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20170322 City Council Town HallEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL DRAFT MINUTES TOWN HALL March 22, 2017 ELECTED OFFICIALS HOSTING Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Councilmember Dave Teitzel, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS IN AUDIENCE Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Thomas Mesaros, Council President STAFF PRESENT Andrew Pierce, Legislative/Council Assistant Jeannie Dines, Recorder Councilmember Teitzel opened the Town Hall at 6:31 p.m. Councilmembers Teitzel, Tibbott and Fraley- Monillas described their background, experience, and objectives as Councilmembers. Councilmember Fraley-Monillas thanked My Edmonds News for videoing the Town Hall and introduced Council President Mesaros and Councilmember Buckshnis. Councilmember Tibbott introduced the format: identifying topics that attendees were interested in talking about, grouping similar items and addressing them. (The topics in bold were identified by audience members.) Edmonds Marsh Audience Comments/Questions Are there any plans for development at Harbor Square? No plans have been submitted at this time. Port submitted Master Plan five years ago, withdrawn. What about Chevron? They are in midst of cleanup, five years to complete. Purchase and sale agreement to sell property to WSDOT. Plans for Edmonds Crossing put on hold Three Port Commission positions are open; candidates need to file by May 19, 2017 How Council appears to people speaking in support of Edmonds Marsh and the 4-3 vote. Some Councilmembers are sarcastic to Save Our Marsh members and are pro -development. Worst case scenario for Edmonds Marsh would be multifamily residential at Harbor Square. CM Teitzel: If he appeared sarcastic, that was never his intent. Councilmembers agree a scientific study is the appropriate next step. CM Fraley-Monillas: The marsh extended out to Dayton when she was a child and there was one building in Harbor Square. Harbor Square was already developed when the Port bought it. She agreed stormwater needed to be addressed but was not sure development would accomplish that. The only way to sort through this is an independent scientist to determine impact of development. CM Tibbott: The City is embarking on $5.8 million stormwater project on the waterfront including collection basins and pump. It is an unfair characterization to say Councilmembers are pro -development; there is no developer waiting in wings. He wants a visioning exercise regarding the waterfront; there are competing visions/views of what can happen on waterfront and many people are not aware there is a marsh on the waterfront. Edmonds City Council Town Hall Draft Minutes March 22, 2017 Page 1 Does the Port have to follow the City's building codes? Harbor Square is not zoned for residential now. It has been completely built out for decades. Harbor Square is private property, but it is municipal property. Citizens who have a vision for Harbor Square should bring that to the attention of the Port's elected Commissioners. For those who live in the Port District and pay taxes to the Port, we should have a say in what happens, and it is up to us to make our wishes known. Who is responsible for the zoning of Harbor Square and would a change to the zoning require approval of the City? The Port would have to request a code change. Amount of water in the marsh during heavy rains almost reached the dog park and the ditch along SR-104 was bubbling. How to contain that? Stormwater containment to address overflow. Flooding due to east side of marsh and sediment in WSDOT culverts. Final clean-up of Chevron property is occurring. Closing the flood gate also causes issues. Homeless Services Safe City Resolution Citizen Participation and Conduct at public meetings CM Fraley-Monillas: There are many ways to reach Councilmembers. Council cannot control audience. She agreed people coughing while a person spoke in opposition to Safe City Resolution was disrespectful. The Council did not participate. The Council wants Edmonds to be a welcoming city. CM Tibbott: A lot of comments last night about the Edmonds Marsh; it is a hot topic, speakers were well prepared and respectful. Audience Comments/Questions Coughing was disrespectful but the extent of it was blow out of proportion, person next to her actually had a coughing fit Division after meeting, Trump supporters feel threatened. CM Fraley-Monillas encouraged anyone who feels threatened to contact her. Attempted to assist Council by creating options. What is process for citizen with an idea or agenda item to get it on table without feeling doing something wrong? CM Fraley-Monillas: The criticism was wrong, he was invited by a Councilmember to assist due to his particular expertise, and citizens are encouraged to do that. Edmonds' residents have a lot of talent. Citizen input is very important. CM Teitzel: The Council wants an unbiased, rigorous site specific study of the marsh. As a representative of Save Our Marsh, there was some concern with interjecting bias into the process; everyone agrees the study should be unbiased. The Council listens to all input. Any time someone raises an issue, they have a bias. Hwy 99 revitalization — making design requirements part of zoning Audience Comments/Questions Burlington Coat Factory is not appropriate for development at the edge of the road. The owner has said they cannot develop the vacant property to the north as it blocks Burlington Coat who have a 20 years lease. Will there be variations in the zone to allow developers not to build up to the road? Making Burlington Coat pedestrian friendly is not possible. The City wants to work with the property owner to address concerns. Flexibility will be addressed in design guidelines which is the next step. Anyone with an interest was encouraged to provide input to Development Services Director Shane Hope. Downtown and waterfront development Edmonds City Council Town Hall Draft Minutes March 22, 2017 Page 2 CM Teitzel: Moved here in 1987 due to views, light from west, quaint buildings and he wants to retain that. Building height limit downtown is 30 feet; he supports keeping it low scale so it is pedestrian friendly and attractive to visitors. Harbor Square's building heights are slightly higher. He is committed to not blocking views. There have been discussions about allowing tiny homes in backyards of larger lots that could be rented out which the zoning code currently does not allow. That may help seniors remain in Edmonds. CM Tibbott: The City is looking at development in other areas such Hwy 99 that are pedestrian friendly and transit oriented. Find areas in city where development can be spread out and done well. CM Fraley-Monillas: Looking at affordable housing as a step in the homelessness issue. Need low income, low barrier and senior housing. Low income housing addresses people with incomes, need to address those without income. Redevelopment on Hwy 99 in Lynnwood and Shoreline has pushed homeless to Edmonds. CM Tibbott: CM Fraley-Monillas and he are on the Edmonds Housing Task Force, a citizen advocacy group for housing options in Edmonds, an opportunity to learn about what is happening in neighboring cities and around the State. He encouraged interested residents to contact him. He also serves on the Affordable Housing Alliance, representatives from neighboring cities who discuss solutions and a variety of housing options for Snohomish County. CM Teitzel: Homelessness is a growing problem, a crisis in Seattle. He was interested in integrating the faith community with government to provide services. Services are available but are not well coordinated. CM Fraley-Monillas: Homelessness is not something everyone sees a lot. She described visiting the cold weather shelter this winter; when people were asked where they stay when the cold weather shelter is not open, they said cars, hotels on Hwy 99, couch -surfing, in garages and tents, any place they can find. Edmonds School District has 641 homeless children and within Edmonds, there are approximately 200. Homelessness is an epidemic that needs to be addressed. Audience Comments/Questions Not just about views but also traffic. High density housing at Harbor Square will increase traffic. Do not want to reach the point where people avoid going to the waterfront. Lose character and people coming to Edmonds Over -regulation creates issues, homelessness issues that the city, county and state have to address. Regarding tiny homes, residents should be allowed to put anything on property as long as not harm someone else Tiny homes would help with homelessness There are homeless people living in downtown Edmonds Overspending Audience Comments/Questions City has more revenue and is spending more. Reserve funds are being depleted. As long as assessed values increase, not a problem. Control staffing. Population is not growing rapidly, but staff increasing at higher rate than population. The Mayor has been very conservative about adding staff, did add back the Crime Unit. Can justify all positions. Not saying not useful employees, Council and Mayor responsible for overall fiscal responsibility Population has increased, GMA requires population increases. GMA estimates growth and establishes targets. Edmonds has always met its targets. Population increased 2000-3000 over the last 3 years. State of Washington $90 billion in debt and approved $43 million in deficit spending. How much is Edmonds in debt, believe $60 million. The City has 16-18% in reserve and is replenishing its emergency fund. Edmonds City Council Town Hall Draft Minutes March 22, 2017 Page 3 More debt, more taxes, more homelessness. Urge be cautious, find ways to be efficient in budget. How long has Edmonds Marsh conversation being occurring? Years. Government has propensity to kick the can down the road. Sunset Avenue, Pedestrian safety - Five Corners Housing density — Don't let Edmonds become Seattle north Affordable housing Affordability and taxes CM Fraley-Monillas: Taxes will continue to increase especially with the passage of ST3 and Edmonds School District levy. The Council can only raise property taxes 1%/year. Three years ago Council did not raise property taxes, has raised them the last two years. The majority of taxes go to the school district, the City receives a small portion (1/8"') of property taxes. There is a TBD $20 vehicle license fee, have discussed increasing that another $20. Utility rates also increased. Audience Comments/Questions Not everyone opposed to paying taxes, quality of life issue. More density increases number of people to pay taxes. More density results in more needs and need for more services Concern pricing seniors out of their homes Support state income tax and carbon tax to reduce burden on poor Program for reduced utility rates not well advertised, suggest insert in bill or printed on bill Support for the arts Green City City's fiscal responsibility CM Teitzel: Councilmembers and Mayor are fiscal conservatives, working to keep prices down. Experiencing good economic times, a lot happening, purchased Civic Field, catching up on paving program, addressing needs. CM Fraley-Monillas: encouraged citizens to let Council know their feelings. CM Tibbott: City's paving program was discontinued due to lack of funding, reinstated two years ago. A lot of streets need attention. Part of fiscal responsibility is taking care of infrastructure. Costs to repave 1 mile is $1 million; there are about 160 miles of roads in Edmonds. Conclusion/Wrap-Up CM Fraley-Monillas acknowledged Councilmembers have varying opinions, views and interests. Although Councilmembers differ, they still get along. She encouraged citizens to reach out to Councilmembers any time. CM Teitzel thanked everyone for coming, great to hear citizens' concerns and valuable to dialogue with citizens. CM Tibbott commented there are friends as well as new faces here tonight. He encouraged everyone to get involved. The Town Hall was adjourned at 8:01 p.m. Edmonds City Council Town Hall Draft Minutes March 22, 2017 Page 4