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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 07/15/1988 � r OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES u July 15, 1988 AUG 111988 COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Christi Houser CITY OF K ENT Paul Mann CITY CLERK Steve Dowell STAFF PRESENT: Brent McFall Tony McCarthy Mike Webby Sandra Driscoll Ron Spang Bill Williamson May Miller Tom Vetsch Priscilla Shea OTHERS PRESENT: Dick King, Shearson Lehman and Hutton Leona Orr, Citizen Laurel Young, Kent Librarian APPROVAL OF VOUCHERS All claims for the period ending July 15, 1988, in the amount of $1 ,295,017.05 were approved for payment. ARCHITECT SERVICES FOR THE LIBRARY PROJECT City Administrator Brent McFall told the Committee that the firm of Henry Klein and Associates had been recommended to be the architects for the new library. He told the committee that their architectural services would be 8.65% of the construction cost, which is anticipated to be approximately $1 ,870,000 for a total of architectural bid of approximately $161 ,000. He noted that this amount could change slightly as change orders are processed on the library. He felt like the amount was an appropriate percentage rate and that this architectural firm mould do a good job for the city. He asked that the item be placed on the consent calendar for the July 19 meeting and it was so approved, unanimously. GOLF COURSE BOND ISSUE Finance Director Tony McCarthy explained that Dick King and his firm, Shearson Lehman and Hutton, had worked on the golf course project for almost two years assisting the City at various stages of the project, determining its feasibility. The present request from the Committee was to approve the sale Operations Committee Minutes July 15, 1988 Page 2 of the bond issue to Shearson Lehman and Hutton, who had been in the market that week with its marketing effort. The Finance Director explained that the average interest rate on the bond issue would be about 8.25 with a gross underwriting spread of 2.4 percent. The larger than normal underwriting spread was related to the fact that the firm had spent a substantial amount of time in helping the City develop the project and the fact that the project was a bit unusual , being a revenue bond for a golf course. The average interest rate was also slightly higher because of the perceived risk in the investor community requiring a slightly higher rate for this type of a bond issue. Dick King provided some additional information on how these amounts were calculated and some comparisons of other cities. The Committee approved the item be placed on the consent calendar by unanimous vote. INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PROCESS Assistant City Attorney, Bill Williamson, explained the process to the Committee for creating the power of initiative and referendum. These powers could be put on the ballot based on a vote of the council or a 15 percent petition from the community. This process had been initially requested by Leona Orr so that the proposed ballot issue related to density could be placed on the ballot. Bill went over the fact that some staff time and cost would be involved in establishing this process because many items might not be applicable for the initiative and referendum process and some legal research might have to be done, in addition to the cost of the ballot issue itself. He noted that only legislative acts are subject to the initiative process and that judicial or administration actions are not subject to the process. There would be, thus, an exemption for such things as Hearing Examiner rulings, LID ordinances, budget and personnel matters. The Committee asked for some additional work from the staff on exact amount of staff time and the associated cost of establishing such procedure plus the exact requirement on the vote of the council required to put the item on the ballot. Operations Committee Minutes July 15, 1988 Page 3 PUBLIC NOTICE PROCEDURES City Administrator McFall explained to the Committee that State Legislation that allowed publishing ordinances by summary which allowed the City to save approximately $3,000 based on ordinances of one Council meeting also required some additional information be adopted by City resolution. The resolution should include that the proper notification be given of upcoming Council meetings and that the preliminary agenda be posted in the Clerk's Office. City Administrator saw these as adopting the existing City practices but noted that the State Law required a resolution on the subject. The Committee approved the item for inclusion on the consent calendar. BUDGET PRESENTATIONS Budget presentations were made on the following departments: Council Administration, Personnel , Law, Information Services and the Library. Each department noted the various activities that were affecting their operation. Sandra noted that substantial amount of time had been spend in the civil area related to solid waste, hazardous waste, transportation, personnel issues, foreclosures and condemnation. She also noted that in the criminal area there had been an 68 percent increase in the number of citations and that on a four day period, in the recent month, all three of her Assistant City Attorneys were tied up in court. With respect to the library budget, the Head Librarian noted that circulation was up approximately 8 percent from last year. The children's programs which occur every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the summer were attracting a very large crowd, a 150 at the last program. She also noted that substantial circulation by phone was up 36 percent from the preyious years. She commended the City staff on the new phone system, on the maintenance work, particular that of Frank Klingebiel and Ruby Scarborough and noted that the grounds were good shape and that comments had been received from the library patrons. She is also pleased with the City's Word Processing anid, the help d k' Operations Committee Minutes July 15, 1988 Page 4 received from the Finance Department. As a part of the discussion, it was noted that the Kent Library was number two or three in the total King County Library District in circulation. Brent noted that much of the work in '89 would be in contemplation to the move to the new library in 1990. The new library will be the biggest in the system until a new library is built in Bellevue. With respect to the Information Services budget, Ron Spang reviewed the many activities that had been accomplished in the last couple of years including new facilities, the new systems for general government, office and public SYsn� S safety^, improvements in word processing and the new phone system. Following his presentation, there was some discussion about holding an open house and about making sure that the City was not spending too much of its resources in providing information to other cities unless there was certain amount of reciprocity. Also discussed was the possibility of providing electronic mail system for the City Council . With respect to the Personnel Risk Management proposal , Mike Webby explained his operation. The Council felt very comfortable with the work -in this area. City Administrator McFall combined the Council , Mayor, Administration presentation, noting that as activity has increased in all the other departments, that activity is magnified as dealt with by the Council , Mayor and Administrator. Problems of growth, citizen involvement, promoting a sound management team, helping encourage community identity were areas of planned expansion. In addition to Brent's presentation, Nancy Woo talked a little bit about the Community Information and Events process in noting than the work load on one person had doubled with the departure of Nancy LeahY but that effort had been proceeding in the continuation of publishing CityLine. She noted a substantial increase in revenue generated by Saturday Market and the emphasis to hold grand openings and dedications at a number of the City's new facilities. She requested that an additional sound system ,be provided and 0 Operations Committee Minutes July 15, 1988 Page 5 that do some umbrellas be replaced, establish a portable microphone system and look at some permanent restrooms at Saturday Market site. In Council discussion of the Community Events, the possibility of a community band was brought up and it was felt that the City could increase it's ability to encourage community events. Particularly events like the Centennial Celebration which will be in the planning stages for 1989 and 90: Also discussed was the possibility of a a revamping of the Burlington Northern Station. 66F-01F