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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 01/06/1993 d h� OLD -y.nM ti PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE JANUARY 6, 1993 PRESENT: JIM WHITE ED WHITE JIM BENNETT DICK GILLISSE PAUL MANN LAURIE EVEZICH TONY MC CARTHY MAY MILLER DON WICKSTROM MR. & MRS. RUST TOM BRUBAKER Commute Trip Reduction Ordinance Wickstrom stated that this was discussed at the December 2nd meeting; Dick Gillisse brought forwarded a final copy of the Ordinance noting there were minor changes in grammar and format. Jim White asked if this ordinance meets or exceeds state law or is the state law specific. Gillisse responded that this meets the state law. Wickstrom stated that it is our recommendation that we bring this item forward for full Council to hold a hearing; if there are several comments of substance, than it will be referred back to the Committee for recommendation. If not, Wickstrom recommended adoption of the ordinance at the February 5th meeting. Wickstrom said that it is mandatory to have this Ordinance before Council in January however, due to the schedule it will be February 2nd before it is formally acted upon. Wickstrom stated that further action will be required on how we implement it. Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that Council adopt an ordinance on Commute Trip Reduction. Recycling Space Requirements Ordinance Brubaker stated that this was discussed at the December 2nd meeting and that this ordinance mandates that new high density, industrial type construction set aside space for recycling. Brubaker said that there shouldn't be any conflicts with Planning and it should be administered by the Public Works Dept. whenever a permit application is made. Brubaker also confirmed that this is mandated by King County and will open the channel to receive some grant funds. Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that Council adopt an ordinance on Recycling Space Requirements for developers. 1 • Heath Techna Franchise Brubaker stated that Heath Techna Corporation wants to place a data communication transmission line under the street between two of their warehouses. The City has required a franchise from them because it goes across public right of way. Brubaker explained that this franchise is for one isolated line. Jim White asked if a franchise fee is required. Brubaker responded that no fee is required and the bond requirement has also been eliminated. Essentially, this gives the City some control in the future and in the event we want to widen the street, Heath Techna will remove the line at their expense and relocate it. Committee unanimously agreed to recommend approval of the Heath Techna Franchise. Brubaker commented that the legal descriptions will be attached when the Franchise comes before Council. Brubaker also noted two readings are required; it will go before Council for a first reading on January 19th and then passed under, the Consent calendar on February 2nd. Cable T.V. Franchise Brubaker explained that the current Cable T.V. Franchise is up for renewal with TCI Cablevision. The City has been in negotiations thru Brubaker and Don Olson for well over a year and have put together two ordinances; a master ordinance which sets the general parameters for any cable operator who comes into the City of Kent and the franchise ordinance which will specifically apply to TCI. Brubaker said that essentially the longer a franchise we grant, the more the cable company will be willing to cooperate with the City and provide additional services; the shorter the franchise term the less they are going to be willing to do. In this situation, there are some services the City wants to be able to provide and in an attempt to obtain those services Brubaker stated that he has negotiated at this point, a 15 year franchise; if we shorten the franchise term they will start to bargain away some of the services. Brubaker explained that the cable T.V. industry is controlled by Federal Law and the cable T.V. lobby has been powerful in the past. We do not have rate-setting authority; we cannot cancel their franchise without a strong showing of basically a poor operation. The main bargaining tool is the term of the franchise. With the new cable law that was passed, it will give us potentially some rate-setting authority but we have to wait until the FCC issues some rules and regulations. Brubaker said the bargaining has resulted in the following - they will provide us with a live broadcast ability out of City Hall. They will install three remote control cameras in City Hall Chambers for live broadcasts of all Council meetings, Committee meetings, Hearing Examiner and any open 2 .Y public meeting. The cameras will be operated by a computer system and a character generator so when we are not broadcasting live, we can broadcast bulletin type information for City,, residents. As part of the live broadcast system, there will be improved lighting and sound system in City Hall. Separate from that, they will also provide us with a mobile production unit with the ability to go on- site and tape live. Initially, Kent will be the only city in this region that has its own live channel. Other cities will have the opportunity to have their live own channel but not until the cable company has built its own fibre optic network. The cable company is going to build this for us immediately and if this franchise is passed in February, we could be broadcasting live by June or July. In addition, they will also provide us with an internal network system for the Fire