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FEDRAC MINS 01-28-2003 City of Federal Way City Council Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee Tuesday, January 28, 2003 9:30 a.m. City Hall Mt. Baker Conference Room MINUTES Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Michael Park and 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; Pat Richardson, City Attorney; Michael Olson, Deputy Director of Management Services; Patrick Doherty, Deputy Director of Community Development; Tho Kraus, Financial Management Supervisor; Kathy McClung, Director of Community Development; N. Christine Green, City Clerk; Jenny Sch r oder , PARCS Dir ector ; Mar y McDougal, Human Resour ces Man ager ; Jason Suzaka, Man agemen t Analyst. Other s in Atten dan ce: David Kaplan 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Michael Park called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Member Mary Gates was an excused absen ce. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT David Kaplan mentioned that he would like to see follow up on the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee’s (LTAC) workplan – what is going on with their projects and how are they performing? 3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS a) Approval of th e December 3, 2002 meeting minutes Motion to approve the December 3, 2002 meeting minutes. Motion seconded and carried. b) Legislative and Regional Affairs Update Presented by Der ek Math eson Transportation Issues: Because of the public’s demand for more accountability, both the Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature have come up with proposals to make the Department of Transportation more accountable. The Democrat’s version includes a citizen oversight panel, performance audit, and placing the Secretary of Transportation directly under the Governor instead of the Governor’s Transportation Commission. The Republican package proposes more contracting out of services, passenger ferries, performance audits, eliminating the prevailing wage, and a bill on permit streamlining. The City is particularly interested in the permit bill because of potential impacts on the situation in Peasley Canyon. A-1 Regional Transportation Issue: Th er e h as been discussion as to wh eth er or n ot th e r egion sh ould impose a larger gas tax with voter approval and directly deal with the projects at the local level because of th e fallout fr om R-51 at th e last election . Secure Community Transition Facilities: The South County Legislative Delegation is meeting every week to work on this issue. One bill adds home schooling as part of the criteria in picking a site for the facilities, another repeals the ability of DSHS to preempt all local zoning rules and regulations, and another to require the sites to be in industrial areas only. However this law bill could backfire, since most of the areas left for industrial usage are located in South King County. Another adds youth camps to the list of sites that would eliminate locating a facility there. Annexation: The legislature is working on a bill that would deal with the Supreme Court’s problem with the petition method for inhabited land. This would replace the 60/40 method, where you had to get 60% of voters in the area to approve. The bill proposes a 50/50 rule, where you had to get 50% of the residents to approve and 50% of the acreage. When asked, Mr. Matheson told Mr. Faison that he had no heard anything on the island method as of yet. The Metropolitan Parks Task Force is thinking of ways for voter-approved parks measures that would raise funds for either the County’s parks system or a levy that would be distributed to cities. They are currently conducting polling sessions. There is also a County Budget Task Force that looks at their current expense fund. The Suburban Cities Association (SCA) has made it a major goal to monitor their efforts and provide feedback. A cities workgroup that includes Bellevue and Seattle that is working on policy statements so that cities can speak as one voice to the ideas that come out of the County Budget Task Force. c) City Council Compensation Commission Presented by Der ek Math eson Mr. Matheson reviewed the memo with the committee. Mr. Faison felt that May 1st may a little late in the year for those who apply for the jobs. He also questioned the need for the commission to ser ve every year and suggested this year (2003), next year (2004), and then every other year thereafter. There was also a suggestion for a staggered four-year term (since they would meet every other year). Ms. Kochmar voiced her support for the commission – this gives the City a plan when the need to visit Council compensation arises. In order to attract future quality Councilmembers, she would like to see the commission consider the whole compensation package. Both Mr. Park and Mr. Faison concurred. Motion to prepare an ordinance creating a City Council Compensation Commission and give the following direction to staff: 1. Commissioners serve 4-year, staggered terms 2. Commission would meet 2003, 2004, and then every other year (all on July 1st). 3. Appointments would be made in May 2003 (but could be moved earlier in the year in subsequent years). Motion seconded and carried. d) Official Newspaper Selection Criteria Presented by N. Christin e Gr een Ms. Green reminded Council that they approved Resolution #02-376 on November 19, 2002. It adopted the permit process implementation plan. One of the planned actions was changing the official paper because of the lag time in publication. She then proceeded to r eview th e cr iter ia with the committee members. C:\staging\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75\in\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75.doc A-2 Of note: Sometimes the City will be given a “free” ad for certain public announcements. One example is if the City does not get a sufficient number of applicants for a commissioner opening, the paper will sometimes go ahead and publish the ad again for free. The Public Works Department also publishes their bids in the Daily Journal of Commerce because of its wide circulation amongst local contractors. In regards to the possibility of an abbreviated version in the Mirror, Mr. Faison asked what their cir culation is; and if appropriate, he would support submission of abbreviated notices to the Mirror. Staff will contact the publishers and ask for their current circulation. Motion to approve items #1 and #3, but to report back with information on publishers’ circulation numbers (item #2). Motion seconded and approved. In regards to the criteria as a legal newspaper, Mr. Kaplan remarked that the Tacoma News Tribune (TNT) does not have an office in Federal Way and would be ineligible to become the official newspaper. Ms. Wang replied that the criterion says that the paper only needs to be distributed in Federal Way, and does not have to have an office in the city. Mr. Kaplan also expr essed his view th at th e TNT seems to por tr ay Feder al Way fr om a n egative per spective. e) Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Workplan and Budget Presented by Patrick Doherty Mr. Doherty presented and reviewed the workplan and budget with the committee. The purpose of the electronic kiosk is to inform visitors about what is going on, where to stay, how to get somewhere, etc. The costs of operating the kiosk could be lowered through selling adver tising to local businesses. This money was already approved back in 1997 in the downtown development plan. Ms. Wang confirmed upon Mr. Park’s request that the $130,000 in lodging tax revenue is a good estimate for 2003. The idea to create a FW attractions video for hotels was an idea brought up by one of the LTAC committee members (who is a hotel manager). The City could use its current promotional video tape for now. However , cur r ently there are no replacement reserves budgets for the videotape – its future depends on the success of the program. Issues about the use of a half-time person to work with the consultant as an “Events Planner” came up. There was concern about monitoring to make sure that the program stays on track and who has control over it (the program is partnership with the Chamber of Commerce). Mr. Moseley explained that in the event the City and Chamber are unable to come up with an agr eemen t, oth er option s ar e available; such as th e con sultan t en ter in g in to a con tr act dir ectly with the City. Motion to approve the 2003-04 biennial workplan and budget, and forward to full Council for approval. Motion seconded and carried. f) 2002 Insur ance Renewal Presented by Iwen Wan g Ms. Wang reviewed the insurance options with the committee. The key issue with WCIA’s coverage is that they are occurrence-based, so whenever the incident occurs, coverage will be based on when the incident actually occurred. So if an incident occurred and wasn’t claimed in the same year, we would not be covered. Therefore, the City would need to purchase additional tail-end coverage as stated in the table on page F1. C:\staging\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75\in\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75.doc A-3 Ms. Wang th en gave a sh or t backgr oun d about CIAW. Th e City would become an “associate member” if it joined the Pool, similar to its partnership with Valley Com and the Federal Way Fire District. Before actually joining the Pool, the City Attorney would need to examine the by- laws first (which has been requested at this time). Our auto liability insurance is currently covered by the St. Paul. However, we do not have physical damage coverage (if city vehicle damages property for which it is at fault). We did receive quotes for deductibles in th e amoun t of $5,000, $25,000, and $50,000; however, staff did not feel that the difference in premiums were significant enough to pursue. Subject to receipt and approval of all documents for the interlocal agreement, motion to forward to full Council approval to join the CIAW at the February 4, 2003 meeting. Alternatively, if the documents are not approved, authorize a one-month extension with St. Paul in the interim. Motion seconded and carried. g) Quarter ly Fin an cial Repor t – December 2002 Presented by Th o Kr aus Ms. Kraus reviewed the Quarter ly Fin an cial Repor t (QFR) – December 2002 with the Committee. These results are preliminary only, as there are still outstanding invoices and receipts fr om 2002 that still need to be taken care of. Of note: th e City did fin ally r eceive its tax paymen ts fr om a delin quen t h otel fr om pr evious quarters – we are now current. Ms. Wang noted that in her 20 years of tracking utility tax revenue, this is the first time that revenues from utility taxes has gone down. Sales from cell phone use now exceed th at der ived fr om lan d lin es. 2003 will probably see little change from 2002. The Surface Water Management Division Project Status Report was distributed at this time. Motion to accept the December 2002 QFR and forward to full council for approval. Motion seconded and carried. h) Vouchers Presented by Th o Kr aus Ms. Kraus presented the vouch er s for approval Motion to accept the vouchers and forward to full Council for approval. Motion seconded and carried. 4. OTHER Mr. Doherty passed out copies of the Recent Activities of the Economic Development Program (Dec - Jan). Also passed out was the Streets Division Project Status Report. There was also some discussion regarding economic development in the downtown area – Mr. Doherty said that there would probably be a report on the issue at the next FEDRAC meeting. 5. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING Febr uar y 25, 2003 in the Mt. Baker Conference Room (Time TBA). 6. ADJOURN C:\staging\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75\in\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75.doc A-4 C:\staging\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75\in\41743B90-2EA6-10CD75.doc A-5 Chair Michael Park adjourned the meeting at 11:24 am. Recorded by Jason Suzaka