Loading...
2010, 06-15 Study Session MinutesMINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley, Washington Attendance: June 15, 2010 6:00 p.m. Councilmembers Staff Tom Towey, Mayor Mike Jackson, Acting City Manager Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Mike Connelly, City Attorney Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Neil Kersten, Public Works Director Dean Grafos, Councilmember Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Brenda Grassel, Councilmember Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir. Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief Scott Kuhta, Senior Planner Absent: Morgan Koudelka, Sr. Administrative Analyst Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Bob McCaslin, Councilmember Carrie Koudelka, Deputy City Clerk Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ACTION ITEMS: 1 Second Reading Proposed Ordinance, CTA 02 -10 Code Text Amendments — Greg McCormick After Deputy City Clerk Koudelka read the ordinance, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to approve the ordinance amending the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC) Floodplain Regulations, Chapters 17.20, 21.30 and 21.40. Planning Manager McCormick went over three code amendments in this batch: two amendments are proposed as a result of the Washington Cities Insurance Authority 2009 Annual Review and Audit comments, the third amendment relates to flood hazard areas. FEMA is set to enact new maps on July 6, 2010 and this amendment will make the code consistent with the FEMA maps. Mayor Towey invited public comment: No comments offered. Mayor Towey invited Council discussion: No discussion. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion passed. 2. Subarea Items to Send to the Planning Commission: Scott Kuhta It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to direct the Planning Commission to consider text amendments to Book H.• Development Regulations, Sprague and Appleway Corridors Subarea Plan to address the following issues:1) Building Setbacks consider increasing the maximum building setback distance, or eliminating the maximum building setback distance regulation in both Gateway Commercial district zones; 2.) Si na e: Increase the number of freestanding signs (pole signs) allowed per parcel. Consider reverting back to freestanding sign regulations adopted in 2007. Increase the maximum size of wall signs and the limitation on placing wall signs below the 2nd story of buildings; 3.) Uses: Consider adding permitted uses to both Gateway Commercial zones that are complementary to uses currently allowed; 4.) Accessory buildings Clark regulations contained in Book II as they relate to accessory buildings, to ensure that accessory buildings are not impacted by the development regulations contained in Book II; S.) Building Frontage Consider removing minimum frontage requirements for buildings in both Gateway Commercial zones. Senior Planner Kuhta gave a brief overview of the items Council previously asked be forwarded to the Planning Commission for review. Mayor Towey invited public comment: Rich Munson 12404 E 27 Ave — Commented that just like businesses are run according to rules, a City is no different; without rules we have chaos and he doesn't believe we want Sprague Avenue to turn into the Sprague like that west of our borders. Chaos is not what we're looking for and we have reasonable Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Page 1 of 6 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 regulations to allow the private sector to run their own businesses without spoiling the way it looks. He said in looking around the city, he finds it is beautiful; the yards are well kept except for Sprague Avenue where he said the businesses that are open are not good. Mayor Towey invited Council discussion: No discussion; no questions. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion passed. 3. Backhoe Purchase — Neil Kersten It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to approve the purchase of a loader/backhoe as outlined in the Washington State contract # 00410 in the amount of $99,372.45. Public Works Director Kersten reported that at the January retreat and again in April they discussed the operations program and considered buying a backhoe for stormwater. He said the cost would be split 50150 between street funds and stormwater funds as it would be used year -round by both departments. He said they estimated the cost at $90,000.00; however, the bid came in at just over $99,000.00. He said the state gave us very good bids and that this is the smallest unit with a front -end loader and a back hoe. Councilmember Grafos asked if the City is also buying a trailer. Mr. Kersten said instead of buying a trailer they would buy an option called "right control" which allows us to run the loader on the road. He said in the future they may want to buy a trailer. Mayor Towey asked if we would have to rent the unit from POE if we don't buy our own. Mr. Kersten stated that would be the case and they would need to have one available to us; that they used one a lot last year and he sees a need for its use in the summer. Councilmember Grafos asked if in purchasing another snow plow (next agenda item) we will have enough. Mr. Kersten said he is still working through that but he thinks they will have enough plows. He said this option is the conservative way to go. Councilmember Grassel asked if the bid is for a new machine and Mr. Kersten confirmed that it is. Mayor Towey invited public comment: Gordon Curry 14313 E Trent — Asked the Council if we really need a new backhoe rather than renting units that are cheaper and pointed out the additional costs for a mechanic, storage, and maintenance. Mayor Towey allowed Mr. Kersten to respond to the question. Mr. Kersten said we have a place to store it and we currently have operators with experience operating this machinery and he thinks we will use it fairly heavily so we will want something very reliable that is not likely to break down. He said the State bid is very competitive; they received five different bids and he thinks this is a good deal and ensures it is a good machine. They also have a sixty -month warranty for any parts replacement. He recommends they buy a new one, especially with this bid. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion passed. 4. Snow Plow Purchase — Neil Kersten It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to approve the purchase of one truck/plow /sander unit per State contract #02709 in the amount of $108,214.80 and #12304 in the amount of $69,275.60. Public Works Director Kersten reported they are using the state contract. He said this was discussed at the January retreat and again on April 6, 2010 and that it falls within the City Manager's authority but they still wanted to bring it before Council. He explained it was a very complicated bid and Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) worked with us to help put the bid together. He said he is very comfortable with this bid and they would be buying the truck from a national dealer. Councilmember Grassel inquired as to the life of the units. Mr. Kersten said between eight and ten years, possibly more depending on the level of snow during the year and how heavily they are used. He said this would be one of our primary units. Councilmember Grassel asked if they knew the approximate cost to buy used equipment or to rent. Mr. Kersten said there are not many snow plows available; the ones we have now are surplus from the state and they are eleven years old. He said the salt and brine are extremely corrosive and they tend to have electrical pump problems which need to be replaced at a much higher rate. New trucks are more reliable. He said last winter they lost three trucks in one night and even though they were able to get them repaired within a day, a new vehicle would be much more reliable. He said to get a good fleet, he'd like to add some new trucks to the trucks we have and stagger them in and out over Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Page 2 of 6 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 a period of time. Mayor Towey asked if all the plows have dual usages. Mr. Kersten responded this will be used mainly as a salt/sanding unit and they have a couple that disperse liquid. Mayor Towey invited public comment: No comments offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion passed. 5. Comcast Contract Suspension of Fees — Cary Driskell It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels to authorize the City Manager or designee to negotiate with Comcast to suspend implementation of Section 13.8 of Ordinance 09 -034 and provide for City discretion in future re- implementation of PEG fees, and to negotiate whether PEG channel provider contracts under Section 13.2 should be mandatory. Motion failed for lack of a second. 6. Panhandling — Cary Driskell Deputy City Attorney Driskell reported that panhandling has been determined by the courts as protected free speech and as such will be scrutinized by the courts if challenged. If someone is in line to go to the theater, or if somebody is putting groceries in their trunk and someone asks them for money, a proposed ordinance would have prohibited that action as that is considered a captive audience because the person cannot leave. A draft form of that ordinance moved forward to Council last summer; however, the 9 ffi Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the issue of captive audience as part of their decision in determining that making somebody uncomfortable in that kind of situation is not reason enough for the government to infringe on protected rights and as such staff recommended that Council not make move in that direction. He said the City of Spokane adopted their ordinance in 2008 but they are not actively trying to enforce the captive audience aspect. Instead they are enforcing prohibition of interfering with traffic which is what we've adopted. He said Spokane is more actively going after aggressive panhandling and their numbers are down significantly. Liberty Lake does not have prohibitions on panhandling; however, he said the culture in their city is that their citizens just don't give money to panhandlers. As such, since the panhandlers don't get money there, they go elsewhere. Mr. Driskell said it is likely we get Spokane and Liberty Lake panhandlers because our citizens are more willing to give to them. He said the City of Issaquah has prohibitions on panhandlers within 300' of specified intersections and cautioned Council that those regulations have not been challenged nor had any court analysis done. While it may be effective, the fact that they haven't been challenged causes concern because if we were to adopt and enforce the same regulation and got sued, we would be facing damages under the Civil Rights laws and if we lost the challenge we would also be responsible for all attorney fees. Mr. Driskell further stated that our legal department is not comfortable with what both Tacoma and Issaquah have adopted, as they both could have potential financial risk. He provided Council with a code amendment and map for discussion purposes only. He said it would prohibit panhandling on the intersections included for the Interstate -90 corridors. He said their approach could be enforcing the panhandling at these intersections because it creates a traffic hazard due to the volume of traffic; there is a heightened concern for public safety and therefore there is cause for government to regulate panhandling in that aspect. Councilmember Gothmann asked how this proposal is different from what Spokane Valley is already doing. Mr. Driskell explained the language would be more closely tailored to an offense because in theory someone could step into the right of way and not interfere with traffic. Their proposal would be closely drafted to a specific activity. City Attorney Connelly added that the proposed language takes a general statement and identifies a specific instance that will interfere with the flow of traffic and that it is a safety risk. Councilmember Gothmann asked if it would prohibit solicitation from a sidewalk. Mr. Driskell stated that the draft prohibits stepping into the roadway; therefore, being on the sidewalk would not be prohibited by this because we are more able to link safety issues with stepping into the roadway. Councilmember Gothmann asked if this might prohibit Spokane Cancer Society volunteers from stepping into the roadway to hand out literature for fundraising. Mr. Driskell said it would depend on the facts of the situation, but stepping into the roadway to seek funds would be potentially problematic. He said we have a special permit process tied closely to public safety which requires having insurance, a traffic plan, traffic control training, and is limited to once per year. Councilmember Gothmann asked if it was ok for kids with car wash signs to solicit business as long as they were not stepping into the street. Mr. Driskell said that would not be prohibited. Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Page 3 of 6 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 Mayor Towey said he thinks the ordinance we have now is not doing the job. He said he thinks an ordinance and education of citizens on how to help will work better. He said our current ordinance is at low risk now, and said moving it to a moderate risk level might help. Councilmember Grassel asked if Precinct Commander Lyons could speak to the police perspective as to how they would address this issue. Mr. Lyons said that he believes the ordinance would help and it provides police with a tool they can use. He said he thinks it will be more work for the police, but they can work special details and also inform panhandlers of what will happen if they continue. Acting City Manager Jackson stated that if the ordinance is adopted, it would be the police officers on the street who would have discretion as to how it is used. Councilmember Gothmann asked if principal arterials include medians. Mr. Driskell said they will have to look at how a median is defined, but sidewalks are not medians. They will make sure the definition is appropriate. There was Council consensus to bring a proposed ordinance for consideration at a future meeting. 7. Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) — Morgan Koudelka Senior Administrative Analyst Koudelka explained that in order for the city to be eligible to receive JAG funds it must have five years of crime data reported. He said last year we were disparate with the County and Spokane but this year we are not so we need to apply for the grant ourselves. The grant may be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and criminal justice information systems for criminal justice that will improve or enhance specific law enforcement areas. He said we are eligible for $44,231.00 and under the advice of Police Chief VanLeuven, staff recommends using the funds to purchase seven rugged notebook computers, referred to as "Go- Books," and ammunition. Precinct Commander Lyons explained the Go -Books are a critical tool and have become so important that they won't allow officers out in the field without one. They are able to look on screen to see where officers are, offering computerized dispatch and allowing supervisors to see where the officers have been assigned. In addition, they allow immediate access to all the policies and procedures, RCW's and the Department of Licensing records. They can also access the Physician's Desk Reference which helps officers to identify prescription drugs in the field, as well as NCIC booking photos which increases efficiency. He explained the reason for the seemingly high cost is because the machines are very rugged. They are designed to withstand temperature extremes and heavy vibrations of the cars. The ammunition to be purchased would be used for firearms training. He said the actual use of firearms is low but training is critical. Mayor Towey commented that the Go -Books are a great tool and they are used continually to look up different aspects of the job. He said he thinks they are very valuable to the police. Mr. Koudelka said they could come back in two weeks with a proposal to submit the grant application which is due on June 30th. He said all the work would be done prior to Council consideration and saved on the Justice Department database so if Council approves the motion on June 29, 2010, he can submit it the following day to meet the deadline. There were no objections from Council. 8. City Manager Selection Process — Mayor and Council Mayor Towey said Council has received all the applications for City Manager vacancy and they have scheduled an executive session to evaluate the candidates. No action will be taken in the executive session and subsequent sessions may be scheduled. Action to appoint a City Manager and/ or approve a contract will be taken in a regularly scheduled meeting. There were no further comments or questions. 9. 2011 Budget — Mike Jackson and Ken Thompson Acting City Manager Jackson explained that tonight he and Finance Director Thompson are providing general background information on the 2011 budget in preparation for the Budget Retreat in July. He asked that if Council thinks staff has missed anything they let staff know so it can be discussed. He said they hope to answer the frequent question of citizens as to where their property taxes go, how we propose to weather the current economic storm, as well as provide a comparison of Spokane Valley with other Washington cities. Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Page 4 of 6 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 Mr. Thompson explained that we pay for most of our operations from the general fund and within that we have two main sources of revenue, sales tax and property tax. He said our sales taxes are down but property taxes are up a little bit. Councilmember Gothmann asked if the general fund includes a substantial carryover. Mr. Thompson confirmed that these are 2010 figures and they reflect what we anticipate will carry over into 2011. Mayor Towey asked how the tax rate is calculated. Mr. Thompson said it is calculated by the state based on what we submit for our tax levy. He said the county has five places they check to make sure we are within the rules and divide by the assessed value to get the tax rate; it is a fairly complicated process and it is difficult to predict where we might be. Acting City Manager Jackson said that sales tax revenue is down significantly, $3.5 million from the high we saw in 2007. He said they will discuss ideas to remove our future deficit, maintain basic service levels with reduced resources, minimize personnel overhead by contracting, leverage city funds with grants, and minimize our debt. Mr. Thompson said the Finance Committee suggested looking at a 3 %, 6 %, and 9% reduction, after already reducing the budget by 3 %. Mr. Jackson said we don't want a deficit in 2014. We want to maintain the general fund ending balance at 15% through 2014 and maintain the service level stabilization fund of $5.4 million through 2014 rather than spending it down. He said they think if we meet our objectives at a minimum we will be in a good financial situation. He said a 15% ending balance is considered a healthy carryover and $5.4 million helps put us in good financial shape. He said we base the budget and our six -year business plan on the current financial conditions. He asked all departments to consider their budget at 97% and said that we look good to achieve that goal, which saves the city about $1 million. He said they also looked at cutting future expenditures by at least 3% and it looks like we can achieve our objectives to maintain the stabilization fund if we make reductions for 2011 at 34%. Councilmember Grafos said he thinks we are headed in the right direction and he is pleased we are getting ahead of the curve; that we need to be proactive. Councilmember Gothmann said there has been discussion in the public as to how we got the debt. Mr. Thompson explained that in 2002 the public approved an extra 1 /10 of 1% tax for the Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the fairgrounds, and CenterPlace. When we incorporated, the County transferred to us a $7 million debt for CenterPlace and a $2 million debt for road projects, so we started with a $9 million debt which we have paid down a bit. Councilmember Grassel said at the retreat she would like to look at department priorities by individual department. Mr. Jackson agreed and said we should also look at capital projects and street preservation projects. He said the economy needs to improve to help with our tax base, but the City will need additional revenue sources to fully fund the Street Master Plan. Councilmember Grassel asked if there are grant funds for that project. Mr. Jackson said there may be a rare grant but they are really looking at funding street preservation through City revenues. Most of the grants come for arterial streets, not usually for community roads. Councilmember Grassel asked that the budget reflect the actual "needs" of Spokane Valley first and "wants" second. Mr. Jackson said he can provide that information at the budget retreat. Mayor Towey called for a recess at 7:35 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7 :45 p.m. 10. Subarea Plan (SARP)Zone: Mixed Use — Scott Kuhta Senior Planner Kuhta went through the presentation on the Mixed Use Avenue District Zone within the Sprague and Appleway Subarea Plan. Councilmember Grassel inquired as to what types of residential units they are referring to as permitted on the ground floor. Mr. Kuhta said apartments would be permitted, garden apartments, condos, etc., so long as they are not more than one - story. Councilmember Grafos stated there are pre - located streets that are part of this zone, and there are approximately 46 buildings that pre - located streets go through so that changes the orientation of the buildings. He said we should talk to property owners about the effect the pre - located streets have on their properties. Councilmember Grassel asked if staff will come back with notes for Council from the June 24 community meeting discussing the Mixed Use Avenue Zone. Mr. Kuhta confirmed that is their plan. Community Director McClung said they mailed their meeting notices according to information from the Accessor and our own database and we received several of the notices back. She said staff tried calling businesses to get better information, but for some reason they are getting a lot back and it seems as though many that came back were from owners out of state. She stated the community meeting is June 24 in City Council Chambers from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. Councilmember Grafos asked for clarification as to what is meant on Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Page 5 of 6 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 page 6 where they are referring to "80 %" under non - conforming use clarifications. Mr. Kuhta said the 80% in this circumstance refers to if the "use" is destroyed at 80% of the value of the structure; not if the "structure" is destroyed by 80 %. He said they need to clarify that language and separate "use" from "structure" value. City Attorney Connelly said the City can entertain legislative changes to our code but we would want to do that on a case -by -case basis if, that is what Council desires. 11. Information Only The Pavement Requirements, Swimming Scholarship, and Comcast Sixty Day Extension were for information only and were not reported on or discussed. 12. Advance Agenda — Mayor Towev Acting City Manager Jackson said the deadline to submit the ballot issue to the County is August 10; it is scheduled as in information item for June 29 but that could possibly be an administrative report. 13. Council Check in — Mayor Towey Councilmembers Gothmann, Grafos, Deputy Mayor Schimmels and Mayor Towey had no comment. Councilmember Grassel said she attended the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and interviewed with Steve Mumm on the Discovery Playground. 14. City Manager Comments — Mike Jackson Pointed out info only items — and thanked staff for rapid turn- around to respond. 15 Executive Session: To evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment [RCW 42.30.110(1)0)1 It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded, and unanimously agreed to adjourn into executive session for approximately 120 minutes to evaluate the qualifications of applicants for public employment pursuant to RCW 42.30.110 (1) (g), and further that they approve the attendance of councilmember Rose Dempsey by telephone. No action is anticipated when they return from executive session. Council adjourned into executive session at 8:13 p.m. At approximately 9:30 p.m., Mayor Towey declared Council out of executive session, and it was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m. ATTEST: Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes: 06 -15 -2010 Approved by Council: 6 -29 -2010 T omas E. Towey, Mayor Page 6 of 6