City Council Regular Meeting Auto captions

Monday, July 21, 2025

7:00 PM · 2h 48m · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

Topics tracked across meetings:

Dept. of Ecology Pollution Prevention Assistance (PPA) Partnership Agreement) Amendment AB 9180 › 1/2

City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · May 4, 2026

View full lifecycle → Next: City Council Regular Meeting · May 4, 2026 ▶

2026 Salary Ordinance AB 9068 › 1/2

City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Dec 1, 2025

View full lifecycle → Next: City Council Regular Meeting · Dec 1, 2025 ▶

2026 Young Artists & Authors Showcase Decision and Subcommittee Membership (A) ID 1886 ›››››››› 6/9

Sister Cities Commission · Aug 14, 2024 → Sister Cities Commission · Jan 8, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Feb 12, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Mar 12, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Jun 11, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Sep 10, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Oct 8, 2025 → Sister Cities Commission · Nov 12, 2025

◀ Prev: Sister Cities Commission · Jun 11, 2025 View full lifecycle → Next: Sister Cities Commission · Sep 10, 2025 ▶

WSDOT Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Development Agreement Extension for Bellevue College Amend & Approve Resolution AB 9026 ›› 2/3

Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Nov 10, 2025

◀ Prev: Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025 View full lifecycle → Next: City Council Regular Meeting · Nov 10, 2025 ▶

Vacation of a Portion of 12th Avenue Northwest AB 9035 ›› 2/3

City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 9, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 11, 2025

◀ Prev: City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 9, 2025 View full lifecycle → Next: City Council Regular Meeting · Aug 11, 2025 ▶

TOD Opportunity Center Options COM 0157 ›› 2/3

City Council Regular Meeting · May 5, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025 → Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Jul 22, 2025

◀ Prev: City Council Regular Meeting · May 5, 2025 View full lifecycle → Next: Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Jul 22, 2025 ▶

Sister Cities Commission Friendship Day Proclamation ID 1849 ›››› 5/5

Sister Cities Commission · May 10, 2023 → Sister Cities Commission · Jun 11, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 16, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 23, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025

◀ Prev: City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 23, 2025 View full lifecycle →

Newport Way NW Improvement Project - SR900 to SE 54th Street Local Agency Agreements AB 9033 ›› 3/3

City Council Regular Meeting · Nov 13, 2017 → City Council Regular Meeting · Apr 15, 2019 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025

◀ Prev: City Council Regular Meeting · Apr 15, 2019 View full lifecycle →

Update of Impact and Mitigation Fees AB 9039 › 2/2

Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025

◀ Prev: Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025 View full lifecycle →

Policy for Naming Public Facilities/Parks/Trails Make Recommendation AB 9040 › 2/2

City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 7, 2025 → City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025

◀ Prev: City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 7, 2025 View full lifecycle →

3. SPECIAL BUSINESS

National Night Out Proclamation ID 1850

5 min · packet pp.7

▶ Watch from 1:41 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office

Park Ranger Day Proclamation ID 1851

5 min · packet pp.9

Topics: Parks

▶ Watch from 4:47 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office

Farmers Market Week Proclamation ID 1900

5 min · packet pp.11

▶ Watch from 7:52 Open packet at p.11 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office

Sister Cities Commission Friendship Day Proclamation ID 1849

5 min · packet pp.13

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 16, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 23, 2025

▶ Watch from 10:58 Open packet at p.13 ↗

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

Recognition of Young Artists & Authors Showcase Top Recipients ID 1886

Receive Report · 5 min · packet pp.15–16

▶ Watch from 14:04 Open packet at p.15 ↗

Staff report:

The Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) is an annual art exhibition that encourages youth worldwide to express the mission of Sister Cities International through original artwork, literature, poetry, photography, and music. Sister Cities International aims to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time. This year’s theme is Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace.

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, July 7, 2025

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.17–20

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 16, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 23, 2025

▶ Watch from 32:10 Open packet at p.17 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR a) 07-07-25 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers July 7, 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

Accounts: Payables and Payroll of July 21, 2025, $3,310,234.71 ID 1795

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.21–34

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 32:21 Open packet at p.21 ↗

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

Mid-Budget Request to add Police Communications Specialist FTE AB 9008

Carried 7-0

Authorize Funding · packet pp.35–36

Topics: Public SafetyBudget

▶ Watch from 32:32 Open packet at p.35 ↗

Staff report:

The IPD currently operates with 13 full time dispatchers on staff. However, there is not enough coverage to account for breaks, time off, sick call outs, essential training and manage overtime. The dispatch staff work 12-hour shifts, 4 days on and 4 days off and operate 24 hours per day. In 2024, the overtime costs amounted to $269,000 with over 4,300 hours of overtime worked. In the last year, it has become apparent that to address the volume of current work, maintain the level of service provided and reduce overtime, an additional full-time dispatcher is needed.

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

Teamsters 763 representing Public Safety Telecommunicator Employees Collective Bargaining Agreement AB 9012

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.37–87

Topics: Public Safety

▶ Watch from 32:44 Open packet at p.37 ↗

Staff report:

Historically, the Telecommunicators have been a part of the IPPSA (Issaquah Police Support Services Association) collective bargaining agreement. The IPPSA agreement was due to expire on December 31, 2024 and in the 4th quarter of 2024, eligible employees voted to form their own collective bargaining group. That vote passed and they are now recognized as an Interest Arbitration eligible group represented by Teamsters 763. This group consists of 13 employees and bargaining started in January 2025 and concluded in May 2025.

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

Transit Oriented Development Opportunity Center (TOD-OC) Housing Cooperation Agreement AB 9019

Carried 7-0

Authorize · packet pp.89–96

Topics: HousingTransportation

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · May 5, 2025

▶ Watch from 32:55 Open packet at p.89 ↗

Staff report:

Since 2016, the City has worked to redevelop land near Tibbetts Valley Park into a mixed use and mixed rate development. KCHA is the lead developer of the site, and the City and KCHA have an interlocal agreement from 2022, outlining specific items on the site, including levels of affordability and space for a City-owned health center. When KCHA submitted for site development permits in 2025, KCHA recognized possibly insurmountable costs due to certain requirements in city code, changes on the TOD-OC site and overall construction cost increases, causing them to approach the Administration about an HCA to waive the prohibitive portions of code. RCW Chapter 35.83 authorizes the City to waive parts of its land use code for a housing authority building within Issaquah. The Administration was interested in an HCA because of the significant public benefit of this project and because some of…

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

Dept. of Ecology Pollution Prevention Assistance (PPA) Partnership Agreement) AB 9025

Carried 7-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.97–127

Topics: Critical Areas

▶ Watch from 33:06 Open packet at p.97 ↗

Staff report:

The Washington State Dept. of Ecology (Ecology) works in partnership with local governments in Puget Sound to reduce or eliminate hazardous waste and pollutants at businesses from entering stormwater, groundwater, and the sanitary sewer. Ecology currently provides inter-agency PPA agreements to over 22 local governments to fund staff known as Pollution Prevention (PP) Specialists, who conduct technical assistance, site visits, education, outreach, reporting, and other elements with the objective of reducing sources of pollutants.

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

Newport Way NW Improvement Project - SR900 to SE 54th Street Local Agency Agreements AB 9033

Carried 7-0

Authorize · packet pp.129–156

Topics: Transportation

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Dec 18, 2017 City Council Regular Meeting · Apr 16, 2018

▶ Watch from 33:17 Open packet at p.129 ↗

Staff report:

City Attorney Review Rachel Turpin City Attorney Review Date: May 28, 2025

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

12th Ave NW and SR 900 / 17th Ave NW (TR004) Project AB 9038

Carried 7-0

Accept Project · packet pp.157–158

▶ Watch from 33:28 Open packet at p.157 ↗

Staff report:

This agenda bill relates to approved Project #3 from the Master Transportation Funding Agreement that is part of the Development Agreement executed on April 13, 2015 between the City and Costco to facilitate Costco's corporate campus within Pickering Place (AB 6780). The construction contract for this project was approved by Council on Feb 21, 2023 (AB 8569) and awarded to Fury Site Works, Inc. in the amount of $ 4,596,469.49 (including sales tax). A change order to the contract was approved by Council on Oct 23, 2023 (AB 8684) in the amount of $174,500 for additional water main improvements. Four change orders to the contract were approved administratively totaling $141,019.85.

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

Update of Impact and Mitigation Fees AB 9039

Carried 7-0

Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.159–180

Topics: Land UseBudget

Previously discussed: Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025

▶ Watch from 33:39 Open packet at p.159 ↗

Staff report:

The State Growth Management Act (GMA) recognizes that new development creates additional demand for public facilities and services and authorizes cities to collect

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

Equipment Replacement and Repairs ITS Bucket Truck AB 9041

Carried 7-0

Authorize Funding · packet pp.181–224

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 33:50 Open packet at p.181 ↗

Staff report:

The City owns one bucket truck that is used on a daily basis to support the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and is a primary vehicle for the signal technicians to perform their work. While most of the truck's runtime is spent on the ITS, it is also utilized for tree pruning, banner hanging, and maintenance on hard-to-reach areas of pump stations, as well as on otherCity-owned infrastructure. The truck is a 2003 model year International 4400 with a line utility body and a Terex TPL40 40’ telescopic aerial installed onto the International chassis. The truck is 22 years old, has approximately 35,700 miles and 8,950 engine hours. This bucket truck has been previously identified as a replacement priority in capital planning, but ultimately not funded due to other budget priorities.

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

Washington Administrative Office of the Courts Therapeutic Courts Interagency Funding Agreement AB 9047

Carried 7-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.225–241

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 34:01 Open packet at p.225 ↗

Staff report:

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) announced the availability of continued state funding to support new and existing therapeutic courts in courts of limited jurisdiction for SFY26 (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026). The state funding agreement allocated to Issaquah Municipal Court (Exhibit A) is attached. This funding request is not a grant, but rather an appropriation of state funds that is awarded annually. Courts currently receiving funding under previously allocated programs are prioritized after renewal documents and budget justifications are submitted representing program best practices under the previous year's contract.

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. PUBLIC HEARING

Vacation of a Portion of 12th Avenue Northwest AB 9035

Conduct Public Hearing · 20 min · packet pp.243–261

Open packet at p.243 ↗

Staff report:

On May 6, 2024, City Council approved a resolution under Agenda Bill 8667 to declare the City Hall Northwest property, located at 1775 12th Avenue NW, as surplus and authorize disposal of the property by listing the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and negotiating a Purchase and Sale Agreement. Profits from the disposition will be used to support City facility needs.

7. REGULAR BUSINESS

2025 Title 18 Policy Amendments AB 8988

Adopt Ordinances · 45 min · packet pp.263–439

Topics: Land Use

▶ Watch from 34:12 Open packet at p.263 ↗

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. Through daily implementation of the code, staff and the public continue to identify improvements. Additionally, the state, through its annual legislative process continues to enact laws affecting the City's land use practices that require updates to the code.

WSDOT Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Development Agreement Extension for Bellevue College AB 9026

Approve Resolution · 30 min · packet pp.441–483

Topics: Transportation

Previously discussed: Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Jul 8, 2025

▶ Watch from 1:11:27 Open packet at p.441 ↗

Staff report:

The Bellevue College Development Agreement is incorporated in the WSDOT Development Agreement, approved on March 24, 2011. The agreement includes the transfer of development rights from a WSDOT property and Park Pointe to preserve 144 acres of forested land. A map of the land transfer is attached as Exhibit C. The transfer allowed the development of 500 new residential units in the Issaquah Highlands Town Center and up to 150 residential units on 3 parcels, which led to the Forest Ridge, Sun Ridge, and Pine Crest Developments. The transfer also allowed development on a 4th parcel for a 19-acre Bellevue College satellite campus. A map and a table of the land transfer is provided below.

Policy for Naming Public Facilities/Parks/Trails Make Recommendation AB 9040

30 min · packet pp.485–489

Topics: Parks

▶ Watch from 1:36:17 Open packet at p.485 ↗

Staff report:

DEPARTMENT OF Executive Department Wally Bobkiewicz OTHER COUNCIL MEETINGS July 7, 2025 COMP PLAN POLICY NOS. n/a OTHER POLICIES n/a EXHIBITS A. Naming Policy, Resolution No. 1990-06 City Attorney Review Rachel Bender Turpin City Attorney Review Date: July 2, 2025

10. GOOD OF THE ORDER

10a

Upcoming Council Meetings

▶ Watch from 2:09:04

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION

11a

Executive Session Pending/Potential Litigation per RCW ID 1901

15 min

▶ Watch from 2:13:09

12. OPEN SESSION

12a

Motion following Executive Session

3396 segments .txt ↗

0:00 ↗ Good evening everyone. I'd like to

0:01 ↗ welcome you all. I'm calling the July

0:03 ↗ 21st city council meeting to order and

0:07 ↗ uh if there is no objection, I'll be

0:09 ↗ chairing tonight's meeting remotely.

0:13 ↗ I am in Texas. Uh our sister city

0:18 ↗ commission is receiving a humanitarian

0:20 ↗ award tomorrow for their work in the

0:22 ↗ fundraiser that they did for our sister

0:25 ↗ city sister city Shashan Morocco uh for

0:29 ↗ Atlas Mountain winter relief. Um is

0:32 ↗ there any objection and council

0:34 ↗ president I will rely on you tonight so

0:36 ↗ let me know. I have a notepad. Let me

0:38 ↗ know when the microphones are up and if

0:40 ↗ anybody has an objection or a question.

0:43 ↗ I will do that and I'm seeing no

0:44 ↗ objections here.

0:46 ↗ >> Thank you very much. So, as a reminder

0:49 ↗ to the community, we continue to have a

0:51 ↗ remote aspect to our meetings. Both

0:52 ↗ staff members and members of the public

0:54 ↗ may be participating in tonight's

0:56 ↗ meeting remotely via WebEx. Next item on

0:59 ↗ the agenda this evening is the pledge of

1:01 ↗ allegiance, and I welcome you to join me

1:03 ↗ in that.

1:08 ↗ I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

1:11 ↗ United States of America and to the

1:13 ↗ republic for which it stands, one nation

1:16 ↗ under God, indivisible, with liberty and

1:19 ↗ justice for all.

1:25 ↗ We do have some proclamations tonight

1:28 ↗ and council president, I am grateful for

1:30 ↗ your organizing, our council members to

1:32 ↗ be able to individually help present

1:35 ↗ these. So, we'll start with um special

1:38 ↗ business item ID 1850, National Night

1:41 ↗ Out Proclamation. And who would like to

1:43 ↗ be presenting this one? Council

1:46 ↗ >> Council member Marts is moving up.

1:52 ↗ I'd also like to invite police commander

1:54 ↗ Travis Nice and Isqua Police Officer

1:56 ↗ Alex Helms to the lectern.

2:00 ↗ >> Unfortunately, it looks like they are

2:02 ↗ not available, so they must be out on a

2:04 ↗ call, but we will definitely have this

2:06 ↗ proclamation and make sure it gets over

2:08 ↗ to them.

2:09 ↗ >> Thank you.

2:11 ↗ >> Thank you. Whereas, National Night Out

2:14 ↗ is an annual community building campaign

2:16 ↗ that promotes police community

2:18 ↗ partnerships and neighborhood

2:19 ↗ camaraderie to make our neighborhoods

2:21 ↗ safe and more caring places to live. And

2:24 ↗ whereas the city of Isiqua proudly

2:27 ↗ participates in National Night Out,

2:29 ↗ joining thousands of communities

2:30 ↗ nationwide in strengthening

2:32 ↗ relationships between neighbors and law

2:34 ↗ enforcement while fostering a true sense

2:36 ↗ of community. And whereas National Night

2:39 ↗ Out in Isiqua offers families and

2:41 ↗ neighbors the opportunity to connect

2:42 ↗ with their local police officers, enjoy

2:45 ↗ familyfriendly activities, and learn

2:47 ↗ more about community safety, crime

2:49 ↗ prevention, and emergency preparedness.

2:52 ↗ Whereas this annual event strengthens

2:54 ↗ neighborhood spirit, enhances police

2:56 ↗ community partnerships, and sends a

2:59 ↗ strong, clear message that is united

3:01 ↗ against crime and committed to building

3:04 ↗ a strong and resilient community. Now

3:07 ↗ therefore, Mayor Mary Lupali, mayor of

3:09 ↗ the city of Isiqua, did hereby proclaim

3:12 ↗ August 5th, 2025 to be national line out

3:15 ↗ in the city of Isiqua and invited the

3:17 ↗ community to join in celebrating and

3:19 ↗ participating in festivities that raise

3:22 ↗ awareness for this important cause. In

3:24 ↗ witness thereof, she set her hand in

3:26 ↗ seal of the city of Isiqua on the 21st

3:28 ↗ day of July, 2025.

3:31 ↗ Thank you.

3:32 ↗ >> Thank you so much, Council Member Mertz.

3:35 ↗ The next item on our um special business

3:39 ↗ this evening is ID 1851 park ranger day

3:43 ↗ proclamation. And if we have Isqua Park

3:46 ↗ Ranger Alex Anderson and park ranger

3:48 ↗ Casey Shane, I'd love to invite them up

3:49 ↗ to the lectern.

3:57 ↗ Uh good evening. Uh whereas World Ranger

4:01 ↗ Day is celebrated worldwide on July 31st

4:04 ↗ to celebrate the work rangers do to

4:07 ↗ protect the planet's natural treasures,

4:09 ↗ cultural heritage. And whereas the city

4:12 ↗ of Isiqua's park rangers serve as

4:14 ↗ stewards and ambassadors of the city's

4:17 ↗ parks, trails, and open spaces.

4:20 ↗ The ranger position is intended to

4:21 ↗ promote a safe and welcoming parks

4:23 ↗ experience through professional

4:25 ↗ interactions with park patrons. And

4:28 ↗ whereas uh park rangers are responsible

4:31 ↗ for the routine patrol of approximately

4:34 ↗ 1,800 acres of public lands owned by the

4:36 ↗ city of Isqua, which includes 23 parks,

4:40 ↗ two cemeteries, natural growth

4:42 ↗ protection areas, natural resource

4:44 ↗ conservation areas, wetlands, open

4:46 ↗ spaces, and trails. And whereas park

4:49 ↗ rangers work collaboratively with the

4:51 ↗ Isqua Police Department, Washington

4:53 ↗ state agencies, the county sheriff's

4:56 ↗ office, and regional animal services of

4:58 ↗ King County to resolve park issues. And

5:01 ↗ whereas park rangers provide education

5:03 ↗ of local codes and laws and respond to

5:06 ↗ calls for service and investigate

5:08 ↗ concerns related to park areas.

5:11 ↗ And whereas park rangers are sometimes

5:14 ↗ the first point of contact for unhoused

5:16 ↗ individuals in city parks in partnership

5:18 ↗ with human services, park rangers

5:20 ↗ provide assistance, guidance, and care

5:23 ↗ through our homeless outreach program.

5:26 ↗ Therefore, Marylu Py, the mayor of the

5:29 ↗ city of Isqua, does hereby proclaim July

5:32 ↗ 31st, 2025 to be park ranger day in the

5:36 ↗ city of Isqua. and we invite the

5:38 ↗ community to join in thanking our park

5:40 ↗ ranger team for their outstanding

5:42 ↗ service and contribution.

5:44 ↗ Alex, would you like to say something?

5:48 ↗ >> Well, first of all, thank you to mayor

5:50 ↗ and council for the recognition. Um, it

5:53 ↗ is kind of a a strange time to be a park

5:55 ↗ ranger. Um, there may be some voices out

5:57 ↗ there that are questioning the value of

5:58 ↗ the work that we do and maybe even the

6:00 ↗ value of our public lands themselves.

6:02 ↗ Um, and I think it's really important to

6:04 ↗ remind ourselves that well, one, how how

6:07 ↗ grateful I am to work for a community

6:08 ↗ like Isakiqua where there is so much

6:10 ↗ advocacy and so much um, really

6:12 ↗ outspoken opinion about our public

6:14 ↗ lands. I'm very grateful for that. Um,

6:16 ↗ but also that our public lands do not

6:18 ↗ maintain themselves. We have to actually

6:19 ↗ pay folks to go out and do the hard work

6:21 ↗ of looking after them and those folks

6:22 ↗ are generally called rangers. So, thanks

6:24 ↗ everyone.

6:27 ↗ >> Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Council

6:28 ↗ Member Ray. And I'd like you guys to get

6:30 ↗ a picture if you can. That would be

6:32 ↗ fantastic.

6:43 ↗ >> I can't really tell if they've done

6:44 ↗ their picture, but I'm just going to

6:45 ↗ call up the next uh special business

6:47 ↗ item ID190

6:49 ↗ the farmers market week proclamation.

6:51 ↗ And if uh recreation supervisor Kelly

6:54 ↗ Diane is there, I'd love to have her

6:56 ↗ come to the lecture with the council

6:58 ↗ member presenting.

6:59 ↗ >> Welcome, Kelly. And we also have Jocelyn

7:01 ↗ Sandrich, the assistant market manager

7:03 ↗ with us this evening.

7:07 ↗ >> Whereas farmers markets play a vital

7:09 ↗ role in providing access to fresh

7:11 ↗ locally grown produce and other ar

7:14 ↗ agricultural products, supporting the

7:16 ↗ health and well-being of our

7:17 ↗ communities. And whereas National

7:19 ↗ Farmers Market Week observed annually

7:21 ↗ the first week of August recognizes the

7:23 ↗ important role farmers markets play in

7:25 ↗ our food system and encourages Americans

7:28 ↗ to support local producers producers by

7:31 ↗ purchasing their products at farmers

7:34 ↗ markets. And whereas the Isiqua Farmers

7:36 ↗ Market held each Saturday from May

7:38 ↗ through September at 9:00 am to 2 PM at

7:42 ↗ the historic Pickering Barn has served

7:44 ↗ as a beloved gathering place for over 30

7:46 ↗ years, drawing thousands of residents

7:48 ↗ and visitors annually. And whereas the

7:51 ↗ fariqua farmers market supports more

7:53 ↗ than 100 local vendors, including

7:55 ↗ farmers, bakers, crafters, and prepared

7:57 ↗ food makers, helping to sustain small

8:00 ↗ businesses and strengthen the regional

8:02 ↗ economy. And whereas the market fosters

8:05 ↗ environmental sustainability by

8:06 ↗ encourage encouraging consumption of

8:08 ↗ locally grown seasonal produce, reducing

8:11 ↗ food miles and supporting echco-friendly

8:13 ↗ farming practices. And whereas the

8:16 ↗ market provides equitable access to

8:18 ↗ fresh and nutritious foods through

8:20 ↗ participation in programs such as SNAP,

8:22 ↗ EBT, and market match, reinforcing

8:25 ↗ Isiqua's commitment to food security and

8:28 ↗ health equity. And whereas the market

8:30 ↗ enhances community engagement and

8:32 ↗ connectedness by offering a vibrant and

8:35 ↗ inclusive space for education and

8:36 ↗ engagement where individuals can learn

8:38 ↗ about food production, nutrition, and

8:41 ↗ connect with neighbors and friends. Now

8:43 ↗ therefore, Mary Lupali, Mary, mayor of

8:46 ↗ the city of Isiqua, does hereby proclaim

8:48 ↗ the week of August 3rd through August

8:50 ↗ 9th, 2025 to be farmers market week.

