FEDRAC MINS 02-22-2005 A-1
City of Federal Way
City Council
Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
5:30 p.m.
City Hall
Hylebos Conference Room
MINUTES
Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Eric Faison, Member Jeanne Burbidge, and Member Jim Ferrell.
City Council Members in Attendance: Mayor Dean McColgan, Deputy Mayor Linda Kochmar, and
Councilmember Michael Park.
Staff Members in Attendance: Iwen Wang, Management Services Director; David Moseley, City Manager; Derek
Matheson, Assistant City Manager; Karen Kirkpatrick, Deputy City Attorney; Tho Kraus, Finance Manager; Ken
Miller, Deputy Director of Public Works; Medhi Sadri, Information Systems Manager; Jason Suzaka, Deputy City
Clerk/Management Analyst.
Others in Attendance: H. David Kaplan
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Eric Faison called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Kaplan asked where the minutes can be found for the joint meetings the City has with other
organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce. Deputy Mayor Kochmar advised him that the minutes for
the Economic Vitality Committee can be found on the Chamber’s website, and citizens can also join an
email list to receive the minutes.
3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a) Approval of the January 25, 2005 meeting minutes
Motion to approve the January 25, 2005 meeting minutes. Motion seconded and carried.
b) Legislative and Regional Affairs Update
Presented by Derek Matheson
Last week, Mr. Matheson and Mr. Moseley traveled to Olympia with five Councilmembers to
attend the Association of Washington Cities Legislative Action Conference to meet with
legislators. It appears things are going very well with the City’s attempts to receive $50,000 for
the Han Woo-Ri Festival; Mr. Matheson complimented Sen. Tracey Eide for her work in making
the meeting a very beneficial one. She helped arrange a meeting with Rep. Ed Murray (House
Transportation Committee chair) to talk about the importance of $200 million for the triangle
project and expansion of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Board.
Property Tax Rate Stabilization bill was going well until it was moved out of the Senate
Government Operations committee and into the Ways and Means committee, where its passage
will be a lot more challenging.
K:\FEDRAC\2005\0222\022205 Minutes.doc A-2
There are rumors of a state transportation package involving a 4-10 cent increase in the gas tax,
with direct distribution to cities. A bill has been introduced that would allow cities and counties to
impose a vehicle licensing or vehicle weight fee, or allow counties to place on the ballot a local
option gas tax for local projects. A hearing will take place on Wednesday.
Rep. Murray is advocating a change in the Regional Transportation Investment District to a
Regional Transportation Investment Authority, which would give it broader array of funding
sources, more eligible projects, and less reliance on sales taxes. It would give county executives
and the biggest cities in each county (plus Bellevue) more power in decision making. Federal Way
supports more funding sources and eligible projects, but advocates more involvement by cities
other than the biggest cities and Bellevue.
The Driving While License Suspended bill has a hearing on Wednesday, with City Attorney
Richardson providing testimony at the hearing.
Tax Increment Financing: House Speaker Chopp has proposed a “Job Development Fund” that
would make $50 million per biennium available to local governments in the form of grants to help
with infrastructure to create and/or retain jobs.
The Building and Realtors Industry has proposed replacing impact and SEPA mitigation fees with
a ½% real estate excise tax. Research is being done to examine the impact of this potential action.
Councilmember Faison has been reappointed as an alternate to the PRSC Executive Board and
appointed to the Growth Management Planning Council; Councilmember Burbidge has been
appointed as an alternate to PSRC’s Transportation Policy Board and will continue to serve on the
Regional Transit Committee.
Applications have been submitted for TEA-21 reauthorization earmark funding for three major
transportation projects: The triangle project, city center access study, and the 348th HOV lanes.
General federal funding is also being sought for these projects, as well as the Joe’s Creek project.
Next month, staff and some Councilmembers will be traveling to Washington DC for the National
League of Cities Conference, and a federal lobbyist is expected to be onboard very soon.
c) PSE Easement for Evidence Building
Presented by Derek Matheson
This item was moved to the Council Business Agenda on March 1st for action to be taken.
d) City Update News Magazine
Presented by Mehdi Sadri
Mr. Sadri gave a background on the item to the committee. There was some concern about the
timeliness of the content if the segments are going to be shown over 3-4 month time period. One
suggestion would be to switch to six 15-minute segments. Another suggestion is to videotape
various city-related events, such as the MLK Celebration, State of the City speech, and the City’s
15th Anniversary Celebration.
It was suggested that at a future FEDRAC meeting, there be some discussion on FWTV
programming ideas.
Mr. Sadri explained some of the differences in quality between Channel 21 and 22. Differences
can be attributed to reasons such as quality of equipment being used and how Comcast is
broadcasting the material to homes in the local area.
Staff will try both a 15 and 30-minute script and calculate the costs for a future meeting.
K:\FEDRAC\2005\0222\022205 Minutes.doc A-3
e) Olympic Pipeline Company Franchise
Presented by Karen Kirkpatrick
Ms. Kirkpatrick reviewed the ordinance with the committee.
Motion to forward option 1 to the full City Council for first reading. Motion seconded and
carried.
f) Olympic Pipeline Agreement to Share Information
Presented by Karen Kirkpatrick
Ms. Kirkpatrick reviewed the agreement with the committee.
Motion to forward option 1 to the full City Council for approval. Motion seconded and carried.
g) Wi-Fi Proof of Concept Estimate
Presented by Iwen Wang
Mr. Sadri presented the proposed concept; he pointed out that the locations of the access points
were selected where the city already has optical fiber available for use.
Deputy Mayor Kochmar recused herself from the discussions, because the wireless antennas could
be placed on Lakehaven property.
When asked why law enforcement needs the system, Mr. Sadri stated that the current system is not
only costly, but it uses narrow bandwidth, which does not allow officers to download mugshots and
other pictures that could help them in their investigations. The new system would allow them to
download these large-sized computer files and lower costs in the long run.
There has been some interest shown by the Fire Department and School District in this technology.
It is possible that a combination of grants from all of the interested parties could offset a large
portion of the rollout costs of the project.
Motion to forward the Wi-Fi proof-of-concept proposal and approval of expedited equipment
purchasing bids onto the March 1 Council Business Agenda for discussion purposes only, with
the intent to take action at the March 15 Council meeting. Motion seconded and carried.
h) Carry Forward Budget Adjustment
Presented by Iwen Wang
Ms. Wang reviewed the ordinance with the committee. Questions were raised regarding the funds
proposed for the community center project manager - Should they be included in the community
center budget, and is a project manager necessary? It was suggested that the funds should be
included in the budget and that a project manager will provide expertise and help keep costs under
control. Staff was directed to assume the service; after the bidding is completed, determine if more
revenue is needed to fund the service.
Motion to move the carry forward budget adjustment to full Council for first reading, excluding
the community center line item, which is to be drawn from the City Manager Contingency fund.
Motion seconded and carried.
K:\FEDRAC\2005\0222\022205 Minutes.doc A-4
i) Monthly Financial Report
Presented by Tho Kraus
Ms. Kraus reviewed the Quarterly Financial Report with the committee.
Motion to forward the December 2004 Quarterly Financial Report to full Council for approval.
Motion seconded and carried.
j) Vouchers
Presented by Tho Kraus
Ms. Kraus reviewed the vouchers with the committee.
Motion to accept the vouchers and forward to full Council for approval. Motion seconded and
carried.
4. OTHER
None.
5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
6. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
March 22, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. in the Hylebos Conference Room.
7. ADJOURN
Chair Eric Faison adjourned the meeting at 7:10pm.
Recorded by Jason Suzaka