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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/26/93TAPE #1109 UNAPPROVED DRAFT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 26, 1993 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, May 26, 1993, at 5:30 p.m., with Council President Eileen Fitz presiding. Council members present were Lon Overson, Richard Neville, Lynn Horton, Hank Waibel, C. R. "Tiny" Collins, Morrie Dawkins, Al Colvin, and Russ Johnson. 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 James Berentson of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. President Fitz announced Council would hold an Executive Session to discuss "Labor Negotiations" immediately following the City Council meeting. CONSENT AGENDA A. Minutes of Meeting - May 12, 1993, #AB93-099 Bid Award Recommendation - Kitsap Way From llth Street to Marine Drive, Awarded To Ace Paving Company Inc., In The Amount Of $886,729.71. #0052 M/S/C/U(Waibel/Horton) to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. CLAIMS/WARRANT 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. #0078 M/S/C/U(Colvin/Dawkins) May 26, 1993, the Council does approve for payment those vouchers included and further described as follows:166353, 166354, 166552 through 166746 in the total amount of $255,168.64; and Retirees Payroll for period ending May 31, 1993, in the amount of $95,710.06; and Regular Special payroll for Retirement Payout in the amount of $17,608.31. COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS Mr. Johnson announced Kitsap Lake Neighborhood Association TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 2 of 28 will meet on Thursday evening, May 27. He raised a question for the City Attorney - was it OK for Council members to be present at meetings where land use issues may be brought up for discussion. Ian Sievers, City Attorney, stated if the issues where not on the next City Council Meeting Agenda there would be no problem with them being present, however, if an item did come before Council, that Council member should make a public declaration of their prior knowledge or discussion of that item. Mr. Johnson noted there are a number of land use things going on in his District and the Neighborhood Association has not had a meeting for some time and expects such issues may be brought up for discussion. Mr. Colvin thanked all citizens of District # 1 who have cooperated in District # 1's survey regarding a "change of City government". Today he had the pleasure of listening to Kathleen McCluskey express appreciation on behalf of the YMCA for the support of the Bremerton Central Lions Club. He noted the YMCA has extended their radius of service to include various programs involving youth, such as before and after school day care programs in several area, teen nights sports program, and youth in government corps. When he was a youth and attending the YMCA there was as saying "it was better to bend boys than to mend men" - and he was pleased that the YMCA is doing such a good job in this area. He requested Ms. McCluskey add to his comments. Kathleen McCluskey, Vice President YMCA Board, stated most of the programs being added by the YMCA are teen programs and part of the Y's expansion project relates to additional teen programs. The YMCA has recently developed a video and Speakers Bureau, which is available to make presentations before groups who would like more information on what is available through the YMCA. Mr. Waibel reported last weekend he had the opportunity to travel with a group from Bremerton Main Street and other interested citizens, to Portland to view their Saturday Farmers Market. The group from Bremerton was very impressed with Portland's market and they observed how established businesses have anchored the vendors in the market, creating a good relationship that has been very beneficial to both. While there, he heard some discussions of how the Main Street people would like for the vendors to close the market in Portland and have them all move up to Bremerton. Following up on that thought and based on The Sun's headline writing, he composed a headline that would read:"Portland Market to close, vendors moving to Bremerton". Mrs. Hotton reported she just returned from a trip to Lake Chelan where she attended a workshop of the Washington Transit TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 3 of 28 Association's newly reconstituted board. In the past, participants at this workshop had been primarily people who operated transit associations and now with the reformulation it included many elected officials and Board members. She attended that meeting under the impression that she would be learning many new things. What she discovered was that there are several new entities - counties and jurisdictions - that are embarking upon their own transit operations and those with established transit programs were able to give them input based on their experiences. Ruth Fisher, Chairman of the State Transportation Committee, attended this workshop which gave the transit organization an opportunity to share their views on transit and where we need to go in the future. Kitsap Transit just passed a .2% Sales Tax Initiative, which will help to expand service into new areas, weekend and evening services. As we are looking at reducing single occupancy vehicle (SOV) usage, transit will play a more important role in Kitsap County in the future and across the State. People are starting to recognizing that what happens here has a direct relationship to what happens on the eastern side of the State. If nothing else was gleaned from the workshop, they walked away with a greater sense of "we're in this together" and we have to do what is best for the State and not for just our own jurisdictions. Mr. Overson announced the opening of a small shopping mall in the Sinclair building. Mrs. Fitz reported she enjoyed the Farmers Market this past Sunday and found more vendors are participating each week. She encouraged everyone to take a trip down to the waterfront and enjoy the water, market and city. PUBLIC RECOGNITION Mayor Louis Mentor read the following Proclamation: (1) June 6 - 12 as NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK. Carl Wilhelm, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron member, accepted the proclamation and emphasized the importance to taking safety precautions whenever one is around water that includes wearing life jackets, following the rules of the road, avoiding alcohol while boating, checking weather reports and taking safe boating courses. He reported the State of Washington has the one of the worst records for numbers of fatalities in the whole country. President Fitz stated it was her understanding that the City's fire rescue boat rescued some people in a sailboat this past weekend, who were caught under the Manette Bridge. Mayor Mentor stated he was not aware of that incident due to his being in Spokane on behalf of the Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which he Chairs TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 4 of 28 and represents Clallam, Jefferson, kitsap and Mason Counties. At that meeting, he made a presentation for the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTE) enhancement program for transportation, i.e. bicycle paths, pedestrian walks, beautification, etc. He announced the recent retirement of Duane Berentson from the State Department OF Transportation. This past weekend the Sons of Italy Association held their northwest convention in Bremerton. And, On Saturday, May 29, Fathoms 'O Fun Festival will hold their Queen's Pageant at South Kitsap High School. Mayor mentor wanted to respond to a citizen's question about the new green garbage containers... a total of 51 garbage cans were purchased at a total cost of $19,627.15. After he found donations for the majority of this cost, the City expenditure amounted to $4,233.31. Not all of the garbage cans included lids, however, ones along the boardwalk were fitted with lids. It was a financial decision not to have all cans covered due to the lids costing $130.00 each. Mrs. Horton requested Mayor Mentor to respond to a question at the previous Council meeting having to do with the red stripped areas in downtown. Mayor Mentor explained the City is following State law in stripping curbing reflecting no parking within 30 feet of corners due to sight restrictions. He emphasized this law is enforced throughout the City, not just in the downtown area. Other areas being stripped are near crosswalks due to visibility limitation. President Fitz questioned if any parking spaces were lost due to the restripping or had people been parking in areas that they should not have been parking? Mayor Mentor stated he has heard some people say parking spaces have been lost, however, he did not know that to be a fact. However, the whole downtown core is to be restripped and when that happens some additional spaces will be created due to a decrease in State regulations having to do with size of parking spaces. Randv Witt, City Engineer, stated Mayor Mentor was correct in his explanation about the red areas being restripped and he acknowledged the fact people had been parking where they should not have been prior to the restripping. This is the first step prior to the restripping of the narrower parking spaces. Terry Dupee, Cambrian Avenue, stated she had talked with the Police Chief's office and Sgt. Hill on the issue of pedestrian crossings. She and her family do a lot of walking, which they enjoy, but someone needs to look into better enforcement of laws relating to vehicles having to stop for pedestrians when they are using a crosswalk. She asked that Mayor Mentor check into this issue to make sure the people in their departments are doing their job. TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 5 of 28 Don Larson,135 Rainier, reported the Washington Scuba Alliance was accepted into the Combined Federal Campaign for Pierce County and Kitsap County, which will provide a vehicle to raise funds for artificial reefs and clean up projects. He emphasized there is a good opportunity to establish an underwater park in Bremerton. In August there will be a news article in a national scuba magazine on Washington's Underwater Parks Bill. He was pleased with the news article in the Shipyard Salute on the recent clean up of Sinclair Inlet. He requested Council to look into whether or not anything could be done to keep our shorelines and streets clean and make the City's mandatory garbage collective service work. Elizabeth Buell, High Avenue, stated she heard the earlier comment that smaller parking spaces would be stripped in the downtown area and she wondered would parking spaces be available for vehicles larger than compact sized ones? She felt there should be consideration for large and small vehicles. J. W. Marquina, owner of new business - Los Andes Imports & Exports located at 435 Pacific Avenue, stated he had planned to have his Grand Opening this weekend that included live performances from a group from South America. Due to his building not being ready, the opening has to be delayed to July 3, however the musical group from South America will perform on the boardwalk for public enjoyment on Sunday - noon. He introduced to the audience two of the performers from Bogota, Columbia. Mr. Colvin extended a greeting and welcome in Spanish to the two Columbian performers. Glenn Jarstad, 2823 Hefner Avenue, stated he read in the newspaper about the City swapping properties with Olympic College... the old Utility Building located on Warren Avenue for the old Salvation Army Citadel on Washington Avenue. He did not support the City's proposal to swap buildings and felt it would be in the City's best interest to sell the building on Warren Avenue outright to the College and let the College worry about disposing of an old building. He cautioned the City may not know what they are getting when considering tearing down the old Salvation building, if swapped. He raised the question if the Utility still owned the old Utility building any if funds derived from a sale would have to be returned to the Utility? Mayor Mentor stated the newspaper article on such a proposal misinformed a lot of people. What is being proposed is...there are two City owned pieces of property close to Olympic College, which have been appraised, and the City wants to sell them to Olympic College. The old Water Utility building was purchased by the General Fund from TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 6 of 28 the Utility Department and there still remains a payoff on that site. The piece of property owned by Olympic College (old Salvation Army site) is a separate transaction and it also has been appraised and in reality the transactions do not depend upon each other. 6A - BUDGET ADJUSTMENT PERSONNEL DIRECTOR, CIVIL SERVICE OFFICER POSITIONS, #AB93-101 The attached budget adjustment authorizes the positions of Director of Personnel and Civil Service Officer at full time for the period of 6/1/93 through 12/31/93 and provides expenditure authority as discussed at the 5/03/93 Study Session. Rich Hanna, City Treasurer, stated this item had been the subject of debate at two different Study Sessions that he recalls and it has also been discussed with the Fiscal and Budget Committee. This additional appropriation is what would be required to extend the two positions full time for the balance of the year. Public comment - none. Mrs. Horton stated during the numerous discussion relating to funding these two positions there were areas of concern brought up, in addition to the idea of consolidating Civil Service and Personnel under a Human Resources person, as well as recommendations that were a result of a professional study that was made of these two functions. Council has rejected the proposal to consolidate the two functions, however, at Council's last Study Session on this issue it was noted there were some things within the Study that could be implemented that could help make the process better. She sees nothing in this proposal that indicates there will be any modifications to the programs or time frames when they would happen. Previous discussions have brought out holding people accountable and she did not view this request as holding people accountable. Mr. Overson stated that was part of it and the fact Council had reviewed this issue a number of times. Funding for the two positions was placed in the budget contingent upon the Mayor coming forward with a reorganization plan based on the Study. That reorganization has not been presented so the proposal is to refund. He complimented Mr. Hanna on the "inventive" method of financing this proposal. He questioned if the City found that more beginning cash was available than expected and was it Mr. Hanna's proposal to spend in this manner? Mr. Hanna stated yes. TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 7 of 28 Mrs. Horton questioned how many times has the Beginning Cash fund been "dipped into" this year. Mr. Hanna stated this would be the second time and in both cases it was for the same purpose. The budget was previously amended to extend these two positions from the original date of the first quarter for an additional two months and now proposing to fund them to the end of the year. Mrs. Horton questioned if something could be added to the Agenda Bill and/or on the Budget Adjustment form indicating how many times a budget adjustment has been approved pertaining to that fund. Mr. Hanna stated something of that kind could be provided. He noted Council would be seeing an Agenda Bill in the near future incorporating all of the Budget Adjustment to date in Ordinance form. #1175 M/S/C(Colvin/Collins) motion to authorize budget adjustment 93 - 11. Mr. Johnson stated at the same time that Fiscal and Budget Committee reviewed this request there was a Budget Adjustment that took the rest of the unallocated Beginning Cash and put it in Cumulative Reserve so that it could no be used for a purpose such as this. Mr. Hanna stated that was correct and that will be included with the amending Budget Ordinance. Mrs. Horton stated if this Budget Adjustment passes and there are complaints coming in terms how we hire people or don't hire people, lack of training being generated from the Personnel Department, or a myriad of things that have been going on for a great length of time, then we need to look at ourselves and say we are just as much to blame as the Administration. Vote on motion: In Favor: Waibel, Collins, Dawkins, Colvin, Neville, Fitz Opposed: Horton, Johnson, Overson Motion carried. 6B - REAPPOINTMENT OF EDWARD A. BACHMANN TO THE CABLE COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE, #AB93-102 Edward A. Bachmann's term on the Cable Communications Advisory Committee has expired. It is recommended he be reappointed to another term on the committee. Mayor Louis Mentor attested to the fact that Mr. Bachmann has served on this committee, is very knowledgeable and has done an outstanding job. He highly recommends that Council confirm the reappointment of Mr. Bachmann to the Cable Advisory Committee. TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 8 of 28 Mr. Neville stated he has served on the Committee with Mr. Bachmann and finds him to be a very viable part of that group. He found it very reassuring that Mr. Bachmann wanted to serve another term and brings with him expertise that will assist the Committee during the refranchising process. Mr. Johnson echoed his support for the reappointment of Mr. Bachmann and his contributions to the City's Cable Access program. He also sees Mr. Bachmann expertise assisting in the refranchising process as well as future cooperation with the County now that their RFP is out for refranchising. He believes it is absolutely critical that the four corporate cities and the County become interconnected for everything from sports events to commencement exercises. Public comment - none. #1328 M/S/C/U(Neville/Johnson) to confirm the reappointment of Edward A. Bachmann to the Cable Communications Advisory Committee. 6C - ADOPTION OF BALLOT ITEMS TO IMPLEMENT PROVISIONS OF THE AD HOC CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE, #AB93-103 The Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee has made a number of recommendations to the City Council. The Committee recommendations were made after significant research and study of local government organization. This agenda bill recommends that the Council first focus on the issues which most directly affect the form of government. Since the release of the Committee Report, a clear consensus of public opinion regarding the recommendations and minority reports of the Committee has not presented itself. Therefore, it is further recommended the measures be placed on the November ballot to obtain clear advice from the Citizens of Bremerton regarding the following three fundamental issues: 1) City Manager form of government; 2) Size of the City Council; and 3) Whether Council Members should be elected from districts or at large. Mr. Johnson stated as a follow up to previous Study Sessions, he was tasked as the Council scribe to develop this Agenda item and recommended motions. He believes the bottom line at the Study Session was that a lot of work in that study applied outside the realm of changing the form of government and the fact that they are not being addressed at this time does not mean they are irrelevant or not necessary. However, the first and primary purpose of the Ad Hoc Committee was to look at the form of government. There was some question as to having an Advisory Ballot and whether or not they were legal. After talking with legal counsel, it was determined that Advisory TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 9 of 28 Ballots are legal. He stressed the importance of making the language in such a Ballot absolutely clear so that the citizens who are voting understand and recognize that it would be only an ADVISORY BALLOT. Depending on which group one talks to, you get totally different opinions as to what should be done in the way of changes to City government. He believed that the recommendations given in the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee report are not ready to be placed on the ballot to change the form of government, but they came very close. Because of the many decisions that have to be made, he felt it would be best to go to the citizens of Bremerton and ask them which direction they want to go in general, rather than have the City Council or an appointed advisory group make those decisions. Once the citizens have given their vote of direction, then proposals can be put together addressing them in a more efficient manner. Mr. Overson stated he felt the proposed motions were straight forth in their wording. President Fitz asked the City Clerk to read the proposed motions for the benefit of the public. Kathleen McCluskey, City Clerk, stated the proposed motions are as follows: (1) Should the City of Bremerton adopt a City Manager form of government?; (2) Should the City of Bremerton elect Council members at - large instead of by districts?; (3) Should the City of Bremerton reduce the size of the City Council?. Mr. Johnson stated he tried to remain neutral when writing the motions, however, he did have difficulty composing the second motion because by mentioning only one method...at - large or by district, it does not give the citizens the options. As he read the legal opinion from the attorney for motion number (2), asking the following question: "Which would you prefer to have as your elected representative, a Council member elected from your District or a Council member elected at - large?". He did not see the requirement for a yes or no answer on an Advisory Ballot. Mrs. Horton suggested a third option that would be elected by districts in the Primary Election and at - large in the General Election. Mr. Johnson stated he preferred staying away from more than two answers and suggested making the thing about at - large a form of electing at - large and then we can go from there. Mr. Colvin stated he would word it different than what is proposed and would give the voter the opportunity to say yes or no...at - large or by district. Mr. Johnson stated he prepared the Agenda Bill prior to having the legal opinion and thought he was limited to yes and no answers. Ian Sievers, TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 10 of 28 City Attorney, stated a yes or no answer would be allowable. What is proposed in the suggested motions calls for a yes or no answer. What Mr. Johnson is saying to be more neutral would be to have the voters choose either"at - large" or "by district", which he believed could also be done. President Fitz questioned if this proposal is approved at this time, could Council reword the Advisory Ballot language? Mr. Johnson stated he hoped the motion would read subject to meeting state law in wording such ballot items. Mr. Sievers stated State statues call for the City Attorney to draft such wording. He believed it would be necessary to build some language that would reinforce the fact that this would be an Advisory Ballot for future action and not legislation involved. Mr. Collins stated he understood that the County Auditor had discussed this issue with the City Attorney and asked that it be relayed to them at this time. Mr. Sievers stated that discussion was along the same lines as the short memo from Attorney Leila Mills...they could find no legal authority to not allow something like this on the ballot as an Advisory measure. Of course, the cost sharing of a ballot issue put on by the City would be the same and we would be responsible for Ballot titles and any liability from suits of misunderstanding appeals. The key issue was that they could not find any legal authority not to allow questions of an advisory nature on the Ballot. Nancy Buck, 305 Willow Street, stated she is a resident of District # 1 and serves as Secretary to District # 1 Neighborhood Coalition, consisting of Precincts 52, 56, 58 and 60. She wished to share with the City Council up - to - date results of an on going, non - scientific random telephone survey being taken in District # 1. Citizens who have attended District # 1 Neighborhood Coalition meetings were asked their opinions regarding the change in form of City government. The results, as of May 24, are as follows: change of government...7 yes, 6 no, 14 need more information. The total responses to date were 27. Additional pertinent comments made that citizens wanted brought to City Council's attention were: public needs more information on the change of government and that Bremerton's City government neglects to provide sufficient information to the public; and the citizens also want to know if they will have a vote on the change in form of City government. She related the citizens' thanks for including them in the survey and she extended a "thank you" to the citizens who took the time to respond to the survey. TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 11 of 28 Cecil McConnell, Almira Drive, questioned if it was Council's intent that the Advisory Ballot be placed on the November General Election Ballot? Mrs. Fitz stated that it costs more to place ballot measures on a Primary Election than on the General Election. Mr. Johnson stated he chose the November ballot because generally the turn out of voters is greater, hopefully we would get a broader base of citizens responding; as well as the fact the City's share of the election would be less than a Primary Election due to the number of other ballot measures from other jurisdictions. Mr. McConnell stated the problems he sees with that was it might be cheaper to go with the General Election in November, but if you hold it off until November would it not require a special election or waiting an additional year before the real issue would go before the voters. President Fitz stated even if the Advisory Ballot was placed on the Primary Election Ballot, she doubted that there would be adequate time to move forward with the changes to the November Ballot. Once a direction is given by the voters then we could fine tune what would need to be done to accomplish that intent. Mr. McConnell questioned if Council intended to do the entire thing in one shot if the Advisory Ballot comes back in the affirmative or will it be done in stages? Mr. Johnson noted that would depend on what results from the Advisory Ballot. Mr. Waibel questioned if Mr. McConnell was aware of the fact that there is not a full two months available from the September election date to the November election date due to the requirement of having Ballot language submitted 6 - 8 weeks in advance. Mr. McConnell stated he understood there would not be much time, however, following the Study Session he was under the impression that the Advisory Ballot would be on the Primary Election Ballot and if it came back in the affirmative then part of it would go on the General Election Ballot. Del Knauss, Olympic Avenue, stated he served as Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee and extended a "thank you" to everyone who did work on that committee. He emphasized a great deal of effort was put into to this effort by the Committee members, including interviewing everyone possible. The Committee members did not all agree on everything but did come to a general agreement on what was to be turned into the Council. He urged Council to put the issue on the ballot and let the citizens express their views via a vote indicating whether or not the Committee was "on track". He noted the Committee would be happy to provide a representative to speak at District # 1's meeting on this issue. He also emphasized that the Committee's meetings were open to the public, however, no one took advantage of that opportunity. He asked those in the audience to raise their hands if they are in TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 12 of 28 favor of the City going to a different form of government (let the record show that 20 - 25 hands were counted), which gave a slight indication of where we are moving. President Fitz stated she was pleased to see people in the audience considering the low turnout for other times when this issue was being discussed. She also noted the people in the audience are generally well informed because of their community involvement. However, there is a vast majority of the public who are not aware of what is being proposed and she felt it was imperative that all citizens be informed on such an important issue. Larry Stone, Secretary Ad Hoc Advisory Committee, stated he was somewhat confused as to Council's intent. The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee's report, presented to Council on April 14, proposed a two phase approach to the problems as they perceived them. Obviously, the treatment of the Charter was part of Phase I and the motion proposed by Mr. Johnson deals primarily with Phase II. He was enthusiastic about an Advisory Ballot as a way to getting information out to the public. However, he would like to see some action on the Phase I concept. With collaboration and hard work of the City Attorney's staff and Committee members, the City Charter has been rewritten and in his opinion is much clearer to understand. The Committee feels very strongly that a Charter will be a better Charter under the Optional Municipal Code and that is an action they hope to see sometime this year with the governmental change process taking place through the proper method. There must be extensive education of the public before making such a significant change and that cannot be accomplished with small coincidental news releases. He is concerned that there has not been any discussion on the Charter and reclassification of the City, which he is a concept that has a great deal of merit regardless of what is done with the form of government. Mayor Louis Mentor thanked the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee for all the hard work. He believed Mr. Johnson was on target when he stated there are too many unanswered questions. He questioned why not consider City Administrator form of government or Commission form? He referenced the proposed motion as to how Council members are elected and noted that in some cities Council members are elected from within districts as well as some at - large. He doubted anyone would disagree that changes should be made to the City Charter, effecting how the government is run. He emphasized the need for more citizen input. What is needed is some input from all citizens. He agreed that there could be a lot of confusion created with Advisory Ballots. He pointed out the City had a TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 13 of 28 Ballot measure last year and the question was asked do we want to change the form of government (two different propositions - (1) City Manager; (2) 5 - member Commission), asking are you for or against a change. There were 12,900 registered voters with 59% turning out to vote - 7,600. Those for the changes were 37% and those against were 63%. He noted Bainbridge Island just had a vote last week and if you think our 2 - 1 was a little off theirs was 38% against going to a Council Manager form of government and 52% for it. He noted from Del Knauss's statement, the Committee was far from all convinced about everything that is in their report. Also, one of the first things this Committee said in that report was what happened 10 years ago was that the change of government came abut too quickly without enough thought and the Charter was not put together correctly...he agreed with that statement. He suggested that to settle the issue once and for all a professional should be hired to put together something that can be voted on Yes or No and will be easily understood. He believes people do want to make some changes, but he did not believe changes would ever be made until the information is put out to the citizens. Bob Wood, 327B Willow Street, stated he believed Mayor Mentor was on the right wave length, he has done similar things over the years in two formative cities and within a Union that polled their members every 2 - 3 years on negotiations. He stressed you cannot use your thinking to formulate the questions that the populous need to answer. The City has very good neighborhoods, tremendous people and all they really want to have is an explanation and a contact. If a good polling group was hired to formulate the questions, there are many avenues you could use to get the answerers, i.e., Council District neighborhood meetings, etc. Through his driving and walking City neighborhoods and through his interest in housing, teen problems and keeping out drugs, he has heard other people's concerns and comments. By and large they need closer contract in the Districts and this is one way to bring it to them. The gut issue is efficiency of services - what am I getting for my taxes and is my government really working for me? He supported the idea of taking the time to "get it right". He cautioned against the use of out - of - state pollsters and the importance of having people out in the public in that capacity who could answer questions about the local community as well as having neighborhood meetings. Jim Strait, 6530 Harlow Drive, stated when the original effort was started to change the Commissioner form to Council form of government there were many people involved, who did study the issue, and many people from other city governments were TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 14 of 28 brought in to give input to that group. They though they were coming up with a Council form of government where there would be one person, the Mayor, to manage City government at the direction of the City Council. Apparently, we have not come up with that and it does not look like that is working. He supported the idea of going to a different form of City government. Maybe we do need a City Manager because we are not getting the action we should get under the current form of government. Elizabeth Buell, High Avenue, stated when we voted for the current form of government, that was the only choice the residents had if they wanted a change. She supports having Council Districts, but she also believed she should have the right to vote for more than just the one in her District due to the fact she owns property located in other Districts. She, and she believes other, want to have the choice for the whole City. Glenn Jarstad, form Mayor of Bremerton, 2823 Hefner, stated he was probably responsible for the current City Council. When the Neighborhood Councils were established he was not sure it was a good idea, however, at that time he did not know that everyone who became President of a District would be choose to run against him. He believes the basic question has to be asked - why are people unhappy with the government at City Hall? What he see in the newspapers leads him to believe that there isn't much good coordination going on. When he left office, there was 12 million dollars set aside by Mr. Barentson, of the State Department Of Transportation, to start demolition in 1982, however, the new Mayor wanted to study the relocation of the Ferry Terminal so Mr. Barentson gave that 12 million to Coleman Dock. Those were hard things for him to see happen because prior to that time two years of meetings had gone into getting that much money guaranteed to start downtown rehabilitation. Right now he believes people are seeing all the different lawsuits against the City and projects where overruns are occurring with little visible return on the investment made. He emphasized the need for Council members to get out and listen to the people who are talking, neighbor - to - neighbor, about choices that they are not happy with. He referenced the 4th Street L.I.D. project and the fact that such an improvement in the downtown area does nothing to benefit him at his residence on Heftner. He asked could Council point out one city where such an improvement helped bring business into the community? He views such action as a waste of taxpayers' money. He strongly supports having elected officials elected at - large by the voters. He emphasized Bremerton is not that large an area where it is TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 15 of 28 that difficult to run at - large. He urged Council to not water down a Ballot title and to give the recommendation from the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee a chance to come before the people. He stated there are a lot of things in Bremerton he is happy about and there are a lot of things that he is unhappy about. He urged Council to give something to the people to either vote for or against. He did not support the use of Water bills for obtaining information from the citizens because it presented only one side of an issue. He did support reducing the size of the City Council. Roy McInnis, 2711 Maple Street, stated he was present during the two presentations made by the AD Hoc Committee to the City Council and he has read their report as well. He emphasized that he is the type of person who goes out and campaigns for what he believes in and he did support the previous campaign for a Council/Manager form of government for the City. He still supports that form of government, however, he does have similar concerns that have been brought out during this discussion. The public tends to not come to public meetings on issues, however, they do tend to "catch you on the street" and will raise questions relating to City issues. Right at this time he did not know which direction he would go - whether an Advisory Ballot should be submitted or that it should be enacting legislation. Del Knauss stated for clarification the Ad Hoc Committee agreed as a whole on everything except whether or not there is a full time or part time Mayor and whether Council members are elected at - large or within Districts. Those were the only two things that resulted in Majority and Minority reports. Ms. McCluskey read into the record a letter received from Jim and Cecelia Adrian, 621 Washington Avenue, citing the following comments: (1) They support measure to place the Advisory Committee's recommendation on the ballot proposing to change City government. The Committee took on Council's appointed task, did a good job with it and now deserve Council's support to place it before the voters. (2) They support placing proposed changes before the voters in an Advisory Ballot format. (3) As an investment property owner, they receive 30 water bills in a 60 day cycle. They have 30 automatic votes - their tenants have none. (4) About 45% of the City water bills go to customers outside the City limits. Should County residents be voting on City issues? (5) A certified property manager in Bremerton personally receives in excess of 100 water bills in a billing cycle. That person now has 100 votes and resides in Poulsbo. (6) A large 150 apartment complex in East Bremerton is served by one water TAPE #1109 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 16 of 28 meter. That property manager gets one vote with 150 residents of that complex getting none. In summary, the water bill may provide some the illusion of the sense of the citizens but for this important issue, it simply is unacceptable to use. This cannot and should not be considered an acceptable substitute for the ballot box. Let the process of selection or recommendation by a democratic process be by the residents of Bremerton. TAPE #1110 Mayor Louis Mentor stated there is a method to not ask questions on water bills of people who do not live in the City. One question he did ask on the water bill was "would you support an open space levy" that resulted in a negative response and such a levy did fail. He also asked the question "would you support a law enforcement levy", which resulted in a positive response from the customers. At that time a lot of people felt the City of Bremerton would support a law enforcement levy, but it did pass when presented to the voters. He believes his water bill question process does give a good feel for where the residents are coming from in their opinions. Mr. Collins stated he received a different understanding from the County Auditor than what was previously stated by Mr. Sievers on the Advisory Ballot. He also talked with John Pierson, head of the Election group for the Secretary of State's office who provided the following information: "if the City planned to build a library facility wholly with City funds but was not sure the public wanted such a facility that question could be placed on an Advisory Ballot". That would be the true and lawful use of a Advisory Ballot. There is a second thing we need to be very concerned about and that is are we going to putting this on to a ballot "do we want to have a Mayor any more/do we want so many Councilmen" at the same time these people are being elected. Such action could leave the City open, according to Mr. Pierson, to a court action in that it is the inappropriate use of funds to spend the money for the Advisory Ballot when the voters are going to have to be asked the same question a second time. Mr. Pierson related to him that so far in the State where the Advisory Ballot has been taken to court because there have been double activity on the same question, it doesn't hold up very well. In reference to the new charter, which he was provided on May 20 by Mr. Stone - he found it to be complete and is truly what the Ad Hoc Committee was tasked to do. He still had a few minor quaestiones he would ask them to look at, such as (1) should the Civil Service Commission also be mentioned as taking care of the problems with the non - uniformed - they TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 17 of 28 speak only to the uniformed; (2) there is a question about full time equivalency as opposed to full paid employees. Council has a recommendation from the AD Hoc Committee that what we should be doing is putting everything together in two phases, first phase is clean up our Charter, which they have given us the ability to do, and the second phase is to go into the form of government, which could be done later. It appears what Council has done is to turn that process around with the change of form of government first followed by looking at the Charter later. He would like the City Council to put the Charter on the ballot and get a Board Of Freeholders to look at the form of government. Mr. Colvin asked that Mr. Stone be allowed to speak on whether or not Mr. Collins' information is the same as Mr. Stone's. Mr. Johnson raised a point of order over the fact Council was getting away from the subject of the Agenda item. Mr. Colvln questioned what was the Committee's purpose? Mr. Stone explained the Committee's purpose was to produce the Charter that was given out to Council members recently, absent typographical errors, job descriptions and inappropriate titles. They did insert three things: (1) 2 - year residency requirement; (2) term limits; and (3) performance audit. This document would provide Council with a working document to begin with now without taking further action, or have a Charter that would be a better Charter if it was under the Option Municipal Code classification. Their objective was to give the City Council a Charter that is a workable document right now and then progress into other things. Mayor Mentor made a valid point...you have an increasing uninformed electorate and as these things come up there is also confusion that needs to be clarified. This is the kind of rhetoric and sometimes violent discussion that takes place to get these opposing opinions out so that people can make a decision. The Committee urges Council to address the Charter first, which is the City's basic document. When the Committee changed their recommendation from going to a non - Charter Code City to a Charter Code City, they felt obligated to hand Council a Charter. Mr. Colvin questioned if he understood correctly that the Committee recommends a two phase process, first adopting the Charter, as presented, and then proceed with the process for change of government? Mr. Stone stated yes, two phases were recommended for a variety of reasons. If this issue is crowded on the Ballot in November there will be confusion because under the law that you would apply this form of Council/Manager you would have to elect all new officers. Mr. Johnson raised a point of order and pointed out the direction for the Agenda item tonight was to put the three recommended issues on an Advisory Ballot. He felt it was time to take a TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 18 of 28 vote to see the direction Council wanted to take in this regard and then get on to the next Agenda item. There is nothing included in this Agenda item that addresses a new or rewritten City Charter. He has nothing against placing the Charter on the Ballot, however, that was not part of this Agenda item. Mr. Walbel stated the title of the Agenda item does not reflect what is in the Agenda item and felt there was a disconnect between what the title states and what is being discussed. And, the current discussion on the Charter is appropriate under the Agenda title. Mr. Johnson emphasized the last topic of discussion has revolved around a Charter, which is not part of this Agenda item. Mr. Waibel pointed out the title of the Agenda item being discussed is "Adoption of Ballot Items To Implement Provisions Of The Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee", Mr. Overson pointed out what Mr. Johnson proposed in the Agenda Bill was developed at the direction of the City Council members following a Study Session. Mrs. Horton stated Council did agree at a prior Study Session that this would be what we would do - that an Agenda Bill would be submitted so that on this date we would vote on whether we would seek an Advisory Ballot on those three issues. At this point, she saw no reason to diverge from that. She did feel Mr. Stone had a good point in talking about the fact that the City's current Charter is "messed up", but we did not want to move in the direction of a City Manager, reduction of Council, or have elections be at - large without getting a sense from the citizens through a vote of what they want. She emphasized that people don't usually educate themselves because they know there is nothing on the line unless it is placed on an official Ballot. What is being proposed is for just an Advisory Ballot and Council did agree that it was an appropriate way to go. She questioned if Council could do something with the Charter through the Primary Election? Mr. Sievers states yes. Mrs. Horton noted it may be appropriate then to place an issue on the Primary election addressing the City Charter and then putting the Advisory Ballot out in November. Mr. Waibel pointed out he was not present at Council's Study Session nor did he have any input on such a proposal. He noted if the Charter worked there may not be a need for a change in government. Mr. Overson stated the original Charter provided by the Committee was Washington Code 35, which includes a City Manager, full time Mayor, etc. The Committee proposed this not as a Charter but that the City change to an Optional Municipal Code City. Then someone brought up the option to consider a change to Optional Code Charter City, which then TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 19 of 28 generated the need to determine what would be put into the Code for the Charter. What goes in the Code for the Charter is what kind of City government there is. He did not know where this new Charter slipped in under the requirement and request to the Ad Hoc Committee to determine the form of government and put that into a Code or now a Charter Code set up so that it will be current and correct. Mr. Collins stated the recommendation from Ad Hoc Committee to Council was to enact the Charter first and then work on the form of government. He wanted to respect their proposal and he will vote no on the recommended three motions. Mr. Johnson stated he believes the Mayor has been dragging his feet on anything to do with a change in government, recommending study - after - study and poll - after - poll. He did not put much validation to such polls because he never gets called for his input. As a citizen, he wants to have his say in which way we go. He agreed with Mr. Collins that the Charter is the important foundation document but if you we go along with what the Committee wants to do and go to a Optional Municipal Charter Code setup, decisions have to be made as to what will be included in such a Charter. He does not view the water bill surveys as valid survey data and on this issue he is not looking for a "general" feeling of the citizenry. He believes the last ballot measure on a City Manger form of government failed due to confusion brought about too many groups bring too many changes at one time. At this point, he would have to vote against the newly revised Charter submitted by the Committee because the City cannot afford a full blown performance audit by a reputable firm as it proposes. President Fitz questioned if the title of the Agenda Bill was in compliance with the discussion? Mrs. Horton stated if President Fitz was questioning if the title of the Agenda Bill was faulty and if is, then Council needed to go back and address a few other things that were discussed even though that question was raised earlier. Mr. Waibel noted he was addressing the "point of order" that the title of the Agenda Bill did in fact make this discussion a part of this Agenda item. Mr. Sievers stated he did not see any prohibition or impediment of State Law to say that we could not correct a title of an Agenda Bill at the time of meeting on that item. Mr. Colvin asked Cecil McConnell to speak on this issue at this time. Cecil McConnell stated he was confused as to what is being proposed. If the intent of the Council is to put these three items on the Ballot as an advisory and then come back and combine Phase I and II together for an election, then TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 20 of 28 this is the correct way to do it. He believes there was some confusion between the original recommendation and the final one by the Committee. Following discussion at a Council Study Session, the Committee looked into the viability of a Charter Code City, which they did find to be more advantageous for the City of Bremerton than to go to straight Code 35A. Code 35A allows two options - City Manager or Charter. Mr. Colvin questioned the correctness of the Agenda Bill title in terms of what is being proposed? Mr. McConnell stated as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, putting an Advisory Ballot out to the citizens may not be the specific recommendation they submitted, but it does implement the recommendation. He stressed it is up to the City Council as to how they want to proceed with implementation. #0747 M/S/C(Horton/Johnson) to place an advisory item on the November 1993 ballot to read:"Should the City of Bremerton adopt a City Manager form of Government?,,; Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Horton, Fitz, Dawkins, Johnson Opposed: Collins, Colvin Waibel: Abstain Motion carried. #0782 M/S/C(Horton/Johnson) to place an advisory item on the November 1993 ballot (the City Attorney will bring back the language) "how should the City of Bremerton Council members be elected - at - large, by District? Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Horton, Fitz, Dawkins Johnson Opposed: Collins Abstain: Waibel, Colvin Motion carried. #0830 M/S/C(Horton/Overson) to place an advisory item on the November 1993 ballot to read "Should the City of Bremerton reduce the size of the City Council?". Vote on motion: In Favor: Overson, Neville, Horton, Fitz, Dawkins, Colvin, Johnson Opposed: Collins Abstain: Waibel Motion carried. #0855 M/S/C(Collins/Dawkins) to place an advisory item on the November 1993 ballot to read "Should the City of Bremerton TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 21 of 28 empower a Board of Freeholders to determine the form of government? Vote on motion: In Favor: Neville, Waibel, Collins, Colvin, Fitz Opposed: Johnson, Horton, Overson, Dawkins Motion carried. 7A - ORDINANCE NO. 4418 {SECOND READING) ADOPTING THE WASHINGTON STATE BUILDING CODE WITH MODIFICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS DESIRABLE TO INSURE PUBLIC SAFETY IN ALL STRUCTURES, #AB93-094 Mr. Johnson questioned if changes made following first reading of the ordinance were italicized? Ian Sievers, City Attorney, explained Council was given a revised Ordinance prior to this meeting. He emphasized the revised Ordinance looks imposingly different than what was originally included in Council's packet, however, it isn't. There is one substance change included as a result of a question from the first reading. Under Section I he used the BMC Code sections - when Ordinances are codified they then become the official citation, not the original ordinance numbers. Some titles were placed in different sections of Chapter 17.04. He also included .010, which is the title for the Chapter - this is a Building Code and before it was the Building and Fire and Safety Code. The Fire Code will be segregated, which necessitated a title change. Mr. Johnson referenced language in Section 17.04.020 (that being italicized)... that exact wording is currently in the Code. Mr. Johnson questioned the reason for one line being italicized? Mr. Sievers stated because if was italicized in the Code as a proviso. Mr. Johnson pointed out the italicized line in that section makes no sense in the English language. Mr. Sievers noted placement of the semicolon and the capital "T" in the word "This" is the proper form of the proviso, which can vary in length, it can be provided by one word italicized or it can be a longer statement. Mr. Johnson asked that a period (.) be placed after the word "development" and to put the proviso in parenthesis. Mr. Sievers emphasized it is State codified and that is the form they want used. He pointed out Section 17.04.030 is the same as that previously provided in the Agenda packet with a title for the section. Mr. Waibel stated he believed the question was: "should the "T" be capitalised in "This Chapter..., making it a special chapter rather than the start of a new sentence. Mrs. Horton questioned the reason for leaving the italicized sentence as it is? Mr. Sievers explained all he did was to include the "Purpose" section that is already in the Code. He knows this was adopted in the year it was because there was a lot of controversy over TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 22 of 28 the public duty doctrine and the State said they liked to see that specific language, especially in building and construction codes addressing the public as a whole and not as any individual. Therefore, he included it and it did no harm having it written as it is in the existing code. He noted it would be OK to place a period after the word development and to use a small "t" in the word "This". Under Section 17.04.040 a title was added for this section; Code .050 and .060 are the same. Code .010 was not repealed so it was included in the Chapter. The only substantive change was made in Section 2 - we found that the appeals boards were miss codified. Since they were an amendment to the Uniform Code on appeals, they should have been included in the Chapter. A correction is being made to move the Appeals Board Chapter under Chapter 17.04, providing for constitution of the board, membership and procedures for appeals of all these Codes. Mr. Johnson questioned, under the 110 section, second to last line shouldn't we delete "and Fire Safety Code" phrase? Mr. Sievers asked that "or Fire Safety Code" be deleted from the last line in that paragraph. Public comment - none. Mr. Collins raised the question of "material standards" and if they were under a specific appendix or in a separate document? Mr. Nelson explained the material standards are contained in the Chapter adopting Uniform Building Code and Uniform Building Code Standards. Mr. Collins questioned if material standards needed to be included in this ordinance? Mr. Nelson stated they are included in 17.04.030, subparagraph (a). Mr. Overson questioned if Mr. Nelson really wanted to have a three year expiration date on this ordinance? Mr. Nelson explained the code process is on a three year cycle and he will be back fore Council at that time. Mr. Overson questioned if we don't adopt the next one then we don't have a code? Mr. Nelson stated if the City does not adopt the next one, he'll be required by State law to enforce the State Code. Mr. Colvin questioned if the State Code was more stringent than the City's Code? Mr. Nelson explained the City is required to adopt the State Code as it is, and the City can make amendments to it for buildings that are in excess of 4,000 sq. ft. or commercial. No amendments can be made to single family residents, duplexes or up to four units. The City has not made any amendments over and above the State Code. #1137 M/S/C/U(Horton/Colvin) to pass Ordinance No. 4418, on second TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 23 of 28 reading, adopting the Washington State Building Code with Modifications and Amendments desirable to Insure Public Safety in all Structures, including the recommended changes. 8A - PUBLIC HEARING: L.I.D. FOR 4TH STREET IMPROVEMENTS AND ORDINANCE (FIRST READING) ESTABLISHING THE IMPROVEMENT OF 4TH STREET FROM WASHINGTON AVENUE TO PACIFIC AVENUE ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH RESOLUTION NO. 2430 OF THE CITY COUNCIL ESTABLISHING A LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 326; ORDERING THE CARRYING OUT OF PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT AND PROVIDING THAT PAYMENT FOR THE IMPROVEMENT BE MADE BY SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS UPON THE PROPERTY IN THE DISTRICT On September 23, 1992, the Council approved the City to sign the petition to proceed with a L.I.D. on 4th Street from Washington Avenue to Pacific Avenue. Resolution No. 2430 was passed by Council on May 5, 1993 setting the date of hearing for May 26, 1993. Randy Witt, City Engineer, explained this is the hearing to establishes formation of a Local Improvement District (L.I.D.) and allows the collection of the money. No protest had been filed with his office as of close of business this date. He finds this project to be exciting and it was underway prior to his starting work with the City. The project was initiated by the property owners along 4th Street and they have gone on to agree to the formation of the L.I.D. This project will enhance 4th Street, making it a more pedestrian friendly environment and an attractive setting for people to do business. It is the City's hope that this project will lead to others like it using the L.I.D. process. He announced Dave Fergus of Rice Fergus Architects will provide further information on this project. Mr. Witt emphasized Mr. Fergus has donated a large amount of his personal/professional time to see that this project goes forward. Dave Fergus, Rice Fergus Architects, stated approximately a year ago discussions were first held with the Assistant City Engineer about the L.I.D. process, and much progress has been made within that year. He believes this project has been a strong collaboration of the City and business owners downtown. As architects themselves, they have assisted the Engineering Department in design aspects of the street, helping to pick out materials, colors, placement of trees, location of sidewalk patterns and where they might change. The Engineering Department has taken the technical details of how the street works from an engineering point of view and have spear headed the cost estimating, budgeting and how the bid documents in the construction package are put together. A TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 24 of 28 number of meetings have been held with the affected property owners to gathering their input, ideas and concerns. They have also held meetings with tenants and business operators along 4th Street, to try and get their concerns about the construction process and how their businesses can be assisted during the time of disruption through the construction phase. Together with the Engineering Department they have come up with a plan, which is on budget. The plan is a one - way one lane street from Washington to Pacific Avenue, wider sidewalks with diagonal parking instead of parallel parking, many street trees and amenities added. When the project was first started a year ago, the Assistant City Engineer Jan Stemkoski came up with a preliminary budget of $389,000. At this point, there is much more detail on the project and all along that budget figure has been treated as a hard and fast budget. He is confident this project can be completed for the Engineering Department's estimate of $389,000. He also mentioned that through this process they applied for a Community Development Block Grant for street lighting and other improvements of which $39,000 was granted to cover the cost of street lighting. Mr. Colvin questioned the kinds of shrubbery to be used in portions of the improvements? Mr. Fergus stated there will be 22 new street trees (some of the current street trees will be reused and relocated), as well as some large planters that will have evergreen type shrubbery, such as rhododendrons and azaleas. Mr. Colvin questioned who would maintain the plantings? Mr. Fergus stated they have worked closely with the Parks Department, who will provide future maintenance following completion of the project. Bob Wood, 327B Willow, questioned if he was correct in assuming the L.I.D. only involves those property owners abutting 4th Street between Washington and Pacific Avenue? Mr. Ferqus stated yes. Mr. Wood questioned if the building phase of the project will be handled by the City? Mr. Witt stated the project will be advertised, the bid awarded and will be under the City's inspection during construction. Mr. Wood questioned how will any over budget conditions be managed if there isn't sufficient funding? Mr. Witt stated the project fund will contain a contingency to meet such needs. Mr. Wood questioned if the City Administration would be "calling the shoots" on schedule changes? Mr. Witt stated that would be included in the contracts. Don Larson, 135 Rainier Avenue, stated he believed this project will be very beneficial for the City. Other cities, such as Leavenworth, have undertaken improvement project that TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 25 of 28 attract lots of tourists and he sees the possibility for Bremerton to do as well with its capitalizing on the waterfront, boardwalk and Turner Joy. Mr. Collins stated he had heard that effort was underway to find funding for a street clock. He asked if anyone had looked into obtaining the old street clock located in front of where Moellers Jewelry was originally located? Mr. Fergus stated no contact had been made regarding that clock, however, he will be looking into that possibility. Mr. Waibel stated as he reported earlier, he visited Portland this past weekend and they have totally refurbished their waterfront with a beautiful park very similar to Bremerton's new waterfront park. He noted improvements were made along 6th Avenue in Portland similar to what is being proposed for 4th Street and it is a beautiful place to walk through. He hoped Bremerton's redevelopment makes as good of turn - around as Portland's. He agreed with Mr. Jarstad that he would like to see this take in more than one block, however, at this point this is all we can afford to undertake. President Fitz asked Mr. Fergus to relate where one - way streets have really worked. Mr. Fergus stated every City, because of its layout, is different and you have to look at each individual city whether one-waying works or not. In the case of Bremerton, the Engineering Department is confident that the traffic flow should be from Washington to Pacific verses the other way around because of the number of vehicular trips on that stretch of 4th Street. He pointed out the City of Kirkland has a similar street configuration with wider sidewalks and diagonal parking. He believes businesses along that stretch of street have been enhanced. Recently Steve Rice visited the City of Mt. Vernon where he viewed an improvement project that included new paving, street amenities with a one - way street grid. Mr. Overson questioned how much added parking will this project add along that section of 4th Street? Mr. Witt stated it would be "parking neutral"...the number of parking spaces will be decreased, however the vehicles being removed are Police vehicles and spaces for public use will remain the same. Mr. Overson questioned the funding source for the City's portion of the project? Mr. Witt explained funding would be through an L.I.D. Mr. Overson questioned if the City's portion of $133,000 would come from the City Street fund? Mr. Witt stated he believed the point that was put in the Budget was that all monies collected on this project will flow through the City Street Fund for the improvements. The City, as a property owner along the street, has various TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 26 of 28 properties that are funded in various ways, i.e, the City Parking garage can pay for its share from parking revenues, etc. Mr. Overson expressed concern that this project is being proposed as if it is already financed, but in his opinion the financing is the important part and that portion covered first. He questioned is this project financed at this time? Rich Hanna, City Treasurer, stated it is not and as he mentioned in the clearance comments on the Agenda Bill, a Budget Adjustment will be forth coming, assuming the approval of this item by Council. The project impacts the City's budget at two levels, as a municipality the entire construction phase and financing that construction will be an amendment to the Street Fund. The reason being for using the Street Fund is that it is a street improvement and general accepted accounting principles tell us to account for it in that fund. Secondarily, in our other role in this particular L.I.D. as property owners, we like everyone else up and down 4th Street will have our appropriate assessment levied against our individual properties. As the City Engineer mentioned, the City has four properties...City parking garage, Permit Center, City Hall with adjoining park and the 4th Street Building. Each of those properties will be looked at individually as to funding source for the L.I.D. assessments. The City's parking garage funding resource comes from parking revenues and the other three properties are all General fund properties. As will the other L.I.D. property owners, the City will need to make the decision whether it will pay the complete assessment in cash at the conclusion of the project or whether to make it in a series of payments as the terms of the Assessment Roll will be established. Mr. Overson stated this proposal establishes a one - way street, and is the only one - way street in the downtown area. He questioned is there a corresponding one - way street grid plan for the City that adopts this presumption and says here's how we go in the next few years following an implementation schedule? Mr. Witt stated not to his knowledge. As discussed several weeks ago, it is something that needs to be done. He believes one - waying 4th Street will fit in with whatever plan comes up. Mr. Overson stated on that basis he did not personally support this proposal. He emphasized one of the primary needs in the downtown area is additional parking. This project proposes to expend significant amounts of City dollars with no added parking...that is not appropriate. Secondly, the citizens have been asked for additional funds to run the Police Department the way it should be run, by adding an additional tax to themselves. Then, the City turns around and spends money on a project like this...which he feels is inappropriate. He also is concerned that this project does TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 27 of 28 not match any one - way street grid that anyone knows of and it may or may not in the future. He sees the City having a significant liability at the corner of 4th and Pacific Avenue where two - way traffic matching each other. Mr. Waibel stated he did not want to leave the impression that the City is using drug enforcement task force money to build the streets. Mr. Overson stated the City has asked the citizens to give additional funds to run the Police Department the way it should be run. He did not agree that the City spend its funds on an L.I.D. project when there are other projects on the Capital Improvement Plan, as well as other programs in the City, that have a higher priority. He acknowledged the L.I.D. project is a beautiful idea with a beautiful document and in its time would be appropriate to implement, but additional parking should be provided. Some might say this project is an investment, however, there is no apparent return on the investment, it is like the boardwalk. At the present payback on the boardwalk it will take 1,060 years to get it back. Mr. Johnson stated he has a different opinion than Mr. Overson and doubted that there will ever be enough parking available downtown. He sees the critical issue being something downtown for folks to want to find a parking spot for. Crime is a major issue he hears about as well as "when are you guys going to do something about downtown". After five City Councils and three Mayors, all have been dedicated to that end. No one said anything when the City spent four million dollars to have the sewers redone, but that was the infrastructure support. No one said much when the City was doing the planning on the boardwalk, tearing down the old Bremerton Lumber site, YMCA building and upgrading the ferry terminal, but there is a pattern to that. He emphasized the importance of establishment of the Admiral Theater as an anchor for that part of the City and having Amy Bernett's Gallery and other fine artists locate in the downtown. If you look at the pattern where you want people to go, starting at the Ferry Terminal/boardwalk, 4th Street becomes the obvious route. He was pleased that the property owners stepped forward with the L.I.D. project and has believed all along that the real turn around of the downtown will be done by the local business people. He believes the path from the waterfront to the downtown has to be built and this proposal supports the traffic pattern. Mr. Colvin stated he agreed with Mr. Johnson and concurs in the idea of making such improvements to the whole downtown, however, he acknowledges that is not possible at this time. TAPE #1110 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes May 26, 1993 Page 28 of 28 But, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and he believes the first step has been taken through this project. Mrs. Horton stated one of the things Council has talked about since she became a member has been the need to do more L.I.D.'s. She believes it will be only through the L.I.D. process that improvements will be made not only in the downtown area but also the neighborhoods. If the City wants to set an example and come up with a quality project, we need to support this L.I.D. proposal. #2191 M/S/C(Waibel/Horton) motion to pass Ordinance on first reading establishing the Local Improvement District for 4th Street, if the aggregate L.I.D. cost total of owners protesting the L.I.D. is less than 60% of the total cost of the L.I.D. Vote on motion: In Favor: Neville, Horton, Waibel, Fitz, Collins, Dawkins, Colvin, Johnson Opposed: Overson With no further business meeting adjourned at 8:35 P.M. KATHLEEN L. McCLUSKEY, City Clerk EILEEN FITZ, Council President City of Bremerton KLM/EF/me cc: Normal Distribution File/Vault