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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 03/03/1998 Kent, Washington March 3 , 1998 Regular meeting of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor White. Present: Councilmembers Amodt, Brotherton, Clark, Epperly, Orr and Woods, Operations Director/ Chief of Staff McFall, City Attorney Lubovich, Planning Director Harris, Public Works Director Wickstrom, Fire Chief Angelo, Police Chief Crawford, Parks Director Hodgson, Employee Services Director Viseth, and Finance Director Miller. Approximately 50 people were at the meeting. PUBLIC Jim Bennett. Mayor White noted that former COMMUNICATIONS Councilmember Jim Bennett was hospitalized yesterday. Orr sent best wishes to him on behalf of the Council. Board Openings. The Mayor noted that there are openings on the Bicycle Advisory Board and the Drinking Driver Task Force and encouraged anyone interested in serving on these Boards to contact the Mayor' s Office. Introduction of Appointee. Mayor White noted that Council President Orr has appointed Tom Brotherton to serve as the Council representative to the Human Services Commission. Employee of the Month. Mayor White announced that the Employee of the Month presentation will occur on March 17th. Chamber of Commerce Presentation. Barbara Ivanov, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, introduced Chamber President Tom Wood, Past President Rico Yingling, Assistant Director Darlene Andrews and Vice President of Commerce & Industry Tom McLaughlin. Mr. Wood explained that the Chamber depends on volunteers and that each month they choose a volunteer who has distin- guished themself. He announced that Finance Director May Miller has been selected for this month and presented her with the award. He thanked Ms. Miller for all her help and noted that she played a big role in solidifying the relationship between the City and the Chamber. It was noted that Miller is a hard worker and that the Economic Study could not have been done without her. She was also commended for her innovative, adventuresome spirit. Ms. Miller thanked the Chamber for the award. 1 Kent City Council Minutes March 3, 1998 PUBLIC ADDED ITEM COMMUNICATIONS (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4F) Oath of Office. Jan Redding, 9511 S. 207th Place, noted that although Mayor White had taken the Oath of Office privately, he was ill when the others were publicly sworn in. She asked whether he would publicly take the Oath of Office at this time. White agreed and was sworn in by the City Clerk. CONSENT ORR MOVED that Consent Calendar Items A through CALENDAR J be approved. Woods seconded and the motion carried. MINUTES (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3A) Approval of Minutes. Approval of the minutes of the regular Council meeting of February 17, 1998, and correction to the minutes of February 31 1998 by the addition of the following at the end of the first paragraph: Page 5, Item 4B, Personal Watercraft. EPPERLY MOVED for the adoption of Ordinance No. 3385 relating to the operation of personal watercraft on Lake Meridian. Orr seconded. HEALTH & (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3H) SANITATION Pacific Terrace. AUTHORIZATION to accept the bill of sale for Pacific Terrace submitted by Pacific Industries, Inc. for continuous operation and maintenance of 617 feet of watermain, 822 feet of sanitary sewers, 590 feet of street improvements, 1, 510 feet of storm sewers and release of bonds after the expiration period, as recommended by the Public Works Director. The project is located at S. E. 248th Street & 108th Avenue S.E. SEWERS (PUBLIC HEARINGS - ITEM 2A) LID 350 - Big "R" Sanitary Sewers. This date has been set for the public hearing to establish the formation of LID 350 - Big "K" Sanitary Sewers, at 124th Avenue SE and SE 270th. Public Works Director Wickstrom pointed out the boundaries of the LID and outlined the history of the project. He stated that there is 53% interest in the LID and that formation of an LID is one of the most economical means of solving 2 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 SEWERS some of the septic system problems in the area. Wickstrom noted that there are 55 properties and that the total cost of the project is $603,852 . He explained the method of assessment, noting that there is a basic charge and a square foot charge to accommodate larger lots. He said the City proposes to contribute $66, 000, lowering the cost to others to $537, 807. 60. He also noted that as bigger properties develop, the City would be reimbursed through late comer charges when additional connections are requested. Wickstrom stated that the assessments are $9, 778 . 