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Cmd021522 spec mtg 1 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 1 EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL VIRTUAL ONLINE MEETING APPROVED MINUTES February 15, 2022 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Vivian Olson, Council President Kristiana Johnson, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Laura Johnson, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT Mike Nelson, Mayor ALSO PRESENT Brook Roberts, Student Representative STAFF PRESENT Dave Turley, Administrative Services Director Angie Feser, Parks, Rec., Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Rob English, Acting Public Works Director Shannon Burley, Deputy Parks, Rec., Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Thom Sullivan, Facilities Manager Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE The Edmonds City Council virtual online meeting was called to order at 4:01 p.m. by Council President Olson. 2. ROLL CALL City Clerk Scott Passey called the roll. All elected officials were present, participating remotely, with the exception of Mayor Nelson. 3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TIBBOTT, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Council President Olson invited participants and described the procedures for audience comments. Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Edmonds, referred to a letter from Councilmember Buckshnis regarding the process followed last year for the budget. The council was very thorough and spent months speaking with staff, holding multiple public hearing, listening to citizens and asking questions. She found it very unethical that Councilmember Buckshnis would come out as if the council did not know what they were doing. She Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 2 has chaired the Snohomish Health District Budget Committee for the past 5-6 years and worked for the State of Washington for 33 years where she worked on fairly high level budgets; Councilmember Paine worked on budgets when she was president of the Edmonds School Board, and Councilmember L. Johnson had her own business, so they are all familiar with budgets. It was disingenuous for Councilmember Buckshnis to assume they did not know what they were doing or that they were just following the mayor’s lead. Councilmember Buckshnis missed four, potentially five meetings within two months and Councilmember K. Johnson also missed meetings. There were a lot of discussions with staff during those meetings regarding the budget and what was need and perhaps what wasn’t needed. Councilmember Tibbott has worked with Councilmember Buckshnis before so know what he is dealing with. She had hopes that councilmembers would break free of her gang of four and start talking about the budget as a whole. This was done in a very disrespectful manner and done because Councilmember Buckshnis wanted to make sure everyone knew she knew what she knew. She reiterated Councilmember Buckshnis is not a CPA, she does not have an accounting degree; she worked as an auditor in a third world country for a very short time 20 years ago. She cautioned against following Councilmember Buckshnis and encouraged the council to look at the issues. 5. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 2022 ADOPTED CITY BUDGET Councilmember Buckshnis advised amendments had been submitted by four councilmembers. She reviewed: • Council knew that we would revisit the budget in 2022 as came through December Finance Committee • Timeliness is imperative. • We are still in a pandemic and have economic pressures from a spike in inflation, supply shortages, three to five projected interest rate hikes and other concerning economic indicators. • We have local budgetary pressures from changes in the South County Fire contract, impact on wages and maybe benefits from the recent compensation study and now new sewer plant coming on line with cost increases noted. • It might be advantageous to postpone some appropriations to obtain more design or information that is needed to support which can be moved quickly through council committee as amendments happen quarterly or as needed. • As the 2022 budget was approved on November 17, 2021, a super-majority vote (five votes) is needed for any amendment to be moved to the budget ordinance. • Lighthouse will prepare budget amendment ordinance for final approval which will ONLY include super-majority votes Councilmember Buckshnis introduced proposed 2022 budget amendments: #21 – $220K additional funds • Last year a $550K appropriation was approved for Human Services and $409,000 is left unspent and was a carry forward into 2022. The City is distributing funds to households utilizing ARPA funds and $3.0M remains in that account (Account B – Household Support $4.1M with $3.1M remaining.) No justification for the $30K selected to be “Community Relief” considering Snohomish County has been provided, no indication of costs needed and recent tax increase approved for this aspect for homeless housing. • Motion: Reduce decision packet by $200K represented by the new request • Substitute Motion: Move $200K to designated account 018 Homeless Fund. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 3 Councilmember Buckshnis recalled at the last meeting, there was a motion on the table to reduce the decision packet by $200K. She has learned subsequently from Deputy Parks, Recreation, Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Shannon Burley that the City has had discussions with Snohomish County and they are seeking some recognition that the City is interested in working with them. Council President Olson requested City Clerk Scott Passey weigh in with regard to motions on the floor. Mr. Passey recalled there was only discussion at the previous meeting, not a motion. Councilmember Buckshnis recalled the council was discussing a motion to reduce the decision packet by $200K. COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO MOVE $200,000 TO DESIGNATED ACCOUNT FUND 018 HOMELESS FUND. Council President Olson commented the council has been supportive