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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-04-11 Committee of the Whole MinutesCALL TO ORDER COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT Councilmember absent OFFICIALS CITIZEN'S COMMENTS SPECIAL ISSUES Tukwila Gateways APRIL 11, 1994 7:00 p.m. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers Council President Mullet called the Committee of the Whole Meeting of the Tukwila City Council to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. STEVE MULLET, Council President; JOE DUFFIE, JOAN HERNANDEZ, DENIMS ROBERTSON, JOYCE CRAFT, DOROTHY De RODAS. Allan Ekberg. JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; LINDA COHEN, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; DON WILLIAMS/LYNN DEVOIR, Parks Recreation; EVELYN BOYKAN, Human Services Jamie O'dell, 14238 41st Avenue South, proposed a curfew be instituted for young kids. Her home has been vandalized three times in the last 11 days. Kids are out in the streets after 1:00 a.m. and they are all under the age of 14. If the parents won't automatically take the responsibility, they should be forced to do so, she said. Councilmember Duffie commented that there is a problem in this area and it should be dealt with. He stated he will support legislation that will put such a law in place for the City of Tukwila. Councilmember Hernandez stated she will include this issue as an agenda item for the next Finance Safety Committee meeting. Mayor Rants requested that Police Chief Ron Waldner prepare a series of options relating to enforcement procedure /staffing, etc. and give to Hernandez for discussion at the next Finance Safety Committee meeting. The Mayor also suggested models of ordinances used by other cities be obtained and used as a guideline to institute a curfew. After a review of the previous information presented by the Gateways Committee, the Council agreed to focus on all brick signs to be erected at two major and one minor locations. It was the consensus of the Council to forward this issue to the next Regular Meeting to review the funding source. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes April 11, 1994 Page 2 Staffing Issues: Park Utility Worker Park Security Animal Control The Council discussion focused on whether to contract out services for park maintenance or to hire one full -time Utility/Park Maintenance Worker. The Council agreed that during the past two years, the developed park acreage in Tukwila has increased from 71 acres in 1991 to 87 in 1993. This requires more maintenance by Park Division employees. Park usage has also increased significantly over the past two years, and a rise in vandalism to some of the areas have resulted in not enough personnel hours to maintain the park system at an acceptable standard.. Don Williams, Parks and Recreation Director, stated that the addition of one full-time employee will increase the effectiveness of the division by providing a well trained and dedicated employee who will be with the crews on a year round basis, not just for 5 months as is currently the situation. It will also free -up time that the Crew Leader and Crew Chief currently spend retraining part-time employees who are hired, then released after their allotted time period and new crews are hired to replace them. Councilmember Duffie commented that he prefers the City hires it own employee rather than contracting for services due to the other ramifications that might occur as it relates to union matters. Councilmember Hernandez stated she is supportive of the need; however, she wants to look at the whole picture and know where the funding source is coming from. The Council explored various options with regards to animal control: contract costs vs. in -house costs; union issues to where the position would be within the City's classification system; where wages and benefits would fall, etc. Viki Witschger, Administrative Services Director, cautioned the Council of the variables that could accompany animal control code enforcement. Would it be someone who will carry a gun; will this person work out of the Police Department or some other department in the City. After a review of various options regarding Park Utility Worker, Park Security, and Animal control enforcement, the Mayor commented that he would like to meet with Witschger to work out a plan then come back to committee for further discussion. It was the consensus of the Council to authorize the Park Utility Worker position pending review of different options and funding source.. The Mayor will work out details for six (6) months of contractual services for the Park Security position and submit to committee for discussion. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes April 11, 1994 Page 3 Animal Control (Cont'd) Amend Asenda 1994 Chamber of Commerce Contract Regarding Animal Control, City Administrator McFarland stated that the Council might want to look at enhancing animal control under the existing system for a period of time to see how it works. We can buy time at $28.00 an hour from King County which is probably cheaper than what we can provide when you consider the initial cost of hiring, training, equipping and then factoring in the operation and maintenance costs of the equipment. To star a position on a seven (7) day a week basis takes more than one person, especially when you factor in all the other elements. He said one option to consider is an incremental approach. If it doesn't work, we could move toward an employee. He did caution the Council, though, that once an employee is hired, stepping back from the position is very difficult to do. Councilmember Hernandez stated she supports the incremental approach of contracting with King County; however, she wants to keep moving forward with plans to hire a full time person. Past experience with King County has been very unsuccessful. Robertson inquired if 120 days was needed to fill the position. Witschger responded that job classification is not the only issue to consider, but per union contract, what the level of work is going to be. The union contract specifies hours of work and working conditions. Those issues have to be negotiated. If it happens that the position ends up in the Police Department, then it becomes a Civil Service issue. That means an eligibility list has to be established which takes even longer than the Personnel system does. It was the consensus of the Council to support the incremental approach of contracting with King County for animal control enforcement; and to continue working toward a solution to the phone problem in trying to reach King County Animal Control for assistance. In the meantime, continue to pursue the hiring of the City's own employee for this position. The Council agreed to amend the agenda by moving forward "Tukwila Chamber of Commerce 1994 Contract" to follow "Animal Control Enforcement Options." The Mayor explained that the Chamber fills a vital role in our community acting as a focal point for information, providing expertise on issues related to our business community and serving in various capacities on boards, commissions and other volunteer groups. The 1994 budget appropriation is $12,000. The Chamber is asking for an additional $3,000 for a total of $15,000 for this year (1994). The Chamber has relocated and is now at 16400 Southcenter PkWy, Second Floor. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes April 11, 1994 Page 4 1994 Chamber of Commerce Contract (Cont'd) Two -year funding cycle for Human Services contracts Council operating procedures ordinance It was the consensus of the Council to forward the 1994 Chamber of Commerce Contract with minor modifications to the next Regular Consent Agenda. The Mayor explained that the proposal put forth is requesting a 2 year funding cycle for Human Services provider contracts. He said the current one -year cycle results in a huge expenditure of time in developing the RFP process, reviewing proposals and making award recommendations. Additionally, it occupies a significant portion of available volunteer time on behalf of the Human Services Advisory Board. Council President inquired if the Human Services Committee had considered to continue processing some of the contracts on a yearly basis and some of them every two years. Evelyn Boykan, Human Services Coordinator, responded that the idea was considered last year but when the advantages and disadvantages were reviewed, the results showed it wouldn't have saved any time at all because the same competitive process is used. It was the consensus of the Council to approve the two year Human Services funding cycle and forward to the next Regular Consent Agenda. Councilmember Hernandez commented that one of the dilemmas discussed at the Finance and Safety Committee meeting was that the Council is not able to take official action at a COW meeting. If all meeting were scheduled as Regular Meetings, that problem would be eliminated. Robertson commented that it would give the Council more flexibility. Joyce Craft commented why not a COW and a Special Meeting on the same night. Mullet stated it creates a problem because Special Meetings have to be advertised and once they are advertised you can't add items that might need urgent attention to that particular agenda. Robertson said if there were all Regular Meeting, the Mayor would have to Chair all Council meetings. Hernandez suggested scheduling all Regular Meetings, but every other meeting be followed by a COW. Thus, a work session will be held twice a month after the Regular Meeting has adjourned. This would eliminate the publication problem also. City Attorney Linda Cohen informed the Council that the Revised Code of Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes April 11, 1994 Page 5 Council operating procedures (Cont'd) REPORTS Washington (RCW) states that the Mayor shall preside over all Council meeting Regular as well as COW. Although the Council has not operated within those guidelines, the state statutes are explicit on this issue. Robertson suggested the ordinance be written to reflect that all Regular Meetings be scheduled and appropriate changes will be made as necessary. The Mayor concurred with all Regular Meetings being held with a COW following twice a month. The Council continued as they turned their focus on whether or not the Finance and Safety Subcommittee Minutes should be signed as being official minutes since oftentimes approval is necessary on unbudgeted items. It was the consensus of the Council that all Subcommittee meeting minutes should be signed by the committee members when the committee approves unbudgeted items. The Council concluded their discussion by making various other minor changes to the Council operating procedures ordinance. 27/ Mayor Rants reported he had attended the roll -out of the Boeing 777 airplane on this past Saturday and he said it was extremely impressive. He said he will soon be forwarding to the Council Tukwila's CDBG Program for 1995. Also, he stated we have received a grant from the Arts Commission of King County for $2,073 for an artist program that we have here in the City. The Mayor continued that that Suburban Cities is working toward a Regional Governance process for water. All of the Cities are working together to start to develop a way to have a water resource that's not dominated by the City of Seattle. In order to do this, they have asked for an assessment from each. city. Tukwila's portion is $805.00 to help pay for a staff person for the Water Governance Committee. The Mayor said it's in the City's best interest to cooperate in this effort because we are a total purveyor and buyer of water from Seattle until we start to develop some of our own resources. The Mayor reported he had attended the Metro Transit Committee meeting last Thursday. The Committee will be addressing all of Executive Locks comments regarding the status of natural gas buses and a recommendation made by May 1. 1994. Their staff report states they will save by buying the diesel buses. They would be able expend 485,000 hours of more service. The staff report also stipulates where they would put those hours; however, there was no mention of a single hour be allocated to the south end. The Mayor called this to their attention and will be addressing it further at meetings scheduled by Metro for this coming week. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes April 11, 1994 Page 6 Reports (Cont'dl 1 Robertson reported that at a recent Community Affairs and Parks Committee meeting, Nadine Morgan and Dan Aragon, Beaver Bend Park Representatives, agree to the City's real estate agent contacting their real estate agent to get moving on the purchase of the land for uses of a fire station and as a wetland natural area. Robertson suggested a letter be written to DVNPC stating this intent so that this issue can be laid to rest. The Mayor responded that an official notice will be sent to DVNPC. Council President Mullet inquired of the status of the prospective new library. McFarland responded that the County Library System has discontinued the relationship with their existing architects- -they rejected the initial design because they found it quite difficult to work with the architects in developing what the City wanted to accomplish.. They are in the process of hiring a new architect and that could delay the project for up to a year. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY ROBERTSON, TO ADJOURN 9:45 p.m. T 'COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED 7 1 G Steve Mullet, C4uncil President Celia Square, De6nty City Clerk