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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01122015 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 453 CALL TO ORDER The January 12,2015 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Jean Bardarson. OPENING CEREMONY Lieutenant Doreen Valadez led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Jean Bardarson presiding and Marianna Keil Christy Terry David Squires comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jim Hunt, City Manager Will Earnhart, City Attorney 111 Brenda Ballou, Deputy City Clerk Absent—Iris Darling, Ristine Casagranda, Dale Butts CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Jody Tuck asked for an update on the transition plan for handicap improvements in the city. She was appreciative of the improvements that had been made to date. Paul Paquette asked for an update on the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon dredging project.He was concerned that funding may be impaired by state cutbacks. He mentioned that some years ago the city had provided citizens with a tips sheet for what could and could not be put into the sewage system, and wondered if that could be redistributed. Brooke Andrews was from a commercial fishing family and was interested in having a public crane. She was most concerned with safety for fishermen.She thought the commercial fish tax could be used towards the crane. Charles McEldowney was the plant manager at Icicle Fisheries. He said if a crane was put in,he would like to see it be large enough to be safe. He said a crane was safer to use than a boom truck,but a crane required proper training. He advised that any fish not processed in town did not yield any revenue from the fish tax,and it was likely that fish offloaded with a public crane would be processed elsewhere. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 454 Tim McDonald reported that he would be attending the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association meeting this weekend and presenting a report about Resurrection Bay salmon habitat. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Keil/Terry) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Bardarson added a presentation by Chugach Electric to Other Reports,Announcements and Presentations. Bardarson added an item under Other New Business Items to schedule a work session with Providence and the Community Health Center to discuss future health care needs in Seward. Terry added Resolution 2015-003 and the continuation of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board for 2015 to the consent agenda. Keil added a Community Health Center report to Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2015-003, Authorizing The Transfer Of Vehicle Unit#455 From Surplus To The Public Works Water/Wastewater Department,And The Transfer Of Vehicle Unit#155 From The Water/Wastewater Department To Surplus. Continue the Port and Commerce Advisory Board for 2015. Approval of the October 27,2014 and the November 10,2014 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes and the November 10,2014 Special City Council Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards Borough Assembly Report. Sue McClure reported the assembly had met twice since her last report.At the December 9,2014 meeting,the assembly added a priority to request an additional $1 million from the state for the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area Board to be used for flood mitigation. When the assembly met on January 6, 2015 they introduced an ordinance per the Borough Mayor's request to fund $200,000 for a health care consultant to study ways of curbing health care costs. The ordinance would come up for public hearing on February 3, 2015. Another item the assembly took action on was to shift the funding for the Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department by changing the position of Fire Chief from voluntary to a three-quarter time paid position;the funding for that would primarily come from the vacated training office position when Jim Wiles retired at the end of the month. At the January 20, 2015 meeting, the Borough Mayor would be requesting funding for a special assistant position for someone with oil, gas and mining City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 455 expertise. Also at that meeting, there would be a public hearing for the ordinance on by-mail elections. That ordinance was postponed until after the advisory vote took place, and was now coming up on the assembly's agenda. McClure was in the process of seeking $50,000 from the borough to assist the City of Seward with the update on the Comprehensive Plan. The assembly meetings were now available to watch via web streaming, either live or as a play back after the meeting. City Manager's Report.Jim Hunt stated the following purchase orders between$10,000 and $50,000 were approved by the City Manager since the last council meeting: $15,000.00 to Alaska Bolt&Chain for operating supplies for city wide departments; $36,225 to Judy Merritt for 2015 contracted custodial services at the harbor; $20,000 to Metco, Inc. for hauling&purchase of sand and storage for 2014/2015 winter; $11,730 to All Alaska News for City Calendar advertising. In the harbor, the Northeast Fish Cleaning Station project was scheduled to re-bid starting January 15,2015.The bid opening