Public Works Committee

TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING July 7, 2022 Page 1 CONVENE: 8:00 a.m. PRESENT: Chair Eileen Swarthout and Councilmembers Michael Althauser and Charlie Schneider. Staff: City Administrator John Doan, Water Resources & Sustainability Director Dan Smith, Planning Manager Brad Medrud, Transportation Manager Mary Heather Ames, Transportation Engineer Christopher Ed, Sustainability Coordinator Alyssa Jones Wood, and Administrative Assistant Cathy Nielsen. ORDINANCE NO. Manager Medrud briefed members on proposed amendments to the O2022-006, Development Guide supporting other amendments to Title 17 and 18 of the PLANNED UNIT Tumwater Municipal Code. Planned unit development (PUD) regulations DEVELOPMENT – have not been substantially updated since 2000. In other jurisdictions, PUD DEVELOPMENT regulations provide a quantifiable public benefit in exchange for flexibility of GUIDE existing regulations. Currently, PUDs in the City provide developers with AMENDMENTS – flexibility but they have not provided any quantifiable benefits to the public. PRIVATE The larger amendment proposal addresses how the City would balance STREETS: developer flexibility for public benefit. The General Government Committee is scheduled to review the proposal at its next meeting. A smaller component of the larger process addresses public and private streets within a PUD. Current regulations for PUDs do not clearly address requirements for public and private streets within a development. The City desires to restrict when new private streets are allowed and when public streets are required because private streets require maintenance by the private owners surrounding private streets. In many cases, insufficient resources exist to maintain private streets often resulting in the City intervening to provide street maintenance of private streets. The amendments are intended to provide specificity as to when private streets are allowed to include some amendments as part of the Tumwater Development Guide. The proposal includes an amendment to the definition in TMC Chapter 17.04.385 to ensure the definition is consistent with the definition within the Development Guide. A similar change is proposed to the definitions in the Development Guide in Section 3.4 Definitions and Terms. The most substantial change is in Section 4.8 in the Development Guide that speaks to when private streets may be allowed. For residential development, the developer may construct a private street for up to four dwelling units. Those situations generally apply to a short plat or a larger subdivision containing a portion of a lot that requires more design for access. It is also possible to allow private streets if a dwelling unit meets the federal definition of low- income to afford more flexibility to the developer by allowing private streets serving up to nine detached single-family units or up to 35 attached single or multi-family dwelling units. A private street could also serve up to four businesses in separate parcels or four businesses located on one parcel. Language on private streets was updated for the former Airdustrial Park (now TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING July 7, 2022 Page 2 New Market Industrial Center) and removal of language that referred to an improved PUD allowing private streets to a higher level for more lots than typically allowed for other types of development. Private streets must include provisions for future use for adjacent properties when applicable to avoid land locking parcels in the future. Other changes are minor in nature in Section 3.18 of the Development Guide by adding language addressing utility extensions that must be limited within the urban growth area as reflected in language in the Growth Management Act. Private streets must meet minimum design standards as outlined in the Development Guide. The Planning Commission conducted a public hearing and recommended approval of the amendments. The next step is reviewing the proposal with the General Government Committee followed by the Council’s worksession for final consideration by the Council in August. Chair Swarthout inquired about an example of a PUD project. Manager Medrud said when subdivision applications are filed for a preliminary plat, a PUD application accompanies the preliminary plat application. The PUD application enables more flexibility in zoning regulations, such as more leniency in setback or lot coverage requirements. All applications are considered one package for review through the City’s development review process and notification to the public and to the hearing examiner for review and approval. A number of private streets are located within the City limits established through a variety of processes. Tumwater Hill contains a number of private streets. City Administrator Doan added that blue street signs designate the street as private while green street signs designate streets as public. Manager Medrud explained that after receiving approval of a preliminary plat, the developer has up to five years to complete the project. The developer is responsible for constructing all infrastructure within the plat regardless of whether the streets are private or public. At the end of the process, the developer seeks a final plat review to ensure all infrastructure was constructed in accordance with the plans. At that point, the City typically accepts the final plat and any private streets become the responsibility of the homeowners association or other private entity. He added that the intent of the proposal is to reduce the number of private streets within the City. 2022 ANNUAL Manager Ames introduced Christopher Ed as the City’s new Transportation STRIPING Engineer. Engineer Ed began with the City approximately four months ago. PROJECT - The committee welcomed Engineer Ed to the City. AUTHORITY TO SOLICIT BIDS Manager Ames reported the 2022 Annual Striping project is an annual process AND AWARD that typically was completed by Thurston County that did not require Council TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING July 7, 2022 Page 3 CONTRACT: approval as cost was below the dollar threshold. However, as changes continue to occur, the proposed project is for 145 miles of center and edge lines. The work refreshes all existing lines within the City’s rights-of-way. Last year, the department reduced the amount of lines with some of the work included in the paving project enabling the work to proceed within the paving budget. The Engineer’s estimate for this year’s project is $110,000, which is higher than the budget threshold for authorization by the department. Manager Ames displayed a diagram of the proposed locations for striping of 4” and 8” paint lines of approximately 112 miles of 4” lines and 33 miles of the 8” lines. Several areas have been removed for reconfiguration (79th Avenue) due to the work of the traffic team in response to citizen concerns about traffic speeds along 79th Avenue. The lanes on 79th Avenue are wide, which is conducive to higher traffic speeds. The project would remove existing paint lines and narrow the lanes to a standard configuration of 11-foot wide lanes with shoulders on both sides of the road. Another location is on New Market Street near City Hall. The proposal includes removal of existing paint lines to accommodate street parking on the east side of New Market Street for City employee parking. The cost of the project will likely exceed the budgeted amount; however, the department has sufficient funds to cover the difference through salary savings or using ending fund balance for the project. Staff is examining how to accommodate the project costs on an ongoing basis. Staff requests the Public Works Committee authorize staff to solicit bids for the 2022 Annual Striping Project and recommend the City Council award and authorize the Mayor to sign a public works contract with the lowest responsible bidder. Chair Swarthout asked about the possibility of utilizing Transportation Benefit District (TBD) funds to cover the shortfall. Manager Ames said she plans to explore that possibility while noting that the TBD has specific requirements for the expenditure of TBD funds. Chair Swarthout inquired about the timing for repainting arrows within roundabouts. Manager Ames said repainting of arrows within roundabouts is scheduled on an as-needed basis. Chair Swarthout noted the roundabout arrow near the Home Depot/Walmart stores is in need of repainting. CONSENSUS: The Public Works Committee authorized staff to solicit bids for the 2022 Annual Striping Project and recommended the City Council award and authorize the Mayor to sign a public works contract with the lowest responsible bidder. INTERAGENCY Director Smith introduced Alyssa Jones Wood, the City’s new Sustainability AGREEMENT NO. Coordinator. TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING July 7, 2022 Page 4 K7666, DEPARTMENT OF Coordinator Wood provided an update on efforts she is focusing on this year. ENTERPRISE They include an energy and water audit of City facilities, LED interior light SERVICES replacements, installation of electric vehicle charging stations for public and ENERGY employee use at City Hall, various Comprehensive Plan and ordinance PROGRAM: amendments in conjunction with Manager Medrud, preparation of shovel- ready capital projects to take advantage of grant opportunities for solar installation at City Hall, designing solar for water resources and sustainability infrastructure, proposing a sustainable purchasing policy, passing an anti- idling policy for City fleet vehicles with the Green Team, revising the City’s Commute Trip Reduction Policy to incentivize lower carbon intensity commuting, and continuing to implement the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan and the Urban Forestry Management Plan. Coordinator Wood reported the Energy & Water Audit of City facilities and infrastructure through the Energy Service Company (ESCO) process is intended to reduce energy and potable water consumption and emissions. The Interagency Agreement with the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) enables the City to begin the ESCO process. The audit would be a preliminary step followed by an investment grade audit of City buildings and infrastructure (six buildings and up to 45 water resources and sustainability locations). Preliminary site visits would reduce the list to those buildings capable of achieving actual cost and energy savings measures. The investment grade audit produces a list of cost effective facility improvements the City could pursue and establishes the baseline for City Hall as required in the next several years as part of the Energy Star portfolio for clean building performance standards. The request is to recommend the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign Interagency Agreement No. K7666 with the Department of Enterprise Services to begin the ESCO process. The process will occur over a two-year period. Coordinator Wood reviewed the scope of work under the agreement. The next step after execution of the agreement is a preliminary site visit with the ESCO and the DES project manager. The City defines the cost effectiveness criteria. Once the criteria are defined, the ESCO proposes an investment grade audit based on preliminary site visits, which might reflect a reduction in the number of facilities as some may be operating under the base case scenario. The ESCO conducts the investment grade audit. Those activities are anticipated to be completed prior to the end of the year. Next year, ESCO will provide the City with an energy services proposal. At that time, the City can elect to move forward or not to move forward. If the City elects to move forward, staff will request an amendment approval by the Council to the interagency agreement to enable the commencement of construction with DES serving as the project manager. Once construction is completed, the measurement and verification stage would begin. Should the City not elect to move forward, the City would TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING July 7, 2022 Page 5 pay a termination fee to DES as determined by the cost of the overall energy services proposal and for the investment grade audit? Benefits of the ESCO process include guaranteed project costs and performance. DES provides a professional project manager. If the City elects to move forward with the energy services proposal, the investment grade audit is at no charge and is included within the improvements. The ESCO also streamlines the audit to construction processes because bidding is coordinated through that process. Councilmember Althauser asked about the costs the City might incur if the City elects not to move forward. Coordinator Wood reported costs would be reimbursed to both to DES and ESCO. Part of the cost effectiveness criteria would be constrained within the authorized budget for the next two years. She is proposing $300,000 between the budgets of Water Resources and the General Fund. In that case, the City would owe DES $7,700 as a termination fee. Should the City finance the improvements, a scale is included within the agreement that includes a schedule for the DES fee. The fee to ESCO is determined by the number of facilities included in the investment grade audit. Councilmember Althauser cited a hypothetical example of a recommendation to improve the fire stations. He asked whether the City would be obligated to accept all recommendations or whether the City has an option to be selective in the facilities to improve. Coordinator Wood advised that she believes all recommendations would apply and that if the Regional Fire Authority proposal is likely to move forward, she recommends not including the fire stations in the process. The City proposes facilities for inclusion in the investment grade audit if the facility can be improved. Chair Swarthout asked whether the program is based on new federal funding sources as the Department of Commerce typically coordinates similar activities. Coordinator Wood explained that the program is a long-standing DES program. The City is currently under contract for the measurement and verification for an agreement executed in 2013 with DES. CONSENSUS: The Public Works Committee recommended the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign Interagency Agreement No. K7666 with the Department of Enterprise Services in substantially similar form as approved by the City Attorney. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Chair Swarthout adjourned the meeting at 8:41 a.m. Prepared by Valerie L. Gow, Recording Secretary/President Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net