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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997.08.04 Council MinutesMINUTES PASCO CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 4, 1997 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7 30 P M by Charles D Kilbury, Mayor ROLL CALL By Deputy City Clerk Councilmembers present Michael Garrison, Joe Jackson, Chris Jensen, Charles Kilbury, Dan Lathim, Rebecca Francik, and Carl Strode Also present Gary Crutchfield, City Manager, Leland B Kerr, City Attorney, Dan Underwood, Finance Director, Dick Erickson, Parks 86 Rec Director, Dave McDonald, City Planner, Denis Austin, Police Chief, Bob Alberts, Public Works Director, Richard Smith, Community 86 Economic Dev Director, Kurt Luhrs, Personnel/Risk Manager, and Tim Arntzen, Management Assistant PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance CONSENT AGENDA MOTION Mr Garrison moved to approve the Consent Agenda Seconded by Mr Lathan Motion carried unanimously Consent items are as follows A) Approval of Minutes To approve minutes of Regular Meeting held Just 21, 1997 B) Bills and Communications To approve General Claims in the amount of $853,966 37 ($105,352 47 being in the form of Wire Transfer Nos 3081, 3083 and 3084, and $748,613 90 consisting of Claim Warrants numbered 103417 through 103640) Payroll Claims To approve Payroll Claims in the amount of $653,239 92, Payroll Voucher Nos 4913 and 5478 Bad Debt Write-offs To approve bad debt write-offs for utility billing, ambulance, cemetery, Municipal Court non-criminal and criminal accounts receivable in the total amount of $82,210 63 and, of that amount, authorize $80,877 46 to turned over for collection C) Setting a Public Hearing date on the Final Assessment Roll for Frontage Road Prolect No 93-3-05 LID No 125 To set Tuesday, September 2, 1997, at 7 30 p m in the City Council Chambers as the time and place for a public hearing to consider the Final Assessment Roll for LID No 125 D) Renaming a Portion of East Lewis and Dietrich Road (MF #97-76-I To set 7 30 p m, Monday, August 18, 1997, as the time and date for a hearing to consider renaming certain streets in the vicinity of the Lewis Street/SR-12 Interchange PROCLAMATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Yard of the Month Award Mayor Kilbury presented Yard of the Month Awards for July, 1997 to the following Pasco residents Joel 85 Alicia Izagirre, 316 N Beech Ave Jose, Jr 86 Marbelia Elizondo, 711 W Ainsworth Ave Larry 86 Zona Lenhart, 1319 W Irving Muriel Culbert, 1620 W Brown St , MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 Russel 86 Ann Snyder, 1507 W Jay St Dave 86 Lee Malcheski, 3805 Meadow Beauty Dr J R 86 Lee Bias, 700 Road 32, #204 VISITORS Mr Juan Bayona, of 1715 W Octave St, addressed concerns regarding the Road 36 soccer fields Mr Bayona was concerned that from time to time mechanical failures hinder the proper maintenance on the fields, specifically, the irrigation system malfunctioned and the fields dried up This resulted in the soccer teams being forced to look for other fields for practice and competitions There is also a need for bathroom facilities and fresh water at the field Mayor Kilbury asked if the soccer teams had access to the soccer fields near the baseball stadium 9 Mr Bayona explained that he was informed that those fields couldn't be used Mr Crutchfield reported to Council that staff was aware of the incident that lead to the fields drying out at Road 36 and is addressing it internally to prevent a future recurrence of this problem It was Mr Crutchfield's suggestion that Mr Bayona and the Director of Parks 86 Recreation get together and approach the Parks Advisory Board regarding the installation of bathrooms and drinking water for it's recommendations Mr Crutchfield reminded Council that the soccer fields near the baseball stadium was a complex developed jointly between the City and the Tr-Cities Junior Soccer Association The Soccer Association raised all the money necessary to level the land, install the irrigation system and seed the grass By virtue of the agreement between the City and the Soccer Association, they will have priority use of the fields in fall and spring The summer period is used as a time for rehabilitation of the fields between the two seasons Mr Jensen asked if the Mr Bayona's soccer teams could use the Road 68 fields, on a limited basis if a problem occurs, if it wouldn't conflict with the Soccer Association'? Mr Crutchfield felt it may be possible, but it was his understanding from Mr Erickson that there is a working arrangement with the Pasco School District which will allow the use of Capt Gray soccer fields in those instances where a back-up field is needed Mr Strode wanted to express his appreciation to Mr Bayona for his efforts to maintain the Road 36 soccer fields REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES AND/OR OFFICERS None PUBLIC HEARINGS Street Vacation - Vacating Portions of Trinidad and Superior Street (MF #97- 61-V) Mr David McDonald, City Planner, addressed Council and noted for the record that notice of the public hearing was published as required by law Mr McDonald explained that Tippett Land 86 Mortgage has been working for several months with several businesses in an attempt to entice them to expand and locate in the Frey's Addition on Oregon Avenue To assist in that effort the businesses have requested that portions of Trinidad and Superior Streets be vacated -2- MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 The Public Works Department has requested an easement be retained on Trinidad Street to cover the sewer and water lines No other utilities have requested easements MAYOR KILBURY DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPEN TO CONSIDER VACATING PORTIONS OF TRINIDAD AND SUPERIOR STREETS Following three (3) calls from Mayor Kilbury for comments from the floor, either for or against, and there being none, the public hearing was declared closed ORDINANCE NO. 3244 AN ORDINANCE VACATING PORTIONS OF TRINIDAD AND SUPERIOR STREETS FROM OREGON AVENUE TO COLORADO AVENUE MOTION Ordinance No 3244, was read by title only Mr Garrison moved to adopt Ordinance No 3244, vacating portions of Trinidad and Superior Streets Mr Strode seconded the motion Motion carried unanimously Tax Credit Financed Rental Apartment Project Mr Smith reported that the developer, Devco„ Inc of Washington, has asked the City to pass a resolution indicating that the proposed 51-unit complex is in accordance with the City's adopted and approved Consolidated Plan, and that the Council supports the proposed project If the resolution is approved by the Council the information would be transmitted to the Washington State Housing Finance Agency, which has final authority on the allocation of tax credits in Washington State Mr Crutchfield read a letter into the record received from Mr Steve Dennison that stated Pasco should strive to get the best deal possible from the developer since the funding for the project will come from Franklin County and City of Pasco residents who pay federal income taxes Mr Dennison felt there was a lack of supply of three and four bedroom rentals to fill the needs of lower income families with three to six children These larger families try to rent one and two bedroom rentals because they are cheaper than three bedroom rental housing units available on the market Mr Dennison stated that if the City of Pasco was going to support the developer, the developer should be forced to provide at least twenty-four three bedroom apartments and twenty four bedroom apartments, which will have rents lowered to an amount that the developer doesn't reap a windfall profit from the rent in addition to the tax credit subsidy Mr Crutchfield read a letter from P S Nettleship, of the Pine Crest Apartments Co (54 units of HUD financed housing), expressing their objections to the proposed project They objected strenuously to another subsidized housing project in our small area and felt any tax relief should be provided to existing properties not new projects Mr Crutchfield read a letter from Ms Catherine Duffey, of Guardian Realty of Kennewick, stating that if building is allowed to continue with little consideration for existing units for the long term there could be a repeated scenario of the 1980's There are a lot of owners that are having difficulties meeting present debt service and if more building is allowed this will perpetuate the problem Ms Duffey felt that before the City of Pasco goes any further with the proposed project they should look at the rental market situation When properties start offering deals in order to rent units then it's fairly certain that there are some problems in the rental market -3- 4 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 t 1 ,1 The Clerk read a letter from Ms Glinnette Evans, of Prosser, that was in opposition to the proposed project and stated that the Tr-City area was already greatly over-built with apartment complexes Ms Evans requested that the Council vote against the Devco proposal Ms Francik pointed out that the Pasco Housing Authority has stated that they have a waiting list of over one hundred families, however, Pine Crest Apartments has stated they have a 20% vacancy and they are a HUD approved facility Mr Smith explained that HUD operates a number of subsidy programs and the Pasco Housing Authority takes the very low income families The subsidy would not be as much for HUD approved organizations outside of the Pasco Housing Authority MAYOR KILBURY DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPEN TO CONSIDER SUPPORTING A 51-UNIT TAX CREDIT FINANCED APARTMENT COMPLEX LOCATED WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY WEST LEWIS STREET, 20TH AVENUE, WEST COURT STREET AND 1-182 Mr Josh Tippett, of Tippett Land 8v Mortgage, spoke in favor of the proposed project Mr Tippett felt the project would be good for Pasco because there have been no major apartment construction projects in Pasco since 1979 and this would provide low income housing as planned for in the City's Comprehensive Plan Mr Tippett explained that it would be less expensive for a private development to build the rental units than the Pasco Housing Authority because of the necessity to pay prevailing wages Mr Bud Williams, of 2017 W Yakima St , felt the City would be better off with commercial development rather than with the building of apartments Mr Williams, as a citizen of Pasco and a tax payer, was opposed to having his federal tax dollars used for a project of this type Mr Fred LaMothe, of 10024 W Court St, stated he had mixed emotions concerning the proposed project and asked Council and staff to reflect objectively on the project Mr LaMothe pointed out that currently the Tr-- Cities is experiencing escalating vacancies, decreasing rents, free month's rent or lowered rents Mr LaMothe felt that now would not be a good time to build new apartments Ms Francik asked Mr LaMothe if he felt that if Devco, Inc is not endorsed by the Council that the private sector would reduce their rates to allow low income citizens to rent an apartment 9 Mr LaMothe stated that he was a firm believer in the private sector economy and letting supply and demand take care of itself Currently in the market, rents are going down, vacancy factors are going up and at the same time expenses are going up Mr LaMothe wanted to stress that he was not opposed to the project as proposed, but that the timing of the project is not right Mr Steve Dennison, of 4310 Desert Place, explained that Devco, Inc , is saying that their criteria will be to rent to anybody that has an income less than 50% of the median income Mr Dennison felt that Pasco needs more three and four bedroom rental units for the truly poor and that HUD subsidizing works for the renters and the landlords A tax credit system would mean tax payers would be financing the project for somebody else Mr Dennison felt the project, in terms of the total cost at 75% in tax credits, would not provide what is really needed in Pasco Mr Tippett felt the audience should understand that the developer would be putting in amenities such as barbecue areas, laundry facilities, swimming pools, etc This will cause the unit cost for construction to be higher than a project without these amenities -4- MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 Mr Jenson stated that he had mixed emotions about the project and he wanted to know if rehabilitation of existing apartment units could be financed with tax credits or does it have to be new construction'? He was concerned that new subsidized housing would cause renters in older units, that are in disrepair, to move to the newer units This would cause the decline of the older units even more than they already are Mr Dennison pointed out that if Council would read Devco, Inc 's proposal closely, it says that the federal and state guidelines are to restrict the incomes to less than 60% of the median income His question to Council is, what would be the criteria that the City would allow"? Following three (3) calls from Mayor Kilbury for comments from the floor, either for or against, the public hearing was declared closed MOTION Mr Jenson moved to table the proposed resolution until there's clarification concerning the median income and whether or not rehabilitation of existing units is possible Motion failed due to lack of a second Mr Strode pointed out that the proposed project is very specific and aimed at new construction with terms that are clearly using the 60% criteria and he felt that supply and demand should be looked at Increasing the supply at a lower than demand rate can do nothing but damage those people that are attempting to do business in the City of Pasco Without adequate rents the maintenance will deteriorate further and make situations worse Mr Strode urged Council to take action on the proposed project and turn it down Mr Jackson felt it was important that Council thoroughly understand the tax credit issue He pointed out to Council that there had been a significant amount of discussion regarding vacancy rates in the Tr-Cities, but there hadn't been any statements made concerning any vacancy rates for low income housing Mr Jackson reminded Council that the real issue being discussed was low income housing for citizens of Pasco and that most of the housing available, that falls under the umbrella of subsidized housing, is competitive with the market Mr Jackson encouraged Council to be sure and look at the operative statement of the proposal, which is dealing with low income affordable housing Mr Jensen felt Mr Strode was correct when he said that the proposal before the Council does articulate the desire to build new construction Council can send the proposal back with a "no" response, or Council can take an opportunity to wait 30 days for answers to the questions being asked by Council and those giving testimony Mr Jensen felt the tax credit program could help with Council's desire that existing rental units get rehabilitated and that the message sent back to Devco, Inc should reflect that desire Ms Francik voiced her support for Mr Jackson's position and also pointed out that while the median income is $40,000 in the Tr-Cities, the median income in Franklin County is $23,918 Therefore, if a citizen is paying 30% for rent and utilities, the most that can be paid is $538 15 per month Mr Lath= stated that he has been opposed to this project since it was presented to Council, but he wanted to point out that citizens of Pasco have more than their fair share of low income housing Mr Garrison asked if the program had any portion that speaks to rehabilitation of existing units'? Mr Smith explained that rehabilitation is an eligible activity under the tax credit program -5- MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 -, MOTION Mr Jenson reintroduced his previous motion to continue this matter for 30 days Mayor Kilbury informed the audience that he was the owner of one of Pasco's large low income housing projects and it's still in good shape and well maintained, but he wondered how long Pasco is going to be subject to low income projects Mayor Kilbury in formed Council that the City has 575 units in the Pasco Housing Authority and within that number are all of the farm worker housing units in Franklin and Benton Counties No other jurisdictions will allow any farm worker housing units and Pasco's sister cities are not doing their share Ms Francik seconded Mr Jenson's motion to table Motion failed by the following voice vote Yes - Jenson, Francik, No - Kilbury, Garrison, Lathim, Jackson, Strode RESOLUTION NO. 2325 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A 51 UNIT TAX CREDIT FINANCED APARTMENT COMPLEX LOCATED WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY WEST LEWIS STREET, 20TH AVENUE, WEST COURT STREET AND 1-182 MOTION Mr Strode moved to deny Resolution No 2325 supporting a 51 unit tax credit financed apartment complex located within an area bounded by W Lewis Street, 20th Avenue, W Court Street and 1-182 Mr Garrison seconded the motion Mr Jackson questioned Mr Strode's motion as the motion on the agenda made no reference to denying the resolution Mr Kerr explain that the motion needed to go forward on a positive action, but if the motion does not carry by an affirmative majority vote of the Council it will die Mayor Kilbury declared Mr Strode's motion to deny improper and called for a motion to approve the resolution MOTION Ms Francik moved to approve Resolution No 2325, supporting an 51 unit tax credit financed apartment complex located within an area bounded by West Lewis Street, 20th Avenue, West Court Street and 1-182 Mr Jackson seconded the motion Motion failed by the following roll call vote Yes - Jackson, Francik, No - Garrison, Jenson, Kilbury, Lathim, Strode Mr Jenson wanted the record to reflect that his negative vote deals only with the proposal before Council, but he asked Mr Tippett to try to convince Devco, Inc to take an alternate path and get into rehabilitation ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS NOT RELATED TO PUBLIC HEARINGS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Market Analysis for East Pasco Grocery Store MOTION Mr Garrison moved to accept the July 7, 1997 Final Report for the East Pasco Grocery Store Feasibility Project and authorize the City Manager to use the information contained herein to facilitate the -6- MINUTES REGULAR MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 4, 1997 development of a grocery store in the East Pasco neighborhood Mr Strode seconded the motion Motion carried unanimously Amendment No 7 to HDR Engineering Professional Services Agreement for the Wastewater Proiect - 9th and Washington Pump Station Construction Management Services - Proiect 96-1-07 MOTION Mr Garrison moved to authorize the Mayor to sign Amendment No 7 to the HDR Engineering, Inc Professional Services Agreement for the Wastewater Project - 9th and Washington Pump Station Construction Management Services Mr Lathim seconded the motion Motion carried unanimously MISCELLANEOUS - INCLUDING SUGGESTIONS FROM COUNCIL None ADJOURNMENT further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9 01 P M arles D Kilbury, M or ATTEST Catherine D Seaman Deputy City Clerk PASSED and APPROVED this _18_ day of August , 1997 -7-