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2008, 01-08 Regular Meeting MinutesMayor Wilhite called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., and welcomed everyone to the 130 meeting. Attendance: Diana Wilhite, Mayor Steve Taylor, Deputy Mayor Dick Denenny, Councilmember Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Rich Munson, Councilmember Gary Schimmels, Councilmember MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Tuesday, January 8, 2008 City Staff: INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: N/A Mike Jackson, Deputy City Manager Mike Connelly, City Attorney Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Ken Thompson, Finance Director Neil Kersten, Public Works Director Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir. Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Rich VanLeuven, Police Chief Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Lee Hunt of New Hope Christian Center gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Wilhite led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called roll; all councilmembers were present. 1. ELECTION OF COUNCIL OFFICERS: Prior to the election of officers, Mayor Wilhite said that she has had a wonderful time as Mayor, enjoyed many great interactions with citizens, and said it was a privilege to serve as Mayor. She then asked City Clerk Bainbridge to conduct the election for Mayor. City Clerk Bainbridge opened the floor for nominations for Mayor. Mayor Wilhite nominated Councilmember Munson for Mayor. City Clerk Bainbridge called for other nominations; none being offered, Ms. Bainbridge closed the nominations. Ms. Bainbridge explained that as per the procedure for electing officers as stated in Council's Governance Manual, since there is only one nominee, there is no need for written ballots. Ms. Bainbridge called for a show of hands for all those voting for Councilmember Munson as Mayor. The vote was unanimous in favor of Councilmember Munson for Mayor. City Clerk Bainbridge turned the floor over to Mayor -elect Munson, who asked Ms. Bainbridge to conduct the election for Deputy Mayor. Ms. Bainbridge called for nominations for Deputy Mayor. Deputy Mayor Taylor nominated Councilmember Denenny for Deputy Mayor. Ms. Bainbridge called for other nominations; none being offered, Ms. Bainbridge closed the nominations. Ms. Bainbridge called for a show of hands of all those voting for Councilmember Denenny as Deputy Mayor. The vote was unanimous in favor of Councilmember Denenny for Deputy Mayor. Mayor Munson expressed his honor in being chosen to the position of Mayor; he then called for a brief recess at 6:12 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 6:21 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Councilmember Gothmann, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda as submitted. COMMITTEE, BOARD, LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS: Councilmember Schimmels: said he attended a Solid Waste liaison meeting yesterday. Council Regular Meeting: 01 -08 -08 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 01 -22 -08 Councilmember Taylor: reported that he attended the Convention & Visitor Bureau's last meeting of the year several weeks ago; and attended the Council of Governance meeting where transportation emergency communication financing and upcoming ballot issues were discussed. Deputy Mayor Denenny: no report Councilmember Wilhite: explained that she also attended the Council of Governance meeting; and the Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Meeting. Councilmember Gothmann: said he attended the Chamber's Government Affairs meeting, and he extended congratulations to Councilmember Wilhite as being chosen by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce as the "Person of the Year." He also reported that regarding the Pratt School, the entities continue to work on contract negotiations; that District #81 wants Spokane Valley Partners to find renters but has not determined the rent amounts; and that he received an e -mail today from the Housing and Community Development Committee that there is $858,000 available for HUD grants this year, compared with over $1 million available last year, and that the committee will meet this Thursday to consider recommendations. Councilmember Dempsey: no report MAYOR'S REPORT: Mayor Munson mentioned that in his capacity as Association of Washington Cities (AWC) President, he met with Governor Gregoire to discuss infrastructure funding, and mentioned that AWC feels we will be facing tough times in the next few years as I696 and I747 resulted in funds being removed from City coffers which will result in continued deficits in funding street maintenance; and that a committee was formed to identify potential resources. Mayor Munson also mentioned that this Saturday, Council and staff will hold their winter retreat; but he would like Council to consider changing the time of the retreat from its current schedule of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., to move that to 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. thereby allowing time for people to attend former Councilmember Flanigan's 2:00 p.m. funeral. It was also mentioned that rather than have a lunch break, they could have a working lunch while consultants give their presentation on City Hall visioning. There was Council consensus to move the retreat time to begin at 8 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Munson invited public comment; no comments were offered. 