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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-02-23 Committee of the Whole MinutesMinutes of 2/23/98 Page 1 of 8 TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL February 23, 1998, 7:00 p.m. Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Council President Linder called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Council President Pamela Linder, Councilmembers Joe Duffle, Joan Hernandez, Steve Mullet, Pam Carter, Jim Haggerton, and Dave Fenton. OFFICIALS: John Rants, Mayor; John McFarland, City Administrator; Bob Noe, City Attorney; Al Frank, Recreation Supervisor; Don Williams, Parks Recreation Director; Evalyn Schultz, Assistant Parks Recreation Director; Ron Waldner, Chief of Police; Alan Doerschel; Finance Director. CITIZEN'S COMMENTS: Robert Gruneker, 16127 45 Avenue South, Tukwila, said he's enforcing his legal rights to finish construction of a storage shed on his property. He visited City Hall on the February 5 and nothing was completed on his permit request, nor could Director Lancaster locate the paperwork. He said Tukwila's new zoning law outlines the setback requirements for permanent structures and that his structure is not a permanent structure and that the current code doesn't require the setback that the City is requiring for his structure. He reviewed past history concerning his property and public easement requirements and provided pertinent documents to Council President Linder to assist in resolving the matter. Mayor Rants read a Proclamation declaring February 26, 1998 as the official day of mourning for the loss of Tukwila Fire Fighter John "Jack" Hagberg who died on February 20. Flags were flown at half -staff on Friday, February 20 through Monday, February 23, 1998. Mayor Rants recognized Brendan Donkers and Katherine Holder from Eastside Catholic for their involvement in city government for their Humanities class research project. SPECIAL ISSUES: Tukwila Days Festival Hours: Director Williams said the agenda item is brought forward as a discussion item to review the possibility of changing the festival's operating hours. The festival was ressurected in 1978 and consists of a weeklong schedule of events. Events have been added and dropped over the years. Last year the event was relocated from Foster High School to the new community center. After last year's event, staff evaluated the festival to determine how successful the festival was in attaining goals relating to education, community spirit, and cooperation. With the current morning /afternoon festival hours, attendance dwindles after 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. leaving vendors and entertainers unhappy. Another festival, similar to Tukwila's was having some of the same problems relating to attendance and improving festival quality by adding new and interesting events and activities. They elected to change their hours from an afternoon to an evening event. The Community Affairs and Parks Commission is recommending Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 2 of 8 that Tukwila also change to an afternoon/evening format. Staff concurs and recommends implementing the afternoon/evening hours. As the festival is comprised of many organizations that may be impacted by a change in hours, their input is required prior to implementing any change in festival hours. However, contacting vendors for participation at the 1998 festival needs to occur immediately and a decision on changing the Saturday events from a morning /afternoon to afternoon/evening format needs to occur soon. The Saturday day events consisting of the kids parade, entertainment, breakfast, lunch, and arts and crafts vendor booths. There were some suggestions to expand to a two -day weekend event. Director Williams said staff is not recommending the expansion to a two -day event at this time. Director Williams said he is seeking consensus between the Mayor, City Council, and staff regarding what they envision for the festival in 1998. Betty Gully, 13017 Macadam Road South, Tukwila, said the festival will attract people as more activities /events are increased. Increased attendance acts as a draw to bring more people to the festival. Variety is the key to a successful event. She said food vendors are important to an event and if there are not a variety of food vendors, the public will go somewhere else. She indicated King County has some stringent regulations concerning food booths. She compared King County's permit process against Pierce, Mason, and Thurston Counties and said they accommodate food vendors who participate in community events. She compared several festivals, one with food, and one without food. The festival with the food was the most successful. She cautioned that changing the time might result in the loss of people who attend the breakfast. Moving the festival last year to the community center was a big change and she suggested staying at the community center and improving internal traffic flows and adding other events. She said 1:00 p.m. is rather late for a parade, especially with families with children. She said she not aware of craft shows remaining open until 8:00 p.m. and that she probably wouldn't participate in a craft show with evening hours as it would be too exhausting. Ms. Gully said the event needs more long -term planning and planning needs to begin in September. Serious crafters set their calendars far in advance. She suggested that others need to be involved in the planning such as the business, sports, and entertainment organizations. A planning committee should be established which includes community business members, police and fire, community organizations, and vendors. Ms. Gully suggested retaining the 1998 festival format and begin the 1999 planning by establishing a planning committee representing interests in the community. Director Williams concurred with Ms. Gully's comments and said staff resources are extended