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2020, 03-24 Regular Formal Format MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING FORMAL FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley, Washington March 24, 2020 Mayor Wick called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Ben Wick, Mayor Mark Calhoun, City Manager Brandi Peetz, Deputy Mayor John Hohman,Deputy City Manager Pam Haley, Councilmember Chelsie Taylor, Finance Director Tim Hattenburg, Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Rod Higgins, Councilmember Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Linda Thompson, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks &Recreation Director Arne Woodard, Councilmember Bill Helbig, City Engineer Carrie Koudelka,Deputy City Clerk INVOCATION: Pastor Zac Minton of Rock Church was unable to attend so there was no invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, staff, and the audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Deputy City Clerk Koudelka called the roll; all Councilmembers were present. APPROVAL OF AMENDED AGENDA It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and tmanimously agreed to accept the amended agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS n/a COMMITTEE,BOARD,LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS Councilmember Thompson: stated that she attended the National League of Cities (NLC) conference in Washington, D.C. and said she serves on the Public Safety and Crime Prevention committee where they talked about the teams that are meeting across the nation with law enforcement and mental health professionals; said she also attended a workshop while in D.C. on the census and mentioned the importance of people responding as resources are dependent upon those census figures; said she met with Senators Cantwell and Murray, and later with Representative McMorris-Rodgers, and other elected officials; that she also met with our federal lobbyist where they talked about our transportation projects; said she was able to participate in two local radio spots to report on the conference as well as how we are dealing with the virus situation. Councilmember Higgins: mentioned that the Executive Director of the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency rescinded her resignation at least for the time being. Councilmember Haley:reported that she attended an STA(Spokane Transit Authority)meeting where they noted ridership is down so the buses are able to accommodate riders keeping adequate distance from each other; said STA decided to go to with a 'no fare' bus service in order to protect the drivers and that passengers will enter and exit from the back of the bus, and those 65 years old and older can ride the paratransit van free. Deputy Mayor Peetz: said she attended the City's employee appreciation event last week and remarked on the many staff nominations for co-worker of the year; said she also attended the groundbreaking of a new Vivacity Care Center. Regular Formal Council Meeting: 03-24-2020 Page 1 of 4 Approved by Council: 04-14-2020 • Councilmember Hattenburg: said he attended the City's employee appreciation luncheon and extended kudos to staff; said he volunteered for Meals on Wheels; said that he also attended the STA meeting, said most people riding the bus have a monthly pass, but said STA isn't charging any fare at this point. Councilmember Woodard: reported that he also attended the Vivacity groundbreaking. MAYOR'S REPORT: Mayor Wick reported that he attended the Vivacity groundbreaking; he also spoke about the Freight Mobility Investment Board meeting's legislative debrief which included talk about the budget and that the Board will need to determine where the difference will come from between the amount budgeted and the cost of the approved projects; said he has been attending an emergency coordination meeting every morning and it was mentioned that the incident response team will give relief to and coordinate efforts with the health district; said they also shared the Governor's webpage for information and talked about others petitioning to be added to the essential business list; and that they are asking the public not to panic and not change their normal shopping patterns. PROCLAMATION: Vietnam Veterans'Day Mayor Wick read the proclamation observing the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and honoring those who served. 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 March 24,2020, Request for Council Action Form Total: $3,257,833.61 b. Approval of Payroll for Pay Period Ending March 15,2020: $376,964.31 c. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes of March 3,2020 Formal Meeting Format It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the Consent Agenda. NEW BUSINESS: 2. First Reading Ordinance 20-003. Code Text Amendment,Fencing Regulations—Jenny Nickerson After Deputy City Clerk Koudelka read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to advance Ordinance No. 20-003 to a second reading as proposed. Mr. Hohman said that as part of the conversation from last week about keeping the eight foot height, the only changes are how the fence height is measured; he also noted with this change Spokane Valley will be consistent with the rest of the region. Mr. Hohman also noted as an option,Council could suspend the rules for a second reading, and adopt this ordinance tonight.It was moved by Councilmember Woodard and seconded to amend the motion to suspend the rules and vote on the ordinance tonight. There was unanimous vote by acclamation to approve the amended motion. There were no public comments. Vote on the fully amended motion: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried and the ordinance is approved. 3. Resolution 20-003 Adopting Planning Commission Rules of Procedure—Jenny Nickerson It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded t© approve Resolution 20-003 adopting the Planning Commission Rules ofProcedure as presented. City Attorney Driskell said that these rules were debated at length by the Planning Commission. There were no public comments. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. 3a. Motion Consideration: Bid Award, Indiana Avenue Evergreen to Sullivan—Bill Helbig It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz and seconded to award the Indiana Avenue Preservation Project-- Evergreen to Sullivan, to Inland Asphalt Company in the amount of$4611,000 plus applicable sales tax, and authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute the construction contract. City Engineer Helbig said the purpose of bringing this item to Council tonight is that due to the current limited traffic on Indiana, the contractors would like to get this project moving; he briefly mentioned the project's history and of the Regular Formal Council Meeting: 03-24-2020 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: 04-14-2020 bid opening,with the lowest responsive and responsible bidder being Inland Asphalt Company.There were no public comment. Vote by acclamation: in favor: unanimous. Opposed: none. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS:Although there were no public comments,Councilmember Woodard asked about how public hearings would be handled in the future and Mr. Calhoun said when we are required to hold a public hearing,a public hearing will be held. Mr.Driskell added that they have been advised by the Hearing Examiner's Office that they are temporarily putting a hold on public hearings due to the proclamation from the Governor's office. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 4. Electrical Inspections—Jenny Nickerson Deputy City Manager Hohman, standing in for Building Official Nickerson, said that as a follow-up report to Council from last April,the City does not do electrical inspections and does not issue electrical permits as that, as well as the inspections, is all handled by the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I); he said some contractors had approached the City to see if we would take over those functions; but rather than do that, he said the City is working with L&l to improve the process; he said Ms.Nickerson has worked with them and they apparently now have a seamless process; he also noted we will not issue a Certificate of Occupancy unless there has been an electrical inspection performed on the property; he said that Ms. Nickerson also contacted representatives of Avista, Modern, Vera and other companies and heard back from three or four of those companies and no one was interested in taking over these duties and in summary, he said that staff believes there is no warranted reason to change from our current process, and that we have not received any complaints within the last year. Councilmember Higgins said when this concern was initiated,we had problems but he noted that Ms.Nickerson has done good work and improved the issue for our citizens. 5. Declaring Items Surplus—Chelsie Taylor Finance Director Taylor explained the purpose and process of declaring items surplus as noted in her Request for Council Action form; she also noted that staff anticipates bringing a resolution for Council approval consideration at the March 31 meeting. Deputy Mayor Peetz said she was asked by a citizen if citizens would be able to have some of the wood from the horse arena, and Ms. Taylor said she, City Attorney Driskell,and Parks&Recreation Director Stone are researching that issue to see if that is possible. There was Council consensus to move this forward for next week's Council meeting. 6.Advance Agenda—Mayor Wick Councilmember Higgins said someone asked him if the City might consider suspending gambling taxes for two quarters, for pull tabs and punch boards. Mr. Calhoun said he checked yesterday and the revenues related to pull tabs were about$76,000,which he said is not insubstantial. After brief discussion there was Council consensus to place this issue on an upcoming agenda, and Mr. Calhoun added that if this request were approved,we would not be able to suspend taxes retroactively. 7.Department Monthly Reports The Department Monthly Reports were for information only and were not reported or discussed. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS As a result of the COVID-l9 pandemic, City Manager Calhoun said staff is expanding efforts to adhere to social distancing; that even though there were no public comments at tonight's meeting, he encouraged citizens to email comments. Mr. Calhoun mentioned that Mayor Wick had suggested meeting every other week instead of every week, but he wanted to hear how Council collectively wishes to move forward. There was some discussion about how to proceed with meetings, that if Council met less often it would likely mean very late meetings; the Regular Formal Council Meeting: 03-24-2020 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council: 04-14-2020 suggestion of removing some standard things off the agenda;the idea of not holding a meeting on the fifth Tuesday,and that if necessary, a special meeting could always be called provided we give 24-hour advance notice. Councilmember Woodard said he wants to keep meeting weekly, and Councilmember Thompson said she also likes weekly meetings, but is open to phoning in. There was Council consensus to continue to meet every week. City Attorney Driskell said staff is researching options available according to the Attorney General's office. There was discussion about how to handle people wanting to comment,and IT Manager Knodel mentioned he might be able to coordinate and manage a meeting. There was also Council consensus to keep the room open as it is tonight.Further comments/discussion included the need to have the microphones wiped down after each speaker if public comments were to continue. Councilmember Woodard suggested and Councilmember Thompson agreed to only having comments on action items. Concerning ways to make the agenda more concise for these formal meetings, it was decided to not include general public comments;to discontinue having department reports and to coordinate with the Mayor about the idea of possibly having proclamations done outside of a meeting. City Manager Calhoun also explained that the Sheriff has set up an emergency operations meeting every day through April;that our Public Information Officer(PIO)is meeting daily with other PIOs in the region; that approximately half of the City's staff is working from home;he mentioned the Senior Center has closed and will remain closed through April 24, and that parks programs are closed as are park play structures; that the City will be waiving the credit card fees in order to further encourage people to pay remotely;that the Planning Commission has cancelled meetings through the end of April; that City Hall is fully operational but the doors will remain locked and people can come in only by appointment; and that CenterPlace has also locked their doors but the building is staffed due to cancelling and rescheduling reservations,to be available to take future reservations, and to stay open for the maintenance workers. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Peetz, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m. LIU) ATT Ben Wick, Mayor pristine Bainbridge, City Clerk Regular Formal Council Meeting: 03-24-2020 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council: 04-14-2020