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