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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 05/07/1991 Kent, Washington May 7 , 1991 Regular meeting of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7 : 00 p.m. by Mayor Kelleher. Present: Councilmembers Dowell, Houser, Johnson, Mann, Orr, Woods and White, City Administrator Chow, City Attorney Lubovich, Planning Director Harris, Public Works Director Wickstrom, Fire Chief Angelo, Finance Director McCarthy, Acting Police Chief Byerly, Personnel Director Olson, Assistant City Administrator Hansen, and Information Services Director Spang. Parks Director Wilson was not in attendance. Approximately 120 people were at the meeting. PUBLIC Mayor Kelleher acknowledged the presence of King COMMUNICATION County Councilmember Kent Pullen, who represents this area, and thanked him for his attendance at tonight' s meeting. Employee of the Month. Mayor Kelleher announced that Jerri Broeffle, Jr. has been selected as Em- ployee of the Month for May. He noted that Jerri works in the Planning Department as the Home Re- pair Coordinator and works hard to meet the in- creasing needs for the low-income families served through the City' s paint and repair programs. Planning Director Harris and Lin Ball of the Plan- ning Department commended her on her talent and caring attitude. Correctional Officer Week. The Mayor read a proc- lamation declaring May 5-11, 1991, as Correctional Officer Week in the City of Kent and urging all citizens to acknowledge the professional service the Correction Staff provides to the community. Domestic Abuse Women's Network (DAWN) . Jeanette Paulson, President of the Board of Directors for DAWN, thanked the Mayor and Council for their fi- nancial and moral support and introduced Linda Rasmussen who presented them with a plaque. Rasmussen also expressed appreciation for the City' s help with the United for Shelter project for victims of domestic violence and their child- ren. Regional Justice Center. Lynda Anderson intro- duced Arthur Wallenstein, Director of the King County Division of Adult Detention, Wendy Keller who is in charge of the jail planning process for King County, and Denise Couza, who is in charge of public relations for the jail siting. Ms. Keller 1 May 7, 1991 PUBLIC noted that several alternatives had been examined COMMUNICATION from full regional justice centers to additional (Regional capacity in Seattle, and that their recommendation Justice is for a non-downtown regional justice center with Center) the flexibility to expand when growth occurs. She noted that a final environmental impact statement will be complete by the end of May, and that only after the County has studied the documents and made their decisions would site selection proceed. She said that hopefully sites will be identified in June or July, and that the issue could appear on the ballot in September. She noted that work groups were set up to look at detention needs, as well as law, safety and justice growth and their impacts on all the cities in the County. She noted that because it is impossible to know how large King County will grow in 20 years, that con- struction would be done in two phases with a large increment in the beginning and a smaller increment later. She said they studied cost, accessibility and flexibility, and decided on Option G which has courts, prosecutors and all of the criminal jus- tice components. She noted that a large contin- gent of people are in favor of keeping all capa- city where it presently is in Seattle, but that other people feel it should be more accessible to all of King County. She pointed out that a high- rise in Seattle will cost more, but staffing would be less; in King County the structure will cost less but staffing would be a bit more. Keller noted that the regional justice center as it is currently planned will require a site of 16-18 acres, which would allow for the first phase of building and for additions in the future. Upon Dowell ' s question, Wallenstein noted that the goal is not to be locked into one single option for the future, but to have options available which would be determined by county growth, policy considerations and availability of funding. He noted for White that they are not currently look- ing at sites, that the decision as to the type of facility must be made first. He noted for Mayor Kelleher that the site criteria will address local community goals, and that the facility should be located in an area with a reasonably high workload to serve the needs of the criminal justice system. 2 May 7, 1991 PUBLIC Ms. Keller noted for Dowell that the County will COMMUNICATION mitigate adverse impacts and that the city select- (Regional ed as the site will have opportunities to negoti- Justice ate with the County. Wallenstein noted that their Center) recommendation is that a jail not be built alone, but that courts be nearby. He cited the extraor- dinarily high cost, the inefficiency and the dan- ger of moving prisoners as reasons. Woods ex- pressed concern about the short time period and emphasized that voters should be aware of where the sites will be. White stated that he supports the regional justice center concept and that if Kent is chosen as a site, consideration should be given to a downtown site rather than a site in the industrial area. CONSENT WOODS MOVED that Consent Calendar Items A through CALENDAR H be approved. White seconded and the motion car- ried. MINUTES (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3A) _Approval of Minutes. Approval of the minutes of the regular Council meeting of April 16, 1991 with the following corrections: 1. LID 339 - Hilltop Avenue Sanitary Sewers Change assessment amount from $5, 953 . 18 to $6, 953 . 18 2 . Approval of Bills Change approval of checks issued for payroll from 1152779-1153468 $599, 326. 20 to 1153464-1154149 $625, 128 .99 SEWERS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3C) LID 339 - Hilltop Avenue Sanitary Sewers. ADOPTION of Ordinance 2982 creating LID 339 as approved by Council at their April 16 meeting. (BIDS - ITEM 5B) Decanting Stations. Bid opening was held April 24 and one bid was received from Harper Pacific Con- tractors in the amount of $96,947 . 20 . Inasmuch as only one bid was received which greatly exceeded the Engineer' s estimate, staff recommends that the bid be rejected. WHITE SO MOVED. Woods seconded and the motion carried. 3 May 7, 1991 TRAFFIC (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3F) CONTROL Metro Park and Ride Agreement. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign an agreement with Metro whereby Metro would reimburse the City' s cost in the de- velopment of the expansion of Kent-Des Moines Park and Ride Lot, as recommended by the Public Works Committee. ASPHALT (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3G) OVERLAYS 1991 Asphalt Overlay Agreement. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign the agreement with King County authorizing them to proceed with overlay of those portions of So. 204th and So. 256th Streets which are within the City limits and for the City to re- imburse the County for same, as recommended by the Public Works Committee. ANNEXATIONS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3H) Annexation of Area No. 1 (West Hill Island) . AU- THORIZATION for the Annexation Committee to move forward on annexation of Area No. 1 (West Hill Is- land) as recommended by the City Council Planning Committee. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4A) East Hill Annexation. At the April 16 Public Works Committee meeting, the Public Works Director recommended pursuing annexation of Areas 1, 3 and 4 as delineated on the map of the East Hill area in order to give Council greater control over the 272nd, 277th corridor. It should be noted that these annexation areas are all part of Area 3 of the City's overall priority annexation areas. The Director of Public Works would like Council con- currence to pursue the annexation before directing staff to obtain the 10 percent petition. The Public Works Committee determined they would send this item to the full Council for discussion with no recommendation. Since the Public Works Committee meeting, one pro- perty owner has requested that all her property be included within the annexation area. As such, the boundary of Area 1 is amended to reflect same. Orr noted that the reason this item came from the Public Works Committee without a recommendation is that they lacked information, and that the infor- 4 May 7, 1991 ANNEXATIONS mation has not yet been provided. She then MOVED (East Hill) that this issue be removed from tonight' s agenda and be sent back to the Public Works Committee for further review. Johnson seconded and the motion carried. Later in the meeting, DOWELL MOVED that the Coun- cil reconsider it' s vote to remove Item 4A from the agenda. White seconded for discussion. Dowell pointed out that the Public Works Depart- ment has asked for direction as to whether to pro- ceed on the project. He noted that the Public Works Committee felt it should be brought to Coun- cil rather than being held up in committee. Orr explained that she would like more information on the project and clarification of the process, which could be done at committee level. White asked for more cooperation between the departments working on the project. Mann stated that discuss- ing this item tonight would be unfair to the peo- ple who left after it was removed from the agenda. The motion to reconsider removal of Item 4A from tonight' s agenda failed with only Dowell voting in favor. SHORELINE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3D) MASTER Shoreline Master Program Amendments. AUTHORIZATION PROGRAM to set May 21, 1991 as the date for a public hear- ing to consider amendments to the Shoreline Master Program. DES MOINES (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4C) SHOPPING Midway Crossing. Pat Dunham, a resident of Des CENTER Moines, voiced concern about the proposed develop- ment of a shopping center at the southwest corner of SR 516 and SR 99 . She cited traffic, access, closeness of the shopping center to homes, noise from the service road and loading docks, and loss of wetland and woods as concerns. Planning Director Harris explained for the Council that the proposal to develop this property is pre- sently going through the SEPA process, and that it would normally be handled through the Planning De- partment and not appear before the Council . Cheryl Hogan spoke regarding the lack of public notification, and the Mayor noted that State Rep- s May 7, 1991 DES MOINES resentative Lorraine Hines had contacted him re- SHOPPING garding the posting of notices. The Mayor pointed CENTER out that Planning Director Harris has extended the comment period until May 18 . Harris added that letters have been sent to all residents adjacent to the property and the site has been reposted. He stated that public input is valuable, and that it should be in written form. He agreed to meet with citizens after tonight' s meeting regarding the written input. . LIBRARY (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3E) Library Board Appointment. CONFIRMATION of the Mayor' s appointment of Les Thomas to the Kent Li- brary Board of Directors replacing JoAnn Brady, whose term has expired. CITY SHOPS (BIDS - ITEM 5A) City Shops Equipment Washrack. Bid opening was held April 10 with four bids received. The low bid was submitted by R.K. Construction in the amount of $28 , 427 . 39 . Staff recommends that $17 , 000 be transferred from the Equipment Rental Fund for this project and that the contract be awarded to the low bidder. WHITE SO MOVED. Woods seconded and the motion carried. PARKS & (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4B) RECREATION Scenic Hill Park Master Plan. The Parks Depart- ment seeks authorization to adopt the Scenic Hill Park Master Plan. The Parks Committee reviewed two proposals, and as a result of community feed- back, recommends approval of a plan which includes a tennis court, gravel paths, lighted parking, a children' s play area, restroom/shelter, and land- scaping. Helen Wickstrom of the Parks Department noted that this project is part of the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation grant application. White noted that he had been concerned about basketball facilities and had been assured by the school dis- trict that they are updating their facilities which are adjacent to the park. Colie Hough noted that fifty-five parking stalls have been incorpor- ated into the plan, and that the school district will provide lighting, landscaping, irrigation and safe walkways. She noted that the total project 6 May 7, 1991 PARKS & will cost approximately $440, 000 and the IAC grant RECREATION would be a 50% match. She added that as many trees as possible are being preserved and that 50% of the park will be left natural. DOWELL MOVED that the Scenic Hill Park Master Plan be adopted. White seconded and the motion carried. FINANCE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3B) _Approval of Bills. Approval of payment of the bills received through April 30, 1991 after au- diting by the Operations Committee at its meeting at 4 : 45 p.m. on May 14 , 1991. Approval of checks issued for vouchers: Date Check Numbers Amount 4/13/91-4/30/91 104148-104726 $1, 574 , 487 . 66 Approval of checks issued for payroll : Date Check Numbers Amount 5/3/91 1154150-1154875 $ 620, 611. 15 REPORTS Administrative Reports. Mayor Kelleher announced (Personnel) that he has appointed Ed Crawford as the new Police Chief. He introduced Mr. Crawford, who said he is looking forward to working for the City of Kent. (Budget) City Administrator Chow announced that Finance Di- rector McCarthy will present a brief budget up- date. McCarthy stated that budget sessions with various departments will be held soon and asked for final direction from the Council . He noted that sales tax and building permit revenues are lower than expected, and that health and liability insurance rates are projected to go up next year. He also noted that labor agreements have already been set- tled. He stated that this combination results in a budget which is out of balance by $3 . 5 million. He added that this is the most pessimistic view and that things may improve. He outlined possible options to balance the budget as follows: 7 May 7, 1991 REPORTS .Use some of the $2 , 000, 000 General Fund Contin- (Budget) gency. .Make one time only transfers from other funds to the General Fund. The CIP has approximately $3 million to allocate in 1992 . The Unemployment Compensation Fund probably has an excess $200, 000 to $300, 000 in reserves. .Move from a slowdown to hiring freeze saving $4, 000 per month per vacant position. 14 vacan- cies for 19 months from 6/1/91 to 12/31/92 saves $1. 1 million. .Have the departments propose a percent decrease for 1992 . A 1% decrease saves approximately $330, 000. .Increase the utility tax. 1% raises about $1. 1 million per year. McCarthy noted for White that if Police and Fire positions are not cut, other departments would be required to cut more positions. Woods noted that she is reluctant to touch the contingency fund and is not in favor of raising taxes. She suggested discussing this issue at a workshop after more information and recommendations are available. McCarthy noted that the departments will be advised to cut their budgets by 10% . Dowell offered the following suggestion: Use $505, 575 from the general fund contingency, use some combination of $250, 000 from the CIP and Un- employment Funds, enact a hiring freeze at $1, 100, 000, and a 5% decrease in department budgets, which would total $1, 650, 000 . He pointed out that this could be done without raising the utility tax. The Mayor suggested that this item be discussed at a workshop, so that the Council will have prior notification. He also asked that Suzette Cooke of the Chamber of Commerce be notified of such a meeting. 8 May 7 , 1991 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8 : 30 p.m. Brenda Jacober, CMC Deputy Cit, erk v 9