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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08042003CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF AUGUST 4, 2003 The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in regular session this fourth day of August, 2003, at 6:30 p.m. in the Port Townsend Council Chambers of City Hall, Mayor Kees Kolff presiding. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Kees Kolff. Council members present at roll call were Freida Fenn, Joe Finnie, Kees Kolff, Geoff Masci, Michelle Sandoval, and Alan Youse. Catharine Robinson was excused. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, Public Works Director Ken Clow, BCD Director Jeff Randall, Finance Director Michael Legarsky, Senior Planner Judy Surber, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA Mayor Kolff stated there would be no executive session. He noted that two agenda items address the issue of the 2003 supplemental budget: the first is the public hearing and the second is the recommendation of the Transportation Committee (Committee Reports XI.2). Them was agreement that the items would both be addressed during the public hearing on the supplemental budget. PRESIDING OFFICER'S REPORT Mayor Kolff noted the tragedy that took place early this morning when Aldrich's Market was lost to a fire. He outlined some of the initial efforts being started to help those affected. Mr. Timmons and others praised the Port Townsend Fire Department very highly and expressed thanks to the other local fire fighters who arrived to assist in battling the blaze. Laurie Medlicott and Dave Aldrich also commented on the loss of Aldrich's. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (consent and non-agenda items) Daniel Zimm addressed the issue of street maintenance, citing his street access in particular. Daphne Kilburn spoke in honor of the "waving man" who recently passed away and requested the Council do some sort of tribute or recognition. City Council Meeting Page 1 August 4, 2003 Mary McQuillen and Terri McQuillen thanked the council on behalf of the participants in the canoe journey. Bill Tennent, JCHS Director mourned the loss of Aldrich's and announced the completion ceremony for the Bell Tower on August 7. PUBLIC HEARING ORDINANCE 2833 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, RE-ENACTING AND EXTENDING FOR THREE (3) MONTHS ORDINANCE 2799, INTERIM STNADARDS FOR TREE CLEARING AND PLANTING. Mayor Kolff noted there are two public hearings scheduled and the rules of order would apply to each although he would read them once. There were no council members with interests to disclose in connection with either hearing. BCD Director Jeff Randall stated that the Planning Commission has just finished a lengthy public process and public hearing on the proposed ordinance and voted 6-2 in favor of recommending the ordinance, which will come before council as soon as possible. Due to the complexity and length of the ordinance, Mr. Randall suggested that the council schedule a workshop prior to the public hearing. He also noted the crafting of the legislation has taken a longer time than anticipated because there were many issues which came up in the course of discussion the committee wished to take into consideration. Public comment None Mayor Kolff asked for clarifying questions from the Council. Ms. Sandoval asked if there are significant changes between the last draft of the tree conservation ordinance and the recommendation of the Planning Commission. Mr. Randall replied there are some minor changes from the last version that was provided to council. Mayor Kolff asked if any citizens had expressed a hardship in pursuing their development plans due to the pending ordinance. Mr. Randall stated only one applicant has wanted to do fairly heavy logging and that person has said the project could wait until adoption of the regulations. City Council Meeting Page 2 August 4, 2003 There was no clarifying testimony from the public and public testimony was closed at 7:20 p.m. Ms. Sandoval asked to correct the information published in the newspaper which indicated she was against having a public hearing on the ordinance. She stated that she had indicated a desire to explore in the future the possibility of having joint public hearings before both Planning Commission and City Council in some instances. Motion: Ms. Fenn moved for adoption of Ordinance 2833. Ms. Sandoval seconded. Several council members expressed praise and gratitude to the citizens who served on the ad hoc committee to draft the ordinance. Vote: The Ordinance to Extend Interim Standards failed on a 3-3 tie, with Fenn, Kolff and Sandoval in favor and Finnie, Masci and Youse opposed on a roll call vote. Consensus: schedule a workshop for approximately one hour during the August 18 Council meeting and schedule a public hearing before Council for the tree conservation ordinance on September 2. ORDINANCE 2835 AN ORDINANCE appropriating the sum of $222,693 to the General Fund; $7,500 to the Contingency Fund; $10,000 to the Community Development Block Grant Fund; $51,380 to the Lodging Tax Fund; $15,687 to LID #1 Fund; $396,657 to the Capital Improvement Fund; $21,140 to Water and Sewer Fund; $220,000 to the Utility Construction Fund; $8,977 the Stormwater Fund; $31,252 to the Solid Waste Fund; $200,000 to the Equipment Rental Fund; $4,946 to the Firemen's Pension Fund; $247,000 to the Transmission Line Replacement Fund; and making findings and declaring an emergency. City Manager David Timmons stated that the supplemental budget recognizes both the expenditures and revenues that were unanticipated during the creation of the 2003 budget. He noted that this supplemental budget results in a net increase to the general fund balance. Public comment: Jim Hagan: stated his hope that the increase in fund balance will make a street levy unnecessary; added it is important how the council budgets its time as well as its money. He said when the Council gets off track with things like the tree ordinance; it takes away staff time and also funding from basic city services. He asked the Council to take into account the cost of living burden that faces many Port Townsend working people. Nancy Borino spoke on behalf of funding the non-motorized trail and bicycle map, noting that it is a win-win situation for visitors and locals and represents a public/private City Council Meeting Page 3 August 4, 2003 partnership, including LTAC, PT Chamber, Jefferson Transit, Bicycle Association and the City. After asking for any clarifying statements from the public, the Mayor closed public testimony at 7:55 p.m. Motion: Mr. Masci moved to adopt Ordinance 2835, amended to include the addition of up to a $7,500 allocation from the contingency fund for the non-motorized trail and bicycle map. Ms. Sandoval seconded Mr. Youse spoke against the inclusion of the map funding as he questions how accurate the map can be in light of information that the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan may be flawed since certain unopened rights-of-way previously considered city property may revert to private ownership. Mr. Timmons noted that the map would show trails that actually exist, not all areas which may be listed as future trails in the plan. This should not be affected by the policy question Mr. Youse referred to. Vote: Motion carried, 5-1, by roll call vote, with Mr. Youse opposed CONSENT AGENDA Motion: Mr. Masci moved for adoption of the following items on the Consent Agenda. Ms. Sandoval seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0, by voice vote. Approval of Bills, Claims and Warrants Vouchers: 86746 through 86896 in the amount of $390,174.96 Approval of Minutes July 21, 2003 Regular Session UNFINISHED BUSINESS JEFFERSON COUNTY MARINE RESOURCES COMMITTEE'S "VOLUNTARY ANCHOR-FREE EELGRASS PROTECTION ZONE" Senior Planner Judy Surber stated that earlier this year, staff notified the Council of the Marine Resource Committee's goal to place an anchor-free eelgrass protection zone along the city's downtown waterfront. At that time the MRC was urged by the Council to meet with stakeholders to gain public support. The Committee has done outreach to community groups, including the Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend Yacht Club, Port of Port Townsend, and a marine business cluster group. The plan has been generally well accepted. Location of marker buoys could be located on Department of Natural Resources tidelands or submerged city rights-of-way. In either case, a shoreline exemption will be necessary. City Council Meeting Page 4 August 4, 2003 Mr. Finnie asked if part of the plan would include volunteers in kayaks interacting with boaters. Ms. Surber said that is part of the plan and that volunteers would be trained on the correct dialogue. Compliance with the program is voluntary. Public comment Jim Todd spoke in favor of the proposal. Motion: Mr. Masci moved to authorize the City Manger to enter into agreements with the Marine Resources Committee for placement of seasonal marker buoys in submerged rights-of-way and upland signage on city properties (such as City Dock and Union WharjO. Mr. Youse seconded. Mr. Masci stated there would be a positive impact to stabilize eelgrass beds and he is pleased that the stakeholders have now been brought into the process. Mr. Finnie stated it would be good to have a feedback mechanism to find out how the market is responding to the effort. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0, by voice vote. NEW BUSINESS DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY GRANT APPLICATION Senior Planner Judy Surber said that the State of Washington has made a biennial appropriation of $2 million to fund local Shoreline Master Plan development. This money requires no match on the part of the City and as one of the five early adopters the City is in a priority position for grant funding. BCD staff proposes to submit a grant application to continue with the efforts to update the Plan; money could go for funding consultants and a full time city planner for the duration of the grant. This would also allow a good amount of public outreach. In addition, she noted that this is an excellent opportunity to consider detailed planning efforts for Point Hudson. The Port has been developing its Comprehensive Scheme and discussions in both City and Port forums expressed the need for more detailed planning efforts in regard to Point Hudson. When the Port makes a final selection on their planning alternative, they could undertake master planning on that selected alternative and this grant funding could assist in that process. To this end, staff can identify Point Hudson as a sub-task so that it can be pulled if not fimded and not jeopardize the overall funding opportunity. Preliminary contact with the Port's executive director has been positive. Motion: Mr. Masci moved to direct staff to complete and submit an application to the State Department of Ecology for Shoreline Master Plan development and direct staff to City Council Meeting Page 5 August 4, 2003 work with the Port with the goal of partnering on a "Point Hudson subtask" to the grant application. Ms. Sandoval seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0, by voice vote. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS Ms. Sandoval recapped the discussion at the Transportation Committee regarding the Howard/Rainier link and the need to begin property acquisition for the project. Mr. Youse asked about plans for a traffic light in the area. Mr. Timmons noted that the countywide infrastructure plan would be completed next month. He stated that the owner of the PT Business Park has agreed to make traffic signalization a priority. He added there is strong support from both Jefferson Transit and County administration. Motion: Ms. Sandoval moved to adopt the recommendation of the Transportation Committee and authorize staff to explore the costs of property acquisition to complete the Howard/Rainier link to Discovery Road and the feasibility of acquisition o frights-of-way to 21st Street for the 2004 budget cycle. Mr. Masci seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0, by voice vote. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Attest: Pamela Kolacy, CMC City Clerk City Council Meeting Page 6 August 4, 2003