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19810310 City Council Minutes21-4 Ma�,O 3, 1981 - contiflued 0 Council President Allen said she had -been questioned.by some of.the employees regarding the intent of the merit pool;, i.e., would.everyone get 2% or could some employees get more than 2% and others less? Also, regarding the reclassification freeze, are positions,being reclassified-, or can people move into positions that are avai.lable? Fire Chief Weinz said he has -one vacancy for.a Senior Firefighter and until recently nobody had met all the requirements,.but,now,there-are two who meet them, so he would.like to proceed.with advancement under Civil Service rules. COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILWOMAN GOETZ, THAT THE FIRE CHIEF PROCEED UNDER CIVIL SERVICE RULES TO FILL THE SENIOR FIREFIGHTER VACANCY.. MOTION CARRIED. . . The Council did not address the other question. Council President Allen observed that the hiring/reclassification freeze had not worked too well. COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED, SECONDED -BY COUNCILWOMAN ALLEN, THAT THE HIRING FREEZE BE.RETAINED BUT THAT -THE RECLASSIFICATION FREEZE:BE TERMINATED. Councilman Naughten said the"reasons-for the freeze were still valid, that the Council -had done it for control. A ROLL CALL VOTE WAS TAKEN ON THE. MOTION, WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS NORDQUIST, ALLEN, GOULD, AND GOETZ VOTING YES, AND WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS NAUGHTEN AND'.KASPER VOTING NO_�MOTION CARRIED. Councilman Kasper inquired about -the status of the reroofing of the Anderson Center, and City Engineer Jim.Adams responded that.the roofers had worked almost every day that they had good weather, and he expected the job to be completed after two or three more good working days. There was no further business to come before the Council, and the meeting adjourned to Executive Session at 10:55 p.m. IRENE VARNEY MORAN, CiV Clerk March 10, 1981 - Work Meeting HARVE H. HARRISON, Mayor I 0 The regular meeting of the Edmonds City Council was called to order at 8:40 p.m. by Mayor Pro tem Katherine Allen in the Council Chambers of the Edmonds Civic Center. All present joined in the flag salute. PRESENT ABSENT STAFF PRESENT Katherine Allen Harve Harrison, Mayor Fred Herzberg, Public Works Director Larry Naughten Jim Adams, City Engineer John Nordqui.st Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk Kathy Geiermann, Mary Lou Block, Planning -Director Student Rep. Jack Weinz, Fire Chief Mary Goetz Dan Prinz, Assistant Police Chief Ray Gould Art Housler, Finance Director Bill Kasper Jim Jessel, Parks & Recreation Director Jo -Anne Jaech Bob Franklin, Technical Studies Engr. Wayne Tanaka, City Attorney Jackie Parrett, Deputy City Clerk CONSENT AGENDA COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILWOMAN GOETZ,.TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. The approved items on the Consent Agenda included the following: (A) Roll call. (B) Approval of Minutes of March 3, 1981. (C) Report*on bids contract to opened February 24, 1981 for purchase of water meters for 1981 and award of Pacific Water Works Supply Co. in the amount of $24,333.25 including sales tax. AGENDA Councilman Nordquist noted that Item 6 on this evening's agenda, Policy on Awarding of Contracts, had been continued from a meeting in February because the Mayor was not present at that meeting and he felt the Mayor should be present for that discussion. The Mayor had provided a recommendation regarding one business with which the City has contracted work, -but Councilman Nordquist thought this was a philosophical question, not one dealing with just one.supplier. THEREFORE,.COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED,* SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN GOULD, TO CONTINUE ITEM.6 TO THE MARCH 31, 1981 MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. Councilman Gould said he thought the Council had taken previous action on this subject and he asked that this..be provided. Councilman Naughten said.a policy had been established by the Council on April' 10, 1979, so Councilman Gould asked.that copies of that -be provided for the March 31 discuss.ion. Councilman Kasper referred to Item ' 5 on this evening's agenda, Organization of Executive Department, and noted that it previously had,bee.n continued when the..Mayor was not present and again when* one of 40 . .2.1 - I w 0 March,10, 1981 - continued 'the Council members was.not present,"'so'he felt it should'be.continued again since the..Mayor was not present I this evening. It was--decide-d to discuss it.thi's evening but that no action would be taken. MAYOR Mayor --Pro tem Allen said,the-Mayor would like to appoint Don.Schroeder to the Library Board, and she asked for confirmation ol'the,appointment-. Mr. Schroeder had,,been i,nterviewed by the Council this evening prior to -the meet-Ing.. COUNCILMAN GOULD MOVED,...SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST, TO CONFIRM THE MAYOR'S APPOINTMENT OF,DON SCHROEDER TO POSITION 1 ON THE LIBRARY BOARD, TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 3.1, 1984. MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Pro.tem Allen read.a.�letter addressed to the'..Mayor from James 0., Snedden,,requesting an ordinance making it illegal for people to..,cas.t off the fishing dock -and snag ducks. He had observed such an incident and the duck had.been pulled u.p.to the'dock,.and.he;found it very disturbing. The City Attorney -was asked for a.report on existing regulations.which may cover this, and it -was noted that the incidentiprobably was,an accidental snag and the.duck would have to be pulled in to release it. Mayor.,Pro tem Allen asked whether the Council was,interested.in-.supporting the�Steering Committee of 'the Puget -Sound Coalition.olf Transportation Commission,Ahe purpose of which is to increase the funding.of ferries. There was som ' e question as to -whether the Council wished to support.that, and .Mayor Pro-tem Allen said she would bring it up again later. A request had been received-.for.a change in liquor.license for Bickford Steaks, Unlimited, located at Westgate, frem beer and wine to spiritous liquor,on premises. The Police Chief had recommended -approval of,the applicant and the.location. Counci.1man Naughten advised that he -must abstain from action on this item because that -business sponsors..his son's basketball team. COUNCILWOMAN GOETZ MOVED TO APPROVE THE APPLICATION.- THE MOTION FAILED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. Councilwoman Goetz noted that there are two other such licenses in that area and she saw no reason why this one.should not be approved, and she felt it would be discriminatory not to approve it. This was discussed briefly.. COUNCILMAN GOULD THEN MOVED, SECONDED BY-COUNCILMANNORDQUIST, TO PLACE THE REQUESTED LIQUOR,LICENSE APPLICATION ON THE CONSENT AGENDA OF MARCH 17, 1981... MOTION CARRIED, WITH COUNCILWOMAN GOETZ VOTING NOj AND COUNCILMAN NAUGHTEN ABSTAINING. Mayor Pro tem Allen circulated a list of committee -appointments and asked each Council member to check it for ' accuracy. Councilman Nordquist noted that Mayor'Harrison had indicated he wished to repr ' esent-the City on SNOCOM, the HUD Block Grant Executive'Committee,.Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, South County Chamber of.Commerce, Economic Development Council, union negotiations, and miscellaneous negotiations with the Court, etc. Councilman Nordquist was con- cerned.about the representative to SNOCOM, saying the.Council always had a representative on the -Board, and,s-ince it is a budgetary entity he felt someone fy,�om,the Council should be there to watch the dollars being spent... Fi-re Chief Jack Weinz stated that Councilman Tom Carns had been the last Counci-1 person on that board and when Councilman Carns left the Council had appointed,Chief Weinz to .-fi-11 that position and he has been doing' so since that time. PRESENTATION ON MEADOWDALE ASSESSMENT METHOD Charles Macaulay of Macaulay & Associates, Ltd., was present to.explain the benefit ratio method of LID assessment. He has been in business as an appraisal -firm in Everett since 1951 and said in the past few years his firm -has been getting into the field.of benefit studies. The process is to look at the properties -on the-basis,of market value, and -an assessment cannot be greater than the benefit to any property. He noted..that.if the City were going to try to include any of the unincorporated area it should be sure that.those property owners would not be able to protest themselves out of the LID. He'noted that in,areas where there is a lot of uniformity in the sizes'and character of properties then'the zone front foot method will work, but in areas where the�e is a lot'of diversity in shape of the tracts and -where some.tracts have,unusable portions then the benefit ratio method is.more fair.. -.He observed that some:of the lower Meadowdale-areas have great slide potential.now'but will not.have-when the sewers are1n, so�they will benefit greatly. Councilman Kasper referred Xo a - letter received from Gordon Rosier, 16105 N. Meadowdale Rd., in whichone ofthe requests made was: "That ' the .'benefit ra-tio-not be used to determine cost of sanitary sewers. A real estate appriisal determiming benefit is not the same as would-be determined by the assessor's office. The 'zoned ' front method', is adequate in determining sanitary sewer costs." He asked for Mr.