HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 11/04/2013 Public Works Committee Minutes
November .4, 2013
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Committee Chair Elizabeth Albertson and Committee members Dana Ralph and Dennis
Higgins were present. The meeting was called to order at 4:06 p.m.
Item 1 — Approval of Meetinq Minutes Dated Monday, October 21, 2013:
Committee member Higgins MOVED to approve the minutes of October 21, 2013.
The motion was SECONDED by Committee member Ralph and PASSED 3-0.
Item 2 — Washington State Department of Ecology Coordinated Prevention Grant:
Conservation Specialist, Gina Hungerford noted that this is a two year grant funded by the
Washington State Department of Ecology. The Coordinated Prevention Grant (CPG) funds
Residential and Commercial Waste Reduction and Recycling Programs including events for
collection of materials that are hard-to-recycle at the curb. Hungerford note that the grant
also pays for event staffing, printing and mailing costs.
75% of the eligible cost is covered by the grant with the remaining 25% covered by King
County Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant.
Committee member Ralph MOVED to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to
accept the Coordinated Prevention Grant in the amount of $213,063 for 2013/15,
and establish a budget accordingly, subject to final terms and conditions
acceptable to the City Attorney and Public Works Director. The motion was
SECONDED by Committee member Higgins and PASSED 3-0.
Item 3 — Withdrawal of Membership in South King County Regional Water
Association•
Interim Water Superintendent, Kevin Swinford noted that South King County Regional
Water Association was formed more than 30 years ago with membership consisting of cities
and water districts serving the public water supply needs for much of King County south of
Seattle. The association was established to explore additional water sources to meet
growing demand in the 80s and 90s and to establish service boundaries.
Regional water supply demands have since changed, resulting in increased availability. In
Kent this has been primarily because of the final approval of the Habitat Conservation Plan
for Clark Springs and our participation with the Tacoma Second Supply Project. The original
goals and objectives of the association have been met and the necessity for Kent's
participation is no longer needed.
A number of adjacent jurisdictions have dropped out, including the City of Auburn this past
summer. The City will continue to collaborate with neighboring purveyors on supply and
Public Works Committee Minutes
November .4, 2013
demand needs and will remain engaged with tracking legislative and other common issues
that affect our water resources.
Committee member Higgins MOVED to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to
end City participation in the South King County Regional Water Association
effective December 31, 2013. The motion was SECONDED by Committee member
Ralph and PASSED 3-0.
Item 4 - Clean Water Act Municipal Stormwater Permit Regional Stormwater
Monitoring Program:
Todd Hunsdorfer, Conservation Coordinator -NPDES noted that the Regional Stormwater
Monitoring Program (RSWMP) is a required component of the 2013 - 2018 Phase II
Municipal Stormwater permit. The RSWMP includes the following elements:
1. Status and Trends Monitoring - establish a base line
2. Effectiveness Studies Monitoring - best management practices
3. Source Identification and Diagnostic Monitoring - gathering information on pollution and
knowing how to deal with them.
Kent can accomplish elements 1 and 2 above by either buying into the RSWMP funding pool
or by conducting a city-wide monitoring program consistent with the RSWMP Guidelines
outlined in section S8 of the Phase II Municipal Stormwater permit.
Hunsdorfer noted that the buy in option (RSWMP funding pool), at an annual cost of
$77,402 per year for four years starting August 15, 2014, has been determined by city staff
to be the most economical option. Analysis of costs associated with conducting a city-wide
monitoring program in-house have been determined to be in the range of $350,000-
$450,000 annually; including equipment, lab, and staff expenses. Utilizing consultants for
portions of the program result in costs at the upper end of the estimated annual range.
Phase 2 communities have four equal payments of $77,000. Hunsdorfer said the city may
get money back if the city can measure the best management practice portion.
Council member Ralph MOVED to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter of intent to
commit $77,402 per year for four years starting August 15, 2014 to participate in
the Washington State Department of Ecology Regional Stormwater Monitoring
program as required by the 2013 - 2018 Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit.
The motion was SECONDED by Committee member Higgins and passed 3-0.
Item 5 - Snow and Ice Preparation:
Public Works Director, Tim LaPorte reminded the committee of the snow and ice storm we
had three years ago. LaPorte then introduced Street Superintendent, Bill Thomas. Thomas
noted that the City of Kent has a published snow and ice removal plan that is maintained on
our website (listed below). In addition, our maintained anti-icing routes are also shown on
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November .4, 2013
the website. Thomas stated that the city has over 725 lane miles of roads to maintain and
only 8 dump trucks that can be outfitted with plows.
It has always been a priority to maintain the hilly arterials first as noted on the map. Staff
is not proposing any changes to the work or prioritization of the routes that will be kept
open.
King County recently announced that due to severe budget cuts they would not be plowing
a number of streets that they have traditionally kept open. Informally, King County staff
has asked if Kent would be willing to take over clearing streets such as, East Valley
Highway between the Green River and Auburn Way North. Due to our already limited
resources and budget Thomas stated we do not recommend doing so at this time.
Thomas stated that because of the departure from past practice by King County we
recommend entering into a contractual agreement with King County for the Green River
bridge maintenance at East Valley Highway and enter into an agreement with King County
or a private contractor to plow Kent Kangley Road in the Clark Springs watershed during
severe snow storms.
For more information on snow and ice removal plans go to
htto://www.kentwa.aov/content.asox?id=11016&terms=snow%20and%20ice
Committee member Higgins MOVED to recommend Council authorize staff to begin
negotiations with King County or a private contractor to remove snow from Kent
Kangley Highway in the Clark Springs watershed and to authorize staff to begin
negotiations with King County for maintenance of the Green River Bridge on East
Valley Road and to bring such agreements back to the Public Works Committee for
approval. The motion was SECONDED by Committee member Ralph and passed
3-0.
Item 6 7 — Information Only — Briscoe-Desimone Levee Consultant Contract for
Constructability Review:
Design Engineering Supervisor, Ken Langholz gave an informative PowerPoint presentation.
He noted that the Public Works Department has completed design of Reaches 2 and 3 for
the Briscoe/Desimone Levee Project. This project includes the installation of over 3,100 feet
of steel sheet pile walls, excavation of the existing levee and installation of plantings. The
project is ready to go to bid which will allow it to be underway at the best time of the
construction season in 2014.
Langholz noted that due to the complexity of this project staff is pursuing services of
outside experts in the field of sheet pile installation to perform a constructability review of
the project.
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November .4, 2013
We expect the consultant services agreements to be within the approval authority of the
Public Works Director or Mayor. Should any of the contracts exceed this amount, they will
be brought before this committee on November 18, 2013 for consideration.
Information Only/No Motion Required
Item -7 6 — Information Only/Vancouver Washington Ouiet Zones Local
Improvement District (LID):
Design Engineering Manager, Mark Howlett noted that the City is researching alternatives
for funding our proposed railroad quiet zone. State Law was changed in 2009 to allow the
use of a Local Improvement District (LID) to fund a quiet zone. The City of Vancouver
Washington is the only known City to form an LID for this purpose.
Howlett stated that Vancouver WA set up a 3 Tier Zone system to assess special benefit,
these tiers are based on the level of noise reduction.
Higgins said he would be reaching out to the community to get their input to the idea of an
LID for Quiet Zones. Many questions would need to be answered before we could
implement this type of system. Kent's geography would be much more difficult to assess. It
was discussed that a survey should be done at some point to get feedback from those that
would benefit from having a quiet zone.
No Motion Required/Information Only
Added Item: LID 363 — SE 2241h Street
Committee member Higgins noted that since our last Public Works Committee meeting he
has had several meetings with Interim Chief Administrative Officer, Tom Brubaker on the
subject and has a clearer idea of what the objective was at our last meeting. He asked
Brubaker to explain further.
Brubaker stated that he finds this LID hard to support because we don't have $10 million to
complete the project. He stated that we are getting ready to go out for a bond to fund a
portion of this $29 million project, of which $10 million is unfunded.
There was discussion on how to come up with the shortfall, by diverting B&O money,
Transportation Improvement Funds (TIF) and then paying each off over a longer period of
time. It was noted that if we didn't have the LID in place we would not have received the $5
million in funds from the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB). It was noted that the
$10 million is and obligation not a debt.
Public Works Committee Minutes
November .4, 2013
Committee Chair Albertson stated that giving away all the money we have cobbled together
is not a good idea. If we don't do the project we lose the $5 million TIB money and forsake
other projects moving forward.
Information Only/No Motion Required
The meeting was adjourned at 5:24 p.m.
Cheryl Viseth
Council Committee Recorder