TOWN COUNCIL

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Fredericks called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:39 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 2004, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California.

ROLL CALL

PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Berger, Fredericks, Gram, Slavitz, Smith

PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Attorney Danforth, Director of Community Development Anderson, Chief of Police Odetto, Police Lieutenant Hutton, Director of Administrative Services McVeigh, Administrative & Financial Analyst Stott, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi

CLOSED SESSION

(Section 54956.9(a))

Siciliano v. Town of Tiburon

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION, IF ANY

Mayor Fredericks said that no action was taken in closed session.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS

Tom O’Neill, 2205 Mar East Street, said he was the founder and coordinator of the Tiburon Classic Car Show. Mr. O’Neill said that he had applied for a special event permit from the Town for this year’s show and had also talked with Larry Smith about the possibility of staging it the same weekend of the Town’s 40^th Anniversary Celebration in May.

Mr. O’Neill asked that the Council agendize his permit application for further discussion.

1) Approval of Town Council Minutes – January 21, 2004

2) Recommendation by Director of Administrative Services – Accept Town Investment Summaries

a) November 2003

b) December 2003

3) Recommendation by Director of Administrative Services – Authorize Town Manager & Director of Administrative Services to Execute Agreement with Smith, Barney for Investment Services

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

Authorizing the Town Manager and Director of Administrative

Services to Establish an Investment Account with Smith Barney

Citigroup for the Purpose of Investing Town Funds

MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1 through 3, above.

Moved: Smith, seconded by Berger

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

4) Recommendation by Town Clerk – Appointments to Town Boards, Commissions & Committees

a) Reappointment of Commissioners who have served less than two years

Planning Commission – Dick Collins

Design Review Board – Bill Teiser & Emmett O’Donnell

Heritage & Arts Commission – Patricia Navone

Jt. Recreation Committee – Tara Sullivan

b) Reappointment of other Commissioners whose terms are expiring on 2/29/04

Parks & Open Space Commission – Margo Zender

c) Status of Current or Pending Vacancies on Town Boards, Commissions & Committees

Design Review Board

Parks & Open Space Commission

Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency Board of Directors

Tiburon Ecumenical Association/Hilarita Board of Directors

d) Town Council Appointment to Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Downtown Economic Development Committee

Town Clerk Crane Iacopi gave the report, detailing the current vacancies on Town Boards and Commissions and who had applied to fill these vacancies (Jim Hermann and Liz Bird). Crane Iacopi stated that all of the current commissioners whose terms were expiring at the end of February had indicated their interest in reappointment.

In addition, she said that there were pending vacancies on the Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency Board, and a vacancy on the Hilarita Board of Directors for a Town appointee, a position previously held by Hank Bruce and which architect Michael Heckmann, through the Rotary Club, had indicated an interest in filling. Vice Mayor Berger said that Mr. Heckmann would make an excellent Town representative to the Board.

The Town Clerk said that an interview had been scheduled with the Council and Design Review Baord applicant Liz Bird on February 18, and that a Notice of Vacancy would be published for the Hilarita Board vacancy.

Mayor Fredericks also noted that the Council would make an appointment to the Downtown Economic Development Committee, as requested by the Chamber of Commerce.

MOTION: To reappoint the Commissioners whose terms are expiring listed in Item a) above.

Moved: Berger, seconded by Slavitz

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

MOTION: To reappoint Margo Zender to the Parks & Open Space Commission.

Moved: Smith, seconded by Slavitz

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

MOTION: To appoint Jim Hermann to the Parks & Open Space Commission

Moved: Slavitz, seconded by Gram

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

MOTION: To appoint Vice Mayor Berger to the Chamber of Commerce Commerce Downtown Economic Development Committee

Moved: Fredericks, seconded by Slavitz

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

5) Presentation by Chief of Police – Annual Report of Tiburon Police Department

Chief Odetto gave the report, which he said had been prepared by Lieutenant Dave Hutton. During the presentation, the Chief acknowledged all the members of the Tiburon Police Department, sworn and unsworn, including a number of volunteers. He reviewed the Values Statement with the Council and gave highlights of the previous year’s accomplishments and statistics.

Highlights included the statistic that the department received and responded to an average of 8,000 calls per year. Odetto said that monthly reports of Police Department activities also appeared in the Town Council Digest.

The Council expressed their gratitude to the Chief and his department and asked a number of questions. The Council encouraged members of the department to continue their safety programs and presence at the local schools; also to continue the "friendly outreach" aspect of policing which would help residents feel that the police were really part of the community.

PUBLIC HEARING

6) Recommendation by Town Attorney – Proposed Ban of Personal Watercraft in Town Waters

Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance

a) An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon

Adding Chapter 33 to the Town Code Pertaining to the

Regulation of Motorized Personal Watercraft within all

Shoreline Waters and Estuaries of the Town of Tiburon

Town Attorney Danforth said that the ordinance had been amended since the previous hearing to include the expanded definition of personal watercraft regardless of whether they seated one or more persons.

Councilmember Gram asked for clarification on the resolution of the lawsuit filed against the County of Marin after adoption of its ordinance. The Town Attorney said that while the "facial challenge" to the law was rejected by the Court of Appeal, the County had yet to face an "as applied" challenge.

In response to a question from Councilmember Smith, Danforth said that even though the Town would look to the County for enforcement of its ordinance because it did not have the resources to do so, it would still be subject to litigation, if adopted.

Vice Mayor Berger said that he had announced at the North Bay League of California Cities meeting that Tiburon would be "taking the lead" in adopting a local ordinance banning personal watercraft which he said met with a positive response.

Mayor Fredericks opened the public hearing.

Peter Kilkus, member of the San Anselmo Town Council and self-described "jet ski fan," read from a letter he submitted into the record which stated the reasons for his opposition to the ban.

 Mr. Kilkus said the primary reasons were based on a lack of accurate scientific data and the principle of fairness. He said that jet skis were being unfairly blamed for a disproportionate amount of water pollution; that they did not pollute more than other vessels, and were as quiet or quieter than motorboats. He also said that jet skis were not inherently unsafe, as claimed by proponents of the ban.

Mr. Kilkus stated that some National Park and Recreation Areas which had previously banned personal watercraft now had decisions under review to let them back in.

Mr. Kilkus asked that the Council consider instituting a "buffer zone" rather than a total ban of jet skis in Tiburon waters, and to form a subcommittee to further study the issue. He said that the lawsuit against the County was legally, but not practically, resolved and that some of the findings stated in the County’s ordinance were "just plain silly." He encouraged the Council to write a "better" ordinance.

Councilmember Slavitz remarked on the difficulty of enforcement if the Town were to adopt a partial rather than total ban, which differed from the County’s ordinance.

In his reply, Mr. Kilkus said that the Sheriff’s department knew the value of personal watercraft [to law enforcement], and that at any rate, people acting irresponsibly could be dealt with.

In fact, he said that the harassment of wildlife by operators of jet skis would be a violation of the Marine Mammal Act, legislation already in existence. According to Mr. Kilkus, all that would be required for enforcement of violations would be to put out buoys to keep jet skis out of certain areas, and write down the vehicle license number and confiscate the vessel of the violators.

Carl Schneebeck, representing the Bluewater Network, told the Council that people all across the Country supported the ban of personal watercraft.

Mr. Schneebeck said that of the 80 National Parks with waterways, only three allowed the operation of jet skis. However, he said that 10 of the parks did have decisions pending on whether or not to allow jet skis back in. He said that these decisions were based on "political" rather than scientific reasons.

He quoted from the draft Environmental Impact Report with regard to this review on Lake Mead, which stated that jet ski users in that area averaged 5.2 hours of operation per day and discharged large amounts of unused fuels per day into the water.

Mr. Schneebeck said that the work of his organization (Bluewater Network) had helped get "cleaner machines" on the market, but that the inboard versus carborated engine debate did not address the issue of disruption of shoreline wildlife habitat, and that even small amounts of pollutants were shown to be disruptive to the immune and reproductive systems of invertebrates and marine mammals.

Mr. Schneebeck said that a previous reference to the "vagueness" of the County’s ordinance had to do with the patchwork jurisdictional boundaries in Marin County rather than the vagueness of the law itself. With regard to enforcement, he said that placing signage at takeout areas would be helpful.

Finally, he told the Council that the "silent majority" in this matter were the passive recreational users of the shoreline areas and he encouraged the Council to listen to their constituents who had spoken in favor of adoption of the ban.

Sean Smith, Bluewater Network, addressed a question from Councilmember Gram about noise levels of two-stroke versus four-stroke models. He said that while the newer models were quieter, the kind of noise created by [both kinds of] jet skis that people found so annoying was the constant and repetitive change of pitch.

Mr. Smith said that the environment of Tiburon was more similar to the Gulf of the Farallones rather than Lake Powell or Lake Mead. He said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had rejected all arguments in favor of jet skis in the Gulf, stating that "a total prohibition would be necessary to adequately protect Sanctuary resources."

Smith said that the National Park Service study on Lake Mead stated that 27,000 gallons of fuel from the operation of jet skis was dumped into the water on a typical weekend, and he also quoted from a San Diego County Grand Jury Report which estimated the amounts dumped into Mission Bay on a typical weekend.

In conclusion, Mr. Smith said that the benefits of the machines [jet skis] were minimal compared to the adverse impacts they had on the environment.

Vice Mayor Berger further explored the difference between the communities in the lake areas (Mead and Powell) and Tiburon. Mr. Smith pointed out that most people had an expectation of some sort of recreational and seasonal use in those areas while the people in Tiburon had more of a "direct interaction with the Bay."

Mayor Fredericks closed the public hearing.

In response to a question from Councilmember Gram with regard to the County’s total prohibition of jet skis, Town Attorney Danforth said that the Town Council had at an earlier meeting had discussed the possibility of future amendments to an ordinance if noise and pollution issues from the operation of these machines were adequately addressed.

MOTION: To read ordinance by title only.

Moved: Smith, seconded by Berger

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

Mayor Fredericks read, "An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon adding Chapter 33 to the Tiburon Municipal Code Pertaining to the Regulation of Motorized Personal Watercraft within all Shoreline Waters and Estuaries of the Town of Tiburon."

MOTION: To adopt above ordinance.

Moved: Berger, seconded by Slavitz

Vote: AYES: Berger, Fredericks, Gram, Slavitz, Smith

COUNCIL COMMITTEE AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Mayor Fredericks said that the League of California Cities would hold a press conference the following week with regard to its upcoming ballot measure.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

Town Council Weekly Digest – January 23, 2004

Town Council Weekly Digest – January 30, 2004

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Fredericks adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m., sine die.

s/ ALICE FREDERICKS, MAYOR

ATTEST:

DIANE CRANE IACOPI, TOWN CLERK