Agenda Highlights

   [ Items of special note are highlighted in red ]

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1. AGENDA REVIEW

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​​2. PRESENTATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

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​​None scheduled.

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3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

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Persons wishing to address the Council on any subject NOT on the agenda may do so here. Please
complete a Speaker Card located on the back table of the Council Chambers and submit it to the
City Clerk. Comments are limited to two (2) minutes per speaker.

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4. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS (ITEMS PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES)

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A. Disbursement Report (Staff: B. Viajar)

The Town paid out about $1.61M in August 2026: about $1.13M to vendors and $477K in payroll. The largest payments were:

• $293K to the City of Los Altos for Q4 sewer treatment plant operations

• $134K to Redwood Public Law for legal services, including the Linebarger, SHIELD Coalition Brown Act and Michael Grady matters and Housing Element work

• $90K to Palo Alto for regional animal control

• $85K for the West Loyola sewer assessment

• $22K to Renne Public Law Group for the Linebarger litigation

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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 considered separately at the request of a Council Member or a member of the public.)

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A-B Approval of prior City Council Meeting Minutes (Staff: A. Miller)

C. Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the 2026 Town Hall Holiday Closure (Staff: A. Miller)

Town Hall would close to the public December 28–31 so staff can do records retention and training (or choose to use accrued time off). It reopens January 4, 2027. Certain services: 911, Sheriff, code enforcement and the on-call Public Works crew stay available. Building inspections can still be scheduled by appointment.

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6. PUBLIC HEARINGS

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A. First Reading of an Ordinance Updating the Town’s False Alarm Program (Staff: C. Einfalt)

This implements Council direction base on a 5-0 vote on September 17:

• The first two false alarms in a year stay free.

• Fees go from $202/$303/$405 to $250 for the third; $350 for the fourth; and $500 for the fifth and each one after that.

• Alarms are counted by calendar year starting January 1, 2027, instead of by fiscal year.

• The owner gets written notice after every false alarm.

• Alarms are tracked with County dispatch records instead of paper cards. The paper cards captured only 75 of about 412 responses last year.

• The appeal process stays the same.

Staff will run a public information campaign before the new rules start.

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B. First Reading of an Ordinance Creating Incentives for Extremely Low-Income Housing, Housing Element Program E-11 (Staff: J. Bradford)
This applies to projects of 10 or more units in the multifamily zones and overlays. If at least 3% of a project’s base density is reserved for extremely low-income households (at or below 30% of area median income), the project gets:

• a 3% density bonus on top of state density bonus law

• a 0.05 increase in floor area ratio, if the developer asks for it

The Planning Commission recommended approval on October 1. This is one of the few remaining commitments under the state-certified Housing Element.

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C. First Reading of an Ordinance Revising Construction Time Limits (Staff: J. Bradford)

This implements Council’s September 17 direction to rework the 2014 ordinance into two tracks:

• Active, compliant projects are handled by staff.

• Projects with documented nuisances, violations, prolonged inactivity or no real progress get notice and a chance to fix the problem, then escalate.

Other key changes:

• One schedule based on project valuation: 12 months up to $250K, 24 months up to $500K, 36 months up to $1M, 48 months up to $5M and 60 months above $5M.

• A refundable completion deposit of 1% of valuation, capped at $50,000, collected when the permit is issued instead of after the deadline passes.

• Minor permit types are excluded. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits don’t require the deposit.

• The current penalty schedule stays, with up to $250,000 in penalties, but enforcement can take progress and good faith into account.

• Appeals skip the Planning Commission.

Existing permits keep their current clocks. About 200 expired permits involve larger projects, including about 82 new homes.

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7. NEW BUSINESS

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A. Discussion of a Potential Town-Employed Community Service Officer Program (Staff: C. Einfalt)

County dispatch won’t send calls to a private security contractor, and the Sheriff can’t add CSO staff, so staff is exploring a civilian, unarmed Town employee to handle lower-risk calls. The position would work Monday–Friday and could cover:

• Vacation home checks

• Parking complaints

• Traffic control

• Found property

• Non-injury accident reports

• Tow requests

Calls the CSO could handle made up about 46% of last year’s Town-beat calls (1,234 of 2,689). Home patrol checks alone averaged about 3 a day. Alarm calls, suspicious-person calls and welfare checks would stay with deputies.

Estimated cost is $118K–$147K a year fully burdened, plus a vehicle (likely a Kia Niro EV) and startup costs that haven’t been priced yet. Dropping private security from three shifts a day to two could save about $128K a year. Council will choose whether to proceed with that offset, proceed without it, or stop.

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B. History Committee’s Request to Reinstall the De Anza Trek Plaque at Edith Park (Staff: A. Miller)

The plaque commemorates the 1976 De Anza reenactment ride. It was removed years ago over concerns it implied the original 1776 expedition passed through Los Altos Hills. The Committee proposes adding a small plaque reading “Route Taken by the De Anza Reenactment Riders March 26, 1976” and mounting both on a donated stone, for about $250. This year is the expedition’s 250th anniversary. The second original plaque would go to Heritage House.

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C. Continued Support for the Joint Volunteer Awards Committee (JVAC) and the December 4, 2026 Volunteer Recognition Event (Staff: A. Miller)
JVAC voted 3-2 on October 5 to go ahead with the December 4 event. Los Altos has said it won’t participate this year. Council will decide whether the Town keeps supporting the event with its usual $1,500 contribution. On September 17, Council voted 5-0 to send a letter supporting continuation of the joint event.

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8. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES

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​A. Update from the Legal Services/City Attorney Ad Hoc Committee (Mayor Bhateja and Council Member Tankha)

Update on the status of proposals received for City Attorney services along with results of an initial screening by the ad hoc committee.

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B. Update from the Williamson Act Ad Hoc Committee (Mayor Bhateja and Council Member Tyson)

Council formed this committee on September 17 to review the Town’s eligibility standards, compatible uses and procedures for Williamson Act contracts. Council asked it to report back within about 60 days. This is an interim report after 4 weeks.​

9. STAFF REPORTS

A. City Attorney
B. City Clerk
C. Planning Director
D. Finance Director
E. Public Works Director - Staff report on Town's Preparation for El Niño
F. City Manager

10. COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
 

A. Consideration to Seek Second Legal Opinion on Williamson Act (Mayor Bhateja)

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11. ADJOURN​

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