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City has engaged the services of a consultant, Valerie Young, to assist in the drafting and finalization of the letter. Council added another item to the list which is "prepare for current and future capacity for freight". Council discussed Union Pacific as a big player and how freight compatibility will need to be studied. Another concern brought up was how the information will flow befinreen Redwood City and other cities in the Peninsula. Mr. Bigelow was asked to provide details on the High Speed Rail and the more localized issue of a possible station for Redwood City and Palo Alto. He said these finro cities are being considered as the key cities. Ultimately, these two cities will have a say. He provided other information on the project as a whole and ramifications for the peninsula and the 17 cities impacted. Council discussed the possibility of including the local commute as a consideration. One Council Member suggested that the City explain its vision for the downtown and use some of the comments from Council Member Hartnett's memo to frame the issue. There was Council consensus on an opening statement (from Council Member Hartnett's memo) and have the EIR consultant review it. It was requested that a question be posed about possibly creating a station that provides seamless service to vehicular and foot traffic. During its discussion Council agreed on the following points: • Work with local officials from CalTrain and the JPB • Be informed about what the status of other cities is; • Council wants to lead and not be led; • Once the model is established for the project then a model for the flow of information needs to be established so that people know where to get answers • Support the efforts of an MOU between CalTrain and High Speed Rail Mayor Foust introduced Kim Levy with Samtrans and she addressed the Council making herself available to answer any questions. She explained that she is meeting with the 17 jurisdictions. Mayor Foust spoke about another group that is an informal group but is discussing policies and guidelines. This group got together informally to see if there were some common issues and Council Member Pierce said she sat in the group to see if there were issues of common interest. One Council Member made comments about the possibility of a MOU befinreen various stakeholders but cautioned that this is not final. Another Council Member said that he sees CalTrain taking a key role. One Council Member suggested a subcommittee of the Council to work on this and possibly a third person from staff. Mayor Foust said that this idea can come back. There was consensus that Council would support the efforts of the MOU. Council Member Pierce explained that some of the different members got together informally because there was not enough information flowing. It was suggested that Mayor Foust communicate with the Palo Alto Mayor and inform her of what is REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 9, 2009 MINUTES PAGE 7 MINUTE BOOK NO. 62 Page No. 306