[0:49] Okay, then.
[0:51] >> Are we good?
[0:58] It's 7:00 p.m. on Monday,
[1:00] August 17th, and I call this regular
[1:03] city council meeting to order.
[1:05] Uh Council Member McNally Martinez, will
[1:07] you lead us in the flag salute, please?
[1:12] » I pledge allegiance
[1:14] >> to the flag
[1:15] of the United States of America.
[1:17] And to the republic for which it stands,
[1:20] one nation under God, indivisible, with
[1:23] liberty and justice for all.
[1:31] » All Um
[1:35] Uh all council is here with exception of
[1:37] Council Member Turnis.
[1:39] Uh she's asked uh
[1:41] to be excused. Can I get a uh
[1:44] Can I get a motion to excuse her?
[1:46] Yes, Council Member Poor.
[1:48] >> Move to excuse Council Member Turnis's
[1:52] uh absence.
[1:53] >> Second.
[1:55] >> It's been It's been moved in second and
[1:57] all in favor.
[1:58] >> Aye.
[1:59] Any opposed?
[2:00] Motion passes.
[2:02] All right, next item on the agenda is
[2:04] citizen participation and we have uh two
[2:07] people who have signed up today.
[2:12] And I can't read your handwriting. I'm
[2:14] sorry. It looks like your last name is
[2:16] Jones.
[2:19] Oh, Susan Johnson. Oh my gosh.
[2:22] >> [laughter]
[2:23] >> It depends on which personality comes
[2:26] out.
[2:26] >> [laughter]
[2:27] >> Okay, well, I've never seen this one
[2:29] before.
[2:29] >> I'm laughing. I write left-handed.
[2:32] >> Okay.
[2:32] >> All right.
[2:34] Thank you, sir. Susan Johnson Milton.
[2:37] It was a treat to see all the youth in
[2:40] the parade this year. It felt like just
[2:43] a small town and we're surrounded by
[2:45] this massive growth.
[2:47] Isn't that the truth?
[2:49] I mean, it really felt it this weekend.
[2:52] The Parks Board pickleball scramble was
[2:54] loads of fun for us and the people
[2:57] involved. Teenagers and adults played.
[3:00] The winners were given medals, gold,
[3:02] silver, and bronze. We ended around 2:30
[3:05] p.m., cleaned up, and took the equipment
[3:08] down to the city tent in the lower
[3:10] field.
[3:11] I was a little bit mystified that the
[3:14] city booth
[3:16] abutted the right side of the stage when
[3:19] you face it from the tent where people
[3:22] sit with that speaker reverberating as
[3:25] hard and loud as it did.
[3:28] I loved the music. I even danced and I
[3:31] think they got photos of me.
[3:32] Unfortunately, don't tell my husband.
[3:34] But, however, conversation was
[3:37] impossible at the city tent. Staff
[3:40] needed to wear earplugs for the auditory
[3:43] protection from the sound of the stage.
[3:46] And I mean, they were right at the
[3:47] stage. Framework, who worked with the
[3:50] city on our growth management plan was
[3:52] there also with their information. Our
[3:55] planning staff had very important
[3:58] information to share with the citizens
[4:00] and glean comments on their opinions,
[4:04] especially in re to the proposed tree
[4:07] canopy ordinance.
[4:09] My opinion is the city booth should not
[4:11] be hidden. It should be close to the
[4:13] entrance of any event. Two tents were at
[4:16] the entranceway along Oak Street in the
[4:19] lower park. At the time I was there, I
[4:21] did not see anybody present.
[4:24] This is sad because it diminished the
[4:26] role of the city and its info
[4:29] that it wants to have to interact with
[4:32] our citizens and to answer any
[4:33] questions, especially re planning
[4:36] uh and our zones with framework being
[4:39] there.
[4:40] Another thing I heard is um and my
[4:43] comment is this, the lack of golf carts,
[4:46] which we have had in the past, citizens
[4:48] so enjoyed the interaction riding with
[4:51] the volunteers and talking about Milton
[4:54] days in past years and meeting new
[4:56] people. That climb up to the street
[4:59] parking up at the school or higher up
[5:02] Oak is very hard on some people.
[5:05] And I'm not talking about me.
[5:08] And who on some people who are not
[5:09] considered eligible for ADA. In the
[5:12] past, there were four to five carts that
[5:15] were always busy.
