Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Planning and Economic Development Committee - 05/21/1991 CITY OF �L1!2 CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE May 21, 1991 4 :45 PM Committee Members Present Other City Staff Judy Woods Ed Chow Jon Johnson, Chair Roger Lubovich Christi Houser Tony McCarthy Carol Morris Planning Staff Other Guests Lin Ball Sharon Clamp Tamara Brown Jim Harris Roy Cooper Margaret Porter Pat Dunham Fred Satterstrom Marvin Eckfeldt Alice Shobe Bill Poslittle Janet Shull Linda Rasmussen HUMAN SERVICES ROUNDTABLE UPDATE (L. Ball) Senior Planner Lin Ball advised the Committee that Planning Department staff is working on getting the community advocates on line that are being funded through Proposition II money. The target date is July 1, 1991. Council President Judy Woods advised the Committee that the Domestic Violence bill sponsored by the Human Services Roundtable was signed by the Governor on May 20. Passage of this bill was a top priority of the Roundtable during the past year. DOMESTIC ABUSE WOMEN'S NETWORK (DAWN) SHELTER REQUEST FOR FUNDING (J. Shull) Planner Janet Shull introduced Linda Rasmussen from DAWN and Marvin Eckfeldt, Chairman of the Human Services Commission. Ms. Shull explained that DAWN is requesting $30, 000 in funding to support the DAWN shelter to be located in Kent. The Human Services Commission received the formal request for funding at their April 25, 1991 meeting and recommended approval of the request. Ms. Shull stated that DAWN has received $206,747 in funds from King County and the State for capital costs to acquire a five bedroom single family residence to shelter women and children who may be victims of domestic violence in South King County. Currently, there is no shelter in South King County for victims of domestic violence. In all of King County, there are only 38 beds available. Since the shelter will be located in the City of Kent, one of the requirements of the Housing Opportunity Fund Grant is that a significant match of funds come from the city in which the CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 21, 1991 PAGE 2 shelter is to be located. Additional capital dollars needed is approximately $56,000, and DAWN is also pursuing other South King County cities to raise the additional funds. Ms. Rasmussen related that similar proposals for $15, 000 in capital funding have been presented to Renton, Auburn, Sea Tac, and Tukwila. Federal Way has advised that they do not have any 1991 funds available. Senior Planner Lin Ball indicated that in discussing the Housing Opportunity Fund Grant requirement with the `County, she learned there is not a specific dollar amount required in the grant. She feels this gives the City some flexibility in determining what funding amount will be feasible. Linda Rasmussen stated that DAWN has not yet received a condition letter from King County stating the conditions under which their funds will be released. Finance Director Tony McCarthy presented a fiscal note from the Internal Budget Committee (IBC) stating that the DAWN funding request should go through the regular budget process and should be prioritized with other human services requests. He suggested that maybe an advance of 1992 human services funds could be worked out. An alternative would be to use the City's general fund or capital improvement fund. City Council President Judy Woods stated that rarely is the City approached with a project like this where, in this case, DAWN is so close to having all the capital funds committed. Even though we are in hard budget times, the City of Kent needs to make a match in order for the project to go on line. Ms. Woods stressed the extraordinary need for this shelter. She stated that her close work with this issue over the past year has increased her awareness of the fact that there is not a single safe bed available in the South King County area for victims of domestic violence. Linda Rasmussen stated one of the problems DAWN is having raising the operating funds of $303 , 000 is that many private foundations will not forward any operating funds until a site is secured. This constitutes an urgent need for capital dollars at this time. All of DAWN's requests to local governments are for capital dollars for 1991. DAWN is unable to submit proposals to one-quarter of their private sources until they have a site. Their objective is to have the capital money awarded by July 1991. Councilmember Christi Houser MOVED and Council President Judy Woods SECONDED to commit a minimum of $10, 000 to the DAWN Shelter. The funds will come from the 1991 City budget with the source to be determined by the Finance Department. Motion carried. Councilmember Houser clarified that this action will be forwarded to the June 4 , 1991 City Council meeting. CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 21, 1991 PAGE 3 CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES (CCS) SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCY SHELTER REQUEST (A. Shobe) Planner Alice Shobe introduced Tamara Brown from Catholic Community Services. Ms. Shobe provided a summary of the Severe Weather Emergency Shelter Request. In January 1991 CCS was awarded $15,418 to be used for motel vouchers for homeless families and individuals on an as needed basis according to severe weather standards of 35 degrees or below and taking into account wind chill factors. On February 5, 1991 the Planning Committee asked the Human Services Commission to evaluate the program and make a funding recommendation to maintain it through the remainder of 1991. Between January 15 and April 15, 1991 $8, 357 was spent. There were 45 days designated as cold weather nights and of the 227 individuals served, there were 76 single men, 64 children, and 38 families. CCS is requesting an additional $2,500 as a contingency fund to assure that vouchers can be provided for severe weather nights through the end of December 1991. This amount is based on projections of increased motel costs, the number of clients served, and information obtained from the weather bureau. The Human Services Commission reviewed the proposal on April 25, 1991 and recommended granting the $2, 500 request. Finance Director Tony McCarthy presented a fiscal note from IBC stating that since the need is based on the weather and the Human Services Commission has already allocated its 1991 budget of 1% of the general fund revenue, a prioritization with 1992 funds should be made. An advance of those funds could be made for late 1991 expenditures. Council President Judy Woods reminded the Committee that the request for additional funding originated in the Planning Committee. Marvin Eckfeldt, Chairman of the Human Services Commission, expressed his belief that the forecast for the 1992 budget may not be as bleak as anticipated and that the City may have additional funds at the end of 1991. The Human Services Commission is now being asked to decrease its 1992 allocations by 10 percent. Asking the Commission to prioritize this request with 1992 applications makes the orderly handling of the applications and the allocations of the funds very difficult; they have $517, 000 in 1992 funding requests and only $280, 000 available. If the $2, 500 were to come from the 1992 one percent allocation, the process would become more difficult. Tamara Brown stated that according to the National Weather Service, the weather the last three years during the month of December has been exceptionally severe. The difference in sheltering in severe cold weather opposed to spring or fall is that people die when it is severely cold. There is no other agency in South King County that serves single men or women. Many homeless single men in their mid-40's with health problems are out on the streets with no shelter at all. Ms. Brown stated she lost a client last year at this time from CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 21, 1991 PAGE 4 hypothermia due to the fact that she could not shelter him. If single men can be served with the Emergency Severe Weather Shelter funds, then other shelter funds can be used to shelter families with children. Thirty-three percent of the people sheltered in the Emergency Severe Weather Shelter program were single men. Responding to Christie Houser's question if CCS has approached neighboring cities, Ms. Brown stated they are approaching different cities for help and have received some money from a private donor in Auburn for domestic violence families. CCS is also working with DAWN to cover their shelter needs when they cannot meet them. Ms. Brown stated they have also experienced funding cuts this year which has affected their sheltering capacity. Councilmember Christi Houser MOVED and Council President Judy Woods SECONDED to allocate $2,500 contingency funding to Catholic Community Services to assure that vouchers can be provided for severe weather sheltering through December 1991. The source of the funds will be the 1991 general fund. Motion carried. ADDED ITEMS DES MOINES SHOPPING CENTER Jon Johnson advised citizens Pat Dunham and Ray Cooper that he just learned that the Declaration of Nonsignificance (DNS) on the Des Moines Shopping Center was rescinded. Mr. Johnson stated the recision can be appealed to the City Council and the Planning Committee could be in violation of the Appearness and Fairness Doctrine if any public comment was allowed at this meeting. Assistant City Attorney Carol Morris stated due to the recision, there is currently no action that would require public comment. Planning Director Jim Harris stated the DNS was rescinded after 5: 00 p.m. on Monday, May 20, and staff is in the process of preparing a letter and official document notifying all parties involved. RESOLUTION NO. 1275 (J. Harris) Planning Director Jim Harris stated discussion of this item will be delayed due to the fact that the Public Works Committee has not yet taken action on this resolution. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5: 40 p.m. PCO521.MIN