SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

Monday, April 26, 2021 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.

(a) Proclamation of National Bike Month

Mayor Hall announced the issuance of the proclamation of May as National Bike Month.

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.

4. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER

Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and reported on various City meetings, projects and events.

5. COUNCIL REPORTS

Mayor Hall announced that with Shoreline becoming the owner/operator of a Wastewater Utility, the City has a seat on the Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee. He appointed Randy Witt, Public Works Director, as the City’s representative and Lance Newkirk, Utilities and Operations Manager, as the alternate.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

Rebecca Jones, Seattle resident and Shoreline business owner, spoke on behalf of Save Shoreline Trees. She described the unique ecosystem in Shoreline and the importance of mature trees, and shared examples and impacts of tree removal in the City.

Kathleen Russell, Shoreline resident, spoke on behalf of Save Shoreline Trees. She shared excerpts of the City’s 2020 Sustainability Report and other data regarding the survivability rate of trees. She said it is important to consider the loss of carbon sequestration and the consequences to Shoreline’s tree canopy as more conifers are removed.

Jackie Kurle, Shoreline resident, underscored the need for ongoing monitoring of the Enhanced Shelter operations and the surrounding community. She supports helping the homeless, but emphasized it is important to attend to how that happens.

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) Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of April 5, 2021

(b) Approval of Expenses and Payroll as of April 9, 2021 in the Amount of $2,082,781.60

*Payroll and Benefits:
	Payroll Period	Payment Date	EFT Numbers (EF)	Payroll Checks (PR)	Benefit Checks (AP)	Amount Paid
	03/07/21-03/20/21	3/26/2021	96080-96290	17246-17256	82105-82111	$841,395.47
	03/07/21-03/20/21	4/2/2021			WT1176-WT1177	$133,213.49
						$974,608.96
*Accounts Payable Claims:
			Expense Register Dated	Check Number (Begin)	Check Number (End)	Amount Paid
			3/31/2021	82069	82075	$94,378.28
			3/31/2021	82076	82081	$1,215.46
			3/31/2021	82082	82104	$49,933.25
			4/7/2021	82112	82136	$256,868.22
			4/7/2021	82137	82144	$10,686.96
			4/7/2021	82145	82169	$695,090.47
						$1,108,172.64

(c) Adoption of Ordinance No. 922 - Amending the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget for Uncompleted 2019-2020 Operating and Capital Projects and Increasing Appropriations in the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget

(d) Adoption of Ordinance No. 923 - 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Amendment – Amending Ordinance No. 922 by Increasing Appropriations in Certain Funds (2021-2022 Biennial Budget Amendment)

8. STUDY ITEMS

(a) Discussion of Ordinance No. 925 - Authorizing Oakes Rezone Application PLN21-0008 Changing the Zoning of One Parcel from R-48 and R-18 to Mixed-Business at 16357 Aurora Avenue North

Prior to discussion, the Fairness Checklist for Quasi-Judicial Proceeding was reviewed by all Councilmembers, none of whom had any ex-parte communications to disclose.

Steve Szafran, Senior Planner, delivered the staff presentation. He stated that the proposal is to rezone one parcel from R-48 and R-18 to Mixed Business for the operation of an Enhanced Shelter. He displayed an arial view of the site and maps of the current and proposed zoning. Mr. Szafran reviewed the process to date, which included the issuance of a SEPA Determination of Non-Significance, a neighborhood meeting, noticing of application and public hearing, a public hearing before the Hearing Examiner, and tonight’s City Council discussion prior to potential future action. He reviewed the related Development Code amendments that add ‘Enhanced Shelter’ as a use and indexed criteria to the Code. Mr. Szafran reviewed the ways in which the application meets the rezone decision criteria and concluded by stating that the Hearing Examiner recommended approval of PLN21-0008 by changing the zoning from R-48 and R-18 to Mixed Business.

Councilmember Chang reflected that much of the public comment to the Hearing Examiner was expressing concerns about the Enhanced Shelter. She confirmed that the Enhanced Shelter is vested through the interim regulations and stated that whether or not this rezone takes place, the Enhanced Shelter is an allowed use. She concluded stating that the rezone will bring the parcel into compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and this rezone would permit permanent supportive housing as an allowed use on the site in the future.

Councilmember Robertson said while it makes sense to follow the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation, she also acknowledges the ongoing public comment being sent to Council. She asked for information on when an update on the Enhanced Shelter will be available. Ms. Tarry said she will be receiving a monthly update on the Enhanced Shelter, and she will provide that information to Council. She said to date, there has only been one emergency response to the Shelter.

Mayor Hall issued a reminder that this is a Quasi-Judicial matter, so the Council must adhere to the criteria defined in the Code.

Deputy Mayor Scully observed that if the rezone is not approved it leaves an ongoing anomaly on Aurora, so based on the Code this is a good move. He hopes future rezoning can be done en masse on the Aurora corridor. Mayor Hall expressed support for the rezone because it brings the split parcel into consistency with the rest of Aurora and the long term vision for the area.

It was agreed that this would return as an Action Item.

(b) Discussion of the 2020 Recology Annual Report

Autumn Salamack, Environmental Services Coordinator, welcomed Recology representatives Erin Gagnon, Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager; and Brooke Stroomsa, Waste Zero Specialist, to provide an overview of the 2020 Annual Report.

Ms. Gagnon described Recology’s business makeup and the services they provide. She summarized the operational impacts because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shared the ways the community rallied around the drivers. She displayed a graph of the residential tonnage changes between 2019 and 2020 and explained the reasons for the differences. She showed a graph of the residential diversion rate and the miss rate for collections, which falls below industry standards.

Ms. Stroomsa described both the in-person and virtual events and outreach done in 2020. She said the goal of the Contamination Reduction Program is to improve recycling by keeping non-recyclable materials out of the recycling containers. She described the Commercial and Multi-Family contamination auditing process and the associated outreach and education. She spoke to the modifications implemented in response to the pandemic and displayed a graph of the average contamination levels for 2020. She emphasized that Recology offers education and outreach whenever they contact customers about contamination issues. Ms. Stroomsa described the Waste Wise Program, which is focused on education around reducing recycling contamination at Multi-Family complexes. She listed the program components and the outcome from the six participating properties, all resulting in reduced contamination.

Ms. Gagnon said the Shoreline Recology Retail Store is very popular, and in preparation for reopening soon they are currently hiring employees. She gave an update on the recent data breach of their online payment processing vendor, which resulted in a hold on accepting online payments, and said Recology customers were not affected.

Discussion on diversion rates began with Councilmember Roberts asking how Shoreline’s rate compares with peer cities. Ms. Gagnon said she would research specifics, but generally Shoreline seems to be similar to neighboring cities. The possibility for improvement was considered, and Ms. Salamack replied that there is a lot of opportunity for improvement specific to organic waste collection, and shared examples. Mayor Hall agreed that it is important to keep making improvements in diversion.

In consideration of contamination rates, Councilmember Roberts asked if they are tracked citywide, and Ms. Stroomsa explained that target areas are based on routes and the average contamination rate data was collected from the contamination program audits.

Deputy Mayor Scully said because of the practices of CleanScapes, Recology’s predecessor, he holds Recology to a high standard, and he looks for innovation, which he has not seen. His concerns include the out-of-contract rate increase and Recology’s limiting of corrugated waste pickup in response to residential waste changes during COVID-19. He observed that the data presented indicates that the penalties for contamination are not working. He wondered if Recology’s curbside pickup offerings could be expanded, as is being done by a third-party organization.

There was discussion on the requirements for recycling and/or organic waste collection, and Deputy Mayor Scully expressed concern about the locations that have opted out of these programs. He would like to consider some mandatory changes so opting out is not an option. Councilmember McGlashan asked if recycling was mandatory. Ms. Salamack explained that although recycling and organic waste removal is offered at no additional cost to residential customers, and Multi-Family and commercial customers receive recycling at no additional cost, the services are optional. Mayor Hall confirmed that taking advantage of recycling and organic waste removal can save customers money if they can size down their garbage container.

Focusing on the rate increase approved by Council to help offset the increased overseas recycling costs, Deputy Mayor Scully asked if the market for plastics has improved; what Recology has done to try and find new sources; and if costs decreased, has Recology thought about passing savings on to ratepayers. In response to his questions, Ms. Salamack said finding recycling markets is an ongoing challenge and Ms. Gagnon added that increased restrictions on overseas recycling have been imposed but Recology has been able to find domestic markets for the plastics that were previously being sent overseas. Regarding rate costs and rate changes, it was stated that Recology is investing back into recycling and education and outreach and there have been no conversations about changes to the rate structure.

Autumn Salamack, Environmental Services Coordinator, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. Salamack shared highlights of the 2020 Sustainability Report, explaining that it is comprised of 22 indicators that are broken into the focus areas of Climate, Water & Energy; Materials, Food & Waste; Transportation; Trees, Parks & Ecosystems; and Resilient Communities. She stated that four indicators were met in 2019 and while no goals were met in 2020, 11 showed improvement. She elaborated on the work done in each category, reflected on how much had to be adapted in response to the pandemic, and shared examples of the actions taken and events hosted by the City. Ms. Salamack listed the planned 2021 activities which focus on climate change and sustainable actions.

Deputy Mayor Scully confirmed that one area with opportunity for significant growth is in Multi-Family and commercial organic waste collection and said he feels significant resources can be dedicated to that effort. He is concerned that education is not going to be enough and encouraged Ms. Salamack to think big about alternative approaches and make big asks of the Council if that is what is needed to make big progress. Ms. Salamack agreed that education and outreach will only get you so far and said staff is looking at tools that can be considered around both mandates and design-focused solutions. She said she is hopeful with some of the actions being taken at the state level and will return to Council with asks on that front. Councilmember Robertson emphasized her interest in looking for ways to make meaningful differences moving forward. She is happy to live somewhere where these conversations are happening and thanked all those who continue to prioritize sustainability.

Councilmember Chang asked why the water utilities are unable to report Shoreline-specific data. Ms. Salamack explained that both utilities say that there have been some changes with how they classify billing that prohibits providing this data. Councilmember Chang found it hard to believe that they cannot report on this information. Ms. Salamack said she will share their responses with the Council and will continue to investigate it. Mayor Hall agreed with the frustration.

Councilmember Roberts said he thinks improvements in organic waste collection could really help with diversion. He wants the City to work with Recology to do more to figure out ways to encourage this piece.

Conversation on recycling included Councilmember Roberts observing that there is very little the City can do to create that market for recyclable products, and much needs to be done at the Federal level for major manufacturers to create packaging that is easily recycled. Mayor Hall agreed that product packaging is getting worse and worse, and he reflected on the progress related to toxic waste that has been made in recent years with electronics takeback laws, battery recycling, and paint recycling.

Focusing on climate change, Mayor Hall said he is excited to see the progress with transit oriented development in Shoreline, and he reflected on the regional and global benefits. He recognized the diminished carbon footprint made by households in multifamily housing and asked if there are studies that show how much Shoreline’s development is contributing to carbon emission reductions compared to other areas of King County. Ms. Salamack said that the City worked with Cascadia Consulting Group last year to do some analysis on the carbon benefit and trade off associated with built green and light rail development, and the one-time loss of trees associated with these projects in comparison to single family development in Shoreline and/or in a remote King County suburb. She said the resulting report is available on the City website and shows that housing and transportation choices have a really big impact on the climate footprint, and she shared the comparison data. Ms. Salamack spoke to the factors that contribute to the reduction, saying this is priming the City to be a leader in sustainable low carbon footprint community development and design.

Councilmember Roberts commented on the decline in the health of local streams and asked for information on this. Ms. Salamack said she would ask Surface Water staff to respond to his request.

9. ADJOURNMENT

At 8:32 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.

/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk