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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/05/2003 Special Business Meeting 44 0 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON SPECIAL BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 5, 2003 - 1:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 1. RoII Call Present: Council: Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Paul George, Larry Mattson, John Puccinelli, and Bernard Sims Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Paolella and City Clerk Roberts Mayor Place advised that Lynn Buchanan had moved and, therefore, was no longer available to be a councilman in District #3. City Manager Zais advised that the Council is empowered under the charter to appoint a replacement, however, the position could also be left vacant for a few months. This will be addressed at a future Council meeting. 2. Invocation /Pledge of Allegiance Council Member Puccinelli gave an invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Mattson. 3. Open Discussion for the Good of The Order /Special Presentation A. Proclamations None B. Status report on prior meeting's citizen service request None C. Presentation of Yard of the Month awards Lynn Quesenbury, Parks and Recreation Administrative Specialist, announced the Yard -of- the -Month recipients: District 1 Carol Cummins, 3106 Bonnie Doone (unavailable) District 2 Katherine Marshall, 1019 Queen Anne Avenue (unavailable) District 4 Marcela and Duncan Kincaid, 2508 Barge, Brian and Christine Durr, 323 North 36 Avenue Following a video showing the winning yards, a certificate was presented to Duncan Kincaid and Mrs. and Mrs. Durr. D. Presentation on water supply conditions and conservation measures Dave Brown, Water & Irrigation Manager, spoke about the condition of the Fruitvale canal that is fed from the Naches River. With the draught conditions, rationing of water from the canal began July 31 It has been a problem since the 1996 flood when the diversion got washed out. The City received FEMA money to repair it but the repairs were stopped by the Department of Fish and Wildlife when it was approximately half completed. This year the problems started in the first part of July with difficulty getting enough water. The City had contractors working on it 441 AUGUST 5 2003 and, again, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has stopped us from doing additional work due to fear of harm to the fish. Mr. Brown explained the complexity of the process. When "flip- flop" occurs, and the water is increased in the Naches River and lowered in the Yakima River, the problem will go away. That is scheduled for the second week of September. As conditions exist right now, we won't be able to run the Fruitvale canal at full level and we have added domestic water to the canal to bring it up to half of the normal level of 25 cfs. Some of the users haven't had adequate water for several weeks. He apologized for the inconvenience but explained there just isn't any more water, there is no more snow pack and we're only one of hundreds of users on this river system. Throughout this process we have talked with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and asked why we can't run this diversion up the river. Golder and Associates have been hired to analyze what can be done and hopefully we will be able to go back to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to get the process started. E. Noel Field Council Member Mattson questioned why he had received a SEPA checklist on the Noel field property transfer. He said upon a close look he found a few procedural defects and possibly legal defects. He was bringing them up now because the comment period closes August 7` To meet that schedule, he will send a letter to Doug,Maples, Code Administration and Planning Manager, outlining them. His • concerns were: • Why was there no SEPA notice of application and checklist prepared for the Dunbar field and Larson 4 transfers earlier this year? Who should have done it, the City or the college? • The supplemental page for non - project actions in the SEPA checklist was completed when, in fact SEPA specifically describes the sale /lease /transfer /purchase of publicly owned land as a project action under SEPA. That might have some implications for us down the line as we get specific project applications from the college to build there. • The issue of consistency with our Comprehensive Plan that designates Larson Park as parks and open space. Any land use other than that would be inconsistent. If the college wants to put buildings or parking lots there, that will require a Comprehensive Plan amendment. Council Member Sims pointed out that this transfers the responsibility to the college as to what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. They indicated that both ball fields would remain as ball fields for the time being, maybe up to 20 years. When they decide there is some other possibility, then they would have to submit that information. Mattson said that SEPA requires we begin the project review as soon as we know what is going to happen and there is a 1998 master plan that fully discloses their intent for northward expansion. We can model those environmental impacts as SEPA requires. It was his opinion that to delay it is passing the buck. Bruce Benson, Senior Planner, clarified that the college is a class -3 use in an R -2 zoning district. A rezone wouldn't be required, they would just have to go through the class -3 review. That is the time SEPA is normally accomplished, in relation with a project. In response to Council Member Mattson's question about why a SEPA checklist was sent out, City Manager Zais said when we had direction from the Council at the last meeting we did not know which step was going to be taken, we presumed it would go forward. At the time of the vote we sat down and discussed what absolutely needed to be done to follow every 2 442 AUGUST 5, 2003 letter of the law in regard to the transfer. We have had some serious matters arise in the last year with respect to public notice, SEPA issues, and changes that the Council has made as a consequence of the growth management rulings from the Growth Management Board and Council's amendment to the comprehensive planning process. He said he asked City Attorney Paolella to give the safest answer legally for us to move forward. Mr. Paolella clarified that anytime there is a proposal for a governmental action that might have a significant impact on the environment, SEPA is triggered and potentially could involve the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. Mr. Zais continued saying that we have,had some new guidance from the Growth Management Hearings Board on public notice and public process, and felt it would prudent to activate the SEPA process to consider whether there were significant environmental impacts in light of the public interest in this issue. The SEPA responsible official has provided for a public comment period on the determination so it can be finalized and proceed according to requirements of state law. • Council Member Mattson said his last point is that actions that are interrelated as parts of a larger whole need to be considered together. Regardless of whether we should have done a SEPA checklist on the Dunbar and Larson 4 transfers, we are now at a point where there is an opportunity for the citizens to comment on the three transactions that have taken place transferring property to the community college. The community at large hasn't had a chance to comment on the wholesale, piecemeal transfer of chunks of Larson Park. There are benefits of this transfer and, admittedly, • higher education is a benefit; but there are also costs in the loss of open _ space. SEPA requires us to look at actions that we know are interrelated. He said he hasn't seen anything in the checklist that acknowledges the previous transfers, and /or the impacts, or benefits of those. His letter to Doug Maples will ask that we withdraw this notice of application and resubmit it to the public taking into account all the transfers that have occurred over the last five years at the Larson Park site. Council Member Mattson emphasized that this is a process question. Value judgments are for the Council to decide; but he thinks we.need input from the community on things like higher education, parks, and actions with long -term consequences such as Larson Park. He claimed he had asked for that back in November but was told that the money would be gone if we didn't act soon. It is his desire for us to observe the law and the State Environmental Policy Act that says we need to take a look at these interrelated actions. City Attorney Paolella commented that Council Member Mattson is correct that SEPA does provide for the possibility of studying interrelated actions. That would be part of what the responsible SEPA official will be determining after the comment period. 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. There were no changes. The City Clerk read the Consent Agenda items, including resolutions and ordinances by title. MATTSON MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO ADOPT THE CONSENT AGENDA AS READ. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Subsequent paragraphs 3 443 AUGUST 5, 2003 preceded by an asterisk ( *) indicate items on the Consent Agenda handled under one motion without further discussion.) *A. Approval of the minutes of the June 24, 2003 Special and Business Meetings and the July 1, 2003 Business Meeting. • The minutes of the June 24, 2003 Special and Business meetings and the July 1, 2003 Business meeting were approved, having been duly certified accurate by two Council members and no one present wishing to have said minutes read publicly. PUBLIC HEARING 5. Public Hearing on appeal of Community Review Board Summary of Decision issued to Brenda Rockett Ken Harper, 807 North 39 Avenue, legal counsel for the City, explained that this is a closed record appeal hearing, meaning the review is limited to the record presented to the Community Review Board (CRB). It is Ms. Rockett's burden to demonstrate there was an error in the CRB's summary decision. Council has a range of options. In the event Ms. Rockett carries her burden they can modify or vacate the CRB summary decision. In the event she does not carry her burden they may also affirm the decision. Ms. Rockett's written appeal calls for a request for a reduction in the City's assessment for the violation. Council Member Sims asked if this problem had gone on for eight years. Mr. Harper verified there has been a history of problems, but he was unable to confirm the length of time. • Council had no ex -parte contact to disclose. Brenda Rockett, 715 North 3rd Street, said she has lived in the house for seven years. About two years ago, in response to a previous complaint, they took "tons and tons of garbage" away. She has left this responsibility to her 20 year old son as that was all he had to do around the house. He assured me it was being done. She assumed it was being done and claimed she is "not good at being responsible ". She maintained that fining her will not get "us" anywhere. She apologized and claimed to be doing the best she can. She said they are working at it but it's going to take time. Linda Rossignol, Code Compliance Officer, answered the question of how long the City has been addressing violations on this property. Ms. Rockett purchased the property in 1998, but the City has been addressing various violations on it since 1995. She said that Ms. Rockett has been cooperative in the past; this is the second CRB case on her property. The first case was in February of 2002 at which time she signed a voluntary correction and cleaned it up. When the City received additional complaints, another notice was sent. Mrs. Rossignol said she went there today and saw that the dumpster is full of debris and the yard looks better. In response to Council Member Barnett's question about why hasn't the Office of Neighborhood Development Services (ONDS) helped her out under their programs, it was clarified that although she was notified that she was eligible for that assistance and was given phone numbers, she never applied for it. Council Member Sims asked if, in her experience, did Mrs. Rossignol feel this situation 4 444 AUGUST 5, 2003 would warrant a waiver of this fine by Council or did she feel this will happen again? Mrs. Rossignol said we should at least consider the amount of money the City has expended. Although she wasn't sure of the total she estimated if would exceed $1,000. It is not the intent to make it a hardship for Ms. Rockett, but the administration fees are intended to recover the City's expenses. Following discussion of the potential of waiving the fees, SIMS MOVED AND BARNETT SECONDED THAT, DUE TO FINANCIAL HARDSHIP, WE WAIVE THE FEE AND THE CITY'S COSTS WITH THE STIPULATION THAT IF THE PROPERTY BECOMES AN ISSUE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS THOSE FEES WILL BE IMPOSED IN ADDITION TO WHAT WOULD THEN BE THE CURRENT CHARGES. Discussion continued and included the impact on the neighbors, the potential of a payment plan, and the need to emphasize the seriousness of the citation. Ms. Rockett committed to removing the cars today. The question was called for a vote on the motion. The motion failed by a 3 -3 voice vote; Place, Mattson, and Puccinelli voted nay. PUCCINELLI MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED THAT THERE BE A $100 FINE, WAIVE THE REST, AND ALLOW MS. ROCKETT TO MAKE PAYMENTS OF $20 A MONTH BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 1 ST . THE BALANCE WOULD BE ACCELERATED IF WITHIN TWO YEARS MR. MAPLES DETERMINED ANY SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION. Council Member Mattson explained he would vote no because she had stated she was coming out of her Chapter 13 proceedings soon and that would free up $50 a month; the exercise of writing a check every month would be a good reminder to keep things clean. The motion carried by a 5 -1 voice vote; Mattson voting nay. Council Member Barnett asked staff to help her with the process for assistance through the Office of Neighborhood Development. 6. Audience Participation Bob Mansfield, 1201 South 41 Avenue, doesn't agree with the study made on alarm monitoring. He distributed a folder he made up with the profile and benefits of a UL listed central station. He hopes Council will read this material, but if they do and still come back with the same attitude about monitoring then he will have to do something else. Mayor Place explained that a study session has been held and Council has taken a vote to not reconsider what we are currently doing. June Smith, 802 North 15 Avenue, addressed the cost of the irrigation rate increase. She lives in the Fruitvale Irrigation District and every July the water supply dwindles to nothing. Every year they are told the river is low. She has a large lot that is difficult to keep green. This year they are only irrigating half of the property. They would like to plant sod next spring and install an irrigation system, but will not be able to with the current water pressure. In 1998 the rates increased to help fix the irrigation system. She is currently paying $71.62 every two months ($429.72 yr). The new rate will be $102 every two months ($607.29 yr). This amount equates to about half of their yearly property taxes and compares to her electric bill. They can control their electricity costs, but have no way of controlling irrigation costs. She has tried to get an estimate on using domestic water, but no one can give her an exact figure. She asked if by raising her rates would she have any more water next year, what is the plan, and is my system one of the first ones that is going to be fixed? Due to time constraints Council deferred responding to this request until the next meeting and also referred her to Dave Brown of Water and Irrigation for answers. 5 445 AUGUST 5, 2003 Mike Miller, Moon Security, 507 West Clark in Pasco, has a business license here in the City. They monitor their own alarms and he requested some clarification. He claimed to have quite an investment with installed fire systems in the City of Yakima. He said they have not received revenue dollars because they have been required to have the monitoring of those systems go to the 911 Dispatch Center. He said that until recently they were told that was a requirement. We are now hearing that is not a requirement and he asked if that monitoring can be done by other qualified UL listed stations. The answer was yes, and that Wayne Wantland, Communications Manager, will address these questions at the next Council • Meeting. Ron Anderson, CWI Security at 45 West Mead, said that answered his questions and noted he would like to be notified in the future if this subject were to be studied again. He was advised that minutes from the study session were available on -line • at the City's website. The question of where was this misinformation coming from was asked by Council. Joe Caruso, Fire Code Inspection Supervisor, said it was his understanding that the City only monitors commercial buildings. Anyone else in the city that has a fire alarm can go to a central station of their choice. CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS * 7. Consideration of Resolution authorizing license agreement between City and JEM Development for Jade Tree property RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -107, A RESOLUTION authorizing the City Manager of the City of Yakima to execute a license agreement with JEM Properties, L.LC. and Terry Powell to improve, use and maintain certain property located at 202 East Yakima Avenue, Yakima, Washington, for park and recreation purposes. * 8. Consideration of Resolution authorizing renewal of YV Tech Fire Cadet Program contract RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -108, A RESOLUTION authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement between the City of Yakima and Yakima School District No. 7 whereby the City agrees to provide fire fighting educational services for the 2003 -2004 school year as part of the Fire Cadet Program. * 9. Consideration of Resolution authorizing the approval of Settlement Agreement and Easement Deed for the County to build 96 Avenue across the trolley tracks RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -109, A RESOLUTION authorizing the City Manager of the City of Yakima to execute a settlement agreement with and easement deed in favor of Yakima County with regard to Yakima County making certain public improvements known as the "Project to Improve South 96 Avenue from Tieton Drive to Zier Road." 6 • 446 AUGUST 5, 2003 *10. Approval of reports from the Finance Department: A. First and Second Quarter Treasury reports The First and Second Quarters 2003 Treasury Report was accepted. B. Second Quarter Central Receivables report The Second Quarter 2003 Central Receivables Report was accepted. *11. Set date of Closed Record Public Hearing on August 19, 2003 re Rezone request by Richard Ehlers (718 North 34 Avenue) August 19, 2003 was set as the date of a closed record public hearing to consider the Hearing Examiner's recommendation on a rezone application filed by Richard Ehlers for property at 718 North 34 Avenue. PUBLIC MEETING 12. Public Meeting to consider the final approval of the plat of Summitview Vineyards (Long Plat — 32 Avenue) Bruce Benson, Senior Planner, explained that last June preliminary approval was granted to the plat of Summitview Vineyards and in the interim the required infrastructure has been installed and inspected. The plat has been signed by the City engineer and the subdivision administrator. Council is now being asked to ratify this plat by the adoption of the resolution. • Mayor Place opened the public hearing. No one came forward to speak. • Mayor Place closed the public hearing. The City Clerk read the resolution by title only; GEORGE MOVED AND MATTSON SECONDED TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -110, A RESOLUTION approving the final plat of Summitview Vineyards, a 16 lot subdivision located on the west side of N 32 Avenue approximately midpoint between Summitview and Lincoln Avenues, and authorizing the Mayor to sign the final plat of Summitview Vineyards, Jim Fickel as applicant therein. 13. Other Business A. Consideration of Council approval to schedule study sessions in Council Chambers from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. 1. Joint Study Session with Yakima County, Department of Transportation (Aviation), City of Union Gap, and Airport Board for August 19, 2003 re: Airport Safety Overlay. PUCCINELLI MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO HOLD THE STUDY SESSION. • The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 7 447 AUGUST 5, 2003 2. Joint Study Session with Yakima County and City of Union Gap for September 2, re: Stormwater PUCCINELLI MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO HOLD THE STUDY SESSION. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 3. Mandated pre- treatment requirements for October 7, 2003 PUCCINELLI MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO HOLD THE STUDY SESSION. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. B. EXECUTIVE SESSION GEORGE MOVED AND MATTSON SECONDED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING LITIGATION FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES WITH IMMEDIATE ADJOURNMENT THEREAFTER. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 14. Adjournment Following the Executive Session, the meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m. • LQ q--1(-0--6 READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: (/ P ..rc COUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL ME BER DATE ATTEST: g ait 8--6-eh ,46,(ZC- CITY CLERK MARY PLACE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape o this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 8