City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Tuesday, January 28, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of Sept. 30, 2024

packet pp.5–6

▶ Watch from 1:41 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 09-30-24 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (1) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. September 30, 2024 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

Minutes of Oct. 15, 2024

packet pp.7–8

▶ Watch from 2:05 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES b) 10-15-24 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (1) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. October 15, 2024 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

Inclusive Housing Investment Pool (IHIP) Application COM 0079

45 min · Jen Davis Hayes, Economic Development Manager · packet pp.9–47

Topics: Housing

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · May 22, 2023

▶ Watch from 2:29 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

Administration recommends awarding Life Enrichment Options (LEO) $482,687 to preserve 4 units of housing, affordable at and below 40% AMI, at Emily House. The Administration does not recommend funding the annual operations request of $54,000.

2025 Arts Grant Recommendations COM 0084

15 min · Amy Dukes, Arts Program Administrator · packet pp.49–68

Topics: Arts & Culture

Previously discussed: Arts Commission · Jan 13, 2025

▶ Watch from 42:02 Open packet at p.49 ↗

Staff report:

Administration recommends allocating the 2025 Arts Grants as proposed by the Arts Commission.

Urban Forest Management Plan Draft COM 0078

60 min · Dan Hintz, Urban Forester · packet pp.69–342

Topics: Trees

Previously discussed: Park Board · Sep 23, 2024

▶ Watch from 55:13 Open packet at p.69 ↗

Staff report:

Since the initial presentation to SSP on July 23rd, the first draft of the UFMP was shared with the Environmental Board who returned comments (

