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