← Back to City Council Digest

City Council Regular Meeting Auto captions

Monday, April 21, 2025

7:00 PM · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topics tracked across meetings:
Title 18 Land Use Code: Clarifying Amendments COM 0272 3/10
3-Trails Asphalt Art Pedestrian Safety Improvements COM 0158 1/2
NW Sammamish Road Non Motorized Improvement Project (TR028) Contract Extension AB 8982 8/8
Squak Mt Non-Motorized Improvement Project Preferred Concept AB 8969 4/4
East Lake Sammamish Parkway West Ditch Conveyance Project (ST 002) AB 9001 3/3
Ruth Kees and Community Environmental Awards ID 1815 2/2
Shoreline Master Program, incorporating Dept of Ecology Changes AB 9004 2/2
2023-24 Budget Reauthorizations n/a (Action to be taken under AB 9016, First Ordinance AB 8986 2/2
First 2025-26 Budget Amendment AB 9016 2/2
Section
Topic
3. SPECIAL BUSINESS
3a
Moment of Silence, Former Mayor A.J. Culver ID 1877
5 min · packet pp.7
Staff report:
Informational Update ID # 1815 – Ruth and Dan Kees and Community Environmental Awards
3b
Ruth Kees and Community Environmental Awards ID 1815
10 min · packet pp.9
Staff report:
CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office
3c
Administrative Professionals Day Proclamation ID 1811
5 min · packet pp.11
Staff report:
CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office WASHINGTON 130 E. Sunset Way I P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah.WA 98027 (425) 837-3020 issaquahwa.gov
3d
Small Business Month Proclamation ID 1814
5 min · packet pp.13
Topics: Economic Development
Staff report:
SPECIAL BUSINESS e) CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office
3e
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Proclamation ID 1836
5 min
Topics: Arts & Culture
5. CONSENT CALENDAR
5a
Accounts: Payables and Payroll of April 21, 2025, $4,748,110.73 ID 1789
Carried 7-0
Approve · packet pp.15–35
Topics: Budget
Staff report:
Finance Department P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 PH: 425-837-3050 www.issaquahwa.gov
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5b
Minutes: City Council Committee of the Whole Special Meeting, March 1, 2025
Carried 7-0
Approve · packet pp.37–52
Staff report:
This item was introduced by Council President Walsh. The City Council then brainstormed the following questions: • What are the City’s communications issues? • What are our successes?
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5c
Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, March 17, 2025
Carried 7-0
Approve · packet pp.53–57
Staff report:
CONSENT CALENDAR c) 03-17-25 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers March 17, 2025 MINUTES 135 E. Sunset Way
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5d
Pedestrian Crossing Safety Improvements Grant AB 8948
Carried 7-0
Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.59–71
Topics: TransportationPublic Safety
Staff report:
C. Local Agency Agreement D. Project Prospectus City Attorney Review n/a City Attorney Review Date:
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5e
Board & Commission Annual Appointments AB 8965
Carried 7-0
Confirm · packet pp.73–79
Topics: Boards & Commissions
Staff report:
Confirm appointments as presented.
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5f
2025 Title 18 Clarifying Amendments AB 8974
Carried 7-0
Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.81–103
Topics: Land Use
Staff report:
In 2023, the City adopted a major update to Title 18, Land Use Code, with the intent of modernizing the regulations, simplifying the language and unifying a complex set of codes. As with all major projects, the City is committed to quality control and best practices. As staff and the public work through implementation of the new code, issues are being identified for correction.
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5g
NW Sammamish Road Non Motorized Improvement Project (TR028) Contract Extension AB 8982
Carried 7-0
Authorize · packet pp.105–110
Topics: Transportation
Staff report:
City Attorney Review City Attorney Review Date:
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5h
WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council Interlocal Agreement Renewal AB 8994
Carried 7-0
Authorize · packet pp.111–154
Topics: Water
Staff report:
Since 2000, King County, local governments, state and federal agencies, community organizations, businesses, special purpose districts and non profits have collaborated through the WRIA 8 ILA to protect and restore habitat for threatened Chinook salmon and improve watershed health. WRIA 8 is comprised of the Cedar River, Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish watersheds. Since the summer of 2024, WRIA 8 ILA partners have been working with WRIA 8 staff and the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to develop final draft language for a renewed ILA for approval by the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council. The draft ILA was approved at the November 2024 Salmon Recovery Council Meeting.
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5i
2024 Water Main Replacement Project (WT 015) AB 8997
Carried 7-0
Accept Project · packet pp.155–157
Topics: Water
Staff report:
City Attorney Review City Attorney Review Date:
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5j
Water Systems Improvement Project (WT045) AB 8999
Carried 7-0
Accept Project · packet pp.159–160
Topics: Water
Staff report:
On April 4, 2022 City Council awarded the construction contract for the Water Systems Improvement Project (WT045) to McClure and Sons, Inc., in the amount of $1,952,017.95 (including sales tax).
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5k
Sewer Rehabilitation Program AB 9000
Carried 7-0
Accept Project · packet pp.161–163
Topics: Water
Staff report:
City Attorney Review City Attorney Review Date:
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5l
East Lake Sammamish Parkway West Ditch Conveyance Project (ST 002) AB 9001
Carried 7-0
Accept Project · packet pp.165–166
Topics: Parks
Staff report:
On March 7, 2023 City Council awarded the construction contract for the East Lake Sammamish Parkway West Ditch Conveyance Project (ST002) to Northwest Cascade, Inc. in the amount of $1,804,706 (including sales tax).
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5m
Shoreline Master Program, incorporating Dept of Ecology Changes AB 9004
Carried 7-0
Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.167–173
Topics: Land UseCritical Areas
Staff report:
The SMP amendments were previously approved by the Council on May 1, 2023, under Ordinance 3021. Following the City Council's approval, the SMP was transmitted to the Department of Ecology (DOE) for review and approval. On February 18, 2025, the DOE completed its review of the SMP amendments and issued a conditional approval, along with required and recommended amendments. The changes are minor in nature but enhance clarity and ensure consistency with the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58) and SMP Guidelines (WAC 173-26). The proposed SMP amendments are provided in Exhibit A.
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
5n
Jotform Contract AB 9013
Carried 7-0
Authorize · packet pp.175–185
Staff report:
Several City projects and programs require a web-based data collection tool to effectively interface with customers and vendors. Jotform offers a subscription-based option that facilitates the secure gathering and processing of applications, contracts, and online surveys.
Roll call:
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh
6. REGULAR BUSINESS
6a
Squak Mt Non-Motorized Improvement Project Preferred Concept AB 8969
Approve Resolution · 30 min · packet pp.187–374
Staff report:
In early 2023, the Administration began a planning study for project TR068 Squak Mountain Non-Motorized Improvement Project. The project addresses the 12th Ave NW/ Mt. Olympus Dr NW corridor, one of the main routes in and out of the Squak Mountain neighborhood. The corridor currently is a two-lane street with narrow shoulders, steep roadway grades, and no sidewalk or bicycle lanes.
6b
2023-24 Budget Reauthorizations n/a (Action to be taken under AB 9016, First Ordinance AB 8986
20 min · packet pp.375–387
Topics: Land UseBudget
Staff report:
In each year's budget, funding is provided to complete a series of projects and programs. It is not unusual for a government entity to not complete all of those projects and programs in that particular fiscal year - whether that be because there was an unanticipated delay starting said project or program or because a project or program takes longer to complete than originally anticipated. In the case of the proposed 2023-24 reauthorizations, many projects faced setbacks due to supply chain or staffing shortage-related delays, but most projects were intended to be completed over several years.
6c
First 2025-26 Budget Amendment AB 9016
Adopt Ordinance · 20 min · packet pp.389–410
Topics: Land UseBudget
Staff report:
Budget amendments are required when the expenditures of a fund are forecast to exceed the adopted appropriation level or when changes are needed to interfund transfers - or transfers between funds. This budget amendment includes 5 items adjusting 6 of the City's 24 financial funds. In total, these adjustments account for $522,392 in increased revenues and $961,392 in increased expenditures. The amendments to the General Fund total $4,000 of the increased expenditures.
9. GOOD OF THE ORDER
9a
Upcoming Council Meetings
0:00 you
0:07 are. Good evening everyone. We have a
0:10 very large crowd this evening. I'm
0:12 calling the April 21st city council
0:14 meeting to order. Just as a reminder for
0:17 everybody who is here with us, we do
0:19 have a remote aspect to our meeting as
0:21 well. Members of staff, members of the
0:24 public may be participating in tonight's
0:25 meeting remotely via WebEx. And the
0:29 first item on the agenda this evening is
0:32 the pledge of allegiance. I would like
0:33 to invite all of those that would like
0:35 to join, please stand with us.
0:39 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
0:42 United States of America and to the
0:45 republic for which it stands, one nation
0:48 under God, indivisible, with liberty and
0:52 justice for all.
0:58 We do have a large number of folks with
1:00 us tonight. Um although our agenda items
1:03 are few, we have a lot of special events
1:06 and special proclamations. So, thank you
1:08 all for taking the time to come and join
1:10 us tonight. The first item under special
1:13 business is is a very sad one. We're
1:15 doing uh going to do a moment of silence
1:18 for state senator Bill Ramos who um
1:21 unexpectedly passed away this weekend.
1:24 We learned of his passing. Uh he was
1:26 also a former city council colleague and
1:29 a friend to many of those in the room
1:30 and many in this community. We will be
1:33 coordinating with Bill's family on a
1:35 more formal tribute at a future council
1:37 meeting where we can properly recognize
1:39 Bill's many contributions to our
1:41 community. Tonight, I'd like to ask that
1:43 the city council and the audience
1:46 members present take a moment of silence
1:49 to honor Bill.
2:01 Thank you very
2:04 much. The next item uh is
2:07 ID1877 and we are going to be
2:11 celebrating and talking about one of our
2:13 previous mayors, Mayor AJ
2:16 Culver. And I think what I'd like to do
2:19 is move over to the DAS. We have several
2:22 speakers with us this evening who would
2:23 like to come and talk about Mayor
2:25 Culver. So we'll do it from the DAS over
2:35 there. Good evening and welcome all. I'm
2:38 Mayor Paulie, current mayor of the city
2:40 of Isiqua and um I wanted to talk about
2:44 a public servant who served this
2:47 community far and wide many many many
2:50 ways. Um, Mayor Mr. Culver, Mr. Culver
2:54 had many roles. He was the head of the
2:56 municipal league of King County. He was
2:58 a trustee of Harborview Medical Center.
3:00 And he was chair of the elections
3:02 oversight committee. He was also chair
3:04 of the King County Board of Boundary
3:06 Review and an Isiqua City Council member
3:08 from 1972 to
3:10 1979. We are very pleased tonight that
3:12 his family has joined us. We have Stacy,
3:15 his daughter, and her partner Mark. We
3:18 have Holly, another daughter, and her
3:21 partner Dwayne. And we have his
3:23 granddaughter Hannah and her partner
3:25 Raven. And I want to thank you all for
3:27 joining. We're just so glad that you
3:29 could be here today and hear hear about
3:32 your father and grandfather and the
3:34 wonderful um the wonderful things that
3:36 he has done for our community. According
3:39 to his granddaughter, Madison, his
3:41 favorite accomplishment ever was being
3:43 the mayor of Isiqua. He served as the
3:45 mayor from 1982 to 1989. And as mayor,
3:49 he said he felt that he could actually
3:51 make a difference. He truly did make a
3:53 difference in his involvement in many
3:55 important city projects, including
3:57 things like the skyport, which I'm
3:59 guessing 90% of the people in this room
4:01 do not even know what I'm talking about.
4:03 I will go a little bit into the skyport,
4:05 but also pedestrian park and his crucial
4:08 leadership during a pivotal time of
4:09 transition in Isqua. When Mayor Culver
4:12 served, this community had around 8,000
4:14 residents. It also had a facility called
4:17 the Skyport, which is where the
4:18 Pickering Retail Center and the
4:20 Pickering Barn currently are. Um, at the
4:23 time he was serving, this was one of the
4:24 most controversial issues. Could the
4:26 Skyport continue to operate within this
4:28 this small city that was fast uh fastly
4:32 growing and changing, or did things need
4:34 to change? I talked with council member
4:36 Bura who served with Mayor Culver during
4:39 that time and she said she appreciated
4:42 his strong skills, his problem solving
4:44 skills, his ability to bring people
4:45 together to have really hard
4:47 conversations when the community was
4:49 really upset and having a hard time
4:52 talking about items. The one thing she
4:54 said was really uh something she could
4:57 have done without was his late night
4:58 meetings. They had many council meetings
5:00 and you should all be grateful that went
5:01 till 1:30 in the morning and that was
5:03 something that that she said that was
5:06 really hard but that was just how
5:08 committed he was to finishing off the
5:10 conversation. So I thought that was a
5:13 amazing uh compliment to his abilities
5:15 to bring people with very differing
5:17 viewpoints together. The skyport became
5:20 an issue because this was a place where
5:21 people did uh um parasailing and gliding
5:25 and out of a small airfield called the
5:27 skyport. It was um around for a long
5:30 time and mostly a weekend destination
5:33 for quite a long time, but as the region
5:35 grew and the interest in it, it became
5:36 busier and busier. And when the city was
5:39 redesigning Gilman Boulevard and putting
5:41 in stop lightss for the new alignment
5:43 and the bigger, larger road, they
5:45 immediately came into a conflict of the
5:48 lights were interfering with operations
5:49 at the skyport. So they found themselves
5:52 in the conundrum of a growing city who
5:53 was going to have to turn off the stop
5:54 lightss that they needed on a brand new
5:56 project because of the operation of the
5:58 skyport which had outgrown its ability
6:00 to service in that location. The
6:02 community was super divided. Um but
6:04 through Mayor Culver's guidance and
6:06 patience they were able to work with the
6:08 Pickering family who no longer could
6:10 operate the dairy farm there and they
6:12 went through a process to change that
6:14 loan, change that land and change the
6:16 zoning. one of a very very contentious
6:19 conversations. Um, and he handled it
6:21 with such grace that we're all very
6:24 grateful for that ability. Outside of
6:27 the the public arena, Mayor Culver also
6:30 had an accomplished career in aerospace,
6:32 working for Boeing for 32 years. As an
6:34 engineer and project manager, he
6:36 contributed to one of the humanity's
6:38 greatest milestones, the Apollo moon
6:40 landing. Mayor Carver Culver also had a
6:43 passion for the outdoors and adventure.
6:45 He was an accomplished mountain climber
6:46 and served as president of the Seattle
6:49 Mountaineers. AJ passed away on April
6:51 9th at age 92. He has survived by his
6:54 three accomplished daughters, five
6:56 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
6:58 And we are very honored to recognize Mr.
7:01 Culver here tonight. And I'd like to
7:03 have a few other speakers come up and
7:04 share their stories as well. Mayor
7:06 Hines, would you like to come up? Mayor
7:08 Hines served on the council u with Mayor
7:11 Culver. Thanks for coming tonight,
7:12 Rowan.
7:20 Thank you. I'm very pleased to be
7:24 here. Even though it's not the occasion
7:26 that we look for, it's the occasions to
7:30 which to at my age and AJ's age too
7:32 often that we find ourselves for these
7:35 things. But I would say that I have to
7:38 agree with what Mayor Paulie said uh
7:41 about the Skyport issue. If anything,
7:44 uh it's
7:45 understated grossly
7:47 understated, but my
7:50 recollections about AJ was, uh, I was
7:55 council president when AJ was first
7:57 elected mayor in 82.
8:01 And we had several discussions and prior
8:04 to to that time, the mayor appointed all
8:09 of the council positions and everything
8:12 that was done involving the council. And
8:15 after numeral discussions with AJ, he
8:18 agreed that it was more appropriate that
8:21 the council president make the decisions
8:24 about how the council should be
8:27 appointed. And I think it's operated
8:29 since then. I've been very pleased that
8:31 he saw the wisdom in
8:34 that. I can
8:36 remember two
8:39 incidents. I don't incident that AJ was
8:42 particularly
8:44 um aggravated by and one of them was car
8:49 lots. He absolutely abhored car
8:53 lots and uh and so as a result we never
8:57 had any new car sales or new used car
9:00 sales in his squad during his tenure.
9:04 And in my personal opinion after he left
9:08 is at least and with a car lot you knew
9:12 or used the vehicles are all shiny and
9:15 clean and uh but I appreciated what his
9:19 opinion on
9:21 that. And the second
9:26 um look at my notes
9:29 here. Well, the the fire department, we
9:33 had always had a volunteer fire
9:34 department because AJ could not abide
9:38 paying someone to
9:42 sleep. And so at that time, we had a
9:45 volunteer department. We had a chief, we
9:48 had a lieutenant, and we had one
9:50 firefighter. And they worked during the
9:52 day. And if there was any kind of an
9:55 incident,
9:56 uh the volunteers were the ones that
9:59 came did all the work under the
10:01 leadership that we had there. And
10:04 uh again, as over the years, we've grown
10:08 and matured beyond that. And obviously a
10:11 volunteer fire department would no
10:13 longer apply. I never asked a how we
10:16 felt about it. I'm not sure if we ever
10:19 changed that.
10:21 And I guess the third comment I asked
10:22 Debbie Berto who was the editor of the
10:25 Isqua Press during his time in my time
10:29 in office and she said the one thing
10:32 that she remembered about AJ that he was
10:36 particularly uh concerned about was
10:40 recycling. He was not in favor of it.
10:44 and eventually it took some time but he
10:48 eventually came around to the point that
10:50 it was uh as a good idea. He bought into
10:54 it and now you can look at where we've
10:56 been since then. And that a testament to
11:00 how he was flexible and was interested
11:02 in changing what was best for the
11:05 community. And I enjoyed my time with
11:09 him. I served eight years on the council
11:12 with him as mayor and served eight years
11:16 as mayor following him and I appreciated
11:20 what he he did for me in preparation for
11:23 my time. One of the things he did that
11:27 I've never forgot still have hanging on
11:29 my wall in the bedroom in the office is
11:32 a key to the city when I was elected
11:34 mayor. And I thought that was a very
11:37 nice touch. And uh he let me be me. And
11:42 if any of you were around in the first
11:44 four years after AJ's time as mayor, my
11:47 first four years as mayor, it was
11:51 um not particularly easy for me
11:56 anyway. But I do appreciate AJ and I do
11:59 miss him and I wish you all the best for
12:02 that and I thank you. Thank you.
12:10 Thank you, Mayor Hines, for your words
12:12 and also for your service and for
12:14 bringing your beautiful wife tonight.
12:16 We're glad to have you both. Um, I'm
12:18 going to ask Dave Osmer, who was the
12:20 campaign manager for AJ Culver, to come
12:22 up. And while he's coming up, I'll tell
12:24 you about one more story that council
12:26 member Betura told me about, and that
12:28 was our sign code. AJ had very specific
12:33 concerns about Isiqua's new Gilman
12:36 Boulevard area turning into something
12:39 that was just a bunch of signs facing
12:41 the highway blinking on and off, just a
12:43 big retail zone. Now, it is a retail
12:46 zone, but we are known for having one of
12:49 the toughest sign codes. And I didn't
12:51 know why, and now I do. The really
12:54 beautiful thing for me, um, Mayor Hines,
12:57 um, appointed me to the development
12:58 commission way back in 1994, and we did
13:00 sign approval back then. Um, I loved
13:03 where we were going with it. But a new
13:06 group came along, the Mountains of Sound
13:07 Greenway came along, and they told
13:10 everybody along that corridor, Isiqua is
13:13 the one who knows how to keep the
13:15 corridor green in an urban area. So,
13:18 whenever you are getting grief, just
13:20 remember it was Mayor Culver who was the
13:22 first one who thought of that idea. and
13:23 it's carried on 40 years later and
13:25 Mountains of Sound Greenway is one of
13:26 the biggest flag bearsers for the entire
13:28 thing. So so appreciative of his efforts
13:30 there Dave.
13:36 Good evening council members and guests
13:39 and members of the family. It's
13:40 delighted to see you again. Um, I'm Dave
13:44 Osmer and I, AJ and I were uh backdoor
13:49 neighbors when we first moved to Esiqua
13:52 in the uh late 60s early 70s and we hit
13:57 it off right away. I think primarily due
14:00 to our joint uh affection and reverence
14:03 for the outdoors and uh he helped me get
14:07 involved with the city. Uh and um
14:12 interestingly that you should bring that
14:13 up. Um helped me get appointed to the
14:17 then uh design commission which was the
14:21 predecessor for today's development
14:24 commission.
14:25 um the design commission had
14:28 jurisdiction over
14:30 uh that sign
14:33 ordinance. So I have to tell you a quick
14:35 story. I wasn't going to mention this,
14:36 but since you brought it
14:38 out, there was at that time there was a
14:42 guy who made wood blasted signs and I
14:45 can't remember his name, but he was a
14:47 true artist. And so whenever we got an
14:50 application to review from him, we
14:53 almost just rubber stamped it, but we,
14:55 you know, we had to look at it and staff
14:58 had looked at it. Well, one day, uh, one
15:01 of his customers came back to him and
15:04 said, "You ought to take a look at your
15:07 sign after it was hung up for at least 2
15:10 or 3 months." And remember, we'd all
15:13 seen it. The staff had all seen it. His
15:15 customers had been walking in and out
15:17 seeing it, and he'd seen it. The sign
15:21 read, "Certified pubic accountant."
15:28 We went back and we looked at the
15:29 drawings and guess what the drawing
15:32 said? The same thing. So all of those
15:35 eyes had looked at that reading what
15:38 they thought it was supposed to be
15:39 rather than what it was. So that was an
15:41 interesting lesson in observation. But I
15:44 want to commend the city for this first
15:48 of all the celebration and for flying
15:51 the their flag at half mass in AJ's
15:54 honor. I had the honor of working with
15:57 him. I helped him uh since I had a
16:00 little experience in managing political
16:03 campaigns. I helped him uh with his
16:07 council initial and secondterm council
16:10 campaigns and also was his campaign
16:13 manager when he decided to run for the
16:15 legislature in 1978.
16:18 um we lost and I think it was fortuitous
16:23 that we did because he then became mayor
16:26 uh which was probably better for the
16:29 city. But uh I will always remember him
16:33 as a gentleman and a scholar and an
16:36 absolutely incredible uh community
16:40 citizen. Thank you.
16:46 [Applause]
16:48 I also want to see if
16:52 um Holly, would you like to come up and
16:54 say a few words?
16:56 Awesome.
17:00 Wow. Thank you for having us. This has
17:03 been um quite a journey for us and I
17:07 just like the whole building's
17:09 different. Like remember we moved here
17:11 in ' 69. So the population was 7,800 and
17:16 Pine Lake Plateau was just a place to
17:19 have a kegger literally. And so um
17:23 things have changed but some of the
17:26 things you mentioned everything I wanted
17:28 to say about signage and I really think
17:31 the legacy of Isiqua was due to my dad.
17:35 I mean seriously and it was a great town
17:38 to grow up in. We had a wonderful
17:42 experience.
17:44 Um so anyway, um we uh I don't I don't
17:49 know. I don't know what else to say. Um
17:51 we just wanted to say thank you for
17:53 having us and really thank you um Mayor
17:57 Paulie for putting that wonderful
17:58 article in there and my oldest daughter
18:01 kind of spearheaded it. She lives on the
18:03 east coast and wanted to be part of all
18:05 this. it's um being mayor was really the
18:09 thing that he loved the most. So out of
18:12 all his public offices and that's kind
18:14 of a big deal. So um anyway, thank you
18:18 and you guys are doing a good job.
18:24 [Applause]
18:27 Every past mayor I've ever talked to
18:29 said it's their favorite job and that is
18:31 a test. It's true. and that is a
18:34 testament to kind of the value of the
18:37 work that you're all doing as elected
18:39 officials. I will tell you at this point
18:42 in my last year of my second term, I
18:44 haven't made up my mind if it's my
18:46 favorite job yet. It is an extremely
18:51 difficult job. It is time consuming time
18:54 away from your family, from your
18:55 friends, from activities. But I think
18:58 what we really heard about your dad and
18:59 your grandfather is that he made legacy
19:04 decisions that we can still talk about
19:06 today that inform decisions that they
19:08 make on policy today. And for that we
19:12 are eternally grateful. So if you could
19:14 all join me in a moment of silence for
19:17 the passing of Mayor AJ Culver, I would
19:20 appreciate that.
19:32 Thank you to everyone who came tonight
19:35 and was able to share their stories. In
19:37 particular, thank you to the family. I
19:39 was going to take a short recess now to
19:41 allow folks to say hi and say goodbye
19:43 and decide if they want to stay for our
19:45 long meeting till 1:30 in the morning,
19:47 not tonight or not. So, um, city clerk,
19:51 if it's okay, can we have a fivem minute
19:52 recess? Thank you. So, we're in recess.
26:01 Hi everyone. A lot of new friends and a
26:04 lot of old friends here tonight, but we
26:05 do have to continue with the meeting.
26:08 So, uh, Tisha, do we need to close the
26:11 glass door
26:13 maybe, or you think we're
26:16 okay? I am going to call the meeting
26:19 back to order
26:26 7:34. I'm gonna
26:28 try. The next item on the agenda this
26:31 evening is ID 1815, the Ruth Keys and
26:36 Community Environmental
26:38 Awards. And yeah.
26:41 Okay, we're going to take a few minutes
26:43 and just let the room clear because Hi
26:49 I just love this town. Honestly, I just
26:51 I just do. Okay, I'm going to take it
26:54 back a few minutes because I know it was
26:55 extremely hard to hear me trying to
26:57 bring the meeting back to order. But the
26:59 next item in the agenda this evening is
27:01 ID1 1815, the Ruth Keys and Community
27:04 Environmental Awards. So, I want to
27:06 thank you all for being here in person
27:08 this evening and if you are watching
27:10 because we're going to honor some very
27:11 special people in our community
27:14 together. Their hours, weeks, and years
27:16 of service have enhanced, preserved, and
27:18 protected our community's cherished
27:20 environment. Tonight, we're going to
27:22 start with the Ruth and Dan Keys Award
27:24 for a sustainable environment. And I'm
27:27 going to go over to the
27:29 microphone. Make
27:32 sure can't remember
27:40 where city clerk always has her eyes on
27:42 what I'm doing. That's perfect. Okay, so
27:45 we have a couple of
27:47 awards and this first award, the Ruth
27:50 and Dan Keys award, is named after one
27:51 of the community's tireless
27:53 environmental advocates, Ruth Keys. She
27:55 was a grassroots activist who for more
27:58 than four decades advocated for
27:59 preservation of landmarks and natural
28:01 areas. The Ruth and Dan Keys award
28:04 honors those who have shown
28:06 extraordinary leadership to protect our
28:08 natural surroundings. Our winner this
28:10 year is the embodiment of those noble
28:12 goals. And I'm thrilled to recognize
28:14 Steve Williams as our 2025 Ruth and Dan
28:17 Kees award
28:19 [Applause]
28:24 winner. Unfortunately, Steve is not able
28:27 to join us tonight, but has asked that
28:29 his good friend Dave Kappler, who I saw
28:30 come in, receive the honor on his
28:33 behalf. And Dave, if you want to come up
28:35 here, I'll go through a couple of my
28:37 notes and then I'll hand the microphone
28:39 over to
28:41 you. For decades, Steve has been
28:44 instrumental in shaping Isiqua's public
28:46 lands. He managed the Cougar Mountain
28:48 Regional Wildlife Park for 20 years, and
28:50 he was instrumental in shaping the
28:52 master plan and ensuring those lands
28:55 would exist for people and wildlife for
28:57 many generations. Mr. Williams has held
29:00 numerous roles at the Isqua Alps Trails
29:02 Club from leadership in the organization
29:04 to leading hikes for our community
29:07 members. Mr. Williams was also critical
29:09 in the recent victory for protecting
29:11 additional wildlands through the Save
29:13 Coal Creek initiative. A community icon
29:16 in the truest sense. Mr. Williams
29:19 efforts have aided thousands of people
29:21 in learning more about the value of open
29:23 spaces as well as the history that has
29:25 helped shape those spaces. In the words
29:28 of Ken Koixmark from the An Isiqua Alps
29:30 Trail Club newsletter in
29:32 2005, "Steve has been a quiet hero in
29:36 the Isiqua Alps for decades. His
29:38 dedicated efforts have guided, built,
29:40 and maintained the regional wildland
29:42 park we all enjoy as Cougar Mountain
29:45 today." Steve effort Steve's efforts go
29:48 far beyond that, though. He also was
29:51 included in invaluable trail projects on
29:54 Squawk and Rattlesnake Mountains as
29:56 well. The careful stewardship that Steve
29:59 brought to these lands will benefit both
30:01 people and wildlife for generations to
30:03 come. I want to thank Steve for all of
30:05 his contributions and for his decades
30:07 and decades of service. I want to have
30:10 uh welcome up former council member and
30:13 Isiqua Alps Trail Club um board member
30:17 Dave Kapler. I'm not sure if you're
30:18 still on the board um so that I can
30:21 present a gift a gift for Steve. But
30:24 first, what I'd like to do is have you
30:25 share some comments and thoughts.
30:30 Well, it's an honor to be here for that
30:33 Steve asked me to to be here. Um my when
30:39 somebody mentions the the the name Steve
30:42 Williams, I um in my mind I I flash
30:45 seeing him behind a table and kids in
30:49 front of the table and they're looking
30:51 at um historical objects from miners or
30:55 logging or um or some other high
30:58 interest thing like one of the
31:01 the cub bear cub that he is that was he
31:06 found in front of his park on Cougar
31:08 Mountain and his did the taxiderermy
31:10 work on that and he had other birds than
31:13 that and other roadkills that he had had
31:16 those displays very high interest in um
31:20 in youth and for talking working with
31:23 them. I want to thank Tom Anderson who's
31:27 um did an outstanding job of the writeup
31:29 that
31:31 uh explaining so much about the great
31:34 work that Steve has done over
31:36 decades. Um sustainability department is
31:39 great too. They're they're wonderful. My
31:42 wife is a big big
31:45 fan. Okay. Um there's been a great over
31:50 time there's been a really strong
31:53 connection between the city and the
31:55 county with the Cougar Mountain Regional
31:57 Wildland Park. We sometimes claim the
32:00 biggest park of its kind in the country,
32:03 but it's in the top two or three anyway,
32:06 but Steve managed that for 20 years. And
32:09 um actually out of retirement came back
32:11 to monitor the ground for subsidance of
32:15 coal mines or heat. because some of the
32:18 mines are still burning underneath
32:20 Cougar Mountain.
32:23 Um his work with the city staff and
32:27 council and you know everybody with city
32:31 getting the county working together.
32:33 It's just been amazing. He's also of
32:35 course had to work with Belleview Parks
32:38 which is right up against Cougar
32:40 Mountain Park and um and Newcastle on
32:44 the city of Newcastle is right up
32:45 against some of the park too. There's
32:47 just been a tremendous cooperation
32:49 between these cities and the county on
32:52 Cougar
32:54 Mountain. Um on Squawk, we we we do have
32:58 three partners for Squawk. the county,
33:01 the state, and the city of Isiqua. And
33:05 their their properties are kind of mixed
33:07 up. City's got property on both sides of
33:09 the mountain. Count's got splotches of
33:12 it. And then the king and state has a
33:15 bigger part. Hopefully, we can be
33:17 continuing the kinds of work that Steve
33:20 did on Cougar to do that. Same with with
33:24 Squawk and coming up with that. The city
33:27 has done some great purchases of
33:28 property adjoining the state park. We're
33:31 just not getting it all connected yet.
33:33 But um that would be really something
33:36 else. Um one other thing which we always
33:40 have tried to do and has been worked on
33:43 is trying to connect safely Cougar
33:45 Mountain and Squawk Mountain. There's a
33:47 signal now, a pedestrian crossing at
33:50 Talis, but you get over on the Squawk
33:52 side and there's very minimal private
33:55 property issue. If we could solve that,
33:58 we could have a good connection between
34:00 those two mountains. So, some something
34:04 for the future for for for the the city
34:07 to carry on uh Steve's legacy.
34:11 Thank you. And Dave, I have some gifts I
34:13 would like you to give to Steve. So, you
34:15 stay up here for one second.
34:17 um you know we so appreciate the work of
34:20 these community members who really
34:22 really make an enormous differences. So
34:24 we have a certificate of appreciation
34:27 um for Steve and also we have put his
34:31 name on the Ruth and Dan Keys award
34:33 plaque which hangs in this council
34:35 chamber and we have a gift from Salmon
34:38 Day's artist that I would like for you
34:40 to give to him for as show appreciation.
34:44 Thank you for coming in and speaking
34:47 about his legacy and his work. It was an
34:49 honor and a pleasure. Thank you.
34:56 The next award this evening is the
34:58 community environmental award. Then
35:00 several years ago, we had decided with
35:02 the amazing, astounding efforts that we
35:04 were seeing blossoming all through the
35:06 community that maybe we needed to have
35:08 another award where you didn't have to
35:10 put your 40 to 50 years in, but you did
35:13 have to provide some insightful,
35:17 energetic, creative approaches to our
35:20 natural environment. And so the
35:22 community environmental award was
35:24 created. It builds upon the legacy of
35:26 the Ruth Keys award. Isqua gives out the
35:28 community environmental award to
35:30 recognize outstanding achievements by
35:32 individuals, groups, and organizations.
35:34 It's my pleasure to present the
35:36 community environmental award to Mina
35:38 Jun for her work on environmental
35:40 activism and her leadership protecting
35:42 and preserving the natural environment
35:44 is so please join me in congratulating
35:46 Mina.
35:47 [Music]
35:48 [Applause]
35:54 I'm gonna say a few more words and then
35:56 I'd love to hand the microphone over to
35:58 if you'd like to say something. Mina
36:00 Alexandra Jun Jun Jun Jun is a Yeah, it
36:04 matters. Jun, thank you. Is a senior at
36:07 Gibson High School in Isiqua. Mina's
36:10 work exemplifies the values of the award
36:12 and through her dedication to
36:14 conservation education policy
36:16 advocacy, and community engagement. Her
36:19 leadership has in inspired hundreds of
36:22 people through engaging projects that
36:24 encourage communitywide participation in
36:26 sustainability efforts. By working with
36:29 her peers to push for a district-wide
36:31 sustainability policy, she has taken
36:33 steps to create lasting environmental
36:35 change at an institutional level.
36:38 Additionally, her ability to bring
36:39 together diverse groups, including
36:41 schools, local artists, community
36:44 partners, and city officials, has
36:46 fostered greater collaboration and
36:47 action towards shared environmental
36:49 goals. Um, I'm going to let Mina speak
36:53 for a few moments, and then I would love
36:54 to hand her also her award and
36:57 congratulations. So, Mina.
36:59 [Applause]
37:03 Yeah. Um, thank you so much. I feel
37:05 really honored to have received this
37:07 award as a high school student and as an
37:09 individual and citizen of Isiqua. Um I'm
37:12 grateful to the city uh Stacy
37:14 specifically department of
37:16 sustainability and all of their
37:17 departments that work within
37:19 sustainability for giving me
37:20 opportunities and connections to the
37:22 city and also just inspiring me um all
37:25 of my teachers and peers and everyone in
37:27 the city that works um on creating
37:30 spaces for youth to be able to be
37:32 involved. And I'm really excited though
37:34 I haven't put in 40 to 50 years of
37:36 anything ever. Um I am continuing and
37:40 excited to continue work with not only
37:42 just the city of Isiqua but in
37:44 sustainability environmental
37:45 stewardship. And though I am leaving
37:47 next year, I will always remember Isiqua
37:49 and come back of course to visit and um
37:52 make look at the progress that has been
37:54 made but also remember it as the roots
37:56 and origins of my sustainability and
37:59 environmental career. So amazing. Thank
38:03 you. So, also have a certificate for
38:06 Mina and a gift from Salmon Days as
38:08 well. But I would love for you to bring
38:10 up your friends, your mentors, your
38:12 family and do a picture with us in front
38:13 of the council diet if that's okay.
38:15 Yeah, let's do that. Of
38:27 course, mentors, friends, everybody came
38:30 here for
38:43 Excellent pictures.
38:52 All right.
