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2010, 03-30 Study Session MinutesMINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley, Washington March 30, 2010 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Tom Towey, Mayor Mike Jackson, Acting City Manager Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir. Dean Grafos, Councilmember Christina Janssen, Assistant Planner Brenda Grassel, Councilmember Mike Basinger, Senior Planner Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Steve Worley, Senior Engineer Greg McCormick, Planning Manager Mary May, Engineering Technician Absent: Patty Bischoff, Administrative Assistant Bob McCaslin, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 1. International Trade Alliance (ITA) End of 2009 Report — Mark Peters, Executive Director ITA Executive Director Mark Peters gave a general overview of ITA, followed by his PowerPoint presentation explaining their mission and purpose, he discussed some of the activities including consulting and trade leadership advocacy, and mentioned their partners at the federal, state and local level. Mr. Peters also briefly explained the performance measures of export sales, organization revenue, client satisfaction, and trade leadership, and said that according to the U.S. Department of Commerce statistics, Washington exports were down 20% through the third quarter of 2009, and that we can expect at least a 15% drop overall for 2009. 2. Energy Efficient Block Grant Update — Mary May Engineering Technician May explained that in 2009, the City was awarded a grant of $823,400 as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program; she explained that the funds must be used for energy conservation planning and projects that result in energy savings, adding that the grant requires no matching funds, and that the programs must be completed within thirty-six months; and said one of the requirements of the grant is giving quarterly updates; and she went over the projects summary and status as noted in her accompanying materials. The question arose concerning LED (light- emitting diode) signals, since that dealt with one of the projects funded by the grant, in that LEDs emit light but not heat and whether snow accumulation would be a problem; and staff said we normally do not have the type of weather to cause a concern in that regard. 3. Annual Comprehensive Plan Proposed Amendments — Christina Janssen, Mike Basinger Senior Planner Basinger explained that he, Planning Manager Greg McCormick, and Assistant Planner Christina Janssen comprise this year's planning team, and that the purpose of the team is to facilitate the workload and provide cross - training for other planning staff, and said they have a planning team each year, sometime it rotates, and said it is valuable to cross train so staff understands the planning process, Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 1 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 and to get different perspectives. Mr. Basinger explained that the Comprehensive Plan lays out a vision for the future of Spokane Valley during a twenty-year period, and responds to the requirements of the Growth Management Act (GMA), adding that the plan must be consistent with the community's vision, Council's policy direction, and internal plans such as the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP); that the Planning Commission held a public hearing on these proposals February 25, 2010, and the ordinance first reading and second reading is scheduled for April 13 and April 27 respectively. Mr. Basinger explained that of the three proposals, one (CPA 01 -10) is privately initiated, and two (CPA 02 -10 and 03 -10) are City- initiated. Mr. Basinger said that should council wish to schedule a site visit of the proposed areas, to let him know and that would be arranged. Assistant Planner Janssen went over the 2010 site specific map amendments which correspond with the proposals, and showed photos of the surrounding businesses and areas for each of the three proposals, and explained the following Planning Commission Recommendations: CPA 01 -10 from Low Density Residential to Neighborhood Commercial; CPA 02 -10 from Park/Open Space to Heavy Industrial; and CPA 03 -10 from Community Commercial to Heavy Industrial. Councilmember Gothmann asked about the park parcel of land (CPA 01 -10) and Mr. Basinger said he will let Parks and Recreation Director Stone know when they are approached by a developer, and said that Mr. Stone has been examining funding options but has not found a way to purchase the property and it is his understanding that the owner is inclined to sell. Mr. Basinger noted that CPA 02 -10 and 03- 10 are to correct a mapping error; that for 02 -10 the comp plan designation was changed to parks and open space, but heavy industrial is more in line with what that property would be used for; and for CPA 03 -10, that is property owned by Crown West Realty located in the Industrial Park; that the property was already built out and used in the industrial capacity, and said the business owner has been involved with this issue and desired the change. Mr. Basinger explained the proposed text amendments and said they are minor updates and supplement existing goals with policies for economic development, connectivity, and to promote efficient practices such as conservation. Councilmember Grassel questioned the purpose of the text amendments and suggested striking whatever doesn't deal with zoning; Councilmember Dempsey said she felt the changes are broad in nature, not mandatory, but more encouraging, and