HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1991.06.03BI'RLINGAME, CALIFORNIA
June 3, L991
CALL TO ORDER
A duly noticed regular neeting of the Burl-ingame city council was
held on the above date in the city Hal-I council chambers. The
neeting was calfed to order at 7131 p.n. by Mayor GLoria Barton.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Led by City Manager Dennis Argyres.
ROLL CALL
COIJNCIL PRESENT:
COUNCIL ABSENT:
BARTON, HARRISON, LEI.{BI , OiMAHONY, PAGLIARO
NONE
MINUTES
I"linutes of the Reguf ar Meeting of I"Iay 20, 1991 $/ere
unanimously on motion of Councilrnan Harrison second
man Lembi .
approved
by Council-
PUBLIC HEARING ON UNDERGROUND DISTRICT 8
ING ASSESSMENT - CP 521
RESOLUTION 53-91 FIX-
Director of Public Works reviewed his memo of l\,Iay 2 9 \^/hich
recommended council hold a public hearing and take action. At
the ltlay 6 meeting, council adopted Resolution 48-91 setting apublic hearing for this meeting on three assessments for the
Underground District Number I on California Drive. Slnce thattime one of the property owners has paid the entire bill and
another has reached an agreement with city for time payments.
The remaining property aL 1-279 cal-ifornia oh/es $1050.00.
lilayor Barton opened the publ-ic hearingr.
Mr. otilingham of Foster city, owner of L279 California, spoke in
opposition to the city assessing his property for a project whichis for the benefit of motorists; he pays taxes and those taxes
should include projects such as this, he objected strenuousl-y and
requested removal of his property frorn the assessment 1ist.
Director of Public works responded reason the city has
underground projects is to get utility poles off the streets forsafety and for aesthetic reasons; when the city did this street
widening project the city and PG&E paj-d for undergroundlng instreets and sidewalks to the building, it is the property o\,rnersresponsibility to pay for the connection to the building. Itbenefits the property owner and the general public.
Mayor Barton closed the public hearing.
CounciLnan Lembi moved adoption of RESOLUTION 53-91 Fixing
Assessment for this property. Seconded by Councilnen Harrison,
rrJho commented that council felt it was for the property ownerrs
benefit, not just for peopJ.e passing through. The motion carried
unanirnously 5-0 by ro1l. call. vote.
SECOND READING - ORDTNANCE L437 - ESTABLISHING RESIDENCE
REOUIREIUENT FOR PLANNING CO T SSIONERS
city Attorney reviewed his memo of I"Iay 7, 199]. which recommended
council hold a public hearing and take action. In response to
council request, this ordinance s/as introduced at the lastneeting; it wiLl establish requirement that a commissioner be aItqualified electorrr of the city, rneaning a resident and
regj.stered voter of the city; it also elirninated some archaic
language in the code.
2L9
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CounciLnan Pagliaro asked vrhy
comrnissioner is appointed and
Councilrnan Harrison noted the
would serve until a successor
sane purpose.
there was no rnention that aserves at the pleasure of council-.
new rule says the conmissioneris appointed which night serve the
Mayor Barton opened the public hearing. There being no comments,the hearing was closed.
CounciLnan Harrison moved adoption of ORDINANCE 1,437. Secondedby Councilwoman OrMahony, carried unanimousLy by ro11 call- vote.
SECOND READING - ORDINANCE 1438 - ESTABLIS}IING YIELD
ANSEL AT FLORIBUNDA AVENUE
STGN ON
Public Works Director revi-ewed
which recommended counci] holdon an ordinance to establish aFloribunda Avenue. The Traffic
the Publ,ic Works nemo of May 13a public hearing and take actionyield sign on Ansel Road at
Comrnission reconmends this tocouncil for approval after revierr/ of complaints from motorj-sts.
I"Iayor Barton opened the public hearing. There being no comments,the hearing was closed.
Councilwoman O'Mahony rnoved adoption of ORDINANCE l-438. Secondedby CounciLnan Harrison, carried 5-O on roll call vote.
CONSIDERATION OF INCREASTNG HOTEL TAX
city Manager reviewed his memo of May 28 which recommendedcouncil determine whether it wished to place an increase in hoteltax on the November bal-l-ot. At the ylay 22 study meeting council
discussed the possibility of increasing our hotel tax topartially offset the costs of building and operating a conventioncenter in Burlingane. fhe draft Cooper & Lybrands study assuned
an increase from our current 8 percent hotel tax to 12 percent
hotel tax. This woul-d result in an increase in incrementaL tax
revenue of $3.1 nillion annualLy by 1994 assuming constructj,on ofa convention facility plus additional rooms. Given current hoteltax receipts, a 4 percent increase would raise $2.5 ni1LionannuaIly. San Francisco's hotel tax is 11 percent, south san
Francisco has I percent plus $Z.SO per night, and San Mateo
County and a number of other cities have a l-o percent tax. Priorto passaqe of Proposition 62 in 1986, cities had the authorj-ty to
increase hotel tax without voter approval; Prop 62 required thatall new general taxes require approval of a najority of the
voters; new special taxes require approval of two-thirds of the
voters; a special tax is one imposed for a specific purpose. He
noted the Hotel }lanagers Council had rnet and would like to
address council- on this matter. City Attorney mentj-oned a recent
court of appeals decision that found it unconstitutional to
require voter approval of a utility user tax, which is consj-dered
a general taxi this decision will be revie$/ed by the Supreme
Court within 30 days.
Councilrnan Harrison said based on the convention center conmittee
recommendations, he v/ould l-ike to see this go to a vote for a 12
percent general tax; he did not think we coufd adopt a tax
u/ithout voter approval. He would like to see a 2 percent hoteltax increase go into general fund after the election and a
provision giving council authority to increase the tax another 2
percent if we get a convention center plan finalized.
Councilman Pagtiaro noted there are too nany unanswered questions
about convention centers; with the lteasure A county election
canpaign on which he worked, they had researched and had all the
answers; he did not think we could ask the citizens to vote on
this now; we need time to prepare a package for the voters.
Councilwornan O'Mahony commented that Millbrae had just raised its
hotel tax to 10 percent; she thought we had to raise the tax to
keep up with cornpetitors; she would like to see a 10 percent tax
22L
go into the General Fund, that only needs a najority vote; the
second component on the ballot would permit council to raise to
12 percent at a given tirne, for instance when the hotels or aninvestor come forward with a written agreement to be responsiblefor any deficit.
city Attorney rnentioned that the second component might require atwo-thirds rather than a rnajority vote.
Councilman Harrison said at the study rneeting he had suggested a
JPA with adjacent cities with the intent of getting the baLLrolling on hotel taxes and a convention center.
councilwoman o rl\,Iahony said it would take a simple majority voteto raise the hotel tax fron I to 10 percent and two-thirdsapproval for council to raise to 12 percent later. Councilman
Lembi thought that would be confusing on the ballot.
Rod Young, General Manager of the Hyatt and chairman of the Hotel
Managerrs Council, said they supported the recommendation ofHarri,son, supported funds going into the general fund; theysupported the idea of a basic expandable facility and wilf h/orkI^rith whomever the city designates to run a facility. Councilman
PagTliaro said in order for council to move forward it needs to
know !,/hat a franchisor is willing to do. Young said he would bemeeting wj-th Japanese investors who rnight provide privatefunding. Councilman Pagliaro had difficuLty in presenting
something to the voters without a project in hand.
Stan lloore, llanager of the Marriott, said there is not much roomto grow in numbers of custoners, need to look at market, growthwill not take place if we dontt take steps for a conventioncenter, we will l-ose busj,ness; as far as a deficit is concerned.,
he had never seen a convention center that operated at a deficit.
