Council Meeting Notes: June 15, 2009

Here is a summary of the last council meeting. Some of it is dated now, but there are still details that are interesting. Please attend a meeting yourself and give your input! ~ Karen

The meeting began at 7:01, with Mayor Hopkins and Council Members Stebner, Hedrick and Hunt present. After the flag salute and agenda approval, the council immediately recessed into executive session for 40 minutes to discuss on-going litigation and personnel matters.

The meeting resumed at 7:47 pm. Hedrick moved to approve the minutes from the last council meeting, but Hunt was hesitant to second the motion since she had not been at present for the meeting. After Stebner did not respond, Hunt seconded the motion and the minutes were approved with one minor correction from Hedrick.

Staff Reports
Fire: The fire department report noted one call the previous month. The fire from earlier this month is still under investigation and information on that fire on Shirley Street will provided on the next report. One of the resident fire fighters has been able to find an EMT class and will be starting this week.

Police: Acting chief Kunkel thanked Marla Miller for removing graffiti from the radar trailer so it can be used again. He also thanked the mayor and his wife for organizing the curb painting. He felt it would help with parking enforcement during the Taste.

The Taste of Tacoma will be held June 26, 27 and 28th. The usual no parking zones apply. He noted that if residents were going to park cars in their yards, they were not allowed to drive those cars over any curbs. And if they charged money for the parking, they had to get a business license from Town Hall.

Oral boards are scheduled for July to hire a replacement fulltime officer. The department has a reserve officer who is almost cleared for duty. There are no official findings available yet for the death in the condos on Pearl Street.

Public Comments
Jim Wingard was concerned about the indemnification elected officials are about to grant themselves. All that is required is that the official use “good faith” efforts, but he did not feel that standard had been met in the past given the number of lawsuits filed against the town.

Terry Knapp was honored that the radar trailer had been parked in front of his house, but he asked that someone else be honored for awhile now.

Sherri Forch wants to see all fireworks eliminated. She would also like to find a way to honor the seniors with the 4th of July parade.

JJ McCamment noted that the ferryboat/sales center is undergoing remodeling and the sales center has moved to Stack Hill. The ferry will be moored along the Point Ruston shoreline as soon as permits are issued.

Old Business
Ordinance 1278: Private Alarm System Regulation: Stebner did not see any benefit to Ruston residents with this regulation. The ordinance passed 2-1.

Ordinance 1286: Banning All Fireworks (starting in 2010): Hedrick wanted to see safe fireworks continue for sentimental reasons. Some of the happiest memories with his dad are of family fireworks shows. He has his permit and is looking forward to starting that tradition with his son this year. He felt there were adequate regulations already in place and the problem are coming from fireworks that are already illegal. Stronger enforcement is the answer, not banning all fireworks.

Fire Chief Torbet did not feel this ordinance would not change the behavior of those who are causing the problems. The only change would be that people like Hedrick would not be able to share a legal fireworks show with their kids. He felt that those who follow the rules should not be penalized. Those who don’t follow the rules should be dealt with under the current laws.

Hunt felt that since the rules are difficult to enforce now, it would be easier if no fireworks were allowed. Stebner noted there had only been 6 permits issued for fireworks this year out of 350 households. He felt the people had spoken. Hedrick felt the town would continue to have the same problems. As to how many permits were issued vs. households, he hoped Stebner did not use the same standard for those who say annex vs. don’t annex (given the number of anti-annex signs in people’s windows). The ordinance was approved 2-1 (Hedrick voted no).

Ordinance 1287 (2nd Reading): Indemnification of Town Employees and Elected Officials: After a short discussion, the ordinance was approved 3-0.

Ordinance 1228 (2nd Reading): Amending the Town’s Traffic Code: Approved 3-0.

Ordinance 1289: Amending the Town’s Parking Code: After a brief discussion on enforcement, the ordinance was approved 3-0.

New Business
Ordinance 1290 (1st Reading): Remove refund for town residents when purchasing Tacoma library card. Since Ruston residents are not taxed for library services, the council did not feel the town needed to refund these costs. With the current budget shortfall, it was felt this step should be taken.

Resolution 445: Changing council rules to allow public comment at the beginning of the meeting, which passed 3-0.

Resolution 446: Children’s 4th of July Parade: Stebner wanted to know how much this was going to cost the town. He was concerned police would be paid overtime to block the streets when the town was going to cut library cards. Hedrick reiterated he would pay the permit fee if needed. The resolution passed 3-0.

Mayor’s Time
Hopkins was grateful the tremendous community support they have experienced while painting the curbs. Residents came out asking what is going on and stayed to help. It was an example of what this town should be. He named all the folks who had helped out, and especially thanked Steve Taylor for all his efforts beyond his normal job duties. Someone from the audience thought it was great to have the mayor out there painting curbs too, which brought applause from the rest of the audience. Hopkins also thanked Mike Tallman and his constriction company for volunteering their time and equipment to put in a new line to the park bathrooms.

The mayor noted that he hoped to have the meeting room at the school (the former Commencement sales center) ready in the next 30 to 45 days. They will not tear out the kitchen area so it can be used for community events.

Hopkins has started a monthly meeting with all employees to improve communication. He is asking the council to look at surplusing unused property the town owns. He has appointed Rob White, the town planner, as the point person on all the development issues. They are looking at ways to automate some of the building services.

Council Time:
Stebner had nothing.

Hedrick thanked everyone for the work on painting the curbs; they look great. He was glad to see the sign at the park requiring leashes for the dogs so that the town could comply with insurance requirements. He was happy to hear the police were using an “educational” approach; informing people about the change rather than harsh enforcement. He felt the state auditor was wrong in their finding that Ruston did not collect leaseholder excise tax.

Hunt agreed that the curb painting looked great. The project will be on-going all summer.

The meeting adjourned about 8:45 pm.