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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 04/07/1992 Kent, Washington April 7 , 1992 Regular meeting of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7 : 00 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tem Woods. Present: Councilmembers Bennett, Houser, Johnson, Mann, Orr and White, City Administrator Chow, City Attorney Lubovich, Public Works Director Wickstrom, Planning Manager Satterstrom, Fire Chief Angelo, Parks Director Wilson, Police Chief Crawford, Assistant City Administrator Hansen, Finance Director McCarthy, and Information Services Director Spang. Mayor Kelleher, Planning Director Harris and Human Resources Director Olson were not in attendance. Approximately 25 people were at the meeting. PUBLIC Employee of the Month. Woods announced that Bruce COMMUNICATION Weissich has been selected as the Employee of the Month for April . She noted that he works as a Police Officer in our Police Department and is a very active employee who is involved in several different activities within the City. Police Chief Crawford noted that Bruce is truly a very fine police officer and all citizens ' homes and property are well protected when he is working. Woods presented Weissich with the Employee of the Month plaque. CONSENT WHITE MOVED that Consent Calendar Items A through CALENDAR F be approved. Orr seconded and the motion car- ried. MINUTES (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3A) Approval of Minutes. Approval of the minutes of the regular Council meeting of March 17 , 1992 . HEALTH & (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3E) SANITATION Garrison Creek Short Plat. ACCEPTANCE of the bill of sale and warranty agreement submitted by TNX America Corporation for continuous operation and maintenance of approximately 820 feet of water main extension, 1200 feet of sanitary sewer exten- sion, 750 feet of street improvements and 1200 feet of storm sewer improvements constructed in the vicinity of 95th Place South and South 218th Street for the Garrison Creek Short Plat Develop- ment and release of cash bond after expiration of the one-year maintenance period, as recommended by the Public Works Committee. 1 April 7 , 1992 STREETS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3D) LID 335 - 77th Avenue Improvements. ACCEPT as complete the contract with Active Construction for LID 335 - 77th Avenue Improvements, and release of retainage after receipt of the state releases, as recommended by the Public Works Committee. (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3F) Washington State Department of Transportation Letter of Understanding - SR 181 Route Jurisdic- tion. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign an agreement with WSDOT for the transfer of jurisdic- tion of SR 181 (West Valley Highway) from SR 516 (Willis Street) to South 277th Street and to establish a budget for the funding assistance the City will receive over a four-year period totalling $27 , 914 , as recommended by the Public Works Committee. STREET (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4A) UTILITY Street Utility. At their March 17 meeting, the Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval of the formation of the Street Utility. Implementation of the Street Utility will require three actions on tonight' s agenda: (1) adoption of the ordinance implementing the Street Utility; (2) directing that the Street Utility Fund be part of the Street Capital Improvement Fund and adjust- ing budgets accordingly; and (3) authorizing the deletion of the City' s Utility Tax on the City sewer, water and drainage customer bills and charge said tax directly to the respective City utilities. White stated that it is not intended that this go on indefinitely and suggested that the ordinance expire in ten years. He noted that a future Council may wish to extend it. He then MOVED that (1) Ordinance No. 3034 be adopted establishing the Street Utility, providing for the levying and collection of street utility charges and creating the Street Utility Fund; (2) the Street Utility Fund be part of the Street Capital Improvement Fund and the budgets therein be adjusted accord- ingly; and (3) the City' s utility tax on sewer, water and drainage customer bills be deleted with that tax being charged to the respective City utilities, and that ten years from the adoption of 2 April 7, 1992 STREET the ordinance codified in this chapter, said ordi- UTILITY nance and all of its provisions shall terminate and the street utility shall thereby expire unless the Council by ordinance extends the period for expiration of the street utility. Lubovich pointed out that technical corrections such as the effective date have been made to the ordinance in the packet and noted that the changes have been underlined and crossed out. White stated that he is aware of these changes and accepts them as part of his motion. Mann seconded the motion. White said that although no one likes to vote for a tax increase, all recognize the great need to improve the trans- portation system within the City and that this is one financing tool which will allow movement on the corridor projects. He said staff has done research at his request on an intercity transit system and that possibly a portion of this utility may be used for that. Lubovich said that Resolution 1286 set up a plan for the use of local option funds which designates use of the funds for corridor projects. He said another resolution will probably be presented to Council in the future to expand that to allow more use of the funds, rather than directing it strictly to the corridor projects. White' s motion then carried. PLANNING (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4C) DEPARTMENT Business License Ordinance. The Business License ordinance relating to the administration of business licenses within the City of Kent is pre- sented to the City Council for consideration and passage. The ordinance updates the current