Loading...
2015, 10-13 Formal Meeting MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Meeting Format Tuesday, October 13, 2015 Mayor Grafos called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Attendance: City Staff Dean Grafos,Mayor Mike Jackson City Manager Arne Woodard,Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney Rod Higgins, Councilmember Mike Stone,Parks&Recreation Director Ed Pace, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Interim Finance Director Ben Wick, Councilmember Eric Guth, Public Works Director Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Pro Tem John Hohman, Community Development Dir. Mike Basinger, Economic Dev. Coordinator Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Isaac Hebden of The Intersection Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, Staff, and audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: n/a COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS Deputy Mayor Woodard: said he went to a SNAP Annual fundraising event; attended a Federal Reserve meeting at the Grand Hotel and said he wonders if the"reserve guy"who spoke really believes the"crap" he told everyone, said it was an interesting discussion, but if that Board member believes it then he really "needs to be put away"; attended the Chamber's Government Affairs meeting, said there was mention of Spokane City Proposition #1 and said the reason it would be of any importance to the valley is, if that proposition is passed it will affect every business and employee in Spokane Valley and ripple through the state, said this proposition is also called "Envision Spokane" and said this is the fourth attempt to pass it. City Attorney Driskell reminded Council about not discussing election issues from the dais, and Deputy Mayor Woodard said he feels Council needs to take a position on this. Mayor Grafos disagreed. Deputy Mayor Woodard said he feels Council needs to take positions once in a while on issues that will affect our City; he mentioned that more of these issues will be coming up, and said that the Chamber Government Affairs Committee is working to put together their legislative agenda,and he encouraged Councilmembers to attend their next meeting in order to give input on these issues. Councilmember Wick: explained that while SNAP is generally recognized for their energy assistance programs, they also do other things such as business or mortgage loans to save owners from foreclosure; said there are several assistance programs but they refer to their organization as a"hand-up" instead of a "hand-out;"said that SRTC(Spokane Regional Transportation Council) is discussing year-end figures and Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 1 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 said there are targets that need to be met or possibly lose money in the future, said as they move through the process it will be important to meet deadlines;that things are changing rapidly and they are working to figure out a way to reallocate funds; and as a regional council they are trying to streamline the process so the project up next on the contingency list would be ready to move forward quickly if needed. Councilmember Gothmann:said that he attended CenterPlace's ten-year celebration and that they are doing far and above what was originally expected;said he helped serve pancakes at Valleyfest;attended the SNAP meeting;went to the Chamber's Big 5 Reveal breakfast;went to a ribbon cutting and spoke at an event for an Avista solar project on Barker between Trent and the River, that he attended on behalf of the Mayor, said the project is structured so people can buy a panel and get a return over the following years in the form of credit on their power bill, said this is the largest solar project in our state; also mentioned that the President of Avista spoke at that meeting and conveyed how wonderful our permitting process is, and Councilmember Gothmann extended appreciation to staff members Karen Kendall and Luis Garcia. Councilmember Hafner: reported that he attended a general meeting of the HUB and that for the first time in many years,they are operating in the black as they work to continue to pay off their building; attended the Board of Health meeting where the legislature's short session was discussed concerning such topics as e-cigarette regulations,medical health and vaping;said there is a concern about the rising use of e-cigarettes and marijuana among the youth; attended the Valleyfest breakfast; went to the Chamber's legislative meeting where they discussed minimum salaries; went to the STA (Spokane Transit Authority) meeting where they continue the discussion about bus replacements and that they feel the diesel engine is the most economical bus for now, but the electrical bus will be the most promising bus in the future; attended the SCOPE dinner; and went to the Chamber's meeting about the educational workforce and how to provide jobs for members of our community; and also reported the good news that it appears that Councilmember Bill Bates's tumor is no longer growing. Councilmember Pace: said he attended the Board of Health Finance Committee meeting and was impressed with the financial conservatism of staff and the decision-making, said staff was customer oriented and proficient, said there has been a lot of"mission creep" and the Board has gone beyond their Constitutional mandate and gotten into a lot of social service programs and social engineering;said he went to the Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs meeting and heard a report on the effect of raising the minimum wage, and said there was talk about the negative impact on businesses and schools and said he thinks we need to have a voice on that:went to the Spokane Transit Authority(STA)committee meeting,which included two of the three County