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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-1997 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES September 8, 1997 Medina City Hall 7:00 PM 501 Evergreen Point Rd. CALL TO ORDER Prior to the Mayor's arrival, the regular meeting of the Medina City Council was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Pro Tern Morgan. The Council meeting was recorded on audio tape. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmembers Daniel Becker, Lynn Benz, Ray Cory, Tom Morgan Grahame Ross and Mayor Susan Potts. Absent: Councilmember Dewey Taylor. City Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze, Acting Police Chief Doug Ambrose, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Asst. City Mgr./City Clerk Woody Edvalson MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Morgan asked that the minutes be corrected to reflect his attendance at the Council meeting of August 11, 1997. With that correction, he moved the approval of the minutes for the August 11, 1997 Regular Council Meeting. Councilmember Cory seconded the motion. Approved unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Pro Tern Morgan announced that the Council would adjourn to executive session at the conclusion of the regular meeting's agenda to discuss fire contract negotiations and personnel issues. He added that it was anticipated the Council would take no formal action at the conclusion of their executive session. Councilmember Benz thanked the Medina Days Committee, particularly the Committee Co -Chairs, Joseph and Randi Brazen for an excellent community celebration. She added that City employees, Woody Edvalson and Carl Burris, had worked particularly Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 2 hard as well with the setup and cleanup of the Beach Park facilities. She thanked City Manager Schulze, Acting Police Chief Ambrose and Building Official Erickson for sitting in the dunk tank. Councilmember Ross asked that the City staff develop some method of official recognition for citizen volunteers, e.g., a formal proclamation or certificate, etc. Councilmember Becker announced an Eastside Transportation Partnership Meeting on September 12, 1997. The main topic is selection of projects for funding requests to Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and King County over the next three or four years. He also announced the current state of affairs with SR520, i.e., WSDOT is formulating what the stakeholders' role is supposed to be in conducting a study. He said it was anticipated that the committee composition would be complete by the end of the first quarter of 1998. Mayor Potts said that she had spoken with City Manager Schulze about the irregular street striping recently done in Medina. She announced that staff was addressing the issue with the contractor. City Manager Schulze mentioned that there had been several complaints about the algae in the South Pond in Medina Park. He wanted to make the public aware that staff was investigating options to resolve the problem both in the short and long terms. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Bob Rudolph, 1455 Evergreen Point Road, reported that the Flight Management System FMS) at SeaTac Airport had been approved for use in May 1997. His personal observations are that it is little used. He commented that the Federal Aviation Administration had promised in 1993 that the FMS would be implemented. He said that the Eastside Citizens Against Airplane Noise (ECAAN) and the City were working to get Congressman Rick White to force the use of the FMS. The system routes SeaTac air traffic away from Medina and over the open water between Mercer Island and Medina. Jim Lawrence, 822 Evergreen Point Road, reported that the Federal Communications Commission had given notice of its intent to limit the authority of local government to use moratoriums as a planning tool in instances where wireless communications facilities are involved. He encouraged the Council to provide a written response to the proposed rule -making. Councilmember Benz moved that the City Attorney prepare a letter for the Mayor's signature. Councilmember Morgan seconded the motion. All were in favor. Thornton Thomas, 3335 Evergreen Point Road, complained of noise pollution from boats on Lake Washington. He requested another buoy near the SR520 bridge to emphasize the speed limit on the water near the shore. Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 3 NEW BUSINESS BURIAL OF OVERHEAD UTILITIES Mayor Potts reordered the agenda to allow Andy Padvoric, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), to address the Council on the process for studying the feasibility of burying the electric utilities within the City. City Manager Schulze reviewed with Council some of the previous discussions on the topic. He said that PSE proposed to provide a detailed feasibility/cost study and construction -ready plans for approximately $30,000. Andy Padvoric, Puget Sound Energy, was introduced to answer questions from the Council. He explained that approximately 2/3 of the cost would go toward the feasibility/cost study. The last 1/3 would be used to develop the construction -ready drawings. He clarified that beyond the cost estimate, the City must prepare and then fill the utility trench. The City Council discussed the need for a detailed cost study before approaching the residents with the project concept. There was not consensus among the Council on how much information should be generated prior to asking for citizen input. Henry Paulman, 1415 80th Ave. NE, suggested that Mr. Dan Bray, a resident of Clyde Hill, may be a good resource for the City on the underground issue. Mr. Padvoric provided information regarding the causes of electrical outages in Medina. He said that up to 50% of the outages in Medina are related to trees. Animals, such as squirrels, cause some additional outages, as do equipment failures. He noted that equipment failures of underground systems can be more difficult to identify and repair. Mayor Potts assigned the topic to the Public Works Committee to develop how the cost estimate should be done and to provide a recommendation to the full Council. Councilmember Ross asked that the Public Works Committee stress that a benefit to the residents of digging the trench and burying the utilities is to place Medina in a position to be interconnected by fiber optic cable. STAFF REPORTS Mayor Potts again reordered the agenda to allow Joseph Brazen to report on the Medina Days celebration under the report section. MEDINA DAYS CELEBRATION Joseph Brazen, 3204 Evergreen Point Road, summarized the expenditures of the Medina Days '97 Committee on the celebration. He provided a detailed listing of costs and how they had been paid. He announced that all invoices had been paid with Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 4 approximately $1,800 remaining. He said that the Committee wished to use the remaining funds to fund some feature in the expanded Medina Beach Park. The Council expressed appreciation to Mr. Brazen, his wife, and the Medina Days Committee for their hard work and the successful celebration. They agreed that the remaining funds should be used as the Committee saw fit, whether as seed funds for next year, or as a contribution to the park development. FINANCE COMMITTEE Councilmember Morgan, Chairman of the Council Finance Committee moved the approval of August finance warrants numbered 10650 to 10718, 910536, 910675 and 910676, excepting voided warrants 10643 to 10649. Approved warrants totaled 197,712. He also moved for approval the August personnel warrants numbered 15563 to 15622, 815505, 915505, 91536 in the amount of $79,858.43. Warrants 15560 - 15563 were voided. Councilmember Benz seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. Councilmember Ross asked if the consultant's billings were up-to-date. Both Councilmember Morgan and City Manager Schulze commented that the consultant's had made definite improvements in the timeliness of their billings. POLICE DEPARTMENT Acting Chief Ambrose reported on police activity in Medina during the past month. He noted that there had been car thefts at the park-n-ride on SR520 and Evergreen Point Road. Both vehicles stolen had been recovered. He also stated that there had been a theft of some computer equipment at St. Thomas School. A theft from a golf bag had been reported from Overlake Golf and Country Club. Some construction barges had been broken into and equipment stolen. The police had also responded to a domestic violence call and a complaint of trespassing. PUBLIC HEARING TCI - CONSIDER IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR FRANCHISE NON-COMPLIANCE Hearing Continued from August 11, 1997.) City Manager Schulze noted that Mr. Bennett was present to discuss TCI's most recent efforts to mitigate the City's concerns about cable service in Medina. Bill Bennett, TCI Regional Vice -President, introduced Janet Turpin, TCI Regional Franchise Director. Mr. Bennett described the work that had been accomplished to move Medina closer to receiving comparable service to Bellevue and other surrounding communities. He said that a change out of electronic components had been accomplished to accommodate 54 cable channels and that all of the internal legal and labor agreements had been made to provide the service. He said that a franchise with the Town of Clyde Hill allowing the new fiber optic cable to be co -lashed to existing Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 5 above ground lines was the only remaining impediment. He hoped that they would soon be able to establish such a franchise with Clyde Hill. He estimated 6 to 8 weeks from the time of franchise approval to the time the system could be operational within Medina. Mr. Bennett added that with the feed from Bellevue, the microwave tower at the Medina Store could be eliminated. He noted that residents with converter boxes would have to be given new boxes to accommodate the system change. When asked by Councilmember Morgan if they paid a fee to the owner of the Medina Grocery property for locating their tower there, Mr. Bennett responded, yes. When asked if there was an ongoing contract with Sprint Spectrum for use of that tower, Mr Bennett responded, no. The response was negative as well, when asked if a release was required from TCI to dismantle the tower. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS ORDINANCE NO. 631 - REPEALING MEDINA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 10.52.010 ENTITLED: USE OF COASTERS, ROLLER-SKATES AND SIMILAR DEVICES City Attorney Wines reported that he had prepared an ordinance as requested by the Council at their last meeting. After some brief remarks by the Council, Councilmember Ross moved the adoption of Ordinance No. 631. Councilmember Benz seconded the motion. RESOLUTION NO. 249 - A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE SIX YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM Assistant City Manager Edvalson explained that the resolution was needed to change the name of an approved project to more closely conform to the application submitted for regional allocation process of Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act ISTEA) funds. The request to amend the name of the project from NE 6th St. Overlay to City -Wide Road and Trail Project was requested by the King County Public Works Director's Program Evaluation Committee for ISTEA Allocation for the Years 1999-2000. Councilmember Cory moved to approve the Resolution No. 249 as submitted. Councilmember Ross seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. DISCUSSION RIGHTS -OF -WAY-- SOUTH END OF 84TH AVE. NE City Attorney Wines reported that the attorneys representing the Krengel's on the right- of-way dispute had requested another meeting of the Special Council Committee including the Krengel's, the City Attorney and the City Manager. Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 6 Carol Krengel, 103 84th Ave. NE, asked that the Council expedite the Special Committee meeting. She said that she and her husband would be available for the remainder of the month. PARK BOARD APPOINTMENTS City Manager Schulze announced that the Council had received three applications for the unfilled vacancy on the Park Board. The City Council briefly discussed the candidates. Most Councilmembers favored the application of Joseph Brazen because of his diligent work on the Medina Days celebration. The suggestion was made to refer the matter to the Council Personnel Committee. Councilmember Ross said that as a member of the Personnel Committee he supported the appointment of Joseph Brazen. Other members of the Committee Benz and Cory concurred. Mayor Potts offered to contact the other applicants and express appreciation for the willingness to participate. Councilmember Benz moved the appointment of Joseph Brazen to the Medina Park Board. Councilmember Becker made the second. All were in favor. NEW BUSINESS LANDSCAPE LIGHTING IN TREES Mayor Potts asked the City Manager if any action had resulted from her previous inquiry into the appropriateness of high intensity landscape lighting in trees. City Manager Schulze responded that City Attorney Wines had looked into the issue, but was not prepared at this point to make a report. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COOPERATION WITH MEDINA ELEMENTARY Mayor Potts reported that the Medina Elementary has contacted her to see if the City wants to be involved with the emergency stockpile that was being developed at the elementary school, and if supplies for the general public could be incorporated into that facility. City Manager Schulze reported that he had recently met with Bellevue Fire Department who provides emergency preparedness planning to Medina under contract. He said that they had discussed a neighborhood preparedness program. The Council expressed their interest in having the City take a more active role in organizing neighborhood preparedness. The Mayor referred the issue to the Public Safety Committee for further consideration. The Committee agreed to meet on September 26. MARINE PATROL Councilmember Becker requested that the City look at the Marine Patrol and its effectiveness. He said that many violated the speed restrictions, slowing only when the patrol was anticipated. He said that the patrol sometimes occurs once per day for less than a minute. He felt the City was not receiving a good service for the money paid. Councilmember Morgan concurred. Councilmember Cory suggested that Mercer Island submit a patrol report each month. Medina City Council Minutes September 8, 1997 Page 7 TEEN CENTER Councilmember Becker mentioned that several residents had approached him about the establishment of a teen center in the City. He felt that if we did not provide a facility then the teens would hang out in less desirable areas. SURPLUS REVENUES Councilmember Morgan asked that the Council discuss the use of anticipated surplus revenues. Councilmember Ross suggested that some of the funds be returned to the residents. Councilmember Benz asked that a special meeting be set to discuss the topic. Councilmember Ross offered to set up a workshop meeting at the Harbor Club in Bellevue. The Council consensus was to set the workshop for September 29 at 5:30 PM. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 9:33 PM, and under authority of RCW 42.30.110 Mayor Potts announced that the Council would hold an executive session with the City's attorney to discuss fire contract negotiations and potential litigation. She announced the session would conclude at 10:00 PM. ADJOURNMENT At 10:17 PM, the Council reconvened the regular session and by common consent adjourned the meeting. Susan Potts, Mayor Attest: arwood T. Edvalson, City Clerk