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2023-06-27 Special MeetingEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APPROVED MINUTES June 27, 2023 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Neil Tibbott, Council President Vivian Olson, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember (arrived 7:04 p.m.) Dave Teitzel, Councilmember Jenna Nand, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT Mike Nelson, Mayor Susan Paine, Councilmember 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE STAFF PRESENT Angie Feser, Parks, Rec., & Human Serv. Dir. Thom Sullivan, Facilities Manager Beckie Peterson, Council Executive Assistant Scott Passey, City Clerk The special Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Council President Tibbott in the Brackett Room, 121 5' Ave N, City Hall — 3' Floor, Edmonds, and virtually. 2. ROLL CALL 3. WORKSHOP BUSINESS — COUNCIL A. OPENING REMARKS — COUNCIL PRESIDENT Council President Tibbott reviewed the agenda items. He encouraged councilmembers as they reviewed the data to highlight potential budget requests/ideas for the brainstorming agenda item and the creation of a list to be included in the resolution. B. STAFF INSIGHT — "HOW TO FRAME YOUR REQUEST TO GET THE BEST RESULTS" — PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR ANGIE FESER Parks, Recreation and Human Services Director Angie Feser thanked the council for giving her seat at the table to provide staff s perspective of the process. Looking back on last year's process, most would agree that could have been done better. Last year's budget process was frustrating for the administration and the council and likely the public. This year, the process is starting earlier, the council has done some great community outreach, and the council has been working its priorities including the April retreat and today's workshop. That helps staff understand the council's priorities and how to bring projects/programs forward to support those priorities. Ms. Feser explained simple capital projects take about two years; design and permitting the first year and construction the second year. With operating, programs take a while to get in place and functioning. Staff s plates are full and resources are already allocated which makes it challenging to make a change mid -stream. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes June 27, 2023 Page 1 If council, mayor and/or the public want to make a change in 2024, now is the time to begin discussing it. Capital plans are 6 and 20 years because planning, identifying funding, etc. often takes years. Capital projects and programming are based on planning documents developed with public input such as the PROS Plan. When something new is added mid -stream, something else has to come off staff s plate which is why it is important for staff to know the council's priorities. Another improvement this year is having review of the capital and operating budget earlier in schedule which provides more time for discussion, working through the numbers, etc. It will also be helpful moving forward for councilmembers to spent time with staff researching ideas and concepts to determine the goal, intent, costs, etc. She recommended staff share their annual work plans so council is aware of what departments are working on and to help the council understand the priorities staff is implementing. She also suggested departments submit quarterly updates to show how they are tracking on their work plan. With regard to budget proposals, she suggested councilmembers provide staff their goal or vision instead of a small project that may not meet that goal. For example, Councilmember Nand's proposal last year for beautification outside the downtown area to include trash and recycling bins, flower baskets, and benches on all four corners of major intersections. Although she was able to put rough cost estimates together, she knew some of it wasn't feasible but did not have time for further research. Once she had more time and understood the intent, she was able to develop a more viable, feasible project to fulfill the goal/intent. She suggested council propose the "what," and staff determine the "how." Ms. Feser provided another example, a decision package from Councilmembers Chen and Teitzel for a dock at a street right-of-way on Lake Ballinger. She understood the intent was to increase access to Lake Ballinger, but a better idea was an ILA with Mountlake Terrace in their current project which would leverage much more opportunity and cost much less. Councilmember Chen commented that was a separate budget item. Ms. Feser summarized, a councilmember could suggest providing more access for Edmonds residents to Lake Ballinger and staff could develop more cost effective ways. Ms. Feser provided a third example, Councilmember Olson's proposal to replace gas powered hand tools with electric. Although very well intended and a great opportunity for many reasons, it got lost in the weeds because council got involved in the details of how to make it happen instead of allowing staff to figure that out. A better way would be to ask what are 2-3 things that could be done to encourage people to replace gas powered hand tools with electric and allow staff to develop ideas. She suggested decision packages would be more successful if councilmembers shared their idea, goal, and/or intent and allow staff to propose ideas to support it. Discussion followed regarding the perception that council is directing staff, councilmembers doing research to move their goals forward via the budget process, staff potentially not being able to fulfill every request, and allowing staff to help councilmembers reach their objectives. Councilmembers practiced phrasing potential decision packages as a question for staff to respond to: Original Question More Broad Request Can we hire 10 new police officers? How can we improve public safety? Can we do an ILA with Esperance for the dog How can we leverage City resources in an ark? existing amenity that provides additional access? Can we provide a child friendly sculpture park at How can the City provide additional art on the the Burlington Coat Facto site? Highway 99 corridor? How can we harness the volunteer capability of What can we do to have a more robust, more this amazingly willing community in all aspects assessable volunteer program throughout the of City life? city? Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes June 27, 2023 Page 2 Can we reduce the number of consultants the City hires? What are the implications of reducing consultants? Tree board voted not to pursue a heritage tree What are spending priorities related to the Urban program and do not want it funded in the budget. Forest Management Plan? How could a tree voucher program be implemented? How can we reduce speeding on 76t' Avenue How can we address speeding in the City? West? I Prioritize 76t' Ave W. C. BUDGET OUTREACH — REVIEW FEEDBACK Council Executive Assistant Beckie Peterson reviewed data provided to council: • Draft minutes June 12 budget workshop • Draft minutes June 20 public hearing • Draft minutes June 22 budget workshop • Input from boards and commissions regarding budget priorities • Online feedback form — SurveyMonkey report of responses 0 125 responses ■ All but 7 responses from unique IP addresses (duplicates may be from shared IP address) o Survey outreach via media, City's website, QR codes and announced at council meetings o Survey is not representative or statistically significant o Survey questions Q1. Are you an Edmonds resident Q2. Where do you live in Edmonds? (general neighborhood/area) Q3. What is your connection to Edmonds? Q4. During our budget retreat, councilmembers identified several areas they would like to see emphasized in upcoming years. Which do you think the City should prioritize? (public safety, community spaces, city government, environment -watershed, neighborhoods, human services) Q5. To balance the 2024 Budget as required by law, the City of Edmonds has a number of options to consider. Which option would you prefer the City use if needed to balance its budget? (reduction in level of City services, reduce/eliminate services, increase user fees, increase property taxes, other) Q6. What are specific items that you would like to preserve funding for in the 2024 Budget? Q7. What are specific items that you would like to reduce funding for in the 2024 Budget? Q8. Are there new items that you think would be helpful to consider for the 2024 Budget? Discussion followed regarding concern 125 responses was an insignificant percentage of the City's 43,000 residents, professional services that would be required to conduct a statistically significant survey, using the information provided to guide a statistically significant survey, surveys done by the City of Kirkland, building on data via repeat surveys, incorporating a survey into the City newsletter, and survey methods (passive versus representative of the City's demographic). D. "CAN WE?" BRAINSTORMING, CLARIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION — COUNCIL PRESIDENT Councilmembers participated in a series of exercises: • Review the information and identify themes that can be used to form questions. • Develop a list of questions to address the themes such as, can we, how can we, what can we, etc. • Councilmembers divided into two groups (Tibbott/Teitzel/Nand & Chen/Olson/Buckshnis). Combine similar questions/intentions into one and put best questions/intentions on post -it notes to share with the group and eventually refine for inclusion in the resolution. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes June 27, 2023 Page 3 Ms. Feser anticipated these exercises could result in fewer council decision packages; last year there were 78. Councilmembers shared the questions they developed: 1. How can we reduce property crime in our city? 2. How can we improve public safety in high crime areas? 3. How can we add a police substation to Highway 99? 4. How can we significantly improve response to medical/fire emergencies at the waterfront? 5. How do we improve walkability in all neighborhoods? 6. What are non -sidewalk safety methods to protect pedestrians and non -motorized traffic? 7. What can we do to reduce speeding on our streets? S. How can we reduce speeding in key problem areas? 76t1i, Olympic View Drive, 9' Avenue, 190t''9. 9. How can we start leveraging our volunteers better? 10. Can we harness volunteer labor and knowledge for the benefit of our city/city budget? 11. How can we improve our organizational structure to deliver better outcomes? 12. How can we improve the accountability of staff outcomes? (REDI manager, Code rewrite, comp plan) 13. How can we increase beautification in all business districts in Edmonds? 14. What can we do to increase direct human services to vulnerable populations in the city, especially Hwy 99? 15. What city buildings need repair or replacement in the near future and how can we prioritize a list to fix them? 16. How can we increase our public green spaces and preserve our mature tree canopy? 17. How can we provide watercraft access to Lake Ballinger for our residents? 18. How can we evaluate consultant/ contractor spending to ensure prudent choices? 19. How do we determine the best system for electing Councilmembers in Edmonds? 20. How can we collect relevant and statistically valid data for informing decision makers? 21. How do we work better with other south County regarding Ethics Boards? 22. How can we get trash collection service at SW County Park? 23. How do we deal with graffiti, trash and abandoned shopping cards around town? 24. How can we achieve a balanced budget without drawing down fund balances? 25. How can we have accuracy of questions and projections? 26. How can we prioritize ADA compliance throughout the city? 27. How can we accelerate street and sidewalk installation and maintenance? 28. How do we get positive environmental action on our waterways and creeks? 29. How can we fix the environmental issues in Perrinville? E. COUNCIL RESOLUTION Council President Tibbott advised councilmembers can submit additional questions/intentions for the next week to the council office. The list will then be refined and put in the form of a resolution. 4. ADJOURN With no further business, the special council meeting was adjourned at 6:32 p.m. CSZ:9�_� SCOTT PASSE , CLERK Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes June 27, 2023 Page 4