general business license code. It removes revo- cation procedures of business licenses from the City Council to an administrative process with appellate rights to the Hearing Examiner. It also removes any related fee schedules from the code to be established by City Council resolution consis- tent with current City policy. This ordinance was before the Council in December, but referred back 3 April 7, 1992 PLANNING to committee for further review. Included in the DEPARTMENT ordinance are recommendations made by the Kent Chamber of Commerce. City Attorney Lubovich pointed out that the major change to the ordinance is that revocations will be processed through the Hearing Examiner rather than the Council . The other change is that the fee schedule will be in resolution form rather than in the ordinance, so that it can be amended without changing the text of the City code. ORR MOVED for the adoption of Ordinance No. 3035 amending the business license code. Houser seconded and the motion carried. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4D) Business License Fee Schedule Resolution. This resolution was drafted in conjunction with the ordinance amending the general business license code. The purpose of the resolution is to estab- lish business license fees, and filing fees for appeals under the business license code to the Hearing Examiner. The ordinance amending the general business license code removes the fee schedules from the code and authorizes the estab- lishment of fees by resolution. Lubovich noted that this is related to the business license ordinance (No. 3035) and that it establishes fees for business licenses. He clari- fied that business license fees have not been changed. He noted that this resolution also con- tains a fee for appeals before the Hearing Examiner. ORR MOVED for adoption of Resolution No. 1311 establishing fees related to business licenses. Johnson seconded and the motion carried. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4E) Hearing Examiner Ordinance The Hearing Examiner ordinance amends the code relating to the duties and appeal procedures of the City' s Hearing Exam- iner. The amendments add, as duties of the Exam- iner, appeals before it relating to multifamily design review and business license denials and 4 April 7, 1992 PLANNING revocations. Additionally, the ordinance requires DEPARTMENT that the Hearing Examiner's decision and findings be made within 10 working days following conclu- sion of the hearing in compliance with State law rather than 14 days as is currently provided for in the code. Lubovich noted that this also relates to the business license ordinance (No. 3035) and that it includes the multifamily design review process, as well as revocations and appeals under the business license code. ORR MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 3036 relating to the duties and appeal procedures of the Land Use Hearing Examiner. Bennett seconded and the motion carried. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4F) Office of Housing and Community Services. The administration of human service functions of the City of Kent is currently being performed by the City' s Planning Department. The Warner Group Study, last year commissioned by the City of Kent, recommended establishing a separate office to administer performance of functions related to housing and human services. An ordinance has been prepared which creates the Office of Housing and Community Services to administer these services. This office reports to the Planning Director. Assistant City Administrator Hansen noted that creation of this office will add even more atten- tion, energy and effort toward the human services arena. He noted that a letter has been received from the Human Services Commission dated April 3 , 1991 and JOHNSON MOVED that the letter be made a part of the record. Orr seconded and the motion carried. Hansen noted for White that a Level 45 salary ranges from $3857 to $4698 per month. Lin Ball explained for White that the intern position will be funded through the Community Development Block Grant funds and is not a part of the crea- tion of the Office of Housing and Community Ser- vices. She explained that the intern position is included in a separate agenda item (4G) . She noted for White that it would be a new, part-time position for approximately 16 hours a week at $10- 5 April 7 , 1992 PLANNING 11 per hour. White stated that since there is a DEPARTMENT hiring freeze, hiring this intern would be incon- sistent. Hansen stated that this will be studied along with 1991 funded/unfunded positions, filled/unfilled through 1992 , and that they are trying to have as much parity as possible between departments. White pointed out that Parks has not been able to increase a position from 3/4 time to full-time when the money is there. Ms. Ball noted that temporary part-time positions are not covered by the hiring freeze and they are not benefitted em-ployees. She added that there are restrictions on the number of hours temporary part-time people can work. Hansen said they will also look at the use of temporary employees in their study. Rose Nelson of the Human Resources Department explained that each department has a part of their budget designated for temporary employees. She noted that the Parks Department uses a large number of temporary employees in the summer, and that Human Resources has no problem with this intern posi- tion. She said an internship program helps to assure the City that they are getting a high caliber of temporary employee since they are usually doing this in conjunction with a study program through a college. She added that the intern would need to fulfill some obligations to the Block Grant program and to the college. White said his concern is with Administration being inconsistent. Houser said that many temporary employees are umpires, referees, etc. , and she would not want to say they can't be hired for the summer. She said there is a difference between a position