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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-14-2003 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES April 14, 2003 00 PM Medina City Hall 50^ Evergreen Pt CALL TO ORDER Mayor Becker called the meeting of the Medina City Council to order at r :01 p m. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmembers Drew Blazey, Paul Demitriades. Thomas Morgan. Todd Nunn. Robert Rudolph and Mayor Dan Becker Absent: Deputy Mayor Mary Odermat Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze. City Attorney Kirk Wines, Police Chief Michael Knapp, Public Works Director She! Jahn, Planning Consultant Joseph Gellings and Acting City Clerk Kris Finnigan ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Becker announced some changes tc thF meeting agenda. Under agenda item D. Consent Agenda, Mayor Becker removed agenda Item D-6. Adoption of Ordinance No. 751. Expiration of Variances, due to the fact that it was in the process of being redrafted by City Attorney Wines and Planning Consultant Gellings and would be brought back to the May Council Meeting. Under aaenda item H-5.. Other Business. Reappointments to the Medina Planning Commission was added, due to the fact that two Commissione.-s terms would be up in June 2003. Also under agenda item H, Other Business, agenda item H-6. Resolution No. 296. A Resolution Recognizing the 5V' Anniversary of the Date c,'r incarporation of the City of Clyde Hill, Washington, Was added. Mayor Becker announced that he had received a letter from Chair Aubrey Davis of the Transportation Commission. expressing his appreciation for the City of Medina s support of the Modified Six Lane Option regarding SR-520. Mayor Becker said that the state is iooking towards having a fully actor -sated toll system in ten years on the SR520 Bridge. Discussion followed. Councilmember Demitriades asked that under New Business, agenda item 1-4. 1h!ashington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES;. be added. Councilmember Demitriades referred to an article "Sea-Tac Blamed for Fish Deaths" relative to a pending permit application at Sea-Tac Airport. He said that those who so des!red could make comments on the Sea-Tac permit but that the deadline for doing so was in one day Councilmember Rudolph questioned whether or not Medina had established a policy in tree case of a Police Officer having recently been called to active military duty. City Manager Schulze stated that the City did have a policy in place before Medina s Officer left the City. He continued by saying that there were differing opinions as to the timing of the setting of the policy relative to active -duty pay, and that the matter would be sorted out. Mayor Becker announced that an Executive Session would be held at the end of the Regular Council Meeting, with a return to the Regular Meeting and possible motion. Councilmember Rudolph remarked that he felt that the Code Enforcement Ordinance had been well constructed. Councilmember Nunn expressed his opinion that the ordinance had addressed all concerns. Ciro Council Minutes April 14 2003 Paae 2 or 6 CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Demitriades moved, seconded by Councilmember Nunn to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of item D-6 The Consent Agenda was approved unanimously. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Representing the Eastside Heritage Center, Margot Blacker, 2011 100" Avenue NE, Bellevue, stated that she has extreme concerns regarding the possibility of losing the Medina Store and she urged the Council to find a way to save it. Ms. Blacker suggested that the City could condemn the property for the greater public good.. pay the fair market value and use the building as a meeting place for classes or a branch museum. She suggested that a demolition moratorium be put in place until a way is found to save the store. Michael Lewis, 2230 Evergreen Point Road, a resident, also representing the Eastside Heritage Center, expressed his sadness at the fact that some of the old landmarks of Medina no longer exist. He stated his feelings that the community had enough resources to retain historic structures and that keeping the store would enhance the city. Henry Paulman, 1415 80t" Avenue NE, remarked that he had requested that the public have access to the City Manager's quarterly report and he asked if the City had taken any action on that request. Mayor Becker responded that it could be added onto the agenda for discussion at a future Council Meeting. REPORTS Police Department — Chief Knapp announced that a suspect had been tied in with nineteen of the twenty-five Hunts Point and Medina burglaries and that he had received a fifteen year sentence for the crimes. Chief Knapp reviewed the E-Lert Program. explaining that many residents had already signed up and that there had been very positive response to the program. Public Works — Director of Public Works Jahn asked if the Councilmembers had any questions regarding his report. Councilmember Demitriades stated that he felt that the summary was very useful Councilmember Rudolph commented that the new sign at Medina Park looked very nice and Director Jahn replied that the sign was the original one which had been refurbished Finance Committee — Councilmember Rudolph reported that the sales use tax is $25.000 above the projected income for this point in time and that financial figures were "back on track'. Emergency Preparedness Committee — Councilmember Blazey reported that the committee had held a meeting on April 10tr, and that he was going to be contacting a Boy Scout Troop to possibly assist in the neighborhood distribution of a questionnaire. whose purpose is to determine resources in the community.. as well as special needs of the residents. in the case of an emergency. OTHER BUSINESS Discussion of Permit Fee Renewals — Councilmember Nunn recused himself from the discussion of permit fee renewals. City Manager Schulze related that the Council had requested that staff review and provide input on a proposal of a 30-aay permit renewal process. The Building Department staff had indicated concern with the administration of this proposal. He said that two options were presented to the Council in February and as a result. they requested additional information, related to the financial impact of the prorated renewal fee option. -11V Council Minutes Apri' 9e. 2003 Page 3 of 6 City Manager Schulze