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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10262009 City Council Minutes City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 171 CALL TO ORDER The October 26, 2009 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Willard Dunham. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. SWEARING IN ELECTED OFFICIALS Vanta Shafer, Tom Smith, and Bob Valdatta were sworn in as Council Members by Assistant City Clerk Johanna Dollerhide. Willard Dunham was sworn in as Mayor by Assistant City Clerk Johanna Dollerhide. ROLL CALL There were present: Willard Dunham presiding and Jean Bardarson Bob Valdatta Tom Smith Marianna Keil Vanta Shafer comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Johanna Dollerhide, Assistant City Clerk Cheryl Brooking, City Attorney ABSENT — None VACANT - One CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Tim McDonald stated he would like to file a formal complaint with the city clerk's office for throwing out the write in ballots from the election. Kerry Martin spoke in support of the library museum project and hoped for council support on the legislative priorities tonight. _ APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Bardarson /Smith) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 172 Motion Passed Unanimous ,,,.,, The clerk read the following approved consent agenda item: Resolution 2009 -100, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Contract With ECI /Hyer Inc. To Provide Professional Schematic Design Services For The Library Museum Replacement Project And To Appropriate Funds Not To Exceed One Hundred Sixty Two Thousand Three Hundred And Twenty Seven Dollars ($162,327). SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards City Manager's Report. City Manager Phillip Oates stated since the last meeting, there were no city expenditures of $10,000 to $50,000 and no requests for proposals to report. City employees attended a training on October 16 and 17, 2009 to discuss the city's first two year budget, the "Know Your Numbers" health initiative and the new City Drug and Alcohol Policy. Oates has asked the attorney to draft a letter to council in response to the proposal of giving staff member Bob Hicks some legal duties. The Alaska SeaLife Center would be hosting it's 8 Annual Research Colloquium on November 5, 2009. The city submitted Seward Mountain Haven to be considered for an Alaska ... Municipal League "Darn Good Idea" award. Awards would be announced during AML's annual conference in November. Parks and Recreation was busy with the upcoming Halloween Carnival. The TYC Youth Council would be at the next council meeting to introduce themselves. Public Works was working hard on the roads, but the recent rain fail had made it challenging. The goal was to have roads in reasonable condition and potholes in asphalt patched prior to freezing. Studded tire change over for the winter was complete. The water tanker should be arriving any time. Hiring for the open Mechanic /Operator position should take place soon. Phase I of the Fish Ditch project was complete. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Project Life Station #3 was complete. A loan offer had been received from ADEC for Phase I and II of the North Seward Water Storage Tank and Pumping Facility. The sand shed was approximately 75% complete. The city's electric utility operated on backup generation on October 21, 2009 and the system did not have any major problems and was able to handle the load. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska had issued a ruling concerning net metering. The Electric Department would soon be purchasing 30,000 feet of wire in preparation for Lowell Point underground line replacement next year. The new generator, N1, was in the building and the other new generator, N2, would be placed in the building October 26 and 27, 2009. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 173 Community Development continued their work on updating Title 15. Godwin Glacier Tours LLC had been unwilling to meet the city requirements for establishing a long -term lease in the SMTC area. Since the code did not allow the administration to extend a short term lease, they would need to vacate the property by November 28, 2009. If the contract was approved with ECUHyer for the Library/Museum Project, the city, Rise Alaska, and the Library Museum Committee would begin scheduling the design workshops in November and provide public notice. There were three vacant city scats on the Seward /Bear Creek Flood Service Area Board. City Attorney's Report. Cheryl Brooking gave the attorney report for the last month. The attorney's continued to give advice on public records requests, personnel matters, contracts, resolutions, matters related to the library museum project, employee issues including the drug use policy, issues including quiet title proceedings, the levee project, harbor land use matters, leases, and moorage agreements. On October 13, 2009 the Ninth Circuit issued its decision on the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance v the City of Seward that remanded the case back to the State of Alaska. Brooking stated she had returned from a conference for the International Municipal Lawyers Association and noted larger communities were not able to send people this year due to the economic downturn. Chamber of Commerce Report. Laura Cloward stated the chamber had a board meeting and thanked for continuance in marketing contract. The harbor survey net about 1100 individual comments and they were working on consolidating them. The Chamber was moving ahead on the video concept for tourism. The board had viewed the first draft recently, and discussed the partnered economic development video as well. The board passed a support resolution for the further study of hydro electric power. The Chamber continued their efforts with fish restoration. Other Reports, Special Presentations Statements from candidates interested in the vacant city council seat were given. John French, Darryl Schaefermeyer, Cindy Ecklund, Randy Stauffer, Linda Amberg, and Tim McDonald gave statements. PUBLIC HEARING - None NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2009 -101, Approving The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2010 Federal Legislative Priorities. Motion (Bardarson /Shafer) Approve Resolution 2009 -101 Oates explained the purpose of the priorities on the federal level and their importance in conjunction with the lobbying efforts. The federal list was something they could adjust throughout the year. Council reviewed and discussed the priorities before them. City of Seward, Alaskt, City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 174 Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2009 -102, Approving The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2010 State Legislative Priorities. Motion (Bardarson /Shafer) Approve Resolution 2009 -102 Oates stated this was a much more dynamic process on the state lobbying level. He and other council members travel to Juneau and return to council with updated figures. The numbering in priority mattered more here than the federal list. Council reviewed and discussed the priorities before them. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2009 -103, Approving The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2010 City Priorities. Oates stated these were important in cases of grant opportunities. They do not bear as much weight as the state and federal priorities, however. Motion (Keil/Bardarson) Approve Resolution 2009 -103 Motion to Amend (Shafer /Bardarson) Amend Resolution 2009 -103, under Public Facilities, #2 to read "$5 million grant for building the $10 million Seward Library and Museum (local contributions and a general obligation bond will provide at 100% match of $5 million to complete the project) to be consistent with the language with the state priority language. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Motion to Amend (Keil) Amend Resolution 2009 -103, under Public Facilities, strike #3, "$15.7 million for public safety building and ,jail" Motion Died For Lack Of Second. Main Motion Passed Yes: Valdatta, Shafer, Smith, Bardarson, Dunham No: Keil OTHER NEW BUSINESS Discussion and guidance on ground lease extension considerations beyond 2009 for Seward City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 175 Ships Drydock, Inc. O./ By unanimous consent, council suspended the rules to allow James Pruitt to speak on this subject. The City Attorney gave a brief overview of the current lease and potential options. All of possible lease extensions could not be extended beyond 2029. In arbitration there was some disagreement of the interpretation of section 204, which did allow the city to give proposed improvements. Possible amendments would be subject to public hearing and public approval. The lease term was extended to 2016 and the maintenance and operating agreement was extended to September 2010. Oates stated he needed direction on which route he should take. He was looking to develop a plan for the future. Capitol improvements were incentives for the lease extension. Council recessed at 9:09 p.m. Council resumed at 9:15 p.m. Council decided to schedule a work session on this issue for November 10, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. Schedule a work session on the Library Museum Project. It was determined council would be invited to design workshops on November 16, 2009 and November 20, 2009. Times and locations would be announced as they became available. Nomination and appointment of Vice Mayor. Mayor Dunham opened the floor to nominations. Council member Shafer nominated Jean Bardarson. After hearing no other nominations, Mayor Dunham closed the floor. Motion (Shafer /Valdatta) Appoint Jean Bardarson as Vice Mayor Motion Passed By Unanimous Consent Assistant City Clerk Dollerhide swore Jean Bardarson in as Vice Mayor. Council appointed Tom Smith as the KPB Economic Development District representative and directed individual Boards and Commissions to file periodic reports to the city council. Council ballot voted for the candidate to fill the council vacancy with a term to expire October, 2010. After two consecutive tie votes for applicants Amberg and Schaefermeyer, each receiving three ballot votes, the following motion was made: �.. Motion (Bardarson /Shafer) Close ballot elections and agree to appoint either Linda Amberg or Darryl Schaefermeyer by the outcome of a coin City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 176 toss to fill the council vacancy with a term to expire October 2010. ,. Motion Passed By Unanimous Consent After Assistant City Clerk Johanna Dollerhide flipped a coin, the outcome being Linda Amberg. Dollerhide swore Amberg in as the new council member. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required) Financials for Providence Seward Medical Center. COUNCIL COMMENTS Amberg thanked the council for the opportunity to serve on council. Keil expressed appreciation for those who applied for the vacant council seat and congratulated Amberg on her appointment. Bardarson also thanked all for applying and appreciated their efforts to cone forward. She thanked council for the vice mayor appointment. Shafer said it was nice to be back. She also thanked everyone for putting their name in for the vacant seat. She hoped those not appointed would consider running for the vacant board and commission seats. Shafer thanked all for voting for her on council. Smith thanked all applicants and said it was a toss up. Valdatta stated the senior center gave a meal ticket for attending the health fair and it was a nice event. Dunham thanked the voters and those who turned out tonight for the position. He stated Seward's Friendly City of Yeosu, Korea was having an event for the Alaska Sealife Center. He congratulated Phillip for the building permit for the AT &T tower being issued. AT &T said they would do everything they could to have it in by November. He encouraged community members to consider the SBCFSAB scat for the City of Seward. Lastly, Dunham noted this was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Month. CITIZENS' COMMENTS Tim McDonald, thanked the council and mayor for adding to his voter base. The discussion about the shipyard was the worst contract thc city had written and felt the city was being held hostage. He didn't think the city should be pressured to enter into this agreement. McDonald felt thc public should protest this every meeting and the city needed a comprehensive look at this issue. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes October 26, 2009 Volume 38, Page 177 John French, hoped council would not oversee Historic Preservation Commission in regards to having periodic reports to the council and encouraged the public to apply for their last vacancy on the board. Darryl Schaefermeyer, thanked Linda Amberg and congratulated her for taking on the role of council member. He appreciated council for what they did and those who joined him in throwing their names in the hat. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS Keil reminded Mr. McDonald that he needed to remember not only council but the public had voted on entering into the lease with Seward Ship's Drydock as well. The public determined this in addition to the council. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion (Bardarson /Keil) Go into executive session to discuss matters pertaining to litigation regarding the Ninth Circuit decision in the case of Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance vs. The City of Seward. Motion Passed Unanimous Council went into executive session at 9:45 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 9:58 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m. J►hanna Dollerhide illard E. Dunham ssistant City Clerk Mayor (City Seal) a v C