City Council

Mount Vernon City Council Study Session Minutes October 3, 2018 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Boudreau at 7:00 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Beaton, Brocksmith, Carías, Hudson, Lindquist and Molenaar Absent: Councilmember Hulst (excused) Staff Present: Fire Chief Brice, Police Chief Dodd, Project Development Manager Donovan, Library Services Director Huffman, City Attorney Rogerson, Finance Director Volesky. Citizens Present: 1 Councilmember Lindquist moved to add an agenda item of a PERT Plan Update by Mayor Boudreau. Motion seconded by Councilmember Hudson. Motion carried 6-0. A. EMS Chief Brice brought forward information on the EMS plan for the City to provide ambulance services for the citizens, eliminating the performance of those activities by the CVA. An agreement with a scope of work is presented for Council to consider adoption Councilmember Lindquist moved to authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Skagit County for EMS. Motion seconded by Councilmember Hudson. Motion carried 6-0. B. PERT Plan Update: Mayor Boudreau provided a Problem Elimination Reduction Team. This is an interdisciplinary team that works on addressing impact of homelessness. There is a continuum of complexity regarding the issue of homelessness that include acts of vagrancy, mental health issues, substance abuse, shelter services, permanent supportive house and affordable housing. The City does not necessary have a lead role in provision of shelter, services, permanent supportive housing and affordable housing, but the City does support those through the financial assistance to service providers who assist in the provision of those services. The Police, Fire, Parks and Library departments are most directly impacted by vagrancy, one of the most visible issues of homelessness. The Mayor addressed the various ways that the City has been working on this problem. There have been streamlines in processes that departments had previously utilized and they have reduced the timelines for dealing with issues. There has been a noticeable reduction in the times associated with issues like removal of abandoned RV’s. The number of hours that are spent addressing encampments has been increasing with the CWP workers report 296 hours for May through September. Encampments on private property are a different process as the City can only encourage and educate property owners on the different options that they have regarding those encampments. There has been an emphasis on Downtown Patrols by the Police Department officers and COPP division during June, July and August with a subsequent reduction of 34% in calls for service. The meeting was convened into executive session at 7:35 p.m. and was estimated to last 10 minutes. C. Executive Session: Potential litigation. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Mount Vernon City Council October 3, 2018 Page 2 of 2 SUBMITTED BY: ______________________________________________ Rebecca J. Wade, Recording Amanuensis ATTEST: ______________________________________________ Doug Volesky, Finance Director APPROVE: ______________________________________________ Jill Boudreau, Mayor