32 per lot. He then explained the payment options. He added that water is also provided to the area, and that new mains are being put in at no cost to the property owners. He explained that the water system will be built in the streets and it will pay half the street restoration, so there is a savings in terms of the LID costs. Mayor White opened the public hearing. Catherine Jordan, 27024 125th Avenue SE, voiced concern about the cost. She acknowledged that there is a need for a sewer, but said the assessment does not reflect the true cost to the homeowner. She suggested that the side sewer be financed in the package as well, that the bond be set at a lower interest rate, and that only one appraisal be done. Gail Otsuka, 12236 SE 270 Street, stated that a petition was circulated three years ago in which 32 property owners expressed an interest in forming the LID, believing that they would bene- fit from the installation of a sanitary sewer. She said the only people who will benefit are the developers, the City of Kent, and owners who can subdivide their land. She said storm drains should have been installed or upgraded during the development stage to handle run-off. Barbara Kriewalk, 12612 SE 270 Street, stated that during the rainy season they have serious sewer problems and that they are aware that the septic system could fail . She said that a sewer has to be built and that it will be more expen- sive in the future. Bret Sherman, 27026 124th Avenue SE, said he has had problems with the septic system since 1989. He said he feels the City should pick up more of the cost and that the cost to property owners should be determined by square footage. 3 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 SEWERS There were no further comments and ORR MOVED to close the public hearing. Woods seconded and the motion carried. CLARK MOVED to direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary ordinance creating the formation of LID 350, Big "K" Sanitary Sewers. Woods seconded. Upon Clark' s request, Wickstrom explained for Mr. Sherman that not all of Lot 27 will be serviced by the sewer, and that some of it will be serviced through the Derbyshire area. He said that a base charge of $7, 000 per lot was esta- blished and the balance was distributed over the entire LID boundary area. He added that there has not been a sewer LID below $10, 000 in a long time. He explained that $7, 000 was chosen because the City is sharing the cost of the pro- ject. He noted for Clark that the large lots to the west of 124th are the only ones with poten- tial to be subdivided, and that the City has attempted to take further growth into account. Woods explained that anyone who builds later would have to pay the same amount to hook up to the sewer, and Wickstrom noted that this must be paid in cash at the time of connection and that those funds go into the Sewer Fund to construct other projects. Mr. Sherman spoke in regard to Lot 27 and Wickstrom explained that about half of that lot would be serviced off of this LID and the other half would be serviced off of an LID yet to be formed. He said that the charges for all lots are calculated in the same way. Epperly pointed out that each lot gets one connection and that the developer would have to supply additional connections if he subdivides. Wickstrom added that any additional connections will be charged for in addition to the one con- nection charge. Woods stated that Councilmembers are aware that LIDS impose hardship on many people, but that the cost per assessment will be higher in the future. Orr noted that there are issues with the creek and wetlands which can be dangerous if not taken care of. She noted that the cost of rebuilding a septic system is very close to the cost of an LID. Wickstrom noted for 4 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 SEWERS Orr that property owners sometimes get together and negotiate an agreement with a contractor to install a side sewer, so they get a lower price due to volume. He said staff would talk to property owners about that process, but that they would not suggest a contractor. He added that construction is approximately a year away. McFall noted that the problem with including any kind of financing of side sewer connections is that those are improvements to private property. Mayor White said that legislation was being considered allowing cities to create a revolving fund to address this issue, and noted that this will be tracked again next session. Clark's motion to prepare the necessary ordinance creating the formation of LID 350 then carried. STREETS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3I) LID 348 64th Avenue Improvements. ACCEPT the LID 348 64th Avenue Improvements project as complete and release retainage to Gary Merlino Construction upon standard releases from the State, and release of any liens, as recommended by the Public Works Director. The original contract amount was $1, 249, 224.44 . The final construction cost was $1, 280, 215. 01. STREET VACATION (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4C) s. 188th Street Vacation. The applicants for this street vacation have requested another con- tinuation of the matter. The hearing was held on January 20, 1998 . It was tabled to February 3 and removed from the February 17 council agenda. The applicants have requested that this matter be continued to March 17, 1998 . CLARK MOVED to continue this matter of the South 188th Street Vacation to March 17 , 1998. Orr seconded and the motion carried. PLATS (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4A) REMOVED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT Benson Highlands Final Plat. Council President Orr explained that the plat is not ready and that this item should be removed from the agenda until further notice. 5 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 PLATS (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4B) Nancy's drove Final Plat. An application for the Nancy's Grove Division III final plat has been received by the City. The subdivision is 10. 