City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Severns called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. This was both a physical meeting location and a virtual meeting per WA Proclamation 20-28. The meeting was viewable live via YouTube at www.youtube.com/cityofoakharbor or could be viewed on Channel 10/HD 1090. Public Comments are not normally included for Council Workshops). ROLL CALL City Council Present: Staff Present: Videoconference Mayor Robert Severns City Administrator Blaine Oborn Mayor Pro Tem Beth Munns - absent Finance Director David Goldman Councilmember Tara Hizon Development Services Director David Kuhl Councilmember Jim Woessner Public Works Director Steve Schuller Councilmember Bryan Stucky City Engineer Alex Warner Councilmember Shane Hoffmire Engineering Technician Jon Pollock Councilmember Dan Evans Senior Planner Ray Lindenburg Councilmember Eric Marshall - Fire Chief Ray Merrill absent Police Chief Dresker Harbormaster Chris Sublet Project Manager Brett Arvidson City Administrator Executive Assistant Macalle Finkle Communications & IT Manager Sabrina Combs City Clerk Julie Lindsey Also in attendance: Interim City Attorney Hillary J. Evans of Kenyon Disend, PLLC MAYOR Mayor Severns noted as there were no items for action, he would not request the Clerk to call the roll. Mayor Severns observed that Mayor Pro Tem Munns and Councilmember Marshall had asked to be excused and Councilmember Hizon was attending remotely. ADMINSTRATION a. Presentation: Washington Water Trails – Camping in Windjammer Park Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 City Administrator Oborn provided background and information. In May of 2019, the Council decided that no camping would be allowed in any City parks. The Washington Water Trails Association participants had historically included the location at what is now Windjammer Park among the stops on their chain of waterfront park areas reached by non-powered boats, such as kayaks or canoes for overnight camping. He introduced Andree Hurley, Executive Director of the Washington Water Trails Association, along with Bill Walker, who reviewed the history and background information on Washington Water Trails. As camping by their association members was infrequent, they learned after the fact about the City’s no camping determination and sought an exemption for camping. WWTA has had a usage agreement in the past and would seek to renew that agreement. The Association has memorandums of understanding with Washington State Parks and with several Counties and Cities from Olympia to British Columbia, Canada. City Administrator Oborn noted that if Council had an interest in amending the code to allow exceptions for camping per the WWTA past usage agreement and/or for special events, staff will draft an ordinance amendment to bring to Council at a later date. This met with the consensus of the Council. Councilmembers Evans, Stucky, and Hoffmire provided their respective comments and questions. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES a. Zoning Code Revisions: Temporary Gravel Roads and Parking Lots Development Services Director Kuhl reviewed the zoning code revisions for Council. With the initial development of the new 75-acre Harbor Heights Park, the need to phase in improvements has been identified. He explained the first phase of the park is slated to have four soccer fields. With a park this size, the ability to design and install a complete road and parking lot system is financially challenging. Since there is so much land to install new roads, the concept of designing and installing gravel roads has surfaced, as well as consideration of gravel parking. This could lead to possible code changes that would allow temporary gravel roads and parking lots in parks of a certain size. The park could be any size, but this code change is geared for larger parks of 20-40 acres or more. Installation of asphalt roads and parking lots would be expensive on large sites. Allowing a gravel road and gravel parking lot system would help defer these upfront costs. The term “temporary” could be defined by the length of the six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), or it could be found in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). It could be based on some other undefined timeline as well. The vision is to eventually install asphalt roads and parking lots with lighting and landscaping. Director Kuhl provided estimated cost and value engineering comparisons. A gravel grid profile system would follow the Federal Highway Administration standards. Gravel roads and parking lots would be considered by staff to be an interim measure, and these would eventually be asphalted. Councilmembers Hoffmire and Hizon provided their respective comments and questions. In response to requests by Council, Director Kuhl will supply and elevation map of the park property and will bring a proposed action item for consideration at a later date. b. Residential Density Standards Senior Planner Ray Lindenburg presented this item to Council. With the adoption of the Housing Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 Action Plan (HAP) on June 1, 2021 via Resolution 21-17, the City Council expressed interest in implementation of the recommendations of that plan. The approximately 20 recommendations included steps that may be undertaken by the City to increase accessibility and affordability of housing for local residents. One key component of this process is the possibility of reducing minimum lot sizes to achieve greater density and reduce the reliance on the PRD process, which may increase development costs and therefore reduce affordability. Secondary benefits to this proposal are the ability of smaller, infill lots to be developed with more appropriately sized lots and the overall increase in density in the urban areas with existing utilities and infrastructure. Staff has reviewed several peer city zoning codes to determine potential code changes that will achieve the above-stated goals and found many have either reduced minimum lot sizes, or removed a minimum lot size requirement entirely, allowing the density standards in units per acre, be the limiting factor in lot sizes. An overview of these two philosophies was included in the Workshop packet for Council discussion. Revision Concepts: In the ‘lot size concept,’ staff has determined that a 4000 square foot minimum lot size falls in line with not only what other peer cities have switched to, but a reasonable analogue to the density that recent Oak Harbor PRD subdivisions have achieved through that process. For the ‘density concept,’ staff has reviewed peer cities and the recent developments in Oak Harbor and recommends taking the potentially revised density standards that are noted in the lot size concept and apply them as the regulating factor for lot sizes. Planner Lindenburg reviewed the particulars of both concepts and alternatives with staff favoring the density concept as it would provide a wider range of options and creative design, encouraging attractive buildings with greater density. Councilmembers Woessner, Stucky and Hoffmire provided their respective comments and questions. The consensus of Council favored the density concept. Planner Lindenburg reviewed the next steps and will bring a proposed action to Council at a later date. c. Zoning Code Revisions: Housekeeping. Development Services Director Kuhl reviewed four housekeeping items relating to different areas of the Oak Harbor Municipal Code relating to fire protection systems in buildings, updating existing building codes to match non-conforming codes, clarifying an earlier code change that created a new zoning matric, and eliminating the need to have an owner occupy the site of an accessory dwelling unit. Those sections reviewed were: Fire Sprinklers (Section 8.05.050) Existing Buildings (Section 8.05.020 Permitted Principal Uses in Industrial Zoning (Section 19.20.730) Accessory Dwelling Units (Section 19.42.050) Director Kuhl reviewed the proposed updates to all areas for Council discussion. Councilmembers Woessner, Stucky, Hoffmire, Evans and Hizon provided their respective comments and questions. The consensus of the Council was agreement with the proposed updates to Section 8.05.050 – Fire Sprinklers, Section 19.20.730 – Permitted Principal Uses in Industrial Zoning, and Section 19.42.050 – Accessory Dwelling Units. Members of Council preferred to see clearer Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 language in regards to replacement versus assessed value for existing buildings – Section 8.05.020. Staff will review and bring back clarifications to Council at a later date. MARINA a. Marina Dredging Update Harbormaster Sublet reviewed the item for Council. The Oak Harbor Marina has traditionally been dredged every 10-15 years and was last dredged in 2010/2011. Only half of the marina was dredged during this effort and the marina is now silting in, making parts of the marina unusable at low tides. Prior to 2010/2011, the marina was last dredged in 1996/1997. The next dredge project feasibility study was originally budgeted for 2024 however with the amount of silting in that is occurring, a budget amendment was made, and the feasibility study is now budgeted for 2022. Once a Marine Engineering company is hired, it will likely be several years before the actual dredging occurs. The Marina Advisory Committee makes a formal recommendation to begin the dredge project. The MAC made this recommendation at the September 13, 2021, meeting. Harbormaster Sublet reviewed the steps for the dredge project for Council. He noted each of these steps has many sub-steps and are likely to take 2 – 3 years to accomplish until the actual dredging starts. Staff is estimating that this dredge project will cost approximately $4,000,000 - $5,000,000. It is likely that the marina will have to purchase a bond to finance the project which may result in significantly higher rates for the boaters and people that rent moorage and storage at the marina. The marina has 5120’ of dock space with 2650’ that is open to the public. Since 52% of the marina is open to the public, it is likely that the City will be asked to contribute some funds for the project. It should be noted that one of the conditions of the marina lease with