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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07082024 City Council Minutes1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 504 CALL TO ORDER The July 8, 2024, regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Sue McClure. OPENING CEREMONY Deputy Police Chief Karl Schaefermeyer led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Sue McClure, presiding, and John Osenga Mike Calhoon Kevin Finch Randy Wells (Wells left the meeting at 9:41 p.m.) Robert Barnwell Julie Crites comprising a quorum of the Council; and Kat Sorensen, City Manager Jason Bickling, Deputy City Manager Kris Peck, City Clerk Jodi Kurtz, Deputy City Clerk Excused — None Absent — None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Bruce Jaffa, outside city limits, cautioned everyone to not let ego overtake wisdom. Jaffa referenced a scene from the film Patton. Lastly, Jaffa shared a quote from Alan Dershowitz about how all speech needed to be protected. Susie Urbach, inside city limits, said she appreciated that council was discussing the flooding issues in Forest Acres. Since the levee road was built, there had not been enough flood mitigation. She spoke in favor of the drainage trench that was detailed in the council packet. Mica Van Buskirk, inside city limits, spoke to the discussion on the FLAP grant. The council packet contained the three options to choose from. Van Buskirk thought Lowell Point Road was the highest priority. There was a lot of interest in long-term improvements to the road. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 505 APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Osenga/Calhoon) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the June 10, 2024, City Council Meeting Minutes Introduction of Ordinance 2024-010: Amending Seward City Code Title 3 Personnel Resolution 2024-036: Accepting a Grant from Alaska Homeland Security for Cybersecurity in the Amount of $40,000.00 and Appropriating Funds Resolution 2024-037: Approving Renaming the East Portion of the North/South Right -Of -Way Currently Known as Olympia Road to Phoenix Road Located Within the Gateway Subdivision Hilltop Addition and the Gateway Subdivision Addition No. 2 Resolution 2024-038: Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into an Agreement with Electric Power Systems Inc. in the Amount of $115,849.60 Plus a 10% Contingency for Upgrades at the Fort Raymond Substation SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards Seward High School 4 X 100m Relay Team State Champions was read by Council Member Calhoon and accepted by the team. Seward High School 100m Dash State Champion was read by Vice Mayor Osenga and accepted by Ronan Bickling Recognition of Mike Moore's Service to the City of Seward was read by Mayor McClure and accepted by Public Works Director Doug Schoessler City Manager Report City Manager Kat Sorensen thanked everyone for the safe and fun Fourth of the July Festival. She reported that the Mt. Marathon Race and the Fire Fighter Challenge were both very challenging. Sorensen provided updates on the grant stations that were now available on the Seward Community Library computers. Barnwell asked about the patron statistics at the library and questioned the high number of patrons per day. Sorensen said she would look into the library's software for counting patrons. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 506 Calhoon asked for an update on the Jesse Lee Home property. Deputy City Manager Jason Bickling responded that he hoped for development to be rolling by summer of 2025. City Clerk Report City Clerk Kris Peck provided an update on the clerk training that was recently completed in Tacoma, Washington. City Attorney Report City Attorney Sam Severin (telephonically) provided an update on the McDonald Trial. Severin expected a decision in mid -September and said the outcome looked to be favorable result for the city. Other Reports and Announcements Heat Loop Update Report was given by Bruce Jaffa. [Laydown provided] Chamber of Commerce Report from Executive Director Sam Allen. [Laydown provided] Council recessed the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Council resumed the meeting at 8:00 p.m. PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2024-039: Approving a Lease Assignment of Lease 2000-02 from the Estate of James T. Pruitt, Successor in Interest to James T. Pruitt (Lessee) to Harbor Gateway, Inc. an Alaska Domestic Corporation Motion (Osenga/Calhoon) Approve Resolution 2024-039 Harbormaster Tony Sieminski complimented the City Clerk on reading the resolution title. He said he was available for any questions. 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. McClure said the lease assignment was pretty straight forward. Motion Passed Unanimous City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 507 UNFINISHED BUSINESS Ordinances Ordinance 2024-009: Amending Seward City Code 15.10.226 — Land Uses Allowed Table, Prohibiting Cluster Subdivisions in all Zoning Districts [This ordinance had a public hearing on June 10, 2024, and was postponed until July 8, 2024] Motion (already on the floor) Enact Ordinance 2024-009 Wells said he appreciated the work that administration and P&Z had done on this topic, however he didn't think it was good to further limit possible housing. He did not see a valid reason why council should be opposed to cluster subdivisions. Not every household was going to need space for a boat and other additional toys out front. Finch also questioned an ordinance that was designed to limit housing options. He didn't want to limit housing sizes in Seward. The smaller lot sizes would better suit individuals who didn't want large families. City Planner Courtney Bringhurst explained the laydown that was distributed to council. The primary question that P&Z considered was how small the minimum lot size could be in Seward. She said the commissioners had received complaints from residents who lived in crowded areas. Calhoon asked about the definition of a cluster subdivision. He said the vast majority of cluster subdivisions were on flat land, in warm climates, and had no snow removal issues. Calhoon had heard many complaints about Dora Way being too crowded. He said Dora Way was essentially a cluster subdivision Osenga noted that he lived on Dora Way. Snow removal was a big problem. During the winter his driveway became a one -lane driveway due to the snow pile becoming so big. The other con was lack of access to his backyard. Barnwell recalled his time living in South America where there was no zoning or planning and it was chaos. He felt P&Z had carefully considered the issue and he didn't want to second guess it. Council further discussed Conditional Use Permits, Planned Use Developments, and lot sizes. Motion Passed 6-1 Yes: Crites, Calhoon, Finch, Osenga, Barnwell, McClure No: Wells 1 1 City of Seward, Alaska July 8, 2024 NEW BUSINESS Resolutions City Council Meeting Minutes Volume 42, Page 508 Resolution 2024-035: Authorizing the City Manager to Appropriate Funds for Increased Premium Costs of Property, Casualty, Workers' Compensation, and Other General Insurance Paid to the Alaska Municipal League Joint Insurance Association for the Period July 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 Motion (Osenga/Calhoon) Approve Resolution 2024-035 Sorensen introduced AMLJIA Deputy Director Brennan Hickok Hickok provided a brief history of the AMLJIA and how local municipalities pooled funds to obtain insurance coverage. The City of Seward was one of the founding members of the AMLJIA. He noted the rising costs in the past five years and the good safety culture in Seward. AMLJIA strived to provide the coverage that the City of Seward needed. Council had a back -and -forth discussion with Hickok about incentive programs, safety ratings, lower rates, and competing insurance companies. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Discuss Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) Grant Sorensen said the city was at the next step of the FLAP grant process and she invited Public Works Director Doug Schoessler to speak to the three options presented in the council packet. Schoessler summarized the three options that were detailed in the scoping report. He was hoping for guidance from council to select an option. Council had a back -and -forth discussion with Schoessler about Lowell Point Road and covered several points such as: city limits, utilities, paving, the new tunnel project, slope mitigation, cost of the projects, and the 10-year timeframe for the project. Calhoon asked about partnering with other agencies such as Department of Natural Resources and the Kenai Peninsula Borough to help extend the project beyond the city limits. He felt Option #1 was a reasonable way to proceed. Sorensen said choosing an option tonight would start the conversation for collaboration. Choosing Option #1 would accept the risk that if the project does not come to fruition in 10 years, the city would have to pay back the $2.5 million dollars. Council directed administration to proceed with Option #1. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 509 Discuss the Flooding of Properties South of Dieckgraeff Road and Proposed Solutions Community Development Director Danny Meuninck said that local resident Susie Urbach first brought this issue to his attention. The Planning & Zoning Commission then took on the issue in detail and felt it was important to send it on to council for further review. Meuninck introduced floodplain expert Nick Chapman to provide more information. Nick Chapman said his recommendation for flood mitigation was to dig the new drainage ditch. He estimated the project might cost $20 to $30 thousand dollars. Sorensen said the city would likely be going out for bids for the project. Schoessler said the area was very flat and described the complexities of the drainage problem. He recommended an engineering firm be involved. He wanted to be sure the ditch would flow beyond all the other neighborhoods. Council discussed the flooding of properties south of Dieckgraeff Road and directed administration to pursue an engineering report, review the drainage ditch concept, and collaborate with the Seward -Bear Creek Flood Service Area Board. Discuss Proposed Ordinance for Amending the Hours of Sale for Alcoholic Beverages Calhoon wanted to sponsor this ordinance to amend the hours of sale for alcoholic beverages to start at 8:00 a.m. instead of 10:00 a.m. He said the reasoning was to give establishments the option to start serving alcohol earlier in the day. There were a lot of visitors arriving in Seward in the early morning hours looking for a place to relax. Another reason was that football games start at 9:00 a.m. Calhoon thought it would be worthwhile to draft an ordinance. Sorensen clarified that according to Seward City Code, council would need to direct administration to draft and prepare this ordinance. It was not a reflection on how council might vote in the end, but rather a necessary step to move the process forward. Council directed administration to proceed with drafting and preparing an ordinance to amend the hours of sale for alcoholic beverages. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS June 6, 2024, Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes Other Items Upcoming City Council Meetings Work Session on Water and Sewer Rates on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. Regular Meeting on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. 1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes July 8, 2024 Volume 42, Page 510 CITIZEN COMMENTS Mica Van Buskirk, inside city limits, said that Lowell Point Road was the second most traveled road in this community and averaged 2,250 vehicles daily. The last 1,600 feet of the road project was within the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB). She felt the project was absolutely something the City of Seward and the KPB should partner on. Lowell Point Council would also like to help any way they could. Cindy Ecklund, inside city limits, spoke to the FLAP grant and the Lowell Point residents. She said tomorrow night was a KPB Assembly meeting. On the assembly agenda was a reconsideration of the bed tax proposition for the October ballot. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sorensen thanked council for the all discussion tonight and congratulated the Seward High School track team. Barnwell congratulated the track team. He was excited to see Lowell Point moving forward on the road project. Barnwell also thanked the Heat Loop Committee for the update. Crites thanked everyone and felt they accomplished a lot tonight. Wells echoed previous comments. He noted that he would be in Soldotna tomorrow for the KPB Assembly meeting. Finch congratulated the Seward High School sports teams. He hoped for improvements on Lowell Point Road. Finch felt it was important for the flooding at Dieckgraeff Road to be addressed. Calhoon congratulated the Seward athletes. He thanked Mike Moore for his years of service to the city and the ambulance corps. Calhoon provided a bit of history on the American Legion sponsoring a flag contest in 1927. He noted that tomorrow would mark the anniversary of the official design chosen for the Alaska state flag. Lastly, Calhoon noted that he survived Fourth of July and looked forward to Silver Salmon Derby. Osenga congratulated the Seward High School track team. He thanked Mike Moore and wished him a happy retirement. Osenga noted it was great Fourth of July Festival. He thanked everyone who made the event possible. McClure echoed previous comments. She noted it was a long night. EXECUTIVE SESSION Go into Executive Session to Receive Legal Advice from City Attorney and Provide Direction on Litigation Strategy Regarding Chugach Electric Rate Case Motion (McClure/Osenga) Go into Executive Session City of Seward, Alaska July 8, 2024 Motion Passed Unanimous City Council Meeting Minutes Volume 42, Page 511 Those invited to participate telephonically during the executive session were: City Attorney Sam Severin, City Attorney Kody George, and Hired Expert Larry Blank. Those invited to stay were: City Manager Kat Sorensen, Deputy City Manager Jason Bickling, and City Clerk Kris Peck Wells had to excuse himself and left the meeting at 9:41 p.m. Council recessed the meeting at 9:41 p.m. Council resumed the meeting at 9:46 p.m. Council went into executive session at 9:46 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 10:04 p.m. McClure noted that an executive session was held, and she was now ready to adjourn the meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:04 p.m. S4-11 me re - Kris Peck Sue McClure City Clerk Mayor (City Seal)