CITY
OF
SHORELINE
CITY COUNCIL
Mt. Rainier Room
PRESENT: Mayor Hansen, Deputy Mayor Jepsen, Councilmembers Fimia, Grace,
Ransom, Chang, and Gustafson
ABSENT: None
1.
CALL TO ORDER
The
meeting was called to order at
2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL
Mayor
Hansen led the flag salute. Upon roll
call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present, with the exception of
Councilmembers Chang and Ransom, who arrived at
3. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
·
Residents can now access the City of
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Human services provider HopeLink is now located in Shoreline at
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Sidewalks are being completed on the east side of
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ADA-compliant ramps were added to the benches at
·
The Economic Development Task Force has completed its draft report and
it is scheduled to be presented to the Council at the January 23rd
Council meeting.
·
The
·
The Shoreline Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held December 3rd
in
4.
COUNCIL REPORTS:
Councilmember
Gustafson stated he toured
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
(a) Charles
Brown, Shoreline, stated he is an advocate for the South Woods property. He brought some books for the Council
regarding the environment. He summarized
that one of the books projected a shorter life expectancy for the youth due to
a lack of physical activity. He said
this has some profound implications on how we look at the environment and our
personal well-being.
(a)
2006 Proposed Budget Discussion
Councilmember
Gustafson supported most of the budget provisions but wanted to discuss the fee
structure. He also supported allocating
more full time equivalents (FTEs) for the Assistant City Attorney, the $50,000
Urban Forestry Assessment, the Economic Development enhancements, Human
Services funding, and the Street Light Program.
He wished to explore options for acquiring more funds for additional
projects. He suggested the $100,000 for
gateways be reduced to $25,000, and adding $15,000 to the budget of the new
Park Coordinator to develop a volunteer litter control program, an adopt-a-park
program, and an innovative program for gifting and/or commemorations (park
benches, tiles, bricks, plaques, etc.).
He also wished to increase all non-resident recreational fees.
Continuing,
Councilmember Gustafson proposed adding $10,000 in seed money for a
"kiddie" pool addition at the Shoreline pool, suggesting the Parks
Director research and develop a plan to accomplish
this. He suggested an allocation of $10,000 to Human Services for the
development of a Shoreline Youth Master Plan, which would promote after-school activities
for students. He expressed support for a
blue ribbon committee to research the needs of youth and families in Shoreline
and present a proposal to the Council at the April Council Retreat. He also suggested the City allocate $20,000 -
$30,000 for an Emergency Response/Preparedness Plan to ensure adequate funding
levels and any necessary training/equipment.
Councilmember
Fimia inquired whether the $20,000 - $30,000 is for the plan or the
implementation.
Councilmember
Gustafson said it would be for the implementation. There is a need for generators and funding to
ensure the City is prepared for an emergency situation. He suggested that the presentation he viewed
at a neighborhood meeting be placed on Channel 21 once or twice a month. He also recommended increasing the 2006
budget for sidewalks by $230,000, and that this work should be completed in
2006. He commented that the City has
done a great job in balancing the budget and suggested moving to a biennial
budget beginning in 2007. He felt this
would save the City some money in the overall budget process.
Ms.
Tarry felt the savings would not be significant, but it would save City staff
and Council time. In a biennial budget,
there would still be the requirement of a mid-year review. She stated staff would investigate the
advantages and disadvantages of a biennial budget.
Councilmember
Fimia supported a non-residential recreation fee increase of 10 – 20% with the
exception of the youth drop-in programs.
She explained that the City should encourage kids to use recreation
facilities. However, she said there
should be a cap on the amount that resident fees are raised.
Councilmember
Ransom stated he is opposed to a large increase, which would tend to drive
users away. He felt up to a 20% increase
would be reasonable. He said
Councilmember
Gustafson pointed out that many cities are implementing the “40 Developmental
Assets” philosophy and are developing programs with school districts and
businesses in proactive ways to involve the youth.
Mr.
Deal added that Human Services Manager
Mayor
Hansen suggested that the PRCS Board review these proposals and prepare a
recommendation for the Council.
Councilmember
Fimia said the City can address this with
Councilmember
Grace agreed and said he sees a lot of benefit in having a youth master plan,
but felt a broader human services master plan should
be implemented first. The youth master
plan would be a subset of the entire master plan. He noted that the City already has a number
of issues that need to be addressed.
Mr.
Burkett pointed out that most of the proposals from Councilmember Gustafson are
one-time budget decreases, except for the $15,000 volunteer litter control
program funding. He also said there is
$21,000 in the Human Services budget in anticipation of a potential federal
funding cut.
Councilmember
Grace announced that the City should allocate funds so that the City can
accomplish as much as it can in 2006.
Mr.
Burkett suggested that the Council approve the $900,000 in Capital Improvement
Plan for sidewalks.
Mayor
Hansen reiterated his suggestion for a “Save Our Sidewalks” program, which
would bank property tax money for roads and sidewalks. He said he would want to make sure it is fair
to all residents and would like to see it done by local investment district
(LID). He felt such a program would
ensure that the majority of neighborhood residents support the plan.
Mr.
Burkett announced that staff would have a proposal for sidewalks at a
Councilmember
Chang felt that street trees are damaging roads and cracking home foundations,
water pipes, and sewer lines along
Mayor
Hansen concurred, noting the City must ensure that street tree roots do not
affect the walkways.
Councilmember
Gustafson reiterated his concern for the Shoreline pool, noting he would like
to explore funding options for improving that facility. He also restated his concern about adequate
emergency preparedness.
Mayor
Hansen agreed regarding the Shoreline Pool but felt it should be classified as
a capital project and included in the Capital Improvement Plan. He noted that local agencies had to have
hazardous mitigation plans updated to be able to receive FEMA grants.
Councilmember
Grace requested staff opinion about specific areas of emergency preparedness
and what the City needs to do.
Mr.
Burkett replied that the City has most of the high priority needs covered, but
the City could use additional funding for public information
dissemination. This requirement must be
met because the federal government is requiring cities to implement some new
elements.
Councilmember
Fimia outlined her ten amendments to the budget and distributed a copy of them
out to the Council and City staff. She
supported the construction of a new City Hall
facility. However, she felt it could be
built for $1 - $4 million less.
Mr.
Burkett outlined that the 2006 budget includes a proposed budget amount for the
City Hall project of $600,000.
Councilmember
Fimia pointed out that the CIP can be amended and it will need to be
revised. She added that many of the
objectives in the Hazardous Mitigation Plan cannot be implemented, but there is
a need for an emergency generator for City Hall. She felt the City should start a housing
trust fund for affordable housing. She
suggested that the Council make a commitment to narrowing the entrances to
neighborhoods over the next five to ten years.
She said this reminds drivers that they are entering a neighborhood and
encourages them to slow down. She also
said the City is not funding surface water and stream restoration projects to
the fullest levels according to the master plans. She suggested reducing the Richmond Beach
Master Plan expenditure to $50,000.
Mr.
Burkett outlined that the proposed budget for the Seattle Public Utilities
property is $3.8 million. Funding for
this purchase will come from bond proceeds, grants, City funds, and other
yet-to-be-determined funding sources.
Councilmember
Ransom expressed concerns that a site for the new City
Hall has not been selected yet, so he does feel any funding should be allocated
for it. He reasoned that interest rates
and the cost of property continue to rise, so until a site is selected he will
not support the item. He supported the
Richmond Beach Master Plan, South Woods, and the SPU property purchase as well
as the bond issue.
Councilmember
Grace felt that $15,000 would not give the Council nor the City the depth of an
urban forest plan needed. In reference to
citizen satisfaction surveys, he pointed out that one of the things the City
needs is continuous measurement of services provided to the residents of
Shoreline. If the City discontinues
surveys, there will be no way to demonstrate performance. He agreed with Councilmember Ransom in not
supporting expenditures for City Hall until a site is purchased. He felt parking at the
Councilmember
Gustafson supported the suggestions of Councilmember Grace and Councilmember
Ransom. Additionally, he agreed with
Councilmember Fimia on the gateways. He
felt the funding for the gateways should be reduced and the funds should be
used in other ways. He concurred with
Councilmember Ransom in postponing action on the new
City Hall until a site is purchased. He
also felt the City should purchase the SPU property and proceed with a bond
process on South Woods acquisition. He did not support reducing the
professional services budgets because it is a contingency fund that gives the
City flexibility for unforeseen circumstances.
He agreed that the citizen satisfaction survey should also be retained.
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen referred to Councilmember Fimia’s list and said he is indifferent
about reducing professional services funding in the Council’s budget. However, he is opposed to decreasing the City
Manager and the PRCS professional services funding. Additionally, he felt the urban forestry plan
should be done as proposed. Travel
budgets for the various departments should be maintained as is, he said. The citizen satisfaction survey is a valuable
tool, he stated, and should be something the City continues to do. He felt it would be premature to cut the plan
for City Hall in the Capital Improvement Plan.
He supported gateways and said they are a part of establishing
Shoreline’s identity and they need to continue to be erected throughout the
City. He noted there should still be a
meeting with the school district to discuss the SPU property. He agreed with the increases for the
non-resident fees, however, he did not support the pool addition feasibility
study. He pointed out that no one has
discussed the King County Veterans/Human Services Levy that will reduce the
City of
Councilmember
Chang agreed with Councilmember Fimia that Fircrest is vital and the Council
needs to be proactive on this issue. In
addition, he agreed that gateways are not critical Council goal. He felt the City Hall project should be
started and land should be purchased. He
also said the SPU purchase should be expedited.
Finally, he suggested the Council take $10,000 from the Richmond Beach
Master Plan and apply it to the citywide tree study.
Councilmember
Ransom noted that auto theft and burglary problems have been increasing in the
City. He felt that $50,000 for security
cameras at the park-n-rides would be an effective use of funding. He suggested hiring two additional police
officers; one in the street crimes unit
and the other in the traffic unit. He suggested
increasing the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program (NTSP) by $50,000 for speed
bumps, and felt the new sidewalks in 2006 should be concentrated around
neighborhoods and schools. He felt Human
Services would need more funding and wondered how the City would benefit from
the recently-passed Veterans/Human Services levy. He pointed out the City only allocates 1% of
the total budget to Human Services.
Mayor
Hansen pointed out that the City of
Ms.
Tarry related information pertaining to auto thefts at the park-n-ride, noting
that out of 694 auto thefts, 33 of them occurred at City park
& rides. She clarified that the NTSP
budget for 2006 is $167,000.
Referring
to a recent street tree study, Mr. Burkett mentioned that the City is selecting
appropriate trees for City projects to avoid ruining the sidewalks.
Mayor
Hansen agreed that Human Services funding could be increased, but he does not
want to commit to a lot of ongoing expenses.
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen felt the City should determine what cities will get from the new
Councilmember
Grace stated that the cameras at the park-n-ride would cost more money and
staff time. He agreed with the 2.0 FTEs
for police officers and they are needed in traffic and patrol. He felt there should be additional funding of
$50,000 in the NTSP, and the City should wait to see the effect of the King
County Human Services levy. He wondered
if Mr. Beem could give more information on the City’s Human Services needs.
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen did not support the proposed vacation buyout program, noting that
employees should take vacation to relieve stress.
Mayor
Hansen agreed, adding that private businesses require employees to take their
vacation time.
Mr.
Burkett announced that both goals would be achieved if the requirement for the
amount of vacation used that current year was higher.
Ms.
Tarry also outlined that there is a cap on the amount of vacation that can be
accumulated by an employee each year.
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen discussed the hotel/motel tax and said it would generate $11,000
annually in revenue. The intent of this
tax, he said, would be to fund the
Councilmember
Gustafson pointed out that the Goodwill truck is staffed from
Councilmember
Fimia pointed out there is some agreement with the human services/youth master
plan process and funding to execute it, but there is no agreement on the
scope. Also, there was some agreement on
the NTSP and implementation of the hazard mitigation plan. She proposed the Council come to agreement on
the litter control program and using the gateway funding as a source of
money. She said there is no consistency
on the citizen surveys, so if the Council wants to continue to do surveys, a
proviso should be added so the results can be useful.
Mayor
Hansen outlined that the Council was in consensus to raise the non-resident
usage fees but would turn the matter over to the PRCS department to determine
if a 20% increase was feasible.
Mr.
Burkett requested Council guidance on the proposed additional police staffing.
Paul
Haines, Public Works Director, discussed the three “E’s” of traffic management
in neighborhoods: 1) education; 2) enforcement; and 3) engineering. The Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program
(NTSP) attempts to capitalize on all three of the “E’s”.
Mr.
Haines pointed out that visibility is the key to addressing traffic
concerns. Calming devices need to be
installed in the neighborhoods. The NTSP
has reserved $50,000 in overtime hours for the police to provide “spot”
services for the neighborhoods.
Councilmember
Fimia stated there is an obvious need for additional services, education, and
enforcement, but the City will not get that with officers who work overtime. The City needs an additional traffic safety
officer.
Mr.
Burkett said there is $50,000 for overtime for current officers, which
diminishes the value of hiring another officer.
Mr.
Haines stated that investing in calming devices and education is a good
investment because it is less expensive than enforcement. Enforcement is ongoing and provides a
certainty of behavior.
Councilmember
Fimia pointed out there will always be a need for enforcement and many calming
devices will not be installed for many years.
She felt that all three of the “E’s” are needed in the City. She felt that Chief Burtt did not understand
the impact of speeding in the neighborhoods.
She said residents are afraid to walk the streets because they fear
being hit by a car. She said the fact
there are no traffic accidents is not an indicator that people are not
speeding.
Councilmember
Gustafson inquired about the process for evaluating speed limits within
different areas of the City and if more resources could be allocated to traffic
enforcement without adding another police officer.
Mr.
Haines replied that the results of the speed limit analysis will be brought
back to the Council in the first couple months of 2006. This analysis focuses on arterials.
Chief
Burtt said that an officer could be transferred from patrol, but he felt that
an additional officer in traffic enforcement would not have much of an
impact. Moving an officer from patrol
would be significant because the staffing levels in that division are already
low. He clarified that patrol officers
do conduct traffic enforcement as needed.
Mr.
Burkett summarized that City staff has presented the Council with a $200,000
proposal for NTSP, speed bumps, and other programs. He agreed that the City could spend less for
overtime or the NTSP and add another officer.
Ms.
Tarry pointed out that the City pays the King County Sheriff’s Office in
advance for their services and at the end of the year it is reconciled. However, some of the costs, such as insurance,
are not reconciled.
Councilmember
Grace agreed with adding a new officer and moving an officer from patrol to
traffic enforcement. There are a number
of FTEs, he outlined, which can be moved into the patrol division to cover the
loss of the one officer. He commented on
the 1-to-7 ratio of administrative personnel to officers.
Mr.
Burkett outlined police staffing levels and felt the City could not afford
moving officers from patrol to traffic.
He felt the City needed to make reductions in the budget, not move
officers from one division to another.
Chief
Burtt outlined the minimum staffing level for each shift. He said there are four officers during the
day, five during the swing shift, and four officers at night. When these minimum numbers are not available,
then an officer is called in for overtime.
He estimated at 80% of the time the department runs at minimum
staffing. Reasons behind this include
training, sick leave, disability, maternity leave, and military service. He concluded that he is very hesitant to move
an officer from patrol to traffic enforcement.
Mayor
Hansen inquired what would happen if the $50,000 from the NTSP was not
available.
Mr.
Haines responded if these funds were not available it would remove some
discretionary actions taken in the program.
Councilmember
Ransom felt security cameras were useful and asked if there were any “hot
spots” in the City for auto theft.
Chief
Burtt replied that there is no particular “hot spot” other than the
Mr.
Haines announced that the City is preparing to add video monitoring on
Mr.
Burkett said if the police officer position is a greater priority for the
Council, then perhaps one of the two proposed Parks positions could be
eliminated. He noted that the budget is
all about “setting priorities.”
Councilmember
Fimia pointed out that the funding resulting from her proposed amendments would
garner about $325,000, more than enough funding for the two police officers
($270,000). She proposed using the
$65,000 remaining balance for the following: ongoing traffic enforcement
education ($5,000); the litter/adopt-a-park/gifting programs ($20,000);
emergency management program ($25,000); human services master plan ($5,000);
Fircrest stakeholder process ($5,000), three grant writing training sessions
($3,000); and
youth master plan within the human services master plan ($2,000). She felt the City could avoid spending money
on consultants and travel.
Councilmember
Ransom inquired what project would not get done without the $40,000 for the
Parks budget. He did not support
reducing the travel budget and the City Manager’s professional services budget.
Mr.
Deal suggested that perhaps the one-time $50,000 urban forestry study could be
eliminated. This study is pertinent to
the City of
Mr.
Burkett stated that the proposed City Manager professional services budget is
$57,000 which is a reduction from the last two years. The funds are primarily used for facilitation
of the leadership retreats. The rest is
for contingency such as a bond advisory consultant and facilitator for
investigations and negotiations when issues arise with utilities, such as the
proposed billing for undergrounding work in 2006 by Seattle City Light. Typically, these funds do not get spent. He projected a year-end surplus of $16,000 in
this fund.
Bob
Olander, Deputy City Manager, commented that the City Manager professional
services budget will be utilized for negotiations with Shoreline franchise and
utility companies in 2006.
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen clarified the biggest outstanding issue is the number of police
officers. He felt that City staff should
return with a recommendation and the Council should think about prioritizing
all of the budget issues or consider reversing the 1% gambling tax cut which
would certainly fund two officers.
Mayor
Hansen stated he would not support adding more than 1.0 FTE to the police
department.
Councilmember
Ransom felt that there is enough money for one or two officers, noting that the
City has a serious traffic problem. He
said the City could use the capital funds and not put so much into the capital
fund in reserves to fund the officer(s).
To him, the issue is how much money the City takes out of reserves each
year. By using reserves, the City would
not be taking the money from other programs.
Another option is removing the $25,000 Park Coordinator position.
Councilmember
Chang noted that adding just one police officer represents a 25% increase per
shift. This, he said, would be
acceptable until the City could fund two officers.
Mr.
Deal replied that the Parks Coordinator is a newly proposed position. This person would focus on park design,
obtaining grants, community outreach, and coordinating with other
agencies. This person would be tasked
with using the limited resources as effectively as possible. There are grants which can be obtained and
this person would have the expertise to know how to get them. This person would also be involved with the
community and work with the school district,
Deputy
Mayor Jepsen felt it was clear on which items there was Council consensus.
Councilmember
Fimia said she is not comfortable having City staff come back to the Council
with a revised budget before the Council votes on anything. She said she will offer several amendments
related to a litter program, a proviso for the gifting program and an
adopt-a-park program, the Fircrest stakeholders process, a human services
master plan, and an emergency management plan.
She suggested getting recommendations from the Fire District and City
staff on the Emergency Management Plan.
She also suggested a modest amount for three grant workshops for the
public and non-profit organizations.
Such City-sponsored workshops would teach people how to write grants and
would be funded by the Council or the City Manager budget. She surmised that three workshops would cost
about $3,000 for materials and an instructor.
Mr.
Burkett pointed out that there were two officers assigned to the community
storefronts. He asked if Council
priorities are such that they should be in the field conducting enforcement
activities.
Councilmember
Fimia said the City should staff the storefronts with volunteers, not
officers.
Mayor
Hansen clarified that the storefronts are mostly staffed by volunteers but
managed by an officer. He concluded that
he was in favor of having the one officer staff each of the storefronts.
7. ADJOURNMENT
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