CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, June 15, 2020 Held Remotely via Zoom
7:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor Scully, Councilmembers McConnell, McGlashan, 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. ROLL CALL
Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.
3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided an update on the current City COVID-19 status in Phase 1.5 and described various City meetings and events. She shared application and eligibility information for the Shoreline Small Business Support Grant, which was created in response to the financial impacts of the pandemic.
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Deputy Mayor Scully said he and Councilmember Chang participated in a meeting with King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski regarding potential County charter amendments related to police accountability. He said there are local, as well as national, conversations happening on the topic.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Katie Shielke, Shoreline resident and president of the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden Foundation, spoke in favor of a Parks Bond Measure and asked that funds for Kruckeberg be included to help pay for ADA improvements. She described the benefits of the Foundation’s partnership with the City and described its community value.
Bill Franklin, Shoreline resident and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services/Tree Board member said the Parks Board recently unanimously approved a motion to recommend that the City Council consider a renewal of the expiring Parks Bond, which would not increase property taxes, and he asked that the Council focus on the carefully considered priorities that have been identified by the Parks Funding Advisory Committee, which included an emphasis on equity in level of service.
Janet Way, Shoreline resident, spoke in support of the acquisition of park property adjacent to Paramount Park. She shared the history of the expansion of Paramount Park and asked for information regarding the intended improvements.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Scully 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 6, 2020
Approving Minutes of Regular Meeting of April 20, 2020
(b) Adopting Resolution No. 461 – Approval of the 2020 Shoreline Hazard Mitigation Plan Annex
(d) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Lease Agreement with New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC for Continued Use of Portions of Hamlin Park for Wireless Transmission Facilities
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Agreements for the Purchase of Two Properties Adjacent to Paramount Open Space Park, 14528 10th Ave NE and 14534 10th Ave NE
Nathan Daum, Economic Development Program Manager, delivered the staff presentation. Mr. Daum shared information on the actions leading up to this property acquisition and described the specifics of implementation of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan adopted in 2017 in preparation for future demand for open spaces. Mr. Daum displayed images of the property vicinities in relation to the park and said the acquisition would create opportunities for tree preservation and planting, wetland improvement, and trail access and improvements. He shared the financial impacts of the acquisition, adding that available funds from Park Impact Fees and the Conservations Futures Tax Grant would be utilized for the purchase.
Mr. Daum said staff recommends authorization of the purchase of the two properties.
Mayor Hall opened the Public Comment period and recognized the earlier comments on the topic. Seeing no additional comment, he closed it.
Councilmember Robertson moved to authorize the City Manager to execute agreements for the purchase of two properties adjacent to Paramount Open Space Park, 14528 10th Ave NE and 14534 10th Ave NE. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang.
Councilmember Robertson said she supports the use of Park Impact Fees in this acquisition and said it is an exciting opportunity that will complete the shape of the open space and improve access to the park. She commented that it will be important to make the space safe.
Councilmember Chang agreed that it is a great opportunity to add open space near a Light Rail Station area and called attention to purchase agreement limitations on one of the properties.
Mayor Hall said he is excited for the second expansion of the Paramount Open Space Park and agreed that the grant funding to use toward the purchase is a benefit.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
9. STUDY ITEMS
(a) Discussing the Sound Transit Lynnwood Link Extension Project Update
Juniper Nammi, Light Rail Project Manager, welcomed Sound Transit representatives Randy Harlow, Lynnwood Link Extension Executive Project Director, and Erik Ashlie-Vinke, North Corridor Government and Community Relations Manager. Ms. Nammi shared an update on the Lynnwood Link Extension permits status for both issued and immediately pending permits and she described the upcoming items for Council attention.
Mr. Harlow opened the presentation by sharing specifics of the COVID-19 impacts to Sound Transit and said the Lynnwood Link it is expected to be unaffected. He displayed the project timeline and said the current focus is on construction. Mr. Harlow described the work done in 2019 and elaborated on the major construction steps in store for 2020-2023. He added that Sound Transit has started working toward the name change for the South Station (from 145th Street to 148th Street), to accurately reflect the station location. He shared site plans and aerial renderings of the station areas. Mr. Harlow described the construction activity scheduled in the next year and gave an overview of future finishing activities.
Mr. Harlow described the collaborative efforts with the City staff regarding potential betterments and upcoming City projects and listed the projects. He gave an update community outreach, including the types of complaints the team has responded to so far. He described the response actions taken to remediate these complaints.
Mayor Hall and Councilmembers Robertson and McGlashan recognized the progress to date and offered appreciation of the collaborative process and the work to accommodate local interests.
Councilmember Roberts said he has noticed an increase in graffiti on the sound wall near 195th Street and asked how Sound Transit is addressing this problem. Mr. Harlow said graffiti has become a bigger concern and described the updated remediation protocols.
(b) Discussing a Potential General Election Bond Measure for Parks Improvements and Acquisition
Eric Friedli, Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Director delivered the staff presentation. Mr. Friedli reviewed the past steps toward this process, beginning with the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan for 2017-2023 and culminating with Proposition 1 in November 2019. Mr. Friedli summarized the strategic action initiatives of the PROS Plan, stating the objectives of expanding recreational facility opportunities and ensuring adequate parkland for future generations. He reflected that the City Council reemphasized the importance of park improvements and land acquisition in their 2020-2022 Goals and Workplan and had requested this discussion to reassess potential timing and other policy considerations for a ballot measure.
