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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-10-10 Committee of the Whole MinutesTUKWILA CITY COUNCIL October 10, 1994 Tukwila City Hall 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Council President Steve Mullet called the Committee of The Whole meeting to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL JOE DUFFIE; JOAN HERNANDEZ; STEVE MULLET, Council President; DENNIS ROBERTSON; ALLAN EKBERG; JOYCE CRAFT; DOROTHY De RODAS. OFFICIALS JOHN McFARLAND, City Administrator; LINDA COHEN, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; ROSS EARNST, Public Works Director; RON CAMERON, City Engineer; RANDY BERG, Public Works Project Manager; PAT BRODIN, Senior Engineer; PHIL FRASER, Senior Engineer; TOM KEEFE, Fire Chief; NICK OLIVAS, Assistant Fire Chief. SPECIAL PRESENTATION Update on RCAA u 7C Matt Rosenberg, Executive Director, Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA), summarized summer quarter activities of RCAA and post August 11 activities related to the Puget Sound Regional Council new airport/third runway decision making process. He said publicity and media presence have been very high, both for RCAA and for the main issues of the third runway and new airport. There is obviously concern over the PSRC's September 22 decision to hold off on moving forward into Phase 2 of the new airport feasibility study. They may or may not change their mind at the October 27 meeting. He said citizens' participation will be encouraged as a rallying point at this meeting as well as other scheduled meetings. The Third runway implementation still faces many hurdles, including expected Airport Community Coalition (ACC) legal challenges to the EIS, the PSRC Noise Arbitration Panel, and community opposition. Rosenberg said the panel recently issued its written directive, which grants a request for a special night -time hearing on the noise issues scheduled for December 1, 1994. He said strong inroads have been made in Seattle, through the Seattle Community Council Federation and its regional and local neighborhood councils. There is now a tentative plan among Seattle noise activists to explore the possibility of starting a Seattle chapter of the RCAA. For South End residents, a town meeting is scheduled for October 12, 7:30 p.m. in Normandy Park. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes October 10, 1994 Page 2 CITIZEN'S COMMENTS SPECIAL ISSUES Contract for Fire Station #53 Roger Baker, 11662 42nd Avenue South, commented that he recently located his old, wartime buddy of 50 years, living in a town called Nacogdoches, Texas. What's ironic about this is the word "Nacogdoches." Nacogdoches is the oldest town in the State of Texas. It's an Indian name which means the land of Chinquopin. Chinquopin is an Indian version of "The Land of Hazelnuts. Baker says he was almost overwhelmed to not only have located his buddy after all these years, but to learn that they lived in towns with names that had the same meaning "The Land of Hazelnuts." Randy Berg, Public Works Project Manager, explained that the Firm of Merrit Pardina Architects was selected by City Staff as prime consultant for design of the new Fire Station 53. A contract amount has been negotiated with Merrit Pardini, and the wording of the contract has been agreed upon. The final contract amount agreed upon is $158,766. This amount includes $98,980 for Basic Services and $59,786 for Additional Services. Basic Services are those normally required to design and construct a building; Additional Services are those normally a part of a project, but outside of the building design. Councilmember Hernandez clarified that the project is not site specific. This contract could apply to any piece of property the Council chooses. City Administrator John McFarland stated that the Council gave direction on a preferred site and that site has been pursued. Since then, another alternative is being discussed. He said within the next 14 days, he anticipates presenting a recommendation to the Mayor, then on to the Council for final approval. Councilmember De Rodas stated she was concerned that there was no time -frame profiled in the contract. Berg replied it would not be wise to bind the contractors to a time frame when a site for the structure has not been chosen. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes October 10, 1994 Page 3 Contract for Fire Station #53 (font' d) Vactor Waste Facility McFarland commented that it is in our best interest to move forward with the contract. There are adequate safeguards in the contract to protect the public interest. J Councilmember Robertson requested that when staff returns with a site recommendation in two weeks, a site plan be provided depicting a detailed description of the proposed site. After a lengthy discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to forward the Contract for Fire Station #53 to the next Regular Council for approval. Ross Earnst introduced the Draft Siting and Analysis Report on the Proposed City of Tukwila Vactor Waste Facility /Operations and Siting. The Report included supporting information in the areas of material quantity and composition, proposed facility and site selection process, and results. He said the facility is needed to reduce the cost of disposal of street and utility wastes to comply with upcoming State regulations. The wastes to be handled at the facility are primarily street sweepings and catch basin cleanings with small amounts of pipe, ditch and pond cleaning materials. Approximately 3,000 cubic yards of material will be processed annually from City operations. The land area required for the proposed facility is about two acres. The major portion of the area requirement is for handling and storing soil during the two to six week processing period. Several sites were initially evaluated for suitability for the facility. Keith Harris of Richard Carothers Associates, showed a video of the Vactor Waste Facility located in Kirkland, Washington. Since its inception two and a half years ago, there have been absolutely no complaints whatsoever. The total cost of the facility, including property and operation, is $700 thousand dollars. After much discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to have staff narrow the sites down to three, provide a clearer analysis of the costs involved, hopefully on one sheet of paper, then schedule for discussion at a Committee of The Whole meeting in two weeks. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes October 10, 1994 Page 4 Referendum #43 REPORTS Evelyn Boykan, Human Services Coordinator, commented that there is a whole array of social and health services that receive support from this referendum that would have prevention and treatment funds reduced if the referendum is not passed. Some of those programs are programs that serve the City of Tukwila, though, not necessarily in a contracted relationship. Hernandez explained that in order to support the referendum, the Council would need to draft a resolution for approval. Mayor Rants reviewed material he had recently placed in councilmembers mail boxes regarding Financing for King County Growth Management. This issue will be coming up within the next two to three years. Duffie reported that the Tukwila Pond Project looks very positive. A complete update will be presented to the Council after the next Community Affairs and Parks Committee meeting. Duffie also called to the attention of the Council that there is no ordinance in place to prohibit door to door soliciting or peddling. Robertson suggested this issue be discussed in the Finance Safety Committee. Robertson also read an excerpt from a proposal that had been discussed at the South King County Area Transportation Board Councilmember Hernandez briefed the Council that Association of Washington Cities (AWC) had written a letter to City Officials requesting support of Referendum #43. She said the Finance and Safety Committee did not recommend supporting the referendum, though they agreed the whole Council should discuss it. She said it would not mean an increase in property taxes for Tukwila citizens. If passed, it would continue taxes on cigarettes and liquor, and increase the tax on soda pop, to cover revenues that will otherwise be lost due to Initiative 601 (I -601 requires that the extension of taxes must be approved by a vote of the people through a referendum.). After a lengthy discussion, it was the consensus of the Council not to move forward on this issue. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes October 10, 1994 Page 5 &ports (Cont' d) ADJOURNMENT 9:23 p.m. (SCATBd) meeting as follows: "Commuter rail primarily serves Tacoma and the Valley Cities of Kent and Auburn. SCATBd strongly recommends that in addition to commuter rail, the Master Plan extend electrified light -rail service from Seattle to Federal Way via the Tukwila Interurban alignment, with skip -stop operation, to insure that there will be no increase in travel time from Federal Way to Seattle. Further, SCATBd strongly recommends that this electrified light -rail service be extended around the lake in the I -405 Corridor. This line should connect SeaTac to Bellevue or Redmond Kirkland with top priority given to the [SeaTac to north Renton] segment." Robertson requested Council Consensus in support of the proposal so that he can convey this at tomorrow's SCATBd meeting. He says a good part of Bellevue, Renton, Tukwila, SeaTac, Burien, and Des Moines are in agreement with the proposal, which makes the case even stronger in our favor. Mayor Rants stated this will be followed up with a letter (that can be used as a model) to each of the Mayors, encouraging them to send it to the Regional Transit Association in support of the above proposal. Alan Doerschel, Finance Director, informed the Council that the Comprehensive Improvement Plan (CIP) and the 1995 Proposed Budget will be available to them in less than two weeks. MOVED BY HERNANDEZ, SECONDED BY ROBERTSON, TO s I OURN TO THE SPECIAL MEETING. MOTION D. ttiVA Steve Mullet, Council President Celia Square, Deputy City Clerk City Attorney Cohen reported that the City won in Superior Court on an Adult Entertainment Case, where defense attorneys brought writ action against our detectives for doing their job. They also tried to get the judge in our court to file criminal charges against the police officers. When our judge (Judge Belur) declined, he was included in the suit also. The Superior Court Judge was not amused by all of this and it was evident in his ruling. He denied the Motion. We not only won the Case, but were awarded statutory attorneys fees.