1999-131-Execute Fifth Amendment To Agreement With The Santa Clara County Fire Marshal Increasing Fees Foe The Abatement Of Hazardous VegetationRESOLiJTI01~11999 - fl3fl
RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL
OF THE TOWI~T OF LOS GATOS
AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGED T"O EXECUTE FIFTI~
.AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT
WITH THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL INCREASING FEES
FOR THE ABATEMENT DF HAZARDOUS VEGETATION
BE IT .RESOLVED, an agreement was previously entered into on March 6, 1978
between the County of Santa Clara and the Town of Los Gatos, as amended on June 15,1981,
February 15, 19~~, January 14, 1996, and August 1~, 199, and
BE )«° h+'iJRT~IER RESOLVED, by the Town of Los Gatos, County of Santa Clara,
State of California, that the Town of I.os Gatos enter into an amendment (attached as .Exhibit A
as the Fifth Amendment to Agreement) with the County of .Santa Clara, and the Town Manager
is authorized, and is hereby directed, to execute said amendment to the agreement in the name
and on behalf of the- Town of Los Gatos.
.PASSED A.ND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of
Los Gatos, California, held on the 7th day of September,1999 by the following vote.
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
AXES: Steven Blanton, Linda Lubeck, Joe Pirzynski,
Mayor Jan Hutchins.
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Randy Attaway
ABSTAIN: None
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, CALIFORNIA
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FIFTH AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SANTA CLAflA COUNTY
AND THE TOWN OF .LOS GATOS fOR ABATEMENT OF WEEDS
The Agreement forahe Abatement of Weeds ,(Agreement) between the County of Santa Clara
'(County) and the Town of Los Gatos (Town) ,previously entered into on March 6, 1978, as
amended on June 15, 1981., February 15, 1983, January 14, 1996 and August 18, 1998 fs
hereby amended ao 'increase ahe charge for the County's program .costs to administer the
Hazardous Vegetation'Management Program.
IT IS AGREED between the parties as follows:
1 . Statement of 'Costs
Section 5. of the Agreement shall be amended to read as follows:
County shall render to Town an itemized statement or report of the cost of the weed abatement
services performed for the respective parcels of land in the Town on or before the 1 Oth day of
August of each year, which shall include the County's administrative costs of 140 % of the cost of
the weed abatement contractor for the respective parcels for which services were performed. The
statement shall .include the description of the lots and parcels of land for which services were
.performed, and verification by signature of ahe County official administering the Hazardous
Vegetation Management'Program. Charges for services performed on parcels owned by the
Town will include a reduced administrative fee of 70% of the cost of the weed abatement
contractor.
2. Duration of Agreement
Section 12. of the Agreement shall be amended to read as follows:
The Agreement became effective on the date of execution and shall run until the governing body
of the Town or the County shall exercise the right to terminate this Agreement as of the 1st day of
September of any year,. by giving .notice to the other party not less than 10 days prior to the date
of termination. The increased charge for the County's administration costs shall be effective
commehcing with the Fiscai Year 2000 weed abatement season. .
Except as modified herein, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement remain the same.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Paul D. Romero, Director
Environmental Resources Agency
August 17, 19.99
.Approved as to form and legality:
James E. Lewis, Deputy County Counsel
T
N OF OS.GATO
----~~ -
Date
APPROVE S TOnORM:
~~
TOWN CLERK
MAR
~~ ~ ,
Attachment B
Los Gatos Jurisdictional Summary
96/97 Season 97/98 Season
Parcels Inspected 394 397
Parcels Abated 48 45
Avg. Cost/Parcei
includin Pro ram fee $268 $256
Note: The 98/99 season data is not yet completed. The proposed County
.administrative cost increase to 140% of the cost of the weed abatement
contractor equates to an effective 4.35% increase in the average cost per
parcel. '
Using the 97/98 season's average cost per parcel., the 4.35% increase
would equate to an increase per parcel of $11.14 in the. 98/99 season.
