MINUTES MOUNTLAKE TERRACE CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING January 4, 2017 Mountlake Terrace City Hall 7:00 p.m. Mountlake Terrace, WA COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Councilmember Ryan Mayor Smith Councilmember Sonmore Councilmember Wahl (arrived at 8:18 p.m.) STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Scott Hugill, City Manager Virginia V. Olsen, City Clerk/Community Relations Director Gregory G. Schrag, City Attorney CALL TO ORDER, FLAG SALUTE, ROLL CALL Mayor Smith called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. There was discussion about moving the first two items of business to later on the agenda or postponing them to another meeting since Councilmember Wahl could not make this meeting until possibly later. Following advice from the City Attorney, the Council decided to move those items to the end of the meeting. CONSENT CALENDAR At the request of the City Clerk, asked to remove the December 19 minutes from the Consent Calendar because they were not yet complete. Move to remove the December 19 minutes from the Consent Calendar because they were not complete. Move to approve items a-c of the Consent Calendar.
The Consent Calendar was approved as follows: a. Approval of Payment of Claims b. Approval of Minutes of December 15 Work/Study Session and December 19 Special Meeting c. Award of Professional Services Agreement with Otak for Light Rail Consulting Services. Council Liaison Reports stated he attended the December 19, 27 and 29 Council meetings. said he attended the SNOCOM and SNOPAC merger meeting, SNOCOM meeting, and the December 29 work/study session. Councilmember Sonmore said she attended the December 19, 27 and 29 Council meetings as well as the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee meeting. Councilmember Ryan stated he attended the Board and Commission reception and the December 19, 27 and 29 Council meetings. Mayor Smith stated he attended the same meetings already reported on and he chaired the SNOCOM meeting that day. City Manager Report City Manager Scott Hugill updated the Council about the city s participation on the South County Drug Task Force. Mr. Hugill said the city applied for a CDBG grant for Ballinger Park and did not qualify due to grant income qualifications for that neighborhood. He announced that Snohomish County Councilmember Terry Ryan helped secure $100,000 in funding for Ballinger Park and the city would recognize the funding at the January 17 Council meeting. Mr. Hugill said the agreement for the city s partial ownership in the Edmonds Water Treatment Plan expires at the end of 2017. He stated the City of Shoreline has acquired Ronald Sewer District which is a party to the Edmonds Water Treatment Plant. Mr. Hugill said King County wants Shoreline to get their sewer service through the County rather than Edmonds so our city is on hold. He said he was notifying Council that this large Interlocal Agreement would come back for Council consideration later this year and must be approved in a short period of time. Mr. Hugill added that he wanted to give the Council advanced notice because we are waiting until those jurisdictions work out the agreement. The City Manager stated that Health District is looking to sell their building and use the equity to help fund their operations. He said some of the cities provided some of the original funding to purchase the building and the District wants to know if the equity would be returned to Health District. Councilmember Sonmore asked for what happened to Health District funding that was required from MVET and I-695 and why that funding mechanism did not continue. Councilmember McCardle asked if the city can anticipate a higher cost for our sewer service and if the budget need to be adjusted. 2
asked if the email referenced by the City Manager was the first or second email sent to the Mayors about the South County Task Force. Public Comments Christopher King asked the City Clerk to distribute handouts to the City Council. Elisa Bronstein and Christopher King of Shoreline stated their dog was mauled by at least one pitbull owned by Kristina Robinson, owner of Precious Paws. Mr. King played an audio recording of their dog, Livi, who he said passed away in the care and custody of Precious Paws. He said Ms. Robinson claimed it was an accident. He stated it was not an accident and the incident was foreseeable and the city has evidence in its records that the propensity for this type of thing has been there for quite some time. Mr. King stated that the incident could have been prevented and there are documented problems at Ms. Robinson s old rental property and her current property. Mr. King stated that neighbors have complained several times to the city and some of them were present at this meeting. Mr. King expressed concerns about prior complaints against Precious Paws and Ms. Robinson, a 2014 zoning denial and sanctions the city issued, and the city s plan to conduct a sting operation since Ms. Robinson was operating a store front in Edmonds and shuttling dogs to her home every night. He questioned why the sting operation was not carried out. Mr. King cited an RCW concerning animal cruelty and abandonment of an animal. He said his dog was left home alone with their pack of dogs which included at least three pitbulls and there are grounds to pursue criminal charges against Precious Paws. He said documents show that Ms. Robinson admits that she left the dogs unattended and that Ms. Robinson s father admitted he lost a dog on a prior occasion. He added that there was a Facebook admission and a letter to clients about leaving the dogs completely unattended. Mr. King asked if any Councilmembers were friends of Ms. Robinson or her husband. Ms. Bronstein said failures by the city and recklessness and deceit of the defendants have damaged their family and destroyed public trust. She said they want to ensure this sort of thing never happens again anywhere. Ms. Bronstein added that people need to be duly informed and the city needs to take action if there are known violations. Ms. Bronstein stated they expect the city to provide full cooperation with Adam Park, their attorney, and pursue criminal sanctions against Ms. Robinson and her multiple businesses. Donna and Ray Tomason of Mountlake Terrace said they are neighbors to the east of Ms. Robinson and stated they have been dealing with aforementioned situation for over two years and had spoken to city staff about the situation. Mr. Tomason said they have filed restraining orders against Ms. Robinson and her husband and so they feel the Tomasons are responsible for them losing their dog care business that was in their home. Mr. Tomason provided examples of things he said Ms. Robinson and her husband did or said to threaten him, his wife, and his dog. He added that they had witnesses and statements and was upset that these people are allowed to do what they do. He added that Ms. Robinson and her husband say they do not have to abide by 3
