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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-06-13 Committee of the Whole MinutesCALL TO ORDER JUNE 13, 1994 7:00 p.m. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT Councilmembers absent OFFICIALS SPECIAL PRESENTATION CITIZEN'S COMMENTS SPECIAL ISSUES Ordinance providing for the issuance of $4,000,000 of water sewer revenue bonds Ordinance amending the 1994 budget to provide for the allocation of the proceeds of the water /sewer revenue bonds 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, JOYCE CRAFT, DOROTHY De RODAS. Allan Ekberg, Dennis Robertson JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator, LINDA COHEN, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; EVELYN BOYKAN, Human Services; ALAN DOERSCHEL, Finance Director; ROSS EARNST/RON CAMERON, Public Works. Assistant Police Chief Keith Haines introduced new Police Department employee Mane Giller, Records Clerk. The Council gave her a warm welcome. Mayor Rants spoke on behalf of Mr. Al Pieper, a citizen who visited him today. Mr. Pieper requested that the City abolish the surface water utility because it's a waste of staff time and money. Mr. Pieper told the Mayor we've gotten into the habit of cleaning ditches that don't carry water. He said he was voicing his concern to the Mayor because he never gets anything accomplished by coming before the Council. Alan Doerschel commented that the purpose of introducing the ordinance providing for the issuance of $4,000,000 of water and sewer revenue bonds for funding of a water line in East Marginal Way, new services on Ryan Hill and system connections; as well as the ordinance amending the 1994 budget to provide for the allocation of the proceeds of the water /sewer revenue bonds is so we would be ready when the time is right to sell the bonds. The issue has been before the Finance and Safety Committee. He reviewed the estimated schedule for completion of the bond issuance, construction, and transfer as noted in the agenda packet. The project is expected to go out for bid around August 9, and completed by late November and begin service in January of 1995. Duffle commented that he had gotten calls from citizens in the general vicinity of 58th 144th that the water supply has a tainted taste and asked had anyone else been contacted of the same. 17ommittee of The Whole Meeting Minutes rune 13, 1994 ?age 2 Water /Sewer Revenue Bonds :Cont'd) 6 in ordinance amending Council )perating procedures Jrdinance on Council Salaries Earnst responded that the water is tested quite regularly for purity, Ecoli and other bacteria. However, Earnst will see to it that the matter is looked into further. After a brief discussion the Council agreed to move this issue forward for discussion at such time when all paperwork is complete and on the table. Councilmember Hernandez gave a brief update of the ordinance stating that a previous version had been before the Finance and Safety Committee, and the version in the agenda packet is not the version that was approved by the committee. One of the changes made has been to remove the compensation of councilmembers from the Council Operating Procedures as they are two separate issues and require two separate ordinances. The other change not previously discussed was the addition of a clause that would change the operating procedures to state that the Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the City Council, including committee of The Whole meetings which have been presided over by the Council President. Although the law has not changed, our City Attorney's interpretation of RCW 35A.12.100 is that the Mayor shall preside over all meetings, both Regular meetings and Committee of The Whole meetings. Hernandez stated that although she respects our current City Attorney's opinion, she finds it very baffling that past City Attorneys: Mike Kenyon, John Colgrove, and Larry Hard did not provide this same interpretation to the Council. City Attorney Cohen stated that be it attorney or otherwise, no one has the time to peruse each sentence in the volumes of statues to see whether we are in compliance. The same is true with the TMC, if it hadn't been challenged there would have been no reason to peruse this specific issue. Mayor Rants acknowledged that he raised the issue based on is review of the RCW. Cohen said the best that she can do is advise the Council as to what the law says, and it's up to them to use their best judgment as to how they are going to interpret and apply it. After a lengthy discussion, the Council agreed not to approve the Council Operating Procedures changes until the full Council has had an opportunity to discuss them. Lucy Lauterbach explained that the ordinance would accomplish two purposes: consolidate all the Council salary information in one ordinance which could be amended in the future; and, add a provision that future Councilmembers elected will get the inflation increases starting this year for those members elected last year. This means that in the future all City :ommittee of The Whole Meeting Minutes rune 13, 1994 'age 3 )rdinance on Council Salaries Cont'd) :ommunity services networks 2EPORTS councilmembers will have the same salaries and the same benefits. It was the consensus of the Council to forward the ordinance on Council salaries to the next Regular Council. Hernandez expressed concerns regarding the timeline. Evelyn Boykan, Human Services, explained the Community Network concept suggests both a need for programs directed toward changes in the social and physical environment of our youths, and programs more comprehensive in nature which alter behavior over a long period of time. This is a program that has not yet fully evolved and is doing so as it takes on challenges. She said last legislative session, the Youth Violence Bill was passed. The summary of the Bill is about 20 pages long and addresses youth violence, criminal justice issues, at -risk issues and the restructuring of family services from the state level to the local level. The intent of the legislature for local communities is to have much more involvement in determining what kind of services would be delivered at the local level and what kind of services would be provided. The state wants counties to establish twenty- three- member networks that would be responsible for determining the needs at the local level and how funds should be spent. Boykan says we're at the stage right now where the boundaries of the basic networks need to be established. On this 23- member board, there would be heavy representation by consumers and community members as well as representation from cities, law enforcement agencies, parks and recreation, school districts, etc. The purpose of the network is to really make a dent in reducing the number of at -risk youths and to reducing out -of -home placement. Boykan responded that the legislature doesn't expect people to keep to the timelines because they are unrealistic for the amount of people that are stakeholders in this whole process. After much discussion the Council agreed to have Boykan write a letter for the Mayor's signature in support of the Community Services Networks project emphasizing that the City continue to keep informed on the evolution of the restructuring process. Mayor Rants reported that the Association of Washington Cities recently announced the winners of its Annual Municipal Achievement Awards. This competition honors excellence in the development of projects or programs that benefit the community or municipal employees. He commented on how pleased he was to informed the Council that the Tukwila Apartment and Motel Managers Network, sponsored by the Office of Human Services and the Tukwila Police Department, was awarded First Place in the 5 to 15,000 population category. Cities throughout the state participated in the competition. Tukwila's program was recognized for successfully putting together groups that traditionally had not worked cooperatively. Tukwila's Tommittee of The Whole Meeting Minutes rune 13, 1994 Page 4 Etenorts (Cont'd) ADJOURNMENT ):16 p.m. entry will be used by MRSC as a model for other cities interested in establishing a similar network. The Mayor said he will attend the AWC Convention this week, in Spokane, where the award presentation will take place; however, since Boykan was present tonight he wanted to at least share the information with her to acknowledge the outstanding job she and Karen are doing. The Mayor also reported that the Puget Sound Regional Council received $3.2 million dollars for transportation enhancement projects ($7 million statewide). We didn't have projects that ranks high enough to justify funds for Tukwila. Hernandez reported that she had attended the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Friday where the Success Foundation awarded their scholarships to students. The first scholarship went to a Highline student. However, the runner -up was a Foster High School student, Courtney O'Brien. De Rodas reported on the King County Summit which she had recently attended. She said 15 major issues were discussed. Those assembled broke up into 13 groups. Each group was given time to select three topics of most concern as they related to the correlation of community efforts. The results showed community policing as being the most widely discussed. MOVED BY DUFFLE, SECONDED BY MULLET, TO ADJOURN THE 1"1'EE OF THE WHOLE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. V\/. N CO c A Stet/ Mullet, Council President Celia Square, Clerk