2011/02/15 City Council Minutes
MINUTES OF THE ROHNERT PARK CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
'Tuesday, February 15,2011
MEETING LOCATION: CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBER
130 Avram Avenue, Rohnert Park, California
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING - Call to Order/Roll Call
Mayor Belforte called the special meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
Present: Gina Belforte, Mayor
Jake Mackenzie, Council Member
Amy O. Ahanotu, Council Member
Joseph T. Callinan, Council Member (arrived at 5:03 p.m.)
Pam Stafford, Council Member
Staff/consultants present: Gabriel Gonzalez, City Manager; Michelle Marchetta Kenyon, City
Attorney; and Terri Griffin, Deputy City Clerk.
1. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Eunice Edgington, Rohnert Park, spoke in favor of Measure L.
John Hudson, Rohnert Park, spoke regarding the City's Financial Statement published in The
Community Voice.
ACTION TO ADD AGENDA ITEM
SONOMA-MARIN AREA RAIL TRANSIT (SMART) STATION LOCATION AND
STATION AREA PLAN
City Manager Gonzalez requested Council consider adding an item related to the SMART Station
Location and Station Area Plan due to a need to take action on the item prior to the next regular
Council meeting that came to staffs attention after the agenda was posted last Friday. He indicated
that due to a March I st deadline to apply for Station Area Plan grant funds, the Council would need
to consider whether to apply for the grant funds prior to the next regularly scheduled Council
meeting on February 22nd. He further explained that should Council decide at this meeting to
support the Station Area Plan grant application, a resolution of support would need to be placed on
the February 22nd agenda.
City Attorney Kenyon explained the two findings Council would need to make to add the item to
this agenda and that both actions would require a 4/5 vote of the Council.
ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Stafford) and carried unanimously that the Council
determines the need for action on the SMARTStation Location and Station Area Plan
came to the attention of staff after posting of the agenda.
ACTION: Moved/seconded (Mackenzie/Callinan) and carried unanimously that the Council
determines there is a need to take immediate action on this item prior to the next
regularly scheduled Council meeting on February 22nd.
Minutes of the Rohnert Park City Council Special Meetin2
(2 of 2)
February 15.2011
2. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Belforte adjourned to closed session in Conference Room 2A at 5: I 0 p.m. to discuss:
PERSONNEL MATTERS (Government Code S54957)
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EV ALVA TlON - Title: City Manager
Routine six-month performance review of City Manager
3. RECONVENE SPECIAL MEETING OPEN SESSION
Mayor Belforte reconvened the special meeting open session in the Council Chamber at 5:58 p.m.
All members were present.
4. MAYOR'S REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION (Government Code ~ 54957.1)
Mayor Belforte announced that the Council had met in closed session regarding labor negotiations
and that no reportable action had been taken.
5. . WORK SESSION: SEWER RATES - Review of Proposed Sewer Rate Increase
A. Staff Report by Gabe Gonzalez, City Manager, and John Dunn, Interim Assistant City Manager
B. Presentation by Sewer Rate Analyst, Robert Reed, The Reed Group, Inc.
C. Public Comments:
Joe Gaffney, Rohnert Park, Chair of Sewer Rate Stakeholders Group, spoke regarding the
impacts of Measure L and the outreach efforts of the Sewer Rates Stakeholders Group.
City Attorney Kenyon made the following clarifications:
(I) This workshop and the Council items scheduled to be heard on February 22 and March 8
are above and beyond the requirements of Proposition 218. The City will follow the
mandated procedures under Proposition 218, which requires a 45-day notice period and
allowing mailed protests to be heard and counted at the public hearing where the new rates
are to be adopted. Ifthere is not a majority protest of the ratepayers at that hearing, the
Council would then be allowed to adopt the rates. If there is a majority protest of the
ratepayers at that hearing, the new rates may not be adopted.
(2) Staff and the sewer rate analyst have been working very deliberately to assure that these
new rates are proportional to the costs of services provided to ratepayers, and no ratepayer
will be paying more than their proportionate share of the cost of service.
D. Council direction: None requested.
ADDED AGENDA ITEM:
SONOMA-MARINAREA RAIL TRANSIT (SMART) STATION LOCATION AND
STATION AREA PLAN: Consideration of (I) the future site of the Rohnert Park SMART
station, and (2) whether the City should pursue a Station Area Planning Grant
A. Staff Report by Patrick Barnes, Deputy City Engineer
B. Public Comments: None
ACTION: Moved/seconded (Mackenzie/Callinan) and carried unanimously to adopt staffs
recommendation to keep the station in the existing location, request SMART
investigate the feasibility of an alternative site at the intersection of Rohnert Park
Expressway and the rail line, and not pursue a Station Area Plan grant.
6. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Belforte adjourned the special meeting at 7:23 p.m.
Terri Griffin, Depu
City of Rohne