during that time of year. He agreed that improvements in the layout at the community center and traffic flow need to happen. Director Williams said there have been a few complaints about the 9:00 a.m. start time of the parade and suggested starting later at 11:00 a.m. An evening dinner with quality entertainment is something that should also be pursued, perhaps for next year. Councilmember Carter concurred with a later starting time for the parade. She suggested that the hotel /motel tax could be used for funding sources and indicated banners is a great way to get the word out. A late night event would have to be advertised well to be successful. Councilmember Hernandez said a starting time of 10:00 a.m. for a parade would be a good starting time, especially for families. Arts and crafts vendors told her they didn't make much of a profit. She said she had Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 3 of 8 some concerns about extending the festival until 8:00 p.m. and if people would stay that late. The Diversity Commission suggested adding more cultural events such as dances and entertainment groups. Council President Linder said the Diversity Commission also discussed having a bus shuttle to the apartment areas for families without transportation. Councilmember Duffle said he would like to see the inner tube race re- established. Director Williams said everyone has good ideas but follow -up is the concern. Councilmember Fenton concurred with Ms. Gully's comments and agreed the business community needs to be involved with the planning. He suggested checking with other cities to see how they run their programs. Councilmember Mullet said sports events will draw more people and food vendors would be more willing to participate if they know attendance will increase. Mayor Rants said he has a meeting scheduled with some of the major retailers in the City who are indicating they would like to become more involved in the community. He said the timing was right to pursue their involvement with the festival. He said the art show was, in his opinion, a success, and suggested the show winner's art be displayed at the community center. Councilmember Carter said it's important to insure artists and crafters receive notifications about the show and indicated some crafters did not receive them. She also suggested contacting candidates who will be campaigning for the fall election and said they may be interested in participating as part of their campaign strategy. Councilmember Haggerton concurred that the art show was a success, however, the community center was not an ideal location. Councilmember Carter said she agreed and indicated Foster High School is a better location, Ordinance Establishing Economic Develonment /Tourism Short Term Borrowing Authority: Director Doerschel said the ordinance provides the city with needed flexibility. Some issues will require quick action in the next six months and the ordinance sets up a graduated borrowing system to accomplish that. The issues with Amtrak, RTA, and the exhibition center have yet to be resolved. The ordinances allow action from the City once the issues have been resolved. Director Doerschel said he would only request execution of the ordinance from the Council after the conditions for all four issues have been resolved and finalized. Director Doerschel explained why the bond is needed although it is likely the full bond amount would not be required. There are too many unknowns with respect to RTA's plans, to determine the exact amount of bond money that will be required. The bond issue will be paid back by Lodging Tax revenue. Director Doerschel said he would present a budget amendment to the Council when bond funds are required. He said RTA's participation with the McLeod's property will take longer and might not be as involved as the City is anticipating. Because on the unknowns, some safeguards for the City have been negotiated as part of the purchase agreement. They include requiring a building sign permit for the proposed sign, a short plat, a building permit for the Expo Center and a secured bank loan of $7 million. Director Doerschel said the appraisal needed for the bank loan is being completed and he anticipates other requirements of the purchase agreement to be completed within the next three weeks. Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 4 of 8 An unofficial appraisal has been completed on the parcel the City is considering for $1.4. The appraisal amounts to approximately $20 per square foot. Director Doerschel said the price was pre- agreed to based on the offer by the hotel to buy the land at $20.71 per square foot. Councilmembers agreed to forward the ordinance for action to the next regular Council meeting. Amendment to City Attorney Contract: Administrator McFarland said the contract amendments were written from an original contract from his contract computer disk. It is not the existing City Attorney contract. The existing City Attorney Contract is more complex and was written by another attorney. He indicated that the amendment language will be consistent with the existing contract and the changes will be incorporated into the 1996 City Attorney Contract. Administrator McFarland asked the Council to consider the fees and costs associated with the additional services as outlined on page one of the contract. Councilmember Haggerton said the Finance and Safety Committee has reviewed the amendments to the contract and recommends approval. Council President Linder noted that the increase of $400 for the City Attorney's office to handle arraignments seems to be a reasonable request. Attorney Noe said they discussed the concern with the judge and it was the judge's belief that more defendants would plead guilty at the time of arraignment if a prosecutor were present. The Code of Ethics requires due process for all defendants to include representation by an attorney, if they request one. In light of this, it was agreed that