-Macaulay's response to that. Mr. Macaulay said -what they do is not related to the assessed value; they do not make an. .appraisal of each property but they do consider each property and take a detailed look at it to establish -the benefit to each. He said the assessment,'is directly related to the benefit received. After this'explanafion, COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED,TO OPEN THIS ITEM TO THE AUDIENCE FOR QUESTIONS AND PARTICIPATION. COUNCILMAN KASPER SECONDED THE MOTION FOR DISCUSS -ION. Councilman Kasper felt �there should be a time limit on the questions from the audience-and'it was determined that it would be 30 minutes. THE MOTION THEN CARRIED. The discussion was opened to the audience. Jack Linge, 6970 160th S.W., asked if there would be a means for a property owner to question.the decision of the*appraiser,.,, noting -that the property -owner may be aware of certain character . istics that.may-be u'nknown to the.appraiser. Mr. Macaulay.responded thatthey appreciate input fr I om the owners and he would anticipate such on an ongoing.basis, especially at the preliminary assessment roll hearing. -He'said they..take into consideration-al.1 input and sometimes theyend up...agreeing with the owner -and recommendation is then given to the Council to do as they will. Mr. Linge suggested there should be some point of contact at the City�for such -things as.the property owner's offering a covenant not to..subdivide. City Attorney,Wayne Tanaka cautioned that the Council should examine very closely the,possibility of accepti.ng-covenants not to subdivide as the -best written covenant may not stay in -effect forever if someone,down the -line wants to get it removed. Bob Anderson, 7370 N. Meadowdale.Rd., said there is an established precedent regarding method of assessment, 'the zone front-.foot,method, and there should be pressing reasons.to depart from that before it'is.&ne— He noted that -the -zone front..foot,�method-depends-on'a,formula stri'ctly deter-' minabl,e by the geographicallcharacteristics of the�.lan&involved, and the -benefit ratio method deperfds on an opinion. March 10, 1981 - continued 0 Norm Nelson, 15719 75th W. asked.for further explanation of the benefit ratio method as pertains to .neighbors, one whose septic system -works wel-1, and the other whose system does not. Mr. Macaulay explained, and Mr. Nelson said -that meant the lower areas would get the.greater assessments. He said much of the area in the Upper -portion has been subdivided into 12,000 sq. ft. and 10,000 sq. ft. lots, and he did not see why the rest would not be in the future. He was opposed to the benefit ratio system,and favored the zone front foot method. Brick Haines-, 16420 76th W., asked if the railroad right-of-way could be assessed. Mr..Macaulay. said if it could be shown that.it would benefit, -and subject to legal counsel's opinion, he did not see why not. Frank Corr, 1220 Coronado., said in previous meetings it had been inferred that it would be impos- sible to run the,sewage faci-lities along the railroad right-of-way— Technical Studies Engineer Bob Franklin said it could be done i-f Burlington Northern would -yield on,it, but they will.not. Mr. Corr asked if a combination of.the benefit ratio and zone. -front foot.method could be used. Mr. Macaulay responded some of.the,properties may be large in -acreage -but have steep slopes and little use of the property. Mr. Corr asked if it was possible to defer the assessment in hardship cases until the property is sold or on large properties until they are subdivided. Mr. Macaulay responded that there are certain statutory.al1owances, and he deferred to the City Attorney. Mr'..Tanaka reiterated what he had said the previous week regarding deferral for low income/elderly, and he referred to his written memorandum regarding other low income persons. In general, deferral would not be probable. Jean Linge, 6970 160th S.W.,.felt.the benefit ratio method.was the most reasonable approach they had heard and that the zone front foot -method could.not be considered even remotely fair. Mr. Macaulay.was.a.sked the cost for his services and he said $18,000-$20,000. Further, he said the City would be the client -so while the work would be in progress if the City wanted to put out information that would be all.right, or if the City wanted his firm to do so that would be all right, but other- ' wise it would be confidential.