MINUTES OF 6/14/07 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

135 East Johnson Avenue, Chelan, Washington

PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Harper, Councilmembers Harper, Lingard, Olsen, Papé-Miller, Rodionoff and Weldy, Attorney Galbraith, Clerk Liles, Planning/Community Development Director Gildroy, Public Works Director VanEpps. EXCUSED ABSENCES: Mayor Witherbee and Councilmember Morehouse.

Harper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

CONSENT AGENDA

Olsen moved to approve the consent agenda as follows:

1. Approve Payroll Warrants No. 26412 - 26540 totaling $183,495.96 and Claims Warrants No. 58044 - 58159 totaling $887,988.43;

2. Approve minutes of the 5/24/07 regular City Council meeting, as presented; and

3. Excuse Mayor Witherbee's absence from the 6/14/07 City Council meeting.

Seconded by Weldy, motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC INPUT

HISTORICAL DOWNTOWN CHELAN ASSOCIATION: Libby Manthey, President of the Historical Downtown Chelan Association (HDCA), presented the City with a $2,500 contribution from HDCA to help pay for downtown flower baskets.

Manthey reminded Council that under the terms of the Funding Agreement between the City and HDCA, the City agreed to become a member of HDCA at the benefactor level, requiring a membership fee of $1,500. Also, the City pledged to pay $8,500 to HDCA if HDCA was able to match that amount in new membership fees and local fundraising efforts. The Agreement also requires HDCA to provide to the City a report of its work plan accomplishments. Manthey said that she'd written a letter documenting HDCA's having raised the required match and reporting HDCA's accomplishments. She asked that the City Clerk pass the letter onto Administrator Fonfara and that the City now meet its obligations under the Funding Agreement.

RECOGNITION: Mike Cooney, 203 Orchard View Drive, noted that neither Mayor Witherbee nor Councilmember Olsen are running for reelection, and he thanked the two officials for their service to the community.

SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL BONDS: Tom Clark, 555 Antoine Creed Road, noted the difficulty of getting bonds approved, and then offered the following alternative to a proposed School District bond for property acquisition and development: build a school on the site of what is now the municipal golf course. Clark also spoke in opposition to renovating the Lake Chelan Hospital, saying the hospital should be relocated and the current site returned to the City's tax roles.

HOSPITAL BOND: Arlene Abbott, representing the Lake Chelan Hospital Renovation Campaign, presented information on the hospital renovation bond slated for the August 21, 2007 ballot. Abbott and Joyce Stewart, also of the Renovation Campaign, then answered questions and heard comments from Council and the audience concerning the proposed renovation. Abbott announced that there would be two public informational meetings, one at the Manson Grange Hall at 6:00 p.m. on 6/19/07 and the other in Council Chambers at Chelan City Hall at 6:00 p.m. on 6/20/07.

HISTORIC SIGN - KELLY'S HARDWARE: Gildroy recommended approval of Patrick Kelly's request that the City designate the sign on the west side of Kelly's Hardware as a "historically significant sign" per CMC 17.58.040U(13). Council was provided Kelly's written request dated 5/29/07, including his statement that the sign had existed for some years before his father purchased the building in 1958, thus meeting the code requirement that a historically significant sign must have existed prior to 1956. Gildroy noted that Kelly has a pending permit application for signs on the north and south walls of the building, but the sign code allows only two walls signs on the building. A "historically significant" designation for the existing sign would exempt it from the sign code, allowing the second and third signs. Weldy moved to approve the west wall sign on Kelly's Ace Hardware, 128 East Johnson Avenue, as a Historically Significant sign in accordance with Chelan Municipal Code Title 17. Seconded by Rodionoff, motion passed unanimously.

