PRHSPSC MINS 09-11-2012 City of Federal Way
City Council
PARKS,RECREATION,HUMAN SERVICES&PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 11,2012
5:30 p.m.
SUMMARY
Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Honda,Committee member Freeman.
Committee Member excused: Kochmar
Council members in Attendance: Council member Burbidge
Staff Members in Attendance:Mayor Skip Priest,Cary Roe,Director,Parks&Public Works,Police Chief Brian
Wilson,Pat Richardson,Director/City Attorney,Ray Gross,Emergency Mgmt.Coordinator,and Mary Jaenicke,
Administrative Assistant II.
Guest: None
Chair Honda called the meeting to order at 5:44p.m.
Committee member Freeman moved to amend the agenda to add"Amendment for Roofing Services for The
City of Federal Way",as item G,Chair Honda seconded.Motion Passed.
Chair Honda moved to move items D and E under item A.Committee member Freeman seconded.Motion
passed.
Public Comment: None
Commission Comment:None
APPROVAL OF SUMMARY
Committee member Freeman moved to approve the August meeting summary. Chair Honda seconded.
Motion passed.
BUSINESS ITEMS
Proposed Modification to Federal Way Revised Code 2.05.170 and 2.05.180 Concerning Public Defense
Standards
This item and the Proposed Resolution Establishing a Case Weighting System for Public Defenders were presented
together.Committee member Freeman moved to forward the proposed ordinance to First Reading on
September 18,2012.Chair Honda seconded.Motion passed.
Proposed Resolution Establishing a Case Weighting System for Public Defenders
Mayor Priest reported that this is a very challenging issue. The Court has reservations about any standards.They
believe that the Court is working well and they should have the authority in terms of how action should take place in
the court.In the misdemeanor courts there is an issue of who is in charge for the issue of appropriate public defense.
The Supreme Court said that standards must be developed in order to ensure that Public Defenders have the ability
and capacity to provide the indigent defense.There have been times when public defenders have held too many
cases. The Court could have considered the option of reviewing individual courts that may have problems,but they
chose to provide an order that said local jurisdictions had the responsibility for setting up case load standards. It is
unclear when this must take place.The order says the standards must be in place by October 1,2012. Most
jurisdictions believe that it is October 1,2013. A letter was written to Chief Justice Madsen stating that this is an
issue. Staff also provided them the City of Federal Way standards that are going to be proposed to the Council. The
Supreme Court reviewed the standards,and the city has not received a comment or direction back from them. City
staff will be meeting with the Chief Justice to get clarification on these standards.The other issue is that the City will
be going into a 2 year budget cycle;it was important to come up with the standards to ensure that there would not be
significant changes in the costs for our Public Defenders. 400 hours of staff time have been spent on developing
these standards. A case by case review was done. As a result of the analysis a group of standards were developed.
It was confirmed that the City is providing high quality public defense. The Mayor reviewed the five Policies. The
city applied for and did not receive a grant in the amount of$140,000.Case management is expensive and this is an
unfunded mandate. This will require additional administrative work. Committee member Freeman moved to
forward the resolution adopting a case weighting system for public defense standards to the September 18,
K:\PRHSPS Committee\2012\091112 min.doc
PARKS,RECREATION,HUMAN SERVICES&PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL COMMITTEE
Tuesday,September 11,2012 Summary
Page 2
2012 consent agenda for approval.Chair Honda seconded.Discussion was held,and it was decided to put this on
the City Council Business Agenda. Motion passed.
2012 Emergency Management Performance Grant Award
Mr. Gross provided the background information. The grant will help fund the Emergency Management Specialist
position.This position is essential in keeping the Community Emergency Response Team training and the
Neighborhood Emergency Team program at current levels of performance.The grant will also fund the mass
notification system CodeRed. The total amount of the grant is$37,154,and it requires matching funds. The funds
will come out of 1 time city funding,and other line items. The grant starts on June 1,2012 and will go through
August 31,2013. Historically this position has been funded with this grant. Committee member Freeman moved
to forward the 2012 Emergency Management Performance Grant award to the September 18,City Council
consent agenda for approval. Chair Honda seconded.Motion passed.
King County Regional 800 MHZ Radio System—Poor Radio Signal Coverage in Federal Way
Chief Wilson provided the background information. They have been addressing this issue since the formation of the
Police Department. They have experienced reception and transmission problems on the west side of the city. The
department started looking for a solution in 2005.They have worked with Valley Communications,and King County
Radio Communications. The system has been tested and the conclusion was that there are low levels of usable radio
system. Part of that is due to how the 800 MHZ system was designed.They have continued to conduct tests,and
have consulted with outside engineering firms. In January of 2009 it was recommended that a funding source be
sought in the amount of Six million dollars;this would be necessary to implement an infrastructure solution to
improve signal strength.In the meantime they have done an audit of all of their radios,which resulted in no
noticeable change. It has been suggest that The Next Generation Radio System will be properly designed,but this
could be several years down the road before it is available. Something needs to be done currently that addresses the
risk to public safety and first responders. He discussed the option of reconfiguring the antenna systems at a site near
Federal Way and use the City of Tacoma Simulcast Site. A letter has been sent to Dow Constantine requesting to
address this issue,but they have not heard back from him. Chief Wilson wanted the committee to know that they are
continuing to work on the problem,and he will continue to keep the Council advised on the progress
Proposed Resolution Supporting Efforts to Stop all Bullying within the City
Ms.Richardson presented the background information. October is anti-bullying month. The proposed resolution is
to stop all bullying in the city. This will apply to both students and adults.Committee member Freeman requested a
small change to the Resolution. Committee member Freeman moved to forward the Resolution supporting all
efforts to stop all bullying within the City to the October 2,2012 consent agenda for approval. Chair Honda
seconded.Motion passed.
Amendment for Roofing Services for the City of Federal Way
Mr.Roe presented the background information. The proposed contract amendment will increase the compensation
in the amount of$130,000.00. $90,000 is for the roof repair at the Dumas Bay Centre(DBC)and$40,000 is for
other city facilities in other locations. The funding for the roof repair at DBC will come from the DBC reserves.The
roof over the main building at DBC will be repaired. The work and material will have a 10 year warranty.
Committee member Freeman moved to forward the approval of the proposed contract amendment with
Wright Roofing with a total compensation of$150,000 and authorize the Mayor to execute the amendment to
the September 18,2012 consent agenda for approval.Chair Honda seconded.Motion passed.
NEXT MEETING
October 8,2012
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 6:55p.m.