where the City is paying dollars and benefits and a position for the summer. Mann asked that the Council be brought up to date on how many temporary employees there are in each department and what the policy is in the City with regard to how long they can be kept. He noted that at some businesses temporary employees are kept for years without benefits. Hansen said that in addition to the temporaries hired for the summer by Parks, there are secretarial temporaries and so forth. He pointed out that because these funds for temporary employees have always been 6 April 7 , 1992 PLANNING available, department heads have used them to make DEPARTMENT up for diminishing resources. He added that there should be a bit of flexibility in order to cover certain situations. Ms. Nelson stated that temporaries are used only for summer employment or special projects at this time, and that there are very strict guidelines for temporaries. Hansen noted that some of the Parks flyers are already out and commitments have been made to the public, but that recommendations will be made to Council regarding other areas. White noted that commitments have also been made regarding Youth-at-Risk. Hansen stated that there should be consistency for all departments. Fred Satterstrom, Planning Manager, said that the topic of the intern is an important one, but that the issue before the Council is creation of the office itself. He noted that the issue of the intern could be set aside and studied in conjunc- tion with the other temporary needs. Bennett said he feels the hiring freeze issue should be addressed soon. He said that there is not enough money now to do all the things the City used to do. Hansen noted for Woods that a report will be presented at the next meeting. Hansen pointed out that the letter from the Human Services Commission drew attention to some con- fusion in the title of the office, and that they recommend the name go back to Office of Housing and Human Services. Orr commented that there were many negative feelings about the words "human ser- vices' from seniors who equated it with negative ideas. She said other people may feel the same way and expressed concern about how people asso- ciated with that name would be treated. She said that the Human Services Commission does an out- standing job and they do provide human services, but that there were so many negative comments re- garding that name that she feels it is important to give this office a new name. ORR THEN MOVED for the adoption of Ordinance No. 3037 establish- ing the Office of Housing and Community Services. White seconded. Johnson agreed with Orr regarding the anger of the seniors concerning this issue, but said their concern was in regard to making the 7 April 7 , 1992 PLANNING Senior Center part of this office. He said since DEPARTMENT that is no longer included as part of this office, it would no longer be an issue. He offered a friendly amendment to change the name to Office of Housing and Human Services; Orr did not accept the friendly amendment. JOHNSON MOVED to amend the motion to change the name to the Office of Housing and Human Services. White seconded. Houser noted that senior citizens were not the only group who were offended by the name, that Special Popula- tions also had a negative feeling toward it, and she felt that a name change may be beneficial. Ms. Ball noted for Mann that she does not feel that title of Office of Housing and Community Services would negatively impact the Human Services Commission or the staff. She said the concern is to alleviate any confusion to the public. Dee Moschel, Chair of the Human Services Commission, said they had discussed the name and they do not feel the name Human Services is nega- tive. She said that the name Community Services is a very broad title and that the Commission would prefer Housing and Human Services. Orr said she is concerned because she heard such derogatory comments and that getting a new name would put an end to that. She noted that she is not advocating changing the Human Services Commission, and she does not want to create a problem for them. Johnson pointed out that when this issue came before the Planning Committee it was called the Office of Housing and Human Services and no one disagreed with the name at that time. He said that the Senior Center and Special Populations wanted to keep their names, and it was not anyone' s intent to give Human Services a bad name. White supported calling the office Housing and Human Services and called for the question. Bennett commented that the service provided is what is important, not the name. The amendment to change the name to Office of Housing and Human Services carried with Orr and Houser opposing. Upon White' s question, Lin Ball clarified that Agenda Item 4G is the 1992 Entitlement for CDBG and that that is where the intern position is funded. Woods noted that this is extra block grant money, not general fund money. Ball noted for White that the funds do not have to be used 8 April 7, 1992 PLANNING for an intern. White said that even though this DEPARTMENT intern would be funded from outside, it would show a lack of consistency. WHITE MOVED to amend the motion to delete the intern at this time. Ball explained for him that the one-third of a part- time Planning Intern listed on page 3 of the Plan- ning Director' s memo is a separate position which already exists in the Planning Department. The motion to adopt Ordinance No. 3037 establishing the Office of Housing and Human Services then carried. COMMUNITY (PUBLIC HEARINGS - ITEM 2A) DEVELOPMENT 1993 Local Community Development Block Grant BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) Program Policies. This public hearing will consider the adoption of the proposed 1993 Local Community Development Block Grant Program Policies as recommended by the City Council Planning Com- mittee. Alice Shobe of the Planning Department noted that this is a requirement which must be fulfilled in order to receive Block Grant funds for 1993 . She noted that the types of projects that will be encouraged if adopted for 1993 are Housing, Public and human services, Improvements to streets, walkways and architectural barriers, Community facilities, Parks, Historic preserva- tion, and Planning and administration. She listed additional evaluation criteria as follows: 1. Feasibility, timeliness, urgency. 2 . Compliance with the policies outlined in the Kent Comprehensive Plan. These policies in- clude needs for housing and other physical improvements, as well as needs for critical human services. 3 . Compliance with the federal objective to reduce slum and blight. 4 . The extent to which the needs of very low income citizens or special populations, including abused children, battered spouses, elderly persons, handicapped persons, homeless persons, illiterate persons, or migrant farm workers, are addressed. 5. The extent to which regional needs are addressed. 9 April 7, 1992 COMMUNITY Shobe added that in accepting these proposed DEVELOPMENT policies, the Council would be supporting contin- BLOCK GRANT uation of funding to a regional housing system which was implemented in King County in 1992 . She said that the allocation for 1993 would be approx- imately $6, 000. Woods declared the public hearing open. There were no comments from the audience and JOHNSON MOVED that the hearing be closed. White seconded and the motion carried. ORR MOVED to adopt the proposed 1993 Local CDBG Program Policies as rec- ommended by the City Council Planning Committee. Mann seconded and the motion carried. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4G) Proposed Allocation of Additional 1992 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement. This meeting will consider the City Council Planning Committee' s recommended approval of the proposed allocation of additional 1992 CDBG Grant Entitle- ment. The recommendation is to allocate addition- al 1992 CDBG Program Funds to the following pro- grams: Program Planning and Administration - $6, 000 ; and Kent Housing Repair Services Program - $5, 820 . Planning Manager Satterstrom noted for Orr that it is important to adopt this tonight since it goes towards the funding of Planning and Administration and a small part will fund the intern. Orr asked whether it would be better to hold off until after the City has reviewed the hiring situation. Woods explained that the motion just passed (Item 4F) included an intern who already exists and that this is a separate issue. Hansen suggested that any reference to the intern be brought back along with the other issues he has addressed earlier to- night with no commitment by the Council on the intern issue. Satterstrom agreed. Alice Shobe of the Planning Department clarified that they have received additional 1992 CDBG funds and the City felt a portion of that could be used to fund the increase in salary for the manager and in addition to use more money for planning and administration and to have an intern to work on special projects. Satterstrom noted that the money is part of the $6, 000 unallocated CDBG money. Shobe stated that 10 April 7 , 1992 COMMUNITY the portion for the intern would be approximately DEVELOPMENT $2 , 000. She noted that if it is decided later BLOCK GRANT that the funding should not be expended for an in- tern, it can be used for other program planning and administration activities. White requested that in the future, the Planning Department write their memos more clearly so that the public can understand them more easily. ORR MOVED to approve the allocation for additional 1992 CDBG program funds to the following programs: Program Planning and Administration - $6, 000 ; and Kent Housing Repair Services Program - $5, 820. White seconded and the motion carried. HUMAN (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3C) SERVICES Human Services Commission Appointment. CONFIRMA- COMMISSION TION of the Mayor' s appointment of Marijean Heutmaker as a member of the Kent Human Services Commission. She will represent the Business Cate- gory and will replace Jean Archer, whose term expired. Her term will begin immediately and con- tinue to 1/1/95. PARKS & (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4B) RECREATION Youth at Risk Program Coordinator Position. The Parks Committee voted 2-1 at their March 17 , 1992 meeting to bring the Youth at Risk issue to the full Council on April 7 for the Council ' s final determination. The recommendation from the Parks Committee is that the position, although funded at full time, should remain frozen at 3/4 time until such time as funds are available. HOUSER MOVED that the Youth at Risk Coordinator position, although funded at full time, should remain at 3/4 time until such time as funds are available. Bennett seconded. Orr noted that she has received information indi- cating that the City will over-collect funds in this position and asked what will happen to those funds. Assistant City Administrator Hansen said that if that is the case, funds could be rebated or applied within the program. He offered to look at the issue further and report back to the Coun- cil at a later date. Orr noted that when this issue was first presented, she understood that it was at the Mayor' s and Administrator' s discretion 11 April 7 , 1992 PARKS & as to whether the position was funded at full RECREATION time, and that since then, the Attorney offered a different opinion. She said she is not in a posi- tion to go against the Mayor and Administrator on this, since that is their function within the City. She said the program is worthwhile and hopes it will be given a high priority when funds are available. White said that he had voted to fund this at full time because it is a good program, and that he will continue to support the program funding. Upon Mann' s question, Hansen explained that the position has been frozen and although the Council voted the funds into the budget, it was adminis- tratively recommended that the position be funded through 1992 at the full time level , but keeping the position at 3/4 time. He added that a plan on dealing with frozen positions will come to the Council soon. Dave Street, Director of the Federal Way Boys and Girls Club, noted that orig- inally the Council voted to fund the position full time by reorganizing the City Clerk's funds. He added that the Parks Department agreed to raise the day camp fees to fund the position. Street noted that the funds are available and it is not from the City Clerk' s fund; that it is money charged and collected. He explained that the position was 3/4 time last year but because the position was not filled until later in the year, there was money available for the person to work full time. He said going back to 3/4 time would put a strain on the program which has been estab- lished. He noted that the Parks Commission agreed to raising fees to pay for the position, and that after the fees were raised, they were told it would still be 3/4 time. He said the staff, the parents and the children in the program are the ones who will be hurt. He said this is not a political issue, but a budget issue. Bill Doolittle, 412 N. Washington, said this was first brought up at a Parks Committee meeting on October 22 , 1991 and he quoted from the minutes of the meeting as follows: Johnson moved to author- ize the Parks Department to increase program fees from $60 to $70 a week to fund the Youth-at-Risk Coordinator as a full time position (Option Two of 12 April 7 , 1992 PARKS & four options presented by staff) and that in the RECREATION interim the Resource Center will have to do with- out the half-time position. He said Johnson' s motion was seconded and passed unanimously. He noted that motions which come out of a committee usually end up on the consent calendar. He explained that the next Council meeting was on November 5th, election night, and the motion approved by the Parks Committee was not on the consent calendar. He said that the budget was passed on November 19th and Johnson tried to get this clarified. He noted that the fees were in- creased and the difference between paying this person 3/4 time and full time was offset within $50 by the increase in fees. He said he feels this has become a political issue between Admin- istration and the Council . He also said he had heard at the Parks Committee meeting that the only way to get the position full time is to file a lawsuit, and that one councilmember said there is no way they'd sue the Mayor. He said the money has been collected in good faith, the program is going along in good faith and is very worthwhile. He said a very capable employee has been hung out to dry through no fault of her own, and added that this could cause morale problems. He opined that if this had appeared on the consent calendar on November 5, 1991, it would not be under discussion tonight. He said the aberration is that it did not appear on the consent calendar of the next council agenda following the committee meeting where it passed unanimously. He noted that the motion before the Council is to keep the position 3/4 time until the funds are available, and that the funds are there, so by passing the motion the position would become full time, unless the Mayor says it won't. Margaret Harto, President of the Kent Community Council for At-Risk Children and Youth, said that they believe the Council has shown their under- standing of the critical issue of addressing the needs of at-risk children and youth by establish- ing programs such as the before-and-after-school child care project, the summer day camp program and the spring break day camp. She said these programs have had a very positive impact on the children and families in the community. She 13 April 7 , 1992 PARKS & explained that accountability of the Council and RECREATION Administration is a concern to her group. She noted that since the City could not provide addi- tional funding to fill the position full time, parents and others agreed to fee increases. She asked that the Council fund the Youth at Risk Coordinator position at full-time for 1992 . She added that they are concerned about the disposi- tion of monies that have already been collected by the increased fees, and asked if the hiring freeze would prevent the filling of the 3/4 position if it were to be vacated. Hansen explained that Administration has been trying to manage the budget in a responsible way, and that the staff member involved signed a con- tract with the understanding that the position is not full time. He noted that staff will address the hiring freeze and make a report to the Council. He noted that although this program serves a critical need in the City, the issue is parity. Finance Director McCarthy noted that because the program began in the middle of last year, whatever revenue was generated last year by this program would need to be annualized for this year to form a base. He noted that the program was well received last year and offered to deter- mine how much of the increase is associated with a full year, how much with projected growth, and how much with a fee increase. He also suggested looking at what costs would be covered. MANN MOVED to table this matter until Mr. McCarthy pro- vides information as to whether funds are avail- able or not and what the costs involved are. White seconded. Woods noted that a move to table takes precedence and the motion carried with only Houser opposed. FINANCE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3B) Approval of Bills. Approval of payment of the bills received through March 31, 1992 after auditing by the operations Committee at its meeting at 5: 30 p.m. on April 6, 1992 . 14 April 7 , 1992 FINANCE Approval of checks issued for vouchers:_ Date Check Numbers Amount 3/17-3/31/92 116366-117016 $1, 206, 563 .20 Approval of checks issued for payroll: Date Check Numbers Amount 4/3/92 01170355-01171065 $ 645, 128 . 80 ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8 : 40 p.m. Brenda Jacob'er, CMC City Clerk 15