date would be February 19,2015.At year-end,91.8%ofreserved moorage customers had renewed their moorage agreements. Two expired short-term leases at the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC)were scheduled for public hearing on replat at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on February 3, 2015. The city would continue to insist upon the required stormwater permit before entering in to long-term leases. One business at SMIC had an unresolved encroachment issue,and the business owner was notified that the extra charges increased on January 1, 2015. An appraiser was working on the city reappraisal process. Lessees had been notified that this was underway and the draft report was due February 20, 2015. The 30th Annual Polar Bear Jump Off Festival was scheduled for Saturday,January 17, 2015. In Public Works, staff was working with CRW Engineering,Inc.on the new tank design for the North Seward Water Tank project. The Finance Department would install the last of the new software modules this month— Fixed Assets and Bank Reconciliation. A Request for Proposals would be distributed soon for Independent Auditing Services. The scoring criteria for the RFP would be: Organization Expertise and Qualifications(25%),Organization Experience(25%),Personnel Experience&Qualifications (25%),and Cost(25%). As well,staff was working with the City Attorney to assist Alaska Waste in collecting from more than 30 customers who refused to pay for garbage service. Since the service was mandated by City Code, the Finance Department would be sending collection letters to customers informing them that failure to pay the franchisee would result in their garbage charges being added to their utility account, and may adversely affect the status of their utility service. The Electric Department was developing a new inventory control program. The program would be fully operational once the new warehouse was completed and the entire inventory transferred into the new building, classified, and entered into the new system. In Parks and Recreation Department, a Request For Proposals was released for Sports Officials' Management and responses were due by 12:00 p.m. on January 16, 2015. The scoring criteria was: Price/Fee per game(25%), Experience in same/similar work(25%),Ability to recruit and train officials (25%), and Organization to manage the work(25%). City Attorney's Report. Will Earnhart stated his office had worked on arbitration, City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 456 legislation, contracts, and code revisions for Title 11 with administration. His office continued to monitor issues relating to the legalization of marijuana,although he did not believe it would have a big impact on the city. In response to Terry, Earnhart said his office reported to administration with regards to arbitration issues,but had been in touch with a couple of council members during the process. PACAB Annual Report.This report was not available at this time, and was postponed to the January 26, 2015 agenda. Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations Council Travel Report by Alaska Municipal League Conference Attendees. Chugach Electric Association presentation of a Capital Credits check. Community Health Center Report. (Keil) PUBLIC HEARINGS —None UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2015-001,Amending The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2015 State Legislative Priorities. Motion (Terry/Keil) Approve Resolution 2015-001 Hunt said this resolution would add an additional priority of$750,000 to defray the costs for Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon infrastructure maintenance and repairs. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-002,Approving The Final Design Of An Eight Ton Public Crane On The I Dock And Appropriating Funds. Motion (KeiUTerry) Approve Resolution 2015-002 Harbormaster Mack Funk said the harbor had already committed funds towards the float replacements of B,C and S Docks,and the matching the grant funds required for that project would deplete the harbor's resource and subsequently require borrowing to proceed with a crane purchase. Assistant City Manager Ron Long added that the administration was not anti-crane,but was interested in doing more research to justify the purchase and predict what benefits might be garnered.As well,the city needed to fully understand what the liability would be to own and operate City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 457 a public crane. Motion To Amend (Squires/Terry) Amend Resolution 2015-002 by striking Section 1 entirely and replacing it with a new Section 1 which reads "Authorize the city manager to produce a Request For Proposals, Quote or Bids to ascertain the feasibility of up to a 5-ton crane on I or the TraveLift Dock." Motion To Amend Approved Unanimous Motion To Amend (Squires/Keil) Amend Resolution 2015-002 by striking the words "8-ton" and replacing with the words "up to 5-ton." Motion To Amend Approved Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-004, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Alaska Industrial Development And Export Authority (AIDEA) For An Upland Development Plan At Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC)For An Amount Not To Exceed$200,000,And Appropriating Funds. Motion (Terry/Squires) Approve Resolution 2015-004 Long said administration wanted to get an action plan for SMIC development, not just another plan that gathered dust because it wasn't executable. He said a business plan would be included in the deliverables at the end of Phase 1; this would be completed within six months. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-005,Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Construction Agreement With Engineered Services Group,Inc.(ESG)Of Anchorage,Alaska To Move Two(2)Electro- Motive Diesel (EMD) Generators From Arctic Pack Enclosures Into The New Generator Building And Construct All Supporting Systems To Permit Them To Operate For An Amount Not To Exceed $3,100,000 And Appropriating Funds. Motion (Keil/Terry) Approve Resolution 2015-005 Hunt said this contract was time and materials,and required only one generator to be moved at a time so that the city's power source was not compromised.This project was estimated to take six months to complete. Motion Passed Unanimous City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 458 Other New Business Items Schedule joint or individual work sessions with the Planning and Zoning Commission,the Port and Commerce Advisory Board,and the Historic Preservation Commission to review annual priorities. (Bardarson) The following joint work sessions were scheduled: Historic Preservation Commission on Monday, January 26,2015 at 6:15 p.m.; Planning And Zoning Commission on Tuesday,February 3,2015 at 6:00 p.m.; and, Port And Commerce Advisory Board on Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. Discussion on council's wishes and scheduling timeslots for the People to People student program when they travel to Seward this summer. (Terry) A sign-up sheet was created and council members were invited to sign up for time slots. Schedule a work session with Providence and the Community Health Center to discuss future health care needs in Seward. Council scheduled a joint work session with Providence Hospital and the Seward Community Health Center on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None COUNCIL COMMENTS Earnhart said there were currently no outstanding litigation or grievances against the city. He added that if there was a substantial risk, the City Manager would inform council. He said the arbitration issue he mentioned earlier in the meeting tonight was handled within the City Manager's department and was not a council concern. Terry responded that she thought council should be kept informed about legal issues. She took exception to some council members being informed of the arbitration issue while other others were not. Squires said he had attended the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District(KPEDD) meeting on Butts'behalf,and thought it was a good group.He was concerned,however,that Seward was the only city attending that was not a sponsor,and he encouraged administration to seek out that opportunity going forward. Bardarson thanked staff for the holiday lights downtown. She wished everyone best wishes for the Polar Bear Jump. Long said he had also attended the KPEDD forum and had taken away several good contacts. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 459 CITIZEN COMMENTS Sue McClure said she wanted to volunteer for the People to People experience. She encouraged everyone to attend the National Ocean Sciences Bowl coming up for the high school students. Tim McDonald said Homer was ahead of Seward in their commitment as a commercial fishing location, and he thought Seward didn't have a good reputation with fishermen. He thought the cost to move the generators was exorbitant,and wondered why that amount of money was being spent on that project when the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon cost far less and still wasn't completed. He said the city had to keep their priorities straight. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Terry said she wanted to see the rebate check presented tonight from Chugach put back into infrastructure. Hunt said the electric generator project was grant funded, and the work was highly specialized. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion (KeilTerry) Go Into Executive Session To Review The City Manager's Evaluation. The City Manager was invited to stay. Motion Passed Unanimous Consent Council went into executive session at 9:19 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 10:29 p.m. Council recessed the meeting until Friday, January 16,2015 at 12:00 p.m. Council resumed the meeting on Friday,January 16, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. There were present: Jean Bardarson presiding and Marianna Keil Christy Terry David Squires Dale Butts comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jim Hunt, City Manager Brenda Ballou, Deputy City Clerk City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes January 12, 2015 Volume 39,Page 460 Absent—Iris Darling, Ristine Casagranda Motion (Keil/Terry) Go Into Executive Session To Review The City Manager's Evaluation. The city manager was invited to stay. Motion Passed Unanimous Consent Council went into executive session at 12:03 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 12:57 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:01 p.m. B enda : . lou, V C ean Bardarson D- silty Ci', k Mayor (City Seal) ••,.,..lIJ,• .•y OF SE1v,''•. 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