2717 segments .txt ↗

0:08 ↗ welcome everyone I council member toam

0:10 ↗ Mars call the Tuesday January 28th City

0:14 ↗ Council services safety and Parks

0:16 ↗ committee meeting to

0:19 ↗ order first up is public comment uh

0:24 ↗ there are multiple public comment

0:25 ↗ opportunities at tonight's meeting

0:27 ↗ there's a general public comment

0:28 ↗ opportunity at the beginning of the

0:29 ↗ meeting or you can make comments after

0:32 ↗ the presentation and Council question

0:33 ↗ and answer period on tonight's agenda

0:36 ↗ items members of the public May address

0:38 ↗ council at this time in person or

0:40 ↗ virtually those who signed up in advance

0:42 ↗ to make comments will be called on first

0:44 ↗ if you're joining us virtually and would

0:45 ↗ like to make comments please raise your

0:47 ↗ virtual hand if you are on the phone

0:49 ↗ press star three if you have joined by

0:51 ↗ computer or smartphone look for a hand

0:54 ↗ icon this varies by device one option

0:56 ↗ may be to go to the participant panel

0:58 ↗ and choose the raise hand icon in the

1:00 ↗ lower right hand corner you're in the

1:02 ↗ room did not sign up I will ask for

1:04 ↗ other speakers before closing this

1:06 ↗ portion of the meeting wait to see for a

1:08 ↗ moment to see if anyone wishes to raise

1:10 ↗ their hand physically or

1:14 ↗ virtual Chris is anyone signed up to

1:16 ↗ speak or indicated a desire to speak

1:18 ↗ this

1:19 ↗ evening uh chair Marts no one has

1:21 ↗ previously signed up to speak and uh

1:24 ↗ there are no virtual hands raised at

1:25 ↗ this time all right as a reminder

1:28 ↗ written comments can be submitted at any

1:30 ↗ time to city council at isqua

1:35 ↗ w.gov next up uh on the agenda we have

1:41 ↗ approval of minutes and we have two sets

1:43 ↗ of minutes to approve um so we will

1:47 ↗ first take the September 30th 2024

1:49 ↗ minutes Mr chairman I had move to

1:52 ↗ approve the minutes from September 30th

1:55 ↗ our service of safety and Parks

1:57 ↗ committee

1:57 ↗ meeting second

2:00 ↗ any discussion all in favor say I I I

2:04 ↗ opposed extensions motion carries now

2:07 ↗ the minutes of the October 15th

2:10 ↗ meeting Mr chairman I'd make a motion to

2:12 ↗ adopt the service Safety and Parks

2:14 ↗ committee minutes from October 15

2:18 ↗ 2024 second any discussion hearing none

2:22 ↗ all in favor say I I I opposed

2:25 ↗ abstentions motion carries with that

2:29 ↗ we'll move on to agenda item C

2:32 ↗ 0079 inclusive housing investment pool

2:35 ↗ iHip application with her own Jen Davis

2:38 ↗ Hayes economic development manager take

2:40 ↗ it away Jen thank you council member

2:43 ↗ Marts um so we are going to be joined by

2:47 ↗ two staff members of arch virtually they

2:49 ↗ had to be at a council meeting in

2:51 ↗ Belleview the same evening so appreciate

2:54 ↗ um their ability to do two things um in

2:57 ↗ one evening and um so so we can make

3:00 ↗ them participants that would be great

3:02 ↗ and so um sorry we need to press share

3:07 ↗ twice um so we are here um to talk

3:11 ↗ about not work let me try again

3:16 ↗ sorry there we um to talk about as you

3:20 ↗ mentioned iHip so the inclusive housing

3:22 ↗ investment pool and um so tonight we're

3:25 ↗ here to rec uh present a recommendation

3:27 ↗ from the administration for the Leo

3:31 ↗ that's the uh life oh Life Enrichment

3:34 ↗ options uh Emily house uh for funding of

4:00 ↗ housing discussion we have we bring up

4:02 ↗ the housing Continuum and so um this

4:04 ↗ iHip is uh because of the the source of

4:07 ↗ funding these are the the uh types of

4:09 ↗ housing that would be eligible for the

4:11 ↗ types of of uh for the types of housing

4:14 ↗ for affordable housing so for those who

4:17 ↗ were not part of the creation of this

4:19 ↗ the um inclusive housing investment pool

4:22 ↗ the iHip was created uh at the end of

4:25 ↗ 2023 and we worked throughout that year

4:28 ↗ with Council and and are looking at our

4:30 ↗ plans to determine what the funding

4:32 ↗ priorities are uh preservation of

4:35 ↗ existing housing Transit oriented

4:36 ↗ development and Community Based

4:38 ↗ affordable housing projects for the top

4:40 ↗ three this project hits those the uh two

4:43 ↗ of them and is pretty close to frequent

4:46 ↗ Transit Service as

4:48 ↗ well now again as a reminder these this

4:51 ↗ funding is from uh our. 1% sales tax

4:55 ↗ which has a requirement which is the HB

4:58 ↗ 1590 so you must serve uh individuals

5:02 ↗ with 60% Ami or lower and then you also

5:06 ↗ must make sure that you serve one of the

5:07 ↗ following populations so again this

5:09 ↗ project meets those

5:12 ↗ requirements um this we added an oh I

5:14 ↗ forgot to mention we added a new slide

5:16 ↗ uh into this PowerPoint so for those of

5:19 ↗ you who are following on uh it has been

5:21 ↗ updated to the um to the packet this is

5:24 ↗ the slide that originally had I want to

5:26 ↗ keep in here just to mention that um

5:30 ↗ for iHip itself we have not spent

5:32 ↗ anything out of it this is the first

5:34 ↗ application we've had so there is about

5:36 ↗ $2 million allocated from the uh the 21

5:40 ↗ through 24 uh time frame of collection

5:44 ↗ and we anticipate about a million

5:46 ↗ dollars uh each each uh year for the

5:49 ↗ next two but this slide uh as a request

5:52 ↗ from uh Deputy council president um D

5:55 ↗ Michelle to ask okay what are those

5:57 ↗ things that are the revenue and expenses

6:00 ↗ for uh not just iHip but for the

6:02 ↗ affordable housing um taxes and so right

6:06 ↗ here again uh you'll see stars because

6:10 ↗ um we are still doing year-end

6:11 ↗ adjustments for um expenses and revenue

6:14 ↗ we haven't gotten the the full uh

6:17 ↗ Revenue collected and then that should

6:19 ↗ say through

6:20 ↗ 20124 sorry just notice that but um so

6:24 ↗ again we had anticipated a $5 million

6:27 ↗ set aside for the Tod and iHip of about

6:31 ↗ $2 million and so um and then in the

6:35 ↗ budget that you guys passed that Council

6:37 ↗ passed uh we have about a million

6:40 ↗ dollars a year so about $2 million so uh

6:43 ↗ talks about the expenses we plan to

6:45 ↗ spend that

6:48 ↗ on and um so again this was part of the

6:51 ↗ policy document that was approved by

6:53 ↗ City Council in December um so Bas

6:56 ↗ instead of us going at this on our own

6:59 ↗ we coordinated very closely with Arch to

7:02 ↗ um go at the same to have the

7:05 ↗ application coordinated with their

7:06 ↗ Housing Trust Fund application time

7:08 ↗ period And so instead of having uh

7:11 ↗ applicants do four different kinds of

7:13 ↗ applications for you know four different

7:15 ↗ funds basically they could uh fill out

7:18 ↗ the endumisweni

7:29 ↗ committee which included two economic

7:32 ↗ Vitality Commissioners so thank you to

7:34 ↗ uh Chris Richley and Barb pexa who spent

7:37 ↗ time looking over the 60 documents that

7:41 ↗ we received um and then myself and uh uh

7:45 ↗ Community planning and and development

7:46 ↗ director mini dalwa um were the staff um

7:50 ↗ we then present it to the administration

7:52 ↗ and then we are here at uh the committee

7:56 ↗ and so I'm going to pass this off to

7:57 ↗ Arch to um

8:00 ↗ share the next few slides and um I'm not

8:03 ↗ sure if it's gonna be Lindsay or

8:06 ↗ Patrick uh great Patrick is gonna begin

8:09 ↗ speaking and I just want to give a heads

8:11 ↗ up that we apologize in advance if we

8:13 ↗ have to get called over um to go present

8:17 ↗ at the council here in bellw so

8:18 ↗ apologies in advance but we're also very

8:20 ↗ happy to answer follow-up questions

8:22 ↗ after the meeting if they come up after

8:24 ↗ we leave Patrick so I want to talk a

8:27 ↗ little bit about the application that

8:28 ↗ it's a received for the iHip funds the

8:31 ↗ application came from Life Enrichment

8:33 ↗ options a nonprofit based in issaqua to

8:35 ↗ acquire an existing group home serving

8:38 ↗ uh individuals with intellectual and

8:40 ↗ developmental disabilities and this is

8:42 ↗ for the acquisition they applied to iHip

8:44 ↗ for approximately $490,000 of iHip funds

8:48 ↗ they also applied to Arch for about

8:50 ↗ $490,000 and then uh an application also

8:53 ↗ to the the State Department of Commerce

8:56 ↗ uh their proposal is to support uh four

8:59 ↗ household holds uh earning incomes

9:01 ↗ between 30 and 40% of the area Medan

9:03 ↗ income uh and and the funds that they've

9:06 ↗ requested will be to acquire this

9:07 ↗ existing uh existing property and

9:10 ↗ continue to operate it in the long term

9:11 ↗ to continue to serve future uh future

9:14 ↗ residents uh with intellectual and

9:16 ↗ developmental disabilities this uh

9:18 ↗ proposal uh really aligned well with the

9:20 ↗ preservation of the existing affordable

9:23 ↗ housing as well as a community partner

9:25 ↗ and also aligned with many elements in

9:26 ↗ the uh City FIS CL comprehensive plan

9:30 ↗ uh the total project cost is

9:33 ↗ approximately $1.9 million and again a

9:35 ↗ quarter of the funds are requested from

9:37 ↗ iHip a quarter from Arch which have been

9:39 ↗ recommended by the arch executive board

9:42 ↗ and then uh nearly a million dollars

9:44 ↗ from the state of Washington which has

9:45 ↗ been awarded to the project so we're

9:47 ↗ doing a really good job of leveraging

9:48 ↗ the iHip dollars with other available

9:50 ↗ sources to preserve this housing in the

9:56 ↗ community thank you Patrick um the other

9:58 ↗ part of the application was a request

10:01 ↗ for C uh

10:03 ↗ on oh no I'm sorry I'm going to ahead

10:05 ↗ too much so um so we do recommend this

10:07 ↗ Capital funding again these are the

10:09 ↗ reasons um why uh we talked about

10:11 ↗ preservation we talked about serving

10:13 ↗ lower than even it was required for the

10:15 ↗ affordable housing and it's within

10:17 ↗ walking distance of frequent Transit

10:19 ↗ service right across the street here um

10:22 ↗ and we're really excited that um again

10:24 ↗ they were able to leverage other money

10:26 ↗ to preserve this housing availability

10:30 ↗ um part of the application as well was

10:33 ↗ not only for Capital but for ongoing um

10:36 ↗ annual operating request of $55,000 a

10:39 ↗ year um after looking at that uh

10:42 ↗ recommendation or that uh application we

10:46 ↗ uh we the Review Committee have

10:47 ↗ recommended not to fund the annual

10:50 ↗ operations we believe there are other

10:52 ↗ sources for that um and Arch and City

10:55 ↗ staff uh have volunteered to help them

10:57 ↗ look into that I know that Arch is work

10:59 ↗ very closely with them about uh with

11:01 ↗ their staff to you know be able to act

11:04 ↗ to uh apply for other grants but we

11:06 ↗ really felt that the I uh iHip as we've

11:10 ↗ heard from Council before should be

11:11 ↗ focused on actually preserving and

11:13 ↗ creating not uh spending money on

11:16 ↗ studies or other things that may not um

11:19 ↗ be a you know what it is intended for

11:22 ↗ from this Council to actually create

11:24 ↗ housing we have very limited funds and

11:27 ↗ so that again is our recommendation but

11:30 ↗ uh we're more than willing to hear more

11:32 ↗ about it I'm going to turn it back to uh

11:38 ↗ Patrick so yeah I can I can jump in here

11:41 ↗ um so the recommendation includes some

11:44 ↗ specific things that uh would typically

11:47 ↗ come with an arch funding recommendation

11:49 ↗ so it includes the amount of funds um

11:52 ↗ the proposed terms of the dollars and um

11:57 ↗ many of what are now standard conditions

11:59 ↗ that come with Arch awards that ensure

12:02 ↗ um the funds are going to preserve that

12:04 ↗ affordability long term um and the

12:06 ↗ dollars are used for their intended

12:08 ↗ purpose uh so those are all laid out in

12:11 ↗ the memo and would um align with the set

12:14 ↗ of conditions that we've also

12:15 ↗ recommended for the arch set of funds

12:18 ↗ that a company

12:21 ↗ iHip um just one final note about this

12:24 ↗ also uh this is a new program for isqua

12:28 ↗ um we have experience administering City

12:32 ↗ funds through your arch um through your

12:35 ↗ arch account held in the city of

12:38 ↗ Bellevue and so we're we're open to

12:41 ↗ using that as a way to help you

12:42 ↗ administer These funds as well which

12:44 ↗ would would allow us to do the

12:46 ↗ administration of the contract um but

12:48 ↗ that is is we're happy to answer

12:50 ↗ questions about how that would

12:52 ↗ work and I was just going to mention

12:54 ↗ that as our recommendation as well to

12:56 ↗ rely on their expertise um to manage the

12:59 ↗ contract and that would work the same

13:01 ↗ way as our Housing Trust Fund dollars

13:04 ↗ where uh we would transfer the money and

13:06 ↗ they would um you know obviously keep us

13:08 ↗ in in informed and be part of that but

13:11 ↗ uh utilize their expertise for

13:14 ↗ managing so we're back to the discuss uh

13:18 ↗ uh discussion questions or Direction

13:25 ↗ needed council member Joe thank you uh

13:29 ↗ um first a question for Lindsay or

13:31 ↗ Patrick do do you know um if this house

13:35 ↗ is uh named the Emily house after Emily

13:38 ↗ Ernst uh Mike Ernst uh daughter or

13:43 ↗ not uh I I do believe that it uh does uh

13:48 ↗ the name is from a prior owner or

13:51 ↗ current owner and a previant resident of

13:53 ↗ the home yes oh okay um MERS was a

13:56 ↗ longtime board member and one of the

13:59 ↗ houses was named the Mike Ernst house

14:01 ↗ that opened in the west disa Highlands

14:04 ↗ uh in

14:05 ↗ 2022 um so I've I was just curious um

14:09 ↗ when when you said Patrick when you said

14:11 ↗ that there would be um

14:14 ↗ four uh I think you said families or

14:18 ↗ living units that would be supported by

14:20 ↗ this house um could you clarify that a

14:23 ↗ little bit is is it just for individuals

14:26 ↗ with special needs that would be living

14:28 ↗ in the house with a caretaker uh to help

14:31 ↗ with uh day-to-day

14:34 ↗ activities yeah that's correct it's a

14:36 ↗ five-bedroom home there are four people

14:39 ↗ uh with intellectual developmental

14:40 ↗ disabilities who live there who are

14:42 ↗ Income qualified the fifth bedroom is

14:44 ↗ lived in uh by a caretaker who is not an

14:47 ↗ income qualified and so our proposal

14:49 ↗ would characterize that unit as a common

14:51 ↗ area unit so meaning the person does not

14:54 ↗ need to be income qualified to to reside

14:56 ↗ there though they do they are included

14:58 ↗ under the rental assistance contract uh

15:01 ↗ of the for the operations of the home

15:03 ↗ okay no I appreciate that thank you yeah

15:05 ↗ I um H break ground on the first Rose

15:09 ↗ finnean house in the early 2000s and

15:11 ↗ fully support this program um uh the

15:15 ↗ challenge day race uh that was put on by

15:18 ↗ rotary here in town and now in snow

15:20 ↗ kwami um helped support the the ongoing

15:24 ↗ uh work of of this group and I don't

15:26 ↗ have any further questions other than to

15:28 ↗ say that this is a need that um Rose and

15:32 ↗ Leo finnean saw in our community and

15:35 ↗ filled it by doing a mom and pop um

15:39 ↗ nonprofit in essence that that grew and

15:41 ↗ grew to what we see today um uh which

15:45 ↗ involves now five houses and now going

15:47 ↗ on to the sixth house um to uh give

15:51 ↗ opportunities for people with special

15:52 ↗ needs um the opportunity to live

15:55 ↗ independently in our communities um I

15:58 ↗ love seeing being the group uh walk

16:01 ↗ around downtown together and go to

16:04 ↗ concerts on the green together and um

16:07 ↗ just enjoy isqua for everything that it

16:10 ↗ has to offer because they have the

16:11 ↗ opportunity to live in our great in our

16:14 ↗ great City so uh thank you to Leo for

16:16 ↗ all their work and uh thank you to Arch

16:18 ↗ for the hard work to make this happen um

16:21 ↗ I think it's fantastic we're able to put

16:23 ↗ in uh one quarter of the funds and get

16:25 ↗ the other three Partners or two partners

16:28 ↗ to devote the other um three quarters of

16:31 ↗ the funding it's a fine example of uh a

16:34 ↗ partnership uh to fill a need in our

16:37 ↗ community so thank

16:38 ↗ you thank

16:42 ↗ you Deputy council president do you have

16:44 ↗ any questions right now

16:47 ↗ just

16:49 ↗ um so I'm uh I understand and uh I love

16:55 ↗ what uh council member Joe said about uh

16:58 ↗ Leo and Rose finigan because they really

17:00 ↗ were Pioneers in this area and I know

17:03 ↗ that Leo Life Enrichment opportunities

17:07 ↗ uh is an expert at fundraising and

17:09 ↗ finding those grants but what happens if

17:14 ↗ um they're not able to sustain these

17:16 ↗ operating costs for this for this uh

17:20 ↗ facility and also do the residents pay

17:23 ↗ uh even part of the funds or are these

17:26 ↗ 100% subsidized housing uh

17:31 ↗ situation yeah I'll start with answering

17:33 ↗ your second question of residents are

17:35 ↗ asked to pay onethird of their income uh

17:38 ↗ for for rent and then the remaining

17:40 ↗ portion of their rent is paid through uh

17:42 ↗ Section 8 Contra uh contract for their

17:45 ↗ for their units um and then regarding

17:49 ↗ the uh the operating expenses I think

17:52 ↗ that uh fundraising is a is a portion of

17:54 ↗ that I think that the uh you know there

17:58 ↗ are other Grant and contract

18:00 ↗ opportunities available that Leo's

18:02 ↗ seeking and I do think they're building

18:03 ↗ their staff to be able to successfully

18:06 ↗ access those funds and support the

18:07 ↗ continue to support the residents and I

18:10 ↗ apologize we were just called uh over

18:12 ↗ but we again we'd be happy to follow up

18:14 ↗ with any other questions by email thanks

18:17 ↗ for having

18:18 ↗ us thank you Lindsay and Patrick good

18:21 ↗ luck with your next one thank you Jen I

18:25 ↗ I have a question so this is already

18:28 ↗ home

18:29 ↗ for uh developmentally disabled folks um

