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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10122020 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12,2020 Volume 41,Page 287 CALL TO ORDER The October 12,2020 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Christy Terry. OPENING CEREMONY Lieutenant Alan Nickell led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Christy Terry presiding and Sue McClure Sharyl Seese John Osenga Tony Baclaan Julie Crites comprising a quorum of the Council; and Scott Meszaros, City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Brooks Chandler, City Attorney Excused—None Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING The City of Seward is currently experiencing a declared public health emergency due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), so alternate methods for providing Citizen Comments were created. Unless otherwise noted, the following Citizen Comments were submitted in advance and read into the record by the City Clerk: Carol Griswold was stunned and dismayed that her recent by mail ballot for the Municipal Election had been rejected by the Canvass Board for having only one witness signature. She requested that her ballot,along with four other ballots that had been rejected for the same reason,be counted. The city clerk tried several times to contact Senator Dan Sullivan telephonically for comments, but was unsuccessful. The telephone number for council chambers was provided to the Senator so that he could call in. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12, 2020 Volume 41,Page 288 APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (McClure/Baclaan) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda lea; Terry removed the Certification of the October 6,2020 Municipal Election from the consent agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2020-081,Authorizing Signatures For All City Bank Accounts And Rescinding All Previous Resolutions In Conflict Herewith. Approval of the September 28, 2020 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. Non-objection for the renewal of the Retail Marijuana License#17758 for The Tufted Puffin, LLC. Senator Dan Sullivan called in. US Senator Dan Sullivan congratulated Seward on receiving a $20 million US Maritime Administration(MARAD)Port Infrastructure Development Grant for a new Alaska Railroad dock at the cruise ship terminal. Sullivan was excited for Seward's future. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards —None Bereugh-AssemWRepert,Kenn Carpenter did not provide a report. City Manager Report. City Manager Scott Meszaros reported the following purchase order between $5,000 and $30,000 had been approved by the City Manager since the last council meeting: $28,900 for de-icing products for Roads and Streets for Public Works. Meszaros said he would provide an update on the recent electric outages for the next meeting. Meszaros stated there had been approximately 25 CARES Act Round 2 grant applications received to date;the deadline would be October 16,2020.Terry asked when the electric utility credit would be given out to Seward residents. In response, Meszaros said he wanted to see how much money was used for the Round 2 business grants and then determine how much could be given as utility credit. In response to Baclaan, Assistant City Manager Scott Sowell confirmed that the electric credit would likely be higher than the original estimate, but it certainly wouldn't be lower. Terry was looking forward to hearing the update about the electric outages, and also requested to see a management plan for removing brush and vegetation from the electric lines, as City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12, 2020 Volume 41,Page 289 well. Other Reports and Announcements—None Presentations—None PUBLIC HEARINGS Ordinances for Public Hearing and Enactment Ordinance 2020-012, Amending Seward City Code Chapter 15 Regarding Commercial Communications Towers To Provide Special Provisions For Such Land Use.This ordinance was introduced on September 28, 2020 and is coming tonight for public hearing and enactment. Motion (McClure/Osenga) Enact Ordinance 2020-012 Community Development Director Jackie Wilde said this ordinance had gone through the Planning&Zoning Commission(P&Z);it had been on P&Z's priorities list for at least seven years. The most significant change that would result would be to require a Conditional Use Permit(CUP) for communications towers rather than allowing outright. Wilde said this would allow for a notification process for neighboring property owners. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. All comments were submitted in writing, unless otherwise noted. Shawn Ushmann from AT&T was familiar with Seward and visited often.His company was interested in developing the services further in Seward. The first responder community in Seward relied upon the AT&T network. Ken Lyons from AT&T was concerned that 911 calls did not always get through. He had some technical concerns with this ordinance; one issue of concern was that this ordinance may prohibit communications towers in residential areas, and he encouraged stealth designs in certain areas of town. Kim Allen from Verizon shared the same concerns as expressed by the AT&T representatives. She wanted a path forward for allowing communications towers in residential areas, and requested that council have one more public hearing on this ordinance before enactment. Carol Griswold appreciated council letting her speak on this topic and apologized for not signing up. She didn't believe this ordinance was ready to enact, and thought there should be an additional public hearing. Griswold expressed concerns about tower heights allowed, location of towers in residential areas,and contradictory information in this ordinance versus other areas of city code. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12, 2020 Volume 41,Page 290 Terry suggested that AT&T and Verizon had raised some legal concerns. In response,City Attorney Brooks Chandler said both vendors had pointed to the city's regulations under FCC rules; the city could prohibit,or have the effect of prohibiting,communications services.Chandler thought there appeared to be a disconnect between community development using a Conditional Use Permit, and the vendors testifying that a CUP was prohibitive;that issue needed to be resolved.Oftentimes variances were not always uniformly or strictly applied;therefore,there may be some wiggle room for variances to be used in the telecommunications industry.Chandler cautioned that under state law, Title 29 had strict definitions around the use of the term"variance". Terry wondered what kind of technical information P&Z had at their disposal to develop this ordinance.Wilde said P&Z had reviewedordinances o di ances from Kenai and Homer,and had reached out to AT&T and Verizon for their input.Wilde added that some of the discussions also related to how best to ensure residential areas had coverage in the best way possible; one suggestion was to place the towers on the hillsides,disguised as trees. Further, Wilde said the issue that was brought up about having difficulty accessing 911 could have been environmental and due to the construction of the building the 911 call originated from. In response to Terry,Wilde said P&Z received all the comments and input from the vendors while they were drafting this ordinance.In response to McClure,Chandler said he received an early version of this ordinance to review; last Friday,he received the comments from AT&T. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Items Certify the October 6,2020 Regular Municipal Election Results. City Clerk Brenda Ballou explained that the Canvass Board had met the previous week to count absentee,special needs,and questioned ballots for the October 6,2020 election.The Canvass Board had rejected five by mail ballots because the envelopes contained only one witness signature, when the envelope language required two signatures. After conferring with the city attorney, the recommendation was for council to order a recount of those five ballots so that they could be included in the election results.In response to Osenga,Terry said the city code would be the guiding reference for allowing the five ballots to be counted,since city code did not specify that two witness signatures were required. Motion (Terry/McClure) Order a recount of the five absentee ballots that were rejected by the Canvass Board for having one witness signature. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12, 2020 Volume 41,Page 291 Motion Passed Unanimous Motion(Terry/McClure) Appoint Dorothy Osenga,Susie Urbach,and Mary Tougas to the Recount Board. Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (Terry/McClure) Schedule a Special Meeting on October 15, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. to certify the election results. Motion Passed Unanimous Council directed the city clerk to destroy all absentee by mail envelopes currently on hand,and order new envelopes for future elections. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS City Clerk's Report on Public Records Requests through October 5, 2020. Deputy City Clerk Memo on Records Destruction through December, 2019. Account Write-Offs for Electric, Water, Sewer, Harbor, and SMIC. CITIZEN COMMENTS Carol Griswold thanked council for ordering the recount.Griswold suggested that Seward copy the meeting protocols, equipment, and procedures being used by the City of Soldotna; she thought it would provide better citizen interaction. Also, Griswold wished Seward's city website was like Soldotna's because it was great for searching public records. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Baclaan thanked everyone who participated in the electronics recycling event last Saturday. Happy Indigenous People Day. Osenga encouraged everyone to be careful and safe;wear your face coverings and maintain social distance. Seese thought masking and distancing was important;be safe. McClure encouraged everyone to wear masks and follow the CDC guidelines. It was dark outside and Halloween was coming; watch for children on the streets. The tour at Woodlawn City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes October 12, 2020 Volume 41, Page 292 Cemetery last Saturday was well attended and very fun;there would be another tour on October 24, 2020. Terry announced the Port&Commerce Advisory Board's meeting on Wednesday at noon regarding a review of the Seward Marine Industrial Center's development plan.And on October 19, 2020, the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area Board would be hosting a presentation from the US Army Corps of Engineers regarding the Lowell Canyon Tunnel feasibility study. Terry was extremely concerned about the reports that 911 was not working for everyone; she said it was imperative that the 911 line was working. EXECUTIVE SESSION Go into executive session regarding the Jesse Lee Home, per SCC 2.10.010 (b) (3) matters pertaining to threatened or pending litigation. Motion (Terry/McClure) Go into executive session to discuss matters pertaining to threatened or pending litigation regarding the Jesse Lee Home, per SCC 2.10.010 (b)(3). Motion Passed Unanimous The city attorney,community development director,city manager,and assistant city manager were invited to remain. ..r Council recessed at 8:24 p.m. for five minutes and then went directly into executive session. Council came out of executive session at 8:58 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 p.m. ren a J. Ballo , C Christy Te City Clerk Mayor (City Seamy OF sEy�,q•, • ,.+ Q•i V = • I SEAL • • • . OF AN-?'