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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-11-08 Committee of the Whole MinutesNovember 8, 1993 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT OFFICIALS SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Community -based policing. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES JOAN HERNANDEZ. Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers Council President Lawrence called the Committee of The Whole Meeting of the Tukwila City Council to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. STEVE LAWRENCE, Council President; JOE DUFFIE, DENNIS ROBERTSON, CHARLIE SIMPSON, ALLAN EKBERG AND STEVE MULLET. JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; LINDA COHEN, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; ROSS EARNST/RON CAMERON, Public Works; RON WALDNER, Police; DON WILLIAMS, Parks Recreation; ALAN DOERSCHEL, Finance; EVELYN BOYKAN, Human Services.. Ron Waldner, Police Chief, presented a proposal on community- oriented policing. He stated that throughout the country, law enforcement personnel debate the virtues of traditional policing versus crime prevention through problem solving. On the one hand, the traditional approach to policing emphasizes swift police response to incidents. On the other hand, the more proactive approach of problem oriented policing stresses the long -term benefits of crime prevention. Although both of these approaches have merit, the reality is that with the complex crime problems facing society today, law enforcement administrators need to synthesize the two strategies into a comprehensive response to crime. Waldner also introduced an ordinance creating a community police advisory board, providing for the membership thereof, and establishing the duties of the board. Waldner introduced Sam McQuaid, an intern who's studying for his Masters Degree at the University of Washington. Waldner explained that one of the programs McQuaid is working on affords him the opportunity to do field work with the Police Department on community based policing. Councilmembers wanted to know if this program would jeopardize the existing high level police service that the citizens have grown accustomed to. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes November 8, 1993 Page 2 Community -based policing (Con't). Citizen's comment 7 a 7o Waldner responded that in order to manage increased calls for police service, administrators need to monitor demand and then research as many creative ways as possible to respond to these calls. He said there are many ways to respond to calls for assistance that do not require the immediate dispatching of an officer in a patrol car. Other, less expensive responses may satisfy the request just as effectively. Councilmembers were also concerned if this program would require the hiring of more police staff. Waldner responded that this proposal was drafted based on utilizing the existing staff. The entire policing mission of the service delivery that is currently being used will be reevaluated. Waldner distributed informational handouts for Council review and stated he would like to come back after the budget process, around the first of the year, for Council direction. It was the consensus of the Council to review this issue again in January '94. Hugh Smith, 14242 Pacific Hwy. South, a Merchant Marine Officer who attends school in Seattle but lives in Tukwila, commented that his Tukwila neighborhood is not great but that it was specifically lousy and scary a year ago. A person couldn't even walk across the street for fear of being approach by crack dealers, hookers, and pimps. He said he would call 911 every time he saw something worth reporting and schedule a meeting place so as to provide that information to an officer. He said he felt like a pest at first, but continued doing all that he could do. He was able to get METRO to remove the seats from the bus stop waiting area as well a having the appropriate persons remove the phone booth. He worked with the businesses in the area to assist in reporting any unusual behavior. He finished his schooling and went back to Sea, (destination, Honolulu). When he returned, there had been a remarkable turnabout in the area. Smith concluded that he believes this approach really does work and that it represents a significant shift in how both the public and the police can make a difference in maintaining neighborhood safety. Amend Agenda Councilmember Robertson suggested amending the agenda to duscuss "Item 4b and 4c" in reverse order. It was the consensus of the Council to accept the amendment as suggested. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes November 8, 1993 Page 3 Tukwila Pond Development Org. CITIZEN'S COMMENTS None. Mayor Rants briefed the Council that during the period of time we have been working with granting agencies and the Trust for Public Land to purchase the Tukwila Pond site, we have moved forward with a plan to develop the site in partnership with private enterprise citizens. Some time ago he mentioned this concept, today we are ready to put thoughts into action. The Mayor stated that Mr. Robert (Bob) Braukus and Iris Tocher had been invited to give a presentation tonight to shed light on the proposal. Bob Braukus is General Manager of the South Central Division of Puget Sound Power Light Company. During the development of the Bellevue Downtown Park, Braukus served on the steering committee that accomplished the fundraising, contracting and development of that facility. Iris Tocher, now a consultant for community development, is a former Bellevue City Councilmember as well as having been a Puget Power employee. Tocher was project coordinator for the Bellevue Downtown Park. These two consultants are proposing a well- tested method for development of the Tukwila Pond as a City park. A public /private partnership is at the heart of this process. By creating a non profit, tax- exempt corporation working under the supervision of the council and in collaboration with City staff, this park can be designed and build with a blend of private contributions and City direction and expertise. The organization structure will exist of three (3) components: The Council Oversight Committee; Tukwila Pond Corporation; and, a Steering Committee. They hope to have the Tukwila Pond Corporation organized and ready to begin work in January 1994, with high hopes to begin construction in 12 months. Councilmember Robertson requested a clearer, and more precise definition of the roles each committee will play in this endeavor; and, if possible, sample documents to include the project plan and the overall budget for the Bellevue Park project. The consultants requested the Council submit their questions and concerns to Don Williams and they will address each and every one of them. After a brief question and answer period, the Council agreed to forward this issue to the November 22 Committee of The Whole Meeting. Don Williams explained that the park will be designed with input and /or approval from the Council, Mayor, Park Commission, Planning Commission, etc. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes November 8, 1993 Page 4 SPECIAL ISSUES 1994 Human Services Requests. Recess 8:30 8:40 CBD Sidewalk and Tree Plan PS &E. Evelyn Boykan presented the Human Services Advisory Board's 1994 recommendation for contracted services. She stated that by the end of this year we will have had almost 800 requests for information referral. That's about a 250% increase over the past year's. Sarah Skoglund, Board Chairperson, explained that the recommendations from the Human Services Advisory Board represent the results of many hours of review, evaluation and discussion. Recommended priorities for 1994 basically remain consistent with 1993. A new priority area was established for 1994 which is employment assistance. Board members felt it was important to continue supporting proposals in the areas of victim assistance, senior support services, emergency services, health care, youth and family services, and information and referral. The Council expressed concerns with regards to how many City dollars were being spent toward the prevention of teen pregnancies. Other areas of concern were whether to continue supporting food banks that are located in nearby cities or whether to discontinue that service and use those funds to provide jobs to Tukwila residents. Robertson requested a current list of Human Services Board members and a copy of all the minutes from meetings held this year. After a complete review and minor amendments, the Council agreed to submit the Human Services Proposal as a part of the budget process. Council President Lawrence called the meeting back to order with those present as noted above. Councilmember Robertson commented that a while back, the Transportation Committee requested the Public Works Department come up with a plan where grant monies would be used to fund the trees because it would be a hard sell to have the businesses pick up the cost. Additionally, the Committee wanted a plan that would complete the task -the basic CBD -in three years instead of dragging it out over an incalculable amount of time. This has now been done -a sidewalk plan and a street tree plan that is workable. The trees will be paid for with the grant monies; the LID and engineering costs will be paid for with City monies. Councilmember Duffie inquired if the business community had been properly informed and if they had had a chance to participate in the CBD Sidewalk and Tree Plan review process. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes November 8, 1993 Page 5 CBD Sidewalk and Shauna Mindt, Southwest King County Chamber of Tree Plan PS &E Commerce, responded that Ross Earnst and Ron Cameron (Con't). attended their November 2 Tukwila Government Affairs Committee meeting and talked to members and other business people about the plan. They are all aware of the plans for the CBD. Resolution approv. the proposed 1994 CIP and Financial Ping. Model. Bill Arthur added that the business community, through the Chamber, has had every opportunity to respond to this issue. Earnst and Cameron were present last week and they laid out all the details that anyone could possibly ask for; there were no questions left unanswered. It was the consensus of the Council to forward the CBD Sidewalk and Tree Plan PS &E to the next Regular Council Consent Agenda. Alan Doerschel presented the final proposal of the CIP project costs for 1994 -1999. A discussion followed with councilmembers offering suggestions and making revisions. Councilmember Robertson suggested, as a potential revenue source, that Tukwila tax the large parking lot located on Hwy 99 that competes directly with the parking lots in SeaTac. SeaTac has a parking tax on all commercial lots. If Tukwila were to tax that lot, it could equal up to 30 thousand dollars in revenues. The money could be used for Human Services or other City needs. Duffie suggested this issue be forwarded to the Finance and Safety Committee for further review. McFarland concurred stating that it would allow for time to determine the potential revenue stream. McFarland and Doerschel will introduce figures on this matter at Monday night's Council meeting. It was the consensus of the Council to forward the resolution approving the proposed 1994 CIP and Financial Planning Model to the next Regular Council Consent Agenda. A resolution The Council continued their review of the resolution establishing an and made revisions as follows: in Section 3, Economic Develop. Page 74, last line: change four (4) year to "two 2 Advisory Board. year" term. In Section: eight (8) ...the initial members shall serve terms of two (2), should be terms of "one (1) year" ...and be eligible for reappointment, thereafter to regular four (4) year, should be "two 2 year" terms. The administration will clarify staff role and consultant role in Section 7. Item #3. by adding a closing naraeraah. In Section 7, last sentence, delete the words: but not be limited to. In Section 4, last line, delete proposed by the and include: "with those of the." Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes November 8, 1993 Page 6 Economic Develop Advisory Bd. (Con't) REPORTS ADJOURNMENT 10:15 P.M. It was the consensus of the Council to forward (with amendments) the proposed resolution establishing an Economic Development Advisory Board to the next Regular Council Consent Agenda. Councilmember Lawrence reported on the Airport Coalition. Elaborating on a recent newspaper article, he commented that it appears our own allies are putting forward a concept of perhaps shifting flights to Boeing Field. Lawrence said he spoke with the Des Moines Assistant City Manager Bob Olander and Olander said there were major inaccuracies in the article and that it would not happen again. Lawrence said the City of Tukwila is not interested in shifting flights or service to Boeing Field in order to accommodate SeaTac. Lawrence requested approval from the Council to amend the Interlocal Agreement to reflect that fact. Lawrence stated that for the proposed budget for this year, ACC is planning on spending roughly $50,000 of the money brought in from each city; and will save the other $50,000 for future, elevated expenses. He said it would be more appropriate that if the money is not going to be spent immediately to keep it in the City's budget. He also proposed that for any city to retain membership (for this year), fees be reduced from $100,000 to $50,000. Federal Way is perfectly willing to come in for $50,000 dollars, but they will be hard pressed to come up with $100,000. Mercer Island has also indicated that they will be willing to join at $50,000 but not at $100,000. Mayor Rants commented that it's time we started using some of the money to take care of Tukwila's needs as they relate to airport impacts. MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY ROBERTSON, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. 2 Steve Lawrence, Council President 7 Celia Square, De}eity City Clerk