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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 08/14/1978 Kent, Washington August 14 , 1978 SPECIAL MEETING of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7: 00 o'clock p.m. Present: Mayor Hogan, Councilpersons Carey, B. Johnson, J. Johnson, Kitto and Masters, City Administrator Street, City Attorney Mirk, Planning Director Harris, Public Works Director Ulett and Finance Director Winkle. Councilpersons Just and McCaughan were not in attendance. Also present: Parks Director Wilson. HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Mayor Hogan explained that the Special Meeting was being held to give further consideration to items to be included in the applica- tion submitted to King County for funding of joint projects. The four projects which were submitted at the last Council meeting are as follows: A. Green River Basin Program (County) B. Kent Commons Coordinator ($22 , 000) C. Historic Resource Management Program (County) D. Korry Field Improvement ($86, 000) The Mayor noted that the Council had specifically requested addi- tional information with regard to the application for funds for the Kent Commons Coordinator and the Korry Field Improvements project. Street reviewed the four items as follows : A. Green River Basin Program - Street noted that this is a joint project with the County and other Valley cities and is absolutely essential since it deals with the planning program for control of surface water in the Valley. _ B. Kent Commons Coordinator. Information sheets regarding the duties of the Kent Commons Coordinator and the Secretary were dis- tributed to the Council, together with a copy of the Financial Statement of the operation, by the Kent Commons Coordinator, Tim Keener. The copies were made a part of the record. Street noted that the Coordinator and the Secretary are CETA employees whose funding will expire as of 11/30/78. He also noted that funding for the positions has been approved by Housing & Community Development for the period 12/1/78 through 6/30/78 and that the present appli- cation is to extend the funding for an additional year (July, 1979 through June, 1980) ; however, such funding may be used only for the position of the Coordinator. Street suggested that this was a good opportunity for the City to take advantage of the funds being offered and referred to the Council ' s wish that the Commons ' operation be self-supporting, and that such funding would be of assistance in attaining this goal. Referring to the present operation of the facility, he noted that there was only one area that is not presently rented and efforts are being made to fill this vacancy. He noted that the financial statement showed that at this point the operation is almost breaking even with income and expenditures. In response to Masters ' question as to the criteria followed in renting space and specifically to what is essential with relation to low and moderate income groups or if efforts to rent the facility are community,directed toward the business y, Keener noted that the primary objective was, of course, to make the facility pay for itself through revenue received from rental of the rooms. He sug- gested that this was done primarily through the business community but noted that there were also programs conducted there in connec- tion with the King County Department of Health, such as free health clinic and pre-natal classes, which were directed to low income persons. C. Historic Resource Management Program (County) . Street noted that the present Kent Historic Resource Management Program expires in January, 1979 and that King County had expressed an interest in being a party to the program operated by Kent. He noted that the County was impressed with what Kent has done with the CETA employee utilized for this program. He suggested that the program should be funded in accordance with the request of King County. ........... ... 3 D. Korry Field Improvements. Street noted that there had been some discussion regarding the utilization of the Korry Field property for other purposes and copies of a letter from the King County Housing & Community Development office responding to the question were dis- tributed to the Council and made a part of the record. The letter clarified that application for the grant monies does not preclude using the field for some other purpose in the future. In response to B. Johnson' s question, Wilson noted that the Parks Department would be building the soccer field and the $86 ,000 covered the esti- mates given by ORB for the track/jogging trails around one of the soccer fields and included drainage. It was determined that there would be no permanent restroom facilities on the site but portable restrooms would be installed. Wilson suggested that persons using the Kent Commons Phase II facility would be using the jogging/ exercise trails, as well as people utilizing the Metro Park & Ride Lot, due to the increased interest in jogging throughout the area. He also stated that the proposed improvements did not preclude the City from using the property for other municipal purposes at some time in the future should it be needed. B. JOHNSON MOVED that the Kent Planning Department be authorized to submit the following Block Grant joint project applications for the period July, 1979 to June, 1980 to King County: 1) Green River Basin Program; 2) Kent Commons Coordinator; 3) Historic Resource Manage- ment Program; 4) Korry Field Improvements. J. Johnson seconded. Masters voiced her opposition to the motion and stated that while all the programs have merit, she could not justify them as being absolutely essential to the community, with the exception of Item No. 1, the Green River Basin Program. She suggested that the City was using money that doesn' t exist and commiting itself to future use of such non-existent monies. Motion carried, with Masters voting nay. MEETING ADJOURNED: 7: 15 o'clock p.m. Respectfully submitted, Betty Gray Deputy City Clerk