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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/17/99 TAPE #1597 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 17, 1999 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Bremerton was called to order in the City Council Chambers, 239 4th Street, Bremerton, Washington, Wednesday, February 17, 1999, at 5:30 P.M., with Council President Mike Shepherd presiding. Council members present were Jim Reed, Carlos Montgomery, Carol Arends, David Farr, Lon Overson, John Law, Cecil McConnell, and Wayne Olsen. Also present were City Attorney Glenna Malanca, Deputy City Clerk Paula Johnston, and Legislative Assistant Lori Smith. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Shepherd and invocation given by Council member Carol Arends. President Shepherd made the following announcements: (1) The City Council held a Study Session, prior to the Council meeting, 5:05 - 5:25 P.M., in the Council Conference Room, to discuss the "6-Month Review of the Diamond Parking Contract"; (2) The City Council will hold a 20-minute Executive Session immediately following the Council meeting, in the Council Conference Room, to discuss "Potential Litigation"; and (3) The next City Council meeting would be held Tuesday, February 23, 1999 due to Council members attending the AWC conference in Olympia on Wednesday. CONSENT AGENDA A. Minutes of Meeting - February 3, 1999 #AB99-026 B. Paging Contract with Arch Paging for Citywide Use #AB99-027 C. Interlocal Agreement between the City of Bremerton #AB99-028 and Kitsap Transit for Reimbursable Work D. Master Agreement for Signal Maintenance with #AB99-029 the City of Bremerton and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) #0057 M/S/C (McConnell/Montgomery) Motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Vote on motion: In Favor: Law, McConnell, Olsen, Reed, Montgomery, Arends, Farr, Shepherd Abstain: Overson Motion carried. TAPE #1597 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes February 17, 1999 Page 2 of 5 CLAIMS/CHECK REGISTERS Vouchers audited and certified by the auditing officer as required by RCW 42.24.080, and those expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090 have been recorded on a listing that had been made available to the Council. #0076 M/S/C/U (Montgomery/Arends) On February 17, 1999, the Council does approve for payment those vouchers included and further described as follows: 227999 through 228071 in the amount of $356,470.34. COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS Mr. Montgomery provided a report on the last District 6-7-8 meeting, which was well attended, and thanked Acting-Police Chief Forbes for his presentation. He addressed citizen concerns about the $309,000 reportedly spent for fluoride equipment, and clarified that $110,000 was not used because the work had not yet been completed. He reported that some of the equipment was actually installed and water-tested, but no fluoride chemicals were purchased or used. He pointed out that there are other uses for the equipment purchased, in addition to the possibility of selling the equipment. Several offers have already been received from other companies, so a certain portion of the remaining money will be recovered. Lastly, he reported that both the briefing given by the Commercial Group, as well as newspaper articles on the Sinclair Landing project have reported inaccurately that the City Council has been holding up the project, which disturbs him. He stated that the Council has yet to receive a valid proposal to review. He feels there is a lot of misinformation being given to the public. Mrs. Arends thanked all those who attended the District 6-7-8 meeting held last Thursday, with special thanks to Councilmen Farr and Montgomery, as well as Mrs. Downey, for providing cookies. She pointed out that many residents of District 7 lost power for a few hours yesterday, and how grateful she was to have it restored quickly. Mr. Farr apologized to those who attended the District 6-7-8 meeting for leaving the meeting early, but he was not feeling well. He reported on one suggestion received to use the full name of "Lulu D. Haddon Park" as the official name of the new park, in honor of a former community leader. He also addressed the recent articles regarding Sinclair Landing, and asked everyone to give it time, not prejudge, and to give it a chance to work. He also pointed out that a negative editorial recently in the paper was written by a person who has never even attended any of the meetings held on the Sinclair Landing project. He asked the people not to give up on the project. Mr. Overson also addressed the concerns regarding the Sinclair Landing Project. He reported on his attendance at several meetings recently where this issue was discussed, and he summarized the results by saying there are a lot of people working very hard for the betterment of the City. He assured the public that the Council was also working very diligently on solutions to all the concerns, and even though this will be time consuming and challenging, he believed progress would be seen. TAPE #1597 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes February 17, 1999 Page 3 of 5 Mr. Law reported on the District 3 meeting held last night, and stated it was a good turn out, with lots of good questions asked. He thanked Municipal Judge James Docter and Mike McCluskey, with the Home Detention Program, for their presentations. He also addressed Sinclair Landing, and felt this was not the time to get into a big discussion with too many things "in the air". Mr. McConnell responded to the many questions being raised by the public. He explained that the City has three branches of government (Legislative, Administrative, and Judicial) and the Council only has jurisdiction over Legislative issues. He further explained that questions would take time to be answered, because a process is in place, which must be followed to get all questions to the appropriate department. Mr. Olsen announced the next District 1 & 2 meeting scheduled for February 18, 1999 was cancelled, and has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 15, 1999, with time and location to be announced at a later date. He reminded the public that the Sinclair Landing project was a public as well as private enterprise, and the Council only has control over the public side. He assured the citizens that they would be informed as soon as they are informed, and reminded the public this was a whole new way of doing business. He believed the City would see a Sinclair Landing, but it would just take time. President Shepherd