To: Mayor and Town Council From: George J. Rodericks, City Manager Date: April 29, 2013 SUBJECT: April 2013 MANAGER’S REPORT Below is the Manager’s Report for April 2013. Thank you to staff for providing updates to the Council on various projects and areas of interest. Known Upcoming April/May Meetings – • April 30 – CCAC Meeting – 4:30 pm • May 1 – Park & Recreation Meeting – 6:30 pm • May 9 – Finance Committee – 2 pm • May 15 – City Council Meeting – 7 pm • May 20 – Special Meeting – Budget Workshop – 1 pm • May 28 – Council-Manager Workshop – 9 am • May 30 – Council-Manager-Director Workshop – 9 am Table of Contents 1. Staff Report – May Agenda | Information on the Parcel Tax Renewal – November 2013 ............ 2 2. Town Website Updates – Project Overview Timeline .................................................................................. 2 3. Fee Study – Capital Accounting Partners, LLC ................................................................................................. 4 4. CalPERS Funding and Pensions .............................................................................................................................. 4 5. CalPERS Actuarial Smoothing and Amortization Policy .............................................................................. 5 6. Hybrid Beacon on ECR ............................................................................................................................................... 5 7. Fire @ Shoreway Environmental Facility .......................................................................................................... 5 8. Big Bear Run ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 9. Cellular Site Improvements – Town Hall ........................................................................................................... 6 10. 150 Toyon Tree Protection Complaint ............................................................................................................. 6 11. Transient Guest Quarters – 19 Selby Lane ..................................................................................................... 7 12. Blue Ribbon Task Force – SBWMA ..................................................................................................................... 7 13. Tree Removal at 120 Toyon .................................................................................................................................. 8 14. Street Sign Refurbishment Program ................................................................................................................. 8 15. Underground Utility Districts .............................................................................................................................. 8 16. Menlo-School Traffic and Parking ................................................................................................................... 12 MANAGER’S REPORT Confidential Page 2 of 17 5/1/2013 17. Earth Day Tree Planting ...................................................................................................................................... 12 18. SBWMA Agency Snapshot ................................................................................................................................... 13 19. Street Lights & Signal Maintenance ................................................................................................................ 13 20. Media Center Annual Report ............................................................................................................................. 13 21. Dames Planned September Fun Run .............................................................................................................. 13 22. Pensions | Finance Committee – Joe Nation ............................................................................................... 13 23. Human Resource (Administrative Policy) Handbook ............................................................................ 13 24. Planning Commission Meeting Action – April 24 ..................................................................................... 14 25. Grand Jury Reports – Town Response(s) ..................................................................................................... 15 26. Status Update – Menlo-Atherton Little League ......................................................................................... 15 27. Drainage along Atherton Channel (Walsh Road) ...................................................................................... 15 28. Library Funds – Donor Cities ............................................................................................................................. 16 29. Jobs for Youth Fundraising Breakfast ............................................................................................................ 16 30. Articles of Note ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 31. SBWMA Administrative Changes to Agreement ....................................................................................... 17 Manager’s Report – Public Reports 1. Staff Report – May Agenda | Information on the Parcel Tax Renewal – November 2013 At a prior meeting the Council directed that staff return with proposals from polling firms that could assist in the November 2013 election for parcel tax renewal. Staff received cost estimates from three firms: Tramutola Advisors, Godbe Research, and National Citizen Surveys. All three estimates hover around $14,000 to $18,000. The staff report for the May Agenda will include summaries of the three estimates and a recommended budget amendment for the cost. 2. Town Website Updates – Project Overview Timeline Work on the Town’s new website continues. As mentioned previously, we will be accellerating the “Go Live” date once the site reaches a certain point in the design and we are able to contribute directly to its content. We should be able to Go Live with minimum historical content and add historic content on an as we go basis. Presently, key remaining dates in the timeline are as follows: • Content Process – 5/16 MANAGER’S REPORT Confidential Page 3 of 17 5/1/2013 • Final Design Approval – 5/24 • Content Delivery & Upload – 6/1 – 7/31 • Content Complete – 8/23 • Project Sign-Off/Go Live – 9/25 Staff has worked with CivicPlus through several designs trying to find the right look and feel of the website. To the right is the latest rendition of the homepage. Please provide any feedback as we hope to move this quickly to the content phase to accellerate the timeline. Let me know your impressions by Friday. By way of explaining some of the features on the page: • Top Bar – Dropdown menus along the top provide links to the internal pages o About Atherton (History, Demographics, Maps, etc.) o Town Government (Departments, Council, Staff, etc.) o Community (Schools, adjacent jurisdictions, service providers, etc.) o Transparency (quick links to disclosure documents, Form 801, Filings, Form 700s, etc.) o I Want To…(quick links to Start Phone Service, Schedule a Trash Pickup, etc.) • Along the Left – Menu o Agendas & Minutes (all legislative bodies) o Council Meeting Videos o Departments o FAQs (all departments) o Municipal Code o Online Publications • Along the Left – Bottom Quick Link Buttons o Notify Me (sign-up for notifications on emergency preparedness, page changes, police activity, news flashes, newsletters, etc.) o E-Newsletter (archive of new and archived newsletters) o Park Events (calendar of activities at the Park) o Report a Concern (online reports of tree issues, parking issues, graffiti, code enforcement, etc.) o Submit a Police Report (online police report submittals) • Along the Bottom Center o Town News Tab (recent news from the Town) o Calendar Tab (meeting calendar) MANAGER’S REPORT Confidential Page 4 of 17 5/1/2013 o Spotlight Tab (special feature stories) • Along the Bottom Right o Rotating picture slideshow Other features on the homepage include the search button, email, facebook link, twitter link, Youtube Link, and RSS page subscription(s). The goal is to be able to find and get to information on the site with a limited number of click-throughs. As we watch the site statistics and get feedback after it goes live we will be able to adapt the drop down menus and the left menus to those areas that get the most traffic. 3. Fee Study – Capital Accounting Partners, LLC As the Council is aware, the Town is in the midst of a fee study and development of a cost allocation model to calculate the full cost of each fee established by the Town. The final results of the study will be presented to the Council at an upcoming study session with the expectation that the Council will adopt a Fee Resolution at the June City Council meeting. Part of the effort included meeting with various stakeholder groups in the community – one such group is the builders and contractors. Staff met with this group on April 22. Attachment B is the powerpoint presentation from that meeting. 4. CalPERS Funding and Pensions In one of my recent discussions with resident Peter Carpenter we discussed the pending CalPERS rate adjustments (beginning in 2015 for local agencies). In the early 2000s CalPERS established employer "side funds" as part of their rate