CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, May 20, 2019 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall
7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor McConnell, Councilmembers McGlashan, Scully, Chang, Robertson, and Roberts
ABSENT: None
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Hall who presided.
2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL
Mayor Hall led the flag salute. Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.
3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided reports and updates on various City meetings, projects and events.
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember Chang reported that she attended the Metro Regional Transit Committee meeting. She said it was a workshop focused on looking at the sustainability and equitability of Metro’s mobility framework, including the technology requirements to take advantage of some of the available services. She described some of the concerns around equity and the ideas being presented to solve them.
Mayor Hall gave an update on his efforts to advocate for funding for improved non-motorized access to the Shoreline Light Rail stations. He said there is a grant application in process to secure $3.7 Million in funding for the pedestrian bridge for the south Station.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Susie McDowell, Shoreline resident and Shorewood swim coach, said she appreciates the City’s efforts to work in conjunction with the School District to create a Community Center that can meet the aquatics needs of the residents, including student swimmers. She asked Council to support the design expansion.
Theresa LaCroix, Shoreline resident and Shoreline/Lake Forest Park Senior Center Director, thanked the Council and City Management for their attention to the request to include dedicated spaces for a Senior Center in the proposed Community and Aquatics Center.
Robin McClelland, Shoreline resident, said she fully supports the expanded plans for the Community and Aquatics Center and thanked Council for considering the needs of seniors.
Simon Shutts, Shoreline resident and Spencer Kastle, Seattle resident, both Shorewood students, spoke on behalf of their Civics class group and urged the City to impose a ban on plastic straws. Spencer referenced the impact of straws as a pollutant and Simon shared statistics on pollution, described the recycling issues connected with straws, and mentioned the benefits of alternatives to plastic.
Jim Wigfall, Newcastle resident and Chief Executive Officer of Sound Generations, encouraged Council to move forward with the proposed bond measure for a Community and Aquatics Center.
Joanne Donohoe, Seattle resident and Chief Operating Officer of Sound Generations, said the addition of space for senior programming in the proposed Community and Aquatics Center would support the wide range of needs of the City’s seniors. She said the combined knowledge and partnership of the City’s Parks Department and Sound Generations leadership would be a benefit to Shoreline’s seniors.
Lyn Sherry, Edmonds resident, spoke on behalf of the Friends of Aquatics and Shoreline’s Swim Teams (FASST). She stated that the group is excited to help work to get the proposed ballot measure passed.
Aaron Franklin, Shoreline resident, said Shoreline will benefit from a Community and Aquatics Center with an 8-lane pool and said he supports the ballot measure.
Bennett Vana, Shoreline resident and Shorewood student, said the proposed Community and Aquatics Center with an 8-lane pool would be a tremendous addition for the student swim teams.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Councilmember Roberts and seconded by Councilmember Chang and unanimously carried, 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approving Minutes of Regular Meeting of April 8, 2019
(b) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Contract with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. in the Amount of $93,295 for Inspection Services for the Meridian Avenue N and N 155th Street Intersection Phase Changes Project
(c) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Contract with Blueline Group, LLC in the Amount of $177,200 for Inspection Services for the NE 175th Street Pavement Preservation Project
(d) Authorizing the City Manager to Purchase Two Commercial Mowers in the Amount of $136,982 for the Public Works Grounds Maintenance Crew
(e) Authorizing the City Manager to Purchase a Modular Building in the Amount of $252,144.65 from Modern Building Systems for the Public Works Grounds Maintenance Crew
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Public Hearing and Discussing Reprogrammed Federal Community Development Block Grant Funds
Bethany Wolbrecht-Dunn, Grants Administrator, delivered the presentation. Ms. Wolbrecht-Dunn explained that the purpose of the Public Hearing and Discussion is to talk about supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that the City would like to reprogram. She shared highlights of the program and listed the amount of funding available and how it is allocated. She explained that there is a Federal regulation that requires the City to hold a Public Hearing yearly and when reprogramming funds.
Ms. Wolbrecht-Dunn described the Housing Set Aside project and shared that challenges with the CDBG regulations have led the City to look toward reprograming available funds. She shared information on the four CDBG Capital Applications and displayed the staff recommendations for each one.
Mayor Hall opened the Public Hearing. There being no public comment, the Mayor closed the public hearing.
Upon questioning, Ms. Wolbrecht-Dunn explained the details around the Compass Housing site’s repair needs for which grant money has been requested.
When asked if the City would continue to allocate money towards the Housing Set Aside project since it has been difficult to use it, Ms. Wolbrecht-Dunn said staff would be reporting back to Council later in the year with the 2020 allocation. She explained that by creating set asides it allows the City to accumulate funding over several years in order to support a more substantial request. She reported that there are not currently any qualifying projects on the horizon and the City makes great efforts to find ways to use the money.
Councilmember Roberts said there are a lot of strings tied to using the funding, which decreases interest from developers. He asked if the qualifying guidelines for the recently approved legislative sales tax credit for affordable housing were as restrictive as the CBDG funding and Ms. Wolbrecht-Dunn replied no. She added that it will be interesting to learn how much money Shoreline will have the ability to apply for, and if it could be used in partnership with other jurisdictions to support larger projects.
Councilmember Scully said that the restrictive issues with CDBG money have existed historically, and he hopes moving forward the City can focus on finding higher priority qualifying projects, which would allow the City to better demonstrate need when seeking Federal funding.
9. STUDY ITEMS
(a) Discussing the Community and Aquatics Center and Priority Park Investment Recommendations
Eric Friedli, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services; recognized the contributions of, and input from, staff and community members during the evolution of this project. He reviewed the background and timeline and shared information on how stakeholders and community groups have been involved. He displayed the five components of the staff recommendation and explained that staff is ready for guidance on decisions for, and timing of, next steps.
The Council discussed the questions proposed by staff, which Mr. Friedli listed. He said that staff would like to know if Council concurs with staff recommendations, which were:
· To include the scope expansion of the Community and Aquatics Center (CAC) features of an 8-lane pool, additional deck space, and prioritized senior programming space
The majority of Councilmembers stated they agreed with the staff recommendation for scope expansion.
Councilmember Chang said the additions will be an asset to the City in many ways.
Councilmember Scully thanked senior and swim communities for their input and flexibility during design conversations and said he would be hesitant to support a bond measure that did not have a senior center and 8-lane lap pool.
Councilmember McGlashan confirmed that the pool would be deep enough for diving and that there would be some dedicated space, in addition to the prioritized space, for the senior center.
Councilmember Robertson thanked all the stakeholders for their work on the project to date.
Deputy Mayor McConnell thanked the residents of Shoreline for their input, and said she hopes they recognize how Council listened to their requests. She described the CAC as a legacy project for this Council.
Councilmember Roberts asked staff to explain how they determined the proposed project was right-sized, and if it was more cost-efficient to build the community space and aquatics portions of the Center at the same time. Mr. Friedli described the ways staff evaluated various aspects of the proposed CAC and said he is confident it is the right size package for Shoreline. He confirmed that it would cost more to build each component separately.
Mayor Hall stated there is Council consensus to support the staff recommendation on scope expansion.
· Locating the CAC at 17828 Midvale Avenue N.
Councilmember Scully described the differences between building the pool on the School District owned property, including the Passive House building requirements in the MUR Zone versus the requirements at the Midvale Avenue location. He asked if staff has been able to quantify the greenhouse gas/energy use difference between locations and Mr. Friedli said the City has not been able to measure impact on the environment and added that the project designed for the Midvale site will meet LEED Gold standards. He said the City has had conversations with several utilities about what kind of grants and other funding opportunities would be available with specific design elements.
Mayor Hall and Councilmembers Chang, Robertson, McConnell, and McGlashan expressed support for the Midvale location. The benefits cited were that the location creates a center for Shoreline, and there are advantages of owning property versus leasing it.
· Establishing the bond measure size of $88.1 Million and duration of 20 years.
Mr. Friedli shared examples of the tax impacts the bond measure would have on residents, by various lengths of issuance and home values.
Councilmember Chang asked what the impact would be on the Levy rate if the full bond measure amount was approved, and additional funding was secured later. Mr. Friedli responded that any reduction to debt would be reflected in the payments owed. He explained the timeline around funding support decisions from the School District and the King County Park Levy. Councilmember Chang observed that interest rates increase with a 30 year bond and said private fundraising could be an important contribution to this project. Deputy Mayor McConnell pointed out the 30 year bond would increase the total price by $30 Million.
