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HomeMy WebLinkAboutITEM III-BCITY OF UBURN WASHINGTON DRAFT PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE August 25, 2008 MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER - 5:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBERS Chair Lynn Norman called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers located on the first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA. Committee members present were: Chair Lynn Norman, Member Backus and Member Wagner. Also present were Principal Planner Jeff Dixon, Permit Center Manager Darcie Hanson, Building Division Manager Jim Tinner, Finance Director Shelly Coleman, Financial Planning Manager Karen Jester, Public Works Director Dennis Dowdy, Code Enforcement Officer Mike Dunbar, Deputy Police Chief Bob Lee, Mayor Pete Lewis and Community Services Project Assistant Kirsten Reynolds. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Backus moved to approve the minutes from the August 11, 2008 meeting as submitted, seconded by Member Wagner. Minutes approved unanimously 3-0. III. ACTION A. Resolution No. 4376 - Approving and authorizing Agreement No. AG-C-338 with BHC Consultants Principal Planner Jeff Dixon explained that this consultant services agreement with BHC Consultants, LLC for code update services was previously discussed at the July 14 meeting. As a result of a request at the last meeting, an item was added to the scope of work to provide a development community advisory group; Task 1-I, to assist the City in the review, evaluation, and update of City development regulations and design standards. Member Backus referenced Task 1-H and Task 2-C and asked about when information would be shared with council. Mayor Lewis explained the process would come back to PCDC for a final review. In reference to the Products under Task 1, Member Wagner asked that the matrix referenced, provide a side by side comparison of the evolution of the proposed code changes. Member Backus moved to forward Resolution No. 4376 on to full Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. IV. DISCUSSION A. Enforcement of Parking on Planter Strips Public Works Director Dennis Dowdy, Code Enforcement Officer Mike Dunbar and Deputy Police Chief Bob Lee held a discussion regarding traffic enforcement, which prohibits parking on sidewalks or landscape strips. Mayor Lewis reported that the original of this issue is a recent abundance of parking tickets have been issued to cars parked on the planter strip adjacent to the roadway. Some of the impacted areas are located between M and I Street and around Les Gove Park up to 4th Street NE. Also some residents have graveled their planter strip to facilitate parking on the planter strips in the public right-of-way. While the neighborhood is served by alleys at the rear, residents in these areas have few other options than to park on the landscaping strips, due to the narrow width of the roads. Director Dowdy explained that a recommendation for a code change had been made at the preceding Municipal Services Committee meeting. The recommendation would allow people to park between the edge of the street pavement and the edge of the sidewalk, not on the sidewalk where parking is identified as permissible. However, this approach would be atypical of the usual "no parking" signs. Public Works, Police and Code Enforcement offered to work some specific language to make this allowance clear if the Council desires to change City code. Committee Members expressed they would like to see further evaluation of the issue with consideration to a possible code language change but recognized that due to the variety of conditions that exist within the city there will be some big challenges in making it clear; other concerns expressed included that "perceived" pedestrian pathways need to remain clear, language should not encourage filling of roadside storm ditches for parking and concerns how this new information would get out to the community. Next step, Director Dowdy and other staff will bring options back for PCDC to review. It was acknowledged that parking enforcement would continue. Chair Norman inquired about the original development standards for Wesley Homes and the parking on 110th Avenue SE. Staff replied this parking along the street was intended for general public parking as the development of Wesley Homes had met their requirements for parking on their property. B. Draft 2009-2010 Budget Finance Director Shelly Coleman and Financial Planning Manager Karen Jester opened the floor for discussion on the draft 2009-2010 City budget for the following departments and divisions to be discussed: Planning/Building, Parks & Recreation, Municipal Parks, Human Services and Community Services. Review of Planning/Building Department Member Wagner commented he would like to see an objective statement focused around the annexation areas in 2009 and 2010; it was suggested to add the following language as an objective: "Identify emerging issues in annexations areas". There was one correction made under the 2007-2008 Accomplishments, the change was: "Awarded $580m" to "Awarded $580,000". Member Wagner asked the Finance Director to provide a brief overview of changes in allocation between the various departments. There were several other comments and discussion regarding the required city-wide 2.5 percent