- Councilman Kasper said he had proposed this method a year ago because this is an area where many things.must be assessed. He.felt the assessed value based on market value is the only fair way to approach it -because it gets down to what the property is worth today as compared to what it will be worth in the future. He said that -until the last few years this kind of service has not been available. Council.man Gould asked.the City Attorney to provide for ne ' xt week's meeting,the specifics on.qualifying for low income/elderly deferral. A question had been raised previously about sewering the upper area to 68th,..and Mr. Franklin said he had investigated that and it coul.d be done with,only.�one property and all the others would cost more to do that. Regarding trying to get Lynnwood to join ' in the LID he sai,d the Assistant City Engineer felt that would not be ' feasible because the,'City would have to renegotiate the sharing of the costs with Lynnwood of the existing sewers through there. Councilman Kasper.said he had reread.all of the material over the weekend and, although he had he on always felt there -was some way to take care of real hardship.cases, could see no alternative an LID except to -assess the property for annual payments, and any deferral would affect the b,onding. He said that�under current State statutes there is no alternative but the straight LID method. A short recess was announced. Following the recess Councilman Nordquist said he would liked to have seen more of a,graphic display ..with charts and figures, of how the assessments are done and that he had not learned much from the ;resentati.on. TIME SCHEDULE FROM STAFF ON A SPACE NEEDS STUDY Public Works Director Fred Herzberg and Planning Director Mary Lou Block had prepared a proposed timetable for a study. Mr..Herzberg said they had included everything -in the outline except the ' Parks & Recreation Department which is accommodated by the Anderson tenter. A proposal for profes- sional services was provided from COES Consultants who stated they are professionals with extensive experience,in the fields of planning, space need ' s, interior design, exterior design, construction, and managing community services and.faci-litfes. Their proposal outlined their experience which could be directly applied to providing,services for the space needs study and called for a budget of $2,500 for materials and printing, a small project office with no telephone in existing City spaces, and some"part-time clerical and drafting support. Mr. H ' erzberg and and Ms. Block reviewed the COES proposal and then revealed that COES was -an abbreviation-for,Ci.ty.of Edmonds Staff. The Council was receptive to,the proposal. Councilman GouWsai.d whoever is doing it must go to all.the department heads that have input and get their acceptance before taking it to the Council. COUNC-ILMAN-NORDQUIST MOVED SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN KASPER, THAT THE COES PROPOSAL.BE PLACED ON THE MARCH 17, 1981 CONSENT AGEND4.WITH A BUDGET OF $2,500, FUNDS TO COME FROM THE COUNCIL CONTINGENCY FUND. MOTION CARRIED. ORGANIZATI.ON.OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT The Council felt they wished to -discuss -part of this in Executive Session and part in an open meeting, the Executive Session to be for a discussion of job performance. COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED, SECONDED BY'COUNCILMAN'GOULD, TO DISCUSS THE ORGANIZATION OF.THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT IN EXECUTIVE SESSION MARCH 24, 1981t-AND-TO PLACE IT ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA MARCH 31, 1981. MOTION CARRIED. -Following the above discussion, Studen.t.Representative.Kathy.Gei.ermann left the meeting, at 10:30 p.m. DISCUSSION OF PURCHASE ORDER LIMIT Public Works Director Fred Herzberg had recommended a change in the purchase order review because he felt too large a number of purchase orders were receiving an�unnecessary level of review, slowing down the procurement process. .,.Councilman Gould said the..Council needed to maintain tight control over the' fin anci a l needs of the -C.ity,. an'd-. h6 felt the Council_ shou I d.