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CITY NEWS

City Council Briefs - A Summary of Actions Taken by the

January 2008

KEN BUKOWSKI SELECTED AS MAYOR, ATKIN AS VICE MAYOR 

Veteran City Councilmember

Ken Bukowski was unanimously selected

as Mayor for a one-year term

at the Council session of December

4th. Ruth Atkin was selected as Vice

Mayor. Both Bukowski and Atkin

were re-elected to a sixth and third

term, respectively, this past November.

“I’m honored to be selected by my

colleagues and will do my best to meet

everyone’s expectations,” Bukowski

stated at a brief swearing-in ceremony.

BUILDING PERMIT FEES INCREASED, STREAMLINED 

The Council vote 5-0 on December

18th to adopt a uniform fee schedule

for building permits of .8% of the valuation

of the project. Th ere had previously

been a tiered fee schedule based

on the size of the project. Overall, the

new fees represent a 42% increase in

building fees, which City staff noted

had not been increased in twenty

years. Th e fees basically cover the City

staff ’s costs of processing the building

permits.

CABARET ORDINACE REVISED 

Th e Council directed the City

Attorney’s offi ce to revise the Cabaret

Ordinance to provide for reduced fees

for restaurants and other establishments

which provide live music only

as an incidental amenity to the main

business. A full Cabaret License is

$5,000 annually, but some restaurant

owners who provide or want to provide

music protested this amount as

prohibitive. Th e Council’s vote was

unanimous. Th e new lower fees are expected to be in the $200 - $400

a year range and will only apply to

businesses which provide occasional

music and no dancing.

SENIOR CENTER GETS NEW BUS 

Th e Council unanimously approved

the purchase of a new bus

for the Emeryville Senior Center.

Th e Council 22-seat bus will cost

$91,680 and was a recommendation

from the Emeryville Commission on

Aging.

COUNCIL ENDORSES I-80 MOBILITY PROJECT

The Council heard a report on

the I-80 Integrated Corridor Mobility

Project, an $87 million program

designed to decrease congestion on

I-80. Th e Council voted 4-1 to support

the project, which will allow the

City to apply for various transportation

improvement grants along I-80.

Councilmember John Fricke was the

only member opposed.

VECTOR CONTROL FOR EMERYVILLE?

Th e Council heard a presentation

by representatives of the Alameda

County Vector Control Services

District. Emeryville is one of only

two cities in Alameda County (along

with Fremont) that is not part of

the District. Th e District is funded

by a parcel tax on property owners

in exchange for its services, which

includes eradication of vectors like

rodents, insects, skunks, mosquitoes

or other types that can carry disease

to humans. Under State law property

owners would get to vote on whether

they want to be a part of the District.