City Council Regular Meeting · Monday, March 30, 2026 · City Council Digest

3. SPECIAL BUSINESS

Public Safety Telecommunications Week Proclamation ID 1999

5 min · packet pp.5

Topics: Public Safety

▶ Watch from 4:28 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

SPECIAL BUSINESS a) CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office WASHINGTON 130E. Sunset Way Issaquah, WA 98027 425-837-3000 issaquahwa.gov

Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month Proclamation ID 2000

5 min · packet pp.7

▶ Watch from 9:48 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF v King County Sexual Assault WASHINGTON Resource Center

2026 Legislative Session Report Out ID 1990

Receive Report · 20 min · packet pp.9–77

▶ Watch from 15:08 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

City of Issaquah 2026 End of Session Legislative Report March 25, 2026

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Accounts: Payables and Payroll of March 30, 2026, $25,976,985.36 ID 1941

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.79–99

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 1:09:21 Open packet at p.79 ↗

Staff report:

Finance Department P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 PH: 425-837-3050 www.issaquahwa.gov

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, March 16, 2026

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.101–104

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Mar 2, 2026

▶ Watch from 1:09:27 Open packet at p.101 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR b) 03-16-26 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. March 16, 2026 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

NW Birch Place Water Quality Retrofit Project AB 9045

Carried 6-0

Accept Project · packet pp.105–108

Topics: Water

▶ Watch from 1:09:33 Open packet at p.105 ↗

Staff report:

City Attorney Review Rachel Bender Turpin City Attorney Review Date: March 25, 2026

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Street Standards - Landscaping Update AB 9099

Carried 6-0

Adopt Ordinances · packet pp.109–429

Topics: Land UseTransportationTrees

Previously discussed: Mobility & Infrastructure Committee · Jun 24, 2024 Transportation Advisory Board · Dec 4, 2024 Transportation Advisory Board · Jan 22, 2025 Mobility & Infrastructure Committee · Feb 11, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting · May 19, 2025 Planning Policy Commission · Oct 23, 2025 Planning Policy Commission · Nov 13, 2025 Mobility & Infrastructure Committee · Mar 10, 2026

▶ Watch from 1:09:39 Open packet at p.109 ↗

Staff report:

The City of Issaquah Street Standards are adopted by reference by Issaquah Municipal Code 12.04.010. The City Council last adopted the Street Standards at the Regular City Council meeting on May 19, 2025 (AB 9021 and Ordinance No. 3094). The Street Standards provide guidance for design and construction of municipal streets, private streets, and public and private parking lots within the City of Issaquah. They are founded in City policy, codes, and standards of industry practice for transportation engineering design and construction.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Puget Sound Energy Decarbonization Grant for Issaquah Community Center AB 9150

Carried 6-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.431–437

Topics: Climate

▶ Watch from 1:09:45 Open packet at p.431 ↗

Staff report:

The City plans public building retrofits based on building condition, community needs, and supporting studies. The retrofit of the Issaquah Community Center to upgrade space heating and install a DOAS and Building Automation System was supported based on the following assessments:  Issaquah Facilities Condition Assessment (2023)  Preliminary Energy Audit (2024)  Fuel Transition Assessment (2024)

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

2026 Water Main Replacement AB 9156

Carried 6-0

Award Bid · packet pp.439–442

Topics: Water

▶ Watch from 1:09:51 Open packet at p.439 ↗

Staff report:

City Attorney Review Rachel Bender Turpin City Attorney Review Date: March 25, 2026

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Amendments to IMC 2.89, Economic Vitality Commission AB 9158

Carried 6-0

Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.443–447

Topics: Land UseEconomic Development

▶ Watch from 1:09:57 Open packet at p.443 ↗

Staff report:

The Economic Vitality Commission was established by ordinance in 2012. The Commission originally had 9 members and up to 3 alternates. In 2016, the membership was changed to 10 regular members. In 2021, the membership was changed back to 9 members and up to 3 alternates.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

2026 Board & Commission Annual Appointments AB 9157

Carried 6-0

Confirm · packet pp.449–453

Topics: Boards & Commissions

▶ Watch from 1:10:03 Open packet at p.449 ↗

Staff report:

Confirm appointments as presented.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Amending Community Planning and Development Fees AB 9169

Carried 6-0

Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.455–470

Topics: Land UseBudget

▶ Watch from 1:10:09 Open packet at p.455 ↗

Staff report:

The City updates its fees annually to account for inflationary increases and additional adjustments that need to be made. The 2026 fees were approved by Council on November 10, 2025 (AB 9083, Ord. 3120) and went into effect in January 2026. In the process of updating the online code the codifier noticed some fees and fee types were inadvertently omitted in the November update. Rather then handling the discrepancies as corrections, the Administration preferred to bring an ordinance forward to formally correct the omissions.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Opioid Settlement Agreements: Six Remnant Defendants AB 9175

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.471–664

Topics: Public Safety

▶ Watch from 1:10:15 Open packet at p.471 ↗

Staff report:

A new national opioid settlement has been reached with six regional distributors/dispenser defendants: Associated Pharmacies, Inc. (and American Associated Pharmacies); J M Smith Corporation; Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; Morris and Dickson Co.; North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; and United Natural Foods, Inc. (including its subsidiaries SuperValu and Advantage Logistics) (each individually, a “Remnant Defendant,” and, collectively, the “Six Remnant Defendants”). The agreement is attached as Exhibit B.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Amendment AB 9176

Carried 6-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.665–710

Topics: Public Safety

▶ Watch from 1:10:21 Open packet at p.665 ↗

Staff report:

The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP), administered by the Federal Department of Homeland Security through state governments, distributes funds to local governments. The program is designed to support the implementation of the National Preparedness System and contribute to the National Preparedness Goal of achieving a secure and resilient nation. Allowable costs under the SLCGP aim to bolster core capabilities across prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery mission areas.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

6. REGULAR BUSINESS

Issaquah History Museum Track Use Agreement and Trolley Funding Amendment AB 9170

Carried 6-0

Authorize · 30 min · packet pp.711–748

Topics: BudgetArts & Culture

▶ Watch from 1:10:26 Open packet at p.711 ↗

Staff report:

The City of Issaquah has an existing lease and funding agreement with IHM to support operation of the historic trolley in the downtown corridor. The trolley program has historically served as a community amenity that promotes tourism, supports local businesses, and highlights Issaquah’s history.

Roll call:

Moved by (main motion as amended) · seconded by

In favor: Adair, Jiang, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh

9. GOOD OF THE ORDER

Upcoming Council Meetings

▶ Watch from 2:22:29

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION

10a

Executive Session - Property Acquisition per RCW 42.30.110(1)(b) ID 2004

30 min

▶ Watch from 2:23:48

11. OPEN SESSION

11a

Potential Action following Executive Session

1168 segments .txt ↗

0:00 ↗ I will meet you up there.

0:13 ↗ Whereas when an emergency occurs, the prop response of police officers is critical to

0:17 ↗ the pro protection of life and preservation of property. And whereas professional public

0:22 ↗ safety telecommunications are vital link for our community and are the first and

0:26 ↗ most critical contact our residents have with emergency services. And whereas public safety

0:30 ↗ telecommunications are the single vital link for our police officers by monitoring their

0:34 ↗ activities by radio, providing their information and ensuring their safety.

0:38 ↗ And whereas public safety telecommunications at the Isqua Communication Center have contributed

0:43 ↗ substantially to the apprehension of criminals. And whereas our dispatchers exhibit compassion,

0:48 ↗ understanding, and professionalism during the performance of their job. Now, therefore, I,

0:52 ↗ Mark Muller, mayor of the city of Isqua, do hereby proclaim the week of April 12th to 18th,

0:56 ↗ 2026 to be public safety telecommunications week in the city of Isiqua and invite the community

1:02 ↗ to join me in thanking Isiqua's dispatchers for their services and outstanding contributions.

1:15 ↗ And for those of you who don't know about our new technology upgrades in Isiqua,

1:18 ↗ if you call 911 in Isqua city limits, you get directly routed to our Isqua dispatch

1:24 ↗ center right here at city hall across the street with an average response time of 2.5 seconds,

1:28 ↗ which is some of the fastest in the country. Oh, sorry. You have comments. Go, go, go, go.

1:37 ↗ You're pinching. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Good evening. April 12th through the 18th,

1:46 ↗ National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. As we approach this week, it is a great opportunity

1:50 ↗ to recognize the work our Erisquators do every day. Telecommunicators are often the first

1:56 ↗ point of contact in an emergency. The calm and reassuring voice people hear what might be the

2:02 ↗ worst day of their lives. They handle stressful, sometimes chaotic situations while making sure

2:08 ↗ that help gets there as it needs to. Most of their work happens behind the scenes,

2:14 ↗ but it's absolutely critical in keeping our community safe. Many of you are aware that

2:18 ↗ midepptember 25, we became a primary PAP. As Mr. Mullet had expressed prior to this change,

2:25 ↗ 911 calls made from cell phones in Isiqua were routed through King County Sheriff's

2:29 ↗ Office or Washington State Patrol before being transferred to us, which caused a

2:34 ↗ slight delay. Now those calls come directly to our center. This has been a significant and positive

2:40 ↗ change. Our telecommunicators can answer calls faster, get officers dispatched more quickly,

2:44 ↗ and coordinate the fire and EMS services, making their more seamless co-response when needed.

2:50 ↗ With the transition, we have experienced a notable increase in call volume, averaging approximately

2:55 ↗ 480 additional 911 calls per month over the past five months. The and honestly, this is

3:02 ↗ where our team really stands out. Even with that increase, they've continued to do outstanding job,

3:07 ↗ not just with how they take the callers or care of the callers, but how they quickly are able to

3:12 ↗ answer those 911 calls. In 2024, our average 911 answer was 5.42 42 seconds and in 25 it dropped to

3:20 ↗ 2.55 seconds. That reduction, even with increased demand, speaks volumes about the commitment,

3:25 ↗ professionalism, and resilience of our team. Currently, our communication center is staffed

3:30 ↗ by 13 full-time employees, 12 fully trained state certified telecommunicators and one in training.

3:37 ↗ Each of them u plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and well-being of the community. We

3:42 ↗ are incredibly proud of the work they do and we appreciate the continued support from this

3:45 ↗ council and the community we serve. Thank you. Right, we have our photo session with Wall-E.

4:02 ↗ I know. Wow. We're joined by two members of our legislative delegation here. Oh, one second.

4:13 ↗ I know we have Representative Zan and Representative Zach Hall. This is We're

4:18 ↗ We're a lucky group tonight. Okay. Our next item on the agenda is ID 2000, Sexual Assault

4:28 ↗ Awareness and Prevention Month Proclamation. I'd like to invite Deanna Shutz, King County

4:33 ↗ Sexual Assault Resource Center board member and his squad resident to the lecture. Come on up.

4:41 ↗ So whereas sexual assault awareness and prevention month calls attention to the

4:44 ↗ fact that sexual violence is widespread and impacts every person in this community. Every

4:48 ↗ 68 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. And whereas black,

4:52 ↗ indigenous, and other people of color require living in poverty, LGBTQ plus people, elders,

4:58 ↗ people with disabilities, and others who have been historically oppressed are disproportionately

5:01 ↗ affected by sexual violence in significant and complex ways. whereas sexual assault is

5:06 ↗ among the most underreported crimes for many reasons. But pres survivors who are already

5:11 ↗ most marginalized face additional barriers to reporting such as language, immigration status,

5:16 ↗ or disability. And whereas ending sexual violence requires us to address racism, sexism,

5:21 ↗ and all forms of oppression that contribute to the perpetuation of sexual assault. Whereas by working

5:26 ↗ together as a community, we can alleviate the trauma of sexual violence by ensuring supportive

5:30 ↗ resources are available to all survivors and actively disrupting harmful attitudes and

5:35 ↗ behaviors that contribute to sexual violence. Now, therefore, I, Mark Mullet, mayor of the city of

5:39 ↗ Isqua, do hereby proclaim April 2026 to be sexual assault awareness and prevention month in the city

5:44 ↗ of Isiziqua. And I encourage all residents to join me in the special observation. Together, we

5:49 ↗ commit to a safer future for all children, young people, adults, and families in our community.

6:00 ↗ Thank you so much for supporting this important issue and for helping survivors understand that

6:08 ↗ they are heard. First, to the survivors in our community, I want to say you're not alone. Sexual

6:15 ↗ assault is common. Half of women and one-third of men have experienced sexual assault in their

6:21 ↗ lifetime. People from marginalized communities are at even greater risk. And chances are that each

6:28 ↗ one of you knows someone who has been affected by sexual assault. This trauma is something

6:34 ↗ that can affect a survivor's mental, physical, and behavioral health, their ability to form

6:39 ↗ healthy relationships, remain in school, or even work. But recovery from this trauma is possible

6:46 ↗ with support. Kesark supported 4,300 individual survivors and their family members in 2025 alone.

6:57 ↗ Almost half of our clients are teens and children. We know young people are the most vulnerable to

7:04 ↗ sexual assault and the least likely to speak up because they're afraid they won't be believed.

7:12 ↗ I want to end with a different message to survivors. Free and confidential help is

7:18 ↗ available and to anyone who needs information about sexual assault. Our 24-hour resource

7:24 ↗ line staffed by some of the most amazing compassionate people I have ever known in

7:30 ↗ my life are available and you can contact them at 88899 voice. We always say at KARC,

7:38 ↗ we can't change what we can't talk about. So, thank you for your leadership and your willingness

7:44 ↗ to be loud about sexual assault. Not going to forget to give you the proclamation this time.

8:22 ↗ The next item of business is ID 1 1990 2026 legislative session report out.

8:28 ↗ We're going to invite our city lobbyist Shelley Helder to present this item.

8:44 ↗ and and Jillian's providing an assist.

8:54 ↗ All right. Well, good evening. I am Shelley Helder and I have the privilege of serving as your

9:00 ↗ contract lobbyist in Olympia. Um, I'm here this evening to provide a report on the outcomes of the

9:06 ↗ 2026 legislative session. Um, but before I jump into the presentation, I just want to call your

9:12 ↗ attention to several documents that are included in your council packet. Um, first is a written

9:18 ↗ report that has um an overview. It goes into more detail of outcomes of issues that the city tracked

9:24 ↗ this session. Has budget summaries, list of all the bills the city took positions on. Um there's

9:30 ↗ also a matrix of outcomes from all the budgets um that are relevant to cities developed by the

9:36 ↗ Association of Washington Cities and then um a rather lengthy document that lists all the bills

9:42 ↗ that passed this session that have a nexus with city government. They may not all be applicable

9:47 ↗ to Isiqua, but I wanted to provide that reference document for you all and for city staff um to have

9:54 ↗ awareness of what did pass the legislature. So, um, this evening there are four sections to my

10:01 ↗ presentation. I will provide an overview of the 2026 session. Um, we'll review outcomes from the

10:08 ↗ city's legislative priorities. Um, I'll also touch on a few additional legislative issues that came

10:14 ↗ up and then we'll wrap up by talking about next steps. So, the 2026 session was a short session.

