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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM011011 ~1~ot.ggr~~ 9;~~~so~ 0~\ Oi"" \ ~\ =f:; '" ,...( I .f\ -I! I ! District No. ] Commissioner: Phil.Johnson District No. 2 Commissioner: David W. Snllivan District No. 3 Commissioner: John Austin County Administrator: Philip Morley Clerk of the Board: Lorna Delancy MINliTES Week of January 10,2011 Chairman John Austin called the meeting to order at the appointed time in the presence of Commissioner Phil Johnson and Commissioner David Sullivan. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following comments were made by citizens in attendance at the meeting and reflect their personal opinions: . A man thanked the Chair for having a "Moment of Silence" at the beginning ofthe meeting for the victims of the tragedy in Arizona and everyone was reminded that this same type of incident could happen anywhere. Government officials at all levels were urged to examine and give priority to dealing with mental health issues; . There are programs in the County for mentally ill people and the Board was urged to support these programs; . The State is calling for "Across the Board" cuts which isn't good for some programs that need more funding to solve problems with young people before the young people become problem adults; . The problems facing the State are devastating and 70-80% of the State budget is offlimits for budget cuts which means that only 20-30% ofthe budgeted programs must absorb all the cuts; and; . A man asked what the timeline is for a permit to go from application to being able to build so he can get that information out to people who are looking to invest in Jefferson County. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Johnson moved to approve all of the items on the Consent Agenda as presented. Commissioner Sullivan seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. 1. RESOLUTION NO. 01-11: Vacation ofa Portion of Platted Pine Street; Cecil and Jean Quackenbush, Petitioners 2. AGREEMENT: Prepare Meeting Minutes for WRIA 17 Planning Unit Phase 4 Quilcene/Snow Watershed Implementation; In the Amount of$5,400.00; Jefferson County Public Health; Brisa Services 3. AGREEMENT: 4-H After School Lead Teacher; In the Amount of$] 5,000.00; WSU Extension; Virginia Beard 4. AGREEMENT: 4-H After School Lead Teacher; In the Amount of $15,000.00: WSU Extension; Susan Hay 5. AGREEMENT: Provide Services to Children and Families; In the Amount of$4,OOO.00; WSU Extension; North Olympic AmeriCorps Page I Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week ofJanuary 10, 2011 /"'" (iJJ.~': I,~;:I 6. DEED: Right to Use Land for Recreation Purposes; Larry Scott Memorial Trail Project, Grant No. 08-l773C; Jefferson County Public Works; Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office 7. Letter of Support: Restore Funding to State Parks and Community Colleges for the Restoration of Fort Worden State Park, Building 202; Senator Jim Hargrove and Representative Steve Tharinger 8. Payment of Jefferson County Payroll Warrants Dated January 5,2011 Totaling $827,458.32 COMMISSIONERS BRIEFING SESSION: The Commissioners each provided updates on the following items: Commissioner Sullivan stated that he will be going to the Substance Abuse Advisory Board meeting; Tuesday night there will be a Joint Economic Planning (County, City and Port of Port Tovmsend) meeting in Quilcene and then these meetings will be held on successive Tuesday's in the Tri Area and Port Townscnd; he discussed the State budget with State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen who is supportive of funding for County government programs. Chairman Austin reported on a meeting he attended last Saturday where ideas for revenues for the ferry system were discussed; Christmas Tree recycling has been offered by a local farmer; he will attend the Statc Board of Health meeting on Wednesday in Olympia where he will also meet with the State Commissioner of Public Lands. Commissioner Johnson reported that he will be in Olympia on Wednesday for the Olympic Air Pollution Control Authority meeting and he has meetings scheduled with several State Senators and Representatives on County issues. HEARING re: 2010 4th Quarter Budget Appropriations/Extensions; Various County Departments: Anne Sears, Budget Consultant, explained that the overall impact ofthe requests for Operating Transfers, Superior Court (Current Expense Fund), Animal Services, Law Library and Veterans Relief funds. She noted that the draft resolution included $19,766 in revenue for Superior Court which is not correct. This revenue should be removed from the resolution if it is adopted. Superior Court is asking for an additional S 19, 766 to cover bills for 2010 that may be receivcd before the end of the year. In Operating Transfers the Veterans Fund is also asking for $25,000 for expenditures and the Health Department transfer is being reduced by $50,000. Animal Services has asked for $13,000 to cover the cost of a clerk hire in 2010. The law library is asking for $5,000 for additional volumes needed and the Veterans Relief Fund is asking for an additional $10,000 in fund balance to carry them through until the tirst half property taxes are received. Philip Morley noted that the Health Board has discussed the Operating Transfer to the Health Department and a policy will be adopted on fund balance handling in the future. The Chair opened the public hearing. Rav Hunter, Discovery Bay, said that he advocates that the Veterans Fund be continued at the level needed. He is a Vietnam vet and other Veterans in Jefferson County need these timds to make any semblance ofa living because ofthe post traumatic stress disorders that most of the public doesn't Page 2 Commissioners Y1eeting Minutes: Week ofJanuary 10, 2011 /r"~ "fro''' " ~)'I \. ". /-./ '.J.::.'