John Steen, Convention Bureau, said it could be done withoutcosting the city money, if the tax is raj-sed to 10 percent andwith the proviso that it be raised to 12 percent,. he supportsprovision that the money go into general fund; can build a do-able, basic, expandable f acil j-ty,
the
Joe Karp, 1209 Burlingame Avenue, thought city should slow down,the hotels should have their corporate representative making some
cornmitment to this project, the hotel managers cantt nake any
commitrnent; city doesnrt have to do this now, wait untit nextyear; he served on a convention center study cornmittee prior toMarriott Hotel being built and he hadntt seen any great change orbenefit to dor/ntos/n area of Burlingarne from these big hotels;these hotels say they canrt nake it without convention center,but he did not think the big corporations would have built here
vrhen there tas no thought of a convention center, if the rnarket
was that bad; large cities build convention centers and benefit,they can take the loss because of the benefits the city qets fromvisitors but Burlingame woul-d not get these benefits; visitors
come to these hotels and sl,eep there, but when they awake they goto San Francisco to see the sights; calt these hotel phones andthey answer San Francisco Airport Marriott, San Francisco AirportHyatt Regency; will we call the convention center the SanFrancisco Airport Convention Center; he would like to see sonecorporate commitment I he was not opposed to raising the hoteltaxi the Cooper & Lybrands report said a convention center wouldlose moneyl the hotels say a private j.nvestor wiLl not make a
commitment until the city does; he was also concerned about thetraffic inpact of a convention center; he agreed it night be agreat idea, but we need more facts before going to a vote.
Joe Harvey, City Treasurer and member of the Convention CenterCornmittee, truly felt the city should raise the hotel tax to l-Opercent to bring it up to the level, of other cities; seriousmistake not to raj-se tax, it would raise $1 rnillion per year; thefunds should go into the ceneral Fundi we are not rushing intoanything by raising the tax to 10 percent; the hotels say no
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convention center puts then at disadvantage; need to deterrninedollars needed for project; we are not locked into 9100 millionproject. Council asked if Harvey supported raise of 10 percentor 12 percent; Harvey said this j.s a matter for council todetermine, but he supported raise to 10 percent and he endorsed12 percent only if it could be made very clear to people thatanother 2 percent raise is pernission to be used only if aproject is viable; he feared the average voter would notunderstand the second 2 percent. Councilman pagliaro wonderedabout the value of raising to i-0 percent; Harvey said these fundscould be set aside for future use in the general fund yet wouldbe there to use for any city project if needed. pagliaro
reiterated funds could be used for street, sewers and in futurefor convention center. Harvey said if funds are set aside and aconvention center is built and the center increases hoteloccupancy, it coul-d generate another rnil,l,ion do]Lars on the 8percent in hotel taxes,. city could benefit from additional hotel-growth from convention center; the funds fron hotel tax increasecould be used for the convention center.
Mayor Barton had no objection to raising tax to 10 percent; butshe had a problem with raising to L2 percent; she woul-d not votefor it is she were menber of public, she would wonder where weare planning to use this noney. Harvey said 12 percent night putcity hotels at a disadvantage; 10 percent would put city a! Ievelwith other cities.
Councilman Harrison said the second part s/ording on ba11ot
measure he proposed would only be granting authority to raise thetax another 2 percent at some future tirne. Mayor Barton feltstrongly about getting a convention center but unless privatesector takes part, she couldntt go along; nost everyone saysconvention centers do not make noney; city would purchase landand build but believe private sector must come forthi she wouldsupport spending on consultant and conmittee in order to get rnoreinforrnation; if hotel corporate heads think this is irnporiant,then they will support.
