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City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee Auto captions

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

6:30 PM · 1h 53m · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topics tracked across meetings:
2024 Park System Plan Adoption AB 8808 8/12
Credit Card Service Fee Policy AB 8882 1/2
Park System Plan Update COM 0013 2/2
Park Board · Feb 26, 2024 Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Jun 25, 2024
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
3a
Minutes of May 28, 2024
packet pp.5–6
Staff report:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 05-28-24 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee Minutes Page 1
4. AGENDA ITEMS
4a
Park System Plan Update COM 0013
60 min · Jeff Watling, Director, Parks and Community Services Robin Spear, Park Planning and Development Manager · packet pp.7–44
Topics: Parks
Staff report:
The Parks and Community Services department has been completing an update to the 2018 Parks Plan. As required by the State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), city park system plans need to be updated every 6 years. These plans play an important role in establishing goals, policies, priorities and a vision for the city parks, trails and open space system. As demonstrated in the attached list of 2018 Park Plan accomplishments (
4b
Credit Card Fee Cost Recovery COM 0052
45 min · Jennifer Rein, Deputy Finance Director · packet pp.45–66
Topics: Budget
Staff report:
The Administration recommends policy development designed to have customers pay credit card transaction fees directly and not continue to absorb these fees. The most notable benefits to this cost recovery method: 1) 100% full cost recovery, 2) provides customers with greater transparency to charges and fees, 3) follows industry standards and this model is familiar to customers, and 4) customer pays the transaction fees directly to the payment processor – the City does not collect these fees to pay back to the payment processor.
0:05 I council member toam Mars call the June
0:10 25th
0:12 25th uh isqua services safety and Parks
0:16 committee meeting to order we will start
0:21 with public comment there are multiple
0:23 public comment opportunities at
0:25 tonight's meeting there's a general
0:27 public comment opportunity at the
0:28 beginning of the meeting or you can make
0:30 comments after the presentation and
0:32 Council Q&A uh answer period on each of
0:35 tonight's agenda items members of the
0:37 public May address council at this time
0:39 in person or virtually those who signed
0:41 up in advance to make comments will be
0:42 called on first if you are joining us
0:44 virtually and would like to make
0:46 comments please raise your virtual hand
0:48 you're on the phone press star three if
0:50 you've joined by computer or smartphone
0:51 look for a hand icon this varies by
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0:57 to the participant panel and choose the
0:59 raise hand icon in the lower right hand
1:01 corner you're in the room and did not
1:03 sign up I will ask for other speakers
1:05 before closing this portion of the
1:06 meeting we wait for a moment to see if
1:08 anyone wishes to raise their
1:13 hand has anyone signed with the speak or
1:15 indicated a desired
1:17 speak yes chair Marts we have uh two
1:21 members of the public who have signed up
1:24 prior to the meeting and we have one
1:25 online attendee indicating a desire to
1:27 speak great uh public comments are an
1:30 important part of the public process we
1:32 take them seriously and Factor them into
1:33 the decisions we make during audience
1:36 comments members of the public are
1:37 invited to address the council regarding
1:38 matters that are directly related to
1:40 City programs projects services or
1:42 events anyone from the public who wishes
1:44 to com comment will have the opportunity
1:46 to do so please direct comments to the
1:49 whole Council and not individuals while
1:52 this is not a question and answer
1:53 session we will contact you to follow up
1:55 if need when recognized please unmute
1:58 your microphone uh or step up to select
2:00 turn state your name address and
2:02 relationship to the city speak clearly
2:04 and pause frequently and limit comments
2:06 to 5 minutes you're attending virtually
2:08 and do not respond after your name or
2:09 phone number is called or if your
2:11 connection is lost unexpectedly meeting
2:13 will need to proceed you're encouraged
2:15 to rejoin the meeting if a written
2:17 comments can be submitted at any time to
2:19 city council at isqua
2:21 wa.gov personal attacks subscene
2:23 language derogatory remarks disrupted
2:26 Behavior such as shouting booing
2:27 clapping or stomping feet will not be
2:29 permitted
2:30 the speaker is out of order the
2:31 presiding officer will direct the
2:32 speaker to return to his or her seat or
2:34 for virtual attendees may direct staff
2:36 to mute their microphone the speaker
2:38 does not comply the presiding officer
2:40 may take a recess to restore order the
2:42 disruption to the meeting occurs and
2:44 Order cannot be restored the presiding
2:45 officer May proceed to use one of the
2:47 options provided for in RCW
2:49 42305 to ensure orderly
2:52 continuation again public comments
2:54 written in verbal are an important
2:56 aspect of the public process City takes
2:58 comments seriously and we thank members
2:59 to the public for taking the time to
3:01 address US during our meeting cler can
3:03 you identify the first
3:05 person yes chair Mars Rachel R would
3:08 like to speak to the
3:13 committee hello um I'm Rachel Wright and
3:16 I've come and spoken to you before in my
3:19 capacity as co-chair of the isqua Arts
3:21 commission but tonight I'm here speaking
3:24 on behalf of my role as the co-founder
3:27 and president of the nonprofit art
3:29 organization isqua art um Last Summer
3:33 with the help of three co-founders we
3:35 took the steps to form this
3:38 nonprofit and isqua arts is an advocacy
3:41 advocacy organization our interest is in
3:44 changing the perception that space is
3:46 unavailable or
3:49 unattainable an example is a topic we're
3:51 all familiar with the Performing Arts
3:53 Center at the isqua high
3:55 school much like asking the question did
3:58 you know Isa has a philarmonic Orchestra
4:01 when I ask people if they know that
4:03 there is a Performing Arts Center many
4:05 say they've never heard of it however as
4:09 Community leaders we know that it's
4:12 there and we know that there's potential
4:15 and I want to thank all of you for
4:16 elevating that potential and encouraging
4:19 discussions around alignment imagine if
4:22 in short order we can actually activate
4:25 concerts in the Performing Arts Center
4:27 and maybe even see the Nutcracker
4:30 it's not far-fetched it just takes
4:32 creative
4:33 Partnerships we have our site set on
4:36 creating the conditions to activate
4:37 multiple spaces for more art in isqua
4:41 cities like Austin call this a String of
4:43 Pearls
4:44 strategy our model is partnership we
4:48 know that we can move faster and make a
4:51 positive impact when we bring people
4:53 together around a shared
4:55 Vision I want to thank Jen Davis Hayes
4:58 from economic development for her ility
5:00 to see and support creative Partnerships
5:03 she knows that as a startup we need
5:05 connectors to meet people and to
5:07 identify possibilities earlier this year
5:10 Jen introduced me to Ken Kix Mark and
5:13 invited me to tour the Lutheran Church
5:15 on Front Street as you may know there
5:18 are many classrooms that are sitting
5:20 unused in this building and yes those
5:23 classrooms could become art studios
5:26 Gallery spaces maybe even a Pottery
5:28 Studio
5:30 but what I found more interesting is
5:32 that those classrooms all look out on
5:35 Green Space and Big Trees the building
5:39 sits on a large site that has the
5:41 benefit of the adjacency to the Ingy
5:43 Johnson Park the isqua creek runs behind
5:46 it as do
5:48 Trails this is a quiet Serene
5:52 environment and successful activation
5:55 should tap into the potential for both
5:57 the inside and the outside side after
6:01 visiting I thought what if we could
6:04 create an art
6:07 Sanctuary a place that's a destination
6:09 for experiencing both art and nature a
6:13 place that allows you to slow down
6:15 reflect and
6:16 experience that could be about viewing
6:19 art that could be about making art the
6:22 key is the role that both art and nature
6:24 can play in the process of personal
6:27 reflection and learning
6:29 I've seen this in other cities where art
6:31 museums are positioned within beautiful
6:33 Parks I found the John Denver sanctuary
6:36 in Aspen following the trail from the
6:39 Aspen Art Museum it's essentially a
6:41 natural sculpture garden um with lyrics
6:44 carved into large Boulders it was truly
6:47 a profound experience to be there John
6:51 Denver Sanctuary is also a
6:53 destination it attracts about 50,000
6:56 visitors from from around the world
6:58 annually both locals and visitors come
7:01 to experience the sculpture and to
7:03 Simply Meander through the beautiful
7:06 setting before meeting Ken I had just
7:08 visited the Earth Sanctuary on Woodby
7:11 Island this is a nature preserve with
7:13 sections designed to encourage
7:15 encounters with art this was also a
7:18 profound experience but getting there
7:21 took a fairy ride and quite a long quite
7:23 a while in the car it's not exactly an
7:26 accessible location but the Lutheran
7:29 Church is accessible and in fact it is
7:32 walkable from our creative
7:34 District I asked Ken do you think isqua
7:38 Trails could connect to this site and
7:40 could one of the access points to this
7:42 art Sanctuary actually be walking
7:44 through nature and of course the answer
7:48 it's
7:49 possible together we're cultivating
7:51 Partnerships to support this Vision our
7:54 teams at isqua arts and our savior Luan
7:56 Church met with Jeff and Robin to tour
7:59 the site and talk about
8:01 possibilities I referenced the string of
8:04 pearl strategy and Jeff referenced the
8:06 green necklace this idea of design
8:09 linking together a city's Parks public
8:12 spaces and natural habitats enhancing
8:15 walkability I'm very eager to learn more
8:17 about from Creeks to Peaks and perhaps
8:20 someday Isa Arts could be one of the
8:22 jewels thank
8:26 you thank you for your comment
8:30 Chris who's up
8:31 next chair Mars next we have Ken kigs
8:38 Mark there yeah so we have uh one of the
8:42 items this evening is uh the parks plan
8:45 and there will be an opportunity for
8:46 public comment at that time if you want
8:47 to speak at that time that'd be totally
8:53 appropriate we have an online attendee
8:55 who has indicated a desire to speak
8:56 chair
8:57 Marts by all means
9:01 Connie Marsh would like to speak to the
9:04 committee Connie I am making you a
9:06 panelist you should be able to unmute
9:08 your microphone and turn on your
9:16 camera hi Connie Marsh live up on
9:20 squa I did send you all a little tidbit
9:25 of information that went to the park
9:27 board about the park plan
9:31 that gathers up a little bit of the
9:33 language that was in the presentation
9:35 that you were given um I'm gonna point
9:39 out a a few words that make me crazy in
9:43 this new plan because I have no idea
9:46 what they mean and it is hard to get
9:48 something done when you don't know what
9:51 words mean and resiliency and
9:56 vibrancy are these two of the words
10:01 that generally could mean so many things
10:06 so when you overlay them as a core part
10:09 of a new parks Spen update I don't I
10:13 don't see those as Lynch pin for
10:17 creating a framework for anything until
10:20 you know what the words are so there's
10:22 that and then you say we need those for
10:26 balance yet I don't really understand
10:29 what you mean by balance a balance of
10:32 what how do you know when you've
10:34 achieved balance so how do you judge how
10:37 do you create a metric for achieving
10:41 balance in a park plan and all of this
10:43 is to me unclear at this point in time
10:47 and then you lead to the idea that uh we
10:53 have a green necklace in the past and
10:56 Creeks to Peaks is going to be different
10:59 now I read the language about green
11:02 necklace and it's almost identical to
11:06 Creeks to Peaks it was very clear in the
11:09 green necklace that it was supposed to
11:11 attach to the the mountains around and
11:14 it was supposed to be a a a linkage for
11:19 the whole city and out and so Creeks to
11:22 Peaks or Peaks to Creeks whichever um it
11:26 doesn't even give that breath it seems
11:28 like a vertical maneuver so I am not a
11:32 fan of the verbage I don't understand
11:35 what's different that is going to give
11:38 us a more
11:40 positive
11:41 um plan I actually don't really
11:45 understand
11:48 um what we didn't get in the last from
11:53 the last plan that they were hoping to
11:55 get in order to cause this change so I I
11:59 just don't see what's different it feels
12:02 to me like they're rebranding they're
12:04 changing the title and expecting a
12:05 different result but I can't see the
12:07 underpinnings that are actually going to
12:09 cause a different results and I don't
12:12 see how we're going to measure to
12:14 understand whether we are getting a
12:15 different result so if you can ask them
12:19 to give you the details on what those
12:22 changes really are so that we could have
12:25 a different outcome then I might be
12:28 persuaded to spend the money to change
12:31 all of the language because all of this
12:33 costs because we have green necklace
12:35 threaded throughout everything and so
12:37 now we would have to pay to go back and
12:39 change it all and if it's not a
12:41 significant difference I wouldn't be
12:44 willing to pay the money
12:46 thanks thank you for your
12:49 comment and I don't see anybody else uh
12:53 looking to speak and there's nobody else
12:54 online is that correct all right well
12:57 that closes the General Public comment
12:59 uh section uh we will then move to
13:02 approval of minutes anyone have a motion
13:05 to make Mr chairman I'd move to uh
13:08 accept and approve the last minutes from
13:10 our last meeting second
13:14 discussion all in favor say I I I
13:17 opposed extensions it passes 3 to0 and
13:22 we will move on to our agenda our main
13:23 agenda items first up we have Comm 0013
13:27 Park system Plan update with Jeff wling
13:30 director of parks and services and Robin
13:32 spear Parks Planning Development
13:33 management good evening great good
13:35 evening good evening Council thank you
13:37 so much uh thank you Chris for
13:40 navigating the PowerPoint um tonight
13:43 Robin spear Park planning manager and I
13:45 are here to give you an update on a lot
13:48 of a lot of work that's been going on in
13:50 in the last couple of months and and
13:52 certainly as public comment would show a
13:54 lot of community discussion and and
13:56 different opinions um I want to
13:57 reiterate tonight is not presenting a
13:59 draft plan to you tonight is really
14:03 presenting the work that we've been
14:04 doing if you want to go to the next
14:06 slide Chris um and sort of a a a really
14:09 important checkpoint uh we're we're
14:11 really at the point where we're
14:12 beginning to pull the draft together um
14:15 and really a great opportunity to update
14:17 you on some core topics uh that we've
14:19 been working on um uh get your feedback
14:23 um represents a lot of work that's been
14:25 going on with the park board a lot of um
14:28 work at has been going on with community
14:30 and a and a broad diversity of of of
14:33 community members and and their feedback
14:36 um also some some great work uh by the
14:38 consultant team design Workshop not able
14:40 to join us tonight um we look forward to
14:43 getting your feedback the the two sort
14:45 of core questions we're asking you
14:47 tonight is um is there any feedback
14:50 additional feedback for us as staff to
14:52 consider as we finalize that draft plan
14:55 again we don't have a draft plan right
14:56 now um and then the the the second point
14:59 is any additional considerations that
15:01 you would like the park board uh to
15:03 study analyze prior to their
15:04 recommendation later this summer um as
15:07 this draft plan will come back to you
15:09 after your August
15:11 recess next
15:14 slide uh this timeline uh touching base
15:17 here uh Robin will touch base um on this
15:20 again towards the end but just
15:21 highlighting some of the work that we've
15:23 been doing uh three stages of public
15:25 engagement that you're going to hear
15:26 about tonight that that uh this
15:28 represents a lot of work we did uh
15:30 starting last fall with reviewing and
15:32 refining our Park classifications uh we
15:35 had a community survey happen in the
15:37 fall uh We've uh done extensive work
15:40 looking at goals and policies um with
15:43 the park board um and our uh fellow
15:46 colleagues in community Planning and
15:47 Development those goals and policies uh
15:50 were recommended by the park board then
15:52 they went on their journey to um being
15:55 incorporated into the comprehensive plan
15:57 as well as the park plans so in the end
15:59 we will have goals and policies uh that
16:02 are consistent uh within the park plan
16:04 and the comp plan um a lot of work we've
16:07 done this spring uh hits us to where we
16:09 are now again seeking this feedback from
16:11 you uh looking forward to get that
16:13 feedback helping us draft the plan um
16:16 get more um feedback from the community
16:19 as they'll have a chance to review the
16:20 draft plan uh before Park Board
16:23 considers
16:25 recommendation next
16:27 slide uh the six topics we want to touch
16:30 on tonight um I'm going to hand this
16:32 over to to to Robin spear Park planning
16:34 and development manager so glad to have
16:36 Robin here she came on board last
16:38 September um hard to believe time flies
16:41 uh but has really provided a wealth of
16:42 knowledge um and insight into this into
16:45 this work um she's going to cover these
16:47 first four topics the purpose of the
16:49 plan the plan outline again giving you a
16:52 sense of what the the plan's going to
16:53 cover those draft core values and some
16:56 definitions around those those core
16:57 values um highlighting Community
17:00 engagement um I'll then take a a shot at
17:03 at presenting the um this idea of creeks
17:06 to Peaks and what that means and how
17:09 that might be an opportunity to to
17:11 redefine green necklace Robin will then
17:14 cover um our draft projects the draft
17:17 criteria with which we uh were
17:20 evaluating those uh projects and then a
17:22 sort of an initial look at how those
17:24 projects could fall out through the
17:26 criteria in near-term midterm and
17:28 longterm term
17:30 recommendations but with that uh Robin
17:33 please come up thanks again so
17:38 much thank you good evening I thought
17:41 I'd start off by taking a little bit
17:43 more high level look of why we're doing
17:45 the purpose uh what the purpose of a
17:47 park system plan is and why we're doing
17:49 it because I think that's really
17:50 important to understand uh the plans are
17:53 created and updated every six years this
17:57 ensures eligibility uh for state and
17:59 federal grants mainly rco funding which
18:02 is a great Avenue uh for Park
18:04 development for conservation efforts and
18:07 for
18:08 Acquisitions um this is integrated back
18:11 into the comprehensive plan as part of
18:14 the park elements goals and policies
18:16 which we'll go through that a little bit
18:18 later uh more importantly it really
18:20 guides the community's goals and visions
18:22 of the park system um that's why we do
18:25 so much community outreach because
18:27 basically we need to make sure that the
18:28 park plan fits the community's needs
18:31 both now and in the future so it's a
18:33 it's a 20year long-term
18:36 look um we've had several meetings uh
18:40 for public participation uh got a lot of
18:43 comments and feedback so we feel pretty
18:45 confident that we're we're really
18:47 listening and and hearing what the
18:48 community wants it also establishes a a
18:51 level of service uh we call that the Los
18:54 service for the park system which is
18:56 really taking a look at how the park
18:58 system system is functioning and how we
19:00 are servicing the community and with
19:02 this plan we're going to do a little bit
19:04 of a switch here and we're going to move
19:06 from quantitative analysis for the level
19:08 of service and go into more of a
19:10 qualitative analysis to make sure each
19:13 Park system is really functioning at a
19:16 much higher level at the highest
19:18 capacity that we can do um more
19:21 importantly though and most importantly
19:23 I think it really provides a really good
19:25 vision and a direction for capital
19:27 investment and and budget decisions uh
19:30 for projects for the next six
19:32 years next slide and I believe you've
19:35 seen this image before but I just want
19:37 to get a quick
19:39 overview of um kind of a refresher of
19:42 the role of the plan and how it fits
19:44 into our Capital Improvement um really
19:47 we're looking at the 20-year picture
19:49 with this plan we got to set that Vision
19:51 in order to have those goals and
19:53 accomplishments um that trickles down to
19:55 our six-year CIP plan um which then goes
19:59 into our two-year budget and once we
20:01 have that two-year budget which we're
20:03 going through right now it becomes a
20:04 funded Capital
20:06 project next SL I want to do a quick
20:10 overview of the plan chapters um really
20:12 number one is our introduction chapter
20:15 two is our Park system evaluation that
20:17 looks at where we are right now chapter
20:20 three is a direction for the future
20:23 where do we want to go with the park
20:25 system and chapter 4 is implementation
20:28 really how do we get
20:31 there so doing a quick overview of the
20:33 chapter outline in chapter one our
20:35 introduction we're really looking at the
20:38 history of the park system how it was
20:39 developed our opportunities and
20:41 challenges our purposes and values uh
20:44 chapter two we'll look at evaluation
20:46 which we did kind of over the winter
20:48 we're looking at Community visioning our
20:50 public engagement process and then the
20:53 system analysis a lot of our mapping and
20:55 Analysis of the system as it is right
20:56 now and kind of looking at where our
20:58 gaps are and where we need to
21:03 improve okay chapter three direction for
21:05 the future again setting that plan
21:08 vision for the future uh we'll be
21:10 looking at our new concept Creeks to
21:12 Peaks and then looking over our values
21:15 goals and strategies and chapter four
21:17 most importantly our implementation
21:19 again how are we going to implement this
21:21 in the next 20 years we'll look at our
21:23 Capital Improvement projects which we
21:25 have a draft of available tonight uh
21:28 partnership sh operation and funding
21:33 strategy okay I think Connie hit a
21:36 little bit on this but in order really
21:38 to develop a high performing Park system
21:40 here in isqua we really need to
21:42 integrate two key components into our
21:45 projects that we've heard over and over
21:46 that's been echoed by the community
21:49 vibrancy and resiliency now through
21:52 thoughtful and intentional planning we
21:54 can accomplish both within our projects
21:58 both emphasizing the need to protect our
22:00 natural resources that make us a quas
22:02 special and utilize existing park space
22:06 because we know we are so land
22:08 constraint we do have to maximize what
22:10 we have right now um to maximize our
22:12 active Recreation potential but I kind
22:15 of want to dig in uh to what vibrancy
22:17 means for us in the system and for the
22:21 community uh number one functionality it
22:24 needs to have a blend of active and
22:26 passive Recreation get people to get
22:28 people moving and get people outside uh
22:31 Community livability it's making spaces
22:33 safe and inviting and encourages people
22:36 to get out onto the Trails um and again
22:39 just become more active is something
22:41 that we we cherish here and we
22:43 encourage uh placemaking is a big part
22:46 of that vibrancy we want unique and
22:48 interesting Park spaces and El elements
22:51 that give an identity to isqua we want
22:53 to celebrate our cultural historic and
22:55 artistic side of the community as well
22:57 in that placem
22:59 component um and lastly social
23:01 connections we want spaces that are safe
23:04 and bring people together and encourage
23:06 those interactions I can't tell you how
23:08 many times I've been on the trails and
23:10 just met a wide variety of people that I
23:12 wouldn't have met otherwise so that's
23:14 been fun um we want to create spaces of
23:18 where we can have events for spa
23:19 families and special interests and that
23:22 can ultimately Foster Economic
23:24 Development
23:25 also so resiliency we talk a lot about
23:29 resiliency and uh sustainability and
23:31 resiliency is really making sure our
23:33 system is
23:34 protected uh and preserved and enhanced
23:37 where we can enhance it and can
23:39 withstand current and upcoming climate
23:41 changes and again that goes back to the
23:43 climate action plan and making sure our
23:46 parks are checking in and um integrating
23:48 as much as possible to help improve
23:52 that so oh sorry if you don't mind going
23:56 back just for a minute we're going to
23:58 find out out that these are going to
24:00 overlap in some projects and I think
24:02 they need to start overlapping more
24:04 again because we are constrained we're
24:06 going to find ourselves in different
24:08 topography um you know buffer areas
24:11 where we're going to have to be really
24:12 creative and Innovative and start
24:14 incorporating the two together um and
24:17 it's really very sight specific but our
24:20 goal is to integrate those two as much
24:23 possible next
24:26 slide so throughout the Community
24:29 feedback we're hearing four main core
24:31 themes that have been coming through
24:33 again we talked about vibrancy and
24:35 resiliency but we really want to talk
24:37 about balance because in order to get
24:39 those two we want to be able to optimize
24:42 current and Future Park areas to their
24:44 full fullest potential and by creating
24:47 Partnerships we're going to be able to
24:48 do that but that's what we're hearing a
24:50 lot of on both sides we value our
24:53 conservation efforts but we also want to
24:56 create more active Recreation here
24:58 and connectivity which goes goes along
25:01 with creeks to Peaks we want to increase
25:02 our connectivity between Parks trails
25:05 and open spaces and make um make it
25:09 easier for the city to be walkable you
25:11 know less Reliance on cars and to get
25:15 people out and moving and enjoy their
25:17 green spaces we want to make sure that
25:19 those spaces are connected to make him
25:22 Equitable safe and ultimately
25:26 walkable okay next slide
25:30 okay so we're going to dive into the
25:31 community engagement piece um I wasn't
25:34 here for this but the first kickoff was
25:37 with focus group meetings we had a 47
25:40 total participants uh one group looked
25:42 at trails and Open Spaces another group
25:44 looked at Arts cultural and history and
25:47 the third group looked at athletic field
25:51 on the right you kind of see our key
25:52 takeaways are to PRI prioritize a
25:55 systemwide approach again bringing in
25:57 that connectivity
25:59 uh for art Arts culture and history
26:01 partner with schools and local groups um
26:04 and really defi design parks and events
26:06 to reflect isqua's diverse history and
26:09 culture and we really did promote
26:12 working with the tribes on this having
26:14 them review the plans and making sure
26:16 that some of our goals and policies um
26:19 integrated their input as well and then
26:22 athletic fields has been a big
26:23 discussion so we want to be able to
26:25 create multi-use facilities that can
26:27 accommodate a variety of recreation
26:29 activities uh improve our existing
26:32 fields and re-envision them to maximize
26:35 the
26:40 potential okay our second engagement was
26:43 with our community survey and we had 744
26:46 respondents which is a great number to
26:49 have um we asked 13 questions uh
26:52 revolving around Recreation Trends um
26:55 we're really looking at the existing
26:57 condition of of the the system and
26:59 looking at the future condition of the
27:02 system so um
27:04 overall uh one of the main focuses was
27:07 protecting and improving wildlife
27:08 habitat and Water Resources uh 62% of
27:12 respondents are willing to walk or bike
27:15 a mile to a park um and we did one
27:17 analysis where people even would go a
27:20 mile and a half which is pretty good uh
27:23 78% of respondents believe parks and
27:25 Open Spaces encourage people to spend
27:27 time out again that goes back to uh
27:30 quality of life which we all enjoy here
27:33 I think that's why we stay here um and
27:35 87% of respondents believe parks and
27:37 Open Spaces provide places for people to
27:40 maintain and improve their health
27:42 wellness and
27:45 fitness okay our third Community
27:47 engagement was a really fun exercise it
27:50 was an online mapping exercise with
27:52 social pinpoint where we asked uh the
27:55 community to pin where they like nature
27:59 and natural connections uh active
28:01 Recreation art culture and events and we
28:04 did have a place for a c click fix so we
28:07 know what's what our issues are what our
28:09 challenges are within the
28:11 system okay next
28:15 slide um I will pass this one over to
28:18 Jeff
28:22 now thanks Robin so Creeks to Peaks um a
28:28 little bit uh in public comment um about
28:31 this um I think what we really want to
28:33 highlight is that uh very early on in
28:36 this process in fact as we were having
28:38 those focus group meetings last summer
28:40 as we were having discussions with
28:42 Community leaders uh we did hear
28:45 frequently um from those that knew of
28:48 the green necklace or heard of the green
28:49 necklace there was still a lack of
28:51 clarity of what is the green necklace
28:53 what does it mean um is it a specific
28:56 project is it multiple projects
28:59 um is it just one area um is it the
29:02 whole system um so as we've endeavored
29:06 into these uh into this work and into
29:08 these conversations uh with the
29:11 community um we've um proposed um an
29:15 idea that maybe brings some additional
29:17 Clarity that individualizes this Vision
29:20 um whereas green necklace um can be
29:23 replicated in in many many towns green
29:25 necklace doesn't necessarily speak
29:26 solely to isqua um how might we create
29:29 and consider um a brand and a vision
29:33 that feels very um specific to to
29:37 isqua um and thus uh this idea of
29:41 isqua's creeks to Peaks Park system um
29:45 it's an idea that really is intended not
29:47 to diminish or do away with the green
29:49 necklace but really build upon it um and
29:53 and really reinforce um um its intent
29:58 to be a definition that really touches
30:01 on as the slide shows these four key
30:04 functions four vary and there's
30:06 certainly more key functions to the to
30:08 the park system than this um but how do
30:11 we create a vision that really addresses
30:14 and speaks to connectivity and quality
30:16 of life um Health um and wellness not
30:20 only of the community but of our natural
30:22 system um fostering social connection um
30:27 something we heard about green necklace
30:29 um and and have heard through the years
30:32 is is that solely Central isqua is that
30:34 just the central isqua plan is that just
30:36 for new residents what about existing
30:39 neighborhoods and so the the thought
30:41 with this um idea is that it would also
30:45 address um in a much more Equitable
30:48 fashion the entire Community it's really
30:50 meant to speak to how are we serving our
30:52 current residents and how are we also
30:54 positioning and supporting and serving
30:56 future residents whether they're in
30:57 central squa um or elsewhere uh we we've
31:02 had an opportunity to share this draft
31:04 with the park board with the equity
31:06 board with the environmental board um
31:08 and have certainly goly gotten some very
31:10 good feedback uh the the draft vision
31:13 statement that I'll read is really a
31:14 compilation of feedback we've received
31:16 from from those three boards that's not
31:18 meant to be reflective or representative
31:20 of every single resident in the
31:22 community uh but we just feel like this
31:24 plan is an opportunity to to put a a
31:27 sort of ver version 2.0 onto um onto the
31:31 green necklace so the draft vision
31:33 statement as it reads right now isqua
31:35 Creeks to Peaks Park system a diverse
31:37 system of parks trails and Open Spaces
31:40 that Fosters connections between people
31:42 and the places they cherish from The
31:44 Creeks along the valley floor through
31:46 neighborhoods and wooded hillsides to
31:48 the peaks of the isqua Alps next slide
31:53 Chris so some of the key thoughts to
31:55 this is intentionally going from Creeks
31:58 to Peaks is really speaking of this
32:00 Inside Out Vision um I think we all know
32:03 the the generations the Decades of
32:05 investment that has been made by
32:07 community members over the last 40 years
32:09 to purchase land inside of isqua and
32:11 outside of isqua one of the magic
32:14 elements of our system is it really is a
32:15 gateway to the public lands around us uh
32:18 that surround us our Park system if if
32:21 really well connected and connecting
32:23 every Park could perform and feel like a
32:26 bigger Park system than it really is
32:28 um so uh the following visuals I I won't
32:31 go too far into them but it really is
32:33 meant and the draft plan would really
32:36 spend some time defining this Vision um
32:38 and really exploring how this Vision
32:42 speaks to our natural system the natural
32:44 fabric the creek corridors the tree
32:46 canopy the Topography of our city um our
32:49 Park system really the active elements
32:52 of the system how people connect um and
32:54 the community as well really feel like
32:58 it it it's a way to address all of those
33:00 really key um elements to the system
33:03 next
33:05 slide and these are some visuals that
33:07 again are just meant to to share with
33:09 you um how we would communicate and
33:12 better Define as we're truly drafting
33:13 the plan what Creeks to Peaks means to
33:16 the Natural system and to the Natural
33:18 fabric um of um of um our public
33:23 lands slide and similarly um how does
33:27 this same definition speak to people and
33:30 the people that we serve and the people
33:32 who live here the community itself and
33:34 and the parks and the active connections
33:36 that they so desire and want within the
33:39 city
33:41 system next
33:43 slide so much more to come in that uh
33:47 but um just really looking forward to
33:49 getting uh some of your feedback on that
33:51 idea
33:53 but wait hold up there's a bunch of
33:56 words on this slide you haven't really
33:58 to them you put up a slide with a bunch
34:00 of words is that youve I'm sorry I
34:03 didn't mean next slide Robin's going to
34:04 come up and speak to this slide my
34:06 apologies thank
34:11 sorry all right so for the the past few
34:14 months the team has been reviewing all
34:16 the the survey feedback the mapping and
34:18 engagement results uh to develop
34:21 criteria for our near Mid and long-term
34:24 project list so we came up with this
34:26 eight criteria again based on feedback
34:29 based on what we're hearing in the
34:32 community um I can list through all of
34:34 them or we can review them later if you
34:36 like
34:40 um oh okay no we'll run through all all
34:43 eight of them uh the first one
34:44 Improvement in performance of the park
34:46 system uh we want to make sure our new
34:49 projects or re-envision projects really
34:52 add a new element or revamp a new
34:55 element to make it better um and again
34:57 going back to making sure our level of
35:00 service meets the needs of the community
35:02 uh second diversity and Equity uh does a
35:05 project really Inc increase equity and
35:07 access again going back to that
35:09 connectivity piece and making sure that
35:11 our parks are Equitable and walkable and
35:14 accessible for everybody uh balance of
35:17 vibrancy and connectivity again going
35:19 back into our core values and making
35:22 sure any project has vibrancy
35:25 connectivity balance um
35:29 and then fourth health safety and
35:31 urgency or immediacy uh not many
35:33 projects fulfill this one but we want to
35:36 make sure that if anything is necessary
35:38 or needed to be fixed quickly it um it's
35:41 rated and part of the criteria as well
35:44 uh implementation
35:46 feasibility uh this kind of goes back
35:48 into complexity of the project um was
35:52 the project I already identified in the
35:54 2018 plan and can be easily permitted
35:56 attained or
35:58 accomplish uh number six operational
36:00 maintenance and Longevity again are we
36:03 able to maintain the design and the
36:06 project that we're
36:08 developing uh resiliency going back into
36:11 a core value uh conservation
36:13 preservation and sustainability and
36:16 number eight Partnerships and
36:18 collaboration again this is something we
36:19 heard from the park board and from the
36:21 community uh does this project Foster
36:24 local regional state or indigenous tribe
36:27 partnership we want to make sure that
36:28 we're incorporating that as
36:31 well next
36:34 slide so with that that eight criteria
36:37 we started with our 2018 list and looked
36:40 at those projects looked at that
