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City Administrator Ulrich confirmed that would be the other option and is what the City <br /> attempted about five years ago. He stated that WSB has a fair amount of expertise in this area <br /> and recognize the sensitivity of how a City works. <br /> Acting Mayor LeTourneau asked for input on whether or not to condense the timeframe from six <br /> to eight months to four months in order to time with the election. <br /> Councilmember Kuzma stated that if the City started now getting the communications out, four <br /> months should be sufficient time and would give residents the opportunity to vote yay or nay. <br /> He stated that would provide the Council with direction on how to proceed with assessments or <br /> the benefit or not having assessments. He stated that he would like to see the question on the <br /> ballot. <br /> Councilmember Johns asked if this would go towards the direction of the ballot. <br /> Acting Mayor LeTourneau stated that was not the direction until that comment was made. <br /> Councilmember Shryock stated that if the City continued and stayed on a heavy course, the City <br /> could be in the position to put this on the ballot. She noted that the information would need to <br /> remain heavy and consistent. She stated that is a big-ticket item but recognized that the cost is <br /> not large in comparison to the cost for the issuance of debt. She stated that it would have value <br /> to have the expertise for public meetings but perhaps the new communications staff member <br /> could complete the flyers and informational mailings, if time allowed. <br /> Councilmember Johns stated that currently the City does not have a communications member <br /> and is actually down multiple staff members and therefore would support having that expertise. <br /> She stated that whether or not the Council chooses to go to ballot, the communications piece is <br /> vital. <br /> City Administrator Ulrich stated that the communications staff member will be coming on board <br /> and does have expertise with writing newsletter articles. He explained that WSB has a really <br /> complete knowledge of the financing piece and has the experience in how to best communicate <br /> that information and engage the public. He stated that perhaps the cost could be negotiated a bit, <br /> using City staff for some portions. <br /> Councilmember Shryock agreed that perhaps it would be a good combination of the knowledge <br /> from WSB combined with some of the leg work that could be done by City staff, which could <br /> possibly lower the ultimate cost. <br /> Community Development Director Gladhill stated that in a four-month timeframe that would be <br /> difficult as there are three large vacancies in staff currently. He stated that in his experience, <br /> taking items out of a contract to be done in-house sometimes costs more in efficiency and time. <br /> Acting Mayor LeTourneau stated that the communications piece is important for this process and <br /> it will be important to provide the best opportunity for residents to learn about alternatives. He <br /> stated that whether the message could be communicated in four, six or eight months has not yet <br /> City Council Work Session /June 12,2018 <br /> Page 2 of 8 <br />