Loading...
19760914 City Council Minutes• He had given this -information in a memorandum totheCouncil, requesting that the Mayor be. given authority to execute the exchange. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN CLEMENT, SECONDED BY MOTION: COUNCILMAN CARNS, THAT THE MAYOR BE AUTHORIZED TO SIGN THE UTILITY EASEMENT EXCHANGE. MOTION CARRIED. NEW UTILITY EASEMENT AT 86TH AVE. W.,AND-MAIN_ST. City Engineer Leif Larson requested this item be continued to the meeting of September 28, 1976. MOTION; A MOTION WAS.MADE BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CLEMENT, THAT THIS ITEM BE CON- TINUED TO SEPTEMBER 28. MOTION CARRIED. There was no further business to come before the Council, and it adjourned to executive session at 10:15 p.m. C. Sept ember_:•14:,..197.6..' . IRENE VARNEY MORAN, ity Clerk H. H. RISO , Mayor The regular meeting of the Edmonds City Council was called to order at 7:50 p.m. by Mayor Harve 'Harrison in the Council Chambers of the Edmonds Civic Center. All present joined in the flag salute. PRESENT ABSENT STAFF PRESENT Harve Harrison, Mayor Ray Gould J. Herb Gilbo, M.A.A. Max Gellert Phil Clement Leif Larson, City Engineer John Nordquist.: Robert Anderson Joe Wallis, City Planner Tom Carns Marlo Foster, Police Chief Mike Herb Harry Whitcutt, Building Official John Wallace, City Attorney Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk • Jackie Parrett, Deputy City Clerk CONSENT AGENDA (7:51 p.m.) Councilman Gellert requested that the Minutes of September 7 be removed from the Consent Agenda for a correction. A MOTION WAS THEN MADE BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, MOTION: TO APPROVE THE BALANCE OF THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. The remaining Consent Agenda contained the following item: (B) Acknowledge Receipt of Claim for Damages - Kim Robert Cramer. Copy of claim sent immediately upon receipt to insurance company. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF,SEPTEMBER 7, 1976 (Item (A) removed from Consent Agenda) (7:53 p.m.) Councilman Gellert asked that a,correction be made in the minutes on page 4, the item "PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO PLACE PARK BOND ISSUES ON BALLOT." The sentence reading "Councilman Gellert said he could only vote in favor of a proposition which eliminates the pool cover if the utility tax could not be a part of the ballot." should be corrected to read "Councilman Gellert said he could only vote for the pool cover if the utility tax were a part of the ballot title." The minutes were thenapproved as amended. COUNCIL PARTICIPATION (7:54 p.m.) Councilman Herb said he would like to suggest placing on the agenda the question of whether or not the organizational structure of the Parks and Recreation Department should be reviewed. He referred to an article received from the Park Board, entitled "Parks and Recreation -=Should they Separate?" Councilman Carns felt that as a committee is presently working on job descriptions for every department in the City it would be better to postpone such a discussion until that project is com- plete. Councilman Gellert noted, however, that the job descriptions are based on the duties and the committee has not made any effort to concern itself with any reorganization. A MOTION WAS THEN MOTION': = MADE'BY COUNCILMAN HERB, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, TO PLACE ON THE OCTOBER 12 AGEND& A DIS=, CUSSION OF THE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE SHOULD..BE RE-EVALUATED AND WHETHER OR NOT IT SHOULD BE REORGANIZED. MOTION CARRIED, WITH COUNCILMAN CARNS VOTING NO. Councilman Gellert asked that copies of the referenced article be distributed to the Councilmen. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN GELLERT, THAT THE SAME MOTION: QUESTION BE PUT BEFORE THE PARK BOARD PRIOR TO THE OCTOBER 12 MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Harrison said he had been requested,to sign an Interlocal Agreement Regarding Snohomish County Law and Justice Planning Office, and June Lloyd, the Planner/Coordinator of the Snohomish County Law and Justice Planning Office, was present to answer any questions. Chief Foster had reviewed the agreement in a memorandum and had indicated that the cost to'the City in 1977, as its match for the support of.the Snohomish County Planning Office, would be $603.16. A question was raised about the total budget of the office and Ms. Lloyd distributed copies of the budget. The question was also raised of representation on the part of the City. Representation is outlined in the by-laws, but the by-laws will be redrawn after the signing of the agreement. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN MOTION: HERB, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN GELLERT, TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT RE- GARDING SNOHOMISH COUNTY LAW AND JUSTICE PLANNING OFFICE, THAT THE CITY'S FINANCING RESPONSIBILITY OF $603,16 BE MET, AND THAT THE CITY'S COST BE TAKEN FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FUND. MOTION CARRIED. Councilman Carns commented that the background material on this had been .received just this evening, and he did not like to expend money without having time to study the material. City Planner Joe Wallis said that John Johnson had asked if the Mayor and Council could go out to view his property on Saturday, September 18. Mr. Johnson's property had been declared open space, and it had been suggested that he might want to donate it to the City of Edmonds on his death, as he did intend to donate it to some foundation or other entity to keep it open space. It was deter- mined that the Councilmen would meet at Councilman Gellert's home at 8:00 a.m., September 18, and would then go to Mr. Johnson's property. Mr. Wallis requested that the hearing on the Comprehensive Policy Plan, scheduled for September 486 be removed from the agenda and said he would reschedule it at a later date. The Planning Commission wants to examine it more thoroughly before making a recommendation. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN MOTION: GELLERT, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, THAT THIS ITEM BE DELETED FROM THE AGENDA, TO BE RESCHEDULED BY THE CITY PLANNER. MOTION CARRIED.:::•. ;; DISCUSSION ON CLAIM FROM RICHARD WALKER (Continued from September 7) (8:35 p.m.) M.A.A. Herb Gilbo reviewed the claim. A written report had been distributed to the Council. City Attorney John Wallace advised that the problem the City faces insofar as the Council authorizing any expenditure of _ of funds for damage claims is that there must be liability or a possibility of liability before it can do so. He said if there is an absence of negligence there would be no liability, that the whole system of the right of recovery is based upon fault. He said if there is no fault, there is no duty to pay, and the City would then fall within the State constitutional provision against gifts of city monies or credit. He said if funds are.spent-to pay something for which there is no legal obligation to pay, it cannot be construed to be -:anything else but a.gift, and that would be a violation of the State constitutional pro- vision against giving any of the city's assets, monies, resources or credit. Councilman Gellert felt there should be some provision for the rare incidents when neither the City nor the claimant is negligent and asked if it was not possible to make some kind of provision for expanded liability Mr. Wallace said he MOTION: would have to research that. After further discussion A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, THAT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT LEGAL COUNSEL HAS ADVISED THAT THE CITY CANNOT PAY (Withdrawn.).CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES UNLESS THE CITY IS HOWN TO BE NEGLIGENT, AND BECAUSE THERE IS APPARENTLY NO NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF THE CITY, THAT THE CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES BE DENIED BY THE CITY COUNCIL. Discussion followed . on whether the Council should act on a claim, and Mr. Wallace advised that the City's policy in the past has been to refer the claims to the insurance companies and defer to their judgment, but he said the claims Council_had--thecright,:I.to-.review any claim. He said if the City were sued, the insurance company would have to afford the City a defense. COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST THEN WITHDREW HIS SECOND, AND. COUNCILMAN CARNS " WITHDREW HIS MOTION. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN GELLERT, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, THAT THE SUBJECT MOTION: OF EXPANDED LIBAILITY FOR UNFORESEEN DAMAGES BE PLACED ON THE OCTOBER.%5 AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION: MOTION: MOTION: DISCUSSION ON CONSENT AGENDA • City Clerk Irene Varney Moran reviewed the use of the Consent Agenda to date. She felt it had been an aid in speeding up the meetings and did not feel a resolution was necessary to define the procedures of the use of the Consent Agenda. She recommended it continue to be used as it has thus far. M.A.A. Herb Gilbo added that the methods of using the consent Agenda are being reviewed constantly to find means of streamlining them and making them more meaningful. City Attorney John'Wallace noted that there is nothing that specifies that any one person can remove an item from the Consent Agenda. He felt that type of pro- cedure should be in resolution form or a part of the Council Rules. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, THAT THE COUNCIL RULES BE AMENDED TO REFLECT THAT ANY COUNCILPERSON, STAFF MEMBER, OR MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE MAY HAVE ANY ITEM.REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA, AND THAT EACH COUNCILMAN BE GIVEN A COPY OF THE COUNCIL RULES, AS AMENDED. MOTION CARRIED. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUN- CILMAN NORDQUIST, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, THAT THE USE OF THE CONSENT AGENDA FORMAT BE CONTINUED FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER SIX MONTHS, AND AT THAT TIME IT BE REVIEWED TO DETERMINE WHETHER EVERYONE IS IN CONCURRENCE WITH ITS USE. MOTION CARRIED. ,..;DT•SCUSSION ON POSTING AREAS FOR TRAFFIC CHANGES (9:12 p.m.) (9:05 p.m.) City Engineer Leif Larson reviewed his memorandum on this subject. He proposed the following procedures for informing the public of traffic changes: (a) For changes which affect parking availability or result in increasing traffic on a permanent basis on a specific street, the Engineering Department will post or inform affected residents of the Council hearing date of the proposed ordinance effecting such changes; (b) for traffic ordinance changes which reduce or affect speed limits on arterials, the Engineering De- -;-_,par:tment will arrange for a press release to give details and date of hearing, in addition to the published legal notices; and (c) on traffic changes made within the authority of the Traffic Code, e.g., additional stop signs, warning signs, loading zones, etc., the City Engineer will act within the limits of his author ity and will inform the Mayor and City Council of action to be taken. Mr. Larson did not recommend that the Planning Commission hear traffic changes as it would create an additional workload for them. City Planner Joe Wallis had concurred in these recommendations. Councilman Nordquist said he would like the Council to know when new stop signs are installed because he gets telephone calls about them. Mr. Larson • then advised him that there will be a traffic change at 76th and 224th, on a trial basis. Traffic going north or south will have a stop sign and flashing red light and there will be a free right turn from 224th to 76th. Councilman Carns suggested that, if there is to be a parking change of over 1,000 feet, it could be posted. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN HERB, THAT THE METHODS PRO- POSED BY THE CITY ENGINEER AND THE CITY PLANNER TO INFORM THE PUBLIC OF TRAFFIC CHANGED BE ADOPTED. MOTION CARRIED. DISCUSSION OF WATER -SEWER RATES (9:20 p.m.) City Engineer Leif Larson recommended that the water/sewer rate increase analysis be delayed and con- sidered jointly with the 1977 budget discussion and hearings, as an analysis of the actual 1976 revenues and expenditures to date indicated substantial differences as compared to those projected in the 1976 budget and in the previous rate study. He said it is anticipated that these differences will be recon- bciled during the preparation,of the 1977 budget. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CARNS, THAT, BASED UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY ENGINEER, THE DISCUSSION OF THE WATER/ SEWER RATES BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE BUDGET HEARINGS. MOTION CARRIED. STATUS REPORT ON STEINMAN PROBLEM (9:22 p.m.) Mr. Larson reported that, as of 4:00 p.m. this date, Mrt. Steinman had not moved his bulldozer. Mr. Larson said a registered letter had been sent to Mr. Steinman September 10 directing him to remove the bulldozer. MOTION• This was after telephone discussions with him on the subject. After discussion on how to best handle this situation. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILMAN GELLERT, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN HERB, THAT THE STAFF BE IN STRUCTED TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM WITHIN 30 DAYS. Mayor Harrison ruled the motion out of order, saying this was an administrative problem. 1 There was no further business to come before the Council and the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. QJll1�r.B� IRENE VARNEY MORAN, g3ty Clerk H. H. HARRISON, Mayor