Millbrae City Council Meeting Recap For April 14, 2020

Press release from the City of Millbrae:

April 17, 2020

Per Governor Gavin Newsom's Executive Order N-29-20 and the March 16, 2020, Order of the Health Officer of San Mateo County directing all individuals living in the County to shelter at their place of residence, the Governor has allowed local legislative bodies to hold public meetings via teleconference and to make public meetings accessible telephonically or otherwise electronically to all members of the public seeking to observe and to address the local legislative body or state body to avoid public gatherings, and has suspended all contrary provisions of the Brown Act. This meeting was held via video conference.

The City established a temporary email address citizens used to email comments for public communication or for agenda items. All public comments sent before the City Council meeting were read aloud during the meeting. The City Clerk read all email comments, provided that the reading did not exceed three (3) minutes, consistent with the time limit for speakers at a Council meeting. The email comments submitted became part of the record of the Council meeting.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the Millbrae City Council presented and Mayor Reuben Holober summarized the following proclamations:

• Proclamation Proclaiming March 25, 2020 as Greek Independence Day
• Proclamation Proclaiming April as Rosacea National Awareness Month
• Proclamation Proclaiming April as Celebrate Diversity Month
• Proclamation Proclaiming April 22, 2020 as Arbor and Earth Day
• Proclamation Proclaiming April 24, 2020 as Armenian Remembrance Day
• Proclamation Proclaiming the City of Millbrae United Against Racism and Xenophobia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Peninsula Health Care District Chair Lawrence Cappel and Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Fama provided an update to the City Council on the District’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The City Council unanimously approved, with a vote of 5-0, items 5, 8, 9, and 11 on the consent calendar.

Item 5 - Resolution awarding a contract to Pipe and Plant Solutions, Inc. for the 2020 Sanitary Sewer Mains Cleaning and Inspection Project.

Item 8 - Approval of the Millbrae Library parking lot closure, facility rental fee waiver, and staff costs for the Japanese Culture Festival on October 4, 2020.

Item 9 - Approval of a facility rental fee waiver for the Annual Millbrae Historical Society Event on July 4, 2020.

Item 11 - Resolution authorizing the City Manager to seek assistance from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Consent calendar items 6, 7 and 10 were removed for further discussion.

Item 6 – Resolution approving the expansion and addition of Residential Preferential Permit Parking Zones – was unanimously approved, with a vote of 5-0, with an amendment to exclude Palm Avenue from Lansdale Avenue to Richmond Drive.

Item 7 – Accept the City of Millbrae Electric Vehicle Feasibility Report in response to the San Mateo County Grand Jury Report: “Electric Vehicle Adoption in the Cities and County of San Mateo – was unanimously approved with a vote of 5-0.

Item 10 – Resolution to adopt a list of projects for fiscal year 2020-2021 funded by Senate Bill 1: The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 – was unanimously approved with a vote of 5-0.

Under existing business, the City Council unanimously approved, with a vote of 5-0, an ordinance regarding safe storage of firearms in residences (item 12) with an amendment to change the effective date of the ordinance to January 1, 2021.

Under existing business, the City Council unanimously approved, with a vote of 5-0, the establishment of a parking authority within the Millbrae Station Area Specific Plan (MSASP) to oversee, manage, operate, and potentially construct, acquire, and finance public parking facilities in the Specific Plan area (item 13).

Under new business, the City Council unanimously approved, with a vote of 5-0, an urgency ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on eviction for non-payment of rent by small business commercial tenants directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (item 14).

A recording of the City Council meeting can be viewed at https://youtu.be/o1ntrirt27g.

The entire meeting agenda, attachments and presentations can be viewed at https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/7875/48.

This press release was produced by the City of Millbrae. The views expressed here are the author’s own.