City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 This was both a physical meeting location and a virtual meeting. Meeting was viewable live via YouTube at www,youtube.com/cityofoakharbor, on Facebook, and on Cable Channel 10/HD 1090 following the meeting CALL TO ORDER Mayor Wright called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Invocation – Pastor Josh Hubbard, Life Church Pledge of Allegiance – Led by Mayor Wright ROLL CALL City Council Present: Staff Present/Videoconference Mayor Ronnie Wright City Administrator Blaine Oborn Mayor Pro Tem Tara Hizon Deputy City Admin. & Finance Director David Goldman Councilmember Jim Woessner - absent Development Services Director David Kuhl Councilmember Bryan Stucky Public Works Director Steve Schuller Councilmember Shane Hoffmire Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith Councilmember Eric Marshall Police Chief Tony Slowik Councilmember Christopher Wiegenstein Deputy Fire Chief Mike Buxton Councilmember Barbara Armes Principal Planner Cac Kamak Harbormaster Chris Sublet Project Manager Brett Arvidson Grants Administrator Wendy Horn Executive Services Administrator Sabrina Combs Executive Assistant Macalle Finkle City Clerk Julie Nester Also in attendance: City Attorney Bob Zeinemann of Kenyon Disend, PLLC EXCUSE ABSENT COUNCILMEMBERS Mayor Wright welcomed all in attendance. He noted Councilmember Woessner had asked to be ex- cused. Motion: Councilmember Wiegenstein moved to excuse Councilmember Woessner. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Hoffmire and passed unanimously. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Wright noted staff had requested two changes to the agenda. The first was that to better satisfy notice requirements to the Department of Commerce, staff has requested the postponement of the public Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 1 of 10 hearing for the 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendments to April 16th. The public hearing will be removed from tonight’s agenda and re-noticed. The second change is to move the Consent agenda item – Purchase Authorization- Playground Wood Chips 2024 to the Other Items for Consideration portion of the agenda. Additionally, a glitch in the present agenda software inadvertently changed the order of the agenda and placed Mayor and Council Comments ahead of the Consent Agenda. Staff requested this be moved to its usual place AFTER the Consent Agenda. Mayor Wright requested a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Mayor Pro Tem Hizon favored leaving the order of the agenda as published but was in favor of the other changes. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Hizon moved to approve moving item 6.a. Public Hearing for 2023 Compre- hensive Plan Amendments to a future meeting and to move item 5.c. Purchase Authorization: Play- ground Woodchips 2024 to item 9.f. on the agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Wiegenstein. The vote on the motion passed unanimously. 2. PRESENTATIONS a. Proclamations – None. b. Honors & Recognitions - None c. Community Presentations - None 3. CITIZEN COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Wright noted citizens may comment on Consent Agenda items or subjects of interest not listed on the agenda at this time and that citizens would have the opportunity to comment on the remaining Agenda items during the meeting as appropriate. Citizens can also visit the City’s website prior to meetings for methods to submit public comment, or contact the City Clerk, Julie Nester by phone or email. When submitting comments, please include your name and address. Public comments sent anonymously will be shared with the Mayor and Council but will not be displayed. The City received several new public comments since the last regular meeting, one from Darren McCoy in support of a community recreation and performing arts center, and from Bonnie LaForest, Kristine O’Connor, Jim O’Conner, M. Beaumont, Cynthia Brooks, and Erlene VanDerMeer, all of Oak Harbor, proposing the new Fire Station be named for former Fire Chief Ray Merrill, as well as a letter that was submitted to the Editor of the Whidbey News Times from Jim O’Conner regarding former Fire Chief Merrill. The comments were displayed on screen. Mayor Wright opened the floor for public comment on items not on the agenda or items on the consent agenda. 1. Nolan Saltonstall of the Mr. Oak Harbor Royal Court spoke with an update of their support for the Recreation Center. He reported 120 flyers were delivered to local businesses along SR-20 and Pioneer Way. Also scheduled is a Mod Pizza “takeover” for April 11, 2024 to raise funds. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 2 of 10  The Court is also considering creating a petition of support. He thanked the Council for their support. 2. Brett Widdicombe, addressed the Council. He noted he was speaking as a contractor working at the development known as Admiral Cove regarding the need for better inspection of roofing per- mits and installation, noting he had needed to do many repairs for what he deemed improper installation. Hearing no one else with a desire to address the Council, the public comment period was closed. 