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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 02/20/1990 RECEIVED PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE -L "i '; `I 1390 FEBRUARY 20, 1990 PRESENT: JIM WHITE SANDRA DRISCOLL LEONA ORR BILL WILLIAMSON DON WICKSTROM CHARLIE LINDSEY JIM HANSEN LYLE PRICE Environmental Review and Community Impact Assessment Fee Ordinance Wickstrom explained this is an amendment of our existing ordinance such that if cleanup operations of a solid waste or hazardous waste site do not require any other permits from the City of Kent then the provisions of Ordinance 2718 and 2745, requiring an annual permit, would not apply. This is intended to clarify that Kent is not creating any new permitting requirements or cleanup standards. White asked who polices the activities on these sites if our permit process is not impacted. Williamson responded DOE and EPA have ongoing site responsibility for Western Processing. EPA has designated a project manager to be onsite. Wickstrom added that the start up of any activity or initiation of any cleanup would require a permit of some type from Kent. Then as the activity becomes one of pumping and cleaning there would be no permit process from Kent and activities would be supervised by DOE and EPA. The Committee unanimously recommended adoption of the ordinance. Revision of Surface Water and Drainage Code Bond Requirements Wickstrom explained we are requesting to amend the existing drainage code and restructuring the bond requirements thereof which were developed more than ten years ago. Williamson added that the code does not reflect the financing mechanisms presently available to the contractors. White asked if the insurance limits were sufficient. Williamson responded those were low and perhaps should be changed as well. We are seeking the Committee ' s direction in upgrading this portion of the ordinance. The Committee unanimously directed the Attorney' s office to proceed with revision of the Surface Water and Drainage Code and bring it back before them. Out Of State Trip - Genamap User's Conference Wickstrom stated this trip is for Kurt Palowez who manages the Public Works GIS system to attend a users conference in Fort Collins, Colorado. There are adequate funds in the budget but the trip was not identified specifically during the budget process. The Committee unanimously recommended approval for the out of state trip. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES FEBRUARY 20, 1990 PAGE 2 OF 4 Union Pacific Railroad Franchise for West Valley Highway Wickstrom explained that at the time of the road improvements a disagreement regarding who should pay for the existing crossing of West Valley Highway north of 228th ensued between Union Pacific and the City. Our interpretation of the original franchise granted in 1968 placed the responsibility of upgrading of crossing including railroad protection devices on Union Pacific. Union Pacific interpreted the franchise as that responsibility being the City's. The 1978 renewal of the franchise granted it in perpetuity for which the City had no authority based on an Attorney General 's ruling. Thus, the City Attorney' s office developed a new franchise which is much more specific as to the Railroad' s responsibilities. Union Pacific has concurred that the 1978 franchise is invalid. It was clarified this franchise affects only this crossing. White asked about any leverage we could use to get the crossings upgraded. Williamson stated he has spent some time on a franchise ordinance for this purpose. White indicated he would be comfortable if we were working on that. Wickstrom stated the City does have some advantage in that the City was here prior to Union Pacific thus our rights would supercede. Sandra Driscoll referred to a technical correction that should be made in Section 13 of the ordinance. It states the ordinance does not take effect until it is passed at a regular Council meeting subsequent to its introduction at a previous regular Council meeting. That wording should not be included in the ordinance. It was determined that the ordinance would be corrected prior to adoption at the Council meeting. The Committee recommended approval of the ordinance. King County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan Wickstrom reviewed the contents of his memo for the Committee. He explained there is no choice as to whether we adopt the plan but that some of the elements of the plan are expensive to implement. Independent of the plan, to implement some of these elements would require Kent to assume the garbage billing function in order to finance same. Garbage rates will probably have to be raised to finance the recycling program. The current recycling program, the monitoring of the landfills, and the legal expenses associated with the garbage issues are funded from 3% of the utility tax on the garbage services. This 3% will not fund any expansion of the program. Sandra stated the ordinance as drafted reserves the power to the City to establish different levels and types of service than set out in the plan. The ordinance identifies which recyclables the City will address and states the City will set its own PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES FEBRUARY 20, 1990 PAGE 3 OF 4 collection rates. The language is broad enough to allow the city flexibility if at a later time we determine the comp plan addresses issues differently than how the City wishes to proceed. Wickstrom continued the plan requires curbside recycling for residential which we currently provide and requires expansion to multifamily. The City would be required to establish variable rates which would encourage recycling and to adopt a City purchasing policy for the purchase of recycled materials such as paper. Responding to White' s question, the City currently recycles paper we generate but we do not purchase recycled paper. The cost to purchase recycled paper is greater than virgin paper though the theory is that once a market is developed the costs should come down. Charlie Lindsey added that associated with the use of recycled paper are higher equipment maintenance costs. Wickstrom added that instituting a variable rate would require us to take over the garbage bill function which has a significant cost of approximately $85, 000 a year mostly associated with the finance department to provide additional staffing and computer services. White asked the pros and cons of negotiating with the hauler to continue to do the billing. Wickstrom responded we could; however, we would not have a revenue source to pay for the recycling program. Wickstrom stated he has tried to outline some of the costs associated with the programs we will have to address. Orr asked about the market for recyclables. Sandra responded that King County has established a Marketing Commission as well as DOE. A lot may depend on legislation to require private businesses to do a variety of things. The Committee unanimously recommended approval to adopt the King County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan. Centennial Clean Water Grants Wickstrom explained the intent of this request is to enable the finance department to receive the grant money into the project budgets. The Committee unanimously recommended approval for the Mayor to sign the grant agreements and to budget the funds received therefrom. Williamson stated he thought it was quite commendable on Don's part to receive five grants out of five applications. White stated he would hope this would come up at the next department head meeting. U.S. Post Office Collection Boxes A draft of a letter prepared by the Transportation Engineer addressing this issue was distributed for the Committee' s review. Wickstrom explained the post office had placed mail boxes on West Valley Highway in the Metro pullouts. Metro paid for approximately PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES FEBRUARY 20, 1990 PAGE 4 OF 4 one-third of the pullout costs and are concerned they will be unable to pull in if vehicles are depositing mail and blocking the pullouts. The local postmaster has indicated they have the right to place the collection boxes at locations they determine. Wickstrom stated we feel the boxes should be on secondary streets and not major arterials. The Committee concurred that staff should work with the postmaster to address the issue. TBD Ordinance Wickstrom explained that on Council agenda for this date is the approval of the agreement for participation in the TBD. The agreement as presented will need to be revised to reflect that Auburn will not be participating. White asked what happens to the 272nd/277th Corridor if funding comes through and Auburn does not participate in the TBD. Wickstrom stated that the TBD can only build improvements that are within the TBD boundary. Therefore, the portion of the 272nd/277th corridor between the Green River and Valley Freeway could not be constructed with TBD funds. White commented it appears positive that a transportation package will come out of the legislature this session. South King County stands to benefit significantly. Costs for participating in the TBD are ongoing costs until the TBD actually generates revenue. White asked why Auburn chose not to participate. Wickstrom responded he believed they feel there are adequate existing tools, i.e. , interlocal agreements, to do the same thing and they were concerned about most of the improvements identified being in the northern end of the valley and their project not receiving support. Auburn feels that by joint cooperation we can rate just as high as a TBD in funding requests for the gas tax revenue.