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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/02/2003 Business Meeting 5 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 2, 2003 - 2:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 1. RoII Call Present: Council: Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Ron Bonlender, Paul George, John Puccinelli, Bernard Sims, and Susan Whitman Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Paolella and City Clerk Roberts 2. Invocation /Pledge of Allegiance Council Member Puccinelli gave an invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Bonlender. 3. Open Discussion for the Good of the Order /Special Presentation A. Proclamations • A.C. Davis Business Week Mayor Place read a proclamation declaring December 1 -5, as A.C. Davis Business Week in the City of Yakima. Mr. Steve Hyer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Private Enterprise Education out of Olympia, accepted the proclamation. He described the project and invited the Council members to visit. He requested the City of Yakima consider giving financial support to this project in the future. B. Status report on prior meeting's citizen service requests: > Kevin Lavis Shelley Wilson, Streets and Traffic Operations Manager, reported that, based on research with neighbors and the Fire Department, no additional restrictions are recommended at this time to limit parking on 42nd Avenue. Kevin Lavis reiterated his original request stating that his problem was with the employer requiring his employees to park on the street rather than utilize the parking lot. He said according to Code Enforcement they have ample parking and there is no reason for them to be parking on the street, yet they still do it. His original intent was to determine whether this was a code violation that could be enforced to stop the on- street parking. > Maud Scott Shelley Willson, Street and Traffic Operations Manager, said that in response to Mrs. Scott's request to reduce through- traffic in the South 6 th Street area, they had made some revisions at the traffic signal to encourage people not to drive through the neighborhood. They plan to go back in the spring and take counts to see what the results of those changes are. > Lynne Kittelson Mr. Cobabe has responded to Mrs. Kittelson in writing citing the regulation and giving an interpretation of what is new from HUD with regard to their planning process. 59 DECEMBER 2, 2003 C. Special recognition to Richard Andring and Brian Williams from the Fire Department • Richard Andring was recognized for attaining the National Fire Academy title of Executive Fire Officer. • Brian Williams was recognized for rescuing a civilian from a fire. 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. Items Nos. 4A and 7 were added to the Consent Agenda. The City Clerk read the Consent Agenda items, including resolutions and ordinances by title. SIMS MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO ADOPT THE CONSENT AGENDA AS READ. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Subsequent paragraphs preceded by an asterisk ( *) indicate items on the Consent Agenda handled under one motion without further discussion.) *A. Approval of the minutes of the November 4, 2003 Adjourned and Business Council Meetings and November 10, 2003 Adjourned meeting (Executive Session) The minutes of the November 4, 2003 Adjourned and Business meetings and November 10, 2003 Adjourned meeting were approved, having been duly certified accurate by two Council members and no one present wishing to have said minutes read publicly. , 5. Audience Participation Velma Perez, President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, asked that Council appoint Hispanics to City boards and commissions and educate Latino businesses on the use of Section 108 funding. Mayor Place recommended she obtain copies of the application forms for boards and commissions from the City Clerk's office. She also suggested contacting Michael Morales, the City's grants writer, about the possibility of conducting educational classes in Spanish. Maud Scott announced that the Woman's Century Club will be holding a luncheon to help keep a historic building open. PUBLIC HEARING 6. Public hearing on Community Development Block Grant 2004 Annual Action Plan and HOME Program and approval,of the public input schedule for 2005- 2009 Consolidated Plan Bill Cobabe, Manager of the Office of Neighborhood Development Services (ONDS), gave background information on the/Annual Action Plan. Congress created the Block Grant and HOME Programs to provide assistance to people of low and moderate incomes. Although federal laws and regulations govern the expenditures, the City Council makes the decisions on the use of the two funds. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME program are intended to provide 2 60 DECEMBER 2, 2003 assistance with housing. Congress, in creating the programs, outlined specific eligible uses for the money with a three -fold mission to provide for decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic expansion opportunities. The same law mandates a specific planning process that must be followed requiring broad opportunities for public input. The City is required to prepare long and short -term plans, a long term consolidated plan, and the annual action plan. This hearing is to cover the proposed Annual Action Plan for 2004. There have been eight previous public meetings. Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development, briefly went through the budget within the draft Action Plan. He explained that the HOME program has two limitations; it can only be used for housing, and 15% of the program must be made available to non - profit community housing development organizations, CHODO's. They are recommending two changes; to reallocate $60,000 of the Rehabilitation Program funds to the Down Payment Assistance Program, and that a distinction be made for assistance to those houses for home ownership east of 1 Avenue and east of the railroad tracks. They recommend providing a higher dollar figure, up to $6,000, for those houses east of the railroad tracks. These recommendations are made as a result of input from the public process. For the more complex CDBG Program, the initial recommendation was to follow last year's budget of funding a contract with the National Development Council who does the underwriting for the 108 programs. But the public recommendation was to find another way to fund that. It is now recommended the NDC contract funding go back to the general fund 123 account. This would be an economic development fund that is separate from the general fund, thereby not coming out of CDBG funds. Discussion continued on: ClientLogic, building local entrepreneurs, contracting with Hanford, community service projects, working to rebuild target neighborhood associations, and helping fund small volunteer- driven local programs that can't be done with city staff. Also discussed was the public's recommendation to increase the dollar amount to go to the 308 irrigation project from $200,000 to $300,000, the request for a third code enforcement officer, as well as the potential of funds for the Southeast Community Center and Senior Center. Council Member Puccinelli spoke about the money for the 308 Irrigation emphasizing that those funds should only go to households that are in need of help. He suggested eliminating anyone who is a rental property or business property owner from receiving subsidies out of this fund. The discussion continued on the irrigation project clarifying what would be covered by the CDBG dollars. Council Member Sims said, because the irrigation system plan won't be available until June, he would like this amount to remain at $200,000 and to only be used on qualified properties, not rental owned properties, and not to fix main parts of the system. Because of the age of the Sr. Center and SE Community Center facilities, he suggested some of the funds be allocated there. He then spoke about putting funds back into the sidewalk program and adding the third Code Enforcement position. • Mayor opened the public hearing Yvonne Craig, 4703 Tieton Drive, spoke in favor of the Senior Assistance Program. 3 DECEMBER 2, 2003 Florence Dauenhauer, 502 North 23 Avenue, spoke in favor of the Senior Assistance program. Freda Matthews, 811 South 8 Street, also spoke in favor of the Senior Assistance Program saying that assistance for our mothers and grandmothers is much more important than yard irrigation. Luz Gutierrez, 1424 South 31 Avenue, countered a comment that was made at a previous hearing that claimed the reason her proposal was rejected was because it was a duplication of services. She distributed a letter from the Consul that verified that those services are not currently being provided. She also claimed that one of the projects recommended for funding was an ongoing project and should be considered ineligible. She claimed the proposed code enforcement position should be the responsibility of the City and not come from CBDG funds. Bill Lover, 2507 West Yakima Avenue, commented on many of the budget details. He claimed that of every dollar ONDS spends, 50 cents goes for pay and benefits. Mr. Cobabe responded that because many of the programs are government run and the have tremendous paperwork requirements, it takes a great deal of money to run them. He also pointed out where money is saved by doing things such as architectural design rather than hiring it out. He described research he has done that shows how ONDS compares to similar industries and they compare favorably. Betty Gaudette, 701 North 6 Street, shared her opinion of what the public wanted regarding meeting announcements, irrigation support, and Senior Assistance Programs. She also spoke against CDBG money paying the grants writer's salary and supplying funds for the downtown. She claimed the CDBG money is being used in ways that are not the most beneficial to their neighborhood. It was her understanding that the community wanted the CDBG money for irrigation to help pay down the bonds faster, or to help pay for engineering and planning. Lynne Kittelson, 305 North 9 Street, had questions about the public input process and the status of the 2005 -2009 Consolidated Plan. She questioned whether the Council had seen letters from Larry Ratts and Hector Franco. Mrs. Kittelson complained about the 5013C requirement for social service projects and suggested they be required to be incorporated in the State of Washington instead. She spoke against funding the Best Self program. Mrs. Kittelson had a number of suggestions such as intensive public education targeting problem people in the neighborhood and a loan program for sidewalks rather than a reimbursement program. Jamie Stickel, Chair of the Yakima Downtown Association Committee, spoke in support of the downtown projects. Hector Franco, 850 North 28 Avenue, claimed there has been instances where staff lied to them and were reluctant to provide information. He also shared his dissatisfaction of the percentage of the grants writer's salary paid by CDBG funds well as all administrative costs. After a short break the Council meeting reconvened at 4:10 p.m. 4 62 DECEMBER 2, 2003 Mr. Franco continued with comments on Census Track 15, and the Best Self program. Mr. Cook and Mr. Cobabe responded to a number of Mr. Franco's accusations and questions. Kathy Coffey, Executive Director of the Convention Center, spoke in support of the request for funds for the downtown project Javier Gutierrez, 313 South 3rd Street, asked about the "target area ". Council Members asked Mr. Gutierrez for suggestions on how to communicate better with the community. Mr. Gutierrez's suggestion was to look at the voting records and go to committee meetings provided by the Yakima School District. Carole Folsom -Hill, 15 South 6 Street (La Casa Hogar Interfaith Coalition), spoke about the Southeast neighborhood, her appreciation of CDBG funds and agreed that some of the funds should be used for community and neighborhood centers. She commented that we really need to be looking at new ways to engage the community in conversation about the neighborhood and about their needs and in doing so, we will see new leadership evolve and new opportunities to revitalize arise. She encouraged Council to look differently at how to get citizen participation. Maud Scott, Southeast Yakima, said that the process needs to start much earlier With regard to irrigation, it was her suggestion to identify people of low income and give them a reduced rate, or subsidize with CDBG money. She said the $200,000 of CDBG funds for irrigation was intended to be used to benefit the project. She also commented on the 50/50 sidewalk program, Census Track 15, the addition of a Code Enforcement officer, and the graffiti van. Luz Gutierrez spoke about language problems. George Pechtel, agreed with Council Member Puccinelli's suggestion on irrigation that if the property is for a business, such as rentals, it shouldn't be subsidized. He also spoke about the need for expanding the seniors program. Mr. Pechtel spoke in support of the effects in Yakima over the years from the millions of dollars from HUD and the millions that have been leveraged from HUD funds. He said one problem is the tendency to fix the material things of disadvantaged people when they really need the opportunity to earn money and that can be done through economic development. He complimented staff for their expertise in economic development. Mr. Pechtel refuted the neighborhood claims of conspiracies and all their negative comments, saying the staff has done a marvelous job. He also agreed that the target area is bigger than just the northeast and southeast neighborhoods and suggested getting input from other areas as well during the planning processes. • Mayor Place closed the public hearing 5 63 DECEMBER 2, 2003 CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS *7. Consideration of Resolution calling for ballot proposition for special election on the Cottonwood Annexation RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -145, A RESOLUTION of the City Council requesting that the Yakima County Auditor call and conduct a special election on February 3, 2004 regarding the proposed annexation of certain property, commonly known as the Cottonwood Annexation, to the City of Yakima. *8. Consideration of Resolution approving projects for the 2003 allocation of the Commercial Revitalization Deduction RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -146, A RESOLUTION approving projects for the 2003 allocation of the federal Renewal Community Commercial Revitalization Deduction, and directing the City Manager to submit the list of approved projects to the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) for ratification and commitment. *9. Consideration of Resolution authorizing execution of an Interlocal Agreement with the City of Durham, North Carolina RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -147, A RESOLUTION authorizing the execution of an Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement with the City of Durham, North Carolina. *10. Consideration of Resolution authorizing execution of renewal agreement with Yakima Fire District No. 12 (West Valley) for continuation of fire protection services within the South 727 Avenue Annexation Area RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -148, A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the City Manager to further extend that certain Agreement for Continuation of Fire Services by and between the City of Yakima and Yakima County (West Valley) Fire District No. 12, dated December 31, 2002, to provide for the continuation of said agreement and the continuation of fire services in the area commonly referred to as the South 72 Avenue Annexation in the City of Yakima, Washington. *11. Consideration of Resolution authorizing execution of design services contract with Scott C. Irons for Front Street Historic District renovation project RESOLUTION NO. R- 2003 -149, A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the City Manager to execute an agreement for design services between the City of Yakima and Scott C. Irons for custom design services related to the Front Street Historic District Renovation Project. *12. Consideration of appointments to certain boards and commissions A. Reappoint Beverly Warren to the Charter Civil Service Commission Beverly Warren was re- appointed to the Charter Civil Service Commission for a six- year term, which will expire on December 31, 2009. 6 6 DECEMBER 2, 2003 B. Reappoint Steve Emhoff to the Community Review Board Steve Emhoff was re- appointed to the Community Review Board for a three -year term, which will expire on September 7, 2007. C. Reappoint Darlene Lust to the Yakima Valley Regional Library Board Darlene Lust was re- appointed to the Yakima Valley Regional Library Board for a seven -year term, which will expire December 31, 2010. *13. Motion to continue postponement of Congdon SEPA appeal hearing during mediation sessions The open record public hearing to consider the appeal filed by Congdon Orchards on the issuance of Declaration of Significance that would require the preparation of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was continued while mediation continues to take place. ORDINANCES *14. Consideration of Ordinance adopting the Hearing Examiner's recommendation to rezone property at the NE corner of Douglas Drive and North 42 Avenue, requested by Dr. Michael Taylor ORDINANCE NO. 2003 -72, AN ORDINANCE concerning land use and zoning; rezoning the parcel located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Douglas Drive and North 42 Avenue from Single - Family Residential (R -1) to Professional Business (B -1); and amending the Official Yakima Urban Area Zoning Map to reflect said rezone. *15. First reading of Ordinance amending the 2003 Budget and appropriating funds for the Convention Center operations during expansion construction (No action required; second reading scheduled 12/16/03) An Ordinance amending the 2003 budget and appropriating funds for Convention Center increased labor costs during the expansion construction, was read by title only, and laid on the table until December 16, 2003 for a second reading. 16. Other Business SIMS MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES AND TO RECONVENE IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned to a brief Executive Session at 5:30 p.m. Following the Executive Session the meeting reconvened at 5:36 p.m. 7 6'5 DECEMBER 2, 2003 PUCCINELLI MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED FOR THE CITY OF YAKIMA TO SUBMIT A BAR COMPLAINT TO THE WASHINGTON STATE BAR ASSOCIATION RELATING TO THE WASTEWATER ODOR LITIGATION PROCESS. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. Information.ltems Items of information provided to Council were: Public Service Announcement re: Construction activities for week of December 1 -5, 2003; News Release re: Applications sought for City of Yakima Capital Improvements /Facilities Committee and Community Review Board; 11/24/03 Memo from Acting Water /Irrigation Manager re: Black Rock Funding Request; Agenda for the December 3, 2003 Community Review Board meeting; Joint Civil Service Meeting Schedule for 2004; Agenda for the December 4, 2003 Yakima Downtown Association meeting and minutes of its November 6, 2003 meeting; Planning Assignments Pending as of the Week of December 2, 2003; Yakima County Labor Economy for October 2003; Article from the November 26, 2003 OregonLive, "Study: Cities should join fire district "; and Article from the November 17, 2003 Nation's Cities Weekly, "NLC Champions Support Local Authority in Internet Tax Debate" 17. Adjournment SIMS MOVED AND GEORGE SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO DECEMBER 3, 2003 AT 6:00 P.M. AT THE YAKIMA CENTER RED LION HOTEL FOR JOINT MEETING WITH CITY, COUNTY, AND UNION GAP REGARDING STORMWATER, THEN TO DECEMBER 9, 2003 FOR BUDGET WRAP -UP SESSION. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY a s CO CIL MEMBE DATE / ! 3 30 COUNCIL MEMB " PAT ATTEST: 61Aft-v .� < -Ze— – CITY CLERK 6 7 MARY PLACE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 8