2015, 02-03 Study Session Meeting MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
STUDY SESSION FORMAT
Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
February 3, 2015 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 Cary Driskell, City Attorney
Rod Higgins, Councilmember John Hohman, Community Development Dir.
Ed Pace, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks& Recreation Director
Ben Wick, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director
Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney
ABSENT: Gloria Mantz, Development Engineer
Bill Bates, Councilmember Mike Basinger, Senior Planner
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 Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to
excuse Councilmember Bates from tonight's meeting.
1. Public Works Bid Process—Steve Worley
Engineer Worley explained that Council previously requested information on the Public Works bid
process and how it relates to City projects; and through use of his PowerPoint, explained about the two
categories of bids: small works and formal; the amounts which trigger when to bid public works projects;
and how the public bids are processed, tabulated and eventually presented to Council for award
consideration. Mr. Worley also showed some examples of some previous bid errors and how those are
addressed. Council thanked Mr. Worley for the information.
2. Historic Preservation—Gloria Mantz, Mike Basinger
Development Engineer Mantz explained that there are several steps in connection with establishing a
local historic preservation program, and via her PowerPoint explained about the historic preservation
ordinance, bringing Council's attention to the "model" ordinance, mentioned the purpose of the ordinance,
the establishing of an Historic Commission, the historic register, and local tax incentives; she went over
the process for our City to become a "Certified Local Government" (CLG) and what responsibilities are
associated with being a CLG; she went over the benefits of a CLG, and the roles and responsibilities of
Council, the Historic Commission and the Community and Economic Development staff, including the
workload anticipated with running such a program. Ms. Mantz explained the three options: (1) City staff
runs the entire program; (2) through a services contract, a consultant would provide technical support, or
(3)through an interlocal agreement, have the City of Spokane provide technical support.
Concerning the fees listed on slide 14, Councilmember Pace asked what our fees might be, and Ms.
Mantz replied that those fees are what the City of Spokane charges the County, and that any fees we set
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would be at CounciI's discretion. A question came up about changing properties that are on the register,
and Ms. Mantz explained that the state provides standards and guidelines for review of any changes that
might occur concerning registered properties. Deputy Mayor Woodard asked if the City could declare a
property historic, and Ms. Mantz responded yes, but with the consent of the owner, which is required in
order for the property to be on the register; and she emphasized that language in our ordinance would
include that the owner must consent to be part of an historic register. The question came up about
removing properties on a register, or changing the property or demolishing the building on the property,
and Mr. Jackson noted that the verbiage can be drafted to tailor to Council's wishes, such as that the
property owner has the ability to decide if the building gets removed from the register.
Councilmember Pace also asked about "figuring out the building code thing" concerning which building
code would apply to any change to a building, and Ms. Mantz said she will need to research that further.
Mayor Grafos said an ordinance could be beneficial to and give a property owner leverage if the building
were on the register, it would be reviewed and might not have to meet some of those codes, or perhaps
could even have a determination appealed. Mr. Jackson said further research would be needed in that area
as we would have limited ability; that the state has some exceptions in consideration of buildings, but we
will have to look at the full extent of what could be done as there are certain limitations on what building
codes could be waived.
3. E-Cigarettes—Cary Driskell
City Attorney Driskell said staff was asked to research the issue of age concerning use of e-cigarettes, and
whether that age should be raised to 21. Mr. Driskell explained that there has not been much work done
on a state or federal level regarding e-cigarettes relative to health issues; but said there is the concern that
that if the age for e-cigarettes were changed to 21 while tobacco remains at 18, that might move people
toward smoking tobacco and away from e-cigarettes, and he suggested using caution on any change. Mr.
Driskell said that the Washington State Attorney General had introduced a bill for tobacco and e-
cigarettes that if passed,would raise the age for use on those products from 18 to 21; he said it is not clear
what might happen with this bill, and staff recommends waiting to see how it progresses before making
any change to our City Code. Mr. Jackson asked Council if they support raising the age for use of tobacco
and/or e-cigarettes, to 21. After brief discussion about enforcement, and possible use by those in the
military who are under 21 years of age; it was determined that we will wait to see what, if any change the
state will propose.
