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Staff Report PREPARED BY: MONICA RENN Economic Vitality Manager Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Community Development Director 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov TOWN OF LOS GATOS TOWN COUNCIL REPORT MEETING DATE: 01/16/18 ITEM NO: 18 DATE: JANUARY 3, 2018 TO: TOWN COUNCIL FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER SUBJECT: APPROVE THE COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO RECIND RESOLUTION 1994-79 AND ADOPT A POLICY FOR THE PLACEMENT OF STREET POLE BANNERS AND SEASONAL DECORATIONS AFFIXED TO TOWN INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCATED IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending that the Town Council approve the Policy Committee’s recommendations to rescind Resolution 1994-79 and adopt a Policy for the Placement of Street Pole Banners and Seasonal Decorations Affixed to Town Infrastructure and Located in the Public Right-of-Way. BACKGROUND: In 1994, the Town Council adopted Resolution 1994-79 which established a Town-wide Policy regarding the Placement of Banners on Light Standards in the Public Right-of-Way (Attachment 1). Under the Policy, the Town was able to hang artwork banners and to approve banners for Town sponsored or co-sponsored events. Past examples of banners included the Los Gatos artwork and Plein Air banners. The Town has moved away from sponsoring or co-sponsoring events, and instead, more clearly hosts Town events, such as Spring into Green. In addition, the Youth Commission is working on an artistic banner to promote a healthy community, and the Chamber of Commerce requested the ability to provide holiday decorations during the month of December. Thus, the Council Policy Committee worked on an updated Policy and process for both Street Pole Banners and Seasonal Decorations that may be implemented for today’s circumstances. As part of this PAGE 2 OF 3 SUBJECT: APPROVE THE POLICY COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATION TO RESCIND RESOLUTION 1994-79 AND ADOPT A POLICY FOR THE PLACEMENT OF STREET POLE BANNERS AND SEASONAL DECORATIONS AFFIXED TO TOWN INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCATED IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. JANUARY 3, 2018 S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\18 - Street Pole Banners & Decoration Policy\Staff Report FINAL.docx BACKGROUND (Cont’d): agenda item, the Council Policy Committee is recommending that the 1994 Resolution be rescinded. DISCUSSION: The Policy Committee met in November and discussed the Street Pole Banner Policy. During that discussion, seasonal decorations and the ability to include community groups in providing banners and decorations was discussed. Staff also presented research on the policies and procedures used by other jurisdictions to provide benchmarking for the Committee. The Policy Committee provided staff with direction to draft a single Policy that incorporated both street pole banners and seasonal decorations. The Committee met again on December 14 to review the draft and provided additional feedback to the staff. Several members of the community also attended the meeting and provided input though public comment . Staff has updated the draft (Attachment 2) to reflect the recommendations of the Committee. The draft Policy, pursuant to the Policy Committee’s discussion, addresses Town-wide considerations, identifies specific seasonal decoration opportunities, includes criteria for banners and decorations, and outlines a process for evaluating proposed banners and decorations. As proposed, the discretion for approval would rest with the Town Manager. This Policy would provide the opportunity for community organizations to promote events and enhance the streetscape during the designated seasonal periods. Staff is working to organize zones of street poles in downtown and along Los Gatos Boulevard to offer the opportunity for multiple banners to be showcased at once. Additionally, staff is in the process of identifying the hardware replacements and updates needed on street poles to offer consistent banner size requirements for all poles. If approved, the work of installing the banners would be contracted to a t hird-party vendor and the fee would be passed along to the event or commun ity group providing the banners as current staffing levels could not absorb this workload. This fee had not yet been researched or estimated. Through discussion at the Policy Committee, it was recommended that one banner always be replaced by another banner, so that the poles do not remain vacant and to reduce the costs of installation. The current inventory of Town street pole banners is in disrepair. The Town could create and purchase an inventory of its own banners to be hung on the poles when not occupied by an event or community banner. If this is the will of the Council, the staff could research the cost of Town banners and return to the Council with estimates as part of the 2018/19 budget process. PAGE 3 OF 3 SUBJECT: APPROVE THE POLICY COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATION TO RESCIND RESOLUTION 1994-79 AND ADOPT A POLICY FOR THE PLACEMENT OF STREET POLE BANNERS AND SEASONAL DECORATIONS AFFIXED TO TOWN INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCATED IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. JANUARY 3, 2018 S:\COUNCIL REPORTS\2018\01-16-18\18 - Street Pole Banners & Decoration Policy\Staff Report FINAL.docx DISCUSSION (Cont’d): Staff is also working on a cost estimate to replace and/or repair existing banner hardware on street light poles that could come forward as a budget adjustment on February 20, 2018 or as a new capital improvement project for next fiscal year, depending on the magnitude of the costs. This Policy would provide the framework for staff to work with the street pole banner and seasonal decoration applicants to accommodate as many requests as reasonable and provide the opportunity for a variety of events and community groups to take part in providing banners and/or decorations. CONCLUSION: Staff is recommending that the Town Council discuss and consider the Policy Committee’s recommendations to rescind Resolution 1994-79 (Attachment 1) and adopt a policy for the Placement of Street Pole Banners and Seasonal Decorations Affixed to Town Infrastructure and Located in the Public Right-of-Way (Attachment 2). ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: It has been determined that there is no possibility that this project will have a significant impact on the environment; therefore, the project is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (Section 15061 (b)(3)). COORDINATION: The preparation of this report was completed by the Town Manager, Town Attorney, Director of Parks and Public Works, and Economic Vitality Manager . FISCAL IMPACT: The adoption of the Policy itself has no fiscal impacts. An analysis of all Town fees is underway and it is expected that a proposed fee to install and change banners would be part of the proposed fee schedule. As part of the 2018/19 budget process, staff can prepare a cost estimate for the production, installation, and de-installation of any Town banners. Attachments: 1. Resolution 1994-79 2. Draft Policy for the Placement of Street Pole Banners and Seasonal Decorations Affixed to Town Infrastructure and Located in the Public Right-of-Way.