8:56 ↗ >> Would you like to?

8:57 ↗ >> Yeah.

8:57 ↗ >> Please.

9:00 ↗ Uh thank you council and mayor for our

9:02 ↗ proclamation. I wanted to give just a

9:04 ↗ quick snapshot of how the market is

9:06 ↗ doing. Um as of the middle of the

9:09 ↗ season, so uh we've hit over $1 million

9:12 ↗ in sales to vendors. We've had over

9:15 ↗ 44,000 visitors, 26 volunteers. In May,

9:19 ↗ we introduced the homegrown retail

9:20 ↗ program in partnership with economic

9:22 ↗ development, giving eight small

9:24 ↗ businesses based in Isiqua opportunities

9:28 ↗ uh in a direct consumer marketplace. We

9:31 ↗ launched a hard to recycle program with

9:33 ↗ the city's solid waste program analyst

9:35 ↗ Sam Tarbon. So there's a weekly rotation

9:38 ↗ of where you can recycle batteries,

9:40 ↗ styrofoam, and plastic film at the

9:42 ↗ market at the information tent. We've

9:44 ↗ onboarded two new farms this year.

9:46 ↗ Collins Family Orchard and Irish Acres.

9:48 ↗ Dogs are now allowed.

9:52 ↗ Uh everything's in season right now.

9:54 ↗ Corn is here. Tomatoes and peppers,

9:56 ↗ eggplants are all trickling in. Stone

9:58 ↗ fruit and berries are better than ever.

10:00 ↗ So, please join in celebrating the

10:03 ↗ vibrant community space that we have um

10:05 ↗ where you can make meaningful

10:06 ↗ connections with vendors and your

10:08 ↗ neighbors. We will have some birthday

10:10 ↗ cake on August 9th to celebrate farmers

10:12 ↗ market week and the 35th anniversary of

10:15 ↗ the far isqua farmers market. And thank

10:18 ↗ you from uh everyone on our team at

10:20 ↗ Pickering Barn.

10:24 ↗ [Applause]

10:26 ↗ So, while they are posing for a photo,

10:30 ↗ >> I will just extend a thank you to Kelly

10:33 ↗ Dean and her entire team for really

10:36 ↗ turning our farmers market into this

10:38 ↗ completely integrated space for all of

10:41 ↗ our different departments to

10:42 ↗ participate. Thank you so much. That was

10:44 ↗ great.

10:47 ↗ Next up, we have uh ID 1849, Sister

10:52 ↗ Cities Commission. This is the

10:54 ↗ friendship day proclamation and I'd like

10:56 ↗ to invite Ryan Opitz, co-chair of the

10:58 ↗ sister cities commission to the lect

11:00 ↗ turn if he's in the room and also just

11:04 ↗ add in members when

11:08 ↗ of course and council president thank

11:11 ↗ you for doing this one. This is

11:13 ↗ especially poignant to me since we just

11:15 ↗ completed our sister city visit to

11:18 ↗ Norway, one of the first in a very long

11:19 ↗ time. but also that I have the

11:21 ↗ opportunity on behalf of these wonderful

11:22 ↗ people standing before you to receive a

11:25 ↗ um international sister cities

11:28 ↗ humanitarian award for the work that

11:29 ↗ they have done over the last few years

11:31 ↗ supporting our friends in Morocco. So

11:35 ↗ thank you very much for doing this one.

11:36 ↗ >> Thank you.

11:38 ↗ So whereas the international day of

11:40 ↗ friendship also known as world

11:42 ↗ friendship day was proclaimed in 2011 by

11:45 ↗ the UN General Assembly with the idea

11:47 ↗ that friendship between peoples,

11:49 ↗ countries, cultures and individuals can

11:52 ↗ inspire peace efforts and build bridges

11:54 ↗ between communities. And whereas the

11:57 ↗ city of Isiqua values its international

11:59 ↗ friendships and its form for formal

12:01 ↗ sister cities with Sundal, Norway

12:03 ↗ established in 1991 and Chef Shiaan,

12:06 ↗ Morocco established in 2006. And whereas

12:10 ↗ the city of Isiqua sister cities

12:13 ↗ commission is in place to help foster

12:15 ↗ the sisterhood relationships. And

12:18 ↗ whereas the commission works to increase

12:20 ↗ the knowledge, goodwill, and

12:22 ↗ understanding of the world through

12:24 ↗ people-to-people democracy or diplomacy,

12:27 ↗ education, and cultural exchange. And

12:30 ↗ whereas the city of Isiqua has a long

12:32 ↗ tradition of promoting diversity,

12:34 ↗ equality, fairness, and friendship. And

12:37 ↗ whereas Isiqua is strengthened by the

12:40 ↗ strong role friendship plays in building

12:42 ↗ trust, promoting peace, and bringing

12:44 ↗ people of different cultures together.

12:47 ↗ Now therefore, I, Lindseay Walsh, on

12:49 ↗ behalf of Mayor Mary Lou Polly of the

12:52 ↗ city of Isiqua, do hereby proclaim July

12:54 ↗ 30th, 2025 to be Friendship Day in the

12:57 ↗ city of Isiqua. And I invite the

12:59 ↗ community to join me in celebrating and

13:00 ↗ fostering friendships locally and

13:02 ↗ globally. Would you like to say a few

13:04 ↗ words?

13:05 ↗ >> Yeah.

13:06 ↗ >> Hi. I'd like to thank the mayor and the

13:08 ↗ commission for all of the continued

13:10 ↗ support of the Sister Cities Commission.

13:11 ↗ Um, the last couple years have been very

13:14 ↗ prosperous for us with, as the mayor

13:16 ↗ said, a trip to Norway that happened

13:18 ↗ last month. Um, some

13:22 ↗ uh, aid work that we did for Morocco

13:24 ↗ last year, bringing an artist over from

13:27 ↗ our sister city in Morocco. Um, we

13:29 ↗ couldn't do any of that without uh, the

13:31 ↗ mayors and the council support. So,

13:33 ↗ thank you very much.

13:37 ↗ >> Take a picture out here.

13:55 ↗ fabulous. Thank you all. Um, I'm we're

13:58 ↗ going to keep Victor up there because

13:59 ↗ the next item is ID1886,

14:03 ↗ the recognition of young artists and

14:05 ↗ authors showcase top recipients and uh,

14:09 ↗ Sister Cities Commissioner Victor Bellow

14:11 ↗ is at the podium to introduce our young

14:13 ↗ artists. Victor.

14:15 ↗ >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much for having

14:17 ↗ us uh, here tonight. Um, a little

14:19 ↗ background. This is uh fourth annual

14:22 ↗ young artist and author showcase and

14:25 ↗ it's something we proudly conduct in

14:26 ↗ partnership with Sister Cities

14:28 ↗ International. Each year brings a new

14:30 ↗ global theme and this year's friendship,

14:32 ↗ the heartbeat of global peace truly

14:34 ↗ resonated with our our students. We were

14:37 ↗ thrilled to see so many creative

14:40 ↗ submissions in visual art, literature,

14:42 ↗ poetry, and music all expressing what

14:44 ↗ global friendship means to our youth.

14:46 ↗ We'd like to thank the mayor and city

14:49 ↗ council for your continued support um

14:51 ↗ for the city's uh the sister cities

14:53 ↗ commission and the youth engagement

14:55 ↗ programs like this one. Um we'd also

14:58 ↗ like to recognize our partnership with

14:59 ↗ the Isaqua Arts Commission and extend

15:01 ↗ our sincere gratitude to the Isaqua

15:04 ↗ Library, not only for displaying this

15:06 ↗ year's artwork, but also generously

15:08 ↗ hosting this year's jazz recognition

15:10 ↗ workshop. Another heartfelt thank you

15:13 ↗ goes to my fellow sister city

15:15 ↗ commissioners um and the our staff

15:18 ↗ leaison as everyone who helps makes this

15:20 ↗ program possible year after year. And

15:22 ↗ finally the biggest thank you is

15:24 ↗ reserved to the Isiqua youth uh for your

15:26 ↗ bravery participating your creativity

15:29 ↗ your willingness to share your voice

15:31 ↗ with the world. We are proud of each of

15:33 ↗ you and stepping up and expressing

15:34 ↗ yourself so proudly. So uh please

15:37 ↗ welcome me in uh please help me in

15:41 ↗ welcoming uh Rishika

15:43 ↗ Chin I'm sorry Chin Takindi uh for her

15:47 ↗ outstanding classic art harmony and

15:50 ↗ unlikely bonds um and I believe that her

15:53 ↗ teacher Neha is accepting on her behalf.

15:56 ↗ >> Thank you so much.

16:00 ↗ Thank you.

16:00 ↗ >> Thank you so much.

16:10 ↗ Thank you.

16:11 ↗ [Applause]

16:14 ↗ >> And our next recipient,

16:18 ↗ um, JC Grant for outstanding poetry for

16:20 ↗ their submission, Fireflies.

16:26 ↗ [Applause]

16:43 ↗ Thanks everyone.

16:48 ↗ >> Oh, Victor, thank you very much. Uh,

16:51 ↗ just in case you didn't know, um, Jason,

16:54 ↗ the last recipient, is my neighbor and

16:57 ↗ my friend. So I'm very proud of Jay.

17:00 ↗ Fantastic.

17:02 ↗ Okay, moving on. Uh we are going to move

17:07 ↗ into the next item of business which is

17:09 ↗ audience comments. And this is the time

17:11 ↗ where members of the public may address

17:13 ↗ the council in person or virtually. So

17:16 ↗ those who signed up to make comments

17:17 ↗ will be called on first. And if you're

17:19 ↗ joining us virtually and like would

17:21 ↗ would like to make comments, please

17:22 ↗ raise your virtual hand or send the host

17:25 ↗ a chat message. If you're on the phone,

17:26 ↗ press star three. If you joined by

17:28 ↗ computer or smartphone, look for the

17:29 ↗ hand icon. And if you're in the room and

17:32 ↗ did not sign up, council president will

17:33 ↗ look for your hands at the end of the um

17:37 ↗ uh listed speakers and ask if there's

17:40 ↗ anybody else that would like to speak

17:41 ↗ before the close of the meeting. City

17:44 ↗ clerk, has anyone signed up to speak for

17:45 ↗ general audience comments or indicate a

17:47 ↗ desire to speak this evening?

17:49 ↗ >> Yes.

17:51 ↗ >> Thank you so much. So, um, for those

17:53 ↗ making comments, you're invited to

17:55 ↗ address the council regarding matters

17:56 ↗ that are directly related to Visco's

17:59 ↗ programs, projects, services, or events.

18:01 ↗ Comments related to political campaigns

18:03 ↗ are not permitted. Um, please do direct

18:06 ↗ your comments to the whole council, not

18:08 ↗ individual council members. And while

18:09 ↗ this isn't a question and answer

18:11 ↗ session, we will contact you to follow

18:13 ↗ up if needed. When you're recognized, if

18:16 ↗ you are a virtual attendee, unmute your

18:17 ↗ microphone. If you're in the room,

18:19 ↗ please step up to the lectern. that's

18:21 ↗ centered in front of the council. Make

18:23 ↗ sure that you press the button in the

18:24 ↗ center to turn the microphone on. Please

18:27 ↗ state your name and address or your

18:29 ↗ relationship to the city. Speak clearly

18:31 ↗ and pause frequently and limit your

18:32 ↗ comments to 5 minutes. If you are

18:35 ↗ attending virtually and do not respond

18:36 ↗ once we call your name or phone number

18:39 ↗ or if you lose your connection, the

18:41 ↗ meeting will still need to proceed and

18:42 ↗ we encourage you to rejoin the meeting

18:44 ↗ if you're able. Personal attacks,

18:46 ↗ obscene language, derogatory marks, and

18:48 ↗ disruptive behavior will not be

18:49 ↗ permitted.

18:51 ↗ Public comments written and verbal are a

18:53 ↗ very important aspect of the public

18:54 ↗ process and the city takes comments

18:56 ↗ seriously. We thank all of those who

18:58 ↗ have come here tonight to address the

19:00 ↗ council. City clerk, can you please

19:02 ↗ identify the first person who signed up

19:04 ↗ to speak?

19:06 ↗ >> Yes, Kevin Nichols.

19:18 ↗ Hello. Uh, my name is Kevin Nichols and

19:21 ↗ I live at 352 Wilderness Peak Drive

19:24 ↗ Northwest in Isiqua.

19:26 ↗ I'm here to offer public comments on

19:28 ↗ Agenda Bill 8988, which is the 2025

19:32 ↗ title 18 policy amendments.

19:36 ↗ Specifically, I want to voice strong

19:38 ↗ support for the letter P, a specific

19:41 ↗ letter P on page 31 in the table of

19:44 ↗ permitted uses that now permits bars and

19:46 ↗ taverns in mixeduse residential

19:48 ↗ neighborhoods outside of our urban

19:50 ↗ villages where they were already

19:51 ↗ allowed.

19:53 ↗ I live in Talis and I'm super excited

19:56 ↗ about the new tap room that's set to

19:57 ↗ open near my home. And now this

19:59 ↗ amendment would extend that possibility

20:01 ↗ to other mixeduse areas.

20:04 ↗ We need these third spaces. These are

20:07 ↗ neighborhoods scale gathering spots that

20:09 ↗ enhance our whole community. As I once

20:12 ↗ heard a wise man say, if you want to

20:14 ↗ build a walkable city, you need places

20:17 ↗ to walk to.

20:19 ↗ This letter P, tiny as it is, helps

20:22 ↗ create more of those places.

20:26 ↗ When I was a kid growing up in a small

20:28 ↗ town in Pennsylvania, every week after

20:30 ↗ getting my allowance, I'd walk to Mrs.

20:32 ↗ Daringer's Candy Store a few blocks from

20:34 ↗ my house. Her shop was in a small

20:36 ↗ edition on the side of her home. It

20:38 ↗ didn't get a ton of customers. You had

20:40 ↗ to ring and wait a bit to actually get

20:42 ↗ in, but um I'd spend about 50 cents, if

20:46 ↗ memory serves correctly, every week on a

20:48 ↗ pack of nerds. Um, no surprise there. I

20:51 ↗ guess this is a completely unremarkable

20:54 ↗ story except that Mrs. Daringer's

20:56 ↗ current candy store would be illegal to

20:58 ↗ build in most of Isqua today and frankly

21:00 ↗ most cities. Um, I was really encouraged

21:04 ↗ to hear corner scores discussed at the

21:05 ↗ last committee of the whole meeting, and

21:07 ↗ I really appreciate the consideration

21:09 ↗ that was given to beginning a public

21:10 ↗ process around those types of uses.

21:14 ↗ This single letter P is one of many baby

21:16 ↗ steps in this set of Title 18 amendments

21:18 ↗ towards more neighborhoods where people

21:20 ↗ can live, work, and gather without

21:23 ↗ getting in their cars. I'd love to see

21:26 ↗ us create the kind of community I

21:28 ↗ remember from being a kid and that our

21:30 ↗ kids and frankly all of us deserve to

21:32 ↗ experience more of again. I urge you to

21:35 ↗ support this amendment and continue

21:36 ↗ working with the community to expand

21:38 ↗ what's possible to walk to in Isqua.

21:44 ↗ >> Thank you. Um, city clerk, has anybody

21:47 ↗ else signed up for comments this

21:49 ↗ evening?

21:49 ↗ >> Yes, Alex Simmerman.

21:53 ↗ Alex, please come to the microphone.

21:56 ↗ >> Thank you very much. Yeah, it's working.

21:58 ↗ Yeah good.

22:01 ↗ Working. Yeah, thank you very much.

22:13 ↗ Uh last week June July 15 can country

22:18 ↗ council make a decision what is very

22:20 ↗ unique

22:22 ↗ take all constitution everything what

22:24 ↗ does America have for 250 year in

22:27 ↗ garbage

22:28 ↗ >> Mr. Zimman then are you speaking to an

22:31 ↗ agenda item this evening? Sorry for

22:33 ↗ interrupting you.

22:34 ↗ >> No, no, it's okay. You can interrupt me.

22:36 ↗ No problem. Have 6,000 day of trespass.

22:39 ↗ Yeah, no problem. This decision

22:41 ↗ >> which item are you speaking to?

22:44 ↗ >> This decision what is making country

22:46 ↗ reflect council reflect all King County

22:50 ↗ because right now officially I repeat

22:53 ↗ this officially king county number one

22:56 ↗ fis county in America. Is this

22:58 ↗ happening?

22:59 ↗ >> Mr. Zimmerman, excuse me, but you need

23:01 ↗ to speak to an item on the city of

23:03 ↗ Isiqua's agenda this evening. Do you

23:05 ↗ have any comments on any of the items on

23:07 ↗ the agenda?

23:08 ↗ >> No, this what country make decision

23:11 ↗ reflect everybody include ina all two

23:14 ↗ half million people two and a half

23:16 ↗ million people. I speak about this

23:19 ↗ because people in isa

23:22 ↗ reflect by this decision. It's a

23:24 ↗ fundamental decision. Hey, I don't I

23:26 ↗ don't disagree with you, Mr. Zimmerman,

23:28 ↗ but public comment tonight is going to

23:30 ↗ be on programs, policies, and decisions

23:34 ↗ that are before the council this

23:35 ↗ evening. So, if you could select

23:36 ↗ something on the agenda to speak to,

23:38 ↗ that would be great.

23:40 ↗ >> I understand this, but when this reflect

23:43 ↗ everybody,

23:46 ↗ >> it has to be very uh

23:48 ↗ >> okay, how I can talk about fascism, but

23:51 ↗ the skin county did officially right

23:53 ↗ now. You understand? by talking they put

23:56 ↗ everything in garbage.

23:58 ↗ This unique situation we right now look

24:01 ↗ absolutely identical.

24:02 ↗ >> Mr. Zimman, I'm I'm going to have to ask

24:04 ↗ you to focus on um uh some item that is

24:08 ↗ before our council this evening.

24:09 ↗ Otherwise, could you just conclude your

24:11 ↗ remarks?

24:12 ↗ >> Yes. Okay. So, how when I can speak

24:14 ↗ about people in a sec, what is reflect

24:16 ↗ this decision when it be something that

24:20 ↗ is on the council's agenda? So, please

24:22 ↗ no problem. I I I did something wrong.

24:25 ↗ When I can speak about this next

24:28 ↗ meeting, I can speak about this. This

24:30 ↗ reflect two and a half million people.

24:33 ↗ Is this number one fascialist county in

24:35 ↗ America right now officially?

24:37 ↗ >> I I don't disagree with you.

24:38 ↗ >> No, answer me when I can talk. No. When

24:41 ↗ I can talk appropriate to do the public

24:44 ↗ testimony?

24:45 ↗ >> Let me know when I can talk about this.

24:48 ↗ No, let me council meeting.

24:50 ↗ >> Okay. Not right now. Okay. when I can

24:53 ↗ talk next meeting

24:54 ↗ >> when

24:55 ↗ >> at a King County council meeting.

24:58 ↗ >> This decision reflect two half million

25:01 ↗ people Old King County

25:03 ↗ >> but it is not part of the body of work

25:06 ↗ of the city council here tonight. So

25:07 ↗ please pick an agenda item or we're

25:09 ↗ going to have to ask you just to

25:10 ↗ summarize and stop your

25:12 ↗ >> It's okay. It's okay. You write 100%age

25:15 ↗ when I can speak about this.

25:18 ↗ King County council would be the

25:19 ↗ appropriate county council make decision

25:22 ↗ what is reflect everybody you can go and

25:25 ↗ listen to Mr. Amen. I'm going to have to

25:27 ↗ ask you to wrap up because it's not

25:28 ↗ related to the business of the council

25:30 ↗ this evening. So, please conclude your

25:32 ↗ comments.

25:32 ↗ >> So, I cannot speak about something not

25:34 ↗ that is reflect everybody

25:37 ↗ >> that is not related to a program that

25:40 ↗ the city of Israel

25:42 ↗ member is

25:43 ↗ >> when I can speak about this because it's

25:45 ↗ very heavy degree of fascism. We right

25:47 ↗ now number one fascist county in

25:50 ↗ America. It's very serious problem.

25:52 ↗ County, you understand word county?

25:56 ↗ do not disagree with you, but you must

25:57 ↗ spend your time talking about a item

26:00 ↗ before the city council.

26:02 ↗ >> Thank you, Mr. Zimmerman. Uh, city

26:05 ↗ clerk, is there anyone else who wishes

26:06 ↗ to address the council this evening?

26:09 ↗ >> Yes, we have a virtual caller who has

26:12 ↗ dialed in by phone with the last two

26:15 ↗ digits 14.

26:18 ↗ I'm going to make you a panelist now.

26:23 ↗ And I've requested that you unmute as

26:26 ↗ it's your turn to make comments.

26:32 ↗ >> Mayor, I'm just giving this person a

26:34 ↗ moment to

26:36 ↗ >> Thank you.

26:36 ↗ >> unmute

26:43 ↗ and phone in caller. I'm going to send

26:45 ↗ you one more request to unmute.

26:50 ↗ >> Do we know what the number is? Is it

26:53 ↗ like star three or

26:55 ↗ >> to unmute? That's to raise your hand,

26:57 ↗ which they already did. So now I need

26:59 ↗ them to. So I think I prompted and then

27:02 ↗ they they're prompted on the phone. But

27:04 ↗ let me see.

27:09 ↗ >> Council President, are you seeing others

27:11 ↗ in the room that might also like to

27:12 ↗ testify this evening?

27:16 ↗ >> Don't think I see anybody else who would

27:18 ↗ make public comments in the audience.

27:21 ↗ >> Thanks. We'll give a few we'll give a a

27:23 ↗ little bit longer for the online person

27:25 ↗ and then we'll close public comments.

27:28 ↗ >> Okay. And phone and caller, I see you

27:30 ↗ want to speak. Um try pressing star six

27:34 ↗ on your phone.

27:43 ↗ >> This is Steve Pereira. Can you hear me?

27:45 ↗ Okay,

27:45 ↗ >> we sure can. Steve, go ahead.

27:48 ↗ >> Welcome, Steve.

27:49 ↗ >> Good. Thank you. Uh, good to have you

27:51 ↗ all on board. Uh, so I have a couple

27:54 ↗ thoughts I wanted to share with you and

27:57 ↗ the public that may or may not be

27:59 ↗ listening. Uh, I sent in some public

28:02 ↗ comments via email. I won't repeat

28:05 ↗ those. I'll narrow my scope to just

28:08 ↗ title 18 at this point. Uh, they're kind

28:12 ↗ of few, but here we go. Uh, I'm not sure

28:15 ↗ it's typically called out, but I another

28:18 ↗ chance to plug for what are called CST

28:21 ↗ or culturally sensitive trees. They're

28:23 ↗ trees that might be have been created,

28:26 ↗ marked or revised by native

28:30 ↗ peoples that are native to the area of

28:32 ↗ this. It's not known for sure that there

28:33 ↗ are any of these cultural sensitive

28:36 ↗ trees, but I believe they deserve not

28:38 ↗ just heritage or landmark status, but

28:42 ↗ deserve legal protections. So, I would

28:45 ↗ urge you to do more to provide such CST

28:49 ↗ protections for those trees in our legal

28:52 ↗ and city code framework. Uh, next one I

28:56 ↗ had to do is maybe more than I wanted to

28:58 ↗ know with the adult entertainment

29:01 ↗ section of the code. I know there used

29:03 ↗ to be a hotel in the Eastgate area of

29:06 ↗ Belleview up the road I 90 that rented

29:09 ↗ rooms by the hour.