CounciLnan Lernbi said we need a financial specialist who cannerge public/private sector; we have an option to go ahead; thereis an International Convention Bureau which rnight heJ.p us, people
who do this atl the timer. he moved to put on ball-ot rz percEntwith an initial 2 percent and 2 percent 1ater, and to hire aconsultant who can give us sone answers in the next te/o or three
weeks to put fu11 argument on ballot. Seconded by Council-r^ronan
O I Mahony.
There was discussion of ballot arguments; City Attorney notedthere is plenty of tine to develop arguments; he rnust prepare ananalysis of the measure, then council does the argument. council-asked about costs of a special election next year to raiseanother 2 percent if convention center plan proceeds,. cost rnightbe $20,000 to $30,000. Mayor Barton mentioned she had heard iroma convention center consultant who wants to meet with a council
Councilman Paqliaro agreed about hiring a consultant, gettingprofessional informationl he noted the hotel tax is grlat taxbecause someone who doesnrt live in city pays it; previously ourhotels opposed raising tax because it would put them atdisadvantage over San Francisco; dontt understand hotel want toraise tax; regarding the second part of Lernbirs motion, thevoters need everything spelled out. City Manager said 2 percentraise can be put in general fundr. Cooper & Lybrands can dofurther work on spread sheet; a financial advisor and "dealnakerrr are two different people and it would be impossible to getan answer in three weeks. Harrison said council consensus is tojust ask for 2 percent i.n Novernber.
Councj.lman Lenbi revised his motj-on to place a measure on the
November ba11ot to raise hoteL tax to 10 percent, money to beplaced in the ceneral Fund. Seconded by Councilwoman OtMahony,carried 5-0 on roll call vote.
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member and City Dlanager. She, Councj-Iman Lembi and City }lanagerwill meet with hin. Joe Karp mentioned that the Shoreline
Amphitheater in Mountain View and a facility in Benecia were
developed by private party; clty nlght inquire how this b/as done.
CONSIDERATION OF EMPLOYEE KECOGNITTON PLAOUE
City Manager reviewed the Fire Chief's memo of May 22 which
discussed the possibility of recognizing employees who have been
employed with the city for thirty years or more. A plaque wouldbe installed in the City Hall lobby and each employee reaching 30years of service would have a brass plate with their name on thisplaque; at the present time there are 42 former employees who
have served in excess of 30 years and their names lrould be placed
on the plaque; they could be invited to a council meeting fordedication of this plaque. cost would be approximately $500.Council $/as s'Jpportive of this idea. Staff will proceed.
ED ORDER OF CO}IPLIANC
Pub]ic Works Director reviewed his rnemo of May 30 which informedcouncil of the violation and order of Cornpliance; no councilaction is required. The contract for the I{WTP irnprovements $/as
ar4rarded April 1 and work began in early Mayi May 13 the CountyHealth Department informed the city that additional perrnits wererequired to excavate a portion of the landfilI and rebury it inanother area of the IandfiII. The contractor was directed tocover the exposed trash and stop work. The State Board became
aware of this project through the Regional Water Quality Control
Board and called county Health as the local enforcement agencywith direction to stop worki the engineering firm and Public
works Director met with the county on uay l-6 and another meeting
was held in Sacramento on May 2L. The State took the position
that pernits were required before any work could proceed, it
would take 45 to 90 days on a fast track to get these pernits.
The County has reviewed the regulations and arrived at the use ofthe Stipulated Order of Conpliance as a means for us to resumeworki the required documentation is being prepared and should beready by June 3, work can resune shortly thereaf ter r' he said theefforts of the county are greatl,y appreciated. The Stipulationfurther requires the city to apply for a revision to our Sol-id
I{aste Facilities Permit and submit a preliminary dump closureplan by January 1992; this is sooner than we had planned but canbe accompl ished.
council asked if the contractor was responsible for getting thesepermits; did they go through the proper channels; will- this costthe city money; Director said city has an old l-andf il-I permit,
but the new State Board has revised rules and now requires this
excavation perrnit; it rnay cost the city more money, and he hasyet to sit down with the contractor to negotiate this matter.