4. CONSENT AGENDA Consent Items a. Approval of Minutes: City Council Meeting of February 5, 2024 and City Council Retreat of February 12, 2024 b. Approval of Payroll and Accounts Payable Vouchers c. Purchase Authorization – Playground Wood Chips 2024 – This item was moved to the Other Items for Consideration portion of the agenda. d. 2024 Street Overlay Project – Interagency Agreement with Island County Mayor Wright noted the approved change of item c. to the Other Items for Consideration portion of the agenda. He called for any additional changes to the consent agenda. Hearing none, the remaining con- sent agenda was approved as presented. 5. MAYOR, COUNCIL & STAFF COMMENTS a. Mayor’s Comments Mayor Wright provided the following comments: • Mayor and Council Retreat: The Council and I met with City leadership staff for a Special meeting on February 12th at the Whidbey Island Campus of Skagit Valley College. Items discussed included mu- nicipal budgeting and insurance, Mayor and Council guidelines, and Mayor and Council priorities. Staff will be bringing a presentation on these overarching priorities to future workshop. • Staffing Updates: Interim Fire Chief: The City received referrals from three firms, conducted interviews, and will soon make a selection on an Interim Fire Chief. The Interim Chief will serve for a period of three-six months while we look to fill this full-time position. Recreation Coordinator: We have completed interviews and hired a Recreation Coordinator for our Parks and Recreation Department. We are excited to have filled this position in time for our spring and summer seasonal activities. • Advisory Boards: The City has vacancies on many of its advisory boards, please visit our website for details. Additionally, Police Chief Slowik will be reestablishing the department’s community advisory board. • Mayor’s First 100 Days in Office Report: I am 50 days into my first 100 days as Mayor of our fair city. I met with Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson last week and we have agreed to plan a joint meet- ing with the Board of County Commissioners and our Council. I’ve directed staff to coordinate schedul- ing. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 3 of 10 I attended the Association of Washington Cities Conference in Lacey and Olympia and met with our area representatives. Also in attendance were Councilmembers Armes, Marshall, and Wiegenstein and City Administrator Oborn. I was pleased to join our Finance department for their luncheon to celebrate our successful annual audit by the Washington State Auditor’s Office. Many thanks to our staff for their diligence and expertise. I enjoyed a great visit with our Public Works and Engineering staff at their facility. • Facility Updates – Many thanks to our Public Works Operations team of Tom, Sandra and Katie for carrying out several facilities related projects at City Hall as we look to make the best use of our space here. • Conference Rooms Available for Council Members: City Hall has small conference areas available for Councilmembers who need a space for occasional meetings. Please see Macalle or Sabrina to book space in advance as needed. b. Councilmembers Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and Councilmembers Hoffmire, Wiegenstein and Stucky provided their respective comments. Mayor Pro Tem Hizon was appreciative of staff working to schedule a joint meeting with the Island County Commissioners. She wondered if it would appropriate for the Council to meet with the City’s advisory boards and commissions as well and noted she would like to get an update once per year from each. Councilmember Hoffmire noted it was nice to see the Whidbey Royalty in attendance at the Workshop. Councilmember Wiegenstein also acknowledged the Royalty and expressed his gratitude for the oppor- tunity to make the trip to Olympia for the AWC Conference and top advocate for Oak Harbor’s needs. Councilmember Stucky also thanked the Royalty for attending. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS & MEETINGS a. Ordinance No. 1994: 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendments – This item was removed from the agenda and will be rescheduled and re-noticed for April 16, 2024. b. Ordinance No. 1974: Area wide Rezone with Zoning Map Adoption of all Planned Business Park and Planned Industrial Park to Industrial and accompanying text attachment to Oak Harbor Mu- nicipal Code removing references to Planned Business Park and Planned Industrial Park Principal Planner Kamak presented the item, which was a follow up action to implement the changes made in the 2022 Comprehensive Plan Amendment to collapse the Planned Industrial Park (PIP) and Planned Business Park (PBP) into Industrial (I). The action requested by Council was to approve the area-wide rezoning and adopt the revised zoning map along with the text amendment to remove all references to these zoning districts in the zoning ordinance. The Planning Commission and the City Council deliberated on this item in 2022 and amended the Land Use Element to support collapsing these zoning districts into one industrial zone Principal Planner Kamak noted that only one property was zoned PBP in the City. That property was reclassified in 2021 to Public Facility to accommodate park land