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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10282002CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF OCTOBER 28, 2002 The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in special session this twenty-eighth day of October 2002, at 6:30 p.m. in the Port Townsend Council Chambers of City Hall, Mayor Kees Kolff presiding. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmembers present at roll call were Kees Kolff, Geoff Masci, Michelle Sandoval, A1 Youse and Joe Finnie. Frieda Fenn and Catharine Robinson were excused. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John Watts, Finance Director Michael Legarsky, and BCD Director Jeff Randall, and Planner Judy Surber. Legal Assistant Bobbie Usselman recorded the minutes. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were no changes to the agenda. PUBLIC HEARING ORDINANCE 2821 AN ORDINANCE FIXING AND ADOPTING 2003 PROPERTY TAX LEVIES The Mayor opened the Public hearing. He asked if any council members had any interests, financial or property, to disclose in connection with this matter. There were none. He called on David Timmons, City Manager, for the staff report. Mr. Timmons gave an overview of the city's portion of the total property tax levy. He stated the levy works from a complex formula. He then invited Mr. Legarsky to give a presentation. Mr. Legarsky stated three versions of draft ordinances are presented to Council for review. Version A shows 0% increase; Version B shows 1% increase; and Version C shows 14.17% banked capacity increase. He presented several overhead pie charts to show the revenue picture. He stated retail sales tax and property tax create the most revenue for the City and both are impacted by tourism. Ms. Sandoval indicated it is important to make the differentiation between the property tax levy and the councilmanic bond funding for City Hall. She stated the County website does not show property taxes with the conservation futures tax broken out. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 1 October 28, 2002 Jack Westerman, Jefferson County Assessor, stated conservation futures are included within the county levy, but is not shown as a line item when you print your taxes from the website. Mr. Masci indicated the charts do not reflect the interlocal agreement monies that go to the County. Mr. Westerman stated you will probably see levy rates drop further due to 1-747 from last year. If there was no growth there would be no new construction bonus. New construction for next year will be about 1.9%. Port Townsend property taxes are below average statewide. The City's levy is $11.31 compared to the statewide average of $12.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. Ms. Sandoval asked for clarification of the senior exemption. Mr. Westerman stated that seniors are exempt from school and hospital bond levies, but not the EMS levy. Public Testimony and Comment: Nancy Dorgan supported levying the full banked capacity to support the street fund and equipment rental fund. Mr. Westerman discussed the banked capacity. He indicated if the levy is not increased this year, it will create another 1% of banked capacity. There is no legal restriction on the time within which you must levy banked capacity. It is not true that if you don't use the bank capacity you will lose it. He added that increases due to new construction do not affect the available banked capacity percentage. Questions and Answers: Mr. Finnie asked Mr. Timmons to discuss the proposed budget in regard to street and equipment rental funding. Mr. Timmons stated he is modifying the equipment rental fund deficit to a departmental line item basis, making departments accountable for their purchase and use of equipment. Mr. Timmons stated there is a possibility of transportation funding from the passage of R-51 although it does not appear to address the problem for comm!tnities under 10,000 population. An option for the street fund is a reduction in service '~ ~hich would balance expenditures. Mr. Masci said one option was to have a levy lid to provide dedical funding, or a combined initiative of library annexation or park dist~ the same level by voter approval to divert money into the street fund. ed funds for street ict concept to achieve Ms. Sandoval asked whether there would be a dedicated income stream for street funding if there was use of the banked capacity for property tax. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 2 October 28, 2002 Mr. Timmons stated that if the funding were approved by a vote, it would be absolutely dedicated until a legislative change occurred. Ms. Sandoval stated if a vote failed, we would still need to come up with an income stream for streets. Mayor Kolff suggested we could have a street fund levy, or do a levy for another purpose and take it to the voters. Mr. Finnie stated there isn't time to take a vote before the people prior to the end of the year. He stated the discussion of the total budget is needed in order to address these specific issues. As the budget was proposed, the fund balance is in the upper target range of the council's financial policy. By drawing on these funds it may be possible to fully fund streets for 2003 through the general fund for a one-year basis. Mr. Youse agreed with Mr. Finnie but stated that because the funding is not contained in the preliminary budget, it is not necessarily true that street funding can't be provided through other mean like curbing expenditures. He stated the council has done a good job of keeping taxes low. Mayor Kolff asked how the initiatives coming on November 5, 2002, specifically 1-790, would affect the budget. Mr. Timmons stated there would be about a 300% increase in the general fund expenditure for that item if 1-790 passes. He added that the fund balance has been set higher than the council's established goal performance so that some issues may be addressed after the end of the year. He agreed that thoughtful decisions must be made with enough time to analyze and discuss the forces affecting revenues and expenditures. Regarding street overlay funding, the City has demonstrated what can be done with a certain level of funding and he would like to fund the program again for 2003 with the intent of bringing it to the voters in 2004. Public Comment: Nancy Dorgan commented on the amount budgeted in the street fund compared to the Sims Way sidewalk project. Motion: Mr. Masci moved to continue the decision-making portion of the hearing to the November 12 Council meeting. Ms. Sandoval seconded Mr. Masci restated the motion to move for first reading and to continue the hearing to the November 12 meeting with the intent to approve Version A of the Ordinance. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 3 October 28, 2002 Ms. Sandoval spoke in opposition to first reading of Version A when there has not been sufficient discussion about which version of the ordinance will be proposed as the final version. Revised motion by Mr. Masci: Move for first reading of Ordinance 2821, Version A, and the second part of the action is to carry the issue over to the November 12th meeting. Seconded by Mr. Youse. Vote: the motion carried 4-1, by voice vote, with Sandoval opposed The public hearing was concluded at approximately 7:50 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING RESOLUTION NO. 02-051 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON AUTHORIZING CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY, TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND The Mayor opened the public hearing. He asked if any council members had any interests, financial or property, to disclose in connection with this matter. Mr. Masci stated is he Vice Chairman of the Olympic Community Action Program and is biased toward this issue, but he has no financial interest. Mr. Watts agreed it is proper for Mr. Masci's disclosure but he is not to be disqualified because he is an officer of OLYCAP. Mayor Kolff introduced the resolution and called on Mr. Timmons for presentation. Mr. Timmons stated the City was approached by Olympic Community Action Programs to sponsor submission of a grant request to the Washington State Department of community, Trade and Economic Development for the Port Townsend Housing Preservation Program to benefit owner occupied and rental homes within the City with household incomes at or below 80% of the Jefferson County median income. Mr. Timmons cited previous experience with the program and expressed full support of the grant proposal. The purpose of the hearing is to provide citizens with reasonable advance notice of, and the opportunity to present their views during the assessment of community development and housing needs, during the review of available funding and eligible activities, and on the proposed activities. A handout and description of the program was provided in the packet. The Port Townsend Housing Preservation Program Plan and Operations Manual has been available for review at the city administration offices. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 4 October 28, 2002 Public Testimony and Comment: Carolyn Sparkman from the Olympic Community Action Program provided more detailed information about the program. She indicated $7,000,000 has been set aside for the Community Development Block Grant which is available to small cities by application. The money can be used for infrastructure, housing rehabilitation and 100% of the benefit will be going to low and mid-income residents. There could be displacement from homes due to construction, especially if lead paint is in the home, for the safety of the homeowner. In Port Townsend, 26% of the houses were built before 1940. This program has an interest in preserving older houses. They also work with the USDA and local service organizations to get the maximum amount out of the dollar. There was no other public comment. Questions and Answers: Mr. Masci stated the current program with OLYCAP is to expand into Port Townsend. He said the program is for the elderly, indigent, and single mothers to upgrade their homes to meet code. The money is used only for those specific purposes. Staff comment: none Council comment: none Motion: Mr. Masci moved to adopt Resolution 02-051. Mr. Youse seconded There were no other comments. Vote: the motion carried unanimously, 5-0, by voice vote. The public hearing was concluded at 8:00 p.m. RECESS The Mayor stated the meeting would be recessed for a ten-minute break. RECONVENE The meeting was reconvened at 8:10 p.m. PRESIDING OFFICER'S REPORT Mayor Kolff stated his trip to Ichikawa, Japan was a remarkable and amazing experience. He reported that the sister city agreement has been signed and future exchanges will be City Council Special Business Meeting Page 5 October 28, 2002 encouraged. He stated upon return of the balance of the delegation, they would present gifts from the City of Ichikawa and other places in the city. Mayor Kolff announced the planning commission has three terms expiring at the end of the year and at least one member has indicated she will not be seeking reappointment. Anyone interested should apply at the city. Mayor Kolff recommended reappointment of Councilmember Masci to the Jefferson County Board of Health. He also recommended Eugene R. Brandon be appointed to the Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Board. Motion: Ms. Sandoval moved to confirm the reappointment of Mr. Masci to the Jefferson County Board of Health and appointment of Eugene R. Brandon to the Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Board. Seconded by Mr. Finnie. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0, by voice vote. Mayor Kolff stated he will sit in on Finance Committee deliberations regarding non- profit organization funding in place of Catharine Robinson. Councilor Robinson has a potential conflict of interest due to her employment with one of the organizations which is requesting city funds. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Timmons stated the Jefferson County Marine Resources Advisory Committee was moving forward with several actions, one involving a no anchor zone in Port Townsend Bay to protect the eelgrass. The proposal is to be submitted by the Jefferson County Marine Resources Advisory Committee by October 29th. Andy Palmer, Chairman of the Jefferson County Marine Resources Advisory Committee presented information about the proposal. He explained why there is concern about the effects of vessels anchoring and affecting the eelgrass. Mr. Palmer provided a handout entitled "Port Townsend Bay Eelgrass Voluntary Anchor Protection Zone Pilot Project." He stated this would not be an inconvenience since boaters would only have to move 50- 100 feet from where they anchor now. The project would involve placing marker buoys during the boating season. Mr. Timmons stated no action is required by Council; that it is presented for information purposes only. Mr. Finnie asked who was represented on the Jefferson County Marine Resources Advisory Committee, and whether the recreational boating group supports the no anchor zone. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 6 October 28, 2002 Mr. Palmer stated the Port was on the committee but Larry Crockett hasn't been at many meetings. Mr. Crockett has not indicated whether or not he is supportive of the no anchor zone. All members do receive information via e-mail. Mr. Masci is concemed about the effect the no anchor zone will have on downtown businesses. He states without the mooring buoys in place he can't support the proposal. Mayor Kolff asked how many boats anchor in the eelgrass, and Mr. Palmer indicated a relatively small number of boats. He said offending boats would only move about 3 boat lengths out. 2002 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE BCD Planner Judy Surber gave a brief overview of suggested amendments docketed for this year's update. She stated the appeal on the Kelly Transit SEPA will be heard November 21 and should be complete before the end of the year. Ms. Surber indicated to Council there is a substantial amount of information in the revised 2002 Comprehensive Plan Update binders. She asks that Council review the binders and advise if more information is needed in any area. Ms. Surber then gave a brief overview of the Pak/Indian Point requested amendment, along with seven of the other eight amendments. There were no Council questions on the amendments presented by Ms. Surber. Mr. Randall spoke as to amendment number 4, Remove FUGA Language from the Comprehensive Plan. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m. Attest: Pamela Kolacy, CMC, City Clerk City Council Special Business Meeting Page 7 October 28, 2002