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2020, 03-03 Study SessionMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Study Session Format Tuesday, March 3, 2020 Mayor Wick called the meeting to order at 6 pm. Ben Wick, Mayor Brandi Peetz, Deputy Mayor Pam Haley, Councilmember Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Rod Higgins, Councilmember Linda Thompson, Councilmember Arne Woodard, Councilmember [left at 6:25 pm] Mark Calhoun City Manager John Hohman, Deputy City Manager Cary Driskell, City Attorney Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Mike Stone, Parks & Rec Director Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Mark Werner, Police Chief Jenny Nickerson, Building Official Gloria Mantz, Engineering Manager Mike Basinger, Economic Dev. Manager John Whitehead, Human Resources Manager Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the amended agenda. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Motion Consideration: Sprague & Barker Intersection Improvement Project — Gloria Mantz, Erica Amsden It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to authorize City Staff to advance the design of the Sprague -Barker intersection, with a roundabout. Ms. Mantz explained the existing conditions, the options of a traffic signal or a roundabout, including the pros and cons of each, and ended by stating that staff recommends the roundabout for this location. She also mentioned that this project's concepts were presented to the public on February 20, 2020, which was attended by approximately 70 people; said staff received twenty-five written comments, with twelve in favor of a roundabout, nine in favor of a signal, and four with no preference. Councilmember Higgins asked if staff accommodated the concerns voiced by a woman at the previous meeting and Ms. Mantz said that Ms. Amsden sent her an invitation to meet via e- mail, but that Ms. Amsden has been out for the last few days so she (Ms. Mantz) doesn't know if a meeting has been scheduled. Ms. Mantz also noted that the concepts showing are not the final designs, but are just concepts to compare the signal versus a roundabout. Mayor Wick invited public comment. Ms. Barb Howard, Spokane Valley: said this would be three -fourths of a mile from the school being built in Liberty Lake; said she heard they want a sports complex out there, and she asked why isn't Liberty Lake or the school district helping with the expense; said she also doesn't understand why the City would destroy this woman's property. There were no further public comments. Discussion ensued about the various aspects of the project. Councilmember Woodard said that he hopes the engineering staff will go to the property in question to better address the woman's concerns; said he realizes this is not final but that maybe the roundabout could go north and maybe twist into the west, otherwise, it will make accessibility with her property a problem and that likely she will have a problem selling it. Ms. Mantz assured Council that staff works closely with property owners on this and on every project, and that staff offered to meet the woman at her property at her convenience. Councilmember Haley said she is uncomfortable with this project and would like something worked out so the woman doesn't have a Council Meeting Minutes: 03-03-2020 Page I of 4 Approved by Council: 03-24-2020 roundabout in her front yard, and if staff could do that, she would support the roundabout. Mayor Wick asked about the next steps and Ms. Mantz said that staff could come back with another administrative report if that is Council's desire. Mr. Calhoun explained that if Council wants staff to come back at the 60% design point, we can, and if Council thinks at that point the option is unacceptable, we could backtrack and do a signal, at our cost. There was some question about right-of-way guidelines and Ms. Mantz said there isn't anything in the federal process on how far to take a right-of-way, but we would have to comply with the federal process and compensate for any damages to the property. Mr. Hohman said we will get into the specific design elements in the coming months, and asked Council to keep in mind that a signal takes a lot more property than a roundabout; he said staff will do all we can to minimize impact and if Council wants to see the final concept, we can oblige. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. 2. Motion Consideration: Adoption of Federal Legislative Agenda — Mark Calhoun, John Hohman It was moved by Councilmember Thompson and seconded to approve the 2020 Federal Legislative Agenda as proposed. Mr. Calhoun explained that from the conversation last week, staff has implemented the suggested changes and the update before Council, reflects those changes; he said this includes one policy and two capital projects, and if Council approves this, he will give Councilmember Thompson physical and electronic copies for her trip to Washington, D.C. next week as part of the National League of Cities delegation; he said once adopted, he will also e-mail the updates to our federal lobbyist and set up a trip to Washington, D.C. likely in May, for City delegation to communicate those items. Mr. Hohman said in addition to the editorial changes, staff also changed the color to have it stand out more on the page. Deputy Mayor Peetz also reminded staff about adding the website on the pages. It was also confirmed that the version of the federal legislative agenda motion is the version placed before Council at the dais. Mayor Wick invited public comment; no comments were offered. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. Mr. Calhoun said that staff and Council took the trip to D.C. last year about mid -May and he was thinking to go again this May; he said Mayor Wick indicted is was leaning toward the third week in May; he also noted that for the D.C. trip this year in addition to himself, Mr. Hohman and Ms. Mantz, that we want to include Grants Engineer Adam Jackson; and that the Council participation will be decided by Mayor Wick. At 6:25 p.m., Councilmember Woodard excused himself, and left the meeting. NON -ACTION ITEMS: 2a. COVID-19 Coronavirus Report — Spokane Regional Health District Spokane Regional Health District Administrative Officer Ms. Amelia Clark, and Mr. Mark Springer, Epidemiologist, spoke about the COVID-19 Coronavirus. Ms. Clark said she is happy to see Spokane Valley help spread the news as the Spokane Regional Health District works with its local partners on their activation levels and offers guidance to reduce the transmission of the virus. She also invited people to visit the Health District's website, and said it will be updated as the situation evolves. Mr. Springer explained that as of this morning, 27 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and there are nine deaths; he said the virus is moving fairly quickly and there has been some local transition on the west side of the state with people being added in each day in terms of being diagnosed. He explained that the focus is on containment; he mentioned evidence in Oregon and California as well as our own state where we are seeing local transmission of the virus; he noted that is not unexpected. He stated that we don't want to overwhelm those health care resources, but that work is being done with the various sectors on preparedness; said there is a lot of focus on K-12 and preparedness with the schools; he noted this virus doesn't seem to affect the very young in terms of hospitalization or mortality; but it does focus on elderly and those with chronic medical conditions. Mr. Springer also noted a concern with care workers and said the long-term care centers are probably where we will see the most risk, especially those with chronic medical conditions; and that we want to identify cases early so we can respond early. He said we also want Council Meeting Minutes: 03-03-2020 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: 03-24-2020 to look at the homeless and homeless shelters, colleges and college dorms, and the jail and other populations where it is difficult to remove people. He said we are in a good position now in terms of being able to identify if the virus is coming into our community, but there is a lack of resources in terms of testing; said they are running about 200 samples a day as approved through the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention); said there is a clinical lab with the University of Washington that has been approved for testing, so once that is set up, we will be able to move approximately 1,000 samples a day and if we can, we want to identify when the virus comes into our community, but the hope is to delay that coming in, and lessen the impact. In response to several questions from Council, Mr. Springer explained that regarding a mask, there is a resource problem; he explained that the virus is spread through respiratory droplets and if you are sick, those droplets will get caught in the mask; he discouraged others to wear the mask to protect them from illness, because he said, it won't; he said that people should wear a mask if they are sick or experiencing symptoms, and if that is the case, they should call their health care provider first; he said anyone who has symptoms of shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, those are urgent and could indicate a person has pneumonia. Concerning young children, Mr. Springer said less than 2% of those under the age of 20 don't appear to be having a problem with the virus; said he doesn't know if that means most of those people are not having complications, or not having significant symptoms; and again said the more severe cases deal with the older population and that children have a much lower risk in terms of complications. Ms. Clark encouraged people to visit the Spokane Regional Health Department's website; said they encourage deep cleaning especially in grades K-12 to include sanitizing countertops, toys and other high - volume areas. Regarding costs, Mr. Springer said that there will be a cost associated with testing, but he doesn't know what that would be; he also noted there will be state public health lab testing at no charge and those resources will be prioritized by those individuals not covered like in care centers, jails and other groups where there might not be resources. Mr. Springer explained that an epidemic is an increased amount of disease over a finite geographic area, like hepatitis A in Eastern Washington, or whooping cough that happens about every eight to ten years; whereas a pandemic would be more world-wide, which is about what we have now. Mr. Springer said he advises the public to stay calm and don't panic; that what is occurring is significant but if we manage it correctly and focus on preparedness, we can get through this with limited impact to the health care of the community; he suggested people be prudent and focus on what they can control, such as hand washing and if people feel sick, to stay away from people and work at home if possible; also don't go to large events; he also suggested people not be fearful and start hoarding supplies, and said we will know more after another week or so of significant testing. 3. 2019 Accomplishments Reports — Mark Calhoun City Manager Calhoun explained that the annual report is an impressive summary of accomplishments throughout the year; and that there are times when the same project is referred to by various departments. Mr. Calhoun went through the administrative section of the presentation, which included highlighting the 2019 Council goals and some of the associated projects such as the Barker and the Pines Grade Separation Projects; he noted the City's Pavement Preservation Program in conjunction with Nichols Consulting, and of our contract with StreetScan to scan all City owned streets in order to update the pavement condition index; he mentioned the number of regional committees Council is involved with, including four in-house committees; he noted Council held 53 meetings last year and passed several resolutions and ordinances; and noted some of the figures associated with the work of the City Clerk's Office, in particular those dealing with public records requests. Next, Mr. Koudelka went over the Contract Administration slides which included information and review about our various contracts with Spokane County, and mentions our participation regarding a regional shelter as well as the participation with other City departments in analyzing proposed solid waste disposal rates. Mr. Whitehead discussed some of the accomplishments of the Human Resources Department, Council Meeting Minutes: 03-03-2020 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council: 03-24-2020 followed by City Attorney Driskell highlighting his department's accomplishments, including the assistance in addressing issues relating to homelessness, land acquisition, and assistance in responding to numerous public record requests. Finance Director Taylor giving the highlights of her department, with a focus on the annual financial report and related audit, and working with all departments to complete the 2020 budget; she also noted IT continued to follow a replacement schedule for equipment, and that they closed almost 1,200 helpdesk calls. Deputy City Manager Hohman, Engineering Manager Mantz, Economic Development Manager Basinger, and Building Official Nickerson briefed Council on the accomplishments of the Capital Improvement Program's various construction projects, traffic operations, stormwater utility, street maintenance, economic development, and building and planning which included mention of various major projects such as Kruger Sheet Metal and Duluth Trading; and ended with data concerning permits and permit valuations, and code enforcement. Parks and Recreation Director Stone discussed the various divisions in his department including Administration and Maintenance, CenterPlace Regional Event Center, Recreation and Aquatics, and the Senior Center; and lastly, Chief Werner gave a brief re -cap of accomplishments in the patrol division, traffic unit, investigations, crime prevention, recruitment, and the Valley Precinct building. 4. Advance Agenda — Mayor Wick There were no suggested changes to the Advance Agenda. S. Finance Department Monthly Report The finance Department monthly report was for information only and was not reported or discussed. 6. Council Check -in — Mayor Wick Concerning the Federal Legislative Agenda, Mayor Wick asked that if any members of Council are interested in going to Washington, D.C., to please let him know as soon as possible. Mayor Wick also mentioned that he has received several e-mails and phone calls concerning moving our Senior Center from CenterPlace to the library or someplace else; he confirmed that there is nothing on our agenda and this is not even a topic of discussion. City Manager Calhoun echoed those sentiments and confirmed such topic is not on an agenda; he mentioned that when we were working with the Library District several years ago to update our interlocal agreement for Balfour Park, there was an ad hoc committee to work on that five-year contract, but it was a concept and never moved beyond that; that there was never formal discussion with Council on that topic nor were there even any presentations on the topic. 7. City Manager Comments — Mark Calhoun In connection with the Coronavirus, City Manager Calhoun mentioned that our City's 2009 Continuity of Operations Plan was discussed during the Directors' meeting and that staff are working to update that document; he explained that that plan is for continuing operations in the event of a pandemic. Mr. Calhoun said for now, we are encouraging people to wash their hands, and he noted there are Clorox wipes and hand sanitizers throughout the building. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. 6 ATTEST: Ben Wick, Mayor (WV Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes: 03-03-2020 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council: 03-24-2020