Commissioners and two Spokane City Councilmembers, and said the main focus was projecting the financial future so budgeting could be done accurately, like making a guess on growth of sales tax revenue and growth of expenses for running the system, said some want to do this conservatively and others want to understate the estimate of those growth figures so it looks like we need a sales tax increase; said they talked about the actual cost of running a bus with some things like labor unions and fuel prices out of their control,and said overall it didn't go over very well. Councilmember Higgins: said he attended CenterPlace's 10th year celebration; went to the HUB breakfast; attended the Washington Policy Center Dinner;the Chamber of Commerce's Big 5 reveal;attended the Air Force opening of their Regional Recruiting Center;participated in the Valleyfest parade;attended the Board meeting of the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, and now that the smoke from all the fires has largely cleared, said the meeting was rather mundane. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Grafos said he attended the SCOPE award dinner at the Mirabeau; also attended the Federal Reserve Bank meeting and said decisions in the new few months will have huge impacts on our economy as they are looking at the US economy and relationship to all the major world economies. Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 2 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 PROCLAMATION: n/a PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Grafos invited public comment. Sean Green:thanked Councilmember Pace for his service to our country and for standing up for the public process last week; said four years ago he met with a representative of the City of Everett discussing policy, met with City Attorney Driskell in 2012 to discuss policy; recently met with Deputy City Attorney Lamb about the legislative agenda; said during last week's study session Council decided to take action and make policy without public disclosure or public input, and said that is discouraging; said those actions make a negative impact on many businesses, like his, said he is a real estate appraiser; said the cannabis industry occupied one million square feet in Spokane Valley and said the demand in production has raised the property values 15 cents per square feet per month and that Council's actions struck all that value and asked if they have something against the cannabis industry. Peggy Sue Peterson: said she lives in apartments that are full and they have plumbing, electrical and managerial problems that are not taken care of; and mentioned she is highly allergic to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Nina Fluegal: mentioned an incident that occurred last week where her neighbors apparently thought she might know something about signs that were vandalized; said she doesn't appreciate the use of valuable resources such as the police talking to her about such things, as she had nothing to do with any sign vandalism and she wanted to make sure she cleared her name; also mentioned that when someone buys property that is zoned,for example MF-1 that they need to be ok with that or apply to get it changed before they buy. 1.PUBLIC HEARING: 2015 Budget Amendment—Chelsie Taylor Mayor Grafos opened the public hearing at 6:40 p.m. After Interim Finance Director Taylor went over the major proposed changes to the 2015 budget, Mayor Grafos invited public comment. No comments were offered and Mayor Grafos closed the public at 6:50 p.m. 2. CONSENT AGENDA: Consists of items considered routine which are approved as a group. Any member of Council may ask that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda to be considered separately. Proposed Motion:I move to approve the Consent Agenda. a. Approval of vouchers on October 13,2015 Request for Council Action Form Totaling$3,886,911.22 b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending September 30,2015: $457,394.44 c.Approval of September 15, 2015 Study Session Format Council Meeting Minutes d. Approval of September 22,2015 Formal Format Council Meeting Minutes e. Approval of September 29, 2015 Study Session Format Council Meeting Minutes It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. NEW BUSINESS 3. Second Reading Proposed Ordinance 15-016 Property Tax—Chelsie Taylor After City Clerk Bainbridge read the Ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to approve Ordinance 15-016 levying regular property taxes for 2016. Ms.Taylor explained that this is the ordinance that will set the property tax levy as required by state; she went over the "new information"contained in her Request for Council Action form;explained about the Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) and that it is less than 1% for the 2016 tax year and in order to bank that excess capacity, a second property tax ordinance would be necessary;however,after the City Manager discussed this with the Finance Committee, the Committee elected not to pursue the second tax ordinance. Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. It was then moved by Councilmember Pace and seconded to amend the ordinance to lower the property tax by 1%and set the banked capacity to zero. Councilmember Pace Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 3 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 said it is not much but every little bit helps and the money belongs in the hands of the people who earned it,and more money in the people's hands means more in the economy.Councilmember Gothmann said that Council already went through the budget process and if this was a desire, it should have been part of the process and set forth as a goal so the City Manager could analyze what effect this would have. Councilmember Wick asked if Councilmember Pace had suggestions and Councilmember Pace replied that he doesn't want to micromanage. Mayor Grafos added that there have been many meetings on this and these issues were discussed;said we can't just throw out 1%,and said there are a lot of successful programs including the Trail,Economic Development,and City Hall. Vote on the motion to amend:In Favor:Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmember Pace; Opposed: Mayor Grafos, and Councilmembers Hafner, Higgins, Wick and Gothmann. Motion to amend failed. Vote on the original motion to approve the ordinance:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed:None. Motion carried. 