I will meet you up there.
Whereas when an emergency occurs, the prop  response of police officers is critical to
the pro protection of life and preservation  of property. And whereas professional public
safety telecommunications are vital link  for our community and are the first and
most critical contact our residents have with  emergency services. And whereas public safety
telecommunications are the single vital link  for our police officers by monitoring their
activities by radio, providing their  information and ensuring their safety.
And whereas public safety telecommunications at  the Isqua Communication Center have contributed
substantially to the apprehension of criminals.  And whereas our dispatchers exhibit compassion,
understanding, and professionalism during the  performance of their job. Now, therefore, I,
Mark Muller, mayor of the city of Isqua, do  hereby proclaim the week of April 12th to 18th,
2026 to be public safety telecommunications week  in the city of Isiqua and invite the community
to join me in thanking Isiqua's dispatchers for  their services and outstanding contributions.
And for those of you who don't know about  our new technology upgrades in Isiqua,
if you call 911 in Isqua city limits, you  get directly routed to our Isqua dispatch
center right here at city hall across the street  with an average response time of 2.5 seconds,
which is some of the fastest in the country.  Oh, sorry. You have comments. Go, go, go, go.
You're pinching. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council.  Good evening. April 12th through the 18th,
National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. As  we approach this week, it is a great opportunity
to recognize the work our Erisquators do every  day. Telecommunicators are often the first
point of contact in an emergency. The calm and  reassuring voice people hear what might be the
worst day of their lives. They handle stressful,  sometimes chaotic situations while making sure
that help gets there as it needs to. Most  of their work happens behind the scenes,
but it's absolutely critical in keeping our  community safe. Many of you are aware that
midepptember 25, we became a primary PAP. As  Mr. Mullet had expressed prior to this change,
911 calls made from cell phones in Isiqua  were routed through King County Sheriff's
Office or Washington State Patrol before  being transferred to us, which caused a
slight delay. Now those calls come directly to our  center. This has been a significant and positive
change. Our telecommunicators can answer calls  faster, get officers dispatched more quickly,
and coordinate the fire and EMS services, making  their more seamless co-response when needed.
With the transition, we have experienced a notable  increase in call volume, averaging approximately
480 additional 911 calls per month over the  past five months. The and honestly, this is
where our team really stands out. Even with that  increase, they've continued to do outstanding job,
not just with how they take the callers or care  of the callers, but how they quickly are able to
answer those 911 calls. In 2024, our average 911  answer was 5.42 42 seconds and in 25 it dropped to
2.55 seconds. That reduction, even with increased  demand, speaks volumes about the commitment,
professionalism, and resilience of our team.  Currently, our communication center is staffed
by 13 full-time employees, 12 fully trained state  certified telecommunicators and one in training.
Each of them u plays a critical role in ensuring  the safety and well-being of the community. We
are incredibly proud of the work they do and  we appreciate the continued support from this
council and the community we serve. Thank you.  Right, we have our photo session with Wall-E.
I know. Wow. We're joined by two members of our  legislative delegation here. Oh, one second.
I know we have Representative Zan and  Representative Zach Hall. This is We're
We're a lucky group tonight. Okay. Our next  item on the agenda is ID 2000, Sexual Assault
Awareness and Prevention Month Proclamation.  I'd like to invite Deanna Shutz, King County
Sexual Assault Resource Center board member and  his squad resident to the lecture. Come on up.
So whereas sexual assault awareness and  prevention month calls attention to the
fact that sexual violence is widespread and  impacts every person in this community. Every
68 seconds someone is sexually assaulted  in the United States. And whereas black,
indigenous, and other people of color require  living in poverty, LGBTQ plus people, elders,
people with disabilities, and others who have  been historically oppressed are disproportionately
affected by sexual violence in significant  and complex ways. whereas sexual assault is
among the most underreported crimes for many  reasons. But pres survivors who are already
most marginalized face additional barriers to  reporting such as language, immigration status,
or disability. And whereas ending sexual  violence requires us to address racism, sexism,
and all forms of oppression that contribute to the  perpetuation of sexual assault. Whereas by working
together as a community, we can alleviate the  trauma of sexual violence by ensuring supportive
resources are available to all survivors and  actively disrupting harmful attitudes and
behaviors that contribute to sexual violence. Now,  therefore, I, Mark Mullet, mayor of the city of
Isqua, do hereby proclaim April 2026 to be sexual  assault awareness and prevention month in the city
of Isiziqua. And I encourage all residents to  join me in the special observation. Together, we
commit to a safer future for all children, young  people, adults, and families in our community.
Thank you so much for supporting this important  issue and for helping survivors understand that
they are heard. First, to the survivors in our  community, I want to say you're not alone. Sexual
assault is common. Half of women and one-third  of men have experienced sexual assault in their
lifetime. People from marginalized communities are  at even greater risk. And chances are that each
one of you knows someone who has been affected  by sexual assault. This trauma is something
that can affect a survivor's mental, physical,  and behavioral health, their ability to form
healthy relationships, remain in school, or even  work. But recovery from this trauma is possible
with support. Kesark supported 4,300 individual  survivors and their family members in 2025 alone.
Almost half of our clients are teens and children.  We know young people are the most vulnerable to
sexual assault and the least likely to speak up  because they're afraid they won't be believed.
I want to end with a different message to  survivors. Free and confidential help is
available and to anyone who needs information  about sexual assault. Our 24-hour resource
line staffed by some of the most amazing  compassionate people I have ever known in
my life are available and you can contact  them at 88899 voice. We always say at KARC,
we can't change what we can't talk about. So,  thank you for your leadership and your willingness
to be loud about sexual assault. Not going to  forget to give you the proclamation this time.
The next item of business is ID 1 1990  2026 legislative session report out.
We're going to invite our city lobbyist  Shelley Helder to present this item.
and and Jillian's providing an assist.
All right. Well, good evening. I am Shelley  Helder and I have the privilege of serving as your
contract lobbyist in Olympia. Um, I'm here this  evening to provide a report on the outcomes of the
2026 legislative session. Um, but before I jump  into the presentation, I just want to call your
attention to several documents that are included  in your council packet. Um, first is a written
report that has um an overview. It goes into more  detail of outcomes of issues that the city tracked
this session. Has budget summaries, list of all  the bills the city took positions on. Um there's
also a matrix of outcomes from all the budgets  um that are relevant to cities developed by the
Association of Washington Cities and then um a  rather lengthy document that lists all the bills
that passed this session that have a nexus with  city government. They may not all be applicable
to Isiqua, but I wanted to provide that reference  document for you all and for city staff um to have
awareness of what did pass the legislature. So,  um, this evening there are four sections to my
presentation. I will provide an overview of the  2026 session. Um, we'll review outcomes from the
city's legislative priorities. Um, I'll also touch  on a few additional legislative issues that came
up and then we'll wrap up by talking about next  steps. So, the 2026 session was a short session.
it was 60 days and the um similar as the first  year of the bienium the Democrats held um strong
majorities in both chambers and so they are the  ones that set the priorities for the session.
some of the um priorities and and ended up being  the kind of the themes of issues that came up
throughout the session were responding to um the  federal government's actions um trying to improve
affordability for Washingtonians and reforming  the state's tax code in a short session. Really
the primary objective is to adopt the supplemental  budgets and that what that objective was achieved.
It isn't every short session, so it's worth  mentioning. Um, in addition to the budgets,
the legislature considered over 1,200 bills  and ultimately 268 were passed into law.
So, as I mentioned, the legislature adopted  their three supplemental budgets. Uh,
the most challenging of the three this year was  the operating budget, and that was largely due
to rising maintenance costs. Um and that's driven  by increased case loads um partially from expanded
um programs based on policy choices made um  in previous previous years. The supplemental
operating budget increases spending by 2.4  billion. Roughly 880 million of that amount
is from the state's budget stabilization account  which is also referred to as the rainy day fund.
It's essentially the state's savings account. The  operating budget balances not only because of the
880 million from the rainy day fund, but also  a $375 million transfer from the public works
assistance account. Um that account is backfilled  with bonds from the state's capital budget.
The largest expenditure in the supplemental  operating budget is roughly a billion dollars
to cover the state's self- insurance liability  premium. And I'll touch on that more in a
moment. The other two budgets, the transportation  budget and the capital budget, are traditionally
developed in a bipartisan fashion, and that proved  to be the case this year as well. The supplemental
transportation budget adds 1.2 two billion in  spending authority and really the focus for
that is on maintenance and preservation of the  state's highway system. The supplemental capital
budget authorizes an additional 889 million  and one of the most notable investments in
the supplemental capital budget is 123 million  in um invested in the housing trust fund. That's
in addition to the amount that was allocated to  the fund in the um underlying the bienial budget.
The city has a practice of developing a  legislative agenda to align with the state's
2-year budget cycle and then making small updates  to that agenda based on what's accomplished in the
first year of the bienium. So, as a reminder, in  the 2025 session, the city requested and received
$100,000 for the Creeks to Peaks activation  project and 1.4 million to um support the
recovery from the bomb cyclone. So, those items  were removed from the 2026 legislative agenda,
and we had four priorities heading into this short  session. The first was to protect the timing of
the funding for the state route 18 um widening  and safety project. Um and the goal of that is
to ensure that it can be delivered in a timely  fashion. Um there was also a dual objective of
um making sure budget writer transportation  budget writers know that this is just the first
phase of the project and the second phase which is  Tiger Mountain Summit to Esquaobart Road is still
unfunded. So the supplemental transportation  budget retains all the funding for the first
phase of the state route 18 project. Um and it  it maintains the funding and the timeline needed
for wash to deliver the project on schedule. Um  there was no new funding allocated to not only
SR18 but any project in the state. really the  transportation budget writers were f focused on
backfilling the historic lack of funding in  maintenance and preservation and so the new
funds allocated in the supplemental budget were  not for projects and I I guess I'll just comment
that there is becoming more of a unified um  perspective amongst transportation budget
writers that the historical way of investing  in um transportation projects is through doing
a transportation revenue package every couple  of years and um creating a lot of capacity to
invest in 15 16-year projects or or um horizons  for investment. It doesn't sound like there is
appetite amongst current transportation budget  writers for that to be the case. Um but I will
say I it doesn't seem like there is a new plan yet  arrived at. Um, so I mostly toss that out there
just to say that we're I I expect to see some  creative thinking about how the state invests
in transportation projects, particularly large  projects like the one needed to complete SR18.