38:57 [Music]
39:01 [Applause]
39:06 Thank you, mayor. Very welcome.
39:21 So, just a few closing comments there. I
39:23 should mention that the artist that we
39:26 were using was John Molan from Salmon
39:28 Days for both of those and also just
39:31 want to thank both of the awardees but
39:33 also our environmental board which we
39:35 have just stood up in the la less than
39:37 five years and to all of those in the
39:39 community who are currently working
39:41 volunteering and dedicating their time
39:43 and efforts to protecting our
39:44 environment and advancing sustainability
39:46 throughout the city. If you're inspired
39:49 today, we welcome your enthusiasm and
39:51 encourage you to connect with the work
39:53 of our awardees and the other amazing
39:55 efforts and opportunities in
39:57 Isiqua. The next item today is uh
40:02 ID1811 administrative professionals day
40:05 proclamation and I'd like to invite
40:07 executive department coordinator
40:08 Lindseay Marsh. And Lindsay, is this
40:10 your first meeting? Where's Lindsay? Is
40:12 this your first meeting?
40:14 City Council. I'd like to introduce you
40:16 to Lindseay Marsh. Come on up here with
40:19 Council Member Ray. Welcome, Lindsay.
40:23 Oh, and Aronia. Hi, Aronia. Aronia, in
40:26 case you have not been up to city hall,
40:29 is the welcoming face of our city, and
40:32 she is just a blessing to have her up
40:34 front. Welcome, Aronia. Um, and,
40:38 uh, and Council Member Ray, thank you.
40:41 You're on.
40:42 Um uh whereas profession administrative
40:46 professionals day is observed annually
40:48 in workplaces around the world to
40:50 recognize the important contribution of
40:53 administrative support staff and whereas
40:57 administrative professionals play an
40:58 essential role in coordinating the
41:00 office and governmental operations of
41:04 the city of Isiqua and whereas
41:06 administrative professionals are vital
41:09 contributors to today's team oriented
41:11 work environment. environment and are
41:12 key frontline public relations
41:14 ambassadors for their organizations. And
41:17 whereas the work of administrative
41:18 professionals today requires advanced
41:20 knowledge and expertise in
41:22 communications, computer software,
41:24 office technology, project management,
41:27 organization, computer or customer
41:29 service and other vital office
41:31 management responsibility and most
41:33 importantly have the willingness to
41:35 learn and accept new challenges.
41:37 Therefore, we recognize Thursday, April
41:41 24th, 2025. I want to make it a week,
41:44 not just a day, and I think it should
41:46 be, as uh administrative professionals
41:49 week in the city of Isiqua. And I invite
41:52 the community to join us in thanking our
41:54 ad city's administrative professionals
41:56 for their service and outstanding
41:57 contributions.
42:00 [Applause]
42:03 Council member Ray, if you could if you
42:06 Oh, Lindsay, would you like to say
42:07 anything? Aronia would fantastic. We
42:11 We've prepared a speech. Awesome.
42:15 Thank you for this thoughtful
42:16 proclamation recognizing administrative
42:18 professionals day. We are both
42:21 incredibly honored to be accepting this
42:23 proclamation on behalf of the
42:24 administrative professionals for the
42:26 city of Isqua. This this proclamation
42:29 acknowledges both the valuable work of
42:31 administrative professionals as well as
42:33 recognizes the commitment and
42:34 adaptability the administrative
42:36 professionals bring to every
42:37 organization. While this is a
42:39 celebration of administrative
42:40 professionals, we also wanted to take a
42:42 brief moment to extend our gratitude to
42:45 our community members, businesses, and
42:47 visitors for being so
42:49 engaged. Uh the consistent and great
42:51 engagement from all of you is what makes
42:53 our job so special and what makes our
42:55 city so unique. So, um, it also allows
42:58 us to continue to improve every day. So,
43:00 we just wanted to say a warm thanks. Oh,
43:02 wow. Lastly, once Oh,
43:05 sorry. Once again, we thank council for
43:07 dedicating time today in this meeting to
43:10 recognize and celebrate administrative
43:12 professionals and for allowing us the
43:13 honor to accept this proclamation.
43:16 Wow.
43:20 And I get to work with these two ladies
43:22 every day. So, this team is so fantastic
43:25 picture. That's why I I'm not going to
43:27 do this for
43:32 Thank you. So proud of you. Thank you,
43:34 ladies. The next proclamation is
43:38 ID1814, Small Business Month Procla
43:41 proclamation. And I'd like to invite
43:43 economic and housing development manager
43:44 Jen Davis Hayes and Greater Isqua
43:47 Chamber of Commerce CEO Julie Hartwick
43:49 to the lectern. Welcome ladies and
43:51 council president will be presenting
43:52 this proclamation.
43:55 Excellent. Well, first of all, thank you
43:57 for being here. A uh a community is not
44:01 a community without the businesses that
44:03 help it thrive. And so, I'm grateful
44:06 that we are taking this moment to just
44:08 recognize. So, yeah. So whereas National
44:12 Small Business Week has been recognized
44:14 every year in May since 1963 to kick off
44:18 Small Business Month and highlight the
44:20 programs and services available to
44:22 entrepreneurs through the US Small
44:24 Business Administration and other
44:25 government agencies. And whereas
44:28 according to the United States Small
44:30 Business Administration, there are 34.8
44:33 million small businesses in the United
44:35 States. And these small businesses are
44:37 responsible for 67% of net new jobs
44:41 created since 2000. And whereas
44:44 entrepreneurship continues to be one of
44:46 the be best pathways to the American
44:50 dream as many small business economic
44:52 indicators are returning to precoid
44:54 levels, including a near historic trend
44:57 of small business employment growth in
44:59 the fourth quarter of 2024.
45:02 And whereas the city of Isiqua is home
45:04 to a wide variety of businesses, over
45:07 2600 homebased and physical business
45:10 locations. And whereas the city of
45:12 Isiqua celebrates the hard work,
45:14 dedication, and resilience of our local
45:17 small businesses and entrepreneurs and
45:20 the contributions they make to our local
45:22 economy and community. Now therefore, we
45:26 do hereby proclaim the month of May to
45:29 be small business month in the city of
45:31 Isiqua. And I urge all community members
45:33 to join in special observance and
45:35 celebration of Isiqua's small businesses
45:38 and entrepreneurs. Would you like to
45:40 stay say a few words either both? We
45:43 don't have a joint speech. Sorry. We did
45:46 not plan a joint speech. We do apologize
45:48 for that. City Council members and Mayor
45:50 Paulie, thank you so much for this
45:51 proclamation and for recognizing the
45:53 importance of small businesses and
45:55 entrep entrepreneurship in our
45:58 communities. See, I can't say it either.
45:59 It's okay. That one's a It's a tongue
46:01 It's a tongue mouthful. You know, our
46:04 small businesses here in Isiqua, they
46:06 are the heartbeat of our community. We
46:08 each have separate small businesses,
46:11 locallyowned mompaw shops that all of us
46:13 love. And it's each of these businesses
46:15 along with our entrepreneurs that make
46:18 our community vibrant, right? They're
46:20 the ones that businesses that attract
46:23 tourism. They're the ones that patronize
46:25 our community. They're the ones that
46:27 bring our uniqueness and our credibility
46:29 to our community. So, thank you so much
46:31 for the proclamation and for recognizing
46:33 the importance of that. Our chamber and
46:35 our economic development department, the
46:37 past year, we created a how to do
46:39 business in Isiqua booklet. It was
46:42 amazing. And so that's just one of our
46:44 efforts collaboratively that we have
46:45 done together that are trying to reach
46:47 some of our homebased businesses and
46:50 those that are looking to open and to
46:52 start a business here in Isiqua. So it
46:54 is so incredibly important that we
46:56 embrace our businesses and to let them
46:57 know that we're here for them time and
46:59 time again. And I think collaboratively
47:02 that's one of our main goals is to let
47:03 them know that that we're here for them
47:05 and the city's here, the chamber's here,
47:07 and all of our other community partners.
47:09 So thank you so much for that. Oh, thank
47:11 you, Julie. We're good. All right.
47:14 Sounds good.
47:26 Thank you, Julie. Thank you, Jen. Thank
47:27 you for all that you do for our
47:29 community. It's much
47:31 appreciated. We do have another
47:32 proclamation,
47:34 ID1836, AsianAmerican, Native Hawaiian,
47:37 and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
47:39 Proclamation. And I'd like to invite
47:41 Alicia Spinner, Lauren Ni, and Juny Woo
47:44 from the local nonprofit The Circle to
47:46 the Lectern. And I think Narin Indra,
47:48 I'm gonna say this right.
47:51 Okay. Sorry about that. Come on up,
47:53 ladies. Um, and Council Member Joe is
47:55 going to be presenting this
47:56 proclamation.
47:58 Thank you, Madam Mayor.
48:01 Whereas Asian-American, Native Hawaiian,
48:03 and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is
48:05 an annual celebration that recognizes
48:08 the historical and cultural
48:09 contributions of Asian-Americans, Native
48:12 Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders in
48:14 creating the American story. And whereas
48:17 we celebrate the growing diversity of
48:18 Isiqua with the second largest race
48:21 being Asian-American residents
48:22 representing 28% of our population.
48:26 Diversity brings richness, opportunity,
48:28 and growth.
48:30 And whereas we acknowledge those
48:32 contributions of Asian-Americans, Native
48:34 Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to our
48:36 local arts, education, sciences, and to
48:39 our economic, social, and democratic
48:42 institutions that strengthen our city.
48:44 And whereas we admit the past and
48:47 current hardships for Asian-American and
48:49 Pacific Islander Americans and strive to
48:51 foster inclusion to ensure all people
48:54 have an equal opportunity to live and
48:57 prosper. And whereas we must continue to
49:00 take proactive a proactive stance,
49:02 excuse me, that seek solutions to
49:05 address intolerance and disparity. They
49:08 are our neighbors, co-workers, friends,
49:10 and family, and commit to supporting
49:13 members in a meaningful way by paying
49:15 tribute through education,
49:17 acknowledgement, and celebration within
49:19 our community. And whereas we come
49:21 together as a community in a spirit of
49:23 unity to celebrate the invaluable
49:25 contributions that enrich our city with
49:27 Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. Now
49:30 therefore, the mayor, Mary Lou Paulie of
49:33 the city of Isiqua does proclaim May 25,
49:36 May 2025 to be Asian-American and
49:39 Pacific Islander Heritage
49:43 Month. You'd like to step up and say a
49:45 few words.
49:49 Thank you. Thanks for city council
49:51 member and mayor Paulie. Uh it's really
49:55 honor to get this proclamation
49:58 um as the
49:59 Asian
50:01 lady. So it's my passion always like
50:04 even though I have been here for 25
50:06 years um but it's still my passion to um
50:10 see more and more of the cultural
50:12 awareness. um and especially right now
50:15 in the Isaakqua, we saw so many um
50:17 diversity groups and communities. So,
50:20 it's really um honored and pleasure to
50:24 have this AAPI celebration and I we we
50:28 want to invite all of you to come to our
50:31 AAPI event celebration on May 10th in
50:34 the uh Isaqua Community Center uh 5 to
50:38 7:00 p.m. So if you have time just come
50:42 and join us for lots of Asian
50:44 performances and also we have um
50:48 different Asian craft and art uh
50:50 stations. Thank you. Thank you.
50:57 Thank you.
50:59 Hello. I just want to say thank you and
51:01 uh I know we're here to celebrate the
51:03 Asian community, but I have to say thank
51:05 you for your support. Our community of
51:08 immigrants is going through a very very
51:11 difficult time. Um I'm very emotional
51:14 these days because we had had
51:18 um eyes coming into our communities and
51:21 it's very very stressful. I've been all
51:24 day in the phone with parents who don't
51:26 know if they should send their kids to
51:28 school. Right. Many of the kids today
51:31 went late to school because ICE has come
51:34 to our communities and early in the
51:36 morning. So, no one wants to go out of
51:38 their homes before 9:00 a.m. So, I had a
51:42 conversation also with the district this
51:44 morning because they're they're like,
51:46 "What's going on? Why kids are not
51:47 coming on time, right?" Um, it's very
51:50 stressful what we're going through. But
51:53 having the support of the mayor and all
51:56 of you, it's very, very important and
51:58 really appreciate it.
51:59 Thank you, Alicia. Thank you.
52:02 [Applause]
52:08 Step forward.
52:27 Thank you. Congratulations. And thank
52:28 you all for coming and all the work you
52:30 do in our community. It is so
52:32 appreciated. The next item of business
52:35 this evening is audience comments. And
52:37 this is a time that members of the
52:38 public may address council either in
52:40 person or virtually. Those who signed up
52:42 in advance will be called upon first,
52:44 but we will also look for others in the
52:46 room if you have not signed up and
52:48 online. If you are joining us virtually
52:51 and would like to make comments, please
52:52 raise your virtual hand or send the host
52:54 a chat message. If you are in the room
52:56 and you did not sign up, we will make
52:58 sure you have an opportunity to speak.
53:00 And clerk, has anyone signed up to speak
53:02 for general audience comments or
53:03 indicated desire to speak this evening?
53:05 Yes. Thank you. So if you are making
53:08 comments uh you are invited to address
53:10 the council regarding matters that are
53:12 directly related to ISQUA's programs,
53:15 projects, services or events and
53:18 comments related to political campaigns
53:20 are not permitted. Please direct
53:22 comments to the whole council and not
53:24 individuals. And while it's not a
53:25 question and answer session, we will
53:27 contact you to follow up if needed.
53:30 Please do um sorry uh when you are
53:32 recognized if you are online um please
53:35 unmute your microphone and if you're in
53:37 this room please step up to the podium
53:40 that is facing council and there is a
53:42 little button on the base for you to
53:43 turn the microphone on. We can show you
53:45 how to do that if we need to and state
53:48 your name, address, relationship to the
53:50 city. Speak clearly and pause frequently
53:53 and please limit your comments to 5
53:55 minutes. If you're attending virtually
53:57 and we lose you, we hope that you're
53:59 able to join us, but we are rejoin, but
54:01 we will have to continue the meeting.
54:03 Personal attacks, obscene language,
54:05 derogatory remarks, and disruptive
54:06 behavior will not be permitted. Public
54:09 comments, written and verbal, are an
54:11 important aspect of the public process,
54:13 and the city and the city council takes
54:15 your comments seriously. We thank
54:16 everyone who's taken the time to address
54:18 us this evening, either in person or
54:20 virtually. City clerk, can you please
54:22 identify the first person who has signed
54:24 up to speak? Yes, Michelle
54:27 Whitehead. Come on up.
54:42 You got it. Okay. Thank you so much.
54:45 Thank you, city of Isiqua Council board
54:47 members, for hearing my public comment
54:49 today and for your audience. My name is
54:51 Michelle Whitehead. I am a resident of
54:54 the Isqua Highlands since
54:57 2013. Uh, did you want me to give you my
54:59 exact address? No, you're fine. Okay.
55:02 Uh, I did cut this speech down. I am
55:04 here today to share my lived experience
55:06 with my now 12-year-old autistic
55:07 daughter who has a very complex
55:10 disability profile and is and the
55:13 intersectionality of disability and
55:15 mental health as it relates to the first
55:17 responder crisis response in the city of
55:19 Isiqua.
55:21 With April being autism awareness month,
55:23 my goal here is to advocate for first
55:25 responder training for Isiqua police
55:28 officers, for East Side Fire Rescue
55:30 first responders, for CERT first
55:32 responders to include in their
55:34 professional and community outreach
55:36 teams training around autism ID, around
55:40 appropriate autistic crisis approach,
55:43 around the need for traumainformed care,
55:45 around the need for trauma-informed
55:47 response for children under the ages of
55:49 18, especially minor ers who are
55:51 experiencing a mental health crisis,
55:53 having a self harm episode, or who may
55:56 be on the autism spectrum, who may be
55:58 verbal or non-verbal, and who may not be
56:01 able to explain what they're
56:03 experiencing. I have been in the process
56:04 of obtaining my own training, and this
56:07 vital part of autism sensitivity
56:09 training is not currently in the C units
56:10 or manuals. There is a large disability
56:13 community in Eziqua and especially a
56:15 large ID, which stands for intellectual
56:18 developmental disability community.
56:20 How do we respond to children, teens,
56:23 and young adults in crisis? What is our
56:25 plan? How will parents know their child
56:28 will feel safe in the event an incident
56:30 occurs when they are not experiencing
56:32 it, when they are not expecting it?
56:35 Autism is now one in 31 children, one in
56:38 12 and a half boys, and is identified
56:40 rapidly with being dual diagnosis with
56:43 ADHD and other mental health disorders.
56:46 due to the most recent incidents in the
56:48 news with a 17-year-old boy in Boise,
56:49 Idaho named Victor Perez, who was shot
56:53 nine times and killed by police first
56:55 responders and a boy in Arlington,
56:57 Washington missing named Jonathan and
56:59 Huang. There are multiple states who
57:01 have had tragic outcomes and stories of
57:03 children under the age of 18 who are
57:05 killed, missing, commit suicide, and
57:07 wander. It is very crucial that the
57:09 first responders know as much
57:11 information as possible going into a
57:12 crisis response call. And currently in
57:15 the city of Isiqua, there is no outreach
57:16 team for children under the age of 13 or
57:20 ages 13 to 18 when they are in
57:23 crisis. On June 23rd, 2024, my daughter,
57:26 who was 11 years old at the
57:31 time, experienced a self harm incident
57:34 when I was 20 minutes away from home.
57:38 She did the right thing by seeking help,
57:40 going to her neighbor's house, and she
57:42 followed her safety plan. There was a
57:44 large response by the city of Isiqua
57:46 police, ambulances, and east side fire
57:49 and rescue teams, care teams by and by
57:52 private Isiqua Highland Security to my
57:54 house. They needed to speak to my
57:56 daughter alone. The age of consent in
57:58 this state is 13 years old, and I was
58:01 only asked if I had any questions. I
58:03 felt completely helpless, and our family
58:05 is still suffering these decisions.
58:08 The ambulance bill came several weeks
58:10 later and was
58:12 $4,000 for an approximate 22mi one-way
58:15 trip and was eventually paid for by
58:16 Medicaid, Apple Health, by Washington
58:18 state taxpayers and the federal
58:20 government. Almost a year later, and my
58:22 daughter is still not home.
58:28 This event on June
58:30 23rd, 2024 was the catalyst for my
58:33 daughter to be removed from my home. Due
58:36 to lack of policies and ability to use
58:38 flexible critical thinking, we had to
58:43 um suffer long-term consequences of what
58:46 happens when children are in crisis,
58:47 when the parent is not involved, when
58:49 the parent is not included, when the
58:51 parent is not consented, and when the
58:53 family is not involved in the
58:54 decision-making process of committing a
58:56 child involuntary or not. I want you to
59:00 see that this one incident caused a
59:02 domino effect of motions, petitions, and
59:05 family separations. There needs to be
59:08 more understanding around disability and
59:09 mental health. There is a disconnect in
59:12 public information, communication, and
59:14 transparency. The training that is
59:16 available to parents does not always
59:18 align with what the professional
59:19 training provides. Parent training is
59:22 most likely more around the psychology
59:24 rather around the physicality of
59:26 deescalation.
59:28 Therefore, there is a huge gap in un in
59:30 understanding and a bridge that is
59:32 impossible to pass when the two sides of
59:35 these two worlds, both private and
59:36 public, do not intersect in real life
59:38 boots on the ground tangible life-saving
59:41 way. My daughter did advocate for
59:43 herself and ask for help. It is not lost
59:46 on me that if my daughter would have had
59:47 a knife and a lighter in her hand that
59:49 day that the police would have showed
59:51 up. She could have been shot. She could
59:53 have been tased and she could have been
59:54 tackled to the ground. In summary, I
59:57 would like to see autism, disability,
59:58 and children with ID represented in the
1:00:00 CERT first responder training. I would
1:00:03 like to explore funding in this
1:00:04 training. I would like the city of Isqua
1:00:05 to be more forthcoming with their autism
1:00:08 and deescalation training. I would like
1:00:10 to see the city partner with autism
1:00:12 partners, partner with the ID community,
1:00:14 and partner with first responders so we
1:00:16 can have a clear, concise, transparent
1:00:19 understanding of a minor in crisis,
1:00:21 whether they are verbal or non-verbal.
1:00:24 Um, I would like the city council to
1:00:25 consider funding for additional training
1:00:27 for search teams, for outreach teams,
1:00:29 and for East Side Fire and Rescue Cares
1:00:31 teams, for the mental health
1:00:33 professionals who are paid consultants.
1:00:35 Yes. Have you prepared written comments
1:00:37 for the council because I did
1:00:39 recommendations. If you could summarize
1:00:41 in the next minute or two, I want to
1:00:43 thank you for sharing this story. I can
1:00:44 see how emotional it is. Um, and I would
1:00:46 get the city clerk to hand around the
1:00:48 the detailed version of Thank you. Um, I
1:00:50 would like to have an open conversation
1:00:52 around trauma-informed response and
1:00:54 trauma-informed care and what that looks
1:00:55 like. Um, if the city would consider a
1:00:58 program such as Code Joshua or Project
1:01:00 Guardian, uh, that provides first
1:01:02 responders a database of persons on the
1:01:04 autism spectrum. Thank you again for
1:01:06 your time today and thank you for
1:01:08 hearing about my lived experience. And
1:01:09 thank you so much to our officers and
1:01:11 dedicated uh, officers who are keeping
1:01:13 our families and children safe. Thank
1:01:15 you for sharing, Michelle. and city
1:01:18 clerk, you'll be able to distribute
1:01:19 those after. Thank you very much. Um,
1:01:21 city clerk, who is up next on
1:01:24 the Next, we have Dave Wagner. Come on
1:01:31 Dave. Good evening, council. Uh, David
1:01:34 Wagner uh
1:01:37 22529 42nd, uh,
1:01:40 Place Southeast in Providence Point.
1:01:44 Thank you for the wonderful
1:01:47 uh signal you have up there because it's
1:01:52 lifesaver. Um just want to tell you
1:01:55 quickly something you don't hear about.
1:01:59 Uh our mayor has attended one, but we
1:02:02 have every year a flag retirement
1:02:06 ceremony for all the old uh used flags
1:02:11 in the city of Isiqua. They're dropped
1:02:13 by the senior center as soon as they uh
1:02:16 get that flag box back
1:02:18 there. And this year we with the scouts,
1:02:22 we had 15 scouts. We had uh nine parents
1:02:28 and nine veterans and we uh retired 262
1:02:33 flags.
1:02:35 So, the 19 years that we've been doing
1:02:37 this, we're well over 8,000 flags that
1:02:41 we have retired for the city of Isiqua.
1:02:45 I asked the mayor today, what would we
1:02:47 do if we didn't have this program? Would
1:02:50 you just throw them in the garbage? So,
1:02:54 thank goodness our VFW is there to uh do
1:02:58 this wonderful free no charge
1:03:03 uh flag disposal for the city and we
1:03:06 plan to do some more. I had a wonderful
1:03:09 slides but I didn't get my information
1:03:12 to Tish in time today so I'm in trouble.
1:03:15 Can't show my slides. Uh but I've
1:03:18 learned that lesson the hard way. Um,
1:03:22 one last thing I would like to say
1:03:24 because I won't get the opportunity to
1:03:26 do it again. Uh, our VFW Post and
1:03:29 American Legion Post are working hard
1:03:32 together to do something uh for uh Bill
1:03:38 Ramos service when it comes about. We
1:03:41 don't know what that is yet, but um to
1:03:45 tomorrow morning, I'm swiping the flag
1:03:47 off of the I do have a new flag. Swiping
1:03:50 the flag off the top of the flag pole so
1:03:53 we can uh honor him. I want to say
1:03:57 something personal. Bill was a friend.
1:04:02 Uh, I knew Bill for a long time before
1:04:05 he was ever a council member, before he
1:04:08 was a state legislator, before he was a
1:04:10 state
1:04:12 senator, along with my good friend Dave
1:04:15 Kapler. There was a couple of tumultuous
1:04:19 years here in Isiqua with the senior
1:04:22 center and Bill was a wonderful friend
1:04:26 along with Dave.
1:04:28 We worked hard to get that turned around
1:04:31 and we did. And uh I will never forget
1:04:35 him for his uh friendship during a very
1:04:40 uh difficult, tumultuous time in my
1:04:43 hometown. I miss him. Uh we didn't
1:04:46 always see eye to eye politically, but
1:04:49 we always saw eye to eye, which is a
1:04:52 good thing. So, thank you for letting me
1:04:55 uh be here tonight and share with you
1:04:58 our VFW post plans to
1:05:01 continue on for years to come in and
1:05:06 retiring these flags. Thank you. Thank
1:05:08 you Dave.
1:05:11 Um, actually, we shouldn't u but
1:05:15 um we're not supposed to. The clerk will
1:05:18 get upset if we have a conversation
1:05:19 during audience comments. I guess that's
1:05:23 Yes. uh Memorial Day weekend. We will be
1:05:27 putting flags and crosses out on
1:05:29 Saturday morning. I will get to Thomas
1:05:32 and get him to put it on the website. We
1:05:35 always get a ton of uh city people that
1:05:38 come up. Something you need to know.
1:05:41 Um we have one gentleman that flies up
1:05:45 here from California every year just to
1:05:47 participate in this wonderful service.
1:05:51 Uh that's Saturday 9:00 in the morning
1:05:54 putting that out. Monday morning the
1:05:56 26th is uh our service at 10:00 and then
1:06:00 we take the cemetery down at 6:00 p.m.
1:06:04 We'll be doing it again just like we've
1:06:06 always done it with the help of um
1:06:10 Liberty High School Junior Naval ROC.
1:06:13 Does that answer the question? Thanks
1:06:15 for saying that. I didn't ask a
1:06:16 question. Thank you. Just for
1:06:19 clarification, city clerk, is there
1:06:21 anyone else who signed up to speak this
1:06:22 evening? Yes, Kai Han.
1:06:27 Kai, come on up. Thank you, Mayor Mary L
1:06:31 Police. And then thank you, Lindy. Well,
1:06:33 I've been here three times since, so you
1:06:35 know what I'm talking about. But I come
1:06:37 here to clear myself and I share my
1:06:40 experience and my background. So they
1:06:42 are more comfortable with me. But one
1:06:44 thing is I born in South Korea. I've
1:06:47 been 20 years in South Korea. I was in
1:06:49 military
1:06:52 demilitarized when national guard or
1:06:54 military is not strong country is
1:06:57 jeopardy. So I don't like Korea. So I
1:07:00 moved to the New Zealand. I spent two
1:07:02 years without any problem. One time I
1:07:04 have a one young boy spill my face with
1:07:08 the spit. So I didn't do anything about
1:07:11 it. So I knew they have a little bit
1:07:13 rational discretion. and I come to the
1:07:16 Wisconsin two years I was in the
1:07:18 Wisconsin oak chipot technic college as
1:07:20 a bookkeepers I was outstanding and then
1:07:23 professor said why don't you go into
1:07:25 university so I went to the rent
1:07:27 technical college and I went to the city
1:07:30 university and then they said oh why
1:07:31 don't you get master so I went to the
1:07:33 university of Washington get a try to
1:07:35 get my master and I get old so I have to
1:07:37 marry so I married my wife and then
1:07:39 September 11 happened so I lost my job
1:07:42 as accountant and
1:07:44 Then my wife is a rich woman. So she
1:07:47 give money to build up the business. So
1:07:49 I built up my business. I have make a
1:07:52 fortune. And then I have a two kid. One
1:07:54 is her son. He's now put four years.
1:07:58 Four years fourth years in the college
1:08:01 and my daughter is going to college. I'm
1:08:03 so happy about it. My house become
1:08:05 double. I'm very fortunate in this
1:08:07 community. Isakqua. I investing. I got a
1:08:10 good harvest. I want to be contribute in
1:08:12 this communities. I don't want to be any
1:08:15 any criminal matter in my name. That's
1:08:18 not going to happen. I follow the law. I
1:08:21 obey the law. I contribute to the
1:08:23 community. That's my lifetime theme. And
1:08:26 I learned that with my beautiful lovely
1:08:28 American lady. She told me two things in
1:08:30 America. If you doing good thing, you
1:08:32 got a blessing three times. If you bad
1:08:34 things, you got to punish it 10 times.
1:08:37 And then one word I think is Abraham
1:08:39 Lincoln said that you can lie some
1:08:41 people but you can lying all the people.
1:08:44 You can lie all the people you can lie
1:08:47 to the some people. You
1:08:48 know this happened is because of one
1:08:52 liar. I'm keep telling you everybody
1:08:55 because I'm innocent. I'm clear. I
1:08:58 didn't touch anybody. I'm a ski
1:08:59 instructor. I deal with the kid all the
1:09:01 time. I work for the school. I work I
1:09:05 deal with the public. I have own my
1:09:06 business. I have a franchise license. I
1:09:08 have a license brokers. All everything
1:09:11 affect criminal matter. But criminal
1:09:14 matter is not my name. I want to be very
1:09:17 clear. Whole community clear my name. I
1:09:21 didn't break the law. Maybe they have a
1:09:23 attitude issue. They have some kind of
1:09:26 issues or there is some confusion
1:09:28 issues. I have a nice property in the
1:09:30 pine view. One Indian guy. My dog was
1:09:33 walk around and my dog pe on this
1:09:36 glasses. He tried to take a picture of
1:09:38 me in Asian community. That's very big
1:09:41 insulting. Especially I'm 60 years. Look
1:09:43 at my gray hair. I showed a little bit
1:09:45 of the respect for my community. But
1:09:48 that young guy, he took a picture my
1:09:50 home. Why he's not going to tell me why?
1:09:52 Why don't you your dog is go someplace
1:09:54 else? That's not that's no good my idea.
1:09:57 Please don't do this. That's very
1:09:59 acceptable. But taking somebody's
1:10:01 pictures is very insulting. It happened
1:10:04 few times
1:10:05 is another ethnic group especially
1:10:08 Indian. I was in the sauna. One guy was
1:10:10 so lousing and then he kept talking and
1:10:13 then America said please be quiet and he
1:10:16 kepting no that's not no good idea. No
1:10:19 physical involve same thing as me. I was
1:10:22 the parking at the Costco. Costco is so
1:10:26 heavily busy 200 p.m. I'm waiting for my
1:10:29 next flight in the Cypress. So I have
1:10:32 one more minute and never ever touch
1:10:35 anybody. Now if a policeman chief police
1:10:39 here and prosecutor I talk to them
1:10:41 directly man to man eye to eyes if you
1:10:43 have evidences I going to jail in rest
1:10:46 of my life. I'll give a million dollars
1:10:48 donation to these communities but if you
1:10:50 can't prove please let me go. I'm 60
1:10:53 years old man, you know. I want to be
1:10:55 nice to this community. But clear my
1:10:59 name. I'm not kind. Maybe I'm not maybe
1:11:02 not nice, but I never ever broke the
1:11:06 law. I didn't touch him. I will swear if
1:11:10 I touch him, I will be lifetime jail.
1:11:12 I'll give a million dollars donation to
1:11:15 this community. I have a pre-trial is
1:11:18 May 6. I going to tell the judgy. Judges
1:11:21 is not going to do anything about it.
1:11:23 Prosecutor, if you
1:11:25 show you're going to trial, but you're
1:11:28 losing your job. If you prove I going to
1:11:31 jail, me life. Thank you very much.
1:11:33 Thank you.
1:11:37 Just missed it. Thank you, Mr. Han. Um,
1:11:40 is there anyone else signed up, city
1:11:42 clerk, or anyone online indicating a
1:11:45 desire to speak? No one else has signed
1:11:47 up and there is one person online but
1:11:49 they're not indicating a desire to
1:11:50 speak. Okay. Would anybody else in the
1:11:52 room that has not had an opportunity to
1:11:53 speak like to get up and speak?
1:12:00 Hi. Hi. Um my name my name's Helen
1:12:03 Flanders. Um this is my son Nick. Um we
1:12:07 live uh just outside of the city limits
1:12:09 but our mailing address is isqua. Um but
1:12:12 we are members of the the local school.
1:12:15 Um, and I just kind of wanted to
1:12:17 piggyback on what Michelle had said. Um,
1:12:21 this is a terrifying
1:12:23 uh, walk in life. Um, like I said, one
1:12:26 point one in every 12 and a half boys is
1:12:29 autistic. Uh, that's a large number of
1:12:32 our community and we have even more
1:12:35 girls as well. And I remember when Nick
1:12:37 was four going to Salmon Days festival
1:12:40 and going up to the police officers and
1:12:41 being like, "Please tell me, is there a
1:12:43 way to register so he you have a picture
1:12:45 of him so that if he runs and I'm at
1:12:48 work or you know the school he runs,
1:12:51 there's some way to give you guys
1:12:52 information or um if this is thinking
1:12:56 far ahead, but what if he comes with a
1:12:58 knife at some point and I'm tall and I'm
1:13:00 like I can't struggle this. He's
1:13:02 supposed to be 6'4 when he's fully
1:13:03 grown. I don't know what I'm going to
1:13:05 do. How am I going to get him subdued
1:13:08 without getting him hurt? If Isiqua
1:13:11 police or King County Sheriff's
1:13:13 ultimately, if people knew, if we could
1:13:15 self-identify,
1:13:17 um, obviously don't want to require
1:13:19 anyone to give information, but if you
1:13:21 could self-identify and be part of this
1:13:24 database, people, police officers,
1:13:26 mental health professionals, they come
1:13:28 more equipped to the conversation, more
1:13:30 equipped to the scene. And our life is
1:13:34 terrifying. Nick's a runner. Um, we
1:13:36 don't have something else to consider.
1:13:38 We don't have any playgrounds that have
1:13:39 like fenced in areas. Um, we try to find
1:13:43 for a long time we've tried to find
1:13:44 indoor play areas. Um, I know a couple
1:13:47 other communities like uh Snowqualami
1:13:49 are looking at trying to build some
1:13:51 playgrounds with a little bit of, you
1:13:53 know, uh, fencing. Uh, it it's it's
1:13:56 scary right now. Um, and it is
1:14:00 heartbreaking watching what going on in
1:14:02 the rest of the world. I do think Isiqua
1:14:04 police officers are very nice and they
1:14:07 seem very calm and equipped every time
1:14:09 I've dealt with them, but we also don't
1:14:11 know what's going to happen 10 years
1:14:12 down the road. Cultures change in
1:14:14 precincts. You know, I do think that
1:14:16 it's not necessarily the the rules, but
1:14:18 it's the cultures. And so, I want if you
1:14:21 guys could to to have like some kind of
1:14:23 ad hoc committee, you know, talk to
1:14:25 members of the autism community and uh
1:14:28 try to be, you know, getting policies
1:14:30 and procedures in place ahead of time.
1:14:33 take a little bit of the stress off of
1:14:34 us parents, a large number of us. I'm
1:14:38 not I'm married, but the the divorce
1:14:40 rate is I think twothirds of autistic
1:14:44 families. So, there's a lot of us who
1:14:46 are doing it alone. Um, and it's just
1:14:49 it's just terrifying. And they get big
1:14:52 and at some point they grow up and
1:14:54 they're no longer minors and we have to
1:14:57 figure out how to deal with 25 year
1:14:58 olds, but they're still six-year-olds,
1:15:02 you know.
1:15:03 Um, so yeah, we need long-term support
1:15:07 in the community. That's all I really
1:15:08 have. Well, thanks for getting up and
1:15:09 sharing.
1:15:12 I'm not seeing uh would you like to
1:15:14 speak this evening? Speaking over here.
1:15:16 No. Okay, just check. I want to make
1:15:18 sure I didn't miss anybody in the room.
1:15:20 I want to thank um the residents who
1:15:22 came in this evening. We had a couple
1:15:24 people talking about comments on first
1:15:26 responder training. We also heard about
1:15:29 our local VA's flag uh retirement
1:15:32 program that is, you know, pretty unique
1:15:34 to our city and also comments on the
1:15:37 passing of Senator Ramos and comments on
1:15:40 a pending court case that will be heard
1:15:42 in the Isqua court. So, I want to thank
1:15:43 all of you for sharing your thoughts in
1:15:45 front of council and on camera with us
1:15:47 tonight. Um, as a reminder, in between
1:15:51 meetings, you are also able to write
1:15:53 your counsel at any time at city
1:15:55 councilwah.gov. So, the next item of
1:15:58 business on the cal on the agenda this
1:16:00 evening is the consent calendar. I do
1:16:02 not have any remarks on any consent
1:16:04 calendar items, but I would like to
1:16:06 check in with committee chairs or their
1:16:08 designate who if there are any items
1:16:10 that need a comment. Yes. Uh, council
1:16:12 member Hall.
1:16:18 We might have to share.
1:16:21 Uh, thank you. Yeah, just really
1:16:23 quickly, you noticed um agenda bill 8974
1:16:26 is on our consent calendar. This is the
1:16:29 2025 title 18 clarifying amendments that
1:16:32 was before the planning development and
1:16:33 environment committee. Again, these were
1:16:35 just kind of the housekeeping small
1:16:37 housekeeping items that were going their
1:16:39 way through the process once they were
1:16:41 identified by staff and code users. And
1:16:43 we have more substantial um policy
1:16:46 amendments coming uh in the coming
1:16:48 months. Um both PPC and PTE reviewed
1:16:50 this and recommend adoption. Thanks.
1:16:52 Thanks. Are there any other committee
1:16:54 chairs that have comments on the consent
1:16:56 calendar? Is there a motion?
1:16:59 Council President. Yeah, I move we
1:17:01 approve the consent calendar as
1:17:03 distributed. Well, and guess what,
1:17:04 Council President? I forgot to say a few
1:17:07 things. The consent calendar was
1:17:09 distributed to council in
1:17:11 advance. If authorized, the items on the
1:17:14 consent calendar will be considered
1:17:15 together and approved by one motion.
1:17:16 Have the payables and payrolls been
1:17:18 reviewed? They have. They have. Yay.
1:17:20 Yay. Um, and does anybody desire to
1:17:22 remove any items? Okay. So, sorry for
1:17:25 jumping ahead. Thank you for the motion,
1:17:27 Council President. Is there a second?
1:17:29 Second. So, it has been moved and
1:17:31 seconded. Is there any um
1:17:34 comment? All those in favor say I. I. I.
1:17:38 All those
1:17:39 opposed. That carries seven and no.
1:17:42 Thank you for that. Uh we're going to
1:17:44 move into regular business and we'll
1:17:46 start with
1:17:47 AB8969, the Squawk Mountain
1:17:49 non-motorized improvement project,
1:17:51 preferred concept. And the request
1:17:53 before council this evening is to
1:17:54 approve the resolution. I'd like to
1:17:57 invite transportation engineering
1:17:58 manager John Mortonson to the podium.
1:18:01 Welcome, John. Thank you very much,
1:18:03 Mayor Paulie and council members. John
1:18:06 Mortonson, transportation engineering
1:18:07 manager. Give me just a minute to get
1:18:09 the slide
1:18:11 loaded.
1:18:23 Tonight I'm here to talk to you about
1:18:25 the Squawk Mountain non-motorized
1:18:27 improvement project. With me is Brent
1:18:30 Pal from Prit. He's the lead for the
1:18:32 consultant and he's able to help answer
1:18:35 any questions that I'm not able
1:18:37 to. The purpose of tonight's item is to
1:18:41 seek approval of the project study
1:18:43 report for the Squawk Mountain
1:18:44 non-rotorized improvement project by
1:18:48 resolution. This is a project located in
1:18:53 the Squawk Mountain neighborhood. This
1:18:55 slide shows the location of the project.
1:18:58 It's along the 12th Avenue Northwest and
1:19:02 Mount Olympus Drive Northwest corridor.
1:19:04 On the southern end, it begins at
1:19:07 southwest Mount Markham Place, which is
1:19:09 where the existing
1:19:11 sidewalk is located at, and then it goes
1:19:15 to the north until it almost gets to
1:19:17 Northwest Furwood Boulevard, where it
1:19:19 ties in with the existing sidewalk.
1:19:23 I'm not going to go over every little
1:19:25 spot on this timeline because this
1:19:27 presentation is going to really walk
1:19:29 through this timeline, but there have
1:19:30 been a lot of touch points with the
1:19:32 community with multiple surveys to the
1:19:34 neighborhood as well as touch points
1:19:37 with the transportation advisory board
1:19:39 and multiple meetings with the mobility
1:19:41 and infrastructure committee that have
1:19:43 brought us to where we're at tonight.
1:19:48 And before I get into the details of it,
1:19:51 I want to give a little background on
1:19:53 the budget. The 2025 to 2026 operating
1:19:57 budget did include funds to begin design
1:20:01 on this project for phase one. There
1:20:04 were some several assumptions that were
1:20:06 made with
1:20:07 that entry into the budget. And one of
1:20:10 them was that the project would be
1:20:11 designed and constructed in phases and
1:20:13 that the majority of the work would be
1:20:16 completed with city staff instead of
1:20:18 hiring a consultant in order to reduce
1:20:21 costs. As the budget got put together
1:20:23 and the need to reduce overall costs for
1:20:26 the city, there were staffing reductions
1:20:28 and the administration no longer has the
1:20:30 staffing capacity to advance the project
1:20:32 during this budget bianium. It is
1:20:35 expected that the administration will
1:20:36 have staffing capacity to work on the
1:20:38 project and begin design in 2028 and
1:20:42 construction is not currently
1:20:45 funded. Little bit of a background on
1:20:48 the project. It's a the corridor is a
1:20:52 two-lane road with no curb, gutters,
1:20:55 sidewalk, no landscaping, narrow
1:20:58 shoulders, and it's a corridor with lots
1:21:01 of mature Douglas fur and cedar and
1:21:05 other trees.
1:21:11 The work on this project began in summer
1:21:13 of 2023 with a community engagement
1:21:17 effort that really was about listening
1:21:20 and learning from the community about
1:21:22 what the priorities are for the
1:21:23 corridor. And what the administration
1:21:26 learned from the community is there's a
1:21:28 lot of support very strongly for
1:21:30 sidewalks, general support for bicycle
1:21:32 facilities, but the community
1:21:34 prioritized tree preservations. There
1:21:36 were concerns about vehicular speeds and
1:21:40 on street parking was not a priority in
1:21:43 the survey. With that information, the
1:21:46 administration worked on formulating
1:21:49 different alternatives and came up with
1:21:52 six alternatives that were vetted out.
1:21:55 And one of the things that we learned
1:21:57 really early on in this as we're
1:21:59 evaluating the six initial alternatives
1:22:02 is in order to build the corridor out to
1:22:05 the city standard which includes painted
1:22:08 bike lanes, landscape planter strip with
1:22:11 street trees and sidewalk that it would
1:22:13 have a significant impact to trees. And
1:22:16 so the administration went to the
1:22:18 mobility and infrastructure committee
1:22:20 about a year ago
1:22:24 and asked for support
1:22:27 to advance non-code compliant
1:22:31 alternatives with a thought process of
1:22:34 we didn't think that the neighborhood as
1:22:36 well as the city's comprehensive plan
1:22:38 and other goals would really
1:22:41 want the this project to be cutting down
1:22:46 a 60-year-old cedar tree in order to put
1:22:49 in a decorative street tree. And the
1:22:52 committee gave the thumbs up to do that
1:22:54 and also said um to ask the community
1:22:58 for feedback on alternatives that were
1:23:01 not code compliant and also gave the
1:23:03 administration thumbs up to develop
1:23:05 guard rails for how to have deviations
1:23:09 from the city standards in cases where
1:23:12 we're trying to preserve trees.
1:23:16 And with that, two alternatives were
1:23:18 advanced to the
1:23:20 community and they were very similar
1:23:22 alternatives. Both had sidewalk on one
1:23:24 side of the corridor and one of the
1:23:26 alternatives had an uphill bike
1:23:30 lane. The two alternatives were
1:23:33 presented to the community in a public
1:23:35 survey. And in my time with the city,
1:23:37 this was the closest survey. I believe
1:23:40 it was eight votes difference. um 51%
1:23:43 wanted a bike lane and 49% wanted only
1:23:47 sidewalk. The survey did not disclose
1:23:50 the cost and the administration did not
1:23:52 know the cost differential at the time.
1:23:55 With it being so close, the next step
1:23:57 was to develop a cost estimate for the
1:24:00 differential
1:24:02 between adding a bike lane and not. And
1:24:05 that came to $2.5 million.
1:24:13 The next step was to meet with the
1:24:15 transportation advisory board and get
1:24:18 their feedback about whether to include
1:24:19 an uphill bike lane for the project
1:24:23 concept or not. And the administration's
1:24:26 recommendation was to not include the
1:24:28 uphill bike lane and primarily driven by
1:24:32 the extra $2.5 million. That that's a
1:24:34 lot of money for the project and also
1:24:38 the impacts to trees
1:24:40 that widening the road for an uphill
1:24:43 bike lane would do. And so at the
1:24:45 transportation advisory meeting on
1:24:48 December 4th, the TAB provided unanimous
1:24:52 consensus on the recommendation and
1:24:54 recommended not including the uphill
1:24:56 bike lane in the preferred alternative.
1:25:02 Following that meeting, the
1:25:04 administration went to the mobility and
1:25:06 infrastructure committee three times
1:25:09 on twice directly with this project and
1:25:12 once regarding the street standards. In
1:25:14 January, the same conversation was had
1:25:17 but this time with the mobility and
1:25:19 infrastructure committee about whether
1:25:21 to include an uphill bike lane in the
1:25:23 preferred alternative. and the committee
1:25:25 gave unanimous support for not including
1:25:27 the uphill bike lane with the reasons
1:25:31 being cost and impacts to trees. As I
1:25:34 mentioned earlier, the mobility and
1:25:37 infrastructure committee told the
1:25:38 administration to develop guard rails
1:25:40 for a modification to the street
1:25:42 standards on when to not install the
1:25:44 landscape planner strip.
1:25:48 And the administration presented those
1:25:50 guard rails to the committee at the
1:25:53 meeting in February. And the
1:25:57 committee unanimously supported creating
1:26:01 deviation process to eliminate the
1:26:03 landscape planter strip to preserve
1:26:05 trees and to maintain driveway access
1:26:07 which both these are situations that
1:26:10 come into play along this corridor. And
1:26:13 finally, the final touch point with the
1:26:15 committee was a month ago and the
1:26:18 preferred alternative and the draft
1:26:21 study report for the project were
1:26:23 presented to the committee and
1:26:35 also the feasibility of what we're
1:26:38 calling the lowerc cost preferred
1:26:39 alternative which I'll talk about here
1:26:41 in a minute.
1:26:43 The preferred alternative will have
1:26:45 sidewalk on one side. It will not have
1:26:47 bike lane and there will be a crossing
1:26:50 at Upper Hillside Cemetery. So the
1:26:53 sidewalk on the southern end of the
1:26:55 project will be on the east side of the
1:26:57 corridor and then once you get to the
1:27:00 entrance
1:27:01 to Upper Hillside Cemetery, there will
1:27:03 be a crossing and then it will continue
1:27:06 on the west side of the corridor.
1:27:08 There will be landscape planter strips
1:27:10 which are not shown on this these
1:27:12 exhibits except for in situations where
1:27:16 the project will try and preserve trees
1:27:19 as well as avoid impacts to critical
1:27:22 areas and in locations with deep
1:27:26 driveways. The design is also going to
1:27:29 consider where to place mailboxes and
1:27:32 the solid waste collection bins. Um,
1:27:36 personally that's one of my pet peeves
1:27:38 when we have a nice sidewalk and you're
1:27:40 walking along and you see a bunch of
1:27:42 trash bins in the way and I think how
1:27:44 would someone in a wheelchair get
1:27:45 through there? Um, so this design's
1:27:47 going to consider that. Um, it'll
1:27:50 also add bulbouts and raised medians for
1:27:54 traffic calming to address the speed
1:27:56 concerns that were brought to the
1:27:57 administration during the first survey.
1:27:59 The cost estimate is about $4.6 million.
1:28:03 There's also additional costs. Right
1:28:06 now, it's listed as 500,000 to a
1:28:09 million, but it's probably closer to a
1:28:11 million or more uh to underground the
1:28:13 overhead utilities in the southern
1:28:16 segment of the project.
1:28:21 As I mentioned earlier in my
1:28:23 presentation, there is a lowerc cost
1:28:25 preferred alternative that the
1:28:26 administration wants to look at a little
1:28:29 bit more carefully. And it's really
1:28:31 similar to the preferred alternative
1:28:33 except for instead of a sidewalk, it
1:28:35 would have an asphalt walkway next to
1:28:37 the street. And that's a fancy word for
1:28:40 a plastic traffic curb that would
1:28:42 separate the walkway and the travel
1:28:45 lane. and it wouldn't be as comfortable
1:28:50 pedestrians. It would require a new
1:28:53 narrow street sweeper to clean behind
1:28:55 the curb, which is included in the cost
1:28:58 estimate of $1.6 million.
1:29:02 Um, but in order to advance this, the
1:29:06 administration wants to spend a little
1:29:08 bit more time. For one, we have not
1:29:10 talked to the neighborhood about what
1:29:12 their thoughts are that they've been
1:29:15 giving us feedback on sidewalks. So,
1:29:16 we'd want to get their input on it as
1:29:19 well as look at
1:29:20 the liabilities and maintenance risks in
1:29:24 addition to needing to get a new narrow
1:29:28 street sweeper. And so the plan is to
1:29:31 evaluate it over the next two years. So
1:29:33 that way in two years from now when the
1:29:35 council is having CIP
1:29:38 deliberations, this might be added to or
1:29:41 the CIP might be revised to include the
1:29:44 lowerc cost preferred alternative if
1:29:46 that end up being the direction the
1:29:47 community wants to go.
1:29:50 The timing and next steps for this
1:29:51 project are right now the administration
1:29:54 is working on entry for the capital
1:29:57 improvement plan and it will assume that
1:30:01 the preferred alternative from the
1:30:03 design study report will be
1:30:06 included and that over the next two
1:30:09 years the administration is going to do
1:30:11 some due diligence on the lowerc cost
1:30:13 preferred alternative. And in
1:30:16 2027, there is a possibility that the
1:30:19 capital improvement plan would be
1:30:21 update. Well, it will be updated and it
1:30:24 the project, the Squawk Mountain project
1:30:26 will be updated as part of that update.
1:30:29 But if the lowerc cost preferred
1:30:31 alternative ended up being the direction
1:30:33 the community wants to go, then at that
1:30:35 point, that's when it would be put into
1:30:37 the capital improvement plan.
1:30:39 The administration's recommendation
1:30:43 is approval of the resolution adopting
1:30:46 the Squawk Mountain non-motorized
1:30:48 improvements project study report. And
1:30:51 that concludes my presentation. Thank
1:30:53 you, John. Um the committee chair is
1:30:57 uh yeah, I was just going to let um
1:31:00 Russell Joe maybe provide committee
1:31:02 comments and then we'll go to questions
1:31:04 and then we'll go to the motion.
1:31:06 Committee chair. Thank you, Mayor. Um I
1:31:08 I uh had the privilege of only attending
1:31:12 one meeting on this particular topic and
1:31:15 um Chris Ray will make the uh motion
1:31:17 because his committee did the uh the
1:31:20 bulk of the work. But um appreciate the
1:31:22 the summary and we uh understand that
1:31:26 progress is slow and that this might not
1:31:28 be the
1:31:30 um the the grandest scheme that we might
1:31:34 have envisioned when we first started on
1:31:35 this adventure. Um but uh it is
1:31:38 something that uh is workable as a
1:31:41 lowcost alternative is is explored and
1:31:44 as a preferred alternative are explored.
1:31:46 It's something that I think our
1:31:47 community uh needs and our committee was
1:31:50 uh supportive of the resolution going
1:31:52 forward. Thank you. Thank you. And would
1:31:54 it be appropriate then can we have um
1:31:56 Council Member Ray give the any broader
1:31:59 background that he may have? Absolutely.
1:32:01 Okay. Council member Ray, any comments
1:32:03 before we get to questions? Sure. Um, I
1:32:07 think first and foremost, and I think
1:32:08 John really hit on this, this is a
1:32:10 necessary project both for traffic
1:32:12 calming and and pedestrian safety. And I
1:32:14 think that came through very clearly in
1:32:16 what we heard. Um, this is a classic
1:32:18 example of the role that the city
1:32:20 council plays in trying to balance
1:32:22 competing priorities where we want bike
1:32:25 lanes and we want trees and we want to
1:32:28 be able to afford it. and we were in a
1:32:30 situation where um we were having to
1:32:32 balance off
1:32:34 um those priorities. Um what I really
1:32:38 appreciated was when we first um tiptoed
1:32:42 into this topic about a year ago and we
1:32:45 had a request for a deviation from a
1:32:47 non-compliant streetscape um and we
1:32:50 said, "Hey, um this is great. Yeah, we
1:32:52 see where you're going, but we would
1:32:53 like to have, as John said, guard
1:32:55 rails." And so they came back with a
1:32:57 really nice uh model that says it
1:33:00 doesn't just address this one situation
1:33:02 uh on Squawk Mountain, but gives us a
1:33:04 template to use for other places where
1:33:06 we need to balance um competing needs
1:33:09 with with the streetscape standards. So
1:33:12 um and then unfortunately uh we would
1:33:15 have loved to do um bike lane and uh
1:33:19 sidewalk and that was clearly important
1:33:22 to the community but given the
1:33:25 significant cost difference and recent
1:33:27 budget pressures, we really came down to
1:33:30 do you want to do it at all or do you
1:33:32 want to do a bike lane and a sidewalk.
1:33:34 So it was a a trade-off between uh
1:33:37 financial realities and and and what was
1:33:40 possible. So, you know, in summary, this
1:33:42 is a it was an incredible piece of
1:33:44 engineering and assessment work um to
1:33:48 find ways to reduce the cost, really
1:33:50 deliver on what the residents were
1:33:51 looking for, and at the same time make
1:33:53 sure that we were minimizing the impact
1:33:55 on existing residents. I we talked a lot
1:33:57 about driveways and things like that, as
1:33:59 well as preserving mature trees. So, um
1:34:01 I think the option that's on the table
1:34:03 from where the committee sat, um you
1:34:07 know, makes a lot of sense and I I
1:34:08 really truly appreciated um kind of my
1:34:12 my monthly update with John on this on
1:34:14 this project. So, so thank you very
1:34:16 much. Thank you both for sharing those
1:34:18 comments. Um council, do you have
1:34:20 questions on the project? Let's go
1:34:22 council president, then deputy council
1:34:23 president. Thank you. So, not having
1:34:26 been on that committee um and seeing
1:34:29 this come forward, it seems like such an
1:34:32 exciting idea, but I want to clarify
1:34:35 what we're really doing here is kind of
1:34:39 approving the project study and
1:34:42 recognizing all of the work that was
1:34:44 done, but also not moving forward on
1:34:48 this now because there isn't any budget.
1:34:51 Is that a correct assessment?
1:34:54 Yes. And part of the reason why I in my
1:34:56 opinion we're asking to approve the
1:35:00 concept now is that it will while future
1:35:03 councils could change the concept on the
1:35:05 project as staff are going to be working
1:35:08 on implementing this it really helps to
1:35:11 have council adopt a preferred corridor.
1:35:14 It's something that we've done for other
1:35:15 corridors and I think it will lead to a
1:35:17 much more successful project.
1:35:20 Okay. And so within this, as you
1:35:23 mentioned, there's the concept 2A that
1:35:27 kind of doesn't have the raised
1:35:29 sidewalks and those pieces. It you
1:35:33 mentioned that as a newer idea. Is that
1:35:37 not the preferred concept?
1:35:39 Well, it might be the preferred concept
1:35:42 I in the eventually, but there's some
1:35:45 due diligence that want to look at it
1:35:48 from a liability and risk. Is the city
1:35:51 putting itself at a in a position where
1:35:53 it could lose a court case and have to
1:35:55 pay out money? I I hope not. I don't
1:35:58 think so, but really want to do some due
1:36:00 diligence because it's pretty standard
1:36:03 to have sidewalk next to a road doing
1:36:05 something a little bit more creative to
1:36:07 give pedestrians a place to walk.
1:36:10 Um, just really want to dig a little bit
1:36:14 more into the details before we
1:36:16 proceeded with something like that.
1:36:18 Okay. So by adopting this we are not
1:36:20 necessarily saying that's the preferred
1:36:23 or we don't prefer that variation. We
1:36:27 are recognizing that it is one quite
1:36:31 possible um opportunity but not
1:36:34 selecting one or the other. Correct.
1:36:36 Okay. Thank you deputy council
1:36:38 president.
1:36:40 Uh, you know, we we talked about
1:36:43 uh Oh, sorry. So, we talked about you
1:36:46 talked about cutting down one cedar tree
1:36:49 and um Council Member Ray talked about
1:36:52 significant tree loss, but I really just
1:36:54 for the public's understanding of the uh
1:36:58 of the range of what we're talking about
1:37:00 with tree loss, as I remember correctly,
1:37:03 and you need to correct me if I'm wrong,
1:37:05 we were talking about cutting down
1:37:07 around 80 trees. Uh is that around the
1:37:10 the number that we had?
1:37:16 I'm going to guess you're probably
1:37:17 right. I don't remember the exact
1:37:18 number. I do remember it was a lot and
1:37:23 um very significant. Yeah. And I just
1:37:26 wanted to point that out because for
1:37:28 anybody who watches this video some
1:37:30 someday. Um that certainly was playing a
1:37:34 very strong role in um the conversation
1:37:37 that we were having. um uh because our
1:37:41 our climate action plan calls for us to
1:37:44 increase our uh our canopy, not decrease
1:37:47 it, and that would have been a
1:37:48 significant decrease of the canopy. So,
1:37:51 I just wanted to make sure that we
1:37:53 clarified that on the record that we
1:37:55 were talking about a significant tree
1:37:56 loss there. Thanks. Um Council Member
1:38:00 Joe, followed by Council Member Mertz.
1:38:02 Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um just a couple
1:38:05 of questions. they were probably asked
1:38:07 during the committee but I think are
1:38:09 important for the whole council to hear.
1:38:11 Uh one was uh concerning uh potential
1:38:15 for funding for this project and uh
1:38:17 often times we'll do a a transportation
1:38:20 project and have the the whole project
1:38:23 put together so it's eligible for
1:38:24 funding from the state or the federal
1:38:26 level. uh in this case, could you
1:38:28 comment on why this project, even though
1:38:30 we're doing a study, is not necessarily
1:38:33 um with the with the ultimate goal of
1:38:36 getting funding because of its
1:38:37 circumstance.
1:38:39 Yes, thank you very much, Council Member
1:38:41 Joe. Good
1:38:43 question. This is a project that would
1:38:45 not be competitive for grants, and so
1:38:47 it's a project that the city is going to
1:38:49 have to fund.
1:38:50 It's It's too bad there's not a grant
1:38:53 program to provide sidewalk for a
1:38:55 neighborhood like Squawk Mountain. I
1:38:57 believe it's because almost every city
1:39:00 probably in the state, I can say every
1:39:02 one I've been to in King County has a
1:39:04 neighborhood very similar to Squawk
1:39:06 Mountain that doesn't have sidewalk and
1:39:09 um could desperately use it to improve
1:39:11 the lives of the residents. Great. Thank
1:39:14 you. The second question I had was uh
1:39:17 concerning the narrow sweeper that might
1:39:19 be uh necessary for this project. Are
1:39:22 there other places in the city currently
1:39:25 that we'd be able to use it or would it
1:39:27 just be kind of a asset that we'd be
1:39:29 acquiring for future roadway projects
1:39:32 similar to this one?
1:39:36 Another good question. Um, it is
1:39:38 something that would be utilized
1:39:39 throughout the city, especially as we're
1:39:41 building out the core street in the
1:39:45 street standards that's part of the
1:39:47 central Esqua redevelopment where we
1:39:49 have the protected bike lanes next to
1:39:51 the sidewalk. Um, that'd be a great
1:39:53 location to utilize those and other
1:39:55 locations. So, it would definitely get
1:39:57 used. Great. Thank you very much.
1:39:59 Appreciate all your hard work on this
1:40:00 project. Council member Mertz,
1:40:04 I'm pardon me. I'm still a little
1:40:07 confused about the state of the options
1:40:10 that are in front of us, what it means
1:40:13 to adopt the report tonight and what
1:40:16 conversation has occurred to the local
1:40:18 residents in that neighborhood. In other
1:40:20 words, there was an initial
1:40:21 conversation, there was scoping and uh
1:40:25 you know, uh costing and then now here
1:40:28 we are back with some options and going
1:40:32 through some what my old boss Jeff Bezos
1:40:34 might call one-way doors, maybe two-way
1:40:37 doors, things you can go through, a door
1:40:38 you can go through and sometimes you can
1:40:40 go back through it, sometimes you can't.
1:40:42 All this in the context of what have we
1:40:44 actually like our latest thinking, how
1:40:46 much of that have we actually gone in
1:40:48 front of the the neighborhoods impacted
1:40:51 and discussed with them. Okay. So to
1:40:55 answer that question and then I'll get
1:40:57 to the first question. Um the
1:41:00 administration presented two
1:41:03 alternatives to the community and both
1:41:05 had sidewalk with curb. One had bike
1:41:09 lane, one did not. And so the
1:41:11 neighborhood has not seen any drawings
1:41:13 unless they tune in to mobility and
1:41:15 infrastructure committee or this meeting
1:41:17 tonight that show the tough curb in
1:41:21 between a paved walkway and the travel
1:41:24 lane. And so that is what they've seen.
1:41:27 That's what they've been presented is
1:41:28 the sidewalk. And then to answer this
1:41:33 first question they asked
1:41:36 is the what you are being asked to
1:41:39 approve is the design study report that
1:41:43 identifies the preferred alternative of
1:41:47 sidewalk with curb and gutter and
1:41:49 planter strip and locations where
1:41:51 planter strip can be installed with a
1:41:55 little section that talks about there
1:41:57 may be a lower cost alternative
1:42:00 alternative to achieve something almost
1:42:03 similar to the preferred alternative.
1:42:07 And would we be greenlighting that move
1:42:10 to the lowerc cost alternative? I'm
1:42:13 seeing the mayor shake her head. No. I
1:42:15 just want us to make sure that whatever
1:42:18 we finally settle in on that we've
1:42:21 talked about it with the residents in
1:42:22 that neighborhood before we commit
1:42:24 ourselves. Yes. And that is one of the
1:42:27 main reasons why we want to take the
1:42:30 next two years to work through the
1:42:33 lowerc cost preferred alternative
1:42:36 because we don't want to rush it into
1:42:38 the CIP that we're working on when we
1:42:42 haven't talked to the neighborhood. That
1:42:44 that would be the silver lining on this
1:42:45 cloud. Yes, indeed. This was so much
1:42:47 easier when five of the seven council
1:42:49 members lived on Squack Mountain and we
1:42:51 just punched above our weight. Now that
1:42:52 there's only two of us, it's so much
1:42:54 harder. Thank Thank you very much for
1:42:56 your question. Well, the city's grown.
1:42:57 Council member Mars.
1:43:00 Uh, great questions. Council member
1:43:01 Hall, thank you. Can you remind me um
1:43:04 the street standards update? When does
1:43:06 that come before council? When does it
1:43:08 graduate from M&I to to council? Yes.
1:43:11 So, originally it was going to come to
1:43:13 mobility and infrastructure in June.
1:43:16 It's been moved out to July in order to
1:43:19 make room for the I90 crossing, but the
1:43:21 next touch point on the street standards
1:43:23 update related to landscaping will be in
1:43:27 July. There will be a minor update in
1:43:30 May to the street standards where one
1:43:32 sentence will get changed as part of the
1:43:35 middle housing update. Um, so I don't
1:43:37 want to mislead anyone, but the the
1:43:40 street standard that we've been working
1:43:41 on and had the guard rails that we got
1:43:44 feedback from the mobility and
1:43:45 infrastructure committee is scheduled
1:43:47 for the July meeting of mobility and
1:43:50 infrastructure.
1:43:51 Thank you. So, not before full council
1:43:53 until later this year, Q34 or something
1:43:56 like that. Okay. Yep. Thanks.
1:43:59 Any other questions? Um, would the
1:44:03 council object to me adding a few
1:44:05 historical comments before you moved to
1:44:07 motion? Um, I just really appreciated
1:44:09 what the committee had done over the
1:44:11 last few years talking about all this.
1:44:14 Lots and lots of talking. Um once the
1:44:17 property lines and utilities are located
1:44:19 in an old older subdivision and a
1:44:22 priority is made on having a treed
1:44:24 community, it's really hard then to go
1:44:26 back in 50 years later and say, "Well,
1:44:28 now people have more cars, but they also
1:44:31 want to use bikes and we're walking
1:44:33 more." And so the nature and character
1:44:35 of that neighborhood and how it is being
1:44:37 lived in has changed so much in 50
1:44:39 years. This is like a real difficult
1:44:42 puzzle to solve. And I am just so proud
1:44:44 of the work that I saw done in committee
1:44:46 and the comments I heard here tonight
1:44:48 that um share with the public how it's
1:44:51 really hard to re-engineer something
1:44:52 that's been engineered for a different
1:44:54 reason. So great job. I am very excited
1:44:56 about the street standards coming
1:44:57 forward because I I think this is
1:44:59 probably some of the best conversations
1:45:00 I've heard in years about how we are
1:45:02 going to adapt, adopt, construct, amend,
1:45:05 modify, whatever. So great job.
1:45:08 Wonderful job. Um, I was going to see if
1:45:11 there are no more questions. Would
1:45:13 council member Ray like to make a
1:45:14 motion? Um, I move to approve resolution
1:45:17 number 2025-10
1:45:22 adopting the Squawk Mountain
1:45:23 non-motorized improvement project study
1:45:26 report. Second. Thank you both. Are
1:45:29 there any questions?
1:45:32 Seeing none, all those in favor? Oh
1:45:35 gosh. Are there any comments?
1:45:39 you've already done questions. Okay,
1:45:40 Council Member Hall and then we'll see
1:45:42 who else. Yeah. Um well, thank you.
1:45:44 Yeah, I'm gonna I just wanted to say a
1:45:46 few words because I was on the committee
1:45:47 when we talked about the two
1:45:49 alternatives um previously before the
1:45:51 lowerc cost alternative. Um thanks again
1:45:54 for all of everyone's work who was part
1:45:56 of this project. Um we did talk about it
1:45:58 a lot. Um I just wanted to say it was at
1:46:00 the committee um that three of us had,
1:46:02 it was difficult to accept not having an
1:46:04 uphill bike lane. It was very difficult
1:46:06 especially because we just updated um or
1:46:09 we had just talked about the mobility
1:46:10 action plan actually that was the night
1:46:12 we had christened it map I think um um
1:46:16 and there was a new or there was a
1:46:18 policy in there that said we would work
1:46:20 to raise level of service um in certain
1:46:24 areas and Squawk Mountain is one of
1:46:26 those there are level of service for
1:46:28 which I think is like the strong and
1:46:30 fearless bikers or something like that
1:46:32 and the policy is to try to move up to
1:46:35 LOS3, right? Level of service three. So,
1:46:38 um, it was kind of at odds, but TAB had
1:46:41 talked about it and we had talked about
1:46:43 it and we've talked about a little bit
1:46:44 tonight. There's the cost element.
1:46:46 There's the number of trees. I think it
1:46:47 was 70 at least. That's why I wrote
1:46:49 wrote in my notes that 70 trees would be
1:46:51 have to be cut down. Um, there's just
1:46:53 limited ride-of-way space and rideway
1:46:55 impacts. And then the other thing, of
1:46:57 course, was you have to really be that
1:46:59 biker that is okay going up a hill like
1:47:02 this. So, um, given all of that, um, I'm
1:47:06 happy moving forward with the direction
1:47:07 that we have and with all the work that
1:47:09 we have and just thanks again to staff.
1:47:12 Thank you. Additional comments?
1:47:15 Not seeing any, but I will reread the
1:47:17 motion. Um, it's been moved and seconded
1:47:18 to approve resolution number
1:47:22 2025-10 adopting the Squawk Mountain
1:47:24 non-motorized improvements project study
1:47:26 report. Uh, all those in favor signify
1:47:29 by saying I. I. I. Those opposed? That
1:47:33 carries unanimously. Seven and no. Thank
1:47:35 you. Thank you, John, for the
1:47:36 presentation and for bringing your team.
1:47:39 Um, the next two agenda items are going
1:47:41 to be presented jointly and they are
1:47:44 AB8986, the 2023 24 budget
1:47:47 reauthorizations, and AB 9016, the first
1:47:52 202526 budget amendment. And the action
1:47:55 before you this evening is to adopt the
1:47:56 ordinance. And welcome Jennifer Rain,
1:47:59 our acting finance director. Thanks for
1:48:06 coming. Think I got
1:48:10 it. Awesome. Okay. Uh good evening,
1:48:13 mayor and members of the city council.
1:48:16 Uh thank you for the opportunity to
1:48:18 speak with you today regarding the
1:48:20 reauthorizations and proposed amendments
1:48:22 to our city uh bianual budget.
1:48:29 Um tonight we're asking for the city
1:48:31 council's approval on two key action
1:48:35 items. First to reauthorize certain
1:48:37 funds that were originally budgeted in
1:48:40 the 2023 24 bianium so they can be used
1:48:44 in the 202526
1:48:46 bianium. And second to adopt the
1:48:48 proposed ordinance that formally amends
1:48:52 202526 adopted budget to reflect these
1:48:55 changes.
1:48:58 Uh we
1:49:04 sorry about that.
1:49:08 Okay. Um we have some important
1:49:10 distinctions regarding
1:49:12 reauthorizations. Um these are not new
1:49:14 funds. We're simply continuing the use
1:49:16 of unspent previously approved funds.
1:49:20 This step is important because it helps
1:49:22 us keep existing projects and services
1:49:24 on track without any
1:49:27 disruptions. It applies to key
1:49:29 initiatives, things like infrastructure
1:49:31 improvements, capital projects, and
1:49:33 important community
1:49:35 programs. And each reauthorization has
1:49:38 been carefully reviewed to make sure it
1:49:40 still aligns with our city goals and
1:49:42 current needs. This is something we do
1:49:45 on a regular basis as part of our annual
1:49:47 budget housekeeping
1:49:54 process. When we look at budget
1:49:56 reauthorizations, department staff are
1:49:59 asked to provide clear reason for why
1:50:01 they're requesting to carry over unspent
1:50:04 funds from the 2023 24 bianium into the
1:50:08 current 202526 budget.
1:50:12 We provide the following reauthorization
1:50:14 rationale buckets so there's consistency
1:50:17 and transparency in the
1:50:19 process. These rationes include limited
1:50:22 staff
1:50:23 capacity, supply chain delays or
1:50:27 external factors outside of the city's
1:50:30 control. Some projects are also
1:50:32 multi-year by design or the work may
1:50:36 have been intentionally deferred to the
1:50:37 current bianium.
1:50:45 As we reviewed the reauthorization
1:50:46 requests from departments, we found that
1:50:49 the vast majority, about
1:50:51 87%, were tied to multi-year projects.
1:50:55 These are efforts that were always
1:50:56 intended to span more than one budget
1:50:58 cycle. So, the reauthorization simply
1:51:01 allows the work to continue.
1:51:04 In addition to that, we saw a smaller
1:51:06 number of requests due to external
1:51:08 factors. Things like external partner
1:51:11 delays or ongoing supply chain issues
1:51:14 that push timelines
1:51:21 back. Uh now let's take a closer look at
1:51:24 the financial impact of these
1:51:25 reauthorization
1:51:27 requests. What does this mean for our
1:51:29 fund balance? If the administration's
1:51:32 reauthorization recommendations are
1:51:34 approved, we're looking at a decrease of
1:51:37 about 30.7 million. That's the result of
1:51:41 carrying forward appropriation authority
1:51:43 from the 2023 24 period into the new
1:51:52 bianium. To provide additional context
1:51:54 on the requested
1:51:56 reauthorizations, we've broken down the
1:51:58 expenditures by fund to highlight their
1:52:01 comparative
1:52:02 impact. The capital projects fund is
1:52:05 most significantly impacted, accounting
1:52:08 for 75% of the total reauthorization
1:52:11 requests. This is expected as many
1:52:14 capital projects are multi-year in
1:52:16 nature and span multiple fiscal years
1:52:18 and by annual budget cycles.
1:52:27 Now moving on to our next proposal. The
1:52:30 first budget amendment for the
1:52:32 202526
1:52:34 bianium. This budget amendment includes
1:52:37 five specific requests which fall into
1:52:40 three main
1:52:41 categories. First is previously approved
1:52:44 request.
1:52:46 These are items that the city council
1:52:48 has approved in concept through earlier
1:52:50 agenda bills. In this amendment, we have
1:52:53 three requests that fall into this
1:52:55 category. Next are budget corrections.
1:52:58 These are technical fixes to the
1:53:01 202526 adopted budget. Usually small
1:53:05 errors or updates that come to light
1:53:06 after the budget is has been finalized.
1:53:10 In this case, there are no corrections
1:53:12 included in this amendment.
1:53:15 And finally, bud budget
1:53:17 adjustments. These are for new projects
1:53:19 or activities that weren't previously
1:53:21 anticipated when the 2025 26 budget was
1:53:25 adopted. This amendment includes two of
1:53:28 these
1:53:32 adjustments. So, let's take a closer
1:53:34 look at the five requests that are
1:53:36 included in this budget amendment.
1:53:39 Starting with the previously approved
1:53:41 requests. Um item one is Hillside Park
1:53:45 Improvements
1:53:46 Project. Item two, Highwood and Westside
1:53:49 Reservoir
1:53:51 retrofits. Item three, lodging tax
1:53:54 advisory committee or ELTAC
1:53:58 funding. Next, the budget adjustments
1:54:00 which reflect new or modified
1:54:02 priorities. Item number four, purchase
1:54:05 of an electric mower. Item number five,
1:54:08 facilities project fund
1:54:11 realignments. As mentioned before, there
1:54:13 are no budget correction items in this
1:54:15 amendment. To be clear, all of these
1:54:17 projects are already funded within the
1:54:19 capital projects fund. This amendment
1:54:22 simply redistributes existing
1:54:24 appropriations.
1:54:31 So looking at the table here, we've
1:54:33 pulled together all five
1:54:34 proposals included in this amendment to
1:54:37 the 202526 bianium
1:54:40 budget. If approved, these adjustments
1:54:43 would increase total budgeted
1:54:45 revenues by about
1:54:48 522,000 specifically in the capital
1:54:51 projects fund and the fleet fund.
1:54:54 On the spending side, total expenditures
1:54:56 across all funds shown would go up by
1:55:01 961,000. When we put it all together,
1:55:03 the net effect of the proposed changes
1:55:08 $439,000 decrease to the overall fund
1:55:12 balances. And just to highlight one
1:55:14 detail, the general fund would see a
1:55:16 $4,000 reduction to its fund balance as
1:55:19 part of that total.
1:55:24 Um, so I'd like to thank uh budget
1:55:27 manager Susie Monel and staff across the
1:55:30 departments for all their work and
1:55:31 attention to detail throughout this
1:55:33 process. Um, their efforts are essential
1:55:36 to ensuring we manage city resources
1:55:38 responsibly while maintaining remaining
1:55:41 responsive to the evolving needs of our
1:55:43 community. Uh the administration
1:55:46 recommends that the city council adopt
1:55:48 the ordinance approving the 2023 24
1:55:51 budget
1:55:53 reauthorizations and the
1:55:55 202526 budget amendments as presented
1:55:57 this evening. Thank you. And I'm happy
1:56:00 to answer any questions. Thank you,
1:56:02 Jennifer. That's what you wanted, right?
1:56:04 A financial presentation at the end of
1:56:07 night. Um well done, Jennifer. Very well
1:56:10 done. Um uh let's go with council
1:56:13 questions. So, ow, lots going up. We'll
1:56:15 go council president, council member
1:56:17 Jen, and council member Ray. Thank you.
1:56:19 Um, Jennifer, the memo mentions $8.4
1:56:22 million of reauthorizations requested
1:56:25 for grant supported projects where we
1:56:28 have not yet received the grant
1:56:30 revenues. How are we approaching these
1:56:33 projects and spending authority? And if
1:56:36 we give the authority again now and the
1:56:40 grant doesn't come through, how will we
1:56:42 approach that?
1:56:44 It's a great question. Um, in general,
1:56:47 most most of the time grants are
1:56:49 reimbursed. So, they're not um revenue
1:56:52 is not received until the money is spent
1:56:54 and then we request to have it covered
1:56:56 back. Um, I'd have to look specifically
1:56:59 at the projects that are associated with
1:57:01 those grants to see what the I guess
1:57:02 plan B is if if grant funding is not
1:57:05 coming through for those. Um, but I I
1:57:08 believe if they're included that um
1:57:10 there's full faith that they are um
1:57:13 approved and just haven't spent the
1:57:15 money in order to claim the
1:57:16 reimbursement for them yet.
1:57:19 Can I ask the same question to the city
1:57:22 administrator since we have had some
1:57:24 conversations about grant funding and
1:57:26 whether or not it's coming through. What
1:57:28 are approaches?
1:57:31 So in the old days back three four
1:57:33 months ago um when the state or federal
1:57:36 government awarded you a grant you had a
1:57:38 grant
1:57:39 um that those days have changed. Um our
1:57:42 staff is very diligently working with uh
1:57:45 representatives of the various
1:57:46 departments federal departments that are
1:57:48 issuing the grants. Some of it comes
1:57:49 through organizations like the Puget
1:57:52 Sound Regional Council. Um and what you
1:57:54 see tonight is our best understanding of
1:57:57 the current status of things. Um, local
1:58:00 governments all over America are having
1:58:02 these same conversations. Uh, will you
1:58:04 get reimbursed for spending that you're
1:58:07 doing? Um, all we can say is we are
1:58:10 collecting the best information on a
1:58:13 weekly basis uh from our partners
1:58:15 working with other agencies. Um, and we
1:58:18 hope that we will not be left holding
1:58:20 the bag. Um, can I give you 100%
1:58:23 certainty to that? No. Uh, but we're
1:58:25 being very thoughtful. is something
1:58:26 we're talking about on a regular basis
1:58:29 and if we hear something uh that
1:58:32 indicates that we're not going to be
1:58:33 receiving or there's some question uh we
1:58:36 will immediately take actions to stop
1:58:37 spending. So so toward that idea if we
1:58:43 reauthorize this spending but the
1:58:47 administration heard later that the
1:58:50 grants were at risk. you would
1:58:52 immediately not spend that money if it
1:58:55 had not been done. Um, absolutely. I
1:58:58 mean, will will we get to the point
1:58:59 where we'll be so far along in a project
1:59:02 that we might have to come back to the
1:59:04 council and say, uh, we're not going to
1:59:06 get any more money, but we're 90% done,
1:59:09 80% done, looking for other options.
1:59:11 That may very well be the case. Uh, but
1:59:14 it is uncharted territory for all of us.
1:59:17 Again, the days of being awarded a grant
1:59:19 and receiving the dollars.
1:59:21 Um that certainty seems to be gone at
1:59:25 least for the moment.
1:59:27 And just to add on to city administrator
1:59:29 Bob Kitz's comments, um we were one of
1:59:32 the first cities at his direction early
1:59:35 on into this new administration to
1:59:37 assess risk. So assessing the risk of
1:59:40 what funding uh we may or may not be
1:59:42 getting has been like a top priority. I
1:59:44 think they've taken a very conservative
1:59:46 approach which I'm very supportive of.
1:59:48 Don't like surprises. So I'm very proud
1:59:51 of his work early on and Jennifer is to
1:59:53 start identifying where we have risk and
1:59:55 how we will manage it so that we don't
1:59:57 end up in the situation that council
1:59:58 president just talked about. One more.
2:00:00 Sure. Okay. Um so I know we faced some
2:00:04 financial difficulties lately um
2:00:06 including the 3.8 million in costs not
2:00:09 recovered from November's bomb cyclone.
2:00:13 um how are we kind of considering any
2:00:16 need to reduce our expenses and
2:00:20 particularly I'm looking at things like
2:00:22 the capital projects where okay yes this
2:00:26 reauthorization and some of those are
2:00:28 projects that are fairly far along but
2:00:31 some of them are very early the money
2:00:34 just didn't get spent last year and so
2:00:37 the project's still very new um are
2:00:42 looking at making any adjustments and
2:00:45 again that might go to city
2:00:47 administrator I you know um toward that
2:00:50 idea. But if we
2:00:52 reauthorize at this point, is there
2:00:55 still an opportunity to come back and
2:00:57 kind of look at areas where we might
2:01:00 need to cut back?
2:01:03 Council President, members of the
2:01:04 council, absolutely. Um we will be here
2:01:07 next week and we will be talking about
2:01:09 this a little bit more detail. Uh the
2:01:12 challenge is that some of this other
2:01:14 money for projects that haven't gotten
2:01:16 underway were allocated for specific
2:01:18 purposes. So we do not have leverage in
2:01:20 many cases to shift uh those dollars
2:01:23 around. Um, again, this is something
2:01:26 that none of us um have ever encountered
2:01:29 before uh with the federal government,
2:01:31 you know, sort of picking and choosing
2:01:33 um agencies, projects. Um, and we're
2:01:37 going to be as diligent as we can. Um, I
2:01:40 wish I could be more precise, but I
2:01:42 can't.
2:01:43 Thank you, Council Member Jen.
2:01:46 Thank you. Um, one question I had was,
2:01:49 so you mentioned that like 75% of the
2:01:52 funds that were reauthorized, it's
2:01:53 because it's a multi-year project. So
2:01:55 I'm curious like is that something where
2:01:58 in the beginning of the project we
2:01:59 thought that it would all be
2:02:00 accomplished by the end of 2024, but
2:02:02 then the project timeline stretched
2:02:04 longer or like is there any, you know,
2:02:07 cuz I I would imagine that we would want
2:02:09 to try to accurately account for those
2:02:10 to the extent possible. So, I'm I'm just
2:02:12 curious like where that comes out,
2:02:13 especially because, you know, $8 million
2:02:15 is not an insignificant amount to be
2:02:18 happening later than originally planned.
2:02:21 Sure. So, I think you're probably
2:02:24 referencing back to this this slide here
2:02:29 or maybe possibly this one. The one
2:02:31 that's uh the amounts requested by
2:02:34 reauthorization rationale. Yes, that
2:02:36 one. Gotcha. Um so I I believe um you
2:02:41 know without looking at all the specific
2:02:43 details of the very long list that was
2:02:44 provided in the staff report um they
2:02:47 were intended to be multi-year projects
2:02:49 that they would span over many years um
2:02:52 you know one or more um so that's just
2:02:55 you know carrying over the
2:02:57 reauthorization what was approved in a
2:02:59 previous year so that they can finish
2:03:01 and complete the project. um anything
2:03:03 that's kind of an external or I guess
2:03:06 another rationale for the reason why
2:03:08 it's requested to reauthorize um are the
2:03:12 other buckets that we provided as as a
2:03:14 listing for them. So um if they you know
2:03:17 indicated it was a multi-year project I
2:03:19 I we believe that it's intended to be
2:03:22 that way.
2:03:24 I guess my question is then if it was
2:03:26 intended to be a multi-year project then
2:03:28 why would it not have been in the
2:03:30 original 25 to 26 budget if we knew that
2:03:32 it was going to take longer? I believe
2:03:35 it's probably because that wasn't
2:03:37 completed at that time and they needed
2:03:39 it to roll over.
2:03:42 Uh, council member Jay, members of the
2:03:44 council, u, the answer to that question
2:03:47 is a little bit more complicated.
2:03:48 Largely, um, it's because Isiqua has
2:03:52 budgeted its capital projects uh, this
2:03:55 way for a very long time. Other
2:03:57 communities approach things a little bit
2:03:59 differently um where multi-year projects
2:04:02 often will have phases and so the phases
2:04:04 are allocated um with an idea that
2:04:07 they're accomplished within a shorter
2:04:08 period of time and then you add up the
2:04:10 various phases to a project and then you
2:04:11 get a full project. That's not been how
2:04:14 isqua has budgeted its capital projects.
2:04:16 Is how we do it right or wrong? No. How
2:04:18 other communities do it right or wrong?
2:04:20 No. Um, and it's certainly something we
2:04:22 can continue to talk about as we talk
2:04:24 about capital budgeting moving forward.
2:04:26 But this is this has been a practice in
2:04:28 this community for some time. Thanks.
2:04:31 That's super
2:04:32 helpful. And I think I have Council
2:04:34 Member Ray next. Um, thank you. Can you
2:04:37 go back to the last table that you put
2:04:40 up there because I'm not 100% sure that
2:04:43 I understand it. Matter of fact, I'm
2:04:44 100% sure I don't understand it. Um so
2:04:48 are we the far right column is a change
2:04:50 in our our projected ending fund balance
2:04:52 at the end of this year or this bienium
2:04:55 with these adjustments is that what what
2:04:58 is that number? That's that's the that's
2:05:01 the impact that will be the the net
2:05:04 impact to fund balance um with this
2:05:06 approval. It's the combination of the
2:05:09 increase in revenues and the increase in
2:05:11 expenditures and the difference um is
2:05:13 the negative effect on fund balance,
2:05:16 expected ending fund balance. But if
2:05:18 we're just reallocating, bear with me,
2:05:20 I'm just trying to understand. If we're
2:05:22 just reallocating funds that we didn't
2:05:23 spend last year, shouldn't the fund
2:05:26 balance, ending fund balance of last
2:05:28 year been bumped up so that this would
2:05:30 bump it down and we'd net out to zero?
2:05:32 because this looks like we're we're
2:05:33 we're decreasing um overall available
2:05:36 funds by $440,000.
2:05:40 Correct. So, this is um this is where it
2:05:43 we're talking two different things. The
2:05:44 first part of the presentation was
2:05:46 reauthorization. So, that scenario that
2:05:48 you said, you know, we underspent in the
2:05:51 previous year and now we're planning on
2:05:53 respending in the current year. This is
2:05:55 the ordinances that or the um agenda
2:05:58 bills that have been previously approved
2:06:00 and the net effect of the fund balance
2:06:03 um that that will have on the 2526
2:06:06 bianium budget. Okay. I'm going to play
2:06:07 back what I think you said. Okay. Um
2:06:10 these weren't funded yet, but the agenda
2:06:12 bills that authorized them were approved
2:06:15 and this is the funding to fund what we
2:06:17 already said we'd do. Correct. Okay.
2:06:20 Thank you. Made sense to you, but maybe
2:06:22 not people watching. Well, no. didn't
2:06:24 make sense, but it does now. It's all
2:06:26 good. Uh, thank you, Council Member Ray.
2:06:28 Were there any other questions?
2:06:30 Oh, sorry, Council Member Hall. Just a
2:06:32 really quick one and it it's not as part
2:06:34 of the the presentation, but has there
2:06:36 been a change to um our grant funding
2:06:40 support of local community uh nonprofit
2:06:43 organizations like the like we had
2:06:46 called it out I think in the budget like
2:06:47 so there was like friends of like
2:06:48 smamish like the different kind of non
2:06:51 human service organizations because I
2:06:53 think it was
2:06:53 originally no change in 25 and then a
2:06:56 12% decrease in 26 right has that
2:06:59 changed at all well yeah do you want Uh,
2:07:02 sorry. Um, do you want to go back to the
2:07:04 evolving conversations that happened
2:07:06 around the funding for nonprofits during
2:07:08 the budget phase? Oh, that's totally
2:07:10 fine if that can just be an ask for
2:07:11 information later, too. Yeah. Just
2:07:13 wanted to throw that out there. There's
2:07:15 nothing before you that is different
2:07:16 than the approved budget. Okay. Thanks.
2:07:19 Great. Good question. Any other
2:07:21 questions? Thank you, Jennifer. Um, at
2:07:24 this time, would you like to make a
2:07:26 motion?
2:07:30 I move to adopt ordinance
2:07:33 number
2:07:35 3090 amending the
2:07:38 202526 budget as set forth in ordinance
2:07:41 number 3083 concerning revenues
2:07:44 expenditures and fund balance for
2:07:46 various funds.
2:07:49 Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is
2:07:52 there any council discussion?
2:07:56 Um, I'm not seeing any. All those in
2:07:59 favor indicate by saying I. I. I. Those
2:08:03 opposed. That carries seven and0. Thank
2:08:05 you for your thoughtful questions. We
2:08:08 are going to move on to committee and
2:08:09 regional reports. And council member
2:08:11 Jen, you are up. Great. Thank you, Mayor
2:08:14 Paulie. Um, so I have two reports. One,
2:08:16 one from the Sound Cities Association
2:08:17 public issues committee meeting and one
2:08:19 from the East Side Transportation
2:08:20 Partnership meeting. Um, so the public
2:08:22 issues committee met on Wednesday, April
2:08:24 9th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Um, they
2:08:27 discussed a couple different uh items.
2:08:29 So the first one was an update on the
2:08:30 park levy. Um, so the overall amount was
2:08:33 decreased slightly. The amount to cities
2:08:34 was increased slightly. Overall, SCA
2:08:37 felt like there should have been more of
2:08:38 a change on both of those. Um however
2:08:41 the executive director of um SEA did
2:08:43 mention you know folks are reaching out
2:08:45 to SCA asking for their opinion on this
2:08:47 change which kind of you know signifies
2:08:49 that SCA is becoming more you know kind
2:08:51 of finding their voice again which um
2:08:53 folks at SCA are very happy about. Um
2:08:56 there was also um an update from the
2:08:58 state legislature. So basically they
2:09:01 said the governor and legislature can't
2:09:02 agree on the budget at all. Very likely
2:09:04 to go to special session. Um but the
2:09:07 current budget does include raising the
2:09:09 property tax increase cap to 3% which is
2:09:12 something that um our uh mayor Paulie
2:09:15 has uh testified on. Um another thing
2:09:18 that was presented was this uh proposal
2:09:20 on the wastewater rates which we've
2:09:23 talked about a bit on council. So King
2:09:24 County staff presented on the wastewater
2:09:26 rates proposal which include rate
2:09:28 increases of annual rate increases of 12
2:09:31 to 13 and a half per year over the next
2:09:33 5 years. So that's very significant,
2:09:36 almost doubling over the next 5 years.
