Council Meeting - January 29, 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
MEETING STRUCTURE
The January 29 meeting is a 2-part meeting.
The Council will be having a Training session from 9-12:30 prior to the 1:00 PM Special Council Meeting. This meeting is open to the public but will not be recorded. The training workshop directed by K. Duggan/RPMG will cover Concepts for Effective Local Government- Roles of Councilmembers, working relationships.
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The afternoon session from 1PM - 3PM is a Priority Setting Session with a review of year 1 of the 2024-2025 workplan by staff, Staff recommendations on amendments; Council discussion, proposed amendments and votes on the priorities; and summarization of the priorities for year 2 of the 2024-2025 workplan. Several other items are also listed on the Agenda (see below).
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:
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A. Approval of City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2024 (Staff: A. Miller)
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B. Approval of City Council Special Meeting Minutes of January 7, 2025 (Staff: A. Miller)
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C. Resolution Approving the Plans and Specifications for the 2025 Sanitary Sewer Repair and Replacement Project and Authorizing Staff to Advertise the Project for Bid (Staff: D. Liang)
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D. Resolution Accepting the 2023 Sanitary Sewer Repair and Replacement Project (Staff: D. Liang)
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E. Resolution Accepting Open Space Easement at 14096 Seven Acres Lane; Lands of SA 96 LLC (Staff: J. Bradford)Approval of the Special City Council Meeting Minutes - November 20, 2024​
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F. Resolution Granting an Extension of the Expiration Dates for Building Permits for Various Residential Properties as listed in the Staff Report (Staff: J. Bradford)
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G. Amendment to the Resolution on Standing Committees: Termination of the Park and Recreation Committee and the Community Relations Committee, and the Creation of the Merged "Parks, Recreation, and Community Events Committee" (Staff: E. Mahic)
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H. Approval of City Council Special Meeting Minutes of January 11, 2025 (Staff: A. Miller)
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I. Approval of City Council Special Meeting Minutes of January 15, 2025 (Staff: A. Miller)
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NOTES ON ITEMS ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR
ITEM 5.D. Resolution Accepting the 2023 Sanitary Sewer Repair and Replacement Project
​This project was awarded in October 2023 based on specifications approved by the Council in August 2023. The project was scheduled to be completed in February 2024, The Staff report states the project was substantially completed in September 2024 with eight contract changes and one deductive order of $69,000. A list of the completed items is not provided. It is standard practice for Staff to ask Council to accept the project as completed.
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ITEM 5F. Resolution Granting an Extension of the Expiration Dates for Building Permits for Various Residential Properties as listed in the Staff Report (Staff: J. Bradford)
​This item pertains to five projects for small ADUs, additions, and a retaining wall. The projects range in age from 2 to 3-1/2 years old. The permits for these projects all expired within the last 18 months.
These permit extensions, along with many others requested in the last few months (see Item 7B below), demonstrate that the Building Department has strained to manage the building process over the last three years. In many cases, permits have expired without notice and construction has been allowed to continue. Extensions are not regularly requested or required, and certain policies are not consistently followed. Some projects would have qualified for administrative extensions if a request had been made before permit expiration.
It is unclear why these projects should be granted a one-year extension since many do not require more than six months to complete and the purpose of construction time limits is to minimize disruption to neighbors.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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​​6. ONGOING BUSINESS
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ITEM 6C. Introduction of Ordinance (First Reading) Amending Title 2, Chapter 6 of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code Adding Conflict of Interest Designations (Staff: S. Mattas)
Motion to Wave Reading and Introduction of the Ordinance
Category 1: Persons in this category shall disclose all of the following interests: investments, interests in real property located either wholly or partially within the Town or within 2 miles of the Town’s boundaries, business positions and income—including loans, gifts and travel payments—from all sources.​
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This ordinance does not apply to volunteers. It only applies to Town Staff and Consultants. (The City Manager and Council are already covered by state statutes.) The requirement to disclose all investments is excessive and should probably be reworded as “investments and interests in real property located either wholly or partially within the Town or within 2 miles of the Town’s boundaries”. In addition, it should require disclosure of any relationship with any vendor or consultant that does (or seeks to do) business with the Town. Disclosure should also apply to spouses.
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​​7. NEW BUSINESS
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ITEM 7 B. Resolution Granting Request for Extension of the Expiration date for Building Permit At 27800 Via Feliz and Applies Time Limitation Penalties (Staff: J.Bradford)
This project also reflects on the state of project management in the Building Department. This home has been under construction for seven years. After the 3-year initial term, it received two six-month extensions in 2022 and 2023. A "Final Deposit" of $50,000 was paid in March 2023. Staff wants to convert the $50,000 final deposit to a penalty but that does not conform to the Town policy (a daily charge of $1,000). The staff report shows a New Expiration Date of January 29, 2025 (should probably say: 2026).
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​​8. STUDY SESSION
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ITEM 8B. Recommendation and Motion to Approve the Amended 2024-25 Work Plan
At the meeting the Council will discuss and amend the workplan for 2025. The Staff report lists the current workplan and provides an update on the project status.
Those wishing to participate in the priority setting session are encouraged to attend.
Staff report shows three lists of potential additions and a list of potential deletions to the 2025 Workplan.
According to the Staff, the following projects are proposed to be added to the Workplan:
• City Wide Survey – (Replacing the Community Development survey)
• Town Website Redesign
• Expired Permit Management
• Code Enforcement Program Evaluation
• Truck Replacement
• Fire Hazard Severity Zones Update
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The following projects (proposed by Council) are not within capacity or budget and will require additional resources or reprioritization:
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• SVCE 2025 Priorities
• Westwind Barn Master Plan
• Photovoltaic MDA Credit Program
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The following projects (proposed by Committees) are not within capacity or budget and will require additional resources or reprioritization:
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• Emergency Communication improvements emergency mass notification system
• HIZ (Home Ignition Zone) – EPRC - New landscaping codes ensure compliance with HIZ principles
• Water Conservation (specifically Purissima Hills wish list) – EDPC & EIC.
The Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (WELO) aims to promote water
conservation through sustainable landscaping practices.
• PA and LA Sewer Processing and Conveyance Charges – FIC.
Investigate LAH share of Sewer Plant Operations and Capital Expense and Markup.
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The FIC (and others) have recommended modifying the Town’s priority setting process by implementing a rolling two-year workplan. The current workplan expires at the end of this year, which provides insufficient planning visibility.
The current workplan may not affect all departments equally, which means some departments may have available capacity as last year’s and this year’s programs are completed. Staff states they will consider this approach in future priority setting sessions. At a minimum, the workplan for 2026 should be adopted at the
time of this year’s mid-year update.
The workplan needs to be updated and monitored regularly to track progress, possibly at each Council meeting.