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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-05-05 Council MinutesAGENDA KENAI CITY COUNCIL -REGULAR MEETING MAY 5, 1999 7:00 P.M. KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS http://www.ci.kenai.ak.us ITEM A: CALL TO ORDER 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll Call 3. Agenda Approval 4. Consent Agenda *All items listed with an asterisk (*) are considered to be routine and non -controversial by the Council and will be approved by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council Member so requests, in which case the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda as part of the General Orders. ITEM B: SCHEDULED PUBLIC COMMENTS (10 minutes) ITEM C: PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. Ordinance No. 1823-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $246,069 for Street Improvements. 2. Ordinance No. 1824-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $142,000 for the Purchase of Land for the Kenai Public Health Center. 3. Ordinance No. 1825-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $737,000 for the Construction of a Multi -Purpose Facility. 4. Resolution No. 99-27 -- Requesting the Alaska Railroad Corporation to Select an Alaska Company for the Design and Construction of Three Rail Barges. 5. Resolution No. 99-28 -- Awarding a Contract for Health and Life Insurance Brokerage Services. 6. Resolution No. 99-29 -- Transferring $9,500 in the General Fund for Moving Expenses. 7. * 1999 Continued Operation of Liquor License -- OBJECTION WITHDRAWAL -- Ea lechief� Inc. d a Katmai Hotel. g /b / 8. * 1999-2000 Liquor License Renewal -- Don Jose's Cantina & Mexican Restaurant/Beverage Dispensary. ITEM D: COMMISSION/COMM EE REPORTS 1. Council on Aging 2. Airport Commission 3. Harbor Commission 4. Library Commission 5. Parks 8v Recreation Commission 6. Planning 8. Zoning Commission 7. Miscellaneous Commissions and Committees a. Beautification Committee b. Historic District Board C. Kenai Visitors 8. Convention Bureau Board d. Alaska Municipal League Report 1. *Regular Meeting of April 21, 1999. ITEM F: CORRESPONDENCE ITEM G: OLD BUSINESS ITEM H: NEW BUSINESS 1. Bills to be Paid, Bills to be Ratified 2. Purchase Orders Exceeding $2,500 3. *Ordinance No. 1826-99 -- Changing Pay Ranges of the Water and Sewer Operator I and Water and Sewer Foreman in the Employee Classification List at KMC 23.50.010(d). 4. *Ordinance No. 1827-99-- Amending KMC 23.55.040 to Increase the Uniform Allowance for the Fire Department. ITEM I: l 1. 2. ADMINISTRATION REPORTS Mayor City Manager 3. \� Attorney 4. City Clerk 5. Finance Director 6. Public Works 7. Airport Manager ITEM J: DISCUSSION 1. Citizens (live minutes) 2. Council EXECUTIVE SESSION - None Scheduled ITEM K: ADJOURNMENT KENAI CITY COUNCIL -REGULAR MEETING MAY 59 1999 ?:00 P.M. KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS http: / /www.ci.kenai.ak.us MAYOR JOHN J. WILLIAMS, PRESIDING ITEM A: CALL TO ORDER Mayor Williams called the meeting to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Kenai City Hall Building. A-1, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Williams led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance. A-2, ROLL CALL Roll was taken by the City Clerk. Present were: Swarner, Moore, Measles, Bannock, Frazer, Williams and Bookey. A- 3 . AGENDA APPROVAL Mayor Williams requested the following changes to the agenda: ADD AS: H-5, Discussion -- Election of Council Positions ADD AT: I-1, 5/2/99 AML Fax Alert regarding Safe Communities/Revenue Sharing Funding MOTION: Councilman Bannock MOVED for approval of the amended agenda and Councilman Bookey SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, A-4. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Williams requested the following change to the Consent Agenda: ADD TO: E-1, Minutes of April 21, 1999 Council Meeting: Add at J-2, at Councilman Bannock's discussion, the following: "Bannock also requested a discussion regarding election of council members be included as a discussion item at the May 5, 1999 council meeting. He added, he would prepare an explanation of his concept to 1 distribute to council prior to the discussion." MOTION: KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 511999 PAGE 2 Councilman Moore MOVED to approve the consent agenda as amended and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, ITEM B: SCHEDULED PUBLIC COMMENTS -- None. ITEM C: PUBLIC HEARINGS C-1. Ordinance No. 1823-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $246,069 for Street Improvements. MOTION: Councilman Measles MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1823-99 and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no public comments. City Manager Ross explained the $214,248 was made up of funds provided by the capital matching grant program given by the state. The remaining monies were the city's match required for street projects. He added, the Crow Court paving project would use some of the funds. VOTE: Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Measles: Yes Bannock: Yes Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Bookey: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. C-2. Ordinance No. 1824-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $142,000 for the Purchase of Land for the Kenai Public Health Center. MOTION: Councilman Bookey MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1824-99 and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no public comments. It was explained the ordinance would purchase property from the Airport Land Fund on which the new Kenai Health Center will be located. Councilwoman Swarner asked when the project would start. Ross explained the six-month period for which the appraisal was acceptable to FAA was soon to end. The transfer of the land would not take place at this time, but the city is purchasing the property from the Airport Land Fund so that another appraisal would not be needed. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 3 Williams noted, he had been assured by legislators the reappropriation to fund the building project would not be pulled. AFHA stated the bond money is there. He noted, Mayor Navarre had stated during a discussion at the Chamber luncheon the funds would now go directly to the Borough from the state. Ross added, the preliminary work on the design had been completed through working with the Public Health Nurses. He believed the project would be bid -ready by mid -year and go to construction next year. VOTE: Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Measles: Yes Bannock: Yes Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Bookey: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. C-3. Ordinance No. 1825-99 -- Increasing Estimated Revenues and Appropriations by $737,000 for the Construction of a Multi -Purpose Facility. MOTION: Councilman Moore MOVED for adoption of Ordinance No. 1825-99 and Councilman Measles SECONDED the motion. Rick Baldwin -- 3080 Kim-N-Ang, Kenai. Baldwin stated he had hoped there would be a packed house of supporters when Ordinance No. 1825-99 went to public hearing. He added, he had been working on the project for a long time and it was obviously a big disappointment to the user groups when the bids came in higher than funding available. Baldwin added, he had read City Manager Ross' report to council and he had discussed it with the user group he represents. He noted, if the council's position was that the total funding was not available, his group would not be adding a lot of pressure. Baldwin added, he would continue to work with the city to make the multi -purpose facility a reality. The benefit of the building is for the children of the area. He added, he would leave it up to the council to decide whether funding was available. If council's answer was no, his group was willing to do this project or a scaled -down project. Baldwin added, he encouraged council to keep the money dedicated to this project so Kenai, a northern city, would have a place for northern sports. Bob Downs -- 1616 Tanaga, Kenai. Downs stated he was a 27-year resident of Kenai and a hockey coach. He added, he was disappointed with the bids and KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 4 complimented council for the time and effort put into the project and especially City Manager Ross for his efforts. Downs stated he believed putting money into the multi -purpose facility project would be better for the community. The community raises good citizens. He added, he loves Kenai and wanted to see it grow. Because it is a progressive city, people coming into the area need to be offered the best facilities, shopping, schools, etc. Downs stated he was discouraged but hoped the project would get done in order to offer the children of the area more than video games and TV. Terry Eubank -- 313 Walker Lane. Eubank stated he graduated from KCHS in 1989 when the issue of building a rink was first brought forward. He noted, the distance to the Soldotna rink was an issue, but it wasn't the issue on which he wanted to focus. Lack of ice time was his major concern. He added, he was very discouraged about the bid findings. He believed the reason the bids were high was because it was a multi -purpose building and not just an ice rink. A bare -bones facility could be built. He encouraged council to not just focus on the distance for traveling to the Soldotna rink, but the economics the facility would provide. Eubank requested council to consider passing the ordinance. He noted, he understood it was a bad time in regard to the economy and appreciated the work done. However, he wanted the project to go forward. Eubank added, he returned to Kenai to raise his family because it offers great schools and is a great community. Nate Kiel-- 404 Lawton, Kenai. Kiel stated he appreciated the support of the council and administration for the project. He added, he was involved in gathering support and endorsements from many user groups in the area when the project was first considered; approximately 21/2 years ago. Consensus was the project was a great idea, especially if was done with a practical approach. Kiel added, he understood there were hard economic times, but felt the project should go forward as the project was not one-dimensional as the facility would be used for more than one user and not all would be children. Kiel continued, they were faced with the possibility they would need to work harder to find another route to make the project go forward and encouraged council to help the user groups find a way to go forward with the project. Peter Klauder -- Klauder 8. Co. Architects, 45 North Forest Drive, Kenai. Klauder thanked the people with which he worked and stated he was impressed with the approach and attitude of the hockey association. He noted, from the beginning he was retained to design a multi -purpose facility and he assured council and the public he did everything possible to keep the cost down with the first phase of the facility. He added, as much as possible was cut out of the design. Klauder offered to begin scaling down the project if that was what was council desired. However, he agreed with the recommendation of City Manager Ross not to scale down the project, but he would scale it down at no additional cost. On a personal note, Klauder stated he was a ten-year resident of Kenai and was raising KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 5 two children. He would like the project to go forward but was sympathetic