Update for Week of 10/27/14
from Debbie Tarry, Shoreline City Manager
Council Meeting Follow-Up
October 27 Council Meeting
Dinner Meeting
· Joint Meeting with the Shoreline School District Board of Directors: The
City Council and School Board members had a productive conversation on
the importance of partnership between the two organizations as both are
key in continuing to make Shoreline a great community.
Regular Meeting
· Interlocal Agreement with the City of Bellevue for Pooled Funding for Human Services: The
Interlocal Agreement updates the pooled funding arrangement between a
number of cities and provides for the administrative fee for Bellevue to
continue administering the pool.
· Ronald Wastewater District Assumption Committee of Elected Officials Update:
This was an opportunity to update the full Council on the work of the
Ronald Wastewater District Transition Committee of Elected Officials.
· 2015 Budget: Discussion focused on Public Works and the Capital Improvement Program.
· Executive Session – Property Acquisition
November 3 Council Meeting
Dinner Meeting (5:45 p.m.)
· All of the 32nd
District Delegation will be in attendance. This will be an opportunity
to hear from the legislators about the State budget, the anticipated
issues to be addressed during the legislative session, and to discuss
the City’s legislative priorities.
Transportation Benefit District (7:00 p.m.)
· The agenda includes approval of expenses and approval of the 2015 TBD budget.
Regular Meeting (7:15 p.m.)
· Proclamation of America Recycles Day: Students
and teachers from Syre Elementary School and Parkwood Elementary School
will be accepting the Proclamation. In 2013, the Syre Green Team
motivated students and teachers to complete the Level 1 Waste Reduction
and Recycling goals of the King County Green Schools Program, and
actively maintained their Level 1 work in 2014. This year, Parkwood
Elementary School completed Level 1 and received the Level 1 award and
banner as a King County Green School. After the Proclamation
presentation, Recology CleanScapes (RCS) will award $5,000 to each
school for excelling in the RCS Waste Reduction and Recycling Program.
· Adoption of 2015 Legislative Priorities: Council had a preliminary discussion about the City’s 2015 Legislative Priorities at their October 13th
Dinner Meeting. Based on the feedback during the Dinner Meeting, staff
will present the recommended legislative priorities for adoption.
· Adoption of Resolution No. 365, Public Defense Standards:
Adoption of Resolution No. 365 will adopt the Washington State Bar
Association’s Standards for Indigent Defense Services. The standards
include a number of provisions focused on ensuring high-quality public
defense, including:
· Annual caseload limits
· Use of investigative services
· Adequate support services and personnel to ensure effective performance
· Maintaining a case-reporting and management information system
· Continuing legal education and training requirements for attorneys
· 2015 Budget Public Hearing: This
will be the first Public Hearing on the proposed budget. Staff will
also provide a presentation on interfund transfers and the debt service
funds.
· Discussion of Sound Cities Association (SCA) 2015 Budget and the City’s Membership: Staff
was requested by Council to review the City's membership in the Sound
Cities Association (SCA) and their proposed increase in dues for 2015.
The SCA Board recently voted to propose a membership increase to the
2009 rate of $0.5989 per capita. That equates to an increase of
$2,290.15 over Shoreline's 2014 dues of $30,044. For 2015, the proposed
SCA dues would be $32,335. SCA represents 36 cities within King County,
which equals nearly 1 million people. Along with acting as an advocate
for cities at the regional level, SCA appoints members to regional
committees at King County, the Puget Sound Regional Council, and other
regional committees.
Ronald Wastewater District Assumption
O’Neill Case
The O’Neills’ filed their answer
to the Supreme Court Petition for Review filed by the City. The City
may only file a reply to the Answer if the O’Neills are seeking review
of an issue not raised in the City’s review request. Interim City
Attorney Julie Ainsworth-Taylor did not see that they raised any new
issue, they are just countering the City’s arguments that the award of
attorney fees was appropriate. We have yet to hear from the court on
their review of the most recent request for fees (we have argued that
they should be reduced).
Highlights include:
· Sales Tax:
Total sales tax receipts for the month of September 2014 are higher
than the projections by $43,177, or 6.3%, and the year-ago level by
$27,730 or 4.0%. Year-to-date receipts are higher than projections by
$213,667, or 4.5%, and the year-ago level by $92,212, or 1.9%. Removing
one-time construction activity from the calculation reveals that 2014
receipts are higher than projections by 2.1% and the year-ago level by
8.5%.
· Real Estate Excise Tax (REET):
Total REET collections (collected from the sale of real estate) through
September 2014 totaling $1,364,151 are ahead of projections by $9,351,
or 0.7%. Total collections for 2014 are ahead of 2013 collections for
the same period by 12.1% or $147,523. September and June collections
were the only months in 2014 to be lower than 2013 monthly collections.
Historically, this seems to be the trend as both 2013 and 2012 saw a
large drop in transactions between August and September. The September
2014 transaction amount is six less than September 2013; however, it is
29 more transactions than September 2012.
· Development Revenue:
Permit revenue in September 2014 totaled $148,348. Total revenue to
date is $1,018,638, which is 56.4% ahead of projections and 16.2% ahead
of year-ago levels. Issued building permits came in at $6.1 million
valuation for September, comprised 48% of residential and 52% of
commercial/multi-family valuation. A permit for the Evergreen School
Cedar Building was issued with $2.8 million valuation.
Meetings & Contacts
· Mayor/Representative Farrell: On Monday, October 20, Mayor Winstead, Intergovernmental Relations Manager Scott MacColl, and State Representative Farrell (46th
District) met to discuss the City's 145th Street Project and approaches
for a bike/pedestrian facility across I-5 to connect to the future
Light Rail Station. The Mayor shared the City's work on Light Rail
station area planning, Route Development Plan for 145th, and the need
for the pedestrian facility. She reviewed the tour and presentation we
provided elected leaders and staff in late August, and that Council is
supportive with the project moving forward. Rep. Farrell discussed her
goal to have WSDOT develop an I-5 plan that includes planning for light
rail as part of the budget, which could be beneficial to Shoreline. She
is very supportive of the project and understands the need to provide
safe passage for bicycles and pedestrians to the future station. She is
interested in continuing the dialogue with us as we move forward, and
encouraged the City to continue to work with our 32nd District delegation to move the project forward.
· Tour of Fircrest Facilities: Last
week I joined a few members from the Ridgecrest Neighborhood, along
with representatives from Fircrest and former Councilmember Janet Way on
a tour of the gym and pool at Fircrest. Some neighborhood
representatives are encouraging groups to come together to reopen the Fircrest pool.
A cost estimate of repairs and operating costs of the pool was
provided. This estimate would need additional analysis prior to any
consideration for reopening and operating the pool.
Calendar Items
· October 28, King County Youth Action Plan, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
The City and County Councilmember Rod Dembowski jointly sponsored this
event to gather input from Shoreline and North King County youth,
parents, and others that work with youth on development of the County's
Youth Action Plan. We had a great turnout.
This and That
· Staff
participated in our annual Emergency Operations Center Exercise on
Wednesday, October 29. Sadly the scenario was a school shooting
incident.
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