City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday, November 19, 2013 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jim Cooper, Councilmember Julie Hankins, Councilmember Steve Langer and Councilmember Jeannine Roe Excused: 1 - Councilmember Karen Rogers 1.A ANNOUNCEMENTS City Manager Steve Hall introduced Paul Simmons as the new Parks, Arts & Recreation Director. Mr. Simmons briefly addressed the Council and highlighted what a great city Olympia is. 1.B APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Langer moved, seconded by Councilmember Hankins, to approve the agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 7 - Mayor Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Jones, Councilmember Cooper, Councilmember Hankins, Councilmember Langer, Councilmember Roe and Councilmember Rogers 2. SPECIAL RECOGNITION - None 3. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION Mr. Gurinder Sodhi, 420 Sherman St SW, congratulated Councilmembers who were recently elected and thanked Councilmember Rogers for her service. Ms. Patty Mosqueda spoke on behalf of the Rachel Corrie Leadership Project and introduced Mahmoud Mansour, a guest from Rafah Palestine. Mr. Mahmoud Mansour, from Gaza Strip Palestine, spoke about life there and his appreciation of being able to come to America. Interfaith Works Shelter Coordinator Meg Martin shared information on shelter services this week and said she is concerned about how quickly the shelter is filling up this early in the cold weather season. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 Partners in Prevention Education representative (PiPE) Sammy Harvell, 6065 61st Ave SE, Lacey, discussed violence against transgender people and invited the Council to attend the Transgender Day of Remembrance at Sylvester Park tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Mr. Allen Miller, 1617 Sylvester St SW, thanked the Council for the purchase of the isthmus properties for a park and recounted some of the history of the State Capitol Campus view corridor. Ms. Kayla Peirez also invited the Council to the Transgender Day of Remembrance tomorrow. COUNCIL RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION (Optional) Councilmembers thanked citizens for comments and welcomed Mr. Mansour to Olympia. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR 4.A 13-0959 Approval of November 12, 2013 Minutes for the Special Meeting for the Groundbreaking Ceremony for Family Shelter and Affordable Housing Project Mayor Buxbaum proposed amending the minutes to add the remarks he read at the event. The Council agreed to the change. The minutes were adopted as amended. 4.B 13-0972 Approval of November 12, 2013 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilmember Roe asked that the minutes reflect her request for more information from the Library regarding a breakdown of who goes to the library and what services are being provided. The Council agreed to the change. The minutes were adopted as amended. 4.C 13-0914 Special Tax Valuation for 2020 Water Street SW The contract was adopted. 4.D 13-0938 Approval of Interlocal Agreement with Intercity Transit for Safe Routes to School Grant The contract was adopted. 4.E 13-0947 Approval of Woodbury Crossing Phase I Re-Plat The decision was adopted. 4.F 13-0949 Approval of Interlocal Agreement with Thurston County Superior City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 Court for Jury Trial Services The contract was adopted. SECOND READINGS 4.G 13-0629 Adoption of Ordinance Annexing the Division Street Area (County Island) The ordinance was adopted on second reading. 4.H 13-0894 Approval of Appropriation Ordinance in the Amount of $1,076,000 for the 22nd Avenue Sidewalk Project The ordinance was adopted on second reading. FIRST READINGS 4.I 13-0941 Approval of Ad Valorem Tax Ordinance The ordinance was approved on first reading and moved to second reading. Approval of the Consent Agenda Councilmember Cooper moved, seconded by Councilmember Langer, to adopt the Consent Calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Mayor Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Jones, Councilmember Cooper, Councilmember Hankins, Councilmember Langer and Councilmember Roe Excused: 1 - Councilmember Rogers 5. PUBLIC HEARING - None 6. OTHER BUSINESS 6.A 13-0964 Continued Discussion on the 2014 City of Olympia Operating Budget Mayor Buxbaum provided, and the Council agreed to, a proposal for moving through tonight's discussion as follows: 1. Planning Commission recommendation regarding school impact fees 2. Staff updates on revenue, police budget, CP&D plans examiner 3. Finance Committee report/recommendations 4. Final questions/proposals for next week Planning Commission Recommendation Regarding School Impact Fees Discussion: City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 - Appreciation for the valuable input and work of the Planning Commission. - Agree with the Planning Commission recommendation that the School District work more closely with the City on impact fees. - Need greater consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. - Appreciate work and input with City advisory committees. - Need to improve the relationship with the School District. - Agree with Planning Commission transparency comments. - Ask the School District if they can take a different approach to identifying and approving school impact fees and whether implementation can be deferred by a year while they work on the impact fee formula. - Contact the School District regarding opportunities for joint meetings next year to discuss impact fees. - Acknowledge the Olympia Master Builders correspondence and note their request to leave school impact fees at the current rate instead of increasing as proposed. Staff Updates on Revenue, Police Budget, CP&D Plans Examiner Discussion: Revenue: Administrative Services Director Jane Kirkemo highlighted components of the preliminary 2014 operating budget revenues and compared Olympia to other similar-sized cities' revenue. City Manager Steve Hall indicated there will be approximately $27,800 unallocated for consideration at next week's budget discussion. Police Budget: Police Department Administrative Services Manager Laura Wohl reviewed the proposed use of the public safety tax measure that passed in 2012, which includes fully staffing police officers, updating technology and equipment, and refining enforcement options. Discussion: - Consider asking the School District to fully fund the School Resource Officers (SROs). - Consider using SROs downtown during summer months. - Refinement work in 2014 about who is being held in Olympia jail and for what reasons. - Request presentation to go on website. - Request more information for the future about implications of technology bottleneck in operations, want comparative information as to whether should make an investment to catch up. CP&D Plans Examiner: Mr. Hall proposed adding a plans examiner. This was a position that was cut in 2010 and the work has been done out of class. He indicated the funding is available to add the position back in. Discussion: - Where are we at with staffing for tree hazards? There is currently a .5 urban forester City of Olympia Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 position. Recent tree grants are work specific (e.g., tree plantings) and will not create capacity for dealing with hazard trees in 2014. - Adding the plans examiner position back into the budget makes sense. Finance Committee Report/Recommendations Discussion: Mayor Buxbaum reported on Finance Committee recommendations for consideration in the 2014 budget regarding revenue options, advisory board responses and a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) bike corridors and way finding pilot project. Revenue Options: - Concerned with continued underfunding of building repair and replacement. - Recommend not taking revenue enhancement actions now, but include in next year's Finance Committee work plan an evaluation of City revenues by the end of March or first week in April. - After evaluation of City revenues, recommend to the Council whether to consider Council manic or voter approved actions to increase taxes. Advisory Board Responses: - Work with staff to provide a written response to advisory committee letters to the Council regarding the budget. - Recommend staging formal meetings with advisory committees as an early part of next year's budget building process. - Thanks to the advisory committees for detailed responses on the budget. - Accolades for level of information getting back from advisory committees and value of relationships, also with Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA). BPAC Bike Corridors and Way Finding Pilot Project: - Recommendation to fund a pilot project in 2014. - Suggest asking staff to bring forward an alternative to fund the 2014 pilot at a $100,000 level. - Consider using the additional $27,800 in revenue identified by staff and the balance of 2013 Council goal money. Final Questions/Proposals for Next Week's Discussion: - Options to fund increasing the number of meetings and staffing for advisory committees to help complete work plans. Tie the work plans to the number of meetings. - Options to fund training for advisory committees again next year (e.g., Jurassic Parliament). - Options to fund more clean-up efforts downtown (e.g., tree trimming for areas of blocked lighting). - Options to fund the tree program. Consider adding .25 to the current .5 urban forester position; then in 2015 bring the position back to full time. - Delay additional funding for downtown clean-up efforts to see how effective current efforts are working (e.g., alcohol impact area, increased walking patrol, downtown alley lighting). City of Olympia Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 - Consider moving the tree program to the stormwater utility. Look at UAC recommendations on this topic. Ensure tree work continues to be aligned with good arborist practices. - Options for funding subarea planning. Following discussion on the proposals raised, the Council provided the following staff direction for next week's meeting: - Funding options for a .25 urban forester postion, and other means of support and long-term enhancement of urban forestry. - Funding options for the Finance Committee's recommendation on the BPAC pilot program proposal. - Adding the plans examiner position back into the budget. Mr. Hall summarized other Council proposals discussed tonight as follows: - As part of the General Government Committee's work on advisory committee work plans next year, the Committee will consider number of meetings, staff support, training, and scoping of liaison roles and relationships. - CDBG funding will be used for the Downtown Ambassador clean-up program for now, but will look longer-term on how to expand that program. - Continue areas of emphasis for downtown improvements. - The subarea planning dialogue is continuing, recommendations are still to come from the Land Use and Environment Committee, and the timing of moving forward will occur at the retreat. The discussion was completed. 7. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMUNICATION 8. REPORTS AND REFERRALS 8.A COUNCIL INTERGOVERNMENTAL/COMMITTEE REPORTS AND REFERRALS Councilmember Roe deferred her reports to next week. She noted she will not be at the December 10 Council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Jones reported he attended the 75th anniversary celebration for the Thurston Public Utilities District (PUD). Councilmember Hankins reported highlights from the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) Steering Committee meeting she attended. Councilmember Cooper reported highlights from National League of Cities (NLC) conference he attended. He also distributed the 2012 HOME Consortium annual report. Councilmember Langer reported highlights from the LOTT Clean Water Alliance meeting he attended. City of Olympia Page 6 City Council Meeting Minutes November 19, 2013 Mayor Buxbaum reported highlights from the Department of Enterprise Services 1063 Capitol Way block replacement project meeting, ribbon cutting at the Library for the solar panels, and Planning Commission meeting to report on the Community Renewal Area (CRA) efforts. 8.B CITY MANAGER'S REPORT AND REFERRALS Mr. Hall reported the Washington Center will remove scaffolding and construction materials this week. The contractor will be back in January to finish up the brick and stone work. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 p.m. City of Olympia Page 7