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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1996-03-20Mayor Jack Drago Council: Joseph A. Fernekes Eugene R. Mullin John R. Penna Robert Yee MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room March 20, 1996 AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: 3. Capital Improvement Project - retrofitting of City Hall and the Library and the Corporation Yard. 512 AC!IQN TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 7:04 p.m. Mayor Drago presiding. Council Present: Mullin, Yee and Drago. Council Absent: Fernekes and Penna. Mayor Drago stated he would like to get this meet- ing over by 9:00 p.m., and move Item No. 3 up to the first thing on the Agenda. Director of Public Works Gibbs related: at the last study session staff went through the CIP with Council; some items needed further discussion and, rather than go through the whole program, staff pulled out items to be discussed tonight. City Engineer Wong related: staff was directed to move all of the East of 101 item out of the CIP funding and they will be discussed at another ses- sion; staff reallocated Orange Park Expansion to a future year; staff looked at the work to be done at the Corporation Yard, City Hall and light standard for the potential abandonment of the railroad tracks; there was a comment about sidewalks on Chestnut that were not included and staff looked at that as another project; included a small stripping job on East Grand; talked about grade separation on South Linden Avenue and setting aside amounts for a feasibility study; it is already on the SMTA list of projects, the money is available and the City has to form up a project and compete with other projects. Discussion followed: what about the flyover on Oyster Point Interchange; that is part of the Shearwater Development and Measure A monies; Councilman Yee wants to put it in the Capital Im- provement Program in the event the City needs it as part of the development fees regardless of where the money comes from; the City Manager 3/20/96 Page 1 ~,NDA ~TION ~EN __.3.. Capital Improvement Project - Continued. Councilman Penna Arrived at the Meeting at 7:10 p.m. ._~.Vice Mayor Fernekes Arrived at the Meeting at 7:34 p.m. will show it as a revenue stream that can be includ- ed, as well as the hook ramps; staff has fully de- ferred projects to get projects completed, such as deferring the Lux Avenue Project so as to complete the Orange Park Project; sanitary infiltration and inflow study; the flow quantity that comes from the storm drains; requirement to upgrade into the storm drain system; the City cannot do anything until they make a decision with San Bruno on the whole issue; deferring expansion of the fire station and remodel- ing of the MSB for public access and resuffacing the garage; need projects for basketball lighting at Sellick Park and bocci ball at Orange Park; a traffic signal is needed at Chestnut and Hillside, but that is a County project; Councilman Mullin thanked staff for the maps in the staff report, but does not want two sided copying in the future for it is too hard to read; the number of years left of debt service for the Price Club loan; Councilman Yee asked the Finance Director to double check the amount for it is less than ten years away; the City Manager thought, what doesn't get paid back gets added to the obliga- tion, but at some point it is forgiven so the interest is secondary because there is only a certain cash stream; Councilman Mullin wants to go over the information on the trip generation fees; the East of 101 study identified concerns on traffic, sanitary improvements, fire protection equipment, maintain- ing capacity and underwater systems; esthetics of the roadway and what can be done with access to the bay with recreational trails; an analysis was prepared of AB1600 to assess a cost for those who benefit, which can be done through square footage or traffic counts which led to the development fees; staff was anticipating using part of the development fees for Shearwater improvements, however, the Gateway is tapped out on the East Grand Overpass which leaves the downtown spotty; the improvements must be tied to public improvements in the redevelopment areas; any other fees will be on top of the Oyster Point fees; Councilman Yee felt other options were needed to explore, maybe set up an assessment district, but there is no guaranty it will work;' staff will come back with the various options and ask what is feasible for they do not believe the creation of districts will get the support of the property own- ers; staff's numbers equate to $42.00 a trip based on the City Engineer's market analysis, etc. Further discussion ensued: based on Council direc- tion at the last study session staff is going ahead 3/20/96 Page 2 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ...~3. Capital Improvement Project - Continued. 3/20/96 Page 3 with the seismic retrofitting of the Library sometime in the next couple of months; staff looked at the funding options and took a look at putting an office building where the annex is and based on that, retained Group 4 to make studies and they will present their findings. Mr. Wayne Gherke, Group 4 Architecture, stated his firm looked at building a new administration building on the civic center site and looked at sev- eral different options, but the problem is that it cuts off the parking. He related the options: Options 1, 2, 3 and 5 are for a new two story City Hall at 20,000 sq. ft. in different locations with the Annex demolished; Option 4 is for a single story City Hall at 18,500 sq. ft. with the deletion of stairs and elevators not required for a single story building and the Annex would be demolished; Option 6 is for a new two story City hall at 14,000 sq. ft., the Annex would remain and be refurbished