HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-07 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes—January 7,2019
At 6:00 p.m. Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council meeting of January 7, 2019.
Councilmembers Eric Johnson,Ryan Walters,Anthony Young,Brad Adams,Liz Lovelett,Bruce McDougall
and Matt Miller were present.
The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Announcements and Committee Reports
Confirmation of Parks and Recreation Director Jonn Lunsford: Mayor Gere requested Council confirmation of
her appointment of Jonn Lunsford as Parks and Recreation Director. The mayor described the extensive search
for the position and Mr. Lunsford's qualifications,both as summarized in her memorandum included in the
packet materials for the meeting. Mr. Walters praised the open and inclusive search process for the position. Mr.
Walters moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson,to approve the appointment of Jonn Lunsford as Parks and
Recreation Director. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Mr. Lunsford said that the entire Parks and
Recreation Department looked forward to building on its tradition of service to the community.
Pride in Service Award to Carla Bray: Mayor Gere summarized Ms. Bray's 35 years of service in the Finance
Department at the City of Anacortes,recalled her prior recognition as a Mayor's Award of Merit recipient, and
praised her exceptional customer service. Mayor presented the Pride in Service award to Carla Bray,to an
ovation from the entire audience.
Fire Department Oath of Office: Lieutenant Promotions: Mayor Gere administered the oath of office to
Lieutenants Chris Byer,Ryan Frazier, and Dan Lamp. Family members pinned on the badges of the new
lieutenants.
Fire Department Oath of Office: Firefighter-Paramedics: Mayor Gere administered the oath of office to
Firefighter-EMT Tristan Lucas and Firefighter-Paramedics Nick Jessen,Joel Pratt,Mike Tribble and Holly
VanSchaick. Family members pinned on the badges of the new Fire Department staff members.
Fire Chief Dave Oliveri honored Assistant Chief Jack Kennedy and Division Chief Nick Walsh for exemplary
and outstanding effort during the depai liuental transitions in 2018. He presented the chiefs with File
Commendation Letters.
Public Works Committee: Ms. Lovelett reported from the committee meeting earlier in the evening. She
elaborated on topics discussed including the sanitary sewer storage study, a new budget amendment request
process to be instituted in 2019 and possibly adopted by other departments,the pavement overlay fund and the
impact of ADA compliance requirements on overlay projects given the current adopted overlay policy, and new
Craley technology that provides added security and leak detection for water pipes.
Skagit County Population Health Trust: Ms. Lovelett reported from Trust meeting the prior Thursday. She
elaborated on continuing implementation of the opioid program,possible changes to the composition of the
Board of Health,housing goals and policies and maternal and child health.
Mayor Gere announced that the State Dept. of Commerce would be visiting Anacortes on Friday to learn more
about the city's municipal broadband project.
Public Comment
No one present wished to address the Council on any topic not already on the agenda.
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Consent Agenda
Mr. Young removed Item 5b,Approval of Claims, from the Consent agenda. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by
Mr. Miller,to approve the following Consent Agenda items. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
a. Minutes of December 17,2018
The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment:
EFT numbers: 91678 through 91751,total$948,510.08
Check numbers: 91675 through 91677 and 91752 through 91841,total$273,715.61
Wire transfer numbers: 242298 through 243192,total $24,822.70
b.Approval of Claims
Mr. Young mentioned$6,692 of Amazon purchases on the voucher list and pressed staff to consider local
businesses for discretionary spending. He acknowledged that the purchasing policy was currently under
revision. Mr. Young moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson,to approve the voucher list. The motion carried
unanimously by voice vote. Mayor Gere reported recent conversations with department heads who had obtained
local quotes for goods but found those quotes significantly higher than from Amazon.
OTHER BUSINESS
Resolution 2029: City of Anacortes Legislative Priorities
Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh invited Council to consider draft Washington State legislative
priorities for the 2019 legislative session. Ms. Schuh's slides were added to the packet materials for the meeting.
She first presented the three top priorities for Anacortes: a Community Youth Recreation Center,Municipal
Broadband and Trail Systems. Mr. Walters requested one-page talking point summaries for each of those
priorities. Ms. Schuh indicated those would be finalized pending councilmember input. Mr. Young suggested
that the Community Youth Recreation Center could serve a larger audience than just youth. Ms. Schuh and
Mayor Gere explained that the terminology was consistent with established partnerships and donor expectations
for the facility.
Ms. Schuh then presented a slide with four General Principles to guide the legislative session. Councilmembers
provided extensive revisions. Ms. Lovelett mentioned access to infant care and early childhood services, also
fish-blocking culverts referenced in the AWC legislative priorities. Mr. Walters asked to remove the first bullet,
combine or condense the two infrastructure bullets, and separate health and homelessness into their own bullets.
Mr. Johnson referenced his email earlier in the day suggesting support for SHB 2367 establishing a Child Care
Collaborative Task Force.
Ms. Schuh then presented additional draft priorities drawing on AWC priorities. Mr.Young and Mr. McDougall
emphasized supporting means for small cities to compete and prosper. Mr. McDougall mentioned quality of life
and environmental stewardship as important Anacortes values. Ms. Lovelett mentioned investment in and
incentives supporting public transportation and alternative energy sources. Councilmembers suggested
alternative wording to strengthen the Public Works Trust Fund priority. Regarding affordable housing,
Councilmembers urged state offset of Anacortes impact fee deferral for low income housing and focus
specifically on workforce housing. Councilmembers discussed with Ms. Schuh the shortfalls in the current
behavioral health system,citing the need for more services and better delivery,particularly in rural areas.
Mr. Johnson invited public comment on the priorities
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Heather Brennan agreed with comments by Mr. Young regarding insufficient mental health care facilities.
Speaking as a volunteer at Anacortes High School,Ms. Brennan attested to a lack of timely access to mental
health care.
Ms. Schuh thanked councilmembers for their input. She indicated that she would revise the documents
accordingly and bring them back to Council for further consideration in the near future.
Laserfiche Update
City Attorney Darcy Swetnam presented an update on the Laserfiche implementation project. Ms. Swetnam's
slides were added to the packet materials for the meeting. She recapped the purpose of the electronic content
management system acquired in 2018. Ms. Swetnam then summarized the progress made during the first year of
the phased implementation, including installation,testing,training, and conversion of records and processes by
selected departments with the first 50 user licenses funded in 2018. She also described the integration of
Laserfiche records storage with the city's existing transactional applications and the new electronic document
web portal that has made over 20,000 public records available to the public on the web. Ms. Swetnam
demonstrated the range of documents and search tools available on the portal. Ms. Swetnam then shared the next
steps of the implementation to be undertaken in 2019 as the phased project continued through the 2019/2020
biennium. She cited the increased efficiency, increased transparency, and increased accountability that would
continue to accrue as the implementation proceeded.
Mr. Young advocated for archival retention of information for historical purposes,beyond legal requirements.
Ms. Swetnam explained the state records retention schedules,then described the challenges and legal liabilities
of storing documents beyond the mandated durations. Councilmembers discussed with Ms. Swetnam the
challenges of email archiving. Mr. Walters requested a City Council session devoted to the topic of cloud-based
solutions, devices for councilmembers, and related topics. Mr. Young asked that staff track public records
requests to see if their number was reduced as more public records became available through the web portal. Mr.
Walters urged more promotion of the web portal and suggested some specific target audiences. Ms. Lovelett
suggested additional document categories to prioritize for addition to the portal. Mr. Miller suggested additional
links on the city website to direct end users to the document portal.
At approximately 8:03 p.m. Mayor Gere called a 3-minute break.At 8:06 p.m.the mayor called the meeting
back to order.
Public Works 2018 Year in Review
Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer and Administrative Manager Nicole Tesch presented an abbreviated
version of the Public Works year in review,referring to the slide presentation included in the packet materials
for the meeting. Mr. Buckenmeyer summarized the major projects and accomplishments of 2018 for the
Engineering, Operations, Facilities,Water,Wastewater Treatment, GIS, Stormwater,Resource Conservation
Divisions and the Director's Office. Ms. Lovelett thanked staff for installing the mid-block crossing on M
Avenue at Whitney School. Mr. Young requested more information about how Anacortes water quality ranks
against other Washington state water purveyors. Mr. Johnson inquired about vulnerability of the water treatment
plant intake structure to Skagit River flood events. Mr. McDougall thanked public works staff for the
tremendous amount of fine work achieved. He also congratulated the city on its successful efforts at digitization
(notably GIS and Laserfiche)which boosts staff productivity and increases government transparency. Mayor
Gere concurred.
There being no further business,at approximately 8:42 p.m. the Anacortes City Council meeting of
January 7,2019 was adjourned.
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