HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/31/2012 04 Council General Information t
it eb N
BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No. i t
For Meeting of: July 31, 2012
ITEM TITLE: Council General Information
SUBMITTED BY:'
CONTACT
PERSON /TELEPHONE:
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
1. 7/26/12 Weekly Issues Report
2. Report regarding election cost history
3. Letter from Sunrise Rotary regarding $2,000 grant award
4. Notification of Community Review Board meeting cancellation
5. City Meeting Schedule for week of July 30 through August 6, 2012
6. Preliminary Future Activities Calendar as of July 29, 2012
7. Preliminary Council Agenda
8. 2012 Study Session Schedule
9. Newspaper /Magazine /Internet Articles:
* "Country Strong-- Yakima's Micah Cawley, Washington's youngest mayor and probably the
only one to have his own country music radio show, talks about the Kennedy who snapped
his photo and downtown Yakima's rebirth," AWC Cityvision, July /August 2012
* "Seven in a big hour - -A group of cities bands together for a new jail," AWC Cityvision,
July /August 2012
* "This is more than a council building. This was a deliberate strategy to make some public
investment to attract private investment," AWC Cityvision, July /August 2012
Resolution Ordinance Other
(specify)
Contract: Mail to:
Contract Term: Amount: Expiration Date:
Insurance Required? No
Funding
Source: Phone:
APPROVED FOR
SUBMITTAL: City Manager
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
BOARD /COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Click to download
❑ 7 -31 -12 into packet
•
MEMORANDUM
July 26, 2012
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Tony O'Rourke, City Manager
SUBJECT: Weekly Issues Report
• CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION: The City Council is having a study session on
Tuesday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. to review the 5 -year budget projections and
proposed reorganization plan.
• REGIONAL FIRE AUTHORITY: This Committee (Cawley, Adkison, and Coffey)
will be meeting on Thursday, August 2 at 6:00 p.m. at Fire Station 95.
• CANAL IN SOUTHEAST YAKIMA IS FLOWING AGAIN: Water is again flowing in
a canal owned by New Schanno Canal Company. The problem affected
approximately 1,400 City of Yakima irrigation customers. Utility billing will be
reviewing accounts and adjusting the affected customers' bill for their
inconvenience.
• ILLEGAL SEWER CONNECTION: Earlier this week the City of Yakima
wastewater division had Leingang Excavating out at 13 Street and Nob Hill - to
sever the property line and cap 10 illegal side -sewer connections. They also
replaced the City's 8 -inch pipe. The property owner is being charge for the costs
associated with this repair work.
• STREET WORK AT 16 AVENUE AND TIETON DRIVE: Streets will be grinding
out wheel ruts and failed pavement and repaving in the intersection of Tieton Drive
and South 16 Avenue. Work may take up to two weeks to complete. Lane
restrictions will be in place from 6 am to 3 pm Monday through Thursday. Delays of
up to 20 minutes are expected.
City of Yakima
Election Cost - Primary and General Elections
For the years ended December 31, 2007 to 2012
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total Cost $ 94,376 $ 128,821 $ 74,593 $ 153,490 $ 71,070 $ 186,750
COY Share of:
Primary - 17,398 27,169 51,534
General Election 7,414 12,933 20,233 11,091
Voter Pamphlet 5,554 16,284 9,915 2,970
Voter Registration 47,347 61,543 74,593 58,096 71,070 80,546
Misc. Election Costs 34,061 20,664 38,076 40,609
Note: The general calculation by the Yakima County Auditor is to take total costs by the categories noted above,
and allocate them ratably among the jurisdictions with issues on the ballot, weighted by both number of issues
and number of registered voters. Special elections are not included in this chart.
Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club
July 5, 2012
Ken Wilkenson
City of Yakima Parks and Recreation
2301 Fruitvale Blvd
Yakima, WA 98902
Re: Beyond the Bell
Dear Ken,
I would like to thank you and your Organization for your recent application for funding
from the Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club. It is my pleasure to inform you that a grant for
$2,000 has been approved by our committee and ratified by the Yakima Sunrise Rotary
Board of Directors. Enclosed is a check for $2,000.
Thank you for your good work in our community.
