HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-04-13 Committee of the Whole MinutesMinutes of 4/13/98
TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL
April 13, 1998, 7:00 p.m.
Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES
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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, Dave Fenton, Pam Carter, and Jim Haggerton.
Absent: Councilmember Steve Mullet.
OFFICIALS: John Rants, Mayor; John McFarland, City Administrator; Steve Lancaster, Director of
Community Development; Brian Shelton, City Engineer; Rebecca Fox, Associate Planner, Don Williams, Parks
Recreation Director; and Lucy Lauterbach, Legislative Coordinator.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:
Introduction of Foster High School's Debate Team: Don Garnand, Debate Coach, introduced members of
Foster High School's Debate Team. The Debate Team has won many awards throughout the state. Mr.
Garnand thanked the Council for the recognition of the Debate Team. He indicated the team placed second in
the state tournament in Triple A in the speaking events, and finished in third place in the debate category. He
introduced five members who will be attending the National Debate Tournament in St. Louis on June 14 -18,
1998. Debate Team national finalists include David Kurtze, Braden Lamb, Ben Woyvodich, Serena Gordon,
and Chris Losnegard. The members represent one third of the entire Debate Team.
Debate Team members shared their debate topics and how they became interested in school's debate team.
Mr. Garnand shared how the debate team operates and reviewed practicing and debate schedules.
Most of the team's funding is through the school's ASB account. Councilmember Carter distributed a listing of
projected expenses for the team and asked if there was a way for the City to contribute. Councilmembers
congratulated each of the members, thanked them for attending, and wished them luck at the national
tournament.
Metro Service Changes: Jack Lattemann, Metro Project Manager, and Kirstine Whisler, Transit
Advisory Commissioner and Sounding Board member: City Engineer Shelton said two members have been
working their way through King County developing Metro Transit Service Changes that will be implemented in
September 1998. One of issues that hasn't been fully addressed is the transit center hub in Tukwila. The issue
will be developed through the Transit Advisory Commission and brought back to Council for review.
Jack Lattemann is the Metro Project Manager for west Seattle and the southwest King County service
implementation area, which includes Tukwila. Work has been in progress since last summer and has consisted
of several community meetings. Many individual contacts with local residents have also occurred. The project
is somewhat different in that Metro has gone out to the public without a formal plan and has requested input on
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what citizens would like from a transit service. The ideas received from last summer and fall resulted in a set of
alternatives. In January, the alternatives were presented to the public. From there, public comments were
reviewed and Metro developed a set of changes that fits with the budget. The County Executive has forwarded
the changes to the County Council's Transportation Committee. The Committee has scheduled a public hearing
on April 22 at 2:00 p.m. at the Courthouse. From there, the Committee is expected to wrap up its work and
report on April 29 with full Council approval expected by May. Approved changes would be implemented on
September 19, 1998.
The changes are a forerunner of a number of other transit improvements that will boost the visibility of transit,
and for the first time for many people, make public transit a viable alternative.
Mr. Lattemann said that throughout the process, the intent was to involve as many people from the community
as possible. A good example is Kirstine Whisler. She has contributed many hours on Metro's Sounding Board
and represents the Tukwila community. She also devotes time to the Tukwila Transit Advisory Board and is a
source of good input. Mr. Lattemann introduced Kirstine Whisler.
Ms. Whisler thanked Metro staff and indicated there were ten committee meetings in addition to the numerous
community meetings. She said she is pleased with some of the new routes in Tukwila along with some new
services. Some services are being discontinued, but overall ridership will increase. The community was
represented by representatives from Highline School District, South Seattle Community College, Highline
Community College, Burien, and Des Moines. The resulting product was the report to the King County
Council. There was consensus on what the plan should be. Another Sounding Board that is operating in north
Seattle did not reach consensus with their plan.
She explained the consensus building process and how the community was solicited for input. Many people
from the community wanted east -west connections rather than the normal north -south connections. Many
people thanked Metro just for asking and giving people the opportunity to provide input.
After the second round of hearings, the Sounding Board Committee and staff submitted separate reports, and
although the reports were different, they generally agreed on the issues.
The Committee recommended that performance standards be developed. After analyzing route ridership, some
routes are underutilized. However, when a non performing route is contemplated for discontinuance, a sudden
minority of riders appear to champion the route. She said there are not advocates for brand new routes and
consequently, new routes are difficult to establish. Of the budget, 60% percent is being allocated to a new route
that will serve South Center. This speaks well of all the adjacent communities who were willing to give up
something so that an east -west route could be established. The Committee also requested that the new route be
a one -zone route although it crosses city jurisdictions. She indicated the Committee recommended the
performance standards so routes can be analyzed for performance. When reallocation of resources occurs, it
would be based on a performance assessment thereby discontinuing or altering routes that are not performing to
standards.
Jack Lattemann and Doug Johnson displayed a route map. Mr. Johnson described the layout of the routes.
Route 128 is the centerpiece route that consumes 60% percent of the budget. The brand new route runs seven
days and operates between west Seattle and Tukwila. It will serve South Seattle Community College, White
Center, Boulevard Park neighborhood, Foster neighborhood, and South Center. The route is a 30- minute route
on weekdays and an hour route on weekends. On weekends the route would not serve South Seattle
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Community College and would end at the junction. In the Tukwila area, it will travel from Military Road and
operate across 144 past the commercial center and Pacific Highway, Foster High School, and cross over to
South Center.
The other major route change affecting Tukwila is route #124. With the new 128 route, it is possible to change
route 124 from a bus to a van, which will allow the route to go over Tukwila Hill and serve the Tukwila Hill
neighborhood.
Another change to route #124 is frequency will be increased to include weekends.
Route #129 is a new route. The route is a reverse commute route from downtown Seattle to Airport Way and
through Tukwila to the Gateway Loop ending at the Tukwila park and ride at Interurban. Many requests from
employers in the Tukwila area requested this reverse commute route.
Route #170 is a weekday commuter route that goes from SeaTac and Boulevard Park neighborhoods and
downtown Seattle. Changes to the route include operating on Northfolk from East Marginal Way to Airport
Way. The intent is to provide more service to the eastside of Boeing Field on Airport Way.
Several other route proposals were considered, but were not funded as part of the project. Since a high degree
of support was expressed for changes, it is likely that sometime in the future the route changes would be
eventually funded.
Council President Linder confessed that she had never ridden a bus until last Sunday. She recounted the
difficulty of finding a parking spot at the park and ride lot. Mr. Johnson agreed that the park and ride has
reached capacity and indicated there is an opportunity with RTA with the new commuter rail service and the
selection of the Long Acres station site that would provide some additional parking.
Councilmember Carter said she was disappointed that the public meetings in Tukwila were held on weekdays
between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. She indicated she received a mailing on public comment thoughts and noted that
there were no designations for communities and that someone would have to have enough interest to read every
description of every route to ascertain if the proposed route change affected him or her.
Ms. Whisler addressed Councilmember Carter's concern and indicated responses from the comment cards
indicated the public did not like it when information was targeted to specific communities. They preferred
getting information on specific routes, since commuters know their routes. Councilmember Carter said she still
had a problem with the way the information is disseminated since publishing studies show the majority of
people only read a few lines of information and disregard the rest. Mr. Lattemann concurred with
Councilmember Carter's comments and said the issue has been addressed with the community relations staff.
Councilmember Hernandez said she appreciates the east -west route for commuting to west Seattle and asked
what is the best route to get to Burien. Mr. Lattemann said route #340 is the best route to take, however the
route does have some limitations, in that it does not run early or late. During commuter hours, it runs every 20
minutes. The need is to have service every 10 to 15 minutes and expand the service, particularly on weekends.
Budget was the main reason the route was not improved. Metro is hopeful that by September 1999, changes
would be made, as it is tied to the implementation of the RTA route that will eventually replace the 340 route.
These are a series of continuing changes Metro is implementing.
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Councilmember Fenton asked if route #124 received negative comments from the public. Mr. Lattemann said
he personally talked with several people who attended the Foster Library meeting who lived on 42 and asked a
number of questions about the alternative that was being proposed. He said the routes were relatively
unchanged and did not recall any serious negative comments.
Councilmember Haggerton referred to RTA's recent public meeting on light rail routing and indicated some
people expressed concerns about what would happen if a route other than Highway 99 was selected for light
rail. For instance, light rail coming from Interurban to Tukwila and over the SeaTac Airport would create a
situation for people to get to the multi -model center in Tukwila. The new #128 route answers some of those
concerns. He asked what the travel time from west Seattle to South Center was. Mr. Lattemann said from end
to end it is approximately 55 minutes. This route serves many different rider purposes. The middle point on the
route is White Center, which is approximately a new trip of 23 minutes as opposed to the existing trip of more
than an hour. In response to Councilmember Haggerton's comments concerning route #128, Mr. Lattemann
said Metro was very conscious of alignment choices in relation to commuter light rail and that the routes were
determined to coexist with the RTA light commuter rail.
Councilmember Haggerton asked if new route #129 would complicate the park and ride problem in Tukwila.
Mr. Lattemann said route #129 is a reverse commuter route. For the first time, a bus route would be offered to
commuters from Seattle that offers a commute to an employment area in Tukwila. The route is funded by
Seattle's portion of the budget.
Councilmember Carter asked if it has been Metro's experience that serving employment centers increases
ridership. Mr. Lattemann said it depends on the density of the employment center and if employers have
programs in place to encourage bus commuting, and if parking charges are being assessed by employers. He
said in some areas, ridership has doubled to the SeaTac area due to increased parking rates at the airport. There
are a number of factors that influence people to take the bus. Increased congestion is an important factor.
Metro has experienced a 17% increase in bus usage in the last two years.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Betty Gully, 13017 Macadam Road South, Tukwila said she under the impression that the old community
center site would be a discussion item on the agenda. At a committee meeting earlier in the evening and after
discussion with Mayor Rants and Director Williams, she learned that the item was not on the agenda.
She read a prepared statement in support of the old community center area being a passive park.
Ms. Gully said the community of Riverton has had more than its share of giving to the community. Riverton is
exposed to I -5 freeway noise, traffic on 599, truck and bus traffic on Marginal Way. She said it's time the area
was given something is for pleasure and convenience
Ms. Gully said she's interested in the welfare of all children not just children involved in organized sports. She
has raised three children who were lucky to participate in organized sports. However, not all children have the
same advantages. She provided an example of how her son, a soccer coach, found a pocket park in the Ballard
area and recruited neighborhood children for different sport activities. One organized sport associations got
wind that the pocket park could be revamped to enlarge enough for a regulation soccer size field, the park was
taken over by organized sports and no longer existed for the community or for impromptu sports.
Consequently, the kids now have no where to play "just for fun" sports.
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Ms. Gully said converting the area to a regulation field would preclude the rest of the community from enjoying
the park. She asked the Council to seriously consider the other kids and that the park be a neighborhood park
and not a ballpark.
William Butler, 12035 Palatine Ave North, Seattle said he does not live in the city but works occasionally in
Tukwila. He builds houses and does some small land development. He said he has previously addressed the
Council concerning a waiver or an exception to the requirement of requiring development to underground
utilities to modestly priced homes. Undergrounding utilities is in reality a very expensive cost to the contractor,
and in his situation, not a cost that he can arbitrarily pass on to the new property owner. Due to Seattle City
Light requirements and the fact that they prefer above ground connections, City Light is imposing some
expensive requirements to underground electricity. Mr. Butler said he does not know if Tukwila's Public
Works Department is aware of the actual costs to underground and is requesting the Council look at the issue.
He believes Tukwila will sacrifice development if the requirement stands.
Council President Linder said she would insure Public Works reviews the meeting minutes and that the issue
has been before the Utility Committee. There may be some options that would provide some exceptions to
small developers. Councilmember Fenton said staff would be providing some information and
recommendations as soon as they have studied the issue.
SPECIAL ISSUES:
Comp Plan Amendments: Planner Fox reviewed the process to determine which comprehensive plan
amendments will proceed through the process. She said she three topics that would be reviewed and requested
Council's guidance on how the public meeting scheduled for April 20 should be conducted.
The implementation of the Growth Management Act has brought changes in the way Tukwila amends it
Comprehensive Amendments. In the past, proposals were considered throughout the year. Now proposed
amendments are grouped and reviewed once a year. In the past, the proposed comp plan amendments first went
to the Planning Commission for review and then to City Council for decision. Now the proposed amendments
first come to the Council, which is a threshold step to determine if the proposed amendments are significant or
non significant and then reviewed to accept or reject and then determination is made on how a subsequent
review of the accepted amendment should occur. The council has already established some guidelines on the
significant and non significant aspects of an amendment. Basically, significant amendments would have a
substantial impact on the current Comprehensive Plan. These proposed amendments would be inconsistent or
not in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan policies and maps. Non significant proposals have no significant
impact on the Comprehensive Plan and are in keeping with the plan's policies and maps.
Planner Fox displayed a flow chart of options Councilmembers can use for proposed amendments. The
flowchart outlines decisions that would pertain to significant and non significant proposals. If proposals are
forwarded to the Planning Commission for further review, the amendments would receive environmental review
and the Planning Commission would conduct a pubic hearing and forward its recommendation to City Council.
Planner Fox reviewed two proposed amendments. The Port of Seattle proposes the first amendment. They are
requesting Tukwila add a policy to its Comprehensive Plan supporting the Metropolitan Transportation Plan's
goal of meeting regional air transport needs at SeatTac Airport, including support of the third runway.
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Amendment 2 is proposed by Tukwila, which includes several changes recommended in the Draft Pacific
Highway Revitalization Plan. The first part of the proposed amendment proposes to allow commercial uses in
certain residential zoned areas that meet certain conditions. The conditions include the following:
1) Site development must have frontage on Pacific Highway South or on 144 Street or other
selected major arterials,
2) Primary access point must be from Pacific Highway and vehicle access would be limited on
the residential streets.
3) The Board of Architectural Review must review and approve comprehensive site
development plans for all of the above.
Staff has identified five possible sites that meet the proposed conditions. Planner Fox reviewed the site
locations with Councilmembers.
The second part of the amendment concerns coordinated development of adjacent lots. Allowances for shared
parking would be considered to improve circulation.
A third proposed amendment would allow multi family development in the regional commercial zone and
increase the density in the neighborhood commercial center.
Council President Linder referred to text on page 14 of the Comp Plan Amendment as asked what "raising the
allowable density to match typical development profile" means. Director Lancaster said when staff was
developing conceptual projects to encourage developers to come into the district and develop mixed use
projects, the current building standards allow for a project to consist of first floor commercial and second and
third floor as multi family development at 25 units of density per acre. The current code allows 14 1/2 units per
acre. Real estate professionals and the marketing consultant indicate it would be difficult to market the concept
if only 14 '/2 units per acre are allowed. The proposal does not recommend a density level. If Council approves
the concept, staff would provide additional information regarding the appropriate levels of density under mixed
use development.
Councilmembers passed on their appreciation to staff for the preparation of materials to guide them through the
Comprehensive Plan Amendment process.
It was recommended the map be projected on monitors for the public meeting scheduled for April 20.
Sam Pace, 3905 154 SE Bellevue 98006, is the Housing Specialist for the South King County Association of
Realtors. He said the Tukwila will face many challenges as it moves through the comp plan amendment
process. He indicated Tukwila might be placing itself in jeopardy in respect to future decisions and referred to
two issues concerning capacity and monitoring.
In the 1990, the state passed the Management Growth Act that required the creation of countywide planning
policies that were adopted in 1992 by the King County Council and amended in 1994. In the area of housing,
the Office of Financial Management (OFM) has directed minimum housing targets to cities. Tukwila's housing
target is 5,388 new units to be provided by the year 2012. In addition, all cities in the county have an
affordable housing target. That housing target is 20% percent of the total number of the new units affordable to
households making zero to 50% of King County's median household income for Tukwila. In addition all cities
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were given a target of 17% of the amount of the housing equal to 17% of the total number of units being
affordable to 50% to 80% of King County's median household income. In terms of the total target, Tukwila's
low end is 4,761, the high end is 6,014, and the midpoint is the 5,388 houses. He indicated the housing targets
are binding on the Council and to the City as a matter of law. Since 1992, Tukwila has added a total of 153
housing units to the City. Seventeen units were added in 1992, 44 in 93, 67 in 94, 13 in 95, and 12 in 96. The
current deficiency is 1,037 units at the low end and at the mid point the deficiency is 1,194 units,
The second requirement in the County Wide Planning Policy is the monitoring of housing production.
Monitored is required by four factors. Currently, Tukwila is not conducting any monitoring. He said the source
of information was obtained from a series of public records request the association requested for all cities in
King County.
He indicated he wanted to bring this information to the attention of the Council so they could begin considering
implementing a monitoring program, which is required by countywide planning policies.
Another concern for cities is OFM under forecasted growth and consequently this raises the number of housing
units required for each city per year. Mr. Pace offered to provide any statistical information the association has
that would be of use to the City. He concluded his comments and said he wanted to inform the Council of some
major housing issues so that the Council could begin considering ways to address the issue.
Mayor Rants asked Mr. Pace is he knew what the average single family house in King County costs. Mr. Pace
said in 1997, the average price in King County went up from $197,000 to $213,000 and was increasing at
$1,307 per month.
Mayor Rants referenced to the 1996 new home figures and said the average house in Tukwila cost $96,000. He
said Tukwila already has low income and affordable housing throughout the entire city. Currently, the City has
800 infill lots for single family housing that could be developed. That does not come close to the 5,000 that are
required for Tukwila. Tukwila already has 60 percent of its housing in the form of apartments. Another three
acres of undeveloped land is available for apartments.
Mayor Rants said he does not agree the city's housing should consist of 80% percent apartments.
Mr. Pace said he respects the City's decisions regarding the desired mix of land uses. He said he message
concerns the required targets for the City of Tukwila and unless some attempt is made to reach the targets, the
City may end up losing control of the issue.
Mayor Rants said the City and the Council are not willing to arbitrarily accept the state and county planning
process projections for Tukwila.
Councilmember Carter said Council considered the information when the comp plan was completed. The
market drives the process.
Renaming of Monster Road to Fun Center Way: Administrator McFarland said the request is actually for
the portion of Monster Road that is located in Tukwila. In reality, the map shows that it pertains to a very short
portion of the street. The requests applies to the portion of the street that connects to Interurban Avenue that
was Grady Way and then connects to what is left of Monster Road in Tukwila which appears to be
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approximately 150 feet of roadway. The request is to rename this portion to Fun Center Way. The remaining
portion of Monster in Renton would not be affected.
Administrator McFarland distributed a copy of a map highlighting the area of request and pointed out the
location of Monster Road in relation to Grady Way. Administrator McFarland said an improved map would be
provided at the April 20 City Council meeting for clarity.
Councilmembers discussed the history of the Monster family and asked if anyone knew any of the descendants.
Administrator McFarland said he is acquainted with the granddaughter of the Monster family.
Jeanelle Baldwin, 5827 S 144 Street, Tukwila, said she has been a resident since childhood. She said
Tukwila stories from the past involve plank roads, sliding down muddy roads, and chicken coops along with
other assorted fun events. Ms. Baldwin said she has been an active community member in the past and more
recently has not been involved in the community due to taking care of her seriously ill adult daughter. She
commended the Tukwila Fire Department for their assistance with her daughter.
She is familiar with the Monster family, as they were very prominent in the community. Ms. Baldwin said she
strongly objects to the name change due to the connections the family had to Tukwila. She said it is important
to retain the historical aspect of the name. She recounted several early farming families that were predominant
in the community and referred to the numerous subdividing that is occurring within Tukwila and said even
though it's for progress, it further divides the community and that some of the early history of Tukwila should
be retained.
