AUDIO & SUMMARY & Agenda Documents:
City of Sultan Council Meeting June 28, 2007

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ALL DOCUMENTS IN AGENDA PACKET
(as a single 9.9 mb pdf file)

6:00 PM Public Hearing - 2007 Budget Amendments (907 kb pdf) (AUDIO File 2.9 mb)
G.R.I.T. NOTE: The hearing included an "unadvertised" budget amendment item (and unsupported by any documentation: the cost of retaining an attorney to represent Sultan's Civil Service Commission in an appeal of the city decision to place Chief Walser on a Leave of Absence and without advising the Commission of that action, or the appeal received by the City from J. C. Becker, Walser's attorney in this matter. [HERE'S A TRANSCRIPTION of all "public" actions taken by council 6/28 (The City's three actions this night -- the inclusion of this item in the budget hearing, the approval of Ord. 953-07 approving these budget amendments (on 1st reading), and approval to hire an attorney to represent the Commission, all occurred without oversight even though the actions were taken "in plain sight" right under the noses of the public. (It wasn't until my curiosity over what precise action had been taken that evening prompted me to do a transcription of all actions, that I realized what had actually occurred.]

6:30 PM Presentation - US 2 Rural Route Development Update (in three parts: Audio Part #1 (2.0 mb) is WSDOT's Richard Warren's Presentation of the final draft RDP; Audio Part #2 (1.4 mb), Questions from Councilmembers Flower, Champeaux, and Slawson; Audio Part #3 (1.0 mb), questions from Derek Boyd and Deborah Knight re the 331st Street SE incursion onto U. S. 2's north (WB) lane not considered in the RDP.

7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER - Pledge of Allegiance; Roll Call; Changes to Agenda, C/M Jim Flower requested that Consent Agenda Item #4, the contract with MWW to lobby the state legislature, be moved to the ACTION agenda. (Audio File A, 207 kb)

COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
  • Dave Wood, VOA - Excellent information; please listen to his comments. (Audio File B-1, 5:20 min., 940 kb) A meeting of Valley public officials has been set, the subject of which is discussion of Sultan's youth and their entertwined futures: Tuesday, July 10th at 2:00 PM at Sultan's VOA (on first street near High).

    (Audio File B-2, 3:41 min.,648 kb - includes Hollenbeck's and Ourada's statements)

    • Susan Hollenbeck - Re continued inability to park at Porter Lane; submitted photos taken within the last 30 days to show council that the situation and problem continues.
    • Kerry Ourada - (1) Requests an explanation as to Chief Walser's departure/placed on leave; (2) upset with the manner in which the council handled their "Special" June 21st council meeting (to hire a "Special assistant" attorney to represent the city re Walser investigation, and to hire/approve Dennis Richards (from the Prothman Group) as a temporary, per-hour police chief; (3) With Officer Holman leaving the SPD, the city has lost a great resource. (Audio File B-C, 3:41 min.

COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS
  • {Audio File C-1, 2:05 min.) Includes comments by C/M Seehuus and Flower
    • John Seehuus - Thanked everyone for coming. Said Kerry Ourada "stole some of my thunder." He stated Officer Holman's resignation "hit me like a ton of bricks. That's a great loss for our community and I think it's time we put this behind us and move on and keep our local control. It's --it's almost reprehensible."
    • Jim Flower - Thanked Dave Wood for his efforts with Volunteers of America, safe stop and these kids, and it looks as if he's making headway. He will make every effort he can to make that meeting to help with the strategy, as "these kids are our future and they just need a little bit of help." Thanked Susan Hollenbeck for coming. Also thanked Kerry Ourada for his comments. Flower stated "it was quite a shock to hear of the loss of one of our finest officers [Holman[," along with Stebbins' departure "on account of this ongoing uncertainty" and his heart goes out to them and their families. He sincerely wishes the city can resolve this and "embrace our local control and rebuild the fine department that we had."
  • Kristina Blair - Thanks to Dave Wood; comments re Safe Stop and parking problems; agrees with others that SPD/Sheriff's comparison has dragged on long enough, and the city needs a contract now. (Audio File C-2, 1:42 min.)
  • Derek Boyd - Comments re Hollenbeck situation. Feels SPD issue IS an issue; the city should have had a back-up contract for service long ago. (Audio File C-3, 1:36 min.)
  • Audio File C-4, 1:41 minutes (includes comments by Champeaux, Slawson and Wiediger)
    • Bruce Champeaux - Comments re Holman's departure. He feels saddened she's leaving. But he; has known her for 15 years, even before she was a police officer. He state that she assured him that whether the city contracts with the county or they keep local control, has no bearing whatsoever on her decision."
    • Steve Slawson - Thanked everyone for coming. He said in the 18 months he's been on council there've been police issues: last year it was not having enough officers. Then according to the paper there was a crisis last year. Now we have the same thing so we've got to find a fix and he thinks that's what they're trying to do.
    • Ron Wiediger - Thanke everyone for coming. Double-checked the date of the VOA meeting (July 10th, at 2:00 PM at the VOA resource center),
  • Mayor Ben Tolson; "Mr. Ourada, you requested an explanation at this point in time with the ongoing investigation. I can't comment. Uh....I hope to be able to when this is all said and done. Um....this would not be happening if it did not need to be happening. That's...about as much as I can say about that at this point in time. However, I .... uh... [long pause] -- this isn't any fun for me. So." (Audio File C-5, 37 seconds)



    STAFF REPORTS- Written Reports Submitted - No discussion, no audio.
    • Finance Staff Report (746 kb pdf)
CONSENT AGENDA (AUDIO FILE D, 28 sec., 84 kb): The following items are incorporated into the consent agenda and approved by a single motion of the Council.


ACTION ITEMS:

DISCUSSION ITEMS

  • Sewer Availability Distribution Policy (451 kb pdf) (AUDIO FILE D-2, 13:05 min.)
  • Green Waste (County) Recycle Program (491 kb pdf): This involved a lengthy discussion about the county's interest in purchasing land near, and owned by, the Sultan cemetery to use as a green waste recycling area, and the possibility of "trading" or offering some type of land exchange for county land owned on the north side of 124th St. SE (west of the Sultan Basin Road) which might be used as a park. (AUDIO FILE D-3, 17:14 min.)

    • G.R.I.T. NOTE: Anyone familiar with the topography of the county parcel on 124th mentioned during these discussions knows the significant challenges that exist for development of parkland. This acreage would undoubtedly be used by the City to add to the 35 acres comprised primarily of critical slopes near the City's Water Treatment Plant facility that the city annexed last summer to help dig the city out of its large open space/recreation LOS [level of service] hole as mandated in the City's comprehensive plan. The addition of that 35-acre "parkland" was highly controversial, not just because its critical steep slopes made it unusable, but also because of its location: Behind barbed-wire-topped chain-link fencing carrying the not-so-resident-friendly message, "NO TRESPASSING"! You say you don't believe us? That's cool. Just see for yourself:

    The 35 acres bordering Sultan's Water Treatment Plant are located west (and partially north) of the plant. Directions: Drive north of Sultan Basin Road. Turn west (Left) onto 124th St. SE. Several feet after driving past the Rosewood Estates housing development (on your left), you will see a "Private Property" sign along a private driveway owned by, well, private parties. If you dare to trespass and continue on that private driveway (but we do not recommend that), about 1/2 block further west, you'll come to the "NO TRESPASSING" gates of the City's Water Treatment Plant. The "Parkland" is located on the west and north sides of the city's fencing. On your way back to Sultan Baasin Road along 124th St., not far afer passing the Rosewood development (this time on your right), keep your eyes on the left side of the road. Within a 1/4 mile (approx.), you'll pass a large bare dirt and gravel PIT with high sides carved out from the county's gravel extraction activities in that location. THAT is the site of a new proposed Sultan park.

  • No Parking Zones (197 kb pdf) (AUDIO FILE D-4, 11:24 min.)


PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS ONLY

Susan Hollenbeck re parking (shares a code from City of Puyallup re this subject) (AUDIO FILE F, 1:36 min.)

COUNCILMEMBER RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS (AUDIO FILE G, 3:29 min.)

Executive Session:

Adjournment- 10:00 PM or at the conclusion of Council business.

 

NOTES ON OUR DIGITAL RECORDING AND FILES:

  • This audio is accurate and complete. However, we urge that people contact the City directly to obtain the final agenda, and certified minutes, ordinances, resolutions or other documents: City Clerk Laura Koenig 360-793-2231. If you receive the automated message, you can bypass it and go directly to her voicemail by pressing "2" and then the pound (#) sign.
  • As of the October 26, 2006 council meeting, the city began recording meetings using a Morantz MP3 digital recorder, which has records directly from the microphones to the recorder, thus, clearly than the audio we present here, with is captured from "room" sound from a microphone located near the podium. If you wish to secure a copy of the City's audio, contact Clerk Koenig.
  • All of our digital audio files are in MP3 format, playable on Windows Mediaplayer or other MP3-compatible digital device