HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-14 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Study Session Minutes— March 14, 2016
Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council study session of March 14, 2016 at
6:00 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, John Archibald and
Matt Miller were present. Councilmember Liz Lovelett was absent.
2016 Comprehensive Plan Update Discussion - Path Forward/City Council Process
Senior Planner Libby Grage advised that the 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update was ready for Council
review and eventual legislative action by June, 2016. Referring to her slide presentation included in the
evening's Council packet, Ms. Grage summarized the comprehensive plan update process recently
completed by the Planning Commission and shared the proposed schedule for City Council review
including weekly meetings from March 21 through April 18, public hearing on May 16, and adoption on
June 6.
Planning Director Don Measamer sought councilmember opinion on continuing some or all of those five
Monday meetings to the following Tuesday evening if required to provide sufficient time to fully address
the plan elements scheduled for review that evening. Some councilmembers preferred to extend Monday
evening meetings longer, others preferred to conclude the Monday meetings by 9 p.m. and resume
Tuesday if required. The group agreed to decide during each meeting at 9:00 p.m. whether to extend the
meeting or to continue it to the following evening.
Mr. Walters requested a tabular summary of public comments, staff responses, Planning Commission
comments and CAC comments. Ms. Grage asked if councilmembers preferred hard copy of the
voluminous materials or if they preferred to access the materials electronically on the city website. Mr.
Walters preferred no paper. Mr. Archibald and Mr. Johnson preferred electronic access but requested
paper copy of maps. The remaining councilmembers agreed with Mr. Measamer that they would like hard
copies of volumes 1 and 2 of the comprehensive plan document but could access the supporting
materials electronically.
Sustainable Cities Partnership Presentation
Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh introduced David Davidson, Western Washington
University's Program Coordinator for the Sustainable Cities Partnership. Ms. Schuh advised that
Anacortes was trying to be selected as the partner city to work with WWU and AWC for the 2016-17
academic year.
Mr. Davidson shared a slide presentation summarizing the partnership program, new to WWU for 2016-
2017 but established with good results at the University of Oregon. He described the wide range of
academic courses and skill sets that faculty and students can direct toward advancing a city's
sustainability goals. Ms. Schuh shared some of the potential projects mentioned at a staff brainstorming
session earlier in the day. Mr. Davidson described the costs of the program to the city, based on direct
cost reimbursement per course, and estimated costs of$65,000 for an academic year. He added that the
City would also need to provide some staffing support at the project and program level.
Mr. Davidson responded to councilmember questions about timing of the application, potential study
areas, the number of student and coordinator hours provided, and the number of projects or courses
required to participate. Councilmembers were generally supportive of pursuing participation in the
program pending review of the projects proposed by staff. Mr. Miller suggested that the direct costs
should be absorbed by the professional services budgets of participating departments. Mr. Davidson
advised that if Anacortes were selected as the partner city for 2016-2017 an interlocal agreement would
come back to Council for action and would specify the detailed scope of work.
Biennial Budgeting Discussion
Finance Director Steve Hoglund reminded that Council had asked for staff feedback on the proposal to
transition to biennial budgeting. Mr. Hoglund reported that department heads were generally neutral or in
favor of trying a biennial budget. Mr. Hoglund noted concerns about accurately projecting revenues and
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labor costs two years out but said the required mid-biennium review would provide an opportunity to
adjust the budget as necessary. He invited councilmember discussion and direction.
Councilmembers generally expressed support and observed that the city could return to annual budgeting
if that proved to be a better choice. Mr. Johnson suggested placing the ordinance adopting biennial
budgeting on the Consent Agenda at the next regular meeting.
Council Meeting Schedule/Council Procedures Discussion
Mr. Hoglund invited Council to resume the discussion begun at the March 7, 2016 meeting of the draft
resolution prepared by Mr. Walters revising the Council procedures. Mr. Hoglund recalled that the
revisions were prompted by staff suggestion that action on at least a consent agenda be allowed at each
of the four Council meetings each month. He suggested adopting only the procedural revisions necessary
to achieve that goal, including Section 3.1(a). Council elected to review the highlighted, substantive
changes throughout draft resolution Attachment A and either accept, reject or revise them so that the
resolution could be brought back for action at the next regular business meeting. After lengthy discussion
the consensus was to accept the draft resolution as presented in the March 7, 2016 Council packet with
the following revisions:
Attachment A
3.1(d): Restore language from current procedures: "In the event there are no agenda items to be
considered at a scheduled meeting, such meeting may be canceled by notification by the Mayor to
members of the City Council, the public, and other affected parties."
3.7(b): Delete
5.1(b): Delete
5.3(b): Replace 14 days"with "6 days" and add a final sentence, "An agenda item coversheet is
required for all such agenda items." [consistent with 5.3(a)]
6.4(c): Add italicized text"All items on the Consent Agenda except for minutes and payment of
claims require:"
6.4(d): Add new item "payment of claims per AMC 3.02.020."
6.4(d)(6): Change "$250,000"to"$200,000"
11.1: Replace "majority vote of those Councilmembers present"with "a two-thirds vote of those
Councilmembers present".
Attachment B
1.7(a): Change "repeat"to"restate" consistent with 1.4(c)
Councilmembers and Mayor Gere also discussed relying more frequently on voice votes, striving for more
reliability on the look ahead agenda, Mayor and Council's prerogative to reorder agenda items during a
meeting to accommodate guest presenters, and the requirement for all staff and councilmembers to
comply with the established deadline for submission of packet materials.
Mr. Johnson noted that Section 9.2(b) requires publication of approved meeting minutes on the City
website and asked if the signed paper copies were still necessary. Mr. Hoglund said he would investigate
which formatting options would satisfy the retention requirements.
There being no further business, at approximately 8:00 p.m. the Anacortes City Council study session of
March 14, 2016 was adjourned.
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Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the advertised special Anacortes City Council meeting of March 14,
2016 at 8:00 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, John
Archibald and Matt Miller were present. Councilmember Liz Lovelett was absent.
Executive Session (15 Minutes) per RCW 42.30.110 (b, c)
At approximately 8:00 p.m. Mayor Gere announced that Council would convene in Executive Session for
approximately 15 minutes to discuss a potential real estate transaction about which open discussion
could result in terms unfavorable to the City and that there would be no action taken following the
executive session.
There being no further business, at approximately 8:20 p.m. the Anacortes City Council advertised
special meeting of March 14, 2016 was adjourned.
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