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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/29/2002 Business Meeting 164 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 29, 2002 - 2:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 1. ROLL CALL Present: Council: Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Lynn Buchanan, Paul George, Larry Mattson, John Puccinelli, and Bernard Sims Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Paolella and City Clerk Roberts 2. INVOCATION /PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council Member Puccinelli gave an invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Sims. 3. OPEN DISCUSSION FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER A. PROCLAMATIONS / SPECIAL RECOGNITION There were no proclamations. B. PRESENTATION TO CITY FOR HOSTING THE WASHINGTON FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Rita Anson, Director of Finance and Budget, on behalf of the Washington Finance Officers Association, presented a resolution thanking the City of Yakima and Yakima County for hosting their 47 annual conference. There were approximately 400 registered participants at the four -day conference that generated $300,000 to $400,000 for the local economy. Tim Jensen, Treasury Services Officer, was the chairman for the conference and accepted the resolution for the City. He acknowledged the team members that helped make the conference a success and also noted the many compliments received on the convention center and it's staff. C. STATUS REPORT ON PRIOR MEETING'S CITIZEN SERVICE None. Mayor Place introduced Ron Capalungan, a senior from Highland High School, who was job shadowing the Council meeting as part of his curriculum. 4. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Place referred to the items placed on the Consent Agenda, questioning whether there were any additions or deletions from either Council members or • citizens present. Items Nos. 7 and 8 were removed from the Consent Agenda. 5 OCTOBER 29, 2002 1 6 The City Clerk read the Consent Agenda items, including resolutions and ordinances by title. SIMS MOVED AND BUCHANAN SECONDED TO ADOPT THE CONSENT AGENDA AS READ. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Subsequent paragraphs preceded by an asterisk ( *) indicate items on the Consent Agenda handled under one motion without further discussion.) *A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 24, 2002 ADJOURNED MEETING The minutes of the September 24, 2002 Adjourned meeting were approved, . having been duly certified accurate by two Council members and no one present wishing to have said minutes read publicly. 5. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Monica Weyhe, 102 North 3 Street, was introduced as the new director of the Yakima Valley Regional Library. She gave an overview of her background and commented that they will be hosting the Washington Library Association's conference here in April. As director of the library she plans to conduct community reviews to determine public desires and to use that information to develop unique local public services. Mrs. Weyhe donated a historic 1901 photograph of City Hall from their Memory Project. -CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS 6. PRESENTATION OF 2003 BUDGET FORECAST City Manager Zais summarized the forecast for the 2003 budget. He pointed out that the 2003 preliminary budget forecast is balanced within existing resources and is an increase of only 1 1/2% over the current budget. These increases are the result of ongoing responsibility to meet mandated and contractual obligations. The biggest increase is in labor costs but they are constrained by negotiated contracts which are conservative and have held resources in balance. He said we have tried to insure that we maintain essential services but many are already operating at minimum levels. Only a handful of positions were added to the budget while others have been removed as cost savings measure. The City has done an analysis to make projections through the year 2006 based on assumptions on inflation, mandates, contractual responsibilities, restrictions on revenues and the current economic depression, plus the likelihood of additional initiatives passing and imposing restrictions or responsibilities. In that projection there are ominous situations ahead. With the declining revenue growth and the additional higher costs, the City's ability to maintain services is crippled by outside circumstances over which we have no control. Even in the best case we would exhaust all the reserves. In the worst case, with the effects and restrictions on revenue growth and new mandates, we forecast exhaustion of all reserves plus a $10 million deficit by the year 2006. By law the City cannot have a deficit, but must have a balanced budget. Mr. Zais proposed a process involving the community over the next 6 -8 months where the City takes the time to listen to what the public believes are the critical priorities and essential services and solicits their ideas on how to pay for them. It would also be a 2 166. OCTOBER 29, 2002 good opportunity to give citizens information on what we have done and what is within our authority to do. Over the last five years the City has spent about $50,000 on a delegation traveling to Washington D.C. and have returned over $42 million in grants and loans. He emphasized that that's the kind of return on investment we have to continue if we are going to keep taxes low in the community. Rita Anson, Director of Budget and Finance, gave an overview of the extended budget outlook using four different scenarios. The first scenario is an estimate of what the current status is today forecasted out to 2006. Using charts, Ms. Anson depicted the differences between revenue and expenses noting that when we reached 2006 there will be no reserves left. Scenario two adds on the impact of Initiative 790, should it pass, and scenario three adds the potential impact of Initiative 270 currently on the horizon. 1 -270 would restrict all general fund revenues to 1% growth whether it comes from taxes, charges for services, fees, permits, etc. The gap between revenues and expenditures continues to widen over scenarios two and three and causes a major impact on the reserves. By 2006 we would have about a $4 million deficit. By law we are not allowed to run a deficit so action would have to be taken to make sure the budget is balanced if these things were to happen. Scenario four assumes National Fire Protection Standard 1710 is implemented. This change identifies the minimum staffing levels for firefighters within the city on certain apparatus that is higher than what we currently have today. There may be merits to the basis of the standard but there is no funding to pay for it and it would really widen the gap between revenues and expenditures. At this point we would be at a deficit of about $10 million. 7. CONSIDERATION OF REPORT FROM THE WATER DIVISION OF ITS STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN • Council Member Buchanan questioned the cost of this plan and stated his opinion that the money would have been.better spent responding to the public and a recent citizen's committee recommending the division work on the irrigation system. Mr. Calvin commented that they have received a number of complimentary letters over the last couple months directly in relation to the training they have received. He noted that how we respond to the public is fundamental to achieving the goals and objectives of the City Council to better serve the citizens. The focus of this plan was to develop the skills and abilities within the division to enhance services to the public. BUCHANAN MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO APPROVE THE REPORT. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 8. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH WARDELL ARCHITECTS FOR MUNICIPAL COURT EXPANSION PROJECT Council Member Puccinelli said he is not pleased with this company and felt it was time to look outside the community for another architecture firm. Council Member Buchanan and City Manager Zais responded that Wardell came into the designing of the Police /Legal Center after there had been a serious problem and was able to straighten it out and they feel they have done their job well in connection with this building. The city clerk read the resolution by title only; BUCHANAN MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION. The motion carried by a 6 -1 roll call vote; Puccinelli voting nay. 3 167 OCTOBER 29, 2002 RESOLUTION NO. R- 2002 -135, A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the City Manager of the City of Yakima to execute an Architectural Services Agreement with Wardell Architects, P.S., for a preliminary architectural design for the expansion of the. Municipal Court at the Police Station /Legal Center and further authorizing compensation be paid to Wardell Architects, P.S. for said preliminary design services in an amount not to exceed $10,000.00. *9. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION APPROVING THE THIRD QUARTER 2002 CLAIMS REPORT RESOLUTION NO. R- 2002 -136, A RESOLUTION accepting and approving the 3rd • Quarter 2002 Insurance Claims Report. ORDINANCES 10. CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE AMENDING THE URBAN AREA ZONING ORDINANCE RE SOCIAL CARD ROOMS Ken Harper, outside counsel for the City, explained the need for the 60 -day Community Trade Economic Department (CTED) notification, which could end prior to the end of the moratorium on January 19, 2003. Mr. Harper clarified that the proposed ordinance will put a Class 3 land use process not just on card rooms but on other land uses that deal with gambling activities to the extent we are talking about slot machines, or other electronic video terminals. He further clarified that this deals with land use only. If an existing establishment wants to add slot machines or wants to add some other kind of video gambling, and they make application to the Washington State Gambling Commission who says that's fine, the City would not be in a position to impose a Class 3 review on that establishment. Council Member Puccinelli explained how dishonest people could get by the Class 3 review requirement. In response to his question of gambling tax revenues received by the City, he was advised that 2001 revenues were over $450,000 and revenues in 2002 are expected to exceed $700,000. Mr. Harper suggested the effective date of the draft ordinance be just prior to the ending of the moratorium. The city clerk read the ordinance by title only; BUCHANAN MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO PASS THE AMENDED ORDINANCE. The motion carried by 5 -2 roll call vote; Puccinelli and Barnett voting nay. Council Member Barnett stated he does not agree with the definition of social card room. SIMS MOVED AND BUCHANAN SECONDED TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE UNDER SECTION 3 TO SAY EFFECTIVE JANUARY 12, 2003, AND DELETING THE FIRST PHRASE. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. ORDINANCE NO. 2002 -53, AN ORDINANCE of the City of Yakima, Washington, relating to land use and development regulation and amending section 15.02.020 and Table 4 -1 of section 15.04.030 of Title 15 of the Yakima Municipal Code to require Class (3) review for social card rooms, as defined herein, in the zoning districts of Small Convenience Center (SCC), Large Convenience Center (LCC), Central Business District (CBD) and Central Business District Support (CBDS) and prohibiting social card rooms within five hundred (500) feet of any public or private school, church, or park by adopting a special design standard as new section 15.09.190. 4 168 OCTOBER 29, 2002 11. OTHER BUSINESS Mayor Place announced that Pacific Power would like a Council representative on their Customer Advisory Committee that meets quarterly. Council Member George volunteered to be that representative. COUNCIL MEMBER BARNETT MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO HAVE PAUL GEORGE REPLACE CLARENCE BARNETT ON THE CONFERENCE OF GOVERNMENTS BOARD. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. BARNETT MOVED AND PUCCINELLI SECONDED TO APPOINT LOLA FRANKLIN TO FILL THE VACANCY ON THE CAPITAL FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Because Mayor Place has been asked to represent the City in the Water Shed Conference on November 19 and both Council Members Puccinelli and Mattson expect to be unavailable on November 19 it was requested that the Council business meeting scheduled for that day be moved to November 26 The budget meeting scheduled for the morning of the 19 will be held as planned, but the afternoon business meeting was moved to 2:00 p.m. on November 26 Council Member Mattson addressed a previous comment made by Council Member Puccinelli regarding the increase, or lack of increase, in crime related to gambling. He wanted to go on record that you can't measure the socio economic impacts of gambling by the number of fist fights outside the casinos. He believes the impacts of gambling are far more pervasive, far reaching and more subtle than that. Council Member Puccinelli agreed that the impact of gambling upon a community can be devastating, but said you cannot say that the impact is going to change when you allow gambling in a city. He said a problem gambler is a problem gambler no matter where he goes and it would be beneficial to the City to receive the tax revenue associated with allowing gambling inside the city limits. • Information Items Items of information provided were: 10/24/02 News Release from the Fire Department re: It's time to "Change Your Clock, and Change Your Battery"; Planning Division Assignments Pending Report as of October 29, 2002; Article from August 5, 2002 Clearing Up, "Northwest Disconnection Rise with Regional Rate Hikes "; and Article from October 2, 2002 The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY), "Schenectady Taxes Would Increase 8.3 %" 12. EXECUTIVE SESSION REGARDING PENDING LITIGATION GEORGE MOVED AND BUCHANAN SECONDED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOLLOWED BY ADJOURNMENT THEREAFTER. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 5 1 6 9; OCTOBER 29, 2002 13. ADJOURNMENT Following executive session, the meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: / ice � �� / %� - _/_ 7 • COUNCIL MEMBE DATE 7— e •NCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: K cot-e-v•_- 185-6.1; CITY CLERK / V ARY PLACE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting -are available in the City Clerk's Office • 6