18:35 ↗ so what what do we get for the

18:38 ↗ $482,000 then it's if it's already so

18:41 ↗ it's preservation because they the the

18:43 ↗ current operators of the group home want

18:46 ↗ to retire and so they would could

18:49 ↗ potentially sell the house on the open

18:51 ↗ market and get their $2 million or

18:53 ↗ whatever it would be and walk away in

18:56 ↗ these four individuals um would be

18:59 ↗ without housing um there has been talk

19:02 ↗ with from Leo House of looking at that

19:04 ↗ house maybe even being able to add a

19:06 ↗ fifth um room uh so in the you know

19:10 ↗ having another person live there so that

19:12 ↗ would also help with their operations um

19:14 ↗ but yeah it's it's they want to retire

19:19 ↗ so and is um so Leo would run the home

19:25 ↗ yes um are they okay with the arch

19:28 ↗ attachment seat

19:29 ↗ terms MH which were added after the

19:32 ↗ initial

19:34 ↗ conversation yeah I mean they've yes

19:37 ↗ they they have been in in Communications

19:39 ↗ and they also again they have received

19:41 ↗ an award from the state um and so they

19:44 ↗ have those terms as well from the state

19:46 ↗ okay Department of Commerce

19:50 ↗ okay well uh this would be a point where

19:54 ↗ I will ask again whether there's any

19:56 ↗ public comment on this particular item

19:59 ↗ any members of the public either uh here

20:02 ↗ in the room with us or remote uh have an

20:05 ↗ interest in uh making a comment on this

20:08 ↗ before we make a final decision I'll say

20:10 ↗ again it's uh star three on your phone

20:13 ↗ or look for a hand icon uh that may be

20:16 ↗ to go to the participant panel and

20:18 ↗ choose the raise hand icon in the lower

20:20 ↗ right right hand corner Chris any

20:22 ↗ indication that anyone wishes to speak

20:23 ↗ this

20:24 ↗ item chair marks there are no online

20:27 ↗ attendees but I do you see some hands

20:29 ↗ raised in the uh in the audience all

20:31 ↗ right well then let me uh mention that

20:38 ↗ uh uh public comments are an important

20:40 ↗ part of the public process we take them

20:42 ↗ seriously and Factor them into the

20:43 ↗ decisions we make during audience

20:45 ↗ comments members of the public are

20:46 ↗ invited to address the council regarding

20:48 ↗ matters that are directly related City

20:50 ↗ programs projects services or events

20:52 ↗ anyone from the public who wishes to

20:53 ↗ comment will have the opportunity to do

20:55 ↗ so please direct comments to the whole

20:57 ↗ Council and not individuals while this

20:59 ↗ is not a question and answer session we

21:01 ↗ will contact you to follow up if needed

21:04 ↗ uh so when recognized uh state your name

21:07 ↗ address and relationship to the city EG

21:09 ↗ resident property owner business owner

21:11 ↗ speak clearly and pause frequently and

21:13 ↗ limit your comments five minutes if you

21:16 ↗ are attending

21:17 ↗ virtually uh well I'll read the part

21:19 ↗ even though we don't have any virtual

21:20 ↗ right now and do not respond after your

21:22 ↗ name or phone number is called or if

21:23 ↗ your connection is lost unexpectedly the

21:25 ↗ meeting will need to proceed you are

21:27 ↗ encouraged to rejoin the meeting if able

21:29 ↗ written comments can be submitted at any

21:31 ↗ time to city council at is w.gov

21:33 ↗ personal attacks obscene language

21:35 ↗ derogatory remarks and disruptive

21:37 ↗ behavior such as shouting booing capping

21:40 ↗ and stomping feet will not be permitted

21:41 ↗ the speaker is out of order the

21:43 ↗ presiding officer will direct the

21:44 ↗ speaker to return to his or her seat

21:46 ↗ virtual attendees may direct staff to

21:49 ↗ mute their microphone the speaker does

21:51 ↗ not comply the presiding officer may

21:52 ↗ take a recess to restore order the

21:54 ↗ disruption to the meeting occurs and

21:56 ↗ Order cannot be restored residing office

21:58 ↗ officer May proceed to use one of the

22:00 ↗ options provided for in RCW

22:03 ↗ 42305 to ensure orderly continuation of

22:06 ↗ the meeting again public comments

22:08 ↗ written in verbal are an important

22:09 ↗ aspect of the public process City takes

22:12 ↗ comments seriously and we thank members

22:14 ↗ of the public for taking the time to

22:15 ↗ address US during these meetings with

22:19 ↗ that we will take our first commenter

22:29 ↗ you need to press

22:31 ↗ the hello okay great um thank you um uh

22:36 ↗ chair uh council member Mars and all the

22:39 ↗ other council members uh for the

22:41 ↗ opportunity to provide public comment on

22:43 ↗ this issue um I think this is a great

22:45 ↗ project um Leo's a great can I interrupt

22:47 ↗ and ask you to state your name oh record

22:50 ↗ thank you uh sorry my name is Kelly Jen

22:51 ↗ and I'm resident of isqua um and

22:54 ↗ homeowner in Talis um so I think

22:59 ↗ um the ihit program it's super exciting

23:02 ↗ to see this kind of get off the ground

23:03 ↗ and I couldn't think of a better first

23:05 ↗ project to um to be you know the one to

23:08 ↗ kick off this project uh this program um

23:11 ↗ and I think the partnership with a local

23:14 ↗ organization Leo is fantastic um they've

23:16 ↗ done a lot over the last 40 Years to you

23:19 ↗ know serve as a real model in the

23:20 ↗ community of how um individuals with

23:23 ↗ intellectual and developmental

23:24 ↗ disabilities can you know be a great

23:27 ↗ part of our community here in is

23:29 ↗ additionally I'm interested to learn

23:31 ↗ more about what the pipeline is for new

23:33 ↗ um projects in um the program you know

23:36 ↗ this is a great first project um and

23:38 ↗ it's also really great to hear that you

23:40 ↗ know we're leaning on the expertise and

23:43 ↗ you know Staffing um within Arch which

23:45 ↗ is a great you know Regional

23:47 ↗ collaboration um so I'm excited to learn

23:49 ↗ more about how you know we can find

23:52 ↗ other of these types of projects to

23:53 ↗ support super low income residents

23:55 ↗ veterans um formally homeless people um

23:58 ↗ individuals with developmental

24:00 ↗ disabilities and you know make sure that

24:02 ↗ um everyone has a place here in isqua so

24:04 ↗ thank

24:05 ↗ you thank you for your

24:07 ↗ comment did we have one other person or

24:10 ↗ two yes

24:17 ↗ next uh thank you chair Marts last time

24:19 ↗ I blew it so let me introduce myself

24:22 ↗ Jason voice 700 Front Street South and I

24:26 ↗ am a resident so let me second what

24:28 ↗ Kelly just said that was fantastic but

24:31 ↗ also as someone who has worked a little

24:33 ↗ bit with Arch um what a great outfit

24:35 ↗ what a great

24:36 ↗ organization I was not aware of this uh

24:39 ↗ Leo or these houses that um sounds like

24:42 ↗ we have four this would be the fifth and

24:45 ↗ so I thank council member Joe for giving

24:47 ↗ us a little background about the

24:48 ↗ finnigans I had never heard of that so

24:52 ↗ again um great work it seems like a

24:54 ↗ pretty fair trade again to council

24:57 ↗ member Joe's point

24:59 ↗ if we provide a quarter of the funding

25:01 ↗ two other partners would provide three

25:03 ↗ quarters of that funding um again so I

25:05 ↗ applaud the effort by Arch by Leo by

25:08 ↗ iHip and uh looking forward to seeing

25:11 ↗ what you guys will do with it thank

25:13 ↗ you thank you for your

25:15 ↗ comment anyone else wishing to

25:20 ↗ speak CL any chance we've added anybody

25:23 ↗ online still no online attendees chair

25:27 ↗ all right so should we go go through uh

25:30 ↗ the three

25:31 ↗ questions council member Joe um thank

25:34 ↗ you uh Mr chairman thank you for the um

25:38 ↗ also personal privilege to compliment uh

25:41 ↗ our Arch staff before they had to go um

25:44 ↗ my comments didn't necessarily um stay

25:48 ↗ contained to questions but I appreciate

25:50 ↗ the the personal privilege and leeway

25:52 ↗ that you gave me there um I don't have

25:54 ↗ any questions about the the the

25:56 ↗ recommendation here I think again it's a

25:58 ↗ a great project to put a quarter in and

26:01 ↗ have other partners join us we always do

26:04 ↗ get that question what has Arch done for

26:07 ↗ us recently or what does arch do and I

26:10 ↗ think that we need to be quite vocal

26:13 ↗ about this is what Arch does to help

26:15 ↗ preserve housing for the 0 to 40% um Ami

26:20 ↗ and that housing does not get built

26:22 ↗ unless you have a nonprofit or other

26:24 ↗ partner that's willing to come in and do

26:26 ↗ it and so I applaud the administration

26:28 ↗ and Jen Davis Hayes for trying to uh

26:31 ↗ seek out and find those opportunities

26:33 ↗ and then gain partners that could uh

26:35 ↗ work with us to preserve this essential

26:38 ↗ housing in our community um I don't

26:42 ↗ necessarily think I need any additional

26:43 ↗ information for this um I believe that

26:46 ↗ it's

26:47 ↗ appropriate to have um Arch and Leo the

26:51 ↗ Leo house uh uh organization go out and

26:54 ↗ get the um the everyday administrative

26:58 ↗ funding for this um we bring something

27:01 ↗ to the table and they bring their

27:03 ↗ expertise to the table in terms of how

27:05 ↗ to um take care of these places and take

27:08 ↗ care of the the citizens that are are

27:10 ↗ living there in a in a cost effective

27:12 ↗ way and um I think it's a good

27:14 ↗ partnership to um make sure that all

27:16 ↗ parties have um some type of interest

27:19 ↗ and skin in the game through this

27:21 ↗ process so that concludes my uh comments

27:23 ↗ thank you Deputy council president

27:28 ↗ uh thank you um I I think this is a a

27:31 ↗ wonderful project and so I had the great

27:35 ↗ privilege of serving with Leo finnean on

27:38 ↗ the atwork uh board of directors and uh

27:41 ↗ he also served um with me uh at the

27:46 ↗ Metro Transit committee Advisory Group

27:49 ↗ and uh Leo was also a member of the King

27:53 ↗ County uh developmental disability

27:56 ↗ Advisory Group so he and I

27:58 ↗ did a lot of car pooling back in the day

28:01 ↗ and one thing uh in our

28:05 ↗ conversations um that we talked about

28:07 ↗ was um and and Rose and Leo uh of course

28:10 ↗ their son is uh a person with uh

28:13 ↗ developmental disabilities and he shared

28:15 ↗ with me the uh concern that most parents

28:19 ↗ who have children with developmental

28:21 ↗ disabilities have and that is how do

28:24 ↗ they get along after I am gone and so

28:27 ↗ this housing fits and meets a need for

28:31 ↗ that community of people that is just

28:34 ↗ unbelievably urgent I believe if I read

28:37 ↗ it correctly in the packet we received

28:39 ↗ there are

28:40 ↗ 39,000 um people with developmental

28:43 ↗ disabilities in Washington state who do

28:46 ↗ not have stable housing um and do not

28:49 ↗ have access to this so this is a

28:50 ↗ wonderful thing that the city of isqua

28:52 ↗ has done working with the finans uh to

28:57 ↗ um get this kind of housing available in

28:59 ↗ our

29:00 ↗ community uh I'd also like to remind

29:02 ↗ everybody that the iHip fund uh did come

29:06 ↗ from capturing from King County the

29:08 ↗ 1110th to

29:09 ↗ 1% um tax revenues which we would have

29:12 ↗ been paying anyway but they would have

29:14 ↗ been going to King County and instead

29:16 ↗ they've come to us and provided this

29:18 ↗ wonderful pool of money that I think we

29:20 ↗ are putting to really really good causes

29:22 ↗ so thanks to the staff for bringing this

29:25 ↗ forward uh and thanks to Arch uh for the

29:28 ↗ work that they did on this project as

29:30 ↗ well so I do not have any concerns about

29:33 ↗ this recommendation I think this is a

29:35 ↗ great preservation project I also went

29:37 ↗ online and looked at maps to find out

29:40 ↗ exactly where the house is perfect

29:43 ↗ location for this kind of a of a housing

29:46 ↗ solution uh with an easy reach to so

29:49 ↗ many different um uh vanities in our

29:52 ↗ community so everything about this

29:54 ↗ project just seems right and um I think

29:57 ↗ it'll will be great I don't have any

29:59 ↗ questions or any additional information

30:02 ↗ that I need and I hope that we can send

30:04 ↗ this forward to the council and get this

30:07 ↗ project moving thank you thank you

30:11 ↗ Deputy council president uh so I am in

30:14 ↗ support of uh this motion uh and taking

30:18 ↗ this back to the full Council uh I'm

30:21 ↗ particularly excited to see that at 0 to

30:23 ↗ 40 um we so rarely get opportunities to

30:26 ↗ move the needle anything less than 80%

30:29 ↗ or 90% uh so that's very exciting um I

30:35 ↗ you know hold Leo in high regard they'll

30:38 ↗ they'll do a good

30:40 ↗ job so I don't have any additional

30:46 ↗ questions I think it sounds like we are

30:48 ↗ three to0 in support of sending it back

30:50 ↗ is there uh I probably should know this

30:54 ↗ but was uh there is a date date certain

30:57 ↗ for it going back right the second

30:59 ↗ meeting in

31:00 ↗ February I I think it says February 24th

31:05 ↗ and yeah February

31:06 ↗ 24 and we'd recommend consent if

31:09 ↗ committee's right

31:10 ↗ with Y Yep looks head nods all

31:16 ↗ around all right thank you very much

31:19 ↗ appreciate this thank you Jen appreciate

31:21 ↗ it so with that uh we'll move on to the

31:25 ↗ second item

31:28 ↗ uh which

31:30 ↗ is uh Tom 84 2025 Arts Grant

31:35 ↗ recommendations by Amy Dukes our arts

31:37 ↗ program administrator

32:05 ↗ sorry good evening um committee members

32:09 ↗ thank you for having me here this

32:11 ↗ evening um I am here to present to you

32:13 ↗ the 2025 Arts Grant

32:17 ↗ recommendations um these are the 2025

32:20 ↗ Arts Grant recommendations as proposed

32:22 ↗ by the Arts

32:23 ↗ commission and we'll share them with you

32:28 ↗ um the direction that we are seeking um

32:30 ↗ is just for the award and allocation of

32:33 ↗ this year's Arts

32:37 ↗ Grant so I want to provide a little bit

32:39 ↗ of quick background about the Arts

32:41 ↗ grants I think you all are fairly

32:43 ↗ familiar with them it's an annual

32:45 ↗ program that the Arts commission does um

32:47 ↗ facilitate through the arts

32:49 ↗ program um and the primary uh reason

32:53 ↗ that we do the Arts grant program is to

32:55 ↗ provide meaningful Arts engagement and

32:57 ↗ opportunity ities for our community and

32:59 ↗ visitors um to celebrate our community's

33:02 ↗ cultural

33:03 ↗ diversity to cultivate a creative and

33:05 ↗ vibrant Arts community in esqua and of

33:08 ↗ course to support our local Arts

33:10 ↗ organizations and artists and creative

33:15 ↗ economy um a few years ago the Arts

33:18 ↗ commission decided to formalize the

33:20 ↗ program a little bit more and uh create

33:22 ↗ some different categories so that we

33:24 ↗ could better uh manage the grant

33:26 ↗ requests and so the Arts Partnerships

33:29 ↗ are one category that we will be talking

33:31 ↗ about this evening um those are really

33:33 ↗ General operating support provided to

33:36 ↗ our isqua based nonprofit Arts

33:38 ↗ organizations that really have arts and

33:40 ↗ culture as their primary singular

33:43 ↗ Mission so that's the business that

33:45 ↗ they're in um we do uh allow up to 10%

33:50 ↗ of their operating budget to be

33:52 ↗ requested um or up to

33:55 ↗ $25,000 um this is a change from

33:58 ↗ 2024 um previously we allowed up to

34:01 ↗ $35,000 requests um and it was one of

34:05 ↗ the changes that the Arts commission um

34:07 ↗ recommended due to uh decreased uh

34:10 ↗ funding in this category for

34:14 ↗ 25 um and then the other category that

34:16 ↗ we'll be presenting recommendations for

34:18 ↗ this evening is Arts projects um these

34:21 ↗ are projects um that can come from

34:23 ↗ really any type of organization um

34:26 ↗ informal group group of artists um an

34:29 ↗ individual artist with an idea that

34:31 ↗ provides um a project that provides

34:34 ↗ benefit to isqua Residents and visitors

34:37 ↗ and so this year um the max request in

34:39 ↗ this category is

34:41 ↗ $5,000 we did um break it into two

34:44 ↗ categories and asked hey if you could

34:46 ↗ get $2500 what could you do for that and

34:49 ↗ so we did have some groups that actually

34:51 ↗ propos projects for

34:52 ↗ $2,500 um so that was another sort of

34:56 ↗ strategy to manage having less

35:00 ↗ funding and the Arts commission uses

35:02 ↗ three different criteria to evaluate the

35:06 ↗ applications um the first um primary

35:08 ↗ criteria is public benefit so they're

35:11 ↗ really looking for projects and programs

35:13 ↗ that provide a meaningful engagement in

35:16 ↗ arts and

35:17 ↗ culture um and they want the program to

35:19 ↗ reach or collectively they want the

35:21 ↗ recommendations to reach diverse

35:23 ↗ audiences so a lot of the projects and

35:25 ↗ programs reach very Broad audiences um

35:29 ↗ and then there are certainly projects

35:31 ↗ that are intended to reach an

35:33 ↗ underserved um group like uh seniors

35:37 ↗ living and Senior Living

35:39 ↗ centers the second criteria is Artistic

35:42 ↗ value um so we really want to support

35:46 ↗ programs that are well conceived

35:48 ↗ compelling and again have art as the

35:50 ↗ primary component and reason um for for

35:54 ↗ the project and that they're providing a

35:56 ↗ really meaningful Arts engagement

35:58 ↗ opportunity for our

36:00 ↗ community and then third the final

36:03 ↗ criteria is feasibility and managerial

36:06 ↗ capacity um so we want to make sure that

36:08 ↗ the money that we're investing is

36:10 ↗ actually used um well and that the

36:13 ↗ budget of the program our project is

36:15 ↗ realistic and clear and that the project

36:18 ↗ has um endeavored to receive Community

36:21 ↗ involvement or support in its

36:25 ↗ creation oh

36:28 ↗ no that's right um Amy thank you for

36:30 ↗ coming tonight and appreciate your um

36:33 ↗ constant work in in the Arts uh Arena um

36:36 ↗ could you touch on where we get the

36:38 ↗ money from um and you know um the

36:42 ↗ citizens might not know how the money

36:44 ↗ gets uh um to us and if you could touch

36:46 ↗ on that I'd appreciate it yeah that's

36:48 ↗ great thank you for bringing that up

36:50 ↗ council member Joe because I just assume

36:52 ↗ everyone knows that but that's actually

36:54 ↗ not the case um so the arts program in

36:56 ↗ isqua is funded through primarily

36:58 ↗ through admissions tax um which is

37:01 ↗ collected from our movie theater um

37:03 ↗ Regal and also from the small movie

37:06 ↗ theater um big picture um that is a

37:09 ↗ small tax on each individual um U movie

37:12 ↗ ticket and that amount um as you might

37:16 ↗ be able to imagine has decreased um over

37:19 ↗ the years um and pretty significantly

37:23 ↗ obviously during the pandemic and while

37:25 ↗ we um actually have had decent year in

37:29 ↗ 2024 it is um still about a 50%

37:32 ↗ reduction to what it was at its height

37:34 ↗ um so just to give you an idea we're

37:36 ↗ coming in um just under $200,000 a year

37:39 ↗ from the emissions tax um the arts

37:41 ↗ program also does get funded through a

37:43 ↗ small percentage of um Capital

37:45 ↗ Improvement projects that the city um

37:47 ↗ does and that amount goes to public art

37:50 ↗ so this program is funded um entirely

37:53 ↗ through emissions tax great thank you

37:56 ↗ very much I appreciate that yeah thanks

37:58 ↗ for that opportunity um so tonight's

38:00 ↗ recommendation um from the Arts

38:02 ↗ commission is to support 24 arts and

38:05 ↗ culture projects and two um two Arts

38:09 ↗ Partnerships um for a total of

38:13 ↗ $125,000 um I would note that the

38:16 ↗ recommendations are made um by the Arts

38:19 ↗ commission evaluating all of the

38:21 ↗ applications using a rubric with those

38:24 ↗ three criteria we discussed and then

38:26 ↗ they scored them and kind of a um a

38:29 ↗ breakoff of

38:32 ↗ funding the two Arts Partnerships are um

38:35 ↗ to Village Theater and to the esqua

38:37 ↗ history museums um both of these amounts

38:40 ↗ do um do demonstrate a little bit of a

38:43 ↗ reduced amount um compared to

38:47 ↗ 2024 and then here are um Grant

38:51 ↗ recommendations for the Arts projects

38:53 ↗ there are 24 of them um primarily at the

38:57 ↗ the $5,000

38:59 ↗ level um there are a handful at 2500 and

39:02 ↗ then a couple that are just odd numbers

39:06 ↗ because people requested something

39:08 ↗ different um and then also a couple of

39:11 ↗ ones at the end that I want to highlight

39:13 ↗ um that were really seeking just support

39:15 ↗ for uh facility rental and the facility

39:18 ↗ rental they were seeking support for was

39:21 ↗ something that the city maintains and

39:23 ↗ owns and so we figured given the uh

39:26 ↗ reduced amount of funding that maybe

39:28 ↗ another way that we could provide

39:29 ↗ support this year this year would be to

39:32 ↗ um cover in kind those rentals and that

39:35 ↗ freed up a little additional money so we

39:37 ↗ were able to give a few more grants um

39:40 ↗ another change this year was that uh

39:43 ↗ applicants couldn't submit more than

39:45 ↗ three projects um which sounds like a

39:48 ↗ lot but in the past we've had applicants

39:50 ↗ submit five and six so that also um

39:54 ↗ reduced the the sort of strain on the

39:58 ↗ funding um I just wanted to point out um

40:01 ↗ I think this didn't make it into your

40:02 ↗ packet so I'm sorry I wanted to point

40:04 ↗ out a couple of things about the impact

40:06 ↗ of these grants um and that is uh that

40:11 ↗ the collectively um these programs and

40:15 ↗ projects would uh result in about

40:18 ↗ 150,000 participants those might be

40:21 ↗ duplicated in some instances but 150,000

40:24 ↗ participants in isqua um over the course

40:27 ↗ of the year um that there's a very wide

40:30 ↗ range of activities supported through

40:32 ↗ these grants so we have Visual and

40:34 ↗ Performing um literary Arts Cultural

40:37 ↗ Arts um the funded projects um through

40:40 ↗ the organizations and the project teams

40:44 ↗ represent um 300 creative workers um

40:48 ↗ lots of volunteers are leveraged through

40:51 ↗ these projects and then you can see

40:55 ↗ collectively um it's a 17 .5 million

40:59 ↗ support um that's provided to the local

41:04 ↗ economy um so timing and next steps um

41:08 ↗ just to give you an idea of how we got

41:09 ↗ here the application was released in

41:12 ↗ October of 24 the deadline was December

41:16 ↗ 5th um the Arts commission took the

41:19 ↗ month of December and early January to

41:22 ↗ review the applications and then

41:24 ↗ reviewed them at two public meetings um

41:27 ↗ in January that were attended by uh

41:30 ↗ applicants I'm here tonight to present

41:33 ↗ these to you and then we're hoping they

41:35 ↗ can go to Council in February and then

41:38 ↗ we'll begin our Contracting

41:43 ↗ phase so just back to the direction

41:45 ↗ needed um hoping uh you can provide

41:48 ↗ Direction on the award and the

41:49 ↗ allocation for this year's Arts grants

41:51 ↗ as recommended by the Arts commission

41:54 ↗ and I am always more than happy to take

41:56 ↗ questions you might have have yeah Amy

41:59 ↗ can you when you talk about the

42:01 ↗ requested amount versus the funding

42:03 ↗ recommendation can you talk a little bit

42:05 ↗ about I don't need to know when there's

42:07 ↗ like a 10% difference but there's three

42:10 ↗ or four of these where the request is

42:12 ↗ substantially more than what we decided

42:14 ↗ on so can you can you talk a little bit

42:16 ↗ about that thought process sure um I

42:19 ↗ don't have the list in front of me but I

42:22 ↗ I can I should it starts with is history

42:26 ↗ m okay with their $12,000 request and

42:30 ↗ and uh the 6500 recommendation great um

42:33 ↗ so that is them requesting the maximum

42:37 ↗ amount that they are eligible for um and

42:41 ↗ the the in many instances the scoring um

42:46 ↗ affected the amount um that was

42:49 ↗ recommended so the application scored

42:52 ↗ well but it didn't score sort of high

42:55 ↗ enough to get recommended for the full

42:57 ↗ amount and then also um just sort of

43:02 ↗ those two Arts organizations the Arts

43:05 ↗ partnership category um did take the

43:08 ↗ sort of hit of having less funding this

43:10 ↗ year the projects are sort of a little

43:12 ↗ more straightforward and that they're

43:14 ↗ either 5,000 or 2500 um sort of you get

43:18 ↗ the money to do the project or not do

43:20 ↗ the project they're a little bit more

43:21 ↗ binary so the Arts Partnerships I think

43:24 ↗ are the is the category that kind of

43:26 ↗ suffered from our um production and and

43:28 ↗ Grant funds um but um I believe the

43:33 ↗ history museums received like $8,000

43:36 ↗ last year um so that is you know a

43:38 ↗ reduction but not a dramatic one the

43:41 ↗ Arts commission also sort of recognizes

43:43 ↗ that the history museums does receive a

43:46 ↗ lot of support from the city um in terms

43:49 ↗ of um its facilities so they felt like

43:53 ↗ well you are getting a lot of support

43:55 ↗ from the city in other ways

43:57 ↗ um so that's kind of the Myriad of

44:01 ↗ reasons why their funding is uh is less

44:05 ↗ than they

44:06 ↗ requested okay and then uh isqua free

44:10 ↗ little art galleries requested 5,000 and

44:12 ↗ we recommended 2500 yes so this was um

44:15 ↗ the case of one where they uh said we

44:18 ↗ could do this for 2500 or this for 5,000

44:22 ↗ um they are offering to put up two free

44:24 ↗ little art galleries for 2500 or they

44:27 ↗ could do four or 5,000 um we did uh do

44:32 ↗ another project years ago that was a

44:34 ↗ free little art gallery and just knowing

44:36 ↗ the sort of um timeline for that and the

44:40 ↗ issues of finding a location um it's

44:43 ↗ probably much more realistic to do too

44:44 ↗ than four anyway so that's why that one

44:47 ↗ was supported in that

44:49 ↗ way okay um and then

45:02 ↗ uh Global grub and oh

45:06 ↗ no no I guess uh I guess that was it oh

45:11 ↗ uh Master course Eide All-American

45:14 ↗ independent celebration requested 2500

45:16 ↗ and we re 500 and so 2,000 of their

45:20 ↗ $2500 request was to rent Pickering Barn

45:24 ↗ um so we're going to uh in kind

45:27 ↗ let them rent picking and then give them

45:29 ↗ the $500 I believe is for like sheet

45:31 ↗ music and some marketing so all right

45:34 ↗ thank you for that explanation I

45:35 ↗ appreciate it I guess there were a

45:38 ↗ number that were uh requested and and

45:41 ↗ did not get anything that's correct but

45:44 ↗ I see that some of those requested

45:46 ↗ multiple programs so like fish requested

45:49 ↗ on multiple programs and got correct and

45:53 ↗ of the ones that did not get funded um

45:55 ↗ the the biggest Factor was the score of

45:58 ↗ the application there was a little bit

46:00 ↗ um factoring in how many applications

46:02 ↗ they had and they were receiving funding

46:04 ↗ but primarily it was a

46:06 ↗ scoring all right thank you you have any

46:09 ↗ other questions before we go to public

46:11 ↗ comment council member Joe thank you um

46:14 ↗ on page five of your presentation you've

46:17 ↗ got a a picture of the the um chalk

46:21 ↗ event um there's a young boy um drawing

46:24 ↗ a salmon um would which program is that

46:28 ↗ um for this cycle and did we fund it

46:32 ↗ again um so that is actually a 2024

46:36 ↗ funded program um at the Hatchery uh

46:40 ↗ they actually added a lot of art

46:42 ↗ elements to their um public programming

46:45 ↗ and I believe that one was when they

46:47 ↗ released um the baby salmon um so they

46:51 ↗ had a chalk artist um provide a

46:54 ↗ engagement opportunity okay and is um

46:58 ↗ and that's different from the chalk art

47:00 ↗ event that we do correct concerts on the

47:03 ↗ green um maybe our Parks director can

47:06 ↗ tell me where that funding comes from

47:07 ↗ and I'm sure that's going to continue

47:09 ↗ again this year I just want to make sure

47:10 ↗ that we uh have that as a great

47:12 ↗ Community event yeah Amy can certainly

47:14 ↗ Echo that but yeah Jeff Watling Parks

47:16 ↗ Community Services director absolutely

47:18 ↗ that is funded through um other

47:20 ↗ operational uh budget so that is a u

47:23 ↗ event uh we look forward to doing again

47:25 ↗ in fact I'll te up Amy Amy and the Arts

47:28 ↗ commission are looking at some creative

47:29 ↗ ways um of um making that a little bit a

47:33 ↗ little bit bigger a little bit different

47:35 ↗ um in the coming

47:37 ↗ year yeah I just see some wonderful

47:40 ↗ creative uh art that gets uh put on the

47:44 ↗ sidewalk there and and um believe it or

47:48 ↗ not some of the high school students

47:50 ↗ from the garage actually participate in

47:52 ↗ and and do that and and it's interesting

47:55 ↗ to see how um their creativity comes out

47:58 ↗ as well during during that event so um

48:01 ↗ thank you so much for all the the hard

48:03 ↗ work you're doing with uh the Arts

48:04 ↗ grants and uh I don't have any

48:06 ↗ additional

48:09 ↗ questions I think we're ready to take

48:12 ↗ public comment so I will ask again uh if

48:15 ↗ there's anyone either virtually or in

48:16 ↗ the room who'd like to make comment on

48:18 ↗ this before

48:20 ↗ we fond not seeing any clerk anything

48:24 ↗ anyone remote no attendees chair all

48:29 ↗ right so pretty

48:36 ↗ straightforward okay thanks

48:41 ↗ um having served on the Arts commission

48:43 ↗ I think for 12 years and gone through

48:45 ↗ this process I think that Arts

48:48 ↗ commission and the Human Services

48:50 ↗ Commission are the two commissions that

48:52 ↗ really put in hours and hours and hours

48:56 ↗ into review doing uh scoring like you

48:59 ↗ said um and then deciding the funding

49:01 ↗ amounts for uh all these applications so

49:05 ↗ it really is a huge job so please convey

49:08 ↗ our appreciation again for the hard work

49:11 ↗ that the Arts commission all of the Arts

49:13 ↗ Commissioners do because every Arts

49:15 ↗ commissioner takes a certain amount that

49:17 ↗ they work on and it is a true

49:19 ↗ collaborative uh effort um I think the

49:24 ↗ um the awards are are fantastic but and

49:28 ↗ I trust the commission to do a good job

49:30 ↗ because I know the process is so

49:32 ↗ thorough and uh sometimes decisions are

49:35 ↗ very hard because of the funding amount

49:38 ↗ so um it it's difficult um and I think

49:43 ↗ that's I think that's all I have to say

49:45 ↗ is I think that it looks great uh I know

49:49 ↗ some of these uh organizations do great

49:51 ↗ things I know I had one more thing to

49:52 ↗ say we're going to have another Film

49:54 ↗ Festival I saw it on there

49:57 ↗ it's true yeah that's that has turned

50:00 ↗ out to be an amazing project there's

50:02 ↗ lots of really good stuff in there but

50:04 ↗ that one kind of left out at me and I

50:06 ↗ thought oh great that film festival is

50:08 ↗ going to continue so that's wonderful

50:10 ↗ news so those are my only comments um I

50:13 ↗ think it's great thank you so

50:16 ↗ much thank you

50:18 ↗ Joe I'm currently the chair of the ltac

50:21 ↗ committee and and I couldn't help but um

50:25 ↗ uh noticed that a number of these

50:28 ↗ projects are art related but they do

50:30 ↗ bring in visitors from outside of isqua

50:33 ↗ and perhaps overnight stays and so the

50:36 ↗ the the two uh funding sources do cross

50:39 ↗ over and support each other um isqua

50:43 ↗ Highlands Global grub and groove um was

50:46 ↗ one that we had supported in the past

50:47 ↗ and I appreciate the the number that you

50:50 ↗ put up there for the amount of economic

50:53 ↗ support or Economic Development dollars

50:54 ↗ that come into the city um because of of

50:57 ↗ um the work that we do here I I think of

51:00 ↗ these grants as kind of um priming the

51:02 ↗ pump so to speak in terms of encouraging

51:06 ↗ artists to uh take a risk and do

51:09 ↗ projects or organizations to take a risk

51:11 ↗ and and hold a festival or an event um

51:15 ↗ in the city and I see that uh Thea for

51:18 ↗ instance has a number of events that

51:20 ↗ have been going on for a number of years

51:21 ↗ and have grown in popularity and and the

51:24 ↗ number of people that come out for those

51:26 ↗ events so I appreciate the hard work

51:28 ↗ that gets done by the Arts commission to

51:31 ↗ review these um and I think that the

51:33 ↗ selections are are uh pretty good this

51:36 ↗ year and I would fully support uh the

51:38 ↗ presentation and the um uh recipients uh

51:42 ↗ in your presentation thank

51:45 ↗ you so I always love when we do this

51:48 ↗ when we review uh art Grant proposals it

51:52 ↗ just reminds me first of all of the hard

51:54 ↗ work uh that you and the and the Arts uh

51:57 ↗ board does but also just how many great

52:00 ↗ Arts organizations we have operating in

52:02 ↗ the city and the thoughtfulness put

52:06 ↗ in to their requests so yeah I'm very

52:09 ↗ supportive and uh just want to thank you

52:13 ↗ and the commission uh for your

52:17 ↗ definitely pass that along

52:20 ↗ to City administrators there anything

52:22 ↗ else you need on this one uh just a

52:24 ↗ recommendation on uh placement before

52:27 ↗ the full Council the administration

52:29 ↗ would recommend

52:30 ↗ consent yep head nods thank you thanks

52:34 ↗ seey thanks so much all right last and

52:38 ↗ certainly not least we have Comm

52:42 ↗ 0078 Urban Forest management plan draft

52:46 ↗ with Dan hints or Urban

52:55 ↗ Forester e

53:56 ↗ he

53:58 ↗ to stayed on um yeah thanks again for

54:00 ↗ having me here tonight council members

54:02 ↗ really excited to come present a

54:04 ↗ hopefully near complete final draft of

54:06 ↗ the urban Forest management plan um I

54:08 ↗ guess just as a little reminder we'll

54:10 ↗ we'll go over a little bit of a recap

54:12 ↗ but this was brought to Committee in

54:14 ↗ July of

54:15 ↗ 2024 um and uh I guess before I get into

54:18 ↗ it too I do want to introduce Chris

54:20 ↗ Piper is online from planet Geo they are

54:23 ↗ a urban forestry consultant that has

54:24 ↗ been working with us to write and

54:26 ↗ publish this plan so Chris will be

54:28 ↗ available for um questions if if they

54:30 ↗ come up throughout the presentation or

54:32 ↗ at the end as well um so just just a

54:35 ↗ reminder this is the city's first urban

54:37 ↗ Forest management plan um it is a

54:40 ↗ foundational piece of any urban forestry

54:42 ↗ Program in city government um so this is

54:45 ↗ a really exciting opportunity to you

54:47 ↗ know build out our first urban forestry

54:50 ↗ program and this plan looks at a about a

54:52 ↗ 10-year uh road map or guide um to

54:55 ↗ develop that program um really at the

54:59 ↗ heart of this is hopefully most people

55:01 ↗ in this room and certainly in our

55:02 ↗ community recognize the Myriad benefits

55:05 ↗ that trees and Forest provide our

55:07 ↗ community whether that's uh

55:09 ↗ environmental and ecological aesthetic

55:12 ↗ economic social uh Health um there there

55:16 ↗ just so many reasons that we're

55:17 ↗ continuing to learn you know the the

55:19 ↗ benefits trees provide um but kind of

55:23 ↗ the opposite of that is that you know

55:25 ↗ there are challenges of course that come

55:26 ↗ with managing trees in a built

55:28 ↗ environment so this plan is really you

55:30 ↗ know looking at how do we balance those

55:32 ↗ benefits with some of those challenges

55:35 ↗ um and how do we continue to maximize uh

55:38 ↗ enhance and maintain those those

55:39 ↗ benefits that our uh trees and urban

55:41 ↗ Forest provide so I'll be giving just a

55:44 ↗ quick recap of the work that was done

55:46 ↗ prior to the July uh meeting touch point

55:48 ↗ with you all um really the big section

55:51 ↗ that was included since then was

55:53 ↗ implementation and monitoring um we'll

55:56 ↗ do

55:56 ↗ quick little detour but certainly

55:58 ↗ related on a little recap of uh kind of