Very truly yours,
cW I_
Chris Rivard
Allocations Chairman
1 �
PO Box 1590
Yakima, Washington 98907
Allocations chairman: Chris Rivard
Tel (509) 248-7750/ Fax (509) 453 -5204
MEMORANDUM
TO: All Community Review Board Members
FROM: Carissa Dellinger, Clerk of the Board
DATE: July 26, 2012
SUBJECT: NO CRB 08/01/2012
There will not be a Community Review Board meeting on August 1, 2012 as
there are no cases to be heard at this time. The next regular scheduled
meeting is August 15, 2012.
Thank you.
CITY MEETING SCHEDULE ._
For July 30, 2012 — August 6, 2012
Please note: Meetings are subject to change
Tuesday, July 31
10:00 a.m. City Council Study Session — Council Chambers
1:30 p.m. County Commissioners Agenda Meeting — Council Chambers
Thursday, August 2
9:00 a.m. Hearing Examiner — Council Chambers
6:00 p.m. Yakima Regional Fire Authority Meeting — Station 95
Friday, August 3
8:00 a.m. Sister City Meeting — CED Conference Room
Monday, August 6
10:00 a.m. City Council Media Briefing — Council Chambers
Office Of Mayor /City Council
Preliminary Future Activities Calendar
Please Note. Meetings are subject to change
sting'" Organization Meetirig,'Purpose' Participants Meeting - Location "'' :!' � 4
,' Time: ., ., „' . , ,,,
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..e >vw.. marw�.=.F +.+srvwo-x•:' +m..rc...ev v. ..aa�'- *smu..wry rt.. .+. •m em a $x••Y
Sun. July 29
1:00 p.m. Yakima Training Center Scheduled Event Cawley Yakima Training Center
Dedication Ceremony
Tue. July 31
10 a.m. Council Study Session - Scheduled Meeting Council Council Chambers
Reorg Plan and 5 -year
budget
12 p.m. Miscellaneous Issues Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Adkison, TBD
Coffe
Thur. Aug, 2
9 a.m Joint Admin & 911 Scheduled Meeting Lover Toppenish Fire Station 9
Operations Meeting
6 00 p m. Yakima Regional Fire Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Coffey, TBD
Authori Adkison
Fri. Aug. 3
8.00 a.m Sister Cit Meetin. Scheduled Meetin. Adkison CED Conference Room
Mon. Aug. 6
10 a.m City Council Media Briefing Scheduled Meeting Cawley Council Chambers
lug. 7
.,J p.m Miscellaneous Issues Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Adkison, TBD
Ensey
1:30 p.m. City Council Executive Scheduled Meeting Council Council Chambers
Session
2 •.m Cit Council Meetin. Scheduled Meetin. Council Council Chambers
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Wed. Aug. 8
11:30 a m. Sports Commission Scheduled Meeting Ettl Clarion Hotel
3:30 p.m Yakima Planning Scheduled Meeting Ensey Council Chambers
Commission
5:30 p.m Parks Commission Meeting Scheduled Meeting Adkison Council Chambers
.._ ._ . ....,.. _x..m y.� .._.. _ , .• w.r . _., .� ., .M m..w. m.,r., _. -. ,. ,.,.�. _.,. rvx., .. ,.,,�.. ,.w,„rvx.... ,....... w_�..�. r, . N.,. ,. -.M... ....._ ,... _ w_ m. __ m.. _.........
Thur. Aug. 9
1.00 p m. Harman Center Board Board Meeting Cawley, Adkison Harman Center
Meeting
1 p m. Yakima Regional Clean Air Scheduled Meeting Lover Council Chambers
Meetin.
Mon. Aug 13
9:00 a.m West Valley Library Scheduled Event Open West Valley Library
Dedication Ceremon
T - - - Aug. 14
' ) a m. City Council Study Session - Scheduled Meeting Council Council Chambers
Gang Free Initiative
12:00 p.m. Miscellaneous Issues Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Adkison, TBD
Ettl
Wed. Aug. 15
12:00 p.m. PAL Board Meetin Board Meeting Coffe PAL Center
PRELIMINARY FUTURE COUNCIL AGENDA -
July 31
10:00 a.m. City Council Study Session — Council Chambers
• Five -year budget forecast
• Proposed reorg chart
August 7
1:30 p.m. Executive Session — Council Chambers
• Pending litigation
2.00 p.m. Business Meeting — Council Chambers
• Presentation of the DYBID Quarterly report
• Resolution authorizing the City manager to execute a contract with Kennedy Jenks,
Consultant Engineers, for design of a new grease receiving station at the City's
Wastewater Treatment Plan (Schafer)
• Resolution authorizing a sole source procurement between the City of Yakima and
Enaqua for the purchase of ultraviolet (UV) replacement lamps designed for the
Wastewater Division's Enaqua UV disinfection system (Schafer)
• 2nd Quarter 2012 Claim Report and Resolution authorizing and approving 2
Quarter 2012 claims activity
7/25/2012
2:25 PM
1
2012 STUDY SESSION SCHEDULE
Council Chambers
10:00 a.m.
July 31 Reorg Plan and 5 -year budget forecast
August 14 Gang Free Initiative
August 28 City Council Strategic Planning Workshop (Convention Center 9:00
a.m. — 3:00 p.m.) — facilitator Michael Levinson
September 11 Parking Commission Future
September 25 Stormwater
October 9 City /County Joint meeting — jail issues
7/25/2012
2'52 PM
8
CITY PROFILE
1
Mayor i ;}l h Cawley
. �" of Yakima
411 `) • n met.. ti
ix : ,.
• . : il?
N ----
........ ...i, _ I
. 4. , ...
r
Count Q A
StrOng You're the youngest mayor in the state. I was elected to the Yakima City Coun-
cil in 2005 at 21 years old; in 2010, I was appointed mayor.
Most young people aren't interested in local politics; what inspired you?
Yakima's Micah Cawley, I went on a trip to Washington, DC, when I was a junior at Eisenhower High School,
Washington's youngest for a program called Close Up. We had meetings with US senators; we got to see how
mayor and probably the the House and the Senate work and all the different branches of government. It kind
ma
y P y of lit a fire, because they kept telling us, "Now you've got to go back to your commu-
only one to have his own nity and make a difference."
country music radio show,
talks about the Kennedy Do you have a favorite memory from that trip? I was walking with my group up
who sna ed h is hoto on Capitol Hill —this was before 9/11 —and I saw Ted Kennedy throwing a tennis ball
pp p to his dog And I said, "Hey, there's Senator Kennedy!" And I ran over and said, "Hi,
and downtown Yakima's can you take a picture ?" He came over and took his glasses off, snapped a photo, and
rebirth. walked back to his car. It just showed how close we were to political power.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHRYN STEVENS JULY /AUGUST 2012 1 CITYVISION MAGAZINE I 11
illi ; ■ ".1
It it Cawley at
h is other job
Islip 1 Ma . r at 92,9 FM
_ . _ "The Bull"
CITY I , . • ,
I
60 .,►.".
.
What happened after you came home to Yakima? ,/ 1
I thought about running right out of high school, but a friend, ""I , . - =
Senator Jana Holmquist Newbry, said, "You might want to '1111
study up on some issues and make sure you're running for the _ '
right reason."
How does a teenager get to be friends with Senator
Holmquist Newbry? I went to Olympia when I was 16 years 1
1
old and she gave a speech —she was a 26- year -old state rep at
.4,
the time. Afterward, I went up to her and said, "Hey, I liked /
t
what you had to say," and we just built up an instant friendship.
So you took her advice and waited to run until you
turned 21; did you go to college? IwenttoYakimaValley ill - - i i i i .";' • iti
Community College for a year, but I also was working a full- `� 1
time radio job.
i
You're a DJ. I do 2 to 7 p.m. on 92.9 FM "The Bull" in Yakima. to .. ro
When you first ran for council in 2005, you took on a -
20 -year incumbent and won 68 percent of the vote.
How did you pull that off? In politics, timing is almost -- -....-
everything. I think it was because of my sincere interest to be 1
involved and the electorate saying, "We'll take a chance on this -
young guy." They weren't happy with the status quo. a
What were the issues swirling around Yakima the year
you were elected? I talked a lot about bringing the city into
the 21st century. The city didn't accept debit or credit cards for It's been really neat to see
payment; you couldn't look at your bill online. I just tried to
be more efficient with resources. There was a big crime issue Yakima come alive. People
in town, with property crime and gangs I helped fund getting
more police officers on the street. It was more, "We need to can see the difference.
have a different vision for Yakima," than "We're just gonna cut,
cut, cut."
a lot of private development that made the project of redoing
One of the spending initiatives you championed was the streetscape and the sidewalks really worth it.
the Downtown Yakima Futures Initiative, a city center
streetscape revitalization. What was downtown like in Hilton built a new downtown hotel, and so did Holiday
2005? We had our mall go dark in 2003, so all the shopping Inn. What else? Wineries and restaurants popped up. Every
got lured away. There was a group of city councilmembers and Sunday there's a farmers market; there's a local bakery.... We
legislators who started a lobbying effort years ago to really got a lot of condos built because we went through a program
change the streetscape and have lighting and flowers and new with the city where we incentivized housing downtown. We
sidewalks. It was years in the making. I came on when the first also created signature events, ranging from the Fresh Hop Ale
phase of that project was getting started, and we just carried Festival to a Hot Shots three -on -three basketball tournament,
that momentum forward. which is the third - largest in the Northwest. It's been really
neat to see Yakima come alive. People come to Yakima who
How did that public investment pay off in terms of at- haven't been here for 10 years, and they say, "Wow, we can see
tracting private investment? Cities are the catalyst. We had the difference." C
12 1 CITYVISION MAGAZINE JULY /AUGUST 2012
Cityvision looks at
By the Numbers how Yakima helped
spur revitalization of
its historic downtown.
ALL POPULATION DATA FROM THE 2010 U.S. CENSUS, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED
Population Downtown
Upsurge
1p • •
0 71845 st14M Public funds for
Q l ' streetscape improvements
Q Total Yakima residents $72m Private sector
N investment in business
development
• • • I 1
T 91 ' 63°
Q Total Yakima residents
c 4 till"
SOURCE CITY OF YAKIMA
Ethnic Makeup The Art of Renewal
!
52% $7m Capitol Theatre
White additions and renovations
from private donors and
41.3% public facility district sales
Hispanic tax revenue
or Latino
(of any race) SOURCE CITY OF YAKIMA
1.7% .. - Off the Rails 0 ..
Native 1.5% u
Black /African
American
$45M State and
1.5/0
federal funding
Asian New railroad un
derpasses to relieve 2% downtownto downtown arterials
American Other
SOURCE CITY OF YAKIMA
Hip -Hop Hooray Pa • er Trail
liil
ili•PC"ft
+ Vo of 228AcnEsOf
bbit 75% former Boise Cascade mill site
the nation's hops
V;
are grown in the
.o earmarked for development
1 2 s
Yakima Valley cc
11 $25M LIFT funding
SOURCE CITY OF YAKIMA SOURCE CITY OF YAKIMA
V'�r�11 JULY /AUGUST 2012 CITYVISION MAGAZINE 13
ATPCMunicipal Excellence Awards
AL SEVEN IN
WARDS . BIG HOUSE
A GROUP OF CITIES BANDS TOGETHER FOR A NEW JAIL.
Other Notable
Projects
• SINCE 2001, when King County stopped providing misdemeanor jail services for
municipal arrestees and court commitments, cities in the county have devised tem-
In 2010, Hoquiam and Aberdeen porary workarounds that included contracting with other agencies for jail services.
joined with local partners to launch Unfortunately, contracting with other agencies resulted in significant increases in
the Paint the Corridor project, with jail costs 69% over a six -year period.
the goal of beautifying the homes
A 2007 feasibility study conducted by seven cities in south King County—Auburn,
along the state routes through the
two cities. Through the efforts of Bunen, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac, and Tukwila— concluded that the
300 community volunteers and cities could build and operate a jail for approximately 92% of what they were cur -
numerous donations from private rently paying other agencies to house their inmates. So the cities came together to
businesses and individuals, 26 form a single - purpose government under the lnterlocal Cooperation Act—as well as
homes were painted. a public development agency to fund it —for the purpose of building and operating
COMMUNITY BUILDING a consolidated regional jail, known as the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) Jail.
STREETSCAPE Construction began in 2009,
and the facility opened on Sep-
tember 2, 2011, six weeks ahead
Volunteers and the city moved the The cities are now of schedule and almost $5 million
1,000 -plant garden, established in under budget Dunng the design
• 1952 and maintained by the former and construction of the facility,
Grandview Garden Club, to a new independent of the potential of technology and
site that was easier to maintain,
more visible from the road with other jail providers. efficiency were significant fac-
safer parking, and more accessible tors. For example, five separate
to pedestrian and bike traffic. video court suites were incorpo-
Work included building a gazebo rated into the facility to allow inmates to make court appearances without having
and transplanting 350 rose plants. to be physically transported from one court to another. The SCORE Jail also has
- COMMUNITY BUILDING in -house medical treatment areas that offer digital X -rays and dental services to
PARKS reduce emergency -room visits and transport costs,
Located in Des Moines, the facility is projected to have adequate capacity for the
The Town of Yacolt had been participating cities for the next 20 years, enhancing public safety in the communities
operating out of the same building it serves. Police officers are able to book arrestees at aim' close to their jurisdiction,
for 101 years; at one time, the fire which mean less time off patrol And at a time when many jails in Washington are
department, town jail, and town overcrowded and refuse misdemeanor arrests, having local jail capacity means that
employees all worked out of the misdemeanor warrants are being served more quickly. Knowing that warrants are
town hall. In December 2009, being served encourages defendants to make their court appearances because they
the town hall moved into a newly know they will go to jail if they don't appear The excess current capacity even allows
remodeled former Masonic Lodge. the participating cities to assist other agencies within King County that may still be
The community now has more
room for civic events and town hall struggling after a decade of providing their own misdemeanor jai] services.
meetings. By consolidating the Auburn and Renton jails and building a facility that has the
*''i COMMUNITY BUILDING necessary physical separations and appropriate staff, the participating cities are now
�''• - PARKS truly independent of other jail providers. This ultimately results in the provision of
professional, cost - effective, and efficient correctional services •
ID For more information:
www.awcnet.org/
28 CITY�fISION MAGAZINE JULY /AUGUST 2 072 municipalexcellence
"This is more than of us, with the support of elected officials, are actively working to
develop the east end of downtown. This was a deliberate strategy
a council building • to make some public investment to attract private investment."
The city could have chosen to build on acreage that had already
been optimized for redevelopment. Instead, it decided to pur-
This was a deliberate chase an eyesore, a Safeway building that had been abandoned
for years and passed over repeatedly by developers, in large part
strategy to make some because the property owner stipulated that the site couldn't be
recycled into another grocery store. And so the building moldered
public investment until the city came along, vowing to turn what had for years been
a dragon the area's development into a spur.
"We were worried that it would always be an eyesore,"
to attract private Hall explains. "So we knocked it down and built a modern office
• » building."
Investment• But before that happened, the city had to overcome a sig-
nificant hurdle: due - diligence soil samples taken from holes
drilled through the supermarket's foundation prior to demoli-
tion revealed that residue from a coal gasification plant that had
operated four blocks away during the late 1800s had migrated to
the property and collected in avast, underground pool, saturating
OR THE CITY OF OLYMPIA'S COUNCIL, it made the soil with hydrocarbons to a depth of 16 feet.
good common sense to spend $35.6 million on "We could smell it in the air once we started digging," Hall
the construction of a new city hall just after the recalls. "Rather than walking away from it, the council said, `This
recession hit four years ago. To save money, it is an important site; if we expect anything to ever happen down -
could have elected to remodel the old building— town, we need to clean it up. We're going to make sure this site
a cramped and poorly designed relic from the is an asset to downtown and not just an abandoned brownfield."
1960s —and remain in a familiar, established part of town adjacent Cleaning up the mess added $7.9 million to the project's price tag;
to the city's lush Japanese gardens. Instead, city leaders decided to Washington Department of Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program
rebuild and move the seat of local government five blocks north, paid for half, and the city plans to recover the rest through the
into the heart of downtown's blighted East Bay neighborhood, join- legal process.
ing an urban renewal district partnership between the LOTT Clean Instead of asking voters to approve the project, the council
Water Alliance (a regional wastewater treatment agency, which in voted to bankroll it, anticipating that the efficiencies gained via the
2010 opened a $13.5 million LEED - platinum headquarters and new city hall would ultimately recoup the investment. Previously,
museum next to a state -of- the -art treatment plant), the Port of the city's 220 administrative and technical employees had been
Olympia (which holds the deed to 13 acres of property primed for scattered among eight different buildings; consolidating the bulk
mixed -use redevelopment with city - financed streets and sidewalks of its personnel and departments under a single, 90,000- square-
and underground utilities), and the Hands -on Children's Museum foot eco -roof would save $458,774 a year in rent, not to mention
(which will move into a new $18.5 million LEED -rated East Bay an additional $50,000 a year in janitorial supplies and another
campus opening in October, paid for with $8 9 million in public $29,000 in copy machine rental fees. When the city put the project
utilities district funding and private donations). out to bid, it promoted energy efficiency by mandating a green
"This is more than a council building; this is the heart and seat building that would achieve a LEED silver or better environmen-
of city government," explains City Manager Steve Hall. "The four tal rating, with costs capped at the budgeted $36.5 million. That
18 CITYVISION MAGAZINE JULY /AUGUST 2012
We are going to build a could think of to make the
park" And they did. changes happen That's part
of the lesson, too: you can't
What do it all by yourself. You have
' They bought the property to have multiple partners,
;T . 07;4 ' ;, 11 7j for $15 million, and it's now and that takes a lot of time.
416 Mk worth many times more than
that If you add up all of the is .t - mpertant for p 'r'
investment that's swirled i' t1 wr:rk w'!n wrike. t^ -y
around that park, it's proba- h Zvrt, rztn,: r t!1 ?-• t= .+'sir: t~
bly eight, nine, ten times that s,9`^ sr.-The s of L!tr - +-0a
initial investment. It's not possible to do that
It's always necessary to work
Thare wa a multiplier with the existing material
effect, Why does this Not everything has to be
ideal, not everything has
When the public sector to be perfect. Most people
has committed itself with would not want to live in a
money —has actually put world where everything was
the money down, not just carefully programmed, care-
• • • • • • drafted a policy or a plan —it fully thought out and artifi-
. , has virtually always worked, cial. There's the pleasure of
' .... , . I actually cannot think of things that are accidental
. ■ an example of where it did and spontaneous and unex-
.. not work. The private sec- petted, and you want that
tor wants to see that corn-
. , . .. mitment They don't want .vir.�t CAP qI' turf af`I;•.1i
to just see codes changed learn iron your book.
. They don't want to just see true ,rrtaniim? •
11 plans adopted They want I wrote it because I believe
t to see the money there that urbanism applies to all
That's what makes them sit scales, not just to big cities
up and take notice the city It applies to lots of com-
does have the political will, munity types and sizes and
and they do see that it is in locations I just got back
their long -term interest to from Billings, Montana, a
make that up -front invest- place that's sort of cowboy
the 2009 ground - breaking coincided with the nadir of the Great ment without an immediate central, and that down -
Recession proved to be a blessing: the collapse of once sky -high payback, realizing that it will town was humming. I mean,
prices for steel and other materials shaved nearly $2 million off happen over time. they've got more stuff going
construction costs (the project ultimately came in $1.5 million on down there than I've seen
under budget), and during the darkest days of unemployment, in a lot of other cities, and
Bremerton managed to turn they've managed to do it
the city created 200 construction jobs.
By mandating green ractices,the cit also saved itself around in the absolute out on the wide-open range
y gg p city worst part of its economic They have a very sophistr
money by using recycled materials: wooden beams from the history, with almost no mon cated downtown with great
grocery store were recycled into staircase treads; historic trees ey, and they just managed restaurants, great street life,
that had been planted to commemorate the end of World War to scrape and save and turn great events It's just a mat -
II and had fallen in a windstorm were milled into the paneling over rocks and go for grants ter of getting yourself orga
for the council chamber; cobblestones from the city's earliest and bring in private partners, nized and deciding to do it.
They used whatever powers To say you don't have the
days, unearthed by utility workers during a street repair, were money is no excuse, every
they had with the port; they
(. repurposed as pavers for the building's entrance plaza. The city used whatever powers they body's in that same boat,
' even recycled its old city hall, after a $474,763 renovation, on had as a city, they partnered You lust reallocate the
June 28 it was rededicated as the Lee Creighton Criminal Justice up with transit; they found money so that it makes a
Center, combining the city's jail, probation, and prosecution staff every possible way they difference
in a single building, yielding even more operational efficiencies.
Assistant City Manager Jay Burney now relishes walking
down the hall or the recycled Safeway stairs, instead of driving
across town, whenever he needs to consult with staff from dif-
ferent departments. Often meetings happen on -site, over lunch.
JULY /AUGUST 2012 CITYVISION MAGAZINE 19
f
t
•
"Instead of eight separate lunchrooms we now have one, and IKE AUBURN AND OLYMPIA, the city of Mount
people are getting to know each other," he says. "Our employees Vernon also has ambitious plans for a city -led
are proud of this building. It's good for morale." makeover of its historic downtown. However, this
But was it worth $36 5 million? It's just one example, but not community has had to navigate around an addi-
long after Olympia's LEED - gold -rated city hall opened for busi- tional logjam: Federal Emergency Management
ness in March 2011, Burney noticed something interesting: the Agencyfloodplainregulations that have effectively
. auto repair shop across the street sported a fresh coat of paint. put redevelopment on hold.
"They told us the reason they did it was because they wanted Since Mount Vernon's founding on the banks of the Skagit
to look nice for the new city hall —they wanted to be part of River in the late 1800s, this city of 32,000 has had to endure
the rebuilding," Burney recalls "It demonstrates that we are as periodic, and sometimes catastrophic, seasonal floods. In the
much a part of this community as all of the citizens, and it puts last decade, fighting back floodwaters in 2003 cost the city $9.5
our development money where our mouth is. We had a goal as million, and during the deluge in October 2006, more than 2,000
a community to improve our downtown, and we demonstrated volunteers filled 150,000 sandbags in a desperate attempt to keep
that we're all -in when it comes to that." floodwaters at bay. As a result, as the city grew it turned its back
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C'utsi c \A.,rls Director Esco , - i` - e`
Se, n a Mayor Jill Boudreau ., ;b.:4 . _. •
est Mount \#.2, new -
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20 1 CITYVISION MAGAZINE JULY /AUGUST 2012
•
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"A healthy downtown represents
a healthy community, so a lot is at
stake to make downtown viable.”
on the river, leaving acres of prime real estate along the Skagit's
banks as a parking lot.
But with its downtown battered not just by floods but by the
same shifting economic and retail winds that have emptied Main
Street storefronts nationwide, city leaders realized that if Mount
Vernon's city center was going to survive, the community needed
to do something drastic, and do it soon. Community & Economic
Development Director Jana Hanson summed up Mount Vernon's
predicament this way in a PowerPoint presentation she created
for the city's council and community groups:
"Like many downtowns across America, Mount Vernon's
downtown is under stress.... Unfortunately, residents no longer
feel strong loyalty to local merchants and because of convenient square feet of office space, and 200 units of high- density hous-
mobility, they choose to drive to the nearest shopping center, mall ing, all within a decade. The plan's economic analysis predicted
or big box. However a healthy downtown represents a healthy that the flood control project alone would generate 100 or more
community, so a lot is at stake to re- establish downtown as our construction jobs immediately, while redevelopment would
center of community activity and make downtown aviable down- create at least 1,800 construction jobs over 15 years, with the
town. The major public amenity in our downtown is the Skagit development itself adding 2,548 permanent jobs over 30 years,
River, which also presents significant obstacles to downtown ultimately reaping $9 million in property tax revenue for the city
development due to regulatory constraints requiring buildings be and $156 million in new sales tax revenue for the state.
elevated to meet floodplain regulations and prohibiting develop- Phase I, a quarter -mile segment of flood wall and river walk just
ment on properties directly adjacent to the river" north of downtown, was completed in October 2010. Construc-
Starting in 2005, a citizens' advisory group appointed by the tion of Phase II, another 1,650 feet of floodwall on the banks of
mayor and council convened a series of community visioning downtown with a 24 -foot wide promenade and a 30 ,000 - square-
workshops to address the challenges, ultimately drafting a master foot public plaza, will begin in the first quarter of 2013 and be
downtown redevelopment plan that the council adopted in 2008. completed by the end of the year. The flood wall itself serves as a
Dubbed "Contain and Celebrate the River," Mount Vernon's functional design element of the promenade's landscaping, with
radical blueprint for downtown revitalization revolved around gaps that allow pedestrian access to the promenade that can be
a permanent flood wall and levy system that would tame the sealed during flooding, and ornamental lampposts atop the wall
river and keep it within its banks even at 100 -year historic highs, that double as structural elements for removable "stop log" flood
satisfying FEMA regulations and eliminating the need to elevate barriers that can be erected to hold back waters during even the
existing or planned structures for redevelopment. Construc- most severe 100 -year floods.
tion of the flood wall in turn would allow the city to transform Both of these phases of the project have been completely fund-
its riverfront parking lot into an urban pedestrian village that ed, with $17.3 million from a multitude of sources and partners,
would jump -start the revitalization of downtown Mount Vernon including $3.3 million from the state's capital budget, a $1.1 mil -
with 125,000 square feet of new street -level retail space, 55,000 lion Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program trails grant, a
JULY /AUGUST 2012 ' CITYVISION MAGAZINE 21
$1 million economic development grant from Skagit County, ACKINAUBURN, Mayor Pete Lewis is looking
and $4.2 million from the city, which also received a state local forward to an altogether different sort of re de-
infrastructure financing tool grant for transit improvements velopment benchmark: running out of vacant
that allows it to recapture the state's portion of sales tax gener- retail space.
ated over the next 25 years, or $500,000 a year. The city has yet Since hiring Shunpike earlier this year,
to raise the $10 million needed for Phase III, the final 1.2 -mile Auburn has "activated" three Main Street store-
stretch of flood wall /levy that will protect the city's wastewater fronts. These include the once -dark corner window at One East
treatment plant from inundation. Once that project is completed Main, which currently is displaying the work of Seattle sculptor
in 2015, the city, which possesses a conditional letter of map Julia Haack: salvaged wooden pallets reshaped into colorful
revision from FEMA, hopes to rejoice when the agency issues a painter's palettes. For the opening of another installation, a col -
final letter of map revision, lifting development restrictions —a lection of three life -size paper dresses at avacant Main Street gift
milestone Hanson deems "an almost unheard -of achievement." shop one block east, Seattle artist Josie Davis held an impromptu
Given the stakes of the project and the enthusiasm swirling fashion show onMayl5, stoppingtraffic— andpassersby —asshe
around it, Mayor Jill Boudreau predicts that the budget gap, like strolled up and down the road wearing her artwork.
the gates in Mount Vernon's flood wall, ultimately will be closed. "I was just walking around the city and interacting with people.
"I have a mayor's coffee every other week, and our public is There was so much excitement and enthusiasm," says Davis,
looking forward to this," says Boudreau, a former community who's currently working on a public art installation for a strug-
police officer who took office in January. "I'm looking forward to gling neighborhood in Chicago. "I love doing this kind of stuff. It's
lighting the Christmas tree in the riverfront plaza next year. To all about turning heads in parts of cities that are underutilized
be standing in that 30,000- square -foot plaza with our public all and can be beautiful. These are stunning and wonderful build -
around us and everybody looking at the river saying, `Our town ings to showcase work."
did this!' ... what more can a mayor ask for ?" So far, at least one investor in Auburn's downtown seems to
have agreed. Recently, a temporary gallery
' ' that had inhabited a storefront a few dark
,-i - f + doorways from Davis's exhibition had to
y � .
;�lit : pack up after only a month when a comedy
•• n� • 1 r club decided to lease the space.
v "It's been great in Auburn," says Shun-
'^- k ,k pike's Matthew Richter. "That's the
+ `.' -� •: � •: . .--- Catch -22. we want Storefronts to make
- .{. neighborhoods attractive enough to rent
..� , :',4,7 y _ so that we don't have any more empty
_ ,a ' ' w•- ` • storefronts left to program."
�,- 4 �-- The mayor puts it this way:
,• i a C .• ". (/ 11 The Great Recession hurt us all he
�'"'.� says. "We all lost businesses, and now
they're coming back. Pretty soon, we
'' won't have enough empty space But that's
II .,' 1 a good problem to have."
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22 CITYVISION MAGAZINE JULY /AUGUST 2012