Mayor Towey said he recognizes that the language is generic, but said he feels government should not dictate concerning a "living wage" as noted in Chapter 7; and Mr. Basinger concurred that the policy says we would promote that opportunity and find value in that, and that it is guidance and not mandatory. The question of street operating levels was discussed and Mr. Worley explained how streets are classified. Mayor Towey called for a recess at 7:35 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 7:44 p.m. 4. Airway Heights Interlocal, Plan Review Services — Mike Jackson City Manager Jackson explained that he, Spokane Valley Building Official McGee and Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp met at Mr. Tripp's request, to see if Spokane Valley would be interested in helping Airway Heights by handing some plan reviews in an effort to supplement their current services. Mr. Jackson explained that Airway Heights processes approximately 40 residential reviews annually and only four or five commercial applications, compared with our 380 commercial applications and 458 residential applications. Mr. Jackson said such review should not negatively impact our Building Division's ability to timely respond to our own citizens. Mr. Jackson said he just learned that Airway Heights and Spokane Valley use different evaluation schedules with Spokane Valley's rates about 13% higher, and said that Mr. Tripp hopes to keep the costs down; that Airway Heights would perform a lot of up -front work, then deliver the set of plans to us for review, and said there is some room for cost adjustment consideration. Councilmember Grafos asked staff to compare these costs with the City of Spokane fees; Councilmember Dempsey indicated her willingness to leave the fees as stated in the interest of being a good neighbor; Councilmember Grassel asked why Airway Heights contacted us rather than Spokane County, and Mr. Jackson said he would ask. There was Council consensus to bring this interlocal back for a motion consideration. Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 2 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 5. Barker Bridge Update — Steve Worley Senior Engineer Worley went over the history of the Barker Bridge project, from prior to this City's incorporation in January 2000 when Spokane County proposed replacement of the bridge at an estimated cost of $8.1 million (which project was not funded), to the bridge rated as "structurally deficient" in August 2001, the project was resubmitted October 2003 and was 100% federally funded up to $8.1 million; to awarding the contract to CH2M Hill, to acquiring certain right -of -way, bidding out the project with eventual award to Morgen & Oswood, to closing the bridge in July 2008 with demolition starting August 2008 and bridge work beginning November 2008, to complete demolition of the old bridge and eventual shut -down for winter and the delay of pouring the deck until warmer temperatures arrive; to ending the shutdown March 15, 2010 to the estimated bridge opening late June 2010; adding that the project was funded by a federal grant up to $9.985 million, with costs in excess of that amount being funded by the City. 6. Law Enforcement Contract —Mike Jackson City Manager Jackson said that staff has had numerous meetings and negotiations with Spokane County to renew the law enforcement contract originally authorized by council March 6, 2003, and effective June 1, 2003; and said he will have a draft contract for this Council's consideration at an upcoming meeting. Mr. Jackson explained that most discussions centered on the County -wide cost allocation plan and the new proposed law enforcement allocation plan and that the actual contract discussions have just begun. Mr. Jackson said that he would like Council's suggestions on items, Council feels are important to address as staff moves further into negotiations. Mr. Jackson said some key elements staff identified for discussion include performance measures, length of contract, cost control and service level, and community identity, and said he welcomes additions to those items. Further, Mr. Jackson explained that over the last few years, staff implemented performance measures for all departments and explained that this is a good way to measure effectiveness and performance for all departments, not just in connection with the law enforcement contract. Mr. Jackson said he will work with the Sheriff's Office and Police Chief for continued input on such issues as recommended response times, number of officers assigned per shift, and turn- around time for reports available to the public. He also mentioned citizen satisfaction is important and a survey is normally conducted during odd years; adding that in the last survey taken in 2009, the Police Department scored very high on such things as how safe citizens feel. Mr. Jackson said the survey was scientifically valid and at least 400 responses were received. Mr. Jackson asked for Council input regarding including performance measures in the contract. Mayor Towey said some measures are good when discussing a contract, but said he is not sure if the number of officers per shift is necessary and said he doesn't think that is a performance measure in itself; and said the Sheriff or the Chief would have the discretion concerning officers per shift; and said that performance measures are the end result of the citizens receiving services, rather than us dictating how many officers should be on any shift; and suggested staying with performance measures that have an effect and that can be