HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/18/2000 Adjourned Meeting 224
CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
JANUARY 18, 2000
ADJOURNED MEETING
The City Council met in session on this date at 7:30 a.m., in the
2nd Floor Training Room, at the Police Station /Legal Center, 200
South 3rd Street, Yakima, Washington. Mayor Mary Place,
presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp, Lynn
Buchanan, Larry Mattson, Bernard Sims, and John Puccinelli were
present. City Manager Zais; Assistant City Manager Rice; Director
of Finance and Budget Anson; Police Chief Blesio; Administrative
Assistant to the City Manager Oliver; Director of Public Works
,Waarvick; Director of Community & Economic Development Cook;
Planning Manager Skone; Streets & Traffic Division Manager
Willson; Assistant City Attorney Peterson; Neighborhood
Development Services Manager Cobabe; City Engineer Adams;
Supervising Traffic Engineer Davenport; Senior Engineer
Desgrosellier; and Grants Writer Morales were also present.
1. REVIEW OF STREET AND TRAFFIC ENGINEERING ISSUES:
A. STREET FUNDING GRANT /LOAN REVIEW
B. OVERLAY PROJECT PRIORITIES 2000
C. SIX -YEAR PLAN /PRIORITIES
D. TRAFFIC CAPACITY ANALYSIS
E. CAPITAL FACILITIES PLAN OPTIONS FOR FUTURE FUNDING
City Manager Zais opened the discussion with some comments
regarding funding for street projects, including a brief summary
of budgeted revenues and expenditures in the 2000 budget. He
outlined the five major funds for street and traffic operations
and improvements. First, he discussed Fund 141 (Street & Traffic
Operations) and indicated the revenue for this fund comes from
property taxes; county road tax from annexations; gas tax;
intergovernmental revenues; grants; and charges for service. He
said the expenditures are for traffic engineering operations;
equipment- signal controllers; street maintenance, including
sealcoat; snow removal; potholes; and wheel path preservation.
The next fund is Fund 142 (Arterial Street). The Arterial Street
Fund receives revenues from the 1/2 cent gas tax;
intergovernmental revenues; and operating transfers, such as those
coming from street and local improvement district assessments.
Expenditures from this fund are used for debt service for numerous
projects; grind and overlay projects; traffic calming projects;
sidewalk connectors; etc. There have been some reserves building
in this fund that have been transferred to other funds,
specifically $520,000 for the Yakima Avenue Project and $300,000
for grind /overlay projects. The Arterial Fund Street balance
currently is at a minimum balance of $100,000.
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The third fund (Fund 143 - Transportation Improvement) is the
Gateway- dedicated special fund for the I -82 project. This project
was a total of $20 million with six or seven partners
participating in it to make it successful. There is still
$100,000 in this fund for landscaping, which is not enough for the
entire landscaping portion of the project, but provides a
beginning point. There remains $200,000 in reserve to close out
the project.
The fourth fund is the Public Works Trust Construction Fund.
Revenue sources for this fund are the local 1/4% Real Estate
Excise tax, miscellaneous revenue, and operating transfers. This
fund supports projects such as City Hall repair and
rehabilitation. For example, this year, the HVAC system needs
updating and it will come from this fund. There is a $100,000
cash balance in this fund.
The fifth and final fund (Fund 392) is Cumulative Reserve for
Capital Improvements. The revenue sources for this fund are
intergovernmental revenues and miscellaneous revenue. The money
effectively is transferred from other accounts and also comes from
the Federal Highway Administration; grants such as the railroad
study grant that the City lobbied Congress for and received in the
amount of $750,000 is an example; and proceeds from the Public
Works Trust Fund loan. This fund will support $600,000 in grind
and overlay projects this year.
In summary, there are some unbudgeted potential resources from the
National Highway System. The City could possibly access
additional state or federal monies, if the matching funds were
available in the City budget.
Council Member Beauchamp asked if the $100,000 budgeted for the
Gateway project landscaping could be used as matching funds to
obtain other funding. City Manager Zais indicated that a
committee had been meeting to look at how the landscaping could be
redesigned to facilitate public - private partnerships. The
committee, spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce, was examining
city entrances and has been meeting for six or seven months.
Mayor Place indicated that the money was to be used to work on
I/ improving the entrances to the City but there may be additional
funding available through wetland mitigation. Council Member
Puccinelli said that the committee had been successful in building
public - private partnerships, for example Cavanaugh's has agreed to
maintain certain areas after the improvements have been made. He
said that the North 1st Street and Nob Hill Boulevard entrances
need improvements as well. Mayor Place said she would be happy to
provide Council with a map showing the sites the Committee has
identified as needing improvements. •
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JANUARY 18, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING
Council Member Beauchamp asked if the City could use the
landscaping money to leverage additional money. City Manager Zais
said the City had gone back to the Department of Transportation
and met with Sid Morrison, Secretary, to try to receive more
money. However, the State spent more than their original
allocation for the project and indicated that no more funding is
available.
Mayor Place asked if the City was allowed to use right -of -way
instead of actual dollars as matching funds. Mr. Zais said that
was possible in some cases.
There was discussion concerning the Mead Avenue project being
bumped to a lower priority level by newer projects, which now
means Mead Avenue may have to be rebuilt rather than improved
through a grind and overlay project. Staff responded to Council's
questions regarding 1) how the needs were prioritized, 2)
economical viability of grind and overlay projects on streets that
do not have curbs and gutters, and 3) the Mead Avenue project.
Mr. Adams and Mr. Zais explained the prioritization process, which
takes into consideration not only the pavement conditions and use
of the road, but funding availability as well. Ms. Willson
explained that the surface appearance of a street is not
necessarily an indicator that it is in good condition; it may not
have a stable roadbed. Ranking of a project is based on the
Capital Facilities Plan and the 6 -Year Transportation Improvement
Plan. Council Member Puccinelli expressed concern about the
crossing at Fechter Road and with all of the construction
occurring on 40 Avenue that the City is not addressing future
needs.
Bill Cook said that staff is asking for Council concurrence on the
funding list so that engineering design work on those projects can
begin. Mayor Place asked if maintenance and grind and overlay
work trigger curb, gutter and sidewalk requirements. Mr. Cook
responded that it does not trigger those requirements.
Mayor Place asked for consensus on the list for project funding.
Council Member Sims said he is in favor of what he sees on the
list. Mr. Mattson said he favors the list, except for Englewood
from 32nd to 40th because he wants to look at it first. Council
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Member Puccinelli said Council had promised to do something with
Mead Avenue and we may need to do more than was originally
thought. Council Member Puccinelli said he wanted to be assured
that there was a 10 -year life expectancy on the grind and overlay
project with heavy truck traffic and wants staff to look at it.
If the grind and overlay is not lasting as long as it should, the
City may be paying off the debt for it on streets that did not
last long enough. Mr. Barnett said that if there were any changes
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JANUARY 18, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING
to the proposed Mead project, there should be a neighborhood
meeting first. Council Member Sims asked if there was no funding
source for grind and overlay projects past 2000, why was the City
spending money on the equipment for grinding. Mrs. Willson
responded that the equipment is to be used for sealcoating and is
needed to grind wheel paths.
The discussion moved on to capacity. Joan Davenport, Supervising
Traffic Engineer, discussed the Comprehensive Plan that, was
adopted in 1998 and 1999 and the transportation element of the
plan. She gave some background information on the plan
development and said that Council had adopted a level of service
"D" for arterial streets. If service drops below the "D" level,
the City cannot approve development without the developer changing
the development plan to accommodate a transportation element.
Yakima has an adopted standard of 600 vehicle per lane during peak
hours. This is the varied Yakima standard, .which was locally
adopted. Measuring concurrency for development is based on
locally adopted standards. In 1992 on 40th Avenue, there were
12,000 vehicles per day and in 1999 there were 25,000 giving 40th
Avenue a level of service "E ". Other streets are close and
segments of some are already at the "E" level. Mayor Place
mentioned that 16th Avenue has been exempted from the level of
service standard. Mrs. Davenport indicated that was correct and
so were 10th and 32nd Avenues. Mr. Buchanan said that the City
needs to do something on 16th Avenue because it is the main route
to the airport. Mayor Place said that Council could come back to
discuss 16th Avenue later because it is exempted from concurrency.
Mr. Waarvick suggested that staff bring back a review of
eliminating left turns, collision and intersection information.
Mrs. Davenport said there are several options with respect to
concurrency. The first option is to do nothing. The impact would
be that the City would then have to deny development in the 40th
Avenue area. Another option would be to allow development if the
private sector pays for mitigation measures. Mayor Place asked if
funds were available for concurrency issues. Council Member
Puccinelli agreed with Council Member Buchanan on the subject of
16th Avenue and that Council should change the service level on
40 Avenue. Mr. Sims did not agree with exempting 40th Avenue
• because of the increased development occurring in that area.
Mrs. Davenport said that an exemption would require a Plan
amendment. Mr. Waarvick said that the idea Council Member
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Puccinelli had discussed was basically Option 4 in the staff
report, which was to exempt 40th Avenue from the level of service
"D" standard. Mrs. Davenport pointed out that to exempt it would
also require a Plan amendment. She then explained that staff
recommends Option #5, which would amend the Transportation
Concurrence Ordinance and change the definition of transportation
capacity to specify 800 vehicles per lane during peak hours;
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JANUARY 18, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING
clarify the methodology used to conduct the analysis; and change
the exempt level to include any new development that adds less
than ten afternoon /evening peak hour trips to the street system.
The Transportation Element of the Yakima Urban Area Comprehensive
Plan will need to be amended if the Council authorizes the change
in the threshold. Council Member Puccinelli said that the Growth
Management Act was supposed to promote in -fill of existing land
and it seems to be coming apart because of traffic problems. He
said that if a developer builds an office building on 40th Avenue
now, instead of building in an undeveloped area, the developer
would need to put in a turn lane because of traffic. Mr. Waarvick
said that the staff recommended approach takes care of Council
Member Puccinelli's concerns. Mayor Place asked what the national
standard for vehicles per lane is. Mr. Adams responded that 1,200
is the national standard and areas on the west side, such as
Bellevue, were at a level of 1,500 vehicles per lane.
Phil Lamb, the Hearing Examiner for the City and County, spoke and
said the County is facing many of the same issues in the Terrace
Heights area. He said that he agrees with the staff
recommendation and unless local government plans to deny every new
project, the increase to the'800 vehicles standard needs to be put
into place. Yakima needs development. He said we may not like
the traffic, but we need the development.
Council Member Mattson said he favors the staff recommendation and
thinks it makes sense administratively. Council Member Barnett
said he would like the number of trips in the staff recommendation
evaluated and wonder if that was a reasonable number with the type
of development that was going on in the 40th Avenue area.
Assistant City Attorney Peterson discussed the draft ordinances
and whether or not they could be addressed as emergency amendment
provisions. He said that the situation met the elements necessary
for Council to declare an emergency to pass the ordinances. Mayor
Place asked if more than a simple majority of the Council would be
needed. Mr. Peterson responded that it was not necessary,
however, he emphasized that the public should be involved in the
discussion.
Council Member Sims asked if the staff recommendation were
adopted, if that meant abandoning the idea of adding a lane on
40th Avenue. Mr. Waarvick responded that the staff recommendation
simply took the City out from under its self - imposed restriction.
The draft ordinance was then discussed. Council Member Puccinelli
suggested the idea of eliminating left turns on 40th Avenue except
at major intersections.
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JANUARY 18, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING
Bill Huibregtse spoke, endorsing the staff recommendation and that
the change is needed now. He suggested going even further than
the staff recommendation and setting the standard at 1,000
vehicles per hour, which is closer to the industry standard. City
Manager Zais suggested in the interest of time, that staff come
back with the other two sections of the report for discussion at a
later time. He further suggested that if there is Council
consensus on the staff recommendation, that staff be given
direction to move forward with the appropriate actions. Mayor
Place asked if there was consensus on the staff recommendation,
including adding another lane to 40th Avenue. Council Member Sims
favored adding a lane on 40th Avenue, even if it meant amending
the Six -Year Transportation Improvement Plan. Council Member
Barnett asked if including the additional lane would change the
top priorities in the Transportation Improvement Plan. Mr. Zais
said no, but that capacity was affected. Mayor Place said she
would like to have discussions about 16th Avenue and intersections
at a future time. Mr. Waarvick said that staff would move forward
with legislation to set the date for a public hearing for the
emergency amendments t� the Comprehensive Plan.
Council Member Sims asked for a map, representing improvements
scheduled for future years, with each year in a different color.
It was MOVED BY PUCCINELLI, SECONDED BY MATTSON, TO ADJOURN AT
9:25 A.M. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
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READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: 1 ��yp,...
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
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ATTEST:
City Clerk y Place, Ma
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Minutes prepared by Marketa George Oliver. An audio and videotape of this
meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office
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