PRHSPSC MINS 01-08-2008
City of Federal Way
City Council
PARKS, RECREATION, HUMAN SERV ICES & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE
Tuesday January 8, 2008
6:00 p.m.
SUMMARY
In attendance: Council Committee members Chair Jeanne Burbidge, Council members Jim Ferrell and Linda
Kochmar; Mayor Jack Dovey, Neal Beets, City Manager, Iwen Wang, Assistant City Manager, Aaron Walls, Deputy
City Attorney, Chief Brian Wilson, Donna Hanson, Director PRCS, Ray Gross EOC Manager, Mary Faber PRCS
Superintendent, Mary Jaenicke, Administrative Assistant II.
Guests: John Wilde, Citizen
Chair Burbidge called the meeting to order at 6:02p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Wilde spoke about some incidents that he experienced with dangerous dogs in his neighborhood. He is
requesting that the City change the City Code. He wants the City to contract with King County Animal Control, and
have our own Animal Control Officer, or hire our own Animal Control Officer. Chair Burbidge requested that the
Animal Control issue be put back on pending items for this Committee. Council member Kochmar requested that
staff re-visit the Dangerous Dog Ordinance, and put it back on the agenda. Council member Ferrell requested that
staff look into how much we’re spending on the contract with Animal Control, do an audit to see if their response
times are appropriate, and a projection of what it would take for the City Of Federal Way to take on this
responsibility ourselves. Chair Burbidge suggested that staff look into what other cities are doing regarding animal
control and what their costs are.
COMMISSION COMMENT
None
APPROVAL OF SUMMARY
Council member Ferrell moved to approve the December meeting minutes as written, Council Member
Kochmar seconded. Motion passed.
BUSINESS ITEMS
Mass Notification System, CodeRed
Mr. Gross provided the background information. During the December 2006 windstorms, it became apparent that
the City needed a direct rapid means of mass notification for the Community. Three vendors were brought in for
product demonstration. CodeRed came out as their first choice. CodeRed offers a rapid notification system with
150,000 minutes at a cost of $37,500. With this system, you can narrow it down to notify a single neighborhood and
all the way up to the entire service area. It will deliver a one minute message of 75,000 households within an hour.
The message would be sent out via phone lines. The data base is whatever is in the current phonebook, and the 911
phone data base. The community can also register their cell phones or other communication devices. The
community will have the option to opt out of non-essential emergencies, but cannot opt out of essential emergencies.
There is a pool of money ($37,500) from four agencies. Our cost is $9,375.00; the City of Federal Way is holding
that pool of money, so Mr. Gross will be asking the full Council for $37,500.00. There are 34,000 households in the
Federal Way area, and the total including the PAA is 44,000 households. Mayor Dovey asked how we would collect
cell phone numbers. Mr. Gross answered that there will be a very extensive public education program. Council
member Kochmar asked how the costs were going to be shared between the four agencies. Mr. Gross stated that they
are developing an interlocal agreement that will address this issue. He stated that depending on the usage throughout
the year, the agency that has had the majority of the usage, if it is non-essential emergency information, and it has
eaten into the 150,000 minutes, they will absorb a percentage of that cost. The Interlocal Agreement will be brought
back to the PRHSPS Committee. Mayor Dovey stated that it would be a good idea to start planning to develop our
own data base, so that we will not be spending $37,500 on a yearly basis. Mr. Gross stated that currently this has not
PARKS, RECREATION, & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE
Tuesday January 8, 2008 Summary
Page 2
been a plan for the City or the other agencies that are involved with this program. CodeRed will do an annual
upgrade of our data base as well as the information that the agencies have collected themselves will get carried over.
Chair Burbidge suggested that in the future, staff to do an analysis and evaluate is this contract cost effective, or is
there a way to save costs and take more of an active role in collecting our own data base. Council member Ferrell is
concerned that the burden would be on the City to capture all the data. If we assume the responsibility of
notification, and we miss somebody, we could leave ourselves open to liability. Council member Kochmar requested
that the City Attorney’s review the indemnification clause, and make sure that there is mutual indemnity in this
contract and the Interlocal Agreement. Council member Ferrell moved approval of the purchase of the mass
notification system CodeRed, with the understanding that three quarters of the funding will be reimbursed by
the other four agencies. Council member Kochmar seconded. Motion passed.
Cultural Arts Contracts for Services Program
Ms. Faber presented the background information. This is a program that funds local arts agencies that offer cultural
programs within the community. Six agencies applied for funding, and the budget is $38,200.00. Council member
Kochmar moved to approve the proposed funding for the Arts Commission 2008 Contract for Services
program and forward to City Council for authorization. Council Member Ferrell seconded. Motion Passed.
A Proposed Amendment to the Aggressive Begging Ordinance
Mr. Aaron Walls presented the background information. Mr. Walls stated that this Ordinance will clear up the
language and make it easier to understand. They are looking at ways to make the aggressive begging Ordinance
easier to enforce, and cover more behavioral issues that have been problematic. The Ordinance addresses two main
areas. 1. Intimidating begging – begging that is threatening. 2. Begging that interferes with pedestrian or vehicle
travel. The Ordinance will address what constitutes as intimidating behavior, and what circumstances would
constitute interfering with travel. Begging from a sidewalk to a vehicle that is in traffic, it does impede vehicular
travel, and therefore would be prohibited under the Ordinance. If the panhandler is in the public right-of-way on the
sidewalk, oriented towards the car, they would be in violation. If they are on a sidewalk orientated to a person
walking up the sidewalk, they can do that. To obstruct pedestrian traffic, they would have to interrupt the person
walking. There have been discussions with the Police Department on how to implement the Ordinance. Initially it
will be informational about what the law is, and what is now prohibited. In the future the Officers will use their
discretion to balance whether they need to contact the person and tell them to move on, or remove them. The penalty
is a misdemeanor. Chief Wilson stated that the Police Officer’s focus will be on behavior of the panhandler.
Council member Kochmar moved to approve option 1; Recommend approval of the Ordinance and forward
to the full Council for first reading at the February 5, 2008 meeting.
Performing Arts Center Feasibility Study
Charles Johnson from C.H. Johnson Consulting gave a Power Point presentation of the Feasibility Study on the
Federal Way Performing Arts Center, Dumas Bay Conference Centre and the Knutzen Family Theatre. There are
two issues at hand; Conference Centre and Performing Arts Center. The scope of Work had three parts; 1) Market
analysis and strategy development, 2) Physical and cost analysis, 3) Business plan. They have analyzed the
performing arts market and they believe it is very clear that this is entering the suburban market place. There are
many facilities of this type being built in suburban areas. There needs to be strong anchor tenants. A 500-700 seat
Theater would be appropriate for this market. In regards to the Conference Centre, Dumas Bay Centre is not a 3 or 4
star venue. It has oddities associated with it in relation to a normal hotel. Its demand base is on the lower end of the
spectrum in terms of quality. They think that there is value in the Knutzen Family Theatre, and they are suggesting
phasing out the Dumas Bay Centre, and attracting another Corporate conference center that would be more upscale.
They believe that the Theatre can be upgraded and improved. A Performing Arts Center can be stronger if it has
other mixed use developments with it, such as a park, ballroom and meeting space elements. They would like to see
the PAC built together with a hotel/conference center, but it could be done in phases. A Survey was conducted, and
the interest in the market was average. Many people said they would come if the quality of the facility was good.
The venue would be used for banquets, galleries and a wide array of activities. Business Plan: expand the arts,
renovate KFT and orient towards civic, social and smaller commercial. Build a new 500-700 seat PAC downtown.
They believe that attendance will increase at KFT if it was dedicated to the Arts. The cost to renovate DBC would
cost approximately 3.2 million, to renovate KFT alone it would cost about 3.6 million. The new PAC would cost
approximately 40 million. To build a new PAC/Conference Center Complex it would cost 70 million. Cost
PARKS, RECREATION, & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE
Tuesday January 8, 2008 Summary
Page 3
estimates are conservative. Council member Ferrell inquired about the PFD Grant. Mr. Beets answered that a Bill
was passed stating that cities with a population of 80,000-115,000 were eligible for the Public Facilities District.
The problem is that because of the way the bill was pushed through the legislature construction needs to start by June
30, 2008. We were not far enough along in our process to meet this deadline. If the feasibility study gives the
Council enough information, we can now go to the Legislature stating that a PAC is feasible, and ask them to change
the date to June 30, 2009. Mr. Ferrell asked how much funding would be available; Mr. Beets stated we should get
between 7-9 million dollars in state funds. Mr. Beets stated that a funding plan has not been done yet, but if this
passes, they will conduct a funding plan to identify where the money will come from. There are numerous sources of
funding to look into. Mayor Dovey is concerned with the timeline, and feels that the schedule is too tight to break
ground by June 30, 2009. Mayor Dovey and Council member Ferrell asked if there had been any discussion on
taking this project out for a public vote, and how much would it cost. Mr. Beets answered that a stand alone election
would cost $100,000. Mr. Beets stated that when they started discussing funding for the project, they projected that
the City would fund 15 million for the project. The remaining funding would be filled in with private capitol, state
funds, and the county. They have spoken with Mr. Cho and he is very interested in supporting the development of
the Conference Center. Mayor Dovey is not convinced that June 2009 is feasible. He would like to see a timeline of
the project. Council member Ferrell moved to acknowledge receipt of the Feasibility Study final Report and
to direct staff to work toward fulfillment of the Report’s recommendations, especially with respect to
obtaining state funding for a new arts and conference center. Council member Kochmar seconded. Motion
passed.
Future meetings: Un-paint the town – Having the transformer boxes already painted to deter graffiti.
NEXT MEETING – February 12, 2008 6:00 p.m. in the Hylebos Conference Room
ADJOURNMENT - Meeting adjourned at 7:55p.m.