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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-01-20 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes—January 20, 2015 At 7:00 p.m. Mayor Laurie Gere called the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council meeting of January 20, 2015 to order. Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett, John Archibald and Matt Miller were present. The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Citizen Hearings Hershel Janz, 1120 King Street, reported on the ACFL work party the previous Saturday to pull ivy, holly and daphne from the forestlands. Mr. Janz noted that volunteers have been working for decades to pull invasive ivy and urged action to remove ivy from the planters along R Avenue. No one else present wished to speak. Mayor/Council Communication and Committee Reports Solar Project Update: Mayor Gere explained the Washington State Dept. of Commerce grant the City had been awarded to install a solar array on the roof of City Hall. The mayor summarized that the project would save the city money on electricity bills at no cost to Anacortes taxpayers while generating sustainable energy and reducing the city's carbon footprint at the same time. Appointment of Susan Rooks to Anacortes Housing Authority Board: Mayor Gere announced that she had appointed Susan Rooks to the Anacortes Housing Authority Board for a term ending December 2017. Consent Agenda Mr. Johnson removed the minutes of January 12, 2015 from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Pickett moved, seconded by Mr. Adams, to approve the following Consent Agenda items. Vote: Ayes —Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Miller and Johnson. Motion carried. Approval of Vouchers/Cancellation of Checks Council voted unanimously that the following vouchers/checks audited and certified by the City's Auditing Officer(Finance Director)and subsequently reviewed and approved by the Council Finance Committee on January 7, 2015 and January 14, 2015 are approved for payment as of January 20, 2015. Claims Check Numbers 74949 through 75108 in the total amount of$559,216.17 EFT Number 74948 in the total amount of$93.60 Pre-Written Claims Check Numbers 74943 through 74947 in the total amount of$162,272.45 Payroll for January 20, 2015 in the total amount of$885,351.10 Check Numbers 40206 through 40226 in the total amount of$21,552.19 Direct Deposit Numbers from 57201 through 57403 in the total amount of$621,939.08 EFT Numbers from 1757 through 1764 in the total amount of$241,859.83 In the same motion Council approved the minutes of January 5, 2015 as if read. Mr. Johnson expressed appreciation for the level of detail in the January 12, 2015 minutes. Mr. Miller asked to amend the second to last paragraph of those minutes reporting his comments about water rates to change the word "higher"to"lower". Mr. Walters suggested "lower consumption" in place of"higher consumption rate." Mr. Miller concurred. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Miller, to approve the minutes of January 12, 2015 as amended. Vote: Ayes— Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Miller, Johnson and Walters. Motion carried. Anacortes City Council Minutes January 20, 2015 1 UNFINISHED BUSINESS Water Utility: Three Million Gallon Tank Construction and Funding Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer shared a memo he had handed out prior to the meeting and thanked Council for its ongoing study of the project. The memo summarized his understanding that Council favored low interest, long term debt to finance large capital projects including the 3MG tank and also favored protecting and preserving general fund reserves. Mr. Buckenmeyer said staff would apply for the most advantageous funding, a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan, in September of 2015 and hoped to hear results in January 2016 for funds that would then be available during summer 2016. He added that if the loan application was unsuccessful, staff would seek funding in the 20 year bond market. Mr. Buckenmeyer further advised that the financial consultant currently studying the City's regional water rate structure had been engaged to also look at the retail rate structure and consider such features as tiered rates, conservation elements and base fees. He said staff hoped to present those findings to Council later in the year along with a recommendation for a retail water rate increase. Ms. Pickett said it was her understanding that the majority of councilmembers favored an interfund loan over bonding. Mr. Walters agreed that an interfund loan would be a good second alternative to the DWSRF loan. He urged modifying the retail water rates earlier in the year rather than later. Mr. Johnson repeated his prior request for a cash flow analysis showing when a rate increase would build enough capital reserves to make the Water Fund self-sufficient. Mr. Miller agreed with Mr. Walters that rates needed to be raised and said he supported a gradual rate increase that would fund the 3MG tank project as well as other necessary capital expenditures in the water system. Mr. Adams reiterated his support for using General Fund reserves for part of the 3MG tank project. Mr. Archibald suggested discussing funding alternatives once the success of the DWSRF loan application was known. Mr. Johnson supported raising the retail water rates sooner than the summer to start building capital reserves. Mr. Miller questioned whether the water utility really needed to spend $1 M/year to maintain water lines when it had been spending only about$300K/year. He said Council had to look at the reality of what the utility could get away with and still keep things running. At approximately 7:20 p.m. Mayor Gere invited comments from the audience. No one present wished to speak. Mr. Walters encouraged formally adopting