AgdaPkt 2003-05-12 - Laserfiche WebLink

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REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Cou From the City May 12, 2003 Subject Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration — Proposed Recycled Water Project Recommendation 1. Receive the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) Addendum document from staff 2. Direct staff to circulate the Addendum for a 28 -day public comment period (May 13 through June 9, 2003) Background At the request of the City Council, city staff and consultants have prepared a document comprised of technical information that is responsive to a range of issues and concerns raised by the public subsequent to the certification the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Initial Study /MND for the proposed Recycled Water Project. Copies of this document will be made available to the City Council and the public on May 12, 2003. The Planning Commission certified the Initial Study /MND for the proposed Recycled Water — Project on Aug. 6, 2002. Subsequently, the circumstances of the public's understanding have evolved. Therefore, the City has decided to utilize the Addendum procedure to provide more clarifying information on: • How public health and safety will be protected should the proposed project be approved • How effects of a change in irrigation water (from Hetch Hetchy drinking water to South Bayside System Authority recycled water) will be monitored and managed. Additionally, the Addendum will allow interested residents and businesses to access information, submit comments and participate in the public dialogue leading up to the Council's decision on whether or not to approve a recycled water project and, if so, the nature and scale of such a project. CEQA does not require a public comment period or a public hearing as part of the Addendum procedure. However, staff recommends that the City Council formally set a 28- day comment period and circulate the Addendum document, requesting written comments from any and all interested parties who may have concerns about the proposed project. Staff had initially intended to recommend that the written comment period be 21 days. Cohcluding the comment period prior to the scheduled City Council Study Session on June 9, 2003, would have enabled city staff to compile and organize all comments received such that the Council could in turn read the Addendum, then the comments, and be better prepared to ask their own questions of a variety of anticipated participants at the June 9 Study Session. 1 of 2