November 2007 Joint Board/LAC Meeting Summary

Received a presentation from Assemblymember Jim Beall. Jim discussed Health Care issues and Health Care Reform proposals at both the state and national levels. Jim does not believe Term Limits legislation will pass but suggested the cities should push for a fair redistricting plan. Jim also suggested the cities should work hard on gaining an accurate census for the County.
Unanimously approved sending a letter to PG&E requesting the company submit an application to the CPUC to provide electric rate schedules in PG&E’s service territory appropriate for the use of LED streetlighting. There are significant advantages to the deployment of LED lighting.
Unanimously approved the following three Near-Term Building Policy Recommendations from the Green Building Collaborative:

Local governments should formally recognize and adopt the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED^® rating system and Build It Green’s GreenPoint Rated system (Residential) as the official green building standards for their jurisdictions.
As part of the planning application, require the submittal of a completed LEED or GreenPoint Rated checklist. This recommendation does not require the applicant to adopt green building practices, but requires a completed checklist for the project (data collection).
Local governments should adopt a policy for achieving LEED Silver certification or better for all public new construction and renovation projects over 5,000 square feet.

Board members were requested to take the 3 recommendations to their individual cities for adoption by their city councils.

Jennifer Sparacino, Santa Clara City Manager, reported the City Managers elected Dan Rich, Campbell, as next year’s Chair and Dave Anderson, Saratoga, as next year’s Vice Chair. Jennifer also reported the City Managers received a report from the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program and information on the impending storm water permit process. Prior storm water permits have been issued to Bay Area municipalities on a “countywide” basis. The last permit issued for Santa Clara Valley cities has expired, but administratively extended until superseded. The next storm water permit will be issued Bay Area-wide and there may be a 30-40% increase in fees. Elected officials may be asked to speak to the regional board in the spring regarding the permit.

City Reports: At each Board Meeting, members are encouraged to share information about upcoming events, recent milestones, best practices, etc. with other Board members. Members reporting: Laura Macias, Mountain View, reported she signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Otto Lee, Sunnyvale, urged city councils approve the signing of the agreement. Ann Waltonsmith, Saratoga, distributed flyers for an LED Holiday Light Contest for Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga. It was suggested other cities may want to encourage residents to use LED lights. The website for the contest is www.westvalleygreenleaf.com. Kathleen King, Saratoga, suggested the Cities Association receive a presentation in the future on Artsopolis.org which includes an online calendar and allows for cities to post cultural events. Pat Mahan, Santa Clara, announced John Garamendi will be in attendance at the City of Santa Clara ’s Veteran’s Day Memorial Event. Cupertino and Campbell will also be holding Veteran’s Day Memorial Events.

Announcements:

The General Membership Holiday Party will be held on Thursday, December 6 from 6 to 9 pm. at the Santa Clara Convention Center. All elected officials, city managers, and their guests are invited and encouraged to attend. This is a great opportunity to meet with elected officials around the county. Newly elected council members will be recognized and those council members leaving elected office will be thanked for their public service.