January 25, 2012 · Derek

Tacoma City Council Meeting - January 24, 2012

CONSENT AGENDA

RESOLUTIONS

Resolution No. 38411 Sets Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at approximately 5:30 p.m., as the date for a public hearing by the City Council on the proposed sale of a single-family home and ten acres acquired by Tacoma Power located at 1670 Spencer Road in Onalaska, to John and Ashlee Remmereid, for the amount of $185,000.

Resolution No. 38412 Sets Monday, February 27, 2012, at 5:00 p.m., as the date for a hearing by the Hearing Examiner for Local Improvement District (LID) 8659, for permanent alley pavement in several locations

PROCLAMATIONS, RECOGNITIONS, PRESENTATIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mayor Strickland recognized Rodney Kerslake’s 43 year career of exemplary service to the City of Tacoma in a long list of capacities including (but by no means limited to) planning technician, interim city manager and hearing examiner, and proclaimed January 24, 2012 Rodney M. Kerslake Day.

A motion was made and passed to remove resolutions 38414 and 38415 from the agenda at this time. The two resolutions were removed from the agenda while the City looks at outside contracts, per the request of staff.

PUBLIC COMMENT

As with last week’s meeting, comment was focused on the question of adding support for HB 2229 to the City’s State Legislative Agenda Priorities for the year. All three commenters this week were union-affiliated, and all three framed the question as one of transparency for Multicare.

REGULAR AGENDA

RESOLUTIONS

Purchase Resolution No. 38413 Awards a contract to: Agilent Technologies, in the amount of $246,587.07, including sales tax, budgeted from the Surface Water Fund, for an Agilent 7000B Triple Quadrupole Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer with Sample Prep Workbench, for use by the City’s laboratory – Sole source.

Based solely on how cool it sounds, we at Exit133 have decided to look into buying our very own Agilent 7000B Triple Quadrupole Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer with Sample Prep Workbench. Maybe we’ll ask Santa for one for Christmas. We’re fairly certain we can’t shoot an eye out with it. … fairly certain …

Resolution No. 38414 Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, in the amount of $250,000, budgeted from the General Fund, for the operation of the Topping HOPE Center in South Tacoma, for the period of January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

Resolution No. 38415 Authorizing the execution of an agreement with Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, in the amount of $355,072, budgeted from the General Fund, for the Phoenix Housing Network, counseling, and homeless adult services, for the period of January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

Resolution No. 38416 Authorizes the execution of a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 483, Water Division Unit, which covers approximately 124 budgeted, full-time positions, and provides in part for zero wage increases in both 2011 and 2012, a market-based increase in 2013, and a Consumer Price Index-based increase in 2014, effective January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2014.

This resolution, already approved by TPU, provides for wage increases, but does not affect the general fund.

Resolution No. 38417 Adopts the 2012 City of Tacoma State Legislative Agenda Priorities.

The resolution passed after the removal of sections in support of “innovation schools” and HB 2229 (requirements for making the salaries and compensation of top paid nonprofit employees public), pending further consideration. As a reminder, the Council can continue to consider its position on issues at the state legislative level throughout the year, but this document serves as a directive for government affairs staff to prioritize their work.

Resolution No. 38418 Authorizes the execution of a Tentative Agreement and two supporting Memorandums of Agreement with Tacoma Police Union, Local 6, I.U.P.A., which covers approximately 374 budgeted, full-time positions, effective through December 31, 2014.

The labor relations manager explained that this agreement between the City and the police union adresses wage and compensation adjustments to mitigate the effects of necessary general fund budget cuts on the police department forces and services to the public. If the mitigation efforts are insufficient to address the shortfall (which, barring a miracle, they most likely won’t be), the police union will return to the table to renegotiate a new agreement. Both parties thanked the other for the good faith, professionalism, collaboration, etc. The Mayor and councilmembers made clear that this is just phase one of cuts, and that phase two will certainly bring further cuts.

Resolution No. 38419 Confirms and ratifies a Proclamation of Emergency beginning January 18, 2012, because of heavy snow, rain, and ice that have caused problems with road conditions, snow and ice removal, fallen trees, downed power lines, and other severe problems in the City of Tacoma.

Dick McKinley, Public Works Director spoke, saying that the proclamation of emergency was helpful in the City’s swift and effective response to the storm, and gave some fairly impressive stats on the number of roads closed, miles plowed, tons of de-icing agents used, and tons of debris removed already. The proclamation of emergency also may help with accessing FEMA funds, but we won’t know for a while – until we know if the event as a whole qualifies for FEMA funding. For now the cost is coming out of street funds, taking money from other road improvement projects.

FINAL READING OF ORDINANCES

Ordinance No. 27984 Vacating an 80-foot-wide portion of Hill Street right-of-way lying southwest of Waterview Street for additional yard space. (Maik and Alison Darley; File No. 124.1321)

PUBLIC HEARINGS AND APPEALS

This was the date set for a public hearing by the City Council on proposed amendments to the Land Use Regulatory Code recommended by the Planning Commission regarding downtown off-street parking regulations.

The question at hand here is the standards for new off-street parking, not existing garages or on-street parking. Commission recommendations at this point include prohibiting new parking lots on primary pedestrian streets, unless associated with new development, eliminating parking minimums, and instituting and lowering parking maximums.

This last item was the controversial point, with several members of the local development community coming forward to speak against instituting a parking maximum in the IFSA, and lowering maximums overall, claiming that this will stunt new development by limiting developer options. They argued for removal of the section on maximums, in favor of a market-based approach to parking, allowing developers to build what they need and can afford, and challenged some of the Commission’s assumptions.