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2011, 09-20 Study Session Minutes MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCII. REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley, Washington September 20, 2011 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Tom Towey, Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, City Attorney Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Mark Calhoun, Finance Director Dean Grafos, Councilmember John Hohman Community Dev. Director Brenda Grassel, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Steve Worley, Senior Engineer Arne Woodard, Councilmember Scott Kuhta, Planning Manager Mike Basinger, Senior Planner Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Proclamalions: Mayor Towey read the "National Fall Prevention" proclamation, and the "Valleyfest Days" proclamation, which were accepted with thanks by Public Health Educator Marion Lee, and Valleyfest Executive Chair Peggy Doering, respectively. 1. Bike Helmet Information — Marion Lee Ms. Marion Lee, Public Health Educator of the Spokane Regional Health District explained that she wanted to share some information about traumatic brain injuries, which includes skull fractures and concussions; and said part of the issue is, there are not enough people wearing helmets when they use their wheeled sports apparatus. The newest data, she explained shows about eight traumatic brain injuries annually in Spokane Valley, with about half of those under the age of sixteen; and said that adults are more likely to have a negative interaction with motor vehicles. Ms. Lee stressed that it is important for council to be aware there are some proven strategies to increase helmet use, and that they are about 85% effective in protecting the brain when the head encounters concrete. She explained that ordinances have been proven effective as parents can explain to their children that the law requires them to wear helmets, and children can tell their parents the same thing. Ms. Lee said that the Board of County Commissioners passed an ordinance directed at people age three to sixteen, while Spokane City has an all-age ordinance which carries a penalty of a civil infraction, and she said that ordinance has worked well and the City of Spokane has seen a reduction in traumatic brain injuries; adding that she is aware that the City of Spokane issued over 1,000 citations for not wearing helmets, and probably made that many educational contacts as well. Ms. Lee said she particularly likes the "get caught wearing a helmet" reward program for kids, where members from SCOPE or other law enforcement agencies give ice cream coupons to kids "caught" wearing a bike helmet; and said first responders really enjoy handing out those coupons. Ms. Lee said that Commissioner French's son is three, which attributed to his rationale for starting with the age of three, and she mentioned that they don't recommend helmets for those under three as their heads won't support the helmet. Ms. Lee also mentioned that there are about thirty-three communities in Washington that have all-age helmet ordinances. Council Study Session Minutes September 20, 2011 Page 1 of 4 Approved by Council: October 11, 2011 There was council discussion about all-age ordinances versus those with limited ages, such as three to sixteen; that the state statutes do not permit giving tickets to minors; mention that SCOPE has helmets for those who need them; and mentioned school districts and their education sources such as their "head- smart" campaign. Mayor Towey said he would like to see Council continue the dialogue on having an ordinance and Councilmembers concurred to start with the dialogue first rather than a draft ordinance, and to place that topic on an upcoming agenda. 2. Sullivan Road Brid e Tem orarv Repairs — Steve Worlev_ Senior Engineer Worley said he gave a presentation last month on the status of the Sullivan Road Bridge, which included an update on the design and funding for the bridge's replacement; and that during that presentation, he mentioned we would be hiring a consultant to look at the condition of the bridge and examine options for temporary repairs that might enable us to lift the weight restrictions. Mr. Worley said they contracted with Sargent Engineers to examine options for temporary repairs so that the weight restrictions could be lifted, and of the eight possible repair options, staff recommends option 8, which is to add supplemental shear steel reinforcing to the girders, and he explained what that would entail. Mr. Worley emphasized that the repairs are temporary and not intended to be permanent and that there are more issues associated with this bridge than what these options address; adding that we cannot use grant funds for these temporary repairs. Engineer Worley said if the decision is to move ahead, they want to wait until the next bridge inspection is done, which is set for the first part of October as the information they have now is based on last year's inspection. Mr. Worley said the estimated cost for the temporary repairs is $358,000, but cautioned that other issues could be found during the upcoming inspection. Mr. Worley added that our engineers have worked with a local bridge contractor on this estimate and feel confident with the price. Mr. Worley said that a conservative estimate for completing the temporary repairs is six to seven months, but they are hopeful it could get done quicker; and said he will bring council an update once the bridge inspection is complete. Councilmember Grafos said he feels we should run the traffic on just one lane and perhaps modify that signal. Mr. Worley explained that the construction season is mostly over for the year; that he heard from DOT (Department of Transportation) that trucks are using other routes, but that traffic counts in 2008 showed 21,000 traffic counts, which he said is a lot to try to put on one lane; and added that the signal is operational again. Mr. Worley said funds could be used from the street capital improvements fund to cover the expenses; that such would require Council approval; and once staff moves forward to prepare the bid documents, that staff will come back to council for a final recommendation. Council voiced no objections to staffmoving forward. 