83 acres in size and is located east of 144th Avenue SE and south of SE 278th Street. Nancy's Grove Division III was approved by King County under Ordinance No. 11462 on August 29, 1994 . CLARK MOVED to approve the staff' s recommendation of approval for the Nancy's Grove Division III final plat with 20 conditions and to authorize the Mayor to sign the final plat mylar. Brotherton seconded and the motion carried. DOWNTOWN (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4A) STRATEGIC ADDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ACTION PLAN Downtown Strategic Action Plan. Orr noted that the Committee of the Whole met today and dis- cussed the final portions of the Downtown Plan. She noted that this matter has been before the Planning Committee and other meetings for approximately a year, and MOVED to adopt the recommendation of the Land Use and Planning Board on the proposed Downtown Strategic Action Plan, dated June 2, 1997, as amended by the actions of the City Council Planning Committee on August 6, August 19, September 16, and December 9, 1997, and as further amended by the City Council Committee of the Whole on March 3 , 1998; this Plan includes recommendations for a commuter rail station with structured parking located between Gowe and Willis Streets next to the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad. Woods seconded. Clark noted that this has been a long process and thanked staff for their efforts. Orr also thanked staff for their support in getting recent Council actions into the plan. Her motion then carried. PUBLIC (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4D) DEVELOPMENT Public Development Authority (Saturday Market AUTHORITY Building) . The City Council is being asked to consider adoption of an ordinance to create the Kent Downtown Public Market Development Authority. The ordinance would approve a charter and the initial bylaws establishing a Board of Directors to govern the affairs of the Authority for the operation of a downtown public market. 6 Kent City Council Minutes March 3, 1998 PUBLIC ORR MOVED tO adopt Ordinance No. 3396, creating DEVELOPMENT the Kent Downtown Public Market Development AUTHORITY Authority approving a charter and additional bylaws for the operation of a downtown public market. Woods seconded. Clark said this is an investment in the future of the city. Orr's motion then carried. NEWSLETTER (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3G) Kent Reporter Newsletter Contract. APPROVAL of the contract with the Kent Reporter to provide a one-page monthly city newsletter and direct staff to discontinue publication of the City's quarterly newsletter as part of the Parks and Recreation brochure, as recommended by the Operations/Public Safety Committee at its February 24th meeting. The newsletter content and layout would be completed in-house. Distri- bution would be to all Kent householdslin the incorporated boundary. The expenditure below includes the Kent Reporter contract as1well as operating funds for additional graphics pro- duction work and materials. APPOINTMENTS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3J) Human Services Appointment. CONFIRMATION of the Council President' s appointment of Councilmember Tom Brotherton to serve as the non-voting City Council representative to the Kent Human Services Commission. This is a one-year term and will continue to 1/l/99 . PARKS & (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3C) RECREATION city-wide Space Study Contract. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to enter into a contract with Merritt+Pardini in the amount of $67,770 to conduct a City-wide space study and to establish a total budget for $75, 000, to be funded with $20, 000 previously budgeted for this purpose and $55, 000 from the unallocated CIP revenue fund. A space study would help staff determine space requirements for the next 10 to 12 years for all departments, how to absorb space in the Centennial Center as leases expire, and the need for outlying facilities and how to split operations to decrease travel time for employees. (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 4E) Rentridge Park Master Plan. Parks staff, in coordination with the residents of the Kentridge Park neighborhood, have prepared a Master Plan 7 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 PARKS & for improvements to the park. Staff met with RECREATION neighbors following the February 31 1998, Parks Committee meeting to address issues raised by some residents. Site preparation and irrigation will be installed by the City staff and neighbor- hood volunteers will install new play equipment. To create the budget for the improvements, funds will be transferred from the following accounts: $ 772 . 59 CIP Funds: P32 - Fencing $ 3 , 790. 09 CIP Funds: P39 - City Flowers $10, 000. 00 P29 Playground Safety $30, 000. 00 P13 East Hill Fee-in-Lieu of Funds (Kingstone) $44 , 562 . 68 Total WOODS MOVED to approve the Kentridge Park Master Plan and create the Kentridge Park Playground Safety Project Budget with $44, 562 . 68 from transferred funds. Epperly seconded. Woods noted that this was discussed today by the Parks Committee. Jonathan Gurish, 12011 SE 280 St. , thanked Orr for her help and said that a "wait and see" attitude has been taken regarding parking. He said he feels this will be a good project. Woods, motion then carried. POLICE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3F) Corrections Contracts with Cities of Covington and Maple Valley. AUTHORIZATION for the Mayor to sign contracts for jail services with the City of Covington and the City of Maple Valley. The proposed contracts for jail services with the City of Covington and the City of Maple Valley are standard outside agency contracts with two minor exceptions: 1) A $15 administrative fee has been added for each time a person is booked into the facility to cover costs of maintaining photos and extra print cards that would normally go to the contracting agency. 2) Kent has negotiated a fee for transporting their inmates to court and/or medical appoint- ments when their officers are not available to do SO. This fee is based on the corrections officer wages plus a $2/hour administrative fee. If the individual is a felon and has to be transported 8 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 POLICE by patrol, the rate of top patrolman plus 10 years and a $2/hour administrative fee has been used. FIRE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3E) Fire Ecuinment Replacement and Budget Chance. AUTHORIZATION to establish a budget of $20, 000 from the Fire Apparatus Replacement Fund to replace four apparatus pumps. Four of the City' s engines are almost ten years old. The average mileage on the apparatus is 65, 000 miles. The engine hours (5, 320) , equate to greater than 180, 00o miles. Through normal wear, and related to a design flaw, the pumps have begun to fail. Two apparatus are currently out of service and the other two are showing signs of significant pump wear. The replacement pumps cost is approximately $40, 000 for four pumps. However, our apparatus maintenance supervisor has argued that even though the pumps are out of warranty, that the designed was flawed as evidenced by the wear and the redesign of the pumps. He has gotten the manufacturer to agree to replace the pumps at half price. For safety and operations reasons it is necessary to replace the four pumps at this time. The apparatus replacement fund was designed for such large repairs and funds are available within the fund. (BIDS - ITEM 5A) Fire Department Uniform Bids. Due to department growth and State mandates, the Fire Department will spend over $25, 000 on uniforms and safety clothing. It is most efficient and cost effec- tive to purchase a "uniform package" from a low bid vendor. An anticipated expenditure estimated not to exceed $50, 000 will occur this year and the Fire Department requests approval from the City Council to purchase uniform items from Lighthouse Uniforms, as they were the lowest bid from the three vendors submitting "package" prices. EPPERLY MOVED that the Fire Department be authorized to proceed with purchasing uniform items from a single vendor, Lighthouse Uniforms, for the 1998 year with an estimated expenditure of $50, 000. Amodt seconded and the motion carried. 9 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 EMPLOYEE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3D) SERVICES Deferred Compensation Contract. ADOPTION of Ordinance No. 3395 establishing an I.R.C. Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plan with the Public Employees Benefit Services Corporation (PEBSCO) and authorization for the Mayor or his designee to execute all necessary documents to accomplish that purpose, subject to review and approval by the City Attorney. FINANCE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 3B) Approval of Bills. APPROVAL of payment of the bills received through February 13 and paid on February 13 , 1998, after auditing by the Operations Committee on February 24, 1998. Approval of checks issued for vouchers: Date Check Numbers Amount 2/13/98 195915-196181 $ 727, 168. 31 2/13/98 196182-196542 1, 157 , 058. 04 $1, 884,226. 35 Approval of checks issued for payroll for February 1 through February 15 and paid on February 20, 1998 : Date Check Numbers Amount 2/20/98 Checks 225703-226010 $ 238,897. 08 2/20/98 Advices 55241-55750 727 , 700. 08 $ 966, 597. 16 REPORTS Council President. Orr asked that Councilmembers contact Ms. Banister regarding the Suburban Cities dinner on March 11 . Orr noted that there will be a special Council meeting on March 4th at 7 : 00 p.m. to discuss candidates for the vacant Council position during an Executive Session. She said that finalists will be invited to be interviewed for the position at a special meeting on March 12th at 7 : 00 p.m. , and that the vacancy should be filled by March 17th. Operations Committee. Epperly noted that the next Operations/Public Safety Committee will be held on March loth at 5 : 00 o'clock. 10 Kent City Council Minutes March 3 , 1998 REPORTS Public Works/Planning committee. Brotherton noted that funding has been provided to the Children's Home Society to extend the Healthy Families Program to Kent in April. He added that applications are due on April 3 and are available in the Planning Department on March 13 . Administrative Reports. McFall noted that a Legislative Update has been provided to each Councilmember, as Ms. Laurent is unable to attend tonight's meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8: 10 p.m. Y Brenda JacglSer, CMC City Clerk," 11