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2007, 04-17 Study Session MinutesMINUTES CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Mayor Wilhite called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., and welcomed everyone to the meeting. Present: Councilmembers: Diana Wilhite, Mayor Steve Taylor, Deputy Mayor Gary Schimmels, Councilmember Dick Denenny, Councilmember Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Mike DeVleming, Councilmember Rich Munson, Councilmember Staff: Dave Mercier, City Manager Nina Regor, Deputy City Manager Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Ken Thompson, Finance Director Steve Worley, Senior Engineer Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Mike Jackson, Parks & Recreation Director Neil Kersten, Public Works Director Mike Thompson, Finance Director Greg Bingaman, IT Specialist Carrie Acosta, Deputy City Clerk 1. Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) — Dave Mercier City Manager Mercier highlighted the City's requirements in developing a LRA. Council has twice voted not to develop an LRA with the City as sponsor because Spokane Valley has an interest in the property. The City does not need to designate East Valley School District as the LRA, but have the opportunity to state the City has no objection to East Valley filling that capacity. The City is not required to adopt the proposed redevelopment plan. There is no obligation for the City to provide staff for the planning effort. The City will eventually be asked to consider a zoning entitlement for the adopted plan. The Army has the option to not release the property. The site is 10 acres, has three buildings, with an assessed value of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. Dr. Howard with East Valley School District (EVSD) expressed that she would have liked the city to sponsor the LRA. East Valley also has an interest in the area and would like to establish an independent board and has funding set aside for staff to shepherd the process. Dr. Howard was told they would need an endorsement from the zoning authority to establish the LRA. Councilmember Munson asked if EVSD has a specific use in mind for the property. Dr. Howard expressed the potential use as their maintenance facility for the district. Alternative student programs could be located there rather than on school campus as is currently the case. They have not studied potential uses, but have been brainstorming some ideas. Councilmember Munson asked how East Valley plans to balance their needs with rules established by the Army. Dr. Howard envisions forming a coalition within the district that would include the YMCA, Children's Home Society, the Valley Center, Meals on Wheels, and Sheriffs Department to study and prepare a proposal. When the City declined forming an LRA, she was encouraged to form their own LRA, forming an independent board representing community entities. Councilmember Gothmann expressed that he would like the area to be utilized for the community and is happy Dr. Howard is stepping forward to put the property to use. Dr. Howard explained EVSD has a history of collaborative efforts in providing services and she envisions developing this LRA would be similar to that process. Councilmember Denenny asked what the next step would be and how to move forward. City Manager Mercier explained the council's options as to remain quiet on the issue, to issue an endorsement, or to express in writing that the City does not object to East Valley establishing an LRA, and he suggested this latter option as being the best response, if Council agrees. Deputy Mayor Taylor pointed out that if EVSD Meeting Minutes: 04 -17 -07 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 05 -08 -07 does not establish an LRA, the property would go to HUD or another federal entity. Councilmember Gothmann asked Mr. Mercier to draft a letter as he described. Mr. Mercier proposed the issue be brought forward to a regular council meeting that would then authorize a letter to be drafted. Council concurred. 2. CenterPlace Marketing Plan Update — Mike Jackson /Michele Hege Parks and Recreation Director Jackson gave a brief overview of the four topics to be addressed in their presentation and introduced Michele Hege who discussed the regional marketing and communications plan. The Marketing Plan defines the regional market, guides expenditures of marketing funds, strengthens partnerships and increases communication. She discussed some of the research that was done in developing the plan. Some of the findings included pricing alternatives, streamlining the reservation process, adding staff, improving the website, and considering contracting food and beverage services. Goals include increasing mid -week and multi -day bookings and to increase business and conference use; increase awareness and understanding of facility use; and collaborate with area planners, hoteliers, etc. Marketing strategies include developing a Partner Kit, which she feels is the key tactic to the plan; also media releases and stories, open houses, and advertising. Director Jackson welcomed questions from council. Councilmember Munson asked why the plan focuses on such a small market area and expressed he would like to target a larger area and not exclude targeting bigger accounts and areas for the large corporations. He would like the discussion of target areas to expand in future discussions and would also like to look at advertising through television ads and not just print media. He also asked if the city maintains a list of event planners, what is our liability if a planner makes mistakes. Director Jackson explained the list contains planners that are "approved" and are not "recommended" by the City, meaning they have their required licenses. Deputy Mayor Taylor explained the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) markets for the entire Spokane region and it is up to Spokane Valley to market itself. He further explained CenterPlace is a small facility and is not a full- service facility. Deputy Mayor Taylor would like to explore the option of contracting food services as additional revenue sources, keeping some flexibility as well as streamlining the process. Councilmember Denenny said he thinks it's good to allow prospective customers to pick their own caterer, indicating food services cannot offset room prices in our situation. Mayor Wilhite agreed that for the mid -week conventions or meeting events, having a contracted caterer eliminates the extra planning for the customer; however, for social events, she pointed out that folks like to bring their own caterer. She suggested possibly allowing the option of bringing their own caterer or using our contracted caterer. City Manager Mercier explained part of the marketing packet involves convenience for the customer and competitive pricing. Spokane Valley does not receive TPA (Tourism Promotion Area) funds like the Spokane Public Facilities District. Mr. Mercier asked council to consider what the goal is for the funds coming in and then determine how to move forward. Mayor Wilhite expressed one of the goals is to raise enough revenue to help off -set the cost associated with running the facility as well as keeping the facility in great shape. She would like to reach the goal of making CenterPlace a regional facility, but she is not concerned so much with who uses it as long as the facility is being used. Councilmember Munson likes the idea of collaborating with CVB for marketing and expressed that our experience working with them thus far has been very positive and would like further development of that relationship. May 1st council meeting will include a presentation on the CenterPlace Customer Service Improvement Plan that will go into further staffing detail. City Manager Mercier pointed out some options for marketing personnel, either city FTE or out - sourced marketing professional. Director Jackson will further explore contracting food and beverage services, pricing strategies, marketing staff, and additional staffing options. Councilmember Gothmann would like to retain flexibility for the customer to use their own planners or caterers or have the option of using city's contracted caterer, etc. Director Jackson continued the presentation by discussing pricing strategies to include consolidation of fees into packages rather than itemizing each fee in the quotes. Deputy Mayor Taylor would like to look Meeting Minutes: 04 -17 -07 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council: 05 -08 -07 at comparisons of other facilities and rates before determining if pricing strategies are on target. Mr. Jackson will include a survey in the next study. He continued by giving an overview of the CenterPlace revenues, expenses and future construction costs. City Manager Mercier recommended remaining funds be placed in a sinking funds (depreciation) account that will be used for upkeep and repairs. Expenses indicated thus far are operating expenses exclusive of repairs and upkeep, replacement costs to facilities, and on -going maintenance. Councilmember DeVleming would like to earmark the balance of the construction funds toward installing a movable wall until such a time the City deems the movable wall is not necessary and /or cost effective. There was council consensus to create a sinking fund to handle depreciation. Mayor Wilhite called for a break at 7.•25 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7.•35 p.m. 3. Solid Waste Collection Options — Cary Driskell Deputy City Attorney Driskell gave background information as to the City's options for waste management collections as indicated in a staff report given to council prior to incorporation. The record from 2003 isn't precise in what council opted to do; however, in going through the notes, Mr. Driskell is highly confident council chose to terminate the certificate and grant a franchise in which WUTC (Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission) would continue to be the regulatory lead. Staff has since discovered the letter was not sent to WUTC advising them of council's decision and beginning the seven -year window in which the City would then have the option of bringing the services in house, contracting with the existing provider, or contracting with other potential providers. Because the letter was not sent, the seven -year window has not started. A motion consideration will be scheduled for a regular council meeting to determine how council would like to proceed. Councilmember Gothmann asked if all of the options from 2003 are still open. Mr. Driskell