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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-10-09 Committee of the Whole MinutesTUKWILA CITY COUNCIL October 9, 2000 7:00 p.m. Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF WHOLE MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Council President Joe Duffie called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Council Analyst Lucy Lauterbach called the roll of Council. Present were Council President Joe Duffie; and Councilmembers Joan Hernandez, Pam Carter, Jim Haggerton, Pamela Linder, David Fenton, and Richard Simpson. OFFICIALS: Steve Mullet, Mayor; Rhonda Berry, Assistant City Administrator; Doug Partlow, Police Captain, Bruce Fletcher, Director Parks Recreation, Alan Doerschel, Finance Director; Kathy Rohlena, Personnel Analyst; Darrell Baskin, Police Sergeant; and Lucy Lauterbach, Council Analyst. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: a. Ikawa Sister City Visit Report Mayor Mullet, Councilmembers, and Assistant City Administrator Rhonda Berry each provided a report on their activities and highlights with members of the Ikawa Sister City delegation visit to Tukwila. Adult and student Ikawa delegates arrived on Thursday evening, October 3, and departed the morning of October 9, 2000. Delegates and their hosts visited Foster High School, Fun Family Center, Tillicum Village, Space Needle, Costco, Capital Hill, Ballard Locks, Pike Place Market, South Center Mall, and enjoyed a performance of the Rainier Symphony. Councilmembers complimented the efforts of the Ikawa City Sister Committee in coordinating visitor arrangements and activities. b. Introduction Police Department Employee: Margaret Morey, Records Clerk Police Captain Doug Partlow introduced new Police Department employee Margaret Morey as the Department's Records Clerk. CITIZEN COMMENT /CORRESPONDENCE: Gina Nielson. 12527 35' Avenue South. Tukwila„ spoke of concerns with a development occurring in her neighborhood. She has previously called and emailed her concerns to departments within the City; yet is hopeful Council will intervene. Helicopter noise began at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and affected the neighborhood enough to cause many residents to leave their homes. She requested Council ensure the developer notifies the community of activities that will impact residents and that the notification should be in writing and with advance notice. City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 8 October 9, 2000 Recently, there was signage posted on 35 Avenue South that restricted part of the street from public use. The Sabey Corporation was allowed to use the street for a construction staging area. She complained that the situation has grown out -of- control with the storage of huge garbage bags that has resulted in safety and fire hazards. She suggested that rather than closing the street; the City should require the developer to clean the street up. She suggested the developer has significant space to move their construction staging and storage on site. To her knowledge, street permits had not been issued to the developer for the vacation of the street. A street vacation request is pending by the developer before the Council. Bill Arthur. 18000 Andover Park West. Tukwila, speaking o/b /o Highway 99 Action Committee, provided a copy of the latest edition of the Highway 99 Action Committee Newsletter to Councilmembers and invited them to the monthly meeting of the Committee at 7:00 p.m. on October 10 at the Tukwila Community Center. Mr. Arthur reported the Committee has designated monthly awards to citizens who have made a difference. Mr. Arthur awarded plaques to Mayor Mullet for the month of August 2000 and Council President Duffle for September 2000. He acknowledged the importance of the City Council's support to the Committee for the last five years and announced that Councilmember Carter was the next recipient for the monthly award. Troy Wallin 1207 E. Mareinal Wav South. Tukwila. spoke on the issue of the helicopter operation and said he was unable to call the City because the telephone service was down. He commented on the safety issue concerning the helicopter activity without any notice to the community. Families were located less than 100 yards away from the operation. Mr. Wallin expressed his frustration of not being able to voice his concerns to authorities during the operation. He invited the Council to visit the site during the week to witness firsthand, the infractions of the developer regarding noise and traffic. Bob Bernhardt. 3918 South 126"' Avenue. Tukwila, has lived at the same house for 63 years and would like to address the recent incident at the Sabey construction site. Sabey's group indicated they would communicate with the residents. However, no communications occurred. Mr. Bernhardt requested Council seriously consider the next project considered by the Sabey Corporation, as they do not abide by City's regulations. He asked for the Council's support of the neighborhood and suggested that unless something is done, Mr. Sabey will lose everything he has because the community will retaliate. Ralph Beeler. Sabev Corporation, stated he would specifically address the helicopter operation that took place on Saturday morning, October 7. The operation was a coordinated effort that has occurred several times over the past several years involving the same building before it was retrofitted. The helicopter has been used in the past to pick up heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units to put on top of the building. The activity was coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and they specifically coordinated the flight path. The flight path was not over a residential area. Councilmember Fenton was present and witnessed part of the City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 8 October 9, 2000 operation. Mr. Begler said he was present the entire day during the operation along with Mr. Sabey and his brother, in charge of the construction, and 250 construction workers. The Tukwila Police Department had been notified and were on site. Mr. Begler acknowledged that the Sabey Corporation could have done a better job of notifying residents. The company will ensure it does a better job in the future. He described his personal attempts to notify the Bernhardt's and Gina Nielsen. Under normal circumstances, he would have walked from his office to that residence specifically because Ms. Nielsen is a spokesman for her parents. The reason he did not was that her husband personally threatened him with bodily harm. That is a matter of record with the Tukwila Police Department. Mr. Nielsen was at the job site on Saturday making a nuisance with the construction workers and impeding the operation. He had to be removed by the Tukwila Police Department when Councilmember Fenton was present on the site. Mr. Begler apologized for the latest and most visible incident. Mr. Begler said he provided information to City Administrator McFarland concerning the operation and the operation was coordinated through the Public Works and the Planning Department. He again apologized for any inconvenience and said it would not happen again. He noted that the industrial area abuts the residential area. Mr. Martel also attended the same meetings that the Bernhardt's attended as well as two City staff; Nora Gierloff and Mike Cusick. The discussion specifically addressed noise issues and time of day permitted construction activities. Meeting notes from those meetings were provided to City staff and to Ms. Nielsen. Mr. Begler concluded his comments and said he wanted to provide some facts to an emotional subject. The Sabey Corporation is not upset with anyone and is trying to be good neighbors, given the type of work it does. Councilmember Haggerton asked if there was an alternative to a helicopter operation for placing the equipment on the roof. Mr. Sabey responded that the only alternative was a helicopter because of the weight of the equipment (17,500 pounds). The operation on Saturday was suspended early and switched to a smaller aircraft. The smaller aircraft was unsuccessful and there was almost an accident due to the smaller aircraft's inability to handle the load. Currently, Sabey is attempting to locate a 300 -ton crane that can handle the job. This was the reason for using the helicopter, as no existing mobile cranes could not lift or place the equipment on the building. Councilmember Hernandez asked if the helicopter would continue to be used. Mr. Begler explained that the building was a 600,000 square foot facility being constructed in five phases. The helicopter operation that took place on October 7 placed HVAC equipment on the roof for phase 1 and phase 2 work. For phases 3 and 4, a chilled water system will be substituted, which will preclude placing an HVAC system on the roof The Sabey Corporation is trying to work the issue, which is an expensive alternative, to accommodate the neighborhood and be better City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes neighbors. Another helicopter could be used in the future. Residents will be notified 48 hours in advance in writing of any helicopter operation. Councilmember Fenton reported he spent the majority of his weekend at the site and acknowledged the concerns of the Nielsen's and Bernhardt's. The noise from the helicopter was deafening. However, there wasn't any other way to place the equipment on the roof. The Sabey Corporation did discontinue the operation. They were scheduled to continue on Sunday but elected not to do so. They did bring in a smaller aircraft, but were unsuccessful. Councilmember Fenton acknowledged that there was breakdown in communication. Telephone calls are one thing, but in a delicate situation, such as what occurred during the weekend, a flyer or other forms of notification would have been more appropriate to notify residents. Councilmember Fenton did not personally see the helicopter fly over anyone's house and agreed with Mr. Bernhardt about the dangers of the blades in the event the helicopter were to crash. Mr. Begler said the helicopter operation was a delicate plan and the FAA will not allow an over fly of residential areas. He explained how safety measures were implemented in case of an emergency. Gina Vail. 12607 East Marginal Wav South. Tukwila. reported on the inadequate notification to the neighborhood and the inability to contact any City official to complain about the noise. She suggested that if City Administration and Public Works had been notified, the neighborhood should have been notified as well. She indicated the area is for light industrial, not heavy industrial. SPECIAL ISSUES: a. Proposed Recreation Superintendent Position Page 4 of 8 October 9, 2000 Councilmember Hernandez reported the Finance and Safety Committee reviewed the proposal on October 2. The Committee approved of the reclassification of the vacant Recreation Supervisor position to Recreation Superintendent at range 29, step C. Cost savings would occur in the first year and subsequent years the estimated increase would be approximately 5 Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Fletcher reported the position vacated by Al Franks was re- evaluated based on the increased responsibilities associated with the position with respect to the growth of the City and increased recreation services provided to the community. Director Fletcher responded to questions concerning the first year savings related to the reclassification and reported Mr. Frank was at the top level of the range and step for the recreation supervisor. Reclassification of the position would be at a higher range but at a lower step, which results in cost savings to the City for the first year. Councilmember Carter questioned the job title description change. Personnel Analyst Kathy Rohlena reported that several years ago the position of parks crew chief was reclassified to parks superintendent. The same reclassification occurred in the Public Works Department. City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 8 October 9, 2000 Superintendents within the City are higher level positions than crew chief positions. The superintendent position is more of a managerial position responsible for developing a division budget, allocating resources, and developing the division's goals and objectives. The Council concurred to move the request forward to the next regular City Council meeting for action. b. Tax Levies for 2000 from Previously Adopted Ordinances Regarding Tax Levies from 1999: 1) Levying the general taxes for the City of Tukwila for the fiscal year commencing January 1, 2000, on all property, both real and personal. 2) Relating to the City of Tukwila regular levy from the previous year, commencing January 1, 2000, on all property both real and personal. 