to provide a one stop permitting center; the six options range in cost from $4,835,100 for Option 6 to $5,544,500 for Option 2. He related: the former City Hall would be convert- ed; the area of the Annex would be parking and the parking would be displaced at City Hall; they had added a little square footage for expansion and all costs had been included; they have knowledge of the site due to several remodelings; did a computer reading of data on the type of construction based on their own experience; it is not practical to add a second floor to the Annex due to Code require- ments. Discussion followed: Mayor Drago hoped the total figure would not exceed $3 million; Councilman Penna felt if the estimated price is $5 million it is more likely to come in at $6 or $7 million when finished; the City Hall playground is used quite a bit, so it is not wise to demolish it; Councilman Penna wants to see a City Hall between the existing one and the Library, but a corner makes more sense; Councilman Yee opposes the Project for it doesn't make sense to spend this kind of money, even if we have the money, for it takes a lot to build a City Hall and he certainly will not be on the Council; he feels Council should go ahead with what we have to do with this building and stay with the plan; Vice Mayor Fernekes felt the plan was good, but with the cost it is putting us out of the realm AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 3. Capital Improvement Project - Continued. 3/20/96 Page 4 and he agrees with Councilman Yee in looking at this facility; Councilman Mullin is balancing check- books at $100,000 and is concerned that this is $5 million; it seems to him that this building is woeful- ly inadequate and questioned what they can do with the City Hall complex; Councilman Penna suggested putting it to a vote of the people because more space is needed; Mayor Drago does not think this is the time for that and suggested shelving this idea and proceed with the retrofitting of City Hall. Discussion followed on the Corporation Yard: the artist's rendering represents $6 million; the render- ing was done some time ago and shows the old Atkinson Building; the cost factor is $6,193,000 and presented options to reduce the cost to $5.4 million and wants Council to consider going ahead and tell- ing staff to put the Project out to bid, because they are not sure the estimated figures are what the bids will come in at; it would take $50,000 to put it out to bid to update the plans that were done 10 years ago, and put in deducts that the project can do with- out; etc. Mr. Avanessian stated the site plan has to be re- drawn because we have lost the street right-of-way on the Atkinson site. Discussion followed: if the City can acquire that right-of-way we would save money; Atkinson and now Kaiser owns the right-of-way; originally the City thought it owned the right-of-way and designed the Corporation Yard on top of it and then it was discovered the City does not own it; City Manager talked to Kaiser who thinks they only need half of the property; the right-of-way will be used for a covered shed for vehicles, but that can be shifted on the site; is this a cadillac project and, if so, why not a Ford project; this will be more square footage, but everything will be housed there, including purchas- ing and storage of supplies, whereas now only the streets and parks have facilities; equipment deterio- rates quickly if it is not housed at night; whether the building can also be used for record retention; Councilman Yee felt Council does not have a choice it has to move forward; Mayor Drago looks at it as a $5 million garage and wants staff to investigate the cost of SamTrans storage facilities; a metal and gunite building would not change the cost that much, and would not be that good for the maintenance of the heavy equipment and it could affect the AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 3. Capital Improvement Project - Continued. 1. Residency employment preference. ,~'/,.~'..~ 3/20/96 Page 5 fire fighting rating of the City; also, a metal build- ing is not allowed by the Zoning Code; Vice Mayor Fernekes noted this is the third plan and he would like to see how it comes in after the bid. Consensus of Council - To direct staff to go out to bid on the new Corporation Yard. Discussion followed: with the proviso that som~ne call Samtrans and see what they paid for their metal buildings; metal buildings are higher; Mr. Gherke worked on a building for Samtrans 8 or 9 years ago and he believes the cost was $13 to $14 million, but it was a much bigger project; staff will provide the information from Samtrans. City Manager Wilson stated the Mayor wanted agendized a review of the law in capabilities of compensating residents or people for incentives to have applicants live or stay here. He stated the City Attorney will give a thump nail sketch on the law, and then discuss a viable option. City Attorney Mattas stated that all cities, including charter cities, are prohibited from requiring their applicants for jobs to live in the City. He related: reasonableness of distance requirements in the Kirkwood case; the City's Personnel Rules and Regulations currently require that classified employ- ees live within 75 miles of City Hall; staff could not identify any state law which specifically authorizes any particular form of incentives; obvious con- straints on gifts of public funds and limitations on granting extra compensation for work that has al- ready been performed; could offer to provide cur- rent employees who live in $.S.F. with an oppor- tunity to serve the City in exchange for some adjustment in their compensation, such as neighbor- hood disaster assistance coordinators as a service to the City; etc. Discussion followed: giving points as incentives as is done with the veterans points; veteran points are across the board; if an applicant is a veteran they are allowed five points on the test; additional compensa- tion for speaking a second language; senior points for closed promotions; the Fire Department has the NERT Program and maybe we can pay employees $50.00 for living in the City for Mayor Drago knows NERT's value during an emergency; there is always the problem of an applicant using a A~DA A~TION TAKEN 3. Capital Improvement Project - Continued. 