indicated all three options are still options for council to consider. Councilmember Schimmels inquired as to what council has to do at this point — do they have to do one of the three options from 2003. Mr. Driskell indicated a fourth option would be to do nothing Councilmember Munson pointed out that council needs to look at what the city wants to do differently in solid waste collection in order to choose any of the three options, and what would the city gain by making any changes. He would like to discuss what outcomes would be achieved by implementing any of the choices. Mr. Driskell explained that the Public Works and Legal Departments will be working to come up with various issues, options, costs, etc., that would arise in implementing any of the three choices. Councilmember Denenny would like to send notification as soon as possible to start the seven -year window and keep all options open. There was consensus of council to have Legal prepare a placeholder franchise and notification to WUTC to bring before council for authorization of both. 4. Barker Road Bridge Update — Steve Worley Senior Engineer Worley updated council on the federal bridge replacement grant that pays 100% of the cost of replacing the bridge. The existing bridge was built in 1952, and is a two -lane bridge with sidewalks on both sides. The bridge was determined several years ago to be structurally deficient and has met its "design life." The new bridge will be four lanes wide and will include bike lanes and sidewalks and will preserve the Centennial Trail that goes under the bridge. The bid documents are 90% completed; the bulk of the work this year will go toward environmental studies and ensuring that all requirements are met. Engineer's Estimate is currently $9.3 million without any contingency. If the City includes the contingency, the overall cost of the project will go over $10 million which would take the federal funding from 100% to 80 %, a cost to the City of $2 million. Mr. Worley explained the key in the funding is the amount of the engineer's estimate at the time the request for funding goes in. In speaking with Washington State Department of Transportation, he has determined they can submit their estimate without the contingency, provided the City pay any change orders that go beyond that estimate. Mr. Worley believes any change orders would not amount to the $2 million we would be faced with if the funding goes to 80 %, and that this is the better option. Aesthetic treatments run from $42,700 to Meeting Minutes: 04 -17 -07 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council: 05 -08 -07 $104,800. Depending on the aesthetic chosen, that cost may be federally funded as well. If the aesthetics are part of the construction, they would be funded; however, if the aesthetic is painted artwork, it would not be and the City would need to pick up that cost. Councilmember Munson likes the idea of including aesthetics in the project but is skeptical as to the public reaction to spending money, whether local or federal, on adding aesthetics to the bridge. Councilmember Gothmann thinks aesthetics are important to the public. Mr. Worley thinks aesthetics tied to the recreational aspects of the area are good for the community. Deputy Mayor Taylor would like to see the estimates for aesthetics be low so they can be trimmed out if necessary. There was consensus of council for staff to include in the estimate aesthetic treatments for the bridge, possibly as an added option to the estimate. 5. Liberty Lake Memorandum of Understanding, Appleway Avenue Project — Steve Worley Senior Engineer Worley updated council on the Appleway project. There is a small portion of the project that expands into Liberty Lake right -of -way and he would like to enter into a memorandum of understanding to have Liberty Lake pay their local share of the project. There was council consensus to place this matter on the next Council's consent agenda. 6. Spokane County Sanitary Sewer Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Greenhaven Sewer Project — Steve Worley Mr. Worley updated the council on the Greenhaven Sewer Project. We are developing an MOU with Spokane County that allows the county to build their sewer system at the same time we are working on the road project. The County design for the sewer project will be included in the bid proposal for the City's street project so the same contractor will be doing all the work. This MOU is for the County to pay Spokane Valley for that additional work. There was council consensus to place this matter on the next Council's consent agenda. 7. David Evans Construction Services Contract, Appleway Avenue Project — Steve Worley Mr. Worley updated council on costs that have gone up in the design contract with David Evans and Associates for the Appleway Project. The original contract was approved by council in 2005. The hours of work have gone down, but their fees have gone up. City Manager Mercier asked that when these three items are ready for council action if they can be placed on consent agenda. Council agreed. 