3) Relating to the limiting factor for the regular tax levy above the rate of inflation. Director Doerschel reported that after additional research, staff has determined a public hearing on the proposed ordinances is not required. He requested Council move the proposed ordinances forward for adoption at the next meeting. Three ordinances are required for the property tax decision making process by the state. The first ordinance is required by law to set property tax rates based on need. The second ordinance pertains to setting the actual property tax rate. The third ordinance relates to formally announcing a limiting factor. Councilmember Carter clarified that the action was not an increase in rates for 2001. The action only approves the rate that was established in 1999 and collected in 2000. Councilmember Fenton noted that since I -695 was challenged in court, many jurisdictions are reaffirming previously adopted ordinances concerning taxes and fees. REPORTS: a. Mayor There was no report. b. City Council Councilmember Hernandez attended the Equity and Diversity Commission meeting on October 5. The agenda included a proposal from Margaret Joseph for a program called "Living Voices." The Commission is considering a date early in 2001 to conduct the program. The program is an interactive performance of different topics of choice. She noted there is information about the program on the Internet. City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 8 October 9, 2000 She reported that since Vince Hayes has left the school district, another appointment is required for the vacancy created by his departure. On October 25, an event called, "Friends and Family" will be held at 6:00 p.m. at Foster High School. After sharing the Annual Report from the King County Housing Authority, Councilmember Hernandez will attend the Suburban Cities meeting on Wednesday, October 11. Councilmember Carter met with State Senator Margarita Prentice and State Representative Veloria Velma on Friday, October 7. She suggested Council should meet at least twice a year with local legislative representatives. Some of the issues discussed concerned Burlington Northern Santa Fee access, dot.com related development, and the status of Tukwila Village. Also discussed, was why housing targets are not beneficial for Tukwila, as residential development lags behind other kind of housing development. Councilmembers Carter and Simpson attended the King County Council COW meeting concerning the criminal justice system. Varied and interesting presentations included information about domestic violence courts, drug courts, and court consolidation. She reported she provided information on benefits for local jurisdictions to retain local control of their courts. Councilmember Carter reported she would be attending the Suburban Cities meeting and the Transportation Policy Board of Puget Sound Regional Council meeting to review the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and its variations. Council President Duffie attended a domestic violence presentation at the DAWN meeting. The guest speaker was Anita Brown, sister of Nicole Brown (OJ Simpson's ex- wife). Ms. Brown has committed her efforts toward the prevention of domestic violence. Council President Duffie reported he also attended the Lodging Tax Advisory Board meeting. He reported on the tremendous job done by Katherine Kertzman in marketing the area for tourism business. Ms. Kertzman will provide an update to the Council at its October 16 meeting. Councilmember Haggerton will attend a Cascade Water Alliance Board meeting on Wednesday, October 11, in Bellevue. He will also attend the Suburban Cities meeting, which directly follows. On Saturday, October 14, he will attend an ACC working retreat in Des Moines. On Wednesday, October 18, ACC will have its Annual Dinner. The dinner is open to all Councilmembers. Councilmember Linder will attend a presentation by Woodland Park Zoo in Council Chambers on Tuesday, October 10. The Backyard Wildlife Habitat Committee coordinated the presentation. She will split her time between that presentation and a meeting of the Highway 99 Action Committee. She will also attend another Highway 99 Action Committee meeting on Thursday, October 12. City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 8 October 9, 2000 Councilmember Fenton thanked Councilmembers for their work over the weekend with the Ikawa delegation. Councilmember Fenton was elected on the Board of Directors for the Boeing Employees Credit Union. The first meeting is on November 18, 2000. Councilmember Simpson reported his mother's leg was amputated earlier in the day. c. Staff Assistant City Administrator Berry reported that Jay Fawcett, new Senior Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator for County Executive Ron Sims, met with Suburban Cities City Managers last week and reviewed issues concerning communications. Mr. Fawcett was well received and appeared to be committed to working with jurisdictions on communication issues. Assistant Berry reminded Council of the T -5 Community Oriented Policing meeting on October 12 at 7:00 p.m. at Thorndyke Elementary School. d. City Attorney There was no report. e. Intergovernmental There was no report. MISCELLANEOUS: Council President Duffie referred to the numerous gifts received from visitors from Ikawa and suggested the Council consider giving visitors Tukwila shirts. Councilmembers discussed the idea. Council President Duffie suggested deferring the request to the Finance and Safety Committee for further review and recommendations on appropriate gifts to Ikawa visitors. Councilmember Fenton reported the Wild West Company provided shirts free of charge to Ikawa visitors and the Family Fun Center also sponsored costs associated with the Ikawa visit. Haggerton moved, Linder seconded; to recess the meeting and go directly into Executive Session. The motion carried 7 -0. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Land use Pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(b). City of Tukwila City Council of Whole Meeting Minutes ADJOURNMENT: Page 8 of 8 October 9, 2000 9:00 p.m. Council took no action as a result of the executive session. With no other business to come before the Council, Mr. Duffle declared the meeting adjourned. k c.71, `H. D fie ouncil Pesi nt Robert H. Baker, CMC, Deputy City Clerk for Valerie Gow, Recording Secretary Date Minutes Signed: K /01