CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF WORKSHOP MEETING

Monday, August 21, 2000

6:30 p.m.

Shoreline Conference Center

Mt. Rainier Room

PRESENT: Mayor Jepsen, Deputy Mayor Hansen, Councilmembers Grossman, Gustafson, Lee and Ransom

ABSENT: Councilmember Montgomery

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Jepsen, who presided.

2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL

Mayor Jepsen led the flag salute. Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present with the exceptions of Deputy Mayor Hansen and Councilmember Gustafson, who arrived later, and Councilmember Montgomery.

Councilmember Grossman moved to excuse Councilmember Montgomery. Councilmember Ransom seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

3. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT AND FUTURE AGENDAS

City Manager Robert Deis noted the success of Celebrate Shoreline on Saturday, August 19.

4. COUNCIL REPORTS

Councilmember Ransom related information from the King County Jail Advisory Committee: County staff projected a four percent increase in the overall budget and increases in individual cities' court costs of six to eight percent. Councilmember Ransom explained that misdemeanors effect court costs more than jail costs.

Mayor Jepsen noted the Council retreat Friday and Saturday, August 18 and 19. He mentioned that he signed letters to the Shoreline School Board, the Shoreline Fire District, the Shoreline Wastewater District and the Shoreline Water District encouraging them to budget funds to videotape their meetings for broadcast on the government access cable television channel.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT

(a) Dwight Stevens, 1606 N 197th Place, thanked Council for choosing him to be the grand marshal of the Celebrate Shoreline parade.

(b) Ken Howe, 745 N 184th Street, provided photographs of Car 53 of the Interurban Trolley System. He requested assistance to purchase the trolley for restoration and display in Shoreline. Also, he advocated that Council invite Megan Kelly, Certified Local Government Coordinator for the State of Washington, to provide a presentation at a future Council workshop.

(c) Bill Bear, 2541 NE 165th Street, distributed copies of the Briarcrest Neighborhood Newsletter. He expressed appreciation for the participation of Shoreline Police Chief Denise Pentony at the August 17 neighborhood meeting.

6. WORKSHOP ITEMS

(a) Presentation of the proposed Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program

Public Works Director Bill Conner reviewed the staff report. He explained that the first phase of the proposed Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program focuses on education and enforcement of traffic laws and that the second phase involves engineering solutions to safety problems.

Deputy Mayor Hansen arrived at 6:50 p.m.

Mayor Jepsen invited public comment.

(1) Walt Hagen, 711 N 193rd Street, asserted that the redevelopment of Aurora Avenue, as proposed, will force more traffic onto north-south neighborhood streets.

(2) Ken Howe, 745 N 184th Street, said the posted speed limit on Shoreline-area streets during the 1930s was 35 miles per hour. Noting greater population density, he asserted that this speed is now too fast. He advocated the inclusion of stop signs in Phase 1 of the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program.

3) Dale Wright, 18546 Burke Avenue N, supported the proposed program. He suggested two additions: 1) the creation of a review committee to monitor the effectiveness of the program and to recommend changes; and 2) the inclusion of sufficient flexibility in the program to give staff the authority to make necessary changes.

4) Richard Johnsen, 16730 Meridian Avenue N, questioned the results of staff consideration of 167th Street between Aurora Avenue N and Meridian Avenue N and 12th Avenue NE between 145th and 165th Streets. He asserted that Meridian Avenue is part of his neighborhood, not an arterial that can be ignored. Finally, he opposed any limitations on east-west traffic flow on 167th Street.

5) Margie King, 20307 25th Avenue NE, thanked the City for including citizens in the development of the program. She said many people who attended the public open house meetings advocated the use of existing resources (e.g., enforcement of existing traffic laws).

Mr. Conner commented that the City has a program in place (the Manual for Uniform Traffic Codes and Devices [MUTCD]) to address stop signs. He acknowledged traffic speed as part of existing neighborhood traffic safety problems. He advocated the education in Phase 1 as a means of achieving compliance with traffic laws "without having to put a cop on every corner." He supported Mr. Wright's suggestion for a review committee. He said staff will consider this idea. He explained that staff used existing data on 167th Street to verify the "Selection and Prioritization Criteria for Phase 2 Program" (page 15 of the Council packet).

Mayor Jepsen asserted that the City must address both residential and arterial streets. He said the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program, which deals with residential streets, interrelates with other City initiatives focusing on arterial streets (e.g., the Capital Improvement Program [CIP] and the Aurora Corridor Project). Mr. Conner agreed.

Councilmember Gustafson arrived at 7:10 p.m.

In response to Councilmember Lee, Mr. Deis explained that the City purchased its own radar reader board several years ago and that the City shares a second radar reader board with three other cities.

In response to Councilmember Lee, Mr. Conner said the 2000 City budget included approximately $130,000 to establish the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program. He explained that staff has budgeted $210,000 annually over subsequent years to execute the program.

Councilmember Ransom expressed concern about the navigability of traffic circles. He noted an intersection with a traffic circle in Portland, Oregon that includes recessed corners. He said these make it easier to navigate the intersection, while the center island improves traffic safety. Mr. Conner acknowledged the difficulty of navigating traffic circles. He said traffic circles are especially problematic for emergency vehicles. He explained that each traffic safety device the City installs will be site designed to accommodate emergency vehicle traffic. Mr. Deis noted that physical devices must both slow traffic and permit it to flow efficiently.

Councilmember Grossman supported the phased approach of the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program.

In response to Councilmember Gustafson, Mr. Conner confirmed that the other communities that staff researched use temporary physical devices. He also explained that the Traffic Advisory Committee includes representatives of the Public Works, Police and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Departments.

Mayor Jepsen said the proposed program will help in City efforts to determine the appropriate amount of police enforcement of traffic laws. He supported Mr. Wright's suggestions for a review committee and for enough flexibility for staff to make necessary changes.

Mr. Deis suggested that the City reconvene the original Citizen Advisory Committee after a year to review the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program.

(b) Discussion regarding King County Wastewater Treatment Division's Draft Siting Criteria for Wastewater Facilities

Kristoff Bauer, Assistant to the City Manager, distributed the most recent draft siting criteria from King County Wastewater Treatment Division staff. He introduced Michael Popiwny, King County Siting Manager, and Christie True, King County Project Manager.

Mr. Bauer discussed the process by which County staff and the North Treatment Facilities Siting Advisory Committee developed the draft siting criteria. He said the committee debated whether criteria should function as constraints, eliminating consideration of potential sites. He highlighted three concerns about the draft criteria:

Mayor Jepsen discussed the difference of opinion between Siting Advisory Committee members who want to leave the criteria open-ended to prevent sites from being eliminated from consideration and those who want to begin prioritizing the criteria to provide an objective way to evaluate sites.

In response to Mayor Jepsen, Ms. True identified September 27 as the target date for transmitting the siting criteria to the County Council. Mayor Jepsen explained that the Siting Advisory Committee will reconvene in 2001 to review County staff's application of the criteria in the selection of potential sites.

Mayor Jepsen said he and other committee members advocated at the July 27 meeting that the committee identify some of the criteria as absolutes (e.g., revise T-1A to read "King County shall seek select NTF sites that provide sufficient area to accommodate the proposed facilities. . .").

Ms. True said the County already identified environmental and engineering constraints (e.g., avoiding sites located on a fault line or on farmland preservation property). She explained that application of these constraints will be one of the first steps in the consideration of sites, followed by application of the policy criteria. She acknowledged the need to prioritize the policy criteria. She said County staff expects prioritization once it begins to apply the criteria and to receive public input on priorities.

In response to Deputy Mayor Hansen, Mr. Bauer said staff provided the list of environmental and engineering constraints to Council with the first draft of the policy criteria.

Mayor Jepsen recommended the revision from "shall seek" to "shall select" of the following policy criteria: T-1A; T-3A; T-3C; T-5A; E-1A; E-1B; and E-3A. He noted that these criteria seem non-negotiable; whereas, the other policy criteria seem more flexible.

Councilmember Ransom asserted the need to establish the relative rank or value of the criteria.

Mayor Jepsen agreed. He explained that he considers the criteria that he recommended revising to be more important. He suggested the collection of these revised criteria into one group at the beginning of the list.

In response to Councilmember Ransom, Mayor Jepsen said he would not categorize the criteria that he recommended revising as "pass/fail" criteria, like the engineering and environmental constraints.

Councilmember Ransom advocated that Council recommend a point-value system to prioritize the policy criteria. For example, he asserted that criteria F-1A is particularly important and that it should be weighted as such.

Councilmember Lee noted the large number of jurisdictions involved in the North Treatment Facilities Siting Decision Process. She said the City should help advance the process. She supported Mayor Jepsen and Deputy Mayor Hansen to advocate Council positions in their participation on the Siting Advisory Committee. She commented that she does not want to prolong the process.

Mayor Jepsen agreed. He said he, Deputy Mayor Hansen and staff work to see the process from a regional perspective, as well as from the City's unique perspective.

Councilmember Gustafson asserted that the revisions that Mayor Jepsen recommended are reasonable. He supported the changes.

Deputy Mayor Hansen expressed ambivalence about the revisions. However, he agreed that prioritization is important. He supported a point system to weight the policy criteria.

Mr. Deis said staff will draft a letter to the King County Council and Executive that addresses the need for some type of prioritization of the siting policy criteria.

In response to Mayor Jepsen, Mr. Popiwny noted the expectation of County staff that the Siting Advisory Committee will continue meeting monthly and that it will be involved in the application of the policy criteria.

(c) Endangered Species Act Response—Program Assessment

Mr. Conner reviewed the staff report. He said the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final 4(d) rule regarding threatened Chinook salmon on July 10. He noted key points of the rule, including the desire of NMFS to reestablish historic stream flows.

In response to Councilmember Ransom, Mr. Conner said "historic" usually translates to "pre-European settlement conditions."

Mr. Conner went on to discuss developments since NMFS issued the 4(d) rule, including: Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) interlocal agreements; City of Seattle Tri-County Proposal for a Built-Area Option (published July 17); memo from County Executive Rob Sims offering County staff presentation on the Tri-County rule; Suburban Cities Association (SCA) letter (dated July 21); and the City request for proposals for stream inventory.

Continuing, Mr. Conner said the status of the City regarding the ESA listing of Chinook salmon is comparable to many other area cities. He reviewed steps the City will likely need to take to address the NMFS 4(d) rule and the Tri-County framework. He referred to a potential program, "A Median Response to ESA listings of Salmon," included in the Council packet (pages 35-39).

Councilmember Grossman said the City is being much more proactive than some communities. He asked what the NMFS 4(d) rule means for the trade-off between the protection of fish and individual property rights. Mr. Conner said the City has the flexibility to make a case on how it intends to protect fish while preserving property development rights. He remarked that NMFS seeks general, negotiated settlements with individual jurisdictions.

Councilmember Gustafson noted the "good news" of proactive City efforts to address the issues raised by the ESA listing. He identified the costs to the City as the "bad news." He said the ESA listing represents "another unfunded mandate." He advocated that the City talk with County, State and federal legislators about financial support needed to address the issues the listing raises.

Continuing, Councilmember Gustafson advocated that staff review the proposed WRIA interlocal agreement, assess its impacts on Shoreline and identify the likely costs of participating. He noted his understanding that NMFS will target jurisdictions that do the least. He reiterated the value of City participation in the WRIA reforms and other proactive efforts. He commented that the burden of the ESA listing on local jurisdictions is unreasonable.

Mr. Conner said the financial cost of City participation in the WRIA 8 proposal ranges from $9,000 to $17,900 annually. He noted the proposed WRIA 8 annual budget of $433,000. He mentioned that staff has included the cost of City participation in the WRIA 8 forum in its 2001 budget request.

Councilmember Gustafson said some cities may choose not to participate in the WRIA 8 program. He explained that this would increase costs to the remaining cities.

Councilmember Ransom supported a proactive City response, including participation in the WRIA 8 program. He asserted that restoration of "pre-European settlement conditions" is unrealistic. He said the City should work with legislators to implement more reasonable federal standards.

Councilmember Gustafson noted his understanding of the goal of the 4(d) rule to restore salmon runs to harvestable levels. Mr. Conner verified this understanding. He said this goal differs from previous actions under ESA to prevent the extinction of species. He said NMFS concerns itself with the recovery of the threatened salmon, not the cost of doing so.

Councilmember Lee commented that additional review and monitoring of waterways will lead to expensive mitigation. She said no one has identified a budget for such mitigation. Mr. Deis agreed. He said the City has consistently noted the "resource drain" of habitat acquisition.

Mayor Jepsen confirmed Council consensus in support of a median approach in response to the ESA listing, as well as ongoing participation in regional planning. He acknowledged that the City will face difficult decisions as it learns more.

Mr. Deis said the 2001 City budget will likely include funding for City participation in the WRIAs and funding for staffing (e.g., to assess City surface water facilities).

Councilmember Gustafson said the City is protecting itself from liability by "progressing in the proper mode."

7. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENT

(a) Bill Bear, 2541 NE 165th Street, noted the 60-foot building height in the North City Sub-Area Plan. He expressed concern that developers will argue for the same right elsewhere in the City. He compared "healthy growth," based upon attracting people to a desirable area, to growth "driven by an insatiable need to make more money faster." He feared that Shoreline is pursuing the latter type of growth in some cases.

Mayor Jepsen said the purpose of the sub-area plan is to focus development in a particular area under specific rules. He said the City seeks to "focus growth smartly."

8. ADJOURNMENT

At 8:35 p.m., Mayor Jepsen declared the meeting adjourned.

 

__________________________
Sharon Mattioli, CMC
City Clerk