!.cSi,Y understand. There are some Veterans who are receiving no benefits at all including some 60,000 Navy sailors that served aboard carriers and other ships during the Vietnam war that can't get benefits because they never physically set foot in Vietnam itself - they were at sea. He has been through Senators and Representatives and people don't realize that if you make over $36,000 per year and were not wounded in action you cannot get Veterans benefits. Every nickel and dime that we can give to these Veterans is money well spent. They have done their service and now it's time for the communities and the US government to reimburse them with a stipend or something. Steve Oakford. Port Townsend, said that he fully supports anything that we can do for the Veterans who have served. He is just about the only survivor of his High School graduating class because so many died in Vietnam. Our Veterans gave their lives, their futures even if they didn't die and they took care of us and it's time for us to take care of them. There is nothing too good for our Veterans. They need us and we owe them. John O. Public (Mike Belenskil. Jefferson County, asked why some ofthc appropriation/extension request forms are signed and some are not signed? There is a signature line at the bottom and some people sign their requests and other people don't. Operating Transfers and the Veterans Relief Fund docsn't have a signature. He wants to know who is making the request and wants to know what the money is being used for - is it burial, food assistance? The line item says "Other Services and Charges" what is that? Is it going to something worthwhile or not worthwhile~ He asked if we really need Gail's Write It to do minutes of the Marine Resource Committee meetings? Superior Court says exactly what they are using the money for wherc it's going so that people can comment in an informed manner. When it is clouded in "Other Services and Charges" it looks like a scam and since the form isn't signed he doesn't know who to ask. Karen Bednarski, Accountant for the Auditor's Office, explained that the Veterans Relief and Operating Transfers are funds that the County Administrator is responsible for and since he signed the Agenda Request to put this in front of the Commissioners that's the approval. She also added that the money for the Veterans is for food, rent, utilities or burial. Philip Morley added that the Veterans Service Oflicers Association reviews all applications for these funds with regard to whether the Veteran is qualified to receive relief, that the relief sought is allowed and that they are not given more than is absolutely needed because we have limited funds and many requests. Donna Eldridge, County Auditor, stated that the statue was expanded to allow the Veterans Service Officers to be reimbursed for travel expenses. Commissioner Sullivan moved to approve RESOLUTION NO. 02-11 ordering the budget appropriations! extensions for the fourth quarter 01'2010 as corrected (deletion of the $19,766 in thc revenue column). Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. HEARING re: Mystery Bay Mooring Buoy Moratorium Ordinance No. 07-1122-10: Al Scalf, Community Development Director, reported that this hearing is regarding an action the Board took in November 20 I 0 to approve a moratorium on the mooring buoys in Mystery Bay. This is the third and final moratorium that can be approved and it expires in May 2011. Regardless of the pending Page 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of January 10,2011 ~.;?N'\ i~~-:-J ~'/ Shoreline Management Plan adoption by the State Department of Ecology, if the County does not have approval of the SMP by May the County cannot put another moratorium in place. The Moratorium is in place and is active and there is no action required of the Board today other than to hold the required public hearing. Chairman Austin explained that the moratorium is necessary to allow the continuation of shellfish operations in this area. Al Scalf noted that a stakeholder group continues to work on an action plan to assure that this area remains viable for shelltish production. The Shoreline Management Act defines the number of moratoriums and extensions that are allowed which is different than what the Growth Management Act allows. The Chair opened the public hearing. Rav Hunter, Discovery Bay, asked if there have been any studies of incidents of red tide or other manrnade toxins? Because we are speaking about shellfish, is the incident of red tide and manrnade toxins higher because of boat moorages or is this a nature occurring incident in the bay? What is the ratio from other areas (Discovery Bay, Sequim Bay, Puget Sound) with these toxins compared to places that have moorages and ones that do not have moorages? In other words are the moorages making an increase in these undesirable things? Hearing no further comments for or against this moratorium the Chair closed the public hearing. Commissioner Sullivan explained that there are restrictions where there is mooring of boats. The federal standards that have to be followed by the State for commerce activities have guidelines for marinas and it's in response to those rather than the water quality in Mystery Bay. This moratorium is precautionary and is not water quality related. The determination was that the number of mooring buoys in Mystery Bay meets the detinition of a marina which requires that certain precautionary measures be taken that limit shelltish harvesting. This has been a great example of a lot of entities working together and volunteer effort by the people