City Council Committee of the Whole · Tuesday, November 12, 2024 · City Council Digest

3. AGENDA ITEMS

2025-26 Budget: Deliberations COM 0077

Andrea Snyder, Assistant City Administrator · packet pp.5–50

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 0:33 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

At the Oct. 28, 2024 City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, staff provided an overview of the 2025-26 Proposed Budget, including: • 2025-26 Budget Priorities • Forces on the budget • A General Fund Overview • Proposed new revenues • Departmental Budget Highlights and Impacts

2933 segments .txt ↗

0:07 ↗ good evening everyone I council

0:09 ↗ president Walsh call the November 12th

0:12 ↗ Committee of the whole meeting to order

0:15 ↗ um as a reminder we continue to have a

0:16 ↗ remote aspect to all of our meetings

0:19 ↗ both staff and members of the public may

0:22 ↗ be participating in tonight's meeting

0:24 ↗ remotely via

0:26 ↗ WebEx we looking over our agenda agenda

0:30 ↗ we've got a a public comment and then a

0:33 ↗ single agenda item Comm 0077 the 2025

0:37 ↗ 2026 budget

0:39 ↗ deliberations so we will start with um

0:43 ↗ public comment so members of the public

0:46 ↗ May address council at this time in

0:48 ↗ person or virtually those who signed up

0:50 ↗ in advance to make comments will be

0:52 ↗ called on first um if you're joining us

0:55 ↗ virtually and would like to make

0:57 ↗ comments you'll look for the raise hand

1:00 ↗ icon if you're on a computer or

1:01 ↗ smartphone or if you're on the phone

1:03 ↗ you're going to press star three if

1:06 ↗ you're in the room and did not sign up

1:08 ↗ uh I will ask for other speakers before

1:10 ↗ closing this portion of the meeting so I

1:13 ↗ will take a moment and ask the clerk if

1:16 ↗ we have anybody signed up or indicating

1:17 ↗ a desire to speak yes council president

1:20 ↗ we do okay um for those making comments

1:24 ↗ you're invited to address the council

1:26 ↗ regarding matters that are directly

1:28 ↗ related to isqua program

1:31 ↗ projects services or events comments

1:33 ↗ related to political campaigns are not

1:35 ↗ permitted please direct comments to the

1:38 ↗ whole Council and not individuals while

1:40 ↗ this is not a question and answer

1:42 ↗ session we will contact you to follow up

1:44 ↗ if needed when recognized if you're

1:47 ↗ virtual you're going to unmute your

1:48 ↗ microphone or in person you'll step up

1:51 ↗ to the lecturn and press the button so

1:53 ↗ that it lights up in red state your name

1:56 ↗ address and relationship to the city

1:58 ↗ speak clearly and pause frequently and

2:01 ↗ limit your comments to 5 minutes if you

2:03 ↗ are attending virtually and do not

2:05 ↗ respond after your name or phone number

2:07 ↗ is called or if your connection is lost

2:09 ↗ unexpectedly the meeting will need to

2:11 ↗ proceed and you're encouraged to Jo

2:13 ↗ rejoin the meeting if able personal

2:16 ↗ attacks obscene language derogatory

2:19 ↗ remarks and disruptive behavior will not

2:21 ↗ be permitted um public comments written

2:23 ↗ and verbal are an important aspect of

2:25 ↗ the public process the city takes

2:27 ↗ comments seriously and we thank you for

2:29 ↗ taking the time to address us so clerk

2:31 ↗ can you please identify the first person

2:33 ↗ who signed up to

2:34 ↗ speak yes council president Judy Eckland

2:37 ↗ would like to speak to the committee

2:39 ↗ right come on

2:48 ↗ up Judy if you push the the button there

2:52 ↗ on the base of the

2:55 ↗ unit there we go thank you

3:00 ↗ good evening Madam mayor and all of the

3:02 ↗ council members here my name is Judy

3:04 ↗ Eckland and I've been a resident in

3:06 ↗ isqua for 15 years and I've volunteered

3:09 ↗ for the Downtown iscoa Association for

3:12 ↗ 12 in fact this afternoon I was

3:15 ↗ outputting pink decorated shoes in the

3:19 ↗ Planters to promote our Legally Blonde

3:22 ↗ that opens

3:23 ↗ tonight and we need more shoes if any of

3:26 ↗ you have any heels in your back closet

3:28 ↗ please let me know

3:32 ↗ um so

3:34 ↗ volunteering I have had the experience

3:36 ↗ of meeting so many wonderful people and

3:38 ↗ residents because downtown is quo Asian

3:42 ↗ um is inclusive we want the residents

3:46 ↗ the people that live here that work here

3:48 ↗ the people like to visit here we want

3:51 ↗ them to be all comfortable and come back

3:53 ↗ and they do and in volunteering downtown

3:56 ↗ I meet lots of people from other areas

3:58 ↗ that wish they lived here

4:01 ↗ and um I'm also able to promote

4:03 ↗ businesses they comment on the on the

4:05 ↗ flower putts thank you for doing that I

4:07 ↗ said well thank thank the grain supply

4:10 ↗ thank squawk Mountain Nursery because

4:12 ↗ they provided the plants they want to

4:14 ↗ know where to get a glass of wine they

4:16 ↗ want to know where to get a greeting

4:17 ↗ card then I have the people that come

4:20 ↗ through that just come here to walk

4:22 ↗ around because they like it so much I

4:24 ↗ have a friend coming to visit over the

4:26 ↗ holidays I said well let me check the

4:28 ↗ calendar and see what's going on around

4:30 ↗ here she's only visited one other time

4:32 ↗ she said oh well I just want to stay in

4:34 ↗ isqua she said that's like a a Norman W

4:36 ↗ Rockwell

4:38 ↗ experience so I asked the city to

4:41 ↗ continue with their funding because I

4:44 ↗ like the the the Norman Rockwell

4:47 ↗ experience and I want to continue this

4:51 ↗ thank

4:52 ↗ you thank you

4:55 ↗ Judy um do we have somebody else signed

4:57 ↗ up yes we do Le

5:01 ↗ Ash

5:02 ↗ thank

5:04 ↗ leani pardon

5:08 ↗ me so hi I'm I'm Leilani Ash and I am a

5:12 ↗ resident here in isqua hello Madame

5:15 ↗ mayor and city council thank you for

5:17 ↗ letting me

5:19 ↗ speak so I have been

5:23 ↗ a volunteer with downtown isqua for

5:26 ↗ three years forgive me if I tear up

5:30 ↗ it has become such an important part of

5:34 ↗ my life and not just for me but for my

5:38 ↗ family of

5:40 ↗ 13 I am the only one that lives in isqua

5:43 ↗ and they're all

5:45 ↗ wannabes they

5:46 ↗ spend nearly all their time in issaqua

5:50 ↗ when they're not

5:52 ↗ working um helping volunteer with the

5:55 ↗ Downtown isaka

5:56 ↗ Association whether it's the isqua go

5:59 ↗ apples my 15-year-old granddaughter

6:04 ↗ is um in her words she's the owner of

6:08 ↗ the Apple press she is the one that

6:10 ↗ knows how to run it um my four-year-old

6:15 ↗ granddaughter will hand out stickers and

6:19 ↗ long cards and anything else that she

6:22 ↗ can hand out to people just to meet

6:25 ↗ people and be part of

6:27 ↗ isqua um to my 40 yold daughter

6:31 ↗ who this uh Christmas season will be an

6:34 ↗ elf uh up and down Front

6:37 ↗ Street um along with my brood of 13 I

6:41 ↗ also bring into

6:43 ↗ town um not me but downtown isqua and

6:46 ↗ the programming um fenders on Front

6:49 ↗ Street um Confluence Music Festival the

6:54 ↗ the gas station Blues um various friends

7:00 ↗ from northern Cal as far as away from

7:01 ↗ Northern California who come up and will

7:05 ↗ stay 2 three four nights in isqua and

7:10 ↗ enjoy everything from fins beastro to

7:14 ↗ Capri sellers to big picture um all

7:18 ↗ because of the programming that comes

7:21 ↗ from downtown

7:23 ↗ isqua um we've

7:26 ↗ had nine people just in the last three

7:29 ↗ years no I have to I I'll take that back

7:32 ↗ six people in the last three years move

7:35 ↗ from Northern

7:36 ↗ California to be close to isqua whether

7:40 ↗ they their jobs are in issaqua or the

7:44 ↗ surrounding area but all of their time

7:46 ↗ is spent um with our programming that

7:50 ↗ the Downtown isqua Association is

7:53 ↗ providing which happens to be free to

7:58 ↗ everyone um um regardless of their

8:01 ↗ social status or their financial

8:04 ↗ status or their age the the the gas

8:08 ↗ station Blues regardless of your age

8:10 ↗ bring It come on down and and enjoy the

8:13 ↗ music it's free and it's wonderful a

8:17 ↗ great day to to to go over to um

8:21 ↗ levitate and grab a burger and fries and

8:24 ↗ bring it to the gas station blues and

8:27 ↗ sit with your family and have have a

8:29 ↗ meal

8:31 ↗ so I my request to the city council is

8:34 ↗ please consider continuing the funding

8:37 ↗ for the Downtown isqua Association so

8:40 ↗ that we can continue bringing

8:42 ↗ in people from out of state out of town

8:46 ↗ out of out of County um even our own

8:49 ↗ residents right here to help them enjoy

8:52 ↗ everything that the Downtown isqua

8:54 ↗ Association um provides so thank you for

8:59 ↗ letting me speak today thanks Leilani

9:02 ↗ anybody else signed up to speak yes

9:05 ↗ council president Corby

9:07 ↗ castler

9:12 ↗ Corby good evening everyone um

9:16 ↗ congratulations council member Victoria

9:19 ↗ hunt um I just wanted to reiterate what

9:22 ↗ we've heard from our volunteers first of

9:25 ↗ all Dia is not an island unto itself

9:27 ↗ what it is is the community

9:30 ↗ our volunteers our businesses they all

9:32 ↗ comprise what Downtown isqua Association

9:35 ↗ is we do not have membership fees we're

9:37 ↗ not a chamber of commerce we bring the

9:39 ↗ voices together so that everyone has an

9:42 ↗ equal voice that's just a little

9:44 ↗ backdrop I want you to contemplate

9:47 ↗ $30,000 as an investment into downtown

9:50 ↗ Isa Association which would help keep

9:53 ↗ everything alive Music Arts engagement

9:57 ↗ activity liveliness people in the

9:58 ↗ streets bringing pedestrians into the

10:01 ↗ businesses $30,000 in

10:05 ↗ addition 90,000 back to the city if they

10:08 ↗ invest $330,000 they get a return from a

10:11 ↗ tax incentive credit program and I'll

10:13 ↗ talk a little bit more about that um I I

10:16 ↗ really want to think about what would

10:20 ↗ downtown look like if we did not have

10:22 ↗ that activity we've done a lot of

10:24 ↗ surveys and in those surveys people from

10:27 ↗ all over come you know from redond we

10:29 ↗ don't have a downtown we want to come to

10:31 ↗ isqua it's historically hip we've

10:34 ↗ branded that as a community based on the

10:36 ↗ voices of everyone again our businesses

10:39 ↗ other organizations other nonprofits the

10:41 ↗ government the city we are all Dia we're

10:45 ↗ proud of our hometown we want to

10:47 ↗ continue to generate revenue for the

10:50 ↗ City by helping our businesses and I can

10:53 ↗ tell you talk to your constituents ask

10:55 ↗ them what do you need most in downtown

10:58 ↗ they'll say activ

10:59 ↗ bring its people people don't come just

11:02 ↗ because nothing's happening every

11:05 ↗ weekend you will see people in the

11:06 ↗ streets going into our businesses our

11:09 ↗ business is saying things such as

11:11 ↗ vendors on front is the most important

11:13 ↗ day of the year Bar None because there

11:16 ↗ are another no other restaurants they

11:18 ↗ line up they go into our restaurants and

11:21 ↗ they thank us profusely that's just one

11:23 ↗ example there's so many more our

11:26 ↗ downtown is our pride and joy it makes

11:30 ↗ isqua special let's invest 25 cents on

11:34 ↗ the dollar an unprecedented program

11:37 ↗ because we're a Main Street program that

11:40 ↗ people who are not Main Street do not

11:42 ↗ have invest

11:43 ↗ $30,000 get $90,000 back that we can

11:47 ↗ keep in our city rather than putting it

11:49 ↗ in the mail and sending it elsewhere so

11:52 ↗ please talk your constituents find out

11:55 ↗ what they need in a downtown how do we

11:57 ↗ keep it moving like Lively instead of

12:00 ↗ just a thorough Fair thank you very much

12:03 ↗ thanks Corby we have anybody else uh

12:07 ↗ signed up to speak no council president

12:09 ↗ nobody else has signed up previously

12:12 ↗ okay uh I noticed we have two people who

12:14 ↗ have joined us uh since I started we're

12:17 ↗ doing public comments uh if either of

12:20 ↗ you would like to address Council if

12:22 ↗ you've got some comments we would be

12:24 ↗ happy to have you up

12:26 ↗ here are you interested

12:30 ↗ great one at a time or together you guys

12:32 ↗ can come up to the um lecture right

12:35 ↗ there we've already got the microphone

12:36 ↗ on you'll tell us your name um and kind

12:40 ↗ of your relationship to the city and

12:42 ↗ then you'll have five minutes to make

12:43 ↗ comments

12:52 ↗ so so um at this point we've got an open

12:56 ↗ public comment which is just what you

12:57 ↗ were hearing from other residents um so

13:00 ↗ if you have something to speak on that

13:02 ↗ would be great otherwise we're going to

13:04 ↗ go into our meeting we'll probably do

13:05 ↗ like an hourlong

13:07 ↗ presentation um well half an hour or so

13:10 ↗ and then um some questions from us

13:12 ↗ before the next public comment

13:13 ↗ opportunity so just want to give you a

13:16 ↗ chance if you don't want to stay that

13:19 ↗ long come on we won't we don't

13:22 ↗ bite we're really good come on up there

13:26 ↗ so just state your name your

13:27 ↗ relationship to the city and what you

13:29 ↗ have to say yeah hi I'm uh James I'm

13:33 ↗ just uh like a senior at isqua high

13:36 ↗ school and I wanted to attend this uh

13:39 ↗ city council meeting in particular to

13:41 ↗ like uh pose a question because I saw on

13:43 ↗ the website it's talking about um I can

13:46 ↗ adjust it um budgeting it's talking

13:48 ↗ about budgeting um for the city of

13:50 ↗ issaqua and I had been speaking to a lot

13:53 ↗ of people at the the garage like that

13:56 ↗ youth nonprofit Cafe right near the

13:59 ↗ community center and a lot of people

14:02 ↗ there are um people from like lower

14:04 ↗ income backgrounds who live in the isqua

14:06 ↗ area or at least if in like the isqua

14:07 ↗ school district you know they commute to

14:09 ↗ isqua high school and they stay around

14:11 ↗ in issaqua at least you know five days

14:13 ↗ out of the week and through speaking to

14:15 ↗ people there uh a lot of people were

14:17 ↗ expressing like concern over public

14:19 ↗ transportation and like the like what

14:22 ↗ the future of funding for it might look

14:23 ↗ like especially with the um Metroflex

14:26 ↗ program and along with um the recently

14:29 ↗ um I'm not sure if recent we could say a

14:31 ↗ year is recent but um some of the like

14:33 ↗ cancelled uh bus routes like throughout

14:36 ↗ isqua and people were just expressing a

14:39 ↗ lot of interest about what public

14:41 ↗ transportation and what like funding for

14:43 ↗ it might look like so that's why I

14:45 ↗ wanted to come here today to kind of

14:46 ↗ pose a question on what funding can we

14:49 ↗ expect for like uh like public

14:52 ↗ transportation isqua or if that is a

14:55 ↗ more of like a countywide question but

14:57 ↗ that's what I have to pose

15:00 ↗ fantastic thank you for your comments

15:02 ↗ I'll just say this we don't have the

15:05 ↗ opportunity as a council at this point

15:07 ↗ to respond just like we didn't do to the

15:09 ↗ other residents but I want to let you

15:11 ↗ know that if you want to start a

15:12 ↗ conversation you can email city council

15:15 ↗ at esqua wa.gov um or we will be

15:19 ↗ speaking on that topic and more um later

15:22 ↗ would you like to make any

15:25 ↗ comments I promise we don't bite

15:33 ↗ okay

15:38 ↗ great hi I'm Jenna I'm just um a

15:42 ↗ resident here in isqua I've been living

15:43 ↗ here since I was eight um yeah I just

15:46 ↗ have the same concern I've talked with

15:48 ↗ students at the garage um again like

15:50 ↗ predominant lower income who said that

15:52 ↗ they'd heard some rumors that like with

15:55 ↗ new budgeting for city of isqua there

15:57 ↗ might be like cutting of Metroflex and l

15:59 ↗ or there might be like more cutting of

16:02 ↗ bus routes and I just wanted to like

16:04 ↗ reemphasize what James had said which is

16:07 ↗ that um like there are low-income people

16:10 ↗ in this car who do need the Metroflex

16:12 ↗ and do need like public transit so I

16:14 ↗ know you can't respond to that right now

16:16 ↗ and like in order to start a dialogue

16:18 ↗ might need an email or such um but I

16:21 ↗ hope that there can be like productive

16:25 ↗ conversation and like them these

16:28 ↗ programs which are like really

16:29 ↗ fundamental for like people in our

16:31 ↗ community um and like

16:36 ↗ remain thank you so much we always

16:38 ↗ appreciate hearing from residents and

16:41 ↗ understanding what what's happening with

16:44 ↗ you guys just like we uh heard earlier

16:46 ↗ from the DIA volunteers um anybody else

16:49 ↗ indicating online a desire to speak uh C

16:52 ↗ president nobody online has indicated a

16:54 ↗ desire to speak at this time okay well

16:57 ↗ again we always love hearing from our

16:59 ↗ residents we heard from um three uh

17:03 ↗ people from DIA two volunteers um just

17:06 ↗ about the city funding issues and then

17:09 ↗ we heard from uh two students about uh

17:13 ↗ the advocacy for Metroflex and kind of

17:16 ↗ what the impact and what the

17:18 ↗ availability of the budget would be so

17:20 ↗ thank you guys um at this time we've got

17:23 ↗ our one budget item um on the agenda

17:27 ↗ which is Comm 0077

17:29 ↗ the 2025 2026 budget uh deliberations

17:33 ↗ presented by Andrea Snider the assistant

17:35 ↗ City

17:36 ↗ administrator thank you thank you

17:39 ↗ council president Walsh um with me here

17:42 ↗ today A Supporting Cast uh to really do

17:45 ↗ the bulk of the presentation for us uh

17:48 ↗ I'm just kicking it off but uh we have

17:50 ↗ Public Works director Emily Moon uh

17:53 ↗ Community planning and development

17:54 ↗ director Minnie Dolly wall is joining us

17:56 ↗ from overseas and also administrative

17:59 ↗ Services director otam manahan um but I

18:02 ↗ will kick us off uh so the purpose for

18:05 ↗ today is to follow up on some of the

18:07 ↗ issues there we go follow up on some of

18:09 ↗ the issues raised by city council at uh

18:12 ↗ the October 28th Committee of the whole

18:15 ↗ regarding the 2526 proposed budget so

18:18 ↗ specifically those interests that seem

18:21 ↗ um to be to Bubble up to the top for

18:23 ↗ Council were Metroflex the light rail

18:26 ↗ study the housing and parking studies as

18:29 ↗ well as the fleet fund we got a lot of

18:30 ↗ questions about each of those items

18:32 ↗ there are many more questions we

18:33 ↗ received from Council we have attempted

18:35 ↗ to answer those in the packet for you

18:37 ↗ this evening if you have additional

18:39 ↗ questions or follow up on anything

18:40 ↗ that's presented to you in the packet

18:43 ↗ please let us know of course we're happy

18:44 ↗ to provide any information that you

18:46 ↗ desire but it seemed like these four

18:47 ↗ issues really um Rose to the top for the

18:50 ↗ most of council members so we wanted to

18:51 ↗ spend some time today addressing them

18:54 ↗ the direction needed for today is really

18:56 ↗ just asking are you is is Council um

19:01 ↗ does council agree with the

19:02 ↗ administration's recommendation as

19:04 ↗ presented in the proposed budget to

19:06 ↗ cancel the city's contribution to

19:08 ↗ Metroflex postpone the light rail study

19:12 ↗ U postpone the housing and parking

19:14 ↗ studies and also to keep the fleet fund

19:17 ↗ budget as proposed those are the four

19:19 ↗ questions really for today on addressing

19:22 ↗ each of those four

19:24 ↗ items um so with that I would like to

19:27 ↗ welcome Public Works director Emily

19:40 ↗ Moon good evening city

19:43 ↗ council so I'll be following up on some

19:47 ↗ of the questions that you have posed

19:48 ↗ about Metroflex and providing a little

19:51 ↗ information about the service to

19:54 ↗ date so the first slide shows weekday

19:58 ↗ weekday only rides per quarter and I'll

20:01 ↗ point out the obvious it's been on the

20:03 ↗ rise since we first started which was to

20:05 ↗ be expected has been leveling off a

20:08 ↗ little bit as uh we have stopped pushing

20:12 ↗ as much marketing uh for the program

20:15 ↗ there was a big launch where we

20:17 ↗ saturated the community with signage and

20:20 ↗ social media and other means of

20:23 ↗ communicating the new

20:25 ↗ service this is a similar Trend as you

20:27 ↗ will see in other slides as well that

20:30 ↗ King County has experienced and other

20:33 ↗ communities that have started up

20:36 ↗ Metroflex so our weekday rides per

20:39 ↗ quarter last quarter that we have data

20:42 ↗ for through September uh was 43 rides

20:47 ↗ per

20:49 ↗ weekday in terms of ridership we have

20:52 ↗ also seen pretty similar pattern real up

20:55 ↗ Tick in that first from the first

20:58 ↗ quarter to the second quarter of the

21:00 ↗ service our ridership has increased

21:04 ↗ pretty steadily until this last quarter

21:06 ↗ where it sort of leveled off a little

21:08 ↗ bit

21:12 ↗ again and shared trips is an objective

21:15 ↗ of the program to ensure that we have

21:18 ↗ efficient use of the system there's a

21:20 ↗ sweet spot for shared number of trips

21:23 ↗ and uh number of riders that can be

21:25 ↗ accommodated certainly with each vehicle

21:29 ↗ so we are hitting the Target that we

21:30 ↗ have uh thus far L to see that higher

21:33 ↗ but again that's uh partly about demand

21:35 ↗ partly about resources as well and so

21:38 ↗ our shared trips have remained fairly

21:41 ↗ fairly

21:43 ↗ constant in terms of weight times per

21:47 ↗ quarter uh we've seen that be fairly

21:50 ↗ consistent as well uh one thing that I

21:54 ↗ will note is shortly after we had

21:58 ↗ started the service around that second

21:59 ↗ quarter time frame Metroflex added a

22:03 ↗ fourth vehicle to service isqua and that

22:07 ↗ was in part because of the de demand

22:09 ↗ that they were seeing but also um hoping

22:11 ↗ to make sure to hold constant uh on the

22:15 ↗ weight times and um make sure that they

22:18 ↗ were servicing the whole uh service area

22:22 ↗ um having that availability of a vehicle

22:29 ↗ there's also some questions that we

22:31 ↗ received about who is using the service

22:34 ↗ it's a hard question to answer we have a

22:36 ↗ lot of anecdotal evidence uh but

22:40 ↗ Metroflex does not require anyone to

22:43 ↗ submit demographic information as they

22:46 ↗ book a trip they don't collect anything

22:49 ↗ um as someone enters one of the vehicles

22:52 ↗ uh so we don't have that but we do have

22:54 ↗ some useful information I think in the

22:57 ↗ heat maps that get on a quarterly basis

23:00 ↗ from Metro this is just an example week

23:04 ↗ of October 21st U we think it's a good

23:07 ↗ example because it it shows a pattern

23:09 ↗ that we see repeated uh throughout each

23:12 ↗ quarter you can see our top destinations

23:15 ↗ are are two Transit centers uh the

23:18 ↗ transit center and the parking ride in

23:19 ↗ the highlands uh isqua High School Talis

23:23 ↗ which is in a

23:25 ↗ multifam um area um family housing area

23:30 ↗ and isqua Commons but you can see single

23:33 ↗ dots spread out throughout town uh the

23:38 ↗ Clusters the that are darkest in color

23:41 ↗ that deep purple color um those haven't

23:44 ↗ really changed over time um in some

23:47 ↗ cases they have become more intense you

23:50 ↗ actually have to aggregate a little bit

23:52 ↗ with your your mind's eye a bit if you

23:54 ↗ see the iscoa High um there's several C

23:58 ↗ circles that are that rich color but

24:00 ↗ you'd have to kind of combine them to

24:02 ↗ see the overall usage

24:07 ↗ there I can also share just a little bit

24:09 ↗ of that anecdotal uh evidence about who

24:13 ↗ is using it I think the heat map speaks

24:15 ↗ to that you've got Shoppers you have um

24:19 ↗ folks that are uh living in some of our

24:22 ↗ higher density neighborhoods you have uh

24:25 ↗ High School age students that are using

24:27 ↗ this service quite a bit so some of that

24:31 ↗ anecdotal evidence that we have is some

24:33 ↗ feedback that we received as we went to

24:36 ↗ various boards and commissions last

24:37 ↗ spring um we heard from Human Services

24:41 ↗ uh Department as well in the city that

24:45 ↗ uh they were receiving a lot of feedback

24:48 ↗ from writers about how valued the

24:51 ↗ service was um they told us at that time

24:55 ↗ that

24:56 ↗ their biggest benefit was in accessing

25:00 ↗ Oldtown and Gilman for uh shopping um

25:05 ↗ also the commons area for shopping and

25:08 ↗ they said metrox Flex has improved

25:11 ↗ access to businesses within isqua that

25:13 ↗ were not previously accessible via bus

25:16 ↗ particularly basic needs in downtown

25:18 ↗ isqua area and that they were receiving

25:21 ↗ a lot of feedback from students that

25:23 ↗ they have used it to take um trips to

25:27 ↗ grocery stores

25:29 ↗ and uh also uh to the food bank and

25:33 ↗ other locations in downtown and along

25:36 ↗ Gilman

25:37 ↗ Boulevard lastly we also have received

25:40 ↗ quite a bit of feedback from iswa School

25:42 ↗ District staff who have uh from time to

25:45 ↗ time reached out to us and have voiced

25:48 ↗ appreciation for the service and even

25:50 ↗ more so a desire for more of it uh to

25:53 ↗ service different neighborhoods but also

25:56 ↗ uh different hours of operation

25:57 ↗ different days of the

26:02 ↗ week I was going to say I think we've

26:04 ↗ got just one more slide on Metroflex but

26:06 ↗ go ahead question it's on the map so if

26:09 ↗ that's all right thank you um the I just

26:12 ↗ wanted to confirm while there are

26:14 ↗ multiple dots at multiple places in

26:16 ↗ Talis and you have Talis multif family I

26:18 ↗ believe that the large purple dot which

26:20 ↗ is the highest um uh density of writers

26:24 ↗ ship is Rose crust um at Talis and I

26:28 ↗ just wanted to confirm that that's

26:29 ↗ correct thank

26:36 ↗ you okay uh you also asked some

26:40 ↗ questions about current funding I'm uh

26:42 ↗ confirming for you that we have cut

26:58 ↗ also wanted to give you a statistic the

27:01 ↗ city's cost per trip then um averages

27:04 ↗ out to $27 24 or at least it did for the

27:10 ↗ most recent

27:11 ↗ quarter I spoke earlier about the fact

27:14 ↗ that we have about four vans in our

27:17 ↗ Fleet on average you know the county

27:21 ↗ shifts resources around to meet demand

27:24 ↗ so some moments in time we actually

27:26 ↗ could have one more vehicle we could

27:29 ↗ have one fewer um when our contract was

27:34 ↗ established we

27:37 ↗ were paying the equivalent of one Van's

27:41 ↗ use one operator's time um and Essence

27:45 ↗ and so city has gotten a little bit more

27:48 ↗ out of the county over the last year as

27:51 ↗ they have had to try to meet the demand

27:53 ↗ in our

27:55 ↗ community we did approach King County

27:57 ↗ and we asked about their ability to help

28:01 ↗ fund uh City's cost share for the second

28:05 ↗ year of the contract they are not able

28:08 ↗ to do that again we're Midway through

28:11 ↗ this two-year agreement uh we have

28:14 ↗ provisions of course to terminate um but

28:17 ↗ they have already established their

28:20 ↗ provision of service to our community

28:22 ↗ and other communities and did not have

28:24 ↗ available budget to uh put toward this

28:27 ↗ program

28:29 ↗ I also wanted to share that King County

28:34 ↗ has been very consistent in their

28:36 ↗ response to us that they attempted to

28:39 ↗ negotiate in good faith and offer this

28:42 ↗ program uh to the city to help meet uh

28:45 ↗ the needs that they saw in our community

28:47 ↗ they wanted to be partners with us we

28:49 ↗ spent quite a bit of time over the years

28:51 ↗ trying to come up with what is the best

28:53 ↗ way to service our community especially

28:56 ↗ after cuts to uh bus

28:59 ↗ Transit and we jumped the queue in a way

29:03 ↗ because we had been having those

29:05 ↗ long-standing discussions with them and

29:07 ↗ because of the reductions in bus service

29:10 ↗ to our community and

29:12 ↗ others King County had

29:14 ↗ established after implementation of

29:17 ↗ Metroflex and after they began seeing a

29:19 ↗ lot of jurisdictions have interest in

29:21 ↗ the program they reestablished some

29:24 ↗ criteria for expansion of the program

29:27 ↗ and that expansion

29:29 ↗ criteria uh is called their service

29:32 ↗ guidelines and that really speaks to

29:35 ↗ their desire to ensure equity and

29:39 ↗ service particularly attention to um

29:43 ↗ Equity priority areas so those are areas

29:46 ↗ in our region that um have higher

29:49 ↗ density of low to moderate income uh

29:53 ↗ residents provide access to jobs and

29:56 ↗ Community assets and

29:58 ↗ um their second tier is really about uh

30:02 ↗ meeting communities that want to partner

30:05 ↗ with them so we were sort of that second

30:07 ↗ level criteria when uh they they agreed

30:10 ↗ to help us start this program

30:14 ↗ here I also understand that city council

30:17 ↗ has asked some questions about why

30:18 ↗ samamish doesn't contribute and I think

30:21 ↗ we've address that before but to

30:23 ↗ reiterate that their program started

30:26 ↗ much earlier than ours did and again um

30:30 ↗ the way in which King County was

30:31 ↗ thinking about service expansion

30:33 ↗ differed a little bit at that time but

30:35 ↗ the primary reason why they are

30:37 ↗ servicing city of samamish without a

30:39 ↗ contribution from the city is because

30:42 ↗ they have had a more significant

30:44 ↗ reduction in transit services than the

30:46 ↗ city of isqua and still to this day they

30:48 ↗ have fewer transit services than the

30:52 ↗ city of isqua has and that's anticipated

30:54 ↗ to Comm to continue um in the near

31:00 ↗ future lastly I wanted to provide some

31:03 ↗ background on the Consolidated grant

31:06 ↗ that we have applied for uh knowing that

31:09 ↗ it's always good to try to get uh

31:11 ↗ outside funding we uh try to put our

31:14 ↗ name in the Hat for this wash dot Grant

31:17 ↗ that's passed through uh Puget Sound

31:19 ↗ Regional Council and this grant would

31:22 ↗ help us to offer Metro Flex uh for a

31:26 ↗ 2-year period running from July 2025 to

31:29 ↗ June

31:31 ↗ 2027 so the grant would cover about 90%

31:34 ↗ of the city's costs there is a

31:35 ↗ requirement for a City match our City

31:37 ↗ match would be about

31:41 ↗ $59,000 and we won't know if the city is

31:45 ↗ going to be awarded that Grant until May

31:49 ↗ of

31:50 ↗ 2025 however um there are steps to this

31:54 ↗ process we will get a little bit of

31:56 ↗ information back we think at the end of

31:59 ↗ November um not enough to count on fully

32:03 ↗ but a good indication of the likelihood

32:06 ↗ of the city to receive that Grant and

32:08 ↗ we'll certainly be keeping you informed

32:11 ↗ of

32:12 ↗ that director Moon before we move on

32:14 ↗ since I know the next one is light rail

32:16 ↗ I think we've got some interest in

32:18 ↗ questions about the Metroflex program so

32:21 ↗ um Deputy council president D Michelle

32:24 ↗ followed by um council member Mart

32:28 ↗ uh thank you Emily and thank you for

32:30 ↗ your Outreach to Metro was there any

32:33 ↗ discussion uh it says there's no

32:35 ↗ additional available uh funding for year

32:38 ↗ to the contract but was there any

32:39 ↗ discussion about uh future funding uh

32:43 ↗ Beyond uh the two-year period and um any

32:47 ↗ indication that there might be funding

32:49 ↗ in the future no we we didn't get into

32:51 ↗ that topic that would certainly be a

32:54 ↗ topic that we would need to engage in

32:56 ↗ and about another five six months when

32:59 ↗ we are ready to

33:00 ↗ renegotiate hopefully years three and

33:03 ↗ four if um we are going to continue this

33:07 ↗ service Council Mars thank you council

33:10 ↗ president a couple questions can you go

33:12 ↗ back to the map for a second

33:14 ↗ sure so I'm struck can you help me

33:18 ↗ understand why there's so much more

33:20 ↗ ridership in the highlands than there is

33:22 ↗ in squawk Mountain because squawk

33:24 ↗ mountain is one of the places that

33:25 ↗ historically we've said

33:28 ↗ that the lack of Transit is is

33:30 ↗ particularly difficult and yet it's

33:33 ↗ essentially unused Ona and it looks

33:35 ↗ heavily used in the highlands can I

33:36 ↗ understand why yeah and I could only

33:39 ↗ offer sort of my subjective opinion

33:42 ↗ about why that might be the case we

33:44 ↗ don't of course have any survey um to uh

33:49 ↗ share as rationale for that what I can

33:52 ↗ say is if there was a neighborhood that

33:55 ↗ received a lot of uh marketing about the

33:58 ↗ service it was it was definitely squat

34:01 ↗ because our intention was to provide

34:03 ↗ this service um where there was a lack

34:05 ↗ of Transit service and so we focus very

34:07 ↗ heavily on both squawk and

34:10 ↗ Talis my personal opinion is

34:15 ↗ perhaps uh the residents that live on

34:18 ↗ squawk have gone without for so long

34:21 ↗ there are a lot of households therefore

34:23 ↗ that have private

34:26 ↗ Automobiles and um that's the dominant

34:29 ↗ nature of how they get around where uh

34:33 ↗ Highlands for

34:35 ↗ example uh since very early time has had

34:38 ↗ access to BU bus routes has had the park

34:40 ↗ and ride um so that's that's just my

34:43 ↗ best guess yeah it's it's funny because

34:46 ↗ I mean we have lots of uh also folks who

34:48 ↗ are aging in place on squawk that could

34:51 ↗ potentially benefit so it's just

34:54 ↗ surprisingly disappointing uh my next

34:56 ↗ question is when you talk talked about

34:58 ↗ ridership and I think you said it was

35:00 ↗ approximately 3,000 per quarter um in

35:03 ↗ the most recent how does that compare to

35:05 ↗ a bus or set of buses like order of

35:08 ↗ magnitude how does that it's a great

35:10 ↗ question I don't have that statistic for

35:12 ↗ you so I'd have to get back to you on

35:14 ↗ that okay next question is you said it

35:16 ↗ was $27 per trip you know how that

35:18 ↗ compares to buses like how efficient is

35:21 ↗ this compared to bus travel that's an

35:24 ↗ excellent question too and I would have

35:26 ↗ to ask Metro to help me to calculate

35:28 ↗ that okay and then the last question is

35:30 ↗ you mentioned about samamish and

35:32 ↗ samamish having started a program sooner

35:34 ↗ but isn't and forgive me I don't

35:37 ↗ understand um funding for Metro as well

35:39 ↗ as some but they're only partially in

35:41 ↗ the tax District that pays for Transit

35:44 ↗ are they not or am I confusing that with

35:46 ↗ Sound Transit I believe that's

35:49 ↗ correct okay so and yet they they get it

35:52 ↗ fully covered even though only some of

35:54 ↗ their folks pay Transit know seeing head

35:58 ↗ head scratches

36:00 ↗ no hi council member Mars uh so you were

36:04 ↗ correct when you said that a portion of

36:05 ↗ them are within the Sound Transit taxing

36:08 ↗ area but they all are a part of King

36:10 ↗ County which King County Metro um is a

36:14 ↗ King County service I see okay different

36:16 ↗ different funding set up all right thank

36:18 ↗ you that was my question uh council

36:20 ↗ member Ray thanks um council president

36:23 ↗ um do you know what share of the total

36:25 ↗ cost of Metroflex we're paying versus

36:27 ↗ Metro is

36:28 ↗ paying I don't have their total cost of

36:32 ↗ service uh there are uh substantial

36:36 ↗ costs that we are not sharing in so you

36:38 ↗ can't just um logically apply that math

36:41 ↗ of one vehicle they're providing four

36:44 ↗ therefore we are paying 25% it's far

36:47 ↗ less than that for the actual cost of

36:49 ↗ the service far less which way

36:53 ↗ sorry Metro is paying more than 75% okay

36:57 ↗ of the cost great and then um on the The

37:01 ↗ Daily uh Rider numbers by quarter so the

37:04 ↗ 43 so that's uh that's rides not

37:07 ↗ necessarily Riders so assuming people

37:09 ↗ are going to and pro so likely so 20

37:12 ↗ people a day sort of is where we're at

37:14 ↗ right now 21 is I I I think that's

37:18 ↗ possible um I think what we have

37:22 ↗ on on here

37:27 ↗ yeah those are those should be the

37:29 ↗ writers ship per quarter slide

37:32 ↗ demonstrates um oneway trip

37:36 ↗ counts great thank you

37:41 ↗ sure okay let me ask that again I did a

37:44 ↗ quick background math um the 30 the

37:49 ↗ 38 if that's quarterly if I divide it by

37:52 ↗ 13 weeks and a quarter and five week

37:54 ↗ days that would get me 46 rides so are

38:00 ↗ we

38:01 ↗ [Music]

38:03 ↗ estimating yeah I'm just confused

38:05 ↗ because one's Rider ship and then the

38:07 ↗ other one is weekday rides um correct so

38:10 ↗ excluding Saturday

38:12 ↗ rides yeah but rides versus Riders so if

38:15 ↗ somebody is a two and fro two trips

38:20 ↗ would they be counted as

38:22 ↗ one two rides but one Rider

38:28 ↗ they would be counted as uh two rides

38:33 ↗ and one Rider I guess believe so but the

38:37 ↗ writers ship the writers ship

38:40 ↗ statistic again includes Saturday

38:44 ↗ data okay got it got it got it okay uh

38:49 ↗ any other questions on Metroflex well no

38:52 ↗ I just want to get some clarity there

38:53 ↗ because the math doesn't work if that's

38:55 ↗ if the one chart we're looking at that

38:56 ↗ says wrer ship says

38:58 ↗ 3,000 and that includes weekends and

39:02 ↗ then the weekday says 43 per day um I

39:06 ↗ you know I could get from 46 to 43 using

39:08 ↗ a weekend but I can't get

39:10 ↗ from

39:12 ↗ um 80 92 to 43 using weekend so I mean

39:19 ↗ it seems to me like the writers ship

39:21 ↗ number really is the number of trips by

39:24 ↗ during the quarter not the number of

39:26 ↗ individuals per

39:28 ↗ order maybe we can get an email

39:31 ↗ clarification yeah I'll I'll I'll try to

39:33 ↗ spell it out yep something because we

39:35 ↗ just want the numbers to put is sure

39:42 ↗ sure so I know we've got a few other

39:45 ↗ topics going on so thank very much what

39:48 ↗ comes up

39:53 ↗ next thank you council president Walsh

39:56 ↗ um I see Minnie has pulled up her video

39:59 ↗ Minnie I'll just help control the slides

40:01 ↗ for you from

40:05 ↗ here Andrea good evening council members

40:09 ↗ and members of the community in

40:10 ↗ attendance tonight um so light rail

40:14 ↗ study a little bit background in terms

40:16 ↗ of a sound transits estimated schedule

40:19 ↗ uh so this graphic was part of the light

40:21 ↗ rail planning guide that Council was

40:23 ↗ previously briefed on and we undertook

40:25 ↗ this um uh you know work on the light

40:28 ↗ raail planning guide in in earlier this

40:30 ↗ year and past year um so Sound Transit

40:35 ↗ at this time is saying the planning

40:37 ↗ Alternatives development will start in

40:40 ↗ 2027 so at that that's the official

40:42 ↗ kickoff of the Sound Transit planning

40:45 ↗ process you know before their design and

40:48 ↗ construction which ranges from about

40:50 ↗ total if you take the Alternatives

40:53 ↗ development as well as the environmental

40:56 ↗ review and preliminary design is about

41:00 ↗ uh five fiveish years four to five years

41:03 ↗ um but that will that is plann to start

41:06 ↗ in

41:07 ↗ 2027 um so what the esqua light rail

41:11 ↗ study process uh is prior to Sound

41:15 ↗ Transit officially starting off their um

41:18 ↗ alternative development process um and

41:21 ↗ and the purpose of this is really uh to

41:24 ↗ provide feedback that's unique to isqua

41:28 ↗ with uh based off of robust public

41:30 ↗ Outreach um and a community's vision for

41:34 ↗ where uh the station should you know

41:36 ↗ some of some of the policy objectives as

41:38 ↗ well as some of the uh the higher level

41:40 ↗ thinking process for what what what Mak

41:43 ↗ sense for isqua in terms of the uh

41:46 ↗ Alternatives that should be evaluated uh

41:48 ↗ so that that would feed into the

41:50 ↗ partnership with Sound Transit and Metro

41:53 ↗ uh and doing some of the leg work ahead

41:55 ↗ of time for it to be a mean meaningful

41:58 ↗ partnership when the time is right um

42:01 ↗ next slide

42:03 ↗ Andrea thank you um so this really just

42:06 ↗ shows um Sound Transit uh starts the

42:09 ↗ Alternatives development in 2027 with

42:12 ↗ their uh all the different Alternatives

42:14 ↗ that they come up with they would do an

42:15 ↗ environmental review for all of them

42:18 ↗ before a preferred alternative is

42:20 ↗ selected um and uh on the right hand

42:23 ↗ side you'll see uh the recommendations

42:26 ↗ from the light study of the station

42:29 ↗ alignment and planning that starts at

42:31 ↗ the local level to inform the process at

42:34 ↗ the sun Transit level in 2025 and

42:37 ↗ 2026 um at the local level there are

42:40 ↗ other things that would feed into in

42:42 ↗ terms of uh you know what is it the

42:45 ↗ existing conditions is it the Future

42:48 ↗ Vision for the area and and which one

42:50 ↗ you know uh outweighs which which one uh

42:54 ↗ that then feeds into what sort of land

42:56 ↗ use discussion and legislative updates

42:58 ↗ are needed for instance um you know does

43:02 ↗ it make sense to have the different

43:03 ↗ types of mixed uses the type you know

43:05 ↗ maximum on parking numbers uh creating a

43:09 ↗ Transit oriented uh development overlay

43:11 ↗ and such after the first couple of years

43:15 ↗ um next slide

43:18 ↗ Andrea um so the light drill study is

43:21 ↗ $200,000 per year um I think this is

43:25 ↗ talking about the total number for the

43:27 ↗ the bium budget um and the scope of the

43:32 ↗ study is really uh the existing

43:34 ↗ conditions and future analysis that then

43:36 ↗ feed into public Outreach um that then

43:40 ↗ establishes the the isqua's preferred uh

43:44 ↗ you know options for station area

43:45 ↗ planning and Analysis and does some

43:48 ↗ alignment analysis um the impact of uh

43:51 ↗ delaying this is potential you know we

43:54 ↗ we tried to put some potential things

43:56 ↗ for you all to consider

43:57 ↗ uh missed opportunity to coordinate with

43:59 ↗ I90 Crossing project uh potentially

44:02 ↗ limited input in Sound Transit

44:04 ↗ Alternatives development and uh some

44:07 ↗ sort of you know uh an ability to miss

44:09 ↗ out on public Outreach uh before Sound

44:13 ↗ Transit officially kicks off their

44:15 ↗ process um at this time we have not

44:18 ↗ applied for any granted or Grant funds

44:20 ↗ or are aware of anything that's in the

44:23 ↗ hopper next slide

44:27 ↗ so that's light rail study uh the other

44:30 ↗ component um that was also part of uh

44:34 ↗ 2023 2024 budget uh was housing and

44:37 ↗ parking study so a little background on

44:40 ↗ this how it came about was when Title 18

44:42 ↗ was wrapping up uh there was a future

44:45 ↗ updates list and Council prioritized

44:48 ↗ three items from the future updates list

44:50 ↗ and provided funding is part of the last

44:52 ↗ uh bium budget um and what we got out of

44:57 ↗ uh we have not started any work on

44:59 ↗ either one of those studies uh in the

45:02 ↗ meantime um I'll I'll walk briefly in

45:05 ↗ terms of the dollars it's

45:06 ↗ $130,000 for housing stud uh for the

45:10 ↗ parking study and $200,000 for the

45:12 ↗ housing study um the scope of the

45:15 ↗ housing study really at the time of

45:18 ↗ Title 18 update was perhaps to look at

45:20 ↗ more diversity of housing types and and

45:23 ↗ what can be done uh to increase that

45:25 ↗ diversity um since that time uh we got a

45:28 ↗ grant for $100,000 uh and we engaged

45:31 ↗ with Eco Northwest to do some economic

45:34 ↗ analysis and evaluation of three of the

45:37 ↗ city's adopted housing action plan items

45:41 ↗ one of them was uh should we expand

45:43 ↗ inclusion or res zoning outside of

45:45 ↗ central isqua another one was how can we

45:48 ↗ remove barriers for condominium

45:49 ↗ development and such um and through that

45:52 ↗ work uh you know some of the the action

45:55 ↗ items that we've shared previously with

45:57 ↗ Council uh staff then picked up the

46:00 ↗ three top things from that work that

46:02 ↗ potentially we could work on uh one of

46:04 ↗ them was um you know through that

46:07 ↗ process we learned that perhaps there's

46:09 ↗ could be some more incentives that isqua

46:11 ↗ could consider for expanding the

46:13 ↗ inclusion resoning program and maybe

46:16 ↗ looking at the development density bonus

46:18 ↗ and recalibrating it so it's actually

46:21 ↗ useful um in the incent uh in terms of

46:24 ↗ the incentives that actually work but

46:27 ↗ the parking study uh the you know the

46:30 ↗ the scope at this time uh is to consider

46:34 ↗ city-wide requirements uh and and with a

46:37 ↗ focus on Central isqua and also do some

46:39 ↗ sort of an economic analysis of how you

46:42 ↗ know parking regulations can and cannot

46:45 ↗ uh enhance the development uh

46:48 ↗ activity um so we don't have any

46:51 ↗ potential housing grants uh or parking

46:53 ↗ grants at this time uh some of the

46:56 ↗ impacts of this um you know we don't

46:59 ↗ think there's significant impact uh

47:00 ↗ because we already have some of these

47:02 ↗ existing programs and regulations in

47:04 ↗ place um the city's doing a lot of work

47:07 ↗ with missing mle updates that's going to

47:09 ↗ continue uh the first uh at least six

47:11 ↗ months of

47:12 ↗ 2025 um that'll help the city um you

47:16 ↗ know meet the diversity of housing goal

47:17 ↗ from our housing action plan um also to

47:21 ↗ note was the multif family tax exemption

47:23 ↗ was expanded in 2024 for the Pioneer

47:26 ↗ program which is a pilot program and

47:29 ↗ also for shelter development agreement

47:31 ↗ and perhaps it may be good to give some

47:33 ↗ time to see the results of these Council

47:35 ↗ actions um and uh lastly uh there's also

47:40 ↗ this uh Bill six

47:42 ↗ 65 that has now eliminated the

47:45 ↗ requirement for structured parking so

47:47 ↗ the city is going to spend some time uh

47:50 ↗ you know understanding the requirements

47:52 ↗ of that bill and making some code

47:54 ↗ amendments to comply with those state

47:56 ↗ requirements um what we learned through

47:58 ↗ the work with Eco Northwest was uh the

48:01 ↗ parking standards were perhaps um

48:04 ↗ impacting some sort of development

48:06 ↗ feasibility and so we wanted to that

48:08 ↗ that was part of what we also wanted to

48:09 ↗ study with a parking study but with this

48:12 ↗ bill uh you know and that requirement

48:15 ↗ for 50% of the parking has to be

48:17 ↗ structured parking um we cannot have

48:20 ↗ that requirement in our codes so that

48:22 ↗ potentially could significantly improve

48:24 ↗ development phib feasibility before we

48:28 ↗ uh you know uh consider additional City

48:29 ↗ incentives perhaps next slide

48:35 ↗ Andrea I think we've got a question here

48:37 ↗ director doly wall um go ahead council

48:40 ↗ member hunt thank you council president

48:43 ↗ on um SB

48:46 ↗ 6015 um could you explain a little bit

48:49 ↗ more when that goes into effect and

48:52 ↗ also uh explain a little bit more about

48:56 ↗ the extent of that law and would it

48:58 ↗ completely eliminate Structure Parking

49:00 ↗ um yeah that that law hasn't yet been

49:04 ↗ examined by the council um so that would

49:07 ↗ be great to get more

49:09 ↗ information uh yeah we can we can

49:11 ↗ provide a little more uh by email uh you

49:13 ↗ know we have just started digging into

49:15 ↗ it ourselves uh we did participate and

49:18 ↗ provide some comments during the

49:19 ↗ legislative session on it uh what I do

49:22 ↗ know is some of the so there's not a

49:25 ↗ requirement for the city to have any

49:27 ↗ structured parking which for cities like

49:30 ↗ isqua it's it can be challenging because

49:33 ↗ uh we the last thing we want in central

49:36 ↗ is requires more surface parking uh but

49:39 ↗ perhaps uh development itself is going

49:41 ↗ to you know self-correct and Market will

49:44 ↗ not produce a lot of uh surface parking

49:46 ↗ because the land values won't support

49:49 ↗ structured parking but the but the

49:50 ↗ cities can't regulate that you have to

49:52 ↗ build the structure to meet your parking

49:54 ↗ requirements so we need to understand

49:57 ↗ what that how that could impact uh

49:59 ↗ Central isqu planning process for us or

50:02 ↗ future development uh some of the other

50:05 ↗ nuances in that were uh really if you

50:08 ↗ have a gravel parking lot uh the cities

50:10 ↗ cannot require additional uh you know

50:13 ↗ those part those are grandfathered so to

50:15 ↗ speak and the cities can't require those

50:17 ↗ to be paved um things of that nature so

50:21 ↗ uh but in terms of the timing uh we are

50:24 ↗ considering uh bringing this forth

50:26 ↗ planning policy commission as part of

50:28 ↗ the next year's work plan so therefore

50:30 ↗ the parking you know we uh I think it's

50:33 ↗ in the next slide in terms of what we'll

50:34 ↗ be working on related to parking and I

50:37 ↗ can speak at that time but um yeah so

50:39 ↗ for parking you know we we have to look

50:42 ↗ at the missing middle uh legislations

50:44 ↗ and Adu legislation so there're going to

50:46 ↗ be some code amendments related to that

50:48 ↗ uh we are also in the middle of figuring

50:50 ↗ out electric vehicle um requirements and

50:53 ↗ the state requirements are now ahead of

50:56 ↗ C's requirement so um but we also

51:00 ↗ learning uh that we have uh this this is

51:03 ↗ a requirement that kicks in with

51:04 ↗ substantial Redevelopment which can

51:06 ↗ happen often if you have an older

51:08 ↗ building and you're just doing an

51:09 ↗ improvement which can then trigger a lot

51:12 ↗ of requirements for Transformer upgrades

51:15 ↗ and such which then uh are becoming uh

51:18 ↗ somewhat of a concern for businesses so

51:20 ↗ we want to be have thoughtful

51:21 ↗ conversations on that um and see where

51:24 ↗ the state law is where isqua was where

51:27 ↗ what the community wants and make a

51:29 ↗ meaningful uh recommendation to council

51:31 ↗ and then also work on the structured

51:33 ↗ parking requirements so instead of

51:34 ↗ studying additional parking regulations

51:37 ↗ we'll be focusing on these three bullet

51:39 ↗ points and then for the housing um you

51:43 ↗ know like I spoke missing middle work

51:45 ↗ continues uh we'll be evaluating the

51:47 ↗ Pioneer program uh we also have to get a

51:50 ↗ regional growth Center uh certification

51:52 ↗ from

51:53 ↗ psrc um fan Regional Council

51:57 ↗ uh what we have you know staff would

51:58 ↗ also uh is committed to working on

52:01 ↗ inclusionary zoning affordable housing

52:04 ↗ uh we have real dedicated staff who will

52:07 ↗ continue to work with Arch uh to see

52:09 ↗ where uh if there are small tweaks and

52:12 ↗ things or or bigger policy questions we

52:14 ↗ can discuss with planning policy

52:16 ↗ commission and bring forth to Council on

52:19 ↗ how we've structured a development

52:21 ↗ density bonus if there are any

52:23 ↗ additional changes that are needed um

52:25 ↗ but we are not and planning to undertake

52:27 ↗ a full multif family tax exemption

52:30 ↗ analysis uh some of these things are

52:33 ↗ interconnected so expanding inclusionary

52:36 ↗ zoning and development density bonus uh

52:40 ↗ it's the bundle of incentives generally

52:42 ↗ that works uh but we can start the the

52:44 ↗ work with looking at one of them

52:46 ↗ initially uh and and with art support

52:49 ↗ and not any other consultant

52:52 ↗ support I think that concludes our

52:55 ↗ presentation

52:57 ↗ okay we'll um go ahead and go through a

53:00 ↗ few questions here council member

53:04 ↗ Ms tell me again um SB

53:07 ↗ 6015 would in a sentence do

53:13 ↗ what uh it it requires us to eliminate

53:18 ↗ uh any garage parking structured parking

53:21 ↗ we we cannot require anyone building a

53:23 ↗ new building remodels or anything like

53:26 ↗ that to have any sort of structured

53:28 ↗ perking and we believe that would uh be

53:32 ↗ inclusive of any structured parking that

53:36 ↗ sound transit would

53:38 ↗ build that that law would cover parking

53:41 ↗ for Sound

53:43 ↗ Transit uh we can look into it uh I mean

53:47 ↗ po it's here in this conversation is it

53:51 ↗ not yeah

53:54 ↗ so okay so um let me go to my other

53:57 ↗ question who decides I mean you're going

54:00 ↗ to need a lot of land for 500 parking

54:02 ↗ stalls so some of it you know the market

54:05 ↗ will will configure so for some Transit

54:08 ↗ yes it's expensive to build Structure

54:10 ↗ Parking but surface parking the land

54:12 ↗ prices are probably going to be so cost

54:14 ↗ prohibitive to build a 500 parking

54:16 ↗ surface parking too but yeah okay good

54:20 ↗ question so my next question is why do

54:22 ↗ you use 500 as a

54:24 ↗ number well I think that's part of the

54:26 ↗ representative uh sd3 project for isqua

54:29 ↗ that was on the

54:31 ↗ ballot so okay so it's so we have so

54:36 ↗ Sound Transit has cooked in only a 500

54:40 ↗ stall uh parking structure at the end of

54:42 ↗ the

54:44 ↗ line okay that is how well we don't know

54:47 ↗ but they haven't fully started their

54:49 ↗ process but what they presented to the

54:51 ↗ voters was based on uh the station and

54:54 ↗ one parking garage of 500 working spaces

54:58 ↗ I asked because I was looking at the

54:59 ↗ MARTA layout in Atlanta comparably sized

55:02 ↗ Metro and the uh ends of the line on the

55:05 ↗ MARTA systems are 2500 parking c not not

55:09 ↗ 500 uh so then my other question is who

55:13 ↗ decides and

55:15 ↗ when for which ones well in the timeline

55:19 ↗ that you showed who makes the ultimate

55:21 ↗ decision on what uh our our station

55:26 ↗ looks like and when um yeah so the local

55:31 ↗ jurisdictions have the permitting

55:32 ↗ Authority so is will have the permitting

55:35 ↗ Authority The Sound Transit board has

55:37 ↗ the final funding uh station alignment

55:41 ↗ and uh selection process Authority uh

55:44 ↗ but obviously you know we want to work

55:46 ↗ in Partnership uh to to get to a uh a

55:49 ↗ place where before it goes to the Sound

55:51 ↗ Transit board uh it it meets the local

55:55 ↗ uh needs and objectives and those are

55:56 ↗ factored in as Sound Transit kcks off

55:59 ↗ their station uh planning and Alignment

56:02 ↗ process I'm sorry I'm still not entirely

56:05 ↗ clear if if let's say there's an option

56:09 ↗ that's 500 units of surface parking and

56:12 ↗ there's another option that's 500 units

56:14 ↗ of structured parking who gets to decide

56:18 ↗ which one gets

56:20 ↗ built so if the city is legally able to

56:23 ↗ have regulations that require one one

56:26 ↗ way or the other then Sound Transit

56:28 ↗ obviously will be required to meet the

56:30 ↗ city's local

56:32 ↗ permitting Authority or or rules and

56:35 ↗ regulations so it all depends um on what

56:39 ↗ the city's rules and regulations are and

56:43 ↗ and but the programmatically how much

56:45 ↗ the size and scale uh you know unless

56:48 ↗ the city has a requirement for X number

56:50 ↗ spaces and things like that so all of

56:52 ↗ that needs to be fully studied and

56:54 ↗ evaluated I think it's a little

56:55 ↗ premature for us to be speculating uh

56:59 ↗ the number um at this point it's more

57:02 ↗ about what's the goal for some you know

57:04 ↗ for the station is it a community that

57:07 ↗ you know greatly connects our folks that

57:10 ↗ live or is it where closer to employment

57:13 ↗ more employee related so I think as part

57:16 ↗ of the light rails uh planning guide

57:19 ↗ there were few options um evaluated you

57:22 ↗ know close to tr existing Transit

57:23 ↗ centers close to high density

57:25 ↗ residential close to high employment

57:28 ↗ centers and things of that nature that

57:30 ↗ then inform what the needs for isqua are

57:33 ↗ and then of course for some Transit

57:35 ↗ regionally what makes sense uh because

57:38 ↗ the the alignment will serve not just

57:40 ↗ the isqua residents but beyond yeah I'm

57:44 ↗ I'm sorry I'm still confused let's say

57:45 ↗ both options are permissible in our code

57:49 ↗ a 500 unit uh surface parking and a 500

57:52 ↗ unit structured parking who decides and

57:55 ↗ when in the time timeline that you were

57:56 ↗ showing because I don't see final

57:58 ↗ decision in that timeline maybe I missed

58:02 ↗ it I final So yeah thank you thank you

58:06 ↗ Andrea um I also have Thomas valdres who

58:09 ↗ led the um Lightrail study guide um in

58:13 ↗ attendance virtually and we also have

58:15 ↗ Kristen Lon sorry I apologize for not

58:18 ↗ introducing you earlier so we have two

58:20 ↗ members of the community Planning and

58:21 ↗ Development here as well and I will turn

58:23 ↗ over to Thomas after I speak to this

58:25 ↗ graph briefly so I think here what you

58:29 ↗ see the second is the planning

58:31 ↗ Alternatives development so that's the

58:33 ↗ route and station alternatives are

58:34 ↗ developed and preferred alternative is

58:37 ↗ identified so Sound Transit does that

58:40 ↗ but our hope is that it's a partnership

58:42 ↗ and we we uh inform um because we have

58:46 ↗ the most local knowledge of uh of our

58:49 ↗ city so we know the existing conditions

58:52 ↗ what the future will withhold and I

58:54 ↗ think Sun Transit would would work in

58:57 ↗ partnership with us it doesn't get

59:00 ↗ actually selected until later when they

59:03 ↗ also have to do uh environmental review

59:06 ↗ so the environmental impacts of the

59:08 ↗ alternatives are studied so you cannot

59:10 ↗ pick one alternative that has the most

59:12 ↗ impact because you are obligated to look

59:14 ↗ at impacts and choose the one that is

59:17 ↗ the preferred so there's a preferred

59:19 ↗ alternative from an environmental impact

59:20 ↗ statement uh analysis environmental

59:23 ↗ review analysis that comes up then s

59:26 ↗ Transit goes to final design um and

59:30 ↗ obtains the private properties the

59:31 ↗ easements and such uh then it builds but

59:35 ↗ there's a sound transit board action

59:37 ↗ that happens uh before all of the that

59:41 ↗ um starts so council member Mars if I

59:44 ↗ may this is Deputy City administrator

59:46 ↗ Snyder um just to answer your question

59:48 ↗ very succinctly Sound Transit gets the

59:51 ↗ final say in the scenario that you posed

59:53 ↗ so if it seems like surface or

59:56 ↗ structured parking are allowed in our

59:59 ↗ code Sound Transit would have the final

1:00:01 ↗ save because they pay the bill um and

1:00:03 ↗ they have final say on the design so

1:00:06 ↗ that decision would occur in we estimate

1:00:09 ↗ 2033 to

1:00:12 ↗ 2034 thank you for this succinct

1:00:16 ↗ answer and Andrea I just want to clarify

1:00:18 ↗ know the slides went from Light Rail

1:00:20 ↗ study to the housing and um parking

1:00:24 ↗ study those are different concepts and

1:00:27 ↗ it's my understanding the

1:00:30 ↗ SB uh

1:00:33 ↗ 6015 is about residential structured

1:00:37 ↗ parking not anything that would relate

1:00:39 ↗ to S Transit it's really about the

1:00:41 ↗ city's ability to codify our own

1:00:45 ↗ requirements for structured parking the

1:00:48 ↗ idea that structured parking is very

1:00:49 ↗ expensive and sometimes is a barrier to

1:00:51 ↗ certain types of development um and so

1:00:54 ↗ what this does is it preempts local

1:00:56 ↗ control of things like how we dictate

1:00:59 ↗ parking in our city so it's beyond Sound

1:01:01 ↗ Transit you're right it's for all types

1:01:04 ↗ of development so that would be

1:01:05 ↗ residential commercial

1:01:08 ↗ Etc I'd like to get a clarification on

1:01:11 ↗ that at some point via email because

1:01:13 ↗ reading the final bill report it

1:01:15 ↗ specifically says residential so I want

1:01:17 ↗ to make sure great and we we can thank

1:01:19 ↗ you for that and we can absolutely do

1:01:21 ↗ that as Minnie said this is something

1:01:22 ↗ that we're trying to dig into a little

1:01:23 ↗ bit more uh and really find out what it

1:01:26 ↗ means especially for our specific codes

1:01:28 ↗ and how we may need to change our code

1:01:29 ↗ in the future so thank you okay so

1:01:32 ↗ before we move on to the next subject

1:01:34 ↗ which is the fleet fund and Replacements

1:01:37 ↗ any other questions on light rail or

1:01:40 ↗ housing and parking stud okay thank

1:01:45 ↗ you thank you uh director Dolly wall and

1:01:49 ↗ especially for joining us overseas to

1:01:50 ↗ make that presentation I'd like to

1:01:52 ↗ welcome up administrative Services

1:01:53 ↗ director autum manahan to talk about the

1:02:00 ↗ fund good evening council members I'm

1:02:02 ↗ otoman administrative Services director

1:02:04 ↗ and my department includes Fleet um so

1:02:07 ↗ I'm here tonight to provide an overview

1:02:08 ↗ of the proposed Replacements and new

1:02:11 ↗ acquisitions in Fleet that are in the

1:02:12 ↗ proposed budget about 75% of the

1:02:15 ↗ proposed Acquisitions are

1:02:17 ↗ Replacements about a million of that is

1:02:19 ↗ carryovers from this year uh we've had

1:02:22 ↗ some challenges due to supply issues on

1:02:24 ↗ attaining all the vehicles that we had

1:02:26 ↗ funded

1:02:28 ↗ previously uh in addition our uh 2023

1:02:31 ↗ study so a study we completed last year

1:02:34 ↗ found that about half of our motorized

1:02:36 ↗ Fleet units are older than the

1:02:38 ↗ recommended life cycle life cycle for

1:02:40 ↗ their class so um we are way behind on

1:02:44 ↗ our

1:02:45 ↗ Replacements our replacement goal is to

1:02:48 ↗ minimize the total cost of ownership and

1:02:50 ↗ when it comes to maintenance uh there

1:02:53 ↗ are some other impacts of retaining an

1:02:55 ↗ aging Fleet that includes staff

1:02:57 ↗ productivity due to unreliable Vehicles

1:02:59 ↗ Parts availability if you have older

1:03:01 ↗ vehicles finding Parts could be a

1:03:03 ↗ challenge uh older vehicles emit more

1:03:05 ↗ pollution and then there's also

1:03:07 ↗ increased safety of course when you're

1:03:08 ↗ purchasing newer models of

1:03:12 ↗ vehicles before we move on council

1:03:15 ↗ member

1:03:16 ↗ hunt thank you a quick clarification on

1:03:21 ↗ older than the recommended life cycle

1:03:23 ↗ for their class does that mean that 49%

1:03:27 ↗ of the city's cars are older than are

1:03:31 ↗ are Beyond The Life Time of like they

1:03:35 ↗ should have been replaced and so they're

1:03:38 ↗ older than the optimal time that it

1:03:40 ↗ should be replaced exactly yes so in our

1:03:42 ↗ Fleet study we worked with Consultants

1:03:44 ↗ that have worked with fleets all over

1:03:46 ↗ the country I believe um and they have

1:03:48 ↗ provided some standards for replacement

1:03:50 ↗ of vehicles depending on their class and

1:03:52 ↗ as they assessed our Fleet back uh last

1:03:55 ↗ year about half were past um the

1:03:58 ↗ recommended life cycle for age when it

1:04:00 ↗ comes to Vehicles so we've been delaying

1:04:02 ↗ you know purchasing and replacing

1:04:04 ↗ vehicles for a while and that's starting

1:04:05 ↗ to catch up which you'll see a bit more

1:04:07 ↗ too in another graph but um hence why

1:04:10 ↗ there is so much in the proposed budget

1:04:11 ↗ around replacement for vehicles yeah

1:04:14 ↗ okay

1:04:16 ↗ thanks so a quick recap of uh these

1:04:20 ↗ Replacements a significant amount is

1:04:22 ↗ funded by utilities so water sewer and

1:04:24 ↗ storm of about three million

1:04:26 ↗ um in vehicles and Equipment uh next up

1:04:29 ↗ is then police followed by Parks um both

1:04:31 ↗ in Recreation and

1:04:33 ↗ operations uh as well as Public Works

1:04:35 ↗ has some shared vehicles uh in streets

1:04:39 ↗ and then both Community planning and

1:04:40 ↗ development and executive have one

1:04:42 ↗ vehicle each that are up for

1:04:46 ↗ replacement the other 25% of the

1:04:49 ↗ Acquisitions are proposed as new uh

1:04:51 ↗ vehicles and equipment and these are all

1:04:53 ↗ fully funded by utilities these

1:04:56 ↗ Acquisitions include Hydro um EV I

1:04:59 ↗ always cannot pronounce this word

1:05:01 ↗ excavation truck a cargo van utility

1:05:04 ↗ trucks for uh new FTE that are in the

1:05:06 ↗ proposed budget a larger perious surface

1:05:09 ↗ cleaning machine a remote controlled

1:05:11 ↗ steep slope Mower and a small dump

1:05:17 ↗ truck uh just a quick overview of the

1:05:19 ↗ fleet fund this is our uh main customers

1:05:21 ↗ so our main customer is Public Works

1:05:24 ↗ followed closely by police and then

1:05:29 ↗ parks and if you look at it by

1:05:31 ↗ allocation by fund uh the general fund

1:05:33 ↗ is the main funer for the fleet fund

1:05:36 ↗ followed by utilities and then

1:05:41 ↗ streets so as I mentioned we completed

1:05:44 ↗ the fleet Study last year that

1:05:45 ↗ recommends we create a more leveled plan

1:05:47 ↗ for replacing vehicles to avoid any

1:05:49 ↗ really large expenses in certain years

1:05:51 ↗ which you can see here in the darker

1:05:53 ↗ columns on this graph the study provided

1:05:56 ↗ us typical replacement schedules of

1:05:58 ↗ vehicles uh by their class as a starting

1:06:00 ↗ point and using that we have created

1:06:02 ↗ very detailed tool the factors in age

1:06:05 ↗ annual usage the type of vehicle to help

1:06:08 ↗ us plan out a more leveled approach

1:06:10 ↗ moving forward when it comes to

1:06:12 ↗ Replacements um but for now as you can

1:06:14 ↗ see we have a very large backlog if you

1:06:16 ↗ look at 2023 that we're attempting to

1:06:18 ↗ start to address now uh within the

1:06:20 ↗ proposed budget that will get us uh on

1:06:22 ↗ the right

1:06:23 ↗ track also wanted to mention to which I

1:06:26 ↗ did before as we presented the proposed

1:06:27 ↗ budget we're also recommending another

1:06:29 ↗ mechanic FTE as part of the proposed

1:06:31 ↗ budget in the past 20 years we've added

1:06:34 ↗ 78 vehicles to our Fleet and 220 pieces

1:06:37 ↗ of equipment without adding additional

1:06:39 ↗ staff to our shop this causes some

1:06:43 ↗ productivity challenges and delays in

1:06:45 ↗ repair and maintenance so we're

1:06:47 ↗ definitely playing catchup and this

1:06:48 ↗ budget uh starts to address some of

1:06:50 ↗ those challenges we've seen in Fleet uh

1:06:52 ↗ we look forward in the next couple of

1:06:54 ↗ years to doing more work with in the

1:06:55 ↗ fleet fund to do more best better cost

1:06:58 ↗ allocation back to departments and funds

1:07:01 ↗ uh as well as refining this replacement

1:07:03 ↗ tool once we get back on track to start

1:07:06 ↗ implementing a leveled plan for

1:07:09 ↗ Replacements and with that I can answer

1:07:11 ↗ any

1:07:15 ↗ questions council member

1:07:18 ↗ Joe thank

1:07:20 ↗ you botam thanks for that presentation

1:07:23 ↗ uh the prior presentation The Talk

1:07:25 ↗ talked about EV requirements for

1:07:27 ↗ residential housing triggered this

1:07:29 ↗ question in my mind as you were talking

1:07:31 ↗ about the fleet um you outlined the

1:07:33 ↗ other considerations for um costs in the

1:07:36 ↗ fleet fund replacement uh slide 15 that

1:07:39 ↗ you had and I was wondering if there are

1:07:42 ↗ if there's been an accounting or it's an

1:07:44 ↗ issue at all to have both a EV Fleet and

1:07:48 ↗ a gas powerered Fleet at the same time

1:07:51 ↗ and whether having those two at the same

1:07:52 ↗ time um increases the cost or reduces

1:07:55 ↗ the cost for our overall Fleet and

1:07:57 ↗ that's probably a question that's beyond

1:07:59 ↗ your presentation today but I was just

1:08:01 ↗ curious whether or not moving to one or

1:08:03 ↗ the other would save us money or it

1:08:05 ↗ makes sense for us to keep both so um if

1:08:08 ↗ that could be a question that could

1:08:10 ↗ perhaps be answered by email in the

1:08:12 ↗ future I'd appreciate it sure thank

1:08:16 ↗ you council member Ray thanks um hey

1:08:19 ↗ onam you mentioned um that some of the

1:08:22 ↗ funds that we're spending in 2025 are

1:08:25 ↗ planning to spend 2025 or unspent from

1:08:29 ↗ 2024 um so how are we how does that get

1:08:33 ↗ accounted for I mean is it end up in

1:08:36 ↗ ending fund balance and then carried

1:08:37 ↗ forward is it new money what's let's

1:08:40 ↗ listen to the

1:08:43 ↗ CFO hi council member right thank you

1:08:45 ↗ for the question um yes so at the end of

1:08:50 ↗ 2024 is when there's a final budget

1:08:52 ↗ amendment typically in a typical year

1:08:55 ↗ and and we also do reauthorizations so

1:08:57 ↗ those reauthorizations from 2024 funds

1:09:00 ↗ or from one banian budget to another

1:09:01 ↗ occur with reauthorizations so it would

1:09:04 ↗ be returning to council for council's

1:09:06 ↗ approval um at the end of the year or

1:09:08 ↗ beginning of next year so is it

1:09:11 ↗ reflected now in ending fund balance

1:09:13 ↗ because we didn't spend it uh yes it

1:09:16 ↗ would be reflected in ending fund

1:09:18 ↗ balance at the end of 20124 if we don't

1:09:20 ↗ spend it and I think one of the reasons

1:09:22 ↗ why we haven't spent it all is because

1:09:23 ↗ of a supply issue and being able to get

