a bidding'war, and got more than they were asking. 15 16 i l'ooked'through this binder I gof from the neighborhood group, and I 17 would like to°make d very serious comment about the: petition that was in 18 here. I' m sure a iot of people signed it in good. faith. Somebody who was 19 circulating the petition went in to one of the local merchants, and said, 20 "You neeel, to sign, this,' because the City's fast tracking this project and 21 everybody on the City Council is making money off of this deal." Now, we 22 know this project has been around for at least 3-1 /2 years, and I know I'm 23 not making any money off of it, and I -think I can speak with absolute 24 certainty that nobody .else on this dais is, either. So I don't believe this 25 petition. was circulated in good faith by some of the circulators. Also, I 26 found people who signed it more .than once. 27 28 . That said, I also want to add that being retired from !aw enforcement in 29 Marin, I hdd a lof of contact with Buckelew Programs and their residents. 30 They do run a good program:. Nobody's perfect, but I think they do better 31 than most. So, I would like to acknowledge that. I have problems with the 32 project the way it's laid out. I have problems with the parking; I feel it's 33 underrated. I'm gun shy, after the project down on Washington, where we 34 found out there was a tanker buried in the ground, which ended up 35 delaying things. If we're underrating parking, and they're asking to build 36 high°er than other things in the area, I don't see where this .is superior 37 design. 38 39 Thee big 'thing is, I'm looking at expansion of the police department. They 40 are bursting at the seams at this point I've been in that facility. They need 41 to expand. With today's budgetary uncertainty, I don't see locking them 42 in to where they can't go anywhere else. Those are the concerns that I 43 have -:over this, and' I do agree with Mr. Healy, the need here is very strong 44 for d. project like this, but we don't have to support it here, in this location, 45 or the way it's designed. I think this could probably go back to the 46 drawing board, because I'm not buying the HUD deadlines that are 47 driving this. I heard that once before when I was sitting on the Planning 48 Commission. It wds, "Yoi have to approve this tonight, or this project is 49 .going to lose its funding." It took two years for them to get their funding 50 after that night. 51 Vol. 39, Page 372 February 2,.200.4 Council Member Torliatt I'd like ,to get a couple of~,clarifications #rom staff on two different issues. One is this police station issue; becd"use my understanding'is that this. piece of property was purchased bythe housing fund, it can .only be used for housing unless- the City decided to sell the property to the Genera,'I Fund and the General Fund would have, to come up with the current value dollar amount, which I would think would be • well~,in excess of'.$,l.million at this poirit`. Perhaps the City Manager can address the issue of`the pgliee station expansion, and whether or not'the City was looking at this site for potential police station expansion in the very near f.u;ture. I don't know where we'd get the money to buy it. City Manager Mike Bierman E•yentually, vve:will have to do something with.. the police station. It is reaching its capacity.. Wealso have dispatch in there. When:? I can''t even begin'to tell you wvhen we would have .enough, money to make. that happen, but the land is thereat this point in time:l don't know°when we could do if, but some time in the .future, we will ha_ ve to expand'fhat police Cation: Council Member.Torliatt: Our existing police. station is a one-story facility, There could be potential expansion on site, I would: think. The second issue is the HUD deadline: What is the HUD deadline for funding on this project? Ms. Crecilius The HUD deadline, established by the San Francisco office, to start construction, is November 17, 2004.. If vve don't°start constructior by November U, which would .mean having to go ahead right away with preparation of construction drawings, we would have to go to Washington D.C. for an extension. That is a discretionary extension, which.. they do not have to grant. ,CouncilMember~Torliatt Does construction include site prepardtion, including grading ahd installing pads? . Nls. Ccecilius•. Yes, but the way that it's done with HUD is -that the entire permit needs to be approved,'the entire building permit, not just a grading permit. . Council .:Member iorliatt: I read the staff report, read the information .that was provided bythe residents. I read the many letters on both sidesot'this ;issue.. I visited the.,Buckelew project in 'Novato this past weekend, :and saw. what the site: looked like. If there: were. parking; issues, I didn't see any: It was very quiet. It was in a.residential neighborhood, but very near commercial.. property. It looked I,ike_ any other neighborhood.l think from a Idnd-use standpoint, the integration of a projectlike this as a housing projecton this steis an applicable use; It currently is near services that ,people need:, a grocery store, transit,. and it"s near enough to°walk to .other services in the, downtown. ,It's an infill site. I tfir~k the ~densify that we've. been trying to promote; in this community of nfill instead of just sprawl, at'19 units peg acre, is,more than an appropriate density for this. I don't have. that much of the issue with `the `parking on the site. The site doesn't need a lot of parking and in the. low=income housing projects we've seen hroughout this community, parking has