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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-09-22 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Study Session Minutes—September 22, 2014 At approximately 7:00 p.m. Mayor Laurie Gere called the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council study session of September 22, 2014 to order. Roll call found present City Councilmembers Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Liz Lovelett, John Archibald and Matt Miller. Anacortes Planning Commissioners Curt Oppel, Marty Laumbattus and Cory Ertel and Anacortes Community Advisory Committee members Jim Taylor, Nick Rennis, Lin Folsom, Vernon Lauridsen, Walt Guterbock, Andy Stewart, Wayne Huseby, Adrian Fewing, Tal Jackson and Gary Christensen were also present. Mayors Budget Message to Council Mayor Gere read the following budget message into the record: Honorable City Council and Members of our Community: I am pleased to submit a preliminary budget for review, comment, and action that will continue to provide a high level of service and is focused on the community's goals, and our facility and infrastructure needs. The proposed 2015 budget of $48,886,787 increases our levels of service and adds about $1.8 million from the current adjusted 2014 budget of$47,052,571. During the 2013 fiscal year, the City began to see revenues increase after being stagnant after the economic downturn that began in 2008. Revenue in 2014 is similar to 2013. The City's primary general revenue stream, sales tax, still has not recovered to the level at its peak in 2007; however, in 2014 there was a modest increase. Residential construction and marine related activities boosted this recovery. The 2015 budget projects a small revenue increase from 2014. Washington State continues to foresee budgetary struggles. The State is focused on the dilemma of how to raise $5.7 billion to meet statutory education funding requirements over the next two biennia. This has the potential to directly impact the City of Anacortes, especially if the State continues to reduce shared revenues (i.e. liquor tax revenue), not share new revenue (marijuana tax revenue), and divert prior revenue sources (Public Works Trust Fund). On July 21, 2014 the Anacortes City Council established a Transportation Benefit District (TBD)as outlined in RCW 35.21.225, for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, providing, and funding transportation improvements. The formation of the TBD to generate funds for road projects was part of a larger initiative by City Council to generate funds for ongoing road maintenance projects in the City. The formation of the TBD allows a fee of$20 to be assessed per vehicle license issued to vehicles licensed within the City of Anacortes. It is estimated these fees, once fully implemented, will generate nearly $300,000 annually. On July 21, 2014 the City Council increased the use tax on solid waste collections to 12%. Sixty-six percent of the solid waste use tax will be allocated to fund ongoing road projects. The following is a departmental overview of the 2015 preliminary budget. Accounts in the City of Anacortes are organized by fund, each of which is a separate accounting entity, with its own cash, investments, revenues, and expenditures. GENERAL FUND Administration/General Staff and I worked cooperatively with the finance department to prepare a budget that meets the high standard of service expected by our community within the parameter of a 1% property tax increase lid. My administration and I understand the fiduciary responsibilities of managing a municipality. We are entrusted to be financially responsible, to maintain prudent cash reserves when at all possible, especially in the general fund. Anacortes remains the lowest taxing city in Skagit County with a 2014 general millage of $1.79/$1000 of assessed value. Property tax revenue largely funds operations of the Anacortes' general government departments. The general fund supports our police, fire, ambulance Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 1 services, administrative services (human resources, legal and courts), street maintenance, parks and recreation, library, and museum; essentially each city department with the exception of our utilities. PUBLIC SAFETY Police: The police department anticipates having a full complement of commissioned officers, community service officers, and support staff in 2015. In 2014, the department realigned staff to meet the needs of the community and prepared a strategic plan to assist in anticipating needs in the coming year. In 2013 Skagit County voters passed a 3/10 of 1% sales tax increase to fund a new jail facility. The police budget reflects revenue received from the tax, and the correlating expenditure of those funds to Skagit County. The City continues to pay from the General Fund for medical costs of city prisoners who are uninsured and a small fee for extradition services. An increase in the department's training budget more accurately reflects the training costs necessary for basic training and state mandated continuing education hours for our officers. The dispatch services budget through Skagit 911 increased $40,000 over the 2014 amount. This increase is largely due to Skagit 911 replacing obsolete equipment and hiring technical staff. The 2004 voter initiative to dedicate 1/10 of 1% of sales tax has fallen short of the needs of Skagit 911 to keep pace with new technology and replace/repair existing infrastructure. The police department applied for a Community Oriented Policing grant through the Department of Justice to hire a school resource officer. Should we receive the grant, we anticipate filling that position in June 2015. Fire/Medic: This fire/medic budget maintains current staffing levels with 24 full-time staff: a chief, an assistant chief, a division chief, an administrative assistant, six lieutenants, and fourteen firefighter/paramedics and EMTs. This level of service has been provided since 2007 when the City established daytime staffing at the March Point Fire Station. The City employs firefighter/paramedics and EMTs who "cross staff" ambulances and fire equipment. Staff are able to respond appropriately depending on the type of emergency at our three fire stations. Between 8am-8pm six personnel are typically on duty with two staff members at each station. During the evening hours (8pm-8am) typically four staff members are on duty with two personnel at the Main Station and two at the Norman Brown Station. The City contracts with Skagit County to provide Advanced Life Support ambulance service on Fidalgo and Guemes islands, and across the County to back up other service providers. In addition to receiving funding from the EMS levy via Skagit County, the City bills for ambulance services, and receives additional funding from local sales and property taxes. A Fire/EMS Master planning process is in progress to evaluate the community's risks by evaluating our existing emergency responses, and our current levels of service—compared to industry standards. When completed the Master Plan will provide me and the City Council recommendations to consider how best to determine the appropriate level of service for the community. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES In 2014, I created the administrative services department to consolidate human resources, legal (risk management), and court staff under one director. This realignment is working well and better meets the needs of the City. Human Resources The human resources department focuses on prevention and training as a risk management strategy and a way to reduce liability. Our director is involved with the Association of WA Cities (AWC) Employee Benefits Advisory Board and WA Cities Risk Reduction Grant Committee as a means of managing these risks. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 2 In 2014, the City was again recognized as a Well City. This designation provides a 2% discount on medical premiums, which results in significant savings. The City is pursuing the Well City award in 2015 to further contain medical insurance premium costs in future years. As a result of the Affordable Care Act, the City is actively training staff and elected officials regarding the impact of the Affordable Care Act. We are negotiating health care changes for future years resulting from our current plan offerings being discontinued in 2018. The City is committed to providing a safe work environment. The safety committee is actively engaged in reducing workplace injuries. Since 2010 the City has realized a 45% reduction in our experience factor for Labor and Industries. Our current experience factor is 34% less than Labor and Industries expects of cities of similar size. This focus on safety and prevention provides cost savings to the City and employees in premiums, and more importantly, helps reduce injuries. Contract negotiations are underway for successor bargaining agreements with the IAFF 1531 and Fraternal Order of Police (commissioned and noncommissioned.) In 2015, we will enter the 2nd year of a three-year contract with Teamster's Local 231. Legal The 2015 legal budget includes direct hiring three positions currently held by contracted employees: city attorney, public defender, and legal assistant. In 2008 upon Ian Munce's retirement, the City was faced with two director openings. The economic downturn was beginning and a decision was made to backfill the Planning, Community, & Economic Development Director and contract with a part-time city attorney. This has served the City well, but I believe it is time to evaluate the legal needs of the City and consider if we would be better served with a full-time attorney. In response to Wilbur v. Mt. Vernon, the City has determined we would be best served by hiring a full-time public defender and legal assistant to meet the state-mandated standards for delivery of public defense services. Funding is also included to continue to screen indigent defense clients. The City will continue to contract for prosecutor service. Courts The court budget also includes staffing increases. I am proposing to increase one part-time court clerk to full time. This will allow us to better staff the court facility. The City contracts with Skagit County District Court for judicial services. An additional court day has been added at the Anacortes Municipal Court in 2015. The budget includes a 40% increase in District Court charges for providing court services to Anacortes Municipal Court. Both of these budget elements are in response to the increasing caseload being managed by the City Court. PARKS AND RECREATION The parks and recreation department provides recreational programs for community members of all ages. The staff maintains 19 parks including Washington Park, the City cemetery, and 2800 acres of City forestlands, and also manages the City Depot and plaza. The 2015 budget includes funding for several projects that have community support including a new restroom and spray pad at Storvik Park, significant remodeling to the upper restroom at Washington Park, repairing of a failing stone wall at the cemetery, repairing the north parking lot at Storvik Park, preliminary design work on a stream restoration project at the H Avenue park site, and other small projects. LIBRARY The library continues to be a vital community center and library resources and programs provide information, education, and entertainment to our citizens. Kids' Summer Reading enrollment was available online for the first time this year, which led to a record breaking 608 kids and teens signing up, a 15% increase over last year. The library joined the Early Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 3 Learning Public Library Partnership in 2014, recognizing the importance of formalizing its role in early literacy efforts. Volunteers have filled in the gap by running many library story times over the past few years. An increase of 0.50 FTE in the Children's Room in 2015 will ensure consistent services to Anacortes children and their families. Technology training to patrons continues through specialized classes, one-on-one help, and TechWise Wednesdays. The library was an early adopter of the Microsoft IT Academy, a free online learning environment funded by the Washington State Library and Microsoft, and will continue to offer this service through June 2015. In response to a community survey, the library streamlined its hours of operation in 2013 and continues to be the only library in Skagit County that is open on Sundays. Many library staff are certified Passport Acceptance Agents and process an average of 46 passport applications per month. As the only passport agency north of Everett with Saturday hours, the service draws people to our town from far and wide. MUSEUM The Anacortes Museum serves a diverse constituency, answering research and information requests for City staff and elected officials, citizens, tourists, media, prospective business owners, educators, researchers and students. The staff works with researchers on SEPA reviews (including Ecology, State Ferries and WSDOT), and regularly works on initiatives in tandem with tribes, schools, the Port, the County museum, Trail Tales, State parks, and others. The museum also has many resources available online, already serving more than 4,912 individuals through September 1, 2014. City-owned historic properties such as the Carnegie Library building, the W.T. Preston steamboat and the Tommy Thompson trains are maintained by the museum for the enjoyment of our community and heritage tourists. The staff works to protect and preserve community character, and educates and entertains with exhibits such as All in the Same Boat:Anacortes in the Great Depression. The museum budget remains much the same as last year. The City was able to transition a part-time employee to full time to provide better museum education and maritime preservation with a corresponding reduction in the professional services budget. PUBLIC WORKS Streets/Trails The street maintenance budget contains revenue from the newly created Transportation Benefit District that will be used to kick off the City's new pavement management program. The City continues to take advantage of grant opportunities and other available resources for projects that enhance our city streets, sidewalks, and utility infrastructure in 2015. Water Treatment, Transmission, and Distribution After running the new Water Treatment Plant for a full year, the 2015 budget is a much better reflection of actual costs associated with plant operations. In 2015, continuation of decommissioning the old plant will take place with the removal of some of the retired equipment and demolition of the retired sedimentation basin. This coming year several small projects are planned to extend the life of existing equipment and facilities related to storage and conveyance. These projects include booster pump rebuilds, siding replacements, and consolidating reservoir controls. Wastewater Treatment, Collection, and Conveyance The areas of focus for 2015 will be working on collection system infiltration reduction, maintenance & repair of the collection system and plant outfall, and utilizing the new electronic Operations & Maintenance (O&M) manual. Upgrades will include the solids filtrate system, the septic handling facility and incinerator and offgas scrubber projects. Pump station upgrades will include updating all the radio communication systems and continuing to improve and update individual stations to improve reliability. The administration building upgrade design should be complete allowing us to move forward with construction of the integrated shop and information systems facility. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 4 Storm Drainage The storm drain fund accumulates capital cash reserves from general facility charges collected from building permit sales and utility fees. Projects anticipated in 2015 will include a continued focus on water quality projects Solid Waste The 2015 budget contains $20,000 for replacement dumpsters and $10,000 for replacement toters and spare parts for the new automated solid waste collection process. Equipment Rental and Replacement(ERR) The ERR fund maintains the City's fleet and equipment requirements. ERR charges each department receiving services. The charges are calculated based on the service order costs and the anticipated cost to replace the equipment in the future. Facilities The 2015 budget includes funding to convert all street lighting to LED and to develop a comprehensive inventory and maintenance program. PLANNING, COMMUNITY& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & BUILDING The planning, community, & economic development department has several projects continuing in 2015. Monies are allocated for a consulting firm to assist in the preparation and publication of the state- mandated 2016 Comprehensive Plan periodic update. In order to sustain momentum generated during the update process, funding has been allocated for potential