and what is now known as the Harbor Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 4 of 10 Heights property. That action eliminated the PBP zoned land. That left the City with just the PIP and I designated lands for the Industrial Land Use category. Recognizing that the PIP regulations were struc- tured similar to the PBP for its development, which was process intensive, the City took the opportunity in 2022 to simplify it and integrate them all into the Industrial zoning classification. Collapsing these districts into the Industrial zone requires an action to rezone all properties that are designated as PIP and PBP to I. Since there are no more properties designated as PBP, this action is mainly rezoning all the PIP designated land into I, Industrial zone. All lands designated currently as I, Industrial will remain as is without any changes. This area-wide rezone will need to be accompanied by text amendments to remove references to these districts in the OHMC. The text amendments will remove almost all references to PBP and the PIP zoning districts. It also amends the zoning use table to combine these uses into the Industrial district. The area wide rezone and the text amendments follow Review Process V in accordance with OHMC 18.20.270. This includes a public hearing before the Planning Commission and the City Council. The Planning Commission conducted a hearing at its January 23, 2024 meeting and unanimously approved the Ordinance and provided their recommendation to the City Council. The process also included a SEPA review and 60-day notification to Department of Commerce. A neighbor notification letter was mailed to the property owners in October 2023. Mayor Wright opened the public hearing and confirmed no public comments had been received. He requested any additional public comments from those gathered. Hearing no comments, Mayor Wright closed the public hearing and called upon the Council for their questions and comments. Councilmember Hoffmire provided his respective questions and comments. Motion: Councilmember Stucky moved to approve Ordinance No. 1974 and adopt the revised Zoning Map reclassifying all PIP and PBP zoned properties to I, Industrial zoning, and adopt the text amend- ments to remove all references to PIP and PBP and combine the uses into the Industrial zone in Oak Harbor Municipal Code (OHMC) 19.20.1050 Permitted Use table. The motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and carried unanimously. 7. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS None. 8. CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS None. 9. OTHER ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION a. Fire Department Assistance to Firefighter Grant Request Grants Administrator Horn presented the grant request. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers two grants to fire departments on an annual basis. The Assistance to Firefighters grant (AFG) provides funding for equipment. The Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant supports hiring and retaining firefighters. Each year, FEMA creates a priority list of equipment that the AFG will support. This year, priority equip- ment includes P-25 compliant portable radios. The federal government has mandated that all emergency responders replace all radios and radio equipment with P-25 compliant equipment by 2030. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 5 of 10 P-25 compliant radios feature dual-band capability (VHF and UHF), improves communication between firefighters and other first responders, are GPS capable, and enhances the safety of first responders. The majority of the Fire Department's radios are past their useful life, are not P-25 compliant and need to be replaced. The request to FEMA will replace 24 portable radios and provide one P-25 compliant portable radio for each vehicle seat. Mayor Wright confirmed no comments had been received and called for any comments from those in attendance. Hearing none, he requested Council comments. Councilmember Stucky and Mayor Pro Tem Hizon provided their respective questions and comments. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Hizon moved to authorize the Mayor to approve the FEMA Assistance to Fire- fighters grant request for P-25 compliant portable radio replacements. Councilmember Hoffmire se- conded the motion, which carried unanimously. b. Marina Dredging Project – Adoption of Marina Dredging Feasibility Plan Project Manager Brett Arvidson presented the item and provided background and summary information. Harbor Master Chris Sublet also reported and responded to questions. The City of Oak Harbor Marina requires dredging of sediment approximately every 10 years. The marina was partially dredged in 2010/2011 and has experienced significant sedimentation to the point that the marina water depth has become a concern. 