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City Council Committee of the Whole

Monday, June 8, 2026

6:30 PM · 2h 48m · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topics tracked across meetings:
Downtown Issaquah Association (DIA) 2026 Funding AB 9200 3/4
Issaquah Climate Action Plan Update 14/15
Student Intern Presentations 6/7
Economic Development COM 0225 2/2
Issaquah Climate Action Plan Review COM 0273 2/2
Topic
3. AGENDA ITEMS
3a
Economic Development COM 0225
20 min · Alexis Fitzsimmons, Economic Development · packet pp.5–15
Topics: Economic Development
Staff report:
Economic Development Work Plan 2026 JUNE 8, 2026 | COMMIT TEE OF THE WHOLE ALEXIS FITZSIMMONS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & HOUSING MANAGER
3b
Downtown Issaquah Association (DIA) Operations & Potential 2026 Funding COM 0277
20 min · Corby Casler, Executive Director, Downtown Issaquah Association · packet pp.17–35
Topics: Land UseBudgetTourismEconomic Development
Staff report:
At the May 9 City Council retreat, Mayor Mullet presented a potential proposal to allocate additional funding to the Downtown Issaquah Association using the Main Street Tax Credit Program. Before any additional investments, the Mayor specified that changes would be needed, including having the City represented on the DIA Board, to help ensure DIA has a sustainable governance model going forward.
3c
Issaquah Climate Action Plan Review COM 0273
60 min · Stacy Vynne McKinstry, Sustainability Manager David Reedy, Sustainability Coordinator · packet pp.37–185
Topics: Climate
Staff report:
In 2020, the City of Issaquah, People for Climate Action, Issaquah Alps Trails Club, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, and Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce co-hosted the first Community Convening on Climate meeting – inviting the community to help shape Issaquah’s role in climate action. The two-part webinar series brought together a broad cross-section of community members, with representation from local non-profits and community groups, government and educational institutions, businesses, and residents. The recommendations from these convenings helped shape the 2021 Climate Action Plan.
2:45 refer to, but I'm hoping to summarize
2:47 pretty briefly. Um, and I'm going to try
2:51 to do that with three words. Um, and
2:54 there'll be a little bit of verbiage
2:55 around each of those words. Okay, never
2:57 fear.
2:58 Um, the first word is urgency.
3:02 Uh, we are living with uncertainty. It's
3:05 very stressful. Um, but it's real and
3:08 it's accelerating climate change is what
3:10 I'm talking about. Um and city city
3:13 dwellers are responsible for 70% of
3:16 greenhouse gas emissions that are
3:18 causing this and particularly in
3:21 countries like the United States um not
3:24 all countries um in communitywide
3:27 with the governments leading the way is
3:30 a key uh and it is possible according to
3:34 many experts that if we do the right
3:36 things we can turn it around.
3:40 So there are many reasons behind this
3:43 urgency um about people's lives and
3:46 safety and I'm sure you know a lot of
3:47 them uh health, weather, food and energy
3:52 costs, natural systems, future
3:54 generations and you can go on. Um, there
3:58 are also many benefits to acting early
4:00 and there's short-term benefits, there's
4:03 long-term benefits
4:05 and so the sense of urgency kind of
4:08 comes and goes because we all have lots
4:10 on our minds and there are many other
4:12 important things too. I want to just put
4:15 that word in your mind urgency and uh
4:18 that is what uh the the the feeling tone
4:21 that we need uh to go with this uh the
4:24 second word is priorities.
4:27 uh PCA has already put out some very
4:30 critical actions that you've gotten
4:32 several times probably. Um and it really
4:36 boils down to building our the energy
4:39 that's coming from our buildings and our
4:41 transportation uh that's uh creating a
4:45 lot of this problem. In fact, in the in
4:48 our city in particular, and it's
4:49 different for different cities, but 90%
4:52 of our emissions, I think it's 91%
4:55 according to our last greenhouse gas
4:57 inventory are coming from those two
4:58 sources. So, are they a priority? They
5:01 are a priority. Yay.
5:04 Um, so those two things um are things to
5:09 keep in mind. It's so easy to get
5:11 distracted by the many many uh details
5:15 and things that will help those things.
5:18 You don't want to get distracted by
5:19 them. You want what are the things that
5:20 will cause and help those two areas. Um
5:24 there are many other really important
5:26 and wonderful things too. Um but it is
5:28 easy to lose focus. Um in terms of
5:32 buildings then and transportation the
5:35 third word is targeted action. And so
5:37 using those priorities and targeting the
5:39 action, we can't do everything. Um and
5:43 uh our resources are limited. And so in
5:47 in the buildings, uh something that we
5:50 perhaps can do is work with getting this
5:53 uh quicker and more widespread
5:55 communitywide transition to clean energy
5:58 in h in our heating and cooling systems
6:00 in our um we have a wonderful program
6:03 that needs to be expanded uh with the uh
6:06 energy smart east side and um we also
6:09 need to uh not only work with um with
6:13 that but we uh there could be some
6:16 permitting kinds of things that the
6:18 council could do to when people are
6:21 going to upgrade their heating system
6:24 and there's it's time and over the next
6:26 20 years probably everybody's going to
6:28 upgrade uh then what can we do to ensure
6:33 that they uh have an uh energyefficient
6:37 and clean system and then the second
6:41 area of course transportation you know
6:43 there's a lot of regional things that
6:45 that we don't have control over. But um
6:50 I like what's happening with our light
6:52 rail in our community. I've been a part
6:54 of that and really enjoyed the meeting
6:56 last uh uh I guess it was last week uh
6:59 that that we had over at the train
7:01 station. Um and then another idea uh is
7:04 is um getting from uh the being able to
7:08 get around Isiqua. I mean I live in
7:10 downtown Isiqua in Oldtown. I was not
7:13 able to get over to Costco. I wanted to
7:15 take the bus. There's no bus that takes
7:17 you over there. There isn't any. Um uh
7:21 and I ended up because I am able to walk
7:25 some uh to going to um Oh, I'm just
7:28 about on my time. Okay. I'm going to go
7:30 through the urgency,
7:33 priorities,
7:35 and targeted action
7:37 partnering with our community in our
7:40 community and regionally.
7:43 I'm sure you can remember that. Thank
7:45 you.
7:46 >> Thank you so much, Ann. Clerk, has
7:48 anyone else signed up to speak?
7:50 >> No one else has signed up. There are a
7:51 few folks with us virtually, but I'm not
7:53 seeing any of them indicated desire to
7:55 speak at this point.
7:56 Is there anyone else in the room who
7:58 would like to speak? Okay, David Kapler
8:00 coming up.
8:09 Good evening. David Kappler, local
8:12 resident just a block away, which uh
8:15 says something about um why I live here.
8:17 And um all we I used to live out in in
8:21 May Valley and um during that time um
8:24 the uh King County went through a
8:26 process of community planning and that
8:30 included an area that's now much of the
8:34 city of Newcastle. Some additions to
8:37 Belleview and parts of that planning
8:40 area are now a significant part of that
8:44 area is now in the city of Isiqua.
8:47 Um there was a lot of concerns at that
8:50 time. Um city administrator
8:53 for one uh was quite concerned about
8:56 climate issues and some of those kinds
8:58 of things and growth myself and and
9:00 others. And um the Newcastle community
9:04 plan came up with this concept that had
9:08 been tried in other parts of the country
9:10 of um an urban urban urban village. The
9:15 idea was we would have less roads,
9:19 shorter roads to serve people. We would
9:22 have
9:24 shorter sewer lines, water lines, all of
9:26 those kinds of things. We could then
9:29 concentrate on the dirt on the ground
9:32 that was most appropriate for
9:34 development and saved the ground, the
9:37 water, the wetlands. Um, if we avoid
9:41 getting to that, the s the city of
9:43 Isiziqua adopted that concept that was
9:48 basically outlined in the community
9:50 plan, the county plan, and um the the
9:55 developers that had Cougar Mountain
9:58 said, "Okay, we can we can do it. We can
10:00 make it work." And then when
10:04 the Seahawks type people and all on
10:07 Isiqua Highlands found out that the city
10:10 could be pretty flexible and would go
10:12 for some of urban village or whatever
10:15 you want to call it. Um they they jumped
10:18 in as as as a second one. But um this
10:23 and this was you know nobody was doing
10:25 this. Isov was way ahead of everybody
10:28 else on this. and um let's continue to
10:31 be way ahead. Thank you.
10:34 >> Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
10:36 room who would like to speak?
10:39 >> Seeing none, clerk, is there anyone
10:41 online who has indicated an interest to
10:42 speak? Okay. Well, then with that, we
10:46 will close this section session of
10:48 public comment and we will move on to
10:50 our first agenda item, which is COM
10:52 0225, the economic development 2026 work
10:56 plan. And I would like to invite Alexis
10:58 Fitz Simmons, economic development and
11:00 housing manager to give the
11:02 presentation.
11:10 There we go. Sorry.
11:13 Good evening. Um I'm excited uh to talk
11:15 to you about our 2026 um action um and
11:19 work plan uh for uh the economic
11:22 development activities. Our economic
11:24 development action plan has three
11:25 objectives and that was established um a
11:28 few years ago u in coordination with the
11:31 uh economic vitality commission. Um
11:34 access to opportunity to convene and
11:36 catalyze and leverage isqua's assets.
11:39 Those are the plan's objectives and
11:40 everything that we do in our economic
11:42 development activity really is
11:45 surrounding uh those objectives.
11:48 Our focus and our work plan areas are um
11:52 business and economic vitality, housing
11:54 development, communications and
11:56 engagement, and workforce development.
11:59 Those four topics kind of underneath
12:02 those three activities um encompass the
12:05 work that we're doing. Um we focus on
12:08 business retention and expansion,
12:10 attraction and development, downtown and
12:12 commercial dis and commercial district
12:14 support and outdoor recreation under our
12:16 economic vitality and business uh
12:19 development. Our housing development is
12:22 one of also my main focuses um with
12:24 builder builder and developer and
12:26 property owner outreach as well as
12:28 affordable housing strategy and
12:30 implementation
12:32 for communications and engagement. This
12:33 one is particularly I find particularly
12:35 important um because no one knows your
12:37 story unless you share it. Um and I've
12:40 worked with several communities that
12:41 have a a case of poor mouth um where a
12:44 lot of a lot of residents and a lot of
12:47 um you know city uh staff speak
12:50 negatively about uh about the community.
12:53 Um and that may be because they don't
12:55 necessarily know what's going on in the
12:57 community. Um however, Isiqua is
12:59 different. there's a very positive
13:01 attitude in Isiqua generally in the
13:03 citizenry um as well as with public
13:05 officials and it's really important that
13:07 we continue to engage with that and
13:08 continue to share the isiqua story in a
13:10 positive way so that our community has
13:12 positive things to talk about um and so
13:15 when we have things like um new business
13:18 openings and uh we we want to share
13:21 those things one of the things that we
13:22 do um is have the isqua buzz uh podcast
13:26 that Autumn and I uh co-host we have a
13:29 monthly eating newsletter. Uh we have
13:31 quarterly city council reports to share
13:33 with you guys what's going on. Um in
13:35 addition to that, we have additional
13:36 community engagement with our community
13:38 partners uh so that we can understand
13:40 better what's happening on their end and
13:42 how we might collaborate and share the
13:44 story further. Um that particular item I
13:47 um I find very important even though
13:49 sometimes it may be um less on the
13:51 priority um because it's not necessarily
13:54 so strategic it seems. Um workforce
13:56 development is something that I also
13:58 believe that we should be focusing on.
14:00 Um this year we have um been uh
14:03 collaborating with the chamber on their
14:05 great careers uh day that they held.
14:08 Also I sit on the isqua school district
14:10 CTE committee, the career technical
14:12 education committee. Um and I also
14:14 participated in um senior exit
14:16 interviews at the high schools uh this
14:18 year. Um it's really important uh to
14:21 continue to engage with our young people
14:24 um as well as our workforce to make sure
14:25 that the businesses that we have in
14:27 Isiqua have a ready workforce not just
14:29 in Isiqua but in the region to pull from
14:32 um as as we move forward.
14:36 So let's go a little deeper um into what
14:38 we're doing on the business and economic
14:41 vitality. One of the things I mentioned
14:43 was business retention and expansion. Um
14:46 our goal this year is 30 visits. Um as
14:48 of uh the beginning of May, uh we had 19
14:51 complete. This does include um ribbon
14:54 cutings, but um in that 19 number, there
14:57 was only five ribbon cutings at the
14:59 time. Um but the purpose of these visits
15:01 is to keep your finger on the pulse of
15:03 how your business community is doing.
15:05 What we want to do is to make sure that
15:07 we have good established relationships
15:09 uh with businesses in the community. So
15:11 that way if there is an issue uh that
15:13 comes up, they know who to call and how
15:16 to get hold of us. Uh we want to make
15:18 sure that they know that the city is
15:20 supportive of their operations and that
15:22 we're here to provide resources and just
15:24 generally understand what their
15:25 operations are so that we can advocate
15:27 for them on different levels um you know
15:29 of government uh for you know our
15:31 business community in Seattle in the in
15:34 our isqua um community.
15:37 Um we have had um leveraging our
15:41 community organizations and partnerships
15:43 like the chamber uh to gain access to
15:46 businesses and introductions to
15:47 businesses that we might not necessarily
15:49 have um easy interactions with. And then
15:52 also we held a spring openhouse uh in
15:54 April. Um it wasn't super well attended
15:58 um but I believe it was the third open
16:00 house uh that we that we've had um
16:02 historically. Um I was hoping for a
16:05 larger audience. Uh we had 30 RSVPs. We
16:08 had about 10 businesses show up, but we
16:10 had several um community uh partners as
16:13 well as um city departments uh come to
16:16 provide information to those that did
16:17 attend.
16:21 Another thing that we do um under the
16:23 business and economic vitality umbrella
16:25 um is support startup 425 which is a
16:27 collaborative initiative uh from Bel
16:29 that includes Belleview, Kirkland,
16:31 Redmond, Retland, and Isiqua. Uh we do
16:34 monthly networking walks. You might see
16:36 us uh once a month walking through the
16:38 downtown and utilizing the Rainineer
16:39 trail with entrepreneurs. Um it's kind
16:42 of a walk and talk uh event and we have
16:44 an opportunity to casually interact with
16:46 our entrepreneur base uh here in in
16:49 Isiqua and um you can see we always stop
16:52 by um we always stop by Jacob Two Trees
16:54 and take a picture. Um our our uh crowd
16:58 varies between three to seven people at
17:01 any given month. Um, but we've met a lot
17:03 of great businesses that we would would
17:05 not have otherwise realized were home
17:07 operating in our community um out of
17:10 their homes with software um um and um
17:14 businesses that they're kind of just
17:16 kind of getting off the ground. And
17:18 through that, we've been able to connect
17:20 um several businesses to the for startup
17:23 425 accelerator where they've been able
17:24 to learn and grow learn about uh
17:26 resources and tools and grow their
17:28 businesses through that educational
17:30 program.
17:31 Um we also hosted an entrepreneur
17:34 networking panel at REI um earlier this
17:37 year. Um
17:40 and
17:42 the accelerator is currently in cohort 4
17:45 and another cohort will be starting in
17:47 the fall. Um homegrown retail is another
17:51 program under this business and economic
17:52 vitality umbrella. Uh we have eight um
17:57 eight businesses participating this
17:58 year. We had 12 applications. Uh we
18:01 worked with um Kelly Diane at Pickering
18:03 Barn to establish who was going to
18:06 participate and choose those. Um
18:09 they uh participate in one um each
18:14 business has a spot in the May um in the
18:18 May time frame and each and they also
18:20 have a spot in the September time frame.
18:22 And the way that it works is, you know,
18:24 they they come, we provide the
18:26 materials, kind of removing the risk uh
18:29 from the business to try and reach their
18:30 customer. So they don't have to invest
18:32 in a tent or tables or signage. Uh we
18:35 provide the spot and they show up and
18:37 they learn from their customer about
18:38 what their customer wants, who their
18:40 customer is, work out some kinks, um
18:43 maybe get some sales, um and then come
18:46 and take that back, modify their their
18:48 approach possibly, uh from what they've
18:51 learned uh from those interactions and
18:53 then come back in September, um and try
18:55 it again. Uh we've heard really great uh
18:58 feedback from those businesses that have
18:59 been able to take advantage of this. Um
19:01 and so we hope to continue this program
19:03 into the future.
19:08 Another thing that we have under the
19:10 business and economic vitality umbrella
19:12 is our downtown and commercial district
19:14 support. Um I want to pay special
19:16 attention uh to the downtown and
19:18 commercial district support uh tonight
19:20 because we also have uh the downtown
19:22 isqua association uh presenting uh after
19:24 me. Um,
19:27 one of the things that um I've I've um
19:30 put extra effort into um as I've joined
19:34 uh the city uh in September is to really
19:36 work on creating a collaborative
19:38 partnership uh with our community
19:40 partners, especially the downtown uh
19:43 Isiqua Association. Um
19:46 together we have handinhand
19:48 collaborative collaboratively moved
19:49 forward in establishing a good
19:51 relationship, a good working
19:53 relationship. Um and I feel that this
19:57 has been very productive has been a very
19:59 productive year for us so far. Um one of
20:02 the things that we have been
20:03 collaborating closely on is the Front
20:04 Street closures uh that are going to be
20:06 happening in August. Um every weekend in
20:08 August um from 8:00 a.m. on Saturday to
20:12 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. Front Street will
20:14 be closed between Dogwood and Sunset. um
20:16 in partnership uh with DIA, we've been
20:19 able to collaborate with the businesses
20:21 um to get their um so to help them get
20:25 their um things together to be able to
20:27 apply for the LCB permit uh to also uh
20:30 schedule programming uh to get make sure
20:33 that this these events are um you know
20:37 pedestrian friendly, familyfriendly, and
20:39 really provide some vitality, increased
20:41 vitality for the old town.
20:44 Um, another thing uh that's been
20:46 happening uh in the in the area which
20:48 I'm know that you're aware of uh since
20:50 the trolley was here for extra funding
20:52 uh last month um is the work that we're
20:55 doing to increase the trolley operation.
20:57 Kind of an update on that is um the
20:59 track and the trestle uh has been
21:02 inspected and has been found uh the the
21:04 track needed some repairs um but those
21:06 are underway and the trestle was found
21:08 to be sound for operation. So, the
21:10 trolley will be able to run from Stark
21:12 to to to the the entirety of the track
21:14 that we have available. Um, and so
21:17 that's good news. Um, uh, the downtown
21:20 or the, um, Isqua Historical Museum is
21:23 continuing to work towards, um, the
21:25 programming for that. They did hire a
21:26 program manager and they're working on
21:28 volunteers and training and all those
21:30 sorts of things. Um, everything that's
21:32 required to to make that be um, an
21:34 executable plan. Um the creative
21:37 district um also is in week seven or has
21:40 completed week seven of art up which is
21:43 a creator workshop for um for art uh
21:47 creators and it's basically a um
21:52 a workshop where creative uh creative
21:55 businesses learn how to do business
21:58 things. Creative businesses are
21:59 typically really good at being creative
22:01 and making their art but maybe not
22:03 necessarily at the business side of
22:04 things. Uh so this art up um
22:08 uh done by the the creative district um
22:10 is an opportunity for them to better
22:12 understand what needs to happen in order
22:14 to support their business side um of the
22:16 business side of their art. Um and that
22:19 has been very successful. Uh the upper
22:21 left picture is um that has Alli uh
22:24 Marcus in it. Um is the uh group of um
22:27 is the group of uh creators uh that are
22:29 participating.
22:32 As far as outdoor recreation and tourism
22:34 goes, um economic development um
22:37 oversees uh or works with the ELTAC
22:39 board. Uh we've already gone through one
22:41 funding cycle uh for ELTAC uh this year,
22:44 which you guys have reviewed and
22:45 approved. Um, however, we went back to
22:47 ELTAC on Monday last week and asked for
22:50 them to open the funding round a second
22:52 time. Um, and so the application for
22:54 ELTAC fund, another application for
22:56 ELTAC funding will be opened um, I
22:58 believe June 12th um, and will stay open
23:01 for 30 days and then we'll have a
23:02 special meeting in July to review the
23:04 applications and make awards. Um, and
23:07 that will come back to council for
23:08 approval a second time.
23:11 Um in addition to that we work closely
23:13 with visit Isiqua um on their activities
23:16 and uh the tourism activities. Uh we're
23:18 working closely with them on the
23:20 aircraft festival um where the with the
23:22 hang gliding uh and art festival which
23:25 um you can see in the upper right hand
23:27 corner. Um I recently took parttook in
23:30 some hang gliding which was uh a
23:32 wonderful experience. Um and I really
23:34 enjoyed it. I will probably do that
23:36 again. Um, so we're super excited about
23:39 the partnership uh with Visit Isiqua and
23:42 the work that's being done to make this
23:43 a marquee event uh for the city. Uh we
23:46 really believe that it will has the
23:48 opportunity to have have a lot of growth
23:50 uh year-over-year.
23:53 Um, in addition to that, uh, we're
23:55 hoping, um, I know that, uh, uh, the
23:58 city as a whole is reviewing its
24:00 artificial intelligence policies and the
24:02 use of, um, those types of tools for
24:05 monitoring um
24:08 u people that come in and out for the
24:10 purposes of tracking uh, tourism and
24:12 that type of thing. We're hoping that
24:14 maybe we'll be able to get a uh a tool
24:17 that will be able be able to better
24:18 illustrate uh the activity, tourist
24:20 activity, um that comes in and out and
24:23 being able to tie it to the different
24:24 events that gives a little bit more uh
24:27 concrete um evidence of how those events
24:30 perform and how we might be able to
24:31 tweak um our schedules and events to be
24:34 able to better take advantage of uh
24:36 regional opportunities.
24:40 Moving on to housing and development.
24:41 Um, as I said previously, this is a
24:43 major focus uh for myself uh in the
24:46 economic development office. Um, I'm
24:48 working in concert uh with our community
24:50 planning and development staff uh to
24:52 ensure ensure that the city is providing
24:54 predictable a predictable and in a
24:57 predict I'm sorry stumbling over my
24:58 words tonight. A predictable and
25:00 efficient process. Um, this has been a
25:03 labor of love uh for me. It's been a
25:05 learning curve. Um, uh, this is not
25:08 housing is not something I did
25:09 previously before coming here. So, I've
25:11 really enjoyed learning how all the
25:14 housing mechanism and affordable housing
25:16 is done here in in uh in Washington and
25:19 in Isqua. Uh we've had two um events uh
25:24 where we've hosted uh builders and
25:26 developers uh one on February 26th and
25:29 one on April 1st. Uh, and we also had um
25:33 a we participated in the master uh
25:36 builders association uh breakfast uh
25:38 where Mayor Mullet provided a
25:39 presentation on all of our um desires to
25:42 engage uh and make changes um and move
25:45 forward in ways that are uh friendly uh
25:48 to the builder community and but that
25:50 still creates a sense of stewardship uh
25:52 within the community. Um in addition to
25:56 that, I've been attending NAOP
25:58 networking events. Uh NAP is a
26:00 commercial real estate industrial uh
26:02 commercial space uh association
26:04 professional association. A lot of
26:07 builders, developers attend those events
26:09 and pro get education uh through that
26:11 association. And so it's a great way to
26:14 have a good concentration of people to
26:16 meet with and talk with and share the
26:18 Isiqua story. Right? Like I said before,
26:20 a lot of uh this housing uh development
26:24 um um one of the things that really
26:27 needs to be addressed is the perception
26:29 of what it's like to do business in
26:30 Isiqua. Um and the perception isn't
26:33 always great when it comes to building
26:35 because there's so many challenges. And
26:36 so, uh, when I go to these events and I
26:39 talk with these developers, I talk to
26:40 them about how, um, how active we are in
26:45 listening, uh, to what's needed to what
26:46 needs to happen and how active we are in
26:48 making the changes. And that has been
26:50 really wellreceived. Um, I've had a lot
26:53 of great conversations, um, at these
26:55 events and had a few one-on-one
26:56 conversations uh, uh, with developers
26:58 individually um, after that as
27:00 follow-ups.
27:05 We also work uh closely with ARCH of
27:07 course with the Arch affordable housing
27:09 trust fund um and as well as the
27:11 inclusive housing investment pool. Um
27:14 both of which I know you guys are aware
27:15 of. Um this is something that we we have
27:19 touch bases multiple times a month. Uh
27:21 especially now that we're moving into
27:23 the RFP for um for projects. uh this uh
27:27 June is when we see um ARCH um advertise
27:31 their request for proposals for
27:32 affordable housing projects and our IHIP
27:34 program is also advertised at that same
27:36 time. Um so I believe that uh we'll be
27:40 that will be starting on the 17th of
27:42 June. Um so we're hoping um we're
27:46 working closely with them to uh refine
27:48 the RFP uh for the purposes of for IHIP
27:52 um as well as you know trying to uncover
27:55 um opportunities um in the affordable
27:58 housing space.
28:01 Community engagement again a really
28:03 important part um of what economic
28:05 development is about. Uh again, we do
28:07 this through the isiqua buzz, uh the
28:10 economic development newsletter,
28:11 economic vitality commission, our our
28:14 advocates and ambassadors um to for the
28:17 city. Um we have a whole um
28:22 a whole menu of people um that sit on
28:25 commissions that are our ambassadors. Um
28:28 and the e the econ the economic vitality
28:31 commission is special. Um and that's
28:34 because um they are they have a very in
28:37 tune skill set. They come to the table
28:40 um uh with knowledge of economic
28:43 development and business and they can
28:45 take that and speak positively not just
28:47 to the general community but to the
28:48 business community that they're very in
28:50 tune with. And so um they are a very
28:53 important commission um within our city.
28:55 As a result um we also interact uh with
28:58 the Highlands Council. Uh we put um we
29:02 put a article in the Highlands
29:04 newsletter. Um also uh again we had the
29:07 spring openhouse, business openhouse,
29:11 workforce development as I mentioned. Uh
29:14 this is also a very important thing for
29:16 the community as we move forward to
29:17 retain our businesses. Making sure that
29:20 they have a pipeline of workforce uh
29:22 coming out of our school districts and
29:24 out of our community colleges. uh
29:26 retaining um our young people and young
29:29 um entrepreneurs and um young workforce.
29:33 Um those are all really important. Um we
29:37 work closely with the Port of Seattle um
29:40 who also has a new focus on workforce
29:42 development. Um they hired a workforce
29:45 uh person um new to their office uh in
29:48 the fall. Um and then also again with
29:51 the with working with the school
29:52 district
29:55 And this is my last slide. I just kind
29:57 of wanted to overview how um some of our
30:00 economic development activities were
30:01 funded uh in 2025. And for 2025 and
30:04 2026, uh we received an $83,000 grant uh
30:08 from the Port of Seattle, uh which we
30:11 had to match locally, $41,500.
30:14 Um I did receive uh questions uh from
30:17 council regarding kind of the breakdown
30:19 of what that uh goes towards and I did
30:21 respond um by email. So you have those
30:23 uh in your uh inboxes. Um but it's
30:27 broken out um basically how our work is
30:30 broken out and when the grant was
30:32 applied for uh which was before Jack and
30:34 I's time um but um
30:38 the there's three project type uh three
30:41 sets of projects um that we have it
30:43 broken into uh small business technical
30:46 assistance, retention and expansion and
30:49 tourism. uh with the small business and
30:51 technical assistance. That's where the
30:53 money from startup 425 uh comes from,
30:55 which is about $45,000 a year. Um the
30:59 business retention and expansion uh
31:01 program. Uh there's there is significant
31:05 funds left um I would say about $40ish
31:07 thousand uh for the the remaining uh
31:10 part of 2026 uh to spend. um tourism we
31:15 h supported um two outdoor recreation
31:20 events. Uh so in 2025 uh the tigerclaw
31:23 run was supported uh for their
31:25 marketing. Um they did some marketing
31:28 that was uh tied with the city and gave
31:30 us marketing material that we could
31:32 utilize on our uh channels and sites.
31:35 Um, and then this year, uh, we are
31:37 working, uh, with, uh, the aircraft
31:39 festival to do the same type of thing,
31:41 uh, to provide marketing support that's
31:43 co-branded that we can utilize as a
31:45 city, um, to advertise as well as they
31:47 can use, um, for their materials as
31:50 well. So, with that, that is my last
31:52 slide. I'm happy to answer any questions
31:54 you might have.
31:57 >> Great. Looking to see if there's any
31:58 questions from council. Council member
32:00 Dear.
32:01 Uh yeah, my questions, some of them are
32:03 kind of follow-ups to the email, which I
32:04 really appreciate your email back as
32:06 well as this great, you know,
32:07 presentation breaking this all down is
32:08 kind of the thoughts, you know, of kind
32:11 of next steps cuz uh you brought up um
32:14 kind of two areas, you know, where you
32:15 guys have been having these
32:16 conversations with different um groups
32:18 both, you know, in terms of uh different
32:20 businesses in town as well as for
32:21 housing and development. and then what
32:24 um plans are or what's kind of the
32:27 thoughts on the next steps to kind of
32:28 accommodate you know some of that impa
32:30 input you've received. So for the two
32:32 kind of primaries I had was uh you know
32:34 my question like on our you know our
32:37 business sectors and things like that
32:38 and how we kind of keep our you know
32:40 economy diverse and some of the areas
32:42 where you pointed out that we might have
32:43 further growth. Um what sort of actions
32:46 we think we might be able to take place
32:47 to help encourage those other types of
32:49 business to you know set up here and
32:52 grow. And then similarly on the housing
32:54 and development side, you brought up,
32:56 you know, kind of what they talked about
32:57 as like the most impactful policy
32:58 changes and kind of, you know, I think I
33:01 believe we already are having
33:02 discussions there, but I just kind of
33:03 wanted to, you know, bring up what work
33:05 we're doing kind of for the next steps
33:06 to bring in that input and help our city
33:09 grow.
33:10 >> Sure. So, let me start with the housing.
33:13 Um, we're going to continue to have the
33:14 business uh or the builder roundt uh
33:17 conversations throughout this year. Uh,
33:19 we our next one is scheduled going to be
33:20 scheduled in July. um continuing to work
33:23 with the master builders association to
33:25 coordinate those as well as uh the
33:27 developers that we've already worked
33:28 with. Um however, this next um this next
33:34 focus for the next uh builder round
33:36 table will be on the nonprofit sector.
33:38 That's not something that we really
33:39 delved into um in the first two
33:41 sessions. It was more of a what are some
33:43 what is some lowhanging fruit? how what
33:45 changes can we make and how how and when
33:47 can we make them to our permitting and
33:49 our our zoning and that type of thing.
33:51 Um this next one I really want to focus
33:54 on um you know what challenges does our
33:56 nonprofit sector of builders have and
33:58 how can we um adjust or remove some of
34:01 those barriers uh to get more activity
34:04 from them not just the market rate um
34:06 developers uh in our in our community.
34:08 So um we'll provide a update on um
34:12 action and what we've done uh to the the
34:15 builders at that time but as as well as
34:17 continue the conversation um throughout
34:19 the year about those topics. Um so it
34:22 will be continuous engagement with the
34:24 builders and also continuous engagement
34:26 uh with that community through NAOP and
34:28 and that type of thing. Um next step on
34:31 that front is just to continue to make
34:33 those changes. is, you know, CPD has a
34:35 very detailed work plan that they're
34:36 working on and um you know, that's um
34:40 you know, I'm kind of out of my depth
34:41 when it comes to talking about zoning
34:43 and permitting process, but um I support
34:45 them throughout that uh throughout the
34:47 process as needed. And um you know,
34:50 they're continuing to to trudge forward
34:52 on on those very important changes that
34:53 will make a big difference um in the way
34:56 that we're perceived as a community and
34:57 the way that it feels to do business
35:00 here um as a developer. Um, as far as um
35:04 attraction uh and retention, um about
35:08 80% of a a community's growth comes from
35:11 the retention and expansion of their
35:13 existing businesses. And so that should
35:15 be a very big focus for our department
35:16 and it continues to be. Um that being
35:20 said, there are uh significant
35:23 challenges uh within the community uh
35:25 just like there are with housing. Um we
35:27 have the same types of challenges when
35:29 it comes to attracting businesses. Um we
35:32 land is a finite resource and we don't
35:35 have green field properties to market to
35:40 extremely large projects that are going
35:42 to build really large buildings to house
35:45 hundreds and hundreds of employees.
35:48 Right? So um we need to leverage um
35:51 infill redevelopment. We need to
35:53 leverage our organic growth businesses,
35:56 our small business um um sector where we
36:00 can kind of grow them organically and
36:01 keep them here. Um there's opportunity
36:04 there are opportunities uh for the city
36:06 to grow and attract. Um but they're
36:09 they're not going to be the big sexy
36:11 projects that you know uh all the time
36:14 like the the Costco expansion. Those
36:16 aren't going to happen every year,
36:17 right? That's just not that's not a
36:19 thing. Um there are um
36:24 when we talk about a attraction
36:26 pipeline, so just to kind of pull from
36:29 previous experience um in 2024
36:34 um in Licking County, we had about a
36:38 hundred project projects that we could
36:40 compete for. Um, we had the opportunity,
36:44 we had the properties and the acreage,
36:47 the utilities, the capacity with our
36:50 water and sewer to respond to about 60
36:53 of them. We got site visits, actual
36:56 companies coming to Licking County um on
37:00 about five. We landed two. Um so of all
37:05 the projects you know it's it's about
37:08 filling the funnel and how do you fill
37:10 that funnel of opportunity you do that
37:12 be by becoming a prepared community and
37:15 addressing I don't want to say warts but
37:17 addressing the issues that you have as a
37:19 community whether it's workforce whether
37:21 it's transportation or infrastructure um
37:24 or land scarcity removing those barriers
37:27 if we are a prepared community when the
37:29 opport the right opportunity comes along
37:31 that fits isqua we will be ready. Um, so
37:35 it's important for us to continually
37:36 address those issues that we have as a
37:39 community to be ready for the
37:41 opportunities when they come along.
37:42 That's not saying that we won't continue
37:43 to seek out those opportunities to
37:45 engage with greater Seattle partners or,
37:47 you know, to some extent the port
37:49 authority when those opportunities come
37:50 along. Um, but we need to be a prepared
37:53 community and and that comes with
37:56 addressing the challenges that we have.
37:57 Um first.
38:02 >> Any other questions? Council
38:05 member Joe,
38:07 >> thank you. Um, I had a question about
38:10 the summer Front Street closures that'll
38:12 be going on weekends in August.
38:15 >> Um, June 21st, of course, we have our
38:17 offenders on Front Street on Father's
38:20 Day. Um, my question is, what can the
38:22 citizens look for during those street
38:25 closures? Will those streets just be
38:27 closed? Will there be programming for
38:28 the city? Will there be other
38:30 organizations doing programming? Can you
38:32 give us a little flavor for what's going
38:33 to going to be happening on those
38:34 weekends?
38:35 >> Sure. So, like I said um uh previously
38:38 uh we are working closely with DIA on
38:40 programming. Um there will be uh
38:43 opportunities uh for programming from uh
38:45 partner organizations like the Boy
38:47 Scouts as well as um some other
38:50 businesses that aren't necessarily uh
38:52 food providers that are coming and
38:54 bringing their business out into the
38:55 street. There's opportunities there. Um,
38:58 DIA also has uh some programmed events
39:01 um that are happening during those
39:02 closure times um um that will be uh
39:06 producing, you know, more feet on the
39:07 ground, more pedestrians uh in the area.
39:10 Um we've not we don't have a specific
39:13 calendar of events currently or or
39:15 vendors or um you know lists of buskers
39:19 and prov you you know art um people just
39:22 yet but that's something that we're that
39:24 we're we're working closely with D on.
39:28 >> Thank you. Um, when David Kappler and I
39:32 were on council together, we developed
39:34 some rules for salmon days talking about
39:38 uh first amendment restrictions or
39:40 restrictions on um organizations going
39:43 through there with big billboards
39:45 advertising either campaigns or um uh
39:49 religious uh items. Will there be a free
39:54 uh speech area that will be cordoned off
39:57 like we have at salmon days or will it
40:00 be a situation where those organizations
40:04 might have an opportunity to go up and
40:05 down Front Street without restriction
40:08 and has there been any thought to that?
40:10 If not, that's okay. I'll just plant a
40:12 seed with uh uh the administration to
40:15 think about how that might be handled as
40:18 sometimes these events if they're known
40:21 do attract some elements that want to
40:22 have their message out there.
40:24 >> I I appreciate you bringing that up. Um
40:26 I am going to heir on the guidance of
40:28 DIA's expertise on that. um they host a
40:31 lot of events as well and I think that
40:33 they can probably guide us uh well on
40:35 where where and how uh we might uh put
40:37 that um into into you know into
40:40 implementation if it's it's if it's
40:42 needed if there's a space there.
40:46 >> Council member Boyd I have two questions
40:49 if that's okay. Um so my first one is if
40:52 you could uh can you tell me a little
40:53 more about the intersection of the
40:55 homegrown retail program and then um is
40:58 there any kind of pathway for if
40:59 something is really successful and takes
41:01 off they're then connected to um you
41:04 know if there's if we keep a list of the
41:06 vacant retail and commercial spaces that
41:08 are here I guess can you go into detail
41:10 about that at all?
41:10 >> Sure. I didn't I didn't quite catch the
41:12 first part of your of the first about
41:14 the what you said about the homegrown
41:15 retail that you said can you tell tell
41:17 me about the what between the homegrown
41:19 retail
41:19 >> uh just if there's any connection
41:21 between uh if someone's really
41:22 successful within the homegrown retail
41:24 program they're ready to take that next
41:25 step um you know launching their
41:27 business uh are they provided
41:29 connections to vacant space in town or
41:33 >> Yeah. Okay. Um yes. So we have a uh
41:36 platform called CoStar uh that we
41:38 utilize um some of um what the port uh
41:41 funding goes to is the CoStar program or
41:44 the CoStar platform that we uh utilize
41:46 to uh look at the market, what's
41:48 available and do kind of research. Um
41:51 one of the biggest challenges that we
41:52 have uh right now is the availability of
41:54 C commercial space uh in Isiqua
41:57 specifically 5,000 ft and less. a lot of
42:01 um a lot of um inquiries about space
42:04 that has a plug-in ready uh kitchen um
42:08 you know and things like that. Um a lot
42:11 of the um vendors that are utilizing the
42:14 homegrown retail are food based. Um and
42:17 so a lot of times uh those uh those
42:21 types of businesses will graduate if
42:22 they're a catering or a sauce or some
42:26 type of snack like that. they'll
42:28 graduate to um a kitchen that can be
42:31 shared like a like a um
42:34 commissary kitchen type of situation
42:36 where they can rent space. Um and there
42:39 are some of those uh in the region um
42:42 but they're pretty booked um and um you
42:47 know there's not a lot of available
42:49 restaurant space um available um and so
42:52 that's one of the biggest challenges
42:53 that we have and when that stuff does
42:54 come on the market right now Blazing
42:56 Bagels we're waiting with baited breath
42:57 for it to be available so that we can
43:00 tell people that you need to go and run
43:02 to get that lease because it's going to
43:04 go fast. Um, you know, we we we keep an
43:08 eye on what's available uh through that
43:11 co-star um and also conversations um
43:14 with with DIA because DIA has a really
43:16 great uh pulse on uh what's becoming
43:18 available downtown and what might be um
43:22 you know coming up for like leases are
43:24 expiring or businesses are you know
43:26 moving or that type of thing. So, um
43:28 it's a combination of community
43:30 partnership as well as the technology
43:32 that we utilize through CoStar.
43:36 >> Thank you. Can I ask one more question?
43:37 Uh um how is equity factored into who is
43:40 uh in uh when you're reviewing the
43:42 applicants for the homegrown retail
43:43 program?
43:45 Um I would say that we look at the
43:48 preparedness of a business um as well as
43:52 um you know the mix of applicants um and
43:56 is it designed uh to be in a farmers
44:00 market type of situation. So uh some
44:02 businesses um don't necessarily have the
44:06 type of product that sells well at a
44:08 farmers market. And also where are they
44:11 where is their business located? Are
44:13 they residents of Isiqua? Are they in
44:16 our region? Or are they coming from
44:17 Seattle? Right. We want to first allow
44:19 opportunities for u the people that live
44:22 in Isiqua that are growing their
44:23 business or that have businesses. Um and
44:26 this this past round um the exclusions
44:29 that we made were for those that um
44:31 mostly were not is businesses.
44:34 >> Okay. There's no specific equity
44:36 framework that you're uh following for
44:39 that though. Okay.
44:42 >> Great. Any other questions?
44:45 Not. Um I would like to ask a question
44:47 piggybacking off the answer to Council
44:49 Member Boyd's question. Um so it seems
44:51 like you know commissary kitchens and
44:53 smaller commercial spaces are a big
44:55 need. Um is there anything we can do to
44:58 you know attract a commissary kitchen
45:00 developer to uh Isiqua?
45:04 Um typically
45:08 typically those are found in like
45:09 incubator spaces um mostly um or andor
45:13 faith-based um uh areas. So a lot of um
45:18 a lot of churches have uh facilities
45:20 that they can uh lease out or rent out
45:24 uh to people because they only use it
45:25 during certain events. Um they're very
45:28 expensive to build. Um, and typically,
45:31 uh, when, um, kitchens are built,
45:33 they're built for a a specific purpose,
45:36 um, with an end user in mind. Um,
45:40 so I'm my I guess my answer is, and I'm
45:44 not I'm not sure um because it might not
45:48 pencil um, out for a developer to
45:50 specifically build a commissary kitchen,
45:53 but it's something that we can
45:54 investigate.
45:56 >> Yeah, definitely. Could you talk a bit
45:57 more about some of what these incubator
45:59 spaces are because that seems like
46:01 something you know that could be of use
46:04 to entrepreneurs more broadly?
46:06 >> Yeah. Um so there's lots of different
46:08 types of incubators um that exist
46:10 whether it's a technology type business
46:12 incubator or uh like a food hall type
46:16 incubator. Um you know you one could
46:19 consider Pike Place Market maybe an
46:21 incubator, right? They have small spaces
46:24 for small food vendors that could
46:26 graduate uh to larger spaces once their
46:30 you know once their um once their brand
46:33 uh grows or food trucks are a type of
46:35 incubator. Lots of lots of restaurants
46:38 start in food trucks and then grow uh
46:40 grow out of that into uh permanent
46:42 permanent locations. Um there um one of
46:47 the things that um that was in the Port
46:50 of Seattle grant kind of um framework uh
46:54 that was uh submitted as a part of the
46:56 application um last in uh 2020 2025 uh
47:00 was a food incubator or a a kitchen
47:03 incubator type of place. Uh because of
47:06 this exact need. um
47:09 because of the extreme costs and the
47:11 lack of space, there wasn't really a way
47:12 for us for Jen Davis Hayes when she was
47:15 here or us to really execute on that. Um
47:19 you know, it's it's sometimes up in the
47:22 six figures um to build that type of
47:24 space out because the of the equipment
47:26 needed, the fire suppression, um you
47:29 know, the health um health department
47:31 needs and things like that. um and
47:34 finding the space to do it. The cost per
47:36 square foot uh to purchase or lease that
47:38 type of space and then also put that
47:39 type of equipment in there is a very big
47:41 barrier uh to entry into that. Um the
47:46 where where I have seen it be successful
47:48 um is a nonprofit type of situation
47:52 um where there is some type of
47:56 foodall/market
47:58 um that operates as a nonprofit without
48:00 a um without a profit you know um format
48:05 uh so that you know they they don't need
48:07 to worry about that. they just need to
48:08 worry about breaking even, right? Um and
48:11 then give space opportunity to small
48:14 businesses to lease out um and have a a
48:17 food market type um of hall um that's
48:20 been very successful in several places
48:22 in Ohio um that I've seen do that.
