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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11122019 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12,2019 Volume 41,Page 34 CALL TO ORDER The November 12,2019 regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m.by Mayor Christy Terry. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Tom Clemons led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Christy Terry presiding and Sue McClure Sharyl Seese John Osenga Kelley Lane Dale Butts Tony Baclaan comprising a quorum of the Council; and Scott Meszaros, City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Holly Wells, City Attorney Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Pat Messmer was the president of the Seward Public Employees Association(SPEA)and said he reviewed the wage study results that were just released. He said the wage study was a negotiated item between the city and the union, and the intent was to see how Seward compared to other communities throughout the Kenai Peninsula Borough;however,many of the cities included in the study were from outside of the borough. He was concerned that cost of living factors had not been included, and added that there were several discrepancies between the wages quoted in the study and the actual wages of city employees.Messmer said the recommendation for an open range merit plan system was concerning because it could allow a supervisor or department head to choose favorites.For his own position as corporal,the study recommended a demotion to patrol officer;at a time when crime was a concern for the whole community,Messmer thought it would be wiser to take advantage of an underutilized position rather than demote it;he had 20 years of experience and was willing to take on additional duties. He requested a work session with council before beginning negotiations with the city. Kyle Walker was a writer for the Seward Journal, and he objected to the first executive session on tonight's agenda because it wasn't specific enough for the public to know what was being discussed. Walker said it was the public who decided whether council could meet in executive City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 35 session or not.The way the executive session was stated on the agenda,it suggested that one or more council members had been, or currently were, out of compliance with the Charter. Keeping the reason for having the executive session secret was more harmful than holding it in public. Walker was concerned that,if the executive session was held,the public might have the impression that one or more members of council had violated the law, but the public would not be informed. Suzi Towsley recited the reasons for having an executive session from city code;she agreed with Kyle Walker that the public had a right to know what was happening.Towsley said the city had a records retention schedule that contained prescribed retention periods; she suggested that the council freeze the destruction of records for some time in case a forensic audit became necessary in the future. Ristine Casagranda echoed the sentiments of Walker and Towsley; she thought the executive session reason was not specific enough. The public wanted to know what was being discussed. She encouraged council to take steps to preserve the right of council members to act as citizens. Regarding Resolution 2019-095 for the federal lobbyist contact,Casagranda supported this because she thought it would be critical for the Lowell Canyon Tunnel project to maintain consistency, although, she thought in the future it would be wise to consider going out to RFP for federal lobbying services because other communities did not spend as much as Seward. Regarding the special improvement district discussion,Casagranda wished that"affordable housing"would be clearly defined. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (McClure/Lane) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion to Amend (Osenga/McClure) Amend the reason for the first executive session from SCC 2.10.030(b)(2),"Subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person, provided the person may request a public discussion"to (b)(5), "Matters, which by law, municipal charter, or ordinance are required to be confidential." Motion to Amend Passed Yes: Seese,Butts,Osenga,McClure,Terry No: Lane, Baclaan Motion to Amend (Lane/Seese) Amend the agenda by striking all three executive sessions from the agenda. Motion to Amend Failed Yes: Seese, Baclaan, Lane No: Butts, McClure, Osenga,Terry McClure removed the third executive session to discuss strategy for negotiations from the agenda. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 36 Terry removed the Borough Assembly Report from the agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Resolution 2019-094, Appropriating$233,905.44 To Replace The Northeast Launch Ramp. Resolution 2019-095, Approving Amendment No. 19 To The Contract With Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, A Professional Corporation, For Federal Lobbying Services Through December 31, 2021 For A Total Of$92,000 Annually. Resolution 2019-096, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into An Agreement With Electric Power Systems To Repair And Upgrade The Control System For Generator Six In The Amount Of$227,848, Plus Ten Percent Contingency Of$22,785, For A Total Amount Of$250,633, And Appropriating Funds. Approval of the October 28, 2019 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. Appoint Benjamin Smith to the Port&Commerce Advisory Board with a term expiring July, 2022. Non-objection to the renewal of the following liquor licenses:#5287 Restaurant/Eating Place— Public Convenience Seasonal for Seward Brewing Company AND#5288 Brewpub—Seasonal for Seward Brewing Company. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards Mind-A-Mazes Proclamation Recognizing David Squires for his service as Mayor Recognizing Suzi Towsley for her service as Council Member Recognizing Jeremy Horn for his service as Council Member City Manager Report. City Manager Scott Meszaros reported the following purchase orders over$5,000 had been approved by the City Manager since the last council meeting: $8,100 to Potelcom Supply for bumper posts;$5,892.96 to Shoreside Petroleum for mobilgard 410;$5,546.35 to Construction Machinery Industrial for grader edge. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 37 Meszaros announced the following scoring criteria for the Request for Proposals for Land Appraisal Services: Depth of Market Experience 20 Past Performance 10 Availability 20 Understanding of the Work to be Performed 20 Proposed Cost 30 Total 100 Meszaros wanted to recognize the Seward Fire Department and Seward Police Department for accomplishing a dramatic improvement in the city's ISO rating,dropping the city's score from 4 to 3. Deputy Fire Chief Clinton Crites thanked council for their support, and said if any homeowners realized a savings in their homeowners insurance policy rates,please let him know;the ISO rate improvement could potentially save the citizens money on their homeowners insurance. Motion (Lane/Baclaan) Suspend records destruction for one year. Lane said history was very important, and there may be a need to look back. Motion Failed Yes: Seese, Baclaan, Lane No: McClure, Osenga, Butts, Terry Butts inquired about an update on the status of the Fast Response Cutters(FRC). In response, Meszaros said he and Harbormaster Norm Regis had met with the U.S. Coast Guard and Senator Dan Sullivan last Monday. The cutter would be positioned at SMIC, and the appropriation for the FRC had been affirmed. In response to Lane, Police Chief Tom Clemons said regarding the Preston Atwood case, well over 1,000 man hours had been spent on the case,and over 40 search warrants had been served. Clemons said multiple agencies had contributed to this case. Terry said the Silvertip Maintenance Station resolution and letter had been provided to Senator Micciche by the city manager. Baclaan wondered if the city should be handling future murder investigations, or if there needed to be a new procedure established.Terry suggested the city utilize social media resources like Facebook and Twitter more to communicate with the public.Terry added that she would like to have a work session to discuss how to best utilize the city's public information officer,or else determine if social media would be managed from the city manager's office. Baclaan thought that was a good idea, but was still concerned that there had been a problem with public relations and how the department dealt with providing information. Council directed the City Clerk to provide public information policies to council. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12,2019 Volume 41,Page 38 In response to Lane, Terry requested the city clerk and city manager work together to schedule a work session on social media within the next 60 days.Baclaan wanted to be very clear in stating that he didn't think anyone in the public was happy with the way the Atwood investigation happened, and they wanted to see a different way of handling things established for the future. Baclaan referenced the comments made in the previous council meeting that there were budget constraints related to this investigation,and wondered why the city would take on the investigation if that were the case. In response to Lane, hiring over next few weeks, Meszaros looking for finance director, harbor,city planner,and corrections officer.Terry noted that the city planner position had an external indicator assigned to it, and thought that no position should be advertised with an external equity indicator attached to it; external equity should be a factor only if the candidate's qualifications warranted it.Meszaros said in the future,all external equity would likely be removed once the wage study had been addressed. City Attorney Report. Holly Wells didn't have