3. Fee Resolution Review — Mark Calhoun Finance Director Calhoun explained that the fee resolution was last amended December, 2010 for fees effective January 2011; that he asked City Departments to review the current schedule and these changes are the recommended changes for implementation January, 2012; he said the changes include a change from Community Development for a change in some of the language but no change in fees; one fee change from Parks and Recreation; and fee changes from the Fire Department; and he referenced the attached memos from the various departments. Councilmember Hafner asked how the original fees were derived, and Mr. Jackson said staff could come back at a future meeting and discuss the philosophy of our fees and the cost of providing a service, that it is currently our policy to recover fees and in the case of the recreation programs, we recover 100% of the direct cost to provide programs, but added that we cannot do that with all fee structures. Councilmember Gothmann asked why the Fire Department fees increased 14%. Director Calhoun explained that we merely collect the fees and pass them through to the Fire Deparhnent, and he invited Fire Marshall Kevin Miller to the table to answer Councilmember Gothxnann's question. Mazshall Miller explained that they haven't raised their fees since 2009; that the fees cover the cost of the review service they provide to this City; that there is a two-week turn-around for inspections and with their recently hired inspector, they are able to meet those goals; he said the fees recover about two-thirds of the cost of the Council Study Session Minutes September 20, 2011 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: October 11, 2011 engineer, and asked Council to keep in mind that the fees don't account for that engineer's full salary as she performs other tasks in addition to the inspections. Councilmember Gothmann asked about having some comparisons of our fees to Spokane County's and Spokane City's fees and Mr. Jackson replied that we can provide those figures. Mr. Jackson also explained that staff can bring back for future council discussion, our philosophy and policy on cost recovery; and Mayor Towey and other councilmembers indicated they recognize this is a time sensitive issue and acknowledged the need to move forward with this resolution as proposed. Finance Director Calhoun said adoption of the resolution is scheduled for the October 25 council meeting. 4. Bicvcle & Pedestrian Master Program — Mike Basinger Community Development Director Hohman stated that this document was reviewed with Council several weeks ago, and as a result of those discussions, staff has submitted a redline copy with suggested changes, and a clean copy for ease in reading; and that they trimmed some of the information and re- organized some of the material to make the document easier to read. Senior Planner Basinger also noted that the suggestions results in a more clear and practical program, and said that the document's language was adjusted so that it is a guiding document and not a mandate; he said some policies were added to address council's concerns about the quality of street surfaces, as well as internal coordination of projects with other departments. Some typographical errors and some instances where the word "boulevard" wasn't changed to "bicycle friendly routes," were noted; and Mr. Basinger said several tables were removed to the appendix, and the Health District Information and workshop information were removed from the appendix since it was encapsulated within the text. Councilmember Woodard mentioned 11.4.2 in section a, about combining existing driveway cuts, and stated that if that is construed as a shared driveway, it would detract from property values; and Mr. Hohman said this provision is also included in the City's Street Standards so it doesn't need to be in this document; and Councilmember Gothmann suggested if there might be concern about that in the future when council addresses the City's Street Standards, that perhaps this should be eliminated here so that it would only exist in one place, and Mr. Hohman agreed with removing that from this document. There was other discussion about bike parking and incentives included in section 11.4.2, and Mr. Hohman said there is nothing that would delay a permit, and suggested staff could even remove that verbiage after that first sentence. Councilmember Grassel asked about the requirements for new developments and Mr. Basinger explained that it is based on the number of parking spaces required, depending on the development; that some types of bicycle racks are harder on bikes than others but we don't make people do one particular option; he said he can research the language for required spaces in our City Code, and explained that was a carryover from the Spokane County Code; he said staff can research cost as well as that would be something to look at with future Code Text Amendments. Discussion turned to the "education and encouragement" section and a caution from Council on the use of the word "shall." City Manager Jackson said in reference to 11.4.3, we have a contract with the Sheriffls Office for our law enforcement, that we stress the city's intent instead of developing a policy, that he works with Police Chief VanLeuven on enforcement issues, and said the verbiage could be softened. Mr. Hohman also mentioned that the word "immediately" (section 11.4.4) could be replaced with a different word. Mr. Hohman asked council if they would like to have further discussions or if staff should come back with a draft ordinance for a first reading, and it was Council consensus to move forward with a first reading of a draft ordinance. To clazify the previous questions about bike racks, Mr. Kuhta explained that the requirement is for one rack accommodating five bikes when the parking requirement is for twenty-five spaces; and said the regulations are the same citywide. 5. Advance Agenda — Mayor ToweX Items that Council expressed a desire to have on upcoming agendas included the speed limit on Indiana going east from Sullivan; overall discussion on speed limits city-wide; code enforcement for unkempt businesses and/or foreclosed homes; school safety beacons at Bowdish Middle School and prioritizing Council Study Session Minutes September 20, 2011 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council: October 11, 2011 which other schools might need the beacons, including an inventory on what we have now; and a council decision not to hold a meeting December 20 unless issues come up later that would warrant having the meeting. 6. Council Check-in — Mavor ToweX Councilmember Gothmann paid homage to Dick Behm's passing. 7. City Manager Comments — Mike Jackson Mr. Jackson had no additional comments. It was moved by Depury Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. �. T omas E. Towey, Mayor ATTEST: � istine Bainbridge, City Clerk �- Council Study Session Minutes September 20, 2011 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council: October 11, 2011