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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19840221 City Council MinutesI I I I I February 14, 1984 -continued He added that the two previous ones had been excellent, with Dr. Bob Anderson directing one of them, and each year there is a full agenda. Also, he said it gives them an opportunity to interrelate. Councilmember Hall said February 25 \I/ill serve a purpose and will be helpful to the new people, but she thought the staff should attend the April retreat. Councilmember Kasper observed that it had never been tried with just the Mayor and the Council. THE MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Ostrom had provided the Council a memo suggesting a special meeting between the Mayor, City Council, Edmonds Business Association, and Chamber of Commerce in an effort to maintain a good relationship between City government and the business community, especially in view of the Downtown Development Association Team (DDAT) visit scheduled March 9-11, the activities of the Main St. Committee, and because. of interest on the part of the leaders of the business community and express.ions regarding a perceived adversary relationship between City government. and the business community. He noted that there are a lot of problems in the BC zone with people moving out, the rents, and the amount of business they are doing. Councilmember Nordquist asked who he meant by 11 they,11 as he could s.ee one situation where everything is going well in that businesses are moving in there, and then he can see some others where rents are rising, but the Council cannot control that and cannot control marketing. Councilmember Ostrom was speaking of people active in the Chamber of Commerce and the Edmonds Business Association, and he said the question is what role does City government play with regard to the business community. He noted that the success of the business community contributes to the health of the entire City, and that there are some people who probably would like to say some of these things to the Council. Councilmember Kasper observed that he must be referrin9 to retail businesses, and Mayor Naughten said the only problem· of which he had heard is that they find t.he codes restrictive on their businesses but the relationship between the City and the Chamber is good, and the City has cooperated with their projects and helped them with money for their projects. Councilmember Wilson said he is downtown all the time and he had not received any complaints. Councilmember Hall noted that the Planning Director has been participating in the Main St. and DDAT projects and that City representatives participate in their Chamber meetings and try to make them welcome at Council meetings. She suggested that the.v be scheduled on a Council work meeting if they wish to meet ~ith the Council. Councilmember Jaech suggested that the Chamber and/or Edmonds Business Association put together something to include questions, problems, ideas, concerns, etc., in an organized fashion and present it during Audience participation or as an agenda item. Council-member Hall noted that there have been two designated members who attend Council meetings regularly. Councilmember Nordquist recalled that he some time previously had suggested a ''Business Development Committee" to work with the business people. Councilmember Ostrom said what he suggested would be somewhat of a gesture to indicate the City is interested in what they are doing and their problems, and that the City Council would like to know if there are things expected from them. COUNCILMEMBER JAECH MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER HALL, TO SCHEDULE THE MEETING OF MARCH 13 WITH THE PERSONNEL MEETING 7:30 -8:15 P.M., AND AT 8:15 P.M. TO MEET WITH THE CHAMBER AND THE EDMONDS BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, AND THAT THOSE WILL BE THE ONLY ITEMS ON THE AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Kasper noted that he has had numerous conversations ~egarding a business and occupation tax.in Edmonds and there seems to be a lot of interest if the money goes towards helping the business community. Councilmember Hall reported that she is attending meetings regardin~ graduation requirements for the school district and that sh.e would \.\1elcome any input. Student Representative Brian Ste11art said he would work wtth her on that. Councilmember Kasper reported that he had attended the Health Board meeting with Councilmember Nordquist. Councilmember Kasper reported that the Fire Consolidation Committee will be meeting with the consultant on February 28 for half a day. The consultant will be here 3-4 days. There was no further business to come before the Council, and the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. xltvnU~~ IRENE VARNEY MORAN:Citlerk February 21, 1984 The first of planned quarterly "Town Hall" meetings was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Larr.v Naughten in the Meadowdal e Community Club. This meeting 1•1as co-sponsored with the Meadowdal e Community Club. PRESENT Larry Naughten, Mayor Jo-Anne ,Jaech Laura Ha 11 L1 oyd Ostrom Steve Dwyer Jack Wilson John Nordquist Bill Kasper Brian Stewart, Student Rep. STAFF PRESENT Art Housler, Finance Director Marlo Foster, Police Chief Jack Weinz, Fire Chief Steve Simpson, Parks & Recreation Director Pat LeMay, Personnel Director .Jim /\dams, ".ity ~ngineer Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk Bobby Mills, Acting Public Works Director Mary Lou Block, Planning Director Jim Jessel, Property Manager Mark Eames, City Attorney Jackie Parrett, Deputy City Clerk February 21, 1984 -continued APPROVAL OF MINUTES COUNCILMEMBER NORDQUIST MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER HALL, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 1984. MOTION CARRIED. INTRODUCTIONS AND EXPLANATION OF MEETING FORMAT Mayor Naughten introduced Roy Mainger, President of the Meadowdale Communty Club, who was the moderator for this meeting. Mayor Naughten then introduced the members of the City Council,·the City staff, and. Snohomish County Councilman Bruce Agnew who was a member of the audience, being a resident of the Meadowdale area. Mayor Naughten explained the meeting format. Roy Mainger intro- Juced the staff of the Meadowdale Community Club . . \UDIENCE I Jick Beers asked what the status was of the present sewer contract. City Engineer Jim Adams explained 1 that Tri-State Construction Company was awarded the contract and that they are in a mobilization stage at present with the contract completion date expected to be July 30. He noted that even when the project is completed there may not be a place for the sewage to flow immediately because it will flow to the Lynnwood treatment plant and they are in the process of finishing their facility. It should be completed in July or August. Stan Olsen, 16605 74th Pl. W., asked when the building moratorium would be lifted and by whom. City Attorney Mark Eames responded that a resolution passed by the Council will lift any aspect of the moratorium, and that will be passed when the facility is in place. Mike Echelbarger, 16608 76th W., suggested that the Council give some thought to allowing building to commence during the construction of the sewer line but not allowing occupancy until the sewer line is approved, which would allow the citizens to use the summer construction season. Council- member Kasper responded that the Council was asked by the staff at the last meeting to start working on this, but the situation with the Lynnwood sewer plant is unknown and financing is also a concern. He said it Was suggested that the platting and subdividing process could take place. Councilmember Hall said her position is that she was present to learn from the audience, but she was concerned about slipping soils if the moratorium were lifted, and not being familiar with that, she thought they should wait. Jerry Walters, 7314 164th Pl. S.W., asked if the cost estimates were still the same as they were three years ago, and Mr. Adams responded that he suspected they would be very close to those figures and those were still the best ~stimate. However, he said should there be numerous protests and readjustments, that could cause some changes. Jan Phillips, 7100 156th St. S.W., said they have 211 chuckholes now and when the project is finished the streets are supposed to be returned· to their original condition, so she wanted to know if they would be returned to the chuckhole condition. Mr. Adams responded that the job is a utility job, not streets, but he would hope to put the streets back without chuckholes. Burt Olson, lfi630 76th W., asked if· they could be provided a schedule as to when the construction will be in their particular areas. Mr. Adams responded that Jerry Hauth will have an office in the Meadowdale Community Club building and they can call him with any questions at 745-6430. Also, he said that ·prior to any contractor going· onto the property the property owner will be contacted. Paul Chrysler, 15977 72nd W., said the condition of his street .and the nearby arterial is poor but he is satisifedwith it. He asked if the City is waiting to proceed with more improvements and more LIDs for streets when the sewer project is done. Acting Public Works Superintendent Bobby Mills responded that 72nd had been scheduled last year for sealcoating but it was not done because of this sewer project, and it will be done after the sewer project is completed, with City money, and no LIDs for streets are scheduled from the City. .''·. Steve Lee, 16520 72nd W., asked if all the necessary easements had been obtained. City Attorney Mark Eames responded that all easements have been acquired that are necessary to proceed, but two have not been acquired which are exceptional and negotiations are going on with them, but they will not stand in the way of the progress of the project. Bruce Agnew, 16000 75th Pl.-W., asked what effect there would be on subsequent zoning after the sewers are in and the moratorium is lifted. He lives just north of Haines Wharf and his lot is 20,000 sq. ft. He asked if the lots will be rezoned to 9,600 sq. ft. because of the sewers; and he said if the density is increased the traffic on North Meadowdale Beach Rd. will be increased. He thought the City should at least put in some reflector lights or demarcation 1 ines on the road for safety and that there should be some minimum safety requirements for that road. Mayor Naughten responded that he has not heard of any requests before the Council to change the zoning, but there probably will be people who make such requests an.d if so there will be public hearings. Mr. Agnew also noted that there is a public safety problem at the Meadowdale Park in that during the summer the young people park at the wharf and wa 1 k d.own the tracks to party there and it is very dangerous with the young people drinking and often wearing earphones for their radios and tape players so they cannot hear the trains coming. He said the County is trying to get a part-time person to monitor the beach~ and he asked if the City could restrict parking on.the wharf so those people would be ticketed for parking there. Mayor Naughten will look into that. . ' ' Mike Brusnik, 15620 72nd W., said he· is at tfie bottom of the hill anrl. is suooosed to have a qrinder pump which will be noisy and expensive. He asked to have something done to· allow his water to flow instead of being pumped. Mr. Adams responded that all pumps were eliminated that were feasible and it is designed that there be pumps at those homes which could not be done with gravity flow. He said it is very common in the City for people to have grinder pumps when they are downhill from the I I I I I I I I February 21, 1984 -continued sewers. He noted that the project buys the pump and the homeowner has it installed, but if the system were already installed it would be the practice that the homeowner purchase his pump and install it. Mr. Brusnik said he is uphill, not downhill. Mr. Adams said he would look at that one and that he would much rather have a gravity system but a few-of the properties cannot be served by gravity. Duane Romo, 7105 156th S.W., said there are some of them who could be served by gravity but it would be expensive. Mr. Adams responded that economics were considered, and Mr. Romo said he did not think they should be. Stan Olsen said he had raised the question of grinder pumps about a year ago, in that some engineer made the ~ecision to go for individual grinder pumps rather than put in a station to serve three. He stated that it is not common to have grinder pumps and that sewers are usually down to serve the lowest residents. Mr. Adams said the design was done by Reid, Middleton & Associates in conjunction with the City staff. Ted Trepanier of Reid, Middleton .~ Associates said he had discussed this with Mr. Olsen and had given him an explanation as to when grinder stations are used. Dick Beers asked what the increased costs would be if everyone in the system were put on gravity feed, and Mr. Trepanier did not have those figures but he explained the other reasons why that could not be done. Mr. Adams added that the City will maintain the grinder pumps. A gentleman asked what happens when the power goes off, and Mr. Adams responded that the pump does not run when there is no electricity. Jan Phillips asked if cooperative planning was being done with Lynnwood regarding the streets going out of this area and what is being done about the park across the street. Parks and Recreation Director Steve Simpson responded that the Meadowdale Playfield is on the capital improvements plan for work in the next two years, and Edmonds has agreed in principle with Lynnwood and the school district for development. He said the school district has been asked not to declare the property surplus for the next two years, but Lynnwood has to be the lead agency in developing it because it is in Lynnwood. He said Edmonds has done its best to get the project started and took th2 lead in coming up with the master plan. He said the only other project in this area on the capital improve- ment plan is-tennis courts but a site has not been located and there is not much property in the area. He said the City is aiso hoping to do some improvements around the clubhouse but it is limited by the size of the site. He added that when they work again on the comprehensive plan they will be holding meetings in this area . • Mike Echelbarger mentioned the old country club site, saying if the City of Edmonds had some plans to develop it ~hey probably could get it gifted from the County. He thought it a shame that it is so poorly used. _He would like :to see some money put into it, and he feared that sooner or later somebody would offer to purchase it from the County, and he noted that if the· County cannot develop it they will not keep it. He thought that would be.a real tragedy to this community. He urged that some thought be given to the facility. Bruce Agnew said the two main problems are drainage and access .. He said Lund's Gulch is a raging river that has cut a little "grand canyon" there, and ther~ is access on the south edge but it cannot support the kind of traffic that there would be. He s~id ther~ i~ othe~ potential access from 152nd or Fisher Rd. He noted that a park ranger is needed to monitor it for student groups, but long-range improvements would be access and drainage. He has suggested that the County and Edmonds go in with Lynnwood on a block grant program to do the sewers and then develop a long-range access plan. Burt Olson.said there are some health hazards in the park property. He asked if Edmonds has offered any shared costs program to develop the park, and he added that sidewalks are needed in the area. Mr. Simpson said the City has had a number of conversations with Mayor Hrdlic·ka about developing it. He noted that playfields have a high priority in Edmonds now and this is the most ideal site near Edmonds. Paul Chrysler said it has been an inconvenience to take the detours Lynnwood has put up for construction in Lynnwood a,nd this particular construction company has been very troublesome. He asked what it would be like with the contractor on the Edmonds project. Mr. Adams said this was discussed during the construction conference and the City will not allow any road to be cut where there is no access to the property and inconveniences will be kept to a minimum. There will be weekly construction meetings with the contractor. Dr. Robert Anderson, 7370 N. Meadowdale Rd., said there are small segments of storm sewers in Meadowdale and one is in front of his house which he paid for many years ago, but when it rains the waterflows up and out of it rather than into it. He asked what one has to do to get the City to respond to such problems. Mr. Mills explained that the City can be called 24 hours a day. Also,_ he said they are trying to map all of tltern to set up a regular maintenance schedule. Dr. Anderson noted, regarding the new sidewalk on 76th, that the drainage work does not carry all the drainage water so it flows into the street, and the catch basins are not placed correctly for when it rains heavily. He said when the water flows into the street during cold weather it freezes and creates a hazard. Mr. Adams said it is planned to do some overlays on 76th but it was too late last year to do them because of the weather and it is in the 1984 plan. Jan Phillips asked why the sidewalk stopped at North Meadowdale Beach Rd., and Mr. Adams responded that the City is in the process of developing a comprehensive sid~~alk plari and that ~rojett had been on the books for a long time and that is where it sto~ped. -· · Di~ne Pielow said she and her husband are planning to build soon and probably will have to have a grinder pump and they want to know where it wi 11 be located. She was advised to ca.ll Jerry Hauth and he will look at the site. Stan Olsen said he was v~ry pleased that the Council took the time to go out to Meadowdale. He suggested that the City work more closely with the County and with Lynnwood on traffic and the parks. He also thought there could be more communication--not on the staff level but on the policy level--and he encouraged a councilmanic liaison with_ the City of Lynnwood and the County for sidewalks also. Councilmember Hall agreed that more communication is needed, and she thought it should be between citizens also. Councilmember Nordquist noted that at one time there had been the Snohomish February 24, 1984 -continued County Joint Planning Council and they traveled from city to city each month looking at various problems. ·But he said that people who. serve on a part-tim~ basis just do not have enough time. He said that group d.issolved when· they had a comprehensive plan for all of South County. A recess was announced at this time. Mr. Mainger asked if the City is involved with other communities in trying to solve the pollution problem· it1 the· Sound. Mr. Adams said the treatment in·Edmonds and ·Lynnwood is only primary treat- ment but the effluent is well chlorinated so veryTittle bacteria go into the·Sound. He said the main source of pollutants is from storm water, and in this particular area the effluent from the septic tanks, and this sewer project should eliminate some of that. An effort is being made to educate people that most storm water systems empty into a stream before getting to the Sound and. that people should not put certain things into the storm system. He said Edmonds is working wit~ Lynnwood to identify sources of heavy metal pollutants. Mr. Mainger noted that the beaches are not posted as bein~ contaminated ~nd that he has seen· peb~le·digging on the beach who appeared tb be _ Asian~ who may not be able to read Engli~h, so if the beaches are posted that should be considered. Burt Olson asked the Council to meet with Lynnwood on some ·of the problems. Planning Director Mary Lou Block noted that there was a block grant allocated for improvements to the clubhouse and those improvements should be completed by'June. Jan Phillips observed that the Council had demonstrated that it·is willing to listen, so she said she was willing to take back some of the things she had' said in a recent letter. However, she was very disappointed with their decision not to support the school levy and she asked that a resolution be adopted to have a consistent poiicy with the· school district. ·She asked that they become involved and ask questions of the school distritt in orde~ to have suth a policy. Councilmember Hall responded that there was some misunderstanding because of in"formation in the newspaper, and she pointed out that the City does have a cooperative effort with the school district. She discussed a committee on which she serves, as an exampl~, re~ardirig graduatibn·~equirements. Councilmember Dwyer added that he was not on that he was disappointed in the action taken could think of where the body could not come happen again. the Council at the time -of the incident in question and by the Cdunci·l. He said it was the first instance he forward and support schools. He did not think it would • Council member Kasper said a lot of the commun·itation problem has· been brought to the surface, and the Council feels they have be-en derelict in tonirilunicati'ons outside of the City, but part of the reason was that they did not have a full-time Mayor. However~· he said ·he· does not think the City should indorse school levies and they never have. Roger Hertrich) 1020 Puget Dr., said he was at th~ meetihg when the Council took no action when Dr. Reasby was there asking for their supp6rt~ H~ said he thought they got their answer from him in . that Edmonds High School will be closed. He said "I think we got what we deserved. 11 Council member Hall responded that they had been told 11 Don 1 t hold Edmonds High School hostage,11 and the City was doing that and she hoped the school district wa:s:· Mrs. Billings, 16342 72nd W., asked if the people who paid sewer charges for many years and never were on the sewer would get something for that, and Doris Nelson· of 15729 75th Pl. W. said there is a lot of vacant land around her property on which sewer charges are not paid, but she has three homes·on which she pays but they have no sewers. The policy regarding sewer charges was explained. Mr. Mills announced that there will be a spring clean-up in April and he urged the residents to take advantage of that service. Jerry Walters asked what is the mechani·sm for invoicing the property owner for the LID, and Finance Director Art Housler explained the system. The participants were thanked for taking part in this evening's town hall meeting. The meeting was adjourned at ~:35 p.m. ~d ~ IRENE VARNEY M~ Clerk . •' ·' February 28, 1984 -Work Meeting Th.e, regular me'eting of the Edmonds City Counc.il .was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Larry Naughten in the Plaza Meeting Room of the Edmonds Library. All present joined in the flag salute. PRESENT Larry Naughten, Mayor Jo-Anne Jaech Jack Wilson Laura Ha 11 John Nordquist Bi 11 Kasper Steve Dwyer Lloyd Ostrom Brian Stewart, Student Rep. STAFF P.RESENT . Jim Adams, City Engineer Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk Art Housler, Finance Director Steve Simpson, Parks & Recreation Director Bobby Mills, Acting Public Works Supt. Mary Lou Block, Planning Director Jack Weinz, Fire Chief Jim Jessel, Property Manager Mark Eames, City Attorney Jackie Parrett, Deputy City Clerk I I I I I _,