HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-24-2001 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL
STUDY SESSION
MINUTES
September 24, 2001 Medina City Hall
4:00 PM 501 Evergreen Pt Rd
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Becker called the Study Session of the Medina City Council to order at 4:05 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: Council Members Paul Demitriades, Suzanne Cohen, Steve Preston,
Mary Odermat, Thomas Morgan, James Lawrence and Mayor Dan
Becker
Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze, Planning Manager Jenny Schultz, City
Attorney Kirk Wines, Finance Officer Jan Burdue, Deputy City Clerk Craig
Fischer, Police Chief Michael Knapp, Public Works Superintendent Carl
Burris, Planning Consultant Joseph Gellings
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Council Member Demitriades announced that the comment period for the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the 1-405 Corridor Program had been
extended out until October 24, 2001. Demitriades also announced he would be providing
a short briefing on the DEIS to the Planning Commission at their next meeting and that
they would provide their comments to the Council in October.
Demitriades informed the Council that he would be briefing the WRIA 8 Technical
Committee on Medina's concern over the runoff problems associated with the SR-520
Bridge. He extended an invitation to fellow Council Members to also attend this briefing.
Council Member Cohen stated that she had recently attended a 2-day legal seminar on
the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA). She also relayed that she had
attained a number of materials available to anyone who wanted to review them.
There were no announcements from City Staff.
OTHER BUSINESS
Agenda Re -ordering — Mayor Becker stated that he would be amending the order of
agenda items. The Council would first hear a presentation from Michael Cummings with
the 1-405 Corridor Program. Second would be the discussion with Medina Hearing
Examiner James Driscoll and that the discussion of the 2002 Preliminary Budget would
come later on. All Council Members were in agreement with the agenda re -ordering.
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1-405 Corridor Program — Mr. Cummings from the 1-405 project provided the Council
with a presentation of the program spanning back to its beginning and all the way
through the recent completion of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Discussion with Medina Hearing Examiner — James Driscoll was in attendance to
brief the City Council on his experiences as Medina Hearing Examiner during the last 6
months. Driscoll began by providing some information on the rules and procedures for
the hearing examiner process as provided for by the Revised Code of Washington
(RCW). He suggested that these be distributed to all applicants for their information at
each hearing examiner meeting. Driscoll did point out that these rules and procedures
had not been formally adopted by the City Council in the Medina Municipal Code (MMC),
but could be either by ordinance or resolution. The Council decided to review the rules
and procedures further and then discuss their possible adoption at their October
meeting.
Mr. Driscoll continued his report by stating that he had listened to many land use cases,
which he thought could be handled administratively by City Staff. The following is a list of
the case types he mentioned:
• Tree Removal in the right-of-way
• Determination of legal building lot status
• Special Use Permits for Swimming Pools, Spas and Sports Courts
• Certain Lot Coverage Variances
• Fence Variance requests
The Council entered into a discussion with Driscoll over an appeal procedure for
administrative cases and its associated costs.
Regarding nonresidential properties, Driscoll thought that development standards should
be put in place for these properties even though there are so few in the city. He cited the
recent conditional use request for the Medina Grocery as an example.
Driscoll informed the Council of a portion of the MMC (§ 2.78.090) which speaks to
requests for reconsideration. He stated that this section of the code conflicts with RCW §
36.70(B) and should be amended.
A follow up meeting between the Council and Hearing Examiner was scheduled for the
January 28, 2002 Council study session.
Structural Lot Coverage Recommendations — Planning Consultant Joseph Gellings
provided some graphical displays to illustrate the most recent recommendations from the
Planning Commission to the City Council concerning structural lot coverage. Gellings
noted in particular, recommended policy changes concerning structures such as decks,
pools and also, changes in height measurement from finished grade. Due to time
constraints, the Council decided to further review this issue at their October study
session.
Salmon Incubators — A discussion took place over whether to proceed. The Council
was in agreement that certain Hunts Point residents most affected by the incubator
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installations should be contacted to verify their willingness to participate. This issue will
come back before the Council for further action at the October council meeting.
2002 Preliminary Budget — City Manager Schulze introduced the 2002 Preliminary
Budget to the Council and noted certain areas within. He stated that the Council would
be receiving their decision cards in the very near future and that they would provide a
great deal of information behind all the numbers. Some discussion took place over
budget planning with respect to the current economic outlook for the immediate region
as well as for the country. Once again, Schulze reiterated that the decision cards would
greatly aid council members in their review and subsequent decisions concerning the
2002 budget. The first of 2 public hearings on the 2002 budget will take place on
October 8, 2001 at the regular city council meeting with further budget discussion at the
October council study session.
POINT OF ORDER
At 6:20 p.m. and under authority of RCW 42.30.110, Demitriades made a motion,
seconded by Preston, to enter into an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing
personnel issues. Executive Session closed at 6:25 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Council Member Lawrence moved to adjourn the study session. Council Member Cohen
seconded and the study session was adjourned at 6:26 p.m.
0�. , Mayor
Attest:
Craig Fisc , Deputy City Clerk
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