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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-1998 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING MINUTES April 20, 1998 Medina City Hall 7:00 PM 501 Evergreen Point Rd. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned 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 and Mayor Dan Becker. Absent: Councilmember Grahame Ross Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Asst. City Mgr./City Clerk Woody Edvalson, Acting Police Chief Doug Ambrose ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Becker announced that the kick-off meeting of the Trans -Lake Washington Study had been postponed to May 27. He said the committee now had 45 members. Councilmember Benz noted that the rest room at Medina Beach Park was particularly dirty during a public event on a weekend at City Hall. Knowing that the City had received complaints regarding park rest rooms before, she asked that the City make arrangements to have the rest rooms checked twice daily, including weekends. City Manager Schulze agreed to implement such a program. Councilmember Potts asked that the ruts in the grass resulting from re -graveling the paths in Medina Park be repaired. Assistant City Manager Edvalson responded that the problem would be corrected within the week. City Manager Shulze reported that the City had received correspondence from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) in search of nominations for AWC officers and directors. He asked that interested Councilmembers contact him as soon as possible. Medina City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 2 He added that appointments to the State Transportation Board are needed. He said these appointments were made by the governor and that he had information for those interested. CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Preston moved the approval of consent agenda items represented below: A. Minutes from Regular Council Meeting of March 9, 1998; B. Approval and acceptance of Warrants/Treasurer's Report for March 1998; The following warrants were submitted for approval to the City Council: March warrants #11203 - 11281 in the amount of $72,227.07. March Personnel warrants #15911 - 15955 in the amount of $72,044.89. C. Acceptance of the City Manager's Report on the Special Projects Committee Councilmember Morgan provided the second to the motion. All were in favor. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Bob Rudolph, 1455 Evergreen Point Road, Dr. reported that a temporary noise monitoring site for the Port of Seattle/SeaTac Airport had been selected. He said that Medina would also be the site of a permanent monitoring device. Dr. Rudolph added that the FAA was saying that the FMS system to redirect air traffic away from Medina was in place. His personal observation was that it was not being regularly used. Councilmember Morgan asked Dr. Rudolph to send a letter to Rep. Rick White who recently held a meeting in town and was informed of the situation. He asked that the letter emphasize that the FMS system did not appear to be in frequent use. Arthur Dietrich, 707 Overlake Dr. E., asked that the City be vigilant in its removal of expired hearing notices. He reported conversations with the City of Issaquah where it was suggested that perhaps the cities could cooperate in their efforts with TCI. Henry Paulman, 1415 80th Ave. NE, suggested that the City revoke the franchise and set up its own cable system. Because of the potential for litigation involved in the City's pursuit of fines against TCI, Mayor Becker announced that further Council discussion of matter would occur in executive session. Susan Lawrence, 822 Evergreen Point Road, asked the Council to consider moving the trash enclosure for City Hall and Beach Park. City Manager Schulze responded that the issue was still being discussed and alternatives explored. Medina City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 3 Henry Paulman, 1415 80th Ave. NE, asked that the Council investigate high return sources of investment for the City's surplus revenues rather than spending the money on costly projects. Wilma Edmonds, 7721 NE 24th St., concurred with Mr. Paulman suggesting rather that the City return some of its excess revenue to the residents by further reducing the tax rate. She also asked for more strict enforcement of the City's sign ordinance, particularly dealing with real estate signs. Susie Marglin, 2623 Evergreen Point Road, added that she had reported several signs that had not been acted upon by the City. STAFF REPORTS PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS Reporting on the month of April's crime statistics, Acting Chief Ambrose stated that 5 thefts had been reported during the past month. He also noted that a stolen vehicle had been recovered in Medina, that a case of verbal domestic violence had been reported and that instances of letter and phone harassment had occurred. Councilmember Potts asked why the written reports showed a decrease in traffic infractions. Chief Ambrose responded that the department's greater community oriented approach to policing had placed a greater focus on enforcement of construction parking violations, house watch patrols, etc. Ms. Potts asked that special attention be paid to speeding construction traffic occurring in the early morning hours on Overlake Drive. Addressing the fire report, Councilmember Morgan suggested that the City approach King County about equalizing the costs for emergency medical services. He noted that Medina residents paid much more in taxes than the aggregate of services received. City Manager Schulze responded that he had been involved in discussions on a possible regional approach to the issue. POINT OF ORDER Mayor Becker announced that the next agenda topic would be the report on the Overlake Pedestrian Path followed by the other issues for which consultants were present. DISCUSSION OVERLAKE PEDESTRIAN PATH PROJECT City Manager Shulze provided a brief background on the development of the project. Engineering Consultant Jay Hummel, described the proposed walking path along the north side of Overlake Drive West between Evergreen Point Road and 81 st Ave. NE. He displayed some preliminary engineering sketches. The Council discussed the Medina City Council Minutes April20, 1998 Page 4 philosophy behind the design, that this portion of the project was proposed as a trial project to test the feasibility of form and function. They further discussed the need to incorporate planning for future underground utilities. Ben Hsu, 610 Evergreen Point Road, Susie Marglin, 2623 Evergreen Point Road, and another unidentified resident expressed concerns about the design of the gravel path. At the conclusion of Council discussion, Councilmember Cohen moved that the 30% design be approved and that instruction be given to include utility conduit in the drainage trench and a weed -inhibiting fabric under the gravel path. Councilmember Benz seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. MEDINA BEACH PARK PHASE II PLANTING City Manager Schulze introduced the discussion item. Engineering Consultant Jay Hummel explained that bids had been sent out to five companies this past week, and that a bid opening