City Council Committee Agendas

Public Works/Library Committee Meeting May 12, 2021, 6:00 pm Attendees Present: Mayor Boudreau Council Members: Beaton, Brocksmith, Carías, Hudson, Hulst, Morales Staff Members: Public Works – Bell, Bullock, Chesterfield; Library Director – Huffman; City Attorney – Rogerson; Project Development Manager – Donovan; Fire Chief Brice; Assistant Fire Chief Harris; Police Chief – Cammock 1. Approval of Public Works Committee Minutes: Councilmember Hulst moved to approve the minutes from April 14, 2021; Seconded by Councilmember Beaton; Carried by all. 2. Program Coordination Division – Blaine Chesterfield a) The City is working with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group on an agreement to restore 180 feet of floodplain and riparian habitat on City owned property along the Skagit River between the river and the Wastewater Treatment Plant. This restoration work will provide trees and shading along the south bank of the river. The project will be funded by two grants, one from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and one from Puget Sound Energy; no city funding is required. This project includes a 5-year grant period with a 10-year agreement, for a total of 15 years. There will be a 60-foot access area centered upon the WWTP outfall pipe as well as a 30-foot access road from the levee to the WWTP outfall location wherein the City will have the right to remove vegetation and maintain the WWTP outfall pipe. Dike District 3 will have unimpeded access for dike maintenance. The City may need to perform minimal future vegetation maintenance towards the end of the agreement. As part of the agreement, the City agrees to not intentionally compromise the integrity of the project. 3. Project Updates – Bill Bullock a) Both the 2021 Street Improvements and the 2021-2022 On-Call Surveying projects are on the agenda for acceptance at the Council session following tonight’s Public Works / Library Committee meeting. b) The City Maintenance Shop Canopy is progressing; the fume hood and roll up door have been relocated and installed, the engineering is complete (permits have been submitted), the two apron slabs have been poured, and the 40’ x 60’ main slab forms have been installed At the Solid Waste Admin Building, the concrete slab floor has been cut and demolished and the false wall has been installed. The contractor is just starting to form the new slab and the drawings are getting ready for permitting. May 12, 2021, Public Works/Library Committee Minutes Page 1 of 3 4. Public Works Director Comments – Esco Bell a) WWTP Admin Building Remodel/Addition After several months, the WWTP Admin Building remodel/addition is essentially complete and the crew should be able to occupy the building within the following week. The project included approximately 3,400 square feet of improvements (half remodel and half new construction). 5. Library Committee – Isaac Huffman a) Library Commons Update The City advocated to fund up to $2 million in addition to $250,000 in EV design, both at the State funding level. These grants both just need to be signed in by the Governor. Additionally, on May 11, 2021, the City presented to Skagit County for .09 contribution. Also, an application for $2.5 million was submitted to Congressperson DelBene who was able to shortlist this project into one of her 10 selected projects for federal transportation grant funding. An application for transportation funds (up to $15 million) was sent to Senator Murray's office as well. Staff is moving forward to schedule meetings to review the 95-page scope of work submitted by HKP Architects; the submittal and price look good; staff is on track to bring a contract and presentation to City Council on May 26, 2021. b) Reopening of the Library The Library is on track to open July 6, 2021. The building now has new shelving, new collections, and RFID is underway. The largest barrier to reopening the library at this time is staffing. New services require more labor and the Library will likely not be fully staffed in time for opening. New roles require more flexibility with the biggest challenges being security and sanitation. Return to services will likely include a transition period before being fully operational; hours may be limited for in building use and may lean toward full- service and limited service days. Now is a great time to reevaluate library hours; staff will propose at least interim hours to Council within a few months. c) Highlights Library Giving Day was successful and resulted in $3,371.00 from 33 donors. The Library Foundation had a number of key learnings including communication and donor type; they will be working with local partners for new fundraising in the months ahead. The Library Board will also be working to rewrite the Library mission statement to better reflect new services. Three community projects occurred as follows:  Seed Library: 3,120 seed packs have been distributed to date to more than 160 households. They are holding their first ever plant exchange this Saturday, May 15, 2021.  March Mystery Game: included 38 active players with 18 of them solving the mystery. There were a number of teams involved and 55% purchased something downtown while playing the game. May 12, 2021, Public Works/Library Committee Minutes Page 2 of 3   Andrea’s Capstone Project: working with MVSD to connect not only with the library, but the community as well. The project involved dance, music, reading, and outreach to many places and included a performance for the governor. More than 300 students participated in the project in some way. 6. Public Safety Committee Topic – Bryan Harris Assistant Chief Harris informed Council of a live fire training burn to be conducted on June 12th at 2957 E College Way (next to the 911 center) with the burning of a structure donated to the city. This scheduled training activity will be conducted with West Coast Fire and includes about 20 personnel with the Fire Department. Training will include water mapping with flow and move as well as modern fire suppression techniques. Operations will begin around 9:00 am and training is estimated to finish up around 1:00 pm. The structure will then be burned to its full extent once training has been completed. Traffic will be reduced to one lane westbound on college Way during the burn. A flyer has been developed to hand out to the nearby community and post on social media outlets. Council members are invited to watch portions of the training exercise if interested. 7. Miscellaneous / For the Good of the Order – Mayor Boudreau Mayor Boudreau briefed Committee on a proposal for a vaccination incentive program utilizing $50,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds. In addition to what the City’s Fire Department staff has already been doing to help Skagit County with vaccinations, this program would offer $25 gift cards from locally owned Mount Vernon businesses to unvaccinated residents who receive a COVID vaccination shot. Mayor Boudreau is proposing this program as incentive to the large group within our population that simply lacks motivation to vaccinate. The proposed program would both encourage participation in efforts to immunize a larger segment of our Skagit population as well as infuse federal funding into our local economy by supporting locally owned businesses. With no objection by councilmembers, the proposal with additional details will likely be brought before Council for action at a forthcoming council session. Mayor Boudreau noted she met with Representative Alex Ramel, of the legislative 40 th district office today. The district has offered to come to a City Council meeting to talk about what they’ve been seeing in Olympia. This is a great opportunity for the city and will likely be scheduled sometime in June 2021. Discussion was held regarding fire truck exhaust systems and the change to an apparatus based system rather than the fixed facility system that has been in place. With remodels of the City’s fire stations, the replacement of the Fire Department exhaust system has been on the CIP for several years. The meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Submitted by: Sherri Pritchard Sherri Pritchard, Public Works Department May 12, 2021, Public Works/Library Committee Minutes Page 3 of 3