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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-04 City Council Minutes Approved t9 w City Council Minutes—September 4, 2012 At 7:00 p.m. Mayor Dean Maxwell called the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council meeting of September 4, 2012 to order. Roll call found present: Eric Johnson, Ryan Walters, Erica Pickett, Brad Adams, Bill Turner, Cynthia Richardson and Brian Geer. Roll call was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes of Previous Meeting Mr. Johnson moved, seconded by Mrs. Pickett, that the minutes of August 20, 2012 and August 27, 2012 be approved as if read. Vote: Ayes—Walters, Pickett, Adams, Turner, Richardson, Geer and Johnson. Motion carried. Citizen Hearings Sharene Elander, 1406 8th Street, asked why the approved minutes of the August 20, 2012 City Council meeting do not include remarks made by Mayor Maxwell. Mrs. Elander asked that those minutes be amended or that the current minutes reflect her comments with a verbatim quote of the mayor from August 20: "And I'm just going to editorialize a little bit, too, along the lines that Miss Pickett talked about earlier. We said we were going to have this discussion. There seems to be for whatever reason a group that wants to get ahead of a discussion and not have the discussion and typically in a community we're going to have the discussion, at least as long as I'm the mayor. It may be uncomfortable. There is at least one individual who has taken this a little bit too far so, you know, from now on act like you belong to this community, act like these commissioners and these planning commissioners, these councilors and these planning commissioners, are your neighbors because they are. It's a very small town and I don't appreciate a couple of things I've seen in the last couple of years so you're on notice." Mrs. Elander asked the meaning of that comment and said she found it chilling. Mayor Maxwell reiterated that under the rules governing the council chambers applause is not appropriate while City Council is in session. He clarified that the minutes are a reflection of actions taken and that all proceedings are recorded and played on Channel 10. He invited Mrs. Elander to meet with him to discuss things that have come across his desk that he felt were inappropriate. Gail Marie, 13575 Gibralter Road, said that she and everyone in the community would like to hear the answer to Mrs. Elander's question. The mayor invited Ms. Marie to join Mrs. Elander to meet with him. Mayor/Council Communication and Committee Reports Mrs. Pickett reminded the community about the 9th annual Fidalgo Bay Day on September 15, 2012 at the Fidalgo Bay Resort and RV Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lots of activities for kids and adults both. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolution: Asking Skagit County to Process a Proposed UGA Expansion for the City of Anacortes Mayor Maxwell opened the discussion by describing the need for blue collar jobs to ensure a sustainable economy and support schools and city services in Anacortes, particularly in the face of state revenue cuts. He said that annexing this property into the Anacortes tax base is the right thing to do for schools, the community, and workers who are unemployed and underemployed. The mayor said that adding this eleven acres to the Anacortes UGA is appropriate since it is surrounded by light manufacturing in the city's UGA and he encouraged councilmembers to forward the petition to the Skagit County Commissioners and ask them to consider it. Mr. Geer, Mr. Adams and Mr. Turner spoke in turn that they did not want to terminate discussion of the Tethys proposal and the potential it has for adding jobs to the community. Mr. Turner and Mrs. Pickett addressed citizen concerns about water flow and said Anacortes will have sufficient water now and in the future to honor the terms of the contract with Tethys without placing drinking water or other water Anacortes City Council Minutes September 4, 2012 1 customers at risk. Mrs. Pickett urged letting the UGA expansion petition move forward to see how the opportunities unfold. Mrs. Richardson raised a number of questions about what might be proposed to be built on this 11 acres, how the county process for UGA expansion works, and how the Samish land figures into the Anacortes UGA allotment. She said that setting aside any discussion of water and Tethys, the city should ask what makes sense in the area in terms of land use planning. She said the shape of the current area does not make sense and argued that long term the eleven acres in question should be in the Anacortes UGA, allowing the city to decide in the future whether or not to annex it if the right opportunity came along. Mr. Johnson called for a cost-benefit analysis of the Tethys project. He acknowledged the need for more industrial land in Skagit County