Tacoma City Council Meeting for January 11, 2011

PROCLAMATIONS, RECOGNITIONS, PRESENTATIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mayor Marilyn Strickland acknowledged and welcomed Pacific Luther University’s “Multicultural perspective in the classroom” class to the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT

• One person spoke about comments from last week’s council meeting about suggestions to increase public comment durations. He said extending public comment time limits are meaningless and would have little or no impact on council votes.

REGULAR AGENDA

COMMUNICATIONS

City Manager advising that on December 22, 2010, an emergency waiver was granted, in the amount of $750,000, for the South 35th Street and Union Avenue sewer main repair.

RESOLUTIONS
Resolution No. 38174 (Second reading) amends Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the City of Tacoma, changing Citizens’ Forum from the first meeting of the month to the second Tuesday of the month.

Resolution No. 38175 authorizes the execution and conveyance of an easement to supersede and replace an existing easement granted to Sprint Communications Company for its fiber-optic communications system within the Tacoma Rail Mountain Division rail corridor.

Resolution No. 38176 declares surplus two 20’x20’ sections of property adjacent to the alley right-of-way between South 18th and South 19th Streets west of Lawrence Street; and conveying said property to Farin Properties, LLC, in the amount of $5,009.91, for the development of a mixed-use office/commercial building with associated off-street parking and landscaping.

Resolution No. 38177 authorizes the execution of an amendment to the Lease Agreement with SDL Baseball Partners, LLC, to extend the substantial completion date to April 1, 2011, for additional construction elements to the Cheney Stadium renovation project.

Resolution No. 38178 authorizes the execution of a Trail and Utility Easement Agreement with the University of Washington-Tacoma, to allow the University to take title to certain property traversing the campus, in exchange for a binding commitment to grant easements for public access, utility corridor, and construction of a series of rain gardens for stormwater treatment.

PUBLIC HEARINGS AND APPEALS
This is the date set for a public hearing by the City Council on the conveyance of 8,912 square feet of real property located within the Tacoma Rail Mountain Division rail corridor near 176th Street East in Frederickson.

This is to complete a bridge as part of a road improvement project and will not affect future rail operations or expansions.

No citizens came forward to speak.

FINAL READING OF ORDINANCES
Ordinance No. 27872
Vacating the east 160 feet of the alley right-of-way between South 18th and South 19th Streets west of Lawrence Street, for the development of a mixed-use office/commercial building with associated off-street parking and landscaping. (Farin Properties, LLC; File No. 124.1318)

Ordinance No. 27965 amends Chapter 1.12 of the Municipal Code, relating to the Compensation Plan, to implement rates of pay and compensation for employees represented by the Tacoma Police Management Association, Local 26, I.U.P.A., retroactive to January 1, 2011.

FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES
Ordinance No. 27966 authorizes Tacoma Rail to reissue switching tariff TMBL 8807 and to adjust freight rates based on cost of service charges, generating an estimated $2,262,332 of additional revenue, effective February 1, 2011.

COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS OF THE CITY COUNCIL

• Councilmember Spiro Manthou gave a report from the Economic Development Committee.

• Councilmember Marty Campbell spoke about Tacoma’s approach to gang issues and said he believes Tacoma is leading the way in the state with the three-pronged approach to dealing with gang violence.

• Strickland invited the public to the city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration on Monday and Go Local Tacoma’s SHIFT Happens event at the Convention Center Jan. 31.