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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-09-12 Committee of the Whole Minutes7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT OFFICIALS Amend Aeenda SEPTEMBER 12, 1994 Tukwila City Hall SPECIAL PRESENTATION King County Animal Control TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES Council Chambers y34 Council President Mullet called the Committee of The Whole Meeting of the Tukwila City Council to order. STEVE MULLET, Council President; JOE DUFFIE, JOAN HERNANDEZ, DENNIS ROBERTSON, ALLAN EKBERG, JOYCE CRAFT, DOROTHY DERODAS. JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administration; LINDA COHEN, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; ROSS EARNST, Public Works Director; RON CAMERON, City Engineer; TOM KEEFE, Fire Chief; DON WILLIAMS, Parks Recreation Director. It was the consensus of the Council to add the Tukwila Park Pond issue to the agenda as Item "6d; and, to reverse the Public Hearings allowing "Reallocation of 1994 CDBG Funds" to be discussed first. Rhonda Berry, Assist. City Admin., introduced Jim Buck, King County Licensing and Regulatory Division; and, Dan Graves, King County Animal Control Chief. The presentation focused on the enhanced animal control services that have taken place since August. The Council was also informed of the results of a survey that was done last year which showed, in addition to documented complaints that come in through the dispatch system, that the major issue is to afford the public enough access to the complaint system in a reasonable manner. A new, more reliable telephone system is being procured. A new reorganization effort is also being explored. Responding to many of the Council's concerns, the representatives explained that since August 15th forty -eight hours have been dedicated to Tukwila (12 hours per week) for patrolling the focus areas of Allen Town, McMicken and most of the Tukwila hill area. They added a net gain of three FTEs to the animal control budget for this year, which was an increase of about 4 They explained that the goal of the animal control program is to protect public safety and provide those levels of animal control services which will do that; protect property; protect animals from cruelty and inhumane treatment; and to reduce the number of healthy animals that are euthanized each year. Robertson expounded on how dissatisfied the public is with the current service that is being provided. He said these problems have been in place for Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 2 King County Animal Control (Cont' d) Citizens comment CITIZEN'S COMMENTS PUBLIC HEARINGS Reallocation of 1994 CDBG Funds a long period of time. To say that a new phone system is just being added is an example of government service at its (almost) worst. He said this Council is ready to vote to stop using King County services and use in -house staff. It was on the strong intervention of the Mayor wanting to give the County another chance is why we continue to engage County services. Ekberg reiterated Robertson's remarks stating that those were the sentiments of the full council. Councilmember Robertson requested that a copy of the King County Animal Control budget be sent to the Council for review. In summary, Mayor Rants urged Mr. Buck and Mr. Graves to take the Council's concerns back the pertinent individuals with hopes of coming up with a solution as soon as possible. Mr. Buck thanked the Council for inviting them out. He says now that they know where the problem areas are, they will make every attempt to work on solutions. George Hill, 5618 South 147th Street, commented that he's concerned that someone might get injured badly if strict animal control in Tukwila is not given immediate attention. Lanny Vickers, 12227 45th Avenue South, inquired as to why King County doesn't require the filing of an accident report when a child has been attacked by a dog. Mr. Buck responded that he will look into the matter. Lanny Vickers, 12227 45th Avenue South, voiced his concerns regarding street improvements to South 122nd to 42nd Avenue South (from the Burlington area to the river front). He suggested pedestrian paths be constructed as a safety measure for the many children in the area as well as some adults. Most of them use the street for traveling via walking, biking, etc. It was the consensus of the Council to forward this issue to the Transportation Committee for discussion. Council President Mullet opened the Public Hearing at 8:15 p.m. Evelyn Boykan explained that the purpose of the Beverly Hills Apartment proposal is to transfer Community Development Block Grant funds which are available this year (1994) into the Beverly Hills Apartment Complex Project. The Project was viewed as a win -win situation from its inception, both for the Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 3 Reallocation of 1994 CDBG funds (Cont' d) Citizen comment residents and for the City. What it does is provide affordable housing for families or individuals who are low income or very low income. It will provide safe and decent housing after a substantial amount of needed rehabilitation is completed. It will help insure active participation with the involvement with the owner of the apartment complex in crime prevention activities. It will also help satisfy the regional obligations toward affordable housing. Additionally, it leverages over $200,000 from County funds to improve the complex. Jim Impett, King County Rental Rehab Program, commented that the Council is asking for $58,000 in Tukwila's Block Grant Funds to fund part of the short fall of the additional work that needs to be done in the project. The County has contributed $195,000 and will be contributing another $75,000 to go with Tukwila's $58,000. Council President Mullet inquired as to what will this amount of money buy by way of renovation. Impett responded that when the apartment building was uncovered, it was discovered that every part of it was deteriorated. Therefore, a great deal of the work is structural. Three garages will be converted into three apartments so that there will be more living space. Two dormers will be opened up in up stairs units to provide more floor space and all new windows will have to be installed. most of the money will be used to rebuild the structure. The finished product should be 13 nice units that will be available at low income rent prices, and will include 5, two bedroom units and 8, one bedroom units. He said the units should be able to handle single persons as well as small families. Anna Bernhard, 14241 59th Avenue South, commented that she is all in favor of assisting low income people. However, she wanted to know why the building had been so neglected. Mayor Rants responded that the building was originally built in the early 40s. Therefore, age could have a lot to do with the condition it is in currently. Bernhard believes this is just the beginning of a long line of apartment owners that will come forward wanting to do the same thing. Boykan clarified further that the City will be reimbursed for this loan. Furthermore, the loan will make the units affordable for 20 years. She said she applauds the owner for recognizing the need for the improvements. She wishes more apartment complex owners would seek resources to improve their environment with a long range goal of providing a healthier community for the tenants. Responding to Mullet's inquiry, Impett explained that the loan has a Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 4 Reallocation of 1994 CDBG funds (Copt' d) Public hearing closed The Council President closed the public hearing at 8:27 p.m. 1/53'7 promissory note secured by a mortgage. There will be a particular loan agreement. The loan agreement is specified by the federal government because this is a federally funded program. The main clause in the agreement is a rent restriction for five years. This is a necessity for affirmative marketing seeking people who might not typically think to rent in this area. Tukwila has enumerated 14 or 15 conditions. There are many other provisions such as welfare and safety, anti -crime provisions, use of the money and the payback that the loan agreement will specify. Councilmember Duffie commented that after lengthy deliberations, the Community Affairs and Parks Committee concurred that this was a worthwhile project. Duffie emphasized that the City will get its $58,000 back even if the complex is sold. The City will not lose any money on the project, he said. He said the owner will have nothing to do with setting the rents. That's done by the King County Housing Authority. Councilmember Hernandez called attention to the conditions the property owner is expected to adhere to on Page 10 in the packet. She said she suggested adding "on site" manager to Item #7 and the owner agreed with the change. Also, Item #8 was modified to include at least one "annual" meeting with the Office of Human Services, etc. Hernandez suggested that the only other change to the conditions she would make would be to change the monitoring clause to read "monitored for un to 20 years" instead of five years. Impett commented that the five year monitoring period originally come from the federal regulations that's supplying the first portion of money that's going into the project. The second portion of money in Block Grant Funds has different regulations which is the twenty -year, no change of use. Therefore, the monitoring could go on for 20 years. Hernandez stated if that's not a problem, she would like that change to be made, from five years to twenty years, to agree with the terms of the loan. Mayor Rants encouraged the Council to look with favor on this project because this is an opportunity to promote partnership with King County in providing low income housing for those in need. It was the consensus of the Council to forward the reallocation of 1994 CDBG Funds to the next Regular Council for approval. 1995 CDBG Funding Potential Council President Mullet opened the public hearing at 8:37 p.m. Services Evelyn Boykan, Human Services Coord., distributed a Summary Sheet which outlined the CDBG Pass through funds available for 1995 allocation. She Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 5 1995 CDBG funding potential Services (Cont'd) reviewed the seven proposed projects which continued some of the previous and ongoing initiatives in Community Development. The suggested allocation for the Housing Repair Program for home owners is $80,000. The proposal also includes continuing support for Utility Connection Assistance for low income residents $30,000; the Senior Nutrition Coordinator, $16,000; and the Housing Code Support Project also is a continuation of some of the planning and administration activities that have taken place this year to look at ways to make the City's Code Enforcement more effective as it relates to what happens with tenants when code enforcement activities are undertaken. The two new programs are: the Nike Residential Roof Repair that will help support replacement of a roof for an emergency and transitional housing complex in Kent (which has served Tukwila residents also). The other new project is the Teen Outreach Coordinator which will be managed through the Parks and Recreation Program and would help address the needs that have been identified by teens and for teens. Mullet inquired if Boykan had had an opportunity to survey the Utility Connection area with regards the amount of this funding that will be used to help people who can't afford to hook up, and the timeline involved. Boykan responded that Ross Earnst and Doug Micheau are her contacts for this information, and they have stated that this amount ($30,000) would probably be needed in 1995. Mayor Rants commented that the City's engineering intern is surveying 44th where the first big pipe is going in. That will be the first opportunity for people to hook up as the project gets started. Boykan said if it turns out that more funds need to be allocated for Utility Connection, the same steps could be followed, i.e. the public hearing process. As long at the funds are not already obligated they can be moved to a shortfall area. Public hearing closed The Council President closed the public hearing at 8:52 p.m. After a brief discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to forward the 1995 CDBG Funding Potential Services to the next Regular Council for approval. Mayor Rants commended Evelyn Boykan and her staff for the magnificent job that they are doing and stated that the City is extremely fortunate in having Evelyn Boykan as the Human Services Coordinator. Recess The Council President called the meeting back to order with those present as 9:00 9:10 p.m. noted above. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 6 Amend Agenda Banning fireworks Mayor Citizen's comment Tom Keefe SPECIAL ISSUES Contracting for project engineers It was the consensus of the Council to move forward the "Discussion of whether to completely ban fireworks in Tukwila." A discussion ensued with most of the Councilmembers agreeing that going Mayor Rants commented that the original purpose of establishing an ordinance that would place restrictions on the sale and discharge of fireworks was to limit the distress caused to animals, and to our neighborhoods. He urged the Council to keep this in mind as well as the enforcement ability as they discuss this issue. Art Rosengran, 4022 South 150th, commented that his concerns are for the safety of the community. He feels that fireworks are hazardous to the participant and to the neighborhood at large. Though the existing ordinance limiting fireworks to one day between 9am and 11 pm helps and is much better than it use to be, he still supports a total ban on fireworks because there are many individuals who violate the Code. Fireworks can be heard going off up to four to six weeks after the Fourth of July. Tom Keefe, Fire Chief, commented that he agrees with the concern for safety; however, he does not believe banning the fireworks will prevent people from firing them off. Also there is the issue of enforcing the ban. For example, the police are called, they arrive at the scene, the fireworks have been set off but there's no one in sight to claim responsibility. So what we would have are police officers chasing ghosts. He said we've had a reasonable handle on the existing restrictions for the past several years. As of today, King County, SeaTac, Renton, Kent and Auburn have basically the same restrictions as Tukwila. He has not been able to locate anyone in those jurisdictions with knowledge of any proposed additional restrictions or a total ban on fireworks. The Chief stated it is his recommendation as well as the Administration that a full ban on the sale of fireworks within the City limits at this time be nullified. After much discussion and input it was the consensus of the Council to schedule a public hearing as soon as possible to see how the citizens feel about this issue. Then, make a decision based upon the outcome of the public hearing. Mayor Rants commented that his goal has always been to keep City staff small and turn out a superior product. He says we have approximately $20 million dollars worth of projects in public works between East Marginal, the water line, and the bridges. He supports the idea of project engineers because they are not permanent City staff -they work only on contract. They also work under the supervision of City staff which would allow for better direction of the project. )410 Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 7 Contracting for project this route would be more cost effective than contracting with a consultant. engineers (Cont' d) Clarification of Council Councilmember Robertson stated that the Chair or the person who is intentions and consensus in officiating over the meeting could be more clear in conveying the intentions meetings. and the consensus agreement on issues. He also stated that any councilmember, other elected official, official witness, department head, etc. should have the right to request of the council minutes transcriptionist that particular statements made by them are noted in the minutes. Park Pond Project It was the consensus of the Council to forward the contracts for project engineers to the next Regular Council for approval. Mayor Rants responded that in many instances this is already being done. For example, if a statement is made by Council or staff or anyone else, all they have to say is "Let the record show." This will obligate the transcriptionist to note the statement or a reasonable portion of the statement in the minutes. Robertson continued that he would like to create a "Council Action Item Log" that requires tracking of Council Actions. The Log could be designed with categories such as a description of the action, who it was assigned to, when it was assigned (date), due date, and current status. The form could be drafted by Lucy and a copy given to Councilmembers each week for review and status. After a lengthy discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to assign the duty of drafting the Council Action Item Log to Lucy Lauterbach for review by the Council. The Log will contain the categories listed above. It was also Council consensus that the Chair of the meetings should clarify the Motion or the Consensus so that everyone, including councilmembers, is fully award of whatever conclusion is made at the end of each issue discussed. Councilmember Duffie commented that the Community Affairs and Parks Committee was unable to reach a conclusion on this issue. That is why they agreed to bring it back before the whole Council. Don Williams, Director, Parks and Recreation, commented that Rick Beeler gave a presentation on the permit issue at the recent Community Affairs Parks Committee meeting. He suggested the permit issue should be the focus of discussion for now. Williams reviewed charts showing the most recent topographical survey which showed the edge of the pond itself. He said most of the site is considered wetland because it's either a buffer or water. Williams gave a brief review of the different Schemes of which the Councilmembers had already discussed and voiced their opinions and offered input at previous council meetings. He urged the Council to take special note of one of the Schemes because the intrusion of the 50 foot buffer, etc. would be an impact great enough to trigger an EIS, and/or extensive work under SAO. Williams said the Council needs to decide on the conceptual design Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 8 Park Pond Project (Cont'd) REPORTS before the non profit group moves forward with the fund raising process. Councilmember Robertson commented that he would like to proceed with the project. However, he wants to proceed with caution. Rushing into a project such as this could cause a similar situation such as the one recently experienced with DVNPC Beaver Bend Project. Mayor Rants commented that initially a sum of $2 million dollars was discussed as being the cost of the project. The Master Plan, if considered, is about a $4 million dollar job. Therefore, the Project will have to be done in phases. However, before anything can be done, full Council support is necessary. The commercial community believes in this endeavor. Tukwila Schools wants to adopt this as a school project. The Mayor says this effort fits into the overall plans for the City. The question now is how do we make it work. Councilmember Ekberg stated he would be supportive of putting a hold on the project, putting a more defined timeline in place for what needs to be done, and specifically the type of design that will be appropriate. He said although Schemes A, B, C, D and potentially E have been discussed, he's not sure if the business community agrees with those designs. He is also concerned about the water resources. Ekberg concluded that some of the design work scheduled to be paid for can't be done because of the water quality; and/or it may be discovered that some of the design work that was paid for needs additional improvements to support the filtration system necessary for the upkeep for the water supply. These are questions that have not been answered. He said he's willing to go before the Park Pond Committee to inform them that the Council may have jumped the gun on this one and that there are issues that need to be addressed before going any further on this project. Councilmember De Rodas commented that the Park should be designed to ehnance and preserve the area at a minimum of intrusion. After a lengthy discussion it was the consensus of the Council that all of the water issues must be answered to the extent that something can be designed before moving ahead with the project. Hernandez suggested that if this is truly a public /private partnership, hold off taking a stand on this issue for now and go back to the Park Pond Committee to share the opinions and concerns of the Council in hopes that they can come to the same conclusion as the Council. It was the consensus of the Council to follow Hernandez's suggestion. Mayor Rants reported he had attended the Puget Sound Regional Council meeting last week held in the Convention Center. It was an extremely ugly meeting due to the subject matter -the 3rd runway. The vote to take all of the Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 9 Rye orts (font' d) ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY DUFFLE, SECONDED BY ROBERTSON, TO ADJOURN 11:30 p.m. prospective airports off the list failed by a vote of 11 to 12. Paine Field was designated to be placed on the list. It failed 5 to 17. There were between 350 400 people in attendance. Arlington, Marysville and Tanwax are the three left for discussion of major airport issues. The next step is for the Regional Council, on September 22, to consider whether any of the three recommended sites should be carried forward. Ultimately, the decision for approval of a site for a major supplemental airport will require an affirmative two thirds vote by the Regional Council General Assembly. Ekberg suggested amending the Animal Control Ordinance to add a "Three strikes you're out" clause. It was the consensus of the Council to have this issue placed on the Council Action Item list. THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. Steve Mullet, Council President Celia Square, Deputy City Clerk