[5:17] In fact, even the ones that were used by
[5:19] the mayor and one other staff person
[5:22] would be called into need to move people
[5:24] up and down and it was a constant flurry
[5:27] up and down Oakway and maybe around
[5:30] lunchtime it settled down. I want to
[5:33] thank you, council members Hall, Cedar,
[5:35] Roberts, and Martinez for being in the
[5:37] parade and meeting her constituents
[5:40] at Milton days.
[5:42] To the events committee, you should be
[5:44] proud of their first Milton days and
[5:47] take kindly suggestions for the future.
[5:50] It is You know, I'm from the south and
[5:53] one of our sayings is it's not necessary
[5:55] to throw out the dishwater.
[5:58] It's or required to start anew without
[6:01] considering the past successes. The old
[6:04] provides a map to build on as time and
[6:07] needs change, but the old doesn't need
[6:09] to be cast aside entirely. Thank you. It
[6:12] was a very good weekend for many, many
[6:14] people and I'm glad it was successful.
[6:17] >> Thank you. Just to let you know, I did
[6:20] play chauffeur for most of the day. So,
[6:23] I did I did shuttle a lot of people back
[6:26] and forth. Okay, the second person
[6:29] that's on our sign up sheet is John and
[6:32] I'm sorry I can't read your last name.
[6:33] Could you please let us
[6:35] I'm sorry.
[6:36] >> Tedrick.
[6:38] t e d r i c k, Tedrick.
[6:41] >> Thank you, Tedrick.
[6:43] >> I
[6:44] moved here about 18 years ago and build
[6:47] a uh
[6:48] run-down home
[6:50] off of Taylor Street and I love the
[6:52] little small town that it has been.
[6:55] And it's a great place to live and I
[6:56] wouldn't live anywhere else. And
[6:59] so,
[7:00] the reason I'm here is in opposition of
[7:02] the 2801
[7:05] Redwood Street.
[7:06] You guys are wanting to rezone that
[7:08] property.
[7:09] And so,
[7:11] my opinion is
[7:14] that we need more small homes for people
[7:16] to live in city Milton, not apartments.
[7:19] I I know we have apartments right here
[7:20] at the end of
[7:22] Taylor Street and that was a great piece
[7:25] of property to build it and it looks
[7:26] like a very nice
[7:28] 15-18 units that they're building. My
[7:31] worry is that
[7:33] Taylor's a small street. You got a lot
[7:35] of speeders. You got a lot of this. You
[7:37] got a lot of that. You already have the
[7:39] Ukrainian school that's going to go in
[7:40] there. That's going to be a jungle full
[7:43] of people when that opens up and I I
[7:45] don't
[7:46] have anything against the owners that
[7:48] own that property
[7:50] because when you sell
[7:52] to
[7:54] make it a different zone and you're
[7:55] going to make more money. I understand
[7:57] that. I don't have anything against
[7:58] that, but I think
[8:00] that place would serve better
[8:03] to put 16 to 24 houses in there that the
[8:05] houses are need to be in the city of
[8:08] Milton. Small houses that people can
[8:10] afford if you can afford a house at all
[8:12] anymore and there's lots of nice little
[8:14] houses that were built right across the
[8:16] street where that fence is and I think
[8:20] they should do a a small impact
[8:23] statement on that.
[8:25] They don't have to do it. They could do
[8:27] a partial impact statement to see if
[8:29] zoning that would put in there. I can't
[8:31] imagine them zoning that 4.04 acres and
[8:35] putting a store in there. I just got I
[8:37] just can't see that happening.
[8:40] At the very least I could see maybe some
[8:42] condos or something like that. I don't
[8:45] necessarily have any grudge against
[8:46] that, but I think
[8:49] family homes are well needed in this
[8:51] place and that would be a good place
[8:53] where you could put either 10 and 12
[8:54] bigger homes or you could put
[8:58] uh uh
[8:58] 16 to 24 smaller sized mid homes. In my
[9:02] opinion it is that we need smaller
[9:04] houses for people to move in the city of
[9:06] Milton, not a bunch of complexes that
[9:09] they already have. They already have a
[9:11] busy complex right next door and if they
[9:14] were to build a condo system or
[9:16] apartment system it would be I think in
[9:18] my opinion just too close to each other. Too many people
[9:22] coming in and out of there. My opinion
[9:24] is to stay with the single family homes.
[9:28] All right, that's all I got to say.
[9:29] Thank you.
[9:30] >> Thank you, Mr. Tedder. You're welcome.
[9:32] All right, those were the only two
[9:33] people that signed up on our list. Is
[9:35] there anyone else in the audience that
[9:36] would like to address the council this
[9:37] evening?
