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PRHSPSC MINS 11-10-2009City of Federal Way City Council PARKS, RECREATION, HUMAN SERV ICES & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE Tuesday, November 10, 2009 5:30 p.m. SUMMARY Committee Members in Attendance: Committee Chair Jeanne Burbidge and Committee members Mike Park and Jim Ferrell Council Members in Attendance: Linda Kochmar Staff Members in Attendance: Interim City Manager, Brian Wilson, Amy Jo Pearsall, City Attorney, Interim Chief Hwang, Community Development Director Greg Fewins, Human Services Manager Lynnette Hynden, Emergency Management Coordinator Ray Gross, Parks and Facilities Manager Steve Ikerd, Federal Way Community Center Supervisor Doug Nelson, Aquatics Coordinator Craig Feldman, and Mary Jaenicke, Administrative Assistant II. Guests: Mike O’Dea, Red Cross, Chris Carrel, Friends of the Hylebos, Martin Moore Parks Commission, Susan Honda, Chair Arts Commission, Chair Burbidge called the meeting to order at 5:36p.m. Commission Comments: None APPROVAL OF SUMMARY Council member Park moved to approve the October meeting summary. Council member Ferrell seconded. Motion passed. BUSINESS ITEMS Urban Forest Health Chris Carrel gave a powerpoint presentation on Urban Forest Health. He stated that this is a slow growing emergency in our forests. They have found that when we let nature take care of itself we are running into problems with our forests. Our forests are aging and we have a poor quantity of conifers and a lack of conifer seed sources. There is also a big problem with invasive plant species. The worst is English Ivy. The ivy climbs up the tree and strangles it. The ivy also smothers out native species in the forest. Another significant invasive plant species is the Himalayan Blackberry. This dominates in open areas and prevents the native plants from re-growing. Once invasive species are established in the forest, they begin to topple trees, and displace them. Forests are good for passive recreation and for neighborhoods, they’re important for reducing greenhouse gases, and provide natural stormwater management functions. Friends of the Hylebos have a forest health plan for the West Hylebos. This plan assesses forests health. The West Hylebos Wetlands is in good health, it has a low level of invasive species. Approximately 10% of the park will require control of the invasive species and replanting of native trees. Using the health plan they have completed about $80,000 in restoration work. The City has provided $30,000 over the past three years. They have been able to leverage that $30,000 and tripled it by bringing in $90,000 in additional outside funds for forest health work. They also have 332 volunteers that contributed $38,000 in volunteer labor. There is about $200,000 in management actions left to conduct over the next five years. They are working on securing the funding sources to do that. Over the past four months they have been doing some preliminary assessments on other forests in Federal Way. There is approximately 1,000 acres of forest in Federal Way. They looked a four specific parks 1) Poverty Bay 2) Dumas Bay Wildlife Preserve 3) Dash Point State Park and 4) Celebration Park. Dumas Bay Park is facing some critical issues. 25-75% of the ground area was invaded with ivy. 50-75% of the area the trees were invaded by ivy. The forest is dominated in deciduous species that are in decline. There is not any conifer regeneration; this is a forest that is in a downward spiral. The problem is too big for any one agency. This will require energizing different segments of the community, leveraging resources and partnerships and outside funding. The Dumas Bay Forest Health Pilot Project will be introduced in December. They are going to address the most critical infestation of ivy and save the trees. They will be in the community organizing volunteers and creating an awareness of the issue. Interim City Manager Wilson thanked Mr. Carrel for his work. He has been very responsive to questions, and has been very efficient and effective in the use of the funds. We need to get a handle on how big of a problem this is, and have a plan of action. PARKS, RECREATION, HUMAN SERVICES & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE Tuesday November 10, 2009 Summary Page 2 Federal Way Community Center – Agreement to Use as Dormitory Shelter Mr. Gross stated that the primary mission of the Howard Hanson Dam was flood control for the green river. It was built in the early 1960’s. With the January 2009 severe weather event the Howard Hanson Dam held back a substantial amount of water. After the event the Army Corps of Engineers found some substantial problems with the dam. They continued to do some testing and discovered that the amount of water seepage has increased in both volume and speed. Until there is a permanent fix, the Army Corps of Engineers is going to be releasing more water more often. It cannot hold as much water as it was able to in 2009. The regional impact is significant flooding in the green river valley, short term utility outages, impact on transportation and request for city services. There are two aspects of the Community Center becoming a Red Cross shelter 1) If Federal Way is impacted, the FWCC would help Federal Way residents 2) The benefits of having this in place is that all of the preplanning is done. The Red Cross would do a site assessment and start putting the plans in place. Mr. Gross stated that the city would not lose control of the facility; we can say yes or no. If the city says yes, the Red Cross will come in, and there will be an onsite agreement with them, and there will be an assessment of the site prior to them moving in. We can charge the Red Cross to use the facility. Some things to consider are the financial impact if we have to cancel an event, and how would this affect the passholders and the contracts we have with them. It is estimated that it costs $5,700 a day to run the facility. With the Howard Hanson event the regional plan concept is to go with a mega shelter in Seattle. The intent of the Red Cross is to have several mini shelters as a backup. Mr. O’Dea from the Red Cross stated that the County is trying to identify large venues that they can use. They have 283 facilities that they can use right now; four of those facilities are located in Federal Way. The Red Cross’ prime interest is getting a facility agreement. Once they have the agreement they can assess the facility. It is a 3 step process: 1) Agree to talk 2) Shelter survey 3) Facility Use Agreement. They will carry their own insurance and restore that facility back to the condition it was. Council member Kochmar requested that the City be named as an additional insured. Council member Ferrell moved to enter into an agreement with the American Red Cross, allowing the Federal Way Community Center to be placed on the list for use as a possible dormitory shelter in times of emergency. Council member Park seconded, motion passed. Community Center Pool Chemical Vendor Contract Mr. Feldman stated that the swimming program has been extremely successful at the center. Because we are having more bathers than we anticipated, the actual use of pool chemicals was underestimated. Mr. Feldman is asking for an increase of $6,000 on the current contract that we have with ORCA Pacific, Inc., and would also like to amend the term of the contract for another year. The total amount of the contract is $72,000.00, and the term will be effective until December 31, 2010. Council member Park moved to approve the amendment to the contract with ORCA Pacific Inc. and authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement for the supply and delivery of Pool Chemicals at the Federal Way Community Center. Total amount of the contract is $72,000.00. Council member Ferrell seconded, motion passed. Fisher Pond Building Demolition Mr. Ikerd reported that the Historical Society moved out of the building in June. The Federal Way Police Department had been using the site as a training facility, but is no longer using it. Mr. Ikerd solicited demolition bids to 11 companies off of the Small Works Roster. Three companies responded. William Dickson Construction was the lowest responsive bidder. Council member Park asked what the current condition of the house is. Ikerd answered that it is boarded up, and is a target for a lot of vandalism. Mr. Ikerd stated that some of the costs are taking care of the environmental part of the demolition; there is asbestos in the building. Council member Ferrell relayed a message that Mayor Dovey had discussed the possibility of using the building for another organization. Council member Burbidge is concerned about the condition of the building, and spending the money to bring the site up to code. The site is very isolated. Council member Ferrell moved to accept the demolition bid from William Dickson Construction and authorize the Interim City Manager to execute a contract for services in the amount of $22,256.97 plus 10% contingency for a total amount of $24,481.97. Council member Park seconded, motion passed. Services Agreement for The Commons at Federal Way Police Services Interim Chief Hwang stated that this is a one year contract commencing on January 1, 2010. There are three full-time officers at the mall. The Commons owner will pay the City 50% of the cost of the salary and benefits of each officer. The total amount of the contract is $137,645.00 for the year 2010. Originally there were two officers assigned to the PARKS, RECREATION, HUMAN SERVICES & PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE Tuesday November 10, 2009 Summary Page 3 The Commons. With the addition of the Theaters, they added another officer. The Manager of the mall is very pleased with the police services. The three officers that are assigned to The Commons have agreed to stay there another year. Council member Park moved approval of entering into the Service Agreement with Steadfast Commons II, LLC for Police Services for The Commons at Federal Way and authorize Interim City Manager Brian Wilson to sign such Agreement. Total amount of compensation is $137,645.00 for 2010. Council member Ferrell seconded. Motion Passed. Human Services Challenge Grant Ms. Hynden stated that she is back with the Human Services Challenge Grant due to an oversight that she reported at the October meeting. Originally the Human Services Challenge Grant was an ongoing budget item, but in the course of budgets changing, it was switched to one time funding. She is still recommending going forward with the grant being awarded to the Federal Way Senior Center for their ICAN project. Ms. Hynden will have some costs savings at the end of the year and will carry that forward to 2010, she will also be submitting a new program request, requesting that the Human Services Challenge Grant be an ongoing budget line item. At a future date she will come back to Committee with a report on the ICAN project. In January they will discuss the Challenge Grant for the food bank. Council member Kochmar suggested that the Board look into annexing the parcel that the building is on into Federal Way. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Ms. Hynden stated that she and the Diversity Commission have worked diligently with the community to put together a Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration committee supported by City staff. Ms. Hynden stated that they heard numerous times how important this event is to the community, yet they could not find anybody that could stay committed to the event. The Diversity Commission met and came up with a plan for the event in January 2010. The Diversity Commission will highlight the art and poetry contest. The artwork will be displayed at City Hall during the month of January. She has heard from some teachers in Federal Way that would like their classes to participate in the essay contest. There will also be a day of caring; it will be a food drive. The artifacts will also be displayed; the community flame and the banners are just a few of the items that will be displayed. Instead of focusing on one day, the celebration event will be for the whole month of January. There will also be nominations to recognize unsung heroes in the community. They would like to have one adult and one teenager recognized. 2010 Diversity Commission Work Plan Ms. Hynden stated that at the Diversity Commissions yearly retreat, they discussed what the function of the Diversity Commission is. They have revised their Purpose and Mission and also added a Brand Promise. The Commission is committed to put together three community forums in the next year. These forums will provide a platform for the Commissioners to listen and get feedback from the community. They are going to dedicate themselves to Community Service. Other projects that they will do include the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration, Community Garden and Food Drives. Council member Parked moved the approval the 2010 Diversity Commission Work Plan. Council member Ferrell seconded. Motion passed. Council member Burbidge suggested adding the Work Plan to the Diversity Commission web page. 2010-2011 Human Services Commission 2 year Work Plan Ms. Hynden stated that the Commission has two huge tasks ahead of them. Those tasks are updating the Human Services Consolidated Plan for 2011 and exploring the question of whether or not they should go to Direct Entitlement. This is a two year work plan. Ms. Hynden will come back to Committee at the end of 2010 with an update on the work plan. Council member Ferrell moved to approve option 1, recommend approval of the 2010/2011 Human Services Work Plan. Council member Park seconded. Motion passed. NEXT MEETING December 8, 2009 5:30 p.m. in the Hylebos Conference Room ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.