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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/23/2004 Adjourned Meeting 1 426 ADJOURNED MEETING NOVEMBER 23, 2004 - 8:30 A.M. - NOON COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 1. RoII CaII Present: Council: Mayor Paul George, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Dave Edler (after 8:45 a.m.), Neil McClure, Mary Place, Bernard Sims, and Susan Whitman (after 8:40 a.m.) Staff: City Manager Zais, Finance and Budget Director Anson, and City Clerk Roberts 2. Community and Economic Development Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development, gave an overview of the department. He displayed a new aerial photo depicting the development occurring within the city. Yakima is now exceeding 80,000 in population and is over 24 square miles. He summarized activities for the year highlighting increases in capital construction projects, proposed residential development, four local improvement districts, and five annexations. They have also implemented new Council initiatives such as the boarded up buildings proposal and graffiti as well as economic development initiatives such as the renewal community and commercial revitalization deduction projects. To support schedules, the agenda was rearranged to review Tourist Promotion through the Capitol Theatre first. • Tourist Promotion (Budget Page E -58, Policy Issue Page 31, 33 -35) • Tourist Promotion Area (Budget Page E -63) • Convention Center Capital (Budget Pge E -70, Policy Issue Page 36) Kathy Coffey, General Manager of the Convention Center and President of the Visitor and Convention Bureau, commented that there is a lot of competition but Yakima is ahead with regard to future days booked, revenues, and in delegate counts and conventions. The policy issue for an increase in management fees to support staff salaries elicited a discussion on the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) issue and the potential impact on the Public Facilities District (PFD) funds. Also discussed were the funds for the Sports Commission. The Sports Commission has had a positive economic impact. Sports are second only to conventions in bringing visitors to Yakima. City Manager Zais explained that Council could make a determination that this no longer needs to be a policy issue but put in the budget, provided there are resources for it. Council Member Place suggested the budget narrative contain information on how the Sports Commission is funded. Visitor Information Center — originally the funding source was to be from selling items but they found that was not adequate. They have gotten sponsorships to fund the operation of the center and members are having to pay for the distribution of their brochures. This has caused anguish for the bureau and the 427 NOVEMBER 23, 2004 ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW city as most people feel they should be able to display their brochures for free as they have something to offer the visitors. There is a policy issue for $40,000 to assist in offsetting the operation of the center and eliminate the requirement of this expense to members. Convention Center parking lot improvements are necessary as a part of the campus plan and as a safety issue. Connie Upton, Assistant Manager of the Convention Center, gave a summary of the general operating budget. It was Kathy Coffey's recommendation to eliminate the request for $60,000 to upgrade the sign at this time. • Capitol Theatre (Budget Page E -72) • Capitol Theatre Performing Arts (Budget Page E -72, Policy Issue Page 27, 29) Steve Caffery, General Manager, spoke in support of the policy issue to increase the utility tax and dedicate the revenue to the Capitol Theatre. They are developing strategies to find ways of bringing people back downtown by using arts as a tool for economic development. The proposal to increase the cable franchise fee is a step in advancing the downtown of Yakima. City Manager Zais said the proposal is primarily due to the erosion of the capital depreciation account, which is falling short of needs. The principal has fallen considerably and in the absence of having some other resource will continue to be depleted. There is a need for a dedicated revenue source with potential growth. • Capitol Theatre Construction (Budget Page E -78) Mr. Caffery gave a brief overview; they have received two state grants and • have added women's restrooms and a new chiller. They will receive an additional federal appropriation and will complete infrastructure needed by the theatre to bring it up to date technologically. • Urban Area Hearings Examiner (Budget Page E -1) It was noted that although costs have been reduced over the last couple years, any time we bring a matter before the Hearing Examiner it costs between $800 to $1,000. • Environmental Planning (Budget Page E -2) A planner has been made available full time at the counter to provide professional answers to zoning and other related questions. The communications portion of the budget increased in part because of the notification requirements by the Washington Hearings Board. As an example, the postage alone for the Wal -Mart EIS was about $1,000 plus a $1,500 cost to put the information on computer discs. City Manager Zais noted there had been a request for an additional planning position to support the annexation; it is not in the budget yet. We will come back with that request when revenue starts coming in. • Code Administration (Budget Page E -7, Policy Issue Page 21) This budget includes an increase in permit fees and restores a three - quarter code inspector position to full time. Doug Maples, Codes and Planning Manager pointed out that there hasn't been a fee increase for two years. They 2 42.8 NOVEMBER 23, 2004 ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW are using the County's fee schedule as a baseline and are including an annual increase associated with the Seattle CPI effective every January. A letter was distributed from Joe Walsh of the Central Washington Homebuilder's Association that said we should keep the building permit fees where they are and only do an annual increase for inflationary reasons. He wrote that he didn't believe state law considers keeping up with neighbors a sufficient reason for fee increase. His letter listed objectives from the Yakima Urban Area Action Plan and said it seemed fitting that the City keep their permit costs lower than those in the County in order to meet the intended goals of the plan. He offered suggestions such as the concept of discounting fees on projects that require little staff time or charge projects more for extra staff time consumed. The ideas in the letter were discussed. • Animal Control (Budget Page E -11) There will be another officer added mid -year as a part of the .3% sales tax increase. Current statistics are an average of 800 -1000 calls related to Animal Control per month. • City Hall Facility Maintenance (Budget Page E -15)) Ideas about remodeling City Hall have been deferred to another time. • Economic Development (Budget Page E -18) A discussion on regional services and the potential integration of services with the County was held. This subject requires further discussion with the affected entities. • Office of Neighborhood Development Services (Budget Page E -20) This budget was reviewed and approved at the last public hearing. Bill Cobabe, Office of Neighborhood Development Manager, and Mary Grable, Accountant, reviewed their processes and 2004 accomplishments. • Telecommunications (Budget Page E -45) Randy Beehler, Community Relations Manager, said they are funded exclusively by franchise fees. Their mission is to provide, not only coverage of city activities, but public affairs events that impact the entire community. The existing hardware has been in operation for the last ten years but they are transitioning to a digital platform for shooting, editing, and playback. They are also extending fiber optics to the Harman Center and the West Valley fire station. • Parking & Bus. Imp. Area (PBIA) (Budget Page E -52) This is a self- assessment. • Central Business District (CBD) (Budget Page E -54) Revenue comes from monthly parking income. Currently funds are being spent on Front Street signage and plans for parking lot repairs. • Trolley (Budget Page E -56) There is about one year left of the federal funding. There is a need to look for another revenue source to fund the existing operation. 3 • 429 NOVEMBER 23, 2004 ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW • No. Front St. Business Imp. Dist. (Budget Page E -57) This also is a self- assessment. • Engineering (Budget Page E -79) Kay Adams, City Engineer, distributed a list of accomplishments and discussed a few of them, e.g. the Washington Avenue project and the Fruitvale roundabout. In the next five to six years approximately $65 million dollars will be spent in city improvements. Most of this is done with federal and state grant funds. • Arterial Street Capital (Budget Page E -84) • Transportation Improvement (Budget Page E -88) • Public Works Trust Fund (Budget Page E -89) • REET 2 Capital Fund (Budget Page E -96) • LID Construction Control Fund (Budget Page E -98) • Cumulative Reserve for Capital Improvements (Budget Page E -99) • Stormwater Operation & Maintenance (Budget Pg E -100, Policy Issue Pg 37) • Stormwater Capital (Budget Page E -105, Policy Issue Page 37) • Commute Trip Reduction Fund (Budget Page E -106) Mr. Cook referred to the presentation that was given to the Budget Strategy Team. He said if you looked at all the services provided in 2003, subtracted federal and state dollars and user fees, the general tax support was 8% in 2003, about $17 per capita for everything. 3. Adjournment McCLURE'MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO 2:00 P.M. FOR A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED JOINT STORMWATER UTILITY ORDINANCE. The motion carried b unanimous voice vote. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY / %/ 3 OUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: 2(e CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 4