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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1997.04.07BURLINGAME, CALIF'ORNIA April 7, L997 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. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor O'Mahony PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Led by Police Chief Palmer ROLL CALL COUNCIL PRESENT: COUNCIL ABSENT: HARRISON, JANNEY, KNIGHT, O'MAHONY, SPINELLI NONE MINUTES The minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 19, 1997 were approved unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING - AMUSEMENT PERMIT FOR 'THE ALIBI BAR' AT 220 LORTON The City Attorney reviewed his memo of March 31 which recommended council approve an application for occasional entertainment at The Alibi Bar. The Tangs, new owners of this business formerly known as the Stardust, are remodeling and plan to have an occasional disc jockey or musicians. They state there will be little advertising of the entertainment. The owners and manager have met with police. He recommended approval subject to conditions listed in his staff report. Councilwoman Knight asked if ABC training of bartenders had been discussed with the applicants Police Chief responded that it is usually discussed with applicants. It was noted that other applications have included requirements for early "last call" which is not included here. Vice Mayor Spinelli asked about residential units near this location. Staff responded there are several nearby, have never received complaints from them, adjacent property owners were notified. Mayor O'Mahony opened the public hearing. The manager, Tina Babaie, responded to council questions noting she has worked in Burlingame for a long time, new bartenders will be required to take ABC training. There were no other comments and the hearing was closed. Councilman Harrison moved to approve the permit with conditions in staff report and an additional condition that the "last call" for drinks be at 1:20 a.m. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously. ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE 1568 TO PLACE A YIELD SIGN ON THE CHAPIN LANE The City Attorney reviewed his memo of April 1 which recommended council hold a public hearing, adopt the ordinance and direct the city clerk to publish the ordinance within 15 days. In 131 response to a neighborhood request and staff concurrence, council introduced this ordinance on March 19. Further reading of the ordinance was waived at that time. Mayor O'Mahony opened the public hearing. There were no comments and the hearing was closed Councilman Harrison moved to adopt ORDINANCE 1568. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENTS Joe Karp, local businessman and resident, said the Karp family would like to offer the city a donation of $1,000 ayeff for three years, or more if necessary, to implement a "safe streets" event for Halloween; he envisioned a street such as Chapin Avenue between El Camino and Primrose, or Howard Avenue, as ideal locations; he hoped the local service clubs would match the donation. He had seen such a program in Foster City during Halloween last fall and it was very successful' Mayor O'Mahony thanked him and said council would take his offer under advisement. The City Manager reviewed his memo of April 1 which recommended council accept the Broadway BID Annual Report and adopt the Resolution of Intention setting a public hearing for May 5, 1997. The BID proposes no changes in the boundaries, assessments or classifications for 1997-98. A notice wltt Ui published in the newspaper advertising the public hearing. The current BID has a sunset of June 30, 1998. Councilwoman Knight noted she was very pleased with the Broadway BID; she hoped no merchants came forward to protest the establishment as they had done in the past; there seemed to be some confusion about the procedure. Staff reviewed the process noting there are always new merchants unfamiliar with process; there will be a public notice published about this hearing and there is no requirement to notify every Broadway merchant. Next year when the BID "sunsets" they will all be notified individually. Councilman Harrison moved to accept the Annual Report and to adopt RESOLUTION 26-97 setting a public hearing on May 5,1997 for establishment of the L997-98 Broadway BID assessments' Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously. 2504 AND 2506 POPPY DRIVE City Manager suggested council consider the letter from Otto Miller and Kurt Steil requesting a refund of $1915. The City Attorney and the Chief Building Inspector had attached memos regarding the request. Kurt Steil addressed the council and said they are requesting this refund because the city enacted an urgency ordinance which made their initial set of plans unusable; he did not think it fair to be charged for checking those plans. After some discussion, Councilman Harrison moved to uphold the fees and deny the request for a refund. Seconded by Vice Mayor Spinelli and carried unanimously. F April 7 , 1997 132 Burlingame City Council I a. SUMMARY OF DRAFT EIS/EIR FOR THE CALTRAIN DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO EXTENSION