Councilmember McGlashan confirmed that the building would outlast all of the bond term options, and questioned if Council should consider 30 years in order to include park improvements. Ms. Tarry stated that the City can do Bonds for different time periods within the same ballot measure, and that the City had considered a combined scenario.
Councilmembers Roberts and Robertson said they support a 30 year bond measure. Councilmember Roberts said it is best to keep the annual cost lower to homeowners. He asked staff if the additional cost would qualify under the low income property tax reduction.
Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor McConnell, and Councilmembers Scully, McGlashan, and Chang all expressed support for the 20 year bond.
Deputy Mayor McConnell and Councilmembers Scully and Robertson said they support funding the full amount and Deputy Mayor McConnell added that she looks forward to fundraising.
Mayor Hall said, from a financial responsibility perspective, retiring debt in 20 years would reserve options for future Councils to address the city’s next priorities 10 years sooner than a 30 year bond would allow. He said his preference would be to reduce the amount of the bond measure and communicate to the School District that the features requested to make the pool a competition pool are to serve school programs and that they should financially support the project. He said he would also prefer to reduce the bond by the amount potentially offset by the King County Levy and explained that fundraising would be easier to explain if the CAC is not fully funded by a bond. Mayor Hall concluded that it would be good to send a message to the public that the City is counting on funding from other sources, and not relying solely on property owners to fund the total cost.
Councilmember Roberts said he thinks it would be best to put forth a bond measure proposal for a complete project, even with the potential of funding partners. Councilmember McGlashan agreed that the conversation is valuable but said it would be irresponsible to reduce the bond amount and then have to rely on the General Fund to make up any deficits in funding.
Mayor Hall summarized that the majority of Councilmembers are in favor of the 20-year bond for the full amount. He reiterated his concern for the high dollar amount, and Councilmember Chang said whenever the Council has certainty of funding support from the School District or from the King County Levy, that funding should be incorporated into the final dollar amount.
· Timing of Ballot Measure for placement on the 2019 General Election Ballot
Councilmembers unanimously supported placement on the 2019 General Election Ballot.
Councilmember Scully said he is confident all the primary stakeholders have had the opportunity to be informed and included. Councilmember Roberts said the lifespan of the existing pool is quickly coming to an end; the staff report has convinced him that delays are costly; and added that he wants to ensure the ballot measure is a stand-alone item, without other competing local measures. Councilmember Robertson said now is the time to maximize the momentum that has been building and put the measure out for a vote. Deputy Mayor McConnell agreed that the pool is deteriorating rapidly, and it is important that there be no competing measures on the ballot. Mayor Hall said that while he is concerned for the level of support and the expense of a CAC, it makes sense to move forward now. He added that while he hopes there are no competing measures, if there are, it may be an opportunity to look for synergy. He added that the existing pool is expensive to operate and is inefficient.
· To not include park improvements in the Ballot Measure
Councilmembers Robertson and McGlashan said they do not support the staff recommendation. Councilmember Robertson said the City needs to continue to look for ways to improve its parks and quoted public comment. Councilmember McGlashan said the four parks listed need amenity upgrades, and that the additional cost does not raise the financial impact outlandishly.
Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor McConnell, and Councilmembers Chang, Scully, and Roberts said they agree with the staff recommendation. Councilmember Chang said she supports the ballot measure not including park improvements because of the associated costs. Councilmember Scully said he prefers to keep ballot questions as simple as possible, with one item at a time. Councilmember Roberts agreed that the proposed parks need improvement but that adding the cost of funding those improvements to the ballot measure is not his preference. Deputy Mayor McConnell said she loves the parks, but she does not want ballot confusion. Mayor Hall said that while he agrees with the need for additional parks funding, he supports the staff recommendation. He listed additional resources for funding for parks.
Mayor Hall summarized that while there is a strong interest from Council in enhancing parks, the majority agree with the staff recommendation to not include park improvements in the ballot measure.
After confirmation that Council provided the needed direction to Staff, Mayor Hall said the next step is discussion of authorizing a ballot measure on June 24, 2019, and action on July 29, 2019.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 8:50 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
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Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk