City Council

CITY OF UNIVERSITY PLACE MINUTES Regular Meeting of the City Council Monday, April 1, 2024 1. CALL REGULAR MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Figueroa called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. UN 2. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by the City Clerk as follows: OF Councilmember Boykin Councilmember Worthington Councilmember McCluskey Councilmember Flemming Councilmember Grassi Present Present Present Present Present FI Mayor Pro Tem Wood Mayor Figueroa Present Present Staff Present: City Manager Sugg, City Attorney Kaser, Police Chief Burke, Public Works Director Ecklund, CI Community and Economic Development Director Briske, Finance Director Blaisdell, Community Outreach Officer Shears and City Clerk Genetia. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AL Councilmember Grassi led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA C MOTION: By Councilmember Worthington, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Wood, to approve the agenda. DO The motion carried. 5. PRESENTATIONS Fair Housing Month Proclamation – Mayor Figueroa presented a proclamation to Byron Pullen (Planning Commissioner), Maia Rice and Narva Walton commemorating April 2024 as the 56th Anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act. UM Police Chief Burke introduced the City’s new Community Outreach Officer Cory Shears. Mayor Figueroa recognized Washington State House Representative Mari Leavitt’s presence in the audience. 6. EN PUBLIC COMMENTS – The following individuals provided comments: Dr. Holly Galbreath, 6813 Yeazell Road, Longbranch; Claudia Ellsworth, P.O. Box 64948 University Place; Caroline Belleci, 3633 Market Place West; Chris Saunders, University Place Parks and Recreation Foundation; Byron Pullen, Locust Avenue West; and James Feore (by email). T 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION: By Mayor Pro Tem Wood, seconded by Councilmember Worthington, to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: A. Approve the minutes of the March 18, 2024 Council meeting as submitted. B. Receive and File: Payroll for period ending 03/15/24; Claims dated 03/11/24 and 03/15/24. C. Receive and File: 2023 Fourth Quarter Financial Report.  City Council Minutes of April 1, 2024 Page 2 D. Authorize the City Manager to execute an amendment and ratify a second Change Order to the Professional Services Agreement with LDC, Inc. to provide additional efforts for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update. The motion carried. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION UN 8. 67TH STREET WEST PHASE 2 PROJECT BID AWARD Staff Report – Public Works Director Ecklund presented the bid award for the 67th Street West Phase 2 Improvements Project. The project includes construction of curbs, gutters, sidewalks, walls, bike lanes, storm drainage improvements, paving, landscaping, irrigation, traffic signal modifications and street lights on 67th Avenue West from Bridgeport Way West to Cirque Drive West. The bid opening was held on OF March 14, and of the five bids received, Active Construction, Inc. has submitted the lowest responsive, responsible bid in the amount of $4,084,084.00. Director Ecklund indicated that the bids received were above the budgeted funding and reflect a funding deficit of $1.3M attributed to increase in material cost for streetlight/electrical items. He provided Council with alternatives on the bid decision and the potential impact in funding. Staff recommended moving forward with the bid award and allocating additional funds to cover FI the difference. Public Comment – None. CI Council Consideration – MOTION: By Mayor Pro Tem Wood, seconded by Councilmember Worthington, to authorize the City Manager to award the 67th Avenue West Phase 2 Improvement Project to Active Construction, Inc. subject to concurrence of award by WSDOT in the amount of $4,084,084.00 and execute all necessary documents. The motion carried. 9. AL CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL COMMENTS/REPORTS DO Public Works Director Ecklund briefed Council on Cirque Park’s feasibility study and informed them on the next steps in the public process. Staff will present a report on this study to Council at one of its May meetings. N Councilmember Worthington stated that he attended the Pierce County Opioid Abatement Council meeting and shared information on its settlement revenue projections and the programs it supports. The group is ME expected to meet at least twice a year. He also shared outcomes of his and Mayor Figueora’s attendance to the National League of Cities Congressional City Summit. Mayor Figueroa expounded on the visits/meetings both he and Councilmember Worthington had with CU congressional delegates/staff and federal agencies about funding support for the Day Island Bridge. He also reminded his colleagues about the upcoming Duck Daze event on June 4. Councilmember Wood reported that he attended the Pierce County Regional Council meeting and shared topics of discussion and reports made at the meeting. He also represented the City at the Tacoma Community College Foundation luncheon/fundraising event. Councilmember McCluskey welcomed Community Outreach Officer Cory Shears to the City. Councilmember Boykin expressed the importance and relevance of the Fair Housing Month proclamation. Councilmember Grassi reported that she attended the Pierce County Economic Development Board annual T meeting. She also welcomed Community Outreach Officer Shears and expressed her excitement about Duck Daze and upcoming summer events.  City Council Minutes of April 1, 2024 Page 3 Councilmember Flemming commented on the evolution/transformation of the City’s infrastructure, crediting City staff’s hard work and diligence to get grant funding for street projects. He also reported that he attended the Pierce County Regional Council meeting. 10. RAINIER COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT City Attorney Kaser stated that the City is currently working on an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) between the City and Pierce County, as well as the cities of Dupont, Fife, Orting, Puyallup, Ruston and Sumner under UN the current iteration of the ILA which dates back to 2003. He provided an overview on the City’s longstanding relationship with Rainier Communications Commission (RCC) and how the City was able to carry out a number of activities that have fulfilled a number of purposes behind the RCC vision. Attorney Kaser indicated that RCC has evolved over time and a lot of roles have changed, including the number of back- end services they provide both within the City and other member jurisdictions – these functions were not accompanied by corresponding updates to the governing interlocal agreement. The updates to Rainier OF Communications Commission’s legal structure are for the purpose of recognizing and accommodating longstanding operational activities that are not part of the current RCC interlocal agreement. The proposed ILA will permit services to non-members under limited circumstances. It formalizes the administering member role and defines the administering member as the entity providing the largest amount of RCC funding, accommodations are made for circumstances where the largest funding member withdraws, and FI certain dues obligations are altered from a per-subscriber model to a percentage mode which provides increased across-the-border consistency in administration. Councilmember Worthington, who is currently Rainier Communications Commission’s Chair, believes that these extensively negotiated changes CI represent a good understanding that clarifies roles and duties that will allow RCC enough autonomy to do its business and will allow the City of University Place to have a fair share of voice in the process as well. Discussion followed regarding the cable franchise fee evaluation, the sustainability of the funding model, AL how RCC mitigates the evolution of technology (financing model), and capital financing model. 11. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m. No other action was taken. Submitted by, Emy Genetia DO N ME CU T