HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/05/94 COUNCIL
APPROVED
JAN 6 199,
TAPE %1165 UNAPPROVED DRAFT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUIB, RY 5, 1994
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, January 5, 1994, at 5:30 P.M.,
with Council President Eileen Fitz presiding. Council members
present were Sherril Nuff-Menees, A1 Colvin, Richard Neville,
Morrie Dawkins, Bob Winters, Lon Overson, John Law. Also present
were City Attorney Ian Sievers and City Clerk Kathleen McCluskey.
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council
President Fitz and Invocation given by Reverend Richard C. Axmann
of First Baptist Church of Bremerton.
President Fitz introduced three new City Council members, John Law
- District #3, Sherril Huff-Menees - District #7, and John Winters
- District #9. Council will hold a Study Session on Tuesday,
January 11, 5:30 P.M., to interview seven candidates who have
applied for Council District #6 position.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Minutes of Meeting -- December 8, 1993 #AB94-001
B. Minutes of Meeting -- December 15, 1993 #AB94-002
#0079 M/S/C(Neville/Colvin) to approve the Consent Agenda as presented.
Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Fitz, Dawkins,
Colvin
Abstain: Law, Huff-Menees, Winters
C[4%IMS/WB~Rl~/%NT 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.
%0098 M/S/C/U(Colvin/Dawkins) on January 5, 1994, the Council does
approve for payment those vouchers included and further described
as follows: Regular Payroll for the period 12/31/93, in the total
amount of $568,468.61.
ELECTION OF CITY COUNCIL OFFICERS
President FitZ opened nominations for the position of City Council
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President: Mr. OYmrson nominated Eileen Fitz.
#0155 M/S/C/(Colvin/Neville) to cast a unanimous ballot for Eileen Fitz
as President of the Bremerton City Council.
Vote on motion: In Favor: Law, Nuff-Menees, Dawkins, Colvin,
Winters, Overson, Neville
Abstain: Fitz
Motion carried.
President Fitz opened nominations for the position of City Council
Vice President: Mr. Overson nominated Morrie Dawkins.
#0210 M/S/C(Neville/Overson) to cast a unanimous ballot for Morrie
Dawkins as city Council Vice President.
Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Huff-Menees, Colvin,
Winters, Fitz, Law
Abstain: Dawkins
President Fitz opened nominations for the position of Mayor Pro
Tem: Mr. Overson nominated Morrie Dawkins.
#0244 M/S/C(Law/Colvin) to cast a unanimous ballot for Morrie Dawkins as
Mayor Pro Tem.
Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Huff-Menees, Law,
Fitz, Colvin, Winters
Abstain: Dawkins
#0283 M/S/C/U(Dawkins/Overson) to surplus the green chair that was used
by Councilman C.R. "Tiny" Collins during his tenure as City
Councilman, District #7, and declare that it has no value to the
City.
COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS
Mr. Overson ~tated he felt the new year had ~tarted off rather well
with welcome breaks of sunshine along with the rain showers.
Mr. Neville welcomed the new City Council members. Me was pleased
that so far this winter that there has not been any snow.
Mr. Law thanked the voters in District #3 for putting him on the
Council. The first of monthly Council District #3 (Manette area)
meetings will commence Tuesday, January 18, 7:00 P.M., at the
Senior Center located on Nipsic Street.
Mrs. Huff-Menees thanked the voters in District #7, who supported
her being elected to this position. And, she thanked Tiny Collins
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for his support, encouragement and valuable information passed on
to her.
Mr. Dawkins stated knowing that some tough decisions would be
coming up, he somewhat envied the retirement of Council members
Russ Johnson, Tiny Collins and Hank Waibel.
Mr. Colvin seconded the words given in the invocation wishing the
City Council "peace, wisdom, tolerance and a cooperative attitude".
He congratulated Mayor Horton and offered his cooperation to do
what is best for the City and its citizens. And, he welcomed the
three new City Council members. District #l's Neighborhood
coalition meeting will be held on Thursday, January 20, 7:00 P.M.,
at the Sheridan Recreation Center. Mayor Horton will bring a
challenge to District #1 during that meeting.
Mr. winters stated he was slightly disappointed that no one ran
against him for Council District #9, and he would like to know why
there was no competition. He thanked his parents, his brothers and
their families for their encouragement to him to take on this
endeavor. And, he sent a special message of love and appreciation
to his new wife and son. He thanked the voters of District #9 for
their support and encouragement and asked that they call him with
issues and concerns. He hopes to schedule a District #9
Neighborhood meeting in February.
Mrs. Fitz welcomed the new Council members and she is also looking
forward to the selection of the new member from Council District
#6, which will then make a full Council. On this date she attended
the Kitsap Regional Planning Council (KRPC) meeting where the loss
of KITZ Radio was discussed. Effort is underway to find some other
emergency media, in the event of a disaster, to service the Kitsap
County area. Mayor Horton and Councilman Huff-Menees also attended
that meeting. The KRPC will be facing some very difficult issues
in the coming months relating to Transit, Board Of Health, CenCom
and Regional Planning Council.
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Mayor Lynn Horton welcomed the new City Council members and thanked
Mr. Dawkins for surplusing Tiny Collins' old chair and she agreed
that it had no value to the City. During her first three days as
Mayor, she held a successful Department Head meeting where she
shared her own personal philosophy, as well as some of Council's
philosophies. She shared with the Department Heads the importance
of establishing good communications between the City Council and
the Administration. She emphasized that Council members are to
have free access to any information in the Administration other
than things that are of a confidential nature or voluminous in
nature. If additional information is needed on a specific issue,
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she asked that she be contacted. Some of the short tezm things she
will be working on are: (1) establishment of Neighborhood Councils
that would be used as a communications link between the City and
the neighborhoods. Neighborhoods do not stop at residential areas
and she intends to encompass the whole City, which means including
commercial as well. (2) Development of a newsletter to be
published quarterly and possibly distributed along with the Park's
Department activity brochure. (3) Locating resource centers in
various parts of the city. She hopes 1994 will be a very
productive year and she's looking forward to sharing good
discussions with the Council.
Ruth Davie, Park Avenue, stated she was pleased to hear Mr. Winters
and Mr. Law state they would do what they were elected to do.
However, in her opinion a Council member's job is to represent
their constituents and to vote on issues reflecting the
wants/wishes of the people within their district. She felt every
Councilman should provide a newsletter to their district monthly or
bi-monthly.
Gord¥ Byrd, P.O. Box 930, shared that recently he was suffering
from grief after the loss of a very close friend who had pass away.
He wanted people to be aware that Hospice, Crisis Clinic, Harrison
Hospital, Kitsap Mental Health and Olympic College offer grief
counseling. As of this date he had collected $14,456.66 towards
his shelter for the homeless.
Shannon Cook extended a "welcome" to the new City Council members.
Mary Lou Long, Baymont Place, welcomed the new members to the
Council and echoed the comments made by Ruth Davie that there is a
group of people elected to represent their district that are
showing a responsible, aggressive move to communicate and obtain
information from their constituents. She warned the new Council
members that a great deal of pressure will be brought upon them by
the Administration to have a unified voice that at times can be in
great conflict with the feelings from their constituents.
President Fitz announced Items 6A and 6B had been pulled off the
Agenda for one week.
7A - PURCHASE OF SALVATION ARMY SITE, 138 WASHINGTON AVENUE, AND
ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 2452 AUTHORIZING FINANCING, #AB94-005
The same appraisal in the recent sale approval of City properties
at Warren Avenue & 17th, and 15th & Broadway appraised the
Salvation Army site at $165,000.00. A letter of January 15, 1993,
from the Washington Department of General Administration, acting
for Olympic College, addressed an interest by the Bremer Trust in
offering the Salvation Army Building at 138 Washington Avenue for
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sale at this price.
Staff has discussed purchase of the Salvation Army Building with
the Parks Commission in order to consolidate publicly owned parcels
in the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area controlled by the
Parks and Recreation Department. The Parks Department will
ultimately demolish the Salvation Army Building.
This purchase will enlarge Park assets on the waterfront and
especially with frontage on Washington Avenue, will enhance the
value of the total parcel for resale to developers who can meet the
City's redevelopment objectives.
Mr. Law stated he was pleased to have this eyesore removed. He was
not sure how many people were aware that the subject building was
being accessed by the homeless through a small opening. Should
there have been a fire, there would have been no way for anyone
inside to exit the building.
Mayor Morton pointed out the Parks and Recreation Commission voted
unanimously to support the proposal. Additionally, the City has
worked in a joint effort with many community organizations and
private entities on the Leland Study and this site is listed in
that analysis as a continuation of the waterfront and an intrical
part of the Bremerton Lumber site.
Public comment - none.
Mr. Overson pointed out the Parks and Recreation Commission is not
a part of the City's budgetary process and their recommendation is
ok, but a financial decision is the City Council's responsibility.
He questioned if there were any environmental concerns on the site?
Ian 8ievers, City Attorney, stated the property was subject to
Phase I Environmental that identified asbestos in several areas
within the building. Rich McDonald, Property Manager of the Bremer
Trust, discussed his plans for removing the asbestos insulation
from the building prior to demolition. The Engineers identified
the location of an underground fuel tank, which can have far
reaching environmental impacts due to leakage from the tank and
soils that need to be cleaned up, disposed of and monitored. The
City experienced a similar problem at the Warren Avenue site, which
was recently sold to Olympic College. These sales are mirror
images in that the seller takes the responsibility for any
environmental problems. The City has already taken care of the
pollution at the Warren Avenue site and will continue to monitor
the site as the College remodels and utilizes that facility. This
agreement calls for removal of asbestos and to develop a plan to
take care of the underground tank and any associated leakage
problems to the satisfaction of the City prior to closing. He felt
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everything possible was done to protect the City by setting up a
blanket indemnity clause in the sale agreements. The Attorney
General's Office, who advises the College, was somewhat surprised
with the inclusion of the indemnity clause and didn't want to enter
into that agreement. Mr. Sievers informed them that was the
arrangement with the original Roosevelt Field transaction, and that
it was a compromise that saves both parties money at the
transaction time rather than getting to the point where the risk is
conveyed to the seller. The immediate plan for the building is
demolition by the City at an estimated cost of $35,000.
Mr. Overson asked for a short and long term plan for this facility
folded in with borrowing between City funds. Carol Dickinson,
Development Manager, explained the short term development plan is
to purchase the Salvation Army site and demolish the existing
building. The long te~m plan for the site is to fold it into the
redevelopment of the waterfront properties owned by the City, which
will be redeveloped in some combination with the adjacent property
owners. The intent is to open up the view corridors from downtown
to the waterfront and provide a handicapped accessibility from
Washington Avenue down to the waterfront yet preserve the integrity
of Second Street. Rich Hanna, City Treasurer, explained the
Roosevelt Field Trust Fund would be the fund acquiring the property
from the College. The short term goal is to expand the current
surface parking presently on the Bremerton Lumber site
with the long term goal being a higher and better use. Financing
would be arranged through the interfund loan, which lends money
from the Equipment Rental Reserve Fund to the Roosevelt Capital
Asset Fund that would allow both the purchase and demolition. That
funding arrangement does not include whatever cost may be required
to expand the parking concession. The Resolution calls for
repayment of the interfund loan over a term of 10 years, which
would minimize the impact of cash flow of the Roosevelt Trust Fund.
Mr. Overson questioned the City borrowing $100,000 to support
purchasing the property and then $50,000 is borrowed to repay the
interfund loan. He questioned what interfund was being repaid by
the $50,000? Mr. Hanna stated prior to closing on the purchase of
the subject site, he would disDerse an interfund loan from the
Equipment Rental Reserve Fund to the Roosevelt Capital Assets Fund
in the amount of $150,000, which together with cash currently
available in the Roosevelt Trust Fund would for the purchase of the
site. The first installment on that loan would be made on December
31, 1994, and would represent some portion of that money together
with interest earnings coming back to the Equipment Rental Reserve
Fund. Mr. Overson questioned how did the annual income of the
present Roosevelt Field Replacement Fund compare with the payback
of the interfund loan? Mr. Hanna stated the parking concession is
generating a positive cash flow on the order of $8,000 per month
and the amortization schedule over a 10-year period should be
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easily within the ability of the current parking concession. Mr.
Overson stated for clarification that a large portion of the fund
would go towards purchasing additional property that is not related
to recreational property. Mr. H&nn& stated in the immediate
context Mr. Overson's statement is correct. However, the long term
intention is that this property will produce a stream of income
through future years that will finance the acquisition of other
recreation facilities elsewhere in the community. Mr Ore.son
stated according to the Leland Study, it is proposed that this area
be combined with additional property to develop a significant site.
He questioned if anyone was looking at the enlarged site and if so,
is that organization prepared to purchase the site? Ms. Dickinson
stated the City is in the process of working with other property
owners and civic organizations in the community to develop a
redevelopment plan that can be offered up publicly to a developer,
who will come in an produce a development consistent with what is
wanted in te£ms of uses on the site, rate of return desired and to
meet our development conditions. Part of the reason for doing the
Leland Study and taking a holistic look at the waterfront property
is so the City could benefit from long term development rather than
just selling off the property. Mr. Overso~ stated he felt this
proposal was incomplete in that staff had not provided a plan for
bringing the site up to the point that it could be income producing
property. Based on that point, he could not support the proposal as
presented.
Mr. Colvin questioned the balance of the Roosevelt Field Trust
Fund, including interest earned? MN. H&n~a reminded everyone that
the City did not receive any financial consideration for the bulk
of the sale of Roosevelt Field...a property for property exchange.
Mr. Colvin questioned the long term use of the Roosevelt Field
Trust Fund? I&n Sievers, city Attorney, stated according to the
terms of the ordinance, the primary purpose of the Trust Fund is to
replace those recreational needs served by Roosevelt Field. This
proposal is part of a long range plan to make up a conversion,
either with a sale or long term lease, of all of these assets which
are deposited in that fund in lieu of cash, and then to use that
larger amount of money to do something significant to replace that
recreation use. Mayor Horton stated if Council wishes something
done with the subject site in the short term, then that needs to be
conveyed to the Administration. The parcel will be looked at in
the aggregate, not as two single properties. By landscaping the
upper portion of the property, additional parking will be allowed
on the lower portion thereby increasing the short term value of
both pieces of property. Long term is the same way, the aggregate
of the two will add to the overall value of the lower piece of
property. All the income revenue from both pieces of property will
go into the Roosevelt Field replacement fund. Mr. Colvi~ stressed
the importance of not losing sight that Roosevelt Field fund was
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set up for recreation.
Vioki Vanneman, Parks and Recreation Director, stated the Park
Commission has worked during this past year to establish a draft
Roosevelt Field Replacement Plan, which will involve acquisition of
some adjacent properties to existing parks, some proposed joint
development projects with the Bremerton School District on School
District properties. A sub-committee of the Parks Commission will
be meeting with School District representatives next week to talk
through the Commission's thoughts on potential replacement projects
that would address softball use, soccer and downtown open
opportunities for the citizens. The Parks Commission worked with
the City Treasurer to recommend to Council a reasonable repayment
of the subject loan in order to maintain some money in the fund
that could be used for the real short term replacement projects.
They recognized the need to maximize the property downtown, which
may be the key to parks development in the future, but they also
wanted the opportunity to have the ability to make some park
improvements and recreational opportunity improvements in the short
term.
Mr. Dawk~ns stated the documentation indicates the Parks Department
will handle the demolition of the building. He questioned if the
Parks Department had the expertise to carry out. that work? Ms.
Vanneman stated the intent of the statement was to indicate
financial responsibility for the demolition, not the actual tearing
down of the building. Mr. Dawkins pointed out the involvement of
16 agencies in the demolition process.
Mr. Law questioned the average income per parking space and how
much revenue would the City be gaining with the 25 additional
parking spaces? Mr. Hanna stated a reasonable estimate would be at
least $3.00 per day seven days per week. Mr. Law questioned the
time frames for demolition completion and site preparation for
parking? Mr. Hanna stated there are no time lines due to the
complexity of the permitting process. The City's engineers have
not yet surveyed the building to determine how the demolition might
best be carried out. He believed the intent of the Administration
would be to ready the site so that additional income could be
generated. Mr. Law stated earlier he had asked staff if there
would be any impact to the adjacent building foundation with the
demolition of the salvation Army building and he was assured that
was being addressed by the staff.
#2367 M/S/C/U(Overson/Law) to authorize the Mayor to enter into a
Purchase Agreement with Olympic College to purchase the Salvation
Army site as an asset of the Roosevelt Capital Asset Fund and adopt
Resolution No. 2452 for interfund loan to Roosevelt Capital Assets
Fund; and require staff to bring a proposal to turn the site into
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a parking project before the end of January, and a portion of that
parking be dedicated to support the boardwalk; and to adhere to the
original Roosevelt Field Ordinance.
Mr. overson pointed out over six years ago an Urban Renewal Plan
was adopted to renew downtown, however, not much has happened in
that time period. He emphasized the numbers of years of planning
for the Pendergast Regional Park, the additional 18 hole golf
course expansion at Gold Mountain, and the Public Works Complex.
He emphasized there is no short-term for the City when it comes to
turning these things around and that was why something needs to be
done in the short term that takes care of the long term; and to
dedicate some of that parking to support the boardwalk.
Mar~ Lou Long questioned if the City views the Salvation Army
buildings as being a hazardous building and one that vagrants have
broken into, does the City have the authority to require the owner
of the property to demolish the building, thereby saving the
taxpayers money? Don Pratt, Director Of Community Development,
stated he is responsible for supervising administration of the
City's Building Code. Under the Dangerous Building Code, the City
can require property owners to abate problems in buildings. Owners
of property would have options before they would be forced to tear
a building down, as long as they remove any threat to public
health, safety and welfare. He was not aware that anyone had
broken into the vacant Salvation Army building and he suspected
some of the discussion during this meeting was a little
exaggerated. The city had not received any complaints on the
building nor have they inspected the building, but would do so the
next day now that he is aware of possible problems. Mrs. Long
questioned if the original purchase of Roosevelt Field by Olympic
College was done by a trade of property, is the fund that builds up
generated strictly by the parking fees collected by the College for
the use of that field and is there an account of that money to
date? Mr. Hanna explained when the City traded Roosevelt Field for
the Bremerton Lumber site there was some cash included because the
value of the two properties were not identical. From that time,
the revenue accruing to the Roosevelt Trust Fund has come from two
sources: (1) operation of the parking concession and interest
earned on invested funds. To date, the original properties have
been improved by demolition of the old Bremerton Lumber structures
and the only other expenditures have been the Diamond contract, who
actually operates of the parking concession on a day-to-day basis,
and participating in the Leland Study. Mrs. Long requested an
accounting, as of this date, of funds in the Roosevelt Field
Replacement Fund. The community has not been given a specific date
when they can expect to see a replacement for the loss of Roosevelt
Field. Parks facilities within the City are being deteriorated or
diminished without any particular time frame when they will be
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replaced.
Mr. Law stated he felt the appraised value of the property would go
up once the building is removed and the city could end up paying
more than $165,000 if the City required the building to be torn
down prior to acquiring the site.
Vote on motion - Unanimous.
?B - RESOLUTION NO. 2453, REGARDING UNFUNDED STATE ~%ND FEDERAL
MANDATES AND EXCESSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS. #AB94-006
Based on public input concerning water and sewer utility rate
increases because of combined sewer overflow (CSO's) reduction
program mandated by State and Federal regulation, it is the intent
of this Resolution to inform our State Legislators and Federal
Congressional members of extreme concern for unfunded mandates and
excessive and uncoordinated environmental regulations.
Mayor Lynn Horton referenced the previous Agenda item and the fact
that 16 agencies were involved in the demolition of a building and
its underground storage tank, is an example of why this resolution
should be passed and forwarded on to State Legislators and
Congressional representatives. The City is paying exorbitant
amounts of money for environment regulations without any funding
coming from the State or Federal government. The intent of this
Resolution is to point out there are only so many local dollars
available and any new regulations must come with funding or must be
enforceable in a manner that is more cost effective for the people
who have to fund them.
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Jaok Lefooski, West Kitsap Lake, suggested that Mayor Horton take
further steps to bring together other Mayors from other cities and
to march on Olympia where they can express the concerns of the
people who are having to pay for the regulatory mandates. The next
step he would like to see would be the Governors of all the States
joining together and marching onto Washington, D.C. to share such
concerns at the Federal level. He was not against fair
regulations, but there needed to be some type of matching fund
programs.
Ruth Davie, Park Avenue, stated her opposition to this Resolution
and felt that stronger regulations and mandates should be made so
that the environmental resources are protected for the benefit of
the citizens.
Maz~Lou Long, Baymont Place, stated she had nothing against asking
for better funding for mandated laws, but she disagreed with asking
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to drop the standard to jeopardize our ecological future, health of
our children and the animals. If the City had been able to get 90%
funding for the sewer treatment plant when it was originally built,
the City wouldn't have the problems facing them today. Someone
dropped the ball, either because they were incompetent or it was a
deliberate action. MaYor Horton referenced the Resolution and
pointed out no where did it ask to drop the protection of our
environment. It was asking the State and Federal government to get
their act together to be clear and concise in what they want done
to achieve the maximum for our environment and to help fund it.
Presi4ent Fitz emphasized no one wants regulations to be less, but
there is the need for assistance in funding. The Clean Water Act
was brought about because of water quality problems experienced on
the east coast. Government agencies must understand that not every
area and locality is the same and there needs to be regulation
according to a standard.
#0344 M/S/C/U(Neville/Colvin) to approve Resolution No. 2453, regarding
unfunded State and Federal mandates and excessive environmental
regulations.
With no further business meeting adjourned at 7:16.
KATHL~EN L. McCLUSKEY} City Clerk
~~--~c~n~ l~Pres ident
EILEEN FITZ,
City of Bremerton
KLM/EF/me
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