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2024-04-02 Council Special MinutesEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APPROVED MINUTES April 2, 2024 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Mike Rosen, Mayor Vivian Olson, Council President Chris Eck, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember Michelle Dotsch, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Jenna Nand, Councilmember 1. CALL TO ORDER STAFF PRESENT Whitney Rivera, Municipal Court Judge Uneek Maylor, Court Administrator Rob English, City Engineer Ryan Hague, Capital Projects Manager Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator The Edmonds City Council special meeting was called to order at 5:45 pm by Mayor Rosen in the Council Chambers, 250 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. 2. COUNCIL BUSINESS PRESENTATION OF MAIN ST OVERLAY PROJECT UPDATE City Engineer Rob English introduced Project Manager Ryan Hague. He explained the purpose of this presentation is to update the council on the overlay projects on Main Street between 6t' and 9t' Avenues. He reviewed: • Project Funding o City pursued and won a $750K federal grant in 2020 for overlay of Main St from 6th Ave to 8th Ave. Included upgrading ADA curb ramps as well as bulb -outs. ■ Grant requires matching funds from City ■ Design funds became available in 2023 ■ Construction funds are available in 2024 Main Street 0 2017 Comprehensive Transportation Plan ■ Street Classification — Minor Arterial ■ Designated Bike Route from Ferry to Five Corners o Average Daily Traffic Count — 4,900 vehicles per day o Community Transit Routes & Bus Stops ■ Route 116 with existing bus stops ■ Future Route 0 40 - Pavement Condition Index (before utility work) o Non -compliant ADA ramps Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 1 o Parking on both sides of street Complete Streets o City Ordinance #3842 (ECDC 18.80.015) Complete Streets Ordinance - states that: ■ City of Edmonds will plan for, design, and construct all new transportation projects to provide appropriate accommodation for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and persons of all abilities. - City of Edmonds staff, following this direction, identified an opportunity to add an eastbound (uphill) bicycle lane and "sharrows" in the westbound direction by narrowing travel and parking lanes throughout the corridor. Mr. Hague reviewed: Parking counts were performed morning, afternoon, and evening on through the morning of Monday, January 29, 2024 Existing Section • Proposed Section Wednesday, January 24th Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 2 • Pedestrian Improvements o Curb bulb -outs ■ Bulb -outs improve safety for pedestrians by making them more visible to motorists o Ramp to accessible parking at Frances Anderson Center ■ Existing accessible parking at FAC does not have adequate facilities for users to access sidewalk. • 7t1i & Main 4 MAIN ST <+e t+! ------------ • 8" & Main MAIN Sr Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 3 • Public Meeting o City held a public meeting March 7th, 2024, and a recording was made available on City website o Meeting was advertised by postcard, message board, and press release o Public was able to provide comment until March 15 New Funding Sources o City secured an additional $50K in Federal Funding in March, 2024 o City pursued and won a $391K Transportation Improvements Board (TIB) grant in March Project Construction Costs o Estimated Construction Cost ■ $697,984 - Paving, Striping, Sidewalks ■ $326,315 - Drainage ■ $1,024,299 - Total o Funding Sources ■ $527,785 - Federal Grant ■ $305,637 - TIB Grant ■ $190,877 - City Road Funds - $132,104 - Road - $58,773 - Storm Next Steps o Design Completion - Spring 2024 o Construction Start - Summer 2024 o Construction Completed - Fall 2024 Councilmember Nand relayed there has been a lot of commentary on Complete Streets and she liked that there was mindfulness on preserving parking and adding a bike lane. She asked if the bulb -outs will have capacity for additional landscaping or public art. Mr. English answered will be areas that do not have concrete where plantings could be added in the future. Obviously there is a challenge with maintenance; staff will work with the parks department to potentially plant those areas in the future. Councilmember Nand relayed her support for the bike lanes as well as other ideas for getting people out of their cars and into other forms of transportation in the bowl due to parking congestion. The seasonal trolley is very popular and she envisioned having a trolley to the train park and ride or Highway 99 to bring people in and out of the bowl which retaining the street widths would accommodate. Councilmember Eck commented this project has been in the works for a while and complies with the Complete Streets ordinance. It makes sense to allow bicyclists to exit the ferry and go up Main Street. She was happy with increasing ways to inspire people to get out of their cars and providing additional ADA compliance. A concern she has heard in the last few days is bike lanes; experienced bike riders believe parking protected bike lanes would be best which would require moving the bike lanes adjacent to the sidewalks. She asked if that was feasible. Mr. English answered the bulb -outs protrude into the street so moving the bike lane adjacent to the curb would be a challenge and likely require eliminating some parking to make those transitions work. Feedback staff is looking into on the downhill sharrow is stripping a two - foot hatch pattern to keep bikes out of the door