Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/17/1970 248 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF MARCH 3, 1970, CONTINUED ADJOURNMENT As there Was no further business to come before the council at this time, it was moved by Councilman Hoglund seconded by Councilman Steve that the meeting do now adjourn,o- Motion carried. MAYOR MINUTEg OF TH~ REGULAR SESSION OF MARCH 17,1970 March 17, 1970 Port Townsend, Washington The City Council of the City of Port Tovmsend met in regular session this 17th day of Manch 1970, at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the City Hall. Mayor Smith presiding. ROLL CALL Officers and members present were as f'ollows: Mayor Smtth, City Attorney Abraham, City Clerk YoQDgblood, Councilmen Scheyer, Hoglund, Judy, Camfield, Steve, Lindsey, Norwood. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS SESSION It was moved by Councilman Scheyer seconded by Councilman Camfield that the Minutes of' the previous session be dispensed with. Motion carried. CONE'IUNICATIONS The following communications were presented and acted upon as follows: From: Roy J. Bergstrom Ci ty Council City Port Townsend, Wn. I'ilar 7, 1970 to-wi t: Gentlemen: It is requested that the Council take necessary steps to eliminate the problem of the ~igeons in the down town area. They have multiplied until there are hundreds and thy are dirtying up the buildings pnd creating a real nuisance. Inasmuch as we cannot shoot them in the city we believe that the City should be the one to g)t rid of this pest. Your attenti~n in this matter is requested. Roy J. Bergstrom Mayor Smith commented that there were a lot of cities with a lot of pidgeon problems. Councilman Scheyer suggested to turn over the problem to the attention of' the tri-city county health officer. Mayor Smith said that that would be a good route to take. From: Lcr en J. Northup Port Townsend, rn:arch 12, 1970 to-wit: Gentlemen: On Monday, March 9,1970, by order of' Chief ~TIeg1ey, I was to start 30 days leave commencing the following day with retirement from the Police Departm3nt March 31,1970. I wish to place before the Council my request for consideration of an extension on my re- tirement date to March 1,1971 at which time I will have reached minimum age for Social Security. I am advised this is the considered opinion of the State of Washington, Public Employees Retirement System. Any attention you may give this matter will be greatly appreciated by me. Sincerellf yours Loren J.Northup Patrolman, Police Dept. Mayor Smith that the communication would be brought up under new business. C01~ITTEE REPOR~S City Attorney Abraham said that he had met with the Humane Society at their re~uest to review ordinances relating to animals. They were concerned about two items of, fees, on was a pick up fee paid by the owner of a dog or cat of 2.00, they want to raise the f'ee to 4.00. In the ordinance there is no pick up fee at all and had advised them to go ahead and raise tÅ“ fee to 4.00. The other fee which is in the ordinance of 1.00 a day for board, they would like to raise that to a 1.50 a day: Attorney Abraham recommended that the council amend the ordinance to raise the fee of 1;00 to 1.50 ~r day for board and to include in the ordinance 4.00 for pick up fee. It was moved by Councilman Norwood seconded by Councilman Steve that the City Attorney be authorized to amend the ordinance as requested. Motion carried. PETITION FOR SIDE-SPXIER CONTRACTOR'S LIC:N- ~>E -- To the Honorable Mayor and Council of the City of Port Townsend The undersigned hereby petitions and represents that he is a ~rson skilled in the business of' laying and connecting sewers, and asks that he be granted a license for such purposes under and by virtue of' the provisions of Ordinance No. 1527 and current amendments thereto. The undersigned further agrees to abide by the provisions of Ordinance No. 1527 and current amendments thereto as completely as if it were incorporated herin. Bills's Plumbing & Heating William F. Kimler 8 I I 8 I 8 I I 8 8 I I 8 I 8 I I 8 . 249 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF MARCH 17,1970, CONTINUED The City Clerk informed the council that the required bond WaS attached and that the fee of $25.00 had been paid. - It was moved by Councilman Lindsey seconded by Councilman Judy the license be approved. Motion carried. , Mayor Smitþ said the proposed zoning ordinance was presented to theccounci1bbefore.the last election. He said there has been som~ comment that the council were dragging their feet wfuich he disagreed with for it has been an active subject during the time elapsed. Mayor Smith said he f'e1t that now was the time for the council to decided what they are going to do about tffi ordinance. Councilman Norwood recommended that the council for a committee as a whole and meet and go through and discuss the zoning ordinance paragraph by paragraph. Mayor Smit~ said it was a good recommendation and set the evening of the 24th of March f'or a working session of' the council. . ... City Attorney ~braham commented and made several recommendations. He said to bear in mind when reading the ordinance that it was written with everything including the kitchen sink on the assumption the council would eliminate anyting it considered to. be undesirable. He said he hoped the council would approach this ina positive rather than in a. negative way for if we all get together and sIB nd the evening making sp~eches about how unconsti tutiona1 different aspects if it are, we are go.'ng to be there a long time without accomplishing anything. He said for example there is a provision in the ordinance which is unconstitiutional having to do with building inspection, there were a lot of thing~ of' th~t nature in the ordinance. He sa id the time is over for us ing this for tt,oli tical purpos es, it is now time to get down to work on the ordinance Dnd urged the council members to ref'rain from repeating their objectioBs next tuesday night study session ànd conf'ine their efforts to eliminate or revise undesirable portions of the proposed ordinance. Mayor Smith said that on the agenda for tonight and everyone WaS aware of Vl?S the sales tax issue. He said that the state has placed us in,the position of a one way decision. The state has authorized until 1973 the placing of a sales tax by cities and coumties. At the same time the aid to cities would be discontinued the first of July. He said that he had went out on a limb and had written to the state that the City of Port Townsend would institute the half cent sales tax starting April 1, 1970. Councilman Hoglund, Chairman of the Finance Committee, agreed that the state left as no choice, with the loss of special state aid, the sales tax represented the only effective source of' revenue, and was in favor of puttinß on the sales tax. Councilman Hoglund also stated that he didnt feel that the city had enough security with this taxation to go out and alter our present . tax base. Councilman Steve said he did not want to commend this outstRnding legislature for this piece ~f' legislation, in one instance they are giving you the privelege of taxation and on the other hand are taking it away. He said he was opposed to any raising of taxes but had to go along with this and recommended the city institute the half cent sales tax. After some further discussion, Mayor Smith had the City Clerk read the f'ollowing ordinance. ORDINANCE NO. 1586 AN ORDINANCE IMPOSING A SALES OR USE TAX, PRO- VIDING RATES THEREFOR, AUTHORIZING CITY OFFICERS TO EXECUTE AGREEMENT FOR COLIE CTION OF TAX BY STATE DEPART~mNT OF REVENUE, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES. . It was moved by Councilman Camfield seconded by Councilman Scheyer that the first reading be considered the second reading and the third reading be by title only. Motion carried. 0 Ordinance No. 1586 was again read for the third time by t~t1e o~ly and it was moved by Councilman Lindsey seconded by Councilman Judy that Ord. No. 1586 do, now pass. Motion carried. Mayor Smith said that the little reservoir had been.drained and the condition has been found to be more serious than Was thought, and,asked the city engineer to exd~n the conditions found. Engineer French said tha t the 1in:tilgg had no reÅ“nforcemen t, the concrete was in a crumb1:i,ng II state, the bituminous coating was water soaked. He recommended to completely reline the reservoir with reinforced concrete using a water proof sealer between the old and new and to build the level to the level of reservoir no. 2. He said a real hazard existed whilè the reservoir is drained. Mayor Smith said this was an emergency and felt the council would be justified to negotiate a con trac t f'or the repair of the reservoir. He said the money was availablè. in the water Department and it would amount to around 40,000. Af'ter some considerable discussion, it was the opinion o~ the council that an emergency existed which effected the health and welfare of the citizens of the city of Port Townsend that the no 1 reservoir' had deteriorated to a point of' being unusable and that immediate repair is reQuired so as to provide adequate fire protection and sanitation to the city. It was moved by Councilman Hoglund seconded by Councilman Norwood that an emergency ordinance be drawn up and authorizing tthè n-egbtæåtio.I} ofidadëontr.åc¡t for the repair of' reservoir no. 1. Motion carried. Mayor Smith brought up the l'~:Jtter from Patrolman Northup f'or an extensJron of one more year for the police Dept. He said that due to law, after the age of 60 a patrolman must write such a letter to the council for such an extension of time. Mayor Sm~th asked the council for action. Councilman Hoglund said that Chief Phegley had talked to him and had given him good valid II reasons for not extending Patrolman Northup for another year. He sE,id that Patrolman Northup had also talked to him and he had valid reasons for wanting to work one more year, but felt that Chief Phegley was acting with authority and for the good of the department in not extending Patrolman Northup another year and felt it would be the best interest of the department to retire Patrolman Northup. Councilman Steve made a motion to extend patrolman Northup as patrolman for one more year. He said it it didnt get a second then the motion would be dead. Councilman Lindsey seconded the motion. . Upon the question Councilman Lindsey said that he would like to hear what the Chief of Police had to say on the subject. Chief Phegley said he felt it would be unfair to Patrolman Northup to exterld his duties for another year, he said tha.t he WaS getting older and