-maintain the policy of approving expenditures over $500. �Mr. Herzberg's..recommendation had..been.that-such,be approved by -the Finance Director -and/or' rev iewed blie'the Council., and -.CoUnci I man Gou I d..fel,t,- the "or" should be dropped,, and he fu`rther�was not in favor of the Council approving after the fact. This was discussed at length, 217 March 10, 1981 - continued I 0 I 0 I I -Finance-Direc.tor gives -the purchase.orders very critical review. COUNCILMAN and it,was.noted that the... NORDQUIST-THEN MOVED, SECONDED.BYCOUNCILMAN GOULD,.THAT PURCHASE'ORDERS OVER $500-WILL BE APPROVED BY THE FINANCE DIRECTOR AND REVIEWED -BY THE COUNCIL. MOTION CARRIED. Mr. Herzberg's other proposal was that purchase orders up.�.to; $500" (not including tax) be. approved -by department heads (previously the'limit was $200). Thi's wa.s not'included in the motion but no concern was expressed so it appeared that the -this was acceptable.. .ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Pro tem Allen advised.that the Brackett's Landing report will be on the March 31, 1981 agenda, rather than March 17, 1981. C . ouncilman Nordquist inquired about,the status of the Lynnnwood/Edmonds sewer agreement, and Public Works Director Fred Herzberg responded that the draft is satisfactory. It was noted:that some ti.me..,�ago the City Attorney had suggesteCthat the' Council'discuss the procedure .of an'.appeal to the Council.of a Hearing Examiner decision, and�that su - ch discussion should take place�beforean appeal is received. COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST MOVED, -SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN GOULD, THAT A DISCUSSION OF THE PROCEDURE OF AN'APPEAL TO THE COUNCIL OF A HEARING EXAMINER-DECISTON BE PLACED ON THE APRIL T, 1981-AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. Coun-cilman Naughten called.attention to SJR 104 and.SJB.3226 which were described in the last legislative bulletin and.which he*felt - are important to the City. . He felt le tt ers 'should be written to the leg.isl-ators expressing support. Mayor Pro temA,llen advised the Council to call the Mayor's secretary or the Council's secretary to draft any such letters. Councilwoman Goetz advised that -she will.not be present April 7, 1981. Mayor Pro tem Allen stated -that the City Attorney had -requested a brief Executive Session following this evening's meeting regarding the Port parking lot. COUNCILMAN KASPER MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN NORDQUIST,;THAT THE DUPLICATION OF BOND REQUI,REMENTS ON BUILDING PERMITS AND THE COLLECTION OF UP -FRONT FEES BE PLACED FOR DISCUSSION ON THE APRIL 14, 1981 AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. There was no further business to,come before the Council, and the meeting adjourned'at 10:45 p.m. IRENE VARNEY MORAN, Citp Clerk KA ERINEALLEN. Mayor Pro tem March 17, 1981 The regular meeting.of the Edmonds City Council was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Mayor Harve, Harrison in the -Council Chambers of the Edmonds Civic Center. -All present joined in the flag salute. PRESENT Harve Harrison,, Mayor John Nordquist, Jo -Anne Jaech .Kathy Geiermann, Student Rep. 'Bi I l Xasper Larry Naughten Katherine Allen Mary Goetz Ray Gould CONSENT AGENDA STAFF PRESENT Fred Herzberg, Public Works Director Jim Adams, City Engineer . ' Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk Mary Lou Block, Planning Director Jim Jessel, Parks & Recreation Director Marlo Foster, Police -Chief Jack Weinz, Fire Chief Art Housler ' Finance Director Bob Franklin, Technical Studies Engineer Wayne Tanaka, City Attorney Jackie Parrett., Deputy City Clerk Item.(H) was removed from the Consent Agenda. COUNCILMAN GOULD MOVED, SECONDEO-BY COUNCILMAN. , NAUGHTEN:"\1JTO,ARPROVE THE BALANCE OF THE CONSENT AGENDA.- MOTION -CARRIED. The approved -items on the Consent Agenda included the following: (A) Roll call. (B) Approval of Minutes of March 10, 1981. (C) Acknowledgment of receipt of Claim for Damages from Patrick W. LaClair in the amount of $16.85. (D) Set date of April. 7,1981 for -hearing bn.preliminary-plat of Ron Snare..- P-3-80. Passage.of Resoluti'on-,49'0, directing H6arifng Examiner,to,,holdl,hearing to consider proposed vacatioh'of right-of-way (portion Of 175'th.S.W.). is