Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/17/90 TAPE ~707 UNAPPROVED DRAFT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JA~NIARY 17, 1990 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 17, 1990 at 5:30 p.m., with Council President Lynn Horton. Council members present were Lon Overson, Wayne Estes, Spencer Horning, Hank Waibel, Morrie Dawkins, C. R. "Tiny" Collins, A1 Colvin and Russ Johnson. 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 Horton and Invocation was given by Reverend Sam Rachel of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. CONSENT AGENDA A. Minutes Of Meeting - January 3, 1990, #AB90-009 :0018 M/S/C/U(Horning/Dawkins) to approve 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 which has been made available to the council. !0032 M/S/C/U(Colvin/Overson) on January 17, 1990, the Council does approve for payment those vouchers included and further described as follows: 102352, 102353, 102354, 102736, 102035, 103035, 103036, 103045 through 102051, 103072 through 103210, 103212 through 103215 in the total amount of $414,603.15. COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS Mr. Colvin announced Cedar Heights Jr. High Jazz Band has been invited to the Soviet Union (the only one in the United States to be invited). He noted this is a great tribute to our area. He met with two representatives of the Chamber Of Commerce and discussed the following issues: (1) education within our community and the value of Olympic College; (2) parking problems in the City; (3) need to establish a closer cooperation with County officials; (4) a planned reception for two new Olympic College Board members, who were recently appointed. Mr. Estes stated the Ethics Committee has been formed and would begin their task after the February 6 election. He announced every Wednesday morning, 7:30 a.m., at the E1 Camino Restaurant, the Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring a meeting where each of the State Legislators from Kitsap County will have an opportunity to discuss issues and answer questions via a speaker phone. Representative Paul Zelinsky was the speaker at the meeting held this date and Senator Brad Owen will be the speaker on January 24. Also, on January 31 the Chamber of Commerce is organizing a trip to Olympia (cost $30.00 which includes a bus trip plus lunch). Mr. Horninq stated on Friday evening, January 12, he had the opportunity to ride with one of the Bremerton Police Officers. He found this experience very interesting,intriguing and informative. He encouraged his fellow Council members to take such an opportunity to get better acquainted with the City's Police force and to become aware of the problems that exist. Mrs. Horton reported that she and Connie Devaney met, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Mayor Mentor and came up with a game plan as to how to deal with all of the non-profit groups that the City is helping to fund...Flagship, Bremerton Main Street, EDC, and Bremerton/Kitsap County Visitor and Convention Bureau. By the end of their discussions it became apparent that they had the TAPE #707 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 17, 1990 Page 2 of 4 beginnings of a Downtown Redevelopment Plan. On this date there was a meeting with all of the groups listed and there will be a follow up meeting next week. PUBLIC RECOGNITION Bill Duff¥, Utilities Director, stated the Utilities has been receiving a number of calls recently regarding Utility billing and he wanted everyone to be aware that they are switching to a new billing system - with the cycles being somewhat different that previous billings. Now, they are going to a continuous type billing where residents will get billed every other month but bills will be sent out on a weekly basis. Therefore, some of the cycles in the first series of new billings will be either longer or shorter which will affect the utility bills. Secondly, they are going into the fall of the year and the wastewater rates are based on actual usage in the winter as opposed to average use in the summer. Therefore, the bills from this point to next spring will reflect the actual usage. If anyone has any questions relating to utility billing, please call the Utility Office. Sherry McCallum, Port Orchard, briefly outlined how the Cedar Heights Jazz Band was selected for an invitation to the Soviet Union. The group has been trying to raise funds for the trip and welcomed any suggestions or support for additional fund raising. Air fare alone to transport the group will amount to approximately $25,000. Mrs. McCallum suggested calling Cedar Heights Jr. High School if anyone is interested in becoming involved with their fund raising effort. 6A -PUGET POWER EASEMENT, ~AB90-010 Puget Power requests an easement to provide power to the Utility Pump Station at the corner of Burwell and Park Avenue. :0439 M/S/C/U(/Colvin/Horning) to approve easement with Puget Power. 7A - ORDINANCE ~4259 (SECOND READING} AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A $1.75 MILLION TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE, ~ABg0-008 Public Comment invited - none received. :0473 M/S/C/U(Johnson/Colvin) to pass Ordinance %4259, on second reading, authorizing the issuance of tax anticipation notes for the purpose of paying City expenses pending the receipt of general City taxes; creating a note redemption fund; providing for the sale of those notes to Seattle-First National Bank of Seattle, Washington; and, because of its urgency, providing that this ordinance shall take effect immediately. 7B - RESOLUTION ~2284, SUPPORTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL FREE TELEPHONE CALLING THROUGHOUT KITSAP COUNTY, ~AB90-011 A Resolution of the Bremerton City Council recognizing the increasing importance of telephone and related communications to the City of Bremerton and establishing the City Council's intent to take action to establish the availability of local telephone service between Bremerton, Kitsap County and selected major population areas of Puget Sound. Mr. Johnson stated he had been watching what was going on in North Kitsap as far as local telephone service and they were able to expand their area. After looking into why that happened, why people wanted to do it - he found there is a some good and bad aspects. The first question that is asked is ..."what about rates"? What Mr. Johnson has been able to determine, except those people living in the Kingston/Hansville area, the average residential rate goes up about $2.20 per month. For the average business it goes up about $6.60 per month. What the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) looks at when they look at utility rates and tariffs and the kind of coverage TAPE #707 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 17, 1990 Page 3 of 4 is sometimes called a "community service area". In a community service area telephones and other utilities are not determined by any boundary that might be made, such as Bremerton city limits, but rather is determined by where people work, play, live, locations of schools, etc. A way to see if there is a right or wrong community service area is to look at where people work, where their children go to school or are kept in a day care facility and if it requires calling long distance to these areas. To call long distances of course costs more to the user. Some of the local business people have indicated that many supplies already have 1- numbers and questioned why would they want to change anything? Mr. Johnson's response was "how many customers are not calling you because it is long distance"? The City Council cannot take any action to change telephone rates, nor can the City Council go directly to the WUTC and do anything about it. But, by placing this issue on the Council Agenda, it was his intent to put the issue before the public and if citizens or business people wish to pursue such an idea they would be better informed of the opportunity and process required. Per the projections for Kitsap County in the 1990's as being one of the fastest growing areas in the entire United States, there will be growth in Bremerton and greater requirements for communication and transportation with the east side of Puget Sound. From information received, Mr. Johnson has found that the larger the service area and the larger the number of phones involved the cost to the consumer or line owner goes down. He supported giving this issue further study. Deputy Clerk Johnson read into the record a letter received from Larry Eyer, Executive Director, Kitsap Community Action Program, pointing out the possible adverse affect this proposal could have on the large low income population within the County if a toll-free telephone surtax were imposed. If such a proposal should be pursued he recommended including some type of cost reduction or option to not be part of the toll-free network for low income residents. Mr. Collins emphasized the thought process of the City Council and himself was that of exploring this issue, its feasibility and if it would be of value to the citizens of Bremerton. He suggested making the following changes to the proposed Ordinance: Items 1,2,3,4,5 (under BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED THAT:) to read - "The City council of the City of Bremerton directs that the Mayor and City Administration actively pursue the investiqation of consolidation of local service available to Bremerton residents and business to provide telecommunications throughout Kitsap County without long distance charges; and,; (2) second sentence "the City Council directs the Mayor and City Administration to also pursue investiqation into expansion of local telephone calling areas to these population centers; and; (3) That the City Council of the City of Bremerton encourages all other jurisdictions in Kitsap county to join in these efforts... (note: deleting remainder of of this sentence); (4) delete paragraph; (5) delete paragraph. Mr. Collins noted the purpose of these changes are to make it emphatic to the Mayor and staff that the Council desires information not action toward accomplishing the end. Mr. Horninq noted that improved communication services to the Bremerton area was a part of discussions held this past year relating to redevelopment of the downtown area and it was viewed as a real benefit if it were in place. He encouraged Council to support the Resolution and noted his sensitivity to look at ways to provide lock outs for those who might be adversely affected. Mr. Estes assured those citizens who have voiced their concern, that the Council will take into consideration their TAPE #707 City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes January 17, 1990 Page 4 of 4 comments/concerns. Mr. Johnson noted he also had an extensive conversation with Mr. Harlow, who coordinated the effort for the North Kitsap area. And, Mr. Harlow did pass on some observations in dealing with the WUTC when getting into the rate negotiation: (1) the WUTC still recognizes the value and the need for universal telephone service, which is terminology within the communications industry that means everyone has the right to a telephone for at least emergency purposes (every house should be able to afford a phone). In that regard, Mr. Harlow indicated there are some programs to allow people at the poverty level or close to it to get some assistance in paying for at least a basic phone service and that there is legislation being proposed now to expand these programs to assure that people at least have phones to call 911, etc. He also indicated there were about 15 other communities within the State who are looking at the same things for the same reasons. :0794 M/S/C/U(Collins/Dawkins) to approve Resolution #2284, as amended by Mr. Collins, recognizing the increased importance of telephone and related communications to the City of Bremerton and establishing the City Council's intent to pursue looking into the possibility of the availability of local telephone service between Bremerton, Kitsap County and selected major population areas of Puget Sound, With no further business meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. KATHLEEN L. MCCLUSKEY, CITY CLERK APPROVED N~ HORTON, Council President City of Bremerton KLM/LH/me cc: Normal Distribution File/Vault