like to call the city of Duval committee
of the whole workshop uh for August 18,
2026 to order at 5:31
uh p.m. First item on the committee of
the whole workshop agenda and review of
the regular uh meeting agenda. And I
just um wanted to let folks know I do
plan to submit a motion the regular
council meeting to extend the public
comment period. Uh so um if that's
something other council members are
considering just uh just to be aware of
it. Are there any other changes or
adjustments to the agenda we need to
make note of?
Seeing none, we will move on to the
first of our discussion items this
evening. Um and I do want to welcome the
audience. We've got quite a few folks in
the room with us today. Um
and that is a presentation from the King
County Library System regarding the
Dubal Library and Denise um Balo uh the
regional manager of the King County
Library System will be presenting that
she might be on
>> Oh, I think
[laughter]
I saw the slide go up and
>> so I will turn it over to you. You can
make whatever introduction you want to
make as well.
Thank you, Mayor Mckenry and city
council for welcoming us here today to
share some information about King County
Library System and the Duval Library. My
name is Denise Mcgalo and I am the
regional manager, one of nine regional
managers uh in the King County Library
System and my responsibilities include
oversight and support for the Duval
Library. I have some of my colleagues
here with me today, Angie Benedetti,
director of collection and access over
there. Um, and to my left here is Naomi
Fogerty. She's the librarian and
information services manager in our
region. And we have another one who's
coming soon. And then I have with us
Amanda Bishop who is our adult services
librarian. Uh, and she works full-time,
but she serves Carnation and Duvall
together. Um, and then we have a Duo
library board member. Jess, are you over
there?
>> Yeah.
>> Jess in the audience as well. So, I want
to welcome them as well.
Um, so I wanted to just start with our
mission and that is to inspire the
people of King County to succeed through
ideas, interaction, and information.
Um, [clears throat]
and then next slide, please.
>> Oh, you have a
>> I have I have I'm not sure how to
>> Okay, I will give a word up there.
Beautiful. Okay, got it.
So the King County Library has 50,
that's what I said, hi location just
throughout the county and our libraries
were divided up by regions there and the
glacier region that's us up there.
That's that giant big looks like a
wrench. We include Carnia, Duvall,
Kingsgate, Kirkland, Woodville, and the
Skycomish Library.
And this last year, King County
libraries circulated 21 million items
throughout the county. 11 million were
digital items. So about half of what we
circulate is digital. We are number two
in the United States and number four in
the world. And these represent 42.8% of
household market reach.
And so here's some just some numbers for
you, some statistics. Our total
circulation at the Duvall Library, this
includes physical items and digital
items in 2025, was about 250,000
items. Uh, and we had 6,247
active patrons, people who were using
their card with some regular regularity.
And in that year, we had over 865
new accounts added. Uh so you could see
that there are people that are moving in
and and getting cards at the library.
And for 2025, we had over 70,000 total
library visits. Uh our stats for 2026 is kind of around about the same, but
we're looking to maybe meet the same
kind of target because it it es and
flows each month uh in terms of the
totals. Uh and then one important number
I just wanted to point out. Uh you as
you know we're open seven days a week.
Uh and on average we have 26 people
coming through the library doors every
open hour which is pretty significant
for community library.
Okay. So, one of the things I wanted to
tell you about because I think you know
um already that um the library does
story times, the library has activities
for teens. We do craft afternoons for uh
teens and adults. Uh so those things
that you actually see happening in the
library. But some of the things that you
don't know where King County Library is
supporting the community is things that
we're doing when we're going to schools,
when we're going to community events, uh
to other other areas and partners in the
community. And so one of the things our
outreach staff and this is staff that is
uh supported at the system level and
they go to all different types of places
daycarees um senior centers those kinds
of things regularly to bring materials
for them to check out and here in Duval
uh they support acres of diamonds once a
month and Braithburn Academy once a
month. So, I wanted you to kind of point
that out. It's something extra that
we're doing here in Duvall. And then our
Duval and Carnation librarians, they're
providing lots of outreach to our
schools, uh, senior center and and and
those kinds of things. And here, she
does work at the Snow Valley Senior
Center and coordinates and co-creates
programs with them there. Uh, and so
those are things you that they're busy
doing and wondering where the librarians
are. That's what they're out there
doing. Um, and certainly supporting our
schools is a really important thing.
Reaching children and students in our
schools directly that can't get to the
library, don't know about the library.
Really important for them to be doing
that.
Okay.
And then I really wanted to focus I know
this year because both Amanda and our
new children's team service just started
this in the last months or so. Amanda,
even a little bit later, right?
[laughter] So, they're just kind of
getting their, you know, feet to the
ground and out there and doing things.
And so, right away, we're we're doing
and partnering with you, you the city
with different events. And we're really
proud of that work and we want to
continue that work. Uh, we have the
touch a truck program at Deepo Park
which was on May 20th and I think that's
you Amanda there in the picture. Yeah.
Okay.
>> Uh and then we had um the bookw walk at
two two moons park uh for a month uh
just over the uh first month of summer
there uh duval days which we always
participate and have a a nice table out
front and we see so many people uh
during that day uh and connect with them
to get them signed up for summer reading
and all those things. And then something
uh I think new that we're doing this
year Sarah started an outdoor story time
which is continuing through the end of
the month. Hope that is going well. Uh Ronnie, our manager, got this
wonderful picture with Sarah in the
midst of bubbles, which I loved. So, I
wanted to add that one there. Uh and
then summer reading, uh which we do
every summer, uh so far, and I'm sure
this number has maybe grown a little
bit, but we have over 400 readers signed
up city of Dufall, uh for our summer
reading program.
That's all I got. Thank you. Do you have
any questions questions or for any of
us? [laughter]
>> I'm an insider. Um, so 400 is that kids
and adults if you do adult summer
reading too this year.
>> This was just for kids because we
everybody signs up through Beanstack and
the cool thing about Beanstack is it
collects some numbers and data for us.
So we're able to kind of chat and see.
So this is kids to
>> Yeah. We have the bingo for adult this
year.
>> Yeah.
>> And that does not require sign up. They
bingo car.
» Uh I just had a quick comment. I do a
lot of road tripping up to Skycomish and
it is always surprising to me that right
off the railroad you see the King County
Library out there
>> and it's surprising because it's just so
way out there but you're still getting
the service out there.
>> And I think I also wonder I was
wondering 2025.
This is a brand new garden.
>> Nice.
Nice.
>> So, yeah, y'all are doing a great job.
Big fan of our library system and I'm
glad to be a feature.
>> Thank you.
>> Yeah, we do quite a bit of events uh at
Fish Library, too. And our librarians,
they work they work collaboratively in
the valley. Um we team up to go to
community events. Uh so, it's not just
one person doing one thing or one
audience. We're working together with
our partners, with with the schools,
with each other across our region. You
know, hey, who's available on such and
such day? I want to go to this event. I
need a couple people to be at that
table. So, it's it's it's wonderful work
that they do together. I'm very proud of
all their efforts.
>> Other questions from council? I have a
question, but I want to give uh
um sort of two two questions slightly
different. uh one is obviously you know
there was a co and then there was a lot
of um just the transition in terms of
media type and and I know the library
supports a lot I I assume the
investments in terms of you know ebooks
as well as regular books that that
you've continued to keep pace with that
so I appreciate it um I was sort of on
the picking up books for my daughter and
you know the whole matching cards and
getting the right accounts and and uh
appreciated that I was curious you
mentioned on one of the slides um the
outreach to the schools and obviously
they have their own libraries. Do you
coordinate with the librarians and sort
of try to address gaps or uh is it more
of a sort of outreach in terms of these
resources that are available that we
have here in terms of the library? I
just kind of curious how that
interaction works. I mean I think the
focus has been um their their primary
motivation is actually just connecting
with those students and yes they're
talking to faculty or the school
librarians uh and coordinating those.
They've done a lot of lunchtime crafts
which has really been a big hit as just
a an easy way to just connect and talk
with students directly. Um, think of any
other things that in the schools here.
>> Hi, Angelina Benadi. Uh, Brenovich.
Welcome. Glad to be here uh for council.
I am the uh regional uh director for the
um region here. um every school, every
school district that we work with in um
uh our in our uh KCLs, we work with the
districts in order to make sure that
every student has a student card and
that card can access all of our
databases and all of our uh digital
materials.
>> And so that's something that every
student we work with schools in order to
be able to provide that.
Yeah, [clears throat]
» I have a comment. Everyone said I I just
want to thank you for also just seeing
that there's space in Duvall for youth
especially. Um there's not a lot of
places for kids to hang out here and the
library is a big spot. I know I
personally used it to drop kids off for
their meetups with other friends and
it's just such a welcoming place. And I
also say like I loved the um the ad
campaign for letting people know about
using your library card. you get free
museum tickets um in the Seattle area.
That was really something I hadn't heard
of before and I I definitely saw a push
on social media to tell people about
that. So, that was a really cool program
and I'm assuming that's year round that
that's always available. I know it's
limited per day than for the but
>> it is. And then we also have something
special going on with Pacific Science
Center for a certain day coming up. I'm
forgetting the date of the moment.
>> I'm sure it's on the website though.
>> Yeah. Well, thank you. But yeah, there's
just a lot of great benefits being a
member and it's it's been a great
resource in our community. So, thank
you.
>> Appreciate it. Thank you.
>> Thank you so much.
Thank you.
>> Yeah. An item on our council hall agenda
is proposed provisions to do municipal
code 8.12 on social events and that will
be that discussion will be presided by
uh our communications and community
events manager.
>> Um good evening council mayor. Um so
this is just really an update to an
older policy.
Um, the last significant update was in
1997 and now we're taking the
opportunity to bring it up to date and
incorporate the WCA's
recommendations.
>> Oh, fancy.
>> Is it just the
power?
>> Okay. Um, so there aren't any major
changes to the city's overall approach
with special events. for mainly
clarifying the process and strengthening
some of the risk management pieces
behind or sorry based on WCIA's
recommendations
and I believe that those recommendations
were back in 2022.
So, next steps,
council review and feedback. And I
believe one council member sent over um
council member Wiggins had sent over
some recommendations and working with
Oscar to finalize and bring back the
adoption.
» Any questions?
>> Uh any questions or comment from
council? I don't know if you have any
council member.
>> I had a couple little notes. Is it
better that I provide those now or
should I just email them over later?
>> Uh, email would be great.
>> Okay, happy to do that.
>> And then you can bring that back to us.
>> Yeah. Yes, I believe on September.
» Well, thank you.
Um our our third um discussion item for
this evening is website challenges
related to new initiatives by the uh ADA
the Americans with Disabilities Act and
that will also be by Rita Moreno our
communications and community events
manager.
[laughter]
>> So today I'd like to just give a quick
overview of what the ADA accessibility
means spec specifically for our city
website.
That's very cool.
>> Okay. So, um the ADA requires local
governments to provide equal access to
their services and information and that
includes information we provide online
through our website. For the website,
that means making sure people with
disabilities can accept can access and
navigate our information using tools
like screen readers, keyboard
navigation, and other assisted
technology.
So when we talk about website
accessibility, there are a lot of
different pieces that are going into
that. Things like making sure our pages
have clear headings and navigation, that
there's enough contrast between text and
backgrounds, and that images have
alternative text. It also includes
making sure forms, PDFs, and other
documents are accessible and that videos
have captions. The goal is really to
make sure that someone with a disability
can get the same information and
complete the same tasks on our website
as everyone else.
So, what have we done so far? We've
already started working on accessibility
improvements. We've been reviewing the
website, identifying areas that need
attention, and addressing issues as we
come across them. Uh we're also
utilizing accessibility tools and
resources that are available through
Civic Plus which is our um
backend sorry
>> website.
>> Yeah, website software. Um so going
forward we are incorporating our
accessibility into uh the way we create
and update our documents training with
staff so that they can learn how to
create these documents so we don't have
to go back and and fix things. So, uh,
we had a summer intern for events and
communications this summer and that was
really great. She started working on
adding um the alternative text to all
the images on our website and that is
alone was a big project that is not
completed. So, every single image on our
website needs the the alt text. So,
that's just a little glimpse into what
um what some of those updates look like.
do um there's still like I said quite a
bit of work for us to do. Um we have a
large amount a large amount of existing
content on our website. So some of our
older pages, some of our older PDFs,
there's a ton of documents on there um
that need to be updated. So the next
step is to do a little bit more like a
deeper dive, a deeper review. Uh
prioritize the areas that have the
greatest impact on our users. So what
pages are visited the most? uh what
information are people looking at, what
forms are people using, what PDFs are
being accessed, and those are the ones
that we can kind of work on first. So,
uh the goal, the end goal is to create a
process that we can maintain going
forward. So, like I said, rather than
consistently going back and fixing
things so that when we're creating
things, they already are on our website
with all those those boxes checked.
Um, so yeah, that's kind of what I
ultimately I said our goal is to make
sure the city's website is accessible
for everyone in our community. And we've
made a start. We've identified areas
that need attention. And now we have a
path forward to continue improving
accessibility and make it a part of how
we manage the website moving forward for
everyone.
>> Questions, comments from council.
member.
>> Yeah. What type of uh kind of
disabilities uh are you planning to
accommodate here? Is it people that are
deaf, people that are blind?
>> Exactly. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So,
>> yeah, that's exactly what it is. It's
the color color blindness, deafness, um
people that are using third party like
readers, screen readers. So just making
like I said the contrast between images
making sure that it the websites are
laid out in a fashion that when the
screen reader is reading it that it goes
in order makes sense like heading one
heading two. So yeah.
>> And how far back in time are you
planning to um make these changes to
>> the dinosaurs? [laughter]
That's a great question. I mean I think
uh we are using audio eyes. So like
we're using a couple different things
from Civic Plus right now and so it's
going through our whole website
essentially. So everything that's on
there and that's another thing for us to
discuss internally is um discussing
archiving pages and documents that are
so old that maybe they have no use on
the website anymore.
was curious um you know Rita in sort of
my prior life I worked for Microsoft and
the suite you know office 365 is kind of
what we use on top of the CMS system the
civics plus which is doing the content
management on the back end that has an
accessibility checker for for powerpoint
documents word documents spreadsheets um
I know traditionally we have not run
that through and so there's the website
which is where this particular topic was
targeted but there's you know
distribution council. There's no
guarantee we won't get a council member
that's color blind or um but it's also
you know the the making documents
available in email. Does this extend
beyond the website to individual
documents beyond just PDFs and web pages
uh in terms of process changes for for
the the office?
>> Yeah. So I think once we figure out how
to get everybody on the same page,
right? So internally like we need to
meet as people that are creating these
documents that are going onto the
website and I think you're you're right
exactly that it'll lead into all of our
documents going forward because we will
have the training to how to create those
documents. So it's using the tools that
we already have on Microsoft Word and
creating PowerPoint presentations.
>> So there's some cleanup work as well as
sort of like the process putting the
process and framework in place going forward.
city administrator again. Um so
complimentary to this work we are by the
end of the year also going to do a style
guide for internal um document creation
and um well basically document creation
whether it's PowerPoint [clears throat]
word so that we are choosing only from
the five fonts that can be read by a
document reader and so that work will
happen at the beginning of the year will
all be on a style guide that's
consistent with the ADA accommodations
and the website accessibility work that
needs to be done by April now 2028.
>> Everything has to complete that by then.
[clears throat]
>> So there's a little bit of one by
>> a little bit
of work.
>> Uh oh, sorry, Council Member Wiggins.
>> Yeah. Hi. Uh great. Um this is uh good
stuff. I like fact that we're doing
this. Um, Director McNav answered part
of my question. Um, I was going to ask
if staff could come back and provide a
timeline to that last slide and any
costs associated with the work that's
being done. I I think I heard some a
software that's being used to access and
audit the our websites, but I wasn't
sure if there's a subscription fee to
that or do we own that or what the costs
are associated with doing this work.
That was my question.
>> Administrator. Um, so we've already done
the equivalent of a mini audit with the
software that we have to do kind of an
initial screen and we actually look okay
for the most part. So Civic Plus has an
audit feature that they've released
because every city has to have their
website accessible. It was supposed to
be by 2027. So we all kind of started
doing that work fairly quickly and then
the federal government pushed it out
until uh 2028. But that doesn't mean
that there isn't still a lot of work to
be done. So ultimately our goal is to
have all of our documents
uh edited with alt text on them be
formatted for screen readers probably by
you know I like to get a little ahead of
the curve. You know the goal would be by
February of 2028. It could mean as we
continue to look at the stuff that's
left that we will see a little bit of um
uh budget requests for the 2027 and 2028
bianium for some of those things that
are highly specialized. And if we do
make a budget request, that will appear
in the uh communications and community
events budget.
[clears throat]
Uh, Council Member Hernandez.
>> Uh, in my last job at Nintendo of
America, I was actually on the team that
had to write all the alt text for our
entire website. So, I know what you're up against. Uh, while I may not
have the time to actually help you with
that, I would if you don't already have
a plan, please let me know and I will
tell you how we did it. uh for the alt
text. Uh it was fairly simple the way we
set it up
>> uh using an Excel sheet
>> and we had a team of six people go
through the entire website over the
course of six months to get not just the
alt text but everything ADA compliant.
Uh I can only to give some advice on the
alt text. That was all I did.
>> That would be great. Thank you.
>> Any comments or questions?
[clears throat]
Thank you.
And that brings us to uh our last
discussion item um David Syria um which
is the dark sky initiative and proposed
pilot program and that discussion will
be led by C McNab sorry Cynthia McNav
our city administrator and David Horren
our resident you all who put this
initiative proposals together.
>> Well I will start with just passing it
immediately off to David and thanking
him for all of his work. David and I had
an opportunity to meet a couple months
ago just to talk about this initiative
and um you know we always appreciate a
resident who is passionate but also I
want to make sure that we thank and
appreciate David because he does our um
night sky events up at Big Rock Ball
Field and it's a wonderful free amenity
that he offers the community and we
really appreciate it. So with that I
will hand it over to D.
>> Thank you. So I'm David Horn, a Duvall
resident for about nine years now and as
part of transparency, I'm also a member
of the Seattle Astronomical Society and
the International Dark Sky Association.
So I'm here to talk about um how we can
make Duvall Washington a dark sky
community.
So just going to cover a few things
basically. What is light pollutions?
What's the impacts um to the environment
light pollution? Show how light
pollution has been increasing over the
years. talk about what is responsible
about outdoor lighting. What does it
mean to be a dark sky community and then
talk about how we would move forward
with a proposed dark sky ordinance for
the city. So starting out with the first
basically what is light pollution? I
think most people know what this is.
It's just technically humanmade
alteration of outdoor light levels um
from those occurring naturally which
causes ob excessive brightness that
causes visual discomfort and glare. Um,
sky glow, which is the big one we see.
We can even see from Redmond's a
brightening of the night sky over
inhabited areas. Light trespass where
light is going, you know, where it's not
supposed to be. Your neighbor's driveway
light is moving in your backyard. That
would be light trespass. Um, and then
clutter where it's just just way too
much lighting. It's bright confusing and
excessive uh grouping. Um, so what are
the impacts um of light pollution? So
many ma mainly around um to talk about
human human health and well-being. So it
affects creating rhythm disruptions,
decreased melatonin production, glares
and you know impaired vision. Most of
the studies to this date are all about,
you know, internal lighting and there's
ongoing studies about external lighting
and how that's changing and so that's
not definitive yet. But we do know it
affects wildlife and ecosystems. Um, you
know, bats, owls, migrated, birds, um,
anything that's, you know, doing
reproduction reproduction and nocturnal
powers, you know, especially around us,
around farmland, bees, insects, and
pollinators are all attracted to
cellulites and it affects um our rural
community as well. Um, crime and safety.
So it doesn't you have a lot of lights
doesn't mean you're safest because
there's poor lighting can create glare.
So you can't really see what's going on
in the glare, but it's better to have a
light that turns off by motion timer um
by motion sensor. You know, just because
you have light, you know, for light sake
doesn't make things safer. Um and then
on the road just it affects driving. I
know when we first moved from sodium
vapor lights to LEDs, just driving home
in my neighborhood, it was like it was
overwhelming. You know, we've gotten
used to it over a while. it's really
impacted our our night skies. Um, and I
can point to tons of studies on this.
And then just energy and climate change.
You know, we waste billions of dollars
nationwide on, you know, 30% of light we
just don't even need. Um, and it
contributes to just more energy usage
overall. So, good stuff here. So, how's
this impact Duvall? So, here's a light
gradient view of Duvall from 2012 to
2025. And you'll see the different
colors there. On the top is a scale
known as the bortal scale. We're at
completely dark sky. Middle of the ocean
is going to be a one and downtown New
York City or downtown Seattle is going
to be a nine. So we're right now we're
about a 5.6. Of the five star parties
that Seattle Astro does across the
region, we're tied. Don't follow me.
It's 5.6. We're the we're one of the
darkest skies. And you can see it just
used to be downtown in 2012. And you see
how with the growth of the city and with
the street lights going from sodium
vapor to LEDs which are much brighter in
full spectrum that gradient has has
grown and just covered the entire city
region. Even you know we go out ball
fields down there in the brown on the
right side on the left is under the
yellow side. Um when I first moved here
9 years ago I could sit on my back dej I
could see the Milky Way. I can see the
dark lanes. I can barely see the Milky
Way just in that short amount of time
just because of the growth of the city.
The switch to LEDs. So this just shows
you over time how it's growing. You can
see how Redmond is encroaching.
Redmond's getting bigger. It's growing.
Uh it's it's our biggest sky glow is
actually Redmond when we're out at the
stargazing events.
So that's a little bit about how it's
>> [clears throat]
>> um changed over time. Um I think what we
can do is if we had an ordinance and we
really, you know, changed the LEDs and
we changed and we did everything we were
supposed to do, I think we get down to
like a bordal 4.5, which would be a like
a rural um community. we could, you
know, have a beautiful, beautiful night
sky.
And if we can set an example for other
communities around us, we can just get
the ball rolling and be the first and uh just make the whole Snomi Valley
even better. I did run into Sarah Perry.
She came to Dubal days at my booth and
she knew all about bats and migrating
birds. She goes, "If you can do this in
Duvall, let me know because I want to do
my whole district, you know, let's just
have the starting point." So, it's great
support even from King County uh level
administration. So, um, so this is just
a nice little graphic about what a good
light looks like. So, of course, we
don't want lights illuminating the sky
directly. We want a nice, um, light that
has at least 80° and below is, you know,
you're not you're not uh illuminating
anything above that 80° from the ground,
right? Or from from perpendicular here.
Um, and of course, the best light at all
is one that's not used, not on, turned
off, and not needed or it's on a motion
sensor.
Um so there's basically there's five
principles to do this. You know the
light should be only used if it's
needed. It should be targeted only
illuminated what's um needs to be lit
up. It should be a low level like only
like 3,000 Kelvin so it's a a warmer
temperature um and you know should be
controlled put it on a timer put it on a
motion sensor and um and yeah warm color
and low level are kind of go together.
But those are five principles of what needs to change um to uh
have a low lower level of light
pollution.
