City Council Roundup
Santa Clara City Council Meeting, December 2, 2008
By Larry Sacks
Roll Call
All Council Members were present.
Special Orders of Business
Mission Engineers, Inc. was recognized for their service to the Santa Clara community since 1953. According to the staff report, “the business has grown through the years and become one of the most respected engineering firms in the Santa Clara Valley and the Bay area. They have also provided engineering services to the City of Santa Clara for many decades. As one example, they were the engineering firm that provided work on the 1968 development of the Space Industrial Park in Santa Clara, 160+ acres bordering on the Bayshore Freeway, which was described in a front page story in the June 12, 1968 “Santa Clara Journal” as a ‘$1.1 million project, termed a ‘model industrial park’ by engineers, (and which) will feature underground power lines.”
Unfinished Business
• Amendment No. 1 to the consulting contract with Keyser Marston Associates, Inc., (KMA) was approved. This will increase the contract amount by $100,000 to a total not to exceed $250,000, for fiscal and economic analysis to assist staff in the San Francisco 49ers stadium Term Sheet negotiations.
According to the staff report, “On June 17, the Council/Agency approved an amendment to the Negotiating Agreement to extend the deadline for Term Sheet negotiations to February 1, 2009. A significant effort has been made by City staff, Agency consultants and 49ers representatives in developing a Term Sheet Agreement; however, given the nature and complexity of the outstanding issues, both staff and 49ers representatives agreed that the original deadline of June 22, 2008 could not be met and additional time was needed to bring forward a completed Term Sheet for Council consideration and if the Term Sheet approved by Council, then place a ballot measure before the Santa Clara electorate.”
“Due to the extension of the Term Sheet deadline and the complexity, scope and depth of financial issues involved in the Term Sheet negotiations, it is necessary to extend the contract length and increase by $100,000 the funding amount for the City’s fiscal and economic consultant, KMA. There is no change to the total amount of $1 million approved for the Feasibility Study and Term Sheet negotiations, as unexpended funds remain from appropriated monies. The KMA contract amendment has been placed in Council Offices for review.”
• The Big Box Retail Policy, previously adopted on June 17, was rescinded. The City Manager was directed to apply the amended policy until the adoption of the 2010-2035 General Plan. The word “may” was replaced with “shall” in all instances, so the policy reads, "...Council shall require that the applicant submit an economic impact analysis to support the application", and to include an analysis of the steps necessary to pass an Ordinance on the subject at the January 27, 2009 Council meeting.” According to the staff report, “Staff is currently evaluating the draft ordinance presented to the City Council for the South Bay Labor Council on November 18, along with other ordinances that are suitably comparable for these purposes. The results of staff’s analysis of the ordinance(s) will be presented on January 27, 2009.”
Consent Calendar
The Consent Calendar has items not normally discussed and generally adopted in one motion. However, some items are worthy of mentioning.
• Routine Written Petitions for Approval
• The Council approved $10,000 in matching Championship Team Funding for the Santa Clara Lions Football Club to travel to Orlando, Florida to compete in the National Pop Warner Championship December 3-13, 2008.
• A resolution on the City-wide and Departmental Records Retention Schedules was pulled from the Consent Calendar by Council Member McLeod.
Items Set for Hearing
The Planning Commission recommendations were approved for Nvidia’s San Tomas Business Park Campus Project. The resolutions:
• Certified the Environmental Impact Report
• Adopted the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting program and approved a Statement of Overriding Considerations
• Approved the General Plan Amendment from Light Industrial designation to Office/Research and Development designation (General Plan Amendment No. 71)
• Approved the Rezone from Light Industrial to Planned Development
• Passed to print an Ordinance approving a Development Agreement at 2600, 2800 San Tomas Expressway and 2400 Condensa Street to allow construction of a phased campus development consisting of three buildings to be up to eight floors to accommodate up to 1,950,000 square feet of high-tech lab and office uses, with associated parking structures with up to 7,050 spaces, including a pedestrian bridge over the San Tomas Aquino Creek, subject to conditions.
Boards and Commissions for Action
The International Exchange Commission recommended the approval of funding and to assign a City Delegation consisting of one or more Council Member(s) and one or more Commissioner(s) to travel to Izumo, Japan at a cost of approximately $2,200 each to attend the celebration of Mr. Kuwabara's 25th anniversary as President of the International Exchange Association of Izumo on May 16, 2009.
During the discussion, Council Member Kennedy asked if it was possible the IEC would consider developing Sister Cities in less developed countries.
Consent Calendar Items Pulled for Discussion
Council Member McLeod asked that item 6A1 be pulled from the Consent Calendar for discussion. Item 6A1 involved the proposed adoption of a resolution approving updated City-wide and Departmental Records Retention Schedules. The City’s retention schedule was last updated in 1983. According to the Resolution, the City Clerk used to retain recordings/video tapes or video DVDs of City Council meetings for one year. According to City Clerk, Rod Diridon, Jr., “We have a two-year active retention schedule. That means we’ll keep those in our office for two years so they’re easily accessible.” Additionally, the City Clerk’s office will keep those permanently – “…as long as we have technology that can utilize a DVD or can update a DVD, we’ll be able to have access to those records.”