explained that the pro -rated renewal fee option would provide shorter extensions for the projects that are closer to completion, without the burden of multiple renewals on a monthly basis He said that this option should be subject to submittal of a completion schedule that would validate the probability of completing the project in six months. He stated that if the project could not be completed within six months, a full renewal fee would be required. He reviewed the history of such permits with the Council as well as procedures used in other jurisdictions within the area. Councilmember Demitriades expressed his opinion that the permit renewal fee should change - to 113 of the permit fee. Councilmember Blazey was not in favor of a change in the policy for calculating permit fees Councilmember Morgan proposed that he did not want the City to charge less money than needed to carry out its functions. He stated that he favored a 6 month extension but could not vote for it if it would cost the City money and that he would like to see a full cost recovery system be In place. Councilmember Rudolph stated that the proposal would actually put the recovery in a greater deficit and that, for that reason, he favored the current system. City Manager Schulze stated that a discussion was planned for the Apri'. Study Session regarding the reduction of costs. Following discussion.. the consensus was to not change the procedure for calculating permit fees Councilmember Nunn rejoined the meeting. He requested that item H-7 be added to the end of OTHER BUSINESS, per the City Managers Report. regarding Council direction requested by the Planning Commission. Discussion of Neighborhood Preservation District - Councilmember Nunn moved that the City Council uphold the Planning Commissions recommendation to reject the zoning change request, without hearing argument from the parties. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Blazey. Councilmember Nunn stated that he did not believe that It would be proper for the City Council to act as an appellant body. Councilmember s Demitriades. Morgan and Rudolph were nay votes and the motion did not carry. Mayor Becker asked if any Councilmembers had questions for Planning Commissioner Adam. In response. Councilmember Morgan asked Commissioner Adam if the reason for the petition was to prevent development of other lots in the district. Planning Commissioner Miles Adam, 8424 NE 10"', explained that this was the case — that three neighbors were against a development proposal and two were in favor of it. He said that there had been some concern that it might look like spot zoning if a Neighborhood Preservation District was allowed to be approved. He said that those opposed to development of the two lots wanted the height to be limited to 20'. Henry Paulman, 1415 80th, expressed his appreciation in being able to explain the request further. He said that a Neighborhood Preservation District is a tool to allow small sections to remain the same without an ordinance. He expressed his desire that the City Attorney be redirected to put out another. more liberal opinion regarding the matter. Following discussion.. the consensus was to uphold the Planning Commissions decision to reject the zoning change. Citv Council Minutes Aor6 14. 200"s Paae 4 of 6 Brad Green, 7862 NE 14th St., stated that he wanted to clarify that there are only five lots involved and that a letter had been received from Ms. Weissman, one of the property owners. in which she stated that she was no longer opposed to development of his property and that now it is two opposed and three in favor of development of the property. Discussion of L.I.D.s and Utility Undergrounding — City Manager Schulze explained that this issue had carried over from the last Council Meeting. He reviewed the history of the issue in. Medina and explained that staff did not recommend further consideration of utility conversion at this time, due to lack of available resources to properly plan administer or fund projects. He related that the project costs for the City of Clyde Hill had risen recently and that the costs for the City of Medina would probably be in the range of $15,000.000 to $18,000.000. City Manager Schulze said that the method for an L.I.D. was through a petition process which was already in place and he was asking the Council whether or not they wanted to commit City staff and resources towards the effort of exploring whether or not these projects would go forward. He explained that the next step would be to assist with the development of the petitions and distribution so that there would be an awareness of what the cost per parcel might be. Director of Public Works Jahn explained that the background materials provided to the Council were to give a general sense of what the bigger picture may be for utility conversion. He stated that the data was not able to be precise and that it was essentially there to express what the costs might be. based upon what is being proposed for two L.I.D.s. now in their earliest stages. He said that it would be very difficult to give the Council a good.. solid answer as to costs to be involved. Discussion followed regarding the integration of L.I.D s into the Capital Improvement Plan. Public Works Director Jahn explained that the Capital Improvement Plan could be adjusted every year but that it would take, based upon Clyde Hill's recent experience, at least two years to put forth all of the background to get to the point of execution. Bob Brog, 8400 NE 7th, stated that he has been a resident of Medina for twenty years and is a member of the Planning Commission. He said that the issue of underground wiring had not been discussed as a citywide project during Planning Commission meetings He explained that he had contacted fifty-six homes along 84`h. between September and December 2002, regarding undergrounding, with 65% acceptance. He said that the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) cost estimate for citizens on 84t1' was $200,000, or about S8,000 to $10,000 per house. He further stated that, instead of starting at 12" St. to the merger at Overlake Drive, he proposed that the L.I.D would now include those residents starting at 101h to where 84" merges with Overlake. reducing the number of homes involved to forty, from fifty-six. Mayor Becker related that on a proposed L.I.D on 18th.. one -hundred percent of the residents were in favor of the plan, with a resident agreeing to pay one-half of the costs. When the project was ready to go.. a good percentage of the residents backed out. He stated that his concern was that everyone seemed to be in favor of the proposal until it came time to pay for it. Joe Quinn, 1041 84th, stated that he had been opposed to the plan from the beginning and that he disagreed with the survey numbers provided by the Planning Commission. He expressed his feeling that a conflict of interest might be involved. Mr. Quinn related that he had gone through the same area as Commissioner Brog and had received 56% `no" votes. He stated that at least 50% do not want the proposal. even without seeing the figures. He expressed his opinion that the City would be involved no matter what, and that it would be expensive for the City. if this petition were to move forward. City Council Minutes April 14. 2003 Page 5 of 6 Henry Paulman, 1415 80t", said that he is in favor of undergrounding He expressed his opinion that any petitions involve at least 50% in favor as a minimum criteria to start the process or the expense of investigation would be considerable. Mayor Becker reviewed three possible options to pursue. a Drop the issue. b. Defer to Capital Program Budget. c. Let citizens proceed with the petition process. Discussion followed as to encouraging citizens to bring their petitions to the City. They would then move to the capital budget process where they would be addressed at the time that the capital budget is being put together in August or September. One of the relative issues discussed was if a group of citizens came to the Council and wanted to do an LID, the Council would be receptive, but would not want to spend the money. It was suggested that the people who really want to do an LID should be required to come up with the necessary expenses and that money would be recompensed to the people if the LID passed. Director of Public Works Jahn proposed getting a petition of interest that is sponsored by the City staff. whether it be by a consultant or however the City chose to accomplish it. He then suggested gathering additional data from Clyde Hills experience, to get a better estimate of what the cost would be for the individual resident. Jahn proposed then bringing that data to the Council to further the discussion on what direction the Council would like to take. He further stated that the City would not be committing a large amount of money and resources as this would not be a formal process which would go into the design.. contacts. estimates and other details that call for a cost figure. It was discussed and decided that the L.I.D. on 84*� would be the one to be addressed at this time. The consensus was that the Council wanted staff to pursue an informal process. go through a staff -run inquiry to get a better feel for what the acceptance is for an L.I.D.. with some better figures. based upon the experience at Clyde Hill. 2003 City Manager Goals — City Manager Schulze related that the Council had discussed the City Manager Goals during previous meetings and had requested more information regarding some of the goals and evaluation methods which he had provided. The additional information provided was acceptable to all Councilmembers. Reappointments to Planning Commission — Mayor Becker stated that the terms of Planning Commissioners Adam and Nelson would be ending in June 2003 and his recommendation was to reappoint both Commissioners to their positions. All were in favor of the reappointments. Resolution 296 — Recognizing the City of Clyde Hill's 50t`' Anniversary — All were in favor of the resolution. recognizing the 50tn Anniversary of the City of Clyde Hill's date of incorporation. Guidance for the Planning Commission — Planning Commission wanted to have clarification setbacks on large lots. The consensus was for regarding this issue. Planning Commissioner Adam stated that the as to whether or not they should be addressing the Planning Commission to continue their work Coalition of Small Police Agencies — Interlocal Agreement — The Council was unanimous in their approval of the agreement. City Council Minutes April 14 2003 Page 6 of 6 AWC Voting Delegate — Mayor Becker stated that the AWC Conference would be held in Spokane on June 20, 2003. He then stated that between him and Deputy Mayor Odermat. they would cover the conference and delegate voting responsibilities National League of Cities Membership — Benefits provided by the National League of Cities were discussed. With one nay vote from Councilmember Blazey, the Council voted to continue membership in the National League of Cities. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) - Councilmember Demitriades asked that the Council write a letter to the Department of Ecology telling them that Medina would like to be a participant in their review of Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). City Manager Schulze stated that he felt that the City needed to bring themselves into compliance before pointing out the deficiencies of others and he reviewed Roth Hill recommendations for specific issues that needed to be addressed. Public Works Director Jahn explained that he had been working on a memo for the Council that outlines where the City stands in their implementation of NPDES Phase II. He said that it was a very comprehensive program and that it would require a lot of resources on the part of Medina. over a number of years. He also said that the bottom line is that the City had not even begun to address the issues that they would be forced to address in their own system of storm water discharge into the lake. He further stated that his feeling is that many jurisdictions fall under the umbrella of WRIA and the issue should be addressed on a larger scale. Councilmember Demitriades said that he is the WRIA representative and that they will be addressing the issue. Discussion followed as to whether or not comments should be submitted at this time and the consensus was that there could be a downside to doing so at this time. Councilmember Demitriades withdrew the request. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Council recessed into Executive Session at 10:22 p.m. to discuss potential litigation. per RCW 42.30.110(i), and reconvened at 10:42 p.m. Councilmember Nunn moved, seconded p.m., and the motion carried unanimously. Attest: i r I Kristen Finnigan Acting City Clerk ADJOURNMENT by Councilmember Blazey to adjourn the meeting at 10:42 Dan Becker, Mayor