design standards and development regulation revisions. This will allow us to implement the 2016 Comprehensive Plan goals and policies. Funding is budgeted to continue evaluation and marketing services for the Willette Business Park. In 2015, the City will be working with Home Trust of Skagit to potentially fund new low-income housing using the City's Community Development Block Grant. The building department's budget is relatively unchanged from the last several years; however, permit activity has increased. A part time/on-call building inspector is included in the 2015 budget to assist with inspections during peak times of the year. As of September 16, 2014, 74 single-family residence permits have been issued, compared to 27 in 2012, and 65 in 2013. Overall permit activity through this same time period is relatively unchanged with 283 permits issued for 2012, 368 for 2013 and 342 for 2014. There has been a significant increase in new home construction in 2014 which differs from prior years when alteration permits were more common. In 2015, the department will be comparing our fees with other local jurisdictions and realigning them to better reflect current fee schedules. The department continues to scan and archive old building files to reduce physical filing space and assist in preserving records and facilitate/streamline public access. CONCLUSION My experience as a business owner and the expertise of City staff assisted in the development of my proposed 2015 City of Anacortes budget. Our residents have entrusted me and the City of Anacortes with managing our resources and being good stewards of public funds. These unpredictable financial times require us to be wise and responsible. The City has a history of planning ahead and keeping a healthy reserve. Our Capital Facilities Plan was instrumental in developing the 2015 budget, and most of the items are included. I am pleased that the proposed budget includes 0.6% to support social services for those most in need. Tonight as I share my first budget as Mayor of Anacortes, I cannot help but reflect on how our community has come together to articulate our vision for the City in the 2016 Comprehensive Plan. We are fortunate to have a dedicated City Council, professional staff, and engaged citizens who are also passionate volunteers. In preparing the City budget, we are defining our priorities for the next year. I look forward to your input regarding the 2015 budget. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 5 Joint Planning Commission/City Council Workshop: 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update Draft Issues, Concepts and Discussion Senior Planner Libby Grage welcomed the assembled elected officials to the joint session. She said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issues and concepts presented at the September 8, 2014 study session and obtain feedback and suggestions to help the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) refine the concepts for further evaluation and eventual development of recommendations. She briefly summarized the key priorities and findings previously presented. Mr. Adams referenced Cynthia Richardson's presentation on housing at the September 8, 2014 study session and encouraged finding ways to achieve greater residential density in existing zones, perhaps allowing some R2 lot sizes in the R1 zone, some R3 lot sizes in the R2 zone, etc. Ms. Pickett suggested allowing building on 3000 SF lots from original plats or allowing the owner of two adjacent lots to transfer development rights on the second lot to allow greater density in another location. Mr. Johnson observed that CCRs restrict rental homes and secondary dwelling units in much of Skyline. He commented on the need for housing among the very poor. He described the Quixote Village constructed in Olympia to provide very small housing units for those in need of housing and social services. He noted the challenge of zoning for that project and said that the eventual location, on the outskirts of Olympia, presents transportation challenges for low income residents. Mr. Johnson remarked on the transportation challenges for both low income and elderly residents of Anacortes and said that transit routes that require long walks to transit stops are not workable for many elderly citizens. Mr. Archibald encouraged starting planning with the overall layout and design of the commercial and residential zones and uses in town and then planning for transportation to serve that layout. He urged designing Anacortes depending on whether the goal was to be a residential community or a destination community or some combination of identities. Mr. Walters urged considering imposing minimum densities in some zones to achieve design density. He urged increasing allowed and perhaps even minimum density in the R1 zone and imposing a minimum density with design standards in the R4 zone. Mr. Walters argued for re-examining the rezones proposed in 2013 that were postponed for consideration as part of the 2016 Comp Plan update and argued against expanding the UGA for residential uses. He suggested neighborhood based zoning instead of overlays. Mr. Miller said he would look at expanding and rezoning the UGA instead of upzoning the R1 zone and said that would accommodate the expected 5600 new inhabitants. Ms. Pickett responded to CAC comments about the Conditional Use process and listed a number of popular public amenities that were built as CUP conditions. She urged thinking carefully before discarding the CUP. Mr. Ertel said that housing close to downtown and collaborative public/private partnerships were standout issues for him. He supported greater density downtown and