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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/07/2015 COUNCIL DIGITAL RECORDING M CITY COUNCIL JOINT PLANNING SESSION MINUTES . FEB 19 1015 Saturday, February 7, 2015 A Joint Planning Session between the City Council, Mayor, and Department Directors of the City of Bremerton was called to order in the Cascade Room at the Gold Mountain Golf Course, Bremerton, Washington, Saturday, February 7, 2015, at 9:00 AM, with Council President Greg Wheeler presiding. Council Members present were Eric Younger, Roy Runyon, Dino Davis, Jerry McDonald, Leslie Daugs, and Mike Sullivan. Also in attendance were Mayor Patty Lent, City Attorney Roger Lubovich, Municipal Court Administrator Dawn Nelson, Parks & Recreation Director Wyn Birkenthal, Public Works & Utilities Director Chal Martin, Financial Services Director Cathy Johnson, Police Chief Steven Strachan, Fire Chief Al Duke, and Community Development Director Andrea Spencer. Lori Smith, Legislative Assistant was present to provide staff support. The following is a summarized list of the subjects and key points that were discussed: Public Safety • Increase public safety (Mike Sullivan) Requested more police officers, switching to LED street lights; and working with Puget Sound Energy(PSE) to improve light poles... • Are red-light cameras still necessary? (Leslie Daugs) A detailed packet of"Photo Enforcement"statistics would be provided soon to the Council... • Request Performance audiVreview of Fire Department (Eric Younger) This would be similar to the recently completed Police Performance Audit Review...Cost for a nationally accredited company is estimated to be approximately$12 to $15k depending on the scope of the work...Once a scope of work is established, then requests for proposals could be requested... Fire Department would be evaluated with shortfalls pointed out... Council asked if Administration can set-aside $20k next year for this purpose... • Revisit Regional Fire Authority efforts (Roy Runyon) It was established that Chief Duke will be the[only]point of contact with local Fire Districts... • Communicate more with Community Resource Officer (Dino Davis) Reminder was provided that "Block Watch Captains Meetings"are held monthly and are open to the public... Community Resource Officer Joe Sexton is also available to speak at District Meetings... Subjects of what is relevant to the citizens could be developed and then BKAT utilized (maybe quarterly?) to project the information...It was pointed out that that citizens have been using Facebook to report crimes... And that the Police Department has a Twitter account but not Facebook... It was also noted that young people, including the younger Police Officers don't even use the phone anymore— they text... CenCom doesn't have the capability yet to receive text or video... There's a transition right now where citizens are beginning to post their concerns, but Police Department is not able to monitor Facebook regularly... Possible goal is to request that State legislators figure out a way to deal with social media public records requests as newer technology is developed... Perhaps a link could be posted on Facebook and Twitter accounts for accurate reporting of crimes rather than just "posting"comments...It was summarized that more interaction can be utilized with Mr. Sexton and the Watch Captains, as well as with each District's assigned patrol officers... • (Added item) Request for new fire trucks (Fire Chief Al Duke) Cost for a bare bones engine is approx. $400k... Medicine (Medicare and Insurance) are looking for more and more ways to stop paying, with Fire Departments being pushed out of Emergency Rooms... And there will be even more changes over the next 5-years...Hotlines are being promoted now over calling 911... City Council Joint Planning Session Minutes Saturday, February 7, 2015 Page 2 of 6 Public Works • Repair City roads (Eric Younger) Explained that Transportation Benefit District(TBD) money($20) is to fix existing road conditions... Would like to see TBD used for chip seals and overlays...Introduced proposal to use a percentage of REET(Real Estate Excise Tax) and create a "road map"to secure funding is in place for future Councils... It was established that no other funding sources are available... Council Member Younger asked for permission to work with Finance Director Cathy Johnson to review REET and PILOT(Payment in Lieu of Taxes)policies to develop a funding formula... Council Members were in agreement, with a request for periodic feedback...Intention is to use the Finance Committee first to vet out the information, and then move forward to a Study Session with the full Council... • Maintain sidewalks to ensure ADA friendly (Mike Sullivan) Would like the City to find a way to assist Public Works in repairing the sidewalks...The ADA Transition Plan has about $150k per Public Works Director, and he will pick-up what former Managing Engineer[Gunnar Fridriksson]started regarding ADA compliance issues... It was agreed that 4 Street needs help... Permanent solutions over temporary solutions are preferred... • Improve Walkability (Dino Davis) Would like to see more emphasis on multi-modal as part of future projects to find more ways to make it easier to get out of our cars i.e. narrower streets, and abandoning one-way and dead-end streets (which are dangerous)... Improves quality of life in neighborhoods where residents can walk somewhere... Walkability and jobs are top searches for Millennials and Generation X's... Dave Ramsey with the State Transportation Improvement Board will be coming to Bremerton to talk about the "Feet First Program"and will walk the loop over the[Manette]Bridge and[Warren Avenue]Bridge... • Create a "Utility Advisory Committee" (Roy Runyon) Model would be based on one used on Bainbridge Island, and could act as a "firewall"plus lets the ratepayers feel they're being heard... Concerns were expressed that the schedule of Council Members is already overloaded and there was not room for another committee that may not even be necessary... Mayor Lent added that the City already conducted a rate study that took nearly a year to complete... No support from Council on this proposal... • Develop policy for City-owned commercial property (Roy Runyon) Suggested the City renegotiate contracts with tenants (i.e. the Admiral Theatre, Kitsap County Libraries, and Navy Museum), requiring them to pay for Operation & Maintenance (O&M) costs, etc. But it was agreed that the contribution of non-profit tenants outweighed the need to request more from them... An inventory list of City-leased and City-owned properties was requested... It was agreed that the City should act more like a business and figure out how the City can afford to "do"things, rather than "cut"things... There was agreement that the City has to be fair in how much and when the City charges non-profits, so a summary of each of the tenant's rental terms with the City was also requested... Business Development/Community Development • Increase Economic Development on Wheaton Way and rest of City (Leslie Daugs) How can the City open up development...? It was suggested that each Council Member could go out to their districts to talk with all of the business owners to find out what they need... City Council Joint Planning Session Minutes Saturday, February 7, 2015 Page 3 of 6 • Look for ways to make Bremerton business friendly (Jerry McDonald) Felt if the downtown was thriving, then it would help other districts... Should the City provide an "information packet"for new business owners to assist them and make it easier to comply with all of the City requirements...?Agreement to continue reduction in Business & Occupation taxes... How about a follow up "survey"or letter to see how the process can be made better in the future...? It has to be economically viable before a grocery store will come downtown... How can the City convince the residents to "buy in"to the idea...? It was explained that one holistic packet is difficult since all situations are different... New business owners are encouraged to talk with DCD staff to help them navigate the City's permit process... Could a survey be sent out to all business license holders to ask if they're satisfied with the overall process...? Could the City partner with the Chamber to help create the survey and collect the data...? Others believed that the businesses need to look to entities like the Chamber of Commerce, Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA), and Kitsap Aerospace & Defense Alliance (KADA) to assist them, and as government, the City should just "get out of the way"because "government sucks at business!" • Develop incentives to attract businesses to long vacant buildings (Greg Wheeler) Research was already done, now support from the Council and Administration (DCD Director and Fire Chief) is requested to focus on the City's Fire Codes...Feels the City has reached a point where the City Fire Code requirements are significantly higher, even more than State requirements, which has made building retrofitting cost prohibitive... A line-by-line review of the Fire Codes is requested for an in-depth code analysis... Help would be brought in from the community and a team developed to assist the Fire Marshall and DCD... One of the biggest issues is sprinklers... Mayor Lent pointed out that the Rental Association has already been at the table on this issue... However, it was believed those previous discussions were more focused on residents... Agreement was for focus to now to be on vacant commercial buildings...This is a go! Vacant buildings are bad because they invite crime... A suggestion was made to use $100k from Community Development Block Grant CDBG) funds to leverage $1-million in loan guarantees... But it was pointed out that the City is going into the Section 108 Program in the "driver's seat'; since Council already approved the initiative... DCD will provide updates to the Council... • Develop home improvement incentives and/or remove barriers for single and multi-family property owners (Greg Wheeler) This topic will be covered during the comprehensive plan update...The City changed zoning several years ago in areas with lots of duplex's