HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-04-20001. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Sue Singer called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
Members present: Chair Sue Singer, Vice Chair Rich Wagner, Councilmember Trish Borden.
Others present included: Mayor Chuck Booth, A/Chief Dan Bosch, Chief Jim Kelly, Cmdr.
Mike Hirman, Plan. Dir. Paul Krauss, PW Dir. Christine Engler, Solid Waste Spec. Sharon
Conroy, Parks Dir. Dick Deal, Guests-Dan Bridges-WM/RST, Laura Moser-WM/RST, Jerry
Hardebeck-RST and Secretary Jeanne Herold.
II. CONSENT:
Resolution No. 3288: Paul Krauss asked for approval of Resolution No. 3288. A Resolution of
the City Council of the City of Auburn, Washington, authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to
execute an Engineering Service Contract for north hangar buildings with W&H Pacific, Inc., for
the Auburn Municipal Airport.
Paul Krauss explained that at the last meeting he brought forth a Resolution to enter into a
contract with W&H Pacific for design construction services for up to 40 additional hangars,
identical to the ones, which were just completed. The Committee had asked some questions,
about provision of information regarding lease rates, which has been provided. Mr. Krauss
explained that he did a cash flow analysis for the project. From that standpoint, it was concluded
that the cash flow on the new hangars would be better then it is on the existing hangars.
Primarily because there were infrastructure costs that no longer have to be covered.
Mr. Krauss pointed out the "Monthly Hangar Lease Rate Comparison" sheet, which is a
comparison of hangar lease rates with other airports in the area. He also pointed out that there
are other factors to be considered such as location, and the level of facility development at the
airport. Auburn is roughly 50% higher then the average cost of hangars at every other field. Mr.
Krauss stated that it clearly demonstrates to him that P~uburn's lease rates are quite aggressive.
He believes that if higher rates were charged that Auburn would probably lose the market.
Mr. Krauss also checked on the one year Ordinance that was adopted last year that raised rents
for hangar tie down space. There's 2.5% increases already adopted by the Council for 2001 and
2002. He believes Auburn's rates are current and the rates on the new hangars are about as
aggressive as he would feel comfortable recommending. And, again he's looking to bring
forward a recommendation that the Council enter into the contract with W&H Pacific so that
Auburn can hopefully proceed with the project. Should the Council desire, Mr. Krauss stated he
was fully comfortable going forward with the proviso of what was done the last time, which was
to demonstrate adequate pre-leasing for the hangars before proceeding with construction. Mr.
Krauss explained that he already had 19 names on a waiting list and the waiting list is brand new.
Vice Chair Wagner asked the length of the term of the Councilmatic bonds. Mr. Krauss stated
that as he recalled they were 15 years. Mr. Wagner also asked Mr. Krauss what lease period
he'd gotten for the hangars. Mr. Krauss stated that actually the way all of the leases are
Municipal Services Committee Meeting I December 4, 2000
structured, he believes they are technically month-to-month leases. Mr. Wagner stated that he's
concerned about the economy moving downwards and doesn't want to get extended with general
guaranteed bonds for the next 15 years. The only way he'd feel comfortable with this, is if
Auburn went with a different leasing arrangement where there was a longer leasing program,
five years would be preferable. He cannot support it this way unless there is a more aggressive
lease structure.
Councilmember Borden wanted to know if the cash flow analysis that Mr. Krauss provided was
correct. She felt that the hangars are going to have to be fully rented or the City will lose money.
Mr. Krauss stated that there were more costs in the first bonds so it was more difficult to make
cash flow but Diane Supler has set up the current bonds very conservatively. 80% of the revenue
is used to pay back the bonds so 20% goes back to the Airport until the bonds are paid off. Ms.
Borden feels that the lease rate is quite competitive and asked Mr. Krauss if there was a written
report or spreadsheet with the bond information. Mr. Krauss stated that there was on the first
one, and he would provide that. Chair Singer asked Mr. Krauss how he felt about marketing the
5-year leases. Mr. Krauss stated that he was willing to try it. And, he explained the leases
typically provide that somebody could sub-lease it if they had to.
Vice Chair Wagner stated that he would like to have some feeling for what kind of marketing the
City would come up against with a five-year lease. He was also concerned about the risk of the
hangars not being full. Depends on what the spreadsheet shows. Mr. Krauss stated he would ask
Diane Supler to come to the following meeting and relate that information. Mr. Krauss also
stated he could start doing pre-leasas on the five-year leases, as well.
Mr. Krauss stated that the contract is for getting the design fine-tuned and getting a bid together.
He wanted to know if the Committee wanted him to hold off on that until he had a pre-lease.
What was done the last time was, to get the work going and then he did the pre-leases in the
mean time. The entire contract is $45,000 but more than half of that is for construction
management. However, it was the consensus of the Committee to pull this from the Council
agenda.
III INFORMATION/DISCUSSION:
Mayor Booth asked A/Chief Bosch to read an e-mail that he had received regarding a notice
from the Muckleshoot Tribe. A/Chief Bosch stated that on 12/5/00 at approximately 5:30 in the
evening the Indians are going to be shooting off9 mortar devices. Four, 3", four 4" and one 12"
mortar. The 12" mortar will be audible throughout Auburn and they're doing this in preparation
for the New Year's Eve celebration.
Fireworks Ordinance: Chief Kelly was asked by the Committee to come back with some
additional information and a possible proposal or recommendation on what to do about the
City's Fireworks Ordinance. Just as a refresher, last year the Council amended the City
Ordinance to mirror the State Ordinance. Doing that it removed a layer of jurisdictional or
confusing law. Commander Hirman was asked to brief the Committee on his research.
Commander Hirman related that there were 207 recorded injuries in 1999 that were reported to
the State Fire Marshal's office. One death of a 13 year old boy. 92 of the injuries were caused
among children 12 to 21 years of age and mostly because of poor supervision. 56 were by
Municipal Services Committee Meeting 2 December 4, 2000
unknown means and almost 70% of these injuries were caused by illegal fireworks. The types of
injuries are blunt trauma, bums and amputations.
Coxnmander Hirman passed out information regarding the laws by various Municipalities which
lists all the counties and where the fireworks are banned or restricted. This handout was dated
back several months and more jurisdictions have banned fireworks since then.
Commander Hirman stated that it was the Police Department's recommendation at this time to
ban possession, use and discharge of all fireworks at all times. In his handout, he listed some
reasons against a ban, and also reasons for a ban.
Chief Kelly pointed out two distinctions, with reference to Auburn, Tacoma and Yakima is that
in Auburn the Muckleshoot Tribe does not have their own Police Department, therefore the City
of Auburn provides law enforcement service within the City. In Tacoma, the Puyallup Indians
do have their own police department as well as Yakima. The Yakima Nation has their own
police department, which provides law enforcement services within the reservation boundaries.
That's a big distinction. Discussion ensued.
Mayor Booth asked what the advantage was of having a total ban as opposed to compliance with
the State or Federal regulations. Chief Kelly explained that as stated previously, it's virtually
impossible to identify what is legal or is not legal. Ideally, if the City Ordinance could be at the
Federal level, that too would remove the confusion. But, the City cannot do that. So, the attempt
is to go to the State level. The Police Department would like to get to a level where it's less
confusing. Discussion continued.
Vice Chair Wagner stated that what discouraged him about a ban is the practicality of
enforcement. It was his feeling that Auburn should not go with a total ban. Councilmember
Borden asked Chief Kelly what would be the point of banning fireworks totally unless everyone
involved got arrested. Chief Kelly stated it's because the recommendation that's made is that it's
in the best interest of public safety in general. Auburn does have somewhat ora unique situation
with the complication of having the reservation within the City limits. Moving to a total ban
removes any confusion.
Chair Singer stated that she was not ready to drop this issue and takes very seriously the fire and
police department's recommendation. The size of the detonation area was discussed. Vice Chair
Wagner asked Commander Hirman if Yakima has a detonation area. Yakima does have a
detonation area. Mr. W~lgner asked how large an area it was and Commander Hirman did not
know but would find out.
As a point of interest Fireworks are permitted per City Ordinance on December 31st from 6:00
PM to midnight and there are two stands open.
R.S.T./Waste Management: Jerry Hardebeck from R.S.T./Waste Management spoke to the
Committee and stated that he talked with Mayor Booth and asked for a meeting. He explained
that his company also just finished their budget process and are dealing with some costs that
have gotten a little out of line over the last two or three years. Mainly fuel and the potential ora
big labor strike. Those things were settled but it's been since 1994 that RST has had a rate
increase and yet the contract calls for annual CPI escalation as part of the contract with the City
Municipal Services Committee Meeting
3 December 4, 2000
of Auburn. After, six years, it looks like RST is going to have to put forth a rate increase in the
City of Auburn.