the department was getting knocked around more than people knew about, he said he woulQ get a good retirement along with a good retirement from the Navy. Chief Phegley said when the budget was made out, patrolmän Northup was planning on retirement if ila trolman Was not retired then there would have to be an II emergency ordinance for 1,800,00. He mentioned that four years ago he had asked f'or an extensien and another year since that time. Chief Phegley said he was against extending Patrolman Northup for another year. Councilman Lindsey said he \\QuId have to go along with the Chief for it his deplrtment. Ater some f'urther discussion, Councilman Lindsey withdrew his second. Motion died for lack of a second. -- 250 -- - - - - MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF 1~RCH 17, 1970, CONTINUED -. - -.- - -- - - -- ------- ..------ - ---- ._------------------------------ --- ---- .----- __n -- dO --- ---- -------- ---- ------------------------------- ----- Ci~ Attorney Abraham said that he had prepared an ordinance on the reservoir and wmld like to explain what he had done. He said he was concerned about this becaus e it deals with' the. -',:C reservoir of the emergency nature, and didnt want any questions about the emergency, for it is an emergency due to talking to the engineer. The òrdinance that he has drafted is a declaration first of all by the council that such an emergency exists and tlJat it imperils the public health' and safety and secondly it authorizes the Mayor to go ahead and negotiate the repair of the reservoir. . Mayor Smith asked the city clerk to read the ordinance. 8 -, ORDINANCE NO. 1587 AN ORDINANCE FINDING AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY TO EXIST IN THE LOSS OF USE OF A RESERVOIR, AND AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE NEGOTIATION OF A CONTRACT FOR THE REPAIR THEREOF. I It was moved by Councilman Hoglund seconded by Councilman Camfield that the first reading be considered the second reading and the third reading be by title only. Motion carried. Ordinance No. 1587 was again read by title only and it was moved by'Counci1man Scheyer seconded by Councilman Camfie~d that the ordinance do no~ass. Motion carried. Councilman Hoglund said he would like to comment on the medical program that the police and firemen had to go under, af'ter the last meeting this item was referred to the finance committee, and after the last meeting there had been a little round table discussion on the propriety and also the legality of the city of Port Townsend entering into an arrangement for medical coverage. He said there appears to be two ways of' :i_nterpeting the law and as he interpeted the 19. w, it indicated that this coveÐage should be authorized and accepted by a Connty Ci~ Disability Board and believed he recalled the attorney confered to that attitude that we as a city really dont have the legal right going out on our own. He mentioned that as f'ar as he knew the board had no t been set up yet. Mayor Smith said that he had been turned down as a member of the board and ~ppo~nted Councilman Scheyer as the city member to the board. Attorney Abraham stated that what Councilman Hoglund had said WaS certainly true but was a little concerned about how long it is goi~ to take to get1his board established and functiD8ing and suggested that the council to go aheaåand get some kind of covera~e at least for the interim period that the city would be justified in that expenditure for be are exposed to the liability. Councilman Norwood said that what we are doing is gambling maybe a couple of' hundred dollars that would cost us to insure and in t:-:e meantime against maybe thousands if something happened. Councilman Scheyer said that the city could get some temporary insurance that was presented to the council last meeting, the Washington Physicians Service. Councilman Scheyer made a motion seconded by Councilman Norwood that the city accept the Washington Physician Service plan as an interm measure until the board arrives to a decision. Motion carried. I 8 Mayor Smith mentioned the Monroe Street Project, saying that more should be known in about a week or so, but at this time it looked like a border line project. I Mayor Smith appointed Councilman Norwood to represent the city to the District Board of Health. Councilman Norwood said that a letter had been received and it bad to do with the consolidation of Statewide City Employees Retirement System with the fublic Employees Retirement System and felt if' the cities did not oppose this the the cities would lose control of their ~esent retirement system and again would be dictated by the state as far as retirement goes. The City Clerk mentioned that a meeting would be held at the Hyatt House Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m to discuss the consolidation. Former Councilman Moody addressed the counciland recommended that the B&O tax be retained and that the revenue amounting around 15,000.00 be channeled thru the police department to provide for an additional man for drugh and juvenile problems. 8 ADJ OURNMEN T As there was no further business to come before the councilat this time, it was moved by Councilman Steve seconded by Councilman Judy that the meeting do now adjourn. Motion carried. Attes~¿ ~~ CJt Gle - /' /_., /. mE L-~~~' I I 8