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CC 02-02-10C O P E RT I N O APPOVED MINUTES CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting Tuesday, February 2, 2010 ROLL CALL At 6:15 p.m. Mayor Kris Wang called the meeting to order in the Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California. Present: Mayor Kris Wang, Vice-Mayor Gilbert Wong, and Council members Barry Chang, Orrin Mahoney, and Mark Santoro. Absent: none. CLOSED SESSION 1. Significant exposure to liti a~ pursuant: to subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9: one case. At 6:15 p.m. Council recessed to a closed session to discuss this item. At 6:45 p.m., Council reconvened in open session. Mayor Kris Wang announced that the City ~~ouncil received a briefing from legal counsel and no action was taken. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At 6:45 p.m. Mayor Kris Wang called the regul<<r meeting to order in the Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California, and lecl the Pledge of Allegiance. Present: Mayor Kris Wang, Vice-Mayor Gilbert Wong, and Council members Barry Chang, Orrin Mahoney, and Mark Santoro. Absent: none. CEREMONIAL MATTERS - PRESENTATIO:YS 2. Proclamation for the 30th anniversary oi' Live Oak Adult Day Services program at Cupertino. (No documentation in packet). Mayor Wang presented the proclamation t o Colleen Hidgen, Executive Director of the Live Oak Adult Day Services. Colleen Hidgen stated that it was a passion. of hers to help make sure the seniors led full and enriched lives and remained connected with the community. Live Oak Adult Day February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 2 Services worked in partnership with St. Jucie's Church and provided such services to the seniors in Cupertino, and she was honored to be part of the program. POSTPONEMENTS WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS The City Clerk distributed the following items: Item Nos. 11 and 12, Acceptance of City proiects Email from Susan Sievert saying that the map provided was insufficient. Item No. 15, Marx Avenue Senior Housing In support, emails from Donna Jones-Dulin of DeAnza College Finance and Educational Resources, Christopher Schwab, Ann Cleaver, Lynn Ching, Jessica Rose Tracy. The City Clerk also distributed copies of the project elevations and artist renderings of the cottages. In opposition, emails from Barinder Saini, Datta Sawant, Padmaja Petla, Nirmala Pailla, Sudha Andra, Ravi Sridharan, Yamesh Yerraguntla, Sudr~akar Reddy, Santosh Dhavalikar, Mary Anila, Appala Patnala, Maneesh Pawar, Padmini Ongole, Subrahmanyam Ongole, Susan Sievert, Anuradha, Duleep Pillai, Ranjan Desai, Senthil Par~durangan, Viji, Keith Murphy. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Cathy Helgerson expressed her concerns about thE: Apple complex in the city. She noted that in 2005 she had sued Apple and the city because ofcancer-related issues. She also stated that there was a noise issue because Apple had a nitrogen t<<nk and a compressor and chemicals from the facility were negatively affecting the city's water ;end sewer lines. She wanted Apple's building moved and their permit rescinded. To date she had not received a response from the city on these issues. Furthermore, she did not agree with having only three minutes to express her concerns. Mayor Wang asked the City Manager to respond to Ms. Helgerson and he noted that he would request the Bay Area Air Quality Management l;~istrict to provide data on Apple's air quality levels. CONSENT CALENDAR Wong moved and Mahoney seconded to approve the items on the Consent Calendar as recommended, with the exception of Item Nos. 8, 11, and 12 which were pulled for discussion. Ayes: Chang, Mahoney, Santoro, Wang, and Wong;. Noes: None. Abstain: None. 3. Adopt resolutions accepting Accounts Payable for January 8, 15, and 22, Resolution Nos. 10-017 to 10-019. 4. Adopt a resolution accepting Payroll for January 22, Resolution No. 10-020. February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 3 5. Adopt a resolution accepting the Treasurer/Deputy Treasurer appointment, Resolution No. 10-021. 6. Accept the Planning Commission's recommendation to select Paul Brophy as the Environmental Review Committee represer.~tative. 7. Adopt a resolution supporting the League ~~f California Cities initiative Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Protection Act of 2010, and direct staff to forward the resolution to the League of California Citie:>, Resolution No. 10-022. 9. Adopt a resolution approving a Stormv~~ater Management Facilities Operation And Maintenance Agreement, Apple Inc., 19333 Vallco Parkway, APN(s) 316-20-075 and 316-20-076, Resolution No. 10-024. Through an agreement with the City, the property owner of this commercial development will be required to operate and maintain st~~rmwater management facilities in accordance with the approved Stormwater Management Plan, to minimize adverse impacts due to changes in storm and surface water flow co-~ditions. 10. Adopt a resolution accepting a uitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Sanjay Sawhney and Vishakha Sawhney, 21071 Grenola Drive, APN 326-28- 006, Resolution No. 10-025. The property owners of this residential development agree to grant to the City the right to extract water from the basin under the over] ying property. The City's contractor Petersen-Dean Commercial, Inc., completed work on the Monta Vista Roof Project. The project involve~~ installation of gutter, remove and replace structural beam and improvements to roof i ntegrity. 13. Adopt a resolution accepting a Quitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Thomas Surrette & Hemal Surrette, 22001 Lindy Lane, APN 356-27-002, Resolution No. 10-026. The property owners of this residential development agree to grant to the City the right to extract water from the basin under the overlying property. 