56:00 ↗ work since the bomb Cyclone event um and

56:03 ↗ then we'll be looking for direction on

56:05 ↗ adoption of the plan and discussing next

56:07 ↗ steps for

56:09 ↗ implementation so uh this slide kind of

56:11 ↗ Recaps that that we're looking um

56:13 ↗ providing a final update and seeking

56:15 ↗ recommendation from the safe uh services

56:17 ↗ safety and park committee for adoption

56:19 ↗ of the urban Forest management plan uh

56:21 ↗ to full

56:24 ↗ Council um so these next couple slides

56:26 ↗ are kind of hopefully be kind of a quick

56:27 ↗ recap but this is the timeline for the

56:30 ↗ process we um got under contract with

56:32 ↗ Planet Geo and Chris's team back in

56:34 ↗ October of 2023 uh really looked at uh a

56:38 ↗ update of our canopy assessment that was

56:40 ↗ originally done in 2019 the city's first

56:44 ↗ uh Citywide tree canopy assessment so

56:46 ↗ this is the second edition of that that

56:47 ↗ is included in the forest management

56:49 ↗ plan I really started Gathering data

56:52 ↗ putting together an engagement plan and

56:54 ↗ you know uh doing a lot of background

56:55 ↗ research

56:56 ↗ uh towards the end of 2023 and uh the

56:58 ↗ first quarter of 2024 really focused on

57:01 ↗ both uh staff uh input um so we had 50

57:05 ↗ plus staff members uh provide uh

57:07 ↗ responses to a survey and uh a good

57:09 ↗ portion of those members have follow-up

57:11 ↗ meetings with with Chris's team and

57:13 ↗ myself um and then really uh focusing on

57:15 ↗ the public engagement through public

57:17 ↗ survey public events and I'll touch on

57:19 ↗ this briefly on the next side uh touch

57:21 ↗ points with our environmental and Par

57:23 ↗ boards um after really a lot of that

57:26 ↗ Gathering uh last spring April through

57:29 ↗ June is when we really started

57:30 ↗ developing um I should I should maybe

57:33 ↗ say first we did the urban Forest audit

57:35 ↗ and benchmarks which kind of compare our

57:37 ↗ community to communities of similar size

57:39 ↗ there's a slide coming up on that a

57:40 ↗ little bit later in the uh

57:42 ↗ implementation and monitoring section um

57:44 ↗ but that information really started to

57:47 ↗ shape the draft strategies the vision

57:49 ↗ guiding principles and then the

57:51 ↗ associated uh goals and priority actions

57:54 ↗ with those so um that you know about

57:57 ↗ where we uh met with you back in July um

58:00 ↗ that produced the first draft we took

58:02 ↗ that to this committee to the park board

58:04 ↗ to the environmental board to make sure

58:05 ↗ we felt really good about those guiding

58:07 ↗ principles the associated uh strategies

58:10 ↗ and as I mentioned goals and priority

58:12 ↗ actions once we felt pretty good about

58:14 ↗ that that's when we published the third

58:15 ↗ section of the uh plan which is

58:18 ↗ implementation and monitoring we wanted

58:19 ↗ to make sure we felt uh good consensus

58:22 ↗ around like I said those those goals

58:24 ↗ strategies priority actions before we

58:26 ↗ actually talk about what it looks like

58:27 ↗ implementing those um so that was really

58:30 ↗ you know kind of end of last summer uh

58:32 ↗ that we produced that first draft uh

58:34 ↗ another round of public comment and

58:36 ↗ board engagements and then um you know a

58:38 ↗ second draft and and now brought the uh

58:41 ↗ uh final draft was intended to go to

58:43 ↗ this Committee in November and I think

58:45 ↗ everyone remembers that uh uh night uh

58:47 ↗ changed our plans a little bit so we're

58:49 ↗ here a couple a couple months later

58:50 ↗ after the um bomb Cyclone event um so

58:54 ↗ that that's why this last last part on

58:56 ↗ the timeline's a little extended in

58:58 ↗ terms of um you know Council adoption

59:00 ↗ and

59:02 ↗ delivery um so I do want to just kind of

59:04 ↗ review some of the uh feedback that we

59:06 ↗ received from you in July from the three

59:09 ↗ of you um really urged uh staff to

59:12 ↗ consider lowcost economical ways to

59:14 ↗ enhance the city's Urban Forest um these

59:17 ↗ were addressed in the memo but I'll do a

59:19 ↗ quick recap for these bullet points here

59:21 ↗ too we are going to continue to grow

59:23 ↗ green is aqua lean on our volunteers

59:25 ↗ lean on our great Community Partners we

59:27 ↗ have a few representatives from isels

59:29 ↗ Trails Club here tonight Mount sound

59:30 ↗ Greenway trout unlimited we've actually

59:32 ↗ been really successful working with

59:34 ↗ those groups to um uh for them to

59:37 ↗ receive grant funding and work on

59:38 ↗ projects in isqua so that's been a

59:40 ↗ really great strategy with actually all

59:41 ↗ three of those organizations over the

59:43 ↗ past year um working with DNR King

59:45 ↗ Conservation District on looking for uh

59:48 ↗ grant funding opportunities for our tree

59:49 ↗ inventory which I would say is really

59:51 ↗ the other foundational piece of an urban

59:53 ↗ forestry program that we hope to launch

59:55 ↗ here this year here um and some other uh

59:58 ↗ Forest assessment work for some of our

59:59 ↗ larger uh Native growth areas like

1:00:01 ↗ tradition plateau uh so we're going to

1:00:03 ↗ continue to to to lean on those

1:00:05 ↗ resources and and and you know be as

1:00:07 ↗ creative as we can to continue to um

1:00:10 ↗ build this program um the next two

1:00:12 ↗ bullets touch on the focus around

1:00:14 ↗ riparian areas um which was great to

1:00:18 ↗ hear there was generally positive

1:00:19 ↗ feedback around that so this plan was

1:00:21 ↗ the first time we did a riparian canopy

1:00:23 ↗ assessment looked at some canopy changes

1:00:25 ↗ from from that 2019 study to our

1:00:28 ↗ 2024 uh canopy update um you know for

1:00:31 ↗ our main uh five or so uh salmon bearing

1:00:35 ↗ streams throughout uh throughout isqua

1:00:37 ↗ um I just wanted to call out that that's

1:00:39 ↗ something that really complements work

1:00:41 ↗ that Community planning is doing they uh

1:00:43 ↗ I think just published their uh riparian

1:00:46 ↗ assessment and recommendation report so

1:00:49 ↗ our uh work here really provides kind of

1:00:52 ↗ the canopy cover the areas that's

1:00:53 ↗ lacking the areas that are priorities

1:00:55 ↗ where there could possibly priority

1:00:56 ↗ Acquisitions I would say this one has

1:00:58 ↗ really come to light in the last couple

1:01:00 ↗ months as we've been working around

1:01:01 ↗ trees and Creeks Hazard trees and

1:01:03 ↗ riparian areas adjacent to homes and I

1:01:06 ↗ would say some of the benefits you know

1:01:07 ↗ where we can if possible U you know

1:01:09 ↗ bring some of those areas into into

1:01:11 ↗ public land ownership um so the the

1:01:14 ↗ second to last bullet point was on tree

1:01:16 ↗ canopy as an equity issue uh the report

1:01:19 ↗ does use a tool called the tree Equity

1:01:21 ↗ score which is a tool put together by

1:01:23 ↗ American Forest um so we're really

1:01:25 ↗ looking at that in terms of how we uh

1:01:27 ↗ prioritize a tree giveaway program that

1:01:29 ↗ we're looking at launching uh parks and

1:01:31 ↗ sustainability working on that we are

1:01:33 ↗ working with a community partner called

1:01:35 ↗ 300 trees and they're looking at doing

1:01:36 ↗ our first uh giveaway for private

1:01:38 ↗ residents in isqua in November of this

1:01:41 ↗ year uh so really looking at certain

1:01:43 ↗ areas of the city um that you know maybe

1:01:46 ↗ don't have as much canopy maybe have

1:01:48 ↗ more issues with air quality storm water

1:01:50 ↗ issues um so that's the tree Equity tool

1:01:53 ↗ and also there's the Washington Health

1:01:55 ↗ disparities map um and some of those

1:01:57 ↗ Maps uh for priority planting based on

1:02:00 ↗ some of the factors in the Washington

1:02:01 ↗ Health disparities like storm water like

1:02:03 ↗ air quality like existing low canopy are

1:02:06 ↗ actually um synthesized in the appendix

1:02:09 ↗ and uh you know you can look at each of

1:02:11 ↗ those indicators for census blocks in

1:02:14 ↗ isqua uh in terms of where we want to

1:02:16 ↗ prioritize tree planting as it relates

1:02:18 ↗ to some of those

1:02:19 ↗ factors um lastly there was some

1:02:21 ↗ concerns raised about illegal tree

1:02:23 ↗ removals um that is a goal in our

1:02:26 ↗ guiding principle C which is looking at

1:02:28 ↗ you know our tree preservation code and

1:02:30 ↗ policies um it kind of complements um

1:02:33 ↗ our guiding principal e which is focused

1:02:35 ↗ on Community Education and engagement I

1:02:37 ↗ would say this is certainly an area for

1:02:38 ↗ growth that I am wanting to work on with

1:02:41 ↗ our community planning department

1:02:42 ↗ especially as we are potentially looking

1:02:43 ↗ at some tree preservation code

1:02:45 ↗ amendments this year um how do we convey

1:02:48 ↗ that information to the public I would

1:02:49 ↗ say you know legal tree removals is a

1:02:51 ↗ concern but we see more and more issues

1:02:53 ↗ with aggressive if not excessive pruning

1:02:55 ↗ as we have defined in our code and

1:02:58 ↗ sometimes it's just it's just ignorance

1:02:59 ↗ it's not necessarily people trying to do

1:03:01 ↗ something I would say especially on the

1:03:03 ↗ pruning side that is you know harmful to

1:03:05 ↗ the trees but it's really kind of

1:03:06 ↗ educating about the the needs for proper

1:03:09 ↗ care and maintenance so this is

1:03:10 ↗ something that we had conversations with

1:03:12 ↗ uh Talis uh HOA with Isa Highlands

1:03:15 ↗ Community ass Association there was a

1:03:17 ↗ lot of interest of how we could

1:03:18 ↗ collaborate on messaging both through

1:03:21 ↗ possibly Community meetings and

1:03:22 ↗ certainly online and some physical

1:03:24 ↗ resources around proper Tree Care and

1:03:26 ↗ also just how to connect with the right

1:03:28 ↗ people in the city to get that

1:03:31 ↗ information so board touch points um

1:03:34 ↗ this is just a list of Park Board and

1:03:36 ↗ environmental board meetings that kind

1:03:38 ↗ of followed along with that timeline uh

1:03:40 ↗ a couple slides back um really the two

1:03:43 ↗ major touch points since we met uh last

1:03:46 ↗ July was in August with the

1:03:48 ↗ environmental board when the draft of

1:03:50 ↗ the plan was presented uh their memo

1:03:52 ↗ summarizing some of their comments was

1:03:54 ↗ attached to this uh agenda

1:03:56 ↗ um they are very interested in staying

1:03:58 ↗ involved with implementation of the plan

1:04:00 ↗ so we are definitely looking at

1:04:01 ↗ potentially joint Park Board and

1:04:03 ↗ environmental board moving meetings

1:04:04 ↗ moving forward hopefully once or twice a

1:04:06 ↗ year uh to update on progress and and

1:04:09 ↗ get feedback um but then ultimately it

1:04:11 ↗ went to the park board in September uh

1:04:13 ↗ to recommend the adoption process move

1:04:15 ↗ forward to council so that was the last

1:04:17 ↗ touch Point uh in late September with

1:04:19 ↗ the park

1:04:22 ↗ board um so I'll go through these maybe

1:04:24 ↗ a little bit more quickly since this

1:04:26 ↗ stuff was touched on in July but

1:04:28 ↗ essentially the plan has three major

1:04:30 ↗ sections the first section is this

1:04:32 ↗ current conditions this is essentially

1:04:33 ↗ what do we have and it's broken into um

1:04:36 ↗ about eight subsections we're looking at

1:04:38 ↗ tree types I would say this is something

1:04:40 ↗ that's lacking a little bit because we

1:04:42 ↗ don't have a public tree inventory a lot

1:04:44 ↗ of the information used in there we

1:04:45 ↗ pulled from the green isqua 20-year

1:04:47 ↗ implementation plan that really focuses

1:04:49 ↗ more on our open spaces and and not as

1:04:51 ↗ much on Street trees trees and

1:04:53 ↗ maintained Park areas um but still gives

1:04:56 ↗ us some pretty good indications on uh

1:04:58 ↗ composition of our of our Urban Forest

1:05:01 ↗ uh already touched on the Urban Tree

1:05:02 ↗ canopy the riparian uh canopy analysis

1:05:05 ↗ we have recommendations in the plan to

1:05:07 ↗ update that riparian canopy analysis

1:05:10 ↗ ideally every three years and a Citywide

1:05:12 ↗ kind of comprehensive tree canopy

1:05:14 ↗ analysis every 10 years so that would be

1:05:16 ↗ looking at

1:05:17 ↗ 2027 um since we a little confusing I

1:05:20 ↗ said 2019 for the first tree assessment

1:05:23 ↗ we did but that was with 2017 data so we

1:05:25 ↗ went to make sure we're doing that at a

1:05:27 ↗ minimum every decade to track uh some of

1:05:29 ↗ our canopy goals um both in sub areas

1:05:33 ↗ and by land use uh Urban Forest

1:05:35 ↗ composition as I also mentioned that

1:05:37 ↗ kind of relates to what we have with the

1:05:38 ↗ green isqua implementation plan that

1:05:41 ↗ looked at the um value of uh some of our

1:05:44 ↗ existing forests so uh stand diversity

1:05:47 ↗ age of forest and then also the threats

1:05:50 ↗ which is really primarily looking at

1:05:51 ↗ invasive species so the areas that

1:05:54 ↗ scored really high in that Matrix are

1:05:56 ↗ areas we want to focus on preservation

1:05:57 ↗ and monitoring the areas that scored

1:05:59 ↗ really low don't have much value

1:06:02 ↗ existing canopy and honestly are

1:06:03 ↗ probably a bigger lift than maybe it's

1:06:05 ↗ worth taking out taking on it's some of

1:06:07 ↗ those areas in the Middle where there's

1:06:08 ↗ some canopy that's worth protecting and

1:06:10 ↗ a lot of potential to do uh the habitat

1:06:13 ↗ and Forest restoration and that's really

1:06:15 ↗ how we've been using that tool to

1:06:16 ↗ prioritize some of the sites we're

1:06:17 ↗ working in um as part of green as

1:06:20 ↗ a um Management Programs is really

1:06:23 ↗ looking at about the cross Department

1:06:25 ↗ Parks operations where where I'm at uh

1:06:28 ↗ Public Works how that relates to our

1:06:30 ↗ community planning and our tree code um

1:06:32 ↗ so really really trying to tighten up uh

1:06:34 ↗ cross Department collaboration and our

1:06:37 ↗ programs and protocols as relates to

1:06:39 ↗ Tree

1:06:40 ↗ Management um alignment with existing

1:06:42 ↗ plans really looked at how the urban

1:06:44 ↗ Forest management P plan complements

1:06:47 ↗ hopefully a few things might be

1:06:48 ↗ contrasting to but really looked at Park

1:06:50 ↗ system plan um isqua climate action plan

1:06:54 ↗ uh comp plan and really kind of where

1:06:56 ↗ the alignment is with uh what we're

1:06:58 ↗ doing here in urban forestry uh already

1:07:01 ↗ touched on staff and Community

1:07:02 ↗ engagement um but that is a big part of

1:07:04 ↗ the current conditions and some of the

1:07:06 ↗ feedback we got from the community and

1:07:08 ↗ our city staff um Urban Forest

1:07:11 ↗ vulnerabilities is really looking at

1:07:13 ↗ climate change how do we select the

1:07:15 ↗ right trees for obviously the right

1:07:17 ↗ location but a moving Target with a

1:07:19 ↗ changing climate that relates to one of

1:07:21 ↗ our priority uh actions we have in the

1:07:24 ↗ plan and hope to take on in the the next

1:07:25 ↗ year or two is updating our preferred

1:07:27 ↗ tree list there's definitely a lot of

1:07:28 ↗ potential work to do there um it's

1:07:30 ↗ looking at pest we are hoping to put

1:07:32 ↗ together an emerald ashore preparedness

1:07:34 ↗ plan that's something that is just a

1:07:36 ↗ matter of time before it starts

1:07:37 ↗ impacting asht trees in our community

1:07:40 ↗ it's been devastating to the Midwest a

1:07:42 ↗ lot of the east coast and it has just

1:07:44 ↗ been uh discovered in Oregon and British

1:07:46 ↗ Columbia it's likely in Washington but

1:07:48 ↗ has not been actually identified yet um

1:07:51 ↗ so those are just examples of some of

1:07:53 ↗ the vulnerabilties sorry pause this for

1:07:55 ↗ second Deputy council president has a

1:07:56 ↗ question so on the forest

1:07:58 ↗ vulnerabilities I know in Seattle that

1:08:00 ↗ they've got a issue around aging trees

1:08:03 ↗ and trees

1:08:04 ↗ are trees that were planted 40 50 60

1:08:07 ↗ years ago are now you know nearing the

1:08:09 ↗ end of their life and they're figuring

1:08:11 ↗ out how to replace all of those and do

1:08:13 ↗ we have that same problem here or is our

1:08:15 ↗ community just that much younger that

1:08:17 ↗ it's not yet a issue I think as it

1:08:19 ↗ relates to Street trees it's maybe not

1:08:22 ↗ as much of an issue um since a lot of

1:08:24 ↗ our especially newer devel Vel Ms like

1:08:26 ↗ ISO Highlands Talis are you know 20 30

1:08:28 ↗ years old I would say there are some

1:08:29 ↗ issues with trees that are maybe

1:08:31 ↗ outgrowing their space you know um in

1:08:33 ↗ those places and some of the conflicts

1:08:35 ↗ we have with sidewalks and and things

1:08:36 ↗ like that I'll say s some of our Open

1:08:38 ↗ Spaces that's where there's really a

1:08:40 ↗ need to do a little bit more

1:08:42 ↗ microanalysis of some of the uh you know

1:08:44 ↗ kind of forest age structure where we do

1:08:46 ↗ have older declining specifically

1:08:48 ↗ deciduous forest that we want to try to

1:08:50 ↗ transition into more coniferous forest

1:08:53 ↗ and you know have that next kind of

1:08:54 ↗ cohort of trees coming up there so I'd

1:08:56 ↗ say in those places we certainly do um

1:09:00 ↗ sound like a little bit of a broken

1:09:01 ↗ record but this is just another reason

1:09:02 ↗ why a tree inventory is so important to

1:09:04 ↗ it's both knowing what types of trees

1:09:06 ↗ age and size and and health is

1:09:08 ↗ ultimately what starts to decline as

1:09:10 ↗ those trees get older so we we don't

1:09:12 ↗ really have that data yet but that's

1:09:15 ↗ definitely probably the top priority

1:09:16 ↗ coming out of this plan that we hope to

1:09:18 ↗ take on over the next

1:09:20 ↗ year

1:09:21 ↗ yeah um so Urban Forest vulnerabilities

1:09:24 ↗ and lastly Urban evaluation and I'll

1:09:26 ↗ come back to this a little bit more this

1:09:28 ↗ uh is what I touched on very briefly

1:09:30 ↗ this benchmarking exercise and the uh

