This week the City Council will be very busy as it continues to catch up from the post-budget backlog and tie things up before the end of the year (and several Council members leave office). Several committee meetings are scheduled.
Monday morning, the Council will receive a briefing on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project, including the status of Bertha repairs.
The Full Council meeting on Monday afternoon looks to be a snoozer, with a long laundry list of uncontroversial bills up for final approval.
The rest of the week is chock full of committee meetings:
Monday: the Select Committee on Waterfront, Seawall and Viaduct Replacement
Tuesday: Transportation, and Public Utilities & Neighborhoods
Wednesday: Planning, Land Use & Sustainability, and Finance & Culture
Thursday: Education & Governance, and Public Safety, Civil Rights & Technology
Friday: Energy
The Committee on Waterfront, Seawall and Viaduct Replacement will hear two presentations: the first on long-term planning for the “new” Alaskan Way post-viaduct, which will become a critical corridor for downtown as well as the waterfront since the new SR99 tunnel does not have downtown onramps/offramps unlike the existing viaduct. And the second presentation is on the Elliott Bay Seawall project.
The Transportation committee will discuss a memo from the Department of Planning and Development on the proposed expansion to the Washington State Convention Center and priorities for public benefits tied to the project. They will also receive a report from the Director of SDOT.
The Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee will hear a report from the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods. They will also consider a proposal to list the Seattle P-I globe as a historical landmark, and the proposed Ship Canal Water Quality Projects which would provide new facilities to handle sewage from Ballard, Fremont and Wallingford (this presentation goes into the details).
The Planning, Land Use and Sustainability committee will hear a report from the Department of Planning and Development on efforts to remove barriers to creation of backyard cottages. This was a key HALA Commission recommendation to expand affordable housing; approximately 75,000 lots in Seattle would be eligible for a backyard cottage, but since 2007 only 200 have been created.
The Finance and Culture Committee has not posted its agenda yet, but minimally it will deal with routine approval of city bills and payroll.
The Education and Governance Committee has not posted the agenda for its meeting this week. Nor has the Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, though given that it withdrew its approval for the Comcast franchise agreement last week, one can reasonably expect that to be revisited.
The Energy Committee will deal with some routine property-management matters, approval of Seattle City Light rate changes for Lake Forest Park, and approval of Seattle City Light’s energy conservation targets for 2016-2017.