that live along the shoreline to protect this resource. Al Scalf added that the Federal shellfish standards as well as the State Department of Health standards apply and even though the water quality of Mystery Bay is good it's the national shellfish standard that identifies a model for marinas for number of buoys, mooring frequency and concluded based upon that modeling that at a certain threshold it would be vulnerable. HEARING re: Proposed Motion to Support Jefferson Transit Authority Proposition No.1: Philip :'vIorley explained that the Transit Director is here at the County's invitation to give factual background on Transit budget and service level ",ith and without the passage of Proposition No. I and she is here not as an advocate but rather to provide information. Peggy Hanson, General Manager of Jetferson Transit Authority, gave a brief description of Jefferson Transit as a whole. . 350,000 rides a year with just under 1,000 riders a day in Jefferson County. . Provide service to Sequim and Poulsbo six days a week. . There were 2 service changes in 2010 which reduced costs to budgeted levels in 2010. . Transit provides freedom and mobility to citizens to do what is important to them. Page 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week ofJanuary 10, 2011 .~~.~. h I'J'I \, '<:=::,;{.' '0'837 With rising costs and declining revenues from sales tax which is thc main source of operating revenue, Jefferson Transit has exhausted most of it's reserves. They have bcen in the mode of sustaining existing levcls of services since 2008 and they know they will be facing substantial deficits in 2011 and beyond. Without additional revenues they are at a point where transit service will have to be reduced substantially to allow for a balanced operating budget. In addition without the ability to rebuild reserves the Transit may not be able to supply critical matching funds to replace the aging vehicle fleet. There was a slight fare increase in July 01'2009, but the fare box portion ofrevenue covers about 7% of operating expenses. The following actions have been implemented in ordcr to maintain service levels: Transit imposed a hiring and salary freeze beginning in 2008. . They restrict training and travel line items. . They havc had marginal service decreases since 2007 while being able to restore some important connections such as the No. II shuttle route. They participate in a fuel risk management group which gives consolidated purchasing power. There are focused efforts to reduce equipment and operating supply procurement. . They have implemented shift and labor efficiencies including: Focusing on belt tightening that did not effect csscntial services including operating 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. which is extraordinary for community transit services. They imposed a furlough on management staff in 20 I 0 (10 days for the General Manager and 5 days for all management stan). Cancelled all non-cssential contracts (bank or security scrvice pick up of fare box revenue, landscaping and facility cleaning, fare collection counting.) Salary increases for management staff are frozen in 2011 and will continue into 2012. They have negotiated a difficult contact with Union staff (ATU Business partner). In order to protect services Jefferson Transit has been operating cleanly, efficiently, and responsibly for over 24 months. The objective is to sustain the existing level of service for 20 II and to not move backwards. She asked the board for their consideration. The Chair opened the hearing for public comment. Tim Hockett. Executive Director of Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCap), spoke in support of this proposition. He wishes there were funding methods other than sales tax because it is a flat tax that applies to everyone. Hc is representing voices that would not othervvise be heard, mainly, low income citizens. OlyCap serves Jefferson and Clallam counties. They do a community needs assessment every 3 years and affordable transportation is in thc top 3 needs. The price of gasoline is a big driver. As gas prices rise the minimum wage workers start to hurt. Public transportation is critical for the people they serve. 13,000 to 15,000 arc in poverty across Jefferson and Clallam counties and they servc betwecn 9,000 and 11,000 of these people. Many low income people work in the service sector. One of the service areas that may be cut is service on Sunday. The lower your income the more likcly you are to work non traditional hours which means they have to work when everyone else is having fun on Page 5 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week ofJanuarv 10,2011 ('r;,?;'-=~\ I;' \J \'Z89/ weekends. He appealed to the Board for their support of this Proposition and he otfered OlyCap' s support. Richard Dandridge, Port Townsend, spoke in favor of the Proposition. He noted that he was in a very serious bicycle accident eight months ago. The ambulance trip that took about 5 minutes cost $1,000. Six days later he was released from the hospital and able to get home by "cabulance" which cost about S200. For the next three months while he was confined to a wheelchair \vith his leg stuck out he was able to get to and from weekly appointments using "Dial a Ride" for about $2 per trip. He would have gladly paid $20 per trip for this service. If we lose those services it would be a serious blow to this community. He doesn't know how he would have gotten to the hospital without this services. He strongly supports this proposition. Steve Oakford, Port Townsend, spoke in favor ofthis tax proposal. Transit is a win-win for everyone and provides service to people who use it and those who don't use it. Transit services take people