COUNCIL MEETINGS: Audio and Summary - MAY 25, 2006
(Agenda Packet for this meeting in Word, Acrobat and html and MINUTES from this meeting)

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City Minutes - May 25, 2006 Council Meeting

[G.R.IT. NOTE: please understand that anytime a G.R.I.T. note appears in italics, enclosed withi brackets as shown here, it is NOT part of the City's minutes as authored by them. In any event, if the final and approved minutes are required, these need to be obtained directly from the City.]

[G.R.I.T. NOTE - AUDIO FILE A, 6:51 min., 1.2 mb, includes meeting open, changes to agenda and presentation(s) by Debbie Copple and Gordon MacDonald.]

The regular meeting of the Sultan City Council was called to order in the Sultan Community Center by Mayor Pro-tem Seehuus. Councilmembers present: Slawson, Flower, Blair and Boyd.
Absent: Champeaux, Wiediger and Tolson

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: Executive Session: Add potential Litigation and real estate acquisition
Discussion: Add Interim Comprehensive Plan Amendment [G.R.I.T.NOTE: included in Audio File A, above.]


COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

  • Debbie Copple and Gordon MacDonald: Thanked the City for helping with the island flower planting. They gave a brief presentation on the Shindig events for this year and presented the logo designed by Rhonda Dickson from the Monroe Monitor. An exhibit of items from Sam's Saw Shop will be on display and there will be a memorial to Sam Wold which will highlight his Indian heritage and military service. [G.R.I.T.NOTE: included in Audio File A, above.]
  • Debbie Copple advised that the High School Marching and Jazz Band did an excellent job of representing the City during their performance in Disneyland. [G.R.I.T.NOTE: included in Audio File A, above.]

[AUDIO FILE b, 5:38 MIN., 993 KB]

  • Kerry Qurada: Attended the meeting on the Ramirez PUD and heard that the City had a moratorium in place on PUD's and asked why the project was accepted during the moratorium period. The application should not have been accepted and they should have to restart the project. Requested that Council reject the PUD and require them to resubmit.
  • Loretta Storm: Recommended that the Council listen to the tape on the Ramirez hearing to see how plats are being processed by staff. Need to take more care and heed the legalities. Transit is an issue on the Sultan Basin Road as the nearest bus stop is a mile away and residents must use a dangerous road for access. In regards to the proposed interlocals with Snohomish County, Dave Somers, County Representative, did not know anything about the proposals. Provisions appear to create more work for the Sultan Police Department.

COUNCILMEMBERS COMMENTS [Audio File C, 3:04 min., 541 kb]:

  • Blair: Commended the High School Band for their representation of the city.
  • Flower: Noted that the Dyer Road plat will be presented to the Council for action and it would not be appropriate to comment at this time. Agrees that the Sultan Basin Road is dangerous for walkers.
  • Slawson: Asked if there was a moratorium on PUD's? Thom Graafstra, City Attorney, advised that there was a moratorium at one time, however, he does not know if it applied to this application.

STAFF REPORTS:

[G.R.I.T NOTE: There was no Sultan Police Report given as Chief Walser was attending a convention.]

  • [Audio File D, 3:45 min., 661 kb] Public Works: Connie Dunn, Public Works Director, advised that the group working on the Sewer Facility Plan will be presenting recommendations at the June 13, 2006 workshop.
  • [Audio File E, 6:27 min., 1.1 mb] Grant Report: Donna Murphy announced that the Visitors Center received a CTED award for outstanding design of the building and in June the City will receive the AWC Municipal Achievement Award on the building. The City/School Committee alliance group is working on an emergency warning system funded by the PUD as part of the dam re-license process.
  • [Audio File F, 2:39 min., 468 kb] Finance: Gordon Hey, Interim Finance Director, advised that financial system conversion is going well and that staff is running parallel systems without problems. The Finance Department will do a budget call in July and is working on financial policies and procedures.
  • [Audio File G, 4:05 min., 720 kb] Planning: Rick Cisar advised that a comprehensive training program for the new Planning Board has been set up during June. In response to questions regarding park mitigation fees, advised that the Planning Board will be reviewing the proposed ordinance.

CONSENT AGENDA: [Audio File H, 0:30, 92 kb]
The following items are incorporated into the consent and approved by a single motion of the Council. On a motion by Councilmember Flower, seconded by Councilmember Blair, the consent agenda was approved as presented. Champeaux - aye; Wiediger - aye; Slawson - aye; Seehuus - aye; Flower - aye; Blair - aye, Boyd - aye.
1. Minutes of the May 11, 2006 Council meeting as on file in the Office of the City Clerk.
2. Minutes of the May 11, 2006 Public Hearing on the General Sewer Plan
3. Minutes of the May 11, 2006 Public Hearing on the Water System Plan
4. Vouchers #06-442 through 06-481 in the amounts of $61,000.52 and payroll through May 5, 2006 in the amount of $66,731.60 to be drawn and paid on the proper accounts.
5. Excused absence of Mayor Tolson and Councilmembers Champeaux and Wiediger from the May 25, 2006 Council meeting.

ACTION ITEMS:

  • [Audio File I, 2:05 min., 368 kb] Resolution 06-05 Shindig Event: Rick Cisar reviewed the resolution that designates the Shindig as an annual event and prohibits animals, bikes, and skateboards in the event area. On a motion by Councilmember Boyd, seconded by Councilmember Flower, Resolution 06-05, Shindig Event, was adopted. All ayes.
  • [Audio File J, 2:07 min., 374 kb] 5th Street Signal Project: Connie Dunn, Public Works Director, advised that the 5th Street Signal Project was completed and accepted by the engineers on April 10, 2006 and recommended that the Council accept the project. On a motion by Councilmember Flower, seconded by Councilmember Blair, the 5th Street Signal Project was accepted as complete. All ayes.
  • [Audio File K,5:20 min., 938 kb] Ordinance 925-06 General Sewer Plan: Connie Dunn, Public Works Director, reviewed the ordinance that provides for an amendment to the General Sewer Plan. Councilmember Blair objected to the payment to the engineers for the amended population projections when that work was supposed to be part of the original contract and staff was suppose to complete the work and also feels that staff should reveal that there will be additional fees during discussion. On a motion by Councilmember Boyd, seconded by Councilmember Slawson, Ordinance 925-06, General Sewer Plan, was introduced and passed on to a second reading. All ayes.
  • [Audio File L, 2:04 min., 366 kb] Ordinance 926-06 Water System Plan: Connie Dunn reviewed the ordinance that provides for an amendment to the Water System Plan. Councilmember Blair advised that the objections for this amendment are the same as for the Sewer Plan. On a motion by Councilmember Boyd, seconded by Councilmember Slawson, Ordinance 926-06, Water System Plan, was introduced and passed on to a second reading. All ayes.
  • [Audio File M, 7:33 min., 1.3 mb] Ordinance 924-06 Planning Board: Rick Cisar, Planning Director, reviewed the changes to the ordinance that were requested by the Council. Brief discussion was held regarding vacancies, the council liaison and reporting requirements.
    On a motion by Councilmember Blair, seconded by Councilmember Flower, Ordinance 924-06, Planning Board, was introduced and passed on to a second reading. All ayes.
  • [Audio File N, 12:03 min., 2.1 mb] Resolution 06-06 Steen Park: The applicant has submitted a request that the matter be continued to the next meeting. On a motion by Councilmember Flower, seconded by Councilmember Boyd, the matter was continued to the June 8, 2006 Council meeting. All ayes. Brief discussion was held regarding the Hearing Examiners recommendation and the payment of mitigation fees for police service. Councilmember Blair moved to direct staff to prepare an additional resolution that accepts the hearing examiner recommendation and refers the matter back to the hearing examiner. Seconded by Councilmember Slawson. All ayes, except Councilmember Boyd who vote nay.
  • [Audio File O, 2:47 min., 492 kb] Resolution 06-07 Cascade Breeze: The applicant has submitted a request that the matter be continued to the next meeting. On a motion by Councilmember Slawson, seconded by Councilmember Flower, the matter was continued to the June 8, 2006 Council meeting. All ayes.Councilmember Blair moved to direct staff to prepare an additional resolution that accepts the hearing examiner recommendation and refers the matter back to the hearing examiner. Seconded by Councilmember Slawson. All ayes, except Councilmember Boyd who vote nay.
  • [Audio File P,2:54 min., 511 kb] Council [financial] Workshop: Gordon Hey advised that there are several financial issues that need to be discussed and requested that the Council set a workshop date. A workshop was set for June 15, 2006 at 6:30 PM to discuss financial matters.
  • [Audio File Q, 2:35 min., 457 kb] Interlocal Agreements: Thom Graafstra, City Attorney, presented draft Interlocal agreements for park and police services with Snohomish County which address the use of City facilities and services by County residents. The consensus of the Council was to have the Mayor pursue the interlocals with Snohomish County. [G.R.I.T. NOTE: The interlocal for the police clearly stipulate that any reimbursement will be for services rendered by Sultan Police during narrowly-defined "disaster" and "emergency" situations; it is felt that the City's purpose is to obtain funding from the county that could help extricate it from the police levels of service deficits which have caused such havoc with recent pending development applications.]

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

[Audio File R, 4:44 min., 835 kb] Animal Control: Councilmember Slawson provided a sample Interlocal for animal control services from Snohomish County for discussion. Council requested that the staff look into the matter further.

[Audio File S, 2:08 min., 376 kb] June 22, 2006 Council Meeting: Council requested that staff prepare the necessary notices to change the meeting to June 15, 2006.

Interim Comp Plan Amendments:

[G.R.I.T. NOTE: This was a 16-minute discussion which we have split into three separate files for easier access, as follows:

Audio File T-1, 7:22 min. 1.3 mb, includes a long statement by C/M Blair re the LOS problem/hole the city is in; "The City did not consider finances" when creating and approving its Comp Plan and suggested that an "interim" CP amendment could be approved (under 36.70A.130) to help address this problem.

Audio File T-2, 5:06 min., 899 kb. includes discussion of timing of these issues; Graafstra states "emergency" ordinances can be tricky; Interim Financial Director Gordon Hey states that City's "poverty" should qualify as an "emergency." Cisar states he could prepare an ordinance for the council's June 8th meeting.

Audio File T-3, 9:53 min., 1.7 mb, includes C/M Blair's statement that "if the city had a financial plan, it wouldn't be in this fix to begin with" Gordon Hey states the dangers of the City's current "vague" financial plan.]

Discussion was held on the level of service for police that was included in the 2004 Comprehensive Plan. The plan provides for 2.6 officers per thousand residents but does not take into account the financial issue of the City. Voter approved tax cuts have reduced the City's ability to fund the police department to the levels provided for in the Comprehensive Plan. Rick Cisar advised that the level of service will be included in the comprehensive plan amendments that the Planning Board will be working on this year. The current level of service in the plan is based on the conditions that existed in 2004. The level of service element is not a required part of the comprehensive plan, it is optional. Brief discussion was held on lowering or eliminating the level of service for the police department and preparing an interim ordinance to implement the change immediately. Staff was directed to prepare a draft ordinance for the June 8, 2006 Council meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

[Audio File U-1, 6:31 min., 1.1 mb, includes Gibson's and Fallgatter's comments]

  • Gerry Gibson: Must deal with the concurrency issue and since the Comp Plan was adopted, the level of service has gone down and population has gone up. The Council is only taking action to change the level of service due to the current hearing examiner decisions on the plats. They should be concerned about the service to the citizens and not change to accommodate the developers.
  • Josie Fallgatter: In the Steen and Cascade Breeze plats the Hearing Examiner decision was to return the plats to applicant for compliance with concurrency. There is a concurrency ordinance that includes police, water, sewer, parks and streets and there must be an identified level of service. The plan is suppose to be a 20 year plan and there should not be emergencies. If they change the plan to lower the level of service, they must notify the public of their intent. There are requirements for changing the plan and concurrent review of the docketed items must occur.
  • [Audio File U-2, 4:14 min., 747 kb] Loretta Storm: The Council is in a tough position now. They had to raise sewer rates because other councils did not take action and if they cut back police service they will be criticized. Must find a way to fund services and not cut services. The developer has property rights but the other residents also have rights that will be impacted by the plats.

COUNCIL COMMENTS [Audio File V, 8:04 min., 1.4 mb] contains the remainder of the meeting, with the exception of the executive session, of course, and the council's adjournment following that session.]

  • Boyd: Noted that reducing the level of service number does not reduce the number of police officers. Retail sales tax is not sufficient to support the police services and the level of service element can be removed from the concurrency requirements.
  • Blair: The Council is not reducing the current police department, the issue is the LOS in the comp plan.
    They have been looking at the issue for over a year and it did not come up because of the current plats. The issue should have been addressed this year as part of the comp plan amendment.
  • Flower: Would like to see more police and the interlocals with the County are an attempt to recover some of the cities cost incurred for providing police service to the county.

Executive Session: On a motion by Councilmember Flower, seconded by Councilmember Boyd, the Council adjourned to executive session for forty five minutes to discuss potential litigation and real estate acquisition. All ayes.

Adjournment: On a motion by Councilmember Boyd, seconded by Councilmember Slawson, the meeting adjourned at 9:45 PM.