and supported expanding the UGA as a step in that direction that would provide continuous pieces of ground someone could actually build on. He suggested more study of the region's future water needs as well as transportation and environmental impacts while Tethys refines its proposal. Mr. Walters asked Planning Director Ryan Larsen if the Samish Indian Nation had submitted a letter supporting the UGA expansion request. Mr. Larsen said he was not aware of one. Mr. Walters said that under the terms of its contract Tethys has to identify no later than December 1 which site it wants. He suggested the city wait until Tethys identifies its chosen site and then decide whether or not to pursue the UGA expansion. He said a downside to pursuing UGA expansion now is that the city can only change its UGA boundary once in every seven-year UGA planning period so this application should include any other needed boundary changes, such as de-designating unbuildable land currently included in the UGA. Mr. Walters said he also needed to know more about the Samish Indian Nation's plans for its property since the application assumes that the city will be down zoning the Samish property soon. He said that pursuing the UGA expansion now would diminish the Council's opportunities to impose conditions on the project. Mrs. Richardson said she appreciated Mr. Geer's remark that not moving the UGA application forward would cut off the discussion about the Tethys project. She did not favor waiting until December 1 but said she wouldn't mind waiting a couple more weeks so some of the questions could be resolved and answered and the application could possibly be slightly modified based on answers to those questions. She said if the UGA can only be adjusted every seven years she'd like to know there's nothing else on the horizon the city would be precluding. She also asked for a more accurate site plan from Tethys. Mr. Adams said analyzing impact vs. benefit will be a huge part of this project. He said that manufacturing businesses bring benefits to the community including jobs but said knowing how many employees per square foot a business would hire is important because the city only has a limited amount of space. He said he needed that information to make an educated decision and asked again if City Council would have opportunities to condition the project further down the road. Mr. Larsen replied that conditions would be established through the EIS process, which is an administrative staff process including public comment. City Attorney Brad Furlong reminded the Council that there was not currently a development application before the Council so there was nothing to condition. He said if the county were to approve the UGA expansion the city would then have to go through an annexation process, and then amend its Comprehensive Plan to address this piece of property, and then apply development regulations to it, and those regulations would start to set standards for use of the property. After that, any development applications would receive environmental review under SEPA and an EIS if a DNS were issued. Mr. Turner said he was excited at the prospect of having more light manufacturing land in Anacortes, said manufacturing plants provide the most benefits to the community, and called this an opportunity to regain some lost manufacturing zoning which the city needs for the future tax base and jobs. Mr. Johnson echoed Mrs. Richardson's comment about waiting a couple weeks to avoid unintended consequences involving the Sam ish land and the seven-year UGA window. He asked to get those questions answered as well as several questions raised by Dr. Barnes in his letter. Anacortes City Council Minutes September 4, 2012 2 Mayor Maxwell cautioned that the Sam ish may not choose to respond and noted that Anacortes has lost 43 acres of industrial land to estuary habitat so there's plenty of lost acreage to justify the expansion request to the county. He reiterated the need to make the community sustainable and develop jobs to pay for basic services. He said he'd like to let Tethys move forward. Mr. Johnson warned against the city working itself into a box if it is unable to make any more changes to its UGA in the next seven years. Mr. Geer expressed concern that Council wouldn't have much input on the project specifics at a later stage and asked what the Swinomish think. Mayor Maxwell said he'd spoken with the tribal chairman about it. Mr. Geer said he supported the mayor using his administrative authority to file the application with the county but said it was now up to Council to decide if that direction is appropriate. He asked if Council would have enough more information in 2-3 weeks to make a different decision. Mr. Larsen advised that he was meeting with Samish Indian Nation in two weeks about how they would like their property rezoned so it would not be a stretch to be able to include that in a few weeks