1:09:26 ↗ them when we wanted to get them in the

1:09:28 ↗ first place and then I just have to ask

1:09:30 ↗ this question because um $7,000 or

1:09:34 ↗ $60,000 for a single vehicle seems like

1:09:36 ↗ a lot for um not that we don't like the

1:09:39 ↗ executive department but what's all

1:09:42 ↗ included in the that that cost estimate

1:09:45 ↗ because that seems like a lot for a car

1:09:48 ↗ or is it something like an arbored

1:09:53 ↗ car you know I can I can get back back

1:09:55 ↗ to you on the exact model that we used

1:09:57 ↗ for the cost estimate on the vehicle for

1:09:59 ↗ those there's not a whole lot of

1:10:00 ↗ upfitting I would assume it's mostly

1:10:02 ↗ just the vehicle

1:10:07 ↗ acquisition this is uh Kelly kusman our

1:10:09 ↗ fleet

1:10:11 ↗ manager good evening city council the

1:10:15 ↗ some of the estimates are sound elevated

1:10:17 ↗ um but we're trying to match the great

1:10:20 ↗ candidates for transition to electric

1:10:23 ↗ vehicle and some of these steps cars are

1:10:26 ↗ those and you're looking at a you know a

1:10:29 ↗ factor that wildly ranges from you know

1:10:33 ↗ $330,000 to 5x um when you start talking

1:10:37 ↗ about different models of the fleet so

1:10:40 ↗ when we're looking at staff cars we're

1:10:42 ↗ looking at transitioning to electric and

1:10:45 ↗ some of them like CPD there is some

1:10:46 ↗ upfitting because that is now a mobile

1:10:48 ↗ office we've got computer docking

1:10:50 ↗ stations and stuff like that and storage

1:10:52 ↗ items in there that answer your question

1:10:56 ↗ that is perfect thank you very much for

1:10:57 ↗ that thank

1:11:01 ↗ you any other questions before I get

1:11:04 ↗ into mine okay um so talking to other

1:11:09 ↗ City councils they have a f like a list

1:11:14 ↗ of vehicles that they're going to

1:11:16 ↗ replace each year what the models are

1:11:18 ↗ what their goals are for replacing them

1:11:21 ↗ which come first all of that where are

1:11:24 ↗ we in that process

1:11:25 ↗ and then if we don't have that how are

1:11:28 ↗ you choosing the ones in this next

1:11:30 ↗ budget and how can we evaluate whether

1:11:33 ↗ those are the right decisions for what

1:11:36 ↗ our needs are sure so yes we have

1:11:38 ↗ developed a tool and we'll be retooling

1:11:41 ↗ that as we have worked on more of a

1:11:43 ↗ level plan hopefully and doing some

1:11:44 ↗ catch up in this proposed budget so we

1:11:46 ↗ do have that tool it goes out many many

1:11:49 ↗ years um it's wonderful to start to see

1:11:51 ↗ these leveled kind of steps as we go

1:11:53 ↗ through replacement of of certain vehic

1:11:55 ↗ Vehicles it's quite exciting to map out

1:11:57 ↗ and see um we you know we talked about

1:12:00 ↗ this too this if you want to if

1:12:02 ↗ council's interested in getting into the

1:12:04 ↗ details of certain vehicles have

1:12:05 ↗ priority over others when it comes to

1:12:07 ↗ priority you know we don't include

1:12:10 ↗ vehicles in our Capital Improvement

1:12:11 ↗ planning and so that could be an

1:12:13 ↗ opportunity in the future if Council

1:12:15 ↗ wants to get more into uh the details

1:12:17 ↗ around vehicles and again priority or or

1:12:22 ↗ importance um but besides that we're

1:12:24 ↗ looking at Aid we're looking at the

1:12:26 ↗ typical use of the vehicle I mean Patrol

1:12:28 ↗ vehicles for example with police have a

1:12:30 ↗ lot of usage um age is another Factor

1:12:33 ↗ too and then a lot of it too is just the

1:12:35 ↗ eyes and ears of the folks in our Fleet

1:12:36 ↗ shop uh who know our our vehicles and

1:12:39 ↗ what may need replacement sooner rather

1:12:40 ↗ than

1:12:43 ↗ later okay I'm still going to end up

1:12:45 ↗ struggling with this idea because you're

1:12:47 ↗ talking about you know three million and

1:12:49 ↗ things like that part of it is about the

1:12:52 ↗ accounting practices of moving money you

1:12:55 ↗ know and covering with the remaining

1:12:58 ↗ Fleet fund balance for certain areas but

1:13:02 ↗ not for others is there anything else

1:13:05 ↗ you can give

1:13:06 ↗ on how we evaluate whether that's the

1:13:10 ↗ right amount of

1:13:11 ↗ money I can provide the a detailed list

1:13:14 ↗ of all the vehicles that are part of the

1:13:15 ↗ proposed budget for for this BM if

1:13:18 ↗ you're interested just to kind of see a

1:13:20 ↗ bit of the age of some of the vehicles

1:13:22 ↗ what we're talking about as far as types

1:13:23 ↗ of vehicles um and some of those

1:13:25 ↗ decision points most of them as you can

1:13:28 ↗ see from this graph are about age a lot

1:13:30 ↗ of these vehicles are way past their

1:13:32 ↗ just their useful

1:13:36 ↗ life

1:13:38 ↗ okay just hard as you're comparing

1:13:40 ↗ between the needs of Metroflex and the

1:13:43 ↗ planning studies and then being given

1:13:46 ↗ this with 3.2 million of trying to

1:13:50 ↗ figure out where that goes but okay uh

1:13:53 ↗ two more council member Ray council

1:13:55 ↗ member Hull um sorry I didn't mean to

1:13:58 ↗ jump yeah um how many vehicles do we

1:14:00 ↗ have all told all rolled up I mean this

1:14:02 ↗ represents over this 20-year period how

1:14:07 ↗ many are we replacing I mean I think

1:14:09 ↗ there's probably some new some ads as

1:14:11 ↗ well as Replacements how many are in our

1:14:13 ↗ our full Fleet or how many are we

1:14:14 ↗ proposing to replace uh yes both oh

1:14:18 ↗ okay currently it's 178 178 licensed

1:14:23 ↗ vehicles um but that is just Vehicles we

1:14:26 ↗ also have off-road and construction

1:14:27 ↗ equipment and trailers um specialized

1:14:30 ↗ equipment that goes into that and that

1:14:32 ↗ number then inflates up to about

1:14:34 ↗ 650 by the time we're everything we look

1:14:37 ↗ at in

1:14:38 ↗ Fleet the but this number here that

1:14:41 ↗ we're looking at for Replacements that's

1:14:42 ↗ the 179 not all the the fun off-road

1:14:46 ↗ construction cool stuff and I I can't

1:14:48 ↗ count all this in the moment so I can

1:14:50 ↗ send you an email with that because

1:14:51 ↗ there's this combines both equipment and

1:14:54 ↗ vehicles okay

1:14:58 ↗ good question council member Hall just a

1:15:01 ↗ super quick question do we um in Fleet

1:15:03 ↗ do we buy outright or do we Finance

1:15:06 ↗ Vehicles as well or is it some sort of

1:15:07 ↗ mix we buy

1:15:11 ↗ outright we typically buy outright but

1:15:13 ↗ that depends uh sometimes there's really

1:15:16 ↗ expensive things that we buy like a dump

1:15:19 ↗ truck might be $1.5

1:15:21 ↗ million um so we might spread those

1:15:23 ↗ costs out over time it really depends on

1:15:26 ↗ the

1:15:27 ↗ vehicle and have we done our I'm just

1:15:29 ↗ thinking of like a eer when we were

1:15:31 ↗ thinking about our own asset management

1:15:33 ↗ and came up with some interesting

1:15:35 ↗ financing options have we done our own

1:15:37 ↗ kind of self-analysis of what we feel is

1:15:40 ↗ appropriate to finance to save money now

1:15:42 ↗ versus longterm depending on what the

1:15:44 ↗ vehicle we we do that depending on the

1:15:47 ↗ the equipment that we have to purchase

1:15:49 ↗ so we look at that um especially when

1:15:51 ↗ you're talking about apparatus fire

1:15:53 ↗ apparatus those are big do as well and

1:15:56 ↗ so it depends on what we're buying and

1:15:58 ↗ we look at the interest rates of the

1:16:00 ↗ time and the other terms right so um

1:16:02 ↗ there's a lot of factors that we would

1:16:03 ↗ need to take into account that are

1:16:06 ↗ timely and so creating a long-term plan

1:16:09 ↗ um sometimes those factors change over

1:16:12 ↗ time okay

1:16:14 ↗ thanks great questions okay so looks

1:16:18 ↗ like we're done with Fleet fund so end

1:16:21 ↗ of the budget timeline

1:16:26 ↗ great thank you very much so um looking

1:16:30 ↗ at our timeline we're here at this

1:16:32 ↗ moment uh November 12th that's outlined

1:16:34 ↗ in red budget deliberations we have next

1:16:37 ↗ week as well so um we want to provide

1:16:40 ↗ any information that Council um requests

1:16:43 ↗ we have written down a few of your

1:16:45 ↗ questions this evening that we will be

1:16:47 ↗ responding to November 25th is when we

1:16:50 ↗ anticipate property tax adoption

1:16:53 ↗ December 2nd is the final budget hearing

1:16:56 ↗ um we also have additional opportunities

1:16:59 ↗ to discuss Budget on December 3rd with

1:17:03 ↗ uh potential final budget adoption on

1:17:05 ↗ December 9th that said if Council feels

1:17:08 ↗ like um we don't need all of those extra

1:17:11 ↗ dates we could adopt the budget as soon

1:17:14 ↗ as December 2nd following the final

1:17:16 ↗ budget hearing if Council so

1:17:20 ↗ chooses so again some of the direction

1:17:23 ↗ needed related to tonight's agenda

1:17:25 ↗ is does the council agree with the

1:17:27 ↗ administration's recommendations set

1:17:29 ↗ forth in the proposed budget to uh

1:17:33 ↗ cancel the city's contribution to Metro

1:17:35 ↗ Flex to postpone the light rail study

1:17:38 ↗ beyond the next bium unless other

1:17:41 ↗ funding becomes available postpone the

1:17:44 ↗ housing and parking studies again unless

1:17:46 ↗ other funding becomes available if we

1:17:48 ↗ discover different grants Etc um and

1:17:51 ↗ then to keep the fleet fund budget as

1:17:53 ↗ proposed

1:17:56 ↗ we seek your direction this evening

1:17:58 ↗ thank you okay so I know we've asked a

1:18:01 ↗ lot of questions but I'm sure there's

1:18:02 ↗ going to be more so we'll start with

1:18:04 ↗ questions and then see if there's any

1:18:07 ↗ comments go ahead council member Ray

1:18:08 ↗ thanks and I'm I'm I wish I I I had

1:18:11 ↗ written down I don't know I missed it

1:18:12 ↗ earlier but this is a uh Metroflex

1:18:14 ↗ question and we talked about the

1:18:16 ↗ potential for a grant to cover um the

1:18:19 ↗ Metroflex cost what are the termination

1:18:22 ↗ Provisions in our agreement with Metro

1:18:25 ↗ so what do we have to give them to get

1:18:27 ↗ out uh we have to provide Metro notice

1:18:32 ↗ at least 180 days I believe before the

1:18:36 ↗ service change so they typically would

1:18:39 ↗ change service on a on a couple of

1:18:41 ↗ chosen dates per year and so that um

1:18:44 ↗ would mean that actually going into 2025

1:18:47 ↗ we would still have Metro Flex service

1:18:50 ↗ for quite a few months before the date

1:18:52 ↗ in which we could cancel it by contract

1:18:56 ↗ all right let me I I'm just doing a

1:18:58 ↗ little timeline here

1:19:00 ↗ so if we don't fund it we're still going

1:19:03 ↗ to we would we would s do a termination

1:19:05 ↗ no

1:19:07 ↗ termination um end of the year it would

1:19:10 ↗ take effect in end of June

1:19:13 ↗ is or what you know within a few days

1:19:17 ↗ um the grant that we're hoping for we're

1:19:20 ↗ expecting beginning of third quarter if

1:19:23 ↗ we get it

1:19:26 ↗ so I mean we're just kind of like

1:19:28 ↗ between a rock and a hard place on a

1:19:29 ↗ timing uh Continuum aren't

1:19:32 ↗ we there's a few unknowns that are

1:19:34 ↗ rather inconvenient yes that's like a

1:19:37 ↗ rocking hard place yes yes all right

1:19:43 ↗ thanks um I'm GNA just uh cap on that uh

1:19:47 ↗ is the amount needed to cover that

1:19:50 ↗ portion already in the budget

1:19:55 ↗ uh in preparation for this evening we

1:19:57 ↗ discovered there was a slight error

1:19:59 ↗ where that was not included um but uh we

1:20:02 ↗ will include it for the adopted budget

1:20:05 ↗ because we have contractual obligations

1:20:07 ↗ to provide this service and can we get

1:20:10 ↗ the amount that that is and whether that

1:20:13 ↗ then adjusts

1:20:15 ↗ the given an

1:20:17 ↗ email that said

1:20:25 ↗ is that inclusive

1:20:27 ↗ of that period of time that is so that

1:20:31 ↗ was the total needed to fund Metroflex

1:20:34 ↗ for the next bium is 522,000 in change U

1:20:38 ↗ on a per annual basis that's

1:20:41 ↗ 262,000 um so we would need to budget a

1:20:44 ↗ portion of that 262,000 to cover our

1:20:47 ↗ contractual obligations for

1:20:50 ↗ 2025 so

1:20:52 ↗ technically if we chose to extend the

1:20:56 ↗ service while the cost is

1:21:01 ↗ 525,000 the additional cost is really I

1:21:06 ↗ mean basically if we're saying we have

1:21:08 ↗ to pay for it for the first six months

1:21:11 ↗ anyway we're on the hook for that um so

1:21:15 ↗ what we're talking about when we're

1:21:16 ↗ negotiating how much money um we would

1:21:20 ↗ need to cover would be closer to the 375

1:21:23 ↗ 400 whatever

1:21:25 ↗ is for the remainder to cover it for the

1:21:27 ↗ BM yeah yes and if you'd like a more

1:21:30 ↗ specific breakdown of costs we can

1:21:32 ↗ certainly provide one I see a lot of

1:21:34 ↗ nods so we can do that great okay uh

1:21:37 ↗ council member Hall uh thank you and I

1:21:40 ↗ agree I should have asked these

1:21:41 ↗ questions earlier when people were

1:21:42 ↗ speaking I have one on Metroflex um one

1:21:45 ↗ on light rail

1:21:49 ↗ um um I know it's expensive but given

1:21:51 ↗ kind of where we've been asking

1:21:53 ↗ questions

1:21:55 ↗ um council's thoughts on Metroflex I'm

1:21:57 ↗ just curious if staff have considered

1:22:00 ↗ what cost-saving options might be

1:22:02 ↗ available to fund Metroflex through the

1:22:05 ↗ bium is that something beyond the grant

1:22:08 ↗ that staff have put any brain power to

1:22:09 ↗ thinking you know what might be kind of

1:22:12 ↗ options here or is that not

1:22:17 ↗ happening cost saving options like

1:22:19 ↗ reducing the contract and the scope of

1:22:22 ↗ the contract reducing other areas of the

1:22:23 ↗ budget to to find room for Metro FL I

1:22:27 ↗ see I think we're looking for council's

1:22:29 ↗ direction this evening if that's what

1:22:31 ↗ council would like the administration to

1:22:33 ↗ do then we will take note and we can

1:22:35 ↗ come back with our

1:22:38 ↗ recommendations okay so that would

1:22:39 ↗ follow whatever policy Direction Council

1:22:42 ↗ would give one way or the other okay

1:22:43 ↗ that's correct

1:22:45 ↗ um for the light rail study um I guess

1:22:50 ↗ this is really more of the comment but

1:22:51 ↗ I'm wondering if we've had a chance to

1:22:53 ↗ touch base with Shelly about this I mean

1:22:54 ↗ this seems like it could be a comp

1:22:56 ↗ competitive budget Proviso at the state

1:22:58 ↗ level to to reach out to our state

1:23:00 ↗ legislators within the operating budget

1:23:02 ↗ um and I'm just wondering if we've had

1:23:04 ↗ any conversations or if the staff would

1:23:06 ↗ be open bringing this up at the

1:23:08 ↗ legislative breakfast next week um we

1:23:11 ↗ can certainly raise the question with

1:23:15 ↗ Shelly oh I I guess um but we can

1:23:19 ↗ certainly raise that question with

1:23:20 ↗ Shelley and get back to you maybe just

1:23:23 ↗ something to on okay

1:23:26 ↗ thanks okay any other questions at this

1:23:30 ↗ time okay so it looks like we're good on

1:23:33 ↗ questions so I will just take a moment

1:23:35 ↗ and see if we have any um members of the

1:23:39 ↗ public online that might be interested

1:23:41 ↗ in making

1:23:44 ↗ comments yes council president we do

1:23:47 ↗ okay so if anybody's online wants to

1:23:50 ↗ raise their hand or press star three if

1:23:53 ↗ they're on the phone we would love to

1:23:59 ↗ hear council president Connie Marsh

1:24:01 ↗ would like to speak to the council

1:24:03 ↗ Connie I have made you a panelist you

1:24:05 ↗ can now unmute and turn on your camera

1:24:09 ↗ Connie okayy I'm here at

1:24:12 ↗ boxes um hi all

1:24:16 ↗ so I'm gonna start with I guess irony

1:24:21 ↗ I've spent so many years

1:24:24 ↗ with the city and its Mobility master

1:24:28 ↗ plan trying to figure out how to get

1:24:30 ↗ people out of their cars and into

1:24:32 ↗ Transit and and yet we're looking at a

1:24:35 ↗ budget that reduces Transit and invest

1:24:41 ↗ hugely in

1:24:43 ↗ vehicles and I gotta say it sort of

1:24:46 ↗ makes my brain hurt on a larger level

1:24:50 ↗ higher up than you've been discussing um

1:24:56 ↗ um and

1:24:58 ↗ it's so incredibly awkward uh then I

1:25:02 ↗ want to talk a little bit about Asset

1:25:05 ↗ Management because you have buildings

1:25:09 ↗ that are in Decay that now you want to

1:25:11 ↗ tear down and now we have a fleet that

1:25:14 ↗ hasn't been taken care of in a long time

1:25:17 ↗ and I'm wondering how we got here and

1:25:20 ↗ how we make sure that this will never

1:25:23 ↗ happen again again and I sort of feel

1:25:26 ↗ like funding everything and just

1:25:28 ↗ accepting it as it is is is not holding

1:25:32 ↗ the city's feet to the fire to create a

1:25:35 ↗ construct for the entire city on how we

1:25:39 ↗ caretake The public's facilities so that

1:25:43 ↗ then the public does not end up

1:25:46 ↗ losing um things that it values like uh

1:25:53 ↗ parks and bus service and um nonprofit

1:25:58 ↗ funding because the city has not kept up

1:26:01 ↗ in it in sort of a linear way with its

1:26:04 ↗ responsibilities because I feel like the

1:26:06 ↗ public is

1:26:08 ↗ losing here um through no fault of our

1:26:11 ↗ own because we just keep

1:26:13 ↗ paying now uh the next one I'm going to

1:26:17 ↗ talk about is I'm confused that the city

1:26:20 ↗ council does not seem to be asking more

1:26:23 ↗ about the non profits in the past the

1:26:26 ↗ nonprofits had a day where they would

1:26:28 ↗ come in and talk about the things that

1:26:31 ↗ they were going to do in a year because

1:26:34 ↗ they're sort of the community volunteer

1:26:37 ↗ group and uh they compound the work that

1:26:42 ↗ can be done in a city yet they have been

1:26:47 ↗ segregated out from the city council and

1:26:50 ↗ they're

1:26:50 ↗ mainly funded by staff and so so this

1:26:54 ↗ interface of our our nonprofits and the

1:26:59 ↗ things that we volunteer for are no

1:27:01 ↗ longer connected to our elected

1:27:05 ↗ officials except for in the most distant

1:27:08 ↗ of ways and that disturbs me because I

1:27:11 ↗ don't see it working very well in some

1:27:14 ↗ areas so I would request that the city

1:27:18 ↗ council ask to have one of those nights

1:27:21 ↗ where it gets to be introduced to to the

1:27:24 ↗ nonprofits and what they do and what

1:27:26 ↗ their funding means to them during the

1:27:29 ↗ budget cycle um the most disturbing one

1:27:33 ↗ of course is Downtown isqua Association

1:27:36 ↗ whose stripping of funding did not even

1:27:39 ↗ show up in the budget it just sort of

1:27:42 ↗ appeared to the side and that is not

1:27:44 ↗ transparent to the community and um and

1:27:49 ↗ it so it seems disingenuous where it

1:27:52 ↗ says 12% reduction mainly in 2026 yet

1:27:56 ↗ one of the nonprofits is having their

1:27:59 ↗ funding drastically reduced with no

1:28:01 ↗ public visibility in the budget so

1:28:06 ↗ um

1:28:08 ↗ uh oh one last one I've gone to several

1:28:11 ↗ meetings where the theme of the budget

1:28:14 ↗ was wow we aren't making enough

1:28:17 ↗ money um but really the theme of this

1:28:19 ↗ budget is we're making the same amount

1:28:21 ↗ of money it's just we have these

1:28:23 ↗ expenses that are spiraling up and so I

1:28:27 ↗ would like to see the same theme in all

1:28:30 ↗ of the meetings that discuss the budget

1:28:33 ↗ in this city be it um because the people

1:28:38 ↗ are confused do we need to make more

1:28:41 ↗ money or do we need to maintain

1:28:46 ↗ costs and they're a little bit different

1:28:48 ↗ conversations perhaps though this never

1:28:51 ↗ comes through in any of our how do we

1:28:52 ↗ fund things conversations

1:28:54 ↗ perhaps the community can make itself

1:28:57 ↗ more money if we support more businesses

1:29:00 ↗ and we figure out how to Market our city

1:29:03 ↗ more robustly and we can make more money

1:29:07 ↗ without just having to tax people

1:29:09 ↗ wouldn't that be Brilliance but nobody

1:29:11 ↗ ever talks about it okay now I'm done

1:29:14 ↗ thank you very much for going through an

1:29:15 ↗ excruciating

1:29:18 ↗ budget thanks Connie and do we have

1:29:20 ↗ anybody else online indicating desire to

1:29:23 ↗ speak

1:29:29 ↗ council president uh nobody else has

1:29:31 ↗ expressed the desire to speak okay and

1:29:33 ↗ I'll note there's no members of the

1:29:35 ↗ public in the audience remaining so um

1:29:39 ↗ at this point I'm looking to

1:29:42 ↗ counsel um we've got um a few questions

1:29:48 ↗ up there for questions related to does

1:29:51 ↗ the council agree with the

1:29:52 ↗ administration's recommendation

1:29:55 ↗ um that we want to hear about and I'll

1:29:57 ↗ also just put a little bit of pressure

1:30:00 ↗ note on here this is a shortened budget

1:30:03 ↗ cycle um so the administration really

1:30:05 ↗ needs to hear from us um if there are

1:30:08 ↗ going to be any opportunities for

1:30:11 ↗ changes or just understanding how we can

1:30:14 ↗ get the budget um through the end at

1:30:16 ↗ this point so I will open it up for

1:30:22 ↗ comments council member Ray i' like to

1:30:25 ↗ go first um so just I'll take the four

1:30:27 ↗ questions I'll take them in order um the

1:30:30 ↗ first one this is a hard one around

1:30:31 ↗ Metroflex because there's a lot of U

1:30:34 ↗ support for it but it's also very

1:30:36 ↗ expensive and it's extremely expensive

1:30:38 ↗ if I factor in not only the city's

1:30:40 ↗ contribution but the Metro's

1:30:42 ↗ contribution to it so um I don't have a

1:30:46 ↗ strong recommendation here um we are on

1:30:48 ↗ the hook um or are obligated to for half

1:30:52 ↗ the year essentially

1:30:54 ↗ of Metroflex um so my my initial

1:30:58 ↗ thinking on Metroflex is we fund the

1:31:02 ↗ first year and then we um check in on

1:31:05 ↗ our grant and that way gives us some

1:31:06 ↗ time and some buffer there um I do that

1:31:10 ↗ with great reservations because a year

1:31:11 ↗ of Metroflex is an FTE so that's

1:31:13 ↗ somebody we're laying off that we could

1:31:15 ↗ fund if we weren't funding Metroflex and

1:31:17 ↗ I I'm looking at everything I'm looking

1:31:19 ↗ at in terms of FP that we're having to

1:31:21 ↗ let go so that's my that's my Touchstone

1:31:24 ↗ um the light rail study in 2025

1:31:28 ↗ 2026 um I didn't see a number and I

1:31:31 ↗ don't didn't look at the budget so I'm

1:31:32 ↗ not 100% sure what that cost is but if

1:31:35 ↗ we're going to be ahead of the power

1:31:37 ↗ curve in 2027 when the alternatives are

1:31:40 ↗ being looked at by Sound Transit we need

1:31:42 ↗ to have done our homework and have

1:31:43 ↗ everything lined up so that we are ready

1:31:45 ↗ when they are ready so I think if

1:31:47 ↗ there's a way to fund that we

1:31:49 ↗ should um I think we should postpone the

1:31:52 ↗ housing and parking study is

1:31:54 ↗ U interesting but that's one where I

1:31:56 ↗ think we have some

1:31:57 ↗ flexibility and then finally on the

1:32:00 ↗ fleet fund um it's a lot of money I

1:32:03 ↗ think we can sharpen our pencils there

1:32:06 ↗ is always an opportunity to smartly

1:32:10 ↗ defer capital investment that's what

1:32:12 ↗ this is um but it's balancing off the

1:32:14 ↗ cost of Maintenance and the cost of

1:32:16 ↗ parts and the cost of downtime and all

1:32:19 ↗ those things but um I think that the

1:32:22 ↗ proposed budget for Fleet seems um

1:32:25 ↗ awfully High to me on a forever basis

1:32:28 ↗ and that's what it looks like so um

1:32:30 ↗ there I think that there is some we can

1:32:33 ↗ absorb some risk there and I think this

1:32:35 ↗ is what council member Hall spoke to a

1:32:36 ↗ little bit um and look for some

1:32:39 ↗ alternatives for how we uh um how we

1:32:44 ↗ fund uh the

1:32:46 ↗ fleet uh replacement so those are my

1:32:50 ↗ thoughts great okay I know as Deputy

1:32:53 ↗ Council president D Michelle and then

1:32:55 ↗ I'm just going to go down the

1:32:58 ↗ line great thank you so um over the last

1:33:03 ↗ couple of weeks since our last

1:33:04 ↗ discussion the item that I have heard

1:33:07 ↗ the most from the public about is

1:33:10 ↗ Metroflex um yesterday at the um

1:33:14 ↗ Veterans Day celebration I heard from

1:33:16 ↗ senior citizens who said they really

1:33:19 ↗ really are uh learning to rely on this

1:33:22 ↗ um I've certainly heard from the garage

1:33:24 ↗ and how important it is to their being

1:33:27 ↗ able to get kids there and kids are

1:33:29 ↗ using it um and the school uh district

1:33:32 ↗ is also seeing that and then just random

1:33:35 ↗ people people uh somebody I think Emily

1:33:38 ↗ said we really did a lot of saturation

1:33:41 ↗ of the community and people have kind of

1:33:44 ↗ embraced Metroflex as this is our

1:33:47 ↗ Metroflex and so I've just run into

1:33:50 ↗ people randomly who say why are we

1:33:51 ↗ cutting Metroflex and so they're

1:33:53 ↗ concerned about it so um to me that says

1:33:58 ↗ that we've got a community that is uh

1:34:01 ↗ really invested in this project and uh

1:34:04 ↗ would like to see it continue and um I

1:34:07 ↗ think this bods well in terms of a

1:34:09 ↗ long-term investment in uh What uh

1:34:12 ↗ Connie Marsh talked about uh getting

1:34:14 ↗ people out of their cars and into a

1:34:16 ↗ transit system so the big question is

1:34:19 ↗ it's uh it's expensive and how are we

1:34:22 ↗ going to fund it um I uh tend to agree

1:34:26 ↗ with uh council member Ray that can we

1:34:29 ↗ at least commit to one more year uh and

1:34:32 ↗ see how that Grant comes out um and how

1:34:35 ↗ would we pay for it well can we look at

1:34:38 ↗ my beloved pavement Management program

1:34:41 ↗ and see yeah oh okay

1:34:44 ↗ sorry can we look at the Beloved pavment

1:34:47 ↗ Management program and see if there's a

1:34:50 ↗ couple hundred thousand that we might be

1:34:52 ↗ able to cut there or uh again can we as

1:34:56 ↗ as council member Ray say can we sharpen

1:34:58 ↗ our pencils around the fleet fund uh and

1:35:00 ↗ see if we can just find some extra money

1:35:04 ↗ to at least do for another year and then

1:35:06 ↗ see if there's going to be grants

1:35:08 ↗ available and also but I mentioned

1:35:10 ↗ earlier talked to Metro about can we get

1:35:13 ↗ into their budget cycle for uh funding

1:35:17 ↗ in a in a later budget cycle from Metro

1:35:20 ↗ so

1:35:22 ↗ um I also thought that uh that director

1:35:26 ↗ Dolly wall made a a good case for

1:35:28 ↗ continuing the light rail study U and

1:35:30 ↗ getting ready for for that um and uh so

1:35:35 ↗ I would support that if we could if we

1:35:37 ↗ could find the money or if we can find

1:35:39 ↗ grants uh for that um I think we can

1:35:42 ↗ postpone the housing and parking studies

1:35:45 ↗ and as I've said I agree with let's um

1:35:48 ↗ sharpen our pencils a little bit more

1:35:50 ↗ around the fleet fund and see if we can

1:35:52 ↗ reduce that that's a dramatic increase

1:35:54 ↗ in funding uh when we're facing some

1:35:57 ↗ very tough issues so um I also wanted to

1:36:01 ↗ um if I could just take a point of

1:36:04 ↗ privilege here and uh correct something

1:36:06 ↗ I said at the last uh deliberations that

1:36:09 ↗ we had I misread the uh budget um and I

1:36:13 ↗ had this corrected by uh uh Deputy

1:36:16 ↗ Administrator um Snider um there is not

1:36:20 ↗ not going to be any changes to um the

1:36:23 ↗ grant funding uh Human Services grant

1:36:26 ↗ funding and so I just wanted to clarify

1:36:28 ↗ that especially hearing Connie Marsha's

1:36:31 ↗ comments uh I I misread that and I

1:36:34 ↗ misspoke at the last meeting and I just

1:36:36 ↗ want to be sure that anybody in the

1:36:38 ↗ public that was listening to that should

1:36:40 ↗ be assured that there are not going to

1:36:42 ↗ be cuts to the grants that have already

1:36:44 ↗ been awarded for the Human Services um

1:36:47 ↗ and so I hope that we can get that

1:36:49 ↗ information out to people thank you and

1:36:52 ↗ to add to that just to clarify there are

1:36:55 ↗ proposed 12% cuts to certain nonprofits

1:36:59 ↗ who are not in the Human Services space

1:37:02 ↗ can you uh detail what those are or who

1:37:05 ↗ the there are proposed cuts for 2026 so

1:37:09 ↗ for the second half of the bium by 12%

1:37:12 ↗ which is what we've asked most of the

1:37:14 ↗ city departments to reduce their budgets

1:37:16 ↗ by in order to balance this budget um so

1:37:19 ↗ we're asking our some of some of our

1:37:21 ↗ nonprofit Partners to do the same

1:37:24 ↗ nonprofit Partners such as the friends

1:37:26 ↗ of isqua salmon hatchery the um isqua

1:37:30 ↗ Alps Trails Club friends of Lakes mamish

1:37:33 ↗ State Park um those

1:37:36 ↗ organizations and uh isqu isqua history

1:37:38 ↗ museums as well thank you council member

1:37:44 ↗ Mars uh thank you madam council

1:37:46 ↗ president um so I'm not ready to cut

1:37:49 ↗ Metroflex yet if we were going to cut it

1:37:51 ↗ now or six months from now I'd want a

1:37:54 ↗ better understanding of the total cost

1:37:56 ↗ model both for us and for in County I'd

1:38:00 ↗ want to hear from Metro about um whether

1:38:03 ↗ there's other solutions to help try to

1:38:05 ↗ keep this in place um I I would also

1:38:08 ↗ want to get my arms around this idea

1:38:09 ↗ that it's extremely expensive compared

1:38:11 ↗ to what like is it really how how does

1:38:13 ↗ it compare to the regular bus service is

1:38:16 ↗ it twice as expensive okay well that

1:38:18 ↗ wouldn't be extremely expensive on a per

1:38:20 ↗ ride but if it's 10 times then then that

1:38:23 ↗ is a lot but let's not do that I I

1:38:25 ↗ really like council member Ray's

1:38:27 ↗ suggestion of just extending it a year

1:38:29 ↗ giving ourselves some time to find other

1:38:32 ↗ funding sources that represents a small

1:38:34 ↗ incremental cost over going for six

1:38:37 ↗ months and then shutting it down so I

1:38:38 ↗ think that's the right solution rather

1:38:40 ↗ than um the administration trying to

1:38:42 ↗ contort itself around trying to give me

1:38:44 ↗ all the answers to a million Financial

1:38:46 ↗ questions uh on the second thing

1:38:49 ↗ postponing the light rail study I

1:38:50 ↗ continue to be incredibly worried about

1:38:53 ↗ the fact that um everything nowadays

1:38:55 ↗ costs a lot of money and uh Sound

1:38:58 ↗ Transit is going to be out of money or

1:39:00 ↗ they're going to have about um three

1:39:02 ↗ cents in their pocket when they get out

1:39:03 ↗ to isqua and go to do our project and

1:39:05 ↗ they're going to have to do it as

1:39:06 ↗ cheaply as possible and that's going to

1:39:08 ↗ mean surface parking and which we don't

1:39:11 ↗ want to see and we all have a vision of

1:39:14 ↗ what that endof the-line uh parking

1:39:16 ↗ structure looks like and it won't be

1:39:18 ↗ what we want to see I'm looking at the

1:39:20 ↗ parking structure my brother lives in

1:39:21 ↗ Sandy Springs Georgia which is the North

1:39:23 ↗ end of the the end of the North Line red

1:39:26 ↗ line I think for Marta and they have I'm

1:39:30 ↗ looking at the 22 you know the two 1250

1:39:32 ↗ stall parking structures that would be

1:39:35 ↗ we would be lucky if we got the giant

1:39:37 ↗ parking structures because what we would

1:39:39 ↗ get is 2500 stalls of surface parking

1:39:41 ↗ which would be not anything in the same

1:39:45 ↗ time zone for what our residents want so

1:39:48 ↗ I I don't know how to solve this problem

1:39:50 ↗ it's inherent to the fact that

1:39:52 ↗ everything costs a ton of money money

1:39:54 ↗ and Sound

1:39:55 ↗ Transit I mean they'll be lucky to have

1:39:57 ↗ money to build service parking by the

1:39:59 ↗ time they get to isqua much less

1:40:01 ↗ building of the kind of uh Transit Hub

1:40:05 ↗ that we all think our city needs so the

1:40:08 ↗ the whole thing is filled with is rif

1:40:12 ↗ with uh perel and I don't know what to

1:40:15 ↗ do but if uh being a lite and throwing

1:40:18 ↗ my clog into the machine by pushing back

1:40:21 ↗ the uh light rail study does that I I

1:40:25 ↗ just until until I see something that

1:40:28 ↗ makes me think that sound transit will

1:40:29 ↗ have more than $3 when I get to isqua um

1:40:32 ↗ I'm going to be I'm going to be dubious

1:40:34 ↗ about a process that allows them to

1:40:36 ↗ decide it because not that they would do

1:40:38 ↗ it through any kind of malevolence they

1:40:39 ↗ would do it because that's all that they

1:40:40 ↗ can afford so uh sure throw my blog into

1:40:44 ↗ the into the machine as as the Lites did

1:40:47 ↗ on on number three this whole thing we

1:40:49 ↗ need to we need to hear about this sb615

1:40:52 ↗ and what it does and doesn't do I'm

1:40:54 ↗ tired of Olympia uh taking away uh legal

1:40:59 ↗ Authority from municipalities for

1:41:01 ↗ whatever good cause they think they have

1:41:03 ↗ the right to do especially when they

1:41:04 ↗ won't fund the things that they claim to

1:41:07 ↗ care about uh and then the fleet fund

1:41:09 ↗ budget I don't know I'm not an expert on

1:41:11 ↗ vehicles we have people who are experts

1:41:13 ↗ on vehicles I don't have a big emotional

1:41:15 ↗ attachment to it I will say on the

1:41:17 ↗ subject of

1:41:18 ↗ nonprofits in the good old days we would

1:41:21 ↗ have a day at services and safety and

1:41:24 ↗ Parks back before it was called services

1:41:25 ↗ safety and park and it would be it would

1:41:28 ↗ Bas basically be a showand tell and all

1:41:30 ↗ the nonprofits would come in and they

1:41:32 ↗ would produce materials commensurate to

1:41:34 ↗ the size of organization that they were

1:41:36 ↗ to show us how they were spending our

1:41:38 ↗ money and the public would show up and

1:41:42 ↗ uh it was a wonderful opportunity to

1:41:44 ↗ highlight how these organizations were

1:41:46 ↗ using our money and somehow we have lost

1:41:49 ↗ that in the process and so were I to be

1:41:53 ↗ Lu luy enough to be chair of services

1:41:55 ↗ safety and parks in two years I would

1:41:57 ↗ love it if we had something like that

1:42:00 ↗ where uh you know we saw the light of

1:42:02 ↗ day these organizations came in and and

1:42:05 ↗ did a robust enthusiastic explanation to

1:42:08 ↗ us on how they spend our money I think

1:42:10 ↗ it'd be good for them and I think it'd

1:42:12 ↗ be good for us thank you for letting me

1:42:15 ↗ monologue okay let me just make sure I

1:42:17 ↗ understood what you said about the light

1:42:18 ↗ rail study by throwing your clog into

1:42:22 ↗ that do you

1:42:24 ↗ mean no no I get that but are you

1:42:28 ↗ suggesting that postponing the light

1:42:30 ↗ rail study or doing the light rail study

1:42:32 ↗ would achieve your goals I believe

1:42:35 ↗ postponing it okay just wanted to thank

1:42:37 ↗ you for thank you for that clarification

1:42:39 ↗ yeah absolutely until such time as they

1:42:42 ↗ have a funding mechanism that would

1:42:44 ↗ arrive with more than $3 in at the time

1:42:46 ↗ when they believe you said three cents

1:42:48 ↗ and that may

1:42:50 ↗ be I'll only two orders of magnitude

1:42:53 ↗ difference yeah that exactly exactly um

1:42:57 ↗ I want to hear we are having some WebEx

1:43:00 ↗ issues or yes we are okay are we okay to

1:43:05 ↗ continue or we're live streaming on

1:43:07 ↗ YouTube so the meeting is is still

1:43:09 ↗ happening Live on YouTube and we're

1:43:11 ↗ working on the WebEx issue right now

1:43:13 ↗ okay fantastic and then Deputy City

1:43:17 ↗ administrator oh that was okay fantastic

1:43:20 ↗ great okay going down count council

1:43:23 ↗ member

1:43:26 ↗ hunt thank you um so firstly this is a

1:43:30 ↗ budget overall that focuses on really

1:43:32 ↗ important things because it is a

1:43:34 ↗ difficult budget year and I think the

1:43:36 ↗ mayor and the administration are

1:43:37 ↗ absolutely right to focus on the really

1:43:40 ↗ important high level things that are the

1:43:43 ↗ the uh fosi of this budget which

1:43:46 ↗ includes equity and

1:43:48 ↗ sustainability um this budget does

1:43:50 ↗ reflect a lot of reductions including uh

1:43:53 ↗ layoffs of people that were doing really

1:43:54 ↗ great work for the city and we discussed

1:43:56 ↗ that last last time we met but I did

1:43:59 ↗ want to set that context Metroflex the

1:44:03 ↗ way I see it is one of the programs that

1:44:07 ↗ really does make contributions in a

1:44:10 ↗ concrete way towards equity and

1:44:11 ↗ sustainability in the city I um I don't

1:44:15 ↗ agree with canceling our contributions

1:44:18 ↗ um I agree with my fellow council

1:44:19 ↗ members who have spoken on this about

1:44:21 ↗ continuing the program uh last meeting

1:44:25 ↗ we had a hopelink representative come

1:44:27 ↗ and speak to the uh value of the program

1:44:31 ↗ for clients of hopelink we've had um

1:44:35 ↗ we've had seniors speak to the

1:44:37 ↗ importance of this program for them

1:44:39 ↗ students that came earlier this evening

1:44:41 ↗ and spoke about the importance in their

1:44:43 ↗ lives and also advocating for lowincome

1:44:46 ↗ um

1:44:48 ↗ folks and uh you know also in in in the

1:44:53 ↗ map that was shown Rose crust which is

1:44:56 ↗ uh imagine housing low-income housing um

1:44:59 ↗ I believe 30 to 60% Ami in my

1:45:02 ↗ neighborhood that's where folks are

1:45:04 ↗ using this service so it is I think a

1:45:06 ↗ really

1:45:07 ↗ important service for those in our

1:45:09 ↗ community that are using it um we did a

1:45:12 ↗ pilot program to learn about where

1:45:14 ↗ neighborhoods would use this and it is

1:45:16 ↗ true that our

1:45:19 ↗ our theories going into the program or

1:45:22 ↗ hypotheses some of those did not um did

1:45:25 ↗ not work out the way we thought but

1:45:28 ↗ that's part of why we did a pilot right

1:45:29 ↗ and I think what we're seeing is that a

1:45:31 ↗ lot of folks in apartment buildings

1:45:33 ↗ across the city um and those multif

1:45:35 ↗ family housing they are using this

1:45:37 ↗ program um and I would like to make sure

1:45:39 ↗ that we continue to support uh this both

1:45:43 ↗ from the sustainability meeting some of

1:45:45 ↗ our goals of having people not not have

1:45:48 ↗ to rely on a car to get around and um

1:45:52 ↗ and for the equity

1:45:54 ↗ impacts

1:45:56 ↗ uh I I agree with extending it a year

1:46:01 ↗ however because I think it's really an

1:46:03 ↗ important program and because we're

1:46:05 ↗ committing to doing a two-year budget um

1:46:09 ↗ I I would advocate for putting it

1:46:12 ↗ funding in for the two years I agree it

1:46:15 ↗ would be wonderful and amazing if we do

1:46:17 ↗ get a grant and we don't have to worry

1:46:19 ↗ about funding it out of the city's Fund

1:46:21 ↗ in the second year but as a as a city

1:46:23 ↗ and as a council we committed to this

1:46:25 ↗ two twoyear banial budget and because of

1:46:28 ↗ all of the policy reasons and because of

1:46:30 ↗ the value to the community I would

1:46:34 ↗ vastly prefer funding it for the two

1:46:36 ↗ years over the program and then

1:46:37 ↗ hopefully we do hopefully it's a

1:46:39 ↗ non-issue in the second year and we get

1:46:40 ↗ a grant but if not I want to continue to

1:46:43 ↗ fund

1:46:45 ↗ this on the housing oh sorry on the

1:46:48 ↗ light rail study I agree with uh council

1:46:52 ↗ member Mars in that I think we can put

1:46:55 ↗ this um on we can postpone this I think

1:46:59 ↗ we also have had great conversations

1:47:01 ↗ with the community over the last recent

1:47:04 ↗ uh year or so um to make sure that we

1:47:08 ↗ have that feedback about what the

1:47:09 ↗ community wants to see we have started

1:47:12 ↗ the process of planning um and I think

1:47:16 ↗ that we we do have some time here

1:47:19 ↗ because of the light rail schedule so uh

1:47:22 ↗ given the current budget situation I

1:47:24 ↗ think this makes a lot of sense to

1:47:25 ↗ postpone it on the housing and parking

1:47:28 ↗ studies we in the Planning Development

1:47:31 ↗ and environment committee uh of this

1:47:33 ↗ Council have been talking about the

1:47:35 ↗ missing

1:47:36 ↗ middle um housing provisions and how we

1:47:39 ↗ can use you know the Eco Northwest

1:47:43 ↗ recommendations as well as the as well

1:47:46 ↗ as the uh cities or the states rather's

1:47:49 ↗ um new laws that have been passed and

1:47:52 ↗ you know how we can use the combination

1:47:55 ↗ of those two things and I think

1:47:59 ↗ that with between that and between the

1:48:03 ↗ uh what sounds like a very important

1:48:04 ↗ parking um regulation that has recently

1:48:07 ↗ come down that we have not yet looked at

1:48:09 ↗ in planning development environment I

1:48:10 ↗ think we have a lot to work

1:48:13 ↗ through without the study and I also

1:48:16 ↗ agree that we will learn through this

1:48:18 ↗ pilot um and through the mfte that was

1:48:21 ↗ that's in the the pilot um so I think

1:48:24 ↗ for all those reasons postponing the

1:48:25 ↗ housing and parking study does make a

1:48:27 ↗ lot of sense and I'm uh I'm satisfied

1:48:30 ↗ that we have lots to work through on the

1:48:32 ↗ policy side to help make some progress

1:48:34 ↗ on missing middle housing um in the

1:48:38 ↗ meantime and then on the fleet fund

1:48:43 ↗ um as far

1:48:45 ↗ as when we where we look at what to fund

1:48:49 ↗ the Metroflex program with I did wonder

1:48:52 ↗ if we might phase in this approach to

1:48:56 ↗ funding the fleet fund um and so not do

1:48:59 ↗ as much catching up I also think that

1:49:02 ↗ the pavement management especially since

1:49:04 ↗ council member D Michelle mentioned it

1:49:06 ↗ that was the thing that I was thinking

1:49:08 ↗ about as well and the reason I was

1:49:09 ↗ thinking about that as a as a potential

1:49:12 ↗ savings and I welcome feedback from the

1:49:16 ↗ administration and from staff but the

1:49:17 ↗ reason I was thinking about that too is

1:49:19 ↗ because we did have a lot of recovery

1:49:21 ↗ funding over the last years and and we

1:49:22 ↗ did a lot of pavement management and I

1:49:25 ↗ think the community really has has

1:49:27 ↗ noticed and appreciated that but that

1:49:29 ↗ pavement uh you know that was a lot of

1:49:31 ↗ work that was done over a short period

1:49:33 ↗ of time which was possible because of um

1:49:35 ↗ funding Federal funding that will will

1:49:38 ↗ no longer be available but I do think it

1:49:40 ↗ potentially could be seen as buying us

1:49:42 ↗ sometime um to slow down our city

1:49:45 ↗ contribution for a little bit while we

1:49:47 ↗ adjust to that so those were my thoughts

1:49:50 ↗ on on potential savings

1:49:55 ↗ thank you uh council member

1:49:57 ↗ Hall um sure thank you I won't um repeat

1:50:01 ↗ what's already been said but walking

1:50:03 ↗ through the questions here um I agree

1:50:06 ↗ that I'm not ready to say no on

1:50:10 ↗ Metroflex yet or to cancel Metroflex I I

1:50:13 ↗ want to have a kind of a broader

1:50:14 ↗ conversation about where what options

1:50:18 ↗ might exist for finding cost savings to

1:50:20 ↗ fund Metroflex through the

1:50:23 ↗ spum um pavement management is one I

1:50:27 ↗ asked a question just today about the

1:50:28 ↗ open space um Park acquisition program

1:50:32 ↗ and how often we spend down that

1:50:33 ↗ $500,000 a year that's there so just I

1:50:36 ↗ guess it would be it would be good to

1:50:38 ↗ come back to council and have kind of a

1:50:40 ↗ conversation about um here here's what

1:50:43 ↗ the options would look like here's how

1:50:45 ↗ much it would hurt and um then we can

1:50:46 ↗ have a policy discussion up here on the

1:50:48 ↗ Das about whether or not we want to move

1:50:50 ↗ forward with something like that I guess

1:50:53 ↗ um my mind in this basis funding for

1:50:55 ↗ Metroflex isn't isn't just about funding

1:50:57 ↗ for Metroflex it's also I mean you've

1:51:00 ↗ talked we've talked about hearing from

1:51:01 ↗ residents but also it was one of the top

1:51:03 ↗ things that we hear in the community

1:51:04 ↗ survey is um support for public

1:51:06 ↗ transportation and then um I think two

1:51:11 ↗ that it shows our commitment to King

1:51:13 ↗ County Metro itself when they start to

1:51:15 ↗ think about what communities in King

1:51:17 ↗ County support public transit and what

1:51:19 ↗ communities in King County should we be

1:51:21 ↗ prioritizing when we draw new routes so

1:51:23 ↗ I also think it's just important to

1:51:25 ↗ continue to underline that isqua is a

1:51:26 ↗ community that

1:51:28 ↗ supports um public transportation but um

1:51:31 ↗ again I I guess I'm just saying I would

1:51:33 ↗ like to have the conversation more not

1:51:35 ↗ necessarily saying no to the

1:51:37 ↗ administration's recommendation yet

1:51:39 ↗ because I also understand why it's up

1:51:41 ↗ there makes perfect sense to me um for

1:51:45 ↗ the light rail study um I agree with all

1:51:47 ↗ the reasons that's been said that it can

1:51:49 ↗ be postponed although I think that there

1:51:51 ↗ is a a good opportunity to have

1:51:53 ↗ conversations with our state legislators

1:51:55 ↗ um um one of our state legislators is on

1:51:58 ↗ the Appropriations Committee so that

1:51:59 ↗ would be a good person to talk to about

1:52:02 ↗ would this be an attractive Budget

1:52:04 ↗ provisor on the operating budget and the

1:52:05 ↗ transportation budget so on and so forth

1:52:07 ↗ um the housing and parking studies

1:52:16 ↗ um okay welcoming us back in after we've

1:52:20 ↗ gotten our technical difficulties

1:52:22 ↗ addressed um hopefully things will go

1:52:25 ↗ smoother I will go back to council

1:52:27 ↗ member hall because I know you were I

1:52:31 ↗ know at some point in the middle of the

1:52:34 ↗ conversation you know your comments

1:52:37 ↗ there I had quite literally just

1:52:40 ↗ finished so

1:52:42 ↗ um not entirely sure what to do except

1:52:45 ↗ for to say some of the context staff and

1:52:48 ↗ people in the room have now but maybe

1:52:50 ↗ I'll just run through for the sake of

1:52:51 ↗ the public a quick answers to the

1:52:53 ↗ direction needed questions that we have

1:52:55 ↗ here um I had thought that it was too

1:52:58 ↗ early to say yes to cancelling the

1:53:00 ↗ city's contribution to Metroflex and

1:53:02 ↗ wanted to to see some options for

1:53:04 ↗ Council to consider um okay with

1:53:07 ↗ postponing the postponing the light ril

1:53:09 ↗ study acknowledging that this is a good

1:53:10 ↗ topic to bring up with the legislature

1:53:13 ↗ um somewhat hesitantly okay postpay

1:53:16 ↗ postponing the housing and parking

1:53:17 ↗ studies but wanting to have a broader

1:53:20 ↗ conversation around

1:53:23 ↗ the scope of work there the scope of

1:53:24 ↗ work in the work plan what's left to do

1:53:26 ↗ in the Eco Northwest report in having

1:53:28 ↗ kind of a policy discussion amongst

1:53:30 ↗ Council about what makes sense for the

1:53:32 ↗ bium recognizing that some of that's

1:53:34 ↗ required and then um supportive of

1:53:36 ↗ keeping the fleet fun Fleet budget Fleet

1:53:40 ↗ fund oh my God Fleet fund budget as

1:53:43 ↗ proposed acknowledging work and and and

1:53:47 ↗ um asking the question is there any more

1:53:48 ↗ risk that could that could be absorbed

1:53:51 ↗ in that fund and um asking for a

1:53:54 ↗ response to that um and then a couple of

1:53:57 ↗ other additional things I wanted Council

1:54:00 ↗ to talk about in the future which was

1:54:01 ↗ the park and open space acquisition

1:54:03 ↗ program and the tdrs and L clip

1:54:05 ↗ feasibility study that was funded in the

1:54:08 ↗ previous budget and I'm not quite sure

1:54:10 ↗ if that if we did that work or not yet

1:54:13 ↗ and that I think was it so

1:54:16 ↗ thanks excellent council member Joe all

1:54:19 ↗ right I'll be as succinct as possible

1:54:20 ↗ because I know the hour is late um I

1:54:22 ↗ would like us to continue to look at not

1:54:25 ↗ counseling

1:54:26 ↗ Metroflex uh I would like to know what

1:54:28 ↗ we would need to cut if we do keep

1:54:32 ↗ Metroflex for um both of the years in

1:54:35 ↗ the Bal budget coming up I agree with um

1:54:39 ↗ council member hunt that if we're going

1:54:41 ↗ to commit to it we should commit to it

1:54:43 ↗ for the two years of the bay in budget

1:54:45 ↗ but I do want to see what we would lose

1:54:47 ↗ or what would not be um given uh to our

1:54:50 ↗ citizens if we do um keep Metroflex um

1:54:55 ↗ postpone the light rail study Beyond

1:54:57 ↗ 2526 yes that's just fine however I

1:55:00 ↗ would just ask that the administration

1:55:02 ↗ do the usual diligence that they always

1:55:05 ↗ do to keep us informed if we think that

1:55:08 ↗ the timing is coming near uh to start

1:55:12 ↗ that study uh you know give us a

1:55:14 ↗ six-month um kind of lead time so that

1:55:17 ↗ we can see if we need to scramble mid

1:55:19 ↗ year or uh at the end of year 1 in the

1:55:22 ↗ budget to um try to find money to make

1:55:26 ↗ that happen I think it's vitally

1:55:27 ↗ important that we um time that study so

1:55:31 ↗ that we don't lose the work we've done

1:55:32 ↗ on the I90 uh overpass underpass

1:55:35 ↗ Crossing along the way and um we have

1:55:38 ↗ seen what has happened with Mercer

1:55:41 ↗ Island for instance when they didn't do

1:55:42 ↗ their planning in advance they got a

1:55:45 ↗ product that was terrible they got a

1:55:46 ↗ product that was so terrible they had to

1:55:48 ↗ sue um Sound Transit we want to be uh

1:55:52 ↗ kind of in the opposite position where

1:55:54 ↗ we uh have planned have heard back from

1:55:57 ↗ our citizens what they want uh we have

1:56:00 ↗ the the information at our disposal as

1:56:03 ↗ we go and advocate for our citizens and

1:56:05 ↗ for our city uh with Sound Transit along

1:56:08 ↗ the way so um the administration does a

1:56:11 ↗ great job of of Looking Over the Horizon

1:56:13 ↗ a little bit I'd ask that they uh keep

1:56:15 ↗ that on their their radar going into um

1:56:18 ↗ 25 and

1:56:20 ↗ 26 postpone housing parking studies yes

1:56:24 ↗ uh the cities that that I have uh um

1:56:28 ↗ visited are struggling with uh

1:56:32 ↗ 1337 uh adus 1110 midal housing uh the

1:56:37 ↗ other elements that are along with it

1:56:40 ↗ and they have their hands full with

1:56:41 ↗ trying to get the those um pieces in

1:56:46 ↗ place before the deadline of June of of

1:56:48 ↗ next year alongside the parallel um kind

1:56:52 ↗ of stone that's rolling down the hill of

1:56:54 ↗ the of the comp plan and trying to get

1:56:56 ↗ that done before the end of the year so

1:56:57 ↗ post Point those housing studies I I

1:56:59 ↗ don't have a problem with that because

1:57:01 ↗ as as pointed out during the

1:57:03 ↗ presentation um we need some time to see

1:57:06 ↗ um if the mfte program that we kind of

1:57:10 ↗ uh adjusted a little bit um has is

1:57:14 ↗ working or not we also need to see if

1:57:15 ↗ the Pioneer project uh that has been um

1:57:19 ↗ kind of adopted see how that gets

1:57:21 ↗ adopted how get how that gets picked up

1:57:24 ↗ along the way so we do have some other

1:57:26 ↗ pieces that we probably want to see

1:57:27 ↗ before we dive into a housing and

1:57:29 ↗ parking study a little bit more deeply

1:57:31 ↗ so I do not have a problem with um

1:57:33 ↗ postponing those unless funding becomes

1:57:35 ↗ available um finally on the fleet

1:57:38 ↗ subject um I'm in favor of keeping the

1:57:41 ↗ fleet fund budget as proposed um I know

1:57:45 ↗ that it's uh difficult we're talking

1:57:47 ↗ about big budget items along the way but

1:57:50 ↗ um uh I I think the only caveat would be

1:57:53 ↗ I agree with council president that I

1:57:55 ↗ would just like to see kind of the

1:57:57 ↗ planning for the years and the items

1:57:59 ↗ that might be on the horizon so that we

1:58:01 ↗ can just get a general idea of of the

1:58:04 ↗ overall plan but I I think the budget as

1:58:06 ↗ proposed uh needs to go forward that

1:58:08 ↗ concludes my comments thank

1:58:10 ↗ you excellent okay I'll uh throw my

1:58:14 ↗ comments into the mix so first um I

1:58:20 ↗ appreciated what council member hunt

1:58:21 ↗ said about hey this is a big adjustment

1:58:26 ↗ to our budgets and so recognizing the

1:58:29 ↗ sacrifices that we've already had to

1:58:31 ↗ make at this point and recognizing the

1:58:35 ↗ loss of great employees um who we just

1:58:40 ↗ had to let go given the budget

1:58:43 ↗ circumstances um a member of the public

1:58:47 ↗ asked you know looking at the large

1:58:49 ↗ scale is this an issue of EXP is rising

1:58:53 ↗ or revenues need to be increased and I

1:58:58 ↗ would say yes to both um yes expenses

1:59:01 ↗ are increasing because of inflation yes

1:59:04 ↗ we've got a whole heck of a lot of

1:59:05 ↗ deferred Maintenance and Facilities and

1:59:08 ↗ Fleet that we need to address um but

1:59:12 ↗ also we have structural budget issues

1:59:14 ↗ just because of the way that the state

1:59:16 ↗ has set up our financing but also our

1:59:20 ↗ development patterns our development

1:59:23 ↗ patterns when we've

1:59:25 ↗ got less Des dense housing do not pay

1:59:29 ↗ for themselves the revenue that we get

1:59:31 ↗ off of single family housing is not

1:59:35 ↗ something that pays for the services um

1:59:38 ↗ that are needed to provide for that

1:59:39 ↗ residence whether it's the um roadway to

1:59:43 ↗ get there whether it's the pipes to get

1:59:45 ↗ there whether it's the police and the

1:59:47 ↗ fire services so I really want us to

1:59:50 ↗ make sure that we are addressing that

1:59:52 ↗ because that is something that we have

1:59:55 ↗ some control over at least so that we're

1:59:57 ↗ not digging ourselves into a hole of our

1:59:59 ↗ own doing

2:00:01 ↗ further we also need to talk to the

2:00:04 ↗ state about shared revenue and all of

2:00:06 ↗ that but um I think it's important to

2:00:09 ↗ recognize that right now our expenses

2:00:11 ↗ per acre are probably more than our

2:00:14 ↗ Revenue per acre on many of the

2:00:16 ↗ properties um in the area and that's

2:00:18 ↗ something that we need to understand so

2:00:21 ↗ going to these questions um no I think

2:00:23 ↗ we need to continue with 2 years of

2:00:27 ↗ Metro Flex I think it's INE Equity issue

2:00:31 ↗ for our elderly and our students and um

2:00:35 ↗ people who can't drive with disabilities

2:00:37 ↗ it's also a cost of living issue and

2:00:39 ↗ that's something that residents have

2:00:41 ↗ told us in our surveys that is really

2:00:44 ↗ really important to them um I will also

2:00:49 ↗ note that the pilot program showed High

2:00:51 ↗ use us AG in the denser areas and so

2:00:54 ↗ I'll just throw it in there I think we

2:00:56 ↗ should talk to Metroflex about whether

2:00:59 ↗ keeping squawk in the mix is right or

2:01:03 ↗ whether keep adding the highlands into

2:01:05 ↗ it would be right if we're looking at

2:01:08 ↗ what some of the highest use areas are

2:01:11 ↗ there are areas where we've got

2:01:13 ↗ affordable housing um like up in tus and

2:01:16 ↗ we've got a lot of that up in the

2:01:17 ↗ highlands that isn't covered by this and

2:01:19 ↗ so this would be a great way to help

2:01:23 ↗ improve the lives of people who are

2:01:27 ↗ about a mile and a half away from

2:01:29 ↗ transit um up in the highlands so I'll

2:01:32 ↗ just put that out there uh Light Rail

2:01:35 ↗ study um I agree with council member

2:01:38 ↗ Mars and Hunt um there's time so I'm

2:01:41 ↗ fine to postpone this I'm frankly

2:01:44 ↗ cynical with all of the big budget

2:01:46 ↗ issues with Sound Transit that we're

2:01:48 ↗ going to keep on that time schedule and

2:01:51 ↗ so I'm not feeling all that urgent to

2:01:55 ↗ put our money down on something like

2:01:58 ↗ that when we have a lot of other urgent

2:02:01 ↗ more urgent needs um I also think we

2:02:05 ↗ know our residents and we have the

2:02:07 ↗ direct link there we don't need to pay

2:02:10 ↗ for a study to have robust Community

2:02:13 ↗ conversations about where the preferred

2:02:15 ↗ location should be um and I believe that

2:02:20 ↗ the actual study about a viability of a

2:02:24 ↗ location should be a cost that sound

2:02:26 ↗ transit bears not the local community so

2:02:29 ↗ I would prefer that our Focus be on the

2:02:32 ↗ community engagement side of things and

2:02:35 ↗ I don't think that needs to cost a

2:02:38 ↗ $400,000

2:02:40 ↗ study um regarding the housing and

2:02:43 ↗ parking study I'm actually to okay I'm

2:02:46 ↗ okay to postpone it for a few reasons

2:02:49 ↗ first we're doing a lot with middle

2:02:51 ↗ housing if this was going to delay

2:02:53 ↗ middle housing I would absolutely be in

2:02:55 ↗ favor of funding it but because we're

2:02:58 ↗ already moving forward on that I feel

2:03:02 ↗ pretty okay um also the state level

2:03:05 ↗ structured parking change could have a

2:03:08 ↗ huge impact on mft viability and so I

2:03:11 ↗ agree with council member Hall that we

2:03:13 ↗ should look back at the Eco Northwest

2:03:16 ↗ report because there was data in there

2:03:19 ↗ about what what levers would make that

2:03:23 ↗ potentially viable so I think there is a

2:03:27 ↗ possibility that we could make a tweak

2:03:30 ↗ to a program using in-house um staff and

2:03:34 ↗ our information that we already have

2:03:37 ↗ combined with the state laws because

2:03:39 ↗ we're not getting anything out of it now

2:03:42 ↗ so making a tweak to it does

2:03:45 ↗ isn't you know necessarily going to have

2:03:48 ↗ a worse impact um so that would be my

2:03:52 ↗ preference there um and then the fleet

2:03:55 ↗ fund I I really have a hard time putting

2:03:58 ↗ so much money into this when we have

2:04:00 ↗ these other areas of need

2:04:03 ↗ particularly the um Metroflex so I would

2:04:07 ↗ prefer to take the funds needed for

2:04:10 ↗ Metroflex out of the fleet fund and

2:04:13 ↗ delay some of those Fleet items as um

2:04:18 ↗ the administration sees fit um I think

2:04:21 ↗ we can find the savings here and we've

2:04:24 ↗ got other priorities I also think we

2:04:26 ↗ really need to dive into this and

2:04:28 ↗ understand what are our goals what are

2:04:31 ↗ we achieving here you know I don't even

2:04:34 ↗ know are we looking at EVS um in other

2:04:39 ↗ areas do our investments here match what

2:04:42 ↗ the community expectation is so I really

2:04:44 ↗ want to know that before I'm willing to

2:04:48 ↗ necessarily plop down the full 3.2

2:04:50 ↗ million um I think we can pull a little

2:04:53 ↗ bit out of that in order to fund um fund

2:04:58 ↗ the Metroflex and then I will also say

2:05:02 ↗ Yes we made huge progress on the

2:05:04 ↗ pavement management especially on um the

2:05:08 ↗ sidewalk portion of things the concrete

2:05:11 ↗ management um we already have a huge cut

2:05:15 ↗ to that program in this budget I don't

2:05:18 ↗ think we can go much further on that um

2:05:22 ↗ so I would prefer to keep the pavement

2:05:24 ↗ Management program as it is I am okay to

2:05:27 ↗ potentially look at open space

2:05:29 ↗ acquisition um depending on what the

2:05:32 ↗ information is there whether we've used

2:05:34 ↗ that funding um what the fund level is

2:05:37 ↗ there so I'd be open to that idea but I

2:05:40 ↗ think my top preference is uh to pull it

2:05:42 ↗ out of Fleet

2:05:44 ↗ fund okay before I go back to

2:05:46 ↗ Administration anybody second round of

2:05:48 ↗ comments Deputy council president D

2:05:50 ↗ Michelle thank you a a comment and a

2:05:53 ↗ question that I thought of during the

2:05:55 ↗ break

2:05:56 ↗ um we've talked about uh Metroflex being

2:06:00 ↗ a um an equity issue and um what one

2:06:04 ↗ thing I think that we need to look at is

2:06:06 ↗ uh you know all of our young people

2:06:07 ↗ under 18 use that service for free and

2:06:10 ↗ that's uh mandated by the state of

2:06:13 ↗ Washington and our senior citizens like

2:06:15 ↗ myself have cards that give us a ride

2:06:18 ↗ for $1 instead of the 250 and uh Metra

2:06:22 ↗ also has a program where low-income

2:06:24 ↗ people uh may be able to get either

2:06:27 ↗ rides for free or reduced rides and so

2:06:30 ↗ um the question that was asked about how

2:06:31 ↗ much does it cost per ride um I want to

2:06:34 ↗ be sure when we're uh getting those

2:06:37 ↗ figures um and looking at how expensive

2:06:40 ↗ it is that uh if uh a high percentage of

2:06:43 ↗ the people using that service in isqua

2:06:46 ↗ fit into those categories then it's

2:06:48 ↗ going to be a highly subsidized service

2:06:50 ↗ and it's probably going to be a very

2:06:52 ↗ expensive service um so I just want to

2:06:55 ↗ be sure that uh we take those things

2:06:57 ↗ into consideration as we're Gathering

2:06:59 ↗ the data about how much we're spending

2:07:02 ↗ per ride it's um uh we are helping the

2:07:06 ↗ people in our community who need that

2:07:09 ↗ subsidy uh and the cost therefore may be

2:07:12 ↗ quite a bit higher than an average bus

2:07:15 ↗ ride would

2:07:17 ↗ be uh council member

2:07:19 ↗ hunt thank you I note on the open space

2:07:23 ↗ fund um when we get the information back

2:07:25 ↗ about how it's being drawn down my

2:07:28 ↗ understanding from our previous budget

2:07:29 ↗ conversations and when this has come up

2:07:31 ↗ in the past is that a large or a major

2:07:33 ↗ reason why we keep that fund is so that

2:07:35 ↗ we can be nimble so it is not that we

2:07:39 ↗ spend it down regularly but rather that

2:07:41 ↗ we have that money for when a

2:07:43 ↗ opportunity comes up as has come up

2:07:46 ↗ several times in the last you know seven

2:07:47 ↗ years so there's a large purchase it

2:07:49 ↗ requires a match from the city Rees us

2:07:51 ↗ to be nimble and so um for me the

2:07:55 ↗ information about how regularly we're

2:07:57 ↗ drying that down wouldn't be compelling

2:08:00 ↗ because it's it's there to do that

2:08:03 ↗ matching which allows us to make sure

2:08:05 ↗ that we are taking opportunities to um

2:08:08 ↗ to protect our open

2:08:11 ↗ space any other second round comments

2:08:14 ↗ before I go to the administration ask if

2:08:17 ↗ they have everything they

2:08:20 ↗ need does the Administration have

2:08:22 ↗ everything they need from this

2:08:23 ↗ conversation we do very much thank you I

2:08:26 ↗ think that the mayor however wanted to

2:08:28 ↗ make a few remarks

2:08:33 ↗ okay I'll be quick we're looking a

2:08:35 ↗ little tired tonight so thank you for

2:08:38 ↗ this meeting um I guess the first thing

2:08:40 ↗ I want to say is that your comments and

2:08:43 ↗ your suggestions about where we should

2:08:44 ↗ be looking were super helpful so we did

2:08:47 ↗ get a chance to talk with our interim

2:08:49 ↗ CFO at the break and um great

2:08:52 ↗ conversation tonight one thing I wanted

2:08:54 ↗ to address just quickly is um one of the

2:08:58 ↗ things my Administration has been trying

2:09:00 ↗ to do is give staff the tools they need

2:09:02 ↗ to provide you with better information

2:09:04 ↗ about facilities and asset management

2:09:06 ↗ and you have graciously approved those

2:09:08 ↗ requests and given them the tools they

2:09:10 ↗ need the painful part is the numbers

2:09:12 ↗ aren't good when we're hearing them so I

2:09:14 ↗ do understand why following a

2:09:17 ↗ consultant's recommendation on what we

2:09:19 ↗ should be doing with our Fleet can seem

2:09:21 ↗ rather shocking but the reality is this

2:09:23 ↗ is the first time we've actually

2:09:24 ↗ daylighted it and so thank you for the

2:09:26 ↗ tools and thank you for your

2:09:27 ↗ conversation and your suggestions that

2:09:29 ↗ we sharpen our pencils and take another

2:09:31 ↗ look at that but you have provided the

2:09:34 ↗ administration's team with much better

2:09:36 ↗ resources and being able to track our

2:09:38 ↗ finances our facilities and the other

2:09:41 ↗ assets that we have so I'm very grateful

2:09:42 ↗ for that so I just want to thank you

2:09:44 ↗ tonight W's not here to tell you that

2:09:46 ↗ this was a great conversation so I'm in

2:09:48 ↗ standing in for Wally but also just to

2:09:50 ↗ thank our interim C o um I had thought

2:09:53 ↗ that council member Merz was here in

2:09:55 ↗ 2010 when there was another round of

2:09:58 ↗ very hard conversations for Council but

2:10:00 ↗ he wasn't and so this is really the

2:10:02 ↗ first time this body has had to deal

2:10:04 ↗ with something like this in 14 years

2:10:06 ↗ including the layoffs and thank you all

2:10:08 ↗ for mentioning the fact that that those

2:10:11 ↗ 12% Cuts have been extremely challenging

2:10:14 ↗ and uh very difficult time for staff so

2:10:17 ↗ thank you for mentioning that but you're

2:10:19 ↗ doing you're providing some great

2:10:20 ↗ conversations on what you have to

2:10:22 ↗ balance out in order to make your

2:10:23 ↗ choices to make this Balan budget work

2:10:25 ↗ so very appreciative and thanks for all

2:10:27 ↗ your work

2:10:31 ↗ tonight okay so assuming all of that

2:10:34 ↗ stands true the administration should

2:10:36 ↗ have what it's need so um we've got uh

2:10:39 ↗ go to the order if anybody has

2:10:42 ↗ anything and with that I will say we are

2:10:45 ↗ adjourned at 8:52 p.m. thank you

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (7)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Victoria Hunt

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh

Staff (3)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk