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CC 09-01-09C O P E RT I N O APPROVED P~IINUTES CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting Tuesday, September 1, 2009 ROLL CALL At 6:10 p.m., the following Council members were present: Mayor Orrin Mahoney, Vice-Mayor Kris Wang, and Council members Dolly Sandov~il, Mark Santoro, and Gilbert Wong. Absent: none. CLOSED SESSION At 6:10 p.m., Council recessed to a closed session to discuss the following item. Council reconvened in open session at 6:40 p.m. 1. Public Employee Appointment of the Cites Attorney (Government Code 54957). No documentation in packet. The City Manager reported that the City Council met in closed session to discuss a possible contract with the City Attorney, and no action was taken. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At 6:45 p.m. Mayor Orrin Mahoney called the regular meeting to order in the Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Orrin Mahoney, Vice-Mayor Kris Wang, and Council members Dolly Sandoval, Mark Santoro, and Gilbert Wong. Absent: none. CEREMONIAL MATTERS -PRESENTATIONS 2. Proclamation to the Cupertino Library in recognition of outstanding service to patrons in the last fiscal year. (No documentation in p;~cket). Mayor Mahoney presented the proclamati~~n to Rosanne Macek, Acting Librarian, who accepted it on behalf of Librarian Ja-Lih Lee who was out on extended medical leave. Ms. Macek thanked the hardworking Cupertino library staff and noted that during the last year more than 3,975,000 items had been checked out. Ms. Macek also thanked the Council, the City staff, the Library Commission and the Library Foundation for their strong support of education and literacy. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 2 POSTPONEMENTS The City Council concurred to re-order the agenda, to hear item No. 20 immediately after the consent calendar, and to hear item 19 before item 18. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS City Clerk Kimberly Smith distributed the following written communications: Regarding item No. 3: • A correction to the minutes of July 21, Page 6, last paragraph, to say "with the major companies having 450,000 square feet total, ar~d the rest of the square footage going into the other areas." Regarding item No. 17: • Draft minutes of the Planning Commission meeting of August 11 • Copy of staff PowerPoint presentation Regarding item No. 18: • Correction to page 18-5 in the draft ordinance • Chart of enforcement remedies Regarding item No. 19: • Verbatim excerpt of the City Council minutes of July 21 regarding the dog park • Approximately 48 emails sent to a majorit}~ of the City Council after midnight on August 29 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Mahoney discussed the petition for reconsideration process as related to recent Council action on the dog park/off leash issue and said thE; purpose of a reconsideration was not to hear the item again, but instead to determine if the process itself is incomplete or flawed. He said that speakers who wished to comment on the off leash~dog park item would be heard under item No. 19. Keith Weissglass, Field Representative for Senator Joe Simitian, invited everyone to a Town Hall meeting in the Council Chambers on Wednesday, Sept 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Senator Simitian will be addressing a variety of subjects and will be available to answer any questions. Daniel Yusem, Boy Scout Troop 104, commended the City on the recent renovation of Blackberry Farm and said it was a wonderful asset to the community. He urged Council to replace both the slide and the diving board. Staff responded that the slide had already been ordered but the diving board would not be replaced because of liability issues. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 3 Abhishek Sharma and Varun Venkatesh, Boy Scout Troop 104, advocated the use of school buses to reduce traffic, save money for parents :end provide for a greener community. If the schools could not provide the buses he suggested contacting the VTA (Valley Transportation Authority). Councilmember Sandoval noted that there had been a bus for about eighteen months, but it was cancelled due to lack of ridership, and in order for the VTA to participate, the bus service had to extend to all members of the community. She recommended that the scouts contact the school districts about their suggestion. Vinita Pande and Krishna spoke on behalf of Art of Living, and noted that September 11 was a National Day of Service. They were planning a peace meditation from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. as the start to their "Smiley Cupertino" campaign noting that in these times everyone could use more smiles. They asked permission to hold the meditation at Memorial Park or the Library Field. Shawn Thomas, Boy Scout Troop 104, comment~:d on speeding cars on McClellan, especially between South DeAnza and Stelling, and recommended the installation of a speed meter to help correct this situation. Ron Miller, Chairman of the Library Commission, gave a brief update on the commission's activities. He noted that library usage increased dY~amatically in difficult economic times and he thanked the library staff for their effective managc;ment. Mr. Miller also thanked City staff for their assistance, the Council for its support and tl~e County Library for the unexpected revenue which allowed the library to stay open on Mondays. Mr. Miller stated that currently the commission was working on parking and traffic control, and developing both a commission effectiveness seminar and a card member promotion. He noted that on October 24 there would be a celebration of the new library's fifth year, and he reported that Cupertino Librarian Ja-Lih Lee's health continues to improve. Anand Dac, Boy Scout Troop 104, noted that Cupertino was a very safe city but the crime rate had increased. He suggested a neighborhood crime watch program, stricter law enforcement officers, and any other action that may reduce crime. E.J. Conens expressed his concerns about those who pushed their baby strollers down the street instead of on the sidewalks and he also did not thir~lc it was healthy to have dogs running loose in the parks. He recommended repair to the water display on Wolfe Road at the entrance to Cupertino. Staff noted that those fountains belonged to Cupertino Square, which was in receivership. Yasawi Vengalasetti, Boy Scout Troop 104, sug€;ested the implementation of a neighborhood carpool program. This would reduce pollution, reduce traffic, save money and give residents the opportunity to meet new neighbors. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 4 CONSENT CALENDAR Wong moved and Wang seconded to approve the items on the Consent Calendar as recommended, with the exception of Item Nos. 3, 7, and 9, which were pulled for discussion. Ayes: Mahoney, Sandoval, Santoro, Wang, and Wong. Noes: None. Abstain: None. 4. Adopt resolutions accepting Accounts Pa~~able for July 31, August 7, and August 14, Resolution Nos. 09-131 through 09-133. 5. Adopt resolutions accepting Payroll for Au;;ust 7 and 21, Resolution Nos. 09-134 and 09- 135. 6. Accept the Treasurer's Investment report for July 2009. 8. Receive the Annual Report from July 1, 201)8 to June 30, 2009. 10. Accept municipal improvements, Bleskom LLC, 10185, 10215, and 10227 Empire Avenue, APNs 326-22-040, 326-22-041, ar~d 326-22-042. The applicant has completed City-specified improvements in the City right-of--way including sidewalk, curb & gutter, street tree, and driveway approach as required by the improvement agreement with the City. These parcels were formerly on APNs 326-22-002 and 326-22-029. 11. Accept municipal improvements, Sin Choi Yong and Yu Ping Lin, 10585 San Leandro Avenue, APN 357-OS-076. The applicants have completed City-specified improvements in the City right-of--way including sidewalk, curb & gutter, and driveway approach as required by the improvement agreement with the City. 12. Adopt a resolution vacating a remaining parcel dedicated by subdivision 9875, Crescent Manor (Kelly Gordon, 10114 Crescent Court, Resolution No. 09-136. 13. Adopt a resolution accepting a Quitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Steve Chih-Heng Chen and Hsiu-N[ei Chang Chen, 10568 McClellan Place, APN 359-20-039, Resolution No. 09-137. The property owners of this residential development agree to grant to the City the right to extract water from the basin under the over dying property. 14. Adopt a resolution approving a final map, Cupertino Properly Development I, LLC, 10090 Wolfe Road, APN 316-20-037 & 316-20-038, Resolution No. 09-138. Approval of the final map permits the male to be forwarded to the County for recording, which completes the subdivision. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 5 15. Adopt a resolution accepting a Quitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Joseph T.H. Chen and Celia H.F. Chen, 20100 Stevens Creek Boulevard, APN 369-03-002, Resolution No. 09-139. The property owners of this commercial de:velopment agree to grant to the City the right to extract water from the basin under the overlying property. 16. Review bids and award the contract for the Homestead Road Pavement Rehabilitation, Project No. 2009-05, to O'Grady Paving, in the amount of $606,609.10, and approve a construction contingency of $100,000.00 to cover any unforeseen work required to complete the project, for a total of $706,60~~.10. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR (above) 3. Approve the minutes from the July 21 and the August 4 City Council meeting. (July 21 approval was continued from the last meeti~lg). Vice-Mayor Wang noted that she had asked for more detail of the straw vote issue taken at the July 21 meeting. City Clerk Kimberly Smith referred to text that had been added to page 3-10, paragraph 3 of the July 21 minutes, which addressed Vice Mayor Wang's question. Wang moved and Wong seconded to approve the minutes as amended, including both the amendments already included in the drai't minutes in the packet as well as the last paragraph of page 6, which was amended to read "with the major companies having 450,000 square feet total, and the rest of the: square footage going into the other areas." Councilmember Santoro clarified the amendment about the 450,000 square feet. He said that some people thought the intent of the original motion was to not give more square footage to Apple or Hewlett Packard. In fact, those companies asked for only 400,000 sq. ft. and were actually given 450,000 sq. ft. There had already been 150,000 sq. ft. available in the pool, so 300,000 sq. ft. was added, which resulted in about 183,000 sq. ft left over. The motion carried unanimously. 7. Approve the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendations for FY 2009-2010 Work Plan. Vice Mayor Wang referred to the work program and commented on several items: She thought the different projects related to the Stevens Creek Corridor Trail should be consolidated, because it was confusing as stated; The item `to discuss off-leash areas' was premature pending Council's decision or,~ the matter; `working with the Santa Clara County Parks on joint effort for a fenced d~~g park at Stevens Creek County Park' should be a separate item; and there was also a project listed to review green policies in City parks as well as a notation that green policies had been adopted for City parks. September 1, 2009 Cupertino Cit3~ Council Page 6 Additionally, there were two projects listed relating to user/public involvement in parks and recreation activities. Director of Parks and Recreation Mark Linder noted that the green policies had indeed been adopted and the review of these policies was a mechanism to see if they were working. On the subject of user/public involvement, one of the projects related to using social media tools to encourage public use, but this project had not officially been added to the commission's work list at this time. Wang moved and Sandoval seconded to af~prove the work plan with the comments made by Council and to send it to the Parks and Recreation Commission for further review. The motion carried unanimously. 9. Approve a fee waiver request from the League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale of approximately $300.00 in facility use fees for the use of Cupertino Community Hall for the Cupertino City Council candidates on September 21, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Marilyn Howard, representing the League ~~f Women Voters, invited the community to a candidate forum to be held on September 21 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. She thanked Rei and Pete from the Cupertino City Channel for their video coverage of this forum, and thanked the City Council and the City st:~ff for their support and assistance. She also thanked Councilmember Sandoval as a fell~~w League of Women Voters member, and for her service to the community. Wang moved and Wong seconded to approve the fee waiver request. The motion carried unanimously. NEW BUSINESS 20. Consider possible changes to the County's abatement deadline for the 2010 weed abatement program. Greg Van Wassenhove, Director of Agriculture and Environmental Management, noted that Cupertino had one of the highest weed abatement compliance rates in the areas they served. He explained that the current deadline for abatement was April 1. In December, homeowners were sent notices regarding re~~uired abatement, the date by which it must be done, and a public hearing date in January if they wished to protest. The notice also advised owners that there would be a fee if the City had to reinspect the property if the deadline was not met, and costs would be i~icurred if the County had to do the abatement. During the process they would work with the residents to resolve the issue. Currently, the north county cities of Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills had a deadline of April 30 and Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga had an ~~pril 15 deadline. Mr. Wassenhove stated that they would agree to move Cupertino's deadline to April 15 which would allow for completion of abatement work by mid-Ma3~, but the dry season became a factor any time later than that. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 7 Councilmember Santoro questioned the $2',98 reinspection fee and the impacts of a late rainy season, which meant that residents m~ty have to abate twice, and that was harmful to nesting wildlife. Mr. Wassnehove explained that the board ~~pproved a $298 cost recovery fee last year to recoup costs for reinspecting the property. If the resident had started the abatement the County staff would work with resident as rr-uch as possible to avoid having the County do the abatement. He said that when the December notices were mailed, reference was made to the possibility of a late rainy season and the residents were advised to contact the County whose staff would work with them throughout this period. Contractors were also notified by the County regarding a possible late rainy season. He explained that abatements were designed to protect structures from fire, and are done on the edge of parcels or next to the house; the entire parcE;l must be abated if it is one acre or smaller. Wang moved and Sandoval seconded to ch~mge the weed abatement deadline to April 15. Councilmember Santoro stated that Palo ~~lto and Los Altos Hills were comparable to Cupertino, and he suggested moving the date to April 30. Councilmember Sandoval believed the City should be consistent with its neighboring West Valley cities. Councilmember Santoro stated that they had heard a lot from the residents and he would be in favor of moving the date back four weeks to April 30. He was offering this friendly amendment to the motion and if Council did not agree to it he would vote no on the original motion. The original motion passed 4:1 with Councilmember Santoro voting no and Council Members Mahoney, Sandoval, Wang and V~Jong voting yes. PUBLIC HEARINGS 17. Consider a modification to a Use Permit (U-2003-04) to remove the Public Pedestrian Easement at the Metropolitan at Cupertinc- condominium complex, Application No. M- 2009-06, Elaine Chong (Metropolitan at Cupertino, HOA), 19501, 19503, 19505 and 19507 Stevens Creek Blvd., APN 316-49-999. The City Clerk distributed a draft of the Pl;~nning Commission minutes of August 11 and a copy of the staffls PowerPoint presentation. City Planner Aki Honda reported that the :Planning Commission recommended approval of the request to remove two internal public pedestrian easements located in the internal courtyards at the Metropolitan. This request was made for security reasons within the complex. The applicant was not requesting removal of the public pedestrian easements along the north and east property lines. Instead, these easements would remain to facilitate pedestrian connections between the Metropolitan complex and the Main Street and Rose Bowl developments. September 1, 2009 Cupertino Cite Council Page 8 Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava noted that originally staff had recommended the four public pedestrian a:asements but over time adjustments could be made. She believed keeping the remainin€; two public pedestrian easements open would achieve the original goal of the easements. Elaine Chong, representing the Metropolit;~n Homeowner's Association, stated that there had been some security issues in the complex and this request was being made to address these concerns. While this request had a rriinimal impact on the walkability of the South Vallco area, its approval would greatly benefit the Metropolitan community. Wong moved and Santoro seconded to approve the modification to the use permit to remove the public pedestrian easement. The motion carried unanimously. UNFINISHED BUSINESS -None NEW BUSINESS -continued 19. Consider the Petition for Reconsideration ~~f the July 21, 2009 City Council decision on item 15, to establish a trial period for a spe~~ific time for unfenced off-leash areas for dons in Memorial Park, Jollyman Park, Linda 'Jista Park, and Library Field, if over 50% of households within 1500 feet and over 50% of the park users surveyed over a 30-day period approve. At the conclusion of the bearing on the Petition for Reconsideration, the Council may: A. Adopt a resolution denying the Petition for Reconsideration thereby affirming the original decision, or B. Reverse or modify the original July 21, 2009 City Council decision on item 15 The City Clerk distributed a verbatim excerpt of the Council minutes of July 21 regarding the dog park, and copies of approximately 48 emails sent to a majority of the City Council after midnight on August 29. The following speakers were opposed to off-leash, unfenced dog areas in certain Cupertino parks: Judy Harrison, Jack Berkowitz, Eleanor Muhlstein, Hong Jiang Yang (translating for Dr. Yan), Barry Greene, David Alessio, Rajalakshmi Subramanian, Runping Qi, E.J. Conens and Jessie Zhang. They cited safety concerns, especially for children and seniors; health concerns; legal implications; and the negative impact on the neighboring communities. In addition several speakers noted that current regulations were not being obeyed by many dog owners, that the parks belonged to all residents and not just to the comparatively small group oi'dog owners. Speakers also felt there had been a lack of proper notification regarding this I-rocess. Paul McNulty, representing Cupertino Safe Parks, reviewed the issues raised in his petition for reconsideration of the off-leash dog park trials. First was the matter of ethics law violations. Mr. McNulty believed C~~uncilmember Santoro should have recused himself from discussion on this subject ba;~ed on his personal interest and non-financial September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 9 gain. Of particular concern to Mr. McNulty was the active involvement of Councilmember Santoro's wife and mother-in-law in support of off-leash dog areas, which he believed would impact Councilmember Santoro's ability to arrive at an unbiased judgment. Other points raised in the petition included the following: disregard of Parks and Recreation recommendations; unclear charter for the citizens working committee interest group; potential Brown Act violations; City liability inadequately addressed; receipt of subjective informatior- as fact; ambiguous criteria for success of off- leash trials, and inadequate discussion of "l,~lue tag methodology. The following people spoke in favor of the petition for reconsideration: Lynn Frake, David Fung, Greg Labmeier, Cecil Coe, Julia Ma, Sophie Wang, V.K. Sreepathy, Delores Carson, Heather Taylor Miesle, Ardith V~'est, Sanjay Sawhney, Kuo-Lon Soong, John Xiao and Pmima Korien. They cited the following reasons: Council's action had not been recommended by the Parks and Recreatior- Commission or the citizens group; abuse of discretion; rush to judgment; decision not based on facts; violation of ethics code on the part of Councilmember Santoro; disregard of the overwhelming public input on this issue; inadequate notification; legal ramifi~~ations; and lack of consideration of alternate sites. Several of those who spoke were involved with the Citizens Committee established to review this matter. Speakers noted that there had been no clear direction to the committee except that they were told to only consider City parks in their discussions. Consensus had not been reached by the committee and sub-committees had been formed supporting differing opinions. It was suggested with more time and discussion consensus may have been reached, but for this Council decision no recommendation had been made from the committee as a whole. The following speakers did not support the petition for reconsideration: Hari Guleria, Jim Black, Barbara Black, Don Rosenbaum, ;iteve Scharf. Tom Dyer, Eric McKinley and Gauri Guleria. Their comments included: Council had addressed all of the concerns; and the process should move forward so information needed could be obtained from the trial period. Aflyer/newsletter titled "Straight Facts, Unfenced, Of-Leash [sic] Dog Trial at 4 Designated Parks" signed by Jim and Barbara Black, Betsy Daugherty, Hari and Gauri Guleria, Carol Miller, Don Rosenbaum & 1=;ric Wilson was handed out. Jim Black (also speaking for Jeff van Wu, Jolly Wong and Kim Rennak) urged Council to get the facts from the trials. The issues raised in the petition for reconsideration lacked merit and were not based on fact. In addition a flyer had been widely distributed in the City that did not include facts and was an unfair hit piece. He noted that off-leash areas allowed for multiple uses, whereas fenced areas resulted in a very concentrated use of a small area. He referred to several cities that had successful off-leash, unfenced dog areas. Mr. Black stated that personal attacks against Council members should not be condoned and the accusations that Council member Santoro had raised the issue of unfenced off- leash dog areas as a personal matter of interest was not true; the off-leash areas sub- committee brought this matter to the citizens committee for discussion first. Barbara Black stated that every individual had citizens' rights and Councilmember Santoro had every right to his view, which may or may not be the same as his wife's. September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 10 Don Rosenbaum (speaking for Carol Miller, Arlene Rosenbaum and Kim Worrell), representing the citizens group on off-leash. dog areas, said that the petition for reconsideration did not meet the criteria re~~uired in the municipal code; no new evidence had been presented; relevant evidence was not excluded in prior hearings; Council acted within its jurisdiction; Council provided fair hearings; and Council did not abuse its discretion. He did not believe there was any evidence that there had been an ethics law violation on the part of Councilmember Santoro, nor did Councilmember Santoro present the more aggressive motion out of personal interest. This recommendation had been made by the sub-committee of the citizens group and had been included in the staff report for the July 21 Council Meeting. In addition. Mr. Rosenbaum believed the City's liability issues had been addressed by the City Attorney and other statements made in the petition were opinions and unsubstantiated. Mayor Mahoney and Council members Sandoval and Wong stated that reconsiderations were serious matters and they did not belie~~e the five criteria for reconsideration had been met. Vice Mayor Wang repeated her statement ghat she wanted to see the whole plan, because this matter of four parks might expand to :include all parks in the City, and she believed everyone neighboring all the parks should be so notified. Vice Mayor Wang also raised the issue of potential conflicts with other events taking place on the fields and asked how this would be addressed. Councilmember Santoro confirmed with staff that the off-leash areas would be modified only with good cause and scheduled permitted events at the parks would be given preference. He also confirmed with the Ci1.y Attorney that the notifications to the public on this issue had been adequate and th:~t he did not have to recuse himself from discussions on the item. He stated that he was opposed to reconsideration. Wong moved and Sandoval seconded to adopt Resolution No. 09-140 denying the Petition for Reconsideration and upholding the City Council's original decision. The motion carried 4:1, with Council members Mahoney, Sandoval, Santoro, and Wong voting aye, and Council member Wang voting no. Wang moved to refund the Petition for Reconsideration fee to the petitioner. Mahoney seconded for purposes of discussion. In response to a question by Council, staff noted that the average cost of a reconsideration hearing was $5,000, but when the fee schedule was adopted, City Council decided that wo~.~ld be prohibitive for most petitioners, and set the fee at $259. The motion failed 1:4, with Councilmember Wang voting aye, and Council members Mahoney, Sandoval, Santoro, and Wong voting no. Director of Parks and Recreation Mark Linder outlined what the next steps would be in the process: September 1, 2009 Cupertino City Council Page 11 • Staff will review the draft survey and Godbe Research Associates will manage mailing the ballots to residents within 1,500 feet of the four parks • Each park will have a different colored survey and each survey will be numbered; The surveys will include a postage paid return envelope that will go directly to Godbe Research • The survey will go out September 8 acid have a return deadline of September 25 • De Anza College starts September 21, and students will be assisting with the surveys of park users to be conducted for 30 days at each park. The information will be tabulated and returned to staff • Staff will prepare aggregate information for Council as well as separate information for each park • The citizens committee will continue working on factual responses to frequently asked questions and on how to get the community back together again. If there is support from residents and park users., staff will commence with the trial period • San Jose Animal Control and Services will assist with the enforcement of the blue tag program as well as providing additional enforcement during regular park hours. Mr. Linder noted that to get a blue: tag it was necessary that the person be a Cupertino resident, have their dog licensed, and have voice control over their dog • Staff also planned to provide educati~~nal programs for dog owners as well as non- dog owners Mr. Linder noted that all uses for the park would be reviewed. Councilmember Sandoval commented on some inaccuracies that had been mentioned. She said that only four parks are being discussed, and Council will not automatically extend this program to all City parks. If someone wanted to suggest another park they could bring the recommendation to Council for consideration. Councilmember Sandoval also raised the issue of enforcement. Even though a blue tag was required it was to be expected that those without tags would use the park. Vice Mayor Wang raised the issue of conflicting uses of the parks. Linder stated that permitted uses would be given first choice. If such an event was scheduled to take place during the off leash hours, all blue tag program participants would be notified. It was hoped there would be a volunteer group available to help out and the Sheriff's Department would be called in for large ev<;nts. Council discussed the issue of whether or not the survey results should come back to Council or whether, if there was the 50°io support indicated in the survey results, the matter could go directly to a trial period for the off-leash areas. Mr. Linder stated that it was his understanding the survey