was due the first week of May. The goal was to have the Council award a bid at the May 11 meeting. He added that construction should be completed by July 4th. Councilmember Morgan formally proposed that staff select a tree of low spreading growth habit, that the Berger Partnership include this type of tree in the plan. City Manager Schulze said that discussion had taken place, but that the need to allow for emergency vehicles also created the need to limb -up trees to an appropriate height. The concern was that trees would have a squashed appearance. The planned trees would be temporarily placed in containers to allow for determination of final placement. Councilmember Benz moved to authorize the advertising for bids. The second came from Councilmember Cohen. Again, the vote was unanimous. NE 24TH ST. PROJECT City Manager Schulze again provided an introduction to the issue. Engineering Consultant Bill Holladay provided an indepth explanation of Bellevue's proposal for a sewer siphon project that would upgrade their system. The disruption would be from 84th Ave. NE to 80th Ave. NE. nearly in the center of NE 24th St. It would require the entire closure of this portion of the street. The potential for City participation to improve the street, curb and gutter was discussed. Prior to the Council meeting, the City of Bellevue announced that they were considering an alternate route. The Council consensus was to wait for the Bellevue decision on the proposed route. Wilma Edmonds, 7721 NE 24th St., suggested that the City look at the street center line. As currently configured she felt the turning radius was to tight at the intersection of NE 24th St. and 84th Ave. NE causing damage to the street curb. Medina City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 5 STAFF REPORTS AWC LEGISLATIVE POLICY DEVELOPMENT RESOLUTIONS City Manager Schulze explained that with the upcoming AWC annual conference, an invitation had been extended to cities to submit potential policies for adoption as lobbying positions by the AWC during upcoming legislative sessions. The Council discussed potential policies for recommendation choosing to focus on two issues. First was the control of street rights -of -way with respect to location of cellular communications. The second issue opposed double taxation occuring when residents are charged through property tax by the County for services that the City also pays for through contract. Councilmember Cohen suggested that the Council focus on the two issues. There was general consensus on the Council. Mayor Becker indicated that he would be attending the AWC conference in Tacoma to represent the City during balloting. ORDINANCES ORDINANCE NO. 640 - AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF $70,000 FROM THE RESERVES FUND TO THE GENERAL FUND FOR THE PURPOSES OF STREET STRIPING AND PAINTING Assistant City Manager Edvalson reported that staff had reviewed the City's current method of street painting and striping. He noted that the work was generally done every 12-24 months. Edvalson explained that a new product called Durastripe was projected to provide a ten year life span on Medina's streets. Application of this product is projected to save the City at least $15,000 over the ten year period. Information regarding the bids received was provided. Councilmember Benz moved to find Apply -A -Line, Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder and approve adoption of Ordinance No. 640. The second came from Councilmember Morgan. Approval from the Council was unanimous. DISCUSSION CODE AMENDMENT - BOARD/COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS City Manager Schulze provided an introduction to the discussion. City Attorney Wines gave a summary of the current code related to appointments of board and commission members. Councilmember Potts expressed her concern at having one person make appointments to vacancies. She felt that various constituencies were represented by members of the Council, and that it was not in the overall City's best interest to have one person representing a single constituency make the appointment. She opposed the Medina City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 6 apparent formation of a new committee to assist with the candidate interviews when the Council personnel committee was available to participate in the process. Mayor Becker responded that he was only doing that which was allowed by ordinance and that had been done from time to time in the past. He noted that the Board of Adjustment Chairman, Dave Martin, had asked to participate in the interviews. He said that he had asked Councilmember Benz to help in order to add balance to the interview process. Councilmember Cohen opposed the formation of new committees without the Council being informed and being given an opportunity to participate. Councilmember Potts moved that staff be directed to prepare an ordinance amending the Medina Municipal Code to incorporate a new process for interview and appointment. Councilmember Cohen made the second. The motion was defeated on a 2-3 vote, with Councilmembers Benz, Morgan and Preston voting nay. Mayor Becker said that he would continue interviews with the ad hoc committee, but also notify all Councilmembers of applicants so that they might contact them if they wish. POINTS COMMUNITIES TRAIL SYSTEM City Manager Schulze reported that the Park Board recommended adoption and expenditure of grant funds for the signage and development of the Points Communities Trail System. After brief discussion, Councilmember Morgan moved approval of the recommendation as proposed. Councilmember Cohen seconded the motion. All were in favor. KING COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD City Manager Shulze again introduced the topic describing the communiciations that City had recieved from the Library Board about a propose $6 Million bond issue to increase parking at the Bellevue Library. The Council discussed the issue but was not in support of the proposed bond issue. CALENDAR City Manager Schulze explained that he had hoped this agenda item could be used to provide more advanced notice to staff on topics of interest to the Council and identify upcoming meeting dates. The Council mentioned the need to set a meeting with the community preservation consultant, an update on the Medina Park Ponds and a needed meeting of the Council special projects committee. City Attorney Wines added that the committe would need to be convened to review the Biglow Open Space Application. Councilmembers Potts and Cohen agreed to comprise the committee for review. Medina City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 7 EXECUTIVE SESSION At approximately 10:00 PM, and under authority of RCW 42.30.110 Mayor Becker announced that the Council would hold an executive session to discuss personnel issues and matters of potential litigation. He announced the session would conclude at 10:30 PM. REGULAR MEETING The Council reconvened their regular meeting at 10:40 PM. Councilmember Morgan discussed with Council the letter he had sent them regarding property taxes and valuations. ADJOURNMENT The Council adjourned the meeting at 10:45 PM by common consent. Attest: H rwood T. Edvalson, City Clerk ze - Daniel Becker, Mayor