FEDRAC MINS 05-28-2002
City of Federal Way
City Council
Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
4:00 p.m.
City Hall
Mt. Baker Conference Room
MINUTES
Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Michael Hellickson, Member Mary Gates, Member Eric Faison.
City Council Members in Attendance: Council Member Linda Kochmar
Staff Members in Attendance: Iwen Wang, Management Services Director; David Moseley, City Manager;
Derek Matheson, Assistant City Manager; Bob Sterbank, City Attorney; Michael Olson, Deputy Director of
Management Services; Jennifer Schroeder, Director, PARCS; Mehdi Sadri, Information Systems Manager; Karen
Kirkpatrick, Deputy City Attorney; Jason Suzaka, Management Analyst.
Others in Attendance: None.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Michael Hellickson called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
3. COMMISSION COMMENT
None.
4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a) Approval of the April 23, 2002 meeting minutes
Motion to approve the April 23, 2002 meeting minutes. Motion seconded and carried.
b) Legislative and Regional Affairs Update
Presented by Der ek Math eson
$12.6 billion regional transportation package proposed by executives of King, Snohomish, and
Pierce counties to go on the November ballot at the same time as the state transportation package.
Federal Way City Council had adopted a policy asking the County Council to wait until after the
November ballot to see the results of the vote on the state transportation package. They also
adopted a list of transportation projects as well.
The three county councils will be meeting on June 19th in Bellevue to decide the direction they
want to go with the regional package. Federal Way’s council will be asking them to hold off on
the vote until after November but to include our projects if the regional package is going to go
ahead. Doug Levy and staff are working on strategies for this meeting.
Referendum 51 (state transportation package): King County Council expected to endorse later
today, although Mayor Nickels of Seattle has opposed it.
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c) Replacement of Copier at Public Safety (Records)
Presented by Medhi Sadri
Mr . Sadr i gave a n over vi ew of t h e pr oposa l .
Motion to forward to full council the attached request for purchase of the copier machines.
Motion seconded and carried.
d) City Consent for the AT&T/Comcast Merger
Pr esen t ed by Bob St er ba n k
Mr. Sterbank presented the resolution and recommendation to the committee. Councilmember
Kochmar thanked Mr. Sterbank for expanding the network to the area east of Interstate 5.
Motion to approve the resolution and forward to full council at the June 4, 2002 meeting.
Motion seconded and carried.
e) Amendment of Federal Way Chamber Contract
Presented by Iwen Wan g
Ms. Wang gave an over view of th e amen dmen t pr oposal. Th e pr oposal is to exten d th e con tr act
for an additional six months because the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) will be
having a retreat in July to review their remaining 2002-03 work plan.
When staff was asked if anything could be done for the summer season, Mr. Moseley suggested
that any funds for baskets, lights, banners, etc. might need to be part of the budget process, as
they probably are not enough funds available for the summer. The committee however found the
attached materials and budget very confusing, and asked for a clearer showing of the financing
needed. The committee and staff agreed to table the amendment until after the June FEDRAC
meeting. Staff was asked to provide a clearer presentation of the data to the next meeting.
Motion to table the amendment until the June FEDRAC meeting. Motion seconded and
carried.
f) Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Membership Changes
Presented by Iwen Wan g
Ms. Wan g ga ve a n over vi ew of t h e pr oposed ch a n ges. A quest i on wa s r a i sed a s t o wh y
membership is set at a minimum of five but left open ended for the maximum. Ms. Wang replied
that state statute sets the minimum but every year Council can change the maximum number of
members on the committee as it sees fit.
The committee was also concerned about the extra staff time that would be involved – could
LTAC pay for the extra staff time? Staff is looking into the idea as part of the budget process.
Councilmember Kochmar questioned the need for a committee of seven, saying that the role of
LTAC is to make recommendations on how the lodging tax money should be spent, and not to
take the initiative on new projects, etc. What direction are they planning on going? Mr. Moseley
replied that that is the reason for their retreat; to figure out their direction and make any changes
to their work plan. The committee decided to postpone the decision until after the retreat (July
FEDRAC meeting) and reconsider afterwards.
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Motion to postpone the decision until after the retreat (July FEDRAC meeting) and
reconsider afterwards. Motion seconded and carried.
g) Tourism Grant Enhancement Awards
Presented by Iwen Wan g
Motion to approve and forward the tourism enhancement grant awards to full council.
Motion seconded and carried.
h) Designation of Cell Tower Revenues
Presented by Iwen Wan g
Ms. Wang presented the memorandum and gave an overview to the committee. Mr. Faison said
he supported leaving the cell tower lease revenues “as is.” Councilmember Gates saw the report
as a way to track the revenues derived from the leases. Councilmember Kochmar felt that since
the parks are providing space, they should reap some of the benefits from the leases.
Mr. Moseley felt that the issue could be dealt with in the budget. He felt that the issue is whether
or not the $112,000 in lease revenues is used to offset money that would normally be financed by
the general fund, or if it would supplement the subsidies coming from there. And if it is
supplementing the subsidies, what would replace the $112,000 that would fund other programs?
Lease revenues could be showed as a line item in budget to show that they are revenues coming
from the parks department to justify offsetting the money being subsidized by the general fund.
No action taken, committee decided to leave the issue “as is.”
i) Monthly Financial Report
Presented by Mich ael Olson
Mr. Olson reviewed the report with the committee, highlighting the 2002 year to date operating
r even ues, wh i ch a r e 8.9% a bove l a st yea r ’s, wh i l e expen ses a r e 9.3% bel ow budget. This is
primarily from one-time funding, which has not yet been spent.
Councilmember Gates was concerned about the upcoming Boeing layoffs, which could
potentially affect Federal Way indirectly – depending on where the cuts will be taking place.
Asked that staff keep watch over the situation.
348th retail center update: Discussions have been re-energized and are looking at a couple major
retailers. No new news on any SeaTac Mall sale.
Also noted was th at wh ile sales tax r eceipts fr om h otel/motels were down 55.6%, lodging tax
revenues wer e actually up 4.7%.
Motion to approve and forward to full council the monthly financial report. Motion
seconded and carried.
j) Vouchers
Presented by Mich ael Olson
Mr. Olson presented th e vouch er s for appr oval.
Motion to approve and forward to full council the vouchers. Motion seconded and carried.
5. OTHER
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Note: The committee asked to rename this section as “other,” instead of “committee report.”
Familyfest: Councilmember Hellickson brought to the attention of the committee that Mary Ehlis, chair
of Familyfest, that the event is experiencing a shortfall of approximately $10,000 in revenues. Ms. Ehlis
had come to the last Lodging Tax committee meeting with the news during the citizen comment period.
While there was some debate on what (if any) the Council could do, or should do, to assist the festival
organizers, Mr. Moseley did mention that past analysis has been done on the city’s contributions to the
event. The city is already providing non-cash assistance through items such as police and parks and
recreation staffing. Councilmember Gates was concerned with the city becoming a “rescuer” of
organizations/events without looking into the underlying causes of their problems. Councilmember
Faison felt the organizers can come to the city with their problem, but also needs to bring a proposed
action plan to solve it. Mr. Moseley offered to meet with organizers at a future date and make an
assessment of the situation.
6. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
June 25, 2002 at 3:00 p.m. in the Mt. Baker Conference Room.
7. ADJOURN
Chair Michael Hellickson adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m.
Recorded by Jason Suzaka