results would be brought back to Council at a public hearing. Mayor Mahoney and Council members Sandoval and Santoro supported bringing the survey bae;k to the Council. A discussion followed on whether or not this was a change to an ~;arlier motion and the City Attorney advised September 1, 2009 Cupertino Cit}~ Council Page 12 Council that they could take action to bring the survey back to them for purposes of clarification of the earlier motion. Sandoval moved and Wang seconded to bring the survey back to City Council to see and discuss survey details and results before au~y trial period shall begin. The motion carried unanimously. NEW BUSINESS -continued 18. Conduct the first reading of Ordinance No. 09-2048: "An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino adding Chapter 1.:10 to the Cupertino Municipal Code pertaining to administrative citations, fines, and penah;ies." Senior Code Enforcement Officer Alex Wykoff reported that staff was recommending the implementation of two new administrative procedures in an effort to foster more effective compliance of code violations. The first type was an administration citation issued by staff, and any appeals would be heard in-house by a City Manager-appointed hearing officer. Appeals of this officer's decision could be made to Superior Court. The fines imposed were determined by the California Government Code: $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation, rind $500 for third and consecutive violations within atwelve-month period. He emphasized that the administrative citation process precludes the county from adding an additional administrative fee of 228%, thereby making the fee to the resident or business ntore equitable. The second procedure was an administrative penalty determined by City Council, intended deal with continual violators of th~~ city's codes. The person would be ordered to cease and desist and given a chance to agate the issue. If that was not done, Council could impose fees at up to $1,000 day, not to exceed $100,000. The maximum amount might be imposed for issues such as hazardous materials or sewage spills. Administrative costs could also be imposed. A person could request a reconsideration by Council if they wished to appeal, and could then appe;~l that decision to Superior Court. These procedures would keep the enforcement oi' code violations within the community rather than sending them on to the criminal courts which was a more time consuming, less effective way of dealing with the issue. Staff estimated that the imposition and collection of fines and penalties should result in ~i revenue-expense neutral code enforcement program. Councilmember Santoro clarified that the cost to the City for a reconsideration request was $5,000 but the applicant actually paid $259. In addition he referred to Section 1.10.050 and explained that this section lead been corrected to reflect that the appeal process was not available for all code violations. For example not having a business license would require immediate correction. Administrative Services Director Carol Atwood said that staff would go through the code violations and decide what option would be: used. This gave staff the needed flexibility to September 1, 2009 Cupertino Cite Council Page 13 address such issues as the attitude of the violator, whether or not they were continually violating the code, etc. The City Clerk read the title of the ordinance. Wong moved and Sandoval seconded to read Ordinance No. 09-2048 by title onl~~, and that the City Clerk's reading plus the corrections stated to section 1.10.050 would constitute the first reading thereof. Ayes: Mahoney, Sandoval, Santoro, Wang and Wong. Noes: None. 21. Consider cancelling the meeting of Sept. 1 ~~. (No documentation in packet). Mayor Mahoney noted that one of the Council members was unable to attend the September 15 meeting. After discussion, Rio action was taken, so the regular meeting of September 15 will take place as scheduled. ORDINANCES -None STAFF REPORTS -None COUNCIL REPORTS Council members highlighted the activities of their committees and various community events. ADJOURNMENT At 12:18 a.m., the meeting was adjourned. ~~ Kimberly Smit 'ty Clerk Staff reports, backup materials, and items distributed at the City Council meeting are available for review at the City Clerk's Office, 777-3223, and also on the Internet at www.cupertino.org. Click on Agendas & Minutes, then click on the appropriate Packet. Most Council meetings are shown live on Comca:;t Channel 26 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99 and are available at your convenience at www.cupertino.or~. Click on Agendas & Minutes, then click Archived Webcast. Videotapes are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased from the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364.