2:09:37 Generally, you know, folks were not
2:09:39 happy about the proposed rate increases
2:09:42 and were very concerned about
2:09:43 affordability. Um Kirkland um is
2:09:46 proposing a regional utilities
2:09:48 affordability summit to discuss this
2:09:49 issue which would convene all the mayors
2:09:51 potentially early next year. So that you
2:09:54 know because this is a pretty
2:09:56 significant issue. So um stay tuned
2:09:58 there. Um, and then lastly, the SEA
2:10:00 staff presented a survey of SEA members
2:10:03 about SEA and the uh, PIC. And
2:10:06 generally, it seems like members, you
2:10:07 know, wanted PIC to have a greater
2:10:09 regional impact. And hopefully we're
2:10:11 getting there with things like the park
2:10:12 levy and providing input on, uh, the
2:10:15 wastewater rates and all that kind of
2:10:16 stuff.
2:10:18 Um, so the East Side Transportation
2:10:20 Partnership, um, there was a meeting on
2:10:21 Friday, April 11th from 8:00 to 9:00
2:10:24 a.m. Um, the Sound Transit staff
2:10:26 presented about the downtown Redmond and
2:10:28 Marymore Village Light rail station
2:10:30 grand opening party on May 10th. There
2:10:32 will be a ribbon cutting um, at 11
2:10:34 something and then the first train will
2:10:36 be at noon. There will be community
2:10:37 events at the new stations until 4 p.m.
2:10:40 Um, they did not talk about this, but
2:10:41 apparently there's a Sound Transit merch
2:10:43 store where you can buy puzzles and
2:10:45 merch about the new Redmond light rail
2:10:47 station. So, that, you know, made me
2:10:49 excited for when, um, in Isiqua, we
2:10:52 might have those in the future. Um, and
2:10:54 then King County Metro presented about
2:10:56 the plan for fair inspection and
2:10:57 enforcement. So, fair inspection started
2:10:59 on March 31st and written warnings and
2:11:03 citations will start on May 31st. So um
2:11:06 they had significant community
2:11:08 engagement with the equity work group
2:11:09 which provided recommendations on
2:11:11 leading with fair education and
2:11:13 alternative resolutions for citations um
2:11:16 and especially you know educating folks
2:11:18 on reduced fair products for low-income
2:11:21 uh people. Um and there's uh there's
2:11:25 going to be 30 fair enforcement officers
2:11:26 working in teams of two and the
2:11:28 operators bus drivers are not
2:11:29 responsible for fair enforcement.
2:11:32 Thank you council member Jen. Uh,
2:11:35 Council Member Joe, thank you. The
2:11:37 Mobility and Infrastructure Committee uh
2:11:40 did not meet in April. Our April 8th
2:11:42 meeting was canceled. Our next meeting
2:11:45 is May 14th. The agenda has not been set
2:11:48 yet. Uh, lodging tax advisory committee
2:11:51 uh is scheduled to meet on May
2:11:54 3rd. Um, nope, May 5th, sorry. And that
2:11:59 is at 2 PM at the Spring Hill Suite. Uh
2:12:04 agenda has not been set, but um we will
2:12:07 be discussing possibly trying to recruit
2:12:10 a um another alternate board member uh
2:12:14 that is a person that uh runs verbos and
2:12:17 other B&Bs to widen the aperture and and
2:12:21 give us different views on how we're
2:12:23 spending and how we're using those
2:12:24 funds. I'll give you an update if we
2:12:26 significant if we are lucky enough to um
2:12:29 get a new member uh for that alternate
2:12:31 position. Cascade Water Alliance, the
2:12:34 board meeting uh is April 23rd. The
2:12:38 public affairs committee for May 7th has
2:12:40 been cancelled. And last Friday I um as
2:12:44 liaison to the chamber of commerce uh
2:12:47 met with the the board there and they
2:12:49 wanted me to convey uh that salmon and
2:12:52 days is coming u if you didn't know and
2:12:55 that uh on the good side of things the
2:12:58 the they've opened the registration for
2:13:01 um vendors for October for prior vendors
2:13:05 if you did
2:13:07 a did salmon days last year and they had
2:13:10 over 80% % retention uh in their signups
2:13:14 again and still open for a little bit
2:13:16 longer. So just a great um testament to
2:13:19 the fact that people really really love
2:13:21 coming to the festival and selling their
2:13:23 wares and taking part in our community
2:13:25 activity there. And uh they wanted me to
2:13:27 put out a general uh request for
2:13:29 volunteers. As you know, Salmon Days is
2:13:32 is only possible by the strength of our
2:13:35 volunteers in town. So if you're
2:13:37 interested, reach out to the Chamber of
2:13:38 Commerce. That concludes my report.
2:13:40 Thank you. Thank you, Council Member
2:13:41 Hall.
2:13:44 Thanks. I made all my reports at the
2:13:45 last council meeting, but I'll just say
2:13:47 the East Side Fire and Rescue annual
2:13:50 report for 2024 has been published. Um,
2:13:52 thank you, Council President Walsh, for
2:13:54 bringing a physical copy. So, if you'd
2:13:55 like to see that, maybe she'll just pass
2:13:57 it down real quick. And then um um I'll
2:14:01 also just say um last week uh Chief Lane
2:14:05 and I were able to go we did we took a
2:14:07 tour of Norcom uh and were able to pass
2:14:10 out some goodie bags and gift
2:14:13 certificates from everyone in
2:14:14 recognition of National Public Safety
2:14:16 Telecommunicators Week. Um they were
2:14:19 very appreciative. Um, I was also blown
2:14:21 away by the outfit that they have there
2:14:23 and have gotten assurances that if
2:14:26 anyone here would like a tour of Norcom,
2:14:28 just let me know and I can put you in
2:14:29 touch with that or I'm sure staff could
2:14:31 as well hear. But anyways, I was just
2:14:33 really um um it was very interesting and
2:14:36 I'll leave it at that. That concludes my
2:14:38 report. Thanks, Council Member Ray. No
2:14:40 report this evening. Thank you, Council
2:14:41 Member Mertz. Thank you, Madame Mayor.
2:14:43 Uh, council member Jiang gave a great
2:14:45 uh, overview of the pick meeting, but I
2:14:48 want to add just a couple of quick
2:14:49 things. The situation with the
2:14:51 wastewater treatment division. You know,
2:14:53 it was presented that well, one of the
2:14:54 reasons why we need to have these really
2:14:56 usurious uh, increases is because of
2:14:59 deferred maintenance. But one of the
2:15:00 things is over the last 5 years there
2:15:02 was an annualized increase uh, 5.2%
2:15:05 annually during a time when inflation
2:15:07 only went up by about 4% annually. Um so
2:15:10 they've already been robustly increasing
2:15:14 costs back to the public and then the
2:15:16 annualized rate over the next eight
2:15:18 years is 11% per year perom um so you
2:15:22 know the proposed or projected and so um
2:15:25 while the regional summit is a good idea
2:15:28 um the size of these increases suggest a
2:15:31 more fundamental problem this just is
2:15:33 not you can't get you know 200% uh 200
2:15:38 or sorryund 13% uh increase uh over that
2:15:42 amount of time um unless something is
2:15:44 really seriously out of whack. So um
2:15:47 that that forbodess um
2:15:50 challenges. I guess that's all I need to
2:15:52 add on sea pick. Um but I will say that
2:15:56 the tomorrow's services safety and parks
2:15:59 meeting is canceled. Thank you. Thanks
2:16:01 deputy council president.
2:16:03 Uh thank you Mayor Paulie. Uh on April
2:16:06 the 16th, I attended the regional
2:16:08 transit committee and the general
2:16:11 manager uh report again. 278,000 daily
2:16:15 rides uh average daily rides in March of
2:16:19 of uh
2:16:20 2025 and that is a great increase
2:16:24 year-over-year. So again, Metro is is
2:16:28 coming back slowly but surely. that is
2:16:31 um not close to the ridership that they
2:16:34 had pre- pandemic still, but they are
2:16:37 increasing slowly but surely. They were
2:16:39 around 400,000 daily rides average uh
2:16:43 pre- pandemic. So, there's still a ways
2:16:45 to go. Uh we did have a excellent report
2:16:48 on safety. The the metro is re required
2:16:51 by the federal government to submit a
2:16:54 safety and security report annually. uh
2:16:57 and they gave us a what they called the
2:16:59 30,000 foot uh look at some of the um
2:17:04 findings that they've uh that they've
2:17:06 come up with. Um so there were five
2:17:09 areas that we got reports on. Transit
2:17:12 worker assaults in 2023 they had an
2:17:15 average of 6.5 per month in 2024 uh
2:17:21 seven. So a slight increase. Passenger
2:17:24 disturbances in 2023 34 per month. Uh in
2:17:29 2024 35. So again a slight increase.
2:17:33 Drug use on the bus 103 average in 20
2:17:37 per month in
2:17:39 2023. In 2024 56.5. So they cut it
2:17:43 nearly in half. So that was really good
2:17:46 news.
2:17:47 However, harassments and threats um was
2:17:52 44 average per month in 2023 and 67 in
2:17:57 2024. They did note that harassment and
2:18:00 threats is not necessarily on the bus.
2:18:03 This is bus stops, uh transit centers,
2:18:07 those kinds of things. And in fact, um
2:18:09 most of those occurred not on the bus,
2:18:12 but in those areas. And so I you've seen
2:18:15 this in the Seattle Times where they're
2:18:17 cracking down on places where there are
2:18:19 notorious numbers of harassments and
2:18:22 assaults happening but still an ongoing
2:18:25 problem. And then um there is a category
2:18:28 called sleeper or non-destinational
2:18:31 rider. This is people homeless people
2:18:34 who will get on the bus late at night on
2:18:36 the routes that run all night long and
2:18:39 that is their shelter. And so in um 2023
2:18:44 there were 96 per month uh average 2024
2:18:48 unfortunately 117. So it's going up. So
2:18:52 um yeah there was a a lot of uh
2:18:55 discussion about those numbers and what
2:18:57 uh Metro's doing which we've reported on
2:19:00 earlier. they are significantly
2:19:03 uh increasing their um transit police uh
2:19:07 presence for example and they were happy
2:19:09 to report that they are fully staffed in
2:19:11 their transit police at this point. So
2:19:14 um at any rate I will send you I have a
2:19:17 email that was sent to us. I will
2:19:19 forward that to you so you can look at
2:19:21 those numbers yourself. Um and then I'm
2:19:23 I went to the board of health meeting on
2:19:25 April 17th.
2:19:27 Again, that is a packed agenda that they
2:19:30 have every month. So, it was a threehour
2:19:33 meeting and uh I won't go over all of
2:19:36 the reports that we received, but I
2:19:37 would like to mention uh we passed a
2:19:40 resolution honoring Mary Selei who died
2:19:42 on April 7th. Mary was uh served as
2:19:46 Washington State Secretary of Health for
2:19:48 14 years uh under three different
2:19:50 governors. She was a national leader in
2:19:53 reducing smoking, increasing childhood
2:19:55 vaccination rates, promoting emergency
2:19:58 preparedness, and leading Washington
2:20:00 public health efforts during the HIV and
2:20:02 swine flu epide epidemics. And I was
2:20:05 happy to note she lived in Calville,
2:20:07 Washington, which is a small city
2:20:09 outside of Spokane. And when she was
2:20:12 offered the job to be Secretary of
2:20:13 Health, she said, "I will take it if I
2:20:16 can live in Cville and stay there." And
2:20:18 she did. And um yeah, we we just heard
2:20:22 uh comment after comment about what a
2:20:25 wonderful person she was. Uh and so I
2:20:27 just wanted to recognize her here as
2:20:29 well. And that ends my report. Thank
2:20:31 you, Council President. Thank you. Just
2:20:34 a short report. Um the King County
2:20:36 Affordable Housing Committee and the
2:20:38 Puet Sound Regional Council's Growth
2:20:40 Management Policy Board um both have
2:20:42 their next meetings on May 1st and no
2:20:45 agendas have been released. Thank you.
2:20:48 And the next item is the mayor's report.
2:20:50 There is not an executive session this
2:20:52 evening. Um 2025 board and commission
2:20:55 recruitment. Tonight's consent calendar
2:20:58 AB8965 outlining my appointments to open
2:21:00 and expiring seats on our boards and
2:21:02 commissions. Consistent with our
2:21:04 council's policy, these appointments
2:21:06 allow a broad array of community
2:21:08 participation. We are proud to have 103
2:21:11 current members across our 14 boards and
2:21:13 commissions. And this recruitment
2:21:15 welcomes 30 new members and 20 returning
2:21:18 members. The agenda bill also confirms
2:21:20 seven appointments to the short-term
2:21:22 Fourth of July commission. And we
2:21:24 continue to recruit for the two
2:21:26 remaining seats on this commission. I
2:21:28 just want to thank everybody who applied
2:21:30 to serve, those appointed, those
2:21:32 departing. Um the recommendations that
2:21:34 came forward from the interview panels
2:21:36 was no easy task because it was a highly
2:21:38 competitive pool. Again, uh I want to
2:21:41 thank everyone who participated with
2:21:43 their willingness to serve our Isiqua
2:21:46 community. Uh this city will be hosting
2:21:49 the third sustainability fair on
2:21:51 Saturday, April 26. Uh that is this
2:21:54 Saturday at Pickering Barn in
2:21:56 partnership with our farmers market.
2:21:58 We'll have a re we'll have resource
2:22:00 booths and activities for all ages.
2:22:03 Please come and join us for classes on
2:22:04 alternative cleaning products, leather
2:22:07 and textile repair, sock mending, my
2:22:10 favorite, and participate in a nature
2:22:13 city challenge. Um, every year the
2:22:15 sustainability fair is
2:22:17 growing. Lastly, and super important,
2:22:20 Isqua Farmers Market is coming back. It
2:22:23 returns May 3rd. So, following the
2:22:25 sustainability fair, the 2025 Isiqua
2:22:28 Farmers Market season will officially
2:22:29 start on May 3rd. Local farmers will
2:22:32 have a wide selection of spring products
2:22:34 and flowers available at the Pickering
2:22:35 Barn. The farmers market runs every
2:22:37 Saturday from 9 to 2 and so we hope to
2:22:39 see you all there. Going to move now to
2:22:43 good of the order and open it up for any
2:22:45 council items. I do have a couple of
2:22:47 dates to share. Deputy council
2:22:50 president. Uh I just want to make sure
2:22:52 that you saw that I forwarded an
2:22:54 invitation to the council to attend
2:22:57 Vishu which is a Hindu celebration of
2:22:59 the new year and spring which takes
2:23:02 place in certain provinces of of India.
2:23:05 Uh it's being held on this coming
2:23:08 Sunday, April the 27th from 12 noon
2:23:11 until 400 p.m. at Isiqua Middle School.
2:23:15 I attended last year. It is a delightful
2:23:17 event. There is not a program. It is a
2:23:19 meal and it is a fabulous meal and uh
2:23:24 and just an opportunity to meet and get
2:23:27 to know u members of uh the Southeast
2:23:31 Asian community uh here in Isiqua and
2:23:34 you will be warmly welcomed. If you'll
2:23:37 look at my invitation, there is a link
2:23:40 to a registration. They would like us to
2:23:42 register before we go. Uh so please do
2:23:45 that. But uh otherwise I would really
2:23:47 encourage everybody to attend. Thanks.
2:23:50 Great. Any other council items before I
2:23:53 do dates?
2:23:56 I am just going to add one quick item in
2:23:57 that I know it is very hard for you all
2:23:59 to be here tonight. I know that we had a
2:24:02 moment of silence for our senator who
2:24:03 has passed and I know many of you have
2:24:06 many thoughts to share and today is a
2:24:08 very very tough day for you all and in
2:24:11 particular for uh Council Member Perry
2:24:13 and the family. But um uh we will be
2:24:16 hosting an event when we can make sure
2:24:19 that the family is able to attend to
2:24:20 allow you all to say the things that I
2:24:22 know are in your heart and in your minds
2:24:24 and that you would love to share. So
2:24:26 thank you for being here tonight. I know
2:24:27 it's really tough for you all. Um a
2:24:30 couple of upcoming meetings. On Monday,
2:24:32 April 28th, the city council committee
2:24:34 of the whole has a couple of anticipated
2:24:37 items. Sorry, an anticipated item and
2:24:39 it's the state legislative update.
2:24:41 taxing authority and other revenue
2:24:43 sources from the wind windstorm
2:24:45 follow-up. And on Monday, May 5th is the
2:24:47 regular city council meeting. And we're
2:24:49 asking council members who can arrive to
2:24:51 arrive at 5:00 PM on May 5th here at
2:24:53 city hall. Our parks director will then
2:24:57 um chauffeuring you up to Hillside Park
2:24:59 reopening celebration on Squawk
2:25:01 Mountain. This is a neighborhood
2:25:02 celebration and parking will be very,
2:25:04 very limited. It's a walk-in park for
2:25:06 the most part. You'll be driven back to
2:25:08 the council chambers at 6:30 p.m. where
2:25:10 we will have a late dinner for you
2:25:11 before the 7 p.m. meeting. The
2:25:13 anticipated items include the social and
2:25:15 community connection initiatives 2025,
2:25:18 transit oriented development opportunity
2:25:20 center housing cooperation agreement,
2:25:22 city council vacancy process, amendments
2:25:25 to the city council rules of
2:25:27 procedure, and there is no executive
2:25:29 session this evening. So, unfortunately,
2:25:31 while it is only 9:33 p.m. instead of
2:25:34 1:30 a.m., I will be or sorry, not even
2:25:37 9:33, 9:28 p.m. I will be adjourning the
2:25:41 meeting 4 hours early for your
2:25:49 convenience. Can you
2:25:51 imagine 13 in the morning multiple
2:25:54 times?

Attendance

Council / Members (7)
Barbara de Michele
Zach Hall
Kelly Jiang
Russell Joe
Tola Marts
Chris Reh
Lindsey Walsh
Staff (3)
Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator
Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator
Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Motions and votes (1)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a)
Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele
Carried 7-0
In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh