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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg 2014-07-07 Item 8C - Report - City Administratormon City of Tukwila CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT The City of opportunity, the community of choice TO: Mayor Haggerton Councilmembers FROM: David Cline, City Administrator DATE: July 2, 2014 SUBJECT: Report for July 7, 2014 Regular Council Meeting Jim Haggerton, Mayor The City Administrator Report is meant to provide the Council, staff and community an update on the activities of the City and on issues that concern Tukwila. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information about any of the following items. I. Intergovernmental Update • School District Strategic Plan Community Meeting: Human Services attended the School Board meeting where the School District Strategic Plan was presented to the community. • Joint Human Services & Planning Meeting: Human Services and Planning staff attended the 3rd joint meeting focusing on housing issues between human service staff and planning staff across multiple King county cities. • Committee to End Homelessness Conference: Human Services participated in the first annual Committee to End Homelessness conference where feedback was given on strategies to end homelessness. • Renton Technical College (RTC) Advisory Board Meeting: Economic Development staff attended the Renton Technical College (RTC) quarterly advisory board meeting. RTC recently completed an analysis of demand and potential enrollment and will present those findings to the community this summer. RTC will start offering some bachelor of applied science degrees in winter 2015. • Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC): City Clerk's Office staff hosted the regional animal services Marketing Sub - Committee meeting at Tukwila City Hall on June 26, 2014. Representatives from RASKC and area cities come together to collaborate on marketing techniques, increased licensing efforts, and mutual issues of concern. Tukwila has taken the lead in utilizing a volunteer to assist in outbound calling to remind owners to license their pets, with proven results. A pet licensing flyer will be included in the July utility bills. 11. Community Events • Teen Kick Off: On June 17 Tukwila Parks & Recreation staff organized the annual Teen Summer Kick -off Festival at Foster High School. More than 600 Showalter Middle School and Foster High School students participated in the event, as well as staff from several City departments. 500 free lunches were given away by Parks & Rec Department staff and volunteers from Group Health. Kids had a variety of activities to choose from including basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, field games, and inflatable attractions. They had the opportunity to draw on the "Idea Wall" about what they hoped Tukwila would be like in 2035. Their responses indicated they wanted more schools, homes, sidewalks, parks, places of worship, a downtown area, more malls, an outdoor 37 City Administrator Report Page 2 pool, a central space similar to Seattle Center, and flying cars. They also gave feedback on where they liked to walk and the types of houses and apartments they'd like to live in. There was a DJ, face painters and henna artists and more than 20 community vendor booths for the kids to visit too. • CASTT: Community Actors Summer Theatre in Tukwila: July 18 and July 19 at 7:00 pm at the Foster Performing Arts Center. 25th Season: Way Out There, An Evening of Sci -Fi • Movies on the Green at Foster Golf Links: July 18 featuring "The Great Gatsby" (rated PG -13) and July 25th featuring "E.T" (rated PG). Outdoor seating opens at 8pm and the movie will begin at dusk. There will be food and beverage specials at Billy Baroo's inside the FGL clubhouse before the movies. Candy, popcorn and other concession items will be available outside. • Touch -a -Truck Safety & Emergency Preparedness Fair: Saturday, July 26 from 10am -2pm. There will be a variety of vehicle and equipment displays, information and exhibitor booths, hands on kids' activities and entertainment. III. Staff Updates Public Safety • Tukwila Police Officer's Guild Awards Scholarships: Every year, the Tukwila Police Officer's Guild (TPOG) awards scholarships to Foster High School seniors. In June, two winners were awarded $1000 scholarships. The winners demonstrated how they were able to conquer the hardships they faced growing up while managing to maintain their education, each completing high school with a 3.7 GPA. Besides attending school, these two students were greatly involved in community service, sports and college prep courses. They both plan to attend university in the fall. • Lateral Officers: Two new lateral officers from out of states started with the police department on June 17 and are currently in the Field Training Officer (FTO) program. • Tree Branch Removal: Parks Maintenance is working with a tree contractor for removal of high park tree branches hanging over neighbor's houses that need to be pruned back at two locations in the City. Project Updates • Tukwila Village Groundbreaking: The Tukwila Village groundbreaking is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Friday, August 1 and will be held on the Tukwila Village site. The event is being sponsored by the City of Tukwila, Tukwila Village Development Associates, the Senior Housing Assistance Group (SHAG), and the King County Library System. Everyone is invited to attend. • Restore the Duwamish Shoreline Challenge: On Thursday, July 31 the City, Chamber, Forterra, and BECU are hosting a casual lunch at BECU's headquarters to introduce businesses to the Restore the Duwamish Shoreline Challenge. Chamber members, businesses, and property owners are invited to attend. RSVP to the Chamber at 206 - 575 -1633. • Economic Development Intern: The Mayor's Office hired a summer intern (Junpei Guo) from University of Washington's Evans School to coordinate surveys and focus groups to better support the community's needs for groceries in the area. • Gas Main Relocation: PSE has started construction of the 16" high pressure gas main relocation replacement project, which relocates the gas main out of the old S 178th St roadway and moves it to the north along the north side of the new fire station property. The contractor began digging the trench at the base of the hill and will continue up the hill over the next few weeks, placing the new gas main as they go. PSE will also start trenching along Southcenter Parkway, requiring a single southbound lane closure near the S 180th St intersection for several weeks. 38 City Administrator Report Page 3 • Financial Advisor: The City has engaged the services of financial advisor Susan Musselman of Public Financial Management, Inc. (PFM) to provide assistance in selecting the optimal financing structure for the urban renewal property acquisitions and other capital project financing contemplated for 2014 and the next biennium. Additionally, PFM will provide guidance and assistance in developing debt policies, presenting information to the City Council and to the credit rating agencies. • Invasive Knotweed Workshop: DCD hosted a free workshop for Tukwila property owners presented by the King County Noxious Weed Program. Knotweed has become a serious problem on the river, its tributaries and other areas in the city. Over 20 Tukwila property owners attended (as well as a few from other cities) to learn about knotweed and how to control it. • Tukwila Pond Wetland Buffer Volunteer Work Party: DCD staff led a work party to maintain the Tukwila Pond Wetland Buffer site (along Andover Park West, south of Strander Blvd). Children and parents (15 volunteers in total) from the Home School Stewardship Squad assisted in digging out re- sprouting blackberry and removing a non- native hawthorn tree. This site was restored by the City and volunteers in 2008 and 2009, using a grant obtained from King County to purchase plants and supplies (including the split rail fence), in a partnership with employees from Macy's Warehouse. • TIB Business Outreach: DCD is partnering with Futurewise to survey businesses in the TIB corridor about their priorities and issues. This will inform the Comprehensive Plan update of the TIB Element and help the City determine what sorts of policies or programs would help support our small businesses. Language services will be provided. • Duwamish Sediment: On June 17, DCD staff attended a celebration of the completion of off - channel habitat and shoreline restoration by Boeing as part of the Duwamish Sediment Other settlement agreement with EPA and the National Resource Trustees (made up of federal, state and Tribal representatives). The shoreline restoration in Tukwila where a portion of Plant 2 extended over the waterway has also been completed by Boeing. This work involved the removal of contaminated soils from the area where the 2 -40 building was located and extended over the river and then the installation of a variety of riparian plantings, shrubs and trees. • Colonial Gardens /3465 S 1441—" St/Condemned Units: A meeting has been set for next Wednesday with the property owner, their legal representation, Code Enforcement staff and City Attorney to review the draft Voluntary Correction Agreement. The VCA will set out the expectations and timelines for compliance to bring this property back to habitability and compliance with the Rental Licensing and Inspection program. • 15010 Macadam Rd S: A demolition permit submitted by the new property owner on June 20 is currently in the review process. • 4235 S 1441—" St: There are new owners of record as of May, 2014. Code Enforcement posted a Notice of Intent to Complete Abatement for the structure, with compliance date of July 30, 2014. A Notice & Order was also sent for the weed overgrowth and rubbish, with compliance date of July 8, 2014. • Comprehensive Plan Update: The Planning Commission (PC) held a work session and public hearing on the Parks, Recreation and Open Space; Roles and Responsibilities; and Community Image and Identity Elements of the Comprehensive Plan. Two of the liaisons from the Community Connectors program attended and Spanish interpretation was provided. The key policy issues discussed were whether the City should work to create stronger neighborhood identities or instead focus on strengthening a city -wide Tukwila identity, whether to mention our immigrant and refugee populations or just include language like diverse or underrepresented, and whether maintaining a "small town character" is desirable given the changes taking place in Tukwila. The PC took action to forward their recommendations on all three elements to the City Council. The 39 City Administrator Report Page 4 Planning Commission will review the Tukwila South and Economic Development elements in July. • GuIIy Gardens: Quotes for the sign are coming in and we will be ordering the sign to be installed on the fence along Macadam road. Staff are working on the design and language for the "dedication" sign that will be installed near the pea patch. • Duwamish Hill Preserve: Parks and Recreation along with the consultant team hosted a Design Open House in May. Information from that event was used to formulate 2 design options which were presented to stakeholders and the CAP. An update will be presented to the City Council on July 14. Community Services • Free Summer Playground at Cascade View Community Park: On June 30 Tukwila Parks & Recreation staff kicked off the free summer playground program at Cascade View Park. Staff distributed 50 free lunches to kids playing in the park. We will be adjusting our lunch orders to accommodate the number of kids that are participating in the program. Staff and volunteers are providing a variety of recreation options including arts & crafts, games, music and special entertainment. Parks Maintenance has been working closely with Recreation to clean and prep the sites before the kids show up. • Tukwila School District Summer School: Tukwila Parks & Recreation Department staff are gearing up for the start of the Tukwila School District Summer School Program on Monday, July 7. TP &R staff will be providing daily recreational enrichment activities to the more than 300 kids signed up for summer school. Kids will be divided by age (Pre -K to 5th Grade) with the smallest group of kids being 34 and our largest group at 66. • Free Summer Playground at Thorndyke Elementary School: On Monday, July 7 Tukwila Parks & Recreation will be organizing a free summer playground program site at Thorndyke elementary as an extension program to the TSD summer school. We currently have 223 kids have signed up to participate in this free recreation extension program. Staff will provide a variety of organized sports, games, and recreation activities. We will also be providing healthy snacks and weekly entertainment. Parks Maintenance has coordinated with TSD and received authorization for us to mow the field in preparation for this program since TSD was not planning on maintaining it over the summer. • Summer Day Camp at Tukwila Community Center: Tukwila Parks & Recreation staff have been busy with both Camp Tukwilly (serving Kindergarten to 5th graders) and TeenVenture Camp (serving 6th -8th graders). Camp Tukwilly has been operating at maximum capacity of 120 campers per week and TeenVenture Camp averaging 35 kids per week. We have several kids on our camp waiting lists, but due to facility and transportation limitations, we are currently not able to accept additional campers. • Foster Golf Links: 6,997 rounds of golf were played in the month of June as well as 138 rounds of FootGolf. July is shaping up to be a busy month with a tournament every Saturday along with full swing of leagues, camps, and other events. IV. Responses to Council /Citizen Inquiries • Tukwila Park: Councilmember Kruller mentioned that a citizen requested the lights for the tennis courts at Tukwila Park be turned on from 9:00 p.m. — midnight every night. Staff are working to resolve this issue. 40