City Council

Mount Vernon City Council Special Meeting Minutes December 30, 2013 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Boudreau at 6:00 p.m. Present: Mayor Boudreau, Councilmembers Fiedler, Hulst, Lindquist, Molenaar, Ragan, Quam, and Urban Absent: None Staff Present: Finance Director Huschka, Police Chief Dodd, Special Projects Administrator Stendal, Library Director Soneda, City Attorney Rogerson. Citizens Present: 12 NEW BUSINESS A. Oath of Office – Mayor Boudreau swore in Councilmembers Bob Fiedler, Gary Molenaar, Ken Quam and Dale Ragan to a new term of office as Councilmembers for the City of Mount Vernon beginning January 1, 2014. B. Community Comments – none C. Contract for Indigent Defense Services: Mr. Stendal presented an indigent defense contract with Mountain Law, PLLC for Council’s consideration. Mr. Stendal stated that this contract is with the cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington, and will be effective January 1, 2014 in the total amount of $644,400 per year, with the City of Mount Vernon’s 60% cost share at $386,640 per year. Mr. Stendal introduced special counsel Scott Snyder to go over some details of the contract. Councilmember Urban moved to approve the contract for Indigent Defense Services with Mountain Law, PLLC. Seconded by Councilmember Lindquist. Motion carried 7-0. D. Library Board of Trustee Appointment: Mr. Soneda stated that ten citizens submitted letters of interest in response to the posting of the open Library Board Trustee position. Laura Riquelme was selected as the top candidate recommended for appointment after a review of candidates by Library Board Chair Marija Anderson and Vice Chair Bill Craig. Mayor Boudreau has appointed Ms. Riquelme to fill the current opening on the Library Board of Trustees. Mr. Soneda requested that Council confirm the Mayor’s appointment. Mount Vernon City Council December 30, 2013 Page 2 of 2 Councilmember Hulst moved to confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Laura Riquelme to fill the current opening on the Mount Vernon Library Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Councilmember Fiedler. Motion carried 7-0. E. Discussion – 2014 Legislative Priorities: Mayor Boudreau reviewed with Council possible City recommendations on 2014 legislative priorities to the Washington State Legislature. Included in the priorities were restoring local liquor revenue sharing, sharing new marijuana revenue with local municipalities, emphasizing that infrastructure investment is key to economic revitalization and updates on the City’s downtown flood protection project. The AWC City Legislative Action Conference in Olympia will be January 29-30, 2014 and the Mayor inquired as to who would be interested in attending from Council. Councilmembers Fiedler, Ragan and Lindquist stated they would be interested in attending the conference. F. Mayor Boudreau discussed the idea of having a retreat with Council, Mayor and Department Directors to review and update the Downtown Revitalization Plan and review and refresh other goals and objectives for the City. The last facilitated Council retreat was in 2004. The Mayor stated she would like to invite Cary Bozeman to facilitate the retreat at a cost of $2,500. Discussion ensued regarding preferred dates for the two day retreat. Tentatively February 14th and 15th, 2014 will be the dates for the retreat. The meeting was convened into executive session at 6:22 p.m. and estimated to last 10 minutes. Executive Session - Potential Litigation, Real Estate and Collective Bargaining: Executive session lasted 10 minutes. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 6:22 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: ______________________________________________ Alicia D. Huschka, Recording Secretary ATTEST: ______________________________________________ Alicia D. Huschka, Finance Director APPROVE: ______________________________________________ Jill Boudreau, Mayor