[5:06] I'm Mayor Kevin Schilling. I'm calling the regular meeting of the Bearing City Council to order on June 2, 2025. The time is 530pm. This hybrid meeting is being conducted in person at Bearing City Hall. I'm virtually via Zoom webinar. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance.

[5:24] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,

[5:32] one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

[5:41] Councillor McGregor Seale now read the native land and people's acknowledgement.

[5:45] Thank you, Mayor.

[5:46] We begin by honoring and acknowledging that this meeting is taking place on the ancestral lands and waters of the many coasts,

[5:52] tribal people who have since time immemorial protected and been in relationship with the

[5:58] salish sea and these precious lands we now know as beer and in our home. As a government agency

[6:03] that is occupying indigenous lands, it is important that we remember the history of our area

[6:08] and to work towards fixing the injustices that persist. We acknowledge our region's tribal citizens,

[6:13] their descendants and their ancestors and we honor their invaluable contributions to this region's

[6:17] communities, identity, economy, history, culture, and future.

[6:24] Thank you very much.

[6:29] The clerk will now read the role.

[6:31] Call the role.

[6:31] The city of Burian offers Spanish interpretation via Zoom.

[6:35] For those attending on Zoom, please select the language

[6:38] you would like to listen to the meeting in either English

[6:41] or Spanish.

[6:42] The next slide shows how to select a language

[6:45] on your mobile app.

[6:46] With that, we'll go into roll call, mayor Kevin Shilling.

[6:49] Deputy Mayor Sarah Moore.

[6:52] President, Council Member Kuzov Garcia.

[6:54] President.

[6:55] Council Member Linda Aki.

[6:57] Here, Council Member Jimmy Mada.

[7:00] Council Member Alex and Drade.

[7:02] Here, Council Member Stephanie Moore.

[7:06] Council Member Moore.

[7:07] Let me know that she is unavailable to make it tonight.

[7:10] So is there a motion to excuse Council Moore?

[7:13] I move to excuse Council Member Moore.

[7:16] Second to excuse Council Member Moore.

[7:18] all of us in favor, please raise your hand to say aye.

[7:20] unanimous approval of excusing council member more.

[7:23] Mayor, what is absent?

[7:24] Thank you.

[7:28] Is there a motion to confirm the agenda?

[7:31] Motion, the confirm, there's second. Okay, by Deputy Mayor Moore, moved by Councilor Roda, seconded by Deputy Mayor Moore, all those in favor, please raise your hand or say aye to confirm the agenda, unanimous confirmation of the agenda.

[7:47] So, moving on to our proclamation, gun violence awareness month, Councilmember Aki.

[7:54] Thank you. Good evening. I am proud to present the Proclamation for tonight. You know, read that.

[8:05] Whereas according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, there were nearly 1,600 shots fired incidents,

[8:11] and more than 300 shooting victims throughout King County in 2024. And whereas 75 people in King County tragically lost their lives

[8:20] to fire our on homicide in 2024, affecting a disproportionate number of young people of color,

[8:27] and whereas, according to the King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention,

[8:31] gun violence is not inevitable. It is preventable. There are ways to intervene

[8:36] and there is support for healing, and whereas, addressing gun violence requires a collaborative

[8:42] community wide approach, and the city of Bury and recognizes the many local schools,

[8:47] non-profits, agencies and individuals who continue to lead this work, and whereas between

[8:54] 2022 and 2024, reckless shooting incidents have decreased by more than half, and assault

[9:00] with firearms have decreased by nearly a third in Bering, and whereas a gun violence

[9:05] awareness-day event will be held at Bering Town Square Park on June 6, 2025, from 4

[9:13] to 530 p.m. to increase awareness about the impacts of gun violence and distribute free gun

[9:20] lock boxes in partnership with King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention,

[9:26] Progress Pushers, and Alliance for Gun Responsibility, and whereas everyone in Burian deserves

[9:32] to live in safe, healthy, supportive communities. Now therefore, the City Council of the City

[9:39] Buryan Washington does here by ask all Buryan community members to join together to proclaim

[9:45] June 2025 as gun violence awareness month in the city of Buryan, and it is all to work

[9:52] together to end gun violence day to the second day of June 2025.

[9:58] Is there someone to pick up the problem?

[9:59] It is. I would like to invite Alex Castro from the Alliance for Gun Responsibility to come forward

[10:06] and make some comments.

[10:15] Hi, thank you for the recognition.

[10:16] My name is Alex Gostito,

[10:18] I'm the Senior Community Organizer

[10:19] at the Alliance for Gun Responsibility,

[10:22] minimizing the pervasiveness of gun violence

[10:24] and challenging its own normal,

[10:25] seeing Washington State is daunting,

[10:27] but not impossible task.

[10:30] We were orange June 6th through eighth this year

[10:32] to honor survivors and build community

[10:34] with those working to end gun violence.

[10:37] On January 21st, 2013,

[10:39] Hadiya Pendleton, Marston President Obama's second inaugural parade, one week later Hadiya

[10:45] was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya's friends

[10:50] commemorate her life by wearing orange, the colors hunters wear in the woods protect themselves

[10:55] and others. Where orange weekend originated on June 2, 2015, 10 years ago today, on what would

[11:03] been Hadea Pendleton's 18th birthday.

[11:07] Where orange honors Hadeas and the 125 people shot and killed every day in the United States

[11:12] along with hundreds more who are wounded and the countless others whose lives have been changed

[11:16] by gun violence.

[11:18] We get the alliance for gun responsibility or honor to play a role in this effort and we

[11:22] are so grateful for the work, dedication and thoughtfulness that everybody has committed

[11:25] in order to keep our children and community safe.

[11:28] Thank you.

[11:31] Thank you.

[11:34] for a picture.

[12:39] All right. Moving on to council reports. Do any council members have any reports to share?

[12:48] Good. Council member breaking.

[12:50] Thank you. It was kind of a busy couple of weeks.

[12:55] So I just wanted to share with the community some of the boards meetings that I had.

[13:00] We, I attended the South King County Area Transportation Board meeting.

[13:05] This is called the Skate Board.

[13:08] And we received federal and state legislative updates, including information on the overall

[13:12] budget bills.

[13:13] The federal government reauthorized the safe streets program, increased fees for electrical

[13:17] vehicles.

[13:19] It's kind of like having a road usage fee, but not in any way.

[13:22] And reductions in climate and renewable energy funds, HUD and building resilient infrastructure,

[13:27] including existing construction and I'm sorry, yeah, they're ending some of these programs,

[13:34] including existing construction projects that will not receive the funding. The state legislature

[13:40] did work to cure a 12 to 16 billion dollar deficit so they passed a 77.8 billion dollar

[13:46] budget for 2025 and 2027. We also heard from Metro. They have joined a lawsuit filed against the

[13:57] for allocated funds to be allowed for use.

[14:02] They reported one third reduction in drug-related incidents

[14:04] on buses, which is good news.

[14:07] Concerns when writing on a bus can be reported

[14:09] to their online hotline and through their contact page.

[14:13] They also started bear enforcement on May 31.

[14:16] People will be required to pay to ride the bus

[14:18] or be part of a student or senior discount program,

[14:22] and people can load their orca cards

[14:24] if they are caught without paying as one of the things

[14:28] that they can do to avoid penalties.

[14:31] I attended the, oh, I'm sorry.

[14:36] Additionally, they had regional transportation plan

[14:38] presented by the Puget Sound Regional Council.

[14:41] It's the 2050 transportation plan.

[14:42] It's just being developed right now.

[14:44] So they were just sharing information.

[14:46] People can read more about that by going to PSRC.org

[14:51] and looking up the 2050 regional transportation plan.

[14:56] And I attended the Highline Forum last week.

[15:00] That meeting was held here at Beringon City Hall, which was quite exciting. I've been on this now since I joined, and this is the first time we had the meeting here.

[15:12] And wanted to congratulate Mayor Shilling for doing such a great job in presenting the wonderful work and everything that's happening within Beringon.

[15:21] And then also we received information on the airport stakeholder advisory round table, including the aviation noise working group and policy group.

[15:31] And some information on the port's economic development grants, $840,000 was sent out to 27 cities in 2024 and now they are starting their grant process for 2025 and 2026.

[15:44] I attended along with Councilmember Andrade, the Puget Sound Regional Council, General Assembly.

[15:50] Their mission is to advance solutions to achieving a thriving, racially equitable and sustainable

[15:55] central Puget Sound Region through leadership, visionary planning and collaboration.

[16:00] I wanted to congratulate everybody on a wonderful pride event, a big thank you to discover,

[16:13] morning and go home late at night for three nights and it's a lot of work and I just

[16:19] I wanted to thank them for all of that hard work for a great event and then I just

[16:25] wanted to take a moment to talk about serving on city commissions. These commissions and

[16:31] those serving in positions on commissions are appointed by the city council. They provide valuable

[16:35] feedback and information to the city council. This is important and per the commission handbook

[16:42] Members of the Commission have a responsibility to act ethically and responsibly and in the best interest of the city.

[16:48] A point of members can and should share their thoughts and ideas during the meetings.

[16:52] They are part of a board where members vote to make recommendations to the city council.

[16:57] They are not a spokesperson for the whole commission.

[17:00] They can encourage people to attend meetings and make public comments or write their comments down and have them address to the commission.

[17:07] As someone who has served on boards and commissions for decades,

[17:10] I take the individual roles and responsibilities of serving on a commission seriously, and as an oversight member, this council will call up times where I see ethical and responsible violations occurring.

[17:23] And I think this is just really important that people understand that sending out misinformation to the community as an individual when you're serving on a commission violates some of this, so I just wanted to share those thoughts.

[17:38] That's it.

[17:40] Thank you.

[17:41] Any other council reports?

[17:44] Councilmember and Drone.

[17:45] What did you?

[17:46] Thank you, Mary.

[17:50] As councilmember Aki had mentioned, we finished off our three day Pride Celebration.

[17:56] And it was an incredible showing.

[17:59] The amount of people just showing in support.

[18:03] There was a little bit of rain, so that was okay.

[18:05] But I do want to take a moment to say, how proud I am of this community.

[18:12] While the rain may have kept some folks away, the spirit of pride was ever present.

[18:17] More importantly, I'm thankful that the weekend went safely and without incident.

[18:21] That matters because pride is not just a celebration.

[18:25] It's a statement, a statement that we belong, that we stand together and that we will not be shaken by weather, ignorance or fear.

[18:32] I'll say it again. It is essential that pride continues and that it continues peacefully because in doing so we honor those

[18:40] excuse me, who came before us and we paved the way for those who come next.

[18:44] Thank you to everyone who showed up. Thank you to our committee, who stood up and made this weekend meaningful

[18:50] Rain and All, here's to pride community and continuing to move forward. Thank you.

[18:57] Thank you.

[18:59] And I also wanted to congratulate the city and discover

[19:04] Beirion on the Pride event.

[19:07] And I want to talk about a few things that I attended in the last few weeks.

[19:11] And then I would like to speak briefly on the last meeting we had on May 19.

[19:19] So I attended the wonderful Ecosry event hosted by Ecosry and Beirion Collaborative.

[19:26] The future of Varian, which can be in community members and nonprofits to talk about how to work together, particularly how different community members and nonprofits could collaborate with scarce resources without becoming

[19:42] competition to each other and Councilmember Aki and Garcia were also present.

[19:49] It was a very discussion oriented meeting with the broken to different groups to talk about issues that had been identified by community members as priorities.

[20:01] I wanted to report that the airport committee is working on recommended legislative priorities for the 26 legislative session.

[20:09] And once those have been discussed in the committee, they will bring them to Council for Council's consideration.

[20:17] And they're also reviewing the 2025 and working towards the 2026 planning.

[20:25] Small but amazing group of community members gathered at the Boulevard Park Library to discuss food access in that neighborhood on May 28.

[20:36] And the city manager will probably discuss this, but there was a discussion, including representatives from several cities, to talk with the King County assessor about how real estate values are assessed under the flight path.

[20:52] And whether there were ways to drill down on the impacts of the noise and pollution from the flight path compared to similar properties elsewhere.

[21:03] we did not get a resolution on it but we raised the question to them. They have a really simple

[21:10] metric for how to do that with street noise impact but it's more complicated with overhead noise

[21:16] impact and they didn't have a real quick answer. I also want to comment on the meeting that

[21:22] on May 19th, 2025, around ordinance 861. Last week, the City Manager emailed Council as a body

[21:33] suggesting that council members who voted against or abstain to stand on this ordinance

[21:37] were violating their oath of office to uphold state law. And what I want to speak about today's

[21:43] to defend my integrity as a council member on this topic, and to express my belief that each of

[21:48] for council members who cast no vote

[21:51] or extension votes, arrives at the decision with integrity,

[21:54] thoughts, and an examination at the law that each of us,

[21:57] myself included cast her votes with firm assurance

[22:00] that we were upholding state law,

[22:03] and that if the ordinance failed,

[22:04] Burian's law would revert to state law.

[22:06] I take very seriously another part of our council rules

[22:09] to assume good intentions.

[22:11] I assume and believe that each of us brought good intentions

[22:14] and thorough study to that vote.

[22:17] A vote in the Council chambers is the one privilege that I earned when the public

[22:22] contrasts it me with this job for the city manager to claim that I do not have the right to

[22:27] vote as I choose and as I believe, sir's mic.

[22:30] Constituents, was to question the purpose of me on the council and of the council and the ability of any of us to fulfill our duties.

[22:38] I want each council member to think about their role and to be aware never to let their decisions be curtailed in making decisions as a body.

[22:50] I was an abstention on the vote and I want to explain that a little bit more. I have been more undecided on 861 than on anything else in my time on council.

[22:58] because I believe that having a policy on the topic of temporary shelter on religious property would benefit the city and would vastly simplify decision making processes for future applications from those organizations.

[23:12] But when I read through the proposed ordinance and discuss it with people who both studied state law and who have established various types of shelter, I came to believe that the ordinance added restrictions that would likely limit the actual ability of churches to help the city addresses crisis.

[23:28] A council member at one time asked why churches weren't doing more to shelter on housed people.

[23:37] And although I know many of them are, I felt that passing this ordinance would have further reduced future action.

[23:44] Thank you. I thought

[23:48] hard about making this statement,

[23:53] but taking my role on council very seriously.

[23:56] I wanted to go back in time and answer a question that was asked to me at that time.

[24:07] And I thank you for your indulgence as I did.

[24:14] Any other council reports?

[24:17] Right?

[24:19] Thank you, Mayor.

[24:21] I too attended the coffee with the city manager in both our part.

[24:26] Thank you to our economic development staff,

[24:28] the partnerships that they established for this discussion.

[24:33] Quantity over quality for sure at the event.

[24:37] I think we have like four books for our community to speak up,

[24:40] but it was really robust speaking about lack of affordable groceries,

[24:45] type of groceries, healthy eating options in both our parks.

[24:51] So it was great.

[24:52] Thank you to staff for making it another long day.

[24:56] Also attended with most of the council I believe not all probably the Pride Festival Celebration this weekend

[25:05] Thank you to all the volunteers to the Pride Committee again all volunteers all community members

[25:12] It was a heavy lift. It was fantastic event

[25:16] I like the little bit of rain. I prefer it cool. I don't like too much heat to be honest. It's not my change

[25:22] But it was great.

[25:25] And I also attended the Church Eco-Thrive event

[25:31] with Councilmember A.K. and Deputy Mayor Moore.

[25:34] Really robust discussion on everything

[25:37] from housing to elder care to public safety.

[25:42] And great discussion and good to know

[25:45] that the nonprofit, non-profit social services community

[25:51] is themselves organized so that they are communicating to each other or about the different

[25:56] services that they provide and to work better as a group of non-profits. I was really

[26:02] encouraging to get that discussion. It was really well thought out event. Thanks. And I'm not as eloquent

[26:11] as council or deputy mayor more, but I do echo everything that she said regarding the previous meeting.

[26:29] So I have several conversations with individuals regarding zoning and changes of land and some of it is accurate and some of it is just

[26:42] makes me wonder how people start getting this kind of information. But regardless we will have a meeting here the 16th

[26:52] Council will have staff share with us what is reality and what's not reality.

[27:00] You know, I've got to tell you a love AI and chatGTP, but it's just a way that

[27:05] thing works sometimes.

[27:06] It just creates a lot of hate, discontent, and misinformation.

[27:11] You know, I think that some of the zoning change, you know, is going to affect us all.

[27:16] But I have my home and where my son lives and he has his home, there is something that's

[27:22] and that's changed.

[27:24] I think that said this before,

[27:26] nobody likes change except for a baby with dirty diapers.

[27:30] And the reality here is that there's some state law

[27:32] that we have to obey and we have to follow.

[27:35] So some of this is you'll get to hear

[27:37] what our state senators and state representatives are doing.

[27:40] So I would say stay in tune with some of that.

[27:43] Especially when we talk about unhoused individuals

[27:45] in the state of Washington,

[27:47] some of it is controlled by the city and some of it is controlled by the state

[27:49] and some of it is controlled by the federal government.

[27:51] So, we look at, you know, I say that politics starts local, and that's true.

[27:56] For those individuals that have called me, I appreciate it, and we've been able to have discussions,

[28:01] and we'll be able to have more discussions.

[28:03] There's some areas like critical areas.

[28:05] I mean, I just don't see where you're going to put growth in critical areas,

[28:09] where you already have a situation where you have land sliding.

[28:12] But I'm pretty hopeful that the staff will be able to clear some of this,

[28:18] There'll be some information coming out from our city, from our city manager and our communications director.

[28:24] But I appreciate that, you know, when there's misinformation that has a lot of participation with civic engagement and it's important, especially when you're in a time of elections and so it's important that we know who we elect and you know, is there what the information's coming out.

[28:39] That's one, two, no, I think that, you know, last meeting when it comes to churches offering facilities, you know, I voted for that and I did take a vote on it because I thought it was important. It's one of the biggest issue that this community has had for a long time and what do we do when we have on-house people we're going to have in cabinets in areas and if we do what does that look like if churches are going to have in cabinets, what does that look like?

[29:06] I think there should be, there should be systems in place to regulate a city and stay

[29:10] losses that we can, you know, we try to pass time, manner and place and there was a challenge

[29:18] of that.

[29:20] Well, you know, the city now has no camping anywhere.

[29:23] And so I think that as we move here, you know, I remember sitting here and having people

[29:27] saying that we were violating the Constitution when we showed, and it's going to be probably

[29:31] going to go to a U.S. Supreme Court, but this show that a small city like ours, we're

[29:36] not going to get pushed around and we're not going to be told what's constitutional,

[29:39] what's not. And so I want to thank fellow council members for staying strong on this.

[29:43] Regardless of where you stand on this, you know, reasonableity is that the political system

[29:48] in our country right now is it's their extremes. And I tell you, I want to live in a community

[29:53] where, you know, my kids have an opportunity to go to school, be safe, that my grandmother, my grandfather

[29:59] and walk down.

[30:00] The road and can at least say hi to the police after I want to think are a police department for doing a great job with drug bus and keeping guns off the roads. I mean, I've seen some of the news here in Bearing and I don't like seeing some of that.

[30:11] Unfortunately, when you become a small city, a sleeping community into an urban city, we're going to have some of these challenges. And I would tell you that you should be reading of what's going to happen with our freeways or highways. There'll be a lot of changes in Bearing and coming the next five to ten years. Thank you.

[30:28] thank you very much. Two things I'd like to say, so the first thing I like to say because

[30:34] there have been some mention of the last meeting, I would just like to remind council that

[30:40] I would encourage abstention votes only taken if you have a conflict of interest because

[30:46] your abstention people who are abstaining are choosing to not have a vote at all. You are in effect

[30:53] not doing what you were elected to do, which is to vote for or against something, and

[30:59] abstention vote is saying, I'm not even here.

[31:02] So I just wanted to voice my frustration with abstention votes when you don't have a

[31:07] conflict of interest, you are elected to vote yes or no, not to abstain.

[31:11] So I just wanted to say that.

[31:13] You got to make tough choices, we all got to make tough choices, and I think that an abstention

[31:17] is not a vote, it is saying, I actually don't have an opinion on this and why even bother being

[31:23] a die, as if you're not going to have an opinion on something that you've been elected

[31:25] to have an opinion on.

[31:27] The other thing I'd like to say is there are three legislators that represent the city of

[31:33] Burian who you should absolutely email and voice your concerns to as well.

[31:39] This is not the conversation we'll be having on June 16th and why a lot of you are here today,

[31:44] probably watching and listening to was because of two or three legislative bills that were

[31:50] passed at the state level, House Bill, let in 10, and 1220, and three of your legislators for

[31:55] the city of Burian were sponsors of that bill, Mia Greggerson, Emily Alvarado, and Joe Fitzgibbon.

[32:02] So, those are three of your state legislators, one's a senator now, two are house members,

[32:07] but those folks sponsored the bill, and we didn't create the state legislative requirements.

[32:13] So if you want to also voice concern or ask questions to the people you will elect to the state level,

[32:21] those are folks that you should be talking to because they are your representatives and Senator right now.

[32:28] And that's sponsored the bill that makes us have to talk about the land use and zoning changes.

[32:34] That's all I wanted to say, so moving on to City Manager's report.

[32:40] Mayor, thank you. Council, thank you.

[32:42] just a few items to share this this week. The first is just a reminder of the meeting schedule

[32:48] for the month of June for this month. There are three meeting schedules for this month,

[32:53] the day June 16th and June 30th. We staff had initially considered requesting

[32:59] of council reconciliation for this meeting due to challenges with staff capacity related to

[33:04] just regular training schedules. We've made it work for this week. Also,

[33:09] So reason for not requesting a cancellation was to to deadlines that needed to be mapped and also some projects that need to be kicked off, which is something that's on the agenda for today.

[33:21] If I may would like to ask Council to indulge in a little bit and to say thank you to Michelle and Andrew and Javu for helping us out this week and covering some essential duties.

[33:35] next item is information about coffee with the city manager, the coffee chats that had been briefly spoken about.

[33:43] The last meeting in the series was held in Boulevard Park and focused on work performed by our great team and economic development.

[33:52] Today we have had and posted three specific speaking events on the following topics public safety which included police and fire community development.

[34:01] and concluded building and zoning and now economic development that also covered accessibility to food in areas that do not have accessibility is in some of the parts of our region.

[34:15] Public works is next the next department to participate and that will be held later this month.

[34:20] that the particular coffee chat will feature director

[34:24] sites there.

[34:25] And some of them are of esteem.

[34:27] They will share information about the

[34:28] work they perform in public works,

[34:31] all throughout the city.

[34:33] And I also wanted to thank members of Council for

[34:35] attending these events.

[34:37] They show support to staff.

[34:39] They show support to your communities.

[34:41] And so thank you very much for those that have

[34:43] participated and attended.

[34:44] And then also I've asked questions because that's

[34:46] also important to ask for questions of staff

[34:48] the work being performed. The next update is on an event that the city is co-sponsoring

[34:55] coordination with King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention. We are hosting a gun

[35:01] lock box giveaway event. This is an annual event that is held. In the next iteration of this event

[35:08] will be this Friday, June 6th, 4 p.m. to 530 p.m. at Town Square Park. And again, this is for those

[35:15] individuals that are interested in acquiring safety items for their weapons, so thanks in advance

[35:23] of those that can attend.

[35:25] And lastly, just to them information about housing code and zoning map amendments, the

[35:31] we're in community hub now includes a new webpage that consists of pack based information

[35:34] on the topic of housing codes and zoning information on this page, discuss its topics such

[35:40] as critical and sensitive environmental areas, unique uniqueness of lot size and shape,

[35:45] state legislation that has essentially started the conversation in many cities on this topic

[35:52] The easiest way for anyone to find the beering community hub online is to perform a search on any search engine with the key words

[36:00] Beerian community hub and the information can also be found through smartphones with internet access

[36:07] That's all I have to share

[36:09] Thank you very much. Are there questions for go ahead it's a comment

[36:14] And the event at the Boulevard Park Library was not very heavily attended, but I hope the city

[36:22] continues to schedule some of its events there because I think that with repetition people

[36:30] will start to expect and look forward to them.

[36:33] So I just want to thank City staff for making the hall over there and encourage them to do it

[36:41] again.

[36:44] All right. Thank you. Moving into public comment. Would you like to read the guidelines?

[36:51] Okay. Thank you.

[36:53] Public comment guidelines are summarized on the screen and can be viewed in section five of the council rules of order.

[37:00] The deadline to sign up to speak or submit written comments for this meeting was 430 p.m.

[37:06] Community members may state their name and city of residents and speak for two minutes or less.

[37:11] The total time for a comment period is 30 minutes.

[37:16] Comments are prioritized as follows.

[37:18] First, Syrian residents, second, Syrian business owners or the representatives.

[37:22] Third, employees who identify Syrian as their home or business location.

[37:27] At this time, staff will share the public comment.

[37:30] Sign up list. For those in person, please speak at the lecturing. For those on Zoom, please prepare to unmute yourself.

[37:37] There are nine total community members signed up to speak. The first person signed up to speak is Gretchen Erickson.

[38:04] Hi, I am Gretchen Erickson, a resident of Varian since 1981, and born and raised in Washington. There is no way putting four units on Lake Varian lots would benefit the quality of the lake.

[38:16] As far as the comprehensive plan, as it pertains to the lake, it is not taking into account

[38:23] that is a Marine shoreline neighborhood, as noted by the Department of Ecology,

[38:31] a environmentally sensitive area. Therefore, our three does not fit properties along 152nd.

[38:39] R1 is most efficient for like barion, seahers, and three-tree point communities.

[38:46] I don't see why you keep pushing this on these pieces of property.

[38:52] Why do we need our city to grow bigger?

[38:56] It's already getting harder to drive through it,

[38:58] and just more law enforcement and services will be needed.

[39:02] If you think you are going to be able to build affordable housing,

[39:06] You better find a way to lower property taxes.

[39:10] Washington State is taxing people out of their homes as it is.

[39:15] Please be careful what you plan for.

[39:18] Thank you.

[39:24] Speak as rowing, Petram.

[39:32] My name is Rowan Petram.

[39:34] I am a burying resident as of six months ago.

[39:38] My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to afford to purchase a house.

[39:43] That is a reality that most people do not have.

[39:46] I'm here before you today to advocate in favor of these zoning changes.

[39:52] My family members, my friends, they cannot afford houses the way my wife and I could.

[39:58] And the only way to reduce the cost of housing is to build more of it.

[40:04] The future of Buryan requires an abundance of housing.

[40:08] Please allow for more housing to be built in the city and to stop the Nimbis.

[40:14] Thank you.

[40:19] Next is Claire, you're done.

[40:25] Good evening.

[40:26] I'm Claire, you're in 10 year resident of Varian.

[40:29] And I want to put forth another type of affordable housing that I brought up at the Eco-Thride Event.

[40:36] That's getting traction around the country.

[40:39] And it is called Coliving.

[40:42] That is you take a 3-4, 5, 6 bedroom house in a single family home.

[40:48] you put a lock on each bedroom, each room is rented, the residents share the common spaces,

[40:56] the bathroom kitchen, living room dining room and yard, and the owner is the landlord,

[41:04] the owner is responsible for dealing with any complaints, maintaining order, fixing the plumbing,

[41:10] et cetera, et cetera. This might require a variance under existing codes even under the new plan,

[41:17] which I took a look at today, but it's a way to offer rents considerably lower than apartments

[41:27] or certainly in mortgage and should create more housing using existing housing stock,

[41:33] not building new stock, new, building using, using what we got, like I've looked at

[41:40] below today, there may be 10 3 to 4 bedroom houses on the market here in Beirion, a couple

[41:47] five bedroom houses and even a couple six bedroom houses, which exceeds the five units allowed

[41:56] under the new code. But even up to a five bedroom house would still be in the spirit of the new code.

[42:04] So I think this is a way we could create more housing

[42:11] using existing stock,

[42:13] without asking the government to finance public housing,

[42:18] and with just basically a variance.

[42:22] There's a couple national companies that are doing this,

[42:27] that are buying houses and offering this,

[42:29] and it's actually going to get an attractive option

[42:32] for the mom and pop type landlord too and thank you. Thanks.

[42:39] Next is Billis Sanders.

[42:47] Yes,

[42:48] my name is Solis Sanders. I'm a resident of Bearing Inn, the city of Bearing Inn. And I would

[42:56] like to see affordable housing. I have problems right now living in an apartment and the

[43:09] people and their transparency is well below what I would expect. So I would like to see

[43:21] more like a village or something built of that nature. I know this came up in the past,

[43:26] but I would like to see that happen where people can live in individual places and community grouping.

[43:34] And that would be a good thing for a lot of people that just want a small space and live in a comfortable position or a whole housing.

[43:46] I live in a apartment that is not insulated and I have a lot of other issues that I got a long list and I need to find out about tenant rights versus landlord rights.

[43:59] My background is I'm a building engineer, commercial building engineer for my career, and I have

[44:09] retired from that, but I know what I look at and what I see and there's nothing being done

[44:16] about these different things.

[44:18] These landlords are getting away with all these things and that I need to talk to someone

[44:24] that's in planning or something so that, you know, they can be identified that they're doing

[44:29] people wrong. And I would like to say that I would like to see more citizens that are seniors

[44:36] like at the Community Center to meet maybe once a week for a chat and lunchons are some

[44:42] other events that apply to senior citizens. Thank you.

[44:51] This is Chastine Edgar.

[45:00] Hello, my name is Chestine Edgar. I'm a resident of Berin. I live in the Lake Berin neighborhood, and they shoreline there. Initially, when we were working on the comprehensive plan, I said that that neighborhood belonged in continuously, the whole thing at R1. It cannot be chopped into little pieces. It must be looked at holistically. What happens to one property happens to all of the properties, because of the continuous nature of the water.

[45:29] Number two, at the same length should be true for the zoning. It should be R1. In 2021 and 2022, we had a planning commissioner, chair of the planning commission.

[45:43] I wrote to a letter about that that's certainly overreached the rights of somebody who works as a chair of a planning commission.

[45:50] She ultimately became disgruntled because she couldn't have her way about everything and quit.

[45:54] We then put in another inexperienced chair to the Planning Commission who was removed for a lack of ethics.

[46:02] So those first two years were really tainted with problems.

[46:07] Since that time we have now created this zoning, which is R3, which is seriously flawed.

[46:15] There is no way that these lots can exist.

[46:17] We're talking about a 35 foot, 30, 30, 3,500 foot lock that a Woolit can have seven units on it.

[46:28] And now, Jimmy, you are a contractor and they're supposed to also be-

[46:32] So you should direct comments to what I'm saying.

[46:33] Okay, excuse me, they're supposed to be recreational space.

[46:38] There's no way between the recreational space and the setback that you possibly can get seven units on it or even maybe six.

[46:44] We should not be creating lots that are not realistic, and that was set at the Planning Commission in spite of it, a Planning Commission said it repeated times and it was completely ignored.

[46:55] You are the council. You need to look at this. You need to correct it. Something needs to be done. This is not a realistic plan at R3. Thank you.

[47:08] Next up is Charles Shaper.

[47:14] Good evening. I wanted to start off by expressing my appreciation to the city manager and the economic development team for a good coffee with the city manager event.

[47:22] and it was nice to see Deputy Mayor Sarah,

[47:24] a counselor Garcia both there.

[47:26] Encourage the rest of you to attend the next one.

[47:29] One of the things I like about these events

[47:30] is the city manager is willing to show up

[47:33] and engage with whoever's there.

[47:35] Even if it's people like me who've admittedly

[47:37] been critical with him at other times during the past,

[47:40] you know, we still had a good conversation.

[47:43] And I just kind of want all of you

[47:44] and Council to reflect on that.

[47:46] When is the last time you sat down

[47:48] and had a civil conversation with someone

[47:50] that you disagreed with?

[47:51] And if it's been a while, there's a lot of people here tonight about the zoning that might want the opportunity.

[47:57] The other thing I wanted to mention is you have a motion tonight about directing staff to begin the recruitment process for the pro and con committees.

[48:05] And as far as I'm aware we haven't even seen the ballot measure yet.

[48:08] So I just like some clarification on what the timeline is, because you know, how can if I was interested in a committee and I haven't even read the ballot measure, how would I know if I'm for or against.

[48:18] So if we can just get some clarification on when the actual language will be out and then give

[48:25] people some time to read over it before they have to apply for the committee, that would

[48:29] be nice.

[48:30] Thank you.

[48:34] Next is Terry Mutter.

[48:38] Good evening.

[48:39] Terry Mutter also commenting regarding zoning.

[48:42] I know zoning requires a lot of balancing constraints.

[48:46] My concern is around conflicts within I think opposing agendas.

[48:52] An example would be protecting our tree canopy, which is a priority within the city.

[48:57] I think there are three zoning and certain areas where we have high tree density is going

[49:01] to compromise that.

[49:02] I think with critical root zones on substantial trees is going to make a 3500 square foot

[49:08] lot not feasible.

[49:11] I like having the neighborhood businesses and residential neighborhoods, but no parking

[49:15] and limited hours.

[49:16] I don't think the city of business is going to thrive in the environment.

[49:20] I'm concerned about the high density on one-fifty second with no real clear plan for waste management.

[49:26] If you drive down 10th and you look at the graffiti riddle dumpsters with garbage in the streets,

[49:32] I saw yesterday, I'm concerned about that.

[49:37] R1 zoning is laid out to protect critical environments in shorelines.

[49:43] I'm concerned about what we're seeing happening on three-tree point.

[49:45] Also, as I was already mentioned around Lake Burian, here we have a critical shoreline, and we have 75% of that being zoned as our 3.25% being our 2.

[49:58] I don't believe the transit rationale that the planning commission is using.

[50:02] So I would recommend that we protect our environmental areas at a minimum of what is proposed in the R1 zoning.

[50:08] I would also recommend maybe a more incremental measure to approach.

[50:11] It was stated earlier, periods not going to be pushed around.

[50:14] I don't think we can just take the cities or the states mandate.

[50:18] I think we've taken measure to approach something that's sustainable.

[50:21] We do need housing, but we need to do it in a way that adds value to Bury and not destroy

[50:27] some of these critical areas.

[50:29] Thank you.

[50:33] Next is Web Pears.

[50:40] Good evening, City Council members.

[50:42] My name is Web Pears.

[50:43] I'm just here.

[50:44] I've been working with Cheney Schatzon at the city recently trying to discuss the proposal

[50:49] to build a four-plex in the bull of our park neighborhood and I've impressed with what you guys

[50:55] are proposing for R2 and some of the other zones. I guess I'm here to offer some perspective

[51:01] as a small-time developer and landlord. I would say that in general I endorse the two story

[51:09] four-plex flat design because I think it fits well in neighborhoods. Three stories feels to me

[51:15] little tall. I also support green space, and I think there's ways to make that work and lots that are

[51:22] 5,000, 5,500 or greater, not a big fan of routing these large buildings on the small

[51:29] lots. I think that it's although you create units, I don't think that you're actually creating,

[51:34] you're not paying attention to the market that you're trying to serve. So I've been providing

[51:39] middle housing to middle-class couples mainly in the Seattle area for about 25 years.

[51:45] And what I see is that these couples are in the process of buying a house and this is their last place that they stay, they often say for about five years.

[51:53] They're looking for a place where they can raise a garden, have a pet, have some outdoor space, some quiet, some storage.

[52:00] And I think that if you crowd too much into one building, you are just creating more apartments, which I'm not sure that we need more of that.

[52:07] But middle housing, I feel like is a really valuable intermedia that we don't really have much of.