29:12 ↗ I know there's a section of the code

29:13 ↗ that talks about adult hotels in our

29:16 ↗ code and it seems revised to not include

29:21 ↗ adult entertainment hotels that rent out

29:24 ↗ rooms for less than a set period of

29:28 ↗ time. Uh thirdly,

29:32 ↗ I guess sometimes somewhat I find myself

29:35 ↗ opposed to the idea of debations or

29:38 ↗ exemptions being allowed.

29:41 ↗ uh it seems like you divide or provide

29:43 ↗ the code for whatever the standard or

29:45 ↗ norm should be and you set the

29:47 ↗ expectation that that will be followed

29:48 ↗ not grant deviations. Uh the one that I

29:51 ↗ typically find most ownorous is granting

29:55 ↗ deviations for hillside or forested

29:58 ↗ hillside development. Uh these

30:00 ↗ specifically should be removed to limit

30:05 ↗ development in the hillside forested

30:08 ↗ protected areas. Uh lastly, I'll guess

30:11 ↗ I'll just add in conjunction with the

30:14 ↗ last caller talking about what's allowed

30:16 ↗ to speak before the public comment

30:19 ↗ sections should be included to

30:23 ↗ uh be a little more allowable of

30:25 ↗ flexible agenda items. This is kind of

30:28 ↗ the place I think the public comes

30:29 ↗ together. We'll provide public input on

30:32 ↗ things that impact all of us, not just

30:35 ↗ on specific agenda items. So I think

30:39 ↗ there should be more flexibility to

30:41 ↗ allow people to provide a different

30:45 ↗ perspective or different view that may

30:46 ↗ or may not be shared by other members of

30:50 ↗ the public but that's what public

30:52 ↗ community and dialogue and democracy is

30:55 ↗ involved in engaging all of us in

30:57 ↗ speaking. Thanks for your time. I will

31:01 ↗ stop talking tonight at this time.

31:04 ↗ Thanks.

31:08 ↗ >> Thank you, Steve. Um, council member and

31:12 ↗ city clerk or council president and city

31:14 ↗ clerk. Are there any others that are

31:16 ↗ indicating a desire to speak this

31:17 ↗ evening? I'm seeing a headshake no from

31:20 ↗ council president.

31:22 ↗ >> Uh, I would like to thank everybody who

31:24 ↗ came to speak this evening. We heard

31:26 ↗ some comments about the code update that

31:28 ↗ includes amenities within existing

31:30 ↗ mixeduse neighborhoods. We heard

31:32 ↗ concerns about uh culturally significant

31:35 ↗ trees um being mentioned, referenced,

31:38 ↗ included in the code um and also

31:41 ↗ opposition to deviations and exceptions

31:43 ↗ to the code. Additional comments uh we

31:46 ↗ heard tonight were on public comment

31:47 ↗ being broader than just those items

31:50 ↗ related to city business. Um so thank

31:52 ↗ you all for sharing that. We appreciate

31:54 ↗ that you took the time to join your city

31:56 ↗ council this evening.

31:58 ↗ Uh, as a reminder, you can always submit

32:01 ↗ comments to your council at any time at

32:03 ↗ city councilwah.gov.

32:05 ↗ So, the next item of business we're

32:07 ↗ going to move on to is the consent

32:08 ↗ calendar. And I do not have any remarks

32:10 ↗ on the consent calendar, but council

32:12 ↗ president, are there any committee

32:14 ↗ chairs or chair designs in the room who

32:16 ↗ would like to report on any consent

32:18 ↗ calendar items?

32:21 ↗ >> Uh, we do have starting out with council

32:25 ↗ member Hall.

32:26 ↗ >> Thank you. Yeah, I do. Uh, tonight's

32:28 ↗ consent calendar includes agenda bill

32:30 ↗ 909 or 39, which uh the planning,

32:34 ↗ development, environment committee

32:35 ↗ considered at our July 8th uh meeting.

32:39 ↗ And since we haven't had a council

32:40 ↗ meeting between then and now for me to

32:42 ↗ give an update, I wanted to u make sure

32:44 ↗ to share um that item. It details

32:47 ↗ changes to our impact and mitigation fee

32:49 ↗ schedules to comply with new state

32:50 ↗ requirements. Um it was Senate Bill 5258

32:54 ↗ um which says now the impact fees must

32:56 ↗ reflect proportionate impact of new

32:58 ↗ housing types. The idea being that

33:00 ↗ smaller units should have

33:02 ↗ proportionately lower impact. Uh and so

33:05 ↗ this update bases our rates on square

33:07 ↗ footage and the intent is to help

33:08 ↗ incentivize broader range of housing

33:10 ↗ types uh smaller types in particular. Uh

33:13 ↗ did want to mention that we're still

33:14 ↗ waiting on final guidance from commerce

33:16 ↗ I think still. Yes. Um and uh the

33:20 ↗ committee was interested in kind of a

33:21 ↗ follow-up as we learn more um from that

33:23 ↗ and what other cities do. In particular,

33:25 ↗ this proposal has certain minimum and

33:27 ↗ maximum rates beyond and below um

33:30 ↗ certain square footages um which we

33:32 ↗ thought made sense for now, but wanted

33:34 ↗ to make sure we had an opportunity to

33:35 ↗ check ourselves in the future.

33:37 ↗ Otherwise, the committee agreed with the

33:39 ↗ administration and recommends adoption.

33:41 ↗ Thanks.

33:44 ↗ And council president.

33:45 ↗ >> Yeah. Council member Joe, did you have

33:47 ↗ um something? No. Okay, then I think we

33:49 ↗ are done.

33:51 ↗ >> Thank you very much. Uh the consent

33:53 ↗ calendar was distributed to council in

33:54 ↗ advance and if it is authorized this

33:56 ↗ evening, the items on the consent

33:58 ↗ calendar will be considered together and

34:00 ↗ approved by one motion. Have the

34:02 ↗ payables and payroll been reviewed?

34:04 ↗ >> They have.

34:05 ↗ >> They have.

34:07 ↗ >> Thank you so much. Does any council

34:08 ↗ member desire to remove any item from

34:10 ↗ the consent calendar and consider it

34:12 ↗ under regular business? Council

34:13 ↗ President, let me know if you see any

34:15 ↗ indication.

34:16 ↗ >> There is none.

34:18 ↗ >> Awesome. Then, um, would someone like to

34:20 ↗ make a motion?

34:21 ↗ >> Yes. I move we approve the consent

34:23 ↗ calendar as distributed.

34:26 ↗ >> Second.

34:28 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded to approve

34:31 ↗ the consent calendar as presented. All

34:33 ↗ those in favor signify by saying I.

34:35 ↗ >> I.

34:36 ↗ >> I.

34:37 ↗ >> Those opposed.

34:40 ↗ That passes unanimously. 70. And we are

34:43 ↗ going to move on to our public hearing

34:45 ↗ portion of the meeting. AB935, vacation

34:48 ↗ of a portion of the 12th Avenue

34:50 ↗ Northwest. And we are going to have

34:52 ↗ transportation engineering manager John

34:54 ↗ Mortonson to present this item. Welcome,

34:55 ↗ John.

34:56 ↗ >> Thank you very much, Madame Mayor. Good

34:58 ↗ evening, council members. I'm John

34:59 ↗ Mortonson, transportation engineering

35:01 ↗ manager. And give me a minute and I will

35:03 ↗ share my screen.

35:19 ↗ Tonight I'm here to give you a brief

35:21 ↗ presentation on a vacation of Street

35:24 ↗ Rideway along 12th Avenue Northwest.

35:35 ↗ The purpose of tonight's item is to

35:37 ↗ conduct a public hearing for a street

35:40 ↗ vacation of a portion of 12th Avenue

35:42 ↗ Northwest.

35:44 ↗ Some background on this. This is at the

35:48 ↗ former city hall northwest property that

35:51 ↗ the city recently sold located at 1775

35:54 ↗ 12th Avenue Northwest. and a unique

35:57 ↗ situation where a portion of the public

35:59 ↗ rideway jutted into the parking lot

36:02 ↗ which wasn't a problem back when the

36:04 ↗ city owned the building. Um but now that

36:07 ↗ the city has sold it, we are going

36:10 ↗ through a vacation process for that

36:11 ↗ portion of the rideway. And so that way

36:14 ↗ the new owner of the property can have

36:17 ↗ an unencumbered use of the property and

36:20 ↗ the city has no plans for this portion

36:23 ↗ of the rightway for the future

36:26 ↗ improvements.

36:28 ↗ And the proposal that the administration

36:30 ↗ has is to vacate a portion of 12th

36:33 ↗ Avenue Northwest. And tonight the next

36:37 ↗ step in the process is to conduct a

36:39 ↗ public hearing with a proposed ordinance

36:42 ↗ on August 11th.

36:46 ↗ And this is a visual exhibit that shows

36:49 ↗ where the

36:51 ↗ portion of rightway that would be

36:52 ↗ vacated is located at. So this is city

36:55 ↗ hall northwest in or I guess former city

36:58 ↗ hall northwest located in north for

37:01 ↗ reference. It's near Lowe's, across the

37:03 ↗ street from Lowe's, near PCC and

37:05 ↗ Michaels. And you can see on this

37:07 ↗ exhibit where a portion of the ride

37:10 ↗ ofway is just right where the parking

37:12 ↗ lot is for the building, and that's in

37:15 ↗ blue.

37:18 ↗ The options that the council has are to

37:21 ↗ not approve the vacation as opposed to

37:23 ↗ the recommendation, which is to approve

37:25 ↗ it. And some of the impacts to that

37:29 ↗ option are that the city would need to

37:31 ↗ continue to execute encroachment

37:34 ↗ agreements with the buyer to mitigate

37:35 ↗ the encroachment issue so they can

37:37 ↗ continue to use the parking lot. As

37:39 ↗ such, staff would expend staff time and

37:42 ↗ preparation and execution of agreements.

37:45 ↗ And the city would need to continue to

37:48 ↗ own and maintain the right of way that

37:50 ↗ it does not have a use for if the

37:52 ↗ council did not vacate this portion of

37:54 ↗ rightway.

37:56 ↗ The recommendation from the

37:58 ↗ administration is to conduct a public

38:00 ↗ hearing regarding the rightway vacation

38:03 ↗ of a portion of 12th Avenue Northwest.

38:06 ↗ And following the public hearing, the

38:08 ↗ plan is to return to the council on

38:12 ↗ August 11th. And the recommendation is

38:15 ↗ on the consent calendar, but I do want

38:17 ↗ to confirm that the council would want

38:20 ↗ that on consent or regular business.

38:24 ↗ And that concludes my presentation.

38:28 ↗ >> Thank you, John. So, again, I'm going to

38:31 ↗ be um opening the public hearing at

38:37 ↗ 7:39.

38:39 ↗ And if you're joining us virtually and

38:41 ↗ you would like to make some comments, I

38:43 ↗ would encourage you to raise your

38:44 ↗ virtual hand or send the host a chat

38:45 ↗ message. If you're on the phone, press

38:47 ↗ star three. If you joined by computer or

38:49 ↗ smartphone, look for a hand icon. If

38:51 ↗ you're in the room and did not sign up,

38:53 ↗ I will ask the council president to

38:56 ↗ recognize you as other speakers before

38:58 ↗ we close this portion of the meeting.

39:00 ↗ City clerk, has anyone signed up to

39:01 ↗ speak to this item?

39:04 ↗ >> No. And I'm not seeing anyone indicate a

39:07 ↗ desire to speak virtually nor in the

39:10 ↗ room.

39:11 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, is there

39:13 ↗ any objection to closing the public

39:15 ↗ hearing? And that is an objection from

39:17 ↗ council.

39:20 ↗ I'm not seeing any.

39:22 ↗ >> Thank you. Hearing none, the public

39:24 ↗ hearing is closed at 7:40 p.m. Um,

39:29 ↗ council, do you have any questions? And

39:31 ↗ again, I'll ask Council President to

39:33 ↗ moderate in the room.

39:37 ↗ >> This seems to be pretty straightforward,

39:39 ↗ seeing no questions here.

39:41 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh, this item will return to

39:44 ↗ the city council at the August 11th city

39:45 ↗ council meeting for action. Um, can you

39:49 ↗ verify if council has any preference on

39:51 ↗ whether they would like to see this item

39:52 ↗ returned under consent or regular

39:54 ↗ business?

39:55 ↗ >> I have heard a few whispers of consent.

39:58 ↗ So, that seems to be where we're going.

40:00 ↗ >> Thank you, Council President, and thank

40:02 ↗ you, John. So, we are going to move on

40:04 ↗ to regular business, which is AB8988.

40:07 ↗ This is the 2025 title 18 policy

40:11 ↗ amendments, and the ask before the

40:13 ↗ council this evening is to adopt the

40:15 ↗ ordinance. I'm like to ordinances. I'd

40:18 ↗ like to invite acting planning manager

40:20 ↗ Kristen Leon to present this item.

40:22 ↗ Welcome Kristen.

40:24 ↗ >> Thank you very much. I'm going to open

40:27 ↗ up my

40:30 ↗ PowerPoint.

40:33 ↗ Share that.

40:36 ↗ All right.

40:39 ↗ Good evening. Thank you for your

40:41 ↗ patience. Um, yes. Tonight, uh, we are

40:44 ↗ asking the council to approve several

40:46 ↗ ordinances adopting minor state required

40:48 ↗ and policy amendments to the title 18

40:51 ↗ land use code.

40:55 ↗ So, we are doing this because it's all

40:56 ↗ about quality control. As you know, back

40:59 ↗ in 2023, we updated our entire land use

41:02 ↗ code and we combined several documents.

41:04 ↗ In doing that, there are bound to be

41:06 ↗ some mistakes or things that we find as

41:08 ↗ we're implementing the code that we can

41:09 ↗ do better. So as we are just keeping a

41:13 ↗ running list of things and coming back

41:15 ↗ to you um for amendments,

41:19 ↗ we broke this round of amendments into

41:21 ↗ three types. Minor amendments which are

41:23 ↗ really clarifying and uh correction

41:26 ↗ amendments, state required amendments

41:28 ↗ and policy amendments.

41:32 ↗ Some of the clarifying or yes minor

41:34 ↗ amendments. The clarifying amendments

41:35 ↗ are updating some administrative

41:37 ↗ processes,

41:39 ↗ clearing up home business which required

41:43 ↗ a permit, a home business permit even

41:46 ↗ though it is an allowed use by right.

41:49 ↗ Additional height and stepbacks. I'll

41:51 ↗ talk a little bit more about that one

41:52 ↗ later. And we deleted an outofdate

41:55 ↗ parking table. And we added and omitted

41:57 ↗ uses in the permitted uses table that

41:59 ↗ were mixed up in the update. and um

42:02 ↗ added footnotes back in as guidelines as

42:04 ↗ well.

42:07 ↗ State required amendments. The first one

42:08 ↗ was House Bill 1042, which allows for

42:12 ↗ the conversion of commercial and

42:14 ↗ mixeduse buildings into multif family

42:16 ↗ residential properties within the

42:18 ↗ existing structure without meeting all

42:20 ↗ of the regulations that would typically

42:22 ↗ be required of new development. Some of

42:24 ↗ those things include not being required

42:26 ↗ to add additional parking and maybe not

42:28 ↗ meet all the open space requirements

42:30 ↗ that are in our code.

42:33 ↗ Second one is House Bill 1998 which

42:35 ↗ requires that we allow co-living housing

42:38 ↗ in all zones that allow for in all zones

42:42 ↗ that allow for housing. They have to

42:44 ↗ have at least six units or more. Uh this

42:47 ↗ includes mixeduse zones. So co-living

42:48 ↗ housing is something like a single room

42:51 ↗ occupancy where it's a house with one

42:53 ↗ kitchen and several rooms that different

42:55 ↗ people rent out.

42:57 ↗ The last one is the Washington

42:58 ↗ Administrative Code had numerous

43:02 ↗ amendments put in place for particularly

43:05 ↗ residential parking and electric vehicle

43:07 ↗ charging infrastructure.

43:10 ↗ Our policy amendments we had wayinding.

43:13 ↗ We had we required wayfinding but we

43:15 ↗ didn't have any standards for our

43:16 ↗ wayfinding. So no one knew what to do.

43:17 ↗ So, we put standards in there. We had

43:20 ↗ our essentially the heat pump,

43:21 ↗ mechanical equipment, rooster and

43:23 ↗ chicken husbandry, and bees and

43:25 ↗ beekeeping were all updated because

43:27 ↗ those codes were based on a much more

43:28 ↗ rural environment than we have here in

43:30 ↗ the city. So, we've just made those a

43:33 ↗ little bit more rural friend or urban

43:35 ↗ friendly. And the last one is common and

43:37 ↗ private amenity space. And again, I'll

43:39 ↗ I'll talk to that one in just a moment.

43:42 ↗ So going back to the additional height

43:43 ↗ and stepbacks, the issue is that it was

43:45 ↗ confusing and it was misinterpreted from

43:47 ↗ the old code to the new code. The new

43:49 ↗ code, the regulations for adding

43:52 ↗ additional height and in the menu of

43:54 ↗ things that you needed to do to be able

43:55 ↗ to go higher above the base height,

43:58 ↗ excuse me, um were applied citywide, but

44:01 ↗ in the old code, they weren't supposed

44:03 ↗ to apply citywide. They were only

44:05 ↗ supposed to apply outside of central

44:07 ↗ Isiqua and outside of the urban

44:08 ↗ villages.

44:11 ↗ So we are taking those conditions and

44:14 ↗ the old code,

44:17 ↗ new code, changing it back to the old

44:18 ↗ code. We also made some corrections such

44:20 ↗ as one was misstated and saying that you

44:23 ↗ these are the standards for going 65

44:24 ↗ feet above the base height. Well, we

44:26 ↗ don't allow things that high. So 65 ft

44:28 ↗ was supposed to be the maximum height.

44:29 ↗ So we made a few of those little tweaks

44:31 ↗ as well.

44:34 ↗ The last one was amenity space. We have

44:36 ↗ heard from some developers that it is

44:38 ↗ difficult to feasibly provide the

44:40 ↗ outdoor space that is required for each

44:42 ↗ unit in for each unit in multif family

44:45 ↗ developments. So we currently require

44:48 ↗ outdoor amenity space of 100 square feet

44:50 ↗ per unit. We also require private

44:53 ↗ amenity space of 48 square feet per

44:56 ↗ unit. This could be on ground patio.

44:59 ↗ This could be a garden outside your

45:00 ↗ unit. This could be a balcony. But it's

45:02 ↗ an additional 48 square feet per unit.

45:04 ↗ What we are proposing is that if you can

45:07 ↗ show that you can't feasibly do this,

45:09 ↗ it's just too expensive. Then 50% of

45:13 ↗ your units only have to have the 48

45:15 ↗ space 48 ft attached to the unit. They

45:18 ↗ still have to do the 100 square feet.

45:20 ↗ However, 50% of the units you still need

45:22 ↗ to provide all 148 square feet of

45:25 ↗ amenity space, but it can be all in the

45:27 ↗ common spaces

45:30 ↗ instead. So that provides a deviation

45:32 ↗ for some developers.

45:34 ↗ So this was reviewed at the June 10th

45:38 ↗ PTE planning development and environment

45:40 ↗ committee meeting. The committee

45:42 ↗ recommended unanimous unanimously to

45:44 ↗ approve the amendments as they were

45:46 ↗ presented. However, they did discuss a

45:48 ↗ preference to have a deeper broader

45:50 ↗ policy conversation regarding

45:52 ↗ regulations such as the stepbacks and

45:54 ↗ amenity space because of comments that

45:56 ↗ we rece we have received from

45:58 ↗ developers.

46:00 ↗ So if adopted, the amendments would

46:02 ↗ become effective 5 days after

46:03 ↗ publication.

46:05 ↗ The administration recommends approval

46:07 ↗ of the ordinances adopting minor state

46:09 ↗ required and policy amendments to title

46:11 ↗ 18 land use code as presented. And that

46:14 ↗ is all I have. Thank you.

46:19 ↗ >> Thank you very much. Uh Kristen, uh

46:22 ↗ Council Member Hall, as chair of the

46:23 ↗ Planning Development Environment

46:25 ↗ Committee, would you like to summarize

46:26 ↗ the committee's recommendation on this

46:27 ↗ item? I sure would. Thank you, Mayor

46:30 ↗ Paulie. Um well, um you are absolutely

46:34 ↗ right, Kristen. Um the committee agreed

46:37 ↗ with uh PPC and staff recommendations

46:40 ↗ around those three bucket of buckets of

46:41 ↗ amendments, the minor amendments, the

46:43 ↗ state required amendments, and the

46:44 ↗ policy amendments. And then um thank you

46:47 ↗ for kind of previewing um this next bit

46:49 ↗ uh to and I know city administrator Bob

46:52 ↗ Kowitz has pre previewed this with the

46:53 ↗ council several times now. But

46:56 ↗ beyond this suite of amendments um that

46:59 ↗ we hope to pass tonight and that we're

47:00 ↗ supportive of as a committee um this

47:02 ↗ meeting the planning development

47:04 ↗ environment committee and then of course

47:05 ↗ the meeting that we had with King County

47:07 ↗ Housing Authority around the to

47:08 ↗ discussions kind of kickstarted a a list

47:11 ↗ of policy issues that we'd be interested

47:13 ↗ in discussing as a committee and at full

47:16 ↗ council wanting to discuss other

47:18 ↗ potential barriers to housing

47:19 ↗ development here in town. we might like

47:21 ↗ to see go through this same amendment

47:23 ↗ process in the future. Uh especially

47:25 ↗ because they've been highlighted by two

47:26 ↗ developers in town or identified by

47:28 ↗ council members during various

47:30 ↗ discussions. So um I said in previous

47:33 ↗ council meetings that I'd report out on

47:34 ↗ that list. So that list so far includes

47:37 ↗ um stepbacks, outdoor amenity space,

47:40 ↗ commercial space height, transparency,

47:42 ↗ and allowing a menu of certification

47:44 ↗ options instead of just lead only. Um

47:47 ↗ and then of course we also have a

47:49 ↗ lengthy title 18 whiteboard list that

47:51 ↗ we've been discussing for a few years

47:52 ↗ now. We also recognize as a committee

47:56 ↗ that CPD um community planning and

47:58 ↗ development has a full work plan already

48:00 ↗ and limited staff capacity. So we wanted

48:03 ↗ to have an initial discussion with the

48:05 ↗ council and ask this question. So

48:07 ↗ there's kind of two things that we'd

48:08 ↗ like your feedback tonight. First, do

48:10 ↗ you agree with our recommendation and

48:11 ↗ PPC's recommendation and staff's

48:12 ↗ recommendation to move forward with

48:14 ↗ these uh amendments? And then the second

48:17 ↗ question is does council want to go

48:18 ↗ through this kind of prioritization

48:21 ↗ tradeoffs time frames exercise with our

48:24 ↗ current CPD work plan and some of the

48:26 ↗ other policy items that we'd like

48:28 ↗ considered and if so the administration

48:30 ↗ will work to place a discussion on the

48:32 ↗ calendar to one walk us through the

48:34 ↗ current work plan including what we're

48:36 ↗ still required to do um to come in

48:37 ↗ compliance with other new state

48:39 ↗ requirements. um give us a sense of what

48:42 ↗ additional work would look like with

48:43 ↗ regard to staff capacity, board and

48:45 ↗ commission review, committee review,

48:46 ↗ community engagement, etc., and then

48:48 ↗ give us that space up here to prioritize

48:50 ↗ what's most important to us to community

48:52 ↗ and have that trade-off conversation.

