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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08082016 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8,2016 Volume 40, Page 91 CALL TO ORDER The August 8,2016 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Jean Bardarson. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Jean Bardarson presiding and Marianna Keil Ristine Casagranda Deborah Alterman Sue McClure comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jim Hunt, City Manager Brenda Ballou, Acting City Clerk Absent—Butts, Squires CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Bardarson admonished the public to deliver their comments in a constructive and positive fashion, and warned that she would gavel anyone who became disorderly. Devin Putney wanted to speak about the AVTEC gym closure. The AVTEC gym helped local people get through the winter and rainy days,and the open gym time had been priceless for his family. He asked council to look at the situation and try to find a way to reinstate access. When speaking with people at AVTEC,he was told the rent increase had not doubled as was the message. he had gotten from the city. Luther Freeman was disappointed in the AVTEC gym closure. He said using the gym helped him get through the winter.He thought the people who lived in Seward year round should be a priority.There was no replacement for the AVTEC gym and what they offered.For small children and elders,the gym was a safe place to get exercise.He hoped council would consider getting it open again. Tim McDonald thought Seward was not prepared for growth. The streets were in terrible condition;he still thought cement streets could be a solution. He thought the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon was just a raw sewage settling place before the raw sewage got dumped into Resurrection Bay. He thought the whole country was changing and people were getting a raw deal. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8, 2016 Volume 40, Page 92 Nicole Lawrence chose Seward as her home because of the community. She said AVTEC was a big part of her life here. Joe Fong reminded everyone that on Saturday,August 13,2016 from 2:00-6:00 p.m.there would be a free community luncheon at Branson Pavilion to celebrate Providence Hospital's 20 year anniversary in Seward. Amanda Adams said her family were heavy users of AVTEC, and the community needed this gym as a resource. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (KeiUCasagranda) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2016-049, Requesting Council Adopt The 2016 Seward Historic Preservation Commission Priorities. Resolution 2016-050,Appointing Carol Kvasnikoff As Temporary Deputy City Clerk. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations &Awards Chamber of Commerce Report. Cindy Clock appreciated being on the agenda tonight to make up for the July 25, 2016 meeting she missed due to a family emergency. Clock wanted to speak about the AVTEC gym closure. She reminded everyone that there were two gyms in Seward that were viable alternatives for exercise. And she said AVTEC had reached out to the Chamber of Commerce to see if there were any concessionaires who may be suitable to run the program. She said this could be an opportunity for a private enterprise to get involved. Clock passed out Silver Salmon Derby booklets, showed an advertisement the chamber placed in the Seattle Seahawks Yearbook that featured Seward, an article and advertisement in the Alaska Sporting Journal, and she passed out copies of the marketing and promotion schedule the chamber had done year to date. The 61St Silver Salmon Derby would start August 13, 2016. There were still a few spots available. There would be 15 tagged fish plus almost $30,000 in additional prizes. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8, 2016 Volume 40, Page 93 The 89th Mount Marathon Race was successful in every way. The chamber's Board of Directors had formed a task force to explore more ways to grow the event, such as having food vendors up in Lowell Canyon. The budget for the Alaska Tourism Marketing Board had been slashed to$1.5 million,which was only enough to keep Alaska.corn website updated.In comparison,Hawaii spent$84 million last year and Arkansas spent$19 million. Borough Assembly Report. Brandii Holmdahl reported the assembly had met once last month and would be meeting again tomorrow evening. Ordinance 2016-22 addressed moving the hospital service area boundary to the halfway point between Soldotna and Homer. There was a significant difference in the mill rates of those two areas.There was a tie vote,and then an assembly member called for reconsideration at the next assembly meeting. The other item addressed was the senior citizen property exemption reduction,which passed and would appear on the municipal ballot in October. There was a new member to the Planning Commission, Virginia Morgan from Cooper Landing, who would represent the eastern side of the peninsula. At the next meeting the assembly would consider reducing the number of borough members on the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District(KPEDD)board.Holmdahl explained that in a recent land grant from the state, there was about 2,200 acres in the Moose Pass/Crowne Point area that were part of that transfer. There was a request to rezone about 1,300 acres of that land to recreational. The assembly was having a work session tomorrow to discuss the mayor's proposed changes to the tax code. There were a lot of small changes,and many not so small.Holmdahl asked council to review the proposal and speak up if there were areas of concern that they wished for her to address on behalf of the citizens of Seward. In response to McClure, Holmdahl said the Planning Commission reduction would be addressed at the meeting after the next one. Holmdahl did not know when the borough's administration would be holding community meetings to inform the public on the upcoming ballot issues, but she thought they would happen in advance of the municipal election to help educate voters. City Manager Report.Jim Hunt said there had been no purchase orders between$10,000 and $50,000 approved by the City Manager since the last meeting. Hunt reported that part of Dieckgraeff Road had washed away yesterday in the rain, but had been repaired. Assistant City Manager Ron Long introduced and welcomed Doug Schoessler as the new Public Works Director. Long asked Utility Manager John Foutz to speak about a Transco group that the city had been exploring.Foutz elaborated that he had been working with five railbelt utility companies as well as a Transco company from the lower 48 to design a plan for creating a public utility. The biggest decision that would come to council was whether or not to join. Seward owned 45 miles of line stretching from Seward to Cooper Landing. There were advantages and disadvantages to joining a Transco. Long added that in the past several years there had been legislative pressure for railbelt utilities to consolidate,and he thought creating and potentially joining a Transco would be acceptable to the legislature. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8, 2016 Volume 40, Page 94 Long said the AVTEC gym issue was complicated.He said the costs associated with running the programs were varied. He asked council and the public to be patient as administration was still working on the issue and trying to find one or more solutions to meet the needs of the taxpayers.He said administration was aware that some of the special things AVTEC provided included indoor open gym, winter walking, and sports leagues. In response to McClure, Foutz provided an update on the Snow River transmission line project. Foutz had received some cost estimates on a Phase I solution,which was not a throw away but would be built upon during Phase II. The issue was that the transmission line which provided power to Seward from Anchorage through Chugach Electric was in jeopardy as the rock at Snow River eroded around the transmission line foundation,and if the line was lost it may result in Seward being on back up generation for up to a month. Long added that the city's approach to this project had to be done appropriately in order to potentially qualify for federal grants or loans that may be available in the future.In response to McClure,Long said this approach would change the scope of the project, but not the timing. Casagranda asked how the city got to the point it was at with AVTEC.Long said the contract ended and had not been successful in its negotiations. Casagranda followed up for clarification on what the exact costs were.Hunt said the old contract was$1,500 per month,and would have doubled to $3,000. Casagranda wondered why this particular contract had not been proposed for council's consideration.Long said administration was charged with negotiating the contract renewal,but they had not been successful.In response to Casagranda,Long said council could expect to see something brought before them as a proposed solution very soon. Casagranda said she would like to see the community more involved in the process when a decision was made that had such a broad reaching impact on the community. Keil stated she was concerned,and in light of the state's budget shortfalls,she thought it was important to save money where it could be saved and hoped there wouldn't be more programs that would be cut. In response to McClure, Hunt and Long said the city was not planning to build a bowling alley or recreational facility. Hunt said that would be an undertaking for private enterprise. Council directed administration to put the road paving maps on the city website for the public. The maps should be marked draft so it would be understood the plans were subject to change. Bardarson wondered when council would see a close out report on the Fish Cleaning Stations. In response to Casagranda, Long said financial reports were available monthly, and that council could expect to see June figures at the end of August. City Attorney Report.Will Earnhart reported that council would be seeing amendments proposed to Title 10 to reduce redundancies with state statutes at the next council meeting.Earnhart was pleased to report the city had won the lawsuit with Orion over the breakwater contract.Earnhart City ofSeward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8, 2016 Volume 40, Page 95 said his firm had spent$10,000 on fees and$50,000 in costs on obtaining this win,and could expect to recover about 10% of that cost. Earnhart gave accolades to Adam Cook from his firm for doing the legwork on the briefing. Other Reports,Announcements and Presentations—None PUBLIC HEARINGS—None UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None NEW BUSINESS—None Other New Business Items—None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None COUNCIL COMMENTS Keil thanked Brenda Ballou, Jean Lewis, and the Seward International Friendship Association(SIFA)for the student exchange program. She congratulated the Kinney family on the birth of their baby boy,thanked Will Earnhart for the win against Orion,and thanked the public for speaking about AVTEC. McClure congratulated the Kinneys. McClure enjoyed the barbeque with the Japanese exchange students. She said there were lots of things going on, including the Silver Salmon Derby and the Providence picnic. She thanked the ALPAR workers for doing a great job picking up litter around town, and she thanked everyone for expressing their concerns about the AVTEC gym. Casagranda thanked the clerk's office for their work, congratulated the Kinneys, and welcomed Doug Schoessler. She expressed her appreciation to administration for the work that they did,and encouraged the public to consider picking up city council candidate packets. She would be out of state for August 22, 2016 council meeting. Altermatt thanked people for coming out tonight. She thought the quality of life in Seward was really high,with all the music,drama,library,and winter activities to name a few. Rotary was holding the duck race on Saturday. She would also be absent on August 22,2016 to travel to South Africa to represent her family at a historic African Congress event. Bardarson showed off Silver Salmon Derby trophy furnished by the City of Kushiro. She thanked public for coming out. Long clarified there was no raw sewage being dumped into Resurrection Bay. Road engineers and consultants recommended using asphalt for the roads. He gave his congratulations to Kinneys. CITIZEN COMMENTS City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes August 8, 2016 Volume 40, Page 96 Becky Dunn said a couple of years ago she had donated a tank heater for the portapotty at the animal shelter, as well as non-freezing water bowls for the dogs,but they couldn't be used because there were no outside outlets at the shelter. Hunt said he would see that outlets were installed. Jim Hunt wanted to say Sam Daniel had been recognized by the state legislature for his road clean-up work. Luther Freeman said he realized that negotiations had failed with AVTEC, but was disappointed the public was not informed or included. He didn't think it was out of line to expect that the facility would be kept running while an alternative was sought.He was upset because there was no substitute for the AVTEC gym facilities,including the rock wall,racquetball courts,etc.The AVTEC gym did not compete with the local gyms.He didn't understand why access to AVTEC had ended with no notice and no stop gap measure put in place. Michael Mahmood said in regards to the bowling alley rumor, there was a press release issued by Seward Parks & Recreation Department (SPRD) that said funds were temporarily earmarked for the bowling alley project. Devin Putney said he didn't hear tonight that there was a formal plan for addressing the AVTEC gym,but he did hear that council was willing and able to look into this further. He wished that they would keep AVTEC open and available until there was a suitable replacement. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS In response to Keil, Hunt said there would be a solution found to the AVTEC gym issue within a matter of weeks. Long added that there was no guarantee. Long wanted to respond to the press release and said it was an unfortunate and inaccurate press release. He said it should not have gone out and there were no funds being earmarked. Hunt added that a bowling alley project would be a private venture. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. 4 . . renda Bal ou C Jan Bardarson Acting CityoCl4�OF��OO®,®eeo Mayor ob. (City Sial) SEAL ; 66 G ¢, 4 ®0®o®aa©e®o t, at