1:09:33 ↗ Urban Forest audit which is a United

1:09:35 ↗ States Forest Service protocol that we

1:09:37 ↗ use to sort of see where our programs at

1:09:39 ↗ and and where the areas are we need to

1:09:41 ↗ continue to grow and

1:09:43 ↗ build so section two is really looking

1:09:46 ↗ at those Visions uh Vision I should say

1:09:48 ↗ not plural and

1:09:49 ↗ recommendations um so you all should

1:09:52 ↗ have seen this last time but we have our

1:09:53 ↗ vision statement that was you know

1:09:55 ↗ um derived from the public survey U

1:09:58 ↗ workshopped with the uh Park Board and

1:10:01 ↗ environmental board and this is really

1:10:03 ↗ kind of the uh overarching uh vision for

1:10:06 ↗ our forest here in

1:10:07 ↗ isqua um then underneath that we have

1:10:10 ↗ five guiding principles and these are

1:10:13 ↗ really meant you know if if program

1:10:16 ↗ scale changes Staffing changes you know

1:10:18 ↗ these These are kind of The Guiding

1:10:19 ↗ lights that you know we come back to if

1:10:21 ↗ we need to amend the if the plan if we

1:10:23 ↗ need to kind of reassess some of the

1:10:24 ↗ goals in the plan these are really The

1:10:26 ↗ Guiding areas and we're looking at an

1:10:28 ↗ equitable and resilient canopy cover so

1:10:30 ↗ that's you really the trees and the

1:10:32 ↗ urban Forest itself we're looking at how

1:10:34 ↗ we maintain and manage um those trees

1:10:36 ↗ and our and our more contiguous forested

1:10:39 ↗ areas our Open Spaces it's definitely

1:10:41 ↗ how we um administer that through our

1:10:44 ↗ tree preservation uh code and tree

1:10:46 ↗ protection uh looking at funding and

1:10:48 ↗ level of services and last but certainly

1:10:50 ↗ not least is that Community Education uh

1:10:52 ↗ engagement and stewardship pce so each

1:10:54 ↗ of those guiding principles kind of have

1:10:56 ↗ their own vision statement which I won't

1:10:58 ↗ read out loud but that's what's under

1:11:00 ↗ each

1:11:02 ↗ of um so lastly this is really what is

1:11:05 ↗ the new uh sort of piece that uh has

1:11:08 ↗ been added to the draft or now you know

1:11:11 ↗ near final draft since we met back in

1:11:13 ↗ July it's the implementation and

1:11:15 ↗ monitoring section section three So

1:11:18 ↗ within this section there are strategy

1:11:20 ↗ tables so it kind of looks at

1:11:21 ↗ prioritization it looks at co- benefits

1:11:24 ↗ uh cost most of the cost are qualitative

1:11:27 ↗ kind of a one to four dollar sign system

1:11:30 ↗ but there are some high priority items

1:11:32 ↗ that we are looking at actual estimate

1:11:33 ↗ estimated dollar cost um level of effort

1:11:37 ↗ who the key players are you know kind of

1:11:38 ↗ initial steps uh short-term targets and

1:11:41 ↗ and time frames uh city implementers as

1:11:44 ↗ I mentioned you know it's really

1:11:45 ↗ important we this this touches on almost

1:11:47 ↗ every Department in the city um lots of

1:11:50 ↗ teams within those departments so we

1:11:52 ↗ have been uh meeting monthly as a city

1:11:54 ↗ tree team uh really mainly folks from

1:11:57 ↗ city um Community planning

1:11:59 ↗ sustainability parks and Public Works uh

1:12:02 ↗ really trying to kind of build that

1:12:03 ↗ coordination there uh you know working

1:12:05 ↗ with our city boards uh City partners

1:12:07 ↗ and uh you know interested parties as

1:12:09 ↗ well so really looking at who is taking

1:12:11 ↗ lead and who is who is often sharing uh

1:12:14 ↗ implementation of some of these items uh

1:12:16 ↗ the worksheet is a way to really track

1:12:18 ↗ this so it's sortable you can filter it

1:12:20 ↗ um you can use the priority actions um

1:12:23 ↗ so that's really a tool to kind of track

1:12:24 ↗ some of the implementation efforts uh as

1:12:27 ↗ I mentioned briefly we do have cost

1:12:28 ↗ estimates for some priority actions for

1:12:30 ↗ example an update to our riparian canopy

1:12:33 ↗ analysis I believe is about a you know

1:12:35 ↗ $10,000 uh item about $25,000 for that

1:12:39 ↗ more comprehensive Citywide canopy

1:12:41 ↗ assessment I will note that my

1:12:43 ↗ understanding is those are getting

1:12:44 ↗ cheaper as the technology is getting

1:12:45 ↗ better but that's kind of the current

1:12:47 ↗ estimate uh and then supporting

1:12:49 ↗ resources so there's a lot of appendices

1:12:52 ↗ as you'll see a tree data summary report

1:12:54 ↗ uh where some of those Maps around tree

1:12:57 ↗ Equity Health disparities uh climate

1:12:59 ↗ vulnerabilities you know preferred tree

1:13:01 ↗ list that's where a lot of those uh

1:13:03 ↗ items and Analysis

1:13:05 ↗ live um we did include this just as a

1:13:08 ↗ kind of cost comparison and example of

1:13:10 ↗ the benchmarking activity I would say

1:13:12 ↗ some of these bar graphs are out of

1:13:14 ↗ proportion a little bit um but you can

1:13:15 ↗ see the essentially per capita this is

1:13:18 ↗ compared to um 19 uh best matches here

1:13:23 ↗ in western Washington this is all data

1:13:25 ↗ that we submit annually as part of our

1:13:27 ↗ tree City USA application so we can then

1:13:29 ↗ see what other communities uh have

1:13:32 ↗ submitted as well so you know we are we

1:13:34 ↗ are on par if not a little bit above in

1:13:36 ↗ the per capita spending um we do a

1:13:38 ↗ really good job on tree planting and

1:13:40 ↗ initial care relatively out would say

1:13:42 ↗ tree maintenance pruning Cycles uh care

1:13:45 ↗ for trees that are kind of more at the

1:13:47 ↗ end or near extending the uh lifetimes

1:13:49 ↗ of some of these as an area where you

1:13:50 ↗ definitely have uh room for growth uh

1:13:53 ↗ tree removals I think that's interesting

1:13:56 ↗ one to look at obviously there's

1:13:58 ↗ necessary responses like we've had over

1:13:59 ↗ the last two months um and then there's

1:14:02 ↗ kind of more proactive risk management

1:14:03 ↗ around tree removals where I think

1:14:05 ↗ there's some areas for growth there

1:14:06 ↗ especially with the amount of open space

1:14:08 ↗ we have adjacent to private developments

1:14:11 ↗ and homes uh and then kind of some other

1:14:13 ↗ categories around management um and

1:14:15 ↗ other items there too so you can see we

1:14:18 ↗ we we stack up pretty well compared to

1:14:20 ↗ uh you know the the best matches the 19

1:14:22 ↗ communities that were compared as part

1:14:24 ↗ of this benchmark

1:14:26 ↗ exercise um and I believe the last slide

1:14:29 ↗ for this section is kind sorry council

1:14:31 ↗ member Joe has a question yes um Dan

1:14:33 ↗ thanks for the presentation I really

1:14:35 ↗ appreciate it um on in the executive

1:14:40 ↗ summary for the um plan uh you stated

1:14:44 ↗ that um if you can go back one slide you

1:14:47 ↗ stated that there's a $2.2

1:14:49 ↗ million e environmental benefit by

1:14:52 ↗ having the tree cover that we have so if

1:14:54 ↗ I'm looking at just solely at the

1:14:56 ↗ numbers and I see that we're spending

1:14:59 ↗ $9.11 per capita here in the city per

1:15:02 ↗ year um and I'm a little cynical what

1:15:06 ↗ can I say to citizens in terms of what

1:15:08 ↗ are we getting back for that investment

1:15:12 ↗ that's that's that's tough because it's

1:15:13 ↗ not a revenue of course but it is you

1:15:15 ↗ know a value so so just for a little

1:15:17 ↗ context that is a tool called it tree

1:15:20 ↗ that does a lot of um estimates on on um

1:15:23 ↗ uh benefits trees Prov

1:15:25 ↗ I would say probably the largest

1:15:27 ↗ component of that is storm water

1:15:29 ↗ management so trees um are a huge

1:15:32 ↗ resource for storm water interception

1:15:34 ↗ essentially slowing down that um Hydro

1:15:37 ↗ period or how fast the water moves

1:15:39 ↗ through the system especially in areas

1:15:40 ↗ where we have high impervious surface um

1:15:43 ↗ there's certainly benefits around Air

1:15:44 ↗ Quality Heating and Cooling I I should

1:15:46 ↗ have touched on that in terms of urban

1:15:48 ↗ Forest vulnerabilities but heat island

1:15:50 ↗ is a big one and how do we prioritize

1:15:52 ↗ trees and areas that we know um are

1:15:54 ↗ going to going to be more difficult as

1:15:56 ↗ it relates to summer temperatures and

1:15:57 ↗ asphalt and pavement so yeah so I once

1:16:01 ↗ again coming back you know we would

1:16:02 ↗ probably have a more accurate number

1:16:03 ↗ once we do our tree inventory um but

1:16:06 ↗ that that is a really kind of broad

1:16:08 ↗ brush Strokes of you know I think I

1:16:10 ↗ would say probably two-thirds or more of

1:16:12 ↗ that estimate I think you could connect

1:16:13 ↗ to storm water and then some of the

1:16:15 ↗ other ones uh Heating and Cooling

1:16:16 ↗ benefits energy use um as well I would

1:16:21 ↗ say just to kind of call out one of the

1:16:22 ↗ really really neat resources that I've

1:16:23 ↗ come across in my um almost two years

1:16:26 ↗ working for the city now is city of snow

1:16:27 ↗ qualy did a really great natural

1:16:29 ↗ infrastructure assessment it's really

1:16:31 ↗ been looked at as a um great great

1:16:34 ↗ document to justify investment into uh

1:16:37 ↗ uh storm water as it relates to the

1:16:39 ↗ urban forest and I I might have

1:16:40 ↗ mentioned this in the last meeting but

1:16:41 ↗ actually our annual permit through

1:16:43 ↗ ecology for um the national pollutant

1:16:46 ↗ discharge elimination system I think I

1:16:48 ↗ have that right npdes that uh our Public

1:16:51 ↗ Works team manages uh that's usually on

1:16:53 ↗ a 5-year interval and in the next uh uh

1:16:56 ↗ iteration of that they're going to be

1:16:57 ↗ asking for more data on riparian canopy

1:17:00 ↗ work riparian canopy assessment and just

1:17:02 ↗ Citywide tree canopy so you're seeing it

1:17:04 ↗ on the regulatory side too where this is

1:17:06 ↗ being brought in as like hey we need to

1:17:08 ↗ make sure we are we are um factoring in

1:17:10 ↗ the natural or green infrastructure as

1:17:12 ↗ well as the kind of traditional ways we

1:17:15 ↗ manage that was a great answer and and

1:17:18 ↗ um you almost got them all they're on

1:17:19 ↗ page 46 um carbon storage okay uh

1:17:24 ↗ Wildlife habit yeah stress reduction and

1:17:27 ↗ one that kind of was highlighted for me

1:17:30 ↗ was soil stabilization yes after the

1:17:33 ↗ fires in La we're seeing the rains and

1:17:36 ↗ just all the soil getting washed into

1:17:37 ↗ the ocean um I don't think we really

1:17:41 ↗ appreciate all the soil that that the

1:17:43 ↗ trees hold in place especially on squawk

1:17:47 ↗ Mountain where I live it's pretty rocky

1:17:48 ↗ soil and the trees are essential uh to

1:17:51 ↗ have that stabilization so thank you

1:17:53 ↗ very much for that answer thank you

1:17:54 ↗ council member Joe and yes carbon

1:17:55 ↗ sequestration is is a a huge part of

1:17:58 ↗ that that I should have called out as

1:18:00 ↗ well um so coming back to this last

1:18:02 ↗ slide on section three um you know

1:18:05 ↗ evaluate um evaluate Monitor and report

1:18:08 ↗ and then revise as needed is is is the

1:18:10 ↗ really high level framework to the uh

1:18:12 ↗ monitoring section so the two tools that

1:18:15 ↗ I've touched on briefly already is a

1:18:17 ↗ followup to that Urban um or the usfs

1:18:20 ↗ the uh United States Forest Service uh

1:18:23 ↗ Urban Forest audit um so that's

1:18:25 ↗ something we'll look at doing ideally

1:18:27 ↗ every two years and Reporting out on

1:18:28 ↗ progress made there um and then that

1:18:30 ↗ benchmarking exercise as well so that

1:18:33 ↗ will really kind of guide progress uh

1:18:35 ↗ towards this plan um that worksheet as

1:18:38 ↗ well where we track implementation items

1:18:39 ↗ is another way that we'll document that

1:18:42 ↗ so we'll kind of look at those Benchmark

1:18:43 ↗ values that have been established over

1:18:45 ↗ the last two years as part of the

1:18:46 ↗ monitoring process uh see where we're

1:18:48 ↗ growing see where there's still room for

1:18:50 ↗ growth and see how we're doing on those

1:18:52 ↗ indicators as part of the audit um as I

1:18:54 ↗ mentioned I would like to uh at at a

1:18:57 ↗ minimum minimum bring this annually to

1:18:59 ↗ the park and environmental boards but

1:19:00 ↗ would love to come to council or or at

1:19:03 ↗ the very least committee meetings as

1:19:04 ↗ well to provide annual updates uh

1:19:07 ↗ publish reports I'll admit I have not

1:19:09 ↗ been as good on that our our green isqua

1:19:11 ↗ volunteer coordinator Taylor has been

1:19:12 ↗ great at publishing annual reports I

1:19:14 ↗ think that got shared with Council about

1:19:15 ↗ a month ago our park rangers has been

1:19:17 ↗ doing a really great job publishing

1:19:19 ↗ annual reports and I think the three of

1:19:21 ↗ us uh need to continue to work together

1:19:23 ↗ and how we kind of wrap that all under

1:19:25 ↗ the urban forestry program here as it

1:19:27 ↗ relates to the the work with trees and

1:19:29 ↗ implementation of this plan as well so

1:19:31 ↗ looking at some annual reporting on

1:19:33 ↗ progress uh implementation that can be

1:19:35 ↗ shared uh out through City networks um

1:19:38 ↗ and then revising so I would say in

1:19:39 ↗ general these plans are often updated

1:19:41 ↗ every 10 years um it says five to 10

1:19:43 ↗ years here I think there's certainly mid

1:19:45 ↗ value and midpoint check-ins in terms of

1:19:47 ↗ you know kind of progress and possibly

1:19:50 ↗ making some adjustments as needed um but

1:19:52 ↗ that's really you know looking at these

1:19:54 ↗ steps here to uh you know revise as

1:19:57 ↗ necessary the strategies goals and

1:20:00 ↗ priorities in the

1:20:02 ↗ plan so um this is where just going to

1:20:05 ↗ shift gear for just a slide and a couple

1:20:07 ↗ slides with pictures um just uh just to

1:20:10 ↗ give a kind of brief update on um

1:20:12 ↗ Cyclone response because I believe

1:20:14 ↗ there's probably a lot of interest there

1:20:15 ↗ in terms of how that's been going over

1:20:17 ↗ the last two plus months um so it

1:20:20 ↗ doesn't tie directly to the urban Forest

1:20:22 ↗ management plan but there's elements in

1:20:24 ↗ there of course that uh you know relate

1:20:26 ↗ to how how we react and respond to big

1:20:28 ↗ events that have uh pretty pretty

1:20:30 ↗ significant impacts on our Urban Forest

1:20:33 ↗ um and you've probably seen a lot of

1:20:34 ↗ this but you know our team with Parks

1:20:36 ↗ operations Public Works of course really

1:20:39 ↗ prioritize clearing roads trails and

1:20:41 ↗ structures from down trees so that was

1:20:43 ↗ really the first few weeks a lot of that

1:20:45 ↗ debris was cast aside so that really led

1:20:47 ↗ to debris hauling dispersal that is

1:20:49 ↗ still ongoing but we were getting close

1:20:51 ↗ there where all of a sudden you know

1:20:52 ↗ there's not uh you know branches and

1:20:54 ↗ large rounds of Tree Trunks you know All

1:20:57 ↗ Over The Meadows at Confluence Park so

1:20:59 ↗ our our our teams have been so

1:21:01 ↗ impressive I've been so proud to work

1:21:03 ↗ with with these folks and see how much

1:21:04 ↗ they've gotten done over the last two

1:21:06 ↗ months and the effort and energy and and

1:21:08 ↗ positive attitude they've put in I would

1:21:10 ↗ say where my roles come in a lot more is

1:21:12 ↗ risk assessments for damag trees and

1:21:13 ↗ flood risk at trees and Creeks this is

1:21:16 ↗ ongoing the calls have tapered off a

1:21:18 ↗ little bit maybe in the last couple

1:21:19 ↗ weeks but there was quite a bit coming

1:21:21 ↗ in people that might have had one tree

1:21:23 ↗ come down now they're very concerned

1:21:24 ↗ about the others um so really trying to

1:21:27 ↗ kind of triage where yes that tree needs

1:21:29 ↗ to come out because there is significant

1:21:31 ↗ damage to it and it poses a high Hazard

1:21:33 ↗ where we can try to retain trees as best

1:21:35 ↗ we can and working with the state

1:21:37 ↗ Neighbors on uh you know flood risk and

1:21:39 ↗ you know the priority or the benefits of

1:21:41 ↗ uh leaving trees and Creeks is uh it

1:21:43 ↗ relates to Salmon habitat but the added

1:21:45 ↗ flood risk that can come with that so I

1:21:48 ↗ have a few photos in the next couple

1:21:49 ↗ slides that give examples of those so uh

1:21:51 ↗ contractor coordination has been huge we

1:21:53 ↗ have several contractors both helping

1:21:55 ↗ with some of the assessments and then

1:21:56 ↗ the removal work we had both of them in

1:21:58 ↗ isqua today doing some work but that is

1:22:01 ↗ hopefully tapering off here pretty soon

1:22:03 ↗ too as we're getting through the

1:22:04 ↗ priority Hazard tree removals um I think

1:22:06 ↗ one of the very interesting points and

1:22:08 ↗ something that I you know I'm excited to

1:22:09 ↗ call out here is and how do we get into

1:22:11 ↗ replanting how do we get into recovery

1:22:12 ↗ right now it's still very much the

1:22:14 ↗ cleanup the risk assessment and the

1:22:16 ↗ associated work with that um but we're

1:22:19 ↗ really excited we have pinned down um

1:22:21 ↗ April 5th as our uh annual Arbor Day

1:22:24 ↗ event so we will be having volunteers

1:22:26 ↗ out at Confluence Park replacing some of

1:22:28 ↗ the large trees we've we've lost there

1:22:32 ↗ continuing to work in the critical area

1:22:33 ↗ riparian buffer we're hoping to have a

1:22:36 ↗ large turnout for that as really kind of

1:22:38 ↗ a opportunity for the community to get

1:22:40 ↗ involved and start to do some things

1:22:42 ↗ tangible to actually you know build back

1:22:44 ↗ some of these areas that we had a lot of

1:22:46 ↗ uh Tre tree loss from the Windstorm um I

1:22:49 ↗ would say realistically it's going to

1:22:50 ↗ take us years to get through the amount

1:22:51 ↗ of replacement that that that we have

1:22:54 ↗ and that's partly because we still have

1:22:55 ↗ a lot of stumps to grind we still have a

1:22:56 ↗ lot of things to prep to even just get

1:22:58 ↗ the trees back in the ground um you know

1:23:00 ↗ we have a conservative estimate of about

