City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Tuesday, May 20, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of April 29, 2025

packet pp.5–6

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 04-29-25 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (0000) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. April 29, 2025 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

COM 0126 - Capital Improvement Plan COM 0126

60 min · Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator Jennifer Rein, Acting Finance Director Gillian Straub, Management Analyst Susie Monsell, Budget Manager · packet pp.7–215

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 0:44 Open packet at p.7 ↗

COM 0144 - Lake Sammamish State Park Sports Fields COM 0144

Director · 20 min · Jeff Watling, Parks & Community Services · packet pp.217–231

Topics: Parks

▶ Watch from 1:10:10 Open packet at p.217 ↗

Staff report:

Staff will be providing an update to the Services, Safety and Parks (SSP) Committee on an opportunity to maintain and schedule a portion of the sports fields with Lake Sammamish State Park following Issaquah Soccer Club ending their agreement with State Parks earlier this year.

2184 segments .txt ↗

0:09 ↗ Welcome everyone. I, Council Member

0:11 ↗ Tolams, call the Tuesday, May 20th, 2025

0:17 ↗ City Council Services, Safety, and Parks

0:20 ↗ Committee to order.

0:22 ↗ Um, first item on the agenda, which I

0:26 ↗ should have gotten, which I should have

0:28 ↗ gotten to before I called to order, uh,

0:31 ↗ is public comment. There are multiple

0:33 ↗ public comment opportunities at

0:35 ↗ tonight's meeting. There's a general

0:37 ↗ public comment opportunity at the

0:38 ↗ beginning of the meeting, or you may

0:40 ↗ make comments after the presentation and

0:42 ↗ council question and answer period

0:44 ↗ tonight on tonight's agenda items before

0:46 ↗ the committee moves to deliberation on

0:48 ↗ that item. Members of the public may

0:51 ↗ address council at this time in person

0:52 ↗ or virtually. Those who signed up in

0:54 ↗ advance to make comments will be called

0:55 ↗ on first. If you are joining us

0:58 ↗ virtually and would like to make

0:59 ↗ comments, please raise your virtual

1:01 ↗ hand. Uh if you're on the phone, press

1:04 ↗ star three. If you have joined by

1:07 ↗ computer or smartphone, look for a hand

1:09 ↗ icon. This varies by device. One option

1:12 ↗ may be to go to the participant panel

1:14 ↗ and choose the raise hand icon in the

1:17 ↗ lower right hand corner. If you are in

1:19 ↗ the room and did not sign up, I will ask

1:21 ↗ for other speakers before closing this

1:23 ↗ portion of the meeting. I will wait for

1:25 ↗ a moment to see if anyone wishes to

1:26 ↗ raise their

1:29 ↗ hand. Clerk, has anyone signed up to

1:31 ↗ speak or indicated a desire to speak

1:33 ↗ this

1:40 ↗ evening? It

1:43 ↗ does I do not see any virtual hands and

1:45 ↗ there is no one signed up in person to

1:47 ↗ speak at this time. All right. As a

1:49 ↗ reminder, written comments can be

1:50 ↗ submitted at any time to city council at

1:55 ↗ isiquawah.gov. Next up, we have approval

1:57 ↗ of minutes. And I think the way we've

1:58 ↗ been doing lately is just asking if

2:00 ↗ anyone has any potential changes to the

2:02 ↗ minutes. Otherwise, we will accept them

2:05 ↗ uh by unanimous

2:07 ↗ consent. Acclamation is the word I was

2:10 ↗ looking for. Thank you, Deputy Council

2:13 ↗ President.

2:15 ↗ Uh so clerk, please consider that the

2:17 ↗ minutes have been uh approved. We'll

2:20 ↗ move now to our first agenda item,

2:24 ↗ COOM0126, capital improvement

2:27 ↗ plan. I apologize to my fellow committee

2:30 ↗ members who have heard the spiel in

2:32 ↗ other committees, but I have not. So I'm

2:34 ↗ going to make them go through it again.

2:47 ↗ Go ahead and get

2:53 ↗ myself. Great. Um, good evening. Uh, I'm

2:56 ↗ Jennifer Rain, acting finance director.

2:59 ↗ Um, and with the support of Jillian

3:02 ↗ Stro, our management analyst, and

3:04 ↗ assistance from Sue Z Monel, our budget

3:07 ↗ manager, I look forward to the

3:09 ↗ opportunity to speak with you today

3:11 ↗ regarding the 2027 2032 capital

3:14 ↗ improvement

3:17 ↗ plan. Tonight, we're going to walk

3:19 ↗ through a two-year update to the city's

3:21 ↗ capital improvement plan, or what we

3:23 ↗ call the CIP. The CIP is a city-wide

3:26 ↗ planning tool. For this update, we broke

3:29 ↗ it into sections for review by the

3:31 ↗ appropriate

3:32 ↗ committees. This evening, we'll take our

3:35 ↗ turn our attention to three key areas of

3:38 ↗ the plan. Parks and trails, and I'll

3:41 ↗ invite Jeff Watling, our director of

3:43 ↗ parks and community services, to lead

3:44 ↗ that part of the presentation, and

3:47 ↗ facilities and IT projects, which will

3:49 ↗ be presented by Ad Monahan, director of

3:52 ↗ administrative services.

3:57 ↗ As we move forward, we're seeking the

3:59 ↗ committee's input on the following.

4:01 ↗ First, we'd like the committee's

4:03 ↗ feedback on the CIP themes, particularly

4:06 ↗ the focus on prioritizing maintenance

4:08 ↗ with a special emphasis on increased

4:11 ↗ maintenance for city

4:13 ↗ facilities. Second, we're looking for

4:15 ↗ the committee's thoughts on the timing

4:16 ↗ and funding of two major capital

4:18 ↗ projects, the new IPD and city hall

4:21 ↗ facilities.

4:23 ↗ And finally, we'd appreciate the

4:24 ↗ committee's perspective on the proposed

4:26 ↗ investments in parks and trails as well

4:29 ↗ as facilities and IT

4:34 ↗ projects. To start, let's briefly go

4:36 ↗ over what the capital improvement plan

4:38 ↗ or CIP is. The CIP is a six-year plan

4:42 ↗ the city updates every two years to

4:44 ↗ outline upcoming capital

4:47 ↗ investments. Because the current budget

4:49 ↗ already includes funding through 2026,

4:52 ↗ the CIP will cover 2027 to

4:55 ↗ 2032. This ensures that it aligns with

4:58 ↗ the

4:59 ↗ 202526 budget and is all is ready to

5:03 ↗ support investment decisions starting

5:05 ↗ with the

5:06 ↗ 202728 budget cycle.

5:09 ↗ It is a key element in the city's

5:11 ↗ comprehensive plan, helping to ensure

5:13 ↗ that our long-term growth and

5:15 ↗ development are guided by strategic

5:17 ↗ forward-thinking

5:19 ↗ investments. The CIP also includes the

5:22 ↗ annual transportation improvement

5:24 ↗ program detailing planned transportation

5:27 ↗ related projects and upgrades.

5:30 ↗ The CIP outlines potential funding

5:32 ↗ strategies for projects, though it does

5:35 ↗ not guarantee funding or commit the city

5:37 ↗ to specific

5:38 ↗ timelines. And finally, the CIP is

5:41 ↗ subject to change. As priorities evolve,

5:44 ↗ costs shift and new opportunities or

5:46 ↗ challenges arise. This this plan is

5:49 ↗ revised to reflect the most current

5:51 ↗ needs of the

5:53 ↗ community. And it is also important to

5:55 ↗ note what the CIP is not.

5:59 ↗ Um so the CIP in summary is not a budget

6:02 ↗ document. Um while it does identify

6:04 ↗ potential projects and funding sources,

6:07 ↗ it does not authorize spending. Actual

6:10 ↗ funding decisions are made through the

6:12 ↗ city's bianium budget

6:17 ↗ process. Um next I'd like to give a

6:20 ↗ quick overview of the major themes and

6:22 ↗ changes shaping this year's CIP update.

6:26 ↗ First, we continue to see a familiar

6:28 ↗ challenge. Needs are outpacing revenues.

6:32 ↗ As the demand for capital projects grow,

6:34 ↗ available funding, especially from the

6:36 ↗ cap, sorry, general fund and real estate

6:39 ↗ excise tax or REIT is becoming more

6:42 ↗ limited. At the same time, we're

6:44 ↗ anticipating fewer grant opportunities

6:46 ↗ in the near future, um, which adds an

6:50 ↗ additional pressure to local funding

6:51 ↗ sources.

6:53 ↗ We're al also navigating an uncertain

6:56 ↗ financial and economic outlook which

6:59 ↗ makes long-term planning more difficult.

7:01 ↗ And given this, we're focused on keeping

7:04 ↗ the CIP update and process simple and

7:07 ↗ flexible so it can adapt as

7:11 ↗ needed. One key theme is the

7:13 ↗ prioritization of man of maintenance,

7:16 ↗ especially for aging facilities. Many of

7:19 ↗ our buildings are needing urgent

7:22 ↗ maintenance upgrades um that can no

7:24 ↗ longer be deferred um which could

7:27 ↗ potentially lead to greater costs or

7:29 ↗ risk. In addition, this update reflects

7:33 ↗ findings from the latest um utility

7:36 ↗ study, utility rate study, including

7:39 ↗ plan investments like a new water

7:41 ↗ treatment plant, which will be a major

7:43 ↗ infrastructure priority moving forward.

7:47 ↗ Overall, the CIP aims to balance

7:48 ↗ maintaining what we have with planning

7:51 ↗ smartly for what's

7:55 ↗ ahead. And now I'll invite management

7:57 ↗ analyst Jillian Stro up here to go over

8:04 ↗ revenue. All right, I'll be going over

8:06 ↗ um a little bit more detail on revenue

8:08 ↗ before um other before directors take it

8:11 ↗ uh into a little bit more detail about

8:12 ↗ specific uh categories of projects. So,

8:16 ↗ in a little bit of a deviation from

8:17 ↗ what's previously been done with the

8:19 ↗ CIP, the 27 and 28 years of the CIP

8:22 ↗ don't perfectly balance revenues and

8:24 ↗ expenditures. This means that some

8:27 ↗ revenue sources that you see listed in

8:29 ↗ this CIP are overtapped throughout 27

8:31 ↗ and 28, meaning that we couldn't

8:34 ↗ possibly fund all the projects we want

8:35 ↗ to from those re revenue sources as we

8:38 ↗ forecast them. Now, this will likely

8:40 ↗ mean um a need to secure new funding

8:42 ↗ sources um or prioritize further when we

8:45 ↗ get closer to 27 and 28 and have a clear

8:47 ↗ idea of what those years look like. Um

8:50 ↗ however, we wanted this to be a fairly

8:52 ↗ realistic plan. So, we already sought to

8:54 ↗ get pretty close to balanced in those

8:56 ↗ first few years of the CIP by um

8:59 ↗ reducing the scope of of projects that

9:01 ↗ are funded in those years with those

9:03 ↗ overtapped revenue sources, phasing

9:05 ↗ projects, pushing them entirely to outy

9:07 ↗ years in the CIP, moving them to more

9:10 ↗ stable funding sources as as was

9:12 ↗ possible. And when considering how to

9:15 ↗ prioritize, focus focusing on

9:16 ↗ maintenance over um over new assets.

9:21 ↗ This chart displays most of the major

9:23 ↗ funding sources in the CIP. We'll talk

9:26 ↗ in more detail about real estate excise

9:28 ↗ tax or REIT and the general fund in a

9:30 ↗ moment, but I want to call out a few uh

9:32 ↗ of the funding sources on this chart.

9:34 ↗ First, the school zone safety fund, as

9:36 ↗ you can see here, has an average fund

9:38 ↗ balance of about 2 million throughout

9:40 ↗ the course of the CIP. This is largely

9:42 ↗ due to the um new revenue that we

9:44 ↗ anticipate from the additional camera

9:46 ↗ location um that that city council off

9:49 ↗ authorized in November of 2024. This

9:52 ↗ fund can also now support more projects

9:54 ↗ than it was previously able to. The

9:57 ↗ mitigation funds just one line below

9:59 ↗ that um fund a number of projects

10:01 ↗ throughout this CIP, but this CIP does

10:03 ↗ draw down most of those mitigation funds

10:05 ↗ to zero throughout the course of it.

10:07 ↗ meaning that future CIPs and future

10:09 ↗ projects won't be able to rely on these

10:11 ↗ sources as we have in the

10:13 ↗ past. The utility funds, water, sewer,

10:16 ↗ and storm are being addressed through

10:18 ↗ the separate utility rate setting

10:19 ↗ process um and and are synced up between

10:23 ↗ the CIP and utility rate setting. Um,

10:27 ↗ finally, you'll hear more about the city

10:28 ↗ hall IPD funding source, but I just want

10:30 ↗ to call out while it's on this chart,

10:32 ↗ it's not an identified revenue source,

10:34 ↗ but more of a capture what we think that

10:36 ↗ need is going to be um across the CIP uh

10:40 ↗ while accounting for the fact that this

10:41 ↗ is a slightly older cost estimate and

10:43 ↗ that this work is subject to a separate

10:44 ↗ process, the the task force process

10:47 ↗ similar to the utility rate study. With

10:51 ↗ that, let's talk a little bit about real

10:53 ↗ estate excise tax and the general fund.

10:55 ↗ So as you can see here in 27 and 28 REIT

10:59 ↗ was uh REIT has about 5.3 and $4.8

11:02 ↗ million respectively in capital projects

11:05 ↗ asks over the course of 27 and 28.

11:08 ↗ However, it can't support that that

11:10 ↗ amount of capital capital projects um

11:12 ↗ and will need to be re-evalu evaluated

11:14 ↗ as we get closer to those years. The

11:16 ↗ general fund is a little bit different.

11:18 ↗ Um, we looked at what historically the

11:20 ↗ the general fund has contributed to

11:22 ↗ capital projects and found that it was

11:25 ↗ an average of around $900,000. So, we

11:27 ↗ compared that historical average to this

11:30 ↗ CIP's um level of request from the

11:33 ↗ general fund and we found that we had we

11:35 ↗ had over requested from the general fund

11:37 ↗ compared to our historical average. So,

11:39 ↗ it's not quite the same as a fund

11:40 ↗ balance calculation like you're seeing

11:42 ↗ in the REIT table. Um but it does show

11:45 ↗ that there will have to be some rep

11:46 ↗ prioritization through the the 2728

11:49 ↗ budget

11:52 ↗ process. All right. Um and this slide uh

11:55 ↗ includes all of the the includes an

11:58 ↗ overview of the CIP with projects by

12:00 ↗ category. As you can see, a lot of the

12:02 ↗ projects are concentrated in municipal

12:04 ↗ facilities um and transportation. I'll

12:07 ↗ also call out that the final column in

12:10 ↗ this in this table uh shows the

12:12 ↗ unidentified revenue sources needed. So

12:15 ↗ you'll see a pretty big number in that

12:17 ↗ municipal facilities line. Um that's

12:19 ↗ largely due to the city hall IPD funding

12:20 ↗ source that hasn't been identified yet.

12:23 ↗ Um but also some in parks and trails and

12:26 ↗ technology and systems. Uh and with

12:28 ↗ that, I'll turn it over to Director

12:30 ↗ Monahan.

12:37 ↗ Thank you. Hi, I'm Autumn Monahan, uh,

12:39 ↗ director of administrative services. Um,

12:42 ↗ so first we'll talk about facilities.

12:43 ↗ Um, there's a theme already tonight

12:45 ↗ that's maintenance of existing assets.

12:48 ↗ Um, and that's very much what you'll see

12:49 ↗ here in our list for facilities. And

12:51 ↗ then also wanted to provide you an

12:52 ↗ update on our task force work for around

12:54 ↗ city hall and the police facilities. So,

12:58 ↗ uh, the mayor appointed a task force,

13:00 ↗ the public safety and civic facilities

13:01 ↗ task force. We started meetings in

13:03 ↗ March. Uh, Chair Martz is part of that

13:06 ↗ group. Um, along with um, Council Member

13:08 ↗ Hall. Uh, we've held four meetings. We

13:11 ↗ have three meetings to go. We kicked off

13:13 ↗ the process with tours of our

13:15 ↗ facilities. Um, we've also dove into

13:18 ↗ just a project overview. We've done some

13:20 ↗ visioning exercises. We've got a space

13:22 ↗ needs assessment that's been updated by

13:24 ↗ our consultants. We did a Q&A with our

13:26 ↗ police chief. We've been brainstorming

13:28 ↗ potential city hall sites. Uh and most

13:30 ↗ recently we're talking through our

13:32 ↗ priorities and also um looking at the

13:34 ↗ results of an online survey around the

13:36 ↗ community's needs for space. A

13:38 ↗ recommendation and new cost estimates um

13:40 ↗ will be presented to the council this

13:42 ↗ summer following the task force work.

13:45 ↗ And as mentioned already, the CIP is

13:46 ↗ pretty much status quo for now on this

13:48 ↗ project. Uh until that work wraps up and

13:51 ↗ there's no funding source quite yet

13:52 ↗ listed.

13:55 ↗ As far as other facility projects uh in

13:57 ↗ the CIP, um we've created a new window

14:00 ↗ replacement program so that we start um

14:02 ↗ better maintenance on uh replacing our

14:04 ↗ windows. Uh the demolition of this

14:06 ↗ building, City Hall South, once the

14:07 ↗ court moves to the King County

14:09 ↗ Courthouse, pavement repairs at Tibet

14:11 ↗ Manor, which are desperately needed. Um

14:13 ↗ some divider curtains for the community

14:15 ↗ center to just um better enable

14:17 ↗ operations there for our customers. a

14:20 ↗ emergency generator for the police

14:21 ↗ building, a sewer system lining for our

14:25 ↗ jail, and an automated gate uh for

14:27 ↗ better security at our facilities and

14:29 ↗ park

14:32 ↗ shop. Uh a few projects that were

14:34 ↗ revised um from the last CIP include um

14:38 ↗ some energy efficiency and

14:39 ↗ electrification updates. These were

14:41 ↗ identified during the investment grade

14:43 ↗ audit and a facility fuel transition

14:45 ↗ assessment in partnership with our

14:46 ↗ sustainability uh division. uh renewable

14:50 ↗ energy for municipal buildings and

14:52 ↗ infrastructure. Uh this includes some

14:53 ↗ solar projects also identified in

14:56 ↗ partnership with

14:57 ↗ sustainability. A uh parking building

14:59 ↗ expansion for public works. This project

15:02 ↗ has been designed but was put on hold uh

15:04 ↗ to fund some more urgent needs at public

15:06 ↗ works. And so this project reappears now

15:08 ↗ on the CIP. Uh the HVAC replacement

15:12 ↗ program um has been tweaked some. Um,

15:16 ↗ and then finally, we've we've kind of

15:18 ↗ bundled a few projects that are needed

15:20 ↗ at the pool, including windows, uh,

15:22 ↗ ceiling, flooring, and a bulkhead uh,

15:26 ↗ upgrade. The projects that were removed

15:28 ↗ um, from the CIP include a new fire

15:30 ↗ station or updated fire station 71, some

15:33 ↗ facility life cycle investments, uh,

15:36 ↗ those have been replaced with specific

15:37 ↗ projects in the CIP instead of in one

15:39 ↗ program. And then we um, we reorganized

15:42 ↗ the public safety space needs. uh police

15:45 ↗ and court was replaced with uh the

15:47 ↗ midlife renovation for the PD building

15:49 ↗ and then a court

15:52 ↗ lease. Any questions on those before we

15:55 ↗ move on?

15:58 ↗ Deputy Council President.

16:00 ↗ Um just we had an email about I think uh

16:04 ↗ the um city hall south demolition um

16:08 ↗ that's going through the facilities

16:09 ↗ committee, right? Um,

16:12 ↗ we have not talked specifically about uh

16:14 ↗ demolishing this building, but there has

16:17 ↗ been some discussion around what the

16:18 ↗ future use of this property could be.

16:20 ↗ Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to

16:22 ↗ clarify that. I Yeah. Uh, and you

16:24 ↗ probably saw that email as well. Yeah.

16:26 ↗ Thanks.

16:28 ↗ Okay. Great. Next, I'll invite up

16:30 ↗ Director Watling to talk through parks

16:31 ↗ and trails.

16:38 ↗ Thanks, Autumn. Good evening. Jeff

16:39 ↗ Watling, parks community services

16:41 ↗ director. Um, boy, continuing the the

16:43 ↗ the theme and the thread of of taking

16:46 ↗ care of what we have and and

16:47 ↗ maintenance. Um, as you look at uh the

16:50 ↗ themes we um took into the six-year CIP,

16:53 ↗ um, investing in our current parks uh to

16:56 ↗ increase capacity and address aging

16:58 ↗ assets as a top priority. I'd note as I

17:00 ↗ as I touch on all these themes, these

17:03 ↗ were informed through extensive

17:05 ↗ community engagement and the park system

17:07 ↗ plan update that we went through and and

17:09 ↗ you all adopted uh just last year. So,

17:12 ↗ being able to take those themes right

17:13 ↗ into our our park CIP is is most

17:16 ↗ helpful. Um, next theme uh really

17:19 ↗ important one is balance balancing

17:22 ↗ active and passive recreation within the

17:24 ↗ system. Uh we've heard from our

17:26 ↗ community. We know that our park system

17:28 ↗ is expected to play multiple roles. Um

17:30 ↗ it's plays an essential role in

17:32 ↗ conservation and preservation, but it

17:34 ↗ also plays a really really important

17:36 ↗ role in u providing recreation space

17:39 ↗ that our residents expect a city park

17:41 ↗ system to have developed athletic

17:43 ↗ fields, play areas, plazas, um sort of

17:47 ↗ the hardscape areas of of a park system.

17:49 ↗ So balance is a is a really key theme.

17:52 ↗ Last theme we carried through um is u

17:55 ↗ really playing off of um the creeks to

17:57 ↗ peaks vision we have for the park system

18:00 ↗ and that is this opportunity that isqua

18:02 ↗ has that's so rare and unique in the

18:04 ↗ pugetand area where we could connect

18:06 ↗ every park within our system um not only

18:08 ↗ within the system but um to the public

18:11 ↗ lands that surround

18:15 ↗ us. As for a quick look at projects

18:18 ↗ here, uh we have one new project that

18:20 ↗ was identified in that park system plan

18:22 ↗ update. I I would note that um within

18:25 ↗ the park system plan, as you look at

18:26 ↗ that, you'll notice a a really extensive

18:29 ↗ sort of 20-year vision of projects. We

18:31 ↗ then prioritized near-term, midterm, and

18:33 ↗ long-term projects in the park plan. We

18:36 ↗ took those near-term recommendations or

18:38 ↗ priorities of the community, and that

18:40 ↗ became sort of the foundation of our

18:42 ↗ six-year CIP. So, one of the new

18:44 ↗ projects um is West uh Isqua Highlands

18:47 ↗ Neighborhood Park. Um as we all know um

18:51 ↗ initial sort of development plan of

18:52 ↗ Isiqua Highlands did not have a lot of

18:54 ↗ residential development on the west side

18:57 ↗ of Highlands Drive. Uh that is very very

18:59 ↗ different. Um as that has get gotten

19:01 ↗ built out with single family and

19:02 ↗ multifamily. uh the need, the

19:05 ↗ opportunity for a neighborhood park on

19:06 ↗ that side of of Highlands Drive um is

19:09 ↗ something we want to begin planning for

19:11 ↗ uh within the six-year CIP. You'll

19:13 ↗ notice in the the last year of the

19:15 ↗ six-year CIP, we propose initiating

19:18 ↗ community engagement around that

19:20 ↗ neighborhood park. The city owns a

19:22 ↗ parcel just west of Swedish Hospital uh

19:24 ↗ that is wonderfully located. Um would be

19:28 ↗ great connection to the High Street um

19:31 ↗ um uh public linear park as well as

19:34 ↗ provide opportunity for a possible trail

19:37 ↗ down to Isiqua Preston Trail. So a

19:39 ↗ neighborhood park that would also

19:41 ↗ provide a connection for Highlands

19:44 ↗ residents to get down to the valley.

19:47 ↗ In terms of revised projects, quite a

19:49 ↗ few. Um, if you wish, I could go through

19:52 ↗ these. I I don't intend to. These are

19:54 ↗ all projects you're very familiar with.

19:56 ↗ They were in our prior CIP. I would note

19:59 ↗ uh really a lot of the revisions to

20:01 ↗ these had to do with two things. Um, as

20:04 ↗ you heard Jillian speak to revenue

20:06 ↗ projections and the revenue realities.

20:08 ↗ We wanted to try as best we could to

20:10 ↗ live within those and also understand um

20:13 ↗ our current staffing levels. Um the

20:15 ↗ prior six-year CIP was planned with um

20:19 ↗ the existing staff we had at the time

20:20 ↗ with two park planners. We have one park

20:22 ↗ planner now. So we wanted to also be

20:24 ↗ very realistic and pragmatic and as to

20:28 ↗ um the rate of projects that we could uh

20:31 ↗ get done. And so these revisions include

20:33 ↗ in some cases uh reducing amount in

20:36 ↗ other cases um further phasing some of

20:39 ↗ the larger projects and realizing maybe

20:41 ↗ that first fe phase needs to be a

20:43 ↗ smaller phase. Um but um all remain very

20:47 ↗ very high high priorities.

20:50 ↗ Director Watling, um can you talk about

20:52 ↗ since we're talking about a sort of um

20:55 ↗ not near-term but not long term but sort

20:58 ↗ of intermediate term um access to Squawk

21:01 ↗ Mountain and um how are we thinking

21:05 ↗ about our access to Squawk Mountain? And

21:07 ↗ I'm asking specifically about um I think

21:11 ↗ it's mountain side as you go up there's

21:13 ↗ a small access and then there's um we

21:17 ↗ actually on mccary woods up in uh forest

21:20 ↗ rim and we don't have any structured

21:22 ↗ access there. So what's our what's the

21:25 ↗ future for for access to squawk? Great

21:27 ↗ great question. Um you know through some

21:29 ↗ of our more strategic our recent

21:31 ↗ strategic acquisitions of both the

21:33 ↗ Wayimouth property and most recently the

21:35 ↗ Kolkari property um those acquisitions

21:39 ↗ provide a 35 acre corridor that really

21:42 ↗ would become the key um and new um sort

21:47 ↗ of public corridor up into the trail

21:50 ↗ system uh within the city on Squawk

21:52 ↗ Mountain but also Squawk Mountain State

21:54 ↗ Park uh which is further outside um

21:57 ↗ outside of the city. Yeah. I mean, those

22:00 ↗ are down near sea level, right? This is

22:02 ↗ a 2,000 foot mountain. Um, our higher

22:05 ↗ accesses on mountain side is like 900 ft

22:09 ↗ and and Forest Rim itself, I'm not sure

22:12 ↗ there's a good way to access that is

22:14 ↗ more like 1,200 feet. So, it's it's

22:17 ↗ significantly higher up the mountain.

22:19 ↗ and and uh so we have we have the luxury

22:23 ↗ really on both Cougar and Squawk of

22:27 ↗ having multiple potential altitude

22:30 ↗ entries into those state systems which

22:33 ↗ we don't really have of course on Tiger

22:35 ↗ we just have tradition plateau and and

22:38 ↗ points below that right so do we have do

22:40 ↗ we have any plans for instance the the

22:43 ↗ trail head on mountain side is there any

22:45 ↗ long-term plan to expand that it fits a

22:48 ↗ few cars

22:49 ↗ Um yeah, currently uh there's not I mean

22:53 ↗ as we looked at the again the park

22:54 ↗ system plan didn't identify that as a as

22:57 ↗ a near-term priority I think given its

23:00 ↗ um relationship to some of the

23:02 ↗ residential around it. Um expanding that

23:05 ↗ trail head um um didn't seem like a top

23:09 ↗ priority. Um, you know, I think one of

23:12 ↗ the priorities we heard from the

23:13 ↗ community was, um, if you don't live on

23:15 ↗ Squawk Mountain, it's hard to access

23:17 ↗ Squawk Mountain. So, how do we provide,

23:20 ↗ um, a more elegant,

23:23 ↗ um, trail connection and and entry into

23:27 ↗ um, other residents um, to get onto

23:30 ↗ Squawk without um, conflicting or

23:33 ↗ impacting those who live on Squawk

23:35 ↗ Mountain. So that was at least u in

23:38 ↗ terms of priorities the the nearer term

23:40 ↗ priority was really trying to figure out

23:42 ↗ a way to to do that. Um happy to talk

23:45 ↗ with you further and sort of I I I think

23:48 ↗ there should be again at this medium to

23:50 ↗ long-term time horizon. It's not a

23:52 ↗ two-year kind of a thing. Um and we're

23:55 ↗ doing great things in the valley and the

23:57 ↗ connections we're making to the basis

23:58 ↗ squawk are awesome. Not everyone's going

24:00 ↗ to want to do a 2,000 ft uh ascent,

24:04 ↗ right? And so having the properties that

24:06 ↗ we have further up Squawk, I personally

24:08 ↗ have used that mountainside trail head

24:10 ↗ many many many many many many times and

24:13 ↗ doing a thousand foot ascent is feels a

24:15 ↗ lot different than a 2,000 foot ascent.

24:17 ↗ Right. So um anyhow it's it's it is

24:20 ↗ something I I think that we should think

24:22 ↗ about um because I I think that if we

24:26 ↗ had a you know if we had some you know

24:28 ↗ we're never going to have a trail head

24:30 ↗ like Anti-aircraft Park has over in

24:32 ↗ Belleview, right? It's just not in the

24:34 ↗ cards. We couldn't build something like

24:35 ↗ that, but we could possibly do something

24:37 ↗ to make the upper mountain more

24:39 ↗ accessible. So I would at a later date

24:42 ↗ have a conversation. It would be great

24:43 ↗ be great to explore that further.

24:44 ↗ Thanks.

24:48 ↗ All right. In terms of uh a couple of

24:50 ↗ removed projects again uh these are

24:53 ↗ priorities and remain priorities but

24:55 ↗ trying to be realistic with uh both uh

24:58 ↗ the realities of projected revenues as

25:00 ↗ well as our staffing capacity. Uh these

25:03 ↗ four projects um have fallen off the the

25:06 ↗ six-year CIP horizon, but certainly

25:08 ↗ remain priorities within our park system

25:10 ↗ plan update. Um and should either grant

25:13 ↗ opportunities or others present

25:14 ↗ themselves. Um we would come back to you

25:18 ↗ and and have that conversation. So these

25:20 ↗ aren't projects that have gone away. Uh

25:22 ↗ just in reality to try and get these

25:24 ↗ done in the six-year horizon would be uh

25:27 ↗ would be difficult along with the other

25:30 ↗ priorities.

25:34 ↗ Any questions before I pass the ball

25:37 ↗ back to to Autumn? I don't think so. All

25:40 ↗ right. Thank you.

25:46 ↗ All right. I'm back to talk it. So, once

25:48 ↗ again, the focus for it was uh the

25:50 ↗ maintenance of our existing assets, some

25:53 ↗ replacing some of our current

25:54 ↗ infrastructure. are really thinking

25:55 ↗ ahead as far as what that replacement

25:56 ↗ cycle is um for some of our

25:58 ↗ infrastructure and then right sizing our

26:00 ↗ current needs just based on the fact

26:02 ↗ that we're modernizing as a city and our

26:04 ↗ technology. So, some new projects um

26:07 ↗ implementing the wireless meter reading

26:09 ↗ project, replacing a server cluster, uh

26:12 ↗ creating a program to replace our SCADA

26:14 ↗ network on a more frequent basis,

26:17 ↗ replacing our permitting software, uh

26:20 ↗ moving the fiber from this facility

26:22 ↗ across the street, uh replacing our

26:24 ↗ parks and recreation software, and uh

26:27 ↗ replacing our battery backup at public

26:29 ↗ works.

26:32 ↗ As for res revised projects, our annual

26:35 ↗ PC replacement program will now be uh

26:38 ↗ proposed to be funded not from REIT but

26:40 ↗ from an IT cost allocation. And our IT

26:43 ↗ network equipment replacement program

26:45 ↗ has grown. And again, that's to reflect

26:47 ↗ the needs of our more modernized uh

26:50 ↗ community or our

26:51 ↗ city. And that's what I have for

26:54 ↗ it. Council member Ray

26:58 ↗ Autumn, what's the replacement cycle on

27:00 ↗ our um

27:02 ↗ um computer technology on our laptops?

27:05 ↗ Yes, I believe and I um Gus Tan is on

27:08 ↗ the phone too. I believe it's every 3 to

27:10 ↗ 5 years depending on the user and the

27:12 ↗ type of laptop. Okay, great. Thanks.

27:15 ↗ I have a question about um are we still

27:17 ↗ doing ERP implementation consulting?

27:23 ↗ We were doing it for many many years.

27:25 ↗ Sure.

27:27 ↗ Not not well it depends on what you mean

27:29 ↗ by implementation. So not as far as like

27:32 ↗ the general on boarding. Yeah. Yeah.

27:35 ↗ That is completed. That has been

27:37 ↗ completed. Okay. Thank goodness. Yeah.

27:39 ↗ All right.

27:41 ↗ That's the only question I have. Okay.

27:46 ↗ Great.

27:51 ↗ Awesome. So, I think to review Oh,

27:54 ↗ sorry.

27:56 ↗ Gus Tuana. Oh, let me turn his camera

27:58 ↗ off. Never mind. Wasn't sure if Gus has

28:01 ↗ something. Gus, did you have something

28:02 ↗ to add? No, I just wanted to assist him

28:05 ↗ if I have questions, but no, I do not.

28:08 ↗ Thank you. Okay, thanks.

28:10 ↗ No

28:11 ↗ worries. Great. Well, to review the

28:13 ↗ timing and next steps, um the CI CIP has

28:17 ↗ been presented in sections to the

28:19 ↗ appropriate committees um for input and

28:21 ↗ feedback. Storm water projects were

28:23 ↗ reviewed by the planning, development,

28:25 ↗ and environment committee while

28:27 ↗ transportation, water, and sewer

28:29 ↗ priorities were brought to the mobility

28:30 ↗ and infrastructure committee

28:33 ↗ committee. After tonight's presentation,

28:35 ↗ the CIP will have a full review on June

28:38 ↗ 16th at the committee of the whole.

28:40 ↗ Following that will be the potential

28:42 ↗ adoption on June 23rd. The

28:45 ↗ transportation improvement program must

28:47 ↗ be adopted by July 1st. So this timeline

28:50 ↗ keeps us on track for this requirement.

28:53 ↗ Um this timeline ensures that we're

28:55 ↗ there's a ample opportunity to review,

28:58 ↗ provide feedback, and refine before the

29:01 ↗ plan is adopted and finalized.

29:06 ↗ In summary, we'd like to have the

29:08 ↗ committee um answer a few questions or

29:11 ↗ review these questions for consideration

29:13 ↗ and feedback. Are the proposed CIP

29:16 ↗ themes, especially the emphasis on

29:18 ↗ facility maintenance aligned with the

29:20 ↗ committee's priorities? What are the

29:22 ↗ committee's thoughts on the timing and

29:24 ↗ funding of the new IPD and city hall

29:27 ↗ facilities? And finally, is there

29:29 ↗ feedback on proposed parks, trails,

29:31 ↗ facilities, and IT projects?

29:34 ↗ Um your feedback um in these areas will

29:37 ↗ be instrumental in shaping the final

29:39 ↗ result of the CIP as we look forward. Um

29:42 ↗ and thank you for your time and your

29:43 ↗ thoughtful input.

29:46 ↗ Jennifer, before we get to those, um

29:49 ↗ there is there's one project that I

29:51 ↗ think um I I'd love to just get a board

29:55 ↗ down into just a little bit just because

29:56 ↗ it's been such an ongoing interest of

29:58 ↗ the council for so long. and it's the

30:00 ↗ Westlake Seamish Parkway um sidewalk

30:04 ↗ project. So, could you um just talk a

30:07 ↗ little bit about because that's been

30:10 ↗ something that we've continued to have.

30:12 ↗ It's it's it's been something that's

30:14 ↗ been important to the council. It's a

30:15 ↗ it's a big ticket item. Um and uh I want

30:19 ↗ to make sure people understand that it's

30:21 ↗ in here and and what it looks like in

30:23 ↗ here. So, is there somebody who's with

30:25 ↗ us today who can um just talk about it a

30:28 ↗ little bit? Um, council member Mar.

30:30 ↗ Sure. Um, yes, council member Ray. Well,

30:34 ↗ we we just heard that particular

30:36 ↗ initiative at the mobility

30:38 ↗ infrastructure last week. So So it's

30:41 ↗ it's been aired. It's been discussed and

30:45 ↗ and really not a parks related or

30:47 ↗ services safety related. It's a safety

30:49 ↗ it's an incredible safety related issue.

30:51 ↗ So, if you can if you would like to to

30:54 ↗ um I I view it more as a safety related

30:57 ↗ issue from from what folks there told

30:59 ↗ me. Well, if you could if you would be

31:02 ↗ willing to share on it or if it got

31:04 ↗ presented in another committee, that's

31:06 ↗ fine. But it is it it is a safety issue.

31:09 ↗ And Mr. Chair, members of the committee,

31:10 ↗ the the project remains in the plan. Um,

31:13 ↗ we continue to struggle with financing

31:15 ↗ issues and I think when you hear all

31:18 ↗ this put together at the committee of

31:19 ↗ the whole, uh, those financing issues

31:21 ↗ will be one of the the major overview

31:24 ↗ topics that we're going to be asking the

31:25 ↗ council to consider.

31:27 ↗ You know, I guess I was just looking for

31:29 ↗ the fact that it's slated for 2028 um,

31:32 ↗ in, you know, in bulk that there's a

31:34 ↗ that there's a large intended uh,

31:37 ↗ timeline for 2028 to perform that. There

31:40 ↗ is we we have concerns about the ability

31:42 ↗ to finance it and so the council when we

31:45 ↗ bring all this together at the committee

31:46 ↗ the whole in a few weeks will that'll be

31:48 ↗ a prime discussion. All right. Thank

31:50 ↗ you.

31:54 ↗ Thank you. Any other questions?

31:58 ↗ No other questions. I will invite

32:00 ↗ audience comment at this time before we

32:02 ↗ move into the deliberation phase. So, I

32:04 ↗ will ask again if any members of the

32:05 ↗ public either here with us this evening

32:08 ↗ or folks at home uh in participating

32:11 ↗ electronically have any interest in

32:13 ↗ providing feedback before we uh

32:15 ↗ deliberate on these questions. I'm not

32:18 ↗ seeing any uh audience interest here in

32:20 ↗ the room and I'll ask the clerks uh if

32:23 ↗ there's uh any indication of uh interest

32:27 ↗ online.

32:29 ↗ Yes, I do see one virtual hand raised. I

32:32 ↗ will uh make you a participant. And

32:35 ↗ before we do that, let let me go through

32:36 ↗ the public comment uh uh overview.

32:41 ↗ Members of the public may address

32:42 ↗ council at this time in person or

32:43 ↗ virtually. Oh, I did that part. It's the

32:46 ↗ latter part that I didn't do. Public

32:47 ↗ comments are an important part of the

32:49 ↗ public process. We take them seriously

32:51 ↗ and factor them into the decisions we

32:53 ↗ make. During audience comments, members

32:54 ↗ of the public are invited to address the

32:56 ↗ council regarding matters that are

32:58 ↗ directly related to city programs,

33:00 ↗ projects, services, or events. Comments

33:02 ↗ related to political campaigns are not

33:03 ↗ permitted. Anyone from the public who

33:05 ↗ wishes to comment will have the

33:06 ↗ opportunity to do so. Please direct

33:08 ↗ comments to the whole council and not

33:10 ↗ individuals. While this is not a

33:11 ↗ question and answer session, we will

33:13 ↗ contact you to follow up if needed. When

33:15 ↗ recognized, unmute your microphone uh or

33:18 ↗ step up to the lectern, state your name,

33:20 ↗ address, and relationship to the city.

33:22 ↗ Speak clearly and pause frequently.

33:23 ↗ Limit comments to five minutes. If you

33:25 ↗ are attending virtually and do not

33:26 ↗ respond after your name or phone number

33:28 ↗ is called or if your connection is lost

33:30 ↗ unexpectedly, the meeting will need to

33:32 ↗ proceed. You're encouraged to rejoin the

33:34 ↗ meeting if able. Written comments can be

33:36 ↗ submitted at any time to city council at

33:39 ↗ isiquawah.gov. Personal attacks, obscene

33:41 ↗ language, derogatory remarks, and

33:43 ↗ disruptive behavior such as shouting,

33:45 ↗ booing, clapping, and stomping feet will

33:47 ↗ not be permitted. If the speaker is out

33:48 ↗ of order, the presiding officer will

33:50 ↗ direct the speaker to return to his or

33:51 ↗ her seat or for virtual attendees may

33:53 ↗ direct staff to mute their microphone.

33:55 ↗ The speaker does not comply, the

33:57 ↗ presiding officer may take a recess to

33:59 ↗ restore order. Or if a disruption to the

34:01 ↗ meeting occurs and order cannot be

34:03 ↗ restored, the presiding officer may

34:04 ↗ proceed to use one of the options

34:06 ↗ provided for in

34:09 ↗ RCW42.30.050 to ensure orderly

34:11 ↗ continuation of the meeting. Again,

34:12 ↗ public comments, written and verbal, are

34:14 ↗ an important aspect of the public

34:16 ↗ process. The city takes comments

34:18 ↗ seriously and we thank members of the

34:19 ↗ public for taking the time to address us

34:21 ↗ during our meeting. With that, if you

34:24 ↗ would uh bring our first online

34:27 ↗ speaker up.

34:31 ↗ Thank you. I apologize for getting ahead

34:32 ↗ of myself before. Okay. Um somebody by

34:35 ↗ the initials of

34:37 ↗ CM I'm making you a panelist. You should

34:40 ↗ be able to unmute yourself now. Chuck

34:42 ↗ Manion.

34:58 ↗ It's showing still muted.

35:02 ↗ There we go. Okay, I'm finally getting

35:04 ↗ there. This is Connie and it's N Oh, and

35:09 ↗ we even got video. All right, thank you.

35:11 ↗ So, Connie Marsh. Um, that whole

35:15 ↗ preamble sort of cracks me up every

35:17 ↗ time. I'm gonna stomp my feet, baby. So,

35:22 ↗ uh, this whole Connie Marsh, I live on

35:26 ↗ Squawk.

35:28 ↗ Um, this whole amount of money going to

35:32 ↗ city hall facilities and police station

35:34 ↗ is sucking the

35:36 ↗ air out of the room.

35:40 ↗ um in the first few years of

35:43 ↗ funding and

35:45 ↗ uh it

35:48 ↗ is probably not very

35:52 ↗ fundable.

35:55 ↗ So I I'm a little disturbed by how it's

35:58 ↗ being presented in the

36:01 ↗ CIP. Um I think a cart ahead of the

36:04 ↗ horse type of a situation. So then let's

36:06 ↗ move on to the demo of city hall. Now

36:10 ↗ the demo of city hall has been presented

36:13 ↗ to the board the the group that's

36:16 ↗ talking about the potential for a new

36:18 ↗ city hall as a done deal. We are demoing

36:21 ↗ City Hall South and there's not been a

36:24 ↗ council decision on that and it is

36:27 ↗ sneaking into the CIP and then could

36:30 ↗ potentially go sliding through budget

36:33 ↗ without a public discussion. And so this

36:37 ↗ does seem to be the very meeting where

36:40 ↗ the demo of City Hall South is supposed

36:43 ↗ to be discussed because I saw it on like

36:46 ↗ four different slides. So I think this

36:49 ↗ is the appropriate meeting for that

36:52 ↗ especially when we're saying that the

36:55 ↗ priority is maintenance of buildings and

36:58 ↗ that is a building that needs

37:00 ↗ maintenance and the maintenance has been

37:02 ↗ disregarded for years. So this whole

37:05 ↗ method of of doing it is is making me

37:10 ↗ uneasy and I feel like it's cutting out

37:12 ↗ the public discussion of whether the

37:15 ↗ community thinks that we should be

37:17 ↗ demoing the communityowned buildings

37:19 ↗ paid for by our taxes. So I'm I'm not a

37:22 ↗ fan of this type of process that you're

37:24 ↗ doing exactly right now. uh and would

37:29 ↗ ask council to say something in the

37:33 ↗ range of uh we are going to have a

37:36 ↗ separate agenda bill discussing a

37:39 ↗ potential demo of city hall south um as

37:43 ↗ an independent line item rather than

37:46 ↗ just doing it in in budget which I

37:48 ↗ expect is what's going to happen.

37:52 ↗ So, um, then when we talk

37:58 ↗ about future money, I talked about

38:01 ↗ Tibbitz Creek Manor and we're actually

38:05 ↗ putting money in our CIP for a building

38:08 ↗ that we don't even know that we're going

38:10 ↗ to be doing anything with. And do we

38:14 ↗ really want it? So, I would prefer um

38:18 ↗ not to spend money basically putting

38:21 ↗ more pavement in the wetlands area until

38:24 ↗ we actually understand what we want to

38:26 ↗ do with Tibbitz Creek Manor. Um because

38:30 ↗ I don't know that we want to maintain

38:31 ↗ that puppy. What else should we be doing

38:35 ↗ with it instead?

38:38 ↗ So the the uh now I'm going to go back

38:43 ↗ to the general presentation of the CIP

38:46 ↗ with all of the green charts. I must say

38:50 ↗ I found it profoundly difficult to align

38:54 ↗ the green charts with the way that the

38:57 ↗ projects came out in priority order in

39:00 ↗ the in the in the CIP. Um, so I still

39:05 ↗ think that there is work to be done on

39:07 ↗ that for the community. I believe I'm

39:09 ↗ probably the only community member today

39:12 ↗ because it's just not easy for a normal

39:15 ↗ person to to understand. So, um,

39:20 ↗ hopefully that was a somewhat coherent

39:23 ↗ and addressed a few of my concerns that

39:25 ↗ maybe you would discuss. Thank you very

39:28 ↗ much. Thank you for Thank you for your

39:30 ↗ comment, K. I don't know if I can cut

39:33 ↗ myself off though. So, somebody else is

39:34 ↗ going to have to do that. We will we

39:37 ↗ will uh we will do that. Thank

39:41 ↗ you. All right. So, to deliberation

39:45 ↗ uh first point, the CIP themes included

39:47 ↗ prioritize maintenance especially

39:50 ↗ increasing increased maintenance of

39:52 ↗ facilities. Discussion. Council member

39:54 ↗ Ray. I I would be happy to to get us

39:57 ↗ kicked off. And this is a um appears to

40:00 ↗ be a reoccurring theme across all of the

40:03 ↗ CIP topical areas which is uh let's take

40:06 ↗ care of what we've got before we start

40:08 ↗ uh buying uh and building and investing

40:10 ↗ in more. And I think given our financial

40:13 ↗ situation where we are uh in um a

40:17 ↗ deficits and not a surplus situation

40:19 ↗ where we've been in the in the past I am

40:22 ↗ 100% behind the notion of making sure

40:25 ↗ that we invest in maintaining what we

40:27 ↗ have particularly our facilities um

40:29 ↗ before we start in investing in new

40:32 ↗ things because we know that if we don't

40:35 ↗ maintain them then they lose value very

40:38 ↗ quickly and uh it makes our uh

40:41 ↗ challenging financial situation. Even

40:43 ↗ more challenging,

40:48 ↗ deputy council president. So, are we

40:50 ↗ taking these one one at a time? Okay. Um

40:53 ↗ yeah, both council member Ray and I are

40:56 ↗ both on the mobility committee and so uh

40:59 ↗ earlier we uh totally agreed on the

41:02 ↗ emphasis on maintenance. Um and I think

41:05 ↗ I'm on the record uh many times of

41:08 ↗ saying that I we need to maintain our

41:10 ↗ facilities. Um so I'm very happy with

41:12 ↗ the with the uh direction that this is

41:16 ↗ taking. Um I agree that when especially

41:19 ↗ in the position that we're in as council

41:21 ↗ member Ray said uh where we're going to

41:23 ↗ have to be still making tough decisions

41:25 ↗ when this goes to the council of the

41:27 ↗ whole and then when it goes to the

41:28 ↗ budget process. Um, having that uh

41:33 ↗ priority set now, I think is going to

41:35 ↗ help us as we hit up against what what

41:40 ↗ is what are the things we're going to do

41:41 ↗ and not do in the future. So, we still

41:44 ↗ have some really hard decisions to make.

41:46 ↗ Uh, but I thoroughly uh agree that we

41:49 ↗ need to prioritize maintenance.

41:53 ↗ Thanks. Um, I wanted to ask if perhaps

41:55 ↗ the city administrator wanted to speak

41:57 ↗ to the process around a city hall south

42:00 ↗ demolition and uh when and in what form

42:03 ↗ it would come back to us andor the

42:05 ↗ community. Certainly uh I'll ask uh

42:08 ↗ Monahan the director of administrative

42:10 ↗ services to talk a little bit about uh

42:13 ↗ this building specifically but also the

42:15 ↗ council approved processes for

42:16 ↗ disposition of property.

42:22 ↗ Uh so the first step is moving court to

42:25 ↗ the King County uh courthouse. Uh so we

42:27 ↗ are finalizing the lease right now. Uh

42:30 ↗ which will um be before council soon. Uh

42:32 ↗ so that is our first priority. Um after

42:35 ↗ that uh a lot of this really depends on

42:37 ↗ what's next for our facilities. As I've

42:39 ↗ talked before, it's very much this this

42:42 ↗ game of dominoes that we're playing. And

42:44 ↗ so, um, in the future, and, you know,

42:46 ↗ I've talked with the city council

42:48 ↗ several times, um, and can reshare some

42:50 ↗ of that information around, um, just the

42:52 ↗ inability to renovate this building, um,

42:55 ↗ or to remodel it. It's it's a big

42:57 ↗ concrete block. Um, and we've tried

42:59 ↗ before in trying to make some ADA

43:01 ↗ assess, you know, ADA improvements here.

43:03 ↗ Uh it's just it's it used to be a fire

43:06 ↗ station and you know we've done the best

43:08 ↗ we can but uh it's it's not very

43:11 ↗ flexible as far as our space needs. Um

43:14 ↗ so we we do not have anything in policy

43:17 ↗ around demolishing a building versus if

43:20 ↗ we were to um uh get rid of an asset,

43:24 ↗ right? Or to um sell property. Um so we

43:27 ↗ do have that policy, but we don't have

43:29 ↗ anything around demolishing from what I

43:30 ↗ understand. We could be back in front of

43:33 ↗ the council um definitely with an agenda

43:35 ↗ bill before any decisions made on this

43:37 ↗ building. Uh part of it is just setting

43:39 ↗ up the expectation that there's a cost

43:41 ↗ if we're to reuse this property for

43:43 ↗ something else that we'd have to

43:44 ↗ demolish the building. Yeah, I guess I

43:46 ↗ guess I was assuming that whatever we

43:48 ↗ would do with this building, you would

43:49 ↗ meet the threshold of large enough that

43:51 ↗ you'd want to come before council. It's

43:53 ↗ not a it's not in the it's not a

43:55 ↗ rounding error um as to the fate of this

43:57 ↗ building. Right. Okay. and the

43:59 ↗ administration commits that we will have

44:01 ↗ a process. Sure. Thank you. Um and then

44:05 ↗ um I have a question and it's it's you

44:09 ↗ know you're right so many of these

44:10 ↗ things are downstream of a city hall

44:14 ↗ decision and one of those is Tibbitz

44:16 ↗ Creek Manor right which I have wanted to

44:19 ↗ see demolished for 15 years 15 years.

44:22 ↗ Um, but I recognize that at this moment

44:25 ↗ serves an important I grudgingly admit

44:28 ↗ that at this moment it serves an

44:29 ↗ important purpose for the city. Um, but

44:32 ↗ hopefully, knock on wood, at some future

44:34 ↗ point it won't. Um, so what is the the

44:38 ↗ Tibets Creek

44:39 ↗ Manor? I I forget in the depths of the

44:43 ↗ packet. What are we What are you doing?

44:44 ↗ What are we planning on doing with uh

44:46 ↗ just repaving the parking lot. So, the

44:47 ↗ parking lot is in desperate need of

44:48 ↗ repair. uh and we've delayed it for

44:50 ↗ years and years and now we're using that

44:52 ↗ facility more and more especially as a

44:55 ↗ meeting space and so not knowing the

44:57 ↗ future of it you know and considering

44:59 ↗ this is a plan it it is a need that we

45:01 ↗ have as far as one of our current assets

45:02 ↗ and so that's why we included it. Got

45:05 ↗ it. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Um I you

45:08 ↗ know I agree on prioritizing maintenance

45:12 ↗ in general for the city council is a you

45:16 ↗ know the pendulum swings between uh

45:19 ↗ exciting new things that the public

45:21 ↗ loves and then you know re resurfacing

45:24 ↗ soccer fields and you know it the their

45:27 ↗ their equivalent building um maintenance

45:30 ↗ and it feels right that um this focus uh

45:35 ↗ that we've got um I there's a lot of

45:38 ↗ squirly things in this in the way this

45:41 ↗ these monies are are written up that are

45:43 ↗ different in the past and I'm not sure

45:45 ↗ different in a good way. Um but it's

45:47 ↗ also you know it is a blueprint and as a

45:50 ↗ blueprint I think it uh works well. I

45:52 ↗ just don't know how we're going to pay

45:53 ↗ for a lot of the things that are in

45:55 ↗ there. But I you know I'm with the two

45:57 ↗ of you. I agree that um this is the

45:59 ↗ right general focus. So moving on to

46:02 ↗ timing and funding of new IPD and city

46:04 ↗ hall facilities.

46:06 ↗ Council member Ray, I'll start. I have a

46:08 ↗ question. What is the status of the

46:12 ↗ um the funding task force, whatever

46:15 ↗ whatever that task force that you are

46:16 ↗ part of? We have three more meetings to

46:18 ↗ go. Um it it's not entirely clear

46:22 ↗ exactly what our work product will be

46:24 ↗ when that is done. Um but we have been

46:27 ↗ reviewing options and um I would

46:32 ↗ certainly offer director Monahan a

46:34 ↗ chance to uh summarize um in perhaps a

46:37 ↗ little bit more detail um where that

46:39 ↗ group is going and I I also apologize I

46:42 ↗ missed the last meeting um as I was out

46:44 ↗ of town. Sure. So and not to speak for

46:47 ↗ the task force to take away a lot of

46:48 ↗ their news as they come back and present

46:50 ↗ their findings. there there is great

46:52 ↗ support for renovating the police

46:53 ↗ station and giving that building

46:55 ↗ exclusively to police. Uh so they're

46:57 ↗ seeing that very much as an urgent need

46:59 ↗ and so the discussion right now is what

47:01 ↗ are the options around where city hall

47:03 ↗ goes and what does that phasing look

47:05 ↗ like. Um so we are now working on some

47:08 ↗ prioritization around you know location

47:10 ↗ the idea of building versus purchasing

47:13 ↗ and renovating or leasing. So talking

47:15 ↗ through a lot of those things that we've

47:16 ↗ talked about with the council, but

47:18 ↗ really working on what the priorities

47:19 ↗ are so that um you have a

47:21 ↗ recommendation, but you also have a menu

47:23 ↗ of other options in case other

47:24 ↗ opportunities come up. Uh so that's

47:26 ↗ that's the end goal of the task force.

