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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSigned Minutes 12-19-22Minutes of the Arlington City Council Meeting Council Chambers 110 East 3rd Street Monday, December 19, 2022 Councilmembers Present: Don Vanney, Heather Logan, Marilyn Oertle, Jan Schuette, Michele Blythe, and Yvonne Gallardo-Van Ornam. Council Members Absent: Debora Nelson. Staff Present: Paul Ellis, Jonathan Ventura, James Trefry, Kristin Garcia, City Attorney Steve Peiffle, Tony Orr, and Julie Petersen. Also Known to be Present: Kathy Vanney and John Knisley. Mayor Barb Tolbert called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call followed. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Mayor Pro Tern Jan Schuette moved to approve the agenda as presented. Councilmember Marilyn Oertle seconded the motion, which passed with a unanimous vote. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS None. PROCLAMATIONS None. PUBLIC COMMENT John Knisley,19908 54 Drive, Arlington, provided comments on the Reece Construction dust and the design of the new 172 roundabout by Walmart in Smokey Point. City Administrator Paul Ellis stated that he had spoken with Reece Construction regarding Mr. Knisley's complaint. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Pro Tern Jan Schuette moved and Councilmember Marilyn Oertle seconded the motion to approve the Consent Agenda that was unanimously carried with the correction of changing the dates from November 31 to November 30 under the Accounts Payable: 1. Minutes of the December 5 and December 12, 2022 Council meetings 2. Accounts Payable Approval of EFT Payments and Claims Checks: #107058 through #107170 dated December 6, 2022 through December 19, 2022 in the amount of $1,672,876.15; and Approval of Payroll EFT Payments and Checks #30232 through #30238, dated November 1, 2022 through November 31, 2022, in the amount of $1,287,117.49 3. Professional Services Agreement for Airport On -Call Engineer 4. Ordinance Relating to State Required Compost Procurement Page 1 of 3 Minutes of Lhe City of Arlington City Council Meeting December 19 2022 PUBLIC HEARING None. NEW BUSINESS Salary Schedule for Non -Represented Employees City Administrator Paul Ellis presented McGrath Human Resources Consulting Group compensation systems updates for 2022 which ensures the City is consistent with both external and internal equity. To accomplish the project, the Consultants conducted a market survey. Comparable data was updated from the initial study. In all, 18 organizations provided data. Councilmember Marilyn Oertle moved and Councilmember Michele Blythe seconded the motion to approve the January 2023 salary schedule for non -represented employees. The motion passed unanimously. Modifications to the Employee Policy Handbook City Administrator Paul Ellis reviewed the modifications to the employee policy handbook, which includes two additional sections. 1. The Directors annual vacation cash out allows Directors to cash in 24 hours of unused vacation in 2023, and 40 hours in 2024, providing they have a balance of 120 hours at the time of cash out. Other IRS rules apply and the fund will be deposited into a medical saving account for use on uncovered medical cost. 2. Non -represented employees will be eligible for a 1% deferred compensation match in 2023, and a 2% match in 2024. This is a match and employees are required to make deposits to be eligible. Councilmember Heather Logan moved and Don Vanney seconded the motion to approve the changes to the employee policy handbook, and authorized the Mayor to sign the revised version. The motion passed unanimously. Recruitment Incentive for Critical Positions City Administrator Paul Ellis stated there is a shortage of qualified applicants for some professional positions, due to the current economy. The proposed recruitment program provides additional one-time incentives in three areas of compensation; hiring bonus, leave bank, and relocation expenses. This can be applied to applicants for critical positions based on criteria established in the policy under the authority of the Mayor and City Administrator. The total of the incentive in not to exceed $20,000. Councilmember Don Vanney moved and Marilyn Oertle seconded the motion to approve the temporary hiring and retention incentive policy effective January 1, 2023, and sun setting December 31, 2024. The motion passed unanimously. Recruitment Incentive for Commissioned Police Positions City Administrator Paul Ellis reviewed a lateral hire incentive program in place for 2022, which has been a successful tool in attracting qualified lateral candidates, and has been consistent with police hiring market conditions. The cost of this program has been absorbed by salary savings from vacant positions. Page 2 of 3 Minutes of the City of Arlington City Council Meeting December 19, 2022 Mr. Ellis requested approval for the extension of the hire incentives program for commissioned police officers for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Mr. Ellis explained that the program provides an incentive for experienced commissioned officers to apply for opened positions, and a bilingual recruitment incentive of up to $5,000.00 is also proposed to continue, both for lateral and entry-level candidates. This would continue to be applicable to candidates that have spoken language proficiency in Spanish or American Sign Language, and would not be eligible to be stacked over the applicable maximum in -state ($20,000.00) or maximum out-of-state ($10,000.00) lateral incentive Councilmember Michele Blythe moved and Councilmember Don Vanney seconded the motion to approve the continuation of the Limited Term Lateral Police Officer Incentive Program, and the Bilingual Incentive Program, both of which will begin January 1, 2023, and both of which will sunset December 31, 2024. The motion passed unanimously. COMMENTS FROM COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember Heather Logan shared comments from the Smokey Point Community meeting on December 15. Mayor Pro Tern Jan Schuette announced that she appreciated the representation from Councilmembers Don Vanney and Yvonne Gallardo at the Snohomish County Cities meeting. Councilmember Don Vanney shared that he heard the same concerns as Councilmember Logan at the Smokey Point Boulevard meetings. He asked Mr. Ellis to thank the staff for preparing for the snow storm. ADMINISTRATOR & STAFF REPORTS City Administrator Paul Ellis reminded Councilmembers that the next regularly scheduled meeting will be January 9, 2023, with the new start time, beginning at 6:00 pm. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Barb Tolbert shared that she will send a link to the Councilmembers of the bills that have been pre -filed at the legislature. She mentioned that there are some senate bills that have changes to some of the police tools. She thanked the Council and the Staff for their work in 2022. EXECUTIVE SESSION None. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 p.m. Barba2T�o I b e rt) Mlayor Page 3 of 3