opening zone as well as shifting the bike sharrow into the roadway as a biker on a downhill section should have enough speed to ride with traffic. Mr. Hague agreed the bulb -outs definitely present an additional complication for a parking protected bike lane. Councilmember Eck appreciated that that had been explored. Councilmember Paine commented there are a lot of bikers in Edmonds and all roads are accessible to bicyclists whether they are a bike route or not. Mr. Hague agreed. Councilmember Paine referred to emails the council received about parking protected bike lanes, and asked if that would make ADA access to the Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 4 sidewalk more difficult. Mr. Hague said that was absolutely likely. The way sidewalk access for people with different abilities is provided is via curb ramps. The proposed design would not affect curb ramps at all but parking protected bike lanes would result in additional challenges for some users. Councilmember Paine relayed her support for the bulb -outs which significantly slow traffic, noting there are main thoroughfares in neighborhood areas that also need attention. She was hopeful the schedule could move along so construction was not underway during the summer. Councilmember Chen expressed appreciation for the proposed design. He asked if the proposed configuration was only two blocks from 6' to 8' and asked about the remainder up to 5 Corners. Mr. English answered the portion done this summer would be 6' to 9ti', the section from 6' to 8t1i is a federal project and the locally funded overlay will pave the portion between 8t1' and 9t''. The portion between 9' and 5 Corners is still to be determined. The transportation plan is being updated and that corridor will be evaluated with regard to active transportation, Complete Streets, etc. In the 2009 and 2017 transportation plan, the stretch between the ferry and 5 Corners was a designated bicycle route. Councilmember Chen observed the city was tackling segments. Mr. English agreed. Council President Olson commented the project was exciting and it will be nice to have a smooth roadway. Although not always a fan of bulb -outs, she believed this was a good place for them due to the amount of small children at the fields. With regard to the bike lanes, while she appreciated the idea of trying to do Complete Streets everywhere, she did not feel the lanes on Main Street were wide, not just because of the parking but people entering and exiting the parked cars. She appreciated the restricted striped area to protect bikes from car doors opening, but the fact that cars doors will be opening and that required additional striping, she wondered with all the other road projects, if this was really a good investment. Dayton is wider and does not have as much traffic or cars entering and exiting on -street parking. She is on the email list for the Edmonds Bike Advocacy Group (EBAG) and even the most active bike advocates were not keen on what's happening on Main Street. Although striping is not the most expensive part of the infrastructure, it is still an expense that could be put toward other projects. She concluded it was not a die on the sword thing for her, but it did not seem like the best investment in terms of a bike lane on that street when there is such a good option or may already be a bike lane on Dayton. Mr. English responded there is not a bike lane on Dayton. It is a bike route, but there is no designated uphill bike lane like what is proposed on Main Street. As far as downhill, typically a biker would move into the lane because their speed would be sufficient to ride downhill in the lane. Mr. Hague advised the bike facilities on Main from 6' to 8t' will cost $668, the 800 block is slightly more expensive as it is locally funded; the cost is $4100 for a total cost of $4768. Mr. English advised the bike lane from 6t' to 8t' will cost more than that, but the grant pays the majority of the cost and local contribution is only $668. Councilmember Dotsch liked the safety features and sidewalk updates. She asked about the bike counts on Main. Mr. English answered there are no bike counts on the existing roadway. Councilmember Dotsch recalled there were bike counts for 9t1i & Bowdoin, 84'1i and 76th/212th. She drives this stretch often and sees very few bikes on that route. Dayton is a bike to health route that already has signage down to the waterfront and recalled when the 9th & Bowdoin bike route was proposed, it would connect to Dayton to reach the Sounder. Dayton is wider and does not have as many car doors opening and closing, it is not the main fire route or a main route out of town in the event of an emergency. She observed the bike lane stops at 9" & Main and wondered how a bike continued on, whether it would impact right turns, etc. Main is heavily traveled and she was concerned with telling kids Main was a safe bike route. She recommended thinking this through a little more and redesigning it. Councilmember Dotsch continued, relaying she participated in the 9th & Bowdoin meetings where Main Street was brought up as an option and people were told it was not an option and Bowdoin was a better option as it links to Yost, kids would use it more, it is a gentle slope, Main is steep, and does not have access Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 5 to Yost. The idea was to go from 5 Corners and down Dayton. As there is already a great route downtown, she was unsure three blocks were needed on Main. Riding downhill in the lane is a safety issue for children and reducing the parking width is concerning for things like