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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-24 City Council Minutes Approved c,1 Y 0� cOR„ City Council Study Session Minutes— February 24, 2014 At approximately 7:00 p.m. Mayor Laurie Gere called the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council study session of February 24, 2014 to order. Roll call found present City Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett, John Archibald and Matt Miller. Discussion of Street Closure Request for'Anacortes Open Streets' Event City Engineer Eric Shjarback reviewed the City's Bronze Bike Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists and mentioned the League's recommendations for making Anacortes an even more bike friendly community. Mr. Shjarback introduced Warren Tessler of the Anacortes Bike/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (AB/PAC). Mr. Tessler proposed an Anacortes Sunday Parkway program. He described similar programs held all over North and South America in major metropolitan areas and small towns. Mr. Tessler summarized their public health, environmental, economic and social benefits and discussed various models for such events including various way of sponsoring, funding, and routing them. He listed cities that incorporate downtown business districts into their events. Mr. Tessler presented the AB/PAC proposal to hold an Anacortes Sunday Parkway on Sunday, September 14, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event would close Commercial Avenue from 10th Street to Railroad Avenue, Railroad Avenue between Commercial Avenue and 0 Avenue, and 10th Street between Commercial Avenue and 0 Avenue. He said 0 Avenue would have a dedicated bike lane for the day between 10th Street and Railroad Avenue. Mr. Tessler requested a public/non-profit partnership with the City for the event. He said the AB/PAC would recruit volunteers, coordinate with downtown merchants, control intersection traffic, recruit vendors and exhibitors, and coordinate advertising and publicity. The group would like to work with the City to close the streets, provide barricades and cones, provide garbage removal and portable toilets, and publish the event with notices in utility bills in August and on the Commercial Street banner. Mr. Tessler explained the insurance implications of having the City implement the street closure, similar to the City-sponsored Art Dash. In response to a question from Mr. Adams, Mr. Tessler described the event as a moving street fair and explained that many modes of non-motorized transportation typically participate. Councilmembers and the mayor expressed their support and enthusiasm for the idea. Mr. Tessler added that Port Executive Director Bob Hyde and the Chamber of Commerce Downtown Committee had also expressed support. PSE Green Power Challenge Recap and $20,000 Check Presentation and General Report on Anacortes Power System Dom Amor, PSE's manager for Local Government and Community Engagement in Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Whatcom Counties, and his colleagues updated Council on PSE's Green Power Initiative and reported on other energy issues relevant to Anacortes residents. Mr. Amor introduced his colleagues Heather Mulligan and Lisa DiMartino. Ms. Mulligan recapped the details of PSE's Green Power Program and the Green Power Challenge. She said Anacortes netted 691 new participants during the Challenge and announced that 8.1% of the community now participates in Green Power compared to a 3% average in PSE's entire service area. She thanked the City and its residents for participating in the Challenge. Mr. Adams asked if residents can still sign up and Ms. Mulligan said yes. Mr. Walters suggested that the City of Anacortes buy more green power for City facilities, noting that the City of Bellingham buys 100% green power. Ms. Lovelett said the solar energy project supported by the Green Challenge prize money would dovetail with the Georgetown University Energy Challenge. PSE staff presented Mayor Gere and Facilities Manager Russ Pittis with a $20,000 check for meeting the Challenge. Mr. Amor then summarized PSE's services in Skagit County including customer counts, power generating facilities, power delivery infrastructure and local offices in Burlington and Concrete. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes February 24, 2014 1 Mr. Amor introduced PSE's Community Services Manager Cory Ertel to talk about the Baker River Hydroelectric Project, the largest of PSE's hydropower facilities, and recent work on salmon enhancement systems at the Project. Mr. Amor next addressed safety, which he identified as PSE's top priority, and gave tips for reporting and avoiding hazards such as downed power lines. Mr. Ertel described the Safe in the Sound Emergency Preparedness Campaign being conducted by PSE in conjunction with the American Red Cross. PSE Engineer Kit Maret, electric distribution system planning lead for PSE, described how the power grid works from generation, through transmission, substations, distribution lines, transformers, and service lines and identified the major components of the system feeding power to Anacortes. She described major infrastructure improvements in the Anacortes area to increase capacity and improve reliability. Ms. Maret said Skagit County power outages are mostly tree related, often due to wind, so PSE has a vegetation management program to protect the lines. She described other hardware devices used to minimize and contain outages. She described the underground cable in place in Anacortes and remediation processes for aging cable. PSE Engineer Kevin Gowan then presented a detailed report on distribution system upgrades completed and planned in Anacortes to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages. Mr. Johnson inquired how much would it cost to underground power lines in Anacortes. Ms. Maret said underground lines cost 5-10 times more than overhead systems. Mr. Gowan added that it is more difficult to find underground outages and more expensive to repair them. Mr. Amor offered to work with the city if there are opportunities for capital improvements including overhead lines that are feasible for undergrounding and said PSE can contribute up to 70% of the cost. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Walters emphasized the aesthetic and economic development benefits of underground the power lines. Councilmembers also asked about upgrading street lights to LEDs to save energy costs and installing electric vehicle charging stations. Mr. Amor urged the City to look at all City facilities for opportunities for energy savings. The PSE staff advised that during outages the public can get updates by calling 1-888-CALLPSE and that outage maps are also available on PSE.com. Mr. Walters noted that PSE's social media presence is very useful. There being no further business, at approximately 8:30 p.m. the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council study session of February 24, 2014 adjourned. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes February 24, 2014 2