City Council

CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 Following the 6 p.m. 2023 Budget Workshop, Mayor Steve Sexton called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmembers present: Bill Aslett, Keith Chaplin, Joe DeGloria, Scott Green and Jamie Weiss, with Councilmember James Stavig calling in remotely. Staff present: Jenny Cole, Brad Johnson, Leif Johnson, Marv Pulst, Jim Rabenstein, Joe Stewart, Sarah Ward and Greg Young. Councilors Aslett/Green made a motion to excuse Councilmember Anna Chotzen from the September 22, 2022 Council meeting. All in favor; motion carried. MINUTES: A motion was made by Councilors Aslett/DeGloria to approve the minutes of the September 8, 2022 City Council meeting. All in favor; motion carried. AUDIT OF BILLS: Councilor Scott Green shared that all budget questions were answered satisfactorily at the Audit & Finance meeting and proceeded to present City Expenses including payments of note for the September 22, 2022 AP cycle: $19K for the Dog Park, $8.5K for Cross Island Consulting, $15.5K for SR20/Skagit Street Signalization Project, about $348K to SRV for the Sewer Replacement & George Hopper Signal update projects, another $19K for George Hopper to Transtech, and $101K to Western Systems for Pipeline Inspection Equipment. A motion was made by Councilors Green/DeGloria to approve Accounts Payable invoices to be paid as of September 25, 2022 in the amount of $695,007.59 and Payroll Expenses for Pay Period ending September 15, 2022 in the amount of $759,369.09. All in favor; motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Members of the public may submit comments or questions by mail to City Hall at 833 S. Spruce Street, ATTN: Greg Young, or by email to badministration@burlingtonwa.gov. Contact information for all the City Departments is available at www.burlingtonwa.gov. A City of Burlington resident, Roy Eddleman, brought concerns about unsafe roadways before Council as a follow-up to the September 8, 2022 Council meeting, specifically requesting additional stop signs and a cross-walk as a traffic deterrent. Furthermore, Eddleman invited Councilmembers to attend a NWCI (Northwest Carpenters Institute of Washington) event for a Burlington Training Center Grand Opening on September 29, 2022. 1  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 The evening’s second Public Comment was from the Burlington Parks & Rec Board member Elizabeth Turman-Bryant and Christen Mattix, the mural artist of Fairhaven & Anacortes Street. First, Christen Mattix announced the completion of the project and thanked the City of Burlington for their support and financial contribution to the project. They then introduced the idea of a block closure from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on October 15th to celebrate the completion of the artwork with a formal approval being presented at the next City Council meeting. Councilor Joe DeGloria noted the 4 hour closure and proposed shortening the timeframe, especially on a main intersection during a busy time of day. There was a suggestion to limit the road closure from 3:00-5:30 p.m. MAYOR’S UPDATE: Mayor Sexton updated Council on a kickoff meeting with the North Star Project of about 26 stakeholders including a range of hospitals, health & service providers, city planners, and municipalities. The meeting surpassed expectations and set the tone for complimentary versus competitive work. Jennifer Johnston will continue to update Council about the North Star Project progress at future meetings. OFFICER’S REPORTS: City Administrator Greg Young spoke on behalf of Finance Director Joe Stewart, describing the financials provided in the City Council meeting packets. Parks Supervisor Jim Rabenstein reported on Dog Park project updates and the remaining work to be completed and encouraged Council to view the Skagit River Park on weekend, which is when the park receives the most visitors. Councilor Aslett noted the Dog Park already seeing use from dog owners. New irrigation equipment has been tested, and might require a few adjustments, but overall is working as expected. Turf maintenance is underway and the West field should be completed by next week. There is a grant application waiting review for the City of Burlington Inclusive Playground design, which is highly ranked and well-placed for being awarded. The last weekend of September the Parks & Rec Department is hosting the revamped B’Town Fall Fest, a two day harvest festival, in Skagit River Park. Jim Rabenstein shared that the CoB Parks & Rec department was awarded $100K money from the Lodging Tax Grant. City Administrator Greg Young announced a Traffic Calming Workshop to be held Thursday, September 29 at 6 p.m. which is an off week from regularly held Council Meetings. PROCLAMATION: 2  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 Mayor Sexton read a proclamation announcing September as a Hunger Action Month in the City of Burlington. PRESENTATION: The first presentation was from Käaren Flint of Helping Hands Food Bank. Council learned statistics about food insecurity, average cost per meal, local programs and partnerships that Helping Hands participates in or runs. Helping Hands, like other food banks, is a resource for community members, especially ones, that might not qualify for food assistance as they do not require any collection of client information to participate. There is a new Helping Hands location in the City of Burlington at the Inspire Church, open from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Fridays. Councilor Aslett thanked Käaren for their work and Mayor Sexton added that there are other food banks in the region with food insecurity being a bigger issue than perhaps realized. The second presentation was from Ian Faley of The Boys & Girls Club who updated Council on the Summer Experiences & Enrichment for Kids (SEEK) grant funding. The SEEK program for Summer Breeze at Maiben Park was free to attend with transportation also provided. There was 10 weeks of programs with an emphasis on getting kids outside, Summer Brain Gain, and enrichment opportunities through weekly field trips. Councilor Aslett commented on how many children benefit from programs like this outside of school hours, specifically noting the success at LU school. Councilor Chaplin inquired whether the program would possibly run during the summer of 2023 or in the future. Mayor Sexton emphasized that field trips leave a lasting impression. CONSENT AGENDA: Councilors DeGloria/Green moved to approve the Consent Agenda for September 22, 2022. All in favor; motion carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: No Unfinished