HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Economic and Community Development - 02/09/2015 i
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KENT
ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES
FEBRUARY 09, 2015
Committee Members Committee Chair Bill Boyce, Dennis Higgins, and Dana Ralph in
attendance for Jim Berrios. Boyce called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Changes to the Agenda
4. Approval of Minutes
Berrios MOVED and Higgins SECONDED a Motion to Approve the Minutes of
January 12, 2015. Motion PASSED 3-0.
5. Green River Community College Small Business Assistance Center Agreement
Ben Wolters, ECD Director, stated that the City has entered into a partnership with Green
River Community College (GRCC) for the amount of $23,100 to support and assist small
business growth in Kent. The partnership is similar to a consulting service for small
businesses and is paid for through collaboration with other cities in the valley. Wolters
described the two main areas of service as high impact clients and start-up and
maintenance clients. Wolters stated that success is measured by the resources available
and quality provided. GRCC offers workshops to small business owners once a month or at
one-on-one meetings, and provides a multi-year report showing employee or sales
increases. Wolters advised that a copy of the GRCC success stories will be emailed to
council members and confirmed that GRCC has dropped "community" from their name and
is now known as Green River College.
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6. Create Kent 2035/Comprehensive Plan Survey Results
Charlene Anderson, Planning Manager, stated that with the help of Futurewise, the city
received over 900 responses from the Create Kent 2035 survey, including responses from
the immigrant and refugee community. Anderson described elements of the Comprehensive
Plan that will advance the community's vision.
Heather Trim, Director of Science and Policy at Futurewise, stated that Futurewise worked
with El Centro de la Raza, OneAmerica, and Mother Africa on the outreach for the
Comprehensive Plan. Trim referenced a PowerPoint presentation. She discussed highlights
from the survey results such as; race/ethnicity, age of respondents, housing, environment,
and transportation, where to take out-of-town guests, and what would make Kent a better
place to live. Trim stated that the top priority is community safety related to crime and
homelessness. Responses were split between the concern for safety and feelings of need
for more services.
Public outreach that has occurred through Futurewise since July 2014 included hosting an
outreach booth at Cornucopia Days and holding three workshops for residents to share
their concerns and what areas of opportunity they would like to have available. Futurewise
will hold two more workshops in March and April and will return to staff and Council with
ideas for policy language for the Comprehensive Plan (CP).
Higgins suggested including the importance of being registered to vote to the survey
process as a way to enact priorities such as public safety. Anderson stated that training on
how to approach and speak to City Council about recommendations and issues may be part
of the upcoming workshops mentioned by Trim, and agreed that voting could be something
to cover as well.
Anderson stated that the Comprehensive Plan (CP) Update is to be complete before June
30, 2015 and all but the Transportation and Capital Facilities elements of the CP already
were presented for the first review in workshops before the Land Use and Planning Board
(LUPB). Suggestions and comments from the public outreach will be considered in the draft
elements as they move forward either in workshops or public hearings. The LUPB will
consider the first draft of the Critical Areas Ordinance at their February gth workshop.
Anderson spoke about the Capital Facilities Element of the CP, stating that all of the needs
of the various departments that are expressed in their master plans are being consolidated.
The LUPB and City Council ultimately will consider revenue projections to 2035 and how to
prioritize those Capital Facilities needs.
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7. Process Improvement/Cross-connection Permits
Wolters introduced the collaboration between the Permit Center and Public Works
department to improve the process of Cross Connection (utility) permits.
Kimberlee McArthur, Permit Center Manager, stated that in previous years, customers were
notified after permits were already issued about the potential need for cross-connection or
a grease interceptor/trap. McArthur spoke about the Citywide LEAN process and stated that
LEAN practices have been applied to cross-connection and Fats, Oils, and Greases (FOG) to
improve these processes. Public Works staff now are included in the city's KIVA tracking
system. KIVA notifies Public Works staff through a daily workload report of what tenant
improvement or new commercial permits have come into the city. The groups can see in
the scope of the project if there's a need for cross-connection or a grease interceptor/trap,
allowing the customers to be notified during the front end of the permit process vs. the
back end. This has benefited both our internal and external customers.