36:42 definition um tweak those added in some
36:45 other projects so this is our draft
36:48 near-term projects and the near term we
36:50 consider 1 to six years you'll see a few
36:53 of those that are going to be long-term
36:55 projects but because of the complexity
36:56 of the projects we we need to start
36:58 those in the near term next
37:02 slide and then along with those
37:04 near-term projects we want to make sure
37:05 we're incorporating those ongoing
37:07 Capital programs that are really going
37:09 to um Foster that level of service and
37:13 make sure that we are um things like
37:17 Trail repair placement turf turf
37:20 replacement program our Park amenities
37:22 lifestyle replacement open space
37:24 acquisition playground and irrigation
37:26 program um that those are being kept up
37:29 and we make sure that they they achieve
37:32 as high a level status and that um
37:35 they're being used
37:37 well okay next
37:39 slide our midterm projects are really
37:41 our 7 to 15 year
37:44 projects um again I think we had
37:48 two 15 14 projects in there um next
37:52 slide and here are our long-term
37:55 projects so long-term projects are
37:57 long visioning projects part of that
37:59 20-year plan we know that it'll take
38:02 either substantial funding or
38:04 coordination with other agencies to
38:06 accomplish
38:08 so um so those become more than 16
38:12 years next
38:14 slide okay and throughout the feedback
38:17 in particular the mapping exercise um we
38:20 identified priority amenities uh mainly
38:24 coming from the community that can be
38:26 integrated into our capital projects
38:28 they can either be a capital project in
38:30 and of itself but as we're revisioning
38:33 um and master planning new projects we
38:36 can incorporate these as much as
38:37 possible again site specific um funding
38:41 specific but we'll try and encapsulate
38:44 as many of these
38:46 as okay next
38:48 SL again Park amenities continued these
38:51 were in alphabetical order they weren't
38:53 in priority order just to make that
38:55 clear um so things like food trucks
38:57 Furnishings again we heard a lot about
38:59 Playgrounds outo entertainment and
39:02 performance areas um splash pads
39:05 restrooms were a big a big concern um
39:09 and obviously
39:12 Trails okay just to go back into our uh
39:18 timeline um based on what Jeff said
39:20 again we started in May of
39:23 2023 uh we're now here in
39:28 June
39:29 2024 uh we're looking at going back with
39:34 your recommendations or or uh what you
39:37 would like us to look at we'll go back
39:39 to the park board come back to you again
39:42 and then hopefully uh city council
39:44 adoption in
39:46 September so it seems like a fast
39:49 process after all nine months
39:51 but it takes some time um
39:56 so I after all of that um do you have
39:59 any questions related to the following
40:02 topics that we discussed so we reviewed
40:04 the purpose of the park plan our Park
40:06 outline our draft core themes uh
40:10 Community engagement our branding
40:12 concept our Creeks to Peaks and our
40:14 draft project
40:16 prioritization there anything that you
40:18 would like us to expand
40:21 on so uh we've reached the point where
40:25 we do uh some questions uh
40:28 before we get to public comment and then
40:30 before we get to the deliberation it
40:33 looks like so Deputy Deputy council
40:36 president D Michelle is uh got some
40:39 questions yeah just two two quick ones
40:41 um Jeff could you uh elaborate on what
40:45 you heard from the various boards and
40:47 commissions about uh Creeks to Peaks
40:50 what the feedback was did they you know
40:53 like it did they have any suggestions
40:56 were there people that really wanted to
40:58 stay with the greed necklace concept
41:01 those kinds of what kind of comments did
41:03 you hear yeah thank you for that um I
41:06 will touch on the Park Board because I
41:07 attended that one uh Robin attended the
41:10 environmental board so she can speak to
41:11 that uh Janti Pia did the equity board
41:15 so I I'll I'll try that um um by and
41:18 large a a lot of um positive receptivity
41:23 quite honestly to uh this idea not that
41:26 again green necklace is broken I think a
41:28 lot what we heard from the park board
41:30 was wow this feels like isqua um it
41:33 speaks to isqua Creeks to peaks
41:35 resonates with our system our
41:38 topography um who we are as a as a
41:42 community um Robin do you want to touch
41:44 on environmental board you in general
41:47 yeah sure uh environmental board again
41:50 very positive reaction they really like
41:52 the connectivity piece and I think for
41:54 connectivity it meant both the physical
41:56 aspect ECT but the social aspect as well
41:59 um really enhancing that walkability
42:02 piece of it uh they did want to
42:04 incorporate sustainability in there we
42:06 do have resiliency so we feel like that
42:09 accomplishes that piece but we're
42:10 definitely going to go back and and look
42:13 at how to integrate that a little bit
42:15 better and then I what I heard from HTI
42:18 with Equity board um similarly I I think
42:21 a lot of receptivity to just this idea
42:25 that Creeks to Peaks resonates
42:29 well yes if if people were perceiving it
42:32 was just for downtown yqu I can see
42:34 where the equity board would would
42:36 respond to this concept a lot more and
42:39 then I just had a question um see the
42:44 first
42:45 uh first slide that had the little
42:48 squares for the draft very first one so
42:52 the two
42:54 um projects that I think were funding
42:56 the Gibson e um or not Gibson e the the
43:02 h e house excuse me sorry Gibson EG the
43:05 E house um and the uh project uh the uh
43:11 pedestrian Park project I thought that
43:13 those were going to be funded by our
43:16 federal dollars and so I was surprised
43:19 to see them on the list so maybe I not
43:22 understanding what that list was for
43:24 yeah great great questions and again um
43:27 you know the plan would go into
43:28 descriptions of these projects the
43:30 you're absolutely right the current arpa
43:33 funded project that is imp permitting
43:34 right now that um we we'll be out to bid
43:37 and constructing later this year um
43:40 those aren't part of this list those are
43:42 already capital projects underway so
43:44 what you're seeing in that near-term
43:46 recommendation of the Eck house
43:47 restoration if you remember in the in
43:49 the CIP we created a new project
43:51 specifically for restoring the E house
43:55 um and so that's what that's what that
43:58 project would be for um a near-term
44:00 recommendation of as we do the the arpa
44:04 project if you recall is creating some
44:06 Plaza space behind the E house to better
44:09 tie it to the play area in the park and
44:11 then this project that is in the near
44:13 term would be actually activating and
44:16 restoring the E house to a uh to a
44:18 public
44:20 use yeah which would be which would be
44:22 great um and then um the other project
44:26 Memorial Field
44:28 um I'm not sure how it's worded I can't
44:30 see the screen again that would be sort
44:33 of second phases future phases of the
44:36 you know the work we're focusing on with
44:38 really reimagining pedestrian Park and
44:40 then the Senior Center Plaza space
44:42 there's more work to do you know what do
44:44 we want to do with Depot Park how do we
44:46 reinvigorate that what do we want to do
44:49 uh with Memorial Field and that great
44:51 history of that field to to um really
44:54 update it as well so these these
44:56 projects would be basically capitalize
44:58 on the investment we've made with those
44:59 federal dollars exactly okay thank you
45:01 thank you council member Joe thank you
45:06 chairman um let me ask what this plan is
45:10 not just so that we have some
45:11 clarification for uh our viewing
45:14 audience and people in the city recently
45:17 we got rid of or we decided not to
45:20 pursue a Park District any longer and we
45:23 got rid of that plan a couple years ago
45:26 this
45:27 plan here is solely within the borders
45:30 of isqua and is solely um designed to be
45:34 funded by tax dollars uh that our
45:38 citizens come up with or grants or
45:41 funding that we're able to obtain as as
45:43 part of our as a city our Outreach to
45:45 the other entities is that
45:48 correct correct in regards to this park
45:51 system plan focuses on our city-owned
45:53 public
45:55 system where it's a a little bit
45:57 different and I I I I I don't mean to
45:59 contradict you is you know this project
46:02 is going to speak to and speaks to how
46:04 does our city owned system connect to
46:07 those other agency lands around us
46:10 whether it's School District State Park
46:12 or you know DNR and King County lands
46:14 around us but it's really solely focused
46:16 on our city resident owned Park system
46:20 and so it'd be fair to say that the the
46:22 plan is going to
46:24 complement uh our surrounding areas I
46:26 think you pointed out that we're uh
46:29 accentuating or taking advantage of our
46:31 position as a trail head City by
46:33 connecting to these other other Park
46:35 systems whether it's County or state
46:39 um so uh just a comment on slide 16 The
46:43 isquad Creeks to Peak system um with
46:46 that Concept in mind is it possible to
46:50 uh the trails and trail head
46:53 uh slide that we have there in the upper
46:56 left hand corner CR uh Mr clerk if you
46:59 could go
47:07 16 okay the trails and trail head um
47:11 visual up there on the upper left of the
47:13 six six of those um would it be possible
47:17 to accentuate a little bit more the
47:20 connectivity and how we're connecting to
47:23 the state lands or the parks by um
47:26 either labeling it or or having a key of
47:29 some sort I think that um having that
47:33 understanding that this this park system
47:35 while it does focus on isqua uh will
47:37 expand and be an access point to such a
47:41 a greater system involved and wonder if
47:43 that might be something that might be
47:44 possible in the next iteration of of the
47:48 plan great feedback absolutely again you
47:51 know the these are some visuals that are
47:53 sort of teasing up what the content of
47:55 the plan was going to be but I think I
47:56 think it's great feedback that yes that
47:58 content of the plan should include
48:01 really diving into um those plans for
48:05 trails and Trail heads not only within
48:07 our system but how they um support
48:10 connectivity um out um great thank you
48:14 very much I really appreciate the
48:16 presentation tonight and look forward to
48:18 other questions from the public and
48:22 discussion thanks council member Joe a
48:25 couple of questions um I understand the
48:29 use of the word resilience uh in the
48:31 presentation can you tell me can you
48:33 define vibrancy for me because that one
48:36 I was a little that's the one that I
48:37 wasn't entirely sure I
48:39 understood how we used it in today's
48:43 present go
48:49 back so when we talk about vibrancy
48:51 we're talking about kind of the physical
48:53 elements of the park system uh we're
48:56 talking about playgrounds we're talking
48:57 about Trails we're talking about Park
48:59 amenities uh that's one piece of the
49:01 vibrancy another piece really is Place
49:05 making another piece is our social
49:07 connection so bringing all those three
49:10 together into one kind of creates that
49:12 vibrancy for that Park system uh we want
49:14 to make sure people feel safe and
49:16 comfortable uh a lot of that depends on
49:19 how we develop that those spaces but we
49:21 really want to make sure that the parks
49:24 are vibrant enough and encouraging
49:26 enough to pull people Outdoors as much
49:28 as possible I could add appreciate the
49:32 question also that you know vibrancy is
49:34 really intended to be that side of the
49:37 system that plays the role in the
49:40 quality of life of isqua people want to
49:42 get into their parks to do stuff um
49:45 interestingly enough the the slide and
49:46 thank you for for discussing that slide
49:49 Robin the resiliency vibrancy then
49:52 diagram slide we actually that that came
49:54 from a joint meeting we had in February
49:56 with the environment board and the park
49:57 board we brought both of those groups
49:59 together great group of residents right
50:02 with with two very distinct lenses you
50:04 have a lens that's really wanting that
50:07 make sure we're taking care and
50:08 stewarding our natural system and then
50:10 you have a parkboard that's hey we we
50:12 need we need active stuff and that that
50:15 idea of overlaying vibrancy and
50:17 resiliency really resonated with them um
50:20 and really that's what sort of bore out
50:22 this idea of hey if if we can define
50:25 those values um and really speak to we
50:27 need a system that does both that don't
50:30 compete we're we're not um we don't have
50:34 to choose one of the other we should
50:36 really try and create a system that does
50:38 that does both of those so does that
50:40 help with sort of that the essence of
50:41 what vibrancy is it does thank you thank
50:43 you both um I have a question around um
50:48 Robin you said something about moving
50:50 from
50:51 quantitative assessment to qualitative
50:53 assessment what what do you mean by that
50:56 well well um there's a National Standard
50:59 that if you're looking at quantitative I
51:01 believe it is 10.8 Acres of Park per
51:05 1,000
51:06 residents um so that's what they're
51:08 looking at uh nrpa kind of set that
51:10 standard a long time ago they're
51:11 starting to move away from that though
51:14 um and really personalizing that level
51:16 of service to that community so now
51:19 we're looking at how are our Parks
51:21 functioning we're looking at operations
51:24 um maintenance
51:27 um parking you know simple things like
51:29 that but makes a big difference and can
51:32 really um encourage and enhance the park
51:35 sure I'm just you know I'm an engineer
51:37 so everything is quantitative if you
51:40 choose the right metric right right and
51:42 so you know parking is a classic example
51:44 of something that's easily uh Quantified
51:47 I just want to make sure you know
51:49 there's a danger well I won't have asked
51:52 my question um uh is there is there a
51:57 marquee project in this first six years
51:59 is there a wow that six years from now
52:02 I'm standing in front of something
52:03 that's on that one to six year list and
52:05 I go wow is that ever
52:09 cool wow that'd be hard to pick one um
52:12 you know we're really looking at tibits
52:14 Valley Park is going to be one of those
52:17 Wows uh I think within the 1 to six
52:19 years because that project is so complex
52:22 you're going to see phase one developed
52:24 within that six years uh obviously
52:26 Veterans Memorial Park Depot Park that's
52:29 going to be our core vibrant downtown
52:32 park that's going to be a serious wow
52:34 let me B into the tibits valley what
52:36 what's the wow at tibits Valley I'm
52:37 standing in tibits Valley six years from
52:40 today and I'm looking at something and
52:42 I'm like wow what's the what's the wow
52:45 in TI I think can I can can I try it's a
52:49 big Vision I think the wow I think the
52:51 wow council member Mar's great question
52:53 is tibit Valley Park is tired Tietz
52:56 Valley Park is not ready and I'm going
52:59 to speak to level of service too another
53:01 way to think of level of service is
53:02 we're trying to go away from just
53:05 a a quantitive of how many acres do we
53:08 have because that doesn't speak to how
53:09 the acres are performing we wanted to
53:11 have a performance level of service what
53:14 are we expecting those acres to do and
53:16 tibit Valley Park is a great example as
53:19 Central isqua grow if that's where we're
53:21 going to have our density tippet Valley
53:23 Park is not ready to perform well it's
53:25 not ready to be a Comm park
53:27 for a a area that's going to have more
53:30 people living in it um I think the wow
53:33 factor is really working with the
53:35 community creating a vision for how
53:36 Tippets Valley Park can um be the great
53:41 historical space it is the great natural
53:43 space it is but be a community park that
53:45 has um more to it than five oddly shaped
53:50 baseball fields that when unscheduled
53:52 that park looks really really empty um
53:54 so hopefully we we get a vision and
53:56 hopefully we have a phase one that
53:58 people are like wow this park is ready
54:01 to have more people living around it
54:05 there's still tennis courts over there
54:07 aren't there there's tennis courts and
54:09 pickle courts you're right right over
54:12 I'm over oversimplifying you're right
54:14 there's there's other there's some other
54:17 stuff but when you really look at what a
54:19 community park is and Define a community
54:21 park a I'm going to use the VW a Vibrant
54:24 Community Park is is hopping when
54:28 there's not a scheduled activity and
54:30 it's hopping when there is a scheduled
54:32 activity and and tibits Valley Park is
54:33 not performing that way right now got it
54:36 thank you um I one of the things that
54:39 you showed but didn't talk about rock
54:41 climbing how do you do walk rock
54:43 climbing in a litig inous
54:45 country very
54:47 carefully no I have seen it done it in
54:50 several different Parks um sometimes it
54:53 it is part of
54:55 signage um that can clarify some of the
54:58 liability um it is sometimes put on the
55:02 user the park user themselves but um I
55:04 think we want to be really careful of
55:06 that design and how high we go that
55:09 makes a big difference as well familiar
55:12 with bouldering with with just a mat
55:14 underneath right but can can we do is it
55:17 I mean are we just talking bouldering I
55:19 mean I shouldn't say just again I
55:21 community outreach again much like that
55:23 grit there's there's more community
55:24 outreach to have when we get into the
55:26 specific specifics but whether it's
55:27 bouldering or Bay rock climbing it's
55:29 it's done um the state does have
55:32 Recreation immunity law which basically
55:35 says you realize when you're standing
55:38 you know when you're about to drop your
55:40 skate park skateboard into a skate park
55:42 or stare up at a rock wall or slide into
55:45 second base you're you're assuming the
55:47 inherent risk that comes with that
55:50 activity I mean I'm asking about this
55:52 because I actually think rock climbing
55:53 is an amazing physical activity um is
55:55 there anybody in are any municipalities
55:57 in King County currently doing rock
55:59 climbing Beyond bouldering there's one
56:00 I'm familiar with the City of Kent um
56:03 has a pretty big-sized uh climbing wall
56:07 uh with ble um opportunities yep all
56:12 right uh and then the last question I
56:14 had is in all the conversations that you
56:16 have with you had with people I didn't
56:19 see it explicitly called out uh has has
56:21 the subject of cricket
56:23 pitches Cricket pitches I think it has
56:25 up at Central
56:27 Park it it has come up it came up in our
56:30 survey it came up multiple places um I
56:33 think where you're going to really see
56:35 us speaking to that within the plan as
56:37 we put the draft plan together is this
56:39 reality that as we look at athletic
56:41 fields we really need to look at
56:43 multi-use where where can we much like
56:45 Central Park create areas that we can
56:48 stripe like a gym floor and so it
56:51 supports cross Cricket soccer baseball
56:55 you know and creating these EX exclusive
56:56 spaces is is really really difficult so
56:58 it it is U Been comment we received in
57:02 in in this survey work um interesting
57:04 enough we already have a Cricut group uh
57:07 utilizing Central Park um are the lower
57:10 Synthetic Turf Fields um have a space in
57:13 between the two soccer fields if you go
57:15 there where there's a portable pitch
57:17 where Cricket um can take
57:20 place okay my understanding is the
57:22 portable pitches are significantly less
57:25 desirable than Perman pitches is that
57:27 correct that is correct and so we were
57:29 working with that group and as we look
57:31 at improvements there at Central Park as
57:33 we look at Future improvements whether
57:35 we do a community Sports field at a
57:36 school or you know what our next
57:38 multi-use Synthetic Turf field is how
57:41 might we create a permanent pitch that
57:44 um is not in the field of play of other
57:47 of other activities got it okay thank
57:50 you uh any further questions before we
57:53 take public comment
57:56 all right with that uh I will ask the
57:58 clerk to begin the public comment
58:01 portion again I know we have at least
58:02 one but maybe we can start with Ken and
58:05 uh go from
58:09 there good evening I'm glad I waited
58:12 because that presentation was awesome
58:15 and I'm on my 40th anniversary in isqua
58:17 believe it or not and we have been
58:20 blessed in those 40 years with a Parks
58:22 team that is just awesome beyond belief
58:26 in the past to the present and the
58:28 current team is just awesome and we've
58:31 all benefited as a result of that I
58:33 think of Confluence Park I just saw
58:35 Jacob two trees how cool is that um we
58:39 have been blessed with the team that is
58:42 passionate and professional and cares
58:45 passionately about what they do so we
58:49 have an ongoing history of successes I
58:51 think this plan draft plan sets the
58:54 future for more successes on an even
58:57 bigger scale um I'm one of the
59:00 individuals who met with Jeff and Robin
59:03 and reviewed where we're at uh for
59:07 example Creeks to Peaks I about fell out
59:10 of my chair I thought that was the best
59:13 moniker you could ever come up with for
59:15 isqua it captures the essence of who we
59:19 are what we want to be every citizen
59:22 from their doorstep being able to access
59:25 nature inward in the city along the
59:28 Creeks or upwards into the mountains I I
59:32 want to also mention I was on the
59:34 central isqua planning task force I even
59:38 think I might be the one who came up
59:40 with that name of the green necklace but
59:42 if it wasn't me it was the group of
59:44 people we came up with that name green
59:46 necklace I
59:49 happily get rid of that name and revert
59:52 to Creeks to Peaks it far better
59:55 captures what we're trying to do and uh
59:58 I hope everybody will Embrace that as
1:00:00 the new motto of isqua can be on a flag
1:00:04 it can be
1:00:05 anywhere
1:00:07 um I think the depth of the plan
1:00:11 captures where the city needs to go a
1:00:14 couple things I'd throw out as possible
1:00:17 ideas we're looking ahead to light rail
1:00:20 densifying with the central Isa plan
1:00:22 Light Rail coming out we need to have a
1:00:24 lid over I9 that becomes our Mercer
1:00:27 Island Park lid in the future don't let
1:00:32 uh Federal highways or anybody get away
1:00:34 with not providing that to isqua we need
1:00:37 to be forceful on that the second thing
1:00:40 I thought of as I'm listening to this
1:00:42 and within the central isqua plan we
1:00:44 looked at the old uh Pickering Place
1:00:46 Shopping Area Big Lots and all that
1:00:50 mostly vacant
1:00:52 nowadays maybe we ought to look at
1:00:56 getting Grant funds to purchase some
1:00:58 portion of that space for a park which
1:01:03 could be really beneficial uh in the
1:01:05 future I know it's pricey real estate um
1:01:09 it's too bad we didn't keep the skyport
1:01:12 and have that space as public park land
1:01:15 still um but it's something that might
1:01:18 be between King County Conservation
1:01:21 Futures federal funds mitigation money
1:01:25 might be achievable to buy even a couple
1:01:28 acres or more there that could really
1:01:30 serve as a future Park and be repurposed
1:01:33 from pavement to park um I also want to
1:01:37 follow up with what Rachel said you've
1:01:40 seen me before the council uh promoting
1:01:43 the food bank at Our Savior Lutheran
1:01:45 Church which unfortunately didn't happen
1:01:48 I'm still in the mix trying to make
1:01:50 something good happen there not just for
1:01:52 the church but for the community and the
1:01:55 idea of of isqua arts and creating a
1:01:58 center for Arts spirituality and nature
1:02:02 um is ideal as we've talked it would
1:02:07 provide the most impact to the most
1:02:10 people in isqua who could come for art
1:02:14 spiritual or nature uh
1:02:18 visitation with the least impact on the
1:02:21 land um so we want to help make this
1:02:25 happen and we hope the city will get on
1:02:28 board as well talk to the park staff
1:02:30 everybody can get excited behind this I
1:02:33 just visited 7400 wood lawn yesterday
1:02:37 which is in Seattle former Lutheran
1:02:40 Church sadly they closed but it was
1:02:44 repurposed as a center for art and
1:02:49 spirituality our facilities are far
1:02:51 better than what they have bigger more
1:02:54 uh able to support various activities we
1:02:57 have so much potential to do uh what's
1:03:00 been done elsewhere but on a bigger
1:03:02 better scale if we do it uh well going
1:03:05 forward so I want to again commend our
1:03:08 Parks team for the good job they do and
1:03:11 the work they've put into this planning
1:03:13 and I urge the city to back up what
1:03:15 they're proposing fully um and the track
1:03:19 record of successes just keeps going
1:03:21 thank
1:03:22 you thank you
1:03:24 Ken would anyone else like to speak to
1:03:27 the uh motion before us the item before
1:03:30 us additionally if anybody
1:03:33 online let's go
1:03:35 there chair Mars Connie Marsh would like
1:03:38 to speak to the
1:03:39 committee Connie I'm making you a
1:03:47 panelist Connie are you
1:03:51 there yeah there we go all right Marsh
1:03:56 again and
1:03:58 um I'm going to disagree with Ken
1:04:03 because and that's sort of
1:04:05 rare uh I remember the central isqua
1:04:08 plan I worked very hard on it and one of
1:04:11 the basic things about the central isqua
1:04:14 plan is that you would have pleasant
1:04:17 places for people to walk because when
1:04:19 you get a dense Community especially on
1:04:22 the valley floor um the number one one
1:04:25 thing you want them to do is be able to
1:04:28 walk and this Creeks to
1:04:32 Peaks does
1:04:35 not seem to provide focus on creating
1:04:40 this this wonderful web of walking on
1:04:44 the valley floor it seems to
1:04:48 instead focus on getting out to the
1:04:51 hills we need both and so well Jeff says
1:04:56 it's a basis and an expansion of the
1:05:00 green necklace I do not see that
1:05:05 component in the new
1:05:07 language and so you need both then you
1:05:11 need to have language for both and they
1:05:14 both need to be
1:05:16 quantifiable and then when you go to you
1:05:19 know vibrancy and resiliency I sort of
1:05:22 chuckled
1:05:24 because um
1:05:26 the real thing is vibrancy is wow people
1:05:29 want to go to a park and people want to
1:05:32 do things so I think we need to simplify
1:05:35 the language to actually say what it is
1:05:38 that we want to do and not use a word
1:05:41 like vibrancy which is like okay what
1:05:44 does it mean and then you have to dig
1:05:46 down for some concept it's like Wow
1:05:49 Let's get people to go to the park and
1:05:52 then that is a little bit more
1:05:54 measurable you can count you can judge
1:05:57 you can see how successful you are with
1:06:00 your Parks system and so I noticed the
1:06:04 survey showed that really the top thing
1:06:07 was wildlife and nature and much of this
1:06:11 conversation was about active Recreation
1:06:15 but when I took the recreation survey
1:06:18 walking didn't seem to be part of
1:06:21 recreation and in most places every
1:06:24 Recreation thing I've ever seen is that
1:06:27 just walking is the number one thing
1:06:30 that people do forget anything else they
1:06:33 just go out and they walk and so I I I
1:06:38 um I would like to
1:06:41 see this
1:06:44 connectivity emphasized but with a
1:06:47 special language for walking now to talk
1:06:51 about what other people said about the
1:06:53 park plan um Creeks to Peaks I was at
1:06:57 the park board and a longtime member
1:07:00 Brad book also said yes but we cannot
1:07:03 get rid of this whole idea that we
1:07:05 needed people walking in the central
1:07:07 isqua plan and so I would say it's a
1:07:12 stretch to say that everybody was all on
1:07:15 board I don't think that that is exactly
1:07:19 the case there and what's the other
1:07:22 thing oh tibits is an unconfined
1:07:25 aquafer so the idea that you're going to
1:07:28 be able to do all kinds of things in the
1:07:31 water because it gets wet in the winter
1:07:34 I think you need to be cautious and have
1:07:36 reality intrude on some of these visions
1:07:39 that you have especially as one of your
1:07:42 passions is supposed to be protecting
1:07:44 the environment which resiliency is a
1:07:47 little different than that and so I
1:07:49 don't think resiliency actually captures
1:07:52 what the um Community ser survey says uh
1:07:57 that's more of a climate thing and the
1:07:59 community seems to be about wildlife and
1:08:03 nature now I agree that we need to have
1:08:05 the connections I am totally for getting
1:08:08 up in the hills and Hiking but I just
1:08:10 think your language does not resonate
1:08:14 with the reality that I would like to
1:08:17 see and I need language that is going to
1:08:20 get me metrics to understand whether we
1:08:22 are succeeding and I don't think the
1:08:24 language that you are presenting will
1:08:27 provide that opportunity thank
1:08:30 you thank you for your comment do we
1:08:33 have anyone else online wishing to speak
1:08:37 we do not chair marks I'll ask uh one
1:08:39 more time if anybody in the audience
1:08:41 wants to speak to this item not seeing
1:08:43 it so uh with that we can go on to some
1:08:47 deliberation you want to bring back up
1:08:50 the uh points to ponder
1:08:53 slide you can uh key off of that who
1:08:56 would like to step up to the plate
1:09:02 first Deputy council president thank you
1:09:05 thanks so um I do want to
1:09:09 um uh plus one uh Ken's remarks about
1:09:14 the uh quality uh of the
1:09:17 parks staff in board uh We've we've been
1:09:20 served for well over 40 years with great
1:09:24 leadership and that's why we have such a
1:09:28 wonderful network of parks and 1600
1:09:31 Acres I believe of parks in isqua
1:09:34 outstanding and uh all all beautiful
1:09:37 spaces and wellmaintained and it's it's
1:09:41 unbelievable so just to share a little
1:09:44 insight that I had uh a couple weeks ago
1:09:47 I have not been driving because of my
1:09:49 hand surgery and so uh a friend left me
1:09:53 off on the corner of front and Street
1:09:55 of front front and Sunset and I walked
1:09:59 down and I was going by Front Street
1:10:01 Park and I thought it was a hot day I
1:10:03 thought I'm going to go sit down and and
1:10:06 so I sat down and then I thought I'm
1:10:08 going to observe how this park is being
1:10:10 used and I looked around and besides
1:10:13 myself sitting in the shade there were
1:10:16 all dotted all the way down there were
1:10:19 people sitting in the shade just
1:10:22 meditating contemplating enjoying the
1:10:25 green we're sitting there on a very busy
1:10:28 street with cars backed up and and in
1:10:31 that Park was this nice quiet place to
1:10:35 just sit and be in nature and I think of
1:10:39 the same thing when I hear about this
1:10:41 proposal for art
1:10:43 Sanctuary um a place where people can go
1:10:46 in the midst of a very urban area that's
1:10:49 now an urban area that uh we can walk
1:10:53 there and we could uh find time to
1:10:56 connect with art and with nature and
1:10:58 with the spirit and so I think we need
1:11:02 we want VI Parks I think we've got such
1:11:05 a beautiful mix of very active Sports
1:11:09 fields and other places where it's
1:11:12 really a park and but there are vibrant
1:11:15 as you said vibrant activities going on
1:11:17 and lots of people and people convening
1:11:20 and then we need those places where
1:11:22 people can just go and and take a deep
1:11:26 breath because we are in an urban area
1:11:28 with all the pressures that urban areas
1:11:31 provide to uh daily life so um I love
1:11:35 this uh uh update that we've received um
1:11:38 I um think that we're on the right path
1:11:41 I am very pleased with the amount of
1:11:43 community engagement that's happened so
1:11:45 far um not only with uh our boards and
1:11:49 commissions but also with the general
1:11:51 public and I look forward to seeing the
1:11:53 final plan so
1:11:56 um those are just my thoughts I I again
1:11:59 we are just blessed to live in a town
1:12:02 that has put so much time and effort
1:12:03 into its Park
1:12:06 system thank you thank you council
1:12:08 member Joe first I'd like to thank uh
1:12:11 Parks Personnel for coming tonight and
1:12:13 giving a great presentation on the
1:12:15 vision that uh we're all crafting
1:12:17 together for the future of our Park
1:12:20 system
1:12:22 um in terms of additional feedback for
1:12:24 the staff have to consider uh I too was
1:12:27 enjoying one of our parks and and um
1:12:31 tradition lake is an area that my son
1:12:33 likes to go to and I'm able to uh sit in
1:12:37 one place and watch him run around and
1:12:40 go around and around and know that he
1:12:41 will be safe going around and around on
1:12:44 the trails without uh getting too lost
1:12:47 um we do have uh handheld radios now so
1:12:50 that helps immensely as well but the
1:12:52 point is that in when I I've gone to or
1:12:55 or visited Yellowstone rown National
1:12:59 Park uh Glacier Park and as I was
1:13:02 sitting there I was I was saying that
1:13:04 the the quality of our Trails the
1:13:06 quality of this park um Rivals those
1:13:10 national parks that we have I just want
1:13:12 to pass that thought on because the
1:13:14 vision that has been created and the the
1:13:16 teamwork and the collaboration that the
1:13:18 park system does with all the volunteers
1:13:21 all the trail volunteers that help with
1:13:23 restoration is just amazing um we have
1:13:26 so much uh acreage but because we have
1:13:29 those uh those Partnerships we're able
1:13:32 to really uh promote a highlevel system
1:13:36 uh that that again rivels some of the
1:13:38 national parks that I've been to um in
1:13:41 terms of uh other feedback I think you
1:13:43 heard the comment that uh I'd like to
1:13:46 see us make sure that we're emphasizing
1:13:48 the connections of our trail system to
1:13:50 the larger system and uh that's a very
1:13:53 important point that I think think
1:13:55 bodess well and speaks well to the
1:13:57 vision that's that's been created here
1:14:00 uh as well I think the the third point
1:14:03 that I'd like to point out is is uh U
1:14:07 many of you know that that I coached
1:14:09 Little League baseball and the uh the
1:14:12 Little League was was at least some of
1:14:15 the the volunteers for little league
1:14:16 were uh fired up enough to come to uh
1:14:20 the CIP meeting that we had a little
1:14:23 while back in and uh the reason they
1:14:25 were there is because they they wanted
1:14:27 to have some input or hear information
1:14:30 about how um Pickering uh no excuse me
1:14:34 Tietz Valley Park would be redeveloped
1:14:37 um because they see an opportunity to
1:14:39 have a Economic Development engine by
1:14:43 having uh that
1:14:46 Park tibot Valley Park with its fields
1:14:49 and the Little League parks that are
1:14:51 behind Ive isqua Valley Elementary off
1:14:54 Newport as a uh way to host bigger
1:14:59 Little League tournaments or softball
1:15:01 tournaments and that the
1:15:03 economic uh uh benefits that come out of
1:15:07 those type of tournaments can be um
1:15:10 tremendous you know I traveled down to C
1:15:13 TR and I stayed overnight I bought all
1:15:15 the meals and we went to the pizza
1:15:16 parties and on and on and and by the
1:15:18 time I'm done I'm I'm you know it's it's
1:15:21 quite a chunk of cash so I think that we
1:15:24 can take advantage of that is if we
1:15:26 think about how we can partner with
1:15:27 little league in their fields and make
1:15:29 it a system where we could have six or
1:15:31 seven different fields out there that
1:15:33 could host a really uh fantastic
1:15:35 tournament uh in in our area and then
1:15:38 our hotels get filled etc etc along the
1:15:40 way so I would encourage um uh the parks
1:15:44 to reach out to Little League people if
1:15:46 you haven't already I've got some
1:15:48 contact names that I can pass on but
1:15:50 just thinking uh in general about how we
1:15:53 can make the economic development
1:15:55 element for the park system a little
1:15:58 closer tied or a little bit stronger I
1:16:00 think is is another piece of feedback
1:16:02 that that I'd pass on thank you Mr
1:16:04 chairman thank you council member Joe so
1:16:08 uh we
1:16:10 all as we are as we are coming into our
1:16:13 own as as as we mature uh we imprint on
1:16:17 the the era in which we we come into our
1:16:20 own so Adam West is my Batman
1:16:23 Christopher Christopher reev is my is my
1:16:25 Superman uh Bill Murray Dan akroy John
1:16:28 Belushi they're my SNL and and green
1:16:32 necklace is kind of my Parks Vision um I
1:16:35 always thought of it as sort of igdrasil
1:16:37 you know the world tree we got this stem
1:16:40 running through the middle of town and
1:16:42 you have everything branching off of it
1:16:44 and you know Confluence Park at the
1:16:47 heart of that part of the way think
1:16:49 about a necklace is it's got a big Jewel
1:16:51 right in the middle of it I was there
1:16:54 when mayor fringer cut the ribbon on
1:16:57 Confluence Park 15 years ago we have
1:17:00 have had extremely ambitious plans for
1:17:03 Confluence um tied to having our
1:17:05 population down there um we've purchased
1:17:09 ump properties uh in the valley towards
1:17:13 this vision of the green necklace um so
1:17:18 I have to say that my initial just the
1:17:22 my initial reaction to this ation
1:17:25 tonight is a little bit 20 years of
1:17:28 Trails um it you know even in the name
1:17:31 Creeks to Peaks um it's why I was asking
1:17:34 about wow you know the way you define
1:17:37 vibrancy I I want to hear a lot more
1:17:39 about the vibrancy piece of it it really
1:17:41 it seems very thick on the reaching out
1:17:44 into the the the hillsides we have
1:17:47 incredible resources up there I want to
1:17:49 see people be able to you know I guess
1:17:53 you could go from from you know where I
1:17:55 am on squawk all the way over into uh
1:17:58 you know onto the plateau um in terms of
1:18:03 equity um you know the hillside
1:18:07 hillside's more affluent um than the
1:18:09 valley and so I want to see more things
1:18:12 in the valley I think that's part of
1:18:13 equity um I think and this is just um
1:18:17 this is put on my one of s hat I think
1:18:19 we should figure out a way to make
1:18:21 permanent a permanent Cricket pitch
1:18:23 happen some place um a not a temporary
1:18:25 Cricket pitch I think our s South Asian
1:18:28 Community has been growing for the
1:18:30 entire 15 years that I've been on
1:18:32 Council every so often I will get a very
1:18:34 passionate letter different different
1:18:36 eras different people um but the cricket
1:18:39 matters a lot to the South Asian
1:18:41 community and when we talk about
1:18:42 diversity and Equity this would be a way
1:18:44 to plant a stake in the ground and say
1:18:47 you know and we would take some heat if
1:18:49 we had if if we converted one soccer
1:18:52 field uh if if this resulted in one less
1:18:54 soccer field we get 75 soccer parents in
1:18:58 here telling us that we're dumb but if
1:19:00 it's the right thing to do it's the
1:19:02 right thing to do and we should think
1:19:03 about it our South Asian Community is
1:19:05 getting stronger and stronger every year
1:19:07 you can't really see it in the city but
1:19:09 they're here and they care passionately
1:19:11 and so you know this is an area where I
1:19:14 think we should uh Walk The Walk In
1:19:17 addition to talking the talk around
1:19:19 diversity and see if there's some things
1:19:20 we can do for our South Asian and our
1:19:22 Southeast Asian communities which we
1:19:24 have not not built our recre any of our
1:19:27 Parks or Recreation systems around here
1:19:28 to for so that's that's that's my
1:19:31 initial thoughts and uh you know any day
1:19:34 where I can quote Adam West in a in a
1:19:36 monologue uh I feel I feel pretty good
1:19:38 so those are my thoughts uh additional
1:19:41 thoughts uh second round
1:19:45 anyone is George reev your Superman no
1:19:49 okay no no I I agree with you on all the
1:19:52 the characters and and uh I try to stay
1:19:55 away from the sequels thank you there we
1:19:58 um uh Jeff uh C administrator do you
1:20:02 have the feedback you looking for from
1:20:03 this body this evening holy Park plan
1:20:07 absolutely nice well well
1:20:10 played all right uh and with that uh we
1:20:13 can then move on to our second item this
1:20:17 evening uh and I managed to place the
1:20:21 order of my documents here that happens
1:20:24 sometimes uh
1:20:26 c0052 of course credit card fee cost
1:20:29 recovery
1:20:34 um um well we we do have it for 45
1:20:38 minutes so why don't we let's take uh
1:20:40 five minutes right now and uh we'll be
1:20:42 back in five minutes okay thanks
1:20:44 everybody
1:24:39 start over uh good evening and thank you
1:24:41 um tonight I'm returning to continue the
1:24:43 conversation on credit card processing
1:24:51 for um
1:24:54 sorry I was going to follow the slides
1:24:56 that they going to show
1:25:07 don't
1:25:18 um was I controlling the slide
1:28:48 now except now I have to turn your mic
1:28:56 I'm not able to see at the same time am
1:29:50 um I don't know if you noticed but we're
1:29:51 transcribing on the screen
1:29:54 I see
1:30:51 is it something I can send to you to
1:30:53 present it
1:30:59 Mr chair maybe we can just be oral
1:31:02 presentation without the
1:31:04 PowerPoint okay let's try that if that
1:31:07 works for you's see how well let's let's
1:31:09 see how it
1:31:11 works and maybe we can get the
1:31:13 presentation up a different way so so
1:31:15 why don't you just take it down
1:31:21 and or you can just start and we
1:31:41 I'm not presenting anymore am I no
1:31:43 you're not chance we're ready to
1:31:47 go apologies for that thank you for
1:31:50 sticking with me um so tonight I'm
1:31:52 returning to continue the conversation
1:31:54 on credit card processing fee cost
1:31:57 recovery um so our purpose here tonight
1:32:02 is to present um discovery of additional
1:32:05 information requested from the committee
1:32:08 uh seek direction for the development of
1:32:10 a credit card processing fee cost
1:32:13 recovery policy review relevant
1:32:16 background information on current credit
1:32:18 card systems and fees present costs and
1:32:22 additional relevant information
1:32:26 consider tonight with that the direction
1:32:29 we seek tonight um from you is or the
1:32:32 administration seeks direction from um
1:32:35 this on the city's approach to credit
1:32:38 card processing
1:32:39 fees so does the city council agree with
1:32:42 the administration's recommendation
1:32:45 based on the committee's feedback to
1:32:47 move forward with requiring all
1:32:49 customers using online payment services
1:32:53 credit card or e Che to directly pay the
1:32:56 transaction fees in addition to service
1:32:59 charges
1:33:01 um before we present all of the options
1:33:04 um I will provide additional background
1:33:08 information uh the city has two
1:33:11 categories of credit card payment
1:33:13 methods offered to customers the first
1:33:16 is Point of Sales Systems um these are
1:33:19 four individual portals that are managed
1:33:21 and maintained by the city um
1:33:24 the portal names are perfect mine
1:33:26 mybuildingpermit.com utility access and
1:33:30 QA um credit card transaction fees for
1:33:33 these systems are currently absorbed by
1:33:36 city um the second category is third
1:33:39 party managed payment methods um these
1:33:42 are four individual customer portals
1:33:44 managed and maintain by City Partners or
1:33:46 other government
1:33:48 agencies um these systems are primarily
1:33:50 for police jail and for court finding
1:33:53 and fees the customer pays credit card
1:33:56 transaction fees on these
1:34:02 systems to Aid in your consideration the
1:34:05 administration performed the following
1:34:07 financial analysis of
1:34:14 Revenue
1:34:16 um but so I guess if you
1:34:28 my talking points might not match at
1:34:30 this but I think they just did so maybe
1:34:39 slide I think this is the old one that's
1:34:42 up there
1:34:46 um so I'll I'll just continue
1:34:50 um so the administration performed uh
1:34:54 a financial analysis of Revenue
1:34:56 effective credit card fee costs and the
1:34:59 trends in customer payment P payment
1:35:01 methods used um for this we just
1:35:04 analyzed The Point of Sales Systems
1:35:07 which the city manages and maintains um
1:35:09 beginning in 2021 and through the most
1:35:12 recent current closed month of the
1:35:14 fiscal year May 31st
1:35:18 2024 um the most notable highlights of
1:35:21 this data show that the average cost of
1:35:26 think if you go one
1:35:28 more yeah that's close that's as of
1:35:31 February but um the historical
1:35:34 information is still there um so the
1:35:37 most notable highlights of the data show
1:35:39 the average cost of the city absorbing
1:35:42 um in transaction fees is approximately
1:35:44 two to 2 and a half% of sales um when a
1:35:48 c customer uses a credit card as a
1:35:51 method of
1:35:52 payment um parks and Rex may they remain
1:35:56 consistent year-over-year with an
1:35:57 average of approximately
1:36:00 2.3% um Community Planning and
1:36:02 Development also remain consistent
1:36:04 year-over-year with the an average of
1:36:07 2.7% and utility access is showing a
1:36:10 slight increase in year-over-year
1:36:12 average um going from 1.5 to
1:36:17 1.6 the utility access platform still um
1:36:21 has less than one year of activity being
1:36:24 offered to the public um being open to
1:36:27 them since September 202
1:36:30 2023 um but we believe that as the
1:36:34 awareness grows for this platform and
1:36:36 customers um begin using it that we can
1:36:39 expect to see those costs continue to to
1:36:43 grow um the sales revenue figures here
1:36:46 only represent the revenue collected
1:36:48 from credit card transactions and not
1:36:51 representative of all sales for the
1:36:59 departments have a slide on this deck
1:37:02 for it but um you know just to take it a
1:37:05 step further after we analyze those high
1:37:07 level numbers uh the administration
1:37:09 wanted to analyze customer spending
1:37:11 Trends to consider how these changes may
1:37:14 affect um
1:37:16 customers from each department of
1:37:18 service for Community Planning and
1:37:21 Development overall we saw that
1:37:22 customers preferred to to pay with cash
1:37:24 or check um we believe this was due to
1:37:27 the typically higher dollar amount of
1:37:29 bills for charges at services in
1:37:32 addition there's a transaction limit of
1:37:33 $5,000 to pay by credit card or debit
1:37:38 card um and there is a table that I'll
1:37:42 I'll give to Kristen a little bit to
1:37:44 present um but there is a table that
1:37:46 kind of shows that trend year-over-year
1:37:48 of percentage of sales for cash or check
1:37:53 versus credit card
1:37:55 transactions um and just seeing that
1:37:58 Trend you know year-over-year it's
1:38:00 consistently showing that customers and
1:38:02 and Community Planning Development
1:38:03 Services prefer to pay by cash or
1:38:08 check uh so for parks and wreck uh the
1:38:12 data showed that customers preferred
1:38:13 method of payment was the opposite um
1:38:16 and they had a lot more Revenue sales in
1:38:19 credit and debit card transactions over
1:38:21 cash or check uh we concluded that the
1:38:24 lower dollar amount of the transactions
1:38:26 and the ease of registering for programs
1:38:29 online led to that preferred method of
1:38:31 payment for customers um where credit
1:38:34 and debit card is much easier and and
1:38:36 more convenient than using paying with
1:38:39 Casher
1:38:40 check um looking at the comparison data
1:38:43 also uh you know just showed that there
1:38:45 was a higher number of volume of sales
1:38:48 in credit and credit and debit card
1:38:50 versus cash or
1:38:52 check or Utility Billing um you know
1:38:55 just with the growing awareness and the
1:38:58 newness to the community we expect to
1:39:01 see increases in that payment method
1:39:03 being used as time goes on um however
1:39:06 you know just seeing the numbers and the
1:39:08 data uh um more customers are still
1:39:12 paying by cash and check um over credit
1:39:15 card or E check on the utility access um
1:39:18 online portal
1:39:24 so for tonight the administration would
1:39:26 like to present um two
1:39:29 options um so there's an option of
1:39:33 customer pays the credit card processing
1:39:35 fees directly or they pay the processing
1:39:38 fees in
1:39:40 directly um to walk you through that
1:39:42 we'll talk about um customers the option
1:39:45 of customers paying credit card
1:39:46 processing directly first um in this
1:39:50 scenario customers would be charg
1:39:52 service fees uh based on city adopted
1:39:55 schedules um and then when using a
1:39:58 credit card as a payment method the
1:40:00 customer would then pay transaction fees
1:40:03 of that transaction on top of the city
1:40:05 service charges that they're
1:40:09 paying to so um we listed several Pros
1:40:14 um to this approach uh the first one
1:40:16 being a 100% full cost recovery for
1:40:19 transaction fees without over or
1:40:21 undercharging customers
1:40:24 um provide greater transparency on total
1:40:26 cost to customers for example customer
1:40:29 sees the additional amount charged when
1:40:31 they're using their credit card um to
1:40:34 their overall bill of of of payment um
1:40:38 versus there's no additional charge if
1:40:40 they pay in cash or
1:40:43 check another Pro is the this method
1:40:46 follows a widely used and Industry
1:40:49 standard that customers are already
1:40:51 familiar with um um and then finally the
1:40:55 customer pays the transaction fees
1:40:57 directly to the payment processor so the
1:40:59 city is only receiving service fee
1:41:02 revenue and the payment processor keeps
1:41:05 the the transaction fees so there's no
1:41:07 additional transaction between the city
1:41:09 and the payment
1:41:11 processor we did identify one con with
1:41:14 this approach um is the city would not
1:41:17 be able to choose the transaction fee
1:41:19 that the customer
1:41:21 pays and then moving on to our second
1:41:24 option where customers pay credit card
1:41:26 processing fees
1:41:28 indirectly um in this scenario the
1:41:30 customer would pay a flat rate increase
1:41:34 to the to be added to service charges um
1:41:38 in in an effort to contribute to the
1:41:40 processing fee cost that the city
1:41:43 absorbs um the pro we identified to this
1:41:45 approach was customers contribute to the
1:41:48 recovery um and the con's cost recovery
1:41:53 is applied to all service all charges
1:41:55 for services regardless of the payment
1:41:58 method
1:41:59 used um with this approach we cannot
1:42:02 confirm uh 100% full cost recovery as
1:42:05 the amount would only contribute to the
1:42:07 absorbed cost by the city um and then it
1:42:11 would require you know a routine
1:42:13 analysis to ensure that the amount of
1:42:15 the cost recovery that we're including
1:42:17 in the rates is um adequate you know to
1:42:21 cover the absorptions of the city
1:42:23 Jennifer we actually have a question
1:42:25 from the deputy counc president yeah um
1:42:29 on either of these um would well
1:42:32 especially with option number one would
1:42:34 the customer see uh when they pay that
1:42:37 they are paying the fee uh and I asked
1:42:40 this question because yesterday I paid a
1:42:42 bill and sure enough it said transaction
1:42:46 fee and included that in the cost of
1:42:49 paying online so it was visible to me
1:42:52 that I was paying I don't know it was
1:42:54 about two it was just about what you're
1:42:57 saying here it was about
1:42:59 2.5% and so um I'm just wondering if our
1:43:04 what we're thinking is that the customer
1:43:07 will have that included in the bill and
1:43:10 have it called out as part of what
1:43:13 they're paying for correct so what they
1:43:16 would see is you know say customer comes
1:43:18 in to pay $10 and they use their debit
1:43:21 card there would be $10 charge to the
1:43:24 city and then below it would be a
1:43:25 transaction fee of of the percentage um
1:43:28 calculated on top of it and then one
1:43:31 total would hit or would reflect on
1:43:33 their their card statement yeah okay
1:43:36 that's that's what I wanted to know so
1:43:38 so we're not um we're not contemplating
1:43:41 just uh adding it as a business charge
1:43:43 we're actually going to call it out so
1:43:46 people know that they're paying that as
1:43:47 part of using their U debit card or or
1:43:51 credit card with us true correct that's
1:43:54 that's um that would be the approach if
1:43:56 we if uh the council wanted to move
1:43:58 forward with our first option where the
1:44:00 customer pays the fee directly okay yeah
1:44:03 thank you since we're asking questions I
1:44:05 have a question yeah one of the
1:44:06 recommendations on one of the earlier
1:44:08 slides was transaction fees in addition
1:44:10 to service charges we've got transaction
1:44:13 fees service charges processing fees I
1:44:15 don't understand the
1:44:17 difference okay I may have uh so
1:44:20 transaction and processing phase um
1:44:22 those
1:44:23 those are kind of two different
1:44:24 categories you know in like the payment
1:44:27 cycle process of of payment processing
1:44:31 um for us on our end it shows up as just
1:44:34 one there's just one fee that that is
1:44:36 paid or or transacted to pay all all of
1:44:39 those processing and
1:44:41 transaction then how does service
1:44:43 charges relate to transaction service
1:44:46 charges are the charges um for services
1:44:48 that the city you know so um registering
1:44:51 for a park program that's a the service
1:44:53 charge of the
1:44:55 city okay so if there's a park Pro if
1:44:58 there's a park program that costs
1:45:01 $100 for the for the program is there a
1:45:04 service charge on top of that that we
1:45:07 charge or is the $100 the service charge
1:45:09 the $100 is the service charge gotcha
1:45:12 okay now I understand thank I was trying
1:45:13 to make sure that there wasn't some
1:45:15 additional 2% that we were charging for
1:45:18 know handling and processing or whatever
1:45:21 but there isn't service charge is the
1:45:24 actual the thing that thinks that
1:45:26 they're writing a check for or paying
1:45:29 yes got it and the processing fee Andor
1:45:31 transaction fee that's the somewhere
1:45:34 between one and 3/4 and two and 3/4
1:45:37 correct Fe got you thank you yeah oh and
1:45:40 council member Joe thank you um under
1:45:43 option number two the first con that you
1:45:46 have is cost recoveries applied to all
1:45:48 charges for services regardless of
1:45:50 payment method used so
1:45:53 does that mean that our utility bill
1:45:55 customers that come walking in with a
1:45:56 check under option two would be paying a
1:46:00 charge as well on addition to their $100
1:46:04 bill no in that in that scenario the it
1:46:08 would
1:46:09 be baked into the rates so we would take
1:46:13 whatever our Service rates are right now
1:46:15 whatever our fee schedules have right
1:46:16 now and if we wanted to do a 2% cost
1:46:20 recovery just for transaction fees the
1:46:23 idea of that second scenario is it would
1:46:24 be applied to all service fees and then
1:46:28 that would be collected to us and then
1:46:30 that would help offset the the fees that
1:46:32 the city absorbs to pay the transaction
1:46:35 so the customer is not necessarily going
1:46:37 to see it that's going to be baked into
1:46:38 the rate correct okay
1:46:59 let me try to sorry I didn't have my
1:47:01 under option two it's baked into the
1:47:04 rate and so if you're charged hundred if
1:47:07 your charg is $100 you're paying $100
1:47:09 regardless if it's a check or a credit
1:47:12 card transaction fee is already included
1:47:15 in that $100 but the transaction Fe is
1:47:17 included even if I walk in with a crisp
1:47:19 $100 bill I have to okay it is included
1:47:22 in the M right but the credit card
1:47:24 person is paying the same rate as the
1:47:26 check person even though that's correct
1:47:28 under option two under option two to
1:47:31 your question the answer is
1:47:33 yes thank you Mr
1:47:44 chairman oh yeah you found it thank you
1:47:46 Chris um so next slide
1:47:50 please um so the recommend ation of the
1:47:53 administration is you know policy
1:47:55 development designed to have customers
1:47:57 pay transaction credit card transaction
1:48:01 directly um and not continue to absorb
1:48:04 these fees the most notable benefit to
1:48:07 the cost recovery method this cost
1:48:09 recovery method um just to summarize
1:48:11 100% full cost recovery um it has great
1:48:16 transparency for customers so they know
1:48:18 exactly what they're paying for um it
1:48:21 follows industry standards and this
1:48:23 model is already familiar to many
1:48:26 customers um and customers pay the
1:48:29 transactions fee directly to the payment
1:48:31 processor so the city does not collect
1:48:33 these fees and then turn around and pay
1:48:35 it back to the payment
1:48:37 processor um this cost recovery model
1:48:40 already applies to the third party
1:48:41 managed softwares with our other a
1:48:44 government agencies and partners um such
1:48:46 as Court State Police and jail um and
1:48:50 these Pol this policy would apply to to
1:48:53 parks recreation and Community Services
1:48:55 Community Planning Development public
1:48:57 records requests and Utility Billing as
1:49:00 well as any future Services where we
1:49:02 offer credit card processing in
1:49:07 the next
1:49:12 slide um so pending direction from the
1:49:15 council um the administration will plan
1:49:18 to return to a full council meeting with
1:49:20 a draft policy and implement mation
1:49:23 timeline in
1:49:24 September upon the adoption of this
1:49:27 policy the administration will work with
1:49:29 departments affected to incorporate
1:49:32 changes and work with the software
1:49:33 providers to implement changes necessary
1:49:36 to the software
1:49:43 configuration so the direction we need
1:49:45 tonight um does the council agree with
1:49:47 the administration's recommendation to
1:49:49 move forward with requiring all
1:49:51 customers using digital payment services
1:49:54 um for credit card or eCheck to pay
1:49:57 transaction fees in addition to service
1:50:00 charges under option
1:50:03 one with that I'll would love to I
1:50:07 welcome any questions you have or
1:50:09 further information you might need do we
1:50:13 have any other further questions before
1:50:14 we open it up to uh potential public
1:50:19 comment no do we have any members of the
1:50:21 public still with us
1:50:23 online so are they interested in making
1:50:27 public
1:50:28 comment we have no members of the public
1:50:30 in attendance at this time chair well
1:50:32 neither online or in person so I guess
1:50:34 we can go straight to deliberation on
1:50:36 this one then um who wants to go first I
1:50:40 think I think you should
1:50:42 con thank you Mr chairman I would love
1:50:45 to go first um know I I agree with the
1:50:48 administration recommendation uh with
1:50:51 option one it seems seems that
1:50:53 underlying option two is is kind of a
1:50:56 hidden cost that the administration or
1:50:58 someone in accounting would have to go
1:51:00 through each quarter or each year
1:51:02 figuring out the different amounts and
1:51:04 then doing the calculation or
1:51:05 double-checking any calculation that
1:51:07 does is done by AI or our computer
1:51:10 program and so that's another hidden
1:51:12 cets in there that that um uh adds up
1:51:15 for us and this is a cleaner way to do
1:51:19 this uh fee and it's a trans apparent to
1:51:23 the the user as was pointed out and I
1:51:25 think that it's the direction that um
1:51:27 credit cards are going and most
1:51:29 organizations are going in terms of
1:51:31 having these fees in there and and uh
1:51:33 we're making sure that we're being
1:51:35 physically responsible by recovering
1:51:38 those fees or making sure that they're
1:51:40 appropriately paid by the appropriate
1:51:42 party so I support option one thank
1:51:45 you deput council
1:51:48 president uh yes I have in agreement
1:51:50 with option one as well um I think that
1:51:53 we should commend uh council president
1:51:55 Walsh for bringing this to our attention
1:51:58 um I think that at least in my case I
1:52:00 was surprised I knew we were probably
1:52:02 spending a lot but I had no idea that it
1:52:05 was that much and it looks like it's
1:52:06 growing year by year by year so uh I
1:52:10 mean we could do significant good with
1:52:12 that amount of money that is being now
1:52:15 going to um these transaction fees um I
1:52:19 agree with the rationale that says
1:52:21 people are getting used to this uh I
1:52:23 think when we had the initial discussion
1:52:25 I've seen this on every charitable uh
1:52:29 donation that I make now they ask you to
1:52:31 help pay for the transaction fees and as
1:52:34 I said yesterday in paying a commercial
1:52:37 payment online uh I had the same
1:52:40 experience so I think that um and it
1:52:43 will be transparent and for those
1:52:45 residents who want to save the
1:52:47 transaction fees they can do that by uh
1:52:50 writing a check or bringing in cash so
1:52:53 uh if that's important to them uh so yes
1:52:56 I think uh option number one is the best
1:52:59 way for us to
1:53:02 go uh I support option one as well uh I
1:53:05 I've counted I've written 10 checks in
1:53:07 the last 30 years um I'm blessed by
1:53:10 having a partner who does all the
1:53:12 finance stuff so she doesn't let me near
1:53:14 the checks I don't really know how to
1:53:15 fill them out but if you if you put
1:53:16 something in each box you're usually
1:53:18 covered uh so yeah I'm I'm supporting
1:53:20 option one as well uh thank thank you
1:53:22 for this presentation uh appreciate
1:53:26 ites the administration have everything
1:53:28 it was looking for uh that ends this
1:53:31 item announcements does the
1:53:33 administration have any announcements
1:53:34 they want to make I don't have any
1:53:36 announcements you have any if you had
1:53:38 anything for the good of the order you'd
1:53:40 be welcome to say it right
1:53:42 now all right well then with that at
1:53:46 824 p.m. uh this committee meeting is
1:53:49 adjourned thank you everyone at home and
1:53:52 uh uh my fellow council members and the
1:53:54 administration for all the information