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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-12-18 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes—December 18, 2017 Special Meeting Mayor Laurie Gere called to order an advertised special meeting of the Anacortes City Council on December 18,2017 at 5:30 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson,Ryan Walters,Erica Pickett,Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett,Bruce McDougall and Matt Miller were present. Executive Session (30 Minutes)per RCW 42.30.110(i) Mayor Gere announced that City Council and the City Attorney would convene in Executive Session for no more than 30 minutes to discuss potential litigation and that following the executive session the meeting would adjourn with no action being taken. There being no further business,at approximately 5:56 p.m. the advertised special meeting of the Anacortes City Council for December 18,2017 was adjourned. Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council meeting of December 18,2017 at 6:00 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson,Ryan Walters,Erica Pickett,Brad Adams,Liz Lovelett,Bruce McDougall and Matt Miller were present. The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcements and Committee Reports Recognition of Retiring Councilmember Erica Pickett: Mayor Gere moved this item to the end of the agenda. Mr. Hoglund administered the oath of office to Mayor Laurie Gere for her 4-year term beginning January 1, 2018. Public Safety Committee: Mr. Adams reported from the December 13 committee meeting at which Fire Chief Richard Curtis presented an update on the Fire/EMS 6-year master plan including the volunteer firefighter initiative, funding for a replacement ladder truck, funding for Fire Station 3 on March Point, and the 2018 EMS levy in Skagit County. Mr. Adams reported that Anacortes did not always receive the full amount that Anacortes taxpayers contribute to the levy and said the city was developing a strategy to address that situation with the county. Mr. Miller emphasized the importance of adequate levy funding to achieve 24-hour staffing at Fire Station 3. Mr. Adams said Police Chief John Small had reported that all was going well in the police department. Ms. Lovelett added that the committee had also talked about stress management for both firefighters and police officers and means of supporting first responders with counseling and debriefing following critical incidents. Skagit County Marine Resources Committee: Mayor Gere advised that Ms. Lovelett had stepped down from the MRC and that Council would need to appoint a new representative as part of the committee assignments in January. Ms. Pickett explained the membership of the committee and its role in overseeing expenditure of grant monies for restoration efforts in the marine environment,particularly in and around Fidalgo Bay and March Point. Public Works Committee: Mayor Gere announced that the regular committee meeting scheduled for earlier in the evening had been cancelled. Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 1 Mr. Johnson announced that because evening temperatures were forecast to be below 30 degrees through the end of the month,the cold weather shelter at the Salvation Army would be open each night beginning December 20. He invited volunteers interested in working evening or early morning shifts at the shelter to contact the Salvation Army. Mr. Johnson announced that the Anacortes Senior College was seeking councilmembers willing to present at a seminar about city government. He invited his colleagues who might be interested in participating to contact him after the meeting. Mr. Adams announced that he would be hosting at Ward 2 town hall meeting on Tuesday,January 9, 2018 from 6-8 p.m. at the Anacortes Senior Activity Center. Mr. McDougall noted the recent FCC ruling that eliminated net neutrality protections for consumers and businesses that have been the norm for many years. He said the ruling will allow ISPs to speed up, slow down or block content and applications.Mr. McDougall read with permission from a letter submitted by constituent Steven Jones commenting on the FCC ruling and thanking the City for installing fiber infrastructure to modernize Anacortes and keep it competitive in the business world. Mr. Jones' letter was added the packet materials for the meeting. Mr. Walters reported from the Ward 1 meeting hosted the prior Tuesday at the library. He indicated that attendees were very interested in a municipal fiber network but expressed concern about how to afford it. Other topics explored included how to fund paving of non-arterial streets which are not addressed in the pavement management plan;requests for additional emergency response drills (Mayor Gere advised that the next such drill was scheduled for February 13); the development code update, specifically concerns about parking for ADUs and standards for access to residences constructed on alleys; truck traffic on M Avenue; addressing homelessness; and the City Council process for approving contracts. Public Comment No one present wished to address the Council on any topic not already on the agenda. Consent Agenda Mr. McDougall removed Items 5c, 5d and 5e from the Consent Agenda. Mr. Adams moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson,to approve the following Consent Agenda items. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. a. Minutes of December 6,2017 and December 11, 2017 b. Approval of Claims in the amount of. $332,092.82 f. Interlocal Agreement 259: Skagit Conservation District for NPDES Phase 1I Public Outreach& Education 2018 The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment: EFT numbers: 87412 through 87460,total$107,171.60 Check numbers: 87461 through 87514,total$237,445.59 Wire transfer numbers: 224700 through 225641,total $3,862.81 c. Contract Modification: On-Call Environmental Services Consultant 17-051-PLN-001 (Bachman Environmental,LLC) d. Contract Modification: On-Call Environmental Services Consultant 17-051-PLN-002 (GeoEngineers,Inc.) e. Contract Modification: On-Call Stormwater Engineering Consultant 17-051-PLN-003 (Gray& Osborne, Inc.) Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 2 Mr. McDougall commented, in relation to the three environmental consultant contract extensions on the Consent Agenda,that Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve had written to councilmembers advising that the Nature Scorecard website had rated Anacortes very low for green development and stormwater management. Mr. McDougall asked if the city had any metrics in place to measure its own progress and whether its environmental consultants could recommend any such metrics. City Attorney Darcy Swetnam clarified that the three specific contract extensions on the Consent Agenda were to provide third party review for development applications,the cost of which was passed through to the applicants. Mr. Walters suggested that timely reviews were required to meet application processing timelines and that he did not favor deferring extension of the contracts. He supported addressing Mr. McDougall's question about scorecard metrics but said it was not directly related to the agenda items. Mayor Gere said the Public Works department would update Council on stormwater management at a City Council meeting in the near future. Mr. Walters moved, seconded by Ms. Pickett,to authorize the mayor to sign the contract modifications described in Consent Agenda Items 5c, 5d and 5e. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. OTHER BUSINESS Andeavor Donation to Anacortes Police Department Police Chief John Small thanked Andeavor Corporation for its continued generous support of the Anacortes Police Department. Community Service Officer Karl Wolfswinkel recounted the history of Andeavor(formerly Tesoro) support of special project needs in the department since 2015. He described the department's most recent request for forensic equipment,lost person tracking equipment and a radar unit and announced that Andeavor had offered to donate $25,000 for those items. Matt Gill, Senior Manager for Government and Public Affairs at Andeavor,noted that 25%of the refinery's employees live in Anacortes and that the Andeavor Foundation focuses its gifts on public safety, STEM education and the environment which are all quality of life issues for company employees and the community. He invited the city to alert him of other related projects that might be in need of funding. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Mr. Miller,to approve the Andeavor donation to the Anacortes Police Department. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Andeavor Donation to Anacortes Fire Department Fire Chief Richard Curtis thanked Andeavor Corporation for its support and ongoing strong relationship with the Anacortes Fire Department including as part of the Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER)network. Chief Curtis thanked Andeavor for its 2017 donation to fund a hydraulic cutter capable of shearing high tension steel to allow extrication of victims from motor vehicle accidents. He displayed graphics of the cutter and the related hydraulic spreader funded by an Andeavor donation in 2016. Mr. Walters,Ms. Lovelett and Mayor Gere agreed on the high value of this equipment which had been demonstrated to them at fire ops training in the past. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr.Adams,to accept the donation of$20,000 from Andeavor to fund the Anacortes Fire Department's extraction equipment program. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Public Informational Meeting: Ordinance 3019: Water System Plan Assistant Public Works Director Matt Reynolds summarized his introduction of the Water System Plan update from the December 11,2017 City Council meeting. Referring to his slide presentation,Mr. Reynolds listed the six items that the Department of Health indicated needed to be included in the update, then explained how each requirement had been addressed in the 10-page update. His slides were added to the packet materials for the meeting. Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 3 Mr. Walters inquired about Project P-2 listed on CIP Project Table 10-1, concerning a new water pressure zone near the Blue Heron Circle reservoir. He referenced correspondence from Haddon Road residents reporting low pressure and asked that Project P-2 move forward sooner rather than later if pressures in that area were not meeting the WAC. Ms. Swetnam advised that staff was currently addressing that matter with the residents and would report back to Council within days. Mayor Gere invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item.No one present wished to address the Council. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Adams,to approve Ordinance 3019 adopting the 4-year limited update to the City of Anacortes 2011 Water System Plan. Vote: Ayes-Walters,Pickett,Adams,Lovelett, McDougall,Miller and Johnson. Motion carried. Resolution 2004: Personnel Policies Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh presented proposed Resolution 2004 to adopt revised personnel policies. She summarized the changes to the policy which primarily responded to federal and state law changes as outlined in the agenda bill. Ms. Schuh reported that staff had reviewed the proposed policies and provided useful feedback which had been incorporated into the policies. She advised that the policies were still under discussion with the Police Guild which was still in negotiations. Ms. Schuh elaborated on the Washington State paid sick leave law. Mr. Miller observed that small businesses statewide were struggling to comply with its requirements. Ms. Schuh noted that the Chamber of Commerce was sponsoring an informational presentation by the administering Department of Labor& Industries to assist local employers. Mr. Walters noted that councilmembers had just been provided the new policies earlier in the day and asked what else had changed in the 200-odd page document. Ms. Schuh observed that staff had been working on the policies with the Police Guild until 2:30 that afternoon. She said the model policies from the state had not been issued until November and that employees and bargaining units had to be given opportunity to respond. She noted that the Personnel Committee had reviewed the policies the prior month. Mr.Walters asked if adopting the proposed policies would conflict with the Police Guild contract. Ms. Schuh said it would not. Mayor Gere invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item.No one present wished to address the Council. Mr. Johnson asked if the policies needed to be adopted before year end. Ms. Schuh noted that the state and federal law changes addressed by the policies would go into effect January 1. She added that the city had worked with an employment law attorney to draft the policies which were to serve as a model for other agencies. Mr. Miller moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson,to approve Resolution 2004 adopting the City's revised Personnel Policies. Vote: Ayes- Pickett,Adams, Miller and Johnson.Nays—Lovelett, McDougall and Walters. Motion carried. 4th Quarter Finance Update Finance Director Steve Hoglund updated Council on the city's financial position through November 30. He reviewed the customary series of graphs and charts included in the packet materials for the meeting including property, sales,real estate excise and lodging tax revenues, impact fees,revenues and expenditures vs.budget by fund, and capital projects. Mr. Hoglund noted that REET revenue was lower than prior year but that the fund would still finish the year with positive cash and noted higher than expected lodging tax revenue. He explained the few apparent anomalies caused by non-linear revenue and Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 4 expenditure streams and elaborated on several items that would be addressed by the budget amendment later on the agenda. Mr. Hoglund responded to councilmember questions about a number of funds. He concluded that the economy was healthy and the city's financial position offered no cause for concern. Mr. Johnson commented that housing the homeless is an expanded allowed use of REET 2 through 2019. Mr. Hoglund summarized the city's cash and investment portfolio, demonstrated that the portfolio complied with the current investment policy and explained upcoming changes to that policy that would be presented to Council for approval in 2018 to eliminate individual Government Sponsored Enterprise limits without effectively changing the risk of the investment portfolio. Mr. Walters asked that operating cash be reflected on the investment diversification report.Mr. Hoglund agreed to circulate a revised report to councilmembers. Ordinance 3016: Amending the 2017/2018 Budget Mr. Hoglund presented Ordinance 3016 to amend year 2017 of the 2017/2018 biennial budget. He said most of the items were cost neutral. Mr. Hoglund reviewed each line item of the agenda and responded to councilmember questions. Several councilmembers inquired about the budget for the A-Town publication and its actual cost compared to prior years. Mr. Walters asked how much of the increase in park utility expenses reflected water usage at the new spray pad. Mr. Hoglund said he would compile those figures and report back to Council. Mayor Gere invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item.No one present wished to address the Council. Ms. Pickett moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson,to adopt Ordinance 3016 amending the 2017/2018 biennial budget.Vote: Ayes - Adams, Lovelett,McDougall,Miller,Johnson,Walters and Pickett. Motion carried. Recognition of Retiring Councilmember Erica Pickett Mr. Adams moved to add new Item 8a to the agenda for a resolution to name a city park. The agenda was thus amended by unanimous consent. Mayor Gere read aloud proposed Resolution 2005 to name the future park between 21st and 22nd Streets off of Commercial Avenue"Pickett Park". The resolution was added to the packet materials for the meeting. Mr. Adams moved, seconded by Ms. Lovelett and Mr. Johnson,to approve Resolution 2005 naming a pocket park between 21 st and 22nd Streets off of Commercial Avenue as"Pickett Park". Vote: Ayes—Lovelett,McDougall,Miller,Johnson,Walters and Adams. Abstain—Pickett. Motion carried. Mayor Gere summarized Ms. Pickett's 34-year history of public service in Anacortes beginning with her 1983 appointment to the Forest Advisory Board on which she served until 1998, continuing with her 1984 appointment to the Planning Commission on which she served until 2006 (including several terms as chair of that body), and her 2006 election to the City Council on which she would continue to serve until the expiration of her term on December 31,2017. Mayor Gere lauded Ms. Pickett's knowledgeable service on the Planning Commission and skilled service as its chair,her concern for Anacortes citizens and careful stewardship of city resources, and her institutional knowledge that had proven invaluable to her colleagues in many settings. She praised Ms.Pickett's common sense and sage wisdom. On behalf of the entire community,the mayor thanked and applauded Erica Pickett. Mayor Gere presented Ms. Pickett with an Award of Excellence recognizing her 34 years of valuable dedication,leadership, contributions and accomplishments. Ms. Pickett thanked the skilled professional staff at City Hall and the three wonderful mayors under whom she served. She observed that making a city into a hometown is everybody's job, from staff Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 5 through volunteers. Ms. Pickett thanked the community for the pleasure of serving. Mr. Adams and Mr. Johnson expressed their thanks and appreciation to Ms. Pickett. Mayor Gere invited audience members to join the mayor and City Council at an advertised public reception honoring Ms. Pickett immediately following the meeting. There being no further business,at approximately 7:50 p.m. the Anacortes City Council meeting of December 18,2017 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes December 18, 2017 6