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continued to operate throughout this period and that his numerous complaints received no response from the Police Department. He also requested a taxi stand at Stoneridge Mall. Robert Baker said he would like to hold his comments until after Mr. Pretzel had spoken. Vice-Mayor Thorne said he would allow it with agreement from Mr. Pretzel. Mr. Pretzel said "no" and Mr. Baker declined to comment under these circumstances. Carl Pretzel requested that the Council direct staff to carry out its instructions, which were that Mr. Baker's fence be reduced to 6 feet in height in order to maintain the same look and feel as the rest of the neighborhood. He referenced his letter dated July 19`" and said that every fact contained within still stands. He said staff alerted Mr. Baker to a loophole whereby he was able to increase the grade on his side of the fence in order to falsely achieve a fence height of 6 feet. He said he objected to Mr. Bocian when it first occurred and that despite Mr. Bocian's assurances, this is exactly what Mr. Baker has done. He said a portion of the fence is 86" high from his vantage point and that he would like the entire length of fence cut down to the original height of 6 feet that existed prior to its being rebuilt. Mr. Pretzel also accused the Planning Department of being complicit in the harassment and intimidation of him and his wife. He explained that on July 31st, one week after leaving town for an extended trip, he received an email stating that a temporary encroachment permit had been granted and that he was to move his car from in front of his side yard so that work could begin that Friday. The following day, there were saw horses erected around his car and his wife was unable to relocate them in order to move the car. The sawhorses were not City-owned and he asked why the City would allow a private firm's property to block the private property of another individual on a public road. This behavior is unacceptable and he would like it to end immediately. Vice-Mayor Thorne said he would raise it under Matters Initiated to see if there is reason or cause to agendize the item for a future meeting. Councilmember Sullivan said he has had several conversations with the City Attorney about this in the last month and he would first like to see if staff believes there is any ability to mediate these issues to some level of satisfaction before returning to the Council. Mr. Fialho offered to make a mediation program, provided through the Police Department, available to Mr. Pretzel and Mr. Baker. He cautioned that while mediation is frequently used for these kinds of disputes, it requires willing partners on both sides. He assured the Council that no member of staff is harassing Mr. Pretzel, that staff is interpreting the code as written and trying to be as amenable as possible in the conflict between these neighbors. He visited the site personally the day before and staff's view is that the fence has been reduced to 6 feet high based on Municipal Code standards. He explained that height is measured from the highest grade of the property adjacent to the fence, which is the Baker's property in this instance. While the fence might be a bit higher from Mr. Pretzel's vantage point, this is how the code has been applied throughout the community. Vice-Mayor Thorne deferred the matter regarding Mr. Pretzel's vehicle back to staff. Fred Volking shared his concerns regarding OneBayArea, which he believed erodes the local control of any participating City, and asked why Pleasanton has accepted the initiative. Mr. Fialho explained that the City has not accepted OneBayArea; the plan was developed by Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), who represent the entire Bay Area including Pleasanton. Pleasanton has gone on record, as has the entire Tri-Valley, opposing OneBayArea for all the reasons that it feels are important such as limiting growth and minimizing traffic impacts in this community. All five Tri-Valley mayors jointly signed another letter opposing the effort. City Council Minutes Page 5 of 19 August 21, 2012