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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1992.06.03394 CITY OF BURLINGAME CITY COUNCIL STUDY MEETING Wednesday, June 3, 1992,7:30 p.m. City Hall Conference Room A Mayor Frank Pagliaro convened the study session of the Burlingame City Council on the above date in Conference Room A at 7:33 p.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS HARRISON, KNIGHT, LEMBI, O'MAHONY, PAGLIARO STAFF PRESENT: ARGYRES, BECKER, BERGSING, COLEMAN, ESCOFFIER, KIRKUP, MALFATTI, MONROE, PALMER, QUADRI, TOWNS, WAGNER 1. PROPOSED TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE Mayor Pagliaro introduced this item noting that council had enacted an emergency ordinance the prior Monday night covering a portion of the draft ordinance suggested by the Beautifica- tion Commission. Chairman Bill Ward and the Beautilication Commission were present to support the proposed ordinance. Councilwoman Knight questioned whether we have incorporated some of the items suggested in the City of San Mateo letter concerning their experience. She also asked whether we, at some further date, should consider "trees as views" which is not addressed in the current ordinance. Councilman Harrison indicated he was against opening Pandora's box by including language concerning trees as views. He felt the overall proposal recommended by the commission was good. Councilwoman O'Mahony indicated she was delighted over this proposal but thought that some of the specifics needed to be reviewed after public hearings on the ordinance. Councilman Lembi questioned the cost of a 24-inch box tree. Rich Quadri noted that typically a tree this size costs approximately $200. Mayor Pagliaro suggested clean up language but indicated he supported the overall ordinance. Councilwoman Knight noted there was a blank in section 5 concerning the tree requirements for new or expanded condominiums and apartment houses. City attorney indicated this was a conceptual outline suggested by the commission; if they approve, he will prepare a draft ordinance for council consideration. City council directed the city attorney to prepare and draft an ordinance for introduction and thanked the Beautification Comrlission for their efforts. 2. REVIEW PROPOSED 1992-93 BUDGET AND CAPITAL PROGRAM Mayor Pagliaro indicated that the council has reviewed the budget document and asked any council members for specific comments or questions. Councilman Lembi indicated that he had met with the police chief and noted that the budget was extremely tight. The one item he felt needed to be discussed concerned crossing guards and the proposal to reduce the current seven positions to three. He suggested adding one more position in order to cover all the major school locations. Chief Palmer reviewed the specific locations with council and indicated that within the funds currently budgeted we could cover the four locations proposed. Mayor Pagliaro questioned the vehicle replacement program, and the chief indicated we are replacing one less vehicle this year than in prior years. Council approved the proposed police budgets. City Manager noted that we received a request from the school district concerning providing a crossing guard for summer school; this would cost approximately $500. Council deferred discussion of this request until later in the meeting. Councilman Harrison next reviewed the library budget. He mentioned a concern about information concerning possible cuts in various departments' budgets becoming public before any specific proposals had been received by the council. In developing budget alternatives, various department personnel had discussed the possibilities of eliminating all crossing guards or reducing library hours; the current budget proposal includes neither of these items, so the 395 public became concerned for no purpose. He had reviewed the library budget with the city librarian and felt the budget that was proposed was satisfactory. Council concurred. Councilwoman O'Mahony reviewed her meeting with the fire management staff concerning the fire budget. She noted that there is reduction in both capital outlay and operating expenses, but the majority of the budget was in salary and benefits. She felt this was a model budget and that it was as lean as possible. Any further cuts would be reflected in service levels. Mayor Pagliaro noted that in the unfunded future capital improvement portion of the budget, there was a need for a $500,000 aerial truck. He also asked what activities were included in the disaster preparedness position. Chief Towns reviewed the job responsi- bilities and answered questions for the council. Council supported and recommended the fire budget. Councilwoman Knight reviewed with council her discussions with the public works director and city manager regarding the large number of budgets covering public works and city hall. She thanked the public works director for the excellent job he had done in preparing approximately ten divisional budgets. She briefly reviewed with council some comments concerning staffing levels in the building department and the training and safety programs in street and sewers, as well as the