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2018, 08-28 Regular Format MINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Meeting Format Tuesday, August 28,2018 Deputy Mayor Haley called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Staff. Pam Haley,Deputy Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager Brandi Peetz, Councilmember John Hohman,Deputy City Manager Linda Thompson, Councilmember Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney Ben Wick, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Sam Wood, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks &Recreation Director Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer Mark Werner,Police Chief Absent:Rod Higgins, Mayor Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Manuel Denning of Fountain Ministries Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Several members of a Iocal Cub Scout Troop led Council, staff, and the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except Mayor Higgins. It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Mayor Higgins from tonight's meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS Councilmember Wood: said he had no report. Councilmember Peetz: said she attended a few ribbon cuttings and a few dedications, including the North Pines dedication. Councilmember Woodard: said he also attended the school dedications, and spoke at one in the absence of the Mayor who is out of town;that he attended some ribbon cuttings and grand openings, including the new CHAZ Dental Clinic;and went to the Chamber of Commerce Transportation Meeting where he heard about some plans to help revitalize the east Sprague area. Councilmember Thompson: reported that she attended a municipal budgeting and financial management workshop in Leavenworth, and said with thanks to our City Manager and Finance Director, she discovered she knew more than she thought she knew and she extended thanks for our good system; said she attended an excellent legislative update on how to be pro-active; and met with the Board of Health Budget and Finance Committee, and said there should be a new press release shortly concerning ways to help with the opioid problem. Councilmember Wick: said none of his committees met last week but he did attended the Chamber's Transportation Meeting and learned how Liberty Lake does their pavement preservation. MAYOR'S REPORT Deputy Mayor Haley reported that she also attended some grand openings and ribbon cuttings. Minutes Regular Council Meeting:08-28-2018 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council:09-25-2018 PROCLAMATION:Appreciation to Pam Almeida, Retired Director, Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels After Deputy Mayor Haley read the proclamation, the audience, staff and Council stood in appreciation of Ms. Almeida, after which she accepted the Proclamation with thanks. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Deputy Mayor Haley explained the process, and said that due to the length of tonight's meeting and that Council will have an executive session afterwards,the total amount of time for public comments would be 45 minutes. Deputy Mayor Haley invited public comment. I. Rev. Genevieve Heywood, United Church of Christ Pastor: said she watched the August l 4 meeting video and listened to the comments; said racism exists here; and she again asked Councilmembers to sign the Resolution Against White Nationalism, and she gave another copy to the Clerk for distribution to the Council. 2.Mr.Glenn Ward,Spokane:spoke about his business and that he wanted to make sure Council understands the impact of having elected officials meet with people who are associated with white nationalism;he spoke of the James Alsup meeting, and said Council needs to be clear that all are welcome in our City. 3. Ms. Mary Noble, Spokane: she spoke of the poem written by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemiiller which is about the dangers of political apathy; said she thanks God we are not in that same situation, but white nationalism activities are of great concern to us all, and that a Spokane Valley leader welcomed a white nationalist is alarming; said she is the daughter of a holocaust survivor and she urged Council to be very clear about their position on this topic. 4. Ms. Joan Berkowitz, Spokane Valley: said she is a small business owner; said it doesn't appear that Council realizes that association with any hate or white nationalism is detrimental; said no adult attends a meeting without knowing beforehand the essence of what the group represents; and any elected official who attends multiple meetings of the Northwest Grassroots knows what they stand for;said if you read you will know about James Alsup; said the ability to govern is judged in part by who and what you endorse; said if white nationalists and hate rhetoric continues, many businesses will leave Spokane Valley, and she encouraged Council to sign the resolution renouncing white supremacy, and to take action proving this Council is against hate in any form. 5. Mr. Luc Jasmen, Spokane Valley: said as a minority he is worried about being exploited for political gain,that it makes him anxious and prevents him from sleeping well; and instead of exploiting his race for political gain, Council should work together and figure out real solutions to ongoing problems. 6. Mr. Bill Brady, Spokane Valley: said he is just finding out about this white nationalism issue; said he worked in Coeur d'Alene when Richard Butler was over there and we don't need that here; said his wife is Chinese and she gets a lot of looks, comments, and whispers; said he has a grandchild who feels discrimination in the schools, and that we don't need white nationalism here or anywhere. 7.Ms.Dee Kirk,Spokane Valley: said she is against white supremacists and any tint of anything that would give anyone an excuse to make them think Spokane Valley leaders are leading that way; said she heard the valley City was thinking of voting for hidden carry laws; said that is a bad combination; that she doesn't like guns or hate and wants her Council politicians to reflect that courage, and to unite and be strong. 8. Ms. Peggy Doering, Spokane Valley: said she attended last week's study session and listened to the discussion about the hotel/motel tax funding and the three proposals Council reviewed with the set-aside funds for development; said she is conflicted about the power of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and feels we need to step back a bit to see what we want to do with that money; said some want a sports arena so maybe we could have that be set aside and examine the cost and take that back to the citizens; said she doesn't think that is a decision for a committee. There were no further public comments. Minutes Regular Council Meeting:08-28-2018 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council:09-25-2018 1. 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 claim vouchers on Aug 28, 2018 Request for Council Action Form Total: $2,540,530.88 b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending August 15,2018: $368,321.22 c.Approval of 32"4 Avenue Project Change Order d. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes,August 14,2018 Regular Formal Meeting It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. NEW BUSINESS: 2. First Reading Ordinance 18-019 Repealing SVMC 7.40, E-Cigarettes—Erik Lamb After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Councilmember Woodard and seconded to suspend the rules and adopt Ordinance 18-019, repealing chapter 7.40 relating to regulation of electronic cigarettes and related devices, on first reading. Deputy City Attorney Lamb briefly explained the background of this proposed change,as noted on his August 28,2018 Request for Council Action Form. Deputy Mayor Haley invited public comments;no comments were offered. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 3. Condo Act—Senator Padden,Arthur Whitten,Jim Frank Spokane Home Builders Association Government Affairs Director Mr. Arthur Whitten started by introducing himself and Mr. Jim Frank, Greenstone Homes owner and founder, and Senator Mike Padden from the 4th Legislation District. Mr. Whitten said an issue has been identified by the some of the Home Builders Association membership concerning the state's Condominium Act, which he explained prevents and creates new barriers on new condos from being in the Spokane County region; said their local and state associations have identified there is a critical missing piece in attainable home ownership related to new condo development in the Act's honor warranty provision and liability concerns; said it makes it unattainable for builders to build new condos in Spokane County; said that data that his organization has collected shows that less than 250 have been filed since 2010,while in that same time period,thousands of new rental,multi-family units have been built. Mr.Whitten said his association believes that a critical piece of family home options and in keeping with the state's Growth Management Act, is building condos. Mr. Whitten said he is here today to provide some information about the Condo Act and to ask for Council's support into the 2019 legislative session for some reforms to the State Condominium Act. Speaking from an industry perspective, Mr. Frank said he has been in the homebuilding business in the Spokane region for 35 years; that prior to 2009, condominiums were an important and critical part of the housing market; that the legislature changed in 2009 in response to warranty issues in the Seattle area, which changed construction standards on condos, which standards are not imposed or any other form of construction; said they imposed inspection regimes and created a statutory warranty that extends for about ten years; said he thinks the intent was to provide consumer protection, but that law completely eliminated the construction of condominiums in our state. Mr. Frank said there are virtually no condominiums being constructed but those that are being constructed,are at the very high end, such as$2 million condominiums in Seattle,where they can bear the cost and associated litigation risks. He stated that he does a lot of work in Idaho, and the smaller condominiums is where the real loss occurs; and said he feels changes are needed to enable condominiums to be able to be constructed. Mr. Frank said there are two large issues; one is affordability as condominiums provide an entry level opportunity for ownership; and the second issue is home ownership; that over the last ten years he has seen a major structural shift in the market where larger percentages of populations are forced to rent as they can't afford home ownership, which he said resulted in over 35-40% of rentals versus home ownership; he said massive apartment projects are being built but we aren't seeing home ownership.Mr.Frank said every condominium results in litigation;and the insurance Minutes Regular Council Meeting:08-28-2018 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council:09-25-2018 companies won't insure them, and without insurance, the projects can't be built. Mr. Frank said they are here tonight to ask Council to make this a legislative priority for Spokane Valley; and that they are talking to all the local jurisdictions to ask them to be part of a coalition of local cities, because it is the local cities that will suffer from this perhaps more than cities like Seattle; said in our smaller communities it is important not to allow housing prices to escalate and that condominiums are an important part of home ownership. Mr.Frank said they are looking at three possible approaches: one is to provide an exemption for this statute for small projects, such as projects less than three stories and less than a certain number of units; a second approach is to provide a local option for some of the development standards for all the multi-family construction and not just for condominiums, and third,which he said will likely have to be dealt with at the state-wide level, is to try to deal with the warranty provision as the current warranty provisions do not allow the developer to go in and correct a defect; as it is now, if there is a defect, litigation takes place; he said we don't want a system that encourages lawsuits instead of repairs. Senator Padden said when he was chair of the Law and Justice Committee in 2017, they had a hearing on this issue and it was clear the two groups were not interested in working something out; and in June of 2018, they had a hearing in Vancouver on many of the same topics, and it was very favorable to making some changes; he mentioned affordability and said in western Washington the homeless problem is great and many are forced out of apartments as the rents continue to rise;and said that people trying to buy homes can't afford them with home prices escalating, and if they can't afford the apartments,they don't have the option of a condominium and he echoed Mr. Frank's views that it doesn't make sense to have a lawsuit instead of having the ability to fix something. Senator Padden said he likes the idea of the smaller units having a threshold before the Condominium Act comes into effect;said with home ownership there is more stability in the community and homeowners generally take great pride and care where they live. Senator Padden said he thinks there is interest in both caucuses in the Senate and the House; said there has been other legislation introduced and it would be great if Spokane Valley would, along with some of the other cities, support some legislation. Senator Padden said they don't have specific language on a particular bill yet, that there are various options and they would likely want to see what people might be receptive to;and again mentioned the idea of the exemption and/or threshold, and said they will be continuing to work on the language. Mr. Whitten noted there is a coalition of people from various groups who are also working on language similar to these suggestions. 