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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-13-1996 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES May 13, 1996 Medina City Hall 7:00 PM 501 Evergreen Point Rd. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Medina City Council was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Taylor. The meeting was tape recorded. ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmembers Daniel Becker, Lynn Benz, Ray Cory, Thomas Morgan, Susan Potts and Mayor Taylor. Councilmember Grahame Ross arrived at approximately 7:05 PM. City Staff Present: City Manager Papke, City Clerk Edvalson, City Attorney Wines ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Potts announced a walk-a-thon at Medina Elementary School, Friday, May 17, 1996. City Manager Papke noted the need to add an additional item to the meeting agenda to discuss the R.T.A. She also asked the Council if they desired to set a joint workshop with the Planning Commission to allow the wireless communication providers to return for a second presentation of industry information to the City. The Council consensus was to set May 29, 1996 at 7:00 PM as the date and time for a joint workshop with the Planning Commission. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Councilmember Cory noted the omission of his name in the minutes as being in attendance at the last Council meeting. Councilmember Potts moved the approval of the minutes from the Council meeting of March 11, 1996 with an amendment to add Councilmember Cory's name as an attendee. Councilmember Cory seconded the motion. All were in favor. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Bob Rudolph, 1455 Evergreen Point Road, reported that the expert panel appointed by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) had recently voted 2 to 1 in determining that the Port of Seattle had not done an adequate job of reducing jet noise around the airport. He explained that the PSRC has asked the port to implement some of the noise abatement suggestions made by the expert panel. It was his opinion that once those suggestions are implemented, the PSRC would ask the Port to go ahead with the third runway at SeaTac. Dr. Rudolph noted that the expert panel made some specific suggestions about reducing noise in the early morning and late evenings that would reduce the noise impacts to Medina. He was concerned that in their deliberations, the Port may not consider the abatement recommendations impacting Medina and Clyde Hill, but may concentrate more on the impacts on the communities immediately surrounding the airport. Noting that timing may now be critical, Dr. Rudolph proposed that the City join Eastside Citizens Against Aircraft Noise (ECAAN) in hiring Temple Johnson, a retired Regional Director for the FAA. He proposed that Temple Johnson be hired as a consultant to Medina City Council Minutes May 13, 1996 Page 2 help prepare correspondence and provide input for the City's and ECAAN efforts to influence a reduction of jet noise over Medina. He proposed that the City pay for half of the consulting fees with ECAAN to pay the other half. Councilmember Cory moved that the City contribute up to $2500 in working with ECAAN to resolve the jet noise problem. Councilmember Morgan seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. City Manager Papke suggested that there be some Councilmembers designated to work with ECAAN to determine how the money should be spent. Mayor Taylor volunteered himself and Councilmember Benz to participate on such a committee. Councilmember Potts also volunteered. PUBLIC HEARING Open Space Taxation Application - G. James Roush and Cynthia Ann Wayburn, 2441 Evergreen Point Road. James Roush - 2441 Evergreen Point Road, asked that the Council approve King County's recommendation to classify a portion of his property as open space for property tax purposes. He noted that Medina's property tax returns on the property would be reduced by'h of one percent. He provided the following justifications for the Council's favorable consideration: It is a wildlife sanctuary; it provides for a permanent greenbelt; it grants an easement in perpetuity to the Seattle/King County Land Use Conservancy; it provides only limited access for scientific/biological studies; no further building on the property; encourages private open space preservation. Councilmember Morgan made a brief report on behalf of the Council open space taxation study committee, Councilmembers Cory, Morgan and Potts. He described their visit to the property. Both Councilmember Potts and Morgan contributed their favorable impressions of the proposal. City Attorney Wines reported that the Land Conservancy is a legitimate organization. It holds conservancy easements over several other parcels of property in the County. Gene Duvernoy, The Land Conservancy of Seattle and King County, 1150 19th Avenue East, Seattle, WA, provided some statistics regarding the Conservancy's organization. He noted that the wildlife and plant surveys conducted by the Roush/Wayburn property owners is in excess of what is normally provided. The conservancy believes that this property will have direct benefit to the citizens and children of Medina. He further explained that the built structures on the Roush/Wayburn property will be taxed at their highest and best used, only the land that is undeveloped on the property will be reduced to an appropriate level for property that will always remain undeveloped. Patricia Flug - 8743 Overlake Drive West, spoke in favor of retaining the natural state of the property. She is concerned about the amount of tree -cutting going on in the community. She said that the preservation of greenbelts in the City is essential to maintain the character of the community, and to provide shelter to wildlife. Susan Lawrence, 822 Evergreen Point Road, asked that the Council act to preserve one of the last wild places in Medina, a representative piece of what Medina used to be. Councilmember Potts noted that Lucias Biglow, 2425 Evergreen Point