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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06232008 City Council MinutesCity of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 Volume 37, Pa e 589 CALL TO ORDER The June 23, 2008 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Clark Corbridge. OPENING CEREMONY Lieutenant Louis Tiner led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Clark Corbridge presiding and Willard Dunham Betsy Kellar comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Jean Lewis, City Clerk Cheryl Brooking, City Attorney ABSENT -Tom Smith Linda Amberg Bob Valdatta Jean Bardarson CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING -None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Bardarson/Amberg) Motion Passed Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Unanimous The following was added to the agenda: Scheduling a work session on Economic Issues. The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: The June 9, 2008 regular city council meeting minutes were approved. There was no objection to the renewal of liquor licenses for BPO Elks #1773, The Peking Chinese Restaurant and The Wheelhouse. ~.... Ordinance 2008-016, Rescinding Ordinance 2008-001, And Retaining A Sales Tax Cap Of $500. (This ordinance was introduced and set for public hearing on July 14, 2008.) City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 Volume 37, Page 590 Resolution 2008-053, Supporting The Upgrade Of A Piece Of The Sterling Highway (Mile 45- 60) And Creating A Cooperative Effort With The Kenai Peninsula Cities To Provide Additional Support For This Upgrade And Requesting The State Make This A High Safety Priority For ADOT&PF. Resolution 2008-054, Authorizing The Discharge Of Fireworks By The Chamber Of Commerce During The 2008 Independence Day Celebration. Resolution 2008-055, Authorizing A 74-Day Extension Of The Management And Operating Agreement Between The City Of Seward And Providence Health System Washington, dba Providence Health And Services, Alaska. Resolution 2008-056, Authorizing A One Year Contract For $449,472.00 With The State Of Alaska, Department Of Corrections, To Provide For Operating The Seward Community And Housing Prisoners Charged And/Or Sentenced Under Alaska Statutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS City Manager's Report. City Manager Phillip Oates stated the city should receive $367,430 from the state for cruise ship passenger tax proceeds in the near future. He attended the change in command for Lt. Stoffer, the captain of the Coast Guard Cutter Mustang. Oates had also met with Department of Transportation & Public Facilities officials along with Vice-Mayor Dunham and Borough Mayor Williams to discuss items such as; the DOT maintenance shop locations, possible exchanges of property with the borough, urgency of state maintenance on the Seward Highway at mile 18 to 25, and DOT's request for support on their Dalton Highway maintenance project in anticipation of the gas pipeline. - Harbor. The city was looking into a policy change for the SMIC upland vessel storage and maintenance area to reduce liability and comply with requirements of a Storm Water Discharge Permit. The US Army had used the SMIC facilities to offload 480 tons of construction equipment from a landing craft last week. Oates stated the I and T dock construction was nearing completion and the 50- ton travelift was scheduled to be re-fitted July 14, 2008 to accommodate wider vessels in the small boat harbor. - Electric. The replacement transformer for Lawing was on site. The city was starting to get requests from customers to interconnect for wind turbines and solar power. Before any power purchase agreement would be entered into, the individuals would have to get certification from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Any power produced would be purchased at "avoided cost." - Long Term Care Facility. This facility continued to be under construction with structural work beginning in a couple of weeks. The contractor hoped to have the five buildings enclosed by September or October. The value-engineering to reduce the cost to within budget was nearly completed and he thanked both Architects Alaska and UNIT Company for City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 volume 37, Page 591 working so diligently with the city to shave $2 million in costs to achieve this project to within budget. - Community Development. This department had received two inquiries from different companies wanting to stage scrap steel in Seward for shipments to Pacific Rim countries. With steel prices rising so high internationally, the scrap metal industry was becoming active. - Public Works. The $ l . l million scope of work for the federal earmark for Seward roads had been submitted to DOT. The work would probably not begin until the end of next winter. In response to questions, Oates stated the passenger fee of $3.50 went towards payment of the revenue bonds in the harbor, therefore it was linked to other obligations. He also assessed that the Long Term Care Facility construction was being monitored and documented daily with logs and pictures by the Project Manager, Mike Gillen. City Attorney's Report. City Attorney Cheryl Brooking stated her report was for the period beginning Apri122 through June 21, 2008. Some of the assistance during this period entailed providing assistance on; taxes, fees, contracts, resolutions, ordinances, consultation on the Long Term Care Facility, employment issues, court cases, land uses, flood management, vessel impoundment in the harbor, and utility easement rights in the Ft. Raymond area. Brooking also briefed the council on a recent case, Frank Griswold vs. City of Homer, that had similarities on Seward's Washington Street case. Chamber Of Commerce Report. Director Laura Cloward thanked the Mayor for agreeing to do the opening ceremony for the Fourth of July. Congressman Don Young would be the grand marshal for the parade. Two ships of 3200 passengers would be in town that day. Cloward stated the Princess port of call ship would be in town on July 3, 2008 with about of 800 passengers. She reported that Princess Tours and their passengers were very pleased with the itinerary so far, and invited the council for an environmental tour of a ship on July 11, 2008. Cloward informed that the halibut tournament sales were going well, but the price of gas was still impacting the charter boats. Group tour business numbers were up with some sightseeing boats and charters doing well. The Chamber had 28 new members. Although dissemination of the destination guide was down 6%, website usage was still high. In response to questions by Councilmember Dunham, Cloward said the Alaska Sealife Center and Cook Inlet Aquaculture were competing for the same grants for fish stocking, and neither received them. These groups would continue to rear the smolts they currently had, but did not have anymore funding. The Department of Fish & Game would be the only agency stocking smolt after that. The Chamber was paying $7100 for fireworks this year. PUBLIC HEARINGS -None UNFINISHED BUSINESS -None City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 Volume 37, Page 592 NEW BUSINESS Resolution 2008-052, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Sole Source Agreement With Emerald Alaska To Facilitate Clean Up Of The Contamination Site At Mile 3.3 Nash Road For An Amount Not-To-Exceed $65,781.00 and Appropriating Funds. (A laydown clarifying account codes was presented) Motion (Bardarson/Dunham) Approve Resolution 2008-052 Oates stated this was for recovery of the contaminated drums that were dropped off and illegally disposed of on Nash road. An investigation was continuing with city police and environmental agencies. Others firms that would bid for clean-up said they would have to contact Emerald anyway. He stated there was a considerable amount of overhead built into this contract and it completed the work and provided the ability to analyze the substance to establish a fingerprint for future court action. A 25% contingency was included and he hoped to complete this duty for much less than $52,000, by committing city employees and the loader to do more of the clean-up. In response to questions by Dunham, Oates informed that the state would not pay for this since it was on city land, therefore the city's responsibility. The money would have to come from the general fund. The only chance for reimbursement would be through civil action of the individuals responsible. Harbormaster Kari Anderson stated the contaminated materials appeared to be contained in a pond depression area, and should have been contained in the surrounding moss, but disposal pricing would be determined on what was found. Oates stated the state and federal government had been involved all along the way and was assisting with the ongoing investigation. He thought there were some good leads with the reward money offered being helpful. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2008-057, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Memorandum Of Understanding With The State Of Alaska For Planning, Financing, Design, And Construction Of The Spring Creek Correctional Center Expansion Project, And Appropriating $100,000 To Be Reimbursed From Future Bond Proceeds. Motion (DunhamBardarson) Approve Resolution 2008-057 Oates started by welcoming Department of Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt to Seward and requested a brief recess for a signing ceremony if this resolution passed. He noted this resolution committed the council to assist in the process and contributed $100,000 which would be reimbursed from future bond proceeds. Oates stated this would be a medium security addition expansion that would bring an additional 15 to 20 staff. This agreement would allow the pursuit of .r revenue bonding. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 volume 37, Pa e 593 Department of Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt was pleased to work with the Vice ~.. Mayor and City Manager on this project. He clarified that Senate bill 65 had put this resource in Seward. He explained that the valleyproject was scaled down and all fiscal notes were lumped into this one senate bill. Schmidt stated this was a lighter version than maximum security, but would have a very tight perimeter and be a transition for re-entry. Groundbreaking would occur next spring and the facility would be operational by 2010. Motion Passed Unanimous A brief break was taken for the public signing ceremony and pictures with the Mayor to document the Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Corrections. Other New Business Items Council schedule a work session to discuss economic issues. Kellar had asked for this since the charter boat industry was having such a hard time with fuel prices impacting their businesses. The industry wanted the council to have a work session to discuss this. It was suggested to wait until mid-August, early September for further statistical information and figures before this discussion. Oates stated the Bird Efficiency Study would be presented to the .. council at the September 8, 2008 council meeting. This topic would again be addressed and put on the July 14, 2008 city council meeting. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS (No action required) Re-certification of Certified Municipal Clerk rating for Jean Lewis through August 31, 2012 by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. COUNCIL COMMENTS Amberg congratulated the city clerk on her recertification and hoped for four more years. Valdatta wanted to have an automatic tariff that would pay for infrastructure needs to all communities affected by the proposed influx due to gaslines. He thought Representative Paul Seaton should be contacted. Dunham thanked the clerk for the resolution on the support for the Sterling Highway. He thought their meeting had made an impression on the DOT Commissioner and his staffand urged all to keep pushing. He stated Alaska did not have a transportation trust established and thought this was worth looking into. Bardarson thanked the city of Obihiro Japan for the race trophies that they sent every year to be presented for the 4th of July runners. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes June 23, 2008 Volume 37, Page 594 Kellar wished good luck to the Chamber on putting on the 4`h of July celebration this year. Valdatta thought there would be a better working relationship with DOT maintenance if the supervision of the crews was in Hope or Girdwood instead of Soldotna. Equipment could be consolidated and there would be better communication. CITIZENS' COMMENTS Theresa Butts, wanted council meetings recorded audio and digitally and posted to the website to improve access for the local citizenry. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 p.m. Je Lewis, MC Ci Clerk Clark Corbridge Mayor (City Seal) .• ~~ ~~~ ., •.r Jr ~ 9r E,1'd^ ~ • 1 64' T.. ~., '..~ • M •~4 ~ ~ ~ M .~":. ~~~~~i~~s~~~s~~