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Home My WebLink About04/01/2009 DIGITAL RECORDING APR 1 5 2009 ~ wednesday, April 1 , 2009 _ 8 looS' The weekly meeting of the City Council ciNHeiCity of Brenierton was called to order W~~nesday, ~'\' d""1.~r~kl\~f" i\i -1."~ ""'':tlll~ April 1 , 2009, at 5:00 PM in Council Cahfer;elilce Room:603',df the NORM DICKS GOVERNMENT CENTER, 345 6th Street, Bremerton, ~~{~ln~J~~, with\q~~l~) President Cecif McConnell ~ presiding. Council Members present Were' Nick Wofford, Carol Arends, Mike Shepherd, Roy Runyon, and Adam Brockus. Council Members absent were Brad Gehring, Dianne Robinson, and Will Maupin. Also present were City Attorney Roger Lubovich, City Clerk Carol Etgen, and Legislative Assistant Lori Smith. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES A COUNCIL BRIEFING was held to discuss General Council Business; and at 5:30 PM the meeting moved to the First Floor Meeting Chambers. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member Adam Brockus followed by the invocation provided by Pastor Eric Roberts of New Life Assembly. MAYOR'S REPORT - There was no Mayor's Report tonight... PUBLIC RECOGNITION & ANNOUNCEMENTS David Overton, property owner within "SKIA", thanked the City for all their efforts in making annexation possible, and looked forward to being a part of Bremerton. Adam Brockus reminded the public that a Mother's Day Event hosted by the Manette Business Association would be held on Saturday, May 2nd from 1 :00 to 4:00 PM. Rov Runvon announced that there will be a Kiwanis Park Volunteer Workday on Saturday, April 4 from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact Bev Luckey Short at (360) 337- 0842 or mmitww@yahoo.com. Mike Shepherd mentioned the upcoming Earth Day events including a Sinclair Inlet Clean-Up on Saturday, April 25th beginning at 10:00 AM by the boardwalk; a design charette for the shoreline pedestrian path on April 24 & 25 involving the National Parks Service, Suquamish Tribe, and the City of Bremerton; a public meeting at 8:00 PM on April 25th regarding the shoreline pedestrian path from Charleston to Gorst; and that he would be representing the City on a trip to Kure, Japan in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Sister City Program. Katrina Folkerson from the Kitsap Family YMCA provided an update on all of the events and activities taking place at the "Y" this month. Elementary Tee-Ball team registration will begin on April 13 for children in Kindergarten through 4th Grade and practices will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at West Hills Elementary School. Healthy Kids Day will be on April 11 from 1 :00 to 3:00 PM and will include exercises and healthy snacks. Vern LaPrath expressed his concern about the proposed increase in car tabs and believes the City instead needs to be more fiscally responsible. President McConnell explained that no action has yet been taken and the issue has been deferred until June. CONSENT AGENDA A. Check Numbers 330678 through 330677 .3~0~22 (correction approved at May 6,2009 Council Meeting) and EFT-8621 through EFT-8661 in the amount of $2,481,469.49; Regular Payroll in the amount of $729,417.77 for the pay period ending March 15,2009; and Retiree Payroll in the amount of $88,852.12 for the pay period ending March 31,2009 (#AB09-065) B. Minutes of Meeting - March 18, 2009 (#AB09-066) C. Minutes of Study Session - March 25,2009 (#AB09-067) City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes Wednesday, April 1 ,2009 Page 2 of 4 D. Reappointment of John Cockburn to the Planning Commission (#AB09-068) There were no questions or comments from the public.. . 5:47:25 M/S/C/U (Arends/Brockus) Move to approve the CONSENT AGENDA as presented. GENERAL BUSINESS Finance Director Andy Parks provided a PowerPoint@ presentation on the "Plan to Address the City's Proiected Financial Shortfall- Dated A Dril1, 2009", which will address all three General Business items scheduled tonight for Council action... 6A - AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SUBMIT A COPS HIRING RECOVERY PROGRAM (CHRP) GRANT APPLICATION (#AB09-069): Finance Director Andy Parks explained that the COPS Hiring Program 2009 grant award allows the Police Department and City to create and preserve jobs and increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. There is no local match required in year on and grant funding is based on current entry-level salary and benefits packages. The City requests permission to apply for $900,000 to provide funding to maintain four police officer positions. The City is expected to fully provide funding for the additional costs associated with increases in salary and benefits after year one and fund the positions for one year at the completion of the grant period in 2012. There were no questions or comments from the public.. . 5:55:00 Motion was made and discussion by Council Members continued... Mrs. Arends believed that there are questions that have not been answered therefore she could not support the item tonight; and questioned if there was another COPS Grant that the City previously applied for and still has not used. Mr. Parks answered there was a $245,000 grant that the City will eventually receive and be used as an off-set for 2009. The COPS grant tonight if approved, would be utilized in 2010. Mr. Shepherd asked for clarification on the hiring component of the grant. Mr. Parks responded that the grant would allow the City to retain their officers for the current service level for three more years or hire new officers; and added that the City would not be considering police officer layoffs assuming funding is acquired. Mr. Runyon stated that he supports the "authorization" for the City to "apply" for this grant because he wants to see the current level of officers maintained. Mr. Wofford stated that per Chief Rogers, the Police Department has vacancies and he hoped that this grant would allow the positions to be filled. Mr. McConnell was concerned about the approximate $400,000 that would be required by the City in year four; believed that the intent of the grant would be to maintain service by filling vacancies and hiring officers who would be part of the reduction in force, and since the city has not indicated that would happen, he did not think the city would qualify for the funding. Mr. Parks explained that without additional funding, the plan will be to reduce the Department by two officers. 6:09:35 M/S/C (Brockus/Runyon) Move to authorize the Mayor to execute and submit a 2009 COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) Grant. Voted in favor of Motion: Runyon, Shepherd, Wofford, Brockus Voted opposed to Motion: Arends, McConnell Motion carried: 4-Yes; 2-No City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes Wednesday, April 1 ,2009 Page 3 of 4 6B - ORDINANCE NO. 5078. AMENDING CHAPTER 3.50 OF THE BREMERTON MUNICIPAL CODE (RELATING TO UTILITY TAXES FOR WATER, WASTEWATER. AND STORMWATER UTILITIES) TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAX FOR 2009 (#AB09-070): Finance Director Andy Parks summarized that the proposed ordinance added an additional payment in lieu of tax fee for 2009. The payment will generate $550,000 in additional revenue to the General Fund for the 2009 budget year. Spending reductions through labor concessions and other spending reductions will offset the additional payment. There were no questions or comments from the public. . . 6:12:31 Motion was made and discussion by Council Members continued... Mr. Shepherd understood that this was a temporary rate reduction which in turn means that more tax will be generated without an "increase" in taxes, but he was concerned that the $500,000 will not be replaced next year and so believed a more permanent, long-term fix should be addressed. Mr. Runyon considered \ that this was an emergency situation, and asked if there would be a rate increase to the citizens if the Council passed this proposed ordinance tonight. Mr. Parks responded no. Mrs. Arends agreed with these comments, and clarified that this action was really a "payment in lieu of taxes" and not a tax increase. Mr. Wofford clarified that there are two separate funds that should not be confused... There is the "utilities", which is separate Enterprise Fund which operates just like a separate business, and the. utility tax has been raised in the last couple of years basically by the cost of living. And then there is the General Fund that the City is using savings from employee concessions by transferring the funds from the Enterprise Fund to the General Fund to help pay for the other functions of the City. 6:25:22 M/S/C (Runyon/Wofford) Move to approve Ordinance No. 5078, amending BMC Chapter 3.50 relating to utility taxes for water, stormwater, and wastewater utilities. Voted in favor of Motion: Arends, Wofford, Brockus, Runyon, McConnell Voted opposed to Motion: Shepherd, Motion carried: 5-Yes; 1-No 6C - ORDINANCE NO. 5079. AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 5071. WHICH ADOPTED THE FISCAL YEAR 2009 BUDGET; AND AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF $1 MILLION OF EXCESS VEHICLE RESERVE FUNDS FROM THE EQUIPMENT RENTAL AND RESERVE (ERR) FUND (#AB09-071): Finance Director Andy Parks reported that the Bremerton City Council adopted the 2009 Annual City Budget by Ordinance No. 5071 on December 3,2008. Current revenue projections anticipate a shortfall in budgeted revenue. A combination of new revenue and expenditure reductions as addressed in the plan to address the City's projected financial shortfall, dated March 25, 2009 is proposed. He said the focus at this time is on reducing the spending. John Thomas expressed his concern that the City has proposed similar action in the past and does not believe the previous requests for increases have been paid back. 6:29:41 Motion was made and discussion by Council Members continued... Mr. Shepherd reiterated his concern that this action was to repair a budget that he previously recognized had problems; and does not believe that proposed deductions are clear. 6:47:18 M/S/C (Runyon/Brockus) Move to approve Ordinance No. 5079, amending Ordinance No. 5071 which adopted the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget and to authorize the transfer of $1-million of excess vehicle reserve funds from the Equipment Rental and Reserve (ERR) fund. City Council Reg. Mtg. Minutes Wednesday, April 1 ,2009 Page 4 of 4 Voted in favor of Motion: Arends, Wofford, Brockus, Runyon, McConnell Voted opposed to Motion: Shepherd Motion carried: 5-Yes; 1-No COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS Adam Brockus for the benefit of comments made earlier by Mr. LaPrath, he discussed the purpose of 1-747 regarding property taxes; and encouraged Manette residents to comment on the Manette Sub-Area Plan. Roy Runyon provided contact information for the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) and encouraged any small business that may be having financial trouble to contact them. Mike Shepherd wished happy birthday to all three of his children who have a birthday this month; Alisha (age 20), Jack (age 18), and Sean (age 24). He also encouraged reading the book "Breakfast at Sally's...One Homeless Man's Inspirational Journey", written by Richard LeMieux who lived homeless in Bremerton, after his business failed. Carol Arends mentioned there were a lot of good events going on in the City right now, and reminded everyone to be thankful for all of the groups who serve the public, especially children; and encouraged everyone to be mindful of the many things they have to be thankful for. Nick Wofford thanked John Cockburn for continuing to volunteer his services on the Planning Commission, and reminded all citizens of the many volunteer opportunities that are available. He commented that he too read "Breakfast at Sally's" and found it very interesting. With no further business, President McConnell adjourned the Council Meeting at 6:56 PM. ~nd Submitted by: o ISMIT~ Legislative Assistant Attest: c~f!riJ . P' ;(C . ~ s:;:; ~~A. ;?; {. ,~~~. CECIL McCONNELL, City Council President CM:CE:ls:cg