HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/21/1997, C-8 - DOWNTOWN SERVICES REQUESTED BY THE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION (BIA) council io 2► -q l
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C ITY OF SAN LU I S O B I S F O
FROM: Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Officer
Prepared By: Wendy George,Assistant to the City Administrative Officer u1)
SUBJECT: Downtown Services Requested by the Business Improvement Association
(BIA)
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Receive a report on a meeting between City staff and representatives of the BIA regarding requests
for services to the downtown; and accept this meeting in lieu of the BIA's request for a formal
meeting with the Council on these issues.
DISCUSSION
In a September 11, 1997, memorandum to the City Council, the BIA requested a meeting with the
Council to discuss a number of issues related to the level of City-provided services in the
downtown. At its September 16'hmeeting the Council referred this memorandum to staff for
Council consideration in November, with the exception of the street sweeping issue which was to
be accelerated for consideration on October 21 . The recommendation for increasing street
sweeping is addressed in a separate item on this agenda.
In the meantime, City staff'met with representatives from the BIA to consider the issues raised in
the memorandum. The meeting was collaborative and productive and, while not bringing
immediate resolution to all the BIA'S concerns, led to a number of agreed upon action steps. As a
result, the BIA has expressed its willingness to proceed to address those issues in the manner
discussed at the meeting and to withdraw its request for a meeting with the Council at this time.
Attached is a summary of the results of the October 2'meeting between the BIA and City staff.
CONCURRENCES
The BIA concurs with the results of the meeting with City staff and the withdrawal of its request for
a meeting with the Council at this time.
FISCAL IMPACT
None
Attachment
Memo:mdum to Pierre Rademaker dated October 10, 1997
cityO sAn lu1S oBispo
i
990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249
October 10, 1997
TO: Pierre Rademaker,BIA President
FROM: Wendy George,Assistant to the City Administrative Officer V-111
SUBJECT: Outcomes of Meeting on October 2, 1997,regarding Downtown Services
In response to your memorandum dated September 11, 1997, a meeting was held on
October 2, 1997, to discuss the level of services provided by the City to the downtown
area. Attending from the BIA were: Pierre Rademaker and Deborah Holley. Attending
from the City were: Mike McCluskey, Joe McDermott, Greg Walker, Todd Martin, Bill
Statler and Wendy George. City staff members present felt that the meeting was
collaborative and productive and,while all issues were not necessarily resolved, a number
of action steps were agreed upon. The following information summarizes our
understanding of the discussion on each of the issues addressed.
Street Sweeping
During prior years of budget cuts, the number of days of street sweeping in the downtown
area was reduced from six to five days, with no sweeping on the weekends. As a result,
the downtown streets are currently very unsightly on Saturday and Sunday. The Public
Works Director intends to place an item on the October 21' Council Agenda which will
pre^ent options for increasing the number of days the downtown streets are swept.
Restrooms
Representatives of the BIA expressed concern that there is currently only one public
restroom available in the downtown area, located in Mission Plaza. City staff
acknowledged that there is a need for additional public restrooms, but indicated that one
major obstacle to providing more facilities is the lack of public parks in the downtown
area in which to place restrooms. The question is, literally, where would they go? After
discussing a number of options, such as the City contracting with private businesses to
make their restrooms public, the Public Works Director agreed to explore the possibility
and cost of purchasing the self-contained public restroom stalls that are currently being
used in San Francisco. The BIA representatives agreed that even if it meant giving up a
parking space or two in lots, it would be extremely beneficial to place such units in at
least two downtown locations. Depending on the result of the Public Works Director's
research, and after consultation with the BIA, the possibility of installing these units
could be brought to the Council for action, most likely as a budget request for the next
fiscal year.
OThe City of San Luis Obispo is committed to include the disabled in ail of its services, programs and activities. /►G
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf(805) 781-7410. ` O
Sidewalk Scrubbing
All parties agreed that the issue of sidewalk scrubbing is a dilemma. The City used to
steam clean the sidewalks, but eliminated this approach during the drought. The current
procedure is to scrub them with a machine that uses a very limited amount of water and
also produces very limited success in cleaning. However, simply reverting to the old
method of steam cleaning is no longer an option, as it sends chlorinated water into the
storm drains in violation of environmental regulations. There is new equipment available
which accomplishes the steam cleaning and then vacuums up the water, but it is labor
intensive, and therefore more expensive. The City has just signed a two-year contract
with a new service provider to scrub the sidewalks for $20,000 a year. To contract with
someone who uses the new equipment would require terminating the current contract and
upping the cost of the contract to $50,000 a year. The new equipment also has the
downside of dirtying storefront windows with the mist it creates.
After considerable discussion, the group agreed that the City would continue using the
current contractor, who seems to be doing a much better job than has been done in the
past. Should he fail to meet the terms of the contract at any time during the next two
years, the City will explore terminating the contract and re-contracting with someone
who uses the new equipment. In the meantime, the BIA agreed to research how other
cities scrub their sidewalks and will provide that information to the Public Works
Director. It may be possible in the future even to use a combination of
sweeping/scrubbing on some regular basis and quarterly intense cleaning with the new
equipment.
Graffiti Abatement/Stickers
The Public Works Director explained that the City's highest graffiti removal priority is
painting out gang graffiti on public buildings. Removing stickers on poles is something
that can only be accomplished as time is available, and, as a result, occurs infrequently.
The status of the Graffiti Task Force has also become somewhat problematic because the
BIA volunteer who organized graffiti removal on private buildings no longer works
dovmtown and no other BIA volunteer has undertaken this responsibility. Currently, a
BIA staff person is removing graffiti on private buildings. City staff hopes that the BIA
will pursue reinstating the Graffiti Task Force as the City does not have the resources to
perform graffiti removal on private facilities. City staff stressed that they cannot remove
graffiti on public facilities unless they are notified of its existence. The BIA agreed to
better communications with its members concerning the division of responsibility for
graffiti and to encourage calls to the Public Works Department when appropriate. The
Public Works Director agreed to explore using the department's volunteer service
program to help with the sticker problem.
2 C�'-3
Landscapint
The BIA expressed concern that downtown planters need attention and have unattractive
plaits. City staff explained that part of the problem is that in order to reduce water usage,
in many cases plant selection has been reduced to less colorful plants. Also, to replace
plants more frequently requires more labor. It an attempt to remedy the maintenance
problem, the City is beginning to develop an "adopt-a-planter" program with the private
sector. Currently, Santa Lucia Nursery and the Downtown Center have adopted planters.
While this program, especially if it continues to expand, should help to assure trash and
weed removal from planters, there still may be somewhat of a visual problem due to the
choice of more drought resistant plants.
The BIA also asked for a better understanding of the regulations on placement of private
planters. Currently there are certain blocks approved for private planters. Businesses
located outside those areas have also expressed an interest in placing planters on the
sidewalk. The Public Works Director indicated that, while the City does not want
planters placed randomly on a case-by-case basis, if a whole block is interested in
planters it should come through the BIA to the City with that request. The only street that
is off-limits to planters is Higuera Street, due to the foot traffic and the number of objects
already on the sidewalks.
Banners
Thw-BIA wishes to display seasonal banners on light poles, not just holiday banners. The
BIA is willing to buy the banners, but cannot afford to have them hung. Currently, the
BIA does pay a company in Fresno to hang, remove and store the holiday banners. City
staff was supportive of the seasonal banners, but suggested that it would be considerably
more cost effective to continue to use the company in Fresno rather than use City staff to
hang banners. Not only would it cost more to use City staff, it would also take them
away from their regular duties. The City recommended that the BIA put together a
proposal for hanging seasonal banners, assuming contracting for the storage, placement
and removal, and present it to the Promotional Coordinating Committee for possible
funding. The BIA agreed to do so.
Tree Lig_bts
The BIA indicated that several concerns have developed with their tree lighting program.
The lights look unattractive during the day; maintenance is higher than expected; and tree
pruning damages them. There is also a problem with placing permanent conduit for
electrical connections. As a result, the BIA is currently re-thinking the program, possibly
using inexpensive holiday twinkle lights that could simply be removed and replaced
when the trees are pruned. Another possibility is to reconsider using a single spotlight,
pro-perly placed, to light the tree canopy. The trees are pruned annually; one year a light
pruning followed the second year with a comprehensive heavy pruning. The City's
Arborist confirmed that it is impossible to prune the trees without damaging some or all
of the strings of lights. The BIA agreed to research different ways of lighting the trees, as
the lights are seen as a valuable asset to the Downtown aesthetics, and coordinate their
research with the Arborist.
Trash Collection and Cans
In response to an earlier concern from the BIA about trash pick up on the weekend, the
Utilities Conservation Coordinator has arranged for trash to be picked up on Sunt"I
starting October 121b. At this time, the cost for the additional pick up will be absorbed by
San Luis Garbage; however, this cost will eventually be factored in when new rates are
set. The BIA was also concerned about the cleanliness of the stone trash contair-1--s.
Cleaning is only done on a case-by-case basis, due to earlier budget reductions, so it is
important for Public Works to be notified by the BIA of those containers needing
cle^ring. Public Works will arrange cleaning as soon as possible, but it must be worked
into existing schedules.
c: Deborah Holley
Bill Statler
Mike McCluskey
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