HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-24 City Council Minutes Approved City Council Minutes—February 24,2020
Mayor Laurie Gere called to order the Anacortes City Council meeting of February 24,2020 at 6:00 p.m.
Councilmembers Anthony Young,Ryan Walters, Christine Cleland-McGrath, Carolyn Moulton,Bruce
McDougall and Matt Miller were present. Councilmember Jeremy Carter was absent.
The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mr. McDougall moved, seconded by Mr.Young,to excuse the absence of Mr. Carter. The motion carried
unanimously by voice vote.
Announcements and Committee Reports
Parks&Recreation Committee: Ms. Moulton reported from the committee meeting the prior week. She
elaborated on topics discussed including: the ACFL Plan which would come to Council in a couple of months;
Parks Impact Fees under review by staff for eventual presentation to Council;the Grand View cemetery
expansion Conditional Use Permit that would go before the Planning Commission on March 11 and then on to
City Council;potential changes to the sailing program;the Smiley's Bottom Management Program which had
been commented on by the Washington State Department of Ecology and would involve more public process
later in the year; the Mt. Erie cell tower lease to PSE which was up for renewal; the Depot restroom project
which was anticipated to be completed during the summer; and the completed Washington Park boat launch
which would be celebrated with Senator Liz Lovelett later in the summer after the close of the legislative
session.
Community Center/Pool Committee: Mr. Young reported from the twice-monthly committee meeting the prior
week. He reported that the city and the Pool Commission were nearing a final draft of an MOU,noted that the
pool desired to remain operational during any construction, said all options and the timeline were being
discussed, and concluded that the committee was exploring options to get the most for the community with the
resources available. Mayor Gere added that the joint committee's wish list of program elements had been
forwarded to an architect for cost estimates.
Planning Committee: Mr. Walters reported from the committee meeting earlier in the evening. Those present
discussed the public meeting scheduled for February 25, 2020 in the City Council chambers regarding the bonus
height provision in the R4 zone. Mr. Walters indicated that the Planning Committee would move ideas forward
for public process before the full City Council. He said that the committee also discussed the Port of Anacortes
redevelopment plan that would be presented later on the agenda and the need for more Class A office space in
town.
Public Comment
No one present wished to address the Council on any topic not already on the agenda.
Consent Agenda
Mr. Miller moved, seconded by Mr. McDougall,to approve the following Consent Agenda items. The motion
carried unanimously by voice vote.
a. Minutes of February 18,2020
b. Approval of Claims in the amount of: $309,980.48
c. Contract Modification: WWTP Generator 7-912 Panel Rebuild#20-024-ERR-001
d. Contract Award: Ambulance Purchase#20-070-ERR-001
e. Contract Award: Pass Lake 10"Waterline#20-071-WTR-001
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The following vouchers/checks were approved for payment:
EFT numbers: 96356 through 96396,total$149,300.09
Check numbers: 96397 through 96403,total$99,820.80
Wire transfer numbers: 264147 through 264393,total $38,662.83
OTHER BUSINESS
Contract Award: Skagit River Raw Water Pipeline and Clearwell Project—Construction Management
#20-048-WTR-002
Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer requested City Council consent to award a contract in the amount of
$387,800.00 to HDR Engineering, Inc. to perform the pre-design for the Skagit River Raw Water Pipeline and
Clearwell project.
Mr. Miller requested more detail on the funding sources for the project. Finance Director Steve Hoglund
explained that cash available for capital projects in the Water Fund would be used to begin the project,pending
a bond issue and/or loan funding later in the year when better cost estimates were available.
Mr. Miller moved, seconded by Ms. Moulton,to authorize the Mayor to sign contract 20-048-WTR-002 with
HDR Engineering, Inc. in the amount of$387,800.00 to perform the Skagit River Raw Water
Pipeline and Clearwell Project- Construction Management. Vote: Walters, Cleland-McGrath, Moulton,
McDougall,Miller and Young. Motion carried.
Port of Anacortes Northwest Basin Redevelopment Plan Presentation
Planning Director Don Measamer introduced Port of Anacortes Executive Director Dan Worra to present the
Port's Cap Sante North&West Basin Upland Redevelopment plan. Mr. Measamer briefly summarized the
city's involvement in the project including permitting and other items in accordance with the MOU between the
Port and the City dated September 7,2018.
Mr. Worra summarized the plan,referring to his slide presentation which was added to the packet materials for
the meeting. He discussed the longtime goal of developing the site for the community, including a much-needed
event center. Mr. Worra reviewed the proposed site plan. He introduced the Port's project architect,Jeff
McClure, from RMC Architects. Mr. McClure presented the plan for the event center in more detail. Mr. Worra
then presented the parking plan for the center and discussed the parking studies feeding into that plan. He
concluded by listing future land transactions associated with the plan, including an application to vacate 9th
Street and R Avenue, incorporating city and port land into a new Jim Rice Plaza, dedication of realigned 9th
Street, dedication of a new Market Street intersection, and potential dedication of Market Street.
Mr. Worra and Mr. McClure responded to councilmember questions about the size of the proposed event center,
its timeline, funding sources, connectivity to the central business district,parking demand, conference facilities,
green building features, location of Port offices, and the series of land transactions proposed by the Port.
Councilmembers and Mayor Gere all emphasized the importance of connecting any marina event center to the
central business district.
Mayor Gere invited members of the audience to comment on this agenda item. Given the number of audience
members present, she asked speakers to limit their comments to three minutes each. The mayor called speakers
to the microphone in the order in which they had signed up to speak.
Ruth Hunter identified herself as an Anacortes citizen and a marina tenant. Ms. Hunter asked audience members
who wished to express concern over the Port's Marina redevelopment plans to briefly stand up. [Many people
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stood.] Ms. Hunter said that over 100 online signers had also expressed concern about the proposal; she
provided a list of the names of petition signers for the record. Ms. Hunter read from her prepared statement
regarding her concerns;her statement was made part of the record. She focused on the expense of the proposed
expense center,preserving the RV park and the dog park,marina parking,noise in the marina, increased foot
traffic and security risk on the piers,deferred dock maintenance, and redundancy with event center space in the
Merlino development on R Avenue. Ms. Hunter asked the City and the Port to pause and seek new input from a
broad cross-section of citizens and marina tenants regarding the highest and best use of the valuable property.
Mary LaFleur,who served on the Port's advisory committee, said that the property in question was donated by
the Demopoulos family for marine use and it should stay marine use. Ms. LaFleur praised the beautiful building
design but said it didn't belong in the marina. She urged the Port and City ask the public what they would like to
see on the site. She said the Port was going to ruin the marina it built to bring boaters to Anacortes.
John Gerner spoke as a marina tenant. He expressed concern about insufficient parking for marina tenants and
the impact on city policing and traffic control costs due to an expanded event center. He also spoke to a need for
greater security,noting that thefts from the slips and boats would only get worse as more people were drawn to
the marina by the event center.
Ron Kohler spoke not as a marina tenant but as a citizen in the Port District who pays taxes that support the
marina. Mr. Kohler expressed concern about parking and argued that the marina does not offer public water
access to the taxpayers, only to marina tenants. He suggested that the proposed RV park would increase security
problems on the site. Mr. Kohler urged councilmembers not to vacate the streets requested by the Port because it
wouldn't do that for a private developer. He agreed it would be good to have a better event center in town than
the Transit Shed but said the proposed building would be mostly Port offices.
John Byrd had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Dean Felthous had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Sally Kruse had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
George Oram had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Ron Rosenburger had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Scott Fultz had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Mac Madenwald had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Andy Hines had signed up to speak but declined to comment.
Carol Ann Sinclair, 1304 32nd Street, identified herself as both a boater and an Anacortes homeowner. Ms.
Sinclair said that Anacortes is the gateway to the San Juan Islands and that if the islands knew what was being
proposed,they'd show concern. Ms. Sinclair said it was very distressing that so much money had been spent on
the plan without involving the public. She went on record as opposing the plan.
Gary Molyneaux expressed concern about the lack of cultural resource strategy and said he was please to hear
councilmembers emphasize connectivity. Mr. Molyneaux said the plan hadn't thought through urban design
which is all about wayfinding and pedestrianism. He said he had studied the memorandum of agreement in the
packet and called it woefully inadequate. Mr. Molyneaux suggested that the MOU should define connectivity
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and add urban design. He praised the building design but did not support the retail spaces on the west side,
urging instead views through the building to the water.
Keiko McCracken spoke as a parent and supported the proposed plan which, alongside the new high school and
potential community center,was exciting for families and young people in Anacortes.
Steve Tiefisher of Steve's Yacht Repair expressed concern that Anacortes was headed towards developing like
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with too many changes making it not the town people moved here for. Mr. Tiefisher
argued that the Port's purpose was to support small business but that the Port wasn't doing that, it was creating
tourist attractions instead. He said residents don't want to bring more people to town,they want to preserve what
they have.
No one else present wished to address the Council on this topic.
Mr. Walters requested additional discussion of specific facets of the Port's plan. Mayor Gere suggested that the
Planning Committee develop a work plan for moving forward. Mr. Measamer agreed that the Planning
Committee could come up with some ideas on pedestrian connectivity and report back to the full Council.
There being no further business, at approximately 8:40 p.m. the Anacortes City Council meeting of
February 24,2020 was adjourned.
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