Um so what does it mean to be a dark sky
community? So the international dark sky
association recognizes certain locations
whether it's a a park reserve sanctuary,
a city, a community or or smaller
community um that you can be certified
as being a dark sky. You know, you can
put that on there. They get on the map.
It's a place to visit. It helps with
astro tourism. So in the United States,
there are 42 communities, you know,
cities and towns that are recognized by
the IDA. There's only two in Oregon and
only two in Idaho. I was surprised to
see u and there's none in Washington.
So, uh, chance to start something going
in Washington. Um, and to be dark side
certified, you don't have to be a portal
2 or something. All you have to do is
have a policy, you know, make some the
appropriate lighting refits, have an
education program, um, and then just
continually monitor it to make sure it's
just not getting worse. It's getting
better over time. And you don't even
necessarily have to force the ordinance
onto residents because the biggest light
polluters are street lights. It's the
industry and communities. And if you
just educate the rest of the community,
they they should, you know, they'll
agree and say, "Yeah, I'm going to I can
update my my lights on my porch and make
sure they're not um setting it out." So,
I don't think we would need to go that
far. Plus, it's hard to enforce at that
level anyway. So, um so I was thinking
about that and something new that Cindy
we hadn't talked about yet, but I think
we wouldn't need to do that. Um so,
where do we go from here? So, propose is
city ordinance, but I I have given a
draft to Cynthia McNab. We take a look
at that to start with. um to regulate
outdoor lighting. So what this will do
will bring back the night skies in Dubal
to improve health safety and bring back
our rural heritage of dark dark rural
skies. Um we could prepare Dubal to
become an IDA certified dark sky
community which would be huge for I
think that help tourism people more
people would come for star parties. um
people might want to live here in a dark
sky, right? That they people come to
Dubal because of the rural in the
community. Um and then inspire other
nearby communities to do the same so
that we can get the horizon and just
make life better for everybody. Um um so
the steps to execute this so first step
is to look at the policy, get it
written, get it uh reviewed uh by the
council and everybody to vote on it. Um
this would also include exceptions for
you know seasonal holiday lighting of
course. So, we're not saying the whole
city goes dark. We certainly have
lights. We're just going to reduce them
and have them aim properly. And there
would be, you know, um exceptions for
such things as that. Um so, and then
once that's done, then you start on the
retrofit process. Maybe we start with a
pilot area in the city to start with to
see if we can, you know, drop the light
pollution in that area. See how that
goes, get some lessons learned there
before we roll it out across the rest of
the community. Um and then we would
continuing with outreach and education.
We're already doing that. we have
stargazing events. We could still, you
know, could do that working with the
schools, bring in students, um, you
know, educate them as well. But that's
an ongoing thing as part of being
certified. And then you just keep
monitoring to see if it's getting worse.
It's getting better. If it's getting
worse, what are we doing wrong? How can
we fix it? If it's getting better, well,
let's share that with other communities
as well. So, that would be um how we
would um go apart in four steps, you
know, to this process.
And then last of all, I just want to
thank everybody for letting me speak
today. And I love the artwork at the
good ball fields. It turned out
fantastic.
>> Thank you. Any questions for David from
council?
>> Council member.
>> Yeah. Are you aware of a city in
somewhere in Scandinavia that replaced
their sodium or LEDs with red lighting?
>> Yes. Yes, I have seen that. Yeah.
>> Yeah. So, um,
>> and that's because of a certain bat, I
think,
>> was crossing this one area of road, this
one highway, and they just put it on
that section so the bat migrations would
continue. So, yeah.
>> Okay. Would that um red LED lighting,
would that decrease the amount of light
pollution or
>> absolutely do it. And I would love to
see when the when the um ball fields get
expanded that we have some red lighting
for for our stargazing nights so people
can get from their cars to the to the
field without using flashlights and
stuff. So I think in certain areas it
makes sense but not not the whole city
would be red but yeah.
>> Yeah.
Council member
>> uh so back when I was living in in Texas
I actually used to go to a little place
called Howard Well about 200 miles out
of Austin just for the night sky. And I
so I really appreciate this because if
you ain't never seen a black sky
>> it's amazing.
>> Texas has a lot of dark sky. Uh there's
one in San Antonio specifically that I'm
thinking about which was just north of
Camp Bullis. It is it was I don't think
it was like a dark sky initiative. It
was actually Camp Bolis imposed this on
people there.
>> Uh where they had uh had to decrease the
amount of light there. There was a lot
of push back for that.
>> Uh is that something that you've kind of
touched on that we might not have to
worry about that here? we don't have to
do too too much uh regulation of private
lighting. Uh but is this something that
we would want to do or think about doing
in the future?
>> I think we might think about it, right?
So if you you got a neighbor, I've got
neighbors, you know, I can go talk to
them and say, "Hey, would you consider
these light? I might even buy it for
you, right? Because you're my neighbor."
Um but I think yeah, if this trespassing
there's and there may be already a rule
about trespassing, you know, you can't
just shine a bright spotlight in your
neighbor's yard, right? there. I I'd be
curious to see what's already on the
books for that. Um and it needed to be
changed. But yeah, good point. Yeah.
>> Um curious whether this is a question
you may weigh in, David, but for the
city administrator. I know that, you
know, this is kind of one of those
examples of unintended consequences a
little bit is the city made worked with
PSD. There was some investment to get
rid of sort of the the gas lights to the
LED. And part of that was around longer
lifespan, fewer, you know, short not
having to replace the lights as often,
but but as I think David indicated,
there's actually it's a brighter light,
so there's some unintended consequences.
Um there's obviously some potential
opportunities right now where we do some
of the sky watching events whether it's
Big Rock Park or to pilot some of this
but I was just curious if you could
weigh in a little bit in terms of if we
did want to pilot you know potential
cost and if I'm putting you on the spot
that's okay too we can revisit this
later when we talk about you know
potential ordinance as well.
>> Yeah. So, I haven't um priced out both
the what PSC may um ask for the city to,
you know, contribute if we're asking PSC
to replace um some of their
infrastructure or lighting. Um so, I
haven't started pricing it. I think
really the next step will be does
council want uh me to work with the
draft ordinance and come back with a
draft in a pilot area. Um and then we
can start talking about the cost of that
once we get an ordinance that is a first
step. Um and then of course also working
with the public works department because
they would know far better than I would
what infrastructure we have out there
for lighting and what would need to
change. Um and then also to making sure
that we're involving um chief uh you
know some areas
>> public safety
>> there's a public safety component. So
where wherever we select to pilot it and
begin the process of kind of converting
we want to make sure that we're choosing
an area that is appropriate from a
public safety perspective.
>> So is there out there?
>> Oh is it okay? I saw another hand
though, but it's down [clears throat]
now, so I'm not sure. Um,
>> um, David, I my background is biology,
so I'm obviously very excited about
this, but I there are real concerns, you
know, in how you phase it or how you do
it in a way, and I think education is a
really big piece of that as well. Um, so
I'm really interested to the the pilot
idea and and how you choose the um the
area. So we had habitat corridors and if
that's a consideration of there are some
areas that might have a higher impact to
wildlife and focus on those. I think
that might also correspond with areas
that are less um need in need of light
for safety reasons. But I'm especially
interested too in like motion detection
lighting. Um because we do have this
very long main street with all these
light but you know at 2 a.m. you know I
mean there are some people that go
walking at this hour night but
especially when it's thought out. So I'd
be really interested in how we would
what data we would use or maybe you have
some insight there to look at a map and
say this could be one of the most
beneficial areas you know and then
overlay that with the other concerns as
well.
I would say just first off the top of my
head there just is go around the edges
of where we saw that chart to see if we
could decrease it right you could
visually see a decrease from satellite
views just on the edges would be the
best place to start and also as far as
replacing all those LEDs I think what
you could do temporarily is put a filter
on them and then as those burn out
replace them with a lower temperature
>> that might be a more affordable way to
do it.
>> Yeah.
Council member Owen, Council Member
Wiggins, any comments?
» Yeah, I mean, I I I love this. I'm in
favor of it. Um I would love to to to
see this move forward. I thank you, you
know, for all your work on this so far,
David. And um I did go through the the draft policy and I mean I had some
ideas and some thoughts but if if
administrator McNav if you're going to
kind of do another draft of that then I
can wait before I provide any feedback
or if it would be helpful I mean I'm
happy to email over. I just had a few
thoughts about how to how to approach
some of the things that were in there
now. Um but big picture I love it. I'm
happy that we're talking about this and
um tourism benefit. Sure. That's great.
I would love that. But um really the
environmental benefit really, you know,
stands out to me and and so yeah, I'm
all for this.
>> Just it sounds like a straw poll a
little bit for direction for the city
administrator. There's interest amongst
council. So I'd love to hear your point
of view as well.
>> Uh love the idea. Thank you, David, for
coming out. I was curious um how big of
a area do we need to uh focus on for
retrofit in order to qualify for one of
being the first communities in
Washington? I really want us to be the
first community in Washington.
[laughter]
How big of a square footage do you need
for us to and and my other question was
are we going after the residents as well
to do something uh with their homes
rather than just public rightways? Are
we going to ask our residents to do
something as well to help out here?
What's your thoughts on that? you
touched on that but
>> yeah so two questions there so as far I
think the whole city is what we want to
end up doing right to get get certified
it has to be the whole boundaries of
your city right so unless you wanted to
carve out a centary and say this is
Duvall west or something and we're going
to make this or do all east is going to
be but it's the whole city is pretty and
you don't have to be there you just have
to start the process start the retrofit
it takes about one to three years to get
a certification because they're going to
watch how you're doing it watch your
progress and then once you met you know
once you've got all those luminires and
lights change and you got the hoods on
them and the shields then um then yeah
then you can get the certifications.
That's kind of the area effect. As far
as residents that first 2012 image you
saw that was you know before you know
the LEDs that was the biggest factor is
the street lighting um and the fact that
the town is growing too but that's not
so much residents maybe some of the big
apartment complexes but what I've seen
most of the new complexes are pretty
good lighting as well. So, um I think
for the residents,
um you know, a vote and maybe it would
pass. A lot of people are for this, but
they feel forced to do it. But I think
if it's voluntary and you just use your neighbors, you know, work with your
neighbors, I think that's I think that
would be enough to start.
» Council member, it sounded like you were
for this based on
>> So, I would say, you know, it sounds
like you have some consensus. Um
probably don't get too deep obviously
into it. if we need to adjust the work
plan, but um at least some initial
direction.
>> Yeah, perfect. Thank you. And I've been
taking notes on some ideas like I really
like the idea of kind of starting with
the areas around habitat corridors
>> um as a way to kind of begin laying out
where we can um start doing the work.
And I think residents that live near
those habitat corridors would probably
be keen on voluntary compliance is my
sense. Um, but yes, I will take a look.
Um, I don't have a timeline in mind yet.
Got some other things going on. Um, but
I will be sure in the fall to uh
bring back a draft.
>> I appreciate the feedback on the the
filter. So, it's not at all or nothing.
It might be some partial mitigation we
can do. Um, Council Member Wiggins, can
you have a final comment?
>> One more one more follow. Hey, David,
are there any other cities in Washington
that are going after this? Uh,
>> also
are we are we in a race, buddy?
>> There are some on the eastern Washington
there are some dark sky locations the
astronomers go to. I mean it's like the
Golden Dale Sky Village. They haven't
you know they could get this
certification if they wanted to but they
haven't done it. So it's not on the on
the list yet. So
>> okay,
>> we're not going to beat them because
it's truly out in the middle of nowhere.
But
>> as far as a city goes, we would be the
first.
>> Well, thank you. Appreciate it.
>> Thank you. Any comment?
>> Uh, no we don't take there's a public
comment period. We don't take public
comments. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
» Uh, well that actually concludes our
four regular discussion items. We do
have some time about 45 minutes before
the meeting. So we can move into some
mayor and city administrator and council
reports and then see where we are.
What do you want to do? Oh, do you want
to do my report first?
>> Just trying to see that. Well, mayor's
report is first. You don't have to go
first if you don't want to.
>> The only thing I was thinking of though
is one part of this is talking about the
meeting with the King County Executive.
Should we cover that here and then high
like I'm just wondering people knew that
it was happening at the county. That one
part I should save or because I have a
lot of other things I can go through. I
don't know. Yeah, I mean
>> I could save that part for the council
meeting
that way.
>> Some may not come to the council.
>> So, I'll do all of my report except for
the meeting with the King County
Executive just so that since we did let
some people know we were doing that at
the council meeting that it'll happen
then. So, I'll tell you everything else
that I did. Um, so I attended both the
remaining summer stage concerts in July.
So, remember we didn't have a council
meeting earlier this month. So, a lot of
time has passed. Um, and so just a huge
thank you to our communications and
community events manager. Rita, perfect
that you're here. Um, for managing such
a wonderful summer stage series this
year. I heard compliments from every
band that we had. They just thought the
setup was wonderful and you were just
such a great person to manage it and
help them out with everything they
needed. Um, of course it was super
disappointing. We had to cancel that
last one and national night out uh just
due to wildfire smoke, but of course
it's always vital to um in unsafe
conditions to not encourage people to be
outside. And then of course for our
staff as well. I attended the Swami
Valley Oops, I just zoomed in and
something crazy. Sorry. Um I attended
the Snowqualami Valley local advocacy
group which consists of all the human
service providers in the Snowqualami
Valley as well as the mayors and it was
just an informative um meeting and more
casual meetup to get to know each other
to hear about all the different services
that are available in the valley um as
well as their needs. Um of course they
are always looking for funding. So we
you know my advice to them was to not be
shy about asking because we just you
know we're used to talking about budget
and things like that. So, it would just
help for them to be forward with asking
for their needs. They may not get them,
of course, but just to be blunt about
it. Um, and as mayors, we were asked to
give our advice on how to best
communicate with councils. And so, I
personally told them to make sure and at
least come once a year so that, you
know, new council members come in all
the time so that they know you exist and
what you do and um, go from there. I
attended the Snowy Valley Preservation
Alliance Taste of the Valley dinner. Um,
this organization provides vital
advocacy and support to local farmers
and this was especially highlighted
during the devastating December 2025
flood event. But it was a great event.
Um, I continue to attend SVGA which is
Snowquali Valley Government Association
planning meetings as vice president with
our president Jolene Williams with the
Snowquali tribe as well as Mayor Miller
from Northbend and Deputy Mayor Marisan
from Carnation. the September meeting
which is going to be in Duvall. I just I
think we haven't fully connected on that
but um we're likely going to do roundts
for the cities to discuss their
priorities and that will be a way for us
to find any overlaps between our cities
which I'm sure there's a lot and then we
can group together for more effective
advocacy u with the county and the
state. So if I know what Carnation and
North Ben and Snow Call me needs when
I'm talking to legislators I can also
echo some of those concerns.
I was reertified for CPR and first aid
in a class with our emergency management
coordinator, Luke. He has a fantastic
class. So, if you haven't done it yet
and next time he has one opening, um,
just sign up and attend if you can. I
continue to attend the Sound Cities
Association board legislative committee
meetings. Um, and I'm always adding a
small city perspective to the future um,
advocacy platform.
I attended the Sound Cities Association
King County Flood Control District
Advisory Committee. I think that is the
longest acronym of a committee I'm in
meeting. We're working on our
recommendation letter to the KCFCD board
um just around budget and funding and
all that fun stuff. Mayor Prom Mercer,
city administrator McNab, and myself met
with uh the King County Regional
Representative from the governor's
office. We had a really productive
meeting and we covered a ton of topic
top topics of concern for our city.
We're using this connection to make
progress on coordinating the
intersection signals of West Palmi Road,
Wooden Buildy Ball Road, which is King
County, and Highway 203, Wooden Buildy
Ball Road, which is Washdog. Um,
especially during flooding events. Um,
we made it clear to them those signals
do not communicate and just make uh that
worse. We also highlighted some of the
issues with the main street wooden build
road intersection, not just accidents
with the misalignment, but also the
signal control and that it's very manual
and it would be nice to get some
attention to that. So, um, he was very
interested in those because they seem
like they could be quicker fixes. So, I
was excited about his reaction to that.
Um, I attended one of our parks advisory
commission meetings and I spoke to the
commissioners about the purpose of the
PC as well as some of my hopes for it
and I'm really excited about their
enthusiasm and some of the ideas they've
brought to the table. One of the ones
I'm especially excited about is re um
reactivating Big Rock, the small Big
Rock Park down by Safeway. I think that
would be a really fun thing to see
happen. Uh, okay. I attended the town
city association north mayor's meeting.
just the usual what's going on in your
city and and just some things I there's
a lot of talk about electric motorcycles
and ebikes and all that fun stuff. So,
we're all feeling the pain. Um my last
mayor meet up I had was at Two Moon Park
North. There were a ton of families
there during the day just enjoying the
park and the weather and it was a great
setting. And then I've just scheduled
the rest of the 2026 mayor meetup dates
which reminded me how quickly this year
is going. Um I attended the cultural
mission art celebration. So again,
thanks to Cynthia and Rita for that. You
do so much work with that and um I just
want to call that out even though I know
you probably don't want me to, but it's
really important and it just wouldn't
get done without you. It was really well
attended uh and it was a great showcase
of completed works of art and I will
just lightly touch on it in case this is
in your administrator report, but some
of the art's still on the walls and
around. I don't know if you're talking
about that. Oh, okay. Well, there was a
photography contest and it's still up
and you can enjoy it. And then those are
the new uh little art libraries up in
the front room um that are going to be
going in a couple different locations in
the city. I'm really excited about that.
I attended a SBA mayor's lunchon with
Challenge Seattle that is headed up by
former Governor Christine Gregoire.
Challenge Seattle is developing a
playbook for local jurisdictions to
improve the culture of partnership and
strengthen the Pacific Northwest
economy. um they're developing this
playbook and there were a lot of things
in it you'll be pleased to hear that say
this is not a budget line item there are
a lot of uh free things you know just
takes my time but um that can be done so
I'm I'm looking at that and and thinking
about what I can do in our city alone so
uh city administrator McNav and myself
met with the Monroe mayor um CUBAC
regarding transportation advocacy that's
one of her passions and so we're working
on more coordination between our cities
and more to come on that But I was
really excited to make that connection
because I think historically we have
slightly uh interacted but um just new
administrations and we're excited to
connect and and make some progress on
some things. And then the last thing I
have is the meeting with uh King County
Executive Zakali and I will save that um
so I'll have a mini mayor's report for
the city council meeting.
>> Thank you. Uh that I will turn it over
to city administrator McNab for the the
city administrator update.
>> Thank you. Um we're going to go in a
different order tonight.
[laughter]
>> Not going to be first L.
>> Um and it's not because Lissa's here.
The public works is lab. [laughter]
Cynthia McNab, city administrator, happy
to write our report. Uh so couple
things. The parks advisory commission
launched a community survey this week to
request feedback on King County's Duval
Park. So for those of you who don't
travel south very often, um as soon as
you leave city limits and you're heading
towards Carnation, there's a park on the
right that is a King County park as
opposed to a Duval park. Um the uh city
of Duvall doesn't invest in that. It's
uh purely King County. So, we're trying
to get feedback from our community that
we can provide to the executive and King
County parks on advocating for some
investment in that Duvall park beyond
basic maintenance. One thing to know
though, it isn't heavily constrained
with weather. And so while there are a
lot of things we would love to have as
park amenities in our community, there
are some things so that as much as we
may have hopes and dreams that space
cannot be used for. So it really has to
be passive recreation at the most, maybe
frisbee or disc golf, but um it really,
you know, some boardwalks, some trails.
So, uh, the survey really is asking for
those passive recreation ideas because
there's no way that we can do sports
fields and the county has basically said
those ideas are off the table. So, we're
looking for other investments that will
provide an amenity to our community
since it sits right at our back door.
Uh, we're finalizing the community
feedback for the Third Avenue project.
So, we've applied for a transportation
um improvement board project. We apply
often. Um we submit Third Avenue for
that project. The board doesn't love the
project. Um is what we've been told
using those words. They don't love our
project. Um, so we're taking a different
tack this year and we're trying to get
community feedback to tell the story
about why Third Avenue is so important
to our community and also why it meets
why we believe it meets the program and
we believe it does. So we'll be sending
some of that feedback. We got really
great response. So, we're going to um
look through that feedback, provide an
executive summary to send not only um
with our grant request, but to the board
who takes a look at the projects and
selects what projects uh should be
funded and at what amount.
I'm meeting with the Riverview School
District next Monday, August 24th, to
begin discussion about the school
resource officer background. And as a
reminder, the funding for that position
expired on December 31st, 2025. The city
has been carrying the entire expense for
the SRO for 2026. So, we just want to
have a conversation about
uh funding for the position, future for
the position. Chief's going to join me
in that meeting. Thank you, Chief. And
uh we look forward to that conversation.
Uh yesterday the Carnation city manager
Rhonda and I met with the King County
Housing Authority uh to discuss housing
inventory and future federal and county
projects in the snow pali valley. So
this is not the King County Regional
Homeless Authority. So that's a separate
entity. This is the King County Housing
Authority which is not part of King
County. It's not a department of King
County. It's a separate well they're not
a they're a special district but not a
special taxing district. They don't
generate taxes but they basically are
passed through a federal HUD funding for
um housing projects and uh they had a
map and I'll share at the next council
meeting because I haven't had an
opportunity to scan it yet. Um they have
a map of all their projects in King
County and um interesting to note
there's not a single Snowquali Valley
city on the map. So not only are there
no projects out here, we're not even on
their map. And so the closest that we
have of one of these programs that is
federally funded is the new program
that's going in in the city of Isiqua.
And they have a small senior project
they said in North Bend. But one, we
need some calamie valley to be on their
map and be a area of focus and
attention. So, it's a really good first
conversation. They're going to send us
some data on how many people in the
valley access section 8 and some of
those HUD programs so we can start the
conversation about how potentially to
have you know some projects come to the
valley that support um probably specific
communities just because we don't have
the land for you know a big massive HUD
project but we do have opportunity for a
small senior housing project like the
one in Carnation and so it was a really
good first conversation we're looking
forward to continuing that dialogue.
Uh, next slide.
>> So, uh, I wrote this, but it might be a
different day. Uh, so we're working with
the farmers market, uh, to reschedu the
children's market. So, they've offered
to host it in conjunction at uh,
Taylor's Landing with their farmers
market. Initially, we thought maybe next
week would work, but it looks like we
might have to push that into September.
Um the biggest issue is school will be
back in session. So we'll need to make
sure that the students can set up uh
later uh during the farmers market
because farmers market is 3 to 8. So um
we'll just figure out the logistics, but
um it's a great partnership. Uh Rita is
meeting at the farmers market tomorrow
to work through all those logistics.
As a reminder, lunch with the campers is
tomorrow. if you can make it down to
Depot Park or McCormack Park. I'm not
quite sure. They said McCormack Park.
It's traditionally been in depot park,
but head down to the water where there
are a bunch of little kids.
Um I'm in collective bargaining all day
tomorrow with the Dual Police
Association. So that uh collaboration
and discussion is continuing with hope
that we'll have a successor left
agreement to present to council in the
next few months. Um on Friday I'm
meeting with the Sony Valley Senior
Center to discuss a joint grant we
received from council member Perry to
offer senior services in Duval in
Spanish. So it's pilot program. Excited
about that. I'm going to pause there.
That's the updates and then we'll move
on to the next slide which kind of a
different topic
>> questions.
>> All right.
>> So wanted to provide some general
information about public comment. Um had
a brief discussion with the city
attorney today on just kind of the who,
what, where's why on how the city of
Duvall manages public comment. So, we
follow best practices for receiving and
considering public comment. Um, our
public comment procedures have been
vetted and reviewed by our city
attorney's office. We continue to look
at guidance from MRC, which is kind of
where all the cities go to for expert uh
opinions about, you know, anything
municipal, whether it's public comment.
And so most of our process for public
comment has been guided either by
experts from MRC or our city attorney.
Um just kind of the framework for best
practices are couple key components.
Public home is considered input to city
council and decision makers but doesn't
serve as instruction to staff the mayor
or city council. And that's how we take
it. we take it as input and not
instruction to um do a particular thing.
Uh public comment is considered often
alongside technical anal analysis, legal
requirements, adopted policies, adopted
decisions that city council has made,
staff recommendation and other public
input received just beyond public
comment. Um decision makers agree with
some comments, may agree, may suggest
modifying a proposal. um they may not
seek a request a change based on the
input they receive. And I think it's
really worth um calling out any motion
made by city council that's adopted by a
majority of council that becomes the
decision and city staff take that
decision and that guides our actions. So
if city council has decided something a
year ago, two years ago and hasn't
changed their mind, city staff will
proceed with the decision that city
council has made in prior meetings.
Slide. So thinking about what does
consider mean? Meaning um all public
comment is considered in the context of
an open agenda item. Um comments become
part of the information that decision
makers use when they evaluate a
proposal. Um feedback helps identify
community concerns, priorities,
potential impacts of a decision um or a
decision of council or recommendation um
from staff for matters before
commission. So we have a parks, a
planning, a cultural, we have a library
board, we have a civil service
commission. The commissioners consider
input along with staff analysis,
planning requirements and other
information before while they deliberate
and before making a decision.
um our best practice which we follow at
city council considers a full record
when making its final decision. So
that's why we try to get um all comments
that we receive by noon um to council so
you all have it before you make
decisions on agenda items and then you
know considering feedback does not mean
every request to change will be adopted
and then final decisions will reflect
some all or none of the suggestions and
comment received.
So that's the framework we have here in
Duvall.
And then um I think next slide it's
worth highlighting because um we're
talking a lot about the comprehensive
plan. So the comprehensive plan actually
dates back to 2024.
What we're doing now are changes to
zoning that stem from the policies that
were adopted
by city council back in 2025.
And so while we continue to have public
comment on some of the outputs of the
comprehensive plan, the comprehensive
plan actually started back in 2023. And
in 2024, a steering committee was formed
from community members to guide the
comprehensive plan. And so they kind of
created the overall intent of the
comprehensive plan as well as the
general policies that would be included
in the comprehensive plan. So that
steering committee u met multiple times
back in 2024
um and into 2025. Additionally, we had a
separate committee working on the
housing action plan and they were
involved in public engagement and um a
separate committee that developed all
the housing policies that are also
informing some of the work we're doing
right now. And so this slide is from
excerpts from the comprehensive plan
that's on our website. If you want to
look at that public engagement process
that happened back in 2024 and 2025
along with a timeline of the dates of
some of that public input we had in
developing the policies that ultimately
made it into the comprehensive plan.
Uh, next slide. And then before I turn
it over to Ail, I just wanted to bring
you a highlight. So, as we've discussed,
um, zoning is really complicated. It has
a bunch of different components, um,
within our code on how something gets
built and what it looks like. So, um,
there's zoning, which uh, is before
council and will continue to evolve
through deliberation. There's
development regulations which is what do
you do with the lot? How is it
developed? And then there are design
standards. And so as we've said for a
couple meetings, design standards are
under review. Uh we are at the final
nits and nats of that draft. But I
wanted to show you a couple highlights
so you can kind of think about what's
coming on September 1st at that council
meeting. So these are a couple excerpts
from the draft.
>> [clears throat]
>> So what you see here are example images
of different zoning districts. So we're
providing these pictures and
architectural drawings uh to developers
to the residential community so that
people can imagine and see what we
want to see and do all um so there are
example images. There's also zoning
intent. So that says this is the intent
of that zoning district. what we want to
see, what we don't want to see, and then
there is a desired form. So again, these
speak to giving developers, giving home
builders direction on the intent of the
zone, what we want in the zone, examples
of what we um want to see in that zone.
And this will guide design review and
the hearing examiner's decision whether
to ultimately approve a particular
project. On the right side you see the
mixeduse zoning district, some examples
of what the MU20
district, the zoning intent, the desired
form, and then next slide.
And then likewise, those draft design
guidelines have um the zoning district
for Oldtown and Uptown that describes
the um district, shows examples of what
will be approved in that district, the
zoning intent and the desired form that
we want to see in those different
districts. And then uh same for Midtown
and commercial. And so um there's a lot
more here. This is just two pages of a
40 plus page document um that has other
architectural renderings. Uh spoiler
alert, everything in Dubal will have a
pitch roof. Um so uh just look forward
to that. We're almost done and looking
forward to you all seeing kind of these
designed images for uh the city of
Duval. And with that, I will turn it
over to Director Bane. Um
>> good evening everybody. uh director
meeting with the department of painting
de development. Wanted to give you an
update on some projects that are
currently under review. Um so the Duval
mosque has now submitted um building
permit applications for the support
building that's across from uh the
mosque. Um so these are moving ahead.
The applicant has been working through
corrections. They are looking to do
phased construction where um in order to
keep things moving along um they are
pursuing doing a foundationon permit
first so they can get that ground work
started while they finish up the
structural review for the building so
that it can um have fewer fits and
scopes through the construction process.
Um we don't have uh so the mosque is
considered building A, the support
building in blue is building B and then
the commercial building in the lower
left hand color. We've been referring to
that as building C. We haven't seen
application yet for building C, but
we've been told that they should be
coming within the new. Um any questions
about the month?
Next slide, please.
Um the Jane Society uh went through its
design review with a planning commission
as the design review board. Um they did
request um some partial requests for the
um the articulation of the of the
elevation. Um and this is very common
with any of the
religious assembly buildings that have
been proposed in Dubal just because you
have a larger building than like a mole
residence. Um so this is a common
departure request. Um and the applicant
has been very responsive to uh
corrections from staff. So now that we
have the recommen recommendation and
approval from planning commission, um
staff is now working with the applicants
to get a hearing scheduled with a
hearing. Thanks Sam.
Any questions?
>> Okay.
>> Um I had sort of a question. Uh it's not
up there but I was curious if there was
any updates
I happy to follow with you after
afterwards um on the new all village
commercial pad properly if there was any
sort of
>> yes that's
>> or did I go ahead
>> no no no um I was I was focusing on
these
get through the slides and then I can
yeah next slide please
um an application that just came in um
is
titled the Valley View Mixuse
Development. This is just north of the
um Copperhouse Way. Thank you.
>> Where are the safe? Oh, the subway. Um
so close to our lovely water.
Um so this site is challenged with a lot
of topography. It's like a 40 foot of
elevation change from Main Street up to
the rear of the property. Um so
initially there's been a fairly creative
um design to to try to work these
buildings terracing up um along the
slope. There is a proposal for um
commercial down at the lowest level
along Main Street. So there is that sort
of activation. So the initial concept
We like mixed use. We want that um
street friendship activation. We need
more retail. Um so it's a good starting
point.
It'll it'll get a ball. Um so so yes. So
this came in and we'll be going through
the review process. The Duval
Village/Main Street development um is
under review. There have been um
it
it's a complicated construction when you
have vertical mixed use and you have
occupancies of either like business
mercantile retail on the bottom with the
residential above. There's a lot of
building code about fire separations and
things like that. And when you have um a
design group that is more experienced
with residential than with commercial,
then there's like a bit of a learning
curve to try to get the commercial of
them seen as the residential component.
So there's just been like a few snags
trying to get
compliance with the building code for
that commercial of the project. So we're working through it. Um we're
working with the applicant. Um and the
goal is to get there. Yeah, that's
really all I was looking for that it's
in process.
Thank you.
>> Council member Olen,
>> I just want to confirm. So, this is the
east side of the street kind of near
where Duvall Villages is. Is Is any of
this scheduled to be below 80% AMI or
below?
>> Are you referring to the Valley view
mixed?
>> Yeah, the Valley view. Yes. So this is
just north of Copper Hill on the east
side of Maine. I forget the cross
nearest Kennedy nearest cross street of
Kennedy. So just out of Kennedy.
>> Um
this is just in site plan review. We
haven't looked at um
affordability at all. There's nothing in
the narrative stating that there would
be um
>> and we don't have code. Yeah, we don't
have code today to require it or to
incentivize it. So, because they are
vested to the regulations that are in
place, um when they submitted on August,
they would be subject to those
regulations. Um
yes, they have a complete application.
Um when it comes to vesting, an
applicant can stick with whatever is
vested to them that day of a complete
application. An applicant has the uh
legal right to forego all vesting to
whatever regulations are in place of
whatever day they say I give up my
vesting and I want the day's regulation.
I have yet to see someone do that but
it's always within their due process to
assess it. Um, but so far
>> I understand legally they can
comply with with the current kind of
former zoning. Um, I wonder if via a
conversation we could incentivize them
to incorporate some 80% or below AMI
just given that's the ultimate goal of
what we're trying to accomplish.
>> We can always
Thank you.
>> All right, we'll turn it over to our
public works director. Uh good evening,
council, mayor, members of the public.
Uh Lorisa Grundell public works. I'm
just going to go over a couple of things
we're working on currently. Uh so the
2.2 million gallon water tank, we have
our booster pump station there. Um, pump
two, we have three pumps that help us
with fire flow or if we need a demand or
something that arises um during the day.
So, uh, pump two was, uh, serviced, it
was removed from the system. All the
bearings, everything was serviced.
That's complete. It was reinstalled, and
pump three is now being removed for
service. Um, and these are some
pictures. They took it out through the
roof. They're huge pumps, but it's
really neat. Next slide.
Uh currently, uh PSSE has submitted
their rideway permits for their um
upcharge electric vehicle chargers. Um
so those are kind of in review, just
making sure we get the right details on
the plans and um there's some changes
that need to happen with reading on in
the parking lot of the depot. Um but the
two the two spots are right out here in
front of the visitor center for two and
that's the top picture and then um at
depot park uh it's the
norththeast corner kind of there's a uh
the metro van parking stall will be
relocated and and those two will go
right there. Um next slide.
Um, so a little update on our proposed
acquisition for the Big Rock Ball Field.
Um, so the grant results, uh, King
County, uh, conservation futures was the
grant that we went after. Um, the board
recommends, uh, just over 700,000 for
land purchase and, um, just over 18,000
for site stabilization
um, to acquire this piece. And that's
the red highlighted piece. So,
congratulations to the city. Uh we went
from just under 10 acres to over 30
acres of park. Um so and this red one is
the one that we're focused on right now.
And that'll get us to 40 uh 42.4 acres
not including the proposed MOC lots.
Uh next slide.
So operations. Uh currently you've
probably seen the doctor truck out in
town needing catch beans. We're wrapping
that work up. Um they were out on Valley
Street today um uh just north of the or
east of the Thai uh restaurant. Um some
video inspections found some broken
concrete pipes. Some it was smashed. So
the crew had that open today. We got to
the bathroom truck to expose it and
we're going to fix those uh pipe
sections. It's really shallow pipe too.
Extremely shallow but it is concrete. Um
so that's what they were working on
today. Um next slide.
current projects for parks, I believe.
Well, all the crew is doing it, but the
new art panels are up on Main Street.
And these are a couple pictures of the
crew doing what they do.
Next slide.
» And then we completed the installation
of an 8 in water meter um at the Big
Rock Ball Fields. We replaced the water
meter that was there. Um it wasn't
functioning right, extremely old. Um,
our water lead did a great job. He
installed this by himself.
>> It was quite a quite a day for him. Um,
[laughter]
but we got it in.
>> Next slide. I think
» questions, comments.
>> I have one.
>> I know we're getting close on time, but
uh, how like how shallow was the even
though concrete pipe, how deep should it
be and like how shallow was it? Um, we
want to keep all pipe at least two feet
deep. Okay. Yeah. Right. Um, it is
probably
less than six inches under the house.
>> So, um, it's it's really shallow and it
was pieced together um,
prior to 1995.
>> I don't know if it was the city that did
it. I'm sure I could call Fisher and ask
him. Um
>> but yeah, it looked like there was some
of the metal corrugated pipe that used
to go uh just under the driveway access
and then there was open ditches and then
those ditches closed to have that
parking paved over it. And in order to
do that,
whether it was the city at the time or
the adjacent property owners, however
that happened, um pieces of concrete
pipe were just kind of put together and
then paved over.
So yeah,
>> council member.
» So I wanted to ask about the the design
standards and if the proper answer
yourself
>> sorry about that I was trying to lower
my hand. Uh okay. So if if the
appropriate answer to this question is
wait till September 1st and I'll see
then then that's fine. Um, but director,
let's see, administrator McNabby, you
had said that that in the in the design
standards, we're we're showing some of
these mockups of of what the city is is
delivering to developers or intends to
deliver developers to kind of guide them
in in what these buildings what we would
like to see. And that is something that,
for example, the hearing examiner will
look at in considering if something is compliant with what we're trying to
accomplish. So I guess what my question
is is
where where does objectivity and
subjectivity fall into play with that?
you know, at what point do they say,
"Yeah, I mean, is it is it just about
the sloped roof, you know, or or is it,
you know, if if it's if it's 45 ft and
it has a slope roof, is it compliant or
so, you know, where does where does one
where does objectivity end and
subjectivity begin?" And I I guess I
somewhat asked that in light of some of
well, other pictures I've seen floating
around and and things like that. I'm I'm
just curious how how rigorous these
design standards are to what will have
to be.
>> They're rigorous. So they are uh not
just subjectively what the community
what we expect but objectively what
buildings can be built from a design
perspective in Duval
and um Lisser Emerald do you have other
>> so part of the reason why we are
bringing we're going to be bringing
these um design standards forward is
because of state legislation stating
that these standards do need to be
objective in nature and not subjective
in nature. So, it's more about um
there's it it's going to be like
subscriptive design like you either meet
the standard or you don't. And so, um
it's not about do I like it? Is it
pretty? If is it is it meeting um like
is the slope of the roof correct? Is the
articulation of the wall correct? Is
there enough window treatment on an
elevation? Is an orientation of a
pedestrian pathway in the correct spot?
Um, are things being stepped back? So,
there's there are there different
material that different parts of a
building. So, it the idea is that each
standard would have effectively a a yes
or no. Are you doing it or are you not
or is the project doing this or is it
not? And if it's not, you're not in
compliance. we're not going to be
recommending approval. Um so hopefully
uh and by having the pictures we're
establishing the expectation that um
this is what we are looking to see. So
that way the a developer can't come in
and say oh I didn't know you wanted it
to be this pretty. We set it up like
look so the pictures themselves are not
um the legal requirement but they are to establish
this is what we're looking for. This is
the quality that we're looking for. So,
please don't waste your time and our
time with something that is left.
>> Yeah. Or a design that is not
incorporated in one of the images or the
standards.
>> And I know this is going to be touched
on a little bit on the the presentation.
You're going to have the meeting. So,
I'm just looking at the clock and I want
to make sure that we have a break
between meetings. So, I'm going to
actually defer council reports until the meeting. mayor can give their update
and then if there's additional sounds
like there might be an additional
opportunity for questions around this
particular issue a little bit on your
old pound there there's a presentation
as well if that's okay council member
» so with that I will call the committee
of the whole workshop to a close at 6:56
p.m. and if we can come back maybe at
two minutes after
>> close to seven as we can but we might go
a couple minutes over
Order of the city council meeting at
7:04 p.m. please rise for the flag.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and
justice for
>> can you please take the role for
Mercer
>> here. Council member Olen here.
>> Council member
>> uh here. Council member Wiggins
>> here.
>> Council member Hernandez
>> here.
>> Okay, we have a quorum. Thank you. Are
there any additions or corrections to
the agenda? Mayor for Thummer.
>> Uh yeah, I propose to add a second
public comment period after section M
close session uh on the agenda. Second.
>> Okay. Um any other additions or
corrections to the agenda?
And I'm not hearing any objections to
that proposal by Mayor Pam Mercer. So,
do I have a motion to approve the uh
amended council agenda?
>> So, move seconded.
>> All those in favor say I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed. All those opposed say
no. All right. The agenda is adopted.
Next up, we have proclamations and we
have two this evening.
First, we have National Emergency
Management Awareness Month. Whereas
emergency management professionals serve
247 365 as chief risk advisers and
problem solvers, connecting regional
resources, building resilience, and
coordinating crisis response and
recovery. And whereas the city of Duvall
and the Snomi Valley face unique local
hazards, including severe river
flooding, winter storms, prolonged power
outages, and wildland urban fires. And
whereas effective disaster readiness
relies on seamless collaboration between
city leadership, public safety
personnel, regional partners, and
dedicated volunteers like Snow Valley
SERT. And whereas emergency management
extends far beyond disaster response to
encompass continuous mitigation training
and risk reduction that protects lives,
homes, and critical infrastructure. And
whereas the residents and leadership at
Duvall expressed their heartfelt
gratitude to our emergency managers and
community volunteers for their steady
leadership and behind the-scenes
dedication. And whereas National
Emergency Management Awareness Month
observed annually in August under the
leadership of the International
Association of Emergency Managers AEM
highlights the essential role these
professionals play in public safety. And
whereas the community resilience depends
on proactive household preparedness and
the city encourages all residents to
build emergency kits, make response
plans, and sign up for local alerts. And
whereas the city of Duval continues to
grow, integrating proactive emergency
management into municipal planning in
infrastructure and community
partnerships ensures a safer, more
resilient future for all generations.
Now therefore, I, Amy McHenry, mayor of
the city of Duval, hereby proclaim
August 2026 as National Emergency
Management Awareness Month in the city
of Duval, Washington, and urge all
residents to recognize the vital
contributions of our emergency
management team and take steps to
prepare their families and
neighborhoods.
And then last, we have Women's Equality
Day. Whereas on August 26, 1920, the
19th amendment to the United States
Constitution was officially certified,
securing for women the constitutional
right to vote and marking a monumental
milestone in the ongoing pursuit of
civil rights and equality. And whereas
the ratification of the 19th Amendment
was achieved through decades of tireless
advocacy, courage, and determination by
suffragists across the nation and within
Washington state, which proudly granted
women the right to vote in 1910, a
decade prior to the federal amendment.
And whereas while the 19th amendment
established vital legal protections, the
historic struggle for true voter
equality continued for many women,
particularly women of color,
highlighting the ongoing responsibility
to protect and expand democratic access
for all citizens. And whereas the city
of Duval recognizes that the full
participation, leadership, and diverse
talents of women are essential to the
strength, innovation, and vibrant
character of our community. And whereas
women in Dubal serve as prominent
leaders across every sector, governing
as elected officials, excelling as
business owners, serving as first
responders, educating our youth,
directing nonprofits, and enriching our
civic life. And whereas Women's Equality
Day, designated by Congress in 1971,
serves not only as a day to celebrate
past achievements, but also as a call to
action to address remaining disparities
and foster equitable opportunities in
leadership, compensation, and
representation. And whereas the city of
as the city of Duvall looks to the
future, we remain dedicated to
empowering women and young girls,
ensuring they have equal access to
resources, mentorship, and opportunities
to shape the future of our city and
region. Now therefore, I, Amy McHenry,
mayor of the city of Duval, hereby
proclaim August 26, 2026 as Women's
Equality Day in the city of Duval,
Washington, and urge all residents to
reflect on the historical journey toward
equality, celebrate the leadership and
contributions of women in our community,
and continue supporting full equity,
equality for all.
>> Okay, next up, we have comments from the
audience. Um, this meeting was noticed
with 30 total minutes allotted for
public comments with the amendment to
our agenda tonight. Mayor Pat Mercer
added that we will reopen public
comments at the end of the our agenda
after the close session which I think is
letter M on the agenda. So I will now
read our
uh bit for this. So during the
designated public commentary period at
city council meetings, individuals are
allotted three minutes to speak while
representatives of organizations may
address the council for up to five
minutes. Before presenting, kindly
disclose your full name and city of
residents. Each speaker and all remarks
shall be addressed to the city council
as a body and not to individual members
of council or staff. The city strongly
advises submitting verbal comments in
writing to expedite subsequent
correspondence. Written comments must be
received by the city clerk's office by
noon on the meeting day addressed to PO
Box 1300 Uval Washington 98019 or
deposited at the city hall dropbox
located at 15535 Main Street Northeast
or by email. Please be aware that the
city council is formed and its
commissions accept public comments only
from inerson attendees at the meeting.
The council does not accept handouts or
printed material during the public
commentary session. Information intended
for the mayor or city council shall be
directed to the city clerk who will
disseminate it following the submitter's
instructions. Upon receipt, the city
clerk will receive written public
comments and subsequently furnish them
to the city council or the relevant
board or commission. However, it's
important to note that written comments
will not be orally presented during the
council or applicable board or
commission meetings. Any written
comments received after the noon
deadline for written comments will be
shared with the council at the next
council meeting as a part of the city
clerk's report. And let me look at our
list we have here.
>> So I think one thing we want to make
sure
>> we do have yes we do have a public
hearing tonight. So I just want to make
sure when I call on you what is open now
is the comments from the audience which
can be about any category. Um there's
also a public hearing. So if you're here
to speak on the public hearing later in
the agenda you would want to wait until
that is all on the sign code. Yeah. Um
so that'll come up later in the agenda
if that's what you wish to speak on. So
let me look at our list here. where to
go and find it yet. So, first one. Oh.
>> Oh, I see. Yep. Okay. I was looking at
the wrong phone. First up, we have David
Forn from Duvall. I don't know if he's
still here. I know you're
>> the wrong box.
>> Okay. Are you good or Okay, you had your
moment. Okay.
>> Um I can't quite I see Elijah on here. I
can't tell if that is a yes. So, I
wanted to check in if Okay. Go ahead and
approach the podium. Thank you.
Today I rise um on behalf of the Stwami
Valley Transit Writers Coalition. I do
not request any more time as presented.
I My name is Elijah Vincent. I am the
leader of the Stalami Valley Transit
Riders Coalition and today I am
discussing the Brown Avenue Northeast
Richardson Street and that is a huge one
here. As the as the city grows, we must
ensure that we have adequate
infrastructure such as bay signs and
the road improvements as well as more
clear signage such as northeast sub area
which a lot of King County metro transit
centers and certain stops along the way
especially in Redmond and potentially
even
um I believe also has that and that's
just to ensure that we know where it
I've also have a online position. I
won't mention any more on that though.
