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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/27/2004 Adjourned Meeting 2 93 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JULY 27, 2004 - 5:30 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. 1. Roll CaII Present: Council: Mayor Paul George, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Dave Edler, Neil McClure, Mary Place, Bernie Sims, and Susan Whitman Staff: Dick Zais, City Manager; Doug Mayo, Wastewater Manager; and Acting City Clerk Watkins 2. Study Session regarding request from City of Moxee to provide wastewater service • Introduction of subject City Manager Zais referenced a December 2003 letter from the City of Moxee that requested the City of Yakima review the feasibility of connecting the Moxee sewer system to the Yakima Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility. Huibregtse, Louman Associates, Inc. has put together a package on projects and on policy choices that City Council would need to consider. Once this issue is considered and a decision is made by Council, there would likely be an amendment to the urban area boundary. At this time we do not think the 4 -party agreement would have to be amended. Doug Mayo, Wastewater Manager, explained that there are two projects intertwined; the City of Moxee's need for additional service and evaluation of different options, and the Yakima County Development Association's work on developing the State Route 24 corridor between Moxee and Yakima for future industrial development. The two projects meld together nicely. • YCDA Overview Dave McFadden, President of the Yakima County Development Association (YCDA), said they agreed some time ago to lead a planning session focused on the SR 24 corridor. The corridor has excellent development potential with over 500 acres of industrially zoned property. The area has rail capacity and proximity to the interstate, but there are challenges to put it in a ready -to -go .situation; namely the cost of water and sewer utilities. YCDA has several recommendations, one being bringing the urban growth boundaries together for the coordination of utilities. They also recommend, for coordination purposes, having one water provider for the entire corridor and one sewer or wastewater provider. The other obvious area needing discussion and coordination is the funding issue. Gregg Dohrn with Jones and Stokes, advised they are in partnership with Huibregtse, Louman to determine how to facilitate industrial development in the SR 24 corridor. He noted on the map how each city has their own boundaries and corporate limits and in order to promote long 29:4 JULY 27, 2004 range planning, urban growth areas have been established. The distinction between urban and rural areas is the availability of sewers. It has become clear that what needs to be done to facilitate industrial growth in this area is to determine who would best provide water and sewer service. From a management standpoint, having a single provider would make it more manageable. Moxee is experiencing residential growth and a need has emerged for them to make significant improvement to the storage capacity of their sewage treatment plant. They have a need for a short-term interim solution; as well as a long term solution that can provide capacity for sewer service in their urban growth area for the next twenty years. Is there a way for the $2 million the City of Moxee might invest in an urban solution be used to benefit a larger number of people over a longer period of time. He suggested it wouldn't be surprising if a recommendation included extending the City of Yakima boundary out to Birchfield Road and extending the City of Moxee's boundary out to meet it. That would fill in the gap and would identify who has responsibility to supply services to that area. Then the question arises of who is in the best position to be able to make system improvements to the trunk line and transmission to connect to the regional system. During discussion it was noted that Terrace Heights is interested in continuing to provide service to that area. Mr. Dohrn noted that what may come out of these discussions is a series of recommendations to the jurisdictions such as amending the urban growth boundaries so we have contiguous urban growth and clearly defined responsibility for service delivery. Also, hopefully, identification of what resources are available to put together the creative financing strategy necessary to develop a regional solution greater than any individual jurisdiction could.afford. With regard to water, the issue is clearer. The County, which is the Terrace Heights Water District, would be the logical water provider. It is our goal to come up with a clear set of boundaries, a clear set of governance, and a clear set of water /sewer responsibilities to allow us to go to work on funding for all jurisdictions to become a model that would benefit the entire community. With regard to timing, Mr. McFadden said some progress has been made but there is an urgency. Moxee needs to make some investments in their wastewater system and they can't wait forever for this regional idea to become a solid plan. He emphasized the need for the City of Yakima to continue active involvement on the coordination of utilities. • Huibregtse, Louman's overview Bill Huibregtse, President of Huibregtse, Louman Associates, Inc., pointed out that Moxee is in a position to have to upgrade their treatment plant; they need to make interim improvements regardless of the outcome of these discussions. That is estimated to be about a $100,000 expense and should buy about four years of time. If Moxee were to decide to upgrade their own treatment plant, that is a $2 million investment, a twenty year improvement, and would take that money away from a regional fix. He campaigned that there is an opportunity to build on a need Moxee has but not for just Moxee, but for all players involved to make the SR 24 area come to life. In round numbers he expected it would be about a $6 million fix. This would include the cost of conveyance for Moxee to a new lift station, the cost of the new lift station, and new conveyance lines from that point across the river to the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. Mr. Huibregtse emphasized that there is a regional opportunity here if all parties want it to happen, but it will take the collaborative efforts of everyone. 2 295 JULY 27, 2004 • Discussion Council Member Place pointed out that in order to provide urban growth service you have to be in the urban growth area and that is going to require a Comprehensive Plan amendment. There is time to coordinate an amendment. YCDA has been working with the County engineers and planners. Discussion also covered potential boundary lines and residential sewer requirements. Also discussed were connection charge concepts, and various funding sources. Byron Adams, City of Moxee Supervisor, spoke about the residential growth in their area that is driving the need to expand the existing facility and the need for economic development along Highway 24. Mr. McFadden shared comments about conversations they have had with the County. They have the water rights and are building lines into the area. But, the land use issue is more complicated. Their Comprehensive Plan speaks to preservation of agriculture lands and these are agriculture areas being considered. They hope they have convinced them of the bigger picture as they are now saying they would consider Comprehensive Plan amendments to amend the urban growth boundary. There is still need for further communication. • Conclusion It was the consensus of Council that the City of Yakima would like to be a party in this project. YCDA is currently serving as the lead and will coordinate further meetings. Project timing was discussed. 3. Audience Participation No one came forward to speak. 4. Other Business • Study Sessions City Manager Zais distributed a schedule of future study sessions. EDLER MOVED AND McCLURE SECONDED TO CONTINUE HOLDING THE STUDY SESSIONS ON THE ALTERNATE TUESDAYS FROM 5:30 P.M. TO 7:00 P.M. During discussion the following points were considered: - Marathon Tuesdays - Future council members -Staff impact - Increased pace - Impact on family life and regular businesses The question was called for a vote on the motion. The motion carried by a 4 -3 roll call vote; George, Place, and Sims voting nay. 3 296 JULY 27, 2004 • Special Meetings - Bond Sales City Manager Zais advised Council that two special meetings are necessary in Tight of bond sales. Rita Anson, Director of Finance and Budget, explained that we are trying to move forward with two bond sales in August. The major difficulty is that by tax law they cannot hold the sales in back to back weeks but must separate them by at least two weeks to maintain tax qualification. Because of that, we are looking at August 9 for refinancing the Convention Center bond, and possibly another one, to obtain better rates. This could mean a potential $240,000 savings over a 10 -year period. Council approval is required within a 24 hour period necessitating a special meeting be held on August 10 The same is true for the irrigation bond sale scheduled for August 23` requiring a special Council meeting be held on August 24 These special meetings will only require about fifteen minutes in the morning. The dates are off-week Tuesdays but the study session time is too late in the day to accommodate getting back to the brokers. The suggestion is to hold the meetings at 8:30 a.m. It was the consensus of Council to adjourn the August 3' business meeting to 8:30 a.m. August 10 and to adjourn the August 17 business meeting to 8:30 a.m. August 24 4. Adjournment SIMS MOVED AND McCLURE SECONDED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:10 P.M. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. /2 .I READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY I_�, _� .� %L% A _ • COU ' I MEMBE '. D E 7 -2 Co UNCIL/ MBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, MAYOR Minutes prepared Linda Watkins. A video tape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office 4