The next city's um priority or the next city  priority was fiscal sustainability. And I would
say this was one of um I guess from my perspective  one of the biggest challenges this session given
the state's fiscal climate. Um it was apparent  early in session that there we weren't going to
see an increase in shared revenues to cities. Um  but and so so instead of taking that approach,
we took the the focus of advancing measures  that reduced city costs and particularly
um liability related exposures. So, we  worked with uh Representative David Hackne
and Representative Zach Hall to introduce  House Bill 2393, and this um would have
reduced the civil liability for state and local  correctional facilities. Under current law,
jail operators have limited ability to search  an individual that's admitted to the jail,
which makes it difficult to have confidence  that an inmate is not concealing a controlled
substance. But at the same time, um, if an inmate  overdoses while in jail, case law has established
a precedent that the liability falls to the jail  operator. So, the bill said that if the city
follows uh proper search upon intake, then they  wouldn't be liable for injury to the inmate if
um it was a result of self harm. the chair of the  committee where the bill was referred um declined
to hold a hearing on the bill and asked the city  to work with stakeholders over the interim to
um develop a more comprehensive approach to um  responsibilities for jail operators. So we we had
that feedback. We also worked uh simultaneously  with Senator Wellman in the Senate to advance a
Senate version um in hopes that we could have  a conversation started in the Senate as well.
Um the feedback that we got in the Senate was  that their primary effort was around um Senator
Dingra's bill, Senate Bill 6239, which would  have required arbitration for any uh torque claim
against the state or its subsidiaries. So against  any any local governments. That bill ultimately
didn't pass either, but it did result in a budget  proviso that directs the office of administrative
hearings to convene a committee and provide  recommendations to the 2027 legislature on how to
reduce um liabilities both for the state and local  governments. So, that's something that um we'll of
course be be monitoring on and engaging as as able  over the interim. Um, so we weren't successful in
reducing the city's jail costs, but we did weigh  in with concerns on on several bills that would
have expanded the jail's operating costs, and  those did not make it over the finish line. And
then we also weighed in when it came to policy and  budget decisions impacting existing city revenues.
And I'd say the most notable impact on this is  Senate Bill 6346, which is referred to as the
millionaires tax. Um the bill not only institutes  a tax on high incomes, but it also includes the
elimination of sales tax on select products and  that has the effect of reducing city revenues
uh because cities have local sales tax on those  products and that's eliminated as well. Um so if
the if the legislation is ultimately upheld um it  would reduce city uh sales tax revenues. The bill
does acknowledge this in the intent section. It  recognizes that there will be a reduction in local
government revenues. And then in the 4-year budget  and the four-year outlook, there's 200 million
that is set aside for local government fiscal  health. Um it's it's not specified how that money
gets distributed between cities, counties,  or transit agencies. Um, but it is in the
four-year outlook, so there's time to figure that  out. Lastly, in spite of the state's challenging
budget year, the state did retain most, not  all, but most of the state shared revenues.
There was a roughly $5 million reduction to the  cannabis sharing revenues for cities and counties.
The next priority was a $2.7 million operating  budget request and this was made in coordination
with the ECD gov alliance. Um and the request was  for a new backend permitting system as well as a
refresh of the front-end system. Um, as session  advanced, again, we realized a $2.7 million
request was not going to be feasible, and it was  not realistic for the alliance to um complete the
back-end system with partial funding. So, we ended  up submitting a $1 million request, which would
have would would have been sufficient to complete  the front-end upgrade. Um, and we did have strong
support. I I mean I I I have to recognize  there was a lot of support from the legislators
representing ECG Alliance jurisdictions. Um  the Senate did not accept budget requests. So
that was a challenge. Um but in spite of having  several members submit the request in the House,
we still did not see the funding included in  the House operating budget and ultimately was
not included in the final. Um my my thought on  potential path forward for the ECG gov alliance um
is to consider how how AI plays a role in software  writing. It's far outside my realm of expertise.
Um but in conversations with legislators that  was a question that came up of how could the cost
to develop the software potentially be reduced  as a result of advancements in technology. Um,
so I'm just sharing that as as feedback for you  all as you think about um, permitting. And then
the last but not least uh, priority for um, the  city was support for policies related to immigrant
protections. Um, the first was Senate Bill 60002  regarding um, the allowable uses of automated
license plate readers. Um, this bill allows  law enforcement agencies to use ALPR cameras to
investigate both felonies and gross misdemeanors.  And inclusion of gross misdemeanor was something
that um, cities across the board, but also city  of Isiqua advocated for. Um, and it sets retention
limits at 21 days, which is um, noteworthy because  initially the retention was much shorter and
wouldn't have been helpful for law enforcement  to investigate most cases. Um the cameras are
not allowed on premises for premises or the  immediate surroundings of schools, uh places of
worship or food banks. And um the legislature  also passed laws that ban the use of facial
coverings by law enforcement and established gross  misdemeanor for impersonating a peace officer.
So, in addition to the city's top priorities,  there were a handful of other issues that
we weighed in on in accordance with the city's  policy manual. Um, on the topic of public safety,
several of the public safety bills um that  the legislature considers, I I just mentioned
um budget related items though was the big topic  was funding for public defense and initially there
was some funding for public defense. um included  in the millionaires tax bill that was ultimately
pulled out. And so there this in the supplemental  year was no new funding for public defense. Um
there were several transportation related bills  that the city supported. Um the first was on the
topic of electric motorcycles. There were two  bills that advanced on uh parallel tracks. The
first was House Bill 2374 which was sponsored  by Representative Janice Son and uh Senate Bill
6110 sponsored by Senator Sharon Shoemake. Um  they're they were not companion bills and the
key distinction was that the House bill included a  definition of electric motorcycles and the Senate
version did not. Um ultimately the Senate bill is  the one that passed after um negotiations between
the House and the Senate and ultimately the  Department of Licensing was resistant to including
a definition of electric motorcycles because  of the implications for registration um without
having engaged with the industry that would be  regulated. So there is a committee that will be
um doing work over the interim and there they  have a report due to the legislature in October
um for a definition and uh recommendations to  regulate electric motorcycles and so that will be
legislation we expect to see in the 2027 session.  Um the legislature continued to focus on the
regulation of step housing types which includes  shelters, transitional housing, um emergency
housing, and permanent supportive housing.  In 2021, the legislature adopted House Bill
1220. And that bill required cities to allow these  housing types in areas where hotels are permitted
and to adopt reasonable occupancy sighting  and health and safety regulations. However,
local regulations that were adopted across the  state um have varied widely and in some cases
they were written so narrowly that it prevented  shelters from being located in a community.
So to address these concerns, uh the legislature  adopted House Bill 2266 this session. Um the bill
modifies existing law by requiring cities to allow  permanent supportive housing and transitional
housing in all residential zones. And it requires  shelters and emergency housing in all zones where
hotels are allowed. It also narrows the um types  of spacing, occupancy and health and safety
regulations that cities may adopt. The the bill  was heavily amended through the process through
the input of cities including feedback from the  city of Isiqua. Um ultimately it is a mandate um
it is a mandate on cities. However, it is um incor  it hasn't been incorporated to include a lot of
city feedback um and a lot of feedback about how  to make the bill implementable for cities. So,
um I think it's noteworthy to mention that  the legislature also passed Senate Bill 6026
which authorizes uh residential development in  commercial zones and limits the use of groundf
flooror retail requirements. Um, this was a high  priority piece of legislation for the governor
and the lieutenant governor. And the premise of  the bill, I think, is similar to the premise of
uh bills we've seen from previous sessions,  most similarly aligned with, I would say, the
parking bill from last session, which is that both  parking and groundf flooror retail requirements um
increase the cost of constructing housing. And so  um limiting when that first floor commercial use
is required will lower the cost for developers and  result in more housing. So that was kind of the
the argument behind the legislation after several  rounds of negotiation with cities. Um there was a
final version of the bill that was agreed upon.  Most cities got to neutral. Um, it does retain
some flexibility for cities to still employ  the use of groundf flooror retail requirements
in limited cases. Um, and and opens up a lot  more um, property to be able to for residential
development. I do want to note the bill only  applies to cities with a population of 30,000
or more. And one of the areas that's specifically  carved out to still allow ground flooror retail
are transit station areas. So areas where there's  higher density of people and um um housing.
So now that session is over, I think the the  logical question is what comes next? Um the
first the first and foremost thing that I can  advise the city to do is express gratitude to
your city's legislators. And I'm not just saying  that because two of them are here tonight. Um I
This is a a being a state legislator is obviously  a job they've signed up for and it's a hard one.
Um, but expressing gratitude for the work that  they do in representing the city as evident by
the fact that two of them are here tonight, Isiqua  is uniquely privileged to have the delegation that
you do representing you. Um, and of all the cities  that I work with, Isiqua's legislators reach out
and want to know how to support the city more  than anyone else. So I I share that for you all
to understand the um the charge I guess that I'm  giving you to express your gratitude. You're truly
um well represented in Olympia by um all six  members of your delegation. um to prepare
for the next legislative session, the the things  that I typically recommend um cities do is early
and ongoing engagement with your delegation. Um of  course, express gratitude and then you know, okay,
what can we what can we do to get down to work to  prepare for the next session? Um which gets to the
next point of identifying the city's priorities.  um we already know some of the issues that we
started to work on this session. We were told  work on them over the interim and come back. And
so that's city liability um and and budget city  budget stability. I think those are two issues
that bubble to the top for me. But obviously  um as a city that'll be work that you all do to
identify those priorities. Um, since 2027 will be  the start of a new bienium, we'll also be looking
to not only update the city's priorities, but also  the policy manual um to reflect any new positions.
And then the this um interim, the entire house  and half of the Senate is up for election. So,
we'll be um in campaign season for many members.  um to tee up a discussion about a specific
next step for the city. I'm going to turn it  over to um the city's management an analyst,
Jillian. But before I do so, I I just want to  take a moment and say that um Isiqua is really
fortunate to have such talented staff. Um I had  the privilege of working with Jillian during
the legislative session and she is excellent.  She was my go-to person for any question. Um,
available always, which legislative hours, there's  no such thing as being off hours. She was always
available and she's incredibly knowledgeable  about everything the city's working on. So,
I just wanted to take point of personal privilege  to give a shout out to her and for her real
dedicated uh work to the city. So, I'm going to  turn it over to Jillian to um tee up a discussion.
All right. Thank you, Shelley, for that  really kind introduction. Like she mentioned,
my name is Jillian Stra and I'm a management  analyst. Um, and given Shel's recommendations
on our next steps, the administration proposes  a legislative breakfast this spring. Typically,
the administration and the city council have a  legislative breakfast in the winter following
the adoption of the legislative policy manual  and priorities. Given that we didn't have a
legislative breakfast before this last session,  we're proposing one um this spring with these four
priorities in mind. So, first to strengthen that  already strong citytodelegation relationship in
this kind of informal uh setting before the  session really kicks off again next year to
explain the impact of bills and close the loop  on items that passed or didn't pass this last
session and understand the impacts to cities and  then to preview some of the issues to engage on
in the interim. Like Shelley mentioned, and she  can speak a little bit more on this, I'm sure,
work over the interim sets you up for a really  successful legislative session. So kicking off
this work in May after legis legislators have  had a chance to breathe from the last legislative
session and are turning towards the 27 through 29  bianium is a uh a useful use of the city council's
time. And then fourth to hear from the delegation  to make sure that this is a two-way relationship
and they're getting the information that they  need. So with that, we're seeking your direction
on if we should move forward with a legislative  breakfast this May. If you all approve of that
idea, I'll work with the city clerk to identify a  few dates that work for you all and our delegation
and get that on calendars. With that, um, we're  available for any questions that you have about
the breakfast or about any of the bills you heard  about this session and in Shel's presentation.
Looking can I at least get a nod on the idea  of breakfast? Oh, I'm saying nods. Breakfast
nods. Okay, that's been established. We're moving  forward with a breakfast. Uh, any other questions
from the council before Oh, Council Member  Joe, thank you. Um, you touched on 1220,
the bill that requires housing at all different  uh, economic levels. Um, there was some movement
on condominium reform a little bit. Could you talk  about that and how that might help our 1220 puzzle
as well? Certainly. Um, House Bill 2304 was the  um, I would call it a condo trailer bill. So,
last year there was a bill that um, um,  essentially addressed the liability issue
for condominium construction. Um, but it did not  address it only addressed up to a certain height
up to three stories. So, this year's bill expanded  that liability protection up to four stories. Um,
basically it's one more shift in um, making it  more attractive for a developer to choose to
build condos. Um, because historically it's been a  very risky endeavor and that's why we haven't seen
as many condos uh, constructed in recent years.  When you say it addresses the liability issue,
um, was that a change to the insurance that was  required? Could you go into that a little bit?
Yeah. So, um it it's slightly outside my  realm of expertise, but it's um referred to
as an express or implied warranty. And it does  it it addresses the insurance so that the con
the builder of the condo doesn't have to carry the  full responsibility for anything that may go wrong
down the line. Um so yes, it it is related to the  insurance or the liability for the builder. Okay.
Thank you very much. Oh, Council Member Walsh, can  I give feedback or you know all that? Just always
a pleasure having you on our legislative advocacy  team. Like it really I know I've heard from our
legislators that you are easy to work with. I  know it's been great working with you as a council
member. Um I know these are always tough years.  Um, I don't think this last year was necessarily
any different, but I I just wanted to say I really  appreciate getting this update and the work that
you did during the session. Thank you. And I'll  be calling our legislators and saying thank you.
Right. Okay. I think you're all set. Thank you  very much, Shelley and Jillian. Our next item is
audience comments, and they can be made in person  or virtually. Those who signed up in advance will
be called on first. If you did not sign up in  advance, it's okay. We will give you a chance
to raise your hand afterwards and and still  come up. Uh if you're joining us virtually,
raise your virtual hand. If you're on the  phone, I think the magic path is star three.
And if you're in the room and did not sign up,  you will get a chance. And just as a reminder,
you can also submit written comments to city  council is qua.gov. And we ask people to be
professional. try to have your comments in that  3 to five minute range. We do give brevity bonus
points for people who come under those amounts.  And uh and with that, madam clerk, do we have
anyone signed up for audience comments? Yes. Uh  the first is here in the room, James Markart.
Thank you. Uh good evening. My name is James  Markort. a resident on Squawk Mountain. Uh
last October, Diana Romero dropped off her  four-year-old son at the Learning Nest preschool
on Newport, way just down the road from where  we're sitting and was loaded into an unmarked
SUV by federal agents in front of her son. I  made a public comment at this council shortly
after and asked the direct question, was she  tracked using cameras on city property? The
response I received was reassuring. The city  didn't have any flock cameras. a famously
insecure ALPR camera system and city systems  weren't accessed. I'm here tonight because that
reassurance is about to become obsolete.  And given the faces here have changed,
this is something we still need to talk about.  Flock cameras are just one manufacturer of
connected license plate readers. The exact  technology that allowed federal agents across
Washington to track people's movements, their  routines, where they dropped their kids off.
We don't know how Diana Romero was found, but  we know that in cities that had these systems,
federal agents were quietly accessing location  data, sometimes through a misconfigured setting,
sometimes without the city's knowledge at all.  Installing this system creates that risk here
in a community that has already felt what that  risk looks like in practice. It has come to my
attention that the city is preparing to to bring  a congressional grant for license plate readers
before this council likely in June. The framing  I've seen suggests that SB 602 is being treated
as sufficient justification to move forward. I  respectfully disagree and I've left a handout
with my registration tonight that documents  why in detail citing the bill's own language.
SP 60002 is not yet law. Governor Ferguson has not  signed it. But more importantly, even when signed,
its enforcement is reactive rather than  preventative. It penalizes city employees
who misconfigure a sharing setting after the fact.  It does not require flock or other manufacturers
to make dangerous configurations architecturally  impossible in the first place. SB 602 does not
require this city or any other city to install  cameras. It is a floor, not a mandate. The
question before this council is whether that floor  is currently high enough given what this community
and others have already lived through. I'm asking  you to decline or def or defer accepting this
grant or installing cameras until Flock or other  camera vendor uh vendors considered by the city
can demonstrate architecturally, not contractually  that what happened to other Washington cities
cannot happen here. Thank you. Thank you very  much, Madam Clerk. Next, we have Don Robertson.
Oh, excuse me.
My name is Don Robertson. I've been a resident  of Squawk Mountain with my family for since 1983.
I'm here to speak on behalf of the Isiqua  History Museums and the Isiqua Trolley.
I've been a volunteer dossent at the train depot  for nearly 20 years. Uh during that time I've
witnessed the trolley operations and I was able  to watch it uh um during its heyday. Uh I was able
to see the joy of the people particularly young  children who rode the trolley. The stories told by
the conductors were instructive of new newcomers  to some of the history of our of our community.
It brought people out and provided traffic for our  businesses. I was on the board of directors when
uh due to budgetary issues, the decision to  cease operations became necessary. That was
shortly before CO shut everything down. Since the  museum u reopening after covid I have continued as
a dossent and I served in that function a couple  times a month and almost without exception there's
at least one visitor or two visitors that ask  about the trolley they want to know when it's
going to start operating again or why it isn't  operating or just a lot of different things and
I try to do the best I can to to explain it  there clearly is an interest in restarting
ing the trolley. Often those visitors that visit  the train depot are either coming from or going
to see Jacob two trees. In my opinion, those  are two community treasures that help uh Isiqua
uh define our uniqueness. Additionally,  they bring visitors to the city which
benefit our great local businesses. Uh I  therefore urge your favorable consideration
on the track use and the trolley funding  agreements. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Next we have Next we have Robert Row.  Robert is with us virtually. So Robert,
I'm going to make you a panelist  now. And you should see an option
to unmute and you can choose to  turn your camera on if you'd like.
Robert, you now have the floor. I'm going  to go ahead and try unmuting you on my side.
Okay, great. All right. Okay, we can hear you  now, Robert. All right, great. Um, I appreciate
you guys um taking the time and um listening to  this. And to the mayor, I've appreciate you having
one of your staff members who I can't remember  actually reaching out to me on this issue. To the
city of Isiqua, my name is Robert Row and I'm a  resident here of Isiqua Highlands. Me and my wife
moved here three and a half years ago from both  Washington, but I grew up here in the east side.
Went to Redmond High School and all that. Um,  I just want to say that when I moved to Isiqua,
I knew the quality of life was going to be much  better than what I experienced in both. You know,
both is a fantastic place, but when my wife  accepted a job down at GPI Greater Pacific,
um, we thought, great, this is going to be  perfect. Why not? We had our choice in what
apartments we wanted to live in. We were  looking for convenience. Isqua Highlands
offered us the best choice. So, we just up  we um chose Discovery West. It's very close
and it's right next to Swedish me um hospital.  There's a problem though four days out of the
week that I've never experienced and I'd like  to say this to the city council. I've lived in
um Wanjo China for seven years. Lejo Leo Ma sik  Joe Fame and I'm a Hispanic American. That city
is 35 million people. When it's 12:30  at night in that city, it's quiet here.
every day, four days out of the week, like  I said, I have to deal with QCD delivery,
making a delivery to Swedish Hospital at 12:30 in  the morning. I understand the hospital needs their
vegetables and everything, but the humming noise  that we have in these apartments is ridiculous.
I've been told by the city council or not the city  by the previous mayor called the non-emergency
line. I have I have provided you documents and  how old this is and still nothing is being done.
QCD's um HR kind of was rude to the investigating  officer who finally got in contact with them
stating why are you guys delivering at 12:30 in  the morning. They never, you know, it's like, oh,
it's just part of our procedure. That's just best  time for us. That's the only excuse he got. And
he didn't understand it either. I have provided  documents of how old my complaints have gone on
and this has gone on for more than a year. I don't  understand. I just want to ask you guys. Would
you like it if I made a semi delivery in your  neighborhood at 12:30 in the morning, leaving
my engine running for more than an hour delivering  string beans? I know it sounds funny, but it's I
didn't expect that in the city of Isiqua. That's  all I got to say. Thank you very much. Thank
you. And then next, I think we have maybe Mary  Scott. Is that right? Yes. Next is Mary Scott.
I'm Mary Scott and they when you ask for the  my connections I guess I would say I've been
a longtime volunteer with the Isco history museums  almost since when I came here when I came in 1969
that was the first salmon days and you know salmon  barbecue the whole thing and I've been joined the
history museums almost as soon as I and I've often  been a dosent and worked a lot when the trolley
was running. The trolley was unique I think. Um,  one of the best things that I remember about it
is the Santa trolley because that was wildly  popular long lines of kids. We had put in the
installation so that someone who was handicapped  uh in a wheelchair or whatever that needed a lift
could actually do that. And that equipment still  sits there on the uh back deck today for people
to use. And the lines were huge. And those are the  only Santa pictures that I have of my grandsons is
with that Santa. kids would get off at the end and  say, "Can we get in line and do it again?" And the
uh lines were huge and enthusiastic. And the other  one was the um Halloween trolley when the whole
place was decorated in a great deal of really  really spooky things all over and a huge spider
on the roof and a lot of us women do dressed as  witches appropriately and uh having a lot of fun
with that and the driver always as a skeleton or  some kind of monster and this was hugely popular
but even on a regular day, just a normal trolley  day. The kids when they get off would always say,
"Can we do it again? Can we get in line? Can we  do it again?" And um it very enthusiastic. And
the adults would say, "Is there a good restaurant  around?" or "A good kids restaurant, or is there
a bar somewhere?" Um other uh questions and that  they were all right there. And all of those things
were right there in that area. You could walk to  them. We would get questions about how where's
the theater from here? Where's booms from here?  Where's uh that place that does the glass blowing
from here? Um and so there was a lot of interest  in businesses downtown. We were hoping to get a
station at the other end of the tracks where it  stops because we obviously didn't want to take the
tracks, which still existed then, and go across  um Gibson Boulevard. But uh Gilman Boulevard, but
nope. But we wanted to stop down there and have a  place we could actually get off and walk over to
uh the village and shop and then get back on  and come back. It was it was a lot of fun and
very enthusiastic and I think it was a real draw  for businesses here in the city. I can imagine a
few people thinking um well it's going to slow  down traffic. I don't think anything can slow
down traffic any further than it already is  on Front Street at any given hour of the day
except perhaps Sunday morning otherwise. But if  it is, you all know that as you're driving along,
the thing that slows the traffic down the most  are the people that are parked that are trying
to squeeze themselves out and back into the line  or the people that are trying to back in to one of
those places. And that time that that it takes  for that to happen is about how long it takes
for the trolley to get along cross the road.  They had down to an exact science and a stop
and people the volunteers that would get off  and wave the traffic closed and through they
would go and they were gone and almost everybody  in their cars or on the trolley was waving and
happy about it and they smiled made your day.  So I think u you are all looking at considering
having it again. That trolley probably made money  for the museums as everyone can tell you and the
ones out in snowquali make money handover fist  for that organization because of those trains
that they run. So I think it's a great idea,  a great draw brings business and I sure hope
you consider it very carefully and approve  it. Thank you. Thank you very much. and Paul
Winterstein. It sounds like we need a park car  in the trolley. I You heard that idea, right?
Next, we have Na Rondanelli.
Hi. Um before I begin, I would like to thank  council for the opportunity to provide public
comment today. So, my name is Na Randonelli. I  am a junior at Gibson High School in the Isiqua
School District and I'm also an intern for  Council Member Walsh. I live part-time in the
Isiqua Highlands with my mom who works full-time  with Isiqua's largest employer. Unfortunately,
our rent has recently jumped to a price that  we can no longer afford. The vast majority
of housing options in Isiqua are out of our price  range. And it seems like they just keep climbing.
There simply aren't enough affordable options  to accommodate my mom and I. And I know that
there are many other burdens. There are many other  residents who feel this burden, too. I love living
in Isqua. I love the school I go to, the beauty  of our environment, and I feel so grateful to
be able to call this city my home. But honestly,  I'm worried for my future. And I know that there
are many people my age who feel the same way.  I'm almost out of high school, and once I come
back from college, I want to live in Isiqua. But  as things are now, I don't see any feasible way
for that to happen. The youth have always been  promised a bright future. We support education so
students can follow their dreams, but once they're  out of school, they need places to live. For these
reasons and more, I urge you to consider pursuing  policy and permitting changes to encourage the
development of more affordable housing. You are  our changemakers and you have the ability to
improve the lives of so many people. Thank you so  much for your time and for your continued work to
make our city a better place. Very well said.  Thank you very much. Next, May Hollandshed.
Thank you to the council and mayor for hearing  me. My name is May Holland Head and like Na I
am a junior at Gibson High School. This year as a  part of my internship with council member Walsh,
we have been studying housing policy because  as students we are worried about the future
of living in Isqua as adults. The cost  to own or rent a home is rising faster
than many can afford and a lot of the people  who have grown up in this community will not
uh grown up in this community will not have the  opportunity to return later in their lives. I
request that you all consider options to  reduce the cost of housing in the area to
ensure that those who live who wish to live  and work in the area can. Um, additionally,
Nikico Randonelli and I have prepared a memo that  highlights one factor in the cost of housing. Uh,
we hope this will prove helpful to all of  your efforts to reduce the cost of living
in the area. Thank you so much for hearing me.  Excellent. Thank you very much for coming out.
Okay, we have a few uh virtual  participants who'd like to make comments.
The next person is a phone caller with the  last two digits 14. I'm going to make you
a panelist now and I'm going to unmute you.  Phoning caller. Okay, you are now unmuted.
This is Steve. Can you hear me? Okay. You're a  little faint, Steve, but we can hear you. Okay,
I'll do my best. So, this is Steve Pereira. I'm an  Oldtown resident for about eight 17 18 17 years.
Uh, I'm calling to follow up on a comment that  I heard in watching the March 25th environmental
board meeting that happened toward the end  of the meeting. There were no visual material
presented on it. So, I made sure I got the gist  or understand the scope correctly, but I want to
bring it to your attention for possible action.  It involved a conversation that or meeting that
reportedly took place between uh city parks uh  long-range planner and a resident regarding needed
updates to the title 18 code for protections  of both waterways and salmon bearing and non
salmon bearing streams that need to happen. were  at risk of having development approved that would
or could impact things like the current dog park  or potentially future um waterway preservations.
And I want to make sure those codes get updated to  reflect or include uh needed updates and that to
title 18. Again, I can't specify specifically what  it was referred to because that material did not
but was not presented. So, I'm just turning to all  of you good folks to kind of encourage or support
or fund those changes needing to be updated as  soon as possible. Thank you. And I'll let the
great city clerk go ahead and unra my hand as  accordingly. Thank you. Thank you very much.
All right, the next person signed up is  Karen Klene, who's also with us virtually.
Karen, I'm going to go ahead  and unmute your mic now.
Hi, good evening. My name is Karen Klein. Can you  hear me? Okay. Yes, thank you. Um, I'm calling in
from Belleview where I am a homeowner and I live  in a little pocket that's served by the Isiqua
School District. So, um, I'm I'm very close  to Isqua and I wanted to let you know that,
um, even people in Belleview are hearing  about the potential for flock cameras um,
being installed in Isqua. And I'm here tonight  to um let you know that I do a lot of business in
Isiqua and I like going to Ezekiqua, but I'm not  going to like going there if there are automated
license plate readers because mass scanning of  every resident with no suspicion required is not
okay by me. Private corporate databases with  no public records rights is not okay with me.
Proven federal side door access to groups  like ICE, CBP and others is not okay with me.
Integration with corporates like Palunteer whose  CEO openly pursues political power is not okay
with me. It is also not okay with me that Flock  lied about federal contracts and secretly enabled
national access. It is not okay with me that  there's no retention limit, no sunset clause,
and no community vote. Block cameras have a  chilling effect on free movement and assembly.
I urge the council to research this  further and I I think I saw that that
you're looking to hire a new police  chief and I would urge you to make it
a part of the interview process that your  police chief is not interested in using
surveillance camera and flock related um  data in any way, shape or form. Thank you.
No one further has signed up to speak. Is there
anybody in the audience who wants to  make comments? Yes, come on up. Just
Good evening and uh thank you for the opportunity  to uh uh share with you tonight. My name is Dick
Campbell and I'm here to uh say a few words about  the historical society and specifically the uh
trolley. Uh I've uh spent my last uh 80 years  as a resident of the uh Isakqua area. Uh my uh
family homesteaded on Tiger Mountain in the 1800s  and uh I still live adjacent to that property
uh on 30 some acres of uh land up there.  Uh I retired as a high school principal at
Liberty High School in 2000. Uh I became involved  reinvolved uh in downtown Isaqua uh through the
uh historical society. I'd like to share a  uh story. It'll be short. Uh but it began in
uh 1952. Uh I was a first grader at Clark  Elementary. I think it was the second year that
Clark was opened. This is the original Clark, not  the new Clark. And uh Mrs. Hope was my teacher. Uh
most of the students had gone to kindergarten,  but because I lived on Tiger Mountain, uh you
had to have your own transportation to go to uh  kindergarten, and my mother didn't drive, uh and
so forth, and there was no way to to uh make that  trip every day. So, uh first grade was my first
experience. Many of the kids in the classroom uh  had gone to kindergarten. they knew each other and
so forth. Uh well, I uh knew a couple but not very  many cuz we associated more with Maple Valley and
and my dad was a a logger and a coal miner and and  dirt worker kind of a guy. Uh and that's where we
uh other family was and so forth. Anyway, my  best friend became a young man named Dennis.
And Dennis and I, we became kind of the the  Bobsy twins of this first grade class on the
playground and so forth. And Dennis was what  we would call today a special needs student. I
think he was older. He only was with us through  the first grade. Uh he went to a special school
in Buckley after that. But Dennis and I became  uh intrigued with the train and the train used
to run up and around and then over the trestle and  then on up to Snowquali. We all know that. But the
uh noise and especially the whistle just got  Dennis really excited. And so we would run
and there there was a playground but then a lot  of woods and the playground really wasn't uh uh
very developed. Anyway, long story short, we would  run up to the tracks and as soon as we got close,
he would blow the whistle. Well, later I learned  that that was a signal to somebody at school that
kids were on the track. There was no fence. There  was nothing there. We thought he was just saying
hi to us. As uh years went by in junior high,  uh we our track was up behind uh where Clark is
now. Uh and it was basically a uh coal dust field  uh that they put lines around and so forth. So,
uh, we won the first co, uh, King Co. conference  uh junior high championship my ninth grade year,
but we would run a loop and we'd go up around  Lake Tradition and so forth, but we'd run along
the train tracks and the train was coming back  from Snowquali about the time school was out
and we were having track practices and it wasn't  rare that someone would jump on the back caboose
and ride back and not do the full loop. Uh but and  it was also not rare that we would get a Tootsie
Roll or a Tootsie Pop from the engineer. Uh and  he would always escort us with the whistleblowing
and so forth. So those were memories that that I  had growing up. I mean, we put nickels and dimes
on the on the track to get them flattened and  did all kinds of things involving the train.
Um when I came back uh or retired and and started  to get involved in this uh historical society we
were be I I'll quit. One of the most refreshing  things and one of the things that made me the most
excited about the trolley and I worked I was the  association president uh and very involved uh in
getting the trolley brought developed and and so  forth. But one of the things that just lit me up
as a 47-year educator were that one particular  special needs student who came almost every
Saturday to ride the train. And he was a little  autistic young man. And he would light up when he
came in that door. and he um was that was his day  and that trolley not only to him but to other kids
um brought back the memories that I had with  Dennis when I was seven years old. That train
lit him up the same way it lit that little man  up. And as a career educator, we had something
special going. And I encourage us to recreate that  because it it is a uh igniting point for kids.
And we work with the school district for second  graders and so forth. Them coming to the depot,
them coming and seeing that is really special. and  it's special to Isakqua. And if we can do it, I
encourage us to do that. Thank you. Thank you very  much, Dick. You're like a fine wine. You're aging
well. You retired 26 years ago. You would never I  thought you had your years wrong for a second. And
and Paul, second idea. We need Tootsie Puffs.  Tootsie Puffs and a bar car. Uh Madam Clerk.
Oh, come on up.
Is this on? Okay. Hi, thank you for hearing me.  Um, so I come with similar concerns to some you've
heard already about those slot cameras. Um, I I  try I'll try and keep it short and not hit the
same ground, but um, especially over the past  year. So, I think this was originally proposed
last year. Since then, uh, Flock in particular  is a company that's done a lot to lose trust and
not gain it. And so I was really worried to hear  that um we might be having more cameras put up. Um
it's the opposite line of thinking that I had had  actually knowing that there are four here already.
Um so I urge the council to take the concerns  and the abuses and misuses that have already
occurred with those uh very seriously and not um  put up more of those cameras here. Right. Thank
you very much. Sir, can we get your name for the  record? Yes. My name is BJ Alum and um I've been
in as a qua for like four years. So thanks.  Is there anybody else in the room who would
like say anything for audience comments? That is  going once, going twice. Audience comments is now
closed. The next item is the consent calendar. I  do not have any remarks on the consent calendar.
But do committee chairs have any remarks on that  consent calendar? Not seeing any. The consent
calendar was distributed to the council in advance  if authorized. The items of the consent calendar
will be considered together and approved by one  motion. Uh I'd like the city clerk to address
a minor change with agenda bill 9099 street  standards landscaping update. City council,
you received an email this afternoon that uh  today we noticed a error in one of the ordinances
that was on the consent calendar for approval uh  related to the street standards amendments which
had a longer effective date than its companion  ordinance. We need those to become effective
at the same time. So, I've uploaded a corrected  version with the five-day after publication in
the newspaper effective date and with approval  of the consent calendar, that version will be
approved tonight. Thank you. Excellent. And then  have payable and payroll been reviewed. They have.
Okay. Does any council member want to remove  any items from the consent calendar considered
under regular business? Not seeing any. Is there a  motion in the consent calendar? Council President
Marks. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move the consent  calendar as amended by the clerk's office. Second.
There's been a motion and a second to approve the  consent calendar as all those in favor, please
say I. I. All those opposed, nay. And that passes  unanimously. The next item of business is regular
business. Agenda Bill 9170 is history museum  track use agreement and trolley funding agreement.
We would like to invite economic development  director Alexa Pix Simmons to present this item.
Good evening, mayor and council members. Alexis  Fitz Simmons, economic development and housing
manager. Uh tonight I bring a request uh to you  to authorize an amendment to the city city's
agreement with Isqua History Museum Museum along  with the approval and track use agreement. Sorry,
I should have put these on first. um track use  agreement to support operation of the historic
trolley for the 2026 season. This action is really  about three things. Um ensuring safe and clearly
defined operations for the trolley, supporting  a outstanding a long-standing community amenity,
and continuing to invest in tourism and economic  vitality in downtown Isiqua. Why does this matter?
The Isiqua Trolley is more than a historic  asset. It's a community feature that draws
visitors to our downtown, supports local  businesses, and reinforces a unique identity
and sense of place in our community.  As we look ahead to the 2026 season,
we have an opportunity to both strengthen the  program operationally and set it up for long-term
success. The changes that this amendment and track  use agreement uh include uh two primary actions.
One is uh additional funding. Uh we are requesting  the approval of an additional $25,000 to support
the 2026 operations. It will go to support startup  readiness, staff training, equipment repairs and
maintenance, and insurance and operational  costs. The funding is structured to provide
$20,000 upfront for startup needs, an additional  $5,000 upon the launch of the operations.
The second uh key component uh of the  proposal tonight is the track use agreement.
It um formalizes how the trolley operates  and the agreement clearly defines operational
parameters and a schedule. It defines  safety requirements and testing protocols,
insurance and liability coverage, maintenance  responsibilities uh between the city and IHM
expectations for operations as well as uh  within the shared public corridor. This
uh amendment and track use agreement um  is a critical step and it ensures that
we'll be reducing risk while enabling  a program to continue that supports
uh the uh vitality of downtown. Council of course  always has the option to not approve. Um but if
the council does not approve the amendment and  the track use agreement tonight um or in the
near future uh the trolley operation could be  delayed significantly reduced or not even occur
following uh an approval tonight.  Uh um if the council does approve
uh the amendment as well as the track use  agreement um agreements would be executed,
funds would be distur dispersed and IHM would  complete testing, training and necessary repairs
uh in order to start operations for the 2026  season. Um I as staff and I the administration,
Mr. Mayor and um city administer wall do support  this um this um action. Um, we believe it
strengthens uh our relationship and uh vitality  in downtown and uh provides accountability and
safety uh for the operations of the trolley. I'd  like to invite uh Paul Weinstein um up to also
speak on behalf of the changes. Paul Wstein,  executive director History Museums come on up.
Thank you, Alexis, and thank you, Don,  Mary, and Dick for your comments earlier,
and to everyone who has sent in uh letters of  support. Uh, council, thank you for listening for
me this evening, and thanks for the invite. Um,  quick story. In the late 1880s, Squawk Valley was
an isolated place. Uh, that changed in 1888 when  the train arrived, turning travel to Seattle from
a dayong trek into a matter of hours. The impact  was immediate, creating a surge for coal, timber,
and agriculture. Rail wasn't just transportation.  It was the driver of Isiziqua's first economic
boom. Tonight, you are considering whether a  piece of that story will once again help drive
Isiqua's prosperity. Just as the first train  fueled the expansion of our early industries,
this $25,000 investment acts as a force multiplier  for the downtown's cultural and economic energy.
At the Isqua History Museums, we fully embrace  the public obligation to ensure this heritage
attraction serves as a premier destination  experience. This is an experience that draws
visitors to our historic core. It encourages  them to linger, providing a unique backdrop for
our local restaurants, theaters, outdoor venues,  and small businesses. The tie to IHM's mission
is found in the boarding, riding, and onboarding  experience itself. along well with the teaching of
history during the ride. While Isiqua's original  passenger service was driven by steam engines,
the trolley serves as today's surrogate for that  historic travel. The connection to our history
is found in the physical act of stepping onto the  trolley into the story of the of the of the train
at the depot, just as travelers did over a century  ago. Once on board, our passengers are a captive
audience. Our conductors do more than attend to  the needs and safety of the riders. They are also
there to teach, sharing the stories of Isiziqua's  past as the trolley moves through the present. Two
years ago, we took a hard look at what it would  take to bring the trolley back. While we couldn't
move forward then due to insurance hurdles, the  reality is that the financial startup requirements
were just as significant then as they are today.  Our investment of time two years ago wasn't
wasted, however. It gave us a blueprint. We spent  those months crafting the track use agreement,
identifying the specialized parts needed for the  trolley and its power car, assessing the tracks
and mapping out their repair, and coordinating  the trestle inspection with professional railway
engineers. To today, the landscape has  changed. We are in the final stages of
securing a comprehensive insurance package that  meets the city's requirements. More importantly,
our backbone volunteer experts are ready to  return with their uncompromising commitment to
safety. This funding is the green light for our  restart. allows us to hire a dedicated program
manager to oversee everything that Alexis  explained earlier and the and the daily
complexities of the operation from managing a  new core of volunteers to ensuring our safety
protocols are followed to the letter. We want  our operations to be as professional as they are
passionate. We won't invite a single passenger  on board until everything is in ship shape.
And this position ensures we have the ready  hand needed to get there quickly and safely.
The emails you've received from residents sharing  their trolley members memories represent the true
return on this investment. In a downtown already  rich with history and culture, the trolley serves
as the interactive thread that ties those  experiences together. When s when when someone
steps on board at the depot, they aren't just  looking at a museum exhibit. Instead, they are
entering into Isiqua's story and becoming part of  it. It is this shared experience that transforms
a tourist into a promoter back home and residents  into engaged members of the community while giving
each smiling child a memory to cherish. Because  when we feel connected to our history, we feel
connected to our community. Thank you. Excellent.  Are there any questions for Paul or Alexis?
Oh, Council Member Walsh. Thank you. Um,  so probably more of a city question. So,
this is a very valuable right ofway area right  next to our biggest economic core. Um, can you
talk a little bit about who maintains control and  ownership over that and how long this agreement
goes for and whether or not we could terminate the  agreement if we decided to do something else with
um that right-of-way area. So, thank you for the  question. Um so the agreement uh the track use
agreement will be in place to the the length of  time as the um current lease agreement uh that the
historical museum holds with the depot. Um that  um which is what date till the end of 2026. Okay.
Thank you. Um upon uh the control of the track  use uh will maintain be maintained by the city
ownership by the city um and with a renegotiation  of the lease uh we can change uh the terms at any
time. Thank you. Council member Nichols just want  to clarify that uh based on the documents that I
read in the packet the track agreement is actually  extended until 2030 not the lease end date which
is 2026. Is that correct or I thought it was in co  in concert with the uh with the lease agreement.
I think correct me if I'm wrong, Madam Clerk. I  think we I think it is out of whack right now,
but we have a plan to put it back in alignment.
Yes. And I believe uh Rachel who's with us  pointed that out that the terms of the different
agreements weren't aligned. So I think our for the  council I think their rough plan was there'd be a
motion on the underlying thing at which point  I think we could do amendments to that motion
to line it up. Rachel, do you want to speak to  that? That's correct. Mayor, just for the record,
I I do think there's a discrepancy in the  agreements. It was probably inadvertent,
but the track use agreement reflects a an  end date of December 31st, 2030 and the
uh lease agreement is the end of 2026. So, it  would be makes sense to have those harmonized
and there's a motion for the council to do so  if they wish. Yeah. Okay. Deputy President Jen,
um, when is the service of the trolley expected  to start if we approve this amendment today?
At this moment, our target is uh early  July this year. Great. Thank you,
Council Member Joe. I had a question. I hope uh we  can get clarified a little bit. Appendix B, which
is uh the last page of the packet, 748 of 748  pages. I know all of us read them all. Uh but uh
on the last page, the trolley operating hours are  9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Uh the trolley will operate
Saturdays and Sundays from April through September  30th and occasionally on Fridays during June,
July, August. Um some of the references in the  comments tonight were for Halloween, Christmas,
um and some other special events. Do these  operating hours um dictate what we're going to
agree to or are there other operating hours under  this agreement that allow the historical society
to do those special events? So go ahead. Uh thank  you for the question. I believe also and this is
in that uh appendix there is another  paragraph that speaks about other
uh times when it may operate. I don't have  that in front of me right now so I apologize.
I see a chance to phone a friend  in the audience. Just a minute.
So the uh you mentioned the times um from uh  9 to5 um that allows us to um just a minute
please allows us to uh also conduct uh training  both before and after any wrership if necessary.
Generally wrership would be in a narrow window of  time in there. But uh but in the in that appendix
in addition to uh Saturdays and Sundays  uh it speaks about potentially on Fridays
uh during the summer months and that other  uh uh holidays uh potentially as well. Um and
that did envision what was mentioned earlier  historically that there was a Santa train uh
during the a uh the Thanksgiving extended holiday  and then another pre prior to that a Halloween
train. Um the the language in there does envision  those special operations could be a zombie train.
I just want to make sure that we're um giving them  the access or the ability to do that. It's not a
got you in any way form. I just want to make  sure that we're giving them the leeway and the
permission to do what they want to do. So, as long  as uh the historical site and city are okay with
that, I just wanted to point that out. May and  I'm sorry, may I add? Yeah, pardon me. Um uh and
thank you for Jay Goolson Jacobson reminding me  in there so that beyond those regular or I think
it's they're they're labeled standard operating  days and standard operating hours that should we
uh wish to operate outside those we would  get permission for the city from the city
uh before we scheduled and executed those. That  was what um we had found the area. There's section
six within the agreement that designates operating  hours outside of those outlined in appendix B
that says they could operate outside of those for  special occasions with the express permission of
the city obtained no later than five business days  in advance through the contract administrator. So
just clarifying that the language is in there. Is  that a special use permit? It does not say. It's
not defined. Just express permission. Well,  as long as the city knows and the historical
site knows how to do it, that's fine with me.  Thank you. I can tell Russell Joe went to law
school. Uh the uh Okay. So, we're going to walk  through this process. We're going to start with
is there a motion on the underlying bill? Council  President Marts. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to
authorize the mayor to enter into and execute  an amendment to the existing lease and funding
agreement with the Isiqua Historical Museums,  IHM, to provide an additional $25,000 for 2026
trolley startup and operations and authorize a  track use agreement governing IHM's use of the
city-owned rail corridor in substantially the same  form as attached agreements exhibit B as approved
by the city attorney and authorize an additional  25,000 in a subsequent 2025 2026 budget amendment.
Second. Okay. So, there's  been a motion, a second. Now,
we're going to go to I think Council Member  Nichols on a potential friendly amendment.
I know there's no such thing as a friendly  amendment, but I'm just calling it friendly.
It's a It's an amendment that's intended  to be friendly. So, um Okay. Thank you,
Mr. Mayor. Uh so, as comments, I want to start  by saying how much I support the trolley and
the great volunteers that are trying to bring it  back. Uh, one of my fa favorite family photos,
uh, is all of us sitting on the trolley  together, meeting Santa, as was brought up. Um,
that was a long time ago now, though, and, uh, the  two young lobbyists that we put to bed every night
have made their perspective on getting the trolley  up and running again very, very clear to me. Um,
so I appreciate the work that the history museum  is doing to get there, and I know it's not easy.
Um, I do have a minor housekeeping amendment,  though, which I'll speak to if seconded,
uh, to move to amend the track use agreement.  Uh, specifically, I move to amend the language in
section 8 of the track use agreement to add that  the city can terminate the track use agreement
without cause if the iso history museum lease  terminates. Is there a second? Second. Okay. So,
there's this is now we're going to do a vote on  the amendment. There's been a motion and a second.
Is there any discussion on the amendment? Council  member Nichols. Yeah, I'll discuss. Uh, so, as I
mentioned, uh, this is a house I I view this as  a housekeeping amendment. Um there's a disconnect
between the end date of the agreement we're being  asked to approve and our existing agreements. Uh
the base lease for the depot expires at the end of  2026. Uh but the track use agreement runs through
2030. That means that if the lease ends for any  reason, we can't as easily help a new lease holder
to start up the trolley if we need to. Uh this  amendment simply provides that if the base lease
terminates, the city has the ability to find a  new operator for the track use agreement as well.
Uh if the lease is renewed, nothing is different  and I'm very optimistic that I'll be able to take
a trolley ride with my kids uh this summer. I'm  extremely optimistic about that. But if for any
reason we ever need to go in a different direction  to achieve the community's very loudly stated goal
of getting the trolley back up and running,  this ensures the city has that flexibility. Uh
additionally, I spoke with the city attorney about  this and ways we could harmonize these agreements.
Uh and the language of my motion is directly  quoted from our email as one of the options to
harmonize them. All right. And I can verify the  city attorney has signed off on this language as
well. Council member Walsh. Yeah. Can I ask why we  aren't just changing the date to end at 2026? Um,
is there a reason to continue to have a track  use agreement for that long of a period when
this is really triing whether or not we  can effectively get this up and running.
So there were there that was one of the two  options that the city attorney provided. Uh I
I went with this one for this motion just because  it seemed like a a simpler set of documents to
keep track of and they're effectively the same.  I'd appreciate any other legal minds that are
better than mine on that though. So that's that's  the intention to have them harmonized and I think
there's a couple different ways that could  be that could be gone about that are likely
equally good. Council member Walsh. Okay. So,  I'm maybe the only person here um who isn't
as enthusiastic about this. And I think from my  perspective, knowing that both of the contracts
um end in 2026 so that we can evaluate whether  or not this can be effectively restarted,
what the writership levels are, what the funding  levels are, I think from my perspective would be
a smarter decision as far as right-of-way use. Um,  so I think I would be in preference of a different
set of language, but I will leave that up to  other conversations. Council member Nichols or
Oh, council member Dair.
Um, so I guess my question to that point is  do we was there any kind of like pro and con
of why like why you chose this language over the  other? What is the with ch if changing the dates
does that require an extensive level of rec  redoing that original contract or what were
the pros and cons to that and are we able to  know that to thus know which option is best?
I think should we ask the city attorney?  Rachel, you're the friend we're phoning.
Hi, sure. I'm happy to weigh in. I think that  there really I don't think there makes much
functional difference between um changing the  date in the track use agreement to reflect the
same date in the lease agreement or just saying  that they essentially run together and that the
the track um use agreement terminates when the  the lease terminates. Um, other than if you
think that there's some world where you would  want to continue the lease for the trolley to
remain where in its current location, but you  would not want to allow the trolley to operate,
then in that case, then that would be the  one circumstance that I think that it would
make sense to reflect a date specific in  the track use agreement. But otherwise,
if you intend that, you know, you would either  and once again your your current uh lease the
or the lease agreement for the the space that the  the trolley is located in the the main agreement
that's here that's being amended and the track  use agreement added to it. It it just ends at
the end of this year anyway. So we could if this  if the council's direction were that we want to
continue that lease but we don't want to continue  um I guess in that case if we sorry just thinking
thinking as I speak to you here if we think that  that's something that you want to do it probably
be a little bit easier then if the date did say  2026 because then uh in the track use agreement
because then you could just do an amendment  to the lease to continue it in perpetuity.
If it didn't say that, we would just let it expire  at the end of 2026 and enter into a new lease with
IHM if we didn't want to have the trolley. But  as long as the trolg agreement tracks with this
current lease, then you should be fine in terms of  only having the trolley go through the end of this
year if that's what you choose in the end. Does  that make sense, Counc? Yeah. And I appreciate the
description of all of that because I was under  the impression that we were talking about the
lease of the Isqua History Museum and portions of  that. And so I could see ways that we would want
to continue that agreement and lease there and not  necessarily So you're talking about the lease of
the space where the trolley is stored. Correct. I  think it may be the lease of all of that together,
but let me let me look really fast. I just want  to pull this up. I think it's this is this is the
museum services lease and the trolley equipment um  storage agreement. It's all wrapped into one. So,
I think if the council did want to continue with  just the museum services, we would want to redo
this agreement anyway rather than just continuing  it. Unless you would want to allow the trolley to
just remain in place there unused, in which case  then you could we could just use the same form.
Yeah, I guess I would just say I think it's  probably best scenario if everything is harmonized
to the same date. Um, but I can't. Yeah, as long  as our legal team feels like we could find a way
to continue with whatever we wanted to do if  um there was a termination because I wouldn't
want to have to be in a situation to terminate an  entire agreement with the Isqua History Museum if
we had another use for that right ofway space that  needed to happen. Exactly. I think council member
Nichols and I just went with that um that option  because it seemed the simplest in terms of what
the amendment would say and what the language that  we had so far. But there really was no there's no
I think that it would make just as much sense  to amend the agreement to say that the term we
instead of amending the termination language, we  could just amend the term language that is that
currently says December 31st, 2030. Why don't we  just do a different motion and revise that to read
December 31st, 2026? Because if we come when we  come back with to ask the council to extend the
history museum lease, we would also we'd of  course want to come back with this as well.
So we could just bring them both back at the same  time. There's no there's no downside, I guess, is
what I'm saying to using the specific date. Okay.  So Rachel, my question is, do we have to actually
vote down the First Amendment or can we just  pretend it doesn't exist? We have to vote it down.
Oh, Council Member Nichols. So, I can we  don't have to vote. I can just withdraw.
Okay. I withdraw the motion. All right. First  amendment is withdrawn. Council President Marts,
would the administration like to take five minutes  to craft uh language on a different amendment or
is it is it self-evident? Yes. Yes. To which part  of that? Please, if we could have a moment. So,
I would like to request five. Give me 30  seconds. 30 seconds. Well, can let's just Well,
but there's some policy questions as well as  legal questions. Let's Yes, I would request five
a fivem minute recess while the administration.  We're at recess to figure out the language.
Okay, we are back in regular session and we're  going to have city attorney Rachel Bender Turpin
explain her original idea for having the original  amendment that was that we originally heard from
council member Nichols. Go ahead, Rachel.  Thank you, mayor. So, when I was drafting
this original language, I was looking at how this  agreement was written and noticing that the term
was through 2030. And I've been involved in some  of the negotiations here with the uh historical
society on this agreement. And the reason for this  lengthier date uh for this longer term here is
that this is kind of a process to get the trolley  up and running. It's going to be a big investment
of not just time but um of not just money but time  and it's going to take a little while and in order
to you know really make it beneficial they do  need some time to time to uh see it in operation
too and get it get it working. So, I wanted to  draft something that would allow for that sort
of intention of the parties that were giving this  assurance to the the historical museum that we're
not going to just take away this agreement. so  that they're not they're not just investing all
of this into a trolley operation just for it  to come to um a halt at the end of this year,
but at the same time rectifying a an an issue  with the agreement that council member Nichols
identified, which is that it doesn't make sense  that we wouldn't be able to terminate the track
use agreement if the lease were no longer in  effect. If the lease is no longer in effect,
the lease is what gives the museum the  authority to store the trolley on city property.
if they um no longer have authority to store  the track on city property, but we have this
track use agreement still in effect, that just  creates an an awkward situation legally where
they still have the rights to the tracks, but no  trolley to operate on them, which just doesn't
make any sense. So it makes sense I think for all  parties would agree that in the event we terminate
that the museum agreement for some reason that  this agreement would also go away with it. That
said I think that they are separate standalone  agreements and I think that the intention here
was to give some extra time for the historical  museum to get the trolley operational. of course,
provided that the museum lease continues in  that interim period. Does that make sense? Yeah,
thank you very much. I think that I think the kind  of lesson we've learned here is there Rachel's
original agreement for the 5-year track agreement  was intentional in negotiating with Isqua History
Museums and so it was there by design and now  the original amendment we did hear from council
member Nichols does kind of alleviate the other  concerns of them being in conflict. But with that,
I would call on council president Mars. Thank  you, Mr. Mayor. I move to amend the language
in section 8 of the track use agreement  to provide that the city can terminate
the track use agreement without cause if the  if IHM lease terminates. Is there a second?
Second. Okay. So, there's been a motion, a  second. Now, we'll have council president Mark's
discussion on this amendment. Never a dull moment  in the city of Isiqua, ladies and gentlemen.
So basically in in the last 10 minutes um we  discovered that in we had originally thought
that the language of both of these um potential  amendments were comparable but what we've really
discovered is that the um language that I  just used which is the same language that
um council member Nichols used is actually  preferable um from the applicant standpoint
and will make it easier for them to fund raise um  in the future. And I think that um I believe it's
the sense of this body that that we want to see  the Charlie successful. And so I think given that
I think it's important that we use the language  that best uh equips IHM um in their in their
efforts to make the trolley successful, which  is why I made this motion and why I support this
motion uh this amendment. Thank you. Discussion.  Council member Walsh. I'm trying to separate this
from the Isiqua History Museum and just try and  understand a situation where we would agree to
let an organization use a significant portion  of our rightway right next to an economic hub
of the city for a 4 and a half year period without  proof that they can do so. Like I agree with the
concept of wanting to give them time and there is  no part of me that if the history museum came back
and said hey we ran into this problem and we need  another year I think that makes sense and I hear
the concept of hey they need asurances so that  they can fundra that makes sense to me as well
but this is our city rightway and this is not  something where I could see a situation of just
giving over control of an important area of the  city for a 4 and a half year period without like
we wouldn't do it with an organization that hadn't  proven their ability to do something with that.
So I am still pretty hesitant with this idea of  putting an agreement for four and a half years
in place. Council member Derek, do you have a  functional microphone now? Oh, I see a red light.
You're in business. So So to I'm just trying to  also get some clarity since we had so much back
and forth and just getting it straight since there  are two kind of separate actions happening here.
So the one is, you know, with the 25,000 of  startup for 2026 and then separately a track
use agreement for four years to operate a  trolley on these tracks. Is that correct?
And that that's the understanding of what these  agreements are. It certainly is my understanding
and just one point of clarification, it would  be five operating years 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.
That is correct, Council Member Adair. Okay. So  um so yeah so similarly like the question is again
like saying let's say the trolley gets back up and  it does not work even after year two or three and
the trolley is stopped but the history museum  is obviously going to maintain everything and
still be in that space but basically we would  still not have access to the track lines until
after 2030 under the if we agree to it as  is. Is that just the correct understanding?
Rachel, they're all looking  at you. You can't see, but
um so yeah. So I mean similarly like saying I  think the trolley um is a great service and I
think it will be successful and I would honestly  also want it to have more than one year to get
successful. But I I do have some hesitation  about five years of to the same points that
um council member Wash brought up of you know  of our track space of giving away five years of
that without some sort of way to negotiate that.  Council President Marts I I just haven't heard in
17 years anyone suggest using that right away to  do anything else with it. No one has come to us
and said, "We really want to do XYZ, but we can't  because you're saving it for the trolley." So, I I
understand that we're now having a conversation  of how much uh runway do we want to give the
Isaac Isqua Historical Museum. Um that's such a  different conversation than any of us thought we
were going to have walking in here this evening.  Um but I I I know that they've operated the
trolley before. um you know they they got into  challenges because of things that didn't have to
do with their successful operation of the trolley  had to do with minutia in insurance and things
like that. So they have a demonstrated record of  having been successful and I and I haven't seen a
clamoring for any other use for that property  right now. So I think the risk of of giving
them this runway um is low. Thank you. Any other  discussion? Council member Nichols, I think we'll
I mean, we inherently have another chance to take  a look at this because the operating agreement I
I called it a lease before, but I'll try to get it  right. Uh for the other parcels ends in December.
So, I mean, we have a a a statement that uh we  should have a trolley operating this summer. I'm
fully confident that will happen. And uh then it's  all I think it's all a non-issue at that point.
Okay. So, at this point, not seeing any other  discussion. We are to council member Dar's
original question. We are voting right now on the  amendment. We heard from council president Marts.
That amendment is amend the language in section  B of the track use agreement that the city can
terminate the track use agreement without cause  if the historical museum lease terminates. With
all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. All  those opposed, nay. Nay. Okay. So that passes
five to one. We are now on to the original as  amended motion now which is authorize Mor enter
to and execute an amendment the existing lease  and funding agreement with the Equtory Museum to
provide an additional $25,000 for 2026 trolley  startup and operations and authorize track use
agreement governing IM use of the city own  rail corridor and substantially the same
as the attached agreement. Exhibit B is approved  by the city attorney and authorize an additional
$25,000 in a subsequent 2526 budget amendment  as we amended. Discussion. Council President
Marks. I am so excited to be voting for this this  evening. Um, part of moving to Isiqua was having
the incredible downtown that we have, the old town  that we have, and um the the reconnection that our
city has over the years uh with what we have been  over over the last 125 years. And uh the trolley
is an integral part of that for me. me some of  my happiest moments were were taking the trolley
um back the last time that it ran. But I but I  think it's really an essential element to who
we are as a city that you know we're we're not  a suburb, we're a city and we have we're small
but mighty and we have a mighty history and and  tonight is a step towards uh reconnecting with
that history. Thank you, Deputy President Jen.  I'm very excited not only to vote for this today,
but also to ride the trolley in early July. Um  I don't know if there's going to be a pre-ride
for elected officials like they just had with the  Cross Lake Connection, but that would be that I
I would be in support of that as well. Um I think  you know Isiqua I think we are very unique amongst
you know all the east side cities and that we  really have an amazing wellpreserved historic
downtown and I think the trolley is a critical  piece of that. And there's some naysayers out
there who say there was never a trolley in Isiqua,  blah blah blah. It is legitimately a historic
vehicle. It looks great. Definitely has a historic  vibe and I think it adds a lot to Front Street.
And so I'm very very excited for this prospect and  it's been great to hear that, you know, there's
um a lot of volunteers who have been invested  and have the expertise and experience who ran
the trolley, you know, pre-COVID who are going to  be um very committed to bringing it back. So, look
forward to riding it um hopefully with my nephew  who's one-year-old uh and uh he is a big train
fan. Council member Adair, uh I'm going to echo  the same points that I am very excited to see the
trolley. you know, um, as a finance guy, you know,  I've had questions and I had, you know, I know,
I do want, you know, I am hopefully confident that  should something go right, we have other options
just because I want to make sure obviously this  city is smart with its money, but I also think
this $25,000 is a small price to pay for something  that is very iconic to Isaqua and important to
especially this summer season to be up and running  and to what we will hopefully be drawing here. Um,
and I also don't want the trolley to die in any  capacity because I also in the future like I I
see a world where maybe there's a rail line and  then people can walk from the rail line to the
trolley and it takes them to downtown. And so I  do want us to uh keep the effort for this going
um in ways possible, but obviously in smart ways  and and being um conservative and conscious for
that. But I am very excited for it and think  this is a worthwhile expense for us this year.
We need build the damn train and build the damn  trolley t-shirts. We need two sets of shirts.
Council member Joe. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Paul  Winterstein, I'd like to thank you for all of your
hard work and your dedication to our community,  both on council and now as your role with the
historical society. Um Eric Ericson, Barb Justice,  those that came before us to put this trolley on
its tracks and on the right way. We owe them a  great debt as well and I look forward to seeing
it coming to fruition in July and traveling on  it for Halloween and for Christmas and for many,
many years to come. I applaud you for all your  hard work. This is just a beginning. The $25,000
uh is a start. I'm sorry we couldn't get it  approved through the ELTAC uh process that went
um we just got done with a little while ago, but  I'm glad we could find some funding through this
tonight and I'm happy to support it. Thank you,  Council Member Walsh. Uh thank you. So, I have
never really understood the use of a trolley  that just goes that short distance. Um, and so
I was planning to come into tonight's meeting um  against the idea and certainly I think we should
be protective of right away which is separate from  um that concept. But I have to say the number of
emails that we got showing the level of support  um swayed me and so I am going to be supporting
this. I hope it is successful and I hope that we  have an opportunity to um see how this funding can
help out the history museum and maybe alter um  what our contributions are as well as a result.
There you go. Audience, democracy and action,  emails, and your public comment work. Uh,
Council Member Nichols, uh, I I think I'll echo  most of what was already said. Um, I will I will
also repeat that, uh, I think if I did go home  tonight and tell my children that I voted against
a trolley, I would not be allowed in the house.  So, I um I'm I'm I'm taking my personal safety
into account with this vote as well. Um, so I will  be I I will also be supporting this. Um, and I'm
very much looking forward to, as has been stated  by others, writing this trolley in July. and
uh and uh also with uh council member Joe and uh  and Halloween and maybe Christmas too depending on
if we can coordinate our schedule as well. So uh  I very excited to see this coming back and I think
it'll be a tremendous uh asset to the community  that will will be around for many many many years
to come. So thank you. My only disappoint we do  not have a bar car or Tootsie Pop amendment but
we will move forward to the final vote. All those  in favor please say I I. All those opposed, no.
And the trolley passes unanimously. Thank you very  much. Uh, okay. We're now on to committee regional
reports. Uh, we're going to start with council  member Adair. Uh, okay. Yeah, I had a couple
of committees uh all salmon related. I had a uh  meeting with the Hayra 8. Um there was basically
kind of an updates on upcoming grant rounds, some  recap of the legislative the legislative session
which didn't have a lot of great news. There was  some reduced funding for regional fish enhancement
groups and shifting of climate action funds and  non-passage of the CPBDQ reduction which is the
chemical entires that can be toxic but uh our  own representative Zach Hall is supposed to be
bringing it back next session. Um there was uh you  know presentations also on the various outreach
programs including our local fish friends of  the squad salmon hatchery which highlighted
their offseason science tables program uh which  allows them to bring uh conservation education
to students and families with hands-on portable  exhibits and I saw their work and I thought it
was really great stuff. Um and also on the uh  cocon management you know basic introduction of
new members. Um there's been a little it's again  similar good and bad news in terms of the work
being done there, but they wanted to emphasize  that this is a long-term work and there was some
positives in terms of habitat. Um but there is um  more to do and especially on the upcoming budget
cycles. So that's my report. Thank you, Council  Member Nichols. Uh I have no reports to offer
tonight. Thank you. Council member Joe, thank you.  The April Mobility and Infrastructure Committee
meeting has been cancelled. Uh the chamber  board meeting will be on April 17th and um
uh we'll give our report on city affairs to the um  chamber of commerce board. Cascade Water Alliance
uh their next board meeting is April 22nd. I'm  on the Cascade Finance and Intergovernmental
Committee now and that'll be meeting on uh April  21st. And Mr. Mayor, would you give a summary of
the May 25th, March 25th Cascade Water Alliance  meeting when you have an opportunity? I can in
my report. Sure. Council member Walsh. Thank you.  I apologize. I have four very long reports. Um,
first, uh, planning, development, environment  committee met on March 17th. We had a second
touch on the Isqua climate action plan IAP  update looking for ways to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. The committee agreed to several  additions to the ICAP, including reviewing parking
minimums, increasing multif family requirements  for EV ready stalls, and investigating options for
time of a replacement requirements uh for energy  efficiency. And so all of those will start to go
back to the environment committee uh etc. And  then we also recommended that the next council
touch for the IAP come to the committee of the  whole rather than just sticking with the planning
development and environment committee. Okay,  next one. Rules ad hoc. So um the city council
has uh created a temporary committee talking about  our rules and procedures because we have a whole
bunch of things saved up for that. We met last  Tuesday for our first of three meetings. At the
start of the meeting, we requested that future  meetings be in a public location and be noticed
on the website. And we also agreed to add four  items to our scope uh discussing correspondence,
confidentiality, use of staff time, and noticing  of meetings with attendance restrictions. Those
items will all be at our next meeting. During  that meeting, we discussed four items. Uh travel
policy. So, the clerk had recognized that we  had adopted an ordinance back in 2008 uh with
a city with with a city council travel policy,  but then we also have a citywide policy which
uh contradicted each other. The committee agreed  to repeal the 2008 ordinance and add to the city
policy a requirement that elected official travel  of five or city council travel of $500 or more
requires approval by the city council at a good of  the order. That was one. Second, audit committee.
Um it was something that was kind of discussed  and recommended. Um the committee ultimately
supported designating one or two council members  to participate in our audit meetings which is
really important from a fiduciary standpoint.  And then while we discussed the possibility of
creating a separate audit committee, we concluded  that we already have tools for this including
um taking financial matters to services, safety  and parks or the committee of the whole. And so
we encouraged the administration to use those  options. community listening sessions. We've
done different things over the years. There was a  small change we recommended to policy to allow for
flexibility. And then the big one was new business  request process. So we started agreeing that there
should probably be a shortcut process for adding  new business items that require minimal staff
involvement using announcements um at good of the  order. And then we discussed potential changes
to the new business request process, noting  that it's been used very infrequently. And so
we're going to continue that conversation at the  next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled this
Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the steelhead room. Uh  we're going to discuss the social media policy,
audience comments, seating, voting and  abstensions, confidentiality, use of staff time,
correspondence, special meeting agendments, and  continuing the new business request conversation.
So you've given us a lot to work. Uh third item,  again big East Side Fire and Rescue. So, East
Side Fire and Rescue meets next Thursday, April  9th. The major agenda item is deeper education on
our long-term financial options. So, right now,  Eastside Fire and Rescue from a city standpoint
is just a line item in our general budget from our  general fund. Um, it is organized as an interlocal
agreement or ILA. One option then is to continue  that, but it doesn't give us a lot of financial
flexibility to deal with all of the rising costs.  The second is we could consolidate into a single
fire district. Some benefits, some cons. We can  create a new regional fire authority or we can
join an existing regional fire authority. Uh the  presentation looks at all of the opportunities and
challenges for each option and really starts the  conversation of doing some back of the napkin at
um calculations on what the impact would be for  individual homeowners and property taxpayers. Um
if we utilize different financial tools such as a  levy and a fire benefit charge. Um so after all of
that is available, I'm going to share it out with  council members. I would really encourage you to
reach out with questions. I'm more than happy to  meet with all of you because this is going to be
a big item and within the next few months it is  going to come back to the city council to say
whether or not we agree to a planning committee  to study um one of those options. Last item, a
regional coalition for housing, ARCH, has started  a um council of electeds. Um and so on March 26th,
I attended the first meeting. It's a limited pilot  project with four meetings set this year. Um there
were elected leaders from 12 other jurisdictions  across King County that were there. It was really
super powerful to just see the level of engagement  in affordable housing across the region. Um, our
topics included education on what ARCH currently  does and affordable housing tools, a 2026
legislative session overview, and a success story  from Kirkland on the Totem Lake neighborhood,
which is fascinating. I'd love to talk to all of  you about it. Um, the new group expressed a lot of
interest in how to work together strategically  on legislative issues and we'll be asked later
this year to help shape housing priorities for  Arch's 2027 legislative agenda. some of the other
uh regional affordable housing um organizations  such as the one up in Pierce County and such or
down in Pierce County um put this out and have  all of their cities adopt it as their housing
um priorities which is really powerful and so  there's some really great uh possibilities for us
working together strategically and that concludes  my reports. All right, thank you Deputy President
Jane. Great. time uh report is much shorter. Um so  the first uh meeting that's coming up there's the
East Side Transportation Partnership meeting uh  next Friday, April 10th at 8 a.m. It's in person
at Redmond City Hall. Um the King County Regional  Homelessness Authority is having a board retreat
that same day, Friday, April 10th, from 11:30  a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in person somewhere in downtown
Seattle. Location TBE. Um and finally, I'm joining  the PSRC Regional Open Space Conservation Plan
Advisory Committee. very long name. Um, but  basically, you know, they have a plan on open
space conservation for the full 4count region and  I'm actually gonna be the chair of this group. So,
should be interesting. Uh, that concludes my  report. All right. Council President Marks.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sound Cities Association  Public Issues Committee has a meeting coming
up Wednesday, April 8th. Uh, it's going to be  in person, which are always better, at Britain
City Hall at 7 p.m. There is a pre-pic social hour  at 6 p.m. uh in council chambers. Um the biggest
issue that is going to be addressed is going to  be uh waste uh rates. The regional water quality
committee RWQC is in the middle of setting the  2027 sewer rate and capacity charges. The waste
treatment waste to water treatment division has  proposed a 12.75% increase in the monthly sewer
rate. RWQC will consider adopting a rate response  letter at their April 1 meeting. The executive's
proposed sewer rate will be transmitted to King  County Council on April 23rd and acted on by the
council in June. The SCA RWQC caucus has suggested  that SCA submitted a submit a rate response letter
which would be discussed at the April pick meeting  and potentially approved at the May pick meeting.
So, um I will have something at the April meeting  that I will bring back to council to discuss and
then would be acted upon in May. This is not  an emergency action. So, it's not a oneanddone.
uh the way they have been historically. However,  um if you wake up in the middle of the night
and bolt upright in your bed and say, "I have um  urgent uh communications for SCA pick in regards
to uh race waste treatment rates. Please get a  hold of me. I will be happy to um address your
concerns prior to what we see at the PIC meeting  on April 8th." This concludes my report. Okay.
Excellent. And for the mayor's report is to follow  up on Russell Joe, council member Joe's comments.
Uh the cascade water lines did meet last week on  Wednesday. I think the big topic of discussion was
executive director role. And so it it looks like  the way it's shaping out. I think the most likely
outcome right now is that the next meeting they  will probably do a search and so there's interup
interim executive director. I think there is  a chance that person could retain the role,
but I think that could be done through a search  process where they're one of the people applying
for the job. And in terms of the new committee  that was formed, the capital supply committee,
I am on that committee as council member Joe is on  the finance committee. We think those are the two
most important committees as they try to build  a $1.2 billion water pipe to Tacoma. Uh for the
second part of the mayor's report, the 2026 boards  and commissions was on tonight's consent calendar.
That was agenda bill 9150 9157. Uh we had we  have 113 members serving on our 13 different
boards and commissions. We have 23 new members  who have now joined that cohort. We also had 23
returning members and to realize what a lucky  community we are. We actually have more people
apply than spots we had open. And so we do want to  thank everyone who did apply. We really appreciate
their volunteer efforts. And we want to thank  those who were appointed because they have more
volunteer time on the horizon. And in terms of the  remaining ones, there is still recruitment for the
civil service commission and for the squad special  member of the King County Landmarks Commission. So
civil service commission isn't doesn't sound super  sexy. It is actually important for validating all
of our collective bing agreement contracts. Uh  next update is Peterson energy grant for the
community center. So we awarded $700,000 from  PSSE to support critical energy upgrades at
the Isqua Community Center. Basically these are  we're replacing natural gas equipment with heat
pumps. So, we will have air conditioning in the  community center coming up and we will use less
electricity as well. And upcoming events, we have  the Earth Month. April's Earth Month. Celebrate
by getting involved in events throughout the  community. There are a variety of activities
planned to help you learn, volunteer, and take  action for our environment. Kick off the month
with our annual Arbor Day event at Confluence  Park this Saturday, April 4th. You can visit the
city website for more information. We also have a  Leave No Trace events in Isiqua. Leave No Trace is
a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting  the outdoors through science-based education that
encourages responsible recreation along with  11 other cities. We are one of the spotlighted
cities. And once again, there will be well, I  think we're going to have events that include
trivia night at Formula Brewing, a restoration  event at Confluence Park. And once again,
there are more details on the city website.  And that concludes the mayor's report. Does
anyone have anything for the good of the order?  Looking around, not seeing it. Uh, I'd like to
announce the following upcoming council meetings.  Monday, April 6th is committee the whole meeting.
That agenda will involve the potential park bond  renewal along with the facilities update. Tuesday,
April 7th is a special council meeting to  hear presentations from the city council
vacancy applicants. Those applicants, I think,  have until Thursday, end of business. So, that
is April 2nd to apply and then we will validate  their Isco residents. Oh, council member Nichols.
Okay. So, one quick go to the order  announcements. Um just want to call
out and recognize that uh tomorrow, Tuesday,  March 31st, is International Transgender Day
of Visibility. Uh I think it's a very important  thing for everyone in our community to be aware
of. Um there will also be some upcoming  proclamations to that effect as well,
which I I think uh are greatly appreciated.  So just quick note, uh tomorrow, March 31st,
International Transgender Day of Visibility.  And I think it's a it's a good opportunity to
uh think about and uh learn from the perspectives  of many of our neighbors and residents and uh
uh grow as we learn more about them. So thank  you. Yes. I am doing a proclamation uh at an
event on April 9th for them uh next week in the  evening. Uh okay. So that concludes good of the
order. We are now have executive session ID 20004  property property acquisition for RCW42.30.110
parenthesis 1 parenthesis B lowercase  B. The council will now go on executive
session discuss property acquisition per this RCW.
Executive sessions are closed to the public. We  expect this executive session to last roughly 20
minutes. No action is anticipated when we go  back to open session and we will now start.
Man, I lose all my brevity points  for council meetings. It is 9:25,
but uh we will now start this  executive session at 9:25.