PROJECT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN The City Planner reviewed her memo of April 2 which recommended council review the Draft EIS/EIR and determine whether it wants to comment. One impact to our city would be overhead electrical lines if the entire train service is electrified. Another is that additional parking would be needed in Burlingame at the Broadway Station area to offset shortages at the Burlingame Avenue and San Mateo Stations. The deadline for comments on this document is May 12, 1997. Council discussed briefly. Vice Mayor Spinelli said he would like to send a letter of support to the JPB stating we had no comments on the report. Council concurred. CONSENT CALENDAR Public Works Director called attention to an error in the staff report for item "i" in which one condition should be to get an encroachment permit not a building permit. Vice Mayor Spinelli asked about the Chamber of Commerce request, item "8-f-4," for free parking during holidays and he would like the merchants to waive the free parking request; he thought parking was more available since we instituted parking charges and moving back and forth from free to pay parking would cause confusion. Councilman Harrison said he would be meeting with the Chamber and will discuss council concerns with this issue. After some discussion, council removed 8-f-4 for action at the next meeting. Mayor O'Mahony also asked about use of the Broadway holiday decorations on Burlingame Avenue. RESOLUTION 27-97 SUPPORTING THE CONTINUANCE OF THE FEDERAL INTER- MODAL SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY ACT OSTEA) City Attorney's memo of March 31 recommended council adopt this resolution in support of continuing the ISTEA funding program. ISTEA has been the primary means of providing federal funding for local transportation projects in the past few years; it returns 90 percent of the federal gas taxes to the citizens and gives local government control over how those dollars are spent. In Burlingame, these funds helped build the Beach Road Bridge, the Broadway Interconnect and rebuild Airport Boulevard. RESOLUTION 28-97 SUPPORTING PRESERVATION OF MEASURE 1 FUNDING AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EOUITABLE SYSTEM OF SEISMICALLY RETROFITTING BAY AREA TOLL BRIDGES WHILE ACCOMPLISHING MEASURE 1 IMPROVE- MENTS City Attorney's memo of March 28 recommended council adopt this resolution in support of preservation of Measure 1 Funding. In 1988 Bay Area voters approved Measure 1 which established a standard $1 toll for each of the Bay Area toll bridges. There is concern the state will divert these funds to seismic retrofitting. c RESOLUTION 29-97 RENEWING COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SAN MATEO COUNTY FOR REHABILITATION LOAN PROGRAM SERVICES City Planner's memo of March 25 recommended council approve an agreement renewing for three years the city's cooperative agreement with the County to administer the Rehabilitation b Burlingame City Council 133 Aprtl7, 1997 d Loan Program. In the past, the program has provided $140,132in loans for low and very low income residents of Burlingame. RESOLUTION 30-97 DECLARING NOXIOUS AND DANGEROUS WEEDS AND RUB- BISH A NUISANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH CITY CODE CHAPTER 11.08 AND ORDERING A PUBLIC HEARING TO BE HELD ON MAY 19. 1997 Public Works memo of April 2 recommended council adopt this resolution setting a public hearing for May 19 for the 1997 Weed and Rubbish Abatement Program on public and private property. Property owners will be notified to abate their weeds and rubbish and any property owners objecting to such proceedings will be heard at the public hearing. Work authorized by the city to remove weeds and rubbish on private propefty will be paid for by liens assessed with the tax roll in July 1997. INTERNATIONAL City Attorney's memos of March 26 recommended council reject the claims for (1) arrest at a tiaffic stop for failure to appear for another traffic citation and (2) for an unsubstantiated sewer backup. City Manager's memo of April 1 recommended council approve requests for several events subject to meeting the police department conditions and providing insurance coverage appioved by the -ity attorney. The events are: (1) the annual Burlingame Avenue Merchants sidewalk sales on April 25 & 26 and August 22 & 23; (2) the Community Picnic on October 5; (3) Art on the Avenue on September 20 & 2I; p**irg-tlreld over to next meeting) and decorations and (5) the Holiday Open House on December 5, 1997. public Works memo of April 1 recommended council approve sending the Assistant Public Works Superintendent to the American Water Works Association annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia in June. L1e (} h.R Public Works memo of March 31 recommended council approve this permit subject to conditions. EASEMENT AT 1512 LA MESA LANE Public Works memo of April 1 recommended council approve this permit subject to conditions" 1 Aprll T, 1997 t34 Burlingame City Council f. APPROVE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EVENTS FOR 1997 l. ENCROACHMENT PERMIT FOR TWO BRICK COLUMNS AND AN IRON GATE AT 1921 HILLSIDE DRIVE Public Works memo of April 1 recommended council approve this permit subject to conditions. k RESOLUTION 31.97 ADOPTING STATE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAMS AND GOALS Public Works memo of April 1 recommended council adopt this resolution for the State Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Programs and Goals. In accordance with federal law the city must review its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program and Goals annually in order to receive federal funds for projects. Councilman Harrison moved approval of the consent calendar, except to continue item "8-f-4" regarding free parking during holidays. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimous- ly. Councilwoman Knight noted she would like the "Art on the Avenue" event to reflect her negative vote because of her objection to sale of alcoholic beverages on the street at this event. She wondered how much city staff time is involved in this event and also in the holiday open house and how much Chamber time is involved. Vice Mayor Spinelli reported on the Airport Roundtable. Councilman Harrison would be meeting with the Chamber and with Community Picnic committee. Councilwoman Janney reported on CMAC. Councilwoman Knight attended a PTA Council meeting, legislative breakfast, JPB and the Lions Club Easter Egg hunt and breakfast. Councilwoman Janney said there had been two wonderful events over the weekend, the BCE dinner and the "Taste of the Town" event. Mayor O'Mahony had attended those events, and went to CCAG, SFO informational meeting and the Lions Club event. She noted Burlingame was on television twice on Sunday for the Channel 2 "Our Town" segment and the Lions Club Easter event was reported on Channel 7 news. Councilman Harrison noted a videotape from the Chamber of Commerce of the "Our Town" segment is available in the City Clerk's office. OLD BUSINESS Vice Mayor Spinelli had learned there is bike trail funding "floating around" at CCAG, they need to allocate these funds; he asked about applying toward our bike trails projects. Staff responded that those funds must be used for commuter trails but we can look into it. Council noted the Broadway overpass might qualify as a commuter trail. NEW BUSINESS Vice Mayor Spinelli asked about residents wish for a dog run park near Skyline. Staff noted the Parks & Recreation Department is working on this idea. Mayor O'Mahony scheduled an appeal hearing on April 23 fot a height variance at 131 Costa Rica Burlingame City Council 135 April 7, 1997 j a b Councilman Harrison expressed concerns about commissions directing staff to do reports and studies. He would like the City Manager to write a letter giving some direction or job descriptions to the commissions about their duties; they are advisory bodies. He moved that commissioners be notified that it is their responsibility to advise council not give staff direction. Seconded by Council- woman Janney. The motion carried unanimously. Councilman Harrison noted this would not apply to the Planning Commission which is governed by State law. Councilwoman Knight mentioned the commissions discuss items without the applicant being present, prior to action after action and they move items around on the agenda. Councilwoman Knight recalled seeing a very rowdy group of people on Burlingame Avenue who had obviously been drinking and were lounging about at window ledges, tables and chairs, impeding and intimidating pedestrians on the sidewalk and yelling at cars going past. She wondered if the restaurants should be curbing this type of behavior. Staff said the police should be called and noted this is a violation of ABC laws which prohibit serving alcohol outside. Staff can send a letter calling this to their attention. Staff noted tables and chairs are allowed by encroachment permits and can be regulated. Councilman Harrison asked the police department's bike patrol to check this. Commission Reports: Beautification, March 6; Park and Recreation, March 20; Senior, March 20; Traffic, Safety and Parking, March 13; Planning, March 24, 1997. Proclamations: National Volunteer Week, April 13-19; Professional Secretaries Week & Day, April20-26; Older Americans Month, May 1997 . c. Building Department Report of March 1997. d. Letter from student Ben Jones regarding the Eucalyptus trees on El Camino. CLOSED SESSION At 8:06 p.m. Mayor O'Mahony adjourned to a Closed Session to confer with the City Manager and City Attorney regarding (a) Pending Litigation (Gov't Code $54956.9[A]), State of California et al vs Rosendin Electric, San Francisco Superior Court Case no. 880011; and (b) Labor Negotiations (Gov't Code $45957.6) regarding unrepresented full-time employees. AND ROLF KAHLBENN The meeting was reconvened at 8:18 p.m. Mayor O'Mahony sadly noted the recent deaths of several people: Dixon Scoffern, father of city employee Lynn Scoffern; Robert W. Gates, distin- guished citizen and local businessman, whose family once lived in our train station; Saul Ross, local attorney and friend of Councilman Harrison; and Rolf Kahlbenn, resident and friend of Mayor O'Mahony. After a moment of silence in their memory, the meeting was at 8:20 p.m Judith A. Malfatti City Clerk April 7, 1997 136 Burlingame City Council