48:54 ↗ So, um, we're just looking for in

48:57 ↗ addition to what administration is

48:59 ↗ requesting in terms of feedback, um,

49:02 ↗ we're more broadly also looking for kind

49:04 ↗ of a thumbs up, thumbs down feedback

49:05 ↗ from the rest of the council on whether

49:07 ↗ you would like to have a deeper

49:09 ↗ discussion about some of the other

49:11 ↗ policy items that we have been kind of

49:14 ↗ flirting with as a council that could

49:15 ↗ potentially help break down barriers to

49:17 ↗ housing development, studying those, and

49:20 ↗ prioritizing between what's already on

49:21 ↗ our plate and what could be on our

49:23 ↗ plate. So, oh, and then also I guess if

49:26 ↗ you have any feedback on whether that

49:27 ↗ should be a cow discussion for the full

49:29 ↗ council or if you would like planning,

49:31 ↗ development, environment committee to um

49:33 ↗ start that conversation. Um, and those

49:36 ↗ are the only other comments I have as

49:37 ↗ chair.

49:38 ↗ >> Great summary. Thank you, council member

49:40 ↗ Hall. Um, I'm going to turn it over to

49:42 ↗ council president again to go through

49:45 ↗ any questions that the council may have

49:47 ↗ right now.

49:48 ↗ >> Are there any questions?

49:53 ↗ I am not seeing any questions.

49:56 ↗ >> Thank you very much, council president.

49:59 ↗ Uh then what I would be looking for is a

50:02 ↗ motion if there's someone is prepared to

50:04 ↗ make a motion.

50:07 ↗ >> Yes. Um,

50:09 ↗ I move to approve ordinance numbers

50:13 ↗ >> 3097 through 3110

50:17 ↗ >> adopting minor state required and policy

50:19 ↗ amendments to title 18 land use code as

50:22 ↗ presented.

50:24 ↗ >> Second.

50:26 ↗ >> Thank you very much for that. Again,

50:28 ↗ I'll turn it over to council president.

50:30 ↗ Is there anyone who would like to

50:32 ↗ comment on this motion?

50:36 ↗ Uh, Deputy Council President,

50:39 ↗ >> thank you. So, um, yes, I I am

50:41 ↗ supporting the adoption tonight of, uh,

50:44 ↗ the amendments and really appreciate the

50:46 ↗ work that's gone into that. Um, I also

50:49 ↗ want to thank the, um, the PTE committee

50:52 ↗ for bringing up the broader issue. Um,

50:55 ↗ and I uh would support um a a deeper

50:58 ↗ discussion uh of the things as you as as

51:02 ↗ was stated that we've been flirting with

51:04 ↗ for some time now and uh I would I think

51:09 ↗ uh a cow meeting would be the place

51:12 ↗ where we will get the deepest

51:13 ↗ conversation and I think that's what we

51:15 ↗ need. So yes, yes to tonight's action

51:19 ↗ and uh appreciation for the um

51:23 ↗ commentary and suggestion that we do a

51:25 ↗ deeper dive. Thank you.

51:29 ↗ Any other comments on here?

51:34 ↗ I will just throw in that I am also

51:37 ↗ appreciative of um these changes. I

51:39 ↗ think the conversation at PD went very

51:42 ↗ well where we were like, yes, we want

51:45 ↗ these things, but also what about that

51:47 ↗ future updates list and what about the

51:50 ↗ things we've been talking about? So, I

51:51 ↗ appreciate that um that has continued to

51:54 ↗ come up from council. Um looking at our

51:56 ↗ planning calendar, we do have a

51:59 ↗ committee of the whole meeting scheduled

52:01 ↗ September 8th, um which is currently

52:05 ↗ prioritization of future title 18

52:07 ↗ amendments. So, uh, it sounds like the

52:11 ↗ administration has heard that request,

52:13 ↗ um, over and over and over again and has

52:16 ↗ scheduled something out. Um, so I

52:19 ↗ believe we are probably good on that

52:21 ↗ area. So, I'm not seeing any other Oh, I

52:25 ↗ am. Council member Cheng.

52:28 ↗ Um yeah, I just want to um you know

52:30 ↗ emphasize what everyone's saying about

52:33 ↗ you know figuring out what other areas

52:35 ↗ of the code have come up based on recent

52:37 ↗ discussions and thinking about how we

52:38 ↗ can address those um and getting input

52:40 ↗ from the community whether that be you

52:42 ↗ know PPC community members um

52:45 ↗ homebuilders who work in the community

52:47 ↗ of Isqua. Um, and also one thing that I

52:50 ↗ would like to add to the list that you

52:51 ↗ proposed, council member Hall, um, was

52:53 ↗ the, um, potential, you know, allowing

52:56 ↗ more, uh, use types in different zones.

53:00 ↗ Um, you know, as our public commenter

53:02 ↗ mentioned and as we talked about in the

53:04 ↗ last committee at the whole meeting, um,

53:05 ↗ that's something that I think uh, could

53:07 ↗ be really interesting for us to explore

53:08 ↗ to provide more third spaces and, you

53:10 ↗ know, small uh, stores uh, throughout

53:14 ↗ isqua. So yeah.

53:19 ↗ Okay Mr.

53:19 ↗ >> President, is there anyone else

53:21 ↗ indicating a desire to speak?

53:23 ↗ >> I'm checking once and twice and not

53:25 ↗ seeing any.

53:26 ↗ >> That was great. City clerk, can I just

53:28 ↗ get the ordinance numbers again? What I

53:31 ↗ wrote down doesn't actually make sense,

53:33 ↗ but I think I'd like you to tell me what

53:34 ↗ they are again before I read the motion.

53:36 ↗ >> Sure. There are 14 ordinances. The first

53:39 ↗ number is 3097

53:42 ↗ and the last number is 3110.

53:46 ↗ >> Okay.

53:48 ↗ Great. I had 30,000. Definitely not the

53:50 ↗ right number. Okay. So, uh, let's get

53:53 ↗ back to reading the motion that the

53:54 ↗ council will be voting on. So, if there

53:57 ↗ is no further discussion, the motion

53:58 ↗ before council tonight is to adopt

54:00 ↗ ordinances number 3097

54:04 ↗ through 3110

54:07 ↗ adopting minor and state

54:12 ↗ title 18 land use code as presented. All

54:15 ↗ those in favor, please signify by saying

54:17 ↗ I.

54:18 ↗ >> I.

54:20 ↗ >> Those opposed.

54:23 ↗ That motion passes unanimously. 70.

54:26 ↗ We're going to move on to the next item

54:27 ↗ of business, which is AB9026. This the

54:30 ↗ wash dot transfer of development rights

54:32 ↗ development agreement extension for

54:34 ↗ Belleview College. And the action before

54:36 ↗ council this evening is to approve the

54:38 ↗ resolution. I'd like to invite community

54:40 ↗ planning and development director Minnie

54:41 ↗ Dollywell to present this item. And

54:43 ↗ welcome Minnie.

54:45 ↗ Good evening, Mayor Paulie and members

54:47 ↗ of the council and community members who

54:48 ↗ are here tonight. Um, so I'm going to

54:51 ↗ quickly share my screen.

55:19 ↗ Great. Um, so tonight, uh, with me, uh,

55:22 ↗ we have Jorge from, uh, Belleview

55:24 ↗ College, uh, vice president. Um, he'll

55:27 ↗ be here to address some of the questions

55:28 ↗ that came up during the committee

55:30 ↗ meeting, uh, as well as to answer any

55:32 ↗ questions that council might have. Um so

55:35 ↗ this item um let's see

55:44 ↗ um so Belleview College development

55:45 ↗ agreement is actually incorporated as

55:48 ↗ part of the larger washd development

55:50 ↗ agreement. It the council in 2011

55:53 ↗ approved it. Uh it includes a transfer

55:55 ↗ of development rights where you know the

55:58 ↗ development was not allowed on on 144

56:01 ↗ acres and that land that development

56:03 ↗ rights were transferred over to uh these

56:06 ↗ four parcels. Um

56:10 ↗ and so here's a little map. Uh so there

56:12 ↗ are about 101 acres which were called uh

56:15 ↗ Park Point uh close to Escoa High School

56:18 ↗ as well as 43 acres close to the current

56:21 ↗ location of the Belleview College. um

56:24 ↗ parcel. And here's a map of those three

56:27 ↗ parcels that are close to uh Belleview

56:29 ↗ College. Uh parcel one, two, and three

56:32 ↗ were developed with about 80 39 and one

56:36 ↗ par uh one unit. It's I think it's in

56:39 ↗ your agenda packet how many units on

56:40 ↗ each of these lots were put on. And then

56:43 ↗ about 19 acres n a little over 19 acres

56:46 ↗ is this parcel called parcel 4 or

56:49 ↗ Belleview College parcel um

56:52 ↗ uh that we're talking about tonight. Um

56:55 ↗ it uh it's in the Highlands neighborhood

56:58 ↗ with a goal at the time was to develop a

57:01 ↗ satellite campus. Um the council at the

57:05 ↗ time um approved the master site

57:07 ↗ development plan through a resolution

57:09 ↗ 201022

57:11 ↗ that's included as a link in your uh

57:13 ↗ agenda bill and uh envisioned a phased

57:16 ↗ construction of multiple academic

57:17 ↗ buildings. However, over the past

57:20 ↗ decade, shifting enrollment trends,

57:22 ↗ increased online learning, and the high

57:25 ↗ cost of developing a standalone campus

57:27 ↗ have led the college to reconsider uh

57:30 ↗ what they'd like to do at this location.

57:32 ↗ Um,

57:37 ↗ I apologize. Something didn't go right.

58:02 ↗ So, um, the entitlements, I'm going to

58:04 ↗ leave it in this. Um, is it big enough

58:07 ↗ for everyone to see? Um, I don't know if

58:09 ↗ when I go to slideshow, it just, uh,

58:11 ↗ reverts back for some reason. Um, so

58:15 ↗ under the current existing development

58:17 ↗ agreement, it allows uh 372,000

58:21 ↗ square feet of institutional use or 310

58:25 ↗ equivalent residential units. So there's

58:27 ↗ this concept of erus and the development

58:30 ↗ agreement that comes up. It's based off

58:31 ↗ of how much water usage and how much

58:34 ↗ sewer capacity and things of that nature

58:36 ↗ will occur. But there's a separate

58:38 ↗ appendix that actually establishes the

58:41 ↗ density of this parcel uh to range

58:43 ↗ between 3 to 12 units. So if you

58:45 ↗ calculate by for your 19 acre lot, it

58:47 ↗ comes to roughly about 228 residential

58:50 ↗ units. Um and and when you look at those

58:54 ↗ three parcels, you know, even though the

58:56 ↗ density was or the erus were larger, but

58:59 ↗ the actual development density was uh

59:02 ↗ lower. So just so not there's no

59:04 ↗ confusion about what two different

59:06 ↗ numbers there. Um

59:09 ↗ and um

59:14 ↗ so the proposed amendments are to extend

59:17 ↗ the this development agreement for two

59:19 ↗ years. Um and in addition as part of the

59:24 ↗ resolution what you see Belvy College

59:26 ↗ acknowledges that they'll any

59:28 ↗ development on this property they they

59:30 ↗ are agreeing to comply with the

59:32 ↗ applicable environmental critical area

59:34 ↗ storm water and tree preservation

59:36 ↗ requirements in effect at the time of

59:38 ↗ development. Um

59:55 ↗ So why is this an extension needed? Um

59:58 ↗ what Belvy College anticipates that

1:00:01 ↗ they'll need two years to seek community

1:00:03 ↗ input, come up with a viable plan for

1:00:06 ↗ the city to review and uh subsequently

1:00:09 ↗ the city may you know once that's

1:00:10 ↗ figured out with uh the community

1:00:12 ↗ feedback and council the the mechanism

1:00:15 ↗ to adopt that could be um updating our

1:00:18 ↗ zoning or amending the terms of the

1:00:21 ↗ development agreement for future

1:00:22 ↗ development. I should also note that

1:00:24 ↗ this development agreement has a

1:00:26 ↗ provision for institutional uses to you

1:00:29 ↗ know the development agreement would

1:00:30 ↗ apply without any additional city uh

1:00:33 ↗ council approval till 2044. So so if

1:00:37 ↗ council does not extend the provide the

1:00:40 ↗ extension for two years uh what will

1:00:42 ↗ happen what can happen on the property

1:00:44 ↗ is just the institutional uses no

1:00:46 ↗ housing would be permitted. uh there is

1:00:48 ↗ no underlying zoning established for

1:00:50 ↗ this property even though we say UV uh

1:00:53 ↗ or you know zoning it still def it goes

1:00:56 ↗ back to the development agreement so

1:00:57 ↗ whatever is allowed under the

1:00:58 ↗ development agreement is what would be

1:01:00 ↗ permitted um

1:01:03 ↗ and at the planning development and

1:01:04 ↗ environment committee on Jul July 8th uh

1:01:08 ↗ there was good discussion and c the

1:01:11 ↗ committee agreed to forward it to city

1:01:13 ↗ council for consideration uh and other

1:01:16 ↗ feedback uh that was shared at that

1:01:18 ↗ meeting included ensure that public

1:01:20 ↗ benefits from development of uh this

1:01:22 ↗ property are taken into consideration.

1:01:25 ↗ There was an interest in partnering uh

1:01:27 ↗ with Belleview College to gather

1:01:28 ↗ community input. There was also interest

1:01:31 ↗ in soliciting input from Miqua School

1:01:33 ↗ District. Um if developing residential

1:01:36 ↗ housing uh there was discussion around

1:01:38 ↗ pre-existing trails uh to be maintained

1:01:41 ↗ and have access points that emergency

1:01:44 ↗ evacuation times are considered or

1:01:46 ↗ mitigated if possible during the

1:01:47 ↗ development scenarios um exploration. Uh

1:01:51 ↗ there was also interest in understanding

1:01:53 ↗ market rate versus affordable housing

1:01:55 ↗ options in the Bellev College proposal.

1:01:57 ↗ So the development agreement the way

1:01:59 ↗ it's written right now does include at

1:02:01 ↗ least 50 units for all three four

1:02:04 ↗ parcels need to be affordable uh housing

1:02:06 ↗ units. Um

1:02:10 ↗ so

1:02:15 ↗ uh the recommendation uh that

1:02:17 ↗ administration has uh for on this item

1:02:20 ↗ is to approve this resolution

1:02:23 ↗ authorizing the mayor to um to approve

1:02:26 ↗ an amendment to the wash. TDDR

1:02:28 ↗ development agreement extending the

1:02:30 ↗ expiration date to allow Belleview

1:02:32 ↗ College to evaluate development options

1:02:34 ↗ and seek community input.

1:02:36 ↗ And that concludes my presentation,

1:02:40 ↗ but I'm happy to answer questions and

1:02:41 ↗ I'd like to introduce Jorge for a

1:02:44 ↗ followup from PD meeting.

1:02:49 ↗ >> Thank you. Um, Director Dolly, did you

1:02:52 ↗ want Jorge to speak now before I go to

1:02:54 ↗ council member Hall?

1:02:56 ↗ >> Um, we also have a question on the dis

1:02:58 ↗ from council member Marts.

1:03:01 ↗ >> Okay, council member Marts.

1:03:03 ↗ >> Director Dolly Well, I had a couple of

1:03:05 ↗ questions. I wasn't sure exactly um what

1:03:09 ↗ you meant on a couple of things. One was

1:03:11 ↗ around uh what happens if we don't

1:03:14 ↗ extend this development agreement. I I

1:03:17 ↗ wasn't sure I understood Yeah.

1:03:19 ↗ >> what the rights would be without the DA

1:03:21 ↗ in place.

1:03:22 ↗ >> Sure. So the council action is needed to

1:03:25 ↗ uh extend allowance for housing to be

1:03:27 ↗ con built on this property. No council

1:03:30 ↗ action is needed um until 2044 to allow

1:03:34 ↗ institutional uses to continue on this

1:03:36 ↗ property. Um, so

1:03:39 ↗ that's what would happen if the council

1:03:41 ↗ chooses not to extend it. That the the

1:03:43 ↗ development agreement for an

1:03:44 ↗ institutional use would uh be the the

1:03:47 ↗ only governing document or rules and

1:03:50 ↗ regulations for this particular property

1:03:52 ↗ because there's no um zoning that has

1:03:55 ↗ separate uses allowed or or density or

1:03:58 ↗ development standards adopted for the

1:04:00 ↗ for any of this any of the areas in the

1:04:02 ↗ city that are under the development

1:04:04 ↗ agreements. And then you said something

1:04:07 ↗ about housing uh uh affordable housing

1:04:11 ↗ on the parcels, but the other three

1:04:13 ↗ parcels have all been built.

1:04:15 ↗ >> Correct.

1:04:16 ↗ >> And did they have affordable housing on

1:04:18 ↗ them?

1:04:18 ↗ >> I need to research that more thoroughly.

1:04:20 ↗ I I couldn't gather that information

1:04:22 ↗ quickly to see if the 50 required units

1:04:25 ↗ were built on those uh lots. My

1:04:27 ↗ understanding is not. Um but I need to

1:04:31 ↗ um take a deeper understanding of if

1:04:33 ↗ there are any recorded covenants because

1:04:35 ↗ if they are built then they would be

1:04:37 ↗ recorded covenants for affordable

1:04:38 ↗ housing. They do not show up on our

1:04:40 ↗ affordable units map for instance.

1:04:43 ↗ >> So if so if they did not if if in fact

1:04:46 ↗ that none of those were affordable

1:04:48 ↗ housing units

1:04:49 ↗ >> and you said there were 300ish housing

1:04:53 ↗ units in the development agreement.

1:04:55 ↗ >> Sure. So how many of those would have to

1:04:57 ↗ be affordable?

1:04:58 ↗ >> If none of them have been built at at

1:05:00 ↗ this time, then the development

1:05:01 ↗ agreement expects at least 50

1:05:05 ↗ >> zero out of approximately 300.

1:05:07 ↗ >> Yes.

1:05:08 ↗ >> And affordable to what standard?

1:05:10 ↗ >> 80% AMI is my understanding.

1:05:12 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:05:16 ↗ >> Uh council president, is there any other

1:05:18 ↗ questions or can we move on to her

1:05:20 ↗ presentation?

1:05:21 ↗ >> Yeah, I'm not seeing any other questions

1:05:23 ↗ at this time.

1:05:24 ↗ Thank you.

1:05:27 ↗ >> Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you, uh,

1:05:29 ↗ Mayor Paulie and council members. I

1:05:30 ↗ don't have a presentation. Uh, I just

1:05:32 ↗ have some comments. Uh, when I met with

1:05:35 ↗ the um planning development

1:05:37 ↗ environmental committee, um, some

1:05:39 ↗ questions and concerns were raised. That

1:05:41 ↗ was on July 18th. Um, it was a learning

1:05:44 ↗ experience for me. Um, and I'd like to

1:05:46 ↗ address some of these concerns. Uh first

1:05:48 ↗ I understand that there was a concern

1:05:50 ↗ that the college was sold this land at a

1:05:53 ↗ reduced price with the understanding

1:05:54 ↗ that it would be used for public

1:05:56 ↗ benefit. At that time it was a satellite

1:05:59 ↗ campus. Uh that was indeed the original

1:06:02 ↗ purpose and I want to acknowledge that.

1:06:04 ↗ Uh but a lot has changed since 2011. Um

1:06:08 ↗ when that campus vision was created uh

1:06:11 ↗ we had a different environment since

1:06:13 ↗ then. Higher education has shifted.

1:06:16 ↗ remote and hybrid instruction are now

1:06:18 ↗ permanent and since the pandemic

1:06:20 ↗ enrollment has declined with that trend

1:06:22 ↗ expecting to continue. We call it the

1:06:25 ↗ enrollment cliff and I apologize I got

1:06:27 ↗ the worst allergies today. Um and at the

1:06:30 ↗ same at the same time construction costs

1:06:32 ↗ have increased significantly. Uh so it's

1:06:34 ↗ just unrealistic to build a second

1:06:36 ↗ campus right now. Uh second there were

1:06:39 ↗ questions about whether future

1:06:40 ↗ development would comply with current

1:06:42 ↗ city codes and environmental

1:06:44 ↗ regulations. I want to be clear that

1:06:46 ↗ Belleview College is committed to uh

1:06:49 ↗ meeting all these standards. I

1:06:50 ↗ understand storm water and wetlands and

1:06:54 ↗ environmental concerns and trees and all

1:06:56 ↗ that when when we do uh construction on

1:06:59 ↗ our campus. Uh we are proud to recently

1:07:02 ↗ have been certified as a salmon safe

1:07:04 ↗ institution and we construct all new

1:07:07 ↗ buildings at lead standards. Uh I also

1:07:11 ↗ understand there were concerns about the

1:07:13 ↗ Emerald Initiative report and that

1:07:16 ↗ report focuses on the financial value of

1:07:20 ↗ uh the development lease of the Isqua

1:07:22 ↗ Highlands property. Um and that's what

1:07:25 ↗ their job is. They're developers, but we

1:07:28 ↗ are not developers. Uh no one at the

1:07:31 ↗ college is going to benefit personally

1:07:33 ↗ with this. We are public servants and

1:07:35 ↗ state employees. Um, however, that being

1:07:38 ↗ said, with declining enrollments

1:07:40 ↗ combined with state budget cuts, which

1:07:43 ↗ continue all the time, our funding has

1:07:46 ↗ decreased.

1:07:48 ↗ So, we are certainly looking for other

1:07:51 ↗ revenue streams so we can continue to

1:07:53 ↗ serve students and our community,

1:07:54 ↗ including Isiqua. This is why we are

1:07:57 ↗ requesting a two-year extension to give

1:07:59 ↗ us time to carefully assess our options.

1:08:04 ↗ And I'll turn my page. Uh, and this time

1:08:06 ↗ will allow the college to consult with

1:08:08 ↗ experts, continue with collaboration

1:08:10 ↗ with the city and our community, and

1:08:12 ↗ return with development options. This is

1:08:14 ↗ one thing I learned. I'm not going to

1:08:15 ↗ just come with one option and take it or

1:08:17 ↗ leave it. I'm going to come with some

1:08:19 ↗ options for your consideration, and I

1:08:21 ↗ understand fully that granting this

1:08:23 ↗ extension does not mean approval of any

1:08:27 ↗ project in the future. This simply gives

1:08:29 ↗ us time to plan thoughtfully and

1:08:31 ↗ responsibly.

1:08:33 ↗ So, thank you for your consideration.

1:08:35 ↗ Thank you for your comments.

1:08:38 ↗ Um I'm going to turn it back over to

1:08:40 ↗ Council Member Hall, chair of the

1:08:41 ↗ Planning Development Environment

1:08:42 ↗ Committee. And um do you want to

1:08:44 ↗ summarize the committee's

1:08:45 ↗ recommendations on this item?

1:08:47 ↗ >> Sure. Lots of summaries from Zach

1:08:49 ↗ tonight. So um

1:08:52 ↗ uh yeah, we had a long convers Well,

1:08:54 ↗ first of all, thank you um um for the

1:08:57 ↗ summary and the presentation and then

1:08:58 ↗ for being here, of course, and speaking

1:09:00 ↗ to some of our concerns from the

1:09:02 ↗ committee. Um yeah, we had a long

1:09:03 ↗ conversation at uh on this one at

1:09:05 ↗ committee uh and there was a desire for

1:09:07 ↗ me to speak to the comments that came up

1:09:09 ↗ because there was some concern from a

1:09:10 ↗ majority of members. So um that way then

1:09:13 ↗ the council could have kind of a full

1:09:14 ↗ conversation about this and some of this

1:09:17 ↗ just now has been identified by either

1:09:18 ↗ director Dolly or the VP from from

1:09:20 ↗ Belleview College. So um apologies for

1:09:23 ↗ repeating anything if I do, but I do

1:09:25 ↗ want to just start with some of the

1:09:26 ↗ things that we agreed on in committee

1:09:28 ↗ which was none of us were opposed to

1:09:30 ↗ seeing housing on the parcel. Um

1:09:32 ↗ Belleview College provides an important

1:09:34 ↗ service to the community. We were glad

1:09:36 ↗ to see interest in community input uh

1:09:38 ↗ process that they wanted to uh to do

1:09:40 ↗ within the Isqua community. Um there was

1:09:43 ↗ a agreement around a desire to see

1:09:44 ↗ collaboration with the school district.

1:09:46 ↗ Um um this paved trail near the parcel

1:09:50 ↗ um came up as um a concern too and we

1:09:53 ↗ were in agreement that we wanted to

1:09:54 ↗ ensure that that m that was maintained.

1:09:57 ↗ and then also would be interested as was

1:09:59 ↗ said during the presentation that

1:10:00 ↗ Belleview College uh explore a range of

1:10:03 ↗ different housing types including

1:10:04 ↗ affordable housing. Uh some of the

1:10:06 ↗ concerns um that were included in

1:10:09 ↗ remarks were um the original intent of

1:10:11 ↗ the DA being around public and

1:10:13 ↗ institutional use with clear public

1:10:15 ↗ benefit especially because like was said

1:10:17 ↗ the sale price was lower than the market

1:10:18 ↗ rate at the time. um concern with the

1:10:21 ↗ concept of maximizing revenue with

1:10:23 ↗ market rate housing that might not

1:10:24 ↗ necessarily be aligned with that same

1:10:26 ↗ public benefit. Um some hesitancy to

1:10:29 ↗ extend DAS in general because they can

1:10:32 ↗ allow for older versions of code to be

1:10:33 ↗ used. Um an acknowledgement that the

1:10:36 ↗ state surplusing process has specific

1:10:38 ↗ requirements around use that make it

1:10:40 ↗ challenging to um surplus. I think it

1:10:43 ↗ has to be does it have to be used for

1:10:44 ↗ affordable housing in the surplusing or

1:10:46 ↗ there's a really strict uh parameter set

1:10:48 ↗ for what it can be used for?

1:10:49 ↗ >> Yeah, on the affordable housing, you

1:10:51 ↗ know, Kristen has confirmed none of

1:10:52 ↗ those three parcels that I was showing

1:10:55 ↗ um have any affordable units on it.

1:10:57 ↗ However, in the development agreement,

1:11:00 ↗ it talks about a parcel D, which the

1:11:02 ↗ city had a separate development

1:11:04 ↗ agreement with Westridge where we

1:11:06 ↗ swapped some land. Um so parcel D was

1:11:10 ↗ you know has been now built with 10

1:11:12 ↗ market rate uh units and in exchange um

1:11:16 ↗ the the Westeridge development got the

1:11:19 ↗ block 4 housing development. So there

1:11:21 ↗ was some trading trading of some of

1:11:23 ↗ these provisions happened as a part of a

1:11:24 ↗ separate development agreement. So it

1:11:26 ↗ gets complex. I apologize, but um for

1:11:30 ↗ for now it seems like the the idea was

1:11:33 ↗ that parcel D was going to get 50 units,

1:11:36 ↗ but then the city sold parcel D for

1:11:38 ↗ market rate in exchange for getting uh

1:11:41 ↗ affordable units in Westeridge

1:11:43 ↗ development.

1:11:44 ↗ >> Okay. Well, thank you for sharing.

1:11:45 ↗ >> So, they may have met their obligation

1:11:46 ↗ for affordable housing, but through this

1:11:48 ↗ other development agreement that the

1:11:50 ↗ city did.

1:11:51 ↗ >> Okay.

1:11:52 ↗ Um

1:11:54 ↗ so uh beyond that, the only other

1:11:56 ↗ concerns that were brought up were um

1:11:58 ↗ concerns that we'd be setting ourselves

1:12:00 ↗ up for another extension in two years

1:12:01 ↗ after the planning process and then just

1:12:04 ↗ general concern that a DA might not be

1:12:05 ↗ the right tool versus just changing the

1:12:07 ↗ underlying zoning. But um uh supportive

1:12:11 ↗ uh supportive comments included that

1:12:13 ↗ market rate housing and you heard this

1:12:14 ↗ um today too. Market rate housing could

1:12:16 ↗ help Belleview College create consistent

1:12:18 ↗ revenue stream to help keep the lights

1:12:20 ↗ on, support ongoing educational

1:12:22 ↗ programming that benefits students at

1:12:24 ↗ all levels. Um that a two-year extension

1:12:27 ↗ was a relatively modest measure to allow

1:12:29 ↗ for additional planning which would

1:12:31 ↗ inform future updates to the DA in a

1:12:33 ↗ vetted proposal for council to review uh

1:12:36 ↗ and vote up or down in the future. And

1:12:38 ↗ then also um toward the end of the

1:12:40 ↗ meeting we had acknowledged or um there

1:12:42 ↗ were comments too around how this comes

1:12:43 ↗ with existing investments already in

1:12:45 ↗ infrastructure green space impact fees

1:12:48 ↗ uh at the time of the DA. So that's just

1:12:50 ↗ a quick summary of some of the comments

1:12:52 ↗ that came up um from committee. I do

1:12:54 ↗ just want to quickly go to the other

1:12:56 ↗ members of my committee um if there was

1:12:58 ↗ anything that you thought I missed or

1:13:00 ↗ summarized poorly. I'm human sometimes I

1:13:02 ↗ do that. So you summarized great, but

1:13:04 ↗ the only addition I would add was I had

1:13:06 ↗ a comment around the emergency

1:13:08 ↗ evacuation times because that um area on

1:13:12 ↗ College Drive is the kind of second

1:13:15 ↗ access point down um the Highlands. And

1:13:18 ↗ so I wanted to see if there was an

1:13:20 ↗ opportunity to investigate any other um

1:13:24 ↗ ways to speed up evacuations since the

1:13:26 ↗ Highlands has the longest evacuation

1:13:28 ↗ times in the city.

1:13:32 ↗ Council President, is there any other

1:13:33 ↗ council members or committee members

1:13:35 ↗ that are wanting to add to your

1:13:38 ↗ comments?

1:13:39 ↗ >> Yes, Council Member Jen. Um, yeah, thank

1:13:41 ↗ you, Council President, and thank you,

1:13:43 ↗ uh, Council Member Hall for the summary.

1:13:45 ↗ I just wanted to underscore the fact

1:13:48 ↗ that we did sell this land at a

1:13:50 ↗ significantly reduced price by about $5

1:13:53 ↗ million in 2011. And so it's essentially

1:13:58 ↗ like I understand that Belleview College

1:14:00 ↗ is a public agency. You know, they their

1:14:02 ↗ programs benefit the public, but it's

1:14:05 ↗ essentially like is we're using isquaad

1:14:09 ↗ taxpayer dollars to subsidize this. And

1:14:12 ↗ I really want to make sure that we're

1:14:13 ↗ doing right by our community and making

1:14:15 ↗ sure that and whatever subsidy we're

1:14:17 ↗ giving them, you know, through this

1:14:18 ↗ land, through the fact that because it's

1:14:20 ↗ a state agency that owns the land, the

1:14:22 ↗ taxable value is zero. if they're

1:14:24 ↗ building market rate housing, we're not

1:14:25 ↗ going to be getting property taxes from

1:14:27 ↗ the long term from market rate housing.

1:14:29 ↗ And that's something that I think we

1:14:30 ↗ really need to um we really need to

1:14:34 ↗ think about when we're thinking about

1:14:35 ↗ what type of developments we allow on

1:14:37 ↗ this property because I think that's

1:14:38 ↗ it's kind of like you know I I think in

1:14:42 ↗ Isiqua we've had there's a lot of these

1:14:44 ↗ types of things where you know we've

1:14:46 ↗ done these things over the years with

1:14:47 ↗ this idea of oh yeah we're going to give

1:14:49 ↗ someone you know these incentives to do

1:14:51 ↗ something that will benefit the

1:14:52 ↗ community and then when it comes back

1:14:54 ↗ later it's like oh well we can't do what

1:14:56 ↗ we originally planned. Can we do this

1:14:57 ↗ other thing? I just really want to make

1:14:59 ↗ sure that we're intentional about, you

1:15:01 ↗ know, whatever we do at the end of the

1:15:02 ↗ day being something that ultimately

1:15:04 ↗ benefits the community. And again, I'm

1:15:06 ↗ not opposed to market rate housing by

1:15:08 ↗ any means, but then, you know, if it was

1:15:10 ↗ any other market rate developer coming

1:15:11 ↗ in, we would want them to pay market

1:15:13 ↗ price for the land and also pay property

1:15:15 ↗ taxes moving forward. Um, so that's

1:15:18 ↗ that's kind of my approach. I'm not

1:15:20 ↗ really opposed to extending the

1:15:23 ↗ development agreement because again I

1:15:24 ↗ think it kind of you know gives us some

1:15:26 ↗ more time to like continue the

1:15:27 ↗ discussion and think about different

1:15:28 ↗ options but again you know I do think we

1:15:31 ↗ need to be really intentional about what

1:15:33 ↗ we do here.

1:15:35 ↗ >> Okay.

1:15:36 ↗ >> Uh great comments. Is there any other

1:15:38 ↗ microphones up? Council President.

1:15:40 ↗ >> Yeah I was just looking around. I'm not

1:15:42 ↗ seeing any at this uh

1:15:45 ↗ I'm Are we moving on to questions or are

1:15:49 ↗ we still seeing if there's anything? I

1:15:51 ↗ think that was committee.

1:15:52 ↗ >> Oh,

1:15:53 ↗ >> yep. So, are you looking for questions

1:15:56 ↗ at this time?

1:15:57 ↗ >> Yes, please.

1:15:58 ↗ >> Okay. Starting with Deputy Council

1:16:00 ↗ President D. Michelle.

1:16:03 ↗ >> Uh yes, Council Member Jen raised a

1:16:05 ↗ question that I do not understand. there

1:16:07 ↗ would be no property taxes on these uh

1:16:10 ↗ houses if they're built. Uh I I am not

1:16:14 ↗ understanding why there wouldn't be.

1:16:17 ↗ >> Well, um I think there's an RCW if it's

1:16:20 ↗ the entity owned as um Pelleview

1:16:22 ↗ College. Uh currently there are no taxes

1:16:25 ↗ being paid just like the city owned

1:16:26 ↗ properties don't pay taxes. So, uh, in

1:16:29 ↗ terms of how the lease is set up with,

1:16:32 ↗ you know, what whatever, um, legal

1:16:34 ↗ mechanism Bellev College has with a

1:16:37 ↗ potential partner who may develop

1:16:39 ↗ housing. But the idea for Belleview

1:16:41 ↗ College, I can let Jorge speak to that,

1:16:43 ↗ is that they would not sell the land,

1:16:45 ↗ but lease the land. So, it's my

1:16:48 ↗ understanding, Rachel, that even for

1:16:50 ↗ leased land, if it's owned by a public

1:16:52 ↗ entity, there are no taxes, right?

1:16:56 ↗ There are no property taxes paid, but

1:16:59 ↗ there is likely leaseold excise tax in

1:17:02 ↗ place. Uh, unless there's an exemption

1:17:04 ↗ for it, which there may be for what

1:17:06 ↗ Belleview College has planned. Um, but I

1:17:09 ↗ haven't looked into that.

1:17:15 ↗ >> Um, questions. Council member Mertz, did

1:17:17 ↗ you have a question? No. Any other

1:17:20 ↗ questions? Council member Ray,

1:17:22 ↗ >> thanks. I just want to clarify, and I

1:17:24 ↗ think many of you spoke to this earlier,

1:17:26 ↗ or or maybe Jorge did, but um the

1:17:29 ↗ two-year extension is is an extension

1:17:31 ↗ for planning purposes. It doesn't commit

1:17:33 ↗ us to anything. It doesn't lock anything

1:17:35 ↗ down. Is is just basically running the

1:17:37 ↗ clock for another two years for a future

1:17:39 ↗ decision.

1:17:42 ↗ >> That's what Belleview College intends or

1:17:44 ↗ plans to do. um and you know in the next

1:17:46 ↗ two years if someone wants to develop it

1:17:48 ↗ the city would have to take in their

1:17:50 ↗ application but the chances of them

1:17:52 ↗ finding you know they're not planning to

1:17:54 ↗ do that they they're h their request is

1:17:56 ↗ to grant two years so they can plan for

1:17:58 ↗ what they want to do um but from a legal

1:18:02 ↗ perspective if that's your question um

1:18:05 ↗ it would be allowing housing development

1:18:08 ↗ um by doing this extension

1:18:12 ↗ with a commitment to comply with you

1:18:14 ↗ know latest storm water regulations and

1:18:16 ↗ and critical area code and all that. Um

1:18:19 ↗ but uh other terms of the development

1:18:21 ↗ agreement would apply

1:18:23 ↗ >> and if we don't extend

1:18:25 ↗ >> then the only thing that would be

1:18:26 ↗ allowed would be institutional uses.

1:18:28 ↗ >> Great. Thanks.

1:18:32 ↗ >> Are there any additional questions in

1:18:34 ↗ the room? Council presidents.

1:18:35 ↗ >> Yeah, I have a question. Um, right now

1:18:38 ↗ development is only allowed as housing

1:18:42 ↗ because we have a development agreement,

1:18:44 ↗ but we could change the zoning on the

1:18:47 ↗ parcel and Belleview College would still

1:18:49 ↗ be the owner of the property. They would

1:18:52 ↗ just end up complying with whatever code

1:18:56 ↗ and zoning we um would allow if we did

1:18:59 ↗ decide to make that change outside of a

1:19:00 ↗ DA. Correct.

1:19:01 ↗ >> Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it would

1:19:03 ↗ probably need a comprehensive plan

1:19:04 ↗ change because the designation

1:19:07 ↗ um and then um the zoning and relevant

1:19:10 ↗ development standards.

1:19:15 ↗ >> Council President, are there any

1:19:16 ↗ additional questions in the room?

1:19:19 ↗ >> I'm not seeing any additional questions.

1:19:23 ↗ >> Well, um thank you very much. I think

1:19:25 ↗ this is one of the deepest uh committee

1:19:28 ↗ dives I've ever seen into a historical

1:19:30 ↗ issue where um what the community had

1:19:35 ↗ hoped the council would achieve in 2011

1:19:37 ↗ is kind of a different place where we

1:19:39 ↗ are today and Isqua Highlands was

1:19:42 ↗ designed in with infrastructure for up

1:19:44 ↗ to 3500 housing units and we're at 5,000

1:19:47 ↗ and so there are so many more questions

1:19:49 ↗ to be discussed but I just think this

1:19:51 ↗ was a very great summary from um

1:19:55 ↗ committee chair hall and I appreciate uh

1:19:58 ↗ council member Jen's comments as well is

1:20:00 ↗ that there's just a lot to think about

1:20:02 ↗ here. So great great conversation

1:20:05 ↗ at this point in time. Would anyone care

1:20:08 ↗ to make a motion?

1:20:13 ↗ Yes. I just have to get back to it. I

1:20:16 ↗ move to approve resolution number 2025-

1:20:20 ↗ 15

1:20:21 ↗ >> authorizing the mayor to approve an

1:20:23 ↗ amendment to the wash.tdr development

1:20:26 ↗ agreement extending the expiration date

1:20:28 ↗ to allow Belleview College to evaluate

1:20:31 ↗ development options and seek community

1:20:33 ↗ input.

1:20:35 ↗ >> Second.

1:20:35 ↗ >> Is there a second? Oh, thank you.

1:20:38 ↗ Council discussion. And again, council

1:20:40 ↗ president, if you could just monitor the

1:20:42 ↗ microphones in the room, that'd be

1:20:43 ↗ great.

1:20:45 ↗ Let's start. Council member Martz,

1:20:49 ↗ >> I'm going to oppose this motion this

1:20:50 ↗ evening. Uh 14 years ago was in

1:20:55 ↗ President Obama's first term. Uh

1:20:58 ↗ Affordable Care Act had been approved,

1:21:00 ↗ but was still three years from

1:21:02 ↗ enactment. Uh we took our oldest to

1:21:05 ↗ Disneyland for her 13th birthday. Um she

1:21:08 ↗ has her master's degree now, is getting

1:21:10 ↗ married next spring. It's a long time

1:21:11 ↗ ago. Um, but I was here on council 14

1:21:14 ↗ years ago and I know what our vision was

1:21:18 ↗ for that property and what our hopes and

1:21:20 ↗ our aspirations were and I know all the

1:21:23 ↗ conversations that have happened in in

1:21:25 ↗ the intervening years and things that we

1:21:28 ↗ as a city have hoped might be done with

1:21:30 ↗ that parcel that would benefit the

1:21:31 ↗ community. And exactly zero of it has

1:21:34 ↗ come to pass except for surprise

1:21:36 ↗ surprise more housing getting built. uh

1:21:40 ↗ that community is bursting at the seams

1:21:43 ↗ with housing. I have zero interest in

1:21:46 ↗ seeing more housing get put in to

1:21:49 ↗ provide funding for educational

1:21:51 ↗ facilities in Belleview that yes, while

1:21:54 ↗ they benefit our community, create more

1:21:57 ↗ uh infrastructure demands and more

1:21:59 ↗ services demands in an area that is just

1:22:03 ↗ completely

1:22:04 ↗ filled to the to over stuffing with

1:22:07 ↗ housing that's already up there. So, uh

1:22:10 ↗ I am not interested. 14 years is more

1:22:13 ↗ than enough time to come up with

1:22:15 ↗ something exciting to do with that

1:22:17 ↗ parcel. Um time is up. Um the things

1:22:20 ↗ that we hoped for as a council that I

1:22:22 ↗ voted for 14 years ago have not

1:22:24 ↗ happened. And um now is the time to uh

1:22:30 ↗ uh think hard about uh how that property

1:22:33 ↗ might get used and be careful that our

1:22:35 ↗ goodwill and our you know below market

1:22:39 ↗ pricing that we gave to Belleview

1:22:41 ↗ College is not used uh as a cash cow um

1:22:45 ↗ to benefit other communities. So, I'm

1:22:47 ↗ very much opposed to this motion. Thank

1:22:49 ↗ you.

1:22:50 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Merz. Council

1:22:52 ↗ President, anyone else in the room?

1:22:54 ↗ >> Yes. Uh, Council Member Hall.

1:22:56 ↗ >> Um, I feel the exact opposite. I'm very

1:22:58 ↗ supportive of this motion. Um, although

1:23:01 ↗ I recognize and acknowledge everything

1:23:02 ↗ that's been said. Um, this to me seems

1:23:06 ↗ more like a just a technical easy vote

1:23:08 ↗ for me in terms of letting them do some

1:23:10 ↗ more planning.

1:23:13 ↗ This gives us an opportunity in two

1:23:14 ↗ years to look at a proposal that's been

1:23:16 ↗ fully vetted out, to look at a proposal

1:23:18 ↗ that modifies the DA to meet needs of

1:23:20 ↗ Belleview College and the needs of the

1:23:22 ↗ council and community. Um, and

1:23:27 ↗ honestly, what did you say? There are

1:23:28 ↗ tons of leadership transitions at

1:23:30 ↗ Belleview College over the years. Like,

1:23:32 ↗ I think we should give them a little bit

1:23:33 ↗ of a break. like the the the the times

1:23:37 ↗ that we live in right now are very

1:23:38 ↗ difficult for public institutions and

1:23:41 ↗ this is an opportunity for us to help

1:23:42 ↗ one that provides an incredible resource

1:23:46 ↗ not only to um Running Start students at

1:23:49 ↗ Isiqua schools, high school students

1:23:51 ↗ here in Isiqua um but also people who

1:23:53 ↗ are advancing uh their own education

1:23:56 ↗ beyond high school in the Isiqua area.

1:23:59 ↗ And um because we have so much benefit

1:24:01 ↗ from um from that institution, I think

1:24:05 ↗ that we should do what we can to help

1:24:06 ↗ them. And right now the vote today to

1:24:08 ↗ help them is just to give them more time

1:24:10 ↗ to plan. That's it. So uh I'm going to

1:24:13 ↗ be supporting this motion. Um and um

1:24:16 ↗ again I just want to remind uh council

1:24:18 ↗ members that this development agreement

1:24:20 ↗ has come with existing improvements in

1:24:23 ↗ infrastructure um in existing

1:24:26 ↗ improvements to uh green space here in

1:24:29 ↗ Isiqua and impact fees at the time of

1:24:31 ↗ the development agreement. And um I'm

1:24:33 ↗ going to be supporting this motion

1:24:34 ↗ tonight. Thanks

1:24:36 ↗ >> council member Hall.

1:24:37 ↗ >> De Michelle.

1:24:40 ↗ >> Uh thank you. Um

1:24:43 ↗ we always hear that government should be

1:24:45 ↗ nimble and what does nimble mean? It

1:24:48 ↗ means responding to the circumstances

1:24:51 ↗ that are in front of us rather than the

1:24:53 ↗ circumstances of the past. Um I listened

1:24:57 ↗ to the um the meeting and I heard uh

1:25:01 ↗ Jorge's explanation of why it has taken

1:25:05 ↗ so long for this to happen and it made a

1:25:08 ↗ lot of sense to me. uh a lot of

1:25:10 ↗ leadership changes, uh pandemic,

1:25:14 ↗ uh declines in enrollment,

1:25:16 ↗ um and all of those put together high

1:25:19 ↗ construction costs. And and we have been

1:25:21 ↗ in kind of a perfect storm of uh larger

1:25:26 ↗ institutions really having to rethink

1:25:28 ↗ many of the things that they are doing.

