FEDRAC MINS 04-13-2004City of Federal Way
City Council
Finance/Economic Develop ment/Regional Affairs Committee
April 13, 2004 City Hall
5:30 p.m. Mt. St Helens Conference Room
MEETING MINUTES
In a ttenda nc e: C ommitt ee M emb er s: C ouncil M emb er s Er ic Faison, Cha ir , Jim Fer r ell; Jeanne Bur bidge;
Deput y Mayor Linda Kochmar; Cit y M a nager David Mos eley; Ass is t a nt C it y Ma na ger Donna Ha nson;
Deput y Dir ect or of Commu nit y D evelop ment S er vic es P a tr ick Doher t y; Ma na gement S er vic es Dir ect or
Iwen Wa ng; C it y Att or ney P a t R icha r dson; Hu ma n R esour c es Ma na ger Ma r y McDouga l; Off ic e
Technician Robin Baker; and Federal Way Mirror Reporter Erica Hall.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Faison called the meeting to order at 5:27 pm.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
Ther e was no public comment.
4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
A. Approval of the March 9, 2004, Minutes – It was m/s/c to adopt the March 9, 2004, minutes as
pres ent ed.
B. Economic Development Mess aging Strategy – Mr. Doher t y went over t he ba ckgr ou nd a nd
outlined the proposal whereby the format of this strategy would be envisioned as a PowerPoint
presentation. The key message would portray how public funds spent on economic development
would be an investment in the City’s future economic engine, helping to raise our overall r evenue
base, ther eby maintaining City services and qualit y of life, while keeping taxes low.
Mr. Faison comment ed that he’d prefer to see included the Comp Plan’s City Cent er vision, as
well as recent public opinion surveys that support a more defined and active City C enter. Mr.
Fa ison, M r . F err el l and Ms. Burbidge agr eed that the pres entation shou ld st a r t out br oa dly, a s it
does, but end up focusing in on a range of potential City Center related strategies. Mr. Ferrell
off er ed his desir e t o i nclu de mention of a “t own squa r e” op en spa ce a nd r ela t ed r edevel op ment a s
one of the pot ential City Cent er redevelopment scenarios. Ms. Kochmar expr essed caution with
the wording so as not to sound as if we are hoping to expand taxes when we talk about expanding
revenue. She also ment ioned concern over potentially taking on too many large projects at one
time, what with the road construction projects, City Hall move and Community Cent er projects
already occupying staff time and energy, as well as affecting the community.
All members present expressed a desir e to be clear that this presentation is for the purposes of
soliciting input, response and ideas, and that this is a process that will continue to include public
involvement, with no decisions yet made. It was m/s/c to s end a mended proposal to the next
Council meeting.
FEDRAC Minutes April 13, 2004 Page 1
FEDRAC Minutes April 13, 2004 Page 2
C. Discussion of Public Outreach Component of City Center Redevelopment Strategies
Work Plan – Mr. Doherty shared the draft public-outreach component of this Council-approved
work plan, indicating that it included the notion of an ad hoc committee to present draft strategies
and other ideas for professional/expert input and/or advice. He offered to the committee members
that perhaps they would like to discuss the future committee’s composition. The members agreed
that the Economic Opportunity Response Team “executive team” that was formed last year would
be an appropriate group to call for this purpose. There were two suggestions to augment the
existing team: The addition of key city center property owners and a representative each from
among the elected officials from the Fire, School, Library and Lakehaven Utility Districts. The
committee members also suggested that the draft PowerPoint presentation discussed earlier
(related to the economic development messaging strategy) could be shared with this ad hoc
committee before it is taken “on the road” to the general public. As this was up for discussion
only, no action was taken.
D. Possible Ombudsman Job Functions – There was a consensus on the main job function being
that of a liaison between businesses and the City, since each department deals with complaints
from our citizen’s via Citizen Action Request (CAR) forms it was redundant of the ombudsman’s
position to be doubling up on the same efforts. Mr. Ferrell noted that out of the fourteen possible
functions, the first six and the last three were the ones most appropriate for the position. Although
there was great response towards having this position available, it was agreed upon to put the
decision on hold for reconsideration after there was a presentation of the current CAR process.
5. FUTURE MEETINGS
The next scheduled meeting is May 11, 2004, 5:30 p.m., in the Mt. St. Helens Conference Room.
6. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
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