Um that's it. Thank you. I yield my
time.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh next up we have
I'm just going off of our sign and she
first here. I see a maybe with Peter
Scott of Duvall. Did you want this?
>> You'll pass. Okay. Um, and then next up,
Mike Beard from Duval Fire District 45.
>> Okay.
>> So, would you like I'm assuming you'd
like the five minutes.
>> Uh, sure.
>> Okay. You don't have to use it all if
you don't.
» Um, everyone Michael Beard from Under
Big Rock. So, I'm not a Duvall resident
proper in the city. However, I was
elected uh the second term Duvall Fire
Commission 45. uh was elected chair of
that and I'm here to talk about uh the
proposed um building standards and
design code changes uh for the city. To
go back a couple years, uh I drove from
my family's been here since the 70s. My
wife's family's been here since the
1900s.
Um
left in '94 to pursue my career and come
back in 2014 for a period there. lived
in Isiqu where I was on the urban
village development commission where we
saw a very similar proposal
sponsored by Rally Properties helping me
tall brothers both many of the same
developers that worked for
um that proposal uh kind of created the
urban village development guideline that
many cities are using now might be
called something different but it's the
live up above work down below reduce
parking increase density walkable
streets
Um what was presented to the city of
Isiqua during the commission was
beautiful but any of you who've been in
Isiqua or Redmond or these other areas
assume that's not built that way. Um one
of the limits on that is the code uh
energy design need those are very
restrictive.
So um I heard some talk about design
code earlier. um
in Washington state the way things are
built out it's it's very conforming it's
kind of I think it's ugly it's very
dense so uh if these things are adopted
here what has been built throughout the
state is probably what's going to be
here it's driven by economy it's driven
by energy code it's driven by uh things
that are kind of outside the control of
this if we are to adopt this
um
so that being said I want to talk about
a Couple other things here real quickly.
Um, as a private citizen here, uh, I
read uh, some comments from one of the
city councilors about um, permanent
supportive housing. And I'm hoping I'm
misunderstanding this, but there was a
discussion that this could be built to
do well. Um, my full-time job, I'm a
lieutenant fire department. I'm not
speaking on behalf of them, but I'm
speaking my experience there. I respond
daily to permanent support housing, the
city of Belleview, the city of Redmond,
and the city of Kerbin. Uh the amount of
strain that that puts on first
responders and EMS, hospital care,
transport, private ambulance isn't is
immense. I don't think people quite
understand. It looks good on paper, but
the execution of it is pretty nasty.
It's really changed some of the
neighborhoods and value in those those
regions, and not in a positive way. This
leads to my official stance here as a
chairman of Dwell 45.
Um,
when you call the fire department,
firefighters are going to do everything
they can correctly to take care of. We
have limited resources in help. What I'm
here to tell you is like there's no
plans to increase the resources. We have
three firefighters that cross staff,
several units just up the hill here, and
we have three more up at station 16 in
Chicago. That's six people in Debell
Fire Department who are being operated
by East Side Fire right now. That's the
plan for at least the next decade.
If we have this level of growth,
specifically affordable or low-inccome
supportive housing, it is going to max
out our first responders. The amount of
calls that these generate are much
higher than single family residents.
They're much higher than simple
apartment buildings. The utilization
rate for EMS in these buildings is
staggering. And I don't think anybody
has anybody who hasn't worked in the
field would be kind of shocked with
that. What that means is when you call
911, there may not be somebody for 10 to
15 minutes.
We're talking about I've been to the
same department 100 times in a row to
the same person. I work one of three
shifts. The people that relate me are
these same departments. We're talking
almost daily calls from some of these
permanent support.
So I would recommend that we don't
pursue that if we can resist it. I know
I use that word not lightly. I've seen
several members of this council resist
other things that happened in the
country in the last couple years. Um you
don't have to go along with this. I know
it's troubling. I know it's difficult. I
know it might cost a lot of money, but I
think you were all elected to make the
diff difficult decisions, not the easy.
So, I just want those uh ideas to be out
there. And from another government
agency here, I want you to know that we
can support growth that was as it was
imagined a few years ago. We're actually
excited about it, but certain types of
growth here would be pretty devastating
to emergency services.
>> Thank you.
Um, next up, where was I? Next up, we
have Kate [clears throat] Brown.
Did I say that right?
>> Very close. Is that Brown?
>> Hi. You know, it's been very hard to
hear some of the other speakers. I'll
put on my teacher voice. My name is Kate
C. I taught in the district for about 33
years and I'm representing people who
don't live in the town of Duval, but we
consider Duvall our town and we love it.
>> And I come I talked in Carnation. I
taught at Duvall. I was on the civic
club, friends of the library for many, years. And this is my community. I
know so many people in this community
and I love it. And I came here in 1971
and I knew country. One country was a
baby and she grew up with my daughter
who went to school at Cherry Valley. I
think a lot of us are so concerned
that Duvall is such a wonderful place
and it has been so encompassing of
welcoming people, all kinds of people
and we would like to continue to do
that. But we also need to face reality.
We do not have the infrastructure and I
read on the Duval page all the time
complaining about the floods and you
can't get here and you can't get there
and traffic is all baldled up at 3:30 in
the afternoon. So with growth, we also
have to get some help from the state.
And we don't want this to become a
soulless place like we see in Redmond,
like we see in Woodenville. I drove to
Totem Lake and had no idea where I was.
Uh, I got there and I thought, well, the
car toys place used to be here and I
don't want our be the used to be here.
The old library used to be here. I was
involved in passing books one by one
from this wonderful old library to the
new one. And Rose Morberg was like my
substitute mother, like my substitute
grandmother for my daughter. So I've
been invested in this place and I would
really hate to see it become
six stories of nothing
metal. And what I read uh from some nice
person from the board here that put it
on Facebook was
if a developer wants to buy the property
and they meet what you were talking
about earlier, the slope of the roof or
the back uh off from the sidewalk, they
can pretty much put up whatever they
want. And I think our town and the
people who live surrounding the towns,
the farmers in the valley, we should
also have a say as to what affects our
lives, our children's lives, and our
grandchildren's lives. My daughter
doesn't live here. She can't afford it.
So, please keep that in mind. There are
people who love this community and this
community has loved us back. Thank you
very much.
And I I I just wanted to say to the
audience, we don't usually allow
reactions. And I know that I feel it
like I'm a party for saying it. I can
move a little quicker through the list
if we like with applause or anything
like that. So, we'll be able to squeeze
more people in in the time. Okay. Um
Lauren, that
Lauren Betting from Duvall.
Good evening, Mayor and City Council and
staff. Thank you for this opportunity to
comment on Duvall's comprehensive plan.
I appreciate the difficult position you
are in, and my following statement is
meant to help in a way that has legal
standing. I'm not here with a pitchfork.
I believe the current draft does not
comply with the growth management act
for the following reasons. First,
citizen participation. The code required
procedures for early and continuous
public participation. The 2024 public
survey showed that regulating
development to maintain community
character and a small town feel were
residents first priorities. How has that
feedback been used in the most recent
proposed zoning changes? Do you intend
to alter the current plan based on
community feedback?
Second, alternatives. The GMA requires
the broad dissemination of proposals and
alternatives.
Where are the alternatives?
Relying on a single recommended strategy
while planning compliance with the new
state law risks us not choosing the best
available option. Please clarify what
alternatives were or will be considered.
Third, infrastructure and coordination.
The GMA mandates coordination to
reconcile conflicts and ensure efficient
transportation. We are adding traffic to
our roads without state or county
commitments to increase funding for
maintenance or mitigation. Duvall has
nothing that meets the criteria for a
major transit hub to offset this.
Increasing development before securing
infrastructure violates countywide
planning policy H25, which protects
resident well-being through high quality
transit.
Fourth, the housing strategy. If our
overall growth target is already
naturally met by the building that's
happened since 2019, pipeline units, and
the current zoning, why are we
increasing baseline zoning for all
market rate development?
I propose an alternative that is more
aligned with our community's wishes,
an affordable housing zone overlay.
Instead of a blanket up zone, make
increased density only available for
verified affordable housing.
This would directly protect our
community's character, prevent
overdevelopment, and incentivize
builders to target the specific
affordability brackets Duvall actually
lacks.
Please identify where our plan is
current, why our plan is currently
zoning for more development than is
required.
I request that staff run the land
capacity model on an affordable housing
overlay alternative and tell the public
exactly which GMA requirements it would
and would not satisfy. If that is not
feasible, then I request that the
current plan heights are reduced to the
bare minimum and any increase in zoning
is only available for our 675 assigned
affordable housing unit. We are the
current stewards of Dualltown,
real life. Our town's character and
identity are at stake.
Hi everyone. I'm country Rooney.
I'm the president of the Dubel
Historical Society.
Um I am representing the historical
society. So I'll use all five of my
minutes, please.
I'm also part of the Novelty Hill
Cemetery,
No Palmy Valley Museum,
and a life member of the VFW Auxiliary.
I am here on behalf of Duval Historical
Society. I do have handouts that I
handed out before coming in. I'm not
going to talk about them. I'm just
letting you know that there are QR codes
to the information that I am talking
about. So, good evening, Mayor Mckenry.
I love you and I love our town and I
love the staff that are here to present.
I want to begin by saying something
personal because
I believe it explains why I'm here and
I'm standing here tonight
[clears throat]
>> and why I'm speaking as strongly as I
am.
1976 I was three years old.
An inaudible member of this community
took advantage of me.
My parents and grandparents, I'm fourth
generation, by the way.
My parents and my grandparents made the
decision not to take any action. They
didn't want to create any commotion.
They didn't want any drama in this town
of 600 members.
And sometimes in a small town, keeping
the peace may seem more important than
speaking up.
That experience stayed with me.
But I'm not here tonight to reopen that
chapter of my life. I am here because 50
years later, I am correcting that part
that was left unfinished.
I am using my voice to help save
something that deserves to be protected.
I know that the city has struggled.
Duval citywide visioning plan page
number 10 described Oldtown as the
historic heart and the soul of Duval and
recognized that traffic congestion and
development can threaten its long-term
preservation.
The GMA identifies historic preservation
as part of its comprehensive plan.
That's RCW
36.78.210
number 14.
So, I'm asking the council to make
historical preservation
a part of the comprehensive plan, an
intentional part of our alignment, not
as an afterthought.
Let's plan for the future without
erasing the past. Some people may call
my voice misleading or creating
unnecessary concern. Just check
Facebook.
>> But I'm going to respectfully disagree.
I'm looking at the numbers. I'm looking
at what the proposed recommendations
could mean when they are translated from
a document onto actual buildings, actual
streets, actual traffic,
actual infrastructure, and actual
neighborhoods.
A number on a page may look harmless,
but 17 dwellings per unit
is a number. For Oldtown historic
Duvall,
17 units become buildings.
become people. People become
water, sewer. Everybody needs the roads,
emergency services. Thank you, Mike.
schools, walkways and transportation.
And the question I am asking is not
should Duvall grow and of course we're
going to grow.
I believe we have an obligation to look
beyond meeting a numerical target. We
need to understand the consequences of
the number we adopt to our historic
district as well as our up and middle
towns.
We know our infrastructure cannot
support the density compliment
contemplated. We need to understand what
these zoning changes could mean to our
town, our roads, and our quality of
life. And we need to make sure that the
community understands what is actually
being proposed before any decisions are
being made. And I'm not asking you, the
council, to reject growth,
but we didn't even look for
alternatives.
I'm asking you to do the work of
understanding the scale of the growth
and push back.
And I'm asking you not to dismiss a
concerned citizen's voice simply because
it challenges a consultant's number.
50 years ago, I didn't have a voice.
Tonight, I do.
I intend to use it respectfully,
factually, and persistently,
not to create drama or mislead.
not to stop Duvall from moving forward
because I have
» tr Watson. How are we on
>> pass? Okay, the minutes have passed on.
Okay,
>> I see Terry Manville with a question
mark. So, I just want to check in with
you if you'd like to speak. Okay. So,
and are you speaking on behalf of
yourself? You have a step. Okay.
» I'm Terry Mandville. I live in
unincorporated Duval. Um, but my friends
are here in in incorporated Duval. And I
just need to say I grew up in the
northeast corner of Seattle when it was
all woods and it was a wonderful place
to grow up. Now it's all culde-sacs and
okay, it's inside Seattle city limit. So
maybe that's what's supposed to happen.
The growth is supposed to happen there.
Then I lived outside of Woodenville
and on 8 acres of trees and had chickens
and it was beautiful and they started
having town meetings about increasing
growth and we were promised that the
character of our neighborhood would
remain
but it didn't. I moved out of there,
moved outside of Kirkland on um Ben Hill
where there were orchards and farms and
trees and and
um space and place for my kids to grow
up. And
they started having town meetings about
growth. And we were promised that the
character of our community would remain
the same, that it could mesh with growth
and it would be fine. They tore down my
house and built three monstrosity
houses with no yards. Um that was
supposed to be for affordable housing,
but they're a million dollars a piece,
so I don't know who can afford those. Um
I moved out here. I keep moving farther
and farther away to beautiful places and
I just don't want the same thing to
happen here and that's it.
>> Thank you.
» Uh Michaela G.
>> Okay.
>> Got it. Okay. Uh Meg Town,
did you want to speak?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. And are you speaking on behalf of
yourself?
>> [clears throat]
» M town and I live in unincorporated um
Duvall Terry Valley Way and we uh
several years ago were impacted by the
North Hill development and came to a
resolution on that after quite some time
and um that was not fun. Um
infrastructure is huge um when it
development gets ahead of the
infrastructure. Um it impacts not just
Duvall itself but the unincorporated
areas too. I appreciate um the advocacy
for our current downtown the soul of I
agree it's the soul of Duvall. when we
have floods, we gather in our downtown.
We have Duvall TV present and it helps
us get through some of those harder
times. And without that, um, it just we
would be missing this whole um, our
businesses that are here, the small
businesses that have worked hard to
preserve the historical quality of this
town. um is something that I treasure
and value and hope to continue to have
um when I come into town. So, I would
like the zoning to be reconsidered that
it not include the height and density of
our historic town.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh Mike Town,
>> do you want to speak and on behalf of
yourself, I'm assuming? Okay.
>> Hi, my name is Mike Town. I uh also live
in Charity Valley and just representing
myself on this. Um what Meg was talking
about uh is something that I I think is
a good story in regards to things that
you might be able to um try to work
around and coming up with the Sony.
Today in the Seattle Times, there was an
article. I don't know if any of you guys
saw it, but it basically talked about
how the movement of the population of
King County is coming down to cities
like the ball. And partially it's
because you can tell I can get from here
and also it's, you know, a little bit
more affordable and of course it's what
we all love. It's close to nature.
And
don't misunderstand
a component of that is that all the big
housing developers in this area have
been also moving out to these areas. And
I want to talk about our experience with
one of them just so that you can
understand kind of the concerns we have
about this. As mentioned,
um, a couple years ago, we live in
Cherry Valley, just down on the high
school. Uh, the largest builder of homes
in the United States decided they were
going to build a 100 homes on that hill.
And they were going to take all the
storm water from the streets, the roofs,
and the gardens and pipe it down into
King County directly into the valley. We
woke up one day and we found out that
they were going to dump all their storm
water 25 ft from our well which serves
seven different families.
[clears throat] The city of Duval okay
it
bought it and we bought it because
there's a whole bunch of ordinance both
on the state and county um docket that
showed that they couldn't do this. Now
that corporation knew that
But they also knew that they were in a
small town who sometimes doesn't have
the manpower for dual diligence in
regards to things that you can do, but
we want a settlement from them. And
what it taught us was that this is going
to happen again.
And when you build the type of units
that you're talking about out there,
these are the developers that you're
going to get. And if you were to find
the name of the top three and Google
them and use the word lawsuit, you're
going to run into pages and pages and
pages of it. And so I think that when
you write the ordinance, you have to
make sure that the city's enforcement of
the policy is going to occur, which
means you need a revenue source in
order.
>> Thank you, Brett. Hi. Um,
>> okay. You said we have time for one
more. So, we just have time for one more
commenter. I just want to check in with
Nina Oshopski.
Fine.
>> It's fine. Okay. And then Elizabeth
Hill, would you like to speak?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. And then, are you speaking on
behalf of yourself or an organization?
>> Myself.
>> Yourself. Okay. Thank you.
>> He was crying with tears running down
his face. He was an older man than I am
now.
is what he said to me is, you know,
Elizabeth, it doesn't bother me at all
that people that recently moved here
want to be involved in the process and
plan for the future. I just wish that
they would first hear what we planned,
what we've been working for, what we've
spent our life on. And that man was Ray
Burren. And for those of you who may not
know, Ray Muran was instrumental in
getting the Doherty house. He was
instrumental in getting McCormic Park in
ways people don't know about. He donated
the depot building to the city. He
bought the restrooms for the city. He
did many, many other things. He was a
private person in some ways. He did tons
of things for the senior center. And I
have to say I feel like that old man now
because I feel like instead of starting
with hey the state wants this what do we
want to do about it
how can we work together and come as a
community from where we've been in our
long-term vision of having OldTown which
has been our priority for decades and decades.
we're kind of going to the consultants
first and I've been a consultant so I
understand they bring a lot of value to
the table and now we're like here's the
here's what we're going to do probably
what do you all think about it and I
think that's where people are feeling
like well wait a minute what's happening
and I could be wrong but I do think
that's why there's so many people here
tonight because it moves so fast and I
understand the state wants things. I get
that. I also understand that Carnation
pushed back on what the state wanted. I
don't know if we tried, if we were
successful. I don't know.
>> Um,
I appreciate everyone here that's
volunteering their time to be on council
and the mayor and and city staff. I know
it's a harder job. I really do. Um, I do
a lot even though I live in
unincorporated King County.
I do a lot within the city limits for
Duval Foundation for the Arts, although
we haven't had a chance to meet yet. And frankly, I need to learn more and
I'm hoping to hear the presentation
tonight to know what changes are being
proposed for Oldtown and the surrounding
areas because we're certainly hearing a
lot of conflicting information.
And a lot of the people that we're
hearing from are people that I've known
and have trusted for decades and decades. That doesn't mean I don't
trust the new people, but something isn't working.
>> Thank you.
» So, with that, we've reached our aotted
time. We're going to move on with our
business agenda, but it will reopen
after the last item, which is a closed
session. Public comment will reopen per
council instruction, and then I will
pick back up on that list.
>> What time will that be? I have no time
prediction of that.
>> Oh yes.
>> So next up we have our consent agenda.
Um does anyone on council want to make
uh a motion to
>> approve?
Second. It's
>> been moved and seconded. We approve the
consent agenda. All those in favor say
I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed say nay.
>> Motion passes. Consent agenda is
approved. uh during the committee the
whole meeting before this meeting we had
some extra time so we did cover most of
my report the mayor's report and the
city administrator's update however
there was one item I did save off of my
report that I will do now and that was
our meeting with the executive
okay so city administrator McNav and I
met with the King County with King
County Executive Zahalai and his staff
um basically the content of the meeting
was by recap the content of the letter I
sent back on January 30th of this year,
which was an invitation to Duval and a
request to discuss the city of Duval
housing and growth targets. And that was
the letter that council approved for me
to send.
So, in general, I highlighted the um
lacking King County and state road
infrastructure, transit services, the
lack of wraparound services in Duval
that support additional population and
lack of adequate transit to get to those
services reliably, and the many
emergency and disaster situations we're
vulnerable to out here. Um due to the
potential of disasters like flooding,
wildfires and more, I ask for
non-ontiguous cities like Duvall to be
thought of differently and potentially
look at what is our maximum population
out here rather than constantly
gradually adding more and more and more
and just thinking at some point we need
to look at a maximum. I also ask that
the next time King County votes through
the next round of growth allocation that
electeds be brought in more than
previously to weigh in on those
discussions as they directly represent
the residents of the city. I believe the
last round was mostly staff on staff and
there was not a lot of elected
engagement and I think that's a really
important uh distinction. So I did call
that out for the executive. Um, so as we
discussed at the council, um, before I
became mayor and then at with the new
letter in that role, um, I did not
formally ask for a reconciliation. That
was not council consensus. However, I
did in general ask them, is King County
considering reconciliations right now?
And their answer was that the county
will be restarting the growth allocation
process in 2029. So take from that what
you will. I think it's important that um
while the new growth allocation process
does begin in 2029, we have an
opportunity to inform in a data-driven
way the numbers as early as 2028 and a
thoughtful plan can show that the county
methodology and allocation of numbers
have not resulted in the development of
affordable housing as can be seen
through the affordable housing reporting
tool for non-ontiguous Snalami Valley
cities. So basically creating more
capacity has not resulted in more
interest from developers given the
constraints out here. Um we also talked
a bit about programs like ARCH. Um you
know we were just recently asked by SCA
why don't cities like us pay into ARCH
or regularly participate in that and the
simple answer is ARCH is never going to
build a project out here and why would
they? We don't have the transit. We
don't have the wraparound services. So
just explaining a little bit more of
that um and why that wouldn't happen out
here. But we still need right-sized
projects like senior housing and things
like that like our nation was able to do
with their senior center. Um some
non-growth related items that were
accomplished in this meeting is after we
got through the content of the letter we
took an impromptu walk down to the
Stonewall River and it was really
important because along the way we were
able to point out our various
facilities. Um I was able to show
executive Zahalai the fa very faded
signage on the Snowali Valley Trail. We
were talking about how our segment of
the trail compared to other cities is
extremely underinvested. And of course,
he noticed that our signs even had the
old Imperial logo of King County. Though
I think showing the eroding shoreline in
McCormack Park as well as just the
general proximity to these big natural
features we have like the river and then
walking back up to city hall. It's a big
hill to walk back up and just I think
it's just there's a uniqueness to Dubal
that have to be felt and experienced and
I can't put into a letter. So, we were
really excited to have him out here to
see it for himself. Um, but with that, I
would and I'll check in with you if
there's anything you would add to that
or did I mostly cover everything?
>> Yeah, I think so. We've had um an
opportunity for one of his staff members
to write back to us as well regarding
the affordable housing target and the
opportunity we have not necessarily to
go back and relitigate the 2023 numbers
through reconciliation but to look
forward and work on a reconciliation in
the future when they reopen the
affordable housing inventory tool which
begins as early as 2028.
>> Okay. So, with that, um, and I'll go to
you in one second. I guess, you know,
with this part of my report, I just
wanted to open it back up to council
since that was under your direction. And
like I said, you can always ask for it.
I think the answer from them was quite
clear of what they're thinking is more
look forward to that next process. I
know that's not the answer a lot of
people probably want, but mayor.
>> Yeah, it was more just was whether it
was a question or a point of
information. Um just hearing from the
public comments and and I know um city
administrator touched on this a little
bit during the council the whole but
just the clarification that we we
submitted a plan and it had based on a
certain set of numbers and it was
rejected and we're under appeal and I
don't know that that's clear to everyone
in the room. I want to make sure that is clear that this is not the
original goround. There was a lot of
community engagement. It was over
multiple years. we had public sessions.
Um that plan was submitted and then it
was uh rejected at both the state and at the county level. And so we're
going through the appeal process now. So
it is a little more constrained than if
we were doing this from scratch based on
time and and deadlines in order to meet
the statutory requirements for the
appeal process. But I wanted to to make
sure that the city administrator and or you mayor just you know clarify that
for the room since we have a slightly
different audience in here now than we
had during the council whole meeting.
>> Yeah. And I think since we were able to
cover some of these things in the
committee the whole but there's
obviously a lot of people here it might
be beneficial to recover some of those
and do you want to wait to have a light
discussion with council about what I
just talked about first or did you want
to go back through this first?
>> I can just show one slide to respond
directly to Mayor Prom. So if we go a
couple slides in uh one couple more
to this one. Yeah, there we go.
>> Um so
the comprehensive plan wasn't appealed
per se. Um the land use element and the
capacity analysis was appealed. So back
in 2024, the comprehensive plan covers a
lot of things. And so there was a large
public process um in 2024 with the
steering committee. So the steering
committee was made up and
[clears throat] comprised of community
members who steered the direction of the
comprehensive plan and all of the
elements including transportation, land
use, housing, parks, trails, and open
space, economic development. I'm sure
I'm saying one. Um so that public
process with the steering committee
resulted um on the timeline you see here
a series of public meetings to steer the
direction of the comprehensive plan. We
also had a separate community steering
um steering committee comprised of
community members and public outreach on
the housing action plan. And the housing
action plan is an element of the
comprehensive plan. It speaks to all the
housing policies that are in the city.
What the city failed to do when we
passed a comprehensive plan in December
of 2025 was to simultaneously
zone for capacity. So, the cities that
didn't get appealed did all of it. the
city of Duval failed to show that we had
capacity for housing, specifically um
rates of affordable housing um under 80%
AMI and we didn't plan for our um jobs
numbers and so those elements of our
comprehensive plan were appealed. So, we
were directed by the state attorney
general office and the state commerce
department to fix those items of the
comprehensive plan. So, we're not
redoing this massive project that
happened in 2024. We are doing an
element of it that should have been done
back when we passed the entire
comprehensive plan.
>> Um, relative to kind of how the state is
viewing cities. Um so we are one of the
few cities that got appealed along with
Mercer Island. Um some cities didn't get
appealed directly but are now under an
audit from the department of commerce
including our neighbors to the south
carnation Bainbridge Island Bozart. So
there were two directions that the state
basically said you will manage your
comprehensive plan and do what we tell
you to do in terms of regulatory
changes. That was like us. we got
appealed and the other process is these
single audits that um the cities who
also didn't meet their capacity
requirements got uh audited by the
department of commerce. So there was
kind of two ways um that this happened.
We are under a settlement agreement with
the department of commerce. We are
required to do a set of um items that is
an adopted work plan by December 31st,
2026. So we have about five more months.
That doesn't mean that there isn't other
work that we can do once we get through
the appeal. So things like creating
historical overlays or uh affordable
housing overlays complement our
comprehensive plan. And if you look at
the land use element in the housing
action plan, those kinds of things,
those kind of programs are embedded in
the comprehensive plan that was adopted
in 2025. So we have to do kind of a list
of six things that the state is telling
us to do by the end of 2026. But that
doesn't mean that there isn't more work
that can complement the comprehensive
plan in 2027 and 2028.
>> I hope that answers your question.
>> I other council members
and I mean at this point you don't need
to make a decision. I just you know
wanted to update you on what our meeting
was like with the King County Executive
and uh Council Member Olen.
>> Yeah. Yeah, I just wanted to ask to what
degree Executive Zahalai was was as
sympathetic and I mean this is a soft
thing, not a hard thing, but to what to
what degree was he empathetic at all to
some of the concerns we have around
emergency medical services, around
infrastructure, uh as it relates to
adding so much development.
>> Uh I mean, okay, I'm swiggling here. I
um you know, I made the case for Duvall.
I'm going to continue to make the case
for Duvall. have become a squeaky wheel
in every regional committee that I
attend. Executive Zahalai is on some of
those. Um I didn't say anything new that
I haven't been saying since January in
this letter and for the last eight years
that I've been serving the city. So it's
um you know honestly I feel a little
frustrated. I think they're not quite in
that level of detail. They are just
looking at big regional things. Actually
that's one thing that um thank you. You
just reminded me talking about
affordability. You know, I also had
pointed out to him that we're regionally
affordable. So, we're affordable
compared to Kirkland, compared to
Redmond, but someone had mentioned their daughter couldn't live here. My
mom would love to live here and she
can't. So, she lives up in Everett. And
so, I'm like, regional affordability,
that's what they're looking. They're
looking way up here. And I'm saying
locally, we're not affordable. You can't
grow up here and get your first place at
working a job in VBA. That just doesn't
exist here. And so I think there is not
quite an understanding and this was kind
of the job question that had come up
asking well where do your service
workers live and I'm like not here
mostly or a lot of our service workers
are the teenagers and I talked about the
flooding and how the teenagers were
running the town when everything was
shut down and I think there's just a
little disconnect right and so this is a
part of that relationship building and I
will keep telling the story of Duval
non-ontiguous cities and for people who
don't know that term that just means
We're not a city that bumps right up
against another city. I also really, I
think hopefully drove home the point
that we constantly serve unincorporated
King County residents and that's okay.
We are their town, too, even though they
don't live in the city limits. But some
recognition every time that King County
passes a new tax or does something new,
is a pass through to the city,
recognizing that our parks serve King
County residents as well. So, there was
a lot of discussion. I can't really, you
know, answer your question because I
just don't know. I didn't feel a whole
lot of reaction at all if that sort of
answers your question, but I, you know,
I don't know what he was thinking or
what where his mind was at. My hope is
just that this is one of many future
conversations that I will continue to
have and I won't stop reaching out and telling that story of Dubal and why
we're different. So, I don't know. Does
that kind of answer your [laughter]
question?
>> Yeah. I I mean that that's that's
essentially what I expected and and
I think it's important to continue
telling the story. I you know I I I do
the same whenever I have the opportunity
and so yeah just to help them understand
and start to see you know the picture at our level um is is important. So
thank you.
>> Yeah I mean I did I mean maybe I don't
know I got the impression that maybe he
hadn't heard some of these perspectives
before. So I am happy to continue
sending those perspectives his way
[laughter] over to his staff. So
>> well and I would say he chose to bring
as one of the staff members that
accompanied him the lead regional
planner in King County. So he had the
right person in the room to hear our
concerns around our growth targets.
>> That was a very valuable connection and
yeah thank you for mentioning that. I
think that will be key going forward in
the future and looking forward to when
this round of next round of reallocation
uh starts again. And I think we're
getting some good partners. Uh SCA,
which is Sound Cities Association, for
those in the room that don't know that
acronym, um they have their small cities
work group. And I think AWC is also
getting I know their definition of a
small city is way smaller than us, but
um I think there's some good work
happening as a region and we're starting
to get louder and more organized and um
I'm happy to help contribute to that
anywhere I can.
Are there other questions or thoughts?
And like I said, you don't have to um I
guess sort of my I just want to at least
tell you what happened and you can think
about, you know, is there anything else
you want to do at this point other than
plan for that round that is coming in a
little over a year, honestly. So, um
yeah, other council members.
Okay. And then I wanted to I know we
covered the city administrators report.
Is there anything you wanted to recover
or are you good?
>> I don't think [clears throat] so.
>> Yeah. Okay. Um, I know that's not usual,
but like I said, we have a lot of people
in the room. Um, so next up we have
council reports. Are there any council
members wanting to speak tonight?
Council member Olen,
>> I did have a a report. I I'll thank you
for that. I I'll start with with just
kind of echoing on the same topic. I
mean, so one of the one of the events I
attended recently was the the Sound
Cities Association summer social at the Lake Wilderness Lodge in Maple
Valley. And um I'm going to edit this
down a little bit just given the the
nature of the evening. Um I had two two
really interesting conversations there.
One of them was with the keynote speaker
was was former King County Executive
Shannon Bradock and it was a really
interesting conversation with her. She
now is the the president and CEO of
Greater president and CEO of Greater
Seattle Partners, which is a public
private partnership focused on regional
economic development and attracting jobs
and investment to the greater Seattle
area. And so, you know, I pulled her
aside and we spoke for a little bit
about what might be important for a
small town like Duvall. Um because a lot
of times, you know, they're they're
really thinking big picture and they're
thinking, you know, Seattle and they're
thinking Redmond and, you know,
Belleview and and things like that and
huge economic drivers for the for the,
you know, for the the community at
large. And I pulled her aside and I
said, you know, what what should we be
thinking about, you know, as as a
smaller town? And she said, really, you
know, there's there's actually a lot of
value to the region in general in being
a better community, so don't overlook
that, and it's okay if that's what you
choose to do, she said. But really what
what's important is that as a community
you stop and you think about what do you
want your true north to be. Um and then
focus on on that. Focus on what that
true north is. You know, do you want to
be a a music and arts community? Do you
want to be a veteran community? What
does that look like? Um and then build
your policies around that. And I just
thought that was a really interesting uh
comment from her. Um so that was one
really interesting conversation I had.
And the other conversation I had was
with uh a member of the governor's
office. He happened to be there. He was
the governor's representative for King
County. And when he introduced himself,
I mean, I just jumped at the opportunity
and I I really had uh a similar
conversation as what you described with
executive Zahalai. You know, I I pulled
him aside and I said, you know, can I
take, you know, can I been your year for
several minutes? And and so we walked
off to the side and we sat down and I
drew them a map of Duval and I explained
what our roads infrastructure looks like
and I talked about, you know, I talked
about 203 and that's their road and I
talked about WD and I talked about 124th
and how these are county roads and
they're not ours and I talked about what
these expansion plans are and and how we
have to reszone in order to satisfy, you
know, Department of Commerce growth
requirements and GMA growth
requirements, but that we don't have the
infrastructure really to support this.
and I have real, you know, social equity
concerns and that I like the idea for my
kids to be able to have a home to move
into when they're ready to join the
workforce. Um, I like them being able to
afford that. I like the idea of being
able to downsize when when I retire. Uh,
but though it's it's not necessarily
affordable to do that right now. Um, and
so I like the idea of adding affordable
homes, but adding these affordable homes
is really a challenge because as we
invite new residents into our community,
it's it's it's again it's really a
challenge. You know, we had these floods
and when this flood was here, how you
know, we have to, you know, boat people
across the river back and forth across
the valley. We have mothers that can't
get home to their kids and etc. So, it's
a real concern. And so, how do we handle
that? you know, and as I drew this map
for him, you know, on the back of a
napkin helped him understand that. He
said, you know, I've heard similar
concerns to this from other cities, but sitting here and kind of drawing it
out with you, it really it really helps
to hit home. And you know, I had a
similar kind of conversation with
Carnation, but um uh this was really
impactful and thank you for that. And he ended up going back to his office and
he said, "I'm going to talk with my
policy people." Obviously, I don't
expect any immediate action to come back
from that, you know, but but he he did
hear it and he said, "I'm going to speak
with my policy people so we can, you
know, begin thinking about how this
impacts people in the future and, you
know, the non-ontiguous city thing." And
um he did follow up with me with an
email the next day. Um and and kind of
thanked me for the time and you know,
some of that may have just been his job
and that's what he's supposed to do, but
I but he really did uh lend a sincere
ear and really kind of internalize it
and and provide good feedback. And so,
um, I thought that was a really good
conversation and and just, you know, he
really invited me to follow up in the
future. So, that was a good event and a
good conversation. Um, so I really
appreciated that. Um, and then
one other one other mention I I'll offer
which is really completely unrelated,
but I thought it was a really good
event. So I attended a session on
emergency preparedness that was put on
by the King Kob King County Office of
Emergency Management and it was sort of
a retrospective look at Sai and the
impact of the the the great East Japan
earthquake and the tsunami that followed
and how it really devastated their
community. And one of the the the the
most fascinating takeaways I took from
that was, you know, at first residents
really reacted and were upset with local
officials at how um how there were just
such a massive failure uh from an
infrastructure perspective to protect
the community and and how things had
gone wrong. But then they realized that
this the the scale of the problem is
just so massive that that one person
can't solve it. Five people can't solve
it. And so they've really kind of
shifted the culture uh entirely there to
now the community as a whole has adopted
responsibility for for
emergency preparedness. And so this has
gone so far as to um for example it's
now built into the school curriculum.
And so they take, you know, their their
elementary school kids out and the kids
in classroom, they draw maps of the
community and then they go out and they
walk around the community and they look
at low points in elevation and high
points in elevation and if there's
flooding, here's the quickest way to get
to the higher point in elevation. And
you the the way they build their
infrastructure now, you know, they they
actually elevate streets. So if a
tsunami comes in, you know, the elevated
streets act as BMS to slow down, you
know, water coming in. I it was just a
really fascinating look um at at how the culture of the community shifted um
to help distribute uh and carry the
weight of some of these burdens. And so
anyway, it was it was a really
interesting thing and so uh I was really
impressed by that. You know, middle
schoolers learned how to do water
distribution uh for the entire town as a
part of their their uh um curriculum. So
it was an interesting it was a really
interesting session. Um so that was that
was the last one. Then I guess suppose
was the last thing uh barefoot Tim
Mercer and I attended the the the
working waterfront tour hosted by the
port of Seattle where we went down to
the to the port and got to tour around
and understand the the economics of the
port and and look at uh really all how
everything different function. We look
so we looked at the economics and we
also looked at how um over time
uh environmentally the the tribes have been involved and how they've done
some environmental restoration and and
uh kept the port in business and things
like that. We had several good
conversations with different mayors and
council members and things while we were
there. Uh it was really good
relationship building as well. So uh
several other events as well not as
relevant for tonight. Um so I'll I'll
leave it with that. Thank you.
>> Great. Other council members have
reports. Mayor Chris Summer.
>> Yeah. So, I'll keep this relatively
brief. Um, council member Olen touched
on the port. I I think that was
informative, but we always learn a lot,
you know, in terms of the port is an
economic driver for the region versus
just Seattle is who we think of it and just the amount of, you know, even
just seeing it visually in terms of the
inlets and the various, it was much
bigger than I think either one of us
anticipated. Plus, it was some good
opportunities to talk. There was a
number of folks from the St. Paul Valley
there as well as other other
jurisdictions. Um there was not a a a
public issues committee SCA or sound
cities association public issues um
committee meeting this month and they
were in recess. Um but I think the I
wanted to sort of revisit something that
the city administrator touched on in
terms of and you may in terms of other
venues we have to to really drive this.
Um I am on as part of also part of this
the small cities working group which um
sound cities association stood up to
sort of address a need that they
identify between how the association of
Washington defines a small city which is
I think under 50,000 or something you
know it's it's quite large versus what
we think of a small city um and then
what we actually consider small cities
and and I think um between that and the
association Washington city's
legislative priorities commission which
I'm also part of. A lot of the focus
this year has really been around uh
engagement with elected officials at at
a regional and a state level. And then
also really trying to shift the
conversation
um you know because I think there's a
perspective at the state level that
small cities don't want to accommodate
growth which is I even heard Father Ring
this evening that's not necessarily the
case. It's but but when we push back in
terms of things, it's it tends to be
viewed that way. So, we've actually been
investing a lot of effort to really
pivot the conversation to it not being a
one-sizefits-all conversation. You know,
how can we have more time to adopt some
of these changes? Uh, can you take time
to evaluate the changes in the
legislation you push down to see if it's
working or not? Um, can you create some
different criteria so that Juvall is not
treated the same as Belleview? because
we're not the same as Belleview. We're
not the same as Escoire or Windville.
Um, and there are a lot of challenges
around a non-ontiguous city as well as a
city without a a large uh retail for uh
there's the historic elements that we've
talked about, there's being on the
waterfront and the infrastructure needs.
And so I think the conversation we had
with representative the governor's
office, even though they're in an
executive function versus a legislative
function, very empathetic, very
understood. he was had an environmental
background, sort of resonated a lot of
the points and was going to take that
back and connect. Um, but I did want to
we had a meeting yesterday sort of a
preview before we propose this year's
legislative agenda to the the board just
in terms of looking forward to the
session, you know, at the state level
since a lot of this comes down from the
state and there is it's a little bit
longer session. There is also expected
to be a budget gap this year uh which
will occupy a lot of their attention and really the core areas were
education, housing and affordability
jobs. And so some of these same themes
but um the guidance we really received
was you know be focused, be specific, be
very narrow, don't ask for the sort of
you know boil ocean very some very
specific things. And then the other
piece of guidance was engaging early
which I think city administrator Nav
you've already done. We do the hill
climbs, we've built the relationships.
Uh, and that's where the community can
really help us because nothing, I think,
moves the ball further than a good
narrative. You know, building the story,
being able to bring people into the
town, uh, being able to, uh, convert an
impact, you know, that that may be an
individual impact to something that's
affecting the broader community and then
we can use that to move the Dell
forward. But I also wanted to set
expectations that on the one hand we're
driving toward a lot of statutory nates
which is moving relatively fast. On the
other side the legislature moves very
slow. So um you know again I want to
welcome and appreciate everyone's who's
providing input this evening. Um and
just sort of highlight that we are
working on this from a number of
different angles not necessarily just
from the perspective of this particular
set of development and zoning changes.
There are a lot of pieces that we're kind of trying to to move the ball
forward.
>> Yeah, thank you for that. Other council
members have reports tonight.
Okay. So, with that, we'll go ahead and
move on to our presentations. First up,
we have interlocal agreement with Isqua
District Court with City Administrator
McNav.
>> I will make this very quick. So, I
recognize that people in the audience
are not waiting for this, [laughter]
which totally fine. Um,
but you know, interesting. So, uh, just
quick background for anybody who might
be curious, but I'll go really fast. Uh,
delivers our court services. If any of
you all doesn't have court, we can't
afford to have our own court. So, we
contract out with Isiqua to um both
prosecute and defend uh any citation is
issued here in Dubal. Next slide. Um, so
we've been uh talking about a new
agreement that IPA gave us. we weren't
super happy with the draft of it. So, um
we are looking to negotiate some of the
terms in the ILA we have with the city
of Isqua. Um but as part of that, not
only talking to Qua about some changes
in the contract they gave us, but
looking at what other options we have.
So, I'm in early conversation with the
city of Balk to determine if they're
interested in serving as a contract city
for us just to get an idea of what a
different model in a different city
might look like. They have never done
this, so it might not work out because
we need to get our Isiqua ILA negotiated
and adopted if we want to stick with
Isqua by the end of September. But, um,
really good conversation with both. I
sent them over some data. We're
hopefully by the end of the uh week
going to have um just an understanding
from their judge about whether or not
they think that they can have the
capacity for it because again it would
be totally new in BL. Um yesterday I met
with King County District Court. So they
have a court in Redmond Isiqua. Um and
we were with the King County District
Court for our court services through an
interlocal agreement uh up until 2021.
That's when we moved to Isiqua. So, I
met with them to discuss costs, our
prior LIA, and to figure out if they
would be a more affordable option with
more favorable terms than its cloth. Um,
and then I met with the city of Isqua
yesterday afternoon along with our city
attorney and their city attorney and
four other staff to talk about proposed
changes to the uh ILA draft that we got
from them. Next slide. So, we had a
really good conversation. So that's the good news. Um
there we go. Um sorry it's really small
font. Um so the city of Duval um so kind
of next steps we are going to provide
edited language to the 6D provision that
we had a a good exchange on at the last
meeting. So talking about advanced
notice and approval for significant
non-emergency expenses. We want itemized
supporting documentation.
want the ability to review in advance um
before fees are imposed, kind of all the
things listed here. So, I'm going to um
edit the document. Uh our city attorney
is going to review my edits and we'll
get it over to the city of Isqua. They
seem amendable to those changes. Um
we'll also propose a shortened
termination clause from one year to a
shorter time frame um probably 6 months.
And then next slide, it's aqua will
amend the fee structure to a sliding
scale based on the number of cases that
we file. Um they'll look at a threshold
number of filed cases prior to
triggering the extraordinary cox
threshold. So the question really became
between 300 and x number. How much can
the city of Ithacqua accommodate before
we hit this level of them hiring new
people, building a new court, all the
kind of um extraordinary provisions in
6D and um they didn't they they gave us
you know a number of 500. We don't know
if that's a number um but we're going to
change the cost model that we wouldn't
hit even considering those extraordinary
costs until we hit an upper ceiling. So,
they're going to restructure um the fee
schedule uh to look at that. Um we need
to look at changing the length of time
for remand from 30 minutes to 45
minutes. Um Chief was feeling very
optimistic when we talked last, but he
was like, "No, 30 minutes isn't going to
work." Um and then we're going to remove
the binding arbitration clause. Next
slide. So, really good conversation with
district court. These are teeny. you'll
have the um the PowerPoint. Uh it's
already in the packet for you all to
look at. Um so this is the ILA that we
had from district court back in 2021.
Um to summarize what you see on the
screen, dis King County District Court
charged us in 2021 $91,000
for court services. The way their model
works is then you discount the revenue
that you bring in from tickets and and
other revenue generating um citations
and then the outcome is what you pay the
district court. So in 2021
uh 91,000 minus what we brought in in
revenue, we ended up with a bill for
about $43,000.
Uh next slide.
Um, so these are just kind of the cost
components of that over the next two
slides. Next slide
and then slide just so you all have the
cost components of it and we'll get to
that. Uh, high level uh it would be
really expensive for us to go with King
County. And I suspect that's probably
why we uh went with
um the 2021 numbers um were high then
adjust for inflation in 2027.
um they're going to be much higher than
$91,000.
Um and the way their model works is
um you take this discount of the re
revenue that you generate from
uh tickets to kind of bite down your
rate. The challenge is DV, DUI, some of
the things that we're seeing more and
more in our community are not revenue
generating. um even if a fee or a fine
is imposed, it's not often that we
collect. And so the district court
person was great. She was really candid
and transparent. She like, "Unless you
write a ton of speeding tickets and
parking enforcement cases, you will not
be able to buy down that rate to the
point of it being affordable to do
golf." And so that's kind of the the
high high level um view. She's willing
to give us a quote, but I think um at
this point um since we had a good
meeting with the fall, we'll just
continue to pursue getting uh the ILA
with ISPA in a good form because
ultimately I think it'll be more cost
effective for the city to stick with
that agreement.
And that's it. Happy to answer any
questions. Sorry, that was really any
questions or comments council member. Yeah, I'm I'm happy to
see his claw bent a little bit and
>> yeah and now in their negotiations I'm happy with that. Seem to work out
pretty well.
>> Council member Wiggins.
>> Uh yes. I just want to say thank you
administrator for reaching out to Both
of King County. I think that's great to
have that in our in our arsenal to be
able to put in front of Mr. Qua
discussion. So thank you
>> council member Hernandez. I just want to to say like council member supple the
information that we got from Isiqua last
time was take it or leave it and I'm
glad that they're just like okay well
maybe we'll work out.