Administrator McFarland referred to the map and indicated a portion of the road has been vacated and is no
longer a road. He said this fact complicates the issue even more. Monster Road in Tukwila is a stretch of right
of -way that connects to what used to be Old Gray Way on the west side and with no road connection on the east
side.
Anna Bernhardt, 14241 59 Ave S., Tukwila, said she agrees with the comments by Ms. Baldwin and
although Monster Road is not an attractive name, Fun Center Way is worse. She recommended against
changing the name.
Councilmember Hernandez said she received an email regarding the proposed name change. Edward Groenthal
said he is currently a Kent resident but used to live in Tukwila. He indicated that he attended school with Mary
Lou Monster in the 1950's and that she was proud that a road had been named after her grandfather. He said he
grew up in the area and is not in favor of changing name of the road.
A telephone call received by City Hall from Diane Sullivan indicates she conveyed she would like Monster
Road retained as the name of the road.
Councilmember Hernandez noted that the newspaper article quoted her as saying that as long as there was no
objection to renaming the road, she would like to accommodate the request to change the name of the road.
However, since there has been objections to renaming the road, she is considering those comments when she
makes her decision to support or not support the name change request.
Councilmember Carter suggested that the portion of the unnamed road that Administrator McFarland referred to
be considered for a name.
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Councilmember Haggerton referred to the testimony concerning the historical significance of the family and
suggested that when better maps are reviewed and Council revisits the issue, the City might want to approach
the owners of Family Fun Center and suggest they donate a historical marker to satisfy the historical concerns
with changing the name.
Councilmember Carter said she is concerned with setting a precedent and that naming streets after new
businesses, which may go out of business several years down the road, should be considered.
Councilmember Hernandez said she is concerned with potential uses of the property and in the event, that is was
redeveloped, the street name would then be obsolete.
WSDOT surplus property purchase/Nelson property easement discussion: Mayor Rants said the proposal
is a win -win for the City in that it won't cost the City a lot of money, the Nelson property can be vacated and
given a permanent site that has access to it. The Committee is seeking Council's approval to sign the
agreement.
Councilmember Duffie says he supports the request. Councilmember Carter said the concept was presented to
the Committee last year and she assumes the proposal has not change from the previous request.
Director Williams indicated that the City was hoping the property was transferred to the City at no cost;
something the state has done on many other occasions. The state decided they wanted compensation and that is
the only change from what was presented last year.
Wheels and Waves bicycle rental agreement offering weekend bike rental along the Green River Trail
south of I -405: Mayor Rants said it would be an asset to the City to have bicycle rentals available to citizens
who utilize the trail. He recommended Council approve the request.
Council President Linder referred to page 49 of the proposed agreement asked why the term of the contract was
only limited to May 16, 1998 through September 30, 1998. Director Williams said the vendor will also be
operating in another area and wanted to limit the contract for one season to see if the business would be
profitable. Councilmember Hernandez said the Committee also wanted to limit the duration of the contract as a
way to contract for a short period in case other competitors were interested in also contracting with the City.
If more than one company was interested in the providing the service, the City could go out to bid. However,
City Attorney Noe has indicated the City is not obligated to go out to bid on this particular service. Director
Williams said he would obtain the location of where the company is providing a similar service and provide that
information to Council.
Responding to a concern addressed by Councilmember Carter regarding City signage requirements, Director
Williams said the company would have to provide proof that the signage meets City sign requirements and signs
have been reviewed for compliance with the Department of Community Development.
Councilmember Hernandez noted that the agreement also contains a provision for maintaining the assigned area
litter free and than any unusual clean -up expenses or damage, arising from the vendor's activities is reimbursed
to the city. The area of operation is the parking area located near the Texaco station.
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Janelle Baldwin, 5827 S. 144 Street, Tukwila, asked if liability to the City was covered in the contract.
Mayor Rants said the City is no more liable than if a private citizen used a bicycle and was injured.
REPORTS:
Mayor Rants reminded Council that Saturday, April 18 is Earth Day and that a work party is scheduled at
Tukwila Pond Park. Planning of approximately 1,000 shrubs is scheduled and willing hands are needed to help
out. The planting will be from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m with lunch served on site, courtesy of the Doubletree
Suites. Bring your shovel and gloves.
Saturday, April 18 at 9:00 a.m. at the Tukwila Community Center is the South County Mayor's League of
Women Voters meeting which will be hosted by Rants. He said he would arrive at the park at approximately
11:00 a.m. after he reviews all the relevant issues affecting south King County at the meeting.
Rants said a special meeting of South King County Mayors was held in Renton on April 9. Issues of
governance and finance were reviewed along with Council's no recommendation on the proposed package. At
the present time, there are not enough votes in the suburban cities to pass the package. King County Council
has been notified that it will not pass. There is a special meeting of suburban cities on April 22 to discuss the
issue and general membership will vote on the issue. Rants said he would be attending and voting no on the
governance and finance package. Rants said of the 36 jurisdictions within suburban cities, 30 have indicated
they will vote against the package.
Rants referred to the letter he sent to the Regional Transit Board and said Ron Sims replied and agreed that
attending the meeting is preferable than receiving notes and minutes and believes that there should be local
representative by the local board at the regional meetings. Rants is meeting with Ron Sims on May 4 and will
be addressing alignment choices that that Sims agrees should be carried forward to the EIS. Rants received a
packet of information from RTA on the scoping process and will be forwarding a copy to Councilmembers who
did not receive a copy.
Rants said the RTA meeting was beneficial and good comments were exchanged regarding the process.
CITY COUNCIL:
Councilmember Duffle attended the Community Affairs and Parks Committee meeting. The CDBG funding
was discussed for 1998. Funding remaining from 1997 includes $32,000 that would rollover into 1998. This
year, $80,000 is available for 1998 projects. Funding levels for different programs were also reviewed.
Councilmember Hernandez said a decision will need to be made on whether to accept the CDBG pass through
funds from King County and whether any changes need to be incorporated into proposals which are currently
being funded. The programs consist of the following:
Teen Program
Nutrition Program
Human Services Plan,
The Regional Entity
The Utility Connection Assistance Program
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King County Housing Repair.
The Committee will need to determine how much to contribute to the Housing Repair Program next year. Of
the $80,000, $46,200 is allocated for pending projects— applications received to date for funding. Only $32,000
would remain for 1998. Based on the name, Councilmember Hernandez said the full funding could be utilized
and that the same amount should be budged for 1999.
Duffle said renaming the old community center park was discussed and consensus was reached to rename it to
Riverton Park. The Committee concurs with the recommendation and will be bringing the recommendation
forward. The park was also recommended to be a passive park for general community use.
Councilmember Hernandez attended the RTA Workshop on April 8 and the Chamber on April 10. On April
17, Hernandez will be attending a Strategic Planning session for REACH at the City of SeaTac. The minutes of
the March 26 meeting were distributed to Councilmembers.
Council President Linder also attended the RTA Workshop. She found it very informative.
Councilmember Carter also attended the RTA Workshop and said it was a good meeting and she met new
folks from the community. She said many residents learned that it does not make sense to have light rail
through Tukwila's Highway 99. Carter also attended a recent meeting of the Library Advisory Board Meeting
held at Foster Library. Results from the library survey have not been completed. Nancy Smith, a supervisor for
a group of libraries including Tukwila's attended the meeting. Director Doerschel explained the components of
the interlocal agreement Tukwila has with the library system. The King County Library system includes two
libraries with a minimum number of operating hours for Tukwila. Director Doerschel indicated the Foster
Library could expand hours of service to include Saturday's without any amendment to the agreement. Carter
said although Tukwila and Foster libraries are part of the King County Library system, the City looks to them as
being the community's libraries and expects them to serve the community.
