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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM102218 SHI�G't MINUTES Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting — Monday, October 22, 2018, 9:00 a.m. Jefferson County Courthouse— Commissioners' Chambers 1820 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend, WA CALL TO ORDER: Chair David Sullivan called the meeting to order at the appointed time in the presence of Commissioner Kathleen Kler and Commissioner Kate Dean. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following is a summary of comments made by individuals in attendance at the meeting and reflect their personal opinions. • Comment regarding a recent meeting on homelessness. • Comment regarding a proposed New York State single-payor bill for vision, dental and medical. • Comment regarding a recent open house by Dove House,their need for ongoing financial support and two Consent Agenda items regarding rental of meeting space at Fort Worden. • Comment regarding logistics of the Commercial Shooting Facilities past hearing and upcoming hearing, • Comment requesting confirmation that emails sent to the Commissioners' Office are received. • Comment thanking the Commissioner's Office for fixing the assisted hearing devices in the Chambers, and an article about Joe D'Amico and his recent actions. • Comment requesting read receipts on County emails and property tax increase. • Comment thanking the Commissioners for their role in getting the new lights at Memorial Field. • Comment regarding transparency in government. • Chair Sullivan began addressing comments raised during the Public Comment Period. • Comment from the Jefferson County Assessor regarding the reason for the increase in property taxes. The Commissioners addressed comments and concerns raised during the Public Comment Period. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Kler moved to approve the items on the Consent Agenda as presented. Commissioner Dean seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. 1. HEARING NOTICE re: Seamount Estates Community Water System Franchise to Construct, Maintain and Operate a Group A Community Public Water System within County Road Rights-of-Way located in Section 29, 30, 31 & 32, Township 25 North, Range 2 West; Hearing Scheduled for Tuesday,November 13, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in the Commissioners' Chambers at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend, WA 1 Commissioners Meeting Minutes of October 22, 2018 2. AGREEMENT re: Castle Hill Parking Lot Improvement; In the Amount of$142,519.68; Jefferson County Central Services; Agate Asphalt 3. AGREEMENT re: Facility Use Agreement for McCurdy Pavilion; In the Amount of$6,007.23; Jefferson County Administrator; Fort Worden Public Development Authority 4. AGREEMENT re: Facility Use Agreement for The Commons at Fort Worden; In the Amount of$2,060.10; Jefferson County Administrator; Fort Worden Public Development Authority 5. AGREEMENT,Interagency re: Support the showing of two films at the Port Townsend Film Festival to bring awareness to disabilities and those with disabilities making movies; In the Amount of$1,897.50; Jefferson County Public Health for the Jefferson County Accessible Community Advisory Committee (ACAC); Washington State Employment Security Department 6. AGREEMENT,Amendment No. 1 re: Nearshore Education& Outreach Program; In the Amount of$930; Washington State University, Jefferson County Extension;Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation 7. Payment of Jefferson County Vouchers/Warrants Dated October 15, 2018 Totaling $1,365,570.87 (Records of all claims submitted for payment along with vouchers approved and signed by the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners are retained by the Jefferson County Auditor and Public Works Department.) 8. Payment of Jefferson County Payroll A/P Warrants Done by Payroll Dated October 6, 2018 Totaling $134,853.39 (Records of all claims submitted for payment along with A/P Warrants approved by the Payroll Services Manager are retained in the Jefferson County Auditor's Office.) PROCLAMATION re: Recognizing the Week of October 21-27,2018 as Pro Bono Law Week to Honor and Thank Attorneys who Volunteer Time and Expertise to Provide Legal Services to Those in Need: President of the Jefferson/Clallam County Pro Bono Organization Rafael Urquia briefed the Board on the services that Pro Bono attorneys provide to those in need. After all three Commissioners read the proclamation aloud, Commissioner Dean moved to approve the Proclamation. Commissioner Kler seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. The meeting was recessed at 9:57 a.m. and reconvened at 10:02 a.m. with all three Commissioners present. HEARING re: Proposed Ordinance Authorizing the Superior Court Clerk to Collect Fees for Administration of the Mandatory Arbitration Program (per RCW 36.18.016(25) and RCW 36.18.016(26)): County Clerk Ruth Gordon gave an overview of the proposed ordinance which would allow the Clerk to charge fees as authorized by RCW, as modified by HB 1128, effective September 1, 2018 which states: (25) For filing a request for civil arbitration, a filing fee may be assessed against the party filing a statement of arbitrability not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars as established by authority of local ordinance. Two hundred twenty dollars of this charge shall be used to offset the cost of the civil arbitration program. Thirty dollars of each fee collected under this subsection must be used for indigent defense services. (26) For filing a request for trial de novo of a civil arbitration award, a fee not to exceed four hundred dollars as established by authority of local ordinance must be charged. 2 Commissioners Meeting Minutes of October 22, 2018 Washington General Rule of Court allows for a waiver of these fees based on indigent status. Among the nearby counties that have adopted rules for mandatory arbitration and charge fees are Clallam County, Grays Harbor County, King County and Kitsap County. Clerk Gordon and Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney (DPA) Philip Hunsucker answered the Commissioners' questions. Chair Sullivan opened the hearing for public testimony. Rafael Urquia: First, I appreciate the efficiency of the County Commissioners for having me speak twice in approximately 10 minutes. That's pretty amazing. So once again, if you have any questions please let me know. We're really excited to have this program in Jefferson County. I was here like about 10 minutes ago and it was an access to justice issue with Pro Bono services. The civil arbitration program is also an access to justice, it confronts that issue. This will allow more people to be able to be helped. Civil arbitration is much easier than the trial process. It's much quicker, it's much less expensive, and almost most importantly it's much less stressful on the participants or litigants. I've actually wanted to have, and the BAR has wanted to have an arbitration program now for several years, but it does take a little bit of work and we just got around to it this year. While as Ms. Gordon said, we're not going to have a ton of cases, but we may have 20-25-30 cases. In those cases, are cases where someone may not have been able to seek any type of relief without this program. So like Pro Bono, we're helping about 200 people a year. This program can potentially help 20-25-30,potentially more, we'll see what happens once the word gets out there, but we're just helping people who need help the most and we're really proud to have this program in Jefferson County. We certainly couldn't have done it without Miss Gordon's help, without Ms.Nordstrom's help. Ms. Baratuci,the Jefferson County Bar President was instrumental in getting this done as well as Mr. Williams who is an attorney out in Quilcene. So once again, thank you for having us here. We are really excited for having this program. At our last BAR meeting, the other attorneys at the BAR meeting were really excited to A) Learn more about it, and B) To participate in the program. So like I said before we are just doing everything we can to do what we can to make this community a better place. Commissioner Kler asked when you're speaking of informing the attorneys about the program, how are the citizens or the litigants going to know that this is available? Clerk Gordon replied that she will work on putting out a press release and suggested the BAR could do a press release as well. Mr. Urquia stated they will work on providing that information to the public. Eileen Baratuci: I was very supportive of this program because I have been involved mostly as an arbitrator, as you know, decision-maker. And I've been doing it I think about 30 years in both Pierce and King County and Clallam County before it's come to Jefferson County. And the advantages of the program are quite clear. You get a trial date or a hearing within, let's say three months of filing a claim, and that's very unlikely in a regular Superior Court setting. We've also got limited rules for discovery that the arbitrator can modify if the case is more complicated and needs more attention. So those modified rules of discovery actually limit the cost that the litigant is required to pay. Even though an attorney may take on a case on a contingency basis, the client is usually responsible for those costs and fees. So when you have depositions and interrogatories and other things that, or even an expert witness, those things do cost money to the client, and that's why having a shorter process with limited discovery is an access to justice issue and will help litigants get the relief they need from let's say a car accident 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes of October 22, 2018 injury or even a contract dispute. So there's all kinds of issues that people feel are cost-prohibitive to take to court,that they may be able to get through this mandatory arbitration system. So thank you very much. Hearing no further public comments, Chair Sullivan closed the hearing. Clerk Gordon thanked Chief Civil DPA Hunsucker for his work on creating the ordinance. Commissioner Kler moved to adopt ORDINANCE NO. 11-1022-18 re: Adding Article III to Chapter 3.42 of the Jefferson County Code titled"Civil Arbitration Fees" which allows the County Clerk to Collect Fees Authorized by RCW 36.18.016(25) and RCW 36.18.016(26). Commissioner Dean seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. BRIEFING and POTENTIAL ACTION re: Hearing Notice regarding Proposed Rates and Charges for Jefferson County Conservation District; If Approved Hearing is Scheduled for Monday,November 26,2018 at 10:45 a.m. in the Commissioners' Chambers of the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend,WA: The Board met with the County Assessor Jeff Chapman, County Treasurer Stacie Prada and Conservation District Manager Al Cairns to discuss a proposed hearing notice. After the briefing, Commissioner Dean moved to approve the hearing notice. Commissioner Kler seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. REVIEW and POTENTIAL ACTION re: Comment Letter regarding Washington State Ferries (WSF) Long Range Plan: After review of the draft comment letter, Commissioner Kler moved to approve the letter with edits for the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board. Commissioner Dean seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. The meeting was recessed at 11:02 a.m. and reconvened at 12:02 p.m. for the Quarterly Elected Officials/Department Directors lunch meeting with all three Commissioners present. The meeting was recessed at 12:56 p.m. and reconvened at 1:31 p.m. All three Commissioners were present for the afternoon session. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BRIEFING SESSION: • BRIEFING re: Shine Road Speed Limit and Traffic Study Completed October 2018 • CONTINUED REVIEW re: Draft Revisions to Comprehensive Plan Update; Transportation Element and Open Space, Parks and Recreation, Historic and Cultural Preservation Element • DISCUSSION re: Affordable Housing/Homelessness ILA with the City of Port Townsend The meeting was recessed at 3:00 p.m. and reconvened at 3:11 p.m. with all three Commissioners present. 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes of October 22, 2018 COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BRIEFING SESSION—Continued: County Administrator Philip Morley reviewed the following with the Board. • Calendar Coordination • Public Infrastructure Fund Board (PIF); upcoming hearing • Conservation District; brief history • PIF Board, more information • Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC); upcoming convention and potential regional meeting with legislators • Tourism Summit • Letter of Support re: Nature Conservancy; will be listed on the Agenda for the October 29, 2018 Special Meeting • Hearing on October 24, 2018 regarding Commercial Shooting Facilities; logistics NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Kler moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:55 p.m. until the next regular meeting or special meeting as properly noticed. Commissioner Dean seconded the motion,which carried by a unanimous vote. $ ,I JEFFERS• COUNTY BOARD • O I IONERS SEAL: f G ; David ulli ani a r `44,trdc„„, ATTEST: Kathleen Kler, Member 67),‘,e, Carolyn Gallaway, CMC Kate Dean, Member Deputy Clerk of the Board 5