>> Yeah.
>> So I'm very happy to see that.
>> Yeah. I think it was a little different.
So we started asking them for
[clears throat] data um that we don't
normally ask for. So I suspect they
understood that maybe we were going to
shove a little bit. Anyone else? All
right. Well, thank you very much. Uh,
and next up we have our second
presentation, Oldfound Zoning District
Considerations with Director Batty.
>> Uh, good evening, Mayor Council and
members of the public.
Um, believe this is what you've all been
waiting for. Um, we have a
PowerPoint presentation. So, this is um
under the umbrella of the title 14
zoning code amendment um to to meet our settlement agreement with um King
County and the state. Um this specific
discussion tonight, it will talk about
considerations for the Oldtown Zoning
District. So, if you go to the next
slide, please.
Um so just to just to
remind everybody part of the
calculations for capacity
um involved a lot of math hence having
the city engineer with us this evening.
Um when we talk about capacity
I I found the best way to think about it
is each property is like a passenger
van. You're limited by whatever the
setbacks are and the heights are.
There's physical constraints to the size
of a building on a property. And so when
we talk about capacity for residential
density, it's how many seats can you fit
within that passenger van. And so our
calculations um had to have a number in
order to do math. Um, but that's not the number that has to be zoned in just
to show that there is space in that van.
So,
um, you can have a passenger van where
you might be able to squeeze in like 20
airplane style like
sardine seats or you could have four
super cush squishy captain chairs. It's
the same passenger van. So, as long as
the capacity shows that someone can
squeeze in those 20 airplane seats
versus the big captain cares, that's the math that we have to show um as part
of uh of the appeal. So when we when we
went back to you know make sure that we
were reflecting within the zoning
regulations
the math that
making sure the zoning regulations
weren't preventing that capacity without
having to necessarily require that
capacity. So the capacity can be there.
You can have bookends on it with a
density minimum and a density maximum.
if you don't have those bookends, that
doesn't change the capacity that that
passenger van is what it is. Um, so
that's how we uh went back to to look at
Oldtown. We know there's um concerns
about impacts to the the heart of Duval.
Um
we we we appreciate uh the desire to to
preserve it, to protect it. It is it's the heart it's the heart of the
city and staff also loves it. We don't
want to see it ruined. Um next slide
please.
So with that in mind, um this is um this
table kind of shows what has been
drafted based on
works uh that the consultants had done
and presented to staff and that we had
looked at um but we didn't quite
understand
the density number. So everyone can see
this. I tried to color code it so it' be
easier to digest. So, under minimum
densities, the current draft that's been
um attached to council agendas have uh
minimum densities and for Oldtown has a
17 dwelling unit per acre minimum
density. We don't need that to meet our
capacity requirements. We don't need
that book end. So, the yellow um sorry
for the color confusion. So, under where
it says none, we don't we can propose
none if the council so chooses to
provide that direction. Um, and we
wouldn't be out of compliance. The the
map still math. We're not changing the
size of that that passenger van. Um,
additionally, so what what can change
the size of the of the passenger van are
height limits. Um, but we don't Oldtown
is such a small geographic region of the
city that we don't need to increase
height in order to to meet the capacity
requirements. So the height right now is
35 ft and so staff is is presenting that
perhaps we just keep it at 35 ft and
we'll still be in compliance.
um staff would like city council to
consider slightly higher for Midtown and
Uptown and the commercial zoning
districts. Um these help support because
these zoning districts are required to
have commercial space on the ground
floor and when you have mixeduse
developments.
The challenge with mixeduse development
is a lot of times it's a residential
developer who's proposing the project
and they're used to building just
residential buildings and so they don't
really give much consideration to the
commercial component. Not all, but
often. Which is why there are um if
you've seen older mixeduse developments
in other cities, a lot of times that
ground floor space stays vacant for a
really long time. And that's generally
because the height uh the ceiling height
of that tenant space of those central
and commercial tenant spaces are too low
and businesses can't fit in what they
need. like if you want to have a coffee
shop or a restaurant, you have to put in
like plumbing and and um mechanical
equipment and you physically don't have
the space. So, um so newer developments,
cities have learned you need to require
a greater height for that ground floor
and this allows those commercial tenant
spaces to be less vacant because they
allow more commercial uses in them. Um,
so that's why we are proposing uh like a
slight uptick just to help make those
spaces be viable. Um, because we in
speaking with businesses like there's
demand uh to to grow. There are places
that want to incubate. So we're we don't
want to to stifle those and we want to
help local businesses expand into new
spaces where um they continue being an
asset to the community. So,
um,
if council has any initial thoughts
on Oldtown,
um,
if you want to just noodles for the
moment, I can go to the next slide. So,
the next slide
» and and I don't want to throw off your
rhythm,
>> but while you're on the slide, just sort
of two two questions for you. Um, one
is,
you know, setting aside Oldtown, you've
got sort of the three others. Um, there
was some concern raised beyond Oldtown,
which is really just along the 203
corridor behind 203
>> that there was also impacting sight
lines. So, there's a sort of a question
of like how much could you apply the the
no change to before we out of
compliance. So, that was sort of
question number one is like how much
play is there in here? Uh the other one
was really more around how we within our
code
uh if we did increase the height can we
allocate that specifically to commercial
versus residential. So that wasn't
broken out here in the slide and I
wanted to clarify that for the room if
there's a way that we could increase
that height but but it could only be
applied to the commercial space not the
overall if we were going to increase
building space because you know as as is
often raised builders will find a way to
maximize the the most profitable section
of the building and and so we want to to
shortcut that. So did those two
questions make sense?
>> Yes.
Can I tag in? Do you do I'm I'm seeing
if I can tag in a city engineer who
knows numbers better than I do.
>> Yes. So the one thing the Banglers run
out of public works um the one thing I
can mention is that our capacity
analysis does not look at building
height in order to factor capacity. It's
a straight plan view. This is a this is
a net developable area and this is a
associated dwelling unit per acre that
we used and our current code for u
Midtown, Oldtown, Uptown and commercial
do not have minimum or maximum
residential
um densities and that's because there's
no residential requirement in those
mixed use spaces. But in order to find
capacity and calculate those um
developable either vacant or
redevelopable lots, you need to look at
historical projects that have come in.
Um you need to look at uh current uses
um and other uh jurisdictions and um
kind of best practices for those zoning
type designations in order to assign a
dwelling unit unit per acre to map the
map. So, we're proposing that there are
no changes to minimum or maximum
densities as they currently exist today
in code. And um as uh director Batty had
mentioned, looking at some of the other
mixeduse zoning designations, um having
height, you can tell what just about by
the way,
>> okay?
>> But adding height, um respecting um the
input that we have heard from the
community as far as the Oldtown core and
the the corridor along Main Street. um
not changing the height limit in
Oldtown, keeping it at what it exists
today as 35 and not making that change,
but also respecting that um some of the
mixed use development potential um in
other zones is uh more easily
accommodated with viable commercial
tenant space. And so those increases are
reflected in what we talked about pre
earlier tonight with um the design
standards that are changing from
standard or from guidelines to
standards. And one of the things that
we're updating in that is the required
height for commercial space. So that's
where you would have that nexus in a
development in a in a design standard.
zoning code only has development
standards and those are setbacks,
building heights, um densities, um and
those types of things. So, it's it's
just a different um chapter from code.
>> Thank you.
>> Great.
>> Um [clears throat] so, next slide. So,
we we pulled out um so this is for old
town zoning districts specifically.
What are all the existing development
standards? um and these control the
buildable envelope the size of that
passenger van um versus what's currently
proposed. So if um in changing
the draft, sorry, we're talking about
versioning. So with the draft, if we go back to having just a 35 foot height
limit, not having a density maximum or
minimum, the only thing we'd be looking
to change is minimum lot size. Um,
we feel that in order to have
flexibility,
um, which can help with the preservation
of the building, if someone needs to do
financing of some sort,
we don't need that. Um, so just giving a
little bit more flexibility to these
standards to to help preserve the the
buildings that we
>> uh, council member supple. So, I'm a
little confused on the minimum lot size
of zero square ft.
>> It would it would be not applicable.
» Uh, Council Member Wiggins.
>> Uh, yes, Director Batty. I had the same
question. So, I'm a developer. I'm
heading into Oldtown and I see a minimum
lot size of zero. Tell me what that
means to me as a developer and what I
can and possibly can't do, please.
>> So, this would be if someone wanted to
subdivide um a property, there wouldn't
be any minimum um to the two lots that
you would be creating. And so sometimes
people are looking to um if if these
lots are very small in Oldtown. a lot of
them um or some of them are only 25 ft
wide. It was from the original lot
pattern of Duval. Um so if you have a
building that's built out most of the
front and it's only 25 ft wide and
you're like you know I have someone who
wants to purchase
like the back half of my lot. I don't
need it. I don't want it. Um I've got my
building but I need some revenue or you
know in order to to maintain my building
being able to sell off part of it. So
there could be a number if council wants
a number. There could be a number there.
Um but that would just you know allow
someone to to um have one less restraint
with their property.
>> Yeah. More so more flexibility to
businesses along Main Street to to do
more with their property line.
>> Yeah.
>> And generate generate income possibly
for themselves and for a new business
coming in. Is that right? Thank you.
Uh, next slide please.
So there was also so when we dove into
this analysis, we then looked at the
residential zoning districts as well.
Um, there were numbers that were done
for the density calculations because you
need a number um, as explained by the
city engineer. And so when these numbers
were first when this these standards
were first drafted up, um
we're human. We did not notice the some
of these discrepancies. Um we had a lot
on our plate, but we still want to make
it right. So, so going back and looking
at this, these numbers are different
from what has been in circulation as the
draft. Having colored for all the
different things just made it messy. I
didn't want to inflict that brain damage
on everybody. Um, so these numbers,
because this whole chapter is proposed
anyways, reflect the zoning districts.
they reflect the minimums and maximums
um as intended by those districts. We
double triple checked with the Burke
memo that's been referenced from the
laying capacity analysis. So if council
um feels so inclined, we can move
forward with these numbers within the
draft and we have verified that our cap
we are still within compliance with the capacity calculation. Any
questions about these?
>> Okay,
this concludes my presentation.
>> All right. Any Oh, go ahead, city
administrator McDow.
>> And I would say um you don't have to
decide right now,
>> right?
>> Um we just wanted to give council the
information. Um this will come back uh
again in September for both of September
1st, September 15th. So, you know, if
you need a little time to give uh
director Batty direction, um you know,
take the time. We don't have to decide
this minute. Um but the sooner you all
can provide direction by emailing
Director Batty and I, the faster we can
draft a new edited version uh for your
consideration on the 1st through the
15th.
>> Council member Olen,
>> thank you. First, I I just I want to
take a moment to thank the community for
speaking up and speaking up in a way
that was was
polite, you know, and and positive and
respectful. Um, I think it's really
important to come together that way and speak your mind. And I also want to
take a moment to thank staff for
listening and finding ways to try to
incorporate that feedback. I know this
is a work in progress. It's a living
document and maybe this is or is not
perfect so far. Um, but it seems like so
far, you know, uh, there have been a lot
of requests to do what we can to
maintain Oldtown. And it seems like this
document suggests that we're going to
maintain Oldtown as as it was. Um, and I think that that's great evidence
of of how dialogue can work. And so I
just want to thank everybody for their
participation in that process. Um, I'm
excited to see that, too.
One one question I have I the two
concerns I had coming into this were and
the first seems smooth, but I just I I
want to make sure that that's true. Um I
was concerned that if we did reduce
height in from the from the zoning
drawings for uh for Oldtown that we
would have to increase height elsewhere
to expand that capacity. It sounds like
with these these current this current
draft of plans that's not necessarily
the case that it's it's properly
accommodated as such. Is that accurate?
>> Okay, cool. Good. I'm glad to hear that.
And then my my second question was
actually should I pause and go around
the room? Are there other questions
first?
>> I mean I think you're Oh, did you want
to go ahead?
>> I I just sort of had one question. Um, I
don't know who this is oriented toward,
but I know one of the things we were a
little forward thinking in terms of
around some creating space for middle
housing specifically because we we
didn't have some requirements, but we
were also trying to accommodate the lack
of diversity of housing and specifically
around, you know, whether you're a
senior or you're a new, you know, it was
a a space that more appropriately
accommodated some of the 80% AMI and
other things we're looking for. Do any
of these changes impact the middle
housing piece? That was my only Okay,
thank you. That's all I need.
>> Other questions or comments? Council
member Hernandez.
>> I just want to say that I'm really happy
with what I'm seeing here. uh as we have
all as as city administrator McNab and
director B know I've been talking back
and forth about uh historical
preservation and ideas including
historic overlays mandatory historical
reviews and I'm just really kind of
liking that our solution is well we can
take the square the square footage down
to zero to say so I'm very happy with
this uh I think that we could still talk
about the overlay eventually but it's no
longer nearly as urgent as I as as I was
thinking it would
All right, back to Council Member Olen.
>> Thank you. So, the the one other concern
I have and and this is this is
>> well, I guess I just want to give a
voice and and I really hope this isn't
received is is contrary to the progress
that that we just made with this
document because I do want to preserve
Oldtown as best we can. Um, and and
maybe maybe it's best for an economist
to answer this question and and and none
of us are qualified to do that. But so the concern I want to get the concern
that I want to give voice to that I
don't know the answer to is is that if
we if we expand residential density on
the south side of town
and especially if that's mixeduse
development, right? So we have increased
residential density and we have
businesses going in on the south side of
town. The concern is that that stifles
potentially business around Oldtown,
right? More and more businesses get
built and more and more residences get
built on the south side of town and
a lot of the rest a lot of the
businesses from what I understand are
somewhat already struggling around
Oldtown. And and that's my concern. I
don't I don't want to change the face of
Oldtown. Don't. But I do worry about if
we do move all this down south,
what happens to Oldtown? Do we do does
it turn it into a ghost town? How much
has to get built south before it
actually does hurt Oldtown as it is
today? Does anybody in the room know
that? Is that something we should be
thinking about? Um, or is it really a
non-issue as far as we can tell?
>> How about city administrator McDow?
>> I am not an economist. I um went to law
school to avoid math. Um, but I will say
one of the things that we want to look
at and figure out a way to invest in,
and this is a future project because
it's pretty expensive, but we really
should be looking at the thought
improvements and figuring out a way to
improve the look and structure of our
old town. So it remains invoking. It
looks like a tourism economy without,
you know, blowing it up north. Um, but
really investing in Oldtown
simultaneously while allowing growth in
our south end because I think they're
probably two different districts, but
they can both function compatibly if we
invest in some of the upgrades that our
older um buildings here in Old.
>> Yeah.
Mayor Pummer,
>> I sort of add just one sort of pile on
to to council member Olen's comment as
well as the city administrators. You
know, I think I I also want to
acknowledge I mean I want to thank staff
at work. I know this is sort of a long
project. The other part, you know, is
just to to acknowledge from a council
perspective, we would much rather be
working on other things other than plan.
And so I mean to highlight that and and
so one of the things you talked about in
terms of the economic development, the
facade improvement, you know, how we
work with the chamber in terms of
potential grant opportunities, other
things to build a district to build a uh
you know, something that will be a draw
for the valley. You know, we've talked
about this for years. Um and and this is
actually occupying a lot of that time.
So, I'm not saying we want to fast track
or anything to get through this, but but
the hope is that end of the year when we
can get through the appeals process and finalize that, we can actually focus
on those other other things. And and
director Vy, uh, in terms of since you
wear two hats, you know, you can focus a
little more on the economic development
as well as versus sort of the plan
piece. That looks
>> Mayor Pam that reminded me of something
in our governor's government relations
meeting is I might have let them know
that there are things that don't
originate in Olympia that we would like
to do here. So, we would like to move on
to some other things. Um, and just any
other council member comments,
questions?
Um, I just want to, you know, I want to
thank everyone who showed up tonight.
I'll hold you to this. I'd like to see
more faces more often. Please come more
frequently. Um, but also to our staff,
especially Director Batty, uh, your name
shows up on this agenda a lot. I know
it's a huge workload right now, and I
want to acknowledge that. Um, and, uh,
deputy or city engineer Grandell for all
of your, I never know what title D is,
but like for all your work and of course
our city administrator. This has not
been an easy road at all. It's a lot of
work. We're not done yet. Um, but we're
getting there and we have a lot of other
simultaneous things we're working on.
So, I just really appreciate all of your
efforts. Oh, Council Member Wiggins, go
ahead.
>> Yes. Um, thank you. I also want to just
uh extend my thanks to I see a lot of
people in the background. I apologize I
can't be there. I'm down in California,
but I just want to extend my thanks to
all the residents of Duval who took the
time to come down and attend tonight's
meeting and and speak before council and
the mayor and the city staff. Uh, public
speaking can be daunting and and I
commend everyone who stepped forward to
share their perspective tonight. And I
also want to acknowledge that u there's
quite a few written comments that came
into the city clerk's office. Um I know
that I've received those as rest of the
other council members and I've read each
of your emails carefully. Um your
passion for preserving Deval's small
town charm, rustic character, the
historic downtown. It's unmistakable
and safeguarding the historic look and
feel of our city is why I ran for city
council. And I appreciate the
community's strong engagement on this
issue. So thank you. appreciate and the
staff's time of course pulling uh this
information together for tonight's uh
discussion. So, thank you.
>> All right. So, that I think it's safe to
move on to our public hearing we have
scheduled for tonight.
Um clerk, could you remind me do I open
it before I read all of the
>> I uh read the instructions first and
then
>> and then open it. Okay. Thank you so
much. So, our one public hearing on the
agenda tonight is proposed amendments to
DMC 14.50 50 on sign. Um, and this will
be with Director Batty. Um, and I'll go
ahead and read
a little blurb here before I open it.
So, in adherence to the regulations
outlined for public hearings before the
Duval City Council, chapter 10 of the
City Council procedures, any individual
seeking to address the council during
the designated public comment segment
must comply with the following
procedures. First, sign in on the
prioritated form, which I have now
specific to the public hearing. and
second, thoroughly complete all
pertinent sections of the said form.
Upon the commencement of the hearing, as
announced by the chair, typically the
mayor, the city clerk will present the
sign-in sheet to the chair.
Subsequently, the chair will proceed
with the agenda for the public hearing.
Each speaker will be summoned to the
podium in the order listed on the
sign-in form and must state their name
and if relevant, their address,
affiliation with any group,
organization, or group being
represented, and their corresponding
role or position within that
organization. Time limits for speaking
engagements are three minutes for
individuals speaking on their own behalf
and five minutes for those representing
a group or organization unless otherwise
determined by a majority vote of the
council present. The city clerk will
monitor and enforce these time limits,
setting a timer for each speaker to
ensure adherence. Comments should be
pertinent to the subject matter of the
public hearing and respectfully
addressed to the city council. Personal
remarks are deemed inappropriate.
Disorderly conduct, including disruptive
behaviors such as cheering, applause,
booing, or harassment, will not be
tolerated and may result in removal from
the premises. Speakers may alternatively
submit written com statements which will
be added to the official record by the
city clerk. Questions posed during the
hearing will not be answered
immediately. They may be addressed at
the chair's discretion after the comment
period closes. Copies of city council
and public hearing procedures will be
available upon request to attendees at
the outset of each public hearing
session conducted by the Duval city
council. And with that, I will open the
public hearing on proposed amendments to
DMC 14.50 on signs at 8:46.
>> I will turn it over to Director Batty.
» Good evening.
Um so the public hearing for our sign
code um I'm sure you're all uh
remember all the details of the things
we talked about in in previous
discussion of that council kind of solve
time. There we go. Yay. Um so so
background this is just for um temporary
sign updates um as there are numerous
court cases that speak to signs being
content neutral. Um also our sign our
temporary sign regulations were a little
confusing. So we wanted to clean that up
and we wanted to have standards that are
consistent. Um next slide please. So
these key changes, um, instead of having
categories of political signs and real
estate signs because that requires you
knowing what sign says in order to
regulate it, we got rid of those
categories and now it's based on form
instead of what's in it. Um,
and in addition with that, we had to
modify the regulations as well as the
definitions that correspond with those.
Um and this provided some streamlining
um of these temporary sign regulations
and murals got moved to their own
special section. They should be they are
not temporary sign. Next please.
>> So what was not included were categories
of permanent signs. Um so those are all
saying the same for now. I'm hoping in
future soon work plan that council would
be willing to have staff work on those
sections of code. Um so all the
regulations regarding permanent signs
untouched per next slide please. Um we
did have a couple of sign code
workshops. One focused more on the
banner signs the community banner signs
that are generally of interest to
nonprofits and community groups. Um
generally they're supportive of uh the draft changes that were being
proposed. And then on July 7th, we had
one that was focused more on um smaller
and medium-sized um signs that get
posted generally either in the public
ride of way or may or may not be posted
as part of um a real estate sale. So
there was a discussion um at that
workshop where there were um requests to
increase the number of aboard signs,
greater density of the state signs that
are in the right of way um reducing
setbacks and and having real estate
signs placed in other places. There was
discussion of I can't regulate a sign as
a real estate sign. I can only say
where something is, how big it is, um
how long it could be there for. That's
the only thing that the city has the
right to control. Um, next slide,
please. So, planning commission had
their uh public hearing last week. Um,
they
there was um a letter submitted by the
King County Realators Association.
I don't correct. Okay. Thank you. Um and
they had requested in a letter to um
increase the number of Abor signs um and
to reduce the separation between the
small metal state signs. Um those are
the ones that are in the park strips
between sign off and the curb. Um and to
modify the um generally it's those post
and arm traditional real estate type
sign to go from 5T from the property
line to 3 ft from the property front
property line. Um staff agreed that
modifying the front step back to 3 ft
would not have a big visual impact with
uh along the rideway. However, the
reduction um in the separation for those
small signs would be a 67% increase. So,
if you had a 100 foot rideway, the 5ft
separation means you'd have 20 of those
signs. If you only had three feet
separation, you would end up with 67. Um
and the discussion was that would result
in visual blight. And so, uh planning
commission did not recommend that as
part of the amendments. Um there was a
discussion about increasing the number
of aboard signs and when the discussion
then went to the specifics of where
would those be placed would are you
referring to changing um along the front
end versus anywhere after some
discussion. The motion to include that
was dropped from by the planning
commission. So the recommendation only
then included the modification for the
front setback reduction. Um so that is
now uh before you this evening and
that's the end of staff projation.
>> Thank you. So I'm going down my list.
First person I see signed up for the
public hearing is Randy Banaker.
Just want to approach the podium
assuming you're speaking on behalf of
your organization. Correct. Thank you.
>> Yes. Thanks, Mayor uh Ray, and I'm here
on behalf of the Seattle King County
Realtors. Appreciate your time. I' I've
been before you several times during the
sign code update process. I appreciate
uh your listening. I know you want to
wrap this up. Um we are really
concerned. I got to tell you, the code
is drafted. It allows one openhouse sign
that will make it the most restrictive
openhouse code in Central Ped. Open
house signs are used to establish
wayfinding, a trail if you will, to
point someone to the house that's open.
