CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

Monday, January 14, 2002

7:30 p.m.

Shoreline Conference Center

Mt. Rainier Room

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

ABSENT: None

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Jepsen, who presided.

2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL

Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.

3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER

City Manager Steve Burkett said the report of the Shoreline Water District Executive Director originally scheduled for January will be presented in February. He pointed out that the final draft of the survey of Shoreline residents is in the Council correspondence packet.

4. REPORTS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

(a) Library Board Report

The Chair of the Shoreline Library Board, Evelyn Phillips, reported to Council on the activities of the Board and of the Shoreline and Richmond Beach libraries. She commented on the increased usage of the new Richmond Beach Library and the continued growth in circulation at the Shoreline Library. She outlined various King County Library System (KCLS) programs. She said the Board is examining ways the libraries can provide better service to seniors. She noted that Judge Richard Eadie has been appointed to the KCLS Board of Trustees. Ms. Phillips concluded by outlining the impacts of Initiative 747 on KCLS and by describing Proposition 1, which voters will consider on the February 5, 2002 ballot. She encouraged Councilmembers to support KCLS by voting in favor of Proposition 1, which will increase KCLS property tax revenue by four cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Mayor Jepsen commented on the "amazing" circulation statistics that Chair Phillips outlined. He expressed his pleasure at Judge Eadie’s appointment to the KCLS Board.

Councilmember Ransom commended the Library Board for its efforts and thanked Ms. Phillips for her six years of service. He noted two upcoming vacancies on the Board.

Deputy Mayor Grossman commented on the good coordination between KCLS librarians and the Shoreline School District.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT

(a) Charlotte Haines, 831 NE 194^th Street, expressed concerns about time and cost overruns for some City Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects. She suggested that the City focus on its priorities, particularly economic development through improvements to Aurora Avenue and North City. She also expressed concern about the potential assumption of the Ronald Wastewater District. She hoped this would not come up for four or five years, when other City projects have been completed.

Mayor Jepsen noted the diversity of opinion on the Council concerning assumptions. He anticipated much more Council discussion of the issue.

6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Councilmember Gustafson moved approval of the agenda. Deputy Mayor Grossman seconded the motion, which carried unanimously, and the agenda was approved.

7. CONSENT CALENDAR

Councilmember Montgomery moved to approve the consent calendar. Council-member Ransom seconded the motion, which carried 7-0, and the following items were approved:

Minutes of the Workshop Meeting of December 3, 2001
Minutes of the Joint Dinner Meeting of December 10, 2001
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 10, 2001

Approval of expenses and payroll as of December 28, 2001 in the amount of $5,025,188.35

Motion to authorize the City Manager to execute the contract with North Rehabilitation Facility for landscape maintenance for an amount not to exceed $124,600

Motion to authorize the City Manager to execute a change order in the amount of $113,196 with Ohno Construction to complete habitat mitigation work for the Shoreview Park Improvement Project

8. ACTION ITEMS: OTHER ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS

(a) Motion to authorize the City Manager to amend the interlocal agreement for Law Enforcement Services with King County to include arson investigation

Larry Bauman, Assistant City Manager, explained that King County no longer provides free Countywide arson investigation services. He said Shoreline and other affected agencies have had to develop a process by which the King County Police can provide these services. He reviewed other options. He said staff recommends an amendment to the interlocal agreement with King County for Law Enforcement Services that identifies costs, costing methods and call-out protocols for arson investigation.

Councilmember Gustafson moved to authorize the City Manager to amend the interlocal agreement with King County for Law Enforcement Services to include arson investigation services. Councilmember Montgomery seconded the motion.

Responding to Councilmember Ransom, Mr. Bauman explained the differences between criminal arson investigation and the preliminary work done by the Fire Marshall to identify the cause and origin of a fire.

Councilmember Chang expressed concern that the County might stop providing other services that it has provided in the past without charge. Mr. Burkett added that Councilmember Chang had asked him if the County could do this with police services. He explained that these services are guaranteed through the contract, but the costs will continue to rise.

Responding to Councilmember Hansen, Mr. Bauman explained that the number of arson investigations has decreased in the past year because of the new call-out protocols. He said the numbers in the proposed amendment reflect this downward trend. He noted that if the numbers of investigations increase the City can pay for overtime. He said this is a better option than having an additional investigator in the contract.

Councilmember Hansen pointed out that the "free" services provided by the County to Shoreline are funded by $8 million in taxes paid to the County by Shoreline residents.

A vote was taken on the motion, which carried unanimously, and the City Manager was authorized to amend the interlocal agreement for Law Enforcement Services with King County to include arson investigation.

(b) Motion to adopt the 2002 Statement of Legislative Priorities

Noting that the 2002 legislative session began today, Mr. Burkett explained that adoption of the Legislative Priorities provides a basis for staff, Councilmembers and the City’s lobbyists to move forward on items under consideration by the legislature.

Joyce Nichols, Community and Government Relations Manager, said the major issues during the session will be the same as last year: transportation and the budget. She noted the projected State budget shortfall of $1.25 billion. She said one priority for Shoreline will be the restoration of the Initiative 695 backfill funding that has been cut in the Governor’s budget. She said this funding, if cut, will probably never be replaced by another source.

Continuing, Ms. Nichols identified gambling tax rates as another major issue. State law currently allows cities to tax cardrooms to a maximum of 20 percent. The City opposes a reduction in this maximum rate. The Governor wants to reduce the city rate to 15 percent and add a State tax of ten percent. Shoreline opposes this plan because this is one of the few flexible sources of City revenue. Ms. Nichols also mentioned Senate Bill 6193, which proposes several changes harmful to Shoreline. She said the bill would expand gambling and affect the use of zoning to regulate gambling activity.

Ms. Nichols said Shoreline supports a balanced transportation funding package to insure funding for major City transportation projects, particularly the Aurora Corridor.

Ms. Nichols said King County may lobby the legislature to grant counties the authority to impose utility taxes. Explaining City opposition to this proposal, she mentioned the "urban subsidy," through which unincorporated areas in King County receive more dollars in services than they generate in tax revenues, and the County's failure to define its role as a provider of regional services. She said a Countywide utility tax would allow King County to spend its way out of its budget problems without addressing the issues of regional services and the urban subsidy.

Concluding, Ms. Nichols said the City is monitoring legislation that would require local communities to identify sites to house released sex offenders and proposed cuts in health and human service programs, which will reduce the safety net for vulnerable City residents and/or shift responsibilities for these program to local governments without providing appropriate funding.

Councilmember Montgomery moved to adopt the proposed 2002 Statement of Legislative Priorities. Councilmember Gustafson seconded the motion.

Responding to Councilmember Ransom’s comment that there will be a $3 billion shortfall in the State budget in the next biennium, Ms. Nichols agreed that budget problems will only get worse with time, unless the revenue stream increases or the economy improves.

Councilmember Ransom said the loss of sales tax equalization money should be a high priority issue. He noted that many new cities counted on this source of income to make their incorporations financially feasible.

Councilmember Ransom commented on the proposed reduction of the maximum gambling tax rate of 20 percent. He said the legislature approved legislation reducing the maximum rate to ten percent three times, but the Governor vetoed each bill. He said the gambling industry spends 80 percent of its revenues to comply with government regulations. He noted that an 11-percent city tax, such as that in Shoreline, leaves nine percent as a return on investment. He said the addition of a 10-percent State tax will reduce mini-casinos’ profit margins to zero and put them out of business. He explained the ramifications of allowing electronic pulltabs in locations other than Indian casinos. He said they threaten revenue from other sources of gambling. This could have an impact on the City's budget. He recommended that the City strongly advocate for a share of electronic pulltab tax revenues. Ms. Nichols said the most recent legislation she reviewed divided the tax revenue on electronic pulltabs between cities and the State.

Councilmember Ransom recommended being proactive in the area of health and human services by advocating strongly for legislation that protects people. Ms. Nichols said this will definitely occur.

Councilmember Montgomery strongly supported the priorities and advocated keeping the 20 percent rate for the gambling tax rate for cities. She questioned the amount of opposition outside the Puget Sound area to countywide utility taxes. Ms. Nichols said staff is exploring this.

Responding to Councilmember Montgomery, Ms. Nichols said it is always very helpful when Councilmembers respond quickly to requests for contacts with legislators, either in writing or through testimony in Olympia.

Councilmember Gustafson commended Ms. Nichols for the clarity of the Statement of Legislative Priorities. He suggested that the City send them to the federal and State legislators representing Shoreline. He also emphasized the importance of support of youth services.

Responding to Councilmember Ransom, Ms. Nichols explained that the State has the responsibility to house sex offenders but it is pushing the planning for the number of beds to house sex predators in the local communities back on the counties and cities. The goal is to get the State to take back responsibility for the siting decisions that put those individuals in local communities.

A vote was taken on the motion, which carried 7–0, and the 2002 Statement of Legislative Priorities was adopted.

9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

(a) Information regarding release of grant funding for the Interurban Trail Bridge Project

Mr. Burkett explained that the City has asked the State for more flexibility in terms of the deadlines for acceptance of the grants related to the building of a bridge over Aurora Avenue for the Interurban Trail. He asked Council to take no specific action tonight with regard to this issue. He said this will give staff more time to obtain a better cost estimate for the bridge and perhaps to identify other funding.

Councilmember Hansen pointed out the postponed motion on the floor from the December 10, 2001 meeting to authorize the City Manager to release the grant funds totaling $534,292 back to the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission Target Zero Grant Program.

Councilmember Montgomery asked to withdraw her motion. Councilmember Hansen withdrew his second. There was no objection, and the motion was withdrawn.

Mayor Jepsen commented that Council has expressed a desire to "keep this alive a little longer" in order to fully review all options.

Responding to Councilmember Ransom’s suggestion of using the money now to design the bridge, even if it has to be put "on hold" until later, Mr. Burkett said one of the conditions of the grant is that the bridge be built within three years. He said the State could require Shoreline to pay back the money if this does not occur.

Anne Tonella-Howe, Aurora Corridor Project Manager, said the State now appears to be exploring whether to impose this time deadline. She noted that by holding onto the design the City runs the risk that standards for construction might change in the future.

Councilmember Montgomery commented that no one wants to give the money back.

Mr. Burkett reminded Council of the other issue besides the timing of construction: the City has not identified a source of funding for bridge construction.

Deputy Mayor Grossman strongly advocated that the City keep the bridge in the trail project. He said the City has not substantiated the $3.5 million cost estimate to build the bridge. He commented that the grant could help to firm up the costs. Ms. Tonella-Howe concurred that one of the purposes of the grant money was to get a more definitive cost estimate.

Councilmember Gustafson said this is a high priority project and he does not want to give any money back until the City has exhausted all possibilities. He requested the confirmation of all information in writing.

Councilmember Chang asked when Council will know the State response to City questions. Mr. Burkett could not pinpoint an exact date. He said the best approach is to continue to work with the State to refine cost estimates and to look for other grant funding opportunities.

Councilmember Hansen concluded the discussion by commenting that he was unaware that the final decision had been made about whether even to build the bridge.

10. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENT: None

11. ADJOURNMENT

At 8:55 p.m., Mayor Jepsen declared the meeting adjourned.

___________________________
Sharon Mattioli, CMC
City Clerk