RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 2/7/23 AGENDA
Agenda Item 2.A: Board, Commissions and Committee Minutes (Deferred from January 31, 2023) *Please reference Attachment 1 for Council Questions from the 1/31/23 Agenda on this item
Council Question:
Over that past 5 years, which organizations have received grants from this fund?
Staff Response:
Fiscal Year Recipient Award
2016-17 Santa Clara Pony Baseball $5,000
SC Lions Football & Cheer (Fall) $1,000
2016-17 Total: $6,000
2017-18 SC Lions Flag & Conditioning Camp $500
SC Lions Tackle & Cheer $500
SC PAL Softball $500
SC PAL Soccer $500
2017-18 Total $2,000
2018-19 SC Lions Flag & Conditioning Camp $500
SC Lions Tackle & Cheer $500
SC PAL Softball $500
SC PAL Soccer $500
2018-19 Total: $2,000
2019-20 SC Lions Flag & Conditioning Camp $250
SC Lions Fall Tackle & Cheer $250
SC Lions Winter $500
Pony Baseball $5,000
2019-20 Total: $6,000
2020-21 Santa Clara Swim Club $500
2021-22 Santa Clara PAL BMX $2,420
2022-23 Santa Clara Youth Soccer $6,693
TOTAL TO DATE: $25,613
Council Question:
What has been the total annual disbursement for the past 5 years?
Staff Response:
A total of $25,613 has been disbursed between July 1, 2016 and December 30, 2023. It is important to note that many City facilities were closed during this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, sports organizations had limited operations and justification for an award.
Council Question:
What is the plan to spend some of this excess Wade Brummal fund build up to best help our student athletes either with scholarships and equipment?
Staff Response:
Revenues have outpaced the distribution of funds and many organizations have experienced changes in leadership in recent years. To facilitate greater utilization of the Fund, staff will be reaching out to organizations 2 who have been issued permits for City facilities in the coming weeks to inform them of the availability of the Wade Brummal Scholarship Fund. Staff will work with the organizations to identify eligible expenses and provide guidance on how best to apply for an award. Simultaneously, staff will bring forward to the City Council a proposal for a one-time, special grant award cycle before the end of the fiscal year to promote opportunities to the community at large as well as existing users. This proposal will be brought first to the Parks & Recreation Commission for review and input and then, to the City Council prior to the end of the fiscal year.
Council Question:
What is the long-term plan for managing this fund?
Staff Response:
The Parks & Recreation Department will continue to manage the Fund. In addition to a proposal for a one-time, special grant award cycle, staff will also bring forward any changes that may be deemed necessary to ensure the efficient distribution of funds including but not limited to enhanced outreach, changes to eligibility requirements or changes to the distribution guidelines as part of its proposal to the City Council.
Council Question:
The City also received $0.35 cents per ticket for NFL games for the “Santa Clara Senior and Youth Program Fee”.
The SCSA must pay the City the annual proceeds from this Fee. I see from the SCSA Financial Status Report for FY ending 3/31/2022 (Table 8), that a total of $232,000 was collected in FY2022. How is that money being spent?
Staff Response:
These funds are appropriated to the Department of Parks and Recreation. Since the Department of Parks and Recreation is significantly below cost recovery (i.e., receives a significant General Fund subsidy), these funds generally support the Department’s youth and senior programs.
Funding is allocated into programs and supplies for youth and senior programming during the operating budget cycle.
Agenda Item 3.A: Informational Report on Stadium Authority and Stadium Manager Meetings and Corresponding Minutes for the Period of July 1 to September 30, 2022 (Deferred from January 31, 2023)
Council Question:
I was surprised at the frequency of meetings between the Interim CM and Interim CA with the 49er mgmt and no minutes. Just an “agenda.” I had gone back and looked at meetings Deanna Santana had with 49er mgmt and there were actual minutes with descriptions of the discussions. I am wondering why there aren’t better minutes.
Staff Response:
Unfortunately, staff cannot respond to the reasoning for the lack of minutes or meeting summaries for those meetings. Current staff did not participate in the meetings and we do not have records of what may have been discussed.
Agenda Item 4.A: Action on Bills and Claims Report (CC, SCSA, HA, SOSA) for the period December 4, 2022 - January 6, 2023
Council Question:
I still don’t know why these public safety costs for SF and SC county sheriffs don’t just get paid out of SCSA accounts rather than GF. They are both NFL and non-NFL related expenses, but neither should come from GF.
Seems like it’s harder to track public safety costs when they are not in a separate fund code.
3 Staff Response:
As the lead law enforcement agency for Levi’s Stadium, the Santa Clara Police Department secures local, State and Federal resources as necessary. The City has numerous Municipal Law Enforcement Services Agreements with other law enforcement jurisdictions. San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and the County of Santa Clara are only two of more than a dozen agreements. The City’s Police Department is charged with providing public safety within the City’s jurisdictional boundaries and, when contracting with other agencies to provide such service, those other agencies are under the supervision of the City’s Police Department. As such, the other agencies submit their billing to the City for payment, and it is therefore most appropriate for the payment on that billing to come from the City. With regards to the tracking of these costs, these costs are tracked diligently, accounted for in separate programs within the General Fund in the City’s accounting system and billed back based on the type of activity. All NFL Event-related activities are directly invoiced to the 49ers and are not co-mingled with Stadium Authority revenues; it was not contemplated with the setup of the Stadium Authority that operating revenues supporting debt repayment and Non-NFL events would be used to support NFL-related expenses.
Because Santa Clara public safety costs (PD and Fire) are tracked by the City and billed back either to the 49ers (NFL events) or the Stadium Manager (non-NFL events), the tracking and charging of time and other expenses is more efficient when all costs are initially captured in one location.
Agenda Item 4.B: Action on an Agreement with O'Dell Engineering, Inc. for Design Professional Services for the Warburton Park Playground Rehabilitation Project &
Agenda Item 4.C: Action on an Agreement with David L. Gates & Associates, Inc. for Design Professional Services for the Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation Project
Council Question:
I see the following in the Scope of Work:
4 It seems to me that this 4B effort for Warburton as well as the 4C effort for Henry Schmidt should start with a community survey of what features residents like best at the parks and what features they would like to see added. This scope of work seems to be less interactive with the community because it seems that the consultants would have already done preliminary plans for the parks and they ask for community input. What is the plan to gather community input?
Staff Response:
The Department of Parks and Recreation utilizes a process that is highly interactive with the community while being cost efficient and producing effective results.
The following is a summary of the Department’s Community Outreach Plan that has been implemented over the past few years on several existing park & playground rehabilitation projects:
• Pre Project
o Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget proposals for new projects provide background on needs, project justification, and focus of the project scope o Updates on upcoming park projects are provided to the Parks & Recreation Commission at monthly meetings with the review incorporated as part of their Annual Work Plan
• Once a CIP is funded, a Consultant is hired and is charged with conducting a baseline review of existing documents, site strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/constraints, Facility Condition Assessment(s), compliance safety issues, adjacent issues among others, funding criteria (if applicable), and an understanding of applicable Park Development Standards. This allows the Consultant to help the community understand the context and parameters of the proposed project.
o During the public outreach and input process, the Consultant introduces the existing Park site conditions and intended Project scope which includes creating a unique, family friendly and inclusive neighborhood park environment that welcomes residents of all ages and abilities. o Park rehabilitation Project design principles at a minimum include: understanding the current Park uses and user groups, implementing research based best practices for play and inclusionary/universal design, accommodating additional community use, addressing asset lifecycle maintenance costs, supporting the City’s sustainability and age-friendly goals (WHO), addressing adjacent property concerns where feasible, complying with potential playground equipment grant guidelines and PlayCore National Demonstration Site criteria, addressing any use of fund restrictions/requirements, adhering to budgetary limits, addressing Measure R conditions.
• Phase One of a Project (community outreach and design) is generally a multi-faceted effort that utilizes an array of engagement activities including but not limited to community surveys, community meetings, social media, two meetings of the Parks and Recreation Commission and Council consideration as follows:
5 o Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting #1 Initial Presentation & Initiate formal public input process on the Phase One schematic Design – Master Plan Update (this helps the Commission and public understand the existing site plan, project scope, budget, as well as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and concerns.
Outreach:
Post on City Park Projects Page
Send Gov Delivery notice to over 28,000 persons whom have opted in Snail Mail item to residences within 1,000 feet of project site Email to stakeholders (particular park users, user groups, funders, if known and/or requested)
Post on Social Media (Facebook) for general awareness Post in Park on A-frames for stationary awareness and park users Various Newsletters for updates, invites and awareness o Communitywide Survey on-line to allow for remote participation o Onsite/in person meeting at park to hear directly from interested persons (Sometimes a second meeting held remotely on Zoom)
o Pop-up meeting at special events to increase awareness and receive wider input o Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting #2 (Formal meeting includes public comment and recommendation to approve the proposed Park Master Plan Update and Playground schematic design (includes the Measure R compliance)
o Council Meeting: to consider approval of the proposed Parks Master Plan Update and Playground Schematic Design (includes the Measure R compliance).
This methodology has proven to be effective in providing an array of opportunities for both in-person and online community engagement. In utilizing a consistent approach to engagement, the Department is able to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders in a manner that is both efficient and effective in its ability to deliver park projects.
Agenda Item 6.A: Report on a Written Petition (Council Policy 030) Submitted by Councilmember Jain Requesting to Place an Agenda Item at a Future Council Meeting to Discuss Allocating up to $150,000 to Create a Neighborhood Stadium Relations Committee Using Funds from the Stadium Authority Budget
Council Question:
Does the NURC ever vote on anything besides approving minutes and adjourning?
Staff Response:
No. The meetings are more informal / informational in nature with no agenda action items.
Council Question:
Does NURC refer items to the full council for approval or budgeting?
Staff Response:
No, there have not been referral of items. The purpose of the NURC meetings is primarily to provide information to the community and listen to the community concerns. The format and substance are similar to community meetings. NURC meetings are essentially community outreach meetings with Councilmembers and SCU officials in attendance.
Council Question:
Why do 3 councilmembers serve on NURC?
6 Staff Response:
NURC was established in 1990 and created a forum for on-going communication and problem solving among City officials, neighborhoods, property owners and Santa Clara University officials and students. Staff does not know the history as to why the Council formed this committee with three Council members.
Council Question:
What is the annual budget for NURC?
Staff Response:
There is not a specific budget for this activity. All staff and other costs are absorbed into current work program within the General Fund.
Council Question:
Does the University pay for any City staff time?
Staff Response:
SCU does not pay for any of the staffing costs associated with the NURC meetings. SCU has paid for some enhanced PD/Code Enforcement activity around SCU to address neighborhood concerns.
Council Question:
Does the same list of people in the agenda report “participate in meetings and/or provide support outside of the meetings” also do the same for NURC (including a SCFD Battalion Chief)?
Staff Response:
The anticipated topics of the Stadium Neighborhood Relations Committee are different than those topics discussed by NURC. The list of employees that may be called upon to provide participate and/or provide information to support a Stadium Neighborhood Relations Committee is based upon potential topics mentioned for this committee and those Departments/staff already involved in Stadium-related topics. Depending on the breadth/scope of the topics and workplan of this Committee as directed by Council, the staffing list may expand or contract.
Council Question:
Why are the police reports and presentations from NURC not posted on the City’s website as Post Meeting Materials? Will NURC meetings continue to be video recorded as was the Feb 7, 2022 NURC meeting was? I see that while there is a link to “Caption Notes” those notes don’t exist for the Feb 7, 2022 meeting.
Staff Response:
There have not been enough available staff resources to assign a priority to this work effort. The meetings are not normally recorded and were often held at SCU or other venues that don’t have recording equipment, or AV staffing. However, the February 6 NURC meeting, SCU offered to host and setup AV to allow a hybrid format for future meetings. Based on this offer, staff will be working with SCU to utilize their resources to support a hybrid setup in the future.
Council Question:
Chief Nikolai has stated in his letter that: “The stadium has failed for years to bring any direct economic benefit to the City’s general fund. It appears that this event season, which included several large concerts and home 49er play-off games, might break that trend.”
But I found the following in the SCSA Financial Status Report Q and FY ending March 31, 2022. Can you confirm that, aside from Settlement payments where some of the $2.327M of Discretionary Fund balance was paid to the GF, that the following money ($1,136,722) also flowed to the GF?:
7 Staff Response:
Staff will be making the Discretionary Fund payment in the amount of $650,000 to the General Fund in the next month as allowed by the Stadium Lease and provided for in the Settlement Agreement. The Discretionary Fund payment is in addition to the activities and figures presented in the Table below that show the General Fund revenue impacts from the stadium for FY Ending March 31, 2022.
RESPONSE TO COUNCIL QUESTIONS RE: 1/31/23 AGENDA
Agenda Item 3.A: Action on October 3, 2022 Special City Council Meeting and October 4, 2022 Council and Authorities Concurrent Meeting Minutes
Council Comment:
I don’t see how the affirmative vote of 5 led to a motion failing:
Staff Response:
The Assistant City Clerk will address this item during the Council Meeting.
Agenda Item 3.B: Board, Commissions and Committee Minutes
Council Comment:
I see the following:
Assistant City Attorney Alexander Abbe clarified that land use decisions are largely non-precedential and that approval of the variance for this property would obligate the City to approve a variance for a different lot.
It seems to me that a “not” is missing here:
Assistant City Attorney Alexander Abbe clarified that land use decisions are largely non-precedential and that approval of the variance for this property would not obligate the City to approve a variance for a different lot.
Council Comment:
Adjournment time not noted on Parks and Rec Minutes Nov 15, 2022:
Vice Chair Caldwell: He has been enjoying visiting Maywood Park and keeping the park clean particularly after usage of the park by park patrons.
ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Chu made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Forte to adjourn the meeting until the next Parks & Recreation Commission meeting at 7:00 PM on January 17, 2023.
Aye: 6 - Vice Chair Caldwell, Commissioner Chu, Commissioner Field, Commissioner Forte, Commissioner Hai, and Commissioner Ricketts
Excused: 1 - Chair Cox
MEETING DISCLOSURES
2 Staff Response:
The Assistant City Clerk will address this item during the Council Meeting.
Council Question:
I see the following in the Minutes:
1.B 22-1343 Consider a Request from the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League for a Financial Grant in the Amount of $6,693 from the Wade Brummal Youth Sports Grant Program Recommendation: Approve the SCYSL request for a Wade Brummal Youth Sports Grant in the amount of $6,693.
BUT it seems to me that grants are limited to $500 per organization according to File # 19-1712. Given that the balance is $90K in the fund, it seems to me that we might want to change the numbers. How much is collected every year by the $25/non-resident. Does this include BMX and Swim Center?
In order to receive a financial grant from the Fund, a qualifying organization must meet established eligibility criteria including: (1) the organization must be a City of Santa Clara non-profit, sports, or school organization serving youth 18 years and under; (2) funds must be used for covering registration and/or participation fees, enhancing service, training, equipment, facilities or other expenses related to the sport, league or activity; (3) requests are limited to one request per organization, per sport; and, (4) a limit of $500 per group, per request.
The Fund requests are reviewed by the Parks & Recreation Commission and payments are administered by the Parks and Recreation Department. Nine (9) Santa Clara Youth Sports organizations participate in the Wade Brummal Youth Sports Grant Program. The current Fund balance is $90,764. Since 2015, the Fund has provided six (6) organizations with financial grants for players from low income households to participate in the sports leagues.
Staff Response:
The Wade Brummal Youth Sports Scholarship Fund (“Fund”) was established by the City Council in October 2015 in an effort to ensure funding for Santa Clara youth who wish to participate in youth sports but may not have the financial means to do so. The Fund is supported by a $25 fee that is charged to all non-resident participants in City of Santa Clara-sponsored youth sports programs that utilize City of Santa Clara facilities.
As a City-sponsored program, non-resident participants in the Swim Center program do contribute to the fund; however, non-residents in the BMX program do not as BMX is a program of the Santa Clara Police Activities League (PAL) which is a separate non-profit entity responsible for the operations of the BMX park.
Revenue collected in the Fund varies year-to-year with an annual average collection of $23,000. The current fund balance is approximately $292,000. Scholarships can be awarded in two categories:
1. To reimburse a youth sports organization for providing direct financial assistance to low-income Santa Clara youth sports participants; and
2. To reimburse the costs of new equipment, field repairs, capital projects or maintenance costs when the fund balance exceeds $15,000 in a year.
Scholarship awards under $500 are made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Director of Parks and Recreation and/or his/her designee. Scholarship awards over $500, or for awards for reimbursement of costs related to additional competition expenses (i.e. travel), are subject to review and approval by the Parks and Recreation Commission and the availability of funding. There is no guarantee of funding, requests are limited to one time per quarter and all scholarship recipients must comply with Title IX requirements which prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender.
3 RTC 19-1712 did not fully articulate all of the guidelines in the Council-adopted 2015 policy. Given the size of the fund balance, staff is currently exploring opportunities to articulate the availability of this funding with stakeholder youth sports organizations and will work to ensure applicants are aware of the opportunities afforded by the Wade Brummal Scholarship Fund.
Agenda Item 3.F: Action on the Adoption of a Resolution Accepting the AB1600 Report on Development Impact Fees for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022
Council Question:
It seems to me that the developer fees are well below expenditures for Sanitary Sewer Connections. Does this mean that we are well below cost recovery since every year the developer fees are WELL below the expenditures? Seems like we are going further in the red every year. Where does the money come from to make up the difference and why did we refund money in 21 and 22 when expenditures were still above fees?
Staff Response:
The expenditures in the table show the eligible costs for the Sanitary Sewer Connection Fee. These costs are primarily the City’s share of the capital projects for the Regional Wastewater Facility (RWF). Developers paying the Sanitary Sewer Connection Fee fund an incremental portion of the RWF costs for increased capacity. Because the bulk of the capital costs related to that facility are now born by existing customers, the revenues to support these costs are collected through sewer rates (or to support debt for the RWF). The negative amounts in the table are merely to show, in accordance with the law, that eligible expenditures exceeded the fee revenues.
Refunded expenditures reflect credits we receive from San Jose that we receive from unspent capital costs. Each year we transfer the budgeted amount, and the City receives a credit for what is not spent from the prior year.
4 Agenda Item 7: Action on a Written Petition to Waive the Fees for City Services Related to Three (3) Baseball Fundraising Tournaments at Washington Park Ballfield
Council Question:
It seems that the School District owns the land, but the City does all the maintenance work. How many City events versus School District events are held at the ballpark over the year?
Staff Response:
The City does not typically hold events at Washington Ballfield. The City issues permits for uses such as Santa Clara Unified School District’s varsity baseball home games, use by private schools such as Harker Academy or North Valley Baptist and occasionally, for use by Westside/Briarwood Little League organizations. In recent years, the majority of use has been by the school district. This facility is considered to be a premier site for tournament use as the amenities include a lighted ballfield and covered stands.
Council Question:
It seems that the School district pays for events that they hold at the ballpark so why not this one?
Staff Response:
The City has maintained and permitted use of the Washington Ballfield based on provisions in the 1985 joint use agreement. Historically, the City has also provided an in-kind contribution of staff support for this tournament. In accordance with the Council-approved Cost Recovery Policy, tournament fees are now set at 50% of cost recovery and in-kind contributions are subject to Council approval. While the School District received notification of the July 1 implementation of the Cost Recovery Policy, it is not known whether the tournament organizers have approached the District for additional funding or support.
Council Question:
The Wilcox team is essentially asking for a subsidy of $28K from the City for a fundraiser. That seems like a terrible fundraiser if it has to rely on such a large subsidy. Most of the costs are for staff time. How much of the staffing costs could be offset by volunteers from Wilcox? Are there any union issues for who can do the work on the fields and other tasks at the ballpark?
Staff Response:
The category of expenses that could most easily be offset are the costs associated with Tournament support. As noted in Table 1, the total cost for this category is $16,940. While not all of these costs could be offset, the Parks and Recreation Department is willing to work with the Tournament Organizers to determine which costs can be reduced based on their available volunteer pool. Any work that cannot be covered by financial or volunteer support would be provided by City staff at the City’s established rates. Generally, volunteers do not operate machinery such as mowers, trimmers, etc. The majority of tournament support activities are performed by as- needed City employees, not subject to employee agreements.
Council Question:
How did the price of the City’s subsidy go from $16,940 to $30,416?
Staff Response:
The City staff applied the field use, field prep, staff, and tournament fees to the dates and times requested for the three tournaments per the Municipal Fee Schedule and rechecked for accuracy. The fees quoted are based upon the anticipated tournament schedule; depending upon the actual number of days and hours required, the total fees may be different (higher/lower).