CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, April 4, 2016 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall
7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Roberts, Deputy Mayor Winstead,
Councilmembers McGlashan, Scully, Hall, McConnell, and Salomon
ABSENT: None
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Roberts who presided.
2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL
Mayor Roberts led the flag salute. Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.
Mayor Roberts read a proclamation declaring April 2016 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the City of Shoreline. Kerry Burke, Development Officer for the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KSARC) accepted the proclamation. Ms. Burke thanked Council for taking a stand against sexual violence and for their financial support. She said KSARC served 36 Shoreline residents this past year. She shared that “BE LOUD” is their mantra for ending silence and speaking out against sexual assault. She noted there are tools and resources on KSARC’s website to help Community members take a stand.
3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided reports and updates on various City meetings, projects and events.
Megan Smith, King County Climate and Initiatives Director, shared that the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C), of which Shoreline is a member, was recently awarded a national leadership award for its effort to reduce carbon pollution and confront climate change by the Environmental Protection Agency. On behalf of Executive Dow Constantine, she presented the City Council with the Innovative Partnership Certificate.
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember Hall reported attending a joint meeting with the Puget Sound Partnership Board and the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council. He said they reviewed the 2016 Draft Puget Sound Action Agenda which provides actions and strategies for the recovery and restoration of the Puget Sound. He announced that the public open house is scheduled for April 5 and the public comment period is open through April 29. He talked about strategies cities can implement to help, and explained how compact communities around transit oriented development can assist in restoring health to Puget Sound and reduce the carbon footprint. He shared how the Puget Sound Action Agenda and climate change efforts relate to the work performed by the Planning Commission on Light Rail Station Subarea planning.
Deputy Mayor Winstead reported attending a Regional Law, Safety, and Justice Committee meeting and said they received a briefing on the national heroine and opium crisis. She reported that public health experts addressed preventive measures for the increasing heroine and opiate epidemic, and a legal panel presented the law and legal approach to address the crisis. She learned that most addictions begin with illegal drug use and that methadone clinics are important to helping people move past their addictions. She commended the Shoreline Police Department for keeping the Shoreline Methadone Clinic safe.
Councilmember Salomon reported attending a Best Start for Kids meeting. Best Starts for Kids is an initiative to improve the health and well-being of King County by investing in prevention and early intervention for children, youth, families, and communities, which is funded by a levy that will generate $65 million annually. He said he hopes to serve as the Sound Cities Association Representative to the Children and Youth Advisory Board that will provide oversight on how funds are spent.
Councilmember McConnell reported attending the SeaShore Transportation Meeting along with Councilmember McGlashan. She said a Metro update related to ST1, ST2 and ST3 Packages was provided. She shared King County cities in the north end are working together to get funding for SR 523 and SR 522, and stressed the importance of getting parking along the way to the Station. She stated that the City of Lake Forest Park will be contacting staff to write a consolidated message to Sound Transit addressing needs. She then commented on the national heroine epidemic and how deadly the drug is.
Mayor Roberts said he signed a draft letter, on behalf of the City, with other north end mayors in support of the ST3 Package and the inclusion of the 145th Street Corridor. He reported attending the Puget Sound Regional Council Assembly and shared that current officers were reelected and that the agency's 2016-2017 Supplemental Budget and Work Program were approved. He said he expressed Shoreline's concern over the increase in membership fees.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Brad Lancaster, Shoreline resident, commented that he has suggested changes to Shoreline Law to make Shoreline more hospitable to homeless persons including the Open Homes Initiative. He said homeless people are like refugees and read from an article written by Nasser Yassin entitled Lessons in how to absorb refugees. He asked Shoreline to take a lesson from the Lebanese Muslims in dealing with refugees to deal with the homeless.
Dave Lange, Shoreline resident, commented that the wrong photograph of the 145th Street Light Rail Station at the Interstate 5 interchange was displayed in the Currents newsletter and at the Sound Transit meeting. He commented on attending a 522 Transit Now! Meeting and hearing bus rapid transit route preferences. He commented that the Planning Commission is holding a Special Meeting on April 5 and expressed concern that solutions he has presented regarding 145th Street Corridor improvements are not getting attention. He asked Council to take action tonight to move the Station over to 145th Street.
Alvin Rutledge, 32nd District Representative, announced a meeting in Richmond Beach on April 5 regarding Point Wells. He commented that it is going to take too long for the Light Rail to get to Everett and said Shoreline should protest to get it there quicker. He commented on homeless efforts conducted by other cities and cautioned that Shoreline will be hit with homelessness from the cities of Everett and Seattle.
Tom McCormick, Shoreline resident, commented that the Richmond Beach Community Association Meeting is scheduled for April 12. He commented on the Public Records Policy and explained why public records rules should remain in the Shoreline Municipal Code. He read excerpts from the Revised Code of Washington regarding the Public Records Act.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Councilmember Hall and seconded by Councilmember McConnell and unanimously carried, 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Minutes of Regular Meeting of February 29, 2016 and Minutes of Special
Meeting of March 14, 2016
(b) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Construction Contract with
Combined Construction, Inc. in the Amount of $280,621 for the 10th Avenue NW Bridge Repairs
(c) Motion to Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with the Louis Berger Group, Inc. for $1,256,930 for Design of the 25th Avenue NE Flood Reduction Project
(d) Motion to Authorize the City Manager to Enter into an Agreement with the King Conservation District for the Neighborhood Urban Forest Stewardship Program
8. STUDY ITEMS
(a) Discussion and Review of Ord. No. 742 - Public Records Policy and Procedure
Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk, provided background on the Public Records Act, Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Chapter 42.56; the Attorney General Model Rules, Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 44-14; and Shoreline Municipal Code 2.35 - Public Records, and said the City’s rules were lasted amended in 2006.
Ms. Simulcik Smith stated that Public Disclosure is one of the City’s essential functions and provided information on Shoreline’s Public Record Request (PRR) Program. She presented PRR data and noted yearly increases in the number of requests received by the City with 2015 being the highest at 41%. She said 92 requests have been received to date in 2016 and the City is on track to match last year’s number. She informed Council on the level of staff resources devoted to public disclosure and said that in 2015 it was difficult to maintain other essential functions in the Clerk’s Office with the heavy PRR workload. She stated an extra help employee was added in January and the additional staff hours are reducing the amount of time it takes to respond to requests.
Ms. Simulcik Smith explained that proposed Ordinance No. 742 would confirm Shoreline’s requirement to comply with the Public Records Act, and authorize the City Manager to issue Administrative Rules on the disclosure of public records that are consistent with the intent of the Public Records Act and the Model Rules. She said Council was provided a copy of the draft Public Record Policy which contains much more detailed information to requestors and City employees. She said most of the rules in the Policy are mandated by State law but Council has discretion on how to best provide the timeliest possible action on requests. She asked Council to provide directions on the following policy issues:
· Should the City place requests into categories and process in separate queues of “Routine” and “Complex”.
· Should complex requests be processed one at a time from start to finish in the order they were received or should multiple complex requests be processed at the same time.
Ms. Simulcik Smith identified other cities that process requests in categories and queues similar to how staff is recommending. She concluded by presenting future policy considerations for Council.
Councilmember Scully commented that Public Disclosure is a highly legislated and litigated area of State law, and said city staff are best qualified to determine how the City’s adheres to State law requirements.
There was consensus among Councilmembers to support processing public records requests in categories and using separate queues of “Routine” and “Complex”. Councilmember McConnell asked if the extra help position would need to continue in 2017. Mayor Roberts asked if the public records responses are available on the City’s website, and stated that he did not hear any objections from Councilmembers to having the City Manager issue Administrative Rules for Public Record Requests. He asked if the Administrative Rules will be posted on the City’s website. Ms. Simulcik Smith responded that based on the number of requests received in 2016 so far, she anticipates that requests will remain at the 2015 level, but stated she is not prepared to request an additional allocation for 2017 at this time. She explained that public records requests and the records responsive to them are not currently posted on the City’s’ website but it is something that she will be researching. She confirmed the Administrative Rules will be placed on the City’s website.
9. ADJOURNMENT
At 7:55 p.m., Mayor Roberts declared the meeting adjourned.
/S/ Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk