The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About01/07/2014 13 Council General InformationBUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. For Meeting of: 1/7/2014 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ITEM TITLE: SUBMITTED BY: SUMMARY EXPLANATION: Council General Information Sonya Claar Tee, City Clerk 1. Weekly Issues Report 2. Response to citizen question on minimum charge for water service 3. Thank you letter from Rey Pascua, President Filipino American Community of the Yakima Valley 4. Thank you letter from Vinall and Patricia Stookey 5. Thank you letter from Dorothy Harman 6. Thank you letter from Mashall Munson 7. Letter and petition regarding Breed Specific Laws from Sasha Greenlee 8. City Meeting Schedule 9. Preliminary Future Activities Calendar 10. Preliminary Council Agenda Resolution: Other (Specify): Contract: Contract Term: Start Date: End Date: Amount: Ordinance: Item Budgeted: Funding Source/Fiscal Impact: Strategic Priority: Insurance Required? No Mail to: Phone: APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: City Manager RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Description info Upload Date 12/26/2013 Type Cover Memo MEMORANDUM December 24, 2013 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Tony O'Rourke, City Manager SUBJECT: Weekly Issues Report • CITY FACILITIES CLOSED: City facilities will be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2014 in observance of the holiday. • CHIEF WILLSON RETIREMENT: There will be a retirement ceremony for Chief Willson on Friday, January 3 at 2:00 p.m. at Station 95 in the training room. • POLICE PROMOTION CEREMONY: Yakima Police Department will be promoting three individuals on Friday, January 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the Holiday Inn. Sgt. Seely will be promoted to Lieutenant and Officers Wisner and Fowler will be promoted to Sergeant. • CITY MANAGER LEAVE: I will be out of the office on Friday, December 27 and Monday, December 30. If you need anything please call or email me or contact Cally for assistance. MEMORANDUM DATE: December 31, 2013 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Tony O'Rourke, City Manager FROM: Dave Brown, Water and Irrigation Manager, Cindy Epperson, Director of Finance and Budget RE: Response to citizen question on minimum charge for Water At the December 10, 2013 council meeting, a citizen asked about the minimum usage charge on his water bill. Industry standard is to set two fixed or minimum charges on a water bill: The "ready -to -serve" component is typically tied the capital investment in the plant, and is used to either pay debt service or build a replacement reserve. • The "minimum water use" component is to recover some fixed costs of operating the water utility, whether or not water is used, which include: o Billing and processing payments o Maintaining and replacing meters o Maintaining the fire suppression system (hydrants and system capacity) o Meeting state and federal minimum flow standards o General administration (i.e. Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Purchasing, Legal, etc.) The City regularly conducts a rate study, and uses a consultant that is well-qualified to analyze and quantify the various components of the utility's costs and develop rates in accordance with guidelines set forth in the American Water Works Association manual titled "Principles of Water Rates, Fees and Charges". 1200 Upland Drive Sunnyside, Washington 98944 December 3, 2013 Micah Cawley, Mayor City of Yakima 129 North Second Street Yakima, Washington 98901 Dear Mayor cawley: RECEIVED CITY OF YAKIMA DEC 0 5 2013 OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL I am writing to thank you and the City of Yakima for your hospitality during my visit of October 1, and for the proclamation celebrating Filipino American History Month. It was a pleasure to meet you and the City Council and to present the State of Washington proclamations. Thank you for any of your educational promotion activities undertaken to celebrate Filipino Americans during the month of October, 2013. As we in Washington State have now recognized the History Month for four years, I hope that the celebration will be solidly institutionalized. It would certainly be appropriate to recognize it in your City's 2014-15 calendar for the City of Yakima. I will be working to achieve a permanent Filipino American History declaration during next year's legislative session. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Seasons greetings, Salamat po (thank you), and the best to you all for the rest of this and the coming years. Yours truly, Isena, MPA President, Filipino American Community of the Yakima Valley, Inc. i3 Gartner &Wol'k CITY Y K MA DEC 1 0 2013 December 8, 2013 City of Yakima Council Members C/O City Managers Office 129 N Second Street Yakima, Wa 98901 Dear Council Members: CITY We've been wanting to send a thank you letter to someone since our new furnace and heat pump were installed but a simple thank you doesn't seem enough. They were installed about a week before this present artic blast. That's a very practical incentive for appreciation let me tell ya. The thought of sitting in a frigid house with your pipes freezing is enough to keep you awake at night In an atmosphere where so many are afraid that government is going to take away or reduce benefits you feel like humanity is on the wane or dead even so it's not an exageration to say my wife and I are still in awe at this grant. We truly thank you so much! Ve Vinall and Patricia Si Vinall Stookey Trlr 60 1011 N. 34th Ave. Yakima, WA 98902 Y REIVED CITY OI` YAKIMA DEC 92013 OFFICE OF CITY 0 srYVA ,u Ar 010� /Wiy/R613 14" VA!„.y 141Aff 101 Fremont 1 Grand Ave. San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 6 December 2013 Yakima City Council 129 N 2nd St. Yakima, WA 98901 Dear Yakima City Council: On May 3, 2012, a courageous pit bull named Lilly saved her owner's life by pulling her owner's unconscious body off of the train tracks, saving her from being hit by an oncoming train. Lilly's owner was unharmed; however, Lilly was not as lucky. The train struck her right leg, fractured her pelvis, and caused other internal injuries. Although near death, Lilly lay down next to her still unconscious human companion until help arrived (Lupkin). Lilly the pit bull saved her owner's life—and she is no exception for her breed—pit bulls are working every day to save the lives of humans by working in the military and as therapy dogs. If this breed is doing so much to help humans, why are humans doing nothing to help them? Today I am writing to you, Yakima City Council, because you have the power to overturn the pit bull ordinance in your city, Chapter 6.18, and help save the lives of many innocent pit bulls (Epitheton). I understand that the intentions of your current ordinance are for the safety of the public; however, generalizing one specific breed as a danger to society is an ineffective and irrational solution to the problem of dog attacks. In order to effectively and humanely reduce the incidences of dog attacks in your city, I propose breed neutral dog laws focusing on the temperament of an individual dog and educating the people of Yakima about responsible dog ownership. Although the idea of BSL is to eliminate breeds deemed vicious, the generalization of a whole breed as a menace to society is flawed. Frederick Schauer, a professor at Harvard Law School states "restrictions on pit bulls [are] not only overinclusive, restricting numerous nonharmful pit bulls, but [are] underinclusive as well" (1). By restricting only pit bulls but not other breeds, it does not protect against the aggressive dogs that are not categorized as pit bulls. For this reason, each dog should be looked at and assessed on an individual basis—not generalized by its breed. Generalizing a dog by its breed can be compared to making sweeping statements about a person based on their race. Believing that all pit bulls are dangerous and should be outlawed just because a few pit bulls are dangerous is no different than saying because some African American people commit crimes all African Americans are dangerous. If laws were passed today stating that only African Americans must be searched before leaving a store to ensure they are not stealing merchandise, there would be an extreme amount of public outcry and the law would be deemed unconstitutional. However, there are currently laws in effect that restrict all pit bulls, even though the majority of these dogs are not a danger to society. (Catachresis) Furthermore, discriminating against a breed is an ineffective solution because according to canine professionals, the breed of dog is not a factor that contributes to the majority of fatal dog attacks. Karen Delise, the Director of Research for the National Canine Research Council, the three contributing factors to fatal dog attacks are as follows: the function of the dog (if the dog been used for breeding, fighting, or guarding), the owner's management of the dog (if the dog is chained, left unsupervised with a child, etc.), and if the dog is spayed or neutered (2). Being a certain breed is not a factor that contributes to the majority of fatal dog attacks. For this reason, dog laws should be breed neutral and need to focus on the owner's actions and circumstances of each individual dog. By repealing your pit bull ban, enforcing breed neutral legislation and educating your city about responsible dog ownership, the dog bite numbers in Yakima will see a drastic decrease. Cities such as Baltimore and New York City have decreased their dog attack numbers by 90% since 1971 by enacting breed neutral dog laws. Baltimore, New York City, and Minneapolis's breed neutral laws include having any dog deemed dangerous spayed or neutered, muzzled, or confined to the owner's yard (3). Breed neutral laws are effective and unbiased because they look at the characteristics of each individual dog— regardless of the breed—who have proven to be dangerous. In order to create the most effective solution to reducing the number of dog attacks in Yakima, it is necessary for the city to repeal Chapter 6.18, breed specific legislation against pit bulls. You will not only be saving the lives of many innocent, family companions, but many human injuries and fatalities caused by dog attacks will be spared as well. Thank you for your time, Sasha Greenlee Undergraduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 1. Schauer, Frederick F. "Pit Bulls, Golden Retrievers, and Other Dangerous Dogs." Profiles, Probabilities, and Stereotypes. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard. 2. Delise, Karen. The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression. Orlando, Florida. Anubis, 2007. Print. 3. Lupkin, Sydney. "Pit Bull Rescues Unconscious Owner from Oncoming Train." ABC News. ABC News Network, 9 May 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. RECEIVED CITY OF YAKIMA DEC 1 7 2013 Dear Yakima City Council: [OFFC OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is a law or ordinance varying greatly from city to city that prohibits or restricts the keeping of certain types of dogs, most commonly pit bulls. According to Yakima's pit bull ordinance, Chapter 6.18, "It is unlawful to keep, or harbor, own or in any way possess a pit bull dog within the city of Yakima" The law also states that the term pit bull includes any of the following breeds: American pit bull terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier and American bulldog and American Staffordshire terrier or any mixed breed of any of the breeds previously listed (1). Breed Specific Legislation strips friendly, easy-going, family dogs from their families and euthanizes them or places them in shelters, simply because they have the physical attributes of a pit bull. By taking away innocent dogs away from their loving homes, we are, in fact, doing absolutely nothing to reduce the number of dog attacks; instead, we are supporting the negative reputation pit bulls have been given. Every dog should be treated as an individual, not generalized as vicious or harmful based on its breed. Pit bulls should not be the only breed of dog blamed for dog attacks—each and every dog breed has the ability to cause lethal harm, which is why breed neutral legislation, including having any dog deemed dangerous spayed or neutered, muzzled, dr confined to the owner's yard, should be enforced. We, the undersigned, petition to overturn Chapter 6.18 of Yakima city law prohibiting pit bulls. Every dog should be treated as an individual and not be discriminated against because 3f its breed. 1. "Navigation." Yakima, Washington Pit Bull Ordinance. Web. 07 Dec. 2013, Na i "afore w e, . ..... Yvonin Van ,c UUa�2 � v)i, .J(r, 1 'l u 4 4( ...-d /2i{fiP 6(4 .4. U - ' /l ,--'7 ,\' ko Al v / ► 1. "Navigation." Yakima, Washington Pit Bull Ordinance. Web. 07 Dec. 2013, CITY MEETING SCHEDULE For December 30, 2013 — January 6, 2014 Please note: Meetings are subject to change Monday, December 30 10:00 a.m. County Commissioners meeting — Council Chambers Wednesday, January 1 CITY OFFICES CLOSED Thursday, January 2 9:00 a.m. County Hearing Examiner — Council Chambers Friday, January 3 8:00 a.m. Sister City Meeting — CED Conference Room Monday, January 6 10:00 a.m. City Council Media Briefing — Council Chambers Office Of Mayor/City Council Preliminary Future Activities Calendar Please Note: Meetings are subject to change r i ati n' cpan; Tue. Dec. 31 12:00 p.m. Wed. Jan. 1 IMENIIMANIROENEMMOMMIM Fri. Jan. 3 11:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. INIMM11111111110111 MOM Mon. Jan. 6 10:00 a.m. Tue. Jan. 7 12:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. 6:00 m. Miscellaneous Issues TOM CITY OFFICES CLOSED MEINININNIA Police Promotion Ceremony Sister City Meeting Chief Willson Retirement Celebration City Council Media Briefing WINNOVANVIIII Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Adkison TBD Scheduled Event Open Scheduled Meeting Scheduled Event Adkison Open IMUSTAMIMMI Scheduled Meeting Holiday Inn CED Conference Room Station 95 Cawley Miscellaneous Issues City Council Executive Session City Council meeting IMINIMON Scheduled Meeting Scheduled Meeting Cawley, Adkison Council Scheduled Meeting Council Council Chambers TBD Council Chambers Council Chambers DRAFT PRELIMINARY FUTURE COUNCIL AGENDA January 14. 2014 10:00 a.m. Study Session — Council Chambers 1) City/County Growth Management Act; 2) Stormwater Master Plan and 3) Street Cuts January 21, 2014 (T) 5:00 p.m. Executive Session — Council Chambers 6:00 p.m. Business Meeting — Council Chambers • 2014 Strategic Plan • 2014 Business Plan • Five year financial plan update • Resolution authorizing Collective bargaining agreements with 911 call takers and dispatchers • Resolution authorizing Collective bargaining agreements with Teamsters Administration and Division Managers • Ordinance amending class and comp plan • Ordinance regarding street cuts 12/24/2013 10:17 AM