CITY OF COTATI
February 9, 2004
Minutes of the
Regular City Council Meeting
and Joint Meeting of the
City Council and Cotati Redevelopment Agency Board of Directors
201 W. Sierra Avenue,
Cotati, CA 94931-4217
CALL TO ORDER OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mayor
Gilardi.
CITY COUNCIL MEETS IN CLOSED SESSION FOR THE REASONS
INDICATED BELOW
Mayor Gilardi stated that Council would meet in closed
session for the reasons indicated below.
RECONVENE
TO OPEN SESSION OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The meeting was called to order at
PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE AND MOMENT OF SILENCE
ROLL
CALL
Councilmembers present: Gilardi,
Staff present: Stubbings, Dorch, Woltering, Hayes, Anna,
Walter
CLOSED
SESSION ANNOUNCEMENT
Mayor Gilardi stated that Council had met in
closed session and had authorized the City Attorney to defend the City in the J.C. Metal Specialists, Inc. v. City of
Cotati litigation.
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING READING
1.
Adjourned regular meeting of
December 15, 2003
2.
Special meeting of January 23,
2004
3. Regular
meeting of January 28, 2004
-- Notice
of waiving the reading of all ordinances introduced and/or adopted under this
agenda
It was moved by Berkemeier, seconded by
Orchard, to approve the minutes of
Yes:
5 No: 0
It was moved by Berkemeier, seconded by
Orchard, to approve the minutes of
Yes:
5 No: 0
It was moved by Berkemeier, seconded by
Orchard, to approve the minutes of
Yes:
5 No: 0
ORAL
AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Announcements
-- Be
sure to reserve Saturday, February 21 for the annual Pasta Dinner and Bingo
fundraiser. This lively family event
will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the City Corporation Yard. Proceeds go to support Heritage Day with a
Kids Parade, community environmental projects, the Chamber of Commerce and the
Cotati 4H Club. Tickets are $10 for
adults and $5 for children 12 years of age and under as well as for seniors 60
years of age or over.
Mayor Gilardi called attention to the
announcements.
Report by Honorary Mayor
4. Marissa Gilardi, Creekside Middle
School
Honorary Mayor Gilardi introduced herself and
introduced family and friends present.
She spoke regarding her interests and personal goals, as well as current
school and community events. She
responded to questions from Council.
Mayor Gilardi thanked her for her presentation and presented her with a
certificate of appreciation.
Correspondence and Presentations
5. Presentation of Chamber of Commerce
Quarterly Report for the Period Ending
December 31, 2003
Executive Director Suzanne Whipple reviewed
the report and offered to answer any questions Councilmembers might have
regarding the Quarterly Report.
CITIZEN
BUSINESS
Mayor Gilardi called attention to the notice
in the agenda which states that comments should be kept to a maximum of three
minutes, if possible, and explained the reasons for that guideline.
George Barich,
Mayor Gilardi thanked him for his comments
and said that staff is investigating his request and working on a response.
Tony Adler,
Mayor Gilardi explained the City is overdue
for a city-wide traffic study, and that is what Council has asked for.
Scott Wagner, 8498 Linden Avenue, said a citizens
group has made several public records requests for review of the application file
regarding the Cotati Commons project. To
date, he said, they have not been able to review the file, and he asked for a
date on which they might be able to do so.
City Attorney Walter responded, at the
request of the Mayor, that the City has been responding in a timely manner to
all requests that have been made.
Mr. Wagner said he would like to reinstate
the 5-minute time limit for public comment, with a reminder at 3 minutes.
COUNCILMEMBER
DIRECTION ON FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Councilmember Orchard requested that the
topics of campaign finance reform, a commercial housing linkage fee, and the La
Plaza Specific Plan be brought to the City Council in the near future.
Councilmember Kurvers requested that a
presentation for the public be made regarding how the City allocates funds. Councilmembers agreed that a budget study session
would be the time to thoroughly discuss how best to present the information to
the public.
CONSENT
CALENDAR
Mayor Gilardi read the Consent Calendar titles and asked if any should
be pulled for separate discussion.
Item pulled: No. 6
Item No. 6: Councilmember Berkemeier stated he would
abstain from voting on Item No. 6 because of a conflict of interest. He said that he owns property within 500 feet
of the development.
6. Second reading and adoption of
Ordinance No. 755 Approving an Amendment of the Bettman Planned Unit
Development to Modify the Previously Approved Building Footprint.
7. Acceptance of Old Redwood
Highway/Redwood Drive overlay project.
It was moved by Berkemeier, seconded by Orchard, to approve Item No. 7
on the Consent Calendar.
Yes: 5 No: 0
It was moved by Kurvers, seconded by
Yes:
4 No: 0 Abstain: 1 (Berkemeier)
REGULAR
AGENDA
8. Receive presentation from
representatives of the Sonoma County Department of Public Works regarding water
quality issues at the central landfill; approve attached letter to the North
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
(Assistant City Manager)
David Knight, Director of Sonoma County
Public Works, and Susan Clausen, Deputy Director, reviewed the situation
regarding leakage through the lining at the landfill and outlined the County’s
position in the matter. They stated that
a meeting will be held on February 11 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss the issues.
Paul Foti, 7883 Old Redwood Highway, said the
County does a good job, and the Water Quality Control Board is just doing their
usual thing, causing turmoil in many industries. He said that the other landfills are far
lower in quality compared to the Sonoma County landfill.
Scott Wagner said he supports the proposed
letter to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and he said the
letter should incorporate language from the “Contamination Issue” paper stating
that no contaminated water would be released from the landfill site.
Following Council discussion, it was moved by
Kurvers, seconded by Orchard, to authorize the Mayor to send a letter to the
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board requesting that the Board
pursue resolution to the situation that would include keeping the County
Central Landfill open, amended to incorporate the underlined portions of the
“Contamination Issue” paper included in the staff report.
Yes:
5 No: 0
JOINT
MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL AND REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Call to Order
The joint meeting was called to order by
Mayor/Chair Gilardi at
Roll Call
Council/Board Members present: Gilardi, Moore, Berkemeier*, Kurvers, Orchard
Staff present: Stubbings, Dorch, Hayes, Anna, Walter
Consent Calendar
Mayor/Chair Gilardi read the Consent Calendar title and asked if it
should be pulled for discussion.
9. Approval of warrants and audited claims
for the period January 23 – February 3, 2004.
It was moved by Kurvers, seconded by Berkemeier,
to approve the Consent Calendar.
Yes:
5 No: 0
Regular Agenda
10. Approve scheduling of budget study
sessions (City Manager/Executive Director)
George Barich asked that the City do a better
job of publicizing budget study sessions.
Following discussion, Council/Board consensus
was to schedule budget study sessions for
March 3, May 5 and May 18 at 7:00 p.m.
11. Approve appropriation not to exceed
$14,000 for the relocation of Building Department staff; approve appropriation
not to exceed $5,000 for equipment and modifications to stabilize the City’s
e-mail system (Finance Director)
Finance Director Hayes reviewed the request
for appropriations and reasons therefor, responding to questions from Council.
*Councilmember Berkemeier was excused from
the meeting because of a family emergency; he left the meeting at 8:02
p.m.
The meeting was recessed at 8:06 p.m. and
reconvened at
George Barich said City projects such as this
should be well planned and not done piecemeal.
He recommended that a commission be set up regarding technology, to work
with the City to come up with educated solutions that could save the City money
in the long run and be more efficient.
Scott Wagner said he agreed with Mr. Barich’s
comments and offered his services to any such technology group that may be
established.
It was moved by Kurvers, seconded by
Vice Mayor Moore said she would appreciate
Jone contacting Mr. Wagner and Mr. Barich.
Councilmember Orchard said she would like to proceed with the recommended
changes but to also look into a commission or committee on technology. City Manager Stubbings said staff will look
into the suggestion.
Yes: 4 No:
0 Absent: 1 (Berkemeier)
Adjournment of joint meeting; reconvening of
regular meeting of City Council
The joint meeting was adjourned, and the
regular City Council meeting reconvened, at
CITY
COUNCIL REPORTS AND COMMENTS
-- Brief announcements and reports on
Councilmember activities.
Councilmembers reported on meetings they have
attended recently.
ADJOURNMENT
The
meeting was adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
___________________________
Deputy City Clerk
* * *
PURSUANT TO
CONFERENCE
WITH LEGAL COUNSEL—ANTICIPATED LITIGATION
Significant
exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9: Two potential cases
CONFERENCE
WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – EXISTING LITIGATION
(Subdivision (a) of Section
54956.9)
Name of case: J.C.
Metal Specialists, Inc. v. City of Cotati