measured by our citizens. Councilmember Gothmann said he spoke with the Deputy City Manager at Shoreline concerning performance measures, and said she had done an outstanding job in identifying performance measures, and that those are listed in their budget; he explained that according to the Shoreline Deputy City Manager, there are two types of performance measures: some are looking from the outside in, and others looking from the inside in; and the ones from the outside in are what we are talking about, such as response times to various types of crimes. Mr. Jackson said he will work with the Sheriff and Chief to have meaningful measures; and said it appears Council likes the idea of the survey, and the questions can be drafted and continue to have on -going external input. Councilmember Grassel asked regarding the survey taken in the past, if it is random people or people who have had police contact. Mr. Jackson replied that that was a telephone survey with city telephone numbers selected at random. Mr. Jackson said future individual customer response can be obtained, which could help guide the operations, but would not be considered statistically valid, as Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 3 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 opposed to having at least 400 people to get a confidence interval of approximately 98 %; and said comment cards or other types of feedback could be useful. Councilmember Grassel said if you wanted more valid and better community feedback, asking people who have never had any contact would be different from asking people who have had contact. Councilmember Gothmann said the previous survey asked a question whether the respondent had police contact, and if yes, there was a follow up question concerning that feedback. Regarding the past survey, Mr. Jackson said one question was "during the past 12 months, were you or anyone in your household a victim of any crime" and the response was 88% no, and 12% yes; and added that staff can build this type of citizen response into the contract. As an aside, Mr. Jackson said effective April 1, the precinct commander position has been filled and Police Chief VanLeuven will introduce that officer at an upcoming council meeting. Length of contract was discussed, with suggestions to remain with the current method of annual renewals and twelve month's advance notice for cancellation, to a minimum of three years, or a minimum of five years, or some combination such as a minimum of five years then annually. Mayor Towey said circumstances change from year to year, but if the contract is lengthened, the entity contracted with has a solid ground for service; and those issues should be weighed: to guarantee a specific number of years, or if there is a concern with annual changes. Councilmember Grafos said he feels it should be at least three years, which will enable progress to be made on some capital projects. Councilmember Dempsey agreed a minimum of three years is a good foundation. Councilmember Grasse] concurred with the three years, but said she would want to have some options or thresholds concerning for example cost, if the threshold for cost were exceeded Council would have the option to re- address the contract to prevent the contract from skyrocketing out of control. Councilmember Gothmann said he favors a five -year contract as it provide solid stability for our officers; and he asked about adding language that the contract will continue indefinitely until either party wishes to terminate. Mr. Jackson said he feels the contract could go beyond the five years, but that this discussion focuses on the minimum; and said a contract could be renewed after a certain minimum number of years. Councilmember Dempsey said three years was her minimum recommendation, and said five years would be fine as well. Mr. Jackson said all the comments gives him direction and that it is obvious we are looking beyond a one -year contract. Cost control and service level were also addressed and Mr. Jackson said those items go "hand -in- hand" as the major expense in the law enforcement contract is personnel; and he said when the precinct commander was just hired, one of the items talked about was that we might look for savings in the contract to balance that hire; he said he isn't looking for specific changes, but more generally to give us the ability to make changes over time; he said we are fortunate to have reserves; but that if the economy does not improve, we are starting to consider how we might budget in the future to ensure fiscal sustainability; and he mentioned that due to Spokane County's budget constraints, they had to cut about nineteen officers during the course of our contract; and mentioned that the City of Spokane cut about ten officers, but that Spokane Valley not only had no cut in officers but added a precinct commander. Mr. Jackson mentioned the importance of controlling costs over time and to build such mechanisms into the contract, and of the difficulty in balancing our resources with the County's unincorporated resources; adding that support costs and indirect costs are substantial with the law enforcement contract; and said if that ratio changes and Spokane County lays off officers, we pick up an ever increasing larger portion of the indirect and support costs; and by having more officers on the street, we might use more services as more criminals could be arrested; and said as we negotiate the contract, we might find a need to maintain a consistent cost with the current service level; and he explained that if the cost goes up to