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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1994-06-01Mayor Joseph A. Fernekes Council: Jack Drago John R. Penna Roberta Cerri Teglia Robert Yee MINUTES City Council '-' Municipal Services Building Community Room June 1, 1994 331 AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: 1. WQCP expansion and upgrading. Councilwoman Teglia Arrived: ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 7:04 p.m. Mayor Fernekes presiding. Council Present: Drago, Yee and Fernekes. Council Absent: Penna and Teglia. City Manager Wohlenberg explained: the Treatment Plant had rehab and expansion needs to meet grow- ing demands; the importance of spending the neces- sary funds; the time line for placing sewer charges on the property tax rolls was at hand and the capital needs had to be addressed; a five year program to rehab the plant and identify its needs and improve- ments; a five year financing plan was also needed, with a 10% rate increase - which the Council had discussed; Council needed to make decisions so staff could get on with the work. Councilwoman Teglia arrived at the meeting at 7:07 p.m. Director of Public Works related: Council had adopted the five year plan last year, with the idea that there might be a problem with the plant's ca- pacity. However, the plan did not address that - only to replace worn out things; sewage flow into the streets during storms and work being needed in the older part of town; to do all of the work would require a 15% sewer tax increase each year for five years; plant capacity was brought up during East of 101 discussions; there were long range problems that had to be addressed in the old town areas; project proposals at the plant, with or without ex- pansion of capacity; he meet with members of the Water Quality Control Board, left a draft action plan for the plant and received a favorable response; he felt the City could expect to receive an adminis- trative order for the City to make specific plans and have funding to the Board; stress tests reports com- 6/1/94 Page 1 AGENDA ~TION TAKEN ,, 1,. WQCP - Continued. Councilman Penna Arrived: 6/1/94 Page 2 33:L pleted for the Board; it was difficult to meet the discharge standards; staff had assumed that no loan would be made from the General Fund for the im- provements; cost sharing formula would be looked at for San Bruno for the improvements, which pres- ently was I/3 their cost and 2/3 our cost sharing; San Bruno would question, if more capacity is needed - who is it for; etc. City Engineer Von Dohren explained there were overflow problems in the north area of town, this side of the freeway, that go to the pumping station. Councihnan Penna arrived at the meeting at 7:18 p.m. Discussion tbllowed: options and financing avail- able; $30,000,000 in expansion and capacity im- provements over a five year period, with a 15 % tax increase to accommodate East of 101 and Terrabay; cease and desist orders if the work is not done; 1'0% per year increase would not expand the capacity of the plant; staff did not know what the plant capacity is; concentration of waste water was higher during the holidays; San Bruno and Colma could ask where the capacity went; staff had discovered the capacity is closer to 8,000,000 gallons a day rather than 13,000,000 gallons; Council should revisit the plant soon to find out what is going on there, because it had always been assumed that the capacity was 13,000,000 gallons a day; were there sources of funding available to expand the capacity of the plant; the Clean Water Grant was gone, so there is only the revolving fund for rehab; etc. Vice Mayor Yee stated that, due to the complexity of this problem, it should be looked at carefully and he was scared that staff did go to the Board without briefing the Council, because the Council has not committed to this plan. He stated he could not support this plan, because he did not understand it - even though he was an engineer, because there were just too many questions. He stated that Council had to take this in small pieces and get someone they had complete faith in to answer the questions, because staff is asking us to give them $10,000,000 without any backup and it is a grey area. He felt there should be one person responsible tbr the day to day follow through. AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 332 1. WQCP - Continued. 6/1/94 Page 3 Councilman Penna stated he agreed and was con- cerned, because Colma approved a cardroom and was talking about a structure with wastewater and San Bruno and Terrabay needed greater sewer ca- pacity. He stated the Council had been under the impression the capacity was 13,000,000 gallons a day and tonight was the first time he had heard differently. He wondered if the Council could go on record to notify other communities to stop projects. Councilman Drago stated they had a plan five years ago and yet today there was a new five year plan. The improvements had not been completed and wondered where would we be fifteen years from now with pollution increasing. He stated there was also the issue of loaning millions of dollars to ex- pand the park. He stated, a year ago we were taking Daly City's waste into the City, brought in Colma and now we are being told we are at capacity. So, why did we take Colma and Daly City in. He assumed that the 10% was to be in the budget and 5% is being given. He stated that in reviewing the two budgets they had looked at all the departments, had not looked at the treatment plant at all and had no idea what was going on. He wanted to know if the original structure is not what we need. He wanted to look at the whole structure and see what technical improvements were needed and inanpower. He questioned if anyone had checked with other plants to see if we were operat- ing efficiently. He stated that the Council should