CITY OF STEVENSON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES June 18, :00PM

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1 CITY OF STEVENSON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES June 18, :00PM ROLL CALL Frank Cox, Monica Masco, Robert Muth, Scott Anderson, Amy Weissfeld, Julie Mayfield STAFF Nick Hogan, Ken Woodrich, Eric Hansen, Ben Shumaker GUESTS Mary Repar, Ben Sciacca, John McSherry, Rob Peterson, David Prosser, Rick May, Libby Johnson, Brian McNamara, Karen Ashley, Philip Watness, David McKenzie, Craig Klever, Bernard Vasari 6:00pm Meeting Called to Order by Cox MINUTES Muth motioned to approve the May 21, 2015 Meeting Minutes as written with a 2nd by Anderson. Unanimously approved Weissfeld motioned to approve the June 11, 2015 Town Hall Meeting Minutes as written with a 2nd by Mayfield. Unanimously approved CONSENT AGENDA a) Water adjustment Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center (meter No ) requests a water adjustment of $ for a leak in their underground incoming water line which they have since repaired. The leak continued for several months while the Interpretive Center worked with several different companies attempting to locate it. b) Liquor license renewals Main Street Convenience, Jester & Judge, La Casa De Sabor. c) Special Occasion Liquor license application American Legion Post 137, Skamania County Fairgrounds, August 12 through 16, Weissfeld motioned to approve the consent agenda items a c as written with a 2nd by Anderson. Unanimously approved PUBLIC COMMENT Repar grange master 121, invited everyone to the Stevenson Library to see the film Silent Forest which addresses genetically modified trees in our forest. She is going to the Grange convention and proposing four (4) resolutions. There were community emergency response demonstrations from the Grange last weekend and on July 8 th & 9 th there will be community activist training. Public Hearing Opened at 6:30pm Hansen presented the updated Six Year Transportation Improvement Program for Council Review and Public comment. Hansen said he added Del Ray Avenue to the Transportation Improvement plan. Hogan reported to council on a proposed plan to obtain financing for improving some or all of the city streets that are currently unpaved. Hogan and Hansen would research use of the LID Process for consideration of improving all currently unpaved streets. They would look at all unpaved streets and decide what makes sense for each street, with homeowner input. There will be some cost to the city. Before a lot of time is put forth, they wanted to know if this is what council wants to do. Anderson and Weissfeld were sup

2 portive of the plan, with no opposition from council. Hogan said they would look into it. Prosser commented about Lakeview road shrinking. He said parts of Cascade Avenue were gravel and now it s getting paved, it comes before the citizens and it s just not right. He appreciates what Hogan is doing but he is still waiting. May said he would like to go with an LID process, and that this is probably true for many roads in this area. He said this will be a long, paper intensive process, but he is all for going down that path or the city roads will just sit there. Public Hearing Closed 6:55pm Muth made a motion to approve the updated Six Year Transportation Improvement Program with 2 nd by Anderson. Unanimous Approval Muth read a letter that was given to Cox from Senator King, the Committee Chair for the State Transportation Committee. Weissfeld said at least there is awareness of the issues now. Public Hearing Opened 7:00pm Resolution Development Agreement and MOU; Interlocal Agreement. Shumaker presented Resolution to adopt a Development Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Stevenson, Skamania County, and BNSF Railroad for review under the Skamania County Shoreline Management Master Program. The city has been approached by Burlington Northern to replace the bridge over rock creek. They need to get their permits in place. It strattles the city/county line. Since the city and county share a shoreline master program, they asked to hold only one hearing. They are working with the county to see how to make this happen. Woodrich suggested development agreement and MOU agreement and a separate agreement with the county. Skamania County permits are reviewed by their hearings examiner so their hearings examiner will be the adjudicative body. Repar wanted to know what the bridge will be replaced with, she was concerned about the Osprey nest. She would like to see a picture of it of the proposed new bridge, and asked if it will it enhance the view. Vasari asked if it will be a one way or a two way design. Shumaker said he s only received a preliminary design with one track but he is unsure about the exact width. Public Hearing Closed 7:08pm Muth asked about costs of permits and dredging. Shumaker said in the pre-application meeting the Coast Guard was there and they talked about clearance. Masco made a motion to adopt Resolution Development Agreement and MOU with a 2 nd by Mayfield. Unanimous Approval Weissfeld made a motion to approve the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Stevenson and Skamania County for BNSF Bridge replacement permitting cooperative efforts with a 2 nd by Masco. Unanimous Approval OLD BUSINESS Downtown Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Hogan and Hansen presented a plan for removal of the 1 st Street stop sign for Council consideration as requested in the Town Hall Meeting. Hogan said before removing the stop sign they would install four pedestrian activated lights on both sides of Russell Avenue, remotely activated red flashing lights in front - 2 -

