[0:00] 
[2:37] So yeah.
[2:50] 
[2:54] So it's nice.
[2:57] 
[3:01] Yeah so.
[3:03] 
[3:06] Thank you for sharing.
[3:09] Yeah oh.
[3:11] 
[3:15] OK thank you.
[3:18] 
[3:27] So, how are you.
[3:31] Please excuse us, because.
[3:35] 
[3:40] I'll get your headset.
[3:42] Yeah this is your last meeting.
[3:44] You get to do this.
[3:46] Are you going to
bring out the hammer.
[3:49] 
[3:52] Yes OK OK.
[4:07] OK good evening and welcome to
the August 26, 25, 2026 city of
[4:14] Charlotte city council meeting.
[4:15] You would please join me in
the Pledge of Allegiance.
[4:18] 
[4:21] I pledge allegiance of the
United States of America
[4:26] to the Republic for
which it stands.
[4:28] One nation under
God, indivisible,
[4:32] with liberty and
justice for all.
[4:34] 
[4:38] Roll call.
[4:39] Mayor McCardle.
[4:41] Here council member.
[4:42] Collins here.
[4:44] Council Member.
[4:45] Hollingsworth that's me.
[4:48] We'll be arriving soon.
[4:50] Council Member.
[4:51] Rivera Vargas council member.
[4:54] Higgins mayor, council member.
[4:56] Mayor, council member Venegas
and council Member Sanders.
[5:00] Here we have one agenda change.
[5:06] This evening we will
be removing item
[5:07] 8 the 2027
legislative priorities
[5:10] from the agenda tonight.
[5:12] And we will find
another upcoming council
[5:14] meeting to discuss that.
[5:17] And now we will move
into citizen comments.
[5:21] And this time to hear
from our community.
[5:24] Your comments are
very important to us,
[5:26] and we appreciate you taking
the time to attend tonight's
[5:29] meeting to share your thoughts.
[5:31] There is a three
minute time limit
[5:32] to public comments for
both items on the agenda,
[5:35] or not on the agenda.
[5:36] Speakers may not transfer
their time to another speaker
[5:39] during a council meeting.
[5:40] Public comment periods are not
an opportunity for dialogue
[5:42] with council members.
[5:43] However, if you would like to
have a lengthier conversation,
[5:46] I encourage you to take a
contact card at the back table
[5:48] before you leave briefly.
[5:50] If you would like to provide
public comments on an item
[5:52] on the agenda, please
raise your hand and we
[5:57] will move into public comments
for items not on the agenda.
[6:02] And we will start with Amy
Sheridan from historic downtown
[6:06] association.
[6:07] 
[6:16] Hello mayor and council members.
[6:18] I am Amy German.
[6:20] I am a resident and the
director for historic downtown
[6:24] association.
[6:26] Whether we like
it or not, tourism
[6:28] is downtown bread and butter.
[6:30] The last few weeks
have proven it
[6:32] when tourism dropped because
of downtown, businesses
[6:35] dropped right along with it.
[6:36] Many of them are
seeing down 40% to 60%
[6:41] from last year at the same time.
[6:43] I know there are people in
the community who would rather
[6:45] see fewer tourists, not more.
[6:47] I understand that.
[6:48] I enjoy it too when the
crowds thin out a little
[6:50] but just because I like
it doesn't mean it's
[6:52] necessarily good
for the community.
[6:54] A few years ago,
Washington Main Street
[6:57] started using MasterCard
data found that only 14%
[6:59] of downtown retail
sales come from locals.
[7:03] The other 86% most
of the revenue,
[7:06] and most of the sales tax
generated downtown comes
[7:08] from people outside the Valley.
[7:11] Hdca is actively working to
build local, year round loyalty
[7:15] to downtown businesses,
but that takes time,
[7:18] and local shopping can fill
the gap of what tourists spend
[7:21] or the taxes they pay.
[7:23] In our place,
tourist tax dollars
[7:25] generate revenue for
the city services
[7:27] that residents want can't keep
going to shop local and tourism
[7:31] aren't in competition.
[7:32] There's absolutely
a place for them
[7:34] to work together for businesses
to stay open and succeed.
[7:38] We're asking the
city to invest more
[7:40] next year in tourism marketing
with the Lakeshore chamber
[7:42] of Commerce.
[7:43] Hdca is concerned that the
chamber's contract hasn't seen
[7:46] an increase over
the last few years,
[7:48] and we all know that costs
are rising on everything.
[7:51] That means they
can't do today what
[7:53] they can do with that
same money two years ago.
[7:56] We count on the chamber,
our destination marketing
[7:58] organization, to bring
in the tourists and HTC,
[8:01] and the business community
welcomes them downtown,
[8:04] gives them a great experience.
[8:05] So they want to come back.
[8:07] I want to leave you with one
comparison Coca-Cola is the most
[8:10] recognized brand on the planet.
[8:12] Every person in this room could
draw that logo from memory.
[8:15] If brand loyalty
and market share
[8:17] were something you
could just arrive at,
[8:19] then Coca-Cola wouldn't need
to spend billions of dollars
[8:22] they spend every year.
[8:23] In fact, since 2022, they've
doubled their advertising
[8:26] and marketing budget
because that's
[8:28] what it takes to keep
people choosing you
[8:30] when they have other options.
[8:32] I'm not suggesting
it's not $5 billion.
[8:35] HTC is advocating
for this council
[8:37] to treat the chamber's
contract the way
[8:38] Coca-Cola treats
its marketing budget
[8:40] as a critical cost of staying
visible and competitive
[8:43] to our Valley's economy and
our local quality of life
[8:46] can thrive.
[8:47] We have a number of downtown
businesses and board members
[8:51] here tonight, some who are
going to speak right now.
[8:53] And so I thank
you for your time.
[8:55] Thank you.
[8:57] All right.
[8:58] Eric Campbell, you're up next.
[9:00] 
[9:10] Eric Campbell Campbell resort.
[9:12] This year, we celebrate our
120 years of Family Business.
[9:16] We employ between 145
and 225 people annually.
[9:19] And tourism remains foundational
to Thailand's economy.
[9:22] We're asking the
city and the chamber
[9:24] to establish a multi-year
funding agreement that increases
[9:26] the chamber's marketing spend
compared to some of our strong,
[9:31] but it's very fragile economy
depends heavily on a relatively
[9:35] short peak season.
[9:36] Less than 80 days.
[9:37] This summer has demonstrated
great vulnerability
[9:39] with August wildfire smoke.
[9:41] This has led to a significant
impact on visitation revenues.
[9:45] No business is getting
that revenue back.
[9:48] There's no business interruption
insurance for air quality.
[9:51] This affects every business
their future reinvestment,
[9:53] deployment, planning.
[9:55] But the smoke isn't why
we're making this case.
[9:57] Leavenworth is our biggest
regional competitor.
[9:59] We need to increase our
spending to get to the levels
[10:01] we hope to remain.
[10:03] The canary in the coal mine
has always been the offseason.
[10:06] We pay close attention to
every month of the year.
[10:09] We don't overreact to one bad
month or even one down here.
[10:12] But what we are seeing is
declining shoulder season demand
[10:15] over the past three years.
[10:17] Kimball spring business
from 2023 to 2026 post-covid
[10:21] has been declining 10% annually.
[10:25] This is mainly meeting
business and our groups
[10:27] are also facing rising
costs, tighter budgets,
[10:30] greater scrutiny of travel
and may have choices.
[10:35] The most you might know that
our business has a full time,
[10:37] dedicated sales team, and
their sole mission is to drive
[10:39] business in groups to
our offseason business
[10:43] is incredibly competitive,
and these families and groups
[10:45] have a lot of options
to choose from.
[10:49] I think we can all agree
that running a business
[10:50] is challenging.
[10:51] Running one in a seasonal
market is even harder.
[10:54] All businesses in
our region have
[10:55] to get rising labor
costs, increased
[10:57] insurance and operating costs.
[10:58] Wildfire smoke risk a very
limited peak season window
[11:02] in November through March
have always been difficult.
[11:04] These local businesses employ
people, maintain properties
[11:07] and hopefully have
enough to reinvest
[11:09] during the summer months.
[11:10] We need to continue
to drive demand year
[11:12] round with an aggressive
marketing campaign
[11:16] and tours of these
economic development.
[11:18] We must support the tourism
economy of an economic engine.
[11:22] Tourism and agriculture
are built on.
[11:25] Agriculture's economic
footprint has changed recently.
[11:29] There is no obvious.
[11:31] There's no obvious industry that
will replace visitor spending.
[11:35] The chamber is a major
driver in that the chamber is
[11:37] tasked with generating demand
for our entire destination
[11:40] economy.
[11:41] Well worth invests more
than twice what she invested
[11:43] in destination promotion.
[11:45] We cannot expect to promote
at the same level while
[11:47] investing at half that level.
[11:49] So I'm here advocating
for the lodging tax
[11:52] as a visitor generated
reinvestment tool.
[11:55] Significant 3% lodging tax
resources are made available.
[11:58] We ask that the city put
those resources to work doing
[12:01] what they're intended to do.
[12:03] So tonight, I'm
asking the council
[12:04] to substantially increase
the investment in the chamber
[12:07] and establish a clear path
toward funding that is
[12:09] competitive with Leavenworth.
[12:11] We need your help to get
these funds allocated
[12:13] at a more appropriate level.
[12:15] Our last paragraph.
[12:16] Sorry we always want to maintain
a good dialogue with the council
[12:20] and the administration.
[12:22] Please feel free to
reach out to us anytime.
[12:25] We are stronger than we keep
communicating and work together.
[12:28] This is our home.
[12:29] We love this place.
[12:30] We care deeply
about the community.
[12:32] We want to be successful
for generations to come.
[12:35] We believe a strong,
well-funded chamber
[12:38] strengthens our businesses,
our economy, and ultimately
[12:41] our entire community.
[12:42] Investing in the
chamber is best in show.
[12:44] Thank you.
[12:46] Thank you.
[12:46] 
[12:49] Madam you're up next.
[12:51] 
[13:06] Good evening, Mayor
and council members.
[13:09] It's tax day, so I'm in a bit of
a mood, so I prepared comments.
[13:14] Big deal.
[13:14] Our tax Bills.
[13:15] Lots of money.
[13:17] My name is Adam, and I'm the
owner and designated broker
[13:19] of Coldwell Banker
cascade real estate
[13:21] and a local business owner.
[13:23] My wife.
[13:23] Several retail
stores businesses.
[13:26] I'm here tonight to encourage
your continued support.
[13:29] Expanded support for marketing
funding for the Chamber
[13:32] of Commerce 2026 has
been a challenging year
[13:36] for many local businesses,
as many of our stores
[13:40] are down about 20% year to date.
[13:42] That started in the winter
and continued in the spring
[13:45] with construction
that lasted too long,
[13:48] and it's continued
in the summer.
[13:50] It's been a very
challenging year.
[13:51] Real estate market has
also slowed significantly
[13:55] in recent years, with higher
inventory levels, longer market
[13:57] times, and fewer
transactions than we've
[13:59] seen anytime since COVID
really devastated challenge.
[14:04] While property values
have held up well,
[14:06] transaction volume has
declined precipitously,
[14:09] and that affects far more
than just real estate,
[14:11] because every home sale
creates more work and jobs
[14:14] for landscapers,
contractors, Lenders,
[14:17] title companies,
retailers, restaurants,
[14:20] and everyone in hospitality.
[14:21] There's a ripple effect there.
[14:23] Investing in better
tourism also helps
[14:26] drive more real estate
values and more real estate
[14:29] transaction activity.
[14:30] Many retailers are also
facing difficult conditions.
[14:33] I know across our own
retail businesses,
[14:36] sales are down about 20% to
30% compared to prior years,
[14:39] and tourism marketing
is critical to that.
[14:42] Eric noted the competitive
threats from Lebanon.
[14:45] Do you want to know how
much Leavenworth tourism
[14:47] traffic is down this year.
[14:49] 50% you have to spend to
compete and Leavenworth
[14:54] is going to continue investing.
[14:55] It will out compete for those
valuable tourism dollars.
[15:00] But local spending slows.
[15:02] Visitor spending
helps fill the gap.
[15:04] Visitors stay in our
hotel, shop in our stores,
[15:06] dine in our restaurants,
visit our wineries,
[15:08] and support many,
many local towns.
[15:11] Tourism generates more than
$400 million in annual spending
[15:14] in our region, and is one
of the primary drivers
[15:17] of our local economy.
[15:18] The chamber does
an outstanding job
[15:20] promoting Lake Chelan
to potential visitors
[15:22] and generating positive
exposure for our community
[15:24] across Washington.
[15:26] This funding is not just
a tourism investment,
[15:29] it's an investment in local
businesses, local jobs
[15:32] and local tax revenues, which
are damaging during a time
[15:36] when many sectors of our economy
are facing real challenges.
[15:39] I respectfully
encourage the council
[15:42] to continue and expand
supporting the Chamber
[15:45] of Commerce working.
[15:47] Thank you.
[15:48] We appreciate your support.
[15:50] 
[15:52] All right.
[15:53] Molly, you're up next.
[15:54] 
[16:06] Hi, everyone.
[16:07] I'm Molly Hill.
[16:08] I am an owner for Lila's bar
and kitchen have been for about
[16:13] the past 3 and 1/2 years,
as well as a member
[16:16] of the board and a
resident of Sharon
[16:20] for about 3 and 1/2 years now.
[16:22] One of the things that surprised
us most, my husband, Derek
[16:25] and about being new business
owners here in Chelan
[16:28] was the community of businesses
helping and complementing,
[16:33] not competing for
business, but truly
[16:35] invested in this community.
[16:37] We're a community of
businesses and it's
[16:38] important to market and present
as a collective experience, not
[16:43] individual businesses.
[16:44] The chamber does this for
us as a small business.
[16:47] We rely on the chamber's
collective marketing
[16:50] during the offseason
especially, and we're asking
[16:53] for that additional support.
[16:55] In addition, given the
slowdown in tourism,
[16:58] which Adam just talked
a bit about this month,
[17:00] we're also seeing 20% decrease,
but an even higher decrease
[17:05] in things like tips for.
[17:07] We're seeing about 30% to 35% of
a decrease in the summer months.
[17:12] The business generation
we're hoping for
[17:14] allows us to maintain
year round staffing.
[17:17] The alternative to that which
we've been discussing right now
[17:20] is that it really
turns into my husband
[17:22] and which is
completely possible,
[17:24] but takes away
from our year round
[17:26] staffing opportunities that we
have within small businesses
[17:29] and as the others have as well.
[17:32] I'm asking for increased
funding and support
[17:34] in the chamber to ensure
Chelan select success
[17:38] as a collective business.
[17:39] 
[17:42] Thanks, mom.
[17:44] All right.
[17:46] Thank you everyone.
[17:47] For businesses downtown.
[17:49] It's nice to hear
your perspectives
[17:51] on what I think we all know
is happening right now.
[17:55] And coming off of a slow
spring and a slow winter.
[18:01] Thanks for being here tonight.
[18:02] Thank you for your comments.
[18:04] So we are going to move
into our consent agenda.
[18:09] And I would accept a motion
to approve the consent agenda.
[18:13] I reviewed vouchers and
everything looks good.
[18:17] I move to approve
the consent agenda.
[18:20] All right.
[18:21] We a motion by
Council Member Higgins
[18:22] and a second by
Council Member Sanders.
[18:24] Any discussion.
[18:25] All those in favor.
[18:27] Aye Opposed.
[18:28] Motion passes.
[18:30] All right, we have a special
presentation tonight.
[18:33] And we have Rachel
here from over there.
[18:36] She is to give an update on
this year's our future effort.
[18:43] 
[18:47] OK hello, everyone.
[18:49] Thank you, Mayor and council
members, for having our Valley,
[18:52] our future.
[18:53] Back to present to
you this evening.
[18:55] This evening, I am joined by
board Member Kim Hatfield.
[19:00] So I want to recognize her
support of the organization
[19:03] and for driving us
up here this evening.
[19:06] So I'm pleased to give you all
an update on our activities
[19:11] this spring for our
community outreach
[19:13] to develop the 2027
to 2031 action plan.
[19:17] You have a copy of our full
community outreach report
[19:20] in front of you, and I'll be
going over our main findings
[19:22] during my presentation, I've
also included in the handout
[19:26] an invitation to our
industrial symbiosis summit,
[19:29] which will be held next
month down in Wenatchee,
[19:31] to talk about
economic opportunity
[19:33] when it comes to
circular economy model.
[19:36] And also included
in your handout
[19:38] is our mid-year report
on the progress of EOF
[19:40] has made this year.
[19:41] Aside from the development
of that action plan.
[19:45] So I know it's
been a little while
[19:47] since I was in front of you.
[19:48] So a quick reminder
of who we are of EOF
[19:50] is a nonpartisan, independent,
nonprofit organization
[19:54] that focuses on
regional collaboration.
[19:56] Our mission is to empower
people and organizations
[19:59] to co-create and achieve
our region's shared vision.
[20:03] We do this through
four different pillars.
[20:05] The first is to lead community
visioning every five years,
[20:08] ensuring all voices are heard.
[20:10] We are in that five
year period right now.
[20:12] The last time we developed
an action plan was in 2021,
[20:16] and the time before
that was in 2016.
[20:18] 2016 was the first time
we did that community
[20:21] visioning process in our
first five-year action plan.
[20:25] Our second pillar is to
create that action plan shaped
[20:27] by thousands of residents.
[20:29] As you heard me
a few months ago,
[20:30] we don't just pull
these action items
[20:33] and objectives out of a hat.
[20:35] It is directly from the
residents across Chelan
[20:37] and Douglas counties.
[20:39] The things that they want
to see improve the quality
[20:41] of life in our region.
[20:43] Our third pillar is to support
partners with coordination,
[20:46] data and communication.
[20:48] We are cognizant
that our community
[20:51] visioning process
every five years
[20:52] is not the end all, be all.
[20:54] We knew.
[20:55] We know that sometimes we
need to take a deep dive
[20:57] into that data,
and we always want
[20:59] to be relevant and flexible
with what comes out.
[21:02] And lastly, we keep
our region focused
[21:04] on both today and the future.
[21:06] Of-of is very lucky
to be aspirational,
[21:10] enduring what the future
can look like if based
[21:12] off what our residents tell us.
[21:15] But we are not bound
necessarily by the here and now
[21:19] or regulations, we look
far into the future
[21:21] and take baby
steps to get there.
[21:25] A little bit about our successes
over the last 10 years.
[21:29] Once again, that shared vision
defined by our residents.
[21:33] You've seen some
of these before.
[21:34] As a reminder, is a
convener and facilitator.
[21:38] So while we're not out there
constructing a new plans,
[21:41] we do have our regional
housing solutions group
[21:44] where multiple cities,
private companies
[21:48] and non-profit
agencies are talking
[21:49] about how to improve housing.
[21:51] So these are some
examples of what
[21:53] was in our last action plan.
[21:55] The Pathways Project
design sustainable NCAA
[21:59] was born out of our very first
action plan, pre-approved ADU
[22:03] plans, which have been adopted
by the cities of wenatchee-east,
[22:07] Wenatchee, and Leavenworth.
[22:08] And the Leavenworth
recreation ambassador
[22:10] program has been replicated by
Visit Chelan County as well.
[22:14] We just heard a
lot about tourism.
[22:16] We want to make sure our
tourists love this place as much
[22:19] as residents do, and
residents know how to love
[22:22] this place well that way.
[22:23] Our natural
environment continues
[22:24] to be a place we can all enjoy.
[22:27] Some other successes.
[22:28] The Leadership Institute
of NCAA, which is a program
[22:32] at the Community Foundation.
[22:34] The traits district developed
by the port tread, which
[22:38] is our regional trails and
outdoor recreation organization,
[22:43] tread, was born out of our very
first action plan in Douglas
[22:47] County, pud green
hydrogen. So this is not
[22:49] a comprehensive example
of the successes we've
[22:51] had over the last 10 years.
[22:53] We've had over 200 action
plan objectives completed.
[22:57] I know some of you
got a physical copy
[22:59] of our last action plan.
[23:00] I have some more with me.
[23:01] If a council member
would like one of those.
[23:04] We've also participated
as a kind of cheerleader
[23:08] for our partner
organizations with over 80
[23:10] partner organizations,
including the city of Chelan.
[23:13] You can imagine that there's a
lot of development and activity
[23:16] going on over the
last eight ish years,
[23:18] we've written 68
letters of support
[23:20] that has resulted
in over $100 million
[23:22] in funding to local projects.
[23:25] So we advocate for our
residents, for our partner
[23:28] organizations to make sure
funders, including legislators,
[23:32] know that our residents
want to see this happen.
[23:36] So what are we up to right now.
[23:38] You heard me talk a little
bit about our action plan
[23:40] developments when I
was here in spring.
[23:43] We are actively developing
our 2027 to 2031 action plan.
[23:48] We've started this process way
back in October with planning,
[23:52] and we did our community
visioning process this spring.
[23:56] So we engaged the
community through a variety
[23:59] of different means.
[24:00] Now, we are turning all of that
data collected from residents
[24:04] into concrete objectives
through volunteers
[24:09] formed in six different
working groups,
[24:12] six different action teams.
[24:14] We will release the
final plan in early 2027.
[24:18] So you'll be seeing me again.
[24:20] I will bring you a copy.
[24:22] And I'm very eager to see
what turns out with that.
[24:26] So during phase 2,
engaging the community,
[24:28] we collected data through
three different methods.
[24:31] We had a Community Survey, we
did stakeholder interviews,
[24:34] and we also did
listening sessions.
[24:37] I want to recognize the Lake
Chelan chamber of Commerce.
[24:41] They hosted us here in Chelan
and up the lake in Manson,
[24:47] and CW libraries hosted
us at that location.
[24:49] So we did have upper Valley,
upper Valley, excuse me,
[24:52] we had Chelan Valley
participation.
[24:55] All of that information
is reflected
[24:57] in our community outreach
report for participation
[25:02] across all of our methods.
[25:03] So our survey, our listening
sessions, our interviews,
[25:06] and then our outreach events.
[25:08] We had over 2000
residents engaged
[25:10] with us, letting
us know what they
[25:12] want the future to look like.
[25:13] As a reminder, we
do qualitative data.
[25:16] There are plenty of
other organizations
[25:18] that do quantitative data.
[25:19] So what we were asking
residents what do
[25:22] you love about living here.
[25:24] What do you think our
biggest challenge is.
[25:26] What do you think is changing.
[25:27] What is an idea.
[25:28] You have to improve the
quality of life in our region.
[25:31] So really open ended things.
[25:32] It's not a multiple choice.
[25:34] It's not a checkbox.
[25:35] So that's why the collection
takes such a long time.
[25:38] And the analysis.
[25:40] So aside from folks
under the age of 30,
[25:44] the age of our
survey respondents
[25:45] closely aligns with the
population of the two counties.
[25:48] Similarly, the race and
ethnicity of our survey
[25:51] respondents closely aligns,
and the majority of our survey
[25:55] respondents did reside
in Ashland County
[25:58] compared to the
general population.
[26:00] There are pretty
charts and graphs.
[26:02] In the physical
version of the report
[26:03] I gave you that are
on these slides.
[26:06] When it comes specifically
to the city of Ashland,
[26:09] the city of Chelan residents
had greater participation
[26:12] in all visioning areas
compared to the portion
[26:16] of their general population
in the two counties.
[26:19] So the general
population for the two
[26:21] counties, Lake City of Chelan
has about 3.5% of that.
[26:24] And as you can see for our
survey listening sessions
[26:28] and stakeholder
interviews, we had
[26:30] really strong participation and
representation from the city.
[26:37] Our main findings
through our spraying
[26:39] of community visioning process.
[26:41] Number one, our core values
have remained the same compared
[26:44] to the last two times of-of did
the community visioning process.
[26:49] Some of those values include
our natural environment.
[26:52] We love looking at the lake.
[26:54] We love looking at the hills.
[26:55] We want that environment to be
healthy so we can all enjoy it.
[26:58] Outdoor recreation.
[27:00] Neighborliness,
opportunities for our youth.
[27:03] Those that remain consistent.
[27:05] Our second main finding
is that the region
[27:08] is continuing to change,
although it feels
[27:10] different than five years ago.
[27:11] So when we did this five
years ago, it was 2021.
[27:14] We were in the throes
of the pandemic
[27:17] and there was a lot of
change happening then
[27:18] there's a lot of
change happening now.
[27:20] It's definitely a
different flavor.
[27:22] An overwhelming majority
of survey respondents
[27:25] think there should be more
collaboration in the region,
[27:27] especially around community
development and land use.
[27:31] Ultimately, our residents
don't want us working in silos.
[27:34] They want to see collaboration
and communication
[27:37] between the cities and counties,
private businesses, non-profits,
[27:41] basically that
sense that you heard
[27:43] earlier during the public
comments, we're all in this
[27:45] together.
[27:45] How can we work together to
improve our quality of life
[27:48] here.
[27:50] Another finding was managing.
[27:52] Continuing growth is the top
challenge for the region.
[27:56] So there's this sense
of self-determination
[27:59] that we heard from our
residents when they responded
[28:03] to our outreach,
that they don't want
[28:05] the future to happen to them.
[28:07] They want to be a part of
guiding the future and what that
[28:09] looks like, especially when it
comes to growth in the region,
[28:12] whether that is housing,
whether that is industry,
[28:15] whether that is tourism,
whether it's outdoor recreation
[28:18] development, residents
want to have a voice
[28:21] and residents want to make
sure that we're strategically
[28:23] thinking about
that future rather
[28:24] than letting it happen to us.
[28:28] There are some tensions
in the community.
[28:30] There is more detail
in the written report
[28:32] that I gave you,
reflected by residents
[28:36] giving feedback in direct
contradiction with each other.
[28:39] One that specifically
relates to Chilean.
[28:42] The Chilean Butte came
up quite a few times.
[28:44] We had some folks tell
us no one should touch,
[28:47] it should be preserved.
[28:48] And we also had some folks
say, hey, we should develop it.
[28:51] It's a great resource.
[28:54] So planning for the future is
not always black and white.
[28:58] It's not always cut and dry.
[28:59] Our residents, being the diverse
variety of people that they are,
[29:03] have different
perspectives on what
[29:05] that future should look like.
[29:07] But ultimately,
as OVO, we're here
[29:08] to communicate that
and hope that there
[29:10] is a shared collaborative future
that we can all be part of.
[29:15] Another finding was due
to the cost of living
[29:18] the majority of residents
have thought about
[29:20] or are planning to relocate.
[29:22] About 40% of residents
said they thought about it
[29:25] but won't be relocating,
and about 20%
[29:28] said that they are
planning to relocate.
[29:30] So that is a really
big concern when
[29:34] it looks at our school
enrolments, participation in
[29:37] the local economy, businesses.
[29:39] So that's something I know
is top of mind for everyone.
[29:43] And of course, the
city of Chelan,
[29:45] Chelan County, North
Central Washington.
[29:47] It is not unique to us.
[29:48] This is a national trend.
[29:50] The cost of living really
making people apprehensive.
[29:53] And lastly, to end on
a not so happy note,
[29:57] residents are less optimistic
about the future compared
[29:59] to five to 10 years ago.
[30:01] And I think that
really comes through
[30:03] with those feelings of tension
and the cost of living.
[30:06] People really want
to take ownership
[30:09] of the future that
way, that they can have
[30:11] more faith and hope in that.
[30:15] I'm going to pause
to see if there's
[30:17] any questions after
going over the results
[30:19] before I jump into what's next.
[30:23] I have a question
for you, Rachel.
[30:24] Yes I think it was number two.
[30:26] The question what's changing.
[30:28] Yeah can you give
me specifics on what
[30:30] the responses are to what people
perceive and what is changing.
[30:33] So in 2021 that we heard
that things were changing,
[30:39] and that was largely due to
an influx of either tourists
[30:44] or new residents
due to the pandemic.
[30:47] Now, the change
that we're hearing
[30:50] is that basically change
isn't a one off thing,
[30:55] but it's more of a consistent
pattern of growth of population
[31:00] coming in and densification when
it comes to residents that it
[31:05] wasn't just like a
flash in the pan,
[31:08] but this is something that
people have recognized
[31:12] is going to be the new normal.
