Shoreline City Manager's Report 1-20-2014

Weekly update for 1/20/14

From Debbie Tarry, Shoreline City Manager

GO SEAHAWKS!!

Council Meetings - January 27

• Dinner Meeting – Police Chief Shawn Ledford will provide an update on the Special Emphasis Team (SET) work in the City.
• Regular Meeting
• Appointment of Vadim Dolgov to two one-year terms as a youth representative on the Park/Tree Board.
• Discussion of the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance

Point Wells Update

·         Pre-Scoping Workshop: Approximately 80 residents attended the Pre-Scoping Workshop sponsored by the City on Wednesday, January 15. Click here to see the comments gathered that night. The meeting gave participants some time to talk with staff about the scoping process. As continued follow up, Planning and Community Development Director Rachael Markle will attend the Richmond Beach Community Association meeting on February 11 to provide the same information shared last Wednesday night.

·         Snohomish County Scoping Meeting, February 18: The Snohomish County scoping meetings will be February 18. There will be one during the day at the Snohomish County Administration Building and one in the evening (6:30 p.m.) at the Shoreline Center. The City successfully requested and received an extension of the legally required scoping period from 21 to 30 days, to have one of the scoping meetings in Shoreline, and for the scoping meeting notices to be sent beyond the legally required 500 ft circle around the project site, which would have included only a few homes. Notices will now be sent to over 11,000 Shoreline homes.

·         Transportation Corridor Study (TCS): The TCS will kick-off on Wednesday, February 12. The first three workshops (February 12 and 26, March 13) are focused on “Segment A”, which is 24th Avenue NW and Richmond Beach Drive. Workshops on March 19 and April 1 will focus on “Segment B”, which is the rest of the corridor of Richmond Beach Road east to I-5 and south to the Shoreline Community College. On April 16 there will be a final wrap-up workshop for both segments. All workshops will be City Hall from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Legislative Update

Here are the bills that are moving right now that affect Shoreline. You can look up the bills (if you so desire) online - just submit the bill number into the box and it will pull up the timeline and any related documents for the bill.

Water/Sewer – there are two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, which relate to requiring a vote on a district assumption. Both bills are designed to make it significantly harder to assume a district.

·         SB 6008 is sponsored by Senator Chase, and heard Monday morning at 10am in the Senate Government Operations Committee. The committee heard a substitute version that includes a clause that would include any assumptions that are in progress but not yet completed.

·         HB 2413 is sponsored by Rep. Takko (House Local Government Chair) and also by Rep. Ryu. This bill has not yet been scheduled.

Annexation

·         HB 1854 – This bill will be heard in the Local Government Committee next Thursday. This bill amends the same statutes as the annexation bill from last year, but adds back required approval from the owner.

SEPA Mitigation

·         HB 2161 –This is a bill that would prohibit imposition of SEPA mitigation fees outside city boundaries unless there is an Interlocal Agreement with the other affected city.

Marijuana

·         HB 2149 - This bill was heard last Wednesday morning. We have since received the Attorney General Opinion (AGO 2014 No. 2) that opines cities have the right to zone out retail marijuana stores. This raises into question the store allocation already determined by the Liquor Control Board. This one will likely continue right up to the end of session.

·         Retail Allocation – This week AWC analysts clarified the allocation of retail stores in light of the “at-large” allocation. They have indicated that “at-large” allocations will go in either unincorporated areas or cities that didn’t receive a specific allocation. This means that Shoreline would have a maximum of the two retail stores it has been allocated.

Sustainability – Seattle City Light Green UP!

SCL recently notified the City that in 2012 the City prevented the release of 409,061 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a result of the City purchasing green power for a portion of our electricity use (this was part of the LEED process for City Hall). This is the equivalent of planting 4,757 tree seedlings! In addition to this our City Hall solar panels added 291,240 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean, green energy to the power grid. We will be highlighting this on our community outreach efforts.

Ronald Wastewater Assumption Update

At their January 14 meeting, the Ronald Wastewater District Board of Commissioners voted to dismiss the District’s lawsuit against the City. Also at the meeting, General Manager Michael Derrick provided some fund balance graphs that indicate a negative fund balance for the District starting in 2017. I will be following up with him to understand the District’s financial position and their rate plans for the next few years.