3 of the Fire Hall and EMS, and a new flashing red/yellow light at the intersection of 1 st Street and Russell Avenue. The total cost would be approximately 15K, including labor. Hansen would work with WSDOT to post signs saying alternate route. Hansen discussed putting a stop sign on 2 nd street at Russell. Weissfeld said they requested a light, not a stop sign. Hansen said WSDOT is going to conduct a traffic survey to see if one is warranted. Photo radar on 1 st and 2 nd would cost about $4,700 per camera. WSDOT said No to speed bumps on 2 nd Street. Johnson wants to know how traffic will be contained prior to removing stop signs. Sciacca said the trucks push commerce through town. McNamara hasn t really seen a great reduction of speeding on trucks on 2 nd street. Underlying issue is unregulated trucking on Hwy 14. He discussed the traffic from the visiting boat pedestrians. He advises to NOT remove the stop sign on 2 nd street. Repar said the stop sign should stay and that spending money we don t have is not a good idea, it won t be recouped. Klever, resident on 1 st Street, said and in six hours he witnessed forty trucks on 1 st Street. He said anyone could take a survey online and it could be skewed. The one way street will encourage more business and relieve traffic on 2 nd. Prosser said Gorge Commission should make Hwy 14 established as a scenic highway. No one s ever lobbied very hard for this. McSherry said over 25K people get off the boats annually. He said Hwy 14 is a scenic byway and there is grant money to improve it. Sciacca said the buses are blocking traffic. And we want to protect these people on 2 nd street as well. There was a discussion about loading and unloading the buses. Johnson wants to know about speed control on 2 nd street in Stevenson. She wants more detail on the tickets written. Anderson spoke about the enhanced reporting from the sheriff s office and how it has improved. McNamara commented on tax avoidance on Hwy 14; put it on website and suggested to print out and send to representatives to show support. McKenzie said he is in support of pulling the stop sign. He hopes the commercial district grows on 1 st street. Most agree we d like to see trucks on 1 st street. He thinks the way to do that is to pull the stop sign, to get down 1 st street. He thinks we need more traffic on 1 st street, not less. The survey is telling you can do it by huge percentage, engineers report says it s ok to do it. Prosser thinks it will be a race to get into one lane, will have more speeding. McSherry suggested Hwy bump outs where the curb extends into the parking lane, like the design that Cascade Avenue has. Anderson said the goal is to make Hwy 14 safer with less trucks. He would vote for one way couplets, but doesn t think we are there yet. At that time the stop sign will have to go. Masco and Anderson discussed how the lights will affect EMS and the Fire Department. The Fire Department is opposed to pulling the stop sign, but if it is pulled they would like to request putting up a flashing light. EMS is opposed as well. Mayfield wants flashing lights at cross walks on Hwy 14. Hansen said he can ask WSDOT for a sign that says congestion ahead - truck route/alternate route and leave the stop sign. Weissfeld said truck route is better than alternate route. Peterson discussed parking empty sheriff cars at each end of town. Anderson made a motion to pull the stop sign and employ the light program staff has put together, with no 2 nd. Weissfeld made a motion for a course of action to call other cities to see if radar ticket money is recoupable, find out from WSDOT the timeline for a light on 2 nd street, install a sign on 2 nd Street that says alternate route, reconsider the one way couplet, and continue to contact the sheriff s office for additional support with a 2 nd by Mayfield. Muth made a motion to amend Weissfeld s motion order to 1) Alternate route, 2) One way couplet, 3) Radar tickets, 4) Contact sheriff s office, 5) WSDOT timelines for light on 2 nd Street with a 2 nd by Anderson. There was a discussion on the motion to amend. Everyone withdrew their motions. Hogan offered to bring a consolidated list of requested Council actions back to Council for approval of next steps. Hansen said he would come back with the cost of pedestrian crossing lights. Weissfeld said the cost is irrelevant. Anderson said we can t wait a year to continue this discussion. Bridge of the Gods Retaining Wall - 3 -

