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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/22/2011 Special AUG 0 8 2019 DIGITAL RECORDING CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES MW July 22, 2011 VRft The Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Bremerton was called to order in the First Floor Meeting Chambers of the NOW DICKS GOVERNMENT CENTER, 345 6 th Street, Bremerton, Washington, Friday, July 22, 2011, at 2 00 PM, with Council President Will Maupin presiding Council Members present were Nick Wofford, Carol Arends, Dianne Robinson, Greg Wheeler, Adam Brockus, Cecil McConnell, and Jim McDonald Council Member Roy Runyon was absent Assistant City Attorney Ken Bagwell, City Clerk Carol Etgen, and Legislative Assistant Lori Smith were present to provide staff support ORDINANCE NO. 5155, ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON METHADONE TREATMENT FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF BREMERTON Ken Bagwell Assistant City Attorney, explained that the City is facing potential applications for development of Methadone Treatment Facilities within the City The Bremerton Municipal Code does not adequately address the placement of these uses and the impacts that these uses may present, and the City does not currently have sufficient regulations to properly review and consider methadone treatment facilities The City Council finds that the protection of the health, safety, and welfare supports imposing a moratorium on the acceptance of all applications for any building, land use, or development permit or approval under the Bremerton Municipal Code for methadone treatment facilities within the City of Bremerton until additional review has been completed and any necessary code revisions have been adopted by the Bremerton City Council The moratorium would be in affect for 6- months, and may be renewed following another hearing There is no limit to the number of moratoriums established President Maupin understood that it was not possible for the City to actually "prohibit" a methadone clinic Mr. Bagwell responded that was correct, and elaborated further by stating the City does not have the ability to prohibit a methadone treatment facility because the State of Washington has specifically taken jurisdiction over this type of treatment facility so the most a City can do is to take this type of action [establishing a moratorium] to allow time to review it's current codes and ordinances regarding zoning issues Andrea Spencer explained this became an issue due to the way Council has passed zoning regulations Currently, this type of proposal would fall under the category of a "medical office ", which has a very broad definition The moratorium would allow time for the Council to establish a new definition of what a methadone treatment facility would be, establish potential review criteria, approval processes that might be used to review them, including the use of a Hearing Examiner if that is a direction the Council chose to go, and to allow additional opportunities for public comment Ms. Spencer summarized that it was a Council decision to legislate the application process, and the use of a moratorium allows an opportunity to write new land use regulations, improve the process, and better define methadone /opiate treatment facilities President Maupin clarified that the purpose of the Special Meeting today was not to address whether or not there should be a methadone clinic, but rather if there should be a moratorium He then opened the meeting for public comments, which are summarized below Beth Shea Echo Artworks, presented a poster of the original Charleston Community Plan that was first proposed by the City in 1987 to remind the Council that the City's 20 -year vision for the area did not include a methadone clinic Robert Parker The Printer People, has done some of his own research, and although he is not against this type of facility, he did not believe the correct approach has been taken to address such a serious issue and does not believe the City is ready to deal with the problems it can bring Gentry Lange Hi- Fidelity Lounge, discussed the current problems of the area, specifically the alley directly behind his establishment where frequent prostitution and drug use takes place, therefore he City Council Special Meeting Minutes Friday, July 22, 2011 Page 2 of 4 does not believe it is a good plan to place a treatment facility in a troubled area where the type of activity that is taking place is the type of activity those seeking treatment are trying most to avoid Andy Graham McCloud's Grill House, who also works in real estate, offered several suggestions for alternate locations Carl Glivar Great American Furniture, thanked the Council for considering a moratorium to slow down the process, and presented examples of the type of questions that he would like to see answered by the City before a final decision is made on where to locate a methadone clinic Brock Jackie y , Dave's Loans & Guns, would like to see the methadone clinic be a success, and emphasized that it would take a lot of study to determine where it would need to be located and what else would need to happen to make it be a success, therefore he agreed with the moratorium to allow adequate time for the City to study the issue in full detail Jack Dirks explained that before retiring, he worked in the chemical dependency field since 1976 including 20 -years as a counselor, 9 -years serving on the drug court, and 12 -years serving on an advisory board for the County He stated he was an advocate of a methadone clinic because he has seen nothing but good results from people using these clinics during their recovery Scott Lindquist Kitsap Health Director, presented packets of information to each of the Council Members and urged them to educate them selves on opiate abuse He also invited them and members of the public to attend a workshop aimed at "Reducing Opioid- Related Deaths In Kitsap County' and to discuss the need for a methadone clinic in more detail on Monday, August 15, 2011 beginning at 3 30 PM here in the Chambers Dr Lindquist also encouraged the Council to visit the methadone clinic in Olympia, including the surrounding area and believes they will a lot of fears expressed will be unfounded Monte Levine Ostrich Bay Syringe Exchange, said for the past 14 years he has operated a syringe exchange program distributing a majority of the syringes in Bremerton without the surrounding businesses even being aware of it until he told them He believes this clinic is long overdue and believes that stalling will not only cost money, but will cost lives, therefore he urged the Council to listen to the science and not the hysteria, and implied the City could be faced with a lawsuit Darren Stralev 76 Station, agrees that there is a problem in Bremerton and that there is a real need for a methadone clinic, however, he does not believe that the issues and concerns have been adequately addressed, especially in the location currently proposed Don Stauff Boston's Pizza, questioned if the City was capable of handling the impact of 2000 patients and stressed that this was a County problem and not dust a problem of Bremerton Dale Thoemke mentioned that his great grandfather built Callow Avenue in 1887, and thanked the Council for listening to business owner concerns He questioned the fairness of Evergreen Treatment Services being a non - profit, while property taxes have been increased for all Callow Avenue businesses, while also being required to purchase a Business License and pay Business & Occupation (B &O) taxes Mike Allen Kitsap Key & Bike Shop, was not against a methadone clinic but believes the issue should be studied carefully therefore he agrees that passing a moratorium is the smart thing to do Kathi Ferguson has lived in the City for over 30- years, and although her husband recently died, he was a drug addict who had expressed to her his belief that society should be very careful in how drug treatment is considered, especially because there are a lot of young people in the community who have not yet been exposed to many of the drugs out there, including methadone Although she was City Council Special Meeting Minutes Friday, July 22, 2011 Page 3 of 4 sympathetic to a drug addict's need for treatment, she feared that a methadone treatment facility could bring a larger problem to Bremerton, and agreed that it should be a "County" problem Michael Barton believes that if there is a moratorium, he hoped that it would be short because there are people dying, and in need of treatment right now Howard Froggatt Clifford's Auto Body, thanked the Council for taking expedient action in response to the Charleston business owner concerns, and was in favor of the moratorium He did not believe that a 6 -month delay was too much to ask, and would allow time for all questions to be answered Ryan McCrow (spouse owns Pied Piper's Emporium), was also in favor of the moratorium, and still doesn't understand why the Charleston Business District was chosen as the site for this type of treatment facility Robin Henderson agreed with the moratorium, and was tired of Bremerton fighting a bad reputation He felt that if the facility was going to serve the entire County, an outlying area like Silverdale was more centrally located and therefore a better choice for it to be located Jodette Parker The Printer People, had many questions about what a methadone clinic offers, and therefore believed the moratorium was the right way to go to allow time for more research John R Miller personally knows people that have to travel to Tacoma to receive treatment, and Kitsap Transit picks up those costs, so to have a treatment center locally would save money Trevor Mercer uses the methadone clinic in Seattle, and pointed out that most businesses aren't even open during the operating hours of the clinic He doesn't understand why anyone would want to get in the way of the chance for treatment to be available locally, and believes the moratorium is only being used as a stall tactic Faye Flemister Unique Experience, thanked the Council for allowing the public to be heard, and clarified that most of the business owners in the area are not against a methadone clinic, but believed that a moratorium would allow more time to learn about it and study the best choice for its location With no further comments, President Maupin closed the hearing to the public 02:55:15 Motion to approve the ordinance was made by Arends, and seconded by Wheeler Jim McDonald offered a friendly amendment to hold the next required public hearing on August 17, 2011 rather than on August 3 This friendly amendment was accepted by both the maker of the motion ( Arends), and the seconder (Wheeler) of the motion The meeting was then opened to the Council for their discussion, comments, and questions Nick Wofford asked how the County was able to prohibit methadone clinics anywhere in the County Mr Bagwell could only respond that the State of Washington has declared its authority to regulate opiate substitution treatment facilities, and State Law indicates the State will "work with Counties and i Cities" to regulate opiate substitution treatment facilities, so without specifically being able to provide his opinion regarding the County Code, it is his opinion that the City can not prohibit them Mr Wofford then asked if the Department of Community Development could adequately address all of the zoning issues within the 6 -month timeframe of the moratorium Ms Spencer replied that her Department would do their best, but could not guarantee that a 6 -month timeframe is enough time to accomplish everything that needs to be done Mr. Bagwell said that following another public hearing to provide justification, another 6 -month extension on the moratorium could be granted City Council Special Meeting Minutes Friday, July 22, 2011 Page 4of4 Mr Brockus asked if the moratorium could be rescinded if enough information is received and everything was accomplished early Mr Bagwell replied yes Mr. Wheeler commented on the reasons that lead to this moratorium being proposed by the Council, which was to slow down the process to allow adequate time to address all concerns, and thanked Council leadership for putting this action together so quickly Mr. McDonald thanked Dr Lindquist for the information he provided, and looked forward to studying it more thoroughly, but at first glance, he was concerned that this information appeared to be in direct conflict with information that was received by the Police Department He agreed with the moratorium Dianne Robinson agreed that a methadone clinic is really needed in the City, but agreed with the business owners that the wrong location was selected She too agreed with the moratorium Mr Wofford concurred that a methadone clinic is needed here, but also believed that the public required more education on the issue Will Maupin established that he had no intention of prohibiting a methadone clinic in the City even though there are some issues that need to be mitigated He believes that the goal is to have enough information so that the community is supportive, and that the purpose of calling this meeting to ask for a moratorium was to assure that there is adequate time to review the zoning code and to take it through a thorough process He also pointed out that the taxpayers will be paying the cost for staff time to accomplish this process, and the cost will be high, therefore he would be agreeable to ending the moratorium early once it is no longer needed He was interested in doing what's best for everyone 03:12:20 M /S /C /U (Arend s/W heeler) Move to approve Ordinance No 5155 imposing a moratorium on methadone treatment facilities The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the Council in attendance President Maupin adjourned the Council Meeting at 3 15 PM Prepared and Submitted by bo < LOU SMITH Legislative Assistant Attest RV CAROL ETtlbEN, City CI rk WILL MAUPIN, City ouncil ident WMCEIscg