HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/01/1988 Business Meeting . 253
MARCH 1, 1988
BUSINESS MEETING /STUDY SESSION
1. ROLL CALL - - • .
The City Council met in session on this date at 2:00 P.M. in the
Council; Chambers of City Hall, Yakima, Washington.'. Mayor Pat •
Berndt, presiding,: Council members Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan,
Lynn Carmichael, Jerry Foy and Bernard Sims present on_roll call.
City Manager Zais, City-Attorney Vanek,:..City Clerk _Roberts and
Deputy City Clerk Toney also present. Council member Barnett absent
. and excused. ,
2. INVOCATION, .
The Pledge of. Allegiance was led by Council member
3. OPEN DISCUSSION FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER ..
City Manager Zais introduced and welcomed Kathy Coffey, the new
Director of the Yakima Visitors and Convention Center. Mrs. Coffey
greeted Council members and said she is very pleased to be back in
Yakima and is enthusiastically working on ,same goals for the
Convention Center.
.4.. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Anne Byerrum, representative of .,Allied Arts,. stated ._a needs
,. ,.assessment- survey is being : conducted by the Allied Arts.Council
under the financial support of .the Washington State. Art's • .
- Commission and asked the City Council to declare the group
. conducting the survey a.mayor's task force. The survey will assist
;in.determining what Yakima currently offers in the field of art
and :what can.be- done -to enrich the culture .and.leisure time of
Yakima residents. Mrs. Byerrum stated surveys .will.be mailed to
. citizens - .throughout the,.community, personal interviews will be
conducted with key business leaders, -a. needs assessment. survey
meeting and a public forum will also' be held to help determine
the, -needs for: the community. Council member Foy - commented he
received his — questionnaire .and thought it was extremely well
planned
received: will be of benefit in ascertaining the needs of the
community. Mrs. Byerrum commented some of the Council members may
. be called upon for a personal interview and .then she distributed a
questionnaire to each of them. Mayor Berndt expressed appreciation
to. Mrs. Byerrum, for the work she does. within the community to
provide a better place in to live. . .
Rick Linneweh, 4702 Richey Road, presented a status report on the
activities of the committee working to. retain the Council /Manager
form of ,government: He stated the efforts of the. committee have
included speaking to service .groups .and organizations throughout
the - community to educate :the citizens as•to the.shortcamings of
the proposal on which they will . be voting March 15th. Mr.
• Linneweh stated the. committee feels positive because citizens are
.recognizing. and appreciating action taken - by the City Council and
City Manager- over the. past 29.- years. He stated a stronger emphasis
. will. be placed on this particular issue over the next two weeks. .
.,He noted a yard sign campaign is currently underway .and many
. citizens have placed a sign in their -yard indicating support of
retaining the Council /Manager form of, government. He -asked City
- Glerk Roberts to distribute the yard signs to the Council members
for them to .place in. their yards.. . • .
Barbara Harris, 191 West Yakima Avenue, stated she .would like to
comment on the recent public hearing held regarding the, proposed
development -of MaryLou Borgert. Mayor Berndt interjected there is a
possibility that this issue may be coming before the City Council
sometime =in the future, therefore, Council members have; made an
effort not, to hear anymore testimony or comments about , this issue
than what has already been presented by, the news media. Mrs.
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Harris stated she just wanted to say that some of the testimony
presented during that hearing by various people was slanderous.
She stated the people making the remarks were appointed by the City
Council to serve on the various boards and commissions, and
indicated perhaps Council should screen their applicants. Council
member Beauchamp interjected that Mrs. Harris had been appointed'to
one of the Boards, therefore, .all of the appointments cannot be
considered poor judgement on the part of the City Council. Mrs.
Harris conceded to Council member Beauchamp's comment. Council
- member Carmichael pointed out to Mrs.' Harris that that was not a
hearing she had attended; it was a public meeting conducted by the
Director of Community & Economic Development for the purpose of
allowing public' input•regarding the proposed development. Mrs.
Carmichael emphasized it was not a formal session or hearing
format. She stated Council is hopeful that citizens of the
community will behave in an appropriate manner, but Council has no
control over comments made by residents of the community in
'situations such as this. Mrs. Carmichael' stated she has no more
knowledge about the situation than what has been reported by the
news media, however, if the issue comes before the Council, 'the
appropriate hearings will be held to allow an opportunity for
public testimony.
5. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SALE OF SURPLUS CITY
PROPERTY (TRANSIT BUSES)
Director of Public Works, Jerry Copeland, was present to review the
staff report and recommendation and respond to Council's inquiries
about the sale of the eight buses and spare parts. He stated the
buses are of no value to the City," and the market value is very
limited, therefore,' staff is requesting authorization to surplus
them. Council member Beauchamp asked how many buses the City will
' have in the fleet' if these are sold. Mr. Copeland stated he
believes there are 16 buses; 11 on regular bus routes, and the
others are kept for use when buses used in daily transit
operations are in the shop for repairs. The resolution having been
read' by City Clerk Roberts, it was MOVED by Buchanan, seconded by
Foy, to- approve the resolution. Unanimously carried by roll call
vote. Barnett absent. -
RESOLUTION NO. D -5438, A RESOLUTION declaring certain city -owned
transit coaches and spare parts surplus and - authorizing their
disposal.
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6. REPORT FROM - STAFF REGARDING PARKS BOND ISSUE SALE /REVIEW OF CIP
SCHEDULE FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND NEGOTIATION OF CONSULTANT
'CONTRACTS FOR CHESTERLEY PARK DEVELOPMENT, SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER.
ADDITION, RENOVATION OF FRANKLIN AND WASHINGTON POOLS'AND OTHER
PARK IMPROVEMENTS
Assistant City Manager Stouder stated the Public Works Department,
Engineering & Utilities Department, Finance Department and the
Community Development Department have been working together on the
professional design and engineering of these projects to insure
that the needs and expectations of the citizens are met. He
stated it is also important to note that the Parks "Yes"
Committee, the Parks and Recreation Commission, Special Citizens
Committee and special users groups are being.given an opportunity
to have input in the design stages of these projects. He
introduced John Rose of Seattle Northwest Securities Corporation to
address the issue of financing. Council member Beauchamp noted
there are two local contractors submitting proposals for the design
of these projects and inquired if there is some type of mechanism
in place to give the local contractors preference. 'City Attorney
Vanek comuented under state law the City is required to let the
contract to the lowest bidder. Council member Foy stated he
believes the Council can require the contractor to have a local
office. Mr. Vanek stated the primary purpose for that'tequirement
is to service the client as opposed to giving preference to a local
. firm. City Manager Zais stated Council has previously explored the
issue of purchasing new vehicles from local vendors and it was
determined that they (the local vendors) cannot compete with the
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state contract. However, he stated the City does purchase used
vehicles from local vendors. Council member Beauchamp ,stated if a
local'contractor can perform as well as a contractor outisde the
city, he believes the local should be given preference. Mr.
yanek stated -when considering bids., two .things, must be considered;
,1) you are not always required to bid professional services, and
2) when construction of those projects are being. being considered,
the City is bound by state law which indicates the.lowest. and most
responsible bidder comes into play. City Manager Zais stated
another aspect of the.state law is that price-is not the only
criteria by which one evaluates credentials, and it is not the sole
determinate by which selection is made. He stated staff members
reviewing these projects with Mr. Stouder are looking at all of the
aspects involved. Mr. Stouder stated the four areas given
consideration by staff include: 1) previous experience in this
type of project, 2) the individual assigned to do-the project, 3)
quality of proposal and 4) quality of the presentation.: He stated
-if all criteria is equal, the local firm will be.retained. City
• Manager Zais pointed out that this is an ambitious schedule and may
take longer to accomplish ,than anticipated. John Rose Seattle
Northwest Securities .Corporation, reviewed the staff.report and
responded to Council's inquiries. regarding, the sale -of the bonds.
• Mr. Rose stated he believes the sale of the bonds should start as
soon as possible. Council member, Sims asked Mr. Rose to comment
briefly on the role the bond counsel, the managing underwriter
and co- managing underwriter with regard to the 2.2 million dollar
bond issue. Mr. Rose stated the bond counsel.,acts As the City's
attorney in these matters, .i.e. preparation of the proposition
that went before, the voters, preparation. of the bond ordinance for
adoption by the City Council, and preparation of..the documents
showing the - City.. has complied with all federal tax laws so the
bonds can , be tax , exempt.. �He stated .for, the purpose:.of. marketing
the, bonds,, the.,. bond attorney signs his legal opinion. indicating
the bonds are. valid, and interest on the bonds is exempt from
federal,incoine taxes. The .bond- underwriter, purchases .the bonds
from the City at face value and, markets them at a higher value.