And these open houses typically occur on
a Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4:00 p.m. U
those open house signs are are placed in
the rightway.
Our members pick them up because they
cost about $100 a sign. So there's very
much an incentive to take care of those
signs. Uh we are we our position is we
did not engage in the dispersion between
the state aeros signs. That's not our
position. I'm going to leave you with a
letter I'd like to enter into the record
that Michaela G sent to you and we also
shared with the planning commission. Um
but again the openhouse aboard signs are
a big deal. Uh I my my interpretation of
the planning commission discussion was
uh confusion about where the the the the
code is drafted landed and I believe the
maker of the motion assumed that we were
covered for those five signs.
Um so I tonight respectfully request
that you amend the code to enable uh
those five signs and do it very
surgically in your sign code table. And
I'll leave you with this. I just did a
little markup that currently as drafted
uh you are allowed an aboard one per
frontage and one offsite for properties
up for sale or lease or under
construction in certain zones in the
MU12, the R4, the R4.5, the R six, the
R8, the R12, the R20, and the RV zones.
I just ask that you change that second
part from one sign to four signs and
allow them to be placed in the right
way. Uh it's consistent with the the
intent uh of the of the table as the
matrix is drafted and it will resolve
our problem. Um, I think as drafted, we
will be coming back to you uh because
it's it's just not super functional. And
I I I'm telling you, our members really
want to comply with the law. And I think
it's going to be challenging for folks
who aren't aware of the code and just
assume like almost every other
jurisdiction, King County, Snowish, and
Pierce County that they'll be able to uh post more than one open house site if
they're taking on open. I know you want
to get this off your plates, but I just
ask you to do the do the right sizing
now. And and again, I appreciate your
willingness to let us be part of the
process. I'm going to uh leave the clerk
with our letter, ask that we add to the
record, and then I've got uh handouts on
just this this simple markup on your u code matrix and the and the code
is drafted. Thank you.
>> Great. Thank you. Next, let's see.
Mike Beard, you wrote not yet? I'm just
checking in. Did you want to talk about
>> Sorry. And then is Kate still here?
>> I think I saw
>> Kate. No.
>> Um Lauren, I think did you want to speak
on that? Okay. Yeah. Yep. I got it. I
figured there might be a couple. Would
you like to speak about No. Okay. Um
Trish is a maybe Trish Watson. No. Okay.
>> No. No.
And Carrie Vanville, did you want to
speak? Is she still here?
I don't see her. Okay. Um,
Pam Wilmont
didn't fill out the Just want to double
check. Okay. Uh, Michaela G.
[laughter]
» And are you speaking on behalf of
yourself or on an organization? Uh, this
is a King County Realtor. Okay. Is that
Yeah, I think that's u. So, good
evening. I'm Michaela. I spoke in front
of you guys a couple of times now. Um
I'm a local real estate broker, business
owner on Main Street, and um I belong to
our Government Repairs Committee for
Sydney County Association of Realtors.
I'm here tonight to ask the council to
make a motion to amend the proposed sign
code. Your table 14503,
specifically the Aboard signs relating
to residential properties for sale.
We're just hoping for four offsite of
the residential properties that are
allowed in the rideway. Open house signs
are really important. Just last weekend,
met a couple from Sacramento that was
driving around town and stopped into a
home. They're looking in the area. Um,
and without those open house signs, they
wouldn't have stopped. They wouldn't
have gotten to know Duvall. We had a
wonderful welcome guide from the Chamber
of Commerce that was made. And just
having that relationship purely because
of openhouse aboard is really important.
It allows economic viability for
homeowners, home sellers, home buyers.
So really important to continue to have
those open house eboard signs. I think
especially in a community like Duvall
where we have many neighborhoods, many
down street, several turnoffs off the
corridor. We need more than one sign. So
they're temporary. I actually just
placed an order for more signs. Even
broker joined us across the street. It
was just shy of $800 for five signs. Uh
they're very expensive. They are an
investment into the business. We don't
want to leave them out. They get stolen
every once in a while. Um it's critical
to our business to have those and a very
expensive mistake if we were to leave
them out and they get swiped by by
someone else or getting damaged. Um so I
ask that the council make a motion to
amend this table this evening. And I
thank you for so much for all of the
work on the code, the workshops. I know
it takes a lot of time from city staff.
I know this has been a process through
multiple staff members. Um so thank you.
again.
>> Thank you. Uh Meg Town, are you still
here? And did you want to speak? Uh Mike
Town, I'm guessing. Oh
no. Okay, I'll move on here. Nina
Oshovski, did you want to speak on this
public hearing?
Okay. Um, Elizabeth's Hill still here.
>> Yeah, but
>> you put Yes. But I think I think many
people might have thought it was about
um something else. So, I'm gonna have to
just go through. So, you're No, I'm
speaking on the public hearing.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Celeste, is she still here?
>> Okay.
Monica,
>> sorry, I was confused.
>> Oh, that's fine. Yeah. No, I get it.
It's a process. Boomer head.
No. Uh Johanna Porter,
did you want to speak?
>> Okay. Um
>> might be it. That is it on the list. So
now I would just ask, is there anyone in
the audience that wanted to speak at
this public hearing on the proposed
amendment to 1450
sign?
Seeing none, I will go ahead and close
the hearing at 8:59.
Now we're on to existing business.
First, we have agenda bill 26-62,
proposed amendments to DMC uh 14.66.140
on unit lot subdivisions. And this is
with director Batty.
>> Good evening yet again.
um
unit lot subdivisions are um are
required under yet another Senate bill
that has passed um through the state. So
here we are tonight um to
give you a refresher before um we
prepare for a public hearing in the near
future. Um next slide please. So, unit
lot subdivisions are um an alternative
means of creating smaller properties
that could potentially be sold. Um so,
parent lots must conform to a um
to the development standards of that
zoning district, but then the smaller
child slash unit lots inside um are free
from those restrictions. So this allows
um
this supports the development of middle
housing smaller units that can be sold
off. So the goal is um oh next slide
please. Thank you. Why allow them? The
goal is uh to provide flexibility and
hopefully create alternative um methods
of home ownership by having a greater
variety of ownership types. Um and these
can be done with small cottage units.
These can be um small attached units.
This could even be done with an ADU. So, there's a lot of um
little ways to like slice and dice uh a
regular size property to to to allow a
unit lot subdivision. Next slide,
please. Um so, we received a letter from
the Master Builders Association of King
and Snowom counties. Um, one of their
comments was about
um, unit lot subdivisions must follow
the short subdivision process of a
jurisdiction. Our code currently only
allows up to the subdivision into four
lots with a short subdivision. As such,
only four lots, child lots may be
allowed under the unit lot subdivision.
Should council want to increase that
number, um I don't remember which RCW it
is, but you can do up to nine per state
legislation, but it'll have to be
adopted um through a local ordinance.
So, that will be I'm looking forward to
presenting you a menu of different work
plan items that you get to choose from
for next year. So, this can be on that
menu item and then you don't get to pick
everything on the menu because you only
have so much capacity. um but can be
considered. Um one of the other comments
that we received from them was regarding
utility connections and in discussing
with the um ever hardworking and
problemsolving city engineer. Um she she
uh crafted some language that would be
in compliance with our code while
without micromanaging that specificity
within the UNIL subdvision. So then the
consideration is to have utility
connections for individual lot shall
comply with the title 9 and public works
development design standards. Planning
staff has zero objections to public
works the recommend recommended
modification to that section of the
proposed.
Um
uh next slide please.
So, um, so we've had discussions with,
uh, planning commission presenting it
tonight to city council. We're hoping to
get this wrapped up so that we can
prepare it for a public hearing in
September, in the early October, near
future. Um, and get this done by the end
of the year along with all of our other
required work plan items.
Next slide.
Any questions?
>> Great. and council, this is just up for
discussion tonight. Um, does anyone have
any comments or questions?
» Uh, council member Hernandez.
>> So, uh, do we have an estimate of how
requiring like all the sewer, water,
power service connections would affect
the affordability of the the homes in
the lot?
>> I'm going to tag the signature here.
>> That is a great question. Um, and
something that will be coming forward to
council in the future, we're working on
our GSA
uh, rate study and along with that going
to come the conversation about utility
ch well capital connection charges for
ADUs
um, and or uh, unit lot subdivision
properties.
um as we have our code written right now
is every parcel has to have a third
connection. Um and so understanding that
with these unit lot subdivision types of
land use and ADUs and that type of
thing, it's not always the best use of
service. um especially because there is
existing capacity within a single family
residential meter that can service that
ADU that that homeowner or that property
owner is building um in order to support
you know aging and place parents or you
know whatever that choice is to have the
ADU built. Um, we have a covenant
currently um that is recorded with ADUs
that requires if there is an ownership
change from that ADU or what could
potentially be a unit built through the
unit lot subdivision, if that changes
ownership from the primary owner, they
are required to by our utility billing
code, as our finance director can
attest, um, to have a uh, water service
connection. And with that water service
connection comes a capital charge um and
then uh potentially a sewer and storm.
Um there are alternatives to how we
would assess those fees based on um the
size of the dwelling unit and that's
kind of the future work that we're going
to that public works either Steve or
myself will bring to council. Um we
haven't quite nailed that down yet. We
do impact fees at a 50% reduction. So
traffic impact fee, park impact fee is
reduced by 50%. Um it was kind of in the
assumption that all GFC's impact fees in
general would be 50%. Um that does make
a unit lot subdivision type project and
or an ADU um hard to be considered
affordable. Uh the state and commerce
guidance does not see them as
affordable. they see them as fitting the
middle housing bucket which is the 80 to
120 AMI. Um so what that means for us
and council as the decision makers for
how we implement those um capital
connection charges um that is to come.
>> Thank you.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. Council member Wiggins.
» All right. Yes. Thank you. Um I'd like
uh to ask Dr. debated to look at uh next
time this comes back that we look at
increasing the um subdivision cap of
four. It just seems like there might be
some residents or areas of uh Duvall
that would that has acreage and maybe
four really would cap them and I'd like
to give them the opportunity those those
areas that have got acreage to um
increase uh the number of unit lots from
four. I don't know if it's going to be
nine, but I would like to see some uh
maybe some different options for us to
look at outside of just the four unit uh
lots. Also, um do we know if this Senate
bill that's coming across that we're
dealing with here, Senate Bill 5258, do
we know if that requires the lot owners
to sell off these subdivided short plats
or could they in essence just uh lease
them all out? And if they are going to
lease them all out, do we have any
legislation here in town that keeps them
from making them short-term rentals? So
we're not dealing with a whole bunch of
Airbnbs popping up across the city.
>> We thought about that and you don't have
to answer that. Director Batty, but you
can come back with that later.
>> Council member Wiggins, city
administrator McNab, I think might have
an answer to your question.
>> So I can answer the short-term rental.
So uh right now the city of Duval, our
code does not permit short-term rentals.
It's kind of the um uh the lack of
language is the the it's a proving a
negative. So, because we don't permit
them, you cannot have them. And so,
right now, there's nothing in our code
that allows short-term rentals in the
city of Duval. It's been kind of taken
on and put off um by various councils
onto the community development
department work plan. And so it's up to
council to decide moving into the 2728
bianium if you want us to address
short-term rentals. But right now we
short-term rentals are not a permitted
use uh within the city of Duvall
>> explicitly.
>> All right. Other comments or questions?
>> Can I ask Council Member Wiggins? Did
you have a followup or you can go ahead
if you have a second question. I I
didn't see any other Was there another
hand up? I didn't see another hand.
>> No, you're good. Okay. Um
I I in the in the presentation and the
slides, I see the mention of home
ownership and home ownership, but
there's nothing that says that
subdividing out a plat by a parent lot,
nothing says they have to sell it.
Correct. This doesn't necessarily mean
we're going to have more opportunities
to own a home for um uh someone that
that's just coming into the area, but
they can possibly rent it. Maybe not
shortterm is there's nothing out there,
but they could possibly lease it for a
year by the owner. So, I don't know if
>> Okay. So, any subdivision of land
doesn't require that those properties be
sold off. The same person or entity can
own all of those properties in
perpetuity if they so choose. One
example is Duval Village.
[clears throat]
Pubalt Village subdivided, but the
developer did not sell off any of the
residences. So, those are all rented and
that's allowed.
>> Okay.
>> Or they sorry, the developer sold it to
a management
>> to a management company. Yeah. But they
haven't been sold to people to real
people.
» Yes.
>> Other comments or questions from
council?
All right, seeing none, we'll move on to
our last item of existing business,
agenda bill 26-63, proposed amendments
to DMC14.50
on signs and again to director Batty.
Um
we won't go through the presentation
again, but if there's any questions
um
any discussion you'd like to hold before
uh the decision
may pro I do have a question because it
came up in the comments but it was also
referenced on your slides and and
actually I reached out to you sort of
prior to the meeting but I didn't see
any changes as well. Um, I did not watch
the planning commission meeting,
but I it would be helpful to understand
a little bit of the rationale in terms
of why they didn't move forward. I
didn't necessarily wasn't going to
recommend a change to five coming to the
meeting, but I also recognized, you
know, one sign in front of the property
and one well, there were actually two
things, one in the property and sort of
one somewhere else. And then also how
that conflicted with the redway which
was only one. So there was that piece of
it in terms of rationaliz but but also
just understanding like
what was the rationale in terms of
recommending against the change from
what I because I I guess I'm trying to
that was not where I would have landed
and so I'm trying to understand their
thinking. So, at the at the planning
commission hearing, the letter was
presented um and there was a motion to
recommend um adoption of the sign code
of ordinance with the changes as spelled
out in the letter. And um and so as a a
clarifier that asked um like what
specifically were you looking to change
within the code regulations? So we we
went point by point um from the letter
to discuss when when the request is for
a greater number of aboard signs. The
code right now says you may have one for um if you are a real estate agent
and you're looking to have an aboard
sign for an open house. The code allows
one in front of the property and then
one elsewhere within the rightway. Um,
so I asked, "Do you mean you want two as
a frontage and three somewhere else, or
you still want one as a frontage and
four somewhere else, or what do you
actually want?" Um, and they weren't
sure. Um, and then we also discussed um,
Can you go back to the slide, please?
Oh, so we discussed the spacing. Um I
asked if they wanted the smaller
spacing. Um they they agreed.
Yeah, thank you. Um
we discussed uh the that it would
effectively lead to visual blight. Um
and then when we talked about um incre
decreasing the front setback for those
um the medium size such as posted arm
signs um that wouldn't have a great
impact. So staff was recommending reduce
that front step back but did not
recommend increasing the number of
aboard signs or reducing the separation.
And so as we talked through it and I
asked for specificity on exactly how
they wanted the code changed,
the planning commissioner uh withdrew
their motion to make those amendments
and then there was a new motion to
recommend approval per staff's
recommendation
and that is the time.
» Other council comments, questions,
uh council member. Yeah, I really I
can't really go along with the uh
planning commission's recommendations
that
you know driving around on Sunday
afternoon.
I don't really see a plethora of aboards
on every street corner and every ride
away. It doesn't seem like that's really
a big problem. Temporary signs, small
signs, they drive up and down main
street. I just see them all over the
place and that's that's more of a issue
for me.
But I I I could see restricting
temporary eightword signs to just one on
the property and one located somewhere
else. That's not really going to help
anybody find find the house at all.
» Other comments. Uh council member
Wiggins.
>> Uh yes. Hi. Am I am I reading the uh the
matrices correct for aboard frames
temporary because I'm I'm seeing two and
but I'm hearing one on this call. Am I
reading this thing incorrectly?
>> One and one. So it's two total but it's
one and one.
>> It's one on property and one somewhere
else within the right ofway. So it's two
total signs per open house.
>> Yeah. I remember the uh the open house
or that we had and hearing from the
realtors and they wanted five and we
went back and forth. It came out as one
and they wanted five and I thought we
met in the middle somewhere. Was that
presented to planning commission?
>> This the the presentation to planning
commission um was the one for frontage,
one for off-site and then they had a
discussion about allowing more and they
decided to not go forward with that
motion.
>> Yeah.
>> Quick question, point of information. I
know this is ripe for decision. Um, is
there a time limit on this decision?
Like you need it by a certain time or
it's passable at any point. I know we
want to get it done, but I just want to
check if there's a statute. Go ahead.
>> Um, yeah. No, we're not Well, the
Supreme Court ruled 10 years ago that we
needed to fix this. So, Right. Yeah. Um,
[laughter]
so ultimately there's one issue left and
if we could get council by kind of a
vote here tonight on how many aboard
signs you want, we can finish this work,
create an an ordinance and put it on
consent next time and include the site
code work, which would be lovely to take
something off of director Batty's
>> workload. So ideally we could go around
with council, come up with a number,
give her direction so we can finish this
work by next week. With that said, we're
under no
>> dead statutory deadline to have this
done.
>> But they don't necessarily need to vote
on it. You would just want a general
consensus and potentially could come
back on consent agenda next month.
>> It is on the planning calendar to come
back to consent.
>> Okay.
>> For 91. So, with that, um, Council
Member Wiggins, do you have a proposal
or did you have a different question?
>> Three. I go I'm going with three.
>> Um, Council Member Olen, would you just
mind verbalizing? I see your hand. I
actually can't see if you're raising
your hand or showing me three fingers or
something else.
>> I I was also going to suggest three.
>> Okay. Um, Council Member Supple, did you
want to weigh in on that?
>> Yeah, I don't see three being sufficient number. You know, I' I'd go
with five.
I mean, it doesn't mean they have to set
up five, right? If you got a house a
block off of Main Street,
>> you're going to set one up on Main
Street, one on the prop. You're not
going to set up five in particers
or whatever. It's just, it's not a it's
not a problem for me.
Mayor Prism, did you want to weigh in on
three, five, or some other number?
>> Yeah. So, I mean, I initially was going
to go by three, but you know, again,
it's based on where you live in in sort
of Legacy Ridge. I see one outside then,
you know, you're right in the house, but
depending on how far off a beach you
are, the number will vary. I also don't
see a big difference in impact between
three and five. So, I would be fine
going with five. We can always adjust
it. I think that's one of the things
we've learned. If it turns out to be too
many, we can revisit this in a future.
>> Council member Hernandez,
>> I'm probably going to be the weird one
here and say four. [laughter]
>> Uh, one in front of the house, one on a
main street, and then two wayf finding
ones.
>> So, I will circle back around one more
time [laughter] because we've got two
for three, two for five, and one for
four for funsies. Um,
>> Council Member Wiggins, do you Oh, do
you have a suggestion?
>> Um, I I would like a clarifying point.
Right now the um the draft is one per
frontage and one offsite.
>> Oh, I see.
>> Are it I would like feedback. Is it just
a maximum and you don't care where they
are located and we do not regulate said
location and it's just a number or you
may uh have a x number for frontage and
y number everywhere up.
>> That's a good clarification. Did you or
Oh, do you want to go ahead? I I'm not a
policy maker, but can I offer that I do
manage enforcement. I think it'd be
easier if we just had a number of folks
can put them wherever they want.
>> Yeah.
>> Um Council Member Wiggins, I'll start
back with you. Um I just want to check.
Are you stuck at three, which is fine if
you are, or are you open to a higher
number, and then are you also open to it
just being an overall number and they
can put them where they want rather than
differentiating the one on property in?
Okay.
>> Yeah, I'm okay if we want to go five. I
just don't want to see five on Main
Street. So, I'm going to add that in
there. I don't want five on Main Street.
>> No.
>> Council member Olen, do you want to
weigh back in? Are you still at three or
did you want to move in one direction?
>> I'm fine if you are.
>> I I'm okay with with five. My my request
would be that if you know if if
enforcement becomes a problem or if
these become you know an eyesore which
it sounds like they won't but if they do
that we would circle back
>> and or or that city staff would would um
speak up if enforcement becomes an
issue.
>> So it sounds like it's not unanimous but
I'm looking at you now I'm just kidding.
Um but in general five is acceptable to
a majority actually five you get the
five. Okay, thank you. I appreciate the
extra time. I think we're I think we're
there.
>> We're getting so close.
>> Okay, so are we are we good then and for
that to come back with a draft? Okay,
perfect.
>> So, um before we move on to new
business, um with someone on council,
would you like to make a motion to
extend the meeting past 9:30 just so we
don't come up that time?
>> I moved to extend the meeting past 9:30.
Seconded.
>> It's been moved and seconded to extend
past 9:30. All those in favor say I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed say no. Motion passes.
And so next up we are on to new
business. And it is my greatest pleasure
to now turn this portion of the meeting
over to Mayor Mercer.
>> Thank you. [clears throat]
Um yeah, hopefully this will move fairly
quickly so we can I know we still have
quite a bit on the agenda this evening.
Um, so I'd like to start by thanking
everyone who applied and encourage those
who don't get selected this time around
not to get discouraged. Um, I think many
of us on this council, we've been
through this process multiple times,
sometimes before we get get appointed.
Uh, and there will be other
opportunities to get involved in city
government and or participate in public
service within the community. Uh, for
council procedures, we'll be using a
streamline process this evening to fill
the vacancy. Um, we actually have two
positions open right now. Tonight we'll
just be focusing on position number
three. Um,
uh, and so that streamline process
involves a public interview session of
the candidates followed by an executive
session to discuss each candidates's
responses and then an open vote. The
list of potential interview questions
was determined in advance by the city
council.
Um,
I will ask each candidate the same set
of questions while the other candidate
stays outside the room. When the
interviews are completed, council will
go into executive session to discuss
each candidate's responses and their
qualifications. When the council meeting
resumes, we will conduct a vote by
matrix. We each council member will
receive one vote per candidate. Tides
will be determined by subsequent runoff
votes until only one candidate remains.
Um, and I believe we only have two. I'm
sorry, city administrator.
>> Yeah. Um, so we need to clarify the
agenda. So those rules are for um
when uh we'd be doing the whole series
in a meeting. So we have not noticed an
executive session following the
interview. Uh the agenda has an
interview and then an immediate vote for
position three. So I just want to make
sure we clarify the executive session
under new business number four is to
select the finalist for position number
two.
» Thank you. We haven't followed you. We
had to discuss something different the
>> agenda setting but that's that's fine
but appreciate the clarification. So um
so then yes it'll be the interview and
then then the vote. Um
uh the two candidates uh we'll be
interviewing this evening are Mala Mu
Vivo and Sarah Taylor. Um uh it may be
easy. I I we typically just do in
alphabetical order is the easiest way.
Um so Sarah, I will ask you to sort of
step out. I don't know if they're going
to go downstairs for this.
>> I can and go downstairs.
and then we'll call you up get to see
the process as well
» a big headset ma
>> yeah ma you can I mean it's probably
more comfortable rather than put you at
the podium have you just sit at the open
chair um if you don't mind waiting a
moment I' let for the will come to me
here. So Jen just took a quick you can
sit down as you're comfortable
and then we will so it'll be three
questions and then you'll have an
opportunity at the end to do any type of
statement that you want as well.
Are we using the youth could we
technically be
» where we got in the meeting or
>> everyone else is stand
[laughter]
» Yeah.
Oh, it was this one that we added
though. I don't know.
>> Um,
okay. So, uh, take the time. everyone
that's sort of on the spot here, but um
I I've tried to pick three questions
that sort of cover different aspects of
council process. So the first question
is describe a time you had to make a
decision on the board committee or in
your professional life where your
personal interests or relationships
conflicted with what you believed was
the right outcome of the group. How did
you handle it? And what would you do if
that kind of conflict came up on this
council? May I please ask you to repeat
the question? Yes. Just to make sure I
get it for the day.
>> So, describe a time when you had to make
a decision on a board committee or in
your professional life where your
interests or relationships conflicted
with what you believed was the right
outcome. So, kind of a conflict of
interest type thing um with the right
income for the group. How'd you handle
it? And what would you do if that kind
of conflict came up on this council?
>> Okay, that's a great question. Um I know
we all um go through a lot of conflicts
you know whether it's a job or whatever
we do. So I have experienced that quite
a number of times but I'm going to
explain with an example. Um most
recently um what I experienced is you
know like we have we all all the time we
have discussions like whenever there is
a a topic of discussion that comes I
know you you you all had a discussion
just now and then you have to go back
around just similar to that we do run
into similar situations and as I'm a
supervisor I definitely want to give
opportunity for every that that's my
role currently with city of Seattle so I
definitely want allow each and every
member of my team to have the ability to
speak up and then I start to think about
okay whatever the options that come out
of that meeting what is the best one
which is going to be the best option for
city of Seattle not just in the best
interest of myself or the individual
themselves. So we do have um such
situations come up quite a few times and
we recently had a situation where um
there were two individuals we had whom
had conflict with each other but I had
to literally listen to both of them and
then I had to make a decision on hey we
just need to I just want you guys to
think through and see what it's what is
going to be the best option for city of
Seattle not and the business and the
people we support and it's not going to
be based on your individual ual needs,
right? Or what satisfies you. So
eventually we we came up with a group
discussion and then everyone decided
okay let's uh find out what are the best
options. So we wrote it down and then we
read it out loud so that everybody's
clear on how we going to one of it was
communication related and one of it was
um related to the decision making on you
know uh what kind of solution are we
going to think right so luckily both of
them agreed and you know like each one
had a specific uh you know option like
oh this is how I want the communication
to go and the other person agreed agreed
and that was the best option for us to
pick because uh it actually suited the
business needs and it will also add
value to the business and the people we
support. So we opted with that same as
the solution option also we had to pick
up the right solution. I'm sorry I'm
always turning the side. I do like
couple of them are there but I just uh
you know we ended up picking the right
solution and the right communication
plan uh which actually helped resolve
the problem the also the conflict of
interest.
>> Thank you.
>> Yeah.
>> Um second one we'll pivot a little bit.
Dubal like most small cities has to
balance infrastructure and service needs
uh growth pressure as we exhibited
tonight and uh uh and a limited budget.
Hypothetically and and this can be a
hypothetical so we won't hold you to
when it comes to budget setting time. Um
what's a tradeoff or compromise you'd be
willing to make? Something you'd
prioritize even if it meant delay or
cutting something else the residents
cared about and why? And then how would
you go about getting support from the
community for your decision?
>> That's another great question. I did
hear a lot of people with a lot of
concerns. I really appreciate all of
them coming here together. That shows
how much they love the city that we all
live in. So yes, it is definitely a
great city to be part of. Um I know it's
a small city. I know that that there is
not much infrastructure that we can
expand. um based on uh what I heard I do
understand like with the budget
constraints I also deal with the same in
my own job. So one of the things that uh
we are doing right now is to make sure
um you know identify all bullet point
all the list of things that's a priority
what's going to serve the community
better right and then come up with the
option I know we also have to look at
the budget constraints and what is it
that what is it what will be possible
within the budget to meet or you know uh
meet the list of things that we have in
play and then come up with a um you know
I know like um many of them might have
rooted for like no I want this I want
that I want the other but one of the
thing that I'm seeing right now is I
also heard uh during the meeting that we
don't have
you know like we don't have the
emergency services here like emergency
in the sense hospital that's what I
meant so
for me that's more important because our
community is growing and there are a lot
of people you know who are also in the
age where the critical you know need
will be rising more so if that is a
priority and that's on our list and if
we can do that I definitely see how to
make that happen but based on the budget
constraints if that's not going to be
possible at least you know jot down
everything list by list and then come up
with a plan and sometimes yes we may not
be able to satis is for everyone but I
would definitely lean forward towards
what is the most uh you know thing that
is achievable within the budget and also
it adds more value to the people of the
safety wall. So um that's what I would
you know see how we can make it happen
and then we can definitely think of the
other options down the line doesn't mean
that you know we are not able to do this
year doesn't mean that we can think
about it next year that's how I see it
>> and then on the just to refresh on the second part is how would you go
about getting support from the community
for your decision just to make sure you
have an opportunity to respond to that
one as well.
>> That's another great question. One of
the thing is I know you guys do a lot of
workshops. I know uh there are a lot of
opportunities where you are also
advertising. I also like to reach out to
people you know that's one of my passion
you know I like to go meet people uh in
person uh if that is allowed you know I
would definitely love to do that um you
know whatever possible way because I
myself I can tell like I'm not like a
media person you know like going under
the media every now and then. So I like
to meet people and see how we can even
passing on uh flyers you know and going
and uh getting people to understand hey
here's something that's happening would
you be interested you know like
understanding if their willingness you
know and what they want those are the
things that can uh help you know build a
stronger community I already see that
happen here so um I would like to do
that an option.
>> Um and then the third one um is more
really around sort of the the way
council works. It's council decisions
often require you to vote alongside
colleagues colleagues with whom your
views don't fully align.
I saw some of that seat. Uh um tell us
about a time you had to work
productively with someone whose approach
or values differed from yours and what
you learned about building consensus
without abandoning your own position.
>> I liked how the discussion went on today
uh you know regarding one of the the
oing especially with the signs. Um I
actually thought like hm maybe I didn't
think through you know a web planning
functioner like right like that's one of
the thing that came to my mind maybe I
didn't think through that option of
maybe it doesn't hurt to have the five
side than the four side uh that's one of
the thing that came to my mind as I was
listening uh um
uh do you want another example of uh a
situation where I would have made a
decision and then All right.
>> Yeah. I mean, I think it's really the
intent of this question is more like um
if you're how do you go about building
consensus within a group? Uh it really
is sort of the core nail of that and
then you know if you don't come out on
the winning side of the vote um how do
you continue to work effectively with capital because it is a it is a
representative form of government.
>> Um yeah um that always happens with the
software development actually u you know
because I come from the software
development background. So I literally
like to understand the needs more than
you know I know I whatever solution
because we always come up with like four
or five solutions and we pick the most
uh useful one and you know most least
expensive one and what's more um uh
useful for the business you know in
reliability ease of maintenance and all
that sometimes I may pick the wrong one
but I still had to uh go with the the
team as to what everyone is deciding
and wanted to choose what is the right
thing to do. It may not be the one that
I chose. So I have come uh you know
there are several situations like that
and same thing even with budgeting.
you know I may say something
and I'm like no that it didn't work. So
I had to literally listen to other
opinions you know within the uh within
because we have like quite a few at
least three managers. We are three of us we work together. So we I
had to literally listen to all of them
and then come up with what is the most
uh optimal solution rather than just my
opinion. So yeah,
>> thank you. Um and then is there anything
else you'd like to say about yourself
that you feel is important for us to
consider before we conclude your
interview? Um you have two minutes. I
know you don't have the two minutes up
here, but you can sort of keep track of
that
statement.
>> Um sure. I definitely want to thank each
and every one of you uh for being
present here and listening to me and
also listening to all the people and
doing the best you know possible things
for our city of Dwal and the people who
live here and I want to say thank you uh
and also I definitely will add more
value um as I come from I know I'm
different ethnicity but also I have a
lot of experience with lot of different
areas uh that I bring in to the council
from budgeting
Um, and I I think I also do a lot of uh
negotiations. I've done quite a bit of
those. Um, and I also value, you know,
like I work in the community. So, I
wanted to learn more and I wanted to be
able to serve the community. So, that's
the passion that I have. So, I think
that I don't know if I'm up uh but I
just wanted to
>> um yeah, say thank you and end here.
>> Well, thank you.
>> All right. And you can actually stay up
here since you you know the questions
now. So if you want to
thank you again.
>> Oh
no.
>> I think we need a little downstairs.
That would be really fun.
Do we have to
actually work because these are all like
city hall too.
Jennifer,
» I think they let her know she can stay
up here if she wanted. Is that okay?
>> You can be in the podium or you can sit
at the table. Probably more comfortable.
» Hopefully it wasn't too cold down there.
Okay.
» All right. So, um there will be three
questions and then you'll have an
opportunity to do a closing statement as
well. Um so the first question is
describe a time when you had to make a
decision on the board committee or in
your professional life where your
personal interests or relationships
conflicted with what you believed was
the right outcome of the group. So
basically a conflict of interest type scenario. How did you handle it and
what would you do if that kind of
conflict came up on this council?
>> Trying to think. My first implement
would be probably when I was on the
decision-making team at my school
because we're elected and I represented
fifth and fourth grade and sometimes the
intermediate grades are not always
getting the
brunt of the attention but because you
know foundational literacy important.
Um, and sometimes we would bring like
actually I could think of my brain is
absolutely frightening.
I should have
I don't usually have too much of a
conflict opinion usually because with
the teams we've had
we never usually have to hash anything
out. I'm trying to figure out a time
when we did have to freshman get
something.
It's a really tiny
we have computer. No, my brain is not
having blue.
>> Okay.
>> No, I guess I absolutely I we have
nothing.
» Um that's fine. I can I'll move on to
the the next question. Um Duvall like
most small cities has to balance
infrastructure and service needs, growth
pressure, and a limited budget. um
hypothetically
and and again won't hold you to this uh
if we get to budget setting um what's a
trade-off or compromise you'd be billing
be willing to make something you'd
prioritize um even if it meant delaying
or cutting something else residents care
about. So in terms of you know we we
balance those those things in terms of
what we could do on a given given budget
cycle how would you go about getting
support for the community for your
decision? So kind of what potentially
would you um prioritize and then how
would you go about you know determining
what to prioritize and then how would
you communicate that decision out to the
community once it was made?
Will you ask one more time just because
>> Oh, sure. No, I'm happy to reate the
question. Um, Dubal, like most small
cities, has to balance infrastructure
and service needs. So, what we deliver
to the community, growth pressure, and a
limited budget.
Hypothetically, what's a trade-off or
compromise? You'd be willing to make
something you'd prioritize even if it
meant delaying or cutting something else
residents care about. Um, basically
couldn't do everything. Kind of what
would you do and why? Uh, and how would
you go about getting support for the
community for your decision?
>> I think going back to kind of this
evening's meeting when so many of the
community members came in for about like
zoning and like thinking about affecting
Oldtown. Um, one thing that I think
would be I really believe in that I
would love to even get more support for
is just bringing more not necessarily
like housing but just more of that job
opportunity the growth because a lot of
like when we becomes a flood and we
become an island like you were
mentioning it's the teenagers who are
kind of working because those are the
only people who can afford those wages
for the limited opportunities and then
trying to figure out ways I would love
to support being able to figure out how
we could get be more attractive in
Duvall to more businesses to attract not
just teenagers but people like who would
want to be able to stay in the community
be able to not have to leave so we could
just have those opportunities with more
activities people making more livable
wages and I imagine that would probably
get a lot of community support but then
just figuring out how to like network
and go around everywhere asking for
support and ideas and figuring out how
we could appeal to different county or
whatever to just make it attractive.
» And thank you. And the the third um is
sort of a a little bit of a pivot. Um
council decisions often require you to
vote alongside colleagues with whom your
views don't fully align. Um, tell us
about a time you had to work
productively with someone whose approach
or values differed from yours and what
you learned about building consensus
without abandoning your own position.
>> Again, for my pro. Yeah. One more.
>> Yeah. Council decisions often require
you to vote alongside colleagues with
whom your views don't formulate
>> or different perspectives. Um, tell us
about a time you had to work
productively with someone whose approach
or values differed from yours and what
you learned about building consensus
without abandoning your own position or
your own point of view.
>> Well, again, I'm I'm a teacher and so we
often have to we get to work in our
teams and
sometimes what we or we have to reach on
the common goal. But if like I love
science and then my colleague doesn't
really love science. So sometimes I have
to figure out how to
like first of all read the grade level
the state standards but then sometimes
actually having to explain what the
actual relevance and importance because
I've had work with colleagues who are
like well science isn't important we
need to get just you know the bring the
English the reading and the writing and
that's all we need and the math like
well we need those. However, the things
that tend to keep people in school and
enjoying the school are the social
studies, the science, the music, the
arts, the acting. So then just trying to
help explain and trying to help them
understand more of a of my perspective
as I see it and trying to help
understand what perspective they're
coming from and trying to figure out a
way I can try to find a connection or
find that open door so I can try to meet
them somewhere and say, "Oh, well, how
about we could try like maybe this this
is why we could incorporate what you're
thinking of into more in the social studies in the math into
the social math into the science and
then just trying to figure out how we
can try to actually reach that
cooperation even though they may not see
the importance of social studies or
science and I do call it foundation.
» Thank you.
>> Uh so the last one is is there anything
else you'd like to say about yourself
that you feel is important for us to
consider before we conclude your
interview? um you have two minutes to
give a closing closing statement. So
that can be something we didn't touch on
here or a different topic or or just um
again anything that you want to state in
the two minutes. Oh, well, something
that was nice and easily observable is I
tend to my mind will sometimes blank and
then I'll have like the processing time
a little bit later and then find like,
oh my gosh, this was my perfect thing.
But of course, time is like and so
sometimes my processing time does not
match whatever I actually sometimes
need. But that's the joy of ADHD. Um,
but then I really am in general a very
thoughtful person and I like with city
council and planning commission and all
the other things. I really do love
learning the different like the laws,
the coding, listening to how somebody
else might see something that I totally
never noticed. It's like, oh my gosh,
that makes so much sense. And then
getting that fuller picture. So, one
thing I really do love is just getting
to have them, the conversations, the
learning, the community, and the
opportunity to keep learning and
growing. Even though sometimes my timing
can be very very bad,
but I'm excited with whoever you guys go
with because all was awesome too.
[clears throat]
>> Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Um,
you've got couple. So, John, I think the
next portion of this is you have some
ballots that pass around and
>> so I think if you wanted you could
return to your seat.
And I think I touched on this in the
intro, but just so that folks in the
room have some some visibility, we have
two votes to distribute amongst the two
candidates. Um, you can either place all
of your votes under one candidate,
distribute them amongst candidates. Um,
after you vote, uh, I think we all have
individual their title. We'll pass them around to the city clerk who
will copy the results and move on from
there.
>> Mayor Pam, if I can remind the uh
council members attending remotely to
email their ballots as soon as they're
done, please
>> heard that. Council member Wiggins and
Council Member Owen. All right.
He's in Chicago.
>> He's like, "Yes, I can hear you."
be on fifth and
» yeah
they
two
time.
I'm just waiting for one more
Waiting for one.
» Did they send it either or?
>> Council member Wiggins did.
>> Got it.
» Mine is sent. It's just, you know,
traveling long distance.
[laughter]
Yeah, it was pretty important back then.
» Reminiscing of how it was brutal. You
had to like verbally say and it was like
>> if you could do that across
>> Yeah. I mean public record but you know
Yeah.
>> Hit me in the head and get stuck in my
hair.
» Not as bad as that huge jumping spider
we have in here.
» I don't know.
must be getting
screenshots.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Yeah, that's what
>> Oh, never mind.
>> You said something that
» I apologize for my cough, by the way.
I'm not sick. It's residue from the
smoke from the
>> I thought you should have said your
coffee and I'm like I don't care if you
drink.
I don't know.
» So I was like no judgment. [laughter]
>> I can too.
>> Yeah.
>> All day and right before I go to bed.
That's what made me realize that maybe
you know
>> there are reasons [laughter]
[clears throat]
>> for Kunamala three votes for Sarah
Taylor seven votes.
>> Okay.
>> And like we have in you council member
congratulates.
>> Congrats and thanks to everyone who
applied for that position. Um I So next
up then would be swearing in U Sarah
Taylor for council opening for position
recruit.
» Oh yes.
>> Oh is it?
I didn't see it on the Which one is
I didn't see it on the
» faster than me trying I don't know if
there is
it.
Definitely.
Whatever.
me over.
>> Um
kind of figured out
that would be a fun
language.
Do you want to come up here and then
position while shot?
So, I'll just basically leave something
down because our former mayor was quite
long, but I'm like, "No, but I can't do
that."
>> That's why we vote to extend that 9:30
preference.
So, I've done some my best work at 2
a.m. So,
>> yeah, it's pretty the recovery time for
all nighters was different now.
» Go ahead.
>> I'm not picking.
>> Okay. So, just this part here, right?
>> Yeah. Okay. All right. So you'll raise
your right hand and repeat after me. I,
Sarah Taylor,
>> Sarah Taylor,
>> do solemnly swear
>> or affirm
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> and the Constitution and laws
>> of the state of Washington
>> state of Washington
>> and all local ordinances
>> all local ordinances
>> and that I will faithfully and
impartially
>> I will faithfully and impartially
>> perform and discharge the duties of the
office of council member
>> of the office of council member
>> according to the law
>> and the best of my ability
congratulations welcome to you all city
council
» sign
you keep this and I'll
Thank you very much.
>> Do you want a picture? We'll probably
show your certific.
» Oh, good. Okay. Do you just want one
more just in case?
>> Yeah. Are you a funny version of
souvenir? [laughter]
» Very much. And so now you actually get
to sit at the table right now because
you were on like this. [laughter]
>> Okay. So with that we will now hold on.
Let me get the script here. So
>> you got another script to read.
>> Yes.
Get this right.
>> Exactly.
>> Okay.
So welcome council me. Where are you?
Council member Taylor. Um all right. We
are going to the Duval City Council will
now meet an executive session to discuss
qualifications of an applicant for city
council. Um as allowed by RCW42.30.110
sub one subh. Um council will be in
executive session until
you want 20 minute.
>> Yeah. 4 to 3. Um,
>> can we should we start smaller council?
Do you want to start shorter? Yeah, I'm
seeing a nod for Mike. Um, should we
start with 10 15 minutes and try to
>> You think 15?
>> 15. Yeah,
>> I know we're going to end, but like
let's just try. [laughter]
>> Okay. So, we will the council will be in
executive session until um 10:16 and I
will notify the clerk if we need to
extend
Okay, back to session.
Council
will return from executive session at
226.
Council
will return from executive se session at
2236.
Council
will return from executive session at
2240.
Council will return from executive
session at 22:45.
Council will return from executive
session at 2250.
Council
will return from executive session at
2252.
Um, is it okay? I know I'm reading. We
should wait for Oh, it's just most So, I
think we're we have quum, so we're okay.
» Oh, okay. Sorry. No, it's
» trying to modify.
>> So, I call the Duval City regular
council the Duval City Council regular
meeting back to order at 10:53 p.m.
And
I'll turn it back over or I guess
>> back over to Mayor Parton.
>> Um, so similar this is a similar
process. Uh just again for for the folks
in the room, each council member has
four votes. Um and so looks like the
clerk has already marked out Sarah
Taylor's name from here. Um so you'll
have um
four votes to distribute across the the
four candidates. Um I think that's
correct. Yep. And you can uh similar to
the last one, you can distribute or you
can place all your votes. Um
actually sure. Yeah. Okay. Or distribute
your votes between multiple candidates.
That could be a little challenging for
you'll have to add all this up but um
and then similar you know once you you
mark the matrix fold it in half and that
works.
a little
an hour ago.
Yeah, I know.
» Finding the least bad way to do it.
» Dancing.
I know I totally close session. So
» I'll get up for
a while.
an hour
show you
» just waiting for one more.
>> Is it?
It's not.
Oh.
I just like
I promise. That's why I like my spirit
almost broke when I remembered.
[laughter]
regularly and go till almost midnight.
That mean
>> really
goes pretty regularly.
>> Like they usually get 11 or 12:00
>> and more last year went till the
morning.
>> We've had at least a couple this year
where we got out before 8, I think.
Right.
>> Yeah.
>> That happens next meeting, right?
>> Okay.
I will plan the we'll plan the agenda to
be
>> not like we're headed into budget
season. What are you worried about?
[laughter]
>> The next my first real meeting is the
first day of school.
>> Oh. Oh yeah, that's right. It's
September.
>> I'm just happy when I get out and I can
go to
>> CeCe's
for my high schooler because he doesn't
the second because they're only going to
crush and go the first day.
My daughter will sell because she'll be
great.
» I'm in the Eastern time zone, so
technically it's 2 am here.
>> I was curious where
>> I hope you can sleep in tomorrow.
>> I hope so, too. I don't know. We have
plans tomorrow afternoon, but I don't
know how early we have to get up. Um,
I'm just going to play dub and sleep
until they make me get up. [laughter]
>> Plan now.
» [laughter]
>> Jeffy music
playing elevator
Did anyone know there's a lot?
» What do you want me to speak? Yes.
>> Yeah. makes it a little easier.
» Just like if you don't know the process,
that's all
» and nice big there were a couple,
you know, because I think it's just
enough, you know,
[clears throat]
For candidate Conway, seven votes,
candidate Braer, seven votes for
candidate Blueert, eight. And for
candidate Mo, two votes.
love you being able to narrow down in
the single vote to three candidates.
Appreciate it. And u yeah, as we sort of
prefet at the beginning, there will be
other opportunities for for folks and we
hope um we appreciated the work that M
has done on by
commission. So yeah,
>> all right. So next on our agenda, we
will go into the Duval City Council will
now meet in closed session to discuss
Um
sorry
for I apologize.
>> Consider
which one uh 42314
gay which is to consider um
>> should be in the back.
>> Okay. No, I know. I'm looking at that
but
>> Oh,
>> sorry.
>> Yeah.
» Oh, is this
I think I thought it was
>> section sessions and executive sessions.
>> Okay. So, did you say that one more
time?
>> Um, it's uh 423144A
to consider um bargaining proposals for
collective bargaining.
>> Okay. So consider RC. So under
RCW42.30.144A
considerations for collective
bargaining.
>> That's paraphrasing. Yes.
>> Oh, do I need to say it exactly or is it
okay? Okay. Um, how long do you want?
>> 10 minutes.
>> Council will be in exe or close session
until 112.
Council will return from close session
at 2317.
All right. So, Dubal City Council is
returning from close session at 11:17
p.m. Next up on our agenda is we're
going to reopen public comment.
There is nobody in the audience. Um, and
we only accept in person commentary. So,
we will go ahead and close public
comment. Lastly, is there anything for
the good of the order?
Not hearing any.
>> So, with that, we will adjourn the Deval
City Council meeting at 11:17 p.m. Thank
you everyone. Have a good night.