The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About02/15/2011 00 Action Minutes ACTION ON YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETING FEBRUARY 15, 2011 COUNCIL CHAMBERS, YAKIMA CITY HALL 5:30 P.M. — EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Council Members Maureen Adkison, Dave Edler, Rick Ensey, Dave EttI and Bill Lover Absent: Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey (excused) 2. Executive Session • Prospective litigation • Pending Litigation • Review performance of a public employee Executive Session adjourned at 5:56 p.m. 6:00 P.M. — BUSINESS MEETING 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Council Members Maureen Adkison, Dave Edler, Rick Ensey, Dave Ettl and Bill Lover Staff: Acting City Manager Morales, Sr. Assistant City Attorney Harvey and City Clerk Kloster Absent: Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey (excused) 2. Invocation /Pledge of Allegiance Council Member Dave Edler gave an invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Open Discussion for the Good of the Order A. Proclamations — None B. Presentations /recognitions/introductions 1. Presentation from Yakima Valley Landlords Association to Police Officer Saldana regarding the 2010 Crime -Free Rental Housing Program Rob Tee, on behalf of the Yakima Valley Landlord's Association, presented a plaque to Officer Saldana for her work in the Crime -Free Rental Housing Program. 2. Recognition of Public Records Officer Jodi Stephens as Vice President of the Washington Association of Public Records Officers Acting City Manager Michael Morales recognized Public Records Officer Jodi Stephens for her appointment as Vice - President of the Washington Association of Public Records Officers. FEBRUARY 15, 2011 C. Status reports on prior meeting's citizen service requests — None D. Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Council Committees — None 4. Consent Agenda ACTION: A motion carried to approve the consent agenda as read. VOTE: 6 -0 (Coffey absent) *A. Consideration of approval of City Council Meeting Minutes — None *B. Consideration of approval of Council Committee Meeting Minutes *1. Transit - Transportation Committee — January 20, 2011 *2. City/County Intergovernmental Committee — January 25, 2011 *3. Neighborhood Development Committee — February 2, 2011 ACTION: Council committee meeting minutes were accepted. 5. Audience Participation Becky Scholl, a parent of a developmentally disabled child at the Yakima Valley School, spoke about the potential closure of the school to address the state's budget shortfall. She distributed information on the school and asked Council members to write a letter to the state Department of Social and Health Services supporting non - closure of the facility. Council agreed to do so. ACTION: Motion carried to write a letter of support. VOTE: 6 -0 (Coffey absent) Mike Hunnel talked about code violations and discrimination of the disabled. Council Member Ettl offered to work with staff on the alleged code violations. Acting City Manager Morales stated that the issues of concern would be reviewed by the Council Transit - Transportation Committee. Gonzalo Guillen, a member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, addressed the Council on public prayer at City Council meetings. He objected to invocations at government meetings, and invoking a specific deity. Brenda Fowler spoke in strong support of invocations at Council meetings and urged the Council to continue their current practice. CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS 6. Consideration of mechanisms to amend the Charter; designation of Charter Committee; and referral of Charter to the committee for review and recommendation Senior Assistant City Attorney Kunkler outlined three general methods to amend the city charter. Staff recommends forming a committee of three Council members to review the options and develop a plan to amend the Charter. There was further discussion on timelines and process to accomplish this. ACTION: Motion carried to form a committee of up to three Council members to review and update the language in the City Charter. VOTE: 5-1, Cawley voting no (Coffey absent). ACTION: Motion carried to appoint Council Members Edler, Ettl and Adkison to the committee. VOTE: 6 -0 (Coffey absent). 2 FEBRUARY 15, 2011 Lawrence Breer stated there should be some citizens on the committee as well as Council members. Council Member Edler said the committee meetings would be public and interested citizens could be involved. 7. Consideration of a Resolution approving and adopting policy for opening invocations before meetings of the City Council Senior Assistant City Attorney Kunkler introduced the proposed resolution outlining policy regarding invocations at Council meetings. He said the format used was provided by the Alliance Defense Fund and has been modified to fit our city. The policy establishes procedures for rotation of invocations among Council members choosing to participate; voluntary participation; language to be added to the Council meeting agenda advising the public of the invocation and voluntary participation; and the invocation will occur prior to commencement of the meeting. ACTION: Motion carried to amend the Resolution to replace the limit of five times in a year participation in leading the invocation with ten. VOTE: 6 -0, Coffey absent ACTION: Motion carried to amend the amended motion to recite the Pledge of Allegiance after the gavel as part of the meeting. VOTE: 6 -0, Coffey absent ACTION: Motion carried to adopt the Resolution. VOTE: 6 -0, Coffey absent RESOLUTION NO. R- 2011 -33 *8. Consideration of a Resolution ratifying a revocable license agreement to allow for construction of a fence to restrict public access to the 23 Avenue and Lincoln Avenue Parkway ACTION: Resolution adopted. RESOLUTION NO. R- 2011 -34 *9. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing execution of a contract with the South Central Workforce Development Council for reimbursement of costs related to "Job Fair 2011" ACTION: Resolution adopted. RESOLUTION NO. R- 2011 -35 *10. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing use of budgeted funds for the completion of engineering services described in the April 23, 2003 agreement with Black & Veatch Corporation for professional services ACTION: Resolution adopted. RESOLUTION NO. R- 2011 -36 ORDINANCES *11. Consideration of an Ordinance authorizing a new fund for YAKCORPS ACTION: Ordinance passed. ORDINANCE NO. 2011 -09 12. Consideration of an Ordinance to amend the Yakima Urban Area Comprehensive Plan to adopt the West Valley Neighborhood Plan and amending the official zoning map for the City of Yakima Acting CED Director Joan Davenport introduced the ordinance and gave background on hearings and deliberations on the subject. She advised that the County Commissioners adopted this ordinance today. ACTION: Motion carried to pass the ordinance. VOTE: 6-0, Coffey absent ORDINANCE NO. 2011-10 3 FEBRUARY 15, 2011 13. Other Business ACTION: Motion carried to instruct the Acting City Manager to start the process of hiring a police chief or an interim police chief and finalize a plan by March 1. VOTE: 4 -2, Cawley and Edler voting no; Coffey absent. ACTION: Motion carried to schedule a retreat. VOTE: 6 -0, Coffey absent There was consensus by Council to schedule a retreat. Acting City Manager Morales said that, prior to the recent trip to Washington, DC, he had been unofficially informed of the potential closure of a significant number of Safe Streets task force groups around the country. He has not received any official word at this time. We may need to become more engaged and keep our efforts intact as there are many competing priorities. 14. Adjournment — 7:27 p.m. ACTION: Motion carried to adjourn to the next regular business meeting on March 1. VOTE: 6 -0, Coffey absent 4