the City Attorney would provide a standard list of prosecution recommendations for sentencing. With this list, the judge feels comfortable with accepting guilty pleas without the prosecutor being present. Council President Linder moved the item to the regular Council meeting for action. ACC Interlocal Agreement for 1998: Councilmember Haggerton said although there wasn't unanimous agreement by the committee to approve the ACC Interlocal Agreement, the budget allocation of $100,000 was approved last fall in the City's 1998 budget. Federal Way and Tukwila are the only two members who renew the contract on an annual basis. This contract represents an annual contract for the period of January 1, 1998 to December 31, 1998 in the amount of $100,000, to be paid quarterly. Committee members reviewed the background of ACC and Tukwila's involvement, the purpose, and the objectives. He said there is no guarantee regarding future activity and although he anticipates a slower pace in the next several years, there is a need to stay involved. Councilmember Mullet said there are spin -offs other than opposing the third runway. They involve successful mitigations the ACC has obtained from the port. A lot of public attention has focused on the third runway issue and part of the mitigation study will be assessing future noise levels. The efforts ensure that the Port continue to consider impacts to jurisdictions surrounding the airport. Councilmember Haggerton said the Highline School District held a press conference that was well attended. The press conference announced the district's intention of implementing a 1998 program studying the items that need to be mitigated resulting from airport activity. They have been working with the Port over the amount of Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 5 of 8 money that needs to be mitigated and haven't been successful in determining or obtaining the amount. The district has decided to undertake its own study to determine the costs associated with mitigation. Councilmember Mullet said there are two noise centers that don't fit the airport's computer model. The noise centers are located on the westside of the airport and the other is located in Tukwila. Steps are being implemented to install extra noise monitors to insure the Port's computer model is accurately reflecting noise levels everywhere. Councilmember Haggerton said Highline School District is not only concerned about noise impacts but also with pollution caused by airplanes dumping jet fuel. Some media picked up only a portion of the overall story the district was saying in regards to airport mitigation involving many factors, not just noise. Councilmember Haggerton recommended the ACC Interlocal Agreement be sent to the regular Council meeting for approval. Discussion followed on different mitigation studies available for review. REPORTS Mayor Rants reported he substituted for Mary Gates on the King County Transit Committee. An ordinance was up for discussion on extending transit hours in the bus tunnel. He said the same ordinance was being discussed the last time he attended a meeting over two years ago. The Committee decided to extend the bus tunnel hours to 11:00 p.m. The anticipated cost of $750,000 for the extended hours pertains to direct costs, such as electricity, additional security, etc. Rants said the existing rails in the tunnels are not sufficient for the new transit system and would need to be replaced. Rants said Seattle City Light charges customers in Tukwila a 6% percent utility tax. The tax is included in Seattle's general fund and not reinvested in improving services or quality of services to Tukwila customers. Four or five years ago, when City Council discussed the possibility of imposing a utility tax the City discovered that approximately 60% percent of the community was already incurring a utility tax. The idea of imposing a double tax was not acceptable to the City and the issue was dropped. Seattle City Light continues to serve customers outside of its boundaries. Recently, the City of Shoreline considered imposing its own utility tax to raise approximately $1 million in additional revenue. They met with Seattle City Light and Seattle City in an attempt to resolve the double tax issue. Negotiations between the three entities resulted in an offer by Seattle to extend 50% percent of the utility tax to Shoreline. Shoreline refused and said they need the full $1 million and introduced legislation to prohibit Seattle City Light and Tacoma City Light from charging utility tax outside their respective boundaries. Both utilities informed Shoreline that if they pursued the legislation, each utility would only sign short-term franchise agreements with the stipulation that Shoreline locate another electric utility provider. Shoreline drew back from the legislation and a negotiation meeting was scheduled between the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), Tacoma, Shoreline, Seattle, and Steilacoom regarding the issue. Eventually, the cities of Burien, Tukwila, and Lake Forest Park also attended the meeting, Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 6 of 8 The AWC Board is comprised of mayors from Everett, Spokane, Bellevue, Bridgeport and their respective cities each impose a utility tax. Shoreline agreed to defer the legislation for one year in an attempt to resolve the issue with Seattle City Light. The remaining cities elected to move forward on the legislation. Shoreline will not be supporting the legislation. The AWC Board insinuated that if no compromise can be reached, they will probably support the cities of Seattle and Tacoma and will not support the bill. Rants said the proposed legislation is the City's only option to eliminate the tax. Seattle generates between $400,000 to $500,000 in utility tax revenue from Tukwila. Rants said he has briefed state legislators representing Tukwila on the proposed legislation and that the bill is still in