1:23:02 ↗ 300 trees lost in um you know rideways

1:23:05 ↗ maintained um areas sorry I said

1:23:07 ↗ rideways and maintained areas of parks

1:23:10 ↗ um that number is a lot higher when you

1:23:12 ↗ factor in Open Spaces I would say that

1:23:15 ↗ is a different approach though and

1:23:16 ↗ that's my last bullet there selective

1:23:18 ↗ approach to replanting in Open Spaces um

1:23:21 ↗ all the benefits we've talked about for

1:23:22 ↗ storm water uh for you know heat island

1:23:25 ↗ effect you know that that really relates

1:23:27 ↗ more to our street trees trees in the

1:23:29 ↗ built environment Open Spaces you know

1:23:31 ↗ some of these natural disturbances can

1:23:33 ↗ actually be really good for long-term

1:23:35 ↗ Forest development we have a lot of

1:23:37 ↗ forests that

1:23:38 ↗ are monocultures of Douglas fur that are

1:23:41 ↗ all the same age from maybe the last

1:23:43 ↗ clear cutting on Tiger Mountain in the

1:23:45 ↗ 1980s or early 1990s and you know some

1:23:47 ↗ of those areas where you lose trees

1:23:49 ↗ actually open up gaps and U you know

1:23:51 ↗ more complexity and structural uh

1:23:54 ↗ diversity in our forest so that is

1:23:56 ↗ something I'm really excited one of the

1:23:58 ↗ items we have as part of implementation

1:24:00 ↗ is a specific uh tree or say forest

1:24:02 ↗ management plan for tradition Plateau we

1:24:05 ↗ have over 1500 Acres of forest at open

1:24:07 ↗ space in the city almost a third of that

1:24:09 ↗ is on tradition Plateau within the

1:24:11 ↗ natural resource Conservation Area and I

1:24:13 ↗ should say the you know kind of slopes

1:24:14 ↗ going down from the plateau too so

1:24:17 ↗ that'll be a focus so we actually have

1:24:18 ↗ some grant funding to work with King

1:24:20 ↗ conser through King Conservation

1:24:22 ↗ District working with Northwest Natural

1:24:24 ↗ res ource group that does amazing work

1:24:26 ↗ around Forest Health um and Forest

1:24:28 ↗ planning they are the group that works

1:24:31 ↗ with Seattle public utilities on the

1:24:33 ↗ Cedar River Watershed they do the uh

1:24:35 ↗ Forest Stewardship Council certification

1:24:37 ↗ for King County's forest all things that

1:24:39 ↗ we're looking at potential options to uh

1:24:42 ↗ you know certify parts of our forest but

1:24:44 ↗ this is a really first step where we'll

1:24:45 ↗ look at hey what were the impacts of

1:24:47 ↗ this Windstorm where do we just kind of

1:24:49 ↗ let the forest do its thing where do we

1:24:51 ↗ actually need to do more replanting

1:24:53 ↗ restoration and could there actually be

1:24:56 ↗ uh you know uh beneficial areas where

1:24:58 ↗ we're actually thinning uh you'll hear

1:25:00 ↗ the term ecological thinning you know

1:25:01 ↗ some of these really really dense stands

1:25:03 ↗ of uniform kind of species and height so

1:25:06 ↗ that's something I'm really excited

1:25:07 ↗ about and it would just kind of

1:25:08 ↗ acknowledge that we are still kind of

1:25:09 ↗ assessing the impacts in some of our

1:25:10 ↗ Open Spaces as we've really been focused

1:25:12 ↗ on the built environment and getting

1:25:14 ↗ things operating and making things safe

1:25:16 ↗ for our residents and neighbors uh but

1:25:18 ↗ that's a big area we're going to

1:25:19 ↗ continue assess you know where

1:25:21 ↗ replanting is warranted where other are

1:25:24 ↗ is this is actually beneficial as much

1:25:26 ↗ as it looks pretty devastating when you

1:25:29 ↗ go out there but that is a natural part

1:25:30 ↗ of of forest succession is is some of

1:25:32 ↗ these big disturbances whether that's

1:25:34 ↗ snow ice storms wind

1:25:37 ↗ events as hate to say wildfires that's

1:25:40 ↗ probably one I shouldn't bring up don't

1:25:42 ↗ use that word Russ Russell does have

1:25:45 ↗ council member Joe does have a question

1:25:46 ↗ for you yeah have a couple questions on

1:25:48 ↗ on this slide um let's talk about um um

1:25:54 ↗ the editorial that was submitted by our

1:25:57 ↗ mayor January 8th talking about the

1:25:59 ↗ challenges with uh removing trees on uh

1:26:03 ↗ some of the property um was that city

1:26:06 ↗ property or was that DNR property in the

1:26:09 ↗ state if it was our property have we

1:26:11 ↗ worked out some agreements so that down

1:26:13 ↗ trees can be removed by

1:26:15 ↗ volunteers yeah so so one of the things

1:26:18 ↗ that that Jeff and I had a call on days

1:26:21 ↗ after the bomb Cyclone is how do we

1:26:23 ↗ mobilize vol to get out and support

1:26:25 ↗ Neighbors on private property and we

1:26:27 ↗ really wanted to use green isqua as a

1:26:29 ↗ tool to essentially play matchmaker kind

1:26:32 ↗ of connect so so this I'll come back to

1:26:34 ↗ maybe Trails here in a second but this

1:26:35 ↗ is you know more folks that have just

1:26:37 ↗ large trees don't have the resources

1:26:38 ↗ don't have the tools to literally clean

1:26:41 ↗ up their driveway stuff around their

1:26:42 ↗ houses and you know in the worst

1:26:44 ↗ circumstances things that fell on their

1:26:45 ↗ structures too on their building so um

1:26:49 ↗ that was really a challenge as we kind

1:26:51 ↗ of work through the legal side of that

1:26:52 ↗ that you know even if the city is isn't

1:26:55 ↗ necessarily um signing up the volunteers

1:26:57 ↗ but if we're publicizing it if we're

1:26:58 ↗ doing it through an established program

1:27:00 ↗ like green isqua that's where you know

1:27:02 ↗ there was there was some of the

1:27:03 ↗ challenge of like pretty much that got

1:27:06 ↗ got shot down based on some liability

1:27:08 ↗ concerns there so I'd say that would be

1:27:10 ↗ one area that kind of came up where

1:27:12 ↗ there was momentum to see how we can you

1:27:14 ↗ know bring people out and and really

1:27:16 ↗ just support neighbors and you know

1:27:17 ↗ connect people that might have a truck

1:27:19 ↗ have saws be able to go out and do that

1:27:21 ↗ but when you're starting to use tools

1:27:23 ↗ like chainsaw

1:27:24 ↗ that do have a lot of required training

1:27:27 ↗ and skills with it um that just I guess

1:27:30 ↗ became kind of a non-starter there I

1:27:32 ↗ would say in the um Open Spaces um it's

1:27:37 ↗ it's a mix we ended up actually doing

1:27:39 ↗ some great collaboration with DNR and

1:27:41 ↗ some of their uh their volunteers that

1:27:43 ↗ have a lot of Sawyer training really

1:27:45 ↗ established and then there were some

1:27:47 ↗ people I think that just wanted to kind

1:27:48 ↗ of go out and do that on their own and

1:27:50 ↗ and and I personally have some concerns

1:27:52 ↗ it's one thing if you're using hand

1:27:54 ↗ tools handsaws stuff like that but as

1:27:56 ↗ soon as you start firing up a chainsaw I

1:27:58 ↗ do believe there's a little bit elevated

1:28:00 ↗ need of of experience and kind of

1:28:02 ↗ credibility and whether that's

1:28:03 ↗ associated with organization like d DNR

1:28:06 ↗ or WTA Washington Trails Association I

1:28:08 ↗ think that's really important so so to

1:28:11 ↗ answer your question actually it's been

1:28:12 ↗ a combo of working with DNR and some of

1:28:14 ↗ their volunteers some of our staff we

1:28:17 ↗ actually have Washington conservation

1:28:18 ↗ Corp crew out right now that's been

1:28:20 ↗ helping with some cleanup on trail so

1:28:22 ↗ there are Amore volunteers

1:28:24 ↗ um so yeah we we I would say we are

1:28:26 ↗ actually at the point now where

1:28:27 ↗ tradition Plateau is very passable

1:28:30 ↗ there's still a few sketchy trees that

1:28:32 ↗ probably require contract to work at

1:28:34 ↗ some point but we've made a lot of

1:28:35 ↗ progress in that in the last two or

1:28:37 ↗ three weeks uh getting our Trail systems

1:28:39 ↗ up great I really appreciate that answer

1:28:41 ↗ I know that we have such a tradition of

1:28:43 ↗ volunteerism in in the city and and I

1:28:46 ↗ know that there are many people that

1:28:47 ↗ would like to help out and they just

1:28:49 ↗ need to find the right Avenue to do that

1:28:51 ↗ um my next question concerns uh is as uh

1:28:54 ↗ concerning the selective approach to

1:28:56 ↗ replanting in Open Spaces um when I was

1:28:59 ↗ driving around town I would see trees

1:29:01 ↗ that had fallen that had very uh shallow

1:29:04 ↗ root bases and as you're thinking about

1:29:07 ↗ replanting are there um is there thought

1:29:09 ↗ to certain trees that we would select

1:29:12 ↗ for our open spaces and rideways that

1:29:14 ↗ have deeper root systems that could

1:29:16 ↗ perhaps handle windstorms and other uh

1:29:19 ↗ catastrophic events like that that's a

1:29:22 ↗ really interesting question I think it

1:29:23 ↗ does tie back to one of your comments

1:29:24 ↗ earlier about some of the poor soils we

1:29:27 ↗ have especially in the Foothills which

1:29:28 ↗ is a lot of glacial till where you may

1:29:30 ↗ not have more than 6 8 12 inches of

1:29:33 ↗ actual organic material stuff can root

1:29:35 ↗ in so that's where it starts to get more

1:29:37 ↗ broad rooting system versus deeper

1:29:39 ↗ rooting systems um yeah that has not

1:29:43 ↗ been too seriously considered and I do

1:29:45 ↗ think some of just the existing soil

1:29:47 ↗ profile and conditions make that a

1:29:48 ↗ little bit challenging especially we're

1:29:50 ↗ talking about more of our uh you know

1:29:52 ↗ Foothills and slopes uh um yeah I think

1:29:55 ↗ that's something worth worth considering

1:29:56 ↗ but um yeah not thought about that too

1:30:00 ↗ much okay I um again would agree with

1:30:05 ↗ you that our parks and wreck and our our

1:30:08 ↗ um Public Works has done a great job

1:30:09 ↗ clearing the trees and it's going to be

1:30:11 ↗ a long-term process I look forward to um

1:30:13 ↗ helping out in any way that we can and

1:30:15 ↗ and I'm glad we have the right people on

1:30:16 ↗ the team to handle that thank you thank

1:30:19 ↗ you I'd say yes I mean we we certainly

1:30:21 ↗ want to publicize these both Arbor Day

1:30:23 ↗ but um subsequent planting events as you

1:30:26 ↗ know storm recovery work so I mean I

1:30:28 ↗ think that's an area that we'll really

1:30:29 ↗ hope try to kind of galvanize the

1:30:30 ↗ community around tangible ways with you

1:30:32 ↗ know our established Maris

1:30:35 ↗ program both ReStore Habitat but then

1:30:37 ↗ we're also talking about a lot of you

1:30:39 ↗ know individual Park trees that um you

1:30:41 ↗ know may not necessarily be native

1:30:42 ↗ species and also

1:30:48 ↗ be so so I guess just moving forward

1:30:51 ↗ these are just a few examples um this is

1:30:53 ↗ on the East Fork of iso Creek just off

1:30:55 ↗ of dogwood this is one of the worst log

1:30:57 ↗ jams I saw where there was about four 3

1:30:59 ↗ to four foot diameter cottonwoods that

1:31:01 ↗ all just crisscrossed was already

1:31:03 ↗ starting to rack up other debris this is

1:31:06 ↗ all stuff we've been working with um

1:31:07 ↗ Washington State Department of Fish and

1:31:09 ↗ Wildlife and their Regional bi

1:31:10 ↗ biologists to um you know make sure that

1:31:13 ↗ we are you know doing the right steps

1:31:15 ↗ for their um hydraulic permits uh make

1:31:18 ↗ sure that we're doing the right steps

1:31:19 ↗ for any mitigation that might be

1:31:21 ↗ required with that and this is a tricky

1:31:23 ↗ one a lot of the the sites were able to

1:31:25 ↗ cut reposition the tree so maintain some

1:31:27 ↗ of that habitat in the Stream while

1:31:29 ↗ allowing for better flow and conveyance

1:31:31 ↗ Downstream reducing some of those flood

1:31:33 ↗ risks this is a tricky one where a lot

1:31:34 ↗ of these we had to pull out store on a

1:31:36 ↗ city parcel on on Crescent there and

1:31:39 ↗ then our Public Works team will be

1:31:40 ↗ working on a plan to actually put those

1:31:43 ↗ logs back in the creek so I think

1:31:44 ↗ hopefully most folks are familiar these

1:31:46 ↗ are State codes around fish habitat that

1:31:49 ↗ require those logs to stay in or be

1:31:52 ↗ replaced repositioned elsewhere and

1:31:54 ↗ depending how aggressive that

1:31:56 ↗ repositioning replacement is there might

1:31:58 ↗ be additional mitigation tree planting

1:32:00 ↗ additional logs being put in so this is

1:32:03 ↗ really the trees I would say we've

1:32:05 ↗ myself Matt Ellis Allan Quinn folks with

1:32:07 ↗ our Public Works engineering team have

1:32:10 ↗ really been taking lead on this I've

1:32:11 ↗ been focusing on the ones that have more

1:32:12 ↗ of a Parks or open space

1:32:14 ↗ Nexus um there's been at least a dozen

1:32:17 ↗ sites we've had contractors out to to

1:32:19 ↗ remove I shouldn't say remove to cut and

1:32:21 ↗ relocate or reposition trees in our

1:32:23 ↗ Creek to reduce that flood risk and then

1:32:26 ↗ these are just two of of of many

1:32:28 ↗ examples of trees that did not fully

1:32:30 ↗ come down during the storm but uh pose

1:32:33 ↗ pretty imminent hazards uh you know edge

1:32:35 ↗ of open space the the cedar tree on the

1:32:37 ↗ left is right on the edge of Hillside

1:32:39 ↗ Cemetery uh right on the backyard of a

1:32:42 ↗ of a resident there where one of the

1:32:44 ↗ stems just totally split out now you

1:32:45 ↗ still have a foot diameter probably 60ft

1:32:48 ↗ tall stem that's pretty weakly attached

1:32:50 ↗ to the rest of that trunk there and will

1:32:52 ↗ continue to rot that is not the type of

1:32:54 ↗ wound that a tree will unfortunately be

1:32:56 ↗ able to heal over um and then the one on

1:32:58 ↗ the right is a big leaf maple behind an

1:33:00 ↗ apartment complex on Newport Way that

1:33:03 ↗ also had a large stem failure and now a

1:33:05 ↗ huge cavity and wound in the tree too so

1:33:08 ↗ these are the examples of more priority

1:33:11 ↗ removals um uh and now I'd say we're

1:33:14 ↗ kind of the next tier of trying to

1:33:16 ↗ figure out maybe some of these less uh

1:33:18 ↗ concerning uh trees and whether they can

1:33:20 ↗ be safely retained that's work that I'm

1:33:22 ↗ doing more of but then we work with a

1:33:24 ↗ third-party um uh consultant called tree

1:33:27 ↗ solutions to provide risk assessments

1:33:29 ↗ for us as well so they've been out quite

1:33:31 ↗ a bit and we'll be out here quite a bit

1:33:33 ↗ over the next few weeks as well so just

1:33:35 ↗ wanted to give some kind of photos

1:33:36 ↗ images of you know kind of what we're

1:33:38 ↗ looking at I would say there's been

1:33:41 ↗ dozens three four dozen trees like this

1:33:44 ↗ that I've come across um or or public

1:33:47 ↗ works as well so a lot of these partial

1:33:49 ↗ failures and and concerns about the rest

1:33:51 ↗ of these trees coming down near near

1:33:53 ↗ building buildings and

1:33:55 ↗ Roads um if there's any last questions

1:33:57 ↗ on the bomb Cyclone if not I'm going to

1:33:59 ↗ kind of wrap back up on the forest

1:34:01 ↗ management

1:34:02 ↗ plan thank you Mr chairman um I had a

1:34:06 ↗ question on our our tree inventory work

1:34:09 ↗ um we received a an email from the

1:34:12 ↗ esques club concerning Alders red Alders

1:34:15 ↗ and the makeup of uh our forested Hills

1:34:20 ↗ yes and red Alder are taking um a lot of

1:34:23 ↗ the territory and and um elbowing out

1:34:26 ↗ some of the um pine trees that we'd like

1:34:28 ↗ to see in in the forest how are we

1:34:30 ↗ thinking about addressing that um

1:34:33 ↗ through this plan or through other

1:34:34 ↗ options uh in the near future so yeah

1:34:37 ↗ within this plan as I kind of touched on

1:34:39 ↗ you know the the the first large

1:34:41 ↗ contiguous open space we are going to

1:34:42 ↗ focus on is tradition Plateau there's

1:34:44 ↗ certainly Alder deciduous trees up there

1:34:46 ↗ there's aging maple trees that we are

1:34:48 ↗ kind of losing that canopy and not

1:34:50 ↗ seeing the natural regeneration of other

1:34:52 ↗ trees there that we want to see so those

1:34:53 ↗ are examples of spots that we might look

1:34:55 ↗ to actually replant I think what Kelly

1:34:57 ↗ sent was looking um more at areas on

1:35:00 ↗ Cougar Mountain I would say that would

1:35:02 ↗ be hopefully a next phase we' move into

1:35:04 ↗ for a more specific um Forest management

1:35:07 ↗ plan for the Talis native growth area

1:35:09 ↗ there um where we see a lot more

1:35:11 ↗ deciduous trees and yes there are are

1:35:13 ↗ strong arguments to be made to as I

1:35:16 ↗ mentioned that's ecological thinning Gap

1:35:18 ↗ clearing and then you know really trying

1:35:19 ↗ to restore with uh Cedar Weare

1:35:21 ↗ appropriate Douglas fur and some of our

1:35:23 ↗ native Conifer trees so um that is

1:35:26 ↗ something that is you know a

1:35:28 ↗ recommendation for a little bit more of

1:35:30 ↗ these kind of micro Forest management

1:35:32 ↗ plan especially for our larger Open

1:35:34 ↗ Spaces um kind of my decision to to to

1:35:38 ↗ focus on tradition Plateau first partly

1:35:40 ↗ just based on the amount of Acres there

1:35:43 ↗ um and I would say maybe less on the

1:35:44 ↗ Alders but there's still a lot of um

1:35:47 ↗ kind of homogeneous Douglas fur forest

1:35:48 ↗ in there too where there there could be

1:35:50 ↗ arguments too for actually Conifer

1:35:51 ↗ removal to let some of those trees grow

1:35:54 ↗ grow faster and stronger too we do see

1:35:57 ↗ issues with and we saw a lot of trees

1:35:58 ↗ fail like this near East Sunset way

1:36:00 ↗ trail head where there are trees of the

1:36:01 ↗ same age same species pretty densely uh

1:36:04 ↗ planted or or regrowth is pretty dense

1:36:06 ↗ in there and trees just don't develop

1:36:08 ↗ good taper essentially stronger bases

1:36:10 ↗ and kind of narrowing to the crown when

1:36:12 ↗ they're really kind of hemmed in with

1:36:13 ↗ trees of the same size so trees with

1:36:16 ↗ poor taper are are are much more likely

1:36:18 ↗ to fail in big wind events like that so

1:36:21 ↗ um so so to that point I guess to answer

1:36:22 ↗ your question yes we are going to look

1:36:23 ↗ at continuing to do uh for for instance

1:36:26 ↗ this um uh Forest management plan for

1:36:29 ↗ the tradition plateaus about $10,000

