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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-27-2017WASHINGTON I. CALL TO ORDER Deputy Mayor Wales Council Chambers of Auburn. CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION AND SPECIAL FOCUS AREA MARCH 27, 2017 — 5:30 PM Auburn City Hall MINUTES called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Auburn City Hall located at 25 West Main Street in A. Roll Call Councilmembers present: Deputy Mayor Largo Wales, Bob Baggett, Claude DaCorsi, John Holman, Bill Peloza and Yolanda Trout -Manuel. Councilmember Rich Wagner arrived at 5:31 p.m. Mayor Nancy Backus and the following department directors and staff members were present during the meeting: Innovation and Technology Director Paul Haugan, Parks, Arts and Recreation Director Daryl Faber, Economic Development Manager Doug Lein, Human Resources and Risk Management Director Rob Roscoe, Assistant City Attorney Doug Ruth, Chief of Police Bob Lee, City Attorney Daniel B. Heid, Assistant Director of Engineering Services/City Engineer Ingrid Gaub, Assistant Director of Community Development Services Jeff Tate, Planning Services Manager Jeff Dixon, Finance Director Shelley Coleman, Director of Community Development and Public Works Kevin Snyder, and Deputy City Clerk Shawn Campbell. II. ANNOUNCEMENT, REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS There was no announcement, report or presentation. III. AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNCIL DISCUSSION A. Junior City Council Goals Deputy Mayor Wales reviewed the Junior City Council. goals for the upcoming year. Junior Council members are planning to request to increase the number of their meetings, development of a mission statement, and a presentation on what they view to be the effect of Page 1 City of Auburn Council Meetina Minutes March 27, 2017 homelessness on students. They also want to make a suggestion to their curriculum staff at the school district. Deputy Mayor Wales stated Junior City Councilmembers also asked to be involved in some of the City Boards and Committees. Councilmembers Wagner and Peloza requested the Junior City Council minutes. They could not find any on line. Councilmember Holman expressed support for the idea that the Junior City Councilmembers are getting more involved and support their initiatives. Councilmember Holman hoped to see feedback from them on the City Council's goals and priorities from a youth perspective. The Junior Councilmembers were given the opportunity to apply for a $1,000 leadership scholarship. Councilmember Holman brought up the idea for a privately funded Council scholarship for a Junior City Councilmember. B. City Slogan Councilmember Baggett reported to the Council on his research on the use of City slogans. He stated there are many varied City slogans. The cost for a new slogan could be around $100,000d or more. Deputy Mayor Wales stated it may not be worth having a slogan. Economic Development Manager Lein reported the economic development plan consultant recommended against using a slogan or changing the current one if Council feels there is a need for a slogan. Manager Lein also stated the tourism consultant recommended against a city-wide slogan and stated the trend now is to associate an action slogan to a project or single initiative. Councilmember Wagner stated his analysis revealed only five percent of cities have slogans. Councilmember DaCorsi questioned the cost of removing the slogan from City signs and stationery. Councilmember DaCorsi expressed support for using a slogan for a single campaign. Parks, Arts and Recreation Faber reported the Parks Department uses the current slogan for particular projects or activities. They Page 2 City of Auburn Council. Meeting Minutes March 27, 2017 have used a method of personalizing it for particular project or activity. Councilmembers spoke about phasing out the current slogan and not spending any additional funds on a slogan. C. City Committee and Board Appointments Deputy Mayor Wales stated City Boards and Commissions were discussed at the last study session, particularly responsibility for appointment and membership. City Attorney Heid reported he went through and looked at the different boards and commissions residency requirements and the appointment process. City Attorney Heid distributed an updated handout on appointment and qualification provisions. He also pointed out his memo in the agenda packet asking two questions: whether an ex -officio member from the Council is needed for the Arts Commission (a unique provision to the Arts Commission) and whether the Council rule designating the Deputy Mayor as an ex officio member of all ad hoc committees should be retained.. He cautioned that to include the Deputy Mayor as an ex -officio member of all ad hoc committees could create a Council quorum, which would fall within the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act. Councilmember Wagner questioned the new provision on a limitation for serving on more than one board or commission for more than six months. City Attorney Heid stated the provision stemmed from the Council's last discussion. The time frame allows for an overlap until a new member could be appointed to fill a vacancy. Councilmember Peloza stated he is not opposed to a volunteer serving on more than one committee if there are no other interested and qualified volunteers. Councilmember Holman spoke in favor of a diverse and broad representation on City boards and commissions. Mayor Backus requested that if the rule is implemented, that for any current member serving on more than one board or commission, their term should be allowed to expire. Page 3 City of Auburn Council Meetina Minutes March 27, 2017 In response to questions from Councilmember Trout -Manuel, Mayor Backus stated members of boards and commissions sign conflict of interest declarations. Councilmember Peloza suggested a new provision that any board or commission member who is voting on a recommendation for a grant to an organization that they may be associated with should be recused or prevented from voting on the recommendation. Deputy Mayor Wales questioned the need for a Council liaison on boards and commissions. Councilmember Wagner stated he believes having a liaison is counter-productive. He served as the Arts Commission liaison and feels it inhibits the members. Councilmembers Holman and DaCorsi agreed. Upon further discussion, City Attorney Heid agreed to bring forward a proposed ordinance that would make the provisions for all boards and commission consistent. D. Ordinance No.. 6645 Final Plat Application No. PLT16-0008, Wyncrest Division III Planning Services Manager Dixon presented Ordinance No. 6645, approving the final plat of Wyncrest Division III. Schneider Homes Inc. has made application or final plat of Wyncrest Division. III (previously known as "Frederick Allen") located on the western terminus of South 298th Place, approximately 650 feet east of 64th Avenue South in the "West Mill" area of Auburn. The plat was applied for while in King County and before annexed to the City of Auburn and was vested under King County standards. The final plat is the subdivision of approximately 4.99 acres into 12 single-family residential lots, one tract for access and utilities, one tract for private open space, and dedication of public right-of-way. Stormwater from the plat will be sent to the existing pond in Wyncrest Division I. The preliminary plat was approved by the Hearing Examiner on August 2, 2010 (PLT08-0018) with 21 conditions. A Certificate of Improvement was issued by the City Engineer accepting completion of the plat improvements with the exception Page 4 City of Auburn Council Meetina-Minutes March 27, 2017 of the following items, which the developer has bonded for: final lift. of asphalt, installation of permanent monuments, and raising of utilities to grade. Staff recommends approval of the final plat. The ordinance will appear before the Council at its next regular meeting. E. Ordinance No. 6647 - Abatement of Public Nuisances Assistant City Attorney Doug Ruth presented Ordinance No. 6647, relating to the abatement of public nuisances. Assistant City Attorney Ruth explained that within the City's system for code enforcement, there are provisions for recovering from violators unpaid penalties and abatement costs. Currently, methods of cost recovery include use of collection agencies, property liens, and special tax assessments. Ordinance No. 6647 Will clarify the manner of using these cost recover options. The ordinance organizes the cost recovery provisions in code providing a clearer outline of the City's tools, the provisions for each collection method are separated and detailed. Deputy Mayor Wales recessed the meeting at 7:15 for approximately five minutes for a brief intermission. The meeting was reconvened at 7:25 p.m. F. Les Gove Park 911 Phones Parks, Arts and Recreation Director Faber and Innovation and Technology Director Haugan updated the Council about the potential use of 911 blue light style security phones at Les Gove Park Campus. Director Faber reported there is a stakeholder group that meets every two months for the Les Gove Park Campus working on security and other issues affecting the campus area. Director Faber spoke about security measures they have taken: designated police parking stall, additional bike officer, removed some picnic tables, and limbed up trees for better lines of sight. He reported