4. Legislative Agenda, 2019, Discussion—Mark Calhoun,Briahna Murray City Manager Calhoun introduced Ms. Briahna Murray and Mr. Josh Weiss, our lobbyists from Gordon Thomas Honeywell;he explained that this is the first of three planned presentations on the 2019 legislative agenda,with final approval scheduled for the October 23 Council meeting; he noted this is an initial draft, and that we can have more than the future two planned opportunities for discussion if Council desires. Ms. Murray and Mr. Weiss went through their PowerPoint presentation discussing the political climate, the basics of the legislative session,and the emerging"hot"topics; followed by Mr. Calhoun going through the individual items in the draft legislative agenda. There was some discussion about Browns Park with Councilmember Wick stating he would like to build into that item, additional language to show how much we already put into that project. Mr. Calhoun also noted that under the item of"Defend Local Control"as per Councilmember Wick's earlier suggestion,that"most important level of government"will be changed to "most effective level of government. The issue of the Condo Act was also mentioned and Ms. Murray said this is also an AWC priority, and there she too has not seen any specific language, adding that some communities are adopting a policy statement in support of making some changes. City Manager Calhoun said he will build those changes in, including any change needed once he hears from the County on the criminal justice training language. It was noted this is scheduled to come back to Council for further discussion at the October 2,2018 meeting. Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 08-28-2018 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council:09-25-2018 Deputy Mayor Haley called for a recess at 7:48 p.m.; she reconvened the meeting at 8:00 p.m. 5.Review of Potential and Pending Capital Projects—Chelsie Taylor Finance Director Taylor went over the material included in her August 28,2018 Request for Council Action form concerning the potential and pending capital projects and accompanying worksheet and mentioned that a strilcethrough indicates the project is complete and closed. There was brief discussion about the set aside amount, with Mr. Calhoun noting that we are now actually in excess of that 10% set-aside amount. Councilmember Wick said he isn't sure the legislative agenda matches this and Mr. Calhoun said he will make sure it does;that the$3.2 million presumes Council is agreeable to earmarking the new$764,000,but he can make the case stronger in the legislative agenda. There were no objections. 6. Advance Agenda Mayor Higgins Councilmember Peetz brought up the idea of having town halls, or other ways to get the community more involved; she also noted the three projects previously brought forward by Council for tourism, said she would like to get more public comment on that item. City Manager Calhoun said we will be carrying forward more specific information on those three projects, adding that it is difficult to do a town hall until we have that additional information. Councilmembers Wick and Thompson indicated their interest. Councilmember Thompson suggested the community meetings should be about specific projects, and that perhaps we could use voting pads from AWC; she also suggested having something like the City of Lacey's Compassionate Lacey workshop as part of the national movement to celebrate, connect and create a compassionate community, which would incorporate being inclusive and celebrating diversity; and she offered to find out more about that topic. Mr. Calhoun noted at least two other Councilmembers agreed with that suggestion, and he said he will be in touch with Councilmember Thompson for further discussion of that topic. INFORMATION ONLY The (7)Department Reports, and the (8) Customer Service Survey Quarterly Report,were for information only and were not reported or discussed. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS City Manager Calhoun said that in connection with Ms. Murray's explanation of the streamlined sales tax, he mentioned the consortium of cities who had asked Council to consider approving the Mayor to sign the letter before you, addressed to Governor Inslee to request that the proposed 2019-2021 Operating Budget continue to fund streamlined sales tax (SST) mitigation payments for those cities that have not received adequate revenue under the Washington Marketplace Fairness Act to offset discontinuing these payments. There were no objections from Council. 9.EXECUTIVE SESSION: Potential Litigation [RCW 42.30.110(1)(i)] It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss potential litigation, and that no action will be taken upon return to open session. Council adjourned into executive session at 8:13 p.m. At approximately 8:40 p.m., Deputy Mayor Haley declared Council out of executive session, at which time it was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. AT TESL.R. Hi in, gg " 1011 ristine Bainbri.ge, City Cler1 Minutes Regular Council Meeting: 08-28-2018 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council:09-25-2018 SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, August 28, 2018 6:00 p.m. Regular Meeting GENERAL CITIZEN COMMENTS SIGN-IN SHEET YOUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES This sign-in sheet is for making comments not associated with an action item on tonight's agenda. If you wish to comment about an individual action item on tonight's agenda (such a a otion to approve an ordinance, resolution, or contract) the Mayor will ask for comme s on ose items once that item is reached on the agenda. Please sign in if you wish to make public comments. NAME TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU YOUR CITY OF ' IDENCE PLEASE PRINT WILL SPEAK ABOUT bittrIcoj jeTe IN 41/4.4,"- E�eSc� �t�Qti C-Ov eron.1 4a` S ,_ 44yzy tki1043 e 41(04 9 ccic v +rte G c'e/ cPeAO r - - ' , c s rte c 2 r � S P Please note that once information is entered on this form, it becomes a public record subject to public disclosure.