Proposals related to the City of Edmonds 2021 budget dominated Tuesday night’s city council meeting, as councilmembers listened to a second set of staff budget presentations — focused this week on capital projects — and also agreed with Mayor Mike Nelson’s recommendation to give non-represented employees a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year.

Speaking to the proposed COLA, City Human Resources Director Jessica Nell-Hoyson explained that the mayor’s recommendation for non-union employees usually takes into consideration the average COLA negotiated and approved for the city’s union workers. However, those collective bargaining agreements are not yet settled for 2021, so can’t be used. Another usually reliable data point for determining non-represented COLAs is to use “comparator” cities — those with similarities to Edmonds — but there are disparities among those cities due to the uneven impact of COVID-19, Nell-Hoyson said.

“While some have been impacted significantly, others have not, which has resulted in very different ways in which agencies are addressing the COVID financial impacts,” she said, noting that some cities may be furloughing workers while others are providing regular wage increases.

Instead, for 2021, Nell-Hoyson recommended the city base its COLA on the 2020 Consumer Price Index in Seattle/Tacoma Bellevue. The council unanimously approved a 2% increase, which will cost the city $126,660 based on current employee counts.

In another budget-related agenda item, the council heard from Public Works and Utilities Director Phil Williams and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Angie Feser regarding the capital budget items proposed for their departments in 2021.

The lion’s share of the capital budget proposals Tuesday night came from public works, including sewer, water and stormwater infrastructure projects, street paving, traffic calming and pedestrian safety. Among the projects proposed:

– $467,944 for the design phase of water main replacements

– $9,000 to close out the Dayton Street Utility Replacement project from 3rd to 9th Avenues. The $7.5 million project was mostly completed in 2020.

– $2 million for water pipe replacement.

– $1.5 million to replace and rehabilitate stormwater pipes.

– $300,000 to design additional stormwater pipe replacements.

– $130,000 for slope repair on 175th Street Southwest.

– Two projects related to the proposed daylighting of Willow Creek and related Edmonds Marsh restoration: $80,000 to develop an additional channel alignment (beyond those those already suggested) and a carryover of $450,000 from the 2020 budget for design of marsh estuary restoration.

– $150,000 to design a new sidewalk section on Elm Way between 8th and 9th Avenues.

– $116,100 ($17,925 after grant funds are received) for the design of an infiltration facility at Seaview Park.

– $50,000 to pursue rain garden cluster projects and state grants in the Perrinville Creek basin to manage stormwater, reducing erosion and sediment transfer in Perrinville Creek.

– $40,000 for design of a phase 1 Edmonds Marsh water quality project, with the goal of addressing treatment of stormwater runoff from Highway 104 into the marsh. Williams reminded the council that the city still hopes to do a larger marsh restoration project, but has to wait for property ownership issues to be sorted out regarding the nearby Unocal site, which has been undergoing cleanup of contaminated soil.

– Nearly $2 million for the design of sewer replacements

– $124,500 to conduct a study of sewer line conditions in the Lake Ballinger area.

– $800,000 for the 2021 street paving program. Williams noted that this was a reduced dollar amount from previous three years ($1.5 million was spent in both 2018 and 2019, and $1.2 million in 2020), due to budget constraints.”It’s hoped that financial conditions will improve and we can certainly get back to those levels soon,” he said.

– $360,000 to design a pavement overlay of 76th Avenue West from 196th Street Southwest to Olympic View Drive. Additional funding ($645,000) will come from a federal grant, and the city is partnering with Lynnwood, which owns part of the street, in the project.

– $256,000 for design of citywide bicycle improvements, with funding of $1.85 million from a Sound Transit grant.

– $1.6 million for citywide pedestrian crossing enhancements. There are nine separate projects that include installation of new pedestrian and traffic signals in various areas, and the investment represents “a good deal more than we have done in the past,” Williams said.

– $100,000 for supplies for the city’s in-house sidewalk expansion and maintenance program.

– $20,180 to replace old guardrails

– Plus a range of projects related to repairing pavement damage caused by 2020 water, sewer and stormwater pipe replacements.

The capital projects list for the parks department was much smaller, and includes:

– $150,000 to replace one of the city’s three greenhouses — used for the city’s flower basket and corner park program. It is the city’s only climate-controlled greenhouse and “has long outlasted its lifecycle,” Parks Director Feser said.

– $55,000 for a range of major maintenance and small in-house capital projects, such as sports court resurfacing, trail reconstruction, bridge replacement, and upgrading mechanical systems at Yost Pool.

– $6 million for the first year of a two-year project to develop Civic Park. The city plans to rebid the project in early 2021 (bids earlier this year came in too high) with groundbreaking in the spring, Feser said. Current project funding is intact, she added, including $3.47 million in grant funding and $3.7 million in bonds.

– $54,425 in unused Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife funds to be carried forward for repairs to the Edmonds Fishing Pier. The existing funds won’t cover paying a contractor to fix cracks underneath the pier’s concrete decking, but the city is investigating options for completing the work in-house, Feser said.

In other business, the council decided, by a 4-3 vote (Councilmembers Vivian Olson, Diane Buckshnis and Kristiana Johnson against) to return to individual committee meetings via Zoom. When the pandemic forced councilmembers to start meeting remotely, they decided to combine all three committees — parks and public works, finance, and public safety, personnel and planning — into a committee of the whole to avoid numerous Zoom meetings. But in recent months council business meetings have run late, meaning that unfinished business often resulted in special business meetings prior to the committee of the whole meetings.

The new format means the council will now have four rather than three business meetings monthly. The three committee meetings will be staggered prior to the 7 p.m. business meeting on the second Tuesday, running from 4-5 p.m., 5-6 p.m. and 6-7 p.m., followed by the a council business meeting at 7 p.m. The arrangement is set to start in November.

Also during its Tuesday meeting, the council held a joint meeting with the South County Fire Board of Commissioners.

— By Teresa Wippel