47:31 ↗ Is that helpful? That was super helpful.

47:33 ↗ Um so I will take on bullet number two

47:36 ↗ kind of with my thoughts on that which

47:38 ↗ is it feels like um a good question just

47:41 ↗ not a good question now. Um, I don't

47:44 ↗ know why we would be trying to address

47:46 ↗ this question of timing and funding

47:48 ↗ until that task force has completed

47:49 ↗ their work. So, um, because I don't I'm

47:53 ↗ missing too many big big and important

47:56 ↗ chunky pieces of data to say, "Yeah,

47:58 ↗ let's do it right now or let's push it

48:00 ↗ off five years." So, um, I'm going to,

48:02 ↗ um, you know, I'm going to punt on this

48:04 ↗ one and say,

48:06 ↗ um, can we revisit this? I know we're

48:09 ↗ trying to finalize the CIP ASAP.

48:13 ↗ That was a bad set of acronyms, wasn't

48:15 ↗ it? But um and and recognizing that it's

48:19 ↗ a planning document. So if we want to

48:21 ↗ put it in the CIP in the years in which

48:23 ↗ it sits with a big old unfunded line,

48:26 ↗ which is what it is, um I'm I guess I'm

48:29 ↗ not unhappy with that, but I don't think

48:31 ↗ it's very meaningful. So um I I don't

48:35 ↗ know what to do with this one at all. Um

48:38 ↗ it just seems like we're we are um we

48:41 ↗ have too much incomplete information to

48:44 ↗ really make a a good determination of

48:47 ↗ when we should be doing this and when we

48:49 ↗ should be planning to do this.

48:54 ↗ Uh I I agree with that. I um I disagree

48:58 ↗ with uh Conniey's assessment that maybe

49:01 ↗ we should take it out of the CIP. I

49:02 ↗ think it definitely needs to be in the

49:04 ↗ CIP um because again it is a planning

49:07 ↗ document. It's not a budget document and

49:10 ↗ uh the need has been amply demonstrated

49:13 ↗ that we need to do something with uh

49:16 ↗ both of those with the IPD and the city

49:18 ↗ hall. Um I think we're in such a

49:20 ↗ volatile uh

49:23 ↗ situation politically and economically

49:26 ↗ at this point um that it's very hard to

49:29 ↗ think about the timing of the funding.

49:32 ↗ um if we intend to go out to the public

49:34 ↗ for support um we'll have to do a real

49:38 ↗ assessment of uh how the electorate is

49:41 ↗ feeling during these really difficult

49:43 ↗ times about uh taxation and um those are

49:46 ↗ really big questions. Um, I agree with

49:49 ↗ Council Member Ray that one of the first

49:51 ↗ pieces that we'll get is the

49:53 ↗ recommendation from the task force and

49:56 ↗ that will be one piece of information,

49:58 ↗ but there's still many other pieces of

50:00 ↗ information we're going to need before

50:02 ↗ we make a final decision about what what

50:04 ↗ we're going to do there. So, but uh it

50:08 ↗ should be in the CIP. uh if we are

50:10 ↗ identifying what our needs are and

50:13 ↗ trying to plan out where we're going

50:15 ↗ with big and little projects uh then a

50:19 ↗ planning document is exactly where it

50:21 ↗ should be. So yeah

50:25 ↗ to that I will add you know this is 3 to

50:29 ↗ 9 years out 3 to 8 years out I mean

50:31 ↗ that's the time frame that we are going

50:33 ↗ to need to if not sooner resolve the IPD

50:37 ↗ uh uh operational issues that have

50:40 ↗ already been identified and hopefully 3

50:42 ↗ to nine years is the time frame for a

50:44 ↗ city hall uh figuring out what we're

50:47 ↗ going to do about our city hall. So, uh,

50:49 ↗ you know, I think that timing is fine.

50:52 ↗ Funding is, yeah, just so up in the air.

50:54 ↗ I I don't I'm not sure this document

50:56 ↗ gives much guidance other than saying

50:58 ↗ it's a giant $60 million hole that we

51:00 ↗ have to fill, a pothole, if you will, of

51:02 ↗ $60 million. Uh, so then on to the

51:05 ↗ proposed parks, trails, facilities, and

51:07 ↗ IT

51:08 ↗ projects. Who wants to go first?

51:12 ↗ Deputy Council President.

51:14 ↗ Thank you, Council Member Ray. Um, so do

51:18 ↗ I support the proposed park trails

51:20 ↗ facilities and IT projects? Short

51:22 ↗ answer, yes. Um, I just had I I would

51:26 ↗ love it if we could support and fund all

51:29 ↗ of them. It's just heartbreaking in some

51:31 ↗ ways, but uh these are, you know, these

51:34 ↗ are the the ways that we get through and

51:36 ↗ figure out where we're going to go, but

51:38 ↗ um yes, I think the staff has done a

51:40 ↗ good job of identifying the priorities

51:43 ↗ here. Thank you. Thank you.

51:49 ↗ what she said. No. Uh uh seriously, I'll

51:53 ↗ start with technology because I think

51:54 ↗ that's kind of an interesting one. Um I

51:56 ↗ like the the focus on some of the uh

52:00 ↗ technology initiatives that have been

52:02 ↗ identified as new projects because I

52:04 ↗ think they're ones that actually uh

52:05 ↗ create value for us. Um I'm thinking

52:09 ↗ that um it was smart to move the PC

52:12 ↗ replacement program from REIT to a cost

52:15 ↗ allocation that actually just um

52:17 ↗ generates a little more uh cash flow

52:19 ↗ from the enterprise funds and that was u

52:21 ↗ that makes uh a lot of sense. Um we

52:25 ↗ always hate seeing pro uh parks projects

52:27 ↗ removed or even modified. So I think we

52:30 ↗ you know that's a challenge. Um, but I

52:34 ↗ do like the idea that we do need a new

52:36 ↗ park in the Isqua Highlands in the uh

52:40 ↗ west in that we have a lot more uh

52:43 ↗ residential housing going in there and

52:45 ↗ um having access to more parks is good

52:49 ↗ and um and then with facilities um again

52:52 ↗ it's the it's the focus on what can we

52:54 ↗ do to to

52:57 ↗ uh maintain what we have. So, that was

53:00 ↗ just a really long uh way to say exactly

53:02 ↗ what Deputy Council President D.

53:04 ↗ Michelle said.

53:07 ↗ Uh I I'm generally supportive of this. I

53:11 ↗ I think that with parks and trails, we

53:15 ↗ make incremental progress every single

53:18 ↗ year. And I think our city is in far

53:20 ↗ better shape um than it was 16 years ago

53:23 ↗ when I started on council. and we just

53:26 ↗ we we keep we keep chugging along and we

53:28 ↗ keep uh making uh strategic acquisitions

53:32 ↗ and then working those in and I think

53:35 ↗ that's valuable. I I will put out again

53:38 ↗ my uh hope that there comes a time when

53:42 ↗ the vision that we have had for

53:44 ↗ Confluence Park gets executed. I think

53:47 ↗ that could be just one of the best parks

53:51 ↗ in King County. I think it's a I think

53:53 ↗ it's a wonderful space right now, but

53:56 ↗ you know, when you look at what the

53:58 ↗ vision is for Confluence Park, um you

54:01 ↗ know, I think that the me from 12 or 14

54:07 ↗ years ago when Mayor Fryzinger was

54:10 ↗ cutting the ribbon on that park, um I

54:13 ↗ think I'd be a little disappointed that

54:15 ↗ we haven't made more progress on it. So,

54:17 ↗ I'll just put that out there. It's good

54:18 ↗ we're working on the e house. I think

54:20 ↗ that's important. I think that's a good

54:21 ↗ step. Um, but that park um has been in a

54:25 ↗ holding pattern for a long time because

54:27 ↗ it's a lot of money, right? It's um the

54:29 ↗ vision of that park is massive um in

54:33 ↗ terms of what the investment will be to

54:34 ↗ get there. Um but it's the one area that

54:37 ↗ hasn't had that, you know, for a while

54:39 ↗ now that continual improvement that all

54:41 ↗ the rest of the park system has had. But

54:43 ↗ having said that, I'm supportive of

54:44 ↗ this. Also, the facilities and IT side

54:46 ↗ of it, I'm I'm good for that. So, uh,

54:50 ↗ any further thoughts on these three

54:51 ↗ topics before I look back to, um, the

54:53 ↗ city administrator and ask if he has the

54:55 ↗ information that he needed from us this

54:56 ↗ evening? Yes. Thank you. All

55:00 ↗ right. Great. Well, thank you. Um, with

55:04 ↗ that, and I wish I could go to the top

55:06 ↗ of my page really quickly, um, but I

55:08 ↗ can't. So, the next item we have

55:11 ↗ is somebody help me out.

55:15 ↗ Lake Smer State Park.

55:18 ↗ sports

55:19 ↗ field with director

55:24 ↗ Watling. Sorry, it is COOM

55:28 ↗ 0144 Place State Park Sports Fields to

55:32 ↗ be

55:36 ↗ precise. Forgive me as I'm uh seeking to

55:40 ↗ share my screen.

55:48 ↗ Thank you, Director Monahan, and the

55:50 ↗ whole team for that. Appreciate it.

56:00 ↗ Cassidy, forgive me. I am

56:03 ↗ uh I sharing my webinar window. Nope.

56:07 ↗ Nope.

56:14 ↗ So I am sharing

56:21 ↗ now. How's that?

56:27 ↗ What's that?

56:30 ↗ My presentation showing here.

56:51 ↗ Share. Share content. Yeah, let's try

56:53 ↗ that one.

56:55 ↗ Where is your presentation? Chrome.

57:03 ↗ Here we go.

57:09 ↗ All right. Apologize for that. I'm back.

57:11 ↗ Thank you, Chair Barts. Good evening,

57:13 ↗ Council Jeff Watling again. Uh yeah,

57:16 ↗ tonight um we want to have a

57:19 ↗ conversation with you. We're not seeking

57:20 ↗ necessarily action tonight from you, but

57:22 ↗ I wanted to um inform and update and get

57:25 ↗ some feedback from you on an opportunity

57:27 ↗ uh that's been presented uh to the city.

57:30 ↗ Um the update tonight is really in the

57:34 ↗ uh the opportunity here is to consider

57:36 ↗ maintaining and scheduling a portion of

57:38 ↗ the athletic fields at Lake Samish State

57:40 ↗ Park uh following um Isiqua Soccer Clubs

57:43 ↗ um ending their agreement, their

57:45 ↗ maintenance and management agreement uh

57:47 ↗ with with state parks.

57:59 ↗ All right. So, in sharing, we're going

58:01 ↗ to be very interested in getting your

58:02 ↗ feedback. Um, you'll see on the timeline

58:05 ↗ uh later on in this presentation, we're

58:07 ↗ really on the front end of um

58:09 ↗ formalizing an agreement uh with state

58:11 ↗ parks. So, any feedback uh you can

58:14 ↗ provide us would be really helpful as we

58:17 ↗ go into those uh finalized negotiations

58:19 ↗ with state parks and bring um a

58:22 ↗ potential agreement back to you.

58:26 ↗ Little bit of background and some

58:28 ↗ context on this. Um, in 2009, uh, an

58:32 ↗ agreement between Isqua Soccer Club and

58:34 ↗ Washington State Parks was entered into

58:36 ↗ where, uh, Isqua Soccer Club became the

58:39 ↗ the maintainer, manager, scheduler, and

58:41 ↗ sole user of the sports fields, um, at

58:45 ↗ state parks. Um, and that's been

58:48 ↗ obviously a long-standing uh, use. Many

58:51 ↗ many Israel residents, youth, boys and

58:53 ↗ girls have utilized and had access to

58:55 ↗ those fields through through soccer. Um,

58:58 ↗ Director Watling, are is this

59:00 ↗ specifically just the big complex at the

59:03 ↗ southeast corner of the state park? It

59:05 ↗ is. I I have a map that I'll show. Yeah,

59:07 ↗ I I'll show you later in the

59:09 ↗ presentation uh that gives specifics.

59:11 ↗ Um, but it does not include what you see

59:13 ↗ as the two baseball fields when you're

59:15 ↗ on I90, right? Not to bury that lead. Uh

59:19 ↗ so uh some work that we've been doing as

59:22 ↗ a department and working with the

59:23 ↗ community and working with with you in

59:25 ↗ 2022 we uh took a look at um a little

59:28 ↗ more focused look at an athletic field

59:30 ↗ study uh that identified um needs that

59:33 ↗ we have within our city and within our

59:36 ↗ um system. Um through that study we

59:39 ↗ recognize that

59:41 ↗ um transitioning to u multi-use fields

59:45 ↗ is in our best interest as a city. uh

59:48 ↗ when you look how land constrained we

59:49 ↗ are, uh the opportunity to purchase um

59:53 ↗ additional flat accessible developable

59:55 ↗ land on the valley floor could be really

59:57 ↗ really expensive. And so that study

59:59 ↗ really set into motion conversations we

1:00:02 ↗ began to have with both the Isra school

1:00:04 ↗ district and state parks uh to say,

1:00:06 ↗ "Hey, as we look at all of the

1:00:09 ↗ publiclyowned athletic fields, both ours

1:00:12 ↗ school district and state park, how do

1:00:14 ↗ we make sure we're positioning, we're

1:00:17 ↗ investing, we're making sure they're

1:00:19 ↗ accessible to the community because that

1:00:21 ↗ really is um our ability to not only

1:00:24 ↗ address current need, but but future

1:00:26 ↗ need uh with those existing public

1:00:28 ↗ spaces.

1:00:28 ↗ That was then reaffirmed um as we

1:00:31 ↗ adopted and went through the the park

1:00:33 ↗ system plan update in 2024. Um again

1:00:36 ↗ furthering our conversations with both

1:00:38 ↗ the Isiqua School District um and Lake

1:00:41 ↗ Samish State Park um as realizing those

1:00:45 ↗ those existing assets are essential uh

1:00:48 ↗ for again not only our current needs but

1:00:50 ↗ our future needs as well. Um then

1:00:53 ↗ earlier this year uh late first quarter

1:00:56 ↗ state parks uh contacted us um and the

1:00:59 ↗ parks department to let us know as I

1:01:01 ↗ said earlier Isqua school uh Isqua

1:01:03 ↗ school is soccer club um too many IS's

1:01:07 ↗ is soccer club was terminating

1:01:08 ↗ terminating their maintenance and

1:01:10 ↗ management agreement um um due to a

1:01:13 ↗ number of of issues uh going on with the

1:01:16 ↗ soccer club um um and inquired as to our

1:01:21 ↗ interest and our ability and capability

1:01:23 ↗ of assuming maintenance and scheduling

1:01:25 ↗ of those

1:01:28 ↗ fields. Here's a map that gives a little

1:01:30 ↗ bit of context. Thank you, Chair March.

1:01:32 ↗ Um um the existing fields uh that we're

1:01:36 ↗ looking at um that are under that

1:01:38 ↗ maintenance management agreement are uh

1:01:41 ↗ really the the large collection of

1:01:43 ↗ fields that are um off of um Northeast

1:01:47 ↗ Seamish um Lake Smamish Drive um across

1:01:50 ↗ from the IHOP. Um I would note though we

1:01:53 ↗ didn't color them. The Isqua Soccer Club

1:01:55 ↗ also, if you can see my cursor circling,

1:01:57 ↗ um their maintenance and management

1:01:58 ↗ agreement included included this small

1:02:01 ↗ section of fields directly across from

1:02:03 ↗ the Costco. Um we are not necessarily at

1:02:07 ↗ this time uh I think just given the

1:02:09 ↗ condition, the lack of maintenance that

1:02:10 ↗ those fields have had for many many

1:02:12 ↗ years are not looking or considering um

1:02:16 ↗ uh the city assuming that

1:02:17 ↗ responsibility.

1:02:21 ↗ um in our conversations with state parks

1:02:23 ↗ and realizing spring is here, spring has

1:02:25 ↗ sprung, grass is growing, uh we have um

1:02:28 ↗ in partnership with state parks um and

1:02:30 ↗ really a solid relationship um has been

1:02:32 ↗ established and is continuing to to

1:02:34 ↗ flourish there. Um have assisted them

1:02:37 ↗ with doing some initial not only

1:02:39 ↗ maintenance assessment, uh Rick Still um

1:02:42 ↗ our assistant director and overseer of

1:02:44 ↗ park operations is here as well should

1:02:46 ↗ you have any questions. But as we began

1:02:48 ↗ really digging into what kind level of

1:02:51 ↗ maintenance uh could we provide um uh we

1:02:54 ↗ begun to do at least some initial work

1:02:56 ↗ with state parks um knowing that uh any

1:03:00 ↗ formal agreement is still is still in

1:03:02 ↗ the works. As we did that assessment um

1:03:06 ↗ and as we've talked with state parks not

1:03:07 ↗ only in this conversation but it really

1:03:09 ↗ over the last year um you're familiar

1:03:12 ↗ State Parks is um updating their 2007

1:03:15 ↗ management plan. they're asking

1:03:17 ↗ themselves as the owner of of this the

1:03:20 ↗ this property what role they feel like

1:03:22 ↗ sports fields should be in the in the

1:03:25 ↗ state park long term. Uh so if we've

1:03:27 ↗ entered into those relationships with

1:03:29 ↗ them as we understand some of the um wet

1:03:32 ↗ conditions that have existed along the

1:03:34 ↗ the size of uh the current um um field

1:03:38 ↗ spaces. We're proposing um to um assume

1:03:43 ↗ maintenance and management of a little

1:03:45 ↗ smaller footprint. Uh this would be the

1:03:47 ↗ the northern section of the big field.

1:03:50 ↗ Uh that proposed uh city of Isqua field

1:03:52 ↗ use that you see highlighted there is

1:03:54 ↗ about translates to 7 acres um as oppo

1:03:57 ↗ opposed to the full roughly 14 acres

1:04:00 ↗ that that uh that that complex sees. We

1:04:03 ↗ think that that is um a more doable for

1:04:07 ↗ us from a maintenance and management

1:04:09 ↗ standpoint. Uh but also I think looking

1:04:12 ↗ into the future and realizing some of

1:04:14 ↗ the balance that we need to have and

1:04:16 ↗ being a really good environmental

1:04:17 ↗ steward um of the state park as well as

1:04:20 ↗ um a steward and a provider of athletic

1:04:23 ↗ fields. That smaller footprint makes

1:04:26 ↗ sense. Um, another note I would I would

1:04:29 ↗ say on this slide is um we're intending

1:04:32 ↗ to manage these much differently than

1:04:34 ↗ they were managed under the soccer club

1:04:36 ↗ where you had a sole exclusive exclusive

1:04:39 ↗ use. We would um position these to be

1:04:42 ↗ managed and maintained in a way that

1:04:43 ↗ could support additional sports that

1:04:45 ↗ really haven't had access to those

1:04:47 ↗ fields before. um cricket, lacrosse in

1:04:50 ↗ particular, um other field other other

1:04:53 ↗ um sports that need rectangular or or

1:04:56 ↗ you know square uh field spaces uh that

1:04:58 ↗ we would not try and transition this to

1:05:00 ↗ baseball, softball, but this could

1:05:02 ↗ really

1:05:03 ↗ um not only keep those sports fields in

1:05:06 ↗ use, but also relieve some of the

1:05:08 ↗ additional the pressures we feel through

1:05:10 ↗ our system with some of these other

1:05:12 ↗ sports as well. Can I ask this? Um I'm

1:05:16 ↗ I'm not sure exactly how big this is. So

1:05:18 ↗ how does this compare for instance to

1:05:19 ↗ the pads up in the highlands?

1:05:22 ↗ Pads in the highlands. So um pad one

1:05:25 ↗ which is the two so two synthetic turf

1:05:28 ↗ fields side by side is roughly 2 and a

1:05:30 ↗ half acres. So this is a bunch double

1:05:34 ↗ that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um deputy

1:05:36 ↗ council president. Yeah. And just

1:05:38 ↗ looking at the map, what what would be

1:05:40 ↗ the access route in there? Will we have

1:05:42 ↗ to uh create a road in or is that an

1:05:45 ↗ existing road that I'm looking at? No.

1:05:48 ↗ So, so that that beige area you see that

1:05:51 ↗ I'm circling, that's the existing

1:05:52 ↗ parking lot. So, there's a lot there's

1:05:55 ↗ existing access, existing parking that

1:05:57 ↗ we would uh work in partnership with

1:06:00 ↗ state parks through this agreement.

1:06:01 ↗ Okay. I'm sorry I didn't read read that

1:06:03 ↗ that way. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. So, all

1:06:05 ↗ the the support infrastructure is

1:06:07 ↗ already already there.

1:06:11 ↗ um as we talked through our maintenance

1:06:14 ↗ plan um and really wanted to I think set

1:06:18 ↗ a realistic goal for how we pursue this

1:06:21 ↗ um two things and I'll talk about a

1:06:23 ↗ little bit further. One was we feel um

1:06:25 ↗ it makes sense for us as a city u to to

1:06:28 ↗ enter into a short-term agreement with

1:06:30 ↗ state parks to pilot this if if you

1:06:31 ↗ will. Um, also giving state parks

1:06:34 ↗ opportunity for them to finish their

1:06:36 ↗ management plan and and respect as the

1:06:38 ↗ property owner. Uh, they need to make a

1:06:41 ↗ determination on the role that uh,

1:06:44 ↗ sports fields uh, will have within the

1:06:46 ↗ state park. Um so uh with looking at uh

1:06:51 ↗ an agreement that would go through the

1:06:53 ↗ remainder of this bianual budget so

1:06:55 ↗ through December of of next year um we

1:06:59 ↗ are um proposing and as I think we

1:07:03 ↗ finalize this maintenance agreement with

1:07:04 ↗ the state we will have a better idea of

1:07:06 ↗ what this budget looks like but managing

1:07:09 ↗ expenses and revenues to to be cost

1:07:12 ↗ neutral uh to be neutral. So, um, a

1:07:16 ↗ maintenance plan we're putting together

1:07:17 ↗ would probably include an additional

1:07:19 ↗ part-time non-benefited, uh, maintenance

1:07:23 ↗ staff. We would not be looking at

1:07:24 ↗ needing to bring on an additional

1:07:26 ↗ full-time staff person. Um, um, we have

1:07:29 ↗ existing equipment. Um, there'd

1:07:31 ↗ obviously be a cost in some additional

1:07:33 ↗ supplies. Um those expenses though we

1:07:36 ↗ feel could be balanced with the

1:07:37 ↗ anticipated revenues that we uh would um

1:07:41 ↗ and could collect over this um over this

1:07:44 ↗ 18-month period. Um the first year

1:07:46 ↗ revenue is is um um it's kind of like

1:07:49 ↗ any business. Um our our expenses are

1:07:52 ↗ going to be exist um a little sooner

1:07:54 ↗ than the revenues are going to be coming

1:07:56 ↗ in. But we do feel like we'll be able to

1:07:59 ↗ to do this in this short-term window um

1:08:02 ↗ in a way that balances um as a

1:08:07 ↗ neutral. So on to options. Um the first

1:08:10 ↗ option and as I hinted on would be um

1:08:13 ↗ enter into this short-term agreement

1:08:14 ↗ with state parks uh again through the

1:08:17 ↗ remainder of our our ex our current

1:08:19 ↗ banial budget. So through December 2026.

1:08:22 ↗ Um again, we think that this would add

1:08:24 ↗ additional flexibility to offer multiple

1:08:26 ↗ sports um uh to have access to that

1:08:29 ↗ space like they've never had before. Uh

1:08:32 ↗ we would look at beginning scheduling

1:08:34 ↗ those fe the field use um as early as

1:08:36 ↗ this fall. Um as we've talked um

1:08:40 ↗ extensively with Mayor and uh city

1:08:43 ↗ administrator Bob Kowitz over these last

1:08:45 ↗ couple of months, administration

1:08:47 ↗ certainly supports and recommends we

1:08:49 ↗ move forward with this option. as well.

1:08:51 ↗ I would note um at the park board

1:08:52 ↗ meeting last night, I had this presented

1:08:54 ↗ this and had a great conversation with

1:08:57 ↗ park board wanted their feedback as a

1:09:00 ↗ great body of of residents. Uh they

1:09:02 ↗ unanimously supported uh we we pursue

1:09:05 ↗ this short-term agreement as well.

1:09:07 ↗ Again, this short-term agreement aligns

1:09:09 ↗ really well with state parks and some

1:09:10 ↗ decision-m they need to have. um it

1:09:13 ↗ aligns really well honestly with us um

1:09:16 ↗ to I think understand um what community

1:09:20 ↗ use would be um so if we were to enter

1:09:23 ↗ into a longer term plan we would be that

1:09:25 ↗ much more informed as to what um

1:09:28 ↗ maintenance needs would be what actual

1:09:30 ↗ field use would look like. Um the other

1:09:32 ↗ option if we don't want to pursue that

1:09:34 ↗ would be to do nothing. um state parks

1:09:37 ↗ has said they would they're not in a

1:09:38 ↗ position financially uh or resource-wise

1:09:41 ↗ to just continue to assume maintenance.

1:09:43 ↗ So, uh these fields would um just sort

1:09:47 ↗ of uh revert back to a a more natural a

1:09:50 ↗ more natural state. Um uh I don't need

1:09:54 ↗ to emphasize this too much but again

1:09:55 ↗ given this field athletic field study

1:09:58 ↗ that we've done um loss of these

1:10:01 ↗ existing fields we do not have

1:10:03 ↗ necessarily existing capacity to just

1:10:05 ↗ absorb that um into the remaining system

1:10:09 ↗ uh both school district and what what

1:10:11 ↗ the city manages. Director Watling, can

1:10:13 ↗ I ask about the state of the parking

1:10:15 ↗ lot? It's been a few years since my kids

1:10:18 ↗ played soccer, but when when they played

1:10:21 ↗ soccer, that field was a challenge with

1:10:25 ↗ a four-wheel

1:10:27 ↗ drive. Yes, absolutely. We've been in

1:10:30 ↗ conversation with state parks about that

1:10:31 ↗ as I look at at Rick and um that will

1:10:34 ↗ need to be part of our short-term

1:10:36 ↗ agreement is just how do we make sure

1:10:39 ↗ the condition of that parking lot is at

1:10:41 ↗ a level we're comfortable with and and

1:10:44 ↗ they as the owners quite frankly of the

1:10:46 ↗ property are comfortable with as well.

1:10:48 ↗ So I'll have it it's a topic uh we'll

1:10:50 ↗ definitely address it in um should we be

1:10:53 ↗ pursuing a short-term agreement in terms

1:10:55 ↗ of how we address that. Got it. Thank

1:10:58 ↗ you, Council Member Ray. I have a bevy

1:11:02 ↗ of questions. Um, what is the Isqua

1:11:06 ↗ Soccer Club planning to do for Fields or

1:11:08 ↗ are they just not going to play anymore?

1:11:11 ↗ Yeah, great question. I I don't have all

1:11:13 ↗ the inside knowledge. I know I think

1:11:15 ↗ they're in a financial place where they

1:11:17 ↗ um have been absorbed by a different

1:11:19 ↗ soccer club. Um, a Belleview area soccer

1:11:22 ↗ club is now assuming their management.

1:11:26 ↗ Um

1:11:27 ↗ um that soccer club as I've been in

1:11:30 ↗ contacted with that that new soccer

1:11:32 ↗ club, the Belleview based soccer club is

1:11:34 ↗ interested in renting fields from the

1:11:36 ↗ city, but they're not interested in

1:11:38 ↗ being the the maintainer and manager um

1:11:41 ↗ of of fields.

1:11:44 ↗ So there there's an additional soccer

1:11:46 ↗ club. Sorry, sorry, Wally. Um here in

1:11:48 ↗ Isiqua, the Isqua Football Club, IFC um

1:11:52 ↗ um is is certainly seeing increased use

1:11:55 ↗ in youth as well. They also have

1:11:58 ↗ interest in and have been they're a

1:12:00 ↗ renter of Central Park and some of our

1:12:02 ↗ other field spaces. They would be very

1:12:04 ↗ interested in uh the use of these fields

1:12:06 ↗ as well.

1:12:08 ↗ All right. Um, as a soccer parent, I can

1:12:11 ↗ provide a little bit more information.

1:12:13 ↗ Um, those fields were in regular use up

1:12:16 ↗ until about two years ago, uh, by the

1:12:19 ↗ recreation soccer teams. Um, and we have

1:12:22 ↗ now been placed on the road. Um, and so

1:12:25 ↗ we are at every middle school on the

1:12:27 ↗ east side that has a field. So we've

1:12:31 ↗ been to Mercer Island, we've been to

1:12:33 ↗ Belleview, we've been to Seamish. And so

1:12:36 ↗ what they've done is the the teams are

1:12:38 ↗ just traveling more outside of Isaqua.

1:12:41 ↗ Okay. Um for use and most of these

1:12:42 ↗ fields that are being used at these

1:12:44 ↗ schools are artificial turf fields.

1:12:49 ↗ Um so we talked about the parking lot

1:12:52 ↗ and so that would still be part of the

1:12:55 ↗ maintenance of the state park. They

1:12:57 ↗ would still own the parking lot and and

1:12:59 ↗ I mean they'd all own it all but they

1:13:01 ↗ would still be maintaining the parking

1:13:02 ↗ lot. Correct. We would probably be

1:13:04 ↗ partnering with them in litter um and

1:13:08 ↗ and some of those just yeah operational

1:13:10 ↗ realities. Cool. And um

1:13:16 ↗ so my biggest question what I want you

1:13:17 ↗ to think about what kind of liabilities

1:13:19 ↗ does it create for the city to be the

1:13:22 ↗ maintenance partner of that facility or

1:13:25 ↗ that field if something were to happen

1:13:27 ↗ there? Um what liabilities does that

1:13:30 ↗ create for the city? A great question.

1:13:32 ↗ and we would certainly work closer with

1:13:34 ↗ the city attorney as we draft that

1:13:36 ↗ agreement. My initial response is it

1:13:38 ↗ looks no different than the current

1:13:40 ↗ fields that we manage and maintain um in

1:13:43 ↗ terms of risk. Um um sports field use

1:13:49 ↗ falls well within this the recreation

1:13:51 ↗ immunity law um here in the state of

1:13:54 ↗ Washington. um how we ensure that that's

1:13:58 ↗ transferred

1:14:00 ↗ um to property we're managing owned by

1:14:04 ↗ state parks by another public agency. We

1:14:06 ↗ would want to make sure that that's sort

1:14:08 ↗ of understood and clearly stated in the

1:14:10 ↗ agreement. And then uh I'm I'm guessing

1:14:13 ↗ you just answered my last question which

1:14:14 ↗ is the process for scheduling these

1:14:16 ↗ fields then would be the same as the

1:14:18 ↗ process we use for scheduling any of our

1:14:20 ↗ other facilities or fields. Exactly. as

1:14:22 ↗ as we've talked not only with the

1:14:24 ↗ maintenance team but our our recreation

1:14:25 ↗ team who

1:14:28 ↗ scheduuling priorities and guidelines

1:14:30 ↗ for Central Park and Tivotsz Valley

1:14:32 ↗ Park. Yep. Great. Thanks, Jeff. Got it.

1:14:36 ↗ I I have a question. Um do we have a way

1:14:40 ↗ I'm going to I'm going to put on my

1:14:41 ↗ prognosticator hat. I'm going to put on

1:14:43 ↗ my great my great carnack hat and

1:14:45 ↗ predict that in two or three years this

1:14:49 ↗ will be really successful. And what

1:14:51 ↗ you'll hear is that it needs to be to

1:14:53 ↗ the same standard as our other uh play

1:14:56 ↗ fields in the city that uh the parking

1:14:59 ↗ lot needs to be the same standard and

1:15:01 ↗ the fields themselves need to be the

1:15:02 ↗ same standard and we will be uh

1:15:06 ↗ challenged by our success. So, is there

1:15:09 ↗ a way for us to um and it's not a zoning

1:15:14 ↗ thing, but is there any policy that we

1:15:16 ↗ can invoke to make clear that these

1:15:19 ↗ would these would not be we're not going

1:15:22 ↗ to we're not going to turf these anytime

1:15:24 ↗ in the foreseeable future, right? These

1:15:26 ↗ are these are going to be fields that

1:15:27 ↗ we're going to maintain and they're

1:15:28 ↗ going to be great to play soccer on, but

1:15:30 ↗ they're not going to be like pad one,

1:15:32 ↗ right? Um because I I really worry that

1:15:35 ↗ in two or three years we could be we

1:15:37 ↗ could have the public clamoring for us

1:15:39 ↗ to spend a very large amount of money um

1:15:41 ↗ to bring it to the same standard as some

1:15:43 ↗ of our other uh fields even though we

1:15:45 ↗ don't own it. And um so do we do we have

1:15:50 ↗ a way to set expectations appropriately

1:15:53 ↗ so that we won't be facing that

1:15:55 ↗ potential prognostication?

1:15:58 ↗ Sure. Sure. Yes. Um, you know, I would

1:16:02 ↗ say first and foremost, you know, any

1:16:05 ↗ any decision or opportunity for that

1:16:07 ↗ starts with state parks, right? They

1:16:10 ↗ they would be the owner. And is that

1:16:11 ↗ something they're even supportive of

1:16:14 ↗ within their state park? Does that meet

1:16:16 ↗ the the mission and vision of state

1:16:18 ↗ parks? Um

1:16:21 ↗ um as for community interest, I guess I

1:16:25 ↗ I don't know. I'm putting my parks

1:16:27 ↗ director hat on, which sort of always

1:16:29 ↗ stays on, I suppose. Um, hard to tamper

1:16:33 ↗ that or hard to say, hey, don't don't

1:16:36 ↗ aspire to wanting something else. Um, I

1:16:40 ↗ just I I think we

1:16:41 ↗ would clearly communicate what we have

1:16:45 ↗ the capacity for and the capability for

1:16:48 ↗ and the level of service that we would

1:16:50 ↗ strive for. Making a quality grass

1:16:53 ↗ facility is is what we have in front of

1:16:56 ↗ us. And that's that's the goal, right?

1:16:59 ↗ That's the that's the north star that

1:17:02 ↗ we're we're pointing at.

1:17:04 ↗ um

1:17:06 ↗ should 5 10 15 20 years down the road if

1:17:09 ↗ this is a success I I what I would I

1:17:12 ↗ guess encourage you to consider and

1:17:14 ↗ think is um whatever is population is

1:17:18 ↗ going to be in the future whatever

1:17:20 ↗ athletic field needs we have um should

1:17:23 ↗ there be interest in in and um

1:17:26 ↗ willingness by state parks to consider

1:17:28 ↗ improving that that will be a far less

1:17:31 ↗ expensive endeavor than us buying

1:17:35 ↗ commercial land somewhere and starting

1:17:38 ↗ from scratch to build a similar facility

1:17:42 ↗ um somewhere in in Isiqua.

1:17:45 ↗ So, but yeah, I think we we do their

1:17:48 ↗ best to manage expectations. I think

1:17:50 ↗ it's a great a great point. Thank you.

1:17:55 ↗ All right. So, last slide um before

1:17:58 ↗ getting final response from you. Just

1:18:00 ↗ looking ahead at timeline, next steps.

1:18:02 ↗ Um remainder of this month and into

1:18:04 ↗ June, should we look at proceeding, we

1:18:06 ↗ will um be finalizing that agreement

1:18:09 ↗ with state parks. Um again, for that

1:18:11 ↗ interim sort of 18-month um agreement, u

1:18:14 ↗ bring that back to you probably full

1:18:17 ↗ counsel in July. again would would

1:18:19 ↗ welcome your feedback there um allowing

1:18:21 ↗ us to put this into our scheduling

1:18:24 ↗ matrix um and uh begin seeing some

1:18:27 ↗ degree of community use happening this

1:18:29 ↗ August and September uh sort of looking

1:18:32 ↗ ahead uh by Q2 of 2026 we'll be well on

1:18:37 ↗ our way in working with state parks um

1:18:40 ↗ again their own management plan work um

1:18:42 ↗ our own work and feedback that that uh

1:18:45 ↗ we'll see from use to determine if a

1:18:47 ↗ long-term agreement is something that

1:18:48 ↗ both agencies want to pursue. Um,

1:18:51 ↗ allowing us by Q3 of of 2026 to have a

1:18:55 ↗ long-term agreement that would allow us

1:18:57 ↗ to uh begin incorporating those

1:19:00 ↗ anticipated expenses and revenues into

1:19:02 ↗ the 2728 budget process.

1:19:07 ↗ Council member Ray,

1:19:09 ↗ here's an off off-the-wall question for

1:19:11 ↗ you. Would the the state parks be

1:19:14 ↗ interested in deeding that property to

1:19:16 ↗ us as opposed to having us a maintenance

1:19:18 ↗ agreement?

1:19:20 ↗ You said deeding it to us. Deeding it.

1:19:22 ↗ Yeah.

1:19:24 ↗ Uh don't know. Don't know.

1:19:27 ↗ I'm just thinking in the the long term,

1:19:30 ↗ you know, and I I think that council

1:19:32 ↗ member Mart is spot on with his

1:19:34 ↗ prognostication hat. And if we're going

1:19:36 ↗ to be doing, you know, being in a

1:19:38 ↗ situation where we're going to be

1:19:39 ↗ looking at upgrades, I'd rather be

1:19:41 ↗ upgrading city property than upgrading

1:19:44 ↗ state property or or or being in kind of

1:19:48 ↗ a a in between state where there's

1:19:51 ↗ pressure to do it and yet we don't have

1:19:53 ↗ really the the the right actually even

1:19:56 ↗ to possibly do it. So, um just let me

1:19:59 ↗ just plant that seed with you and let

1:20:00 ↗ you chew on it. Well, thank you. Thank

1:20:02 ↗ you for that. That's that's something

1:20:04 ↗ that has that's also crossed our minds.

1:20:06 ↗ Again, I'm not going to speak for state

1:20:08 ↗ parks. That's a independent decision on

1:20:10 ↗ their part. Uh but knowing we're uh an

1:20:14 ↗ owner of other public city- owned

1:20:16 ↗ property that adjoins state parks. We've

1:20:19 ↗ certainly at least presented to them the

1:20:21 ↗ idea of what if sometime in the future

1:20:23 ↗ if we're if we're good maintenances

1:20:26 ↗ maintainers and managers of active park

1:20:29 ↗ space and you're great maintainers and

1:20:31 ↗ managers of of conservation space is

1:20:34 ↗ their opportunity to

1:20:37 ↗ um create a win-win. Um but that's

1:20:41 ↗ that's long long term I think. Yeah. But

1:20:44 ↗ great question.

1:20:49 ↗ So any other again just seeking your

1:20:51 ↗ feedback thoughts um certainly you know

1:20:54 ↗ based on your

1:20:55 ↗ questions so before we provide that

1:20:58 ↗ feedback I will ask again if any members

1:21:00 ↗ of the public either present or online

1:21:02 ↗ are interested in speaking to this issue

1:21:04 ↗ I see at least one member of the public

1:21:05 ↗ here so sir if you'd want to come

1:21:07 ↗ forward give us your name address

1:21:10 ↗ relationship to the city and your

1:21:12 ↗ thoughts

1:21:16 ↗ Thank you, Jeff. Uh, good evening,

1:21:18 ↗ council. Uh, thank you for giving me the

1:21:20 ↗ opportunity to speak. Uh, my name is

1:21:22 ↗ Kiran Kumarolu. I have some notes. I'm

1:21:24 ↗ going to speak use these notes to speak.

1:21:26 ↗ Uh, I don't have the experience of

1:21:28 ↗ speaking up here. So, if I make a fool

1:21:30 ↗ out of myself, please please excuse me.

1:21:33 ↗ Uh, so I'm a resident of the area for

1:21:35 ↗ about a decade, about 12 years now. Uh,

1:21:37 ↗ I have two boys in the super school

1:21:39 ↗ district. One goes to Cougar Mountain

1:21:41 ↗ Middle School, one goes to Cougar

1:21:42 ↗ Elementary. Uh I live in Belleview by

1:21:45 ↗ Lakemont but fall under the super school

1:21:47 ↗ district. My wife works for Costco. I

1:21:49 ↗ work for T-Mobile. We live right in the

1:21:51 ↗ middle. Uh so I happen to be the

1:21:54 ↗ secretary of the Seattle Youth Cricket

1:21:57 ↗ League. I'm also a cricket dad. I see a

1:21:59 ↗ cricket a soccer dad here. So a cricket

1:22:02 ↗ a sport parent basically, right? Uh I've

1:22:05 ↗ never played the sport but my kids love

1:22:07 ↗ the sport. So I somehow got into it. Uh

1:22:10 ↗ so we are a youth cricket league. We

1:22:12 ↗ support about 500 kids in the area in

1:22:14 ↗ the greater Seattle area. Uh we also

1:22:16 ↗ have some kids coming from Portland to

1:22:18 ↗ to play in our league. Uh we rent ICP is

1:22:21 ↗ one of our fields that we rent. Uh we

1:22:23 ↗ also rent uh CMMS middle schools field.

1:22:27 ↗ We have fields in Mandro. We have fields

1:22:28 ↗ in Snowquali that we rent and we we we

1:22:31 ↗ play there. We play out there, right? Uh

1:22:33 ↗ cricket is an Olympic sport. If you guys

1:22:35 ↗ didn't know, it's a very fast growing

1:22:37 ↗ sport. You know, a lot of youth in the

1:22:39 ↗ area are getting into it. We had about I

1:22:40 ↗ would say 5 years back we had about 150

1:22:43 ↗ art kids. Today we have 500 art kids.

1:22:46 ↗ Right? And I'm not even counting the

1:22:47 ↗ adults. These are all U15 and under kids

1:22:49 ↗ mostly high schoolers, middle schoolers

1:22:51 ↗ and so on, right? U so we also run some

1:22:56 ↗ uh uh national tournaments in the area

1:22:58 ↗ too in case you guys know. So we have a

1:23:00 ↗ tournament this Memorial Day. We have

1:23:01 ↗ teams coming from Florida, Canada,

1:23:04 ↗ Vancouver, California. I have three

1:23:06 ↗ teams from from coming from California

1:23:08 ↗ to play here and VRs are going out to

1:23:11 ↗ other cities to play. So it's a very

1:23:12 ↗ fast uh growing sport and a very you

1:23:15 ↗ know uh uh

1:23:17 ↗ uh so yeah so we would love the space to

1:23:20 ↗ be given out for cricket. Uh we are not

1:23:24 ↗ asking for funding. I mean we can get

1:23:25 ↗ the funding we can help uh the city

1:23:28 ↗ improve the space. Uh we can bring in

1:23:30 ↗ you know grants or uh donations or

1:23:33 ↗ whatever right? Uh but we would love for

1:23:36 ↗ that space to be opened up for for

1:23:38 ↗ cricket and be given to to youth

1:23:39 ↗ cricket. Yeah, that's what I wanted to

1:23:42 ↗ say. Thank you. Thank you. And you did

1:23:44 ↗ not make a fool of yourself. So

1:23:45 ↗ congratulations. Thank you. Uh I I see

1:23:48 ↗ another member of the public that would

1:23:50 ↗ like to speak. Sir, if you come to the

1:23:52 ↗ microphone. Appreciate it. Thank you. Um

1:23:56 ↗ good evening everyone, council members.

1:24:00 ↗ Thank you for the opportunity to talk

1:24:01 ↗ and uh it's a great topic. I came to

1:24:03 ↗ know about this last minute. By the way,

1:24:04 ↗ I'm Pani Chidni. I'm a resident of

1:24:07 ↗ resident of this area for 25 years. I

1:24:09 ↗ own multiple businesses here including

1:24:11 ↗ one Indian restaurant here uh Masti Bar

1:24:14 ↗ and Grill. I got a chance to meet some

1:24:16 ↗ of you in various events. Uh so you know

1:24:19 ↗ good to be here and talking about uh

1:24:21 ↗ cricket again. So uh Kiran is part of

1:24:24 ↗ cricket. uh recently came in um a few

1:24:27 ↗ years ago again growing growing uh u

1:24:30 ↗ people passionate about sport helping

1:24:32 ↗ youth uh take up cricket I've been here

1:24:35 ↗ for 25 years and we have been working on

1:24:37 ↗ cricket for 23 plus years I own the

1:24:40 ↗ Seattle minor league cricket team um

1:24:42 ↗ work with orcas closely um again similar

1:24:47 ↗ similar there are multiple organizations

1:24:49 ↗ um trying trying to find space for

1:24:51 ↗ cricket it's uh it's a very dire need uh

1:24:56 ↗ to have and the type of land we need is

1:24:59 ↗ is not easy to get and this is

1:25:01 ↗ absolutely a golden opportunity to uh

1:25:04 ↗ include cricket in this one in 2007

1:25:06 ↗ before you signed this contract uh to

1:25:09 ↗ Isakqua soccer club. I was trying to get

1:25:11 ↗ that field for cricket uh but we did not

1:25:13 ↗ have the funds to support at that at

1:25:15 ↗ that situation but you know I think we

1:25:17 ↗ are in a better situation to partner and

1:25:19 ↗ make it a win today. So we would love

1:25:23 ↗ the support and uh you know there

1:25:24 ↗ there's an opportunity to make a

1:25:26 ↗ difference here. Isakqua did not have a

1:25:28 ↗ field. Uh Sam State Park gave one field

1:25:30 ↗ which is

1:25:32 ↗ uh you know u as you were raising

1:25:36 ↗ concern about the parking lots. think of

1:25:38 ↗ that in the field itself, right? So,

1:25:40 ↗ it's it's a makeshift one, but uh this

1:25:42 ↗ is an opportunity to put some good good

1:25:45 ↗ quality fields out there for cricket

1:25:47 ↗ from size-wise and I think with the

1:25:50 ↗ partnership we can make it a really good

1:25:51 ↗ one uh here. So, thank you for the

1:25:54 ↗ opportunity um for letting us talk here.

1:25:57 ↗ We really really expect your support on

1:25:59 ↗ this one. Thank you. Appreciate it.

1:26:01 ↗ Thank you for your comments. Do we have

1:26:04 ↗ any members of the public online who

1:26:05 ↗ wish to speak to this issue?

1:26:10 ↗ Thank you, chair. I do see one virtual

1:26:11 ↗ participant that would like to make a

1:26:13 ↗ comment. I will be uh making you a

1:26:16 ↗ panelist. Then you will be able to

1:26:18 ↗ unmute when you're ready.

1:26:21 ↗ Are we ready? I don't want to jump ahead

1:26:23 ↗ again. Okay. I don't have to give that

1:26:25 ↗ spiel again. So, thank you. Okay. Uh

1:26:29 ↗ Connie, yes, you've are you should be

1:26:31 ↗ able to unmute. Thank goodness I don't

1:26:33 ↗ want to hear the the whole thing again.

1:26:36 ↗ So, uh, Lake Smamish State Park. Holy

1:26:39 ↗ cow. Anyway,

1:26:41 ↗ about 99.9 of Lake Smish State Park is

1:26:45 ↗ critical area buffer at this point with

1:26:48 ↗ our new code. And so these fields that

1:26:51 ↗ you're talking about are either wetland

1:26:54 ↗ or

1:26:55 ↗ wetland buffer. So

1:26:58 ↗ [Music]

1:27:00 ↗ um on

1:27:02 ↗ principle they shouldn't be sports

1:27:05 ↗ fields because we actually

1:27:07 ↗ need natural area to thrive on the

1:27:10 ↗ planet.

1:27:12 ↗ Right? So uh it it goes against my grain

1:27:19 ↗ to support it. So I won't entirely

1:27:21 ↗ support it. I will say that for a

1:27:25 ↗ shortterm use of of fields that are for

1:27:30 ↗ multiple sports and allow use of the

1:27:33 ↗ general public on the fields for casual

1:27:38 ↗ use. Um I don't have too much problem

1:27:42 ↗ with it because the state park has a

1:27:44 ↗ heck of a time keeping up with anything

1:27:47 ↗ anyway. I will however dig my feet into

1:27:51 ↗ the ground if someone says, "Wow, what

1:27:54 ↗ we need to do is we need to drain these

1:27:56 ↗ fields like we try to drain all the

1:27:58 ↗ other fields that are basically in our

1:28:01 ↗ groundwater because it's expensive and

1:28:04 ↗ not possible. Uh

1:28:07 ↗ so

1:28:09 ↗ buying getting the bat land from the

1:28:13 ↗ state parks is another one of those

1:28:15 ↗ situations where you are endlessly going

1:28:17 ↗ to be fighting the water because the

1:28:19 ↗ water table is right there. The geese,

1:28:22 ↗ they love swimming on those fields all

1:28:26 ↗ winter long and most of the spring. So

1:28:29 ↗ they actually don't make great fields.

1:28:32 ↗ more interesting fields are the baseball

1:28:34 ↗ fields where they're currently playing

1:28:36 ↗ cricket. I see them sometimes. Uh upland

1:28:39 ↗ fields that then the city would be able

1:28:41 ↗ to help maintain and schedule more

1:28:44 ↗ effectively would be a much better

1:28:47 ↗ bargain with the state park. Uh the one

1:28:50 ↗ question I have is does this agreement

1:28:52 ↗ have to go to the state park commission

1:28:55 ↗ because the state parks run slow and the

1:28:58 ↗ state park runs awkward. So, I would be

1:29:01 ↗ interested in understanding what the

1:29:03 ↗ process is with state parks to actually

1:29:05 ↗ get this agreement um stamped and

1:29:10 ↗ approved and and then

1:29:13 ↗ um what of course the public interface

1:29:16 ↗ is for that. Thank you. Thank you for

1:29:20 ↗ your comment.

1:29:28 ↗ And with that, we can move to

1:29:30 ↗ deliberation. Who'd like to go first?

1:29:32 ↗ Council member Ray. I'll start us off

1:29:34 ↗ and I'm going to call it deliberations,

1:29:35 ↗ but I have some thoughts. Um, one is

1:29:38 ↗ it's there's clear need that uh for

1:29:40 ↗ fields and these may not be the optimal

1:29:42 ↗ fields that one would want to play in,

1:29:44 ↗ but I do like the idea of uh opening up

1:29:48 ↗ more space to different sports. I mean

1:29:52 ↗ um and it seems like we may have uh

1:29:54 ↗ become a little bit of a soccer monopoly

1:29:56 ↗ on that space and I think that that that

1:30:00 ↗ um broader perspectives are good and I

1:30:04 ↗ so I I like that idea. I'm not opposed.

1:30:07 ↗ I don't not to sound like the broken

1:30:10 ↗ record but given our current financial

1:30:11 ↗ situation I just would hate to think

1:30:13 ↗ that we are in this thing where we are

1:30:15 ↗ uh running any if or for very long a

1:30:19 ↗ deficit on this. So it's got to become

1:30:21 ↗ costneutral, even cost positive uh very

1:30:24 ↗ very quickly. So that other than that I

1:30:27 ↗ I think it's an interesting idea. It

1:30:29 ↗ feels like a a community need. Um and

1:30:33 ↗ and if we think we can manage it without

1:30:35 ↗ a lot of additional cost or hassle, I

1:30:38 ↗ say let's give it a shot. If it doesn't

1:30:40 ↗ work, we'll give it back.

1:30:44 ↗ Deputy Council President, uh very much

1:30:46 ↗ the same. I'm excited about the fact

1:30:48 ↗ that this opportunity came to us and I

1:30:50 ↗ think that speaks well to our

1:30:52 ↗ partnership that's been developed with

1:30:54 ↗ the uh state park. Um and uh so I I

1:30:59 ↗ would say that I fully support us going

1:31:01 ↗ ahead and seeing what kind of agreement

1:31:03 ↗ we can make. And um I think that our

1:31:07 ↗ parks department does such a great job

1:31:08 ↗ of

1:31:10 ↗ um of maintaining and and keeping fields

1:31:13 ↗ that um this will be a win-win for

1:31:16 ↗ everybody. Um, I also am a strong

1:31:19 ↗ supporter of providing young people with

1:31:22 ↗ healthy activities. And so the the uses

1:31:26 ↗ for that field uh play into that uh goal

1:31:30 ↗ uh completely and I agree with Council

1:31:32 ↗ Member Ray, opening it up to a wider

1:31:34 ↗ range of sports is really a good idea.

1:31:37 ↗ And thank you for your comments to both

1:31:39 ↗ of you for your comments. Um so that's

1:31:42 ↗ my that those are my remarks. Thank you.

1:31:46 ↗ Well, I have been beating the drum of uh

1:31:50 ↗ more cricket fields since before you

1:31:52 ↗ joined us here in Isiqua, Director

1:31:54 ↗ Watling. So,

1:31:56 ↗ um the idea of multi-purpose fields that

1:32:00 ↗ would have multip you know, multiple

1:32:02 ↗ uses uh is is very exciting to me. I

1:32:05 ↗ love soccer, but um you know, these

1:32:08 ↗ these fields could really mean a lot of

1:32:10 ↗ things to a lot of people. I think

1:32:11 ↗ there's, you know, I want to make sure

1:32:14 ↗ that

1:32:16 ↗ uh how do I say this right? There is an

1:32:19 ↗ equity element to this. Um we have a

1:32:21 ↗ large South Asian community and um there

1:32:25 ↗ aren't a lot of ways that we can

1:32:27 ↗ manifest support for that community. So

1:32:29 ↗ I think lacrosse is also important. Um,

1:32:32 ↗ I would hate to have lacrosse uh

1:32:37 ↗ dominate because merely because there

1:32:40 ↗ are um, you know, NCAA uh, uh,

1:32:44 ↗ scholarships available to Ivy League

1:32:46 ↗ schools for lacrosse. I know how some

1:32:49 ↗ isqua parents are, and I say that as a

1:32:51 ↗ parent whose child applied to Ivy League

1:32:53 ↗ schools um, but did not play lacrosse.

1:32:55 ↗ So, I just, you know, I just hope that

1:32:57 ↗ as we look to schedule these fields, um,

1:33:00 ↗ that equity is one of the elements we

1:33:02 ↗ take a look at, um, in making sure that

1:33:04 ↗ our entire community is, uh, is covered,

1:33:07 ↗ and I'm confident it will

1:33:09 ↗ be. Anything else we want to, and I will

1:33:12 ↗ look to the city administrator, and he

1:33:13 ↗ seems to have a satisfied look on his

1:33:15 ↗ face that he's gotten the feedback that

1:33:16 ↗ he was looking for from us. Uh, anything

1:33:19 ↗ for the good of the order? All right.

1:33:21 ↗ With that, then we are adjourned at 7:03

1:33:24 ↗ p.m. And thank you again for the members

1:33:26 ↗ of the public joining us this evening.

1:33:28 ↗ And thank you everyone at home.

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

Chris Reh

Barbara de Michele

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

T. Cassidy Mueller, Public Records Analyst

Recommendations & actions (1)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.