48:25 >> Great. Thank you. I mean I personally I
48:28 love you know sometimes when you go to
48:29 other countries or other places where
48:31 they have all these food courts, they
48:32 have so much good variety of food. So
48:34 I'd love to see that in his corn.
48:35 >> Yeah. I mean, places like the French
48:36 Market in New Orleans, uh, North Market
48:39 in Columbus. I mean, there's lots of
48:40 places that have these, you know, places
48:43 where businesses can start, get their
48:45 feet wet, and then be successful and
48:46 maybe move out to a larger space. Yeah,
48:48 definitely. Any other questions?
48:52 Seeing none, we will move on to public
48:55 comment. Um, is there anyone who would
48:57 like to make public comment about the
48:58 economic development 2026 work plan?
49:04 Going once, going twice. Uh there's no
49:07 one online either. Um with that, we will
49:10 move on to council direction. Um Council
49:13 Member Walsh.
49:15 Thank you. Um you know, as I was looking
49:19 through the uh everything in this
49:21 presentation, I feel like there are a
49:25 lot of things that we are doing.
49:29 I would really like to get into being
49:33 very clear about what is and what isn't
49:36 working and be willing to
49:39 cut out the things that aren't
49:41 effective. Um, and when I look back, you
49:44 know, I kind of contrast what we're
49:46 doing on housing with the business and
49:48 economic vitality. The housing work
49:52 seems to be very outward focused where
49:55 we're utilizing places where our target
49:57 audience is already gathering so that we
49:59 can amplify our message and learn um in
50:03 something that is kind of mutually
50:05 beneficial to both sides of the
50:08 equation. I'm not really seeing that
50:10 type of work with the business and
50:12 economic vitality. It feels more like
50:14 onesie twoosie activities. Um joining
50:17 with Startup 425 and having some smaller
50:20 things, doing some of the um business
50:24 retention visits that I just don't know
50:27 how effective those are compared to just
50:31 being available and maybe having office
50:32 hours when people could come in and
50:35 visit us. Um I'm also not sure if we've
50:38 hit the mark on the right type of event
50:40 that meets the needs of our business
50:42 community. the spring open house, the ED
50:45 monthly newsletters. I So I would like
50:48 us to be able to look into some of that
50:50 stuff and I know a lot of this comes
50:53 from before you. So this is a great
50:56 opportunity for us to really take a look
50:58 at what's effective and what we should
51:01 be doing moving forward. Um I think
51:05 we've heard a lot here. there's an
51:08 interest in the homegrown retail and I
51:11 think I would add in to what I've heard.
51:15 I'd like to understand how we can help
51:17 those businesses grow to that next step.
51:20 Um I think there's opportunities we've
51:22 seen around the area. Um both has these
51:26 popup retail stands. Um I would
51:29 certainly love to see something like
51:30 that say somewhere around the Reineer
51:32 Trail or something like that. Um but it
51:36 it feels like that is a potential area
51:38 where we could explore um some of those
51:41 things. Um workforce development is
51:45 listed here. I'm not sure that should
51:46 even belong to the city. Um I I I'm a
51:51 mentor myself. I do a lot with the
51:54 school district. Um, but I'm not sure I
51:57 see the ROI of this investment of time
52:00 versus others as far as what's going to
52:02 move the needle for workforce, business,
52:05 the city, etc. Um, and so I I think I
52:10 would say I would love to not only see a
52:14 sense of what we are doing, but what our
52:17 next steps are and what we're not going
52:20 to continue doing because it isn't
52:22 working. So I think this is a great
52:24 starting point for that. But as we look
52:26 at our next engagement and kind of what
52:29 we are doing over the next six months, I
52:31 think that would be a great place to see
52:33 us um make some movement on. Thanks.
52:36 >> Thank you.
52:38 Any other council comments?
52:42 Um oh, council member board.
52:45 Um I think my feedback is if there's a
52:47 way to more explicitly um tease out
52:53 how equity is uh used in the approach in
52:56 building the work plan um and even at
52:59 the smaller like micro levels of within
53:01 each program. Um but just you know
53:03 overall this is um how it approached or
53:08 not every business in Isiqua um
53:13 they all have like unique diverse needs
53:14 and so um I think uh I'd be curious to
53:19 get their that feedback and um
53:24 yeah how we can adapt to the individual
53:27 needs of some of our businesses
53:30 >> and I think what specific communities
53:31 are facing. ing. Um, I'm thinking of a
53:33 business that recently closed and I know
53:36 some of uh the ICE activity that we're
53:38 seeing, it might not have been the
53:40 biggest factor in the closure, but it
53:42 was a factor um and some of their foot
53:45 traffic and so or um the population that
53:47 was utilizing their services. Um, and so
53:51 that's my yeah, my two cents. Great.
53:54 Thank you.
53:56 Any other comments?
53:59 If not, I have some comments. Um, well,
54:01 first of all, Alexis, I'm very envious
54:03 that it seems like you got to go
54:04 paragliding as part of your job. So, it
54:06 sounds like
54:07 >> I did not.
54:08 >> Oh, okay. I thought I did. It did seem
54:10 like it was part of your job as doing a
54:12 business visit, which I was like, maybe
54:14 I Okay. No, no, but
54:16 >> um I wish.
54:17 >> Okay. Well, I'm I'm still I've never
54:19 done paragliding, so maybe I should. Um
54:22 I do I think this is a great start and I
54:25 also really appreciate, you know, all
54:26 the muscle and work that you've put into
54:28 the housing aspect of things. I think
54:30 we've really seen, you know, a pretty
54:31 big step change in even in the last like
54:34 6 months. Um, so I think that's been
54:36 really great to see. I I agree with
54:38 Council Member Walsh that I think on
54:39 economic development. I think for a long
54:40 time we've kind of struggled to even put
54:42 our finger on like, you know, what are
54:44 our goals, right? I think there's
54:46 there's like these tensions between we
54:48 have a regional growth center where we
54:49 have an extremely aggressive target for
54:51 job growth, but we also don't want
54:53 companies that don't really fit with the
54:55 vibe of Isqua. So I think you know
54:57 that's kind of a tension that we have to
54:58 navigate. Um and then on the piece on
55:01 like leveraging Isiqua's assets I will
55:04 say I think one of the big assets that
55:06 we have is that we are the we have
55:09 Costco's global HQ and some of the big
55:12 employers we've seen move into the area
55:13 are you know Costco's major suppliers.
55:16 So, I'm curious if there's anything, you
55:18 know, in regards to like attracting
55:21 higher earning jobs. If there's anything
55:24 related to like, oh yeah, let's call up
55:26 all of Costco suppliers and see if they
55:27 want to have a branch in Isiqua. I think
55:29 that could, you know, kind of that could
55:32 potentially be a thing. Um, one of my
55:33 neighbors actually works for a Costco
55:35 supplier, but because they have they
55:37 have to have so many warehouses, they
55:39 have to be somewhere that's less
55:40 expensive to, you know, buy space. But I
55:43 do think it is worth, you know,
55:44 exploring that as an option to attract
55:46 more jobs because it, you know, makes
55:48 sense for what we already have here.
55:50 >> It is. I absolutely agree with that.
55:52 >> Um,
55:54 yeah. And I guess I think overall, you
55:58 know, in general, I think we need to
56:00 figure out what we're actually trying to
56:01 do with economic development. I know
56:03 we're kind of unique in calling it
56:05 economic vitality versus economic
56:07 development. And I think the you know
56:09 the economic vitality plan currently and
56:12 I know this wasn't developed under you
56:14 but the it currently reads a bit like we
56:16 want to cultivate the vibes of Isiqua
56:18 and attract nonprofits and artsy
56:20 businesses and it's like okay well is
56:22 that you know the job of the city or is
56:24 the job of the city to you know have a
56:26 good mix of you know jobs including you
56:29 know some white collar jobs and things
56:31 like that. Um, so, you know, a lot to
56:33 think about and I look forward to, uh,
56:35 continuing to work with you on this.
56:37 Thank you.
56:39 >> And if I can just amplify a couple of
56:41 points, um, the the slide we happen to
56:45 have up on the screen regarding the Port
56:46 of Seattle grant, we anticipate that
56:48 money going away u next bianium or
56:51 certainly that there's been a question
56:52 of that.
56:53 >> There's been a question of that. I did
56:54 receive some additional uh guidance uh
56:57 from the port and they seem to think
56:59 that that uh might still go for a round
57:01 of funding in um in the beginning of
57:03 next year. So
57:04 >> because this money has been the only
57:06 money that we've had to do anything
57:08 other than staff. And so as we look at
57:11 incentives to uh for businesses to
57:14 either relocate here or develop here um
57:17 you know the council would I think have
57:18 to consider how much general fund
57:19 dollars are you willing to invest uh in
57:22 that. Um the interesting part about the
57:25 Costco suppliers, uh our new city hall
57:27 displaced three of them because there
57:29 were three signed leases uh for the
57:32 building on Maple uh for Costco
57:34 suppliers. So the the the issue of space
57:36 is real here and we can do everything in
57:39 our power to make this attractive for
57:42 businesses, but if there is no place for
57:43 them to locate, um that's a problem. And
57:46 so uh we're going to continue uh to do
57:49 the the good work that we're doing. Um,
57:51 I think one of again one of the
57:53 challenges is financial resources and
57:56 property. And so with that, I think we
57:58 have to show love. And I think that's a
58:00 lot of what you've heard tonight is that
58:02 the businesses that are here, we want to
58:03 retain. We want to make sure that they
58:05 do not leave. Uh, we also cannot lose
58:07 sight that we have the 13th largest
58:09 company in the Fortune 500 here. And I
58:11 think often times when we talk about
58:13 economic development, uh, we kind of put
58:15 aside 6,000 jobs. 6,000 jobs that are
58:19 based here. Uh we don't think about them
58:21 a lot uh because they kind of keep to
58:24 themselves and do their own good work.
58:26 Uh but they keep three hotels filled on
58:29 almost a weekly basis. Uh they have
58:31 multiple businesses uh that are only
58:33 here because they want to be close to
58:35 Costco. Um and uh you know working with
58:38 Costco and making sure that they feel uh
58:41 as a company that could be located
58:42 anywhere in the world uh that they
58:44 continue to be valuable. So, I think as
58:46 we talk about our challenges with
58:47 economic development, we're always going
58:49 to want to do more. Uh, but I think we
58:51 cannot ever forget about the tremendous
58:53 economic impact that Costco brings to
58:56 this community that, you know, again,
58:59 this region with Google and Amazon, uh,
59:02 certainly Redmond, what it's experienced
59:03 with Microsoft, but those 6,000 jobs uh,
59:06 quietly here in our community are a
59:09 major economic engine, and we want to
59:11 make sure that the hotels uh, are
59:14 satisfied. uh that there are restaurants
59:16 here that there are places for those
59:18 vendors all those things happen and we
59:20 don't talk a lot about but because they
59:22 are thriving and they are working well
59:24 that economic engine continues to hum so
59:27 I I again thank you Alexis for all your
59:29 your good work but you know there's
59:31 there's so many pieces we sometimes take
59:33 for granted uh here that I wanted to
59:36 just take a moment madame uh council
59:38 president prom to uh refocus on how
59:42 truly lucky we are uh compared to many
59:45 of our neighbors.
59:47 >> Absolutely agree. I love Costco. We all
59:49 love Costco. Best Fortune 500 company.
59:54 >> Um, great. Well, seeing no other
59:56 comments, I think we will move on to our
59:58 next agenda item. COM 0277, Downtown
1:00:02 Isqua Association Operations and
1:00:04 Potential 2026 funding. I would like to
1:00:06 invite Corby Castler, executive director
1:00:08 of the Downtown Isqua Association
1:00:11 to the lectern for the presentation.
1:00:27 Can you hear me? Awesome.
1:00:30 Thank you so much for having us here
1:00:32 today. We're very excited to talk about
1:00:34 DIA, put some perspective behind what
1:00:36 we've been talking about in the previous
1:00:38 comments. Um, we also want to talk about
1:00:40 Main Street and how that ties in with
1:00:43 what downtown is association's all
1:00:45 about. I did want to recommend that we
1:00:48 talk about our board members today. I've
1:00:50 got several in the audiences. I have
1:00:51 President Christina Bruning, Vice
1:00:54 President and Treasurer Marv Nielsen,
1:00:57 Secretary Barb Mayfield, and board
1:01:00 member Judy Ecklan.
1:01:04 We can go to the next slide.
1:01:07 Strong communities are built on
1:01:08 connections
1:01:10 and DIA serves as a springboard from
1:01:12 bringing people, businesses, and local
1:01:13 government together. By creating
1:01:15 opportunities for collaboration,
1:01:18 networking, and shared purpose, DIA
1:01:20 strengthens relationships that might
1:01:22 otherwise never form. For small
1:01:24 businesses, the impact is especially
1:01:26 significant. Entrepreneurs often face
1:01:29 challenges competing for attention,
1:01:30 resources, customers, and DIA provides a
1:01:33 platform for amplifying their
1:01:35 visibility, encourages collaboration,
1:01:37 and connects them with tools and
1:01:39 equities that support their success. DIA
1:01:42 is a smart investment. This image is an
1:01:44 infographic of our Main Street tax
1:01:46 credit incentive program.
1:01:50 There you can see it. So, I'll talk
1:01:52 about that in more detail later because
1:01:53 there's a lot of that that fits in with
1:01:55 our conversation today.
1:01:57 Finally, the partnership between D and
1:01:59 the city has high potential as a model
1:02:00 for shared success. By staying mission
1:02:03 focused, continuing to be the voice of
1:02:05 our businesses, and an equal economic
1:02:07 development partner with the city, we
1:02:09 can create a foundation for sustainable
1:02:11 growth, proving that collaboration is
1:02:13 one of the most powerful tools for
1:02:15 combined success.
1:02:18 Next slide, please.
1:02:21 I did want to talk about a couple of
1:02:23 things that I just want to make sure
1:02:25 that we're all working from the same
1:02:27 handbook and some of the misconceptions
1:02:29 could affect this conversation that we
1:02:31 have today. First, to be clear, Main
1:02:33 Street does not conduct audits
1:02:36 um of its communities. Nor did the city
1:02:37 pay for an audit. The report that you've
1:02:40 read is from what is built as a
1:02:42 celebration of DIA successes. It's a
1:02:44 site visit that Main Street does with
1:02:45 all its communities like every other
1:02:47 year. And the summary is basically for
1:02:50 the DA leadership to make decisions
1:02:51 upon. What they'll see, what you're
1:02:54 reading is a recitation of what they
1:02:56 heard. So that's what that is all about.
1:02:58 It just puts a little slant a little bit
1:03:01 differently. It's not a mandate to make
1:03:03 changes, but to consider and ensure any
1:03:05 change works for the organization's many
1:03:07 constituents.
1:03:09 Next slide, please.
1:03:14 This also happens to be Main Street
1:03:15 Week, a time to pause and share the
1:03:17 successes of DIA. Being part of both
1:03:19 Washington Main Street and Main Street
1:03:21 America, that gives us a lot of tools
1:03:23 and best practices upon which to to
1:03:25 pull. The Main Street movement in
1:03:27 Washington state is very strong and it
1:03:29 offers limitless potential for our
1:03:31 communities to continue to innovate,
1:03:34 adapt, and thrive. DIA is strong among
1:03:37 main street communities and is often
1:03:39 benchmarked for its work.
1:03:41 The bottom line is that Main Street is a
1:03:42 great framework from which to build
1:03:45 custom local traditions and best
1:03:47 practices.
1:03:50 Next slide, please.
1:03:53 These are the people who have made DIA
1:03:55 the success it is today. They are also
1:03:56 the eyes and ears and they gather
1:03:58 community input upon which to build our
1:04:00 our strategies and our work plan. This
1:04:03 is DIA's phenomenal board and some of
1:04:05 its adviserss. These are the folks who
1:04:07 care about downtown as much as I do and
1:04:10 they put countless hours into the
1:04:12 governance and and really you won't find
1:04:14 people more committed to downtown than
1:04:16 this group of people.
1:04:23 Let's dive a little deeper into how DIA
1:04:25 creates connections.
1:04:28 Next slide, please.
1:04:35 environment has significant impact on
1:04:37 our well-being. When we don't feel
1:04:39 connected to our place and our
1:04:40 neighbors, we experience ne negative
1:04:42 impacts and our physical health, our
1:04:45 quality of life, and our shared
1:04:46 resiliency is affected. Historic
1:04:48 downtown is rife with possib
1:04:50 possibilities and comm and creating
1:04:52 these community connections and DIA is
1:04:54 very intentional about how we activate
1:04:56 downtown spaces so that everybody feels
1:04:58 included. But perhaps one of the
1:05:01 greatest ways that Dia fosters belonging
1:05:02 is through volunteerism. And you'll see
1:05:04 from um we there were a couple of
1:05:07 studies, one throughout Washington state
1:05:09 and one in Isqua about belongingness and
1:05:11 volunteers significantly higher scores
1:05:15 on um feeling a sense of belongingness.
1:05:18 That's one example of connected. Our
1:05:20 economic development programming also
1:05:22 brings tens of thousands of people
1:05:23 downtown. Now that's a lot of
1:05:25 connections. Fenders alone brings 10,000
1:05:27 people.
1:05:29 DIA volunteers, of which we have
1:05:31 hundreds that are actively engaged, log
1:05:33 more than 8,000 hours a year, a
1:05:36 community investment that's valued at
1:05:37 $300,000.
1:05:39 Not only does our programming help them
1:05:41 connect through volunteering, but by
1:05:43 becoming strong bis business advocates
1:05:45 themselves, they bring foot traffic to
1:05:48 our downtown.
1:05:50 Next slide, please.
1:05:55 DIA bolsters small business. That brings
1:05:58 us to Dia and what we do and mean to
1:05:59 small businesses. I don't know how many
1:06:01 of you know Glenn Quadros, but he's very
1:06:03 very much a a cheerleader for Dia. This
1:06:06 is his quote. Dia boosts our business
1:06:08 with every event and they are always
1:06:10 here for us. And if you believe our
1:06:12 qualitative and quantitative surveys,
1:06:13 then you'll know that he's in the
1:06:15 majority.
1:06:18 Next slide, please.
1:06:21 There's a reason that every stump speech
1:06:23 these days includes a reference to mom
1:06:25 and pop. And the reason is small
1:06:28 businesses are both the backbone of our
1:06:29 communities and they're also up against
1:06:31 disadvantages that we talked about a
1:06:33 little bit earlier. They're fighting for
1:06:34 customers and their pricing and and
1:06:38 tariffs affect them much more deeply
1:06:40 than um larger corporations. While Main
1:06:43 Street's recent small business survey
1:06:45 published just last month give us
1:06:46 reasons to hope, Washington small
1:06:48 businesses are lagging behind national
1:06:50 averages when it comes to confidence in
1:06:52 the future. According to this data, and
1:06:54 again, it was just last month,
1:06:56 Washington's businesses continue to
1:06:57 experience lower revenue and higher
1:06:59 expenses for doing business,
1:07:01 demonstrating that support now is more
1:07:03 critical than ever.
1:07:05 The good news is that small businesses
1:07:07 that are part of a main street community
1:07:09 are more resilient and they also report
1:07:11 having more confidence in its future.
1:07:15 DIA downtown businesses have reported a
1:07:18 doubling of of their customers and
1:07:20 during some of our events during Fenders
1:07:22 on Front Glenn in fact and doubled it
1:07:25 and was just blown away by the line
1:07:29 outside his door. Bad DIA is also a
1:07:31 champion of employer of local artists
1:07:33 and crafts people providing an average
1:07:35 of 2,000 selling hours otherwise might
1:07:38 not have had. We also hire more than 500
1:07:40 performers every year.
1:07:45 Next slide.
1:07:48 Main Street and DIA represent both
1:07:49 longevity and adaptability. From the
1:07:52 potential to reuse and reimagine
1:07:53 historic spaces to the impressive track
1:07:56 record of reinvention through decades of
1:07:58 economic and social change, D is a sound
1:08:01 investment. I hope you had a chance to
1:08:03 read the recent article about Northwest
1:08:05 Playground Equipment and HH um which is
1:08:08 our regular monthly newsletter. But
1:08:10 here's a quote from Chris. He's the
1:08:13 president of Northwest Playground. It's
1:08:15 a no-brainer talking about Main Street
1:08:17 Tax Credit Incentive Program. It's good
1:08:19 for businesses and it's good for the
1:08:21 community. It's a partnership that's
1:08:22 good for both DIA and for us.
1:08:25 If you happen to want to see the story,
1:08:28 you can go to that link that's on that
1:08:30 slide if you got it in your inbox.
1:08:34 Next slide, please.
1:08:36 This slide depicts the diversity of our
1:08:38 revenue stream projected for 2026. The
1:08:41 majority of funding comes from the Main
1:08:43 Street Tax Credit Incentive Program, but
1:08:44 grants are not far behind. We put a lot
1:08:46 of work behind getting more grants for
1:08:48 our programming. In fact, we're trending
1:08:51 17% up higher than we were um in our
1:08:54 forecast based on what we see in in Main
1:08:57 Street tax credit incentive program and
1:08:59 in the um grants that we're receiving. A
1:09:03 couple of DIA programs bring in revenue
1:09:05 such as the wine and artwalk and ISQUA
1:09:07 on tap. But thanks to our community, we
1:09:09 also have strong sponsorships and
1:09:11 donations from our businesses. We see
1:09:13 opportunities in models used by other
1:09:15 Main Street programs. In some
1:09:17 communities, business improvement areas
1:09:19 or similar service contracts fund
1:09:21 streetscape care. For example, Mount
1:09:23 Vernon and Bellingham have agreements
1:09:25 with their main street organizations to
1:09:26 maintain down downtown streetscapes. DIA
1:09:30 provides similar services with our
1:09:31 flower baskets and a lot of our design
1:09:33 work, but we are not funded in this way.
1:09:36 It's an opportunity to think about.
1:09:39 Next slide.
1:09:44 We would be remiss if we didn't mention
1:09:46 all of our business partners. DIA has a
1:09:49 robust infrastructure of businesses,
1:09:50 volunteers, professionals, and community
1:09:52 members. And these are just some of the
1:09:54 businesses that contribute to DIA,
1:09:56 either through the Main Street program
1:09:58 or through sponsorships or donations. We
1:10:00 couldn't even fit them all on the slide.
1:10:02 Every one of them is part of DIA. While
1:10:05 we don't have a membership, we are
1:10:06 composed of the businesses and
1:10:08 volunteers that advocate for their
1:10:09 mission because they believe in it and
1:10:11 they believe in what DIA can accomplish.
1:10:18 Similarly, DIA enjoys strong advocacy
1:10:20 among residents and visitors. We
1:10:22 conducted a survey to capture the voices
1:10:24 of our advocates. What we wanted to do
1:10:26 is look at who's advocating for us and
1:10:28 who are the detractors, the people who
1:10:30 really move the needle. When you say,
1:10:31 "Do you want to do something in downtown
1:10:33 Isqua?" It's either yay or nay depending
1:10:36 on what these these detractors or these
1:10:39 um promoters say. In the middle, it
1:10:41 doesn't matter as much because it
1:10:42 doesn't affect people. But what we have
1:10:44 is 92% of the people saying that DIA
1:10:46 programming they would absolutely
1:10:48 recommend to other people that you come
1:10:50 and go to downtown Isqua and attend
1:10:53 these events. That is strong word of
1:10:55 mouth marketing.
1:10:57 Listening is the most important phase in
1:10:59 our planning cycle. And this is part of
1:11:01 what we do when we start our planning is
1:11:03 we do a survey. But we also include
1:11:05 feedback from businesses from throughout
1:11:07 the year and from the community from
1:11:09 throughout the year. It's an ongoing
1:11:10 process. We have program specific
1:11:13 surveys and an annual survey. And all of
1:11:15 this feeds into the work in our planning
1:11:17 that begins in September and then is
1:11:19 approved by December and adjusted for
1:11:21 continuous improvement by midyear.
1:11:27 You've already seen this slide, but
1:11:29 mine's bigger.
1:11:32 A Dia City partnership could bring
1:11:34 similar results. I really believe in
1:11:37 bring coming together collaboratively so
1:11:39 that we can have people say, "You need
1:11:40 to go to downtown Isqua. There's nothing
1:11:42 like it. That's the place to go." We
1:11:44 want that kind of word of mouth
1:11:45 advocacy. We're delighted to work with
1:11:47 Alexis. I don't know that I' I'd follow
1:11:49 her to the top of Tiger Mountain, but
1:11:51 we're we're looking forward to working
1:11:54 very closely with her and with Jack.
1:11:58 Next slide, please.
1:12:03 Downtowns are economic engines that
1:12:05 generate value for entire community. A
1:12:07 thriving business district creates jobs,
1:12:10 attracts visitors, and stimulates
1:12:11 spending. All of which contribute to the
1:12:14 city's financial health. As local
1:12:16 businesses succeed, tax revenues
1:12:18 increase, providing the city with
1:12:19 additional resources. This impact
1:12:21 extends beyond the local level. At the
1:12:24 state level, what they have found is
1:12:25 that a Main Street community, for every
1:12:28 dollar allocated for these initiatives,
1:12:30 participating communities generate a
1:12:32 $1.58 in state tax revenue through
1:12:34 increased economic activity these
1:12:36 programs help create. DIA plays a
1:12:39 critical role in this cycle of growth.
1:12:41 By fostering a vibrant commercial
1:12:43 environment, supporting entrepreneurs
1:12:45 and creating opportunities for economic
1:12:47 activity, DIA helped strengthen the both
1:12:49 municipal and state revenues.
1:12:57 Building a foundation of trust.
1:13:00 This page lays out Dia's intent to focus
1:13:03 on our joint mission with the city while
1:13:04 considering the request to one add
1:13:06 Alexis to the board and just so you know
1:13:08 that is included in our bylaws. We do
1:13:10 have a city position in our bylaws since
1:13:12 um 2015
1:13:15 implement a rotating governance model
1:13:17 and three to have input in our work plan
1:13:19 and how it gets funded. The city
1:13:21 administration is working on policy
1:13:23 around rotating governance and we have
1:13:25 yet to see it. Generally DIA's board
1:13:27 agrees we need to have rotation. and we
1:13:29 like to see new blood, but when it's the
1:13:32 best time for our community, not an
1:13:33 arbitrary date that's assigned to us. We
1:13:36 won't make a decision until we've seen a
1:13:37 new policy. We want to make sure that we
1:13:39 know exactly how it affects us when we
1:13:41 do finally see it. Finally, work plan
1:13:44 and funding allocation from the city.
1:13:46 That will be a natural progression to
1:13:47 our partnership and an outgrowth of
1:13:49 trust. I believe we can get to a place
1:13:51 through trust through DIA being an equal
1:13:53 economic development partner who is at
1:13:56 the table before decisions are made. Dia
1:13:59 and the city by staying mission focused
1:14:00 can accomplish remarkable things. DIA is
1:14:04 always aware that we are the trusted boy
1:14:06 voice for the businesses and we really
1:14:08 take that to heart. This by staying
1:14:10 mission focused we will accomplish
1:14:11 remarkable results for them as well. We
1:14:14 are committed to doing our part to
1:14:16 making the city partnership work within
1:14:18 the construct of the mission and the
1:14:20 values DIA has worked hard to ingrain
1:14:21 into our culture.
1:14:24 And one more slide.
1:14:27 With that, we have I'm open for
1:14:29 questions.
1:14:31 >> Great. Council questions.
1:14:34 Are there any questions?
1:14:36 >> Council member Dair.
1:14:38 >> Uh I wanted to follow up on well the
1:14:40 last slide in terms of like the city's
1:14:42 request. It um seem to be saying you're
1:14:45 waiting on the city to get back to you
1:14:47 on stuff. So like in terms of the
1:14:49 rotating
1:14:51 uh governance and the work plan like you
1:14:54 don't have you know exact plans for that
1:14:56 and you're waiting on city information
1:14:58 to provide that. Is that
1:14:59 >> Yeah. So for the the one request about
1:15:02 um having somebody on the board that's
1:15:03 already in our bylaws. The request about
1:15:06 having a rotating governance we haven't
1:15:08 seen what that looks like. We don't
1:15:09 really even know what that entails. So I
1:15:11 know they're working on it. So as soon
1:15:13 as we see that, the board will review it
1:15:15 and that that ties in with the work plan
1:15:18 and the decision-m and the work plan. So
1:15:19 all of that is related.
1:15:22 >> Got it. Okay.
1:15:24 >> Council member Nichols.
1:15:27 >> Yeah. Follow questioning on the rotating
1:15:28 board seat. Isn't that one of the
1:15:30 recommendations from from some of the
1:15:31 prior reports or the the prior uh Main
1:15:34 Street accreditation?
1:15:36 >> It was part of the summary from Main
1:15:38 Street and it was based on the
1:15:39 conversation they had with the city. So
1:15:42 their recommendation was based on what
1:15:43 they heard from the city.
1:15:45 >> So does Main Street recommend this as
1:15:47 part of their government's plan?
1:15:48 >> They have a recommendation but not a
1:15:50 mandate. So they will say, "Yeah, you
1:15:53 should rotate your your your folks, but
1:15:55 it's up to you within your community to
1:15:57 make your decision."
1:15:59 >> Okay. Um and then second question on the
1:16:03 uh the board seat, is that a voting
1:16:05 board seat that's currently in your
1:16:06 >> It is not. It's exopicio.
1:16:08 >> Okay. Is he open to a voting board seat?
1:16:12 >> We would have to take that to the board.
1:16:13 It would mean a bylaw change. Okay.
1:16:19 >> Great. Any other questions,
1:16:22 Council Member Boyd?
1:16:25 >> Uh there was a number there uh about the
1:16:28 what's put back into um the local or the
1:16:31 economy with Main Street programs, but I
1:16:33 think that was a number for it was state
1:16:35 data and not like our local. Are we
1:16:38 tracking the local dollars. We track
1:16:40 local dollars with individual businesses
1:16:43 who sometimes will will say, "I've had
1:16:45 an increase in revenue," but they don't
1:16:47 want to say the number. So, what we do
1:16:49 is we we rely a lot on the state data to
1:16:52 to to give us and the state data has
1:16:54 been fed into from all the local
1:16:57 communities.
1:17:01 >> Does that answer your question?
1:17:04 >> Council member Dair.
1:17:05 >> Oh, yeah. Another question I remembered.
1:17:06 Uh you brought you brought up a couple
1:17:07 of your survey responses. How are your
1:17:09 surveys run? Is it just within the DIA
1:17:12 members? Is it a public online form?
1:17:14 Like how are you how does you you run
1:17:16 your surveys to get that data?
1:17:18 >> The surveys for the programs we send to
1:17:20 the people who are participants in the
1:17:22 programs. The annual survey we send to
1:17:24 um we have a a database of 8,000 people
1:17:27 in the Isqua area and we also put it on
1:17:29 our social media. So it was wide open.
1:17:33 >> Got it. Thank you.
1:17:36 Are there any other questions?
1:17:39 Seeing none, um the next uh part of this
1:17:42 is public comment. Is there anyone who
1:17:44 would like to make public comment about
1:17:45 the downtown isqua assoc downtown Isiqua
1:17:48 Association operations and potential
1:17:50 2026 funding.
1:17:54 Going once, going twice. Okay. Well,
1:17:57 seeing none, uh the next item is council
1:17:59 direction and comments. I see council
1:18:01 member Walsh first again. Go for it.
1:18:03 Thank you.
1:18:05 Um, surprisingly some of my feedback is
1:18:08 kind of the same areas. So, first of
1:18:10 all, I will start out in saying I am
1:18:12 very supportive of DIA, what you've
1:18:15 done, you know, some of the areas um
1:18:18 that you've worked on. I very much
1:18:20 appreciate and support the idea of um
1:18:23 reinstating the funding and those
1:18:26 portions.
1:18:28 But what I really want to challenge Dia
1:18:32 on the same way I did with the economic
1:18:35 development area is just can we figure
1:18:39 out what's not working and not do that.
1:18:43 you know, um, this again is a great
1:18:46 overview and I understand I'm a more
1:18:49 senior city council member and so I've
1:18:52 known some of this stuff about you and
1:18:54 that isn't the case across the board,
1:18:56 but I I would really like to see
1:19:00 which of your programs are generating
1:19:02 the most sales from downtown businesses.
1:19:05 Um, what are you deciding to no longer
1:19:09 do because the ROI isn't there? um what
1:19:13 are the goals and metrics you're aiming
1:19:15 for? You know, I understand not every um
1:19:18 program that you do is going to be a
1:19:20 Fenders on Front Street, but are there
1:19:23 goals for a certain number of
1:19:26 engagements? Um a certain number of
1:19:28 businesses that were happy um with uh
1:19:32 what was going on? How do you measure
1:19:34 your success on individual
1:19:37 um events and experiences?
1:19:41 Um, you've also focused on, you have
1:19:45 many focuses that were listed there. You
1:19:47 had advocacy at the state and national
1:19:49 level, connections, and bolstering small
1:19:52 business. Um, it would be really great
1:19:56 to see what percentage of your time and
1:19:59 budget you feel like are going toward
1:20:03 those goals. You know, do you treat them
1:20:05 evenly? Um, I think the other piece
1:20:09 there is, you know, as I see DIA is some
1:20:14 of it is about building up events that
1:20:17 support our um, small businesses in our
1:20:20 downtown. The other is the kind of those
1:20:23 business engagement visits and having a
1:20:25 sense of the pulse on the ground. It
1:20:27 would be great if you could talk about
1:20:29 those two areas of work, what percentage
1:20:32 of time and effort they are, and what do
1:20:35 you think they bring back both to the
1:20:38 organization, the community, and the
1:20:40 businesses. Um, because I think that
1:20:43 better exemplifies
1:20:45 what DIA is able to do as boots on the
1:20:48 ground. Um, but it also allows for you
1:20:51 to take a look back at the work that
1:20:54 you're doing, what impact it's creating.
1:20:58 Um, and I I think a good healthy
1:21:01 organization is always able to take a
1:21:04 look back at what you've done and not do
1:21:07 the same things over and over again
1:21:09 because they are something that's been
1:21:12 done in the past, but rather have
1:21:14 metrics for events and experience and
1:21:17 programs. measure your success on those
1:21:20 and call out the areas that aren't
1:21:22 working as well so that you can make
1:21:24 sure that you are always growing,
1:21:26 innovating and such. So I think on the
1:21:29 next area um I want to see a little bit
1:21:32 more details on the programs and better
1:21:34 understand how you are able to innovate
1:21:38 and move forward on things rather than
1:21:41 doing the same things over and over
1:21:43 again. um so that we can see that the um
1:21:48 we're being modern and adjusting to the
1:21:50 needs of our businesses. Thanks.
1:21:52 >> Thank you, Council Member Dare.
1:21:56 >> Um yeah, I want to also just, you know,
1:21:59 uh congratulate and thank you for all
1:22:00 the work you've done on that. Uh
1:22:02 downtown is one of the reasons I moved
1:22:04 here. You know, it was I wanted a place
1:22:07 that had a real sense of a town and a
1:22:09 real center. And it was one of the
1:22:10 things that when I got there, I was
1:22:11 like, "Oh, this is the place I want to
1:22:12 be." And I know that that is thanks to
1:22:15 you, Dia's work, and you know, the
1:22:16 city's work for so long. And so I do
1:22:19 think, you know, it that whole area is
1:22:20 very important to us. Um, you know, but
1:22:23 I do want to echo uh Council Member
1:22:24 Walsh's comments in terms of the, you
1:22:26 know, how to how to keep moving forward,
1:22:29 how to learn, and how to expand and
1:22:31 bring in new ideas. And I do want to,
1:22:33 you know, push back on this the rotating
1:22:35 leadership. And know you said you're
1:22:37 waiting on you know the city's request
1:22:38 for it you know and that also for Main
1:22:40 Street it was just a recommendation but
1:22:42 you know I've worked with nonprofits and
1:22:43 stuff before and I think that that idea
1:22:46 is really critical to a healthy
1:22:48 organization because you can get even
1:22:51 though you're doing good work can get
1:22:52 entrenched or stuck in certain ideas and
1:22:56 there is never a right time to just like
1:22:58 step down and hand off and you kind of
1:22:59 have to sometimes force the issue in
1:23:01 order to have you know fresh you know
1:23:04 fresh blood coming in and have a very
1:23:05 healthy organization and new ideas
1:23:07 because you'll you you won't see them
1:23:09 until you're kind of in there. And I
1:23:11 think um and an organization, you know,
1:23:14 based on what I've read and stuff like
1:23:15 that that is so centered on you, like
1:23:17 there's also the idea of just like what
1:23:18 happens to you if something you're in a
1:23:20 car accident one day, you know, that the
1:23:22 organization needs a very robust and
1:23:25 widespread leadership and a leadership
1:23:26 that's constantly changing in order to
1:23:28 live on and be something that lasts a
1:23:31 hundred years. And so I do want to um
1:23:34 encourage that with or without a city
1:23:36 mandate that I do think that's important
1:23:38 for any nonprofit or any organization
1:23:40 like this um and and um urge you guys to
1:23:44 you know set up that kind of system
1:23:46 because I do think that is very
1:23:47 important um and then that ties to those
1:23:49 other comments of it it forces you also
1:23:52 to continually look at what you're doing
1:23:53 and how to do it better um and just
1:23:55 bring fresh eyes to it. So those were
1:23:57 that's what I would encourage on my end.
1:23:59 >> Thank you.
1:24:02 Any other council comments?
1:24:05 Seeing none, I have a few comments. So,
1:24:07 uh, while I was listening to this
1:24:08 presentation, I did download the Main
1:24:10 Street America board guidelines from
1:24:11 their website. Um, so on page 20 out of
1:24:15 66 on this, there's a section on board
1:24:17 structure. I'll read a couple um parts
1:24:20 of this. So, diversity and inclusion.
1:24:22 Um, it says, "A healthy boards mirrors
1:24:23 community consider board members of
1:24:24 different races, ages, genders, and
1:24:26 economic backgrounds. when voices from
1:24:27 across the district are represented, the
1:24:29 board makes better, more inclusive
1:24:31 decisions. So, you know, something to
1:24:32 consider. Um, and then I think size and
1:24:35 composition, it talks about recruiting
1:24:36 members with different skills and
1:24:38 representation from business owners,
1:24:39 residents, nonprofit leaders, and local
1:24:41 officials. So, glad to hear that local
1:24:43 officials will now be represented. Um,
1:24:46 and then I guess probably this is the
1:24:48 most important one, terms and rotation.
1:24:50 So, Main Street America's recommendation
1:24:52 is board member terms usually last two
1:24:53 or three years and are staggered so that
1:24:55 the board is a mix of new and
1:24:56 experienced members. Many Main Streets
1:24:58 limit board members to serving only two
1:25:00 or three terms in a row. So, I think,
1:25:03 you know, I'm part of a nonprofit
1:25:05 organization that had to go through some
1:25:06 governance changes in, you know, the
1:25:08 last few years, Isiqua Alps Trails Club.
1:25:11 We also for a long time were very
1:25:12 dependent on the contributions of one
1:25:14 individual who I'm looking at right now.
1:25:16 Hi, David. Um, and I think we, you know,
1:25:21 we also had this situation was like,
1:25:23 okay, if you know, if David Kappler were
1:25:24 to, uh, win the lottery and move to
1:25:26 Hawaii, what would we do? And that's
1:25:28 not, you know, now for me as a board
1:25:30 president, a huge part of my role is to,
1:25:32 you know, recruit new board members,
1:25:34 figure out a succession plan, etc. And,
1:25:36 you know, as as a president, it's
1:25:38 basically, you know, we have three-year
1:25:40 terms. We're allowed to serve two
1:25:41 three-year terms, and then you have to
1:25:42 be off for at least one year. So now uh
1:25:45 former council member Kappler is now off
1:25:47 of our board um but still you know
1:25:50 getting involved in all sorts of
1:25:51 different things. So I do think you know
1:25:53 the having rotating governance among the
1:25:55 board officers is one key piece but then
1:25:57 also you know bringing in new board
1:25:58 members and having that cadence where
1:26:01 board members have to step off even if
1:26:03 they've contributed a lot just to get
1:26:04 you know new um individuals into the
1:26:07 organization is really important. The
1:26:09 other thing that you that can sometimes
1:26:11 happen is that you know if you have a
1:26:12 really large board, another organization
1:26:14 I'm part of has a 60 member board that
1:26:17 becomes very unwieldy.
1:26:19 Um and so you know you obviously want to
1:26:21 avoid that too. And so you know if
1:26:22 there's new people that you want to
1:26:23 bring in then it's important to have
1:26:25 some kind of cycling to make sure that
1:26:28 your board doesn't get to a point where
1:26:29 it's just completely unwieldy. And so
1:26:31 you know to that end I do think it's
1:26:33 important for you know downtown Isqua
1:26:34 association which is such a critical
1:26:36 part of our community. I mean, you know,
1:26:38 earlier I made a comment kind of poo
1:26:40 pooing like the economic development
1:26:42 department's job as like cultivating the
1:26:44 vibes of Isiqua, but that literally is
1:26:46 the job of the downtown isqua
1:26:47 association, right? You know, all the
1:26:49 events, vendors on front, um, you know,
1:26:52 all all fresco on front this summer. I
1:26:54 know everyone's very much looking
1:26:55 forward to that. It is so important to
1:26:57 and a key part of what makes this
1:26:59 community special. And so I want to make
1:27:01 sure that you know there's anyone who
1:27:04 wants to get involved can get involved
1:27:05 and we have opportunities whether it's
1:27:07 through board service volunteering etc.
1:27:09 So look forward to continuing to work
1:27:11 with Corby Christina and the rest of the
1:27:12 DIA team on how we can work together to
1:27:14 make uh Oldtown Isiquan Front Street as
1:27:18 amazing as possible and council member
1:27:20 Boyd.
1:27:22 >> Um I think I'll echo some of the other
1:27:24 comments here of uh I would love to just
1:27:27 see um more specifics. Uh I I can tell
1:27:30 you the impact uh you know council
1:27:32 member Rodair mentioned that he moved
1:27:34 here for the downtown for me. I could
1:27:36 tell share like a specific stories of uh
1:27:38 events or uh the um mini markets that
1:27:42 happen at the Shell station uh when
1:27:44 Isqua Farmers Market is not operating
1:27:47 but there will still be a flower farmer
1:27:48 there or some organic farmers. I can go
1:27:51 there pick up my flowers for uh my
1:27:53 church studio that I have once a month.
1:27:55 Um that's reliable. I'm sharing my
1:27:57 specific story. So, I would love to see
1:27:59 uh specific data on um you know, you've
1:28:03 got that state data, but just yeah, the
1:28:05 return on investment that you guys the
1:28:08 programs you're doing and what you're
1:28:09 putting into the downtown and then um
1:28:11 what I understand it that's data
1:28:13 collection is a lot. It's work. Um you
1:28:15 might not have, you know, the staff or
1:28:17 capacity to do that, but just best you
1:28:18 can. Um I think anything's useful and
1:28:22 even if business owners don't want to
1:28:24 share their specifics, I understand
1:28:25 that. but you know um respecting their
1:28:29 you know whatever proprietary or privacy
1:28:31 needs that they might have while still
1:28:32 getting useful information. Um I think
1:28:35 that would be really helpful.
1:28:38 >> Thank you.
1:28:40 Any other comments?
1:28:43 Seeing none, uh thank you so much Corby
1:28:45 for the presentation.
1:28:46 >> Thank you.
1:28:47 >> And we will move on to our last item
1:28:49 which is COM 0273 is climate action plan
1:28:53 review. And I would like to invite Stacy
1:28:55 Vin McKinstry, sustainability manager,
1:28:57 and David Rei, sustainability
1:28:59 coordinator, to the lectern for the
1:29:01 presentation.
1:29:19 Right.
1:29:32 Thank you, Deputy Council Jen and
1:29:34 members of the council. Um, again, my
1:29:37 name is Stacy Vin McKinstry. I'm the
1:29:39 sustainability manager with the city and
1:29:40 joined by David Rei, our sustainability
1:29:42 coordinator. Um, I also wanted to
1:29:45 acknowledge online we have Sam Tarvin,
1:29:48 our solid waste analyst in case there
1:29:50 are questions on that part of the plan.
1:29:52 Um, as well as Emma who was one of our
1:29:54 interns from Gibson High School. She
1:29:56 supported a lot of the tracking of
1:29:59 comments um, changes that we are making
1:30:01 to the plan and development of the
1:30:03 implementation work plan.
1:30:08 Tonight is a follow-up presentation to
1:30:10 what we shared with you all in May. Um
1:30:12 during that meeting we provided a lot of
1:30:14 background information on the
1:30:16 development of the 2026 IAP. This
1:30:19 evening we're really going to dig into
1:30:21 the content of the plan, present on
1:30:23 targets for each of the focus areas to
1:30:26 receive your feedback as well as present
1:30:29 on a a number of actions that may
1:30:31 benefit from further council discussion.
1:30:34 uh your packet did contain the draft IAP
1:30:36 and we look forward to your uh comments
1:30:38 on the content as well as next steps for
1:30:41 the plan approval.
1:30:43 Um so again tonight we are seeking your
1:30:46 input on that path forward for plan
1:30:48 approval as well as any specific
1:30:50 feedback to targets and actions.
1:30:54 Um again, as mentioned in May, we
1:30:56 provided a detailed summary of the
1:30:58 process that we've undertaken to uh over
1:31:00 the last 14 months to update the plan.
1:31:04 Uh as a reminder, we worked with a
1:31:06 number of small committees uh focused on
1:31:08 very specific topics as well as met with
1:31:12 uh PPC, the parks board, TAB um and the
1:31:15 environmental board uh discussed the
1:31:17 plan at just about every meeting over
1:31:19 the last year.
1:31:21 We've also worked really closely with
1:31:23 staff from across multiple departments
1:31:25 and held a few community events for
1:31:27 input. This winter and spring, we met
1:31:30 with the PTE committee uh for initial
1:31:33 input. Uh and all of these interactions
1:31:35 and the feedback we received through the
1:31:37 meetings as well as our experience uh
1:31:40 through implementing the the current
1:31:42 plan um have helped shape this plan
1:31:44 update.
1:31:48 So with that very brief overview and
1:31:50 background, uh we really wanted to dig
1:31:53 right into the targets uh that we are
1:31:56 working and planning to work over uh the
1:31:58 next 4 to 24 years um to shape a more
1:32:02 healthier and resilient community. Uh so
1:32:05 with that, I'm going to hand it over to
1:32:06 David Rei to talk through each of the
1:32:08 targets.
1:32:13 >> All right. Thank you all so much for
1:32:14 having us here tonight. So, uh, tonight,
1:32:17 as Stacy mentioned, we're going to be
1:32:19 talking about the proposed targets in
1:32:21 the 2026 IAP update. These targets are
1:32:25 ambitious, um, but we also believe that
1:32:28 they are achievable at the same time.
1:32:30 Uh, you'll hear me mention that a couple
1:32:32 times tonight. Um, your input and on
1:32:35 these targets is necessary as we shape
1:32:37 our actions and budget requests to
1:32:40 support our progress towards these
1:32:41 targets moving forward.
1:32:45 So, as we have shared before, one of the
1:32:48 major changes that we're looking at for
1:32:50 this uh IAP update was the elevation of
1:32:53 our greenhouse gas reduction target to a
1:32:55 plan level target. The reason for this
1:32:58 change is to anchor this target related
1:33:00 to greenhouse gas reduction as the
1:33:03 connecting point for other measurements
1:33:06 throughout the plan. As you'll see in
1:33:08 the next couple slides, most of the
1:33:10 other targets are indicators of our
1:33:12 efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
1:33:14 emissions while also supporting co-
1:33:17 benefits. The target itself has not
1:33:19 changed and this remains in line with
1:33:21 our regional goals.
1:33:26 As the overarching focus area has
1:33:28 updated to overarching and municipal
1:33:30 focus area, we have new targets related
1:33:33 specifically related related and
1:33:35 centered around uh the efforts the city
1:33:37 can take to lead by example and address
1:33:40 our greenhouse gas emissions in our
1:33:41 operations. These targets were based
1:33:44 were set based off of staff research,
1:33:46 evaluation of peer jurisdictions and
1:33:48 discussions with implementing staff.
1:33:51 These targets are difficult but
1:33:53 achievable and staff have been
1:33:55 conducting studies um and projects that
1:33:58 will continue to set the city up to
1:34:00 achieve these targets moving forward.
1:34:03 One note here is that these targets were
1:34:05 established to set the city up uh as a
1:34:07 leader in climate action achieving net
1:34:09 zero emissions ahead of the
1:34:11 communitywide goal. Additionally, I'll
1:34:14 note that there are uh the second two
1:34:16 targets on this slide um have a target
1:34:20 date of 2035 and are in line with our
1:34:23 overarching greenhouse gas reduction uh
1:34:26 target at the city level. And so if we
1:34:28 are able to achieve those uh targets in
1:34:30 fossil fuel use reduction for city
1:34:32 vehicle fleet and in uh natural gas use
1:34:35 at our municipal buildings, we'll be set
1:34:36 up well to achieve our uh overarching
1:34:39 greenhouse gas reduction target.
1:34:42 The final target on the slide uh had
1:34:45 previously existed in the building and
1:34:47 energy section and was updated and moved
1:34:49 to this section to reflect a more
1:34:51 ambitious use of Puget Sound Energy's
1:34:53 renewable energy programs
1:34:57 in the building and energy uh focus
1:35:00 area. The this target these targets
1:35:03 address one of the largest sources of
1:35:05 our greenhouse gas emissions at the
1:35:07 community scale. Generally, these
1:35:09 targets only had minor adjustments to
1:35:11 try and clarify language. Uh, but the
1:35:13 targets remain uh roughly the same and
1:35:16 uh to align with regional commitments
1:35:19 that the city has made.
1:35:24 Additionally, uh our transportation
1:35:26 targets uh address the second largest uh
1:35:29 source of emissions at the city level.
1:35:32 uh two of the targets were unchanged
1:35:34 while one additional target which
1:35:37 includes a measurement of vehicle miles
1:35:39 traveled uh based on population has been
1:35:41 added. These targets again are in
1:35:43 alignment with regional goals like uh
1:35:46 our K4C commitments
1:35:50 in the material and consumption focus
1:35:52 area. No change has been made to the uh
1:35:55 to the target as established in the 2021
1:35:58 IAP. And one note here I do want to
1:36:00 mention is that um we have been trending
1:36:02 in the right direction over the last
1:36:04 couple years. Um and that's been a lot
1:36:06 of the based on a lot of the great work
1:36:07 that our solid waste team has uh has
1:36:10 been working on
1:36:13 in the natural systems and water
1:36:15 resource focus area. Uh the targets went
1:36:18 through a much more uh intense change uh
1:36:22 process. The tree canopy target was
1:36:25 ultimately adjusted to reflect analysis
1:36:27 by staff on potential planting areas in
1:36:30 the city. The new target is both
1:36:32 ambitious uh pushing the city to
1:36:35 prioritize tree canopy canopy while
1:36:37 remaining achievable based on this
1:36:40 potential planting area that we feel
1:36:41 like we have here in the city. This
1:36:44 target in particular went through many
1:36:46 discussions with the environmental board
1:36:48 ultimately landing at the target you see
1:36:49 here today and which the environmental
1:36:51 board has uh expressed support for.
1:36:55 As discussed before as well, we have
1:36:57 added a target based on tree equity
1:36:59 scores which will help us consider the
1:37:01 distribution of tree canopy uh across
1:37:04 the city. And these tree equity scores
1:37:06 are based on a number of different
1:37:08 factors related to tree canopy,
1:37:10 socioeconomic factors, um, as well as
1:37:13 density as well. And we have three
1:37:16 current census blocks that are below
1:37:18 the, uh, 90% tree equity score goal, uh,
1:37:22 as listed here. Finally, we added a
1:37:25 target to align with the water use
1:37:27 reduction targets in the water systems
1:37:29 plan. This was included as a 2021 IAP uh
1:37:32 did not have any targets related to
1:37:34 water use within the focus area. Um but
1:37:38 there were multiple actions related to
1:37:40 our water resource. And so this way
1:37:42 we're actually connecting the actions uh
1:37:45 to targets uh within this focus area.
1:37:50 And then finally, as we've presented on
1:37:52 before, staff have proposed two
1:37:53 additional new uh community resilience
1:37:56 and well-being targets that are
1:37:57 measurable through our bianial
1:38:00 communitywide survey. This minimizes
1:38:02 staff time to develop new measurement
1:38:04 tools while providing insight into the
1:38:06 resilience that the city and our
1:38:08 community is building in the face of
1:38:10 climate change.
1:38:12 As mentioned, um, our previous IAP
1:38:14 target in this area was something that
1:38:17 we did not feel like, uh, we could
1:38:19 accurately measure. And so, I think this
1:38:20 is a really exciting opportunity for us
1:38:23 to actually begin measuring um, uh,
1:38:26 begin measuring our community resilience
1:38:28 and well-being. And, uh, personally, I'm
1:38:30 very excited to finally change our IAP
1:38:32 dashboard from measurement coming soon
1:38:34 to actually start showing data.
1:38:39 So uh throughout the IAAP update
1:38:42 process, one of the focuses was to take
1:38:45 another look at our targets. What we've
1:38:48 landed on are targets that are ambitious
1:38:51 and achievable. Many of these targets
1:38:54 keep Isiqua in line with our regional
1:38:56 efforts and our neighbor cities while
1:38:59 continuing to position the city as a
1:39:01 climate leader. Succeeding on these
1:39:03 targets will require consistent city
1:39:06 leadership, creative solutions to known
1:39:08 and likely some unknown challenges and
1:39:11 continued and expanded efforts at the
1:39:13 utility, regional, state, and federal
1:39:15 level. We have developed updated pages
1:39:19 in the IAP to specifically discuss our
1:39:21 updated targets and highlight highlight
1:39:24 how we'll be measuring uh the
1:39:26 implementation of the IAP.
1:39:29 Based on our targets as well as other
1:39:31 measures identified, we hope to be able
1:39:33 to see our progress while understanding
1:39:35 where we might be falling short and
1:39:37 therefore where we might want to be
1:39:38 rethinking some of our implementation
1:39:40 over the course of the IAP
1:39:42 implementation.
1:39:44 Updates to targets and measures were
1:39:46 made intentionally to report on
1:39:47 meaningful progress and indicators while
1:39:49 keeping staff effort to conduct these
1:39:52 analyses to a minimum minimum so that we
1:39:54 can continue to focus on programs and
1:39:56 projects uh that are going to help us
1:39:59 achieve these targets.
1:40:01 We intend to report out on our targets
1:40:03 and measures as frequently as data
1:40:05 allows on our IAP dashboard and I
1:40:07 anticipate staff will continue to report
1:40:09 on our progress regularly to city
1:40:11 council via reports.
1:40:15 So finally, to support progress towards
1:40:18 these targets, we're proposing a set of
1:40:20 61 actions that we will implement over
1:40:23 the next 10 years. I'm going to hand it
1:40:25 back to Stacy now to talk more about the
1:40:27 development of these actions and
1:40:28 highlight a few actions specifically for
1:40:30 council review.
1:40:39 Um so as we had previously mentioned
1:40:41 originally we approached the IAP update
1:40:43 anticipating making a few revisions to a
1:40:46 few actions and maybe revisiting a
1:40:48 target. Uh however based on our
1:40:51 conversations with the community boards,
1:40:53 commissions, committees, we have ended
1:40:55 up uh touching almost every action in
1:40:58 this updated plan and making revisions
1:41:00 that we feel will really strengthen the
1:41:02 plan.
1:41:04 our implementation plan uh that's
1:41:06 included at the end of the IAP uh does
1:41:08 note how we um uh plan to implement
1:41:11 those actions as well as any changes uh
1:41:14 made from the previous plan. The
1:41:16 majority of actions have we've applied a
1:41:19 climate lens to them to make sure
1:41:21 they're either helping us reducing our
1:41:23 emissions or building our capacity uh to
1:41:25 withstand climate impacts. We have also
1:41:28 built in a lot of flexibility into the
1:41:31 actions so that over the next 10 years
1:41:33 we can adjust our programs and projects
1:41:36 uh to really ensure that they're
1:41:37 informed by best practices.
1:41:40 Um as David talked a bit about uh we are
1:41:43 changing how we measure the impacts and
1:41:46 how we report. Um we our measures will
1:41:49 reflect multiple actions that will
1:41:50 really help streamline our process so
1:41:53 that we can focus more on implementation
1:41:55 and cut down on the overhead needed for
1:41:57 reporting.
1:41:58 Um so next with that brief overview of
1:42:01 the actions we are going to move into
1:42:03 reviewing a subset of actions. Uh we
1:42:06 have six actions that we wanted to touch
1:42:08 on tonight. uh those fall under the land
1:42:11 use and transportation, buildings and
1:42:13 energy, uh natural systems and
1:42:16 overarching focus areas.
1:42:18 The reason we are highlighting these six
1:42:21 actions is because they may involve a
1:42:23 new policy. These might be a policy uh
1:42:27 that could uh have more impacts on our
1:42:30 residents, our businesses or other
1:42:31 members of our community.
1:42:33 uh the some of the actions may uh have
1:42:38 we have a bit of a question about the
1:42:39 city's role in our ability to advance
1:42:41 that action if it's appropriate uh to be
1:42:43 included in our plan. Um so we will walk
1:42:46 through each of these but one thing I
1:42:48 did want to note with any policy that's
1:42:50 proposed in the climate action plan we
1:42:53 would not advance those policies without
1:42:55 extensive analysis uh before they even
1:42:58 come to council. So you will see some
1:43:00 repeating language uh within uh each of
1:43:03 the uh language of those actions.
1:43:07 Um so the first two we'll talk about are
1:43:09 under transportation and land use. Uh
1:43:12 the first one uh to review the full
1:43:14 language of this action is evaluate the
1:43:17 feasibility and impact of removing
1:43:19 parking minimums or creating additional
1:43:21 parking maximums to encourage
1:43:23 multimmodal transportation for
1:43:25 multifamily buildings within a defined
1:43:27 distance of major transit stops and in
1:43:30 regional growth centers. Um there's some
1:43:33 additional details on what a study
1:43:34 should uh consider based on feedback
1:43:36 from environmental board and PTE.
1:43:39 Uh this action uh received some positive
1:43:42 or some mixed feedback I'd say from TAB.
1:43:45 Uh some members of TAB were supportive.
1:43:47 Others were concerned about some of the
1:43:49 impacts that could come from reducing
1:43:51 parking minimums. Um PPC also had some
1:43:54 concerns about spillover parking. Uh but
1:43:56 we did have support from the
1:43:58 environmental board to move this action
1:44:00 forward.
1:44:03 The next action uh was around assessing
1:44:05 the implementation feasibility for
1:44:07 increasing requirements for EV charging
1:44:10 capable um or or ready in a new
1:44:13 multifamily building that exceeds state
1:44:15 requirements and could be up to 100% of
1:44:18 parking stalls. Um we would also want to
1:44:21 attend uh assess any unintended
1:44:23 consequences from moving forward a
1:44:25 policy such as this. In general, we had
1:44:28 uh support from TAB and the
1:44:30 environmental board. This is based on
1:44:32 recent passage of a similar policy in
1:44:34 Redmond. Um PPC did have some concerns
1:44:38 around grid capacity for EV charging as
1:44:40 well as added costs uh for developers.
1:44:46 The next policy moves into the building
1:44:48 and energy focus area. Uh exploring the
1:44:51 feasibility impacts and implementation
1:44:53 pathway for an ordinance that would
1:44:55 require energy efficiency standards at
1:44:58 the time of replacement or new purchase
1:45:01 for heating or cooling equipment.
1:45:04 Uh this policy did receive some concerns
1:45:08 from PPC because of potential increases
1:45:10 in costs for this type of equipment. Um
1:45:13 the environmental board did support this
1:45:15 action as one of our major um
1:45:18 opportunities to work with existing
1:45:20 residential properties on reducing
1:45:22 emissions.
1:45:27 Uh the next policy also within the
1:45:28 buildings and energy focus area is
1:45:31 exploring feasibility and potential
1:45:32 impacts of expanding the title 18 code
1:45:35 to include an expansion of dark sky
1:45:38 ordinances for reducing energy use and
1:45:41 help build resilience for wildlife. Um
1:45:44 there was particular interest in
1:45:45 ensuring that we looked at any impacts
1:45:47 to safety and recreation through any
1:45:50 change in uh lighting code. Uh this
1:45:53 recommendation came from the
1:45:54 environmental board. Uh they wanted to
1:45:56 see in the city take additional efforts
1:45:59 to reduce light pollution. They want to
1:46:01 ensure that um light is not having
1:46:04 impacts on any migrating species and
1:46:06 also the benefits from energy savings.
1:46:09 There were some concerns expressed by
1:46:11 PPC um specifically if we were focusing
1:46:14 on commercial properties and any
1:46:15 potential impacts to safety.
1:46:21 The next proposed action uh is looking
1:46:24 at exploring the feasibility and an
1:46:26 implementation pathway for programs that
1:46:28 reduce localized air and stream
1:46:30 pollutants. There are a number of
1:46:32 potential examples provided uh by the
1:46:35 environmental board. Uh one uh being a
1:46:37 no idling policy uh traffic reduction or
1:46:41 looking at um regulations around uh
1:46:44 electric landscaping equipment. Uh
1:46:47 again, this one came from the
1:46:48 environmental board. Uh there are no
1:46:50 specific policies proposed here and and
1:46:53 uh it's more of a number of concepts
1:46:54 that the city could explore over the
1:46:56 next 10 years. Um the environmental
1:46:58 board supported moving this one forward
1:47:01 uh to address those local air and stream
1:47:03 pollutants.
1:47:06 And then our final policy uh we wanted
1:47:09 to or the final action uh with a
1:47:11 potential policy that we wanted to bring
1:47:12 forward this evening is one around
1:47:15 identifying opportunities and
1:47:16 partnerships for acquiring potential
1:47:18 timber sales or entering into agreements
1:47:21 to protect trees and reduce the amount
1:47:23 of timber harvested on public and
1:47:25 private lands. This was an action that
1:47:28 was proposed by the environmental board
1:47:30 to look at new opportunities where the
1:47:33 um city could increase tree canopy.
1:47:35 There are some concerns uh expressed
1:47:37 from staff on whether or not the city
1:47:39 would have jurisdiction to take on an
1:47:41 action or policy like this, which is the
1:47:43 reason we wanted to raise it tonight.
1:47:47 That was a lot of information we
1:47:49 presented on targets and actions. Um, we
1:47:53 wanted to pause here before we move into
1:47:56 our current status of the plan. Um, as
1:47:59 well as next steps we have for the plan
1:48:00 and take uh feedback, questions,
1:48:03 concerns around any of the proposed
1:48:05 targets or actions we've shared tonight.
1:48:08 >> I'm looking for questions. Council
1:48:10 member Deair,
1:48:11 >> uh, can you tell me a little bit more
1:48:12 about Redmond's EV parking stalls policy
1:48:14 because I just don't know what theirs is
1:48:16 and how that since that seems to be what
1:48:18 we're thinking about modeling.
1:48:19 >> Yes, absolutely. And we can um provide
1:48:22 I'm going to go off memory so we can
1:48:24 provide more details over email. Uh but
1:48:26 I believe it was last summer uh went
1:48:28 into effect 100% EV ready um charging in
1:48:33 all new multifamily development. Uh what
1:48:37 we had and part of the justification for
1:48:39 that it is much less expensive to put in
1:48:42 EV charging infrastructure while a
1:48:45 building is under development versus
1:48:46 coming back and retrofitting that. Um
1:48:49 the discussions that we had with the PTE
1:48:51 committee was um looking at a policy
1:48:55 that would be probably less than EV
1:48:57 ready that might do some of the initial
1:48:59 work for preparing for additional EV
1:49:02 charging um stalls and also evaluating
1:49:06 uh whether or not we'd want to go up to
1:49:07 100%. Maybe it's just a slight increase
1:49:10 over the state uh the current state
1:49:12 requirement. So we'd want to look at all
1:49:14 those different options. Um, but I think
1:49:17 the feedback we heard from Redmond was
1:49:19 they did not hear concerns from the
1:49:21 development community and in general
1:49:23 there was support for moving this
1:49:24 forward. Um, we can follow up with them
1:49:27 and kind of see how implementations
1:49:28 happened over the last year.
1:49:34 >> Any other questions?
1:49:37 >> Uh, Council Member Joe.
1:49:39 >> Uh, thank you. I probably should have
1:49:40 asked this earlier when uh David was
1:49:43 making a presentation, but updates to
1:49:45 targets, natural systems, and water
1:49:47 resources focus area targets. We had a
1:49:49 55% tree canopy by 2035, and it looks
1:49:53 like we're taking it down to 53% tree
1:49:56 canopy if someone were to just look at
1:49:58 this by 2050. But can you comment on how
1:50:03 um changing this um enhances our tree
1:50:06 canopy or at least makes it a better
1:50:08 measure for us in the future. Right.
1:50:12 We're not really reducing it by 2% in
1:50:15 fact, are we? We're kind of enhancing
1:50:17 what we're doing or
1:50:20 >> take a stab at that. Um yeah, so this
1:50:23 this target took almost a year to
1:50:26 negotiate with the environmental board,
1:50:28 input from our urban forest manager,
1:50:30 discussions with the park board. Um I
1:50:33 think there was some hesitancy to uh
1:50:36 drop back from 55% but through really
1:50:39 great data provided by Dan um showed
1:50:43 that we don't have the land available to
1:50:48 uh get to a 55% tree canopy. Um hence
1:50:52 one of the actions around looking at
1:50:54 some innovative partnerships um uh was
1:50:57 added in. Um what Dan and I think part
1:51:00 of David's analysis did show is that
1:51:03 with a lot of innovation
1:51:05 um really uh uh planting every plantable
1:51:09 space we could get to 53%. However, it
1:51:13 takes 10 to 15 years for that canopy to
1:51:15 grow. So if we can do the 150 acre
1:51:18 planting over the next 9 years, we
1:51:21 believe we could then reach that 53%.
1:51:24 So, it was supported by um some of our
1:51:27 community advocates and the
1:51:28 environmental board and our park staff
1:51:31 as a very still ambitious. It's going to
1:51:33 push us, but we think we can achieve
1:51:36 that with what's available.
1:51:39 >> Yeah. I think the other two pieces that
1:51:41 I'd add is um achieving a 53% tree
1:51:45 canopy cover means expanding where we
1:51:47 are planting. Um, but it also uh really
1:51:51 relies on us maintaining our existing
1:51:53 tree canopy as well. Um, and so I think
1:51:56 part of this adjustment is recognizing
1:51:58 the amount of work that that is going to
1:52:00 take to maintain existing tree canopy,
1:52:04 especially when we're also talking about
1:52:06 um, you know, the growth of Isiqua and
1:52:09 additional development. I think the
1:52:10 other piece kind of influencing this a
1:52:12 little bit is, you know, when the 2021
1:52:14 IAP was passed, um, there had been a a
1:52:17 jump in our tree canopy cover over the
1:52:20 previous 10 years. Um, and since then,
1:52:23 as we've been continuing to measure our
1:52:25 tree canopy cover, uh, we've been kind
1:52:27 of staying pretty stubborn at 51%. And
1:52:31 so I think uh part of this adjustment
1:52:33 was an intention to uh see again what we
1:52:37 can ambitiously do but also get a little
1:52:39 realistic around kind of what is um
1:52:41 actually possible within uh within our
1:52:44 area and then also given the other um uh
1:52:47 demands on our space in the city.
1:52:49 >> Thank you. To follow up on the 150 acres
1:52:52 that you're going to be planting under
1:52:54 this goal, is it fair to say that most
1:52:57 of the acres that we'd be planting would
1:52:59 be in public spaces and street trees and
1:53:03 um other trees that wouldn't necessarily
1:53:05 be um placing an extra burden on private
1:53:08 property owners would be putting the
1:53:10 right tree in the right place in public
1:53:12 spaces.
1:53:14 >> Yes, I think from from the city projects
1:53:16 would be planting trees in public
1:53:17 spaces. uh right ofways, things like
1:53:20 that. And then would be also leaning on
1:53:22 programs like our tree giveaway and uh
1:53:24 some other programs to support um the
1:53:28 correct planting of trees on private
1:53:30 property as well um and using kind of
1:53:33 those tools uh to support that
1:53:35 expansion.
1:53:36 >> Okay. Thank you. My next question
1:53:38 concerns tree equity. Now, that doesn't
1:53:40 mean we're doing Japanese maples or um
1:53:45 specific Chinese trees, right?
1:53:47 No, it is okay. All right.
1:53:50 >> Can you talk about um uh tree equity in
1:53:53 terms of uh in the context of the tree
1:53:56 deserts that we see in some communities
1:53:58 or in South Seattle and how we're trying
1:54:01 to make sure that uh we have the right
1:54:04 shade and the right amount of trees in
1:54:06 each area so that people um have uh an
1:54:10 equal environment or an equal
1:54:11 opportunity for the environment.
1:54:13 >> Yeah, absolutely. It's a it's a great
1:54:16 comment and question. And so, um, I
1:54:18 think one of the things that we've seen
1:54:20 in in the environmental movement for a
1:54:22 long time, right, is that, um, often
1:54:25 times, uh, where trees are placed in a
1:54:29 city, where tree cover exists is not,
1:54:33 uh, is not equal across a geographic
1:54:35 distribution. Um, and that can come from
1:54:38 a whole host of different reasons. And
1:54:41 um in many areas uh that can be
1:54:43 attributed to things like redlinining,
1:54:45 that can be attributed to um a
1:54:47 disinvestment from public entities in
1:54:49 certain parts of a city or a region. Um,
1:54:53 and so in South Seattle, for instance,
1:54:55 um, you can look at tree density maps
1:54:57 and see huge swasts of the city that are
1:55:00 hotter and much less covered in trees,
1:55:03 uh, than other parts of the city that,
1:55:06 uh, oftentimes are are much wealthier or
1:55:09 um, have uh, different demographics.
1:55:12 Um, here in Isiqua, we are very lucky in
1:55:17 that we have pretty good tree equity,
1:55:19 quite good tree equity really across all
1:55:22 of our census blocks. Um, our lowest
1:55:25 census block has, it's called 85% or 85
1:55:29 out of 100 tree equity. Um, and there's
1:55:32 uh three census blocks that are below
1:55:35 that 90 threshold that we're looking to
1:55:37 push ourselves to achieve. Um and so the
1:55:40 goal is again to think about um not just
1:55:44 getting more trees anywhere we can in
1:55:46 the city but also thinking critically
1:55:48 about where are those trees placed so
1:55:50 that we can make sure that the benefits
1:55:52 that people are seeing from trees again
1:55:54 lower temperatures in the summer um
1:55:57 better storm water um management um
1:56:00 aesthetic beauty rest relaxation beauty
1:56:03 things like that um making sure that
1:56:05 that's available and accessible for
1:56:07 residents across the city.
1:56:10 >> Thank you very much.
1:56:12 >> Any other questions?
1:56:16 >> Council member Boyd.
1:56:18 >> Um, at one point you mentioned like the
1:56:20 two like some focus goals of emission
1:56:23 reductions and then preparing for
1:56:26 climate change. Can you speak to how the
1:56:28 dark sky ordinance
1:56:30 addresses those?
1:56:32 >> Yeah, great question. That was one we
1:56:34 discussed quite a bit as it came up
1:56:36 through a recommendation from our
1:56:38 committees and environmental board. Um
1:56:41 there is an energy savings uh from a
1:56:44 increased dark sky ordinance as well as
1:56:47 the aesthetic benefits. And then some of
1:56:50 the arguments that have been made uh in
1:56:52 terms of
1:56:54 uh uh resilience or preparing for
1:56:57 climate impacts is that the dark skies
1:57:00 have a greater uh benefit for migrating
1:57:02 species and for um our bugs and insects
1:57:06 and that they will thrive when they
1:57:08 don't have um uh the light ambience
1:57:11 throughout the evening.
1:57:17 Great. Any other questions?
1:57:19 Seeing none, we will move into public
1:57:21 comment. Is there anyone who would like
1:57:23 to make public comment on the Isqua
1:57:25 climate action plan?
1:57:28 Seems like all the folks that would like
1:57:30 to make public comment already made
1:57:31 public comment. Um, okay. Then we will
1:57:33 move on to the last item, which is
1:57:35 council direction. Um, which is
1:57:38 basically comments. So, uh, looking to
1:57:41 my fellow council members to see who
1:57:43 would like to make comments.
1:57:46 And if no one wants to go, I can go
1:57:47 first because I have like this much of
1:57:51 notes. Um, so first of all, I want to
1:57:54 thank both uh Stacy and David for all
1:57:56 the hard work that they've done on this
1:57:57 plan. I know it's been like a process
1:57:59 that's taken over a year. And also I
1:58:02 want to commend you on, you know, really
1:58:04 taking into account the comments from
1:58:06 the community, like 44 pages of comments
1:58:09 from from different commissions. And
1:58:11 you've actually integrated a huge amount
1:58:13 of them. So, I really um want to thank
1:58:14 you for that. Um I liked David's comment
1:58:18 on, you know, the city should aim to
1:58:21 lead by example in terms of, you know,
1:58:23 cleaning up our own house, decarbonizing
1:58:25 our own operations. I think there's also
1:58:26 a lot to be said about how our city can
1:58:29 lead by example in terms of how we
1:58:30 contribute to regional decarbonization.
1:58:33 So, one thing I've been thinking about
1:58:34 is the importance of regional grid
1:58:37 infrastructure. Uh, I was just reading
1:58:39 the other day, Puget Sound Energy, in
1:58:41 order to comply with the state law
1:58:43 around having 80% carbon-f free energy
1:58:45 by 2030 needs to acquire over 1,500
1:58:48 megawws of winter peak capacity. That is
1:58:52 a lot. And if we don't do that, either
1:58:55 they're going to have to burn more coal
1:58:56 and gas or they're going to have rolling
1:58:58 blackouts. And neither of those are
1:59:01 particularly appealing prospects. So we,
1:59:05 you know, we need to do our part to help
1:59:06 enable that clean grid. Otherwise, we
1:59:09 are going to see more coal, more gas,
1:59:11 more carbon emissions, rolling blackouts
1:59:13 potentially. Um, and so, you know, as
1:59:15 we've been seeing what's been happening
1:59:17 in neighboring jurisdictions, I do think
1:59:18 it is important for us to say actually,
1:59:20 you know, having grids scale batteries
1:59:22 is a very important part of what we are
1:59:25 going to do to tackle climate change at
1:59:27 the regional, state, and national level.
1:59:30 Um and I also think this you know
1:59:31 dubtubales well with uh an award that
1:59:34 mayor mullet recently received from the
1:59:36 US conference of mayors for the work
1:59:37 that isqua is doing on resilience hubs.
1:59:40 I do think it is the engineering is
1:59:43 possible if there's you know a grid
1:59:44 scale best we can use it to you know
1:59:46 supply more uh resilience centers within
1:59:49 isqua and I think this would be a huge
1:59:50 huge benefit like the size of those
1:59:52 things is so much bigger than what we
1:59:53 have at the senior center we could be
1:59:55 powering like multiple schools and you
1:59:57 could have like really great resilience
1:59:59 center so I would love to see us explore
2:00:01 that as a you know climate action and
2:00:04 resilience strategy um on EV charging
2:00:06 I've said this in the PTE committee
2:00:08 meeting I will say this again I I think
2:00:11 just based on my experience talking with
2:00:12 builders and also PSSE, it seems like
2:00:15 the biggest issue with uh doing 100% EV
2:00:19 ready is that then basically you have to
2:00:21 have a transformer or electrical
2:00:24 capacity at the property that is able to
2:00:25 supply like 100 cars. And so that given
2:00:29 where we're at with electrical capacity
2:00:30 in Isiqua, I I think that can actually
2:00:33 be a real barrier. So, what I would
2:00:35 personally propose is something that's
2:00:36 even an even lower level of EV readiness
2:00:38 than EV capable, which you EV capable
2:00:41 requires that you have all the wires and
2:00:43 you have to have a really big
2:00:44 transformer. I'm I'm calling this EV
2:00:47 pre-wired, which is basically you have
2:00:48 all the wires. So, because a huge part
2:00:51 of the cost is like if you have to put
2:00:52 it in later, you have to dig up all the
2:00:54 concrete and then lay conduit and then
2:00:55 put the wires. That is totally
2:00:57 unnecessary. It is not expensive to put
2:00:58 wires in the wall when you're building
2:00:59 the building. So, do that. you do not
2:01:01 need to get an oversized transformer,
2:01:03 but then you know if you're going to put
2:01:05 in more EV chargers, you can upgrade
2:01:06 your transformer at that point. And I
2:01:09 think that I think strikes the right
2:01:11 balance of what are the investments that
2:01:13 are, you know, crucial to make up front
2:01:15 that avoids thousands of dollars of
2:01:17 costs later without necessarily, you
2:01:19 know, incurring costs or delays that are
2:01:21 potentially even going to delay the
2:01:23 delivery or the opening of an of a
2:01:26 building. like this is what I've heard
2:01:27 from the building official in isquas
2:01:29 that they can't get electrical capacity
2:01:31 for the apartment buildings and so I
2:01:33 really do not want to see that happen.
2:01:34 So EV pre-wired. Um I also uh I really
2:01:39 like the uh tree equity score metric. I
2:01:42 think focusing on you know I think to
2:01:45 your average person in the community
2:01:46 they will not feel a difference of 53%
2:01:49 versus 55% tree canopy. You know you'll
2:01:52 see and feel like what you're seeing in
2:01:54 your community. of having that tree
2:01:56 equity score across all census blocks.
2:01:58 You know, are there trees? Is there
2:01:59 shade? I think that's something that's
2:02:01 going to be a lot more meaningful to
2:02:02 people. You know, putting more trees on
2:02:04 Tiger Mountain isn't necessarily going
2:02:05 to like make that big of a difference
2:02:07 for people. Um, I also really love
2:02:09 David's comments on the importance of
2:02:10 maintaining our tree canopy, and I'd
2:02:12 love to see, you know, some more
2:02:14 maintenance. There's a lot of our street
2:02:15 trees that have ivy on them that we
2:02:17 should, you know, organize some work
2:02:19 parties to rip those out. Um, okay.
2:02:22 Okay, sorry. I still have like five more
2:02:23 things, so hang with hang in there with
2:02:24 me. Um, I really like this idea of the
2:02:27 time of replacement energy efficiency
2:02:29 requirement. Um, I think it basically at
2:02:32 this point if you're putting in a new
2:02:33 gas furnace, you're locking that in for
2:02:35 the next 20 years and that's probably
2:02:37 the opposite of what we should be doing.
2:02:39 I do think it is important to make sure
2:02:40 that we're not putting an undue
2:02:42 financial burden on anyone. So, you
2:02:43 know, with the Energized East Side, we
2:02:45 have incentives available for, you know,
2:02:48 lower income folks making like $200,000
2:02:52 or below. So, I think that's um that's a
2:02:54 really good program to you and we want
2:02:56 to make sure that that's well
2:02:57 calibrated. I also think we should
2:02:59 potentially explore whether that should
2:03:01 be expanded to like small businesses cuz
2:03:02 I know that that you know some small
2:03:04 businesses might you know not have the
2:03:06 resources to do an expensive heat pump
2:03:08 upgrade. So, want to see if we can
2:03:10 expand that program there. Um I also
2:03:13 really like the goals which have been
2:03:15 included since the previous climate
2:03:16 action plan around reducing vehicle
2:03:18 miles traveled. I do think this is one
2:03:21 of the biggest actions we can take
2:03:23 because I mean you know transportation
2:03:25 is a huge component of our uh carbon
2:03:27 emissions but it has to really you know
2:03:31 get out of just the climate plan and
2:03:32 really make it into you know all of our
2:03:34 public works and transportation plans as
2:03:35 well. Right now, the primary metric
2:03:37 we're using for transportation plans is
2:03:40 called concurrency or level of service,
2:03:41 which is basically how quickly can cars
2:03:43 get through intersections. While this is
2:03:45 well-intentioned, something like 80% of
2:03:47 Isqua's traffic during rush hour is pass
2:03:49 through traffic. So, what we're saying
2:03:51 is we are prioritizing
2:03:53 things that make it easier for people
2:03:55 who live in Reton and Maple Valley to
2:03:56 get through Isiqua quickly versus making
2:03:58 it easier for people in Isiqua to get
2:04:00 around town. And so I think we need to
2:04:02 really take a hard look at, you know,
2:04:03 what metrics we're using to score our
2:04:04 transportation projects. Um, and I know
2:04:06 that is a little bit outside of, you
2:04:08 know, your scope as sustainability, but
2:04:09 just saying this is a thing that we'll
2:04:11 want to look at. Um, I think also, um,
2:04:15 one of the actions that was mentioned in
2:04:16 here is the importance of advocacy. So,
2:04:18 you know, there's a lot of things where
2:04:19 it's like, okay, it doesn't necessarily
2:04:20 make sense for do like benchmarking at
2:04:22 the city level or a building performance
2:04:24 standard at the city level, but a lot of
2:04:26 things will have to be at the state
2:04:28 level. And so I think you know adding
2:04:30 sustainability things to our climate act
2:04:33 to our state legislative agenda is
2:04:35 really important. Um and you know on the
2:04:37 acquiring timber sales honestly that's
2:04:39 something where we should be advocating
2:04:40 to the state because they have
2:04:42 department of natural resources. They
2:04:43 have a giant capital budget. Um okay
2:04:47 finally last thing. Um, Stacy, I've
2:04:50 mentioned this to you a bit, but
2:04:51 basically in Ann Arbor, they have this
2:04:52 thing called the sustainable energy
2:04:54 utility, which is like
2:04:57 essentially if you're a local person
2:04:59 within the city, you can subscribe to
2:05:01 the local utility and they build solar
2:05:03 panels and batteries on local homes and
2:05:07 you can basically buy, you know, those
2:05:08 locally generated electrons on your
2:05:10 electric bill. And so that gives that
2:05:12 makes it so that it's really easy for
2:05:13 residents to invest in local solar. Um,
2:05:16 so I think this is a cool idea. I also
2:05:18 think it's probably not really a city
2:05:20 thing, probably more of a county thing,
2:05:22 but something to flag as something, you
2:05:23 know, we could also advocate for. So,
2:05:26 uh, that concludes my remarks. Uh, I
2:05:29 think Council Member Nichols and then
2:05:31 Council Member Boyd.
2:05:34 >> Okay. Uh, thank you both for this
2:05:36 excellent presentation. Um, I really
2:05:38 really appreciate all the thought, the
2:05:39 care, and the analysis that was been put
2:05:41 in by both my fellow council members as
2:05:43 this has come over multiple touches, all
2:05:45 the staff and all the community. Um I
2:05:48 think most of our feedback from PD has
2:05:50 been incorporated. Um as well as as was
2:05:52 referenced the many many many pages of
2:05:54 community feedback. Um I forgot the
2:05:56 number. It was quite high but uh I know
2:05:58 that's a ton of work. Um and I only have
2:06:01 one additional suggestion that hasn't
2:06:03 come up yet. Um, and that's to very
2:06:05 enthusiastically second Deputy Council
2:06:07 President Jang's comments on figuring
2:06:09 out how Isiakiqua can do its part to
2:06:11 lean in on more green energy
2:06:14 infrastructure uh specifically
2:06:15 gridscale battery storage. Um, I also
2:06:18 want to reference former council member
2:06:20 Kappler's uh, comments on how Isqua has
2:06:22 historically uh, and should continue to
2:06:24 lead. Um, I think it's a great tradition
2:06:26 that we have in our city. Um, and it's
2:06:28 something that we see all over the place
2:06:29 and that we should really lean into when
2:06:30 we can. Um, our current climate action
2:06:34 plan does touch on battery storage at a
2:06:36 small scale and we do it well. I want to
2:06:38 I want to appreciate that. Uh, we
2:06:40 promote storage financing for homes and
2:06:42 businesses. Uh, we put it on our own
2:06:44 city properties. Uh, we also back it up
2:06:46 at critical facilities like cooling
2:06:48 centers, resilience hubs. This is all
2:06:50 great. Um, and I want to make sure that
2:06:51 we keep that focus on those small scale
2:06:53 things and continue that. What we don't
2:06:56 yet explicitly do though is seek storage
2:06:58 at the scale that the grid really needs.
2:07:00 And those those massive numbers that
2:07:02 deputy council president mentioned,
2:07:03 those are real. Our region needs to
2:07:05 support those at some point. And I think
2:07:07 Isqua can lean in and help. Um, and
2:07:09 that's a gap that I think we should
2:07:10 consider figuring out how we can utilize
2:07:13 our climate action plan to help close.
2:07:16 There are a lot of advantages that we
2:07:18 can get from grids scale battery storage
2:07:20 if we lead. Um, like local
2:07:22 prioritization for blackout prevention.
2:07:23 Um the bomb cyclone outages are still
2:07:26 fresh in many of our minds. Um uh uh
2:07:28 engineer correctly, we can get some good
2:07:30 local benefits from these systems and we
2:07:32 can also um show an openness to
2:07:34 solutions that have to happen somewhere.
2:07:36 These things do have to come someplace.
2:07:38 So if we lead, we can find partners that
2:07:40 will also meet the high safety standards
2:07:42 that we're always going to have to
2:07:43 insist on as well. I want to think a bit
2:07:46 about the analog to light rail here. um
2:07:48 in that light rail. This is an area
2:07:50 where I've seen our community really
2:07:52 proudly stand up and say yes, we we want
2:07:54 this in our backyard. Uh we want to see
2:07:57 these benefits ourselves and we want to
2:07:59 do our part locally and regionally to
2:08:01 make those benefits happen with climate
2:08:04 friendly infrastructure like battery
2:08:05 storage. I really believe in our
2:08:07 community uh and I think we can take a
2:08:09 different direction from some of our
2:08:11 neighboring cities and task ourselves to
2:08:13 have the courage of our convictions and
2:08:14 say yes in my backyard to sustainability
2:08:17 broadly and here as well. Uh so once
2:08:20 again thank you for this excellent work.
2:08:21 Um and I hope we can be bold in
2:08:23 supporting the big things our region
2:08:25 needs and look at how to integrate
2:08:26 things like gridscale battery storage
2:08:28 into our climate action plans as well.
2:08:32 >> Great. Council member Boyd and then
2:08:33 Walsh and then Adair. Um, I'll echo my
2:08:36 fellow council members. Uh, just amazing
2:08:38 work. I'm so impressed by this and, uh,
2:08:41 particularly the a ability to adapt to
2:08:44 what you were hearing. I think you
2:08:45 mentioned that you went in, um, thinking
2:08:48 it would be a little bit smaller of a
2:08:49 revision and then just based off of um,
2:08:52 you know, the feedback you were getting,
2:08:53 launching it into a um, something much
2:08:56 larger and collaborative and multiple
2:08:58 touch points and all of the pages of the
2:09:01 comments. And so, uh, I just I think
2:09:03 that's really a model for this kind of
2:09:05 work that I'd like to see repeated in
2:09:07 other areas of city work. And, um, my,
2:09:11 uh, I mentioned this to you, I think
2:09:13 earlier in an email, just, um, some
2:09:16 questions that I had about, uh, going
2:09:18 from a 5-year plan to a 10-year plan.
2:09:20 And, you answer those questions. I'm
2:09:21 seeing in there's within the plan,
2:09:23 there's going to be an annual report,
2:09:25 um, in-depth reviews or opportunities to
2:09:28 adjust the targets. And so, um, I'll
2:09:30 just, you know,
2:09:33 put a pin in that of like my, you know,
2:09:35 not wanting my my worry is, um,
2:09:40 how do we keep, you know, our bite-size
2:09:42 measurements of, you know, um, not
2:09:44 wanting to get to the end of 10 years
2:09:46 and uh, towards that end feel like we're
2:09:49 feeling like we're rushing maybe. And
2:09:50 so, um, I don't think that's going to
2:09:52 happen, but just keeping an eye on that.
2:09:57 Council member Walsh. Thank you. Um I
2:10:01 will also echo the appreciation of
2:10:03 listening to the community. Um the
2:10:05 appreciation of going to the PD
2:10:09 committee and saying, "Hey, let's focus
2:10:11 a little bit more on greenhouse gases
2:10:13 and what we can do there." And so I'm
2:10:15 seeing the results of that in this. I
2:10:18 think this is great. Um I think I will
2:10:22 plus one to everything that Deputy
2:10:24 Council President Jiang said. I didn't
2:10:26 think that I was going to be talking
2:10:28 about uh grid level batteries tonight,
2:10:31 but I think it could be an interesting
2:10:34 um conversation for us to have. And I
2:10:37 really think that we have the uh
2:10:41 community here that is interested in
2:10:43 leaning into
2:10:46 um big things and innovation. And so I
2:10:49 see a lot of that already in this
2:10:51 report. I see our staff taking that
2:10:55 energy and still, you know, pushing back
2:10:59 on the, hey, yeah, 55% of tree canopy
2:11:02 was what we had before, but let's talk
2:11:04 about what we can achieve, what that
2:11:06 actually looks like, what our um land
2:11:09 availability is and um make the
2:11:12 necessary adjump adjustments to still
2:11:15 be, you know, proactive and challenging
2:11:18 ourselves, but being realistic on what
2:11:21 we can accomplish. Appreciate the focus
2:11:24 on the equity score um and kind of how
2:11:28 um how we implement it as much as having
2:11:32 a goal um is really important. So really
2:11:35 appreciate um everything that we're
2:11:38 seeing here. Thanks,
2:11:40 Council Member Dear.
2:11:42 >> Yeah, I think this is just going to be a
2:11:44 love fest for the amount of work you did
2:11:45 and put into this. Uh so echoing all
2:11:47 those same comments and so they and I
2:11:49 actually spent a while looking through
2:11:51 your implementation grid of just page
2:11:54 after page of all the notes you took and
2:11:56 just being like wow this is like amazing
2:11:59 that you did all this amazing that and
2:12:00 also taking the point to list it all and
2:12:03 go through it and so amazing work there.
2:12:06 Um and I um want to also just you know
2:12:10 in particular just point out you know
2:12:11 you're as mentioned by council member
2:12:13 Walsh of that making a plan that makes
2:12:16 us a leader but is achievable because as
2:12:18 we've all seen there's always the danger
2:12:19 of you make a big plan you make a big
2:12:20 promise and if you don't actually get
2:12:22 there then everything just starts to
2:12:23 feel very hollow. So I appreciate the
2:12:26 thought that has gone into trying to do
2:12:28 things that push us but actually we
2:12:31 could get there. Um and um I I so I
2:12:36 appreciate that focus and what you've
2:12:37 done into here. Um and so yeah, I will,
2:12:40 you know, again also support the ideas
2:12:42 uh stated by my other former council
2:12:44 members. Um in particular, the ones you
2:12:46 brought up. Um I also agree uh with uh
2:12:50 Deputy President Chang about the wire
2:12:52 ready EV, which I think is a much better
2:12:54 thing for our community at where we are
2:12:56 and the cost associated with that. I
2:12:58 think you know uh with like the PSSE
2:13:00 substation there was talk that Highlands
2:13:01 was already like the conduit's already
2:13:02 laid so they can just plop the
2:13:04 substation in and so that idea on homes
2:13:07 I think is a smart way to tackle that.
2:13:09 Um and then you know each of these
2:13:12 policies will obviously be vetted as we
2:13:14 go. you know, I have, you know, concerns
2:13:16 about the replacement at time of loss
2:13:18 for like certain, you know, I've been in
2:13:20 situations where we've lost heat and you
2:13:21 got to get something fast. And so the
2:13:23 idea of the you're forced into something
2:13:25 that you might not be able to afford is
2:13:26 something that I would want addressed in
2:13:28 any kind of plan there. Um because I do
2:13:30 obviously want the change, but I don't
2:13:31 want to put people in some sort of we
2:13:34 can't get heat because we're forced to
2:13:35 get this type we can't afford. So those
2:13:37 types of things. And so making sure when
2:13:39 we do get to the policy stage, we push
2:13:43 ourselves. we are a leader but we you
2:13:45 know remember what it's going to cost
2:13:46 the individuals that you know might have
2:13:48 thing and we make sure we keep them in
2:13:49 mind as we go. Um and then um my last
2:13:54 point which I'm blanking on uh what oh
2:13:57 yeah in terms of being a leader is also
2:13:59 just making sure that as we go and as we
2:14:01 have success making sure we're loud
2:14:02 about it and you know working with
2:14:05 communications and and in order to be a
2:14:07 leader people need to know we're doing
2:14:08 it. So, making sure that we find ways to
2:14:11 be very loud and proud of that as we
2:14:13 achieve our various goals. So, thank
2:14:16 >> Council Member Joe.
2:14:17 >> Thank you. Um, appreciate all the hard
2:14:20 work. I I remember reading this uh
2:14:24 before I came on council. I can't
2:14:25 believe it's been 5 years now that have
2:14:28 have passed, but it's great to see the
2:14:31 uh guideposts and goals that we've made
2:14:34 and the other ones that we've now taken
2:14:36 a look at and figured out how we can
2:14:38 achieve in a better way and things that
2:14:40 we need to kind of tweak to still reach
2:14:43 our goals. So, appreciate all the hard
2:14:45 work, great work there. Um, action 1.7,
2:14:48 reduce localized air and stream
2:14:50 pollutants. Uh the feedback I would have
2:14:52 on this particular one is um take a look
2:14:55 at our what we're doing with storm water
2:14:57 already and see if whether or not um
2:15:01 doing more in that category the expenses
2:15:04 outweigh the potential benefits that we
2:15:06 already have uh from the storm water
2:15:08 system before the water gets to the
2:15:12 streams. Um so just keep that in mind as
2:15:15 a as a idea. Um the building on electric
2:15:19 policies action 3 1.3 um implement a
2:15:23 time of replacement energy. I I do have
2:15:25 some concerns about low-income people um
2:15:29 earning less than $200,000. I must be
2:15:31 low income then anyway. uh the uh the
2:15:36 requirement for uh replacement. Um I
2:15:40 think you did a really good job with the
2:15:42 heat pump initiative over the last two
2:15:45 or three years where we really trying to
2:15:47 encourage people to switch to heat
2:15:50 pumps. Um, and if if we if we're able to
2:15:54 do that kind of program with this
2:15:57 requirement such that people are
2:15:59 replacing their their systems before
2:16:02 they break down, then I think the
2:16:04 requirement can work. But I don't want
2:16:06 citizens to get into a situation that
2:16:08 council member Dair was talking about
2:16:10 where they're forced to buy something
2:16:12 way beyond their means because um it's
2:16:15 broken down, we don't have an
2:16:16 alternative. If we can provide an
2:16:18 incentive or a program for people along
2:16:20 the way, then I I think that can work.
2:16:23 Um, with the um
2:16:26 action 3.2, the multif family
2:16:28 requirement for installing electric
2:16:30 vehicle raised stalls. I'm going to um
2:16:33 kind of go a little counter to my uh my
2:16:36 colleagues here. Um, I would be more in
2:16:39 favor of installing the tubes, the
2:16:43 conduits for it, but not requiring the
2:16:46 wiring. If the owner of the facility
2:16:50 wants to put in the wiring later because
2:16:52 their tenants want it put in there, then
2:16:55 they can wire it, put in the equipment,
2:16:59 and then talk to PSC about generating
2:17:02 the additional load that's going to be
2:17:04 necessary. Um, I'd like to keep it so
2:17:07 that it's possible for people to do it
2:17:10 if the land owner or owner of the place
2:17:12 wants to do it, but not necessarily
2:17:15 require all the wiring up front because
2:17:16 that's a pretty big cost for a person
2:17:19 trying to put a multifamily unit in the
2:17:22 city. The other thing to consider uh is
2:17:26 the cost of parking. in the past and
2:17:29 you'll have to check it just to be sure
2:17:31 and maybe the the stats are a little bit
2:17:33 different, but when you put in an EV
2:17:36 spot, it has to be a little bit bigger
2:17:38 than the normal spot. So, if it's 1.25
2:17:42 for an EV spot versus one for a normal
2:17:46 spot or even smaller for a compact spot,
2:17:48 we're going to be taking parking away
2:17:50 from that unit as well, which is an
2:17:53 added cost that potentially could be in
2:17:55 there. So, um, having the the the tubing
2:17:59 there ready to be wired, you don't have
2:18:01 to cut the spot out initially. You can
2:18:04 keep the same number of spots in there
2:18:06 and then when the owner wants to put in
2:18:08 the electric system for it, he can
2:18:10 rejigger the lines and figure out how to
2:18:12 rejigger his parking uh, within that
2:18:15 unit and not necessarily take away those
2:18:18 units uh, those parking stalls right at
2:18:20 the beginning. And so those are just
2:18:22 some things to think about if if the if
2:18:24 the spots are still normal size and you
2:18:27 know there isn't a need to have uh
2:18:30 additional space for the electric
2:18:32 generator or the charging device there
2:18:34 and it doesn't take away space and
2:18:36 that's great but just another thing to
2:18:37 think about as we're looking looking at
2:18:39 this. Um appreciate all the work again
2:18:42 and um I think that our citizens really
2:18:45 want to make a difference in climate. uh
2:18:48 they want to know how they can help and
2:18:49 they want to have choices in terms of
2:18:51 what they can do to help. Um and this
2:18:54 policy I think has a potential to really
2:18:57 empower people to um prepare for
2:19:00 emergencies themselves and prepare for
2:19:02 the climate change and help see uh the
2:19:05 changes they want to see in the world.
2:19:07 Thank you very much.
2:19:10 >> Um okay, before we wrap up, council
2:19:11 member Joe, I actually have a quick
2:19:12 question for you. So, is it easy for
2:19:14 someone to, you know, if the conduit the
2:19:16 tubes are in there, is it easy to put
2:19:17 the wire through the tube?
2:19:20 >> I've never done that u myself, but I
2:19:25 think we need to talk to the people that
2:19:26 do that to figure it out. Um, we set up
2:19:32 um, okay, so when you take down overhead
2:19:35 wires and you put in wires under the
2:19:38 under the street, they put in the tube
2:19:41 and it's wide enough so that other
2:19:43 utilities can go through there in the
2:19:45 future. Right? So, that's one experience
2:19:48 that I've had that I think relates to
2:19:50 what I'm trying to talk about, but we
2:19:52 would need to talk to the professionals
2:19:54 about that to know for sure.
2:19:56 >> Great. Yeah. If it's easy to put the
2:19:58 wires in through the tube, then I'm
2:19:59 totally open to not having the wires.
2:20:01 But do think probably, you know, uh
2:20:04 Alexis can talk to her uh friends over
2:20:06 at NaOP about that.
2:20:09 Great. Any other comments
2:20:12 with that? Um Oh, do you have what you
2:20:15 need?
2:20:15 >> Next steps and then approval process.
2:20:18 That's okay.
2:20:18 >> Okay. Okay.
2:20:19 >> Go for it.
2:20:20 >> Great. Um so our next step, you've seen
2:20:23 the draft plan. We've gotten some really
2:20:24 great feedback this evening. We're going
2:20:26 to take a another look at some of the
2:20:28 actions. We may make some slight
2:20:30 adjustments. Received a few typo
2:20:32 corrections we'll look at. Um and then
2:20:35 we've received verbal com uh approval
2:20:37 from the environmental board. Wednesday
2:20:39 evening we'll share with them the
2:20:40 feedback we received tonight and they'll
2:20:42 be providing a written um
2:20:44 recommendation. Um and then the other
2:20:47 item I'll add here is we'll be reaching
2:20:49 out to PSSE about their large battery
2:20:51 incentive program. It sounds like
2:20:53 there's potential interest in that. Um
2:20:56 so what we are looking for in terms of
2:20:58 our next step coming back to you all
2:21:00 with the final plan for approval and
2:21:02 adoption we proposed a couple of options
2:21:05 here um coming before one of the next
2:21:07 council meetings um if you don't
2:21:10 anticipate any major revisions um if we
2:21:14 need further discussion we can come back
2:21:16 to PTE or future uh committee of the
2:21:19 whole so looking for direction on how
2:21:21 you would like to proceed uh with IAP
2:21:23 approval and adoption.
2:21:25 Great. Any council thoughts on this
2:21:29 piece? Council member Joe,
2:21:31 >> I'd be in favor of bringing it back July
2:21:35 um for approval and adoption, which
2:21:38 still gives you the option of taking it
2:21:40 to PTE on July 7th if something comes up
2:21:44 in your research. Um and then we can
2:21:47 stay on schedule to to then adopt it
2:21:49 before budget. Um would be my
2:21:51 preference.
2:21:54 other thoughts,
2:21:58 General? Oh, council member Nichols.
2:22:01 >> Yeah, seconding that both uh for the
2:22:03 council on July 20th with uh I think
2:22:07 maybe likely
2:22:09 single touch point backup PD on the 7th
2:22:11 with other things you've heard either
2:22:13 tonight or that continue to come up. I
2:22:15 think it can probably be quick, but it
2:22:17 might be good to plan on that.
2:22:21 >> I'm seeing nods. Great. Stacey, do you
2:22:24 have what you need?
2:22:25 >> Do. Yes.
2:22:26 >> Great.
2:22:26 >> Thank you.
2:22:27 >> Well, thank you so much.
2:22:29 >> Um, okay. That concludes this action
2:22:31 item. The next item is good of the
2:22:35 order. Does anyone have anything to talk
2:22:38 about for the good of the order?
2:22:42 Okay. No one else does. I have one item.
2:22:44 Only one. Um, this is about the state
2:22:47 legislative agenda. Um, so we are having
2:22:50 a breakfast with our state legislative
2:22:52 delegation. Um, I believe it's next
2:22:56 Thursday, uh, June 18th. Um, so I just
2:23:01 wanted to provide a quick update on kind
2:23:03 of how we're planning on scheduling
2:23:05 that. So you might have seen an email
2:23:06 from city staff about, you know, kind of
2:23:09 the agenda for that. I think there's
2:23:12 some concern about, you know, the
2:23:13 specific projects that were on that
2:23:15 list. And I think given where we're at
2:23:16 right now, we don't have an adopted
2:23:19 state legislative agenda for 2027 yet.
2:23:22 And so instead of, you know, going
2:23:24 through a list of specific projects, um,
2:23:26 currently we're proposing just talking
2:23:27 more about some of the broader themes
2:23:29 that are important to the city, such as,
2:23:31 you know, transportation, which could be
2:23:33 funding for specific transportation
2:23:34 improvements that we think are
2:23:36 priorities, um, or just like broader
2:23:39 transportation policy type things. um
2:23:41 housing um you know things like the
2:23:43 housing trust fund or other changes at
2:23:46 the state level like um condo liability
2:23:48 reform or streamlining for things like
2:23:50 smaller elevators or single stair that
2:23:51 can make uh it easier to build more
2:23:54 affordable housing. Um as we just spoke
2:23:56 about sustainability and climate action,
2:23:58 you know, there's some areas of our
2:23:59 climate action plan where we really are
2:24:01 going to need more action from the
2:24:02 state. Um local revenue tools. Um, you
2:24:05 know, we are very constrained in what
2:24:07 types of local revenue tools we have and
2:24:09 so advocating for some of those. Um, and
2:24:11 then public safety costs for things like
2:24:13 public defense, um, jail, you know,
2:24:15 some, uh, additional needs for state
2:24:17 funding there. So, curious if there's
2:24:19 anything else that we would like to add
2:24:21 or any concerns. Council member Walsh,
2:24:24 >> how does this relate to the seven topics
2:24:26 that were sent out previously as um,
2:24:30 topic items? because your list there
2:24:33 sounds much broader and doesn't include
2:24:36 things like ECD gov update capital
2:24:38 requests for e house SR18 which are very
2:24:42 specific.
2:24:44 Yeah. So I think at this point um we're
2:24:46 proposing not getting into super
2:24:49 specifics um since we haven't yet put
2:24:52 you know as a council we haven't had the
2:24:54 discussion about what our specific
2:24:55 priority should be. Um, so at this point
2:24:58 we're kind of looking for feedback on do
2:24:59 we think those, you know, five general
2:25:02 areas are aligned with uh what we want
2:25:06 to do. Uh, council member Boyo,
2:25:08 >> I guess cuz I don't think I've seen it
2:25:10 anywhere official is the idea then that
2:25:13 uh I think in the past traditionally
2:25:15 there's been a dinner more towards fall
2:25:16 winter prior to session. So if you
2:25:20 wanted to get into the specifics that
2:25:21 would be towards that latter quarter of
2:25:24 the year. I also am pretty new so I have
2:25:27 not attended such a dinner but I think
2:25:29 that's that sounds right and I think
2:25:31 we'll have more time you know to hash
2:25:33 that council member Walsh
2:25:35 >> uh we have always done a breakfast uh at
2:25:37 least in recent times um but it's always
2:25:40 been right before session and so I think
2:25:43 the adjustment here is to have something
2:25:46 a little bit earlier um that there's
2:25:48 engagement but I think I would ask back
2:25:51 to city administrator
2:25:53 do we plan to do um another event when
2:25:57 we have our legislative agenda or is it
2:25:59 more the action later would be adopt a
2:26:02 legislative agenda and chop that out
2:26:04 through our lobbyist?
2:26:06 >> I I think uh council member Walsh the
2:26:08 idea is that this is in essence kind of
2:26:10 replacing what we didn't do in the in
2:26:13 the late 2025 time frame. So we would
2:26:16 still recommendation would be to do a
2:26:18 breakfast, you know, Novemberish
2:26:22 um with the legislative agenda. I mean
2:26:23 it's clear that um when we enter the the
2:26:28 bianium process um it's a more extensive
2:26:31 review of the agenda and so that we
2:26:33 haven't done yet. We've not talked about
2:26:35 it. Uh we're tenatively looking to at
2:26:37 least have this on the July 27th uh
2:26:40 council retreat to talk about process
2:26:42 for this. Uh but we really are concerned
2:26:45 that it's going to be a very difficult
2:26:47 session next year for cities and the
2:26:49 more we can do now to get in front of
2:26:52 our legislators to talk about what our
2:26:54 concerns are and put them on notice the
2:26:56 better. And I think one of the
2:26:57 challenges we have is we don't have
2:26:59 there's been a transition to the
2:27:00 council. U there the specifics may
2:27:03 change but we also don't want to lose
2:27:05 this opportunity to reinforce some of
2:27:08 the the basic tenants revenue
2:27:10 flexibility public safety housing
2:27:12 sustainability. So that the goal and
2:27:16 this was discussed at council leadership
2:27:18 uh over a couple of meetings but most
2:27:19 recently last week and that's where the
2:27:21 list came from was a discussion with
2:27:23 council leadership with the mayor.
2:27:26 >> Uh I think was it council member Darren
2:27:28 then Nichols.
2:27:32 Um, I mean, so like I agree with the
2:27:35 general topics and even the list that
2:27:36 was saying like those all things made
2:27:38 sense, but I think what I'm hearing now
2:27:39 and what I'm feeling now is that is that
2:27:43 we might need to get a very clear goal
2:27:45 of what we intend to get out of this
2:27:46 breakfast. If like we haven't formalized
2:27:48 what we want out of legislative session,
2:27:50 if if you know a lot of these top the
2:27:52 general topics are kind of I think they
2:27:54 know to some extent that those are
2:27:56 things that are big for us. So, I feel
2:27:57 like we might need to get a specific
2:27:59 goal and what we want to get out of this
2:28:01 meeting. And if it's just to talk about
2:28:03 these general broad ideas, fine, but
2:28:05 that doesn't seem like enough or or
2:28:07 meaty enough that to do that. So, I
2:28:08 think that might be helpful to clarify
2:28:11 of just kind of, you know, when we leave
2:28:13 it, what do we hope we've achieved out
2:28:15 of that that breakfast?
2:28:19 >> Um, I mean, I I definitely think that's
2:28:21 a good question. And I think even you
2:28:23 know like the relationship building
2:28:25 aspect of things I think is important.
2:28:27 Um and also you know our legislators are
2:28:30 also all accessible. So I you know I've
2:28:33 met with most of them individually in
2:28:35 the past and so you know want to also
2:28:38 emphasize that that's something that you
2:28:39 can do as an individual or as a council
2:28:41 member. Um, but I do think especially at
2:28:43 this point when we don't yet have our
2:28:45 legislative agenda finalized, it is more
2:28:46 of just like, you know, a relationship
2:28:49 type thing where we're saying, "Hey,
2:28:50 these are the areas that are important
2:28:52 to us." And, you know, if you have bills
2:28:54 who are that are in these areas, we're
2:28:55 also happy to support.
2:28:58 And if I can add, um, you know, the the
2:29:00 the one item that there's on the on the
2:29:03 capital list, I know Mayor Mullet, uh,
2:29:05 sees as there's a great opportunity
2:29:07 with, uh, uh, Representative Kalen's new
2:29:10 role in taking the lead on the capital
2:29:12 budget for the House. Um, and so I I I
2:29:15 think maybe it may be worth a few
2:29:17 moments to this evening. Um, you know,
2:29:19 the mayor feels strongly that we need to
2:29:21 be aggressive in that area especially,
2:29:24 and that there are some, uh, capital
2:29:26 needs, but parks capital needs that we
2:29:28 should at least try to put on the table.
2:29:30 Now, we've not talked about it as a full
2:29:31 council, uh, but I think the mayor sees
2:29:34 this as a good opportunity to do that.
2:29:35 So, unless there's wild objection to
2:29:38 that, I think that perhaps, you know,
2:29:40 that might be something that that that's
2:29:42 more specific. other things on the list
2:29:45 uh regarding public records, regarding
2:29:47 the jail. Um I mean those are all
2:29:49 consistent with things that the the
2:29:50 council has previously talked about, but
2:29:53 I think some of the feedback that uh uh
2:29:56 deputy council president Jen received
2:29:58 from some of you over the course of the
2:29:59 last several days was that there was a
2:30:01 little bit of discomfort getting into
2:30:03 too terrible detail with some of that.
2:30:05 So maybe splitting the difference is not
2:30:08 a bad thing. Um clearly public safety
2:30:11 costs are significant for us that are uh
2:30:13 maybe not the same for some of the other
2:30:15 communities our representatives uh
2:30:17 represent. Um you know the the focus on
2:30:19 affordable housing again some of our
2:30:22 neighbor communities don't have that
2:30:23 that that same focus. So I I don't think
2:30:25 it's a bad thing to talk about some of
2:30:27 these larger larger topics but I do know
2:30:30 that Mayor Mullet is not going to want
2:30:32 to miss the opportunity to talk about
2:30:34 capital. uh as I think most of you know
2:30:36 he was responsible on the senate side uh
2:30:38 for the state capital budget. So seeing
2:30:40 an opportunity to work closely with
2:30:42 representative Kalan I think he sees as
2:30:44 a major issue for us in 27 uh moving
2:30:47 forward. So deputy council president I I
2:30:49 think maybe that piece we would
2:30:52 recommend we continue to be specific but
2:30:54 maybe again talk a little bit more in
2:30:55 general terms about some of these other
2:30:57 topics.
2:30:58 >> Yeah. I mean does anyone have objections
2:31:00 to talking about the e house at this
2:31:02 meeting?
2:31:05 Council member Walsh. Oh, and Oh, I
2:31:07 think it was Oh, okay. Walsh and then
2:31:11 and then Nichols. I don't know.
2:31:12 >> Yeah, I think
2:31:18 I don't love the idea of making a
2:31:21 capital ask before we have considered
2:31:23 what our potential capital asks should
2:31:26 be. So, I I appreciate that the mayor
2:31:30 and that relationship and that there are
2:31:32 opportunities there. The decision on
2:31:36 what to fund or what to ask for um I
2:31:40 think should come to the council. Um I
2:31:44 think we can have some great
2:31:45 conversations about the pros and cons of
2:31:48 different things both in what are
2:31:50 important to us as a city and what are
2:31:53 viable for a capital ask. what are most
2:31:57 likely to be successful, but I would
2:31:58 like to have that conversation about
2:32:00 more than just a single project.
2:32:05 >> Council member Nichols, I think you're
2:32:07 next. Oh,
2:32:10 >> um I'll speak to both points, both the
2:32:12 broader point about the um uh what
2:32:18 what level of specificity should we be
2:32:19 getting into now and then the specific
2:32:21 question on the on this specific capital
2:32:23 ask regarding the e house. Um, as far as
2:32:25 the the broader points, um, I I agree
2:32:29 with the concept of keeping this at
2:32:31 least initial meeting pretty high level
2:32:33 and um, uh, not lean in too much on the
2:32:37 details of any particular um, policy or
2:32:40 any particular ask or certainly any
2:32:42 particular talking points. Um, with the
2:32:44 reason being that we have a many new
2:32:46 folks on council, I suspect that there
2:32:48 will both be things that are the same,
2:32:49 but there will almost certainly be
2:32:51 things that are different. Um, another
2:32:53 topic that another reason to delay
2:32:54 somewhat on the details is that we've
2:32:56 gotten a good number of public comment
2:32:57 lately, um, multiple emails even today,
2:33:01 um requesting
2:33:04 some process for the community to,
2:33:07 uh, be able to impact our legislative
2:33:10 agenda in ways that have not always been
2:33:13 as accessible in the past. Um, I think
2:33:15 that's a good idea. I think there's a
2:33:17 lot of things that um the community
2:33:19 wants that we as a city cannot
2:33:21 necessarily do on our own but that we
2:33:23 can utilize our our lobbying efforts if
2:33:25 we and that will be more powerfully
2:33:27 stated if we say both this is a
2:33:29 community um driven effort we have
2:33:31 feedback from a community this is
2:33:32 something we want um and we're also
2:33:35 supporting it from the the city
2:33:36 perspective jointly um I think that is a
2:33:39 multiplicative that will have a
2:33:40 multiplicative effect that could be very
2:33:42 powerful and useful for us um on this on
2:33:45 any particular ask whether it's a
2:33:47 capital ask or otherwise. I don't know
2:33:48 that that we should put I I I would
2:33:52 caution us against um putting too much
2:33:55 weight on any particular meeting
2:33:56 especially a kind of informal breakfast.
2:33:58 I think we will have plenty of
2:34:00 additional touch points with all of our
2:34:01 legislators in both the 5th and the
2:34:03 41st. Um if the if if this is a capital
2:34:07 ask that becomes a a consensus ask, I
2:34:10 think we will have more than enough
2:34:11 opportunity to communicate that to um
2:34:14 all of our our representatives and that
2:34:17 this there's no particular urgency for
2:34:21 this partic this individual meeting on
2:34:23 that topic. Um and we can we we're not
2:34:27 going to lose anything in reality. we
2:34:29 can still have those if anyone can still
2:34:31 as an individual have those
2:34:32 conversations with there including the
2:34:33 mayor. Um so we we we will have time to
2:34:36 have those conversations and I think
2:34:37 both to allow us as a council to come to
2:34:39 a consensus with the with the
2:34:41 administration as well. Um and to allow
2:34:42 for better community input on these um I
2:34:45 think keeping to our the same high level
2:34:48 things we always talk about housing,
2:34:50 transportation, etc. that's fine. Those
2:34:52 are those are almost certainly going to
2:34:53 stay the same. Um, but the specific
2:34:55 policies I suspect will there will be
2:34:57 there's room for debate. Um, and I I
2:34:59 think we should allow that debate to
2:35:00 happen.
2:35:02 >> Great. Thank you. Uh, Council Member
2:35:04 Boyd.
2:35:04 >> I'm just saying for the record that I'm
2:35:05 intentionally staying out of this
2:35:06 conversation, um, just for
2:35:08 considerations with my, uh, day job and
2:35:11 so, uh, Council Member Nichols
2:35:12 mentioned, you know, debating different
2:35:13 projects and I will let you all do that.
2:35:16 and I plan on test um attending the
2:35:18 breakfast in my council member role, but
2:35:20 um won't necessarily be um I think I
2:35:24 I'll be in listening mode.
2:35:27 >> Great. Thank you. Any other comments,
2:35:30 questions? Council member Joe,
2:35:33 >> I'll just bring a different perspective
2:35:34 that uh when you lobby
2:35:39 um a body, whether it's a city council
2:35:43 or a planning commission or house rep or
2:35:47 senator,
2:35:49 the city needs to be in front of that
2:35:52 representative
2:35:54 constantly with
2:35:58 an ask that we want to see done. Now,
2:36:02 maybe we don't accept the funding later,
2:36:04 but we need to have those conversations
2:36:06 from even a preliminary point of view
2:36:10 right now if we think that it's
2:36:12 something that we might want to ask for
2:36:14 by November, December. Um, they need to
2:36:17 have it on their mind. They need to have
2:36:20 it as something on their list that, oh,
2:36:22 Isiqua is talking about this. Maybe they
2:36:24 don't want it right now, but they're
2:36:26 talking about it. So, I need to pay
2:36:27 attention to it and monitor and watch
2:36:30 it. And you've got to build that
2:36:32 lobbying effort
2:36:34 starting in the summer,
2:36:37 carrying it through the fall so that
2:36:40 it's ready to go in November. That's all
2:36:43 to say I don't know what we're asking
2:36:45 for, but I think that we've talked about
2:36:48 the e house a little bit and it's part
2:36:51 of the potential park bond that we've
2:36:53 been talking about. So, I don't think
2:36:55 it's out of the realm of things that we
2:36:58 would talk about to to discuss the
2:37:02 potential ideas that we have on the e
2:37:05 house right now. You've got to break
2:37:07 that ground. You've got to start having
2:37:11 that as a piece of conversation for your
2:37:13 legislators all the way through that
2:37:15 process so that by by the time you get
2:37:17 to November, it's a natural thing for
2:37:19 them to say, "Yes, you've told me about
2:37:21 it. I know everything about it. Now I
2:37:23 want to go and try to do it." So my take
2:37:26 is that yeah, if we decide not to do a
2:37:30 conversation about a capital piece or
2:37:33 the e house even as it might be, I think
2:37:36 we should still give
2:37:39 our mayor uh the freedom to go ahead and
2:37:42 have those conversations and start
2:37:44 breaking that ground. And if other
2:37:46 council members feel it's an important
2:37:48 project,
2:37:50 I'm just going to let you guys know
2:37:51 that, you know, I think it's an
2:37:53 important project that I want to start
2:37:54 talking to legislators about. Not say
2:37:56 that I can commit the council to
2:37:58 anything, but my experience as a person
2:38:02 who lobbies
2:38:04 uh bodies is that you need to start it
2:38:06 right now and build that base beyond
2:38:09 just building the relationship with
2:38:10 them, but building that base to start
2:38:12 talking about capital projects. So, at
2:38:15 the very least, I think we should um
2:38:18 give the mayor permission, direction, or
2:38:22 the uh sign off to go ahead and start
2:38:25 talking about the capital projects that
2:38:28 uh we've been talking about as a body
2:38:31 over this time period. Not committed to
2:38:32 any one particular one, but uh let him
2:38:35 start talking about those because he's a
2:38:38 professional. He knows what he's doing.
2:38:40 and if we want to get that funding for
2:38:42 whatever project, he's got to start
2:38:44 breaking that ground right now. So,
2:38:45 that's my thought on it.
2:38:47 >> Thank you. Uh, council member deer.
2:38:51 Uh well I think now I'm going to end up
2:38:53 extending the conversation because
2:38:54 especially after those comments by
2:38:56 council Joe I'm kind of leaning more
2:38:57 towards these specific topics that were
2:38:59 in the original email and not
2:39:01 necessarily as that we all are on
2:39:03 consensus in this but it does seem true
2:39:05 that like
2:39:07 any true policy for the legislative
2:39:11 agenda is going to take a lot of time to
2:39:12 develop. And the more we're these are
2:39:15 things we're thinking about and we may
2:39:16 not necessarily have we voted on them,
2:39:18 but to start these conversations and
2:39:19 start getting our legislators thinking
2:39:21 about how to tackle them and starting
2:39:23 other conversations does seem important
2:39:26 and does seem good for us to have some
2:39:29 specific things we're going to be
2:39:31 talking about with them to see what is
2:39:32 the viability of these. Are these even
2:39:34 achievable or what do they need from us
2:39:37 until then to be ready for it? And so I
2:39:41 am now leaning a little bit towards more
2:39:42 at least some of these specific projects
2:39:44 being our topic points because I think
2:39:46 that that's useful for the long-term
2:39:49 discussion.
2:39:50 >> Yeah, I mean I definitely agree on the
2:39:52 importance of specific projects, but I
2:39:55 mean if we're getting into specific
2:39:56 projects, I have some specific projects
2:39:58 that are not on the list that I would
2:39:59 like to see added. In particular, uh
2:40:02 roundabouts on SR900 living in Talis.
2:40:06 That's probably, you know, like last
2:40:08 year we'd looked into, oh, if we like
2:40:10 added another lane slightly past uh, you
2:40:14 know, Talis Drive, would that do
2:40:16 anything? It's like you can have 25 more
2:40:18 cars parked there, but it doesn't do
2:40:20 anything because the, you know, the
2:40:21 point of issue is, you know, the traffic
2:40:24 light at May Valley Road and at JB's
2:40:25 Cafe. So, I mean, if we're talking about
2:40:28 things that will improve traffic flow in
2:40:30 Isiqua, that could be a major one. I
2:40:32 mean, if especially like highway 18, the
2:40:36 the nexus is very very indirect and you
2:40:39 know, SR900 is a state road and there's
2:40:41 various, you know, it's a blessing and a
2:40:43 curse. So, I think, you know, if we're
2:40:46 going to go into specific projects, I
2:40:47 think we should also open the floor to
2:40:49 what what are some of the other specific
2:40:50 projects that we might want to consider,
2:40:53 but that might also I don't know. It's
2:40:54 like does that make it too messy or
2:40:55 should we just try to do on an expedited
2:40:57 timeline say okay everyone come up with
2:41:00 a list and then we'll all hash it out at
2:41:02 the next council meeting.
2:41:09 Council member Walsh.
2:41:13 So this is a different time period than
2:41:14 we've usually done this. Um, and so I
2:41:20 think as much as
2:41:22 this is a good time to do engagement, we
2:41:26 are unfortunately coming at this with a
2:41:29 new council and a new mayor who haven't
2:41:33 had that conversation about what the
2:41:35 priorities are. So, I think as much as I
2:41:38 would like to have the specific
2:41:40 conversations with our legislators at
2:41:42 this early time, and I think that should
2:41:44 be our goal, I don't think we're ready
2:41:46 to do that at this point. Um, so I think
2:41:50 we need to default to utilizing this for
2:41:56 networking and general topics. And if we
2:42:00 want to make it a priority that we talk
2:42:04 about our legislative agenda, you know,
2:42:07 in July or in September so that we have
2:42:11 it earlier rather than later. I think
2:42:15 that's great, but
2:42:18 I I just don't see how we can have a
2:42:21 specific conversation.
2:42:23 >> Council member Nichols.
2:42:26 >> Yeah. And on that that same point, I I
2:42:28 think the the difficulties of having a
2:42:30 specific conversation and then having a
2:42:32 process where we go through and are very
2:42:34 deliberative and open up, especially to
2:42:37 the public um for additional ideas both
2:42:40 to be added or removed. Um it's hard to
2:42:44 reel things back once we put them out
2:42:46 there and we only get so many priorities
2:42:48 that we can really talk about. I mean,
2:42:49 this seven is frankly probably a lot
2:42:51 already. Um so
2:42:56 historically my understanding is we have
2:42:57 not started
2:43:00 breakfast lobbying. I guess that's what
2:43:02 the determine I'm not sure what to call
2:43:03 this exactly um at this stage of the
2:43:05 year. I think this is a nice addition
2:43:07 since this was not feasible um last year
2:43:11 um for a variety of reasons. Uh this is
2:43:13 a nice addition to the schedule to help
2:43:16 build some connections. I don't think
2:43:18 that I would I would I mean anyone
2:43:21 should be of course able to talk to
2:43:25 anyone in our our legislative delegation
2:43:27 at any point. Um whether that's the
2:43:29 mayor who I'm I'm I would I'm certain
2:43:31 does um or any of us. Um I don't think
2:43:33 anyone would hold that against anyone.
2:43:35 That's there's you know
2:43:39 plenty of opportunity to do so. Uh the
2:43:41 difference is whether once we if we
2:43:43 communicate something as a consensus um
2:43:46 that implies a consensus um and it will
2:43:50 I think it will be n impossible for us
2:43:52 to get there tonight starting at 9:15.
2:43:55 Um, I suspect it would be hard for us to
2:43:57 get there as a single body even in the
2:43:59 next couple weeks and I think it will be
2:44:01 impossible for us to get good public
2:44:02 feedback and we have heard from the
2:44:04 public that they would like to have an
2:44:06 opportunity to to help you utilize us to
2:44:09 better be their voice in some of their
2:44:10 the the lobbying efforts that are out
2:44:12 there. So, I would I would again with
2:44:14 all of that um recommend that we we keep
2:44:18 it as a as a good networking
2:44:20 opportunity. We should all strive to
2:44:21 have good relationships with all of our
2:44:22 legislators um and uh
2:44:27 pause briefly on a statement of
2:44:31 consensus while still driving towards
2:44:34 getting that consensus relatively
2:44:36 quickly towards Council Member Joe's
2:44:38 point that sooner is going to be better
2:44:40 and uh we can start communicating that
2:44:42 better sooner if we have it sooner.
2:44:47 >> Great.
2:44:49 Um, yeah, I think I'm in agreement with
2:44:52 that point. I think, you know, I I think
2:44:54 the sooner we can get to a good place
2:44:56 with our full legislative agenda, the
2:44:58 better, but I think we're not yet ready
2:45:00 at this point to say here's, you know,
2:45:02 the city's priorities. Um, so I think
2:45:05 you know keeping it relatively high
2:45:07 level and saying you know oh like we're
2:45:09 very excited that uh Representative Ken
2:45:12 now has this capital budget role and we
2:45:13 will have some specific asks for you in
2:45:16 the next in our next breakfast lobbying
2:45:19 meeting or whatever the case may be. Um,
2:45:22 city administrator anything to add
2:45:25 so I'm clear so we can take this back to
2:45:27 Mayor Mullet. Uh hopefully council
2:45:29 leadership can talk about this on
2:45:30 Wednesday morning uh and get this
2:45:32 finalized. Uh there seems to be
2:45:34 consensus to talk about the broader
2:45:36 topics off the top of my head. Housing
2:45:38 uh sustainability
2:45:40 uh public safety at large um the need
2:45:45 for alternate revenue sources for cities
2:45:47 I think that's transportation
2:45:49 >> and transportation that's five. So I
2:45:51 think one of the reasons we were trying
2:45:52 to give a speaking role for every member
2:45:54 of the council um we've done this in the
2:45:56 past where one or two have said
2:45:58 something the rest have not and then the
2:45:59 others have been have felt they didn't
2:46:01 have a proper opportunity to
2:46:03 participate. So we're trying to give
2:46:04 everyone that opportunity to say
2:46:06 something. So the the magic number is
2:46:09 the number of people around the table
2:46:11 versus what the the council's priorities
2:46:14 would be. So does that sound reasonable
2:46:17 with those? Was it five deputy council
2:46:19 president that I rattled off? Council
2:46:21 member Walsh,
2:46:22 >> I volunteer as tribute to not speak so
2:46:24 that we don't have to talk about seven
2:46:26 things and we can keep a good
2:46:27 relationship with our legislators.
2:46:29 >> Well, and I think and I think we've um
2:46:32 you know built that in as well. Um we
2:46:34 often have not allowed them time um to
2:46:36 talk and so that has also been a
2:46:38 criticism that we've heard. So we're
2:46:40 trying to we're trying to do a lot of
2:46:42 things in a relatively short period of
2:46:44 time but at the end of the day it's
2:46:46 going to be a very very difficult
2:46:48 session uh next year. The governor
2:46:50 already announced today that he's asked
2:46:53 all of the state departments to begin
2:46:54 making cuts. Um they will come and look
2:46:57 for additional revenue uh sources from
2:47:00 uh things that we uh we benefit from. Uh
2:47:03 they will likely start the legislature
2:47:04 will likely start taking away some of
2:47:06 the prerogatives that we have because
2:47:08 it's happening in state after state all
2:47:09 over America. Um, and so I think really
2:47:12 we just need to communicate uh how
2:47:14 important the services we provide are
2:47:16 and how important it is that we have the
2:47:19 revenue in order to provide those
2:47:20 services. So hopefully that's something
2:47:22 everybody can agree on on the council
2:47:25 and if it is we can craft this in such a
2:47:28 way that uh working with Deputy Council
2:47:30 President Jen uh so that we have a good
2:47:33 breakfast next week.
2:47:34 >> Yep. Uh, council member Boyd, I
2:47:36 >> think I'm actually uh happy to volunteer
2:47:38 to not speak uh or if there's things
2:47:41 that you would like to share or that uh
2:47:44 city programs things to highlight. I
2:47:46 think that I'll double check, but that
2:47:48 might be within my bounds. But uh
2:47:50 >> I'm sorry I didn't hear the first part
2:47:51 what you said.
2:47:52 >> Oh, uh we're talking about folks
2:47:53 volunteering to not speak up or share um
2:47:57 the various even just high level uh
2:47:59 potential agenda items. I can take
2:48:02 myself off the speaking list. Okay. I
2:48:04 was I'm sorry. I'm still having a little
2:48:06 trouble hearing you, but I'm getting a
2:48:08 little clogged up in my ears tonight.
2:48:09 >> Sorry. Uh I'm happy to volunteer to not
2:48:12 speak.
2:48:12 >> Oh, right. No. Yeah. Thank you. And you
2:48:14 you were already not on the list.
2:48:16 >> Okay.
2:48:16 >> So, we need we need something for the
2:48:19 mayor. So, I think that was the the
2:48:21 idea.
2:48:22 >> Great. Any other thoughts or comment on
2:48:24 this? You think you have what we have
2:48:27 what we need?
2:48:28 >> Thank you.
2:48:29 >> Okay. Great. Well, if there's nothing
2:48:31 else for the good of the order, we are
2:48:34 adjourned at Oh god, I need to log in to
2:48:38 see what time it is.
2:48:40 9:19 p.m.

Attendance

Council / Members (7)
Paul Adair
Erika Boyd
Kelly Jiang, Deputy Council President
Russell Joe
Tola Marts, Council President (Excused Absence)
Kevin Nichols
Lindsey Walsh
Staff (3)
Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator
Andrea Lehner, Deputy City Administrator
Tisha Gieser, City Clerk
Audience commenters (2)
Ann Fletcher
David Kappler

Recommendations & actions (1)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

  • There was general agreement to focus on networking and broader policy areas given that there is not an adopted legislative agenda yet.