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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 06/20/1983 Kent, Washington June 20, 1983 Regular meeting of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7: 00 o ' clock p.m. by Mayor Hogan. Present: Mayor Hogan, Council- members Bailey, Biteman, B. Johnson, J. Johnson, Kelleher, Leahy and Woods, City Administrator Cushing, City Attorney DiJulio, Planning Director Harris, Public Works Director Wickstrom and Finance Director McCarthy. Also present: City Treasurer Drotz, Personnel Director Webby, Transportation Engineer Poston and URS representative Ramsey. Approximately 90 people were in attend- ance at the meeting. VALLEY Mr. Paul Friedrich, Assistant Administrator of GENERAL Valley General Hospital, briefly discussed the HOSPITAL long-range planning process for the hospital. He noted that another report would be made to the Council at a later date when the plans were further formalized. COMMENDATION Bailey noted receipt of a letter from Upland Industries dated June 9 commending the City for the expeditious way in which their Short Plat was handled. He pointed out that the City and the Chamber of Commerce had been working on improv- ing various City processes . B . JOHNSON MOVED to make the letter part of the record, Bailey seconded. Motion carried. CONSENT B. JOHNSON MOVED that the Consent Calendar Items CALENDAR A through H be approved, Bailey seconded. Motion carried. MINUTES (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5A) Approval of Minutes . APPROVAL of the minutes of June 6, 1983 with a correction on page 6, line 1, to change the reference from BAILEY to BITEMAN. STREETS (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5C) Financing for LID 308 (Southeast 260th Street Improvement. ) ADOPTION of Ordinance No. 2409 as recommended by the Finance Committee providing for interim financing for LID 308 in the amount of $375 , 000. A bond anticipation note will be provided by Peoples National Bank at 7% interest for a period of 9 months . LID 308 Condemnation Ordinance. The City Attorney has prepared Ordinance No. 2412 authorizing - l - June 20, 1983 STREETS condemnation for acquisition of the necessary right-of-way for S .E . 260th Street between 104th S .E . and 108th S .E. for LID 308. B. JOHNSON MOVED to adopt Ordinance No. 2412, J. Johnson seconded. Motion carried. STORM (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5H) DRAINAGE North Park Storm Drainage Phase II . ACCEPTANCE as complete the contract with Lang Construction and AUTHORIZATION for release of the retainage upon receipt of the releases from the State. POLICE (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5E) Jail Contract - U.S . Marshals Service AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign the Jail Contract between the U.S . Marshals Service and the City of Kent. This contract contains the same issues and costs s the 1982 contract. The only addition is on page 4, subsection 4-, providing for a guaranteed reimbursement from the U.S . Marshals Service to the City of Kent for 2.0 jail beds for five years at a rate equal to the actual cost of operation. REZONE (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5D) Tonelli Rezone (RZ_83-1) . ADOPTION of Ordinance No. 2410 approving the Tonelli Rezone with condi- tions as approved at the Council meeting of June 6, 1983 . PARKS & (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5F) RECREATION Upper Fenwick Park (AKA West Hill Neighborhood Park and Reith Road Pit -Site Park. ) AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign a project contract with the State Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation accepting a $150, 000 development grant for Upper Fenwick Park. This amount represents 50% of the total project cost. KENT COMMONS (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5G) Kent Commons Floor Repair Contract. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign a contract with the second low bidder_ , Michael ' s Hardwood Floors. This item has previously been discussed in executive session and the contract with Elegant Hardwood Floors has been terminated. June 20, 1983 AMUSEMENT License Fees for Temporary Use of Amusement LICENSES Devices . Ordinance No. 2411 has been prepared establishing license fees for temporary use of amusement devices ; exempting temporary uses from the requirement for a Master Arcade License; and establishing a new Section, 5. 19.054, of the Kent City Code. B. JOHNSON MOVED to adopt Ordinance No. 2411, J. Johnson seconded. Motion carried. EQUIPMENT Reo Dump Truck. Three bids were received on June RENTAL 17, 1983 for a surplus Reo Dump Truck. Upon BIDS the recommendation of the Public Works Director, BITEMAN MOVED, B. Johnson seconded, that the Reo Dump Truck be declared surplus and sold to the highest bidder, Town & Country Auto Sales , for the amount of $3800.00. Motion carried. TRAFFIC Sunnycrest Neighborhood Traffic Problem. Biteman CONTROL noted that this matter had been discussed at the June 6, 1983 Council meeting and that the City was prepared to install speed humps . Lillie Pott- smith reviewed the traffic problems in the area and noted the accident which occurred last Wednesday. She stated that the proposed speed humps were not enough and asked for a two way "stop" sign at 38th Avenue S . and S. 249th Street along with the humps . She also asked that the "yield" sign at 42nd S . and S . 