14. Adopt a resolution accepting a Quitclaim Deed and Authorization for Underground Water Rights, Roy Hong and Andrea Hong, 10928 Sycamore Drive, APN 342-56-037, Resolution No. 10-027. The property owners of this residential development agree to grant to the City the right to extract water from the basin under the overlying property. February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 4 ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR (above) 8. Adopt a resolution approving a Stormwatf;r Management Facility Easement Agreement, Apple Inc., 19333 Vallco Parkway, APN(s) 316-20-075 and 316-20-076, Resolution No. 10-023. Through an agreement with the City, the property owner of this commercial development will be required to grant ingress and egress rights to the City for the purpose of inspecting stormwater management facilities installed. in accordance with the approved Stormwater Management Plan. Councilmember Santoro referred to the map and wanted to make sure that the city had access to the storm water management facilities. Public Works Director Ralph Qualls re:;ponded that such access was noted in the agreement. Santoro moved and Wong seconded to adopt Resolution No. 10-023. The motion carried unanimously. For item Nos. 11 and 12, Council acknowledged receipt of email from Susan Sievert saying that the map in the backup materials was insufficient as a staff report. 11. Accept a City Project performed under contract: Memorial Park Softball Field & Library Field Irrigation Renovation, Project No. 201)9-03. The City's contractor B&B Landscape Contractors, Inc., completed work on the Memorial Park Softball Field & Library Field Irrigation Renovation Project. The project involved grading, storm drain, wood repair, irrigation and temporary fencing. 12. Accept a City Project performed under contract: Monta Vista Roof Project, Project No. 2009-01. Mahoney moved and Wong seconded to a~~prove item Nos. 11 and 12 as presented. The motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARINGS -None Mayor Wang re-ordered the agenda to hear item No. 16 next. NEW BUSINESS 16. Delegate authority to the City Manager to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperative Purchasing of Power with the County of Santa Clara if adopted by the County Board of Supervisors in substantially the same form as the document attached to this report. February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 5 Mahoney moved and Chang seconded to ;authorize the City Manager to sign the MOU with the County of Santa Clara as set forth in the staff report. The motion carried unanimously. Councilmember Santoro stated he did not agree with moving items out of order for discussion. He was concerned about not giving people the right to speak on an item if they arrived at the anticipated time for the item but it had already been discussed. While he voted favorably on Item 16 at this meeting, he did not intend to do so at future meetings for items that had been moved forward on the agenda. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 15. Consider the following actions related to a potential 18-20 unit senior, affordable housing rp oject from the Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation (CRHC): A. Approve a Memorandum of UndE-rstanding (MOU) between the City and the CRHC (see Attachment A) B. Give priority to CRHC for uncommitted Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Housing funds, Community Development Bl~~ck Grant (CDBG) funds and Below Market Rate (BMR) funds C. Authorize $11,000 to prepare a Re~~ord of Survey for the Mary Avenue right-of- way D. Authorize staff to initiate the rezoning and General Plan amendment for the project area and related funding City Manager David Knapp introduced the project and noted that the memorandum of understanding, if adopted, would express tree intent of both the Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation and the city to work together on this affordable senior housing project, but the MOU was not a binding agreement. The Council was also being asked to commit the city's affordable housing monies to this project in order to rezone the property as multiple family residential, and to authorize a record of survey. Richard Lowenthal, President of the Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation (CRHC), said that the proposed 18-20 unit afford<ble senior housing project had an excellent location close to amenities such as the Senior Center, Memorial Park and DeAnza College. The benefits to the community in~;,luded improvements to Mary Avenue traffic, additional trees and greenscape, parallel parking and bike lanes, and no impact on schools. The CRHC would design, build and maintain the project. Mr. Lowenthal noted that some concerns had been raised such as parking, traffic, air quality, property values, senior housing needs and quality of maintenance, and those issues would be fully addressed in the formal application. Mr. Lowenthal stated that this property had virtually no value to developers as for-profit housing and retail would not work. The cost of the February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 6 project was $5-6 million with no General Fund monies being used. There were two options, one with tax allocation credits and one not. The CRHC planned to raise $1 million, use a bank loan and have access to the city's specifically allocated monies for affordable housing. He noted that this pro~iect met the goals and objectives listed in the city's General Plan. Mr. Lowenthal said that the MOU would not be binding for the city, but it would allow the CRHC to move forward with the design aspects of the project and to start the process of obtaining bank funding. Jim Jackson, working with the CRHC board, said that originally the main funding source was going to be tax allocation credits, but that's far less likely now because of the downturn in the economy. He noted that to pursue the tax allocation credit option the syndication/consulting fees were about $700,000. For-profit groups bought the tax credits to offset other taxes, but to package and sf;ll the tax credits it was necessary to do some marketing and advertising. The consulting; fees included for the non-profit developer, Charities Housing, was needed because i:hey had the expertise to do these kinds of projects. Council members questioned the high cost of consulting fees, the width of the road after the project was completed, which agencies would receive the property tax monies, whether Council could allocate funds such as CDBG monies to another project in the future, what action could Council take if t:he property was rezoned now but the project was not approved, whether there was a time limit on the MOU, if there would there be any encumbrances on the real property, and whether CRHC would match city funds. Richard Lowenthal stated that the consulting fees were the estimates received from Charities Housing. The Council could certainly add a time limit to the MOU and add any encumbrances they deemed necessary. Lo~Nenthal stated that they would not be able to match city funds, but they were willing to r~~ise $1 million for this worthwhile project. Staff responded that they did not have a sf~ecific width for Mary Avenue but it appeared to be about 47'. Additionally if Council re2toned the property now but the project was not approved they could either reverse their action or leave it in place until another proposal was received. Staff also noted that the MIJU was not binding and if Council gave this project priority for such funds as CDBG thE~y could change their minds at a later date. Kathy Robinson, Charities Housing, said the consulting fee for the chosen nonprofit was $586,000 in both the tax credit scenario an~J the non-tax-credit scenario. In the tax credit scenario, when Mr. Lowenthal referred to additional fees for attorneys, accountants, etc. attached to the tax credit syndication, those additional monies were under permanent loan fees, construction loan fees and bond costs. , In the non-tax credit scenario, those items were much lower. The following speakers were opposed to the project. Their objections included: • It would eliminate parking spaces needed by the public when attending Memorial Park and the DeAnza College flea market. There were already many parking problems during February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 7 events at Memorial Park, and people would be forced to park in front of Casa DeAnza on or that private property. • Students want to save every penny and don't want to pay for parking on campus, so this parking on Mary provided a service to studf;nts. • Casa DeAnza residents will bear the burden of this project. It was already difficult to merge into traffic during college hours, es~~ecially when making a left turn leaving Casa DeAnza. • The location was inappropriate for seniors because of its proximity to Highway 85 and the accompanying noise and air pollution. • There were better locations elsewhere in thf; community for senior housing. • More cars and a narrower road would worsen the traffic congestion, increase commute times, and create more inconvenience for current residents, walkers and cyclists. • Traffic congestion would increase accident:; on Mary Avenue. • The whole community had not had time or ;sufficient information to study this project. • It would take away the current beauty of thE- location for only 18 houses. • It would be more efficient to build multiple apartments in a better location such as next to the library for seniors rather than building jest a few cottages. • Concerns about the financing of this project - no city funds should be used -cost to the city of giving up the land. • Conversion to a residential street would create more traffic problems. • Negative impact on neighboring properties. • How would this project fit into the Oaks Center project that was already approved. Nirmala Pailla Ramesh Yerraguntla Appala Patnala Sid Shettay Raghupathi Subliah Barinder Saini Cathy Helgerson. Joan Lee Gangadhar Andru Duleep Pillai Jennifer Griffin Tom Hugunin Darryl Lum Bob McKibbin Keith Murphy Ranj an Desai Park Chamberlain Senthil Pandurangan John Cruz February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 8 The following speakers were in favor of the projec~:. Their comments included: • Aging Cupertino residents needed smaller places where they could "downsize" their homes and yard work. • The location was good near the Senior Center, the Oaks, DeAnza College, Mary Avenue Bridge and Memorial Park. • An MOU would allow the CRHC to pr~~ceed with an application and design phase without the City Council committing the city to participation. It was aloes-risk option and Council could choose to reject the project when more details were made available as part of the formal application. • Cupertino had inadequate senior housing. • The project could help to create financial stability for seniors on fixed incomes. • The four-lane road was originally intended to lead to the freeway overpass, but that was no longer necessary since the original overpass idea was replaced with the new Mary Avenue pedestrian footbridge. • City general funds would not be used for this project. • The Rotary Club would design, build and rriaintain the project. • A standard residential street would be safer for the neighborhood. • It solved many needs, such as making life simpler for seniors, bringing families closer, and allowing residents to engage in daily ~ictivities with their peers while being close to amenities. • It would create apedestrian-friendly neighborhood street which would add value to the community. • This project could help to create a lifelong intergenerational community. • Rotarians particularly want to participate in hands-on community service and would be strong partners for this project. • It would create a unique opportunity to work the Rotary Club on a worthwhile community project. Michael Gottwald Cookie Hoover Eleanor Holt Jim Jackson, former Cupertino Mayor Roberta Hollimon, League of Womc;n Voters -Cupertino/Sunnyvale Morris Hosoda John Gatto, former Cupertino Mayo r Saron Savoy,West Valley Community Services-Program Mgr., Housing Services Kathy Nellis, former Cupertino Councilmember Liz Gallegos, President -Cupertino Rotary Club Don Staub, West Valley Communit;~ Services Board Kathy Robinson, affordable housing developer for 25 years Steve Andrews Christina Espinosa Jim Black February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 9 Donna Jones Dulin, Associate Vice-President of Finance and Educational Resources for DeAnza College, said she did not want the Council to base their decision on whether or not some students choose to avoid the campus parking fee. She s~~id that the college had sufficient parking on campus for classes as well as the weekend flea market. There were a few exceptions that triggered overflow parking during the fall term, lout these were not consistent and did not last throughout the quarter. She explained that there v~ere 5,500 to 5,800 parking spaces on campus that were expected to turn over four to five times a day. Ms. Dulin said that the current parking rate was $2 per day for students, and even less than that if purchased by the quarter or by the year. Flea market parking was $5. She noted that the education code required the college to charge for parking unless it was for anon-profit us~~. Councilmember Mahoney believed that in good faith the Council should approve the MOU for a three-year time frame and move this project forw~~rd. He noted there were several issues but he was looking forward to the detail of an application. Vice-Mayor Wong thanked Rotary for bringing thi;~ project forward but while he was an advocate of senior housing he was not comfortable with thf; location of this project. He also believed the cost was high, funding would be a challenge and sc-me General Fund money would be needed. Councilmember Chang stated that while he liked ;affordable senior housing he was not sure this project was best for the city in these current uncert;~in economic times. In his opinion the location was bad, noise and air pollution were issues, the parking accommodated those at Memorial Park not just DeAnza students and he was not willing to give the land under discussion to anyone. Councilmember Santoro also said that he was in favor of senior housing and believed Rotary would certainly follow through on this project. However, he had several concerns including public input and noticing for this project, future access needs if street was narrowed, traffic patterns if neighborhoods became more dense in th.e future, noise, air pollution, safety and giving up the road. Mayor Wang wondered if a compromise could be reached to see this project move forward and asked Mr. Lowenthal if the project would work if it were smaller and the street was not narrowed. Richard Lowenthal stated that the project was not feasible if made smaller and/or the street was kept at the current width. He further stated his viev~~ that wide streets were more dangerous due to speeding than narrower residential streets and he ~~ommented on his years as a Councilmember and member of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee as a basis for this opinion. However it appeared that narrowing Mary Avenue was a k~~y issue for Council. The Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation was willing to do a $5 million affordable senior housing project for the city but the Council was basically saying no to this project in favor of parking on Mary Avenue. Vice-Mayor Wong stated for the record that the Council did support senior housing. Councilmember Santoro did not think it was fair ~:o say that Council was not in favor of senior housing. Councilmember Chang stated that he was in favor of senior housing. February 2, 2010 Cupertino City Council Page 10 Mahoney moved and Wang seconded to authorize $11,000 to prepare a Record of Survey for the Mary Avenue right-of--way. The motion failed 2:3 with Chang, Santoro and Wong voting no. Mahoney moved to approve a memorandum of understanding between the City and the CRHC. The motion failed for lack of a second. Santoro moved and Chang seconded to vote no on all actions related to a potential 18-20 unit senior, affordable housing project from the Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation. The motion carried 3:2 with Mahoney and Wang voting no. NEW BUSINESS 17. Set the date of Tuesday, February 23 at 3:00 p.m. for a City Council Work Program study session. (No documentation in packet). The Council concurred to hold a Work Program study session on Tuesday, February 23, at 3:00 p.m. in Community Hall. ORDINANCES -None STAFF REPORTS -None COUNCIL REPORTS Council concurred to start the February 16 meeting at 6:00 p.m. and hear the Scenic Circle item before the Heart of the City item. If the topics on 1:hat agenda cannot be finished at that meeting, it will be continued to the next day. ADJOURNMENT At 11:15 p.m., the meeting was adjourned to Tuesday, February 16, 6:00 p.m., in the City Council Chamber. Kimberly Smit ity 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 apf~ropriate 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.