Typically, rate increases are not well received and Mr. Hardebeck recognizes that and would like
to provide alternatives for the households to reduce their costs and the normal way to do that is
by reducing the number of cans per household. The normal way of doing that is through a
recycling program. It's safe to say that if the City of Auburn had a curbside recycling program
in place it would be more convenient and easier for people to reduce their amount of cans.
The first thing that Mr. Hardebeck brought to Mayor Booth's attention was the need for the
proposal that RST will be bringing forward, regarding a rate increase. He further stated that he
would be willing to put forth a proposal regarding curbside recycling in the context of their
current contract. The current contract obligates RST to provide curbside recycling if the City
chooses to go that direction. It also provides for an extension of the contract and gives
RST/Waste Management a chance to amortize its equipment.
The other big announcement was that Waste Management currently has four recycling facilities
in Western Washington, one in Woodinville, Bremerton, Auburn and downtown Seattle. All four
of the facilities are seven to ten years old and the equipment frankly is outdated. Waste
Management is closing down small recycling facilities across the country and building very, very
large processing plants to clean up the paper and glass to prepare it for the market. RST is going
to be doing that in Western Washington also. The company has asked Mr. Hardebeck to try to
find a location where they could site a building that's going to be between 80 and 100,000 square
feet and put in all the new technology and equipment to sort this material.
This site is going to require about 5 acres, and needs to be on rail. Mr. Hardebeck explained that
he started looking at facilities in Seattle because it's central to all four locations but there was
basically no warehouse space available in Seattle. Consequently, he started looking ia Kent and
Auburn. Auburn is probably the lead candidate for this particular facility if the City is interested.
The advantage that Auburn would provide is 1) there's plenty of room to put the material on rail,
and 2) it's a location where there is a current collection route and a building can be built that
meets their exact specifications.
A proposal will be forthcoming regarding the rates. RST would like to provide a full package
that Auburn residents can actually reduce the use of garbage cans and hopefully hold their rates
down to a minimum. RST would like to combine the two proposals. This will be one of the top
two or three recycling facilities on the West Coast with a cost of around 7 to 8 million dollars to
build. It was the consensus of Committee that they would like to review the proposal.
Golf Course Professional Services Contrac1' Dick Deal explained that the City of Auburn has
had a contract with Doug Campbell for the last fifteen years and it's time for another five year
contract. A Committee of Park Board staff and a Finance representative studied the contract, and
anticipated what the needs were going to be in the next five years for that service. The cover
memo reviewed those changes in the document and there's not much of any major consequence.
Mr. Deal had information to share regarding the meeting coming up on January 17, 2001 and he
wanted to clarify or make sure everyone had the opportunity to review the language which is on
the inside cover of the Winter Edition of the Parks Brochure. The Committee members felt that
Municipal Services Committee Meeting 4 'December 4, 2000
it wasn't necessary to include any information regarding the bond issue and not necessary to
include prices.
City Owned Property: Chair Singer asked for a map of City Owned Property to be brought to
the meeting so that when questioned about such property she'd be knowledgeable. Specifically,
property at 9th and I Street. Dick Deal pointed out an area between 8th and 10th where there is a
piece of property that was going to be right-of-way at one time. It is City property and there are
about 8 or 10 lots that adjoin this piece of property but lacks access. It's a matter of getting
together with the adjacent property owners and vacating it. It's not something that needs to be
done immediately but City staff needs to be able to get into the area and maintain it.
King County SafeCities Forum on Reducing Fire Arms Crime and Violence: Jim Kelly
explained that the packet of material provided was basically informational for the Committee on
several strategies, and the strategic plan that's outlined from Education to Prosecution and
Enforcement.
Chair Singer asked Christine Engler if this Committee or Public Works was in charge of
overseeing the City owned parking lot. Christine Engler stated that it's always been her theory
that it's Municipal Services. Chair Singer stated that it should probably be put on the agenda for
the next meeting or perhaps for next year.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15.
Submitted by:
Jeanne Herold, Secretary
Municipal Services Committee Meeting 5 December 4, 2000