[9:39] Yes, please come forward.
[9:45] » Jacqueline Whalen, Milton, Washington.
[9:48] I wanted to uh
[9:50] thank the folks who did the work for the
[9:52] event over the weekend.
[9:54] It was lovely to see so many people
[9:56] engaging with one another without a
[9:58] phone right there in their face. It was
[10:00] sweet.
[10:01] I do have another comment and I wish to
[10:03] direct it to public works but the
[10:06] administration as well.
[10:08] >> [clears throat]
[10:08] >> We have an electric department. We've
[10:10] got really smart people with
[10:11] electricity. This city really needs an electric system that
[10:19] allows amplifiers at the stage but when
[10:22] it hits a certain level of sound the
[10:25] electricity cuts off.
[10:27] When you can be in your house over 700
[10:30] ft away from the event
[10:32] and be able to sing along
[10:35] that's
[10:36] very loud, very unnecessary.
[10:40] And I really wish we would take the
[10:42] issue of noise pollution much more
[10:44] seriously.
[10:47] So, that's the request on that.
[10:50] We've got the department. We need to do
[10:52] it.
[10:53] There was a lot of concerns about the
[10:55] stage going in. Last year there wasn't
[10:57] the noise problem. This year there
[10:59] really was.
[11:01] Secondly, regarding microphones
[11:05] I really hope that the administration
[11:07] and staff can do something more so that
[11:11] we can have
[11:13] a recording system and broadcasting
[11:15] system
[11:17] that doesn't seem to have so many
[11:19] opportunities for things to fail.
[11:22] Last meeting
[11:24] portions of citizen comment were not
[11:25] recorded.
[11:27] Planning commission meeting, sadly
[11:30] it's not the first time the recording
[11:32] didn't happen.
[11:34] I am 1,000% confident that the person
[11:37] operating the system is doing the best
[11:39] they can. I assume the problem is with
[11:43] the system.
[11:44] So, I ask the administration, please
[11:47] >> [laughter]
[11:48] >> could we could we get our tech people to
[11:49] take a look at this and help people who
[11:52] are
[11:53] doing so many different things at the
[11:55] front desk there,
[11:56] help them to be more successful by
[11:58] having a broadcast system
[12:01] that really
[12:03] makes it clear whether microphones are
[12:05] operating, whether things are being
[12:07] recorded. That would be a real plus.
[12:09] Because I know staff is really trying to
[12:11] do their best with what they've got and
[12:14] uh
[12:15] I do hope council will support
[12:19] making things better. Thank you.
[12:22] >> Thank you. Uh anyone else wish to
[12:24] address the council this evening?
[12:27] All right, seeing none, uh we will move
[12:29] on to additions and deletions. Are there
[12:31] any requested additions or deletions
[12:33] from the agenda this evening?
[12:36] All right, seeing none, we will move on
[12:39] to the consent agenda. May I get a
[12:42] motion to approve the consent agenda?
[12:46] Council member Cedar.
[12:47] >> Move to approve the consent agenda as
[12:49] presented.
[12:50] >> Second.
[12:52] >> It's been uh moved by Council member
[12:54] Cedar and seconded by Council member
[12:56] Port to
[12:58] uh approve the consent agenda. All in
[13:00] favor?
[13:01] >> Aye.
[13:02] >> Any opposed?
[13:04] Motion passes unanimously.
[13:06] All right, moving on to presentations.
[13:08] The first uh presentation we have this
[13:10] evening is from Judge Allen.
[13:14] Welcome.
[13:15] >> Thank you.
[13:21] See how this works.
[13:24] Um I am Sandy Allen. Uh there's a lot of
[13:27] new council members that I don't think
[13:29] I've met. Um and I appreciate you having
[13:33] me here. I'm the judge. I've been the
[13:35] Milton judge for 20 years, and this is
[13:38] Ellen Adaberry, and she is the uh Milton
[13:41] and Puyallup court administrator.
[13:44] So, um I'm here to you to talk to you
[13:46] today about the Milton Drug Court. Uh we
[13:50] received funding from the Administrative
[13:54] Office of the Courts for uh their um
[13:58] fiscal year, which is July 26th of or
[14:01] July of 2026 through June of 2027.
[14:06] So, we've received funding from them,
[14:09] and I want to talk to you. Oops.
[14:12] Little bit too far.
[14:22] Okay, I want to talk to you about how we
[14:25] got here. Um the uh
[14:28] back in 2021,
[14:31] our uh Washington State Supreme Court
[14:34] found our drug laws unconstitutional.