[52:14] That you can come back and then on the next meeting, if that's helpful and provide some insight

[52:18] if anyone has any questions, and you can reach me through Cheney's number for that meeting.

[52:25] If you guys want to discuss more, but I think you guys are doing a great job.

[52:29] Thanks.

[52:32] Next up is Quentin Thompson. Good evening, council members, and good evening audience. I'm going to start off by saying when we have the zoning situation going on.

[52:50] I am now in took, well, I have been a Syrian resident since 1979, and what you're looking at is the elderly people in the Syrian area, such as the Normandy Park,

[53:12] bearing an area over there by their fire station. And those houses that are behind that

[53:23] lot, there's about seven or eight of them over there that elderly people are

[53:33] having trouble being able to afford because those are individually how houses

[53:42] that have been zone there for properties and built. I have looked at those behind Normandy Park

[54:00] Fire and other locations because I lived up in that area so I don't know any more than that,

[54:09] but I do know that some elderly people are having trouble

[54:15] purchasing those because I've talked to a couple of neighbors

[54:21] in that area.

[54:23] Thank you very much.

[54:26] Thank you, Quinn.

[54:29] Before we move on to the consent agenda,

[54:30] I just want to say to folks who are here today,

[54:34] but also watching listening for next meeting,

[54:37] the 16th will be our first touch on the zoning, the proposed zoning changes. That's first

[54:44] touch where we're going to spend a lot of time going through it. We're not going to rush

[54:48] on anything. We're going to spend a lot of time going through it. And there won't be a vote

[54:52] taken on the 16th. We're going to spend that time really getting into the nitty gritty. So if you

[54:59] would like to speak at that meeting, you have to sign up to speak at least one hour before the meeting

[55:06] starts. You can do it Sunday night. You can do it Saturday. You can do it Monday morning,

[55:11] but you have to sign up at least one hour before that meeting starts. In the meantime,

[55:16] I would please encourage you to continue to write emails, ask us to go to your neighborhood,

[55:23] get a cup of coffee. I've gone to a neighborhood meeting. Already this weekend, I'm going to another

[55:29] one tomorrow. I'm going to another one on Thursday. So I'm going around to,

[55:34] true point see her talk to folks. I'd encourage you all to please continue to reach out to every single

[55:39] one of us individually on the on the council. But June 16th is the next meeting. You can sign up to

[55:46] comment an hour before, but you can always email us. You can always call us. You can always

[55:53] ask us to go get a couple of coffee or whatever. So I would just encourage that. There is time to

[55:59] still talk to us. Nothing has been voted on yet. Nothing is finalized. So we're having

[56:04] We're having a robust community conversation, I appreciate everyone who came here today who spoke and everyone who's watching and who wants to speak on this issue and talk to us about it.

[56:16] So thank you so much.

[56:19] Okay.

[56:20] Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

[56:24] I believe that we approve the consent agenda.

[56:26] There are second to approve the consent agenda, all those in favour, please raise your hand or say aye.

[56:32] I, unanimous approval of the consent agenda. Thank you.

[56:37] From con committees for ballot initiative on public safety, Adolfo and Casey.

[56:44] Thank you. Council, thank you very much. I will build some time and space.

[56:49] I'll have Casey to join us in the conversation.

[56:55] Yes, Council, staff, thank you for Council and Mayor, thank you for the opportunity to

[57:04] continue with the ongoing conversation of the direction that Council gave to us over a

[57:09] year ago on a ballot initiative on public safety. We have an extensive work which has been

[57:15] shared with Council, not just staff but also as we manage contact with our consultants to ensure

[57:22] that we have all the information that we've collected over the last several years included in its review.

[57:27] At this point, we have reached a decision-making part of the process where state law requires council to consider creating both a pro committee and a con committee,

[57:42] uh, comprised of residents of the city to either oppose or support the, uh,

[57:49] initiative that will be proposed by the city. This is something the council did recently

[57:53] as it set an initiative for minimum wage and had that conversation. It also appointed a

[57:58] pro in a con committee. Um, this point I will, uh, see if KC has any information to share before we move

[58:04] So, good evening, Mayor and Council.

[58:09] This is our first step in a formal action, and we don't have any ballot language because

[58:16] we haven't created that, we're waiting, we're working on some drafts, but just giving

[58:24] us the go ahead to start setting up the forms for the pro and con committee, that's what

[58:32] the step tonight is going to do.

[58:36] And we have built out, we're working on some language,

[58:40] that we will bring to you guys to take a look at.

[58:45] And we'll move forward.

[58:48] Also, if I could share Mayor, yes, we do have a plan

[58:51] to open the process.

[58:53] Now, opening the process is not necessarily

[58:55] mean that we will provide all the information necessary

[58:58] that people will complete the form and submit the form.

[59:00] It just allows us to start the process for moving forward.

[59:05] We, because we're working with King County elections,

[59:08] and we're working with their process overall.

[59:11] They also have several other valid initiatives

[59:13] that they're working on for working to meet deadlines

[59:17] that are necessary in order for us to have this ballot

[59:19] or this question on the ballot.

[59:22] We have Bond Council that's working with us on creating

[59:24] the question that we will then bring to Council

[59:27] for you to review and approve.

[59:28] So we have the right people in place to help us.

[59:33] We just need the essentially the authority

[59:36] to be able to start the process, keep it going,

[59:39] so that we don't get bogged down due to deadlines

[59:40] that are needed by the county.

[59:43] Go ahead, Councillor Matta.

[59:46] Yes, I moved to create two temporary committees.

[59:48] A pro and a con for the ballot initiative on public safety

[59:51] and to authorize the staff to open a recruitment process

[59:54] as soon as possible.

[59:55] Is there a second?

[59:56] A second.

[59:57] We've been seconded in any questions or further comments.

[1:00:00] For the council.

[1:00:03] To speak on the motion. I think that public safety has been a topic of discussion, at least the last eight years that I've been on this council.

[1:00:11] And to be able to, and when we talk about public safety, it's not just to uplift officers.

[1:00:16] You know, and we talked about it in this council.

[1:00:18] What kind of holistic view can we look at when it comes to public safety?

[1:00:23] I've got to say that our law enforcement is doing a great job, but I also think that this initiative is a very important, as we continue to grow as a city as we continue to

[1:00:31] see what developments are coming and how we continue to just drop people to the city.

[1:00:37] I love the city. I want to see the two sides be able to be heard and let the voters speak for

[1:00:45] themselves and whether they want to tax themselves on public safety in the city. Thank you.

[1:00:51] Deputy Mayor Moore. Oh, you're your candidate. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I also

[1:00:58] So, support getting the ball rolling on this, but I do want to kind of understand what

[1:01:05] order things are happening in, so we're going to work on recruiting, we're creating

[1:01:13] the materials to recruit right now, and then we'll recruiting happen after the languages

[1:01:21] is worked out, because I hear from people what I hear the most is I don't know if I'm

[1:01:28] going to support it or not. And I feel like there's always a case to be made for the

[1:01:34] con for oh, you know, don't spend more money. And I feel like the case for the pro needs

[1:01:40] to people need to have that information and be able to really kind of understand and grasp

[1:01:47] it as they're working on it. So I just want to understand the timing better tonight. We're

[1:01:53] asking for counsel to approve us to move forward in creating all of this documentation or creating

[1:02:01] setting up the bow and con forms and the website with the information for the levy.

[1:02:10] So are they being created so we're giving permission for both,

[1:02:14] yeah, to gather. Right, we need permission, we need authorization to create the bow and con committee.

[1:02:21] and all of that is being developed simultaneously,

[1:02:28] the documentation for it, and as soon as we get approval,

[1:02:34] we'll have things on the website pretty quick.

[1:02:38] Thank you.

[1:02:39] It's helpful to also if I may add mayor.

[1:02:43] Yes, it may seem a little awkward that we're starting this early

[1:02:45] with the authorization, but the reason why we would like to seek

[1:02:49] authorization to start the recruitment process is so that we can, as Casey

[1:02:54] mentioned, start the infrastructure for the recruitment process, the forums,

[1:02:58] maybe even open the recruitment, understanding that individuals may not apply and

[1:03:03] we're not asking them to apply to be on the lower consummate until material is

[1:03:08] available. But the reason why we ask for approval at this point is if we wait until

[1:03:14] we have the bond language and all these other items to bring to council, by that

[1:03:18] we have shortened ourselves two or three weeks of potential recruitment.

[1:03:22] We've lost that time, whereas if Council authorizes recruitment at this point,

[1:03:27] as soon as we have approval from Council on a bond question,

[1:03:30] we can post it without having to delay any recruitment process,

[1:03:34] without having to reopen a process.

[1:03:36] So authorizing us to start recruitment doesn't mean that we will

[1:03:40] start telling people apply one way or another,

[1:03:44] that we also don't plan to bring two council candidates to a point, because we have yet to bring to council the bond language and other material to approve.

[1:03:53] So it is a little awkward in the request, but that's only again, so that we set the infrastructure so that we can move forward properly without delaying the process.

[1:04:05] So just to understand the language for the

[1:04:10] levy will be coming out later this month or is there a timing on when the language will be crafted and then we approve that language is that correct?

[1:04:21] Correct. Yes, we're working on the language now. We're pretty much at the point where it will be done. We just want to make sure that we

[1:04:28] cross-arties. To use an example that may come from community development,

[1:04:36] just because we

[1:04:37] ask somebody to approve blue prints for the construction of a home, doesn't mean that

[1:04:41] the home is actually going to be built tomorrow, or essentially just asking to allow us

[1:04:46] to have the blue print to have the plans in place, so that once the materials are purchased,

[1:04:51] we can hit the ground running and start the process. But yes, to answer a question directly,

[1:04:55] the language is for the most part almost done. We do expect to bring it to Council either on the 16th or the 30th and by that point we will not have lost time

[1:05:06] to open a recruitment because we would have already hopefully have received approval.

[1:05:11] Thank you very much.

[1:05:15] Right. I'm going to vote yes to the approval. I just wanted to share it. It just felt like we're putting the car before the horse.

[1:05:24] So I would have thought that we'd receive some sort of presentation first on it, but I understand that

[1:05:32] there's deadlines for this within King County elections.

[1:05:35] It just seems like we're a little bit pressed up to the deadlines, but I will be supporting.

[1:05:41] Thank you.

[1:05:44] Okay.

[1:05:45] Seeing you in other comments or questions, all those in favor of approving, say, I raise your hand,

[1:05:50] unanimous approval of moving forward.

[1:05:54] Okay.

[1:05:55] Planning calendar, are there any planning calendar items that have been discussed with the city manager or appropriate staff?

[1:06:06] That's a work or see.

[1:06:07] Nothing planned.

[1:06:08] I just wanted to circle back.

[1:06:09] I could set up time to meet with the city manager and parks director.

[1:06:13] He's going to update on the parks district.

[1:06:16] I know they've been working on on that over the last year or so.

[1:06:20] And obviously they have a lot of important things that we have next month or two.

[1:06:24] But I just want to kind of just see what the progress has been made.

[1:06:28] Would it be possible to receive an update on that at the next meeting during the

[1:06:34] same engine's report or when would be a good time to receive an update on that?

[1:06:40] It could also just be emailed to me and on your busy or I can meet with even

[1:06:43] car directors.

[1:06:44] I want to thank too much for your time.

[1:06:45] Whatever it is.

[1:06:45] Yeah, we could, we could, the, yes, we could certainly meet with the

[1:06:49] Director, Council of Oversea, the challenge with bringing this to the council bodies that

[1:06:56] I believe the request is related to the potential creation of a metropolitan parks district.

[1:07:00] That in itself is a far more complicated process.

[1:07:03] Oh, you're just asking for info.

[1:07:05] Oh, okay, sorry, sorry.

[1:07:06] I'm sorry, Mr. Mr. OK.

[1:07:08] But we can certainly schedule a meeting with parks and staff.

[1:07:11] OK.

[1:07:13] Great.

[1:07:14] Well, I think this was the shortest meeting in city history.

[1:07:17] we are adjourned at 6.32.

June 2, 2025 City Council Meeting

Transcript