which inadvertently made them non-conforming... What essentially happened was owners stopped investing in maintenance and upgrades since rules in place would require the duplex to be leveled as non-conforming once the cost exceeded 75% of value... Since investors would not be willing to do this, reinvestment in duplexes stopped and they have now mostly become dilapidated... Council will advocate during the comp plan update for zoning be changed to make existing duplexes conforming which should allow for substantial redevelopment... It was suggested that the multi-family tax exemption could be expanded throughout the City... This issue will be discussed in detail at a later date... Support was expressed for expanding this exemption as well as discussing the issue both with Council and Administration in the future... • Increase Home Ownership (Eric Younger) Proposed a "Move to Bremerton"movement to get the word out about how great Bremerton is... The cost of housing is one example of a positive aspect that should be marketed to the Seattle real estate community...Tout all of the things that the City has already done to make the community more livable... Ads in the Real Estate section of the Seattle Times for example... Where else in the area is waterfront more affordable... To no longer"wait"for the Passenger Only City Council Joint Planning Session Minutes Saturday, February 7, 2015 Page 4 of 6 Fast Ferry to be figured out, but to focus more on what is already here... Bremerton is an "undiscovered gem"...There was agreement and support for this concept, with plans to recruit local real estate resources... Council questioned if there is budget money available for someone to market the City and tourism? Suggestion was made to use what we already have (i.e. BKAT, Bremerton School District, Bremerton Chamber, Port of Bremerton, etc.) Proposal was to focus a marketing plan for Seattle -- a short term action plan to accelerate growth of downtown...A contest was suggested to find the winning video that best encapsulates all that is positive and great about Bremerton, with examples of why it's a good business decision to move to Bremerton... An added suggestion was for Bremerton to build on their website or even purchase google ads to get "Bremerton"to come up first when a search of things like "locations on waterfront"are made... It was asked what the developers for the new condos were going to do to market their properties... Mayor Lent responded that they are using Amazon and Google ads... President Wheeler suggested a "Move to Bremerton"ad-hoc committee to rein some of this in... • Plan for void after Harrison Hospital move to Silverdale &Try to maintain business in Harrison Hospital area (Leslie Daugs) and (Eric Younger) Hoped the City could develop a plan to avoid blight... Intention is to show the community that the City is aware of what's going on... Mayor Lent mentioned that she is working on this, beginning with a meeting with David Shultz to talk more about an "action plan"but was not at liberty to discuss any further details at this time since discussions are in draft form right now at the request of Harrison Medical Center, but she will keep the Council posted... It was asked how the City could get a federal designation of a "blighted area"— DCD will look into that.... Important for City officials to be in front of Harrison Medical Center decision makers as they discuss their relocation plans for their old building... Maybe the City could put in an effort to attract another medical group and not waste any more time with Harrison Medical Center... "Plan for void after Harrison Medical Center moves on"will be listed as a goal for the Mayor to continue to monitor... • Look for marketing opportunities (Jerry McDonald) Work continues on ways to get more music on the boardwalk on Fridays as well as Saturdays... Encouraged by thoughts of expanding the beer festival... Suggestion for these subjects to be provided to the Ad Hoc "Move to Bremerton"Committee... Lodging Tax funds should not provide funds to groups that can't prove heads on beds, with criteria set and provided to applicants ahead of time...Bremerton should join Seattle Visitors Bureau (for about$500?)...Mayor Lent said perhaps this request could be a part of Budget Adjustments in June if Council wanted this in 2015... • Develop annexation implementation plan; and create a schedule of timelines (Greg Wheeler) It was agreed that you don't have annexation until you have advocates... This is a policy decision...Suggested that Mayor Lent and DCD look at Poulsbo's model for annexation to see how they're doing it... Any property owner hooking up to the City sewer system in the Urban Growth Area (UGA) would be required to annex into the City... Current requirement is for the property owner to sign a no-compete or no-protest agreement which means they will not protest when annexed at a later date...Mayor Lent stated that a financial analysis has been done, with results due in the spring... This will provide a financial snapshot for annexation of the entire UGA... The Council feels this financial analysis report should be part of the proposed annexation discussion... Once the Council has the financial analysis in the spring it will be used to consider whether to change the UGA sewer hook-up policy from a "non-compete agreement"to an "annexation requirement"for the property owner... City Council Joint Planning Session Minutes Saturday, February 7, 2015 Page 5 of 6 • Establish Facebook Policy (Greg Wheeler) Legal Department is developing accountability rules that would be set up for each Council District to have their own page if the Council Member would commit to monitor the site... A Policy Statement would need to be signed... Council Members will be restricted from posting on other Council District sites... Legal Department is also working with IT Manager to assure compliance with Public Records retention laws... • Increase public outreach (Roy Runyon) Asked if recording a meeting becomes the official record of the meeting... Concerns were expressed that video-recorded meetings sometimes changed the format because the interaction was lost... It was suggested that the live-stream of today's retreat could be considered a pilot... • Look at Historic Preservation (Roy Runyon) A model ordinance was proposed to have a building listed on the Historic Preservation List that could be determined by an established "Historic Preservation Committee"... Could include tax incentives, and one way to deal with empty buildings? Proposal would explain that to qualify, the City would need to first establish the committee, and then determine if the property met the criteria, which would be up to the Committee to decide... It was corrected that the criteria for this purpose is already set by the State... Mayor Lent mentioned that the President of the Bremerton Chamber has previously brought a similar proposal to the Administration, which she forwarded to the Legal Department for a determination... Questions asked included if this was something that could instead be dealt with by the private property owner... And whether there should be demand from the public first before the City spends time on this proposal... It was countered that this proposal could be used as another tool by DCD... Mayor Lent will be reporting back soon... • Increase involvement in Callow Avenue Business District (Dino Davis) Established that everything that's been said is same thing that could be applied to saving Callow Avenue... The businesses of the area have been very, very happy since the Parks Department added the flower baskets so there is a lot of support to see the flower basket program continue... But the light poles require updating, and would have value to help change the perception of people coming into the City... Agreement was reached that more needs to be done to make Callow Avenue appear more "welcoming"...Cinco de Mayo event is coming back this year... Acknowledged that other areas could also use help from the City... Improve Financial Sustainability of City Parks • Decide on business model/funding plan for Parks Department (Eric Younger) Thinks the only viable solution was to create a "Parks Foundation"if there is also community interest to raise money for capital improvements... A few members of the Parks & Recreation Commission were in attendance (Colleen Smidt and Richard Nen`)... They were granted permission to provide comments...Mr. Nen`pointed out that City Parks should be included as a part of the total picture to bring people here because use of parks keeps people healthy, and helps to keep people happy... Questioned was asked that if a Parks Foundation was created would there be people willing to serve at this higher capacity... Ms. Smidt explained that due to the turn-over in members from the previous Parks Commission, it was uncertain, but Ms. Smidt confirmed that she certainly was willing to serve... More needs to be done to see if there is public support... President Wheeler summarized it up into two parts: Part I is structure (cost and resources) and Part 11 is everyone going out together to see if there is community support... Council Member Runyon raised the proposal to combine Parks and Public Works Departments, but most acknowledged that the mindset of Parks and Public Works is too vastly different... Mayor Lent added that she removed the responsibility for maintenance of five fountains from City Council Joint Planning Session Minutes Saturday, February 7, 2015 Page 6 of 6 Public Works and gave it to the Parks Department because they not only tended to the mechanics, but did so with more "loving care"... A great amount of respect was expressed for the work done by both Departments, and that the proposal to combine the Departments would not save money or people.... President Wheeler stated that concluded the discussion of all listed agenda items. Mayor Lent provided a brief update on the West Sound Alliance and provided a handout. With no further business, President Wheeler adjourned the City Council Joint Planning Session at 3:20 PM. Prepared and Submitted by: LORI SMITH, Legislative Assistant Attest: 61AJI.,. - - SHANNON CORIN, City Clerk W J),� GREG EELER, City Council President GW:SC:ls:cg