thank you
good evening everyone
um and welcome I'm going to call the
April 3rd city council meeting to order
as a reminder we continue to have a
remote aspect to our meetings and both
staff and members of the public may be
participating in tonight's meeting
remotely via WebEx
councilmember Hunt is also with us this
evening remotely
so before we begin I'd like to announce
that tonight's order of business is a
little different than normal at the
February 21st city council meeting the
council adopted an ordinance modifying
the order of business at City Council
meetings moving the business items that
are actionable before the more passive
informational agenda items that change
is now in effect as a result you'll
you'll notice that the city council
committee agenda reports and the mayor's
report have been moved to the bottom of
tonight's agenda so the first item on
the agenda this evening is the Pledge of
Allegiance and I invite you to join
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America
and to the Republic for Richard Sands
one nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all
we have a couple of items of special
business to start off tonight and I'm
going to move over to the lectern and do
a couple of proclamations
I'd like to invite our police chief
Paula Schwann please dispatch supervisor
Trisha belizzi and police communication
specialist Teresa Davenport up to the
lectern with me we are going to be
recognizing Public Safety
telecommunications week with a
proclamation of recognition and for the
community may not be aware we do have a
Dispatch Center in Issaquah which is a
little unusual for a city of her size
but we're very proud to have it
thank you
whereas emergencies can occur at any
time that require police services and
whereas when an emergency occurs The
Prompt response of police officers is
critical to the protection of life and
preservation of property and whereas the
safety of our police officers is
dependent upon the quality and accuracy
of information obtained from citizens
who telephone the Issaquah
communications center
and whereas professionals safety
telecommunicators are a vital link for
our community and are the first and most
critical contact our citizens have with
Emergency Services
and whereas Public Safety
telecommunicators are the single vital
link for our police officers by
monitoring their activities By Radio
providing them information and ensuring
their safety
Public Safety telecommunicators of the
Issaquah communications center have
contributed substantially to the
apprehension of criminals in this
community and whereas our dispatchers
exhibit compassion understanding and
professionalism professionalism during
the performance of their job now
therefore I mayor Mary Lou Paulie City
of Issaquah do hereby proclaim the week
of April 9th through 15th to be public
safety tip telecommunications week in
the City of Issaquah and I invite the
community to join me in thanking
issaquah's dispatchers for their service
and outstanding contributions to our
community
I'm going to hand this off
to the ladies
and to address the group
thank you mayor and council members
this group of people have done an
amazing job they are the lifeline for
our officers on a regular basis in the
calm and also in the storm they are a
calm voice and very resourceful when
they need resources and the officers
couldn't do their jobs without them and
to have someone call on the other end of
the line when someone calls 9-1-1 they
handle tens of thousands of calls every
year in our small Center and it's
growing rapidly so I commend them and I
we couldn't do our jobs without them and
we thank them very much for this thank
you for the proclamation mayor
[Applause]
okay chief you're in the middle
okay
thank you thank you ladies thank you for
coming tonight thank you chief
the second item of special business this
evening is id1420 it's the Arbor Day
Proclamation and I'd like to invite
Urban Forest supervisor Dan Hintz to the
lectern to receive the proclamation come
on up Dan
whereas in 1872 J Sterling Morton
proposed to the Nebraska Board of
Agriculture that a special day will be
set aside for the planting of trees
and whereas this holiday called Arbor
Day was first observed with the planting
of more than a million trees in Nebraska
and whereas the anniversary of the
holiday and Arbor Day is now observed
throughout the nation and the world and
trees produce life-giving oxygen provide
habitat for wildlife they beautify our
city increase property values and
enhance economic vitality and whereas
trees wherever they are planted are a
source of joy and spiritual renewal and
whereas the City of Issaquah is an
active Tree City USA designee for 30
years
and whereas the city of is Quest
celebrates Arbor Day year round with
many events to enhance and expand our
tree canopy
whereas the City of Issaquah is
celebrating its annual Arbor Day on
Thursday April 20th 2023 in your
calendar
now therefore I Mary Lou Paulie mayor of
the city of isqua do hereby Proclaim
that isqua celebrates Arbor Day and
Carries that Spirit through our
activities policies and priorities all
year long I urge all citizens to
celebrate and support efforts to protect
our trees and Woodlands further I urge
all citizens to plant trees to create a
healthier community and promote the
well-being of future Generations
so damn thank you for coming this
evening
would you like to say a few words sure
okay
thank you Mary Paulie hello Council I've
met several of you before my name is Dan
Hintz I'm the new Urban Forest
supervisor with the City of Issaquah
this is my start of my third week right
now I met many of you in my past role
with the Mounds of sound Greenway trusts
managing the restoration program there
so I've had an awesome opportunity to be
working with the city in that capacity
and I'm really excited to get going here
working in the city now so I'm sure
we'll be connecting here soon on the
development of our Urban Forest
management plan here in Issaquah really
trying to you know pick up and keep
building on the efforts with the green
as a quilt program and really expand
some of the education and Outreach
opportunities around our Urban forests
and kind of more broadly the natural
resources that we are so lucky to have
in this community so I'm really excited
to work with you all I will say this is
the 31st year as a tree City USA in
Issaquah which is really an awesome
accomplishment I'm really excited to
carry that Legacy forward there are 92
communities within the state of
Washington that are identified as Tree
City usas and Issaquah has actually the
eighth most consecutive years at 31
years and counting so something I think
we should all be proud of and not take
for granted and I'm really excited to
keep working to promote protect and
continue to make sure we're all valuing
this great Forest we have here in
Issaquah so mayor Polly thank you
thank you everyone a city administrator
will take a picture
great thank you thank you so much
welcome aboard thank you everyone
the next item on our agenda this evening
is audience comments and members of the
public May address their council at this
time in person or virtually those who
signed up in advance to make comments
will be called on First and if you're
joining us virtually and would like to
make comments please raise your virtual
hand or send the host a chat message
if you're on your phone press star 3 if
you're joined by computer or smartphone
look for a hand icon if you are in the
room and did not sign up I will ask for
other speakers before closing this
portion of the meeting city clerk has
any has anyone signed up for comments
this evening yes
thank you
for those making comments please make
sure to direct those comments to the
whole Council and not to individuals and
while this is not a question and answer
session we will contact you to follow up
if needed when recognized virtually
unmute your microphone or step up to the
lectern right in the center if you're
here with us tonight in person
state your name address and relationship
to the city speak clearly and pause
frequently and limit your comments to
five minutes if you're attending
virtually and do not respond after your
name or phone number is called or if
your connection is lost unexpectedly the
meeting will need to proceed and you are
encouraged to rejoin the meeting if you
are able
personal attacks obscene language
derogatory remarks and disruptive
behavior will not be permitted
citizen comments written and verbal are
an important aspect of the public
process
the city takes comment seriously and we
thank you for taking the time to address
us and city clerk can you please
identify the first person who signed up
to speak this evening yes Rachel Wright
hello my name is Rachel Wright and I'm
the vice chair of issquah Arts
Commission
I want to thank you for the continued
support and funding that allows the Arts
commission to recommend grants to
encourage the Visual and Performing Arts
in Issaquah
in our last round of granting there were
15 organizations that submitted
applications and of those 15 more than
half said that granting dollars would be
used to help cover space rental
the locations included city-owned
facilities such as the senior center and
Pickering Barn
I think this raises a few interesting
questions and opportunities
how many artists and organizations are
not participating because space is hard
to find and expensive
perhaps we need to consider what kind of
resources are needed
is it granting actual dollars or waving
rental fees for city-owned spaces
or perhaps it's a combination of both
kinds of resources
what can we do to make it easier for
people to secure space at properties
such as Pickering Barn the senior center
and the community center
and what other city-owned buildings
might work for Community Arts
programming
at our March meeting the Arts commission
received a proposal for an Issaquah Film
Festival
focused on the work of young filmmakers
The Proposal came from three students in
Issaquah each one was either studying
filmmaking at the college level or
getting ready to apply to programs in
the college level
of course they are in need of space
and they're looking to partner with
Issaquah
this kind of event requires both space
and the appropriate equipment Village
Theater has space they don't have the
right equipment
isqua high school has the appropriate
theater space and equipment from screens
to projectors to sound
yet Issaquah High School is still not
available for Community use since
coveted protocols were put in place
three years ago
the public funded the construction of
the high school with the understanding
that facilities such as the theater
would be made available for the
community to use
what can be done to reopen access now
that restrictions are no longer in place
the Arts commission will be working to
better understand and support the
community's need for space and
recommending Solutions our goal is to
make it easier for creatives to perform
Inspire and connect
we'll continue to share our progress
with you and we hope we can count on
your support thank you very much
thank you Rachel we really appreciate it
when Commissioners come in and provide
information for Council Members so thank
you very much for doing that that's
great
um city clerk do we have anyone else
signed up to do comments this evening
no we don't have anyone from the public
online with us tonight
thank you
um so thank you very much for your
comments and as a reminder to anyone who
is watching you may always be able to
reach your Council by writing to them at
city council at issaquah.gov
flipped back to the proclamations but
I'm pretty sure you guys don't want to
do them all over again so Turn the Page
council president Walsh do you have any
email comments to summarize on tonight's
agenda items yes despite our uh sparse
agenda we did have a comment saying they
were against one of the consent items
which is
ab8587 the Grant from King County
regarding aquatic facilities suggesting
that it was a misplaced use of our time
and then also concerns about the
informational update item uh the
community engagement toolkit suggesting
that it should come before the equity
board and still needed some work that
concludes the public comments thank you
council president so we will be moving
into the consent calendar and per the
city council's new rules the mayor's
report and committee reports will occur
later in the meeting
however the mayor and committee chairs
do have an opportunity to provide
committee reports or informational
announcements regarding the consent
calendar item prior to approval so I
have a couple two items that I'd like to
share this evening
first is on the King County aquatic
feasibility planning project Grant
agreement so on tonight's consent
calendar agenda Bill 8587 seek city
council authorization to accept an 80
000 Grant from King County to conduct a
pool feasibility study that focuses on
the possible expansion of the Julius
bone pool
the Julius bone pool was built in 1972
in 2015 as a 40 plus year old facility
important facility and system life cycle
Investments were performed now over 50
years old the pool remains a popular and
heavy used facility along with lessons
lap swim aquatic exercise and Community
swim The Pool Place hosts to six High
School swim teams girls and boys teams
from the three Issaquah school district
high schools
a new Aquatic Facility is likely an
issaquah's future however at a probable
cost of 30 to 40 million dollars
that potential new Aquatic Facility is
probably many many years away
and recognizing the pressures of current
Community use and the potential of the
fourth high school and two additional
swim teams before a new pool can be
built this feasibility work will help us
determine if option to exist at the
current pool to add capacity and decade
Decades of life in a creative and
cost-effective way the grant will
explore and help determine if there are
cost-effective solutions to adding pool
capacity within the existing pool site
the isqua school district will remain as
a partner in this exploratory work both
as a primary user of the pool as well as
a neighboring property owner Clark
Elementary School is right beside Julius
bone so public education engagement and
updates will be part of the assessment
work as well the second item is about
the public engagement toolkit it is
included in tonight's consent calendar
as an informational update regarding the
public engagement toolkit as discwa's
growing Community continues to diversify
and change the the chain importance of
public engagement is essential essential