1:25:31 ↗ Uh we are being asked to allow them to

1:25:34 ↗ plan. We're not being asked to approve

1:25:38 ↗ anything right now tonight other than a

1:25:40 ↗ two-year extension that they will come

1:25:42 ↗ back to us with a vetted plan and I'm

1:25:46 ↗ willing to uh wait. I also heard that

1:25:49 ↗ evening I heard a lot of willingness to

1:25:52 ↗ listen to us, a lot of willingness to be

1:25:55 ↗ um adaptable to the things that we would

1:25:58 ↗ like to see on that property. But um uh

1:26:02 ↗ I think that um that willingness and

1:26:06 ↗ that partnership, we can go forward and

1:26:08 ↗ see what will come back to us in a

1:26:10 ↗ couple of years. So I will support the

1:26:12 ↗ motion tonight.

1:26:14 ↗ >> Thank you, Deputy Council President. Uh

1:26:16 ↗ Council President, any other microphones

1:26:18 ↗ in the air?

1:26:19 ↗ >> Council member Ray,

1:26:21 ↗ >> this one's really hard for me because I

1:26:22 ↗ am a little bit confused. Um

1:26:27 ↗ because uh Deputy Council President D.

1:26:29 ↗ Michelle just said if we uh grant this

1:26:32 ↗ extension,

1:26:34 ↗ we also have the um opportunity to

1:26:38 ↗ approve

1:26:40 ↗ a go forward plan somewhere two years

1:26:42 ↗ from now. And that doesn't seem quite

1:26:46 ↗ align what I heard director Dollywal say

1:26:48 ↗ earlier. I mean, if if is there a a hard

1:26:52 ↗ approval step before Belleview College

1:26:54 ↗ can take its next step on this parcel of

1:26:57 ↗ land with the council?

1:27:01 ↗ >> Well, if if they're going to come in

1:27:03 ↗ with an actual development proposal, it

1:27:05 ↗ will require city approval, not

1:27:07 ↗ necessarily a development agreement um

1:27:11 ↗ piece of it. Um, I think the way the

1:27:13 ↗ exhibition

1:27:15 ↗ is written, it it just extends the the

1:27:19 ↗ time frame, uh, you could amend the the

1:27:22 ↗ language in there if there's if you're

1:27:24 ↗ looking for more specificity of what is

1:27:27 ↗ really allowed in the next two years.

1:27:30 ↗ Um, but at but that's what you know,

1:27:32 ↗ Belleview College wants to work with the

1:27:34 ↗ city and has asked for additional time.

1:27:37 ↗ And so it's it's a straight out

1:27:40 ↗ extension of the two-year term with uh

1:27:42 ↗ the concessions from Belleview College

1:27:44 ↗ to to comply with the regulations that

1:27:48 ↗ you know are of concern to the city

1:27:50 ↗ because the state requires us to com you

1:27:52 ↗ know meet those storm water being one of

1:27:54 ↗ them for instance.

1:27:56 ↗ >> And when you say approval by the city is

1:27:58 ↗ that a

1:28:01 ↗ administrative approval or is that a

1:28:03 ↗ legislative approval? you know, the the

1:28:05 ↗ development agreement kind of goes

1:28:07 ↗ through um a whole appendex of land use

1:28:11 ↗ uh approval. So, I'll have to look at

1:28:12 ↗ that to give you to really answer what

1:28:15 ↗ that uh approval process will look like.

1:28:19 ↗ Give me a second if I can quickly find

1:28:21 ↗ it here.

1:28:39 ↗ So there's a term called implementing

1:28:41 ↗ approvals means applications um land use

1:28:44 ↗ approvals and titles and permits. So it

1:28:47 ↗ doesn't really tell me much there. Hang

1:28:49 ↗ on.

1:28:55 ↗ >> Uh Director Dollywa, any change future

1:28:58 ↗ change to the development agreement

1:29:00 ↗ depending on what the plan is in two

1:29:02 ↗ years would require legislative

1:29:04 ↗ approval. Right.

1:29:04 ↗ >> Yes. Any any amendments to the DA for

1:29:08 ↗ standards, uses, types, any of those

1:29:11 ↗ things will require council approval for

1:29:13 ↗ sure.

1:29:15 ↗ >> Great. Thanks,

1:29:19 ↗ >> Council Member Sh.

1:29:20 ↗ >> Council Pratt. Oh, great. Thank you.

1:29:23 ↗ >> Um, so now I'm starting to get a little

1:29:26 ↗ bit confused because based on everything

1:29:28 ↗ else I've heard, you know, we've heard

1:29:30 ↗ multiple times, oh, it just gives them

1:29:31 ↗ more time to plan and then maybe in two

1:29:33 ↗ years we'll re amend the development

1:29:35 ↗ agreement. But if we don't renew the

1:29:38 ↗ development agreement now, does that

1:29:40 ↗ preclude us from amending the

1:29:41 ↗ development agreement in the future?

1:29:43 ↗ because what I've been hearing or at

1:29:45 ↗ least my personal opinion is that I'm

1:29:47 ↗ not thrilled with the current you know

1:29:49 ↗ provisions in the development agreement.

1:29:51 ↗ So if we're extending it just as a

1:29:53 ↗ gesture of goodwill to say oh you can

1:29:54 ↗ then you know plan and maybe we'll

1:29:57 ↗ change it in two years versus you know

1:30:01 ↗ if if we decide actually we don't like

1:30:03 ↗ what's in the development agreement so

1:30:05 ↗ maybe we should actually amend the

1:30:06 ↗ development agreement and give them two

1:30:07 ↗ years to act on that. Um, so yeah, I'm

1:30:11 ↗ ba basically if we do this amendment,

1:30:14 ↗ can they build based on the terms of the

1:30:18 ↗ current development agreement within

1:30:19 ↗ those two years and then there's no

1:30:20 ↗ other like touch points with us? Um,

1:30:23 ↗ which I think was also kind of what

1:30:24 ↗ council member Ray was asking.

1:30:27 ↗ >> Yeah. So theoretically, yes. Um but um

1:30:31 ↗ the develop the terms of the development

1:30:33 ↗ agreement that they have voluntarily

1:30:34 ↗ agreed to um comply with the latest ones

1:30:38 ↗ are listed in that which I kind of

1:30:40 ↗ talked about the storm water and the

1:30:41 ↗ critical areas and those kind of things.

1:30:43 ↗ But the density, how many units they can

1:30:45 ↗ build, how much height, what setbacks,

1:30:47 ↗ all of those things are what's what

1:30:50 ↗ could be built per the standards that

1:30:51 ↗ are in the development agreement

1:30:55 ↗ in the next two years. So for them to

1:30:57 ↗ come in with an actual building permit

1:31:00 ↗ within the next two years. So you know

1:31:02 ↗ that that's where I think you're you're

1:31:04 ↗ wanting if that can happen. I think

1:31:06 ↗ Belleview College is saying they don't

1:31:08 ↗ plan to turn in a construction level

1:31:11 ↗ proposal at this time. It just gives

1:31:13 ↗ them a little bit of an ability to say

1:31:16 ↗ Council's direction to allow housing uh

1:31:20 ↗ is okay. It gives them the green light

1:31:21 ↗ to talk to developers to that they have

1:31:24 ↗ they have potential entitlements for

1:31:26 ↗ residential basically.

1:31:31 ↗ >> Council member Hall.

1:31:32 ↗ >> Um yeah, I actually had a follow-up

1:31:34 ↗ question based on what you were just

1:31:35 ↗ saying, Director Dolly Walt. My question

1:31:37 ↗ was going to be if if if the council did

1:31:40 ↗ choose to let this part of the

1:31:42 ↗ development agreement lapse, so

1:31:44 ↗ residential is not something that's

1:31:46 ↗ allowable on the parcel, how challenging

1:31:49 ↗ it would it then be to plan for

1:31:51 ↗ residential going to financers, um

1:31:54 ↗ having firms come in to put plans

1:31:57 ↗ together and I mean is there some

1:31:59 ↗ assumption that you need to have that

1:32:01 ↗ kind of underlying allowance first to be

1:32:03 ↗ able to move?

1:32:04 ↗ >> Absolutely. I think most developers if

1:32:06 ↗ they know they are no not entitled to do

1:32:08 ↗ residential probably won't be interested

1:32:10 ↗ in spending their time talking to them.

1:32:12 ↗ Yeah. In terms of the approval of the

1:32:14 ↗ land use as it is written. So you know

1:32:17 ↗ at the at the time there was a

1:32:19 ↗ commission which is now disbanded but it

1:32:22 ↗ is replaced by development commission.

1:32:24 ↗ Um it talks about or commission members

1:32:27 ↗ appointed by the mayor and organized and

1:32:29 ↗ managed by the designated official shall

1:32:31 ↗ make the decisions on the site

1:32:32 ↗ development permit for properties

1:32:34 ↗ greater than 3 acres in size and make

1:32:37 ↗ recommendations to the hearing examiner

1:32:38 ↗ on preliminary plat and to city council

1:32:41 ↗ on any major modifications associated

1:32:44 ↗ with the development agreement.

1:32:46 ↗ So it's a decision by the commission.

1:32:49 ↗ If there's anything that going to get

1:32:52 ↗ changed then that has to come to council

1:32:56 ↗ is the way the process is written today.

1:33:03 ↗ >> Any other comments otherwise I will make

1:33:05 ↗ mine. Go for it. Council member Ray.

1:33:07 ↗ >> Thanks. Um

1:33:09 ↗ this isn't I I came into this evening um

1:33:13 ↗ feeling very differently than I feel

1:33:15 ↗ tonight about this this particular um

1:33:18 ↗ resolution. Um I was very much aligned

1:33:21 ↗ with what um council member Hall said.

1:33:23 ↗ You know, this is this is very

1:33:24 ↗ administrative and we're just uh kind of

1:33:27 ↗ giving more flexibility moving down. But

1:33:30 ↗ the more I listen to this and I look at

1:33:31 ↗ the situation, the less I am excited

1:33:35 ↗ about it because um the one thing that I

1:33:38 ↗ believe the Highlands doesn't need right

1:33:40 ↗ now is more housing. I think that they

1:33:42 ↗ have taken far far more than um than was

1:33:46 ↗ envisioned. Um, but what we do need is

1:33:49 ↗ uh community space and community good.

1:33:52 ↗ And I would really prefer to see this uh

1:33:54 ↗ land um either by Belleview College or

1:33:57 ↗ some other entity uh be developed in

1:34:00 ↗ something that provides more of a

1:34:01 ↗ community service than um additional

1:34:04 ↗ housing. So I am inclined to not at this

1:34:06 ↗ moment to not support the extension of

1:34:09 ↗ the uh development agreement.

1:34:15 ↗ >> Okay. Um,

1:34:18 ↗ Council Member Joe, any comments before

1:34:20 ↗ I go in? Did you have your mic up again?

1:34:26 ↗ >> Yeah.

1:34:27 ↗ Okay. Um, so you know, my comments I

1:34:32 ↗ think similarly I have a lot of

1:34:36 ↗ conflicts about this. Um,

1:34:40 ↗ I don't like extending an existing

1:34:44 ↗ development agreement. Um

1:34:47 ↗ you know if I if I take Belleview

1:34:48 ↗ College out of this perspective and just

1:34:51 ↗ think about from the sake of um Isiqua

1:34:55 ↗ and the concept of do we want to build

1:35:00 ↗ like it was 2011 or do we want to

1:35:04 ↗ recognize our newer codes and you know

1:35:07 ↗ the additional need for um affordable

1:35:12 ↗ housing and other things like that.

1:35:15 ↗ So, I have some concerns in that

1:35:17 ↗ perspective. Um, I also have concerns

1:35:24 ↗ extending this when it sounds like

1:35:26 ↗ there's a pretty big interest in

1:35:30 ↗ evaluating what the code requirements

1:35:32 ↗ are on this. And so it does seem a

1:35:36 ↗ little bit disingenuous to extend this

1:35:39 ↗ with Belleview College and have you

1:35:41 ↗ invest money and time into a planning

1:35:45 ↗ scenario and then want to change that in

1:35:49 ↗ two years. Um whether that is for

1:35:53 ↗ additional housing or less housing or

1:35:55 ↗ whatever that is. it seems like a

1:35:58 ↗ difficult scenario to extend something

1:36:00 ↗ for a two-year period with the idea that

1:36:03 ↗ there is an interest to change it. Um

1:36:07 ↗ the other thing I would say is this

1:36:10 ↗ current development agreement does not

1:36:11 ↗ expire until December 31st of this year.

1:36:15 ↗ And so hearing this much consternation

1:36:18 ↗ on the dis um I do believe it may be a

1:36:23 ↗ good idea to take a step back and table

1:36:28 ↗ this um so that we can maybe have some

1:36:32 ↗ additional conversations um because

1:36:34 ↗ there have been a lot of questions

1:36:36 ↗ brought up at this point. So maybe

1:36:40 ↗ >> thank you. Yeah, thank you council

1:36:42 ↗ president. That is a great great

1:36:43 ↗ summary. Um, I think what I'm going to

1:36:45 ↗ do is bring back in deputy city

1:36:47 ↗ administrator Snder and also Director

1:36:51 ↗ Dollywal to talk about um how you might

1:36:54 ↗ be able to have additional conversation

1:36:56 ↗ even if it's just additional information

1:36:59 ↗ at a committee of the whole or something

1:37:01 ↗ that would sort of relieve some of the

1:37:03 ↗ anxiety that we're hearing tonight. Um

1:37:06 ↗ and so uh deputy city administrator,

1:37:09 ↗ would you talk about what process might

1:37:11 ↗ look like or why it is important that

1:37:14 ↗ the council actually make this

1:37:15 ↗ consideration this evening?

1:37:18 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh Mayor Paulie, uh this is

1:37:21 ↗ Andrea Snyder. Yes. Um we can certainly

1:37:24 ↗ given the amount of discussion and

1:37:26 ↗ questions this evening, we can certainly

1:37:28 ↗ come back. What I would recommend um is

1:37:31 ↗ that we come back to a committee of the

1:37:33 ↗ whole rather than going back to um one

1:37:37 ↗ of the subcommittees. And so this way uh

1:37:39 ↗ the entire council can have this

1:37:41 ↗ discussion together, have the ability to

1:37:43 ↗ ask a few more questions and also look

1:37:45 ↗ at if there's conditions under which you

1:37:48 ↗ would want to extend the agreement. Are

1:37:50 ↗ there additional conditions you would

1:37:51 ↗ want to apply to that agreement um over

1:37:54 ↗ the next two years? That's certainly

1:37:55 ↗ within council's purview. So we can take

1:37:58 ↗ a look at what those options are, work

1:38:00 ↗ with Belleview College and uh have a

1:38:03 ↗ little bit more time for discussion and

1:38:06 ↗ what perhaps some options are within the

1:38:08 ↗ next two years.

1:38:11 ↗ >> So I would ask council president maybe

1:38:13 ↗ to take a look around the room and see

1:38:15 ↗ if there's an agreement and whether or

1:38:18 ↗ not the clerk geyser could um provide a

1:38:20 ↗ motion that would allow you to continue

1:38:22 ↗ this to a cow at a date certain.

1:38:25 ↗ Okay, I'm seeing a good number of head

1:38:27 ↗ nods and thumbs up and such. Um, looking

1:38:32 ↗ at our calendar, you know, we don't have

1:38:34 ↗ an August Committee of the whole, so

1:38:37 ↗ we'd likely be looking at that September

1:38:39 ↗ 8th committee of the whole

1:38:42 ↗ um, which was when we were talking about

1:38:44 ↗ prioritization of Title 18 amendments.

1:38:48 ↗ Yeah, that would be a big beefy meeting.

1:38:51 ↗ Um,

1:38:53 ↗ >> also say, uh, council president, um,

1:38:56 ↗ city clerk, do they have to deal with

1:38:57 ↗ the motion? I believe has the motion

1:39:00 ↗ been made? Yeah. So, if you could guide

1:39:02 ↗ council on what the next steps would be

1:39:04 ↗ in voting and consideration, that would

1:39:06 ↗ be great.

1:39:07 ↗ >> Sure. So, the motion is pending. So, um,

1:39:11 ↗ mayor, one thing you could say is, is

1:39:13 ↗ there any objection to referring the

1:39:15 ↗ motion to the September committee of the

1:39:19 ↗ whole? And if there's no objection,

1:39:21 ↗ we'll just move the agenda bill to the

1:39:24 ↗ September committee of the whole. Just a

1:39:25 ↗ note, when it does eventually come back

1:39:27 ↗ to council, it will be pending in this

1:39:29 ↗ form.

1:39:31 ↗ >> Great. So, is there any objection to

1:39:33 ↗ moving this to the December council

1:39:35 ↗ poll? And council president, let me know

1:39:36 ↗ if you see any raised microphones or

1:39:39 ↗ signals that this is not going to be

1:39:41 ↗ okay.

1:39:42 ↗ >> Are we okay with this?

1:39:45 ↗ Shrugs,

1:39:46 ↗ nods. Okay. Yeah, I think we are

1:39:51 ↗ comfortable with that um adjustment.

1:39:54 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:39:57 ↗ >> So, city clerk, I'm assuming that for

1:40:00 ↗ this evening, this item is concluded and

1:40:04 ↗ we would be moving on through our

1:40:05 ↗ agenda.

1:40:06 ↗ >> Correct.

1:40:08 ↗ >> Thank you very much.

1:40:09 ↗ >> So, Mayor Paulie, is it is it um okay to

1:40:12 ↗ ask a question about in terms of coming

1:40:14 ↗ back?

1:40:14 ↗ >> I'm sorry.

1:40:17 ↗ I just wanted to make sure we have uh

1:40:19 ↗ you know guidance on what we're bringing

1:40:21 ↗ back

1:40:21 ↗ >> to full council. Is it the same agenda

1:40:23 ↗ item or is there any specific

1:40:25 ↗ >> things that council would like us to

1:40:27 ↗ address?

1:40:28 ↗ >> Maybe we can do a um go around with the

1:40:33 ↗ council members again for them to

1:40:35 ↗ express either additional information or

1:40:37 ↗ concerns that they have that might help

1:40:38 ↗ you inform what information to bring

1:40:40 ↗ back.

1:40:44 ↗ Council President, would you like to

1:40:46 ↗ >> work the way around the room?

1:40:48 ↗ >> Um, Council Member Hall, then Council

1:40:50 ↗ Member Mertz.

1:40:51 ↗ >> Yeah, I was just going to say it sounds

1:40:52 ↗ like um there's some concern around

1:40:54 ↗ building type and maybe what we could

1:40:56 ↗ potentially do within the DA to

1:40:59 ↗ um encourage types of buildings over

1:41:02 ↗ another. So, I was just wondering if

1:41:04 ↗ maybe what could come back is what are

1:41:06 ↗ the tools at our disposal? How could we

1:41:08 ↗ amend the DA this go around to help

1:41:11 ↗ narrow

1:41:12 ↗ like what what would those tools look

1:41:14 ↗ like to add to the DA to narrow the

1:41:16 ↗ kinds of things that could show up on

1:41:17 ↗ this site? What kind of impact would

1:41:19 ↗ that have? Um that seems to capture at

1:41:22 ↗ least some of the feedback that I'm

1:41:24 ↗ hearing tonight.

1:41:27 ↗ >> Council member Marks,

1:41:29 ↗ >> I mean, my concerns are primarily around

1:41:31 ↗ housing, right? So, it's when we come

1:41:34 ↗ back and talk, it's what's the landscape

1:41:36 ↗ like for housing? uh what's allowed

1:41:40 ↗ currently

1:41:42 ↗ um what you know if if Belleview College

1:41:45 ↗ came back and said you know we're

1:41:47 ↗ looking to partner with Stanford

1:41:49 ↗ University and bring a Stanford

1:41:51 ↗ Northwest campus you know and we don't

1:41:53 ↗ need any housing then I'd be the first

1:41:55 ↗ person in line to get on board u but uh

1:41:59 ↗ when this comes back to the committee

1:42:01 ↗ the whole I really want to understand

1:42:02 ↗ what our exposure is for housing this

1:42:05 ↗ when this development agreement put in

1:42:07 ↗ came in place. We weren't at 5,000

1:42:09 ↗ housing units up there. And we weren't

1:42:11 ↗ at all the housing development west of

1:42:14 ↗ uh of Highlands Drive. So, uh you know,

1:42:18 ↗ the world is a very different place up

1:42:19 ↗ there than it is now. And that's where

1:42:21 ↗ my my concerns are primarily around. I I

1:42:24 ↗ would love there's all sorts of there's

1:42:26 ↗ all sorts of other opportunities and I

1:42:27 ↗ don't want to bind Belleview Colleg's

1:42:29 ↗ hands but boy housing we have fought so

1:42:32 ↗ hard to try to keep you know that school

1:42:35 ↗ from being overjammed and uh you know

1:42:39 ↗ what to do with all the extra kids that

1:42:41 ↗ we have up there to make that problem

1:42:43 ↗ worse seems a tragedy. Thank you

1:42:47 ↗ >> council member Ray. And I really would

1:42:49 ↗ like to when we come back to understand

1:42:51 ↗ the tax property tax implications of

1:42:53 ↗ this um in some nauseous detail um

1:42:58 ↗ because I think it is significant. Thank

1:43:00 ↗ you.

1:43:02 ↗ >> Anyone else? Council member Jen.

1:43:05 ↗ >> Yeah, I'd also definitely like to

1:43:07 ↗ understand the leaseold excise tax

1:43:10 ↗ versus property tax um implications for

1:43:12 ↗ the city of Isqua. Um, I think also to

1:43:15 ↗ council member Mart's point, I'm curious

1:43:18 ↗ if, you know, would there be other

1:43:21 ↗ higher educational institutions perhaps

1:43:23 ↗ like a technical college that, you know,

1:43:26 ↗ could also potentially be interested in

1:43:27 ↗ institutional use just cuz I think, you

1:43:30 ↗ know, if the vision for the community is

1:43:32 ↗ that we would love to have an

1:43:33 ↗ institutional use, not if we don't

1:43:35 ↗ extend the development agreement,

1:43:38 ↗ you know, they're still able to build an

1:43:40 ↗ institutional use through 2044. And so I

1:43:43 ↗ think and the other thing with

1:43:44 ↗ institutional uses as we've seen with

1:43:46 ↗ the recent issues with the school bonds

1:43:49 ↗ is that there are not that many parcels

1:43:50 ↗ out there in Isiqua within the urban

1:43:52 ↗ growth area that are large enough to

1:43:54 ↗ build an institutional use. And so to

1:43:57 ↗ give that up I think is would be a huge

1:44:01 ↗ loss for us. So I'd like to look more

1:44:02 ↗ into you know Isqua school district

1:44:04 ↗ other um higher educational institutions

1:44:06 ↗ as well.