The bond underwriter. also works, with7City staff to- prepare the
marketing documents for the bonds, and with the City to obtain a
rating for the bonds. Mr. Rose stated, however, he does not feel a
bond rating is required at this time. When the bonds are ready to
sell, the bond underwriter , will purchase. the . bonds ..at . the current
interest rate, or at par in this instance. The co- managing
underwriter will play. a role in marketing the bonds,. and finding
orders for the bonds. Council member Sims requested clarification
on the expenses to the City and Mr. Rose explained this is
illustrated in Attachment E which lists the expense of the bond
counsel,, bond rating, •, bond printing,, bond registration, and
'' - official `• --statement-` .printing and, distribution, for a total of
$14,500. He stated the underwriting spread represents the current
estimate of the difference the City will be paid for the bonds and
-the priee the bonds• wi1 be offered to investors. Mr. Rose stated
under the proposed estimate they will be trying to market the bonds •
for 1.425%, and the difference will be shared between the manager
and co- manager. Council member Sims asked. what the. is to the
City and Mr.-- Rose the City.. will pay $14,500 from - the
proceeds of the bond issue. It was MOVED by Foy,. seconded by
Carmichael, to accept the report and authorize preparation of the
contracts for professional services as\ recanmended, and, authorize
the bond schedule. Option C. - Unanimously carried by voice vote.
Barnett absent. Council member Foy asked if the list of projects
will be brought back before the City Council to discuss
prioritization. Mr. Copeland stated the first four items were
identified and prioritized in the bond issue and the other
projects are items staff would like to see developed. He stated
the projects were reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Commission
and they made the recommendations presented today. Council member
Foy asked Mr. Copeland to schedule this on a future study session
so Council can review the list of projects for prioritization.
Council member Carmichael commented that Seattle Northwest
Securities Corporation has managed these types of issues for the
City in the past and has done an outstanding job, however, she
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wanted to point out that there will be a minority owned firm co-
Managing this effort. She thanked Seattle Northwest Securities
Corporation for their participation in this endeavor. Mayor Berndt
suggested Council schedule another luncheon meeting with the Parks
and Recreation Commission and discuss some of these issues. City
Manager Zais agreed that this would be an appropriate time to
schedule such a meeting. Council member Carmichael stated there
are 'a number of commissions with whom the Council has not yet had
an opportunity to meet and suggested reinstituting those luncheon •
meetings if other Council members are agreeable.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
None
Information Items:
Items"cf information supplied to Council were: Memorandum from • City'Clerk''Roberts regarding the 1987 Election Expenses, 2/24/88;
Letter from the Department of Ecology (responding to Assistant City
Manager Stouder's letter to DOE on 2/5/88) re Yakima River Basin
Enhancement Study; 2/9/8; Memorandum from Assistant City
Manager Stouder regarding the Economic Development Resource Team
(EDRT) meeting held February 11, 1988. 2/16/88. (The minutes of
the meeting are included.); Memorandum from Cable Communications
Coordinator, Bruce Eyles, regarding Municipal Productions Completed
and In Progress, 2/17/88; Letter from Richard L. Berkley,
• President of U.S. Conference of Mayors, Pamela P. Plumb, President
of National League of Cities, and Harvey, Ruvin, President of
National' Association of Counties, regarding National Community
Development Week, April 2 -9, 1988; Agenda for 'the March 3, 1988
Downtown Redevelopment Committee (DARC) Meeting, and Minutes
of the'November 5, 1987 DARC Meeting;* Agenda for the February
24, 1988 Yakima District Board of Health Meeting, and Minutes of
the January 20,.1§88 - Yakima District Board of Health Meeting; and
Agenda for the Yakima Housing Authority Meeting, and Minutes of the
January 27, 1988 Yakima Housing Authority Meeting.
8. ADJOURNMENT -
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There'being no further business to cone before the Council, it was
MOVED by Beauchamp, seconded by Carmichael,` that this meeting be
adjourned at the hour of 2:45 p.m. Unanimously carried by voice
vote. Barnett absent.
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE B
10ER ) - • i'TE
• __ 4L a t4 ,
ATTEST: C• ' I ' i MBER A, 1'' T
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KAREN S. ROBERTS, CITY CLERK, CMC PATRICIA A. BE DT, MAYOR
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MINUTES PREPARED BY t j !,l • �. �.�
BARBARA J. • , DEPUTY 17 TY CLERK
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