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CC 05-10-07 APPROVED MINUTES CUPERTINO CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Adjourned Meeting Thursday, May 10, 2007 ROLL CALL At 3:00 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 Patrick Kwok, and Council members Richard Lowenthal, Orrin Mahoney, and Dolly Sandoval. Absent: none. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None NEW BUSINESS 1. Reject all bids received on May 3,2007 for the Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge Phase II Project and authorize the Director of Public Works to repackage the bid documents and re-advertise the project for competitive bids. Public Works Director Ralph Qualls said that the bids had come in much higher than anticipated, and that some of the companies that the city expected to bid on this project dropped out in order to bid on repairs to the Interstate 580 southbound ramp in Oakland (the "MacArthur maze") which was damaged last week. LowenthallKwok moved and seconded to reject all bids and authorize the Director of Public Works to re-advertise the project. The motion carried unanimously. 2. Adopt resolutions regarding City owned property: a) Authorize the City Manager to enter into a sales agreement to sell property on Ontario Dr. in Sunnyvale, APN 323-34-006, Resolution No. 07-079. b) Authorize the City Manager to enter into a sales agreement to sell property on San Juan Rd. in Cupertino, APN 342-17-025 for the asking price or higher, Resolution No. 07-080. Public Works Director Ralph Qualls said that a firm offer for the San Juan property had been made at the listing price of $898,000. He said that since that buyer used the city's broker, the city would pay only 2.5% to the broker instead of 4%, saving roughly $14,000. The city will net approximately $1.62 million after the sale is complete. Qualls explained that the resolutions were required by the title company. May 10, 2007 Cupertino City Council Page 2 SandovallLowenthal moved and seconded to adopt Resolution Nos. 07-079 and 07-080. The motion carried unanimously. TEAM BUILDING SESSION The City Council members discussed the following items: 3. Role of the Mayor Discussion followed regarding whether a discretionary fund should be set aside for a project or projects of the Mayor's choice, and the potential impacts that additional projects could have on the City Manager's ability to fulfill the items in the Council work program. Council asked staff to put the following items in a resolution and bring it before the Council for consideration at a regular meeting: A. If the Mayor's proposed project is within the City Manager's discretionary budget, the decision to spend money is to be made by the City Manager and the Mayor, and the City Manager may escalate the proposal to the City Council when he feels that is necessary. If the proposal is over the City Manager's budget, it automatically goes to Council for consideration. B. Council will consider adopting a resolution which would say something along the lines of "there is established a Mayor's initiative budget in the amount of $10,000 (this amount is a "placeholder" for purposes of the budget discussion). The Mayor can make a proposal any time during year as to how to spend that budget, and it will require Council approval and budget appropriations. C. There will be agendized at the December meeting (although it can be continued) any proposal that the new Mayor plans to make at the State of the City address. Council discussed festival funding and the Sister Cities' budgets. Staff was asked to send a letter to the Sister Cities organizations reminding them that they must submit a formal request before they can spend their allotted $5,000. Council also discussed the need for a policy regarding the selection of vice-mayor and mayor. Mayor Wang and Council Member Sandoval agreed to work on that policy and bring it back to the City Council for consideration. May 10, 2007 Cupertino City Council Page 3 4. Commissioner Protocol Council discussed protocol for city commissioners who are campaigning for office. The Council members agreed that such activity is permissible in public spaces, such as the city hall lobby or plaza, but must be done on the person's own time. Council concurred to add some appropriate wording to both the commissioner handbook and the candidate handbook which would specify that Council candidates must speak for themselves and not as commissioners, and that campaigning is not allowed during city meetings. Council members concurred that the Mayor (or the Mayor's designee) has the authority to raise issues of protocol with City commissioners, and that the Mayor may choose to elevate such matters to the entire Council by putting the matter on an agenda for public discussion. 5. Appeal of Administrative Decisions (Cupertino Municipal Code 1.16) Council discussed the need for treating residents consistently, including the notification and appeal processes. The Council members concurred that the City Manager should contihue to choose whether to hear appeals of administrative decisions or to delegate that responsibility to other employees. The Council asked staff to bring the following policy change back for formal adoption: Encroachment permits shall be noticed to a 500-foot radius, or two houses in each direction, whichever is farther. The notice shall be given 10 days prior to the issuance of the encroachment permit, stating that within "x" days, unless a written complain is received, the permit will be issued. If the problem cannot be resolved in that time, staff will issue the permit and the matter can be appealed to the City Manager. There will be no additional fee for such appeal; instead, the fee will be increased for all encroachment permits to cover the additional noticing costs. 6. Workload Management and Service Requests Discussion followed regarding the importance of completing of the Council's work program on a timely basis, and how the City Manager and Council could work together to manage additional service requests. The City Manager described how some issues are repeatedly raised, lasting weeks, months, or in some cases even years. Mayor Wang suggested that all Council decisions should be considered final, including its decision on the Scenic Avenue gate and the Sports Center pool, and staff can stop responding to the requests and state that the matter is closed. The City Manager also suggested that when the Council members are approached by residents with questions or complaints, that they listen carefully and then tell the person that the City Manager will be asked to check into it. He said that it would give staff an May 10, 2007 Cupertino City Council Page 4 opportunity to find out the rest of the story and check all the facts. He clarified that if any issues are raised that look as if they would be controversial or would affect the city at large, he would bring those to the entire Council for review. The Council members concurred that, rather than creating a specific policy, the City Manager will notify Council when he receives a request for service or information that he will not be able to accomplish without affecting operations or the work program. At that point the City Council can decide whether to reorder the priorities on the work program. Discussion followed regarding how items are placed on the agenda. Council concurred that the City Manager sets the agenda with input from the mayor, but items can also be added at the request of any two council members. 7. Continuances of items on an agenda Council concurred that if it looks as if a project will not be approved, the applicant will be offered the possibility of a continuance. Council also agreed that if a matter is put to the vote, and the vote is split with two votes in favor and two votes opposed, the matter is denied and cannot be continued. ADJOURNMENT Staff reports, backup materials, and items distributed at the 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/ City Councill Packets. Most Council meetings are shown live on Cable Channel 26, and are available at your convenience on the web site: Visit www.cupertino.org and click on View Meetings Online. Videotapes are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased from the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364.