Council approves North Creek subdivision, sets new pay steps for city officials
In a special meeting held Monday, March 30, the Gig Harbor city council approved a long-delayed housing development and set a new way of calculating pay increases for senior city employees.
By a 7-0 vote, the council approved the final plat of North Creek, an 81-unit housing development first platted in 2016 but delayed by recession.
According to the resolution, the final plat addresses the subdivision of approximately 31.80 acres into 81 single-family lots, along with associated infrastructures and amenities required to serve the homes.
North Creek is located adjacent to Highway 16 on the west and the Cushman Trail on the East. It is on land roughly north and west of Harborview Drive and 96th St. NW.
This plat was originally submitted in 2006 for a preliminary plat. In 2007, it was revised from 100 lots down to 81 lots.
Hit by recession
According to Community Development Director Katrina Knutson, the 2008 recession struck shortly after that decision was made, and the state legislature extended vesting periods for such development from five to ten years.
“From 2006 when this was originally vested, they had another ten years to come in for final plat application,” Knutson said.
In January of 2016 the property owner posted a bond for the final plat.
Although the council has since banned or sharply reduced similar planned residential developments, Knutson said what was being proposed for North Creek was allowed by the code in 2006.
Council Member Jim Franich asked if it was normal practice to let someone bond for civil improvements in order to keep their vesting alive, or if it was a special circumstance. Knutson said it was not typical, but has been done before.
“Ten years is a long time, and a lot of things change in that amount of time,” Franich said. “For the development not to move forward and all they have to do is put a bond in place, and that gives them the right to vest, I think it’d be problematic.”
The resolution passed with a 7-0 vote, with Franich giving a “reluctantly, yes” decision.
Mayor Kit Kuhn said the action was taken in a special meeting because North Creek developers needed a final plat approval by the end of the month.
“We wished to see the development proceed and worked to provide a special meeting to accommodate them,” he said.
Change in pay steps
The council also adopted an ordinance switching the pay for a number of city executives from a salary range to a stepped salary schedule.
This was recommended in a November, 2019 report by a consultant hired to conduct a compensation and salary survey. It will bring the city into compliance with the recently enacted state Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, which requires employers to pay similarly employed individuals the same compensation, with some exceptions.
The salary scheduled system would affect the city administrator, city attorney, chief of police, finance director, public works director, community development director, human resources director, police lieutenant, assistant city attorney, and city clerk.
The mayor, whose salary is set by a separate ordinance, is not included.
The schedule sets five yearly 5 percent step increases, ending in 2024.
The city administrator, for example, would begin with his current salary of $152,611 and end in 2024 with a salary of $185,500. The city attorney would earn $170,000 in that year, the chief of police $160,000.
The city finance director, public works director and development director would each top out at $150,000
In their final year on the scale, the human resources director would earn $142,800, a police lieutenant $142,800, the assistant city attorney $117,000 and the city clerk $107,000.
The ordinance took effect on April 4, five days after its passage and publication.
Salaries public record
Council Member Bob Himes questioned whether it was appropriate to have this salary discussion in a public forum. Mayor Kuhn said that is was because the salaries are public records.
Himes went on to ask why the city attorney’s salary was increased so dramatically over what it used to be in the past, primarily in the fifth and final step, where his or her salary would be $170,000.
“There’s a huge difference,” Himes said.
Kuhn responded saying that when they began searching for an attorney, the initial salary was too low and no one applied. The position is still unfilled.
“For what other cities pay for an attorney, we needed to put it at more of a realistic price,” Kuhn said.
Himes added that he had other questions, but did not feel comfortable discussing them in that forum.
This ordinance passed with a vote of 7-0. It was the second reading of the ordinance, after it was initially discussed during the March 23 council meeting.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 12:00 AM.