of south Snohomish County shelter opportunities; the concern was ensuring the money was earmarked for that purpose. This motion accomplishes that and shows the council’s support for that initiative. Councilmember Paine asked for information from Ms. Burley regarding the human services programs and support from other agencies. It appears a lot of information has been collected over the last couple of weeks and she wanted to ensure the council was considering the most current information. Council President Olson asked if that was related to the motion on the floor. Councilmember Paine said she did not think the council had a clear understanding of where things were left last week and it is important to know what was going on with the most recent things that have been happening. Council President Olson did not agree and said she would overrule. Councilmember Paine reiterated it would be very helpful to have the most current information. If there was a need, she wanted to ensure the funds could be accessed quickly so the City could be nimble. Moving the funds to another fund seems to add extra bureaucracy and more layers. Council President Olson relayed her understanding that Councilmember Paine’s argument against the motion is that she does not want it obligated for that single thing if that slows things down and Councilmember Paine wanted Ms. Burley to address that. Councilmember Paine said she would prefer the $200,000 remain in the fund where it was designated last year. Councilmember L. Johnson asked if Ms. Burley was present to answer questions. Council President Olson said yes, if the question was directly related to the amendment to move the funds to Fund 018 Homeless Fund. With regard to motion to move the funds to Fund 018, Councilmember L. Johnson asked how that would impact work going forward, how it would change things and whether it would make it more difficult. Ms. Burley answered she was comfortable with moving the funds into Fund 018 as she believed there would be similar access to the funds. She reiterated the plan is to bring any significant project to council. It is just a matter of course, whether she would be requesting expenditure authority from the Human Services General Fund budget or from Fund 018. She requested Administrative Services Director Dave Turley confirm that is the correct fund number. She summarized the motion would not have a significant impact on the ability to meet goals. Councilmember K. Johnson spoke in favor of motion. The council created Fund 018 to address homelessness over five years ago and there was $500,000 in the fund. Once COVID struck, that fund was used to fund COVID needs via a proposal made by Councilmember Distelhorst. Those funds were not recoverable from the federal government because money was shifted from one dedicated fund to another so FEMA would not provide reimbursement. If the funds are placed in the Homeless Fund, they will be protected and not used for other purposes. The only expenditure from the $500,000 was the Kone report on Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 4 Homelessness which was recently updated. Until more is known about Snohomish County’s plans, $200,000 will be adequate for 2022. Councilmember Chen commented even if the $200,000 is moved from one fund to the Homeless Fund, the total dollars is the same. He recalled Ms. Burley mentioning as a good faith effort, the City had committed $300,000 toward the region effort to work with Snohomish County to utilize their resources such as shelters, etc. He asked if this move would weaken that position, leveraging regional resources. Ms. Burley answered by not reducing the overall human services budget, the City is holding up their end of that discussion. Moving the money to a fund to protect it from being spent from the General Fund will send the same signal as leaving it in the human services budget. Moving the funds ensures they are spent on homelessness and not on other human services programs. Human services is first and foremost focused on preventing homelessness if at all possible rather than providing shelter. There are a lot of great programs and opportunity for programs, many suggestions have been made this week. There is no shortage of good ideas for the most vulnerable residents (youngest, oldest, and disabled). In her opinion, moving the funds would not send a negative message to Snohomish County, but it would restrict the use of the funds to specifically homelessness. Councilmember Chen said as the homeless fund has been depleted, it would be a good idea to set aside $200,000 for that use, especially recognizing that COVID has accelerated this need. Councilmember L. Johnson summarized Ms. Burley’s answer that moving the funds would not impact efforts related to partnering with Snohomish County, but it may impact prevention efforts and funds may not be available for smaller projects. She understood the #1 priority is to address homelessness, but she agreed the ability to shift to prevention should be the end goal. She was concerned that putting all the funds into a fund that is restricted under the name of Homelessness Prevention may tie staff’s hands in addressing other issues that lead to homelessness. She wondered if it would be beneficial to reduce the amount that is restricted or to add funds to the budget so funds are available as opportunities present themselves. Ms. Burley answered this is under the assumption that the money set aside under the ARPA ordinance remains intact for household support grants. The allocation of $3M toward household support grants is being used to target homeless prevention. In absence of that, she would absolutely have more trepidation with this move. With the ARPA funding as currently allocated, she felt there was less risk with this move. Whether funds need to be added, that will likely be part of the process as the human services division evolves, grows and develops programs beyond the current expenditure authority. The budget isn’t expenditure authority; it is a statement from the council about civic values and an opportunity to identify what council feels is most