02/21/1997 City CouncilEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL. APPROVED MINUTES
City Council Retreat
February 21 and 22, 1997
LaConner Country Inn
LaConner, WA
Barbara Fahey, Mayor
Dave Earling, Council President
Gary Haakenson, Councilmember
Tom Miller, Councilmember
Dick Van Hollebeke, Councilmember
Jim White, Councilmember
(15 minutes late)
Mid-morning arrivals:
Roger Myers, Councilmember
John Nordquist, Councilmember
Art Housler, Adm. Serv. Director
Brent Hunter, Per Manager
Paul Mar, Community Serv. Director
Police Chief Robin Hickok
Scott Snyder, City Attorney
Dee McGrath, Exec. Sec. to Mayor
Jana Spellman, Council Assistant
Council President Dave Earling called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. giving a brief
explanation for Councilmembers Myers and Nordquist's late arrival.
Mr. Earling suggested that due to the cost of verbatim minutes, it would be wise to have
summary minutes prepared with tapes as back up (Councilmembers agreed).
Council President Earling explained that the format came to mind after a conversation with an
Edmonds citizen who is retired but one of thousands of Edmond"s retirees, while retired, does
not make enough money in retirement to meet expenses. Mr. Earling summarized that the retreat
agenda came to fruition because several large projects needed to be reviewed and brought to the
table for prioritization and financial implementation while at the same time keeping in mind how
much longer we can keep asking the citizens for more money.
He then asked the Council to proceed in a manner in which the two-day session would end with
prioritization of the agenda items and goal setting regarding financial implementation of the
prioritized items.
Because Mr. Agnew had not yet arrived and was a dual presenter with Mr. Mar for Session I, Mr.
Earling asked Mr. Mar to begin with his portion of the presentation.
Mr. Earling asked the Councilmembers to withhold questions and discussion until after the
presentation of Session III Review of Short and Long -Term Financial Forecast for the City on
Saturday, February 22.
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The focus of Mr. Mar's presentation was on the all-important financing plan that will have to be
successfully implemented in order to fund the $65 million design and construction phase for the
Multimodal Transportation Center Project.
Mr. Mar spoke regarding information he distributed which contained the following:
1. The Edmonds Crossing Project-- A Historical Perspective
2. Edmonds Crossing Project -- A Briefing Report
3. Response to Transportation Project Evaluation Criteria
4. Chronology of City Efforts to Solve Transportation and Safety Issues
5. Funding Status-- Preliminary Engineering Effort for Edmonds Multimodal Transportation
Center
6. Future Funding Opportunities for Edmonds Crossing Project (report prepared by
consultant Bruce Agnew)
7. Edmonds Crossing Multimodal Transportation Center Phase Two Report (prepared in
1996 by CH2MHill)
Mr. Mar concluded his presentation by introducing Mr. Agnew to the Council.
Mr. Agnew's handout was entitled "The Edmonds Crossing Project:
Opportunities (1997 Update) and contained the following information:
• Executive Summary
• ISTEA Reauthorization: Spending Levels
• ISTEA Structural Issues: Formulas and Shared Decision -Making
• Update to the Funding Options for the Edmonds Crossing Project
Mr. Agnew's presentation was based on this handout.
Future Funding
Again, Mr. Earling asked that questions and discussion be delayed until Saturday after Session
III.
Mr. Phil Kushlan, one of the consultants for the Human Resources Study, gave a brief
presentation restating and clarifying some of the issues that had already been reviewed by the
Council previously.
Mr. Hunter. followed Mr. Kushlan and disbursed an informational packet on which he based his
presentation. This information contained the following:
Edmonds City Council Retreat Approved Minutes
February 21 and 22, 1997 - LaConner, WA
page 2
• Organizational Review
• Staffing Plan Review
• Classification Plan Review
• Summary of Costs and Funding
Discussion ensued between the Councilmembers regarding various parts of the plan and it was
again decided to delve into this after Session III on Saturday.
Mr. Gregory Easton of Property Counselors, Pam Koss, Executive Director of South. Snohomish
County Chamber of Commerce, and Jeff Dowdle, Study Leader, Lynnwood Chevron, Chamber
of Commerce Chairman of the Board, were present during this presentation. Mr. Easton was the
speaker for this session.
Mr. Easton began by distributing two documents as follows:
• Feasibility Study for South Snohomish County Regional Convention &
Performing Arts Center (Final Report)
Synopsis of above study.
Mr. Easton covered the following subjects related to the synopsis of the study:
• Phase I Findings
• Phase II Findings
• Site Alternatives
• Projected benefits and costs for proposed alternative.
• Facility Ownership and Management
• Financing Plan
• Survey of Community Support
• The Next Steps
Discussion ensued among the Mayor and Councilmembers regarding location of facility, costs to
Edmonds, revenue benefits to Edmonds, consequences of the Olympic Ballet and Cascade
Symphony relocating to the new facility, models for operation and funding of the
Convention/Performing Arts Facility.
Again, this was tabled for prioritization until the'Goal Setting session of the retreat.
Edmonds City -Council Retreat Approved Minutes
February 21 and 22, 1997 - LaConner, WA
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Paul Mar was the presenter for this session and discussed all of the issues outlined. in his letter
dated February 18, 1997, to the Council (included in their retreat packet).
A video tape was shown of the Boise, Idaho/YMCA facility giving the Council a visual of this
facility. A brief discussion evolved regarding the feasibility of pairing with the YMCA as Boise
had done and the general pros and cons of developing an aquatic center.
Further discussion was tabled until after Session III on Saturday.
Edmonds City Council Retreat Approved Minutes
February 21 and 22, 1997 - LaConner, WA
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