7a. Customer Service Improvement Plan — Nina Regor Deputy City Manager Regor provided an overview of Spokane Valley's Customer Service Improvement Plan. She emphasized that customer service is one of the key values of our organization throughout all departments. Ms. Regor has met with the Planning and Building departments to develop a plan to better serve the needs of our public and to determine organizational models. Since incorporation, the volume of work -load has continually increased; however staffing levels have not. Currently they are looking to implement processes and procedures that provide consistency to both staff and the customer, and to increase staffing levels to provide more efficient customer service to the customer and depth in personnel to cover outages. The plan proposes an addition of five (5) full time employees: two Assistant Planners in the Planning department; 1.5 Engineering Technicians and .5 Engineer for Development Engineering; and one Building Inspector II. Deputy Mayor Taylor thanked Ms. Regor for putting together the plan after listening to council concerns regarding the City's customer service as brought to council by the citizens of the community. He then asked if there are cross - training opportunities for the plans review staff to help each other. Ms. Regor explained that the Building Inspector II's are certified plan reviewers and will be able to help with the simpler reviews. Councilmember Munson moved to extend the meeting to 9:15 p.m., seconded and unanimously agreed. Councilmember DeVleming asked if it might be better to get stakeholders involved during the process rather than after the process has been mapped and developed. Deputy Mayor Taylor explained that he Meeting Minutes: 04 -17 -07 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 05 -08 -07 would like stakeholder's input on a more frequent basis as the plan continues to move forward in development. City Manager Mercier said staff will continue to solicit input; however the mapping is done in -house while continuing to facilitate conversations with the stakeholders. Mr. Mercier explained the next steps in the process, to include: proceed with the development of the customer service improvement plan and present it to council for action, if council accepts the plan will proceed with a budget amendment to implement the plan, then proceed to a recruitment process to populate the authorized positions. Councilmember Munson asked as to the recruitment timeline. City Manager Mercier explained the timeline is difficult to determine due to varying factors, but staff will start the hiring processes in Human Resources immediately to be ready for recruitment after council approval at a regular meeting. Councilmember DeVleming would like to form a committee similar to the Sign Committee to discuss the areas of focus and help identify the problems. Deputy Mayor Taylor indicated that rather than a task force set -up, we may want to get an advisory group that meets quarterly. Councilmember Denenny inquired as to when the mapping will be done, and asked if the public will be involved in the mapping process. Deputy Mayor Taylor said he doesn't see this process as being task driven but instead would like on- going involvement of stakeholders. There was consensus of council to have staff keep moving forward and to continue the mapping process. 8. Advance Agenda Additions — Mayor Wilhite Councilmember Munson would like to add a Site Selector update to an upcoming agenda. 9. Council Check in — Mayor Wilhite No reports from Councilmembers. 10. City Manager Comments — Dave Mercier Mr. Mercier had no additional comments. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. ATTEST: ar1/1,,<• (4-7-p 'tec, Carrie Acosta, Deputy City Clerk \i � L 6uvti0_ AA) lQ.,kAIL Diana Wilhite, Mayor Meeting Minutes: 04 -17 -07 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council: 05 -08 -07 March 14, 2007 Mr. Dave Mercier, City Manager 11707 East Sprague Avenue, Suite 106 Spokane Valley, WA 99206 Dear Mr. Mercier, Fast Valley School District 12325 F. Grace Spokane WA 99216 -4511 Phone (509) 924 -1830 FAX (509) 927 -3222 Assistant Superintendent for Operations This letter is to express the District's interest in forming the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) for the disposition of the Walker Center, a surplus property of the US Army Reserve. It is our understanding that the city of Spokane Valley, as the entity with planning and zoning authority, was given the opportunity to form an LRA. However, the City declined to accept this responsibility. Amanda Fagan of the Office of Economic Adjustment and Col. Scott McKean, the BRAC Transition Coordinator for Washington, have indicated that the East Valley School District can he recognized as the decision making body for the LRA. In order to do so. the City would need to provide written assurance of this designation to the Office of Economic Adjustment_ The District envisions creating a community hoard to review the proposals and make recommendation, similar to the process being used for the Mann Center. Should the City grant this designation to the East Valley School District, we would like to invite a representative to participate on the advisory board. If you would like to discuss this further. please feel tree to contact me at 241 - 5015. Respectfully, Debra K. Howard Assistant Superintendent for Operations East Valley Schools are an Equal Opportunity Employer and comply with all requirements under the ADA Dr. Debra K 1 tow and