and at the heart of the role of public
servants using guidance from
award-winning engagement programs
throughout the country the city's
Communications team updated their public
engagement toolkit to assist project
managers as they develop customized
plans for engagement depending on the
issue topic audience or timing
there are no items uh on tonight's
consent calendar that referred to
committee so I will not call for any
committee reports at this time but I
have a council member who wants to ask a
question
can I talk a little bit about the one
agenda Bill we do have that came through
Committee in February
State administrators there did we miss
something on the consent calendar
oh it's well it's not on consent it's on
regular business but
we'll do it then yes okay thank you
thank you for clarifying that
I thought I was losing my mind and we
were going to do committee reports okay
okay but this is our first night so
we're getting there
uh okay
so the consent calendar was distributed
to Council in advance and if authorized
the items on the consent calendar will
be considered together and approved by
one motion have the payables and payroll
been reviewed
they have
thank you
and we can hear you as council member
thank you
does any council member desire to remove
any item from the consent calendar and
consider it under regular business
uh is there a motion
yes I moved to approve the consent
calendar as written
I second that motion okay
okay it's been moved and seconded is
there any Council discussion on the
motion
hearing and seeing none the motion
before council is to approve the consent
calendar is presented all those in favor
signify by saying aye aye
those opposed
okay that carries unanimously uh seven
to
so now we are moving into regular
business and the first item is a b
personal item a b8582 public works
Staffing Resources and council member
um to in order to fully understand your
question I will head over to the city
administrator and city clerk about
process here
uh
it's certainly appropriate for the
committee chair to make comments okay
we'd like to before the presentation
well I do it after the presentation okay
that would be better thanks sounds good
then I'd like to invite Public Works
director Emily moon to make that
presentation thanks Emily and Madam
mayor before director Moon gets started
I'd like to just make a couple of
introductory comments uh we appreciate
the time that the committee Council
committee spent reviewing this item and
reported favorably on it
um there's a lot of moving pieces to the
the presentation this evening uh all
really focused on one thing and that is
we want to make sure that we continue to
provide and expeditiously work on uh
capital projects for the community uh
public works department has gone through
lots of change uh pandemic lots of
issues over the last several years and
with uh director Moon's arrival here
last year she's I think done an
excellent job of assessing resources and
and what you have before you this
evening is her recommendations on some
additional resources that are needed
with additional resources also come
costs associated with those resources
and in the report this evening we go
through the administration's
recommendations on what we believe would
be appropriate adjustments to the budget
in order to accomplish the hiring of
those additional resources
those will also require some adjustments
to current projects and because there's
quite a bit before you this evening we
think it would be appropriate rather
than having the council act on this item
this evening but instead to hear the
report get feedback from you and then
come back at your April 17th meeting
with the appropriate resolutions
amending the budget and amending the
salary resolution to actually implement
this rather than wait what would be the
customary two months or three months for
a quarterly revision we think that it's
important to have those changes
considered by the council and then acted
on by the council so Madame mayor
members of the council our request would
be then to have the director moon go
through the presentation answer
questions and then have this item
continued until your April 17th meeting
thank you City administrator
um
any questions or should we just be
moving right into the presentation
presentation
Public Works director Moon
all right thank you very much happy to
be here talk about our great Public
Works Department
so tonight we do have before you a
request for additional resources for the
Department
and as the city administrator alluded to
one of the reasons why this is coming
before you at this time is because when
I started about six months ago my first
task was to really understand
what the department was doing how well
it was doing and what was needed how to
how to advance the work how to ensure
our success
it is a great Department full of a lot
of very dedicated people people who are
always striving to do more and always
striving to do better at what they do
however it's a difficult thing to say to
you tonight that we don't have
sufficient resources to be able to get
our 2023 and 2024 work plan accomplished
nor do I think we have enough resources
to meet the future Community needs
particularly on Capital and on equipment
replacement and care
so this proposal was developed to be
responsive to those Community needs and
to help Propel our department to a place
where it could successfully deliver on
those projects
so we have put together a proposal that
includes a request for new staff for new
positions
two of those would be engineering
positions I'll describe those positions
in a few minutes and then a request for
some additional Professional Services to
support our work on projects this is a
hybrid approach some staff some out of
house contractual services to meet those
needs
our goal in this proposal was to
increase our staffing level to do more
capital projects and to do them better
and to add necessary Staffing for our
signals unit which I'll spend a little
bit of time on tonight
also to keep in place some incentives
for our newest hires and to help reduce
the burnout and boost our ability to
retain employees
we're also seeking to backfill a bunch
of vacancies and jump start design work
with those contractual services and
ultimately hope to transition those
projects to our staff as our capacities
increase
our signals unit provides a really good
example I think of how work has changed
in our community as we have advanced in
our use of Technology as we have
responded to Trends in best practices
and attempted to provide additional
features in our community our assets and
our signals unit have grown
exponentially
our staffing has not our staffing has
been relatively flat for the last has
been flat for the last 15 years and
relatively flat for the last 20.
one of the things I wanted to point out
to all of you is the impact of this
Staffing level are two individuals in
this unit have worked a substantial
amount of overtime over 850 combined
hours of overtime last year and that
trend is continuing this year
on the engineering side of the house
we also have a substantial workload 59
significant capital and non-capital
projects our Engineers do more than just
capital projects they are involved in
shaping policy responding to community
need emergent needs and much more
it's a significant investment
that we ask them to caretake
and to drive forward
we
have nine people who are responsible for
project management in this division
we started most and ended most of 2022
with five individuals out of those nine
we were briefly up to eight for a short
period of time this year and then we
lost one of those individuals
this is a critical moment for our
engineering division we not only have a
huge portfolio to manage and are eager
to get all that work done but we've had
an adult added Catalyst to drive us
toward that performance level and that's
the American Rescue plan act bundle of
projects that have we have committed to
those have a finite timetable and cities
made an obligation to complete those
projects
just an example on the transportation
side of engineering I did a comparison
there are a lot of surveys going on
across the region because Issaquah is
not alone and its shortage of Engineers
or Capital project managers is a very
very tight Market as I laid out in the
agenda bill but this is how we Stack Up
we have fewer Transportation
Engineers per project than our some of
our comparison cities that I was able to
get data from and this proposal tonight
would help close some of that Gap but
not completely close it
I've proposed an additional position
that would be responsible for helping to
oversee our overall Capital program and
I'm differentiating between that and
capital project management specific to
one two three projects this position
would be able to focus on needed
improvements for the overall program our
project and division managers simply
don't have time to do that work as they
manage their projects or manage the
Staffing within the division
so the improvements that I hope this
position will bring is more robust
planning processes developing and
utilizing performance metrics and tools
increasing our inter and intra
departmental and interagency
coordination seeking additional grant
funding driving procedural changes that
could enhance our on time on scope on
budget success
and it's not uncommon for a city our
size or with a portfolio the size that
we have to have individuals that are
dedicated not just to the capital
projects themselves but to the overall
program management
we have been working over the last
several months to try to put into
practice some other ways of managing the
workload we have in some cases
reassigned some duties try to match up
skill sets a little bit better share the
workload across other divisions or in
some cases even other departments
and we are trying to become more
efficient improving our processes
in addition as you've seen in this
agenda Bill we are delaying a few
projects and we hope to also get some
external help on these projects
I believe that the solution to our
resource crunch requires more than one
solution
in The Proposal I have spelled out a
handful of projects that we are delaying
we applied criteria across all projects
utilities projects Transportation
projects in order to assess whether they
could be candidates to delay so that we
could focus on making sure we got the
remainder of the projects done and done
well
so we assessed each project for a
variety of factors including its risk
and urgency Grant timing or other fixed
requirements whether the Project's delay
would cause harm to any other project or
a time-sensitive subsequent phase of
that same project
what phase each project was in and
whether the work was already in progress
for example if we'd already put it out
to bid early this year or if we have
already entered into a contract for the
work
in addition we always look to see if
there are overlaps with projects that
help us to use public dollars more
wisely so utility projects are
oftentimes coupled with Road Improvement
projects
in addition we looked at How likely we
were to be able to complete the scoped
work in 2023 and whether the project was
solely supported by City funds
all of those gave us a sense of whether
we could move forward easily with the
project or whether they might be
candidates for delay
in addition to the handful of projects
that we are planning to delay
we have proposed that we use some
outside services to help us to manage a
few other projects
in particular we prioritize getting some
help on those arpa projects so we can
make sure that we hit the timetables
associated with those projects
summary is also in your packet that
shows the four positions that we are
requesting
identifies that we will if need be use a
relocation incentive to help get
Engineers to come to Issaquah if we need
to it also lists the where we expect to
spend those Professional Services
dollars is split between utility
projects and transportation projects
funding sources for this ask
come from a variety of sources the first
on the general fund side
are from
repurposing the budget that was to be
used for a local government management
fellow which was a two-year position
the second was to reallocate the Gilman
Boulevard planning funds in order to get
capital projects in the general fund
done
and that both of those sources result in
approximately
um
586 000 in the 2023 need
and provide the funding to cover that
2023 need
in addition we have
taken a look at the Utility Fund health
and we believe that the utility funds
can support the estimated costs in 2023
and 2024 for the request that's before
you this evening
as the city administrator mentioned a
budget amendment will be required to
shift the dollars between the various
funds many funds involved Turf storm
sewer water Street
in order to support those new requests
and so we'll come back to you with that
budget amendment
in addition the delay of the stormwater
capital projects with temporary
temporarily fund the stormwater position
portion of the new requests and also
return a small amount to the storm water
fund balance that could be used to
support those delayed projects in the
future
so our next steps would be to come back
to you with that funding
plans spelled out in the form of a
budget amendment
and the salary ordinance revision
we would then move forward with
executing those Professional Services
agreements we have recruitments underway
for positions that are all already open
existing positions
we would hope to fill those positions
whether they're new or existing
vacancies by July
and then we would hope to transition the
franchise management back in-house at
toward the end of the year
ultimately we hope to transition all
those capital projects that we were
using out of Health Services on back to
our staff after we are fully staffed and
hopefully by this year's end
this was a hybrid proposal where we have
requested some additional staff and some
additional funding for Professional
Services one of the Alternatives
certainly could be to allocate more
funding for those contractual Services
it doesn't
completely negate the need for staff to
oversee those contracts but we could
talk about the balance between those
requests
there's an option as well to meet the
existing Resources by delaying
additional capital projects or canceling
them
and then our third option that's an
option but not a preferred option would
be to direct staff or our contract or to
spend less time scrutinizing those
franchise applications that have become
more and more complex over time and do
require a significant amount of time
lastly we could adjust service level
expectations we pride ourselves on being
able to respond quickly when a traffic
signal is out and not leave it in Flash
for example but that's not the way it's
done everywhere
again not our preferred
alternative but
one that could be considered
the committee mobility and
infrastructure committee did recommend
proving the additional requested
positions in order to complete the
capital projects enhance Capital program
and franchise management and improve the
city's ability to handle its traffic
signals
the committee also supported the
allocation and use of Professional
Services to ensure the delivery of
projects while we're working hard to
fill those vacancies
and the administration's recommendation
is the same in your packet to authorize
those four ftes and their Associated
budgets and the Professional Services
request of four hundred and ten thousand
dollars and to make the adjustments in
our salary ordinance and budgets to
reflect those changes
and with that
I won't read the whole motion I will
pause and
be happy to answer any questions that
you might have thank you director Moon
so we have questions and then I after we
do a few questions I'm going to head
over to committee chair Ray and there
may be additional questions so
councilmember Mertz
thank you madam mayor um
in the proposed next steps it includes a
delay projects in recruit positions in
April
um
recruiting and hiring is is different
than the folks that actually do the
projects why why do a delay
right two actions in that bullet point
we have the projects under delay right
now we have not allocated current staff
toward working on those projects in
order to focus their time on all of the
others in addition
to continuing with that action we would
spend our time trying to recruit for
those open positions
did that answer your question there's no
so whatever is delayed at the moment
there's no option that involves getting
going on things that are currently being
delayed things that are delayed are
going to be delayed regardless of which
option we choose yes this is more our
staff letting you know we've taken that
action if you
would like to see us Advance those
projects then we certainly will need
more resources more resources beyond
what is spelled out in your packet this
evening
additional questions
council president
thank you
um I know you mentioned that you know
some of this is about reallocating
workload both as a way to retain
employees and you know just right size
their workload can you give any
indication about like what portion of
this is about increasing our capacity to
get work done versus doing things like
hiring somebody else so that we're
limiting over time which isn't really
necessarily increasing our capacity do
you have any sense of that balance
well currently the the only place where
we have authorized over time the only
place where we can is for the hourly
folks that work in the signals unit
that's the the only opportunity that we
have to get the work done right now
on our exempt staff side uh
you're right we have taken a bunch of
different steps to try to right size the
work that's on their plate in order to
retain them
keep them functioning at a high level on
the projects that they need to focus on
I
I think we have tried to do the calculus
it's a little bit of Art and a little
bit of science I think to try to analyze
how many hours does each project require
we do that sort of work to project plan
and then to look at how many Engineers
we have available to put toward those
tasks it's been complicated because we
can't just look at our authorized
Staffing level we actually have to look
at who do we have right now
able to get the work done and that has
been a challenge for us because we
haven't been able yet we've made
significant progress but we haven't been
able to fill every seat
let me ask it maybe a different way
because I appreciate all of those
details but would you say in many ways
that the additional ftes that you're
suggesting here are more about
reallocating work between people whereas
the services contract is about
increasing capacity
thank you for that I I would say that
additional staff will help alleviate
current load on our existing Engineers
the projects that we are targeting for
external help we have set aside
at this moment in time we may be taking
small steps to try to get those projects
going
but they aren't getting all the time and
attention that they need and so the
Professional Services will add capacity
in order to put those projects back on
track
City administrator let me just add that
we're trying to do many things at one
time and I think the professionals the
last part of what director Moon said is
the immediate impact of that having
those three additional engineer two
additional Engineers one project manager
will allow us to increase capacity the
traffic signal issue I think it's a
separate one but anytime you're spending
the the large amount of overtime that
you're spending uh having another
full-time
position just makes a lot of sense so
that almost travels separate than the
other three but once those other three
are there plus uh the ability to keep
folks that's been a huge challenge uh as
director Moon said there's some
incentive programs uh or previously
authorized by the council and the mayor
that we're using here we've extended for
example uh the retention uh bonuses that
we have for those employees that were
with us at the end of last year to those
that we hired at the beginning of
district there are two Engineers that we
extended that to so it's these multiple
trains so keep the folks we have keep
the new folks we've just hired have the
ability to hire a few more but also then
have contract work to support all that
while all the rest are coming into place
that's the strategy
councilmember egg I have a question for
the city administrator and at the
beginning of this presentation you
talked about the potential to delay this
decision for until our April 17th
meeting what would that look like and
what would what would be the advantage
disadvantage to doing that
uh since the agenda packet was a release
we've we've talked with members of the
council
um particularly councilmember hunt who
raised questions about the impacts on
projects uh that would not be worked on
in order to come up with the funding in
order to move this project forward so
since those were newer questions and
also the way this agenda item was
prepared there is no action before the
council other than the general direction
the action as far as amending the budget
and amending the salary resolution uh
traditionally comes at a later point
it's not unusual for the council to take
a policy action and then have the actual
function of that come through a vote
later on and so we wanted to be
accommodating to the questions that were
raised by member of the council today we
don't think that there is a material
impact we will continue moving forward
with recruitment of the positions unless
we get a sentence from the council that
that's not something you wish to do
certainly uh the support of the
committee uh made us feel that this was
a package that would have supported the
full Council so we don't believe that
two weeks is going to have a significant
impact uh if the council otherwise is
comfortable with what you have before
you this evening we're certainly not
going to stop you from from doing that
but this is a big change when you go
through budget especially our first
biennial budget we would hope that the
package of Staffing that we have is
sufficient we've gone through lots of
changes in public works we stopped our
Capital program for almost two years
because of the pandemic these are unique
circumstances and we wanted to be
respectful to any member of the council
who said well wait a second I want a
little bit more time to completely
understand all the impacts of this
package
let me follow up this is I'm just trying
to understand kind of mechanically it's
a little different than we've done in
the past
um so like maybe this is a city clerk
question about so what's the path
forward should because if we want to get
input from the council as a whole we
should do that tonight right correct so
and to do that we really need to have a
motion on the floor would be my thinking
correct
certainly I mean so we would if the
council would like to go with the
original motion you can again with the
conversations we've had with
councilmember hunt over the last day or
so uh the administration is comfortable
with the item being delayed two weeks
yeah it seems to me that we should go
with the proposed motion and if as a
result of the discussion this evening we
determined that we need more time then
we can at that point move to continue it
correct certainly yep okay so
I'm just trying to understand the
mechanics of this one because it says a
little bit different it is a little bit
different more questions
okay then I'm going to turn it over to
committee chair Bray if you want to
provide some input from the meeting that
the mobility and infrastructure
committee had
thanks mayor Paulie I appreciate that
I've been so anxious to do this since
way early in the meeting so I'm glad I
finally get my my moment
um we rely on public works a lot in this
city we rely on them to keep things
running we rely on them to maintain
things and we rely on them very much to
enhance our existing
infrastructure as director Moon pointed
out the city has grown a fair bit and
our infrastructure has expanded and we
have not kept up with that growth in
terms of the number of people we have in
our Public Works Department
so to ensure that we continue to thrive
as a city we have to be able to you know
operate what we have we have to be able
to maintain what we have and we have to
be able to deliver on a fairly extensive
list of capital projects that that are
really important to to this community
and it's been challenging and I think
it's fair to say it's been frustrating
for everybody because we want to do good
and we want to get this stuff done
um and then they're just those
limitations that people have they're you
know they have to sleep and and things
like that
um so the the mobility and
infrastructure committee was was was
very supportive of this plan that was
developed by public works and director
Moon felt that a really better
positioned us for success in the future
both by in the short term providing
Professional Services to get us over the
hump and then recruiting for the longer
term
staffing needs and so
um
coming out of committee it was very much
thought that this was a a reasonable and
a prudent and probably the right thing
to do going forward
um so I'm anxious to hit everyone's
perspective on this and I guess I would
look to my fellow committee members to
see if there's anything that I missed or
you'd like to add to that
uh Deputy council president thank you
maybe just a couple more things
um you know we also talked about this or
during feedback just kind of talked
about how this is really more of a
systemic problem that we're facing here
in Issaquah giving some feedback about
well what can this squad be doing more
through our legislative
Affairs and lobbying to help promote and
support Workforce Development efforts at
the state and in the region also talking
about how this Council in particular we
have very high expectations lofty goals
for our capital projects rightfully so
we're at this stage in the development
of our city which will Define how we
grow into a medium and then large size
cities so capital projects are very
important so we appreciated the reality
setting that director Moon came to the
committee and helped us through
understanding that I feel like there was
one other thing I was going to say and
I've forgotten it
um but if I remember it I'll bring it up
during comments but again the council is
very appreciative of the staff who came
and talked about this understanding that
this is a very difficult thing to do
especially us as budget makers and
policy makers we want to be doing
everything we want to be doing
everything excellent and there are
things beyond our control that pull the
strings for us so we just need to make
sure to realize that as a council and
support our staff when they're telling
us that they're struggling so thank you
Michelle
yes I think that we were at least I was
uh and I'm sure my fellow council
members were too very very impressed by
the professional analysis that we
received and very grateful for the fact
that it wasn't a one you know one what
would they call that a one-pony uh
proposal but many different aspects and
a really uh thoughtful allocation of
work and service contracts and
um and then delaying some projects and
it it seemed and the discussion was that
each one of those options had been
thoroughly vetted and there was a great
deal of really good thought behind the
proposal so we did unanimously support
this coming forward to the full Council
for approval we wanted it to be on the
regular agenda because uh it is a big
big ask but um
uh mayor Paulie and councilmember Joe
and I were with a group of young people
a while ago and and we got the question
you know what's the what's the most
difficult thing or the most challenging
thing you have as a council member and
my response was uh balancing all the
things that we need to do with making
sure that our fiscal house is in order
and sometimes that means we we lean this
way or we lean that way but uh as a city
our job is to provide services for our
people and I believe that this is a
fiscally responsible proposal that will
allow us to provide the services that we
need to provide to the people of
Issaquah so I thoroughly supported I do
want to say
that I wanted to thank councilman Brook
had for the many good questions she had
and I am quite willing to if there's no
you know impact on the work and and the
recruiting I'm willing to wait until the
next meeting to give final approval but
I will support this proposal thank you
so
um maybe we could get that motion on the
floor
I'd like to make a motion um I moved
authorize four hundred and ten thousand
dollars in Professional Services funding
for the public works project and
franchise management assistance and
authorized following new positions one
FTE signal technician one FTE senior
engineer slash capital projects manager
for your utilities engineering one
century engineer slash capital projects
manager for transportation engineering
and one FTE Capital program and
franchise manager and
direct the Human
Resources Director to revise the salary
ordinance to add the new classification
for the capital program and franchise
manager and direct the Chief Financial
Officer to bring a subsequent 2023 2024
budget amendment to fund the
Professional Services and additional
positions
oops second thank you councilmember D
Michelle is seconding is there any
Council discussion
council president
thank you
um
this one is difficult for me because I
hear all of the need and I want
everything out of that
um I I want
our staff members to not have to work
overtime I want our staff members to not
have double the projects that other
cities have I want additional project
capacity
um
my two major concerns when I come down
to this is one that we're making a
rather large decision
about a single Department in a vacuum
and we're not really with this proposal
able to consider it related to other
department needs
or even whether our future year revenues
will be able to support this type of
Staffing so that's my first concern
my second concern is the funding
mechanisms here
um
there and I think this goes back to this
whole concept of we've been kind of
frustrated
about some of the communication that's
come back from the administration saying
we don't have the staff capacity for
that we don't have the staff capacity
and I I get that
but here we're presented with a
suggestion of projects to delay
and while you've said you know we went
through this huge analysis of you know
whether the project would conflict with
something else or you know had
adjacencies and all of those things but
I'm not seeing that I'm only being given
the proposed projects
um and so I think there's really some
policy decisions for us to make here
about
what are the projects we should be
delaying you know what and it has to
come with the input of what's our staff
capacity absolutely
um but in a way we made budgetary
decisions to prioritize certain projects
but we didn't rank those in order of one
to fifty and you guys are you know
chopping off the bottom you've made a
decision and or you've made a
recommendation and I I appreciate those
but I think we need to have
all of the information on the table and
we need to make educated decisions not
only potentially about Public Works
Staffing and the capacity to do projects
but in some of the other areas where
we're kind of facing that same idea so
yes I want to say yes to all of this I
just
I I think it's very difficult to get
a 1.8 million dollar request
while not being able to look at the full
big picture of what are all of our needs
in the city you know do is our police
department at the right Staffing levels
is our planning department going to be
able to take the necessary steps with
um title 18. you know we're being told
the future updates list we're not going
to be able to handle that necessarily so
that's the problem I have in looking at
this is
yes and and I have to make those
decisions for our entire sentences and
our entire residents our business
Community all of that
um
and I think this is very difficult to
make that with this information
so I will throw that to my fellow
council members to see if anybody has
any thoughts and responses on that
um because I would like to get to yes
but I want to be able to do so in
a manner that understands all of the
decisions that we're making because
ultimately when we make a decision to
say yes to this we're making a decision
to say no to something else that's not
on the table right now
but It ultimately is the decision that
we're making not only for this budget
year but also potentially for future
budget years because it's much harder to
say no we want to eliminate a staff
position here
that's already been allocated
if we come into a future budget year and
we say well revenue is flat but we want
to increase all of our staffing because
we made that mid-year budget decision so
those are the issues that I am facing in
making these types of decisions tonight
thank you for that council president and
thank you for so clearly stating it all
this is why your professional staff
struggles because they do it with the
bigger picture in mind I believe council
member hunt would also like to comment
and then anyone else who wants to raise
their microphone would be great
councilmember hunt
thank you madam mayor
well I um appreciate and agree with the
comments that council president Walsh
just made
um and I too understand and I think it
is Justified the need for the additional
staff positions and Public Works
um and I think there's a lot of
information about that and about
comparing to other cities and I
appreciate also the work of the
committee that looked at at that and
also felt that it was a Justified
increase for those positions so that we
can do more of our Capital Improvement
projects
um issues
and why I think it would be
good for us as a policy making body to
consider this again at a different
meeting to take final action are are two
things the first one is that the motion
before us directs the administration to
make a future budget amendment and
within that budget amendment it's
implied that there will be certain
changes to the budget that affects the
timeline of imported projects and my
issues are not so much with the or are
not with the increases to the Staffing
levels
um
my concern is with those changes to the
timelines of important projects for
example we have a laughing Jacobs Creek
project there that very important for
Kokanee as the salmon recovery council
member on this on this Council team and
it's and as a member of the Kokanee
management it's your local working group
member that's a really important project
and we also don't yet know if we will
have a state match which we will know in
June so I I would like to see as council
president Walsh just said the work has
been done to to look at all of the
options for what we could
um what what else we could consider or
changes to the project timeline to make
this pencil out I would like to see
those because I think that would better
equip us to make this policy decision
and to take into account all of the
different ramifications that it will
have including
changes to important project timelines
so um that that's my first issue was
really just that that we're directing
the administration and it will come back
as a budget amendment but my concerns
are really with those things that will
happen in that subsequent step so I
would like to consider it all as one
package I think that's better policy
making
um and then my second concern is that of
the projects that are delayed that we
did budget there is a fish habitat one
that's important for for fish habitat
and then there's an emergency access
Culvert one that's important for a
Neighborhood emergency access and then
there's this Kokanee project that is
super important for Kokanee which we
really do have I believe a deep
obligation to protect and I
um would like to see all the other
options it's listed in our packet that
there could be other options that we
could delay but we don't really have the
information to see that at this time so
that's that would be my ask to have that
information we can have that discussion
and fully understand the
implications of this decision
um with that additional information so I
would ask that we consider the full
package at our next meeting especially
also since the Administration has said
there's no there's no material concern
that they have about that two weeks and
as I said I think it will make for
better policy making thank you
thank you councilmember hunt uh
councilmember Mertz
thank you madam mayor um I uh I
appreciate the the concerns that our
council president and and uh
councilmember hunt have brought up I'm
going to support the bill as uh proposed
this evening uh these things are I mean
we have a capital plan let's get going
on our Capital plan I'm excited that
um the organization is to a point where
it feels it can make use you know we've
had so many things of the last couple
years where the administration basically
has said look we need more time to get
things in place but now we're at a point
where a major element of our plans we're
ready to get moving I have concerns
about delaying this at all
um uh the market it's hard to hire
people my day job I spent all my time
trying to hire talented people so uh I
think we should just uh get going thanks
thanks looking for additional oh Deputy
council president Hall uh sure yeah um I
um support the policy uh as is as we
talked about committee but I have no
problem with moving into a future
meeting if we want to get into it a bit
more I do have some um concerns just for
Council about how deep our role when it
comes to evaluating projects by projects
is public administrators exercise and
use judgment around Staffing Resources
management and all that every day that
influences policy making so I would just
make sure you know if this does come
back to us and we do have kind of a more
comprehensive view of it that we as a
council stay high level and policy
focused and moving forward in that way
but again if the administration doesn't
have any problems with waiting a few
weeks to take this back up again I don't
have a problem with that
thank you Deputy council president
councilmember Ray
I have a couple of questions that this
conversation has has spawned and and
um they really are kind of going back to
a little bit of my procedural thing
um what would we do in the next two
weeks because it seems like there's two
questions are on the table one is
um if we add these additional resources
to Public Works is there something else
that we're going to forego
um so so that's one question that we
need to answer
um so that's a question for the
administration the second question is
what were the criteria that were used to
decide which projects to delay so that
we can understand
the logic behind that because I know at
committee we went through that and it
was a fairly complex uh linear
programming kind of model of of
trade-offs so can can I get uh Emily you
to at least talk to the kind of the
rubric for decisions on what to delay
and then also then questions about how
do we deal with and this is probably a
Wally question how do we deal with the
larger
resource management and mayor's going to
chime in a little bit first you've got
too many questions in there Council
memory I'm sorry
um
definitely the city administrator can
talk about the bigger picture of
Staffing and definitely our Public Works
director can talk about
the logic or rationale that was used to
do project selection and it is
complicated for for 19 different reasons
but I do want to point out that you have
two different decisions here tonight one
is about Staffing and a second one that
would be coming in two weeks that is
about resourcing and it is appropriate
for you to divide those into two
questions tonight you're voting on
Staffing and directing us to prepare a
budget amendment but you get to review
approve that budget amendment and so I'm
not sure how intricately these are
linked but I will let people smarter
than me answer that and council member
Martz if you want to just chime in
before the questions get answered yeah I
think I might have a point of order
because we actually we have a motion on
the floor and I think that the request
on subsequent information is presuming
an amendment to modify the motion that's
on the floor or no no because no no not
yet the questions I think just questions
yeah I'm just trying to understand
um
I'm I'm reacting quite honestly to some
of the comments I heard and I don't know
how to answer them because I need some I
have some questions we'll get some more
information on the table I don't think
there's been an amendment to the motion
proposed yet so let's start with City
administrator let's start Big Picture
This is a very unusual situation to be
bringing a public works director in post
budget but then to task them with doing
a strategic review of resources projects
and coming back to council with a pretty
difficult picture
um are you planning to do this with
other departments
uh no
um or not not tomorrow I mean I think
over the long period of time it's
important to look at departments uh
there is not another one in the hopper
Public Works has been a real focus of
our energies uh really since my arrival
here believe it or not three and a half
years ago
um
I'll just say in a more broad sense
um you know the staff doesn't like to
disappoint you and the community and I
think for the last several years the
staff the engineering staff public work
staff has worked tirelessly to get
projects out the door for lots of
different reasons that hasn't happened
and they've been very frustrated they're
frustrated to come back and tell you
during the budget cycle we did
whatever percent of what was budgeted
and they don't like to make excuses
um and so when uh when director Moon
came here in one of the requests the
mayor and I had of her was you know do
an honest assessment is this is this a
people problem is this a process problem
is it a resource problem what is this
and I think is the committee heard and
as you've heard this evening
um you know we've documented some
resource issues we could wait until the
uh changes to the biennial budget in the
fall and share all this with you then we
decided no that doesn't make any sense
because then we're just going to be
coming back to you in the fall saying
we've missed the Mark again we know why
we're missing the Mark we want to move
forward and make those changes one of
the challenges however though in making
those changes in mid-year without a an
influx of resources from outside of the
budget you have to make adjustments and
uh and director Moon can share with you
in a moment uh the rigor that she put
every project through to make some
decisions
what we came up with was there were some
projects that we weren't getting
traction on for a variety of reasons and
we felt comfortable
shifting some of those resources and
again director mucken it's probably go
back to those four projects specifically
and speak to that so there are no right
answers here
however when council member hunt and
council president Walsh raised some
questions over the last day or so I mean
these are legitimate policy questions I
don't think the mayor myself director
Moon felt we could just reject them out
of hand we felt it was important if the
body wanted more time this is a big deal
two weeks is not not going to break this
but not to say we didn't do a really
good job in the first place we think
we've got a pretty methodical process
which I'll let director Moon speak to
now but that's sort of the bigger
picture there are no other departments
in the office thing you know certainly
as you look down the road there
certainly are always other Municipal
issues we're going to have to deal with
but we're not going to come back in two
weeks and say you know let's have a deep
discussion about parks and Community
Services that's not well either a city
administrator or director Moon there's
another part of the question from
councilman Ray which is what would
happen in those two weeks so you know we
just come back and you get the same
information and well well so what we
would do is we've heard from council
member hunt we've heard from Council
president Walsh about some concerns
um you know are there opportunities I
mean I think
if I can get maybe more specific The
Laughing Jacob laughing Jacob's group
exactly
it's not Jacob
um you know there may be an opportunity
to say okay if the council feels very
strongly about this
here's an opportunity to take money from
somewhere else in the city to put that
in there that probably is the only other
adjustment we think we would make other
than saying maybe there's some Reit
money that you could spend on lots of
other things you might be able to put in
here if the council really felt strongly
we felt in talking with the mayor this
afternoon an obligation that if the
council wants to take two weeks
we're happy to provide that information
but there's not going to be a lot of
wild changes uh the the path's a pretty
narrow one
director Moon
thank you
so I heard two questions I heard
criteria for project selection and I can
review that again if that's uh desired I
I did want to
be very clear about where we are it is
April
we have not been sitting around for the
last
you know three months plus you adopted
the budget even before the end of the
calendar year we made plans
in terms of allocating projects to
different staff members and we had to
get projects put out to bid we had to
start working on collaboration with
other entities and across departments
and so I I want to be clear that we had
to make some choices early in this year
knowing what our staffing level was
we've made those choices we've
identified the projects that we have put
on delay we've identified the projects
that we need extra resources in order to
successfully complete or get underway
this year many of those projects are
two-year projects
we therefore have limited ability to
pick other projects at this moment in
time to delay in 2023 it's a two-year
budget we could look to our
2024 pick out some initial phase you
know design phase or conceptual planning
phase projects or better candidates for
delay in 2024.
we have the ability to put contracts on
pause there's risks in doing that
the the projects that we would naturally
turn to I think would be our rehab
projects taking care of our existing
infrastructure because those are annual
programs and we can we can move work
around that is not something we'd like
to do
it's precisely the thing we're trying to
avoid and get better at
but I just wanted to be really clear
about where we are in this moment the
projects that we were able to Resource
we have resourced we have gotten
underway in various shapes and forms
having said that the criteria that we
used
is a very messy Matrix of criteria we
don't just look at 2023 either we have
to look at our full Capital plan and
think about the relationships between
projects and across funds but some of
those criterias I mentioned before have
to do with safety is there a risk a
sense of urgency around this project
because of safety concerns do we have
grants that
we need to complete this project are
Milestones on this project in order to
receive that grant funding
um
is there a subsequent phase of this
project that is also time sensitive and
therefore we need to get underway with
an earlier phase now in order to hit
that deadline
um as I said previously we often look at
projects that have not yet commenced
that may be in the conceptual or design
phase may be easier to slow those down
we may not have a construction bid in
hand that we want to execute right away
so those are some other things that we
look at
we look at whether or not we're going to
be able to complete that work is there
some other factor is there a delay in
materials on a particular job that we
know is going to push us into 2024
anyway we look we look at a host of
factors and then we try to decide is
this a project that we can successfully
complete with our resources today and
that we must complete this year or did
it go on a candidate list for
consideration for a delay if it went on
that list then we tried to strategize
what are other ways that we could get it
done and as the city administrator
mentioned laughing Jacob Creek could be
one of these the primary reason laughing
Jacobs Creek is on the list today is
because we did not receive the grant
that we applied for we may receive a
second round of that Grant and we may
be given notice of that in June
and then at that point in time if we got
the Grant and if we had some additional
resources in order to backfill the
project management function
then we may be able to get underway
albeit still a little later than we
would have had we received the grant
noticed last year
hey councilman Marie I thought you had
three questions in there they thought
you had two did you get the answers that
you needed I don't know how many
questions I had but I got them answered
okay that was very helpful thank you
okay I'm looking around for a second
round of questions
um before we go to second round we have
heard from five of our council members I
just wanted to give a chance to we have
not heard yet before we go for a second
round councilmember D Michelle
um and councilmember Joe did you have
any questions before we go to the second
round okay great council president
thank you
um
I really appreciate the information on
the criteria and I probably should have
looked up the Committees uh all of the
information given to the committee when
that question came up as well
um
what I'm
hearing is maybe that
we're kind of in a
hard place because some of those
decisions have already been made about
which projects to continue work on given
the resources in the beginning of the
year
and
um also that
there was a lot of evaluation and
decision making used for that so
I can accept that area
the
the other area that I'm still having
trouble with I think is if I was looking
at an entire budget and making decisions
about
where I felt like we needed Staffing
if I got this information I might say
and I also got the information from
Human Services and police and planning
and all of that
I might make the decision to do fewer
capital projects
in my mind the title 18 future updates
super super important having Staffing
for the Motel 6 project that isn't
really happening right now super super
important and so I am still struggling
with making a decision about
a
one Department's needs without looking
at other departments and what those
needs are for the full of our city
I think
um additionally
I am concerned about what our future
Revenue looks like if we're adding these
these Staffing commitments on
we made a decision in our previous
budget cycle that our Revenue could
support a certain number of staff and
projects and operations costs and now
we're making a decision to add almost a
million dollars per year worth of
Staffing costs without
saying that we necessarily have the
revenue for that in a future budget Year
yes I appreciate that we're looking at
this and saying we can you know not do
some projects and have that money and
utilize all of that for this current
budget amendment but we're still not
looking at that 2025 budget and saying
we're going to have the revenue to
support these positions
at that time when it comes up because
we didn't have that money when we made
the decision on budget previously
otherwise
I would have said let's put another
person in planning for you know Title 18
future updates or we would have said do
we have the right Staffing for ipd so
I'm still struggling with that uh this
is a difficult
policy decision to make in a vacuum
and council president thank you for that
um
you know we would never as a
Professional Organization come and ask
you to pit one Department's needs
against another so we would never come
and say if you're going to do this
you know you have to pick if it's going
to be police officers or firefighters or
this so part of what the team is doing
is trying to present you
this very unusual request but also doing
it within that broad scope that I think
you're asking for so it's it if it feels
uncomfortable this is uncomfortable
it really is but we as a team try to
make sure that we have evaluated and
present to you a proposed Staffing plan
that we think will get the work done so
not
sure like when you do your wonderful
Retreats with your Council priorities
that's what we try and bring you back so
I would hope that we aren't giving you
the impression that we would ever
shortchange one group over another
no and I'll just respond to that I don't
think we are necessarily short-changing
any group or that you would try to pit
departments against each other but
ultimately budget decisions are about
making
decisions and evaluations between
different needs and so that is a super
super important part of our job in
evaluating that budget and so right now
yes I'm seeing the need in public works
I am absolutely seeing that
but I also know in the back of my head
there's all these other areas that are
super important as needs for the city
and
that's that's the play that's happening
for me thanks
um I think that's councilmember D
Michelle
is it is it appropriate to comment
rather than ask a question or are we
still asking questions you're in the
motion I think comments are great
okay I'm going to try and see this is
stick delicately and diplomatically as I
can
but um
I I think we have a director now that
brings and that's what I was trying to
say deep professional
ability to analyze situations and we may
not have had that when we were working
on our budget and now we have it and we
have a person who has presented us with
a proposal that has been worked on not
only by yourself but by our whole
department
and I just want to say that
perhaps we didn't have the full
information when we were doing the
budget and now we have a much clearer
picture
end of comment
I don't think I want to say anything
else besides that I I'm very diplomatic
um let's we are in the comment section
so council member Ray had some questions
but this is the time for you to make
your comments if you'd like council
member Ray
you sure okay
um
so one of the things that really became
clear in the discussion we had in
infrastructure was how much
infrastructure debt we have in the City
of Issaquah and every day that we don't
address that is a day that that debt
gets deeper and it's going to be harder
to dig out and so
um so
we need I think we need to move forward
with putting a team together that can
move us forward so I really appreciate
um Council president's comments about
um positions particularly the out your
funding that was actually my my biggest
question was great we got this year
covered and maybe next year but what
about the out years I think that's
legitimate question that we're going to
have to we're going to have to solve for
um but I also believe that that's
something we can we can do and I also
believe that it's the job of the
administration to come back to us I mean
I don't think that this was
um this is the first of a trickle of and
now we need two police officers and now
we need four you know so I I think that
the the administration made a
determination that this is really what's
on fire this is where we need help if
we're going to meet meet our goals so I
think that so these positions make sense
to me
um
and then you know it's funny buddy when
I look at the motion it doesn't talk
about the prioritization of projects at
all I mean that's really kind of um an
operational decision and and I got to
rely on our Public Works to understand
what our priorities are
but then to manage the sequencing of
projects in such a way that makes the
most sense because managing a program
which is why I'm excited about your
program manager managing a program is
different than managing a project
because you need to look at how all
these things interact and so
um I think it's reasonable for us to
give guidance on we like this and we
know more than that but I think I want
Public Works to operate
these things as a program and to really
to bring together the interdependencies
and the funding streams and the
resources in a package that gets us the
most with what we have right now so
you guys are professionals at it I got
to rely on you recognizing that we have
our
our priorities so I think this is the
right thing to do I think it's the right
thing to do tonight I'm I'm ready to
kind of move forward with this thanks I
have two more speakers
um I'm going to go first to council
member Joe who has not made a comment
yet and then back to council member hunt
thank you um
I'll stress the transportation
engineering comparison slide that came
up that showed you know that we put
quite a burden on our Issaquah employees
in terms of
3.83 projects as opposed to 2.22 which
is the average we also put a great
burden on them in terms of the amount of
money that they're kind of responsible
for 6.3 million dollars is kind of their
responsibility for the value of the
projects that they're working on and the
value of projects per 1000 populations
not almost a million dollars my point is
that that we have been
um demanding quite a bit from our Public
Works employees and we need to be
cognizant of of burnout and working them
to a point where they go elsewhere right
and I think that
I don't see in the near future a great
supply of Engineers coming out such that
we are going to be having too many
engineers in our department with
turnover and just the way that the
market is out the next five or ten years
I think
we're going to be lucky to have what we
have and the the Administration has
really done a great job with director
moon to put a a package together that
kind of does the very best with what we
have as council member Ray points out
and
um gives us the best chance for success
to achieve some of the goals that that
the council has said are important the
projects picked and how they're done you
know is not necessarily in the purview
of the council we're going to rely on
our professional staff to do that and
I'll be supporting the motion this
evening thank you thank you
councilmember Joe I believe everybody's
had a chance to speak but I'm going to
go back to councilmember hunt and then
make my way around the table again
councilmember hunt
thank you Madame mayor
um I will go ahead and make a motion to
continue this conversation to April 17th
promotion's been made
second second would you like to speak to
the motion
yes thank you
um it's always challenging to make
to make an argument about
that's that sort of hinges on a
procedural thing but I do think actually
this one is really important I think we
have an opportunity to consider the
budget amendment with
as the implications of the decision at
the same time and I've in the past you
know sometimes we've directed the
finance administrator to make decisions
um or to to make amendments and then it
comes back and there have been changes
to
um to the budget that then you know I
have to
that then have to be considered sort of
separately but they had sort of also
already been given Direction on by the
council and
um that for me has been really difficult
and this is an opportunity that's
supported by the administration to
actually consider the amendment with the
policy decision about increasing the
Staffing levels and we can't do that
tonight but we could do that in two
weeks and there's not a material
difference according to the
administration
so
for a policy making body and for me as a
policy maker I really think that that's
a big step in the right direction to
consider the policy to consider the
budget amendment with the policy
decision about increasing the Staffing
levels
um as I said before my issue is really
with the changes to the projects I do
believe we have
and and
um the reason that we have we'll have to
consider the budget amendment is because
we as a council do have oversight over
changing the money and changing the
funding that goes into these projects
and we did approve a budget that
included for example for example The
Laughing Jacobs Creek project
so
um
for that reason I do think we have
the purview to to
um
to make
um to make judgments about
the different priorities that we want to
include in the budget salmon and coconut
very important it's been said that if we
got that Grant perhaps we could then
um have Staffing Resources to do that
project I would like to have that
um as part of the agenda Bill and to
have that information in front of us so
we could consider it as a package
um so I I make this motion to consider
that full package and again because I
have
um a serious concern about the project
timeline and I said Sam as a city that
so values salmon and especially Kokanee
which we really do have the obligation
to support because this is a very
endangered population very few habitat
places
um I can't support that without
I can't support this bill because of
that as an implied issue but I feel like
in two weeks we can have more
um consideration of that with potential
other options and I would appreciate my
fellow council members giving that two
weeks so we could consider that full
package thank you
uh I saw a couple mics go up and down
I'm not sure if it was counselor D
Michelle or councilmember Mertz
yep I just couldn't see who went first
so you can defer to okay council member
marks followed by council member D
Michelle
respectfully I'm going to oppose the
amendment um I I don't really want to
get into a project by project analysis I
think the administration you know we've
had things over the last couple years
where we've had where the administration
decided to come back and be like hey we
were going to work on this thing we
didn't need to work on it this year so
instead we're talking about small delays
and the administration's already given a
rationale on it
um
I don't see
um a budget assessment in two weeks
that's going to fundamentally change
this is you know three ftes out of a
what 250 FTE organization thereabouts we
have a plan this is not uh it's not like
we it's not the administration coming to
us with a pickup opportunity that we
didn't know that we had two weeks ago
and there's some urgency to it we have
put a lot of time and effort into this
Capital uh plan and so and we've spent
so much of the last three years being
unable to do the things that we know we
need to do as a city and make the
Investments that we need to make so I am
just excited about getting moving uh
right now so thanks
councilmember D Michelle
so I will be supporting the motion and I
think we are on the path we've been
assured that things are going to move
forward over the next two weeks while
we're doing a little bit deeper dive it
sounds if I and please correct me
council member hunt if I'm saying this
incorrectly but uh it sounds as though
council member hunt would like us to
consider
putting laughing Jacob's Creek back on
the active list and where we find the
money to do that uh
perhaps having the administration come
back with that proposal and I have an
additional question about it if we're
going to consider it and that would be
how does this all relate if at all to
the big Culvert projects that we're
going to have along I-90
and yes we do want to support our
Kokanee so I will be supporting it I
don't think that from what I've heard
tonight that is substantially going to
delay the project if we could take
another two weeks to consider
the adding that one project back on the
active list and finding the funding to
do that or the resources to do that so
um I again I do support the motion and
next week I plan to vote for it but I I
don't see any downside to taking a
couple of weeks to consider
councilmember Hunt's questions thank you
thank you councilmember D Michelle I
have a question for the city
administrator and Public Works director
these would come back as two separate
motions so there would be budget
adjustment under one motion and the same
motion we had here tonight so if there
was no firm direction from the Council
on resourcing we would still expect to
have a vote on the Staffing plan so they
set what you're thinking two different
votes
well I think if we're just continuing
the motion that's on the floor then we
it would be the motion that's on the
floor so we would still be coming back
at a future meeting beyond that
with with the Staffing plan and the
budget amendment as two separate votes
that's right and it would not be in on
the 17th
it would not be on the 17th would not be
on the 17th
correct if if we're continuing the
motion that's on the floor motion on the
floor has us coming back at some future
date with that so we would come back
though and address
the funding as it is currently before
the council this evening and so we would
make and I I think that councilmember D
Michelle is correct that it's that one
project would be the one that we would
focus on I guess what I'm trying to make
sure is that before they take their vote
they really understand what they're
voting on which is this motion would not
bring items back in two weeks would not
bring this by the item before the
council back in two weeks okay this
particular vote and the budget
adjustment
it would just bring the item before you
just this one okay so that motion is
direct the finance director to come back
at a future meeting beyond that with a
budget adjustment and then the human
resource director at a future meeting
beyond that to do that that's the motion
on that's okay and city clerk am I are
you following me
okay okay and then the second part to
that is
um is it clear
to the city council of what information
would be coming in the next two weeks
so my understanding from the discussions
that the council's had if this motion
passes to continue the item that the
administration will go back and look at
another funding plan and
bring that back to the council
um
different than the one that's currently
before you
and that's what I want to make sure
before I call for the voters that you
all understand what would happen in the
next two weeks so council member Ray
I'm sorry a funding plan or a
prioritization of initiatives plan
because the funding plan is the funding
plan and I I haven't heard anybody say
well that's not true I've heard concern
about some of the funding plan but the
thing that's driving the the continuance
isn't the funding plan it's the thing
that's not in the motion at all which is
about prioritization of of uh
initiatives so I I continue to go back
to what are we going to do in the next
two weeks if we if we wait I mean I
don't care about waiting so much but I
want to know what are you going to do
so Madam mayor councilmember Ray
if the motion on the floor passes
um and talking with director moon this
afternoon we were looking specifically
at laughing Jacobs Creek and we believe
again that Grant has not been received
we are not cannot do work on the project
until the grant is received if we
receive the grant the grant has a match
that match is being taken away in order
to balance the package that's before you
so we believe we would come back to the
council and the match plus a couple of
other requirements is 175 000 correct
yes the City match is 175 000 and then
we would need additional project
management so we would either come back
to you and say Here's another project
that we would say you don't we aren't
going to do in order to have that 175
thousand dollars if the grant happens
and that may be from from balance it may
be from Reit
um it may be from some other General
Source we have no non-general fund
Source available to uh well Reit would
be a non-general fund Source this would
likely be from the stormwater fund as
well from the storm water fund
so that's what we would do to come
because I don't believe again we've in
the work that we've done in the last day
on this there's a lot of other choices
quite honestly but if the choice was
that we needed to have laughing Jacob's
Creed move forward in order for the
council to approve this plan then we
would find 175 thousand dollars to have
just in case the grant happens if the
grant doesn't happen we have no
resources to move forward with this it
would remain in the budget and hopefully
we would come up with another plan
probably as part of the 24 biennium
revision
to fund this project without the grant
that's council member Ray that's the
specific piece of this that we would
work on over the next two weeks
uh councilmember hunt
um I just wanted to make it clear that
having that additional information is
the intent of the motion so I wanted to
make sure that the motion would get us
that information but it sounds like it
does so thank you
any other comments before I call for the
vote
seeing none
um could you reread the motion for me
City Clerk
sure it's to continue this item to the
April 17 2023 city council meeting
thank you
so the motion on the table is to
continue this item to the April and read
my own writing 18th
17th 2020 2023 city council meeting all
those in favor indicate by saying aye
aye aye
all those opposed indicate by saying nay
nay
council member hunt I didn't catch your
vote three eyes and four Nays so the
motion does not proceed back to the
original motion that's on the table does
anybody want to continue to speak to the
motion Deputy Council or sorry council
president
thank you
um
so I heard councilmember Ray earlier
talk about infrastructure debt and that
really was striking to me and it kind of
made me change my perspective on some of
this I think
I think much like
our budgets in the past and our CIP
discussions in the past have been very
much a scarcity mindset
they've been a
we only have this bucket and we have to
make decisions between things and
I think that is exactly why we are con
reconsidering the CIP including the
funding sources
so if I take that as part of my
perspective on this I think there's
still the niggling question of
how do we manage these operation costs
in the future but it does
give a different perspective on how we
manage our CIP projects toward being
able to complete the projects that our
community relies on that we decide are
important priorities and all of that and
so
I was trying to fit all of these things
in to
this past
mindset or framework we've used for the
budget but we really are kind of
transitioning toward this idea of
what are the projects now let's figure
out how the funding goes and I think
that
from my perspective
changes things around on this so at this
point I'm going to support this and I
Look to having some future conversations
about how we how we work on those
prioritizations how we understand what
all of the needs are in all of the
Departments and all of the project needs
so that we can better conceptualize this
idea in the future
thank you council president any other
comments before I call for the vote on
the motion uh City administrator
yes thank you uh there is another piece
of director Moon's presentation that
kind of got passed over and that is the
future question
um and I think you might want to expand
upon this
um we have not budgeted properly staff
resources for a lot of these projects
that in some cases the general fund has
subsidized uh projects because we have
not adequately build the time of the
individuals and so as we are working on
25 and well it's really 24 but 25 and
beyond that is a key change that public
work staff is working on so the true
cost of these projects will be
represented with the appropriate
Staffing and so that means projects may
increase in cost but at least you're
paying for it up front versus having the
general fund subsidize it by staff that
aren't being paid for by these projects
that have a fair explanation it is it's
going to require a little bit of Staff
analysis to try to get the numbers
correct but indeed we're going to go
through an effort of trying to look at
what Staffing Resources are needed on
each project and how can we cost account
do some project accounting back to the
Project's cost this is not uncommon to
index positions to projects and to
reflect the Staffing costs in the
project budget but we have not done that
as we developed the next CIP we've
already been in motion with that I I
went into this weight we would need to
come back and kind of have that
conversation with you there's a lot of
movement between funds and and
individual positions are split sometimes
across five funds so it's a little more
complicated than it might seem and
that's why I think as as director Boone
showed you the costs associated with 23
and 24 because we figure by 25 we'll
have figured it out maybe not completely
for 24. so that as far as if there's
concern that you're adding costs to the
Future you're adding costs to the Myriad
of projects in the Myriad of funding
sources these are not going to be direct
ads to the general fund and we should
have it pretty well figured out in time
for a budget for 25.