anything to add to her written report,but wanted to address one item that was a national level litigation. In response to Lane,Wells said the total bill for September was$11,832.In response to Lane, Wells said her firm had not worked on the wage study. Wells explained that there was a class action negotiation notice in which Seward was included, for which Seward had not received notice. Wells discovered that Seward was named because she performed a search. A group of municipalities in Ohio filed a class action negotiation (not a lawsuit)was filed to challenge big pharma on the health impacts of opioids.If the negotiation resulted in an award,Seward would be qualified to receive some funds. If Seward chose to opt out, the city would then have to bring their own suit if they wished to pursue the issue. In response to Lane, Wells said she was not aware of any Alaskan communities that had opted out of the class action negotiation. The Alaska Municipal League of Attorneys was planning a conference call regarding this issue.In response to Baclaan regarding whether opting in would preclude the city from pursuing other litigation,Wells said she checked on that topic and found there would be no impact on Seward's ability to seek other action. In response to Butts, Wells said she did not know what monies may or may not result from this negotiation. In response to Butts,Wells said there would be no cost to the city to remain in the negotiation. On another note, Wells recommended council schedule a special meeting to consider approving a resolution to support an Internet Sales Tax Commission, and appointing a city representative to take part on the commission.Should Seward choose not to be involved,there was a potential of lost revenue. The commission would create the rules for charging sales tax on internet sales for the state. Motion(McClure/Osenga) Schedule a Special Meeting on November 15, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 39 Motion Passed Unanimous Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations Job Classification and Compensation Study Results Presentation by Joellen Cademartori from GovHR USA. PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2019-093, Amending The Port & Harbor Tariff Regulations To Change The Customer Charge for Tenants. Motion (McClure/Osenga) Approve Resolution 2019-093 Regis said electric was billed from the 15`h to the le of the month. If the charges were broken up into weekly increments, it would make more sense, be appreciated by the harbor customers, and would not be a great loss of revenue. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. Kyle Walker asked if there was a meaningful difference between this kind of customer charge and the one in the electric tariff. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed. Regis said in the harbor,the boats moved around a lot. This charge was more of a fee than a usage charge. This benefitted 536 tenants who owned slips so they won't be overcharged. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS— None NEW BUSINESS Discuss purchasing a table,or providing sponsorship,for the Alaska SeaLife Center Gala to be held on February 8, 2020 in Anchorage, and who will attend. Terry passed the gavel to Vice Mayor McClure and declared a potential conflict of interest because she served on the board of directors at the ASLC. McClure ruled no conflict existed with no objection from council. McClure returned the gavel to Terry. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12,2019 Volume 41,Page 40 Meszaros said the Alaska Railroad purchased their own table, and Terry would be seated there. Community Development Director Jackie Wilde said in the past administration purchased one table,usually seating 8 to 10 guests. In response to Osenga,Meszaros said the table price was $2,500. Baclaan had volunteered for the past three years,and was planning to volunteer again in 2020 so he wouldn't be seated at the table,but would be attending. Lane attended in 2019 as a guest of former city manager Jeff Bridges. However, she wondered now if this was the best use of city funds. Butts said he wasn't sure if he would be able to attend because he would be in Homer right before the Gala,but he wanted to attend. Osenga said he could attend. McClure proposed that council split the cost of a table with the city manager. Lane did not support that. Motion (McClure/) Council pay$1,250 for half a table. P Motion Passed Yes: Seese,Butts,Osenga,McClure,Terry No: Lane,Baclaan Discuss the Special Improvement District—Gateway Subdivision,and direct the city manager to bring forward a resolution for public hearing on December 9,2019. Wilde was seeking direction from council to bring forward a resolution to create a special assessment district. Council suspended the rules to speak with Phil Zimmerman. Phil Zimmerman said nothing had changed for him since he submitted his request for an improvement district in May, 2019. He chose to put a hold on his development plans until a reimbursement program could be defined. Council went back on the rules. Motion (McClure/Seese) Direct the city manager to bring forward a resolution for public hearing on December 9, 2019 to create a special improvement district. Moiton Passed Unanimous City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 41 Discuss canceling the standing Friday work sessions. Terry thought the original intent for holding standing work sessions to review the agenda packets was admirable,but didn't think they accomplished their intent. Her observations had been that the public had to attend both the Friday work session and the Monday council meeting to get the full picture. She wanted council to call for work sessions as needed. Motion (Seese/McClure) Cancel the standing Friday work sessions. Meszaros echoed Terry's observations;he thought it was disconnecting to have two processes for a council meeting. Meszaros said last Friday,Terry had met with him along with another council member,and he appreciated having the opportunity to meet. Butts said it would be difficult for him to attend Friday work sessions due to his work schedule. Baclaan concurred and said it would be difficult for him to attend Fridays as well. Lane agreed, and thought the Friday work session penalized people who had full time jobs. McClure reflected that the original intent of the Friday work sessions was a good one,based on the committee structure that the borough used,but it only worked if everyone was able to attend the Friday work session and the Monday council meeting. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss formalizing a reporting process for when council directs the City Attorney, City Manager, or City Clerk by motion. Lane said she wanted a more formalized process for receiving follow up on outstanding directions given by council,particularly when not directed by motion. In response to Lane,Meszaros said he felt like there were a lot of miscellaneous projects and reports that he was assigned, so creating another report seemed excessive. Meszaros said the minutes reflected the direction given by council, and that was a good source for information. Wells said she had a different perspective and she would appreciate having to report back more formally to council to ensure that her firm was being responsive. Motion (Lane/) Direct the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk to formalize the reporting process when direction has been given by council as follows: the city attorney will create a dedicated section with the monthly written city attorney report to report on the status of any new,open,or ongoing directives;the same for the city manager; and for the city clerk, will include an agenda statement or memo in the agenda packet to report on the City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41,Page 42 Or status of any new, open, or ongoing directives. Motion died for lack of a second. Discuss creating a designated work space in City Hall for council, boards, and commissions. In response to Lane, Meszaros said there was a small conference room that would be available to council,boards, and commissions to use as meeting or work space. He recommended that appointments to use the room be made through his executive liaison. In response to Lane, Meszaros agreed that a desktop computer and a printer could be installed in that room. Motion (Lane/Baclaan) Direct the city manager to create a work space for council, boards, and commissions ithin city hall. Baclaan concurred with Lane's sentiments,and said he would appreciate having a work space to use. Motion Passed Yes: Lane, Baclaan,McClure,Seese,Terry No: Butts, Osenga INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS On-Going City Project and Goal List. August, 2019 City and Providence Financials. Public records report through November 6, 2019. Deputy City Clerk memo on Records Destruction through December, 2018. Letter of appreciation from ISO.for the Public Protection Classification survey. COUNCIL COMMENTS Baclaan said a couple of weeks ago Aisha passed away who worked at the Army Resort and at Mt Haven;he expressed his condolences to her family and friends.Baclaan thanked everyone for coming tonight and speaking. Butts thanked all veterans for their service. He also thanked the previous council members for their service. Butts gave a special shout out for the ISO rating accomplishment; it took a lot of work to achieve that. His prayers and thoughts were with the Atwood family. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41,Page 43 Osenga congratulated all the Mind-A-Mazes participants. He thanked Dave Squires, Suzi Towsley, and Jeremy Horn for their service on council. Seese thanked all the students for participating in Mind-A-Mazes, and she thanked all veterans for their service. McClure congratulated the students for their Mind-A-Mazes accomplishments,and the Fire Department for the ISO rating.McClure said our community was fortunate to have so many people be so involved in service. She thanked everyone for coming tonight. Lane recalled wanting to see the movie Pretty Woman when she was a teenager, but her mother wouldn't allow her to; in college she watched the movie a bunch of times. Lane said there was a time when people needed to differentiate from their parents,and a time when they needed to draw closer.Lane's family was in Washington and Florida,and she hoped to spend more time with her family.She was grateful to have a full dais tonight,and she thanked citizens for speaking tonight. Terry thanked all the veterans and the Army Rec Camp and Coast Guard Mustang families. The Coast Guard buoy tender Kukui would be in Seward on Thursday and Friday for repairs. CITIZEN COMMENTS Patrick Messmer said the city would be saving$470,000 with the new health insurance plan, but the employees' overall package, including pay, retirement, and healthcare would be going backwards if out-of-pocket healthcare costs increased but pay remained static. Messmer said the Police Department had 15 positions turn over since 2015; it cost$46,000 to train a police officer. Messmer asked council to consider setting aside$300,000 for potential salary increases. Carol Griswold said she attended the Board of Adjustment appeal hearing tonight for a rezone appeal, and was very concerned that the procedures for this appeal were not disclosed in advance. She thought the city code needed to be amended to require a minimum size for public notices being posted on the property.Griswold was confused as to the nature of the"hybrid"appeal hearing because there was nothing in the code that referenced it;she thought the result was a round- and-round scenario,and that the result was a convoluted,stressful,and expensive way to handle the situation. Maggie Wilkins was humbled by all the support for the Boys&Girls Club;she welcomed any collaboration with the city. Christiana Smith was a parent of an eighth grader and a preschooler. She had spoken previously about her concerns about the attendance levels at the Teen Rec Room(TRR)and Teen& Youth Center (TYC). Smith wished there would be an open public discussion about why the attendance numbers fluctuated at TYC and TRR. Smith said the Boys&Girls Club currently didn't offer all the same programs the city did, such as summer camp. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12,2019 Volume 41,Page 44 Ristine Casagranda said every member of council had the right to ask the city attorney if their names would be mentioned in executive session, and if that were the case,that person would have the right to hold the discussion in public. Casagranda thought the city's budget process was broken, and that a finance committee would be advantageous to work on the city's budget all year long. She believed the city had $37 million in savings, and said there was a high school student in Seward who was going to try out for the Olympics as a swimmer;perhaps the city would consider creating an aquatic center for the community. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Meszaros said the budget process had two public hearings,and he looked forward to having strategic budget discussions with council. Lane acknowledged Messmer's comments and agreed that losing additional city employees would be detrimental. Terry thanked Benjamin Smith for joining the Port&Commerce Advisory Board(PACAB). Seese was happy to hear that Maggie Wilkins and Tyler Florence were meeting and talking about how to collaborate about the Boys & Girls Club. She congratulated Lydia Jacobey on her swimming accomplishments. EXECUTIVE SESSION wow Go into Executive Session to address Council Member compliance with Seward Charter Chapter 3.7"Restrictions of power of Council." (SCC 2.10.030 (b)(5)). Motion(McClure/Seese) Go into Executive Session to address Council Member compliance with Seward Charter Chapter 3.7 "Restrictions of power of Council." The city manager and city clerk were invited to stay. In response to Lane, Wells said that no person would be named in this executive session. Motion Passed Yes: McClure, Butts, Osenga, Terry No: Lane, Baclaan, Seese Council recessed at 10:17 p.m. Council resumed at 10:25 p.m. Council went into executive session at 10:25 p.m. Council came out of executive session at 10:56 p.m. r.. Motion (McClure/Seese) Extend the meeting to midnight. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes November 12, 2019 Volume 41, Page 45 Motion Passed Yes:McClure,Osenga,Seese,Baclaan,Butts, Terry No; Lane Go into Executive Session for matters pertaining to threatened or pending litigation. (SCC 2.10.030 (b)(3)). Wells stated that this executive session was no longer necessary because she discussed the class action negotiation earlier in tonight's meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:59 p.m. cs4, - :renda J. B.Po , MC risty Teny City Clerk Mayor ,so ss (City Seale '^ s/� �'qOA•���Op�e a • UEI.`Vi C7 U ci 0 \ P,hgr�w� � P1G4ti OF Pk -�"