Tuesday: Council to review projects, fees

Capital improvement projects, fees for city services, and the budgeting process are the regular business items on the City Council’s agenda for its meeting Tuesday, March 9.

The council will review a five-year implementation plan for capital improvement projects, and will discuss adding several new projects to an already long list. One project would allocate $200,000 in the fiscal year beginning July 1 to “provide resources and/or consultants for High Speed Rail.” Palo Alto has already hired a lobbyist to represent the city’s interests in Sacramento when it comes to the high-speed rail project.

Following a recommendation by the city’s Environmental Quality Commission, the city may also study the possibility of capturing methane gas at the Marsh Road landfill, which accounts for 8.5 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

When it comes to setting fees, city staff has prepared a comprehensive spreadsheet lumping city services into one of three categories, based on how much of its cost the city aims to recover. Click here to see where the services fall.

Tuesday’s council meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, located in the Civic Center complex, between Laurel and Alma streets.