City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call this meeting to order Wednesday March 12 2025 at 6:30 can we be BR call please Alan here Ellis yes rancy here gacon here hodkin Lawrence here Mackie here Morrison perini here Fredo here for here Taylor or here thank you thank you Mr Mayor yeah motion to approve council members Morrison hodkin and Taylor second is there any discussion all in favor oppose right thank you um we like to all stand for the place ofas of the United States of America and to the rep for IT stand thank you council president approval of the agenda yeah motion to appr second is there any discussion all in favor hi opposed okay passes thank you okay we'll open this up to our public comment and um please limit your comments to three minutes and be kind start off with your name and and uh place where you live not necessarily your address your

word hello my name is Connie Parson I live in Hope thank you I don't talk loud in h that St down inside here once the red lights on you can use mine okay we're bringing that maybe I should do this more often now you're fine lower the microphone a little bit for you okay my uh name is Connie Parson I actually live in h but I've been volunteering at the friend of the Avery Museum since 2018 after the fire I uh primarily I'm responsible for the displays I don't know how many of you have been into our office before but we have two display cabinets we change those displays monthly until about a year ago we now do it every two months um we uh rely mostly on the public and private sectors for the items that are in our display cases they gr graciously loan those to us for two months at a time um the pulson museum has been extremely helpful in in also giving us things to put out that are from aine we take all of that information that we've put together during that time frame and put it in three ring binders so that people can come in and actually see everything except the artifacts that were in our display cases all the pictures um Joan's photo was gracious enough after the fire to give us access to 20 photos a month to use in our photo board in order for people to have access to the historical pictures our major

voler time is putting up memorabilia to be available for public viewing these displays are focused on a specific subject such as buildings like the mor or the F the different churches uh fraternal organizations such as the Masons and um Etc one of the latest ones that we just took down was on immigrants these displays can be view be viewed for two months at a time we also participate in first Friday from 5 to 8 this gives the public nighttime access to the displays after each display is over we put the information and pictures in three ring binders and they are available for viewing for public use in addition to the displays we also have a lending library which is full of local written by local artists history on Grace Harbor our current display uh on history is in murals and the artists who painted them and also the Walk of Fame are stars the display includes memorabilia from burkstrom boundary located on State Street in aine I don't know how many of you are aware of the fact that those stars are actually made locally and casted locally um I was surprised when I found that out I was also surprised to see how many things that they have casted over the years on the back of the handout that I gave to some of you is a list of the some of the displays that we have done over the last couple of years that mean my time's up okay okay thank you very much you have any questions I'll be here at the end is there anybody else would like to come in hello everyone Janice Robbie Ward four now a Grace Harbor librarian I'm

sure a number of you got the email that we have done a restructure from our library manager shaa Hal how who is here with me this evening but but the main thing that I want to do is introduce you to our new Grace Harbor regional manager Dr Evie bule uh she is joining us as of this Monday so you're very very new uh so she'll be coming to Council meetings and like the mayor's luncheon and all of that stuff now too so now we actually have a regional manager thank you thank you is there anybody else would like to comment no okay um we'll move on then to the consent agenda with the council president's for yes motion to approve tonight's consent agenda which includes minutes from the February 26 meeting accounts payable and payroll including check numbers 26200 through 26217 888 93 through 8941 and wires 1781 through 1786 second second thank you it's been first second is there any discussion no okay all dber opposed all right thank you um I was the for the mayor's report I had planned on talking about um HB 1380 and how devastating it's a a bill up in Olympia right now that would kind of make our sidewalks again public camping areas for the h and um and and then leave our cities open to lawsuits um I sent a letter out this morning um uh to Olympia and asked them to please you know don't vote in favor of that bill and on the way in I heard