provide the same service we currently offer, that might be something to consider. Mr. Jackson said they are looking for the ability to control costs over time; and to able to adjust the level of service. Mr. Jackson said that subtracting the annual carryover out of the general fund, which is shown as a carryover and not intended to be spent, that about 41% of our general fund expenditures is law enforcement, and all public safety and criminal justice, including the courts and criminal justice amounts to over 60% of our general fund, and said that in examining ways to control our budget, it is difficult to control without looking at law Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 4 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 enforcement; and he asked for Council feedback about staff building cost control and the ability to control the service level into the contract. Mayor Towey suggested that as the contract is extended out, it is almost mandatory to have some verbiage addressing the ability to make adjustments and said the further out we go the more imperative to make those provisions to adjust cost. Councilmember Grafos said we want to control the service level, and if we agree on a service level, the Sheriff could come back annually or at other intervals to give us enough time to react and decide what to do and what we can afford to do to maintain that level of service; and any discussion in that regard could be held with all parties. Councilmember Gothmann questioned how to define "service level" and Councilmember Grafos responded that he did not know, but said he didn't think we want to "micromanage" the department for the sheriff, but that the results of the survey would basically tell us what the service level was, whether crime increased or citizen contact increased; that would be an indicator; and said we are looking for a reasonable result and the last thing we want to do is cut crime prevention. Councilmember Gothmann said we could specify by setting a percentage of the general fund for law enforcement; or base it on the need for a specific number of officers like the present contract; and said that he feels that costs were rising annually at an unsustainable level. Mr. Jackson agreed and said the same is true of many government services, that costs escalate faster than revenues; and said he feels it is critical that we control costs and suggested adding the ability to have contract language that provides communication and advance notice of what's happening with the County and the Sheriff's Office in the unincorporated area, and said we have outstanding communication now and perhaps that should be maintained and built into the contract. Mr. Jackson said crime prevention could be an area where we don't intend to make specific changes, but could be an area of emphasis to allocate additional resources, and said we need to make sure we have flexibility to make those types of changes. Mr. Jackson also mentioned that our contract costs in 2003 was approximately $11.5 million, and for 2009 was approximately $15.2 which represents a significant increase without changing the level of service and all without changing the number of officers, and he emphasized that it is critical to control costs over time. Police Chief VanLeuven explained that of the top twenty -one cities in Washington, we have the lowest or second lowest cost per capital for law enforcement, that Spokane Valley is the seventh largest city in the State of Washington, and he said we have the second lowest in crime rates. Councilmember Gothmann mentioned that might be a way of cost containment, to maintain a certain number of dollars per citizen, with factoring in inflation. Mr. Jackson said staff could look at that to see if we can draft language to measure that; and he cautioned when we discuss cost per capital, that we need to look at the whole financial picture and realize we generate some of the lowest revenues per capital in the state as well. Councilmember Grassel asked what is the driving force behind the increasing costs. Mr. Jackson responded that essentially it is the cost of living increases and inflation; and said we haven't added officers or major expenses, and he asked if Mr. Koudelka could recall any figures in that regard. Senior Administrative Analyst Koudelka explained that the average annual growth over the life of the contract has been 5.17 %, which is not seen as a large increase, but with the economic conditions and inflation fluctuating, we don't have the luxury of controlling those costs. Councilmember Gothmann noted that the Sheriff Office contract increases 5.17% compared with the cost of living adjustment for employees at 2.5 %; and Mr. Koudelka said that a school resource person and a property crimes task force person were added along with this year's precinct commander; but over the length of the contract that amounts to a 2% increase in our FTE or dedicated full -time equivalents; that our population has grown 9% but our case activity workload demand has not grown but has dropped a little over time; and said that the cost per capital has been fairly constant over the contract, and that costs increase faster when it comes to personnel such as step increases, cost of living allowance, and health coverage which increase much faster than normal inflation. Councilmember Grassel noted that we have no control over that as personnel and union wages are negotiated, but said the only way for them to stay within whatever parameters we would give them would be to lower the number of officers. Mr. Jackson stated that we can control cost by controlling Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 5 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 the service level and the number of officers on the street; he said that 90% of law enforcement costs are in personnel, but we also have support costs such as forensics and use of the property room and overhead and those support costs have gone up directly about $200,000; and that the overhead costs which are attributed to the County -wide allocation plan for county -wide costs that are passed on to the Sheriff and then in turn passed to us, have gone up about $125,000; and said that significant increases occur for us when there is a change in the ratio of Spokane Valley officers to those in the County. Mr. Jackson said there were some minor changes to our level of service which resulted in a direct cost increase, but as the county reduces the unincorporated officers, we pay a larger share of the support costs and indirect costs. Mr. Koudelka said that the cuts made by the County were two officers and were not in support areas; so they cut their overall budget, but the areas that support our police force were not reduced therefore we are paying a larger percentage of the same costs in those areas. Councilmember Grafos asked if there is a learning curve factor from the past three or four years that we could do more efficiently. Chief VanLeuven said there are efficiencies that will come with experience and one of those is the alarm ordinance; and said he is confident the number of false alarms they respond to will be reduced; and for such things as the property room and forensics, generally those are incident based; that the amount of forensic work relies upon the number of critical incidents or the crimes that require those services; and said he will be discussing with the City Manager any types of efficiencies that can be reduced, and he said he is always willing to find areas where they can be more efficient. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting to 9:15 p. m. To recap, Mr. Jackson said that the judicial system which includes the contracts for Public Defender, District Court, Prosecutor, and Pre -Trial services, is $2,230,000; and said we also have the law enforcement system which includes the Sheriff's contract, emergency management, operating supplies, gas, oil and electricity and maintenance of the law enforcement building, and said he believes the million dollars is not included in the 41 %, but was miscellaneous services mentioned previously in case the city needs to make a settle and adjust; and said the jail system runs about $900,000 annually; and said there are other categories of capital outlays for communication, fines and forfeitures that we remit to the state; the animal control contract is $351,000; and with the building replacement cost comes to a total of $1,651,000; for a grand total public safety budget of $22,062,000. Councilmember Grassel asked if the Sheriff's Office contract came in under budget; and Mr. Jackson acknowledged that was correct, that there was one million dollars built into that budget for miscellaneous services, but that is there for settle and adjust or other unanticipated expenses, so the actual cost of that contract is $16,262,000. Councilmember Grassel asked if the police contract actually came in under budget from what was anticipated, what other areas in services are coming in over budget; and she asked if that included such things as court costs. Mr. Jackson said the one million dollar funds are not anticipated to be spent; and he asked Mr. Koudelka if he knew the 2009 budget versus actual figures. Mr. Koudelka responded that he does not, not for all the contracts; but said the estimated cost for law enforcement is $15.5 million; and said we have not done settle and adjust for 2006 and 2007, and that the County has not calculated those figures for 2008 and 2009; and he said there is some indication because of settlements with the Deputies' Association, that there could be some significant settle and adjust amounts forthcoming, and said there is still a lot to work to do with the County, so we do not know for certain what may come due this year; while we do have a fairly good idea of what our current year costs are and they are pretty much right with the budget. Councilmember Gothmann said during the budget process, that we actually budgeted more for that account per year, as we know it will not go up 2.5% but closer to five or six percent; so if they come in under the 6% budget, one could argue they came in under budget. Mr. Jackson said we do everything we can to build stability into the contract so that we know what our costs are; and agreed with Mr. Koudelka that until we settle, the actual expenditures are difficult to determine. Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 6 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 The element of community identity was discussed, and Mr. Jackson said this was very important in the original contract, that our police department have the City of Spokane Valley logo on their car and the officers wear the patch, and he asked for council feedback in that regard. Councilmember Dempsey said she likes having our own police department and having the logo on the shirts and the cars and feels it is important to our community. Deputy Mayor Schimmels asked how many Spokane Valley cars do we have in service, and Chief VanLeuven responded that we have twenty -three patrol cars, nineteen of which are marked cars with the Spokane Valley logo; and it was confirmed that no school resource officers were eliminated; and said there are also some unmarked cars for corporals and sergeants' use; that some of those cars are involved in a shared program, so officers on day shift that mirror each other can use that car; and by sharing, the cars last longer; and the officers can keep their equipment available. Councilmember Gothmann said he feels it is good to present a different view, not that he favors the different view, but to explore all views; he said that Santa Clarita California contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff which includes about 177,000 residents; and they call their police department the "Sheriff's Substation" and he mentioned our SCOPE stations which are allied closely with the Sheriff, and questioned if we need a large amount of differentiation; and said it appears people are content to ally with the sheriff while at the same time realizing the need for a city police chief. Councilmember Grafos said he has examined other police departments and said he has no problem with all cars and all uniforms being identical; and said it is probably more efficient and perhaps miles could be saved if some of the officers take their cars home. Chief VanLeuven said if all cars are the same it appears there are more cars in our area; and take home cars put more cars in specific neighborhoods and therefore shows more of a police presence; and the identity boils down to a cost, and the more identity and the more logos, the more costly and he mentioned some other agencies use stickers stating such things as "in partnership with." Mayor Towey said he feels identity is important, but we must look at the bottom line, and said the victim isn't going to worry about or be benefitted by a patch or logo or car color, and said he has no problem in seeing the Sheriff's car versus the blue city car, and said he feels the Sheriff's Office uniform would be sufficient. Councilmember Dempsey said while she agrees with that opinion, tomorrow is this City's 7`" birthday, and we have not developed a real community identity and she said if there is a visual City of Spokane Valley Police Department, it will help pull us together as a community and said she feels it would be worth the additional cost, or at least worth the lack of savings, and she asked about using magnets to identify city cars; and it was mentioned that magnetic signs would be too easily removed or vandalized. Councilmember Gothmann said he feels identity is a positive thing; and that stickers are not expensive; and that he feels the use of stickers with "in partnership with" is a good idea. It was moved by Councilmember Gothmann, seconded and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting to 9: 30 p. m. 7. Advance Agenda — Mayor Towey Deputy Mayor Schimmels suggested that next week he give a presentation concerning governance issues associated with the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). Council concurred. 8. Corbin Sewer Pump Station Request: This item was for information only and was not reported or discussed. 9. Council Check -in — Mayor Towey Councilmember Dempsey said that she wished to protest the arbitrary stopping of meals before meetings; she said offering the meal reduces stress as councilmembers rush from meetings to city hall; that it was originally initiated through Council's due deliberation and said she felt to end such practice, should also be done by vote of the council, and said she realizes the outcome would likely still be the same; she said the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are honorary titles and all decisions pertaining to funds are the responsibility of the entire council, especially when reversing the decision of a prior council. Councilmember Gothmann concurred and said that he was not asked how this might affect him and said Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 7 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010 he was expecting discussion and said council decisions need to be made in the open. Mayor Towey explained that he asked if this should come before a vote and was told that it was not necessary as council can simply let staff know we no longer will provide meals prior to meetings. Councilmember Grassel also expressed her surprise and said she had assumed there would have been debate and discussion about this in connection with the Open Public Meeting Act, and about her suggestion of changing the meeting time to later, and she suggested that issue be put on an upcoming agenda. Mayor Towey said the refreshment resolution continues to be valid and the option remains to serve meals as warranted; and it does not obligate that meals are provided prior to every council meeting. Councilmember Dempsey said she feels all councilmembers need to know what's going on. Councilmember Grafos said the vote would have been the same; and said he has no objection to a future agenda item to discuss changing the meeting time. There was no objection to placing that issue on a future agenda. It was moved by Councilmember Dempsey, seconded and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting to 9:40 p. m. Councilmember Gothmann said he would like to add to a future agenda, discussion concerning the opportunity to purchase the land on Park Road, which could be used for a park. There was no objection. 10. City Manager Comments — Mike Jackson Mr. Jackson had no further comments. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. ATTES Thomas E. Tov0ey, Mayor ristine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes: 3 -30 -2010 Page 8 of 8 Approved by Council: 04 -13 -2010