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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09262011 City Council Minutes City of Seward, Alaska September 26, ?Ol l City Council Minuie.c Volume 38, Page 66 is CALL TO ORDER The September 26, 2011 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Willard E. Dunham. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Willard E. Dunham presiding and Jean Bardarson Tom Smith Vanta Shafer Marianna Keil Bob Valdatta Ristine Casagranda comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Johanna Kinney, City Clerk Cheryl Brooking, City Attorney Absent — None • CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Tim McDonald stated he ran a parking concession at the head of the bay in the summer for fishing. He has had four duck hunters go out there and he felt it was a popular area for tourism and he was nervous about those unfamiliar with hunting in the area. He feared planes may not want to land at the airport with the hunting of waterfowl. He would appreciate it if the council would look into this in the hopes of banning hunting in that area. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Bardarson /Shafer) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda The proclamation honoring Keefer Brown was pulled from the agenda. A report on the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association by Tin? McDonald was added to the agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes September 26, 2011 Volume 38, Page 668 Approved. September 12, 2011 City Council Regular Meeting M inutes Were pp roved. Appointed Jackie Campbell, Debbie Bond, Nici Murawsky, Marsha Vincent, Jill Simpson And Lori Draper (alternate) to serve on the Canvas Board for the October 4, 2011 Municipal Election. Resolution 2011 -071 Requesting The Alaska Department Of Transportation And Public Facilities To Update The State Rail Plan So As To Make Investments In Alaska's Rail Infrastructure Eligible For Local And State Participation In Appropriate Federal Assistance Programs. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards • • • • • • •• • •• • • ' • • . - . • • • it . (pulled from the agenda) A Proclamation Was Read For Healthy Lifestyles. Josie Ronne was acknowledged as an Alaska Recreation And Park Association New Professional Award Recipient. inj Acknowledgement was given to Shari Adelmann for Alaska Recreation and Park Association Conference Planning Efforts. A proclamation was given for Sea Otter Awareness Month. A proclamation was read for Civic Awareness Month. On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Dunham awarded Phillip Oates with a gold pan for his work with the City of Seward as City Manager. Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association Report. City of Seward Representative Tim McDonald reported on the CIAA met this last Saturday, and this was his first meeting on the Board. He reported the Bear Lake Hatchery released 2.5 million smolt. Cost recovery harvest at 1.5 million, McDonald stated the commercial and sport fishing fleets have expressed the need for more red salmon in Resurrection Bay. There were minor problems in Bear Lake with EKD and IHN viruses, occurring mostly in wild populations where smolt was released. There was a capital improvement project for Trail Lakes Hatcheries and other hatcheries, which was less than a million dollars. There was a new fish and game biologist, who seemed to be more liberal than the last one. McDonald reported he had already been appointed on a committee, that would be working on the hatchery in Port Graham. He also reported from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizen Advisory Council, they received $2.5 million for herring rehab in Prince William Sound. City of Seward, Alaska September 26, 2011 City Council A /linutes Volume 38, Page 669 Chamber Of Commerce Report, Director Cindy Clock spoke about the 2012 marketing budget. Kris Erchinger had been given Clock the bed tax figures in preparation for this presentation. The Chamber wanted to continue down the same path with their marketing strategy. The Seward Destination Guide was planned to be re- vamped with new pictures. They were approaching local businesses that have sponsored events in the past to place them in the "where to find services" guide. In the spring, the Chamber would have an open house to get the guide out. The website was going to have a new look as well. They were going back to Bell's Alaska Map. Clock stated the Chamber appreciated the Council's support and confidence in them. Clock announced Meet the Candidates night was 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 29, 2011. Bob Valdatta said they should advertise in the Turnagain Times. City Manager's Report, City Manager Phillip Oates stated there were no purchases approved for between $10,000- 50,000 since the last Council Meeting. The City of Seward had received a grant which was applied for by the Seward Community Health Center, utilizing a portion of the funding that Council appropriated last year. The funding in the amount of $80,000 was for a planning grant which would help to advance the efforts to seek qualification as a federally qualified health center. The grant award would come to council for approval in October. In the Harbor, had finished the electrical portion of the Z -float project and power would soon be available to vessels. The final inspection for Z -float was scheduled for September 30, 2011 and the last portion of the project was the paving of the uplands which would be finished in spring 2012. Travel lift operations had increased, removing boats from the water for winter storage. The Harbor Ir• received a grant from the Exxon Valdez Spill Trustee Council for a wash -down pad and wastewater recycling facility at SMIC. This grant was financed with no matching funds required and was achieved as a result of the efforts of our previous harbormaster, Kari Anderson. The city will receive $97,800.00 for 2012 for engineering and permitting and should receive an additional $641,300.00 in 2013 to build the project. The Coast Guard was now not moving until spring of 2012 to its new building location. creating the need for a new lease extension on the existing site. Council would be seeing a change order for the more durable exterior stone siding on the library and one for inspection services. Administration would be requesting a contingency amount of funding to deal with any future change orders. Library foundation work was proceeding. Some contaminated soil was found on site and staff was working with ADEC to store and remediate the material. Community Development was working with the new brewpub downtown to insure the development process goes smoothly. Oates gave a lengthy synopsis of the recent power outages on September 19. 2011 which continued into the next day for those out the road in the Questa Woods area. Several trees had fallen down around Seward throughout the day, taking the transmission lines out and causing widespread outages. Crews were split up for the various affected areas, while wind and weather continued to intensify. By 10:00 p.m. most local power had been restored except to Questa Woods /Stoney Creek area. At approximately 8:30 on Tuesday morning, crews resumed the repairs of overhead and underground lines, concentrating on faults in the underground lines. The crew eventually localized the point of failure to within a 500' stretch but equipment failed to determine the location of the problem. The decision was made to bring in a crew from Chugach Electric, with different equipment to finalize the location. The crew restored power to Questa Woods by installing a temporary rr City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes September 26, 2011 Volume 38, Page 670 overhead "patch" cord. By 7:10 p.m. Tuesday, power was restored to Questa Woods and vicinity. Much of the work done to reestablish the power during this challenging weather event was done by four men; Cuno Hansen, Ben Luna, Charlie Forrest and Patrick Kenney (a NECA temporary worker). Oates commended them for their hard work. Public Works followed ADEC recommendations to mitigate potential issues from contaminated soil removed from the new library site. City Attorney's Report, Cheryl Brooking summarized a few litigation matters. The levee project litigation, the authority and necessity for the taking was ordered by the court. That decision was appealed, but eventually dropped by the land owners. Currently, the special master was back in the state and Brooking was trying to schedule a hearing and the only issue now was the value of the property, but she couldn't say that with certainty, so she would keep council updated. On the RBCA litigation, there were two issues regarding attorney fees. The Ninth Circuit remanded the case, and RBCA was asking for attorney fees on the filing of that appeal. The remand itself was regarding the attorney fees for the issue at hand. Last week, she went to Seattle for the bond closing for the library museum. It was a complex bond closing deal, with many different communities represented. $3.285 was the final amount for the Library Museum bonds. Mayoral Report, Willard Dunham stated September was busy with meetings, budget talks, and changing staff. Regarding legislative projects and the Coastal Villages project, planning developments were underway. This month Seward and the AKRR hosted the State Transportation Committee, and most that participated were unaware of what Seward had to offer. The committee was here for six hours on a rainy day, had lunch at AVTEC, and ASLC for tea and cookies before they returned on the train. The results were helpful for this next legislative session, he felt. He has had positive feedback since then. Dunham, Smith, and Bardarson negotiated the City Manager contract for Eric Phillips, which was before the council tonight. Dunham met with two representatives from the Friends of the Jesse Lee Hone on why they think Seward should transfer the title to them. Dunham felt the council was close to setting a record on work sessions and budget planning meetings. He also requested for another council work session on the budget and noted they must be open to the public, as all council gatherings were required to be. He hosted a lunch for Michelle Weston last week to thank her for her work with the city for the short time she was here. He was presented with awards from the Anchorage Senior Center and the Japanese Relief Foundation for Seward's donations and for his participation with the fundraising efforts for Japan. He received both of these awards at the Seward Music and Arts Festival, which was very successful this year. Dunham noted Ketchikan representatives have asked if they can write a support resolution for the Coastal Villages Region Fund to move to Seward. On Friday, he would attend a meeting in Fairbanks with the Governor and the Chancellor on the Research Vessel Sikuliaq. He thanked council for passing Resolution 2011 -071, which encouraged the state to update its State Rail Plan. City of Seward, Alaska September 26, 2011 Cite Council Minutes Volume 38, Page 671 He would like council to support the concept of building Alaska ferry ships in Alaska and recently discovered Ketchikan received a bid for the next ferry building. NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2011 -072, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Maintenance And Operating Agreement With Seward Ship's Drydock, Inc., Effective October 1, 2011. Motion (Shafer /Bardarson) Approve Resolution 2011 -072 Oates stated the city has two documents with Seward Ship's Drydock. The Maintenance and Operating Agreement, and the lease. The MOA had to be renewed every five years. The lease was a different document that was good until 2040. If there was a dispute on the MOA, it must be resolved through the courts, and through litigation with a lease. Oates was convinced SSDD was in the best condition in the last four years he had been in Seward, and possibly the last ten years. Oates read the background and justification on the resolution before the council tonight. He saw three outcomes tonight: approve the MOA before them tonight, direct staff to go back to do another temporary extension, or solve these issues in court. He referred council to the color photographs of the pilings at a very low tide. He noted the operator was to complete the coating on the cofferdam cells; the operator proceeded ahead but ran into a problem in getting it low enough. As a result, he made repeated visits with the Harbormaster, and also observed the piling normally underwater had marine growth on it. It appeared the marine growth was providing some level of protection. A professional k acnowledged the paint was about as low as it could get. �.. g It was difficult to go to that level. In looking at the coating, he felt it was acceptable, even though it did not meet the council's guidance from March. There were four outstanding notices of violation with the Department of Environmental Conservation, although Oates emphasized he did not think the city should get involved in enforcing these violations. This agreement included several amendments from the existing MOA. Oates noted the one portion under Exhibit D that the city manager and Pruitt have not been able to agree on. Brooking agreed with all the City Manager's comments. From a legal view, there were a few legal issues. One was the coatings on the pilings to two feet, which had not been met. If council agreed with this, they agreed to not have the coatings down to 2 feet. Second was the amount of administrative overhead to allow for work to be done to calculating things for different purposes, and improvements could qualify for lease credits /continuations. There would be no cap on administrative overhead costs. That language was in the amendment back in January, requiring it would be in the version and it was noted included in this version. The last point was about what the company was expected to do. She got a phone call from Mr. Pruitt's attorney and they wanted to limit it to just what was expressed in Exhibit D. Oates said once more the ship lift was in better condition. He did not recommend they change the language proposed to them in this packet. It was up to the council to determine this and if rm the requirements kept out of the agreement this time was appropriate or not. Casagranda asked if taking the "For Lease" signs down, did it mean the land was not ask City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes September 26, 2011 Volume 38, Page 672 available for lease. Brooking said it would still be available, just no promotion by signs of lease. j Casagranda asked what would be the option of bringing in a professional to determine the coating. Oates said they could, but they would need another temporary extension and they were running out of time since the current extension expired at the end of September. By Unanimous Consent, the rules were suspended to allow James Pruitt to speak. Pruitt said in 1995 the original MOA was signed. They had the task of tying an operation and maintenance agreement on a five year term to a long term lease agreement. It would have been better to change the code to allow the extensions to match up. SSDD had made a list of deferred maintenance that hadn't been done and needed to be done in order to keep their certification and to get lease credits for that. SSDD spent $54,000 on deferred maintenance. In 2010, total maintenance was $330,000. There was always more deferred maintenance done than what they got for lease credits. The last one was the coating of the cells, which went back to the deferred maintenance list. 1 le was not prepared to absorb the amount of cost associated with this project of coating the cells. The agreement was