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Home My WebLink AboutM092004 DtMrIct NO. 1 CommIIIsIoner: ,0. Tllal "'I.. DlatrtctNo. 2 Commts.aoner:_ HU.......... DIstrict No.3 Comml8sloner: PatrIck.. ~ County Administrator: John F. Fischbach Clerk of the Board: L.orna Detaney MINUTES Week of September 20, 2004 Chairman Glen Huntingford called the meeting to order in the presence of Commissioner Dan Titterness and Commissioner Patrick Rodgers, Requestto Fund Fort Worden Parking Fees: Chairman Huntingford mentioned the request to help, subsidize parking fees at F ortW orden State Hark. The proponents want free parking at the State Park for the remainder of2004, and they have asked the County for $10,000, They have presented a fairly strong case that shows the economic impact of Fort Worden on both the City and the, County" If the funding is approved, it will come from the Hotel/Motel Fund and will not have an impact on the General Fund, The Board agreed that the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee'(LTAC) needs to be consulted because they are the group that benefits ITom the fund, Chairman Huntingford moved to have the request forwarded to the LTAC for their review and recommendation. Commissioner Tittemess seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. 2005 Budget Update: County Administrator John Fischbach reported that the 2005 budget is nowon file with the Auditor, He thanked Auditor Donna Eldridge and her staff for providing their support and Central Services Director Allen Sartin for all his work. The budget is balanced, but there is still work to be done on it. The priorities of government,' as indicated in a 2003 public survey, are the basis for the 2005 Budget. These include: law &justice, roads, and public health, In addition, the 2005 budget goals were applied, The budget is legally adoptable as proposed, Issues that have not been fully resolved' include labor contract negotiations this year and any wage increases and funding for continued development of the sewer plan for theTri Area UGA, As the result of meetings with the Departments on their pre1iminaryrequest~, some changes still need to be made, Theseissues will be reviewed and changes to expenditures and revenues will be recommended prior to adoption of the budget by the Board, This year, the General Fund departments were asked to address two scenarios in their preliminary budgets: 1) a 2% increase and maximizing revenues, and 2) a budget cut of15% in order to deal with any initiatives that would impact revenues, Everyone complied with this request. Page 1 Commissioners. Meeting Minutes: Week of September 20,2004 There area few staffing increases, especially in Community Development, and these would be funded by fees for services, The General Fund, excluding the Non-Departmental Fund, shows a very small increase in expenditures, Capital costs include: the annual ER&R request for replacement of vehicles andequiprrient, major facilities projects, and additional equipment for the. Auditor (a touch screen voting device), the Treasurer (an automatedpaymentprocessing system),< early replacement of a scanner in the C0111l11issionerS Office, additional computers for Juvenile Services, a laptop for the Traffic SafetyProgram.and a computerized polygraph system for the Sheriff's, Office, The Auditor's request also. includesª, document scanner, Duringthe2004Ugis1ative session, the State Legislature ,eliminated personal property tax on timber sale lands and initiated a process to share. the tax for timber sales. on all public lands with counties,· The County's share will increase gradually from 1.2% in 2005 to 4% in 2014,.1n 2005, the County' s timber revenue will be reduced approximately $20,000 and the current level will probably not be regained until 2008, The Legislature also. enabled counties to create a special property tax for criminal justice, They also imposed additional reporting requirements associated with the Distressed Counties. Sales Taxauthorizatîon that funds the Community Investment Fund, however, there are no additionalexpensestoadminist~thefund, The County'.S E~91lproposition is on the ballot in the General Election, . This would provide additional funds for needed infrastructure, If the proposition fails, the County will have to make payments to the, E~911 Fund, UFCW Local 100 1 medical insurance premiums have,been reduced, The currentbudgetproposal does not antiçipateusing any ofthe property tax banked capacity that is currently available, There are no changes to the 2004 level of diversion of road fund monies to the, General Fund, The Community Services Fund is being reincoI'pQtatedinto the General Fund as a separate department under the County Administrator, District Court is anticipating a reduction of $45,000 in fines and forfeiture revenue, Public hearings are scheduled for Momlay, October 4, COUNTYADMINISTRATOR 'SBRIEFING: County Administrator John Fischbach reported.on the following: · He spentlast week meeting with Elected Officials and Department Heads regarding their budget requests, Hewill be meeting with the Sheriff this week. He spoke at the Marrowstone Forum and the Economic Development Council annual meeting last week. He and Chairman Huntingford, several County representatÌVes, and a representative from OlyCAP met with a DOE representative to. discuss. sewer funding, Sev¢ra1 grant and loan programs Were mentioned that the County will pursue, A detailed census inventory of the sewer area may need to be done because the income level is slightly high, . . Page 2 Commìssiøners Meeting Mìnutes: .Week of September 20, 2004 . Th~ County is workìng withthe applicant on the Chimacum Creamery proj eeL This project presents some challenges b~cause the State has many regu1atìons regardìng daìries that have to b~ addressed, At a meetìngon the dìsso1ved oxygen levels in Hood Canal, it was decided that the County is ìnterested in receiving the funding that was mentioned in an emai1 from the Hood Canal Coordinating Council for the Shorelìnes Plan update earlier than scheduled, TheCountywìll ask for 100% funding, . PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following cornrnentswere made: Fort Worden helps the local eConomy by providìng jobs and promoting tourism ìn the County; funding for WSUÆxtensiol1 is ìmportant beea\lse one oftheir main goals is to encourage agriculture throughout the County; 1,000 people commute to work out oftheCounty each day; other counties arelobbyingloea1 busìnesses to D;10Ve into theìr communìtìes; a request was made for $10,000 to subsidize Fort Worden parkìng fees; there are 178jobsat Fort Worden and 55 of them are fu1Hìme famìly wage jobs wìth benefits; the Board should beeommended for askìng the L TAC for theìr recommendation on the parking fee funding; Port Townsend has a proposition on the ballot ìn November that will raise property taxes in the City by 53% in order to maintaìn the current level of services,. and. did they tell the County they were goìng to do this?; a City Council member has critieizedthe County about the Budget Train Wreck presentation, but in the past few years the County has made an actìve effort to head off a budget crisìs; ìt doesn't appear that much Parks and Reereatìon fundìng goes to Dìstrict #3, and if this is not the case, the County needs to find a way to inform the general public; and it looks like the PUD and the Forest Service are coming to an agreement on the Quì1ceneWel1. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THECONSENTAGENDA: Commìssìoner Tìtterness mov~d to adopt and approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Commissioner Rodgers seconded the motion whìchcarried by a Úllanimous vote, L RESOLUTION NO. 47-04 re: Namìng a Private Road Twana Way; Petitìoners: Sì1as& Heather Rob~rtson, Scott & Molly Serna, Barry & Valorie Hawley, Dwìght & Belen Hawley, Karl & J\llie VonBargen, Paul Allen & Gail Trotter,John & Britt Glomset, Peter & Sharron Kron, and Catherine Younger & Edward Liebow 2, HEARING NOTICE re:Proposed Ordinance Amending the Brirmon Sub-Area Plan, the County's Comprehensìve Plan and the Unified Development Code (UDC) in OrdertoAchieveComplìance wìth the June23, 2004 Comp1ìance Order of the Western Wa.shìngton GrowthManag~ment Hearings Board (WWGMHB); Hearing Scheduled for Monday, October 4,2004 at 1 :00 p.rn, ìn the Cornrnìssìoners.' Chamber 3, HEARING NOTICEre:' Chimacum (Ironda1e) Beach Park Master Plan; Hearing Schedule<ifor Monday, October 11,2004 at 10:30 a.m, in the Cornrnissioners'Chamber Page 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Weeköf September 20, 2004 4, HEARING NOTICE re: 2005 Jefferson County Budget; Hearing Scheduled with County Departments on Monday, October 4,2004 at Various Times in the Commissioners' Chamber 5, AGREEMENT NO. CPF05-09 re: Grant Funding for the Jefferson County Courthouse Clock Tower Rehabilitation Project #CBI547; Jefferson County Public Works; Washington State Historical Society 6, AGREEMENT re: Oil City Road Emergency Flood Damage Mitigation Roughness Trees Project #X01659; Jefferson County Public Works;D & H Enterprises 7, AGREEMENT re: Environmental Review Component of an Integrated CountyStaffReport on the 2004 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket; Jefferson County Department of Community Development; Wheeler Consulting Group, Inc, 8, Letter of Support for the Port of Port Townsend IAC Grant Application for Planning the Improvements to the Boat Ramp and Parking Area in Lower Port Hadlock;, Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation The Board met in EXECUTIVE SESSION from 10:30- 11:00 a,m, with the County Administrator regarding a personnel issue, Parks &Recreation Strategic Plan Proposal: Public Works Director Frank Gifford explained that the Department felt there was a need to look at how Parks & Recreation is currently funded and how they can deliver the programs that the public wants in an efficient and economical manner, Their plan is to receive public input about the programs from focus groups of 10-12 people in each community that is being served, The make-up of each focus group will include: youth representation, local business representation, senior representation, and school representation, A local Parks Advisory Board member will also be part of the group, The Department wants to have a better understanding of the programs people want in their communities, The focus groups will look at cutting existing programs, adding new programs, how to partner and develop new facilities or close facilities, and how to address' funding, This may mean increasing fees or creating park districts, After the focus group meetings, the Department will summarize the information and bringit back to the Board at a workshop, Commissioner Tittemess pointed out that the focus groúps also need to look at the "big picture" regarding funding, They need to come up with solutions also, Frank Gifford stated that theywant the focus group members to get the information out to their communities, In some areas, such as Port Ludlow, the community may want to provide their own recreational programs, Commissioner Rodgers agreed that an inventory needs to be done of recreation availability in each area, There may be several groups already providing opportunities for recreation in some areas, Page 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 20, 2004 . Frank Gifford noted that the public really isn't aware of Parks & Recreation services and word needs to get out to people, Parks & Recreation Manager Warren Steurer added that part of the focus group process will be educational. Their goal is to have the Parks & Recreation Department be as self-sustaining as possible, JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OFCOMMISSIO " ~ff¿~(ŸIlC Julie Matthes, CMC Deputy Clerk of the Board mber ~Memb~ Page 5