Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout111422CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 14, 2022 ROLL CALL The Port Townsend City Council met in a Special Session Business Meeting on the 14th day of November 2022 in Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Mayor David Faber called the meeting to order at 6:30pm. Council members present at roll call were Aislinn Diamanti, Owen Rowe, Libby Wennstrom, Monica MickHager, Ben Thomas, Amy Howard, and David Faber. Staff members present were City Manager John Mauro, City Attorney Heidi Greenwood, Finance and Technology Director Connie Anderson, Public Works Director Steve King, Planning and Community Development Director Emma Bolin, and City Clerk Alyssa Rodrigues. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS There were no Special Presentations. PUBLIC HEARING Preliminary Budget for the City of Port Townsend, Washington, for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2023 Mayor Faber reviewed the public hearing procedures. City Manager John Mauro introduced the Preliminary Budget for the City of Port Townsend, Washington, for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2023. Finance and Technology Director Connie Anderson presented the Preliminary Budget for the City of Port Townsend, Washington, for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2023 which included Overview, What is a budget?, How are City Services Funded, Municipal Budget Fund Breakdown, City of Port Townsend 2023 Budget Fund Summary, Revenues, Citywide Proposed Revenues, Citywide Proposed Expenditures, Operations, General Fund and Special Revenue Fund, Lodging Tax Fund, Enterprise Funds, Internal Services Funds, Capital Funds, 2023 Key Notes Capital Budgets, Proposed ARPAAilocation 2022-2024, Level of Service Position Considerations, Debt Analysis and Strategic One -Time Use of Funds, and Debt Consideration. There was no public comment. In response to Council's clarifying questions Ms. Anderson stated the proposed amount to do a parking management plan is around $130,000. She went on to explain $83,000 have been dedicated out of ARPA. She stated in order to do the Parking Management plan the City needs a City Engineer, and by the time the position is hired, the City would need a staff member to get up to speed and get November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 1 of 8 things going as well as hiring a consultant, which would result in not being a full years' worth of work. The amount of money dedicated out of ARPA was intended to allow for expenditures in 2023 assuming the City would find the rest of money somewhere else or reallocate something out of ARPA as the City goes later into the next year. In response to Council's clarifying questions Ms. Anderson confirmed the .5 position titled Lodging Tax should be under the same thing as a 1.0. MS. Anderson stated she will look into Drug Enforcement and Contingency Fund balance percentage, Mr. Mauro stated he believes it does not meet policy and will look into it. Council member Howard asked to amend Exhibit to include discussed edits. Motion: Owen Rowe moved to approve first reading of Ordinance 3299 Adopting the Proposed Budget for the City of Port Townsend, Washington, for the Fiscal year Ending December 31, 2023 as amended. Monica MickHager seconded. Ms. Anderson stated per Statutory Requirements there will be more documents put out by the end of the week regarding budget. There being no further discussion, Mayor Faber closed the Public Hearing. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. Ordinance 3298 Adopting 2023 Property Tax Levies Mayor Faber reviewed the public hearing procedures. Mr. Mauro introduced the 2023 Property Tax Levy. Ms. Anderson presented the 2023 Property Tax Levy which included State Max Rate, City of Port Townsend Levy Rates 2018-2023, 2022 Levy Rate, Taxable Property Valuations, and 2022 for 2023 Property Tax Recommendation. There was no public comment. Discussion ensued around raising taxes being essential and the importance of having the Department of Revenue documents included in material. Council member Rowe stated Item 1.1 in Ordinance states 2022 instead of 2023. Motion: Monica MickHager moved to waive Council Rules and approve Ordinance 3298 Adopting 2023 Property Tax Levies for the General and Library Levy with a Total Increase of One Percent (1.00%), $311,549 of Banked Capacity (14.4%) and a Voter -Approved Tax Levy for the Mountain View Commons Capital Improvements of $150,000 for the Unlimited Tax General Obligation Bonds as amended. Ben Thomas seconded. There being no further discussion, Mayor Faber closed the Public Hearing. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 2 of 8 Ordinance 3300 Adopting Amendments to the PTMC Chapter 17.72 Off -Street Parking and Loading Requirements Mayor Faber reviewed the public hearing procedures Mr. Mauro introduced PTMC Chapter 17.72 Off -Street Parking and Loading Requirements. Planning and Community Development Director Emma Bolin presented the Amendments to the PTMC Chapter 17.72 Off -Street Parking and Loading Requirements which included history of request to expand scope of parking requirements, Council's request to look into request by November 2022, and update on current progress of looking into the Code Amendment. She went on to explain at the October 27 Planning Commission meeting they held a public hearing, following the public hearing the motion to adopt staff recommendations was amended to add a credit of up to one on street parking space per single family resident, which passed unanimously along with the main motion passing unanimously. Written public comment was attached to the agenda packet. There was no in-person/virtual public comment. In response to Council's clarifying questions Ms. Bolin explained the reason of having a .25 parking space is most likely for guests. She went on to explain Planning Commission discussed in regard to Senior Housing they do not need a .25 parking space for those who do not drive anymore. Ms. Bolin explained they will fix the error in 17.72.150.J.2 and add the word "unsurfaced". Ms. Bolin explained "engineered design standards" are adopted by Comprehensive Plan. Public Works Director stated he believed "engineered design standards" means it is paved. Ms. Bolin confirmed the one space per 1200 gross sq ft unit could be replaced by on street parking with no requirement of off-street if they fit the engineering standards. Ms. Bolin stated on-site means off-street parking. In response Council's clarifying questions Ms. Bolin stated the Planning Commission did not discuss completely eliminating off-street residential parking requirements and explained that had not been brought up through Planning Commission for full process and could be a surprise in a SEPA checklist that the staff report was not scoped to address that. Ms. Bolin went on to state the Residential Building Capacity in Growth Management Act is geared towards increasing ADU capacity but does not address commercial parking. She explained there are legislative changes that failed in the past session that would have mandated reductions in parking close enough to a transit center that might have applied to Port Townsend. Ms. Bolin state it could possibly increase risk with SEPA to eliminate off-street parking requirements for residential uses, she explained it would involve the work needed to defend. She stated there are many things that deal with parking that do not state parking in the PTMC. She stated there are a lot of updates that go down the rabbit hole with parking that could either be in tandem with our short range and zoning coding amendment and 2023 Housing Workplan and how it fits in. In response to Council's clarifying questions Planning Commission did have comments regarding maximum permissible parking spaces and it was considered. November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 3 of 8 Public Comment related to clarifying questions raised by Council. Vikki Sonntag spoke about one of the considerations regarding house sizes is to look forward to the consideration when looking at duplexes and triplexes and wanted to bring that to view because now if they were to bring a duplex into a single lot it would require 4 parking spaces and with this if they were a duplex of smaller units, it would reduce it to two. Liz Revord asked Councilmember Thomas to repeat his question about engineering standards as well as Mr. King's answer. Council member Thomas questioned if the on -street parking surface requirements and engineering standards be paved? Mr. King stated they would be paved and would have to pave the edge of the street. Council member Howard confirmed the 1.25 parking spots is for math purposes. In response to Council's clarifying questions Mr. King confirmed the pavement for on street parking would be on the street Right of Way. Ms. Bolin stated in regard to adding an on -street parking space in lieu of off-street parking they do not have it fully mapped out and the zoning code allows provision of waiver of parking requirement by Public Works Director, but design standards make it very clear that it needs to be paved. Mr. King suggested referring back to the Infrastructure and Development Committee meeting from last week which discussed Gravel Streets. Mayor Faber discussed the history of off-street parking requirements and explained there is a movement in other cities to eliminate off street parking requirements to making development less car centric, add costs to mandate to create storage for cars, urban centers require no off-street parking requirements, creation of off-street parking eliminates on street parking. He stated it is a privatization of a public good and states he does not support making car centric infrastructure that adds costs for housing and the City should go to zero required parking spaces for all residential development. In response to Council's clarifying questions Ms. Bolin stated anything that is out of scope we can't state what the impact would be or what would be affected in this chapter and others. Mr. King stated in regard to houses that do not have proper street access or on street parking ability he stated in a lot of instances it would work fine especially where infrastructure is already developed. However, he stated if road standard is changed to accommodate parking this should be fine, but the road standard has not been changed yet. Ms. Greenwood stated there is a potential and risk to going back and expanding the scope of what the Planning Commission is asked to do without sending Planning Commission to consider the larger provision, she stated it is important to ensure the public has had an opportunity to have community comment and have Planning Commission going through their process. Discussion ensued around making sure the public process is followed and where this change would fall in the short, mid, long-term efforts. Ms. Bolin stated they would expect this section will come up again with Planning Commission in the next couple of years and hopes for legislative preemption that would force the City to eliminate such requirements anyway. Council member Howard confirmed this is removing a minimum parking requirement. Discussion ensued around making direction to Planning Commission for expansion of Ordinance. Ms. Greenwood stated due to the Special Session they are unable to November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 4 of 8 direct tonight but it could be placed on a future agenda. In response to Council's clarifying question. Mr. King stated the engineering for on - street parking is for in fill as well. Mr. King stated because existing code requires off street parking this not being evaluated when guests show up. Motion: Aislinn Diamanti moved to waive Council Rules and approve on first reading Ordinance 3300 Amending Chapter 17.72 of the Port Townsend Municipal Code. Amy Howard seconded. There being no further discussion, Mayor Faber closed the Public Hearing. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. UNFINISHED BUSINESS (NONE) NEW BUSINESS Approval of the Legislative Agenda. Mr. Mauro presented the Legislative Agenda Proposal which included Legislative Agenda Recap 2020-2022, 2023 Legislative Agenda: Framing Questions from the Oct'22 Workshop, and 2023 Legislative Agenda: Proposal. In response to Council's clarifying questions Mr. Mauro explained the list at the bottom of the one pager lists Intergovernmental Collaborative Group because they discuss priority funding for Capital Projects, which is always an iterative conversation. In addition, it calls out North Olympic Legislative Alliance (NOLA) because the City is a member and it is an effort to take City, county, agency agendas to see what the Peninsula needs, AWC is on there because we are a member and have a Council member sitting on their board and traditionally the align well with City priorities as well as Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization (PRTPO). He went on to explain the Fort Worden PDA should be included. He stated the list is not meant to be exclusive. Jane Armstrong spoke about applauding the proposal for increasing the income considerations to 150% AMI and stated it was an important part of finding many solutions to the housing needs in our community. Mayor Faber spoke about being pleased to see the request for the increase to 150% AMI. Discussion ensued around 150% AMI and project funding sources as well as how it effects the Evans Vista Project. Mr. Mauro reminded Council he would like to add in the addition of the Fort Worden PDA to the list of key partners. Motion: Aislinn Diamanti moved to approve Resolution 22-045 Adopting the 2023 Legislative Agenda and direct the City Manager to communicate the agenda as amended to our state legislative delegation. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 5 of 8 Discussion of Health Insurance for City Council Mr. Mauro introduced Health Insurance for City Council which included history of discussion. He stated this topic is outside the scope of Salary Commission, he also stated they included a provisional $50,000 in the proposed budget to cover costs if they choose to move forward with Health Insurance. HE stated there is a requirement as a city to have a quorum participate ongoing in the program or else it terminates effective immediately. In response to Council's clarifying questions Mr. Mauro explained he does not think the time spent on this would be poorly spent if they decide to not move forward and felt it would be something they would hold onto for future consideration, in addition it has been an education exercise for the team in the least. Ms. Anderson explained the quorum is needed in order to create the participation agreement with AWC and then during annual enrollment is when it would be determined if we have enough participating members to have insurance for the next year. she went on to explain if during the next year if for any reason someone drops off, she believes insurance is no longer available for anyone. MR. Mauro explained the program is independent of individuals enrolled. Mr. Mauro explained this is an opportunity available to any Council by AWC. Ms. Anderosn confirmed the individual decision to participate is private and happens between the individual and HR. In response to Council's clarifying questions Ms. Greenwood stated the new Council member would have the opportunity to join the plan when seated, they do not have to wait for open enrollment. Ms. Anderson confirmed we are in the middle of the Open Enrollment period and explained since this is a new agreement you have a one-time opportunity to do it