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PORTOLA VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING NO. 1026, February 9, 2022
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Vice Mayor Wernikoff called the Town Council’s Special Teleconference-only meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Hanlon called the roll.
Present: Councilmembers Jeff Aalfs, and Maryann Derwin; and Vice Mayor Sarah Wernikoff
Absent: Councilmember Richards and Mayor Hughes
Others: Jeremy Dennis, Town Manager
Cara Silver, Town Attorney
Laura Russell, Planning & Building Director
Sharon Hanlon, Town Clerk
Attendees: Bob Turcott
Rusty Day
Kristi Corey
David Cardinal
Rita Comes
Mary Hufty
Kristi Corley
Karen Vahtra
Bob Adams
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Bob Turcott commented that at the prior Council meeting a caller suggested that the reason residents don’t feel heard is because they’re not given enough time to speak. Mr. Turcott disagreed and said he was able to express his concerns about the flawed Hazard Mitigation Plan in two-and-a-half minutes. He said when he finished Councilmember Aalfs forcefully and mistakenly asserted that one of his statements was incorrect. He said he raised his hand to speak but was not given the opportunity, and this is why residents don’t feel heard and that Councilmembers get the last word whether what they are saying is accurate or not. He said the call for greater resident participation was met with apparent indignation on the part of the Council. Councilmember Richards said, “The notion that this was done in secret is totally absurd.” Town Manager Dennis said, “To say this was done with staff and consultants with no public input is just patently false.” Mr. Turcott said FEMA required public participation in development of the plan. The Letter of Commitment submitted by the Town agreed to promote “Community engagement and public outreach in the development of the plan.” In the plan, Portola Valley documented that it conducted three public meetings for outreach. Mr. Turcott said that he watched the videos of the meetings, read the agendas and the minutes, and in fact, the plan wasn’t mentioned in any of those meetings or detailed in the agendas, nor were any risk data provided for resident review. He questioned residents having to participate in County-level meetings to learn about how the Town is characterizing its wildfire risk and said he was concerned about the direction things are headed. Mr. Turcott suggested doing a hard reset and beginning an open, effective exchange. He urged the Council to be open to the possibility that past decisions and current policies might be suboptimal, acknowledge it when they are, and engage residents in the work that directly affects their safety. He suggested letting residents who are willing and able offload work from staff. He understood that recently there has been increased resident participation in the evacuation capacity study. He applauded the Council and staff for this and encouraged more of it.
Kristi Corley requested that residents be notified of SB 9 applications. She asked if the town could discuss whether it would be 300 feet, 500 feet or 1,000. She felt it should be 300, and that neighbors surrounding a lot split and building of units would want to know if their neighbor was doing this. She Volume XLVII
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thought they could monitor if there was a lot of this happening on one street, how that might be monitored. If someone had to go to a meeting or to work and there’s a lot going on, they may need to plan a 15- or 30-minute delay. She thought it would be best for as many residents as possible to be notified in the circle around potential building projects.
David Cardinal said as much as he loved the Bay and would love the Town be like the Houses of Parliament, he felt the notion that the Town Council gets the last word was mis-framing the question. He said the citizens elect the Town Council and the citizens provide input, and at the end of the day it is Council’s job to decide what to do with that input, which they do very well. He said they have many venues to contribute input to committees. He thinks they have a great system that works and is happy with the way things are now.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff invited further comments from the public. Hearing none, she closed the comment period.
(1) Welcome – Reverend Jeff Munnis – Ladera Community Church Vice Mayor Wernikoff was happy to welcome Reverend Jeff Munnis from Ladera Community Church.
Reverend Munnis shared that it was his first time attending a meeting like this. He has been at Ladera Community Church for about two-and-a-half years. The major portion has been during the pandemic, so he hasn’t gotten out to meet people as much as he would have liked. He said they have a lot of passion for being in Portola Valley. The church members love the town and making an impact as a community. He was grateful to be invited to speak at the Council meeting. He hears the passion displayed at the meetings about certain issues, and he hoped that all of it would be directed into constructive things. He said so far it feels that is the case. He pointed out it is sometimes a difficult world, and he appreciated the way the Council has brought everyone together. It is hard being the leaders in a community and speaking out on topics meaningful to all. He encouraged the openness and transparency, dialog and conversation, and willingness to keep coming back together. He felt much is learned from each other by being and staying in relationship and continued conversation.
CONSENT AGENDA
(2) Approval of Minutes – Action and Detailed Summary Minutes for January 26, 2022 (3) Approval of Warrant List – February 9, 2022
(4) Appointment by Mayor – Member to the Nature and Science Committee (5) Recommendation by Assistant Town Manager – Adoption of a Resolution Authoring a ThreeYear Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc, for the Software as a Services Version of their EnerGov/Enterprise Permitting and Licensing Program
(a) A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley Authorizing the Town Manager to Execute a Three-Year Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc., for the Use and Implementation of their EnerGov/Enterprise Permitting and Licensing Software (Resolution No. 2878-2022)
(6) Recommendation by Town Manager – Accrual of COVID Vacation Accrual Policy (7) Proclamation Declaring February 2022 as Black History Month (8) Recommendation by Town Attorney - Adoption of a Resolution Confirming the State of Emergency and Need to Continue Conducting Town Public Meetings Remotely Volume XLVII
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(a) A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley Confirming Existing State of Emergency and Authorizing Continued Remote Public Meetings Under AB 361 (Resolution No. 2879-2022)
(9) Recommendation from Housing Element Committee – Housing Element Community Survey Vice Mayor Wernikoff invited comments from the Council on the Consent Agenda. Hearing none, she invited public to comments on the Consent Agenda.
Rita Comes asked about item number 5. She said with the town information going into the cloud she wondered if the information would be hosted on the third-party site, or if it would be on a different cloud site or be held on the vendor’s site. Is so, she was concerned about security of the information.
Councilmember Derwin pulled item 5.
Caroline Vertongen commented regarding item 6 and hoped the Town would go back to the transmittal budget proposed in December and inform them which of the funds will be used to pay for the vacation times.
Councilmember Aalfs moved to approve items 2 through 4, and 6 through 9 on the Consent Agenda.
Seconded by Councilmember Derwin, the motion carried unanimously, by roll call vote. (5) Recommendation by Assistant Town Manager – Adoption of a Resolution Authoring a ThreeYear Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc, for the Software as a Services Version of their EnerGov/Enterprise Permitting and Licensing Program
(a) A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley Authorizing the Town Manager to Execute a Three-Year Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc., for the Use and Implementation of their EnerGov/Enterprise Permitting and Licensing Software (Resolution No. 2878-2022)
Assistant Town Manager Gaines stated that the Town’s data is hosted by Tyler Technologies at secure Tyler-owned data centers, on their own data centers, which are secure.
Councilmember Derwin moved to approve item 5. Seconded by Councilmember Aalfs, the motion carried unanimously, by roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
(10) Study Session – Fiscal Year 2022-23 Council Priorities Study Session Town Manager Dennis explained that this item was a continuation of the budget process started at the last meeting when the Council heard from Town committees about their priorities and items they would like to have included in next year’s budget. The first segment of the session involved discussion and update on current Council priorities. He directed the Council to red page 99 as well as attachment 2 in the agenda packet. He said, as in previous years, the Town is moving along on variety of projects associated with priorities identified for this year, including wildfire preparedness, land use projects and programs, service delivery enhancements and focusing on established programming. Attachment 2 provided an update on those efforts, several which are complete. Others are underway, and some are ongoing.
Town Manager Dennis pointed out programs that staff anticipates not being able to complete in the current fiscal year, including the Climate Action Plan. A study session on this may be held later in the year, with the final presentation year. The Green Building Ordinance, due to timing, would likely be completed early in 2022-23. Design review guidelines regarding home hardening code updates would be Volume XLVII
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undertaken in 2022-23. The Comprehensive General Plan Update would be deferred to 2023-24, with some preparation work anticipated in 2022-23.
Town Manager Dennis laid out a summary of what the Council heard at the last meeting, shown on red pages 99 and 100. He said some of the requests would be included in the budgets for the committees and some may be included more broadly in other expenditure categories, depending on size and management. He said the staff report illustrated the continuing challenges related to keeping up with various requests and activities that are part of the suite of work that they do. Statistical information in this regard was presented on red page 101 of the staff report. For example, PV Connect requests increased by 148 percent, with similar kinds of increases seen across all departments. Some of it is a result of unfunded state mandates, as well as the complexity of issues the Town is dealing with. He expected that the budget proposal for later in the year would include some positions across multiple departments, which will become clearer as the budget discussions in May approach.
Town Manager Dennis discussed the Council’s priorities for the coming year and offered a recommendation that the Council approves priorities, not necessarily the projects underneath them. The projects are items that help fulfill the priorities of the Council, so they could theoretically be changed or be added to. All would come back to Council for approval through the normal process. He noted that the biggest difference in the structure this year is that Sustainability has been re-established as its own standalone priority, given the number of interrelated and important projects that the Town has been committed to. He pointed out under Item 1, Wildfire Emergency Preparedness, that item e. is an allencompassing program element that includes the current mapping process. As more detailed maps are produced there will be additional conversations with the Council about next steps on how to utilize them relating to further development, land use code, et cetera. Town Manager Dennis asked to hear from the Councilmembers which items should be considered priorities in the coming year, with the focus being on the priorities rather than the projects underneath, although conversation related to the projects was also welcome. The items were not to be seen as arranged by order of import; rather, a framing mechanism to assist in the conversation. Town Manager Dennis noted that also present for the discussion were Assistant Town Manager, Melvin Gaines; Planning and Building Director, Laura Russell; Public Works Director, Howard Young; and Finance Director, Cindy Rodas.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff invited comments from the Councilmembers.
Councilmember Derwin asked if the Housing Element Update, under Land Use Projects and Programs, was happening this year. Councilmember Aalfs said it will continue through the year. Councilmember Derwin thought it probably wouldn’t really get going until the end of the year, into 2023. Town Manager Dennis said the implementation won’t start until calendar year 2023, but they anticipate adoption of the plan by the end of calendar year 2022,
Councilmember Derwin asked what was meant by Service Delivery Enhancements. Town Manager Dennis explained this is a catchall category and to let him know if the Council wished to split it up in some way. It includes elements of two priorities – service delivery enhancements and a focus on established programming. The two are related, and he noted that last year the Council discussed how to divide these up. They will be working on a number of projects identified by the Council, or by state requirements over the next fiscal year. In order to stay focused on those while maintaining the day-to-day activities – that they normally don’t get a chance to talk about – staff wanted to provide a recommendation on how to enhance that core competency. He said within Service Delivery Enhancements, there are a variety of projects relating to that. For example, ensuring that the public is further connected to things happening at Town Center; ensuring that they have the right mix of staff doing the right mix of work; finding ways, through consultants or otherwise, to focus staff on the tasks they are paid to do. He said there are a lot of administrative functions that all staff get involved in at a certain level, and they think it makes more sense to somehow offload those things so that staff members can stay focused on their own specialized work.
He said they continue to incorporate technology and software where possible, especially systems which help the public to have better connections with the Town and get information quicker. The previous example of EnerGov was an example of this. It is a suite of tools that the public and applicants will be Volume XLVII
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able to access to see what’s happening around them with building and planning permits in a way not possible previously. Staff would like to do more of this type of thing.
Regarding facility maintenance, Town Manager Dennis noted that the facility is entering middle age and starting to show that age. He said they want to ensure that they are moving forward with maintenance and enhancements. This includes staffing, dedicated funding sources, et cetera, the core of which would be a comprehensive long-term plan to make changes as necessary. Mayor Derwin asked if this would be the appropriate category in which to include increased demands on staff. The discussion would include potentially either hiring more people or lowering the public’s expectations. Town Manager Dennis said that discussion would fall under this category.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff invited comments from the public.
Kristi Corley felt that item c. under Service Enhancements belonged more appropriately under Land Use, Projects, and Programs, because there was mention of hiring for Planning and Building, and Public Works. She said that it was making her sad that, while the town is built around the preservation environment and open space and green space - the reason many moved to Portola Valley – she did not see that anywhere in the budget discussion.
Rusty Day noticed that there was going to be some fire behavior modeling and mapping, and this is the first he has seen that released by the Town Council. He wondered if they could get a briefing or disclosure on who would be doing this, what the budget is for it, when it would be done, and when the public would be included in it. He asked how they would assess whether the modeling being done is effective and addresses the needs in the community, and whether the Wildfire Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committees would be involved, in addition to the public. He hoped that whatever modeling is done will be informed by, and reflective of, input and concerns of the public, as opposed to a done deal that is dropped on them.
Rita Comes commented that in the information for the study session, that there were comments about nine of the committees, out of 15 or 16 committees in the town. She said she is still concerned about undergrounding and seismic issues and was glad to see all the topics that were put out for a big conversation, but said she also wanted to see her fellow residents in a room, discussing the issues, and pulling these things together. She said although the town’s 4,500 residents appreciate all the work the Council does, they want to be in a room together to hear and discuss what is going on with the Safety Element, the seismic issues in town, the wildfire issues, which are all very important. She remarked that as the Town staff is overworked and having to use consultants to fill the holes, the residents see that and wonder if there is a way, they can help make it easier for the Town. She asked to be included and said residents can help, not just on committees but in other ways.
Mary Hufty agreed that one way to make the staff’s burden lighter would be to turn residents’ energy to good use, as they could be a useful crowd. She said residents have spent a lot of time and energy into understanding the issues the town faces and said it would be wonderful if the Council let them share some of that. For example, with the housing issue they could do a public forum in association with the Town to look at different affordable housing scenarios with experts. This would perhaps make everyone feel more represented and more heard. She wished the message, “Thank you for your interest,” was coming back from the Council. She said they wouldn’t be there if they didn’t believe the system was working and the Council was providing leadership.
Kristi Corley, whose previous comment time had been cut short, finished her thoughts, and was concerned about the overall traffic management plan with the additional building and the overall parking plan. She said she would like to see a 15- to 20-year plan for the town. She said it would be nice to be included in the conversation around the overall strategic plan, such as what Alpine Road or Portola Road would look like, with ideas from the residents, whether building should be on the main roads or if it could be clustered in different places. She said they care about their evacuation and need to work well with the Volume XLVII
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County, which owns the end of Alpine Road, the end of the evacuation route. She said what she hears is that they are just worrying about Portola Valley, however the road connects to 280 with a county road, and they want to know what the plan is to clear from Alpine Road at Ladera, all the way to 280. She thought the right side needs to be done in a better way.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff brought the item back to the Council for discussion.
Councilmember Aalfs thought the priorities he was hearing were the appropriate ones. He had been trying to think of any that are missing and did not see anything obvious. He hoped to hear Mayor Hughes’ and Councilmember Richards’ thoughts on it soon, but as a starting point he felt it looked great.
Councilmember Derwin also tried to assess what might be missing and shared some things she had thought of. She said that every year the Conservation Committee comes to say that they need money to take care of the Town-owned open spaces, like Spring Down, et cetera. She is never sure if they fully take care of those spaces and wanted to make sure that this was covered. She asked Town Manager Dennis which category this would fit into. He responded that it could be in a separate category and that she could direct staff to think about what that category is and bring it back at the second meeting of the study session. He said he is currently unaware of specific asks from the Conservation Committee to increase funding for any particular project of theirs, or for those they have responsibility to oversee.
Particularly in the last year, there has been a lot of work put into coordinating a variety of Conservationled efforts at Spring Down and other places that have been more challenging to accomplish. The Committee, through budget action by the Council, has been working with a consulting biologist. There were some items they were looking at potentially doing, but nothing substantial. He asked Mr. Young if he had any comments to add on this question. Mr. Young said when they know that the budget process is coming, that is when they will ask for additional things. In the past they have requested things from the Council, and have requested things from the staff. He said there was a test pilot item for Spring Down, for the weeds. Additionally, the committee will come to Council to ask other things such as removing trees, working on the pond, et cetera. He said they haven’t asked for anything yet. He is working with the committee and with the biologist, and anticipated that when budget time comes, they will have an additional ask beyond the annual requests.
Councilmember Derwin said under Sustainability, she was thinking back to when she first was on the Council in 2006. Steve Tobin and she started the first Sustainability Task Force. Over the years it has dwindled a bit. She said she wanted to beef up their initiatives and do something, such as a town microgrid or a community microgrid such as the one being discussed in La Honda. She said there was an idea years ago about using the culvert to store water, and since drought is looking bad again this summer, she would like to see a big water project. Also, she mentioned Mayor Hughes’ idea of detaching from PG&E.
Town Manager Dennis commented on water and said he and Mr. Young had a conversation about their fields, and he hoped everyone has seen them lately because they look amazing. He hoped to bring some colleagues from other cities to see the great work. Because of the drought, he said they are starting to do some irrigation early. It is a conversation that staff wants to have with the Sustainability Committee and others to decide what’s appropriate as they move into a much more permanently dry climate. Regarding the PG&E idea, he said Council put aside $100,000 for an undergrounding study with which they hope to do something this year. The money was set aside, in part, to reflect a similar study underway in Los Altos Hills, hoping to possibly find a way to do it a little cheaper. He said he will be discussing what to do next with Mayor Hughes and others soon. There is a direct link between microgrids and scalability, and there have been positive conversations with partners. Last week, he said he and Mayor Hughes had lunch with the Priory team and brought up the subject that a microgrid at the Priory could be of real benefit to the community, being close to the Sequoias. There was enthusiasm and interest in that. Whether or not it results in a microgrid project for Town Center, including a solar panel, remains to be seen. He suggested Councilmember Derwin could take that to the Sustainability Committee if there are projects around water that they are interested in that could be added as one of their priorities.
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Councilmember Derwin asked how they could integrate DEI, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, into all of their policy decisions, or if they are doing that. Town Manager Dennis said not as much as they want to, but they would love some input and direction from the Race and Equity Committee. Councilmember Aalfs suggested it should perhaps be a fifth priority. Councilmember Derwin also mentioned more recruiting of youth to the Town’s committees, which she said is naturally happening. She commented that there are two teenagers on the Race and Equity Committee who bring a lot to the group .
Town Manager Dennis asked if the Council would talk about what diversity and inclusion could look like.
From a staff perspective, he understood what they can be doing at the staff level, but said some additional commentary would be helpful, or perhaps they could ask the question directly of the Race and Equity Committee for any of their thoughts. Councilmember Derwin said her thought was about policy decisions, as they make ordinances or recommendations that they always put on the race and equity hat.
She thought it would be a great discussion for the committee. There are many examples of what other cities are doing and many available resources. Town Manager Dennis asked if she was comfortable with the staff also reaching out to the Chair of the Committee. Mayor Derwin thought this was fine.
Councilmember Aalfs noted that climate change is falling disproportionally on disadvantaged communities and communities of color, so he said that would fall under parts of the priorities as well. Councilmember Derwin added that PCE is integrating that into their decisions.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff remarked that there is an interest in having DEI in the priorities in a prominent way.
She suggested having that committee consider the priorities and give their thoughts about the best way to include it. She agreed with Councilmember Derwin that it is about the policy and the operations and assuring that DEI issues are considered across both of those.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff suggested regarding number 3, the Service Delivery Enhancement wording. She felt this was also about operations, so they could consider titling the item Operations and Service Delivery Enhancements. She agreed that staffing needs to be at the forefront of this. Regarding item C, particularly with the Planning and Building Department and Public Works, she felt that another thing that needed to stand out was project management, program management, tracking workflow, getting more focus on timelines et cetera. She said she had been thinking about, not just the operations of the Town, but the operations of the committees. She thought it might be a good time to take a fresh look at their operations and policies across the Board. She thought the Wildfire Emergency Preparedness list was very comprehensive. She said they would talk about this more in their Liaison Committee updates and Town Manager updates, particularly about Item E.
Regrading open space, Vice Mayor Wernikoff said in reading the town’s General Plan, open space is obviously a huge priority and focal point, and a founding pillar of the town. She saw the things they are focusing on under projects and work to sustain open space and environment as the kinds of things support that priority.
Town Manager Dennis reflected what he had heard from the Council, summarizing as follows: Checking with the Conservation Committee on potential additional budget asks. Look at additional sustainability work around water and PG&E/culvert. Look at DEI as a separate potential priority including linking it to sustainability efforts. Nomenclature changes to Priority 3. Continued focus on project management issues. Potentially an item related to operations of committees.
Town Manager Dennis acknowledged Assistant Town Manager Gaines for his help in putting this information together, including some new ways to portray the information. He shared that Council priorities was an area that Assistant Town Manager Gaines had worked on in the City of Mountain View.
While in years past, the Council priorities have been delivered in a very plain fashion, they will be looking at ways to make it a stronger presentation, including having something to literally hand out and pass around. Councilmember Derwin admitted that when she was reading through the packet she was thinking, “This is so much better than it was last year and the year before,” and now finds it’s because Assistant Town Manager Gaines did it. The Councilmembers and Town Manager Dennis were very appreciative of his efforts and contributions.
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(11) Recommendation by Town Manager – COVID Business Assistance Grant (CBAG) Program Update
Town Manager Dennis explained to the Council that under the American Rescue Plan Act, monies are available to the Town to distribute to businesses to support COVID relief, and it is still a challenge for businesses to get back up to speed. The recommendation is an update to the program they used once before, the CBAG, utilizing those funds, with slight amendments to the existing program guidelines and application. He recommended a few changes that Vice Mayor Wernikoff and he discussed yesterday that would improve the product. First, on the application he planned to add a space for how much money was being asked for. Also, he would like the application to include a spot for someone to put the description of their COVID impacts. ,They would then go back out to the community to announce that the program exists. There was quite a bit of participation the last time they made funds available through the general fund and SMC Strong. He anticipated that most of the funds would be expended for this purpose. It is an already-budgeted item, so no amendment was needed. He said they are eager to go out to the business community to see how they can be helpful again.
Vice Mayor Hughes invited questions from the Council. Hearing none, she invited public comments on the item. With no public comments, she asked if there was further discussion among the Council.
Motion by Councilmember Derwin to update the existing COVID Business Assistant Grant Program from the General Fund to American Rescue Plan funds to support local businesses impacted by COVID.
Seconded by Councilmember Aalfs, the motion carried unanimously, by roll call vote. (12) Colleagues Memo from Mayor Hughes – Revisit the Committee Handbook Policies on Harassment
Vice Mayor Wernikoff suggested, since Mayor Hughes was not in attendance to present this item, that it be continued to a future meeting.
Councilmember Derwin and Councilmember Aalfs concurred.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff accepted a comment from Kristi Corley, who wanted to report that Councilmember Aalfs had disappeared, and she said it would be nice to see everyone at all times. (13) COUNCIL LIAISON COMMITTEE AND REGIONAL AGENCIES REPORTS Councilmember Aalfs attended the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee meeting on the 31st. The main topic of discussion was the Affiliated Housing Program, which is the program they have used to enable multi-family housing with some of their institutional partners, notably, the Priory. The program also includes the Sequoias, Stanford University, and the Town. They also included Ladera Church as a member of the program now. It was a good discussion, and everyone learned a lot about it. The upshot of the discussion was that for the most part the Affiliated Housing Program would be a very small contribution to the overall RHNA numbers in the cycle, but an important one. He said it has been a tremendous success with widespread appreciation for the value of the program as a successful way for the Priory to house more people in town. Judy Murphy gave a summary of the Committee of Committees meeting.
Councilmember Derwin met on February 1st with Assemblyman Marc Berman and Supervisor Don Horsley and his Chief of Staff, Chris Hunter. They had a very positive meeting regarding an ask for $5 million for building two roundabouts on Alpine Road at La Mesa and La Questa. They will see what the next step is. She said she was approached by Lenny Roberts and Lynn White [phonetic] of Ladera to help with this. Portola Valley would benefit from this as roundabouts would greatly improve traffic flow on Alpine in the event of an evacuation or other disaster.
Councilmember Derwin attended a briefing by the ED of C/CAG who is also on the Executive Council of the Express Lanes JPA. She and another member of the Express Lanes Board were briefed about Volume XLVII
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agreements they have been laboring through with CalTrans, since the Express Lanes are opening Friday.
They next day they had the actual meeting, which was a milestone day because Lisa Klein was there from MTC. They went over the agreement with BAHFA, which is the front-end operator. BATA is the back-office staff for Express Lanes. They finally approved a 40-year contract with CalTrans which they have been negotiating for more than a year, including four closed sessions. They would be having a ceremony for the opening of the Express Lanes, and on Friday they will be open from the south county line to Whipple. The next piece, going to 380, they hope will open in the fall, when it will join with Express Lanes in Santa Clara County. A Flex transponder is needed to use the Express Lanes. A CAV transponder is adequate if in a clean air vehicle. Councilmember Derwin said the old-fashioned one is okay for one person, but the discount applies only if there are multiple people in the car.
Councilmember Derwin attended the Library JPA meeting. There was a report from the Strategic Plan subcommittee on a patron survey that was completed, with good information collected to help make plans for the future. The mid-year financial report was presented. The budget this year was $72 million, with 135 permanent positions. They are currently in SCIU negotiations. The Director’s Report included news on new hires, new branch managers in Pacifica, North Fair Oaks, East Palo Alto and San Carlos. The Maker Spaces have been selected for a new nationwide initiative. The award was validation of their leadership in the Maker Spaces. Shelving is being installed at Atherton Library. She thought they would be moving in this month or next month, with a grand opening coming soon. Councilmember Derwin said they had a wonderful video about partnership with Sustainable Future Outdoor Academy, where they took kids from Mill Brae, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, and San Carlos on a field trip to Pie Ranch.
Councilmember Aalfs added that the Future Outdoor Academy is the brainchild of a Portola Valley resident, Scott Harmon, who has been running it for two years. Peninsula Clean Energy funded him for part of it. Councilmember Derwin reiterated the quality of the video and thought she could perhaps put the link to the video in the newsletter.
Councilmember Derwin attended the Race and Equity meeting. After a slow start with some technical difficulties, Judy did an update on the Committee of Committees, Andrew did an update on the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee. There was a lot of talk about housing. They approved their town seal project. Andrew gave an update on policies. He had written an anti-discrimination policy for Palo Alto, which he has modified for Portola Valley. They talked about Black History Month and putting some things on the Forum. They discussed their resource page on their webpage and which projects they might want to include on PV Donates. There was discussion of how some of the CCNRs have racial covenants and how Ladera worked to have theirs removed. One of the guests had been to a program in Menlo Park that had discussed it. They thought it would be an interesting project for the town, if they could envision how to do it. There was an idea for a speaker.
Councilmember Derwin attended the Resource Management and Climate Protection Committee meeting, where they had two gentlemen from La Honda speak about their plans for power since they have so many outages, winter and summer. She talked to the District Director of Anna Eshoo’s office to try to refer them for some funding.
Councilmember Aalfs added to his report that last month at Peninsula Clean Energy’s Special Board meeting, they approved their first ever large-scale storage project through a group called California Clean Power, which is a joint powers authority made up of nine CCAs in California. The CCP approved a contract for a 69-megawatt storage facility, of which about 19 megawatts is PCE’s share. This is the first of likely many projects. Their internal analysis of the project shows it to be almost free. It could be adding to their bottom line when factoring in all of the ways the battery gets used. He thought they would see many more projects like this going forward, through PCE and other CCAs.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff attended the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee meeting. She had a WPC meeting and was on a San Mateo County Fire Safe meeting. The Wildfire Preparedness Committee was a great meeting with high attendance – over 50 people. There was a 90-minute presentation from Ray Moritz, an overview of his 2008 study and his methodology relative to CalFire. They talked about the impacts of slope, wind conditions, vegetation management and ground proofing best practices. It was a Volume XLVII
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very detailed overview and is posted on the Town’s website for anyone who wants to watch it. The study will be one of the inputs into the Housing Element process and the constraints map being developed by the committee. The evacuation study was discussed, with an update from the consultant from Fehr and Peers followed by Q&A from attendees. Since the meeting they now have an email address available to the evacuation subcommittee members who are running point on communications with the community.
Town Manager Dennis advised the study is not up on the website just yet. He inquired of the subcommittee whether they wanted any additional description of what they were asking for before putting the email out to the public. Vice Mayor Wernikoff said the project timeline is a bit delayed, by about a month, but is on track for inputs into the Safety Element.
The third agenda item was an update to the charter. They decided to add a subcommittee to focus on finance related to fire issue, both public and private financial support for mitigation. A list of ideas they will be working on includes Woodside Fire Protection bond, parcel tax, changes to the UUT, private funding, Town matching fund, potential for Open Space fund, grants, et cetera. They will be looking at many things, because there is a lot of work to be done. They also dropped an ASCC member as a requirement in their charter. The last item was an update from MJ, one of the committee members, timestamped 2:50 in the video. She talked about her pilot program that the WPC will be working on and gave an overview from walking 15 neighborhoods in town over a series of different days with her husband. She said based on her observations, she felt that only about 10 percent of properties have actually done the recommended mitigation work. She also had an infographic to share. She encouraged everyone to watch the meeting because there is good information there.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff attended a great meeting of the San Mateo Fire Safe group. There was an outstanding presentation by Yana Valachovich, a forest advisor and County Director for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. She gave a very thorough update on the 20-21 map report and a great presentation on learnings from Paradise and the Marshal fires. An additional item on their agenda was San Mateo Parks giving an update on vegetation management.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff reflected since being on both WPC and as Co-Chair of the Housing Element, she feels she is seeing firsthand the dynamics between the two topics in the town and the inherent conflict between the state housing mandates and their location in the WUI. Sitting in both forums and hearing the comments, she said, has been fascinating to see how the two things come together. She shared some comments she had prepared reflecting on this. In the discussions around fire, she continues to hear an outsized emphasis on fire issues pertaining to new development, relative to the work that can be done on existing properties. She observed this in many of their meetings, on PV Forum and in the Fire Safe meeting. She said they have approximately 1,700 existing parcels in Portola Valley and 10 new building permits per year in the last few years, including ADUs. This means new construction makes up 0.5 percent of the total parcels, based on these rates. Even if they built 253 mandated units tomorrow it would still just be 13 percent of the total parcels. She wondered why there is so much focus on the new and so little focus on the existing, particularly thinking about the things that Ray Moritz and MJ Lee presented at the meeting. She said, worst case scenario, if they had a fire this coming season, she felt if they are focused on mitigation on the 1,700 properties, they would do much more for their community than focusing on things like building separation on a handful of new properties, although building separation is important.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff expressed that it is not her role to be a fire expert, and she preferred to leave that up to Woodside Fire Protection District and looked forward to their next set of codes. She said there are a lot of people in town concerned about development, which she understands. She shared that she moved to Portola Valley 15 years ago for the same reasons most of the residents did – for the open space, the nature, and the beauty. She said, for the record, she does not like SB 9 either, but she knows they can do better to make their community more accessible. Sitting on the two different committees and thinking about these things, she felt if peoples’ concern is development, then she wished for them to say so, to be honest and real about their concerns. They all have a right to their opinion, including members of PVNU.
If their real concern is development, she asked to please just be transparent, address it in the Housing Element committee meetings or, even better, by reaching out to state representative. She asked that they Volume XLVII
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stop using wildfire as a political tool, because politicizing wildfire as a strategy to prevent development, not only will it not change RHNA, but it will distract the community from real ways they can make their community more firesafe, which have been worked on tirelessly by members of the WPC over the last few years.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff said she was certain she would catch some heat for her comments, but with publication of the Stanford EIR around the corner, she felt they should daylight this issue and start to have honest conversations. She said questioning the motives of some will not be well received, but if the authentic concern is truly wildfire, then please consider balancing the emphasis on all fire mitigation approaches, not just the ones related to development. These were things she had been thinking about while sitting in the meetings and wanted to share. She recalled hearing a comment suggesting that they haven’t been talking about mapping in the public forums; however, she said this was talked about in detail several times in the Ad Hoc Housing Element committee. She shared the comment again in the WPC and Planning and Building Director Russell talked about it in the Planning Commission meeting, and they have also shared information about it online.
Vice Mayor Hughes invited comments from the public.
Caroline Vertongen’s comment was inaudible due to a poor phone connection.
David Cardinal felt Vice Mayor Wernikoff’s comments were wonderful, heartfelt, and brave, and he thanked her for making them. He felt it resonated with many of them who may not speak up in the meetings but are interested in the health of Portola Valley.
Rita Comes commented on behalf of PVNU, Portola Valley Neighbors United. She said there are many things in their information in The Almanac, on their website, information on the Safety Element, about all 4,500 residents, not just new development. She said there are many, many issues and over 1,700 homes. She said at PVNU they care about each and every home and all of the residents in the town. She said her own safety, her daughter’s safety, her home, her street. She said when people are asking about letting people know more than just the 300 feet distance from the project, the 1,000 feet distance from the project, those are real questions and PVNU is interested in all the questions, the concerns, the evacuation for all 4,500 residents, not just the new people in the town building their dream homes. She said they care about the people that live and work in the town, the people in Ladera who may have to evacuate, coming through their town. There are real concerns for each and every one of them, and they do not take them lightly.
Karen Vahtra thanked Vice Mayor Wernikoff for getting involved in wildfire and taking in all of the details of this complex issue. She commented on the ten percent that MJ gave as an estimate for the number of homes completely ready. She said it is a huge task to take an older home and change the siding, get rid of the wood shake roof, enclose the eaves, clean up the zero to five zone. It is a hard thing to measure and declare something as completely done. She said there’s a lot they must do in town, particularly with the zero to five-foot zone. She felt the 10-percent statistic is somewhat vague, although she appreciated what MJ has done, but almost every home has something they can do today to make their home safer so it will survive.
Caroline Vertongen said many of them have lived in Portola Valley longer than 15 years and have raised these public safety issues, not just wildfire, for many years, which is why they established the General Plan with the Safety Element and many more guidelines. She said many people have spoken, but people give up if they are not being heard. She said they are very committed to the community and will continue to care about all the parents, families, students. They must come to solutions, because it has taken too long, too many years, and too many budgets used for consultant after consultant. They will continue to be committed to protect their community, and she hoped the Council would be too.
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Bob Adams mentioned Vice Mayor Wernikoff’s comments about attitudes and thoughts behind concerns.
He said his specifically is fire. There is a development issue and many people who have other issues about SB 9. He said he is not a fan of SB 9, but it is not his issue. His issue is fire. His fire insurance was cancelled, and that got his attention. There was also Paradise and Marshal. He said looking back at what has happened, back to 2008-2009 when the Town decided not to accept the fire maps from CalFire because they didn’t agree with them, the reason for it turned out to be homeowner’s insurance and property values, which was the wrong priority. Fire safety is a much higher priority than property values and insurance costs. He hoped they were not thinking that all of residents fighting to get fire codes updated are doing it for something other than their concern about fire. it wasn’t done originally in 2008- 2009, and now they are 12 years later, and still don’t have it. They know that Marshal occurred, and Paradise occurred, so some of them are concerned about separation and density, which is his motivation.
Bob Turcott thanked Vice Mayor Wernikoff for her comments. Speaking for himself, he said his focus on the development is because he sees almost exclusive focus on vegetation management and home hardening, and neglect of the development issue. He pointed out again that Portola Valley has never designated very high fire hazard areas and because of that, residents have been denied the benefits of Cal Fire regulations and state fire safety mandates that apply to such areas. He said it’s true that development represents a small percent. But within the last year an ADU has been constructed in the chimney of the canyon, 50 feet from his family’s evacuation route, whereas other houses are 125 to 150 feet from the road. It will be upwind from the evacuation route when the canyon burns. There is no requirement for internal sprinkling. The Town Council had the option of excluding areas as unsafe in implementing the mandate, but it did not. This is why he is committed to this aspect of fire safety. He said he is also committed, despite being strongly opposed to the RHNA allocation and strongly arguing that the Council should appeal, he is committed to satisfying their requirements under the mandate and planning for the 253 safe units. He said he resented having someone presume to know what his motives are, which happened on Portola Valley Forum recently, offering no evidence of how they concluded that he is motivated by an anti-development stance. He hoped they would calibrate assumptions about people who are engaged. He said he thinks there are several substantive decisions the Council has had that are not in the interest of fire safety, and that it is legitimate to discuss them independent of development.
Mary Hufty said she prides herself on her integrity and said her motives are clear. She has a complete commitment to the environmental contribution Portola Valley can make to counter climate change. She thought they absolutely need to realize that they have something to offer the greater communities, and she is no way motivated against development. She said people try make it look like it was antidevelopment, but when she looks at a piece of land and realizes what they are planning on doing with a true open space, a true last surviving wild place in Portola Valley, which is seismically dangerous, fire dangerous, and suddenly ignoring all their risks to be able to put in development, she felt it was necessary to bring these issues to the attention of leadership and the town. She said although the Wedge is a big part of her awakening, it is not her motivation, and the development and affordable housing part is part of her mission, because she believes they have to have a more diverse community, economic diversity, which is a key to a health community, and is what they strive for at PVNU. Ms. Hufty said to tell them that they have a limited scope and poor motivation is stereotyping, and although she appreciated Vice Mayor Wernikoff’s honesty, she thinks it has been too tempting to marginalize people.
Kristi Corley said she was seeing only one Councilmember and now sees two. She asked if they have a quorum. Vice Mayor Wernikoff advised that they are not voting on anything right now, and that Councilmember Aalfs lost his connection but is back on now. Mayor Derwin said she was there but didn’t have her camera on.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff closed the public comments, having accepted one comment per person, per topic.
Mayor Derwin thanked Vice Mayor Wernikoff for words that were true, brave and beautiful. (14) TOWN MANAGER REPORT
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Town Manager Dennis said the town recently lost the services of Sergeant Andy 1:40 of the Sheriff’s Office, number two in the Sheriff’s Office under their contract. He will meet the new sergeant he will meet in coming days.
Regarding mapping efforts, Town Manager Dennis shared that through engagement with Zeke Lunder, a subconsultant on the Safety Element portions related to the Housing Element, they have had a few conversations with him about an opportunity to do some additional mapping for the town and/or fire behavioral mapping as he previewed at the last Housing Element Committee meeting. There is also a conversation that the Woodside Fire Protection District is having about a similar project. At their January 25th meeting they authorized development of an RFP for that process. He said, in talking with Chief Lindner and the Fire Marshal, he has been interested in hearing more about whether the Town should pursue its own efforts, or whether such mapping should happen at the District level. He felt there was an advantage to it happening at the District level, given that fire doesn’t stop at borders and the Fire Protection District is really the responsible party on these matters. Regardless of how it develops over the course of the next period of time, he expected the information they are collecting for fire maps through the Housing Element/Safety Element process and other inputs would guide future land use development conversations in town, and potentially lead to a variety of other initiatives and projects.
Town Manager Dennis said he and the Mayor met with the Priory leadership and had a wonderful discussion, which they do on a quarterly basis. He also attended the Open Space Acquisition Committee which had a good discussion on a variety of items, one of which was expansion of the town’s vegetation management programs, particularly in the right-of-way, but applying some of the lessons into the open space properties. There will be much more to do, but they seemed interested and eager to participate in the process.
He attended the monthly meeting with the Sequoias residents. Their Executive Director left, having been there for only a short time. They are currently operating with an interim ED. He also had a conversation with a representative of AARP about bringing a senior scam event to the town. He has also been talking to the Department of Insurance about the insurance which is more difficult to get a handle on. He said AARP offers regular such events and he hoped to bring that programming to the community.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff invited public comments.
David Cardinal commented on the previous item and asked for people who are pro-development but not anti-fire, where they thought they could put the housing, because they have tried almost everywhere in town. He was curious if they would offer suggestions as to where they would put the additional units that they think would be okay.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff mentioned that agenda item 9 was the survey that is going to be going out from the Housing Element committee, and it is about exactly what David Cardinal had just commented on, preferences for this new housing. She encouraged everyone to look for that in their inbox. She asked Town Manager Dennis to share how the survey was going out. He said the survey will go to every person’s email that the Town has, through every channel that they have, in addition to partnering with other institutions in town to put the information out. They hoped that the School District, the Priory, Women’s Club and others will help with it. The Housing Element committee members are being asked to put it through their own channels as well, in addition to every committee member. He said it is a very useful and important component of the process. He added that there is an upcoming meeting of the Housing Element on the 22nd. It will be a good meeting, because they will present additional hazard risk maps, including fire-related information.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
(15) Town Council Digest – January 27 , 2022
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(16) Town Council Digest – February 3, 2022
ADJOURNMENT [ 8:49 p.m.]
_____________________________ _________________________ Mayor Town Clerk