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Photo Illustration by Kathy De La Torre
When Saratoga Planning Commission meetings began lasting as long as seven hours, some wags wondered if it would make sense for commissioners to wear their jammies to meetings. More practical sorts began looking for ways to make meetings more efficient.
The Year in Review 2000
July - September 2000
By Kara Chambers
July
In time for its appeal hearing with the county board of supervisors on June 27, Saratoga finalized an agreement with the Mountain Winery and decided to withdraw its appeal of the winery's use permit. The supervisors, saying they needed more time to review the conditions that the two groups agreed to add to the permit, continued the hearing to August. The Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts did not reach an agreement with the winery.
In 1999, when the Friends of the Santa Clara County Creeks and the San Francisco BayKeepers settled their lawsuit with the city, part of the settlement required an investigation into the source of Saratoga Creek's pollution. Staff from the city, West Valley Sanitation District staff, Santa Clara Valley Water District staff and Saratogan Don Whetstone, the president of the Friends who negotiated the settlement with the city, contributed to the investigation.
On June 5, the investigative team discovered a source of the pollution--a leak in the main sewer line that runs beneath Saratoga-Los Gatos Road that was affecting the storm drain line. The sanitation district said it would reline the inside of the sewer piped to prevent them from leaking further.
Local commercial developer John M. Sobrato brought his plans for a residential subdivision, including one home for himself, on the property of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on Bohlman Road to the planning commission, and heard an earful from neighbors. The 20 neighbors who spoke did not protest the development per se, and only a few opposed some aspects of the project's design. Most of them said they opposed the proposal that Sobrato widen narrow and winding Bohlman Road as a condition of the project's approval, since widening would entail taking out trees and change the rural character of the road.
The city and the Chamber of Commerce failed to reach consensus on a contract that the city had drawn up. The Chamber approved the contract, deleting two sections, while the city said it needed the sections in order to give the contract its seal of approval and give the Chamber the $6,600 fee increase it wanted for visitor services. One of the sections the Chamber opposed stated that the city would measure the Chamber's effectiveness by monitoring sales and business-license tax revenue.
The council approved a request for proposals to send to architecture firms interested in designing a new civic center complex. The project, called the Civic Center Master Plan project, started out as a renovation of the city's community and senior centers, but over the past months the plan was transformed into something much larger.
The council discussed options to deal with the growing deer population in Saratoga on July 19. One option that a minority in the council favored was to allow residents to pay professional companies to trap deer on their property and then kill them on-site with rifles.
August
The Saratoga City Council voted unanimously to approve a contract with new City Manager Dave Anderson. Anderson's starting salary was set at $103,000, $4,000 more than for former City Manager Larry Perlin, whom the council asked to resign in January.
A spate of seven-hour planning commission meetings led to questions about meeting protocol, but planning commissioners tabled any formal talks on communication issues for the time being. Disagreements and bickering over how meetings were run led Commissioner Cynthia Barry to suggest commissioners engage in an "Indian Tribal Council Circle," to actively listen to other's ideas.
Sewage overflowed from a manhole onto Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road near Reid Lane. Despite West Valley Sanitation District's quick reaction, some sewage ended up in Saratoga Creek. Two similar incidents occurred the same month.
Questions were raised by SFD union firefighters about the way in which the district administration handled the study of the SFD's fire and medical services.
When the consultants, DMG Maximus, sent a second revised draft of the first report to the district, again SFD Chief Ernie Kraule and the SFD commissioners did not release it to the public or the firefighters, saying it was confidential material. The second draft focused solely on the SFD, and did not include information on the county fire department, as the first one did. The administration said that they could keep the two reports private since they were in draft form.
The city council authorized the expenditure of $20,000 in city funds to lure the high-end men's clothing store Patrick James to the Saratoga Village. A number of downtown business owners said they thought the council decision was unfair to existing businesses.
The city council agreed to negotiate a 55-year lease with the Hakone Foundation, which operates the gardens, cultural center, and city park that makes up Hakone Gardens. Foundation president Dan Pulcrano said the long-term lease would give the foundation security and increase donations.
The parks and recreation commission endorsed a renovation plan for Congress Springs Park, sending the $1.2 million plan to the council for approval. The redesign of the park's layout allowed room for Little League, soccer and T-ball fields. Pony League fields were slated to be relocated to El Quito Park.
The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors awarded Mountain Winery its use permit, allowing the winery to get started on its long-awaited expansion. The board of supervisor's decision ended an appeal by the city of Saratoga and the Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts. While the city said it was satisfied by the conditions added to the use permit, the trail enthusiasts threatened legal action.
The Saratoga City Council field was set, with three candidates vying for two council seats. Incumbent council members Ann Waltonsmith and Stan Bogosian were joined by newcomer and planning commissioner, Chuck Page. Measure G, the moratorium on residential projects in commercial zones, appeared to be an early campaign issue, with Waltonsmith and Bogosian lining up in support and Page declaring his opposition to the measure.
After a rocky three years, Saratoga High School's dream of having a new pool was finally realized. The opening day festivities featured the ceremonial pouring of five gallons of the old pool's water into the new pool, and a simultaneous group jump featuring teachers, administrators and fundraisers.
Toward the end of the month, all SFD union firefighters were shown the second draft of the level of service study report on the SFD, but the SFD administration still had not made the report available to the public or the media, despite requests from both the lawyer for the union firefighters and the Saratoga News.
Saratoga Pony League continued to look for a home after plans to convert a softball field into a Pony League field at El Quito Park were derailed by neighbors who said the use was inappropriate. The council decision to abandon El Quito Park as a possible location reopened the question of how to best use Congress Springs Park, Pony League's previous home.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Bridget Barringer (left) and Whitney Moore, both 11, comfort each other at the site of a fatal car crash on Fruitvale Avenue. Two Saratoga High School students, Eleanor Patrick and Nicola Rooke, died in the accident.
September
The council approved a plan for a renovated Congress Springs Park, the city's premier park. The plan called for eight soccer fields, and when not in use for soccer, the park could hold three Little League baseball fields, two semi-permanent Little League fields, and two T-ball fields. The option included eliminating the basketball and tennis courts at the park and it did not include a field for Saratoga Pony League, comprised of 39 players, ages 13-14, that used one of the fields at the park.
A horrible tragedy hit Saratoga when two Saratoga High School students, Eleanor Patrick, 16, and Nicola Rooke, 15, were killed in a car accident. Lucy Anderson and Alyssia Goddard, both 15, who were passengers in the car, were hospitalized and discharged. The girls were part of a group of seven who were spending one last night together before Alyssia was to leave for boarding school in Pennsylvania. The driver, Eleanor Patrick, lost control of the car on Fruitvale Avenue and hit a pole. The cause of the accident was most likely speed, according to the sheriff's. No drugs or alcohol were believed to be involved in the accident and all four girls were wearing seat belts.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Saratoga High School PTSA and the Centre for Living with Dying sponsored a community meeting for parents and community members to learn about the grieving process, ask the counselors questions and talk about how they have been affected by the accident.
The council on Sept. 6, went on the record that it would not consider using the Heritage Orchard for anything other than an orchard. The council's resolution was a sign of the council's commitment to preserve the orchard exactly as it is.
The planning commission gave the go-ahead to developer John Sobrato's plans for a 10-home subdivision on Bohlman Road, with conditions. The plans are for an 11-lot project--one lot will be sold to the Saratoga Cemetery District--at the site of a former convent and school. Sobrato agreed to pay for widening Bohlman Road, if the commission so desires in the future. The commission's decision precluded the commission from ever requiring Sobrato to build a new downhill one-way lane on the property--an idea that some residents favored. An additional road could have resulted in the loss of one of Sobrato's 11 lots.
More than 800 children turned out to play soccer in the Opening Season Tournament for the American Youth Soccer Organization on Sept. 9-10, at Congress Springs Park. This past year, AYSO Saratoga Soccer lost two of its treasured members, Gerry Babb and Bill Silva, both of whom dedicated many hours to Saratoga Soccer, according to Mark Linsky, a Saratoga Soccer regional commissioner and coach. This year's tournament, which marked the beginning of Saratoga Soccer's fall season, was renamed in memory of Babb, a coach, referee and board member, who was also an AYSO parent. The End of the Season Division 5 Tournament has been renamed as well, in memory of Silva, who was also a coach. City Councilman and AYSO coach Nick Streit spoke during opening ceremonies about the renovations and improvements planned for Congress Springs Park. The new park is expected to be completed in fall 2002.
SFD union firefighters began taking their crusade--for the SFD to merge with the county fire department--to the streets, by staffing a booth at Celebrate Saratoga!, the Chamber's annual street dance, and by holding community meetings.
Gov. Gray Davis enacted a law that would allow Saratoga to get back tax equity allocation funds, which will mean an additional $400,000 in revenue yearly for the city, beginning in 2003. TEA funds are matching funds from the county collected from property taxes. The city lost these funds when voters repealed the utility-users tax in November 1996. Because the city now has a local tax--the $15 million bond measure for the new library that voters passed in March--the city is once again eligible, according to the new law.
2000: The Year in Review
January - March 2000
April - June 2000
October - December 2000
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