CHELAN RESORT SUITES BUILDING HEIGHT: Gildroy reported as follows. The City issued a building permit for Chelan Resort Suites at 2220 W. Woodin Avenue. The approved building plans conformed to the fifty foot building height limit of the Tourist Accommodation zoning district. However, questions arose during construction as to whether the building exceeded the height limit. Staff therefore asked Chelan Construction Management, the general contractor, to verify the constructed building's height. Erlandsen Associates conducted a ground elevation survey and Northwest Geodimensions conducted a building elevation survey. It was determined that the average ground elevation, as defined by the Chelan Municipal Code, is 1,141 feet and the building height, as defined by the Chelan Municipal Code, is 1,190.71 feet. Building height is 49.71 feet, conforming to the 50 foot maximum height requirement of the Tourist Accommodation zoning district.

TUSCAN PROPERTIES DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT: VanEpps explained that water and sewer capacity analysis will need to be conducted in order to determine the impacts and associated mitigation measures related to the planned Tuscan Properties project on the south shore of Lake Chelan. VanEpps recommended approval of an agreement to assure that the developer would reimburse the City for the expenses it would incur for engineering and legal services during the project. VanEpps noted that the proposed agreement was based on the template used for the development agreement between the City and Chelan Butte Holdings and would be standard for future developments. Lingard moved to authorize Mayor Witherbee to sign the "Development Agreement for Project Review Services and Water/Sewer Comprehensive Plan Updates" with Tuscan Properties, LLC, as presented. Seconded by Papé-Miller, motion passed unanimously.

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM: VanEpps discussed strategies for allocating nearly $600,000 that the City has accumulated in unused Surface Transportation Program (STP) funding VanEpps advised that there is some risk of losing the money if it isn't allocated and used and he advised that be done within the next two years. Council was provided with the City's prioritized street project list. VanEpps asked that improvement of the Johnson Avenue/Columbia Street intersection, currently a third tier priority, be moved to top priority and that the accumulated STP funds be used for that project. VanEpps explained that the Department of Transportation has recommended that the intersection be improved, including installation of traffic signals, before Highway 150/Johnson Avenue is converted to a three lane street. After considerable discussion, much of it about needed improvements to the Woodin Avenue Bridge, Council concurred in authorizing staff to move forward with allocation of STP funds as recommended by VanEpps.

ONE-WAY TRAFFIC DESIGNATION - LAKESIDE ALLEY: VanEpps explained that the alley between Block 8 and Block 9 of Johnson's First Addition to Lakeside provides access to both the Best Western Motel and the Chelan Resort Suites. The traffic study associated with Chelan Resort Suites recommended a one-way configuration of the alley to prevent traffic from exiting the alley onto SR97A, which was a Washington State Department of Transportation concern. Best Western was initially opposed to the one-way configuration because it would impede traffic flow at their motel. City staff met with both property owners, and it was determined that a one-way configuration of just the southerly 90 feet of the alley would address the concerns of both WSDOT and Best Western. At VanEpps' recommendation, Rodionoff moved to adopt ORDINANCE NO. 07-1340 designating the southerly 90 feet of the alley between Block 8 and Block 9, Johnson's First Addition to Lakeside, for one-way traffic. Seconded by Lingard, motion passed unanimously.

At 8:27 p.m., Council meeting recessed to allow City Councilmembers to participate in the regular meeting of the Lake Chelan Airport Board. Council meeting reconvened at 8:28 p.m. following adjournment of the Airport Board meeting

TRANSPORATION FUNDING: Papé-Miller said she didn't expect there to be much more federal funding for transportation projects, and the City would need to find other funding sources.

STREET SWEEPER: Responding to an inquiry from Weldy, Public Works Director VanEpps reported that the new street sweeper had arrived and will be put to use soon. Weldy asked if the City would be sweeping alleys. VanEpps responded, saying there is no regular alley sweeping schedule, but if Public Works is made aware of a need, it will be addressed.

STREET OVERLAY PROGRAM: Responding to an inquiry from Rodionoff, Public Works Director VanEpps reported on plans for the 2007 street overlay program.

COUNCILMEMBER'S EXCUSED ABSENCE: Olsen moved to excuse Councilmember Morehouse's absence from the Council meeting of 6/14/07. Seconded by Weldy, motion passed unanimously.