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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04272009 City Council MinutesGiti~ofSeward, Alaska April 27, 2009 cALL To ORDER City Council Minutes Valume 3fi, Pate GG The April 27 2009 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at T.00 p.m. by Mayor Clark Corbridge. OPENING CEREAiONY Police Lieutenant Butch liner led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL. 'T'here were present: Willard Dunham presiding and Jean Bardarson Bob Valdatta Marianna Keil Betsy Kellar comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Jean Lewis, City Clerk Johanna Dollerhide, Assistant City Clerk ABSENT -Tom Smith, Clark Corbridge CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJF,CT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Patty Beals, spoke as chair of the Seward Senior Center Board. The board had recently refi-eshed their strategic plan for the center. She stated the center's mission statement and core values. Initiatives were to improve the food service department by renovation, quality employment for staff, welcome of seniors, and the continuation of endowment funds and government partners. Beals appreciated the partnership with the city and listed the benefits the center received due to the city funding. Howard Ferren, conservation director for the Alaska SeaLife Center and board director for Kenai Watershed Forum, spoke in support of resolution 2009-037 and passed out some informational documents to council. Ferren stated the forum had been able to contribute and hoped to further contribute to the watersheds of the Seward area. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AC:F.NDA Motion (KeiUKellar) Motion Passed Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: City of Seca-ard, Alaska City Council Minutes Ap it 27 2009 Volume 38, Pnge 67 Resolution 2009-037, Supporting The Efforts Of The Kenai Watershed Forum To Secure Financial Support, Both Private And Public, For The Renovation Of The House And Adjacent Property At The Soldotna Creek Park Leased To The Kenai Watershed Forum And Owned By The City Of Soldotna. Willard Dunham And John Foutz Were Appointed To The Interim Railbelt Utility Board Task Force. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards A Proclamation was read for Super Saturday Clean-Up Day. A proclamation was read for Terry's Tires Bike Rodeo. A proclamation was read for CROP Hunger Weck. A proclamation was read for National Historic Preservation Month. A proclamation was read for the city's invitation to the Great Turtle Ship Festival At Yeosu City Korea and congratulations was given on their 2012 International Expo. A Plaque Was Presented To Margaret Anderson For Excellent Leadership And Dedicated Service On The Seward Planning And Zoning Commission. Borough Assembly Report. Borough Assembly Representative Ron Long stated the meeting on April 21, 2009 approved an ordinance appropriating the addition of $260,000 for the FY2009 budget based on increased school enrollment and this was the borough's match. It was a 5-4 vote just to get the Kenai Peninsula Borough to live up to the commitment. A similar resolution would occur on May 5, 2009 to match state funding on education, and Long encouraged public input. The meeting would be in Seward. Other item of note was the approval of an ordinance to revise procedures for hiring and dismissing the Borough Attorney. Also at the May 5, 2009 meeting in Seward the budget would be introduced. The work sessions were scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. and the main meeting started at 7:00 p.m. City Manager's Report. City Manager Phillip Oates introduced Jay Hoag, the new Field Engineer for the Electric Depariment_ Oates stated there were no expenditures between S 10,000 and $50,000 to report. On Apri 1 18, 2009 the Seward Police Department received a 911 call stating several juveniles were in a parking lot pwtcturing vehicle tires. The Seward Police Department received a total of 32 vehicles reported to have been damaged by 73 slashed tires on April 19, 2009 and three juveniles were apprehended and charged. City of Seward. Alnsku City Courur] Minutes Sri! 27, 2009 L olunu 38 Pngc 68 • Upcomine Facility Event Anplications: The Seward CROP Walk would be held on Sunday, May 3, 2009 from 2-3 p.m., a Community Military Appreciation Event on Saturday, May 16, ..r 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Crowley Tug and Barge was hosting an event on May 9, 2009 in the Harbor and at the Railroad's cruise ship building to christen two new tugs. • Le~islativeSessionUpdate.TheLcgislatureultimalelytookapproximately5250millionfrom the Governor's Capital Budget and did not add any significant appropriations from individual legislators to the budget. Most discretionary funding came froth the Cruise Ship Head Tax money. There were many creative appropriations for this money. Therefore, the city would probably see litigation from the industry this next year to prevent the types of appropriations that appeared contrary to regulations and law. The citywould probably also see a large nwnber of vetoes from the Governor for these appropriations, but Seward's iwo projects had a good chance of surviving the veto process. Also, it looked like Homer received $2 millionforapath on the spit for the cruise ship passengers out of the Cruise Ship Excise Tax Fuud. Oates gave a brief summary of appropriations impacting Seward: --$60M Revenue Sharing (for all Alaskan comntunitiesj --$167K Bus Transportation for Cruise Ship Passengers in Seward (Cruise Ship Head Tax Appropriation in the Capital Budget) --$4.SM Dredging of the cruise ship basin at the AKRR dock (Cruise Ship Head 1'ax Appropriation in the Capital Budget) --$600K for AVTEC Deferred Maintenance and Training Facility Expansion (Capital Budget) --5330K for Regulator Building at the Seward Airport for DOT/PF (Capital Budget) --$7.2M in HB 113 to develop an in-state natural gas delivery capability. • Energ. Bw~11 Update. The fuel surcharge two months ago peaked at approximately 5.08 per unit of natural gas. This amount was close to what our customers paid for the City of Seward portion which was normally at least twice as high. The fuel surcharge was passed directly through the City of Seward from Chugach Electric and the City of Seward had nothing to do with the amount that appeared on a persons invoice. New Information: The fuel surcharge passed through us from Chugach was prorated three months. • Development with Bradley Lake Hydro Plant. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), who charged hydro plants for the use of federal lands, changed their policies regarding charges for the use of those lands. The reasons why these changes were made and what the changes were based on were still unclear. Due to these changes the charges applied to Bradley Lake would increase from $62,000 to $370,000, an increase of about 6 times. Since the City of Seward was a partial owner of Bradley Lake these charges would probahly be passed along to the City and iu ttu-n to our customers. The Board of Directors for Bradley Lake voted on April 23, 2009 to join an already formed group of Hydro plants with a similar markup. This group had alreadystarted litigation against FERC. Bradley Lakejoined withthe stipulation that the charge to Bradley Lake would not exceed $30,000. • Harbor/SMIC On April 21, 2009 the entire Harbor staff received certification on CPR and AED proficiency for Children and Adults. The City applied for tw-o MARAD "Assistance to City n~~Sex~ard, Alaska AD7"FI 2~, Zt)OJ City Council Minutes Volume 38, PnQe 69 Sma11 Shipyard" Grants. One for a transfer system and new north berth at Seward Ship's Dry Dock, and a second application for electrical infrastructure improvements in the SMIC yard. -.- Several businesses had voiced conccros regarding the allowable painting and maintenance regulations in place in the Harbor. Oates reminded that no person may spray paint a vessel in the harbor and repair and maintenance work must he done within the confines of the vessel (onboard the vessel), not on scaffolding, floats, or docks, as stated in the city code. ^ Public Works. Staff was sweeping and washing streets; the shop personnel were finishing up the tirc change-over's, and assisting with soil remediation at the Generation Plant. Federal earmarked road improvements were ready to go to State engineers and was moving toward a 2010 construction project. Public ~~%orks was working with HDR to finish up contract documents for the fish ditch. The department was also moving forward with PN&D for the Lowell Creek Bridge refurbishment. The city hoped to do the estimated 5285,000 project in September to avoid road closures during the summer season. ADEC had indicated that the City was eligible fora $250,000 direct grant for the Lift Station #3 electrical upgrade if the city could meet the Jwte 17, 2009 construction begin deadline. ^ The Twenty Sixth Alaska Legislature recognized and congratulated Seward Fire ChicfDavid Squires upon receiving the prestigious "Ken Akerley Leadership Award" on September 27, 2008. Other Reports, Special Presentations A Recognition And Report Was Given By Patty Linville For The Upcoming Alaska Statehood Symposium. PUBI,[C HEARINGS Resolution 2009-033, A Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Seward, Alaska, Authorizing The City Manager To Proceed With The Acquisition Of Unnamed Tract 5, Forest Acres Subdivision According To The Official Plat Thereof, Filed Under Plat No. 5-17, Records Of The Seward Recording District, Third Judicial District, State Of Alaska; Excepting There from That Portion Of "Unnamed Tract 5"Conveyed To The State Of Alaska, Department Of Transportation And Public Facilities, By ~'~'arranty Deed Recorded August 7, 2003 In Book 121 At Page 485 For $271,000 And Appropriating Funds, For The North Forest Acres LeveelRoad Project. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared to address the Council and the public hearing was closed. Oates stated the city had received all required pernlits for the levee project. In accordance with pernlils, the city was required to acquire property and rights ofways for all affected properties. The city had a very short window of lime to relocate Japanese Creek, and funding could be jeopardized if not conducted quickly. Approved in this acquisition was a 10% signing bonus to these property owners because of the great need for these land acquisitions to go through expeditiously. r^ There were three primary properties still to attain. Oates recommended approval tonight. Ciry of Sewm'd, Alaska Ciry Council Minutes April 27, 2009 volume 3<4, Pate 70 Finance Director Kris F,rchinger noted this was negotiated at the sa~ue time as the previous acquisitions, but had to wait until this meeting because the city was waiting for the current ]and appraisal. The land acquisitions al l had to go at the same time, as was negotiated by the owners. Motion (Kell/Valdatta) Approve Resolution 2009-033 Valdatta wondered if the city could work a land swap with the university to help ensure Seward could house the research vessel and dock. Oates stated they were still waiting for the land appraisal for that, but any type of negotiation was part of the process, so he was willing to look into That, Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2009-034 Amending The Port And Harbor Tariff By Temporarily Decreasing Launch Fees, Effective ATay 1, 2009 Through December 31, 2009. >viotion (Kell/Kellar) Approve Resolution 2009-034 Oates stated this was to recognize that Seward was trying to help with the impacts of the economy and to encourage those to still visit Seward. This amendment would only he in effect for one year. The city found last year that it wasn't the cost, but the continuing collection of fees to come to Seward that was difficult for visitors. Part of the impact would be taken from the general fund. Kellar felt bringing the parking rate down was good, but was concerned with bringing the launch fees down. ]t may be perceived as unfair competition for Seward's local charter fleet versus the out of town charter (feet. Bardarson thought taking the launch fees away would take away from personnel, as opposed to lowering the parking rates. In response to Keil, Oates stated launch fees had to be monitored even though users put their money in a box. He cell this was a clear signal that Seward was aggressively competing for visitors. Dunham was opposed to this resolution; he agreed that it would be unfair to local charters versus out of town charters. He didn't feel like Seward's budget could take that big of a hit, especially this year. He understood the reason for wanting to do this, but they should look at other ways to enhance and entice visitors and business. Valdatta noted the city picked up some unforeseen money when they gave out parking spaces at the ball fields. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as r°ec/wired bylaw was noted and the pzrblic hearing was opened. Caty of Sewmrl, Alaska Crty Co~n:eil Minutes Anri! 27, 2009 Volume 38, Page 71 Ron Long spoke in support of the resolution. He feared most visitors would go to Whittier this year instead of Seward, and he supported helping with the cost of visiting Seward. -- Kellar wanted to know how to compensate the local charter boat owners. Oates agreed with Long, that Seward should send a message to visitors that Seward was helping with the cost of visiting ottr community. Bardarson had not thought about the idea of an uneven playing field between local and non- local charter boat owners. Deputy Harbormaster Jim Lewis stated most of the charter boats were local, and did not have an estimate of how many came over from out of town and used the boat launch. Dunham didn't understand Long's comment that Seward was enabling people to go to Whittier by not passing this resolution. Keil supported this resolution. She didn't think it would be an excessive expense to the city, and most local businesses she talked with supported these decreases in fees. Motion Failed Yes: Bardarson, Keil, Valdatta No: Kellar, Dunham Resolution 2009-035, Amending The City Parking Fees Schedule For City-Owned Parking Lots, Temporarily Decreasing Daily Parking Fees, F,ffective May 1, 2009 Through December 31, 2009. Oates stated this was going along the same lines as the previous resolution, to help assist in the cost of coming to Seward. Oates noted the financial impact of this reduction. Motion (BardarsonlKellar) Approve Resolution 2009-035 Keil noted the price for auto pay stations tonight would be $28,000, not $90,000 which was budgeted. Notice of the public hearing heing posted and puhlislred as required !~y law was noted and thepnblic hearing wns opened. Ron Long stated the impact of all the fees, room and sales tax, parking, launch, and port fees that charter businesses had to explain to prospective customers. Ry unanimous consent, the rules were suspended to allow Long to answer questions in response to Kellar. Long gave a breakdown of cost of the various city and borough fees and taxes for parking, lodging, sales, passenger, and boat launching. City of Seward, ~lhrsku City Council Minutes A~n~i127, 2009 _ Volume 38, Page 72 Valdatta supported this, as the economy was flat, but he was one of the members who had supported the raise in fees. Keil stated a lot of people avoided the lots because of the increase in fees. She felt it was a good time, again, to lower rates and help welcome visitors. Most businesses she talked to supported this concept. Bardarson felt now that the launch fees remained the same, Seward should still do something to encourage and welcome visitors to the community. She worried about cutting funds to almost nothing for the parking ftmd. Kellar thought this was a good feeling. In response to Kellar, Oates feared suspending the parking fees altogether would be too big of a hit. Dunham felt he could support this for a year, even though he didn't Iikc to see the city take a hit tike this. He was worried this would hurt Seward more than increase visitors. Oates wasn't in favor of doing one of these resohrtions without the others. Adminsitration indicated they did not support this resolution without the approval of al] three. Motion Passed Unanimous ,_, Resolution 2009-036, Temporarily Amending The Time Constraints And Eliminating Free Parking In Various Harbor Area Parking Lots, Effective May 1, 2009 Through December 31, 2009. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as reduired by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared to address the Council and the public hearing was closed. Motion (KeiUKellar) Approve Resolution 2009-036 Oates stated this eliminated the two hours of free parking, and every user would have to pay the reduced $5. Erchinger clarified this just eliminated free parking except in the center lot, and would strongly enforce parking in the other lots. In response to Valdatta, Erchinger stated the parking iu front of Chinook's and J Dock were designated parking, not paid parking. Motion to Amend (Bardarson/Keil) Amend Resolution 2009-036, by changing the 5'~' Whereas from "enforce the three- hour maximum" to "enforce atwo-hour maximum", changing Section 2 from "allowing `free' parking at all open times, and enforcing athree-hour maximum" to "allowing `free' parking, and enforcing a hvo-hour maximum", and changing the attached fee schedule from three hour City of Sex~rn~rl, Alaska Cii}~ Council Minutes April Z7 ?009 Volume 38, Page 73 maximums to two hour maximums for the middle lot. -- Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous Council recessed at 9:10 p.m. Council resumed at 9:15 p.m. Other Public Hearing Items To Solicit Public Comment On The DOT Road Closure. City Attorney Cheryl Brooking attended this portion of the meeting telephonically. Oates framed the issue at hand with the road closure and the attorney was made available via telephone. The bridge closure was not coordinated with the city and he felt the city had beenplaying catch up ever since. DOT had communicated better, but Oates was very disappointed today, as the road was to reopen 5:00 a.m. this morning, and it was now currently 9:15 p.m. and the bridges were still closed. There was a enlist ship in port that needed supplies, and he had just received word that the bridge would remain closed until at least midnight. He was frustrated that he had not received calls with these updates. Oates felt this was unacceptable and people were wailing in line to get -- through. Oates stated the inspection schedule was being evaluated to best accommodate for the monthly inspections, which would refrain commercial vehicles throughout the inspections to cross the bridges. A second vehicle option was being considered. They still did not have final resolution of the inspection schedule, but would come for~G~ard with it as soon as it was determined. Once the bridges were back open, there would be no road closures, except for commercial vehicles over 30,000 pounds during monthly inspections. Alan Drake of DO'f, expressed his shared frustrations on the bridge work. Each time he checked in, it was a few more hours. There were many set backs and delays, and the estimate was to have it open at midnight to one lane traffic. As far as restrictions on the temporary bridges, it would be normal legal loads. If it was over normal loads, they wou]d need to work with DOT to schedule travel over bridges. Using a second machine would have to be clarified. In response to Dunham, Drake noted the evening closures depended on the timing of the detour bridge of Trail River, which looked like later in the fall Trail River would stay as it was for the rest of the summer, until the pcnnits and designs for the detour bridge were bidded and awarded, and he guessed September. The Ptarmigan Creek and Falls Creek bridges would remain in temporary condition until final bridges were completed. ~" City Attorney Cheryl Brooking clarified she represented the City of Seward, not the Cizy of Sewm d, Alaska April 27, 1009 City Council Mimrzes ~ahnne 38, Pa >e 74 businesses of Seward. There was a statute that DOT had to cooperate with local businesses and entities for procedures like this. if it was to be a significant project -any project that fully closed an arterial road -plans and procedures must be adhered to. State law required DOT to cooperate and coordinate with local businesses, the City of Seward, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough. As far as a claim against stale, there was sovereign immunity, but there were waivers for certain cases. Brooking stated some of the factual issues. She noted commercial air traffic for Seward had ceased in the early 90's, ferry traffic was ceased a few years ago, which just tell the highway. Notice of the public hearing bet~tg posted and pttblislred was naterl and the public heara~ng was opened. Mica VanBuskirk, had been stuck across the bridges all afternoon, and ended up parking and hiking across the bridges. She stated the path she walked across was basically a road, it was a short walk and it was drivable. VanBuskirk was shocked how easy it would have been to put in a detour road. She noted there were a lot of angry people in Moose Pass and a lot of businesses in Seward were losing money. She feared people in Kenai/Soldotna wouldn't come to Seward this year. Dan McDonald, said today served proof that there needed to be an alternative plan. Everyone was impacted today. The inforn~ation on the website was still not accurate, and the information was just not out there to the public and the businesses, and the people who wanted to came here. For the bridge inspection/commercial closure, he felt it should be done at DOT's ,~, expense and done at night. Seward needed to push DOT to minimize the impact of Seward businesses, not DOT. McDonald stated we should not be hindering the project and the goal of repairing the bridges. He suggested looking into getting funding from the state to educate people that the road was open, it would have to he a huge marketing effort to repair the damage done with this extended closure. Ron Long, stated the city and businesses had lost much money over this closure. He didn't see any reason to go back on this issue; he discouraged the city in pursuing Jegal action with DOT. Long felt that could spin off further damage to businesses. Even though there was harm done by the closure, he felt more harm was done by the lack of communication that was relayed to the community. He praised Community Development Director Christy Terry for basically taking on the role of liaison for DOT. His confidence level was low with this project getting into control. Long stated Seward needed to get the word out that after this the road would be open 24-7, and not Leave this problem to DOT or the media. Seward needed to gel the word out. He did not think litigation was the answer, instead Seward needed to think proactively on this situation. Valdatta said the road to Homer would have similar problems this summer. Kellar felt Seward just needed to do some damage control. Dunham said this was a difficult situation. A lot of tune and effort had gone into trying to .~ remedy this problem. DOT had seven months to work on this, and the idea that there was no alternative routing didn't make sense to him. His intention was for the city to file an injunction to stop the total closure due to not following protocol in closing the road. After much discussion he Crty of Sex~ard, Alaskn Crty+ Cnunci! Minutes Az~r'<127, 2~~9 ~ Volume 38, Pnge 75 decided against pursuing it. Dunham felt the promise of an establishment of an alternate route was key, and a compromise to not taking legal action. NE~~' BUSINESS Resolution 2009-038, Authorizing The Purchase Of Automated Pay Stations'To Collect Daily Parking tees And Appropriating !'ands. Motion (Keil/Kellar) Approved Resolution 2009-038 Oates said this was a long sought goal to help make the parking industry in the city more efficient. It had taken some time to find a vendor to sell the city something due to the location and servicing. Staff had found solar paneled equipment that he felt confident purchasing. Erchinger said this was a sole source contract, but mainly due to the fact that this was the only vendor that was willing to service this area. F_,rchinger said the units were not hooked up to electricity, so they were less immobile, but didn't know if it would be more convenient to move them or not. There was no impact on staff at this point, as it would he on a trial basis, Oates stated. There would definitely be a savings of counting money, Erchinger stated. Dunham thought it was great, and would like to see more machines later. Motion Passed Unanimous OTHER NEW BUSINESS Council scheduled a work session on evaluation procedures for .Tune 11, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. Council also scheduled a work session to prepare for the May 13, 2009 Economic thrum on May 1 1, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPOR'T'S (No action regtrirer~ A Brief Report Was Given On The Generator Project By "1'he Electric Department. COUNCIL COMMENTS Kellar wanted to recognize Kenai Watershed Forutn and thanked staff for bringing forward the resolution tonight. Bardarson said to watch out Cor bikers and volunteer for the pavilion project. Keil expressed congratulations to Margaret Anderson for her service on the Planning and Zoning Commission. City ofSewm•rl, Alaska Apri117. 2009 City Cnunci! ,blirrutes _!%lun~e 38, Paxc: 76 Dunham stated today was violent crime day. Dunham wanted to look into seawater pumps .... to heat streets, and the city should offer to assist in trying to develop this idea. The city should research partially funding or file in conjunction to get a grant to do this. Dunham announced during the Statehood Symposium Governor Miller would be recognized for picking Seward as the location for AVTEC. He was impressed with children here tonight; and thought it would be nice if the city provided the helmets instead of having the families purchase them. Oates said long time Alaska SeaLi fe Center members should be publicly recognized and also the board's unanimous support of giving funding to the pavilion project from their waterlcont development funds. CITIZENS' COMMENTS -None COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS -None EXF,CUTIVE SESSION Motion (Bardarson) Go into executive session to discuss poteutial litigation relating to the DOT road closures. Motion Died For A Lack Of Second ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:28 p.m. Jean Lewis, CMC City Clerk (City Seal) \ i~%' / illard Dunham Vicc Mayor ,~d~eKr~s.» pa3~ ~+„ k., ®y4A ~~~ a `~"~ ~ f ^, -.•F o' ~e" ,- A = ~' 9 a b b ~. ..4.... Pp s~B~e~1~ C?F N1..:~~'