to the funding concerns. Councilman Bookey stated he was also disappointed the bids came in as they did as he was aware there had been a lot of hard work done on the project. Though he would like to go forward with the project, he could not support the ordinance as presented because it would not be fiscally responsible to the rest of the community. He added, he would like to scale down the project or work with the present design; he didn't want the project to die. Councilman Moore stated he heard comments from the general public who were involved in the bid process that the city made a mistake by bidding the building phase of the project together. He noted, he had also been told Challenger planned to re -bid their project in a few months. Also, the person who would get the Challenger project bid would be very aggressive, knowing they had the bid, when bidding the multi -purpose facility. MOTION TO AMEND: Councilman Moore MOVED to amend the ordinance to delete the third whereas which stated, "Whereas, the property is now ready to proceed with the building construction phase." Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. Councilman Bannock stated he believed council had an obligation, based on the land swap with the BOR, to build the project with the funds collected from the land sales. City Manager Ross explained, the land sales involved three parcels, one of which was not ready for market. BOR released restrictions as a result of negotiations in which the city represented the funds would be used for recreational purposes. He added, there was no specific signed contract legal obligation. However, in working with the congressional delegation, Mental Health, Kenai Peninsula School District, the Borough, in putting the package together and with council's concurrence, it was clearly represented the city would be committing to do a project of this nature on that property. Ross stated, he made the commitment on council's behalf with their concurrence. Ross referred to his memorandum included with the ordinance and stated, it was not an easy recommendation to make, but it was based on the red ink throughout the city's budget. He added, other funding sources needed to be found outside the General Fund to supplement the $750,000 and then proceed with the project. However, the project should be put on the shelf until an additional funding source was found. Moore asked if his amendment would only follow suit with the commitment to BOR and keep the project on the table. Ross stated, council would then be considering an ordinance to appropriate $737,000 to be set aside in a capital fund. He noted, if the project was to go forward, a substitute ordinance may have been offered at another amount other than $737,000. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 6 Moore stated it was his intent to place the funds in a capital fund. He referred to his former comments that the city may have been in error to bid both the projects at the same time. He suggested if the Challenger project was re -bid, the multi -purpose facility could then be put back out to bid. He added, there was the possibility the contractor acquiring the bid for the Challenger project may then be more aggressive in bidding the multi -purpose facility. If the project was re -bid, the money would be in a capital project fund ready to proceed. Ross stated he had no obj ection to setting the funds aside in a capital project fund. He added, he didn't think it was needed to pursue options with the users groups in working with the project. Ross added, it was not his intent the project would sit on a shelf and gather dust, but he wanted to find additional funds, or determine if the project could live within the funds and proceed. Councilwoman Swarner asked if the site work was proceeding as planned. Ross answered, yes. Swarner stated her concern there would be a lot of dust from the dirt work until the building proceeds. Ross answered, he strongly recommended the site work be continued as he didn't believe a better price could be had and it showed there was a commitment to the project to proceed. Swarner stated she didn't have a big problem with the site work going forward, but had concerns of the site work proceeding and the site sitting vacant for years. She added, she also was very disappointed with the bids and urged administration and others to work very hard at acquiring additional funds to go forward with the project. Ross noted, even if the project would go forward, the parking lot (a major portion of the site) would not be paved. There would still be a gravel pad which would generate dust. Swarner referred to the site where Kmart was built and noted while it sat vacant for a long period of time, it created a lot of dust. Councilman Frazer added, he lived across the street from the Middle School and during the time the soccer fields were cleared and sat for two or three years, they too created a lot of dust. He noted, anything that could be done to prevent that happening on this site would be much more preferable. Frazer added, he sympathized with the skating groups and basically supported the project, but with reduced revenues and budget cuts from the state level, he didn't believe the project could be built at the present cost. He continued, he hoped the city would continue working on the project, knowing there may be some alternate funding sources in the public sector which may be available. Frazer hoped the project would go forward in the future, after finding alternate funding sources. Bill Popp -- Project Coordinator for Challenger Learning Center. Popp stated, the bids came in higher for their project and an extensive analysis was made to identify why they came in higher. They identified several issues needing to be resolved and their Board