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Home My WebLink About2024-09-16 City Council Minutes Approved Anacortes City Council Minutes - September 16, 2024 Call to Order Mayor Matt Miller called to order the Anacortes City Council meeting of September 16,2024, at 6:00 p.m. Councilmembers TJ Fantini,Ryan Walters, Christine Cleland-McGrath,Bruce McDougall and Amanda Hubik were present. Councilmember Anthony Young participated in the meeting remotely via Zoom. Councilmember Carolyn Moulton was absent. Ms. Cleland-McGrath moved, seconded by Ms. Hubik,to excuse the absence of Ms. Moulton. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Pledge of Allegiance The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcements and Committee Reports Mayor Miller thanked Holly Frontier Sinclair and Parks and Recreation staff for their efforts in the Fueling Education Fun Run held last Sunday at Washington Park. He then announced that on Thursday September 19th, the city will be running a disaster preparedness exercise from 10am-2pm in the area of Chandlers Square,the United Methodist Church on H Avenue and Washington Park. He then reminded the public that Fall residential cleanup day will be from 9am-12pm on Saturday, September 21st at the city operations facility at 2201 37th Street,that Oyster Run will be Sunday, September 22nd,and that A-Town magazines would be delivered next week. He then announced that the first meeting of the Climate Policy Advisory Team will be at 5pm on September 24th at City Hall. He concluded by reminding the public of a public hearing to be held by the County Commissioners on the Guemes Island Ferry on September 17th at 3pm Economic Development Committee Mr. Young and Ms. Hubik reported from the Economic Development Committee meeting held September loth. The topics discussed included the type of structure to be followed in the committee's work with Western Washington University,the outline and questions that will be put out to the community in survey format. Finance Committee Mr. McDougall reported from the Finance Committee meeting held September 12th. The topics discussed included the most recent revenue summary,the enterprise resource planning application selection process that is down to two final vendors,Federal Emergency Management Agency fund allocation delay, and the 2025 budget process. Public Works Committee Mr. Walters announced that the Public Works Committee did not meet as scheduled. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Mr.Walters reported from the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee meeting held earlier in the day. The topics discussed included 2025 funding requests. He announced that the committee would meet at least once more prior to bringing forth a funding recommendation to the council. Port/City Liaison Committee Ms. Cleland-McGrath reported from the Port/City Liaison Committee meeting held September 1 Oth. The topics discussed included the Samish Nation properties going into trust and an accompanying agreement to provide a fee in lieu of taxes for city services provided, a Depot Plaza funding update and coordination with the Port for street realignment and Port development projects,A-dock services,next steps in the event center planning and development process, declining sales tax revenue and increased labor costs,and the development of a marine highway with Port Angeles. Anacortes City Council Minutes- September 16,2024 1 Personnel Committee Mr. Fantini reported from the Personnel Committee meeting held September 13th. The topics discussed included a recruiting and hiring update,review of the 2025 budget full-time employee requests,a NeoGov recruiting application update, and an ERP selection process update. Mayor's Award of Merit Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh introduced Municipal Broadband Network Technician Dawson Almer and Lead Broadband Outside Plant Coordinator Joe Edwards,detailing their exceptional efforts to restore fiber service during a recent outage. Mayor Miller awarded the Mayor's Award of Merit to Mr.Almer and Mr. Edwards. Public Comment Mayor Miller invited the public to comment on any item not on the agenda. Public comment was delivered as follows: Xuhua Mu of Anacortes commented on the Senior Activities Center needs assessment contract,pointing out the services provided in the contract and asked why there was no request for proposal and a competitive bidding process for the project. She pointed out that a provision in Appendix A provides that the contract complies with Washington State Department of Transportation requirements and asked if this element of the assessment could be combined with a transportation survey. She then asked why Appendix B of 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 21 (referenced in Appendix A of the contract)was not included in the contract. She also pointed out that there is no minimum number of completed interviews/surveys or age and gender distribution specifications in the contract that would ensure statistical validity, and that there should be a confidentiality clause that requires the removal of survey participant contact information from the contractor's systems upon project completion. Linnea McCord of Anacortes commented on the potential cinema purchase,providing a review of the reasons why the city decided to terminate the purchase and sale agreement and a brief synopsis of how the theater building came to be constructed on city land and its ownership history. She then pointed out that the sublease and assignment clause in the lease between the city and the theater building owner provides that the city's consent to the owner's request to sublet or assign the lease shall not be unreasonably withheld,which she asserted was a legally enforceable standard under contract law. She pointed out that the City Council Planning Committee denied what she termed a reasonable lease amendment while there were ongoing inquiries from parties interested in purchasing the building. Ms. McCord then suggested that the City Council immediately grant the building owner's lease revision request to allow them to sell the building. Suzanne Rohner of Anacortes echoed Ms. McCord's comments,adding that the Council had walked away from an opportunity for everyone to be satisfied. Consent Agenda Mr. McDougall moved, seconded by Mr.Young,to approve the following Consent Agenda items. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. a. Minutes of September 9,2024 b.Approval of claims in the amount of$3,916,646.72 The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment: EFT numbers: 110435 through 110480 total $3,502,848.38 Check numbers: 110481 through 110501,total $407,977.24 Wire transfer numbers: 354230 through 354576,total $5,821.10 Other Business Anacortes City Council Minutes- September 16,2024 2 Draft Greenhouse Gas(GHG)Emissions Inventory Report Presentation from Makers/Parametrix Planning, Community, and Economic Development Director John Coleman introduced Katy Saunders of Makers Architecture and Beth Miller and John Phillips of Parametrix,who presented the initial results of the City's Green House Gas emissions inventory,referring to a slide presentation that was included in the packet materials for the meeting. Mayor Miller invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item. Public comment was delivered as follows: John Wilkinson of Anacortes related his experience on the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Steering Committee and the challenge of properly allocating emissions to a municipality. He pointed out the emissions levels for recreational boating and that boaters fuel up to head out to other locations in the San Juan Islands, Canadian islands and Alaska,making it difficult to appropriately allocate those emissions specifically to Anacortes. He then referenced the study done for the Port of Anacortes based on 2021 emissions that allocated double the emissions to ocean-going vessels compared to recreational vessels, adding that recreational vessel emissions were significantly less than the Parametrix study and that further cooperation with the port is needed. He remarked that Fidalgo Island is surrounded by water,which is a carbon sink, and asked that those waters be added as a credit,and encouraged that the study take Anacortes' location as an island gateway for vehicles and boats into consideration. Xuhua Mu of Anacortes asked if we could have the data over the past 20-30 years on the Set Goals,Develop Policies slide to see how emissions have developed over time on a per capita basis, especially with the shift away from domestic manufacturing to imports? She also asked if a regional comparison is conducted with other county municipalities for carbon dioxide emissions and if forest fire CO2 emissions in other regions are considered? Discussion topics included: • Year-to-year energy consumption for buildings? • Do all the emissions statistics over time account for population growth? • Does carbon sequestration increase or decrease as forests mature? • What would be the effect if the trees burned? • Location and characteristics of current landfill. • Areas where we can deviate from the state energy strategy. • Road usage charge recommendations from the study or just emissions? • Why is the commerce of the refineries not included in this study? • The refineries are not within the city limits. • Doubling of residential output due to Puget Sound Energy's lack of access to hydropower resources? • What percentage of residential use is natural gas versus electricity? • Building sizes in Anacortes versus other parts of Washington. • How do we get electricity use to zero?Puget Sound Energy has a plan. • How will the infrastructure support ferry and vehicle electrification? • Will the county and local cities coordinate efforts for comprehensive planning? • Does diesel use on the Set Goals,Develop Policies slide include ferries?No • How to reduce vehicle miles traveled?Data on trips to influence climate policy-part of the transportation element. • Mitigate the climate cost of carrying on the businesses that are present in Anacortes in a holistic fashion. Anacortes City Council Minutes- September 16,2024 3 • Is there a chance that the county does not count the refineries? • Process of Climate Policy Action Team analysis and policy recommendations. Contract Approval: Joint Use Agreement for Facilities with the Anacortes School District#24-241-PRK- 001 Parks and Recreation Director Jonn Lunsford introduced the proposed joint use agreement for facilities#24- 241-PRK-00 1 with the Anacortes School District,referring to a slide presentation that was added to the packet materials for the meeting. Discussion topics included: • Is this a temporary agreement? • Funds from the city to cover custodial and utility costs. • Passing the cost of recreation programs on to participants. Keep costs low with Parks Foundation scholarships and multi family member discounts. • Which facilities are provided by the city to the Anacortes School District? Smiley's Bottom and Volunteer Park. BRUCE MCDOUGALL moved, seconded by AMANDA HUBIK,to authorize the mayor to execute joint use agreement#24-24 1-PRK-00 1 for facilities with the Anacortes School District. Vote: Ayes-ANTHONY YOUNG,RYAN WALTERS, CHRISTINE CLELAND-MCGRATH, BRUCE MCDOUGALL,AMANDA HUBIK, TJ FANTINI.Nays-None. Result: Passed Memorandum of Agreement#23-192-LIB-002 with Anacortes Public Library Foundation Library Director Jeff Vogel introduced the proposed memorandum of agreement#23-192-LIB-002 with the Anacortes Public Library Foundation for the Teen Area renovation. RYAN WALTERS moved, seconded by TJ FANTINI,to authorize the mayor to execute memorandum of agreement#23-192-LIB-002 with the Anacortes Public Library Foundation. Vote: Ayes-ANTHONY YOUNG,RYAN WALTERS, CHRISTINE CLELAND-MCGRATH,BRUCE MCDOUGALL,AMANDA HUBIK, TJ FANTINI.Nays-None. Result: Passed Adi ournment There being no further business,at approximately 8:01 p.m.the Anacortes City Council meeting of September 16, 2024,was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes- September 16,2024 4