as part of the application. In response to a question from Mrs. Pickett, Mr. Larsen said that under County code, the city will have another chance to amend its UGA boundary in 2015 when the Comprehensive Plan is updated. Mrs. Pickett asked to have a letter to that effect from the county in the file. In response to a question from Mr. Walters, Mr. Larsen said he did not know what zoning the Samish wanted for their property but said they don't want light manufacturing. Mr. Walters said the UGA allocation is for industrial and commercial land so if the Samish wanted to rezone to something other than commercial that wouldn't affect the city's allocation. Mr. Turner said postponing the decision any further might cause this business and others to want to locate elsewhere. Mrs. Richardson moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to postpone any decision to the next regular City Council meeting. Mr. Adams said he would not be able to attend that meeting and asked staff for a timeline showing the hurdles and deadlines to see if there would be any impact to waiting until December 1 to vote on this application. He said he would be at the Council study session on September 24. Mrs. Pickett asked what deadlines there are. Mr. Larsen said the county is waiting for an up or down from City Council so it can forward the application to the County Commissioners. Mr. Geer asked if waiting three weeks would cause Tethys to miss a deadline. Mr. Larsen said he didn't believe so. Mrs. Richardson amended her motion to postpone action until September 24, 2012 and Mr. Johnson seconded the amendment. Vote: Ayes—Adams, Richardson, Geer, Johnson and Walters. Nays— Pickett and Turner. Motion carried. At 8:30 p.m. Mayor Maxwell called ten minute break. At approximately 8:40 p.m. the mayor called the meeting back to order. Tyler Way Right-of-Way Settlement Agreement and Resolution: Declaring a Portion of Tyler Way Right-of-Way Surplus Planning Director Ryan Larsen reported that the agenda for the July 16, 2012 regular City Council meeting included an item to condemn a portion of the Tyler Way right of way but that the agenda item was postponed to allow the parties to pursue a settlement. He advised that the attorneys had prepared a settlement agreement that was included in the Council packet. He added that Council would have to declare a portion of the Tyler Way ROW surplus to conclude the settlement per the agreement but that because there was a tentative agreement there was no need to proceed with condemnation so that agenda item did not need to be continued. City Attorney Brad Furlong then provided background to the settlement agreement including the dispute over ownership of a part of Tyler Way that came up during review of the Hidden Shores PUD application. Mr. Furlong reminded that City Council rejected the Hidden Shores PUD application without prejudice and Anacortes City Council Minutes September 4, 2012 3 subsequently entered into tolling agreement with the property owner. He stated that the draft settlement agreement does not include any assurances or agreements with respect to the potential outcome of a new application for Hidden Shores. Mr. Furlong then summarized the specific terms of the agreement. Mr. Turner emphasized that this settlement does not change the fact that the property owner can do with its property whatever the law allows and that it includes a full release of all claims. Mr. Walters asked the value of the impact fees that would be waived. Mr. Larsen replied $900 per lot for traffic impact fees and $615 per lot for parks impact fees, noting that the prior proposal included 12 or 13 lots. Mr. Furlong pointed out the potential costs of litigating the matter was in excess of$30K with no guarantee of outcome. Mr. Geer moved, seconded by Mrs. Richardson, to approve the settlement agreement with Shadow Creek Investments, LLC. Mrs. Richardson clarified that the motion includes approval of the draft quit claim deeds and other attachments that were provided to councilmembers prior to the meeting. Mr. Furlong said yes and explained that the final documents would be fully reviewed by the title company and the City Engineering Department before execution. He added that there is a contingency in the agreement to deal with resolving outstanding issues. Vote: Ayes—Adams, Turner, Richardson, Geer, Johnson, Walters and Pickett. Motion carried. Mrs. Richardson moved, seconded by Mr. Turner, to approve Resolution 1847 declaring a portion of the Tyler Way right-of-way surplus and authorizing its conveyance per Settlement Agreement, with the correction of "well"to "will" in the sixth paragraph. Vote: Ayes—Turner, Richardson, Geer, Johnson, Walters, Pickett and Adams. Motion carried. Consent Agenda Mayor Maxwell removed Item 6b, Contract Award for City Hall Sewer Repair, from the Consent Agenda. Mr. Turner moved, seconded by Mr. Geer, to approve the following Consent Agenda