10:22 ↗ it was 60 days and the um similar as the first year of the bienium the Democrats held um strong

10:30 ↗ majorities in both chambers and so they are the ones that set the priorities for the session.

10:36 ↗ some of the um priorities and and ended up being the kind of the themes of issues that came up

10:41 ↗ throughout the session were responding to um the federal government's actions um trying to improve

10:48 ↗ affordability for Washingtonians and reforming the state's tax code in a short session. Really

10:56 ↗ the primary objective is to adopt the supplemental budgets and that what that objective was achieved.

11:02 ↗ It isn't every short session, so it's worth mentioning. Um, in addition to the budgets,

11:08 ↗ the legislature considered over 1,200 bills and ultimately 268 were passed into law.

11:19 ↗ So, as I mentioned, the legislature adopted their three supplemental budgets. Uh,

11:24 ↗ the most challenging of the three this year was the operating budget, and that was largely due

11:29 ↗ to rising maintenance costs. Um and that's driven by increased case loads um partially from expanded

11:38 ↗ um programs based on policy choices made um in previous previous years. The supplemental

11:45 ↗ operating budget increases spending by 2.4 billion. Roughly 880 million of that amount

11:53 ↗ is from the state's budget stabilization account which is also referred to as the rainy day fund.

11:59 ↗ It's essentially the state's savings account. The operating budget balances not only because of the

12:06 ↗ 880 million from the rainy day fund, but also a $375 million transfer from the public works

12:13 ↗ assistance account. Um that account is backfilled with bonds from the state's capital budget.

12:23 ↗ The largest expenditure in the supplemental operating budget is roughly a billion dollars

12:29 ↗ to cover the state's self- insurance liability premium. And I'll touch on that more in a

12:34 ↗ moment. The other two budgets, the transportation budget and the capital budget, are traditionally

12:40 ↗ developed in a bipartisan fashion, and that proved to be the case this year as well. The supplemental

12:46 ↗ transportation budget adds 1.2 two billion in spending authority and really the focus for

12:52 ↗ that is on maintenance and preservation of the state's highway system. The supplemental capital

12:59 ↗ budget authorizes an additional 889 million and one of the most notable investments in

13:06 ↗ the supplemental capital budget is 123 million in um invested in the housing trust fund. That's

13:13 ↗ in addition to the amount that was allocated to the fund in the um underlying the bienial budget.

13:22 ↗ The city has a practice of developing a legislative agenda to align with the state's

13:27 ↗ 2-year budget cycle and then making small updates to that agenda based on what's accomplished in the

13:35 ↗ first year of the bienium. So, as a reminder, in the 2025 session, the city requested and received

13:43 ↗ $100,000 for the Creeks to Peaks activation project and 1.4 million to um support the

13:51 ↗ recovery from the bomb cyclone. So, those items were removed from the 2026 legislative agenda,

13:58 ↗ and we had four priorities heading into this short session. The first was to protect the timing of

14:05 ↗ the funding for the state route 18 um widening and safety project. Um and the goal of that is

14:12 ↗ to ensure that it can be delivered in a timely fashion. Um there was also a dual objective of

14:19 ↗ um making sure budget writer transportation budget writers know that this is just the first

14:23 ↗ phase of the project and the second phase which is Tiger Mountain Summit to Esquaobart Road is still

14:29 ↗ unfunded. So the supplemental transportation budget retains all the funding for the first

14:36 ↗ phase of the state route 18 project. Um and it it maintains the funding and the timeline needed

14:41 ↗ for wash to deliver the project on schedule. Um there was no new funding allocated to not only

14:49 ↗ SR18 but any project in the state. really the transportation budget writers were f focused on

14:56 ↗ backfilling the historic lack of funding in maintenance and preservation and so the new

15:03 ↗ funds allocated in the supplemental budget were not for projects and I I guess I'll just comment

15:09 ↗ that there is becoming more of a unified um perspective amongst transportation budget

15:16 ↗ writers that the historical way of investing in um transportation projects is through doing

15:23 ↗ a transportation revenue package every couple of years and um creating a lot of capacity to

15:28 ↗ invest in 15 16-year projects or or um horizons for investment. It doesn't sound like there is

15:38 ↗ appetite amongst current transportation budget writers for that to be the case. Um but I will

15:44 ↗ say I it doesn't seem like there is a new plan yet arrived at. Um, so I mostly toss that out there

15:50 ↗ just to say that we're I I expect to see some creative thinking about how the state invests

15:55 ↗ in transportation projects, particularly large projects like the one needed to complete SR18.

16:05 ↗ The next city's um priority or the next city priority was fiscal sustainability. And I would

16:10 ↗ say this was one of um I guess from my perspective one of the biggest challenges this session given

16:16 ↗ the state's fiscal climate. Um it was apparent early in session that there we weren't going to

16:22 ↗ see an increase in shared revenues to cities. Um but and so so instead of taking that approach,

16:29 ↗ we took the the focus of advancing measures that reduced city costs and particularly

16:35 ↗ um liability related exposures. So, we worked with uh Representative David Hackne

16:41 ↗ and Representative Zach Hall to introduce House Bill 2393, and this um would have

16:48 ↗ reduced the civil liability for state and local correctional facilities. Under current law,

16:54 ↗ jail operators have limited ability to search an individual that's admitted to the jail,

17:00 ↗ which makes it difficult to have confidence that an inmate is not concealing a controlled

17:05 ↗ substance. But at the same time, um, if an inmate overdoses while in jail, case law has established

17:12 ↗ a precedent that the liability falls to the jail operator. So, the bill said that if the city

17:18 ↗ follows uh proper search upon intake, then they wouldn't be liable for injury to the inmate if

17:25 ↗ um it was a result of self harm. the chair of the committee where the bill was referred um declined

17:32 ↗ to hold a hearing on the bill and asked the city to work with stakeholders over the interim to

17:38 ↗ um develop a more comprehensive approach to um responsibilities for jail operators. So we we had

17:46 ↗ that feedback. We also worked uh simultaneously with Senator Wellman in the Senate to advance a

17:52 ↗ Senate version um in hopes that we could have a conversation started in the Senate as well.

17:57 ↗ Um the feedback that we got in the Senate was that their primary effort was around um Senator

18:03 ↗ Dingra's bill, Senate Bill 6239, which would have required arbitration for any uh torque claim

18:10 ↗ against the state or its subsidiaries. So against any any local governments. That bill ultimately

18:16 ↗ didn't pass either, but it did result in a budget proviso that directs the office of administrative

18:23 ↗ hearings to convene a committee and provide recommendations to the 2027 legislature on how to

18:29 ↗ reduce um liabilities both for the state and local governments. So, that's something that um we'll of

18:36 ↗ course be be monitoring on and engaging as as able over the interim. Um, so we weren't successful in

18:43 ↗ reducing the city's jail costs, but we did weigh in with concerns on on several bills that would

18:48 ↗ have expanded the jail's operating costs, and those did not make it over the finish line. And

18:55 ↗ then we also weighed in when it came to policy and budget decisions impacting existing city revenues.

19:02 ↗ And I'd say the most notable impact on this is Senate Bill 6346, which is referred to as the

19:08 ↗ millionaires tax. Um the bill not only institutes a tax on high incomes, but it also includes the

19:16 ↗ elimination of sales tax on select products and that has the effect of reducing city revenues

19:23 ↗ uh because cities have local sales tax on those products and that's eliminated as well. Um so if

19:30 ↗ the if the legislation is ultimately upheld um it would reduce city uh sales tax revenues. The bill

19:37 ↗ does acknowledge this in the intent section. It recognizes that there will be a reduction in local

19:42 ↗ government revenues. And then in the 4-year budget and the four-year outlook, there's 200 million

19:50 ↗ that is set aside for local government fiscal health. Um it's it's not specified how that money

19:59 ↗ gets distributed between cities, counties, or transit agencies. Um, but it is in the

20:04 ↗ four-year outlook, so there's time to figure that out. Lastly, in spite of the state's challenging

20:11 ↗ budget year, the state did retain most, not all, but most of the state shared revenues.

20:17 ↗ There was a roughly $5 million reduction to the cannabis sharing revenues for cities and counties.

20:29 ↗ The next priority was a $2.7 million operating budget request and this was made in coordination

20:36 ↗ with the ECD gov alliance. Um and the request was for a new backend permitting system as well as a

20:43 ↗ refresh of the front-end system. Um, as session advanced, again, we realized a $2.7 million

20:51 ↗ request was not going to be feasible, and it was not realistic for the alliance to um complete the

20:57 ↗ back-end system with partial funding. So, we ended up submitting a $1 million request, which would

21:04 ↗ have would would have been sufficient to complete the front-end upgrade. Um, and we did have strong

21:11 ↗ support. I I mean I I I have to recognize there was a lot of support from the legislators

21:17 ↗ representing ECG Alliance jurisdictions. Um the Senate did not accept budget requests. So

21:24 ↗ that was a challenge. Um but in spite of having several members submit the request in the House,

21:29 ↗ we still did not see the funding included in the House operating budget and ultimately was

21:33 ↗ not included in the final. Um my my thought on potential path forward for the ECG gov alliance um

21:44 ↗ is to consider how how AI plays a role in software writing. It's far outside my realm of expertise.

21:54 ↗ Um but in conversations with legislators that was a question that came up of how could the cost

21:59 ↗ to develop the software potentially be reduced as a result of advancements in technology. Um,

22:05 ↗ so I'm just sharing that as as feedback for you all as you think about um, permitting. And then

22:13 ↗ the last but not least uh, priority for um, the city was support for policies related to immigrant

22:20 ↗ protections. Um, the first was Senate Bill 60002 regarding um, the allowable uses of automated

22:28 ↗ license plate readers. Um, this bill allows law enforcement agencies to use ALPR cameras to

22:35 ↗ investigate both felonies and gross misdemeanors. And inclusion of gross misdemeanor was something

22:41 ↗ that um, cities across the board, but also city of Isiqua advocated for. Um, and it sets retention

22:47 ↗ limits at 21 days, which is um, noteworthy because initially the retention was much shorter and

22:53 ↗ wouldn't have been helpful for law enforcement to investigate most cases. Um the cameras are

23:01 ↗ not allowed on premises for premises or the immediate surroundings of schools, uh places of

23:07 ↗ worship or food banks. And um the legislature also passed laws that ban the use of facial

23:15 ↗ coverings by law enforcement and established gross misdemeanor for impersonating a peace officer.

23:26 ↗ So, in addition to the city's top priorities, there were a handful of other issues that

23:31 ↗ we weighed in on in accordance with the city's policy manual. Um, on the topic of public safety,

23:38 ↗ several of the public safety bills um that the legislature considers, I I just mentioned

23:43 ↗ um budget related items though was the big topic was funding for public defense and initially there

23:51 ↗ was some funding for public defense. um included in the millionaires tax bill that was ultimately

23:57 ↗ pulled out. And so there this in the supplemental year was no new funding for public defense. Um

24:04 ↗ there were several transportation related bills that the city supported. Um the first was on the

24:10 ↗ topic of electric motorcycles. There were two bills that advanced on uh parallel tracks. The

24:17 ↗ first was House Bill 2374 which was sponsored by Representative Janice Son and uh Senate Bill

24:23 ↗ 6110 sponsored by Senator Sharon Shoemake. Um they're they were not companion bills and the

24:29 ↗ key distinction was that the House bill included a definition of electric motorcycles and the Senate

24:34 ↗ version did not. Um ultimately the Senate bill is the one that passed after um negotiations between

24:42 ↗ the House and the Senate and ultimately the Department of Licensing was resistant to including

24:46 ↗ a definition of electric motorcycles because of the implications for registration um without

24:52 ↗ having engaged with the industry that would be regulated. So there is a committee that will be

24:58 ↗ um doing work over the interim and there they have a report due to the legislature in October

25:03 ↗ um for a definition and uh recommendations to regulate electric motorcycles and so that will be

25:09 ↗ legislation we expect to see in the 2027 session. Um the legislature continued to focus on the

25:17 ↗ regulation of step housing types which includes shelters, transitional housing, um emergency

25:26 ↗ housing, and permanent supportive housing. In 2021, the legislature adopted House Bill

25:32 ↗ 1220. And that bill required cities to allow these housing types in areas where hotels are permitted

25:40 ↗ and to adopt reasonable occupancy sighting and health and safety regulations. However,

25:48 ↗ local regulations that were adopted across the state um have varied widely and in some cases

25:54 ↗ they were written so narrowly that it prevented shelters from being located in a community.

26:00 ↗ So to address these concerns, uh the legislature adopted House Bill 2266 this session. Um the bill

26:08 ↗ modifies existing law by requiring cities to allow permanent supportive housing and transitional

26:15 ↗ housing in all residential zones. And it requires shelters and emergency housing in all zones where

26:23 ↗ hotels are allowed. It also narrows the um types of spacing, occupancy and health and safety

26:31 ↗ regulations that cities may adopt. The the bill was heavily amended through the process through

26:38 ↗ the input of cities including feedback from the city of Isiqua. Um ultimately it is a mandate um

26:46 ↗ it is a mandate on cities. However, it is um incor it hasn't been incorporated to include a lot of

26:52 ↗ city feedback um and a lot of feedback about how to make the bill implementable for cities. So,

27:00 ↗ um I think it's noteworthy to mention that the legislature also passed Senate Bill 6026

27:07 ↗ which authorizes uh residential development in commercial zones and limits the use of groundf

27:14 ↗ flooror retail requirements. Um, this was a high priority piece of legislation for the governor

27:19 ↗ and the lieutenant governor. And the premise of the bill, I think, is similar to the premise of

27:25 ↗ uh bills we've seen from previous sessions, most similarly aligned with, I would say, the

27:29 ↗ parking bill from last session, which is that both parking and groundf flooror retail requirements um

27:37 ↗ increase the cost of constructing housing. And so um limiting when that first floor commercial use

27:45 ↗ is required will lower the cost for developers and result in more housing. So that was kind of the

27:52 ↗ the argument behind the legislation after several rounds of negotiation with cities. Um there was a

27:59 ↗ final version of the bill that was agreed upon. Most cities got to neutral. Um, it does retain

28:06 ↗ some flexibility for cities to still employ the use of groundf flooror retail requirements

28:11 ↗ in limited cases. Um, and and opens up a lot more um, property to be able to for residential

28:19 ↗ development. I do want to note the bill only applies to cities with a population of 30,000

28:24 ↗ or more. And one of the areas that's specifically carved out to still allow ground flooror retail

28:30 ↗ are transit station areas. So areas where there's higher density of people and um um housing.

28:40 ↗ So now that session is over, I think the the logical question is what comes next? Um the

28:48 ↗ first the first and foremost thing that I can advise the city to do is express gratitude to

28:55 ↗ your city's legislators. And I'm not just saying that because two of them are here tonight. Um I

29:01 ↗ This is a a being a state legislator is obviously a job they've signed up for and it's a hard one.

29:07 ↗ Um, but expressing gratitude for the work that they do in representing the city as evident by

29:14 ↗ the fact that two of them are here tonight, Isiqua is uniquely privileged to have the delegation that

29:20 ↗ you do representing you. Um, and of all the cities that I work with, Isiqua's legislators reach out

29:27 ↗ and want to know how to support the city more than anyone else. So I I share that for you all

29:32 ↗ to understand the um the charge I guess that I'm giving you to express your gratitude. You're truly

29:40 ↗ um well represented in Olympia by um all six members of your delegation. um to prepare

29:50 ↗ for the next legislative session, the the things that I typically recommend um cities do is early

29:58 ↗ and ongoing engagement with your delegation. Um of course, express gratitude and then you know, okay,

30:04 ↗ what can we what can we do to get down to work to prepare for the next session? Um which gets to the

30:11 ↗ next point of identifying the city's priorities. um we already know some of the issues that we

30:17 ↗ started to work on this session. We were told work on them over the interim and come back. And

30:21 ↗ so that's city liability um and and budget city budget stability. I think those are two issues

30:27 ↗ that bubble to the top for me. But obviously um as a city that'll be work that you all do to

30:32 ↗ identify those priorities. Um, since 2027 will be the start of a new bienium, we'll also be looking

30:39 ↗ to not only update the city's priorities, but also the policy manual um to reflect any new positions.

30:46 ↗ And then the this um interim, the entire house and half of the Senate is up for election. So,

30:53 ↗ we'll be um in campaign season for many members. um to tee up a discussion about a specific

31:03 ↗ next step for the city. I'm going to turn it over to um the city's management an analyst,

31:09 ↗ Jillian. But before I do so, I I just want to take a moment and say that um Isiqua is really

31:15 ↗ fortunate to have such talented staff. Um I had the privilege of working with Jillian during

31:20 ↗ the legislative session and she is excellent. She was my go-to person for any question. Um,

31:26 ↗ available always, which legislative hours, there's no such thing as being off hours. She was always

31:33 ↗ available and she's incredibly knowledgeable about everything the city's working on. So,

31:38 ↗ I just wanted to take point of personal privilege to give a shout out to her and for her real

31:44 ↗ dedicated uh work to the city. So, I'm going to turn it over to Jillian to um tee up a discussion.

31:54 ↗ All right. Thank you, Shelley, for that really kind introduction. Like she mentioned,

31:57 ↗ my name is Jillian Stra and I'm a management analyst. Um, and given Shel's recommendations

32:02 ↗ on our next steps, the administration proposes a legislative breakfast this spring. Typically,

32:07 ↗ the administration and the city council have a legislative breakfast in the winter following

32:12 ↗ the adoption of the legislative policy manual and priorities. Given that we didn't have a

32:17 ↗ legislative breakfast before this last session, we're proposing one um this spring with these four

32:22 ↗ priorities in mind. So, first to strengthen that already strong citytodelegation relationship in

32:28 ↗ this kind of informal uh setting before the session really kicks off again next year to

32:34 ↗ explain the impact of bills and close the loop on items that passed or didn't pass this last

32:38 ↗ session and understand the impacts to cities and then to preview some of the issues to engage on

32:44 ↗ in the interim. Like Shelley mentioned, and she can speak a little bit more on this, I'm sure,

32:48 ↗ work over the interim sets you up for a really successful legislative session. So kicking off

32:52 ↗ this work in May after legis legislators have had a chance to breathe from the last legislative

32:57 ↗ session and are turning towards the 27 through 29 bianium is a uh a useful use of the city council's

33:04 ↗ time. And then fourth to hear from the delegation to make sure that this is a two-way relationship

33:09 ↗ and they're getting the information that they need. So with that, we're seeking your direction

33:15 ↗ on if we should move forward with a legislative breakfast this May. If you all approve of that

33:20 ↗ idea, I'll work with the city clerk to identify a few dates that work for you all and our delegation

33:25 ↗ and get that on calendars. With that, um, we're available for any questions that you have about

33:31 ↗ the breakfast or about any of the bills you heard about this session and in Shel's presentation.

33:39 ↗ Looking can I at least get a nod on the idea of breakfast? Oh, I'm saying nods. Breakfast

33:44 ↗ nods. Okay, that's been established. We're moving forward with a breakfast. Uh, any other questions

33:50 ↗ from the council before Oh, Council Member Joe, thank you. Um, you touched on 1220,

34:01 ↗ the bill that requires housing at all different uh, economic levels. Um, there was some movement

34:06 ↗ on condominium reform a little bit. Could you talk about that and how that might help our 1220 puzzle

34:13 ↗ as well? Certainly. Um, House Bill 2304 was the um, I would call it a condo trailer bill. So,

34:22 ↗ last year there was a bill that um, um, essentially addressed the liability issue

34:28 ↗ for condominium construction. Um, but it did not address it only addressed up to a certain height

34:34 ↗ up to three stories. So, this year's bill expanded that liability protection up to four stories. Um,

34:42 ↗ basically it's one more shift in um, making it more attractive for a developer to choose to

34:50 ↗ build condos. Um, because historically it's been a very risky endeavor and that's why we haven't seen

34:55 ↗ as many condos uh, constructed in recent years. When you say it addresses the liability issue,

35:03 ↗ um, was that a change to the insurance that was required? Could you go into that a little bit?

35:08 ↗ Yeah. So, um it it's slightly outside my realm of expertise, but it's um referred to

35:15 ↗ as an express or implied warranty. And it does it it addresses the insurance so that the con

35:21 ↗ the builder of the condo doesn't have to carry the full responsibility for anything that may go wrong

35:28 ↗ down the line. Um so yes, it it is related to the insurance or the liability for the builder. Okay.

35:36 ↗ Thank you very much. Oh, Council Member Walsh, can I give feedback or you know all that? Just always

35:45 ↗ a pleasure having you on our legislative advocacy team. Like it really I know I've heard from our

35:53 ↗ legislators that you are easy to work with. I know it's been great working with you as a council

35:59 ↗ member. Um I know these are always tough years. Um, I don't think this last year was necessarily

36:08 ↗ any different, but I I just wanted to say I really appreciate getting this update and the work that

36:13 ↗ you did during the session. Thank you. And I'll be calling our legislators and saying thank you.

36:22 ↗ Right. Okay. I think you're all set. Thank you very much, Shelley and Jillian. Our next item is

36:28 ↗ audience comments, and they can be made in person or virtually. Those who signed up in advance will

36:34 ↗ be called on first. If you did not sign up in advance, it's okay. We will give you a chance

36:37 ↗ to raise your hand afterwards and and still come up. Uh if you're joining us virtually,

36:42 ↗ raise your virtual hand. If you're on the phone, I think the magic path is star three.

36:48 ↗ And if you're in the room and did not sign up, you will get a chance. And just as a reminder,

36:54 ↗ you can also submit written comments to city council is qua.gov. And we ask people to be

36:59 ↗ professional. try to have your comments in that 3 to five minute range. We do give brevity bonus

37:04 ↗ points for people who come under those amounts. And uh and with that, madam clerk, do we have

37:09 ↗ anyone signed up for audience comments? Yes. Uh the first is here in the room, James Markart.

37:24 ↗ Thank you. Uh good evening. My name is James Markort. a resident on Squawk Mountain. Uh

37:31 ↗ last October, Diana Romero dropped off her four-year-old son at the Learning Nest preschool

37:36 ↗ on Newport, way just down the road from where we're sitting and was loaded into an unmarked

37:41 ↗ SUV by federal agents in front of her son. I made a public comment at this council shortly

37:46 ↗ after and asked the direct question, was she tracked using cameras on city property? The

37:52 ↗ response I received was reassuring. The city didn't have any flock cameras. a famously

37:58 ↗ insecure ALPR camera system and city systems weren't accessed. I'm here tonight because that

38:06 ↗ reassurance is about to become obsolete. And given the faces here have changed,

38:11 ↗ this is something we still need to talk about. Flock cameras are just one manufacturer of

38:16 ↗ connected license plate readers. The exact technology that allowed federal agents across

38:20 ↗ Washington to track people's movements, their routines, where they dropped their kids off.

38:26 ↗ We don't know how Diana Romero was found, but we know that in cities that had these systems,

38:32 ↗ federal agents were quietly accessing location data, sometimes through a misconfigured setting,

38:38 ↗ sometimes without the city's knowledge at all. Installing this system creates that risk here

38:44 ↗ in a community that has already felt what that risk looks like in practice. It has come to my

38:51 ↗ attention that the city is preparing to to bring a congressional grant for license plate readers

38:56 ↗ before this council likely in June. The framing I've seen suggests that SB 602 is being treated

39:04 ↗ as sufficient justification to move forward. I respectfully disagree and I've left a handout

39:11 ↗ with my registration tonight that documents why in detail citing the bill's own language.

39:17 ↗ SP 60002 is not yet law. Governor Ferguson has not signed it. But more importantly, even when signed,

39:24 ↗ its enforcement is reactive rather than preventative. It penalizes city employees

39:29 ↗ who misconfigure a sharing setting after the fact. It does not require flock or other manufacturers

39:35 ↗ to make dangerous configurations architecturally impossible in the first place. SB 602 does not

39:43 ↗ require this city or any other city to install cameras. It is a floor, not a mandate. The

39:50 ↗ question before this council is whether that floor is currently high enough given what this community

39:56 ↗ and others have already lived through. I'm asking you to decline or def or defer accepting this

40:01 ↗ grant or installing cameras until Flock or other camera vendor uh vendors considered by the city

40:08 ↗ can demonstrate architecturally, not contractually that what happened to other Washington cities

40:15 ↗ cannot happen here. Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Next, we have Don Robertson.

40:37 ↗ Oh, excuse me.

40:41 ↗ My name is Don Robertson. I've been a resident of Squawk Mountain with my family for since 1983.

40:47 ↗ I'm here to speak on behalf of the Isiqua History Museums and the Isiqua Trolley.

40:53 ↗ I've been a volunteer dossent at the train depot for nearly 20 years. Uh during that time I've

41:01 ↗ witnessed the trolley operations and I was able to watch it uh um during its heyday. Uh I was able

41:08 ↗ to see the joy of the people particularly young children who rode the trolley. The stories told by

41:14 ↗ the conductors were instructive of new newcomers to some of the history of our of our community.

41:21 ↗ It brought people out and provided traffic for our businesses. I was on the board of directors when

41:27 ↗ uh due to budgetary issues, the decision to cease operations became necessary. That was

41:33 ↗ shortly before CO shut everything down. Since the museum u reopening after covid I have continued as

41:40 ↗ a dossent and I served in that function a couple times a month and almost without exception there's

41:48 ↗ at least one visitor or two visitors that ask about the trolley they want to know when it's

41:54 ↗ going to start operating again or why it isn't operating or just a lot of different things and

41:59 ↗ I try to do the best I can to to explain it there clearly is an interest in restarting

42:05 ↗ ing the trolley. Often those visitors that visit the train depot are either coming from or going

42:12 ↗ to see Jacob two trees. In my opinion, those are two community treasures that help uh Isiqua

42:20 ↗ uh define our uniqueness. Additionally, they bring visitors to the city which

42:25 ↗ benefit our great local businesses. Uh I therefore urge your favorable consideration

42:30 ↗ on the track use and the trolley funding agreements. Thank you. Thank you very much.

42:39 ↗ Next we have Next we have Robert Row. Robert is with us virtually. So Robert,

42:45 ↗ I'm going to make you a panelist now. And you should see an option

42:51 ↗ to unmute and you can choose to turn your camera on if you'd like.

43:09 ↗ Robert, you now have the floor. I'm going to go ahead and try unmuting you on my side.

43:17 ↗ Okay, great. All right. Okay, we can hear you now, Robert. All right, great. Um, I appreciate

43:23 ↗ you guys um taking the time and um listening to this. And to the mayor, I've appreciate you having

43:31 ↗ one of your staff members who I can't remember actually reaching out to me on this issue. To the

43:36 ↗ city of Isiqua, my name is Robert Row and I'm a resident here of Isiqua Highlands. Me and my wife

43:42 ↗ moved here three and a half years ago from both Washington, but I grew up here in the east side.

43:47 ↗ Went to Redmond High School and all that. Um, I just want to say that when I moved to Isiqua,

43:56 ↗ I knew the quality of life was going to be much better than what I experienced in both. You know,

44:02 ↗ both is a fantastic place, but when my wife accepted a job down at GPI Greater Pacific,

44:10 ↗ um, we thought, great, this is going to be perfect. Why not? We had our choice in what

44:20 ↗ apartments we wanted to live in. We were looking for convenience. Isqua Highlands

44:24 ↗ offered us the best choice. So, we just up we um chose Discovery West. It's very close

44:34 ↗ and it's right next to Swedish me um hospital. There's a problem though four days out of the

44:43 ↗ week that I've never experienced and I'd like to say this to the city council. I've lived in

44:50 ↗ um Wanjo China for seven years. Lejo Leo Ma sik Joe Fame and I'm a Hispanic American. That city

44:59 ↗ is 35 million people. When it's 12:30 at night in that city, it's quiet here.

45:11 ↗ every day, four days out of the week, like I said, I have to deal with QCD delivery,

45:18 ↗ making a delivery to Swedish Hospital at 12:30 in the morning. I understand the hospital needs their

45:27 ↗ vegetables and everything, but the humming noise that we have in these apartments is ridiculous.

45:37 ↗ I've been told by the city council or not the city by the previous mayor called the non-emergency

45:45 ↗ line. I have I have provided you documents and how old this is and still nothing is being done.

45:56 ↗ QCD's um HR kind of was rude to the investigating officer who finally got in contact with them

46:08 ↗ stating why are you guys delivering at 12:30 in the morning. They never, you know, it's like, oh,

46:16 ↗ it's just part of our procedure. That's just best time for us. That's the only excuse he got. And

46:21 ↗ he didn't understand it either. I have provided documents of how old my complaints have gone on

46:27 ↗ and this has gone on for more than a year. I don't understand. I just want to ask you guys. Would

46:35 ↗ you like it if I made a semi delivery in your neighborhood at 12:30 in the morning, leaving

46:43 ↗ my engine running for more than an hour delivering string beans? I know it sounds funny, but it's I

46:54 ↗ didn't expect that in the city of Isiqua. That's all I got to say. Thank you very much. Thank

47:01 ↗ you. And then next, I think we have maybe Mary Scott. Is that right? Yes. Next is Mary Scott.

47:21 ↗ I'm Mary Scott and they when you ask for the my connections I guess I would say I've been

47:25 ↗ a longtime volunteer with the Isco history museums almost since when I came here when I came in 1969

47:34 ↗ that was the first salmon days and you know salmon barbecue the whole thing and I've been joined the

47:42 ↗ history museums almost as soon as I and I've often been a dosent and worked a lot when the trolley

47:49 ↗ was running. The trolley was unique I think. Um, one of the best things that I remember about it

47:57 ↗ is the Santa trolley because that was wildly popular long lines of kids. We had put in the

48:07 ↗ installation so that someone who was handicapped uh in a wheelchair or whatever that needed a lift

48:14 ↗ could actually do that. And that equipment still sits there on the uh back deck today for people

48:20 ↗ to use. And the lines were huge. And those are the only Santa pictures that I have of my grandsons is

48:28 ↗ with that Santa. kids would get off at the end and say, "Can we get in line and do it again?" And the

48:38 ↗ uh lines were huge and enthusiastic. And the other one was the um Halloween trolley when the whole

48:46 ↗ place was decorated in a great deal of really really spooky things all over and a huge spider

48:53 ↗ on the roof and a lot of us women do dressed as witches appropriately and uh having a lot of fun

49:03 ↗ with that and the driver always as a skeleton or some kind of monster and this was hugely popular

49:09 ↗ but even on a regular day, just a normal trolley day. The kids when they get off would always say,

49:17 ↗ "Can we do it again? Can we get in line? Can we do it again?" And um it very enthusiastic. And

49:23 ↗ the adults would say, "Is there a good restaurant around?" or "A good kids restaurant, or is there

49:31 ↗ a bar somewhere?" Um other uh questions and that they were all right there. And all of those things

49:39 ↗ were right there in that area. You could walk to them. We would get questions about how where's

49:43 ↗ the theater from here? Where's booms from here? Where's uh that place that does the glass blowing

49:50 ↗ from here? Um and so there was a lot of interest in businesses downtown. We were hoping to get a

49:58 ↗ station at the other end of the tracks where it stops because we obviously didn't want to take the

50:02 ↗ tracks, which still existed then, and go across um Gibson Boulevard. But uh Gilman Boulevard, but

50:09 ↗ nope. But we wanted to stop down there and have a place we could actually get off and walk over to

50:15 ↗ uh the village and shop and then get back on and come back. It was it was a lot of fun and

50:22 ↗ very enthusiastic and I think it was a real draw for businesses here in the city. I can imagine a

50:31 ↗ few people thinking um well it's going to slow down traffic. I don't think anything can slow

50:38 ↗ down traffic any further than it already is on Front Street at any given hour of the day

50:44 ↗ except perhaps Sunday morning otherwise. But if it is, you all know that as you're driving along,

50:51 ↗ the thing that slows the traffic down the most are the people that are parked that are trying

50:56 ↗ to squeeze themselves out and back into the line or the people that are trying to back in to one of

51:02 ↗ those places. And that time that that it takes for that to happen is about how long it takes

51:08 ↗ for the trolley to get along cross the road. They had down to an exact science and a stop

51:14 ↗ and people the volunteers that would get off and wave the traffic closed and through they

51:18 ↗ would go and they were gone and almost everybody in their cars or on the trolley was waving and

51:25 ↗ happy about it and they smiled made your day. So I think u you are all looking at considering

51:32 ↗ having it again. That trolley probably made money for the museums as everyone can tell you and the

51:38 ↗ ones out in snowquali make money handover fist for that organization because of those trains

51:44 ↗ that they run. So I think it's a great idea, a great draw brings business and I sure hope

51:50 ↗ you consider it very carefully and approve it. Thank you. Thank you very much. and Paul

51:56 ↗ Winterstein. It sounds like we need a park car in the trolley. I You heard that idea, right?

52:03 ↗ Next, we have Na Rondanelli.

52:14 ↗ Hi. Um before I begin, I would like to thank council for the opportunity to provide public

52:20 ↗ comment today. So, my name is Na Randonelli. I am a junior at Gibson High School in the Isiqua

52:29 ↗ School District and I'm also an intern for Council Member Walsh. I live part-time in the

52:35 ↗ Isiqua Highlands with my mom who works full-time with Isiqua's largest employer. Unfortunately,

52:43 ↗ our rent has recently jumped to a price that we can no longer afford. The vast majority

52:48 ↗ of housing options in Isiqua are out of our price range. And it seems like they just keep climbing.

52:56 ↗ There simply aren't enough affordable options to accommodate my mom and I. And I know that

53:02 ↗ there are many other burdens. There are many other residents who feel this burden, too. I love living

53:09 ↗ in Isqua. I love the school I go to, the beauty of our environment, and I feel so grateful to

53:15 ↗ be able to call this city my home. But honestly, I'm worried for my future. And I know that there

53:23 ↗ are many people my age who feel the same way. I'm almost out of high school, and once I come

53:30 ↗ back from college, I want to live in Isiqua. But as things are now, I don't see any feasible way

53:36 ↗ for that to happen. The youth have always been promised a bright future. We support education so

53:44 ↗ students can follow their dreams, but once they're out of school, they need places to live. For these

53:52 ↗ reasons and more, I urge you to consider pursuing policy and permitting changes to encourage the

53:59 ↗ development of more affordable housing. You are our changemakers and you have the ability to

54:07 ↗ improve the lives of so many people. Thank you so much for your time and for your continued work to

54:15 ↗ make our city a better place. Very well said. Thank you very much. Next, May Hollandshed.

54:33 ↗ Thank you to the council and mayor for hearing me. My name is May Holland Head and like Na I

54:39 ↗ am a junior at Gibson High School. This year as a part of my internship with council member Walsh,

54:45 ↗ we have been studying housing policy because as students we are worried about the future

54:50 ↗ of living in Isqua as adults. The cost to own or rent a home is rising faster

54:56 ↗ than many can afford and a lot of the people who have grown up in this community will not

55:01 ↗ uh grown up in this community will not have the opportunity to return later in their lives. I

55:07 ↗ request that you all consider options to reduce the cost of housing in the area to

55:11 ↗ ensure that those who live who wish to live and work in the area can. Um, additionally,

55:18 ↗ Nikico Randonelli and I have prepared a memo that highlights one factor in the cost of housing. Uh,

55:23 ↗ we hope this will prove helpful to all of your efforts to reduce the cost of living

55:28 ↗ in the area. Thank you so much for hearing me. Excellent. Thank you very much for coming out.

55:39 ↗ Okay, we have a few uh virtual participants who'd like to make comments.

55:43 ↗ The next person is a phone caller with the last two digits 14. I'm going to make you

55:51 ↗ a panelist now and I'm going to unmute you. Phoning caller. Okay, you are now unmuted.

56:05 ↗ This is Steve. Can you hear me? Okay. You're a little faint, Steve, but we can hear you. Okay,

56:13 ↗ I'll do my best. So, this is Steve Pereira. I'm an Oldtown resident for about eight 17 18 17 years.

56:21 ↗ Uh, I'm calling to follow up on a comment that I heard in watching the March 25th environmental

56:28 ↗ board meeting that happened toward the end of the meeting. There were no visual material

56:33 ↗ presented on it. So, I made sure I got the gist or understand the scope correctly, but I want to

56:38 ↗ bring it to your attention for possible action. It involved a conversation that or meeting that

56:46 ↗ reportedly took place between uh city parks uh long-range planner and a resident regarding needed

56:55 ↗ updates to the title 18 code for protections of both waterways and salmon bearing and non

57:05 ↗ salmon bearing streams that need to happen. were at risk of having development approved that would

57:14 ↗ or could impact things like the current dog park or potentially future um waterway preservations.

57:22 ↗ And I want to make sure those codes get updated to reflect or include uh needed updates and that to

57:31 ↗ title 18. Again, I can't specify specifically what it was referred to because that material did not

57:39 ↗ but was not presented. So, I'm just turning to all of you good folks to kind of encourage or support

57:46 ↗ or fund those changes needing to be updated as soon as possible. Thank you. And I'll let the

57:55 ↗ great city clerk go ahead and unra my hand as accordingly. Thank you. Thank you very much.

58:06 ↗ All right, the next person signed up is Karen Klene, who's also with us virtually.

58:13 ↗ Karen, I'm going to go ahead and unmute your mic now.

58:20 ↗ Hi, good evening. My name is Karen Klein. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes, thank you. Um, I'm calling in

58:30 ↗ from Belleview where I am a homeowner and I live in a little pocket that's served by the Isiqua

58:35 ↗ School District. So, um, I'm I'm very close to Isqua and I wanted to let you know that,

58:42 ↗ um, even people in Belleview are hearing about the potential for flock cameras um,

58:49 ↗ being installed in Isqua. And I'm here tonight to um let you know that I do a lot of business in

58:57 ↗ Isiqua and I like going to Ezekiqua, but I'm not going to like going there if there are automated

59:03 ↗ license plate readers because mass scanning of every resident with no suspicion required is not

59:11 ↗ okay by me. Private corporate databases with no public records rights is not okay with me.

59:19 ↗ Proven federal side door access to groups like ICE, CBP and others is not okay with me.

59:32 ↗ Integration with corporates like Palunteer whose CEO openly pursues political power is not okay

59:42 ↗ with me. It is also not okay with me that Flock lied about federal contracts and secretly enabled

59:51 ↗ national access. It is not okay with me that there's no retention limit, no sunset clause,

59:58 ↗ and no community vote. Block cameras have a chilling effect on free movement and assembly.

1:00:07 ↗ I urge the council to research this further and I I think I saw that that

1:00:15 ↗ you're looking to hire a new police chief and I would urge you to make it

1:00:22 ↗ a part of the interview process that your police chief is not interested in using

1:00:30 ↗ surveillance camera and flock related um data in any way, shape or form. Thank you.

1:00:42 ↗ No one further has signed up to speak. Is there

1:00:45 ↗ anybody in the audience who wants to make comments? Yes, come on up. Just

1:00:56 ↗ Good evening and uh thank you for the opportunity to uh uh share with you tonight. My name is Dick

1:01:03 ↗ Campbell and I'm here to uh say a few words about the historical society and specifically the uh

1:01:10 ↗ trolley. Uh I've uh spent my last uh 80 years as a resident of the uh Isakqua area. Uh my uh

1:01:21 ↗ family homesteaded on Tiger Mountain in the 1800s and uh I still live adjacent to that property

1:01:29 ↗ uh on 30 some acres of uh land up there. Uh I retired as a high school principal at

1:01:36 ↗ Liberty High School in 2000. Uh I became involved reinvolved uh in downtown Isaqua uh through the

1:01:46 ↗ uh historical society. I'd like to share a uh story. It'll be short. Uh but it began in

1:01:55 ↗ uh 1952. Uh I was a first grader at Clark Elementary. I think it was the second year that

1:02:04 ↗ Clark was opened. This is the original Clark, not the new Clark. And uh Mrs. Hope was my teacher. Uh

1:02:14 ↗ most of the students had gone to kindergarten, but because I lived on Tiger Mountain, uh you

1:02:21 ↗ had to have your own transportation to go to uh kindergarten, and my mother didn't drive, uh and

1:02:28 ↗ so forth, and there was no way to to uh make that trip every day. So, uh first grade was my first

1:02:36 ↗ experience. Many of the kids in the classroom uh had gone to kindergarten. they knew each other and

1:02:42 ↗ so forth. Uh well, I uh knew a couple but not very many cuz we associated more with Maple Valley and

1:02:50 ↗ and my dad was a a logger and a coal miner and and dirt worker kind of a guy. Uh and that's where we

1:03:00 ↗ uh other family was and so forth. Anyway, my best friend became a young man named Dennis.

1:03:07 ↗ And Dennis and I, we became kind of the the Bobsy twins of this first grade class on the

1:03:15 ↗ playground and so forth. And Dennis was what we would call today a special needs student. I

1:03:22 ↗ think he was older. He only was with us through the first grade. Uh he went to a special school

1:03:29 ↗ in Buckley after that. But Dennis and I became uh intrigued with the train and the train used

1:03:38 ↗ to run up and around and then over the trestle and then on up to Snowquali. We all know that. But the

1:03:47 ↗ uh noise and especially the whistle just got Dennis really excited. And so we would run

1:03:58 ↗ and there there was a playground but then a lot of woods and the playground really wasn't uh uh

1:04:06 ↗ very developed. Anyway, long story short, we would run up to the tracks and as soon as we got close,

1:04:15 ↗ he would blow the whistle. Well, later I learned that that was a signal to somebody at school that

1:04:23 ↗ kids were on the track. There was no fence. There was nothing there. We thought he was just saying

1:04:29 ↗ hi to us. As uh years went by in junior high, uh we our track was up behind uh where Clark is

1:04:42 ↗ now. Uh and it was basically a uh coal dust field uh that they put lines around and so forth. So,

1:04:53 ↗ uh, we won the first co, uh, King Co. conference uh junior high championship my ninth grade year,

1:05:00 ↗ but we would run a loop and we'd go up around Lake Tradition and so forth, but we'd run along

1:05:07 ↗ the train tracks and the train was coming back from Snowquali about the time school was out

1:05:13 ↗ and we were having track practices and it wasn't rare that someone would jump on the back caboose

1:05:21 ↗ and ride back and not do the full loop. Uh but and it was also not rare that we would get a Tootsie

1:05:30 ↗ Roll or a Tootsie Pop from the engineer. Uh and he would always escort us with the whistleblowing

1:05:38 ↗ and so forth. So those were memories that that I had growing up. I mean, we put nickels and dimes

1:05:45 ↗ on the on the track to get them flattened and did all kinds of things involving the train.

1:05:53 ↗ Um when I came back uh or retired and and started to get involved in this uh historical society we

1:06:02 ↗ were be I I'll quit. One of the most refreshing things and one of the things that made me the most

1:06:11 ↗ excited about the trolley and I worked I was the association president uh and very involved uh in

1:06:20 ↗ getting the trolley brought developed and and so forth. But one of the things that just lit me up

1:06:29 ↗ as a 47-year educator were that one particular special needs student who came almost every

1:06:41 ↗ Saturday to ride the train. And he was a little autistic young man. And he would light up when he

1:06:51 ↗ came in that door. and he um was that was his day and that trolley not only to him but to other kids

1:07:05 ↗ um brought back the memories that I had with Dennis when I was seven years old. That train

1:07:13 ↗ lit him up the same way it lit that little man up. And as a career educator, we had something

1:07:25 ↗ special going. And I encourage us to recreate that because it it is a uh igniting point for kids.

1:07:37 ↗ And we work with the school district for second graders and so forth. Them coming to the depot,

1:07:43 ↗ them coming and seeing that is really special. and it's special to Isakqua. And if we can do it, I

1:07:51 ↗ encourage us to do that. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dick. You're like a fine wine. You're aging

1:07:56 ↗ well. You retired 26 years ago. You would never I thought you had your years wrong for a second. And

1:08:02 ↗ and Paul, second idea. We need Tootsie Puffs. Tootsie Puffs and a bar car. Uh Madam Clerk.

1:08:12 ↗ Oh, come on up.

1:08:16 ↗ Is this on? Okay. Hi, thank you for hearing me. Um, so I come with similar concerns to some you've

1:08:22 ↗ heard already about those slot cameras. Um, I I try I'll try and keep it short and not hit the

1:08:28 ↗ same ground, but um, especially over the past year. So, I think this was originally proposed

1:08:32 ↗ last year. Since then, uh, Flock in particular is a company that's done a lot to lose trust and

1:08:38 ↗ not gain it. And so I was really worried to hear that um we might be having more cameras put up. Um

1:08:45 ↗ it's the opposite line of thinking that I had had actually knowing that there are four here already.

1:08:50 ↗ Um so I urge the council to take the concerns and the abuses and misuses that have already

1:08:57 ↗ occurred with those uh very seriously and not um put up more of those cameras here. Right. Thank

1:09:03 ↗ you very much. Sir, can we get your name for the record? Yes. My name is BJ Alum and um I've been

1:09:09 ↗ in as a qua for like four years. So thanks. Is there anybody else in the room who would

1:09:16 ↗ like say anything for audience comments? That is going once, going twice. Audience comments is now

1:09:21 ↗ closed. The next item is the consent calendar. I do not have any remarks on the consent calendar.

1:09:27 ↗ But do committee chairs have any remarks on that consent calendar? Not seeing any. The consent

1:09:34 ↗ calendar was distributed to the council in advance if authorized. The items of the consent calendar

1:09:37 ↗ will be considered together and approved by one motion. Uh I'd like the city clerk to address

1:09:42 ↗ a minor change with agenda bill 9099 street standards landscaping update. City council,

1:09:48 ↗ you received an email this afternoon that uh today we noticed a error in one of the ordinances

1:09:53 ↗ that was on the consent calendar for approval uh related to the street standards amendments which

1:09:59 ↗ had a longer effective date than its companion ordinance. We need those to become effective

1:10:03 ↗ at the same time. So, I've uploaded a corrected version with the five-day after publication in

1:10:09 ↗ the newspaper effective date and with approval of the consent calendar, that version will be

1:10:13 ↗ approved tonight. Thank you. Excellent. And then have payable and payroll been reviewed. They have.

1:10:23 ↗ Okay. Does any council member want to remove any items from the consent calendar considered

1:10:26 ↗ under regular business? Not seeing any. Is there a motion in the consent calendar? Council President

1:10:33 ↗ Marks. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move the consent calendar as amended by the clerk's office. Second.

1:10:39 ↗ There's been a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar as all those in favor, please

1:10:44 ↗ say I. I. All those opposed, nay. And that passes unanimously. The next item of business is regular

1:10:56 ↗ business. Agenda Bill 9170 is history museum track use agreement and trolley funding agreement.

1:11:01 ↗ We would like to invite economic development director Alexa Pix Simmons to present this item.

1:11:10 ↗ Good evening, mayor and council members. Alexis Fitz Simmons, economic development and housing

1:11:14 ↗ manager. Uh tonight I bring a request uh to you to authorize an amendment to the city city's

1:11:21 ↗ agreement with Isqua History Museum Museum along with the approval and track use agreement. Sorry,

1:11:27 ↗ I should have put these on first. um track use agreement to support operation of the historic

1:11:33 ↗ trolley for the 2026 season. This action is really about three things. Um ensuring safe and clearly

1:11:41 ↗ defined operations for the trolley, supporting a outstanding a long-standing community amenity,

1:11:48 ↗ and continuing to invest in tourism and economic vitality in downtown Isiqua. Why does this matter?

1:11:58 ↗ The Isiqua Trolley is more than a historic asset. It's a community feature that draws

1:12:03 ↗ visitors to our downtown, supports local businesses, and reinforces a unique identity

1:12:07 ↗ and sense of place in our community. As we look ahead to the 2026 season,

1:12:13 ↗ we have an opportunity to both strengthen the program operationally and set it up for long-term

1:12:18 ↗ success. The changes that this amendment and track use agreement uh include uh two primary actions.

1:12:27 ↗ One is uh additional funding. Uh we are requesting the approval of an additional $25,000 to support

1:12:33 ↗ the 2026 operations. It will go to support startup readiness, staff training, equipment repairs and

1:12:41 ↗ maintenance, and insurance and operational costs. The funding is structured to provide

1:12:47 ↗ $20,000 upfront for startup needs, an additional $5,000 upon the launch of the operations.

1:12:54 ↗ The second uh key component uh of the proposal tonight is the track use agreement.

1:13:02 ↗ It um formalizes how the trolley operates and the agreement clearly defines operational

1:13:10 ↗ parameters and a schedule. It defines safety requirements and testing protocols,

1:13:16 ↗ insurance and liability coverage, maintenance responsibilities uh between the city and IHM

1:13:22 ↗ expectations for operations as well as uh within the shared public corridor. This

1:13:28 ↗ uh amendment and track use agreement um is a critical step and it ensures that

1:13:32 ↗ we'll be reducing risk while enabling a program to continue that supports

1:13:36 ↗ uh the uh vitality of downtown. Council of course always has the option to not approve. Um but if

1:13:44 ↗ the council does not approve the amendment and the track use agreement tonight um or in the

1:13:49 ↗ near future uh the trolley operation could be delayed significantly reduced or not even occur

1:13:58 ↗ following uh an approval tonight. Uh um if the council does approve

1:14:03 ↗ uh the amendment as well as the track use agreement um agreements would be executed,

1:14:08 ↗ funds would be distur dispersed and IHM would complete testing, training and necessary repairs

1:14:14 ↗ uh in order to start operations for the 2026 season. Um I as staff and I the administration,

1:14:21 ↗ Mr. Mayor and um city administer wall do support this um this um action. Um, we believe it

1:14:30 ↗ strengthens uh our relationship and uh vitality in downtown and uh provides accountability and

1:14:37 ↗ safety uh for the operations of the trolley. I'd like to invite uh Paul Weinstein um up to also

1:14:43 ↗ speak on behalf of the changes. Paul Wstein, executive director History Museums come on up.

1:14:52 ↗ Thank you, Alexis, and thank you, Don, Mary, and Dick for your comments earlier,

1:14:56 ↗ and to everyone who has sent in uh letters of support. Uh, council, thank you for listening for

1:15:02 ↗ me this evening, and thanks for the invite. Um, quick story. In the late 1880s, Squawk Valley was

1:15:07 ↗ an isolated place. Uh, that changed in 1888 when the train arrived, turning travel to Seattle from

1:15:14 ↗ a dayong trek into a matter of hours. The impact was immediate, creating a surge for coal, timber,

1:15:21 ↗ and agriculture. Rail wasn't just transportation. It was the driver of Isiziqua's first economic

1:15:27 ↗ boom. Tonight, you are considering whether a piece of that story will once again help drive

1:15:32 ↗ Isiqua's prosperity. Just as the first train fueled the expansion of our early industries,

1:15:39 ↗ this $25,000 investment acts as a force multiplier for the downtown's cultural and economic energy.

1:15:47 ↗ At the Isqua History Museums, we fully embrace the public obligation to ensure this heritage

1:15:52 ↗ attraction serves as a premier destination experience. This is an experience that draws

1:15:59 ↗ visitors to our historic core. It encourages them to linger, providing a unique backdrop for

1:16:05 ↗ our local restaurants, theaters, outdoor venues, and small businesses. The tie to IHM's mission

1:16:11 ↗ is found in the boarding, riding, and onboarding experience itself. along well with the teaching of

1:16:17 ↗ history during the ride. While Isiqua's original passenger service was driven by steam engines,

1:16:24 ↗ the trolley serves as today's surrogate for that historic travel. The connection to our history

1:16:30 ↗ is found in the physical act of stepping onto the trolley into the story of the of the of the train

1:16:36 ↗ at the depot, just as travelers did over a century ago. Once on board, our passengers are a captive

1:16:44 ↗ audience. Our conductors do more than attend to the needs and safety of the riders. They are also

1:16:50 ↗ there to teach, sharing the stories of Isiziqua's past as the trolley moves through the present. Two

1:16:57 ↗ years ago, we took a hard look at what it would take to bring the trolley back. While we couldn't

1:17:02 ↗ move forward then due to insurance hurdles, the reality is that the financial startup requirements

1:17:08 ↗ were just as significant then as they are today. Our investment of time two years ago wasn't

1:17:14 ↗ wasted, however. It gave us a blueprint. We spent those months crafting the track use agreement,

1:17:21 ↗ identifying the specialized parts needed for the trolley and its power car, assessing the tracks

1:17:27 ↗ and mapping out their repair, and coordinating the trestle inspection with professional railway

1:17:32 ↗ engineers. To today, the landscape has changed. We are in the final stages of

1:17:38 ↗ securing a comprehensive insurance package that meets the city's requirements. More importantly,

1:17:44 ↗ our backbone volunteer experts are ready to return with their uncompromising commitment to

1:17:50 ↗ safety. This funding is the green light for our restart. allows us to hire a dedicated program

1:17:58 ↗ manager to oversee everything that Alexis explained earlier and the and the daily

1:18:04 ↗ complexities of the operation from managing a new core of volunteers to ensuring our safety

1:18:10 ↗ protocols are followed to the letter. We want our operations to be as professional as they are

1:18:16 ↗ passionate. We won't invite a single passenger on board until everything is in ship shape.

1:18:22 ↗ And this position ensures we have the ready hand needed to get there quickly and safely.

1:18:29 ↗ The emails you've received from residents sharing their trolley members memories represent the true

1:18:35 ↗ return on this investment. In a downtown already rich with history and culture, the trolley serves

1:18:42 ↗ as the interactive thread that ties those experiences together. When s when when someone

1:18:48 ↗ steps on board at the depot, they aren't just looking at a museum exhibit. Instead, they are

1:18:54 ↗ entering into Isiqua's story and becoming part of it. It is this shared experience that transforms

1:19:01 ↗ a tourist into a promoter back home and residents into engaged members of the community while giving

1:19:09 ↗ each smiling child a memory to cherish. Because when we feel connected to our history, we feel

1:19:16 ↗ connected to our community. Thank you. Excellent. Are there any questions for Paul or Alexis?

1:19:27 ↗ Oh, Council Member Walsh. Thank you. Um, so probably more of a city question. So,

1:19:33 ↗ this is a very valuable right ofway area right next to our biggest economic core. Um, can you

1:19:41 ↗ talk a little bit about who maintains control and ownership over that and how long this agreement

1:19:50 ↗ goes for and whether or not we could terminate the agreement if we decided to do something else with

1:19:57 ↗ um that right-of-way area. So, thank you for the question. Um so the agreement uh the track use

1:20:04 ↗ agreement will be in place to the the length of time as the um current lease agreement uh that the

1:20:11 ↗ historical museum holds with the depot. Um that um which is what date till the end of 2026. Okay.

1:20:19 ↗ Thank you. Um upon uh the control of the track use uh will maintain be maintained by the city

1:20:27 ↗ ownership by the city um and with a renegotiation of the lease uh we can change uh the terms at any

1:20:34 ↗ time. Thank you. Council member Nichols just want to clarify that uh based on the documents that I

1:20:41 ↗ read in the packet the track agreement is actually extended until 2030 not the lease end date which

1:20:48 ↗ is 2026. Is that correct or I thought it was in co in concert with the uh with the lease agreement.

1:21:01 ↗ I think correct me if I'm wrong, Madam Clerk. I think we I think it is out of whack right now,

1:21:05 ↗ but we have a plan to put it back in alignment.

1:21:13 ↗ Yes. And I believe uh Rachel who's with us pointed that out that the terms of the different

1:21:19 ↗ agreements weren't aligned. So I think our for the council I think their rough plan was there'd be a

1:21:27 ↗ motion on the underlying thing at which point I think we could do amendments to that motion

1:21:31 ↗ to line it up. Rachel, do you want to speak to that? That's correct. Mayor, just for the record,

1:21:37 ↗ I I do think there's a discrepancy in the agreements. It was probably inadvertent,

1:21:41 ↗ but the track use agreement reflects a an end date of December 31st, 2030 and the

1:21:49 ↗ uh lease agreement is the end of 2026. So, it would be makes sense to have those harmonized

1:21:55 ↗ and there's a motion for the council to do so if they wish. Yeah. Okay. Deputy President Jen,

1:22:04 ↗ um, when is the service of the trolley expected to start if we approve this amendment today?

1:22:12 ↗ At this moment, our target is uh early July this year. Great. Thank you,

1:22:20 ↗ Council Member Joe. I had a question. I hope uh we can get clarified a little bit. Appendix B, which

1:22:26 ↗ is uh the last page of the packet, 748 of 748 pages. I know all of us read them all. Uh but uh

1:22:35 ↗ on the last page, the trolley operating hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Uh the trolley will operate

1:22:41 ↗ Saturdays and Sundays from April through September 30th and occasionally on Fridays during June,

1:22:46 ↗ July, August. Um some of the references in the comments tonight were for Halloween, Christmas,

1:22:52 ↗ um and some other special events. Do these operating hours um dictate what we're going to

1:23:00 ↗ agree to or are there other operating hours under this agreement that allow the historical society

1:23:05 ↗ to do those special events? So go ahead. Uh thank you for the question. I believe also and this is

1:23:18 ↗ in that uh appendix there is another paragraph that speaks about other

1:23:25 ↗ uh times when it may operate. I don't have that in front of me right now so I apologize.

1:23:34 ↗ I see a chance to phone a friend in the audience. Just a minute.

1:23:40 ↗ So the uh you mentioned the times um from uh 9 to5 um that allows us to um just a minute

1:23:49 ↗ please allows us to uh also conduct uh training both before and after any wrership if necessary.

1:23:58 ↗ Generally wrership would be in a narrow window of time in there. But uh but in the in that appendix

1:24:05 ↗ in addition to uh Saturdays and Sundays uh it speaks about potentially on Fridays

1:24:11 ↗ uh during the summer months and that other uh uh holidays uh potentially as well. Um and

1:24:19 ↗ that did envision what was mentioned earlier historically that there was a Santa train uh

1:24:24 ↗ during the a uh the Thanksgiving extended holiday and then another pre prior to that a Halloween

1:24:30 ↗ train. Um the the language in there does envision those special operations could be a zombie train.

1:24:43 ↗ I just want to make sure that we're um giving them the access or the ability to do that. It's not a

1:24:50 ↗ got you in any way form. I just want to make sure that we're giving them the leeway and the

1:24:55 ↗ permission to do what they want to do. So, as long as uh the historical site and city are okay with

1:25:00 ↗ that, I just wanted to point that out. May and I'm sorry, may I add? Yeah, pardon me. Um uh and

1:25:08 ↗ thank you for Jay Goolson Jacobson reminding me in there so that beyond those regular or I think

1:25:14 ↗ it's they're they're labeled standard operating days and standard operating hours that should we

1:25:19 ↗ uh wish to operate outside those we would get permission for the city from the city

1:25:24 ↗ uh before we scheduled and executed those. That was what um we had found the area. There's section

1:25:32 ↗ six within the agreement that designates operating hours outside of those outlined in appendix B

1:25:40 ↗ that says they could operate outside of those for special occasions with the express permission of

1:25:45 ↗ the city obtained no later than five business days in advance through the contract administrator. So

1:25:51 ↗ just clarifying that the language is in there. Is that a special use permit? It does not say. It's

1:25:58 ↗ not defined. Just express permission. Well, as long as the city knows and the historical

1:26:04 ↗ site knows how to do it, that's fine with me. Thank you. I can tell Russell Joe went to law

1:26:10 ↗ school. Uh the uh Okay. So, we're going to walk through this process. We're going to start with

1:26:18 ↗ is there a motion on the underlying bill? Council President Marts. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to

1:26:25 ↗ authorize the mayor to enter into and execute an amendment to the existing lease and funding

1:26:29 ↗ agreement with the Isiqua Historical Museums, IHM, to provide an additional $25,000 for 2026

1:26:36 ↗ trolley startup and operations and authorize a track use agreement governing IHM's use of the

1:26:41 ↗ city-owned rail corridor in substantially the same form as attached agreements exhibit B as approved

1:26:47 ↗ by the city attorney and authorize an additional 25,000 in a subsequent 2025 2026 budget amendment.

1:26:55 ↗ Second. Okay. So, there's been a motion, a second. Now,

1:26:58 ↗ we're going to go to I think Council Member Nichols on a potential friendly amendment.

1:27:06 ↗ I know there's no such thing as a friendly amendment, but I'm just calling it friendly.

1:27:10 ↗ It's a It's an amendment that's intended to be friendly. So, um Okay. Thank you,

1:27:15 ↗ Mr. Mayor. Uh so, as comments, I want to start by saying how much I support the trolley and

1:27:19 ↗ the great volunteers that are trying to bring it back. Uh, one of my fa favorite family photos,

1:27:24 ↗ uh, is all of us sitting on the trolley together, meeting Santa, as was brought up. Um,

1:27:28 ↗ that was a long time ago now, though, and, uh, the two young lobbyists that we put to bed every night

1:27:33 ↗ have made their perspective on getting the trolley up and running again very, very clear to me. Um,

1:27:38 ↗ so I appreciate the work that the history museum is doing to get there, and I know it's not easy.

1:27:42 ↗ Um, I do have a minor housekeeping amendment, though, which I'll speak to if seconded,

1:27:46 ↗ uh, to move to amend the track use agreement. Uh, specifically, I move to amend the language in

1:27:51 ↗ section 8 of the track use agreement to add that the city can terminate the track use agreement

1:27:55 ↗ without cause if the iso history museum lease terminates. Is there a second? Second. Okay. So,

1:28:03 ↗ there's this is now we're going to do a vote on the amendment. There's been a motion and a second.

1:28:08 ↗ Is there any discussion on the amendment? Council member Nichols. Yeah, I'll discuss. Uh, so, as I

1:28:13 ↗ mentioned, uh, this is a house I I view this as a housekeeping amendment. Um there's a disconnect

1:28:17 ↗ between the end date of the agreement we're being asked to approve and our existing agreements. Uh

1:28:21 ↗ the base lease for the depot expires at the end of 2026. Uh but the track use agreement runs through

1:28:26 ↗ 2030. That means that if the lease ends for any reason, we can't as easily help a new lease holder

1:28:31 ↗ to start up the trolley if we need to. Uh this amendment simply provides that if the base lease

1:28:35 ↗ terminates, the city has the ability to find a new operator for the track use agreement as well.

1:28:40 ↗ Uh if the lease is renewed, nothing is different and I'm very optimistic that I'll be able to take

1:28:44 ↗ a trolley ride with my kids uh this summer. I'm extremely optimistic about that. But if for any

1:28:50 ↗ reason we ever need to go in a different direction to achieve the community's very loudly stated goal

1:28:54 ↗ of getting the trolley back up and running, this ensures the city has that flexibility. Uh

1:28:59 ↗ additionally, I spoke with the city attorney about this and ways we could harmonize these agreements.

1:29:03 ↗ Uh and the language of my motion is directly quoted from our email as one of the options to

1:29:07 ↗ harmonize them. All right. And I can verify the city attorney has signed off on this language as

1:29:13 ↗ well. Council member Walsh. Yeah. Can I ask why we aren't just changing the date to end at 2026? Um,

1:29:21 ↗ is there a reason to continue to have a track use agreement for that long of a period when

1:29:28 ↗ this is really triing whether or not we can effectively get this up and running.

1:29:36 ↗ So there were there that was one of the two options that the city attorney provided. Uh I

1:29:41 ↗ I went with this one for this motion just because it seemed like a a simpler set of documents to

1:29:46 ↗ keep track of and they're effectively the same. I'd appreciate any other legal minds that are

1:29:50 ↗ better than mine on that though. So that's that's the intention to have them harmonized and I think

1:29:54 ↗ there's a couple different ways that could be that could be gone about that are likely

1:29:59 ↗ equally good. Council member Walsh. Okay. So, I'm maybe the only person here um who isn't

1:30:10 ↗ as enthusiastic about this. And I think from my perspective, knowing that both of the contracts

1:30:17 ↗ um end in 2026 so that we can evaluate whether or not this can be effectively restarted,

1:30:24 ↗ what the writership levels are, what the funding levels are, I think from my perspective would be

1:30:30 ↗ a smarter decision as far as right-of-way use. Um, so I think I would be in preference of a different

1:30:41 ↗ set of language, but I will leave that up to other conversations. Council member Nichols or

1:30:52 ↗ Oh, council member Dair.

1:31:00 ↗ Um, so I guess my question to that point is do we was there any kind of like pro and con

1:31:05 ↗ of why like why you chose this language over the other? What is the with ch if changing the dates

1:31:11 ↗ does that require an extensive level of rec redoing that original contract or what were

1:31:18 ↗ the pros and cons to that and are we able to know that to thus know which option is best?

1:31:23 ↗ I think should we ask the city attorney? Rachel, you're the friend we're phoning.

1:31:31 ↗ Hi, sure. I'm happy to weigh in. I think that there really I don't think there makes much

1:31:39 ↗ functional difference between um changing the date in the track use agreement to reflect the

1:31:48 ↗ same date in the lease agreement or just saying that they essentially run together and that the

1:31:55 ↗ the track um use agreement terminates when the the lease terminates. Um, other than if you

1:32:05 ↗ think that there's some world where you would want to continue the lease for the trolley to

1:32:13 ↗ remain where in its current location, but you would not want to allow the trolley to operate,

1:32:21 ↗ then in that case, then that would be the one circumstance that I think that it would

1:32:26 ↗ make sense to reflect a date specific in the track use agreement. But otherwise,

1:32:34 ↗ if you intend that, you know, you would either and once again your your current uh lease the

1:32:42 ↗ or the lease agreement for the the space that the the trolley is located in the the main agreement

1:32:48 ↗ that's here that's being amended and the track use agreement added to it. It it just ends at

1:32:54 ↗ the end of this year anyway. So we could if this if the council's direction were that we want to

1:33:00 ↗ continue that lease but we don't want to continue um I guess in that case if we sorry just thinking

1:33:07 ↗ thinking as I speak to you here if we think that that's something that you want to do it probably

1:33:13 ↗ be a little bit easier then if the date did say 2026 because then uh in the track use agreement

1:33:20 ↗ because then you could just do an amendment to the lease to continue it in perpetuity.

1:33:25 ↗ If it didn't say that, we would just let it expire at the end of 2026 and enter into a new lease with

1:33:32 ↗ IHM if we didn't want to have the trolley. But as long as the trolg agreement tracks with this

1:33:44 ↗ current lease, then you should be fine in terms of only having the trolley go through the end of this

1:33:51 ↗ year if that's what you choose in the end. Does that make sense, Counc? Yeah. And I appreciate the

1:33:58 ↗ description of all of that because I was under the impression that we were talking about the

1:34:03 ↗ lease of the Isqua History Museum and portions of that. And so I could see ways that we would want

1:34:10 ↗ to continue that agreement and lease there and not necessarily So you're talking about the lease of

1:34:18 ↗ the space where the trolley is stored. Correct. I think it may be the lease of all of that together,

1:34:26 ↗ but let me let me look really fast. I just want to pull this up. I think it's this is this is the

1:34:32 ↗ museum services lease and the trolley equipment um storage agreement. It's all wrapped into one. So,

1:34:41 ↗ I think if the council did want to continue with just the museum services, we would want to redo

1:34:49 ↗ this agreement anyway rather than just continuing it. Unless you would want to allow the trolley to

1:34:58 ↗ just remain in place there unused, in which case then you could we could just use the same form.

1:35:06 ↗ Yeah, I guess I would just say I think it's probably best scenario if everything is harmonized

1:35:13 ↗ to the same date. Um, but I can't. Yeah, as long as our legal team feels like we could find a way

1:35:22 ↗ to continue with whatever we wanted to do if um there was a termination because I wouldn't

1:35:28 ↗ want to have to be in a situation to terminate an entire agreement with the Isqua History Museum if

1:35:34 ↗ we had another use for that right ofway space that needed to happen. Exactly. I think council member

1:35:40 ↗ Nichols and I just went with that um that option because it seemed the simplest in terms of what

1:35:49 ↗ the amendment would say and what the language that we had so far. But there really was no there's no

1:35:55 ↗ I think that it would make just as much sense to amend the agreement to say that the term we

1:36:02 ↗ instead of amending the termination language, we could just amend the term language that is that

1:36:09 ↗ currently says December 31st, 2030. Why don't we just do a different motion and revise that to read

1:36:18 ↗ December 31st, 2026? Because if we come when we come back with to ask the council to extend the

1:36:27 ↗ history museum lease, we would also we'd of course want to come back with this as well.

1:36:33 ↗ So we could just bring them both back at the same time. There's no there's no downside, I guess, is

1:36:38 ↗ what I'm saying to using the specific date. Okay. So Rachel, my question is, do we have to actually

1:36:45 ↗ vote down the First Amendment or can we just pretend it doesn't exist? We have to vote it down.

1:36:50 ↗ Oh, Council Member Nichols. So, I can we don't have to vote. I can just withdraw.

1:36:57 ↗ Okay. I withdraw the motion. All right. First amendment is withdrawn. Council President Marts,

1:37:03 ↗ would the administration like to take five minutes to craft uh language on a different amendment or

1:37:08 ↗ is it is it self-evident? Yes. Yes. To which part of that? Please, if we could have a moment. So,

1:37:15 ↗ I would like to request five. Give me 30 seconds. 30 seconds. Well, can let's just Well,

1:37:20 ↗ but there's some policy questions as well as legal questions. Let's Yes, I would request five

1:37:24 ↗ a fivem minute recess while the administration. We're at recess to figure out the language.

1:52:05 ↗ Okay, we are back in regular session and we're going to have city attorney Rachel Bender Turpin

1:52:15 ↗ explain her original idea for having the original amendment that was that we originally heard from

1:52:22 ↗ council member Nichols. Go ahead, Rachel. Thank you, mayor. So, when I was drafting

1:52:27 ↗ this original language, I was looking at how this agreement was written and noticing that the term

1:52:35 ↗ was through 2030. And I've been involved in some of the negotiations here with the uh historical

1:52:42 ↗ society on this agreement. And the reason for this lengthier date uh for this longer term here is

1:52:51 ↗ that this is kind of a process to get the trolley up and running. It's going to be a big investment

1:52:56 ↗ of not just time but um of not just money but time and it's going to take a little while and in order

1:53:03 ↗ to you know really make it beneficial they do need some time to time to uh see it in operation

1:53:11 ↗ too and get it get it working. So, I wanted to draft something that would allow for that sort

1:53:20 ↗ of intention of the parties that were giving this assurance to the the historical museum that we're

1:53:28 ↗ not going to just take away this agreement. so that they're not they're not just investing all

1:53:32 ↗ of this into a trolley operation just for it to come to um a halt at the end of this year,

1:53:38 ↗ but at the same time rectifying a an an issue with the agreement that council member Nichols

1:53:45 ↗ identified, which is that it doesn't make sense that we wouldn't be able to terminate the track

1:53:51 ↗ use agreement if the lease were no longer in effect. If the lease is no longer in effect,

1:53:56 ↗ the lease is what gives the museum the authority to store the trolley on city property.

1:54:04 ↗ if they um no longer have authority to store the track on city property, but we have this

1:54:12 ↗ track use agreement still in effect, that just creates an an awkward situation legally where

1:54:19 ↗ they still have the rights to the tracks, but no trolley to operate on them, which just doesn't

1:54:24 ↗ make any sense. So it makes sense I think for all parties would agree that in the event we terminate

1:54:31 ↗ that the museum agreement for some reason that this agreement would also go away with it. That

1:54:38 ↗ said I think that they are separate standalone agreements and I think that the intention here

1:54:43 ↗ was to give some extra time for the historical museum to get the trolley operational. of course,

1:54:53 ↗ provided that the museum lease continues in that interim period. Does that make sense? Yeah,

1:55:00 ↗ thank you very much. I think that I think the kind of lesson we've learned here is there Rachel's

1:55:06 ↗ original agreement for the 5-year track agreement was intentional in negotiating with Isqua History

1:55:10 ↗ Museums and so it was there by design and now the original amendment we did hear from council

1:55:15 ↗ member Nichols does kind of alleviate the other concerns of them being in conflict. But with that,

1:55:20 ↗ I would call on council president Mars. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to amend the language

1:55:26 ↗ in section 8 of the track use agreement to provide that the city can terminate

1:55:29 ↗ the track use agreement without cause if the if IHM lease terminates. Is there a second?

1:55:39 ↗ Second. Okay. So, there's been a motion, a second. Now, we'll have council president Mark's

1:55:44 ↗ discussion on this amendment. Never a dull moment in the city of Isiqua, ladies and gentlemen.

1:55:49 ↗ So basically in in the last 10 minutes um we discovered that in we had originally thought

1:55:56 ↗ that the language of both of these um potential amendments were comparable but what we've really

1:56:02 ↗ discovered is that the um language that I just used which is the same language that

1:56:08 ↗ um council member Nichols used is actually preferable um from the applicant standpoint

1:56:13 ↗ and will make it easier for them to fund raise um in the future. And I think that um I believe it's

1:56:19 ↗ the sense of this body that that we want to see the Charlie successful. And so I think given that

1:56:25 ↗ I think it's important that we use the language that best uh equips IHM um in their in their

1:56:31 ↗ efforts to make the trolley successful, which is why I made this motion and why I support this

1:56:35 ↗ motion uh this amendment. Thank you. Discussion. Council member Walsh. I'm trying to separate this

1:56:44 ↗ from the Isiqua History Museum and just try and understand a situation where we would agree to

1:56:54 ↗ let an organization use a significant portion of our rightway right next to an economic hub

1:57:02 ↗ of the city for a 4 and a half year period without proof that they can do so. Like I agree with the

1:57:12 ↗ concept of wanting to give them time and there is no part of me that if the history museum came back

1:57:20 ↗ and said hey we ran into this problem and we need another year I think that makes sense and I hear

1:57:29 ↗ the concept of hey they need asurances so that they can fundra that makes sense to me as well

1:57:36 ↗ but this is our city rightway and this is not something where I could see a situation of just

1:57:45 ↗ giving over control of an important area of the city for a 4 and a half year period without like

1:57:53 ↗ we wouldn't do it with an organization that hadn't proven their ability to do something with that.

1:58:01 ↗ So I am still pretty hesitant with this idea of putting an agreement for four and a half years

1:58:11 ↗ in place. Council member Derek, do you have a functional microphone now? Oh, I see a red light.

1:58:18 ↗ You're in business. So So to I'm just trying to also get some clarity since we had so much back

1:58:24 ↗ and forth and just getting it straight since there are two kind of separate actions happening here.

1:58:28 ↗ So the one is, you know, with the 25,000 of startup for 2026 and then separately a track

1:58:34 ↗ use agreement for four years to operate a trolley on these tracks. Is that correct?

1:58:39 ↗ And that that's the understanding of what these agreements are. It certainly is my understanding

1:58:44 ↗ and just one point of clarification, it would be five operating years 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.

1:58:54 ↗ That is correct, Council Member Adair. Okay. So um so yeah so similarly like the question is again

1:59:02 ↗ like saying let's say the trolley gets back up and it does not work even after year two or three and

1:59:09 ↗ the trolley is stopped but the history museum is obviously going to maintain everything and

1:59:13 ↗ still be in that space but basically we would still not have access to the track lines until

1:59:20 ↗ after 2030 under the if we agree to it as is. Is that just the correct understanding?

1:59:26 ↗ Rachel, they're all looking at you. You can't see, but

1:59:32 ↗ um so yeah. So I mean similarly like saying I think the trolley um is a great service and I

1:59:38 ↗ think it will be successful and I would honestly also want it to have more than one year to get

1:59:44 ↗ successful. But I I do have some hesitation about five years of to the same points that

1:59:49 ↗ um council member Wash brought up of you know of our track space of giving away five years of

1:59:54 ↗ that without some sort of way to negotiate that. Council President Marts I I just haven't heard in

2:00:04 ↗ 17 years anyone suggest using that right away to do anything else with it. No one has come to us

2:00:11 ↗ and said, "We really want to do XYZ, but we can't because you're saving it for the trolley." So, I I

2:00:17 ↗ understand that we're now having a conversation of how much uh runway do we want to give the

2:00:23 ↗ Isaac Isqua Historical Museum. Um that's such a different conversation than any of us thought we

2:00:30 ↗ were going to have walking in here this evening. Um but I I I know that they've operated the

2:00:36 ↗ trolley before. um you know they they got into challenges because of things that didn't have to

2:00:44 ↗ do with their successful operation of the trolley had to do with minutia in insurance and things

2:00:49 ↗ like that. So they have a demonstrated record of having been successful and I and I haven't seen a

2:00:54 ↗ clamoring for any other use for that property right now. So I think the risk of of giving

2:00:59 ↗ them this runway um is low. Thank you. Any other discussion? Council member Nichols, I think we'll

2:01:09 ↗ I mean, we inherently have another chance to take a look at this because the operating agreement I

2:01:15 ↗ I called it a lease before, but I'll try to get it right. Uh for the other parcels ends in December.

2:01:22 ↗ So, I mean, we have a a a statement that uh we should have a trolley operating this summer. I'm

2:01:28 ↗ fully confident that will happen. And uh then it's all I think it's all a non-issue at that point.

2:01:36 ↗ Okay. So, at this point, not seeing any other discussion. We are to council member Dar's

2:01:41 ↗ original question. We are voting right now on the amendment. We heard from council president Marts.

2:01:46 ↗ That amendment is amend the language in section B of the track use agreement that the city can

2:01:50 ↗ terminate the track use agreement without cause if the historical museum lease terminates. With

2:01:56 ↗ all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. All those opposed, nay. Nay. Okay. So that passes

2:02:06 ↗ five to one. We are now on to the original as amended motion now which is authorize Mor enter

2:02:15 ↗ to and execute an amendment the existing lease and funding agreement with the Equtory Museum to

2:02:20 ↗ provide an additional $25,000 for 2026 trolley startup and operations and authorize track use

2:02:24 ↗ agreement governing IM use of the city own rail corridor and substantially the same

2:02:28 ↗ as the attached agreement. Exhibit B is approved by the city attorney and authorize an additional

2:02:31 ↗ $25,000 in a subsequent 2526 budget amendment as we amended. Discussion. Council President

2:02:42 ↗ Marks. I am so excited to be voting for this this evening. Um, part of moving to Isiqua was having

2:02:51 ↗ the incredible downtown that we have, the old town that we have, and um the the reconnection that our

2:03:00 ↗ city has over the years uh with what we have been over over the last 125 years. And uh the trolley

2:03:09 ↗ is an integral part of that for me. me some of my happiest moments were were taking the trolley

2:03:15 ↗ um back the last time that it ran. But I but I think it's really an essential element to who

2:03:20 ↗ we are as a city that you know we're we're not a suburb, we're a city and we have we're small

2:03:27 ↗ but mighty and we have a mighty history and and tonight is a step towards uh reconnecting with

2:03:34 ↗ that history. Thank you, Deputy President Jen. I'm very excited not only to vote for this today,

2:03:40 ↗ but also to ride the trolley in early July. Um I don't know if there's going to be a pre-ride

2:03:46 ↗ for elected officials like they just had with the Cross Lake Connection, but that would be that I

2:03:51 ↗ I would be in support of that as well. Um I think you know Isiqua I think we are very unique amongst

2:03:57 ↗ you know all the east side cities and that we really have an amazing wellpreserved historic

2:04:01 ↗ downtown and I think the trolley is a critical piece of that. And there's some naysayers out

2:04:06 ↗ there who say there was never a trolley in Isiqua, blah blah blah. It is legitimately a historic

2:04:11 ↗ vehicle. It looks great. Definitely has a historic vibe and I think it adds a lot to Front Street.

2:04:15 ↗ And so I'm very very excited for this prospect and it's been great to hear that, you know, there's

2:04:20 ↗ um a lot of volunteers who have been invested and have the expertise and experience who ran

2:04:25 ↗ the trolley, you know, pre-COVID who are going to be um very committed to bringing it back. So, look

2:04:30 ↗ forward to riding it um hopefully with my nephew who's one-year-old uh and uh he is a big train

2:04:36 ↗ fan. Council member Adair, uh I'm going to echo the same points that I am very excited to see the

2:04:44 ↗ trolley. you know, um, as a finance guy, you know, I've had questions and I had, you know, I know,

2:04:48 ↗ I do want, you know, I am hopefully confident that should something go right, we have other options

2:04:53 ↗ just because I want to make sure obviously this city is smart with its money, but I also think

2:04:56 ↗ this $25,000 is a small price to pay for something that is very iconic to Isaqua and important to

2:05:02 ↗ especially this summer season to be up and running and to what we will hopefully be drawing here. Um,

2:05:08 ↗ and I also don't want the trolley to die in any capacity because I also in the future like I I

2:05:15 ↗ see a world where maybe there's a rail line and then people can walk from the rail line to the

2:05:18 ↗ trolley and it takes them to downtown. And so I do want us to uh keep the effort for this going

2:05:25 ↗ um in ways possible, but obviously in smart ways and and being um conservative and conscious for

2:05:32 ↗ that. But I am very excited for it and think this is a worthwhile expense for us this year.

2:05:38 ↗ We need build the damn train and build the damn trolley t-shirts. We need two sets of shirts.

2:05:42 ↗ Council member Joe. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Paul Winterstein, I'd like to thank you for all of your

2:05:49 ↗ hard work and your dedication to our community, both on council and now as your role with the

2:05:54 ↗ historical society. Um Eric Ericson, Barb Justice, those that came before us to put this trolley on

2:06:04 ↗ its tracks and on the right way. We owe them a great debt as well and I look forward to seeing

2:06:09 ↗ it coming to fruition in July and traveling on it for Halloween and for Christmas and for many,

2:06:17 ↗ many years to come. I applaud you for all your hard work. This is just a beginning. The $25,000

2:06:24 ↗ uh is a start. I'm sorry we couldn't get it approved through the ELTAC uh process that went

2:06:32 ↗ um we just got done with a little while ago, but I'm glad we could find some funding through this

2:06:37 ↗ tonight and I'm happy to support it. Thank you, Council Member Walsh. Uh thank you. So, I have

2:06:47 ↗ never really understood the use of a trolley that just goes that short distance. Um, and so

2:06:57 ↗ I was planning to come into tonight's meeting um against the idea and certainly I think we should

2:07:05 ↗ be protective of right away which is separate from um that concept. But I have to say the number of

2:07:13 ↗ emails that we got showing the level of support um swayed me and so I am going to be supporting

2:07:23 ↗ this. I hope it is successful and I hope that we have an opportunity to um see how this funding can

2:07:32 ↗ help out the history museum and maybe alter um what our contributions are as well as a result.

2:07:40 ↗ There you go. Audience, democracy and action, emails, and your public comment work. Uh,

2:07:44 ↗ Council Member Nichols, uh, I I think I'll echo most of what was already said. Um, I will I will

2:07:49 ↗ also repeat that, uh, I think if I did go home tonight and tell my children that I voted against

2:07:53 ↗ a trolley, I would not be allowed in the house. So, I um I'm I'm I'm taking my personal safety

2:07:59 ↗ into account with this vote as well. Um, so I will be I I will also be supporting this. Um, and I'm

2:08:04 ↗ very much looking forward to, as has been stated by others, writing this trolley in July. and

2:08:09 ↗ uh and uh also with uh council member Joe and uh and Halloween and maybe Christmas too depending on

2:08:15 ↗ if we can coordinate our schedule as well. So uh I very excited to see this coming back and I think

2:08:20 ↗ it'll be a tremendous uh asset to the community that will will be around for many many many years

2:08:25 ↗ to come. So thank you. My only disappoint we do not have a bar car or Tootsie Pop amendment but

2:08:31 ↗ we will move forward to the final vote. All those in favor please say I I. All those opposed, no.

2:08:39 ↗ And the trolley passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Uh, okay. We're now on to committee regional

2:08:48 ↗ reports. Uh, we're going to start with council member Adair. Uh, okay. Yeah, I had a couple

2:08:56 ↗ of committees uh all salmon related. I had a uh meeting with the Hayra 8. Um there was basically

2:09:03 ↗ kind of an updates on upcoming grant rounds, some recap of the legislative the legislative session

2:09:08 ↗ which didn't have a lot of great news. There was some reduced funding for regional fish enhancement

2:09:13 ↗ groups and shifting of climate action funds and non-passage of the CPBDQ reduction which is the

2:09:20 ↗ chemical entires that can be toxic but uh our own representative Zach Hall is supposed to be

2:09:26 ↗ bringing it back next session. Um there was uh you know presentations also on the various outreach

2:09:33 ↗ programs including our local fish friends of the squad salmon hatchery which highlighted

2:09:36 ↗ their offseason science tables program uh which allows them to bring uh conservation education

2:09:41 ↗ to students and families with hands-on portable exhibits and I saw their work and I thought it

2:09:46 ↗ was really great stuff. Um and also on the uh cocon management you know basic introduction of

2:09:53 ↗ new members. Um there's been a little it's again similar good and bad news in terms of the work

2:09:58 ↗ being done there, but they wanted to emphasize that this is a long-term work and there was some

2:10:02 ↗ positives in terms of habitat. Um but there is um more to do and especially on the upcoming budget

2:10:08 ↗ cycles. So that's my report. Thank you, Council Member Nichols. Uh I have no reports to offer

2:10:15 ↗ tonight. Thank you. Council member Joe, thank you. The April Mobility and Infrastructure Committee

2:10:21 ↗ meeting has been cancelled. Uh the chamber board meeting will be on April 17th and um

2:10:29 ↗ uh we'll give our report on city affairs to the um chamber of commerce board. Cascade Water Alliance

2:10:36 ↗ uh their next board meeting is April 22nd. I'm on the Cascade Finance and Intergovernmental

2:10:43 ↗ Committee now and that'll be meeting on uh April 21st. And Mr. Mayor, would you give a summary of

2:10:50 ↗ the May 25th, March 25th Cascade Water Alliance meeting when you have an opportunity? I can in

2:10:55 ↗ my report. Sure. Council member Walsh. Thank you. I apologize. I have four very long reports. Um,

2:11:02 ↗ first, uh, planning, development, environment committee met on March 17th. We had a second

2:11:07 ↗ touch on the Isqua climate action plan IAP update looking for ways to reduce greenhouse

2:11:13 ↗ gas emissions. The committee agreed to several additions to the ICAP, including reviewing parking

2:11:20 ↗ minimums, increasing multif family requirements for EV ready stalls, and investigating options for

2:11:27 ↗ time of a replacement requirements uh for energy efficiency. And so all of those will start to go

2:11:33 ↗ back to the environment committee uh etc. And then we also recommended that the next council

2:11:39 ↗ touch for the IAP come to the committee of the whole rather than just sticking with the planning

2:11:44 ↗ development and environment committee. Okay, next one. Rules ad hoc. So um the city council

2:11:52 ↗ has uh created a temporary committee talking about our rules and procedures because we have a whole

2:11:58 ↗ bunch of things saved up for that. We met last Tuesday for our first of three meetings. At the

2:12:04 ↗ start of the meeting, we requested that future meetings be in a public location and be noticed

2:12:08 ↗ on the website. And we also agreed to add four items to our scope uh discussing correspondence,

2:12:14 ↗ confidentiality, use of staff time, and noticing of meetings with attendance restrictions. Those

2:12:20 ↗ items will all be at our next meeting. During that meeting, we discussed four items. Uh travel

2:12:27 ↗ policy. So, the clerk had recognized that we had adopted an ordinance back in 2008 uh with

2:12:35 ↗ a city with with a city council travel policy, but then we also have a citywide policy which

2:12:42 ↗ uh contradicted each other. The committee agreed to repeal the 2008 ordinance and add to the city

2:12:49 ↗ policy a requirement that elected official travel of five or city council travel of $500 or more

2:12:57 ↗ requires approval by the city council at a good of the order. That was one. Second, audit committee.

2:13:03 ↗ Um it was something that was kind of discussed and recommended. Um the committee ultimately

2:13:09 ↗ supported designating one or two council members to participate in our audit meetings which is

2:13:14 ↗ really important from a fiduciary standpoint. And then while we discussed the possibility of

2:13:20 ↗ creating a separate audit committee, we concluded that we already have tools for this including

2:13:27 ↗ um taking financial matters to services, safety and parks or the committee of the whole. And so

2:13:33 ↗ we encouraged the administration to use those options. community listening sessions. We've

2:13:39 ↗ done different things over the years. There was a small change we recommended to policy to allow for

2:13:43 ↗ flexibility. And then the big one was new business request process. So we started agreeing that there

2:13:49 ↗ should probably be a shortcut process for adding new business items that require minimal staff

2:13:55 ↗ involvement using announcements um at good of the order. And then we discussed potential changes

2:14:00 ↗ to the new business request process, noting that it's been used very infrequently. And so

2:14:06 ↗ we're going to continue that conversation at the next meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled this

2:14:10 ↗ Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the steelhead room. Uh we're going to discuss the social media policy,

2:14:17 ↗ audience comments, seating, voting and abstensions, confidentiality, use of staff time,

2:14:22 ↗ correspondence, special meeting agendments, and continuing the new business request conversation.

2:14:27 ↗ So you've given us a lot to work. Uh third item, again big East Side Fire and Rescue. So, East

2:14:35 ↗ Side Fire and Rescue meets next Thursday, April 9th. The major agenda item is deeper education on

2:14:42 ↗ our long-term financial options. So, right now, Eastside Fire and Rescue from a city standpoint

2:14:48 ↗ is just a line item in our general budget from our general fund. Um, it is organized as an interlocal

2:14:57 ↗ agreement or ILA. One option then is to continue that, but it doesn't give us a lot of financial

2:15:04 ↗ flexibility to deal with all of the rising costs. The second is we could consolidate into a single

2:15:10 ↗ fire district. Some benefits, some cons. We can create a new regional fire authority or we can

2:15:17 ↗ join an existing regional fire authority. Uh the presentation looks at all of the opportunities and

2:15:23 ↗ challenges for each option and really starts the conversation of doing some back of the napkin at

2:15:30 ↗ um calculations on what the impact would be for individual homeowners and property taxpayers. Um

2:15:38 ↗ if we utilize different financial tools such as a levy and a fire benefit charge. Um so after all of

2:15:45 ↗ that is available, I'm going to share it out with council members. I would really encourage you to

2:15:50 ↗ reach out with questions. I'm more than happy to meet with all of you because this is going to be

2:15:54 ↗ a big item and within the next few months it is going to come back to the city council to say

2:16:00 ↗ whether or not we agree to a planning committee to study um one of those options. Last item, a

2:16:10 ↗ regional coalition for housing, ARCH, has started a um council of electeds. Um and so on March 26th,

2:16:20 ↗ I attended the first meeting. It's a limited pilot project with four meetings set this year. Um there

2:16:26 ↗ were elected leaders from 12 other jurisdictions across King County that were there. It was really

2:16:32 ↗ super powerful to just see the level of engagement in affordable housing across the region. Um, our

2:16:38 ↗ topics included education on what ARCH currently does and affordable housing tools, a 2026

2:16:44 ↗ legislative session overview, and a success story from Kirkland on the Totem Lake neighborhood,

2:16:49 ↗ which is fascinating. I'd love to talk to all of you about it. Um, the new group expressed a lot of

2:16:55 ↗ interest in how to work together strategically on legislative issues and we'll be asked later

2:17:00 ↗ this year to help shape housing priorities for Arch's 2027 legislative agenda. some of the other

2:17:08 ↗ uh regional affordable housing um organizations such as the one up in Pierce County and such or

2:17:14 ↗ down in Pierce County um put this out and have all of their cities adopt it as their housing

2:17:22 ↗ um priorities which is really powerful and so there's some really great uh possibilities for us

2:17:28 ↗ working together strategically and that concludes my reports. All right, thank you Deputy President

2:17:33 ↗ Jane. Great. time uh report is much shorter. Um so the first uh meeting that's coming up there's the

2:17:39 ↗ East Side Transportation Partnership meeting uh next Friday, April 10th at 8 a.m. It's in person

2:17:44 ↗ at Redmond City Hall. Um the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is having a board retreat

2:17:50 ↗ that same day, Friday, April 10th, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in person somewhere in downtown

2:17:56 ↗ Seattle. Location TBE. Um and finally, I'm joining the PSRC Regional Open Space Conservation Plan

2:18:02 ↗ Advisory Committee. very long name. Um, but basically, you know, they have a plan on open

2:18:07 ↗ space conservation for the full 4count region and I'm actually gonna be the chair of this group. So,

2:18:11 ↗ should be interesting. Uh, that concludes my report. All right. Council President Marks.

2:18:15 ↗ Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sound Cities Association Public Issues Committee has a meeting coming

2:18:19 ↗ up Wednesday, April 8th. Uh, it's going to be in person, which are always better, at Britain

2:18:24 ↗ City Hall at 7 p.m. There is a pre-pic social hour at 6 p.m. uh in council chambers. Um the biggest

2:18:32 ↗ issue that is going to be addressed is going to be uh waste uh rates. The regional water quality

2:18:39 ↗ committee RWQC is in the middle of setting the 2027 sewer rate and capacity charges. The waste

2:18:46 ↗ treatment waste to water treatment division has proposed a 12.75% increase in the monthly sewer

2:18:52 ↗ rate. RWQC will consider adopting a rate response letter at their April 1 meeting. The executive's

2:18:58 ↗ proposed sewer rate will be transmitted to King County Council on April 23rd and acted on by the

2:19:02 ↗ council in June. The SCA RWQC caucus has suggested that SCA submitted a submit a rate response letter

2:19:10 ↗ which would be discussed at the April pick meeting and potentially approved at the May pick meeting.

2:19:16 ↗ So, um I will have something at the April meeting that I will bring back to council to discuss and

2:19:22 ↗ then would be acted upon in May. This is not an emergency action. So, it's not a oneanddone.

2:19:27 ↗ uh the way they have been historically. However, um if you wake up in the middle of the night

2:19:31 ↗ and bolt upright in your bed and say, "I have um urgent uh communications for SCA pick in regards

2:19:38 ↗ to uh race waste treatment rates. Please get a hold of me. I will be happy to um address your

2:19:44 ↗ concerns prior to what we see at the PIC meeting on April 8th." This concludes my report. Okay.

2:19:50 ↗ Excellent. And for the mayor's report is to follow up on Russell Joe, council member Joe's comments.

2:19:56 ↗ Uh the cascade water lines did meet last week on Wednesday. I think the big topic of discussion was

2:20:01 ↗ executive director role. And so it it looks like the way it's shaping out. I think the most likely

2:20:07 ↗ outcome right now is that the next meeting they will probably do a search and so there's interup

2:20:11 ↗ interim executive director. I think there is a chance that person could retain the role,

2:20:16 ↗ but I think that could be done through a search process where they're one of the people applying

2:20:20 ↗ for the job. And in terms of the new committee that was formed, the capital supply committee,

2:20:25 ↗ I am on that committee as council member Joe is on the finance committee. We think those are the two

2:20:29 ↗ most important committees as they try to build a $1.2 billion water pipe to Tacoma. Uh for the

2:20:37 ↗ second part of the mayor's report, the 2026 boards and commissions was on tonight's consent calendar.

2:20:42 ↗ That was agenda bill 9150 9157. Uh we had we have 113 members serving on our 13 different

2:20:49 ↗ boards and commissions. We have 23 new members who have now joined that cohort. We also had 23

2:20:55 ↗ returning members and to realize what a lucky community we are. We actually have more people

2:20:59 ↗ apply than spots we had open. And so we do want to thank everyone who did apply. We really appreciate

2:21:05 ↗ their volunteer efforts. And we want to thank those who were appointed because they have more

2:21:10 ↗ volunteer time on the horizon. And in terms of the remaining ones, there is still recruitment for the

2:21:15 ↗ civil service commission and for the squad special member of the King County Landmarks Commission. So

2:21:19 ↗ civil service commission isn't doesn't sound super sexy. It is actually important for validating all

2:21:24 ↗ of our collective bing agreement contracts. Uh next update is Peterson energy grant for the

2:21:30 ↗ community center. So we awarded $700,000 from PSSE to support critical energy upgrades at

2:21:36 ↗ the Isqua Community Center. Basically these are we're replacing natural gas equipment with heat

2:21:40 ↗ pumps. So, we will have air conditioning in the community center coming up and we will use less

2:21:45 ↗ electricity as well. And upcoming events, we have the Earth Month. April's Earth Month. Celebrate

2:21:51 ↗ by getting involved in events throughout the community. There are a variety of activities

2:21:54 ↗ planned to help you learn, volunteer, and take action for our environment. Kick off the month

2:21:57 ↗ with our annual Arbor Day event at Confluence Park this Saturday, April 4th. You can visit the

2:22:03 ↗ city website for more information. We also have a Leave No Trace events in Isiqua. Leave No Trace is

2:22:07 ↗ a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the outdoors through science-based education that

2:22:11 ↗ encourages responsible recreation along with 11 other cities. We are one of the spotlighted

2:22:16 ↗ cities. And once again, there will be well, I think we're going to have events that include

2:22:21 ↗ trivia night at Formula Brewing, a restoration event at Confluence Park. And once again,

2:22:26 ↗ there are more details on the city website. And that concludes the mayor's report. Does

2:22:29 ↗ anyone have anything for the good of the order? Looking around, not seeing it. Uh, I'd like to

2:22:35 ↗ announce the following upcoming council meetings. Monday, April 6th is committee the whole meeting.

2:22:40 ↗ That agenda will involve the potential park bond renewal along with the facilities update. Tuesday,

2:22:45 ↗ April 7th is a special council meeting to hear presentations from the city council

2:22:48 ↗ vacancy applicants. Those applicants, I think, have until Thursday, end of business. So, that

2:22:53 ↗ is April 2nd to apply and then we will validate their Isco residents. Oh, council member Nichols.

2:23:02 ↗ Okay. So, one quick go to the order announcements. Um just want to call

2:23:05 ↗ out and recognize that uh tomorrow, Tuesday, March 31st, is International Transgender Day

2:23:09 ↗ of Visibility. Uh I think it's a very important thing for everyone in our community to be aware

2:23:13 ↗ of. Um there will also be some upcoming proclamations to that effect as well,

2:23:17 ↗ which I I think uh are greatly appreciated. So just quick note, uh tomorrow, March 31st,

2:23:23 ↗ International Transgender Day of Visibility. And I think it's a it's a good opportunity to

2:23:27 ↗ uh think about and uh learn from the perspectives of many of our neighbors and residents and uh

2:23:36 ↗ uh grow as we learn more about them. So thank you. Yes. I am doing a proclamation uh at an

2:23:41 ↗ event on April 9th for them uh next week in the evening. Uh okay. So that concludes good of the

2:23:48 ↗ order. We are now have executive session ID 20004 property property acquisition for RCW42.30.110

2:23:58 ↗ parenthesis 1 parenthesis B lowercase B. The council will now go on executive

2:24:02 ↗ session discuss property acquisition per this RCW.

2:24:07 ↗ Executive sessions are closed to the public. We expect this executive session to last roughly 20

2:24:12 ↗ minutes. No action is anticipated when we go back to open session and we will now start.

2:24:18 ↗ Man, I lose all my brevity points for council meetings. It is 9:25,

2:24:22 ↗ but uh we will now start this executive session at 9:25.

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (6)

Paul Adair

Kelly Jiang

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Kevin Nichols

Lindsey Walsh

Staff (4)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Andrea Lehner, Deputy City Administrator

Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Motions and votes (3)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a)

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

Carried 6-0

In favor: Paul Adair, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

AMENDMENT: Amend the language in Section 8 of the Track Use Agreement to add that the City can terminate the Track Use Agreement without cause if the IHM lease terminates. MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

Carried 5-1

In favor: Adair, Jiang, Joe, Marts, Nichols

Opposed: Walsh

Main motion as amended: MOTION: Authorize the Mayor to enter into and execute an amendment to the existing lease and funding agreement with the Issaquah History Museums (IHM) to provide an additional $25,000 for 2026 trolley startup and operations and authorize a Track Use Agreement governing IHM’s …

Moved by (main motion as amended) · seconded by

Carried 6-0

In favor: Adair, Jiang, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh