LAKEWOOD CITY COUNCIL
STUDY SESSION MINUTES
Monday, June 27, 2011
7:00 P.M.
City of Lakewood Police Station
Multi-Purpose Room
9401 Lakewood Drive SW
Lakewood, WA 98499
____________________________________________________________________________________________
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Richardson called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers Present: 6 – Mayor Douglas Richardson; Deputy Mayor Don Anderson; Councilmembers Mike Brandstetter, Jason Whalen, Walter Neary and Claudia Thomas.
Councilmembers Excused: 1 - Mary Moss
Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Members Present: 5 - Rebecca Huber, Mario Lee, Morris Northcutt, Sr., Phillip Raschke, Linda Smith
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:
Joint meeting with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.
Mayor Richardson introduced the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee members and provided an overview and the organizational structure of the committee.
Advisory Committee member Linda Smith of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce provided an overview of the application process which involves requests for funds being made in presentation and written format, the Committee reviews the requests and makes recommendations to the Council and the Council decides how the funds are allocated.
Advisory Committee member Becky Huber provided an overview of how the funds were allocated and disbursed for the past year.
The Advisory Committee requested guidance from the Council regarding the Councils’ funding priorities for the upcoming year.
Discussion ensued about the balance of unallocated funds available and possible uses for those unallocated funds. There was also discussion about setting aside an undetermined percentage of future lodging tax funds as unallocated funds.
There was discussion about whether to prioritize developing a signature event or events to attract visitors or whether to invest in developing a facility to host various types of events throughout the year. Several ideas were discussed about types of events that could be pursued. There was also discussion about the necessary infrastructure needed to provide services (lodging, restaurants) to visitors for large-scale events.
Mayor Richardson summarized the discussion and indicated that there are no significant changes to the Request for Proposal language. The Council would like the Advisory Committee to provide a recommendation on the amount of lodging tax funds to be allocated for disbursal to applicants and a percentage amount that should be set aside as unallocated funds.
Mayor Richardson requested that City staff provide the Council with the Hotel Study Update report and request a report from Clover Park Technical College about the number of events scheduled at the Sharon McGavick Conference Center and the number of attendees at each event.
Speaking before the Council were:
Glen Spieth, Lakewood Historical Society, spoke about disappointment with the lack of organized Fourth of July celebrations in Lakewood and suggested that an event be planned for next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tacoma Speedway.
Ken Severe, Lakewood resident, spoke about focusing on planning multiple day events. He provided several event suggestions and recommended planning an event for each season throughout the year.
BRIEFING BY THE CITY MANAGER
City Manager Neiditz provided an overview of the WAPTA agreement scheduled for the July 5 Council meeting and indicated that it was a continuation of an existing grant and shared statistics outlining the substantial decrease of Auto Theft in the City.
City Manager Neiditz also indicated that the members of AFSCME are voting this week on the proposed collective bargaining agreement and this is tentatively scheduled for the July 5, 2011 Council meeting pending the vote.
City Manager Neiditz provided a recap of the Summerfest event that took place this past weekend indicating that over 13,000 people attended the event and 120 vendors participated in the event.
City Manager Neiditz and a few of the Councilmembers attended the AWC Annual Conference last week where the City received the Municipal Excellence Reward for the CSRT.
City Manager reported on the South Sound Military and Communities Partnership meeting of Elected Officials Council which took place at the McGavick Center on Friday. The event was well attended by jurisdictions from the South Sound region.
City Manager Neiditz provided an update on the Sewer Franchise that is scheduled to go before the Rules Committee on July 1 and before the Pierce County Council on July 26.
City Manager Neiditz reported that the South Sound 911 Interlocal Agreement has been approved by the West Pierce Fire District, the City of Tacoma and is going before the Pierce County Council next week.
ITEMS TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR THE JULY 5, 2011 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING:
- Proclamation declaring the month of July 2011 as Parks Appreciation Month. – Mr. Jason Gerwen, Chair, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
- This is the date set for a public hearing by the City Council on the Six Year Transportation Improvement Program (2012-2017).
- Motion No. 2011-20 ratifying the performance evaluation of the City Manager. – (postponed from the meeting of June 20, 2011).
- Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees. – (Motion – Regular Agenda)
- Authorizing the execution of a grant agreement with the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority, in the amount of $1,000,000 for the Auto Theft Prevention Program from July 1, 2011 through June 20, 2013. – (Motion – Regular Agenda)
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilmember Brandstetter asked if the Aggressive Begging Ordinance is being enforced and was informed by Chief Farrar that enforcement would begin on July 4, 2011.
Councilmember Brandstetter asked if there are specific guidelines or restrictions on the distribution of the commemorative coins. City Manager Neiditz indicated that staff would develop a policy.
Councilmember Thomas commented on the successful South Sound Military and Community Partnership event and Summerfest. She also reminded councilmembers that travel on Pacific Highway will be difficult to travel while construction is being done for Sound Transit.
Councilmember Whalen spoke about attending the AWC Annual Conference and touring the Spokane Valley during the conference. He mentioned Summerfest and suggested that perhaps next year there could be a map of vendors locations provided.
Mayor Richardson announced that Councilmember Whalen participated in the Army Strong event during Summerfest and placed first in his age group for two of the three categories.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
_____________________________________
DOUGLAS G. RICHARDSON, MAYOR
ATTEST:
____________________________
ALICE M. BUSH, MMC
CITY CLERK
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