committee. Discussion ensued between Rants and Councilmembers regarding the tax without representation issue and who should be contacted at the state level to generate support for the bill. Rants reported the RTA's stakeholders meeting with City Council and the Planning Commission will be held Wednesday, August 25, 1998. Concurrently, the Green River Watershed Forum will be holding a meeting that will cover the Endangered Species Act, eagle restoration, habitat projects, and Green River flood control. Rants said he would be attending the forum on behalf of City Council. Councilmember Duffie said the Community Affairs and Parks Committee met with approximately ten citizens representing various youth sport groups and reviewed field schedules, lights for the fields, and additional baseball fields. Some good ideas and suggestions were discussed along with how to secure funding. Another meeting is scheduled for March 4 to review park plans for the old community center. Councilmember Haggerton said Tukwila does not have a field qualified for senior Little League games and that there are approximately 20 senior Little League teams located in Tukwila. Councilmember Carter said it's a continuing problem that most cities are hearing not enough parks and fields for sports. Duffie said the Committee discussed having a meeting with the Real Estate Panel and touring Highway 99 to review progress made on the Highway 99 Revitalization Plan. Councilmember Hernandez said a public hearing is scheduled on the Highway 99 Revitalization Plan on Monday, April 13. Another joint meeting with the Real Estate Panel and the Community Affairs and Parks Committee is tentatively scheduled for April 16. Administrator McFarland indicated the Real Estate Panel met two years ago at the Foster Library, toured the area, and conducted a worksession on what they felt would or wouldn't work based on their perceptions of what they saw during the tour. The comments were integrated into the draft plan and now the Committee would like the panel's input on the draft plan and progress to date on Highway 99. Administrator McFarland invited Councilmembers to attend the meeting and asked for input regarding the best time to meet. Director Lancaster said staff would review and discuss strategies in the draft Highway 99 Plan at the March 9 COW meeting. Some of the concerns expressed by the Real Estate Panel two years ago have been worked on and he wants to review it with the Council and the Real Estate Panel. Minutes of 2/23/98 Page 7 of 8 Hernandez noted the meeting with the Council would probably occur on April 16 sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Duffle reported the Committee also received a briefing on the fourth quarter report from Parks and Recreation staff. Committee members requested that they be updated on RTA developments. Haggerton said he suggested the representatives of the various youth sports groups organize in a more formal organization and attend the Community affairs and Parks Committee meetings and provide input on what they would like the Committee to consider. Councilmember Hernandez said she attended the Apartment Managers Network dinner. The program included a representative from the Dispute Resolution Center and one of the City's human services provider. The meeting was well attended. Hernandez attended the D.A.R.E. program at Foster High School and the City's Employee Appreciation Banquet on Saturday. Council President Linder attended the King County International Airport meeting. She has information she can share with Councilmembers. She said she enjoyed the Employee Appreciation Banquet on Saturday. The Finance and Safety Committee discussed the possibility of having a community meeting on how to eliminate code enforcement problems relating to community spring clean up. Discussion continued on where to conduct the community meeting. Linder also noted that the Council needs to have time to review the Highway 99 book and suggested conducting the review at a regular or COW Council meeting. Councilmembers concurred to conduct the community meeting on March 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the Foster Commons. March 26 would be an alternate date. The RTA workshop has been rescheduled to April 8 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Foster Commons. Councilmember Carter attended the Boeing Field meeting and she also attended Ron Sims address at the D.A.R.E. graduation program at Foster High School on Friday, February 20. Carter will be attending a Transportation Committee meeting. Agenda items include resolutions for Amtrak station locations, the fast corridor memorandum of understanding, and a fourth quarter report review. Councilmember Haggerton attended the King County Airport public meeting and an ACC meeting. Haggerton said he also attended the D.A.R.E. graduation on Friday at Foster High School and the employee appreciation banquet. Councilmember Fenton attended the King County Airport public meeting, the Apartment Managers dinner, the D.A.R.E. program, and the employee appreciation banquet. McFarland referred to the Third Runway Impact Study and said the lead consultant of the study will be briefing Burien and the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council on Thursday, March 5 on planning issues related to the third runway at Sea -Tac. Ted Lane of Thomas and Lane and Mike McCormick and Joe Pobiner will conduct the briefing. They have offered to provide a similar briefing to Tukwila anytime between March 4 Minutes of 2/23/98 A memorial service for Jack Hagberg is scheduled for Thursday, February 26 at 10:00 at St. James Cathedral. Councilmembers continued a discussion on county health permit requirements relating to Tukwila Festival Days and how costly it was to obtain a permit. The Committee of the Whole meeting adjourned to a Special Meeting at 9:30 p.m. following a 20 minute break, Pamela Linder, Council President Valerie Gow, Recording Secretary Page 8 of 8