[31:14] And so how to instead of
responding to the growth,
[31:18] how to manage the growth.
[31:19] I would say is the
kind of simplest way
[31:21] to put it with that question.
[31:23] Was that's specific
to the city of Chelan
[31:25] or was that Chelan County.
[31:26] I know that was.
[31:28] Yeah good question.
[31:32] Good question.
[31:34] So Douglas is obviously
a large region,
[31:37] would you say, if you were
divided by the feedback received
[31:40] on communities like Chelan,
Wenatchee, those areas, are we
[31:45] all facing the same concerns.
[31:49] If you were to break
it out by City.
[31:53] Yes those top
community challenges.
[31:56] Managing the growth,
affordability,
[31:59] housing, economic stability,
those kind of all came across.
[32:04] Obviously, the
economics of the city
[32:08] are very different from
the city of Wenatchee,
[32:10] especially when you look
at the portion of revenue
[32:13] that relates to tourism.
[32:16] But that is still
the same sentiment.
[32:18] So it's when you
drill down into it,
[32:21] it's definitely a
different flavor
[32:22] based on those
individual communities.
[32:24] But overall, we were hearing
the same general themes,
[32:28] that information available.
[32:30] We want to look at this land.
[32:32] I could definitely pull
that and send it over.
[32:34] Yeah showing specific data set.
[32:36] 
[32:44] Any other questions
before we move on OK.
[32:48] So what's next now that we
have all those main findings
[32:52] and our heads are spinning.
[32:53] And we want to go into solution
mode, right now we have 6x.
[32:59] Excuse me 6 Action teams that
are taking all of the data
[33:03] from residents, pairing
it with quantitative data,
[33:08] because obviously we want to
base our actions in reality
[33:12] about what's feasible.
[33:14] We have about 20
to 15 volunteers
[33:19] on each of these
action teams that are
[33:23] based on our six focus areas.
[33:25] These areas are very similar
to the vital conditions
[33:28] or Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
[33:31] This is just our version,
our flavor of it.
[33:34] City of Chelan does
have representation
[33:37] on these action teams.
[33:38] I will mention that Mayor
McCardle has been involved
[33:41] in our shared prosperity
action team, which is focused
[33:43] on business and economics.
[33:45] So I'm really appreciative
of the residents of leaders
[33:50] in Chelan that
have been involved
[33:51] in the decision making
process to ultimately
[33:53] produce the new action plan.
[33:56] We will be releasing a second
Community Survey in October
[34:01] for residents to get their
feedback on whether the action
[34:05] plan is accurate and what
we should be prioritizing
[34:09] for our work going forward.
[34:12] I want to thank
the city of Chelan
[34:15] for supporting this
process from visiting
[34:17] and speaking with you all.
[34:18] Having you as a
guest and of course,
[34:20] a few years ago, the Lake
Chelan vision project
[34:22] was really important
for the representation
[34:25] from your residents
and that participation.
[34:28] And we would not be
able to have this
[34:30] regional, comprehensive
look if it was not
[34:32] for the support of the city.
[34:34] So from the Board of
Trustees and from myself,
[34:37] trustee, the board of
directors, from myself,
[34:40] thank you so much
for the support,
[34:41] and we look forward to
continuing to partner as we go
[34:44] into the future to make
sure that we're improving
[34:46] that quality of life,
both here in the city
[34:49] and across the region.
[34:51] Thank you again, and I'm happy
to answer any other questions.
[34:54] Otherwise how to reach me.
[34:57] Anyone else have questions.
[34:59] All right.
[35:00] Thank you.
[35:00] Thanks for making the trip.
[35:02] Of course.
[35:02] Do I turn this off.
[35:04] Yeah all right.
[35:10] Let's move into
motion considerations,
[35:13] and we'll start up
with resolution number
[35:14] 2026 1480 affordable housing
grant funding policy.
[35:19] And this will be handled by
our finance director Evans.
[35:22] Thank you mayor.
[35:23] So council is the
Affordable housing policy
[35:27] and application that has been
discussed at numerous council
[35:32] meetings now.
[35:33] This has been crafted with some
feedback from the community
[35:36] as well as our internal
feedback from council internal
[35:41] as well as from our
attorney as well.
[35:44] So we do feel confident in
terms of what has been produced.
[35:47] So I know there's still some
reservations because of course
[35:50] funding for this initiative
comes from multiple sources,
[35:54] so it does make it
a complex process.
[35:58] Staff's goal, of course,
at the end of the day
[36:00] is to break down
barriers for the public.
[36:02] And so we'll be just
checking back in, of course,
[36:06] after if this is to be
passed by council, once we do
[36:10] this first flush of course, of
the Affordable housing, policy
[36:15] and application process,
we'll check back in,
[36:19] just see where everyone's
temperature in terms
[36:21] of how that first
initial process went
[36:25] after we revised this policy.
[36:28] So of course with that, what I
proposed for council too is just
[36:34] of course, adoption of this
resolution as well as we
[36:38] are proposing that we
open up the Affordable
[36:40] housing application period.
[36:43] And we will find
that information
[36:45] just in your packets on the
recommended council action.
[36:50] So please let me know if you
have any additional questions
[36:53] I can answer for you
before putting it to vote,
[36:56] but thank you.
[36:57] 
[37:01] I would accept a motion
to open discussion.
[37:03] 
[37:07] I move to adopt
resolution number 2026
[37:09] dash 1488, a special
affordable housing
[37:12] grant application process for
2026 for the September one
[37:16] of 2026.
[37:18] October 15, 2026, with a total
cost not to exceed $50,000.
[37:24] Second Motion by Council Sanders
and second by Council Venegas
[37:31] will open up for discussion.
[37:33] Any questions.
[37:33] Yeah How does the
timeline compare
[37:36] to a previous timeline for
a similar grant application.
[37:40] Yeah great question councilman.
[37:42] So usually we do
have several months.
[37:44] Of course, just since now we're
pushing towards the tail end
[37:47] of the year for this year.
[37:49] We are looking at an
expedited process,
[37:51] but generally that's a
three month review process.
[37:56] Thank you.
[37:57] Obviously thank you.
[38:00] OK thank you.
[38:03] So this is a three year
and it will be this amount.
[38:09] Correct so councilman
we will designate
[38:12] how much funding through the
budget process each year.
[38:16] As we previously discussed
council for this year
[38:20] did not have any council
directed funds earmarked
[38:23] for affordable housing.
[38:25] Of course, we'll
discuss that again
[38:26] through the budget process.
[38:29] At this time we
just have the 15,000
[38:32] approximately a year
coming in through
[38:34] the state share tax revenue.
[38:37] And so with that
proposed $50,000 a year,
[38:40] at the end of three years,
we will effectively exhausted
[38:44] our affordable housing fund.
[38:46] But at that time,
we may be looking
[38:49] at developer
contributions, of course,
[38:51] and perhaps the economy
will be in a better position
[38:54] to allow for additional
funding here.
[38:58] But to answer your
question, the 50,000
[39:02] that is being proposed for this
meeting is just for this year.
[39:06] And my recommendation,
of course, would be
[39:08] no more than 50,000 each year.
[39:10] And then knowing
at the end of three
[39:12] years that this
will be exhausted,
[39:14] we'll be at $30,000 a year.
[39:16] The state share tax
revenue, which is the most
[39:19] restrictive set of company.
[39:22] So I just I think it's important
that we look forward and get
[39:34] the process open and running.
[39:37] We have some funds available
and we put those to work.
[39:41] And we'll see how the process
goes and they learn from it.
[39:46] But I do appreciate all
that went into this.
[39:51] Thank you.
[39:53] Yeah I have two questions.
[39:55] First question.
[39:56] This doesn't limit our ability.
[39:57] If we so chose or these
groups wanted to reach out
[39:59] to us during the community
benefit grant application,
[40:02] would they be not allowed
to apply for those community
[40:05] benefit grants as well.
[40:06] No and in that respect, there's
nothing prohibiting council
[40:11] from designating
community benefit
[40:13] funds towards
housing initiatives
[40:17] to just take it one step back.
[40:19] Of course, earlier this year,
we had such a tremendous outflow
[40:23] of requests on that community
benefit grant, which then took
[40:26] a pause and step
back to reevaluate
[40:29] the affordable housing,
kind of knowing
[40:31] that quite a few of those
would be eligible for this pot
[40:35] of funding.
[40:36] And that's kind of brought
us to where we are today.
[40:40] But now they're
still eligible if we.
[40:42] Yes OK.
[40:43] Yes second question.
[40:45] How did the account
balance get so high.
[40:47] Was it from developer funds
primarily or many years
[40:50] of state contributions.
[40:52] Yeah, great question.
[40:53] So it has been a combination
of developer contributions
[40:57] and state share tax revenue.
[40:59] Back in the day to when things
were a little bit better
[41:03] economically to as
well, there were
[41:05] some more dedicated funding
sources to as well from council.
[41:09] And so that's just something
we'll need to explore to during
[41:11] the upcoming budget process
is the number 50/50 or I mean,
[41:17] how many years is that $15,000.
[41:18] 72 million.
[41:20] Oh, gosh.
[41:21] I want to speak just
off the top of my head.
[41:25] The 13 to 15,000 has
been very consistent
[41:28] over the past like five years.
[41:32] And then I'd really have to
dig in because council did have
[41:35] some different policies
and contractual agreements
[41:40] that also flow through 10555.
[41:44] Excuse me, the 105
affordable housing fund.
[41:47] And so that would need to
be looked at separately.
[41:50] And so at this time
though looking forward,
[41:54] the only expected
developer contribution
[41:57] we have in the foreseeable
future is the Widener.
[42:02] And that's best to my knowledge.
[42:03] But please direct rejection.
[42:06] Yeah I can speak to
this a little bit.
[42:09] Sorry do you think Charlie
Jackson would prefer
[42:15] so the fund originally
received some of those ballots
[42:19] from the lookout.
[42:20] So each home sale,
they're contributing
[42:22] $1,000 for this fund.
[42:24] Each time they help with those.
[42:26] That would have been
the bulk of the balance
[42:28] of that fund initially.
[42:30] And then the state.
[42:32] The state shared
revenue is a credit
[42:35] against the state sales tax.
[42:36] So every time you buy
something, the state
[42:38] will give us back a little bit
of their portion of the taxes
[42:42] they collect.
[42:43] So that's why it's a very
small amount of one of $50,000.
[42:48] And that's accurate.
[42:49] It's been going on
for about five years.
[42:51] We applied for that and
we're going to do that.
[42:55] Thank you.
[42:56] 
[42:59] All right.
[43:01] All right.
[43:01] We have a motion by Council
Member Sanders and a second
[43:07] by Council Member Venegas.
[43:08] All those in favor.
[43:10] Aye Opposed.
[43:12] Motion passes.
[43:13] All right, let's
move into item B,
[43:15] our group additional services.
[43:16] Addendum number 3 for
construction management
[43:19] agreement for CC1 lift station.
[43:21] And this will be handled by
public works director youngren.
[43:24] Yes thank you.
[43:25] Mayor, city council.
[43:26] So before you this
evening is an addendum
[43:29] that falls under an existing
professional services contract
[43:32] that the city has
with our group.
[43:34] Professional engineering company
that this addendum provides
[43:39] for construction administration
support for our upcoming sewer
[43:42] lift station project.
[43:45] I think you all probably
know at this point
[43:47] that we've worked to vertically
integrate these services
[43:51] in our department
through internalizing
[43:54] on site inspection, observation
and project management.
[43:57] We did have a little bit
of a hiccup this last year
[43:59] where there was a vacancy
in the PM position
[44:02] that has been filled.
[44:04] That employee started
Monday and we come tomorrow.
[44:07] We're starting likely
in early September.
[44:08] And so we felt the need for a
partial limited scope for CCM
[44:13] services for this
contract, which
[44:16] isn't consistent
with the assumptions
[44:18] that we originally had.
[44:19] And we work to
internalize, I will
[44:21] say like it's a project
by project basis,
[44:24] but specifically
with projects that
[44:26] have mechanical and
electrical components.
[44:28] We do typically carry a
construction management service
[44:31] contract for those to be able
to bring along subject matter
[44:34] experts in those
trades to help us out
[44:38] as we build and commission
new infrastructure.
[44:42] So there's no perfect
science to this.
[44:47] We have a general
service agreement
[44:49] that establishes
the ability to use
[44:50] this provider at certain
billing rates for physicians.
[44:55] And so really, this
exercise was OK.
[44:58] What level of support
do we need across all
[45:00] the facets of a project that
we typically utilize CCM for.
[45:05] And so those are
listed in your overview
[45:07] like overview project
coordination pre-con
[45:10] coordination, submittal review
RFP response, change order
[45:13] assistance, site
visit, construction
[45:14] observation,
construction meeting,
[45:17] closeout record drawings.
[45:18] Like all the things
pretty standard
[45:19] across the board for almost
every project we execute.
[45:22] And we just went through
each of those, excuse me.
[45:24] And we're like, OK,
what level of effort
[45:26] do we think we'll need from you.
[45:27] So all of our professional
service contracts
[45:29] are built on a time
material basis.
[45:31] So it's really just a
matter of estimating
[45:33] the number of man hours was
associated with each task.
[45:36] It's just the best guess.
[45:38] And so we did that.
[45:38] And that's really what's
before you this evening.
[45:41] I will say, for
sake of perspective,
[45:44] the first contract
that was submitted
[45:46] to the city was over $500,000.
[45:49] I think we're
sitting around 266.
[45:54] It's hard to know
where this ends up,
[45:57] but I feel confident
in the team we've hired
[45:59] and the ability to
take on the majority
[46:00] of the scope of this project.
[46:02] So that's the intent.
[46:04] I will say, like, you'll notice,
the real scope from ardura,
[46:10] the work that they'll
actually perform is
[46:11] about $125,000 this contract.
[46:14] And then you look at
cultural resource monitoring.
[46:16] So for most of our
projects now, we're
[46:20] required to have an
archaeologist on site
[46:22] during ground
disturbing activities.
[46:23] And that has become
extremely costly.
[46:28] And that's also
just an assumption
[46:30] on how many days are we going
to need this person on site.
[46:33] So we do cultural resource
surveys that are required.
[46:36] They're submitted
to a Department
[46:37] of archaeological
historic preservation.
[46:39] They submit their
requirements and say
[46:41] like, hey, you need to have
this person on site during.
[46:44] So we really don't
have much of an option.
[46:48] It absent of an exact schedule
and knowing exactly what
[46:53] ground disturbing activities are
going to happen, on what day,
[46:55] we're just estimating
the number of days.
[46:57] So it's about $1,650 a day.
[47:01] And it went from, hundreds
and I think 160 days I'm
[47:08] like, yeah, let's start at 60.
[47:10] I don't really know.
[47:11] It's very likely we'll
need an Amendment.
[47:13] But I felt more comfortable
like estimating on the low end
[47:16] and labs would need.
[47:18] I did want to mention
we are looking
[47:22] at more creative solutions on
this archaeological monitoring
[47:25] that is becoming
like a pretty large
[47:26] component of our scope of work.
[47:28] We did talk to Cascadia
cascade Conservation District.
[47:32] They recently came and gave a
presentation to city council.
[47:35] They do have archaeologists.
[47:37] Unfortunately, they're
not much less expensive.
[47:39] And it seems like at this
point and at this point
[47:42] in the process, like their
availability wasn't able to be
[47:44] committed to our project.
[47:45] So we did stick with plateau,
who utilized in the past
[47:48] have been consistent,
reliable, also expensive.
[47:52] But as are all.
[47:53] So I guess that's
just some context.
[47:56] So we assumed 6060
days of monitoring.
[48:02] In addition to the
archaeological monitoring,
[48:04] we have standard kind of
construction material testing.
[48:07] So we need to certain
requirements in the contract
[48:10] to test density of soils and
concrete compression strength
[48:14] and those kind of things.
[48:15] And so that scope makes up
26,000 of this total contract,
[48:20] with a total not to exceed
of 266, 678,030 cents.
[48:25] We have adequate funds budgeted.
[48:26] There's more details
in the agenda,
[48:28] but be interested in looking,
but that's all I have to share.
[48:32] 
[48:35] There a motion to open
up for discussion.
[48:38] I move to authorize the
mayor to finalize and execute
[48:40] additional services.
[48:41] Addendum 3 with our group
incorporated for construction
[48:44] support services for the CC one
lift station upgrade project.
[48:49] 
[48:51] There's a motion by Council
Member Collins and a second
[48:54] by Council Member Chitty.
[48:55] We'll open it up for questions.
[48:57] Any questions.
[48:58] Yeah Jake, in the future.
[49:02] With the new hire, public
works is the cultural resource
[49:05] is something we will
be able to do in-house
[49:06] or this will always be
outsourced to a specialist.
[49:09] Yeah so we've looked at this.
[49:12] You pretty much have to have a
bachelor's degree in archaeology
[49:15] and have certain qualifications.
[49:17] We've there's things are still
in motion like we've reached out
[49:21] to actually Central
Washington University
[49:23] to see if we can leverage
some of their resources
[49:26] to do the survey.
[49:27] But the survey is a very
small cost of the project.
[49:30] It's the monitoring
and on site inspection
[49:33] that's super expensive.
[49:34] And so.
[49:35] 
[49:38] We'll likely always
have to do it
[49:40] unless we hire a full time
archaeologist, which I don't
[49:43] see anytime in the near future.
[49:46] Yeah OK.
[49:49] Yeah kind of similar line
of questions thinking about,
[49:53] smaller cities and
municipalities.
[49:54] How are they navigating
those types of costs.
[49:57] There's a ton of money.
[49:58] Yeah it is.
[50:00] I don't have first hand
experience with our neighbors,
[50:02] but I know that a lot of their
cultural resource surveys
[50:06] are requiring on
site observation.
[50:08] They're paying and
it's expensive.
[50:10] And it's.
[50:11] 
[50:14] Yeah, I think there's
opportunity for potentially like
[50:18] hiring lobbyists to help us
maybe look at the requirements
[50:22] potentially and seeing if
there's some middle ground
[50:25] to have there.
[50:26] I think those conversations
happen at the state level.
[50:32] We're not able to make any
strong cases with that directly
[50:36] and if things change.
[50:37] So yeah.
[50:38] And I have ideas on this
and we're talking internally
[50:41] about how we respect the
need to be sensitive in areas
[50:48] that we should be, but
also, maybe there's
[50:50] areas for some
leniency where you're
[50:53] replacing a pipe in
the exact same location
[50:55] that previously existed.
[50:57] Maybe that's a
scenario, for example,
[50:59] that we could loosen some of
on site monitoring or things
[51:02] like that.
[51:03] Thanks just a real quick not
to exceed the 266 in the event
[51:10] that it does.
[51:13] What would be the
option for an Amendment.
[51:16] Yeah, I mean and likely
there's a decent chance
[51:18] we'll need an Amendment for
archaeological services,
[51:21] but hopefully but likely
there is additional funds,
[51:27] if we were correct.
[51:29] There is.
[51:29] Yes thank you.
[51:31] 
[51:34] Peter all right.
[51:37] We have a motion by Council
Combs and a second by Council.
[51:40] All those in favor.
[51:41] Aye Opposed.
[51:44] Passes item C, luxury
garages, LLC of easement.
[51:49] And this will be my
first surgery ever.
[51:52] Yes thank you.
[51:52] Mayor Council.
[51:53] So for the next three items
are housekeeping items
[51:55] for development of a
parcel that neighbors
[51:57] the City Public works parcel.
[52:01] Three garages.
[52:02] The first item here is a
relinquishment of an easement.
[52:06] The next is a dedication
of right of way.
[52:08] And then the third is
a utility easement.
[52:11] So I guess I'll go
over the first here.
[52:13] 
[52:18] All right so there's a plat that
for instance, the city of Chelan
[52:22] we owe a lot one of the
Brownfield short plat.
[52:26] And under the original
terms, there's
[52:31] an easement that
runs on our parcels
[52:34] Western and Northern border.
[52:36] And this easement, there's
provisions in the original terms
[52:39] of the plat that the easement
terminates upon sales to a party
[52:44] unrelated to the Brownfield.
[52:46] So this land sold to a
property unrelated by deed
[52:50] recorded in May 25,
2006, which triggered
[52:54] the termination this evening.
[52:55] He's been by his own terms.
[52:58] So the relinquishment of this
formally vacates, cancels
[53:01] and annuls the
easement of record
[53:03] to clear title for mutual
benefit of both parties.
[53:06] So us in the neighboring parcel.
[53:09] The documents been signed
by the authorized agent
[53:12] for the neighboring
parcel and then
[53:13] upon signature by the
mayor, it would be executed.
[53:18] And relinquished once
recorded at the County.
[53:20] I will say, with the
help of our city attorney
[53:24] that there are a
few, like minor,
[53:25] insignificant modifications that
will be made prior to signature.
[53:28] But this the motion still
stands and is appropriate
[53:32] given the nature of the changes.
[53:35] 
[53:41] Is there a motion
for discussion.
[53:43] I'll move to.
[53:46] 
[53:50] So I'll move to.
[53:54] I want to thank you.
[53:57] Thank you.
[53:59] Would you say that.
[54:00] 
[54:04] I don't see anyone
else has that.
[54:07] You can read it.
[54:10] I move to authorize the
mayor to finalize and execute
[54:12] the land luxury garages LLC.
[54:15] Relinquish of the event, sir.
[54:18] All right.
[54:18] We have a motion by
Council Combs and a second
[54:20] by Council Higgins.
[54:22] And for questions.
[54:24] Any questions.
[54:24] Nope Terry.
[54:26] Nope Greg.
[54:29] Yeah, I guess I was just
curious when they put
[54:32] their plan in with
something that wasn't
[54:34] addressed that was there.
[54:37] Yeah the owner of the
neighboring parcel
[54:40] was aware of these
provisions, as were we.
[54:42] And it was just a matter
of executing that.
[54:47] All right.
[54:48] Stephen Tim.
[54:50] Good all right.
[54:53] We have a motion by
Council Combs and a second
[54:54] by Council Barnes.
[54:56] All those in favor.
[54:56] Aye opposed.
[54:58] Motion passes.
[54:59] All right, moving on to item D,
Shenandoah river garages, LLC.
[55:03] Dedication of right of way.
[55:05] And the budget.
[55:08] Yes so this is a dedication
of right of way submitted
[55:13] to the city of the westerly
third, feet of a lot too,
[55:17] of Granville sharp at number 28.
[55:19] 60 there's an
exhibit that provides
[55:21] a little bit better context.
[55:23] So it's on the Be like
the westernmost border
[55:26] and it's a half right
of way dedication.
[55:29] So this is identified
as Jessie street
[55:32] and it's shown in
the attached exhibit.
[55:34] The underlying
corridor was originally
[55:35] reserved as a private
access and utility
[55:37] easement along with the
Western border lot two.
[55:40] So as a condition of
development, which is common.
[55:42] 
[55:45] The developers required to
dedicate this private easement
[55:47] as a public roadway.
[55:48] So that's what this
dedication does.
[55:51] 
[55:55] Or as yeah, I guess
that's kind of all I had.
[55:58] There's a question
about that, but is
[56:00] there a motion for discussion.
[56:02] I move to accept the dedication
of right of way for luxury
[56:05] garages, LLC, for Jessie street,
and to authorize the mayor
[56:10] execute the dedication
of right of way
[56:13] on behalf of the
city of Shoreham.
[56:15] So we have a motion
by Council Hanson,
[56:18] a second by Council Sanders
to open up for any questions.
[56:21] John yeah.
[56:26] No shame.
[56:28] No very good.
[56:30] Honesty good.
[56:32] Good all right.
[56:33] Have a motion and a second.
[56:34] All those in favor.
[56:35] Aye opposed.
[56:37] Motion passes.
[56:38] Item B Sean luxury garages, LLC.
[56:40] Sewer and water utility
easements and have budget.
[56:44] 
[56:50] Oh, sorry.
[56:51] No worries.
[56:53] All right.
[56:53] 
[56:58] OK, so this is an easement
granted to the city of perpetual
[57:04] 60 foot easement
for water and sewer
[57:06] across their property on
the southernmost portion
[57:09] of their property.
[57:10] It's essentially like the
extension of shop Avenue.
[57:12] If you've ever
been to our office.
[57:14] And so.
[57:14] 
[57:17] Yeah that's really all we need.
[57:22] We have utilities
on that roadway.
[57:23] We need to be able
to access them.
[57:25] It's likely going to be a future
right of way, but at this point,
[57:29] it's a perpetual easement for
our easement for our utilities.
[57:33] And yeah, I would authorize the
mayor to finalize and execute
[57:38] a sewer and water utility
easement and garages, LLC,
[57:42] and authorize
recording of easement
[57:44] with sign and other second.
[57:48] All right.
[57:48] We have a motion by Council and
a second by Council Sanders.
[57:52] We'll open up for questions.
[57:54] 
[57:57] No I'm good.
[58:01] Very good.
[58:03] We have a motion.
[58:05] And second, all those in favor.
[58:06] Aye Opposed.
[58:08] Motion passes.
[58:09] All right, one more shake.
[58:11] Watching crci, l.l.c.
change order number 2
[58:14] to the Lakeside trail project.
[58:16] Also have Jake.
[58:18] OK Lakeside trail I
know it seems maybe
[58:20] like the distant past, but these
projects administratively can
[58:25] drag on for quite some time.
[58:26] So we have before
you this evening
[58:29] a change order we've been
working on for a while now.
[58:31] It's kind a lot
of times we'll try
[58:34] to consolidate a lot of smaller
items into a single action.
[58:37] So we're not back
to council a lot
[58:39] asking for direction on onesies
and twosies here and there.
[58:41] So this is change order number
two for Lakeside trail project.
[58:45] It includes five items in
it, four of with of which
[58:49] have monetary costs.
[58:51] And then one is just a
contractual time extension.
[58:54] So item 118 working days.
[58:56] We're out of the contract.
[58:57] Item two driving for
1210 parcel item 3
[59:07] there was a gap in our contract
that didn't include provision
[59:10] for paying for the removal of
temporary pavement markings,
[59:12] so that was incorporated
via this change order.
[59:16] We had to relocate
rapid flashing beacon
[59:20] pursuant to DOT's request
and standard specifications.
[59:25] And then that road, I think
you all probably driven
[59:29] it on 97 in that stretch.
[59:31] It's not in the best condition.
[59:34] The dot has they had
plans on paving it.
[59:37] But I don't think there are
any plans in the near term
[59:40] unfortunately so.
[59:41] But there were some
additional repairs that we
[59:44] needed to do with that project.
[59:46] So between the state, the
city, and our engineering team,
[59:50] it's very minimal, but
did fix a few problem
[59:54] areas along that corridor.
[59:55] So the sum total of that
change adds $57,007.80
[1:00:06] to the project contract.
[1:00:09] 
[1:00:13] There I moved to.
[1:00:16] 
[1:00:23] I moved to authorize the
mayor to finalize and execute
[1:00:26] for the crci, l.l.c.
[1:00:27] Change order number two for
the Lakeside trail project.
[1:00:31] Senator, I have a
motion by Rivera Vargas
[1:00:34] and a second by Venegas for
questions and clarifying
[1:00:38] questions.
[1:00:39] Nope OK.
[1:00:41] Will this be it.
[1:00:43] No it won't.
[1:00:45] Good question.
[1:00:46] Actually, I meant to elaborate
a little bit more on that.
[1:00:48] So we're like, we have a
few outstanding items still.
[1:00:52] We have adequate funds
budgeted for this.
[1:00:54] We have projected projected
ending project expenses
[1:00:58] that we're working through.
[1:01:00] And I can't really share
the details of that
[1:01:01] necessarily right now,
but it's likely the city
[1:01:05] it will probably be around.
[1:01:09] I'm speculating, based
on a projection for 100
[1:01:11] to $150,000 at the
end of the day, beyond
[1:01:15] what we originally contributed.
[1:01:16] So around 3% ish is what
we're probably looking at.
[1:01:21] But we have a few.
[1:01:23] 
[1:01:30] Things to resolve.
[1:01:31] Yes will those be
resolved in 2026?
