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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11092015 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39, Page 544 CALL TO ORDER The November 9, 2015 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 Dave Squires Dale Butts Sue McClure Deborah Altermatt comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jim Hunt, City Manager Eric Wohlforth, City Attorney Johanna Kinney, City Clerk Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Christy Terry stated she was applying for the vacant Port and Commerce Advisory Board (PACAB) seat and referred to her application in the packet. PACAB was appointed to develop energy and commerce throughout the city, and not just the harbor. She was very interested in working with the board. She listed some of PACAB's recent tasks and noted she was passionate about those things. Tim McDonald spoke about the crane issue and the more he thought about it, they were flailing the issue to death with how to fund it.But they held the syncrolift hostage across the bay by giving it to big industry.The city had zero revenue on this industry and the city lost money each year at the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC). The depreciation alone would pay for the crane in the harbor. It was suspect and made the other enterprise funds suspect. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 545 Responding to Suzi Towsley's written request to be removed for consideration of the PACAB seat, Keil requested her name be removed from the agenda item for appointment and requested the appointment of Christy Terry to PACAB be placed on the consent agenda. Casagranda requested the following item be placed under Other New Business Items: Discussion on funding a five-ton crane. Under Special Orders, Presentations and Reports, Bardarson removed the following item from the agenda: Seward Marine Terminal Expansion Plan Project Presentation. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Appoint Christy Terry to fill the vacant Port and Commerce Advisory Board seat,with a term expiring July,2016. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations &Awards Recognition of Christeffal Terry and Iris Darling for their service on the Seward City Council. Recognition of Deborah Altermatt for her service on the Port and Commerce Advisory Board. Certificate of Appreciation for Seward Music &Arts Festival Organizers. Certificate of Appreciation for 2015 Alaska Fire Conference Organizers. City Manager's Report. Jim Hunt stated in addition to his written report, he met with Cindy Clock at the Chamber of Commerce and the Mount Marathon Race Board to discuss increasing health and safety on race day.He agreed that aside from service animals,dogs would not be allowed during the race period next year for safety purposes. In response to Keil,Hunt stated crews had been working on the downtown decorative lights and would continue to work on them as time permitted.There were two underground jobs that were prioritized before the lights because they had to get done before the ground froze. In response to McClure,Electric Utility Manager John Foutz anticipated his crews to start hanging Christmas lights the week after Thanksgiving.He also answered that the Harbor Department was working on installing meters to put electric in the harbor,which had to happen first before any digging commenced.Harbormaster Norm Regis added that the posts were in,but additional parts were still three weeks out. If the ground froze in that time,they'd have to wait until spring. Squires asked for more information on the Kenai Peninsula Borough's Marijuana Task Force. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 546 Assistant City Manager Ron Long stated the committee had been considering commenting on proposed state regulations which were very technical, reviewing bookkeeping comments to stay aligned with current statutes, and considering local control recommendations. They'd been discussing a conditional use permit process for various marijuana uses, which very few were currently issued on the borough level. Casagranda hoped the holiday lights could be up by the day after Thanksgiving as it would help small businesses and winter revenues on the biggest shopping day of the year. Foutz said they would be trying to get that accomplished but had bigger jobs they had to work on before the ground froze. In response to Casagranda, Hunt stated two positions were open in finance: the newly reinstated Deputy Finance Director position, and the Human Resources position. City Attorney's Report. Eric Wohlforth introduced Jeanie Sleeper from Jermain, Dunnagan&Owens and noted his associate Nate Parr was with him tonight as well.He worked with manager's office on lien rights,advised administration on finalizing a Department of Environmental Conservation compliance order concerning Spring Creek,and advised the clerk on issues related to public records and litigation disclosures. Will Earnhart advised Wohlforth that litigation was proceeding and hopefully heading toward early resolution on the Orion Marine legal issue. Other Reports,Announcements and Presentations Presentation by the Seward Community Foundation. PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions 2015-092 through 102,Adopting The 2016 And 2017 Biennial Budget For The City General Fund,Small Boat Harbor Enterprise Fund,Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC) Enterprise Fund,Parking Enterprise Fund,Electric Enterprise Fund,Water Enterprise Fund, Wastewater Enterprise Fund,Hospital Enterprise Fund,Seward Mountain Haven Enterprise Fund,Motor Pool Internal Service Fund,Adopting The 2016/2017 Capital Improvement Plan, And Setting The Mill Rate. (Clerk's Note: these resolutions are for a public hearing only at this point in the meeting. They will be up for approval under New Business.) Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. Tim McDonald asked for clarification on page 138 of the agenda packet regarding the SMIC revenue fund and its depreciation. He asked what the revenue line was for the syncrolift with respect to amortization. No one else appeared to address the Council and the public hearing was closed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None • City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39, Page 547 NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2015-092, Adopting The City GENERAL FUND Biennial Operating Budget For Calendar Year 2016 And 2017 And Setting The Mill Rate. Motion (Casagranda/McClure) Approve Resolution 2015-092 Long said before them was the cumulative effort of several work sessions and many questions from the council and public. This was the same resolution before them from the last council meeting. This was the council's opportunity to make changes. Long said the mill rate was proposed to stay the same. In response to questions, Long stated a half a mill rate in property tax would be about$40,000 a year. Motion to Amend (Casagranda/Squires) Amend Resolution 2015-092, allocating 90% of the fish tax to the General Fund and the remaining 10% to the Harbor Enterprise Fund, and to make up for the 10% deficit, reduce the Parks and Recreation budget by that amount. Butts clarified that this amendment proposed reducing the raw fish tax income to the general fund and reducing the Parks and Recreation Operating Budget by the same amount. Council recessed at 7:52 p.m. Council resumed at 8:00 p.m. After discussion, Casagranda and Squires withdrew the motion. Motion to Postpone(Casagranda/) Postpone Resolution 2015-092 to the next regular meeting. This motion died for lack of second. Keil said they spent a lot of time getting to a balanced budget,cutting$1.3 million out.There was a lot of time and effort spent and she was going to support this. McClure said she had put in 12 hours of work sessions with this budget. Changes could be made along the way and they were not locked into this as the budget was fluid.It was balanced and she would support it. Butts supported this and applauded Casagranda's efforts,too.This was a tough budget and it was hard to cut so much. Altermatt reiterated they had spent a lot of time on this. She was sad the fish tax was going into the General Fund. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 548 Casagranda spent a lot of time on this as well, and thanked administration for their hard work. She didn't support this budget mostly because the$1.3 million deficit was replenishing their reserves. Long clarified the purchase of the lift was a loan from city funds and not from reserves. Long summarized what encompassed the deficits the city faced, but repeated that the Travelift purchase was not part of the deficit. Keil said they had large health increases and the employees took a hit by not getting a cost of living increase. Main Motion Passed Yes: Keil, Butts, Altermatt, McClure, Squires,Bardarson No: Casagranda Resolution 2015-093, Adopting The SMALL BOAT HARBOR ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/Altermatt) Approve Resolution 2015-093 Long said these were easier funds to balance. This was a status quo budget from last year. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-094, Adopting The SMIC ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-094 Long said they anticipated a little bit more growth in this budget over the next few years. Casagranda did not support the SMIC budget as proposed. Motion Passed Yes: Butts, Squires, McClure, Altermatt, Keil,Bardarson No: Casagranda Resolution 2015-095, Adopting The PARKING ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-095 Keil asked why they weren't seeing savings in personnel when they had the paid parking stations. Long said it allowed for better utilization of personnel on other aspects of the department for improvement. Motion Passed Unanimous City of Seward,Alaska Ciy Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 549 Resolution 2015-096, Adopting The ELECTRIC ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Casagranda/Squires) Approve Resolution 2015-096 Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-097, Adopting The WATER ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-097 Long said this budget proposed a rate increase beyond the Consumer Price Index(CPI)for 2016,but not for 2017. The proposed additional increase was 2.7%. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-098, Adopting The WASTEWATER ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Casagranda/Keil) Approve Resolution 2015-098 Long said this included the proposed additional increase beyond the CPI for both years— 4.3%in 2016 and 4.4%in 2017. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-099,Adopting The HOSPITAL ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/McClure) Approve Resolution 2015-099 Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-100, Adopting The SEWARD MOUNTAIN HAVEN ENTERPRISE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/McClure) Approve Resolution 2015-100 Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-101, Adopting The MOTOR POOL INTERNAL SERVICE FUND Biennial Budget For Calendar Years 2016 And 2017. Motion (Keil/McClure) Approve Resolution 2015-101 City ofSeward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 550 Keil told the public they had forgone giving contributions from the General Fund this budget cycle.No new cars were proposed for this budget. 'Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-102, Adopting The 2016/2017 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-102 Long said this resolution memorialized important projects of the city. Casagranda asked if the benches and signs should go on this list,Long said they were better off dealing by resolution and likely would be used by cruise ship tax monies.The benches would be ready by spring. Casagranda asked if the Jessee Lee Home had to have abatement done on the building,and if they didn't have it done, should council have on this list to demolish the building? Long said the deadline was still out in front of the council,and he didn't recommend it be a city project or a capital project until if and when that happened. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-103,Approving The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2016 City Legislative Priorities. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-103 Long said this list set down all of the city's important projects,but did not define proposed funding sources such as the state and federal priorities listed. Butts noted they had a great work session on these priorities two weeks ago. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-104,Establishing The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2016 State Legislative Priorities. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-104 Long said this was the request to the state,which was having a tough time financially.This list was scaled back from previous years and the order had changed,putting beneficial legislation first and then capital projects second. Motion to Amend (Bardarson/Casagranda) Amend Resolution 2015-104,adding a new item G under section 2, Capital Projects: City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39, Page 551 "$600,000 (25%) towards the non-Federal 50% cost share of the US Army Corps of Engineers study required to address the Lowell Canyon Diversion Tunnel hazard." Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Motion to Amend (Casagranda/Squires) Amend Resolution 2015-104,putting item E of section 1, Beneficial Legislation as item A and renumber accordingly, and putting new item G of section 2,Capital Projects as item A and renumber accordingly. McClure asked if the order mattered.Long said there may be some merit,but nothing in the resolution says the order is listed in priority. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-105, Establishing The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2016 Federal Legislative Priorities. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-105 Motion to Amend (Bardarson/Casagranda) Amend Resolution 2015-105 by adding a new item 10 to section A, Appropriations and Grants: "$2.25 million for Seward Community Roads for paving, repaving road surfaces and improve roadway drainage systems." Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Motion to Amend (Casagranda/) Amend Resolution 2015-105 by reversing items 1 and 2 under section B, Authorizations and Beneficial Legislation. This motion died for lack of second. Main Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-106, Approving Amendment No. 25 To The Contract With Kent Dawson Company, Inc. For State Lobbying Services Through December 31, 2017 For A Total Of $91,992.00 Annually Including$12,000 From The Seward Association For The Advancement Of Marine Science For Lobbying On Behalf Of Its Lease And Operation Of The Alaska SeaLife Center. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9,2015 Volume 39,Page 552 Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-106 Long said this was exactly.the same as the last two year contract. He said a strong defense would be good to have when lobbying to the state. He noted the Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine Science(SAAMS)could only commit to the first year of funding with this contract, so if ended up that SAAMS couldn't contribute in 2017,this would need to come back to council for amendment. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-107, Approving Amendment No. 17 To The Contract With Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh,A Professional Corporation,For Federal Lobbying Services Through December 31,2017 For A Total Of$92,000.00 Annually. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approve Resolution 2015-107 Hunt said this was a contract continuation with no increase over a two year period. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items Cancel November 23,2015 City Council Meeting. Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Cancel November 23, 2015 City Council Meeting. Motion Passed Unanimous Consent Select committee to review and score Request For Proposals(RFP)for Legal Services.Council made the following selections: Mayor Bardarson would help staff with any preliminary proposal verification on November 24,2015 after the RFPs were due.Council scheduled a special meeting on December 3, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. to review and score the proposals as a whole. Discuss funding a five ton crane. Casagranda said borrowing the money from reserves could be an option,but wanted council to give some sort of long term direction. Squires could support the idea of funding, but didn't like the idea of borrowing from reserves. He would like to see the crane be put in the motor pool fund.Long didn't know why it couldn't be put in motor pool,but would have to confirm it was possible. Keil said there still needed to be a mechanism to pay the funds back; Casagranda thought some revenue could come from the crane use revenues. Squires couldn't support just the motor pool borrowing concept;he wanted to consider more options.He wanted exploration of other possibilities first. Butts added the crane would incur maintenance costs as well. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39,Page 553 Alterman said PACAB did some work on this topic.The preliminary report on the crane did include some funding information, Regis said. Long said whatever revenue they get would support the maintenance and recertifications of the crane, but didn't think it could support the purchase. Casagranda didn't want to see the momentum on this issue drop,and just wanted a recommendation on what the next step should be.It was mentioned that the study did not entail what costs would be associated to engineer the installation on the I-dock. Butts said administration could come back with a proposal for a loan over a ten year period, determining what it would cost them for the total project.Hunt said he was hesitant to find revenue within existing funds. Alterman said they hadn't seen any bottom line figures on this yet, so it was hard to really know how much they need.It made her leery to put something in they would have to pay back based on user fees and in hopes of people coming to the harbor when the state was having so many problems economically. She liked the motor pool fund loan idea,Keil said it would deplete it by one third in doing that and restated there was no loan repayment mechanism. Bardarson said they could raise moorage.Long felt it was raising rates or cutting programs or both. It was a council decision. Alterman added they were raised each year based on the CPI. Bardarson agreed,but noted it was to keep up with rising costs. McClure agreed the issue was paying the funding back.Right now,everyone was paying for this budget to be balanced.There needed to be some creative way and perhaps administration could come up with some options to consider. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None COUNCIL COMMENTS Keil thanked everyone for their diligent work on the budget.It was an interesting process this year. She noted Representative Chenault wanted to do apublic recognition for Urbach's 100 Year Anniversary. Squires thanked the public for attending the two work sessions tonight and thanked council, administration,and the public for their input on the budget.It wasn't all what they liked to have,but it was something he felt they would learn to live with. McClure thanked everyone for coming tonight. This was one of the fuller rooms she had seen in six years. She appreciated the passion about the crane and thought they could fmd some way to fund it. She would have not understood how difficult the funding could be had she not sat through the budget work sessions this year.The city was doing well relatively speaking,considering the state of the state and federal governments.Most people said to her they needed a crane and she would try to come up with something creative, too. Senator Micciche would be in Seward for an upcoming chamber luncheon. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9,2015 Volume 39,Page 554 Casagranda thanked everyone for their work on the budget. She thanked PACAB for the work they'd done since 2003 trying to get this crane and hoped it would be a success. She invited anyone with creative funding ideas for a crane to contact her. She hoped everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Butts thanked the public for attending tonight. He congratulated and thanked Christy Terry and Iris Darling for their service on the City Council. He hoped to give the clerk direction to add to the December 14, 2015 agenda a presentation by Andy Mezirow who was servng on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Butts wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and Veterans Day. Altermatt thanked everyone for coming to the meeting tonight.She thanked Bob Linville for his hard work on the crane. She also thanked Christy Terry for signing up for PACAB;that board would benefit a lot from her. She wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Hunt thanked Terry for volunteering on PACAB and for her efforts on the City Council.He reminded everyone of the upcoming Library/Museum open house.The American Legion's Toys for Tots auction was this next weekend,too. Long thanked everyone for showing up and board and commission members,past,present, and future for their service.He had a table at the annual Boys and Girls Club auction on November 14, 2015 in Kenai in case anyone wanted to attend. He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. CITIZEN COMMENTS Bob Linville said council put a lot of time and effort in to their service.He was hoping to get more support on the crane tonight and said there needed to be an end result in sight.Linville thanked certain community members for attending the work session tonight and hoped council would read his document. The fishermen were largely gone and that was a lot of revenue the city was missing. Seward was close to Anchorage, Prince William Sound, and many fishing grounds and it was a beautiful place to work in but they just weren't quite there. He stated the answer was a fish tax. Tim McDonald echoed Linville's comments.He thought it was a good suggestion to borrow from the motor pool fund or consider some of the fish tax being allocated back to the harbor. He commended those council members for their initiative. McDonald stated the budget resolutions should have been individual public hearings and not lumped together into one.He went on to say the revenue form the syncrolift was zero according to the budget, and the depreciation of it was a considerable figure.McDonald stated he did not have any confidence in the budget process until the lack of representation of those outside city limits was improved. SMIC was a large structural deficiency. Brooke Andrews touched on Charles McEldowney's comments at an earlier meeting that he'd been asked to use his crane less than a dozen times. Many fishermen put cranes on their own boats, and those people were approached for assistance. Icicle's crane was not for public use and shouldn't be depended on to be one. She stated Rhonda Hubbard suggested a task force and noted often things got lost in translation and confusion. A task force could help,Andrews felt. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes November 9, 2015 Volume 39, Page 555 Mike Ritz said there were about 6,000 vessels fishing in Alaskan waters of 100 feet or less, and less than ten percent of those fishermen were taking care of repair and preservation.As the larger industries came in to the state,the harder it became for smaller commercial fishing fleets to survive. As his company,Alaska Marine Coatings,grew they were making purchases locally and bringing in people to stay and eat and spend in this town. With the new 330 ton lift and the expansion in the shipyard,things were growing.Anything they could do as a community would be helpful for smaller businesses to succeed and more people to come to Seward.The city needed to reach out and show a different way of how they could be employable. Rhonda Hubbard said this crane boiled down to priorities. This was a priority for many people,and she was sorry council had not gotten this message.As a member of the community,she didn't need to be thanked or be told a study should be done, the community needed a crane. She restated her idea of a task force comprised of council members,PACAB members,and fishermen to work with administration to find a solution. Council should be considering some of the ideas discussed such as increasing transient moorage, increasing wharfage or the fuel tax, or using any excess sales tax revenues. Jim Hubbard said he'd been talking to the council for years on his ideas with the harbor, such as maintaining wood docks instead of concrete.He had a hard time believing a crane could be half a million dollars. 68 million pounds of fish crossed the docks in 2014, and he was fearful of what would happen if that number would be less this year or next year. The harbor staff was good, but they could only do so much with what they had.He stated the Parks and Recreation and Motor Pool budgets were fat. Norm Regis updated the council on the electric at SMIC. They were working with the contractor on getting the meters implemented to help speed up the process so the Electric Department could install service. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS In response to Regis' comments,Casagranda said maybe that meant the Electric Department could get the Christmas lights hung on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Butts said the Angel Tree Program was starting up soon and to please participate or volunteer. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 p.m. ( 6096244,7,1 Joy anna Wy, CMC Jean Bardarson , ; : ty Clerk °. -� 6;0 Mayor o (City Seal) c SEAL � cs r SEL e • • i n w / P.'4°°°@o�®�°4 0 �v°C�4',4q., P O F Fla �+h4 b®066Bap9f9�A`�9q