Road, expressed favor for the proposal. Susie Marglin, 2617 Evergreen Point Road, voiced favor for the proposal to preserve a truly unique property in Medina. She contrasted the Roush/Wayburn property to the Fairweather Nature Preserve and feels that the Roush/Wayburn property is the only true nature preserve in Medina. Connie Walton, King County Rating System, Smith Tower, Seattle, wants the Council to know that the property is fairly unique in an urban situation. She said there are not many properties that have the same number of natural resources that the County is looking to preserve. She explained that the approval process provides that the City approve the property for inclusion in the program, and then the County will consider approval. Councilmember Ross asked how many of the applicant properties were ultimately accepted into the program. Ms. Walton responded that a high percentage of Medina City Council Minutes May 13, 1996 Page 3 applications are approved because of the pre-screening process used by the County, which discourages non -meritorious applications. Councilmember Becker questioned who retained the title to the property if it was accepted into the program. City Attorney Wines responded that the title remains with the property owner. The conservancy easement is a restriction that goes with the property. Councilmember Benz expressed concern about shifting the tax burden to the residents. She asked if there was a way for the Council to protect the City's citizens from the tax burden shift of approximately $6,000. City Manager Papke explained that the Council always had the option of collecting less tax than it was entitled to collect. Councilmember Ross voiced concern for the shift of tax burden, not only for the $6,000 in municipal taxes, but for the additional $48,000 impact to other taxing districts. He was concerned about the precedent set in accepting this application. After additional Council discussion where members expressed their support for inclusion of the Roush/Wayburn property into the open space program, Councilmember Cory moved for approval of the Roush/Wayburn application for open space designation. Councilmember Morgan seconded the motion. Councilmember Becker offered an amendment to the motion which would reduce the City's tax allocation by the amount of the projected decrease in municipal tax from the property. City Manager Papke, Councilmember Potts and Mayor Taylor counseled against acting on the tax reduction at this time. Councilmember Becker rescinded his amendment. Mayor Taylor called for the vote. All were in favor of the motion. DISCUSSION PLANNING COMMISSION APPOINTMENT Mayor Taylor moved the appointment of Gari B. Andreini to fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission. Councilmember Cory offered a second to the motion. The voting was unanimous and in the affirmative. PLANNING COMMISSION INTERIM REPORT Planning Commission Chairperson Mark Lostrom explained that his report included no text, nor ordinances, but was designed to test this forum as a useful means of obtaining feedback from the Council to give the Planning Commission direction and priorities as they continue deliberations on amendments to the City's zoning ordinances. Chairperson Lostrom offered his philosophy on the Planning Commission's responsibilities dividing them into two categories, an administrative function to look at actual cases, and a regulatory function which takes a majority of their time. In an effort to increase the effectiveness of the Commission process, he was seeking Council input on the issues of art placement and large homes. He went on to frame some of the questions facing the Commission in these two areas. He asked if the Council wished the Commission to try and define art. Should they try and regulate where it can be put? Should the front yard and shoreline set backs be maintained with respect to placement of art? Are these issues a priority for the Council? Chairperson Lostrom then explained some of the questions facing the Commission with regard to large homes. Does the Council agree with the Planning Commission that there is a need to restrict the size of homes in Medina? Does Medina Heights require different consideration than the parts of the R-16 zone lying in lower elevations? Should there be a maximum size of structure in Medina? He continued by expressing the Commission's view that by arriving at some maximum size of home allowable in Medina there would be a positive impact on such things as construction time for completion of a home and the quality of life for the community. Marsha Martin, 777 108t" Avenue NE, Bellevue, an attorney representing Medina resident, Charles Simonyi, provided letters in support of allowing art in the shoreline set back. She also provided a list of items visible from the Medina shoreline that appear to be in technical violation of the current zoning ordinance set back requirements. Mr. Simonyi currently has a commissioned piece of artwork located within the shoreline set back of his property. He was not aware that it was in violation of the ordinance when he Medina City Council Minutes May 13, 1996 Page 4 had it commissioned, nor when he had it placed. Ms. Martin explained that a draft ordinance dealing with art in the set back had been offered to the Planning Commission to provide a basis for discussion. She asked that the Council not foreclose the discussion of the issue at the Planning Commission level. She felt that the issue merited further attention and should be allowed to work its way through the system. After some discussion of the issues, the Council asked Chairperson Lostrom and the Planning Commission to rough out the appropriate ordinances or amendments to ordinances and forward them to the Council. They expressed a desire that useful visuals be included to provide perspective for these spatial issues. Chairperson Lostrom reported that the Commission had decided to send a representative of the Commission to Council meetings when recommendations were being forwarded to the Council level to assist in