Loading...
2024-07-16 Council PSPHSP MinutesMinutes PUBLIC SAFETY, PLANNING, HUMAN SERVICES & PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING July 16, 2024 Elected Officials Present Staff Present Councilmember Chris Eck Michelle Bennett, Police Chief Council President Vivian Olson(ex-officio) Susan McLaughlin, Planning & Dev. Dir. Jessica Neill Hoyson, HR Director Elected Officials Absent Leif Bjorback, Building Official Councilmember Neil Tibbott (Chair) Emily Wagener, Senior HR Analyst Scott Passey, City Clerk 1. CALL TO ORDER The Edmonds City Council PSPHSP Committee meeting was called to order virtually and in the City Council Conference Room, 121 – 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, at 3:29 pm by Councilmember Eck. 2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 1. Committee Updates b. Comprehensive Plan – Planning/Director McLaughlin Ms. McLaughlin explained the intent of this update is to keep council apprised of progress. She reviewed: • Staff and the consultant team are reviewing draft edited versions of the goal and policies o Draft Housing and Land Use elements are being discussed with the planning board via two subcommittees who will report to the full planning board at their July 24 meeting o Staff has not completed their review of the Housing and Land Use elements o Final revisions will be made to the Housing and Land Use elements prior to inclusion in the consolidated plan • Staff and the consultant team are conducting a second round of internal review of the Community Design, Sustainability and Capital Facilities elements • Staff and consultant team met with the mayor last week to discuss his preference and priorities for the CFP. Staff will be coordinating with directors and departments to ensure goals and policies are up-to-date and in alignment with the mayor’s direction • Staff is working with the Alliance for Housing Affordability (AHA) to review the City’s existing MFTE program to ensure alignment with best practices and looking for gaps or opportunities to update the policy • DEIS will be available shortly. Herrera, a subconsultant of VIA, will submit preliminary impacts and mitigation measures for internal review o Tentatively scheduled for planning board review next week • Staff hosted an HB 1110 middle housing webinar o Available online on Everyone Edmonds webpage • Online open house on the draft Waterfront Vision and goals and policies in early/mid-August • Online open house regarding the DEIS and the draft plan elements will be launched at the end of August. A 20-day comment period is required; it will likely be open for a minimum 30 days • Once the DEIS is published, staff plans to host a webinar to review each section and explain the findings • Staff discussed the comprehensive plan with the Historic Preservation Commission • Staff presented the Community Design Element to the Architectural Design Board (ADB) who was not happy with it. Due to staffing changes, the element was not ready to be presented. 07/16/24 PSPHSP Committee Minutes, Page 2 • A joint planning board/city council study session is proposed on August 6 to discuss the preliminary DEIS impacts and the planning board’s recommendation on the Housing and Land Use elements. Materials will be provided in advance. Questions and discussion followed regarding the required 20-day comment period for the DEIS that the City plans to have open for a minimum of 30 days, appreciation for scheduling a joint planning board/city council study session, information provided to the ADB prematurely, creation of neighborhood area framework in the Community Design element, and support for a subarea approach. a. CEMP Update – Police/Chief Bennett Chief Bennett explained the draft CEMP was sent out to all department directors; once their review and edits are complete, it will be returned to her and then sent to the consultant who will include proposed edits. Once the consultant completes the edits, the plan goes to the state for review and approval and will be scheduled for council review and approval in August/September. With regard to the Hazard Mitigation Plan, without a current, approved plan the City is only eligible for reimbursement of initial costs instead of full cost recovery from a disaster. Snohomish County’s Department of Emergency Management asked the City to sign onto their Hazard Mitigation Plan and the City provided a letter of intent. Chief Bennett continued, a meeting will be held with staff at the end of July to provide an update on the Hazard Mitigation Plan and CEMP. The City is also able to utilize Snohomish County’s RAVE (communications) system. Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training will be available this fall and spring through South County Fire. Commander Machado will attend an upcoming meeting of amateur radio operators. Questions and discussion followed regarding having the municipal court provide feedback on the CEMP, appreciation for collaboration with Snohomish County, and appreciation for Chief Bennett’s time and effort to update of the CEMP. Council President Olson volunteered to assist as needed. 2. Reorg of Admin Services - Finance Director Job Description Ms. Neill Hoyson observed Mayor Rosen has communicated to council his intent to reorganize the Administrative Services Department with the departure of the director. His proposal is to change the department back to the Finance Department and have a finance director that focuses on finance, and have IT, the clerk’s office and records functions report to the mayor. The previous finance director job description, before it was changed to administrative services director, was amended to incorporate current language and reviewed by the mayor, deputy director and Mike Bailey. There is no change to the compensation, it is the same range as other directors. Questions and discussion followed regarding support for looking at the reporting structure when a vacancy occurs, this change making it easier hire someone who is an expert in finances, how the finance director job description was created, difference between a finance director and an administrative services director, updating the authorized position ordinance to remove administrative services director and add finance director, and the proposed pay range for a finance director. Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda 3. Resolution to Authorize Mayor to Approve Shared Leave Beyond Personnel Policies Ms. Neill Hoyson explained the City currently has a shared leave policy which allows employees to donate leave to other employees when their or a family member’s illness/injury would cause them to go into unpaid status. When that occurs, employees are notified and employees can choose to donate their 07/16/24 PSPHSP Committee Minutes, Page 3 leave to the affected employee. Situations have arisen recently where limited term employees without a lot of leave or employees in a partner relationship had a family emergency or death in the family that did not fit the parameters of the shared leave policy. This is a request to give the mayor latitude to approve one-off situations related to donation of leave. There is no cost to the City. Questions and discussion followed regarding whether domestic partnerships are addressed in City’s bereavement policy, plans to propose changes to the shared leave program as part of next year’s update to personnel policies manual, and Washington State no longer recognizing domestic partnerships unless one of the partners is over 60 years of age. Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda 4. New Job Description for Permitting Program Manager Mr. Bjorback explained in 2021 the building division recognized the need for a new job description, permitting supervisor, to oversee the permit coordinator team. After the job description was approved and implemented and filled with an existing staff person, it was realized the new supervisor position needed to perform union work. After consulting with the union, it was agreed to revert the position to a union represented lead position. A new job description, permitting program manager, was created and the position is already recognized in the current union contract. Functionally it will not be a lot different for the team other than removing true supervisor functionality such as hiring/firing, job evaluations, etc. from the position. Ms. Wagener relayed the City and union agreed the position would continue to be paid at the existing non-rep supervisory pay grade and appropriate placement on the AFSCME schedule negotiated in the upcoming negotiations. Questions and discussion followed regarding recognition of everyone involved in making this change and updating the authorized position ordinance. Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda 5. Council Rules of Procedure Sections 4 & 5 Consent Agenda and Council Meetings Council President Olson explained the intent of reviewing existing Council Rules of Procedure is to document how the council does business. Councilmember Eck read revised language proposed by Council President Olson for Section 4.1, The Mayor Council President, in consultation with the Council President Mayor, shall place matters on the Consent Agenda which…”. Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda with revised language 3. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 pm.