City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Due to COVID-19, there was both a physical meeting location and a virtual meeting per WA Proclamation 20-28. Meeting was viewable live via YouTube at www,youtube.com/cityofoakharbor and on Cable Channel 10/HD 1090 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Robert Severns called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Invocation – Led by Pastor Brian Haynes, Family Bible Church Pledge of Allegiance – Led by Mayor Severns ROLL CALL City Council Present: 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 Dan Evans Interim Public Works Director Mick Monken Councilmember Shane Hoffmire City Engineer Alex Warner Councilmember Jim Woessner Project Manager Brett Arvidson Councilmember Bryan Stucky Archeologist Gideon Cauffman Council Position No. 3 - Vacant Fire Chief Ray Merrill Police Chief Kevin Dresker Harbormaster Chris Sublet Central Services Supervisor Sandra Place Communications & IT Manager Sabrina Combs Executive Assistant Macalle Finkle City Clerk Julie Lindsey Also in attendance: City Interim Attorney Hillary Evans of Kenyon Disend, PLLC 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Severns called for any changes to the agenda. Hearing none, it was approved as presented. 2. PRESENTATIONS a. Proclamations - None b. Honors & Recognitions - None c. Community Presentations - None Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 1 of 6 3. CITIZEN COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Severns explained citizens could comment on subjects of interest. Public comment could be submitted via the online webform, electronically to the City Clerk at jlindsey@oakharbor.org or by calling 360-279-4571 after 5 p.m. on the Friday preceding the meeting and prior to the meeting. To ensure all comments are recorded properly, please state your name clearly when leaving a message. Pease limit comments to three minutes. The City Council received no employee comments and one public comment regarding utility rates since the February 1, 2022 meeting. These were provided to Council and displayed during the meeting. Mayor Severns opened the floor for public comment from any audience member present. 1. Ms. Barbara Armes, of Oak Harbor spoke regarding the increasing cost of utility rates. Hearing no others, the public comment period was closed. 4. CONSENT AGENDA Consent Items a. Approval of Minutes of February 1, 2022 Council Meeting b. Approval of Accounts Payable Vouchers c. Resolution 22-03: Purchase Authorization: Sole Source Master Meters 2022 Mayor Severns called for any changes to the consent agenda and hearing none, the consent agenda was approved as presented. 5. MAYOR, COUNCIL & STAFF COMMENTS a. Mayor - Announcements and Upcoming Events – City Offices Closed in Observance of President’s Day City offices and garbage services will be impacted on February 21. Please see our website for pick-up dates for your area. Student Achievements: Members of the Oak Harbor High School wrestling team have qualified for regionals. Congratulations to them for their hard work. We wish them well in representing Oak Harbor. Council Retreat: We are looking at Thursday, March 31st for the Council retreat pending confirmation of a facilitator and location. We appreciate the input we’ve received from members of Council. He asked that Council please save the date and confirm availability with the City Clerk Julie Lindsey or Executive Assistant Macalle Finkle. Puget Sound Energy: Last week the City received notification of a proposed three year rate increase by Puget Sound Energy for 2023-2025. To quote PSE’s media release: “For residential customers, the proposal would increase rates in the first year by a net of 12.9% for electricity and 11.9% for natural gas, starting in January 2023, with increases of between 1.2 and 2.7% Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 2 of 6 in the second and third years. If the request is approved, a typical residential electric customer would see an average monthly bill increase of $12 and a typical natural gas customer a monthly increase of $9 next year.” PSE has filed this three-year rate plan request with the Washington Utilities and Trans- portation Committee. Their media release also notes: “Actions proposed by PSE include a new discount rate for low-income customers and seniors, increased funding for low-income bill payment assistance, as well as a new program that would forgive the debt of eligible customers facing significant past-due balances.” According to PSE, the request covers more than $450 million of expenses driven by Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires utilities to be coal-free by 2025, carbon-neutral by 2030 and carbon-free by 2045. The incremental costs were laid out in the clean energy implementation plan PSE filed with WUTC in December In Washington, any proposed rate changes for an investor-owned utility undergo a review process of up to 11 months by the UTC. For more information, visit Puget Sound Energy’s website, pse.com Staffing Updates: Staff Promotions and New Employees: Mayor Severns announced current staff have received well-deserved promotions. Congratulations to: • Eric Benson, promotion from WWC/SD Specialist I to WWC/SD Specialist II • Mark Hitzeman, promotion from SD/WWC Specialist I to SD/WWC Specialist II • Cac Kamak, promotion from Senior Planner to Principal Planner • Ray Lindenberg, promotion from Associate Planner to Senior Planner • Marianne Ledgerwood, promotion from Paralegal to Senior Paralegal • Kim Perrine, promotion from Senior Administrative Assistant to Senior Legal Assistant • Cory Prusha, promotion from Lab Tech to Lab Chemist • Jack Robinson, promotion from Clean Water Facility (CWF) Lead to CWF Supervisor And welcomed the following new employees: • Michael Noll, Police Officer • Alanna Lake, Public Records Officer • Patti O’Mahony, Permit Coordinator • Jay Jones, Police Officer • Senovia Lehman, Grants Administrator • Peter Landry, Project Engineer Statement in Support of NAS Whidbey Island: Mayor Severns noted many had already seen a statement of support he sent to state and regional legislative representatives, area leaders, and news media. Mayor Severns stated he is continuing to promote and support the base and its training operations, which are so vital to our community and our country. This statement was provided to Council and was displayed on screen. b. Councilmembers Councilmembers Stucky, Hoffmire, Woessner, and Mayor Pro Tem Munns provided their respective questions and comments. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS & PUBLIC MEETINGS None. Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 3 of 6  7. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS a. Resolution 22-02: Approving Patrick McVay Acorn Sculpture Location City Archeologist and staff liaison to the Arts Commission Cauffman reviewed the resolution. The Arts Commission had originally sought to place the Acorn sculpture at the site of the 300 year-old fallen Garry Oak tree near the U.S. Post Office, however, the U.S. Postal Service was unable to approve of the location, as the sculpture would be considered a gift placed on U.S. property. A second location on Southeast Pioneer Way between Wells Fargo and People’s Bank, a portion of Windjammer Park, was unanimously selected by the Arts Commission and approved by the Parks Board and the Garry Oaks Society. Mayor Severns confirmed no public comments were received regarding the Acorn sculpture place- ment. Mayor Pro Tem Munns and Councilmembers Hizon, Woessner and Hoffmire provided their respective comments and questions. Motion: Councilmember Hoffmire moved to authorize the Mayor to execute Resolution 22-02 regard- ing the location of the Patrick McVay “Acorn” sculpture to be placed on Southeast Pioneer Way be- tween Wells Fargo and People’s Bank, on City property. Mayor Pro Tem Munns seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. 8. CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS a. Professional Services Agreement – BHC Consultants – Contract Renewal Development Services Director David Kuhl reviewed the contract renewal for building official, plans ex- amining and building inspection services. While the Development Services Department is back up to full staffing levels, occasionally there is a need to have a firm on-call for these services. The contract notes that the City is only charged for services when used. Mayor Severns confirmed no public comments were received regarding the contract renewal. Councilmember Hizon provided her respective comments and questions. Motion: Councilmember Hizon moved to approve the Professional Services Agreement Contract Amendment with BHC for Building Official Services. Mayor Pro Tem Munns seconded the motion which carried unanimously. b. Professional Services Agreement – Amendment No. 4 with Moffat & Nichol – Contract extension for consultant services – Marina F-Dock and other repairs Project Manager Brett Arvidson provided an update on the conditions and needed repairs. The Marina endured severe storm events in February 2020, January 2021 and November 2021, all with separate insurance claims. A portion of the costs of the repairs from the damage caused by these events is covered by insurance and a portion is funded by a Department of Commerce Grant. Recently a naviga- tion piling was damaged and has been added to the project. The project timelines necessitate extension of the contract, in part due to the in-water window for construction. The action item would extend the contract from March 31, 2022 to September 30, 2022 without increasing the total contract amount. Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 4 of 6 Mayor Severns confirmed no public comments were received regarding the services agreement. Mayor Pro Tem Munns and Councilmember Hizon provided their respective comments and questions. Motion: Councilmember Hizon moved to authorize the Mayor to sign the Professional Services Agree- ment, Amendment No. 4 with Moffatt and Nichol, extending the contract expiration date to September 30, 2022 without increasing the total contract amount. Councilmember Stucky seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. 9. REPORTS & DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Public Safety Level of Service Discussion Finance Director Goldman reviewed the discussion to date and presented funding options to Council should they decide to move forward with the creation of a second fire station in Southwest Oak Harbor, equipment, and personnel. He was joined by Fire Chief Merrill in presenting costs, Fire Department needs and improvements and options for property tax levy funding and outreach. Option 1 – Levy lid-lift for on-going operational costs, excess levy (60%) for fire station and Quint ladder truck bond. Land purchase and project design 2023, construction starts in 2023-24 Option 2 – Levy lid-lift (50%) for operational costs and save for Fire needs. Land purchase and project design 2023, construction starts in 2025-26. Director Goldman also reviewed proposed timing options and was joined by Communications /IT Man- ager Combs in reviewing the proposed outreach plans should the Council decide to move forward. Mayor Severns confirmed no public comments were received regarding this agenda item. Mayor Pro Tem Munns and Councilmembers Hizon, Hoffmire, Evans, Stucky and Woessner provided their respective comments and questions. Motion: Councilmember Stucky moved to direct staff to move forward with outreach activities based on Option #1 with the intention of the item being placed on the November 2022 General Election ballot. Councilmember Hoffmire seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. b. Planning Commission Annual Report to City Council Development Services Director Kuhl provided the annual report on behalf of the Planning Commission and noted 2021 accomplishments and continuing tasks. Councilmembers Stucky and Woessner provided their respective comments and questions. 10. EXECUTIVE SESSION a. To evaluate the qualifications of applicant candidates for appointment to elective office – City Council Position No. 3, per RCW 42.30.110(1)(h) Mayor Severns announced the Council would enter into Executive Session per RCW 42.30.110(1)(h) to evaluate the applications for Council Position No. 3. He noted the Executive Session was antici- pated to last no more than one half hour, and action to create a short list of candidates for interviews Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 5 of 6 at the February 23, 2022 Council Workshop would occur upon return to the open session. Executive Sessions are not open to the public. The Council took a short five-minute recess and then entered into Executive Session at 8:15 p.m. At 8:45 p.m. the Council came out of Executive Session and resumed the open session. 11. OTHER ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION a. Council creation of a short list for interviews for City Council Position No. 3 Mayor Severns noted for those who might have viewed the meeting packet online that included all of the applications, Mr. Hal Hovey contacted the City this week to withdraw his application. The other eight applicants were listed in order in which their applications were received. Mayor Pro Tem Munns sug- gested each Councilmember select their top four applicants. Mayor Severns polled each member of the Council to provide the candidates each wished to include to create a short list for interviews. The applicants selected by Council were: John Chaszar Stephenie “Fe” Mischo Eric Marshall Ronnie Wright Motion: Councilmember Hizon moved that Council move forward to interview the top four candidates, Chaszar, Mischo, Marshall and Wright. Mayor Pro Tem Munns seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. These four candidates will be interviewed by Council at their February 23, 2022 Workshop. Mayor Severns thanked all applicants for their interest and contributions to the City of Oak Harbor. ADJOURN Motion: Motion by Councilmember Woessner to adjourn, second by Mayor Pro Tem Munns. Motion was approved by a unanimous vote, therefore the meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Certified by Julie Lindsey, City Clerk Regular Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 6 of 6