2. Downtown zoning ordinance - density. ,5'0 gq relative's address to take advantage of the program and it is difficult to monitor; corporate boundary; is a resident someone who comes here Monday morn- ing and leaves Friday; yes, if owning or renting property in the town; etc. Councilman Penna stated he asked for this to be brought up because he has been concerned about a lack of quality housing appearing in areas in S.S.F. He sees a deterioration occurring over what has been there and his purpose is to discuss what was the situation prior to the existing zoning that changed the density for R-3 in 1984. He stated prior to 1984 the City was experimenting with ways of slowing growth by increasing the parking to one, to one and a half and then two, and decreased the density of the lot size. He stated, from an economic viewpoint, there was typically a 50 x 140 ft. lot with seven units on it whereas today it only has four units on it which is not economically feasible for contractors to come in and purchase those lots and build. So, what is taking place is that the resale is for people keeping it in the existing condition and running them to the ground without improvements taking place. So, he wants Council to discuss with staff the possibility of going back to pre 1984 standards, even though he knows there were problems with curb cuts, the design of buildings and parking could be handled. Councilman Yee stated these are different signals for sometime ago we asked to change from 1.2 to high- er and now we are to go back. What is to encour- age that, other than more, just because Penna says to do that. Do we have evidence that people are turn- ing away because the parking is too stringent - what information do we have. He does not mind sending this to Planning, but he wants more information. He stated that staff already concluded this is not going to work, but if we send it to the Planning Commission there is a message we want to change it. Councilman Mullin stated he read the staff report and talked to Councilman Penna about it and ques- tioned what is happening in the downtown corridor for it is looking shabby. He questioned what has occurring since 1984 or 1986 since they changed the parking requirement for the Armor area for he teaches kids from that area that don't live in condi- 3/20/96 Page 6 AGENDA ACIIQN TAKEN 1. Residency - Continued. 3/20/96 Page 7 64 tions that are beneficial to the City. He questioned the options available. Director of Planning Solomon stated there has been little new development. Discussion followed: there are some zoning and administrative changes being made to allow people to put in improvements with a little more flexibility and cheaper costs; there are people that have hous- ing and may want to invest and improve the housing stock; plan to use CDBG funds and assist people make improvements to their homes in problem areas; Council should target some areas where there are signs of deterioration or overuse of the property and approach a way of designing how you can modify the size, setbacks or parking; one of the problems in the staff report are related to the size of the parcels and one that won't create addi- tional impact problems; Councilman Mullin felt merging lots might make conditions worse and prefers rehab through redevelopment or private development rather than government jumping in; he was on the Commission when it was one parking space and got out of that because the parking was horrendous, but if there are ways to make modifi- cations to create more on street parking he would not be against it; Mayor Drago suggested expanding the Parking District all the way up Linden and pick up parking, as well as putting in a parking lot; Councilman Penna asked if he had a conflict on this item due to his being a realtor; City Attorney Mattas responded, once they focus the area down then we have to look at the properties Councilman Penna owns and the business he does, but today the Coun- cil has not taken any action and is only looking at proposals; the olympic torch is coming through our City and the Mayor hopes the businesses will participate with putting flags out; the Mayor is trying to get the Chamber, service clubs and the schools to put together bands and flags throughout the whole run; Councilman Mullin reminded Coun- cil that the CDBG Subcommittee wanted individual recommendations by Friday; Councilman Penna cannot make the meeting on the 20th and asked Allene to reschedule the meeting; City Manager to schedule a study session on the Treatment Plant before a meeting with San Bruno; the Mayor of San Bruno asked for a study session with our Council; anticipated changes to the Treatment Plant opera- tions and staffing changes; City Manager to set up AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNMENT: a meeting for both cities; Public Works Director of San Bruno and S.S.F. and staff are in agreement; Mayor Drago wants a bus tour of the City on 4/17/96; etc. M/S Mullin/Penna - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 9:15 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Barbara A. Battaya, City Clerk City of South San Francisco APPROVED. Drago, Mayor 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- ...ti.ons, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the f-flee of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 3/20/96 Page 8