HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-07-27 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Study Session Minutes—July 27, 2015
At 7:00 p.m. Mayor Laurie Gere called the Anacortes City Council study session of July 27, 2015 to order.
Roll call found present City Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz
Lovelett, John Archibald and Matt Miller.
Expenditure Budget Dashboard Presentation
Finance Director Steve Hoglund introduced Charlie Hitchcock, a summer intern pursuing his Masters of
Public Administration program at the University of Washington, serving the city as part of a collaborative
program between MRSC and the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Mr. Hitchcock
explained the purpose of developing visual tools to convey information about the city's budgetary goals
and expenditures in support of those goals. He reviewed the seven broad budgetary goals defined by
Council at its budget retreat in March, then displayed a series of graphs depicting actual and budgeted
expenditures vs. goals. Mr. Hoglund indicated that the dashboard would form part of his quarterly finance
updates to Council in the future. Councilmembers offered feedback on the presentation format and
thanked Mr. Hitchcock for his work.
Agenda Bill Discussion
Mr. Hoglund presented a draft agenda bill format developed by staff after researching agenda bill best
practices in other municipalities. He said the template had been reviewed by the mayor and the Council
Finance Committee. He sought councilmember feedback on the format and information included. Mr.
Archibald asked that agenda bills seeking Council approval of contracts include the proposed contract as
an attachment. Mr. Walters asked that the contractor name and contract amount, start date and end date
also be included. Mr. Johnson suggested that the listed attachments be live links to the city website and
that possibly the backup material need not be included in the printed packet. Mr. Walters asked that the
recommended motion be moved to the bottom of the agenda bill. Mr. Johnson suggested a section
presenting alternative views considered. Ms. Lovelett suggested that Code Revision be added to the list of
Action Types. Ms. Pickett suggested presenting the section headings in bold font. Councilmembers
generally expressed support for adopting a standardized form for information presented in the Council
packets.
Review of Ordinance 2956: Payment of Claims
Mr. Hoglund summarized the city's current purchasing approval process and the modifications proposed by
the Council Finance Committee in draft Ordinance 2956. Mr. Walters, a member of the Finance
Committee, enumerated the changes included in the ordinance and explained how the proposed process
would achieve a legal and appropriate level of oversight for city spending while allowing the Finance
Committee to direct more of its attention to policy questions. Councilmembers confirmed that the complete
list of expenditures approved by Council would continue to be included in the published Council packet for
each regular meeting. Regarding the proposed repeal of AMC 3.69, Warrant Payment, Ms. Pickett inquired
what would be required if the city needed to reinstate a warrant payment process in the future. Mr. Hoglund
said the city would work with its bank to develop a warrant system if that became necessary. Mayor Gere
thanked the Finance Committee for its work and said Ordinance 2956 would come back to Council for
consideration and action at a regular meeting.
At approximately 7:43 p.m. Mayor Gere called a brief break while councilmembers and staff reseated
themselves at the round table for the rest of the evening.At approximately 7:45 p.m. the mayor called the
meeting back to order.
Retail Discussion with WWU Center for Economic & Business Research
Planning Director Don Measamer introduced Hart Hodges, Director, and James McCafferty, Assistant
Director, of the Western Washington University Center for Economic and Business Research.
Mr. Hodges explained that their role at the meeting was to facilitate a discussion of previously prepared
retail business and economic development reports and how to organize that information into a foundation
for a strategic plan. He referred to the discussion outline included in the evening's Council packet.
Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes July 27, 2015 1
Mr. Hodges and Mr. McCafferty reported their shopping cart survey of grocery prices in Anacortes to
provide data comparable to that published for other locations. They concluded that overall grocery costs
were a few percent higher in Anacortes than in Burlington but they cautioned how sensitive those results
are to the particular mix of items in the cart and even the day of the survey. They discussed changes in
consumer behavior regarding relative importance of prices vs. ease of access.
Mr. Hodges and Mr. McCafferty discussed with councilmembers how a community can go about defining
and measuring community character and how to weight different factors once those are identified.
Mr. Miller raised the question of locally owned businesses and how those affect community character as
well as economic health. Mr. Hodges discussed relevant studies on that topic in other locations and
warned against oversimplifying along the sole dimension of local vs. nonlocal ownership. He suggested it
was more important to measure the commitment business owners have to the community, regardless of
where they are from.
Mr. Hodges and Mr. McCafferty discussed the topic of retail leakage. They distributed several graphs
based on Washington State Department of Revenue sales tax data to illustrate their point that Anacortes
like any city has retail leakage in some retail categories but also has retail capture in others. They
cautioned about limitations inherent in analyzing sales tax data due to NAICS classifications, self-
reporting by businesses and destination based sales tax. The consultants noted that economically
sustainable communities do not necessarily provide all possible shopping options locally but do attract a
mix of businesses that work for local shoppers while generating sufficient sales tax revenue from both
local and visiting shoppers to fund necessary services.
Mr. Hodges and Mr. McCafferty discussed the quirky nature of consumer behavior and the difficulty in
predicting consumer response. They underscored that consumer activity is increasingly focused on the
experience of the consumer interaction rather than strictly on procurement of goods and services at the
lowest price or greatest convenience.
Mr. McCafferty engaged councilmembers in a discussion of e-commerce and distributed several graphs
to illustrate his points. He pointed out that while on line sales are growing rapidly and Anacortes residents
spend almost$400/year per capita on line, that's still only about 4% of their total retail spending and it
doesn't affect every sector equally, notably car and boat sales in Anacortes. He also noted that
communities with a higher average age tend to have lower retail spending overall; older shoppers simply
buy less stuff. The group discussed that smaller communities can be successful in an age of on line
businesses and large scale retailers by offering a personal shopping experience that consumers are
seeking, by communicating that experience with an on line presence, and by delivering on that
experience consistently and conveniently. Mr. Hodges reminded that retail success often depends not on
having an adequate population of shoppers for a given good or service but on having a vibrant shopping
district of complimentary stores that can draw consumers seeking a broader shopping experience. The
consultants distributed copies of the KT Analysis of Retail Options for Anacortes framework to help
identify and rank options and factors to engage in strategic planning for retail, noting that Community
Advisory Committee Administrative Support Volunteer Kirk Kennedy had previously introduced that tool in
CAC discussions.
Mayor Gere invited members of the public to address the group.
Walt Guterbock, 2005 29th Place, CAC member, expressed concern about empty storefronts, observed
that many of the businesses on Commercial Avenue are service businesses that would not directly
compete with a big box store, recognized the strong but divided opinion in town about big box stores, and
suggested that the better location for a big box store would be in the existing commercial district.
Duane Knapp, Chamber of Commerce Board Member, said that successful retailers of any scale have a
strategy. He described the features that define Anacortes as a retail market including its situation on an
Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes July 27, 2015 2
island and its older and higher income population. Mr. Knapp described the comprehensive effort
underway to identify Anacortes as a one of a kind destination that will attract both businesses and
customers. He emphasized the factors that affect perceived value by customers, price being low on the
list, and encouraged efforts to help existing retailers provide great customer service. He echoed the
sentiment that success derives from retailers working together to create an enjoyable shopping
destination. He added that specific businesses can be invited to join the mix.
Mr. McCafferty observed that financing is often one of the largest obstacles for start up businesses and
reminded that there is a revolving loan fund in Skagit County. Mayor Gere confirmed that the SCOG
revolving loan fund has$700K available and encouraged it as an option to attract new businesses.
Cynthia Richardson, 315 V Avenue, CAC member, echoed observations that older folks don't buy as
much stuff and that many people view a trip to Costco as a social event. She noted that tourists seek
different convenience than residents and suggested that the retail landscape needs all the parts of the
puzzle, both the convenience and the special shopping experience.
Several councilmembers looked forward to engaging in strategic planning and character definition using
the KP tool. Mr. McCafferty closed with a reminder that all communities have retail leakage and that
capturing that ought not to be the goal but rather enhancing the shopping experience to draw and serve
both local and traveling consumers. Mr. Measamer suggested that the Council Planning Committee could
begin looking at the KT Analysis tool at its August meeting.
There being no further business, at approximately 9:23 p.m. the Anacortes City Council study session of
July 27, 2015 adjourned.
Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes July 27, 2015 3