increase in water purchases in the water department. She supported all of these budgets to the council. Mayor Pagliaro reviewed the park and recreation budgets. He questioned the proposed $11,000 reduction in the summer crew. The park director noted we are increasing use of the Hillcrest crew on a twice-a-month basis, and this has replaced much of the need for a summer crew. He also noted a decline in interest by local youths in participating in the summer crew. Under recreation, the Mayor noted that a large amount of the increase in that budget is the result of our support of the high school programs and the refinishing of the gym. He also noted that the capital improvement portion of the budget outlined $43 million in future capital project needs which currently have uncertain or unknown funding. The Mayor then asked the council to consider funding requests for community groups. Councilwoman O'Mahony felt we should stay within the same $20,000 funding level as last year. She supported continuation of funding for the San Mateo Women's Shelter even though no request was received. Councilman Harrison stated he would like to review the community promotion budget first. He proposed a two percent reduction in the amount to the Visitor and Convention Bureau. These funds should be reallocated to funding community groups such as Project Focus which had been cut from the police department budget. Councilman Lembi related that as a member of the executive board of the Convention Bureau, he was in a very difficult position. He noted the Convention Bureau is facing cuts on many fronts, but he could support a two percent cut if the funds were used for community groups, especially Project Focus. Councilman Harrison suggested the council consider a $2,000 limit on all community groups, and he reviewed with council his proposed distribution of the funds. Councilwoman O'Mahony had a different distribution for the $20,000 and expressed her preference includ- ing supporting a reduction in the Convention Bureau to fund other community groups. Councilwoman Knight suggested council not fund any group more than last year. She also questioned whether we should drop the request for Mercy High School for repair of Kohl Mansion since last year's request was proposed as a one-time grant. She believed we needed to hold the line with city contributions to community groups which should be seeking funding from private sources. She also noted that we needed to have a say on how our money was being r.rsed by the Homeless Trust Fund. She also supported a two percent cut in the Convention Bureau budget to fund Project Focus. Mayor Pagliaro reviewed with council the current status of the Horneless Trust Fund and its possible relationship with the Peninsula Foundation and the issue of affordable housing. He suggested we leave $2,000 budgeted for the Winter Shelter and reduce the $11,000 included for the Homeless Trust Fund by that $2,000 until we receive further information. After additional discussion, cor.rncil supported a $6,720 reduction in the Convention Bureau budget plus the following distribution for community groups: 396 Samaritan House Mission Hospice Easter Seals/Peninsula Recare Call-Primrose Center Suicide Prevention Project REACH/PARCA Human Investment/Shared Homes Friends for Youth Center for Independence of Disabled San Mateo Women's Shelter Arthritis Foundation Winter Shelter Project Focus $ 3,000 1,000 3,000 1,750 1,500 1,500 1,000 750 1,500 1,000 2,000 2,000 3,500 TOTAL . $23,500 The $11,000 designated for the Homeless Trust Fund would also be reduced to $9,000 because of the funding of the winter shelter. Council next reviewed the Chamber of Commerce request. Council supported this amount. Karen Key of the Chamber noted that the $500 scholarship amount was no longer necessary and suggested this might be available for the summer school crossing guard. Council thanked her for the suggestion and approved this transfer to the police department budget. Council next reviewed the water and sewer funds. City manager indicated that because of water rationing and changes in consumption as well as the 18 percent increase in San Francisco rates, that water and sewer rates would need to be increased ten to fifteen percent. Staff will also be recommending a new method of applying sewer rates to single family homes. The public works director discussed with council his proposed method of setting the single family sewer charge based on average December to May water use to be billed as a fixed monthly charge on water bills. Council authorized staff to use this method in preparing the annual rate review. 3. COUNCIL COMMENTS Council thanked the departnient heads and nranager for their work on preparation of the budget. They noted it was an excellent job of maintaining existing service levels to the public while reducing costs as required by revenue limitations. Councilmembers also thanked the police chief for the memorial service for Sergeant Bruce Friedberg. They noted it was very sad but impressive. 4. FROM THE FLOOR Mayor Pagliaro asked for any comments from the floor; there were none ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m Judith A. Mal City Clerk