CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
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, February 27, 2023 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall
7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Scully, Deputy Mayor Robertson, and Councilmembers Ramsdell, Mork, McConnell, Pobee and Roberts
ABSENT: None
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 City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present except for Councilmember McConnell who arrived at 7:05 p.m.
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3. |
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA |
Councilmember Roberts pulled Agenda Item 7(c) - Adoption of the 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket from the Consent Calendar, which was added as Item 8(a). The amended agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
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4. |
REPORT OF THE CITY MANAGER |
Bristol Ellington, City Manager, reported on various City meetings, projects, and events.
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5. |
COUNCIL REPORTS |
Councilmember Roberts said he attended the
Association of Washington Cities’ “City Action Days” Conference where he was
appointed to the Board of Directors Nominating Committee. He added that he
attended the International Community Health Services 5K event.
Deputy Mayor Robertson reported that she attended a meeting with the city-members from the North Urban Human Services Alliance to thank Representative Pramila Jayapal for her support with the 148th Street Non-Motorized Bridge. She said she also attended a Regional Transit Committee meeting for an update on their program.
Councilmember Pobee announced that he was appointed to the Association of Washington Cities’ Education and Training Committee and encouraged other Councilmembers to complete a Certificate of Municipal Leadership program.
Mayor Scully said he met with representatives at the Association of Washington Cities’ conference to advocate for funding for the 148th Street Non-Motorized Bridge. He added that he attended a PRCS/Tree Board meeting and the Board invited Councilmembers to attend meetings for question-and-answer sessions. Lastly, Mayor Scully said he attended the Tibetan Association of Washington Losar Sangsol event.
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6. |
PUBLIC COMMENT |
The Council heard comments from the public from approximately 7:09 p.m. to
7:11 p.m. Written comments were also submitted to Council prior
to the meeting and are available on the City’s
website.
Leathan Wene, Shoreline, stated more funding is needed for recreation for people with special needs.
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7. |
CONSENT CALENDAR |
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Robertson, seconded, and unanimously carried 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of February 6, 2023
Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of February 13, 2023
(b) Approval of Expenses and Payroll as of February 17, 2023 in the Amount of $1,638,939.47
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*Payroll and Benefits: |
||||||
|
Payroll Period |
Payment Date |
EFT Numbers (EF) |
Payroll Checks (PR) |
Benefit Checks (AP) |
Amount Paid |
|
|
12/2022 |
2/6/2023 |
88013 |
$14,119.61 |
|||
|
1/22/23 - 2/4/23 |
2/10/2023 |
106838-107065 |
18074-18083 |
88073-88079 |
$839,168.46 |
|
|
$853,288.07 |
||||||
|
*Wire Transfers: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Wire Transfer Number |
|
Amount Paid |
|||
|
$0.00 |
||||||
|
*Accounts Payable Claims: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Check Number (Begin) |
Check Number (End) |
Amount Paid |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88014 |
88028 |
$163,806.33 |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88029 |
88038 |
$28,515.00 |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88039 |
88049 |
$83,053.69 |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88050 |
88070 |
$95,984.19 |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88071 |
88071 |
$75,646.60 |
|||
|
2/8/2023 |
88072 |
88072 |
$5,983.92 |
|||
|
2/15/2023 |
88080 |
88102 |
$141,807.94 |
|||
|
2/15/2023 |
88103 |
88114 |
$31,919.47 |
|||
|
2/15/2023 |
88115 |
88120 |
$10,215.22 |
|||
|
2/15/2023 |
88121 |
88121 |
$3,795.43 |
|||
|
2/15/2023 |
88122 |
88130 |
$144,923.61 |
|||
|
$785,651.40 |
||||||
(c) Removed from Consent Calendar
(d) Authorize the City Manager to Amend the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with King County for the Acquisition of Open Space Through the Conservation Futures Tax Levy Collections Grant Program
(e) Authorize the City Manager to Enter into a Grant Contract with King County to accept $500,000 in Grant Funding from the King County Parks Levy for the Acquisition of Property at Rotary Park
(f) Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with KPFF Consulting Engineers in the Amount of $ 1,765,210 for the 148th Street Non-Motorized Bridge Project
(g) Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Amendment to the Contract with Jacobs Engineering Group for Bid-Ready Design on Phase 1 of the SR-523 (N/NE 145th Street) Aurora Avenue to Interstate-5 Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $629,778 for a Contract Maximum Amount of $5,761,755
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8. |
ACTION ITEMS |
(a) Adoption of the 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket
Andrew Baur, Planning Manager, explained the Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket was originally placed on the Consent Calendar following direction from Council to insert one amendment to the Docket. The amendment would authorize the review to update the Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Arts Plan. The remainder of the proposed amendments were to be added to the Comprehensive Plan Major Update.
Councilmember Roberts moved to postpone discussion of Item 8.a – Adoption of 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket to a time the City Manager and Mayor may recommend to the Council. The motion was seconded.
Councilmember Roberts stated a delay would add more flexibility to add items to the Docket based on the outcome of several legislative bills. If the Docket were approved now, no changes could be made for the rest of the year.
Councilmember Ramsdell asked Councilmember Roberts if his concern is with legislation for middle housing. Councilmember Roberts said that is one of the bills to keep an eye for but there are others too.
Deputy Mayor Robertson asked if there was a deadline to submit amendments. Mr. Baur said privately initiated requests had a deadline of December 1, 2022, but this deadline does not apply to Council initiated requests. The Docket amendments must be adopted by the end of 2023. Deputy Mayor Robertson asked when legislation is expected to be completed for Council to move forward with the Docket amendments. Councilmember Roberts answered the first floor cutoff is March 8, 2023, and the legislative session ends in April.
It was asked if the Planning Department’s work plan would be limited if amendments are not added to the Docket. Mr. Baur explained the Docket can only be amended once per year and priorities are more difficult to move around further into the year. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated she would prefer to move forward with approval of the Docket.
The motion to postpone discussion of Item 8.a failed 3-4 with Councilmembers Ramsdell, Pobee, and Roberts voting in favor.
Councilmember Roberts moved to adopt the 2023 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously, 7-0.
(b) Action on Resolution No. 506 - Adopting Public Participation Plan for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update
Andrew Baur, Planning Manager, said Resolution No. 506 will approve the Public Participation Plan for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update. Mr. Baur explained the Comprehensive Plan documents the community’s vision and conveys the roadmap for how to achieve the vision through goals and policies. The Plan is informed by several factors including current demographic and job growth targets, legislative requirements, and community input. He said the Plan update is organized into three key themes: (1) housing, (2) equity and social justice, and (3) climate. The Participation Plan aims to reach many people and in particular, communities that have been negatively impacted by past policy decisions.
Mr. Baur described the participation strategy and called out the following participation principals:
1. Input matters and is a priority
2. Outreach and engagement need to occur early and regularly
3. Outreach and engagement will be equitable, transparent, and inclusive
4. Outreach should build partnerships and leverage existing relationships
5. Outreach includes following up with the community
With these principles in mind, Mr. Baur listed the following Goals:
1. Ensure everyone knows what the Comprehensive Plan is, its scope, and schedule
2. Ensure there are meaningful opportunities to participate and understand how their input is being used
3. Ensure the City of Shoreline has the right information and context to inform the Comprehensive Plan through an equity lens and advance the larger equity and social justice goals of the City
Mr. Baur reviewed the Roadmap for Implementation and explained the public participation timeline. He said staff are currently gearing up for the first phase of public participation and hope to launch an online open house soon. Mr. Baur stated the staff recommendation is for the Council to adopt the Public Participation Plan for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update.
Mayor Scully opened the public comment period. Seeing no members of the public wishing to speak, Mayor Scully closed the public comment period.
Deputy Mayor Robertson moved to adopt Resolution No. 506. The motion was seconded.
Deputy Mayor Robertson asked how staff will find diverse stakeholders to provide comments for compensation. Mr. Baur said staff are still exploring those options but there may likely be an application process.
Councilmember Pobee asked about the specific strategies to engage with communities including non-English speaking communities. Councilmember Roberts added there are no concrete plans to produce information in multiple languages. Mr. Baur answered that staff are working at high level to learn what strategies work and where staff may need to adapt throughout the process. As part of the equity framework, staff intend to use translation services and employ a community liaison framework to develop community relationships with key groups.
Councilmember Roberts asked what the City will do to manage community expectations regarding decisions made outside of the Council at the legislative level. Mr. Baur said the first phase of the plan focuses on informing the public on such legislation and other factors that can impact the development of the city. Councilmember Roberts encouraged ongoing education so the public will know what Council can and cannot control.
Councilmember Mork asked if there are targets to determine if the feedback loop is working. Mr. Baur stated the feedback loop will inform what was heard from the community and how comments will be incorporated in the next phase of work. It was asked if staff will try again if engagement efforts result in a low turnout. Mr. Baur said it depends on the subject being discussed. A low turnout on the overarching Plan would need more work while low turnout for a specific topic may suffice.
Mayor Scully requested to have check-ins on the Plan’s implementation. He specified he would like updates on how implementation is going, what is being done, community responses or lack thereof, and relevant trends. Mayor Scully agreed the Plan is broad and shared caution with developing compensation options.
Councilmember Ramsdell advised staff to invite quieter voices to participate as louder voices tend to express extremes.
(c) Action on Federal Legislative Priorities
Jim Hammond, Intergovernmental Program Manager, introduced Jake Johnston, the City’s Federal Lobbyist with the Johnston Group. Mr. Hammond explained the role of legislative priorities are for Council to provide consistent information and clear direction on the City’s priorities, and to position the City to embrace opportunities. He stated the priorities can also help to develop partnerships with fellow stakeholders. Mr. Hammond invited Mr. Johnston to speak to the value of priorities from an operational point of view.
Mr. Johnston noted the Council’s work to foster a mutually positive relationship with the federal government. He said the Johnston Group works to provide resources to Council and collect input on policy from Council to fit the needs of the community. Through that relationship, projects specific to federal funding criteria can be brought forward to support the City’s goals.
Mr. Hammond listed that the short-term federal funding needs for Shoreline are to fund the 145th Corridor/148th Bridge through the RAISE Grant; the Water Resources Development Act for Ballinger Creek in partnership with Lake Forest Park; and to implement 2022 funding from Representative Jayapal. The long-term federal funding needs are to address infrastructure and climate opportunities; Trail Along the Rail; 175th Corridor; and 185th Station Area. Mr. Hammond said staff are monitoring the next Transportation Authorization Bill that is expected to come around in 2026 to continue advocating for the City’s key issues.
Mr. Hammond highlighted the medium-sized city set-aside project that cities in Oregon and Washington are working together on to increase equitable access to funding for medium-sized cities. Because of the partnership, half of all 2020 RAISE Grant money was reserved for communities under 200,000 in population. Mr. Johnston said two medium-sized cities in Washington were awarded RAISE Grant funding for the first-time last year but more work is needed to continue this progress. Mr. Johnston said he believes Shoreline has a strong case to fund the 148th Street Station because the RAISE Grant is designed to support investments to connect housing to transit.
Mr. Hammond listed additional ongoing advocacy efforts regarding the following issues:
· Climate change measures
· Increased access to health insurance
· Childcare and support for families
· Tax code changes
· Salmon recovery and watershed restoration
· Additional infrastructure investments
· Increased formula funding for cities
· Policies that support a safe, healthy, inviting, and equitable community for all
Mayor Scully opened the public comment period. Seeing no members of the public wishing to speak, Mayor Scully closed the public comment period.
Deputy Mayor Robertson moved to adopt the 2023 Federal Legislative Priorities. The motion was seconded.
A Councilmember asked what funding is available for housing assistance and Mr. Johnston responded there is some funding but not enough to make it a critical tool to bring forward to the community. He explained their priority is to maintain local flexibility to administer federal dollars. It was asked if the Grants Administrator position has been filled and Mr. Ellington said the position is still vacant.
Councilmember Roberts asked if the Red Flag laws have been passed and Mr. Johnston responded that some have passed but they are still waiting to see the outcome of those laws.
Mayor Scully said he would like to add a policy item onto the agenda for federal support for housing construction for permanent supportive, workforce, and seniors.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
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9. |
STUDY ITEMS |
(a) Discussing the Annual Traffic Report
Kendra Dedinsky, City Traffic Engineer, and Captain Tim Meyer, Shoreline Police, provided the staff report. Ms. Dedinsky reviewed the objectives of the Annual Traffic Report and stated that there were 382 total collisions in 2021, with one fatality and 10 serious injuries. She pointed out that although the total number of collisions is down from the last couple of years, the number of injuries remains high. Some encouraging news is that pedestrian and bicyclist collisions are trending down, accounting for just over 20% of the injury collisions in 2021. She compared Shoreline’s rate of serious and fatal injury collision against the region, and revealed the top two contributing factors for serious and fatal injury collisions in Shoreline are still intersections and accidents involving pedestrians or bicyclists.
Ms. Dedinsky stated Shoreline’s arterial streets make up 27% of Shoreline’s roadways but experience 94% of the pedestrian collisions and 92% of the serious and fatal collisions. Given limited staffing and funding resources, she said staff will stay focused on arterial streets when making decisions for improvements to the City’s roadways. She also called attention to the large number of injury collisions on SR 99 (Aurora Ave N) and SR 104 (Ballinger Way) and mentioned upcoming safety projects for these State routes. She then reviewed intersection, segment, and pedestrian and bike collisions by location and highlighted improvements recently made, or planned for in the CIP, to these locations. She concluded by reviewing several collision reduction strategies and education efforts.
Captain Meyer shared that in 2021 there were 641 traffic citations issued and 66 criminal traffic cases filed. This is a significant decrease from prior years as staffing shortages have required the Police Department to redirect its five traffic officers to be available for 911 calls. He further reported there were 866 abandoned vehicles, 57 impounds and 221 parking citations in 2021. Ms. Dedinsky said she works with Police to identify priority streets for speed enforcement and she listed the streets with the highest speed differentials. Ms. Dedinsky wrapped up the presentation by reviewing traffic volumes and transit ridership in 2021.
A Councilmember pointed out that Carlyle Hall Road has showed up on the speed differential list going back to 2013 and asked what can be done to slow traffic down on this road. Ms. Dedinsky noted the road’s lack of sidewalks and driveways (along one side) invite higher speeds and said strategies to address this could be enforcement, adding sidewalks and narrowing lanes.
It was pointed out that the State Legislature is currently considering a bill that would prohibit right turns on a red light and it was asked whether Council should consider the same in the future. Ms. Dedinsky noted the limited areas the City currently employs right on red restrictions and cautioned that widespread use would come with a burden for enforcement. She noted accident data often shows an accident occurring during a left-hand turn.
There was discussion on the reasons for collisions on 175th Street between 8th and 10th Avenue; how data is being used to plan for CIP projects; and balancing pedestrian safety with designing roadways for peak travel.
A Councilmember inquired how the City is handing input from community members regarding issues on their local streets. Ms. Dedinsky replied that Shoreline is a very responsive and customer-oriented city, and the traffic division receives and responds to over 400 traffic safety concerns annually. Sometimes these requests result in road improvements to local streets. She cautioned making improvements to a road that has no collision history when there are other roads with a history. She also acknowledged the importance of moving towards a proactive approach and the need to study growth areas and implement preventative safety measures.
Attention was drawn to the decrease in criminal traffic case filings from 2014 to 2021, and it was asked what percentage of this decrease is Driving With License Suspended. There is concern that Police staffing shortages are potentially contributing to a decrease in filings for Driving Under the Influence, Hit and Run, and Reckless Driving. Captain Meyer responded that he has those numbers and will provide them.
There was a request to move parking enforcement entirely away from a sworn police officer, and Mr. Norris reported that staff is currently developing a parking enforcement program that would handle abandoned vehicles and parking.
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10. |
ADJOURNMENT |
At 9:02 p.m., Mayor Scully declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/ Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk