Council Meeting - February 20, 2025
Below is a summary of the agenda and (when available) minutes of the City Council Meeting on the above date. While the summary is believed to be accurate, that is not guaranteed. The current City Council meeting agenda and detailed agenda packet can be found on the Town's website.
Agenda Highlights
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ITEM 4. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS (items provided solely for informational purposes)
A. Treasurer's Report (Staff: T. Leung)
B. Disbursement Report (Staff: T. Leung)
C. Quarterly Investment Report (Staff: T. Leung)
These are standard monthly/quarterly reports that show the Town’s cash balances by fund, monthly disbursements, and quarterly investment performance of its cash balance.
ITEM 5. CONSENT CALENDAR (A consent calendar is a means of handling a number of routine matters with one motion and vote, and no discussion. These items can be removed from the group and considered separately at the request of a Council Member or a member of the public.)
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​This month there are several items of note on the consent calendar:
[ Notable items are shown in red ]
A. Approval of the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2024 (Staff: A. Miller)
B. Approval of City Council Special Meeting Minutes for January 29, 2025 (Staff: A. Miller) Need to check the accuracy of public comment reporting,
C. Approval of City Council Regular and Special Meeting Minutes of January 30, 2025 (Staff: A. Miller)
D. Termination of Appointment to the Pathways Committee - Helga Carson (Staff: A.Miller)
E. Resolution Approving and Authorizing Execution of the Viscaino Road Sanitary Sewer Reimbursement Agreement between the Town of Los Altos Hills and Ajay Shah and Leslie Harris (Staff: D. Liang)
F. Resolution Approving and Authorizing Execution of the Amended and Restated Funding Agreement with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, updated in January 2025, for the 2016 Measure B Bicycle & Pedestrian Education and Encouragement Program (Staff W. Kim).
G. Resolution Accepting Storm Drainage and Temporary Use Easement Agreement at 12871 Atherton Court; Lands of The Hsu and Lin Family Trust (Staff J. Bradford)
H. Ordinance (Second Read) Amending Title 2, Chapter 6 of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code Adding Conflict of Interest Designations (Staff: S. Mattas)
I. Resolution Adopting the Revised Investment Policy (Staff: T. Leung)
J. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Five-Year Agreement with Flock
Safety for 31 Automatic License Plate Reader Cameras Five-year Agreement for 31 automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras at a cost of $93,000 per year.
​On January 30, 2025, the City Council discussed the Town’s public safety strategy and due to a increase in the per camera annual operating expense, the City Council directed staff to reduce the number of ALPR cameras from 40 to 31, and to negotiate a 5-year agreement with Flock Safety to lock in pricing. Cameras to be eliminated are internal to the Town and will not materially reduce system effectiveness.
The council was told that the five-year agreement is intended to lock in pricing but does not prevent cancelation or modification in the number of cameras prior to the agreement’s expiration. A copy of the agreement (Attachment 3) was not attached as stated in the Staff report, so the right to cancel or modify the agreement could not be verified.
​K. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with PalAmericanPrivate Security for Security Patrols in FY2024-25.
On January 30, 2025, the City Council discussed the Town’s public safety strategy which included the supplemental private security services with PalAmerican. Due to the marked reduction in crime, the Council directed staff to reduce the number of shifts per day from four to three. Staff will continually monitor crime trends and use the three patrol shifts when they are needed most.
The Town failed to renew the prior agreement when it expired on June 30, 2024 but continued using and paying vendor. The new agreement is seven months retroactive and continues through June 30, 2025. It is a not-to-exceed $550,000 agreement, which stipulates hourly rates but does not specify service times or levels and can be cancelled by the Town on seven-days notice.
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ITEM 6. OLD BUSINESS
A. Resolution Approving the 2024-25 Amended Work Plan
On January 29, 2025, the City Council held a Priority Setting Session to amend the two-year Work Plan for 2024-25, which called for 58 projects. Staff proposed adding the following six new projects that could fit within the staff’s capacity for this year.
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City-Wide Survey
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Town Website Redesign
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Expired Permit Management
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Code Enforcement Program Evaluation
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Truck Replacement, and
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Fire Hazard Severity Zones
After dialogue and public comments at the session, the Council added the following six separate/additional projects to the work plan:
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Housing Element Amendment
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Emergency Communications Study
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HIZ (Home Ignition Zone) Study for new landscaping codes
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Water Conservation
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Review Palo Alto and Los Altos Markups for Sewer Processing and Conveyance
Council agreed to end the Town Quarterly and increase the frequency of Our Town to four issues per year. Staff reviewed the additional projects and identified which projects could be deferred and which projects would need additional resources as shown in the proposed work plan in the column called “Budget Ask”.
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The proposed amended Work Plan is in four parts and can be found at the links below.
New projects are highlighted in blue. Schedule changes are highlighed in yellow.
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https://losaltoshillsca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3842/files/attachment/12059
https://losaltoshillsca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3842/files/attachment/12057
https://losaltoshillsca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3842/files/attachment/12058
https://losaltoshillsca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3842/files/attachment/12060
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Staff makes clear that approving the amended Work Plan does not approve any appropriations in the current budget cycle and any projects requiring additional budget allocations will need to come back to Council for review and approval. All new projects show budget requirements.
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To prevent delaying the start on these important project additions, Council should
discuss and approve appropriations as part of the Amended Work Plan approval
or request appropriations be added to next month’s Council agenda.
Major Delays! Anticipated dates of completion are shown on the work plan in the column called “Updated Quarter of Completion.” The report demonstrates extensive delays in approved projects by as much as 18 months. More than sixty percent of the “Maintain Infrastructure” projects exhibit extensive delays. Critical Public Safety projects, such as updating the Emergency Operating Plan or Complete the Safety Element show delays of as much as a year.
Council also established Ad Hoc Committees (subcommittees of the Council) for the following projects to help staff with capacity:
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Housing Element Adoption – Vice Major Bhateja and Councilmember Mok
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Emergency Communications – Mayor Tankha
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Sewer Charges Research – Mayor Tankha
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ITEM 7: PUBLIC HEARINGS
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First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Sections 10-1.202, 10-1.702, and various other associated sections of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code to permit the residential uses of transitional and supportive housing, residential care, farmworker and employee housing, and single room occupancy (SROs) and the proposed objective design standards for these four residential uses.
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Required amendments to the Town’s Housing Element to meet new State requirements.
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ITEM 8. NEW BUSINESS
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A. Receive 2024-25 Mid-Year Financial Report and Adopt Resolution Approving Mid-Year Budget Appropriations
The purpose of mid-year financial update is to review the Town’s financial health through December 31, 2024 and identify any known risks that require immediate attention by identifying significant deviations from the budget or prior year results. Revenue is largely on track with property tax, the largest component in line with projections and License and permit revenue and charges for services running below budget due to lower activity. General Fund expenditures are projected to remain within budget by year-end. Personnel costs in the first half were below budget primarily due to vacancies; however, the Town is now fully staffed. Spending on services and supplies were lower than the same period last year, largely due to reduced expenditures on contract plan checks and other contract services.
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Sewer Fund is on track to meet the revenue budget and to stay within the expense budget.
With the exception of the underground project and annual street repair program, much of the planned capital expenditures have not occurred as of December 31. 2024.
Note: Work Plan Projects identified during the City Council’s Goal-Setting session on January
29, 2025 were not included in the mid-year budget due to timing. Many of these projects will
require a separate budget appropriation.
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B. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Surplus the Nonoperational 2008 Ford F250 and to Purchase a Replacement Truck not to exceed $120,000
Town’s 2008 Ford F250 has broken down and the cost to repair is estimated to exceed $25,000 and is not cost-effective to repair. Staff recommends surplusing the nonoperational truck and replacing and replacing it with a similar truck at a cost of $120,000. Funds to be taken from the Vehicle and Equipment Reserve.
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C. Resolution Authorizing The City Manager To Execute An Agreement With KMVT 15 Community Media To Provide Video Services For Public Meetings, and Appropriate Comcast Franchise Fees To Cover The Expenses
​The staff report contains a number of false and misleading statements and should be corrected.
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This is not a Council priority since it does not appear on the 24/25 Work Plan. ( It was on a prior Work Plan but was dropped from the 24/25 Work Plan.) It should not have been worked on ahead of items on the work plan.
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The financial information reported is incorrect.
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Franchise fees are deposited in the General Fund and can be used for any purpose. Only the Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) funds are limited in how they may be used (for capital expenditures related to public, educational, and governmental television channels). Town receives very little PEG funds, and they were to be used to upgrade the council chamber A/V system.
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This item is a $20,000 additional expense masquerading as a cost savings.
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Questionable if additional services are necessary.
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Eliminates ability for Crew staff to earn extra money.
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Meetings can be streamed on YouTube for free. Few, if any, people watch obscure cable channels.
ITEM 9. STAFF REPORTS
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ITEM 10. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON
OUTSIDE AGENCIES (Staff reports are not provided for these items.)
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A. Hills 2000 and Friends of the Hills request for the Town of Los Altos Hills to co- sponsor Vines & Wines 2025 on Sunday, October 25, 2025.
B. Housing Element Amendment Ad Hoc Committee Report (Vice Mayor Bhateja and Council Member Mok)
C. Amending the EPRC Ad Hoc Committee Appointee to Vice Mayor Bhateja (Mayor Tankha)
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ITEM 11. COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
A. Allow Los Altos Hills Community Fiber to install conduits from their curbside installation to Town infrastructure, to enable resilient connections to Town internet and power infrastructure in the future.
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LAHCF is asking for permission to install two conduits to enable possible later connection to enable Town internet access and backup power. This is in keeping with the objective of providing disaster-resilient underground fiber internet connectivity, and robust emergency communications between Town Hall and the Ark at Foothill College. No connections are being proposed at this time. LAHCF is proposing to simply provide the conduits at no charge to the Town for possible later use if the Town so desires.
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