HomeMy WebLinkAbout11252019 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 48
CALL TO ORDER
The November 25,2019 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at
7:00 p.m. by Vice Mayor Sue McClure.
OPENING CEREMONY
Police Chief Tom Clemons led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
ROLL CALL
There were present:
presiding and
Sue McClure Sharyl Seese
John Osenga
Dale Butts Tony Baclaan
comprising a quorum of the Council; and
Scott Meszaros, City Manager
111 Brenda Ballou, City Clerk
Excused—Lane, Terry
Absent—None
CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR
PUBLIC HEARING
Carolyn Roemer had lived in Seward for 28 years. She was concerned about the city's
partnership with Ring and she wanted some assurance that this program would be executed in a
responsible way.She wanted to know how a private citizen's information would be accessed and for
how long it would be kept.Roemer said she believed that Amazon had an arrangement with Ring to
allow them access to the information collected. She requested that council put a hold on the program
until the community had an opportunity to weigh in on it.
Heather Bardarson wanted to bring attention, once again, to the community's childcare
crisis.There had been a recent announcement that the Pre-K school would be closed,leaving over 33
children without preparation for kindergarten. Bardarson strongly encouraged council to create a
committee to reach out to the community and find solutions to this issue. Bardarson said if the
current situation continued it would result in a financial hardship and a scholastic deficit for the
community.
Carol Griswold had some comments about the city and state priorities: the Ad Hoc
Committee for the Seward airport should be contacted for input on the runway items;Lowell Canyon
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 49
Tunnel could be moved up to be a higher priority;perhaps the money for enveloping City Hall would
better be spent for a new building; and, she wondered about increasing office space at the electric
warehouse.
Darryl Schaefermeyer supported Griswold's comments about the airport runway; he
thought the city should support protecting the current runways.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA
Motion (Osenga/Seese) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda
Butts removed Resolutions 2019-110, 2019-111, and 2019-112 for the City, State, and Federal
Priorities from the consent agenda. City Clerk Brenda Ballou explained that Resolutions 2019-
109 through 2019-111 would be renumbered to 2019-110 through 2019-112.
McClure removed the introduction of Ordinance 2019-017 from the agenda.
Motion Passed Unanimous
The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items:
Approval of the November 12,2019 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes.
Schedule a work session to review the complete proposed 2020/2021 budget on December 2,
2019 at 6:00 p.m.
SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS
Proclamations & Awards—None
Chamber of Commerce Report. Jason Bickling stated there were two new chamber
members.He would be sendingout a membershipsurveyso he could better understand the needs of
the membership.Bickling wanted to develop a united front with the city for what Seward had to offer
between the harbor,port, SMIC,and the marine trade business. Regarding marketing,the chamber
was in the midst of revamping the 2020 Visitors Guide,and would continue developing the website.
City Manager Report.Scott Meszaros reported the following purchase orders over$5,000
had been approved bythe CityManager since the last council meeting: None.
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In response to Osenga, Meszaros said the Police Department statement about the
investigation was new last Friday.
Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations
Seward Community Health Center Quarterly Report by Craig Ambrosiani.
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 50
Alaska Municipal League(AML)Conference Travel Reports by Mayor Terry(laydown)and
Council Members Baclaan and Seese.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Resolutions 2019-098 throu2h 2019-108, Adopting The 2020-2021 City of Seward Biennial
Budget.These resolutions are having a first public hearing tonight, and will come backfor a second
public hearing and approval on December 9, 2019.
Motion (Seese/Osenga) Approve Resolutions 2019-098 through 2019-
108
Meszaros said the budget packet that was handed out at the November 6,2019 work session
remained the most updated detailed budget documentation for approval. He added that the Capital
Improvements Plan would be worked on again after the new year.
McClure clarified that council had just scheduled a work session on December 2, 2019 to
have further discussions about the budget.
Baclaan wondered how council would know what updates had been made to the budget since
the beginning.In response,Meszaros said there had been no changes made to the budget documents
since November 6, 2019 version.
Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public
hearing was opened.
Carol Griswold thought that this year's budget process had been exceptionally rushed and
poorly vetted. She was concerned that there were still unknowns, like the payroll study. She
wondered if travel, subscriptions, and other budgets had been reconsidered by individual
departments.
Darryl Schaefermeyer supported moving ahead with the district heating project for city
buildings. He urged council to continue with the hydrology studies for Lowell Creek.
No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed.
Seese said she had studied the budget and wondered why there were so many increases from
the original budget to the November 6, 2019 budget, even after healthcare costs decreased.
Specifically, the city manager's personnel costs increased; in response, Acting Finance Director
Sam Hickok said he would look into it.
Motion to Amend (Baclaan/Butts) Direct the city manager to bring forward the
increases and decreases from the original
budget document to the current one so that
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 51
the public and council know what was
changed.
Seese said she had thought about creating her own spreadsheet so she could see the changes
that were made. In response, Meszaros said he could furnish the percentage changes between the
2019 budget and the 2020/2021 proposed budgets.
In response to McClure, Baclaan said he wished to see the actual dollar changes from the
original budget presented at the first work session and the November 6, 2019 budget, not the
percentage changes.
In response to McClure and Seese,Hickok said he would see what he could do to furnish that
information before the December 2, 2019 work session.
In response to Seese,Hickok said he could copy the current proposed budget information into
an Excel spreadsheet,but he could not do that with the original budget document because it had been
overlaid;however, Hickok said,he had the hard copies of the original budget information.
In response to Butts concern that there was a short week for the Thanksgiving holiday in
which to produce this information,Meszaros said changes had been made during every work session;
he didn't have the documentation for all the changes that were made,but he could easily produce a
percentage change report.Meszaros added that in order to produce a redlined budget,he would have
to reset the system to the original budget and document every change requested manually.
Osenga stated that the change requests had been documented over time, so perhaps a list
could be furnished instead.
Motion withdrawn with no objection from council.
Motion to Amend (Baclaan/Seese) Direct the city manager to create a list of all
changes of increases and decreases from the
preliminary budget to the November 6,
2019 budget before the December 2, 2019
work session.
Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous
Seese requested to have an Excel spreadsheet of the November 6,2019 budget.In response to
Baclaan, Hickok said he could create it by running a report from the system and exporting it to
Excel. In response to McClure,Hickok said it was a large document,and would take a few hours to
run. In response to Seese, Hickok clarified that the time was computer time, not his time; he
wondered why Seese wanted the file. In response, Seese said she had already spent hours on the
budget and wanted to use a spreadsheet to assist her.
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25,2019 Volume 41,Page 52
Council directed the city manager to provide Council Member Seese an Excel file of the November
6,2019 budget.
Primary Motion to Amend (Baclaan/Seese) Direct the city manager to bring forward a
balanced budget.
Baclaan was concerned that if the city was spending more than it earned,it basically equated
to using a credit card,or required dipping into savings.
In response to Osenga,Meszaros said the projected revenues in the budget were way short of
actual, and he could produce a balanced budget by simply increasing revenue projections. Rather,
Meszaros preferred to present a realistic and conservative budget;he said he could present a balanced
budget however council directed.Hickok said as long as any budget gap could be filled with the fund
balance,the budget was technically balanced. Baclaan said he didn't think it was a good practice to
use the reserve fund balance to balance a budget,just in case there was a catastrophic event.
In response to Osenga,Hickok said the reserves fund was currently at 5.2 months;it was very
healthy and the highest it had been for years. Hickok was very confident that the city would not
actually see a budget deficit because of the conservative revenue projections.
Secondary Motion to Amend (Butts/Baclaan) Direct the city manager to bring forward
options for a balanced budget.
Secondary Motion Passed Unanimous
Primary Motion Passed Yes: Baclaan, Butts, Seese, Osenga
No: McClure
Motion to Postpone (Seese/Baclaan) Postpone Resolutions 2019-098 through 2019-
108 to December 9, 2019.
Motion to Postpone Passed Unanimous
Resolution 2019-097,Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Special Contract With
The Seward Association For The Advancement Of Marine Science (SAAMS) For Adjusted
Electric Rates.
Motion () Approve Resolution 2019-097
Meszaros said this resolution would continue with the same rates as in 2019.
Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public
hearing was opened.
Chip Arnold was the Chief Operating Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer for the
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November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 53
Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC). He requested council approval of this resolution. The ASLC
appreciated the partnership with the city and support.The ASLC needed this special contract because
they had a relatively constant demand of electricity and were unique in that they didn't fit into the
usual large commercial user. The ASLC was the second largest employer in Seward, right behind
Providence Hospital.
Carol Griswold had been a member of the ASLC since they opened in 1998. She was a
strong supporter;however,she was troubled by the statement that if the city didn't provide a special
rate,the ASLC would have to close. She wondered if the ASLC was doing everything they could to
conserve energy. She didn't think it was possible for the city to continue supplementing the ASLC;
the city gave them special electric rates and special housing accommodations for their workers.
Darryl Schaefermeyer was on the board of directors for SAAMS and the ASLC,although
he was not speaking on behalf of either board.He thought the ASLC had contributed far more to the
city's revenues than the city had ever provided in return. The ASLC went to great lengths to take
energy conservation measures.Next to payroll,the highest cost in their budget was electric utilities.
Schaefermeyer thought it was a well-run facility.
No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed.
Baclaan disclosed a potential conflict of interest because he often provided catering services to
the Alaska SeaLife Center. Vice Mayor McClure ruled that no conflict existed with no
objections from council.
Butts thanked the ASLC for all their contributions and thought it was the best aquarium in the
entire state.
Motion Passed Unanimous
UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None
NEW BUSINESS
Resolutions
Resolution 2019-110, Establishing The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2020 City Legislative
Priorities.
Motion (Osenga/Seese) Approve Resolution 2019-110
Meszaros said all the draft priorities had been sent to staff, both of the city's lobbyists,
Providence,the Community Health Center, and the Alaska SeaLife Center for input.
Butts thought the reference to Seward airport improvements was generic enough to be in
keeping with the Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations.
City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41, Page 54
Main Motion Passed Unanimous
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Resolution 2019-111,Establishing The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2020 State Legislative
Priorities.
Motion (Seese/Osenga) Approve Resolution 2019-111
Meszaros stated that the priorities were not purposefully ranked, even thought they were
numbered.
In response to Baclaan,Meszaros clarified that the transmission line and the transformers for
SMIC were two separate projects. In response to Butts, Meszaros said when delegates traveled to
Juneau, they went with a specific short-term list of needs for the city.
Baclaan wanted to state for the record that the Alaska Railroad Corporation's Seward Marine
Terminal Expansion Project supported both passenger and freight activities.
Main Motion Passed Unanimous
Resolution 2019-112, Establishing The City Of Seward's Calendar Year 2020 Federal
Legislative Priorities.
Main Motion (Osenga/Baclaan) Approve Resolution 2019-112
Meszaros said the Lowell Creek Tunnel maintenance and the creation of a new outfall option
were the two highest priorities.
Motion to Amend (Butts/Osenga) Amend Resolution 2019-112 under Section B.
Authorizations and Beneficial Legislation,
Number 3, so that it reads, "Support the
establishment of a Prescott grant program
within the Fish & Wildlife Service budget
to provide support for a stranding network
and responding to marine mammal live
stranding and mortalities throughout
Alaska."
Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous
Council suspended the rules to speak with Carol Griswold.
Carol Griswold spoke on behalf of the Seward Ad Hoc Airport Committee and said the
committee had not had the opportunity to provide input,but the committee's goals were to stabilize
and maintain the long runway and mitigate the potential damage from the Resurrection River. She
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 55
encouraged council to speak with the committee's chair Bruce Jaffa.
Council went back on the rules.
Motion to Postpone (Baclaan/Seese) Postpone Resolution 2019-112 to December 9,
2019.
Butts wondered when the Ad Hoc Committee for the Seward airport would meet again; no
one knew the meeting schedule. McClure reiterated that the options for council included postponing
this resolution now, approving it and possibly amending it at a later date, or defeating it.
Motion to Postpone Failed Yes: Seese, Baclaan
No: Osenga, Butts, McClure
Motion to Amend (Butts/Osenga) Amend Resolution 2019-112 under Section A.
Appropriations and Grants, Number 9, so
that it reads, "Seek support from the
Federal Aviation Administration(FAA)for
the existing long runway."
Baclaan said he was not against this amendment,but thought it would be prudent to postpone
until the committee had an opportunity to provide wording.
Council suspended the rules to speak with Lynda Paquette.
Lynda Paquette was a member of the Port&Commerce Advisory Board and was also on the
Ad Hoc Committee for the Seward airport. She said the FAA was offering a long runway,and so to
be very clear, perhaps Butts would consider including the word "existing"to his amendment.
Council went back on the rules.
Butts concurred.
Baclaan reconfirmed his faith in Bruce Jaffa's ability and passion for this topic,and thought it
wise to wait for clearer language.
Motion to Amend Failed Yes: Osenga, Butts, McClure
No: Seese, Baclaan
Primary Motion to Amend (Butts/Seese) Amend Resolution 2019-112 under Section A.
Appropriations and Grants,Number 9, by
striking it in its entirety.
Secondary Motion to Amend (Seese/Osenga) Amend Resolution 2019-112 under Section A.
Appropriations and Grants,Number 9, by ..
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41, Page 56
striking it in its entirety and adding the
words, "Seward Airport: to be
determined."
Secondary Motion to Amend Passed Yes: Osenga, Butts, Seese, McClure
No: Baclaan
Primary Motion to Amend Failed Yes: Butts, Osenga, McClure
No: Baclaan, Seese
Main Motion Failed Yes: Seese, Osenga, McClure
No: Baclaan, Butts
Other New Business
All Other New Business items were approved on the consent agenda.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS
On-Going City Projects and Goals.
September, 2019 City and Providence Financials.
In response to Baclaan, Meszaros said the Water and Wastewater Rate Study results should
be available within the next week.
Motion (Baclaan/Seese) Create an Ad Hoc Committee of one or
two council members to work with the
community to explore solutions for
childcare options.
In response to McClure, the city clerk advised that this action come at a future council
meeting along with an agenda statement.
Baclaan felt strongly that community members had come to council at the last two meetings
to express their concerns about childcare in Seward, so he felt that action should be taken.
McClure was concerned that there needed to be proper public notice. Baclaan thought there
was immediacy to having a response, but was willing to withdraw his motion; he stated he would
attend community meetings on his own to support the community's concerns. McClure thought it
would still be good to see something come on the next meeting agenda.
The motion was withdrawn with no objection from council.
Council directed the city manager to bring back a new resolution establishing the city's federal
priorities for the December 9, 2019 meeting.
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November 25,2019 Volume 41,Page 57
COUNCIL COMMENTS
Butts thanked everyone for coming tonight.He encouraged everyone to watch for the Angel
Tree initiative being launched next week to support individuals and families in need. Butts said,
"Right now it was 90 days."
Baclaan thanked everyone for coming and speaking.He thanked the chamber for sponsoring
Start-Up Week for new businesses last week. At AML, Tim Dillon introduced Baclaan to the
federally-appointed chair from the Denali Commission; that was a great connection because they
were a great source for funding. Baclaan thanked everyone for a productive meeting.
Osenga thanked Baclaan and Seese for their AML reports. He wished the Terry family a
speedy recovery, and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Seese said Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. She appreciated being sent to AML, and
thanked Tim Dillon for connecting them with the Denali Commission.
McClure thanked the public for coming tonight.The Angel Tree gift wrapping party would
be held on December 14,2019 at the fire station. She reminded everyone about the work session on
December 2 2019. McClure wished everyone a HappyThanksgiving and safe travels.
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CITIZEN COMMENTS
Darryl Schaefermeyer said the legislative priorities resolutions went to a broad audience of
legislators, on both the state and federal levels. He was concerned that the state priorities list
contained the same statement that council was concerned about for the federal priorities. He
admonished council to be very precise and careful with the language in these documents. He
commended council for the work they did,but he would appreciate it if council would reconsider the
state priority resolution.
Chip Arnold expressed his appreciation to council and administration on behalf of the A S LC
and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Carol Griswold thought the quality of the legal service provided to the city was lacking.She
encouraged the city to send out a Request for Proposals for a new city attorney firm. Her concerns
specifically surrounded what she considered to be inconsistent legal contracts, negotiations,
resolutions,and ordinances that required extensive revisions.Griswold said she was alarmed at the
November 12, 2019 Board of Adjustment appeal hearing at rules apparently being made up on the
fly. Griswold said her head was spinning with the explanations provided by the city attorney; she
said she had spent a great deal of time listening to the recording of the hearing so she could make
sense of the proceedings.
•
Norm Regis said the U.S.Coast Guard confirmed the Fast Response Cutter would be going
to SMIC,but the Coast Guard had a change of command and so the conversations about supporting
City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes
November 25, 2019 Volume 41,Page 58
additional vessels had to start all over again. Regis suggested perhaps council could model their
priorities after the way PACAB did theirs by using bullets instead of numbers.
COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS
Meszaros was currently developing a resolution for a city attorney flat fee schedule and
would bring that back on the next agenda.
Motion to Reconsider(Baclaan/Seese) Reconsider Resolution 2019-111
Motion to Reconsider Passed Unanimous
Motion to Postpone(Baclaan/Seese) Postpone Resolution 2019-111 to December 9,
2019
Baclaan wanted the airport committee to have an opportunity to provide wording.
Motion to Postpone Passed Unanimous
Baclaan said he spent two hours in a class at AML regarding quasi-judicial boards and
offered to share information with Carol Griswold if she wished.He understood peoples'frustrations
about getting laydowns at the last minute,especially when the topics were important items like the
budget.Baclaan supported providing the public and council with as much documentation as possible
in advance of taking any action.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:42 p.m.
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Brenda J. Ballou, MC Sue McClure
City Clerk Vice Mayor
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