items. Vote: Ayes— Richardson, Geer, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams and Turner. Motion carried. Approval of Vouchers/Cancellation of Checks Council voted unanimously that the following vouchers/checks audited and certified by the City's Auditing Officer (Finance Director) and subsequently reviewed and approved by the Council Finance Committee on August 23, 2012 and August 30, 2012 are approved for payment as of September 4, 2012. Claims Check Numbers 65750 through 65910 in the total amount of $704,665.62 Prewritten Claims Check Numbers 65748 through 65749 in the total amount of $3,885.48 Payroll for September 5, 2012 in the total amount of$849,121.48 Check Numbers 37545 through 37605 in the total amount of$45,608.45 Direct Deposit Numbers from 45821 through 46029 in the total amount of$608,219.16 EFT Numbers from 1453 through 1457 in the total amount of$195,293.87 Public Hearing: 29th Street Vacation Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer described the street vacation request submitted by Troy Williams for 30 feet of 29th Street right of way adjacent to his property at 2815 D Avenue. Mr. Buckenmeyer reported that at its July 19, 2012 meeting the Board of Adjustment voted against recommending denial of the request. He explained that staff had recommended and continued to recommend denial of the request both because it would create an irregularly shaped right of way and because the goals of the applicant, to landscape and fence the area, could be accomplished using a less permanent encroachment agreement. Mr. Buckenmeyer added that if Council wanted to grant the request Anacortes City Council Minutes September 4, 2012 4 it should direct staff to prepare an ordinance and compensation calculations for the property in order to conclude the transaction. Councilmembers discussed the history of vacation requests in this area, the possible effects of the vacation on the adjacent Jacob's Meadow development and circulation patterns in the area, and possible future uses for that right of way. At approximately 9:05 p.m. Mayor Maxwell opened the public hearing. Troy Williams, 2815 D Avenue, applicant, said he was requesting vacation of the north 30-foot-wide strip of the 29t" Street right of way adjacent to his property. He noted that a vacation request (by a prior property owner) including this area was approved in 2005 but was never recorded. Mr. Williams said he requested the vacation because it was approved in the past and because in his discussions with the Planning Department he was told that vacating the north 30 feet of the ROW would not be detrimental to Jacob's Meadow. Mr. Williams noted that if the request were granted he would be paying both cash and future property taxes to the city. No one else wishing to speak, at approximately 9:08 the mayor closed the public hearing. In response to questions from Mr. Walters, Mr. Buckenmeyer confirmed that the property was posted prior to the public hearings before the Board of Adjustment and City Council and that there were no protests in the record. The mayor said that the general policy has been to hold onto right of way unless the City can clearly identify that it will never need it. Mrs. Pickett moved, seconded by Mr. Geer, to deny the request and recommend that the property owner be given an encroachment agreement. Mr. Turner reminded the applicant he can reapply for a vacation in the future and Mrs. Richardson reminded that property owners can landscape city right of way, they only need permission to install permanent structures on it. Vote: Ayes—Geer, Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams, Turner and Richardson. Motion carried. Announcement of CDBG Public Comment Period Mr. Larsen described the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). He announced to the public that the fifteen-day comment period for the 2011 CAPER opened August 31, 2012 and closes September 14, 2012. Mr. Larsen advised that the draft CAPER was available for viewing on the city website, at the Anacortes Public Library, and at the Anacortes Housing Authority and that comments should be directed to Joann Stewart in the Planning Department. Resolution: Allowing Participation in Regional Fire AuthorityPlanning Committee Fire Chief Richard Curtis presented the resolution discussed at length at the August 27, 2012 study session. Mr. Geer moved, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to approve Resolution 1848 creating a Regional Fire Authority Planning Committee to consider regional fire services and appointing the members of the City Council Public Safety Committee to that RFA Planning Committee. Vote: Ayes—Johnson, Walters, Pickett, Adams, Turner, Richardson and Geer. Motion carried. There being no further business, at approximately 9:25 p.m. the regularly scheduled Anacortes City Council meeting of September 4, 2012 was adjourned. Anacortes City Council Minutes September 4, 2012 5