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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01222007 City Council Minutes City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 309 CALL TO ORDER ~ .... The January 22, 2007 regular meeting ofthe Seward City Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Vanta Shafer. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Vanta Shafer presiding and Willard Dunham Bob Valdatta Jean Bardarson Linda Amberg Steve Schafer Robert Thomas comprising a quorum of the Council; and Marvin Yoder, Interim City Manager Jean Lewis, City Clerk Johanna Dollerhide, Assistant City Clerk ..... ABSENT - None CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING - None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Thomas/Bardarson) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: The January 8, 2007 regular city council meeting minutes were approved. The Port and Commerce Advisory Board was continued through January 31, 2008 by affirmative vote. Resolution 2007-008. amending the 2006 budget and appropriating $50,093 in sales tax revenues to the hospital debt service fund. .... SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 310 Proclamations and Awards I " ..... Caleb Adelmann received the Parks and Recreation Adelmann Award. A proclamation was given to Deputy Fire Chief Edward Athey and Police Dispatcher Tammy Athey for their heroic efforts in the January 1, 2007 rescue in Whittier. Borough Assembly Report. Borough Assembly Representative Ron Long stated the motion to reconsider the effective date for the per person, per day recreational tax ordinance failed and would remain at April 1 , 2007. He encouraged anyone with questions on this issue to contact the borough sales tax department. The Assembly appropriated $9,000 as an initial contract award to fund an education lawsuit and lobbying effort against the State of Alaska. This took care of a line item already in the budget and would take the initial steps towards litigation. The Borough Assembly passed their federal capital projects priorities. Their number two priority was $3 million for flood mitigation, which Long thought would tie in nicely with city's priority on this. The Assembly had a productive work session with school board to address the budget process. Long would be attending the AML Conference in Juneau later this week. Long responded to questions by the council. City Manager's Report. Interim City Manager Marvin Yoder noted a letter of thanks by Dana Paperman for the city working on the re-siding of the Senior Center. Taunnie Boothby with the f State of Alaska planned to be in Seward February 6, 2007 for a meeting to obtain information about ...J the floods and the Japanese Creek Area. IBEW - The contract between the city and IBEW expired this year and the city was planning to request the opportunity to negotiate a new contract. Japanese Creek - Three different proposals were received from Shannon and Wilson, Inc. for damage and cost assessments on the levee, a scoping meeting to review the available information on the levee, and the requirements for certification, and additional analysis/reports on the geotechnical and engineering issues. The city had signed the purchase order to begin this process. Alaska SeaLife Center - The tidelands lease with ASLC had been signed. This would allow the SeaLife Center to expand their programs. SAFETEA-LU - There were funding issues that the city was still working on for the new dock facilities. The number one priority was to design a multipurpose dock that would accommodate the proposed scientific research vessel. The new vessel was not built yet but the city intended to have the infrastructure to help insure Seward was in a position to have the vessel home ported here. So far the SAFETEA-LU funding, which was earmarked for design, had not been released. Yoder was working with the city's lobbyist to resolve these issues and begin the project. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Funds - The city had received three proposals from Shannon and Wilson, Inc. to complete work on the harbor and SMIC totaling $5,276,079. The three projects ti I ....IiI City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 311 ..... were: water quality study and improvement plan, small boat harbor wash down pad, and SMIC wash down pad and maintenance building. These projects had to be submitted to EVOS for funding. A VTEC Lease -Yoder met with A VTEC administration and reviewed a draft ofthe lease for the fire training facility. The lease was taken to Anchorage to review with the city's attorney and he hoped to have a new draft lease in the near future. Lon!! Term Care Facilitv - The Kenai Borough Planning Commission on January 8,2007 held a hearing on the reconsideration of the Planning and Zoning decision which granted a Conditional Preliminary approval for a tract in the LTCF subdivision. Under reconsideration, the previous ruling was upheld. City of Seward Wa!!es - Yoder directed council to a lay down before them regarding wages. He reviewed and determined the City of Seward's hourly rates were comparable or lower than other similarly sized communities or private companies, but felt there was a problem with the wages benefit ratio, which was largely due to the issues with PERS. Yoder also noted the amount of increases in City of Seward wages were much lower compared to the consumer price index and the cost of living over the years. In other areas, the Alaska Railroad had put in a formal application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for the expansion oftheir freight dock. The city received an award for $28,000 for the Hoben Park Fountain. The public works water wells number 5 and 6 had been repaired. Bids on the ..... Senior Center re-siding were due January 24, 2007. A letter was sent to University of Alaska regarding SMC dock. Yoder responded to questions by the council. Electric Utility Manager Tim Barnum reported on the problems occurring during the recent power outages. Chamber of Commerce Report. Director Laura Cloward stated the chamber held their annual board election for officers. Ron Hewitt was named President, Dan McDonald as Vice President, and Lori Draper as Treasurer. Deborah Altermatt, Dennie Hawks, Linda Rae Olsen, Susan Swiderski and Micah VanBuskirk were the other members of the board. The Chamber's annual meeting was held on January 19, 2007, and Cloward reported they gained 50 new members in 2006. 78% of the membership was from small businesses. Membership was up, and equal between tourism and non-tourism businesses. .... Seward Planning and Zoning Commission Report. Chair Marianna Keil stated the commission was having a Community Values meeting on February 7 and 8, 2007 at the Seward Middle School. Community Plans would be available for the public to review to let the commission know if the values in the comprehensive plan were the same of the community. The idea of the meetings was to see what the community really wanted. During the February 6,2007 meeting, Louis Bencardino of the Alaska Railroad would present their request to expand the freight dock. Commissioner Tom Smith was the new Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commissioner for Seward. City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 312 School Board Report. Lynn Hohl stated the big issue with the school board this month was ,I the budget. There was a public meeting at the Seward High School library on January 23,2007 at .... 7:00 p.m. and was Seward's only public meeting in town before budget approval. Numbers were projected to be down, and the school board was hoping to get a continuation of the ISER allocation, a cost differential study that showed the Kenai Peninsula was being treated unfairly with school funding projections. Hohl thought the budget looked bleak; Seward High School had the potential of cutting back to 8 teachers next year. Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations A presentation was given by Siemens about the eity building energy audit. (cancelled due to weather conditions) P ACAB's annual report was given by Chair Deborah AItermatt. Altermatt briefed the council of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board's activity during the past year. PUBLIC HEARINGS Ordinances for Public Hearing and Enactment Ordinance 2007-001. amending Title 11, Vehicles and Traffic, to change speed limit designations and authority to change speed limits. Notice ofthe public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared to address the Council and the public hearing was closed. it 01 :~ j ...." Motion (Thomas/Schafer) Approve Ordinance 2007-001 Dunham had received feedback from the public to lower the speed limit on Third Avenue, also. Police Chief Clemons said he could make recommendations when it came to State highways; which had been well received in the past. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2007-009. authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Sterchi Construction Co. to construct the South Harbor Restroom Building for an amount not to exceed $208,513.00 J City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 313 ..... Yoder explained this contract was a little over budget, as reality was setting in on cost estimates. Harbormaster Scott Ransom said the engineer's letter in the council's packet was a good summarization of this. The design was patterned after the design chosen for the pavilions during a work session last summer. They had received 5 competitive bids for the construction of the building, and Sterchi Construction was the lowest. Sterchi was aware of the project and were deemed responsible and responsive. In response to Valdatta, Ransom stated the bid was only to construct the facility; water and sewer were not included. Harris Sand and Gravel would install the water and sewer, which was a part of their contract with the city; and the city's Electric Department, would install the electric. Motion (Schafer/Dunham) Approve Resolution 2007-009 In response to Schafer, Ransom said the restroom was originally a part of the initial South Harbor Project, but was pulled to make it a more personalized building. The costs would still come out of the same funds. In response to Dunham, Ransom stated the city intended to bring to council at the next meeting an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the land the restroom would be built on. There would be language in the agreement with the COE to obtain just the fill area and note the city was in no way responsible for the work previously done. .... Amberg wanted to make sure Sterchi was going to submit a work plan, Ransom assured her it would be in the contract. In response to Bardarson, the estimated time of completion was about 110 days. Sterchi would start once the ground thawed, water and sewer would start in the spring. The entire project would be completed during the summer. Motion Passed Unanimous OTHER NEW BUSINESS Update and discussion on the hiring process for open city manager position. City Clerk Jean Lewis briefed council on the hiring process. The council had received 16 completed applications. She estimated the city had spent approximately $3,500 on advertising. Council scheduled a work session for Wednesday, January 31,2007 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the city manager applications and candidates. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required) Informational report on emergency repair of City of Seward water wells. COUNCIL COMMENTS Bardarson thanked the Port and Commerce Advisory Board for their hard work. ...... Amberg thanked the electrical and street crews for the many hours they had put in during the heavy snowfalls. City of Seward, Alaska January 22, 2007 City Council Minutes Volume 37, Page 314 Dunham thanked the Polar Bear Committee for a great festival. Dunham wanted council to. do some kind of military appreciation during Armed Forces Day. He also wanted a letter of thanks ..J sent to Suneel for their time in Seward and an invitation to U sibelli to meet the council. Hit and runs and DUI's were a growing concern to Dunham. He wanted to have a report on suspended/revoked licenses and drivers without insurance. Dunham wanted the town to toughen up on these regulations. Valdatta asked about the water wells and spoke of the water line break near Madison Avenue. Mayor Shafer reported on her recent trip to Seattle to meet with the cruise ship lines. Her meetings with TOTE, Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean were all very positive. She thanked everyone for their time and effort during the fun Polar Bear Jump. CITIZENS' COMMENTS - None COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS - None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. I J ~",nlll'", ~",~ Ot= SEv?.##', ~.. ~ ......... '-'1~" $ C) ...~b?PO~.:...:1() ~ ~ ...:-,.'\J ,~. ill! _:~ 'A~ ~ ..: ---..- '" ~ .. = .: SEAL : : .. . ... ~ \ : : ~ \ - : ~ .. ..~ ~ ~ ~ d"1.." ..~4/~ 1 ..g''!:'" - A ." ""...,.., .. "" '.-..~ ~ "',;:rs O"'F..I~i..~~~~- '1;, "'~. ""..""" -ti ;//0 Vanta Shafer Mayor ~v&_~/L/ I I l :1 ..",tI Jeanl City' (City Seal) l t ....