HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-10-2005
CITY OF AUBURN
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
January 10, 2005
MINUTES
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Rich Wagner called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. in Conference Room #3, located
on the second floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, Washington. Committee
members present were: Chairman Rich Wagner, Member Gene Cerino, and Member Roger
Thordarson. Also present during the meeting were: Mayor Peter B. Lewis, Public Works Director
Dennis Dowdy, City Engineer/Assistant Director Dennis Selle, Assistant City Engineer Ingrid Gaub,
Senior Project Engineer Bill Helbig, Project Engineer Robert Lee, Traffic Engineer Laura Philpot,
Transportation Planner Joe Welsh, Sanitary Sewer Engineer Jeff Roscoe, Storm Drainage
Engineer Tim Carlaw, Planning Director Paul Krauss, Community Development Administrator David
Osaki, Senior Planner Jeff Dixon, Environmental Protection Manager Aaron Nix, Fire Marshal Dave
Smith, and Secretary Lorna Dahlke.
II. CONSENT AGENDA
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Consent items were considered following Discussion and Information Items IV. A-E.
It was moved by Member Thordarson, seconded by Member Cerino, that the Committee
approve the Public Works Committee minutes for December 13, 2004, as submitted. Motion
carried.
B. APPROVAL OF SOLID WASTE HAULING CONTRACT WITH WASTE MANAGEMENT
It was moved by Member Thordarson, seconded by Member Cerino, that the Committee
recommend Council approve the solid waste hauling contract with Waste Management.
Motion carried.
III. ISSUES
NONE
IV. DISCUSSION AND INFORMATION
A. DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH FREEMANTLE DEVELOPMENT FOR WATER/SEWER
AT 305TH PLACE NAND 122 AVENUE SE (HAZEL VIEW)
This item was discussed as the first item. The Council had voted against this item and it was
remanded back to the Planning Committee, and also included on the Public Works Committee
agenda.
Chair Wagner summarized the Council's position that the City require potential annexation
areas in King County meet City rather than County standards, which are lower: County
standards allow for smaller lot sizes, narrower lot widths, less restrictive site drainage, and
there are lower road construction standards.
Other concerns included the single ingress and egress lengthy dead end road possibly being
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too long to accommodate emergency vehicles safely. A gravel road abutting the development
was proposed as a secondary access for use by emergency vehicles only. There were
outstanding legal issues regarding the ownership and easements for the usage of the gravel
road abutting neighboring properties.
Director Dowdy informed the Committee that City staff had met with the developer and the
developer's engineer to pursue alternatives to mitigate the outstanding issues should the
Council choose to provide the requested water & Sewer certificate. The developer had met
with representatives of the Fire Department and it was determined that the road length would
accommodate emergency vehicles, as well as the gravel road being acceptable. Fire Marshal,
Dave Smith briefed the Committee on the layout of the plat and confirmed that the fire
department could serve the plat as configured and laid out.
Dennis Johnson addressed the committee to review two proposed changes in the street layout
to allow for the construction of the 122 Avenue through to connect up with SE 304th Street in the
future by constructing a stub street to the north property line of the Hazel View plat. In
recognition of the long cui de sac this would be the best remedy the developer can propose to
comply with city standards. He also discussed constructing a hammerhead turnaround in the
vicinity of the current temporary cui de sac at the north end of the as it was constructed by the
Kingsley Meadow plat. The committee inquired of Mr. Johnson if he has the right to use the
King County road easement as a secondary emergency access. Mr. Johnson explained that he
felt there was a right to use the easement as it was recorded in favor of the property when the
plat was approved. In response a resident spoke about an intention to block or prohibit such
use if the project goes forward as planned.
Chair Wagner stated that he opposed the development on the basis of the general density of
the proposed lot sizes and widths, and to a lesser degree on the road length issue. Member
Thordarson brought up concerns regarding the pedestrian connections to schools in the area,
as well as the proposed trail construction addressing the steep bank, safety, and ADA
requirements. Member Cerino said that he had not made a final decision regarding this
development, but that he, in general, was opposed to the City annexing areas with small lot
sizes and narrow lot widths.
B. DRAFT CRITICAL AREAS ORDINANCE UPDATE
The item was discussed following Item IV.D.
Administrator Osaki reviewed the recommended revisions to the Critical Areas Ordinance. The
Committee requested that the provision for the exception requests and review process be
brought before the Council for determination, rather than the hearing examiner making a final
decision. The Committee was in agreement with the remainder of the draft ordinance.
C. NE AUBURN/ROBERTSON PROPERTY SPECIAL AREA PLAN
Planner Dixon reviewed the proposed special area plan for development of the area
approximately east of Auburn Way North, west of the existing I St NE right-of-way, south of
South 277'h Street and north of 4Sth Street NE. The entire plan outlines policies, land use, traffic
and street networks, storm water and flood plain management.
The proposed zoning changes include the addition of a City commercial zoning category, C-4,
to be implemented within the special area. The new zoning category would allow for multi-
family use outright, some commercial uses, precluding auto sales and warehouses, and gas
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stations, only if combined with an additional use.
Chair Wagner raised concerns regarding the cost of the proposed traffic plan requirement for
possibly three signal lights. He also requested that a requirement standard for the aesthetics of
wet ponds be included, and less restrictive signage for the potential retail/commercial
businesses.
Planner Dixon noted that the last two documents of the special area plan, the planned action
ordinance and the development agreement, are in draft status. The Committee requested that
upon their completion, they be brought before the Committee for review prior to bringing them
before the Council.
D. INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT SEWER SERVICE AREA WITH LAKE HAVEN UTILITY
Sanitary Sewer Engineer Roscoe reported that a developer contacted the City to determine if
the City or LUD could provide sanitary sewer service to a proposed development on the plateau
south of Peasley Canyon Road and west of West Valley Highway.
The City had previously entered into an agreement with LUD, which provided for LUD to provide
service to the area. Since that time the developer has secured easements to convey
wastewater down the steep slopes to West Valley Ave and Auburn's sewer system.
Approximately :y.¡ of the area is within Auburn City limits and )4 of the proposed development is
within unincorporated King County. The current interlocal agreement allows LUD to provide
service to :y.¡ of the development leaving auburn to provide service to )4 of the development.
Director Dowdy reported that the City's position was to either take the entire development into
the City's service area, or none of it, since the region is not contiguous with Auburn's road
system and would require an out of the way trip to maintain the facilities. He further explained
that in the interest of identifying an option that can be supported by the City before the next
Utility Board Meeting of the Lakehaven Utility District in January, this issue is being brought
forward in advance of drafting the new interlocal agreement with Lakehaven so that staff can
work with the Developer to prepare a draft Interlocal Agreement based upon the service option
preferred by the City.
Director Dowdy reviewed three alternative service options that could be pursued to resolve
service issues. Staff recommended amending the interlocal agreement with Lakehaven to allow
Auburn to serve the entire parcel on the condition that the developer agree to satisfy
Lakehaven's requests for compensation associated with a LUD future pump station, LUD
system development charges, and an amendment to their comprehensive plan. After
discussion, the Committee agreed in theory to the three alternatives, but favored and indicated
support for the staff recommended option, identified as Option # 1 in the agenda which appears
to be the least complicated method to provide reliable service to the city's future residents..
E. ACADEMY DRIVE GEOTECH STUDY REVIEW
Project Engineer Lee reviewed the results of Task One of the geotech study, including the
findings of the soil conditions compiled from the 24 test pits and 21 borings. Engineer Lee
reviewed a plan of the site highlighting areas identified in the draft report as active landslides
including the depths needed to reach solid ground. Also indicated were areas of
oversteepened slopes that may experience sloughing. The findings of the draft report
addressed requirements to stabilize the roadway regardless of weather conditions, to answer a
previous request of the committee concerning use of the roadway only in the dry summer
months. A large landslide area, approximately 700 feet long near the top of the slope, would
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require a bridge, or excavation and construction of a wall system. A rough cost estimate to
stabilize the roadway was between $1 to $5 million.
Chair Wagner asked if a roadway could be built avoiding the long landslide area by traversing
up the steep slope west along the north edge of the Thomas Academy property. After
extensive discussion, the Committee requested that staff develop a scope of work for the
consultant to conduct a geotech study of a proposed roadway to be constructed along the north
edge of the Thomas Academy property and coordinate such exploration & testing with
Academy officials.
Staff requested input from the committee on releasing the draft report to the State for inclusion
in the SR164 study currently in progress. The Committee requested that either the final Task
One Report or the draft report to be released to the state by the states February 7, 2005
meeting on SR164.
F. CAPITAL PROJECT STATUS REPORT
These items were briefly discussed:
Item 10. Proiect No. C1014. Auburn Wav South Safetv Improvements: Assistant City Engineer
Gaub reported that there is a lawsuit involving the City, Les Schwab and U-HalJl regarding the
new F Street signal. The City will complete a redesign of the signal pole location to comply with
the 3-Party Agreement, but finalization of the signal at F Street will be based on the results of
the pending litigation. Once there is a decision on which route to move forward with, we will
request state and federal approvals of the final design.
Item 16. Proiect No. C9056. Auburn Wav South Sewer Improvements: The design work is
being done for the entire pipeline alignment. The first construction contract for Phase 1 of the
pipeline construction work will be advertised in February 2005.
Item 19. Proiect C315C. Downtown Liohtino Analvsis: Staff will investigate if the ADA will help
pay for improvements. Also, the City will coordinate the final review with the ADA.
Item 24. C229A. BNSF/EVH Pedestrian Undercrossina: The proposed plan is to have the
design finalized in 2005 with construction advertising in 2006 pending funding availability.
V. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Public Works Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
DRD/ld
Submitted by Lorna Dahlke, Secretary.
Approved by the Public Works Committee on ~~;)''f J.-aoS-.
0'
File: 17 (17.2)
REF. H:\PWCAgendaMinutes/011005Minutes
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