the Department of Natural Resources is to remove the sunken barges on the south side of the marina that were once used as a breakwater. Since it takes the same type of equipment to remove the barges as it does to dredge it is likely, that we will have them removed as part of this project. The estimated removal cost for removal of the barges is approximately $150,000. In addition to removing the sunken barges, it is likely that there will also be a significant amount of mitigation required for this project. Harbormaster Sublet introduced Ken Hulett Chairman of the Marina Advisory Committee who provided additional comments on the dredge project. City Administrator Oborn also provided information on comparisons to port districts. Oak Harbor is one of just a few cities that owns and manages a marina. Councilmembers Hoffmire, Woessner and Evans provided their respective comments and questions. Harbormaster Sublet will bring a proposed action to Council at a later date. ENGINEERING a. Geographic Information System (GIS) Update Public Works Director Schuller introduced City Engineer Warner to provide the update. The City’s GIS system is a continuous work process and, with updates, will more accurately provide mapping information to various audiences in a timely manner. Various City departments need access to multiple types of mapping information to enhance their levels of service and to promote efficiency in Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 delivering that service. In addition, the general public, researchers, and land developers request mapping information routinely. Council has long stated a desire to have the City’s mapping information available to all parties that would like to review it. City Engineer Warner was joined by Engineering Technician Jon Pollock who reviewed the details of the system and how to access it. This presentation outlined the Engineering Division’s efforts to bring Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) online in accessible internet applications. City Engineer Warner and Technician Pollock provided a brief demonstration of the capability of the applications. Staff requested Council’s consent to make the applications available for public access through links on the City’s website. Councilmembers Evans and Hoffmire provided their respective comments and questions. The Council consensus was in favor of providing public access through the website. b. Revisions to Water Code Public Works Director Schuller, City Engineer Warner ND Engineering Technician Pollock provided the report. Since 1975, when Ordinance No. 403 was adopted, several advances in water main materials have occurred. Some pipe materials presently authorized by OHMC 13.28.040 are no longer available or are incompatible with sound design principles and there are newer design considerations to best meet water demands for firefighting efforts. In addition, certain agencies referenced by the current Code no longer exist and should be replaced with agencies that do. No current authority in Code is provided to the City explicitly securing the power to regulate how obsolete water infrastructure may be decommissioned. While this has been generally accepted as practice by development review, it is wise to establish through Code the methods and requirements to promote orderly disposal of infrastructure items. The proposed ordinance provides an update to design characteristics of the water infrastructure, enables staff to respond to advances in materials and standards swiftly, and ensures that decommissioning of obsolete water infrastructure proceeds in a managed fashion that will not conflict with the Comprehensive Water Utility Plan. There were no comments by Council. This ordinance will be brought to the May 17, 2022 City Council Meeting for adoption. ADMINISTRATION a. City Administrator Report City Administrator Oborn provided a review of his report which was presented in a mixed narrative and metrics format. He called attention to highlights from each operating area and responded to questions from Council. Chief of Police Dresker spoke in regards to the Police department section of the report. He explained Island County obtained a grant and is working with the Police Department to provide a behavioral health support staff person as a three-year shared resource. This support specialist will work with Police Department officers to be proactive and make outreach to those needing mental health or substance abuse resources. A second staff specialist was also funded to work at the County offices. Councilmembers Stucky, Hoffmire and Hizon provided their respective comments and questions. Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022 CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Evans provided his comments, noting he would be participating in a fund raising event for the Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce at the Holland Happening event. ADJOURN There being no further reports or discussions, Mayor Severns thanked all for their participation and adjourned the workshop meeting at 4:26 p.m. Certified by Julie Lindsey, City Clerk Workshop Meeting Minutes April 27, 2022