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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12062004 . CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF DECEMBER 6, 2004 CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in workshop session this sixth day of December, 2004, at 6:30 p.m. in the Port Townsend temporary Council Chambers at Building 204, Fort Worden State Park, Mayor Catharine Robinson presiding. ROLL CALL Council members present at roll call were Frank Benskin, Freida Fenn, Kees Kolff, Geoff Masci, Laurie Medlicott, Catharine Robinson, and Michelle Sandoval. Mr. Benskin arrived at 6:40 p.m. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John Watts, Public Works Director Ken Clow, Finance Director Michael Legarsky, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA . There were no changes to the agenda. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (Consent and Non-agenda) There were no comments. CONSENT AGENDA The following corrections were made to the minutes of November 22: Last paragraph on page 5 ("Amendment") Change "there were no objections" to "Mr. Kolffindicated he would not accept this as a friendly amendment." First paragraph on page 6: remove "as amended" so that line reads, "Vote on motion:" Page 9, motion to postpone consideration... Kolff and Sandoval "in favor" not "opposed." Motion: Mr. Kolff moved for adoption of the following items on the Consent Agenda. Mrs. Medlicott seconded. The motion carried unanimously, 6-0, by voice vote. . City Council Special Business Meeting Page 1 December 6, 2004 · Approval of the following Bills. Claims and Warrants Vouchers 91986 through 92001 in the amount of $46,027.71 Vouchers 92008 through 92021 in the amount of $42,566.43 Vouchers 1119041 through 1119047 in the amount of $70,871.00 Vouchers 1203041 through 1203047 in the amount of$82,911.16 Approval of the following Minutes: November 1,2004 November 5, 2004 November 15,2004 November 22, 2004 as corrected November 29, 2004 Approval of the following Resolvtions: RESOLUTION 04-061 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY RESOLUTION 04-062 · A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, DECLARING SEA WESTERN, INC. AS THE SOLE SUPPLIER OF MINE SAFETY APPLICANCES SELF CONTAINED BREATHING APP ARA TUS AND AUXILIARY ATTACHMENTS (FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT) Mr. Benskin arrived at 6:40 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2005 Mayor Robinson read the rules of procedure for public hearings. No Council members disclosed any financial or property interests in the outcome of the hearing. City Manager David Timmons reviewed the 2005 Budget proposal. He noted the projected revenue growth appears to be holding steady at about 1.6%; however expenses have grown more quickly and the City has absorbed much of this increase while still managing to keep it at a level of 3 .2%. He summarized the funds as recommended in the budget. · City Council Special Business Meeting Page 2 December 6, 2004 · The Public Works Department will bring recommendations for street project priorities to the Transportation Committee early in 2005. The Police Department is working on recommendations which will be reviewed by the General Government Committee in the first quarter of 2005 which may have an impact on overtime expenditures and the need for hiring a new officer. Mayor Robinson asked if any written materials had been submitted or if anyone wished to submit written materials at this time. City Clerk Kolacy said that no written materials had been received. Public Comment Rosemary Sikes: encouraged complete funding of Parks so they can be maintained at current levels; she said much of the work is done by volunteers already and viable parks are amenities for both community members and tourists. Joshua Bennun: stated the Council can do a better job in setting priorities on a timely basis, informing the public, and avoiding last minute maneuvering. Barb McColgan Pastore: Thanked the Council for funding needed community services such as parks, pool, and YMCA at the status quo level. She urged funding of capital improvements for the Parks, particularly playground equipment and the golf course, adding that these improvements will pay big dividends over time. · Mari Mullen: Executive Director of Main Street, expressed appreciation for the City's continued support of Main Street and noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the program. There were no further comments from the public. Staff response Mr. Timmons noted that from the public's point of view, municipal projects can be confusing but the staff has tried to stay as consistent as possible through this process. Mr. Timmons added there is a significant amount of money in the budget for capital improvements for Parks, including $15,00 placeholder for playground development and $10,000 for the golf course. There is also $350,000 for skateboard park development and $100,000 to begin pool renovations. · Mr. Legarsky stated there is a typo on page 2 of the ordinance and the total amount of funding should be $31,559,945. He reiterated that four new funds would be established: library, fireÆMS, public works admin and engineering, and community services. Transfers out of the general fund to these funds will be 2.3 million dollars. Separating the funds will enable better comparisons with other communities who offer some or none of these services. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 3 December 6, 2004 · Clarifying questions from the Council Ms. Robinson asked which of the funds are included in the general fund. Mr. Legarsky noted that all those listed through the street fund except contingency are included in the general fund. Mr. Masci asked whether the drug enforcement and education fund is related to the monies forwarded to the County for this purpose. Mr. Legarsky stated that money from the state liquor control board is the source of the County funding. The drug enforcement and education fund was set up to hold assets from police seizures of assets. In answer to Mr. Masci's questions, Mr. Legarsky noted there is an ending balance in the contingency fund of about $150,000. He also confirmed that the Memorial Fund is the city's only donation fund. Mr. Timmons stated if more money is desired for streets, it could be transferred for either capital or operations funding. He stated the number for the Parks maintenance budget is a net, non-revenue based number. There was further discussion regarding setting up the four new funds. Mr. Legarsky noted that in 1999 there were nearly 30 different funds and staff recommended consolidation or elimination of most of those to make the budget more easily understood and administered; the four funds now proposed will be useful for purposes of transparency and comparison purposes. · In answer to Ms. Sandoval, Mr. Timmons noted the $4 million attributed to the City Hall/Annex include the bid as well as other professional services, testing, and inspection costs. He added that some numbers are estimates since actual costs will not be known until the first quarter of2005. Estimates are generally based on past history. Mr. Benskin asked where all the contractors are in the budget. Mr. Timmons noted that there would be an interim position while we go through recruitment for a development engineer. He added that David Wright will become an interim employee at the beginning of the year. He stated that contractors who do planning services, etc. would be funded under the professional services line items in the various fund budgets. Mr. Timmons also replied that general fund money could be added to the drug enforcement and education fund. He stated that $33,287 last year was transferred to the County health department; once in the liquor fund it is restricted for that purpose. Mr. Kolff asked about utility rates and taxes to the general fund; Mr. Timmons replied the utility tax has been 10% since he got here and that amount was not increased as part of the rates case presented to the Council. In reply to another question, Mr. Timmons noted that he has requested financial records from the EDC but believes the accounts have been reconciled and that all funds are accounted for. He stated he would report to the council on this after the first of the year. · City Council Special Business Meeting Page 4 December 6, 2004 · Ms. Fenn asked about the street fund total increase of $170,000; Mr. Timmons stated that all Committee recommendations were consolidated to the general fund and the balance was applied to the street fund. Mrs. Medlicott asked how much money had been collected to date in lodging tax revenue. Mr. Timmons stated that $333,276 does not include the December collections. Mari Mullen confirmed to Mrs. Medlicott that Main Street has tracked over 2,000 volunteer hours for the year and confirmed that those hours may be valued at $17 per hour. Ms. Fenn asked that Mr. Watts provide to her and the Council the state RCW that guides L T AC spending. Ms. Robinson asked if the $170,000 allocation over the original $200,000 for streets would be apportioned among the three categories (overlay & maintenance, chip seal, and tiering). Mr. Timmons stated that Public Works has developed a list of projects which will be brought to the General Government committee with recommendations on priorities for spending. Ms. Robinson asked if $300,000 were appropriated, how would that money be allocated? · Mr. Clow stated that the allocation is about 50/50 between asphalt and chip seal. He said that when the department knows how much money is available, they will carry on with as many projects as possible and the list can be adjusted and fine-tuned. He said there is at least one tiering project on the list for 2005 that is already known. Ms. Robinson asked for confirmation that $50,000 would not go into tiering. Mr. Clow confirmed. Mr. Timmons stated that tiering may take a higher priority than asphalt because of projects pending. Ms. Robinson asked if the contract grant writer is something we had last year that we are re-instating. Mr. Timmons stated that is was new for 2004 and will continue into 2005. He said the grant writer brought in a $48,000 grant and has been associated with other projects totaling about $288,000. Ms. Robinson asked about the pending agreement with Fire District #6 and whether it is a condition ofFD #6 hiring the Assistant Chief that we hire a paramedic/firefighter. Mr. Timmons stated a tentative agreement was reached at the last meeting, with a recommendation that staff prepare a draft interlocal agreement to be brought back to the Council for consideration. District #6 is farther along since their entire Board of Commissioners is involved in the meetings. · Fire Chief Mike Mingee noted that he looked over the draft agreement today and added that District #6 will also agree to do some construction at one of their fire halls to City Council Special Business Meeting Page 5 December 6,2004 . accommodate 24 hour staffing. He added that a General Government meeting has been scheduled for December 14 and if the agreement is approved, it will be brought to the Council soon after that. The entire Council will receive complete information on the process and the agreement. Mr. Timmons added this would not be implemented by budget adoption, but by separate agreement. Mayor Robinson asked if there were any audience comments to clarify any item brought up during Councilor questions. Rosemary Sikes asked what GFLOS stands for; answer was "general fund level of service." There were no more clarification questions or comments from the public. Mayor Robinson declared public testimony closed. RECESS Mayor Robinson declared a recess at 8: 16 p.m. for the purpose of a break. RECONVENE . The meeting was reconvened at 8:35 p.m. Motion: Mr. Masci moved for first reading of Ordinance 2888 with total fund balances reflecting the corrected figures from Mr. Legarsky. Mr. Benskin seconded. Mr. Masci commented that he had a couple of minor suggestions. These were to establish a permanent ceiling of $3,500 funding to the Arts Commission with money saved to go to the Fire Hall exhaust system and also to the Drug Enforcement and Education Fund. He stated that the adoption of the 1 % for the Arts program will provide many thousands of dollars for arts projects. Otherwise he spoke in support of the budget as presented. Mr. Benskin stated he does not agree with everything, would support more money for drug education, possibly from the EDC appropriation that will not be made, but generally is in support of adopting the budget. . Ms. Fenn stated she would not be present on Thursday. She believes the Council is close to agreement, with suggestions for shifting fairly small amounts of money. She suggested the Council consider reappropriating some funds from street overlay into tiering or rather than adding the full $170,000 to streets, some could be used to close the funding gap for the City Hall/Annex. She would like to see funding for sprinklers on the second floor of City Hall. She asked for an explanation of what pool upgrades are planned for 2005 and then for 2006; she asked ifUV filtration rather than chlorine is City Council Special Business Meeting Page 6 December 6,2004 · possible. She also asked for information about proposed County participation regarding Fort Worden parking, pool upgrades, YMCA, and a status report on the Health Department and "best beginnings" program. She stated the City should determine which programs work best statistically in terms of education and enforcement. She believes funding for Domestic Violence is one of the best possible law and justice expenditures. Ms. Sandoval agreed with many of the items Ms. Fenn brought up. She would like to hear about the ability of the Public Works Department to be able to do the overlay program given all the current projects they have in progress. She believes investment in the Arts Commission is a boost to economic development and is important both to the soul and pocketbook of the community. She added she has some concerns about some of the planned expenditures given the new potential metropolitan park levy sponsored by the YMCA. She would like to discuss pool issues further on the 13th. Mr. Kolff supported taking the $5,000 from EDC for drug enforcement and education; supported looking at the expenses for street overlay versus tiering and see if any additional money can be found for City Hall/Annex. Amendment (friendly): place a slash between City Hall and Annex in the fund listing. · Mr. Kolff stated that $5,000 for Fort Worden parking was reimbursed to the general fund from the L T AC reserve so that shows as additional revenue; he stated he will bring forward at a later date a recommendation that we reduce the amount the City commits to Fort Worden in 2005 by the extra amount paid in 2004 which would be an additional $1,393 to add to the fund balance. He said he would love to see the Council consider taking roughly half the money we commit to Fort Worden from LTAC reserve funds. Mrs. Medlicott noted that the Arts Commission has agreed to return to the Council within six months with a study regarding fees for its programs. She also stated the pool is studying a fee increase structure as is PTTV and that more money received in fees will free money from the budget for other purposes. Mrs. Medlicott then stated her objections to Mr. Kolfrs suggestion in regard to Fort Worden parking fees. She asked that staff make inquiries to MRSC, the Attorney General, and the State Auditor to ask whether it is an appropriate use of civic funds and LTAC funds to pay part of the deferred maintenance budget for another state agency. She added that 75% of the parking fee money is returned directly to Fort Worden for deferred maintenance. Ms. Robinson noted that the street fund has been neglected during the three years she has been on the Council. She is asking herself questions about whether she is willing to neglect it another year and how much she is willing to neglect it. She also does not want to allocate money that can't be used, so needs to know what is realistic to accomplish. Mr. Clow stated that $300,000 worth of work is realistic and he would be comfortable with $200,000 or $250,000 for street maintenance. · City Council Special Business Meeting Page 7 December 6,2004 · Ms. Robinson asked ifthe YMCA contract is hard and fast at $90,000 per year; Mr. Timmons replied that it is set for 2005, with an option for 2006. She noted that the YMCA has fundraising capabilities that the pool does not have. Ms. Sandoval stated her concern about putting money into streets is the fact that we need to have a Transportation Functional Plan; she asked if that is fully funded in the 2005 budget. Mr. Clow stated that it isn't clear whether the amount to fund the plan will cover the comprehensive scope of work suggested by the advisory board. Ms. Sandoval asked if there is money in the budget to complete the stormwater plan. Mr. Clow stated that funding for the plan is in the capital program for 2005. Vote on first reading including the slash between "City Hall" and "Annex" and with the final total as corrected by the Finance Director: motion carried unanimously, 7-0, by voice vote. Motion: Mrs. Medlicott moved to direct staff to inquire from the State Auditor, MRSC and the Attorney General whether it is an appropriate use of General Fund monies and/or LT AC funds to be paid toward the deferred maintenance budget of a state agency, specifically Fort Worden State Park. Mr. Masci seconded. · Mr. Kolff stated he would like more clarification as to whether or not the money at Fort Worden is truly going for deterred maintenance or for new construction. Mr. Timmons noted that the phrasing of the question is important; the fact that the transaction is exchange of money for a waiver of parking fees must be included within the framework of the inquiry. Ms. Robinson asked if staff understands the intent and whether they can respond Monday with at least an opinion from MRSC. Mr. Watts stated he would make the request and indicate that time frame. Mrs. Medlicott clarified that the three sources were alternatives, and the motion is meant to indicate an "or" between the choices. Vote: the motion carried unanimously, 7-0, by voice vote. ORDINANCE 2885 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND FIXING AND ADOPTING 2005 PROPERTY TAX LEVIES WITH AN INCREASE OF ONE PERCENT (1%) · Finance Director Michael Legarsky reviewed the packet material, noting the City Council approved first reading ofthe ordinance after a public hearing conducted on November 22, City Council Special Business Meeting Page 8 December 6,2004 . 2004. He made one correction to the ordinance, adding "Fire and EMS Services Fund" after "Contingency Fund" in the first paragraph. Motion: Mr. Kolffmovedfor adoption of Ordinance 2885. Mrs. Medlicott seconded. In answer to Ms. Sandoval's question, Mr. Legarsky demonstrated how new construction affects the total of tax collected and the levy rate. Ms. Fenn stated that even though the Council has found a way to balance the budget, the reason they ask for a levy increase is that the City is not keeping up with the cost of living and expenditures continue to increase at a greater rate than revenues. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 7-0, by roll call vote. ADVISORY BOARD APPOINTMENTS Motion: Mr. Masci moved for approval of the following appointments to citizen advisory boards. Mrs. Medlicott seconded. The motion carried unanimously, 7-0, by voice vote. . Arts Commission: Donna "Annod" Bickley, position 7, term expires 05/01/07 Larry Thomas, position 5, term expires 05/01106 Stanley S. Rubin, position 1, term expires 05/01105 Downtown Parking Advisory Board: Fred Haynes, position 7, term expires 05/01107 Affordable Housing Task Force Mike Yawman, position 7 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA, REGULAR MEETING AND/OR STUDY SESSION Motion: Mr. Kolff stated that the Council approved a motion a couple of weeks ago to add to an agenda a workshop review of Chapter VII of the Comprehensive Plan and specified that this would be done before the end of December; given the late date, this workshop be postponed to the first workshop opportunity in January. Mr. Masci seconded. The motion carried unanimously, 7-0, by voice vote. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL . Ms. Fenn noted that she attended a public meeting of the County Recreation Board and participated as a Councilor, in a discussion about sheltering homeless people at the closed County Park adjacent to the Tri-Area Center and other parts of a procedure to find indoor sheltering for the homeless. City Council Special Business Meeting Page 9 December 6, 2004 . . . Consensus: Ms. Fenn asked if Mr. Timmons, in a comment to the Council, provide an update on the information received so far from the Economic Development Council regarding its financial affairs. She would like a full audit. There was consensus that the City Manager be tasked with making this report. Ms. Sandoval reported that the Transportation Committee is reviewing the motorized scooter ordinance but this will take more time than they thought and the issue will come back to the committee again so no action will be recommended to the Council before the end ofthe year. Mrs. Medlicott asked the City Manager to keep the council posted on how the City Hall/Annex shortfall is being addressed. She would like a complete City Manager's report once a month. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:42 p.m. Attest: O~ci1~ Pamela Kolacy, CMC City Clerk City Council Special Business Meeting December 6,2004 Page 10