Shoreline City Manager report week of 6/16/2014

Weekly Update for Week of 6/16/2014

Council Meetings

June 16

·         Adoption of 10 Year Financial Sustainability Plan (10 YFSP): Council adopted the 10 YFSP. The plan consists of the following strategies that Council had previously reviewed:

1)     Achieve the development of an additional 160 units of multi-family residential housing and 7,500 square feet of retail redevelopment annually, beginning in 2014.

2)     Reduce the expenditure growth rate to 0.2% below the average projected ten year growth rate and attempt to maintain existing service levels, beginning in 2015. Continue to seek out efficiencies and cost-saving strategies.

3)     During 2014, research ways to increase investment returns by 100 basis points (1%) per year, and implement strategies to accomplish this.

4)     During 2015, perform a study that will evaluate higher cost recovery percentages for an appropriate combination of fee based programs. The results will be reviewed, with target implementation beginning with the 2016 budget.

5)     In 2014, begin to identify ways to replace the $290,000 transfer from the General Fund to the Roads Capital Fund with another dedicated source of funding.

6)     In 2016 or later, engage the business community in a discussion regarding the possible future implementation of a Business and Occupation (B&O) Tax, to include a threshold exemption on a certain amount of gross receipts.

7)     Monitor the City’s progress in relation to the Financial Sustainability Model. In 2016 or later, engage Shoreline residents in a discussion regarding the possibility of renewing the property tax levy lid lift.

·         Discussion and Update of the Capital Improvement Plan: Council reviewed the status of the four capital funds – General, Roads, Facilities, and Surface Water – and provided input and direction to staff for the development of the 2015-2020 CIP

June 23

·         Dinner Meeting (5:45 p.m.)

o   Solid Waste Contract Options: The City’s current contract with Cleanscapes/Recology goes through March 2015. The contract provides for two, two year extensions. State law does not require that solid waste contracts be competitively bid, although the City’s purchasing policies require that service contracts in excess of $50,000 should be let through a Request for Proposal process with some limited exceptions. In discussions with Recology there is the potential to extend the contract beyond the four year extension period in the current contract to obtain longer-term rate benefits and further investment by Recology such as converting trucks to natural gas, etc. One policy question that staff will discuss with Council is whether garbage collection should be mandatory, meaning that all households need to sign-up for garbage collection. Currently approximately 30% of Shoreline households do not have garbage service and are considered “self-haulers.” This means that they dispose their garbage in some other means – most likely self-hauling to the local Transfer Station.

·         Regular Meeting

o   Shoreline Community College Business Accelerator Program: This is a contract to continue the Tuesday, Business Accelerator Program, currently provided in partnership with the Shoreline Community College.

o   Resolution No. 359, Amending the Personnel Policies: This item is on the consent agenda and reflects the changes discussed by Council on June 9. There will not be any language to change the 240 hour vacation cash-out cap for retirement eligible employees.

o   Resolution No. 360, Ratifying the King County Countywide Planning Policies: On March 31, 2014, the Metropolitan King County Council approved and ratified amendments to the King County Countywide Planning Policies (CPP). The one amendment the County Council approved and ratified was to add the Central Issaquah Urban Core as an Urban Center. In accordance with the Countywide Planning Policies, G-1 (e), amendments must be ratified within 90 days of King County approval and require affirmation by the county and cities and towns representing at least 70 percent of the county population and 30 percent of those jurisdictions.

o   Executive Session: Property Acquisition – This will be an opportunity to update Council on the status and strategy for acquiring SPU assets in Shoreline.

Point Wells Update

We have asked several Richmond Beach representatives to meet on June 24, along with their respective traffic engineers, to review the assumptions we have asked BSRE to use for their next iteration of their traffic analysis. We have also asked property owners/residents that live within the 195^th/196^th triangle to attend a workshop on June 25, to help identify the mitigation needed to address projected traffic impacts in this area. We have targeted this meeting to those specifically living within this area. We have also asked for a couple of representatives from the Apple Tree Lane residents to attend.

Light Rail Update

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has been issued for the 185^th Station. Here is a link http://shorelinewa.gov/home/showdocument?id=17377. The comment period ends on July 10. This is the same evening that the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the DEIS. We had approximately 100 people attend the DEIS Workshop on June 3. On June 12 we had nearly 100 people attend the 145^th Light Rail Design Dialogue Workshop. Although some attendees had concerns with how the station may change their existing neighborhoods, many are excited about the possibilities that will come with the new station and the transformation that this will bring.

Youth Parks Board Applicant

This week Parks Director Dick Deal interviewed Lauren Smith, who submitted an application to serve as a youth member of the PRCS Board. Dick is recommending that she be appointed.

Important Meetings

During last week's Mayor/Deputy Mayor meeting, Mayor Winstead, Deputy Mayor Eggen, and Councilmember Hall met with Katie Whittier, King County Director for U.S. Senator Patty Murray, to talk about the need for future funding for 145^th and opportunities that there may be for the Federal Government to partner with Shoreline for this project.

This and That

·         Washington State Department of Transportation will be replacing concrete panels on I-5 between Northgate and Mountlake Terrace starting in July and will be done at night – so there will be noise for those living close to I-5.

·         Recology issued a press release announcing that they have awarded a $2,000 college scholarship to Althea Surowiec, a senior at Shorewood High School. This award was for the waste reduction video that she developed.