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2013, 09-03 Study Session MINUTES SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING STUDY SESSION FORMAT Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers Spokane Valley,Washington September 3,2013 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Councilmembers Staff Torn Towey,Mayor Mike Jackson, City Manager Dean Grafos,Councilmember Cary Driskell, City Attorney Chuck Hafner, Councilmember Mark Calhoun,Finance Director Rod Higgins, Councilmember John Holtman, Community Development Dir. Ben Wick, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks&Recreation Director Arne Woodard, Councilmember Eric Guth,Public Works Director Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney ABSENT: Morgan Koudelka, Sr.Administrative Analyst Gary Schimrnels,Deputy Mayor Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and announced that Council will hold an Executive Session at the end of tonight's meeting. Roll Call: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except Deputy Mayor Schimrnels.It was moved by Councilmember Grafos, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Deputy Mayor Schirm els from tonight's meeting. ACTION ITEMS: 1. First Reading Proposed Ordinance 13-013,Avista Natural Gas Franchise—Cary Driskell After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Councilrember Hafner and seconded to advance Ordinance 13-013, granting Avista Utilities a natural gas franchise, to a second reading. City Attorney Driskell briefly explained the franchise ordinance. Mayor Towey invited public comments; no comments were offered, Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Motion carried. 2.Painted Hills Property Acquisition Motion Consideration—Mike Stone Councilmember Wick recused himself due to a conflict of interest, and he left the dais. It was moved by Councilmember Hafner and seconded to authorize the City Manager to pursue acquisition of the Painted Hills property and to participate in the public auction on September 13, 2013. Parks and Recreation Director Stone went over the history of the possibility of the City acquiring the Painted Hills Property; said if we were to purchase the property, there would be no need to immediately development the property, although minimal maintenance would be required; and explained that his previous estimate of $150,000 annual cost is based on a fairly aggressive maintenance schedule on thirty acres, and includes some one-time costs, so the $150,000 would be less in future years; he added that staff would have to approach the costs from a different perspective if the City were to try to maintain that property as a golf course, as among other things, personnel would be needed and the cost would increase considerably. Mayor Towey invited public comment. Mark Paxton, Business Address 12109 E Broadway Blvd C: spoke against the City of Spokane Valley purchasing the property; said he represents someone who is interested in purchasing the property and maintaining it as a public golf course; said there is already a tremendous amount of park space in our City but this is the only golf course we'd have; and said he feels the idea of using the property as something else would be "crazy." Chuck Simpson, E 9003 Cataldo: mentioned possible lost tax revenue if the City Council Study Session: 09-03-2013 Page 1 of 4 Approved by Council: 09-17-2013 were to purchase this property; said when it was private the City was making money; said it would be great if private citizens purchase the property. Tom Kendall, 14311 E 22nd Avenue: said he is President of the Painted Hills Men's Club; they moved their center of operation elsewhere but would like to come back and said he encourages the opportunity for private investment. There were no other public comments. During Council discussion, Councilmember Woodard said when he first became aware of this property, he was not aware of any groups or private individuals trying to buy the property; said if we were to buy this as park land he would want to make sure we have all our options before us; and said he would not want to supersede the private market. Councilmember Grafos said if the City were to purchase the property it would be difficult to operate it as a golf course and he mentioned his concern with the $150,000 a year maintenance; said the City will be facing expenses in expanding other park properties next year; also mentioned that he was not aware of any others interested in this property when it was first brought up; said the City is facing other large issues such as solid waste. Councilmember Higgins said he is pleased a group is willing to take what appears is an issue of great concern, into their own hands and said he would also hate to see it go off the City's tax rolls. Councilmember Hafner noted the City is facing other financial issues and he would hate to move resources into a golf course. Mayor Towey mentioned that the City will never see again this particular piece of land; and said he will vote for moving forward based on the idea of the more options we have, the more flexibility and the better off we will be. Vote by Acclamation:In Favor:Mayor Towey and Councilmember Woodard; Opposed: C©uncihnembers Hcfrer, Higgins and Grafos. Motion failed. Councilmember Wick returned to the dais. NON-ACTION ITEMS: 3. Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC)—Kevin Wallace SRTC Executive Director Wallace gave a presentation on the SRTC Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Horizon 2040; he explained that the purpose of the plan is to satisfy federal and state planning requirements including coordination among SRTC, STA (Spokane Transit Authority), and WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation); he went over the vision, policy and evaluation frameworks, and showed a map of projected 2040 traffic conditions with 1.75 congestive hours; he discussed maintenance and preservation, the corridor screening process, and explained the different transportation corridor types and corridor screening; and said the next steps include community outreach, placing preliminary draft chapters on the SRTC website, and a public comment period with anticipated SRTC Board approval in November or December. Councilmember Wick noted the bridging the valley project is not listed and Mr. Wallace explained that SRTC will have a list of projects included in the plan, and said bridging the valley has been talked about and is something the Board is examining; he said the Board has identified many capital projects but since there isn't enough funding for them all, it becomes a balancing act. Mr. Wallace said preservation needs are very great and that SRTC controls about 3% of all funds, and that the majority of funds for preservation are federal or state funds, Mayor Towey asked if Spokane Valley would be penalized for doing diligence by focusing and funding street preservations, and thereby not be considered for other funding. Mr. Wallace explained that SRTC in participating in the preservation on Sprague and their focus will start to migrate to principal arterials which is where federal agencies will target as a region; and said they will continue more local focus in the future, adding that what is not included today is an analysis by communities in terms of which community has enough other funding to maintain a system. Councilmember Woodard asked about populations needed for light rail or other equivalent mass transit and Mr. Wallace explained that those figures are usually based on thousand trips per day for federal participation or some other formula such as number of dwelling units per acre; and said they realize that in the past this region has examined the possibility of light rail. Concerning project funding, Mr. Wallace said one criterion could be based on an agency paying more for projects but added that has not been implemented yet, but the idea would be if agencies could put"more skin in the game"then they would be awarded more points. Again,he said that criterion has not been established. Council Study Session: 09-03-2013 Page 2 of 4 Approved by Council: 09-17-2013 4. Outside Agency Funding Requests—Mark Calhoun Finance Director Calhoun explained that tonight is an opportunity for those agencies that have applied for outside funding to make their presentation to Council, and said $150,000 is included in the 2014 budget for this purpose. Mr. Calhoun said each applicant has been invited to give a five-minute presentation, and that Council will consider the distribution of funds at the September 24 council meeting. Mr. Calhoun asked Councilmembers to submit their recommendations for funding to him no later than 4:00 p.m. Friday, September 13, and he explained the methodology that will be used to make the awards, as noted in his Request for Council Action Form. Mayor Towey explained that the outside agency presentations have been split into two categories: Economic Development and Social Service; and said he received a request from a representative of Spokane Valley Partners to be the first presenter as she is seven months pregnant and would be able to go home and rest, and he granted her request. Mayor Towey later explained that he received another request for a change in the order of presenters so that Spokane Guild's School Foundation representatives could present earlier in the schedule as they had young children present, and Mayor Towey granted that request as well. The following is the order of presenters: Spokane Valley Partners—Social Service Agency Greater Spokane,Inc.--Economic Development Agency Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce—Economic Development Agency Spokane Area Workforce Development Council—Economic Development Agency Spokane River Forum—Economic Development Agency Spokane Valley Arts Council—Economic Development Agency Spokane Valley Heritage Museum--Economic Development Agency Valleyfest—Economic Development Agency At approximately 8:05 p.m., Mayor Towey called for a recess; he reconvened the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Spokane Guilds' School Foundation—Social Service Agency Big Brothers and Sisters of the Inland NW—Social Service Agency Children's Home Society of Washington—Social Service Agency Coalition of the Responsible Disabled—Social Service Agency Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council—Social Service Agency Hearth Homes—Social Service Agency YWCA - Social Service Agency(YMCA Iisted on the agenda was a typographical error) 5. 