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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/28/1995 Adjourned Joint Meeting 124 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON FEBRUARY 28, 1995 ADJOURNED JOINT MEETING CITY OF YAKIMA, UNION GAP AND YAKIMA COUNTY The City Council met on this date at 7:30 a.m. at the Yakima Convention Center for a Joint Meeting with the Yakima County Commissioners and the City of Union Gap. Council Members present were Mayor Pat Berndt, Assistant Mayor Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp, Ernie Berger, William Brado, Lynn Buchanan and Bernard Sims. City Staff members present were City Manager Zais, Assistant City Manager Rice, Community & Economic Development Director Glenn Valenzuela, Assistant City Attorney Larry Peterson and Deputy City Clerk Skovald. Yakima County Commissioners present were Bettie Ingham, Bill Flower and Jim Lewis. Yakima County staff members present were Dick Anderwald, Planning Director, Dan Hesse, Public Works Director and Dema Harris, Director of Administrative Services. Union Gap officials present were Council Members Bill Ackerman, Betty Boyd, Donna Miller, Phil Salzman, Bud Laidler, and Kathleen M. Holscher, City Clerk /Treasurer. Charlene Upton from U. S. Congressman Doc Hastings' Office was also in attendance. Representatives present from the Yakima Air Terminal were Dennis Byam, Helga Braman, Bruce Loy, Jerry Kilpatrick, Rae Sunderland, Bill Almon, Bill Elkins, Cindy Freiley and Gene Krog, U. S. Customs Service. Members of the Washington Pilots Association and representatives from the aircraft industry, members of the media as well as a number of concerned citizens also attended this meeting. Mayor Berndt welcomed the group and presented Bill Almon with a certificate of appreciation for over 18 years of service to the community. Commissioner Ingham briefly highlighted the agenda which included status reports on various Airport issues and projects. Stand Alone Radar Glenn Rice provided a brief synopsis of the Stand Alone Radar issue and described the efforts of the Yakima Radar Task Force along with help from Senators Murray and Gorton. The Task Force requested the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to audit the methods by which the FAA brought forward their information, and determine whether it was fair, equitable, safe and reasonable. That audit found the FAA's finding valid, and Yakima Airport's radar will be located in I/ Pasco. Bruce Loy reported the FAA has reduced the manpower available to cover radar operations for Yakima. This has prompted letters being sent to local carriers asking them to reduce the hours of service. He stated he had spoken with the FAA who assured him that this was a temporary reduction in hours and guaranteed safety will be a foremost issue. t7 125 Adjourned Joint Meeting -- February 28, 1995 Richardson Cleanup City Manager Zais and Assistant City Attorney Peterson provided a status report on the Richardson Aviation Site at the Yakima Air I/ Terminal. The type of remedial action and method of clean -up will depend on the amount of contamination at the site. A meeting is being scheduled with Ecology staff, the WSU Scientist and possibly City staff to discuss conclusions from the independent scientific analysis to identify any substantial risk for contamination from soil at the site. Airport Leases /Property Management Assistant City Attorney Peterson reported additional work is needed on the Airport's lease policy before leases can be let out on a competitive bidding process, particularly involving the O'Dell lease where improvements were done to the central building. The Airport has to decide who actually has legal claim- to those improvements. Commissioner Ingham noted the Airport Lease Policy is an attachment to the packet for this meeting. Foreign Trade Zone Bruce Loy reported the Foreign Trade Zone was activated in November, with privatization planned for the future. There was continued discussion concerning the Customs Activity Report. Commissioner Ingham requested cost information on implementation over a five -year period be provided. Gene Krog spoke in favor of expanding import /export trade at the Airport by establishing commercial subzone trade services since world trade is increasing. He also compared Yakima Airport to similar facilities in the area, and there was continued discussion about the implementation of the FTZ. Commissioner Ingham requested the Airport Board submit a quarterly airport activity report on a regular basis. Helga Braman compared Yakima's airport activity to larger airports in Spokane and Moses Lake and described some advantages as well as challenges facing the Yakima Airport. Armory Project I/ Glenn Rice provided copies of a report on the Old Armory Site on 3rd Street. He reported a portion of the south side of the Airport has been suggested as an alternate site for the new National Guard Armory. Mr. Rice pointed to the location on the map and discussed various details concerning the site selection process and also other procedural issues. The proposed site, which could take three or four years to develop the project, needs to have water and sewer considerations worked out in order to determine if this location would be feasible. Discussion continued concerning the 2 126. Adjourned Joint Meeting -- February 28, 1995 consistency and compatibility with the Master Plan at this location, installation of the utilities as well as funding for the project. Master Plan Bruce Loy explained the Master Plan has been prepared and explained the process to follow prior to its adoption. I/ Underground Storage Tanks Dan Hesse, Yakima County Public Works Director, provided a status report on the contracts being prepared for storage tank removal; it is expected to be out to bid by mid - April. There was consensus that the underground storage tank issue needs further discussion at a future meeting. As far as other areas of environmental sensitivity that needed further discussion, apparently there is an old dump on the Airport property that needs to be looked into. Other Airport Issues At this point in the presentation, the idea was discussed to involve all owners of the Airport to attend a retreat. There was consensus of the group to come back at the next meeting with an overview of when and where a retreat might be held. The last item for discussion was the possibility of Union Gap considering coming into the Airport as a partner. Commissioner Ingham invited Union Gap to provide its position on this matter and noted the issue would be left on the agenda until such time as Union Gap is ready to discuss it. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 a.m. ' IED A CCURATE BY: : L �.2°:�XJ / 0 ^ / 2 C j READ AND CERTIF / C UNCIL M`, BER DATE g/1/ CI v / i 4 id _ l7�- 9`g` COUNMEMBER DATE ATTEST: am,-._ � g .. -7 c_. J-4,0 I/ CITY CLERK MAYOR Minutes prepared by Deputy City Clerk Skovald. An Audio tape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office. 3