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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 2017.04.03 Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 1 BURLINGAME CITY COUNCIL Approved Minutes Regular Meeting on April 3, 2017 1. CALL TO ORDER A duly noticed regular meeting of the Burlingame City Council was held on the above date in the City Hall Council Chambers. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG The pledge of allegiance was led by Burlingame resident Ross Bruce. 3. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Beach, Brownrigg, Colson, Keighran, Ortiz MEMBERS ABSENT: None 4. REPORT OUT FROM CLOSED SESSION City Attorney stated that direction was given but no reportable action was taken. 5. UPCOMING EVENTS Mayor Ortiz reviewed the upcoming events taking place in the City. 6. PRESENTATIONS There were no presentations. 7. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no public comments. 8. CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Ortiz asked the Councilmembers and the public if they wished to remove any item from the Consent Calendar. Councilmember Keighran pulled item 8d and Vice Mayor Brownrigg pulled item 8f. Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 2 Councilmember Beach made a motion to approve 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8e; seconded by Councilmember Keighran. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote; 5-0. a. APPROVAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 15, 2017 City Clerk Hassel-Shearer requested Council approve the Meeting Minutes of March 15, 2017. b. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 20, 2017 City Clerk Hassel-Shearer requested Council approve the Meeting Minutes of March 20, 2017. c. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 21, 2017 City Clerk Hassel-Shearer requested Council approve the Meeting Minutes of March 21, 2017. d. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION OF INTENT TO AMEND THE CITY OF BURLINGAME MASTER FEE SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017; AND SET THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR SUCH AMENDMENT FOR MAY 1, 2017 Finance Director Augustine requested Council adopt Resolution Number 19-2017. Councilmember Keighran stated that she had a few questions about some of the proposed fees. In the building and planning section of the Master Fee Schedule, she reviewed the portion of the staff report that stated “Although no changes are currently recommended for fees based on valuation, staff recommends that fees for per-hour charges for inspections and plan checks (or flat fees based on per hour inspection or plan check costs) be increased by a CPI of 3.4%. In addition, staff suggests that fees that were limited to less than full cost recovery in the current Master Fee Schedule (due to the large increase that would have been required) be increased to the desired cost recovery prior to applying the CPI increase.” She asked if the fee increases were based on full cost recovery. CDD Meeker replied in the affirmative. Councilmember Keighran discussed her concern about the high increase in some of the fees. Under engineering she stated that the hauling fee is doubling from $77 to $144. Finance Director Augustine stated that the City was increasing the fee for full cost recovery purposes. Councilmember Keighran stated she understood that the City was aiming at full cost recovery; however she was concerned that the doubling of fees could create a negative effect. She suggested splitting the increase over a few years to allow individuals time to adjust. Councilmember Keighran also discussed the proposed fees for “permanent structures such as retaining walls fences”, “non-permanent installations, such as tables, chairs, planters” and “lot line adjustment”. She expressed the concern that these fees were doubling and that this could hurt local business. Councilmember Keighran asked about the new $50 hourly Library fee for photo/filming. City Librarian McCulley explained that this fee was for when individuals utilize the library after hours for shoots and a staff Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 3 member needs to be present to oversee the production. He explained that the fee is to cover the cost of the staff member’s overtime wages during the shoot. Councilmember Keighran next discussed planning. She asked about the fee for “preliminary plan check, new construction” which had an asterisk that stated “fifty percent (50%) of fee will be credited toward required application fees if and when project is submitted as a complete application.” She asked what this meant. CDD Meeker stated that once the plan comes to fruition then fifty percent of the fee will be applied to the application fee. Councilmember Keighran stated that her biggest concern was about the fees for the different condominium permits. She expressed concern that the increases were higher for the smaller condominium complexes than the larger complexes. For example the proposed permit fee for condominiums with 11 to 25 units is $6,150 while the proposed permit fee for condominiums with 101 units and greater is $5,812. She stated that she felt the fees should increase by the size of the development. Councilmember Keighran noted that the City would be discussing impact fees at the joint Planning Commission – Council meeting on April 15, 2017. Therefore, she stated that she thought Council should first understand what the impact fees would be prior to increasing condominium permit fees. City Manager Goldman stated that it appeared that on the 4 to 10 units and 11 to 25 units that there might be a typo. She stated that staff would review these items. Councilmember Keighran discussed the development impact fees and if what is listed in the Master Fee Schedule is what the City currently has. CDD Meeker responded in the affirmative. City Manager Goldman stated that the purpose of the staff report was to have Council call for a public hearing on Master Fee Schedule’s proposed changes. She explained that staff attached the proposed Master Fee Schedule to give Council a preview, but that the proposed changes would be brought back at the May 1, 2017 meeting for discussion. Councilmember Keighran asked for staff to review a few other fees where she thought the increase should be staggered over a few years; including the proposed re-zoning fee and Police Department’s live entertainment permit. Councilmember Keighran asked about the decreased fixed fees for water. DPW Murtuza stated that these fees were redone as part of the water rate increases. Councilmember Colson asked about page 47 of the Master Fee Schedule that still had Burlingame High School listed under Parks and Recreation. She asked if the City still needed to include BHS. Finance Director Augustine stated that people do call and ask questions about BHS fees but that it could be removed. Councilmember Colson asked that this section be removed to avoid any confusion. Councilmember Colson talked about the Bayside Field Lights fee on page 49. She stated that this fee may need to be increased to assist in covering the costs of all City facilities going ECO100. Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 4 Mayor Ortiz discussed last year’s Master Fee Schedule public hearing. He explained that staff proposed increasing the fees to full cost recovery. However, the increase was so dramatic that the Council decided to stagger the increases over two years. Accordingly, he explained that the increases staff was proposing were just the second phase of what was agreed to last year. City Manager Goldman replied in the affirmative. City Attorney Kane stated that it would be helpful to staff to have a sense of if there is a consensus around Councilmember Keighran’s concerns. She explained that if there was a consensus, then staff would change the fees now and notice the modified Master Fee Schedule. If there was not a consensus, she explained that the version of the Master Fee Schedule before the Council (minus any typos) would be the version noticed to the public. Vice Mayor Brownrigg stated that he believed what Councilmember Keighran was outlining is that while the proposed fees might be full cost recovery, she wanted to spread out the increases over a few years. He explained that the question becomes whether the Council should do slow increases over a longer period of time. Councilmember Keighran stated her concern was that the doubling of some of the permit fees could dissuade business in Burlingame. She stated that she would like to know if Burlingame’s fees are similar to other cities in the area. Finance Director Augustine discussed that if Council wanted to gradually bring the fees up to full cost recovery it would take time as the costs will continue to increase. She stated that staff would review Council’s concerns. Councilmember Keighran asked for a fee comparison with other cities on the fees she had discussed. Finance Director Augustine stated that a limited fee comparison was done in the 2015 cost recovery report. She stated that she will check to see if those were covered in that study. City Manager Goldman stated that since there wasn’t a consensus on changes to the Master Fee Schedule, the version before the Council (minus any typos) would be noticed and brought back to Council at the May 1, 2017 meeting. Councilmember Colson stated that she agreed with Councilmember Keighran that the doubling of some of the fees seemed high. She discussed splitting the increase over two years. Councilmember Beach stated that she felt the proposed structure was consistent with the direction that the Council gave last year. She stated that the City isn’t looking to make a profit but rather recover the cost of providing services. Mayor Ortiz agreed with Councilmember Beach’s comment. Vice Mayor Brownrigg explained that at the next meeting Council will discuss the fees and review what may or may not need to be changed. He stated that while he hasn’t thoroughly reviewed the numbers, he could see the rational of Councilmember Colson’s suggestion of dividing the increase over two years. Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 5 Councilmember Colson asked if there was a way of highlighting the 100% increases. Finance Director Augustine stated that staff has a worksheet that will highlight the increases. Mayor Ortiz opened the item up for public comment. No one spoke. Vice Mayor Brownrigg made a motion to adopt Resolution Number 20-2017; seconded by Councilmember Beach. The motion passed by voice vote, 3-2 (Councilmembers Keighran and Colson voted against). e. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO LEVY BROADWAY AVENUE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-18 AND SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 1, 2017: AND APPROVING THE DISTRICT’S ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2016-17 Finance Director Augustine requested Council adopt Resolution Number 20-2017. f. APPROVAL OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR’S OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL Parks and Recreation Director Glomstad requested Council approval for out-of-state travel. Vice Mayor Brownrigg stated that he pulled the item because a few citizens raised questions about the out- of-state travel. Vice Mayor Brownrigg asked Parks and Recreation Director Glomstad to briefly discuss the National Recreation and Parks Association. Parks and Recreation Director Glomstad stated that it is their annual conference and each year it is held in a different state. She stated her goal is to attend as much as possible as the exposure to speakers and experts is refreshing and brings a new perspective. Vice Mayor Brownrigg stated that professional training is a critical way to invest human capital. He stated that after doing some research it was clear that National Recreation and Parks Association is the leading nonprofit in their field. Vice Mayor Brownrigg asked the date of the conference. Parks and Recreation Director Glomstad stated that it is at the end of September and that by requesting approval now she would be able to obtain cheaper plane tickets and the early bird registration fee. Mayor Ortiz opened the item up for public comment. No one spoke. Vice Mayor Brownrigg made a motion to approve of the Parks and Recreation Director’s out-of-state travel; seconded by Councilmember Keighran. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote, 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were no public hearings. Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 6 10. STAFF REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a. CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENTS TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION City Manager Goldman presented the staff report concerning consideration of appointments to the Planning Commission. She stated that there were two impending vacancies on the Planning Commission due to the expiring terms of Commissioners Jeff DeMartini and Nirmala Bandrapalli. She explained that the vacancies were publicized and notification letters were sent to past Commission applicants. City Manager Goldman stated that eight applications were received as of the deadline of March 17, 2017. The eight applicants were interviewed by Mayor Ortiz, Councilmembers Colson, Beach and Keighran. As well, she stated that Vice Mayor Brownrigg, who was not present at the interviews, had an opportunity to listen to the interviews. She stated that the eight applicants were Jeff DeMartini, Nirmala Bandrapalli, Steven Lamont, Thomas Smith, Zoe Assaf, Sandy Comaroto, Brenden Kelly and Audrey Tse. Councilmember Beach recused herself from this matter as one of the Planning Commission candidates was a close friend. She stated that in order to preserve impartiality she would not be voting. Vic Mayor Brownrigg stated that he was able to listen to the entire recording of the interviews. Councilmember Colson stated that the Council was impressed with the quality of candidates that came in and that eight people were willing to give up their personal time to serve as a Planning Commissioner. Mayor Ortiz opened up the item for public comment. No one spoke. CC Hassel-Shearer gave each Councilmember a ballot to vote for two candidates each for a four-year term. After the first round of ballots were tallied: Sandy Comaroto received 3 votes, Brenden Kelly received 2 votes, Jeff DeMartini received 1 vote, Steven Lamont received 1 vote, and Audrey Tse received 1 vote. City Manager Goldman stated that with three votes Sandy Comaroto would be appointed to the Planning Commission. City Attorney Kane stated that the Council would have to vote again for the remaining seat as there was no majority. Mayor Ortiz opened the item for public comment. No one spoke. CC Hassel-Shearer gave each Councilmember a second ballot to vote for one candidate for a four-year term. After the second round of ballots were tallied: Brenden Kelly received 3 votes and Steven Lamont received 1 vote. City Manager Goldman stated that Brenden Kelly would be appointed to the second Planning Commission seat. Burlingame City Council April 3, 2017 Approved Minutes 7 Mayor Ortiz thanked all the candidates for their time. Congratulations to Sandra Comaroto and Brenden Kelly on their appointments to the Planning Commission. Thank you to Jeff DeMartini and Nirmala Bandrapalli for their service on the Planning Commission. 11. COUNCIL COMMITTEE AND ACTIVITIES REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Council reported on various events and committee meetings they each attended on behalf of the City. 12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Councilmember Keighran asked for a presentation from the Burlingame High School students that showcased their work in “The Future is Now!” event at the Public Library. Council agreed. 13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The agendas, packets, and meeting minutes for the Planning Commission, Traffic, Parking & Safety Commission, Beautification Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission and Library Board of Trustees are available online at www.burlingame.org. 14. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Ortiz adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. in memory of Lillian Privitera, Nicholas Baylock, and Lisa Dyer. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Meaghan Hassel-Shearer City Clerk