CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, July 28, 2008 Shoreline Conference Center
6:00 p.m. Highlander Room
PRESENT: Mayor Cindy Ryu, Deputy Mayor Terry Scott, and Councilmembers Chris Eggen, Ron Hansen, Doris McConnell, Keith McGlashan, and Janet Way
ABSENT: none
GUESTS: Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin
STAFF: Bob Olander, City Manager; Julie Underwood, Assistant City Manager; Mark Relph, Public Works Director; Scott MacColl, Intergovernmental Program Manager; Ronald F. Moore, Deputy City Clerk
Mayor Ryu called the meeting to order at 6:20 p.m. The topics were the following:
· Grocery Bag Fee / Styrofoam Ban
· Aurora Business Access Transit (BAT) Lanes
· Seattle Utilities Servicing Shoreline
o Seattle Public Utilities
o Seattle City Light
· Thornton Creek
Mayor Ryu thanked Councilmember Conlin for attending the meeting.
Bob Olander, City Manager, reviewed the agenda and asked about the grocery bag fee and styrofoam ban.
Councilmember Conlin explained that the styrofoam ban was the easiest portion of the legislation for the public to accept. He noted that a part of the law will require restaurants to compost by June 2010. He stated that there will be a task force created within a year to report to the Council on this program. He said that the polystyrene legislation was understood and accepted by the Seattle business community. On the other hand, the plastic bag legislation was not very well-accepted. He noted that there were three major interest groups: the chemical companies who didn’t like the legislation; the large grocers (Costco, Safeway, and QFC) who were in favor of it but wanted to have a single fee; and medium grocers like Metropolitan Market, which were opposed. He stated that the legislation has a provision for grocers to receive $.05 out of the $0.20 collected for each bag. The city predicted that their accounting costs would be cheaper than $.05. He responded to an inquiry by Mr. Olander that produce bags were not included in the legislation.
Councilmember Hansen pointed out that $1 trillion dollars in plastic bags are produced each year and discussed that there is a plastic bag return container at the Shoreline Home Depot for people to use. He added that recycling plastic bags isn’t the answer.
Mr. Olander asked when the program would kick-off. Councilmember Conlin responded that the program is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2009 with a media campaign beginning on October 1, 2008.
Councilmember Hansen highlighted that QFC has stated publicly that they are going to be doing this at all of their stores.
Councilmember Way discussed “Chico” bags and displayed one.
Councilmember Conlin stated that the program for distributing free re-useable bags to Seattle residents has to be developed. He noted that low-income residents and food banks would get re-useable bags first, and a new compost program in Seattle will begin on April 1, 2009. He added that a multi-family compost program hasn’t been started but will be required in one year. He said he is currently sharing information with the Suburban Cities Association and would be happy to share any information with Shoreline.
Mr. Olander asked about the Aurora Business Access Transit (BAT) Lanes. He noted that the Aurora Corridor Project is 30% complete and asked where the City of Seattle was on BAT lanes.
Councilmember Conlin replied that Seattle is in their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) phase on the corridor and expects it to take a while to complete. He said there are parking and drainage issues which are expensive to fix, but Seattle is committed to BAT lanes.
Councilmember Hansen explained that Shoreline also had drainage problems but they were worked through and corrected.
Mayor Ryu discussed the low impact development toolkit.
Councilmember Conlin then described the Densmore drainage issue, noting that it is flooding from Densmore all the way to Greenlake.
Mayor Ryu added that the WSDOT would love to study the route and said it would take $700,000 to conduct a study from the Puget Sound to Lake City Way. She also discussed the Interurban Trail, adding that North Seattle loves what Shoreline has done.
Mr. MacColl reminded everyone that the 145th Street Sound Transit station will only make that area worse.
Councilmember Way said she is optimistic about having some culvert funds for Thornton Creek.
Mr. Olander moved to the next topic -- Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). He said there have been some concerns over the years with their water supply and pressure issues for the Fire Department. He stated that Shoreline has asked for their replacement schedule but has yet to receive it. Because of their lack of response and cost to the residents, he stated that Shoreline would like to become a full-service city and assume their services. He noted that there have been some very preliminary discussions about assuming SPU.
Mr. Relph stated that he has had some discussions with SPU and has concluded that they do very little maintenance on their system. He stated that he has concerns with the life of the water system. He noted that in conversations they have told him that it will last for another 100 years, but he questions that analysis.
Mr. Olander highlighted that Shoreline has paid over $5 million in surcharges from the residents, but SPU hasn’t invested anything into the maintenance or upgrading of the system.
Mr. Relph continued and said he has some practical work experience with pipes and knows this system won’t last that long.
Councilmember Hansen noted that SPU has put “bandaids” on the leaks and has overbilled the residents for too long. He said he is very interested in Shoreline taking over they system and felt that the residents have basically bought it already.
Councilmember Conlin stated that SPU are good negotiators. He asked for the City to provide him with the numbers and he said he would look at their CIP.
Mr. Relph commented that a study was done by SPU on the water pressure they provide for fire systems and a map which identifies problem areas. He stated that he would like to have a copy of both from SPU. Councilmember Conlin asked that Mr. Relph give him the title of the reports or maps and he would obtain them for him.
Mr. Olander explained that this is a request for information from the City of Shoreline, nothing more. He said this is just exploratory at this time.
Mr. Relph noted that relations with Seattle City Light (SCL) are good and he is impressed with their work. Mr. Olander agreed and said that the right-of-way project on the Interurban Trail was a huge success.
Councilmember Way stated that she is interested in Thornton Creek because there are upstream issues.
Mr. Relph stated that SPU has their hands full with issues and the City of Shoreline and City of Seattle would be partnering to fix some of them. However, he added that it is going to be a challenge because it is a difficult basin. Councilmember Conlin added that the section that was restored has behaved very well. Mr. Relph concurred.
Councilmember Conlin highlighted that Kramer Creek needs work. Mayor Ryu highlighted the Cromwell Park project.
Councilmember Way pointed out that Hamlin Creek is missing from Seattle maps. She said she would also like to see it included on SPU maps.
Councilmember Conlin discussed peat soil and said there are special provisions for Pipers Creek. Mr. Relph added that Ronald Bog and Twin Ponds are made up of peat and there have been issues with flooding and that the homes were built on fill.
Councilmember Conlin discussed the light rail push and that the funding from North King and Snohomish County cities isn’t that bad. He noted that Snohomish County will fund the 185th Street Station and felt the overall package was good. He said the Northgate line will move fast as they are already starting to dig on University Lake.
Mayor Ryu discussed the amount of money Shoreline residents have been paying to Sound Transit and about the difficult commute from Shoreline to Seattle and the University of Washington.
Councilmember Way wanted to know how much more bus service Shoreline would receive.
Councilmember Conlin responded that the total package was for 100,000 more service hours, but he wasn’t sure how that would break down for Shoreline.
Councilmember Eggen discussed solid waste and said that Seattle recycles everything, while King County doesn’t unless there is a market.
Councilmember Conlin replied that Seattle only recycles if it is cost-effective. If not, it is subsidized. He noted that they are working on recycling everything, but aren’t there yet. He added that they are working on moving waste by train.
Councilmember Eggen reported that King County is considering the idea of using certain areas for more landfill.
The meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm.
_____________________________________
Ronald F. Moore, CMC
Deputy City Clerk