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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-14-1998 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES December 14, 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 7:03 PM by Mayor Becker. The meeting was recorded on audio tape. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmembers Suzanne Cohen, Thomas Morgan, Susan Potts, Steve Preston, Grahame Ross and Mayor Daniel Becker. Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Asst. City Mgr./City Clerk Woody Edvalson, Police Chief Michael Knapp, Sergeant Doug Ambrose ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Becker stated that he had seen an item in the Seattle Times reporting the appointment of Woody Edvalson as City Administrator of Carnation. He congratulated Mr. Edvalson and thanked him for his excellent service to the Council and City of Medina. The Council and audience joined in general applause. City Manager Schulze introduced the new Chief of Police, Michael F. Knapp, to the audience. Mr. Schulze administered an oath of office to Mr. Knapp. Upon conclusion, the Council and audience gave welcoming applause to Chief Knapp and his wife Nancy. Mayor Becker announced that there would be an official reception scheduled in January. City Manager Schulze distributed a spreadsheet showing comparisons between various communities in the County and the amount of property tax per capita paid by the residents of those jurisdictions. He noted that City of Bellevue residents pay $191 per capita, Medina residents pay $529 per capita. Mayor Becker felt this responded to the letter received from King County claiming that the communities on the Eastside did not pay their fair share for services and affordable housing. Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 2 CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Morgan moved the approval of the consent agenda as follows: A. The minutes from the regular Council meeting of November 9, 1998; B. Approval and acceptance of November 1998 Warrants/Treasurer's Report including: November warrants #11860 - 11929, 811929, 81120, 888999, 911358, 911920 and-- $165,844.42 November personnel warrants #16324 - 16369 $ 80,854.56; C. Ordinance No. 647 - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF $50,000 FROM THE RESERVES FUND TO THE BOND REDEMPTION FUND FOR THE PURPOSES OF G.O. BOND REDEMPTION; D. Ordinance No. 648 - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF $5,000 FROM THE RESERVES FUND TO THE GENERAL FUND FOR THE PURPOSES OF OBTAINING SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL E. Approval of Street Light Installation - 80th Ave. NE. Councilmember Preston seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION No member of the audience chose to address the Council at this time. PUBLIC HEARING 1999 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET City Manager Schulze explained that at the last hearing the Council directed him to change the proposed budget to reduce the tax rate to $1.20 per thousand of assessed value. He added that direction was also given to eliminate the Medina Park Irrigation Project in the amount of $148,000, allocating $50,000 additional to park maintenance and retaining another $48,000 in the general fund. The dollar value of the tax levy would be $1,275,000. Councilmember Morgan recommended that additional funds be allocated for special projects and regional issues anticipated to impact the City during the coming year, e.g. jet noise, telecommunications, SR520, etc.. After some discussion, the Council determined to increase the allocations for these items and aggregate them into the Special Counsel and Mitigation/Regional Issues accounts under Legal Services. Mayor Becker invited public comment at this time. Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 3 Henry Paulman, 1415 80th Ave. NE, asked that the Council remove the $16,000 earmarked for purchase of a special maintenance vehicle. He also asked what was covered by the budgeted amounts for personnel benefits. His closing remarks were in support of the allocation of additional funds for anticipated regional and special issues. City Manager Schulze briefly explained that personnel benefits covered expenditures for such items as health insurance, retirement and other employee -related benefits provided according to union or employment agreements. There being no other members of the audience wishing to address the budget, Mayor Becker closed the public hearing. Councilmember Potts moved to adopt the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget as amended. The amendment was described as reducing the General Fund ending fund balance by 65,500 and allocating those funds to Special Counsel and Mitigation/Regional Issues accounts under Legal Services for a combined total of $150,000. The second portion of the motion was to adopt the remainder of the budget as presented. Councilmember Preston seconded the motion. Approval of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget was unanimous. ORDINANCE NO. 645 - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF RECONSTRUCTION At Mayor Becker's invitation, Councilmember Cohen introduced the ordinance. She said the proposed ordinance had been discussed for several months by the Council. It's current form had been discussed in detail at the last Council meeting. The intent of the ordinance was to allow for the repair and improvement of legally non -conforming homes without a variance. Mayor Becker added that one of the benefits was to reduce the amount of time required to go through the approval and permitting process. Mayor Becker asked if there were any members of the audience wishing to address the proposed ordinance. Seeing none, he closed the public hearing. Councilmember Cohen moved the adoption of Ordinance No. 645. Councilmember Potts seconded the motion. All were in favor. Councilmember Potts asked that the minutes reflect the dedicated efforts of Councilmember Cohen in helping to produce the language of the ordinance and in keeping the Council on track through the adoption process.. REPORTS PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS Sergeant Ambrose provided a department report for the new police chief, Michael Knapp. He said that $500 of personal items were stolen from St. Thomas, and a burglary occurred at in the 2400 block of Evergreen Point Road. Entry was obtained through a pried window. Additional crimes mentioned were phone harassment and possession of drugs. Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 4 Councilmember Morgan asked about the apparent increase in the number of hang-up calls received during the past month. Sergeant Ambrose responded that it was his belief the increased frequency of hang-up calls was the result of increased telephone solicitation activity. He noted that their method of operation often caused dropped calls. Councilmember Potts asked why the number of issued speed warnings had decreased. Sergeant Ambrose attributed the drop to the greater emphasis placed on active patrolling by officers rather than parking and monitoring traffic with radar. Mayor Becker thanked Sergeant Ambrose for his hard work managing the police department for the many months it took to successfully recruit a new police chief. The audience added their applause. CALENDAR There was no discussion of future topics for Council agendas under this agenda item. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS ORDINANCE NO. 649 - AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF MEDINA WASHINGTON, FOR THE YEAR 1999, AND SETTING FORTH IN SUMMARY FORM THE TOTALS OF ESTIMATED REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES FOR EACH SEPARATE FUND AND THE AGGREGATE TOTALS FOR ALL SUCH FUNDS COMBINED Having previously discussed and adopted the 1999 Fiscal Year Budget, the Council adopted the Ordinances 649 and 650 and Resolution 260 without further discussion. Councilmember Preston moved to adopt Ordinance No. 649. Councilmember Cohen seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. ORDINANCE NO. 650 - AN ORDINANCE CERTIFYING TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITY OF KING COUNTY THE ESTIMATES OF THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY TAXATION FOR THE YEAR 1999 ON THE ESTIMATED ASSESSED VALUATION OF THE PROPERTY IN THE CITY AS REQUIRED BY R.C.W. 84.52.020 Councilmember Morgan moved to adopt Ordinance No. 650. Councilmember Cohen again provided the second. All were in favor. RESOLUTION NO. 260 -A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEDINA WASHINGTON AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE IN PROPERTY TAX REVENUE Councilmember Preston moved to approve Resolution No. 260. Councilmember Ross made the second to the motion. The vote was unanimous and in the affirmative. Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 5 DISCUSSION APPOINTMENT TO COUNCIL VACANCY Mayor Becker explained to the audience that the Council had previously met in special meetings to interview applicants and discuss candidate qualifications. He reported that the City had received six volunteer applications for the Council vacancy. He then asked for nominations from the Council. Councilmember Morgan moved the nomination of Paul Demitriades to fill the vacancy. Councilmember Preston seconded the motion. Councilmembers Cohen, Morgan, Potts, Preston and Mayor Becker voted in favor of the motion. Councilmember Ross abstained from voting. Councilmember Cohen asked that the other candidates for the Council be encouraged to consider filling other vacancies on boards and commissions. Mayor Becker said that he would approach them. AGREEMENT TO ALLOW BELLEVUE RECREATION DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE RECREATION SERVICES TO DISABLED RESIDENTS OF MEDINA City Manager Schulze explained that he had received a request from a resident requesting assistance in improving the availability of special recreation programs for her disabled son. He explained that non-residents of Bellevue can register for recreation programs, but are allowed to participate only after Bellevue and other contracting agency's residents have been served. Mr. Schulze presented a copy of a standard contract for services with Bellevue. He expressed reservation with a program that would serve a limited population, or that would require significant funding to expand the program to all residents. He reminded the Council that the City had not provided any organized recreation services to its residents for a number of years. The Council discussed the issue expressing a desire to assist the disabled, but also caution concerning the potential for greatly increased program costs to fairly provide recreation services to all residents. Mayor Becker warned against increasing reliance upon the City of Bellevue for services. He reminded Councilmembers that there were those who felt the small points communities were already sufficiently dependent that they should be absorbed by Bellevue. At Councilmember Pott's suggestion, Mayor Becker agreed to have the Council special projects committee review the issue and provide a recommendation to the Council. City Manager Schulze offered to obtain information on the number of participants typically turned away from Bellevue's programs. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON VIRTUAL CITY MODEL City Manager Schulze introduced the topic. He explained that he had met with a professor at the University of Washington (UW) that had expressed great interest in Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 6 doing a virtual reality simulation for Medina to show the effects of various proposals to reduce the impacts of large home construction in Medina. He offered to show Councilmembers a demonstration downloaded from the Internet. Councilmember Cohen expressed concern about entering into an expensive prolonged project on an issue that had been studied for years. She said she felt time was of the essence and that the character of Medina was slipping away. She said that a current topic being circulated was the possibility of a building moratorium. Recognizing audience members wishing to address the Council, Mayor Becker invited their input. Raymond Lee, 1259 Evergreen Point Road, expressed concern that there was a current building explosion affecting existing homes and properties, an emergency situation. He