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| Devon Vose Rickabaugh Photo by Jerry Picard |
Shoreline City Council Meeting
Monday August 5, 2013
By Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Mayor McGlashan presented the proclamation declaring August 10 through 18 as Celebrate Shoreline Week to Christopher Rossiter from the Celebrate Shoreline Community Committee. The annual Celebrate Shoreline event commemorates the City’s incorporation with a week-long infusion of activities designed to spark celebration and community spirit. 2013 will feature traditional events as well as fresh new events born out of the community’s desire to reenergize their biggest annual community-wide celebration.
The Council adopted a resolution to proceed with the initial steps to transform Westminster Way N between 155th and 160th to make it a more pedestrian friendly place by vacating approximately 7,335 square feet of public right-of-way (ROW) along the east edge of Westminster Way N. In exchange for the vacated property, the property owner will contribute $36,480 in cash and dedicate to the City a 6,007 square foot parcel of land that provides additional contiguous parking space and the potential to build a new road connector to Aurora Avenue North.
Surface water and Environmental Services Manger Brian Landau presented several alternatives to reduce the costs of removing sediment from Hidden Lake storm water facility in Boeing Creek.. It is the highest cost storm water facility in the City. Since 2002, the sediment removal costs for the facility has exceeded $400,000. The unpredictable maintenance costs, ranging from $25,000 to over $150,000 annually, affects the ability of the Surface Water Utility to complete higher priority projects that address flood reduction, water quality, and habitat restoration.
The Hidden Lake facility does little to meet the current goals of the Surface Water Utility, including flood reduction, erosion control or water quality improvement. Hidden Lake was constructed for the sole purpose of habitat enhancement by reducing the amount of sediment that moves downstream. However, most of the sediment is highly mobile and would be transported to Puget Sound. In addition, recent water quality monitoring has shown that water quality is not improved by the existence of a maintained lake. Landau said staff recommends that the City complete sediment removal in 2013 and complete a feasibility study in 2014 to provide a final maintenance recommendation for the 2015-2021 Capital Improvement Plan. Most of the Council agreed with this recommendation.
The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) was brought back for further discussion. City Manager Julie Underwood emphasized she was looking for the Council’s Priorities to be incorporated into the CIP which will be submitted along with the Operating Budget to Council in October with final adoption expected in late November. She said everything is important in the CIP but not all can be funded and the Council needs to make decisions about the tradeoffs and let staff know.
To finish Aurora Avenue North is a top priority but the bids came in too high. In order to save money for Aurora Avenue council members considered not setting aside the 1% for arts saving $180,000. Councilmember Winstead said, “We are known for our arts. We could use more banners.” Councilmember Hall said “Let’s focus on the core project. We can add banners later.” Councilmember Roberts said he is not convinced that 1% for the arts is necessary.
City Engineer Tricia Juhnke they had set aside one million dollars for grant matching scenarios: to have money available for public private projects. Councilmember Hall liked the idea, but questioned its feasibility in times of tight budgets. Councilmember McConnell “A million dollars is a drop in the bucket. Keep the funds set aside.”
If a million dollars is a drop in the bucket, then a mile of new sidewalk is a drop in the bucket, and a million dollars in COLA for the City's long suffering employees is a drop in the bucket, and the School District's unbilled uncollected $2M tab for Surface Water Management since the City's incorporation in 1995 is 2 drops in the bucket. So where is McConnell's Magical Bucket? I think we would all like to wet our beaks.
ReplyDeleteThe 1% for the arts is essentially a taxpayer funded full-employment act for one group of employees. It shouldn't be mandated.
ReplyDeleteThis is the man all tattered and torn,
ReplyDeletethat kissed the maiden all forlorn.
The dilemma of course, is that if Shoreline were to actually appear as forlorn as past City policies and execution have rendered it, no one would come here except the tattered and torn.
Departing City Manager Julie Underwood admits the City cannot afford to maintain its own sidewalks, except on a complaint-driven basis.
The solution? How about the arts? Our City Council believes economic development needs a cultural shot in the arm.
It seems somebody in City Hall has bought into the cultural/economic development myth being peddled by the NGOs. Witness the City of Saint Paul, whose City Council has designated ten percent of the total tax revenue from their Cultural STAR program to grants and loans for cultural projects: http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=1166
Instead of exercising fiscal responsibility, and let the trial and error of the free market bring real prosperity to Shoreline, I guess we should just put on our best bib and tucker, pinch our cheeks, and dance with the rats that worry our cats.
On the consent calendar for Monday night is the approval of $3.5 million in long-term bonds for the purchase of the Brugger Bog maintenance facility, which previously the staff reports stated the city did not have the money to pay back -- they had to wait until the Aurora Project was done so they could sell surplus real estate and borrow from the surface water utility enterprise fund. Now, without any explanation on how they are going to pay for the 20-year bond, they are going to approve the $3.5 million bond.
ReplyDeleteInteresting since the city is supposed to lack the funds in the capital improvement budget AND the operating budget.