Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-1998 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES March 9, 1998 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 Becker. The meeting was recorded on audio tape. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmembers Lynn Benz, Suzanne Cohen, Tom Morgan, Susan Potts, Steve Preston, Grahame Ross and Mayor Dan Becker. Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schu ze, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Asst. City Mgr./City Clerk Woody Edvalson, Acting Police Chief Doug Ambrose ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Becker announced that he was assigning the special projects committee to review and make recommendations to the Council regarding the City Manager's report on the adequacy and use of the City's facilities. He also announced that the Trans -Lake Study Committee would hold its first meeting on April 17. Councilmember Potts addressed a recent memo sent to Councilmembers from Mayor Becker regarding the method of appointment to the Board of Adjustment and the Planning Commission. Councilmember Potts said that the Mayor's proposal to appoint residents to serve rather than the personnel committee making recommendations with an appointment by the full Council was a break from tradition and did not serve the citizens well. Mayor Becker responded that he was acting according to Medina's Municipal Code and the authority granted the Mayor. Councilmember Potts asked that the minutes reflect her opposition to the Mayor's exclusive appointment of residents to the City's boards and commissions. Both Councilmember Potts and Ross expressed concern over the Mayor's appointment of a fourth committee person to the Personnel Committee. They were concerned that having a Council majority on one committee would make closed or sensitive Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 2 deliberations of the committee difficult. Open meeting laws would require public notice and additional work for staff. Mayor Becker responded that past committees have had a Council majority. He said he did not feel he should keep any Councilmember from serving on a particular committee just because there are already three members. He made it clear that any councilmember was welcome to serve on any committee in which they expressed interest. Councilmember Potts asked that the minutes specifically reflect her opposition to appointments of a Council majority to committees. Councilmember Ross reported that he had received a phone call requesting the cross walk at NE 24th St. and 79th Ave. NE be painted. He noted that it had faded and become almost non-existent. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Becker asked City Manager Schulze to explain the function and use of the consent agenda. City Manager Schulze explained that the consent agenda was instituted by the Council to improve the use of time during Council meetings. He added that the items were typically those that required no discussion and could be adopted with a single motion. He further explained that any item on the consent agenda could be removed for discussion upon the simple request of one Councilmember. Councilmember Morgan moved the approval of consent agenda items represented below (numbers are as assigned on the full agenda): 4. Minutes from Regular Council Meeting of February 9, 1998; 5. Approval and acceptance of Warrants/Treasurer's Report for February 1998; The following warrants were submitted for approval to the City Council: February warrants #11126 - 11202 in the amount of $82,859.60. Warrants 11127 and 11128 were void. February Personnel warrants 15866 - 15910 in the amount of $71,547.47. 6. Adoption of Ordinance No. 638 - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING A TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM THE RESERVES FUND TO THE CITY GENERAL FUND IN THE 1998 BUDGET FOR THE PURPOSE OF REPLACING DAMAGED AND MISSING BUOYS; 7. Adoption of Ordinance No. 639 - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF $81,547 FROM THE CITY STREET FUND TO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND; 8. Report of Progress of Police Department Exploration Study; 9. Report on Emergency Preparedness Efforts; 10. Resignation of Park Board Chairperson Betsy Weyer. Councilmember Ross asked that item number 8, Report of Progress of Police Department Exploration Study, be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Councilmember Morgan amended his motion to approve consent agenda items 4-10, except for item number 8 which was pulled for discussion. Councilmember Benz seconded the amended motion. All were in favor. Mayor Becker announced that the discussion of item number 8 would follow the discussion of item 16 on the full agenda. Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 3 POINT OF ORDER Noting the audience attendance, Mayor Becker announced to the audience that the Council would take no action at the meeting on Ordinance No. 614. He explained that a joint hearing between the Council and Planning Commission had been set for March 30, 1998 at 7:00 PM. He projected that the Council may consider the ordinance for adoption at their April meeting depending on the level of consensus reached at the meeting of March 30. Councilmember Morgan identified copies of the proposed ordinance that were available to the public for their review. He added that the topic had been under Council discussion since May 1996 and that public hearings had been held at both the Council and Planning Commission level. He explained that the objective of the ordinance was to find a balance between the impact on existing R-20 and R-30 lots from new overly large houses and the rights of existing and prospective Medina citizens to develop their property to the maximum. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There were no comments from the public on non -agenda items. STAFF REPORTS PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS Reporting on the past month's criminal activities, Acting Chief Ambrose listed two domestic violence situations which involved no arrests; several thefts including car prowls. Stolen were a cell phone, a boat motor, a handgun and jewelry. There was one prowling incident where a door was rattled. Regarding the Bellevue Fire Department Reports, City Manager Schulze commented that one of the provisions associated with the new fire services contract was a requirement that a report be provided within two weeks of the close of the month. The reports included with current agenda were catch-up reports from the last quarter of 1997. UPDATE ON ESSB 6515 Mayor Becker explained that this was a state bill that was developed to allow installation of cell towers in any right-of-way, which is considered to be any street in the State of Washington. He said that the long term work of the City Council to regulate the siting of cell towers could be nullified by the new legislation. City Manager Schulze added that the bill had gone through a number of permutations. It was passed on the floor of the House, and went on to a bicameral committee. A number of municipal representatives including City Attorney Kirk Wines were invited to Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 4 testify in Olympia. The current version prohibits moratoriums by cities. Although it does appear to allow cities to regulate placement even in the rights -of -way, it would not allow for the collection of franchise or use fees for use of those rights -of -way. He suggested that the Council continue to oppose the bill and authorize the Mayor to send a second letter to the Governor asking for his veto of the bill. Mayor Becker added that the bill would prohibit the City from developing facilities that could be used for profit operations of cable television. He also said the bill instructed the development of a model ordinance that may preempt the City's ordinance. Councilmember Morgan added that the bill was unfortunate in that it deprived the state of franchise and use fees when they are needed most for highway improvement. Councilmember Benz moved to authorize a letter from Mayor Becker to Governor Locke asking for his veto of the bill. Councilmember Morgan made the second. All were in favor. Councilmember Benz voiced appreciation for Mayor Becker, Councilmembers Morgan and Preston, City Manager Schulze and City Attorney Wines for the many hours spent during the past week trying to influence the outcome of ESSB 6515. 101ZID71./_\`Is] 2 ORDINANCE NO. 614 - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING MEDINA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 17.24.010 D AND 17.28.010 D ADDING ADDITIONAL SIDE YARD SET BACK RESTRICTIONS FOR RESIDENCES (APPLICABLE TO R-20 AND R-30 ZONES) For the benefit of those audience members arriving late, Mayor Becker repeated that the Council would not be acting on the ordinance at the current meeting, that a joint hearing would be held on March 30, where the ordinance would be reviewed and comment allowed. He also commented on inaccuracies in a flyer that had been distributed by private interests to residents of Medina. He encouraged interested parties to review a copy of the ordinance. Councilmember Morgan added that the proposed ordinance did not include reductions in house size, lot coverage, house height, or square footage of houses. Art Whittlesy, a realtor from Yarrow Point representing a client in Medina, asked if there was an announcement in a public newspaper regarding the content of the ordinance. He added that the Eastside Journal apparently mis-reported the meeting and its treatment of the ordinance. He complained that ambiguities in the City's development of this ordinance caused the loss of a $400,000 transaction for his client. Councilmember Morgan pointed out that a flyer distributed from Charlie Brown of John L. Scott Realtors included at least five errors regarding the proposed ordinance, which certainly increased the likelihood of public misunderstanding. Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 5 Jim Grey, 8809 NE 2nd PI., asked Councilmember Morgan to identify the five errors in the announcement. Councilmember Morgan said that he would respond in writing. Les Houle, purchasing a property from the Thomas family at 3233 Evergreen Point Road, said that he was in the process of short -platting the property and applying for a building permit. He added that he had recently met with City consultants who had not indicated the potential for such an ordinance. He expressed concern that there appeared to be a lack of communication to citizens on the proposed action. Paul Saad, Medina Planning Commissioner, commented that the concept of proportional setbacks on lots of width greater than 100 ft. was omitted from the proposed ordinance. He expressed the opinion that the ordinance ought to be comprehensive in nature and should address any potential changes for the R-16 zone. The City Council asked Mr. Saad general questions about the Planning Commission's review of the issues. Mohammed Pezeshk, Architect and owner of Architectonics, requested that the Council consider a 6 month grace period after an ordinance is adopted before it becomes effective. He spoke of the lead times required in the development of properties. Dan Nelson, 2207 Evergreen Point Road, also spoke in favor of a grace period. Mayor Becker closed the public comment section and repeated the announcement of a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on March 30. 1:7701X"19 Mayor Becker announced a five minute recess. DISCUSSION MEDINA BEACH PARK PROJECT SCOPE City Manager Schulze introduced the topic, reporting that the Park Board had recently reviewed the proposed scope of work for landscaping. He introduced Linnea Ferrell of the Berger Partnership. Ms. Ferrell referred to a diagram of the proposed planting scheme. The Council provided their impressions and discussed their concerns. Direction was given to the City Manager to work with the consultants to finalize the planting scheme for bid document preparation. Hae C. Lee, 512 Evergreen Point Road, expressed concern that the plan may obscure views from her second story. She agreed that the plan appeared to preserve her view corridor from her first story to the southwest. Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 6 1998 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM SCHEDULES City Manager Schulze introduced Jay Hummel of Hedges & Roth Engineering, the City's consulting engineers on capital projects. Mr. Hummel reviewed the proposed projects and timelines for 1998. The final item, the Overlake Drive Pedestrian Path, included an in-depth discussion with Council on design. They directed that Mr. Hummel continue with the design for the whole strip from 81 st Ave. NE to Evergreen Point Road. They directed staff/consultants to be prepared for a public hearing at the April Council meeting. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF POLICE DEPARTMENT EXPLORATION STUDY City Manager Schulze reported that the study would soon be underway. He added that the consultants had been finalized and appeared to be an excellent fit for this study. NEW BUSINESS CHANGE OF MEETING DATE FOR APRIL COUNCIL MEETING By common consent after brief discussion, the City Council directed that their regular meeting for the night of April 13, 1998 be moved to April 20, 1998. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT VACANCY Councilmember Ross said that he had received an inquiry from Board of Adjustment Chairman Dave Martin asking when an appointment would be made to the Board. Mayor Becker responded that a request for volunteers had just been included in the last issue of the Medina Newsletter. City Manager Schulze added that staff had received at least one volunteer application. CONSULTANT FOR JOINT CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING The City Council directed the City Manager to hire an architectural consultant to assist with the review of Ordinance No. 614. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 10:35 PM, and under authority of RCW 42.30.110 Mayor Becker announced that the Council would hold an executive session to discuss personnel issues. He announced the session would conclude at 10:55 PM. Medina City Council Minutes March 9, 1998 Page 7 REGULAR MEETING The Council reconvened their regular meeting at 10:58 PM. Councilmember Morgan moved to authorize the City Manager to expend up to $10,000 for an architectural consultant for the study of Ordinance No. 614. Councilmember Benz seconded the motion. All were in favor. ADJOURNMENT At 11:05 PM, Councilmember Ross moved to adjourn. Councilmember Cohen seconded the motion. All were in favor. 4 A/ - Daniel Becker, Mayor Attest: arwood T. Edvalson, City Clerk