2. CONSENT AGENDA: Consists of items considered routine which are approved as a group. A Councilmember may remove an item from the Consent Agenda to be considered separately. a. Following Claim Vouchers: Voucher List Dated 12 -14 -2007 for $543,488.66 b. Payroll for Period Ending December 15, 2007: $196,271.37 c. Payroll for Period Ending December 31, 2007: $282,897.66 d. Approval of Purchase and Maintenance of 12 Computer "Tablets" for Council and Staff e. Minutes of December 4, 2007 Council Study Session Meeting f. Minutes of December 11, 2007 Regular Council Meeting g. Minutes of December 18, 2007 Council Study Session Meeting It was moved by Councilmember Wilhite, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. NEW BUSINESS: n/a PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Munson again invited public comment; and no comments were offered. Council Regular Meeting: 01 -08 -08 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council: 01 -22 -08 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 3. Admin Report: Spokane Valley's Fifth Year Anniversary — Carolbelle Branch Public Information Officer Branch went through her PowerPoint presentation on the options for celebrating the City's fifth anniversary, which will be March 31, 2008. There was brief discussion and some suggestions, including using every week to "tell our story" and discuss growth, change, what occurred prior to incorporation and what lies ahead; that we should promote the City Center; have a (or several) kick -off events at the end of March; have a week -long focus ending on March 31 and of the possibility of having the Chamber involved. Mayor Munson suggested Council consider these options, and he suggested the possibility of forming an ad hoc committee for these activities, and asked staff to bring this item back soon on an upcoming agenda to discuss again. 4. Admin Report: Billboard Lease — Cary Driskell Mr. Driskell explained the billboard lease situation involving Lamar Outdoor Advertising, and said that as part of the widening of Mullan Road, the County acquired land upon which the billboard was sited, and the County agreed to allow Lamar to maintain the billboard on what was then County property; but when Spokane Valley incorporated, the property became the property of the City of Spokane Valley; that this issue was brought to Council's attention back in August 2003, but Council elected to remove it from the agenda to discuss later. Mr. Driskell said he has discussed this issue with Lamar Outdoor Advertising, and they have the proposed lease agreement as a result of those discussions. Mr. Driskell said some options for Council to consider is to grant a lease, sell the right -of -way to Lamar, or require the removal of the billboard. Council discussed the options, and Councilmember Gothmann mentioned he feels we cannot afford to sell the right -of -way, and said he has no objection to require the removal of the billboard, or in the alternative, to move forward with the lease. City Attorney Connelly added that if we ask them to move the sign, we would have to move carefully in our role as property owner versus our role as sign regulator. Mayor Munson asked about including language into the lease agreement concerning allowing 180 days' time period to have the billboard removed if Council later wanted to make that decision. Deputy Mayor Denenny said he feels there is no reason to remove the sign, and therefore sees no reason to lose the potential income from the lease. Councilmembers favored moving forward with a lease agreement to bring forward for a future motion. 5. Admin Report: Sidewalks (ADA) — Mike Connelly City Attorney Connelly explained that there are lengthy materials included in tonight's council packet, including a memorandum giving the background of the discussions of this topic; the pertinent Washington statutes that affect and regulate sidewalks; the section of the Spokane Valley Municipal Code which addresses nuisances; a memorandum concerning snow on sidewalks, a draft ordinance from 2004 which was never adopted, minutes from past council meetings where the topic was addressed, and examples of other cities and municipalities' ordinance concerning removal of snow and ice from sidewalks. Mr. Connelly said that Council has several options: (1) to do nothing and allow snow and ice to build up and if we want to prosecute, to do so as we do for other violations of Code, which is on a complaint - driven basis; (2) we could "beef up the enforcement side, define the duty and offense more specifically rather than just have it buried in the nuisance ordinance, and perhaps add some timelines like penalties would follow if the sidewalk is not cleaned in 24 hours; or (3) take a more global approach and have a more expansive ordinance which could address the various circumstances differently; and we could even assume responsibility to clear specific high -risk pedestrian areas, discuss plowing procedures, and identify where we don't want the snow and ice accumulating on sidewalks. Mr. Connelly reminded Council that the more expansive ordinance not only allows more flexibility but adds more responsibility. Mr. Connelly mentioned that he has verbally and in writing asked Spokane