off the road that may be forced to be in a car that is unfit or that they may be unfit to drive safely. When you figure how many people fit on a bus that are not driving cars, it takes prcssure off our roads. As fuel prices go up people that never thought of using a bus start thinking about it. The Transit system here is outstanding and anything we can do to keep them at present service levels plus enabling them to prepare for the future we should be doing. It's to our advantage to have an excellent Transit system that has good leadership that is watching every dime. Richard Talbot. Port Townsend, said that many people are unable to OVll1 a vehicle. From the Director's figures someone from about 5 to 10% of the households in Jefferson County ride the bus which is very good. The services are good but it is not great because people can't attend evening events because the buses stop running. He said that he rides the bus 2 to 3 times a week and thc link services that Transit provides are very valuable. If you have a bus that takes you to Silverdale or Sequim they are as important as the services provided in Port Tmvnsend. Ifwe don't maintain the adequate service provided now there will be a dOVll1ward spiral and ridership will go away and then there will be no Transit. When the Hood Canal Bridge was dOVll1 the Transit services were very popular and some buses were standing room only. Even though Transit isn't quite as convenient as driving it does work. He urged the Board to support this proposition. John Q. Public, (Mike Belenski) said that he doesn't see anything to back up the ridership number and will be making a public records request for everything in thc Director's folder. He has ridden the bus and there were 2 people on it. He wondered what the cost is per ridership mile? He thinks the bus system is good, but we must recognize this is a rural community. If you don't live on Oak Bay Road or Highway 104 or where the bus is close you don't have service. Who's going to walk 2 miles to go take the bus? People will get in their car and go. He wants to see the cost per ridership mile. He doesn't see the value in taking a bus that carries 2 people to a minimum wage job. He wants to see the cost per ridership mile and the value to thc public. He is looking to get the most out of the money. He wants to see which routes and times have the high ridership. Darrell Conder, Port Townsend, stated that he rides 3 to 4 buses per day, 7 days a week. Last night on the Number 2 he counted 12 riders on the bus at 6 p.m. The complaint about not seeing the buses full is Page 6 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week oUanuary 10, 2011 ~-i{. I:~);:I not valid. Businesses have dO'-"TI time. The buses have a down time but there are times when the buses are standing room only. In the place where he grew up the transit system cut services to the point where it finally went away and the next year the citizens and business people were complaining that they didn't have Transit. It took over two years to get the transit service back. The transit is the lifeblood of the community and if we cut back it will continuc to go down and we may not get it back and even if we do it won't be at the service level we have now. Terrv Nomura, spoke in favor of the proposition. She recounted the rapid transit services available and are cffectively used to transport people everywhere in Japan. The US is so far behind othcr countries. She is a real estate agent and people looking at houses ask if they can take public transit to do their personal business? This is an evaluation people use to decide whether or not to move to this community. If you cut Transit, its value to the community also diminishes. It is a bigger world than just today. It's an on-going future component. She has an 88 year old father who is legally blind and doesn't hear well and he get around by using the transit system. It is keeping him independent. It is so important to the senior community to keep transit alive. Gordon Neilson, business owner in Port Townsend, spoke in favor of the proposition. The admonition from the federal level on down for Transit services is to preserve your service. There are changes coming at the federal level, beyond anything we have imagined. The reduction of the national highway system to a manageable amount of miles is on the table because the Federal government understands that they can't afford to sustain the national highway system as expansive as ours is. The present imitative is critical because we have a chance to buy buses at 80% off. All the Transits need to have is a 20% match to purchase new buses and replacement buses. The initative is about establishing a reserve. Every marine trade owner is running lean. This initiativc is to establish a reserve so we can buy buses that wc so desperately need. The sales tax is the only tax that you get to invite people from outside the County to help pay. He urged the Board to advocate for this initiative. Tim Caldwell, Port Ludlow, spoke in favor of Transit Proposition No 1. There will be two Proposition No. Is on the ballots for the Port Townsend, Chimacum and QuilYllte school districts. His personal answer when asked is to vote "yes" on Proposition No. 1. Transit is an investment is accessibility throughout our County. Higher education could be an industry in this County and Goddard College from Vermont is interested in putting services out at Fort Worden. One issue they had was the accessibility of students from the 1-5 corridor to east Jefferson County. We need a Transit System to work with a passenger only ferry service to get students here. Going down the death spiral of reducing service will eventually mean no Transit service at all. We need to maintain what we have and invest for the future. Jennifer James-Wilson, School Board Member of the Port Townsend School District, said that she came today to advise the Board about the educational programs lcvy. Shc said that she supports the transit proposition that is sharing the ballot with the educational programs levy. The Transit Manager and the Interim Superintendent have had conversations in the past few months about coordinating services. All public districts are in desperate need and they are looking to make our service as efficient as possible. Page 7 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week oOanuary 10,2011 ~~\ i:~~~~/6 ~f7 The educational programs levy is not a new tax because it replaces the levy passed in 2007. They look forward to the Board's support publicly and privately and they look forward to working with Transit. Joe D'Amico, Gardiner, spoke in support of the Transit Proposition No.1 but he is concerned that we're having to run to the tax base. If we have to support the ferries, we'll be looking at a 15% tax bracket before too long. He knows employees of Security Services have used Transit in the past. He shops in Sequim as most ofthe people in Gardiner do and sees the Jefferson Transit bus in Sequim. He asked if that could be reversed and have the Clallam or Kitsap Transit come to Jefferson County? Some times you see 2 or 3 buses all at the same time. If we're going to eliminate routes we should eliminate the City routes because there is a taxi service and able bodied people should be able to walk from Penny Saver to downtown. Why not use someone local to provide some of the contract services that are needed0 He suggested that Transit look into a cases where employees were murdered while collecting money. He also noted that the answering service could be provided locally also. Tom Thiersch, Jefferson County, stated that there were some facts not presented by the Transit Director. A number of Transit employees recevied a $4,000 per year raise, a number were given a 15% raise and some were promoted which is an interesting way to give a raise. The sales tax request is to raise about a million dollars per year. A million dollars spread across 350,000 riders is $3.00 per passenger trip which is in addition to the current funding for Jefferson Transit which is an existing $1 million per year plus all the other federal and other subsidies. That's a lot of money to carry a person a fairly short distance. He doesn't know what the average ride trip distance is because he hasn't been able to get those figures from Transit. If a short cab ride across town costs 52.50 that is much less than what's being asked for in sales tax. He is also concerned that there is no sunset date on the sales tax proposition. If the need is to address replacement of an aging fleet of vehicles okay, but to continue to ask for $1 million per year forever doesn't seem like a good idea. We can't get buses for only 20% ofthe cost because 80% of the costs comes out of federal tax dollars. The chair closed the public testimony portion of the hearing. Commissioner Johnson moved to approve a motion in support of Jefferson Transit Authority Proposition No.1. Commissioner Sullivan seconded the motion and clarified that "Dial A Ride" goes along with fixed route services. Peggy Hanson explained that is correct and Dial A Ride operates the same hours as the regular buses and it cannot operate beyond 3/4 of a mile of a fixed route. Jefferson Transit has a strong reputation and is in good standing on its operations. Chairman Austin asked about two buses overlapping on the same route? Peggy Hanson stated that seeing buses converge at a point is a purposeful design for connectivity between routes. There are periods of the day when buses run empty which has a lot to do with the commuter route design. There will be a period of time where buses are not running at full capacity which is standard for the industry in building the sequencing for routes and commuter structure. Commissioner Johnson noted that Transit is good for the environment on C02 emissions. He advised that the three Commissioners are members of the Transit Authority Board. Commissioner Sullivan stated that the Board members see the detailed information on the Transit budget all the time. He used the Transit system when he was Page 8 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of January 10,2011 d!iIl~!, \~~~/ "=~/ temporarily disabled and he appreciated that being available. It can be suddenly a service that a constituent needs. It can be part of an answer for future planning in the community. The Chair called for a votc on the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. Thc meeting was recessed at the conclusion ofthe scheduled business and reconvened at 1 :30 p.m. \vith all three Commissioners present. County Administrator Briefing Session: County Administrator Philip Morley reviewed the following items with the Board. Calender Coordination Planning for 2011 Legislative Update Miscellaneous Items Future Agenda Items . . . . NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Sullivan moved and Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:41 p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting or properly noticed special meeting. The Chair called for a vote on the motion. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. MEETING ADJOLJB.NED , ~ f ."- t- " , . SEAL\" -~ v ,'. ~. .' '... . , ( " II: ~ \ ... ~ I " " " .' j . \;..~., .J JEFFERSON COU)lTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS '\. ( . '--dt I, f., j J I Jol,m Austin, Chair .'/J?/l~~, . Phil J~s ,Member ATTEST: Lorna Delaney, CMC Clerk of the Board ~~ Dav! Sullivan, Member ' . -, Page 9