249th be replaced with a two way "stop" sign fac- ing 42nd Avenue S . Traffic Engineer Poston noted that he recommended that"stop' signs be withheld until the traffic had been slowed down by the speed humps on 38th Avenue S . Upon a question from the Council, Poston stated that "stop" signs would be installed after the humps had slowed the traffic down and this could be done as soon as the City crews could schedule it, within several weeks of the installa- tion of the humps . John Malandra stated that the recent accident would not have happened if "stop" signs had been installed at 42nd S . & S . 249th. BITEMAN MOVED to immediately place two "stop" signs at 42nd S . & S . 249th to con- trol north/south traffic and to substitute "stop" - 3 - June 20, 1983 TRAFFIC signs for the present "yield" signs on 38th S . and CONTROL S . 249th within 30 days of the installation of the speed humps . Kelleher seconded. At Leahy' s request, Poston clarified his position on delaying the signs until after the humps were installed, and he clari- fied the Police Department report for J. Johnson. Motion carried. HOUSING & Mayor Hogan reported that the Joint Policy Committee COMMUNITY had met and would be recommending to the King Co. DEVELOPMENT Council support of the following Kent projects : DAWN - $19,840 Kent Green River Community Health Center - $21, 000 Kent Memorial Park Building Renovation - $12, 140 LIBRARY Mayor Hogan noted that Carol Anderson had resigned BOARD from the Library Board, that her appointment would run to November_ , 1983 , and that a replacement would be sought. CENSUS Harris reported that the Stage ' s pr.eimi- nary estimate for Kent ' s 1983 population at 25,400, which is 1, 625 more than last year. FINANCE (CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM 5B) Approval of Bills . APPROVAL of payment of the bills received through June 17, 1983 after auditing by the Finance Committee at its meeting at 4 : 00 p.m. on June 30, 1983 . LID 287 Treasurer ' s Certificate . The Treasurer has certified that she has collected $21, 534. 17 during the 30-day period allowed without interest and that the unpaid assessments remaining for LID 287 total $203, 075 . 04. LID 296 - Treasurer ' s Certificate. The Treasurer has certified that she has collected $37, 157. 75 during the 30-day period allowed without interest and that the unpaid assessments remaining for LID 296 total $383 , 641 . 75 . LEAHY MOVED to accept the Treasurer ' s Certificates for LID 287 and for LLD 296. Bailey seconded. Motion carried. - 4 - June 20 , 1983 PUGET SOUND Lease of City Property. Mayor Hogan noted that a WOMENS member of the Puget Sound Womens Peace Camp group PEACE CAMP had called her on June 10 to arrange a meeting to discuss the possible use of City property which had been donated by Boeing for use as a park along CITY Russell Road . A meeting was held on June 15 with PROPERTY City staff and it was determined that City policy did not allow overnight parking in City parks. Use of the lagoon site was then considered and a temporary use of the lagoon site was granted under the same conditions imposed for temporary overnight parking at a City park site . The permit will expire at noon on Tuesday, June 21 . The Mayor noted that the City Attorney had prepared a lease agreement , copies of which have been distributed to the Council . DiJulio determined that he had met earlier in the day to discuss the contents of the lease with the womens group. He noted that the agreement followed the usual form used by the City, including provision for insurance . Mrs . Lee Berquist , a resident of the City was identified as a member of the group. Louise Chernin explained that the group consisted of individual women concerned about the cruise missle , who are studying the issue and want to share their thoughts and concerns with others in a nonviolent way . Mayor Hogan noted that the administrative recommendation was to authorize the use of the lagoon site under the terms of the lease prepared by the City Attorney. Bailey noted that the Council had the responsibility of the health, safety and welfare of the community. He questioned the status of the incorporation papers of the group and the City' s status if , in later years, claims were made stating that at the lagoon site caused health problems . He expressed concern that allowing the use of the property would give the appearance of endorsing the cause of this group and asked what the City' s position would be if a group supporting the missile also asked for a place to camp. Myrna Grosskopf explained that the papers for incorporation were in process. DiJulio stated that the property is not a public park , that it is owned by the City of Kent Utilities and that the leasing of the property is a business matter , much the same as any City lease , so the Council has the authority to approve the lease . He noted that proof of liability insurance is required before the lease is signed and that the leasees would be taking the property "as is . " He noted that the City' s insurance also provides good coverage . - 5 - i June 20 , 1983 Biteman noted that Peter Schweizer had indicated he PUGET SOUND would like to be heard . Mayor Hogan noted that WOMENS granting of a lease was a policy matter of the City PEACE CAMP and not necessarily an issue for public debate . J . Johnson spoke in favor of granting the lease, noting that the City had passed a Resolution supporting a nuclear freeze. DiJulio confirmed for Leahv that the Council had complete discretion and that the business aspect should be separated from the political issue. Leahy agreed that the lease should be approached from the business angle but noted that if granted to this group and subsequently denied to some other group, such action might be construed as City endorsement of the policies of this womens group. DiJulio recognized this possibility and suggested that future action of this type would best be done on a case to case basis . Upon Bailey' s question, DiJulio noted that the lease will require proper sanitation facilities. Bailey questioned whether the City would appear to be en- dorsing a particular thesis if the lease is author- ized, and DiJulio noted that while this might appear to be so, the lease will contain a disclaimer . Kelleher noted that the question really is whether or not the City should make public land available for this sort of public expression. He stated that we are not endorsing a particular thesis, that the method for such endorsement was by a City Resolu- tion, and the City had already passed a Resolution endorsing a nuclear freeze . Kelleher MOVED to authorize the Mayor to enter into a lease with the Puget Sound Womens Peace Camp Inc . for the Utility Lagoon Property for the period from June 21 , 1983 to September 9 , 1983 . Woods seconded, and Biteman proposed an amendment to add that the lease be renewable monthly. Upon Bailey' s question, Biteman explained that this would allow termination if unacceptable action occurred . Both Kelleher and Woods agreed to add Biteman' s suggestion to the motion . B. Johnson noted that she would abstain from voting . Biteman stated that if this motion was accepted that he would expect that any group would also be allowed to lease City property, and that if this was so, he would go along with the motion. Mayor Hogan noted that the City Attorney had stated that future requests would be decided on a case to case basis. June 20 , 1983 Biteman objected to accepting one group and holding in abeyance the rights of other groups. J . Johnson PUGET SOUND and Woods concurred with Biteman' s statement . WOMENS J . Johnson noted that for the City' s protection, PEACE CAMP insurance and other matters would have to be invest- igated for each applicant . Bailey concurred with Biteman' s statement , expressing concern that a precedent would be set . DiJulio noted that it is the Council ' s responsi- bility to make this decision . He noted that the City is currently undertaking a project to establish an administrative process for the management of public property and streets. Kelleher noted that he thought that everyone on the Council would agree that if we are going to lease City property to the public, it should be available to everyone . He stated that it is not legal for this Council to incorporate language into this motion which would bind the actions of future Councils , noting that at a later Council meeting, we could simply reverse the action taken tonight . DiJulio concurred with Kelleher . Biteman noted he wished to read something into the record, submitted by Peter Schweizer , taken from the "Physicians for Social Pesponsibilities, " Summer , 1983 , with reference to International Day of Nuclear Disarmament : "Worldwide nonviolent actions and demonstrations will protest and disrupt the produc- tion, transportation and development of nuclear weapons for at least one working day. Plans for local action will take the form of vigils, marches, worship services, festivals, peace camps and civil disobedience at weapons facilities . " He noted that particular reference was made to peace camps at Greenham Commons, Fngland , Seneca Falls, New York and the Kent Washington Cruise Plant . The packet distributed by Mr . Schweizer has been placed on file along with a letter distributed by Henry Towne . Upon a rollcall vote , Kelleher , J. Johnson and Woods supported the motion . Bailey, Biteman & Leahy opposed and B . Johnson abstained , resulting in a tie . Mayor Hogan then voted in favor and the motion carried. - 7 - June 20, 1983 COUNCIL Public Works . Kelleher reported that the Public COMMITTEES Works Committee would meet on Tuesday at 3 :00 p.m. . to consider Wickstrom ' s comments on the water pressure situation on the West Hill. He explained that the matter would he before the Council soon for further discussion on measures which could or might be taken to alleviate the problem. Kelleher noted that the explanation had been given that the pressure is a little low but that the real problem was in the plumbing found in the older homes . He indicated that the possibility of improving the system would be discussed as well as the possibility of no inter- est loans to improve the plumbing inside the homes. Mayor Hogan noted that Mr. Williams, (telephone No. 941-4176) , had asked to have Wickstrom contact him in regard to his problem and its possible solution. Public Safety. J. Johnson noted that the Public Safety Committee would meet on June 27 at 10 : 00 a.m. to discuss licensing for second hand dealers & pawn shops , as well as items from the Building Department. ADJOURNMENT J. JOHNSON MOVED to adjourn at 8: 05 p.m. , Woods seconded. Motion carried. Marie Jensen, CMC City Clerk _ g _ I I