not overlook contracting out the whole plant. He stated that he agreed with the Vice Mayor - that they must get someone from the outside and come back in 60 to 90 days and make a decision, because five years from now the tax would double, going as we are today. Councilwoman Teglia stated they had to have a conversation with Colma and see if they could get out of this, but she did not think they could. Discussion tbliowed: there were two large BART stations coming into our City in the next five or ten years that will affect the capacity; Councilwoman Teglia wanted to know the implications of East of 101 in the study; the capacity issue arose with the East of 101 plan; the true capacity of the plant .._~1. WQCP - Continued. AGENDA Review of Corporation Yard options. Review of Orange Park Design options Seismic upgrade of City Hall and Grand Avenue Library - Status Report. ~-0~ ACTION TAKEN . 334 should be determined; whether the expansion should be handled with redevelopment funds; the sewer ~ line will cost $5,000,000; the $10,000,000 is just for maintenance; there was not enough evidence to place a moratorium throughout the town; establish- ing a Council subcommittee to deal with the prob- lem; whether the Council wanted staff to hire some- one or go out and do a recruitment for a City posi- tion; how to address economic growth and the sewer capacity; staff had met with San Bruno's staff to alert them of the capacity problem; staff was aware of the capacity problem in March and that was why they had gone to the Water Quality Control Board; why hadn't staff told Council about the problem in March, instead of at the 1 lth hour; a consultant should be hired quickly to deal with the immediate problems; etc. Mayor Fernekes appointed Vice Mayor Yee and Councilman Drago as a Subcommittee to work with the consultant to be hired. Consensus of Council - To go with the 10% tax increase and hire a consultant as soon as possible. Discussion followed: if Plan A were followed, it requires a new Corporation Yard site; alternate financing; looking at City property to sell that is marketable; the Oyster Point formula could not be discarded until there was enough money for the Overpass; there was $6,000,000 in resources for Orange Park; the status of the Mazzanti's; 7/1/96 the Mazzanti's are to vacate the park; the City had three more payments to make; staff is to come back to Council in 60 days on the Oyster Point site - on whether it is saleable, how much money it would yield, see what each project can afford and then move forward; Councilwoman Teglia wants a new market value on the Mazzanti property; etc. Discussion followed: Council's last direction had been to proceed with City Hall and an engineer was doing the design work; the question was a temporary location to be utilized during the work; etc. Park & Recreation Commissioner Lenny Patane felt the Council was talking about doing too many pro- jects at this time and the important thing was to move the Corporation Yard out of the Park. He felt the City needed to compromise and not do all of the work at once in Orange Park. 6/1/94 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ..~2., 3. and 4. - Continued. ITEMS FROM COUNCIL 6/1/94 Page 5 335 He stated there were four sections to the Park and wondered how much it would cost to do O'Brian Field, have the softball complexes put in excellent condition - with new signage, and construct a new recreation building. He stated that the picnic areas are fine, suggested leaving the Corporation Yard where it is and doing the work mentioned for the $3,000,000. He stated that Kaiser was not yet on line and the City did not know what they were willing to do with their property. Councilwoman Teglia refuted Mr. Patane and stated these plans were an outgrowth of the community - with hearings held and input solicited. She stated that, after many years, it was determined that the two uses do not work, because you should not have trucks lumbering by the pool. Councilman Penna stated it has always been known we have to move the Corporation Yard, in order for the park to expand. Councilman Yee felt Mr. Patane had a good point and would like to hear it articulated, so he would understand it better. Mayor Fernekes stated that, in two months time, we have to schedule a study session to continue this discussion when there is more information on Or- ange Park and the Corporation Yard. Councilwoman Teglia wanted a soils report on the Mazzanti property. Discussion followed: temporary housing analysis; Foxridge site is not available; making a temporary site useable; using the Peninsula Medical Building; how much money will be spent on the temporary site; the Grand Avenue temporary site has 11,000 sq. ft.; City Clerk could move to City Attorney's Office during seismic work, if the City farms out the Attorney's office; etc. ITEMS FROM COUNCIL Councilman Penna asked that the draft smoking ordinance be given to a Subcommittee and taken off the 6/8/94 meeting agenda. He stated that he want- ed the secretarial floaters at City Hall included in A~ENDA ACTION TAKEN ITEMS FROM COUNCIL ADJOURNMENT: ITEMS FROM COUNCIL budget discussions. 336 Vice Mayor Yee informed the Council there would be a Chinese delegation here on 6/22/94 on a trade mission. He stated he was working with the Cham- ber of Commerce for a visit to Genentech and other businesses during their stay. Councilwoman Teglia stated she would be on vaca- tion the last week in August and two weeks in Sep- tember. Councilman Penna stated he would be away from 8/7/94 through 8/24/94. M/S Yee/Drago - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 10:13 p.m. ESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, BarBara A. Battaya, City City of South San Francisco APPROVED. Joskph A. Fernekes, Mag,6r Cit~ of South San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 6/1/94 Page 6