that um the bill may not have gotten out of the committee so it might not it might be dead so I don't know for sure if that's the truth but let's all keep our fingers crossed and um I think our city um Public Works and our police and everybody has worked really hard to kind of gain some control back on our uh you our public streets and sidewalks so I we'd hate to see that go backwards anyway um so that's my report let's go on to council reports are there any oh I'm sorry council person L I have uh two really quick reports uh I forgot off the top of my head but I do know that the harbor Learning Center and the aberin high school have conference a week so this Wednesday Thursday and Friday there will be conferences I think it's just the afternoon today tomorrow it's the morning and afternoon and on Friday it is just the morning and my second quick announcement is that I will not be available the first city council meeting in April that's all okay thank you any other council person perini okay I have a homeless response committee report and the homeless response committee met on Tuesday March 4th um at the meeting the committee reviewed and discussed the upcoming homeless response survey that will go out to aing Residents and businesses there are two separate surveys for two different groups of people the committee reviewed the questions and have until March 19th to provide changes to the survey before it goes out to the community on April 1st the goal of survey is to understand how the residents and business Community feel about how the city has handled our homeless issues we want to know if we are meeting their expectations and if there are any

successes or ways that we can improve how we are addressing it we will make sure that each of you get a link to the survey to take it and then I have a report from the police station we have one police officer candidate successfully passed her background check and will start March 17th officer Lindsay Pros is a mono high school graduate and will be attending the Washington state criminal justice commission's basic law enforcement candidate um Academy officer Pros will have 17 weeks of training at the Academy followed by 13 weeks of field training on the road with a field training officer we're still in the background stage for our two vacant police record specialist positions and we still have ongoing testing to establish an eligibility list for police services officer Corrections and police officers so that's about it thank you thank thank you council person Francy uh on the the third I picked up litter around the compass rows picked up about 48 pounds of garbage um a small amount of recycl three syringes I want to say thank you to the city for disposing with bagged up litter um usually utilize the citizen action report off of the request off of the city's website and works really well thank you thank you any other Council records no okay this going to be a quick meeting U let's go on to staff reports U with administrative CL you thank you mayor um I am furiously scanning the internet right now trying

to see if Hai was indeed killed and not and will not move to the house floor um once we find out I will send an email out again that bill is just bad legislation coming out of Olympia um it uses very vague languages that language that would be difficult for our officers to enforce our camping laws and it also opens the door and gives a step by step of how homeless individuals can sue CI for their camping laws um right now in the state of Oregon it mimics what the state of Oregon has put out and um we have several cities Portland and um grants passed that are being challenged and are currently in litigation trying to solve this issue so again this is just not the answer and and to not mimic Oregan we should be doing something differently and kind of watching what's happening in Oregon I um so I also wanted to announce that Governor Ferguson will be visiting Aberdine on March 14th his what he would like to learn is uh the state's effect on our Economic Development our permitting laws and housing so uh we will join uh the city of ham the county I think that uh Summit Pacific will be present the port there will be um different government entities and groups there that will bend the governor's ear literally for like 2 minutes each so um uh more to come and then we have congressional representative Emily Randall she's yet to confirm who may be visiting my report is in front of you as well um if needed uh the thing I wanted to reach out to the council to see if um the council was interested in at the strategic planning session in January we had discussed holding a um an economic development strategic planning session um so that we could dive in deeper on economic development that was seem to be a really engaging conversation amongst the

council members and so I wanted to um propose uh Wednesday April 16th that's the third Wednesday of next month as a workshop um event for all of us to get together and to talk about economic uh strategic planning Economic Development strategic planning um so and then next week we have the superintendent uh from the aine school district who will be here next week um to talk about what's H all the the great things that are happening with um aine school district and um and I just to provide you also an update on the city hall elevator um I was una aware of this but the elevator is 60 years old this year like and so all the parts phase one has been completed and we are moving into phase two uh the Jack had been removed and a new one had been replaced that's the the hydraulic system that pushes the elevator up and down and that had to be buried 30 ft into the ground so um again they're moving into phase two on that and that's um replacing and constructing and deconstructing and constructing the elevator carriage or the car itself so um pretty exciting we should be back and I I believe that we're ahead of schedule and so um we will be back at City Hall in no time although this space is so beautiful and so nice and so so modern I I just I when we when we came here I was like oh no we're not going back to City Hall but you know just wanted to give you guys a heads up but again um I'm kind of looking to all of you to see if that time frame is okay I you know if if April 16th if I can reserve that time to meet with all of you um I don't know if you need a a a period of time to discuss it like to look at your calendars or

anything like that but I'm happy to send an email out and or a doodle poll or something okay I'm I would love to get a motion if that's okay I'm sorry to know that's not on the agenda but just something to I was just waiting for good of the order apologies okay all right thank you motion to schedule an economic development workshop on Wednesday April 16th first and second is there any discussion time day time of day I would assume 6:30 we can do yeah 6 or 6:30 whatever time works for all of you would that be okay so that we keep it consistent yep yeah okay so um all in favor of holding a economic development meeting on Wednesday April 16th at 6:30 say I I any oppose all right thank you thank you very much May thank you Council motion location will be announced yeah we'll have to well here the we'll see if this space is available so just wanted to clarify will the um a the Aberdine School District be here in two weeks to talk to us not next week sorry yes next next meeting not next week my apologies thank you anything else okay thank you um director's reports director baram thank you I want to give you a couple updates one is on progress at 118 West West cost Street harbard Architects is working on the final design uh with an estimated completion date of May 1st so we should have construction drawings by then uh the design includes the remodel of the first floor for use as a public museum parks department office space the visitor information center and then some Museum

storage this is the first floor design draft uh this is really close to what the final design will look like you can see in the front uh the public museum space where we'll have the displays and entry area um on the bottom is facing wishot Street uh the viic over in the leftand corner that's the main entrance that you'll enter into the building uh and you'll enter the viic and then when the museum is open you would turn to your right enter the museum and then you walk through the Vic straight ahead and that's where the parks department office spaces will be located uh which include a meeting room and a break room which will be shared with the museum volunteers that are operating the city's Museum and then in the back of the building is where the public restrooms are located as well as um some storage for M for the museum and as a reminder the Project funding we received a capital Heritage Grant the ection engineering needs to be completed by June 30th of this summer and we're on track to um meet that completion date they're reimburse reimbursing us up to $240,000 for the harbor architech um architectural and engineering and we also received the Washington State Community buildings appropriation uh which is the 1.7 million and the 490,000 um we requested we were supposed to complete that project by June 30th of this summer obviously that's not going to happen the governor included in his budget a reappropriation of the funds for the 2025 2027 BM budget and now we need to wait for the state legislature to make their final budget determinations and that should be this April or May and I also wanted to give a little

more information on the Market Street sidewalk and um Tree project in October of 2018 the Federal Highway Administration um was forwarded a complaint from a citizen with a visual disability uh and that complaint was in violations of the American with Disabilities Act and that was sent to the city in 2018 I know that the public works department and the parks department addressed a number of those issues and um corrected some of those issues the the US um Federal Highway Administration went out again and um did a survey of the complaints in the summer of last year and there were still a number of um violations that had not been addressed and so that is part of the market straight project um those sidewalks are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act Nick bird our city engineer did provide a response um and let them know our project timeline and the work that we'll be doing to get into compliance so that's really what started this project uh and that part of the um tree removal requires notification to the adjacent Property Owners so I have a sample letter that was sent out to one of six businesses um letting them know that the city will be replacing the um sidewalks and that the trees will be removed and then new trees will be replanted and provided them a copy of the AMC section 10.32 which talks about the process that that is available to them if they would like to file um protest uh during that time I did not receive any protests um I did receive three phone calls or emails um cap did contact me they had a suggestion about adding Lighting in the sidewalk to light um

some of the artwork that's down on the 200 block of Market Street um spoon Automotive called they asked if they had to pay for any of the concrete of the work so I let them know that they didn't um and then dog had called to ask about um when work would begin because he has some plants in the um landscape area around H tree and that's it unless anyone had any questions all right thank you thank you any other direct reports no excuse me all right uh moving on to requests for Council action public work uh with chairperson grany hi I've been asked to talk about the market and First Street signal removal there eight traffic signals on Market Street and First Street are Antiquated and are at the end of their service lab with no service parts available the engineering Department's due diligence was to perform a warrant analysis on each intersection to determine if replacement or removal of each signal was appropriate the warrant was conducted on criteria established by the manual on uniform traffic control devices uh MCD uh it should be noted cost was not a determining criteria and the focus was purely on functionality the final report prepared by the city's consultant recommended the removal of five signals four which are on Market Street at the intersections of g h i and K streets as well as the signal at the intersection of first and F this approach is the most coste effective solution that meets all the criteria set forth in the mut CD this is

the first step of our Outreach efforts intended to raise awareness associated with these revisions and next week you will see information signs posted at these intersections the first major revision you will see will happen in June after school gets out when the signals are set to flash and the top signs are in the stop signs are installed please remember flashing red lights mean come to a complete stop and flashing yellow lights mean proceed with caution signals are planned to be covered in September and removed at a later date more information can be found on the city's website abin w.gov under current projects within the engineering division which is aing ww.gov 373 Curren D projects there's also a handout in the back for anyone that wants one that has a map showing the intersections yes thank you uh today we have one report for public works department uh it's request recommending the city council authorize the purchase of a 2025 for F250 to replace the tool loss a vehicle 707 in the amount of 8,853 I move that we accept this report second moved in second um is there any discussion uh under discussion uh the vehicle was told in an accident where the city was not at fault the almost $9,000 is the remainder after the insurance and it will come out of the equipment rental okay thank you any more

discussion all in favor I oppose all right passor thank you thank you all right special committees council president for yes we have a request recommending that the city council approve the de assession of items from the museum collection I move we adopt this report second any discussion all in favor iose passes that was quick okay um back to public comments are there any more public comments and if there are please state your name and um be quick because if you're out of here in five minutes then that's a world record for us I'm just kid just St your name and word please take your time you got three minutes thank you my name is Kim mum and I'm from W five um it's on it's on it's on yeah I don't know Electronics I'm sorry um I've been working really hard trying to make my home safe I have found out I have no rights to quiet time in my home per the police officer because our home is not only a residential but it's also commercial so there are no quiet times in those areas in the last month I've had three nights where I've been in my bed all night because of the noise outside my house I was also told police can't do anything unless they catch it this I mean my health is in I'm heading to a Cardiologist I was just diagnosed with

shingles and you know what I was told you need to close your windows and get vaccinated and I'm sorry sir that broke my heart to think you thought that of me I'm sorry my windows are closed it's winter time my windows aren't open I've been vaccinated since the shingles vaccination was available I'm a disabled veteran they keep me vaccinated I'm doing my best I talked with a couple of the council members okay to have clean air in my home the only way that it's good is if you're a business okay if I get a business license and run a business out of my home can I now have clean air no because my home is residential even though it's a residential business area I mean what can I do to make my home safe I can't work because I've been sick for a year I just can't hold down a job which means I can't even go and find a new place to live CU I don't have the finances for it I'm stuck in a home my heart is going downhill my health I've had a sinus infection they say now for about a year and they've done X-rays and it's all because of secondhand smoke plus not being able to sleep sleep because of the disturbance outside my home I'm trying to find out where my rights are in this town because I see none even though everyone keeps saying oh you have rights I see none and I'm getting what I feel very negative input toward me and I I mean I don't know what else to do I'm at a

loss thank you is there anybody else who would like to comment all right thank you uh oh I'm sorry hello Janice Robby Grace Harbor librarium uh just wanted to remind everyone and invite everyone down to the library at 3:00 on Mondays for a Lego program it is for adults and teens uh we do now have a couple of cap workers bringing their clients uh they just started coming on Monday they said they're going to be coming every Monday from now on which is really fun so this has been going on since September and it's slowly growing so uh city workers if you need a break from staring at your screens all day uh come and join me at 3 o' on Mondays and we can build Legos and if more people come I get to buy more thank you thank you any more comments yeah you know who I am um I want to elaborate on some of the things that we have available in our office for you to come and see we have almost all of the weather waes high school yearbooks on hand we have several years of the Pope directories which if anyone's familiar with those know that they are great research we have small telephone books um I don't know how to explain I our main purpose has been to keep the word Museum alive until we actually get a museum and I hope we succeeded that I apologize for being late but I sat down at City Hall waiting to go in and there was nobody there okay so anyway thank you ask question I ask you a question I got a question sorry with the Weather Wax yearbooks you guys still

have multiple copies in the the DAT back or within fire the multiple copies in the fire I don't know these copies have came from private citizens after the fire after the fire okay before I go ahead the library has yeah the library okay Museum I went to dinner at the Museum before it burnt down and one the things that say there is I end up finding a Weather Wax high school year able to purchase and gives a gift to my my wife's great grandpa we we've gone there and so this he didn't have one so know BL B I'll really quickly share a uh memory while I'm volunteering I volunteer on Fridays normally and five people came in and wanted to look at the yearbooks and they spent nearly an hour and a half I wish I had a tape recorder the memories that they share together thank you anybody else okay um we're close the public comment period and let's go on to for the good of the order anybody have anything for the good of the order I'm sorry administrator Clemens thank you mayor um I just wanted to give you an update on the events then what the city has done to address the issues that we have over on enf Street um we have tallied all of the nuisance calls that have been made to those to the properties that have been negatively impacting that particular area and we have um worked with the property owners who have as of last week issued eviction notices um and some property owners are actually selling their properties as well so um we while you know um we we're talking about like constitutional rights um like you know we're trying to address this issue in a very roundabout way to

address the behaviors that are happening there we're also um waiting on our attorneys who are going who are drafting a Sit Li law that we think would impact it that would extend it outside of the downtown area and into those parts of the um residential neighborhoods uh Brent Bradley um worked with the Pud to successfully install lights in the alley as well um and then we're also going to uh work with them to install more lights down F Street um yeah so we are trying our best to kind of address this issue in a in a more creative fashion because it is is not against the law to loiter so when our officers do show up people disperse and um then you know they're following the laws they're dispersing they're moving on and so but then you know an hour later they'll come back and they'll gather and so our officers have thousands of calls that they respond to and I'm not saying that this alley is not a priority it's just like they get to the call when they receive it you know to the best of their ability and um so we are doing everything that can um a suggestion was made to look at a temporary camera to install um that could be there that we're looking at about $25,000 for that so we're kind of trying to find something that's maybe a little more cost effective for us um and so I just wanted to just give you a heads up we worked we just met the week before last with the um suboxin methodone Clinic they've made incredible changes to their Pro processes as well and to their security they um and we just keep kind of making tweaks with them when it comes to like their processes to ensure that they are following protocol um we meet with them we've met with them for the last three months every 30 days our next meeting will be in 60 days because they have made significant proit they

have made significant um changes to their operations to kind of dispel and dissuade any kind of of the negative behaviors that have been happening that include their clients um so we I just I just wanted you know if you have any questions about about that particular area and anything that the city is doing or any suggestions at all that you would like us to explore please let me know but um the way that we are going about it is we are just trying to remove the people from that area that are causing these issues by going after their housing and so um I just wanted to give you heads up that we're just we have to get creative when when attacking this issue yeah C okay thank you council person Alis thank you mayor um I just wanted to comment on that I think a lot of people are losing sleep these days with the uncertainty at the federal government um people losing jobs funding completely up in the air for not only um staff positions but programs that affect all of us um and especially here at the local level uh and and I think that there's only so much we can do to make our lives better and address what's going on that may not be legal certainly at the federal level but where we can really make a difference is right here at home by helping out each other and and I got to say that I I drive up

and down s Street it's how I get home and every time I'm making that trip I see active drug deals or at least what looks to me like an active drug deal um going on there's very suspicious groups of people that are continually congregating at the South East um side of that intersection and that's not going away it's not diminishing um I know that the city is doing a number of things that are going to be helpful in the long run but that area needs help now and I don't know if we've got volunteers that are still out and about in a car they could just drive down that alley take pictures from the car uh just be a present um shake up that that rooted community that that comes in from elsewhere they don't live there and and make it uncomfortable as a place to do their drug dealing um give give these people a break uh I I'm so sorry that your life has been so miserable for so long Kim I can't even work I cannot even work I've had ongoing sinus issues for a year and now I'm going to a Cardiologist because my heart's acting up which is my medical disability from the Army the other thought I had was um do changing the sit lay law may be helpful

can we also amend the zoning code as a um conditional what are they called um a conditional use to convert from business zoning to just residential um Ju Just a thought for that out yeah for for that area or do the whole block that way spill drive around the corner we got the same same power well there's a business next door the block but they would be ground yeah I do have cameras on my house if anybody wants I have really good camera system we just put up that does the alley the front of the house and my porch and I know I told the police when they came by one time they said could we get upstairs in your house to absolutely I'm I'm open to any help I can get I I appreciate the mayor um inviting us during public comment and go of the order to um speak kindly I think it's all the more important that we do so now um given the added stress level and um make it a practice to say say hello to people whether it's the grocery store the library passing on the street waving when you pass someone in your neighborhood those little steps go a long ways and and help with our sense of community here leing your neighbors names yeah thank you thank you anybody else have anything for the good of the order okay I'll entertain a motion motion to

adjourn motion to adjourn second thank you all in favor all right thank you e e

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