important. Directors take that guidance/direction and put together the best programs with the allocation provided. She and Mindy Woods are a small but mighty team and appreciate any and all allocations; Mindy devotes 20 hours and she devotes a portion of her time. Councilmember L. Johnson commented they are a powerful team and their work is greatly appreciated. She wanted to ensure this work was adequately supported. Councilmember Paine said it was her understanding there is a lot of work that needs to be done and there were other things council had in mind when the human services program was developed which included domestic violence support, support for seniors and veterans’ needs, the whole constellation of human services support that are still absolutely necessary. It was her understanding the domestic violence advocate is no longer in the police department; other domestic violence prevention services could be provided that would truly help with situations that have occurred including some murders in the Edmonds area that could have been aided by having domestic violence services. She worried about having the funds locked up under homelessness and hoped as there was more time to address issues more fully that the council did not forget the array of work that was promised with the human services program. Councilmember Chen referred to the contract employee the City was hiring from Compass Health and asked if it was within budget with the $409,000 carryover from last year and whether it was adequate to Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 5 cover that and the human services program. Ms. Burley answered the ongoing allocation that was part of the decision package covers the contract with Compass Health for a full-time dedicated social worker. Council President Olson restated the motion: MOVE FUNDS TO THE DEDICATED ACCOUNT 018 HOMELESS FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $200,000 THAT WAS ORIGINALLY IN THE HUMAN SERVICES FUND MORE GENERALLY ALLOCATED. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (7-0), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, CHEN, TIBBOTT, BUCKSHNIS, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON VOTING YES. #22 - $119.4K - New Parks & Recreation full-time FTE position to manage existing capital projects (currently managed by contract employee) • There is not sufficient information to support a full time FTE or how this position will manage what projects. Council committee should review to determine what exact projects are part of this request. • Motion: Remove decision packet and move to Council Committee. Councilmember Chen commented with Ms. Burley’s efforts and energy diverted to from parks & recreation to human services, there is a decrease in talent and person power. There are also big projects like Civic Field Park on the horizon. He saw a need to hire another full-time position. Council President Olson said unless there was a motion, the council would move on to the next amendment. Councilmember L. Johnson said she had let the previous councilmember speak. Council President Olson agreed she had, but had thought better of it since. She reiterated unless there was a motion, the council would move on. COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO REMOVE THE DECISION PACKET AND MOVE IT TO COUNCIL COMMITTEE. Councilmember K. Johnson commented there may be some misunderstanding about how this work is being done now and was done in the past. The engineering department, made up of project managers, have a dedicated person that manages all the parks projects. She was unclear how this parks person would integrate with the engineering department if this position was entirely in the parks department to manage all the parks projects. In her view, this was simply shifting from one department to another. She asked Acting Public Works Director Rob English to speak to this, recalling it was his responsibility in the past to manage the parks projects. She asked how it would work in the future and how it would integrate with the work done by the engineering department. Mr. English agreed with Councilmember K. Johnson that the department currently has one engineering project manager leading the effort on the Civic Park improvements, but there are a total of four project managers in the division. Having one of the four assigned to a parks project has created challenges in managing the work related to utilities and transportation projects. As parks projects have increased over the last several years, there is a need for another project manager take on parks projects. While this position would be in the parks department, the project manager who has been working on parks projects could return to public works and work on the significant workload managing projects related to utilities and transportation. Councilmember K. Johnson asked when the Civic Field project was expected to wrap up with the dedicated project engineer from public works. Mr. English answered the intent is that he would remain with the project until the end of the year. There are many parks projects that need to move forward. Parks, Recreation, Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Angie Feser said the public works project manager has been Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 6 incredibly helpful on the Civic Park project and other significant projects. She has a list of 45 projects that need project management and public works is unable to provide any additional project management services to parks. Projects on that list include the Yost Pool repair project which is going out to bid. Public works is unable to provide any project management and she is handling the project management herself with the hopes of this position being filled. She was very grateful for the public works project manager who does phenomenal work, but there is an incredible amount of work outside of what assistance from public works can provide. Councilmember K. Johnson asked the timeframe for those 45 projects. Ms. Feser said those are a snapshot of backlogged near-term and future projects. Some of those will be completed, but