Council Meeting: April 7, 2008

Here is a brief summary of what I heard. Be sure to attend yourself to hear all the details first hand. I can give more details if folks want to sift through them. Be sure and check out Jim Wingard's view of this meeting on the Ruston Truth ~ Karen

• The mayor was not able to attend and Council Member Huson was late, so Council Member Stebner was appointed to fill in as Mayor Pro-Tem. Huitt-Zollars (H-Z) was present, so the agenda was re-arranged to discuss their items first and the paid consultants sent home.
• H-Z had presented a memo and documents outlining suggestions for updating the town codes to expedite the Point Ruston development by September, using the CTED grant. The grant cannot be used to negotiate a developer agreement on a specific project. But any such agreement must be based on the code in place at the time of the agreement. They feel the code must be updated before an agreement with Point Ruston can be finalized. This approach would update the code while supporting the development timelines.
• The town attorney pointed out that the planning commission is not functioning (not enough members). This could also delay the project. The town could set up a 3-member commission rather than the current 6 members. Council Members Huson and Stebner were opposed.
• Point Ruston was invited to speak. They will have documents to the Town by Wednesday that outline the differences between the current Ruston code and their proposal. The clerk will include them for the next study session. The proposal by H-Z does not include any shoreline code updates. Point Ruston will need to submit a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit application with the state by this August to meet the deadline for construction on the hotel.
• Point Ruston has a development plan that has already been through an extensive environmental review. They don’t want it picked apart and redone by a code revision in Ruston. They recognize that Ruston needs to update their codes. Council Member Albertson wanted to hear what Point Ruston thought about proceeding with the grant. Point Ruston was unsure until they have completed their review (by Wednesday). The decision was tabled until the April 21st meeting.
• Council Member Hunt and Huson met with Tacoma building officials on Monday about having them provide building and planning services. Tacoma will be at the study session on April 28th to give a presentation. The council chose not to terminate the current contract with H-Z at this meeting since they did not have an alternative in place yet.
• Huson and Alberston complained about the H-Z bill. The cost for a new sewer manhole on 49th was discussed since it was part of the invoice. Apparently there had been a 3-way split (Tacoma, Ruston, developer) discussed eariler for these costs. It was unclear if/how this split would work. Point Ruston stated later that they did not believe a new manhole was needed.
• Ordinance 1250 (allocate funds for unexpected expenses) was approved after allowing public comment prior to the vote.
• Ordinance 1251 (amending the budget for these expenses) was given its first reading. No changes were proposed. Final adoption scheduled for the next regular meeting.
• Ordinance 1252 (amending the budget to reflect 2007 actual cash carryovers) was given its first reading. No changes were proposed. Final adoption scheduled for the next regular meeting. The council requested a new copy of the budget once these changes are finalized.
• Resolution 413 (support of Point Ruston development) was approved after some concern was expressed by the town attorney this might create an appearance of fairness conflict since Point Ruston has land use action pending before the town.
• Resolution 414 (change form of government): Huson gave his reasons for this suggestion; the town needs a full time administrator, this administrator would not be an elected position and would be more stable than the current structure. There was discussion whether the resolution as proposed would require a special election. The council wants the mayor to put this out for a vote at the next regular election in November ($920 cost).
• The town attorney suggested the council also look at changing Ruston to a code city at the same time. She has seen that structure work well. Hunt had called Carnation (population of about 1900 with a city manager). The city manager there thought the system worked fine. Alberston has been concerned that this change was a result of specific personality conflicts, but he is now supportive. Public comment was allowed. The issue was tabled until May 5th, but will be discussed at upcoming study sessions.
• The council directed the mayor to prepare a service agreement with an attorney who specializes in Local Improvement Districts to represent the town in the pre-formation agreement and the inter-local agreement for the Point Ruston LID. Hugh Spitzer can then work through the rest of the process in the best interest of both Tacoma and Ruston simultaneously. The agreement will be presented at the April 21st meeting.
• The council extended the meeting for 30 minutes.
• Resolution 415 (council rules) had many changes suggested by the town attorney. Alberston very quickly went through the changes he would accept. A clean version will be presented at the next study session and passage scheduled for the April 21st meeting. Council Member Hedrick was concerned with having “town attorney” and “a person with whom the Town has entered into a contract for legal services” both listed in the rules.
• The agreement for equipment purchase for Stack Hill was approved.
• Claims and Payroll was approved (with the portion of H-Z bill removed).
• A Request for Proposals will be put out for locating services. The current contract with Locate Inc. has expired. In the opinion of the town attorney, their proposal for a new contract is not reasonable. There may not be many other services available.
• Stebner is concerned the Point Ruston development will not be completed in time to provide financial security for the Town. The council needs to be looking for new revenue sources such as new taxes and get better at collecting taxes owed already. He wants the handicap slot designated for the Kirkevold home as approved rather than the loading zone the maintenance department installed.
• Alberston announced the tort claim that has been filed by the former police chief (see last post).
• Hunt wants the town to codify all their codes.
• The meeting was extended another 15 minutes.
• The public got their 2 minutes each to comment. A couple of folks expressed concern about the Point Ruston LID proposal. Ms. Forch thanked everyone for their efforts with the Easter celebration (and she was thanked as well). Mike Cohen mentioned that he thought Tacoma might be willing to take over Ruston’s sewer system. There will be sneak preview of their floating sales center on the Foss waterway for Ruston residents on Friday, April 18th from 6 to 8 pm. Loren Cohen again expressed Point Ruston’s concern about H-Z costs and urged the council to terminate their services immediately. I had a few comments, too (reinstate the economic development committee, suggested some reasons why its difficult to find planning commission members, wanted to hear the result of the meeting Stebner and Albertson had with “former employee”).
• The meeting adjourned about 10:10 pm.