47 citizens attended the Marina Dredging Open House. Dredging concepts were presented to the Marian Advisory Board. Dredging the marina will require an extensive engineering and permitting process estimated to take several years to complete. The City retained Moffat & Nichol, Inc to prepare a feasibility study to evaluate the dredging needs and establish a path forward through the permitting, design, and construction stages of this project. Staff is recommending the adoption of the City of Oak Harbor Dredging Feasibility Plan with Alternative 1 -Dredging to the Maximum Extent Possible as the preferred option. Costs are esti- mated at approximately $12 million. The dredging concepts were presented to the Marina Advisory Committee and the City held an open house for the public. To summarize the comments: • The Marina Advisory Committee generally supports dredging to the maximum extent possible to support the long-term sustainability of the marina. • The public comment generally supported the marina itself and dredging to the maximum extent possible. • Many questions arose regarding dredging the channel to the marina, which is outside the scope of this project. • The public also provided many anecdotes of boats grounding during low tide events in the sum- mer. • Many questions were received about the marina finances and the impact of this project on marina rates. • A summary of public comments is contained in Attachment B of the meeting packet. Staff’s recommendation was adoption of the City of Oak Harbor Dredging Feasibility Plan with Alterna- tive 1 -Dredging to the Maximum Extent Possible as the preferred option. This option provides the fol- lowing: • Alternative 1 allows the city to dredge areas neglected during the 2010 dredging. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 6 of 10  • Alternative 1 reduces the cost of dredging in the 10-year dredging cycle and would allow for minor dredging at the end of the permit period. • Alternative 1 maximizes the operational functionality of the marina. • Alternative 1 provides the maximum coverage in the permit process and allows the use of the permit period for additional dredging. • Alternative 1 is easily scaled back in the event of regulatory or financial restrictions. Preliminary methods of funding this work was explored in the Feasibility Plan. The funding sources will include capital reserves, grants, debt financing, and marina revenues. The eventual costs and funding sources will be resolved as the project progresses. This project will require several years to complete, and the work is broken into four phases: Phase 1-Feasibility Plan Phase 2-Preliminary Engineering and Permitting Phase 3-Final Engineering Phase 4- Construction Period Services With adoption of this City of Oak Harbor Dredging Feasibility Plan the work enters Phase 2 of the project. The project is targeting the 2026/2027 dredging in-water window to perform the dredging. A contract amendment with Moffat & Nichol for Phase 2 activities will be presented at a later date. A full copy of the feasibility study was included in the meeting packet. Mayor Wright confirmed no comments had been received and called for any comments from those in attendance. Hearing none, he requested Council comments. Councilmember Stucky and Mayor Wright provided their respective questions and comments. Motion: Councilmember Marshall moved to adopt the City of Oak Harbor Marina Dredging Feasibility Study with Alternative 1 as the preferred option. Councilmember Wiegenstein seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. c. Washington Cities Insurance Authority (WCIA) Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith presented the item. The Washington Cities Insurance Au- thority (WCIA Risk Reduction Mitigation grant program is intended to supplement and support WCIA goals and the member's risk management programs and reduce covered liability exposures for current WCIA members. The Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the Police Department would like to apply for this grant to purchase and install three security cameras at Ft. Nugent Park, specifically in the Concessions/Restroom area. The purpose of the security cameras is to identify vandals and deter future vandalism, graffiti and property damage and destruction. The park is heavily used by the public. Unfortunately, it is also a regular target for vandalism and property destruction. There have been times when the City had to close the restrooms all together in order to prevent further damage. This request is for phase one of the project. Phase two will install cameras at one of the shelters and also on the other side of the playground. Phase three will provide a live streaming application to all the cameras. Phase two and three will be budgeted through the 2025-2026 biennial budgeting process. Mayor Wright confirmed no comments had been received and called for any comments from those in attendance. Hearing none, he requested Council comments. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 7 of 10 Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and Councilmembers Wiegenstein, Stucky, and Marshall provided their respec- tive questions and comments. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Hizon moved to approve the Mayor authorizing the application for the WCIA Risk Reduction Grant Program, seconded by Councilmember Hoffmire. The vote on the motion carried unanimously. d. Police Department Small Rural Tribal Body Worn Camera Grant Application Approval Police Chief Tony Slowik and Grants Administrator Wendy Horn presented the item. The Police Department applied to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) for a grant to replace its body worn cameras. WASPC awarded OHPD partial funding. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Small Rural Tribal Body Worn Camera offers grants to publicly funded law enforcement agencies with 50 or fewer full-time sworn officers; or rural law enforcement agencies; or Federally recognized tribal law enforcement agencies. The Police Department is requesting approval to apply for funds from DOJ for the remainder of the replacement cameras and a camera redaction software contract. The grant requires a 1:1 match, which can be monetary or in-kind. The Police Department often works with the DOJ and provides camera footage when requested and will this staff time as an in-kind match. $30,804.00 is not budgeted in 2024. A budget amendment will be brought before the City Council for approval if the grant is awarded. Mayor Wright confirmed no comments had been received and called for any comments from those in attendance. Hearing none, he requested Council comments. Councilmember Wiegenstein provided his respective questions and comments. Motion: Councilmember Stucky moved to authorize the Mayor to approve the application to the US Department of Justice Small Rural Tribal Body Worn Camera grant program. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Wiegenstein and passed unanimously. e. Purchase of “Song of the Salish Sea” Mural Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith presented the item. The Arts Commission is recommending purchase of a 20'X4' mural for display at either the Interpretive Center or City Hall. The Mural "Song of the Salish Sea" by local artists Nick and Kendall Mann is for sale for $10,000. Funding for the $10,000 purchase expense will come from Fund 115 Creative Arts Fund. If approved, staff will include this amount in the mid-year 2024 budget amendment for Council approval. The City received one public comment in support of this item from Arts Commission Chair Cynthia Ma- son. Arts Commission Member Terese Kingsbury was in attendance and responded to questions. Mayor Wright requested Council comments. Councilmembers Hoffmire, Wiegenstein and Marshall provided their respective questions and com- ments. Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 8 of 10 Motion: Councilmember Wiegenstein moved to authorize use of the Creative Arts Fund for the purchase of the mural "Song of the Salish Sea" for up to $10,000. Councilmember Hoffmire seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. f. Purchase Authorization – Playground Wood Chips 2024 Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith to present the item. . As part of the City’s playground safety checks, Parks Operations staff measures the amount of fall safety surfaces around playground equipment. Certified engineered wood fiber playground chips are one of the approved fill materials critical to providing safe parks by creating a cushion for falls. Currently, five city parks have lower than the required 12 inches of wood chips. Staff solicited bids for the supply, delivery, and blow-in installation of certified wood chips to bring these parks back up to compliance of required safety standards. Staff opened bids for the five city parks listed below: 1. Fort Nugent Park 2. Windjammer Park 3. Ruth Cohen Park 4. Woodbury Park 5. Redwing Park Staff began soliciting formal bids for this project on December 27, 2023, utilizing the Whidbey News- Times, Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, and the city’s website. Staff received four (4) bids by the January 10, 2024, deadline. The bid amounts are provided below: Vendor Bid Amount Denbow $92,555.17 Northwest Playground Equipment $98,132.70 Northhill Resources $118,169.63 Great Western Recreation $124,246.38 Staff has reviewed the bids and determined that Denbow Environmental Solutions is the lowest, most responsible bidder. Funding: This project is not currently budgeted. The funding for this project will come from REET 2 revenues, which can be used for planning, construction, reconstructing, repair, rehabilitation, or improve- ment of parks. If approved, this will be included in a future budget amendment that will be brought to the City Council for approval. Mayor Wright confirmed no comments had been received and called for any comments from those in attendance. Hearing none, he requested Council comments. Councilmembers Wiegenstein, Hoffmire, Stucky, Marshall and Mayor Pro Tem Hizon provided their re- spective questions and comments as did Mayor Wright. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Hizon moved to award the bid to Denbow Environmental Solutions for $92,555,17, seconded by Councilmember Marshall. The vote on the motion passed unanimously. 10. REPORTS & DISCUSSION ITEMS None Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 9 of 10 11. EXECUTIVE SESSION None. Adjourn Motion: There being no further business, Mayor Wright called for a motion to adjourn. Councilmember Wiegenstein moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilmember Marshall. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote, therefore the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Certified by Julie Nester, City Clerk Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 Page 10 of 10