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2014, 09-02 Study Session MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley,Washington September 2,2014 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Dean Grafos,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Mark Calhoun,Deputy City Manager Bill Bates, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Ed Pace, Councilmember John Hohman, Community Development Dir. Ben Wick, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk Mayor Grafos called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. 1. Outside Agency Presentations—Mark Calhoun Deputy City Manager Calhoun explained that tonight is an opportunity for those agencies that have applied for outside funding to make their presentation to Council, and said $150,000 is included in the 2015 budget for this purpose. Mr. Calhoun said each applicant has been invited to give a five-minute presentation. Mr. Calhoun noted that the representative from Spokane Valley Partners asked to be the first as she is seven months pregnant, and would like to get home and off her feet as soon as possible, and her request was granted. Presentations were taken in the following order: Spokane Valley Partners—Social Service Agency Greater Spokane, Inc.—Economic Development Agency Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce—Economic Development Agency Spokane Valley Arts Council—Economic Development Agency Valleyfest—Economic Development Agency Big Brothers and Sisters of the Inland NW—Social Service Agency Children's Home Society of Washington—Social Service Agency Goodwill Industries of the Pacific NW—Social Service Agency—no presenter Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels—Social Service Agency Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council—Social Service Agency Hearth Homes—Social Service Agency—no presenter Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners(SNAP) YWCA—Social Service Agency Mr. Calhoun said that Council is scheduled to consider the distribution of funds at the September 23 Council Meeting, and he asked Councilmembers to submit their funding recommendations to him by Friday afternoon, September 12. Mr. Calhoun also said that the methodology used to make the awards last year worked well and that same procedure will be used this year, all as outlined in his September 2, 2014 Request for Council Action Form. Council Study Session 09-02-2014 Page 1 of 4 Approved by Council:09-23-2014 Councilmember Pace said that all the organizations seem outstanding and doing great work, but maybe in the future some of the activities some of the organizations do, belong in other areas and should be regularly budgeted functions, such as mental health; he said the State Constitution says that the State has to provide for mental health care, so maybe that should be regularly budgeted instead of something the agency has to come and ask for funds for every year; he said some of these activities also sound like a piece of law enforcement or education that perhaps should be funded regularly that way; he said that the for the rest of it, the $150,000 using the taxpayer's money seems like it is doing good work to build a stronger community; he said he heard"safe community" and "strong community" but said that strong and safe communities don't come from government grants, that they come from businesses and other organizations working together to raise funds, seek grants and pull themselves by the boot straps to become self-sustaining; he said Council should start trying to encourage that in the following years, and that Council should think about stimulating economic development by reducing the fund this year by $30,000; and then just allocate it by using the normal process, and next year spend some time to look into which of these things should be funded in other ways. 2. Estimated Revenues and Expenditures for 2015 Budget—Mark Calhoun After Deputy City Manager Calhoun gave a background and overview of the 2015 budget as noted on his PowerPoint and Request for Council Action form, Councilmember Pace suggested Council go through an exercise to see if they can take $100,000 or a little more out of the budget; he said he was looking at"bits and pieces here and there" like National League of Cities tour, or reducing Council travel budget, and then to divert those funds into economic development so the City Manager would have control over what is spent; and then he would look forward the next year or two to even lowering the property tax rate. Councilmember Hafner said that over the last three or four years, Council has gone through the budget and made cuts, that Council is moving forward in a positive manner and looking at economic development; he said we are not paying other taxes and have not taken the 1% property tax increase in years; and asked why would Council want to at this time ruin many of the things that they strategized to do in the past simply because we may have someone ultra conservative who wishes to make cuts; he said he does not agree with Councilmember Pace. 3. Radio Car Club Agreement—Mike Stone Parks and Recreation Director Stone explained the history of the Radio Car Club and the new lease agreement, and asked if Council concurred, to place this on the next consent agenda, and there were no objections. 