2014 Property Tax Levy—Mark Calhoun Finance Director Calhoun explained that state law requires an ordinance be adopted in order to Ievy property taxes and that the proposal is not to increase the levy other than the estimated new construction. Mr. Calhoun also noted that all figures except the 2013 levy rate, are based on estimates and that we won't have the updated estimate on new construction until about the middle of September; with the County making the final assessed determinations after our budget is adopted in October. 6. Solid Waste—Mike Jackson,Eric Guth City Manager Jackson said he,Public Works Director Guth, and Sr. Administrative Analyst Koudelka are here to answer questions from Council concerning the draft solid waste study; and he said that Deputy City Attorney Lamb as well as Finance Director Calhoun are part of the team and are also here tonight. Mr. Jackson said he wanted to briefly discuss some of the issues for Council's consideration during tomorrow's regional solid waste meeting. Mr. Jackson gave a quick background of the topic, including that the analysis was completed by HDR Engineering and that the cost was shared by Spokane Solid Waste System, City of Spokane Valley and Spokane County with Spokane County as the issuing agency. Mr. Jackson said there are three phases of the Scope of Work, and that at the end of Phase 1, Spokane County and Spokane Valley would each determine which scenario to move forward into Phase II, which Council Study Session: 09-03-2013 Page 3 of 4 Approved by Council: 09-17-2013 phase includes the development of a detailed options analysis including an evaluation of the most advantageous means to forming a public/private partnership if that scenario is selected. Phase III, Mr. Jackson said, is the implementation phase where a separate budget would be negotiated and whereby the consultant would assist in implementing the option selected by each entity, which could include assisting in preparation of Requests for Proposals, and/or selection of a public/private partnership. Mr. Jackson referenced the graph in the Plan showing the various costs of the options, and said the addition of the West Plains Transfer Station is what drives up the cost, although a bid to build that could actually come in lower than estimated. Mr. Jackson explained that one of the items staff brought up in examining the transfer station options was to add what we call a 1E,which is for the County and the City of Spokane Valley to purchase the Colbert and Valley transfer stations at fair market values, and to contract with the City of Spokane for services at the West Plans, adding that he feels this is not an option the City of Spokane is willing to entertain; but even if you were to pay the gate rate for those materials at that transfer station, it would be a large savings over constructing the new transfer station. He explained that the group examined about nine options, but said if you go into the cost centers you could put together other options. City Manager Jackson said the intent of the report was to provide data, and he suggested it would take a few weeks to study the alternatives and consider if there is a better way to save the citizens money in terms of the gate rate; and said the goal is to provide environmentally sound solid waste service for our citizens while keeping the cost down; said he feels it is important for Council to be able to set rates and hours of service for the transfer stations; that customer service is very important; and that we will discuss this with the County. Mr. Jackson said he feels it is important to do this in an open forum,that there will be other issues to raise tomorrow, and that we want to take our time to make sure we're examining all the numbers in the best, transparent manner. Councilmember Grafos said in order to prevent discussing this again in seven years, we need to have some kind of ownership interest. Mr. Jackson concurred and said we could look ahead and decide what might happen at the end of seven years based on a decision made, or define as much as possible what happens now and in seven years; said it is important to make a decision in real time or in seven years from now,we will be starting over. 7. Advance Agenda—Mayor Towey Councilmember Wick suggested having more information on the Horizon 2040 plan. 8. (a)Finance Department Report and; (b) Police Department Monthly Report were for it formation only and were not discussed or reported. 10. Council Check in--Mayor Towey.No report. 11. City Manager Comments—Mike Jackson. Mr.Jackson had no further comments. EXECUTIVE SESSION: It was moved by Councihnember Wick, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn into Executive Session for approximately forty-five minutes to discuss potential land acquisition and potential litigation, and that no action would be taken upon return to open session. Council adjourned into Executive Session at 9:26 p.m. At 10:15 p.m. Deputy City Attorney Lamb announced in Council Chambers that the Executive Session would be extended fifteen minutes. Mayor Towey declared Council out of Executive Session at 10:31 p.m., after which it was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adj. 'ned at approximately 10:31 p.m. AT ` T comas E. To ey, ayor i6e441/1/ Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Study Session: 09-03-2013 Page 4 of 4 Approved by Council: 09-17-2013