1. Calling the Roll. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Euille, and the City Clerk called the Roll; all the Members of City Council were present. 2. Moment of Silence and Pledge of Allegiance. City Council observed a moment of silence and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Reading and Acting Upon the Minutes of the Following Meeting of City Council: (a) The Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2006. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Macdonald and carried unanimously, City Council approved the regular meeting minutes of January 10, 2006. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Gaines "aye" Macdonald "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" RECOGNITION OF YOUTH BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL None. PROCLAMATIONS 4. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring February as Black History Month. (A copy of the proclamation is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 4; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Gaines, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council endorsed the proclamation. The voting was as follows: Gaines "aye" Krupicka "aye" Pepper "aye" Macdonald "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" 5. Presentation of a Proclamation Declaring February 5-11, 2006, as Consumer Protection Week. (A copy of the proclamation is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 5; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Macdonald, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council endorsed the proclamation. The voting was as follows: Macdonald "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER CONSENT CALENDAR (6-9) (Resignations and Uncontested Appointments) 6. Receipt of the Following Resignations From Members of Boards, Commissions and Committees: (a) Alexandria Community Services Board John Seed (b) Alexandria Commission on Aging Stefanie W. Reponen (c) Alexandria Landlord-Tenant Relations Board Adam R. Goldstein (d) Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Linda Cheatham (A copy of the above resignations is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked collectively as Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 6(a-d); 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) (Reports and Recommendations of the City Manager) 7. Consideration of Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending December 31, 2005. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 17, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 7; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) 8. Consideration of Accepting Federal Homeland Security Urban Areas Security Program (UASI) Grant Funds to Assist the City in Developing Its Input to the Metropolitan Medical Response System. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 17, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 8; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) 9. Consideration of Authorization of Recommended Capital Project Allocations and Planned Expenditures. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 18, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 9; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) END OF CONSENT CALENDAR WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Krupicka, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council approved the Consent Calendar, with the removal of item #9 and considered it under separate motion. The City Manager's recommendations are as follows: 6. City Council accepted the following resignations with regret: (a) John Seed, Alexandria Community Services Board; (b) Stefanie W. Reponen, Alexandria Commission on Aging; (c) Adam R. Goldstein, Alexandria Landlord-Tenant Relations Board; and (d) Linda Cheatham, Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. 7. City Council received the Monthly Financial Report for the period ending December 31, 2005. 8. City Council: (a) accepted the funds provided to develop the deliverables identified in the subgrant agreement; and (b) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be required. The voting was as follows: Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Macdonald "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" 9. Consideration of Authorization of Recommended Capital Project Allocations and Planned Expenditures. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 18, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 9; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) Councilman Macdonald asked about the Oronoco outfall issue, the leak through Oronoco through Founder's Park into the Potomac River, to which Mr. Baier gave an update on what the money would accomplish. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Macdonald, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council authorized the capital project allocations and planned expenditures for the capital projects as detailed in the Capital Improvement Expenditure Summary. The voting was as follows: Macdonald "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" CONTESTED APPOINTMENTS 10. Alexandria Board of Architectural Review - Parker-Gray District 1 Citizen Member (The following persons volunteered for appointment to the above Commission) NAME: ENDORSED BY: Kimberly Lewis Philip Moffat Joshua Sawislak Charles Stulb (Material pertaining to the above appointment is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked collectively as Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 10; /24/05 and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, ballots were distributed, tellers were appointed and the ballots tallied with the following results: City Council appointed Kimberly Lewis as the one citizen member to the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review - Parker-Gray District. The voting was as follows: Euille - Lewis Pepper - Lewis Gaines - Lewis Krupicka - Lewis Macdonald - Moffat Smedberg - Lewis Woodson - Lewis REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER FOR DISCUSSION 11. Recommendations and Status Report on Legislation Introduced at the 2006 General Assembly Session. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 23, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 11; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) Mr. Caton went over the Legislation and answered questions of City Council. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Smedberg and carried unanimously, City Council approved the following, as recommended by City Council's Legislative Subcommittee (Mayor Euille and Councilwoman Woodson): (a) the legislative positions included in attachment 1 (recommended positions on bills of importance to the City); and (b) Support for additional funding for administrative costs related to the Comprehensive Services Act. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Gaines "aye" Smedberg "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Macdonald "aye" Woodson "aye" 12. Consideration of Proposed Amendment to the FY 2006 Community Development Block Grant Program to Provide Funding for Improvements to the Hopkins-Tancil Courts. (#10, 1/21/06) (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 13, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 12; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilwoman Woodson, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council: (a) approved the amendment; (b) authorized the City Manager to execute all necessary documents associated with the program amendment and the loan to ARHA; and (c) authorized a budget reallocation of $517,668 from the Home Rehabilitation Loan Program to fund the Hopkins-Tancil Courts improvements. The voting was as follows: Woodson "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Macdonald "aye" Smedberg "aye" Public Hearing: 13. Public Hearing and Consideration of Proposed Plans for the America's 400th Anniversary Celebration on the Alexandria Waterfront in Late May and Early June 2006. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 20, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 13; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) Ms. Barnett, along with Mr. Blakeley, Williamsburg Mayor Jeanne Zeidler, executive director, Jamestown 2007, Pat Butler, vice chairman of the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, Miras Seigel, lead producer of Prosody Creative Services, and Police Sergeant Farmer-Lee gave an overview of the event and answered questions of City Council. The following persons participated in the public hearing on this item: (a) James Singerling, 1307 Prince Street, along with his daughter Hannah, spoke in favor of having the Jamestown Celebration. (b) Mary Ann Russell, general manager, Embassy Suites Hotel, chair of Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association, and past president of the Alexandria Hotel Association, said the ACVA Board of Governors voted unanimously to support holding the Jamestown event in Founder's Park. (c) John Renner, 301 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 206, speaking for himself and his wife Joan, spoke in support of the Jamestown event at Founder's Park. (d) Sabra Avery, 16 East Linden Street, said she and her husband Chet support the Jamestown event at Founder's Park. (e) Ellen Stanton, 2600 King Street, chair of the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, said the Commission is the sponsor of the Jamestown 2007 celebration and she spoke in favor of the event at Founder's Park. (f) Michael Hobbs, 419 Commerce Street, president of the Old Town Civic Association, said they welcome the Jamestown celebration in Alexandria but are concerned about many of the specifics of the plan at Founder's Park and negative impacts on the neighborhood community and to the policy on scheduling of major events in the parks. He asked that Council not authorize an exception to the major events policy by allowing an event of 12 days continuous, that it not authorize an exception to allow an event to be held two weekends in a row and that it not authorize an event of this intensity and duration to be held in Founder's Park. (g) Carolyn Merck, 324 N. Royal Street, spoke in favor of option 2, as she did not agree with the use of Founder's Park for the event, and that the soundstages be reduced from two to one and a careful look be taken at all the other more commercial events, particularly the sale of food and the music. (h) Cranford Dalby, 428 N. Union Street, said he supports everything the pro-festivities people have said to support the effort. Mr. Dalby spoke about the use of Founder's Park, damage to the park, the financial impact, and whether it came in under the radar. (i) Patricia Berger, 105 Queen Street, spoke of the history of the area and the Park and said she didn't object to the event. She spoke to the drainage problems, problems with the land and use of the park, and plans for a Jamestown Festival at Founder's Park are done. (j) George Berger, 105 Queen Street, spoke to the fund for the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation, and said the contracts should be written to ensure that the entities are to assume 100 percent of all costs to restore Founder's Park to its original condition, with penalty clauses to ensure compliance. (k) Bridgett Taylor, 404 N. Lee Street, said she supports having the event in the City, but spoke to the location at Founder's Park, said it should be moved to Oronoco Park, said the event should be shorter and there should be more police presence. (l) Virginia Pitcher, 111 Quay Street, treasurer of the Founder's Park Community Association, but she was speaking on her own behalf, and said she supports America's 400th Anniversary Celebration, and spoke to the process with the Founder's Park Community Association and how it was kept out of the process. She noted that the City's website, before the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Waterfront Committee and the City Council had taken up the issue, had an announcement of America's 400th Anniversary Celebration kick-off in Alexandria, and she asked how the decisions are made. (m) James Dorsch, 111 Quay Street, president of the Founder's Park Community Association, spoke about turning Founder's Park into a mud pit for the sake of tourism and said they tried to talk to Prosody Creative Services and the City staff about reality, the weather, the terrain, and alternatives, but they did not care. He asked Council to follow the rules lawfully laid down for parks and festivals. (n) David Olinger, 100 Prince Street, said the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in Alexandria is an historic and appropriate event, but the negatives about using Founder's Park are considerable, and he spoke to the process that has them at this point and said there are questions to be answered before Council votes. (o) Chuck Hamel, 101 Quay Street, spoke about the policy on the use of parks in the City, said the park is unusable when there is rain, and spoke to the process by staff. (p) Sarita Schotta, 104 Prince Street, said the people she has spoken to informally support the idea of the Godspeed, but with maybe a downscaling of some of the events, and she also spoke about the bus spaces at Robinson Terminal. (q) Van Van Fleet, 26 Wolfe Street, said he is a great proponent for the history of the City and said he supports bringing the Godspeed in, however, he was not for the destruction of Founder's Park and was not for the lack of process. He recommended supporting bringing the Godspeed in, but to find a less intensive way to conduct the event. (r) Julie Crenshaw, 816 Queen Street, said process keeps coming back to hit Council as something that people are not satisfied with. She said Council should pick and choose what will fit in the park and what will work, but she said this is a done deal and has been advertised. She asked Council to instead of buying waterfront property, that it buy open space on the West End where it can have an event instead of bringing everything to the waterfront and waterfront parks. (s) Ellen Pickering, 103 Roberts Lane, thanked the Founder's Park Community Association for what it has done for the park. She noted that the agreement reached when the Federal government gave it to the City specifies that the park is for special events and public use. She said the Waterfront Committee meeting had two negatives, one abstention, and the rest were in favor, and she spoke to the information people had. (t) Sally Ann Greer, 1168 N. Pitt Street, said she is speaking for herself and the late Allen Voorhees, and spoke in favor of the proposal and to choose the location as Council sees fit. Mayor Euille said he didn't hear from anyone who said they were against the concept of bringing the initiative to the City, and this Council will approve, at the appropriate time, the coming of the Godspeed to Alexandria. Vice Mayor Pepper asked that staff look into the possibility of a floating dock at Oronoco Park, and if there are alternative parks, she would like staff to look into that. Councilman Smedberg said he was concerned about the pedestrian safety issue, regardless of where it takes place, and to hear a little more about the sound, lighting and generators. If it ends up at Founder's Park, it should look at whether it will keep the dog park open. Rationale for the number of days should also be looked into. WHEREUPON, a motion was made by Councilwoman Woodson and seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper, to close the public hearing. In response to a question from Councilman Smedberg, Williamsburg Mayor Zeidler said they would like a definitive word about where the event will take place as quickly as possible. The voting was as follows: Woodson "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Macdonald "aye" Smedberg "aye" Mayor Euille asked staff to come back to Council as promptly as possible, hopefully by the next legislative session, and if not, shortly thereafter. REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES None ORAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL None. ORAL PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL (a) Vice Mayor Pepper said Whole Foods gave over $11,000 from one day's business last week to the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria for T.C. Williams High School. She also noted that in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Scholarship Fund, the Mark Winkler Company has donated $75,000 to go to scholarships. She noted that they are trying to raise the level of the scholarship commitments for each individual because they know the cost for college has been increasing over the years. (b) Councilwoman Woodson said that every summer, with the summer economics institute, she has hosted high school students and they have had a good time with a mock City Council meeting, where the kids assume the roles of Council and they are quite engaging and engaged. They also have citizens and lawyers come in to speak. She asked the Schools if it was something she could do as a field trip with all the government classes, and they had their first session this past week. The kids from a government class came in, and one student was overheard to say they wanted to run for City Council, and she said it was extraordinary. Councilwoman Woodson said they discussed the BID program, and she thanked Tom Fairchild for his involvement. She also thanked Sherry Brown, David Martin, Bud Miller, Boyd Walker and Kelly Woodard, who came in to speak. She said she also received thank-you notes from the kids. She said she is not running again but wanted to be able to continue to do this with the on-going Council's blessing or the City Manager's permission. (c) Councilwoman Woodson asked the City Manager where the Police Review Board Report is. City Manager Hartmann responded that it will be issued at the end of this week or Monday of next week. Mayor Euille said most members of Council have had the opportunity to deal with the youth in the schools, and he said he would be going to Hammond Middle School next week to participate in a civics class there. Part of the problem with the school kids is the SOL's and No Child Left Behind requirements does not leave a lot of flexibility in their schedule to have them get away. He said that next Wednesday, he would be hosting a class from George Washington Middle School special needs students that will come to City Hall, do a walking tour around Old Town and then to lunch. He said he received yesterday a package of letters from a second grade class at Charles Barrett Elementary, who were participating in the civic and government process, offering suggestions of things they need in the community. He said Councilwoman Woodson's suggestion to continue will be taken into consideration in terms of allowing her to continue to do something in that role. (d) Councilman Macdonald said on the Jamestown item, the City staff worked hard and it was unfortunate there were still some issues. He said he appreciated all the hard work that goes into it. (e) Councilman Macdonald said he had calls from the community that the taxi plan is still not being implemented or at least provisioned very quickly. He asked what the problems were with it, if any. (f) Councilman Macdonald said there is a nice piece of open space by the Braddock Metro that a large number of citizens are interested in having the City purchase, if possible. He said they all agree it's a good idea, but he never understood the process. He said whatever it needs to do, he would like to see that discussion raised to a higher level - pros and cons, the cost of the parcel, and have the Open Space Coordinator meet with the community. (g) Councilman Macdonald said that last night at the Upper King Street Civic Association, he heard a very nice overview of a lot of the development that will be going on around the Braddock and Metro area. He said they haven't finished the Small Area Plan, and he asked how that would get done before the projects come in and what can they do to make sure the Comprehensive Plan is developed first. Mayor Euille said the Small Area Plan for the Braddock Road area is what is underway. Planning Director Fogarty said the only proposal that will come through before final approval of the Braddock Plan is the proposal that the Council knows as the Harris Teeter, a Trammel Crowe residential retail project. No other proposal will have a finalized recommendation for the site plan and uses until the Plan has come through. (h) Mayor Euille said that about 10 days ago, he represented the City at the Northern Virginia Regional Commission to receive an award from the Community Appearance Alliance of Northern Virginia, the 2005 Honor Award for Distinguished Contribution to Community Appearance for Market Square. He said there were many other award presentations throughout the Northern Virginia region, and there were video presentations for each site selected. He said the plaque will be hung somewhere appropriately at City Hall. ORAL REPORT FROM THE CITY MANAGER City Manager Hartmann said the American Public Works Association, over the last several days, had a group of people in looking at the Transportation and Environmental Services Department as they sought accreditation for their department, and it was announced earlier today that the group is recommending approval of that accreditation. He said that T&ES fully complied with 340 out of the 360 practice areas and substantially complied with the remaining 20 and they will be the third jurisdiction in Virginia to be accredited and the 33rd public works agency to receive the accreditation nationwide. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 14. Consideration of a Resolution to Adopt Increased Annual License Fees for Swimming Pools, Spa Pools and Health Clubs. [ROLL-CALL VOTE] (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated January 17, 2006, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 14; 1/24/06, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Smedberg and carried unanimously by roll-call vote, City Council adopted a resolution to adopt increased annual license fees for swimming pools, spa pools and health clubs. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Gaines "aye" Smedberg "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Macdonald "aye" Woodson absent The resolution reads as follows: RESOLUTION NO. 2176 WHEREAS, under § 2.07 of the City Charter, City Council has the authority to establish fees to be charged for services provided by the City; and WHEREAS, on March 20, 1993, as part of a joint effort among Northern Virginia jurisdictions to establish uniform regional standards for the construction, operation and maintenance of swimming pools, spa pools and health clubs, city council enacted Ordinance No. 3619 which authorizes the city's health department to adopt, following council approval, regulations governing swimming pools, spa pools and health clubs; and WHEREAS, pursuant to said ordinance, the health department prepared and, following council approval, adopted Administrative Regulation 20-6 ("A.R. 20-6") entitled "Regulation of Swimming Pools, Spa Pools and Health Clubs;" and WHEREAS, under Administrative Regulation § 20-6-6 (b), City Council is required from time to time, to set by resolution the annual license fee that is to be paid by the owners of “swimming pools”, “spa pools”, and “health clubs”,” as defined in § 20-6-4 (ff), § 20-6-4 (ff), and § 20-6-4 (i) respectively, of the Administrative Regulation; and WHEREAS, City Council has now determined that it is necessary and desirable to increase the annual fee;