CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF WORKSHOP MEETING

Monday, February 4, 2002

6:30 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 6:37 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.

(a) Proclamation of "Neighbor Appreciation Month"

Mayor Jepsen proclaimed February "Neighbor Appreciation Month." Council of Neighborhoods Chair Darlene Feikema accepted the proclamation. She encouraged residents to recognize the contributions of their neighbors.

3. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT AND FUTURE AGENDAS

City Manager Steve Burkett said staff has been monitoring the County budget and its implications for Shoreline. He noted the proposal in the State legislature to give the County authority to levy a one- to four-cent utility tax. He said Council has directed staff to oppose this proposal unless and until the County works with cities to resolve the issues of local government financing and regional services. He said the City may support a proposal, discussed during a meeting earlier in the day with Calvin Hoggard, Chief of Staff to King County Executive Ron Sims, to allow the County to levy a six-percent utility tax in unincorporated areas. The County estimates that this proposal would raise approximately $25 million.

Mr. Burkett mentioned that other cities (e.g., the City of Renton) will partner with Shoreline to address legislation related to the BrightWater facility.

Mr. Burkett reported that staff has received requests for emergency human services funding totaling more than twice the $100,000 that Council allocated.

In response to Councilmember Chang, Mr. Burkett said staff will follow up the discussion of street lighting at the January 28 Council meeting by determining the number of street lights for which the City will now be responsible and the number for which individual residents and groups are responsible and by investigating the options for providing street lighting service, associated costs and funding alternatives. He said staff will present the results of its investigation to Council for direction. He said individual residents and groups who pay for street lights should, in the meantime, continue to do so, assuming they want to continue the service.

Councilmember Chang suggested the City ask individual residents and groups paying for street lights to identify themselves in order to: prevent double payment by the City to Seattle City Light (SCL); accelerate staff verification of the SCL inventory; and facilitate the development of a street lighting policy. Mr. Burkett said staff will use the City newsletter, newspaper columns, cable television channel and web site to request information from residents.

4. COUNCIL REPORTS

Councilmember Hansen said he participated in the January 29 Council dinner meeting with State legislators representing Shoreline, the January 30 and 31 Association of Washington Cities (AWC) legislative conference and the January 30 Suburban Cities Association (SCA) meeting. He said he visited the Everett Intermodal Transportation Center earlier in the day.

Continuing, Councilmember Hansen suggested removal of fencing around the property at the southwest corner of Aurora Avenue N and N 185th Street and the creation of a mural on the wall at the south side of the property. He said he looks forward to receiving the progress report on the North City Business District Improvement Project.

Councilmember Ransom said he participated in the AWC legislative conference. He reported on the January 31 discussion on gaming. He said the only revenues under consideration to help fill the $1.25 billion State budget deficit relate to gambling. He said Governor Gary Locke has proposed State participation in the Big Game Lotto and a ten-percent surtax on mini-casinos. He explained that the surtax would put mini-casinos out of business. He noted a third proposal to allow electronic pulltabs, which are similar to slot machines, subject to a ten-percent tax. He said the State would split the revenue with local jurisdictions. Councilmember Ransom said representatives of reservation casinos oppose the electronic pulltab proposal; whereas, the Recreational Gaming Association, which represents private restaurants and casinos, argues that the proposal would create a more level playing field.

Councilmember Montgomery expressed appreciation for the January 29 dinner meeting with the State legislators representing Shoreline. She thanked Councilmember Hansen for representing the City position on the proposal to allow counties to impose utility taxes during the January 30 SCA meeting.

Councilmember Chang noted his participation at the January 29 Council dinner meeting with State legislators.

Councilmember Gustafson commented that the Council dinner meeting with State legislators was productive. He said he will report at a future Council meeting on a report he received from the Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 8 Steering Committee.

Mayor Jepsen noted four key discussion points during the Council dinner meeting with State legislators:

Mayor Jepsen mentioned that he has invited King County Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds to the February 11 North End Mayors meeting, which Shoreline is hosting.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT

Mayor Jepsen said Councilmember Chang requested an exception to Council rules to allow residents of Shorewood Hills to speak for a total of 15 minutes to Council. There was Council consensus in support of the request.

(a) Nancy Marx, Shoreline, thanked Council for the opportunity to serve on the Planning Commission. She asked Council to consider Commission candidates with backgrounds in environmentalism and alternative transportation. She encouraged Council to hold a joint dinner meeting with the Planning Commission after appointing the new Commissioners.

Mayor Jepsen thanked Commissioner Marx for her participation on the Planning Commission.

(b) Jay Biagio, Shoreline, spoke as President of the Shorewood Hills Homeowners Association. He said the association held its annual meeting January 31, and the homeowners "have catalyzed" to solve a serious erosion problem. He asserted that the homeowners in Shorewood Hills Divisions I and II (107 homes) pay approximately $1 million in taxes to the City. He explained that 22 home sites border the ravine with the erosion problem. He said the homeowners association cannot remediate the erosion problem. He noted a "multitude of issues and conditions," including permitting, engineering, access, easements and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). He requested City assistance to solve the erosion problem.

(c) Karen Willie, Seattle, identified herself as an attorney representing three Shorewood Hills homeowners. She explained that the ravine is in poor condition and that the erosion will get much worse, endangering the 22 neighboring homes. She said the original stormwater retention system was "stupidly done." Presenting photographs and copies of correspondence, she explained the erosion problem in the ravine. She said the City has liability, but the homeowners do not want to litigate. She requested leadership and help from the City to solve the erosion problem. She mentioned a Local Improvement District (LID) and a surface water special assessment as alternatives. She advocated prompt resolution of the problem (e.g., construction this spring or summer).

(d) Charles Montagne, Shoreline, said he saw evidence of the erosion problem during a tour of the ravine earlier in the day. He asserted the function of government is to solve problems that private parties cannot solve through private means. He expressed uncertainty that the homeowners association can solve the problem quickly enough on its own. He advocated a prompt solution of the erosion problem before it worsens.

(e) Bruce Cullen, Shoreline, said no one person or entity can be identified as primarily or wholly responsible for the erosion problem in the ravine. He said the best alternative is for the City, through "services in-kind, not cash," to coordinate repair of the ravine, and for the homeowners and their insurance company to share the costs of the repair.

Mayor Jepsen favored the City providing in-kind services to facilitate the repair of the ravine.

Mr. Burkett suggested that staff: meet with representatives of the Shorewood Hills homeowners; determine the role the homeowners want the City to play; review the issues; outline the advantages, disadvantages, costs and benefits; and present a recommendation to Council. He asserted the City responsibility to identify the risks of getting involved in the situation. He said the situation would not be difficult if the problem involved a public drainage system and public property for which the City was responsible.

Mayor Jepsen noted the homeowners' requests for City assistance with permitting, engineering, sensitive areas and ESA issues and easements. He requested clarification of the ownership of the drainage system and the roads as well.

Councilmember Hansen said former Public Works Director Doug Mattoon met with residents along the lower part of Boeing Creek. He noted the need for armoring and the potential need for a bypass pipe in that area. He asserted the need to determine what information the City has on file about the Shorewood Hills ravine erosion problem.

Mr. Burkett said staff recently reviewed all the information on the problem in City files. He noted that City Attorney Ian Sievers has participated in several meetings. He said the City committed in the past to help to solve the problem through in-kind services.

Councilmember Hansen stated the need to determine the magnitude of the problem and what the City can and cannot do to resolve it. He acknowledged that the problem started before the City incorporated. He advocated that the City help the Shorewood Hills homeowners "to any degree we can."

Councilmember Ransom agreed. He said Council has received two legal determinations that the City does not have liability. He stated that the homeowners are Shoreline citizens and that the problem has been growing worse. He mentioned that he suggested an LID in the past. He said the City should take a proactive stance to help the neighbors solve the erosion problem.

Noting City attention to flooding on 3rd Avenue NW and at Ronald Bog, Councilmember Gustafson advocated that the City take a leadership role to solve the erosion problem in the Shorewood Hills ravine. He expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in the situation. He asserted the need "pull together" as a community. He said the Shoreline School District and the Shoreline Community College have responsibility as well. He acknowledged the problem of private versus public property, but he said the City should be able to determine a creative solution quickly.

Deputy Mayor Grossman recommended separating the issues of infrastructure ownership and absolute liability from the needs for community and for City leadership. He requested information on City options for facilitating a solution to the problem. He commented that staff departures from Public Works will make it difficult for the City to provide even in-kind services.

Mayor Jepsen said he and Deputy Mayor Grossman will work with Mr. Burkett to determine when to schedule Council consideration of a staff presentation about the erosion problem.

6. WORKSHOP ITEMS

(a) Discussion of Current Transportation Issues: Metro and Sound Transit

Sarah Bohlen, Transportation Planner, reviewed the staff report regarding the preliminary proposals of the King County Metro Six-Year Plan. She noted four proposed initiatives in the discussion document that King County Metro released in advance of the Draft Six-Year Plan:

Mayor Jepsen mentioned the concern of the north end cities at their inclusion in a subarea with Seattle. He said representatives have always wondered whether the north end cities receive a fair share of bus service hours. He suggested the renewal of this discussion. He recommended, at a minimum, that the City count the bus service hours it receives from the time buses actually spend in Shoreline.

Continuing, Mayor Jepsen noted that Council conditioned its support of Sound Transit on the understanding that regional bus, commuter rail and light rail services would free Metro bus service for redeployment. Commenting that Shoreline residents currently receive nothing for their investment in Sound Transit, he said the City should reinforce the expectation that Shoreline should receive redeployed bus service.

Councilmember Montgomery expressed astonishment at the proposal to reduce the share of new service resources for the West Subarea from 36 percent to 20 percent. She said the BRT is the City's only real hope for improvements. She commented that the BRT is what Shoreline thought it would receive from Sound Transit.

In response to Councilmember Montgomery, Ms. Bohlen asserted the difficulty of determining whether the West Subarea may receive BRT. She said Metro has lowered its revenue forecasts; BRT is very expensive to implement; and, as a new service, BRT may be one of the first proposals that Metro eliminates.

Councilmember Montgomery asked if ridership in the East Subarea has increased enough to justify the proposed distribution of new service resources. Ms. Bohlen said East Subarea ridership has increased. In addition, she noted that many east side cities have invested capital funding to improve bus lanes, bus stops and queue jumps. She said Metro may intend the larger share of new service resources for the East Subarea to capitalize on these investments.

Councilmember Montgomery expressed her willingness to assist in lobbying for BRT in the West Subarea.

Councilmember Ransom stated his goals to obtain additional bus service for Shoreline and to insure effective use of the Business Access Transit (BAT) lanes included in the Aurora Corridor Project. He expressed concern that BRT would include only two stops on Aurora Avenue in Shoreline and, thereby, undermine the value of the BAT lanes to facilitate shopping in Shoreline. Ms. Bohlen explained that BRT would stop at every other stop and that BRT would not replace existing Route 358.

Councilmember Ransom commented that BRT will not facilitate bus transportation between businesses on Aurora Avenue. He asserted the need for increased bus service on Aurora Avenue within Shoreline. Councilmember Montgomery said existing bus ridership on Aurora Avenue already justifies BAT lanes.

Mayor Jepsen said the City has the commitment from Metro, as a participant in the design of the Aurora Corridor Project, to improve bus service on Aurora Avenue within Shoreline upon completion of the corridor improvements. He asserted that increased service on Aurora Avenue within Shoreline now would complicate traffic.

Tim Stewart, Planning and Development Services Director, explained that BAT lanes will both facilitate the efficient movement of buses along Aurora Avenue and prevent buses from impeding other traffic in the corridor.

Councilmember Hansen said the BAT lanes will also facilitate access to Aurora Avenue businesses by providing a transition for vehicles entering to and exiting from the center through lanes.

Deputy Mayor Grossman said east side communities are growing much more rapidly than those in the West Subarea. He commented that traffic and transit problems on the east side are worse than those in Shoreline. He asserted the importance of staff representation of Shoreline in the many forums addressing transportation issues and to the many organizations allocating transportation resources. He expressed dismay that Shoreline residents contribute $3 million annually toward transportation solutions that do not benefit Shoreline. He advocated that the City leverage any opportunity to establish the north end suburban cities in another subarea separate from Seattle.

Councilmember Chang agreed with Deputy Mayor Grossman about the importance of representing Shoreline interests. He questioned whether staff has identified Shoreline interests. He asserted the need to talk with Shoreline business people and bus riders.

Mr. Stewart said the Comprehensive Plan includes a framework goal calling for improvement of multi-modal transit systems to accommodate the present population and future population growth. He noted that the development of the Comprehensive Plan included an extensive public participation process. He mentioned that the City will revisit the Comprehensive Plan annually.

Mayor Jepsen mentioned that Metro conducts an annual origination-destination survey of bus riders, including those in Shoreline.

Councilmember Hansen asked if Shoreline is being included with Seattle in determinations of transit revenues and expenditures. Ms. Bohlen said Sound Transit spends revenues where they're raised; whereas, Metro spends Countywide revenues where it deems appropriate. She said the Metro discussion document represents a policy shift: Metro previously based the distribution of new resources on subarea population estimates; Metro now proposes to allocate revenues disproportionate to subarea population.

Mayor Jepsen confirmed Council consensus in support of the objectives identified in the staff report. Referring to the last paragraph on page six of the Council packet, he said Countywide housing and employment targets should reflect any Metro shift in the distribution of new resources. He also expressed support for BRT on Aurora Avenue.

In response to Councilmember Ransom, Ms. Bohlen explained that the use of funds proposed for park and ride expansion to fund BRT would not affect park and ride facilities in Shoreline. She said Metro funded the expansion of the park and ride on 200th Street through a previous Six-Year Plan, and the Shoreline Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is funded through a separate source.

(b) Nalbandian Learning Opportunity

Mr. Burkett reviewed the materials and ideas he obtained in a workshop that John Nalbandian, Ph.D. gave at the annual conference of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in Salt Lake City, Utah in October 2001.

Councilmember Montgomery expressed her appreciation for Mr. Burkett's memorandum to Council on Dr. Nalbandian's workshop (pages 13-20 of the Council packet). She asserted the value of joint work by staff and Council to identify the political values involved in issues. While she acknowledged that "Council can't be everything to everyone," she said Council can be attuned to the values involved in issues and communicate its understanding of them in an effort to build consensus.

Councilmember Ransom expressed appreciation for the information from Dr. Nalbandian's workshop. He asserted that Council is doing pretty well at resolving problems and issues with Shoreline residents, e.g., the dispute regarding the Richmond Beach Saltwater Park Bluff Trail. He stressed the value of City outreach to the resolution of the dispute.

Continuing, Councilmember Ransom identified the Aurora Corridor as the largest issue of contention remaining in the community. He said businesses do not feel included. He asserted the need to involve the business community in the resolution of the issue of the Aurora Corridor. He said conflict and uncertainty about the Aurora Corridor will manifest in future City issues.

Finally, Councilmember Ransom noted strong citizen participation in the incorporation of Shoreline. He stated the importance of providing citizens a sense of participation in the City.

Councilmember Gustafson asserted the value of the information from Dr. Nalbandian's workshop. He recommended a Council workshop with key staff to review the information.

Deputy Mayor Grossman expressed appreciation for the following statement (on page 15 of the Council packet): ". . . to develop an appreciation for city government it is necessary to demonstrate that the city can accomplish desirable objectives collectively that could not be achieved by any individual acting alone." He stressed the "central tension between serving the values of representation, individual rights, and social equity, while also seeking to serve the value of efficiency and to get things done" (page 15 of the Council packet). He stated his hope for an ongoing dialogue on these issues.

Councilmember Hansen asserted that councilmembers are not as responsible to the citizens they represent as they are to the government they serve. He said councilmembers can create a lot of liability for their cities when they "get too much into representing their constituents." He stated that the first fiduciary responsibility for any representative is to represent and protect the government. He acknowledged that the government is the people.

Mayor Jepsen asserted the value of recognizing Shoreline's political values. He said Councilmembers need to be aware of the technical aspects of issues and recognize that staff has a large amount of technical information and staff needs to be aware of the political aspects of issues. He commented that this tension is constant and productive.

Mr. Burkett mentioned upcoming staff training on political values in the process of government.

On another topic, Mayor Jepsen suggested that Council direct staff to investigate local reporting requirements for candidates for public office. He noted that candidates must report information to the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) and provide copies of the information to the King County Records and Elections Division. He asserted the difficulty of local residents to access these records and the difficulty of enforcing reporting requirements at the local level.

Deputy Mayor Grossman supported the suggestion. He asserted the value of candidate reporting to the informed decision making necessary in an election process. He stated that candidate information at the PDC and the County is not sufficiently accessible to local voters. He acknowledged that additional reporting requirements may represent a burden to candidates. He said this burden is less important than the accessibility of information to voters.

Councilmember Montgomery agreed. She supported Mayor Jepsen's suggestion.

Councilmember Gustafson concurred. He said a City reporting requirement would not be substantially more difficult for candidates. He questioned the consequences for candidates who fail to report or who fail to report on time.

Mayor Jepsen commented that the PDC imposes penalties. He suggested that staff investigate penalties in other jurisdictions.

Councilmember Hansen said other jurisdictions enforce reporting requirements through monetary penalties. He mentioned that the PDC is authorized to fine candidates.

Councilmember Chang questioned the purpose of Mayor Jepsen's suggestion. He asserted the sufficiency of the PDC to administer and enforce reporting requirements.

Mayor Jepsen explained the intent of his suggestion to facilitate access to information. He noted the support of four Councilmembers to direct staff to investigate reporting requirements in other local jurisdictions.

Councilmember Ransom expressed ambivalence about Mayor Jepsen's suggestion. He said he has run in nine elections, and no one has asked him for financial information. He said a few people have mentioned that they reviewed the information he submitted to the PDC. He commented that providing copies of campaign contribution information to the City Clerk's Office would not represent a substantial burden on candidates. However, he advocated the PDC as the only entity authorized to enforce reporting requirements with monetary penalties.

Councilmember Hansen supported directing staff to gather information. He said Council can decide, based on the information, whether to take any action.

On another topic, Councilmember Gustafson encouraged Shoreline residents to vote in the February 5 election.

Councilmember Ransom raised the issue of Council retreats. He said Council held retreats approximately every quarter in 1995 and 1996 and now holds only annual budget retreats. He advocated Council discussion of holding additional retreats.

Councilmember Hansen reiterated his interest in improving the appearance of the southwest corner of Aurora Avenue N and N 185th Street. He went on to mention that staff provided excellent responses to questions he raised about recent invoices.

Councilmember Chang suggested that when the City undertakes a CIP project the Council appoint a community "captain" or representative from a nearby neighborhood. He said the representative can communicate City information to the neighborhood and public input about the project to the City.

Mayor Jepsen supported the idea of ongoing communication. He mentioned neighborhood representatives and the Council of Neighborhoods as resources on which the City might capitalize more.

7. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENT: None

8. ADJOURNMENT

At 9:10 p.m., Mayor Jepsen declared the meeting adjourned.

 

_________________________
Sharon Mattioli, CMC
City Clerk