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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/02/2004 Business Meeting 15:7 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 2, 2004 - 2:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 1. Roll CaII Present: Council: Mayor Paul George, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Dave Edler, Neil McClure, Mary Place, Bernard Sims, and Susan Whitman Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Paolella, and Acting City Clerk Watkins 2. Invocation /Pledge of Allegiance Council Member Bonlender gave an invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member McClure.. 3. Open Discussion for the Good of The Order /Special Presentation A. Proclamations • • Peace Corps Week Mayor George read a proclamation declaring March 1 -7, 2004 as Peace Corps Week. Chris Waarvick, Director of Parks and Recreation, and Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development, both prior Peace Corps members, accepted the proclamation. • Yakima Reads Day Council Member Whitman read a proclamation declaring March 2, 2004 as Reads Day. Jane Watson of Adams Elementary was present to accept the proclamation. B. Status report on prior meeting's citizen service request (if applicable) None 4. Consent Agenda Mayor George referred to the items placed on the Consent Agenda, questioning whether there were any additions or deletions from either Council members or citizens present. Item No. 12 was removed from the Consent Agenda. The Acting City Clerk read the Consent Agenda items, including resolutions and ordinances by title. SIMS MOVED AND BONLENDER 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.) 1 , 5 MARCH 2, 2004 *A. Approval of the minutes of the November 10 and 12, 2003 Adjourned Meetings, and February 3,'2004 Special Meeting The minutes of the November 10 and 12, 2003 Adjourned meetings and the February 3, 2004 Special 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 Mike Murphy, 4411 Snow Mountain Road, submitted pictures of the Doty project and requested that another meeting be held with all parties of interest. Joe Caruso, Supervising Code Inspector, gave an update on the project, and described the Court activities that have taken place to date. He noted there are four new investors in the properties. The new individuals have put up the required fencing and have secured all the houses within the fenced area. Aileen Kane, 701 South 14 Avenue, warned the Council to use caution and due diligence with regard to the plans for the mall property. Lynne Kittelson, 305 North 9 Street, reminded Council and the public that there is a meeting at the Library this evening on the Streamlining Sales and Use Tax issue sponsored by both the League of Women Voters and the Library. She also reminded people of the public hearing on standards for boarded up vacant structures to be held this evening at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. Phil Pleasant, 1202 Fair Avenue, spoke on the hub zone and claimed the Council has not pushed the issue hard enough with the federal government. He also shared his reaction to the inappropriate remarks made by Senator Deccio earlier this year. Earl Lee, expressed his concern over the recent issue with Blacks in Government and Senator Deccio's remarks. He said that organization would be back in Yakima on March 12 at the South East Community Center at 6:30 p.m. He recommended Council attend and take the opportunity to show Yakima's good side. Alonzo Marquez, 613 North 3 Street, said that Joe Morrier needs to decide whether he wants Hispanics to be part of the mall or not. He also gave his reaction to Senator Deccio's remarks. CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS 6. Report from Police Department regarding proposed Verified Alarm Response Policy Police Chief, Sam Granato, provided information regarding the proposed Verified Alarm Response Policy. • The number of residential and business burglar alarms have increased because of their affordability • 98.8% of the alarm calls in Yakima are false alarms • False alarms take officers away from their duties 2 159 MARCH 2, 2004 • Police have met with industry representatives several times • Industry recognizes the problem • Public Safety Committee endorsement • Police Advisory Committee endorsement • Police Department is understaffed • Will respond to manually activated alarms • Proposal gives local alarm companies an advantage • Fees for false alarms don't work — cause disputes • Clarified verified response as an alarm requiring private alarm companies and • stations to verify that an intrusion alarm is the result of criminal activity — usually verified by a private security guard • Alarm response time actually goes down • Frees up officers to do more police work Discussion ensued on how this would be implemented and how verifications could be made. Speaking in favor of the proposed policy were Jerry Foy, 4811 Modesto Way, Ron Anderson from CWI Security, and Jerry Henderson, 309 North 35 Avenue. Speaking against the proposal and requesting further study were Bob Mansfield and Joe Young of Mansfield Alarm Company. Alex Santillanes, 1407 West Chestnut, expressed concern for his family safety with the proposal, Mary Jo Mengarelli of Yakima Neighborhood Health Services suggested further study be done before making a decision. Russ Ferguson from Alarm Ace, agrees that false alarms are not good but sees value in police responses claiming they are making a showing in the area and giving value to the homeowner or business owner. Ron Haner from a security company in Lacy and representing the State Alarm Association said the industry understands the problem but would like more time to study other options as did Derek Carroll of B3 Solutions. Following a five minute recess to change video tapes, the Council reconvened at 4:09 p.m. Discussion continued on involvement to date with the alarm companies. PLACE MOVED AND McCLURE SECONDED TO IMPLEMENT THE PROPOSAL IN 90 DAYS FOR A TWO -YEAR TRIAL PERIOD. Council Members Sims and Place requested that the Police Department give semi - annual reports on how the proposal is working. Council Member Whitman pointed out to the State Alarm Association representative that there has been a study session and meetings on this subject and questioned why the alarm companies are just now coming forward requesting more time. The motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. 7. Consideration of legislation amending the 2004 Community Development Block Grant budget and increasing funding in the Section 108 Loan Pool Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development, introduced this item and clarified that, by neither A nor B does the City make a commitment to any application, current or in the future. Applying for the increase assures that the City will be in a position of support and able to take action on economic development initiatives more quickly when opportunities arise. There is no cost to the City to complete the application. He mentioned the potential of decreased opportunities in the future if interest rates rise. 3 160 MARCH 2, 2004 A. Motion to amend the 2004 Community Development Block Grant Action Plan EDLER MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO AMEND THE 2004 CDBG ACTION PLAN. Mick Hughes, a Yakima citizen, gave his support for the increased loan fund and also commented that he supports the hotel project for the mall location. Mary McDaniels, 905 Walker Street, said she was in favor of both 7A and 7B. Council Member McClure explained that he is going to vote against both items because there is no project identified for the funds, therefore, he sees no need for them at this time. Discussion ensued among the Council members on the pros and cons of taking the step now in order to be poised and ready when a project comes through. Mr. Cook explained that if we approve this today we can then submit requests through the Seattle office. If we do not, we will be submitting them directly to Washington D.C. which is a more time - consuming process. Michael Morales, Community Economics Specialist, clarified that asking for the money today does not give blanket approval to any project. Each will have to go through multiple approval levels of Council and HUD. Lynne Kittelson, 305 North 9 th Street, said she supports the amendment to the plan. The question was called for a vote on the motion. The motion carried by 6 -1 voice vote; McClure voting nay. B. Resolution amending the Economic Development Loan Fund for Section 108 loans and authorizing submission of request to HUD to increase the Economic Development Loan Fund The acting City Clerk read the resolution by title only. SIMS MOVED AND EDLER SECONDED TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION. The motion carried by 6 -1 roll call vote; McClure voting nay. RESOLUTION NO. R- 2004 -40, A RESOLUTION 1) To amend the Economic Development Loan Fund to increase the amount of available Section 108 loan funding by $2,945,000; and 2) Authorizing the City Manager to submit a request for funding from the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase the EDLF. 8. Consideration of adoption of City of Yakima 2004 Federal Priorities Council Member Place advised that she had asked for two additions to the priority list; both under Transportation. One was to support FAA working directly with local government in determining land use, and the other was to support the next phase of the expansion for the Valley Mall Boulevard for Union Gap. Council Member Sims requested the FFTF (Fast Flux Test Facility) be added under Department of Energy. Mr. Morales also advised the addition of the Front Street Restoration Project. Phil Pleasant again spoke about the hub zone issue. He was advised that subject had been brought before the Legislators before and that we are not the hiring authority on the project. Mr. Pleasant was referred to the Bonneville Power Administration. PLACE MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO PASS THE FEDERAL PRIORITIES LIST AS AMENDED. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 4 161 MARCH 2, 2004 *9. Consideration of Resolution authorizing execution of a professional services agreement with Mead and Hunt, Inc. for airport overlay planning services RESOLUTION NO. R- 2004 -41, A RESOLUTION authorizing the City Manager of the City of Yakima to execute an "Agreement for Airport Planning Consulting Services" with Mead & Hunt, Inc. *10. Consideration of Resolution authorizing execution of personal services agreements for various Parks and Recreation Division programs during 2004 RESOLUTION NO. R- 2004 -42 A RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the Parks and Recreations Division Manager of the City of Yakima to execute Personal Services Agreements during 2004 that are substantially in accord with the attached "Personal Services Agreement" in order to obtain specialized services for the Parks Division. *11. Approval of Final Contract Payment for Fruitvale Water /Sewer Project No. 1918 performed by THG Construction (Standard Motion V -B— accept the project and approve the final payment) The report from the City Engineer, dated February 13, 2004, with respect to the completion of the work on the Fruitvale Area Water & Sewer Improvement Project No. 1918, performed by THG Construction, Inc. was approved, the work accepted and payment of the final estimates as therein set forth was authorized. 12. Set date of public hearing for March 16, 2004 to consider legislation establishing a formal public participation process for the amendment of development regulations Doug Maples, Planning and Code Enforcement Manager, explained that last year an ordinance was adopted allowing public participation in order to help them understand the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. SIMS MOVED AND PLACE SECONDED TO SET THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT OF DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS FOR THE MARCH 16, 2004 BUSINESS MEETING. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. ORDINANCES *13. Consideration of Ordinance approving the rezone of property at 406 North 23rd Avenue requested by Tiger LLC ORDINANCE NO. 2004 -11, AN ORDINANCE concerning land use and zoning; rezoning the parcel located at 406 North 23` Avenue, Yakima, Washington, from Single - Family Residential (R -1) to Professional Business (B -2); and amending the Official Yakima Urban Area Zoning Map to reflect said rezone. 5 162 MARCH 2, 2004 *14. First Reading of Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds for 2003 year - end encumbrances (Read ordinance by title only; pass ordinance after second reading on March 16, 2004) An Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds for 2003 year -end encumbrances, was read by title only, and laid on the table until March 16, 2004 for a second reading. *15. Second Reading of Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds in the Equipment Rental Fund for the purchase of street maintenance equipment An Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds for the purchase of street maintenance equipment, previously having been read by title only, was brought before the Council for a second reading. ORDINANCE NO. 2004 -12, AN ORDINANCE amending the 2004 budget for the City of Yakima; and making an appropriation of $300,000 in the 552 — Equipment Rental Capital Fund for expenditure during 2004 to provide for purchase of Street Maintenance Equipment. *16. Second Reading of Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds for the acquisition of property for the Kiwanis Park project An Ordinance amending the 2004 budget and appropriating funds for the purchase of property for the Kiwanis Park project, previously having been read by title only, was brought before the Council for a second reading. ORDINANCE NO. 2004 -13, AN ORDINANCE amending the 2004 budget for the City of Yakima; and making an appropriation of $30,000 in the 331 — Parks and Recreation Capital Fund for expenditure during 2004 to provide for purchase of land for the Kiwanis Park project. 17. Other Business • Committee Appointments BONLENDER MOVED AND PLACE SECONDED TO APPOINT ROCKEY MARSHALL TO THE VACANT POSITION ON THE COMMUNITY REVIEW BOARD. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Council Member Bonlender said the subcommittee had reviewed the applications for the Consolidated Plan Citizen Input Committee and recommended appointment of: Anne Knapp, Julio Romero, Leonor Appleby, Mary Louise Harris, Freya Burgstaller, Gregory Bohn, and Oscar Rodriquez. BONLENDER MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ACCEPT THE SEVEN RECOMMENDED INDIVIDUALS TO THE NEW CONSOLIDATED PLAN CITIZEN INPUT COMMITTEE. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 6 MARCH 2, 2004 163 • Street Standards Workshop Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works, announced there will be a public workshop on Municipal Code 12.06, Street Standards on March 19 at 3:30 p.m. This relates to recommendations of the Capital Facilities Committee and is a requirement to comply with the Growth Management Act Capital Facilities plan. There are many stake holders that have been invited to attend the workshop. Council is invited but will also hear the same information at a future study session. • Local Historic Preservation Committee Meetings Council Member Place reported that she had received a citizen request to have the Local Historic Preservation Committee meetings televised on YPAC. City Manager Zais committed to work on that. • Information Items: Items of information provided to Council were: 2/25/04 Memorandum from the City Clerk re: 2003 Election Expenses; 3rd and 4th Quarter 2003 Municipal Court/Probation Office Statistics; Planning Assignments Pending as of the Week of March 2, 2004; Monthly Report of the Chief of Police for November 2003; Agenda for the March 3, 2004 Community Review Board meeting; and Invitation to Public Open House hosted by Yakima County Planning Department regarding Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Master Program Update Project and The Non - Regulatory Critical Areas and Natural Resources Program on March 4, 2004. • Executive Session: City Manager Zais advised that an Executive Session was needed for about 30 minutes. BONLENDER MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING LITIGATION FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 18. Recess to 7:00 p.m. for public hearing on amending standards for vacant structures Following the Executive Session, the Council Meeting recessed from 5:55 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. for the Public Hearing on amending standards for vacant structures. PUBLIC HEARING 19. Public Hearing to consider legislation establishing minimum standards for regulating vacant structures Mayor George called the meeting to order at 7:09 p.m. All Council members, with the exception of Council Member Edler, were present. Also present were City Manager Zais and acting City Clerk Watkins. Doug Maples, Planning and Code Enforcement Manager, distributed a list of 104 vacant buildings with pertinent information about each. 7 164 MARCH 2, 2004 Ken Harper, Legal Counsel for the City, gave a brief overview of the intended effect of the ordinance. From a legal perspective, it is meant to give the City Code Enforcement Officials additional grounds to inspect and have the ability to influence status of vacant buildings in the city. It does not replace any current code enforcement options. These are minimum standards and the ordinance does nothing to alter the City's authority to enter private property. An infraction is equivalent to a traffic ticket, a civil charge that carries a fine, goes to court, and people have the chance to challenge it. Council Member Sims brought up the issue of "mothballing" property and expressed concern that "mothballing" may give property owners an out. This resulted in a discussion of the difference between Chapters 11.10 and 11.48 (proposed) in the Municipal Code. Chapter 11.10 covers dangerous buildings, and the proposed Chapter 11.48 will cover vacant structures. • Mayor George opened the public hearing Ron Anderson, 605 South 53 Avenue, distributed a statement he had submitted earlier with his concerns about the ordinance. He felt it was, for the most part, acceptable. His main concern was about the requirement for annual inspection with an attached fee. He feels if the property was properly secured there would be no reason for an officer to enter. His concern was protecting the property rights of the owner. Mr. Harper clarified that there is no provision for imposing a fee for inspections. The obligation of inspection is on the property owner. Only in the event that the building fails to meet standards is the City authorized to have an inspection performed. David McDonnell, 7004 Pierce Court and President of the Yakima Landlord's Association, spoke about how they have approached the State Representatives and Senators asking them to help provide incentives to private citizens to acquire and rehabilitate these vacant properties. They would like to be involved with the City on this issue. Bill Lover, 2507 West Yakima Avenue, claimed that revenue is dictating policy change rather than citizens' needs and referenced the "meth" houses that the City claimed were the responsibility of the Health Department. Mr. Maples explained that once the Health Department takes over a "meth" house, we have no opportunity to pursue abatement until it is released. Mr. Lover said the City has to partner with the Health Department to clean them up. Jerry Henderson, 309 North 35 Avenue, spoke about the downturn of Tacoma during the 60's and compared it to what is going on with Yakima. He thinks it is important for the City Council to work on cleaning up the properties. George Cosen, 801 Country Club Drive, feels this legislation redefines what a public nuisance is. He feels it is inappropriate to lump mothballed properties with dangerous buildings and by doing so we are signaling that appearance alone is justification to attack a mothballed structure. Although he agrees vacant structures can be an irritation to neighbors, they don't create a public hazard to the neighborhood. He is afraid that, if the ordinance passes as written, it will force both annual inspections and unnecessary new code requirements on existing mothballed properties. He questioned whether people can afford to comply and worried that it sets a precedence for future appearance standards on occupied structures. 8 165 MARCH,2, 2004 Martin Chacon, 205 West Chestnut Avenue, warned that the results of efforts to do good can sometimes be disastrous. He feels the legislation is an overkill, that educating renters may be more helpful. He also questioned what happened to the money ONDS was using to help people rehabilitate their houses. Bob Mason, 612 North 2nd Street, agrees with the proposed ordinance and referenced a property at 801 North 4th Street that has been boarded up for twenty years and is the frequent target of graffiti. Mark Matthews, 3110 Castlevale, is involved with the rental business and says the problem with vacant and boarded up buildings is they usually get covered with graffiti. Those buildings not only affect the neighborhood but also affect every landlords' pocket. Mary McDaniels, 905 Walker Street, supports the proposed ordinance and suggested diplomacy when dealing with the people involved. Steve Emhoff, 1014 South 16 Avenue, spoke in support of the ordinance but would like to see the time limit for condemnation reduced to 2 -3 years unless there are specific problems such as probate. Maud Scott, Southeast Yakima, urged the Council to not rush into this. She suggested that this ordinance attacks the symptom and not the problem and that proper code enforcement has not been done in the neighborhoods. She asked for a schedule of meetings to more thoroughly discuss the issue. Lynne Kittelson, is opposed to the proposed new chapter and submitted her comments in writing. Basically they claimed the ordinance was punitive and was aimed at a select group and that the City just needs to enforce the current level of codes. Council members commented that this is not intended to be punitive and that although one member sponsored this ordinance it struck a nerve with a lot of the citizens because it is getting strong reaction. They also stressed the need to set standards. Javier Gutirerrez, said the ordinance is discriminating and focuses on one area while illegal conversions of houses into apartments is being ignored. Phyllis Musgrove, 424 North 30 Avenue, said she has rental property and maintains it. She is quite concerned about the condemnation part of the ordinance asking if it is just that the City wants more property. She also asked what the people with no money were supposed to do. Magdalena Sanchez, 1707 South 66 Avenue, supports the proposed ordinance noting people should be responsible for their properties and have respect for those around them. Ray Stenberg, 602 Hillside Drive, said he totally supports the ordinance. Bill Cobabe, Office of Neighborhood Development Services Manager, responded to questions that have come up regarding funds to assist people with rehabilitation. He advised that the program that provided loans for rentals was discontinued. Because 9 166 MARCH 2, 2004 they get a finite amount of money to cover a large target area, it was decided to limit the assistance to home ownership. They do have a home ownership rehabilitation program that can provide loans to qualified home owners to fix up their places. ONDS also has experienced staff to help draw up plans, do design work, and assess needs relating to codes. There are enough funds available to do six to eight houses a year, as the money is spent it affects available money for the down payment program. Ken Harper responded to written questions received from Clarence Barnett. To the question; would it have immediate applicability, the answer is yes. Also, the ordinance does not have a grandfather clause. Council Member Bonlender said the ordinance would be reviewed in one year and modified as needed. • Mayor George closed the public hearing (See Item No. 20 for Council action on this item.) • Other Business Council Member Sims advised that in a poll of the Council Members they discovered that due to obligations there are conflicts with the regularly scheduled April 6th scheduled Business Meeting. SIMS MOVED AND BONLENDER SECONDED TO CHANGE THE MEETING FROM APRIL 6, 2004 TO APRIL 13, 2004. The motion carried by a 6 -1 voice vote, Place voting nay; Edler absent. 20. Adjournment to March 16, 2004 at 7:30 a.m. for Study Session on stormwater utility policy issues Council Members realized that they closed the public hearing when they actually wanted to continue it to the March 16, 2004 Business Meeting. BONLENDER MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO HOLD ANOTHER PUBLIC HEARING ON AMENDING STANDARDS FOR VACANT STRUCTURES AT THE MARCH 16, 2004 BUSINESS MEETING. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote; Edler absent. PLACED MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO MARCH 16, 2004 AT 7:30 A.M. FOR A STUDY SESSION ON STORMWATER UTILITY POLICY ISSUES. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote; Edler absent. The meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY Or COUNC ► EMB // DATE . _. i s / —� i OU L` EMBE'� DATE ATTEST: -•. / 1 0 .„12 CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, MAYO' Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 10