CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

The purpose of these minutes is to capture a high-level summary of Council’s discussion and action. This is not a verbatim transcript. Meeting video and audio is available on the City’s website.

Monday, July 18, 2022 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall

7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North

PRESENT: Mayor Scully, Deputy Mayor Robertson, Councilmembers Mork, Roberts, Pobee, and Ramsdell

ABSENT: Councilmember McConnell

1. CALL TO ORDER

At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Scully who presided.

2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL

Upon roll call by the Deputy City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present except for Councilmember Pobee, who joined the meeting at 7:02 p.m. and Councilmember McConnell.

Deputy Mayor Robertson moved to excuse Councilmember McConnell for personal reasons. The motion was approved by unanimous consent.

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.

4. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER

Debbie Tarry, City Manager, reported on various City meetings, projects, and events.

5. COUNCIL REPORTS

Councilmember Mork said she attended a Regional Water Quality Committee meeting where they spoke about clean water guiding principles. The goals of the Committee are to clarify clean water plans and maintain the emphasis on total sewer rates.

Mayor Scully announced further postponement of action on Ordinance No. 968 to September 12, 2022. There was no objection from Council.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

The Council heard comments from the public from approximately 7:05 p.m. to 7:33 p.m. Written comments were also submitted to Council prior to the meeting and are available on the City’s website.

Janet Way, Shoreline Resident, shared support for the Westminster Park Design process and pointed out that several parks need attention and maintenance funding.

Bill Franklin, Shoreline Resident, spoke regarding the Westminster Park Design process and encouraged the park be designed and developed concurrently with other underdeveloped parks.

Nathan Hawkins, Shoreline Resident, asked that Westminster Park be funded and developed with other current projects. He pointed out that Westminster is the only neighborhood without a park.

Pat Weber, Shoreline Resident, brought attention to safety issues and maintenance needs of South Wood Park and asked that they be addressed.

Mary Ellen Stone, Shoreline Resident, expressed support for the adoption of a levy lid lift.

Lisa Brock, Shoreline Resident, requested that Council adopt a low levy lid lift. She reasoned that with a high rate, voters may choose to not approve the levy causing the City to cut services.

Geoffrey Dairiki, Shoreline Resident, raised concern for the rate proposed for the levy lid lift.

Kathleen Russell, Shoreline Resident, said the true weight of climate resiliency is not reflected in the Transportation Master Plan prioritization and requested it be placed as the third highest goal.

Nancy Morris, Shoreline Resident, expressed disapproval with the weighting score for climate resiliency for the Transportation Master Plan prioritization. She asked that the metric be given a larger weight.

Lee Keim, Shoreline Resident, asked Council to apply a vigorous climate saving lens to the evaluation process for the Transportation Master Plan.

Andy Gregory, Shoreline Resident, said he would like to see Westminster Park developed along with other current park projects. He supports collaborative and creative solutions to develop the community.

Derek Blackwell, Shoreline Resident, spoke about issues around Garden Park Apartments and brought attention to the need for resources in the area.

Lathan Wayne, Shoreline Resident, wished Ms. Tarry a happy, safe, and healthy retirement.

7. CONSENT CALENDAR

Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Robertson and unanimously carried, 6-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:

(a) Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of June 6, 2022

Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of June 13, 2022

(b) Authorize the City Manager Execute a Contract Amendment with Blueline, Inc. in the Amount of $305,160 for Construction Management and Additional Design Services for the N/NE155th Street Overlay Project

(c) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Contract Amendment with Parametrix, Inc. in the amount of $755,374

(d) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Construction Contract with FORMA Construction in the Amount of $1,643,888.90 for Progressive Design Build Services for Park Improvements

(e) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Construction Contract with Pacific Trenchless, Inc. in the Amount of $2,926,866 for the Ridgecrest 5 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project

8. ACTION ITEMS

(a) Action on Resolution No. 492 - Authorizing the Placement of a Ballot Measure on the 2022 November General Election to Authorize the City to Increase its Regular Property Tax Levy Above the Limit Established in RCW 84.55.010 to Fund Basic Public Safety and Community Services Maintenance and Operations Levy

CMO Management Analyst, Christina Arcidy, shared background information on the levy lid lift. She reviewed the City’s revenue sources and expenditures and explained how property tax dollars are used. It was noted that the Assessed Value Forecast from King County increased from 12% to 17%. The Consumer Price Index also increased from 6.67% to 10.4%. Due to these increases, staff is recommending reduced their previously recommended levy rate by $0.01 to $1.39. The reduced rate would carry the same buying power as the previous recommendation and is projected to eliminate potential budget gap in 2024. The projected cost to place this measure on the ballot is $120,000.

Ms. Arcidy emphasized that the rate, if approved by Council and voters, would be the maximum rate that could be assessed. The actual rate for 2023 would be decided by Council during the budget process. During that time, Council will also select the programs, services, and investments to be funded. The levy would be lifted each year by CPI-U.

Councilmember Roberts moved to adopt Resolution No. 492.

Councilmember Roberts commented that it would be detrimental to the quality of service the City provides if the Resolution is not passed. Councilmember Pobee noted that Shoreline is a growing city and though projections for the future are not certain, it would be undesirable to cut services.

Following a question about potential deficit, Administrative Services Director, Sara Lane, stated that the updated recommendation is balanced for the full 6 years of the lift. However, City policy does allow surplus funds from early years to be used to balance later years, but this would come with risks. At the $1.39 rate, the City would collect $6.6 million more than what is anticipated to be collected in 2022. This would mean an annual collection of $21 million.

Councilmember Mork moved to amend Resolution No. 492 to replace all references of $1.40 to $1.35.

Councilmember Mork cited inflation and voter approval as a concern with the $1.40 rate. Ms. Arcidy explained that the $1.35 rate would provide a surplus for five of the six years of the lift. This would allow the City to maintain current services and expand the RADAR program. She confirmed that qualified seniors would be eligible for deferrals and exemptions, and noted that qualification standards are set by King County.

Mayor Scully and Deputy Mayor Robertson expressed a preference for a higher dollar amount.

The motion to amend failed 1-5 with Councilmember Mork voting in favor.

Councilmember Roberts moved to amend Resolution No. 492 to replace all references of $1.40 to $1.39.

The motion to amend passed unanimously, 6-0.

The main motion as amended passed unanimously, 6-0.

9. STUDY ITEMS

(a) Discussion of Draft Prioritized Transportation Project List

Senior Planner, Nora Daley-Peng, presented a summary of the findings from Outreach Series 3 and the resulting draft prioritized project list. From a survey of 427 participants, staff learned that most individuals felt that the draft plans for various travel modes provided the right amount of accommodation. Survey participants rated the goals established from Outreach Series 1. Safety ranked as the highest priority and community vibrancy ranked as the lowest.

Balancing stakeholder input and City policy, staff assigned a draft point system to the prioritization metrics to score potential projects. The following priorites from highest to lowest was listed as Staff’s recommendation:

1. Safety (Council Goal and City Target Zero policy)

2. Equity (Council Goal)

3. Connectivity

4. Multimodality

5. Community Vibrancy

6. Climate resiliency

Ms. Daley-Peng said that staff are currently preparing a report from the outreach series and a draft of the Transportation Element updates. As a next step, staff will use the data to identify cost estimates and develop a financially constrained list of priority projects. In order to update the Transportation Element by the end of 2022, the Transportation Master Plan was pushed back to be finalized in early 2023.

Responding to a question about the relationship between transit and sidewalk projects, Transportation Services Manager, Nytasha Walters, explained that the sidewalk projects are standalone projects. Staff looked at the transportation network holistically to find where projects overlap on the 2018 Sidewalk Prioritization Plan and the Transportation Master Plan. She said, if a sidewalk project needs multi-modal upgrades, staff can develop a project plan to serve all travel modes.

Councilmember Roberts commented that volume should replace either street classification or speed limit as a metric in the prioritization matrix.

In discussing the Prioritization Scorecard, it was asked if instead of referring to the Multimodality and Connectivity metrics within the Climate Resiliency metric, could Climate Resiliency be referenced within the Multimodality and Connectivity metrics. With this, the Climate Resiliency metric would move up in the Criteria Point Spread and better reflect the results of the survey. Ms. Daley-Peng confirmed that the change could be made.

A question was asked about the cost of the projects as a metric and Ms. Daley-Peng explained that cost will be used to understand project constraints. Staff will conduct a financial analysis of transportation expenses and projected revenues over the next 20 years. This will lead to the development of high-level cost estimates of all 175 projects. Then, staff and Council will consider what the City can afford.

Mayor Scully suggested that Council will need to be more assertive in deciding what projects are most needed and how projects are weighted compared to others. He advised that numbers should not drive policy but inform policy.

(b) Discussion of Potential Westminster Park Design Process

Parks, Fleet, and Facilities Manager, Nick Borer, referenced the 2017-2023 Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan that was adopted by Council in 2016. The plan was created by several public stakeholders and defines a set of priorities for PROS improvements. In February 2022, voters approved Proposition 1 to fund the acquisition and development of parks. Since then, a Project Manager dedicated to the parks bond was hired to oversee the eight Park Bond Improvement Projects. Staff anticipates the design and permit process to be complete and construction to begin in the summer of 2023. Park improvement and amenities projects are as follows: