Shoreline City Council Meeting November 4, 2013

Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Shoreline City Council Meeting November 4, 2013

By Devon Vose Rickabaugh

Mayor McGlashan read a proclamation declaring Monday November 11th as Veterans Appreciation Day. “The City of Shoreline recognizes the contributions of the men and women in the military who have served our country, and who continue to serve their communities through veterans organizations, and urges all citizens to honor the sacrifices of the loyal and courageous veterans who have given so much for the cause of peace. In 2010 two Shoreline veterans had a vision to create and establish a yearly Veterans Day event in Shoreline which will be celebrated this year on Monday, November 11th at 2:00 p.m. at Shoreline City Hall.” Members of the Shoreline Veterans Association attended the Council Meeting for the reading of the Proclamation.

Councilmember McConnell reported that at the Seashore Transportation Forum she learned county road snow removal will be drastically reduced with property tax reductions from cities incorporating areas of formerly King County. She said the county will only be able to plow about 10% of county roads as opposed to 30% in the past. They will be concentrating on critical routes. She said you might want to reconsider taking the freeway in a snow storm. Deputy Mayor Eggen said that Shoreline  has a budget for snow removal and he expects them to do the “usual outstanding job” in clearing the city roads.

No one signed up to speak during the public hearing on the proposed 2014 budget. So the overview of the city’s department’s budgets continued. Richard Moore of the City’s Human Services Department presented the review of the 2014 Employee Classification and Compensation Program. In July 1997, Council approved the City’s Classification and Compensation Plan. The plan established a comprehensive set of classification specifications for the work performed by City employees, and based on the City’s adopted job market, established appropriate competitive salary ranges for these classifications.

The Plan established a policy of paying at the median of the market of the City’s comparable jurisdictions. “We compare salaries at the top of the salary range. If the City’s top salary is within five percent (above or below) of the market median salary then we consider the salary for that classification to be at the market. Staff confirms that the Council’s Classification and Compensation work well in establishing “equitable, competitive, reasonable salaries for City employees.”

Interim City Manager Debbie Tarry introduced the study item which was an update on the 185th Street Light Rail Station Area Planning. She said the city started on design workshops for possible stations in 145th and 185th on November 5th and 6th. The consultant will take sketches, pictures, and comments submitted during the eight November Design Dialogue Workshops and model various scenarios using computer programs such as SketchUp to present at a follow-up workshop in January 2014. The intent is to identify preferred alternatives that will be analyzed during the City’s environmental analysis and eventually codified through zoning and regulations. Sound Transit will be announcing the preferred station locations on November 21.

Senior Planner Miranda Redinger outlined the process for planning for the light rail stations. Involving the Shoreline community in the planning process is a major goal. She said they are looking for creative ways to reach people. Redinger said she had gotten no response from the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce which represents business interests. Councilmembers Eggen and Hall expressed concern at this. Councilmember Hall said it is critical to involve the business community since they provide the reasons people want to stay and shop in Shoreline. He suggested rather than waiting for the Chamber of Commerce to respond the city should reach out to individual businesses since the Chamber only represents a fraction of the them.