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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-02 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes— November 2, 2015 Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the regular Anacortes City Council meeting of November 2, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett and John Archibald were present. Councilmember Matt Miller was absent. The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Citizen Hearings No one present wished to address the Council. Mayor/Council Communication and Committee Reports Appointment of Bob Ross and Gunnar Christiansen to the Historic Preservation Board: Mayor Gere requested Council approval of her appointment of Bob Ross and Gunnar Christiansen to fill positions on the Historic Preservation Board. Mr. Ross was proposed to complete the remainder of a term vacated by Richard Broderick that expires December 2017. Mr. Christiansen was proposed to complete the remainder of a term vacated by Janet Moore that expires December 2015, and then to serve a new three- year term expiring December 2018. Mr. Walters moved, seconded by Ms. Pickett, to appoint Bob Ross and Gunnar Christiansen to the Anacortes Historic Preservation Board. Vote: Ayes—Walters, Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald and Johnson. Motion carried. Proclamation of Hospice Palliative Care Month: Mayor Gere read a statement proclaiming November 2015 to be National Hospice Palliative Care Month in Anacortes and encouraging citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of care at the end of life. Wendy Rohrbacher, Executive Director of Hospice of the Northwest Foundation, thanked Mayor Gere and Council for the proclamation. Mayor Gere announced the implementation of the Granicus Government Transparency Suite which would provide enhanced access to agendas, minutes, packet materials and videos of City Council and Planning Commission meetings as well as live streaming of those meetings. Committee Reports: Public Works, Finance Mr. Johnson reported from the Public Works Committee which met earlier in the evening and discussed recent legislative changes affecting the Transportation Benefit District structure and the allowable vehicle tab rate, grant opportunities for funding and staffing to manage a fiber optic network, and the Street Tree Committee ordinance. Mr. Walters reported from the Finance Committee which met the prior week and discussed continued work on a contracts ordinance, the policy governing utility bill inserts, and an alternative schedule for Finance Committee meetings in November due to conflicts with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee meetings. He added that the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee would meet Thursday, November 5, from 4-6 p.m. at the Majestic Hotel ballroom. Consent Agenda Ms. Pickett corrected the draft minutes of October 19, 2015 to reflect that she had not attended the site visit that evening. Regarding Item C, Amendment to Interlocal Agreement with Port of Anacortes regarding Process Water from Pier 2, Assistant City Attorney Darcy Swetnam advised that subsequent to the publication of the evening's Council packet the Port of Anacortes had requested minor adjustments to the last two recitals in the amendment to indicate that the Port would be paying off the full balance of the GFC by December 1, 2015 rather than just an annual installment. Ms. Swetnam said that after discussion with Finance Director Steve Hoglund she recommended approval of the amendment with those revisions. Ms. Lovelett removed Item C, Amendment to Interlocal Agreement with Port of Anacortes regarding Process Water from Pier 2, from the Consent Agenda. Anacortes City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 1 Mr. Walters removed Item E, Contract Award: 2016 Contract for Prosecutor Services, from the Consent Agenda. Mr. Adams moved, seconded by Mr. Archibald, to approve the following Consent Agenda items. Vote: Ayes— Pickett, Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Johnson and Walters. Motion carried. a. Minutes of October 19, 2015 [as corrected] and October 26, 2015 b. Approval of Claims in the amount of: $1,031,926.89 d. Contract Award: Exhaust System at Operations Maintenance Facility The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment: Voucher(check) numbers: 78048 through 78213, total $849,962.19 Payroll for October 20, 2015 in the total amount of$781,368.35 Check Numbers 40897 through 40921 in the total amount of$18,936.04 Direct Deposit Numbers from 60898 through 61107 in the total amount of$508,753.59 EFT Numbers from 1871 through 1878 in the total amount of$253,678.72 c. Amendment to Interlocal Agreement with Port of Anacortes regarding Process Water from Pier 2 Ms. Lovelett requested some background on the agreement and the proposed amendment. Mr. Hoglund explained the interlocal agreement governing the Port's payment of the General Facilities Charge to hook up the Pier 2 stormwater drain to the sanitary sewer system. He advised that the amendment was required to provide terms under which the Port could pay off the GFC earlier than the scheduled 10-year time frame. e. Contract Award: 2016 Contract for Prosecutor Services Mr. Walters requested a summary of the changes between the current and proposed new contract. Ms. Swetnam advised that the scope of work was unchanged and that the only changes were the fees, which would increase by approximately$165/month to an annual total of$72,000, and the management of the contract, which would now be by the Assistant City Attorney rather than the Administrative Services Director. Following suggestions from Ms. Pickett and Mr. Walters, Ms. Swetnam proposed to change the designated supervisor to the "City Attorney's Office." Mr. Walters suggested that an RFP should be issued for the prosecutor services contract every few years. Ms. Lovelett moved, seconded by Mr. Adams, to approve Consent Agenda Items 5c and 5e. Vote: Ayes— Adams, Lovelett, Archibald, Johnson, Walters and Pickett. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Emergency Preparedness Expo Update Administrative Services Director Emily Schuh announced that the City would be sponsoring its first Emergency Preparedness Expo on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. She said vendors and community organizations would provide information and make supplies available for purchase to help families in the community prepare themselves for an emergency. Public Hearing on 2016 Budget Mayor Gere summarized the 2016 budget process to date and how she and staff had worked to develop a proposed budget to address the community's priorities. She reminded that the proposed budget was presented to Council on October 5, 2015 and was subsequently reviewed with department heads at City Council study sessions on October 12, 2015 and October 26, 2015. Mayor Gere invited members of the Anacortes City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 2 public to share their thoughts on the budget. At approximately 6:25 p.m. the mayor opened the public hearing on the 2016 budget. She advised that written comments could be submitted through the end of the week. Andrea Doll, 1319 8th Street, asked the amount of the contract with Makers and where that was included in the budget. Finance Director Steve Hoglund advised that the Makers contract was included in the professional services line item in the Planning Department budget and that$109,235 was the Makers portion of that line item for 2016. Planning Director Don Measamer added that the transportation portion of the comprehensive plan update was by TSI, not Makers. Marilyn Derig, 1302 K Avenue, asked if the proposed communication specialist position had a job description. Mayor Gere said yes but that the position was still being studied and that it might or might not be brought back to Council for approval. Ms. Lovelett and Mr. Archibald spoke in support of the position. No one else wishing to address the Council, at approximately 6:30 p.m. the mayor closed the public hearing on the proposed 2016 budget. She reminded that written comments could be submitted until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2015. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Proposal for Municipal Fiber Design Bruce McDougall, 4404 Orchard Avenue, presented a slide show updating Council on the feasibility investigation into construction and operation of a municipal fiber optic network and providing a recap of the staff site visit to Sandy, Oregon in October. Mayor Gere reported that the she had been joined on the Sandy site visit by the Finance director, the Public Works director, the Information Systems manager, Councilmember Matt Miller and Mr. McDougall and that the group had been energized to see what a small town can do. Mr. McDougall summarized his prior presentations on this topic and emphasized that fiber optic technology is the most future-proof choice for high speed network infrastructure, why current providers are unlikely to invest in new fiber infrastructure, why a full residential model would be the preferred option, and the estimated subscription rate and cost. He then reported the demographics, cost, funding and staffing of the Sandy, Oregon municipal fiber network begun in 2011. Mayor Gere reported that officials in Sandy called their fiber network their#1 economic development tool and their#1 quality of life tool. Mr. McDougall contrasted the Sandy fiber-to-the-home model with the commercial core model built in Mount Vernon, Washington. Mr. Adams commented on the value of being able to offer local customer service which is not the case for the current service providers. Ms. Pickett inquired about UTC regulation of municipal fiber networks. Mr. McDougall shared Mr. Miller's list of next steps: staff should research all local government/public agreements with any fiber provider in Anacortes, should meet with Wave Broadband to investigate its interest, if any, in partnering on a citywide fiber-optic network, should draft building code language requiring new construction to include fiber conduit, and hire a firm to prepare a fiber optic network design. Mr. Johnson added that the Skagit County Network Consortium agreement should be considered. Regarding the fiber optic network design, Mr. McDougall introduced Geoff Thumma, Business Development Manager at OFS Fitel, LLC, the firm that designed the network in Sandy. Mr. McDougall described the design process to create a detailed network diagram that could be put out to bid to installers. Mr. Thumma, 10732 Willow Road, Lake Stevens, summarized his firm's background and qualifications and described the design process which uses satellite imagery to lay out a passive optical network (PON). He answered questions from councilmembers about the extent of existing fiber in Anacortes, the very low likelihood that Verizon would expand its fiber installation in a community of this size, and installation practices to protect fiber from predation by squirrels. Mr. Thumma displayed samples of the design deliverables and said his firm's cost for a citywide design would be $5 per premise. He added that there would be no additional cost to design a fiber path to I-5. Anacortes City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 3 Councilmembers questioned Mr. McDougall as to how many residents and businesses would need to subscribe to the service. Mr. McDougall advised that Sandy, Oregon had a 30% subscriber base to the wireless ISP that preceded its fiber optic network and that the subscription percentage had doubled since the fiber was installed. Mayor Gere questioned Mr. Thumma about Lake Oswego's current investigation into building its own fiber network. Mr. Thumma reported that Lake Oswego, population approximately 40,000, was starting from scratch and had determined that if it could not get subscription commitments from 35% of its households, it would not build a network. He called that a prudent move to minimize risk but emphasized that there was nothing more vital in a city than having a modern internet infrastructure. Mr. Thumma added that Sandy also wholesales access to its fiber to video providers and a phone provider as well as providing retail service to residences. Councilmembers discussed the potential for multiple pricing tiers for various speeds of service and offering reduced rates to low income households. Mr. Archibald confirmed with Mr. Thumma that the electronics controlling the network would need to be updated over time but that the installed fiber itself had plenty of bandwidth for the foreseeable future. Mayor Gere invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item. No one present wished to address Council. Mayor Gere suggested that a design contract come back to Council for consideration and possible action at the next regular City Council meeting. Councilmembers discussed the appropriate sequence for proceeding including obtaining a design and cost estimates, performing market analysis, and analyzing staffing and administrative requirements. Councilmembers generally expressed support for proceeding as quickly as possible. Mayor Gere asked Mr. Thumma to prepare a design contract document for Council's review at the November 16, 2015 meeting. She thanked Mr. McDougall for his extensive work on behalf of the community. There being no further business, at approximately 7:30 p.m. the Anacortes City Council meeting of November 2, 2015 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes November 2, 2015 4