CALL TO ORDER

Vice Mayor Fredericks called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2003, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California.

ROLL CALL

PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Fredericks, Gram, Thompson

ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Berger, Slavitz

PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Manager McIntyre, Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Echols, Chief of Police Odetto, Director of Administrative Services McVeigh, Administrative & Financial Analyst Stott, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS

Steve Sears, one of the owners of Sam’s Anchor Café, addressed the issue of the proposed elimination of Bus Route No. 10 by the Golden Gate Transportation and Bridge District. He asked for representation from the Town in opposing this cut, as he said it would have a devastating effect on the downtown businesses, many of whom have workers who take the bus to and from work.

Vice Mayor Fredericks said that she would have a report on this topic at the end of the meeting.

Rocky Birdsey, 201 Bell Avenue, San Rafael, affiliated with the Marin Center for Independent Living, said that he had also attended the meeting regarding the proposed cuts by Golden Gate Transit. He said that the public comment period would end on April 24, 2003, and that it was important for the [County] Transportation Committee to receive written comments before the deadline.

1) Approval of Town Council Minutes – April 2, 2003

2) Request by Fair Housing of Marin – Proclamation declaring April as Fair Housing Month in the Town of Tiburon

3) Request by League of California Cities – Designation of Voting Delegate for Special Meeting of the General Assembly, May 15, 2003

4) Recommendation by Town Manager – Authorization for Hinderliter, de Llamas & Associates (HdL) to Examine Sales and Use Tax Records

a) A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon

Authorizing Examination of Sales and Use Tax Records

MOTION: To approve Consent Calendar Items 1 through 4, above.

Moved: Gram, seconded by Thompson

Vote: AYES: Fredericks, Gram, Thompson

ABSENT: Berger, Slavitz

REGULAR AGENDA

5) Recommendation by Director of Public Works/Town Engineer - Draft Guidelines for Formation of Undergrounding of Utilities Assessment Districts - continued from April 2, 2003

Director Echols said that the policy had been revised to incorporate comments from the Council and public at the April 2, 2003 Council meeting. He said that the policy itself was not "project specific" but was more of a guide for the process and procedures of undergrounding utilities projects. Mr. Echols said that other specific information, such as historical data about past projects, would be contained in a Frequently Asked Questions brochure.

Director Echols said that one of the main modifications to the previous draft concerned the subscription deposits. Echols said that a procedure could be enacted which would divide the engineering work into two phases with a built-in contingency in order to have a number on which to base the cost of the bond. This figure could be adjusted, if need be, after the construction bids were received. The result of this method of calculation would keep the upfront subscription cost to $1,000.

Councilmember Gram said that the revised policy was a much stronger document.

Vice Mayor Fredericks recommended some changes in semantics which could be fine-tuned after the fact.

Councilmember Thompson wanted to make sure that the Lyford Cove and Del Mar projects were "taken care of" under the current policy.

Vice Mayor Fredericks opened the public hearing.

Yvonne Rieden, 85 Rowley, said that she was happy to see the provision for assessments based on benefit included in the policy. She said that each project presented very different benefits to the end users and cited the examples of projects in Belvedere and other Bay Area counties.

John Tripp, Del Mar neighborhood, asked about the form of petition specified by the policy. He said that the petition circulated and signed in the Del Mar area had stated that assessments would be distributed equally within the district. He wondered what the effective date of the Town’s policy would be.

Director Echols said the policy would be effective upon adoption by Council. He also stated that the Town would not distribute a form of petition containing a statement regarding the amount of the proposed assessment.

Town Clerk Crane Iacopi added that she had spoken to bond counsel, Stephen Casaleggio, who had informed her that there was no exact form of petition required to initiate an assessment district.

Priscilla Tripp, 104 Howard Drive, asked about the policy language which stated that the length of the bond term was 20 – 25 years rather than 30 years.

Director Echols said that the individual districts could choose the length of the term but that the most common bond term was 20-25 years.

Ms. Tripp also sought clarification of the statement on page 2 of the policy which said that the majority approval of the project was based on the dollars assessed rather than the value of the properties within the district.

Director Echols confirmed this statement.

Vice Mayor Fredericks closed the public hearing.

Councilmember Thompson said that even though the Council wanted to stay objective in the process of district formation, he said that he wanted to "be open to" the idea of matching funds or something that would help boost support for an individual neighborhood that had a desire to form a district. He said that he also understood that this policy, like all policies, would evolve over time.

MOTION: To approve the policy, as presented.

Moved: Gram, seconded by Gram

Vote: AYES: Fredericks, Gram, and Thompson

ABSENT: Berger, Slavitz

6) Report by Town Manager –

MERA Update

Town Manager McIntyre gave Council an overview of recent events. He said that the vote for partial activation had been forestalled pending receipt of information which the Town Manager said had now been obtained. In response to a question previously raised by Mayor Slavitz, McIntyre said that MERA Executive Director Marty Nichols said that it would cost $35,000 to partially activate the system which would be spread through the usual formula to the member agencies. He said the Town’s share of this one-time cost was 2.25%.

McIntyre said that he sought the Council’s authorization to vote in favor of MERA’s request for partial activation of the system.

Councilmember Gram commented that there was comfort in the fact that so few agencies would be able to participate in the partial activation so that there was an incentive to find an alternate site in Southern Marin.

In response to a question from Councilmember Thompson, Town Manager McIntyre referred to a MERA hand-out showing, among other things, the status of site selection County-wide. He said that other than the lack of a Southern Marin site, there were only two outstanding leases in the final stages of negotiation.

b) Request for Partial Activation of System

Town Manager McIntyre said that a committee had been formed to study possible antenna sites in the southern part of the County. He said that the committee was comprised of representatives from Corte Madera, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Sausalito, Belvedere and Tiburon, as well as Supervisor Rose representing the County of Marin, two Fire Districts and one Community Facilities District. These agencies would be without MERA coverage until a southern Marin site was secured and therefore the Town Manager said that the motivation existed to find such a site within an "aggressive timeline."

Town Manager McIntyre said that the committee was currently defining the process which would be used to identify potential sites. He said that a single site in Southern Marin was still preferred and that single sites would be reviewed first. McIntyre further stated that a subcommittee of this group would meet every two weeks but noted that the public review process would take a fair amount of time. He said that the estimated date for completion of site review was December 2004 and that December 2005 was the estimated date for the selected site to be up and running.

The Town Manager said that the MERA Board had indicated its desire to conduct a thorough process of public review in order to avoid possible future litigation. Vice Mayor Fredericks commented that a court order resulting from the current litigation made an EIR a requirement of the process, but the Town Manager also noted that the order in question was being appealed.

Vice Mayor Fredericks opened the public hearing.

John Kern, Stewart Drive, asked whether Angel Island was still under consideration as a possible Southern Marin site. He said it was a site that could have served everyone.

The Town Manager said that some have said that the Angel Island site was still "alive," but that there were many obstacles which could prove insurmountable.

Councilmember Thompson said that the obstacles were political because the Park service did not want a MERA facility there, so unless someone higher up in the chain of command dictated it, there would be no facility on Angel Island.

Vice Mayor Fredericks commented that Senator Burton had told the Tiburon representatives not to pursue the Angel Island site.

Mr. Kern said that he thought that Angel Island State Park was within the legislative bounds of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and that it was a site that should be "left on the table."

Vice Mayor Fredericks closed the public hearing.

MOTION: To authorize the Town Manager to vote in favor of partial activation of the MERA system based on the above discussion.

Moved: Thompson, seconded by Gram

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

ABSENT: Berger, Slavitz

COUNCIL COMMITTEE AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Vice Mayor Fredericks reported on the proposed cuts in Golden Gate Transit District bus service. She said that the first round of workshops on the proposed cuts had been completed and that the next step was to pick one of the options ("scenarios") and hold public hearings. Fredericks said that one such scenario (Scenario D) would leave the Tiburon peninsula without weekend, late night, early morning, and mid-day service.

The Vice Mayor said that as the Town’s Congestion Management Agency representative, she had asked the Bridge District to make a report at each of the CMA meetings. Fredericks said that she had also attended a Marin County Transit District meeting at which Supervisor Rose had asked the Bridge District to add back in mid-day, weekend and late night service for Route 10 (Tiburon Peninsula).

Town Manager McIntyre said that the Mayor had sent a letter to the Bridge District opposing the cuts, and that a planner from the District had met with the owners and employees of Sam’s Anchor Café, as well.

Vice Mayor Fredericks also gave a brief report regarding the Congestion Management Agency expenditure plan for an increase in the sales tax which would focus on local "mobility" projects. She said that this might even include the introduction of jitney-type buses. Fredericks said that the CMA would meet with local citizens in subregional committees to establish ideas for local spending.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

Town Council Weekly Digest – April 4, 2003

The Town Manager noted the Town Attorney’s memorandum to Council discussing the Barden v. City of Sacramento case and the question of whether the Town wanted to continue its participation or withdraw from participation in the amicus brief.

Councilmember Gram said that he thought the Town attorney was on point in her memo in describing the weaknesses of the language which was supposed to protect cities. However, he suggested that the Council agendize the matter and hear from the proponents of the case who had stated that cities were indeed protected, prior to making any decision.

Town Manager McIntyre said the matter would appear on the May 21, 2003 agenda.

Town Council Weekly Digest – April 11, 2003

 

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Vice Mayor Fredericks adjourned the meeting at 8:17 p.m., sine die.

s/ ALICE FREDERICKS, VICE MAYOR

 

ATTEST:

DIANE CRANE IACOPI, TOWN CLERK