been appropriate, February 2;'2004 Vo1.39, Page 37-3 1 even though we'-ve decreased the: actual :requirements pursuant to City 2 standards, Ithink-there were some really compelling people here at the 3 microphone tonight, and I really, ~appreciafed both sides of the issues. I 4 know that people do have real fears about these projects,: and I don't 5 want to discount fhaf; b"ecause-we're all afraid of the unknown, no matter 6 what it is. Some of. the folks spoke tonight about making sure that we're 7 inclusive in the com_.'munity,we accommodate people..that we know are 8 already here in ou~~community, that may have been born and raised 9 here, or maybe not. But they live in the community, and have a mental 10 illness, and they deserve :a place to live,~jusf'like you and me. I think a lot 1 1 about these projects,:and this weekend, I was thinking dbout this project, 12 and I was in my own home, thinking; "How lucky'am I to be here in a 13 home the-rain coming down and a roof over my head and friends and a 14 good place; to live! Who:am I; to say that somebody else can't live in this 15 community-who needs this type. of housing?"Ithink that the neighbors, if 16 this project:got approved, I think the anger you might have or the fears 17 you might have would subside ifiyou.met some of the people who would 18 live in this facility. I've dealt with people with this kind of issue, and they're 19 people, just like you or me. 20 21 Mr. Mayor, I would move forward with this application at this time, 22 because I think that we're all going to find, if it moved forward, which it 23 doesn't look. like it''s going to, would benefit the community as a whole, 24 and I think it would benefit the neighborhood. 25 26 Mayor Glass: Our Housing Elernent;-if you go to the General Plan, is one of 27 the elements that are required bylaw to be certified. On page 77, it says, 28 "The single.goal of this chapter is to achieve. an adequate supply of safe, 29 decent housing for all Petalumans." Mr. Healy quoted the numbers; one of 30 the medical workers quoted the numbers - 5-20% of the community of 31 56,000 people - so somewhere between 2,800 and 1 1-,000 -may have a 32 need for this. I could see where we could use 14 units in the community. 33 Continuing to look at the General Plan, "Housing Variety: The City is 34 committed to maintaining a range of housing types to meet the needs of 35 all Petalumans." Page 96 of the General Plan,. Program 27: "Provide a 36 referral service to link those experiencing discrimination in housing." I can't 37 help but think that there is a discriminatory element about this. It is fear. I 38 recognize, and I understand the fear. 1 also am aware that some of the 39 people that spoke adamantly against this: tonight, will one day -and I 40 don't know who they' II be -find mental illness inside their family, and 41 they'll suddenly have the need -but nobody will be there to answer that 42 need. If the City can't, and the government won't, and the people refuse 43 to, the need viill .go unfilled. So, is the community safer knowing that the 44 problem exists? Because it does. Or is the community safer trying to have 45 some kind of program, some kind of decent housing for all Petalumans. I 46 would move forward with this, but I can see that it appears we're 47 deadlocked. So, it's late, that's enough. Where do we go with it now? 48 49 Vice Mayor Moynihan: I think we need to take a vote, Mr. Mayor. 50 , 51 City Manager Bierman: It appears to be a deadlock, which means that 52 you can take the vote, and need to take-the vote, but then it fails. Vol. 39, Page 374 February 2, 2004 Council Member Hedly: Mr: Rudnansky, can we take all. three of the 'requested actions all at once2' City Attorney Rudnansky: f the votes are going fo, be the same for all three actions, then you, can take them. alt together. [MOTION to Adopt°Resolution.Adopting a; Ntitigafed Negative Declaration, Including,: a Mitigation Monitoring Plan for' the.~Boulevard Apartments 'Project; Introduce.- .(First Reading) an Ordihance' Rezoning the Property .Located at 945 .Petaluma Blvd. !North (°APN. 006-450-0:1;8) from the CH- Highway Oommercial to the PUD-:Planned -Unit .Dist"riot; and Adopt Resolution Approving. a Planned Unit Development Plan and' Development Standards and Associated. Conditions of Approval for the. Boulevard Apartments; Project. Iv1/S Healy/Glass.] AYES: Mayor Glass,, Torlatt NOES: Harris, Healy, Moynihan, O"Brien ABSENT.`. Canevaro 21 Verbatim transcription continues: 22 ~ - 23 ' .Mayor "Glass: Motion is defeated' 4-2. Did you vote againstryour motion, 24 Mr. Healy? Council Member :Healy: I did: Tfie reason that I voted against my,own .motion is this. As the Council is aware, our "rules allow a Council. M'emb'er voting in the majority to make a motion for rec_ onsideration at the next meeting, and that's what I intend fo do. Mayor Gfass: Our next scheduled meeting is February'23. You ,can expect a motion fo reconsider, so it will be discussed at the. February 23` meeting. So that's fair notice to the putjlc: Council Member Healy: l'll make a motion on the 23~d; it wilt be voted on at the following meeting. Mayor Glass: So, February `23, there will be a motion to reconsider; it will go off. info March. Thank you. We're .adjourned. ADJOURN The meeting .was adjourned of 1 1:45 p.m. David Glass, Mayor ATTEST: 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 February 2, 2004 Katie C~ mp Executive Assistant to the City Manager lit, Claire Cooper Deputy City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Vol. 39, Page 375 Richard R: Rudnansky City Attorney