4. Proposed 2015 Legislative Session Marijuana Bills—Erik Lamb
Deputy City Attorney Lamb explained that tonight is an opportunity to hear and discuss some of the
legislatively proposed marijuana bills; he said our Lobbyist Briahna Taylor provides weekly updates to
Council on numerous bills; that so far, nineteen bills have been introduced this year and they seem to
change daily; and of those nineteen, two or three are of primary interest to us, adding that he tries to
watch those bills as much as possible. Some of the proposed legislation discussed by Mr. Lamb included
SB 5052 (Senate Bill) and 5519, which are programs to reconcile both medical and recreational
marijuana; he said RB (House Bill) 1461 is an omnibus bill that attempts to combine all eighteen of the
other house bills that were introduced; he said hearings have been conducted on some of these bills and as
bills are introduced, it becomes apparent there are conflicting provisions. Mr. Lamb said the issue of
reconciling recreational and medical marijuana is the most prime; that 5052 and 5519 were originally
introduced as two different methods to reconcile marijuana, with 5052 creating two store types to keep
the two systems separate. Bill 5519, Mr. Lamb explained had originally combined everything into the
502-stores and the retail stores could apply for an endorsement to provide medical grade marijuana and
get the tax exemption; but since the bill was introduced, a substitute bill 5052 was introduced to eliminate
the two store system, so now we are back to looking at a single system using the 502-retail stores with the
medical endorsement; and he said it appears that the 5052 bill is the agreed-upon vehicle; and that it
includes an increase in the requirements concerning how one becomes a qualified patient; and said both
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Approved by Council:02-24-2015
the bill and its substitute bill would allow minors access to medical marijuana, with restrictions based on
age and information concerning when the parent has to make the purchase; he said both bills would reset
the number of retail stores as they feel there will be an increased demand because of the medical
marijuana; and it also provides that anyone can grow up to six plants at their home. Collective gardens,
which Mr. Lamb said is the current method for medical, would be eliminated under both bills in about a
year or more in order to allow time for the medical shop's rules to be developed and endorsements to be
issued. Mr. Lamb said 5052 would allow the creation of cooperatives, which are similar to collective
gardens, but more restrictive with only allowing four instead of the ten patients. Concerning HB 1461, the
omnibus bill that combines the eighteen other house bills, Mr. Lamb said legislators just cut and pasted,
but it does include strengthening the definition of a "public place" for where marijuana could be
consumed; he said it allows flexibility for local governments to modify the buffers and said we want to
watch that bill to make sure the state doesn't eliminate the buffers we imposed. Mr. Lamb said that
hearings are scheduled for today and yesterday so we can expect more changes.
City Manager Jackson said he was informed by Lobbyist Briahna Taylor that she signed our City in
concerning bill 1461 to recommend adding language to that bill about cannabis vaping and underage
consumption. Mr. Jackson said there are many bills, some complex, and that Ms. Taylor will try to sign
in and use our relevant "talking points" connected with our own Legislative Agenda, and which are part
of tonight's Council packet; said he assumes Council wants to retain its legislative authority concerning
marijuana bills, and said if Council concurs, Ms. Taylor will oppose anything that would take away any
local authority; adding that it has become apparent that the possibility of eliminating medical marijuana is
very slim; and said the main message is that Ms. Taylor will use these "talking points" at every
opportunity, and Council concurred.
5. 2015 Street Sweeping Services Bid Results—Eric Guth
As noted in his Request for Council Action, Mr. Guth explained that the previous agreement for street
sweeping services was a one-year contract with AAA Sweeping, with six, one-year renewal options; and
that the last of those options expired at the end of 2014. Mr. Guth explained that staff prepared a request
for bid, and that specifications from the previous bid were evaluated and updated to add the ability to use
a vacuum sweeper in certain circumstances, included a line item for use of a foreman during spring and
fall work, discontinued the kick-broom sweeper requirement, and called for an initial agreement with up
to four, one-year renewal options; which he said is the same term as the street and stormwater
maintenance contract. Regarding previous bike lane discussions, he said a high efficiency vacuum
sweeper was added to the fleet which is good for the curb line where most of the smaller particles collect;
that the use of a foreman will be at an hourly rate so we can determine when that foreman would be used.
Mr. Guth explained that the bid opening was January 23, 2015, and the only bid proposal submitted was
from AAA Sweeping; he said they have done a good job in the past,they have the equipment,and that the
contract will be brought to Council at the February 10 meeting for motion consideration. Mr. Guth also
noted that AAA Sweeping's bid was $489,979.50, and comparing that with the engineer's estimate of
$487,906.85, represents a very small difference of.4%. Mr. Guth said that the budgeted amount for this
service has been the same amount since 2009; that staff can also control how many hours we use their
services. Mr. Guth said the fall sweep has also been refined as staff looks at aerial photos to see where the
service is needed, followed by actual viewing of the areas in the field. Council concurred to bring this
back next week for approval consideration.
6. Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda.
7. Council Comments—Mayor Grafos There were no additional Council comments.
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8. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson
City Manager Jackson said that yesterday the County Auditor recorded our acquisition of the property at
the corner of Sprague and Dartmouth; and that next steps to move forward with our new City Hall project
include revising the qualifications for architects. Concerning our Legislative Agenda, he said there is a
hearing set for Monday on our proposed code lien legislation, which is now designated as Senate Bill
5694, and which is sponsored by Senators Padden and Baumgartner; said the City Attorney will be
attending the hearing and he asked if any Councilmembers would be interested in attending, realizing that
we have a meeting with the Board of County Commissioners on Monday as well. Mr. Jackson mentioned
some of the legislation in the Association of Washington Cities' bulletin, including proposed Senate Bill
5624 to eliminate the Public Works Trust Fund, which provides assistance to small and medium
jurisdictions to get loans for projects. Mr. Jackson said he feels that legislation will not likely move
forward.
It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 7:24 p.m.
ATT ST, Iran Grafos, ayor
istineBainbridge, City Clerk
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Approved by Council:02-24-2015