COMMT SS TON CANDIDATES
City Manager reviewed there are five candidates for the CivifService vacancy and three candidates for the Library Boardposition. Council members will schedule interview dates.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Councilman Pagliaro had questions regarding itern a;
responded that the arnendnents to contracts were forby city after plans vrere completed.
staff
changes made
AfRPORT BOULEVARD REIIABILITATION, PHASE 18; CP 3281) RESOLUTION 54-91 - AGREEIT{ENT WITH Tl{lrl
2) RESOLUTIoN 55-91 - AGREEI.{ENT WITH HLA3lRESOLI]T I N 56-91 - AGREEMENT WTTI{CALLENDER
During 1989 and 1990, Phase 1A of the Airport Boulevardproject sras conpleted with the installation of bay fillleachate barrier and drainage facilities. Phase 18 j-s the
a
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b
C
installation of more drainage, street rehabilitation andinstallation of pedestrian/bike path and landscapinq. The
amendnents requests normal increases in fees, as well as
changes to the plans to reflect the najor changes in thegeotechnical design at construction that rnust now beincorporated.
(1) Public Works memo of Uay 29 reconmended council approve
an agreement arnendment and increase in fees in the amount of
$13,588 for THU Associates.
(2) Public works memo of May 29 recomnended council approve
an agreement amendment and increase in professional fees inthe amount of $18,500 for Harding Lawson Associates (HLA).
(3) Public works nemo of May 29 recommended council approvean agreement with Callender Associates in the amount of
$A,24O to cover revised planting due to drought concerns,
changes to a1low use of reclained water from the wastewater
treatment p1ant, and construction.
Removed by staff.
INTERCITY TSM AUTHORTTY BUDGET APPROVAL
City Managerrs memo
budget of the Interc
approve that budget
Agtreement.
l,lay 29 , attached to the 199]^-92y TSM Authority, reconmended council
accordance with the Joint Powers
ofitin
Councilman Pagtiaro noved approval of the Consent Calendar.
Seconded by Councilman Harrison, carried unanirnous Iy.
COI'NCIL TTEE REPORTS
Council of Cities: Councilwoman o'Mahony had attended.
Omaha Woodrnen: Councilwoman OtMahony had represented the city atthis convention and that organizatj-on presented the city with a
check for a new picnic table at Bayside Park.
Homeless: Councilman Pagliaro said a draft of the final reportto the Board is readyi final report shou1d be ready in August.
OLD BUSINESS
Fourth of July: Mayor Barton reported that plans are complete
and costs are under the $2,000 budget; she will present a bj-l-I atthe next meeting. She asked the press to invite veterans.
Restaurants: Councilman Pagliaro asked about study of recyclingat restaurants; staff said report is ready and waiting for an
open study meeting date.
Schools: Council-man Lembi wondered if the school-s had contactedthe city about the proposed city/schoot liaison committee.
Ms. Lours ![assage Parlor: City Attorney announced that thecityts revocation of this massage permit had been upheld in thecourts; it will probably be appealed. Council noted there is
another massage business at the site now.
NEW BUSINESS
Schedule Appeal Hearing: ltayor Barton set hearings on June 17for two appeals:
(1) for tree removaLs at 1707 Toledo; and
for a new two story retail/office use at 1,2L8-1230 Burlingame
L2O9-L2L5 Donne11y.
(21
and
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1
2
ACKNOWLEDGEUENTS
Commission }linutes: Senior citizens Coordinating council,
May 16; Traffic, Safety and Parking, May 9; Planning, May28, 799L.
Letter from Lisa Ainsworth regarding Crosswalk on California
and Carmelita.
Council directed the Traffic Cornmission look into this cornplaint.
FROU THE FLOOR - There were no conments from the floor.
ADJOT,RNMENT
The rneeting was regularly adjourned at 9222 p.m.
ith A. MalfatCity Clerk