LEAVENWORTH CITY COUNCIL Study Session Agenda City Hall - Council Chambers November 10, :00 a.m.

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1 LEAVENWORTH CITY COUNCIL Study Session Agenda City Hall - Council Chambers November 10, :00 a.m. 9:00 9:15 Chamber Report This time is provided for a Chamber of Commerce representative to provide an update to the City Council on items of interest to the Chamber and City. 9:15 9:35 Bike Pump Park This time has been set aside for an update on the Bicycle Pump Park project that was presented to the Council in July of 2015 in Leavenworth. The Bicycle Pump Park project was initiated and being guided by the Blue Lotus Foundation. The Blue Lotus Foundation is a non-profit organization that was formed in honor of Ellie Pryor Booher, a Leavenworth resident who died in an avalanche accident in April of The Blue Lotus Foundation was founded by Ellie s husband Chris Booher, who is the foundation board chairman. Their goal is to instill Ellie s love of the outdoors to the community; their mission being to provide opportunities for children to explore, enjoy, and cultivate stewardship for the outdoors and community. The first project for the foundation will be to raise funds for the building of the pump track; the goal is to have the funds in hand and build the pump track in the spring of The foundation is working with the design firm Alpine Bike Parks to develop the design and plans for the track, Mr. Daniel Scott, BLA is the architect on the project. A Bicycle Pump Park is a series of small hills and valleys that bicycle riders coast through. By shifting the weight of the cyclist in coordination with the terrain, the rider increases or decreases the coasting speed of the bike; with increased skill the rider may do bicycle tricks or stunts. In addition, bike pump parks can be used by other users if constructed with concrete surfacing: skateboarders, radio controlled vehicles, roller-skaters, etc. Age limits for the use of the parks range from the very young to the mature ages. Project History: At the June, 2015 Parks Committee Meeting, the Blue Lotus Foundation representatives gave a presentation to committee members on a Bicycle Pump Park and requested consideration of locating this type of a facility in Enchantment Park. The Parks Committee requested that this project be presented to the full Council as an informational item and to initiate the Council consideration of the City s participation in the project. Representatives of the Blue Lotus Foundation provided a presentation to the full City Council at the July, 2015 Study Session. At that time the Blue Lotus Foundation committed to raising the funds from the community and sponsors for full funding of the engineering and construction of the Bicycle Pump Park which was estimated at $150,000 to $165,000. Staff was directed to investigate insurance requirements and bring forth a proposed motion to the City Council that would address the land commitment, future maintenance, any insurance requirements and authorization for the 1

2 City to be the temporary fiscal agent for the Blue Lotus Foundation. The City Council requested that the design work for the pump track include a hard surface track, hard surface being defined as asphalt or cement, in order to limit the ongoing daily maintenance requirements. On a final note, the City Council suggested that they may be open to participation in the fundraising if needed on grant applications or assisting in any sponsorship agreements. At the July 28, 2015 Council Meeting the Council approved several motions in support of the Bike Pump Park Project: Support and Endorsement for the City owned property at Enchantment Park for the use of a hard surface Bike Pump Track. The size, surface material and specific location are contingent upon the final design of the track, which will require City Council approval prior to the beginning of any construction. The Council will want to review the location, safety, materials used, etc. Support and endorsement of the resource commitment by the City for future maintenance of the facility. The City Council at this time would endorse the commitment of resources for future maintenance and this will also be identified as a commitment by the City when the City accepts the facility at the completion of construction. Support and endorsement of the resource commitment by the City for the liability and property coverage of the pump park. This would also be called out as a commitment when the City accepts the facility at the completion of construction. Commitment to be the Fiscal Agent for the Blue Lotus Foundation for the fundraising necessary for the pump park. The foundation had requested this action as a stop gap measure until the foundation received full authorization as a 501 (c) 3 which is in process. Although the City has been the Fiscal Agent for other agencies and non-profits. It has only been in cases which involve public agency funding and a requirement of the grant programs. The motion of endorsement of the project and commitment of property was similar process as was provided to the Ski Hill Heritage Foundation in regard to identifying and endorsing a location for land for the Ice Rink/Pavilion Project. In this case the City also endorsed a commitment to providing future maintenance and insurance. In both instances the endorsement is also based on a contingency that the sponsoring organization develops the funding necessary for the project to move forward and be completed. 9:35 10:00 Lodging Tax Budget This time has been set aside for the City Council to review and discuss the information necessary for adjustments to be made for the Lodging Tax Budget for the second half of the 2015/2016 biennial budget. The Lodging Tax Budget receives funding from the taxes collected from overnight stays. The tax rate has been set at a special rate of 5% by the City of Leavenworth. History The Washington State Lodging Tax was originally established for King County in the late 1960 s as a way to pay for the construction of the Kingdome. Under the original legislation 2

3 creating the tax, the State returned $0.02 (two cents) of the State s sales tax collected on lodging in King County to fund Kingdome construction (a tourist related facility ). In the mid-1980 s, cities throughout Washington became eligible to receive the 2% lodging tax, with the stipulation that it be used for construction and maintenance of tourism related facilities. In the mid-1990 s, the State allowed certain cities to raise the lodging tax collected at the local level. Under this legislation, the City of Leavenworth (at the request of the Leavenworth Lodging Association) adopted an additional 1% lodging tax in 1993 and increased it again to 3% in As a result, the current hotel-motel or lodging tax is 5% (2% returned from the State and 3% collected locally). In the mid-1990 s, Leavenworth had two committees of Chamber, Lodging Association, and City Councilmembers that advise the City on the expenditure of these funds. The 2% Committee made recommendations to the City on the use of the basic 2% tax for tourism-related construction and maintenance projects, such as the improvements to Front Street Park or the development of a Visitor Center/Heritage House. Their focus stemmed from the original legislation for that tax. When the State Legislature broadened the use of this tax in the mid-1990 s, Leavenworth began to use the funds for the Chamber of Commerce operations. The Autumn Leaf Festival, Salmon Fest, Cascade Loop Association, the maintenance of public restrooms, and the Leavenworth Visitor s Guide were all funded with these funds in the year The 3% Committee, known as LAP was implemented in 1997 and recommends expenditures on the 3% tax and focused on promotions; examples of uses include media advertising, brochures, radio advertising, an Internet Web Camera, horse harnesses, the Leavenworth sign for the beverage wagon, and additional Chamber staff time to handle the results of LAP advertising. At this time the State no longer requires an advisory committee for the City of Leavenworth or makes the distinction between the uses of the 2% and 3% lodging taxes. When the formal agreement expired in 2000, the 2% and 3% Committees recommended to the Council that they be combined into a single committee that would review both construction and advertising/promotion uses of the tax. The structure today is the Leavenworth Area Promotions (LAP) Committee, they focus their resources on tourism and promotion which is funded through an allocation of the Lodging Tax Funds authorized by the City Council. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce operates the Visitor Center which is funded partially by an allocation of the Lodging Tax Fund under an agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and the City Council. The additional dollars within the fund are allocated by the City Council to support festivals, improve tourist related facilities through capital expenditures, fund tourist related required maintenance such as the downtown flowers, restrooms and additional security or deputy patrols. A final item within the Lodging Tax Fund identified by the Council was to establish a fund reserve which could be used in times of Emergency as determined by the Council. The Fund Balance had been set at $100,000 for many years, recently the Council established a goal to increase the fund balance to $200,000 by a) Fund Balance Status Provided under TAB B is the current spread sheet which provides the status of the Lodging Tax Fund Balance. Of note are the commitments made by the City Council in One is the three year commitment ( ) of $20,000 annually for funding of the Leavenworth Base Camp/Ski and Stay promotion effort partnering with Steven s Pass Ski 3

4 Area. Another is the commitment by the City Council of $20,000 for the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club (LWSC); the Council also suggested at that time a five year funding commitment of $20,000 annually to LWSC which would be discussed and considered going forward into the 2016 budget allocation. The final item is the improvement made on growth of the Fund Balance which is identified in the City Council s Financial Policy calling for the growth of the fund balance to $200,000 by Also included in the sheet are suggestions to be considered based on the discussions by the Finance Committee. These include additional funding for the Golf Course, initial funding for the Bike Pump Park Project, and funding commitment to the Front Street Park Plaza. These items are only placeholders at this time and need additional review and discussion by the City Council. b) LAP Budget Request One item that is reviewed annually is the Leavenworth Area Promotions (LAP) Committee budget request. The Committee held their yearly request on October 20, 2015; attached under TAB B is the proposed budget. Council Member Lak and Larsen can provide more information on the proposed budget as the City representatives of the LAP Committee. The following documents are included under TAB B: Spreadsheet: Lodging Tax Budget Update Graphs: 2016 Proposed Lodging Tax Expenses LAP Proposed Budget 10:00 10:20 Review of Rate & Fee Schedule for 2016 The City Council is being provided a draft copy of the Rate & Fee Schedule Resolution (redline pages only) that is planned for approval at the December 8, 2015 Regular meeting. At this time, staff has removed all utility rate increases leaving a couple of items for Council consideration within the Resolution. These items include some new rates and language regarding the Development Services Department Building Permit Fees section on Fire Code items for Fire Alarms and Smoke Detection System fees, a new compliance fee within the Sewer Rate fees for businesses that are in non-compliance with the requirement for grease traps, and the removal of the Noise Time and Level Extension fee for Special Use Permits that the City has found not necessary to charge. Staff will review the utility and parking rates for consideration to be reincorporated into the Rate & Fee Schedule if Council chooses to amend them. Several handouts are provided on these items and will be discussed in more detail at the study session. The following items are included under TAB C: Resolution xx-2015 Draft Rate & Fee Schedule (Redline Pages Only) Utilities Projection Worksheet for 2016 Rates Value of Parking Stalls October 1, 2014 September 30, 2015 Parking Estimated Projections for Optional Increases Dump Fee / Recycle Revenues & Expenditures Spreadsheet 4

5 10:20 10:30 Initial Review of 2016 Planning Commission Docket The City Council is being provided a draft copy of the 2016 Planning Commission Docket. This draft is being provided for introduction to the potential 2016 list of amendments. At the beginning of each new year, the Council conducts a "Special and Joint" Planning Commission Meeting (tentatively January 12, 2016), whereby the proposed "Planning Commission Docket" for the "2016 Cycle of Amendments" will be presented. The Council and Commission has this opportunity to review, comment, and deliberate on the Docket. This list of amendments (the Docket) is developed throughout the year from citizens, Council, Planning Commission, and staff, and compiled by the Development Services Department which identifies potential comprehensive plan amendments and zoning / development code updates / amendments. The Development Services Department has prepared an annotated version of the draft Docket (green comments after the listed topic). The annotations / comments are provided for discussion, to help clarify the topic / amendment, and are an effort to explain the need, history or what may become an amendment. These are not (but may be) recommended solutions for consideration or text for an amendment. The amendments require the Planning Commission deliberation and public vetting process. The amendment may change through the public study and discovery process. The "Docket" is formatted in separate levels of proposed amendments: 1) High Priority the intent is to complete within the year of the amendment cycle; 2) Medium Priority if the items within the "high priority" list is going extremely well, as time allows, these may be completed in the amendment cycle year; and 3) Low Priority these are kept on the list for consideration, but may not be completed. The progression of an amendment depends upon complexity. For example: the Regional Wetland / Stormwater Strategy / Management Plan has many aspects, and is anticipated to take considerable time (18 36 months), and may remain on the "Docket" until completion. The Planning Commission and Council may notice that many of the amendments are from the previous cycles. As time goes on, the number of amendments "rolling over" should diminish. Finally, not all amendments need to be a part of this annual amendment cycle. Amendments that are a part of the Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and any other GMA linked / related changes are processed within this amendment cycle. The Development Services Department has included amendments that can be completed under a differing process; for example: " Essential Public Facilities policy." The inclusion of this type of topic is for tracking purposes and some may "overlap" into the development realm. All requests for city-initiated amendment proposals from the public must be received by December 31st to be considered for the upcoming year's amendment process. By January 31st of each year, all required application materials for proposed map amendments (excluding the unincorporated portions of the urban growth area) which are not city-initiated (i.e., those which are requested by private persons, organizations, agencies, etc.) must be submitted to the City. Map amendments within the unincorporated portions of the urban growth area that are not required to be initiated by the City shall be submitted to Chelan County per the requirements outlined in the Chelan County Code. The Docket includes a "place holder" for such applications. In summary, the Docket is being provided to introduce the potential list of amendments for

6 The following items are included under TAB D: Draft "Planning Commission Docket" for the "2016 Cycle of Amendments" 10:30 10:45 Development Services Survey Results In July of this year, customer service surveys were sent to individuals and/or contractors that had been issued a permit by the Development Services Department in The survey process was conducted through the Administrator s Office. A cover letter was sent by the City Administrator and the results were compiled through the Administrators Office. Only one survey was sent to those receiving multiple permits. 176 surveys were sent out and 46 surveys were returned. This was a 26% return rate, a great rate and statistically significant in regard to the survey results. In October, customer service surveys were sent out to all individuals or contractors that had been issued a permit by the Development Services Department through September of For these surveys the permit number and type was identified to the individual receiving the individual permit. 183 surveys were sent out and 33 surveys were returned. This was an 18% return rate which again is statistically significant in regard to the survey results. At the Study Session on Tuesday, a summary of the survey information will be provided for the City Council s review. 10:45 11:00 Council Open Discussion The remainder of this time slot allows for Council discussion of items not on the agenda. 6