our laws. Mr. Tomason said dogs are brought to the Robinson home every night and sometimes Ms. Robinson does not stay and her father watches them. He added that they do not know what else to do. Ms. Tomason said she is afraid to live by these people and she has to go to court because they have tried to get restraining orders against her. Mr. Tomason said Ms. Robinson and her husband took surveillance and put video on the internet and they were not ordered to take the cameras down and even though the restraining order said they must remove them, they are still up today. The Tomasons said Ms. Robinson and her husband do not follow rules or laws. Kevin Erickson of Mountlake Terrace said Ms. Robinson moved in about March of 2014 and he welcomed her and husband. Mr. Erickson said Ms. Robinson said she was running a business and they were aware because she had dogs there and the business was labeled on her car. Mr. Erickson stated that Ms. Robinson said she did not care for Donna Tomason and Ms. Robinson said things about Ms. Tomason that were out of character so he did not believe her. He said after several weeks he learned there was conflict between Kristina s dogs and the Tomason s dog. Mr. Erickson said there seemed to be a contentious relationship between the two households and these incidents increased. Mr. Erickson spoke about an incident that occurred outside between Ms. Robinson and Mr. Tomason. He stated that following a restraining order being granted, Ms. Robinson s and her husband s harassment of the Tomasons increased and he had a photo of Ms. Robinson sitting in her car in front of the Tomason s house (time expired before he explained more about the photo). Kristina Robinson of Mountlake Terrace stated that she did not know about the Council meeting and rushed over after she saw it posted on Facebook. Ms. Robinson said she is the owner of Precious Paws Petcare and has been in business for over four years. She stated when she purchased their home in Mountlake Terrace at 218 th Place, they had run their business spotlessly for two and a half to three years. Ms. Robinson reported that they have had serious altercations with Donna and Ray Tomason. She added that the aforementioned altercation with Ray was not as reported and she provided additional information. Ms. Robinson said they have had several problems with the neighborhood and they are split with half of them supporting Donna and Ray Tomason and half of them supporting her and her husband. Ms. Robinson stated they have lots of evidence to corroborate and a neighbor was in attendance to defend them. Ms. Robinson said they were at the meeting because of the sad and horrible, tragic circumstances of Livi. She said she has run her business over four years with never a bite. Ms. Robinson stated she made a tragic decision and left home the dogs alone for 30 minutes while her husband and she transitioned. She said it was a horrible decision that she will have to live with for the rest of 4
her life and it ultimately ended with Livi s fatality. Ms. Robinson stated she loved that dog as she loved her own and they thought this was going to court. She said she hopes it does because she has amazing clients who will support them and she is shocked that this is happening right now but not surprised. Ms. Robinson added that there are no words to fix this and she does not know what else they can do. Mike Robinson of Mountlake Terrace said he is Kristina s dad and lives with her. He talked about the aforementioned incident between Mr. Tomason and Ms. Robinson. Mr. Robinson spoke about a court case between the two parties and said the incident started because the Tomason s dog killed their cat. Appoint 2017 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee City Clerk/Community Relations Director Virginia Olsen provided a staff report concerning appointment of the 2017 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. She said the same committee as 2016 was recommended. Ms. Olsen stated that three Councilmembers (Mayor Smith, Councilmembers Richards and Ryan) are connected to the groups who had applied for funding. She stated they had not participated in the past when the funding recommendation came back for City Council consideration, so it was recommended those members of the Council not be appointed to serve on the committee as chair. The Mayor asked Councilmember Sonmore if she would continue to chair the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and she agreed. Move to appoint Studio 6 General Manager (currently vacant), Laura Peckinpaugh, Carol Brickel, Carol McMahan and Councilmember Sonmore to the 2017 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Appointments of Council Liaisons and Representatives for Intergovernmental Agency Boards/Commissions The Council took this item out of order that was scheduled earlier on the agenda. The Council made the following selections for 2017: Finance Committee: Arts Advisory Commission: Community Policing Advisory Board: Mayor Smith Councilmember Wahl Councilmember Ryan Councilmember Ryan 5
Community Transit (CT) - Board of Directors: Lake Ballinger/McAleer Creek Watershed Forum: LEOFF 1 Disability Board PSRC Regional Transit-Oriented Development Committee: Recreation & Parks Advisory Commission: SeaShore Transportation Forum: Sno. Co. Emergency Radio System Board (SERS): SNOCOM Board: Snohomish County Health District Board: Snohomish County Tomorrow (SCT): (Steering Committee) Snohomish County Tomorrow s Alliance for Housing Affordability (AHA) Board Mayor Smith (in 2 nd year of two-year term, expires January of 2018) Councilmember Sonmore Mayor Smith (in 2 nd year of two-year term, expires December 31, 2017) (two-year term, expires December 31, 2018.) Councilmember Wahl Councilmember Wahl (alternate) Mayor Smith Councilmember Sonmore Councilmember Wahl (alternate) Councilmember Wahl (alternate) Mayor Smith called a recess at 8:18 p.m. Councilmember Wahl arrived at 8:18 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:20 p.m. Election of Mayor Pro Tem for 2017 Rick Ryan nominated Kyoko Matsumoto Wright and Laura Sonmore nominated Doug McCardle. Move to close the nominations. 6
Following a roll call vote and after a majority of four votes, Councilmember Matsumoto Wright was declared Mayor Pro Tem for a one-year term. New Business There was none. Executive Session Mayor Smith called an executive session for potential litigation at 8:26 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:38 p.m. with no action taken. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Smith adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. These minutes are subject to approval at the January 17, 2017 City Council Special Meeting. 7