budget cuts. Director Coleman explained that in the 2009 year a Facilities internal services fund was created. Any new items coming on-line will need to be added on to their budgets later. Dollars from each department for IS services and utilities have been redirected to IS and Facilities budgets. Member Wagner asked about a comparison to revenues. Director Coleman stated the revenue side of the budget was available and would be subsequently reviewed by the council in the progression of the budget process. There was a short discussion around recouping costs from permit fees. The question was asked if a full cost recovery on a project basis was possible to track; Director Coleman replied that a project to determine cost recovery is currently underway. However, it is not proposed to be conducted on a project basis. Cost recovery could be tracked on a project basis, it would need to be set up under project accounting and each employee would have to track their time on every project. This option would require more time as each employee would need to track time spent working on individual projects. In response to a question, Director Coleman explained that the insurance bill for Planning/Building Department changed from $3,400 to $85,800 based on the previous five years of claim history. This amount changes from year to year for each department. There was a question why Hearing Examiner fees appear different and in various places. Building Division Manager Jim Tinner explained the lien hearing process and Principal Planner Jeff Dixon commented that the Hearing Examiner fee is apportioned based on the previous history of types of cases heard. There was discussion about a previous budget item in the six-year capital facilities plan to set aside $500,000 for investments in the downtown area; this amount has been removed from this 09-10 budget cycle because of the future revenue outlook. Mayor Lewis discussed the Stream-Lined Sales Tax (SST) dollars and how the 09-10 budgets have been affected. There was discussion about the history of the neighborhood outreach program which included SE Main Street and Terminal Park neighborhood plans and the conclusion of the efforts. Neighbors in the SE Main Neighborhood had concerns around traffic calming. It was agreed Under Six-year Capital Facilities Plan, cp0615, related to Neighborhood Improvement Program, to change the progress summary to read: "The city has substantially completed the Terminal Park Plan and the SE of Main Street Plan." ? Review of Parks & Recreation The cultural arts fees and special events were separated from each other. Special Events will now reflect all the coordinated community events. BRAVO Fees and other fees were combined under performing arts fees and services in the professional services line item. Director Daryl Faber talked about their strategy of spending some money to make more money. Many of the programs and events have been successful including, but limited to the Summer Cinema Series. The recreation department's administration and program section was reviewed. Director Faber stated they will not be utilizing the YMCA space so maintenance expenses will be eliminated. The Auburn Theater lease and utilities costs were moved to facilities and the Cultural Diversity Consultant Contract was moved to the Mayor's department. Multimedia costs were taken from previous years use; they are now allocating dollars by actual work orders. ? Review of Municipal Parks Items discussed included the Community Center and Les Gove Park facility costs. Director Faber explained the two high priority projects are will be located in Shaughnessy Park and Les Gove Park. There was discussion about re-apportioning priorities. There was discussion around a new dog park. Mayor Lewis talked about a potential park and ride being located in this same area and how this type of park would be a good use to have in proximity. Director Faber talked about maintaining and operating the park through a non-profit organization as other cities have successfully done. ? Review of Human Services The Committee reviewed the listed objectives and inquired about the short-term diversion center. Mayor Lewis explained about the hardships of emergency responders (Police, Fire and emergency rooms) dealing with people who have a mental disability and/or substance abuse utilizing hospital services. Auburn is working with partners from other south sound cities to open an alternative triage facility. This type of facility would help alleviate the hospitals; it would be staffed by a physician and several medical assistants. A mission statement is needed for the Human Services section of the budget packet. Another objective discussed by the Committee was the development of a housing coalition to address and secure acquisition for the transitional and affordable housing goals of the city. ? Review of Community Services The Committee asked to have a mission statement for the Community Services division. They also asked for more information regarding the Auburn Citizens University objective. V. INFORMATION A. PCDC Status Matrix - Item eight on the matrix will have a new staff member assigned. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Planning and Community Development Committee, Chair Norman adjourned the meeting at 6:32 p.m. APPROVED THIS DAY OF Lynn Norman, Chair Kirsten Reynolds, Community Services Project Assistant