I'm going to councilmember hunt and if
anyone else has any final comments just
raise your mic councilmember
thank you
um I will not be supporting this and it
really has to do with the implied
changes to the project uh work plan and
specifically the Kokanee very important
project for cooking I think we we still
have an opportunity to consider that if
we do get the Grant and I look forward
to hearing from Public Works director
Moon if we do get that Grant
um but this is very important for for us
for our partners in the Kokanee work
group for the Snoqualmie tribe
um super important project and we're
it's implied in this bill that we are
not going to fund it and fund other
things instead so I won't be supporting
that but I look forward to having
continued conversations about how we can
um support this important little redfish
population that we really
have a unique responsibility to protect
thanks thank you councilmember hunt uh
councilmember Mertz
I I just want to put a bookmark on uh
what the city administrator said if we
um next time we do a budget if we have
an ability to talk about positions that
are essentially Grant funded that are
effectively Grant funded as opposed to
forever I mean a full-time position is a
full-time position but I could Envision
having a more valuable conversation next
time we have budget if we say these
things are essentially Grant funded and
these things are essentially general
fund long I don't want to say long term
because it you know what I mean like I
think that'll be important because if we
if we're ramping up our grant activities
I don't want to have that conflate my
annual conversation about
um not increasing our uh per capita cost
in real dollars right I want to be able
to understand what was a natural result
of an increased Grant uh activity thanks
great
um
council member Joe
I just um had a clarification question
for City administrator we didn't get the
grant for laughing Jacobs Trail in this
last cycle
laughing Jacob's Creek thank you what
did I say laughing Trail there is a
trail there though okay thank you
um but if we do get the Grant in the
second cycle
um what would the administration do with
that money would you take that grant
money and try to find the matching money
from the ending fund balance or other
source so if we did get the grant later
in the year this project would still
potentially go forward is that true
yes I think the question just is the
timing
okay thank you very much appreciate it
councilmember Joe any more comments
before I read this really long motion
not seeing a hand not seeing microphones
raised
so the motion before the council is to
authorize four hundred and ten thousand
dollars in professional service funding
for Public Works project and franchise
management assistance and to authorize
the following new positions 1.0 FTE
signal technician 1.0 FTE senior
engineer capital projects manager for
utilities engineering 1.0 FTE senior
engineer capital projects manager for
transportation engineering 1.0 FTE
Capital program and franchise manager
and to direct the Human Resources
Director to revise the salary ordinance
to add the new classification for the
capital program and franchise manager
and to direct the financial officer to
bring forward a subsequent 2023-24
budget amendment to fund the
Professional Services and additional
positions all those in favor signify by
saying uh
those opposed
nay
um that passes with a six to one vote
thank you very much the next item of
business tonight is our committee in
Regional reports and we'll start with
council member Joe thank you on April
12th the ltch committee will be meeting
um we are looking to brainstorm ways to
effectively promote the
ltch program with groups beyond the
circle of groups that we have have
traditionally seen asked for funding and
see if we can kind of broaden the uh the
aperture a little bit more April 18th
the Cascade water Alliance finance
committee will be meeting and Chris Ray
will be attending that meeting April
19th is a public affairs meeting for
Cascade water Alliance and I will be
attending that meeting that concludes my
report thank you thank you councilmember
Joe councilmember D Michelle
thank you on April 21st I co-chaired the
connect to community Advisory Group to
the healthier here board connect to
community is getting ready for a soft
launch this month we're so excited of
the Community Information exchange
Network
We Are all uh just very excited just a
reminder that the ciece CEI will be a
platform where health and Behavioral
Health Specialists will be able to share
patient information and develop virtual
care teams focus on the best outcomes
for people with co-occurring conditions
so if you need to think about it a
little bit different way think about the
together Center as a brick and mortar
concept that is similar to the virtual
cie and that's exactly what we're trying
to accomplish is break down the barriers
between health and Behavioral Health so
we're very excited going to launch here
in just the next week or so and you'll
be hearing more about it that on April
29th I attended the Eastside Human
Services Forum lunch and learn and we
heard from the Human Services Managers
from Bellevue Kirkland Redmond Sammamish
and Issaquah about the Human Services
priority for each Community it was a
really really informative session and
lots of good questions lots of good
discussions I learned a lot and our own
Monica negrila provided an outstanding
presentation so I distributed a summary
of the content to the council earlier
anyone interested in getting that same
document please contact me
but it does I think provide a good
overview of all of the concerns the top
concerns of Human Services people on the
east side and I'm also was I'll have to
say I was remiss in not inviting you to
attend and I will not make that mistake
at our next
forum that we put on for eastside Human
Services Forum because this was just a
really exciting and outstanding session
so thank you
thank you councilmember 8. the council
mobility and infrastructure committee
will not be meeting this month and that
concludes my report thank you councilman
Mertz
thanks Madam mayor the sound cities
Association public issues committee will
be meeting this Wednesday April 12th in
person for the first time in a long time
so look out rent and here we come
um
and meeting at six o'clock for uh for a
little beverage I think before the seven
o'clock formal meeting start uh no
actions are planned but we will be
discussing the legislative session and
Wastewater rates and Regional water
quality governance and uh veterans
seniors and Human Services Levy but
again none of this is expected to have
action taken and uh
I also have a committee that's not
meeting this month services safety and
Parks uh does not have any agenda items
for the month of April but I know that
we're already cooking up good things for
May this concludes my report thank you
councilmember and council member had I
apologize for skipping over you did a
great job sending out an email update
would you care to read that or would you
care to have council president read it
your choice
um I can read it good but thank you
thanks yeah
um so on March 28th the city council
Planning Development and environment
committee met when we had two items the
first item was that we discussed
id1394 comprehensive plan periodic
update and scope and with this comp plan
update there will also be a full Eis
environmental impact statement for the
project we reviewed the elements that
will be updated in the comp plan which
includes land use housing Mobility
Capital facilities utilities Parks
Economic Development and two items that
aren't required but that are already in
the comp plan so these would be updates
to existing items and those are a
cultural element and a human services
element
so after discussing that these two
non-required items would be a Light Lift
because the work has largely already
been done for example in the Human
Services strategic plan the committee
did support the scope of the update as
recommended by the administration
we also were asked to weigh in on if
analysis of parking should cover Central
Issaquah or Citywide
um so only Central or Citywide and we
unanimously agreed in committee that
parking analysis should be Citywide
um and we also
um discussed that Council has waited on
this previously so we wanted to make
sure that we were internally consistent
with our past conversations on this and
felt that that analysis should be
Citywide and should also cover best
practices and Recent research on on
parking
we also reviewed and supported the
engagement plan for the comp plan update
which includes an emphasis on equity and
which will include
um working with the equity commission
and will also include engagement in
multiple languages which we thought was
very important and overall the committee
felt that the title 18 land use code
update which we are nearing the end of
um which a lot of Staff work went into a
lot of council work and a lot of
community engagement that that would be
a solid foundation for this comp plan
update so the administration is
recommending that an item come forward
at a on consent at a subsequent
council meeting not not tonight but at a
different meeting that would formalize
the scope of the comp plan update I
wanted to flag this for Council because
the comp plan is a big
is a big
um is a big policy
body of work and this is sort of the
first scoping conversation that we've
had but it is an intermediate and a long
process and so it is a bit unusual to
have something come out of committee at
an intermediate step and go to Council
on consent but um since the
administration felt that this was this
was important and since this is a big
and important and complex undertaking
and sort of an exception we wanted to
give an opportunity for Council to weigh
in now so I will raise this and go to
the order but we also
um did did agree with the
administration's recommendation which
would be that this
scope be formalized in a agenda bill
that would be on consent at a future
meeting so that council could kind of
approve approve that in a formal way so
again I will raise that I go to the
order in case in case there are any
questions for me or my fellow committee
members on the comp plan scope update
um then also we had one other item which
was id1340 public contractor code of
conduct and this code was based on the
private contractor code of conduct the
council recently incorporated into our
municipal code on March 7th all there
were a few changes that were made in the
private version for example providing
for flexibility and shaping the
communication and Outreach plan because
in the case of a City Contractor working
on a city project it is often actually
the city that is managing that
engagement or those signs and one other
important difference between the public
and private code is that the private
code is recommended to be included as an
appendix to the city's construction
contracts rather than incorporated into
Municipal Code so this was recommended
by both the public works department as
well as the City attorney to do this and
then um sorry uh
attachment appendix to the city's
Construction contract rather than have a
second
code in the municipal code to address
City projects
the committee requested some additional
Clarity around where the changes to the
code says things like as may be required
and the committee also asked that the
communications part of the code be
Rewritten to focus on the role of the
contractor and the committee requested
that the administration bring back more
information to the committee about the
role of the city on that Communications
and public engagement and signage Etc
um which will will be the responsibility
of the city so we felt we needed more
information on that and the committee
did ultimately support this item
returning to Council on consent at a
future meeting with those requested
changes and clarifications
the next meeting of the Planning
Development environment committee will
be on May 2nd and we currently have two
items ID 1403 comp plan update housing
and land use and ID
1431411 building and fire code adoption
thank you thank you councilmember Deputy
council president
um thank you really briefly just to
announce that the next board of
directors meeting for eastside fire and
rescue is next Thursday at 4 pm at our
headquarters on Newport Way Northwest
this is our board orientation for the
year and will include this year an
informational update on our deployment
model so that way we can all be good
Advocates of operations and how ether
goes about doing that I am trying to get
it recorded so we can send it out to the
rest of the council and anyone who else
who might want to get a better
understanding of the deployment model
for ether so stay tuned on that
thank you council president
thank you I also have a short report the
next meeting of the growth management
policy board is on this Thursday April
6th the agenda includes adopting the
um or recommending the adoption of the
Kitsap county-wide planning
um
planning policies
forget what CPP stands for but the
county-wide plans basically plus a
discussion item on the 2024
comprehensive plan outreached cities and
finally information about the Puget
Sound Regional council's summer
activities they're doing a planning
Academy for students and so if you know
any students that are interested in
planning trying to get them in young
this year apparently thanks
thank you council president next on to
the mayor's report there will be an
executive session this evening to
discuss pending or potential litigation
for RCW
42.30.110 paren one print I the items
are expected to take approximately 30
minutes and no action is anticipated to
follow an open session
um this is pretty exciting council
member D Michelle has participated this
event before but we have now got for a
second year in a row a youth
volunteering in Issaquah has been
awarded the association of Washington
City Center for qualities qualities
Community scholarships so this year
Rishi hasra has been awarded a
scholarship from the association of
Washington City's Center for qualities
communities Rishi is a Skyline High
School ASB president and is a regular
youth member on his quiz environmental
board as the mayor I would like to thank
him for his outstanding service to our
community and congratulate him on a
scholarship
we are now seeking nominations are now
open for the Issaquah Hall of Fame award
this is a top honor for individuals who
made a lasting contribution to our
community each year the mayor and
council president select a person to
induct into the Issaquah Hall of Fame
for their exemplary record of
inspiration leadership and service the
award will be presented virtually at the
Chamber of commerce's annual Issaquah
Community Awards event on May 24th and
nominations can be submitted at
isqua.gov nominate the deadline for
nominations is 5 PM April 28th
the civil emergency
proclaimed on March 6 2020 due to the
covid-19 pandemic is terminated as of
April 3rd 2023 and the exercise of the
emergency authority vested to the mayor
by chapter 38.52 RCW is no longer
necessary the City of Issaquah shall
continue to follow health and safety
guidance issued by the Department of
Public Health Seattle and King County
and the Centers for Disease Control so
there's a few upcoming events to share
April 5th is Passover which is one of
the Jewish holidays recognized on a
religious and cultural calendar April
8th there will be an underwater egg hunt
this is an egg hunt at Julia's bone pool
from two o'clock to 4 pm
please bring your families in a basket
to collect your eggs for this event and
pre-registation is required
April 8th we will be having a recycling
event so to encourage the use of
recycled content material and more
efficient use of water the city is
offering rain barrels at a huge discount
in addition start backyard composting
with a compost bin to save resources and
money composting is a natural process
that turns yard waste into rich soil
yard waste contains mostly water and
once the material decomposes rich soil
is all that's left wormbing composting
is an efficient way to convert kitchen
scraps into nutrient-rich compost for
your garden these are simple to assemble
and can be stored in or outside items
are all made from recycled plastic and
the last event and activity is the
sustainability Fair on April 16th so
come and join us for our inaugural
sustainability Fair which is sure to
inspire and engage you Pickering Barn
will be packed with vendors from 10 a.m
to 2PM that offer sustainable products
resources education materials kids
activities and much much more you can
learn more about the fair at esqua.gov
sustainability fair and that concludes
the mayor's report the
next item on our agenda this evening is
the good of the order so what have we
got for good there to start with council
president and then Deputy council
president
thank you um I have a few items first of
all I wanted to announce to the council
and community members that
um before our next council meeting on
April 17th we are having a reception for
the Ruth keys and Community
environmental award recipients
um so please make a note on your
calendars if that's there
um second we had a community listening
session that was great and so last week
we held a community listening session at
Atlas Apartments Council and staff heard
from eight to ten residents many of whom
hadn't really previously engaged with
the city and we heard about a variety of
issues including Creek flooding property
crime the homeless population and more
just wanted to appreciate the staff who
came out and helped us with that and
then the community members who came down
and had some deep conversations got a
chance to speak to us all one-on-one
um and then the final item
so as you heard in the mayor's report
the mayor has ended the proclamation for
covid-19 emergency one of the things I
wanted to bring up to council is that
one of our policies that we started
there that isn't technically in our
rules of procedure or required as part
of our
um
agenda items we've been summarizing
emails received from community members
at the top of that agenda item and this
was started when community members
couldn't attend meetings in person to
have their voice heard but since then
we've obviously reopened in-person
meetings but we've also added virtual
attendance options so it could be said
that people actually have more access to
be able to voice their concerns than
they ever had before so given all of
that I'd like to ask the council either
tonight or via email to talk to me or
call me whatever about what your
opinions are on keeping or discontinuing
that practice
I think we are at a time when we could
recognize whether that is still useful
for us or not so I would love to hear
more
and I will hear from you guys I would
guess over emails so those were the
three items thank you thank you council
president Deputy council president
sure unless there's anyone that wanted
to give feedback on that right away
I think um councilman council member I
thought she has a separate thing well
okay so we'll go to Deputy council
president and then council member hunt
um yeah just really quickly I wanted to
say as part of our consent calendar we
had an informational update on the
public engagement toolkit and the update
that's been done there and if you didn't
get a chance to look at it it is
excellent I want to thank Autumn Monahan
and Thomas rush I believe are the two
people involved in that so thank you for
your hard work on that
um the equity board I went back and
watched some of the equity board
feedback so I appreciate them being
involved in this process in a genuine
way and that their feedback was made
into
the engagement toolkit and also if you
go and look at the toolkit there are
these fun worksheets that product
managers and different city staff will
actually be able to use now so it's
almost less of a document that you keep
on the shelf and one that you're
referring to constantly and writing and
using in your daily work so I just think
that's excellent I want to call out our
city staff for being creative in the
space and thank you for your excellent
work very nice
um council member hunt
thank you I um as I said in my committee
report we do have a comp plan update
coming up that will go through the
Planning Development and environment
committee but it will also
um very much rely on input from the full
Council and have
um parts of that process that go through
the full Council
um and so as such I wanted to as we're
starting on that I wanted to put it
forward for my fellow council members if
there is feedback on that scope
um that I that I spoke to earlier we did
as a committee ultimately recommend the
same scope as was recommended by the
administration and we also felt like
Title 18 sets us up well for
understanding where we're going with
this comp plan update and I wanted to
check in with my fellow council members
and see if they had thoughts or
questions feedback
on that to give an opportunity now
anyone commenting this evening and if
not always available to send comments to
our council member by email
thank you very much councilmember hunt
anyone else I'm going to add a few
little things and then do some calendar
dates
not seeing anybody
um the reason I had mentioned
councilmember D Michelle and the AWC
scholarship was because she had the
great privilege of going to any AWC
convention and awarding one to our last
year scholarship winner I just want to
remind you all that that is happening in
Spokane and if you're not sure of the
dates we'll make sure to send it out to
you again it's an excellent networking
and advocacy event and we definitely
need someone to present to Rishi I am
going but you should go too
the second one I just want to let the
council know next week on the National
Association of counties pilot project
that we're working on about Integrated
Systems of care we have our second site
visit and I will be taking a mirror from
our human services department and going
to Kansas and visiting two different
counties who have very different
levels of
[Music]
technology and Cooperative agreements in
place on models of Integrated Systems of
care so I think this is something that
our county is hoping to do as well city
of escrow got invited into the pilot
project because we're a strange little
city that happens to have a court a jail
a police department a human services
team Community Court and so we actually
are a tiny little microsum of what
counties are dealing with across country
so pretty excited about that and then
there's the upcoming Council meetings
Monday April 17th the anticipated agenda
items include informational update on
annual crime statistics public hearing
on Title 18 land use code update storm
and surface water master plan preferred
cross-section for TR project tr028 the
Northwest samage wrote Sammamish Road
non-motorized Improvement project and on
Monday April 24th the committee of whole
the anticipated agenda items include
affordable housing and City Hall
planning future options
so those are all the items for good of
the order our next item is an executive
session I think we take a five minute
recess and allow everybody to grab a
drink of water or whatever else you need
so I will read us into executive session
and then we'll take a quick break
the next item of business is the
executive session and the city council
will now recess into executive session
to discuss pending potential litigation
for RCW 42.30 0.110 paren one parent I
this item is expected to take 30 minutes
and no action is anticipated in Open
Session executive sessions are closed to
the public so we will now recess into
executive session
at 9 12 pm and I asked the city clerk to
move the city council and any relevant
staff into a separate session within
this meeting anyone who is not part of
the closed session can remain in the
main meeting and you are welcome to stay
in the meeting until it is reconvened
so we are
entering executive session you have your
break