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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10142019 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41,Page 14 CALL TO ORDER The October 14,2019 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:02 p.m.by Mayor David Squires. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: David Squires presiding and Sue McClure Suzanne Towsley Jeremy—Hem Sharyl Seese John Osenga Kelley Lane comprising a quorum of the Council; and Scott Meszaros, City Manager Brenda Ballou,City Clerk Holly Wells, City Attorney Excused—None Absent—Horn CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Heather Bardarson was a lifelong Sewardite who was gravely concerned that Big Bay Beginnings Day Care would be closing on November 1,2019.Notice had only just been given,and there were 13 children who would be left without day care. She thought our community needed to take this very seriously. Christy Terry reminded everyone that on October 19,2019 at 10:00 a.m.there would be a Walk For Freedom to raise funds and awareness about human trafficking.As the Port&Commerce Advisory Board (PACAB) chair, Terry said in tonight's packet there was a portion of Ordinance 2019-016 that was highlighted which talked about single phase connecting to three phase; the Electric Utility Manager had done some research and discovered there was a rectifier that could connect, so this should no longer be a concern. Terry thought having JAG take over the Syncrolift had been a great decision on the city's part. Craig Ambrosiani said the Community Health Center(CHC)co-applicant agreement was coming before council tonight for amendment;this was due back to HRSA before October 23,2019. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14,2019 Volume 41,Page 15 Tommy Glanton was speaking on behalf of Seaview. He had concerns about the CHC co- applicant agreement, particularly the public entity provider portion. Although HRSA would no longer allow this language, Seaview wanted to have some assurance that that Seaview would be protected against competition from the CHC. Lynn Hohl was president of Seaview's governing services board.She was concerned that the co-applicant agreement would not adequately protect Seaview. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (McClure/Towsley) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Lane moved Resolution 2019-088 onto the consent agenda. Seese removed the introduction of Ordinance 2019-016 from the consent agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2019-088, Authorizing The City Manager To Select And Purchase, Outright, A Used Vactor Truck For A Total Amount Not To Exceed$106,000,From The Motor Pool Fund. Approval of the September 23, 2019 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. Certify the October 1,2019 Regular Municipal Election. Cancel the 12:00 p.m. work session on October 25, 2019 due to the 6:00 p.m. budget work session the same day. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards Fire Prevention Month American Legion Auxiliary 100th Anniversary Borough Assembly Report. Kenn Carpenter reported that the tax cap vote failed in the election,so another funding source for the schools would have to be identified.The assembly would meet next Tuesday and would be considering Dieckgraeff Road and the Seward airport. In response to McClure, Carpenter said the assembly decided to postpone the appointment versus selection of service area boards to allow time for more research. In response to Lane, City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41,Page 16 Carpenter said the election stakeholders group was researching by mail voting. In response to Lane, Carpenter said the mayor versus borough manager was voted down. In response to Squires,Carpenter said the borough mayor was trying to get several agencies together to work on Dieckgraeff Road so that it could be maintained without turning it into a service area road.The Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area Board(SBCFSAB)had requested$15,000 to dig out the road,and that had been turned down,but the borough mayor agreed to give SBCFSAB $10,000. Chamber of Commerce Report.Cindy Clock stated there were three new members.Mr. Matias Saari has been hired as the Mount Marathon Race Director. The chamber's Board of Directors elections would be held electronically next month. Clock thanked council for working collaboratively over her nine year tenure as director of the chamber;Clock was retiring and Jason Bickling would be taking over as director on November 1, 2019. Seese said Cindy Clock had done a super job. Towsley congratulated Clock on her retirement. City Manager Report.Scott Meszaros reported the following purchase orders over$5,000 had been approved by the City Manager since the last council meeting: $24,975 to Harmon Construction for sidewalk repairs; $7,296 to Potelcom Supply for 4" PVC conduit for Electric; $6,218.80 to Anixter, Inc. for#2 220 Mil concentric neutral jacketed wire for Electric; $12,468 to Anixter, Inc. for 167 kVA transformer for Electric; $538,000 to Motorola Solutions for Police dispatch radio system;and,$8,500 to Silvertip Communications for Power Factor Adjustment billing communication strategy