would be reviewing those issues at their next meeting. Popp added, their construction committee identified a component left in the bid documents that should have been removed which added approximately $480,000 to the bid price. The - component would be removed prior to re -bidding the project. Also, in talking with the contractors there were some timeline issues where subcontractors were unable to KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 7 do research necessary to better identify costs related to certain aspects of the building. They now had a better understanding. Popp noted, knowing these issues and understanding them, they felt the project could be brought back in on target with the original bid estimate. Popp added, the Board would be considering issuing an addendum to the planholders of record and the four contractors who bid would be allowed to adjust their bids after having received the addendum. The addendum would be issued on or about May 14 with the bid opening on June 2. Popp noted, they were well within their timeline to begin construction August 1. Popp added, his organization did not think the bid concerns were insurmountable and the problems had been identified. Williams asked if the multi -purpose facility came up in their discussions with the bidders. Popp stated there were two distinct types of construction between the two projects which seemed to be more of the problem. Moore asked if construction was still planned to begin on August 1. Popp answered yes. It was noted construction on the multi -purpose facility was to begin on August 1 and completed by November 1. Councilman Measles stated he believed the amendment offered by Councilman Moore was going in the right direction and he would support the amendment and support passing the ordinance as amended. He added, he didn't think it would hurt to re -bid the project as a separate project. Williams stated he also supported the amendment and thought it was a good idea to set the funds within their own capital project in order to continue support of the project. VOTE ON THE AMENDMENT: Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Measles: Yes Bannock: Yes Frazer: Yes Williams: Yes Bookey: No MOTION PASSED. Williams noted he met with a group in Anchorage interested in partnering with the city in developing the project, including all phases (costing approximately $3 million) . This group was already building two rinks in Anchorage. Williams added, he delivered a full set of prints, specifications, etc. to the group and indicated he would like them to come to Kenai to discuss the project with all the conceivable user groups (school district, Oilers, flea market organizers, etc.) . He would like to see if the community as a whole would support the project. Williams advised, in order to do this type of a partnering project, it would require about $15,000 a month in user fees to retire a $2 million debt. Also, if the city would partner with a private organization, the private organization would be asked to run the program, take care of the overhead and maintenance of the facility and the user groups would have to pay fees for the use of the facility. Williams asked if the KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 511999 PAGE 8 operation could be expanded financially to include debt service on $2 million. He noted, until now, there had not been any discussions of whether private enterprise would want to get involved. Williams asked those present if they would be interested in this type of an arrangement and whether they would help in organizing a meeting with the private enterprise and the user groups. Rick Baldwin -- Baldwin stated, if it would work it would be a good way to go with the project. However, until the enterprise was willing to submit and sign a proposal, it was an unknown. He added, he believed the idea was worth exploring, but it would also be worth exploring if the first phase was already built. Baldwin stated, his greatest fear would be the concept would be pursued and then not happen. Baldwin continued, he liked the idea of continuing forward as first suggested, and pursue the private sector involvement on a side track. Williams noted, the private sector group would not be taking the opportunity to discuss or review the financial elements until knowing what the user groups would do for them. Williams suggested, the user groups needed to meet and show their support of the project which had been a problem in past efforts of fundraising. Williams added, he would support the ordinance and would work to find other finances to help build the facility. Bob Downs -- Downs stated he didn't think it would be a problem if ice time was charged out at $100-$115 an hour because of the amount of hockey players in the city. He noted, there were many parents who drove their children to Soldotna to practice. At this time the hockey association could not expand because of the lack of ice time available. Downs added, he had no doubt a wing of the KPHA could be started in Kenai bringing additional players into the program which would generate more funds. Downs noted, if the facility was built, he had no doubt the revenue would be there; but something needed to be started to get more families involved and more opportunities for the children. Swarner asked if Downs had any suggestions for finding additional funds to build Phase 1. Downs answered no. He thought the land swap was the best opportunity. Swarner asked if KPHA had any funds to put toward the project. Downs answered no. Williams noted, with the tremendous demands for ice in Anchorage (three new facilities) and in building a facility in Kenai (possibly through public/private enterprise), it would expand the entire offering when more teams from Anchorage came to Kenai, etc. VOTE ON AMENDED MAIN MOTION: Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Bannock: Yes Frazer: Yes Bookey: No MOTION PASSED. Measles: Yes Williams: Yes KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 511999 PAGE 9 Measles asked if a motion was needed to proceed with the site work. Ross answered, only if council directed administration not to proceed with the contracts. There was no other direction stated. BREAK TAKEN: 8:00 P.M. BACK TO ORDER: 8:12 P.M. C-5, Resolution No. 99-27 -- Requesting the Alaska Railroad Corporation to Select an Alaska Company for the Design and Construction of Three Rail Barges. MOTION: Councilman Measles MOVED for adoption of Resolution No. 99-27 and Councilwoman Swarner SECONDED the motion. There were no public comments. Williams reported he spoke with the Governor while he was in Juneau and the Governor guaranteed his support and was to pass that support on. Williams also reported Mayor Navarre was drafting a letter to the Governor regarding the matter for he and Mayors Navarre and Lancaster to sign. Williams requested support of the resolution. VOTE: There were no objections. SO ORDERED, C-5, Resolution No. 99-28 -- Awarding a Contract for Health and Life Insurance Brokerage Services. MOTION: Councilman Bookey MOVED for adoption of Resolution No. 99-28 and Councilman Bannock SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. There were no public comments. Ross reported, for several months a committee of employees had been working on the health care issue and trying to work with funds available and escalating costs. Discussions with Blue Cross was not good and as a result, requests for proposals were advertised to review alternative carriers. He added, the budget, as submitted, did not have sufficient funds included to cover the total increase. Ross added, it was administration's recommendation to use Brown Agency as the city's brokerage service. Williams asked if there was any indication from the Broom Agency an idea of the total cost of the health insurance package would be and how it would compare to last year's insurance costs. Finance Director Semmens answered, irrespective of the broker, if the city stayed with Blue Cross, the cost from Blue Cross would be the same as indicated. Blue Cross representatives came to Kenai and told the committee KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 52 1999 PAGE 10 the cost would $623,000, including life insurance of about $15,000. He added, last year's health insurance cost $523,000. Williams stated he thought there was a disparaging difference between last year's and this year's costs, which he did not think were due to inflation. Frazer asked if there were any alternatives offered in the broker proposals. Semmens answered, only to the extent they would shop other carriers besides Blue Cross. He noted, the brokers had included lists of possible carriers to contact. Williams asked if there were any provisions with the state to tag onto state employee's health insurance program. Semmens answered, he understood the state was now self - insured. However, there was a program for municipalities to tag onto the previous state insurance program. As long as the state was bringing on other municipalities, it was not a big expense. However, when the state employees were taken out of the plan, the costs for the insurance escalated sharply for the municipalities. Semmens added, because of that, the City of Soldotna chose to self -insure. He added, a plan was there, however it would be far more expensive than Blue Cross. Williams asked if there was a potential of self -insuring with a back-up for catastrophic medical from an outside carrier. Semmens answered, the insurance committee investigated that and had a representative from the City of Homer speak to them in this regard. He noted, there were a number of municipalities on the Peninsula who do that, but there were risks involved. He recommended to study it further prior to recommending self-insurance, which was what the committee was doing. Williams asked if re -insuring outside of the self-insurance program was viable for catastrophic care? Semmens answered yes, with stop -loss insurance. Frazer asked Semmens if he thought the city was stuck with the 161/2% increase in insurance costs. Semmens answered, whoever the broker, they would shop the plan. However, he had been told that because the city had been with Blue Cross for many years, they would be the city's best bet. Frazer asked what kind of costs Homer was incurring with self-insurance. Semmens answered, in 1998 Homer spent $527,000 for 80 persons. The City of Kenai spent $523,000 for 90 persons. He added, last year Homer had a bad year and spent more than normal. Due to that, they saw a 2 5% increase in their stop/loss maximum. Ross stated, with a group as small as the city's, there were major risks to undertake when self -insuring. On the horizon (which may require legislative change) a program was being developed for pooled health care insurance through AML/JIA. Bannock asked how many of the city's 90 employees have dependents included on their insurance. Semmens answered 77. Williams suggested the high insurance costs could be attributed to high medical costs in Alaska. VOTE: Swarner: Yes Moore: Yes Measles: Yes KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 11 Bannock: Yes Bookey: Yes Frazer: Yes MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Williams: Yes C-6. Resolution No. 99-29 -- Transferring $9,500 in the General Fund for Moving Expenses. MOTION: Councilman Measles MOVED for adoption of Resolution No. 99-29 and Councilman Bannock SECONDED the motion. There were no public or council comments. VOTE: There were no objections. SO ORDERED, C-?. 1999 Continued Operation of Liquor License -- OBJECTION WITHDRAWAL -- Eaglechief, Inc. d/b/a Katmai Hotel. Approved by consent agenda. C-8. 1999-2000 Liquor License Renewal -- Don Jose's Cantina & Mexican Restaurant/ Beverage Dispensary. Approved by consent agenda. ITEM D: COMMISSION / COMMITTEE REPORTS D-1. Council on Aging Swarner reported, unapproved minutes of the Council on Aging meeting held on April 27 were included in the packet. She noted, Mr. Huddleston had to resign from the Council due to his now being a city employee. An application for appointment was included in the packet, however Swarner suggested the appointment be held until the position could be advertised at the Senior Center for a while longer. D-2. Airport Commission Measles reported the Commission would meet on May 13, 1999. D-3, Harbor Commission Bookey reported the Commission would meet again on May 10. Williams stated he had a short conversation with Mr. Fuhs of Peratrovich, Nottingham 8v Drage (PND) in KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 12 Juneau. He suggested representatives from PND come to Kenai after the closure of the Legislature to discuss areas of funding for the bluff erosion project. Williams noted, Fuhs believed EVOS would have funds to put toward the project. Ross reported PND had submitted a proposal which would be discussed by the Harbor Commission at their May 10 meeting. The proposal included price information to conclude the study (approximately $53,000) and ready it for OCS presentation or other funding sources. He added, the proposal outlined a fairly significant scope of work to get it into pre -design status. D-4. Library Commission Moore reported the Commission met May 4 when they were introduced to the new librarian, Ewa Jankowska, who was warmly received and who participated well in the meeting. Moore added, a report from the Friends of the Library was heard and who announced they would hold another book sale the first week in June. Also, the Commission was presented an interesting summary of the library survey. Moore added, the Commission also had a short discussion regarding the city budget. Moore introduced Ewa Ja.nkowska to the council and audience. D-5. Parks & Recreation Commission Frazer reported the next meeting was scheduled for May 6, 1999. D-6. Planning & Zoning Commission Moore reported he attended the meeting for Bannock. Most of the meeting involved action on a conditional use permit for a storage yard on Beaver Loop. He added, the Commission denied the permit and the applicant was given appeal information. Clerk Freas noted, to date no appeal had been filed. D-7. Miscellaneous Commissions and Committees D-7a. Beautification Committee Swarner reported the next meeting was scheduled for May 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers. She also reported a volunteer orientation would be held at 7:00 p.m. that same evening. D-7b. Historic District Board Moore reported no meeting was scheduled for May. He also reported, a book of 130 pages and documenting the history of the City of Kenai was presented to him by a local third grade class. The class interviewed residents and past and present mayors for much of the material included in the book. Moore added, the book would be kept at the Kenai Community Library. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 13 Moore also reported the next meeting of the Board was scheduled for July 19. He noted, he would not be able to attend the meeting. D-7c. Kenai Visitors & Convention Bureau Board Bookey reported no meeting was held since his last report. He noted, the "Get to Know Kenai" reception was held at the Center and was attended by over 80 people. A tremendous amount of feedback was received from the community. Bookey added, Director Tarr was very pleased with the effort and the turnout. Bookey also reported the directors of the Permanent Fund Corporation would be meeting in Kenai on June 15. He suggested council and mayor meet with the board members and arrange for a tour of the city. A short discussion followed and it was decided by council to hold a small reception for the board members and other community leaders. It was also suggested the reception be held at the Fire Training School. Clerk Freas was requested to coordinate the reception with Director Tarr. D-7d, Alaska Municipal League Report Council members who just returned from a trip to Juneau reported on their trip. Frazer stated it was always hard to know after going, if discussions with legislators, etc. had any effect. He added, those who went gave their best shot to emphasize to the legislators their initial decision regarding municipal assistance and revenue sharing was wrong. Bannock reported it had been his first trip to Juneau. He spoke to as many legislators as he could and all understood the position of the city with regard to municipal assistance and revenue sharing. Swarner stated she didn't leave Juneau as disappointed as she had in the past. Williams referred to a letter from Senator Ward which was distributed to council before the meeting. The letter referred to funds requested for upgrading Redoubt/ Forest Drive and bike paths, as well as the Nikiski Senior Center, Kenai Senior Center (funds for a new phone system), maintenance shop and funds for the possible upgrade of the Little League fields. He added, it would be seen in the next weeks whether any of the funds are awarded. ITEM E: MINUTES E-1. Regular Meeting of April 21, 1999. Approved by consent agenda. ITEM F: CORRESPONDENCE -- None. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 511999 PAGE 14 ITEM G: OLD BUSINESS -- None. ITEM H: NEW BUSINESS H-1. Bills to be Paid, Bills to be Ratified MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to pay the bills and Councilman Bookey SECONDED the motion. VOTE: There were no objections. SO ORDERED. H-2. Purchase Orders Exceeding $2,500 MOTION: Councilman Bookey MOVED to approve the purchase orders exceeding $2,500 and Councilman Measles SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. H-3. Ordinance No. 1826-99 -- Changing Pay Ranges of the Water and Sewer Operator I and Water and Sewer Foreman in the Employee Classification List at KMC 23.50.010(d). Introduced by consent agenda. H-4. Ordinance No. 1827-99-- Amending KMC 23.55.040 to Increase the Uniform Allowance for the Fire Department. Introduced by consent agenda. H-5. Discussion -- Election of Council Positions Bannock distributed a handout regarding the current make-up of the council, labeling the seats A-F. He noted, the ballots normally instruct voters to vote for not more than two for a three-year term. However, this year's ballots would be different due to the resignation of Councilman Smalley which would request voters to vote for not more than one for a one-year term (and the normal vote for no more than two for two three-year terms) . He explained, his proposal was to hold an election for council positions based on the labels of the seats and instead of electing the top two receivers of votes, the ballots would instruct voters to vote for not more than one for the labeled seat up for election. Bannock stated he was not interested in dividing areas of representation by labeling the seats. The result, Bannock hoped, would diminish an advantage he felt was given to incumbents running for re-election. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 15 Bannock continued, by labeling the seats, an election would give an advantage to the challenger and not to the incumbent. He noted, the Charter was clear in directing the process for elections. Bannock added, he didn't want to change the staggering of the terms. Williams noted, in order to change the process of election as Bannock suggested, the Charter would have to be changed, which would require a vote of the people. Bannock agreed, and noted it could be done by petition for a ballot change or council could put the question on the ballot, which was his preference. He added, he wanted council to discuss the issue and put it to a test. Bannock noted, the change would be to Kenai Charter, Section 14.4 (b) , removing "...The two candidates for councilman receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected..." And using as a possible replacement or additional wording, "...Each council seat shall be a specifically designated seat, i.e. A, B, C, D, E, & F. Each candidate for the office of council member shall file for, and if elected, occupy a specifically designated seat." Bookey stated he was serving his third term on council and felt comfortable with the current process. He noted, he had been involved in elections when he had no challengers, two challengers, and five challengers and saw no reason to make a change. He preferred to leave the process as it was now. Measles agreed with Bookey and added he was a firm believer in the adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He continued, the process had not been a problem for the city since its incorporation and felt there needed to be a very good reason to change a Charter and didn't think this was a good reason. Frazer referred to the issue of incumbency which came up during the time he was involved in interviews with council for the appointment to Councilman Smalley's position. At that time, comments were made the council was appointing an incumbent which would give an advantage in the October election. He added, he believed the largest part of incumbency was the ability to raise campaign funds. Frazer added, he didn't think in the city election process many fund raisers were held for persons running for a council position. He added, he didn't think incumbency was a factor for city elections as it would be for state and federal offices. Frazer stated he didn't think incumbency should be a major consideration. Swarner agreed with Measles and saw no reason to make a change in the Charter. Moore asked Bannock if there was only one person who approached him with the process concern. Bannock answered, the question arose at the time of his first successful election. He noted, during that election he was hoping to win the seat previously held by Councilman McComsey, however he was actually running for one of the two positions up for election. He added, he believed the reason incumbents win in city elections was because they were familiar with the issues because of their attendance to council meetings, etc. Bannock stated, his discussion was brought forward because he wanted to examine if there was an unfair advantage of being an incumbent. He added, it was his KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 16 opinion the Charter did give an unfair advantage and was asking council to consider the issue and place it on the ballot. Bannock asked what was wrong with placing the question on the ballot; what was there to be afraid of; if it was placed on the ballot and passed, what would be changed. He added, if a person wanted to run against one of the council and not another or wanted to run as a team with another candidate, who would lose in that scenario. Swarner stated in prior elections in which she was a candidate, she always had opponents. She added, she felt the voters selected her over others and didn't see any need for designation of the seats. Swarner noted, putting a question on the ballot for an opinion of the voters was not always the wisest choice. Measles stated his biggest fear was that the Charter could be changed with only 17% of the population voting, which has been the historical turnout of voters. He added, that would not be a good situation. Bannock stated, he was not wanting to place the issue on the ballot for an advisory vote, but to ensure it would pass and then enact it. Moore asked if the Charter could be changed by a majority vote. Answer was yes. Williams added, the Charter had been standing for about 37 years. He agreed with Measles and would hesitate to allow a small majority of those being affected by the Charter to change the course of history for the remaining citizens of the city. As an example he offered, if a question was asked whether to abandon the Charter and un- incorporate the city, 17% of the voters could say yes and dissolve the city. He added, he didn't think there was a problem or had been a problem with the current Charter provisions. Williams stated, it had been an interesting discussion. Bannock stated, the Charter was clear on how it could be changed and noted, a change could be pursued through council or another way. He would pursue the other way to change the Charter and if that failed, it would be a dead issue. ITEM I: ADMINISTRATION REPORTS I-1. Mayor -- No report. I-2, City Manager a. Main Street Loop Easement -- Ross reported there was a platted easement on Main Street Loop which entered into the Dairy Queen property. In addition to this easement, utilities had also been run into the property. The easement was never recorded. Ross suggested, with the gas line going through the property, the drainage swale, etc., he found no reason why the easement was not recorded since it had been platted, prepared - and paved. He asked council if they knew of any reason why the KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 511999 PAGE 17 easement should not be recorded. There were no objections or comments from council in regard to recording the easement. b. State Proposal (Acquisition of Wetlands) -- Ross noted he reported during the last council meeting (budget work session) the state had offered to purchase wetlands from the city. He noted, the state indicated they had already contacted an appraiser in regard to the project. Unless council objected, he planned to proceed with them and in three months (approximately), the city may receive a proposal from the state. There were no objections to proceeding voiced from council. C. Budget Work Session -- Ross noted the next budget work session was scheduled for Monday, May 10. He added, without hearing anything definite from the Legislature regarding municipal assistance and revenue sharing distributions, he had no reason to change the memorandum he previously prepared for council indicating cuts, etc. Ross stated, if the city received additional funds from the Legislature above what the budget was based upon, it would not balance the budget, but would reduce the red ink. He added, without objections, he would resubmit the same information for the next work session. Council stated no objections. Moore questioned whether the proposed purchaser of the Dairy Queen property was proceeding with the inspection of the property as previously discussed. Ross answered, the proposed buyer was proceeding with the civil survey and have completed the environmental inspection. Administration had not received an indication there were any problems to date. He added, City Engineer La Shot and he had met with the purchaser's civil engineer and he had spoken with NAPA representatives. Ross continued, a decision was being made as to which three trees on the property would need to be removed (to increase the parking area) . Ross stated, the purchaser was proceeding. I-39 Attorney -- No report. I-4, City Clerk a. Kenai Peninsula Coalition Meeting -- Freas reported a Coalition meeting was scheduled to be held at the ARFF on Tuesday, May 11, 1999, beginning at 10:00 a.m. b. AML Donation Request -- Freas referred to information included in the packet regarding a request from AML for an additional donation to be used for educational messages, advertising, etc. regarding municipal assistance and revenue sharing. Williams suggested a donation of $500. KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 18 MOTION: Councilwoman Swarner MOVED to send $500 to AML for the program of education the public and Councilman Frazer SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED, I-5. Finance Director -- No report. I-6. Public Works City Engineer La Shot reminded council if they were receiving comments about coloration of city water, it was because the repairs were being made to the new wellhouse and water was being pumped from the old wellhouse. I-7. Airport Manager Acting Airport Manager Holland reported he and his administrative assistant would be taking part in the State Aviation and Trade Conference in Anchorage over the weekend to talk with visitors and promote the Kenai Airport. ITEM J: DISCUSSION J-1. Citizens -- None. J-2. Council Bookey -- No comments. Swarner -- Stated it was nice to travel to Juneau with more than two people representing the city. She added, she believed it was very beneficial. Moore -- No comments. Measles -- Reported he would be out-of-town for the next two meetings (May 19 and June 2). He added, he would not be able to attend the Airport Commission meeting scheduled for May 13. Councilman Bannock stated he would attend for Measles. Bannock -- No comments. Frazer -- No comments. Williams -- Reported he would be out-of-town for the May 19 meeting to attend the closing of the Legislature. Williams appointed Councilwoman Swarner as Chair Pro Tempore for the May 19 meeting due to the impending absence of Mayor Williams and Vice Mayor Measles. � EXECUTIVE SESSION -None Scheduled KENAI CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 5, 1999 PAGE 19 ITEM K: ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:40 p.m. Minutes transcribed and prepared by: d"04C,e Carol L. Freas, City Clerk APPROVED BY COUNCIi. /q�l'e'&,l DATE !TY CLERK