Town of Concrete
Town Council Meeting
January 8, 2018
6:00 p.m. Mayor Jason Miller called the meeting to order. Mayor Miller led the gallery in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Council Members: Rob Thomas, Elizabeth Easterday, Mike Bartel, Marla Reed and Ginger Kyritsis.
Staff Present: Public Works Director Alan Wilkins, Town Attorney David Day and Tom Seguine, Clerk Treasurer Andrea Fichter, Town Engineer Cody Hart and Town Planner Marianne Manville-Ailles.
Audience Members Signed In: Dawn and Chazlyn Lovely, Betty Seguin, and John Boggs.
Public Participation: Brent Allen Haines – Notice of Standing, Meeting of the Minds: Brent stated that he wanted to come tonight and speak directly to the council without a middle man involved. He stated he has spent the last two years researching and learning laws. He discussed his views on corporations and commerce. He stated that he believes the original meaning and reason why it was decided to become a country has been lost and forgotten. He also discussed commerce as he believes it relates to license plates, drivers licenses and vehicle passengers. He also stated that people on town water should be able to decide if their water has fluoride or not and if it does and they do not want it, they should be provided with fluoride kits to remove the fluoride. Council member Kyritsis stated the town does not have fluoride in its water. Brent stated that is good to hear and thanked them for doing a good job.
George Theodoratus – Getting Building Permits on the Existing Platted 4 Lots of the Glaser Property that is Located on a Gravel Access Road: George stated that he is here tonight to discuss building permits and being able to get a building permit without having to meet the minimum standards for roads, which would require him to pave the road that serves these lots.
Mayor Miller discussed the rules and regulations regarding the paving of roads for existing lots when they are built on.
George stated that in the future he would like to subdivide the property and develop those lots and that the area will need to be rezoned for him to do this.
Marianne discussed the town’s road standards and what the minimum standards are that George is being asked to meet. Councilmember Thomas asked if the minimum standards included paving. Marianne stated that yes it requires paving and there are no standards for gravel roads. Marianne also discussed that currently the area being used as a road is an easement. Councilmember Reed asked if it is an easement, how we can require him to meet road standards, if it’s not a public road. Marianne stated the town has private road and public road standards. She stated it is not uncommon for towns and cities to have these standards and requirements in place.
George stated that he is only asking for the single lots and if he does a development, then he would be okay with the road standards and he also needs to do a rezone anyway.
Marianne reviewed the boundary line adjustment and other planning items that were completed or not completed on this property years ago. George also reviewed the mapping and discussed the lots and the road. He stated the area has been used as a road for many years the way it is. Marianne reviewed the land use action that was recorded in 2007 that made changes to where the road was located.
Councilmember Easterday asked if someone lives in the house where the driveway goes now. George stated the house is currently vacant and for sale.
Councilmember Thomas stated that he is okay with updating or changing the town code if that is what is needed, but he is not okay with making exceptions to the minimum standards and does not want to open that door.
Andrea will forward to the council the letter and attachments that were sent to George stating the minimum standards.
Events Application: None.
Special Presentations: Public Safety: Andrea stated the December incident report is separate from the packets. Sergeant Adams stated there were only 30 calls for the month of December. He also reported on 2 mail theft incidents and 1 vehicle prowl.
CRH Engineering-Cody Hart: Pay Request #4– First Street Waterline, JAG Corp.: Cody stated they are performing testing and finishing the final connections, and that should be completed this week. He stated this pay estimate is for work completed through the end of December.
Councilmember Reed made a motion to approve. Councilmember Kyritsis seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
ADD-ON: First Street Construction Management Supplement Request – Task Order 2017-7A: Cody stated this project has gone over in time by 2 ½ months and there has been continuing work related to inspections, meetings, paperwork, followup phone calls, etc. He stated that the request is for an additional $15,000 over the original amount of $30,000. He stated this will cover work completed from November on to closeout.
Councilmember Thomas asked about the budget. Andrea stated the grant funding has been expended and this amount would need to be paid out of town funds for now. She stated that they are researching the possibility of asking for additional grant funds and if they receive these, then this could be reimbursed, but as it stands right now it will be paid out of town funds.
Councilmember Kyritsis made a motion to approve. Councilmember Thomas seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Mike Bartel asked about the sidewalk repairs that are needed near the new fire hall. Mayor Miller stated that Frontier has stated they did not cause this damage and instead of getting into a battle with them over it, the town will repair these. He stated this will occur when the weather improves.
Consent Agenda:
Town Council Minutes: December 11, 2017
Approval of Claims Checks: December 31, 2017 #3879, #3886-#3915, #3924-#3927, #3931
Approval of Claims Checks: January 8, 2018 #3934-#3961
Approval of Payroll Checks
Voided Checks: #3250, #3833-#3838 and #3872
Stop Payment on Checks: #2945, #2972
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Hearings: None.
Old Business: Resolution #2018-01 – Amended 2018 Fee Schedule: Andrea stated this amendment includes the building permit fees and their breakdown.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Kyritsis seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Agreement, Town Attorney – North Cascades Legal: Andrea reported the only change in the contract language is the 2 hours of free of charge work listed previously will now be 1 hour.
Councilmember Kyritsis made a motion to approve. Councilmember Easterday seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Concrete Food Bank – Utility Relief Request: Councilmember Thomas asked about the number of nonprofits in town. Andrea stated that she has not had time to fully research this yet. She also stated that she spoke with Dan Bannier at RCAC, who had stated there are entities out there that have agreements in place with specific nonprofits in regard to the utility billing, but he could not tell her a specific town or city that has one in place. She stated that in regard to the food bank, she spoke with the City of Sedro-Woolley and they have a line item in their budget under community services to contribute funds to their local food bank.
Andrea also stated that she is not sure the museum would fall under this. Discussion ensued on how to label the museum since they don’t provide the same type of service to the community as the food bank does. Andrea suggested a resolution that is specific to the museum. She stated the museum is the only facility that she can think of in town that is only open 4 months out of the year, so the council could state they are only charged for utilities during the months they are open and not charge them the rest of the year and this decision could be based on the fact the nonprofit rate is no longer being offered. David Day stated it is up to the council on how to proceed and they can do it however they like as long as they can justify the decision. Councilmember Reed stated it is important to make sure the reasons are documented. Mayor Miller and audience member John Boggs asked what happens if other people come in and want this same rate for their summer home. Andrea stated that would be a residential structure and would be completely different circumstances. It was the consensus of the council to draft a resolution specific to the museum for charging utility rates only during the time of the year they are operating.
Councilmember Thomas stated that he is sensitive to the need to offer some type of relief for the food bank, but also realizes that if these reduced rates are offered, the funds still have to come from somewhere and that brings the council back to consistency. He stated the food bank provides a much-needed service to the community, but he also wants to make sure the council is documenting its decision well. Discussion ensued on current rates and past rates now that the nonprofit rate has been eliminated. Councilmember Thomas stated that he would still like to know who all is going to be affected by the elimination of the nonprofit rate. Andrea stated the only two places that were receiving the nonprofit rate under the utility billing were the food bank and museum. She stated that no one else, even if they were a nonprofit, was receiving the nonprofit utility rate.
Councilmember Kyritsis made a motion to develop a resolution adding a line item for the food bank each year beginning in 2018 with $1,000. Councilmember Easterday seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
License Agreement – CalPortland: Mayor Miller stated this is the agreement prepared by CalPortland for the use of the property in East Concrete for the pocket park that has been discussed during the past several months. David Day stated this is less than an actual easement, but would work for what the town needs it for.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
WWTP February 2017 Compliance Inspection Report – PW Director Responses: Mayor Miller stated this is more of an FYI. He stated the council had requested to see the responses from the Public Works Director when completed and those have now been completed and are attached.
Agreement – Towing Services, Carl’s Towing and Muffler, Inc.: Andrea stated that David Day has reviewed the agreement and that she basically just reworded the contract that Carl’s has in place with Washington State Patrol.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
New Business: Update Committees and Elect Mayor Pro-tem: All committee positions were stated as follows:
Airport – Mike Bartel
Parks – Marla Reed
Community Garden – Elizabeth Easterday
HPLC – Ginger Kyritsis
Health Care – Mike Bartel
Economic Development Commission- Ginger Kyritsis
Mayor Pro-tem:
Councilmember Kyritsis nominated Councilmember Thomas for Mayor Pro-tem. Councilmember Reed seconded the nomination. The nomination carried and was accepted.
Planning Commission term updates were as follows:
Name: Appt. Year Exp. Year
Doug Ide January, 2017 January, 2019
Bruce Newburn January, 2018 January, 2020
Don Payne January, 2017 January, 2019
Em Beals January, 2018 January, 2020
George Theodoratus January, 2017 January, 2019
Ordinance #777 – Amend CMC 13.12.090 (6) Water Termination: Andrea stated this formalizes the process that is already currently in place.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Ordinance #778 – Amend CMC 2.52.490 Sick Leave: Andrea stated this is to amend the sick leave section of the personnel policy to correspond with the requirements under the new sick leave law.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Interlocal Agreement – Skagit County DEM: Andrea reported this formalizes the process and costs being paid to Skagit County for the Department of Emergency Management.
Councilmember Thomas made a motion to approve. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
CMC 2.52.550 – Proposed Change in Paid Holiday Schedule: Andrea stated the council had previously stated the inconvenience of having Town Hall closed on Columbus Day and having to move the council meeting to Tuesday. Andrea reported that staff had discussed the possibility of deleting Columbus Day and adding the day after Christmas.
It was the consensus of the council to remove Columbus Day from the paid holidays and add the day after Christmas.
Discussion Items: None.
Council Reports: Airport: Mike Bartel: Councilmember Bartel stated there is not much going on right now and it is pretty quiet at the airport.
Parks: Marla Reed: It was stated a survey of the CalPortland property will be needed before beginning the installation of the pocket park in East Concrete.
Community Garden: Elizabeth Easterday: Councilmember Bartel stated that he spoke with Jeff Maher, a new co-manager, a little bit regarding the garden.
Historic Preservation and Landmarks Commission: Ginger Kyritsis: Nothing new to report.
Health Care: Mike Bartel: Nothing new to report.