for Electric. In response to Towsley, Electric Utility Manager John Foutz explained that the electric tariff currently indicated that the city was supposed to charge customers for a power factor,but the city's billing software was not able to produce that charge until the most recent update.As a result, Foutz was hiring a firm to create a communications plan to inform the large general customers who would be impacted by the additional charge so that they could prepare. Foutz did not know how many customers would be impacted by this additional charge, but thought it could be up to 100 customers. In response to McClure,Public Works Director Doug Schoessler said sidewalk repairs on Railway Avenue had just been completed. In response to Towsley,Foutz said a customer who used hundreds of thousands of kilowatt hours per month could potentially pay$2,500 in addition to their bill of$50,000-60,000.In response to Seese,Foutz said this charge would appear monthly, and was not related to the demand meters. In response to Towsley, Harbormaster Norm Regis was in Juneau last week for the Harbormasters Conference, and he personally delivered Resolution 2019-087 encouraging the governor to keep the Silvertip Maintenance Station open to the DOT representative.Regis said there were four service stations that were being closed due to budget concerns, including Silvertip,but City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41, Page 17 more overtime was being provided to the Girdwood and Crown Point stations. In response to Towsley, Meszaros said he did not meet with the governor when he was in town for the AVTEC event and so did not discuss the Silvertip closure with him. Regis said the Coast Guard would be in Seward on November 4, 2019 to discuss cutters. In response to Lane,Meszaros said the community development director position was posted internally. In response to Lane, Meszaros said an internally-posted position was not mutually exclusive to the position receiving external equity. In response to Seese,Meszaros said Jackie Wilde had been promoted to be the new Community Development Director. Meszaros introduced and welcomed new Parks & Recreation Director Tyler Florence. City Attorney Report. Holly Wells said her report was in the packet if council had any questions, but she had nothing new to add at this time. Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations ADA Presentation by Nick Woodard Providence Operational Update Report by Robert Rang Council recessed at 8:54 p.m. Council resumed at 9:05 p.m. PUBLIC HEARINGS—None UNFINISHED BUSINESS Items Postponed from Previous Agenda Discuss high organization core principles. Postponed from June 24, 2019, July 22, 2019, and August 26, 2019. Lane said she hoped that the city manager and council would consider ways to implement some of these principles into the city's business practices. Towsley supported the concept on the whole,and wondered what action was being suggested that council take. In response, Lane said she hoped that these principles would be incorporated into the city manager's goals at the next evaluation, adding that in order to accomplish that, they would have to be measurable. NEW BUSINESS Ordinances for Introduction ow] City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41,Page 18 Ordinance 2019-016, Amending City Code Section 14.15 — Electricity, Article 415 — Interconnection Requirements, Procedures, And Application Process For An Alternative Power Source Less Than 25kW. Motion (McClure/Lane) Introduce Ordinance 2019-016 Meszaros said this ordinance was brought forward by the Port&Commerce Advisory Board (PACAB),and it needed some work. Wells added that one of the firm's attorneys who had considerable experience with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska(RCA)was currently reviewing this ordinance.That attorney had reviewed the ordinance and had some small revisions to suggest. Wells recommended council introduce the ordinance tonight and she would furnish administration with the suggested amendments for council's consideration when it came for public hearing and enactment. In response to Towsley,Meszaros said the AVTEC windmill was hooked up to the grid. Motion to Introduce Passed Unanimous This ordinance was introduced tonight and will come for public hearing and enactment on October 28, 2019. Resolutions Resolution 2019-089,Approving Amendments To The Co-Applicant Agreement Between The Seward Community Health Center,Inc.And The City Of Seward. Motion (McClure/Towsley) Approve Resolution 2019-089 Meszaros referred to a replacement agenda statement laydown which he provided.The city had engaged a HRSA consultant in the development of this amended agreement. Motion to Amend (Towsley/Lane) Amend Resolution 2019-088 by adding a new Section 2 to read, "The Seward City Council intends to work with the CHC to develop a Memorandum of Agreement within 90 days from the passage of this resolution, delineating the procedure for compliance with Section 4.2.4 of the co- applicant agreement."and moving all other sections down. Council suspended the rules to speak with Craig Ambrosiani. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41, Page 19 Community Health Center Executive Director Craig Ambrosiani said he would be amenable to making changes to the policy rather than the resolution to address council's concerns. ..rl Council suspended the rules to speak with Lynn Hohl. Lynn Hohl wanted the resolution changed because it would be more permanent than a policy. Council went back on the rules. Motion to Amend Failed Yes: Towsley, Seese, Squires No: McClure, Osenga, Lane Squires said he believed that CHC Executive Director Craig Ambrosiani had committed himself to meeting the expectations of the community. Towsley concurred and said she had faith in the CHC director as well. Main Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Determine how many citizens to appoint to the Special Ad Hoc Citizen Advisory Committee for the purpose of researching options for the Seward Airport; then vote and appoint citizen applicants: Lynda Paquette,Steve Leirer,Walter Corrigan,Carol Griswold,Bruce Jaffa,Bob Linville, Fred Woelkers, Bob Reisner, and Duke Marolf. Motion (Towsley/McClure) Appoint all nine citizens, plus Stephanie Presley, to the committee and report back to council quarterly. Motion Passed Unanimous Mayor Squires appointed all nine citizen applicants plus Stephanie Presley to the committee, and also appointed Bruce Jaffa as chair of the committee. Council directed the city manager to forward all airport emails to the committee. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS On-going City Project and Goal List Lane inquired about where the report was about the Air Force Rec Camp property.Meszaros said he had an engineering report from R&M that he would send out. Following up, Lane asked if council could have a report on all of the projects that R&M was currently working on. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14, 2019 Volume 41,Page 20 111 In response to Seese, Squires thought the city could create a permit-only parking space for rear-loading accessible vehicles. Public records report through October 7, 2019 Lane asked when she could expect to see a response to her records request for salary information. Meszaros said there would be a charge for the records; Wells said by statute, the city was obligated to charge for records. Towsley expressed concerns about being charged for information that would be helpful to have for budget preparation.Wells said council could adopt a policy, if they wished, to have salary information posted publicly. Updated Workflow for Public Records Requests Proposed schedule for budget work sessions Motion (Squires/McClure) Reschedule the budget work session from October 25, 2019 to October 29, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (McClure/Towsley) Extend the adjournment time for tonight's meeting to midnight. Motion Passed Unanimous Providence Operational Update Report COUNCIL COMMENTS Towsley was troubled that the Electric Department was spending money on a public relations consultant. She thanked Heather Bardarson about bringing forward her concerns about childcare,and she thanked Christy Terry for bringing attention to human trafficking. Seese thanked Heather Bardarson about making her aware of the Big Bay Beginnings closure. She attended the Kevin Hines presentation at the school today, and thought the students were engaged by the presentation.Seese congratulated the American Legion Auxiliary on their centennial anniversary and for the expansion of membership requirements. Osenga wished a Happy Retirement to Cindy Clock, and wished the American Legion Auxiliary a Happy 100th Anniversary. He encouraged everyone to check their smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors. Lane wondered if there was an answer to the request for the DMV to do motorcycle licensing;in response,Police Chief Tom Clemons said it would be cost prohibitive to have the tests City of Seward,Alaska City Council Minutes October 14,2019 Volume 41,Page 21 performed in Seward. Lane thanked the city clerk for working hard on improving the council chambers sound system, and she thanked the city manager for hanging in there. Squires asked citizens for suggestions about what to do about childcare. He thanked Nick Woodard for his presentation, and wished a Happy Retirement to Cindy Clock. CITIZEN COMMENTS . Craig Ambrosiani thanked council for supporting the Community Health Center. Heather Bardarson thanked council for hearing her concerns about childcare,and said she would work on bringing back some solutions. Lynda Paquette thanked council for appointing her to the airport committee.She wondered how well the Alaska SeaLife Center was set up for ADA compliance. Lynn Hohl shared that she had twice had injuries that required her to be in a wheelchair and so she understood some of the hardships for accessibility. She wondered who the current ADA manager was for the city. She said all borough sales tax funds were required to be spent on borough schools. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Towsley thanked Lynn Hohl for her service on the school board for many years. Squires thought it was a good idea to check the SeaLife Center for ADA accessibility. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:12 p.m. Brenda J. Ballou ' MC Davi. - •uires City Clerk Mayor (City S'V.‘4 OF SE`I.�ss s c>`+GORp�Rq�0ow''o, • SEAL ) . i w ••. OFA 'sun..... ..