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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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CITY CLERK MAYOR
Minutes prepared by Deputy City Clerk Skovald. An Audio tape of this meeting is available in
the City Clerk's Office.
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