The Utility Committee reviewed sewer and water connections for a property owner who wanted a waiver of
connection fees.
Carter reported the Planning Commission considered the City's request for a conditional use permit on City
property and neighbors expressed opposition to the use. Staff and neighbors toured other comparable sites with
similar operations in other cities to show that odors, noise, and dust would not be an issue. It did not seem to
make a difference. The residential properties are located across from Macadam Road and above the property
the City owns. Neighbors continue to express opposition to the proposed use. The Planning Commission more
or less relayed that they would prefer staff not bring forward proposals to site vactor waste on land other than
that zoned industrial. This leaves the City with limited options.
Councilmember Fenton said Water District Number. 125 has a franchise agreement with the City. The
agreement was reviewed several weeks ago and is currently undergoing another rewrite by staff. The agreement
is expected to come forward to Council as soon as all of the issues have been resolved.
Carter said the Transportation Committee is meeting on April 14 and Councilmember Fenton is attending on
behalf of Councilmember Mullet.
Minutes of 4/13/98 Page 12 of 13
Councilmember Haggerton said he also attended the RTA Workshop. On April 9, Haggerton attended the US
Army Corps of Engineers public hearing on the mitigation of wetlands for SeaTac's third runway. The Port of
Seattle proposes to fill in and relocate the wetlands to Auburn. He said quite a number of people turned out for
the public meeting. Elected officials spoke first, followed by the general public. He commented on how
impressed he was with the way the Army conducted the hearing and suggested the same sort of procedures
could be adopted by Tukwila if ever a controversial issue includes a pubic hearing.
Haggerton said there was a clear dividing line between speaking parties. Representative Adam Smith also
attended the meeting. Haggerton commented on how cordial and helpful Smith's staff is in Washington D.C.
Haggerton and Smith talked about how different people skills and personalities were between the West and the
East Coast.
Haggerton said he is attending an EDAB meeting on April 15.
Councilmember Fenton said he attended most of the meetings the other Councilmembers attended and would
be attending a Highway 99 meeting on April 14.
STAFF:
Administrator McFarland distributed some information from the Washington Cities Insurance Authority
concerning legislative immunity. In normal actions of passing legislation, the U.S. Supreme Court has
determined that Councilmembers are immune from lawsuits and personal actions. This does not extend to
administrative duties, which are the non legislative and non -law passing duties. The immunity does not extend
to quasi-judicial actions, but there is some doctrine of immunity in association with quasi- judicial actions that is
not quite as broad.
McFarland distributed copies of The Way Back In Newsletter that contains a thank you letter from a homeless
family who was afforded housing at the Macadam House. McFarland said the City sponsors three families in
both of the City's shelters for up to 90 -days. He commended the operations of The Way Back In and said the
service is reaping an 80% success rate in placing people in permanent housing situations. The 90 -day period is
a breathing period to allow people to get their finances in order and be able to save up for the first and last
month rent deposit. Eighty percent of the clients do not return for public assistance for housing needs.
McFarland will see that copies of the newsletter are available to Councilmembers in the future.
MISCELLEANOUS:
Duffle asked what the status was regarding contract negotiations with the Police Guild. Rants indicated the
negotiations are ongoing.
Rants referred to the PAA negotiations with Seattle and indicated negotiations are not going well. The timeline
has passed and an extension has been requested so the City may do some study and analysis. The key issue
focuses on Seattle's desire to have enough property taken over to pay for the bridge.
Carter referred to the recent incident involving the pilot who was entangled in electrical wires. She commended
the Tukwila Fire Department and referred to the media coverage Seattle received on national news versus none
for the Tukwila Fire Department. Rants said Seattle was notified 30 minutes before Tukwila, as the control
tower has a direct connection to Seattle Fire Department. The call was not routed through the 911
Minutes of 4/13/98 Page 13 of 13
communications center first and Seattle responded first with 15 pieces of equipment before Tukwila arrived on
the scene.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business the meeting adjurned at 10:05 p.m.
1- 1
Council President Pamela Linder
Valerie Gow, Recording Secretary