minimum density standards for R3 and R4 but not R1. Ms. Lovelett encourage meetings between CAC topical study groups whose issues overlap. Following up on Mr. Johnson's remarks, she said that Utah found microvillages were more cost effective than paying for emergency room visits and incarceration for the residents. She supported that sort of solution for vulnerable and underserved citizens if a zone could be created to allow it. Regarding economic development, Ms. Lovelett questioned whether 5900 new people would in fact move to Anacortes if there are not jobs for them here. Mr. Walters said it was a high priority to achieve residential above commercial downtown and asked the CAC how that was being explored. Mr. Fewing said the group had looked at the obstacles including zoning, CCRs, and other factors but had no answers yet. Mr. Walters urged talking to developers on the subject. Mr. Guterbock commented that parking requirements under the current zoning code really hamper residential uses in the CBD. Mr. Walters noted that the Transportation Plan envisions allowing Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 6 developers to pay a fee rather than provide parking but that a mechanism has not been put in place to accommodate that. Mr. Oppel expanded on the negative impact of the parking requirements on downtown development and urged starting from scratch on parking. He suggested design standards to create transitional zones between higher and lower density zones and modifying the R3 to allow R4-type development. He said the R3 is prohibitive for accessory dwelling units now and urged zoning that would better accommodate second dwelling units. Mr. Oppel said the City should support expanded bus service both in the Comprehensive Plan and the budget and said he preferred the larger of the two bus lines described in the packet materials. Mr. Oppel discussed converting some the LM zone south of 22nd Street to allow high density residential or mixed use urban villages there with appropriate design standards. Mr. Christensen commented on the conditional use process which he said had been used for twenty years to regulate development because there were no design standards or regulations. He said good design standards and development regulations would lead to good development and more certainty and predictability for developers. Mr. Laumbattus allowed that would help but said the CUP would still provide a useful way to think outside the box in some situations that cannot be foreseen and agreed with Ms. Pickett that it should remain an option. Mr. Jackson said that the more expectations are clarified up front, the more developers have the clarity and direction they are looking for to make significant investments in the community. Mr. Walters noted that increasing density in some zones with accompanying design standards would require developing those design standards as part of the Comp Plan update process. He supported that effort. Mr. Taylor countered that Anacortes doesn't need new zones, it needs to figure out how to encourage building to the current zoned density. Mr. Guterbock invited comments on issues raised by the Economic Development study group. Ms. Lovelett inquired about the supposition that in years past there had been a reluctance to have commercial development along SR20 due to its proximity to the refineries. Planning, Community and Economic Development Director Don Measamer said he was not aware of that being an issue but that he had been approached by potential businesses that weren't allowed by the limited uses in the LM1 and HM zones. Mr. Walters supported a Medical Overlay zone. He urged reserving some of the R Avenue corridor for maritime uses. He suggested that the LM zone along SR20 might be okay as currently zoned but he urged frontage roads along that corridor to reduce the number of traffic lights on SR20. He also urged a plan for the Willette Business Park. Regarding large scale retail, Ms. Pickett said she had been asking for years for a list of towns that have a big box store and a working downtown with shops. She said Stanwood and Arlington had been proposed as examples, the latter she might agree with. She urged honest research before following the common pattern of destroying downtowns with big box stores. Mr. Adams suggested Port Angeles as another successful example. Regarding the LM1 zone, Mr. Adams urged light manufacturing there of a different scale than in the Industrial zone. He said marine industry should be the center of excellence in Anacortes and preserved in the Industrial zone. He also preferred the phrase "medium scale retail"to"big box". He said a majority of survey respondents want something like that so the city needs to see how it can be made to work. Mr. Johnson echoed the desire for medium scale retail and less boat parking. Mr. Christensen recounted the history of March Point becoming part of the Anacortes UGA and said preserving downtown Anacortes from large scale retail was part of the motivation. He said now residents are considering whether manufacturing or other uses are more appropriate there and added that smaller box stores might work. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 7 Mr. Ertel said economic development means really good living wage jobs, manufacturing, focusing on the city's unique advantages such as the waterfront and the water right. He urged protecting the areas best suited for high paying jobs. Mr. Guterbock noted the dearth of affordable locations for young people to start up and suggested business incubators that allow living and working in same place. He added that a marine center of excellence needs a heavy boat lift. Mr. Archibald observed that most of the economic development discussion assumes private money will come in to build what the zoning allows but that the city may need to invest some cash to build some of what it wants. He urged the group to consider the city's role to jump start business development beyond just zoning for it. Mr. Miller shared his experience with the variable and unpredictable nature of retail markets. He urged considering commercial as well as retail to be part of mixed use. Mr. Miller cited other economic strengths such as the medical overlay, maritime center of excellence, tourism (which does strengthen retail) and manufacturing but observed that developers aren't lined up to build new retail. Ms. Lovelett observed that the city needs fiber optic in place to attract young businesspeople and said that is a public/private partnership that needs to be implemented. She urged asking young people what they want from a community and described some of the changing lifestyle expectations of the next generation including driving less, living closer to work and recognizing finite resources. She suggested listing the top ten industries the city wants to attract and then determining how to incentivize them. Mr. Walters supported medium scale retail, said it has worked in Mount Vernon, but said it doesn't have to occur on MJB's land. He said the lack of broadband is critical because both Mount Vernon and Burlington can offer that to new businesses already so it is not optional but necessary for Anacortes to compete. He suggested that the marine tech center can become part of a maritime zone to target desired uses and said if the city doesn't want boat sales or boat storage it should remove those as approved uses. Mr. Stewart reported that his Study Group had interviewed the large landowners in the Industrial zone and that while MJB's is the largest unbuilt property there that should not obscure the opportunities with the other property owners in the area. He said boat storage is place holding until better options pencil out and urged supporting the existing property owners to develop their land to highest use. Mr. Oppel commented that if the LM1 zone allowed mixed retail and manufacturing it would attract more businesses and could be a good location for business incubators. Mr. Johnson inquired how the Infrastructure Study Group's notion of building and operating a fiber network would work. Ms. Lovelett suggested it would be a utility like the water utility. Mr. Huseby commented that there are different options and models and urged a strategic plan so the city rather than private stockholders could steer the project. Mr. Taylor reminded that the city has people who can't take care of themselves and they can't be forgotten. Mr. Stewart reported that the marine trades representatives his group interviewed said that large scale retail on the MJB parcel would be a disaster. Mr. Guterbock observed that proximity to the Interstate has combined with large scale retail to hurt downtowns in some locations and said Anacortes is safe from the Interstate effect. He reported that his Study Group surveyed Commercial Avenue businesses and found that most are providing services rather than products and would not be in direct competition with a large retailer. Mr. Lauridsen said that the impact of medium scale retail on downtown retailers is an empirical question and urged doing the research to answer that question. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 8 Mr. Walters commented on the need to solve the problem of the Sharp's Corner intersection and discussed options. He urged better, corrected signage to help direct visitors to the correct ferries and in town amenities and also to direct truck traffic. He praised the Council packet memo about transit routes but cautioned against depending on self-reported survey data to predict ridership. Mr. Adams commented on the Land Use Study Group suggestion for mixed use on the north portion of the MJB property and said that seems to be what the community wants. He asked if the CAC had looked into a public pier. He suggested that is an important community gathering place in many waterfront communities and urged looking into options for it. Mr. Fewing asked, in relation to both housing and the medical needs of the community, if and where there might be room for assisted living housing. He noted the high number of elderly residents in the city and the need to provide housing and service options for them. He also asked how to promote Anacortes to sustainable businesses such as solar and wind. He urged promoting the local talent bank for wooden boat building and related trades. Ms. Grage then invited the group to consider the draft vision statement, the latest revision of which was included in the evening's packet materials. Mr. Walters preferred "creative"over"unique", "maritime waterfront" over"marine", "economic diversity"over"economic vitality", "our" rather than "the" natural environment, and "public lands for future generations". Mr. Miller rejected "unique" and suggested adding "beautiful". He explained why"beautiful" and "friendly" should be included. Mr. Johnson preferred "caring" over"friendly". Mr. Archibald preferred "friendly"and "maritime". Mr. Measamer thanked the group for the great discussion and direction provided and thanked the CAC for all its hard work. Councilmembers repeatedly commented appreciatively during the meeting on the good work done by the CAC. There being no further business, at approximately 8:50 p.m. the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council study session of September 22, 2014 adjourned. Anacortes City Council Study Session Minutes September 22, 2014 9