people getting strollers out of cars and she feared larger vehicles would extend into the lane. This was not connecting to anything else and was in a vacuum. Councilmember Dotsch referred to technical difficulties with the community meeting that people were unable to access via Zoom. Making the meeting recording available to the public where they are unable to ask questions is not sufficient and she suggested in the future meetings be rescheduled so questions could be answered. With regard to the bulb -outs, at 6' & Main the centerline is being moved over, but not the other one so when traveling down Main the lanes do not line up and the same happens when driving up Main. She envisioned the lanes not matching up that would be a safety issue on those three blocks. Buses traveling north on 6't' and turning right on Main have to wait until no one is going downhill to turn. She recalled a bus that was unable to make the turn due to the bulb -out. On 8', the bus swings out toward the field to turn. The proposed configuration would compress the travel lanes and push vehicles toward each other. She liked the idea of increased safety such as the bulb -out on the south side of 8' similar to Olympic & Main but was unsure the bulb -out needed to be as big on the southwest corner of 8'. She commented PUD or the fire department already paved that and she wondered if those sidewalks would be torn up and redone. She did not support the bike lane. Councilmember Tibbott asked about the width of the parking on Main west of 6'. Mr. English answered when the section from 5'i' and 6' was rebuilt, the parking was reduced to 7 feet, the same as this proposal. Councilmember Tibbott said a 6-foot bike lane seems wider than usual. He asked the width of the bike lane on 76' Avenue. Mr. English the bike lane on Main is proposed to be 6 feet due to the adjacent parking; the bike lane on 76'a' is 5 feet. The bike lane is typically wider when adjacent to parking. Councilmember Tibbott asked whether the federal grant funding was contingent on having bike lanes. Mr. English answered the federal grant covered the overlay, bulb -outs and ADA compliant ramps. The bike lanes were a component of the TIB grant. Councilmember Tibbott summarized the TIB grant which staff is relying on for funding of this project is contingent on bike lanes on Main. Mr. English answered bike lanes were one of the components that helped secure that grant. Councilmember Tibbott said he was completely opposed to bike lanes on that stretch. It seemed like a complete stretch to put bike lanes on three blocks with nowhere to go. He has ridden a bike quite a lot on Main Street, specifically in that section and all the way up the hill. Depending on the time of day, it is completely safe without bike lanes. He was dubious about putting bike lanes on three blocks when there is no place to go on either end. He preferred to prioritize Dayton Street and suggested the TIB grant could be used for additional signage or sharrows on Main. He asked what it would take to eliminate the bike lane from this design. Mr. English answered it would just be the striping that is seen today along that stretch. Councilmember Tibbott observed the project would still do the bulb -outs and ADA ramps and eliminate the sharrows. Mr. English agreed, advising there are sharrows on the portion from 5' to 6' when that was rebuilt so there would be no connection to those existing bike sharrows. Main is identified as a bike route in long range planning. Councilmember Tibbott questioned whether it was, noting Dayton and Bowdoin were bike routes. Mr. English said Main is designated as a bike route in the transportation plan. Councilmember Tibbott suggested the plan needed to be changed, commenting Main to the ferry did not seem like a good bike route. Mr. English said he did not want to argue, but Main is designated as a bike route in the transportation plan which was publicly vetted and approved by the council at that time. Mr. English advised staff met with EBAG and they provided a letter of recommendation to add these facilities. Mr. Hague recalled there was a lively discussion specifically about downhill cyclists and the dreaded door zone. That is something staff is still looking at and discussions about the door zone led to Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 6 reading studies about cyclist behavior in cities around the country. Other than that, there was no pushback from EBAG about the uphill bike lane. The only request was for a parking -protected bike lane. Councilmember Tibbott said he will reread the minutes from EBAG and contact his friends in that group to learn more. He is in favor of eliminating the bike lane and asked what council action would be required to do that. Mr. English answered there would need to be a discussion amongst councilmembers about the council's wishes regarding the bike lanes. If the bike lanes are pulled, there would also need to be discussion with the TIB Board regarding how that would impact the grant. Councilmember Nand referred to the proposed section, commenting she transports her father who is wheelchair bound and the buffer created by the bike lanes is vital for congested streets. When transporting someone who uses a wheelchair, you never want to parallel park because it is very difficult to get the wheelchair and the disabled person out. Having the bike lane is good for bicyclists and for drivers parking there, especially families with young children using strollers or people with disabilities who need to get special equipment in and out of their car. Her family has lived near 76' SW since she was 12 and when she was growing up, kids would bike on the sidewalks. Now it is terrifying to see kids biking in traffic, sometimes with their parents. When the bike lane was constructed on 76' near Lake Ballinger, people started using it, but until it was there, it might not have occurred to most people to bike to the lake instead of driving. It is often after the infrastructure is built that people will utilize multimodal transportation. She was in favor of retaining the bike lane on Main Street because the streets are very congested, and there are families and people of all ability levels parking and getting in and out and trying to get to the FAC, the library, the Boys & Girls Club, the FAC fields, Civic Playfields, etc. This area has high pedestrian use and possibly if people see the bike lanes, they will feel it is safe to allow their children to ride their bike to the playfield instead of driving them. Councilmember Eck commented it would be helpful to understand the funding sources and how flexible they are. It's possible some of the funding may be lost depending on council's decisions. She also expressed interested in reviewing any safety analysis that has been done. 2. MUNICIPAL COURT ANNUAL REPORT Municipal Court Judge Whitney Rivera introduced Court Administrator Uneek Maylor. Judge Rivera reviewed: • 2023 Summary 0 3,481 cases filed in Edmonds Municipal Court ■ Consistent with number of cases in 2022 - SB 5536 (made knowing possession of a control substance a gross misdemeanor charged in municipal court) going into effect in July 2023 was anticipated to result in a large influx of cases, but that did not occur. o Case type breakdown ■ 1956 traffic infractions ■ 31 non -traffic infractions ■ 949 parking infractions (down from 2022 due to change in the way citations are filed for parking infractions) ■ 75 DUI cases ■ 51 criminal traffic cases ■ 419 criminal non -traffic cases (includes 70 domestic violence cases) • How a criminal cases proceeds Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 7 Arraignment Pretrial Hearing Continuance Disgositian Guilty Plea, SOC/Pretrial Diversion Motigns/Set Trial C,RLJ 3 5 & 3 6 Sentencing Guilty - Senencino Not Guilty Maximum 5 years or 2 Maximum 5 years or years probation 2 years probation Jury Trial Case dismissed vith prejudice • 2023 Hearings by Type 0 838 arraignments 0 102 bench warrant quash hearings 0 116 competency reviews 0 72 ex parte hearings 0 120 guilty plea/sentencing hearings 0 48 motions without testimony 0 10 motions with testimony (e.g. CrRLJ 3.5/3.6) 0 2,125 pretrial hearings 0 295 sentence compliance review hearings (i.e. probation violations) 0 1 jury trial • Interpreters in Court o Primary languages spoken by court users American Sign Language Korean Amharic Marshallese Arabic Moroccan Spoken Mongolian, Halh Arabic, Standard Panjabi, Eastern Cham, Western (Cambodian) Portuguese Chines, Mandarin Romanian Chinese, Yue (Cantonese) Russian Chuukese Samoan Farsi, Western Somali Fijian Spanish French Swahili Haitian Creole French Tagalog Hindi Thai Indonesian Tigrigna Japanese Vietnamese Ms. Maylor commented many city departments have professional services built into their budgets; the court's professional service budget is primarily for interpreters. The long list of interpreters may be the reason for the amount of the court's professional service budget. Judge Rivera continued: • Continuing to improve access for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Court Users Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 8 o Focus on taking concrete steps to provide equal access to justice and court services/programs regardless of an individual's ability to communicate in English. o Finalize EMC Language Access Plan (LAP) o "I speak" cards o Started process of translating court forms o Navigating complicated issues involving interpreters Community Court Update o Ongoing state funding to support therapeutic programs in limited jurisdiction courts o Releasing individuals directly to custody from Community Court o Needs based assessments o Stipulated Orders of Continuance (pretrial diversion) involving accessing services and completing community service hours o Kudos Hearing Scheduled for August 12, 2024 at 1 pm Probation Services and Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) classes o Two week MRT classes o Since beginning the program 159 successful graduations 0 94% have no subsequent DV convictions 0 90.5% have no subsequent convictions of any kind Passports o In January 2023, changed from an appointment system to a walk-in system for passport processing o Processed 128 passports in 2022 using appointment system o Processed 1,401 passports in 2023 (nearly 11 times as many) o Generated $49,051 revenue for the City Looking forward o School zone cameras began issuing infractions in February 2024 ■ Prosecutor contract did not include representing the City on school zone cameras ■ Averaging approximately 300 infractions per week ■ Results in an approximate annual increase of 12,000 parking filings ■ Significant impact to pro se infractions calendar and written statements Councilmember Paine congratulated Judge Rivera on her appointment to the Snohomish County Superior Court and said she would love an invitation to the robing ceremony. She thanked Judge Rivera and Ms. Maylor for unsnarling the passport situation and issuing substantially more passports. She was proud of the work the team is doing, from the prosecutors to the defenders and the court staff on stipulated orders which move things along and make things clear for low risk infractions. She noted there were 28 languages on the interpreter lists and recognized that some people can speak their language but are not literate in the language. Councilmember Paine asked how much the court was able to obtain in 2023 via grants. Judge Rivera said they are technically not calling it a grant as it is ongoing funding from the state that the court does not have to apply for annually. The court reports to the state how it is being used, but do not have to complete a grant request. She recalled it was approximately $126,000. Councilmember Paine observed the court does a lot with that funding. Judge Rivera was very proud of what has been done with community court, starting with an idea of providing services and getting a structure built around it. It is amazing to see the transformation of some of the people who come through community court. Councilmember Eck congratulated Judge Rivera on her appointment. She was grateful for the community court and for the court's hard work. She was pleased to see the outstanding success rate from MRT. She requested the council be informed about Kudo hearings so councilmembers have an opportunity to attend. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 9 Councilmember Nand thanked Judge Rivera for stepping in when the EMC lost Judge Coburn. She was proud the City has been able to retain community court under Judge Rivera's leadership, especially when other jurisdictions chose to end their community courts. She was surprised to see Fijian as one of the languages the court encounters. Her family is from the Fiji Islands and most people grow up speaking the Queen's English. She gave the court kudos for having an Fijian interpreter. She recognized the importance of ensuring interpreters providing those services are certified and competent. She recalled from Judge Rivera's presentation that community court provides food and transportation and asked if the court has the ability to provide housing referrals for people who are unhoused. Judge Rivera said the community court would love to provide housing referrals but she was uncertain what resources were available. Councilmember Nand relayed there are private Oxford Houses in north King County and Snohomish County and other organizations taking in the unhoused. It can be difficult to place some people, particularly adult males experiencing addiction, in a controlled setting. Judge Rivera said the court has discussed with Mayor Rosen expanding the court's relationship with law enforcement assisted diversion (LEAD) and Ashley Dawson who restarted that program in Snohomish County after it went dormant and who has access to a number of resources beyond what the court has access to. The court hopes to continue building that relationship and have been in conversation with attorneys about having someone from LEAD at community court, even setting some property crimes directly to community court rather than to municipal court for an arraignment and then to community court. She offered to chat with Councilmember Nand about those ideas, recognizing housing was a huge barrier to many court users. Court users can set up appointments with a substance use disorder evaluator and/or a mental health treatment provider, but if they don't have a roof over their head, it is difficult to be successful in accessing services. Councilmember Nand said even a safe place to take a shower before going to an appointment and a place where no one will steal your stuff. Councilmember Nand suggested the administration provide support through the human services referrals. She was excited about the upcoming opportunity with the America's Best Hotel and was interested in how the city and administration can support the vital, lifesaving work the community court is doing. Councilmember Chen thanked Judge Rivera and Ms. Maylor for the good work done through the court system. He was impressed by the interpreter program, recognizing how challenging that can be. He relayed his experience taking his mother to the hospital and using an interpreter who was not accurately interpreting what the doctor said. He recalled an inquiry last year about the possibility of offering passports at the Highway 99 space as well. Judge Rivera explained Ms. Maylor worked with the state to get that set up and when it was scheduled to begin in January 2024, the state indicated there had been a miscommunication and they did not allow that many locations in such a small geographic area. A passport fair is allowed on a periodic basis which is something staff plans to do. Councilmember Chen asked of the 419 criminal non -traffic cases, how many were youth 18 and younger. Judge Rivera answered none of them would be 18 or younger; those go to juvenile court. The only juveniles the EMC hears are driving offenses under Title 46. For example, if a 16-year old who receives a reckless driving charge would come to EMC, but if they received a theft in the third degree, they would go to juvenile court in Everett. Mayor Rosen thanked Judge Rivera for her dedicated service to the people of Edmonds and wished her great success at Snohomish County Superior Court. Judge Rivera explained she applied for a Superior Court position and was notified she was selected and it was announced today. It is bittersweet because she loves her EMC team and is very proud of the work they have done and the work the City does. She will be in EMC for one more month before moving to Snohomish County Superior Court. ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the special council meeting was adjourned at 6:53 pm. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 2, 2024 Page 10