Tacoma City Council Meeting - May 1, 2012

What to say about this week’s meeting?  We heard less than we expected about the Critical Areas Preservation Ordinance code changes, but quite a bit more than we expected about the Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development.  We heard a goodbye to Rey Arellano, and Councilmember Boe was absent from this week’s meeting. 

Oh, and don’t miss the note at the end of the meeting about Citizens’ Forum getting rescheduled.

CONSENT AGENDA

RESOLUTIONS

Resolution No. 38475 Sets Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at approximately 5:30 p.m., as the date for a public hearing by the City Council on proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Regulatory Code for the year 2012, as recommended by the Planning Commission. [Lihuang Wung, Senior Planner; Ryan Petty, Director, Community and Economic Development]

PROCLAMATIONS, RECOGNITIONS, PRESENTATIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
We had a few items under this category this week:

For proclamations, Mayor Strickland proclaimed May 2012 as Stroke Awareness Month and Puget Sound Starts Here Month in the City of Tacoma.

The other item, which you’ve probably already heard about, was the official announcement that Deputy City Manager Rey Arellano will be leaving the City.  City Manager Broadnax recognized Arellano’s contributions to Tacoma, wished him continued success, and presented him with a plaque.  Arellano expressed mixed emotions about leaving Tacoma at this point, but said he had enjoyed his time with Tacoma and looks forward to finding a new role, potentially as city manager in a new city. 

PUBLIC COMMENT
Public comment was fairly brief this week.  Two speakers encouraged the Council to support the portion of the purchase resolution regarding funding for further design on the Pacific Avenue Streetscape project.  Council also got a thank you for their tough decisions regarding the Emergency Services Grant, and a lecture on the inappropriate spending of taxpayer dollars on a variety of items. 

REGULAR AGENDA

APPOINTMENTS

Resolution No. 38476 Appoints Council Member Marty Campbell to the Greater Tacoma Regional Convention Center Public Facilities District Board of Directors; and removes Council Member Lauren Walker from the Pierce Transit Board per the newly delineated Pierce Transit Public Transportation Benefit Area’s new Authority Board Composition. [Cindy DeGrosse, Executive Secretary; Mayor Marilyn Strickland]

Boundaries for the Pierce Transit district have been reconfigured, so Tacoma and Pierce County have lost one member each on the board to smaller communities

RESOLUTIONS

Purchase Resolution No. 38477 Awards contracts to:

1. Glacier Environmental Services, Inc., on its bid of $2,398,585.00, including sales tax, plus a 20 percent contingency, for a total contract amount of $2,878,302.00, budgeted from the Solid Waste 2006 Bond Construction Fund, for construction of a landfill cap and associated improvements at the Tacoma Landfill – Specification No. PW12-0027F [John O’Loughlin, Science and Engineering Division Manager; Dick McKinley, Director, Public Works];
2. Wm. Dickson Co., in the amount of $76,875.00, sales tax not applicable, budgeted from the Streets Special Revenue Fund and the 2010 LTGO Bond D Fund, for a cumulative contract amount of $647,503.30, to increase the contract for additional work for the South 9th Street improvements from Market Street to Commerce Street– Specification No. PW11-0375F [Chris Larson, Engineering Division Manager; Dick McKinley, Director, Public Works]; and
3. AHBL, Inc., in the amount of $123,709.46, sales tax not applicable, budgeted from the Streets Special Revenue Fund, for a cumulative contract amount of $1,161,659.69, to increase the contract for additional design services for the Pacific Avenue Streetscape project – Specification No. PW10-0845F [Chris Larson, Engineering Division Manager; Dick McKinley, Director, Public Works].

A couple of pieces of good news to go along with these items:

• Public Works doesn’t expect the closure of the landfill to have any net changes on solid waste disposal rates.
• Barring any unforeseen tsunamis in the downtown Tacoma area, we can expect to see the 9th Street project listed in item #2 wrapping up around the end of the month.  Good thing we don’t ever get any heavy rains in this part of the world…

Resolution No. 38478 Adopts the Substantial Amendment to the 2011-2012 Annual Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development; and authorizing submittal of the Substantial Amendment to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development by May 15, 2012. [Shelley Koeppen, Contract Specialist; Linda Villegas Bremer, Director, Human Rights and Human Services]

Resolution No. 38479 Adopts the 2012-2013 Annual Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development; and authorizing submittal of the plan to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development by May 15, 2012. [Ric Teasley, Housing Division Manager; Ryan Petty, Director, Community and Economic Development]

The presentations that went along with these last two items were a little on the long side, and included powerpoints, so, to be honest, we kind of glazed over a bit.  (sorry)  But what we did hear was that the first item makes changes as a result of adjustments at the federal level, and qualifies Tacoma for a little more money to help with emergency housing solutions.  And the second item is a part of the annual process of updating the five-year plan that outlines for the feds how Tacoma will use the money it gets in the form of CDBG, HOME and ESG allocations.  We had a little more discussion of both items at last week’s public hearing.

Resolution No. 38480 Authorizes the use of Series 2009E, 2009F, 2010D, and 2010E bond proceeds and interest earnings, in the amount of $13,142,700, for the following capital projects [Dick McKinley, Director, Public Works] :

• Point Ruston Waterwalk, $6,000,000;
• Pacific Avenue Streetscape, $400,000;
• Broadway Center for the Performing Arts Phase 2, $1,742,700;
• Tacoma Avenue Bridge Rehabilitation, $1,800,000;
• People’s Pool, $1,700,000; and
• Hillside Terrace, $1,500,000.

This resolution passed after some clarification from Mayor Strickland, and the addition of language stating that the use of these funds for these projects does not in any way imply a lack of commitment by the Council to completing the Puyallup River Bridge project.  It was reiterated that the bonds in question were sold in 2009 and 2010, and although they were not needed for the original projects for various reasons, the money cannot be used to fill the general fund gap, and that many of the projects slated to get the funds instead have existing contractual agreement components.  Councilmember Fey commented on the seriousness of the decisions in light of the fact that Tacoma’s bonding capacity is quite limited at this point, and that going forward the City will have to be aware of those limits as well as the obligations on the existing bonds.  As a side bar, he also managed to take the Guinness World Record for most consistent use of the phrase “going forward” in the short speech format.  Nine uses is an impressive record we’re guess will stand for some time… going forward.

FINAL READING OF ORDINANCES

Ordinance No. 28069 Amends Chapter 1.06 of the Municipal Code, relating to administration, to transfer the supervision, control, and responsibility for the duties and functions of the Cable Communications and Franchise Services group from the Information Technology Department to the City Manager. [Rob McNair-Huff, Community Relations Manager; T.C. Broadnax, City Manager]

FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES

Ordinance No. 28070 Amending Chapters 13.05 and 13.11 of the Municipal Code, relating to Land Use Permit Procedures and Critical Areas Preservation, to modify regulations pertaining to the preservation and restoration of public and private natural areas within the city, as recommended by the Planning Commission. [Stephen Atkinson, Associate Planner; Ryan Petty, Director, Community and Economic Development]

This is the ordinance that contains series of amendments to the code designed to protect and preserve environmentally sensitive spaces within the city.  The code, which is intended to protect and preserve vulnerable areas currently has a one-size fits all approach that treats community efforts at critical area enhancement in the same way it does proposed large scale development.  In response to community demand to remove barriers to voluntary restoration, the City initiated this amendment process in late 2010.  For more about the ordinance, see Exit133’s coverage of the proposed Critical Areas Preservation Code changes and the conversation at the April 17 public hearing.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None.

REPORTS BY THE CITY MANAGER
Nothing to report.

COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS OF THE CITY COUNCIL

Deputy Mayor Lonergan shared what the Government Performance and Finance Committee has been up to, and mentioned that tomorrow’s meeting will include a presentation on private for-profit prisons.  Hmm, should we be paying attention to that one … ?

Councilmember Walker thanked her colleagues for supporting the People’s Pool project, noting that since the roof was condemned four years ago it’s been a long road, and we’re not done yet, but this is a step towards reopening the center.

Councilmember Mello did his best to stand in for absent Councilmember Boe on Bike Month duty.  He didn’t have a bell, but he did share some of the fun Bike Month activities coming up, including Bike to Market Day at the first Broadway Farmers’ Market day of 2012, the Women’s Urban Bike Ride in Proctor, and the bicycle basics workshop next Tuesday at Defiance Bicycles.

Councilmember Campbell reminded us of the neighborhood cleanups going on, including this Saturday May 5 from 10:00 to 2:00 in the Giaudrone neighborhood.  For more information visit the City’s Community Cleanup Program page, or go straight to the 2012 Community Cleanup Calendar.

Councilmember Ibsen made a plug for this Saturday’s home foreclosure prevention workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Evergreen Tacoma campus.

And last, but certainly not least, mark your calendars: Citizens’ Forum has been moved from the scheduled date of May 8th to the May 15 meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

Okay, see you all next week.