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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/08/1983 Study Session MARCH 8, 1983 409 STUDY SESSION The City Council met in session on this date at 2:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Yakima, Washington. Council members present were Assistant Mayor Lynn Budhanan, Clarence Barnett, Henry Beaudhamp, Shirley Doty, W. K. "Pete" Moore and Jack Sparling. Mayor Lynn Carmichael absent. 1. OPEN DISCUSSION FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER Council member Moore addressed the memo from Assistant City Manager Wittenberg dated March 3, 1983, regarding land lease for the Humane Society relocation. He requested clarification II/ regarding the legal aspects involved regarding leasing City property. Discussion followed regarding past lease agreements with other organizations. City Attorney Andrews informed Council of a law Which prohibits the City fran making a gift of City property and explained the special exceptions in regards to that law. Council member Doty questioned the status of the Greenway proposal. City Attorney Andrews indicated he would report back to Council regarding this item. Council member Moore informed the Council of a meeting with the Department of Directors and the news media on March 14, 1983, at 10:30 a.m. in the Board Roan of the Yakima Valley Regional Library. He requested three City Council members attend the informal meeting. Council members Barnett, Doty and Sparling volunteered to attend the meeting. Council member Doty questioned the status of the cable television rate regulation report mentioned in the minutes of the January 25, 1983, City Council meeting. City Attorney Andrews informed Council the report would be forthcoming. 2. CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE IN COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE It was MOVED by Doty, seconded by Sparling to move Item No. 2 down to become Item No. 6A of the Business portion of the meeting. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. 3. EXECUTIVE SESSION REGARDIIC PROSPECTIVE LITIGATION It was MOVED by Beaudhamp, seconded by Barnett to move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing prospective litigation. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael Absent. BUSINESS MEETING At 3:00 p.m., the Council members commenced the regular meeting, II/ Assistant Mayor Buchanan presiding, Council members Barnett, Beaudhamp, Doty, Moore and Sparling and City Manager Zais and City Attorney Andrews present on roll call. Mayor Carmichael absent and excused. 4. INVOCATION The Invocation was given by Assistant Mayor Budhanan. 5. CONSENT AGENDA Assistant Mayor Buchanan referred to the Items placed on the Consent Agenda, questioning Whether there were any additions or deletions fran either Council members or citizens present. The City Clerk then read the Consent Agenda items, including resolutions and ordinances by title. It was MOVED by Moore, seconded by Beauchamp that the Consent Agenda, as read, be passed. Unanimously carried by roll call vote. Carmichael absent. 410 MARCH 8, 1983 6. CURRENT STUDY SESSION ITEMS A. Item No. 2 It was MOVED by Moore, seconded by Beauchamp that a temporary schedule for City Council meeting be adopted to be effective commencing Mardi 22 through June 21, 1983, as follows: Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on Tuesday of each week, except that no regular meeting shall be held on the fifth Tuesday of any month. The meetings shall convene at the hour of 2:00 p.m., except for the meetings on the second Tuesday of the months of January, April, July and October, Which ,shall be held at the hour of 6:30 p.m. The meetings held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month shall be business meetings for the conducting of business by the Council according to the daily order of business provided by the Rules of Procecure of the Yakima City Council. The II/ meetings held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month shall be study session meetings for the consideration of matters submitted to or called for by the Council; however, the study session meetings constitute regular meetings of the Council at which, formal Council action may be taken if consent to taking formal action is given pursuant to a motion carried by the majority vote of council members in attendance at the meeting. Council member Doty expressed her concerns regarding the last portion of the motion which pertained to taking formal Council action at Study Session meetings. Council member Barnett indicated he would vote nay to the motion because the motion would eliminate the allowance for audience participation and he expressed his concerns that the number of business items on the agenda could become too voluminous. It was MOVED by Doty, seconded by Moore to amend the previous notion, to put a period after the word Council (however, the study session meetings constitute regular meetings of the Council.) and strike the rest of the sentence. It was the consensus of the Council that audience participation be allowed at both the business and study session meetings. Council. member Beaudhamp stated he liked the flexibility the last four lines of the motion gave the Council; in case the need arises to require formal action of a Study Session, the Council would have the authority to take action. Council member Moore expressed his support for the amendment to the motion. The question was called for a vote on the amendment of the notion. Carried 4-2 voice vote. Barnett and Beaudharu voting nay. ,Carmichael absent. The question was called for a vote on the motion as amended. Carried 4-2 voice vote. Barnett and Beauchamp voting nay. Carmichael absent. *7. MINUTES The Council minutes of January 25, 1983, were appproved, having been duly certified accurate by two Council members and no one present wishing to have said minutes read publicly. 8. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION II/ Ines Rice, 4409 W. Arlington, was present to express her approval of the budget format used by the .County and suggested the City adopt that particular format. Mrs. Rice questioned the two air conditioning units that were Furdhased for the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and requested clarification, as she understood only one air conditioning unit was budgeted. 9. PRESENTATION OF THE YEAR-END 1982 FINANCIAL REPORT City Manager Zais provided an overview of the Ypar -End 1982 Financial Report and expressed his appreciation to the staff for their efforts to control costs and reduce expenses. Council member Barnett complimented the City Manager and staff on the complete, concise report. Council member Doty questioned if the unbudgeted retirement cash-out expenses mentioned on page R-2 were higher than normal. Council member Doty requested clarification regarding the deficits in the 1983 411 Street Division as outlined on Table I. City Manager Zais responded, informing Council that a loan fran the Capitol Theatre Reserve was authorized by Council to cover the deficits in General and Parks Funds, however, staff did not anticipate a deficit in Streets and therefore, no loan allowance was made. City Manager Zais requested Council's direction on an appropriation ordinance to make up the deficit in the Street budget. Council member Sparling requested clarification regarding Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMTA) funding. Dave Rhodes, Director of Public Works, was present to respond to Council's questions regarding UMTA funding qualifications and procedures. (Council member Barnett temporarily absent after 3:53 p.m.) It was MOVED by Doty, seconded by Beaudhamp to accept staff's report. Unanimously II/ carried by voice Barnett temporarily absent. Carmidhael absent. (Council meMber Barnett present after 3:55 p.m.) It was MOVED by Moore, seconded by Doty to request staff to prepare the necessary appropriation legislation for the Street Fund. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. 10. REPORT FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT AND DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT IV POSITIONS Chief Jack LaRue was present to expand upon the proposal, informing Council that this proposal is submitted to Council for a policy sanction rather than further action. He indicated that if the proposal meets with Council's approval, the proposal would require additional documentation to came before the Council at next week's Council meeting. Council member Moore questioned the change in the ordinance, outlined in the proposal, pertaining to the increase to $100 per month (fran $30 per month) in addition to the regular salary when assigned the duties of Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police. Chief LaRue responded, clarifying that after the consolidation of the positions, Which would make that position a non-canmissioned position, it was necessary to make the proposed change in the ordinace in order to bring the salary up to the level it was before the consolidation. Chief LaRue responded to Council's questions regarding the savings factor involved with the consolidation. It was MOVED by Beaudhamp, seconded by Moore that we accept the recommendation as contained in the report. City Manager Zais informed Council that the City will need to meet with the Yakima Police Patrolman's Association and the AFSCNE Union to discuss the aspects of the consolidation prior to the enactment of the ordinance. The question was called for a vote on the motion. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. 11. REPORT FROM TRAFFIC ENGINEERING ON STREET LIGHTS AND PACIFIC MATER AND LIGHT CONTRACT Hank Hein, Supervising Traffic Engineer, was present to inform Council of the current status of the proposed mercury vapor street light purchase with Pacific Power & Light, which was previously brought to Council November 9, 1982. He informed Council that the price on the contract had decreased since the November 9, 1982 report, resulting in a current price of $60,766. Mr. Hein stated that the estimated $25,000 annual savings due to the purdhase of the street lights, as reported in November, would not be realized as it was based upon an entire year estimate. Hank Hein responded to questions fran the Council regarding details of the proposed street light purdhase. The Council expressed concerns regarding the bond issue, requesting clarification regarding the carribination of the Nab Hill Boulevard reconstruction bond issue with the street lights bond issue. City Manager Zais informed Council of staff's recommendation to carbine the two issues on one ballot. Council member Barnett stated his preference to keep the two issues separate, as they are unrelated. Council member Beaudhamp requested clarification of staff's concept of coMbining the two issues on one bond issue. Hank Hein responded to Council's questions. Resolution No. D-4782, having been read by title, it was MOVED by Doty, seconded by 142 MARCH 8, 1983 Moore that the resolution as read, be passed. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. Discussion followed regarding possible funding sources for the street light purchase. City Manager Zais informed Council of the two options available at this time. He cdmmented that the November 9, 1982 Council action authorized the street light purchase as a loan fran the Capitol Theatre fund, to be repaid with the savings within the Traffic Engineering budget. The other alternative is to let the savings accumulate in the budget as an additional budget reserve for Traffic Engineering and make that a direct grant from either the Capitol Theatre fund, which is the suggestion at this time, or another contingency fund. It was MOVED by Barnett, seconded by Doty to fund the street light purchase fran the interest of the Capitol Theatre reserve as a grant. Council member Beauchamp stated he preferred the idea of a loan versus a grant. Council member BuChanan expressed his feelings that the Council should be using the savings to pay back the loan. It was MOVED by BeauChamp, seconded by Sparling to amend the II/ motion to use the Capitol Theatre reserve fund as a loan versus a grant for the purpose of the street lights. Council member Moore requested clarification of the existing amount of interest currently in the Capitol Theatre fund. City Manager Zais informed Council that $92,773.00 is the current amount of interest in the Capitol Theatre fund. Robert Wheeler, Accounting Manager, was present to expand upon the status of the Capitol Theatre reserve fund. The question was called for a vote on the affendnent to the motion. Carried by 5-1 voice vote. Doty voting nay. Carmichael absent. The question was called for a vote on the motion, as amended. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. Discussion followed regarding Council action on other staff reccmtendations: B) It was the consensus of the Council to direct staff to continue working with the Bonneville Power Adffinisttation, trying to obtain as much reimbursement as possible; C) It was the general consensus of the Council to accept staff recannendations; and D) Council member Barnett indicated he would like to defer this item, as Council anticipates forthcoming discussion regarding Nob Hill Boulevard and anticipated Union Pacific Railroad actions. Hank Hein requested clarification fran the Council, questioning if the Council concurred with the concept of establishing a. citizens committee. Council responded in the affirmstive. RESOLUTION NO. D-4782, A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the City Manager and City Clerk of the City of Yakima to execute a letter of agreement with Pacific Power and Light Company for purchasing a street light system. *12. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A CONTRACT WITH ARMORED CAR DISPATCH, INC. RESOLUTION NO. D-4783, A RESOLUTION authorizing the City II/ Manager and City Clerk of the City of Yakima to execute a contract with Armored Car Dispatch, Inc. *13. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANT INCREASE FOR PROJECT C DEFERRED WORK RESOLUTION NO. D A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the City Manager and City Clerk of the City of Yakima to execute an agreement accepting an offer from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a grant of funds to aid construction of water pollution control facilities. *14. FIX DATE OF.HEARINa March 22, 1983 was set as the date of hearing for a rezone of property located at 406 South 15th Avenue fro R-2 to a Planned Development, as requested by George Camden. MARCH 8, 1983 4 1 3 *15. FIX DATE OF HEARING Mardi 22, 1983 was set as the date of hearing for a rezone of property located at South 4Crth Avenue and Tieton Drive from R-2 and B-2 to a Planned Development, as requested by Albertson's, Inc. 16. ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF WATER AND SERER REVENUE BONDS Ordinance No. 2677, having been read by title, it was MOVED by Mbore, seconded by Doty that the Ordinance, as read, be passed. City Manager Zais began discussion, introducing Dave Smith, Financial Consultant to the City of Yakima. City Manager Zais informed Council that Dave Smith will be providing financial information regarding the purchase contract provided by Foster & Marshall/American Express, Inc. City Manager Zais expanded on the Ordinance, informing Council that this Ordinance provides for the permanent financing of the Wastewater litigation settlement and capital improvement project funding for the City's domestic water system. He indicated that the Ordinance authorizes the sale and issuance of water/ sewer revenue bonds in the amount of $4,050,000 for a 20-year term. He stated that this legislation has been prepared by the City's bond rating counsel (Preston, Thorgrimson, Ellis and Holman of Seattle, Washington). Dave Smith expanded on the purdaase offer by Foster & Marshall/American Express, Inc. of - the water/seiNer revenue bond issue and provided financial information pertinent to the purchase contract. He informed Council that due to a decline in interest rates from an estimated 11.0% to an actual 9.5%, the City experienced a net savings of $55,000 a year. The question was called for a vote on the motion. Unanimously carried by roll call vote. Carmichael absent. City Manager Zais complimented City staff regarding the report prepared for the bond rating meeting in New York January 28, 1983 with the rating agencies, Standard & Poor's Corporation and Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ORDINANCE NO. 2677, AN ORDINANCE of the City of Yakima, Washington, authorizing the issuance and sale of water and sewer revenue bonds of the City in the aggregate principal amount of $4,050,000 for the purpose of providing a portion of the funds necessary to acquire, construct and install certain additions and improvements to the combined water and sewerage system of the City; fixing the date, form, terms, maturities, convenants and conditions under Which the bonds shall be issued; and providing for the disposition of the proceeds thereof. *17. ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR SALES TAX PAYMENTS (VOLCANO CLEANUP) (FIRST READING) The Ordinance appropriating funds for sales tax payments (volcano cleanup), having been read by title only at this meeting, was laid on the table for one we or until Mardi 15, ' 1983. *18. ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR OUTSTANDING 1982 ENCUMBRANCES (FIRST READING) The Ordinance appropriating funds for outstanding 1982 encumbrances, having been read by title only at this meeting, was laid on the table for one week or until Mardi 15, 1983. 19. OTHER BUSINESS Fred Norton, Code Manager, was present to distribute a pamphlet, Incentives for Historic Preservation and Property Redevelopment in Yakima, which addresses a workshop to be held March 18, 1983. Council member Barnett indicated the North Front Street Association and the Railroad Museum would be interested in this workshop as they had not received funding from the 1983 Community Development Block Grant for this purpose. 4 1 4 MARCH 8, 1983 Council member Moore addressed the term expiration of Mamie Morrison on the Housing Authority Board. He informed Council of Ms. Morrison's request to be reappointed to the Board. It was MOVED by Moore, seconded by Beauchamp to reappoint Mamie Morrison to the Housing Authority. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. Council member Doty informed Council of the term expirations on the Human Relations Commission. She stated that Bernal Baca, Dolores Goodman and Christine Jackson are all interested in being reappointed to the Commission. It was MOVED by Doty, seconded by Barnett to reappoint Bernal Baca, Dolores Goodman and Christine Jackson to the Human Relations Commission. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael absent. City Manager Zais complimented the Public Relations Committee II/ regarding the recent publication of the Employee Newsletter. He informed - Council that each departffent will alternate sponsoring the news letter. City Manager Zais informed Council of a letter of resignation from Jon Wiese Which will be effective March 17, 1983. He informed Council, Mr. Wiese, Sanitary Engineer, has taken a position as Project Manager at the City of Richland and indicated staff will be re-examining his position prior to filling the vacancy. City Manager Zais reported on the status of the Greenway proposal which was brought up earlier under Open Discussion for the Good. of the Order. He informed Council that Council action taken on this item was to accept staff's report. The conveyance of property was not addressed at that time. Council member Doty questioned if wt had received a response from the County on this item. City Manager Zais informed Council that he had received a verbal response from Mr. Whiteside in which he expressed his agreement with the proFosal. Council member Doty questioned that were the exceptions of the law regarding donating land to the Humane Society. City Attorney Andrews informed Council he would research the issue and respond back to Council. Items of Information Items of information supplied to Council were: Petition No. 994 submitted by residents at 215 No. 56th Ave., requesting that the existing crosswalk at 215 Na. 56th Ave. be repainted. 3/3/83; letter from Executive Director, Association of Washington Cities, regarding AWC Naninations & Resolutions Committees for 1983. 2/28/83; memo from Supervising Traffic Engineer regarding Washington Avenue Speed Limit - City Limit to 24th-16th. 2/25/83; memo from City Attorney regarding status of Ramirez vs. City and Stenberg vs. City lawsuits. 2/24/83; memo from Wastewater - Superintendent regarding Synopsis of American City and County Article. 2/16/83; II/ February report of Code Administration office activities; February report of the Permit Center; minutes of 2/3/83 meeting of the Community Programming Advisory Committee; minutes of the 2/3/83 meeting of the Civil Service Commission and minutes of the 2/3/83 meeting of the Downtown Area Redevelopment Committee. 20. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to came before the Council, it was MOVED by Moore, seconded by Beauchamp, that this meeting be adjourned at the hour of 5:17 p.m. Unanimously carried by voice vote. Carmichael !IS READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE B AM,,,,,,;( DATE 4 /445 CDU it;.4171D " DATFer OD. im MEMBER ATTEST: ./ 3 A144. r r-er r rtv• MAWIR