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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/12/94 COUNCIL APPROVED NOV 2 199' TAPE #1239 UNAPPROVED DRAFT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 12, 1994 #0040 #0058 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, October 12, 1994, at 5:30 P.M., with Council President Sherril Huff-Menees presiding. Council members present were Morrie Dawkins, John Law, David Farr, A1 Colvin, Carlos Montgomery, Bob Winters, and Richard Neville. Councilman Lon Overson was absent. Also present were City Attorney Ian Sievers and Deputy City Clerk Gil Johnson. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Huff-Menees and Invocation given by Intern Pastor Jon Maloney of Abundant Life Foursquare Church. CONSENT AGENDA A. Bid Award Recommendation -- Gasoline and Diesel Fuels and Refueling Card Lock Services #AB94-215 M/S/C/U(Neville/MontgomerY) to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. 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. M/S/C/U(Colvin/Dawkins) on October 12, 1994, the Council does approve for payment those vouchers included and further described as follows: 179071, 179130 through 179285 in the total amount of $180,634.95; and Regular Payroll for the period ending September 30, 1994, in the amount of $675,253.71. President Huff-Menees made the following announcements: (1) Council will hold an Executive Session immediately following the Council meeting to discuss "personnel performance". (2) City Council Study Session on Monday, October 17, 1994, 5:00 - 7:00 P.M., - topic to be discussed "Wastewater Treatment Plant Odor Control Project". And immediately following the Study Session, an Executive Session will be held to discuss "labor negotiations". COUNCIL MEMBER REPORT8 Mr. Winters thanked everyone who stopped by and enjoyed the festivities at the Kitsap Party, which was a sellout and big success. At that event, he received comments from constituents congratulating the Council on the good work being done and changes TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 2 of 7 being made for the betterment of Bremerton. He displayed a map showing the boundaries of the Kitsap Lake Neighborhood Association encompassing the power line going up near the Seabeck Highway, Erlands Point Road, coming down SR 3 on the inside, and then down to Werner Road. Residents living anywhere in this area are considered a member of the Kitsap Lake Neighborhood Association (KLNA) and are invited to attend their meetings. Future KLNA meetings are planned for October 20; November 16; and December 15; at the Cascade Natural Gas Building on Kitsap Way, at 6:30 P.M. Elections will be held at the October 20 meeting. Pointed out that a recent article in the Bremerton Sun newspaper incorrectly printed "Bob Winters" after a quote, instead of "Captain Terry Winters". He thanked and congratulated Captain TerryWinters for all his good work, and invited the public to a meeting on Tuesday, October 17 at 5:00 P.M. at 832 6th Street, a follow-up meeting to the Youth Center Workshop held in July. Mr. Colvin also applauded the efforts of the Salvation Army and their plans for a Youth Center. His hopes that plan will include a computer room so that City youth. who cannot afford computers, will have a place where they can have access to one. Wished Dr. Wallace Simpson, President of Olympic College, a speedy recovery from emergency abdominal surgery performed while in Chicago over the weekend. District 1 will hold its last meeting of the year on Thursday, November 10, 1994. A group of citizens have posed the following questions for anyone who can answer them: 1) Could the meetings of the County Commissioners be held at a time that is more convenient to a greater number of citizens? 2) Will Kitsap County Commissioner meetings be held at another place rather than Port Orchard? 3) Should the number of Commissioners be increased from 3 to 57 and 4) Should the number of City Council members be decreased from 9 to 77 If anyone has any other questions they would like answered, he would appreciate hearing from them. Mr. Dawkins called attention to the Senior Craft Fair to be held Friday and Saturday, October 15th and 16th, at Sheridan Park and Recreation Center. Mr. MontgomezTthanked the individuals who attended the District #8 Neighborhood meeting last Thursday night. The next District #8 meeting will be held at the same place on November 17, at 7:00 P.M. The subject of discussion for that meeting will be the Parks Comprehensive Plan, which will include a section on Forest Ridge Park. Everyone in District 8 is encouraged to attend. Mr. Law stated the next monthly Neighborhood meeting for District 3 will be Tuesday, October 18, 7:00 P.M. at the Senior Center located at 13th and Nipsic. The topic of discussion at that meeting will be Building, Housing, & Nuisance Codes Enforcement", TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 3 of 7 presented by staff members from the City's Community Development Department. In addition, please bring any other concerns. There will be a City Council Study Session on "Curfews" in January, and wanted to let the public know this in advance to prepare any questions they may have. Mr. Farr reminded citizens in District 6 that their next Neighborhood meeting will be held Tuesday, October 18, at 7:00, at the Bremerton High School, in the room just to the left of the main entrance. Guest speakers will be the Mayor of Bremerton, a Parks staff person, and Richard Hayes of Kitsap Transit. Topics will include a re-visit of issues talked about earlier this summer at a Neighborhood meeting, specifically reduced fare ridership 'for low income citizens on Kitsap Transit, and opportunities for Park and Recreational facilities in the West Bremerton area. Mr. Meville announced that the West Narrows' Neighborhood Information Network meeting (which covers Districts 4, 5, and 6) is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 7:00 P.M. at the Neighborhood Christian Center at 5th and Warren. The guest speaker at that meeting will be Henry Mincey of the Bremerton Safe Streets Program, who has excellent ideas on how to get neighborhoods together. On a personal note, he wished his wife "happy anniversary" and thanked her for all the years...so far. Mrs. Huff-Menees stated next week citizens could choose-a meeting every night of the week, and possibly even two on some evenings. The West Bremerton Area Information Network Meeting (Districts 7, 8, and 9) is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, at the Kitsap Way Fire Station across from the Dairy Queen. The topic will be "Domestic Violence Awareness". District 7 will have their Neighborhood meeting on Thursday, October 20, at the Bremerton School District Office on Montgomery Avenue, starting at 6:30 P.M. Richard Hayes from Kitsap Transit will again be speaking on reduced fare ridership. Also, Randy Witt, City of Bremerton Engineer, will be speaking on the City's Transportation Plan and give an update on some of the Public Works projects in the area. She encouraged citizens to attend any meetings possible so they can hear first hand lots of good information. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Lynn Horton announced the City has again been selected as a recipient of a 3.5 million dollar low interest Public Works Trust Fund Loan through the State of Washington for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Odor Control project. Because of the higher than normal Bond rates, the City Treasurer projected over the life of both this loan and the Warren Avenue CSO project the City will save 1.25 million dollars on each loan. TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 4 of 7 Today, Mayor Horton and City Engineer Randy Witt met with representatives from the Department Of Transportation to talk about the Manette Bridge. The bad news is the State is not looking to get the Manette Bridge project on the funding cycle soon. City Officials will be meeting with State Legislators in December and at that time the issue of the Manette Bridge will be brought up for discussion. One concern is that if the project is started now and a community consensus is reached, then there is a waiting period to the funding cycle, which will create a gap and necessitate the City going back and redoing all of the community input. City Officials will be talking with the legislators to see if funding could be provided to do the "public" portion and also fast track the Environmental Impact Statement funding so that the project can keep moving forward. The projection the State is looking at is many years into the future. Earlier Mayor Horton briefed the City Council about a request by State Department Of Ecology (DOE) officials to meet with the City Council to talk about what the City can anticipate in terms of more State and Federal requirements on stormwater. What DOE is proposing is that once the City separates the stormwater out (costing in excess of 20 million dollars) there will be requirements to filter the separated stormwater. She will be recommending having a community forum where the City invites representatives from DOE, State and National elected representatives, so they can hear public input on what is being mandated onto the City. PUBLIC RECOGNITION Jack Lefcoski stated Mayor Horton mentioned the low interest loan the City will receive for Utility projects. Those who had already heard the news about the loan want to know if City sewer rates will be reduced. Mayor Hotton responded no, but originally when the last utility rate was implemented it was anticipated that another increase would be coming in 1995. At this time, the City is projecting no-increase in Utility rates for 1995. Gil Johnson announced Kitsap Peninsula Housing Association's (KPHA) 3rd annual auction will be held October 14, 7:00 P.M., at the KPHA building on llth and Park Avenue. KPHA is a non-profit organization that provides housing, employment and other related services for the mentally and physically disadvantaged within the community. Carl Johnson extended an open invitation to the community to attend the 9th Annual Kitsap County Leadership Prayer Breakfast at the Bayview Inn on October 20. The guest speaker at that event will be Jeff Kemp, former Seahawk Quarterback, who is now the Executive Director of the Washington Family Council. TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 5 of 7 Gordv Byrd announced an upcoming meeting of the'Run Away Alliance (helping parents get back their authority over their children) on November 16, 7:00 P.M., at the Parks and Recreation Center. Shannon Cook announced the 1994 Festival Of Trees will be held on November 26, 6:30 P.M., at the Kitsap Pavilion, with a number of other events taking place throughout the weekend that are all related to the Festival. 7A - ORDINANCE (FIRST READING) LEVYING PROPERTY TAXES FOR COLLECTION IN 1995, #AB94-215 The City of Bremerton's property taxes are levied on an annual basis through passage of an ordinance. The proposed ordinance will enact a general property tax levy at the 106% limit and special levies for Emergency Medical Services and Bond Redemption rates previously authorized by the voters. Rich Hanna, City Treasurer, stated as mentioned, the assessed valuation numbers on which this ordinance are predicated are preliminary due to the fact the County Assessor has not yet finalized the Tax Roll for next year's tax collection. Experience indicates that the City can expect the final numbers to increase modestly from the preliminary estimates and usually involves the addition of new construction to the community. The City can reasonably expect a modest increase in the assessed valuation on the final rolls, which will result in slightly higher tax revenues and a slightly lower tax rate than the preliminary numbers being presented in the ordinance. The tax levy is made up of four component parts: (1) City's General Operating Levy; (2) Emergency Medical Levy; (3) Library Bond Levy; (4) Fire Bond Levy. Elizabeth Bus11 asked how much is a "modest increase"? Mr. Hanna stated trying to equate the City's overall property tax levy to the actual experience of any individual property owner is always somewhat tricky. The first thing would be whether the County has done any kind of reappraising on that individual parcel of property. If that has not been the case, then an increase in the levy rate should be on the order of magnitude of 10 cents per thousand in 1995. Mr. Dawkins asked how long before the Library Bond and Fire Bond are paid off? Mr. Hanna stated each'of the bonds are for a 20-year period and one of them dates from 1979 and the other in 1991. Mr. Colvin asked what the Library Bond assessment was based on? Mr. Hanna explained typically the property tax levy in support of voted bonds will be set by levy each year to produce an amount of money necessary to pay the principle and interest due in that year on those bonds. The Library Bonds are an exception of that general rule and subsequent to the City's sale of those bonds the City was #1326 TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 6 of 7 annexed into the Kitsap Regional Library District. Rather than setting the City's levy based on the number of dollars needed in 1995 for debt service, the City will'set the levy rate equal to that of the Library District. By doing that, the City's constituents will be paying the same amount of excess property taxes as all other residents of the Library District. To the extent that does not produce enough money to pay the City's debt service, the Library District will reimburse the City for that excess debt service obligation from their operating funds. Mr. Colvlm asked what percentage is that of the total tax? Mr. Hanna stated he did not know the exact percentage, but it is a very small percentage. The City is levying 1.3 cents per thousand of assessed valuations. Mr. Colvlm asked why is it necessaryto increase taxes at this time? Mr. Hanna pointed out the fact of inflation of costs for items required to provide City services. Mr. Colvim noted one year the City didn't increase the whole 6%. He questioned the net affect of that action? Mr. Hanna explained that would be roughly 3% of approximately 4 million dollars of property tax revenues ($120,000 of revenue foregone by the City). What could happen should Council choose to take that action of reducing 1995's property tax levy, it would reduce revenue coming to the City not only in 1995, but in subsequent years as well, which could never be recovered. Mr. Law asked if he understood correctly that 6% increase amounts to approximately 4 million dollars? Mr. Hanna'stated the total general property tax levy is approximately 3.8 million dollars. Mr. Law asked if that translated into 60-70 million dollars coming into the City? Mr. Hanna stated no, the property tax revenue to the City, based on the proposed ordinance, would be $4,357,000. Mr. Farr asked Mr. Hanna to explain how what is being asked at this time relates to previous increases in past years. Mr. Hanna stated the proposed ordinance is virtually identical, other than the numbers on the assessed valuation on the levy rates, since his tenure as City Treasurer. M/S/C/U(Law/Montgomery) to approve ordinance, on first reading, levying Municipal Taxes against all the taxable property within the City Limits of Bremerton for the year 1995 and approving the assessment roll made by the Assessor of Kitsap County, therefore to be collected in the year 1995. 8A - ORDINANCE NO. 4484 (SECOND READING) ADOPTING RCW 10.14 AND AMENDING BMC 9A.32.080 (CIVIL ANTI-HARASSMENT PROTECTION ORDERS), #AB94-212 Jim Litow expressed his support of this ordinance as presented. #1386 M/S/C/U(Neville/Winters) to pass Ordinance No. 4484, on second #1525 #1674 TAPE #1239 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes October 12, 1994 Page 7 of 7 reading adopting RCW 10.14 and amending BMC 9A.32.080 (Civil Anti- Harassment Protection Orders). 8B - ORDINANCE NO. 4485 (8ECOND READING) AMENDING BMC 9.08.060 TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF J~NKVEHICLE, #AB94-213 Jack Lefcoski asked if there was any reference in the ordinance to Destruction Derby vehicles? Ian 8ievers, City Attorney, stated he believed such vehicles would fit the City's criteria listed in this ordinance following their use in a Destruction Derby event. The second problem is the State legislature in allowing cities to pass these kindsof ordinances in order that State criteria be included. Therefore, the City is actually adopting new criteria that the State passed during the last legislative session, which did liberalize the criteria. Mr. Winters pointed out following the City Attorney's comments, he felt Destruction Derby vehicles would fall under three of the five criteria, but the one concern that cannot be argued is if someone has a destruction demolition vehicle in their yard it is not an "abandoned" vehicle. M/S/C/U(Farr/Colvin) to pass Ordinance No.'4485 on second reading changing the definition of junk vehicle and amending Section 9.08,060 of the Bremerton Municipal Code. 8C - ORDINANCE NO. 4486 (SECOND READING) AMENDING BMC 6.04.050 REGARDING THE DISPOSAL OF REFUSE AND BMC 6.04.062 TO PROVIDE THAT VIOLATION THEREOF IS A CIVIL INFRACTION, #AB94-214 GordV Byrd asked a question that was totally unrelated to this issue. President Huff-Menees advised Mr. Byrd that any questions he might have must relate to the issue under discussion. M/S/C/U(Colvin/Winters) to pass Ordinance No. 4486, on second reading, amending the garbage and refuge enforcement provisions and amending Sections 6.04.050 and 6.04,062 of the Bremerton Municipal Code. With no further business meeting adjourned at 6:33 P.M. City of Bremerton KLM/SH-M/me cc: Normal Distribution File/Vault