1:44:08 ↗ >> Anyone else?

1:44:11 ↗ Council moral. Well, and to that point,

1:44:13 ↗ I mean, that's something that's been

1:44:14 ↗ brought up by committee here, like the

1:44:16 ↗ school district, other institutional

1:44:18 ↗ uses. I mean, at the end of the day,

1:44:19 ↗ they own like this property is owned by

1:44:21 ↗ Belleview College, right? So, what are

1:44:22 ↗ the tools at our disposal to encourage

1:44:25 ↗ partnership between the Isquas School

1:44:27 ↗ District and Belleview College? Like, is

1:44:28 ↗ that would there be confirmation that

1:44:30 ↗ that would be something they would

1:44:31 ↗ explore with the school district or or

1:44:34 ↗ exploring other types of buildings? And

1:44:36 ↗ so like how can we

1:44:38 ↗ because I feel like some of the concern

1:44:40 ↗ is like like um anyone can say that and

1:44:43 ↗ then in two years from now it might look

1:44:46 ↗ completely different but like what are

1:44:47 ↗ the tools that we have to um ensure that

1:44:51 ↗ what gets proposed to us in two years

1:44:53 ↗ like melds with the values of the

1:44:55 ↗ community that we're hearing up here

1:44:56 ↗ tonight I guess is

1:44:59 ↗ >> yeah that's helpful. Thank you. And I

1:45:02 ↗ will just add in I do want to understand

1:45:04 ↗ um what the options would be with Isqua

1:45:06 ↗ School District. I also think it would

1:45:08 ↗ be very useful to clarify what the

1:45:12 ↗ surplus process looks like for a state

1:45:15 ↗ agency um and what the RCWs say about

1:45:18 ↗ surplus land and affordable housing. I'd

1:45:21 ↗ like to know more about the TDRs and

1:45:23 ↗ whether there are any affordable housing

1:45:25 ↗ um requirements on here since the TDRs

1:45:28 ↗ have already been actualized on the

1:45:30 ↗ other portions of that. Um,

1:45:36 ↗ and then it would be useful information

1:45:40 ↗ to understand the public benefits that

1:45:43 ↗ have already been received by this, but

1:45:45 ↗ also the investments that have already

1:45:47 ↗ been made in the community to understand

1:45:50 ↗ um kind of what our requirements or

1:45:52 ↗ responsibilities are in that area.

1:45:55 ↗ >> Uh, Council Member Holligan,

1:45:57 ↗ >> just can I just ask does this sound

1:45:59 ↗ doable to have this information by the

1:46:02 ↗ September meeting? I just want to check

1:46:03 ↗ in and make sure

1:46:04 ↗ >> we can give it a shot. You know, some of

1:46:06 ↗ the things that I heard were more market

1:46:07 ↗ driven. Is there a market for this and

1:46:09 ↗ that? And I think that's where their

1:46:11 ↗ market study that they've done sort of

1:46:13 ↗ informs and and I'm not sure we're going

1:46:15 ↗ to be able to give you a straight answer

1:46:17 ↗ on the market feasibility of the

1:46:19 ↗ different uses uh in that area because

1:46:23 ↗ that is not doable within the time frame

1:46:26 ↗ or even the market can change and so on

1:46:28 ↗ and so forth. And some of the other uh

1:46:30 ↗ pieces we can certainly uh you know the

1:46:33 ↗ the law regarding

1:46:36 ↗ taxes and affordable units what's the

1:46:39 ↗ status of this that part for sure we can

1:46:41 ↗ do that.

1:46:45 ↗ >> Okay. I am not seeing any other comments

1:46:48 ↗ here. So I think we have concluded.

1:46:51 ↗ >> Thank you for that and thank you

1:46:52 ↗ Director Dollywell for getting that

1:46:54 ↗ additional information. I think that

1:46:56 ↗ does clarify things quite a bit. Um so

1:47:00 ↗ uh we're going to move on to the I think

1:47:01 ↗ the last uh agenda bill we have this

1:47:04 ↗ evening which is AB9040

1:47:07 ↗ uh policy for naming public facilities

1:47:10 ↗ parks and trails and the action before

1:47:12 ↗ the council this evening is to make a

1:47:13 ↗ recommendation. This item was postponed

1:47:17 ↗ from the July 7th city council meeting

1:47:19 ↗ and I'd like to invite city clerk Tisha

1:47:21 ↗ Gizer to present this item. Disha.

1:47:28 ↗ >> Thank you, Mayor Paulie. Uh, city

1:47:30 ↗ council, I am here to just provide a

1:47:32 ↗ real brief background on the city's park

1:47:34 ↗ naming policy. I don't have a visual

1:47:37 ↗ presentation tonight. Um, the city

1:47:39 ↗ adopted a park naming policy back in

1:47:41 ↗ 1990. And at the same time, they

1:47:43 ↗ approved a really long list of the

1:47:45 ↗ city's current um, park names. It was

1:47:47 ↗ interesting to go back in time and look

1:47:49 ↗ at that. And uh the policy provides that

1:47:52 ↗ the mayor appoint a committee and

1:47:54 ↗ designate certain representation

1:47:56 ↗ including from the park board, the

1:47:57 ↗ chamber of commerce and the historical

1:47:59 ↗ society. And then that committee then

1:48:01 ↗ recommend a name of a potential park or

1:48:04 ↗ public facility. And then there's a

1:48:06 ↗ short list of criteria. There's four um

1:48:09 ↗ criteria to be used in determining that

1:48:11 ↗ name. Over the last 35 years, this

1:48:14 ↗ policy has not been followed um

1:48:17 ↗ consistently. I have seen from what I

1:48:20 ↗ can tell of the records a wide variety

1:48:23 ↗ of approaches taken to taken to naming.

1:48:26 ↗ Um some things sometimes there's a a

1:48:29 ↗ purchase and sale agreement that might

1:48:32 ↗ allow for the donator or seller of the

1:48:34 ↗ land's name to be used in the park name.

1:48:37 ↗ From what I can tell, sometimes a name

1:48:39 ↗ has just sort of evolved in the park

1:48:41 ↗ planning process and there hasn't been

1:48:43 ↗ formal council approval. the the current

1:48:46 ↗ policy does require formal council

1:48:48 ↗ approval. And for historical

1:48:50 ↗ recordkeeping, it would be nice if more

1:48:52 ↗ of our park naming had occurred in that

1:48:54 ↗ way, but a much of it does seem to have

1:48:57 ↗ been more organic over time. I will say

1:49:00 ↗ that the policy was followed most

1:49:03 ↗ recently in 2016

1:49:05 ↗ with the naming of Senate Park. So,

1:49:07 ↗ there was a park naming committee

1:49:09 ↗ convened for the purpose of naming that

1:49:11 ↗ park. Um and the council then approved a

1:49:14 ↗ resolution. So um I wanted tonight to

1:49:17 ↗ just share the current naming policy.

1:49:19 ↗ The reason I'm sharing this with you is

1:49:21 ↗ because at the June 16th committee of

1:49:24 ↗ the whole council, President Walsh had

1:49:26 ↗ made a motion to put this item on the

1:49:29 ↗ agenda uh with the potential naming of a

1:49:32 ↗ trail head after uh former senator,

1:49:36 ↗ representative, and council member Bill

1:49:38 ↗ Ramos. and that prompted the

1:49:40 ↗ administration to want to bring our uh

1:49:43 ↗ documented policy forward for your

1:49:45 ↗ awareness. Uh so there are some

1:49:47 ↗ potential options for you tonight. Uh

1:49:50 ↗ you can direct us direct the mayor

1:49:53 ↗ request the mayor uh appoint a committee

1:49:55 ↗ to proceed with naming a park or the uh

1:49:59 ↗ proposed East Sunset Way trail head

1:50:02 ↗ after Bill Ramos. uh the council could

1:50:04 ↗ choose to not utilize the policy and

1:50:08 ↗ direct us to bring back a resolution to

1:50:11 ↗ name the East Sunset Way trail head

1:50:14 ↗ after Bill Ramos or you could do

1:50:16 ↗ something different. And so there is not

1:50:18 ↗ a proposed motion nor a specific uh

1:50:22 ↗ recommendation that I'm providing

1:50:23 ↗ tonight, just that background. I don't

1:50:26 ↗ have the parks director with me tonight,

1:50:28 ↗ but if you have some questions related

1:50:29 ↗ to the policy, I might be able to help

1:50:31 ↗ answer those. If you have anything

1:50:32 ↗ additional, um, I we'll get back to you

1:50:34 ↗ with information. Thank you.

1:50:38 ↗ >> Thank you, Tisha. Council President, can

1:50:40 ↗ you look for questions in the room?

1:50:43 ↗ >> Council member Hall.

1:50:45 ↗ >> Yeah, just a quick one. I'm just curious

1:50:46 ↗ if the administration would be opening

1:50:48 ↗ or open to considering a change in the

1:50:51 ↗ policy around criteria to include

1:50:53 ↗ something around um individuals like

1:50:57 ↗ individuals with significant service to

1:50:59 ↗ community in the list. um and if that's

1:51:02 ↗ something we could consider in the

1:51:04 ↗ future separate from this process.

1:51:07 ↗ >> This is Deputy City Administrator

1:51:09 ↗ Snyder. I'll speak for the

1:51:10 ↗ administration in this case. Um we are

1:51:12 ↗ open to changing the criteria and the

1:51:14 ↗ process. We have not updated that in a

1:51:17 ↗ few years and it could stand for some

1:51:19 ↗ updating. So, we're certainly open to

1:51:21 ↗ that and would love to hear feedback

1:51:23 ↗ from council this evening.

1:51:27 ↗ >> I'm not seeing any other questions.

1:51:33 ↗ Uh so there were several traces that

1:51:35 ↗ were put forward by the city clerk. Um

1:51:37 ↗ and that was to request the mayor to

1:51:39 ↗ appoint a committee to recommend naming

1:51:41 ↗ of a trail after Bill Ramos directing

1:51:44 ↗ the administration to prepare a

1:51:45 ↗ resolution naming east sunset whale

1:51:47 ↗ trail way trail head after Bill Ramos or

1:51:50 ↗ to take no further action. Is uh

1:51:53 ↗ somebody prepared to make a motion?

1:51:56 ↗ >> Yes. I would move to direct the

1:51:58 ↗ administration to prepare a resolution

1:52:00 ↗ naming the East Sunset Trail Head after

1:52:02 ↗ Bill Ramos.

1:52:04 ↗ >> Second.

1:52:05 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded. Council

1:52:07 ↗ discussion.

1:52:09 ↗ I'll just start off as the motion maker

1:52:12 ↗ and just say I think it's really

1:52:14 ↗ important as a government that we don't

1:52:17 ↗ push process um in an area where I think

1:52:22 ↗ there has been an outpouring of support

1:52:24 ↗ um in this area. And so I don't

1:52:28 ↗ necessarily see that the process that we

1:52:30 ↗ put in place in 1990 is necessarily

1:52:33 ↗ still applicable in most cases and

1:52:35 ↗ certainly not in this case from my

1:52:37 ↗ perspective. Other

1:52:40 ↗ comments?

1:52:44 ↗ >> I'm going to take the the the opposite

1:52:46 ↗ view and I I really want to do something

1:52:49 ↗ for Bill because Bill was a an amazing

1:52:51 ↗ person and be a big contributor to this

1:52:53 ↗ city, but I also do believe in process

1:52:55 ↗ and we do have a policy that says this

1:52:58 ↗ is how we approach it. I don't think it

1:53:00 ↗ is is an ownorous process. I think it

1:53:02 ↗ does um cast a broader net um by having

1:53:07 ↗ different points of view on on what uh

1:53:09 ↗ what the community as a larger um thinks

1:53:12 ↗ would be an appropriate um

1:53:15 ↗ uh tribute. And so I um I would not

1:53:19 ↗ support uh going ahead with the

1:53:22 ↗ resolution naming the sunset trail, but

1:53:24 ↗ might be open to other other uh other

1:53:27 ↗ options.

1:53:29 ↗ Other commenters,

1:53:32 ↗ >> deputy council president.

1:53:35 ↗ >> Uh, thanks. I I will support the motion.

1:53:38 ↗ Um I think we've as you said council

1:53:42 ↗ president we've heard an outpouring of

1:53:44 ↗ support um for this option and

1:53:48 ↗ um having done a lot of public uh

1:53:52 ↗ engagement throughout my career. People

1:53:54 ↗ get really upset if the direction is

1:53:57 ↗ already set and then they're asked to

1:54:00 ↗ participate in a group that should be

1:54:03 ↗ open to all options. and we've already

1:54:06 ↗ expressed our intent with what we would

1:54:08 ↗ like to do. So, um I don't want to waste

1:54:11 ↗ anybody's time or go through a u um

1:54:15 ↗ mimicking of a public process when we

1:54:17 ↗ know that what the outcome of it is

1:54:19 ↗ going to be. So, um I think that there

1:54:23 ↗ are ways that we could certainly take

1:54:25 ↗ public input. We've been taking it

1:54:28 ↗ public input and uh so I would like to

1:54:32 ↗ go ahead with the motion as stated

1:54:34 ↗ tonight.

1:54:36 ↗ >> Additional commenters.

1:54:38 ↗ >> Council member Joe.

1:54:40 ↗ >> Thank you. Um,

1:54:42 ↗ some of you may know that uh I was

1:54:44 ↗ involved in a process to change the name

1:54:46 ↗ of a mountain in Idaho from a derogatory

1:54:50 ↗ um name to um another name that was

1:54:55 ↗ representative of the historical

1:54:57 ↗ significance but still was not um

1:55:00 ↗ offensive to people who might be of

1:55:02 ↗ Chinese heritage.

1:55:04 ↗ Um, so my only comment is I'm supporting

1:55:06 ↗ the motion tonight, but I would like

1:55:08 ↗ information in the resolution that would

1:55:10 ↗ talk about the proper way to get that

1:55:14 ↗ name noted in trail guides or the King

1:55:17 ↗ County trail system so we don't have

1:55:19 ↗ confusion uh with people going to the

1:55:22 ↗ wrong place. Um, our troll shows up on

1:55:24 ↗ different maps, but I'm not sure how it

1:55:26 ↗ got there sometimes. And I just want to

1:55:28 ↗ make sure our trail, if we do change the

1:55:30 ↗ name, um, shows up in the proper places

1:55:32 ↗ and people can find it and, um, uh, so

1:55:36 ↗ it's a tourist attraction that people

1:55:39 ↗ can locate easily along the way. So,

1:55:41 ↗ that'd be my only concern tonight, but

1:55:43 ↗ I'll be voting for the motion. Thank

1:55:44 ↗ you.

1:55:46 ↗ >> Any other comments from other council

1:55:48 ↗ members?

1:55:48 ↗ >> Yeah, Council Member Jen. Yeah, I I just

1:55:52 ↗ want to underscore that there is

1:55:53 ↗ actually, you know, significant

1:55:54 ↗ community support for this even though

1:55:56 ↗ they're not necessarily coming to city

1:55:57 ↗ council meetings. For example, um we've

1:56:00 ↗ been out door knocking while campaigning

1:56:02 ↗ in um Oldtown and someone specifically

1:56:05 ↗ mentioned, you know, like unprompted how

1:56:08 ↗ much she loved Bill Ramos and that she

1:56:10 ↗ hoped that the city would do something

1:56:11 ↗ to honor his legacy such as name of

1:56:14 ↗ Trail Head. Um some of his friends have,

1:56:16 ↗ you know, spoken about this. Um I

1:56:20 ↗ mentioned this in passing to one of my

1:56:21 ↗ friends who actually lives on East

1:56:23 ↗ Sunset Way very close to the trail head

1:56:25 ↗ and he was like, "Oh, that would be a

1:56:26 ↗ really nice thing." He doesn't he's not

1:56:28 ↗ engaged at all in politics, but you

1:56:30 ↗ know, he thought that would be a nice

1:56:31 ↗ thing to do. So I think, you know, just

1:56:33 ↗ based on these few like anecdotal data

1:56:35 ↗ points, it seems like there's support in

1:56:37 ↗ the community. I did see that I and I

1:56:41 ↗ generally agree with what others have

1:56:43 ↗ said about you know oh you know if you

1:56:46 ↗ get a committee of people together

1:56:48 ↗ basically just to rubber stamp an idea

1:56:50 ↗ from the city it does come across as a

1:56:52 ↗ little strange um so I would like to see

1:56:56 ↗ us you know change the process also

1:56:59 ↗ potentially change some of the criteria

1:57:02 ↗ um and especially with um you know the

1:57:06 ↗ individual who's made a significant

1:57:07 ↗ ificant land and or monetary uh

1:57:09 ↗ contribution to the community. I think

1:57:11 ↗ based on the naming of Senna Park and

1:57:14 ↗ also McCary Woods which was the one

1:57:16 ↗ prior to that that does it's it's kind

1:57:19 ↗ of aligned with that fourth point but

1:57:21 ↗ not really. Um and so I would like to

1:57:26 ↗ you know kind of see that expanded. I

1:57:28 ↗ think also the other thing to note is

1:57:29 ↗ that in addition to, you know, having

1:57:33 ↗ been a great contributor to the

1:57:36 ↗ community and with his legacy of public

1:57:38 ↗ service, the I think the thing that

1:57:40 ↗ really pushes it over the edge for me is

1:57:41 ↗ that it was such a, you know, for

1:57:46 ↗ how how should I say this? I think it

1:57:48 ↗ was a place that he spent a lot of time

1:57:51 ↗ and was, you know, very important to him

1:57:53 ↗ and that was like his, you know, trail

1:57:55 ↗ head that he would run from every day

1:57:57 ↗ when he was in Isquan. So that also to

1:57:59 ↗ me, you know, is another reason to um uh

1:58:04 ↗ name the trail after the late great Bill

1:58:07 ↗ Ramos.

1:58:09 ↗ >> Thanks. Additional comments?

1:58:11 ↗ >> I am Council Member Ray. I was I was

1:58:15 ↗ pausing to give everybody a chance on on

1:58:16 ↗ round one. I see no point in updating

1:58:19 ↗ the policy if we don't think that we're

1:58:21 ↗ going to follow the policy. So, um if

1:58:24 ↗ we're not going to follow it, then I say

1:58:26 ↗ no reason for us to uh massage it. So,

1:58:30 ↗ if if it is a really a city council

1:58:32 ↗ decision based on community input and

1:58:35 ↗ community vibe, then that's how we

1:58:37 ↗ should make these decisions going

1:58:38 ↗ forward. we should not have a a policy

1:58:41 ↗ in place that has some criteria that we

1:58:44 ↗ do or do not like. Um if we're just

1:58:46 ↗ going to go ahead and say, "Well, yes,

1:58:48 ↗ but this one's different and we're going

1:58:50 ↗ to uh take direct action." So, um I I I

1:58:54 ↗ I

1:58:57 ↗ don't know that the community has

1:58:58 ↗ spoken. I know parts of the community

1:59:00 ↗ have spoken. Um but I think that, you

1:59:04 ↗ know, we have it's a community resource.

1:59:06 ↗ It's not a city council resource. and

1:59:08 ↗ and the the committee is a way to

1:59:11 ↗ embrace the community and we may have a

1:59:13 ↗ preferred option and that's fine. It

1:59:15 ↗ could be very quick but I think um

1:59:17 ↗ engaging the community is always better

1:59:19 ↗ than not engaging the community in a

1:59:20 ↗ formal process.

1:59:24 ↗ >> Any other comments? Uh there's a few who

1:59:27 ↗ have not yet commented. I know Chris got

1:59:30 ↗ council member Rig got to comment twice

1:59:31 ↗ but is there anybody who hasn't spoken

1:59:33 ↗ that would like to comment as well?

1:59:35 ↗ >> No. and I've seen shaking heads um to

1:59:38 ↗ indicate that. Um I will make a

1:59:41 ↗ secondary comment just that I I think

1:59:44 ↗ having a naming policy in place is

1:59:48 ↗ useful when there isn't someone

1:59:52 ↗ significantly tied to that. And so if

1:59:55 ↗ you look at the 2016, you know, naming

1:59:58 ↗ of Senna Park,

2:00:01 ↗ if you're going to create a park, you

2:00:02 ↗ have to have a name for it. just like

2:00:05 ↗ you know tributaries have to have names

2:00:06 ↗ and things like that. So um having a

2:00:10 ↗ policy in which you are choosing you

2:00:14 ↗ know the name of several parks or

2:00:16 ↗ something like that um I do think still

2:00:19 ↗ makes sense at some point. I don't know

2:00:20 ↗ if there's great urgency in um updating

2:00:24 ↗ the policy around it. Um but I would be

2:00:28 ↗ interested in keeping that or

2:00:30 ↗ potentially looking at an update at some

2:00:32 ↗ point.

2:00:37 ↗ If there is no additional comments, the

2:00:39 ↗ motion on the table has been moved and

2:00:41 ↗ second is to directation to prepare

2:00:43 ↗ resolution ning the East Sunset Way

2:00:45 ↗ trail head after Bill Raml.

2:00:48 ↗ Uh if there's no further discussion, all

2:00:51 ↗ those in favor signify by saying I.

2:00:53 ↗ >> I.

2:00:55 ↗ >> Those opposed?

2:00:56 ↗ >> No.

2:00:58 ↗ >> I believe that carries 6 to one. Correct

2:01:02 ↗ me if I'm wrong.

2:01:05 ↗ And uh the next item of business is

2:01:07 ↗ committee and regional reports. Um so we

2:01:10 ↗ will start with council member Jen.

2:01:13 ↗ >> Uh no report from me today.

2:01:15 ↗ >> Thank you. Council member Joe.

2:01:17 ↗ >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. The Cascade

2:01:19 ↗ Water Alliance Board will be meeting on

2:01:21 ↗ July 23rd, 3:30 p.m. Details can be

2:01:25 ↗ found on the Cascade Water Alliance

2:01:27 ↗ website.

2:01:29 ↗ On August 6th, the Cascade Water

2:01:31 ↗ Alliance Public Affairs Committee will

2:01:32 ↗ be meeting at 9:00 a.m. via Teams. The

2:01:36 ↗ ELTAC meeting that I previously

2:01:37 ↗ announced at our last meeting that was

2:01:40 ↗ scheduled for

2:01:42 ↗ July 28th has been cancelled. Uh we're

2:01:44 ↗ going to be waiting until we have a new

2:01:47 ↗ economic development manager on board

2:01:49 ↗ before we uh take additional uh steps

2:01:52 ↗ for ELTAC for the rest of the year. And

2:01:55 ↗ that concludes my report. Thank you.

2:01:57 ↗ Thanks, Council Member Joe. Council

2:01:59 ↗ member Hall.

2:02:00 ↗ >> Uh, thank you. I have four, but they're

2:02:02 ↗ pretty short. I'm sorry. Um, so first

2:02:05 ↗ for planning, development, and

2:02:06 ↗ environment. Don't really have a report

2:02:08 ↗ beyond what I shared as part of each of

2:02:09 ↗ our agenda items today, except to say

2:02:11 ↗ that we're taking August off like I

2:02:14 ↗ think all of the other committees. Um,

2:02:16 ↗ and our next meeting is scheduled for

2:02:17 ↗ September 9th, and we'll be diving into

2:02:19 ↗ the highly anticipated Title 18 tree

2:02:22 ↗ code update. Um, so we're all very

2:02:24 ↗ excited about that, and the community is

2:02:26 ↗ as well. Um, East Side Fire and Rescue,

2:02:29 ↗ um, recruitment for our new fire chief

2:02:31 ↗ is live and applications are coming in

2:02:34 ↗ now as we speak. Well, maybe not right

2:02:36 ↗ as we speak, but they're coming in. Um,

2:02:38 ↗ we have officially moved up what's

2:02:41 ↗ called our preliminary selection of our

2:02:43 ↗ new fire chief um, from October to

2:02:46 ↗ September to allow for site visits if we

2:02:49 ↗ want. And I think Mayor Paulie, I think

2:02:50 ↗ you might have been part of the site

2:02:51 ↗ visit with the recruitment of uh, our

2:02:54 ↗ fire chief, our previous fire chief.

2:02:56 ↗ to allow for full background checks,

2:02:58 ↗ which take a little bit longer than we

2:03:00 ↗ thought, and for the apparently industry

2:03:02 ↗ standard two months of notice for

2:03:05 ↗ previous employer um for um someone at

2:03:08 ↗ this position. Um so our current

2:03:10 ↗ schedule is now this uh August 19th, we

2:03:14 ↗ will receive around 15 or so applicant

2:03:15 ↗ profiles from the consultants. The next

2:03:18 ↗ day on August 20th, the fire chief ad

2:03:20 ↗ hoc committee will review applicants and

2:03:22 ↗ decide um um around five or six that

2:03:26 ↗ move forward. On September 9th for meet

2:03:28 ↗ and greets and I'll be sure to share all

2:03:30 ↗ that information uh with you all in case

2:03:32 ↗ you'd like to participate. And then the

2:03:34 ↗ next day on September 10th, we have

2:03:35 ↗ panel interviews and members of city

2:03:37 ↗ staff um and myself will likely be

2:03:40 ↗ sitting on those panels. So just um stay

2:03:43 ↗ tuned on that. And then the next day,

2:03:45 ↗ September 11th, is our board meeting to

2:03:47 ↗ make that preliminary selection on fire

2:03:50 ↗ chief. Um, uh, we're taking August off,

2:03:52 ↗ but the fire chief ad hoc will continue,

2:03:55 ↗ uh, its work. Let me know if you have

2:03:56 ↗ any questions on that in the meantime.

2:03:57 ↗ Um, but it is happening all at once now.

2:04:02 ↗ Um, which is exciting. Um, very exciting

2:04:05 ↗ and nervous. Um I am also announced at

2:04:08 ↗ uh the last Epher meeting that given my

2:04:10 ↗ recent appointment to the state

2:04:11 ↗ legislature uh my intention is to

2:04:14 ↗ transition out of Epher Epher leadership

2:04:16 ↗ by December or early January. Uh the

2:04:19 ↗ plan is to elect a new chair elected at

2:04:21 ↗ our September meeting to be integrated

2:04:23 ↗ into the current leadership team and

2:04:24 ↗ learn the ropes. Um because that

2:04:27 ↗ actually is a pretty decent time

2:04:29 ↗ commitment I've learned. Um, and then

2:04:30 ↗ the idea would be then to kind of

2:04:32 ↗ transition them into the chair position

2:04:34 ↗ after I've negotiated a final contract

2:04:36 ↗ with our new fire chief. So, I just

2:04:37 ↗ wanted to share that as an FYI. I had

2:04:39 ↗ hoped to be the chair of the Epher board

2:04:42 ↗ as long as Allen did from Northbend.

2:04:44 ↗ He's he was chair for 16 years and I got

2:04:48 ↗ Yeah. six months so far. Yeah. So, um,

2:04:52 ↗ anyways um

2:04:54 ↗ FYI on that. Um, that concludes Ephera

2:04:57 ↗ report. So the next one is RIA 8, the

2:04:59 ↗ water resource inventory area 8 salmon

2:05:01 ↗ recovery council. We had an awesome

2:05:03 ↗ meeting last Thursday which included at

2:05:06 ↗ the end a tour of the new Lake Samameish

2:05:09 ↗ State Park um lower Isiqua Greek Creek

2:05:13 ↗ restoration project which is so cool. I

2:05:15 ↗ have seen many different salmon habitat

2:05:18 ↗ restoration projects before and after,

2:05:20 ↗ but I've never seen when there are a ton

2:05:23 ↗ of trucks on site moving dirt, creating

2:05:27 ↗ new pathways for streams, new places for

2:05:30 ↗ salmon to just chill out. Um, so it was

2:05:33 ↗ really cool to to to see it all in

2:05:35 ↗ action and um would encourage you to

2:05:37 ↗ reach out to Mountains to Sound Greenway

2:05:39 ↗ if you're interested in checking that

2:05:41 ↗ out. I know. Um, Mayor Paul, you might

2:05:42 ↗ have won this weekend or or there was an

2:05:45 ↗ invitation that went over. Oh, did you?

2:05:46 ↗ Oh, good. Yeah. Um, anyways, that was

2:05:48 ↗ super super interesting. Uh, we also

2:05:51 ↗ received a draft budget and work plan

2:05:53 ↗ for 2020 um six and and approved some

2:05:57 ↗ funding for a salmon summit to happen

2:06:00 ↗ next year and then also a new technical

2:06:03 ↗ analysis of large wood in priority

2:06:06 ↗ streams along the Cedar River. Um, I'll

2:06:09 ↗ send pictures out to the council of the

2:06:11 ↗ tour because it was really cool. Um, and

2:06:13 ↗ then the last thing, safety and civic

2:06:15 ↗ facilities task force. Uh, council

2:06:17 ↗ member Martz and I are on that. Our next

2:06:18 ↗ meeting is next Tuesday for that. And it

2:06:21 ↗ really feels like we're getting closer

2:06:22 ↗ to landing the plane on this. So, um,

2:06:24 ↗ stay tuned on that as we land that

2:06:26 ↗ plane. Thanks.

2:06:28 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Hall. Council

2:06:30 ↗ member Ray,

2:06:31 ↗ >> I have no report this evening.

2:06:33 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Mertz.

2:06:34 ↗ >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. The Sound

2:06:36 ↗ Cities Association Public Issues

2:06:38 ↗ Committee met on Wednesday, July 9th at

2:06:41 ↗ 7 PM for a very exciting uh meeting.

2:06:44 ↗ Careful what you ask for. Uh back to the

2:06:47 ↗ um good old days of having a lot going

2:06:49 ↗ on on the subject of the King County

2:06:52 ↗ Transportation District uh proposed

2:06:54 ↗ sales tax. Uh we voted unanimously

2:06:58 ↗ uh to draft a letter uh stating that now

2:07:01 ↗ is not the right time for a new sales

2:07:02 ↗ tax and that regional collaboration is

2:07:05 ↗ critical before choosing a new

2:07:06 ↗ transportation uh revenue option. Uh we

2:07:10 ↗ recommended that on to the board and I

2:07:12 ↗ don't know what the board did with it

2:07:14 ↗ but that's what that's what we did. Uh

2:07:16 ↗ new indigent defense case standards. We

2:07:19 ↗ talked about the possibility uh of

2:07:22 ↗ taking emergency action in September.

2:07:24 ↗ Um, the following points were raised.

2:07:26 ↗ The budget impact of the new standards

2:07:28 ↗ on cities should be emphasized in the

2:07:30 ↗ 2026 SCA legislative agenda. Collective

2:07:33 ↗ action should be taken as soon as

2:07:35 ↗ possible by SCA. SEA might consider

2:07:37 ↗ jointly sending a letter to the

2:07:38 ↗ Washington State Supreme Court and the

2:07:40 ↗ legislature. PIC members discussed the

2:07:43 ↗ following elements for possible

2:07:44 ↗ inclusion in the letter. Not asking to

2:07:46 ↗ change the standards, but to delay in

2:07:48 ↗ implementation, providing new revenue

2:07:50 ↗ options for cities to meet the standards

2:07:52 ↗ by the 2036 deadline. and guidance from

2:07:55 ↗ the state on retention and recruitment

2:07:56 ↗ strategies and other resources available

2:07:58 ↗ to cities to implement the standards and

2:08:00 ↗ that SCA should partner with the

2:08:02 ↗ association of Washington cities in some

2:08:04 ↗ capacity while developing publicizing

2:08:06 ↗ this letter. I don't know if that's

2:08:08 ↗ going to happen but uh next steps P uh

2:08:11 ↗ PIC directed SCA staff to begin

2:08:13 ↗ developing a letter for potential

2:08:14 ↗ emergency action at the September pick

2:08:16 ↗ meeting. SCA staff is reaching out to

2:08:18 ↗ association of Washington cities and at

2:08:20 ↗ the July board meeting staff will

2:08:22 ↗ discuss the letter overall message and

2:08:24 ↗ possible recipients. I don't know what

2:08:25 ↗ happened at that meeting either because

2:08:26 ↗ they haven't published uh minutes from

2:08:28 ↗ the SCA board meeting, but that was the

2:08:31 ↗ recommendations that were put uh forward

2:08:34 ↗ by pick. Um I will be asking

2:08:38 ↗ well we don't have a later August

2:08:40 ↗ meeting. So um if on this on this

2:08:44 ↗ indigent defense case standards, we

2:08:47 ↗ we'll we will have a we will have a

2:08:49 ↗ council meeting before the next pick

2:08:51 ↗ meeting. So I will come back at the good

2:08:53 ↗ of the order. Um I will try to send

2:08:56 ↗ something out between now and the

2:08:58 ↗ September the 1st September

2:09:01 ↗ uh council meeting such that we can

2:09:04 ↗ discuss at for good of the order and so

2:09:06 ↗ that I can go back to pick with the

2:09:08 ↗ sense of this body. Um and uh last but

2:09:12 ↗ not least, services, safety and parks

2:09:14 ↗ will be meeting tomorrow night here in

2:09:15 ↗ chambers at 7 p.m. I will be

2:09:17 ↗ participating remotely. So council

2:09:19 ↗ deputy president DM Michelle will chair

2:09:21 ↗ uh we are covering um COOM0157

2:09:25 ↗ to TOD opportunity center options a very

2:09:28 ↗ very important conversation and COOM0158

2:09:32 ↗ three trails asphalt art pedestrian

2:09:34 ↗ safety improvements. Uh this concludes

2:09:36 ↗ my report.

2:09:38 ↗ >> Thanks Council Member Mars. This uh I do

2:09:40 ↗ sit on the SCA board. The SEA board

2:09:42 ↗ moved the letter forward from the 38

2:09:45 ↗ city public issue committees as the pick

2:09:48 ↗ wrote it. So that one is in play. And on

2:09:51 ↗ the indigent standards um uh the

2:09:54 ↗ original study done on this was to

2:09:57 ↗ recommend that each state do their own

2:10:00 ↗ investigation

2:10:01 ↗ uh before they adopt the recommendation.

2:10:04 ↗ And so there's uh going to be push back

2:10:06 ↗ with AWC hopefully to try and have our

2:10:10 ↗ state do the study before they adopt it.

2:10:12 ↗ It says right in the original study that

2:10:13 ↗ this is not meant for statewide

2:10:15 ↗ adoption. So there may be some options

2:10:17 ↗ there as well. Deputy council president

2:10:19 ↗ >> and thank you for that update, Madame

2:10:21 ↗ Mayor.

2:10:23 ↗ >> Uh thank you. Um, I attended the

2:10:26 ↗ regional transit committee on July the

2:10:28 ↗ 16th and we had a discussion of progress

2:10:31 ↗ on rapid ride routes which are now

2:10:34 ↗ accounting for almost 25% of Metro's

2:10:36 ↗ ridership. Uh, and ridership is gaining

2:10:39 ↗ year-over-year. So, if you don't know

2:10:40 ↗ what a rapid ride route is, those are

2:10:43 ↗ the red buses. Uh, we don't have a rapid

2:10:46 ↗ ride route out here, but you'll see them

2:10:49 ↗ driving around other places. Um the

2:10:52 ↗ rapid part of a rapid ride is the easy

2:10:55 ↗ access to the bus. They have special

2:10:56 ↗ buses that you can walk on, walk off, uh

2:11:00 ↗ pay quickly and um so the amenity there

2:11:04 ↗ is uh actually the access and and egress

2:11:07 ↗ from the bus. Um and so there was a good

2:11:11 ↗ discussion. Uh there are new uh rapid

2:11:14 ↗ ride routes going into Kirkland. It's

2:11:16 ↗ going to be called the Kline. It'll be

2:11:18 ↗ about two more years before that is

2:11:20 ↗ introduced. Uh plus Belleview has a

2:11:22 ↗ rapid ride um that they uh have had for

2:11:26 ↗ a number of years. Uh board of health

2:11:28 ↗ met on July the 17th and we discussed

2:11:31 ↗ three important topics. They always have

2:11:34 ↗ a packed agenda at the board of health.

2:11:36 ↗ Uh the first one was uh health impacts

2:11:38 ↗ on asylum seekers and refugee

2:11:40 ↗ populations. The second one was new

2:11:43 ↗ initiatives on wastewater treatment,

2:11:45 ↗ septic and sewer systems. And the last

2:11:47 ↗ one was a discussion about how wage

2:11:50 ↗ theft is impacting safety and security

2:11:52 ↗ in the food industry. And wage theft

2:11:55 ↗ occurs when, for example, a uh

2:11:59 ↗ restaurant owner requires his people to

2:12:02 ↗ come in if they're sick. Uh and if they

2:12:05 ↗ don't, they lose a day's wages. Um and

2:12:07 ↗ so there's great concern that this is

2:12:10 ↗ becoming a pretty common practice. And

2:12:14 ↗ um so there was quite a discussion about

2:12:16 ↗ what could be done uh to uh turn that

2:12:19 ↗ around. Uh chair Terresa Moscada also

2:12:23 ↗ agreed to form a subcommittee to discuss

2:12:25 ↗ potential board of health resolutions

2:12:27 ↗ and legislative advocacy around the

2:12:30 ↗ subject of federal cuts to health care.

2:12:32 ↗ And I and Kirkland City Council member

2:12:34 ↗ Amy Falconee, both representing South

2:12:37 ↗ Cities Association, volunteered to serve

2:12:39 ↗ on the subcommittee because of course we

2:12:41 ↗ did.

2:12:43 ↗ So, so that will be taking place

2:12:45 ↗ sometime before our next meeting in

2:12:48 ↗ September. The uh East Side

2:12:50 ↗ Transportation Partnership, Regional

2:12:51 ↗ Transit Committee, and Board of Health

2:12:54 ↗ meetings are all cancelled for August.

2:12:58 ↗ >> Thank you, Deputy Council President.

2:12:59 ↗ Council President,

2:13:01 ↗ >> I have no report this evening.

2:13:04 ↗ >> Thanks. And I will pull up the mayor's

2:13:07 ↗ report for this evening. Um, there'll be

2:13:09 ↗ an executive session tonight to discuss

2:13:11 ↗ pending or potential litigation. The

2:13:13 ↗ executive session is estimated to take

2:13:15 ↗ 15 minutes. Action is anticipated to

2:13:18 ↗ occur in open session.

2:13:20 ↗ Transit oriented development, the

2:13:21 ↗ opportunity center housing cooperation

2:13:24 ↗ agreement. Tonight on your consent

2:13:26 ↗ calendar, the city council did authorize

2:13:28 ↗ the housing cooperation agreement with

2:13:29 ↗ King County Housing Authority. And this

2:13:31 ↗ brings the city one step closer to

2:13:33 ↗ delivering more than 350 affordable and

2:13:37 ↗ market rate rental units in central

2:13:39 ↗ Isco. The HCA marks a significant

2:13:42 ↗ milestone enabling permitting for this

2:13:44 ↗ project to proceed. The city and its

2:13:47 ↗ partners look forward to the

2:13:48 ↗ notsodistant future where critically

2:13:50 ↗ needed mixed rate housing and public

2:13:52 ↗ health services are steps away from

2:13:54 ↗ transit access, Tibet Valley Park, and a

2:13:57 ↗ reimagined central Isakqua. A couple of

2:14:00 ↗ fun events coming up. The Isiqua Chalk

2:14:02 ↗ Art Festival. Get ready for a colorful

2:14:05 ↗ afternoon of creativity and summer fun

2:14:07 ↗ at the Isqua Chalk Art Festival tomorrow

2:14:10 ↗ 12 to 4 p.m. at the Isqua Community

2:14:12 ↗ Center lawn. This free family-friendly

2:14:15 ↗ event invites everyone to grab some

2:14:17 ↗ chalk and make a creation down the

2:14:18 ↗ Reineer Trail. In addition to chalk

2:14:21 ↗ chalk art, treat yourself to an ice

2:14:23 ↗ cream while enjoying live music from a

2:14:25 ↗ brass marching band, circus acts by

2:14:27 ↗ clown garage and lawn games. Bring a

2:14:29 ↗ blanket, pack a picnic, and stay a

2:14:31 ↗ while. There's something magical for

2:14:33 ↗ everyone. A national night out is coming

2:14:35 ↗ on. Coming up, this is a nationwide

2:14:37 ↗ event to promote police, community

2:14:39 ↗ partnerships, crime prevention, and

2:14:42 ↗ neighborhood camaraderie. Across the

2:14:44 ↗ country, communities come together to

2:14:46 ↗ say no to crime and yes to community

2:14:48 ↗ spirit. Join the Isqua Police Department

2:14:50 ↗ for our annual event behind City Hall at

2:14:52 ↗ Memorial Park on Tuesday, August 5th

2:14:55 ↗ from 5:30 to 7. That concludes the

2:14:59 ↗ mayor's report. I'll move to the next

2:15:02 ↗ item on the agenda. Um, we're going to

2:15:05 ↗ be having an executive session to

2:15:07 ↗ discuss pending or potential litigation.

2:15:09 ↗ As just mentioned, that's made to take

2:15:11 ↗ 15 minutes and action is anticipated to

2:15:13 ↗ occur in the open session.

2:15:17 ↗ Oh, I think I'm actually I'm back into

2:15:21 ↗ Oh, there we go. Okay.

2:15:24 ↗ Uh, the next item before we go to the

2:15:25 ↗ executive session story is good of the

2:15:27 ↗ order. So, um, I will talk about a

2:15:30 ↗ couple of upcoming meetings. The next

2:15:32 ↗ regular city council meeting is Monday,

2:15:33 ↗ August 11th. And the agenda items are

2:15:36 ↗ anticipated to be the midyear financial

2:15:38 ↗ update, informational update, which is

2:15:41 ↗ the citywide work plan and capital

2:15:42 ↗ project second quarter 2025 update,

2:15:45 ↗ anformational update, economic

2:15:47 ↗ development, and an interlocal agreement

2:15:49 ↗ with lakes state parks for sports fields

2:15:52 ↗ use

2:15:53 ↗ um for the executive. Oh, anything else

2:15:55 ↗ for the good of the order? And uh yeah,

2:15:57 ↗ council president, can you let me know

2:15:58 ↗ if you see any microphones raised?

2:16:00 ↗ >> I am not seeing any.

2:16:03 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh we'll talk about our

2:16:05 ↗ executive session. We're going to have

2:16:07 ↗ this executive session tonight to

2:16:08 ↗ discuss pending potential litigation for

2:16:10 ↗ RCW42.3.110

2:16:12 ↗ PN1 PNI. It's expected to take 15

2:16:16 ↗ minutes and action is anticipated to

2:16:18 ↗ follow. So we will be going into

2:16:21 ↗ executive session at 9:17.

2:16:25 ↗ And council, if you'd like to take a

2:16:26 ↗ break, we can start in a couple of

2:16:29 ↗ minutes if that would be good. So maybe

2:16:31 ↗ we'll start at 9:20. Anyone who's not

2:16:34 ↗ part of the closed session will remain

2:16:35 ↗ in the main meeting and you're welcome

2:16:37 ↗ to stay in the meeting until it's

2:16:38 ↗ reconvened. Uh and city clerk, please

2:16:41 ↗ let us know when we can begin our

2:16:43 ↗ executive session.

2:46:39 ↗ Okay, I seeing the sign that says the

2:46:42 ↗ practice session has ended. We are Is

2:46:46 ↗ the red light on in the room? Council

2:46:48 ↗ President,

2:46:48 ↗ >> it is.

2:46:49 ↗ >> Thank you. We are back in open session

2:46:52 ↗ at 9:47 p.m. Uh would someone care to

2:46:55 ↗ make a motion?

2:46:56 ↗ >> Yes. I move we authorize the mayor

2:46:59 ↗ negotiate and execute a settlement

2:47:01 ↗ agreement for water account 303458

2:47:05 ↗ upon terms acceptable to the mayor and

2:47:07 ↗ city attorney.

2:47:11 ↗ >> Second.

2:47:14 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there

2:47:16 ↗ any council discussion?

2:47:18 ↗ >> Please let me know if any of the

2:47:19 ↗ microphones are raised.

2:47:21 ↗ >> I'm seeing none.

2:47:22 ↗ >> Thank you very much. If there's no

2:47:24 ↗ further discussion, the motion before

2:47:26 ↗ council, as earlier stated, is to

2:47:28 ↗ authorize the mayor to negotiate and

2:47:30 ↗ execute a settlement agreement for water

2:47:32 ↗ account 303458 upon terms acceptable to

2:47:34 ↗ the mayor and city attorney. All those

2:47:37 ↗ in favor signify by saying I.

2:47:39 ↗ >> I

2:47:41 ↗ those opposed.

2:47:42 ↗ >> No.

2:47:44 ↗ >> I believe that is a six to vote passes

2:47:47 ↗ and it is a 6 to1 vote. So there being

2:47:50 ↗ no further business, the meeting is

2:47:53 ↗ adjourned at 9:48. Thanks all.

2:48:02 ↗ Good night, Mayor

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

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Attendance

Council / Members (7)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Kelly Jiang

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh

Staff (3)

Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator

Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Motions and votes (5)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a) Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, July 7, 2025 MOTION: Approved. b)

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

Adopt Ordinance Nos. 3097-3110 adopting minor, state required, and policy amendments to Title 18, Land Use Code as presented. b)

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Carried 7-0

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Jiang, Joe, Marts, Reh, Walsh

Approve Resolution No. 2025-15, authorizing the Mayor to approve an amendment to the WSDOT TDR Development Agreement extending the expiration date to allow Bellevue College to evaluate development options and seek community input. MOTION: The City Council referred the motion to the Sept. 8, 2025 Com…

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Councilmember Hall

Direct the Administration to prepare a resolution naming the East Sunset Way Trailhead after Bill Ramos.

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Carried 6-1

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Jiang, Joe, Marts, Walsh

Opposed: Reh

Authorize the Mayor to negotiate and execute a settlement agreement for water account 303458 upon terms acceptable to the Mayor and City Attorney.

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Carried 6-1

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Jiang, Joe, Reh, Walsh

Opposed: Marts