City Adopts Sewer Fees, Allocates Funds Towards Emergency Operations Center

After a round of , , the Half Moon Bay City Council (minus Rick Kowalczyk, who was absent) addressed the following items at its :

• Report out from closed session regarding existing litigation (James Benjamin v. City of Half Moon Bay, San Mateo Superior Court) and conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation - no reportable action.

• Approved consent calendar items including: council minutes for June 7 and June 21; Planning Director-issued permits; warrant reports from June 21 ($409,031.61), June 30 ($296,858.20), and July 1 ($8,500); letter of response to San Mateo Grand Jury regarding cell phone towers; approving Association of Bay Area Governments Report "Taming Natural Disasters" as the city's local hazard mitigation plan; declaring seven police vehicles and one DUI command unit trailer as surplus equipment. 

• Approved consent calendar item to award an amended professional services agreement with San Mateo firm CSG Consultants (cost of $94,315) to continue developing its design and construction bid documents for the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The planned site for the EOC is adjacent to the Half Moon Bay police substation. The item was pulled by Vice Mayor Allan Alifano, who asked that it be addressed at the very end of the meeting. When the item was revisited again, Alifano voted no (final vote 3-1), saying that his vote was related to his decision to oppose moving forward with building an Emergency Operations Center when the council first voted on the item in May of this year (vote tally for that item was 4-1). "I want to go on record in opposition to spend this money," he said.

• Abandoned plan to develop a park at the north side of Arnold Way.

• Approved the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Sewer Service Charges for properties served by the Half Moon Bay Sanitary Sewer System.

• to go towards the cost of replacing a play structure at Ocean View Park.

• Voted 3-1 (Mayor Naomi Patridge opposing) to accept a four-year amended animal services contract extension with San Mateo County and the Peninsula Humane Society (for details click ).

• Approved extension of legal services with Atchison, Brisone, Condotti and Kovacevich for the 2011-2012 fiscal year given the following terms of contract: $12,000 flat rate per month capped at 65 hours/month. After 65 hours, a "blended rate" of $175/hr would be charged. Special legal services would be charged at $225/hr for principals, $200 for associates and $90 for paralegals. The new agreement will be effective August 1.

• Amended the sign code and transferred the function of the now-defunct Architectural Review Committee to the Planning Commission. Highlights of code amendments: A temporary sign of 40 square feet used to be permitted, but now it cannot be more than 20 square feet in area or greater than 6 feet in height. All temporary new business signs must be removed upon installation of permanent signs not to exceed 60 days.

• Approved zoning code amendments that City Planning Director Steve Flint said were "consolidating" the code and getting rid of conflicting provisions and exceptions. The zoning code changes will have to be approved by the Coastal Commission because they are part of the Local Coastal Program, Flint said.