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2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 6 COUNCIL MINUTES Regular Meeting February 28, 2011 Call to Order / Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Nehring called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation was given by Nik Baumbart of Marysville Assembly of God church. Roll Call Chief Administrative Officer Hirashima gave the roll call. The following staff and councilmembers were in attendance. Mayor: Jon Nehring Council: Carmen Rasmussen, Jeff Seibert, John Soriano, Michael Stevens, Jeff Vaughan, and Donna Wright Absent: Lee Phillips Also Present: Chief Administrative Officer Gloria Hirashima, Finance Director Sandy Langdon, City Attorney Grant Weed, Public Works Director Kevin Nielsen, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Ballew, Chief Information Officer Doug Buell, Recording Secretary Laurie Hugdahl. CAO Hirashima stated that Councilmember Phillips notified them that he would be gone tonight. Motion made by Councilmember Vaughan, seconded by Councilmember Wright, to excuse the absence of Councilmember Phillips. Motion passed unanimously Committee Reports Councilmember Seibert reported on the February 16 Finance Committee Meeting where the following topics were discussed: • They received a financial update on the budget. • Briefly discussed the Council retreat suggestions – 5-year plan, debt buy down, property management, golf course, and Public Works relocation. Any other suggestions should be forwarded to the Mayor or CAO Hirashima. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 6 • Utility billing – discussed garbage delinquencies. Right now there is no need to change the ordinance. The current ordinance will work for what we were trying to do. • Information Services – Discussion about bandwidth for 911 calls. Presentations A. Volunteer of the Month Mayor Nehring recognized Bob Banks as the Mayor’s Volunteer of the Month for February. Mr. Banks was recognized for his volunteer work as a friend to cancer patients at Providence Hospital and for his volunteerism and student mentoring within the Vocational Education and Alternate Schools programs. B. Employee Service Awards The following employees were recognized for their service to the City of Marysville: • Terry Hawley, Public Works Operations Manager - 5 years • Mary Vermeulen, Program Specialist, Courts - 10 years • Denise Gritton, Financial Planning - 10 years • Ronald Gettle, Maintenance Worker II, PW - 10 years • Emma Stiles, Police Officer, Police - 25 years Audience Participation None. Approval of Minutes 1. Approval of February 7, 2010 City Council Work Session Minutes. Motion made by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Vaughan, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously 2. Approval of February 14, 2011 City Council Meeting Minutes. Motion made by Councilmember Rasmussen, seconded by Councilmember Soriano, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously 3. Approval of the February 16, 2011 City Council Special Meeting Minutes. Due to the number of abstentions the approval of these minutes was deferred to the next meeting. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 6 Consent 4. Approval of February 16, 2011 Claims in the Amount of $247,498.45; Paid by Check Number's 68345 through 68440. 5. Approval of the February 23, 2011 Claims in the Amount of $343,038.56; Paid by Check Number's 68441 through 68592 with Check Number 68393 Voided. 6. Approval of February 18, 2011 Payroll in the Amount of $781,151.04; Paid by Check Number's 23970 through 24009. Motion made by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Vaughan, to approve consent agenda items 4, 5, and 6. Motion passed unanimously Review Bids None Public Hearings None New Business 7. An Ordinance of the City of Marysville Amending the 2011 Budget and Providing for the Increase of Certain Expenditure Items as Budgeted for in Ordinance No. 2839. Finance Director Langdon explained that this is an update to the budget to carry over what was not spent in 2010. Motion made by Councilmember Stevens, seconded by Councilmember Soriano, to approve Ordinance No. 2854. Motion passed unanimously Mayor’s Business Mayor Nehring: • Most of the meetings last week got cancelled due to the snow. • He thanked Director Nielsen and the public works crew for their round the clock work during the snow event last week. • Mayor Nehring, Councilmember Soriano, Councilmember Wright, and CAO Hirashima attended the AWC Conference a couple weeks ago; the meetings with the legislators were particularly productive. • He attended the Community Transit Board retreat last week where they discussed upcoming service changes and the budget process. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 6 Staff Business Jim Ballew: • They hope to be reopening the golf course tomorrow. The restaurant is doing very well. They have been packed on the weekends. • Soccer registrations have been extended for a week due to the snow. • Waste Management has decided to be the exclusive sponsor for the concert and movie series this summer. The City is very excited about this development. • He commended Doug Buell and Tara Mizell for their hard work tying up loose ends on the next Messenger. Chief Smith: • Marysville U was cancelled on Wednesday night and will be rescheduled, possibly on March 30. • During the snow event there was one traffic collision with minor injuries. He commended the outstanding job done by Public Works. • He discussed an incident that occurred last night where an officer was involved in a fight. • Thanks to City Attorney Grant Weed for the work his office is doing on the 30-90 day jail ordinance. He commended the work done by Cheryl on this. Kevin Nielsen: • PW Committee on Friday will be taking a van tour. • The costs for dealing with the snow are being calculated right now. • A map of the proposed 87th Avenue NE alignment was distributed to the Council for their information. There was some discussion about the confusion resulting from the name of this street since it winds around and changes names a couple times. CAO Hirashima indicated that she would talk to the addressing committee about the issue. She explained that the emergency responders are very insistent about keeping it on a grid, but agreed that it was confusing. • He announced the good news that their bill in Olympia passed the house almost unanimously. • Waste Management will be doing double pickup this week due to missed routes last week. • Flooding will be the next issue that Public Works is gearing up for. Sandy Langdon: • The auditors have scheduled the audit for May. Staff is busy finishing up the financials. • The budget is at the printers right now and should be posted on the website soon. • Staff is working on the retreat. Grant Weed stated the need for an Executive Session to discuss two items concerning pending litigation. The estimated time was 20 minutes with no action needed. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 6 Gloria Hirashima: • She echoed the kudos to Public Works for their snow response. She also commended police and fire personnel that had to be out in the snow. • Staff is very happy about the water bill that Director Nielsen mentioned. She applauded Al Aldrich of Strategies 360 who has been working for the City in Olympia to help us navigate that whole system. Strategies 360 was also very helpful with the legislative conference in setting up meetings and making contacts. • 88th Street Master Plan meeting has been rescheduled for this Thursday night. Call on Councilmembers Carmen Rasmussen: • Commended Director Nielsen on the road maintenance for the snow. • She noticed that there was a notice on the website about garbage collection, but it stayed there for several days. She recommended putting a date on notices so people would know if it was current. John Soriano: • Complimented Public Works for their excellent work during the snow. • The meetings in Olympia were very productive. It’s great to keep our priorities in front of our representatives. CAO Hirashima’s presentation was especially clear, concise and to the point. Michael Stevens thanked Public Works for keeping the streets clear and safe. Jeff Vaughan: • Thanks to Public Works for the great response to the snow. • Asked for clarification from Grant Weed on abstentions. City Attorney Grant Weed explained that different councils handle this differently. His general advice is that when a council is approving its minutes it’s confirming that the word that is written about the meeting accurately reflects a summary of what happened. If a council member was not at the meeting it would be difficult for them to approve the accuracy of the minutes. In his opinion it is appropriate to not participate if you did not attend that particular meeting. • Councilmember Vaughan asked about other circumstances under which a person might abstain. City Attorney Weed replied that the Council Rules of Procedure state that a councilmember should not abstain unless they did not participate in the subject that is at hand. He recalled that an abstention will be counted as a yes vote unless otherwise stated in the council rules. Donna Wright thanked Public Works who did a great job with the snow. She agreed that the Olympia meetings with our representatives went very well. Jeff Seibert: • Thanks to Public Works for the job they did with the roads. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2/28/11 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 6 • He commended Director Nielsen for getting the bill through in Olympia. • He also thanked Director Nielsen for the map and the update on the issue with Wal-Mart. The meeting recessed at 7:55 until 8:05 at which time they reconvened into executive session to cover two pending litigation items expected to last 20 minutes with no action to be taken. Executive Session A. Litigation – two items concerning pending litigation pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) B. Personnel C. Real Estate Motion made by Councilmember Seibert to extend the Executive Session for 15 minutes. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rasmussen. Motion passed unanimously Adjournment Seeing no further business Mayor Nehring adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Approved this day of 2011. Mayor April O’Brien Jon Nehring Deputy City Clerk