CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, August 9, 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 Deputy Mayor Scully who presided until Mayor Hall joined the meeting.
2. ROLL CALL
Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present except for Mayor Hall, who joined the meeting at 7:07 p.m.
(a) Proclamation of Celebrate Shoreline
Deputy Mayor Scully announced the issuance of the proclamation and expressed the importance of maintaining community connections.
3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
4. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
John Norris, Assistant City Manager, provided an update on COVID-19 and reported on various City meetings, projects, and events.
Mayor Hall joined the meeting at 7:07 p.m.
5. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember McGlashan shared information on the Sound Transit’s realignment plans for existing projects.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT
Laurel Stromme and Azar Jarmick, Shoreline residents, spoke regarding the negative impacts the 100-unit project on 198th Street would have on the neighborhood, including the ramifications of cutting down mature trees.
Kathleen Russell, Shoreline resident, spoke regarding the trees removed as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) frontage improvements project on North 160th Street. She said it is not too late to save trees in future projects and urged the Council to review sidewalk width requirements in order to preserve significant trees.
Nancy Morris, Shoreline resident, spoke regarding the climate crisis and the importance of trees. She asked the Council to change sidewalk standards to design around significant trees and protect the natural habitat.
Jackie Kurle, Shoreline resident, spoke regarding the Enhanced Shelter. She recognized the reports of things going well with the Shelter and underscored the importance on ongoing monitoring of the Shelter operations.
Barbara Johnstone, Shoreline resident, asked why the City refused WSDOT’s proposal for 6’ sidewalks to preserve existing conifers, why the City is not following its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and why there was no transparency about the changes to the required width of sidewalks.
Nancy Pfeil, Shoreline resident, spoke regarding impacts associated with the Enhanced Shelter and described reports of an encampment in nearby Darnell Park. She said there has been an increase of homeless people sleeping in the neighborhood and an increase in trash in the area and expressed her safety concerns.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Scully and seconded by Councilmember McGlashan and unanimously carried, 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of July 19, 2021
(b) Approval of Expenses and Payroll as of July 23, 2021 in the Amount of $3,365,205.21
|
*Payroll and Benefits: |
||||||
|
Payroll Period |
Payment Date |
EFT Numbers (EF) |
Payroll Checks (PR) |
Benefit Checks (AP) |
Amount Paid |
|
|
06/27/21-07/10/21 |
7/16/2021 |
97838-98067 |
17464-17498 |
82952-82956 |
$625,464.99 |
|
|
06/27/21-07/10/21 |
7/16/2021 |
WT1195-WT1196 |
$115,060.40 |
|||
|
$740,525.39 |
||||||
|
*Wire Transfers: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Wire Transfer Number |
|
Amount Paid |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
1197 |
$20,720.61 |
||||
|
$20,720.61 |
||||||
|
*Accounts Payable Claims: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Check Number (Begin) |
Check Number (End) |
Amount Paid |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82847 |
82854 |
$2,800.00 |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82855 |
82869 |
$244,261.94 |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82870 |
82884 |
$93,787.44 |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82885 |
82885 |
$689,596.59 |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82886 |
82892 |
$989,810.02 |
|||
|
7/14/2021 |
82893 |
82916 |
$69,680.11 |
|||
|
7/19/2021 |
82917 |
82917 |
$459.64 |
|||
|
7/19/2021 |
82918 |
82919 |
$65,116.20 |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82920 |
82935 |
$333,323.92 |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82936 |
82936 |
$2,860.00 |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82937 |
82942 |
$6,128.62 |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82943 |
82950 |
$106,134.73 |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82753 |
82753 |
($40.00) |
|||
|
7/21/2021 |
82951 |
82951 |
$40.00 |
|||
|
$2,603,959.21 |
||||||
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Action on Ordinance No. 940 - Adopting Council’s Decision on the Closed-Record Appeal Hearing of the Shoreline Preservation Society Regarding the Naval Hospital Chapel Landmark Designation and Waiving Council Rule of Procedure 3.5 Regarding City Ordinances Requiring Three Readings
Mayor Hall reminded the Council of the Rules regarding the Appearance of Fairness Law for quasi-judicial proceedings, directed them to review the Fairness checklist, and asked if any Councilmember had any ex parte communications to disclose. Councilmember Robertson reported that in July 2020 she toured the site with a member of the Shoreline Preservation Society, and she stated that since she did not participate in the Appeal Hearing proceedings she will abstain from voting in tonight’s action.
Margaret King, City Attorney, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. King reviewed the proceedings of the Appeal Hearing, at which Council concluded that remand was appropriate on the issue of adequacy of public notice. She said Council directed the preparation of Findings of Fact and Conclusions, which are included in the staff report and described an amendment to Finding #4. She said staff recommends that the Council waive Council Rule No. 3.5 regarding three readings for a Council Ordinance and adopt Ordinance No. 940 and the Findings of Fact and Conclusions as set forth in Attachment A to the Staff Report, as revised for Finding #4.
Councilmember McGlashan moved approval of Ordinance No. 940 and to waive Council Rule of Procedure 3.5 with the revised attachment as presented by staff. The motion was seconded by Councilmember McConnell.
The motion passed 5-1, with Deputy Mayor Scully opposing and Councilmember Robertson abstaining.
8. STUDY ITEMS
(b) Discussion and Introduction of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority
Colleen Kelly, Recreation, Cultural, and Community Services Director, delivered the staff presentation, beginning with a recap of recent history related to homelessness in Shoreline. She said that after the siting of the Enhanced Shelter, the North King County Task Force on Homelessness made the decision to continue their work as a coalition with a broader focus on homelessness across the subregion and in cooperation with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. She said they are in the process of developing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to govern participation in this coalition. She introduced representatives of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) as Anne Martens, Director of Communications and External Affairs; and Alexis Mercedes-Rinck, Sub-Regional Planning Manager.
Ms. Martens gave a status update on the North King County Sub-Regional Plan. She displayed a timeline of the efforts since 2018 and recognized the delays in schedule associated with the pandemic and the associated change in the homelessness landscape. She gave an overview of the governing structure and their responsibilities, which includes a governing committee, an implementation board, and a continuum of care advisory board. She reviewed the assumption of service contracts by KCRHA from King County and Seattle and described the associated terms.
Ms. Martens described the Authority’s catalytic portfolio, the efforts of which include peer navigation as outreach to build a by-name list, improving the quality of their data. She said an identified gap is in bridge housing, so they are looking for ways to create capacity in the emergency shelter spaces and elaborated on the efforts toward this issue.
Ms. Mercedes-Rinck described both the key components, and her role, in sub-regional planning and displayed a list of the five sub-regions of King County. She shared the positive updates in engagement to date, including meetings with organizations, individuals, and stakeholders. She shared specifics on the North King County engagement efforts, which includes meetings with advocacy groups, City staff, and provider agencies. She displayed a planning timeline and explained considerations included in the development of the timeline. Councilmember Robertson asked if the other sub-regions in the area were able to put together task forces like the North King County one. Ms. Mercedes-Rinck described the efforts to ensure good representation in other sub-regions.
Ms. Martens shared the benefits of an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with KCRHA and said establishing sub-regions helped recognize that homelessness looks different in different regions and added that consolidation and streamlining systems will help local funding go further. Ms. Kelly clarified that the MOA she referred to earlier is to commit to membership in the coalition, but the ILA is specific to the KCRHA, and currently King County and the City of Seattle are signatories, effectively establishing the Regional Homelessness Authority by consolidating their resources. Ms. Martens pointed out that Sound Cities is a member of the governing board so that suburban cities are represented but the details of the governance structure are built into the original ILA.
When asked about KCRHA’s relationship to King County’s current efforts toward helping homelessness, Ms. Martens explained that King County’s Help through Housing program is aligned with, but separate from, KCRHA’s work.
Councilmember McGlashan asked why Lake City was placed in the North King County, rather than the Seattle, region. Ms. Mercedes-Rinck recognized that the area is on the border of both areas, and said as conversations continue, may end up in both regions, but funding should not be affected.
Deputy Mayor Scully said he is delighted to see this program getting off the ground. He said Shoreline is very committed to being regional and has been working on alternative emergency service delivery models. He said the RADAR program is great, but not enough, so the City is working to determine what is needed, at the City-level, for crisis intervention. He encouraged KCRHA to keep Shoreline in mind as they explore alternative service delivery concepts. He said on the regional note, there is a lot of concern that since Shoreline has fewer homelessness issues that Seattle, regionalization should not be done to the point that the resources go to the greatest number of homeless folks, which might leave nothing for Shoreline. Ms. Martens agreed that a behavioral health resource is needed and asked that Shoreline keep them apprised of the process. She said any service agreement with any city would address the regional resource/service concerns.
Councilmember Chang said she is concerned about maintaining local control of services and asked about the rebidding process. Ms. Martens replied that KCRHA wants to have consistent metrics, track consistent outcomes, and have a data backbone that covers the whole County. She added that it may make sense for some controls to be held with KCRHA, which will allow for consolidation and consistency across the County while meeting local needs. Councilmember Chang said there needs to be a balance and shared responsibility. Ms. Mercedes-Rinck assured her that this will be a continuing conversation. Councilmember Roberts asked where collaboration ends and an ILA begins. Ms. Martens said that is an ongoing discussion but added that it will be easier for providers if they can consolidate efforts. She said KCRHA exists because Seattle and King County’s previous efforts were not working and they recognized that a more consistent, regional approach was needed. She said they also learned the data and metrics they have are inaccurate, which is why one of their primary goals is to establish a better data backend. Councilmember Roberts asked why an ILA approach is the right approach and Ms. Martens responded it is to make sure things happen.
Mayor Hall recognized that this will be an ongoing discussion and recognized the points raised on local control.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 8:08 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/ Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk