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02/27/2007 City CouncilFebruary 27, 2007 Following a Special Meeting at 6:45 p.m. to interview an Arts Commission candidate, the Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Haakenson in the Council Chambers, 250 51h Avenue North, Edmonds. The meeting was opened with the flag salute. ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Gary Haakenson, Mayor Peggy Pritchard Olson, Council President Michael Plunkett, Councilmember Richard Marin, Councilmember Mauri Moore, Councilmember Dave Orvis, Councilmember Ron Wambolt, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT Deanna Dawson, Councilmember 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA STAFF PRESENT Gerry Gannon, Assistant Police Chief Duane Bowman, Development Services Director Stephen Clifton, Community Services Director Dan Clements, Administrative Services Director Kathleen Junglov, Asst. Admin. Services Dir. Rob Chave, Planning Manager Dave Gebert, City Engineer Don Sims, Traffic Engineer Frances Chapin, Cultural Services Manager Sandy Chase, City Clerk Jana Spellman, Senior Executive Council Asst. Jeannie Dines, Recorder COUNCILMEMBER MARIN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOORE, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS COUNCILMEMBER MARIN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOORE, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The agenda items approved are as follows: A. ROLL CALL Approve 2/20/07 B. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 20, 2007. Minutes Approve I C. APPROVAL OF CLAIM CHECKS #94366 THROUGH #94503 FOR FEBRUARY 22, 2007 Claim Checks IN THE AMOUNT OF $517,224.00. APPROVAL OF PAYROLL DIRECT DEPOSITS AND CHECKS #44519 THROUGH #44565 FOR THE PERIOD OF FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2007 IN THE AMOUNT OF $766,144.76. Claim for I Damages D. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF CLAIM FOR DAMAGES FROM DARROL HAUG (AMOUNT UNDETERMINED). Arts 3. CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENT OF GREG BANASEK TO THE ARTS Commission COMMISSION. Appointment Cultural Services Manager Frances Chapin introduced Greg Banasek and described his background. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 1 COUNCILMEMBER MOORE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PLUNKETT, TO CONFIRM THE APPOINTMENT OF GREG BANASEK TO THE ARTS COMMISSION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Banasek thanked the Council for the opportunity to serve on the Arts Commission. Mayor Haakenson thanked him for volunteering to serve. 2007 Limited 4. 2007 LIMITED OBLIGATION BOND SALE. Obligation Bond sale Administrative Services Director Dan Clements introduced the City's Financial Advisor Allen Dashen, A Dashen & Associates. Mr. Dashen displayed a graph of interest rate trends for the past year and since 1987, commenting interest rates had not been this low since the pre -President Nixon days. He reviewed a list of purposes for the $5,230,000 bond sale, noting only a small amount was General Fund moneys with most paid by utilities and other sources. Mr. Dashen explained the City applied for a rating on the City's bonds from Moody's Investors Service who confirmed the City's Al rating on Limited Tax Bonds and confirmed the AA3 rating for voted bonds. He noted this placed the City's rate in the top tier of cities in. Washington State. He relayed comments made by Moody's including strong tax base appreciation in affluent community just north of Seattle; City's financial operations are well managed, benefiting from a combination of spending practices and healthy revenue growth; and favorable comments about fund balances. Mr. Dashen explained the bonds were structured to be "bank qualified" which results in a lower interest rate to the City, approximately 4% lower. The bonds mature over 20 years and were sold through a competitive bid process with firms nationwide bidding on the City's bonds. The City received 11 bids; PNC Capital Markets was the winning bidder. He displayed a list of bidders, noting 2-3 were within .01 % of each other. He reviewed the source and uses of the funds, advising the net from the sale was $5,205,734. He recommended approval of the sale resolution. COUNCILMEMBER MOORE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER ORVIS, FOR APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION NO. 1142. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The resolution reads as follows: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, ACCEPTING THE BID OF PNC CAPITAL MARKETS LLC FOR $5,230,000 PAR VALUE LIMITED TAX GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, 2007, OF THE CITY; FIXING THE INTEREST RATES AND MATURITY SCHEDULE ON THOSE BONDS; AND PROVIDING FOR OTHER MATTERS PROPERLY RELATING THERETO. Historic 5. ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION. Preservation Commission— Historic Preservation Commissioners Steven Waite, Rob Van Tassell, Norma Bruns, Christine Deiner- Karr, and Barbara Kindness introduced themselves. (Commissioners Brian Hall and Deborah Binder were absent.) Commissioner Kindness advised the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) meets the second Tuesday of each month in the Fourtner Room of City Hall. She advised the meetings were open to the public and they encourage attendance and participation from interested citizens. Councilmember Plunkett is the Council liaison on the Commission and staff assistance is provided by Rob Chave and Diane Cunningham. Commissioner Kindness invited the Chair of each of the Commission's four subcommittees to report on. their activities. Commissioner Van Tassell reported the Planning Committee's recent efforts focused on Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 2 the downtown core, which they called the heritage neighborhood area, and providing guidance for design with regard to historic preservation. Their efforts resulted in a draft document that had been circulated to the Council's Community Services/Development Services committee and the public. The next step would be to share the draft with the Planning Board and the City Attorney before presenting it to the Council for codification. The Planning Committee also developed the Commission's Strategic Plan. Commissioner Kindness advised Commissioner Waite, Chair of the Incentives Committee, also developed the walking tour. Commissioner Waite explained one of the challenges for the Incentives Committee was convincing building owners to retain their structures as they had the right to demolish. their structure. He noted buildings on the Historic Register were community assets and part of a collection of structures and sites that created Edmonds' image. Incentives for structures on the Historic Register could include an expedited permit process or a reduction in permit fees. The Committee has also been reviewing the International Existing Building Code which has been adopted in other cities. Commissioner Waite described the walking tour attended by Councilmembers, ADB and Planning Board Members, staff and the public to look at existing buildings in the City and point out architectural characteristics that define the City. He offered to conduct another tour in the spring. He advised there were buildings in the community that represent each decade from 1890. Commissioner Deiner-Karr, Chair of the Registration Committee, referred to a list of applications for registration that have been submitted. She explained five private property applications were submitted in 2006; one of the properties, the August Johnson House, which has been reviewed and approved by the HPC and the Planning Board, would be presented to the Council for approval in the near future. In addition, ten properties that are already on the State Historical Register have submitted applications as part of the expedited process for registering properties on the State and National Registers. The Commission hopes to have these properties through the registration process by the end of the first quarter in 2007. Once these properties were approved, she advised plaques would be installed on the properties. Commissioner Kindness advised 83 properties in the downtown core met the criteria for historic preservation. Once these initial properties were approved, the Commission planned to encourage other property owners to apply for designation. Commissioner Bruns reported the primary purpose of the Community Outreach and Education Committee was to educate the public about the existence of the HPC as well as its mission and purpose. Deborah Binder, a member of the committee, raised over $4,000 to produce the walking tour brochure that highlights 27 historic and architectural sites in the downtown core. The brochure has been well. received and is available at local Snohomish County tourist information offices. Work has begun on a companion brochure that will help Edmonds residents understand why and how to register their properties. This brochure is funded by a grant from the Washington State Historic Preservation Office. Commissioner Bruns advised the committee organized a day at the Edmonds Summer Market where they connected with residents and distributed brochures. They plan to do this again in 2007. The committee also wrote several articles in the local newspaper about the HPC's work. Commissioner Bruns advised she is the representative from the Edmonds South Snohomish County Historic Society. She suggested a joint meeting to address the difference between the museum's activities and the HPC's activities. Councilmember Moore asked the difference between the Edmonds South Snohomish County Historic Society and the HPC. Commissioner Bruns explained the Historic Society operates the museum and may put up plaques. She summarized the Historic Society's focus was sites versus individual residences. She relayed the Historic Society planned to fund a plaque for Holmes Corner. Commissioner Waite commented the Historic Society was a repository of information, items and photographs versus the HPC Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 3 which was a City Commission charged with placing buildings and sites on the Edmonds Historic Register. He assured a property added to the Edmonds Historic Register could be easily removed from the register; however, being on the register could provide certain benefits via local government. For Councilmember Moore, Commissioner Waite described benefits of being on the Edmonds Historic Register which include freezing the value of any improvements for ten years. There are also tax credits available from being on the National Register. He explained being on the Edmonds Historic Register was an honorarium that illustrated the property owners' interest in historic preservation and may increase the structure's value. Councilmember Moore asked whether the 83 structures that met the Commission's criteria were all in the downtown core. Commissioner Kindness advised they were. Commissioner Waite noted these included commercial buildings as well. Commissioner Kindness advised the advisory board identified over 1000 properties that were over 50 years old. The survey only detailed the downtown area and identified 83 properties. Commissioner Deiner-Karr advised the 83 properties also included structures less than 50 years old that were architecturally unique. She noted there were also properties for which an application had been submitted that were not on the list but research found they had historically unique character. Councilmember Moore asked whether the owners of the 83 properties had been notified their property was identified on the survey. Commissioner Deiner-Karr advised some had been contacted; a notification strategy was being considered. Councilmember Plunkett recognized Historic Preservation Commissioners for their specific efforts and thanked the Council for providing the funds for the survey of downtown properties and funds for plaques. Councilmember Plunkett referred to the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission Conceptual Design Standards for possible Heritage Neighborhood provided by the Historic Preservation Commission, advising these were design standards, not guidelines as the intent was to codify the standards for the BD zone so that new construction or renovation was required to meet historic standards. He noted the design. standards were the result of the work of Mark Hinshaw as well as Rob Chave. Councilmember Plunkett referred to the comment in the Planning report that the next step in the process was to share the draft with the Planning Board, expressing concern with the possibility of forwarding the draft to the Planning Board before the Council approved the concept. Commissioner Van Tassell commented the intent of the presentation to the Community Services/Development Services Committee was to obtain input from the Council. He urged the Council to provide additional feedback. Councilmember Plunkett preferred the Council approve the concept before the draft was forwarded to the Planning Board. Commissioner Waite envisioned workshops with the Planning Board as well as input from the public. Councilmember Marin recalled the draft was presented to the Community Services/Development Services Committee and after further review, he was prepared to provide feedback. He was satisfied with forwarding the Design Guidelines for Building Design (pages 5-14) to the Planning Board immediately. Recognizing the need for incentives to encourage property owners to register their properties, he suggested the next priority for the Commission be to finalize a recommendation on incentives, present it to the Community Services/Development Services Committee, then to the Council and then to the Planning Board. He was uncomfortable with the first four pages of the draft code language. Due to the shift of the ADB review to the beginning of the process, he was not comfortable with having two Historic Preservation Commissioners be voting members on the ADB but did not object to two Commissioners serving in an advisory role on the ADB. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 4 With regard to the language requiring HPC review of demolition applications, Councilmember Marin noted this review was too late in the process. He preferred property owners be encouraged to preserve their buildings via incentives for registry. He was satisfied with the language regarding dimensions. Councilmember Plunkett asked staff to speak to design guidelines versus design standards. Planning Manager Rob Chave recalled the Commission's feeling was that these items were important enough that all buildings in the downtown core should respond to them and therefore were more appropriate as standards in the code. He agreed with the suggestion for Historic Preservation Commissioners to advise the ADB, noting the logistics would need to be worked out. Mr. Chave advised the demolition standards required further review by the City Attorney which could be accomplished during the Planning Board's review. He noted the draft was primarily a HPC product and had not had a detailed review by staff. For Councilmember Plunkett, Mr. Chave advised the entire document could be forwarded to the Planning Board for review or forward only pages 5-14 and after further refinement, forward pages 1-4. Councilmember Wambolt was comfortable with forwarding the design standards developed by Mr. Hinshaw and refined by Mr. Chave to the Planning Board, suggesting the document prepared by ACE accompany the design standards. Council President Olson suggested as ACE was not a City organization, the information prepared by ACE could be provided to the Planning Board for their deliberations. Councilmember Wambolt agreed as long as the Planning Board reviewed the information. Councilmember Plunkett was reluctant for the Council to forward the ACE document as well as the first four pages of the discussion document to avoid the appearance that the Council was endorsing it in concept. He noted ACE or any other individual or group could submit information to the Planning Board. He supported forwarding the Historic Design Standards to the Planning Board. Councilmember Marin agreed the ACE material should not accompany the design standards and suggested ACE provide the material to the Planning Board. Councilmember Moore asked what happened if the Council did not act on the design standards tonight. Commissioner Van Tassel] answered forwarding one without the other would be out of context. He preferred the documents be forwarded to the Planning Board together as one document. Councilmember Orvis inquired about the provision to relocate a historic building. Commissioner Van Tassell answered the August Johnson House was an example of an opportunity for a house to be moved to an appropriate location and remain on the registry. Councilmember Orvis asked if the building could be moved outside the Heritage Neighborhood. Commissioner Van Tassell answered yes, which would allow construction of a new building on the site. Councilmember Orvis asked whether dimensional waivers would be addressed by grandfathering. Commissioner Van Tassell answered a house that was out of compliance may be required to be brought into compliance when improvements were made. Commissioner Waite advised the City Attorney was drafting verbiage regarding non-compliance. He advised this provision would allow improvements to a structure without penalty. Councilmember Orvis agreed there appeared to be issues on the first four pages that needed to be addressed. He preferred the members representing the HPC on the ADB be voting members. He recommended withholding the dimensional section to ensure historic issues were mitigated. He preferred the Council address these issues before forwarding them to the Planning Board but was comfortable forwarding the design standards section to the Planning Board. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 5 Councilmember Plunkett observed the design standards on pages 5-14 were code and pages 1-4 were policy. The Planning Board could begin reviewing the design standards while the Council discussed the policy issues further. He preferred the Council discuss the policy issues further before forwarding them to the Planning Board. Councilmember Moore noted the usual process was for the Planning Board to do this preliminary work and gather public input. She preferred the entire document be forwarded to the Planning Board at once. Councilmember Wambolt understood from the HPC that the first four pages were a work in progress and the Commission needed to answer the questions posed in the document before the Council could deliberate on it. Commissioner Van Tassell commented the intent of tonight's meeting was not to discuss the document but rather to present the HPC's work. For Councilmember Moore, Mr. Chave explained the design guidelines developed by the ADB were more general in nature and addressed many areas in the City; the HPC's design standards were tailored to a specific district. He recalled the intent was as design standards for individual neighborhoods/districts were developed, the ADB's review would occur at the beginning of the process. The new design review process that would be presented to the Council next month included an up -front design review and identification of which areas it would apply to. The draft identified the Hwy. 99 CG zones as well as downtown. That could also include these design standards for a portion of downtown. Councilmember Moore asked if the HPC was comfortable with the entire document. Commissioner Van Tassell stated there were still many questions to be answered in the draft discussion document. Councilmember Marin suggested adding `BDl" and "preserve and mimic historic architectural design elements and provide a mechanism to participate in the review of proposed projects" to the first paragraph of the Purpose section. He explained the intent was to encourage the preservation of buildings with historical architectural significance and if the owner was not interested in preserving the building, require that they mimic the architectural features of a good downtown. Whether that isolated a period of 1890 to 1930 was not as important because the elements identified in design standards that made a good downtown in 1930 also made a good downtown retail core today and in the future. With the addition, he supported forwarding the purpose section to the Planning Board to provide context for the design standards. Council President Olson asked when the Planning Board could begin reviewing the design standards. Mr. Chave answered the Planning Board would begin their review when the Council referred it. Council President Olson was concerned with slowing the process. Mr. Chave asked whether the Council wanted the HPC to do further refinement and return it to the Council or forward it to the Planning Board. Councilmember Moore commented the intent was always for the Arts Corridor to be different from the downtown zones. She suggested consideration be given to how the design standards would apply to the Arts Corridor, acknowledging it may require coordination with the Arts Commission. COUNCILMEMBER PLUNKETT MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MARIN, TO FORWARD TO THE PLANNING BOARD THE HISTORIC DESIGN STANDARDS WITH THE PURPOSE PREAMBLE AS AMENDED BY COUNCILMEMBER MARIN. Councilmember Moore advised she would not support the motion as the HPC requested more time to work on the document. Councilmember Plunkett commented the portion the HPC wanted to work on was the discussion document; the Commission and Mr. Chave were comfortable with forwarding the historic design standards to the Planning Board. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 6 Commissioners agreed with forwarding the design standards to the Planning Board with revised purpose statement, noting the remainder of the draft discussion document was still under construction. Mayor Haakenson was concerned the Planning Board would review the design standards and then later receive the discussion/policy portion of the document. Councilmember Plunkett pointed out the Planning Board could begin their review of the design standards, noting there were still policy issues to be resolved. He was concerned with forwarding the policy issues to the Planning Board before the Council had reached a consensus on those concepts. Councilmember Moore preferred to complete both documents before forwarding them to the Planning Board. The Planning Board had many other items they were working on. Mayor Haakenson advised the Planning Board had recently prioritized their schedule for the next five months. Commissioner Kindness advised the subcommittee could complete the first four pages at their next meeting. Councilmember Plunkett commented his concern was it had taken three months to get to this point and was concerned there would be further delay. He was frustrated with the pace and with the number of unanswered questions on the first four pages. If the policy portion could be returned to the Council within a month, he was comfortable with forwarding the entire document to the Planning Board at one time. Councilmember Orvis observed there were two different documents, design standards and implementation, and did not think they necessarily needed to be forwarded to the Planning Board at the same time. Councilmember Moore and Council President Olson supported allowing the HPC additional time to complete their work and forward both parts to the Planning Board at one time. Councilmember Marin was anxious to move forward but was willing to allow the HPC more time. COUNCILMEMBER PLUNKETT WITHDREW HIS MOTION WITH THE AGREEMENT OF THE SECOND. Councilmember Plunkett clarified his expectation was the HPC's review would be completed in 30 days and if not, he wanted the design standards to be forwarded to the Planning Board. Councilmembers discussed whether to forward the document to the Planning Board or return it to the City Council to resolve the policy issues and agreed the HPC would return to the full Council with the intent of reviewing and forwarding the document to the Planning Board that night. 6. PRESENTATION OF HIGHWAY 99 TRAFFIC CIRCULATION AND SAFETY STUDY Hwy 99 Traffic REPORT. THE HIGHWAY 99 TASK FORCE WILL ALSO BRIEF COUNCIL ON POTENTIAL Circulation REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS UNDER STUDY. and Safety Study J Councilmember Marin advised the intent of the Hwy. 99 Taskforce's work was to provide synergy and momentum to attract projects to the Hwy. 99 corridor that would enhance the neighborhood and the City in general. Traffic Engineer Don Sims explained there were 35,000 vehicle trips per day in the Hwy. 99 corridor, predicted to increase to 50,000 vehicle trips per day in the next 20 years. He advised it was a challenging corridor for pedestrians and was extensively used by transit. Mr. Sims introduced Dan Hansen, Perteet Engineering, who reviewed the project development process which included review of existing conditions, identification of deficiencies, technical workshops, development of alternatives, evaluation of alternatives and final recommendations. He reviewed project Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 7 goals which included evaluating transportation needs, considering potential redevelopment, prioritizing a list of projects, identifying projects for early implementation and adoption by the City Council. He displayed a map of the SR99 study area from SR104 to 212th along the Hwy. 99 corridor and one block on each side. He displayed an aerial map of the existing land uses that include multi family housing, hospital, commercial and car dealerships. He identified the level of service (LOS) at intersections, noting there were several at LOS E and F, the worst being 220th. Mr. Hansen explained there were few opportunities for pedestrians to cross the corridor; there were no crossings between 224th and 238th. He noted there were multi family developments in this area as well as numerous transit users who were stranded on one side of the road without a crossing, necessitating they cross at unsignalized intersections. He displayed a chart illustrating accident data for the corridor, advising there had been approximately 600 accidents in a three year period. He reviewed collisions by type at 220th Street SW, at 224th, at 76th, and along the corridor. Mr. Hansen explained the SR99 Technical Advisory Committee was comprised of staff from Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and WSDOT. The Committee participated in design workshops and developed a list of project alternatives. He described the Committee's review of the effectiveness of the ten alternatives based on political feasibility and acceptance; reduction of travel time; improvement in vehicle safety; transit passenger access, convenience and safety; bicycle access, convenience and safety; aesthetics/quality of user experience; neighborhood impacts; environmental impacts; and project costs and benefits. Mr. Hansen reviewed the following eight recommended projects: 1. Traffic Signal at SR99 & 2281h Street SW and 761h Street improvements 2. Capacity improvements at SR99 & 212th Street SW 3. Capacity improvements at SR99 & 216th Street SW 4. Continuous illumination 5. Right turn pocket at 220th Street SW 6. SR1.04 to 238th Street SW safety improvements 7. 220th to 224th median and safety improvements 8. 234th to 238th median and safety improvements Mr. Hansen explained two other projects, a traffic signal at 240th Street SW and a traffic signal at 234th Street SW, were considered but not recommended. He noted the SR99 BRT Study recommended a stop at 220th which was being pursued by Community Transit. He identified next steps that include incorporating the projects into the CIP, the City proceeding with 30% design and applying for regional grant funding. Councilmember Marin explained the intent of the Hwy. 99 Taskforce was to identify impediments to development while being sensitive to adjoining neighborhoods. The intent was to advance some of the projects identified via the traffic study to the CIP and fund them to a 30% design level so that they were ready to compete for grant funding. Councilmember Marin displayed a preliminary sketch of the Magic Toyota property, pointing out a multi- story parking structure on the south end of the property that would allow the dealership to accomplish the necessary amount of space. He noted this was the same dealer who developed a flagship US dealership in Bellevue and planned to do a similar development in Edmonds. He noted car dealerships generated a substantial amount of the City's tax revenue. One of the challenges of developing property on Hwy. 99 in the Edmonds area was there were few large parcels and many of the developments needed more property. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 8 Councilmember Marin introduced property owner Dale Behar who described his plans to develop the property on the corner of 220`h and Hwy. 99. Mr. Behar explained the site is approximately 6.5 acres and contains 4-5 occupied buildings. He displayed a rendering of their vision, advising they hoped to begin construction in 2009. The project is 460,000 square feet total; 100,000 square feet on the ground floor for retail/restaurants, approximately 100,000 square feet of office space and approximately 300,000 square feet of apartments. When the project is complete, there will be 350-400 residents and a daily workforce of 700-800. He plans to develop the site with a new cutting edge, green, transit -oriented project. He expects between 8,000-9,000 visitors per day, noting providing parking for that volume is daunting, thus they need help from transit. He envisions investing upward of $120 million and expects to open the development in 2010 with occupancy occurring in 2010-2011. Mr. Behar described benefits of the project including an opportunity for longer hours for retailers due to workforce arriving early and residential users later which resulted in more profitability for retailers and more sales tax for the City. He explained they were in negotiations with Community Transit for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop, envisioning the BRT stop and the transit -oriented development as flagships for the nation. He noted the sustainability they planned to market for the development had previously only been done for luxury projects. He acknowledged they had no commitment from Community Transit with regard to the BRT stop, and without a BRT stop, the project would be different than proposed. Mayor Haakenson asked Mr. Behar to describe where he wanted the BRT stop to be, the use of each of the buildings on the site, and underground parking. Mr. Behar explained in talking with Community Transit, the bus stop may be located on the southern edge of the property to provide more space from the intersection. The small building near the bus stop would contain a coffee shop/restaurant for transit users. He described their plans to provide a readerboard in each building displaying next bus information, commenting Community Transit did not think this was necessary as the buses would run very frequently. He described proposed uses on the site including the coffee shop/restaurant near the bus stop, a bookstore/coffee shop, Starbucks, sit-down restaurant, commercial uses, medical office building, and possibly a bicycle barn in the rear adjacent to the interurban trail. He also described underground parking, accessed from 220th, that would be provided via taking advantage of the natural slope. Councilmember Moore commented this was the most exciting thing she had heard in the past three years and thanked Mr. Behar for working with the Hwy. 99 Taskforce. She asked whether he was working with Community Transit on commuter parking. Mr. Behar advised they were not currently planning any commuter parking. He noted additional parking would require extensive excavation and considerable expense. The parking they planned to provide would serve the residents, workforce and customers. He noted building parking was one of the most expensive components of this project. Councilmember Moore recalled Sound Transit was always concerned with whether their riders could park. For Councilmember Moore, Mr. Behar advised this project on the southeast corner of the Hwy. 99 & 220th intersection was entirely within the Edmonds city limits. With regard to the transit arrival time clock, Councilmember Moore commented she recently returned from Washington DC and although the trains arrive frequently, there was a countdown clock. Mr. Behar advised they would like to have a countdown clock in the lobby of the residential building, office and in retail spaces, noting it would provide shoppers more freedom. Councilmember Marin displayed photographs of buses proposed for the BRT service, noting they had wheel skirts so that they resembled a light rail -type train and wide doors to allow passengers to enter and exit at the same time at three different locations on the bus. Community Transit recently approved the sale of fare media at the station rather than on the bus. He displayed a drawing of the Swift Station concept, advising BRT would compliment Route 101 with very frequent service. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 9 Councilmember Marin advised next Stevens Hospital would describe plans for their campus. Mike Carter, Stevens Hospital Chief Executive Officer, stated they were very excited to have begun the planning process for the next addition to Stevens Hospital. Thirty days ago they began the process for a Master Site Facilities Plan and hired Callison Architects to assist them. He introduced Bob Hutnik, Callison Architects, and Sarah Zabel, Vice President Campus Development. Polly Pool, Stevens Hospital, a participant on the Hwy. 99 Taskforce, advised 2006 marked the year that Stevens Hospital successfully completed a 2-year turnaround effort as well as launched a new era of leadership and strategic thinking, planning and action. The 3-year Strategic Plan, coupled with their 2007 Business Plan had a component that was key to this discussion — to initiate an aggressive time table and planning effort to replace, expand, modify and maintain Stevens Hospital campus facilities to meet the community's needs. She described their efforts to fix up the facilities including power washing and scrubbing of the building exterior, painting internal accent colors in public corridors and several outpatient treatment areas, redecorating physician -occupied spaces, and replacing tired flooring on the first floor of the east building utilizing color points to facilitate wayfinding. Ms. Pool displayed an aerial photograph of the Stevens Hospital campus and described the launch of the Master Site Facilities Planning process that included Callison Architects walking all the buildings and the campus to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. The next step is considering the campus and building needs and uses through the eyes of community stakeholders. She displayed a comparison of tax support for hospital districts via bond/levy rates, commenting the Stevens Hospital bond would be retired in a few years, currently assessed at a rate of 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. She summarized the Master Site Facilities Plan process identified the vision for the future, Stevens Hospital would seek to partner with the community for support of the vision — to be a trusted and financially strong provider of high quality healthcare services who collaborates with others to creatively respond to healthcare needs in a diverse community. She hoped to bring their depiction of the vision to future work sessions upon completion of the Master Site Facilities Plan in order to share their vision and make a compelling case for needs, development, replacement and/or building on the Stevens Hospital campus. Councilmember Marin summarized the vision was to transform the community hospital into a regional facility. He hoped this presentation demonstrated interest in development in the Hwy. 99 corridor. Councilmember Moore commented Stevens Hospital was an asset to the area and she looked forward to supporting them in the future. She complimented Councilmember Marin for his original request to fund the study and his efforts on the Hwy. 99 Taskforce, noting this was the result of very hard work. COUNCILMEMBER MOORE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER WAMBOLT, TO APPROVE THE REPORT AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HIGHWAY 99 TRAFFIC CIRCULATION AND SAFETY STUDY. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Dave Page, Edmonds, commented the Hwy. 99 report was an example of partnering with private Lake enterprise. Speaking on behalf of the Lake Ballinger Community Association, he described problems Ballinger with flooding, and a bigger problem caused by pollutants from the over 2,000 storm drains that flow into Lake Ballinger from. Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, and Shoreline. He referred to the dead zone in Lake Ballinger each summer due to the pollutants. He noted development on Hwy. 99 presented a great opportunity to address pollutants that flow into Lake Ballinger. He noted Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and Edmonds funded a study to address the problem; Lynnwood which is accountable for Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 10 approximately 22% of the pollutants, did not participate in the study. He noted the importance of educating the public that the storm drains flowed into Lake Ballinger. He also noted the Lake was eligible for state and federal grants to address stream and lake pollutants. He advised he was speaking to all the City Councils whose storm drains flowed into Lake Ballinger. xistoric Roger Hertrieh, Edmonds, referred to the picture on the front of the Historic Design Standards that Design portrayed a three story building although the Council had recently approved regulations allowing only Standards two stories. He noted pages 5, 7, 8 and 9 also portrayed three story buildings. He concluded this provided the wrong impression for developers and he suggested the pictures be revised. Next he pointed Councily 20 out the detail regarding his concern with ADB Chair Utt's conduct had been omitted from the minutes of Minutes the February 20 Council meeting. He requested the minutes be revised. 8. INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL REPORTS ON OUTSIDE COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETINGS CTAC Council President Olson reported the Community Technology Advisory Committee meeting was postponed to March 20. F,dmonds Councilmember Moore reported she was on the Board of Trustees for Edmonds Community College and Convnunity had a meeting with legislators in Washington DC where they lobbied for money for community colleges cortege nationwide, statewide and specifically for Edmonds Community College. She also reported the community Community Outreach Committee received a report from the CTAC Committee, made a decision to outreach include senior activities on Channel 21, is working with Edmonds School District and Edmonds Conunittce Community College regarding ideas for Channel 21, and is working on a mission statement. Barking Committee Councilmember Plunkett reported the Parking Committee was discussing fine levels for parking violations and signs to direct visitors to parking. Historic Councilmember Plunkett explained he was anxious to forward the historic design standards to the resign Planning Board as the standards and process concepts were unchanged since December. In January the sta�zdards Commission discussed historic districts and in February the Commission toured downtown. He was frustrated with the delay as applications for new buildings and renovations downtown continued to be submitted. He looked forward to further review in 30 days. Sound Transit Councilmember Marin reported Sound Transit and RTID were conducting public outreach that included five open houses to explain the November joint ballot. He invited the public to attend the open house at the Lynnwood Convention Center on March 15 where graphics and charts of Sound Transit and RTID's plans would be displayed. Port Councilmember Wambolt reported the Port Commission continued their support of economic commission development via helping finance the Bird Fest. They also authorized the Executive Director to seek State emergency disaster assistance for December storm damage. He asked whether the City had applied for any disaster relief funds. Mayor Haakenson advised the City had not had a great deal of storm -related damage but had applied for emergency funds to cover storm -related staff overtime. Councilmember Wambolt reported the Port planned to hold a retreat at the Port of Bremerton on April 24-25. Salmon Councilmember Orvis reported the Salmon Recovery Council, formerly WRIA 8, elected officers and Recovery discussed the potential for State funding. He noted funding was currently provided by King County Council Conservation district, a levy on King County citizens. Next, Councilmember Orvis reported on the LodgingTax Lodging Tax Advisory Committee meeting that included discussion of better -than -average projected AdvCommittee revenues reviewed current expenditures which include a great deal of advertising and discussed seeking Committee � p g g g cost estimates for advertising in local brochures. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page I I 9. MAYOR'S COMMENTS cell Phones at Mayor Haakenson commented on the large number of cell phones ringing during tonight's Council connoil meeting, commenting there may need to be a sign posted on the door reminding the public to turn off their Meetings cell phones. Mayor Haakenson complimented the Council for serving on outside regional committees, commenting on the importance of those regional relationships to the City. Mayor Haakenson found it gratifying to finally have Mr. Behar's project talked about publicly, noting it had been discussed for the past couple years. He remarked projects like that along with the waterfront redevelopment created exciting times for Edmonds. 10. COUNCIL COMMENTS Add agenda Councilmember Moore noted Councilmembers never have an opportunity to discuss topics for new Item re: New Business business. She suggested discussing at the retreat the addition of an agenda item where Councilmembers could discuss new business. Next, Councilmember Moore reiterated her request for Council President Role of Council on Olson to define the role of the Council on the Historic Preservation Commission. HPC Councilmember Moore advised next week's Council meeting would include a public hearing on the Design � Guidelines ADB s design guidelines and the Historic Preservation Commission is developing historic design standards for the downtown area as well as a design review process. She suggested after the ADB design guidelines are reviewed, the Historic Preservation Commission's design standards be incorporated. Old Milltown 1 Councilmember Wambolt commented Old Milltown was at a stage where the developer could proceed as there had not been any appeals. He referred to a quote from a citizen in last week's Enterprise that getting the city sued did not protect the city's interests. He was confident there was no current Councilmember who would allow the intimidation of a possible lawsuit to cause them to make what they believed to be the wrong decision. The Council's decision on Old Milltown was what the majority of citizens wanted and the right decision. The result would be a building that was not long, boring and monotonous like the original proposal; the end result was clearly worth the time and agony the Council went through. Councilmember Wambolt referred to another citizen letter in the February 16 edition of the Enterprise, stating Councilmember Wambolt admitted absolute total surprise of the lawsuits. Councilmember Wambolt clarified he was not surprised when he was not told the truth and may be naive to expect anything more from some people. Old Milltown For Councilmember Plunkett, Mayor Haakenson advised there had not been any appeals on the second Old Milltown application. Councilmember Plunkett commented that because there was a lawsuit pending, the Council needed to be careful what they said about it. Mayor Haakenson agreed Councilmembers needed to be careful not to talk about the first application. 1.1. ADJOURN With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 27, 2007 Page 12