providing background into the Commission's deliberations. DISCUSSION AND REVIEW OF SR520 QUESTIONNAIRE AND MEETING Mayor Taylor invited City Clerk Edvalson to explain the survey and the tabulated results to the Council. City Clerk Edvalson explained that the City had received approximately 94 responses to the survey. He had tabulated the results, but had made no attempt to analyze the the responses, leaving that to the Council to interpret. Mayor Taylor asked that Councilmember Morgan provide a brief analysis based on the Councilmember's review of the survey results. Councilmember Morgan stated that the first implication he had gleaned was that there was overwhelming support for leaving the SR520 floating bridge as it is currently. If some action were required, there was a partial consensus in favor of replacing the bridge with a newer and wider one. There appeared to be strong support for adding sound barriers along the freeway from the bridge to Bellevue Way. There was also a little better than 50% support for a local option gas tax in the range of 3-5 cents per gallon. 71 % of respondents drove alone in their daily commute. Mayor Taylor expressed his opinion that there were inexorable forces moving on the Eastside that would require some modifications to the 520 corridor and bridge that would impact Medina. He felt that the challenge currently facing the City was how to best influence the decisions to favor the City. Councilmember Benz added that her impressions of the citizen input at the SR520 meeting was that if change was forced upon the community, then the residents wanted a park and sound barriers, some real mitigations for those residents who have already borne the burden of having a highway go through their neighborhood. Councilmember Becker commented that there had been opposition expressed to the proposed RTA plans because they proposed addressing issues and providing solutions outside of their purview. These potential lawsuits might leave HCT (High Capacity Transit) as the only option left available to the RTA. Paul Demetriades, 2254 Evergreen Point Road, reviewed the directions he anticipated the state government to take during the next legislative session regarding SR520. He described some of the positions taken by T.R.U.S.T. with respect to the RTA proposals. Councilmember Becker reported that in the recent Eastside Transportation Program meeting, the RTA asked for some indication from the Eastside communities as to whether or not their communities would support the RTA proposals. He discussed some of the implications and unanswered questions included in the proposals. He suggested that the Council take no position on the issue. The majority consensus of the Council was to take no position based on the inadequacy of information for the Council to consider. STAFF REPORTS FINANCE REPORT AND CLAIMS Councilmember Morgan moved the approval of April warrants numbered 9313 to 9408 with the exceptions of 9317,9357, 9401 and 9402 which were voided. The warrants approved amounting to $85,911.71. He also moved approval of personnel warrants Medina City Council Minutes May 13, 1996 Page 5 numbered 14688 through 14732 totaling $75,990.34. Councilmember Cory seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. POLICE REPORT Councilmember Becker suggested that the public safety committee meeting be rescheduled to allow discussion of issues previously identified. Councilmember Potts noted a decrease in the number of speeders in the City during the morning hours. She also expressed appreciation for the efforts of DARE Officer Jill Hallin. She said that Officer Hallin was well received in the schools. Councilmember Ross added compliments to Officer Hallin for a job well done at a recent presentation to local Cub Scouts. PUBLIC WORKS Councilmember Becker asked about the status of the traffic study for Bellevue Christian School traffic. City Manager Papke responded that she would seek an update and provide information back to the Council. NEW BUSINESS NOISE AND WAVE ACTION COMPLAINTS Councilmember Morgan noted that he had received a number of complaints about noise and wave action along the Medina and Hunts Point waterfronts resulting from personal watercraft and ski boats. He noted that bans apparently don't work, and suggested that a reasonable approach might be an education program for boaters which would involve the support and participation of watercraft dealers and manufacturers. He said that Chief Race had praised a similar program utilized by Mercer Island. City Manager Papke offered to speak with Mercer Island and find out the details of their program. FENCING AROUND PLAYGROUND AT MEDINA PARK Wilma Edmonds, 7721 NE 24th Street, asked when the temporary fencing around the playground would be removed. City Manager Papke responded that apparently the hydro -seeding had not taken, and would be redone. The fence would be retained to protect the re -seeded grass. Councilmember Becker asked if the City would have to pay for the re -seeding. City Manager Papke was unsure, but offered to investigate the response. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Taylor announced that Council would move into executive session to discuss personnel and litigation. The Council adjourned to executive session at 9:30 PM, anticipating a return to open session at 10:00 PM. ADJOURNMENT The Council reconvened in open session at 10:40 PM. Councilmember Morgan moved that the Council approve the separation agreement as proposed by the Council's Personnel Committee. Councilmember Cory seconded the motion. All were in favor. Councilmember Morgan moved that the Council approve the firm of Waldron and Company for the purpose of City Manager recruitment as recommended by the Council's Personnel Committee in an amount not to exceed $22,000. Councilmember Ross seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Councilmember Morgan moved the regular meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Ross seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. r Dewey L. Taylor, Mayor Harwood T. Edvalson, City Clerk