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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-16 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes—November 16, 2015 Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council meeting of November 16, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. 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. Mayor Gere announced that Agenda Item 8c, 2016 Budget Discussion, would be moved to the end of the agenda. The mayor reminded that the budget discussion could continue at the November 23, 2015 study session and possibly on November 30, 2015 as well. Executive Session— Fifteen (15) Minutes At approximately 6:02 p.m. Mayor Gere announced that City Council and legal counsel would convene in Executive Session regarding a potential real estate transaction per RCW 42.30.110(1)(b/c)for approximately fifteen minutes and would reconvene without further action. At approximately 6:17 p.m. Council reconvened in regular session. Citizen Hearings Helene Fink, 414 38th Street, spoke on behalf of herself and her husband, Maurice Fink. Ms. Fink said that over the summer their two 21-gallon trash totes were removed and replaced with two 32-gallon totes and that the Utility Billing department told her it could not bill two 21-gallon totes to the same address. Ms. Fink explained that their property included a small rental apartment as well as their own house and that they had previously had two 21-gallon totes, one for each household; she added that another property in their neighborhood had the same situation but had been allowed to keep their two 21-gallon totes. Ms. Fink requested that the policy be changed to allow the prior arrangement. Mayor Gere said that the Public Works department would look into the matter. Mayor/Council Communication and Committee Reports Mayor Gere thanked Strandberg Construction and Ken Witzel for donating an excavator and operator time to demolish the old restroom at Storvik Park over the weekend. Mayor Gere reminded the public of the Emergency Preparedness Expo at City Hall from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 18. Mr. Walters reported from the AWC regional meeting in Bellingham on AWC's legislative priorities for the coming year including infrastructure, fiscal sustainability, emergency responsiveness including fireworks bans, public records, and human services, homelessness and affordable housing. He shared AWC's suggested strategies for working with legislators. Ms. Pickett reported on the very nice Veterans Day celebration at the Port of Anacortes. Consent Agenda Ms. Lovelett removed Item F, Resolution 1934: Fixing a Date and Time When a Petition for Vacation May be Heard and Determined by the City Council at a Public Hearing (PUD-2015-0001), from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to approve the following Consent Agenda items. Vote: Ayes—Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Miller and Johnson. Motion carried. a. Minutes of November 2, 2015 and November 9, 2015 b. Approval of Claims in the amount of$335,129.89 c. Interlocal Cooperative Agreement with Skagit County for Library Services 2015 d. Resolution 1932: Designating Arizona Instrument LLC Sole Source for Solids Analyzer e. Resolution 1933: Designating Goble Sampson Associates Sole Source for Chemical Feed Pumps Anacortes City Council Minutes November 16, 2015 1 g. Interagency Agreement: State Dept. of Natural Resources for Work Crew in City Parks January 2016 h. Street Fair Application: Lions Club Christmas Parade i. Street Fair Application: Annual Christmas Tree Lighting The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment: Voucher(check) numbers: 78214 through 78337, total $382,114.46 Payroll for November 5, 2015 in the total amount of$922,426.34 Check Numbers 40922 through 40965 in the total amount of$31,218.58 Direct Deposit Numbers from 61108 through 61307 in the total amount of$585,872.29 EFT Numbers from 1879 through 1884 in the total amount of$305,335.47 f. Resolution 1934: Fixing a Date and Time When a Petition for Vacation May be Heard and Determined by the City Council at a Public Hearing (PUD-2015-0001) Ms. Lovelett requested some background on the procedures for setting hearing dates. Assistant City Attorney Darcy Swetnam explained that staff had recently revisited the processes for land use decisions and that staff believed setting hearing dates by resolution ensured compliance with legal requirements. Mr. Walters urged staff to investigate a new procedures for vacations and encroachments and suggested that not all of those may need to come before Council. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Mr. Miller, to approve Consent Agenda Item 6f. Vote: Ayes— Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Miller, Johnson and Walters. Motion carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Contract Award: OFS Optic Fiber Solutions Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer recommended postponing this agenda item to the December 7, 2015 City Council meeting to allow staff to meet with representatives from Wave Broadband, who were present, to consider additional information. Fred Miller from Wave Broadband in Bellingham lauded the city's efforts to work out better internet connectivity for its citizens. He described his company's strengths and requested a hearty conversation with the city to see how Wave might assist toward that end. Justin Weis from Wave Broadband in Port Orchard echoed his colleague's comments. Councilman Miller asked Wave to address questions of competitiveness and the design under consideration. Bruce McDougall, 4404 Orchard Avenue, agreed that the dialog with Wave was appropriate but distinguished between policy and engineering aspects of the fiber discussion. Mr. Walters urged rescheduling consideration of a design contract as quickly as possible. Mr. Adams asked Wave to address their business plan, philosophy and customer service approach. Ms. Lovelett asked Wave how it would match the affordability the city wanted to offer. E Street Encroachment Permit Appeal Ms. Pickett left the room, having recused herself from this matter at the October 19, 2015 hearing. Mayor Gere described the encroachment permit granted to Joseph Mulcahy and Anthony Young of 2020 27th Place and the appeal of the permit filed by Todd and Erinn Welliver. The mayor advised that this was a quasi-judicial matter before the Council which was acting as the appellant body reviewing the administrative decision of the Planning Director. She advised that the open record public hearing on the matter was closed on October 19, 2015 so no further public comment would be accepted but Council could deliberate and decide the matter. Regarding the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine, Mayor Gere reminded that councilmembers had been given an opportunity to disclose any ex parte communication prior to the October 19, 2015 public hearing but asked any councilmember who had any ex parte communication since that time to disclose it. No Anacortes City Council Minutes November 16, 2015 2 councilmember responded. Mayor Gere reported that she had been approached by Mr. Young after the October 19, 2015 hearing but that no discussion took place. Assistant City Attorney Darcy Swetnam explained the standard to be used in evaluating the appeal. She advised that Council's decision was final, binding, and at its sole discretion. She reported that all written testimony had been submitted per the timeline established by Council at the October 19, 2015 hearing and had been included in the evening's Council packet. Ms. Swetnam reported that on November 2, 2015 appellants Todd and Erinn Welliver had filed a petition to vacate the remaining 40' of the E Avenue right of way, including the area included in the encroachment permit granted to the Mulcahy-Youngs. Ms. Swetnam addressed a number of concerns and questions raised by councilmembers at the October 19, 2015 hearing including vacation procedures, right of way easements and underlying property ownership, but she reminded all parties that the only issue before Council in the present matter was the appeal of the encroachment permit granted to the Mulcahy-Youngs. Ms. Swetnam then summarized options available to Council including granting the appeal, denying the appeal, or granting or denying with conditions. Mayor Gere asked each councilmember to share his or her opinions, concerns and questions, which they did. Mr. Walters observed that drainage issues appeared to be acknowledged by both parties and that because there were drainage issues that needed resolution, the city should reverse the encroachment permit because the city might need that right of way to address issues of drainage onto city streets. He suggested that similar logic would apply to any application for vacation of the remaining right of way. Mr. Walters moved, seconded by Mr. Archibald, to direct staff to draft findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with that analysis: accept the appeal, reject the encroachment permit, and do so on the basis of the city's interest in retaining right of way to address drainage issues onto city streets in that area. Mr. Johnson observed that the same result could be achieved by denying the appeal and upholding the encroachment permit since the permit is revocable. Vote: Ayes—Adams, Archibald, Miller and Walters. Nays—Lovelett and Johnson. Motion carried. Ms. Pickett rejoined the proceedings. NEW BUSINESS Substantial Need Resolution 1935: Authorizing 1% Property Tax Increase Finance Director Steve Hoglund presented Resolution 1935 to declare substantial need for a 1% property tax increase. He explained that the inflation rate as defined by RCW 84.55.05 was less than 1% and cited examples from the text of the resolution establishing substantial need. Ms. Pickett emphasized that the 1% tax increase amounted to only approximately$46,000. Councilmembers noted that the 1% property tax increase taken in a number of prior years had not kept up with the rate of inflation. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Ms. Pickett, to adopt Resolution 1935 making a declaration of substantial need for setting the property tax levy for 2016. Vote: Ayes— Lovelett, Archibald, Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett and Adams. Motion carried. Resolution 1936: Authorizing 1% Property Tax Increase Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mr. Adams, to adopt Resolution 1936 setting the city's year 2016 property tax regular levy increase. Vote: Ayes—Archibald, Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams and Lovelett. Motion carried. Closed Record Public Hearing: Skyline Marina & Expansion, SDP-2015-0005 Associate Planner Kevin Cricchio presented an application for a shoreline substantial development permit (SSDP)from Skyline Marina Holdings, LLC for Skyline Marina renovation and expansion at 2011 Skyline Way. Mr. Cricchio described the surrounding zoning and land uses in this Commercial Marine (CM)zone, Anacortes City Council Minutes November 16, 2015 3 summarized the project, advised that all noticing was carried out per code, described the Critical Areas Review, and reported that a SEPA MDNS was issued on October 24, 2015. Mr. Cricchio said that the Planning Commission held an open record public hearing on the application at its October 28, 2015 meeting and subsequently voted unanimously to recommend approval to City Council. He added that staff also recommended approval subject to the staff suggested conditions. Mr. Adams observed that the minutes of the October 28, 2015 Planning Commission meeting were not included in the evening's Council packet and asked if the commissioners had expressed any concerns about the project. Mr. Cricchio said the only issue raised was the proximity to the adjacent dock. Mr. Walters established with the applicant, represented by Kelly Larkin, 6376 Dow Lane, that all non-critical creosote-coated pilings would be removed as described in the August 24, 2015 letter from Consulting Engineer Tim Garrison included in the record. Ms. Lovelett observed that the project appeared to have beneficial environmental impact. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Ms. Pickett, to approve the Skyline Marina renovation and expansion project SDP-2015-0005. Mr. Walters asked Mr. Larkin to address the distance to the neighboring docks. Mr. Larkin said that his engineers, designers and attorneys had all closely examined the design and that while there was no governing code the rule of thumb was 1.33 feet of passageway for each foot of dock length. He said the design was well within that standard and that he did not anticipate any problems. Vote: Ayes—Miller, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett and Archibald. Motion carried. Cafeteria Plan -Transition to Navia Benefit Solutions Plan Administrator Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh requested that Council authorize the mayor to enter into a contract with Navia Benefit Solutions as the tax-favored account services vendor of the City's cafeteria plan. Ms. Schuh explained that the city has offered a cafeteria plan since 2000, using the administrator selected by the AWC Employee Benefit Trust, and that staff recommended transitioning to Navia under the new Master Pricing Agreement negotiated by the Trust. She described the function and mutual benefits to the city and to employees of the cafeteria plan. She added that the contract had been reviewed by legal counsel for the Trust as well as by Assistant City Attorney Darcy Swetnam. Ms. Pickett questioned Ms. Schuh and Ms. Swetnam about the indemnification and termination clauses in the proposed contract. Staff advised that the risk to the city was very low and observed that all member cities of the AWC Trust would be using the same contract language. Ms. Schuh added that Navia also handled the flexible spending accounts for the State of Washington and had been thoroughly vetted. Mr. Miller established with Ms. Schuh that the city's cost would be the same as with the current account services vendor, Discovery Benefits. Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Ms. Pickett, to authorize the mayor to enter into a contract with Navia Benefit Solutions as the tax-favored account services vendor of the City's cafeteria plan. Vote: Ayes— Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald and Miller. Motion carried. At approximately 7:48 p.m. Mayor Gere called a three-minute break. At approximately 7:53 p.m. the mayor called the meeting back to order. 2016 Budget Mr. Hoglund reported that following councilmember feedback at recent budget discussions staff had prepared charts to illustrate revenue sources and projections and had prepared a list of potential changes to the draft budget, proposed both by staff and by Council. Mr. Hoglund presented a series of graphs from the evening's Council packet depicting the projected revenues and expenditures in the proposed 2016 budget. Councilmembers discussed with the mayor and Mr. Hoglund planning for a temporary sales tax revenue upsurge during construction of the new Anacortes High School; no specific projects were proposed. Anacortes City Council Minutes November 16, 2015 4 Mr. Hoglund then presented the list of Potential Revisions for Consideration regarding the Proposed 2016 Budget that was included in the evening's Council packet. He requested item by item direction from Council on which items should be incorporated into the final draft budget presented to Council for adoption. Ms. Pickett reminded her colleagues of the 2006 seismic report that indicated City Hall was not likely to do well in a major earthquake. She suggested making some progress on reinforcing the building, possibly using high school sales tax revenue. Mr. Walters agreed on the need to find a solution to this problem though he did not necessarily endorse Ms. Pickett's solution. Mayor Gere then invited councilmember direction on each line item in turn. Item A, Additional IT Position to Reduce Cyberliability: Mr. Johnson and Ms. Pickett supported this item. Mr. Walters, Ms. Lovelett and Mr. Archibald suggested hiring a contractor rather than an employee. Mr. Adams and Mr. Miller were not convinced a staff position would be effective at reducing the risk. Mr. Hoglund advised he would leave the position out of the budget and would increase the professional services line item to address cyberliability. Item B, Additional $100,000 to support Fiber Optic Network: Mr. Miller supported $50K to procure a design, then determining necessary funding from there. Mr. Archibald, Mr. Adams, Mr. Walters and Mr. Johnson agreed. Ms. Lovelett passed. Ms. Pickett said the appropriate amount was still unknown. Item C, Additional $75,000 for South Commercial Avenue (construction funds, in additional to design funds already in the budget): All councilmembers supported this item. Mr. Walters confirmed it would come from cash reserves. Item D, Additional $397,250 for Design of 3 MG Reservoir Restoration: All councilmembers supported this item, which would be funded by the new water rates recently put into place by Council. Item E, Additional $53,050 for Radio Telemetry: All councilmembers supported this item, in additional to Items F, G and H in the Water Fund. Item I, $1,000,000 for the WWTP Incinerator Offgas Scrubbing System, using available cash reserves in the Sewer Fund: All councilmember supported this item. Mr. Walters asked Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer to validate the amount. Mr. Buckenmeyer explained that at this stage, without a design or bids, the rough estimate was $1.2M. Mr. Walters suggested budgeting that amount and his colleagues all agreed. Item J, Additional $200,000 for Storm Pond/Vault Restoration, using available cash reserves in the Storm Drainage Fund: Mr. Miller, Mr. Archibald, Ms. Lovelett, Mr. Adams, Ms. Pickett and Mr. Johnson supported this item. Mr. Walters asked the basis for the figure. Mr. Buckenmeyer advised that the new stormwater plan which would come before Council in early 2016 would include a detailed plan, significantly larger capital investment and likely new rates to support that outlay but said $200,000 budgeted at this point would allow staff to begin work on three of the ponds early in 2016. Ms. Lovelett suggested continuing the budget discussion at the November 23, 2015 study session. There being no further business, at approximately 8:45 p.m. the Anacortes City Council meeting of November 16, 2015 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes November 16, 2015 5