Arcadia House is able to stay open until 10:00 a.m. rather than releasing youth at 7:00 a.m. Director Haugan spoke about the potential installation of blue light 911 emergency phones and the usage of the phones. Page 5 City of Auburn Council Meeting Minutes March 27, 2017 Director Faber and Director Haugan also spoke about the use of new 360 -degree surveillance cameras in the campus area. The phone tower, without wireless and the camera, is approximately $4,000. Director Faber stated the expense is already budgeted. IV. FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION ITEMS At this time, Councilmember Baggett, chair of the Finance and Economic Development Special Focus area presided over the meeting.. A. 4th Quarter 2016 Financial Report Finance Director Coleman presented the fourth quarter 2016 Finance Report. She provided an overview of the City's overall financial position for the fiscal period ending December 31, 2016. She reported General Fund revenues totaled $64.2 million compared to a budget of $60.2 million and were $3.2 million more than revenues collected in 2015. - All expenditures were within budget. Councilmembers discussed revenues from property taxes, sales taxes, gambling taxes, utility taxes, building permits, business licenses, pet licensing, recreation fees, and development service fees. Finance Director Coleman and Community Development and Public Works Director Snyder responded to questions from Council regarding pet licensing and a proposal from Auburn Valley Humane Society to perform the pet licensing collection. Finance Director Coleman reported utility taxes came in higher than anticipated. The telephone tax continues to decrease. Director Coleman reviewed the street funds, proprietary funds, utility funds, and ending fund balance. B. Ordinance No. 6646 - Budget Amendment No. 1 Finance Director Coleman presented Ordinance No. 6646, representing Budget Amendment No. 1 for the 2017-2018 Biennial Budget. Page 6 City of Auburn .Council Meeting Minutes March 27, 2017 The main purpose of the first budget amendment of the year is to carry forward remaining 2016 budget authority for identified programs and projects that were budgeted in 2016 but not completed. The requested unspent budget authority from 2016 to be carried forward into the 2017 budget year for all funds is $15,352,289. Additional items included in the amendment are recognition of new revenue, either grants or transfers in from other supporting funds, requests to change budget authority for projects, and requests for funding for projects and other costs not anticipated in the 2017 Budget. The budget amendment also includes new requests for a transfer from the General Fund to the Cumulative Reserve Fund, transfers to replenish the Insurance Fund, corrections to the Police budgets, funding for public arts, costs for a utility rate study, IT security software, additional funding for replacement vehicles, temporary help, badge security, police grants, parks grants, and new funding for Police recruiting and onboarding. C. Economic Development Update Economic Development Manager Lein presented an economic development update using a PowerPoint handout and slides. He noted a correction to the number of business licenses issued in 2016 as 291. Manager Lein reviewed construction valuations for 2016 compared to 2015. Even though the constructions valuations were unchanged. he noted there is positive growth measured in sales tax growth. Manager Lein stated staff are moving forward with the ten-year economic development strategic plan and will see the first draft of the plan soon. Manager Lein reviewed the 2017 demographic report from The Retail Coach. Manager Lein reviewed the new projects underway in the downtown area, including the Aub-Dev LLC mixed use seven -story project and the Teutsch Partners LLC mixed use seven -story project. Manager Lein provided an update to the North Auburn Logistics industrial mixed-use project, the US General Services Administration property development, and the Valley Drive-in property project. Page 7 City of Auburn Council Meeting Minutes Match 27, 2017 Manager Lein reviewed efforts to support existing businesses. V. OTHER DICUSSION There was no other discussion. VI. NEW BUSINESS Deputy Mayor Wales asked that an update on the Auburn Avenue Theater be scheduled for an upcoming study session. VII. MATRIX Councilmember Holman noted the Public Works and Community Development Special Focus Area is scheduled for the April 10th study session. There was no other discussion of the matrix. Vill. ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. APPROVED THIS \CJ"- DAY , 2018. BOBB0EIRUTY • R Shawn Campbell, City Clerk Page 8 City of Auburn Council Meetinq Minutes March 27, 2017 Page 9