[1:01:35] Well, hopefully.
[1:01:37] Great yeah.
[1:01:40] It depends on how many
attorneys get involved.
[1:01:42] Yes Yeah OK.
[1:01:47] OK not good enough.
[1:01:52] OK OK.
[1:01:54] All right, so we have
a motion and a second.
[1:01:58] All those in favor.
[1:01:59] Aye Opposed.
[1:02:01] Motion passes.
[1:02:02] All right item g.
[1:02:04] USDA Forest Service.
[1:02:05] Emergency facilities
and land use agreement,
[1:02:08] and this will be handled
by City administrator.
[1:02:11] Thank you mayor.
[1:02:12] So council you have before you
a proposed emergency facilities
[1:02:16] and land use agreement.
[1:02:18] This is to allow the fire
response teams through,
[1:02:21] under the oversight of
USDA Forest Service,
[1:02:24] to utilize Lake Chelan airport
right now for a single Black
[1:02:28] Hawk helicopter.
[1:02:30] I know we've all seen it
fine along with others,
[1:02:33] but this is to allow
them to utilize
[1:02:35] airport field for layovers.
[1:02:39] Spending the night.
[1:02:40] We've got a fuel
truck out there.
[1:02:43] They will perform
dust abatement for us
[1:02:47] as a result of their use
of the undeveloped field.
[1:02:50] We also have other Forest
Service planes utilizing
[1:02:55] our fuel station, and they
are paying US retail prices
[1:02:59] for that, which is helpful to
the airport's economy or budget.
[1:03:06] This proposal is or this request
is, that we authorize $300 a day
[1:03:11] fee to be paid by the
Forest Service to us,
[1:03:14] because it's for
only one helicopter.
[1:03:17] So should the use increase
and the need increase.
[1:03:22] I think I know we all hope
it decreases, but if it does,
[1:03:26] we can renegotiate a higher
rental rate from Forest
[1:03:30] Service for increased use.
[1:03:31] But right now it's just
one helicopter out there
[1:03:35] that's based out there.
[1:03:36] So the request is that
council authorize the mayor
[1:03:40] to finalize and
execute the USDA Forest
[1:03:42] Service emergency facilities
and the land use agreement.
[1:03:48] I move to authorize the
mayor to finalize and execute
[1:03:50] the USDA Forest Service
emergency facilities
[1:03:52] and land use agreement.
[1:03:54] Second OK.
[1:03:59] All right.
[1:03:59] So we have a motion by Council
Member Combs and a second
[1:04:02] by Council Member Higgins.
[1:04:03] Any questions.
[1:04:05] Yeah do we set the rates or are
they tell us what the price is.
[1:04:11] So actually, they look
at what other airports
[1:04:13] are paying in terms of market.
[1:04:15] Previously in 2024, what
we received was $450 a day
[1:04:21] based on complete total
use of that field.
[1:04:24] Multiple aircraft
based at the airport.
[1:04:26] So the prices generally run.
[1:04:30] Our research firm does
from $200 to $500 a day.
[1:04:35] So airports are receiving
this type of use.
[1:04:39] I didn't ask that
question to council.
[1:04:42] I understand.
[1:04:43] Yes just so we're clear.
[1:04:46] Very good.
[1:04:47] I see.
[1:04:48] And John.
[1:04:53] See no.
[1:04:54] All right, good.
[1:04:56] All right, we have a
motion and a second.
[1:04:57] All those in favor.
[1:04:59] Opposed motion passes.
[1:05:02] All right item 8.
[1:05:04] Noble strategies LLC, doing
business as Tower consulting.
[1:05:07] Additional services.
[1:05:08] Addendum number 4 and
additional services.
[1:05:11] Addendum number 5 to
the client services
[1:05:14] agreement for assistance with
grants and funding applications.
[1:05:17] Also notify city
administrator McCullough.
[1:05:20] Thank you.
[1:05:20] Mayor so council
tower consulting
[1:05:23] is the company that we use to
assist us in grant funding.
[1:05:27] It's not, frankly,
not just assist us.
[1:05:29] They do the bulk of the work
and guide us through the process
[1:05:34] and make sure that we
are doing everything
[1:05:38] we need to do in order to be
successful grant recipients.
[1:05:41] I want to make sure
that you understand
[1:05:43] that when we apply for a grant.
[1:05:45] It is to fund an
existing known project.
[1:05:49] We are not chasing
grants in order to build
[1:05:52] projects or create projects.
[1:05:54] We know you have an adopted
capital improvement program,
[1:05:58] and we are utilizing that to go
out and seek potential funding
[1:06:01] opportunities that will reduce
the local cost, thereby keeping
[1:06:06] taxes down as much as possible
by bringing in free money
[1:06:10] largely.
[1:06:12] There is obviously a cost to
obtaining that free money.
[1:06:15] So when our consultant
approached us for an increase
[1:06:20] in the contract, because the
contract amount is not to exceed
[1:06:24] $60,000 for calendar year
26, we have always already
[1:06:29] hit that amount that cost.
[1:06:32] So what she has
recommended is an increase.
[1:06:35] This is a number for an increase
to the total year contract
[1:06:40] for grant writing of $20,000.
[1:06:45] I asked her to provide
me with the return
[1:06:48] on investment analysis for
the work that she has done.
[1:06:51] Done so included in your
happen is that analysis.
[1:06:57] You can see on page
147 of your packet,
[1:07:02] we have invested over
since 2023, $190,000
[1:07:07] in grant consulting services.
[1:07:09] And in exchange for
that investment,
[1:07:11] we've received $14.1
million in grant funding.
[1:07:15] That's a 74 to 1
return on investment.
[1:07:18] So I personally think that's
a very good investment
[1:07:21] that the city has made.
[1:07:23] We have an excellent grant
writer who's very successful.
[1:07:27] And that leads me
to Asa number five.
[1:07:30] So with the great success that
we have had in obtaining grant
[1:07:35] funding for public works
infrastructure projects,
[1:07:38] we've also encountered
an administrative burden
[1:07:42] in terms of the capacity
of our current staff
[1:07:47] to submit all of the
required reporting forms
[1:07:51] and submit the
reimbursements in a manner
[1:07:54] so that we're seeing those
reimbursements come back
[1:07:56] into primarily the
transportation fund as soon
[1:07:59] as possible with the loss of our
project manager, construction
[1:08:05] project manager, and
with a family leave
[1:08:09] by our city engineer.
[1:08:11] What we discovered
is we needed help
[1:08:13] in achieving those deadlines
through the balance
[1:08:18] of this year.
[1:08:19] So staff consulting provides
those services already.
[1:08:24] They provide ventilation
and sewer district
[1:08:26] and we help administer
those services for them.
[1:08:30] So we Asa number 5
is a fee of 24,000.
[1:08:35] I'm not sure I have
to go to that page.
[1:08:38] That's right.
[1:08:39] 24,000 not to exceed amount
of 24,000 at a monthly rate
[1:08:46] to provide us with
those administrative
[1:08:49] services for the grants
we currently have.
[1:08:52] Parks department budget will
be used to pay for that cost.
[1:08:57] Because the fact that
public works grants are
[1:09:00] currently under administration.
[1:09:02] So the request is that you
authorize the mayor to finalize
[1:09:07] and execute those strategies.
[1:09:10] Addendum number 4 and number
5 to the master plan services
[1:09:14] agreement for assistance with
grants and funding applications.
[1:09:18] 
[1:09:22] I move to authorize
the mayor to finalize
[1:09:24] next week, mobile strategies,
LLC, DBA tower consulting,
[1:09:27] addendum number 4 and number
5 to the master services
[1:09:30] agreement for assistance with
grants and funding applications.
[1:09:34] Second We have a motion
by Council Member Sanders
[1:09:39] and a second by Council
Member Hollingsworth,
[1:09:41] and we'll open it up
for any questions.
[1:09:42] Terry, just one, do
we anticipate when
[1:09:46] staffing comes back from you.
[1:09:48] We expect those additional
services to drop off.
[1:09:52] Great question.
[1:09:53] So actually, we're
proposing that this
[1:09:55] be a contract through the
end of this calendar year
[1:09:58] to get us caught up.
[1:09:59] But yes, part of
what we need to do
[1:10:01] is assign duties
and find capacity
[1:10:05] within our existing team
to provide those services
[1:10:09] on an ongoing basis.
[1:10:10] So this is an interim
fix through the end
[1:10:12] of this budget year.
[1:10:13] And then we will have a plan
for starting in fiscal year 27.
[1:10:18] Thank you.
[1:10:19] Thank you.
[1:10:21] Obviously just so it
creates 20,000 and then
[1:10:25] the additional cost of 24.
[1:10:29] Can I make sure I have it right.
[1:10:30] 34 34 I apologize.
[1:10:32] That's why I wanted to scroll up
on my screen is not keeping up.
[1:10:36] 34,800 and that's a
not to exceed amount.
[1:10:40] And that actually
it's a monthly fee.
[1:10:43] And so that has a one month
buffer for built into it.
[1:10:50] And going into contract.
[1:10:52] Additionally, there is an annual
contract per year per year.
[1:10:57] That is an annual contract
that the council appropriates
[1:11:00] funds for each year.
[1:11:02] 
[1:11:07] So we're looking for 50,
40, 60, correct Yes OK.
[1:11:18] All right.
[1:11:19] Thank you John.
[1:11:22] All right.
[1:11:23] Cesar no.
[1:11:24] Jim did tower also
for the first time.
[1:11:31] So they do that not
just public workshops.
[1:11:33] Yeah it just so happens that
the administrative support
[1:11:37] for the contracts that we have
was only needed in public works.
[1:11:40] That's the Department
to have the two
[1:11:42] employees out at the same time.
[1:11:44] Who would be
responsible for this.
[1:11:46] Well thank you.
[1:11:50] All right, we have a
motion and a second.
[1:11:53] All those in favor.
[1:11:54] Aye Opposed.
[1:11:57] That motion passes.
[1:11:58] We'll move into item
I. Chelan County
[1:12:00] Regional Justice center
interlocal agreement
[1:12:02] for inmate housing.
[1:12:04] And I don't see Director sharp.
[1:12:08] So this will be by City
administrator Maclin.
[1:12:12] So Director sharp came
and presented to you.
[1:12:14] Previously on their changes
to the interlocal agreement
[1:12:19] for jail, housing and staff
previously reported on you
[1:12:25] that our recommendation
is that we
[1:12:27] go ahead and proceed with this.
[1:12:30] What we were waiting for
over the past few weeks
[1:12:33] since was just simply
opportunity for legal counsel
[1:12:35] to take a look and
address any concerns
[1:12:38] they had with the county's
office, county's legal counsel,
[1:12:42] and we're now ready to
request your approval
[1:12:47] to move forward with
renewing this contract
[1:12:49] under the new financial terms.
[1:12:51] So if you look at the
financial implications,
[1:12:55] just to refresh
your recollection.
[1:12:57] Currently we pay $12,846.78
a month for inmate housing.
[1:13:05] And that's based
on an annual fee
[1:13:07] that's broken down going
forward under the new agreement.
[1:13:10] Our estimate, based on what we
have experienced over the past
[1:13:15] three years, in terms of actual
number of days of housing that
[1:13:21] an arrestees spend at the
jail, we're estimating
[1:13:27] that the cost will be roughly
the same, about 159,000.
[1:13:34] Broken out.
[1:13:34] We've got 2023, 2024 and 2025.
[1:13:37] And we're happy to
compare how it compared.
[1:13:41] We think that conservatively
budgeting in fiscal year 27
[1:13:44] for 8:09 to 213 and
9, which is where
[1:13:48] we will be charged at annual
budgeted cost, would be 170,000.
[1:13:53] So we're simply
going to transition
[1:13:56] from paying a flat fee
regardless of the number
[1:13:59] of city guests of the County.
[1:14:02] And we would go to an actual per
day rate based on actual usage.
[1:14:07] And we do think it will
either stay the same
[1:14:10] or reduce for the first time.
[1:14:14] The number of arrests made in
the number of State Medical
[1:14:19] costs are still 100%
the responsibility
[1:14:23] of the agency that in
which the arrest occurred.
[1:14:27] So that is separate above grade.
[1:14:30] So our recommendation
is that you move forward
[1:14:33] with authorizing the mayor to
finalize and execute the center
[1:14:36] local agreement for the housing
of inmates and the Shelby
[1:14:40] County Regional Justice center.
[1:14:44] Authorized the mayor to finalize
and execute the Shawnee County
[1:14:48] Washington city shoreline,
Washington for the housing
[1:14:51] of the Regional Justice center,
subject to final approval of the
[1:14:56] agreement by the city attorney.
[1:15:00] Second, a motion
by Council Jennings
[1:15:03] and a second by
Council Hollingsworth,
[1:15:05] and we'll open up for questions.
[1:15:06] Augustine this is $2
depending on population.
[1:15:13] Depends on our.
[1:15:14] 
[1:15:18] If you reiterate that part.
[1:15:21] So medical.
[1:15:22] So if an inmate incurs medical
expenses while in custody,
[1:15:27] the arresting agency
which here would
[1:15:31] contract with Shelby
County Sheriff's
[1:15:32] Office to law
enforcement agency.
[1:15:35] The federal arresting on
behalf of the city of Salina.
[1:15:39] The city is responsible
for those medical expenses.
[1:15:44] Well, that is over
and above that.
[1:15:47] It's not covered in this course.
[1:15:49] We do budget for it
based on experience.
[1:15:51] 
[1:15:55] Excuse me.
[1:15:56] Well, what do we expect it
to hit a spike in housing
[1:16:01] for the incarcerated.
[1:16:04] Well, I can tell you,
for the number of.
[1:16:07] I didn't look specifically
at the months with increased
[1:16:11] housing, but I can tell you for
in terms of citations issued so
[1:16:15] far this year, July has been
the largest month that simply
[1:16:18] correlates to when
we have an influx
[1:16:21] of visitors to the community.
[1:16:23] Sometimes that comes
with misbehaving.
[1:16:26] Elizabeth thank you.
[1:16:31] Jane are these costs are
recouped through other.
[1:16:35] Civil law enforcement
costs of enforcing laws.