more and more will come up. It is an ongoing list of parks small capital and maintenance projects that will never end. Parks is taking on more facilities and the maintenance work is increasing for right-of-way improvements, street improvements, Civic Park, etc., which takes away the ability for the parks maintenance crew to do small capital projects. She summarized here is a decreasing resource of inhouse staff to do the work, with an increasing workload of ongoing capital projects. COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON WITHDREW THE MOTION WITH THE AGREEMENT OF THE SECOND. Council President Olson said she would allow councilmembers who hands were raised before the motion was withdrawn to speak. Councilmember L. Johnson said her earlier comment was to concur with Councilmember Chen. Councilmember K. Johnson raised a point of order, pointing out there was no motion to speak to. Council President Olson said she will allow the comment because Councilmember L. Johnson’s hand had been raised since the beginning. There is no debate because there is no motion to debate. She will allow specific comments the councilmember would like to have on the record. Councilmember L. Johnson said her comment was to concur with Councilmember Chen due to the number of complicated projects coming up as well as the information provided by Ms. Feser about the 45 projects which the council knew about during the original budget process. She referred to the statement for this budget amendment, that there is not sufficient information to support a full-time FTE, pointing out this is evidence if the council had asked questions previously, answers are provided quickly. She found the redo on the budget frustrating, but having questions answered was enough to move forward. As Councilmember Paine began speaking, Councilmember K. Johnson raised a point of order, recalling Council President Olson indicated when Councilmember Chen spoke without a motion, she had second thoughts about it, but now had allowed Councilmember L. Johnson to speak because her hand had been up from the beginning and was now accepting other comments. She reiterated there was no motion to speak to and in the interest of time, the council should move on. Council President Olson overruled the point of order based on the fact that Councilmember Paine had her hand up virtually while the motion was still on the floor and she was trying to be even-handed and respectful. Councilmember L. Johnson found it disrespectful that Councilmember K. Johnson kept interrupting with the same point of order that was already ruled on. Councilmember Paine said when the council reviewed the budget in October/November and was reviewing it now, it seemed the need for a capital projects manager for the parks department was absolutely essential due to the volume of work. She looked forward to reviewing the amendments in an orderly fashion with equity all the way through. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 7 #33 – $15K FCA Assessment • 2021 bonds approved based on the previous conditions assessment report and most of these projects will be completed in three years. A discussion about the timing of the re-assessment should be brought forth to a council committee. • Motion: Remove decision packet; bring to council committee COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON, TO REMOVE THE DECISION PACKET. Councilmember Buckshnis said she did not propose this amendment but made the motion to speed things along. Councilmember Paine asked if this was related to the update to the McKinstry Facility Condition Assessment and if it will help prioritize the facilities maintenance backlog. Facilities Manager Thom Sullivan answered since the last data points in the McKinstry report in 2018, the world is different place; lumber prices have quadrupled and the infusion of funds for capital renewal since 2018 has been unprecedented in the City. This was a refresh, not a full FCA which would cost a lot more and take much more time. This will update the equipment and the work done since 2018 and show a value for the dollars versus the perceived backlog from previous. Councilmember Paine asked if this will help with job order contracting (JOC). Mr. Sullivan answered it could finetune efforts related to the biggest bang for bond dollars. Councilmember Paine asked how long it will take to have this assessment done. Mr. Sullivan said McKinstry estimated about three months for the data to be in hand. Councilmember L. Johnson asked if McKinstry’s effort to collect data had begun. Mr. Sullivan answered it had not. The records have been maintaining since 2018, the intent is to cross reference and verify the work that has been done. Councilmember L. Johnson said in her personal experience running a household as well as a business, it makes sense to reevaluate, recognizing that costs across the board have gone up and this is an opportunity to reprioritize if necessary. Given these unprecedented times, it seems appropriate to update a 4-year old report. She did not support the motion. Councilmember K. Johnson asked if JOC will provide the necessary update for time and materials. She noted a JOC would not do a job for less than what it took and she wondered if this was a duplication of effort. Mr. Sullivan said it will help with forecasting. JOC provide proposals for scopes of work that the City can accept or not. In forecasting the long term use of capital and bond dollars, this will provide a pathway for what the City can afford versus priorities. Councilmember K. Johnson relayed her understanding it was doing the same thing but two different points of interest. Mr. Sullivan clarified JOC is not a forecasting tool, but a FCA is. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed with Councilmember K. Johnson regarding JOC, they will not blindly approve something without knowing the current costs. She was cautious because things are incredibly blown out of proportion; the news recently reported that car prices in Seattle are $6,000 higher. She questioned doing studies in an exuberant market without knowing the economic indicators, when inflation is spiking, and everything in at the height of moment. She preferred to bring this to a council committee to determine when would be a good time to update the FCA. The report was very well done, but she did not see the necessity of updating it at this moment. She believed JOC was a way to get current prices. Furthermore, she wanted council involved in an assessment of what building the bond proceeds were used for. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 8 Mr. Sullivan commented the equipment list in the FCA is more 1,000 items. He was not certain that the JOC program had the ability to update replacement costs of all the equipment showing in the deferred status. He was confused as to the correlation between JOC as a procurement method versus a FCA as a forecasting tool. Council President Olson observed proportionately prices have increased across the board. She asked whether the amounts in the current FCA still relate to each other in a similar way. Where there is a prioritization on the list, it would still be in a good position to move forward. The only place where JOC is relevant is to the extent that projects can be done with JOC, the price adjustments will have been made on base contracts and the City will know at the time the JOC contracts are let what the costs are before the project proceeds. Mr. Sullivan explained the JOC process is not necessarily a cost savings measure, it is expedient of procurement. Much like the last budget amendment discussion, he is a single project coordinator in a division and does not have project management support unless a project is very large. That ease of procurement in an expedient manner is what is enticing about JOC, not estimating projects. Council President Olson asked if he was saying they needed to be estimated before staff could go forward with the solicitation. Mr. Sullivan answered to accurately estimate or forecast dollars for projects, having the most up-to-date data with real world information from an FCA report is a time saving measure and it provides a forecasting tool to address questions like these. Councilmember K. Johnson asked whether in a real world, wouldn’t forecasting be done once the bond projects are completed so staff knows what is left to do. She did not see how forecasting could be done while the projects were underway. She asked if the need to update the FCA was only because the world has changed since 2018. Mr. Sullivan said staff is constantly forecasting as the City’s needs change, as facility’s needs change, as the world changes. Doing that with 4-5 year old information makes it that much harder to do. Everything did not incrementally change; there could be estimates but it does not allow finetuning the scope of work versus the projection of an estimate regardless of the procurement method. Councilmember K. Johnson asked if there needed to be an annual reassessment in order to be up-to-date. Mr. Sullivan answered industry standard is to do a complete FCA every five years such as the full McKinstry report. Edmonds is a little smaller entity so a refresh at the 4-5 year mark and a complete FCA at the 8-10 year mark is what staff hoped to do. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (2-5), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON AND BUCKSHNIS VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBERS CHEN, TIBBOTT, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON VOTING NO. #34 – $45K Carpet Cleaning • There is not sufficient information to support why this can’t be performed internally especially when a new custodian is in the budget. • Motion: Remove the decision packet. Process can be handled via a budget amendment and council committee review Council President Olson said she would make the motion for expediency. COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO REMOVE THE DECISION PACKET. Councilmember L. Johnson relayed her understanding that the City was currently operating at a lean staffing level. She asked if there was staff available to this work, was there staff specifically trained in cleaning carpets, and does the City have the equipment to do it. Mr. Sullivan said there was not a new custodian in the budget, the new position is a building maintenance operator which is on a separate team Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 15, 2022 Page 9 and does not do carpet cleaning unless it is a real emergency. The custodial staff is trained to do carpet cleaning, but it is spot cleaning. The equipment the City has can do about 30 square feet at a time before it needs to be cleaned and refilled so it is not an expedient way to clean carpets. The equipment to do an entire building is in the range of $50,000 plus a dedicated vehicle. High volume commercial carpet cleaning is not an expertise that the custodial staff have. It is not that the City’s awesome custodians couldn’t do the work, the City does not have the equipment or the manpower. Carpet cleaning is essential to indoor air quality. The City has used capital funds in the last couple years to replace 15-20 year old carpet in City buildings; cleaning is essential to maintaining the warranty and indoor air quality. Councilmember L. Johnson said she oddly has an in-depth understanding of carpet cleaning. To the point of air quality, she noted if carpet cleaning is done poorly, it can have a negative impact on air quality. Carpets are an investment and that investment needs to be protected. Without adequately trained staff and the proper equipment, the City is not protecting that investment. She did not support the motion. Councilmember Paine did not support the motion. As Councilmember L. Johnson said, it is a good idea to protect the City’s investment and professional carpet cleaning is the right way to do things just as people do in their homes and businesses. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (0-7), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, CHEN, TIBBOTT, BUCKSHNIS, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON VOTING NO. 6. ADJOURN The council meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m.