11/26/2013 Council Preview – All Taxis, All the Time

Pretty straightforward evening, it looks like.

We start the evening with a study session involving next years intergovernmental relations (IGR) assignments.  These are regional committees that different councilmembers serve on to represent Sunnyvale’s interests, and there are a bunch.  This year won’t be pro forma since we have two members terming out and two replacing them.  So there will likely be some shuffling of assignments.

The meeting starts with a presentation by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office about its role.  We haven’t seen something like this in quite a while, so it should be interesting.

The consent calendar is the largest seen in many years, because last week’s votes introduced seventeen new ordinances that all need to have second readings.  Our poor City Clerk spent a lot of time at our last meeting reading off the titles of all of those ordinances.  Anyway, the result is that we have consent items 1A – 1V.  I haven’t seen an item numbered 1V in, well, forever.  Other than those ordinances, we have two items of interest.  One is approval of a final tract map for a mixed-use condo/office project on the east side of Mathilda between Olive and El Camino Real.  The second is certifying the election results for the three ballot measures.

The general business continues with item 2, possibly entering into a “friendly exchange relationship” with Iizuka, Japan.  Sunnyvale doesn’t have sister city relationships, we have friendly exchange relationships.  Mayor Spitaleri is proposing this one.

Item 3 involves approval of the conceptual design for the expansion of Orchard Gardens.  Back in 2010, Council reversed the decision to sell three houses on Garner Avenue, and we instead created a capital improvement project to use the property to create an entrance feature for Orchard Gardens and expand the park by about 1/2 acre.  We’re now able to fund it, thanks to the increased Park Dedication Fees, and we’re ready to approve the design of the new park space, based on public outreach and a Parks & Rec Commission review.

Then come the taxicab franchise agreements.  Item 4 is renewal of the franchise for All Time Cab.  Item 5 is renewal of the franchise for Silicon Valley Cab Co.  Item 6 is renewal of the franchise for Green Cab.  And Item 7 is renewal of the franchise for Classic Cab.

Item 8 is conclusion of a study issue involving the feasibility of establishing a community solar array system.  This is actually the combination of two different study issues (or more properly one, plus part of another).  One involves actually creating a community solar array, and the other involves creating a volume purchase program for solar arrays for residents.  Staff is recommending a split decision of a sorts – don’t pursue an array, but join the American Solar Transformation Initiative’s Solar Roadmap Project.  Staff states that we would need 10 acres to provide 3 MW of power before a community solar array is practical, and we don’t have that.

And that’s about it.

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11/26/2013 Council Preview – All Taxis, All the Time — 3 Comments