4. First Reading Proposed Ordinance 15-018 Amending 2015 Budget—Chelsie Taylor After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title,it was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to advance the ordinance to a second reading. After Ms. Taylor went over the proposed amendments to the budget as noted in her October 13,2015 Request for Council Action form,Mayor Grafos invited public comment. No comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. 5. First Reading Proposed Ordinance 15-019 Adopting 2016 Budget—Chelsie Taylor After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Councilmember Wick and seconded to advance Ordinance 15-019 adopting the budget, to a second reading. Ms. Taylor went over the background of the budget process and of the remaining steps for adoption. Councilmember Pace asked about the growth amount and Ms. Taylor said for the general fund, that represents 2.79% for the total budget. Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. Deputy Mayor Woodard said he objects to the 2.79% as it has moved up considerably from the 1% when the direction was set several years ago; said he realizes labor costs and things such as the Spokane County Public Safety contract drive up costs and that Council has very little control, and therefore needs to be more diligent with all other aspects; said he objects to the $275,000 truck and feels there is time to get more information for potential contractors for snow removal and that the core of Council's mission is to stay a contract city. It was then moved by Councilmember Pace and seconded to cap the budget growth of the general fund at 1%over last year; he said this would be in keeping with the goal set several years ago of 1%growth. When asked about the process, Mr. Jackson said he would have to make necessary adjustments. Deputy Mayor Woodard reiterated his opposition to the truck purchase and Mayor Grafos argued against the idea of trying to contract for a truck, and said that he feels it is a good capital investment and is a safety matter. After further brief discussion, vote by acclamation to amend the motion: In Favor: Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmember Pace; Opposed: Mayor Grafos, and Councilmembers Hafner, Higgins, Wick, and Gothmann. Motion to amend failed. Mayor Grafos invited public comment and Mr. Sean Green said he would be interested in submitting a response to a proposal for a snow removal truck. There were no further public comments. Vote by Acclamation on the original motion to advance the ordinance to a second reading:In Favor:Mayor Grafos and Councilmembers Hafner, Higgins, Wick and Gothmann. Opposed: Deputy Mayor Woodard and Councilmember Pace. Motion passed. Mayor Grafos called for a recess at 7:26 p.m.; he reconvened the meeting at 7:38 p.m. 6. Motion Consideration: Stormwater Construction Grants—Eric Guth It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded to authorize the City Manager to apply for FY2016 Ecology grants for projects "Ponderosa Drive Stormwater Diversions" and "Havana Stormwater Diversions at 8t and 14th" as recommended by staff. Public Works Director Guth briefly explained the projects, and said there have been no changes since this was discussed last week. Mayor Grafos invited Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 4 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 public comment;no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed:None. Motion Carried. 7. Motion Consideration: Sullivan Road W. Bridge Changes are 'de minimis"—Steve Worley It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard and seconded that the temporary and permanent impacts to the Centennial Trail resulting from the Sullivan Road West Bridge Replacement Project are "de minimis. " Standing in for Mr. Worley, Public Works Director Guth went over the background of this issue, as noted on the October 13, 2015 Request for Council Action Form, about the bridge clearance and the trail and of the recommendation for the change, and that it is staff's recommendation that Council concur with the de minimis determination. Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed:None. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Grafos invited public comment; no comments were offered. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS 8. Community Development Block Grant, 2016 Program Project List—Mike Basinger Economic Development Coordinator Basinger,via his PowerPoint presentation,explained about the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) progression and of our City's 20% guaranteed set-aside amount, which he said should be about $270,000 but that in speaking with Spokane County, they concurred it is acceptable to exceed that amount. Mr. Basinger explained that the application process includes targeting low to moderate-income areas;said it is becoming more difficult to find sidewalk projects near schools and where we don't have to buy right-of-way; said in this project we already own the right-of-way. Mayor Grafos suggested we start looking at those areas in our City that need sidewalks. There was Council consensus to proceed as planned with the public hearing and motion for the October 27, 2015 Council meeting. 9. Advance Agenda—Mayor Grafos Councilmember Pace said our citizens are nervous about what the City of Spokane is going and feel that pretty soon these things will bleed over,and he suggested having a resolution stating we are against raising the minimum wage and against a worker's bill of rights.Mr.Jackson said if we did so,that would be coming out in opposition to a ballot measure; but if Council wants to speak on some of these items, Council could agree to waive the rules and weigh-in on a measure; that the agenda item would need to be published in order to allow comments from both sides of the issue to come in and speak;and suggested if Council would like to waive the rules and take up an issue, to do so by motion; and if such motion prevails, staff could move forward on this and explain the process as noted in the State statutes. Councilmember Hafner said if Council were to do that,they would need to make sure and examine both sides of an issue, and to look at all the facts before making a decision, and expressed concern when getting into other political venues. Councilmember Gothmann also stated that both sides of the issue would need to be present, but that he would prefer not becoming a forum for the City of Spokane problems or issues going on in Spokane. Mayor Grafos said he is also not in favor of a motion to go forward as he too does not want to become a forum for the City of Spokane, as we have enough issues to deal with in our own City. On a separate issue, Councilmember Wick asked about our City's legislative agenda items. City Manager Jackson said he was just about to address that issue. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS City Manager Jackson said staff and Mayor Grafos and some Councilmembers met with Spokane County officials to discuss potential expansion of the sewer system in the industrial area and other dealings with the mining moratorium; said the County and Central Pre-Mix presented their facts to staff for further discussion. Mr. Jackson also noted that he met with Briahna Murray(nee Taylor)to discuss the legislative agenda; and said he could work through this and then send out a draft to Council so Council could be prepared for the upcoming Chamber meeting. Mr. Jackson noted our success with the Appleway Trail Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 5 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 beginning at Balfour and ending at Corbin; mentioned AWC (Association of Washington Cities)wants to continue along the same lines as they have been for protecting state shared revenues and Council agreed; regarding continuing to pursue recouping code enforcement costs, Council also concurred. Regarding reconciliation of medical and recreational marijuana and in dealing with lounges, Mr. Jackson explained that the City of Seattle wants to add a clause to that bill that if a city still wants to license marijuana lounges, they could, but he said that might weaken our stance, and said he told Ms. Murray we want to keep our legislation intact, and Council concurred. Mr. Jackson said there is some talk about reducing the penalty from a felony to a misdemeanor;that originally we proposed a misdemeanor and he isn't sure how it became a felony; said a lot of these proposed legislative suggestions are driven by large apartment complexes that have rules against smoking, but aren't sure how to craft a regulation about smoking in a public place. Mr. Jackson went over the AWC priorities with Council agreeing with the following: (1)continue to fund critical infrastructure such as the eliminated public works trust fund;(2)ensure sufficient revenue and fiscal sustainability for cities to provide cities with ongoing revenue and not continuously change those revenue sources;(3)help cities prepare for and address impacts of natural disasters,such as the many fires this year, which have shown that many are not well prepared to deal with those; (4)strengthen the public records act and look for ways to make it less burdensome on cities; and (5) recreational immunity concerning trails; sometimes people get hurt on trails and many are funded as transportation alternatives; and that we would like to classify trails as recreational facilities. Concerning enhancing services for the homeless and for affordable housing,Mr.Jackson explained that would include the ability for Council to impose an additional .25%REET(real estate excise tax)to make investments in affordable housing,and Council said they prefer not to support that issue. Mr. Jackson mentioned the public record act and the police department and body cameras concerning storing the information, and it was noted that our City would not be affected by this since as we contract for our police services. Mr. Jackson said if there are other issues Council would like to add, to please let him know. Deputy Mayor Woodard suggested keeping the capital projects, and Mr. Jackson agreed that we would retain the Barker Project on the list,and hold off on any new capital projects. Councilmember Wick also asked about the oil trains and the lifted embargo. Mr. Jackson said he would research that. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. ATTES . p Dean Grafos,Mayor • LyChristine Bainbridge, City Clerk Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 10-13-2015 Page 6 of 6 Approved by Council: 10-27-2015 GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN-IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, October 13, 2015 GENERAL CITIZEN COMMENTS YOUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTE Please sign in if you wish to make public comments. NAME TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE PLEASE PRINT WILL SPEAK ABOUT Please note that once information is entered on this form, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure.