Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/06/93TAPE #1082 UNAPPROVED DRAFT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JAI~UlkRY 6, 1993 #0021 #0038 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 6, 1993, at 5:30 p.m., with Council President Lynn Horton presiding. Council members present were Lon Overson, Richard Neville, Eileen Fitz, C. R. "Tiny" Collins, Hank Waibel, A1 Colvin and Russ Johnson. Councilman Morrie Dawkins was absent. Also present were City Attorney, Ian Sievers and City Clerk, Kathleen McCluskey. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Horton and Invocation given by Reverend Rick Lund of Family Of God Lutheran Church. President Hotton announced the addition of Item 6B - Confirmation Of Appointment Of Michael D. McKinley to position of Fire Chief, #AB93-006. CONSENT A. Minutes Of Meeting - December 16, 1992, #AB93-001 B. Minutes Of Meeting - December 23, 1992, #AB93-002 M/S/C/U(Waibel/Neville) presented. to approve Consent Agenda as 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. M/S/C/U(Colvin/Fitz) on January 6, 1993, the Council does approve for payment those vouchers included and further described as follows: Regular Payroll for the period ending December 31, 1992, in the total amount of $616,528.46. COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS Mr. Johnson wished everyone a "Happy New Year". Mr. Colvin introduced Joyce Libsack, Treasurer for NARF TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. M~g. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 2 of 8 (National Association Of Retired Federal Workers). Mrs. Libsack announced an Income Tax Service will be available for seniors and low income people (free of charge) and is provided through AARP (American Association Of Retired Persons). This service will start on February 1, Mondays and Fridays from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 P.M., at the Sheridan Park Recreation Center. She briefly outlined the program, training requirements for tax auditors and how the program assists seniors and people on low income. Mr. Co111ns reported his District's representative on the Charter Ad Hoc Committee resigned and Larry Stone has been asked to fill that vacancy, even though he does not reside in District #7. Since the Ad Hoc Committee was formed, Mr. Stone served as Alternate for District #8 and has attended all committee meetings. Mr. Collins believes Mr. Stone would be a valuable "voting" member on that committee. Mr. Overson extended a Happy New Year to everyone. He noted the new year started off right with his attendance at the Kitsap Transit "Trip Reduction Program" dinner meeting on Tuesday evening and the Kitsap Regional Planning Council meeting held this date. Mrs. Fitz stated it is "cold" - wrap your pipes. Mr. Waibel reported his representative on the Charter Ad Hoc Committee had also resigned recently and requested that anyone from within his District interested in serving on this committee for the remainder of their meetings to please contact him. Mrs. Morton reported she also attended the Kitsap Transit "Trip Reduction Program" dinner meeting. She briefly outlined the intent of that program as set forth by Federal and State law. In response to this transportation mandate, the City will have to develop a "Trip Reduction Program" as well. In response to a concern raised by a resident in District #1 about the lack of overhead protection at the Ferry Terminal for passenger only ferry, Mayor Mentor will address that issue during his report. PUBLIC RECOGNITION Mayor Mentor announced funding for a covered waiting area for the passenger only ferries was available through the Highway Enhancement Program. Kitsap Transit pursued that funding and received $80,000 to work on a cover for that area. The Port of Bremerton will be the lead agency on this project, along with Washington State Ferries and Kitsap Transit. This TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 3 of 8 project will be completed in stages, starting with the part where people spend the most time, on the steps and ramps, waiting to board the ferry. He anticipates completion of this first stage by fall of 1993. Mayor Mentor reported he was unable to attend the Kitsap Regional Council meeting this date due to his being in Olympia meeting with people over the overwater park mitigation project. He believes progress is being made on this project and that the City is "on the right track". He also attended a meeting, this date, with a group called "More Learning Through Hope", who are trying to sponsor AAU games this summer. This activity is being sponsored by The Sun and VITRO that would include having AAU games June 18 - 20, and would include baseball, basketball, swimming, track/field and wrestling events. This would be a Regional AAU meet and the top three winners would go on to compete at the National competition. Sponsors will be sought throughout the community, helping to raise the $350,000 needed. He announced Bremerton Community Theater will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 1993. He noted the Bremerton Symphony recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary as did Community Concerts. #0573 6A - PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT FOR PROPERTY AT 1ST STREET AND BREMERTON BOULEVARD, #AB93-003 Four lots at 1st Street and Bremerton Boulevard purchased as part of the original acquisition for the public works complex, were approved for surplus sale to offset costs of financing this project. Property was advertised for bid for 10 days at a minimum of .$12,840.00. The highest of four bids was received from Alroy H. Hall at $17,560.00. Public comment - none. M/S/C/U(Overson/Colvin) to approve agreement for sale of Lots 8 through 11, Block 1 in the plat of Bremerton Heights. 6B - CONFIRMATION OF APPOINTMENT OF MICHAEL D. MCKINLEY TO POSITION OF FIRE CHIEF, #AB93-006 The Civil Service Office conducted a recruitment and examination process for the position of Fire Chief. Four candidates were provided by Civil Service as qualified for appointment. All four were interviewed and Michael D. McKinley was selected. Pursuant to B.M.C. 2.49.010, appointments to the position of Fire Chief are to be confirmed by the City Council. TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 4 of 8 Mayor Mentor reviewed the testing and interview process for the position of Fire Chief and felt very fortunate that one of the City's own fire fighters made the top "four" on the list. He urged Council to vote favorably on the confirmation of Mick McKinley as "Fire Chief". Mr. Waibel questioned the correct contract date to be used if this proposal is approved? Ian Sievers stated the suggested motion on the Agenda Bill should reflect January 7 as the contract date. Mr. Waibel also pointed out signatures on the contract should also be dated. John Clauson, Service Development Manager for Kitsap Transit, stated he wanted to convey to the City Council how well Mick McKinley works with the community and other agencies within the City, specifically Kitsap Transit. He was a key player in the OPTICOM project for Transit buses. Mr. Clauson and Mick worked on this project for at least two years and during that time he always had a "can do" attitude. Mick has helped with technical aspects of the OPTICOM program as well as sharing information about the program with other communities and counties. Transit is really behind Mick's appointment and he personally felt the City couldn't make a better choice. Mr. Johnson questioned if the job description attached to the contract was integral to the contract? Mr. Johnson was concerned that a new job description through the Management Compensation Plan may be "right around the corner" and may change the current description. Ian Slevers, City Attorney, stated yes, it is incorporated into the contract. He saw no problem referencing it with the wording: "unless otherwise amended by Council", and or that "at will employees" with a change do not require their agreeing to it. Caroline Marshall, Personnel Director, stated the job description attached to the contract was in effect at the time recruitment was performed by the Civil Service System and those were the conditions under which the exam was conducted. In order to change that description, the Civil Service process must be followed. Mr. Colvin questioned the meaning of the following statement in the contract: "This agreement may be terminated for cause without notice"? Mr. Sievers explained the person may be terminated without cause with notice, however, if they are terminated with cause no notice needs to be given. Mr. Colvin questioned if it was true that an administrator could come in one day and say "you don't work here any more"? Mr. Sievers stated unless there was a reason given for the termination, the employee would be given 30 days notice. If it was desired #0881 TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 5 of 8 to terminate an employee immediately, a cause or reason would have to be developed and disclosed. Mr. Collins noted unless you give 30 days severance pay. Mr. Sievers there is the option of giving 30 days pay in lie of giving 30 days notice, but that is just a tradeoff as there is compensation with notice. M/S/C/U(Waibel/Collins) the City Council confirms the appointment of Michael D. McKinley as the Fire Chief for the City of Bremerton, effective January 7, 1993, with modification of the agreement to include the job description as amended. Mick McKinley, Fire Chief, stated he would not be in this position without Council's willingness to work with various members of the Fire Department. Had he felt it was an impossible job because of the Council, he would never have considered it in the first place. But, through the Bond issue he worked closely with the Council and Mayor Mentor and found them to be very open minded and fair. He looks forward to many more years of working with the Council and Mayor Mentor. He introduced his wife and noted she has given him tremendous support in his profession. 7A - ORDINANCE (FIRST READING) PROVIDING SALARY AND OTHER BENEFITS OF THE POSITION OF BENEFITS SPECIALIST AND AMENDING ORDINANCE #4356, #AB93-004 A new classification of Benefits Specialist is added to Confidential employees excluded from the General Employees Bargaining Unit and not included in the Management and Professional Staff salary and benefit ordinance. The Confidential Office Assistant Senior to the Personnel Department is removed from the Confidential group. This ordinance provides for the method by which salaries and benefits are established for positions excluded from a bargaining unit and the management and professional staff group. Caroline Marshall, Personnel Director, stated this ordinance will provide a mechanism for which people who are in confidential positions and who are excluded from bargaining representation can have their salaries and benefits established. Mr. Overson questioned if this was a new position- description-function? Ms. Marshall explained what was done in the past was to contract out Benefits administration and increasingly since 1989 she has been bringing them back in- house. The City has been administering in-house Unemployment #1077 TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 6 of 8 Insurance benefits and discovered that not only do we not have to pay the administrative fees ($2,000/annually), but the decrease in the cost of benefit payments themselves have gone down from approximately $40,000 annually to about $15,000 annually. Also, the Employee Assistance Program has been brought in-house as a service to the employees. A cost savings of approximately $6,000 was made in 1992 for this program. In 1993, the City should see a cost saving of approximately $7,200 just on what the City was paying out for this program. It has been shown that bringing in benefits administration in-house is very cost effective and far more efficient and a better service is provided to the employees. In-house administration of these areas have been brought about over the past three years and it has gotten to the point where the City cannot ask this particular person to perform these duties without compensation and proper classification. Public comment - none. M/S/C/U(Fitz/Waibel) to approve Ordinance, on first reading, providing salary and other benefits for the position of Benefits Specialist, and amending Ordinance #4356. In addition, it is further recommended that the City Council authorize the implementation of the new classification upon the successful completion of all administrative procedures necessary to the proper establishment of a new classification. 8A - PUBLIC HEARING - ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT: "PRIVATE EDUCATION FACILITY" USE TO BE ALLOWED IN CBR ZONE BY SPECIAL USE PERMIT, #AB93-005 An element of the Land Use Tables of the Zoning Ordinance has warranted attention by staff and the Planning Commission; the attached Findings outline the resulting recommendation to add the "Private Educational Facility" use to the CBR zone through the Special Use Permit Process. This action requires the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land Use Table of the Zoning Ordinance. The City Council may approve such an ordinance after a public hearing and readings. Shane Jensen, Land Use Planner, briefly explained this proposal would require any use fitting the Private Education Use definition to obtain a Special Use Permit (SUP) prior to occupancy and use of a property or any other development to assure proper development and amenities to the sites so that it will be compatible with the residential zone of the CBR zone. To accomplish this task would require adding SUP to Land Use Table #3 under CBR Zone for the Private Education Facility. Mr. Jensen provided a view graph showing the TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 7 of 8 locations of the CBR zone in the City. He pointed out the CBR zone is the only residential zoning district that does not allow the "Private Education Facility" use (either outright or by SUP). the CBR zone is the inner-city residential neighborhood of older west Bremerton. After extensive review, staff could not determine why Private Education Facility would not be allowed in this zone and felt it may have been an oversight during earlier zoning action. The Planning staff and Planning Commission felt this was a use that is compatible with residential zoning and that schools often become a center or core of strong neighborhoods. Therefore, the Planning Commission recommends that this zoning text amendment be approved. It meets the categories for approval of a text amendment, i.e., consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and that the amendment is consistent with provisions within the Zoning Ordinance. Public Comment - none. Kathleen McCluskey, City Clerk, read into the record a letter received from Rev. Joseph P. Mitchell, Pastor of Our Lady Star Of The Sea Rectory, in favor of the proposed text amendment. Mr. Johnson question the definition of a SC zone? President Hotton noted SC zone stands for "Shopping Center". Mr. Johnson questioned why wouldn't the SC zone also be included? When discussing "private schools" you run the risk of getting some type of "odd ball" schools, however, there may be some vocational type things, such'as cosmetology, that could very well be held in a shopping center. He suggested placing SUP across the board where there are blanks on the Land Use Table. Mr. Jensen pointed out the definition of a "Private Educational Facility" was taken from THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF DEVELOPMENT DEFINITIONS because the City's Zoning Ordinance does not include such a definition. That definition is: "Any building or group of buildings the use of which meets state requirements for primary, secondary or higher education and which use does not secure the major part of its funding from any governmental agency". It appears that this definition does not include vocational type schools. Mr. Johnson stated there may be a lot of folks taking auto mechanic classes at Olympic College, who might argue with Mr. Jensen. He could picture, in a shopping center environment, a place for vocational schools. Mr. Jensen stated for profit schools are not included. Mr. Waibel pointed out it was becoming more common for schools to be located in shopping center/shopping malls. Mr. Johnson also pointed out Bremerton had vacant shopping center facilities which might fit into something like this. Mr. Waibel stated he believed all of the working papers #1553 TAPE #1082 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 6, 1993 Page 8 of 8 on the rezone had the SUP included. He believed Council was reiterating its intent from previous deliberations and he supported adding it. Mr. Overson reported Operations Committee reviewed this item, however, they did not expand their views in the same direction as Mr. Johnson proposes, but he felt including the Shopping center zone was a good idea. Don Pratt, Director Of Community Development, stated he and Mr. Sievers, City Attorney, conferred on whether or not adequate public notice was given to include the "Shopping Center" zone. It was their determination that it could be included, if Council wished to amend the directives to do so. The ordinance will be brought before Council in the future and would include that designation if approved by Council. He could not think of any reason not to include the SC zone. Ian Sievers, City Attorney, noted the present hearing was a publicized hearing and the ordinance adopting text amendments would have two readings, which would provide further public notification and is the kind of related amendment that is related to the subject matter of the hearing. M/S/C/U(Neville/Colvin) to approve the Planning Commission's recommendation allowing the "Private Educational Facilities" use in the Central Bremerton Residential (CBR) zone and Shopping Center (SC) zone with approval of a Special Use Permit and request adopting ordinance. With no further business meeting adjourned at 6:20 P.M. t~EEN L. McCLUSK~Y, City Clerk LYNN HORTON, Council President City of Bremerton KLM/LH/eh cc: Normal Distribution File/Vault