4 Shumaker presented several options for enhancing the retaining wall for Council consideration. He said the budget for the design competition estimate is 2,500 3,000 and as much as $40,000 for the improvements. He asked if council wanted to do a fairly low cost design competition. Weissfeld thought that was excessive, she thinks $500 or a painted mural would be low cost. Anderson likes a community driven project, but doesn t agree with the 40K. Repar talked about the fish sculptures that the man in Carson makes. Shumaker said the only restraints are the canvas they put on it. He said as ivy grows it will cover it partially. The majority of council wanted to pursue this, and they feel 15-20K is a more reasonable amount of money. Council would like to include the public art committee and Hogan will contact them. NEW BUSINESS Cascade Avenue Update and Contract Approval - Crestline Construction Hansen and Hogan presented a summary of the bids received for the Cascade Avenue Improvements project and a comparison of the low bid to the current budgets. Woodrich said if the project is over budget by 10% you can negotiate it. He also suggested pulling a portion of the project to be bid separately. Hogan reviewed a bid summary sheet with Council and proposed using Water / Sewer funds, Street funds, and Tourism funds to cover the four different areas of budget shortage as shown on his summary sheet. If agreed to by Council he would prepare a formal budget amendment for Council approval later this year. He reported that the quad gates are currently being preconstructed by BNSF on the east coast. Hansen requested Council approval for accepting the AGREEMENT and issuing a NOTICE OF AWARD to Crestline Construction. Muth moved to accept the bid from Crestline Construction for $1,212,741, approve and sign the NOTICE OF AWARD, and approve and sign the AGREEMENT for $1,212,741 subject to contract review and approval by TIB and by City Attorney Ken Woodrich with a 2 nd by Masco. Unanimous Approval Port of Skamania County Funding Request Executive Director John McSherry presented a request to City Council for increased Tourism Funds for the Stevenson Landing portion of the Cascade Avenue project. He said that half of their cash is in capital improvement, revenues are down and Insitu has moved out. They do not have the cash to put into the project. Original request was $140,000 but the total cost is now $71,000 above that amount. Would like to use more hotel/motel dollars for this part of the project. The money is not going to the port, it is going to the city. It s the city s project and it s staying with the city. This is one project with many different funding sources. He would support using 71K from hotel/motel tax. Weissfeld mentioned the location of the bus parking and swapping the location to not lose Bob s Beach parking. Hansen said the City would look into making that change. Contract Approval, Shorelines Master Program Shumaker requested Council ratification of the contract with BergerABAM to provide technical assistance with updating the City s Shoreline Master Program for a total cost not to exceed $30,000. Contract is to complete a shorelines visioning workshop and inventory and condition workshop. That would leave 5K for city to cover, but the rest is from the grant. Muth made a motion to approve the contract with BergerABAM to provide technical assistance with updating the City s Shoreline Master Program for a total cost not to exceed $30,000 with a 2 nd by Anderson. Unanimous Approval CITY ADMINISTRATOR AND STAFF REPORTS Hogan reported that finding a site for a new fire hall is proving to be difficult. He would like to form a committee to more thoroughly review the properties. Quad gates are starting. Woodrich reviewed Public Meetings Rules with council. He reminded council about what is appropriate and inappropriate - 4 -

5 communication between each other about city business. Be careful when you talk to more than one council member to try to lobby or elicit opinions from others as that makes a quorum of three. This would be a Serial Meeting. Always err on the side of being conservative. You can send an directly to council members but never reply back. If you have something to communicate to council members it s best to go through the City Administrator. If you have a question call Woodrich. Hansen said there will be a Kanaka kick off meeting next week. Shumaker updated on WRIA (Water Resource Inventory). They are being finalized now and we are in a good spot as of past actions of requiring water rights. They conducted the shorelines visioning meeting, and are conducting interviews now. VOUCHER APPROVAL May 2015 Payroll checks have been audited and are presented for approval. May payroll checks 9467 thru 9488 total $80, which includes two ACH payments and one EFTPS payment. Checks 9489 thru 9540 total $393, which includes two ACH payments. The A/P Check Register and Fund Transaction Summary are attached for your review. Detailed claims vouchers will be available for review at the Council meeting. No investment activity occurred in May Muth motioned to approve vouchers with a 2nd by Masco. Unanimously approved 8:50 MEETING ADJOURNED Frank Cox Nick Hogan, City Administrator/Clerk Minutes by Melissa Anderson - 5 -