CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 24, 2022 Held Remotely via Zoom
7:00 pm.
PRESENT: Mayor Scully, Deputy Mayor Robertson, Councilmembers McConnell, Mork, Roberts, Pobee, and Ramsdell
ABSENT: None
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Scully who presided.
2. ROLL CALL
Upon roll call by the Deputy City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.
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 COVID-19 and reported on various City meetings, projects, and events.
5. COUNCIL REPORTS
Deputy Mayor Robertson reported that the North King County Coalition on Homelessness is working on the Point-in-Time Count which will be executed in March to get a sum for the number of people living unsheltered and shared details on activity for the severe weather shelters. She said she also attended a meeting of the Regional Transit Committee for PSRC where they approved the workplan for 2022 which will include several reports on 2021 and 2022 performance measures.
Councilmember Roberts shared that PSRC is seeking public comment on the draft Regional Transportation Plan and members of Council and the public can go to PSRC.org to submit comments.
Mayor Scully said he attended a WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council meeting where they discussed the Governor’s funding proposals for recovery projects they hope will be enacted. Mayor Scully also announced the Councilmembers who will serve as the primary and alternate delegates as follows:
· Councilmembers Roberts and Ramsdell for the Sound Cities Association Public Issues Committee
· Councilmembers McConnell and Pobee for King County SeaShore Transportation Forum
· Himself and Councilmember Mork for WRIA 8
· Councilmember Mork for King County Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C), and
· Deputy Mayor Robertson and Councilmember Ramsdell for the North King County Shelter Taskforce
6. PUBLIC COMMENT
Jackie Kurle, Shoreline resident, said she was glad there was a success story from the Enhanced Shelter and encouraged continued communication with the public on the Shelter’s developments.
Abdi Amhed, Edmonds resident and School District staff member, shared appreciation from the East-African community for the Turning Point after-school tutoring program.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Robertson and seconded by Councilmember Ramsdell and unanimously carried, 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of January 3, 2022
(b) Approval of Expenses and Payroll as of January 7, 2022 in the Amount of $2,577,102.16
(c) Adoption of Ordinance No. 953 – Rezoning 808, 812, 820, and 826 N 145th Street From R-12 to Neighborhood Business (PLN21-0117)
(d) Adoption of Addendum No. 4 to Extend the Agreement with the City of Edmonds for Wastewater Treatment, Disposal and Transport
(e) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with KBA, Inc. in the Amount of $417,200 for Construction Management and Inspection of 2022 Surface Water Utility Projects
(f) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Professional Services Contract with Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, Inc., in the Amount of $428,616 for the Lower Storm Creek Erosion Management Project
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Action on Resolution No. 486 - Declaring Support for Shoreline School District Ballot Proposition No. 1 and Proposition No. 2
Mayor Scully disclosed his wife’s position as a School Director on the Shoreline School Board stating that the role is unpaid and he will have no financial stake in the matter. He then introduced Management Analyst, Christina Arcidy, to present the staff report.
Ms. Arcidy spoke about the previous presentation to Council by the School District on Propositions 1 and 2 to be placed on the February 8, 2022, Special Election Ballot and explained that Council was now able to act on declaring support for both propositions through Resolution 486. In terms of next steps, she said state law requires Council to provide the public an opportunity to express their views before Council may take action.
Mayor Scully opened the public comment period.
Seeing no members of the public wishing to offer testimony, Mayor Scully closed the public comment period.
Councilmember McConnell moved to adopt Resolution No. 486. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Pobee.
Councilmember McConnell said she has a decades long relationship with the School District and says it is an excellent District because the community supports the levies. She says students have a technological leg up to compete in this technologically sophisticated world because the schools distribute laptops and iPads and she hopes even through the pandemic the community will continue to support students as she does.
Councilmember Pobee shared a proverb expressing the significance of investing in children and commented on the return on investment in providing students with technology that add to their benefits from the School District.
Deputy Mayor Robertson said she too supports the measures and that Council’s action will show their belief in the strength of the community for the future.
The motion to adopt Resolution No. 486 passed unanimously, 7-0.
9. STUDY ITEMS
(a) Discussion of Proposed American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 2022 Human Services Funding Allocation Update
City Attorney, Margaret King, spoke about RCW 42.23.030 summarizing that Councilmembers shall not have direct or indirect interest in the approval or negotiation of a contract where they may receive any compensation, gratuity, or reward or receive compensation from another person who may benefit from such a contract. She said Council must disclose any conflict before a vote is conducted and may not participate in approval of the contract nor are Councilmembers allowed to argue in favor of or try to convince other officers to enter that contract. She restated that no action on approving a contract will occur during the meeting and asked Councilmembers to contact her if they feel they may have a potential conflict and recommended they refrain from advocating for anything in the discussion should a conflict exist.
Councilmember Ramsdell disclosed his role as a Clinical Supervisor for Charm’d LLC, an organization which may receive support to provide mental health support to immigrant and refugee families and announced his intention to recuse himself from the vote for that contract.
Director of Recreation Cultural and Community Services, Colleen Kelly, began the presentation by explaining that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is a federal resource of which $7.5 Million has been allocated for services in Shoreline. She gave a status update on the funding saying that Council previously supported $1.6 Million of those funds to be used towards Human Services and since that discussion 1.4 FTE Community Support Specialists positions have been filled. These employees have been doing outreach and research to see how other ARPA dollars are being invested and building a webpage with information on how the community may access resources, which is due to launch in February. She also spoke about the 2021 Holiday basket program stating that it was an unexpected expenditure that City Staff and community partners were able to pull off to provide grocery cards in a successful event through the School District.
Ms. Kelly explained the eligibility criteria of the ARPA funds and described some background behind her Department’s research to identify service and access needs for Shoreline residents without duplicating support efforts. She detailed the three categories of recommendations which are emergency response support, service support, and community building support. For emergency support, Ms. Kelly said the recommendation will be for $87,500 to go to the Schools Holiday Baskets program, $50,000 for additional grocery cards, and $100,000 for flexible financial assistance. She then explained there will be $50,000 for mental health services through Charm’d, $28,500 for mental health services for black youth and other youth of color, $120,000 for an Information and Assistance Specialist and COVID program support, $57,000 for tutoring and family support for immigrant and refugee families, $10,000 for emergency hotel vouchers, and $5,000 for transportation support. Finally, Ms. Kelly said the recommendation will be for $10,000 for the Love Your Community Grants Expansion for community building support. She concluded that the total recommendations for 2022 add up to $518,000 which leaves a balance of $994,500 for future allocation including the $87,500 used in 2021.
Councilmember Pobee asked about the flexible financial assistance under emergency support and who would be managing the fund’s disbursement and how it would be tracked. Ms. Kelly responded saying the funds would be contracted out to specific organizations that already have internal mechanisms in place for managing flexible funding assistance. She highlighted the Community Service Manager, Bethany Wolbrecht-Dunn, touching on her experience with managing federal grants and her role with the ARPA allocation.
Councilmember Roberts asked about accessibility of ARPA programs and how staff felt about resources being dispersed in a timely and effective manner. Ms. Kelly explained that the requirements for services depends on the service but much of that investigation has been completed and with Council’s approval, details can be worked out with each organization. She continued saying funds would go out to community members quickly because the partner organization already manage similar funding, City staff will promote the investments to make sure people are aware of them, and dedicated staff are available to assist community members access the resources. Councilmember Roberts remarked that more should be put into the holiday gift card program now rather than waiting for the holidays because the more we can do now, the better we will help the community.
Agreeing with Councilmember Roberts, Councilmember McConnell encouraged a streamlined process to disburse funds and emphasized that funds should go to Shoreline residents and businesses. She asked if there was a maximum amount per request for the flexible financial assistance program so funds may be dispersed equally to those in need. Ms. Kelly answered explaining that while the funds have been allocated to various programs there is flexibility to move them around based on where there is demand as well as the opportunity to utilize more funding from the remaining balance if necessary.
Deputy Mayor Robertson asked for a timeframe staff expect to have the limited term navigators and agreed with Councilmember Roberts that funding for later programs such as the Holiday Baskets would be better utilized as soon as possible. Ms. Kelly replied stating the positions are budgeted for three years but are currently hired on a 2-year limited term with an option to extend for three years depending on the demand for services.
Councilmember Ramsdell asked what kind of performance measurements are in place to make sure services are provided effectively and if that data will be made available to the public. Ms. Kelly said performance metrics are a standard setup of contracts and emphasized the challenges of trying to build specific outcomes into individual contracts. She said staff are focused on performance metrics that have to do with ensuring Shoreline residents are being served in reasonable numbers.
Councilmember Mork asked how the City validates service information that comes from nonprofits. Ms. Kelly responded explaining that dedicated staff for ARPA conduct site visits, keep regular communication, review terms of insurance and audit documents. Many of the organizations have worked with the City for years. Councilmember Mork expressed concern for people without school age kids who will not be able to access services offered through the School District and wants to ensure that they are recognized for ARPA funding. She later asked what the next steps are to determine the budget for future years and Ms. Kelly clarified that the funds are flexible and can be used as it is needed and the 2022 budget was created to plan for the year.
Mayor Scully asked if the City did the grocery card program before and how it was funded. He made comments that align to Councilmembers Roberts and Mork that funding for deferred programs could be used sooner and demographics without a connection to the schools need to be able to access resources. Ms. Kelly answered saying the program was done before with emergency response funding such as the CARES Act funding and reminded Council that there is an additional $50,000 for grocery cards outside of the school-based holiday program.
Councilmembers Roberts referenced the City of Edmonds fund distribution method and commented on the approach of cash or grocery cards that can be utilized by families differently, each with their pros and cons that can be discussed as the programs are being developed. He then asked if the grocery card program is contracted, which Ms. Kelly responded saying they are a direct purchase and will be distributed to partner organizations. She explained that funds for ARPA programs will be authorized as part of the budget amendment process. This was affirmed by Ms. Tarry and she explained that staff have the budget authority to move forward with the purchase and would come back to Council if the demand increased.
Mayor Scully reiterated the process for this item’s return to consent calendar.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 8:26 p.m., Mayor Scully declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/ Kendyl Hardy, Deputy City Clerk