CITY
OF
SHORELINE
CITY COUNCIL
Mt. Rainier Room
PRESENT: Mayor Ransom, Deputy Mayor Fimia, and Councilmembers
Gustafson, Hansen, McGlashan, Ryu, and Way
ABSENT: none
1.
CALL TO ORDER
The
meeting was called to order at
2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL
Mayor
Ransom led the flag salute. Upon roll
call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present. Councilmember McGlashan expressed his
intention to leave the meeting at
3. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Commenting on the rough road conditions on
Councilmember Hansen asked Mr. Haines to
respond to the letter Council received regarding potential power outages.
Mr. Haines responded that Seattle City Light
is scheduling some outages with customers directly, as it is in the process of
getting its system transformed. He commented
on the rough conditions on
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember Hansen reported on the Suburban Cities
Association (SCA) Executive Committee’s meeting with King County Executive Ron
Sims regarding the solid waste plan. He
said the SCA supports legislation that has been referred to the governor for
passage. He also said state legislative priorities
for 2007 focus on mental health, reclaimed water, and jail issues. At the April 19 SCA networking meeting,
Executive Sims and Senator Patty Murray will be in attendance.
Councilmember Ryu commented on the upcoming SeaShore
Transportation Forum on March 22. She
said she met with merchants in the first mile of the Aurora Corridor project,
who continue to express concerns about business access. She commented on some constituents’ interest
in Sister Cities, and announced a fundraising dinner event sponsored by the
Shoreline Boosters. She reported on the
Council subcommittee reviewing Library Board applications.
Deputy Mayor Fimia noted that Councilmembers would be
conducting “walkabouts” every week from
Mayor Ransom noted that two candidates for the Planning
Commission have withdrawn their applications, so additional people may be
selected for future interviews.
Councilmember Ryu requested that Consent item 7(a), Ordinance
No. 412, be pulled and added as Action Item 8(a), with the other agenda items
renumbered accordingly.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
(a) Bob
Barta, Shoreline, invited the community to attend Highland Terrace Neighborhood
Association’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 18, where Planning Director
(b) Jim
Dougherty, Shoreline, thanked the Council for proposing the parks bond, noting
it is an excellent opportunity for the City to acquire significant parcels of
property. He thanked the Council for
allowing citizens the opportunity to vote on this issue.
(c) Gary
Batch, Shoreline, expressed opposition to the City’s proposed leash law because
social mores already succeed in controlling undesirable behaviors. He noted that his family has more than three
animals, which exceeds the City’s limit for domestic animals, so he wondered
how this could possibly be enforced. He
gave examples of how the logic of the leash law could be applied to other
areas, but said they would be opposed by a majority of people. He concluded that the leash law is
unnecessary because society is already taking care of the problem.
(d)
(e) Randy
Hughes, Shoreline, representing the Shoreline/Lake Forest Park Senior Center,
explained the program offered in conjunction with the King County Humane
Society to provide pet food to seniors with limited incomes. To qualify, seniors must be 55 years or older
with incomes less than $960/month if single, or $1,230/month for a household of
two. Pets must be spayed or neutered,
and owners cannot have more than three pets per household. He urged citizens to help spread the word and
asked the City to mention the program in its next issue of Currents.
Responding
to
(f) Bronston
Kenney, Shoreline, expressed his hope that the future Planning Commission will
be substantially different than the present one. He noted that the Commission is largely made
up of developers who are biased in favor of building and development to the
detriment of Shoreline citizens’ interests.
He said the Planning Commission demonstrates a “top down” approach that
has resulted in many land use problems, including cottage housing, the
restriping of
Mr.
Olander noted that the leash law proposal would come back to the Council on
April 10. He said he would look into the
issue of rerouting pedestrian traffic on
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Councilmember Hansen moved
approval of the agenda as amended by Councilmember Ryu, who requested removal
of Consent Item 7(a). Councilmember
Gustafson seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
Councilmember McGlashan left
the meeting at
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Ordinance No. 412 was
transferred to the Workshop agenda.
8. WORKSHOP ITEMS
There
was Council consensus to hear the Library Board Annual Report first.
(a) Shoreline
Library Board Annual Report
Ms. Potter noted that three
Library Board members, Ed Renouard, Joe Phillips, and Jamie Holter are retiring
so the Board currently has three vacancies.
She outlined the major goals of the Board: 1) finding ways to encourage library
use; 2) collaborating through networking with neighborhood and other community
groups; 3) attending as many King County Library System (KCLS) meetings as
possible; 4) helping KCLS understand the needs of schools and students; and 5)
support efforts of local library staff to provide services tailored to the
unique needs of the Shoreline community.
She went on to describe the Library system’s accomplishments, services, challenges,
and future projects. Her presentation
included the following points:
Ms. Potter said the theory
behind clustering is to provide equal services at all libraries, with the
intent of enabling library staff to perform all necessary library tasks. She said the County has not addressed all the
issues related to the implementation of clustering, and the Friends of the
Library groups have taken a position against clustering.
Responding to Councilmember Gustafson,
Ms. Potter explained how the automatic check-in system would work. Councilmember Gustafson thanked Ms. Potter
for her leadership and Mr. Phillips for his many years of service on the Board. He noted that his family members are frequent
users of the on-line system.
Deputy Mayor Fimia expressed
appreciation for the efforts in getting the Richmond Beach Library sited. She inquired about volunteer opportunities at
the libraries. Ms. Potter responded that
people can contact the libraries for more information on volunteering.
Mayor Ransom expressed
strong concerns about the decision to implement clustering. He said he protested the clustering idea,
with the consent of Council, but librarians were removed from our two libraries
without any explanation or discussion. The
agreement with KCLS provides that our Library Board and the community would be
consulted before the County makes final decisions, but that is not
happening. He said the current manager’s
attitude is to “take action first” and then provide an explanation later. He said the current manager covering both
libraries has indicated she does not have time to meet with the Library Board
and has assigned a customer relations employee to attend the meetings. Therefore, the City does not have nearly the
insight it once had. He expressed hope
that the new system will function, but said he remains concerned.
At this time, Mr. Joe
Phillips of the Library Board was invited to speak to the Council.
Mr. Phillips pointed out
that he served on the Library Board for the past four years, and his wife
served for six years. He made note that
two critical librarians at the Richmond Beach Library have quit.
Mr. Olander urged the
Library Board to develop a policy and work with the Council so that Shoreline’s
needs and concerns can be communicated effectively to the KCLS.
(b) Ordinance
No. 412, providing for the Use of Eminent
Domain to Acquire One Additional Fee
Acquisition and
Temporary Construction Easement
Councilmember Hansen moved adoption of Ordinance No. 412, providing for
the Use of Eminent Domain to Acquire One Additional Fee Acquisition and
Temporary Construction Easement.
Councilmember Gustafson seconded the motion.
Councilmember Ryu noting
that while she dislikes such legal actions, the Ordinance is a “necessary evil”
in order to complete the project. She
wished to explore ways to encourage property owners to “come to the table’
earlier before such condemnation action is required. She gave previous notice that she will be
asking for a specific
Noting that the Joshua Green
property is owned by a family trust, Mayor Ransom commented on the difficulty
of working with a multiple ownership situation.
Mr. Olander reported on his
meeting with the chair of the trust. He
said while the Joshua Green group is generally interested in cooperating, the
challenge is the multiple ownership issue.
Councilmember Hansen
expressed support for the Ordinance, noting that “Step 1” authorizes condemnation
and provides an incentive for the parties to move forward.
A vote was taken on the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 412, which
carried 7-0.
(c) Human
Services Funds Allocation Process for the
Fiscal Years 2007-2008
Continuing, Mr. Beem explained that the funding is used to support human services and projects that benefit low and moderate income residents. A major effort of the CDBG is the Major Home Repair Program, as well as Minor Home Repair. Another focus of the plan is a homelessness prevention project. The capital side of the funding emphasizes housing and projects addressing the needs of specific populations. He said staff anticipates using the same process to develop recommendations for Council that has been used in the past two funding cycles. This involves soliciting applications from agencies serving Shoreline starting this spring, convening an Ad Hoc Human Services Advisory Committee to review the applications during the summer, and presenting a recommendation to Council this fall. He noted the diversity of the membership of the Ad Hoc Committee.
Mr. Beem added that while Council is
considering a broad review of human services/youth services and housing needs,
completion of any major policy shifts will occur after the application deadline
for agency funding in June. Policy
guidance for applicants is set in the
Councilmember Hansen asked for an accounting of how much money is in the Major Home Repair Program, and whether the City “writes off” any unpaid balances. He wanted to specifically know what percentage is comprised of grants, and what percentage is comprised of loans. He felt this would give him a better idea of how much money is in this revolving fund.
Mr. Beem responded that he would provide figures on the proportion of grant funds to loans.
Responding to Councilmember McGlashan, Mr. Beem said the Food Bank has not requested an increase in funding.
Councilmember Gustafson expressed support for the proposed process for allocating the funding. He suggested additional discussion at the Council Retreat.
Mr. Beem replied that between 15,000-16,000 people of varying needs are served by the programs. Regarding the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee, he said about half of the committee has continued on from year to year, but this half also changes each year. He said committee members are selected based on a variety of criteria, including geography, cultural background, experience, and time availability. The timeline for advertising for the Ad Hoc Committee is in early May.
Mr. Beem said the criteria was
established by the Advisory Committee before his employment with the City and
is based on the vision adopted by the Council.
He said there are a variety of ways people can receive information about
human services. Many calls are received at
the City, and many come to the 211 phone system. He said the important point is ensuring that
those receiving calls know enough about the programs to provide effective referrals. He noted that human services are generally
less well-funded than other programs, so there is greater potential to have
unmet needs.
Councilmember Ryu pointed
out that under the current funding scheme, human services is funded at a level
of $20 per Shoreline citizen annually.
She estimated that the $917,000 budget averages out to less than $20
annually per Shoreline resident, and about $60 per year for the 15,000-16,000
people that are served by human service programs. Noting that the Ad Hoc Committee is involved
in the allocation process, she asked if it is also involved in the goal-setting
process.
Mr. Olander said it is not
currently involved in the goal-setting process, and it would require a broader
public process than what the Council currently uses.
Deputy Mayor Fimia thanked
Mr. Beem for explaining the process early on, although the risk is that the
Council may have changes later. She
agreed with putting this item on the Council Retreat agenda so the Council can
discuss the Desired Outcomes and overall process. She wished to ensure that human services
funding is not only used for treatment but also for prevention and
intervention. She suggested reevaluating
the human services program because demographics have changed and one-in-five
Shoreline residents are considered “low income.” She said a “Shoreline Summit” might help the
Council allocate more efficiently, and it may be advisable to allocate a larger
amount from the General Fund. She expressed
a preference for having one or two Councilmembers on the Ad Hoc Committee.
Mayor Ransom pointed out
that the human services allocations do not address the need for dental services
or mental health counseling. He
suggested that perhaps there should be more focus on these two areas in the
Desired Outcomes.
Mr. Beem said that state and federal money
provide the large majority of funding for mental health. Cities have made the decision not to make a
large investment in mental health when others are providing this. He said most of the core funding comes from
the state through
Mayor Ransom said the Ad Hoc
Committees have operated well in the past, so he didn’t see a need for Councilmembers
to participate.
Mr. Beem noted that the
Parks department provides many programs for youth and teens.
Deputy Mayor Fimia concluded
the discussion by stating her preference that the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee
includes persons between the ages of 16 and 21.
(d) Amendment
of Purchase and
Three (3) Acres of South Woods
Mr. Sievers provided the
staff report and background on this item.
He explained that after an agreement was reach between the City and the
Mr. Sievers summarized that
the City would guarantee the entire frontage improvements of
Councilmember Gustafson moved the staff recommendation
to authorize the City Manager to execute amendments
to the Purchase and Sale Agreement for three acres of South Woods, assigning to
the City the short plat approval condition to construct frontage improvements
on N. 150th Street; and direct that the 2006-2011 CIP be amended to
include $125,000 for curb, gutter and sidewalk on N. 150th
Street. Councilmember Hansen seconded
the motion.
Councilmember
Hansen pointed out that the City is the “latecomer” in this situation, so the
City will basically assume the costs of the improvements.
Councilmember Ryu
noted that the City is getting
Mr. Olander noted
that the costs will be “backed out” of the appraisal, so both parties to the
agreement will be treated equally.
Deputy Mayor
Fimia said she wishes “we could have caught this earlier rather than later,”
but clarified that the City will purchase the entire parcel if the park bond
passes in May.
A vote was taken on the motion, which
carried 7-0.
9. EXECUTIVE SESSION
At
10. ADJOURNMENT
At
/S/ Scott Passey, City Clerk, CMC