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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07272015 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 575 CALL TO ORDER The July 27, 2015 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Jean Bardarson. OPENING CEREMONY Lieutenant Doreen Valadez led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Jean Bardarson presiding and Marianna Keil Ristine Casagranda Christy Terry David Squires Iris Darling Dale Butts comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jim Hunt, City Manager Johanna Kinney, City Clerk Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Paul Paquette said the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon needed to be upgraded. He said that in the process of getting the lagoon back online, it still didn't appear to be working properly and felt there was a lack of concern and knowledge to reactivate the lagoon. The whole lagoon should be getting treated daily and the aerators didn't appear to be working. Paquette hoped the city would find a new location for the sewage lagoon. Susan Lang of Lowell Point and manager of Silver Salmon Derby Campground and RV Park, said she'd been before council many times in the last few years and wished she was standing before the council tonight,thanking them. Unfortunately,there were odors again emerging from the lagoon. It was not working,and she was told by Public Works to be patient for another two weeks. Lang was assured the odor would go away but she was disappointed in saying the odor was as bad as last summer. Orson Smith,city representative for the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens'Advisory Council (PWSRCAC), reported to council for the first time. He stated the PWSRCAC was a nonprofit corporation established after the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill to promote environmentally safe operations of the oil business. The council consisted of 18 members and five technical committees who were operated by council members and other volunteers. They had various projects that directly involved Seward and its industries,which he intended to report on at a later time. The City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 576 advisory council had 18 staff members in Anchorage and Valdez. The fiscal year began in July and their budget was over$4 million. Jim Fredrickson thanked the council for their service. He had comments on the beautification notices he had received on an alleged violation of overgrown vegetation. Fredrickson showed council a picture of the property of weeds in a three feet long ditch dug by the city to improve drainage without any notice given to him. He used to mow all along this area but couldn't anymore due to the ditch. Fredrickson asked whose responsibility was it to maintain this area and felt the city was in violation of a nuisance in having such as a deep ditch off the street. He was still waiting for the city to finish their ditch project. Fredrickson received one letter from Bruce Stanford. He felt it important to talk to the council and explain that this problem was created by the city. He'd learned these notices had been sent all over town. The money in postage alone was excessive, he felt. Tim McDonald had a complaint with the maintenance infrastructure of the city. There were many streets filled with potholes and in poor shape. He didn't think the city was keeping up on this. McDonald found it coincidental they had an election coming up and there was a flurry of leases in the city at very lengthy terms and favorable rates. These leases were entitled,he felt. It was a lot of money that the city was losing with these leases and stated the public deserved an explanation. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion(Keil/Terry) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Resolution 2015-062 was pulled from the consent agenda by Squires. Resolution 2015-063 was added to the consent agenda by Keil with no objection from council. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2015-063, Authorizing The City Manager To Sign An Extension Of A Special Services Contract Between The City Of Seward And The Department Of Public Safety Providing Dispatch And Clerical Services To Public Safety Employees In The Seward Area For Thirty-Six Thousand Dollars ($36,000.00). Appoint Darryl Schaefermeyer,Bruce Jaffa,and Brooke Andrews to the Port and Commerce Advisory Board with terms expiring July,2018. SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards Introduction of Seward and Obihiro, Japan Exchange Students. Proclamation for Student Exchange Program. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 577 Seward Fire Department Volunteer Recognition for Retired Member Karen Corrigan. Chamber of Commerce Report.Chamber Director Cindy Clock said halibut tournament ticket sales were at an all-time high this year. The Fourth of July Festival concluded and there were a lot of ideas for next year including making the event dog free. Many people did not pick up after their dogs and were off leash, causing an unsafe environment. Chamber staff member GeNeil Flaherty had begun a conversation for a third electric pedestal to provide more service to the vendors. Clock thanked city personnel for their help with the event. The chamber energy group was planning for the Energy Forum and Fair on October 9 and 10,2015. The chamber Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) group was excited about the breakwater work beginning and was assisting in updating the marine services brochure. City Manager's Report.Jim Hunt reported the following purchase orders between$10,000 and$50,000 were approved by the City Manager: $24,999.00 to Denali Drilling for construction of a test well,$11,787.00 to Long Building Technology for harbor cameras,and$23,000.00 to Metco to repair a washed out cell at SMIC. Hunt gave a brief update on the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon. They'd received many calls in the last two weeks on odor. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation was aware that the lagoon was not up and fully operational yet. The blower plant was not operational yet. Nothing was being discharged from the lagoon at this point, it was only filling up. Hunt met with Alaska Department of Transportation(DOT)to talk about issues in Seward, including the possibility of a crosswalk on the Seward Highway and drains and culvert maintenance along the highway. Hunt also showed DOT the tunnel underpass and its poor condition. Butts wanted information about the cost benefits of having a code compliance officer versus having a contracted service. Hunt clarified he chose Mr. Stanford to provide code compliance because he was highly educated and a professional and emphasized he could not afford to hire someone in house. It was advantageous that Mr. Stanford was independent of the city and unbiased. Hunt stressed to the council that code compliance was not a perfect process and often uncomfortable. The code needed to be fixed regarding nuisance and abatement,especially the appeal process. He suggested it be changed to appeal first to the City Manager and then to the Planning and Zoning Commission instead of directly to council. Keil said the things in the city rights-of-way should be the city's responsibility, not the property owner. She wasn't supportive of weed and vegetation abatement as they were too subjective,but junked cars and unsafe buildings were important to abate. Terry agreed that life and safety issues were important, but she would like to see this enforcement stop and bring in the Planning and Zoning Commission on some of these issues instead. Hunt said the public health and safety portion of the code was not outdated. Bardarson said her own issue was the city's backyard wasn't cleaned up and it created a double standard. Casagranda agreed and said once the city could keep on top of their vegetation,they could enforce private land owners to do the same-otherwise it seemed hypocritical. In response to council,Hunt clarified this contract was budgeted and was not for an amount that typically would be reported to City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 578 council. Squires agreed that enforcing this ordinance was difficult and that Planning and Zoning should be an appeal board, but disagreed on some of the properties they sent letters to. Property owners should have a right if they wanted to grow a park. In response to Butts,Hunt said a property owner could clear the right-of-way,but was not required to. Hunt stated they could back off on the vegetation abatement. Terry said a more comprehensive look at abatement was needed from the start. Things like erosion should be considered. In response to Casagranda,Hunt said they had viewed a draft of the SMIC Plan by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), and expected the final draft in the next month. In response to Terry, Hunt stated the city was not planning to relocate the treatment plant currently located at Lowell Point and he had not heard from their consultant that the facility did not meet the city's capacity. Terry hoped for a project completion report at the next meeting. Terry noted in the manager's report that the Maple Street Sewer and Water Project was put on hold pending direction from council and asked what administration needed from council. Hunt said a work session on this issue would be advisable to discuss the project further. In response to Casagranda, Hunt said when people called dispatch with odor complaints at Lowell Point, he and Public Works Director Casey were notified. Casagranda would like to see a report of those calls. Terry suggested perhaps a police officer could respond and document it so the City Manager and Public Works Director didn't have to get out of bed at night to investigate. Terry said the city was continuing community misunderstanding on lease rates. When they did appraisal packets,it discussed the process and explained how leases changed over time.Perhaps that information could be put on the website. Other Reports,Announcements and Presentations —None PUBLIC HEARINGS—None UNFINISHED BUSINESS—Items for Reconsideration Resolution 2015-061,Authorizing Restoration Of A Full-Time Exempt Position In The Finance Department Titled Assistant Finance Director, And Appropriating Funds. (Motion to reconsider filed by Council Member Casagranda) Motion (Casagranda/Terry) Reconsider Resolution 2015-061 Casagranda said the reason she wanted to reconsider this resolution was because two council members were not present when this resolution came before them and because creating a position in the city was a big deal,mostly because of the retirement implications and funding. They were also really close to the budget and although the people in finance were tired,but she wanted to reconsider this motion because she felt it could be brought to them during the budget. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27,2015 Volume 39, Page 579 Keil was not going to support this. They had a full scale discussion on this last meeting, although two members were not present. Darling said this position had been vetted and finance was in rough shape. She agreed with Casagranda that they should consider this in the budget, but they needed help now. Terry would support the reconsideration,just because they were close to the budget process. She was sorry this had waited so long to come to them, but it seemed like a budget discussion. Motion to Reconsider Failed Yes: Terry, Casagranda No:Keil,Butts,Darling,Squires,Bardarson NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2015-062, Rescinding Resolution 2015-029, Which Authorized The Seward Community Health Center To Apply For A 2015 United States Department Of Health And Human Services'Health Infrastructure Improvement Program Grant,And Rescinding Section 1.Of Resolution 2015-047,Which Directed The City Manager To Bring Forward A Resolution By August 10, 2015 To Formally Authorize The Seward Community Health Center's Application Process With The United States Department Of Health And Social Service's Health Infrastructure Improvement Program Grant Application. Hunt said council approved Resolution 2015-029, which allowed the Seward Community Health Center (SCHC) to prepare and submit a grant application, committing city funds for an expansion project. Council additionally passed Resolution 2015-047,affirming that council had the ability to move forward or opt out of the grant application process. It was later determined there were too many questions and unknowns about a large scale hospital expansion project and not enough time to form a good plan. Therefore, administration was requesting council rescind this action and withdraw the grant application. By unanimous consent, council suspended the rules to allow Seward Community Health Center Executive Director Patrick Linton to speak. Linton stated following their work session with the City Council,he followed up with their state and national consultant on this grant issue. From those conversations,it was suggested to him that the best way to approach this was to withdraw the application prior to the awards being made. He was told the worst thing to do was to accept the award if approved and then give the money back, which would look poorly on the city and SCHC. The granting agency would rather work with the SCHC to look at pursuing a different project that's feasible. The SCHC supported the city's recommendation of this resolution to withdraw the application prior to September 1. The SCHC hoped to create a new process and timeframe not being driven by grant deadlines to come up with acceptable alternatives for a hospital improvement/expansion project. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2015-064, Authorizing An Amendment To The Five Year Contract For $368,952.00 With The State Of Alaska,Department Of Corrections,To Provide For Operating City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 580 The Seward Community Jail And Housing Prisoners Charged And/Or Sentenced Under Alaska Statutes. Motion (Terry/Squires) Approve Resolution 2015-064 Hunt said they had received notice from the Alaska Department of Corrections that many of the Alaskan communities with jail systems were going to lose a portion of their state jail funding based on a formula of having less than a 70%occupancy rating. Seward had 64%occupancy and was facing cuts.This resulted in an adjusted loss of about$195,000 to the city and Hunt continued to work with the jails board and speaking with the State Office of Management and Budget and others in Juneau to pursue additional funding. Hunt stated the state needed to have more awareness regarding public safety. Keil said next year she wanted to look at funding that took care of the jail or look at taking prisoners to the Spring Creek Correctional Facility. This reduction was a large hit because it was more than $195,000 as they were losing funds from other services and working with a reduced budget. Squires noted Spring Creek Correctional Center could not take prisoners as Keil suggested. The Department of Corrections would not modify the facility to to allow for this. Squires inquired if there was a daily charge for prisoners and wondered if that fee could be increased. In response to Terry,Hunt stated council would know the full ramifications of this reduction when the budget was presented. Squires asked what happened if they refused to take a prisoner from a trooper. Lieutenant Doreen Valadez was unsure. Keil said for the next fiscal year the city should propose two budgets—with or without the state funding. Otherwise it fell on the state to do prisoner transport and there was already a lack of troopers in the area. Perhaps the city should encourage the state to modify Spring Creek Correctional Center to be able to conduct this type of intake. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items—None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Letter of support for the Lost Lake Breath of Life Run. COUNCIL COMMENTS Keil thanked Port and Commerce Advisory Board applicants for continuing or beginning their service on the board. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27,2015 Volume 39, Page 581 Terry was happy to see the Lost Lake Breath of Life Run support letter in the packet and noted it was an important event in our community. She thanked Karen Corrigan for her years of volunteer service and all the community volunteers for their service. Terry thanked the clerk and the attorney for their recent board, council, and commission training. She wanted there to be an end point on the sewage lagoon project and requested council be provided with reports and staff to finish out the project. In the City Manager's report she didn't think it was appropriate to state the Finance Director cancelled her plans to be in attendance tonight to be available to answer questions regarding the Assistant Finance Director position, and it felt like a dig to council. Hunt said she was here tonight and it wasn't intended to be a dig. Terry said that could have been an email to council. Butts thanked Karen Corrigan for her 16 years on the Seward Volunteer Fire Department and it had been great to work with her. He noted responders were so busy and always did a great job. Butts requested the public call him ahead of time and let him know their concerns, as he wanted to be kept abreast of the issues. Casagranda thanked Schaefermeyer, Jaffa, and Andrews for serving on the Port and Commerce Advisory Board. She was happy to see Brooke Andrews stepping on the board and into something new. She attended an amazing event this Sunday in the bowl of Mount Marathon and watched local band Black Water Railroad play a concert. There were so many people and no one abused the land. It was amazing to see the support for these kinds of events. Squires thanked those who applied to the Port and Commerce Advisory Board. He thanked Karen Corrigan,with whom he'd worked with for many years. She was entertaining and thoughtful and he always appreciated her. Squires echoed Butts' comments that he preferred to hear from concerned citizens ahead of time so he's aware as well. Regarding Mr.Fredrickson's concerns,there was an appeal process regarding abatement that he'd like to see highlighted a little bit more. Darling thanked the volunteers for hosting the Japanese exchange students,volunteers for hosting the museum on Sundays, and volunteers in general. She hoped people would encourage visitors to go to the historic museum. Bardarson thanked the volunteers in our community. She clarified that the Assistant Finance Director position in question tonight was not a new position. She thanked the attorney and the clerk for a great training last Monday and thanked those who could attend. Bardarson reminded the public there was one vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Hunt congratulated Bardarson on her daughter's wedding this weekend. The town was beautiful and packed this weekend. CITIZEN COMMENTS Chris Lampshire, Acting District Ranger of the U.S. Forest Service's Seward Ranger District,and Robert Stovall also of the Seward Ranger District noted to council of the two Seward homes owned by the Forest Service that were sold last year through an auction process. Stovall stated they planned to do the same with the organization's office building in Seward as they transitioned to the Kenai Lake Work Center. A notice for realty sale would be going out and City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 582 comment periods would be noticed. Lampshire stated the Fores Service was also looking to partner with the National Park Service to have a joint facility based in Seward to maintain a presence in the community. Lampshire announced the Chugach National Forest and specifically the Seward Ranger District had been selected to supply the Capital Christmas Tree to reside in Washington,D.C. this year. The Forest Service was partnered with a non-profit organization to work with on the campaign to get the selected tree from Seward to Washington, D.C. Jodi Petrich of Choose Outdoors said it was an honor to be here and for the first time in history, the Capital Christmas Tree was coming from Alaska. With her organization, she helped connect people with the National Forest Service through outdoor recreation and they can ask for help from different businesses in assisting transferring the selected Capital Christmas Tree. Alaska Crane, Linden Transport, and Totem Ocean were a few of the businesses assisting in this project. The location of the tree was secret,but they would bring the tree in Seward to celebrate it first and hoped a variety of community organizations could help participate. Anyone wanting to help with the project was more than welcome. GeNeil Flaherty, with the Chamber of Commerce, planned to help with the project and could assist with any questions. She was very excited to have this project begin in Seward and to be able to participate in this project. Tim McDonald said regarding the jail cutbacks,he understood putting the costs on the state would increase the city's base costs. He didn't understand why the city was entering into 99 year leases prior to the completion of the AIDEA SMIC Development Plan. McDonald could not agree with the point that these leases were facilitating financing. He asked why these leases were 99 years in length and why were there so many when there's no supporting data that they were needed. McDonald stated he would appreciate an answer from administration instead of being attacked. They were sponsored by the City Manager and these leases were serious business. Leasing for a whole century seemed excessive. Susan Lang thanked council for their concern and their reaction to citizen comments on the sewage lagoon. She appreciated that and it was nice to know the system of reporting odors as she was curious on what happened once she called dispatch. Following the jail funding cutbacks, it sounded like Seward was going to lose money because they weren't using the jail as much. Perhaps that meant the crime rate was going down and perhaps that was a good thing. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Keil said applications for council and mayor available at the clerk's office. She hoped they didn't go "Donald Trumping" this election season by saying outrageous things just to get in the newspaper. Casagranda thanked the clerk's office for the extra outside work done for the annual student exchange. Hunt addressed McDonald's comments, stating he was speaking for the council and the citizens. He was tired of the allegations and stated the council had done something wrong. Every City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes July 27, 2015 Volume 39, Page 583 lease was publicly heard and examined. No action had been performed or decisions made behind closed doors. He pointed out the Alaska Railroad was also engaging in 99 year leases and it wasn't a bad thing. These leases are brought forward for consideration were sponsored by him because council requested this of him. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Jo anna Ki MC an Bardarson 'ty Clerk Mayor (City Seal) .44A OF ..... '•• ;� CGS • • • r. • SEAL ) • .rte--- ; •.° +015•• 19 •• Q• •tigE OF AX-P•••• "'.„n$,•a•.•