City Council

CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 28, 2023 Mayor Steve Sexton called the City Council Meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmembers present: Bill Aslett, Keith Chaplin, Anna Chotzen, Joe DeGloria, Scott Green, James Stavig, and Jamie Weiss. Staff present: Brad Johnson, Leif Johnson, Jim Rabenstein, Travis Schwetz, Joe Stewart, Rob Toth, Sarah Ward and Greg Young. MINUTES: A correction was reported by Councilor Stavig of an error in the September 14th meeting on page two in the discussion about Lodging Tax Grants wherein Councilor DeGloria did not “inquire if the location affected scoring”. A motion was made by Councilors Aslett/Green to approve the September 14, 2023 minutes with corrections. All in favor; motion carried. AUDIT OF BILLS: Councilor Scott Green updated Council on the Audit & Finance meeting wherein the City expenses were reviewed some budget items of note including: $672K to Lakeside Industries for street overlay improvements and $105K to Western Refinery Services for asphalt preparation & paving of the Monroe Street Project. A motion was made by Councilors Green/Aslett to approve Accounts Payable invoices to be paid as of September 28, 2023, in the amount of $1,122,118.38; September 2023 Utility Billing Refunds in the amount of $651.55; and Payroll Expenses for Pay Period ending September 15, 2023 in the amount of $811,319.61. All in favor; motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS: A City of Burlington resident, Kiera Wright, asked the Mayor and Council if questions could be asked during presentations/discussions, or if there could be a Public Comment period held at the end of a Council Meeting, and commented on the City of Burlington website that does not have updated Planning Commission agendas or meeting minutes. 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. MAYOR’S UPDATE: 1  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 28, 2023 Mayor Sexton shared that Commander Meyer from SCIDEU thanked Council for City of Burlington funding support to their organization and that in the next week the hanging baskets will be dismantled. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilor DeGloria asked if there would be a discussion about the letters received in Councilmembers inboxes. Councilor Chaplin announced that the Parks & Rec Department is looking for referees for sports leagues. Councilor Chotzen shared that during the Finance & Audit meeting there was positive feedback on the road overlay projects from the committee. COMMITTEE & BOARD REPORTS: Councilor Bill Aslett gave a Public Works Committee meeting update with the E-W Connector Road project forecasted for 2024, the Cascade Mall shared bike use trail estimated to finish late November, Fire Hall renovation project walk-through’s are welcome to Councilmembers, the railroad grants are now leaning towards a railroad under versus the formerly envisioned over crossing, the Bike Shop project is starting to break ground, Skagit River Steel has a new storm sewer pipe, and the overlay project at Monroe Street was near completion; along with a few additions for Parks include: the spray park is now closed for the off-season, and the Skagit River Park has a field closure rotation to maintain turf health. Councilor Stavig thanked Public Works Director Marv Pulst for sharing the meeting agenda with all of Council. OFFICER’S REPORTS: Parks and Recreation Director Sarah Ward and team members, Christi Kinney & Kati Klerekoper, gave a B’Town Fall Fest update to Council and provided event details that involve an entirely free event with zucchini car races, slingshot, a makers market, 11 vendors, petting zoo, live entertainment, a 5K run/walk, and more. Community Development Director Brad Johnson addressed some raised questions about the proposed Pine Street development wherein traffic concerns and wetland related critical areas had been expressed. B. Johnson shared that the project was identified as a type 3 process based on its zoning and would follow that permit review process. Once an application has been received, given feedback, and then recollected then it would go to the hearing examiner where 2  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 28, 2023 there would be also be a comment period at the Public Hearing. Additionally, the City of Burlington allows for an open comment period from the time a permit is posted until the day of a hearing. B. Johnson explained that a Type 3 permit includes three notices: direct mailings within a specified radius, posting on the development sight, and a post in the Skagit Valley Herald. There was lots of continued discussion on this topic. Lastly, an update on the Hazel street house was requested in which Brad Johnson informed Council that a Request to Bid had been sent out to do the necessary work on the property. PROCLAMATION: No Proclamation. PRESENTATION: No Presentation. CONSENT AGENDA: Sidewalk Closure Request by Railroad Pizza & Pub on Saturday October 21, 2023 from Noon- 11PM Councilors DeGloria/Green made a motion to approve Consent Agenda Item #1 and authorize the Mayor’s signature on appropriate documents and resolution. All in favor; motion carried. INTRODUCTION/DISCUSSION: Jason Boerner Memorial Park Survey Results The Parks and Rec Department shared Jason Boerner Park results with Council during a brief slide show presentation. The survey audience was made up of neighborhoods within walking or short driving distance of the park, the survey was published online and delivered to 360+ nearby residents, and there was a pop-up event at the park to also collect feedback. The 4 top requests were: basketball court, covered pavilion/picnic shelter, walking path, and better playground. 2024 Lodging Tax Award Recommendations City Administrator Greg Young provided a Lodging Tax Grant summary of the funding awarded by the LT Advisory Committee for Council review. Councilor Stavig gave an update as the Council representative on the Committee and shared that there is usually $100K held in reserves and that the Historical Society was not awarded funding among other observations. Councilor Chotzen, along with Councilor DeGloria, was disappointed that the Historical Society was not awarded any funding, which launched a discussion about the criteria for funding Lodging Tax 3  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 28, 2023 grants, some questions as to why certain organizations qualified and others were not, and the potential options for funding the Carnegie Library project through other means. Greg Young noted that the LT Advisory Committee follows Washington State requirements. Specifically, lodging tax funds can be used for: tourism marketing; marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists; operations and capital expenditures of tourism- related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or a public facilities district; or operations of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by nonprofit organizations. If Council did want to request a change in the funding allocation, then it would be an all or nothing ask, which means the Committee would have to gather and vote again on all submissions; or there could be a second round of grant applications submitted and reviewed in addition to this first batch. The final vote of approval for the Lodging Tax awarded funding will occur when the 2024 budget is passed. ACTION ITEMS: Appointment to the Burlington Arts Commission City Administrator Greg Young announced that the application has been forgotten from the Council Packet. However, the applicant, Michael Merta, was in attendance at the City Council Meeting and spoke with Councilmembers about relevant experience and the reasons for applying to the position. Councilors Chaplin/DeGloria made a motion to confirm the appointment of Michael Merta to the Burlington Arts Commission, effective September 28, 2023. All in favor; motion carried. Appointment of a Councilmember to the Burlington Arts Commission City Administrator shared that there needed to be a short term appointment of a Councilmember liaison on the Arts Commission until the annual 2024 seats were assigned. Councilor Chaplin proposed that Councilor Chotzen sit in the seat, with any short-term vacancies filled in by Councilor Chaplin, until the new appointments were made. Councilors Chaplin/Stavig made a motion to confirm the appointment of Councilor Anna Chotzen to the Burlington Arts Commission, effective September 28, 2023. All in favor; motion carried. Authorize Purchase of Replacement EMS Command Vehicle Fire Chief Rob Toth provided a replacement command vehicle bid for Council review and approval that was deemed an affordable rate and in the budget. 4  CITY OF BURLINGTON, WA September 28, 2023 Councilors Chotzen/Aslett moved to approve the purchase of the 2023 Ford F150 through Washington State Department of Enterprise Services. All in favor; motion carried. Agricultural Heritage Credit Program City Attorney Leif Johnson and Community Development Director Brad Johnson co-presented the proposed interlocal agreement with Skagit County in which Council was asked to review the Interlocal independently from pro or con of the Agricultural Heritage Credit Program. There was an in-depth conversation that followed about the proposed interlocal agreement wherein there was additional documentation and pause of the interlocal vote requested by some Councilmembers, there was debate around the wording of the interlocal and whether to leave it vague or more specified and to reconsider the contract end date. Brad Johnson provided information on the Agricultural Heritage Program in which there was a referenced map that Skagit County could not find record of and explained that there was not a 1:1 ration of credits to purchasing values. B. Johnson noted that the current city code does not allow for the credits to be issued so this interlocal would involve previously issued permits estimated to be 3 or 4 total. Leif Johnson added that some of the language in the contract was specified by Skagit County and that any uncashed checks would remain thus by the County until there was some type of contract in place. Councilors Green/Chaplin made a motion to pass the interlocal cooperative agreement between Skagit County and the City of Burlington. Councilors Chaplin, Chotzen, Aslett, Green and Stavig in favor; Councilors Weiss and DeGloria opposed; motion carried. EXECUTIVE SESSION: No Executive Session. ADJOURNMENT: Mayor Sexton adjourned the meeting at 9:41 p.m. ________________ _________________ Joseph Stewart Steve Sexton Finance Director Mayor 5