GRANDVIEW CITY COUNCIL

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

JULY 16, 2007

 

1.         CALL TO ORDER

 

Mayor Norm Childress called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

 

Present were:  Mayor Childress and Councilmembers Helen Darr, Bill Flory, Pam Horner, Jan McDonald, Robert Morales, Javier Rodriguez and Joan Souders.

 

Staff present were:  City Administrator Scott Staples, City Attorney Jack Maxwell, Public Works Director Cus Arteaga, Parks & Recreation Director Mike Carpenter, WWTP Superintendent Dave Lorenz, Fire Chief Pat Mason and City Clerk Anita Palacios. 

 

2.         PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

Councilmember Souders lead the pledge of allegiance.

 

3.         PRESENTATIONS

 

Homes of the Month – Mayor Childress presented the July Homes of the Month Certificates of Appreciation to the following:  Michael & Wendy Rodriguez, 701 Broadway; Margaret Rayburn, 1610 South Euclid; Judi Smasne, 620 East Third; Lupe & Erika Bobadilla, 807 North Fourth; and George Cordova & Eufroncina Manjarez, 1206 West Second.

 

Beautification Award – Mayor Childress presented the July Beautification Award to Westside Family Dental, 201 Euclid.

 

Community Enhancement Award – Mayor Childress presented the July Community Enhancement Award to the Grandview Swim Team for their exceptional job in painting both the interior and exterior of the swimming pool bath house.

 

4.         PUBLIC COMMENT

 

Barbara & Daniel Christensen, 205 Cedar, requested that Council organize a committee to start planning for the City’s centennial celebration in 2009.  Mayor Childress explained that he was in the process of organizing a committee and asked Mr. & Mrs. Christensen to provide their contact information to the City Clerk.

 

Richard & Kathy Zook, 808 Conestoga Way and Steve Hartshorn, 800 Conestoga Way, expressed concern with the blind spot at the intersection of Conestoga Way and Carriage Square and felt that the intersection posed a traffic hazard and needed a stop sign.  Council referred the matter to the Public Works Director and Police Chief for their review.

 

5.         CONSENT AGENDA

 

On motion by Councilmember Flory, second by Councilmember Rodriguez, Council unanimously approved the Consent Agenda consisting of the following:

            A.         Minutes of the June 18, 2007 regular meeting           

            B.         2007 Claim Warrant Nos. 79083-79428 in the amount of $361,146.76

            C.        Payroll Warrant approval for June 30, 2007 & July 15, 2007

            D.        Ordinance No. 2007-13; Adding a new section 2.68.040 Public Records Index       and 2.68.050 Public Records Officer – Appointment and Duties to Grandview      Municipal Code Chapter 2.68 Public Records

            E.         Bid award for the WWTP Sludge Drying Beds

            F.         Resolution No. 2007-21; Declaring an emergency and approving Change Order    No. 4 with Purcell Painting Inc., for the immediate repairs of the Wastewater   Treatment Plant clarifier mechanism and also the increased cost of the reservoir     roof repairs

 

6.         ACTIVE AGENDA

 

            A.         Beautification Commission Recommendation - City Flower Re-designation

 

Present on behalf of the Beautification Commission was Sharon Fisher, Chairperson.

 

Parks and Recreation Director Carpenter explained that at the May 21, 2007 meeting, Council referred the issue of re-designating the official City flower to the Beautification Commission for consideration and recommendation.

 

Mrs. Fisher stated that the Beautification Commission met on June 21, 2007 and unanimously recommended to Council that the official City flower be re-designated from the iris to the rose for the following reasons:

·         The rich history and tradition of the community’s rose garden facility.

·         The rose blooms approximately six months out of the year.

·         The rose garden promotes both volunteerism and tourism within the Grandview community.

 

On motion by Councilmember McDonald, second by Councilmember Flory, Council unanimously rescinded the iris as the official City flower and re-designated the rose as the official City flower.

 

Council thanked the Rose Garden Club for their many years of dedicated volunteer service at the rose garden and also thanked Mrs. Berger’s fifth grade class from A.H. Smith School for their time and effort spent in researching and recommending the iris as the official city flower back in 1992.

 

            B.        Ordinance No. 2007-14; Enacting a new GMC Chapter 2.50 Office of the       Hearing Examiner

           

City Administrator Staples explained that at the March 5th study session, staff identified as a proposed solution for code enforcement/nuisance code appeals that Council convert to the hearing examiner system. 

 

It was noted that in 2005 at the recommendation of the Planning Commission, Council appointed a hearing examiner for SEPA appeals with an option for the Council, at their discretion, to utilize the hearing examiner for other land use hearings and appeals. 

 

He added that the City currently has a contract with Gary Cuillier to act as the hearing examiner for the City.

It was further noted that cities in Washington State have statutory authorization to establish a hearing examiner system.  Under a hearing examiner system, a city hires or contracts with a hearing examiner to conduct quasi-judicial hearings, usually in place of local bodies such as the planning commission, board of adjustment, board of appeals, or city council.  The basic purpose of having a hearing examiner conduct these hearings was to have a professionally-trained individual, typically an attorney, make objective quasi-judicial decisions that are supported by an adequate record and that are free from political influences.  Using a hearing examiner system allows local legislative and advisory bodies that might otherwise conduct these hearings to better concentrate on policy-making.  It can also potentially reduce local government liability exposure through what should be more consistent and legally-sustainable quasi-judicial decisions.

On motion by Councilmember Morales, second by Councilmember McDonald, Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2007-14 enacting a new Chapter 2.50 Office of the Hearing Examiner to the Grandview Municipal Code.

 

            C.        Ordinance No. 2007-15; Amending GMC Chapter 13.28.05(B) Sewer Rates    for Large Industrial Commercial Users

 

Public Works Director Arteaga explained that when Council implemented the load based sewer billing system, staff was directed to periodically meet with the industrial users and adjust the sewer loadings and/or sewer rates as appropriate.  During the month of June, the City Engineer completed a rate analysis for the industrial users.  The results were that with the addition of a new industrial user, Wild River Foods, the cost of the WWTP operations/maintenance expenses could now be distributed among eight (8) industrial users instead of seven (7) which would result in a sewer rate reduction for the industrial users only.  The City’s sewer revenue was divided into two categories:  50% residential and 50% industrial.  The industrial users were the only customers impacted by the number of users in the system.  Industrial sewer rates could vary up or down depending on the active industrial users in the system.

 

The sewer rate reduction recommendation was as follows:

·       Reduce Flow from $2.2327 to $1.8151

·       Reduce BOD from 0.0683 to 0.0527

·       Reduce TSS from 0.2154 to 0.1141

 

In 2006, the City collected $1,154,879 in industrial sewer revenue.  With the proposed rate reductions and the additional industrial user, staff estimated that the City would generate approximately $1,428,000 in sewer revenue for 2007.

           

On motion by Councilmember Horner, second by Councilmember Darr, Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2007-15 amending Grandview Municipal Code Chapter 13.28.050(B) sewer rates for large industrial commercial users.

 

             D.        Ordinance No. 2007-16; Adopting the 2006 International Fire Code

 

Fire Chief Mason explained that in 2005, Council adopted the 2003 edition of the International Fire Code. In the fall of 2006, the 2006 edition of the International Fire Code was reviewed and with recommended amendments submitted to the Washington State Legislature for adoption. The 2006 edition of the International Fire Code was adopted by Washington State and was eligible for adoption by local jurisdictions as of July 1, 2007.  An updated edition of the International Fire Code as published by the International Code Council was produced every 3 years. The passage of this ordinance to adopt the 2006 edition of the International Fire Code keeps our community current on the standard of code enforcement that was occurring throughout the state. In an effort to provide a safe and stable environment for businesses to operate, one of our best tools was the Fire Code which allows us to make every effort to avoid any potential loss due to fire or injury for the business owner, the consumer and members of the emergency services.

 

On motion by Councilmember Darr, second by Councilmember Rodriguez, Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2007-16 repealing Chapter 15.24 of the Grandview Municipal Code-Fire Prevention and enacting a new Chapter 15.24-Fire Prevention.

 

7.         COUNCILMEMBER MEETING REPORTS

 

Community Picnics – The Tower Park community picnic held on June 27th was well attended.  The next community picnic will be downtown on Wednesday, August 22nd at Stokely Square.

 

Block Watch Party (Carriage Square) – Councilmember Souders hosted a block watch party for the Carriage Square neighborhood on June 28th.  One of the topics of discussion included establishing “safe houses” for children in the neighborhoods. 

 

Flag Raising Ceremony – The 30th annual Flag Raising Ceremony took place on July 4th at Stokely Square.

 

Downtown Revitalization Plan Grant Award – The City was awarded a $24,000 CDBG Planning-only grant and $20,000 Rural Opportunity Fund grant from the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development to fund a downtown design and action plan.

 

8.         UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS - None

 

9.         ADJOURNMENT

 

On motion by Councilmember Darr, second by Councilmember Flory, Council unanimously adjourned the regular meeting at 8:40 p.m.

 

__________________________                                __________________________

Mayor Norm Childress                                                Anita Palacios, City Clerk