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04/27/2002 - Retreat - Minutes. City ·~ ofPliortd Orear PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON 98366 (' 29 April 2002 TO: Mayor Weatherill and the City Council FM: City Engine~'><~-- ~-~P ~c.J ~ IJ.~btlcJ-- _. RE: City Council Retreat On Saturday morning, the Mayor and City Council met at City Hall to discuss specific items. The agenda is attached. The Council discussed its goals and intended direction for the City. There was agreement that a set of priorities needed to be established and adhered to in order to make the best use oflimited resources. The City's priorities are: First Priority: The expansion of the wastewater treatment facility. Since this is a utility-funded project, it can be concurrent with the first priority. The increasing population and the need to expand the employment base require a larger wastewater treatment facility. Second Priority: The construction of the indoor range. Qualification and competency with firearms is essential to law enforcement and there is a serious deficiency for adequate ranges. The City's intent is to construct an indoor range that will provide Port Orchard Police a training facility, and the facility will pay for itself by allowing other agencies and the public to use. Third Priority: The economic health of Port Orchard requires City assistance. Means to enhance economic development includes improving the downtown business area, assisting where possible the other retail areas of the City, and being available and supportive to business. Various ideas were proposed during discussions: ~ Invite Mayor Bozeman to a City Council meeting to see where the two cities can assist each other. CITY HALL 216 Prospect Street Administration (360) 876-4407 FAX (360) 895-9029 MUNICIPAL COURT 216 Prospect Street (360) 876-1701 FAX (360) 895-3071 POLICE DEPARTMENT 546 Bay Street (360) 876-1700 FAX (360) 876-5546 PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 216 Prospect Street (360) 876-4991 FAX (360) 876-4980 ~ Become more proactive in advertising Port Orchard. Work to get more and better coverage from the Tacoma News. Get more involved with the South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce. Stay involved with the VCB. Send out more press releases, such as grand openings of Mutual Materials and other new businesses. ~ The City Council members need to meet more often with the Mayor to discuss City issues one-on-one. To maintain a cohesive goal and direction, the Mayor and Council have to understand each other's plans. General City governance was discussed and this topic included Council committees. This was a free-flowing conversation and some of the ideas that were developed included: ~ The KRCC appears to be expanding its original role, which brings forth an increased expense to the local governments. The City has previously warned against this type of expansion and should express its concern again. The Mayor will do so in a letter and will discuss this with the other mayors. ~ The Mayor should provide in a timely manner the minutes of the monthly KRCC meeting. Typically, the official minutes do not get distributed for weeks after the meeting. In this manner, the Council will be better informed about the KRCC plans and can provide the Mayor more meaningful input before KRCC votes. ~ Having the Mayor select committee substitutes delays the process. The committee chairs will select or request the needed substitute and then make sure that they or the staff keeps the Mayor informed of the change. ~ By using different members as substitutes, the other Council members can better learn what the different committees are doing. This is a good way to cross train the Council members. ~ The Fire Committee should be deleted. ~ Economic Development needs to be a committee assignment. ~ Council members should not be rushed into a vote unless there are fully explained extenuating circumstances. It was agreed that any one Council member, without argument from the others, could call for more time on a measure if they have not had a chance to study the issue. ~ If necessary, the Council can begin its First-Monday Study Sessions again to schedule topics for in-depth discussions. ~ The Council needs input on the committee system. As such, it was agreed to leave the existing committee assignments as they are for the time being. Then, every January following an election of Mayor or Council seats, the Council will schedule a retreat to review the committee assignments. At that meeting, the Council will seek a consensus on the committee responsibilities and assignments. The Mayor will serve as a tiebreaker if the Council members cannot agree among themselves. ~ Telecommunications may not be a long-term committee. Once the system is constructed, the Council may treat the issue as another utility. This will be reviewed in January 2004. ~ KRCC is interfacing with numerous other committee assignments, such as land use, parks, and transportation. It also affects finance. The Growth Management Committee should take the KRCC oversight responsibilities and delete the Land Use mention in its title. The Council discussed its Council attendance policy and decided to make one modification to it. The Council agreed that if the reason for an absence were due to illness, that absence would be excused. The Council discussed courtesies at the Council table. The Council has always prided itself on its ability to vigorously debate an issue and then vote upon it. After the vote, the members would then fully support the majority's decision. Inappropriate remarks or snide comments detract from the debate and should not be part of the public discussion. Cc Council RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD ESTABLISHING THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES WHEREAS, the City of Port Orchard is governed by an elected Mayor and seven City Council members; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council use a system of committees to investigate and recommend policy to the full Council; THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL HEREBY RESOL YES THE FOLLOWING: I. The following council committees will be established: Water, Sewer, Solid Waste, and Health Finance, Insurance, and Negotiations Public Property, Building, and Parks Street, Alley, and Storm Water Growth Management and the KRCC Economic Development and Telecommunications Public Safety and Justice 2. The City Council will meet in the January following each election involving the Council or Mayor to review and discuss the Council committee system. The Council and Mayor will seek consensus on the number of Committees, the assignments of each committee, and the committee membership. If consensus cannot be achieved, the Mayor will be the tiebreaker. 3. The Mayor will assign Committee membership and determine their assignments, with input from the City Council.