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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06132022 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42,Page 46 CALL TO ORDER The June 13, 2022 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m.by Mayor Christy Terry. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Alan Nickell led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Christy Terry presiding and Sue McClure John Osenga Liz DeMoss Ristine Casagranda Mike Calhoon Randy Wells comprising a quorum of the Council; and Stephen Sowell, City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Carol Griswold,inside the city, wished to address the introduction of Ordinance 2022-008; a change to the zoning code should be well advertised and discussed in a public work session, and should not be limited to three minutes of citizen comments. She was concerned about the impact of the changes proposed in this ordinance because she thought it would reduce space for on-site parking for vehicles, RVs, and boats, and would reduce yard sizes for children and pets to play in. She believed increasing density in the Auto Commercial(AC)and Central Business(CB)districts was not a solution to the city's housing shortage. She encouraged council to vote no on this ordinance. Sharyl Seese,inside the city,encouraged council to continue pursuing answers in relation to the forensic audit. Casie Warner, inside the city,commended Library Director Bailey Sayler for all the great programs she was bringing to the community. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA r••• Motion (McClure/Osenga) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42, Page 47 Terry moved the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) report to June 27, 2022. Terry moved the Executive Session to receive advice from the city attorney regarding the forensic audit to June 27, 2022. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Ordinance 2022-008, Amending Seward City Code 15.10.222 Development Requirements — Table Notes,Letter E To Allow More Density In The Auto Commercial And Central Business Zoning Districts. This ordinance was introduced tonight and will come for public hearing and enactment on June 27, 2022. Resolution 2022-075,Authorizing The City Manager To Appropriate Additional Funding In The Amount Of$300,000 From Electric Reserves To The Contract With AK Tree Service, LLC To Complete Transmission Right-Of-Way Clearing On Nash Road And To Remove "Danger" Trees Along Targeted Sections Of The Seward Highway. Resolution 2022-076, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Contract With Logic Geophysics & Analytics LLC For Ground Penetrating Radar Services In The Amount Of $22,291, Plus A 10% Contingency Of$2,229, For A Total Amount Not To Exceed $24,520. Proclamations and Awards Recognizing the Life Saving Efforts of Alan & Tammy Nickell and Asa "AJ" Turner Congratulating the Seward High School Wrestling Team for their accomplishments at the Alaska State Wrestling Tournament City Manager Report.Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell expressed his appreciation to everyone who worked on and helped with the Lowell Point Road landslide emergency.Although the road was open, the city would continue to work with FEMA and the state to evaluate the situation. Metco Alaska and Advanced Blasting were two of the businesses that had stepped in and responded to the city's call for help,and he was very appreciative of that. He also thanked the public for their patience. Sowell asked for an update from IT on the forensic audit. Terry briefly interrupted the report to recognize Scott Beach for his life saving actions during the May 30, 2022 highway accident. Information Technology Director Dustin Phillips stated he had been working with the financial software vendor,Harris,as well as the forensic audit firm,Greene,on trying to recover the missing utility data. Phillips reported that once the data was determined to be missing, he worked with Harris to determine if the data had been exported prior to being purged from the system, and City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13,2022 Volume 42,Page 48 where the data might have been saved. He said it was determined that the data would have been saved locally to one or more hard drives on city computers; in response, Phillips examined every computer he could find that might possibly contain the data and had been unable to find the data,but had been unsuccessful.Subsequently,the forensic auditors requested data for the period immediately following the missing data time period; Phillips had been able to export data from April, 2019 through the end of June,2021 and provided it to Greene. Phillips continued that,originally,Harris believed that a data purge would have been logged in the system;but they actually discovered that the user information for the purge had not been logged into the system. In response to Terry's inquiry about campground hiring, Sowell said the new Parks & Recreation Director would start in a couple of weeks, and an offer had been made today for the gardener position. The city manager had authorized overtime, and several employees from other departments had been pitching in to help; Sowell was also taking over some of the director's responsibilities temporarily to help out. Terry asked if there was an opportunity to take a look at having campground hosts again. In response, Sowell said the city hadn't stopped having the campground host program; historically, there were three or four hosts that returned year over year, but since COVID, those hosts had not returned.Sowell said campground hosts received a stipend,but it was essentially a non-paid position and they were required to have availability throughout the day. DeMoss was happy about the new hires, but was concerned that the summer was already underway; she wondered if anyone could step in and get some flowers planted sooner rather than later. DeMoss said the street painting looked really good,and the potholes in the alleys looked bad. In response,Sowell said public works would be addressing potholes in alleyways tomorrow;there were drainage issues that needed to be tackled for a longer term solution. DeMoss said,regarding the utility billing mistakes,she understood that a lot of the customers who had been overcharged had been reimbursed.Now,she said,people were wondering how the city was going to deal with customers who had been undercharged. In response, Electric Utility Manager Rob Montgomery said customers who would be moving from Large General Service to Small General Service would be transitioning over the next few weeks. In addition,there were 11 customers who would be moving from Small to Large,each of whom Montgomery said he had met with or spoken with directly. This could be a substantial change for some of them,which they had not had the opportunity to budget for in advance, so Montgomery said he would implement those changes in September. Terry reminded the public that current council packets were posted on the home page of the city's website, and the city manager report was always included in the packet. City Attorney Report. City Attorney Sam Severin (telephonically) said the firm had assisted with the Seward Public Employees Association(SPEA)contract,had worked on a fire code compliance issue, and had provided input on the short term rental discussion. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42, Page 49 PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2022-074,Amending The Port& Harbor Tariff Regulations To Increase The Wait List Fee,Labor And Personnel Charges,Boat Tow Fees,Travelift Fees And Wharf Demurrage Rates Effective January 1,2023. Motion (McClure/Wells) Approve Resolution 2022-074 Harbormaster Norm Regis stated he had worked with the Port & Commerce Advisory Board(PACAB)on the tariff;although some fees,like moorage rates,were adjusted annually,some of these other rates had not been adjusted since 2007. Regis said the inflation rate was 26.85%,and he had compared Seward's rates against Cordova, Valdez, and Homer, Alaska, as well as Port Townsend, Washington. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared and the public hearing was closed. Terry wondered about the impact of recent fuel cost increases,and whether the rates proposed in this resolution were adequate to cover those increases. Regis hoped fuel prices would go down, but thought the increases being proposed were adequate at this moment;he would be mindful of fuel prices and bring back a mid-cycle budget amendment, if necessary. Terry followed up to ask if the Consumer Price Index(CPI)rates should be tied to these rates, or remain static with regular reviews. Regis said PACAB had posed a similar question, and after some discussion on the pros and cons of both approaches,determined it was wise to revisit every five years or so. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2022-031,Authorizing The Sale Of Parcel#14502419 Containing 25.395 Acres To The State Of Alaska Department Of Transportation And Public Facilities For The Improvement Project NO. Z548570000 In Improving The Seward Airport For The Fair Market Value (FMV) That Has Been Determined To Be $2,000. This resolution had public hearings and was postponed on March 14, March 29, and April 25, 2022, and is coming back tonight for a fourth public hearing and approval. The original motion was made by McClure and seconded by Casagranda. Sowell stated the city manager's recommendation at this time was to fail this resolution. There had been an outcry of public opinion opposing this resolution over the sale price; administration was exploring alternatives, like the possibility of trading this property with the property on which the state has their streets shop. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42, Page 50 Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. Shauna Potocky,inside the city,stated she had sent council an email with an alternate idea to the sale of the property; she suggested a land exchange with a conservation easement. She believed a land exchange would be a great option and would be beneficial to the city and the community on the whole. She thought it was important to protect wetlands for environmental conservation purposes. Carol Griswold, inside the city, said it was good news that the city manager requested council fail this resolution.In her review of the information in the packet,she found the information to be very confusing and choppy,which made it difficult to follow. She suggested that the current perpetual easement be updated to return the easement to the public when the north runway was abandoned.The property's appraised value was about one year old,and property values had changed dramatically since then.Griswold requested that council either postpone or fail this resolution so that documentation could be updated and clarified. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed. Terry reiterated that she appreciated the state trying to respond to council's questions,but the answers were very difficult to follow due to a confusing formatting. She also wished to have an updated appraisal. Sowell said the city could conduct an appraisal,but the state reported they would not be updating the appraisal. Wells said he spoke to a representative from the Alaska Department of Transportation(DOT) today who stated the state would not be starting the project for the foreseeable future due to ongoing negotiations with other adjacent property owners. Wells said there was no guarantee that the state would ever do the project. Terry stated the airport runways needed to be repaired and this resolution,in no way,should impact the state's responsibility to maintain the runways. Motion Failed Unanimous Resolution 2022-069,Approving The Lease For The Land Use Agreement Of Parcel#14403082 Located At 2617 Maple Street With Seward Wilderness Collective In Support Of Pilot Project: Seward Compost, And Authorizing The City Manager To Reduce Lease Payment Requirements For The Seward Wilderness Collective;Seward Compost.This resolution had a public hearing and was postponed on May 23, 2022 and is coming back tonight for a second public hearing and approval. The original motion was made by McClure and seconded by Casagranda. Sowell stated there was new documentation in the packet wherein the term of the lease had City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42,Page 51 been reduced from ten years to two,with options to extend. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. Sarah Tougas, inside the city, lived in Forest Acres and had small children. She regularly had brown bears and black bears in her yard, and sometimes coyotes visited. She had spoken with Fish & Game who told her compost sites were attractive to bears, even if the compost was in containers. She asked if Alaska Waste could be contacted as an alternative site,or the University of Alaska(UA)which owned 110 acres adjacent to the landfill. She also suggested the program start with commercial users initially,and expand in the future to include residential use. Perhaps a drop site at Mariners Memorial where wildlife virtually never visited could be considered.She wished the city would require a wildlife mitigation plan from the business.She opposed the location and the five gallon bucket idea,but not the project itself. Carrie Lunardi, inside the city, lived in the Forest Acres neighborhood and had small children. She thought the landfill nearby was a natural bear attractant,and having a compost site in the neighborhood would result in even more wildlife. She didn't think the process for this lease had been transparent and was not aware that the community had been engaged to provide input. She wondered what education program would be available for users of the compost site. Carol Griswold,inside the city,was concerned about the compost project,even though she did not live in Forest Acres. She thought bear proof containers should be required,or else animals and birds could get in. She wondered how many people a compost pile of this size could serve,and thought the landfill was the most appropriate location for this project. She thought the lease reduction was good,but believed the lease should be renewed on an annual basis.She wondered how the compost would be handled when it was frozen throughout the winter months, and how many restaurants would be willing to pay for pick up service. She thought this was a great project,but the wrong location. Trent Gould,inside the city,represented the Seward Wilderness Collective.Gould said the borough had been contacted about using space at the landfill,but the borough was not interested in leasing any land for this project.He said they took wildlife concerns very seriously. Several Alaskan communities had composting projects underway that were successful.Gould said food security was a major concern for Sewardites; the land here did not support farming. Lori Landstrom,outside the city,was the chair of Sustainable Seward and fully supported this resolution. Good soil in Seward was hard to come by; soil had to be brought in or created through composting. She was disappointed that the borough was not interested in leasing property. She encouraged everyone to look at in-vessel systems, which would mitigate wildlife concerns. Landstrom often had bears visit her neighborhood at Bear Lake, but had never had an issue with bears getting into her compost;the bears had sniffed at her compost,but had never gotten into it.She encouraged council to approve this resolution and give the project a try. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42,Page 52 Casie Warner,inside the city,lived in Forest Acres and supported this project in the location being proposed. She didn't believe the project would increase any risk to her home or her children. Jarad Groom, inside the city, said there were children everywhere. Besides the wildlife concerns,what bothered him the most was that the community had been unaware of this project;the community should have been notified.He thought the city was shoving this project through with late night meetings, and was upset that the neighborhood had not been notified. Bethane Groom, inside the city, lived in Forest Acres and had small children. She did not believe enough research on the potential wildlife impact had been conducted to indicate this was a safe project to have inside the neighborhood. She contacted Alaska Waste in Anchorage about their compost location and they had told her the site had attracted additional wildlife. Steve Lemme,inside the city,did not support this resolution because of the location.He fully supported the project, but not the location being proposed. He said bears could smell odors 2,000 times more than humans;he was sure the odors would attract bears,even if humans could not smell anything. He wondered where the sites were located in other communities; were they in neighborhoods or in remote areas. He thought one restaurant or food truck would easily fill a five gallon bucket every day,and wondered how long one bucket would take to decompose as compost. He wished the location could be moved to an out of town area, away from neighborhoods. Susie Urbach,inside the city, lived in Forest Acres and supported the project,but thought the proposed location was not good. She recalled the wildlife activity at the landfill back when they garbage used to be buried there. She wished a new more appropriate site could be found. Becky Dunn, inside the city, suggested that someone from the city should contact the borough to see what the reasons were for turning down having the compost located at the landfill. She was concerned that food items being composted in the neighborhood would be attractive to wildlife, and wondered how the site would be secured. Analeise Kupfrian, inside the city, just moved to Forest Acres. She fully supported composting, but didn't think it was appropriate to locate it inside of a residential neighborhood. Steve Severin, inside the city, lived in Forest Acres, and was aware of bear activity throughout the neighborhood. There were lots of children in the neighborhood. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed. Calhoon wondered why the lease indicated the property would be signed as a food bank;he didn't understand why that would be the case. He said Claire Marshalek from the DOT stated in an email that she had spoken to several council members, and he asked council to share those conversations with the group. He thought it might be wise to talk to the borough directly,perhaps someone beyond the solid waste director. He was hearing clearly from the citizens that they supported the project,but not the location. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42, Page 53 Casagranda said she had spoken with Claire Marshalek and was concerned about the proposed location. She would support the idea of the city reaching out to the borough about the location. Wells had spoken with Claire Marshalek and wondered where the business plan was for the project. Wells said buckets would have to be held inside buildings until pick-ups were scheduled or else birds and animals would get into it. Wells encouraged the compost group to work with Kelly Ann Cavaretta at the Small Business Development Center to create a business plan. McClure had been contacted by Claire Marshalek and had discussed the location. She supported the project, and believed the borough could provide land, or else the university. She did not support the current neighborhood location. She was concerned about the number of people who spoke up about not being aware of this project. Terry encouraged that people sign up for the city clerk's email list by sending a request to clerk@cityofseward.net. She said there was a weekly email that was sent out, and the information was also published in the newspaper. Casagranda requested a letter of support be sent from administration to both the borough and the university to locate the composting site nearer to the existing landfill. There was unanimous consent from council. Motion Failed Yes: DeMoss No: Calhoon,Casagranda,Wells,McClure, Osenga, Terry INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Follow up information for Happy Youth Programs&Educational Resources (HYPER)Financials for the period ending March 31, 2022. CITIZEN COMMENTS —None COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sowell said he would dedicate his attention to providing the community with more and better communications. Wells appreciated all the emails and input from the public. Calhoon appreciated all the public involvement on everything. He thanked Alan and Tammy Nickell, Scott Beach, and Asa Turner for their life saving efforts. He thanked the Electric Department for responding to a recent electric issue. He was excited to see the construction City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes June 13, 2022 Volume 42, Page 54 happening at the new animal shelter.Tomorrow was Flag Day,and there would be a flag retirement ceremony at the American Legion. Casagranda thanked everyone who attended the meeting tonight. Osenga was grateful for first responders. He congratulated the wrestling team. McClure congratulated the wrestling team. She announced that there would be a cemetery tour on June 21,2022 at 10:30 p.m. On the same day,her mother would celebrate her 92nd birthday; her mother had been born in Seward. She encouraged everyone to be careful on the roads because there were a lot of visitors in town. Terry said the Seward airport was critical to the safety and security of the community; she wanted the state to handle the project correctly. On June 20, 2022 would be Juneteenth which celebrated the last day of slavery following the civil war. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m. //,./ renda Ballou, Christy Terry City Clerk Mayor (City Seal) ,��+u+IIgtI� Ss•�,�.1 OF Seel.., to, NZ#'• GO - • : SE AL • • OF ALP',',