Business. NEW BUSINESS: Revised Zoning Map Brad Johnson, the Community Development Director, presented a Comprehensive Plan update in the form of a revised Zoning Map to Council. The Planning Commission and City Council previously voted to revise the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan, therefore a revised Zoning Map is required to be adopted. A Zoning Map is very detailed and must be consistent 3  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 with the Comprehensive Plan Map per state law. The Councilors had a robust conversation with Brad Johnson, the Community Development Director, regarding specific maps and regions in the city and the corresponding changes. Both Councilors Aslett and Weiss acknowledged the impressive undertaking of this project and thanked the Community Development team for the level of detail and professional documentation. Councilor Chaplin attended some of the Public Hearing meetings and noted that there was often a tight margin in the votes. There was a question from Councilor Stavig about business owners that might want to operate a business outside of an approved zone. Brad Johnson explained that while uncommon a business owner could request a change through a Hearing Examiner, a process that can only happen once in a year. Councilor DeGloria had several specific questions and zoning references that were answered by Brad Johnson, some instances were slight typos to be corrected and other responses included detailed explanations about zoning and development details for each referenced area. Councilor DeGloria appreciated the effort of the work involved in creating the Zoning Map and Councilor Chaplin was curious if anything stood out to Brad Johnston and his team throughout the planning update process. Johnston predicts a final adoption of the updated materials in late December or January and noted that even at the end of this giant revision process, these documents will never be perfect, continuing to require updates yearly for improvements. The original plan was done in the 1920’s and any updates made henceforth were only additions or variations from that “status quo” document. The original zoning reflects an interest to control who was neighbors with whom and the result has led to a housing crisis. Councilors Aslett/Chaplin made a motion to accept the Planning Commission’s recommendation dated April 20, 2022 and authorize the Mayor to sign the attached resolution. All in favor; motion carried. Economic Development Element Brad Johnson, the Community Development Director, presented the Western Washington Center for Economic and Business Research compiled report that the Planning Commission used to adopt a new Economic Development Element that is recommended by Community Development to be adopted by the City Council. Some ideas considered in the report were to look at economic development opportunities in the City of Burlington such as light industrial centers including tech schools, health care, and warehouses. Zoning would need to allow for things like offices, medical clinics, higher education and so forth. There was an emphasis on the education to job pathways and opportunities for good paying jobs available in the local community. A product of higher paying local jobs could be more income to spend at local retail outlets. Councilor Green inquired on impact fees, Councilor DeGloria highlighted statistics listed 4  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 on page 9 of the report and the importance of taxes on City residents. Councilor Weiss noted that the data shared in the report was eye-opening and informative. Councilor Stavig also had comments and concerns about the 2020 Census and median household income data and the impact of taxes on poverty levels. Councilor Aslett appreciated the work of Western Washington University working with local municipalities on research. Brad Johnson shared that employment data is often challenging to collect, and also that Western was a good partner to work with, they charged a flat fee and made revisions and corrections as requested. About every 6 years the document is intended to be updated. Councilors Aslett/Green made a motion to accept the Planning Commission’s recommendation dated April 20, 2022 and authorize the Mayor to sign the attached resolution. All in favor; motion carried. 2nd Community Garden Proposal City Administrator Greg Young initiated a dialogue with City Council about the possibility of doing community outreach to gauge interest in a 2nd Community Garden in the Jason Boerner Park (located near West View elementary school). There were several ideas that included adding mailers to sewer bills, creating bilingual outreach materials in both Spanish and English, engaging in conversation with the adjacent elementary school, or approaching the nearby apartment complex management with flyers. Councilor Stavig expressed concerns with the priority of this topic and suggested asking for community input more often. Sarah Ward, the Library and Parks and Rec Department Director, recalled interest in polling local community on the topic of a 2nd community garden. A common interest of the Council and City staff was asking the community for shared input on the vision for park usage in Burlington. COMMITTEE & BOARD REPORTS: There was a Public Works Committee update presented by Councilor Chaplin regarding safety updates, the shared use trail is ready to proceed, grant applications for the railroad with BNSF. The Lodging Tax Committee met and was able to fund all but one applicant, with $840K in funding requests they were able to award $610K to local organizations and programs. Councilor Aslett presented for the Public Safety Committee noting the stabilization of Police staff, there have been no departures in the department, and informed Council of the non-badged employee new to the Mount Vernon PD which is funded through Skagit County. Burlington Police Department is engaged in conversations to learn more about this position. COUNCIL COMMENTS: 5  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 22, 2022 Councilor Green noted the creation of more safe zones for staff in the lobby. Councilor Aslett proposed to learn more about the non-badged person on staff with Mount Vernon PD and shared that Chief Luvera has seen a stabilization in staffing levels. Councilor Chaplin requested Council Comments to be restored to its original place on the Council Meeting Agenda. DISCUSSION: No Discussion. EXECUTIVE SESSION: No Executive Session. ADJOURNMENT: Mayor Sexton adjourned the meeting at 9:26 p.m. ________________ _________________ Joseph Stewart Steve Sexton Finance Director Mayor 6