Shawn Gilbertson, Environmental Supervisor, referenced a PowerPoint presentation, gave
an overview of the cross-connection and FOG control programs, and conveyed the benefits
from applying LEAN to these programs. Gilbertson briefly spoke about the Prism tracking
system used by the Public Works Inspectors to create their inspection schedules by tracking
existing businesses and all regularly scheduled visits.
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8. Tree Preservation Code Amendment
Matt Gilbert, Principal Planner, addressed the possibility of updating Kent's tree
preservation requirements. The regulations are found in the Kent Zoning Code and apply to
undeveloped property. The purpose of tree preservation is to maintain and protect the
aesthetic benefits of trees. Gilbert advised that sometimes meeting the current code
requirement isn't sufficiently meeting the intent of the code.
Regulations require developers to retain 15% of existing trees on site. However, the
regulations do not provide any tools or alternatives for how those trees are to be integrated
in the new neighborhoods. Gilbert spoke about other cities facing the same issues and
found that there are codes that more effectively ensure that trees within new
neighborhoods are an amenity and contribute to the beauty of the city as opposed to being
seen as a liability.
Gilbert stated that he will continue to explore more alternatives to implement improvement
of tree preservation. He will outline the issues in detail with examples and development
ECDC Minutes
February 9, 2015
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approaches, then will present a recommendation to the Board, ECDC and City Council
within the next couple of months.
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9. Sound Transit Update
Charlene Anderson, Planning Manager, stated that the release of the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) has been postponed to the end of March. The DEIS is complete
but needs sign-off from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Staff is reviewing options for combining some of the alternatives in the DEIS. Sound Transit
(ST) provided staff with a preliminary review copy of their Transit Oriented Development
(TOD) report to comment on technical issues prior to its release concurrent with the DEIS.
Anderson advised that the ST Board will select a preferred alternative by the end of June;
that alternative will be analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The
Board will choose a project to build in late 2016. ST briefings are still being offered to City
Council members and entail a report of preliminary findings in the DEIS ahead of the
release date.
Wolters stated that the DEIS is a key component to qualify for the Federal funding that will
go into this project. ST found that primary issues to manage will be cost and disruption due
to construction. ST has reached out to staff for input on the design process as the
alignment could run through a significant area of Kent. Anderson is currently working on a
draft ordinance to establish particular design criteria, expectations, and regulations related
to the construction of a light rail system in Kent.
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10. ShoWare Update and Economic Development Update Report j
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Wolters spoke about the $700,000 debt from the general fund for ShoWare Operation
costs; largely due to the $184,000 incurred from repairs to the Ice Plant. Wolters advised
that the city is currently working with the Law department and pursuing a claim with the
original contractor, seeking a mediated negotiation with the parties involved.
Wolters stated that the ShoWare Center has many concerts and events lined up for this
year. The City will continue to explore options to generate additional revenue and will
encourage the local business community to become more of a participant in ShoWare.
Wolters advised that a ShoWare story is being developed to advertise ShoWare's venue and
to encourage more community engagement. Wolters and Tim Higgins, ShoWare General
Manager, will jointly reach out to some of the community groups and service clubs.
In response to Dennis Higgins, Wolters stated that ShoWare will not be sold to Mr. Hanson
as he wants an MBA Arena with at least 20,000 seats and ShoWare only has 6,000 seats
with a remaining debt of $50,000,000.
Wolters advised that the Platform apartments are now over 60% filled.
The committee thanked Fred Satterstrom, Planning Director for his 32 years of wonderful
service to the City of Kent and congratulated him on his retirement.
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Adjournment
Chair Boyce adjourned the meeting at 6:25 p.m.
Alixand S cre ary,
Economic & Community Development Committee
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ECDC Minutes
February 9, 2015
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