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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06272011 City Council Minutes City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 609 hoe CALL TO ORDER The June 27, 2011 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Willard E. Dunham. OPENING CEREMONY Lieutenant Butch Tiner led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Willard E. Dunham, presiding; and Marianna Keil Bob Valdatta Vanta Shafer Tom Smith Ristine Casagranda comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Johanna Kinney, City Clerk Absent — Jean Bardarson CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Mary Hart, on behalf of GCI, stated she first saw the proposed new design standards contained in tonight's resolution late last Thursday afternoon; she said they were not shared at all with GCI prior to the City receiving them, and they did not comply with the GCI's existing requirements and was a breach of contract. If the permits were not issued very soon, Seward would not be getting fiber optic. If the council accepted the resolution tonight, it would create a contract dispute. She asked council approve GCI's permit requests. Matt Hershock thanked the crew who painted the street lines on Fourth Avenue; he appreciated them coming in before business hours. He also thanked the crew who went down to the waterfront during the tsunami false alarm to notify them that it was a false alarm. Further, he thanked the crews for getting the power back on today; he asked what methods of communication were used; Oates noted they had press releases and had visited businesses to inform them. Matt Gray gave kudos for the Public Works department for pulling together the Scheffler Creek Pedestrian Bridge Project; he hoped it would help the environmental concerns, repair some damage that had been done to the vegetation there, and would get more attention to the area. He thanked everyone involved with the project. �.., Y P j City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 610 Bob Barnwell, sixth grade teacher at Seward Elementary, also supported the Scheffler Creek project; the students were doing a lot of science projects on the creek and he hoped the city would continue to support the project. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Keil /Shafer) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda A proclamation to congratulate the Seward High Track Teams was added to the agenda. The City Attorney report was removed from the agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: The June 13, 2011 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Were Approved. Council rescheduled the July 11, 2011 work session to discuss building codes to August 8, 2011 at 5:45 p.m. Council recommended Cindy Ecklund to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission. Resolution 2011 -052, Authorizing The City Manager To Approve An Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement Between The State Of Alaska, Department Of Natural Resources, Division Of Forestry And The City Of Seward. Resolution 2011 -053 Authorizing A One Year Contract For 5533,210.00 With The State Of Alaska, Department Of Corrections, To Provide For Operating The Seward Community Jail And Housing Prisoners Charged And /Or Sentenced Under Alaska Statutes. Resolution 2011 -054, Accepting The Resignation Of City Manager Phillip Oates And Setting The Terms For His Departure From City Employment. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards A welcome proclamation was read for the U.S. Navy's ship the USS Lake Erie. A Certificate of Memoriam was read for William Noll. A proclamation congratulating the Seward High School Track Team was read. City Manager's Report, City Manager Phillip Oates had Utilities Manager John Foutz explain today's outages. Foutz said there were multiple issues, including a fault on Nash Road of City ofSeward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 6/1 trees growing into the lines. The company that installed two new generators, EPS, sent representatives down to Seward to fix them; the Electric Department could not determine what the problems were. Two other generators were also having difficulty, so only two out of six generators were functioning today. Also, a lightening arrestor blew up and resulted in a black -out in the afternoon. Currently the City was on Chugach power, and repairs needed to be made to the lightening arrestors. He believed there was a fault within the substation underground that attributed to the problems with the generators. Oates said the Electric Department and linemen did a great job today. Until the repairs were completed, the City would not have any back -up generation capability, and would rely solely on Chugach's power. Oates discussed the recent tsunami warning last week. An alert was issued due to a 7.3 earthquake in the Aleutian chain; the warning was issued and then cancelled, but unfortunately the sirens went off anyway right after the cancellation. The recorded public announcement was difficult to hear, and there were many confused visitors who did not know what to do. The police and fire patrolled the streets to alleviate concerns and explain that the warning was cancelled. The siren was controlled by the weather service, but fundamentally they were trying to come up with a system they could have more control over. For a warning with little impact, the city needed to be in control. The city had a commitment from the Borough to make this happen, and he hoped the sirens did not turn into something people would soon start to ignore. Harbor /SMIC: Letters would be sent to businesses in the harbor regarding 2011 billing for trash services. The Harbor Enterprise fund had paid all invoices from Alaska Waste for all dumpsters in the harbor for 2011, and the City would assess an annual fee for businesses utilizing those dumpsters. Fire Department: Received permission from the City Manager to expend funds in the amount of $6,100 to replace non - functional garage door openers with modern equipment meeting current safety standards. With the upcoming 4 of July holiday, he reminded everyone that the use of fireworks was prohibited inside and outside of city limits. Building Department: Processed 31 permits year -to -date; in comparison with last year's total of 51 permits, they were approximately a month and a half ahead of schedule; this year saw an increase in remodeling projects as opposed to new construction. Building department staff attended two days of International Code Council (ICC) training this week in Wasilla; the permit technician class would provide staff with the skills to better perform their jobs in code administration. Public Works: Dolphin Project would have 100% design completed by June 2011; they were still working on permitting issues; construction would be delayed until 2012 due to permit hurdles. USCG Relocation: Issued notice to Metco to proceed for final scope of work to complete the interior slab of the new foundation; the USCG was targeting the building relocation by early September /October 2011. h Scheffler Creek Pedestrian Bridge: Bid for construction was advertised on June 17, 201 1; construction would begin in July 2011; work must be completed by August 2011; working with Kenai Watershed Forum to discuss a ribbon cutting ceremony. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 612 provided Administrative: An update on the water storage tank site selection would be General d p g p at the July 11, 2011 council meeting. Superintendent of Public Works, Kirsten Vesel, submitted her resignation. Street and Shop: Working with Mount Marathon race coordinators and Chamber of Commerce to prepare for the 4th of July events. Mayoral Report, Mayor Willard E. Dunham updated the council on his recent travels and participations. He talked about the congressional letter written for the Pacific Division. Dunham had been working on Coastal Villages and spoke with AIDEA about the project. The city would not receive state funding, if awarded, until September. He noted his visits with the U.S. Office of Protocol with foreign ambassadors, including the Japanese Counsel and the Ambassador from Chile; of the 43 Ambassadors in attendance, all but five of them came to Seward on Friday for a Kenai Fjords Tour. He attended Ocean's Day at the SeaLife Center and noted they unveiled two new exhibits. His meeting with congressional delegation for Murkowski and Begich went well. He represented Seward for the first time at the Frontier Community Service's 8 Annual Little League World Series in Kenai. Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations An update on the Jujiro Wada Project was given. Jim Sinnett of the Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, Dr. Tony Nakazawa, Professor Edgar Blatchford, and Don Chu were in ow attendance to give council a progress activity report. A new, comprehensive website would be unveiled on July 15, 2011 at the address 3cjujirowadamemorialassociation .com. Sinnett spoke of the association's intent to have a road relay marathon from Mile 0 to Crow Pass in Girdwood, coordinated with the unveiling of the Iditarod Monument, and modeled after the Klondike '98 Road Relay that went from Skagway to White Horse. Potential attendance would be up to 5,000 people with up to 900 runners taking part in the race. They wanted to call the marathon the International Invitational Jujiro Wada Midnight Sun Marathon; they wanted communities in Seward, Fairbanks, Nome and Barrow to co- sponsor the marathon with them. An Audit Presentation was given by John Bost. Bost, with Mikunda Cottrell, stated the council met earlier that evening in a work session to recap the 2010 audit so Bost offered a quick summary. The audit went very well; there were no findings or internal control weaknesses, which meant the internal policies and procedures were functioning well. The final audit opinion was a clean and unqualified opinion, which was the best opinion that could be achieved from an audit firm. The general fund had a good year; the undesignated fund balance was slightly above $4,000,000; it had $300,000 less in expenditures in 2010 than in 2009; the current undesignated fund balance represented about four months, which was just in the mid -range of the required 2 -6 months of reserves. Most enterprise funds had less expenditures; some were still are not generating enough revenues to cover their debts and operating expenses. Overall, 2010 was a good year financially for the city. He thanked Kris Erchinger, the finance department and the council for their time. PUBLIC HEARINGS City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 613 Resolution 2011 -050, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Lease Agreement With Global Tower Assets, LLC, For Lot 1, Block 6, Fourth Of July Creek Subdivision, Seward Marine Industrial Center, For The Purpose Of Constructing And Operating A Communication Tower. Motion (Keil /Shafer) Approve Resolution 2011 -050 Oates stated the intent behind the resolution and of the lessees. They were current lease holders over at SMIC, but due to erosion problems that threatened the existing tower, Global Tower Assets was requesting to build a tower in this location. The site was to be used only as a communication tower. Oates recommended approval. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared to address the Council and the public hearing was closed. In response to Keil's inquiry, Oates stated this land was only a small portion of the expiring Racing Lion's lease. Oates stated they did not know if the Racing Lion's wanted to renew their lease; Harbormaster Kari Anderson noted she had received no response to any attempts at communication. Oates said the location was pretty important to get reception. Shafer asked if the Racing Lion's had any infrastructure there now; Anderson responded that they did not. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolution 2011 -049, Appropriating Funds In An Amount Up To $1,500,000 For Purposes Of Paying Costs Associated With The Proposed Seward Community Library Museum. (Clerk's Note: postponed from the June 13, 2011 council meeting. Original motion made by Smith and seconded by Bardarson) Motion (Smith /Bardarson) Approve Resolution 2011 -049 Oates stated this resolution was asking if the council wanted to take money from the general fund reserve to reduce the potential amount of the general obligation bond for the Library Museum Project. The finance director had concerns about taking funds from these reserves. Oates agreed and thought the council should ask for the full bond amount of $3,700,000 instead of taking from the general fund reserves. As an example, Finance Director Kris Erchinger said if the city took $ 1,000,000 from the general fund balance and cut the bond amount to $2,700,000, the city would save about $80,000 a year in debt service costs, assuming a 25 -year bond. Motion to Amend (Shafer /Keil) Amend Resolution 2011 -049, reducing the amount from $1,500,000 to $700,000. Erchinger said the council would pay higher interest premium costs if they wanted to pay off the bonds quicker. She thought for the sake of clarification, they needed to submit to the bond bank a City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 614 specific amount. She added that they could not request a bond in any amount and not use the funds fully without facing a penalty. Smith stated that he was in favor of using $1,500,000 from the general fund reserves as well as paying a higher interest rate to the bond bank in exchange for the ability to pay off the general obligation bond early. Erchinger said they could get creative if council wished to use the general fund reserves in that the city could borrow $3,700,000 for the project and, at the same time, set aside an amount from the reserves that would sit in escrow until such time that the general obligation bond became callable. That way, the city would have a large lump amount to kick off an early pay -down of the bond. This option would allow the city to maintain access to the funds in the event of an emergency. She believed that if the bond was not callable until after the first five to seven years, the city would avoid incurring additional penalties for paying it off early. Motion to Amend Failed Yes: Valdatta, Shafer No: Keil, Casagranda, Smith, Dunham Shafer stated she was in favor of setting aside some general funds in this year's budget process. Dunham added that he wanted the bond application to definitely include the ability for early pay -off. Main Motion Failed Yes: Valdatta, Casagranda J No: Keil, Shafer, Smith, Dunham Resolution 2011 -048, Designating $100,000 Of General Fund Undesignated Fund Balance To Cover Costs Associated With The Kenai Peninsula Borough's Implementation Of The City Of Seward's Increase In Sales Tax On Alcohol Beverages And Tobacco Products. (Clerk's Note. postponed from the June 13, 2011 council meeting. Original motion made by Shafer and seconded by Keil) Motion (Shafer /Keil) Approve Resolution 2011 -048 Oates stated there was uncertainty if this resolution was still needed because of the referendum out there. If council passed the resolution, the city did not have to spend the funds, but this was simply setting it aside if needed. Keil thought council would be jumping the gun if they passed this resolution now and they should wait until after the October election. Shafer agreed. Smith said he would just as soon see this passed now so that they had all their options before them. Casagranda didn't think the city should have to pay for it. Valdatta said the Borough had just received $900,000 from the Bureau of Land Management and that maybe they would help Seward pay for this cost. Oates said legally they could demand the Borough collect this money for the city; they likely would have to get legal advice on this issue. Also, it could take about four months to get the Borough's software updated; he said perhaps they should consider this at a later date. Dunham was opposed to this and stated the Borough slid every time something like this came up, and it was their City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 615 responsibility to collect our taxes to the city. The law says the Borough was the taxing agent. Smith said that was true, and the city shouldn't have to pay for it, but the Borough had the city over a barrel and the city did not have a lot of leverage over them. Motion Failed Yes: Valdatta, Smith No: Keil, Shafer, Casagranda, Dunham Resolution 2011 -036, Amending The Surveillance Camera Policy. (Clerk's Note: postponed from the May 9, 2011 council meeting. Original motion made by Bardarson and seconded by Keil) Motion (Bardarson /Keil) Approve Resolution 2011 -036 Oates said Police Chief Clemons was ill tonight. He didn't think they needed this resolution. Administration had been working with council member Shafer to remove the Fire Department camera. Staff was willing to do that, but other than that change, Oates felt that council had the tools they needed and he didn't feel this amending resolution was necessary. Shafer confirmed the Police Chief was working for a solution to move the camera on a pole on Church Street, which satisfied her because the camera would then be off Fourth Avenue, and would provide better surveillance for the Fire Department. She was very satisfied with this solution. Motion (Shafer /Keil) Amend Resolution 2011 -036 by striking the ham sentences: "If camera surveillance of the Seward Fire Department Building is required, the camera shall be placed inside the facility to protect fire equipment from unknown danger. Any potential placement of surveillance cameras on any pedestrian /public areas must have final approval by the City Council of the City of Seward by resolution," and changing the location of cameras not allowed on 4 avenue from "south of the boat launch ramp in the Small Boat Harbor" to "south of Van Buren Street." Smith didn't understand why they had this resolution at all. Motion to Amend Passed Yes: Smith, Keil, Shafer, Casagranda No: Valdatta, Dunham Main Motion Passed Yes: Valdatta, Keil, Shafer, Casagranda No: Smith, Dunham NEW BUSINESS City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 616 Resolution 2011 -055, Adopting The Climatic Design Criteria For The Electric Utility Of All Distribution Poles South Of Nash Road For The Purpose Of Construction And Attachment. Motion (Shafer /Smith) Approve Resolution 2011 -055 Mayor Dunham asked for a ruling on a conflict of interest because he leased his building to GCI. Council debated whether this issue was a policy issue or represented a conflict due to a direct business affiliation with one company. Motion (Smith /Bardarson) Declare an existing conflict of interest with Mayor Dunham and Resolution 2011 -055. Motion Failed Yes: Casagranda No: Valdatta, Shafer, Smith, Keil Keil reiterated what the current policy stated for poles south of Nash Road: NESC Heavy 40 miles per hour with half inch of ice; 70 miles per hour with half inch of ice at 30 degrees Fahrenheit; and 115 miles per hour with no ice. Utility Manager Foutz clarified that since 2007 those were the standards the Electric Department had been using; Oates suggested that those standards had been in place since before 2007 since they were in use when Oates started working for the city. Oates read the background and justification of this resolution. The attorney said what the city was doing was consistent with the current practices. The recommendation of the city's engineering firm was incorporated in this resolution and he recommended approval. Oates was in favor of fiber optic in Seward, but disagreed with some of what the GCI representatives had said; he said the city should proceed ahead with a great deal of care. Foutz said these standards recommended were based on safety and were considered minimum safety standards. Field Engineer Jeff Estes stated that four pounds per foot of wind plus half inch of ice had a safety factor of two. Our poles could take twice that much, but that was the absolute minimum standard according to NESC rules. Estes further explained that height, wind span and temperature all played into those calculations. Several council members questioned what the standards were in 2001 when the existing poles were installed, but no one could recall. Motion ( Casagranda) Postpone Resolution 2011 -055 to the July 11, 2011 meeting. Motion died for lack of second. Smith said the real issue was that the city needed to establish a pole policy. Main Motion Passed Unanimous OTHER NEW BUSINESS City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 617 Discussion on Council's Position on Redistricting (Seward Senate and House Redistricting Plan). It was noted with the new redistricting changes; Seward would be grouped with Nikiski and South Anchorage for senate and house districts. Smith thought it was ludicrous for Seward to be attached to South Anchorage. Keil didn't want to take any legal action and Shafer said she wouldn't mind writing a letter saying being in these new house and senate districts were not in Seward's best interest. Oates said this redistricting could compromise Seward's ability to be effective in the future. If a lawsuit came forward, the city should support it by an amicus brief, but not take legal action individually. Dunham said the city inquire what happened to Ketchikan or Kodiak, as that was where Seward was originally going to be grouped with. Direction was given for administration to send a letter to the redistricting board, stating the above concerns. Direction on City Manager Hiring Process By resolution this evening, Council accepted the Oates' resignation. Council directed the City Clerk to advertise for the open City Manager position for three weeks. They further directed the clerk to adjust the current job notice by removing the salary amount. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required) Resolution 2011 -003, A Resolution Of The Port And Commerce Advisory Board, To Recommend The City Of Seward Investigate Funding Opportunities Including Grants For Constructing And Installing The Slips Connected To Z Float In The Seward Harbor. COUNCILS' COMMENTS Councilmember Shafer wished everyone a Happy 4 of July. CITIZENS' COMMENTS Mary Hart stated that GCI was disappointed that the city had allowed the Electric Department to repudiate the binding agreement with GCI. They were especially disappointed with the Electric Department and administration's attempt to arrive at a mutual agreement. Despite set- backs, GCI would, under protest, submit permit paperwork tomorrow that comply with the standards passed in tonight's resolution. She said it was interesting and frustrating that despite the fact that the standards contained in the resolution did not actually require any change in GCI's downtown project this year, the ongoing legal dispute was being preserved by GCI for future action as yet undecided. Hart stated GCI expected and basically demanded that the city would process their permits immediately and the permits be granted by the end of this week. In order to expedite the process, Saw Hart stated she could produce the pole calculations this evening. To clarify what standards were used in the Jason Project in 2001, GCI built that to the NESC Heavy standards, which was what GCI's contract had stated since it went into effect in 1987. She challenged council to find any record of a City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 27, 2011 Volume 38, Page 618 contract modification with GCI since that time; she said it did not exist. Hart thanked council for ..,J their time and efforts. She reiterated that she needed to have the permits by the end of this week. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS — Keil said that council should get the GCI project done and honor their contract. Smith, Shafer, and Dunham agreed. Oates disagreed and said he believed the city had honored their contract. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:27 p.m. J i. hanna Kinney, CMC illard E. vo unham ity Clerk Mayor (City o,1 a aitr�►o r .• L •'* • O F 5E Ij •* &eig •� I . SEAL • ., * * q . , • •. •