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Home My WebLink AboutCouncil MIN 02-10-2004 Special FEDERAL WAY CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting Mt. Baker Conference Room/2nd Floor - City Hall February 10, 2004 - 6:30 p.m. Minutes I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor McColgan called the special meeting of the Federal Way City Council to order at the hour of 6:40 p.m., for the purpose of discussing the proposed Sound Transit Facility to be located within the city center core area. Councilmembers present: Mayor Dean McColgan, Deputy Mayor Linda Kachmar, and Councilmembers Jeanne Burbidge, Jack Dovey, Eric Faison, Jim Ferrell and Mike Park. City staff present: Assistant City Manager Donna Hanson, City Attorney Pat Richardson, Community Development Director Kathy McClung, Public Works Director Cary Roe and City Clerk Chris Green. Also present was Sound Transit Project Manager Dan Eder. II. DISCUSSION OF SOUND TRANSIT RELATED ISSUES Mayor McColgan had previously requested staff to research information regarding a cost breakdown of the monies expended to date on the Transit Center project, and what processes would be required in the event a different transit site might be considered in the future. Attached hereto, and marked as Exhibit "A", is a memorandum from Ms. McClung addressing that request. The Council discussion then focused on traffic mitigation, and other concerns of citizens in the vicinity of the proposed transit facility, as well as the transit-oriented development. Councilmember Park requested an executive session due to the fact he has another commitment and must leave city hall by 7:30 p.m. III. EXECUTIVE SESSION Executive Session/Potential Litigation/Pursuant to RCW 42.30.1100 )(i) ORI GI~4AL Federal Way City Council Special Meeting Minutes February 10, 2004 - Page 2 of 2 At 7:05 p.m., Mayor McColgan recessed the special meeting for purposes of an executive session to discuss potential litigation. Councilmember Park was excused at 7:40 p.m. Mayor McColgan reconvened the special meeting at 8: 10 p.m; Councilmembers continued their open discussion regarding the proposed transit center facility, and reviewed the draft statement to Sound Transit Board as presented by Mayor McColgan. The statement will be sent to the Sound Transit Board prior the scheduled joint special meeting on February 19, 2004. IV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion to come before the Federal Way City Council, Mayor McColgan adjourned the special meeting at the hour 8:47 p.m. r N. Christine Green, CM City Clerk MEMORANDUM TO: David Moseley, City Manager FROM: Kathy McClung, Director of Community Development Services RE: Sound Transit Questions DATE: February 9, 2004 The following are responses to two questions regarding the downtown Sound Transit project. I. How has the $15 million that Sound Transit has invested been spent? According to Dan Eder, Sound Transit Project Manager, the following is the breakdown of money spent so far in very round numbers: 6 Million- Property Acquisition 7 Million- Design fees and KPFF Includes design and planning for both the access ramps and the parking structure, site plan and preparation of the environmental documents ( FaNSI) 1 Million- Administrative expenses I Million- Street Improvements 2. What would the process be if a new site was selected? Is the work done so far transferable? Most of the work and expense of the current facility is not transferable. The first step in locating the present facility was a series of stakeholder meetings where a series of goals were evaluated and 38 project configurations were considered. This number was narrowed to 10, all of which combined a large parking facility with the transit function. These ten sites were evaluated based on certain criteria and impacts and the current location was chosen as the best alternative. Next, the preferred alternative was analyzed in depth with a number of public meetings. Because this project is heavily dependant on Federal funding there are a number of procedural requirements that are site specific. The outcome of this process was the federal equivalent of our state's Expanded Environmental Checklist. This was about a two-year process and is very site specific. With the completion of this document comes the non-transferable FTA (Federal Transit Authority) and FHW A (Federal Highway Administration) approval for the project at the specified location. EXHffiJIT '111( ¡.' Once the environmental review is completed, appraisals and property negotiation can occur. Finally, when the environmental review is completed, Sound Transit can refine the design and start the City's penriit process. SEP A is required for any future transit-oriented development. It is my understanding, that Sound Transit could not include the transit-oriented development in the original environmental analysis because no federal funds can be used for that purpose. A site specific public hearing is required to approve the facility because it is defined as an "essential public facility". Finally, a non-transferable building permit application could be submitted. Assuming the need for the facility did not have to be evaluated, all the rest of the steps would have to be repeatedfor a new site. The most significant being the environmental process in terms of time and cost. Approximately 8 million of the expenses identified under Item 1 and directly related to project design or administrative expenses related to the current site.