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2014, 12-16 Study Session Minutes MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley,Washington December 16,2014 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Dean Grafos,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager Arne Woodard, Deputy Mayor Mark Calhoun, Deputy City Manager Chuck Hafner, Councilmember John Hohman, Community Development Dir. Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Ed Pace, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director Ben Wick, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney ABSENT: Lori Barlow, Senior Planner Bill Bates, Councilmember Luis Garcia, Development Services Coordinator Sean Messner, Traffic Engineer Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief 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 except Councilmember Bates. It was moved by Councilmember Pace, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Councilmember Bates from tonight's'meeting. ACTION ITEMS: I. Countywide Hazard Mitigation Plan—Luis Garcia It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to approve Resolution No. 14-015 adopting the Hazard Mitigation Update. Mr. Garcia explained that as noted during the December 2 Council meeting, compliance with the Disaster Mitigation Act and the Countywide Disaster Mitigation Update will be undertaken by a multi jurisdictional planning effort; the original plan has since expired and the update is required in order for our City to qualify for federal funding under the Disaster Mitigation Act. Mr. Garcia said a previous question arose about when funds would be available, and said if we have a project to steer toward hazard mitigation, we could apply for funds as there doesn't need to be a specific event; and as also mentioned during the December 2 Council meeting, no City funds will be used as this is part of a grant from the County and the resolution is to fulfill our part as a planning partner; he said no restrictions would be placed on businesses or property owners as a result of this Plan; it does not cover acts of terrorism, but protects public facilities against natural events. Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. 2. Lodging Tax Allocations for 2015 —Mark Calhoun Deputy City Manager Calhoun explained the process thus far concerning the funding requests for 2015, and of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee's (LTAC) recommendations. Mr. Calhoun also went over the past changes in the legislation, including that the Council may only approve the recommended amounts from the list provided; that Council could choose to make awards to all, some, or none of the recommended applicants, could remand everything back to the LTAC for further re-consideration, or decide to have the entire process started all over again, which he said, is a fairly long time period of about Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page I of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 three to four months. Another option, Mr. Calhoun noted, was to hold all the money until the 2016 process, which begins in the fall of 2015. After some brief Council discussion about the process options, Deputy Mayor Woodard said his preference was to send everything back to the committee, not for new applications, but for the committee to reconsider the allocations. Councilmember Hafner said he was not happy at the last Council meeting with the recommended allocations; he noted Council's "Goals and Priorities for use of Lodging Tax revenues," and said in some incidences, he feels those goals and priorities were not considered; but rather the LTAC only considered "heads in beds," and he said there are other major components to tourism, such as shopping and dining, and suggested perhaps some of the recommended allocations should go back to the committee for further consideration. Councilmember Wick said that there have been a lot of developments and new information since the LTAC met; that the applications are great, but perhaps we should move forward through development of destinations and assets; said the more of those we can produce, the more Visit Spokane and others can do for us; said he feels the Committee missed Goal #3 [Utilize funds for capital expenditures to develop tourism destination facilities or venues within the City of Spokane Valley.]. Councilmember Wick said the study about the sports complex came up at a different meeting, and said we didn't have that information before; said he feels there was some misunderstanding about what the sand volleyball courts would look like; and reiterated that he feels the committee didn't have all the information; and perhaps it would be worth the three month delay in starting all over again. Councilmember Pace added that perhaps Council and staff could do some brainstorming to suggest a strategic plan for facilities. Concerning the idea of starting all over again, Councilmember Hafner said he feels that would be a change of direction and not fair to those current applicants. Deputy Mayor Woodard said it is the hoteliers who collect the tax and do the processing and paperwork; and agreed more work is needed but prefers the short-term option of sending everything back for reconsideration; adding that he feels goal#5 of dedicating 5%toward new projects, activities and/or events wasn't used this year. Mayor Grafos said he doesn't see anything wrong with the process; that the goals appear clear, and that it seems the goal should be to help create community identity; that Spokane has Bloomsday and the Lilac Parade, and we have Valleyfest; and it seems the events that benefit our City were shortchanged. Mayor Grafos recommended remanding the list back to the LTAC; that as they are, he would recommend approval of some but not all. A question about the time needed for the options came up and Mr. Calhoun said to remand the existing applications without re-opening the entire process, he feels the committee could meet about mid-January, and within a week or two of that come back to Council for an administrative report, and a few weeks after that come back for a motion consideration, or perhaps by March 155. There was also some talk about the same committee members reconsidering the same applications and coming back with the same recommendations, but several Councilmembers voiced the opinion that they feel the allocations would change since the Committee would know the feelings of the Council. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded, to send back to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, all the allocations as presented,for them to reconsider and bring back as timely as they can. Mayor Grafos invited public comment. Tony Hansen: said a lot of time and energy went into this process, including all the binders of information; and that now they will have to wait; she expressed concern about not funding timely and the various economic impacts; said there is "great muscle" in Visit Spokane and of the many sports and other events on the horizon; and suggested Council let them market those events in Spokane Valley; said the hotels need the heads in beds, and she urged Council to see her perspective. Bill Gothmann: went over the RCW's of what the funds can be used for; said the statutes don't say lodging only or heads in beds only; and he feels the Council's goals meet the RCW's criteria. Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 2 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 Jodi Sander: said she is with Sterling Hospitality; said there have been specific numbers for the Quality Inn due to the marketing efforts of Visit Spokane and the Sports Commission as well as the sports events held at the HUB; said her hotel will continue as long as those organizations market our region; said she is not worried about the upcoming new hotel in downtown Spokane. Julie Cohn: General Manager of the Holiday Inn; said heads in beds are what replenishes the fund and that the other organizations are the entities that continue to market us; said Washington State has no tourism fund and that 70%of the groups at her hotel this year were sports groups. Carla Husk: with the second Mexican Restaurant in Spokane Valley; said her numbers are directly affected by the tourism of sports events and hotel marketing as those events bring in the people who eat in the restaurants and shop in the mall; and said she hopes Council supports those organizations. Cal Clausen: owner of Quality Inn, Sterling Hospitality; cautioned Council on overlooking or ignoring the recommendations of the Committee as what is the level of quality of committee members if Council doesn't listen to them; said there is a flaw in how the money is allocated within the committee; the state legislature says the money is here to promote tourism in the community; he recommended Council adopt what the committee recommends this year, and for next year perhaps grant first time applicants what they want and if they don't produce tourism, then cut the allocation in half the following year, and continue that process for two more years. Jayne Singleton: with the Valley Museum; said she has been involved for ten years and has submitted an application every year, and was on the committee for two years, but the dynamics are the same now as ten years ago; the bigger issue is a need for vision and more facilities; and she suggested having a task force to have venues out here; and to diversify. Bill Crawford: also with the Valley Museum; said prior to our City's incorporation, about 400 of every dollar went to fund things outside our City; said we knew if we incorporated, 100% of those funds could stay here and that we could be a very profitable city with a surplus; and said we are indeed a very profitable city and do have a surplus; said the idea of keeping valley money in the valley should be applied to these funds as almost 80% of those funds are being sent to downtown Spokane, and Visit Spokane and the Sports Commission; said he questions the value of that; said we get the overflow of downtown hotel compression, but with 700 rooms downtown available 365 days a year, the majority of that will stay downtown; said it is time to save that money and apply to some things here; said the plan is to have the new proposed sports complex constructed right by the arena with limited parking, but that we have all kinds of space and easy access; said we should get that sports complex out here; and that we need a venue here to promote. Herman Meier: member of the LTAC; said this is his second year on the committee and he applied to be on the committee because of the need to apply more funds to valley applicants; said historically about 75% of the funding has gone to two applicants with a regional focus; that they do great work but times have changed; said he would like to see those valley applicants fully funded with smaller amounts going to the regional applicants; said it has been an uphill battle each year as the funding allocations were strictly based on heads in beds, and if you didn't agree, they cut the funding; said it is time for a change and to re-visit the allocation process. There were no further comments. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. NON-ACTION ITEMS: 3. Sullivan Road Corridor Study—Eric Guth, Sean Messner Via his PowerPoint presentation, Mr. Messner explained that this study is just the beginning stage and is a planning level to use as a building block for future studies and improvements; he discussed some of the Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 3 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 background of the study including Bigelow Gulch and North/South Corridor; Sullivan Road between I-90 and SR 290 as one of the busiest freight routes; the impact on the corridor expected by the completion of Bigelow Gulch and of the City's desire to re-evaluate needs of the corridor and validate the impacts from Bigelow Gulch and North/South Corridor projects. Mr. Messner explained some of the goals, and said the purpose of this study is to develop a twenty-plus year corridor plan that addresses transportation, community, and system preservation needs; he mentioned some of the key study elements and general process, and briefly spoke about existing hourly and peak hour traffic conditions; and also noted the five- year crash data summary, existing deficiencies, and travel forecast. Mr. Messner mentioned current improvements, short-term planned improvements, longer term planned improvements, and funding sources; and said the next steps are to prioritize for near and long-term improvements; identify and refine the funding needs; prioritize the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) projects with Council direction; identify funding and partnering opportunities, and to coordinate the TIP and STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Program). Mayor Grafos called for a recess at 7:17 p.m.; he reconvened the meeting at 7:31 p.m. 4. State and Local Marijuana Laws; Consumption/Possession by Minors—Erik Lamb Deputy City Attorney Lamb stated that tonight's report focuses on the state and local marijuana laws that regulate the consumption or effects of consumption by minors in public places; he referenced Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council's Director Linda Thompson's September presentation, as well as Chief VanLeuven's previous alcohol/drug enforcement presentation. He explained that there are different definitions for consumption, use, and possession; and that there are no state laws prohibiting minors from consuming or exhibiting the effects of having consumed marijuana, although it is possible the state may consider and adopt regulations in the upcoming 2015 legislative session. Mr. Lamb said if our City were to enact a new, minor in consumption law,the offense would be limited to a civil infraction,which means a fine or ticket; he said the law would need to be changed at the state level in order for the offense to be classified as a misdemeanor. There was some discussion about penalties and optional community service and sending a stronger message other than having just a citation as the penalty. If a minor were to receive a ticket, Councilmember Wick said he would want to make sure the parent or guardian received notification of that ticket; he also brought up the idea of having a drug school similar to the classes one could take when issued a traffic ticket. Councilmember Hafner said some type of deterrent is needed, similar to smoking or using alcohol while under age; he said there needs to be consequences or a penalty. City Attorney Driskell said the age of the offender would be interesting as with other violations, those under eighteen years old are referred to juvenile court; said he understands Council would like staff to investigate some alternative penalties; and that it will take some time to examine and come up with some solutions, with the hope of having something more productive long-term. Councilmember Hafner suggested checking with local high school principals to hear about the types of problems they are experiencing and how they handle various situations. Mayor Grafos said he is not in favor of pursuing this now as he prefers to wait to see what the state comes up with; and said by waiting for a year or two we could better determine how big of a problem this is; he said there are already consequences such as having the parent involved should something occur at school. Councilmember Pace said the school takes care of situations that occur in the school, but what about incidents outside the school; he said he feels there is still a need to send a message and he prefers not waiting for the state; that there are laws concerning minors consuming alcohol and it appears logical there should be laws for minors consuming marijuana. Mr. Jackson said there are various opinions tonight, and he asked if this should more forward now, or let the discussion develop more on a state level. Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmember Pace said they would like to see it move forward, with Deputy Mayor Woodard adding that it will take the legislators time to come up with regulations and he does not want to put this topic off for two to three years as he hears we have a growing problem; and said it would be good to start the research. Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 4 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 Councilmember Higgins said the legislature hasn't done much and he feels they are not inclined to deal with this; and said he likes the suggestion about getting the high school principals together to see what kind of problem they are experiencing; and then re-visit the issue again later. Concerning consumption and driving, Councilmember Wick said there is a need to protect the kids and other citizens from even inhaling fumes and feels the issue needs to be considered now; said the principals would have one perspective and law enforcement would have another. Councilmember Pace said if it is illegal for minors to possess or consume alcohol, it should also be illegal for them to possess or consume marijuana. Councilmember Hafner suggested using caution to make sure we get all the facts before we start legislating what parents and kids can do. Mr. Jackson said staff will visit with the principals and report back to Council via an informational council packet item. Mayor Grafos said it would be interesting to see Liberty Lake's data of how many they arrested and of their cost in man-hours. Councilmember Hafner said if Council concurs, he would be happy to schedule a meeting with the principals and to include our legal department. There were no objections. 5. Legislative Agenda for Medical Marijuana—Erik Lamb, Mike Jackson City Manager Jackson said our recently adopted moratorium is on any new medical marijuana or co-op sales and any processing or sales that do not fall under the existing 502 regulations. Deputy City Attorney Lamb noted that it does not impact any existing business or future business or any existing 502 business. Mr. Jackson added that we are not trying to stop the legitimate uses of medical marijuana and are proposing to combine it all under one system; he said the recreational marijuana system is highly regulated while the medical marijuana system is mostly unregulated; he said staff would like to start to formulate some language that could go into a bill. Mr. Jackson then referenced the attached "Marijuana Comments" which were provided to Briahna Taylor, and he went over those "talking points." Mr. Jackson stated that reconciling medical and recreational marijuana would do away with the collective gardens and co-ops and would license the recreational outlets to sell medical marijuana; and said another alternative is to have the medical marijuana sold through a pharmacy. Mr. Lamb brought up Talking Point item#3 and#4 which includes the idea of charging the same fee and the same tax for all marijuana; and if legislators feel there should be a tax exemption for medical marijuana, he mentioned the idea of developing state license/registry for qualified physicians, and to create a tax exemption for marijuana for medical purposes. Councilmember Pace said he would like to get a clear report as he heard that pharmacies would be issuing a compound derived from marijuana; and Mr. Lamb said he also heard about projects to remove certain aspects of the marijuana and put it into pill form; he said there are varying reports as to the success of that, and said further research would be needed. Mr. Lamb noted there is a significant tax of 25% on recreational marijuana so the exemption would be on that tax. Councilmember Pace said he would like to see the medical marijuana go away and just have it handled by the recreational store;that a"tax is a tax." Deputy Mayor Woodard said he feels the tax exemption is not a concern, but prefers to tighten the process by having in all in one store or pharmacy. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Lamb continued to discuss the remaining "talking points" on the "Marijuana Comments" sheet included in the council packet. Mr. Jackson said that consumption, whether smoked or vaped would also fall under the state's no smoking guidelines, even if the club were private so that issue needs clarification; and Mr. Driskell added we need the state to clarify the definition of"public place." Mr. Jackson said there was also some discussion to allow more retail outlets and to allow them closer to parks; but said that he realizes this Council does not want to lessen the requirements on buffer zones. Mr. Jackson said they will refine these "talking points" and work with Consultant Briahna Taylor and the next time this comes to Council, he hopes to have some draft legislative verbiage, and said AWC (Association of Washington Cities) is also working on this issue. 6. Minor Code Amendments to Dangerous Dog Regulations—Cary Driskell City Attorney Driskell said that we contract with Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS) for animal control and one of the terms of that contract requires us to adopt and update as appropriate, regulations that are substantially similar to those adopted by the County; he said the purpose Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 5 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 for the similar provisions is so SCRAPS officers won't have to learn and apply numerous enforcement provisions for its various partners. Mr. Driskell said some minor modifications are necessary to ensure our code accurately cites the County Code; adding that there were also some other proposed "housekeeping" amendments. There were no objections to staff bringing this forward for a first reading in January. 7. Comprehensive Plan. Public Participation Program—Lori Barlow Director Hohman explained that we are required to complete the review of the Comprehensive Plan by 2017; that the current Plan is outdated so there is a need to get working on that as soon as possible; said the GMA (Growth Management Act) requires each city establish a public participation program, which is tonight's focus; said after staffs presentation, if there are questions or concerns, he would route them to Consultant Tadas Kisielius then return to Council in the future; said there is a need to get out as much information as possible to get the public involved; said the update process is a robust one and staff would like to get through this without any appeal, so we will need to have a lot of participation and evaluate the process as we go. Mr. Hohman mentioned the idea of the Citizen Amendment Request, a form for comments and suggestions to incorporate into the program; said they will also have about four visioning meetings; that they plan to work with the Chamber and the other organizations to get those Citizen Amendment Request forms out to get the input to help build the process; he said this is a very aggressive schedule with an amazing amount of work to be done, and we have to be poised to meet future needs in the various markets in order to have appropriate zoning, how much and in the right place, and have a parallel track for citizen requests to take to the Planning Commission then on to the Council, and then back into the program; said the goal is to produce a draft by June, and he plans to have planning staff assist in all these activities, so he will be looking at shifting some of the on-duty counter processes, and mentioned the idea of staff having a cell phone so that someone is always available to render assistance. Mr. Hohman stated that he doesn't want to shortchange the technical aspects of this; that they will need to do the proper analysis for the community and stakeholders' needs to move the city forward in different directions. In response to Councilmember Wick's comments about not wanting to lose any momentum created at the permit center and that he would rather take two years to complete this review then jeopardize that progress, Mr. Hohman said he would never do that; that they have made several gains in the last several years and will continue to use the resources in the best manner possible. Senior Planner Barlow went through the PowerPoint presentation explaining the update process,timeline, statutory requirements, phases of the update process which include the visioning process, draft comprehensive plan process, and final draft comprehensive plan process. She mentioned the dates this is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission and the Council, and said that overall staff anticipates about four Council meetings, four Planning Commission meetings, and as many as twelve planning staff and consultant team meetings. Ms. Barlow noted that the next steps are to create a project webpage on the City's website, that staff will conduct planning for Community Visioning, and hold community visioning meetings. Councilmember Hafner said the process seems overwhelming and he asked if the schedule is realistic keeping in mind staffs overall workload. Mr. Hohman said that at this stage staff feels the plan is aggressive but do-able; but a lot depends on the level of requests and public participation, but with a reasonable amount of requests, he feels they can stay on track. Mr. Jackson added that the idea of visioning is not just to have a statement, but to get ideas of how the community wants the city and zoning to develop, and what they want the city to look like in the future. Mayor Grafos said he feels the plan is realistic. 8. Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos Deputy Mayor Woodard said he would like a future administrative report on our rules and ordinance for e-cigarettes, including the age limits imposed. There were no objections to adding the topic to a future agenda. Council also decided to cancel the December 30 Council meeting and have those currently scheduled December 30 appointments made during the January 6 Council meeting. Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 6 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 9. Council Comments—Mayor Grafos: there were no Council comments. 10. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson: Mr. Jackson had no additional comments. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. 'I"P Dean Grafos,Mayor fiffJ/ Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Study Session 12-16-2014 Page 7 of 7 Approved by Council: 01/13/2015 Agenda Item#2 CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND PRIORITIES FOR USE OF LODGING TAX REVENUES: At their August 26, 2014 meeting, the Spokane Valley City Council by consensus decided to establish goals and priorities for the use of lodging tax revenues. They include: 1. Council desires to focus on all aspects of allowable lodging tax revenue uses by allocating portions of the available lodging tax revenues to each category specified in RCW 67.28.1816, as amended by Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1253: a. Tourism marketing. b. The marketing and operations of special events and festivals. c. The operation and capital expenditures of tourism related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or public facility district. d. The operation (but not capital expenditures) of tourism related facilities owned or operated by non-profit organizations. 2. To consider the economic impact derived through the expenditure of lodging tax proceeds of all major components of our tourism-based economy including shopping, dining, and overnight visits. 3. Utilize funds for capital expenditures to develop tourism destination facilities or venues within the City of Spokane Valley (this option is limited to facilities owned by a municipality or public facility district). 4. Programs, projects or events should have the goal of becoming operationally self-sustaining in the future. 5. Dedicate 5% of awards towards funding new projects,activities and/or events. [Note: Council has also opted to again set aside $30,000 of 2015 lodging tax proceeds to partially offset advertising costs for CenterPlace. This is allowed by RCW 67.28 because it reflects a continued historical use of lodging tax as opposed to a change in use.]