1 PORTOLA VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING NO. xxx, April 13, 2021
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Derwin called the Town Council’s Special Teleconference-only meeting and advised that the Council would adjourn to closed session until around 7:00 p.m. and would return and continue with the public meeting. Ms. Kari Chinn called the roll.
Present: Councilmembers Jeff Aalfs and Maryann Derwin; Vice Mayor Sarah Wernikoff; Mayor Craig Hughes
Absent: Councilmember John Richards
Others: Jeremy Dennis, Town Manager
Cara Silver, Town Attorney
Howard Young, Public Works Director
Kari Chinn, Communications & Community Engagement Analyst Attendees: Caroline Vertongen
Jim Lawrence
Rita Comes
Serra Simbeck
Bob Turcott
Kristi Corley
Nan Shostak
Betsy Morgenthaler
Danna Breen
Judith Murphy
Rita Comes
ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
(1) Public Employee Performance Evaluation Government Code Section §54957(b)(1) Title – Town Manager
REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION REPORT
Mayor Hughes advised there was nothing to report out of the closed session.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Caroline Vertongen mentioned that her records are not being recorded for the public and she wondered why. She submitted letters to the Town Council and Planning staff members on March 22, and she did not see them posted. She sent information regarding parking issues and traffic on Woodside Priory. She said Mr. Krupka did a study that is now reported on the project, back in June, and none of the studies have been discussed in the BPTS meeting. She didn’t understand the continued disconnect between allowing residents to participate in solving problems when none of their comments are being appreciated or even being taken into consideration.
Jim Lawrence, Chairman of the Board, Fixin’ San Mateo County, said he formerly served as Mayor of Foster City. He shared that Fixin’ San Mateo County is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit whose mission to elect a civilian oversight board and inspector general’s office for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Also they strongly recommend that the Board of Supervisors use their legislative authority via AB 1185 to install this civilian oversight board for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. He stated that they live in a democracy, and all elected leaders have checks and balances, including President Biden, the Senate, Congress and 2 the Supreme Court, Governor Newsome, the Senate and the California Supreme Court, and even local Police Chief Avelar of Foster City, the City Manager and City Council. He said their County Sheriff has no checks and balances, answers to and reports to no one. Although elected every four years, he said other elected officials are elected as well. He said 220 cities and counties nationwide, including 25 cities and counties in California, now have civilian oversight boards and inspector general offices, including, San Francisco, Sonoma, Sacramento and Santa Clara. With installation of the oversight board, the general public would gain transparency into this vital county governmental office in which they invest annually $300 million of taxpayer funds. More importantly, it would begin to build community trust in those who are given the right to enforce their laws and issue fair and impartial treatment for all San Mateo County residents. He said it is common sense, good government and fiscally responsible to have transparency and accountability for their tax dollars. He requested, on behalf of all of San Mateo County, the Council’s endorsement and support for Fixin’ San Mateo County’s efforts and that they join them in requesting that the Board of Supervisors use their legislative authority to enact the civilian oversight board and inspector general office of the San Mateo County Sheriff.
Rita Comes said she attended many of the Town meetings and noted that some have been cancelled and technically not started due to not having a quorum, such as the Bicycle Traffic group and Wildfire group and others who were not able to have meetings due to the quorum issue. She said there was a Race and Equity meeting the previous evening which did not have a quorum but proceeded as an unofficial meeting, going through the agenda for over an hour. There were two discussions about the quorum issue during the meeting, one at the beginning and one at the end, regarding a committee member’s status.
She wanted to know where she could find clarification on what constitutes a quorum for Portola Valley.
She said many town meetings have been cancelled recently, or are not on the schedule for some time.
She sent an email last month and another this week to the Finance Committee to ask about the 2020 and 2021 audits that have not been done and has not heard back from anyone, and the minutes for that committee have not been updated for some time, similar to other committees. With the COVID monies, the PPE monies and other funds, she said there have been issues caught in recent audits, so she was concerned about this. She asked who to contact in regard to these issues. She also asked for clarification on quorum question, stating that at the wildfire meeting on the 5 th she heard something about
the number of people on the committee counting against how many people make a quorum, even with empty slots on the committee. She wondered if the Handbooks addresses this information. What she heard at the wildfire committee meeting was for Mayor Hughes and Town Attorney Silver.
Town Manager Dennis responded to Ms. Comes’ comment, stating he was made aware that the meeting for the Race and Equity Committee did go on without a quorum. He noted that the practice of the Town is, when a quorum is not reached, for the meeting to end. He said he asked the Town Attorney to send a reminder to Councilmembers and Committee members of this and that he has responded a few times related to the audit, and explained that the 19-20 audit was delayed for a variety of reasons, partially due to the ability of the auditing firm to be available at the times staff was available. The Town had also had basically one staff member operating the Finance Department for some time, They have had multiple conversations with the auditor and are expecting them to be in the office in about two weeks for the ’19- ’20 audit. The ’20-’21 audit will likely be completed in the summer months. This is consistent with messaging he sent out earlier.
Councilmember Derwin mentioned that she was at the Race and Equity Committee meeting the previous evening, and said she would take responsibility for allowing them to go on without a quorum, because in the many years she has been on the Council, they have conducted meetings without quorums, and no action is taken. The discussions followed the agenda. She said she is happy to follow whatever the current practice is and thought it would be helpful for Town Attorney Silver to write this out and send it to the committees, and she will be happy to follow it.
Town Attorney Silver commented that they have adopted the Committee Handbook, and there are some guidelines in it with respect to the quorum. The current practice in the Handbook is that if there is not a quorum, then the committee should not be meeting. However, she said, there are many committees in the town, and they have not had a training recently. They are trying to get the word out, as Town Manager 3 Dennis had mentioned. She said they will send out a memo to refresh everyone’s memory on quorum rules.
Mayor Hughes invited further comments from the public.
Serra Simbeck commented it was her first time participating in a town meeting. She wanted to express her profound gratitude to all of the Town staff, the Town Council and all the committee members who have been dedicating so much time to all of the complex issues the town is facing currently, particularly, the state mandate for affordable housing and the housing element work. She has read the entire March 23rd staff report regarding the Housing Element discussion, which she found well-done and informative.
She wished every community member had the document so they could begin to understand the complexity and the urgency of the situation before the town. Clearly, not complying with the mandates is not an option, and she did not think Portola Valley wants to be known as the town that couldn’t find a place for affordable housing. She said she has read the articles in The Almanac and learned about the personal and legal attacks launched against the volunteer members of the Council and Housing Element Committee. She was dismayed at what seems like a lot of negative pushback on staff and the Council and committee volunteers with very little appreciation for the complexity of the situation. She was appalled by the vitriol and lack of civility expressed by some community members and does not think this is representative of the community as a whole. As a 17-year resident, she said it is certainly not the Portola Valley she knows and loves. As a person in long-time public service, she is worried about the negative discourse and multiple requests for public records and that it may be creating a toxic environment for staff and volunteers, which is stressful and distracting. She felt it was probably taking valuable time away from the real work that needs to get done to meet the deadline and keep the Town functioning in general. She was concerned about being able to attract qualified, reasonable people to run for office in the community if this is what they face. Her plea to community members was for civility and reason going through the process, adding that Portola Valley is made up of wonderful people who elected them and have faith in them to make good decisions, and that the residents want to be helpful. She encouraged the Town Council, staff and volunteers to get the information, especially regarding the Housing Element topic, to the entire community as much as possible so that reasonable minds can prevail and they can work together to find acceptable solutions.
Bob Turcott thanked Councilmember Richards for sharing his memories of life in Portola Valley as a child and young adult. He said he hoped going forward, to the extent there are opportunities, that Councilmembers will similarly share their experiences and perspectives beyond the details of the particular agenda items. He shared a concern that the agenda packet for the last Council meeting included a letter from the chairs of three safety committees asking the Council to approve the formation of a subcommittee staffed by members from each committee to participate in the revision of the Safety Element, which has been underway for eight months. He had advocated for resident participation, especially after residents were excluded from the preparation of the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plan, which he said grossly understated the town’s wildfire risk. After speaking at the last meeting, he said the Mayor indicated that although the issue was not on the agenda, the letter was included in The Council Digest, the last agenda item of the evening, and he asked the resident to hold their comments about the letter until then. Mr. Turcott said that Dale Pfau, Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee, was called on after him and, in deference to the Mayor’s request, indicated that he would hold his comments until the item came up. Mr. Turcott said he remained on the call in order to hear the discussion on the item, which was reached close to midnight. The Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee tried to speak at that time, but was not allowed to, and there was silence from the Council regarding the request in the letter. Mr. Turcott said his understanding is the Brown Act mandates that residents be given an opportunity to address each item on the agenda. The fact that the Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee was prevented from speaking seemed to him to be a violation of the Brown Act. He said he felt there were also potential First Amendment issues with this as well. He asked if this was a one-time fluke, or if it was felt to be a valid and reasonable approach by the Council. He asked if there is a mechanism by which residents can get clarification of Council policy regarding such questions, and also how the process for the Hazard Mitigation Plan will be revised and approved, and how the requests of the chairs of the safety committee will be addressed. He felt these important questions deserved answers but it wasn’t obvious to him how they could get them.
4 Kristi Corley shared concern that many meetings are being cancelled due to lack of quorums, which means they cannot approve minutes, and the public cannot read minutes from many meetings ago. She said if they are to prepare as a town with a DEIR – Draft Environmental Report – for the Stanford Wedge and they can’t attend meetings such as the Bicycle Pedestrian and Traffic committee meeting where they can discuss things, then she felt it is not good for the residents. It affects information to the residents to prepare any comments they want to make for future applications. Also, she said the calendar does not show that the meetings have been cancelled for the current and previous weeks, which is a concern as well, that the calendar is not updated so residents know what’s happening.
Mayor Hughes pointed out that the calendar is specifically maintained as a calendar of upcoming events, so if the time for a meeting comes and a quorum is not present, the calendar is not retroactively modified to reflect that. Town Manager Dennis said for any committee meeting where there is not a quorum, the packet is still posted with the minutes. While they are not approved minutes, they are available for the public to review.
CONSENT AGENDA
(2) Approval of Minutes – Action and Detailed Summary Minutes for March 23, 2022 (3) Approval of Warrant List – April 13, 2022
(4) Report by Town Manager – 2
nd Quarter Budget Report
(5) Appointment by Mayor – Member to the Emergency Preparedness Committee (6) Recommendation by Town Manager – Town Permit Modifications to Support Wildfire Resiliency
(7) Recommendation by Town Attorney – Adoption of a Resolution Confirming the State of Emergency and Need to Continue Conducting Town Public Meetings Remotely (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. 2884-2022)
(8) Recommendation by Part Time Assistant to the Town Manager – Second Reading of Ordinance and Waive Further Reading Repealing Old Chapter 8.08 of the Portola Valley Municipal Code and Adding New Chapter 8.08 [Refuse Disposal and Collection and Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction] to Implement SB 1383
(a) Second Reading of Title, Waive Further Reading, and Adopt and Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley, Repealing Old Chapter 8.08 [Garbage] and Adding New Chapter 8.08 [Refuse Disposal and Collection and Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction] to Title 8 [Health and Safety] of the Portola Valley Municipal Code (Ordinance No. 2021-445)
(9) Recommendation by Public Works Director - Annual Street Resurfacing Project FY 2022/2023 – Surface Seals Project No. 2022-PW01
(a) Adoption of a Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley Approving Plans and Specifications and Calling for Bids for the 2022/2023 Street Resurfacing Project Surface Seals No. 2022-PW01 (Resolution No. 2885-2022) (10) Recommendation by Town Attorney - Approval of Two Affordable Housing Agreements between the Town and Benedictine Fathers Priory Inc. governing (1) two of six apartments and (2) Gambetta Lane
5 Mayor Hughes invited public comment on Consent Agenda items.
Caroline Vertongen questioned item 10, stating she only got notification about this item the day before, and she is usually on the list to get all notices. She was looking through the documents that were attached, starting at 113, and said it looks like the map does not indicate the address that is presented – 104 and 102 Gambetta Lane. Regarding parcel number three, she said it is accessed via Nathorst, so she didn’t understand how this map would be relevant to the proposed agreement for the two of six apartments and 102 Gambetta Lane. She said they still have an amended CUP from December 15th that was approved, but with conditions, so they cannot appeal a project if they don’t know what the conditions are. She said in the emails she sent it is frustrating when they have a Bicycle, Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee that is not even involved in this. She said they need to be able to research the information about the deed restriction. She believed the whole community above the Priory is part of the Martina [phonetic] branch built in the 1800’s. She hoped they would pull the item and give more clarification and assurance to the neighbors in the area, because if affordable housing units are built on that parcel, then it will affect several people.
Councilmember Aalfs moved to approve Consent Agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Derwin, the motion carried 4-0, by roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
(11) Update from Fire Marshal Don Bullard – Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) Work
Town Manager Dennis thanked Fire Marshal Bullard and the Fire Chief and Woodside Fire Protection District for getting this resource grant for the community that the Town of Woodside and the County of San Mateo is partnering in. He introduced Doug Green of Headwaters Economics and CPAW.
Fire Marshal Bullard explained that the District has partnered with the CPAW Group, out of Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Montana and introduced Doug Green, who would be giving a background on what Headwaters Economics does and how the CPAW group relates to that group, and also what they have done thus far through the grant and what the future plans are moving forward toward the end of the year.
Mr. Doug Green shared that he is from Bend, Oregon. He spent 25 years with the Bend Fire Department working on the line and doing wildfire mitigation for the City of Bend. Before that he was a land use planner with the City of Bend. He said his background fits in perfectly with the CPAW program is doing.
Mr. Green explained that the CPAW program is a program of Headwaters Economics which is a think tank, non-profit, non-partisan organization out of Bozeman, Montana. Headwaters tackles big, high-level community issues around the country, such as flooding, vulnerable populations, economic impacts of open space and a diverse group of topics. One of the things they started taking on in the early 2010’s was wildfire. The Executive Director at the time realized that getting ahead of wildfire on the front end makes it much more effective than dumping billions of dollars in on the back end, under suppression efforts. His goal was to come up with a program to look at wildfire issue through the lens of land use planning and community documents, versus the suppression side of things. The first year of the CPAW program was 2015. In the program, the organization looks at the wildfire issue through the lens of land use planning and other things. Historically, they have done things in four different buckets, and now a fifth one that has become more important recently, but their bread and butter is land use planning. Having heard comments earlier in the evening regarding what Portola Valley is facing, he said they will go into communities, dive into their hazard mitigation plans, their subdivision ordinances, their comp plans, CWPPs, general plans, and anything and everything to do with wildfire. They make sure that everything within their plans aligns with wildfire mitigation, and they look for opportunities to tie those things together, maybe bringing in updated language from the current best science, making sure plans do not contradict other plans, which they tend to find in a lot of communities, and making sure everything aligns with the goal of wildfire mitigation.
6 Mr. Green said they also offer hazard assessments, partnering with organizations to help communities do the assessments they need in order to move the needle forward regarding wildfire adaptation. The organization offers capacity building, whether in presentations, education for land use planners and/or policymakers. Their goal is to help implement anything they can to help the community become more wildfire resilient. Research and science is another thing they do, working closely with IBHS and a number of different organizations to come up with science-based education that the community needs to make valid and implementable decisions in that community. They also find communication to be very important so that their recommendations, assessments, research and science can be shared with the policy-makers and decision-makers who are going to make things happen. Coming up with new and effective communication tools for the community over the past years, especially with social media becoming more and more relevant, is a priority.
Mr. Green explained that CPAW’s contract is with Woodside Fire Protection District, and also with the Town of Portola Valley and the Town of Woodside. They realized that with the leverage they could gain with this overlap it made sense to take on all three communities at once. He said this is very exciting for them, because not only do the entities’ leadership have a tremendous amount of education, passion and drive to get things done, but the community is also amazingly educated and passionate about the wildfire issue. He said he understands why, and having worked in many communities around the country, it is exciting to work in this area because they find things that they can take to other communities which will make a huge difference there. The MOU for the project was signed last year Woodside Fire Protection District and both towns. He said they have worked with over 80 communities throughout the country, most in the West Coast and Rockies, but some in the Midwest and East Coast. He pointed out that they are free of charge to the community and are funded through the Forest Service, which is starting to understand the importance of working on the front end instead of solely on the suppression side and understanding the importance of trying to make a difference in the built environment, not necessarily just forest treatment. The Forest Service funds their organization one hundred percent so that they can work in communities such as Portola Valley and even tiny communities in Eastern Colorado, free of charge. Mr.
Green explained that the CPAW Program was contacted by all three communities applying together, and they decided it would be an exciting opportunity to take on all three communities, looking at Woodside Fire Protection District as the umbrella. Although there are more restrictions in the communities than there are in the District, it all works together.
Mr. Green gave an overview of what they are doing in the community, diving into this extremely complicated issue, including all of the regulations the town is aware of. He said it will take a while longer before they come up with recommendations and suggestions, and they won’t have a magic, silver bullet that will fix everything, but they will end up coming up with recommendations to offer the community.
These will not be requirements, but recommendations that the community can take and that CPAW can help implement. He said their biggest push is coming up with a broad community wildfire resiliency strategy, something to blend and support everything that Woodside Fire Protection District and the Towns of Portola Valley and Woodside are already doing, into a single resiliency strategy that holds everything underneath it. This includes an inventory of best practices already happening on the ground, what the group is already doing, and what is successful and what is not, giving them a foundation on which to start.
They are also looking at best practices from other comparable communities around the country to explore if there are other things they can implement that may be effective in the community. The broad strategy is to come up with something that works for the entire community, that supports the whole and that they know is not working against other parts of the community, providing the land use recommendation language and broadening the network that can support the community.
The communication strategy includes making sure there is cohesion and coordination between all the different departments – the towns and the District – making sure there are no loopholes and that they can find opportunities to help the departments work more closely together. He said it is amazing how many times they go into communities and find that someone is not talking to someone else, and should be.
They come up with flow charts, et cetera, to help communities work better with each other. He shared some of their outreach materials to bolster communitywide awareness, from department leaders, to homeowners, all the way up to the policymakers.
7 In regard to land use planning, which can be complicated, Mr. Green said they provide model language and code templates to support community plans, including the Safety Element of the General Plan, making sure that not only do have language that makes sense, but is based on the most current scientific studies and also supports language within other plans in the community. They will assist in the goals of the local community, including the Portola Valley Wildfire Preparedness Committee. They will look at design guidelines and do general updates to community plans and zoning code language. They will come up with recommendations, determine what will be palatable in the community and what will not, and hopefully help to implement them.
Mr. Green said that their organization will also help with risk and assessment in Portola Valley and the Woodside Fire Protection District. A part of that will be supporting updated hazard risk mapping, which Chief Bullard is currently working on, taking a supportive role in any way they can. He said they work with external partners in evacuation modeling. They work closely with IBHS on scientific papers, academic fields and other programs around the country that they can bring into the community as partners to help bolster programs that they find to be the most effective in the wildfire adaptation of the community. Their whole goal is understanding that it is not a wildfire issue. It is a structural ignition issue, and if they can find ways to keep homes from burning down, then they don’t lose communities. He said the wildfire issue itself is not ever going away, so if they can keep communities from burning down, that is their goal. They look at the built environment only and find ways to mitigate that.
Mr. Green shared his contact information and invited questions or comments/suggestions from the community, which will help them to move forward. He said it is a process they are just getting into, with many moving parts. He hoped that now that things have loosened up with COVID they will get to the community a couple times this year and get a feel for what the community feels at ground level, and finding out what is important to make a difference, and how they can support the community wherever they can.
Chief Bullard noted that he is working on the hazard and risk assessment to identify the very high, high and moderate fire severity zones within the District. He said the previous day they had their bi-weekly update with Town Manager Dennis and Planning and Building Director Russell. Being on the tight timeline with the Safety Element and Housing Element, he said it would be nice to at least get that map out sooner rather than later. He asked Director Russell to provide him with some criteria on that to bring back to the advisory committee and at least get started on getting the linear maps out, identifying those areas within the District, so that they can be useful for those processes. He hoped to speed the process up and to get at least that portion out, and then develop the platform so that later on they can add other layers on top of it to improve and provide future updates.
Mayor Hughes invited questions from the Council.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff asked if there was anything Mr. Green could share about the timeline for the overall CPAW recommendations, or whether they have a sense of how long it might take. Mr. Green responded that historically the CPAW program has taken about a year to get everything finished up to a point where they are comfortable. He commented that there are so many things moving so fast in their location that they are going to try to get their major work done by around July. It may not be complete, as it will be more than a year-long process with Woodside, helping with the implementation and everything going on with SB 9 and other considerations. They will be around to help Chief Bullard and Town Manager Dennis with anything they can in the future, but he said they hope to have the major piece to the resiliency plan as well as much of the communication pieces and some of the bigger recommendation pieces out by midsummer.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff asked regarding Woodside Fire if they will be doing some staggered delivery of mapping and if there was an idea of when the complete project may be done. Mr. Green responded that since they won’t be able to do the work themselves, much of it will depend upon the consultants that do the work, how busy they are and how much ground-truthing they will need to do for the maps. He hoped for perhaps August to get the first version of the maps out. Vice Mayor Wernikoff asked if they had 8 selected a consulting partner yet. Mr. Green said the RFP will for that will be out in the next couple of weeks.
Mayor Hughes invited public comment.
Nan Shostak stated that their approach sounded very comprehensive, top-down, and coordinated with the concerns of the community. She noted the double whammy of both earthquake and wildfire threats.
She wondered if they had worked anywhere where they looked at earthquakes, or wildfire following earthquakes, especially in terms of evacuation and land use.
Mr. Green said yes and no. They don’t in most cases, although when they look at hazard mitigation plans in general, the overall hazard piece always comes into play. There is language that they try to get adopted in many of those plans. If they can’t get at wildfire-specific language, then they get just hazard language in general, to make sure there is a bookmark, so that in the future if they need to bring in more comprehensive language, the bookmark is in there. They also do some work with post hazard assessments and post hazard evaluations, which is where the earthquake piece comes into play. The community, not only with wildfire, but with earthquake and potential climate change and sea level rise, et cetera, has many pieces to consider, so although their focus is wildfire, they are trying to get input from other stakeholders where they can support that as well in anything they do in their recommendations and language.
Caroline Vertongen referred to the General Plan adopted in 2016. They have several components that are crucial, and it was her understanding that any housing or building constructed in the town would consult that General Plan, so she hoped that they were given access to it. It has a safety plan from 2010.
She was curious to know what maps were given, because they found out that Fire Chief Bullard didn’t know that they had the Moritz maps, which were established in 2009. She had questions for staff and Councilmembers. She said in December of 2008, they signed a multi-district, San Mateo County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan with Tetra Tech, who was supposed to get all their information. They also had another plan with Zonehaven. She said they spent all this money and they would like to find out how this is going to be used altogether to arrive at a solution. She said, according to the Governor, the wildfire safety guidelines have existed since 2015 and they assumed the Town Council and staff were following the safety plan from 2010, and then found out that nothing was done. She wondered how it would all fit in together because they keep spending money on consultants and consultants, and they don’t seem to collaborate. She said the Chief was on her property two years ago and found out that the map he was using was not even reflecting the actual parcel map recorded in San Mateo County, so it is very frustrating that taxpayer money is paying for these programs, even though it is said that they are free.
She said they want to make sure that their town is safe, and she hoped they would find collaborative engagement with all the parties involved.
Mr. Green responded that their purpose tonight was to give an update on the CPAW program, so those questions would have to be answered at a later date.
Mayor Hughes thanked Mr. Green and Chief Bullard for their informative update and looked forward to the products coming in the coming months.
(12) Farmer’s Market Annual Report
Nile Estep addressed the Council, sharing that they love the Portola Valley community and have been operating the market since September of 2018. He said through 2020 they had to come up with some tricky fixes. As events are opening up, they have some fun ideas. He said on average the market has 18 vendors, and also a food truck added this year – Culinario, with Chef Alberto – whom the community loves, as well as Roli Roti. They are trying to grow their agricultural vendors, but it is tough right now as the seasons change, but they are looking to add a fruit vendor as well as another organic vegetable vendor. They managed the Carmel-by-the-Sea Farmer’s Market, and have started doing ceramics and testing out some blacksmithing at the market. After they get a pilot of that they would love to propose doing that every third Thursday, or some kind of interactive arts. Another idea is a trivia night for families. 9 Their goal in the month of June is to grow about seven vendors on average, to total of 25. Mr. Estep invited any questions, comments or concerns.
Town Manager Dennis offered a reminder of how important the partnership with the Farmer’s Market was in the first year of COVID. They were able to provide extraordinary service to the town through their extra efforts. Mr. Estep said they just finished their program which they piloted with Portola Valley, called Safe Market, the sanitary allocation of food essentials. They did drive-through farmers markets. He said they just finished their COVID Relief Program with Meta, formerly known as Facebook. Since March of 2020, they were able to give out over 200,000 boxes in San Mateo County of organic food and meal essentials.
They worked with San Mateo County Hospital as well as various organizations. They are proud of that and are continuing their community mobile market, which serves East Palo Alto, the East Palo Alto Senior Center, the Community Center at the YMCA, as well as a church, to make locally sourced food more affordable and accessible to underserved communities. He reiterated that they love the Portola Valley community and are honored and privileged to host the market there as well.
Mayor Hughes invited comments or questions from the Council.
Councilmember Aalfs thanked Mr. Estep for continued great work with the Market. He said he sees good traffic there every week and trusted the vendors are getting traffic to keep them above water.
Councilmember Derwin agreed with Councilmember Aalfs and very much looked forward to the “meaty market” in June.
Mayor Hughes said the interactive arts projects sound exciting, and he looked forward to kids sticking things in the blacksmith forge. Mr. Estep suggested perhaps painting some ceramics would be fun for the kids.
Councilmember Derwin asked if a portable wheel is brought in for the ceramics in Carmel. Mr. Estep yes they do, and they also have revitalized the hay and feed store in Carmel Valley, called Hacienda Hay and Feed. They have taken on ownership and are revitalizing it, as well as Walters Farm, which is one of the first certified organic farms when CCOF was created, so they now have a three-and-a-half-acre farm, on which they sowed seeds a couple weeks ago, for a cover crop. He said eventually they may be able to be a vendor at the Portola Valley Farmer’s Market. This would be a goal down the road. He explained that they do bring a wheel and sometimes have a kiln at the market.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments. Hearing none, he closed the item. (13) Request from Race and Equity Committee – Community-Based Town Seal Project Kim Marinucci shared the highlights of the letter she submitted to the Town Council regarding the town seal. She relayed that at the Town Picnic when the Race and Equity Committee had their table, they set up a poster of the current town seal and engaged the community in what the town seal represented for them and how that fit with what they saw as the values of Portola Valley today. She said they got a lot of great feedback, and it was a chance to dialog with people about a concrete issue related to race and equity. They committee decided to take on this project, which is not intended to focus on a recommendation to change the town seal, although they will have a recommendation at the end of the project. They felt it would be a good opportunity to engage the community in a dialogue about what to do about these problematic historical symbols, whether they just cancel them, and how to talk to each other about these political conversations that can be polarizing. She said the Committee would like to engage the community in a process to improve their ability to talk with one another about differences. They would be compiling data they collect from people about what they see in the current town seal, what they think about it in terms of values of the town today, and what other symbols might better represent the town today. It would end in a recommendation to the Town Council for the Town to take forward. Ms. Marinucci said they also see an opportunity to combine this with educational opportunities around perhaps bringing in people to talk about dealing with this kind of symbols. Another opportunity would be to explore the 10 history of the town, including who Portola was and what the is relationship with the town. Some have mentioned that some street names in the town are problematic, but they are starting with this, and they think in some way it is a low-stakes sort of project to begin to engage people. She said she feels it is better to practice skills when not dealing the most polarizing topic to begin with. She thought there would be enough there to engage people, and what the committee is asking for is approval from the Town Council to move forward on the project.
Mayor Hughes invited questions from Councilmembers. He asked if the work the committee would be doing would be at the Race and Equity Committee meetings, or if they would have special meetings on this topic specifically, and what the time period the project would span. Ms. Marinucci replied that they imagine going to intact groups. For example, starting with Town staff, asking for time in their meeting.
They have put together two formats. One is an hour-long format to practice dialog skills within this context. The other is a 30-minute format, which consists entirely of giving feedback. They would also like to stand in front of Roberts, for example, and catch people individually. She said one of the people on the subcommittee goes to Woodside Priory and is on the committee because he wants to engage people his age, in high school. Going to the Sequoias and engaging other Town committees would be other possibilities. In terms of timeline, once they get started, she imagined two to three months, depending on scheduling. The project is envisioned as approximately a year-long project between education and dialogue groups, and putting findings together and delivering them.
Councilmember Derwin asked what resources they needed from the Town, in terms of staff help or actual funding. Ms. Marinucci said she felt time is what they need, explaining that they are going to do this with the people on the committee and within their resources, and they are not engaging any outside consultants. She said one thing they had thought was getting some t-shirts made that have the town seal on them, since many people are not even aware of the town seal. She said one of the Committee members was unsure about the project, but the next month reported in that he had coffee with somebody wearing a sweatshirt with the town seal on it and saying, “Hey, when are you guys going to deal with this?” so maybe something small like that, to make it more visible. She thought the most visible place would be on the car. She said in order to bring in educational resources they would need funds; however, they have not identified that yet. They were hoping in the process of gathering feedback and engaging people, is that they will hear from people about what they are interested in learning about. They hope that the process of engaging people will create interest in learning more about the town’s history and when they have the offerings, they will be connected. They don’t know yet what that slate of offerings would be, but it would be a place she could imagine they would need some funding.
Mayor Hughes invited public comment on the item. Hearing none, he invited comment from Town Manager Dennis.
Town Manager Dennis said the staff stands by to assist in any way, shape or form to ensure the success of the project, and they look forward to working with Ms. Marinucci.
Councilmember Derwin moved to support the recommendation from the Race and Equity to go forward.
Seconded by Vice Mayor Wernikoff, the motion carried, 4-0, by roll call vote. (14) Public Works Director – Presentation and Public Works Department Overview Mr. Young gave a detailed overview of the Public Works Department, describing the many activities of the Department, including building, maintaining and operating all of the town’s infrastructure and land and providing engineering and review services for building, site development and right-of-way. He noted that this is the first time in 20 years that he has done this, and there are many duties for him to try to summarize, but he wanted to share information on what they do, what they work on, many of which are things the public may not be aware of.
Mr. Young spoke of the Public Works team and introduced Scott Weber, Maintenance Worker II, and Justin Bixby, Recreational Facilities Coordinator, as those who maintain the town for them. The team maintains the infrastructure, land and engineering services in the town, and are the folks interacting with 11 the entire population and its visitors, consisting of 1,500 homes, 4,500 residents and all the bicyclists and people that come to use Town Center. He said these are the folks who continued services through the COVID pandemic. The Public Works staff is made up of only four people. They also use an engineering consultant and construction contractors because the staff is so small.
Services provided by the Public Works Department include maintaining all of the public right-of-way and infrastructure, maintaining 36 miles of roadway, over 109 streets, the storm drain system, which has over 400 catch basins, and 36 miles of trails. Parks and recreation facilities are also maintained, the two soccer fields, two baseball fields, a park, a playground and rental areas. Their biggest addition is the Town Center, which includes 11 acres of building and landscape that the Public Works Department maintains. There is open space and 30 lots that the Town owns. They provide engineering services in private site development; encroachment permits and capital improvement programs. They work with all the committees, interact with visitors, utilities, applicants, internal staff and deal with one hundred percent of the population and more, and try to do a good job in all of it. Whenever there is physical labor involved, no matter how big or small, the Public Works team is involved.
Mr. Young reviewed the Divisions and Duties of the Department. They handle Public Works right-of-way requests and questions, 24/7 emergencies. He said in order to do the work they do with their minimal staff, they work with the Public Works Committee, they have vegetation management which is a combination of staff and maintenance agreements. They have a storm drain maintenance team, also a combination of staff and maintenance agreements; road resurfacing and road surface maintenance; encroachment permits, and coordination with utility companies. On Public Works infrastructure and facilities maintenance, they work with the Conservation Committee and Public Works Committee and Park and Rec Committee. They have 70 percent of a maintenance worker dedicated to fields, parks and open space. There are two maintenance workers who deal with trails and roadways. For the Town Center there have 30 percent of a maintenance worker and 20 percent of a maintenance II worker and maintenance contract agreements for HVAC, solar, plumbing and structural items.
Mr. Young went over the Public Works Capital Improvement Program, including things like the Annual Street Resurfacing Program which is something that benefits many residents. They also do road widening for bikes and retaining walls for bikes, as well as traffic safety improvements, part of which also goes into construction management. Either he, staff or the consultant does this. They have a geo-tech review and materials testing and inspection.
Engineering Services include site development and encroachment permits. He said many people don’t know that the Public Works Department also is involved in building permits, specifically the site development permit. They review and inspect the grading and drainage of home and businesses being built. This entails plan review, the Engineering Consultant, Inspection Consultant, and the Legal team whom they depend on for legal input. Everything done in Public Works is a liability, and they are there to protect the town from liability. Mr. Young said that the town was very small a long time ago, and they shared permit techs. Right now, Public Works has 20 percent of a permit tech. There are committees as assigned, Trails, Traffic, Cable, Conservation, Public Works, Parks and Rec. Mr. Young attends some of their meetings, and some he works with actively.
At a high level, Mr. Young explained what they do for the town right-of-way. He said they maintain their roadways to state standards using the Cal Trans manuals. They have infrastructure responsibilities weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually for five years and ten years. Some of the things they do include rightof-way tree and brush clearing of the 109 streets in the town, including sight visibility at corners. They annually check each catch basin every year for silt and garbage. They check roadway signs and traffic devices to see if they need to be changed or not. They do emergency response during winter storms, risk assessment, street sweeping and all maintenance requests on PV Connect.
Mr. Young shared pictures of things the Public Works Department does on a daily basis, including repairing a cracked roadway and fixing potholes, which they do on a daily basis. The Public Works trucks are seen around town, bringing silt back from roadsides, and debris hauled back from the roadsides. The crew is out working on roads every day. When they can’t handle it during storms, they hire contractors to 12 take mud off of the side of the roads and assess landslides and boulders landing on the road. A picture of a standard crew doing road right-of-way tree trimming showed Scott taking a look at roots and trail condition after winter. Much of their work goes unseen on the sides of the town’s roads and trails. In maintaining their culverts, they look inside to analyze their life, when and how to replace it. They offer services for street sweeping, which they do twice a month on the main arterials, and every quarter they sweep all the residential streets. Street conditions are quite favorable and clean because of the pelotons coming through that enjoy use of the town’s roads. Public Works also inspects all the culverts in the town.
Regarding annual facilities work, Public Works maintains all properties that the Town owns, including the 11-acre Town Center, its buildings, playgrounds and fields, to very high standards. Many things, such as electrical, gas, plumbing are dealt with on a daily basis when there is a need. Janitorial, litter pickup, event setup and support, Library building support, support of Town staff, emergency response, maintenance requests and risk assessment – all are included in the operations of the Public Works Department. Mr. Young highlighted more of their operations including the Styrofoam program in which Public Works bags up all of the Styrofoam collected in the program. Changing of the lights in the Library, which requires a lift in order to reach them. Tree work which requires a boom lift. The Community Hall floor is kept spotlessly clean for yoga and exercise classes. Concerts in the Town Center are attended by many, and with Town Center being a model of community involvement and resiliency, many people come to enjoy the facility. Mr. Young said it is good to see that, but pointed out that there is a lot of background work involved for these things to happen.
Public Works staff also takes care of accidents – trees falling on benches, people crashing into fences, dump trucks crashing into property, many events that people don’t see, but Public Works takes care of them. Mr. Young noted that they have the finest wood chips coming into their playground and very highend sand that goes into the playground box. Within town facilities, there is a crew picking invasive weeds.
The Conservation Committee provides guidance, but on the eleven-plus acres, Public Works has crews coming in to pick weeds and do landscaping. Other work that people don’t generally see includes storm damage, repairing vandalism damage, broken toilets, items dumped on the roadside, et cetera. Many people never see the air handlers and boilers and solar equipment which are in every town building and which must be maintained on a weekly basis. During COVID even more filtering was added.
Mr. Young described some of Public Works’ activities dealing with sports facilities, in which they handle maintenance of two soccer fields, two baseball fields and all associated surrounding landscaping, including addition of skate ramps, pickleball, horseshoe pits, and essentially everything around the fields.
They also do annual field renovations in which they aerate, reseed, top dress and place a new infield mix The mix is very high-quality, the same that is used at AT&T Park. Public Works also performs rodent control by mechanical means, water audits, water conservation, organic fertilizing programs, and maintenance and support for recreational classes used in town leagues. They have received many positive responses from field users. Mr. Young said Justin does a great job of making the fields look great, and other schools in other towns ask what Portola Valley does to their fields. During the playing season fields are mowed twice a week, which makes balls travel faster, according to the leagues. Mr.
Young showed photos, including the mechanical means by which Public Works performs rodent control instead of using rodenticide, which requires more time and effort. Also, the seeder by which fields are reseeded, a piece of equipment which punches holes in the field and deposits seed into the hole to ensure a better germination rate. Fields are renovated during the winter in order to have nature water them, whereas many agencies renovate during the summer. In order to save water, Portola Valley Public Works does this during the winter, which is a risk that they take and additionally requires that turf blankets be applied to help the seed germinate during the winter.
Mr. Young shared photos of people enjoying town facilities. Within the hardscape areas, Public Works blows them down twice a week; the pickleball courts are cleaned and maintained; playgrounds and lawn areas are clipped, clean and in good condition for people to use and enjoy. Mr. Young mentioned the organic fertilizer program used on the fields, maintenance of surrounding landscapes, doing risk assessments so that these areas are safe. Rossotti Field parking lot is also being used extremely well. 13 Mr. Young discussed Public Works operations within Open Space and Town land. There is annual mowing and fire break, upkeep and inspection of the open spaces and Town land, even before the Conservation Committee was involved. Recently, the Conservation Committee began analyzing each open space and coming up with a program for Council approval to restore open spaces. Council has approved certain tree removals, budget for weeding of open spaces and restoring natural habitat with wildflowers. Other areas of work have included Spring Down, the new Frog Pond, the Road Remnant, the Ford Field Open Space, Triangle Park.
Mr. Young shared slides of the Public Works team at work. Sean, with Go Native; weed whackers working on the selectively weed-whacked six acres of land next to Spring Down. They team picks weeds, builds ponds, coordinating with the Conservation Committee. The results of their work are on display in the picturesque scenes of the open spaces, where many people go to enjoy the poppies, the lupine, the pond, et cetera. A map illustrated the scope of the 30 or so parcels of land that the Town owns and Public Works maintains.
Regarding Wildfire Mitigation, Mr. Young shared that a program started a couple years ago has been a very positive program and a big hit for the community. Staff manages the program and coordinates with the Fire Department on evaluating which streets to do. They are in the second year of the program, which involves having the Fire Marshal and Town staff evaluate the right-of-way and raising the canopy in the right-of-way, which can extend 5 to 20 feet on either side of the road. This is work that has not been done in decades, cleaning up the right-of-way, and because of the wildfire concerns, they have been very proactive. They have cleared Portola and Alpine Roads, and besides a handful of inquiries, there have bee no complaints, which he says is amazing. The crew sizes that work for Public Works involve between three and six workers – one chipper, two trucks – every Thursday and Friday, working for the Town on this. Not only does their work include physical work, but communication and coordination with property owners, who must be notified through either their website or social media, door hangers, et cetera, trying to coordinate with everyone who has concerns. The response from the community has been very positive with this program.
Before-and-after pictures illustrated work done by Public Works on public rights-of-way, working with the Conservation Committee, looking at what things will look like in the future and what needs to be done in the future. Mr. Young thought it could potentially take eight years to clear all 109 of the town’s streets.
Signs are posted where work is being done to let the public know that fire mitigation work is being done.
Messages are posted on their website to let the public know how much progress has been made. After the end of this fiscal year they will be moving their work to Golden Oaks, which is a much denser area which will involve a lot of communication because a lot of people planted in the right-of-way.
Mr. Young presented a high level look at Engineering Services work and said many people probably don’t know what they do in the background. All the roads, facilities and buildings are going through the same process with the Planning and Building Department for the things that they build. A recent example are the pedestrian safety improvements, retaining walls, and site development permit engineering review is big, and is something they do inspections on. All projects that the Planning and Building Department are doing for new homes, they review and inspect for grading and drainage, and also the erosion control.
There are also encroachment permits for work done in the Town’s right-of-way or road, which requires a permit, reviewed by Engineering Services. One type of encroachment permit is needed when people build a new home and want to connect utilities, a new driveway, et cetera. They review for those. Another type of encroachment permits include Cal Water or PG&E doing trenching or sanitary sewers in the roadway.
There is a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program which is required by the State. They also do Code Enforcement for such things as encroachment into private rights-of-way, or people building on trails. They look at grants and attend committee meetings and get their consensus on engineering work. Mr. Young said this is a combination of him and the consultant staff, depending on the project size.
A group of photos illustrated some of the many things Engineering does, including building the Town Center. He noted that the Town did not hire a general contractor for this work. The Town essentially became the general contractor and subbed all of the 30 contracts out. It was a lot of work, but ultimately saved the Town money. Mr. Young shared photos of the old Town Center as well as construction of the 14 new buildings and said he has many of these photos if anyone is ever interested. He commented that they went from a very old school that was waiting to have something done with it to something very much more than what they had. Other capital improvement projects included a significant amount of road resurfacing. Crews are bid out to do road resurfacing. Street signs were installed at the nine locations identified in the pedestrian safety study. Trenching is done routinely when they need to take out a storm drain, by opening up the street. Some old culverts are corrugated metal. New ones are plastic which will last many years, versus the corrugated metal, which has a lifespan of about 50 years, after which rust is evident. For the new Zoom Rooms, cameras were installed for the new hybrid meeting system in the Council Chambers.
More photos showed more projects, including retaining walls, striping, paving, putting in the pond. In everything they do, Mr. Young said they interact with community members who are very helpful to talk to as they try to build these things while keeping the rural character of the town in mind, so he often talks to committee members and chairs and asks what they think about this or that, or how it will look. He said the feedback is important to him. When putting in ALPRs, he said they went with wood poles instead of concrete or steel, a fine, small detail to help match the rural character of the town, which takes time and effort to think through. Mr. Young showed the old pond at Spring Down, with the cyclone fence and pump station. Other capital improvement items handled by Public Works include trail-building, road-widening for bicyclists, some funded by grants or by Stanford, but built by Public Works so that they can control the look and feel of how they turn out. The C1 trail includes a retaining wall made up of rocks and logs inserted on the side of the creek.
Other engineering and CIP items include the library at Corte Madera School. When the Town Center was being built they needed a temporary location for the library and the library let them use their building, so they gutted it and improved their building to make a place for the temporary library. The Farmer’s Market parking and other parking, when they were asked, they put it in. Ford Field renovation is also something Public Works worked on when the leagues asked for it.
On the Engineering side on the sites, they inspect the grading and drainage, look at sites before they are developed, inspect driveways and all other grading and drainage items on the plans. Some of the Code enforcement items include finding things in the right-of-way, when people have cleared things up too much, fences that have been put in the right-of-way and they get complaints about it, they address those things, which takes time. They always work with committee members in addressing Code enforcement or CIP items as well.
Other duties include developing the annual budget, CIP budget, performing contract management, accounting duties, department support to other departments, interacting with many other Town departments to deal with many facets of the town – building and planning, code enforcement, finance, administration, parks and recreation. Another big one is risk management. Photos illustrated building plexiglass protection for front desk staff during COVID, maintenance of the ALPRs, leaf blower exchanges, sponsorship of Eagle Scout projects, or finding elderly community members lost on the side of the road that just need a ride back to the Sequoias. Mr. Young’s photos included one of Marilyn Walters, long-time member of the Conservation Committee.
Mr. Young shared some of the random accomplishments of Public Works in the past year. Miles of road resurfaced – 4.34, which could be done because they do a slurry seal instead of overlays. Curb miles of tree trimming – 35 miles, mainly with two people. Number of culverts and pipes checked and cleaned – 509, done by two or three people. Cubic yards of silt removed – 23, which is two-and-a-half dump trucks loads of silt. Garbage removed from the catch basin – 65 gallons. Ditches cleared – 2,000 feet. Litter pickers on Portola and Alpine Roads main corridors picked up 720 gallons. Linear feet of wildfire fuel mitigation – 19,000. Acres of open space maintained – six. Encroachment permits processed – 107. Site development permits reviewed – 37. Inspections performed – 160. Processing of service requests – 291.
Mr. Young said with PV Connect it is easier for people to submit service requests. Traffic improvements were installed at nine intersections. Two used vehicles were replaced. With COVID response they continued work and operations offering services to the public throughout the pandemic. Interfaces with 15 other departments are on a routine basis, including Finance, Budget, Sheriff, Fire, and they also deal with 100 percent of the community, plus visitors.
Mr. Young mentioned some of the changes in the Public Works Department. The new Town Center is a big change, with an expanded footprint for all the buildings, landscaping and creek, recreational programs, events, rentals, library programs. He said in his 20 years with the Town, there is a big difference between how it was then and how it is now and that it is a regional attraction where the community can come and meet each other. The traffic has increased 100 percent in some areas. Parks and Recreation demographics have changed and the expectations going from volunteer-maintained fields to a more formal program. Traffic improvements were made. Citizen engagement, social media and getting more information out was needed. The Fire Mitigation Program and Open Space Programs were added. Many other things were added, but Mr. Young said what they didn’t do was any add resources.
The staff of Public Works has consisted of him and three people, or less, for about 20 years. Mr. Young said he has been saying “yes” for many years, and that is something that they need to explore.
Mr. Young concluded his presentation with a plug for National Public Works Week coming up May 15th.
They will be out at the Farmer’s Market with a table for community interaction, for the public to meet them.
He shared that there is a lot of detailed work that goes on behind the scenes, and they get to work with many residents in the community that don’t interact with the Town as an applicant or other interest. He said one thing he finds very rewarding is when he walks out and sees hundreds of residents enjoying the town’s facilities, hundreds of thousands of people enjoying their roads and what they have to offer with their roads, trails, buildings and fields to a high standard, while in keeping with their rural values. Mr.
Young said he sees many people enjoying the town’s facilities and feels that what the the town offers compared to many similar small towns is a lot. He has seen a lot of happy people, which is a joy to see.
Mayor Hughes thanked Mr. Young for his presentation and for giving the community a great reminder about all the things the Public Works Department takes on and how much responsibility they have for the enjoyment of so many elements of the town.
Councilmember Derwin was completely in awe of Mr. Young’s presentation. She said it took her back through her years in the town. This is her 17th and she remembered the Town Center being built and much of Mr. Young’s photos. She said the fact that they do all of this work with so few people is unbelievable, so she was looking forward to the next agenda item, so that they could start hiring some more people for him. She thought Mr. Young should make his presentation into a little book to display in the offices. Mr. Young responded that once he did a little cleanup he could upload it to the website. He said this is the first time they have done this in 20 years, and he felt the community would like to see it.
Councilmember Derwin agreed.
Councilmember Aalfs echoed Councilmember Derwin’s comments. He said over the years he has gotten a feel for everything Public Works does for the residents, but to see it all laid out in this one presentation was mind-blowing. He hoped that that many more people would have a chance to watch the presentation, to see and know how much the Department is doing. He extended his thanks to all of them for everything.
He said he sees the guys in the trucks all the time and waves when he can, and reiterated his appreciation of everything they do. He also wanted to hear what else the Town could be doing to support the Public Works Department.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff echoed previous comments as well. She hoped it was rewarding for Mr. Young to go through and create all of the slides to see the incredible amount of work the guys have accomplished.
She was also in disbelief of how much has been done with such a small staff and looked forward, also, to the next agenda item to see how the Town can support the department. She offered her thanked and also suggested the presentation should go on the website.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments.
Betsy Morgenthaler echoed the comments of the Councilmembers and said she attends the Town Council meetings for the connection to the Town, and told Mr. Young that he is “over the top” and 16 “fabulous.” She said she is a proud member of the community and more so for hearing his presentation.
She appreciated the Council and staff for affording Mr. Young the time.
Danna Breen exclaimed over the picture of Marilyn Walters, who was one of her mentors. She said Howard, Scott and Justin were all amazing. She has seen them in the pouring rain, checking out culverts and roads, always responsive, and she knows they care. She said she fully supports any needs they have going forward. She observed that Mr. Young understands the town and the people, and she can tell his head is bursting sometimes. He has helped her with the launch of her remote control helium shark, and she commented that he was also her partner in the opening day of pickleball when staff and residents played together. She said Mr. Young is so appreciated and thanked him for all the help with the broom pull and the Frog Pond and said she is there for him.
Judith Murphy added her enthusiastic support of Mr. Young and his Public Works Department, Scott and Justin, and said they are very hard-working. She commented on the many hats Mr. Young wears. He understands and shares the values of the town, especially the maintenance of the rural appearance. She is impressed with his efforts to do a certain job in a unique way to fit the town, answering to many constituents with differing needs and points of viewing and remains cheerful, helpful, friendly and a pleasure to work with. She said with her Conservation work over the last eight to ten years, it has been a great pleasure to work with Mr. Young. She said they ask a lot of him, and he is super busy, but he always tries to be accommodating and has produced remarkable results, so she supports whatever additional help he could use.
Kristi Corley thought it was a wonderful presentation and noted that in spite of everything they do in the photos, he always answers the phone and takes time to chat with residents. She said they have enjoyed the softball fields, and their children have enjoyed the play areas. She thanked him for his care of the green spaces and the cement.
Caroline Vertongen said she represents the people who use the soccer field and thanked Mr. Young, whom she has known for all of the 20 years. She said many things have changed and she feels he is actually overburdened with tasks. She said they have taken on any volunteer work where they can, and they appreciate all his help. Maintaining all of the sports fields is one of the big values that they have supported in the community for the young people and the older generation as well. She thanked him for all his work for the community.
Rita Comes also thanked Mr. Young for everything he does. She said when she was picking up cigarette butts along Westridge and complaining about it, he actually did something and she very much appreciated the sign that he put on Cervantes, and making sure the drains were open all along Westridge. Especially during COVID, when there were so many people because the other parks were all shut down, and people were spending their time doing their hiking up and down Westridge, parking wherever, leaving their garbage. She appreciated all the pickup the team did, knowing it was a burden on the town during that time to try to keep it clean and safe. The restrooms, when they opened back up were all clean and safe. She appreciates his extra effort and hopes that with all of the consultants in town, that somebody finds money in his budget. She encouraged him to ask if he needs help and said there are volunteers to help. She asked him not to spend 19 hours a day working, but to get some help.
Town Manager Dennis noted there is nothing he could say that hadn’t already been said, other than when Mr. Young and he first talked about this opportunity, seeing the excitement in his eyes to be able to share the story about his department. He said it is an unsung group of folks and that there is not a more ethical guy in government, and it has been great to work with him and see all the love for him.
Councilmember Aalfs wanted to extend his thanks, also, to Scott and Justin for everything they do as well. Mayor Hughes agreed.
17 (15) Public Works Director – Public Works Director Future Staffing Needs Discussion Mayor Hughes invited Mr. Young to talk about the future and where Public Works should go.
Mr. Young said his next report was a recommendation that the Council receive a report and provide direction and a request to consider future staffing needs in the Public Works Department. He began by stating that what they are asking for was to really to re-establish proper structure and staffing in the Public Works Department. They wish to consider what is needed in the future as well. He said when they finished building the Town Center, and as changes happened, they just said “yes.” More events, more plantings, weeding, and they said yes to everything. Mr. Young suggested that what they should have done was say, “Yes, but where are the resources? Where is the funding coming from?” They did not ask for that, and after looking at 20 years of data, they realize that something needs to happen. He said they even had things taken away from them, like the traffic road impact fee. He said he had a building official working for him who helped him maintain the buildings, and that went to a different department as well.
To re-establish proper structure and look at trends and what the community expects is what he wanted to look at.
Mr. Young said over the years the expectations have been more than what they had at the old town center, and he wonders how to fulfill that going into the future. Currently, the staff consists of him and three direct reports, using consultants, construction managers and contractors to help with the work.
Current staffing is based on the needs back in 2002, and they never really accounted for the things that have been added. Growth has increased. Demographics have changed, yet the staffing mix was never adjusted to accommodate growth. Much of it was just them saying, “Let’s see what we can do.” The thought was to just get the work done without creating a big to-do about it. Mr. Young said there’s not a lot of glamour in what they do, but over the last 20 years they have added many things. One of the things they want to do is re-establish proper structure and staffing in alignment with the increased services that enables them to maintain that level of service, to provide staffing equitable with the size required to support similar-sized surrounding communities, and to proactively prepare for further growth and capital improvement services.
Mr. Young noted that both Woodside and Los Altos Hills have more staff members in their Public Works Departments, Los Altos Hills has around 11 and Woodside around five-and-a-half, although it is difficult to compare apples-to-apples, but it gives a feel for what they are dealing with. Mr. Young said they need some full time engineering staff, whether an engineering tech, a project manager, a maintenance supervisor for all the facilities added, a half-time customer service or permit tech. He said going back 20 years, staff shared all of the permit techs between Public Works, Engineering and Building and Planning.
All of the departments grew, so now Public Works has approximately 20 percent of a permit tech shared, and he is told by Planning, that, due to their need for resources, may not be available, leaving no front desk staff for Public Works and Engineering.
Mr. Young listed some of the things that have been added including Town Center’s increased footprint; summer concert series; year-round Farmer’s Market; various classes offered; Library support, including their activities with their 200-percent increase in visitors. Soon they will have the new Zoom Room in the Old Schoolhouse and Community Hall. He said he looks around at what neighboring cities have, and said they don’t have what Portola Valley has. In fact an 11-acre Town Center and Civic Center is nearly comparable to what a lot of bigger cities have. Incoming vehicle trips to Town Center in 2004 versus 2019, before the pandemic, were presented, Monday through Sunday. On Mondays, there are 122 percent more trips. On Farmer’s Market days there are 1,100 incoming trips where there were 494 before.
The trend of trips has almost doubled as Town Center has gotten more popular and more people are using it, but they still have the same amount of staff as back in 2002. Mr. Young presented data showing the increase in visits for Library and their programs, including 105,000 visits and 16,000 in program attendance during 2018-19. This is a huge benefit for the Town, but again, there were no staff increases.
Mr. Young commented on citizen engagement in communications. Public Works has added things to their website and has more communications through social media, newsletters, et cetera. In prior years a notice was sent out and a sign posted regarding street resurfacing. Now it must also be posted on social 18 media every phase of the project, i.e., crack sealing, base repairs, striping, slurry seal, et cetera. While the technology now allows them to update the public on every phase of a construction project, this takes time. Additionally, in 2021, there were 291 service requests submitted, which they took care of. PV Connect has made it easy to submit requests and Code Enforcement items.
The Fire Mitigation is making a huge difference as well and involves managing work on the streets with a huge crew working for the Town on the rights-of-way, so they now are looking at Open Space and all of the Town-owned parcels that need fire mitigation, too, per the requirements of the Fire Marshal. Open Space management and restoration is another new responsibility which takes a lot of time, coming up with cost estimates, planning, coordination of crews coming in, scheduling and coordinating with the Conservation Committee.
Another big item, similar to what Council has heard from Planning and Building Director Russell, since Public Works does the Engineering, Site Development and Code reviews there are more permits, more complexity, more communications with applicants. Mr. Young said there is a direct connect between the Public Works and Engineering Department and that. As more complicated permits have increased, Public Works is also part of the review of those projects. He works with Director Russell to come up with more data and funding and research into how to pass on applicant charges. A portion of his time is devoted to working with applicants on temporary occupancies, final occupancies, trouble-shooting. This often requires thinking outside of the box on how to help residents accomplish what they want but still follow town policy and the rural character of the town. All of this takes time. Encroachment permits have increased as shown in the report. Mr. Young felt there is a lot of pent up demand due to COVID, but it is something that is increasing that they must allocate resources for.
Mr. Young submitted that what they need is to bring on staff or a consultant to provide service and permits to the public and applicants. With the maintenance supervisor, they ask because of all the added items they handle in conservation and at Town Center that were not allocated for. Also needed is a part time front desk person to have a presence in Public Works and Engineering. Mr. Young request Council’s feedback and consideration on these requests. He said alternatively, they could have a consultant come in and analyze the Department as other agencies have done, to determine what the correct staffing levels are. For the Town Center building maintenance, they did hire someone to come in and analyze things, and they were told they needed a full time person just to keep up with just the buildings, not landscaping.
At present Public Works has 30 percent of one person allocated to this. He hoped to look at an opportunity to phase this in to meet demands of the future and backfill things they’ve said yes to, or alternatively, hire a consultant to do so. He noted that his summary reflects what he thinks the costs would be compared to other agencies on some of the engineering items, on recouping funds through applicants, but he hoped to start a dialogue with the Council regarding resources, expectations and the quality desired for the functioning of the town.
Town Manager Dennis appreciated the data-rich presentations offered by Mr. Young. He said the management team often discusses how to continue to balance all of the wonderful things about Portola Valley and also work within the realism of what it means to be in government in the 21st century, with its demands on communication, information, speedy service delivery, and doing more. One thing he said has become a theme for the managers is that they are moving from a more tactical, hands-on approach into more of a full-blown, traditional director role, overseeing and managing a staff that can do more. He sees this as part of the experience that it is necessary for the Council to consider moving forward. He shared that this is not an easy presentation for staff. The Public Works Department, since before he came to the town and for his past six years, has taken an enormous amount of pride in the amount of work done with the small numbers of people doing it. They wish to remain true to the Town Founders and what the Council believes is the right balance for staffing, but it is difficult for a department that has taken such pride in their efforts to come before the Council with the message that they need assistance.
Town Manager Dennis explained that the proposal before the Council, stating that the positions they would be asking for weren’t necessarily specified, and they want to phase in some of it. The budget they are preparing is the most difficult budget he has worked on in six years with the Town because of the resource needs. He appreciated the time to discuss the subject with the Council. 19 Mayor Hughes asked about the three positions listed, wondering what kind of timeline Mr. Young was thinking of and what was the most pressing need, as well as how quickly he envisioned transitioning from the current position to where they need to be. He asked if some of the needs were more pressing as opposed to others that could be added along the way. Mr. Young said an immediate need would be a front desk presence due to the Planning Department’s need for the current one. They may need to bring in someone to help with those tasks. He said he currently has a small percentage of CheyAnne’s time.
She coordinates the plan reviews back and forth from the consultant to him, involving things ranging from the Stanford EIR to housing developments, processing encroachment permits, bringing them in and pushing them out for approvals, coordinating phases of inspections. He said if her help goes away, it will be tough for Public Works to handle.
On the maintenance side, a maintenance supervisor would help get some of the things they handle at Town Center, the roads, et cetera, done in a more systematic way. Regarding how he sees this phasing it, he suggested one to two years. His department is three people, and he hoped to progress with this in a way that makes sense and is efficient and saves time and costs. He mentioned looking at things that could be done in-house that are currently consulted out. If an extra person was hired, they could trim more instead of farming out the tree maintenance. He reiterated that he wanted these changes to be made thoughtfully. Before putting a detailed plan together, they wanted to check with the Council to hear what the feeling is regarding where they should be in two, three, four, five years.
Mayor Hughes followed up, asking if they are looking a few years ahead, when they will be getting into the next Housing Element cycle, and there will likely be a big increase in the number of housing applications, with that many more engineering permits to review as well as all of the infrastructure behind it, such as sewers, power supply issues, et cetera. He felt Mr. Young’s description was to some degree catching up with where they should have been years ago, but then there will also be new growth coming, so he suggested as they are going through the process over the next one to two years of working out the timing and how to pay for it, thinking ahead to the future as well. The workload will only be increasing in some areas.
Mr. Young responded that he and Town Manager Dennis were also talking about resources, such as the traffic impact fee that they used to have, which went away. When the Conservation Committee was added, it added $100,000 worth of work with no plan for where that was to come from. Also added was $230,000 of fuel mitigation work, without a plan for where it would come from. Higher PCI roads are desirable, but where does that come from? The Town Center was built but where do the funds and resources to maintain it come from? Those things have not been talked about. He said most agencies will decide where the funding will come from when the decide to do something. He said these things need to be explored.
Town Manager Dennis added that, based on observations and conversations with some of the folks they serve – given that newer people moving in have differing expectations of government – one thing they do hear is something like, “Just tell me how much I owe,” which is a very different take than what they’ve experienced in the past. So, they feel there is opportunity relating to permit applications, et cetera, to augment and enhance revenue on that side. For example, a permit tech could potentially be funded in particular ways, or passed through in different ways than they’ve seen before. He felt Mr. Young did a good job of talking about the opportunity to create additional institutional knowledge and succession planning efforts. The way the department is currently designed, there is less of an opportunity for that. He said he feels it is about giving the current team opportunities to expand their roles and “move up the chain,” and also add in places where it makes sense. Some of the positions may well be pass-through, some might be through enhanced revenue, some may have to be general fund supported. For the short term, there will be some things included in the budget to get them there. He appreciated the Mayor’s comment about looking beyond one or two years and said all of the departments are thinking in those terms now. He described it as a conversation that never ends, and this is a relatively new concept to the Town.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments.
20 Kristi Corley was curious about other cities and towns. She looked up Truckee and found they have a nine-person engineering division, six licensed professional engineers, two technicians and one admin.
They do development review, encroachment issues, management, turnkey execution of capital projects within the town, inspection services. She found it interesting, and although they are a town of 17,470, it gives a perspective.
Town Manager Dennis added a comment that right before COVID he and Mr. Young had a conversation with the public works team of a large city about assisting with maintenance of vehicles. They came out to visit Town Center. He was struck by their comments regarding the quality of the town’s facilities and how few staff they have. He said he loves bringing his peers to Town Center to show off, saying it’s like they have some “magic sauce,” but what they have is a bunch of hard-working people who do good work.
While not bragging, it is a fact that Portola Valley offers an amenity that is second to none, with very little.
Danna Breen thought Mr. Young needed to keep the residents involved. She wondered how much money they have saved the Town over the years. She added that she will always come out and mow and so will many other people, and that is what makes this town different. The public is engaged, and when people come and talk about how wonderful the town is, it is also the residents.
Mayor Hughes invited further public comments. Hearing none, he brought it back to the Council and asked what staff is looking for in terms of action, whether it was general direction on the suggestions and expectation that they will bring it back with the budget. He said it sounded like they were already looking at potential revenue opportunities and ways to offset any increase in costs. He wondered if there was anything else they were looking for from the Council. Town Manager Dennis said no, but it was a reality check for staff ,and they were looking for Council to tell them that they are either on the right track or the wrong track. Also, to provide any guidance one way or another related to that. He said if the Council believes they are on the right track, that would be sufficient for them to continue to move forward in any particular direction that the Council would like, such as regular updates. If the Council is generally supportive of the notion of the staffing needs identified, they could come back as they bring people on and share how it’s going and what they see as it relates to workload. Mr. Young though this was a good summary and that to move forward to the next step, they were just looking for a show of support from the Council in their initial planning and potential future planning so that they can start doing work on the details and incorporate it into the budget.
Councilmember Aalfs said yes, it is obvious that they are on the right track. This kind of expansion, for better or worse, is inevitable. The demands on the staff, both technically and sheer quantity, are only going to get larger, and they all recognize that. For this budget and future budgets, the question will simply be how to pay for it and what other revenue sources can be developed. He assumed they would revisit the subject frequently as they continue on through the upcoming budget. He felt Town Manager Dennis and the Finance Department have done a lot of work in terms of forecasting and he was thankful for their work in laying the groundwork so that they can start looking at the years ahead to plan for future needs and opportunities to fund them. He said this makes absolute sense to him and they all see that they are becoming more and more like a larger city in every aspect. Their jobs as Councilmembers has changed, as have theirs.
Councilmember Derwin said yes, they are on the right track, and yes on staffing needs, and no on a consultant. She asked that they please bring regular updates to the Council and start thinking now about where the new revenue streams might come from.
Vice Mayor Wernikoff totally agreed and was fully supportive. She said she definitely did not think a consultant is needed. She agreed with the comments that they need to start looking at revenue sources across town for the variety of needs across town. She appreciated the great presentation.
Town Manager Dennis added that one area Town Attorney Silver and he have been talking about that would be an equivalent replacement of the road impact fee, which was recommended for phase-out due to court cases, the way that they are thinking about it internally is that they have a considerable impact on the community relating to new construction, which is not solely a road-based impact, but a quality of life 21 impact for those particular residents. He thought of streets that have had a construction project going on for ten years. They are thinking hard about these things and he didn’t know if the budget would have a complete answer, but Town Attorney Silver and he have committed to putting some thought into it and getting to a place where they can bring something to Council that would be reasonable, potentially supporting not only the roads, but also code enforcement relating to construction impacts, which tends to be an area where there are a lot of complaints. He said there are opportunities, but certainly not things the general public would have to pay for.
Mayor Hughes echoed what his colleagues had said, that it is definitely the right direction and overdue, just because they haven’t taken time to reflect on it. He was glad that they have had an opportunity to think about the challenges currently, the challenges ahead and what the team should look like in order to maintain the level of service that Public Works has very successfully provided. He said the point about continuing to see all the citizen participation depicted in Mr. Young’s photos and hoped it will continue through the coming years, but it is also clear that for some of these positions, yes, there can be volunteers helping pick weeds, but it is harder to have a volunteer reviewing construction plans and engineering drawings and code compliance, inspections, et cetera. He is supportive of the direction and said they will have to figure out through the budget process how to pay for it. He appreciated the presentation and said it will be helpful for Public Works, the Council and the town in general. He said they should put such a presentation on the calendar again for 20 years from now.
Mr. Young said even 20 years ago, being all working managers, they did things in the field and things in the office, too. He said it’s been an adventure for him and the crew as well, who started with a scope and now have a bigger scope. He said in a small town they just do everything from A to Z, whether in the field or in the office. He expressed appreciation for the Council listening. (16) COUNCIL LIAISON COMMITTEE AND REGIONAL AGENCIES REPORTS Vice Mayor Wernikoff attended a meeting with the Sequoias about a week ago. They have requested that they come and speak with them in person and do a presentation about the Housing Element that will align with updates from Sequoias Living corporate people, to update the residents there about their Master Plan. That is scheduled for April 27.
Councilmember Aalfs attended the Peninsula Community Board meeting last month. There was nothing in particular to report currently. They have a plan to be the first load-serving entity that they know of in the world to deliver greenhouse gas-free renewable power on a 24/7 basis by 2025. They have been moving forward with contracting for both generation and storage to meet that goal. It is an ambitious goal and something they have been pursuing for some time and is ongoing. People will hear more about it going forward. When people talk about meeting climate goals, as a society they talk about de-carbonizing the grid and electrifying everything, and PCE is focused on both of those components, providing clean power around the clock, even at 4 a.m. when there’s no sunlight, which people ask about. He said it is a good question and one they are working to address. Another question is, once they have the clean grid, how does everything get plugged into it? Councilmember Aalfs said all the work they’ve done with all-electric buildings and electric vehicles is moving forward, and he would be happy to talk more about it at some time.
Councilmember Derwin put in a plug for Councilmember Aalfs because he has been on the ground floor of PCE, and it is amazing what the organization has done. She said these are the sort of regional opportunities obtained when serving on a City Council. She said knew Councilmember Aalfs feels it has been very worthwhile. Councilmember Aalfs responded that he tells people that his tiny contribution to the formation of PCE dwarfs anything he has done professional in terms of making the world a better place for his kids. Councilmember Derwin agreed.
Councilmember Derwin reported on a 12-minute Express Lanes Board meeting. There was an update on what is happening with the 101 Express Lanes. The tolls are up. People are using more transponders.
There are good travel speeds in general lanes, and there are higher travel speeds in the express lanes.
Don Horsley asked when they will start enforcement. Violation notices are starting to be mailed out now. 22 Councilmember Derwin had a meeting with Stanford to say goodbye to Jean [phonetic] and be introduced to Swietta [phonetic] who will be on the project. John Donahoe was also there. He emphasized that they have updated their website and if people have questions, he asked that they are sent to Stanford and they are happy to answer questions from the community.
Councilmember Derwin commented on the Race and Equity meeting the previous night. There were discussions about the Housing Element Committee update, which they love to talk about. There was discussion of the presentation tonight from Kim and the upcoming anniversary of the murder of George Floyd and supporting people on the corner, who are still there. There was discussion of the issue of having a quorum. She announced that on April 21, the Sustainability Committee meeting, Tom Kabet and Josie Gaillard will share their presentation on best practices in home electrification. It is a very practical presentation for homeowners. Even with a 100-amp panel, there is still a lot of electrification possible.
They will have trouble making a quorum, but she thought they will make it, but it would be nice to have more people in the audience. She has seen their presentations, and they are very good.
Mayor Hughes reported that he sat in on the Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting for Councilmember Richards. There were WPV-CERT items from Rob Lindner and Selena Brown. They discussed budget items moving forward, as well as other discussions on radio locations and subcommittee reports.
Woodside Highlands Road Maintenance District Residents Advisory Committee the previous night was in the middle of planning a paving project which is up in the air because Cal Water is doing a big water main installation, so they will wait until Cal Water has torn everything up. There was also an issue with one of the neighbors up the hill who has done a lot of plant and ivy removal on a fairly steep slope, and they were somewhat concerned about erosion.
BPTS met on April 6th, and the new Sheriff’s Sargent came and did the report for a number of citations.
There have been very few citations for moving violations, but they have written numerous traffic tickets recently. They have started ticketing Windy Hill overflow parking, where people are parked inappropriately. There were close to 100 traffic tickets written last month since they have started stepping up enforcement there heading into the hiking season.
The Wildfire Preparedness Committee was one shy of a quorum. Subsequent to the meeting, Jennifer Youstra was one of the members that was absent, and she subsequently has resigned. So now there are only a quorum of members actually currently appointed to the committee. If one more resigns before anyone else is appointed, then the committee would not actually be able to meet. Mayor Hughes said they need to recruit people or figure out what to do with the committee to stabilize it as a number members have left recently.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments on this item.
Hearing no more public comments, Mayor Hughes closed the item. (17) TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Town Manager Dennis reported that training for the hybrid meetings will be the next week for the Old Schoolhouse. If all goes well, the next Council meeting will be a hybrid meeting.
Town Manager Dennis thanked the Department of Emergency Management at San Mateo County, formerly Office of Emergency Services. He asked them to get more involved in overall evacuation planning efforts in town, particularly related to any institution that has a number of cars. They have started meetings every other week for the next six months, with attendance from the schools, and have asked anyone to come who represents an institution in town that would have vehicles. Particularly, in the short term they want to identify the schools and preschools, what their specific plans are, around what they are telling parents, what their needs are in moving kids out, et cetera. Depending on the institution, different 23 places in that process. They expanded this out to the churches and some of the larger businesses. The Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department are helping with this, and he thanked them for their efforts.
He had announced a new Town Clerk at the last Council meeting, and said it will be a different clerk that will be starting, as the previous person made a different decision. Town Manager Dennis welcomed Melissa Thurman, who would be starting the following Monday. Ms. Thurman left her position as City Clerk of San Bruno and he was delighted that they continue to attract quality, high-performing staff to the organization.
Town Manager Dennis said the next month will be all about budget and it will be his entire focus, as it may be the most complicated budget that he has had the opportunity to work on, given the resource allocations that the Council is directing. He said they hope to bring a product that they are proud of. He said the evacuation study partners at Fehr and Peers Consulting Firm will be making a presentation at the American Planning Association event in a few weeks generally about the work that they are doing in Portola Valley, not on the findings, but since this is a such an early effort and only a few cities have done this, staff was excited to hear that they were invited to participate.
Town Manager Dennis offered a reminder that the Town Council will be holding a special listening session on April 28th on wildfire issues, including presentations from staff, Department of Emergency Management, Fire and Sheriff, but for the most part they will be there to answer questions. They hoped people will register so that they know what questions to anticipate. They will start posting the questions they are receiving online shortly.
Mayor Hughes asked where people should go to sign up or post questions. Town Manager Dennis directed people to go to the Town Calendar on April 28th. The registration form and the place to post questions.
Town Manager Dennis said in recent years they had the opportunity to do some classic Portola Valley resident volunteer work, such as the Bay Laurel Trail, which was recently worked on by a volunteer group by folks from the Ranch and also an organization called The Trail Center. He shared a couple photos of their efforts, including a before/after of their work. They continue to hope that there will be a volunteer base that will do these types of things in the community. They find that they are very popular, and they appreciate everyone’s participation.
Councilmember Derwin commented that there are three PRAs (Public Records Act) in process currently, and she wondered if Town Manager Dennis was keeping track of how much staff time this was taking, since staff time equals taxpayer dollars. She felt it was important for the community to know that PRAs are expensive. Town Manager Dennis replied that it is primarily the focus of the Town Attorney, Town Manager, and the Assistant Town Manager will be more involved as they continue the effort. His estimate is that they are already in the thousands of dollars of Town monies essentially spent, and it will reach tens of thousands by the end of this process.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments.
Rita Comes said for the meeting on April 28th, it is asking people to sign in for the meeting, and she wondered why they would have to sign in for the meeting. She did not see why they would have to sign in. She thought there would be many more participants if there was not a sign-in required prior to the meeting, because people are very interested in the topic, but there is confusion as to why they have to pre-register for it. She hoped it would be changed, if possible.
Town Manager Dennis commented that, first, it helps them with resource allocation that they need to bring to the meeting and, more importantly, it is an opportunity for people to send in their questions so they can be prepared in advance of the meeting. They find that it is a useful additional tool to know what they are getting into as it relates to how many people would be there. He said in the past when he has set 24 up past meetings, they try to anticipate what it will look like, who needs to be there, et cetera, and this helps.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
(18) Town Council Digest – March 24, 2022
(19) Town Council Digest – April 1, 2022
(20) Town Council Digest – April 7, 2022
Councilmember Derwin said, regarding the Council of Cities meeting, which is in person in Redwood City, that she did RSVP. If anyone else would like to go with her, she asked them to join her.
Mayor Hughes invited public comments.
Caroline Vertongen stated in Oral Communications that she didn’t understand why her comments providing documents informing the public of a history on several topics, including Housing Element, how Portola Valley had a senior planner who lowered the RHNA numbers and other comments on government policies that the Town was supposed to follow and did not follow. She did understand why those have not been publicized.
Adjourn to Closed Session
(21) Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation Pursuant to Government Code §54956.9(d)(2) conference with legal counsel regarding significant exposure to litigation. Written communication concerning litigation (a Brown Act “cease and desist” letter from Lloyd (Rusty) Day, Kristin Day, Ron Eastman, Bruce Roberts, James Rooney, Jim Vernazza and Ellen Vernazza dated March 30, 2022)
ADJOURNMENT [ 9:11 p.m.]
_____________________________ _________________________ Mayor Craig Hughes Melissa Thurman, MMC
Town Clerk