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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05272008 City Council MinutesCity of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 volume 37 Pages 575 CALL TO ORDER The May 27, 2008 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Clark Corbridge. OPENING CEREMONY City Manager Phillip Oates led the pledge of allegiance to the flag ROLL CALL There were present: Clark Corbridge presiding and Willard Dunham Tom Smith Jean Bardarson comprising a quorum of the Council; and Linda Amberg Bob Valdatta Betsy Kellar Phillip Oates, City Manager Jean Lewis, City Clerk ABSENT -None ~.. CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Jolund Luther, requested to be re-appointed on the Historic Preservation Commission. He was happy to serve and felt there was still unfinished business that he wished to resolve. John French also wished for reappointment to the Historic Preservation Commission and looked forward to working with the Commission again. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Bardarson/Dunham) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The following was removed from the consent agenda: Approval of The Apri128, 2008 and May 12, 2008 regular city council meeting minutes and the May 8, 2008 special city council meeting minutes. The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: John French and Jolund Luther were re-appointed to the Historic Preservation Commission with terms to expire in May, 2011. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 Volume 37, Pages 576 Non Code Ordinance 2008-015, Appropriating Funds To Make Expenditures Which Could Influence The Outcome Of An Election Concerning A Ballot Proposition Addressing A Biennial Budget In An Amount Not To Exceed $1,500. (Introduced and set for public hearing and enactment June 9, 2008) Resolution 2008-044, Authorizing Payment To The Alaska Railroad In The Amount Of $11,633.00 As Lease For A Portion Of The Transmission Line From ARRC Mile Post 23 To 23.75. Resolution 2008-047, Authorizing Change Order #7 To The Contract With WM. J. Nelson And Associates For Engineering And Consulting Services On The Japanese Creek Levee For An Amount Not To Exceed $35,241, And Appropriating Funds. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards A Certificate was read for Sergeant Bob Lockeby as the Spring Creek Correctional Center Employee of the Year. City Manager's Report. City Manager Phillip Oates stated the past weeks were busy ones, with attending the Chamber luncheon, Alaska Railroad Board Meeting, meeting with the .~ Alaska Workforce Investment Board, ribbon cutting ceremony for the PARKS playground, and groundbreaking ceremony for the Long-Term Care Facility. The status of state funding received and items vetoed by the Governor were as follows: Vetoed: Cruise ship head tax money for dredging-------------------$4.5 million Utility infrastructure for the Long-Term Care Facility----$400,000 $SOOK of the $1 million for stabilization of the Jesse Lee Home Approved: $2 million----------purchase of electric generator as part of the Railbelt Energy Funding. $500,000-----------stabilization of the Jesse Lee Home $61,000-------------repairs to the fish ditch $195,000------------pavilion $1.7 million--------construction of the North Forest Acres Levee In addition, other agencies that received funding were: $8.9 million for the AVTEC Culinary Arts Building $3.2 million for DOT/PF Maintenance Station $68,000 for shellfish hatchery City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2D08 volume 37, Pages 577 - Harbor. In-water dredging for the I&T dock construction project was completed on May 22, 2008. The few components that remained to be completed were the travelift refit and D-1 fill, electrical work and final placement of dredged material. The harbor staff discovered twenty four SS-gallon drums of material illegally dumped in the vicinity of mile 3 of Nash Road. An environmental cleanup was being facilitated and a $5,000 reward was being offered that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the responsible individual(s). - Community Development. The re-write of Title 15 was continuing with the first section being submitted to the Seward Planning & Zoning Commission for review. Building inspection and permitting had increased, and an American subsidiary of a Chinese company had expressed interest in leasing land at SMIC for staging scrap steel for export. - Jesse Lee Home. The RFP had been advertised and five potential proposers had expressed interest. As a result of requests for extensions, the deadline had been extended to June 3, 2008. - Other. AZTEC Second Avenue property negotiations were nearing completion. This agreement would give the City guaranteed access to the First Avenue parking lot at Two Lakes Park, and the city hall sidewalks were in the process of being repaired. Seward Planning and Zoning Commission Report. Chair Marianna Keil stated they had a meeting with the Historic Preservation Commission and were exploring the idea of a historic district in downtown. It would be nice to have some facades on downtown buildings reinstalled. Tax incentives were discussed for business owners to buy into this district. Representative Seaton contacted Kevin Lyons from the Borough, and the Seward/Bear Creek Area Flood Board helped on some recent flooding issues outside city limits. Other Reports, Special Presentations An Audit Presentation was given by John Bost of Mikunda, Cottrell. A Joint Action Agency Presentation was given by Jim Posey of ML&P. PUBLIC HEARINGS -None UNFINISHED BUSINESS Motion to Reconsider (Kellar/Bardarson} Reconsider Ordinance 2008-011 Kellar thought it was in the best interest to pass the fire code. She originally had heartburn on some of the language. Motion to Reconsider Passed Unanimous Ordinance 2008-011., Amending Seward City Code, Chapter 9.15, Health And Safety, City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 Volume 37, Pages 578 Adopting The 2006 Edition Of The International Fire Code (IFC), Including Revisions. Motion (Bardarson/Kellar) Enact Ordinance 2008-011 (Previous motion made at the May 12, 2008 meeting Kellar again was not happy with the wording going from "will" to "shall", even though she appreciated the need for house numbers. Oates said the city had discretion in this area. He defined "shall" as a requirement, "may" as discretionary, and "will" as somewhere in between. Fire Chief David Squires partly agreed with Kellar because "shall" meant the fire department had to enforce. Motion Passed Yes: Bardarson, Smith, Valdatta, Dunham, Amberg, Corbridge No: Kellar NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2008-045, Authorizing The City Manager To Pay A Deposit To Valley Power Systems, Inc. Toward The Purchase Of One (1) Rebuilt EMD Generator Set, Rated At 2865KWE, For An Amount Not To Exceed $112,500.00. Motion (Bardarson/Amberg) Approve Resolution 2008-045 Electric Utility Manager Tim Barnum presented this resolution as a deposit instead of a purchase because he was not sure whether the state would fund the generators. Barnum stated the proposals came back over $9 million. $7.5 million was budgeted for the generator and the warehouse. He was hoping to meet with the successful proposer and get the prices down enough to do the entire project. The City also needed automation and switch gears, and other items to improve the power quality of operating the generators. 42 weeks had been quoted for delivery on switch gear which affected the timeline for the project. Barnum thought the switch gear would also need a deposit. The deposit would hold the unit. This unit was in the price range the city needed. Barnum stated this generator matched the efficiency of the generators the city already had. Anew generator with no support systems went for $2 million dollars but would be more efficient. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2008-046, Authorizing The City Manager To Pursue Environmental Permits For The North Forest Acres Levee/Road Project, In Accordance With The Alignment Contained City of Seward Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 volume 37, Pages 579 On The Attached Map And To Negotiate The Acquisition Of Easements, Rights-Of--Way, And/Or Property Necessary For The Project. Motion (Bardarson/Smith) Approve Resolution 2008-046 Oates stated in 2004, the council pursued a supplemental alignment of the levee. He stressed the City needed the alignment revised again. Oates stated FEMA and NRCS wanted as much of the floodplain saved as possible, and thought NRCS funding would be lost if they didn't get agency approval by this fall. He noted with $1.7 million of state funding, the city had $4.2 million for the project. This new alignment further south was supported by DOT and impacted the land to the east. The city would need property and right-of--way purchases from the owners. Oates recommended approval, because without it, the proj ect was over and there would not be a North Forest Acres Levee road. Dunham said this was a bitter pill to swallow and realized they had to have this, but thought this was petty blackmail by the bureaucrats. Smith concurred with Dunham. Oates also agreed, but it had come down to a levee or no levee. Motion Passed Yes: Amberg, Bardarson, Kellar, Valdatta, Corbridge No: Dunham, Smith Resolution 2008-048, Authorizing The City Manager To Make The Following Personnel Adjustments: Reclassify The Planning Executive Assistant From A Range (12-14) To A Range (17-19) And Change The Title To Associate Planner; Eliminate The Engineering Executive Assistant (Range (13-15) And Establish A New Position Titled Contract Administrator (Range 18-20); And Establish A New Position Titled Building And Community Development Administrative Assistant (Range 8-10). Motion (Bardarson/Smith) Approve Resolution 2008-048 Oates said this was not an increase in positions and would save money in salaries. The Planner and Staff engineer were the positions left unfilled. By not filling those positions, Oates was proposing an Associate Planner, Administrative Assistant and a Contract Administrator. This saved over $3,000 a year and had the potential to save in legal staff on contract work. Oates could not afford to wait for the efficiency study by John Bird at the end of the summer. Some members of council voiced concerns with the $50 million dollars of projects moving forward, sustainability of these positions in the future, and lack of engineering ability on staff. Oates was aware the city needed a public works engineer, but noted most projects would come with their own project managers. Motion Passed Unanimous City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 Volume 37, Pages 580 Council Recessed at 8:40 p.m. Council Reconvened at 8:45 p.m. Other New Business Items The Approval Of The Apri128, 2008 And May 12, 2008 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes And The May 8, 2008 Special City Council Meeting Minutes. Motion (Bardarson/Dunham) Approve The Apri128, 2008 And May 12, 2008 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes And The May 8, 2008 Special City Council Meeting Minutes. Kellar wanted everyone to know that ethics and honesty were important to her, and she disagreed with the minutes because recess required a second and a vote and they were missing from the minutes. She thought accuracy was critical, but suggested the minutes be changed to reflect that Mayor Corbridge unilaterally recessed the meeting to the following day, or table the approval until each council member provided an affidavit on how they voted, so the voting record could become part of the city's historical voting record. Amendments (Valdatta & Dunham) Amendments Passed Clarify the types of ships on pages 58 & 68 and add Vice-Mayor Dunham's name to the reported material under the City Manager Report. General Consent Dunham understood that Ms. Kellar was upset, but city code required council to end at 11:00 p.m. The Mayor had to declare adjournment or recess to another time. You could not vote after the meeting was closed. Dunham felt this was handled correctly and he would have done the exact same thing as the Mayor, had he controlled the gavel. He believed the procedure followed was correct. Kellar felt that the situation that occurred that night, code dictated that the meeting end and any unfinished business went to the next regular scheduled meeting. City Clerk Jean Lewis stated she saw no wrongdoing over the procedure used on April 28, 2008 and no violation of the Open Meetings Act. Going past 11:00 p.m. would have violated city procedure. Time ran out and the motion to recess or adj ourn took precedence over all other motions. She felt the minutes accurately reflected what was done that night. Kellar again suggested the minutes be changed to reflect the Mayor unilaterally recessed the meeting and continued it to the following day, or table approval of the minutes until each council member submit an affidavit on how they voted so this can become part of the city historical voting record. In response to suggestions by Ms. Kellar, Mayor Corbridge re-iterated he needed an City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 l~olume 37, Pages 581 amendment not suggestions. Motion to Amend (Kellar/Dunham) On the last page of the April 28, 2008 minutes, on the second paragraph, last sentence, after Mayor Corbridge, add: "unilaterally recessed the meeting and continued it the following day at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Apri129, 2008." Dunham thought Ms. Kellar had every right to bring this amendment to the floor for discussion, but he did not agree with it. The minutes should stand as they were because they were correct and accurately reflected what happened. Amberg agreed with Dunham. Bardarson disagreed with the word "unilaterally" being added, because she remembered the brief discussion on who could and could not appear, and she had stated she could appear at 8:00 in the morning. Motion to Amend Failed 6-1 Main Motion as Amended Passed Yes: Kellar No: Smith, Amberg, Dunham, Valdatta, Bardarson, Corbridge Yes: Smith, Amberg, Dunham, Valdatta, Bardarson, Corbridge No: Kellar A Joint Work Session To Discuss PACAB Priorities Was Postponed And Put On The Agenda For June 9, 2008. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required April City Financial Report. COUNCIL COMMENTS Kellar thanked the Police department for their DARE program. It was important for the youth to have positive role models. She also thanked the PARKS project volunteers. Bardarson also thanked the PARKS project volunteers. Dunham thought this past week was one of the busiest for the City of Seward. Dunham saw the semi that rolled over with urea nitrates on the Kenai Peninsula this past weekend and he thought it was time the peninsula cities should band together to get the road repaired. He noted over 50 tankers a day ran over that road. He noticed that Soldotna gave $20,000 a year in scholarships and thought the city should think about doing something similar and he commended Soldotna. Dunham wanted the crew to conduct pothole repair. Dunham attended the World Trade Banquet in Anchorage, and listened to the Governor speak and Senator Stevens' long speech on energy. Senator City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes May 27, 2008 Volume 37, Pages 582 Stevens stated federal dollars would come in and projects needed to be put together. He complimented the Governor for paying utilities to reduce the cost of energy. Dunham thought the city was fortunate to receive $2 million from the railbelt energy funding. Smith supported council member Dunham on his comments of the Sterling highway being deadly. Same frost heaves and dips for 20 years and he also thought it was time something was done. Corbridge wanted names recommended to the Borough Mayor for appointment to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission. He wanted an agenda item for the Joint Action agency. He supported Dunham on the scholarship goals. He also thought a letter of support for Governor Palin on her energy support program would be appropriate. Smith and Amberg were both impressed by the amount of community support for scholarships and did not want to take away from that. CITIZEN COMMENTS Marianna Keil, thought since the City was in such good financial shape she did not think the sales tax cap increase should be passed. She thought the petition had enough signatures to turn in, and she urged the council to rescind that. She thanked the council for their time and work. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS ~ Kellar thanked Keil for her comments and for staying for the entire meeting. Smith thought people should think about the fact Seward could be a disaster prone community, and the City only had two months of operating funds in reserves. This was an item that needed to be addressed. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. ~~ ~.. -~.. Jea ewis, CMC ~ ~~.~r~.~ Clark Corbridge ..•+ ~•. City Jerk ~••~ Q¢ $E y~•~. Mayor • (City Seal) ,{~„~~" ~~a~'=a ~ ; ~'Q .~. ~~` 1 e . 1 " • • ~ `~~ ~ • ~~~h OR`A s~ ~•~