upfront. There was no public comment. Discussion ensued around individual enrollment and the thought of this being the right thing equitably for future Council members. In addition, discussion ensued around the percentage of what Council members pay and Council members being classified as part time employees. In addition, discussion ensued around insurance being called benefits vs. compensation. Discussion continued around whether the decision could be made tonight as well as City Council being treated differently than City employees. Discussion ensued around insurance rates based on hours worked. In response to Council's clarifying question Ms. Anderson explained the Group is AWC and part of the participation agreement the City can pick two plans which are Kaiser Permanante and Regence Health. Discussion ensued around Healthcare Coverage being outside the purview of Salary Commission. Discussion ensued around local jurisdictions and how they provide their elected officials with insurance including the percentages. Discussion ensued around whether percentages need to be included in the agreement with AWC. Motion: David Faber moved to direct the City Manager to bring back additional information regarding healthcare coverage for discussion December 5 consistent with discussion tonight. Libby Wennstrom seconded. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 6 of 8 Resolution Approving a Contract for Laserfiche Upgrade Mr. Mauro introduced Resolution Approving a Contract for Laserfiche Upgrade. Ms. Greenwood explained the Laserfiche Upgrade resulting in the first steps to digitizing records. There was no public comment. There was no Council deliberation. Motion: Amy Howard moved to approve Resolution 22-043 Authorizing the City Manager to execute all contracts necessary to upgrade Laserfiche including the software purchase, customization and server upgrades. Monica MickHager seconded. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. Resolution Approving Contract for Housing Code Updates Mr. Mauro introduced Resolution Approving Contract for Housing Code Updates. Ms. Bolin presented the Resolution Approving Contract for Housing Code Updates which included reaching out to firms to do tactical work and community engagement to generate priorities, code amendment, and touchpoints with community, Planning Commission and Council. She explained they are engaging with SCJ Alliance for this effort. This is a 3 phased approach including a December 15 Open Mic event, 2 -day stakeholder interviews, and generating a short list of code amendment options for Planning Commission in early January and then bringing back for a Joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting early February. She explained this will generate a scope of work for a Long -Range Planner to determine what an annual amendment could be and get a preliminary period update Scope of Work which is what needed to receive a grant from the Department of Commerce. Jane Armstrong spoke about appreciating the City's effort and supporting the work to engage with SCJ Alliance. Motion: Monica MickHager moved to approve Resolution 22-044 Authorize the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with SCJ Alliance in the amount not to exceed $40,047 to perform a tactical infill zoning assessment that will help build residential capacity including draft code amendments, public engagement assistance, and preliminary periodic update scope of work and checklist review looking ahead to the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review. Ben Thomas seconded. Vote: Motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. PRESIDING OFFICER'S REPORT Mayor Faber reported he did not have a Presiding Officer's Report. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Mauro presented his City Manager's Report which included a resource on the EngagePT website or Facebook to find information regarding the Clay St Right of Way. November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 7 of 8 SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT OR FUTURE AGENDA, REGULAR MEETING AND/OR STUDY SESSION Council member Howard suggested bundling housing topics at the front of the agenda to make it easier for public to participate. Council member Thomas would like more discussion in regard to on street parking requirement with paving to be part of more significant parking as looking at off street parking generally. In addition, he would like more discussion around Mobile Home Park potential protection. Ms. Bolin suggested having a Code compliance work session early in the year. Council member MickHager would like to add tasking Planning Commission to look into zero residential parking requirements to the Policy Suggestion Board. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL Council member Thomas stated he did a police ride along and suggested everyone should do it. Council member Howard thanked Mr. King and Mr. Mauro for helping her fulfill her obligation for the Chataqua lottery in which they had School Superintendent and her husband on roof of City Hall. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:33pm. Attest: City Clerk November 14, 2022 City Council Special Session Business Meeting Page 8 of 8