1:36:31 ↗ we're spending about $90,000 on this

1:36:33 ↗ Urban Forest management plans that gives

1:36:34 ↗ you kind of an idea relatively what the

1:36:36 ↗ scale and scope of these look like for

1:36:38 ↗ you know some specific uh contiguous

1:36:41 ↗ open space areas like Palace like

1:36:44 ↗ tradition Plateau definitely some stuff

1:36:46 ↗ potential on squawk Mountain

1:36:48 ↗ too great thank you very much that

1:36:50 ↗ concludes my questions

1:36:53 ↗ Deputy council president do you have any

1:36:55 ↗ questions well uh we had we got this

1:36:58 ↗ wonderful letter from the isal Alps tra

1:37:00 ↗ Club so I'll ask the other the other

1:37:02 ↗ part of the of the letter uh do we have

1:37:06 ↗ any way of incentivizing our private

1:37:08 ↗ property owners to maintain their canopy

1:37:12 ↗ um and when we say private property

1:37:14 ↗ owners that could be the owners of large

1:37:17 ↗ apartment complexes or it could be

1:37:19 ↗ single family houses so uh there's a

1:37:22 ↗ wide range of private properties that um

1:37:25 ↗ that we could be working with but what

1:37:27 ↗ do we have in mind in terms of

1:37:29 ↗ incentivizing those private properties

1:37:31 ↗ to uh maintain their tree canopy yeah so

1:37:34 ↗ so work to do there and as the the one

1:37:37 ↗ program that I have mentioned is a a

1:37:39 ↗ tree giveaway initiative so that's

1:37:41 ↗ something you'll see a lot of cities do

1:37:42 ↗ where we are funding looking for grant

1:37:45 ↗ funding working with nonprofit Partners

1:37:47 ↗ I mentioned a group called 300 trees

1:37:48 ↗ they're really active in bellue area and

1:37:50 ↗ are now working with us in isqua that's

1:37:52 ↗ a connection I've made with our

1:37:54 ↗ sustainability team um so that that

1:37:56 ↗ would be the opportunity to get new

1:37:58 ↗ trees in the ground I would say coming

1:38:00 ↗ back to one of the comments that I heard

1:38:02 ↗ from her Committee in terms of Education

1:38:03 ↗ around illegal tree removals I was

1:38:05 ↗ talking about tree care and maintenance

1:38:06 ↗ is really important too so I think

1:38:08 ↗ that's where we really need to work

1:38:10 ↗ together um myself Community planning

1:38:12 ↗ and then how we can tap into some of the

1:38:14 ↗ larger HOAs to do education and then I I

1:38:17 ↗ would like to see that as Community

1:38:18 ↗ meetings and I would like to see that as

1:38:20 ↗ just better online resources and

1:38:22 ↗ materials that we can connect the

1:38:23 ↗ community with um I would say it gets a

1:38:27 ↗ little trickier and this is where I'm

1:38:28 ↗ still learning you know how that relates

1:38:30 ↗ to actual building codes and incen

1:38:32 ↗ incentivizing that we do have uh in our

1:38:35 ↗ guiding principle C which looks at tree

1:38:37 ↗ preservation we do have a goal in there

1:38:39 ↗ that does look at recognizing and

1:38:42 ↗ incentivizing uh development projects

1:38:44 ↗ that maintain or incorporate higher

1:38:47 ↗ standards of tree canopy than are

1:38:48 ↗ required by our current tree

1:38:51 ↗ code I still don't know exactly what

1:38:53 ↗ that looks like in practice I'll admit

1:38:54 ↗ so that's something that we we we have

1:38:56 ↗ in there something that I want to

1:38:57 ↗ continue to work with Community planning

1:38:58 ↗ on but uh what exactly that looks like I

1:39:01 ↗ think is still to be

1:39:05 ↗ determined all right well um if we don't

1:39:08 ↗ have any other questions uh we are back

1:39:10 ↗ for the third and final time uh to offer

1:39:13 ↗ audience comment see at least one hand

1:39:15 ↗ going up at least two uh so let's start

1:39:18 ↗ with the folks that we have in the room

1:39:26 ↗ great thank you chair Marts I wanted to

1:39:28 ↗ jump in here before Kelly got the

1:39:31 ↗ microphone um Jason voice resident 700

1:39:34 ↗ Front Street South I appreciate Dan for

1:39:37 ↗ the great presentation I learned more

1:39:38 ↗ about trees in the last 30 minutes and

1:39:41 ↗ uh maybe my entire time with his Aqua so

1:39:43 ↗ thank you um I'm currently in an HOA and

1:39:46 ↗ this is always a long time ago when I

1:39:49 ↗ was part of that HOA even as President

1:39:52 ↗ we are surrounded by trees um Arrington

1:39:55 ↗ place right across from our savior and

1:39:57 ↗ we have always had to hire outside

1:39:59 ↗ arborists and a lot of like we have

1:40:02 ↗ Trails we have everything we're right by

1:40:04 ↗ the rineer trail and again the entire

1:40:06 ↗ property is surrounded by um trees

1:40:09 ↗ underbrush things like that is there I

1:40:12 ↗ guess the question or I guess the what

1:40:15 ↗ I'd be hoping for is there's some type

1:40:18 ↗ of City function where the city can come

1:40:19 ↗ out and see that we're properly

1:40:21 ↗ maintaining our grounds um there

1:40:24 ↗ probably isn't anything like that as far

1:40:25 ↗ as I know we're still calling arborists

1:40:28 ↗ after the bomb Cyclone um it took and I

1:40:31 ↗ know there was a lot of people and

1:40:32 ↗ Sawyers out there trying to take care of

1:40:34 ↗ emergency stuff but it took we had a

1:40:37 ↗ tree that was sitting at a I don't know

1:40:39 ↗ a 30° angle uh ready to take out the

1:40:41 ↗ clubhouse so there were some concerns

1:40:43 ↗ and I just don't know I mean if the city

1:40:45 ↗ works really well with these HOAs and

1:40:47 ↗ what type of leeway they do my hope is

1:40:49 ↗ that they would get better at it um so

1:40:53 ↗ again I do appreciate the conversation

1:40:54 ↗ it's always interesting to hear about

1:40:55 ↗ the tree canopy and then the other thing

1:40:57 ↗ is I have not gotten an opportunity to

1:40:59 ↗ read your plan um but I didn't hear a

1:41:02 ↗ lot I heard a lot about maintenance and

1:41:04 ↗ introducing I'm wondering if there's

1:41:06 ↗ also things obviously Los Angeles is top

1:41:09 ↗ of mine for everybody so I'm just

1:41:11 ↗ thinking about fire breakes and cleaning

1:41:13 ↗ out underbrush and things like that as

1:41:14 ↗ part of the program so I'm hopeful to

1:41:16 ↗ hear more about this and then uh just a

1:41:20 ↗ thought is when you made the comment

1:41:22 ↗ about revisions every 5 to 10 years

1:41:24 ↗ seems like this one at least until it

1:41:26 ↗ gets off the ground for maybe 20 years

1:41:28 ↗ should be seen every 5 years so it could

1:41:30 ↗ be revised so again thank

1:41:34 ↗ you thank you for your

1:41:38 ↗ comment our next

1:41:43 ↗ speaker hello oh okay you can hear me

1:41:46 ↗ now um hello my name is Kelly Jen I am

1:41:49 ↗ uh the president of isqua Alps Trails

1:41:51 ↗ Club board member of the mountain sound

1:41:53 ↗ Greenway and a resident of isqua in

1:41:55 ↗ Talis um so first of all I wanted to say

1:41:58 ↗ I'm it's super exciting to see that the

1:42:00 ↗ city of isqua prioritizing tree canopy

1:42:02 ↗ and really you know putting in the time

1:42:04 ↗ and effort and funding to developing an

1:42:07 ↗ urban Forest management plan you know

1:42:09 ↗ living in Talis and actually a moved

1:42:11 ↗ here in the pandemic because of you know

1:42:15 ↗ just in that time how important it was

1:42:17 ↗ to be outside um and so that's part of

1:42:20 ↗ why I moved to Talis in isqua and so I

1:42:21 ↗ know firsthand how important it's you

1:42:23 ↗ know to have these natural areas um for

1:42:25 ↗ our quality of life here in isqua um as

1:42:28 ↗ the president of IC I also really

1:42:30 ↗ appreciated the focus in the plan on you

1:42:31 ↗ know engaging with private and nonprofit

1:42:33 ↗ Partners um and you know it's been

1:42:35 ↗ really great for us to have this

1:42:37 ↗ partnership with green isqua both you

1:42:38 ↗ know with our first project site at Park

1:42:40 ↗ point now with the miwaukee uh pocket

1:42:43 ↗ Forest which we've gotten some great

1:42:44 ↗ grants for and hopefully some more um

1:42:46 ↗ project sites in the future so it's been

1:42:48 ↗ really great to work with Dan and the

1:42:49 ↗ whole team on that um and also you know

1:42:52 ↗ it's a really great opportunity for

1:42:53 ↗ people to get involved and feel like

1:42:55 ↗ they're making a tangible difference at

1:42:57 ↗ the local level which is very important

1:43:00 ↗ for all of us right now um and yeah and

1:43:05 ↗ so um thank you for uh reading my

1:43:07 ↗ comments and asking my questions um Dan

1:43:09 ↗ I really appreciated what you said about

1:43:11 ↗ you know the um need to you know

1:43:14 ↗ potentially do some thinning for Forest

1:43:16 ↗ Health and I think it's really important

1:43:17 ↗ to acknowledge that even though we have

1:43:19 ↗ this goal of tree canopy sometimes you

1:43:21 ↗ know in the short term we might need to

1:43:22 ↗ do things that will reduce tree canopy

1:43:25 ↗ but will have a better you know impact

1:43:27 ↗ on long-term Forest Health um so

1:43:29 ↗ actually I was kind of hoping that in

1:43:30 ↗ the text itself who would say something

1:43:32 ↗ like there might be some actions that

1:43:34 ↗ might reduce uh you know tree canopy in

1:43:36 ↗ the short term but are important to

1:43:38 ↗ long-term Forest Health which is one of

1:43:39 ↗ our objectives um but you know hearing

1:43:41 ↗ from you and from Jeff and everyone that

1:43:43 ↗ that's something that's top of mind for

1:43:45 ↗ you as well that's great um and I think

1:43:48 ↗ also you know working with the other

1:43:50 ↗ Land Management agencies that adjoin um

1:43:53 ↗ you know the city owned natural areas

1:43:54 ↗ like Cougar Mountain I know they're also

1:43:56 ↗ engaging Northwest Natural Resource

1:43:58 ↗ Group to do their uh Cougar Mountain

1:44:00 ↗ Forest planning uh stuff um and

1:44:02 ↗ similarly with DNR so I think you know

1:44:04 ↗ we are so fortunate to have such amazing

1:44:08 ↗ natural areas that are actually managed

1:44:09 ↗ by like a patchwork of agencies um and

1:44:12 ↗ so it's great to um hear about the

1:44:14 ↗ collaboration there and I think you know

1:44:16 ↗ moving forward potentially that's

1:44:17 ↗ something where the isqua Alps Trails

1:44:19 ↗ Club could you know convene the

1:44:20 ↗ different agencies and see like hey how

1:44:22 ↗ can we manage the forest as a whole you

1:44:25 ↗ know habitat and Collective area rather

1:44:27 ↗ than what is defined by political

1:44:30 ↗ boundaries of

1:44:31 ↗ ownership um and again um the last point

1:44:35 ↗ that I wanted to make is um what uh

1:44:37 ↗ Deputy council president de Michelle was

1:44:39 ↗ talking about which is you know Central

1:44:41 ↗ isqua is where we have the lowest

1:44:43 ↗ percentage of tree canopy currently and

1:44:45 ↗ that's also where a lot of the deel

1:44:47 ↗ development is going to go in and so you

1:44:49 ↗ know what are some of the policies that

1:44:50 ↗ we can do to encourage new developments

1:44:53 ↗ whether they be like middle housing or

1:44:55 ↗ apartment buildings to include more tree

1:44:58 ↗ canopy there's I mean I had like random

1:45:01 ↗ ideas but I think that's definitely

1:45:02 ↗ something that you know as we're looking

1:45:04 ↗ into the central isqua plan which was I

1:45:06 ↗ think last updated in like 2012 um I

1:45:09 ↗ think you know moving forward thinking

1:45:10 ↗ about how we can maintain and increase

1:45:13 ↗ tree canopy um as we develop into the

1:45:15 ↗ next phase of isqua so yeah that's it

1:45:18 ↗ for me um it's super exciting to see

1:45:20 ↗ isqua you know putting effort and money

1:45:23 ↗ and resources into you know maintaining

1:45:26 ↗ what makes our city so special and uh

1:45:29 ↗ yeah so that's it for me thank you for

1:45:32 ↗ your

1:45:33 ↗ comments anyone else any comments how

1:45:36 ↗ about

1:45:37 ↗ online currently no online attendees

1:45:40 ↗ chair marks there you go council member

1:45:42 ↗ Joe thank you uh Dan uh some of the

1:45:46 ↗ Wildland Urban interface uh question was

1:45:50 ↗ was brought up could you comment on the

1:45:52 ↗ current status of woi and and what's

1:45:55 ↗ going on at the the state level with the

1:45:57 ↗ maps yeah I I am trying to track that as

1:46:00 ↗ best with Jared Schneider um my

1:46:02 ↗ understanding there hasn't been an

1:46:03 ↗ update this has been about over a year

1:46:05 ↗ now and and for for context there was a

1:46:07 ↗ map that was published as part of the

1:46:09 ↗ proposed state building code updates

1:46:11 ↗ sorry if everyone's familiar with this

1:46:12 ↗ it was a pretty aggressive map that

1:46:14 ↗ showed the vast majority of isqua as

1:46:16 ↗ part of the wild Urban Land uh Urban

1:46:18 ↗ interface the wooi um that would have

1:46:20 ↗ really significant impacts on any

1:46:23 ↗ development Redevelopment and what that

1:46:25 ↗ means for a tree canopy so that is

1:46:27 ↗ certainly acknowledged in the urban

1:46:29 ↗ Forest management plan but that I think

1:46:30 ↗ ties into the needs to uh you know

1:46:33 ↗ revise as some of that uh Comes live so

1:46:36 ↗ I I do not have an update on when we

1:46:38 ↗ expect to see that um I I will continue

1:46:41 ↗ to connect with Jared and he'll be my um

1:46:45 ↗ source for that once there's more

1:46:46 ↗ information but they are refining that

1:46:48 ↗ and I do think it will be a little less

1:46:51 ↗ um aggressive in terms of how much of

1:46:53 ↗ our city limits is included in that

1:46:55 ↗ movie there there are certainly parts of

1:46:56 ↗ our city that that make a lot of sense

1:46:58 ↗ but to see that throughout the whole

1:47:00 ↗ valley was sort of surprising and that's

1:47:01 ↗ not how that DNR map was ever intended

1:47:03 ↗ to be used so so basically uh we are

1:47:08 ↗ watching it we're concerned about it

1:47:10 ↗ we're waiting for the state to give us

1:47:11 ↗ guidance on the on the maps that we

1:47:14 ↗ expect soon whatever state Works soon

1:47:17 ↗ means um along the way and but so we are

1:47:21 ↗ making efforts to continue to watch it

1:47:22 ↗ but it's not um final in terms of the

1:47:25 ↗ guidance from the state is that kind of

1:47:26 ↗ the summary that that's that's my

1:47:28 ↗ understanding yes perfect thank

1:47:31 ↗ you all right so

1:47:36 ↗ uh Direction needed really are we is it

1:47:39 ↗ ready for prime

1:47:41 ↗ time I think that's the consensus that

1:47:44 ↗ I'm hearing

1:47:46 ↗ um I assume it would come back uh to

1:47:49 ↗ full Council not on consent yes uh Mr

1:47:53 ↗ chair members of the committee um we

1:47:55 ↗ would like to take this opportunity to

1:47:58 ↗ first of all put it on regular business

1:48:00 ↗ but also to talk a little bit more about

1:48:03 ↗ the bomb Cyclone uh and the financial

1:48:05 ↗ impacts our abilities working with the

1:48:08 ↗ state and federal government to get the

1:48:09 ↗ funding as well as to talk a little bit

1:48:11 ↗ about fire issues because certainly that

1:48:14 ↗ has been in the news we've not had that

1:48:16 ↗ opportunity uh to talk with the council

1:48:18 ↗ the questions that council member Joe

1:48:21 ↗ raised uh so we would we will put this

1:48:23 ↗ on regular business we will also add an

1:48:26 ↗ item to talk about the financial pieces

1:48:29 ↗ of the bomb Cyclone um and also have

1:48:31 ↗ Jared Schneider here our emergency

1:48:33 ↗ manager to talk a little bit about our

1:48:35 ↗ plans uh dealing with trees and fire um

1:48:40 ↗ over the course of the next six months

1:48:41 ↗ or so as we get ready for the summer so

1:48:44 ↗ it's going to be a busy meeting next

1:48:45 ↗ week uh but our plan is to bring this to

1:48:48 ↗ you next week um there's not much else

1:48:51 ↗ on for regular business other than the

1:48:53 ↗ council's uh beginning the interview

1:48:55 ↗ process for the uh vacancy uh but we we

1:48:58 ↗ can make that all work we so that's all

1:49:02 ↗ right we'll put this on regular business

1:49:04 ↗ with those

1:49:05 ↗ additions with what the city

1:49:07 ↗ administrator has just describes there

1:49:09 ↗ any

1:49:11 ↗ particular

1:49:14 ↗ about that all sounds that all sounds

1:49:17 ↗ good and appropriate all right I think

1:49:19 ↗ we're good thank you all right well I

1:49:22 ↗ want to thank everyone this has been a

1:49:24 ↗ couple hours but we covered a lot of

1:49:26 ↗ good material uh today so uh we

1:49:31 ↗ are uh announcements I'm sorry

1:49:35 ↗ announcements

1:49:40 ↗ announcements any announcements from the

1:49:43 ↗ committee oh

1:49:45 ↗ Barb well I just uh you know to round up

1:49:48 ↗ we uh I think we all agree that this is

1:49:50 ↗ a great plan and just uh thank you to

1:49:53 ↗ you for I'm sure an immense amount of

1:49:56 ↗ work uh the plan reads very easily I

1:49:59 ↗ think people lay people in the community

1:50:01 ↗ will be able to understand it without

1:50:04 ↗ any problem and uh I you certainly have

1:50:07 ↗ uh done a great job of addressing a lot

1:50:09 ↗ of the major issues facing us when it

1:50:11 ↗ comes to our Urban Forest

1:50:14 ↗ management uh the only thing a slight

1:50:19 ↗ the the acronym is a little bit hard to

1:50:23 ↗ say yeah and that's the only drawback

1:50:26 ↗ that I see there but other than that I

1:50:29 ↗ mean it's a really great job and I do

1:50:30 ↗ want to thank you thanks you want to say

1:50:34 ↗ anything okay you said it all okay there

1:50:37 ↗ we go do any council members have any

1:50:41 ↗ announcement all right well then we are

1:50:44 ↗ adjourned at 8:21

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

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Attendance

Council / Members (3)

Tola Marts

Barbara de Michele

Russell Joe

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk

Recommendations & actions (4)

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

Councilmember JOE MOVED (Deputy Council President de MICHELE 2nd) to approve the minutes as presented.
Committee recommended placing this item on the Consent Agenda of the February 24 Regular City Council meeting.
Committee recommended placing this item on the Consent Agenda at the February 3 Regular City Council meeting.
Committee recommended placing on the Consent Agenda of the February 3 Regular City Council meeting.