June 11
The City Council authorized the city manager to execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Santa Clara County Recycling and Waste Reduction Technical Advisory Committee and Los Altos. The MOU establishes ongoing management and operation of the edible food recovery program. A state grant for the next two fiscal years will help fund food recovery services that collect edible food from Los Altos restaurants. The State goal is to reduce the amount of edible food going to landfills by 20%.
The City Council conducted its annual hearing about sewer service rates. Staff shared the report of sewer charges to be collected on properties in the Fiscal Year 2024/25. Instead of a fixed annual per residential unit, the fee is based on the square footage of the property. Unlike last year, there were no objections or protests. The council approved the report of Sewer Service Charge for the fiscal year 2024/25.
The City Council discussed and implemented measures that support applicants for restaurant parklets as they transition to a permanent program. Temporary parklets were established to provide outside seating areas from Thursday through Sunday for Main and State Street restaurants. The parklets took up some parking spaces, but the project helped restaurants stay open in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
On April 11, 2023, the City Council adopted the Los Altos Outdoor Dining Program which provided guidelines for permanent parklet installations. Approved applicants have been given until June 30, 2024, to complete construction of their parklets, but restaurant owners have said they are facing the challenge of obtaining concrete planters, which are needed to fulfill the program regulations.
The council voted to keep the June 30 deadline but allow an extension of time if the restaurant applicant has a contractor for the project and has started the permanent installation but is waiting for the required planters.
June 25
In a public hearing introduced at the June 11 meeting and moved for more consideration to this meeting, the City Council adopted a resolution to enact regulations for Development Impact and In-Lieu Fees developed in a ‘nexus’ study with help from the Matrix Consulting Group. Traffic impact, public art, and general government facilities impact fees are examples of those recommended. They are imposed on specific development projects to defray the cost of new or additional public facilities for these developments. State regulations specify that there must be reasonable relationship or “nexus” between the fees collected and the services provided. The project team evaluated impact fees based upon the current projected population impacts between 2024 and 2040. Also, the residential fees are calculated based upon proportional square footage, rather than per dwelling unit.
The council considered various ways to reduce some fees and maintain others so not to hinder projects with Below Market Rate units. In the end, the council adopted the resolution, but will further clarify the concerns before adopting the ordinance that is needed to enact the regulations at the August 27 meeting.
The City Council reviewed plans for Los Altos Main Library improvements gathered by a library ad-hoc subcommittee of the Library Commission and North County Library Authority. The Council authorized the city manager to issue requests for proposals (RFP) from qualified consultants. A proposal will develop a minimum of two design alternatives for improvements to the library based on information provided by the ad-hoc subcommittee. Of 14 needs pulled together, examples are to reconfigure and enlarge the lobby, to remediate inadequate wiring, and to evaluate and consolidate staff areas and Friends of the Library space to improve efficiency. Once a preferred vendor has been identified through the RFP process, city staff will return to the Library Commission, North County Library Authority, and City Council for review and approval.
Claire Noonan, Observer