County for their ADA feasibility study, but that request has not been granted yet, and said he will be sending the County a Public Record Request to ask for the document Concerning other ADA requirements, Mr. Connelly Council Regular Meeting: 01 -08 -08 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council: 01 -22 -08 mentioned that Finance Director Ken Thompson is the City's designated responsible official to receive ADA- related complaints. Concerning specific ordinance options, Mr. Connelly said we do have the right if Council desires, to make abutting property owners more responsible, or we could charge them and could even attach that as a lien if we do the work ourselves or hire someone to do that (cleaning the sidewalks); and in response to council's questions about complaints, Mr. Connelly said we do get a few; including some complaints that the property owner shoveled the sidewalk and then the sidewalk got buried by the snowplow; or complaints of vehicles throwing up water and creating ice berms, and complaints about the inability to walk along parts of Sprague and the difficulty of maneuvering a wheelchair when property owners don't shovel their sidewalk; and that he feels we get five or six complaints a winter. Deputy Mayor Denenny suggested perhaps we should form an ad hoc committee to address this issue, including examining who should be responsible, bus routes, high traffic areas, and areas where children walk to school. After further discussion, there was Council consensus to form an ad hoc committee to work with staff in the areas mentioned above, and Mayor Munson appointed Deputy Mayor Denenny as the committee chair, and included Councilmembers Schimmels and Dempsey as committee members. Deputy Mayor Denenny said he will communicate with others and staff, and that perhaps they could get a map of the number of miles in order to get a sense of the areas of responsibility. 6. Admin Report: Aviation Ordinance Discussion — Mike Connelly City Attorney Connelly explained that there have been a number of citizen questions and concerns with the density restriction set forth in our adopted airport overlay; that the primary concern is the prohibition to create any new lot, regardless of the underlying zoning of less than 2.5 acres, and that Council has asked for additional information concerning the requirements of this ordinance, and of the State requirements of both adjacent jurisdictions and other jurisdictions. Mr. Connelly pointed out his memorandum also contains details of what other jurisdictions have for airport regulations, and mentioned that other Spokane County jurisdictions have less stringent airport regulations than our newly adopted ordinance; while some other Washington jurisdictions outside Spokane County have similar provisions to those we recently passed, and he mentioned in particular Skagit County and Tumwater; and stated that some options for Council include doing nothing, or referring this ordinance back to the Planning Commission for review of the density provisions. Council discussion included what are and are not the primary crash zones; mention of concern about height or about noise and nuisance; with Mr. Connelly remarking that Council can choose to focus on or express concerned about whatever they wish, whether safety and community, or title notice about some risk and noise. Councilmember Gothmann said he would like the accident data of Felts Field. Other remarks included discussion on having some mechanism to make sure people who move in the area or buy property in the area realize they are in a fly zone; mention of the need to look at GIS breakdown of what densities are residential zones built now and what lots already have housing; and that there are hundreds of potential new lots that could be formed if these restrictions were not in place. Councilmember Taylor said he would like to examine the current density, would like to see what zone 6 covers relative to current residential areas, and see what is the average density currently in place. Mr. Connelly said we can keep the ordinance before Council for further review, but any change will ultimately need to go back to the Planning Commission. There was Council consensus to bring the data back to Council that Councilmember Taylor asked for, then to send the ordinance back to the Planning Commission for further deliberation. INFORMATION ONLY: The items of (7) Aquatics Facility Update, (8) Dangerous Dog Ordinance, (9) Private Roads Map, and (10) Department Reports were information only items and not reported or discussed. Council Regular Meeting: 01 -08 -08 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 01 -22 -08 EXECUTIVE SESSION: Land Acquisition; Pending Litigation. It was moved by Mayor Munson, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into Executive Session to discuss land acquisition and pending litigation for approximately forty-five minutes; and that upon moving out of Executive Session, that no decision is anticipated. Council adjourned into Executive Session at 8:00 p.m. Mayor Munson declared Council out of Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. It was then moved by Deputy Mayor Denenny, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m. Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Regular Meeting: 01 -08 -08 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council: 01 -22 -08