again described his situation where a proposed new home would apparently block views from his home. He said that contrary to the Council's previous comment that there appeared to be little interest in the community on restricting home size or further limiting heights, he had easily obtained 50 signatures of people in Medina interested in these issues. He said in the current situation, that his neighbor had indicated a plan to maximize the size of home permitted under the current ordinances. Mr. Lee noted that in a previous letter he had suggested changing the vesting rights of applicants to remove the incentive to rush the planning process in order to secure rights before complaints are filed or revised ordinances proposed. He asked the Council to take action to preserve the property values of many of the residents who owned tiered or sloped properties. He hoped his activity would not only benefit himself, but others in Medina who might be similarly impacted. He concluded with a request for thoughtful, reflective review. Mariette Patterson, 3302 78th PL NE, also expressed her concern for a variance application that would allow an 11,000 sq. ft. home to be built obstructing her view of Fairweather Bay. Harriet Williams, 3312 78th PL NE indicated from the audience that the existing home would be enlarged mainly on the ground floor. Ms. Patterson continued by saying that she had not had an opportunity to review the plans in detail, but feared that she would be in the same position as Mr. Lee. Mayor Becker introduced the topic of a moratorium. Councilmember Cohen encouraged the Council to take action now, so that Mr. Lee would not be excluded from the benefits of future Council action. She proposed adopting either legislation similar to that developed earlier in the summer by the Council committee, or a moratorium until an alternate solution could be developed. Mayor Becker remarked that the circumstances were somewhat similar in nature to the moratorium used by the Council to develop the new wireless communications ordinance. Councilmember Ross felt that there were insufficient facts available to indicate that the issue was a real problem, much less an emergency situation. Although he expressed concern for views, he also expressed opposition to the use of a moratorium at this time. Councilmember Preston felt that views are a recognized and significant issue in the City. He cited Medina Heights as an example of action taken to preserve views. He felt that an advantage of a moratorium would be to put the Council on an established time frame to resolve the issue. Councilmember Potts said that it was the result of many neighbors Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 7 coming together that helped the Medina Heights zoning changes. She said she felt it was important to protect views. She added that a moratorium would help bring this large home issue to a conclusion. Councilmember Morgan said he was troubled by the thought of imposing a moratorium, but felt that view protection is particularly important in this City. He expressed concern over the number of homes that have been built in Medina during the Council's inactivity on the issue. He hoped that a moratorium would help bring the input the Council seeks. Councilmember Cohen said she was persuaded by Councilmember Ross' concerns, and was against adoption of the proposed moratorium in its current form. Miles Adams, 8424 NE 10th St., said he had seen this type of action in other places. He cautioned against a dangerous precedent of adopting a moratorium based on the presentation of one side of the story. He warned that definitions of views can be very subjective. He felt the Council had done a great job on Ordinance No. 645, and hated to see the Council immediately start to modify and impact that ordinance. At the conclusion of discussion, Councilmember Cohen moved that notice be published for a public hearing January 11, on the potential adoption of a moratorium. Mayor Becker asked the City Clerk to develop a proposed notice to circulate to the Council for comment. Councilmember Morgan asked that a proposed ordinance adopting the moratorium be available for adoption at the hearing. Voting in favor of the motion were Councilmembers Cohen, Morgan, Preston, Potts and Mayor Becker. Voting nay was Councilmember Ross. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE City Manager Schulze explained that an organizational change was necessitated by the resignation of Assistant City Manager Woody Edvalson. The proposed change would replace the assistant city manager with a city clerk and a public works superintendent. The superintendent position would be created by upgrading the public works lead position. The lead position would then be eliminated from the table of organization. City Manager Schulze said that a budget amendment would be needed to cover the change in the budget, a net increase of approximately $37,000. Members of the Council expressed a desire that the public works superintendent have limited and clearly defined involvement with engineering decisions. At the conclusion of discussion, Councilmember Ross moved to approve the proposed organizational structure and associated costs. Councilmember Potts seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. Medina City Council Minutes December 14, 1998 Page 8 NEW BUSINESS AGENDA ORDER Mayor Becker suggested that the Reports section of the agenda be moved so that it would follow the Announcements. He felt this would make better use of staff and consultant time. Councilmember Ross made a motion to amend the order of the agenda as proposed. Councilmember Morgan seconded the motion. All were in favor. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council adjourned to executive session under authority of RCW 42.30.110(g) at 9:45 p.m. Mayor Becker announced that they would be in session 20 minutes. He said there would be no official action taken as a result of the executive session. ADJOURNMENT The Council concluded their executive session and regular meeting at 10:10 p.m. on a motion by Councilmember Ross and a second by Council mber Pott . All were in favor. D nie . Becker, Mayor Attest: r H ood T. Edvalson, City Clerk i