MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING - CITY COUNCIL February 22, 2016

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1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING - CITY COUNCIL MAY.OR NOACK called a regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:31 p.in. in the Council Chambers, 1 00 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, California, complete proceedings of which were electronically recorded. The meeting agenda was posted on the outdoor bulletin board at the above address on February 18,2016 by Deputy City Clerk Juanita Davalos. 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 2. ROLLCALL Present: Carlson, Durant, Flaherty, Harris, Noack 3. PRESENTATIONS 3.1 OATH OF OFFICE to Newly-Appointed City Clerk Carol Wu MAYOR NOACK gave the Oath of Office to the new City Clerk, Carol Wu. 3.2 PRESENTATION of Annual Report on the Activities of the Civic Action Commission by Commission Chair Allison Koerber ALLISON KOERBER, Civic Action Commission Chair, reported on activities and events of the Civic Action Commission for She noted that the Commission participated in four major community events which were part of the effort to enhance the quality of life for residents. Ms. Koerber also discussed the 2016 calendar and acknowledged other members of the Civic Action Commission. 3.4 PRESENTATION of John Muir Health Community Benefits by Diana Camacho, Program Director This item was taken out of order. NANCY OLSON, Chief Governance and Government Affairs Officer for John Muir Health, reported that a few months prior the Council heard from the Executive Director of the Community Health Fund, which provides grants throughout the community. She explained that the Community Health Fund was created as a pa.rt of t.l}e merger of the Mount Diablo Medical Center and John Muir Medical Center in DIANA CAMACHO, Program Director for Community Health Improvement Program, explained that she works with Community Benefits, Culture Competency Initiatives and Language Access programs, a..11d discussed other programs that John Muir Health supports. She further explained that John Muir Community Benefits is a non-profit organization charged with improving the health of the communities in its service area 1

2 and described the three major areas for community benefits. Ms. Camacho also presented financial informatioj? from 2014 as 2015 data was not complete. 3.3 PRESENTATION of Annual Report on the Activities of the Education Commission by Commission Chair Emily Richards EMILY RICHARDS, Education Commission Chair, reported on the activities of the Education Commission. _Ms. Richards acknowledged other members of the Commission, including those in attendance. She reported that in its role as an advocate for Pleasant Hill schools within the School District, the Commission provides a forum for parents, businesses, and community members. Ms. Richards reported on school year events, some of which included Common Core Night for parents; Above the Fray; and the President's Volunteer Service A ward. 4. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS City Manager June Catalano reported on: The first Business Runway Event scheduled for February 24, 2016; The International East Bay Jewish Film Festival opening March 5, 2016; Orchard Supply Hardware's corporate grand opening; and WiseGirl Ristorante Italiano and Cocktails opening on February 18, 2016 with a ribbon cutting ceremony held by the Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce. 5. COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS 5.1 REPORTS from Councilmembers on Meetings or Conferences Attended at City Expense (A) Contra Costa County Mayors' Conference Held on February 4, 2016 Hosted by the City of Oakley (B) Other COUNCILMEMBER FLAHERTY reported his attendance at the League of California Cities East Bay Division dinner in Oakland with Vice Mayor Harris and Councilmember Carlson. MAYOR NOACK reported that she attended; the Elected Women's Lunch of Contra Costa County; the WiseGirl restaurant ribbon cutting ceremony; two ribbon cuttings at Orchard Supply Hardware; College Park Choir Fest; a Crab Feed for Rehabilitation Services for Northern California; the opening of the International Jewish Film Festival; the East Bay Economic District Association meeting; the Mayor's Breakfast; and the Mayors' Conference held on February 4, VICE MAYOR HARRIS reported t]lat he also (;tttended the Mayors' Conference. 2

3 5.2 ANNOUNCEMENTS from Councilmembers COUNCILMEMBER FLAHERTY reported that community awards were given in January for He named the recipients and thanked them for their service to Pleasant Hill. He also reported that March 5, 2016 will be the opening day for the Pleasant Hill Baseball Association. COUNCILMEMBER CARLSON reported on the Community Health Fund charged with allocating $1,000,000 in grant money. He indicated that grant funds were awarded to Meals on Wheels, Senior Outreach Services; Contra Costa Coordinating Care Initiative; John F. Kennedy University Mental Health Care Initiative; and La Clinica De La Raza. COUNCILMEMBER DURANT reported hosting the Recreation and Park District Board Members earlier in the year. He also reported that he received an update regarding the Library Task Force and asked for a brief summary. MARTIN NELIS, Public Information Officer, reported that the Library Task Force had met that morning and provided an update and discussed the County properties. VICE MAYOR HARRIS gave a brief summary on the Task Force stating that the County was looking at sites they thought were more appropriate for the library than the ones the Task Force had previously selected and were still in negotiations with the Recreation and Park District. VICE MAYOR HARRIS reported that the sub-committee is scheduled to meet in March and will bring a recommendation back to the Task Force. He stated that a recommendation.will be brought to the City Council for review. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT MAYOR NOACI( opened public comment. EMILY WOOD, Contra Costa County Climate Leaders, presented the Council \vith a pamphlet regarding the organization. She stated that the organization keeps a scorecard on how well local cities are doing with greenhouse gas emission policies. Ms. Wood reported that Pleasant Hill is rated number two on having available electric vehicle charging stations and Walnut Creek is number one. Ms. Wood also reported that.47% of all businesses in Pleasant Hill are green business certified and that the walkability score is how walkable a city is. She stated that Pleasant Hill scored 63, which is second behind El Cerrito. Ms. Wood thanked the City for being a Spare the Air employer and banning plastic bags. Ms. Wood noted that her organization will have upcoming workshops on drought resilience and green businesses. MAYOR NOACK closed public comment. 7. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion (Harris/Carlson) to approve all consent items carried as follows: AYES: Carlson, Durant, Flaherty, Harris, Noack 3

4 7.1 APPROVE Checks Dated: January 22, 2016; January 29, 2016; February 5, 2016; and February 11, APPROVE Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of January 25, ACCEPT Update on Contra Costa Transportation Authority and TRANSPAC 7.4 ADOPT Ordinance No. 898 Amending Pleasant Hill Municipal Code (Definitions) to Update the Definition of Committee in Accordance with the Amended Political Reform Act (Government Code 82013) 7.5 ADOPT Resolution No Accepting the Ruth Drive Storm Drain Rehabilitation Project No as Complete and Authorizing the City Engineer to Issue and Record a Notice of Completion 7.6 ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 20 (Commercial Area Landscaping and Lighting) (A) ADOPT Resolution No Directing the Preparation and Filing of 2016/2017 Annual Report for Assessment District No. 20 (Commercial Area Landscaping and Lighting) (B) ADOPT Resolution No Requesting Consent from the City of Concord for Ordering of Improvements and Assessments of Costs for Benefited Property in Assessment District No. 20 (Commercial Area Landscaping and Lighting) 7.7 ADOPT Resolution No Directing the Preparation and Filing of 2016/17 Annual Report for Assessment District No ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE None 9. PUBLIC WORKS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 9.1 UPDATE on Planning Division Activities GREG FUZ, City Planner, reported that permit activity remained stable, down slightly. about 1.5%. He indicated that approximately permits are processed per year and that counter and phone activity have increased, counter activity is up 4% and phone activity is up 38% over the previous year. Mr. Fuz reported that Planning also responds to Public Records Act requests. Mr. Fuz gave an overview of major projects which included the Diablo Valley Plaza, Ellinwood 4

5 Oasis Church, WiseGirl Restaurant, Homewood Suites Hotel, Jack's Taps facade, Orchard Supply Hardware, and Urban Plates. Mr. Fuz also reported on ordinance and code enforcement issues. COUNCILMEMBER FLAHERTY asked about the bar chart showing the counter/phone activity and if it had any relation to public records requests. MR. FUZ responded that results from the first year of tracking public records requests showed it to be a significant workload item. He explained that each request can take one to two hours on average. He explained that amounts to 200 to 400 hours per year or five to ten weeks of.staff time. He further explained that records re~uests involve multiple staff members and a number of steps are taken to process public records requests. Mr. Fuz reported that in 2015, there were 348 citywide requests and 203 of those were for Planning. In response to Councilmember Flaherty's question on what the division was planning to do to be responsive and lessen the impact on staff, Mr. Fuz indicated that the City Clerk's Office was looking into software to track the process and to assist the public by listing the requests made by project or topic for anyone to access. In response to Councilmember Flaherty's question whether the 203 requests were from a large number of requestors, Mr. Fuz explained that there was a limited number of requestors and most requests were made by one individual. COUNCILMEMBER FLAHERTY asked if news agencies submit requests and Mr. Fuz confirmed that they do and that if they had, their requests were included in the 203 requests. He further reported that ofthe 203 requests, 178 were from one requestor and the remaining requests were divided among sixteen different requestors. COUNCILMEMBER FLAHERTY indicated his interest in the possibility of making records requests available online to strean1line the process and allow the public to view requests that were already made to limit the need to deal with staff directly. 10. OTHER None 11. ADJOURNMENT MAYOR NOACK adjourned the meeting at 8:39p.m. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, March 7, 2016, beginning at 7:30p.m. CAROL W. WU, CITY CLERK 5

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