4. Stormwater Easement Extinguishment—Cary Driskell City Attorney Driskell gave background history on how this easement at 3715 South Woodruff Road came about and of the impending request to extinguish that easement, all as noted in his Request for Council Action Form. There were no objections to moving forward as needed. 5. Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos There were no suggestions for the Advance Agenda. 6. Council Comments—Mayor Grafos Councilmember Wick reported that last week he met with Spokane Mayor Condon and Senator Patty Murray's Secretary of Transportation where the primary topic was transportation and oil cars; said we asked for grade crossing separations; said he also traveled to Tukwila with Mr. Jackson last Friday for the AWC (Association of Washington Cities) Ad Hoc Rail Committee meeting, and said that the Department of Ecology (DOE) was invited to that meeting and gave a report about the study they have been working on concerning options for State legislators; the DOE was given $300,000 to a state-wide study on oil cars and rail and focus on marine and the Council Study Session 09-02-2014 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council:09-23-2014 entire transportation system; that the study revealed that there are an estimated three oil trains a day that are solely dedicated to oil; that the oil is highly flammable and ignites at 76°, that while foam would be a good source to extinguish fires, it is not good for spill cleanup; that there are 3,000 new wellheads installed in the Dakotas and the DOE estimate over the next five years we could realize anywhere from seventeen to ninety trains a week inside our state, and that since every train that enters our state technically comes through Spokane Valley, that further lends importance to the bridging of the valley as well as grade crossing separations, and corridor consolidations to try to get the rail lines to merge together into one corridor. Councilmember Wick said the DOE hopes to have a preliminary report to the Governor by October; he said that it is anticipated that the United States will be self-sufficient in oil production within the next five years which in turn could lead the oil companies to ask the federal government to left the ban on exporting oil; however, if such a ban were lifted, it would mean many more than the high estimate of ninety trains traveling through our state; and said now is the time to push state and federal delegations. Councilmember Wick also mentioned our Council's July letter to the Governor on this issue. Deputy Mayor Woodard said he went to a Government Affairs Committee meeting at the Chamber today and as their guest speaker didn't show up, he became the guest speaker and he spoke about the grade separations and that we need at least three taken care of, including Pines Road, the widening of Sullivan, and the re-building of Sullivan Grade Separation; he said Cathy McMorris Rodgers' liaison was also in attendance and took extensive notes; he mentioned at that meeting that Spokane Substance Abuse Council Director Linda Thompson would be at tonight's meeting and will be addressing the issue of marijuana; and he mentioned the lack of having shared revenues to take care of the enforcement and other issues associated with the new legislation. Mayor Grafos said there was recently an unfortunate issue with a major contractor and the bidding on the Sullivan Bridge multi-million dollar project; said there was an error on the bid, said he realizes those sheets are complicated and hand-written; that staff tried to work with the contractor to resolve the bid problem based on what is termed a "minor correction," but another bidder said that incorrect bid wasn't acceptable to them and when staff spoke to the members of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), staff was told the FHWA rules state that the project must be re-bid and that the re-bidding was of concern to the first bidder. Mayor Grafos extended compliments to Council and the City Manager for not putting our City at risk by trying to get that regulation waived. Mr. Jackson said that public works staff and the City Attorney worked with outside counsel to try to allow us to accept that as a minor correction, but were unable to prevail. City Attorney Driskell said while everyone sympathizes with the unhappy company, staff tried to term it as a minor irregularity but the FHWA, who is our funding partner in the amount of $8 million, said if we did not reject all bids and put it out to bid again, the FHWA simply would not fund the project. Mr. Driskell said an option would be to fight the FHWA decision but that would have resulted in a year or two delay and the bridge couldn't wait that long; so the project was re-bid and the City received a successful bid. Councilmember Pace said that when he attended the Government Affairs Committee at the Chamber, he encouraged them to come hear Linda Thompson speak about some of the marijuana Council Study Session 09-02-2014 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council:09-23-2014 issues, and said she is also scheduled to come to Council on the 16th for a more-in-depth discussion. 7. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson Mr. Jackson said that the topic of commercial vehicles on residential streets will be included on the October 7 agenda. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m. ATT I-an Grafos,Mayor Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk - Council Study Session 09-02-2014 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council:09-23-2014