City Council

CITY OF UNIVERSITY PLACE MINUTES Regular Meeting of the City Council Monday, July 17, 2023 1. CALL REGULAR MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tem Figueroa called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL UN Roll call was taken by the Deputy City Clerk as follows: Council Member Keel Council Member Wood Present Present OF Council Member McCluskey Council Member Belleci Council Member Flemming Mayor Worthington Mayor Pro Tem Figueroa Present Present Excused Excused Present CA Staff Present: City Manager Sugg, City Attorney Kaser, Police Chief Burke, Finance Director Blaisdell, FI Community and Economic Development Director Briske, Senior Planner George, and Deputy City Clerk Nicholas. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE OC Council Member McCluskey led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA LD MOTION: Council Member Belleci, seconded by Council Member Keel, to approve the agenda. The motion carried. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT – The following individual provided comment: Chris Saunders, University Place. UM 6. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION: By Council Member Belleci, seconded by Council Member Keel, to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: A. Approve the minutes of the July 3, 2023 Council meeting as submitted. T B. Receive and File: Payroll for period ending 06/30/23; and Claims dated 06/30/23. EN C. Adopt a Resolution approving the appointments as the City of University Place Representative and Alternate Representative to the Pierce County Opioid Abatement Council. (RESOLUTION 1014) D. Approve a grant from the City of University Place to the University Place Historical Society for the purpose of replacing windows. The motion carried. 7. CITY MANAGER & COUNCIL COMMENTS/REPORTS City Manager Sugg reported 2nd Quarter economic development business numbers. Council Member Keel invited council members to attend the National League of Cities Summer Board and Leadership conference being held in Tacoma.  City Council Minutes of July 17, 2023 Page 2 Council Member Belleci shared that she attended the JBLM air show and that she and Council Member McCluskey volunteered at the Teddy Bear Picnic. She thanked Melanie Kirk-Stauffer of Dance Theatre Northwest for organizing the event. Mayor Pro Tem Figueroa reported the upcoming Pierce County Regional Council meeting date and thanked Council Members Belleci and McCluskey for representing the Council at the Teddy Bear Picnic. Council Member Wood encouraged the community to join in the Twisted Cider 5K, National Night Out and the upcoming concerts and Movie in the Park. STUDY SESSION UN 8. 2023 CARRYFORWARD BUDGET ADJUSTMENT Finance Director Blaisdell explained that the carryforward adjustments recognize the carryforward of funding from the 2022 budget for re-appropriation in 2023. They are comprised of beginning fund balance OF adjustments, capital improvement projects, internal service fund carryforwards, and continuing grant funding. She detailed the carryforwards, revenue and expenditure adjustments, and other requested adjustments for Public Works parking lot improvements and office expansion design costs to be funded with Real Estate Excise Tax funds. CA Finance Director Blaisdell reported that after deducting the carryforwards and cost adjustments from the FI $3,969,025 General Fund savings, one-time monies of $1,101,360 remained unappropriated. The Council had previously suggested appropriations of $65,000 for Communications Content Creator, $250,000 for possible recreation related expenses and putting the remaining $1,877,717 in a Council Contingency fund. The Financial Forecast was updated to include all adjustments. Existing services and legal and contractual obligations can be met with existing revenues through the biennium. 9. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE LD Senior Planner George introduced the City’s consultant, Mr. White of LDC, to provide Council with an update of their work with the City on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan update. U The State of Washington, through the Growth Management Act (GMA), requires cities and counties to OC develop Comprehensive Plans and update them every 10 years. The City is required to update its Comprehensive Plan by December 2024. Mr. White provided an overview of elements within the City’s Comprehensive Plan which encompasses local level policies, and the connection between county, state and regional laws and policies that the Comprehensive Plan must implement. Comprehensive Plan elements include community character, land NT use, housing, shoreline management, environmental management, parks, recreation and open space, transportation, capital facilities, and utilities. GMA goals include: ME • Concentrated • Property rights • Early and continuous urban growth public participation • Sprawl • Permit • Public facilities and reduction processing services • Regional • Natural resource • Historic preservation transportation industries • Affordable • Open space and • Shoreline housing recreation management • Economic • Environmental development protection  City Council Minutes of July 17, 2023 Page 3 Key GMA requirements were housing, land use, and climate change, and were explained through recent legislation: HB 1220 - new housing element requirements, HB - 1110 middle housing, HB 1337 - accessory dwelling units, and HB 1181 - climate change. The Planning Commission’s public involvement plan is to (1) gain public feedback, through surveys, both online and in-person, and with presentations during meetings and community organizations, and (2) build relationships and trust, and provide civic education. Council discussed the importance of prioritizing education during the community outreach process to raise awareness about legislative requirements that are outside of the City’s control with a focus on design standards and community character. This should include visuals indicating areas of potential UN redevelopment and showing the Comprehensive Plan’s progression. Emphasis was placed on developing questions that produce valuable feedback and do not lead to unattainable expectations. There were suggestions to have questions designed to produce potential solutions to the impacts of recent legislation on land use, transportation, broadband infrastructure, open OF space, and community character. Interest was expressed to address climate change policies for the City’s at-risk communities and wildland urban interface areas, maintain the current ratio of home ownership versus rental occupancy, and to engage with developers to find out how City or state legislation impacts their decisions to build in University Place. Additional requests were made to have ongoing education between CA Comprehensive Plan updates and for follow-up review to assess whether legislative goals produced intended results. 10. FI NORTHEAST BUSINESS DISTRICT PLAN Community and Economic Development Director Briske introduced the City’s consultant, Ms. Roberts of Otak, Inc., to present Council with an overview of the draft Northeast Business District plan. The purpose of the Plan is to establish provisions that align with redevelopment activity in the district and the City’s Code. LD The Plan considered public input, future light rail, employment, transportation and walkability in the district and neighboring Four Corners area. Ms. Roberts summarized the vision statement, guiding principles, redevelopment potential, current zoning designations, proposed projects with various uses, and forecasted capacity to plan for utility and transportation infrastructure. U OC Recommendations included added parking, new parks and open spaces with connectivity to them, walkability and continued regional collaboration, and partnerships. Council members expressed a desire for design standards with requirements for open spaces within complexes, continued collaboration with partners of the Four Corners area, safe access with connectivity to open spaces and parks within the City and neighboring areas, and emphasized the need to find ways to NT protect the City from having Sound Transit install its rail yard within the City limits. Council requested a second study session be scheduled to allow absent members the opportunity to review ME materials and provide input. 11. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m. No other action was taken. Submitted by, Debora Nicholas Deputy City Clerk