HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/21/2007 Special Meeting / Study Session 10
SPECIAL MEETING / STUDY SESSION
AUGUST 21, 2007
8:00 - 9:30 A.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS - YAKIMA CITY HALL
1. RoII CaII
Present:
Council: Mayor Pro Tem Neil McClure, presiding, Council Members Ron
Bonlender, Micah Cawley, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, and Susan
Whitman
Staff: City Manager Zais and City Clerk Moore
Absent: Dave Edler (excused)
The two subjects were covered in reverse order, starting with the Kiwanis Park update.
2. Review of Dog License Fees and Revenues
Council Member Bonlender shared his reasoning on the benefits of reducing dog
licensing fees. He estimates that currently, only 20 % -25% of the dogs in the city
are being licensed and he believes it is because the fees are too high. Yakima's
dog license fees are near the highest in the nation. We require voluntary
compliance as we don't have the capability to enforce our fees, especially the
renewal fees. He feels we would increase volunteer participation and generate the
same amount of revenue, or more, by reducing the fee. He is suggesting reducing
the fees from $30/$15 (unaltered /altered) to $10/$5. He also suggested
guaranteeing one free trip home for a dog found rather than taking them to the
animal shelter.
Ben Zigan, City Animal Control Officer, described the process they go through
when they find a dog loose. If the dog does not have a license, it is considered
stray and is taken to the shelter. If the dog has a license, they deliver it home
saving the amount of time necessary to book the dog into the shelter. If they pick
up an unlicensed stray and can find where it lives, they will take it home and
instruct the owner to license the animal. They will do a follow -up later. Council
Member Lover wanted assurance that reducing the fee would not reduce revenue.
He also suggested looking into pet owner licenses rather than animal licenses
commenting that people are easier to track than animals.
Alan Lanvoy, Director of the Humane Society in Yakima, explained their process
when animals are brought in by Animal Control. They are held for 48 hours, after
which they become the property of the Humane Society. They go through a four -
step process trying to either adopt them out, transfer them to Seattle, or find foster
care, before ultimately having to euthanize them. As of June 1 they have started
micro - chipping every animal they adopt out. He agreed that lowering fees may be
an incentive for more people to license, but he would like to see people micro -chip
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SPECIAL MEETING — AUGUST 21, 2007
theft dogs as well. The bigger picture is that there are way too many animals in
Yakima County and cats have become a big problem. It is more important to him
and his staff that animals be spayed or neutered. He would like to see the fee for
altered animals go down and the fee for unaltered to go up significantly. His goal
would be to put a dent in the animal over - population problem and lower the
euthanization rates. The statistics show that the responsible people who have their
pets altered are the ones who also have them licensed. They would like to see
licensing tied to micro - chipping.
After more general discussion on the topic, Council members suggested a group
investigate many of the ideas that came up; e.g. pet owner licensing, micro -
chipping, fee levels, etc. JOHNSON MOVED AND CAWLEY SECONDED TO
ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE WITH INDIVIDUALS FROM CODES, ANIMAL
CONTROL, THE HUMANE SOCIETY AND TWO OR THREE COUNCIL
MEMBERS AND REPORT BACK BY BUDGET TIME. Animal control will set the
meeting dates. Council members to be on the committee will be Ron Bonlender,
Bill Lover and Susan Whitman. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote; Edler
absent.
3. Kiwanis Park — Current Status and Future Development
Council Member Lover had requested this update of Kiwanis park development
due to the number of citizen calls he received following the posting of the SEPA
Review sign at the park.
Denise Nichols, Parks and Recreation Manager, gave a power point presentation
on the history of the project. In 1999, Kiwanis Park had three outdated fields on
approximately twenty acres. From 1999 to 2006, we started acquiring property
with service club partnerships with a goal of twelve lighted fields. The project
started moving forward in 1999 with the sale of the Larson Park tennis courts to
Yakima Valley Community College. The money from that sale was earmarked for
replacement ball fields. With $120,000 donation from the service clubs, and an
IAC grant for an equal amount, they purchased the first acreage to begin the
expansion. Mrs. Nichols described the steps taken and the development of a
master plan with new goals. Groundbreaking was in July 2003 and the actual
development began. They received money for a fourth ball field and construction
began in June of 2006. From the start, the concept was to use lower Kiwanis for
league tournament play and develop the upper area as a neighborhood sports park
serving the east side community. They purchased five parcels with plans for many
amenities. In addition, they wanted to add three or four youth softball fields. This
year, a SEPA checklist for the removal of the incinerator received community
opposition and the decision was made to leave it as it stands. Keeping the
structure does not interfere with the plans for the park. Upper Kiwanis
redevelopment is scheduled to get underway with the skate park in late fall 2007,
once the IAC funding and the bid process is completed. They hope to complete
the first phase of the skate park early next year, and finish the remainder of the
upper Kiwanis area in 2008 and 2009. Because of the continued rise in
construction costs, the current funding will not complete the park development.
Yakima's service groups have a strong desire to continue development of a
recreational corridor along 1 -82, but future funding is unknown.
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SPECIAL MEETING - AUGUST 21, 2007
Discussion following the presentation covered the following points:
• Skate park details
• Service club funding described by Greg Luring.
• Service club dreams for the future of Kiwanis Park _
• The need to mitigate the pond
• Community support
• The need for girls fast pitch ball fields by Gene Rostvold
• Economic benefits
Council Member Lover mentioned that citizens involved with historic preservation
had expressed concern with the incinerator and the ten acres that includes the
pond. He expects them to get involved to protect the pond. Lynne Quesenbury
supplied research information on the pond. In 1954 the City deeded several pieces
of property, including the ten acre site, over to the Metropolitan Park District (MPD)
for use as a public park. In 1970 it came back to the City as a park.
DOG LICENSING ISSUE
4. Audience comments (9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.)
Included in the discussion.
5. Adjournment
CAWLEY MOVED AND WHITMAN SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO AUGUST 28,
2007 AT 11:00 A.M. AT THE YAKIMA CONVENTION CENTER, BOARD ROOM,
FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION REGARDING PERSONNEL. The motion carried
by unanimous voice vote; Edler absent. The meeting adjourned at 9:40 a.m.
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY l
24/4/l N L /z a'
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
CO , NCIL ME DATE
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK CLERK NEIL McCLURE, MAYOR PRO TEM
Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A DVD of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office
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