attended the reception hosted by Todd Shipyard at the Admiral Theater last night, and stated he was excited to see new business come to the area. He reassured the public that the Council is 100% behind Sinclair Landing, and the Mayor will address this issue in detail at a later time. MAYOR'S REPORT Discussed her recent trip to San Diego, where she had the opportunity to view some new developments in the area, such as "Horton Plaza", a very successful mall where the developers successfully combined community space with a retail and entertainment environment. She also announced the City of Bremerton was a co-sponsor, as well as hosting a booth at the Home & Garden Show this year, to be held March 19-21 at the Kitsap Pavilion. $1.00-0ff admission coupons are available here tonight, or in the Mayor's office. She reported that she too, attended the reception held last night, and welcomed Todd Shipyard. Lastly, she reported that she attend the Puget Rental Operators meeting along with Acting Police Chief Forbes and Officer Wendy Davis, to talk about a program currently being worked on to offer training for landlords and property owners. Once a landlord or property owner completes the training program, they will receive a trademark designation to display, which will represent that their tenants are properly screened, the property received an "environmental safety survey", and a "safety check" was done on the property itself. Anyone interested can call the Mayor's office at 478-5266, or Officer Davis in the Police Department. Patrick McDonald from TCI was in attendance tonight to introduce the new General Manager for TCI Bremerton. Ms. Jo Webster stated that she was honored to be here TAPE #1597 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes February 17, 1999 Page 4 of 5 to meet the Council, and was pleased to be a part of the Bremerton Community. She reported that she has been with TCI for about seven years, and is very familiar with TCI and all their operations. She briefly addressed the Bremerton re-build, stating quite a bit of progress is being made, and the project is on tract to meet the deadlines spelled out in the franchise agreement. Mr. Olsen asked when was the deadline to bring the cable over? He also inquired about the high speed Internet modem. Mr. McDonald responded the aim is for 75% of Bremerton to be completed by August of this year, which will allow TCI to extend the 8- year franchise to a 1 O-year franchise. He stated they are looking at how the high speed Internet service can be offered in this area. Mr. Law wanted to clarify if 75% of the system will be upgraded, or 75% of the customers will be upgraded; and when will the customers be able to get the additional channels without paying for the extra box. Mr. McDonald explained the franchise states 75% of home past, or customers activated; and the "digital cable service" would provide additional channels to the expanded basic line-up. He stated when the 16 additional channels are added in the City of Bremerton, there would be some cost adjustment for the new service. In addition, the reduced price for basic service for senior, low-income citizens would still be available. Mr. Law stated that it would be a service to the senior citizens to advertise this discount. LEGISLATIVE REPORT It was reported that a list of questions, submitted by Del Knauss at last weeks meeting, has been delivered to the Mayor. She will distribute those questions to the appropriate department for response. A letter from Gene Sampley, Director of Public Works & Utilities was provided to Mr. Virgil Elkinton in response to his concerns about funds spend on fluoridation equipment. It was reported that copies of this letter are available to anyone who would also like to request a copy. PUBLIC RECOGNITION Susan Brown stated her opinion that the last few Council meetings, even without any "New Business" items have contained very valuable conversations between the public and the Council. She asked for an update on the Ethics Committee, and when would the next Study Session be scheduled. She believes there are severe "holes" in the State law, and whether it is addressing the issues brought to Council in the past year. She stated she would be bringing these issues, one at a time, beginning next week. Ms. Malanca stated that she would have an answer next week. Gordy Byrd raised questions about a Consent Agenda item he did not hear Council include in their motion; and also questioned the TCI and AT&T merger. President Shepherd explained the Consent Agenda items are merely routine, low-level detail items, which are thoroughly discussed at prior Study Sessions; and regarding the merger, he explained thousands of people from both companies, including those present tonight, would be involved in the merger, if it takes place. TAPE #1597 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes February 17, 1999 Page 5 of 5 Empire Adams also questioned the TCI merger with AT&T; and the source of funding for the Sinclair Landing Project. President Shepherd responded that due to the TCI contract with the City, the City was advised about the proposed merger some time ago, which City Council voted to support. He also explained that Federal money is only being allocated to the Transit Center portion of the Sinclair Landing Project. Kenneth Johnson described his concerns about the lighting problems at Lions Field; and also addressed a problem he was having getting a problem fixed by TCI. Wendy Jobe expressed her frustration at the lack of updated information on the Sinclair Landing Project, and suggested a web page on the Internet. Roy Mclnnis raised additional concerns about the Sinclair Landing Project, and what he perceives as "misinformation" being provided. Paul Drnjevic reiterated his questions asked at the February 3, 1999 City Council meeting: 1) Has the fluoridation equipment been installed; and 2) Has it been pressure tested. Mr. Montgomery stated these two questions were answered during his "Council Report" earlier in the meeting. He also provided a copy of the memo from Gene Sampley, Director of Public Works, which was written to Mr. Elkinton, to provide him additional information on this same subject. Chris Bell thanked Mr. Montgomery for his concise and thorough report on the fluoride issue. He also complimented the City Parks Department. In response to the questions being asked about public-private partnerships, he suggested the book "The Art of the Deal" which explains the developer's side very well. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 6:37 P.M. City of Bremerton P J/MS/Is C: Normal Distribution File