[1:16:41] The governmental
costs for enforcing
[1:16:43] the laws so the prosecution
are going to have cases.
[1:16:47] So he pays separately
for prosecution.
[1:16:50] We pay separately for
the public defender's.
[1:16:53] And we pay separately for
law enforcement services.
[1:16:56] It is absolutely law
enforcement in total.
[1:16:59] It's absolutely one of
the largest expenses.
[1:17:02] 
[1:17:06] Very good.
[1:17:08] All right.
[1:17:08] We have a motion and a second.
[1:17:09] All those in favor.
[1:17:10] Aye Opposed.
[1:17:12] Motion passes.
[1:17:13] All right.
[1:17:14] Let's move into
administrative reports.
[1:17:16] And we'll start with
the athletic field
[1:17:18] use and fees policy.
[1:17:19] And this will be handled by
parks and rec director Cooper.
[1:17:22] Thank you.
[1:17:22] Mayor Council, before
you tonight, we
[1:17:24] have a policy for your review.
[1:17:26] And I want to get
your feedback on.
[1:17:29] I wanted to give some context to
this facility for athletic field
[1:17:33] use and youth policy because it
came about as part of our budget
[1:17:36] process last year, and not
everyone was on council
[1:17:39] when we went through it.
[1:17:40] So I wanted to give
you some full context.
[1:17:41] So in the 2020 budget process,
through the rates and fees
[1:17:45] discussion, staff proposed
adjusting the rates for use
[1:17:50] at the ball fields, at
children park or fields as many
[1:17:54] know them as and the feedback
from council through that
[1:17:59] process was a request to
have a framework that would
[1:18:03] allow the city to reduce fees.
[1:18:06] Fees were charged for the
ball fields have a mechanism
[1:18:08] to reduce fees for
qualified groups,
[1:18:11] and I will also caveat it.
[1:18:14] When the fees were
proposed in 2025,
[1:18:19] those hadn't been
updated for over 20 years
[1:18:22] in the city rate resolution.
[1:18:23] So in the effort
in 2025 by staff
[1:18:26] to modernize and
have rates and fees
[1:18:29] that reflect modern structure.
[1:18:33] Similar structures from
other cities and our County.
[1:18:36] Other similar sized communities
or similar types of facilities.
[1:18:40] The feedback from
council was if.
[1:18:42] If fees are charged
out at the location,
[1:18:44] that there should
be a framework to be
[1:18:46] able to discount to
appropriate groups
[1:18:48] and have a request
process in place.
[1:18:50] So that requires a policy that
is established and approved
[1:18:54] by City council, so
that we are not having
[1:18:57] a gifting of public funds.
[1:18:58] If there are fees associated
with use of a public space,
[1:19:01] that we are giving that away.
[1:19:05] So that is what has we've been
working on this year is a draft
[1:19:09] policy that establishes
a consistent process
[1:19:12] for reserving facilities.
[1:19:15] And then if there are groups
that would like a reduction
[1:19:17] in fees associated with use
of those facilities, a process
[1:19:21] in which that can be
requested, and then
[1:19:23] a review of that request.
[1:19:26] This has I've gone with parks
board for the last two months,
[1:19:31] we've reviewed it
and they've been
[1:19:32] able to provide
their really helpful
[1:19:33] feedback on the criteria.
[1:19:36] The process.
[1:19:37] So we reviewed it last
week in our meeting.
[1:19:39] And they bring this policy
to you with a recommendation
[1:19:43] as well.
[1:19:45] I will say that this
policy itself does not
[1:19:50] have direct fiscal impacts, in
the sense that any fees for use
[1:19:55] of the ball fields is still
established through the rate
[1:19:58] fee resolution process.
[1:19:59] So this policy is a process
that if fees are assessed,
[1:20:05] that there is a way to
evaluate it and perhaps reduce
[1:20:08] those for certain groups.
[1:20:10] So it creates a fair
and transparent process.
[1:20:13] It clearly defines
priorities and ball fields
[1:20:17] and has that process for
reviewing those requests
[1:20:19] for any waivers or discounts.
[1:20:22] It also gives our
staff a mechanism
[1:20:25] in which to work through it,
because there isn't any policy,
[1:20:27] any formal structure in place
on how to process the use
[1:20:32] requests for those fields.
[1:20:36] What else you need
to know in context.
[1:20:38] Policy kind of concurrently with
the development of this policy,
[1:20:43] myself and several
of our board members
[1:20:45] have been in communication with
the different user groups that
[1:20:49] are out at the ball fields
to get their feedback
[1:20:52] on potential future fees
that might be assessed
[1:20:56] for use of the ball fields.
[1:20:57] And this is I guess
I'll put this definition
[1:21:00] on use of the ball fields.
[1:21:01] This is when a league or a
team wants to come in and have
[1:21:04] dedicated practice
in game times,
[1:21:06] or potentially even
tournaments at ball fields.
[1:21:09] So this isn't first
come, first serve use.
[1:21:11] It's dedicated,
reserved scheduled use.
[1:21:14] Similar to if someone wanted
to use our picnic shelters
[1:21:17] and dog park, they are generally
first come, first serve.
[1:21:21] But if someone wants to use
a picnic shelter and say,
[1:21:23] this is our picnic
shelter for the day,
[1:21:25] they have to pay for
the use of that shelter.
[1:21:27] So that's what I mean by
use of the ball fields
[1:21:30] as a group who wants to
have dedicated use of it
[1:21:33] for a specific practice
or specific games.
[1:21:36] So staff and Park
Board members have
[1:21:38] been in communication
with the different groups
[1:21:40] that are using the ball fields.
[1:21:42] Currently, we have multiple
youth organizations.
[1:21:44] We have a senior softball group
just to get their feedback
[1:21:47] on conditions of the field.
[1:21:50] What kind of short
term improvements
[1:21:52] could be made to have the
fields be in a quality
[1:21:56] enough condition that's
worth charging for.
[1:21:58] I think that was some
of the feedback we heard
[1:22:00] from the groups is that
the city is going to charge
[1:22:02] for use of the fields.
[1:22:04] They should be in
perhaps better condition
[1:22:06] than they are right now.
[1:22:07] And obviously that
does come with costs.
[1:22:11] So those will be coming to you
through our capital improvement
[1:22:15] program budget process.
[1:22:17] So you'll get an idea of what
those costs for short term
[1:22:20] improvements might
be associated with,
[1:22:23] which is obviously outside
of any major improvements
[1:22:26] to the ball fields, like the
planning grant that we applied
[1:22:31] for, which would be a larger
capital project versus kind
[1:22:34] of smaller scale, something
that could be done in-house
[1:22:36] with staff or volunteers.
[1:22:38] That would be a
kind of a short term
[1:22:41] improvement to the playing
facility, improving
[1:22:44] safety and things like that.
[1:22:45] 
[1:22:48] I think that's the gist
of it, but happy to answer
[1:22:51] any questions on the
details of the policy itself
[1:22:53] that's included in your
packet also included
[1:22:56] a draft waiver request form.
[1:22:58] This is not any this
was kind of my kind
[1:23:01] of first thought or
first take on what
[1:23:05] a user might be
able to fill out in.
[1:23:07] This could be streamlined
through our Laserfiche form
[1:23:10] submissions, which we
have for many other forms
[1:23:12] throughout the city.
[1:23:13] So it doesn't necessarily
have to take that form,
[1:23:15] but at least gives
you an idea of what
[1:23:16] that could look like in the end.
[1:23:19] So I'm happy to
field any questions
[1:23:21] and would welcome your
feedback on the policy
[1:23:24] any questions for Audrey.
[1:23:25] 
[1:23:29] Questions comment that
you reached out to us
[1:23:33] and use it so that they can have
the feedback versus just coming
[1:23:39] down and saying,
hey, this is what
[1:23:40] we're going to do without
asking them to protect and save
[1:23:47] the environment, but also that.
[1:23:50] 
[1:23:55] This discussion didn't include
anything about the schedule
[1:23:58] at this time with park.
[1:24:01] What do you mean.
[1:24:02] Certainly I mean, at our
Park Board meeting last week,
[1:24:04] we actually I had a draft
scheduled for next year
[1:24:08] that I wanted their feedback
on, and the ball field
[1:24:12] fees that were presented to city
council last year were in there.
[1:24:16] So that was presented to
Park Board for feedback.
[1:24:21] They're one of the
feedback points
[1:24:23] they said specifically on rates
was the charge for tournaments.
[1:24:27] What is it.
[1:24:28] What was presented to them.
[1:24:30] I think the sentiment I got from
them is that it could be higher
[1:24:34] based on what other facility
managers like the school
[1:24:39] district, charges
for tournaments
[1:24:40] so that it's kind
of similar, perhaps.
[1:24:44] Yeah any other questions.
[1:24:48] I think the policies
had done before.
[1:24:52] And go to these meetings.
[1:24:53] I'm very familiar with what
the policy is in place.
[1:24:58] And we start charging fees.
[1:25:01] Will those fees be adequate to
actually cover the money that's
[1:25:05] going to be needed to get
those fields into the shape,
[1:25:08] they're going to
expect them to be.
[1:25:10] Or is that a different
discussion when we're actually
[1:25:12] discussing the rate setting.
[1:25:13] No, it is a good question.
[1:25:15] I don't know if I could
give you a confident answer,
[1:25:20] but I would say
it probably isn't
[1:25:21] going to cover all
the costs of at least
[1:25:24] the short term improvements.
[1:25:27] But you have to think
about the cost for even
[1:25:31] maintaining our fields
is estimated somewhere
[1:25:33] around $35,000 a year.
[1:25:36] And based on how the
fields are currently used,
[1:25:41] if we want to try to recoup
all of those maintenance costs
[1:25:44] alone on the users
of it, we have
[1:25:46] to charge a price that would
be prohibited for everybody.
[1:25:49] So I think any fees
that are assessed
[1:25:55] is to recoup a
portion of the cost,
[1:25:56] but it's not going to be
able to prove everything.
[1:25:59] Is your sense that the public is
aware that these parks are made
[1:26:02] for the general fund, and there
is no parks district money,
[1:26:06] like a lot of
other regions have,
[1:26:07] that they comment on why do they
have pools and parks, that they
[1:26:12] have dedicated funds, or whether
it's just general fund system.
[1:26:15] Certainly that's and that's
been part of the education
[1:26:18] with the user groups or
other people in the community
[1:26:20] is that general fund tax
dollars are not currently
[1:26:24] going towards the
Parks Department,
[1:26:26] so the funds available
to maintain these fields
[1:26:29] are coming from other revenue
sources within Parks Department.
[1:26:34] So I think, certainly
an impression
[1:26:36] that it is funded the same as
other communities, but it's not.
[1:26:41] Yeah any other questions.
[1:26:48] And to put a point
on Audrey's response,
[1:26:52] the funding of our
Parks Department
[1:26:55] is through predominantly
tourism generated revenue.
[1:27:01] The RV park, parking, et cetera.
[1:27:05] All right I would like to
ask a question of council,
[1:27:08] just since I haven't heard
any feedback to the form
[1:27:11] of the policy itself.
[1:27:12] If there's no major
change to the request,
[1:27:15] I'd like to put
it on the consent
[1:27:17] agenda at our next meeting.
[1:27:18] Unless there was any
specific feedback or changes
[1:27:22] you'd like to see to the policy.
[1:27:24] That's good.
[1:27:26] I'm glad you put some time into
it and talk to the user groups.
[1:27:30] Appreciate the Lord's
work on it as well.
[1:27:35] Yeah, like any
policy, we'll just
[1:27:37] have to see how it goes and.
[1:27:40] Yeah thank you.
[1:27:43] All right.
[1:27:44] Let's move on to
city administrator
[1:27:46] and department reports.
[1:27:47] And we'll start with city
administrator Maclin.
[1:27:50] Thank you.
[1:27:50] Mayor so, counsel, I
wanted to let you know.
[1:27:53] Last week, I attended the
iCMA economic mobility
[1:27:57] and opportunity conference,
which was in the iCMA
[1:28:02] is the International City
County Management Association.
[1:28:06] So it was a great
opportunity to hear from
[1:28:11] and learn from economic
development events
[1:28:14] and economic opportunity.
[1:28:17] Organizations
throughout the country
[1:28:20] have the opportunity for free
consultations with some National
[1:28:25] Economic development
entities, and
[1:28:27] brainstorming and picking
their brains about things
[1:28:29] that we can do.
[1:28:30] So received a lot of
great information,
[1:28:33] and I'm really excited about
bringing back to the city
[1:28:37] and working with our
community to implement them,
[1:28:42] especially through the
process that we're going
[1:28:45] through with our application
for the development
[1:28:49] of an economic
diversification strategy.
[1:28:52] I can tell you that it was
interesting as you listened
[1:28:55] to the challenges and the
different presentations
[1:28:58] from cities around the
country, from Mexico
[1:29:03] to Ohio to suburbs
of Washington, DC,
[1:29:07] that many of them
struggle with getting
[1:29:10] partnership and input and
feedback from the local business
[1:29:14] community.
[1:29:15] I think it's
wonderful the way that
[1:29:18] has a very active and involved
business community that
[1:29:21] is offering to
partner with the city
[1:29:23] on how we can grow the
economy, which lifts all boats.
[1:29:29] It helps us reduce
housing costs.
[1:29:31] It helps us increase income.
[1:29:33] So these are all opportunities
that we're working on.
[1:29:37] And I think it's a
really great point
[1:29:41] to be able to start
working with the community
[1:29:43] to really grow with the
prior work has been done.
[1:29:47] So that's just an update.
[1:29:51] John yeah, I would say
that we're getting close.
[1:29:59] I'd say we're in
our seventh inning.
[1:30:00] We have the comprehensive
plan process.
[1:30:03] We had a discussion last week
with the planning commission
[1:30:05] on climate resiliency and
our economic elements.
[1:30:08] And there's a
really robust matrix
[1:30:12] of all of the public comments
that we've received to date.
[1:30:15] Those are located in the
planning commission agenda
[1:30:19] right now.
[1:30:20] You can pull that
up from smug save
[1:30:22] up moving up to our top page.
[1:30:25] And generally, there's a broad
overview of what the comment is.
[1:30:31] There's a summary of what it is.
[1:30:33] There's a staff response.
[1:30:34] And then there are a
number of questions that
[1:30:35] are asked of the planning
commission on how
[1:30:37] they want to stop some of this.
[1:30:39] And the reason I'm
telling you all of this
[1:30:41] is that it's just
probably a good background
[1:30:44] to give to speak for
our joint meeting that's
[1:30:46] coming up on September 8.
[1:30:48] Do you have any questions on
the process up to this point.
[1:30:51] Feel free to reach out to us.
[1:30:55] Other than that
takes care of Audrey.
[1:31:00] Yes So I wanted to share just
some revenue and performance
[1:31:05] numbers on some of our
commercial operations
[1:31:08] with the smoke impacts
that we've seen in August.
[1:31:11] So looking at roughly the
first three weeks of August
[1:31:14] up to the golf course.
[1:31:16] Comparing this year to last
year for the same time frame
[1:31:18] around the golf
course, about 40% down.
[1:31:21] So it's not far off I
think, the numbers I shared
[1:31:24] earlier in the month of August.
[1:31:26] So we're kind of seeing
that trend continue.
[1:31:27] The first three weeks
and then within the RV
[1:31:30] park for occupancy.
[1:31:32] Comparing the first
three weeks of August,
[1:31:37] the sitting at
about 48% occupancy
[1:31:40] this year versus last year at
the same time was 96% occupancy.
[1:31:46] So last week was
a little better.
[1:31:48] We started seeing an uptick
in occupancy to about 55%
[1:31:53] but still obviously
nothing compared
[1:31:55] to the 97% that we typically
see this time of year.
[1:31:59] So I think as our
local businesses
[1:32:03] feel the impact of smoke
on our departments as well.
[1:32:08] On a more positive note,
I did receive notice
[1:32:11] that the public request for
assistance that the city made
[1:32:16] to FEMA for debris cleanup has
had funds obligated towards it,
[1:32:21] so that has now moved from
FEMA over to the state.
[1:32:24] Who is the one who is the
agency that provides the funds.
[1:32:27] That contract that was
brought to us a month
[1:32:30] or two ago to authorize the
state to pass those funds
[1:32:35] through to the city.
[1:32:36] So I will now be working
with another organization.
[1:32:39] But we do have funds
obligated for the debris
[1:32:41] cleanup associated with all
the flooding of the city
[1:32:45] last winter.
[1:32:45] So good news on that front.
[1:32:47] Wanted to give you all a quick
update on the golf course.
[1:32:50] So the last six I mean,
since our joint meeting
[1:32:53] in June, counsel, you
provided some very good
[1:32:56] feedback and directives
for staff work
[1:32:58] to do to bring back to you.
[1:33:00] So we have been internally
working on a business plan
[1:33:03] for the golf course,
Laura and myself
[1:33:05] and staff at the golf
course have been working on
[1:33:08] that so that should
be ready soon
[1:33:09] to bring back to
city council for you
[1:33:11] to take a look at review.
[1:33:13] Last week we did get an RFP
issued for those third party
[1:33:17] management costs so that
city council can have
[1:33:20] a full comparison
of apples to apples
[1:33:23] of the costs associated with
management of the golf course.
[1:33:26] So those are the issue
that takes typically
[1:33:29] on the streets for
about a month so that we
[1:33:31] can get sufficient responses.
[1:33:33] So once those are
submitted and reviewed,
[1:33:37] it probably won't be
until October that will be
[1:33:39] ready to take back to council.
[1:33:40] But that's in process as well.
[1:33:43] And I spoke earlier
about our parks
[1:33:45] and recreation advisory board.
[1:33:46] They've been really active this
year, very engaged group, which
[1:33:50] has been truly a delight
for me because they are
[1:33:52] a voice of the community
on specifically parks
[1:33:56] and recreation matters, and
they're engaged, and dialed in
[1:34:00] and keeping me busy
at a very good way.
[1:34:04] But Tom, one of our chair, Vice
President of the Park Board,
[1:34:09] announced last week that he
has to step down from his role.
[1:34:12] So we do have a
vacancy on the parks
[1:34:14] and recreation advisory
board that has been
[1:34:16] posted online for applications.
[1:34:19] So please help spread the word.
[1:34:20] If you know someone in the
community who you think
[1:34:22] might be a good fit
to serve in that role,
[1:34:24] to advise the parks matters.
[1:34:27] So thank you.
[1:34:30] OK, great.
[1:34:32] So we've been super busy, of
course, working on all things
[1:34:35] budget and looking forward
to our first budget workshop,
[1:34:39] or I should say our
second budget workshop,
[1:34:42] taking that during our
next workshop session.
[1:34:45] I've also been doing
quite a bit of work
[1:34:47] with our grant
writer, Emily street,
[1:34:49] our consultant to as well
working on the airport Porter
[1:34:52] line and coming up to speed on
all of the public works grants
[1:34:57] that are outstanding there.
[1:34:58] We've also been working on
onboarding our new front desk
[1:35:01] receptionist.
[1:35:02] So it's been going really well.
[1:35:04] But it's just a
process, of course, too.
[1:35:07] And that's just one of
the council's attention.
[1:35:10] To piggyback on Laura's US
Forest Service agreement
[1:35:15] to as well.
[1:35:15] So I'll put you guys on
notice that they sent
[1:35:18] us an additional agreement to as
well for their dumpster rentals.
[1:35:22] It's essentially
on a federal form,
[1:35:25] but it's confirming our
dumpster rental rates.
[1:35:30] And so, if there's no
concerns from council,
[1:35:33] we'd love to just keep
ushering that forward
[1:35:35] as there's no
separation from what's
[1:35:39] listed in our rates schedule.
[1:35:41] It's just kind of solidifying
on their side for the feds.
[1:35:46] So if there's any way to
get just a quick head nod,
[1:35:48] if there's any
concerns about that,
[1:35:51] I'd be happy to bring
that contract back
[1:35:53] in front of council.
[1:35:55] But just to confirm,
it's like a confirmation
[1:35:57] of our dumpster rental rates and
what they're using out there.
[1:36:01] The firefighter station.
[1:36:06] So any concerns that.
[1:36:10] You guys all know about that.
[1:36:11] Great OK.
[1:36:12] Great thank you.
[1:36:14] And that's all for now.
[1:36:16] So thank you.
[1:36:17] All right.
[1:36:19] The biggest thing with the
Sheriff's Office coming up
[1:36:21] is school starting tomorrow.
[1:36:24] School starts next week.
[1:36:25] So in.
[1:36:26] And just want to give
everybody a heads up.
[1:36:28] Shoreline school district
will have a new old school
[1:36:31] resource officer in.
[1:36:33] Nigel Hunter will be
coming back to cascade
[1:36:38] and coming back to the boats.
[1:36:42] So excellent.
[1:36:45] OK I mentioned our new project
manager position was filled,
[1:36:52] and the individual we hired
was named Chris Perry.
[1:36:56] Started on Monday.
[1:36:57] We'll find the time to
do a formal introduction,
[1:36:59] but we're super, super happy
and excited about having him
[1:37:02] on board.
[1:37:03] So it's a steep and
fast curve for him.
[1:37:06] Tomorrow we'll know
more on schedule.
[1:37:08] That'll give us more of our
ability to finalize some dates
[1:37:13] that we can push
out to the public,
[1:37:15] which has been kind of loose
and tentative at this point.
[1:37:17] So that's going to be full
steam tentatively looking
[1:37:23] likely around
September 8, but more
[1:37:25] information to come on that.
[1:37:28] Unfortunately, I think any
hopes and dreams we had
[1:37:31] of getting Farnam
street improvements
[1:37:34] done this all are dwindling.
[1:37:38] And not to deflect or
point blame, but the dot.
[1:37:45] It's their right of
way and they review
[1:37:47] it and they're fairly busy.
[1:37:49] And we anyway
submitted it in July.
[1:37:52] And your comments have
been trickling in,
[1:37:55] but I think we're going to
shift our priorities on that
[1:37:58] and hopefully look at maybe like
a spring break kind of timeline
[1:38:04] is what we're tentatively
thinking, unfortunately.
[1:38:07] So that project is also coupled
with another one on my side.
[1:38:10] So I just want to give
an update on that.
[1:38:11] We're pushing hard on
Anderson road water.
[1:38:15] Main design will be
through tomorrow.
[1:38:17] Those things are
coming together nicely.
[1:38:19] Our crews put some sweat
equity in that project
[1:38:21] as well, from potholing
and existing utilities
[1:38:24] and working around the food
industry's trucking schedule.
[1:38:27] So airport water lines
starting to come together.
[1:38:30] Washington Street booster
pump station opened bids
[1:38:32] this morning, so
things are starting
[1:38:34] to fall into place for
construction season at least.
[1:38:42] OK, so in our effort to
modernize a lot of our resources
[1:38:49] and make them more
accessible to residents,
[1:38:51] we've added a new functionality
to the website, which
[1:38:53] makes all of our PDFs
accessible for screen
[1:38:57] readers, which is really
important for accessibility.
[1:39:00] This is actually like
a Department of Justice
[1:39:02] requirement that's coming
down on jurisdictions
[1:39:04] like ours starting
early next year.
[1:39:05] So we're going to
get ahead of it.
[1:39:07] The really cool part
of that feature,
[1:39:09] though, is that in
addition to accessibility,
[1:39:11] it allows for translation of all
the documents on our website.
[1:39:15] So residents who might speak
a language other than English
[1:39:18] can easily find access
and read all of the PDFs
[1:39:22] on our website,
which is a pretty
[1:39:24] great opportunity to offer
those things to our community.
[1:39:28] So really excited about that.
[1:39:30] Additionally, we've been in
the middle of our safe streets
[1:39:32] for all feedback effort
for community engagement.
[1:39:36] Residents can still visit
city of Ashland safe streets
[1:39:40] to participate in that.
[1:39:42] But we're kind of taking
that survey to the streets.
[1:39:45] So this Thursday will be
tabling at the farmer's market.
[1:39:49] And we'll have a big old map.
[1:39:51] And people can point
two places in the city
[1:39:53] and make notes about where
improvements can be made,
[1:39:55] and those will get
translated into the survey.
[1:39:58] And then we'll be tabling at
the community center on Friday
[1:40:02] afternoon, hopefully
capture some of our families
[1:40:05] in order demographics as well.
[1:40:07] So I encourage residents
to show up for that.
[1:40:10] And then additionally,
I just wanted
[1:40:12] to share some anniversaries that
we're celebrating this month.
[1:40:14] So our director, Heidi Evans,
is celebrating her one year
[1:40:18] as our finance director, Evan
Smith, who's our wastewater
[1:40:22] treatment plant technician.
[1:40:23] He's celebrating three years.
[1:40:25] Aaron McCabe, our
superintendent, is 8 years.
[1:40:28] And Casey Churchland,
our building official,
[1:40:31] is celebrating nine
years of service.
[1:40:32] So just want to thank
him for his service
[1:40:35] and thank council Member
Sanders for his as well.
[1:40:37] 
[1:40:40] All right.
[1:40:42] Haley doesn't need to
know what our great.
[1:40:48] Let's move into Mayor
and council comments.
[1:40:50] I'm going to say carry to the
end and we'll start with Shane.
[1:40:55] Thank you mayor.
[1:40:56] As always, thank you to staff.
[1:40:59] I'd like to give a shout out to
all the local firefighters who
[1:41:02] took care of those
starts that happened
[1:41:04] today with the lightning.
[1:41:05] That was an exciting morning.
[1:41:07] The sirens going off all day.
[1:41:10] I also want to just
give a lot of kudos
[1:41:14] to the planning commission
and the parks and rec.
[1:41:16] I sit-in on those two boards
and attend their meetings,
[1:41:19] and I know they put in a lot
of work, so thank you for that.
[1:41:24] Thank you to Amy,
Eric, Adam and we
[1:41:28] spoke tonight and
gave us a perspective
[1:41:30] of downtown businesses.
[1:41:31] It's great to hear and know
your concerns and your needs.
[1:41:34] So thank you for coming.
[1:41:37] As well as thank you
to Rachel with oh God.
[1:41:39] And then bless you.
[1:41:41] A farewell, Jill
Perry down there.
[1:41:44] Thank you.
[1:41:44] I know you're going to
end up going down there.
[1:41:46] And that's where
our family away.
[1:41:48] And for people out there.
[1:41:51] Congrats Thank you.
[1:41:54] OK yeah I was.
[1:41:57] I appreciate the turnout
to from the council and.
[1:42:06] I think we maybe take the value
of our visitors and tourists
[1:42:16] to be able to bring
them sometimes.
[1:42:18] I know it's a delicate balance,
but it's an important part
[1:42:21] of the community.
[1:42:22] And there's a lot of people
that are tied into that economy.
[1:42:28] So it's good to get
their perspective.
[1:42:32] I know we're all
enjoying the fresh air
[1:42:36] and looking forward
to more of it.
[1:42:38] And hopefully we have
good Labor Day weekends.
[1:42:43] 
[1:42:47] Yeah I'd like to start off by.
[1:42:51] Saying something that I heard
at the planning commission.
[1:42:54] Commissioner Vicki,
she emphasized being
[1:42:57] proactive and being proactive.
[1:42:59] You don't have to wait
for the government
[1:43:00] to tell you to do something.
[1:43:02] That she was saying
that she got a fire
[1:43:04] wise assessment from the fire
department for her condo.
[1:43:09] And that's how she
was being proactive.
[1:43:12] And I just want
to reiterate that.
[1:43:14] And then thank you, by the way.
[1:43:18] And then another thing is.
[1:43:22] 
[1:43:24] Just a reminder, on August
29, on the lake car show.
[1:43:29] And it's going to be it's
one of my favorite events
[1:43:32] here in town to
see you all there.
[1:43:35] And special thanks
to Terry Oh, really.
[1:43:40] So yeah.
[1:43:44] Thank you for four inches.
[1:43:49] So again, thank you
for everybody that
[1:43:51] came in for citizen comments.
[1:43:53] And Rachel, for our future.
[1:43:57] Looking outside and
blue skies for us today.
[1:44:02] Fresh air is good
for a lot of us.
[1:44:04] A lot of smoke makes
people really depressed.
[1:44:07] Yesterday was really cool
to actually see a sunset
[1:44:09] and it was nice.
[1:44:12] And of course, Terry.
[1:44:15] We're going to miss you.
[1:44:16] It's been a pleasure
working with you
[1:44:18] and I'll see you around.
[1:44:19] Excuse me.
[1:44:22] And then, it's great to
see everybody come out
[1:44:27] and get their comments.
[1:44:29] Thank you.
[1:44:29] With less than a
handful of years to get
[1:44:33] down and get them all done.
[1:44:34] So that's what we want.
[1:44:35] Transparency and hearing
your opinions as we gather.
[1:44:41] I know staff wanted
a budget season.
[1:44:43] Everybody's focused on that
and we embrace the journey,
[1:44:49] but we're on the
conservative side of that.
[1:44:53] So you can.
[1:44:54] 
[1:44:57] Be as well.
[1:44:58] And we appreciate your
service and your honesty.
[1:45:06] Terry, can I sit next
to you for nine months.
[1:45:10] And go to the world, right.
[1:45:13] A lot of really
good information.
[1:45:15] I really appreciate it.
[1:45:16] Just gets my brain going.
[1:45:18] In the marketing world,
growth in for a long time,
[1:45:23] I think obviously you
talked about connecting
[1:45:26] with the consumer or parts.
[1:45:30] I don't are we
asking our visitors
[1:45:33] or what they think ideas that
they think might benefit from,
[1:45:39] because we get a lot of
people that come there
[1:45:43] aside from throwing more money
into marketing than we can spend
[1:45:47] a lot of money in, I totally
understand that saying yes or no
[1:45:50] to more of that budget, but
really looking internally
[1:45:54] of what are we doing.
[1:45:55] Well, what are we missing
before we start throwing
[1:45:59] dollars here and there.
[1:46:00] I've always been super
conservative and the things
[1:46:03] that I do, and I'm not really
getting feedback from that
[1:46:08] are because I'm concerned.
[1:46:09] Memorial Day used
to be the kickoff,
[1:46:12] and somehow it's gotten
quieter and quieter
[1:46:15] and becomes a normal weekend.
[1:46:18] And now 4th of July is like the
one day and maybe Labor Day.
[1:46:22] We'll see what this is like.
[1:46:24] It's really looking at
what is driving people away
[1:46:26] or where are they going.
[1:46:28] When you ask them have and this
could be your own business,
[1:46:32] that they provide the same
experience survey to the people
[1:46:36] that visit the
restaurant and stay
[1:46:37] at a hotel that visit
a park if there's
[1:46:40] a QR code in the leading town.
[1:46:42] Tell us questions.
[1:46:45] I just want to put it out
there that because we survive
[1:46:50] on tourism, obviously we go
through every day or every time
[1:46:54] we need or wherever
it comes from
[1:46:56] and parks, we need to make
those even better because we
[1:47:00] need more support for that.
[1:47:02] So, Chad, would you have
the logo up there, the city
[1:47:09] where is that.
[1:47:11] And I know that you guys are
working on it a few months back.
[1:47:15] Yeah, we put it
on the back burner
[1:47:17] just because there
was some more pressing
[1:47:19] things that needed attention.
[1:47:21] But that's certainly
the hopes either quarter
[1:47:25] for quarter 1 kind of
re-engage in that process.
[1:47:28] So thanks for getting on.
[1:47:31] Thank you.
[1:47:33] Thank you.
[1:47:35] Congratulations to Heidi.
[1:47:37] It's been a whole year for
you in the House of God.
[1:47:41] Thanks to Amy, Eric and Adam
for their comments tonight.
[1:47:45] As mentioned, I
think our business
[1:47:47] community is certainly hurting.
[1:47:49] Of all the wildfire
smoke and impacts,
[1:47:52] and Council Venegas
pointed out, I
[1:47:55] think it's really important
that we are creative with how
[1:47:59] those dollars are spent.
[1:48:02] I've had conversations around
where some of those dollars
[1:48:05] can be spent strategically.
[1:48:07] I know a couple years ago were
really impacted with winterfest,
[1:48:10] with some really
severe winter weather,
[1:48:13] and it could be
worthwhile looking
[1:48:15] at as spend in
Spokane and areas that
[1:48:18] are not necessarily pass band.
[1:48:21] So thinking about how we
can engage perhaps marketing
[1:48:25] and other communities that
people want to come here,
[1:48:28] but we spend a ton
of those dollars
[1:48:30] on the West Side,
which makes sense.
[1:48:31] But sometimes the past can
really be impactful there.
[1:48:35] So just looking creatively to
have them probably work a lot.
[1:48:39] As my final council
meeting since moving
[1:48:42] to the metropolis of Madison.
[1:48:44] Just a few remarks
I'd like to make.
[1:48:46] Just really grateful
for the opportunity
[1:48:48] to serve our
incredible community.
[1:48:50] Past two years.
[1:48:51] Very, very proud
of the work that we
[1:48:53] will accomplish together.
[1:48:54] Specifically, really
proud of the work
[1:48:56] it took to bring
the Girls Club here.
[1:48:59] And that has been a fantastic
thing for a lot of kids
[1:49:02] and families, and
continues to be proud
[1:49:05] that we're able to
support our housing trust,
[1:49:08] support many of our
community groups
[1:49:09] with things like the
benefit grants and now
[1:49:13] our housing grant funds.
[1:49:14] So just really
proud of that work.
[1:49:16] Also really proud of the way
that we've tried to partner
[1:49:18] with members of our community
to improve outcomes,
[1:49:21] such as all the collaboration
with our friends of Lakeside
[1:49:24] group is trying to make that a
reality for that part of town
[1:49:27] and continue dialogue.
[1:49:29] Really thankful for
our fantastic staff,
[1:49:32] for keeping us informed and
giving in this context on items
[1:49:35] that we may not be as
familiar with this fall.
[1:49:38] So thank you for the
time and energy on that.
[1:49:41] To all the current
council members, thank you
[1:49:43] for the many, many
hours we spent together
[1:49:45] trying to make
the best decisions
[1:49:46] for the most amount of people.
[1:49:48] It's not always easy.
[1:49:49] Lots of complex
things on my way.
[1:49:52] Thanks to previous council
member Gary Harris and Detrick
[1:49:56] appreciate serving with
them their stewardship.
[1:49:59] Grateful for local journalism
that helps keep our public
[1:50:02] informed.
[1:50:03] I think that's very important.
[1:50:04] Not all towns have that.
[1:50:06] Thanks to my wife for allowing
me to spend more time away
[1:50:09] from home and always
understanding how important
[1:50:11] public services, but
most grateful for living
[1:50:14] in a community that cares.
[1:50:16] Not a single time.
[1:50:17] In my term I've.
[1:50:18] I looked out at an empty
council chambers, which
[1:50:21] is really, really important.
[1:50:23] It means that our citizens
show up and take interest
[1:50:25] in what's going on and
communicate to us when
[1:50:28] they have ideas or concerns.
[1:50:30] And our job is to
listen and learn
[1:50:31] and take appropriate action.
[1:50:34] As illustrated by some
of the public comment
[1:50:36] tonight and many
times previously,
[1:50:39] there's a lot of uncertainty
ahead with rising costs.
[1:50:42] I think it's important
that we remember
[1:50:43] that we can do anything,
but we can't do everything.
[1:50:46] So we may have to say, no, we're
not yet to things that we've
[1:50:49] historically said yes to.
[1:50:51] And that's not easy.
[1:50:52] But that's our charge.
[1:50:54] But looking forward
to the great work
[1:50:55] that we'll continue
to do in the city,
[1:50:57] and looking forward to
helping in any way I
[1:51:00] can for my role across town.
[1:51:02] As Sergeant Paulsen mentioned,
school starts on Tuesday.
[1:51:07] So we'll add in your commutes.
[1:51:09] Sure deputy Hunter
and Sergeant Paulsen
[1:51:13] will be all over all the
e-scooters, e-bikes around town.
[1:51:16] So thank you.
[1:51:18] And I appreciate it are just
a few things I want to echo.
[1:51:31] What everyone has already
said up here about.
[1:51:34] It was great to have
local businesses in here
[1:51:38] providing some testimony.
[1:51:40] We don't often see them in
council until things are really
[1:51:46] starting to move in a
really wrong direction,
[1:51:49] or they need help because our
local business community is so
[1:51:52] self-sufficient and just
put their heads down
[1:51:54] and get things done.
[1:51:55] And so, Amy, thank you for
bringing the group in here,
[1:51:59] and thank you for your comments.
[1:52:00] That really raising
the flag on this
[1:52:04] isn't just a August
smoke fire incident.
[1:52:07] This is something
that's been building,
[1:52:10] or I should say declining
really from 2023 on.
[1:52:15] And the red flag
has been raised.
[1:52:16] And I think we all
need to recognize
[1:52:19] and listen to their concerns
because it's been building.
[1:52:25] So I appreciate hearing from
a portion of our business
[1:52:29] community tonight.
[1:52:31] Second on of-of Rachel left.
[1:52:34] But this is such this.
[1:52:37] The work is so near
and dear to my heart.
[1:52:40] And because they've done,
they do such an amazing job
[1:52:43] of making sure that every
voice in the community
[1:52:46] is heard or represented.
[1:52:48] But I also wanted to
call out that community
[1:52:50] development director.
[1:52:51] Ajax is also part of the
well-planned community team,
[1:52:56] so we've got a couple
different representation
[1:53:00] on some of those committees
that are going on.
[1:53:03] And honestly, the
level of conversations,
[1:53:07] at least in the shared
prosperity group,
[1:53:09] the brainpower in
there is staggering.
[1:53:12] It's really fun having
these economic development
[1:53:15] conversations with
farmers from the port,
[1:53:20] from Northwest Tech
Alliance, and there's
[1:53:23] just some really
great brainpower
[1:53:25] that's working on these things.
[1:53:28] Fire camp.
[1:53:29] I wanted to give some facts.
[1:53:32] There was a comment or an
article or something on
[1:53:36] social media that had a lot of.
[1:53:40] Misinformation into it.
[1:53:41] So I wanted to just
provide a few data points.
[1:53:45] I spoke to our Forest
Service district
[1:53:47] Ranger on how locations for
fire camps are selected.
[1:53:52] And prior to even coming
here, the district
[1:53:56] or the incident
command leader reviews
[1:54:00] locations all around the city.
[1:54:02] Previously, delmar's
park and Lakeside
[1:54:04] have been used in the past, but
for much, much smaller groups
[1:54:08] or during non-peak
times because they're
[1:54:11] really looking to reduce the
impacts to our local economy.
[1:54:16] You never know when
the smoke might shift
[1:54:17] or what that fire is going
to do when we might be
[1:54:20] able to pick up the tail end
of our economy, our tourism
[1:54:25] economy.
[1:54:26] The fire camp is not just tents,
it's showers, porta potties,
[1:54:30] large mobile Kitchens and more.
[1:54:32] And they want to find locations
where they can limit driving
[1:54:36] noise and increase
safety, lowering
[1:54:40] impacts in high traffic areas.
[1:54:42] If anyone drove through
downtown on Saturday,
[1:54:44] it kind of felt like
a normal August day.
[1:54:49] Knock on wood.
[1:54:50] And the city has provided
potable water, gray water,
[1:54:54] and they have that the
day after camp was set up.
[1:54:59] So they're fully functioning
with the help of the city
[1:55:02] in their location right now,
despite the two new bathrooms
[1:55:07] and on Morse park, I don't think
that the six bathrooms that we
[1:55:10] have in danversport would be
able to support the 250 civilian
[1:55:14] and 250 military
personnel that's
[1:55:17] currently based in Sheehan.
[1:55:18] So I just wanted to provide
a couple facts on why.
[1:55:24] Fire camp was chosen to be in
a location that they're at.
[1:55:28] And then yesterday I went to
present just a little tiny piece
[1:55:34] at a winery listening session.
[1:55:36] So we had all three of
our County commissioners
[1:55:38] up in the winery barrel room.
[1:55:43] It was standing
room only, and just
[1:55:46] about almost every winery was
there providing some testimony.
[1:55:53] And just again, another request
from our County commissioners
[1:55:58] to help support wineries,
viticulture and preserve
[1:56:04] a small, small, local small
businesses and agriculture
[1:56:09] and help create a more
friendly business environment
[1:56:13] for wineries in the County.
[1:56:16] So that was a really
great session.
[1:56:19] It was about two hours long,
but the message was the same.
[1:56:23] Our local business economy
needs help, and since 2023 2022,
[1:56:29] there's been just a
decline in the support
[1:56:34] needed to make
our small business
[1:56:36] community continue to thrive.
[1:56:37] So it's another kind of
red flag that's going up.
[1:56:41] And then last but not
least, I want to thank Terry
[1:56:45] for his service on council.
[1:56:47] And I want to go back
to the first copy
[1:56:50] that I asked Harry to go to so
that I could try and convince
[1:56:54] him to run for city council, and
it was very high level meeting.
[1:57:00] And then Terry went away
and thought about it,
[1:57:02] and he came back with 15
questions for me that were very
[1:57:08] strategic, very hard hitting.
[1:57:10] And I would say that
commitment to thoughtful.
[1:57:17] Analysis of the decisions that
you're making, and the comments
[1:57:22] has continued as
your time on council.
[1:57:24] And I just want to thank
you for the commitment
[1:57:28] that you put into your time
on council, and for always
[1:57:31] challenging and
pushing us to think
[1:57:33] of things in different ways.
[1:57:36] You'll be missed.
[1:57:37] But I saw pictures of your
house and it's beautiful
[1:57:39] and I'm jealous that you have.
[1:57:42] So thank you for
your time on council.
[1:57:44] I really appreciate the time
commitment from your wife
[1:57:48] and that you put
giving your brain
[1:57:53] power to the city of Charlotte.
[1:57:54] We are all better for it.
[1:57:56] Thank you.
[1:57:58] All right.
[1:57:59] With that, I would accept
a motion for adjournment.
[1:58:03] OK move to adjourn.
[1:58:07] Thank you.
[1:58:08] All right motion by Council
Member Sanders and council
[1:58:11] member city a second.
[1:58:13] All those in favor.
[1:58:16] Thank you.
[1:58:17] We must be.