fine, except for the last comment on Exhibit D. In speaking with the City Attorney, they were told this comment meant they needed to maintain the condition of the painting of the pilings, which SSDD never agreed to do. Pruitt stated this could be up to a $90,000 expense a year to keep the coating touched up. Polar Seafoods had a dock that had never been coated. The Alaska Railroad had a sheet pile dock with no coating. This was never agreed on in the original MOA. Brooking said the obligation in section 3.03 was to agree to the maintenance of the entire facility and she noted the definition of the ship lift facility. It was full maintenance responsibilities the city was asking SSDD to assume, which had always been an obligation. It was asked to her what the obligations were, and Brooking said it was everything required in the agreement. Smith asked if Exhibit D referenced several documents, if you take that sentence out and that sentence was lost — would those disappear and the documents in Exhibit D have nothing to do with the pilings. Brooking said the references in Exhibit D were intended to set forth the minimum tasks and a schedule for those things. Brooking stated the decision was up to the council, but she recommended they do not leave the language in an ambiguous manner. Dunham wondered if council should put that in the next agreement. Valdatta wondered what the manufacturer's recommendations were. Pruitt said his argument was they did not sign on to this originally, to keep it painted. In response to Casagranda, Brooking stated Section 3.03 had minor changes from the last agreement, but they were not significant and most of them were at Mr. Pruitt's request. Casagranda stated she thought this was a lot to be put before them so quickly. She would like to see a month extension because they were in the middle of budget and a lot was going on right now. She also wanted to see an expert's opinion on this matter. p Motion (Shafer /Keil) Postpone Resolution 2011 -072 to the March 12, 2012 meeting and extend the existing agreement to March 31, 2012. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes September 26, 2011 Volume 38, Page 673 Motion Passed Unanimous INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required July Providence Financials COUNCILS' COMMENTS Shafer wished Phillip Oates and his wife, Karla, well. It had been a rapid four years and the city had been better off for him being here. Keil said speaking of civil involvement, the Planning and Zoning Commission was likely down to four members now. She hoped citizens step forward to run; it was all part in parcel to do your civic duty. It was a very important position. Bardarson thanked Oates for his service. The city was better off for him. Casagranda thanked Michelle Weston for her service and she was sorry to see her go. Her time was too short with the city. Casagranda noted Kari Anderson's name came up several times this evening and it was a testament for all that she had done as Harbormaster. She congratulated Josie Ronne from the TYC for her recent award and noted she did a tremendous job at the youth center. She encouraged everyone to attend the Healthy Lifestyles Celebration on October 8, 2011. The Seward Arts Festival was really great and the turnout was high. The crew in charge of this event did a wonderful job. Smith thanked Oates and wished him the best of luck. Valdatta said he'd been watching the energy crisis and they should get in touch with Harold Inga, and stay more active and state Seward wanted natural gas and voice their opinion on it. They needed an alternate energy in town. Valdatta thanked Phillip for everything he'd done for Seward. Dunham thanked the Arts Council and Kari Anderson for her recent letter. They needed a work session on the budget. He asked the clerk to schedule one for the council. CITIZENS' COMMENTS Pruitt thanked Oates and the council for their time. The Arts Festival was great and it was a wonderful turnout. He wished the outgoing City Manager good luck. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS Keil thanked Pruitt for allowing the grass to be planted by the mural downtown on Railway. fir.. Council recessed at 9:28 p.m. Council resumed at 9:32 p.m. Cite ofSeward, Alaska City Council Minutes September 26, 2011 Volume 38, Page 67=1 CXECUTIVE SESSION Motion (Shafer /Keil) Go into Executive Session to Discuss Selection of City Manager. Motion Passed Unanimous Council went into executive session at 9:33 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 10:07 p.m. OTHER NEW BUSINESS ITEMS Resolution 2011 -073, Approving An Employment Agreement With Eric Phillips For City Manager Services. Motion (Bardarson /Keil) Approve Resolution 2011 -073 Motion to Amend (Bardarson /Keil) Amend the employment contract by changing the severance pay from five months to four months. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous Dunham stated he would look into possible interim city managers if Eric Phillips does not sign the agreement or if he will take longer to start employment at the City of Seward. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:12 p.m. A or Jot anna Kinney, . 4 3� U. r ill d E. Dt °m Ci v Clerk 0V S tfp,... Mayor '*0 (City Seal) •,'- • SEA J • • r • j` ' Q' .,,' E r p; ,..3