Mr. Friedli listed the key questions for the discussion. He displayed concept designs and a table of estimated costs of the amenities in the priority park improvements that were included in Proposition 1. He reviewed the Parks Funding Advisory Committee’s (PFAC) list of prioritized park investment opportunities and said the staff-recommended park amenities priorities includes the park improvements that were on Proposition 1 and adds improvements to five other parks, which he described. He asked for Council direction on the appropriate dollar amount to include for park land acquisition and listed some considerations. Mr. Friedli shared potential property acquisition and development costs for the park land acquisition identified in the PROS Plan and with an added opportunity in Westminster Triangle. He described the park land acquisition options, funding levels, and associated improvement costs.
Mr. Friedli said the staff recommended bond measure amount is $38.5 Million, and he listed the components and outlined the financial impacts to taxpayers, taking the impacts of the expiring bond measure into consideration. Mr. Friedli shared three staff-created alternatives to the staff recommendations, all of which reduce the bond measure amount. He described Councilmember-suggested alternatives, then displayed a table indicating which parks would be included for improvements in each of the alternatives. Mr. Friedli shared a graphic summarizing the costs associated with each of the proposed bond measure alternatives.
Mr. Friedli said staff recommends that Council put a bond measure on the ballot for either the November 2020 General Election or the April 2021 Special Election. He shared considerations for timing and displayed election scenarios to demonstrate votes needed for both validation requirements and passage.
Mr. Friedli summarized the staff recommendation of proceeding with a $38.5 Million, 20-year bond measure in the April 2021 special election. He added that staff also supports placing the measure on the November 2020 ballot and recommends allocating $28.5 Million for parks improvements and $10 Million for land acquisition. He displayed a list of next steps in order to meet election deadlines, dependent on Council direction.
Councilmember Chang said that during earlier discussions she was supportive of going forward with parks improvements and land acquisition, but as the pandemic continues and the financial impacts are becoming more apparent, she is less comfortable with the dollar amount. She said she suggested limiting the bond size to $26 Million because she feels it will be easier for voters to accept it if it is a straight renewal of existing property tax costs, rather than an increase. She said that she wants to see more of an emphasis on park acquisition since there are going to be certain pieces of property that will be lost to development if action is not taken and would like to do some park improvements, since the changes are exciting and visible.
Councilmember Robertson said that she will support the consensus, but right now she is leaning towards the $26 Million renewal amount. She asked if it needed to be on the November ballot in order to be a true renewal with no gaps. Ms. Tarry said no, since the current bond does not expire until the end of 2021.
Councilmember Roberts thanked the staff for their work on his suggested alternatives, and described the thought process behind them, explaining that his focus is to provide better access to parks. He said because of the current financial impacts of COVID-19 it is his preference to wait on the ballot measure and to stick to the renewal amount.
Councilmember McConnell said she would prefer to wait until the April 2021 special election. She said she would like the Kruckeberg ADA access improvements to stay on the list. She said she would like to stay as close as possible to the recommendations from the Parks Funding Advisory Committee rather than adding new alternatives to the discussion. She said she prioritizes land acquisition since opportunities are scarce.
Deputy Mayor Scully said he is torn on whether to move forward with the ballot measure given the impacts of COVID-19. He explained that if the situation continues to improve, he is fine with either date, but if there is a resurgence, it would be inappropriate to place on the ballot. He said he is inclined to support the proposal as recommended by staff. He continued that he is not concerned with matching the renewal rate exactly, since it does not make sense to get a less than ideal park bond. He asked about timing and revocability for submitting the ballot measure. Mr. Friedli shared deadline dates and Ms. Tarry said she would research the revocability.
Councilmember McGlashan agreed with Deputy Mayor Scully, and said he is comfortable with the staff suggestion. He said he likes the priority parks as recommended and that it is important to him to improve the functionality of the current parks before additional land acquisition. He recalled that the feedback from Proposition 1 was that the voters wanted the ballot measures for parks improvements and for an Aquatics, Recreation, and Community Center components separated.
Mayor Hall said he is on the fence with the whole thing. He said in terms of dollar amount, he could support up to the staff recommendation, but that he is influenced by the fact that the Parks Board unanimously supported keeping it at $26 Million. He asked staff to continue clarifying conversations with the Parks Board on this matter. He recognized the pros and cons that timing presents for either election. He said the public comment asking Council to ‘make sure they follow through with the priorities that have been vetted with the public’ resonated with him. He said he is trying to balance that perspective while recognizing the importance of acquisition. He concluded that he is inclined to agree that maintaining and improving current parks, is a higher priority to him than land acquisition.
Councilmember Robertson said she appreciates hearing from Parks Board members and said it is her understanding that their recommendation of adhering to a $26 Million bond is in deference to the current economic situation and not a statement about the need in the community. She said she likes the staff recommendation because of the number of touchpoints it has throughout the community. She added that a situation like this pandemic may never occur again, but it has emphasized the importance of walkable access to open spaces, putting the park amenity priorities high on her list. She suggested removing some of the bells and whistles from the priority park improvements to reduce to cost to $26 Million. She said that there are different sizes of existing improvement plans for the projects worthy of consideration.
Councilmember Chang said that while she supports land acquisition, she can be pulled from that priority. She said the priority park amenities would make a big difference for moderate costs. She said there is nothing that would prevent the City from going after additional funding in future years.
Deputy Mayor Scully said that Ms. Tarry just provided information that the deadline to revoke a submitted ballot measure for the November ballot is August 4, 2020, and with that knowledge he cannot support placing it on the November ballot. He said that while he understands the challenges of getting enough votes in the spring, given the current economic times he is only comfortable with this moving forward on the April ballot. He agreed with Mayor Hall on the iterative process that has already gone on. He encouraged the Councilmembers to follow the staff recommendation, and said he is loath to alter plans on big packages that have gone through extensive research and review. He added that omitting amenities at this point makes it likely the park will not receive further updates for quite some time, so his general impulse is, if the decision is made to make improvements, to do it right. He said he will support the consensus for an April ballot.
Councilmember Roberts said if improvements are made, they should be done right, rather than eliminating elements. He recognized the importance of thinking long term, no matter what the short-term climate is. He said if the Council decides to bring forward a ballot in the next year, they should keep closer to the $26 Million mark because of the current economic uncertainty, preserving reserves for future park possibilities. He said the elephant in the room is what the Council’s current thoughts are on a future Community and Aquatics Center, since the size of the Parks Improvements Bond may leave less capacity for support for a future ballot measure for a pool and community center.
Councilmember McConnell said she stands firm on the April ballot measure. She said the change in the monthly costs to households between a $26 Million and $38 Million bond is not significant, assuming the economy improves. She wants to make the parks function better than they do now but would like to secure the funding with one bond measure rather than adding additional bonds down the road.
Mayor Hall said he will support the consensus, and added that he likes the idea of including the park amenity priorities in order to make the most of the existing assets, and said it is important to have the support of the Parks Board. He said he is not inclined to move forward for the November general election, and he suggested that staff take the feedback from tonight’s discussion back to the Parks Board for consideration prior to it returning to Council for action.
Councilmember Chang said that one of the reasons she would support the $26 Million parks bond amount is that she hopes to leave some capacity to consider moving forward with a Community and Aquatics Center.
Mayor Hall confirmed that the duration of the $26 Million bond measure would be 20 years.
It was summarized that:
· The consensus is to not add this bond measure to the November ballot
· Most Councilmembers are more comfortable with the $26 Million amount, but some would be open to a larger package.
· There was support expressed for priority park amenities.
It was agreed that this discussion should return to Council after additional staff refinements.
(c) Discussing Ordinance No. 890 - Amending Shoreline Municipal Code Chapter 2.60 Purchasing
Sara Lane, Administrative Services Director, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. Lane gave an overview of the history and purpose of Municipal Code Chapter 2.60 and said there have been no changes to the monetary limits for services, materials, supplies, and equipment since it was adopted in 2001. She continued that Ordinance No. 890 recommends changes to the limits and includes some housekeeping changes. She reviewed the threshold increases recommended by the Ordinance and shared highlights of the other recommended changes. She said this Ordinance is scheduled to return to Council for potential adoption on July 13, 2020.
Several Councilmembers expressed support for the Ordinance.
Mayor Hall said that allowing higher levels of contracts without competitive bidding could potentially be seen as decreasing transparency or competitiveness. He concluded that because of the recording requirements in place he is not concerned with that perception, and added that from an efficiency perspective, this reduces the amount of paperwork and costs associated with the procurements.
Councilmember McConnell said that the adjustment will increase efficiency.
Deputy Mayor Scully said the trade off for him is accountability. He said is not aware of any issues with misspent money, and partially credited that to having a checks and balances system in place. He said he does not have a problem with any of the housekeeping changes, recognizing the significant savings of time and money. He said he is concerned with what seems like an arbitrary dollar amount for the increase and asked for an explanation. Ms. Lane replied that there is an estimated 60 hours of staff time and a minimum of a three-weeks lag time that goes into each contract brought before Council. She said the Public Works Department has been a huge proponent of this update because their processes are very time sensitive. She said that the $100,000 level seemed like a reasonable threshold amount.
Councilmember Chang recognized that some increase in thresholds makes sense. She asked if the selection of vendors and services takes into consideration equity issues and Shoreline-based businesses. Ms. Lane said generally the threshold guides the level of competition that is required and described the competitive process. She said there is not a requirement to give preference to Shoreline based businesses, and when they respond they are given due consideration.
Councilmember Roberts said the dollar amounts align with what Council discussed at the Strategic Planning Workshop. He said that receiving a regular contract status report would allow oversight. Ms. Lane said currently it would be challenging for staff to generate a report similar to what he described but said she will continue to look for opportunities to improve reporting.
It was agreed that Ordinance No. 890 would return as an Action Item.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:17 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk