Politics & Government

City Moves Along with Library Annexation Vote in April

The Enumclaw City Council on Monday passed three pieces of legislation that starts the process of asking voters if they want to annex the city library into KCLS in this April's special election.

The Enumclaw City Council on Monday voted to pass three pieces of legislation that gets the ball rolling in putting a question to voters on the April 17 special election ballot regarding whether or not the city should transfer the library to the King County Library System (KCLS).

In sequential order, council first OK'd a library transfer agreement (click here and scroll to page 47 to view the agreement) by a 5-2 vote that outlined several points including:

  • Should voters pass the annexation, KCLS assumes full control and operation of the library as of June 1 this year.
  • KCLS will offer employment to current library staff who are interested in employment. Terms and conditions would be set forth in an agreement between KCLS and the employees' union AFSCME.
  • KCLS will operate the library similarly to how it operates other librarys: six days a week for between 50 to 60 hours per week. The library this year is operating to 36 hours per week.
  • The city retains ownership of the underlying property and through a ground lease grants KCLS a 50-year right to occupy and maintain the building, adjacent parking lots, immediate landscaping and associated improvements. 
  • If the library property ceases to be used as a library it would revert back to the city.
  • KCLS would retain and maintain a permanent collection of historical books unique to Enumclaw for Enumclaw residents.
  • The existing library board continues its role. It would additionally oversee the two endowment funds that have been set up for the library along with city administration to see where those funds could be expended.

City Administrator Mike Thomas said that if the city retained ownership of the building, "it ties us to insuring the building. It ties us to the legalities that arise in the building. ...we transfer ownership of the building to KCLS so ownership of the building is clear."

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Councilman Sean Krebs added an amendment to the agreement that specified that should KCLS want to make exterior modifications -- particularly if it affects the brick relief art piece in front -- the city of Enumclaw would need to review it first.

With regards to the transfer of staff, Thomas said the city is obligated to pay out leave balances for employees who transfer to KCLS and that would amount to about $30,000 for the city.

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Newly elected Councilmen Darrel Dickson and Chance LaFleur opposed the resolution approving the amendment.

Dickson said he was having a difficult time resolving giving a $1.25 million city asset to KCLS.

LaFleur expressed concern about the opinion of the Library Board as well as whether or not the vote would make clear to voters that an annexation into KCLS would mean a tax increase.

Thomas indicated the board as an entity did not offer an opinion on the latest agreement but Councilman Kevin Mahelona indicated it did last fall oppose annexation. And while language regarding the taxing authority for KCLS isn't in the transfer agreement, it is noted in the resolution seeking to place the issue on the ballot that the property taxes will increase, Mahelona said.

Thomas said the current KCLS rate is 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Council next approved by a 4-3 vote and ordinance officially requesting annexation into KCLS. Dickson, LaFleur and Krebs were opposed.

Krebs indicated he didn't agree with the rushed manner in which the city was pursuing the question. Council did approve a motion to declare an emergency in order to suspend rules to pass the ordinance at first reading in order to meet county election deadlines. "We have no room to work here," he said. "That's very discouraging to me when we've been asking for these documents for months. I don't think the entire body is informed to make a decision tonight."

LaFleur added, "I don' t have the information. I’ve heard it’s been talked about since 2009 or earlier. How did we get from 2009 to ‘pass it tonight or we’re not doing it’?"

Lastly, Council approved by a 5-2 vote a resolution placing the annexation question on the ballot for April; Dickson and Krebs opposed.

LaFleur supported the resolution once language on the resolution was amended to leave open the possibility that Council might, as it did with , roll back the city levy to neutralize the effect of the 50 cent per $1,000 assessed value increase that would come from KCLS if voters approved the annexation.

The amendment came as Councilman Mike Ennis said he didn't think council was ready to make a decision on whether or not to do a rollback.

Dickson, in an earlier discussion regarding the transfer agreement, had asked why the question couldn't be asked of voters whether they might want to do a levy increase but keep the funds in the city. Thomas answered that the ballot needed to address one question at a time: annex or don't annex, as opposed to offering voters a choice. Should the annexation measure not pass, "perhaps we look at a local measure to seek funding for the library."

The council for the 2012 budget has not funded the library at all from the city's general fund but instead set aside $350,000 from Fund 180, Thomas reminded council. 

Councilman Jim Hogan added, "There's a lot of emotion around the library, and as our economic situation has gotten worse ... the library has dropped lower in priority. We're not making a decision tonight. All we're doing is giving the citizens a chance to make the decision."

Dickson agreed with the assertion of choice but "I'm seeing that we're only giving a choice on King County."

In Other News:

January Storms: Various city leaders provided updates on how their departments fared with responding to the January storms. Police Chief Jim Zoll reported that there were 502 calls for service (81 were 911 calls) on Jan. 19 this year versus 17 last year (11 of those being 911 calls). For Jan. 20 there were 45 calls for service (44 were 911 calls) compared with the same date last year with 12 calls for service (6 being 911 calls).

Fire Chief Joe Clow reported that over a 30-hour period the department responded to 120 calls for service -- many of them to assess and clear reported downed limbs and wires. Several homes were evacuated due to electrical concerns over power surges, and crews also responded to two structure fires directly related to the storm.

Both chiefs lauded the who had worked to formulate response plans to address community concerns in the event of natural disasters or other events that disrupted normal routine. "We hadn't test our plan but communications worked beautifully" between public works, police, fire and dispatch, Clow said.

That group continues to meet monthly, Mayor Liz Reynolds said.

Public Works Director Chris Searcy recapped the city's efforts to help residents clear their storm debris. .

Reynolds did declare a state of emergency on Jan. 19 that lasted until Jan. 21. This allowed for city as well as nearby hospital operations to continue as needed to address immediate needs and for the city to seek reimbursement for hours worked and equipment used under FEMA and King County Emergency Management. Council approved the formal resolution for this 7-0.

Natural Gas: Hogan, reporting for the Public Works Committee said that gas prices are lower now and put forth a motion, which was approved, to authorize the department to purchase the remaining 60 percent of the natural gas supply for the 2012-13 season at no more than $4.20 per decatherm. It previously approved purchase of the first 40 percent at $4.85 per decatherm, and the savings were passed on to city customers in the form of lower rates.

Wine and Chocolate: Expo Center Manager Kristen DaMazio reported to Council that the event on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 drew 2,799 people from across the Puget Sound area. It was a 22 percent increase over last year. Similarly net revenue at about $25,000 was 10 percent more than what was expected. Last year's event netted the city just $13,900 -- the increase this year is thanks in large part to the new sports entertainment license the Expo Center now has, she said.

Appointments: Council approved the appointements of Samantha Rheinford to the Arts Commission and Barbara Braun to the Human Services Advisory Board. The appointment of Jessica Kinney to Position No. 2 of the Planning Commission remains unapproved at the request of Councilman Krebs.


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