a proposed course of action. Mr. Adams said he did not want bonding to be part of the proposed plan at this point. Mr. Miller said he wanted to see a rate increase for capital projects but continue spending at the current rate for water lines. Mr. Archibald suggested changing the last sentence of Mr. Buckenmeyer's second bullet to read, "We would prepare to seek an alternative source of funding." Mr. Miller proposed adding a call for"a reasonable, graduated rate increase in the near term." Mr. Buckenmeyer said he would have the consultant add that to his accelerated scope of work. Mr. Johnson proposed adding to the end of the next to last sentence of Mr. Buckenmeyer's memo, "... and base fees, including a determination of when sufficient capital reserves would accumulate to address the projected needs." Councilmembers discussed with Mr. Buckenmeyer at some length whether the 20-year projection of needed capital improvements that Mr. Buckenmeyer presented at the January 5, 2015 City Council meeting needed more definition, evaluation, or additional costing. Mr. Walters said Council wanted to know that projection was as accurate as it could reasonably be. Councilmembers were divided on whether they wished the rate consultant to address that question. Mr. Buckenmeyer said he would provide additional information to councilmembers regarding the projections, specifically the rationale for the projected pipeline replacements. Mr. Johnson asked if Mr. Buckenmeyer's handouts were posted on line. Mayor Gere advised that they had been posted as part of each meeting's Council packet. Mr. Walters requested that the documents discussed by Council regarding setting water rates be posted on the City website together in one place, in addition to being posted as part of each meeting's packet. Mr. Buckenmeyer agreed. Mr. Walters moved, seconded by Ms. Lovelett, to approve the substance of Mr. Buckenmeyer's memo with the changes discussed: Anacortes City Council Minutes January 20, 2015 2 • changing the last sentence of Mr. Buckenmeyer's second bullet to read, "We would prepare to seek an alternative source of funding." •adding a call for"a reasonable, graduated water rate increase in the near term." •adding to the end of the next to last sentence of Mr. Buckenmeyer's memo, "... and base fees, including a determination of when sufficient capital reserves would accumulate to address the projected needs." Vote: Ayes—Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Miller, Johnson, Walters and Pickett. Motion carried. Resolution 1908: Legislative Priorities Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh presented draft Resolution 1908 memorializing Council's legislative priorities for 2015. Ms. Lovelett thanked Ms. Schuh for capturing Council's expressed revisions from the January 12, 2015 study session on one page and moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to approve Resolution 1908 adopting the City's 2015 Washington State legislative priorities. At approximately 7:31 p.m. Mayor Gere invited comments from the audience. Tom Glade, 210 Mansfield Court, speaking on behalf of Evergreen Islands, urged that the Council support Governor Inslee's transportation safety bill. Frank Spargo, 1408 11th Street, commented that the legislative priorities as presented were pretty good but cautioned that in the last topic listed, police cameras, the phrase "reasonable accommodation" sounded like it had no limitations. Mr. Walters observed that Council would have opportunities to weigh in on individual pieces of legislation as the session progressed so Council's legislative priorities did not need to reference specific bills. He agreed with Mr. Spargo that the phrase"reasonable accommodation"was not desirable but noted that Council was not drafting the text of the bill. Ms. Lovelett added that the Council's legislative priorities included general support for the aims of the Governor's transportation safety bill. Vote: Ayes— Lovelett, Archibald, Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett and Adams. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Public Hearing: CDBG 2015-2017 Strategic Plan &2015-2016 Action Plan Development Planning Director Don Measamer announced the opening of the planning process for submission of the City's one-year Action Plan for its Community Development Block Grant(CDBG). He announced that the City was accepting project applications through February and welcoming public comments on what sorts of projects should be funded as part of the Consolidated Plan. Mr. Measamer added that in 2014 the City of Anacortes joined the Home Consortium in Skagit County which provides the City with the opportunity to help create low income housing. He encouraged public participation at the two public hearings Skagit County would hold to obtain input to formulate a needs analysis and strategic plan for the consortium. For the City's own Action Plan, Mr. Measamer advised that the 30-day public comment period would run January 20, 2015 through February 20, 2015 but that the City would continue to accept comment and applications through March 2, 2015 when Council was scheduled to take action on the Plan. He advised that the draft Action Plan was available on the City website as well as at the Anacortes Planning Department, Anacortes Public Library and Anacortes Housing Authority and invited comments in writing to the Planning Department or via email to joanns@cityofanacortes.org. Mr. Measamer said that the City had not yet been notified of its precise CDBG allocation but that it expected about$89K and that approximately$20K remained from prior year allocations which could be applied to new projects. He summarized the projects funded in the prior year and described several requests received or expected for the new plan year. Mr. Measamer advised that the City Council would hold a final public hearing on the Draft Action Plan on March 2. Anacortes City Council Minutes January 20, 2015 3 Mr. Adams asked where the applications would be available for public review and comment. Mr. Measamer said that applications would be posted on the City website, including those received that day from the Anacortes Housing Authority and the Anacortes Family Center. He encouraged specific or general public comments on types of housing needs and types of projects the public would like to see funded. Councilmembers discussed the distinction between the Home Trust of Skagit and the HOME Investment Partnership. At approximately 7:45 p.m. Mayor Gere invited comments from the audience. Lynn Christofersen, Community Services Director for Community Action of Skagit County, thanked Council for awarding Community Action $5K for its critical needs fund to stabilize families in need and equip them for success. Ms. Christofersen advised that Community Action would be applying to the City of Anacortes for CDBG funding for social services. Following up on prior presentations to City Council, she distributed a handout describing four of the agency's programs that had served Anacortes residents in the last quarter of 2014 including the number of residents served. She also described the work of the Skagit Housing Resource Center which serves the homeless throughout Skagit County including in Anacortes. Ms. Christofersen then spoke as a board member from Home Trust of Skagit, describing the origin, structure and function of that organization and inviting the public to a ground breaking for another new home in Mount Vernon on January 25. Mr. Walters commented that Community Action's services in Anacortes are very valuable. He urged finding a way to provide $15,000 each to Community Action and to the Anacortes Family Center and supported using the General Fund to supplement CDBG funding to that end. Resolution 1909: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Anacortes, Washington in Support of the Anacortes School District Bond Measure, Proposition No. 1, Anacortes School District Facility and Safety Improvements General Obligation Bonds -$86,900,000 Ms. Lovelett read aloud the memo on this item from the evening's Council packet. She reported from the District's facilities committee on which she and Mr. Miller had served to help develop the$89.6M bond proposal, summarizing key factors determining the nature and scope of the committee's proposal. Mr. Miller observed that the total proposal had been revised down to$86.9M because the School District had received a $1 M private donation. Ms. Lovelett read aloud the text of the proposed Resolution 1909. City Attorney Brad Furlong advised that while state law limits the use of public funds to support ballot propositions, RCW 42.17A.555 allows Council to consider and vote on an item such as Resolution 1909 as long as the meeting advertisement includes the title and number of the ballot resolution, which was the case for Resolution 1909, and as long as citizens and councilmembers were afforded an approximately equal opportunity for the expression of opposing views. At approximately 8:05 p.m. Mayor Gere invited comments from audience members who supported the resolution. No one present wished to speak. Mayor Gere invited comments from audience members who opposed the resolution. No one present wished to speak. Mayor Gere invited comments from councilmembers who supported the resolution. Mr. Johnson, Mr. Adams, Mr. Walters, Ms. Pickett, Mr. Miller, Mr. Archibald and Ms. Lovelett spoke in favor of the resolution. No councilmember wished to speak in opposition to the resolution. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Mr. Miller, to adopt Resolution 1909 in support of the Anacortes School District Bond Measure, Proposition No. 1 Anacortes School District Facility and Safety Improvements General Obligation Bond. Vote: Ayes—Archibald, Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams and Lovelett. Motion carried. Anacortes City Council Minutes January 20, 2015 4 Ordinance 2943: 2014 Year End Budget Amendment Finance Director Steve Hoglund presented an ordinance to amend the 2014 budget. He advised that adopting a year-end budget amendment in January of the following year is not uncommon. Mr. Hoglund explained the two funds for which year-end expenditure projections had been conservative and required additional amendment, Ambulance Service Fund 110 and Solid Waste Fund 450. Ms. Pickett moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to adopt Ordinance 2943 amending the 2014 budget. Vote: Ayes—Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett and Archibald. Motion carried. Mr. Hoglund shared preliminary year-end revenue figures for 2014, noting that the General Fund would finish about$500K to the good. Mayor Gere invited Jonn Lunsford, Operations and Forestlands Manger, to report on the day's real estate transaction. Mr. Lunsford advised that the City had closed on the purchased of 20 acres of land on the south side of Mr. Erie which would be added to the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. He thanked the community for the $92K of donations raised to support the purchase. City Attorney Brad Furlong, acting as closing agent, advised that the deed would be recorded the following day with the Skagit County Auditor. Executive Session (30 Minutes) per RCW 42.30.140(4) At approximately 8:24 p.m. Mayor Gere announced that Council would convene in Executive Session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss collective bargaining agreements per RCW 42.30.140(4)and that there would be no action taken following the Executive Session. There being no further business, at approximately 9:30 p.m. the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council meeting of January 20, 2015 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes January 20, 2015 5