City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20, 2021 Due to COVID-19, there was NO physical meeting location per WA Proclamation 20-28. Meeting was viewable live via YouTube and was telephonically available at (623)404-9000, Meeting ID: 149 766 1467 (NOTE: Audio only, No Comments). CALL TO ORDER Mayor Severns called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Invocation – Led by Pastor Ron Lawler, Family Bible Church Pledge of Allegiance – Led by Mayor Severns ROLL CALL City Council Present: Videoconference Staff Present: Videoconference Mayor Robert Severns City Administrator Blaine Oborn Mayor Pro Tem Munns Finance Director David Goldman Councilmember Tara Hizon Development Services Director David Kuhl Councilmember Joel Servatius Senior Planner Cac Kamak Councilmember Erica Wasinger Senior Planner Dennis Lefevre Councilmember Jim Woessner Project Engineer Alex Warner Councilmember Jeff Mack Operations Manager Steve Bebee Councilmember Millie Goebel Central Services Supervisor Sandra Place Parks Lead Tally Hucke Fire Chief Ray Merrill Police Chief Kevin Dresker Human Resources Director Emma House Senior Services Administrator Liz Lange Communications & IT Manager Sabrina Combs City Administrator Assistant Lisa Felix City Clerk Julie Lindsey Also in attendance: City Consulting Attorney Grant Weed of Weed, Graafstra & Associates Following the roll call, Mayor Severns made the following statement on behalf of the City of Oak Harbor: Chief Dresker and our Oak Harbor Police Department understand that the news today evokes feelings in all of us. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation to maintain the safety of our community during this time of heightened awareness, both here and across the nation. The Oak Harbor Police Department continues to professionally work with all of you to make our city and our island a safe place to live, work and visit! Thank you! 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Severns called for changes to the agenda? Hearing none, the agenda was approved as presented. Regular Meeting Minutes- April 20, 2021 Page 1 of 5 2. PRESENTATIONS a. Proclamations None. b. Honors & Recognitions None. c. Community Presentations i. Ryan’s House for Youth – Amber Truex, Executive Director. Ryan’s House for Youth Executive Director Amber Truex gave a presentation about Ryan’s House and their activities, including a new center inside the Oak Harbor city limits. Ms. Truex reported the goal of Ryan;s House was preventing homelessness with safe and stable housing for youth in the community . Councilmember Goebel provided her respective questions and comments. Mayor Severns thanked Ms. Truex for her presentation and for the important service offered to the community. 3. CITIZEN COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Severns explained citizens could comment on subjects of interest. Public comment could be submitted electronically to the City Clerk at jlindsey@oakharbor.org or by calling 360-279-4539 after 5 p.m. on the Friday preceding the meeting and prior to the meeting. To ensure comments are recorded properly, please state your name clearly when leaving a message. Please limit your comments to three minutes. While not submitted as specific to this evening’s Council meeting, the City did receive four additional comments since the April 6th Council Meeting. These comments were provided on screen as part of the meeting record and were forwarded to the City Council. 4. CONSENT AGENDA Consent Items a. Approval of Payroll and Accounts Payable Vouchers b. Minutes of the April 6, 2021 Regular Council Meeting c. Appointment: Mandi Rothman to the Arts Commission, Position 6 d. Janitorial Contract 2021 e. Purchase Authorization-Koetje Park Playground Equipment f. Relight Washington (TIB) – City of Oak Harbor Phase 2 Mayor Severns called for any objections or changes to the consent agenda. Hearing none, the items were approved as presented. 5. MAYOR, COUNCIL & STAFF COMMENTS a. Mayor Mayor Severns provided his respective comments and announcements. Community Response to COVID-19 Details and resources about the local impact of COVID-19 and City responses can be found on the City’s website, www.oakharbor.org/covid19. Regular Meeting Minutes- April 20, 2021 Page 2 of 5 Vaccinations For information on vaccinations, see the link to Island County Public Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Information page from the City website and Facebook page. Please • Wear your mask. • Watch your distance. • Wash your hands. And get tested if you have COVID symptoms or have been exposed. Oak Harbor Fire Department will Assist in Vaccine Clinic The Oak Harbor Fire Department will be assisting Island Drug in a Mass Clinic on April 24th at the Oak Harbor High School. Check the Island Drug vaccination webpage for details as they become available. Earth Day Week 2021 As part of Earth Day Week Celebration 2021, the City’s Solid Waste Division offers these tips: • Don’t use single use plastic • Recycle • Sort your waste • Use reusable bags and containers Well City Award Congratulations to our staff for achieving our wellness goals and receiving the Well City Award for 2020 from the Association of Washington Cities. Oak Harbor continues in Phase 3 We are happy that Whidbey Island continues to be in Phase 3 of the Washington State Plan. Let’s all do our part to keep moving forward. To quote the Governor, “Take It Outside”. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS & PUBLIC MEETINGS a. None. 7. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS a. Ordinance/Resolution No. 1926 : Harbor Heights Rezone – Closed Record Review City Attorney Weed explained such items were required to come before the Council per the Revised Code of Washington and that Council review was limited to the information that was before the Hearing Examiner in making his determination after closing the public hearing period. Therefore, the record re- view by Council is closed with no new comments accepted. He began asked the colloquy of fairness questions to the Council with no councilmembers responding affirmatively and as a result, no members of the Council were called on to be disqualified. Senior Planner Cac Kamak reviewed the Harbor Heights property, purchased by the City to develop a park and sports complex, the need for which is established in the City’s Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan. The City Council amended the Comprehensive Plan to reflect the land use change in 2020. Subsequently, the property must be rezoned to issue permits and develop it, including a hearing before the Hearing Examiner. The Hearing Examiner conducted a hearing on March 17, 2021 with due notifi- cations and took public testimony before closing the public hearing. The Hearing Examiner recom- mended approval of the rezoning. The rezoning process follows through on the 2020 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use amendment and if approved, would officially amend the zoning map to implement Regular Meeting Minutes- April 20, 2021 Page 3 of 5 the change. Senior Planner Kamak provided background information and reviewed rezoning criteria. The Council has final decision after a closed record review. Mayor Severns noted there were no additional public comments as this was a closed record review. Councilmember Servatius provided his respective questions and comments, thanking staff and all in- volved in the process for this landmark facility. Motion: Councilmember Servatius moved to accept the recommended actions as presented in the meeting packet. This included the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation and adoption of Ordinance No. 1926, approving the rezoning of 75 acres of land, in two parcels (R13327-176-3080 and R13327-066- 3300, from Planned Industrial Park (PIP) to Public Facilities (PF). The motion was seconded by Coun- cilmember Wasinger and passed unanimously. .b. Resolution 21-15: Designating 75 Acres of Real Property known as Harbor Heights, as a City Park - Senior Planner Kamak presented the resolution and reviewed background, much of which was dis- cussed in the prior agenda item. The City intends to develop a park and sports complex, the need for which is established in the City’s Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan. The City Council amended the Comprehensive Plan to reflect the land use change in 2020. The designation as a City Park adds it to those park areas covered by the Oak Harbor Municipal Code Chapter 6.12 “Parks Code” and all other code provisions related to City park land, and as such, will be enforceable by the Oak Harbor Police Department. Mayor Severns confirmed no public comment was received on this item. Mayor Pro Tem Munns provided her respective questions and comments to clarify jurisdiction. As the park will be inside the city limits, city and park codes will apply. The Oak Harbor Police Department will police the property and has a mutual aid agreement with the Island County Sheriff’s office. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Munns moved to approve Resolution 21-15, designating 75 acres of land, in two parcels (R13327-176-3080 and R13327-066-3300) as a City Park. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Servatius. The motion passed unanimously. 8. CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS None. 9. OTHER ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION a. Housing Action Plan. Senior Planner Dennis Lefevre presented with an update of the City’s Housing Action Plan. The City obtained a grant from the Department of Commerce to prepare the Housing Action Plan and secured the services of LDC, Inc. to produce a Housing Action Plan that identifies strategies and recommenda- tions which are intended to meet the community housing needs. These were noted through the Housing Needs Assessment, Stakeholder Advisory Committee meetings and the work of the Island County North Whidbey Affordable Housing Task Force. The strategies carried forward from the Task Force include: • Incentivize New Rental Housing • Bring Down the Cost of Development • Provide Wider Variety of Housing Types Regular Meeting Minutes- April 20, 2021 Page 4 of 5  • Prevent and Mitigate Displacement • Island County North Whidbey Affordable Housing Task Force He introduced Todd Hall and Matt Covert of the LDC team who presented and discussed the project schedule and each strategy briefly and reviewed possible action steps. Councilmember Woessner and Mayor Pro Tem Munns provided their respective questions and com- ments. 10. REPORTS & ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION a. 2020 Fire Department Annual Report Oak Harbor Fire Department Chief Merrill provided the department’s annual report for 2020. Chief Merrill noted 2020 had been a year like no other due to Covid-19 and the additional precautions needed to maintain employee and public health. He outlined the continued partnership with Island County and was pleased to report that there were no Covid-19 cases at the Fire Department. Chief Merrill served as the Director of Emergency Management for the City. He shared the metrics for the department for 2020 including personnel, years of service, numbers and origins of calls, response times and department resources. Oak Harbor Fire consistently operates with between one quarter and one third fewer re- sources than comparably sized Washington city fire departments; metrics he would like to see improved. Councilmember Woessner and Mayor Pro Tem Munns provided their questions and comments. 11. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Severns announced the Council would take a brief recess and then move into executive ses- sion to discuss litigation or potential litigation with legal counsel per RCW 42.30.110 (1) (i). Expected duration was 45 minutes. No action was anticipated. Executive Sessions are not open to the public. The Council entered into Executive Session at 7:55 p.m. Extension of meeting – At 8:43 p.m. the Council came out of Executive Session and resumed the open session. Mayor Severns requested a motion to extend the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Munns moved to suspend the Council rule on the length of meetings and extend the meeting by 40 more minutes to approximately 9:24 p.m. Councilmember Servatius seconded the motion, and the vote on the motion carried unanimously. The Council re-entered Executive Session at 8:44 p.m. p.m. At 9:12 p.m. the Council came out of Executive Session and resumed open session. Mayor Severns noted no action would be taken at this time regarding the matter discussed. ADJOURN Motion: Motion by Councilmember Woessner to adjourn the regular Council meeting, second by Coun- cilmember Servatius Motion was approved by a unanimous vote, therefore the meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Certified by Julie Lindsey, City Clerk Regular Meeting Minutes- April 20, 2021 Page 5 of 5