Council Meeting Summary: June 16, 2008

These are the items I found of interest. I recorded the meeting, but am working through how to get it posted here. In the meantime, I can email it; just let me know at kpickett22@yahoo.com. I note our new mayor was in a sports coat and tie tonight for the first time in recent memory. ~ Karen

The meeting began on time, with Council Member Albertson arriving about 7:04 pm. The agenda was amended to add discussion of the plat amendments being proposed for Stack Hill. The meeting minutes were approved with some minor changes.

Staff Reports:
Police: Chief Reese said questions have been answered about the interlocal agreement for the small cities major crimes task force. The services would be provided to Ruston at no cost other than the officer’s time and provide valuable exposure, experience and training. The task force would respond in the same time it would take Tacoma to assist, and it does not effect having Tacoma officers back up Ruston on calls as needed. The mayor will have a resolution at the next meeting. There were several other items noted (see handout). May was a busy month and June is expected to be as well.

Fire: There were a total 7 calls in May (including 2 deaths, 1 brush fire, 1 kitchen fire). The “new to us” fire engine has completed its minor repairs and should have its third party inspection this week. The engine will be shipped to Ruston and in service by July 1st, if not sooner.

Maintenance: The mayor will have the maintenance department paint faded curbs as they have time this summer. Council Member Stebner wanted sidewalks also repainted. The area in front of the school building will be converted to a 30 minute loading zone and then painted. An ordinance for this will be prepared for the next meeting.

Business Items:
1. Legal Services Contract: after increasing the insurance coverage (which Ruston will pay for) the agreement for legal services was approved 5-0. There is only a monthly flat rate for all normal services no matter how much time is needed to complete the work, to be charged at $4,167 per month.
2. Tree Committee: Appointees from the 2006 ordinance were confirmed 5-0 with the exception of Bradley Huson being replaced by Ginger Kryger.
3. Planning Commission: The four new members were confirmed 5-0. The mayor will have them meet in 2 weeks on June 30th to elect their chair person and deal with any outstanding issues. It appears the council study session for that night will be canceled.
4. Welcome to Ruston sign: The council liked the new design which has been drafted by one of Point Ruston’s artists with help from Sherrie Forch. Ms. Forch was allowed to address the council to ask that the design changed to shades of blue.
5. Ordinance 1257: Approved 5-0 to increase fines and give the mayor authority to issue a street cut permit in an emergency.
6. Resolution 422: Surplus property disposal, passed 5-0.
7. Resolution 425: This addends Resolution 418 and adds the mayor as also desiring to contract with Tacoma for planning and building permit services. Ruston’s current building official noted that all building departments generate revenue from these services and Ruston should think carefully about giving them away. He will provide some other options for the council to consider. The council will also research the legalities about raising revenue from permits. The resolution to contract with Tacoma passed 4-1 with Council Member Hedrick voting no.
8. Resolution 424: Interlocal Agreement with Tacoma for Services: Hedrick noted the resolution was vague and that the developer never asked for public safety services to be included. He made a motion to remove police and fire services from the discussion, which was seconded by Council Member Hunt. The amendment failed 3-2. The original resolution (to discuss having Tacoma provide all public services) then passed 4-1 with Hedrick voting no.
9. Point Ruston Update: JJ McCammant noted the building permit for the third model home is coming soon. The developer has not heard from anyone on the LID agreement and is anxious to proceed. They will be taking their floating sales center (the former ferry) out during the Tall Ships parade. She encouraged the council to talk to Gary Pederson (their consultant who is retired from Tacoma’s planning department) about the issue of revenue generation from building permits. There were ways to use these fees to help pay for other functions of the building/planning department such as code enforcement. Stebener confirmed the developer is pleased with the new building official.
10. The Commencement Rental Letter was moved to executive session.
11. Town Administrator: Council Member Huson wants to send out RFP’s for an administrator. Stebener noted we are voting on the issue in August. Hunt noted there is nothing in the budget. No action was taken.
12. Study Sessions: Potential sources of revenue will be discussed at the June 23rd session. Hunt has an MRSC hand out on potential taxes the town can impose. The future needs of the police department will be discussed at a study session soon.
13. Plat Amendments for Stack Hill: Huson wanted to confirm the council is willing to proceed on the two amendments (to remove the view corridor at the end of Commercial Street and reduce the side yard requirements). Stebner noted he will not change his mind from the last time he voted and wanted to end all discussion on the issue tonight. Hunt was not willing to cancel the public hearing that has already been scheduled.

Claims and payroll were approved after the mayor noted there was some overtime hours that he had not authorized. He will direct his staff to ensure it does not happen again and bring a supplemental budget to cover the hours. He wants the council to review other personnel policies as well, he thinks there are other things they will want to address.

Public Comment:
Jim Wingard; among other comments, he did not like having public comment removed from business items since the council does not get sometimes valuable input before they vote. Stebner noted the public can address their concerns at the end of the meeting. He said, “If you bring us a valid point at this point, at this point we can bring that issue back up. But you haven’t brought us a valid point yet.”
Bill Walker; liked the idea of a flat rate fee schedule as suggested by the building official.
Terry Knapp; did not like the idea of giving away police and fire services on Point Ruston.
Karen Pickett; same issue, no valid reasons given to even discuss giving away such important services. Hunt responded they have a duty to consider all the options.
Sherrie Forch; announced a celebration for former council member Mary Joyce’s contributions to Ruston to be held on July 26th from 2 to 5 pm at the school.
Cherrie Anderson; wants the view corridor on Commercial Street to stay as it gives her more view of the water.
James Bennett; President of the business district asked for permission to close 51st Street again for the music festival on Saturday, Sept. 6th (one day only). He will get something in writing to the mayor.
Mark Schacht; Among other things, he wanted the codes reviewed so the areas painted reflected the current requirements.

Mayor’s Time:
The civil service will be meeting soon. He has formed a web site committee (Lyle Hardin, his wife and Chief Reese) to put together a town web site that will be formally run by the town. He hopes to have it functioning within a month. The applicants for town engineer will be on the agenda for the July 7th meeting. He is requiring all his staff to only use the new official town emails and encourages council members to do the same.

Council Time:
Nothing from Stebner, Huson or Hedrick. Albertson noted how much he liked working with the new mayor. Hunt will be attending the annual AWC conference in Yakima. She asked the mayor to have the planning commission address concerns raised by a resident in a recent letter to the council.

The meeting moved to executive session to discuss real estate issue (rent on the school space). The meeting reconvened at about 9:10 and immediately adjourned.