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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2013-07-17None. Meeting to be held at: MI TNICIPAL SERVICES BT TILLING Council Chambers 33 ARROYO DRIVE Sol T'FH SAN FRANCISCO, CA WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013 6:30 P.M. Call to Order. Time: 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Present: Councilmembers Addiego, Garbarino and Gupta, and Mayor Gonzalez. Absent: Mayor Pro Tern Matsumoto. 3. Public Comments — comments were limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda. 4. Sewer Ordinance Update. Public Works Director White presented the staff report outlining proposed revisions to the City's Sewer Ordinance. He began by reviewing proposed revisions to chapter 14.08, which is generally referred to as the pre-treatment ordinance. The pre-treatment ordinance is deemed necessary by the Environmental Protection Agency and is revised depending on inspections and direction given by the State Regional Water Board. In January, the City went through a 2-day audit pursuant to which PO Environmental on behalf of the State, conducted inspections and suggested changes to the ordinance in order to mention the Code of Federal Regulations on permit transfers. This would strengthen enforcement capabilities. Director White continued to discuss the Sewer Lateral Ordinance which had been adopted in the recent past. First, staff suggested changes to section 14.14.020, regarding definitions and more specifically suggested striking the phrase "and backflow prevention device" since backflow devices were not required but rather detennined necessary on a case-by-case basis. In response to Councilman Addiego's query, Director White advised the device might be used in situations such as the example of businesses or homes on the Northeast side of A Street where the sewer line can cause backups into basements or garages. In section 14.14.030 Public Sanitary Sewers, staff recommended adding mention of the Westborough Water District. Director White then addressed proposed modifications to the most controversial section- 14.14.160 Certificate of Compliance Required upon Sale. A mandate included in the May 2012 Federal Consent Decree entered into between the San Francisco Baykeepers and the City required the City to create an ordinance to perform sewer lateral inspections and correct problems associated with those inspections. A point of sale sewer lateral inspection and correction requirement was added to the ordinance to address this mandate. The Consent Decree has now been removed and staff was recommending the ordinance be amended to remove the inspection and remediation requirement upon transfer of property. Staff did support maintaining the requirement upon major property remodel or change of use. Paul Stewart, representing the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, applauded staff for its recommendation concerning section 14.14.060. He concluded by urging Council to adopt all the recommendations outlined by staff. In response to Councilman Garbarino's inquiry into illegally sub-tied sewer laterals, Director White clarified that it was most common in the older parts of the City. He added that once the City discovers such problems, the owners are mandated to fix the issues within 120 days. Responding to Councilman Gupta's request for clarification, Director White noted that owners would still be responsible for disclosing the state of their sewer laterals and the City would still require property owners to have an inspection if more than 25% of their floor area was being remodeled. Council decided that this item should be brought back for action at the following City Council meeting. 5. Shopping Cart Ordinance Proposal. Management Analyst Lovell presented the staff report proposing a shopping cart ordinance. State law regulates shopping cart theft off the premises of retail stores that offer shopping carts for the use of their customers. This ordinance would permit the City to enforce state law. The City currently spends approximately $23,000 in staff time and resources each year collecting hundreds of abandoned shopping carts from locations around the City's neighborhoods. From the period of July 2012 through June 2013, a total of 1,100 abandoned shopping carts were collected in the City. Although abandoned shopping carts have been collected from nearly every neighborhood, there exists abandoned shopping cart "hot spots" located around the City, such as El Camino Real at Arroyo Drive, El Camino Real at the BART station, and South Linden at North Canal Street. Abandoned shopping carts contribute to blight and neighborhood deterioration, decreased property values, and lessen quality of life for residents. Additionally, abandoned shopping carts contribute toward the appearance of a neglected neighborhood. This ordinance would reduce these problems. The proposed ordinance would obligate store owners who do not already have signage on their shopping carts, to provide a sign that states the owner, a notice that removal of the cart from the SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 17, 2013 MINUTES PAGE 2 shopping premises is a violation of state law and the address or phone number of the establishment for returning the carts. Most City stores already have similar signage on their shopping carts. Secondly, the businesses that have shopping carts would need to submit a Loss Prevention Plan to the City. The ordinance provides several suggestions such as the installation of wheel-looks, use of security personnel to prevent theft or the usage of courtesy clerks that would corral shopping carts in a store's parking area. The City would review and approve such plans upon submission. Businesses that use a cart retrieval service would be exempt from implementing loss prevention measures; however, every business would be required to submit a Loss Prevention Plan to the City. Furthen-nore, this would only apply to businesses which have 12 or more shopping carts. City retrieval of abandoned carts would give staff 24 hours to contact the owners and owners would have 3 business days to pick carts up. Failure to pick carts up would give the City the option of charging the actual cost of retrieval. If that were to happen more than 3 times within a 6 month period, an administrative fine of $50 could be added. Further failure to retrieve the shopping carts within 30 days would give the City the right to dispose of the carts. Several other cities within the Bay area have similar ordinances. In response to Councilman Gupta's inquiry into the City's current disposal procedures in the absence of this ordinance, Analyst Lovell clarified that the City makes contact with the stores, usually entailing several calls but the stores do not typically respond as quickly as the City would like. At the moment, abandoned carts are not disposed of but stored at the Corporation Yard. Councilman Addiego believed that Grocery Outlet had wheel-locks and asked if the store would still need to meet the above requirements. Analyst Lovell clarified that if this ordinance was adopted, any store with security measures would still need to submit a Loss Prevention Plan to the City. In response to Councilman Addiego's further inquiry, Analyst Lovell confirmed that Costco, Safeway and Pak-N-Save were the largest offenders, but did not have precise: numbers. Mayor Gonzalez expressed his displeasure at the lack of presence by the affected business community. Analyst Lovell replied that indeed all affected businesses had been invited to attend the meeting. Mayor Gonzalez hoped that these businesses would send representatives to the next meeting on this matter. 6. Closed Session: Public Employee Appointment (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957) Title: City Manager. This item was removed from calendar. 7. Adjournment. Being no further business, Mayor Gonzalez adjourned the meeting at 7:38 p.m. Submitted: C v i y of So San Franctc, SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Approved: Pedro Gofizalez, ?ayor City of South San Francisco JULY 17, 2013 PAGE 3