Attachment C
County-wide Summary
FY 97 FY 98 FY 99
Actuals Actuals Estimated
Beginning Balance ($53,449) ($57,866) ($53,840)
Revenues 497,162 379,315 428,983
Expenditures:
Staffing 180,607- 138.,356 * 129,864
Genera's 48,237 23,350 28,473
Lnterest .20,412 22,902 20,000
Subtotal Program 249,256 184,608 178,337
Administration
Contract Abatement 252,323 190,'681 206,362
.501,.579 375,289 384.,699
Surplus (Deficit) (4,417) 4,026 44,284
Ending Balance (57,866) (53,840) (9,556)
* Both FY98 and FY99 staffing costs are artificially low due to salary
savings from vacancies due to turnovers and .medical leave.
virecwr
Department of Parks, Forestry, Maintenance, Building and Engineering
Town of Los Gatos
i 10 East Main St.
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Re: Proposed .Amendment to AdJust Hazardous Vegetation Management Program Fees
Dear Mr. Baker,
For the past twenty years Santa Clara County has provided hazardous vegetation management
services. to local jurisdictions in order to address. the issue of public fire safety in a cost effective
manner. Since then, we have been fortunate to create partnerships with twelve jurisdictions to
provide timely weed and brush .abatement services and thereby reduce fire danger.
The economy of scale employed by this Program and our efforts. to keep administrative costs to a
minimum have allowed us to continue to provide these services to yourresidents at minimal cost.
We are committed to minimizing costs, but at the same time we must ensure cost recovery of the
Hazardous Vegetation ..Management Program as directed by the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors.
Beginhing with the start of the 1999/2000 weed abatement season in September 1999 we
propose to raise our Hazardous Vegetation Management Program fees from 130% to 140% of
the ~,veed abatement contract costs. The proposed County administrative cost increase twill
equate to an average increase of only 4,35% or $.11.14 per parcel in your jurisdiction. This
increase will cover the rising costs of Program admihistration anticipated'for FY00 due to the
negotiated labor union contract costs recently approved by the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors which .includes salary and benefit increases. A proposed amendment to our
agreement for-weed abatement services is provided in Attachment A.
The property owner would only .incur costs if they choose not to maintain their property according
to the minimum fire safety standards and the County provides weed abatement services. In
keeping with the procedures of the current Program, if a property owner provides their own
abatement, theyare not assessed a fee for our inspection services.
For your reference we have provided Attachment B that summarizes the number of parcels
inspected, number of parcels abated and the average cost per parcel including .Program fees for
weed abatement services in your jurisdiction for the 96/97 and 97/98 seasons. Attachment C
provides an accounting of the Hazardous Vegetation .Management Program on a county-wide
Board cif Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, James T. Beall Jr., S. Joseph Simitian
County Executive: Richard ~~'ittenberg
e.o~ ~
basis for the same,period of time. Even with the proposed fee adjustment, we believe the
benefits realized by the economy of scale still allow our services to be competitive.
Please let us know if we can provide any assistance as you carry the amendment forward to your City
Councils for approval Considering our desire to provide uninterrupted service., we suggest the
approval ,process by your Council and our Board of Supervisors be completed this summer. Please
return a signed amendment to my attention by September 1, 1999. If you do not wish
to continue oontracfing with the County for weed abatement services, we would appreciate being
notified of your decision by August 4, 1999 so that we may ':inform our Board of Supervisors and
make any necessary adjustments to the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. We
anticipate our Board will take action on the amendments August 17, 1999.
If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at (408) 299-3805 ext. 207. We thank
you for your support will look forward to working with you.
Since ~ ly~r~
Judy ',au>Sders,
Sr. Deputy Fire Marshal
Attachments
Attachment A: Proposed Amendment
Attachment B: Jurisdictional Summary
Attachment C: County-wide Summary
cc: Richard Wittenberg, County Executive
Paul D. Romero, Director
.Peter Ng, 'Financial and Administrative Services Manager
Lauren Harvey, Sr. Management Analyst