Dept. This will allow for live one-way transmission from the East Hill fire station to all the other fire stations. There will be a senior citizens discount for certain disadvantaged senior citizens and an emergency override system will be implemented so that in the event there is a City or regional emergency, we will have the authority to cut in and make announcements over the entire cable spectrum. Brubaker further explained that when the cable company has installed their fibre optic system, and this is guaranteed to happen either upon completion of the fibre optic system or within 4 years, whichever occurs first, they will provide the cable subscribers with a number of channels. The services available to the citizens of the City will be greatly expanded. The City of Kent will get a public channel, an educational channel and a government channel. Right now we have only a government channel. TCI has agreed to service the cities of Tukwila, Kent, Renton, and Auburn by providing a South County regional public facility which would be a television studio available to the public. At the 'time of this fibre optic build out, the School District will have the opportunity to have cable internal networks. Brubaker stated that TCI has asked for a 15 year franchise. It is Brubaker's recommendation that the City accept this. Brubaker stated that as part of the franchise ordinance and the master ordinance, we have created a "trigger clause" . Basically this means if there is ever a change in the Federal law or another kind of cable service is provided by the cable company , at anytime, either to King County or to a neighboring jurisdiction or to a certain percentage of the cities in this region, TCI 'must provide that same service to Kent within 12 to 24 months. The franchise also re-defines the definition of "gross receipts" into a more expansive definition and therefore our 5% franchise fee, which is the maximum allowed by law, should bring in approximately one-third more revenue into the City, once the new ordinance is passed. Brubaker determined there would be a difference of approximately $120, 000 cash from cable operations to about $170, 000. 3 v� r Brubaker explained that this is a non-exclusive franchise and the master franchise would become the controlling ordinance for any other company coming into our area. Jim White asked if there was a by-back clause; Brubaker responded that might be an inherent right we have but he will look into that. Mann asked if this goes beyond the boundaries of Kent. Brubaker responded that this covers only the city limits of Kent, and until fibre optic occurs, we will give up the existing government channel. Mann stated that with the school district covering a wider area, if we had announcements with regard to school activities we would be limited in our ability to broadcast to residents whose children attend school outside of the city limits. He felt it would be more effective if we could reach that audience as well. Brubaker responded that by doing this, we would be expanding beyond our jurisdiction and out of our control. Bennett asked, when the Growth Management Act is in place and the boundaries have been established, could there be language that would allow us that time to expand to those areas? Brubaker will look into that. Public Works Plan Review Fee Ordinance Wickstrom stated that as part of the 193 budget approval, and in conjunction with reducing the budget deficit, the Public Works fees increased. In order to do this, the existing ordinance needs to be amended. Right now the ordinance is a decelerating ordinance; 2% of the first $100, 000 and 1-1/2% of $100, 000 to $200, 000 and 1% of over $200, 000. That has generated about $75, 000 when there were improvements being built along with developments. This new ordinance is in keeping with what was approved in the budget; we have projected to increase our revenues by $83 , 000 bringing our total revenue projection to $148, 000 for plan review. Wickstrom further stated that we also added in the ordinance that the developer pay 50% of the plan' review fee before plan review is instituted. This will allow them two complete reviews of the plan. Anything more than that, we will charge $50 per hour. This will eliminate our having to do most of the design work ourselves for the developer. Bennett asked what would happen if the ordinance does not pass. Wickstrom responded that we wouldn't generate the $83, 000 in initial revenue; this revenue is based on past statistics and it's costing us $500, 000 in the plan review process and we are only generating $70, 000 on a good year, in revenues to cover that expense. This is not to recuperate 100% of our costs, it is only pushing it to $148,000 vs. $500,000. Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that Council adopt the amended Public Works Plan Review Fee Ordinance. 4 ti Decant Stations; Del Webb Pump Station; 1992 AsRhalt Overlays; Committee unanimously agreed to accept these contracts as complete. Dover Place Bill of Sale; Van Doren's Business Center Bldg C Bill of Sale Committee unanimously agreed to accept these bills of sale. King County Solid Waste Special Collection Event Wickstrom stated that we have applied for a Grant from King County Solid Waste for a Special Collection event; this is a 100% grant (about $11, 000) . We will be picking up metals, appliances and additional plastic containers and a contract with King County Solid Waste is required for this. Committee unanimously agreed to recommend execution of a contract for the King County Solid Waste Special Collection Event. 5