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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 08/21/1990 R; RECEIVED AUG 3 11990 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE CITY ADMINISTRATION AUGUST 21, 1990 PRESENT: Jim White Marty Nizlek Leona Orr Tony McCarthy Steve Dowell Ed Chow Don Wickstrom Carol Morris Carolyn Lake John Bond Gary Gill Hugh Cropp Closure Requests - 45th Place S. and S. 240th Street Nizlek commented that both these locations are on the West Hill - the one on 240th is near the drive-in near Highline Community College and the other is 45th Place S. off Reith Road. At both locations, dumping, vagrancy, abandoned vehicles are the problems. Nizlek continued he is proposing to place a Type III barricade at each location. The barricade would have a padlock which can be removed for emergency and maintenance situations. Nizlek referred to a letter from one of the property owners on 45th requesting we delay placing that barricade for ninety days as they are in the process of selling the property. Hugh Cropp was present representing the condominium association in this area. With reference to the cost of placing the barricades, Wickstrom indicated the cost of placing the barricades would probably be recovered by the reduction in cleanup costs. Mr. Cropp added that a big problem in the area is drug dealing. White asked if the property owners could be given a key to allow them access and once that property is developed, the barricade could be removed. Nizlek commented that a problem with that is someone removing the lock and replacing it with another which would preclude emergency access. Orr asked if the 90 day delay would be a problem. Mr. Cropp stated he thought they could wait. Orr added we could condition it that if the property is not sold in 90 days, the barricade would be placed. Carolyn Lake suggested that an access agreement be prepared so there is some notice provided in writing to the owner of the necessity of having it available for emergency access. The Committee unanimously recommended placing the barricade on S. 240th immediately, placing the barricade on 45th after a 90 day waiting period and for an access agreement to be developed for same. Alley Between Titusville Building and Post Office Nizlek indicated a notice of the change had been hand delivered to the merchants in the area and mailed to the property owners of record. No negative comments were received from the merchants. There was one complaint from a resident in the apartments about the noise at night from the mail service. There was a request that signs be installed for loading areas. Nizlek stated he would not recommend doing that at this time. Carol Morris reviewed that when Public Works Committee August 21, 1990 Page 2 drafting this ordinance, she found that the City had vacated 8 feet to the Post Office in 1963 . At that time the City had an ownership interest in the alley itself and was not able to vacate an easement. Thus, the 1963 ordinance was not effective and the City should still have ownership of this 8 feet. She suggested the vacation ordinance be repealed. The Committee unanimously recommended adoption of the ordinance changing the direction of the alley to one way southbound and to repeal the 1963 ordinance. Corridor Funding Wickstrom indicated the financing plan he prepared for the corridor project is based on the grants we anticipate receiving. One of the elements of the plan is a street utility and he is seeking direction from Council whether or not they are interested in proceeding with its formation. Wickstrom stated if there is no interest there would be no reason to pursue the corridor funding. IBC has proposed an option of implementing the street utility in conjunction with eliminating the utility tax as a separate item on the consumers bill and having the utility absorb the tax. Wickstrom indicated this could result in a utility rate increase. Another option would be to use CIP funds. White asked what the ramifications of reworking the CIP would be. McCarthy stated currently we are spending 60-70% of the CIP on debt service. If another million were dedicated to road improvements then other capital projects currently in the five year plan would probably be deferred quite a few years. Wickstrom stated when he developed his proposed financing plan he tried to put it together independent of existing capital improvement program. There are still a lot of other capital needs other than the corridors. White asked how our utility rates compared to other cities. Wickstrom stated the water rates are probably in the upper 90% but we have not had a rate increase since 1984 . Sewer rates are in the 50-75 percentile. We have not had a sewer rate increase of City fees since 1980. We have, however, passed along Metro's increases each year. Gill stated the other water districts and municipalities are slowly catching up to our water rates. White expressed concern over how much more we can tax the citizens. McCarthy stated he had spoken with the Mayor recently on this issue. His position is not to have a tax increase but he would not be opposed to a revenue neutral tax. McCarthy continued that what IBC is proposing is some revenue neutral solution. Currently an average household might have water, sewer and drainage charges for a year of about $700 with $24 a year in utility tax. If the utility funds pay the utility tax instead of the customer, then that relates to a tax savings of $24 a year for the citizen. Implementing a street utility could assess each Public Works Committee August 21, 1990 Page 3 household $2 per month or $24 a year thus creating a revenue neutral tax assuming we did not need to raise the utility rates to cover the utility funds paying the tax. McCarthy emphasized that they have not had an opportuity to study the utility rate issue sufficiently at this point to be able to determine if a rate increase would be necessary. While large companies such as Boeing would be paying a pretty hefty street utility fee, McCarthy stated it is his understanding that Boeing wrote the legislation. They are concerned that the businesses and the households pay the same. White stated he felt that discussion of this should take place with the whole council in a workshop setting and give notice to the major employers of what we are discussing. White added that this may be time to consider a change in priorities on the corridor projects and give the 196th higher priority since there is a window for applying for State funding. Dowell asked if SCATBD were approved would the citizens be paying twice. Wickstrom stated they would be paying for different projects and SCATBD would only be able to raise money by a voter approved issue. The SCATBD is probably two years from that point and there is still a legal issue relating to the ability to tax. Carolyn Lake asked if it would be beneficial to our TIB funding applications to have a Resolution stating Council intends to hold a workshop to discuss the utility. Wickstrom responded that TIB requires us to certify the balance of the project funds within a year of application. We will not make application until we at least have a Council resolution of intent to proceed with formation of the utility. White asked for an estimate of what the homeowner would be looking at as opposed to the business community. Wickstrom stated that the same $2 the street utility can assess can be used for mass transit type facilities and can preempt the City from its use. If Metro implements its mass transit program, we will have to credit the businesses what they pay Metro. Another option available to Metro is a sales tax. The Committee asked this be brought before a workshop as quickly as possible. Chow stated they are considering the workshop for September 4 for this issue. Other Items White stated he has been approached by one or two merchants regarding parking limits on Meeker. He has asked them to put together a letter for this Committee. White stated some of the neighbors are concerned about the debris on the property at the end of Gowe where the "Job Corps" office is. Carolyn Lake stated that Carol Proud of the Planning Department is working on that as a code enforcement issue. White asked that she Public Works Committee August 21, 1990 Page 4 contact some of the neighbors to let them know we are working on the problem. Another area is south of Willis between Railroad and South Central. There is an open field behind the restaurant and cars travel back and forth creating a dust problem. He questioned what Committee should deal with the issue. White stated he has noted that the budget requests the last two years have included an item for bottled water for City Hall. He was questioning whether there is a problem with the City' s water supply. Wickstrom stated it is not the water supply but a matter of internal plumbing of the building. Our water does affect galvanized pipes and if these pipes are old the water can be affected. Galvanized pipes are not used in current construction techniques. Wickstrom added we are addressing the pH in our new treatment facility for the 212th Street well. Kensington Avenue Storm Wickstrom stated we have requested proposals for this small storm drainage improvement project. Wickstrom explained this project is to address the flooding problem we had on Kensington near Farrington Court. The water overtopped the drainage channel and flooded a residence. Scoccolo Construction submitted the low bid of $14, 098.94. In order to be able to move along on this Wickstrom stated he would like to take the award to Council as an added item to the agenda for tonight's meeting. The Committee unanimously concurred with the request. Safeco Classic Gill informed the Committee we had received a request from the Safeco Classic Committee to allow them to place signs in the right of way to direct people to the event. We will be working with them to determine locations.