[14:37] And then for about a period of 2 years,
[14:40] Washington State didn't have any drug
[14:42] laws at all. Um when the legislature uh
[14:46] reenacted the drug laws on July 1st of
[14:49] 2023,
[14:51] uh they made the uh drug offenses, the
[14:54] majority of them misdemeanors instead of
[14:57] uh felonies. So, what used to be in
[15:00] superior court is now in the district
[15:03] and municipal court um courts of limited
[15:06] jurisdiction. So, the maximum penalty is
[15:09] 180 days and a $1,000 fine. You lose
[15:13] your right to possess firearms if you're
[15:15] convicted.
[15:16] And over the last 3 years since the new
[15:19] laws have been in place, we have had
[15:21] over 240
[15:23] drug charges filed in the city of
[15:26] Milton.
[15:27] And the motor the majority of those uh
[15:30] Tiper was involved.
[15:32] So um
[15:34] he's an active uh part of the Milton
[15:37] Police Department. So
[15:45] can I do this again?
[15:49] Third time's a charm of not pushing too
[15:51] much.
[15:57] So uh we uh found the need to start a
[16:00] drug court. I went to the administrative
[16:02] office of the courts, provided the
[16:03] statistics for Milton.
[16:06] Um and our efforts to do kind of a
[16:08] modified drug court without any funding.
[16:12] So we had previously um done a resource
[16:15] court every one time a month where we'd
[16:18] bring in peer support um navigators and
[16:22] people from treatment agencies to come
[16:25] in and try to work with defendants to
[16:27] get them evaluated and um
[16:30] get the defendants the help that they
[16:32] needed. It wasn't sufficient. Um so then
[16:36] we tried it to bring in treatment
[16:38] evaluators every court hearing to try to
[16:40] work with defendants to get them
[16:42] evaluated. And again found that um the
[16:45] number of cases were just overwhelming.
[16:48] So we um went to the state and asked
[16:50] them to support Milton for a drug court.
[16:54] Um we need to recognize that there is a
[16:58] problem
[17:00] with addiction that needs to be solved
[17:02] and no matter what the punishment we do
[17:05] unless we treat the underlying problem,
[17:08] we're not going to get them out of the
[17:10] system.
[17:12] So the drug court model um
[17:15] invokes judicial oversight
[17:18] um on a actually more regular basis than
[17:21] a normal court appearance along with
[17:23] intensive treatment and then support
[17:26] through our court case coordinator and
[17:30] peer navigators to help work them
[17:33] through the system to hopefully get them
[17:35] back to being productive citizens and
[17:38] not continuing to re-offend.
[17:42] We are planning on having our drug court
[17:45] the first and third Tuesdays of every
[17:47] month. We're adding additional court day
[17:50] on a Thursday one time a month to make
[17:53] up for the time that we're going to be
[17:55] needing to
[17:57] have the drug court up and operational.
[18:14] So we received
[18:15] $204,000
[18:18] from
[18:19] administrative offices of the courts as
[18:22] pass-through funding to operate the
[18:24] court. Most of the funding is through
[18:27] personnel
[18:29] costs.
[18:31] We also received a significant amount
[18:33] for recovery support and that is helping
[18:37] with housing, food assistance, hygiene
[18:41] products,
[18:43] bus passes, the things that people need
[18:47] that are addicted to drugs to get them
[18:50] to the resources where they can get
[18:52] help. We also
[18:54] received
[18:56] almost $15,000 in treatment resources.
[19:00] That's to a pay for the drug
[19:02] evaluations,
[19:05] pay for treatment that might not be
[19:06] covered by insurance, to do the drug
[19:09] testing that we need to do regularly
[19:11] within the drug court,
[19:14] um pay for toxicology screening, and
[19:17] those types of items.
[19:20] And feel free to jump in if you guys
[19:22] have any questions.
[19:26] Uh [clears throat] the biggest category
[19:27] is personnel costs. Um
[19:31] the
[19:32] my my salary, the prosecutors, the
[19:35] public defenders. There's additional
[19:37] costs that the city of Puyallup will
[19:40] incur by um Milton taking on this
[19:45] um task of doing a drug court.
[19:49] Um but probably the biggest um expenses
[19:52] and the biggest needs are the uh case
[19:54] coordinator case manager, which is going
[19:57] to be a half-time contract position.
[20:01] And the case manager
[20:05] um works with the drug court
[20:07] participants, um coordinates their
[20:09] treatment, helps them with outside
[20:11] resources, and coordinating all of that,
[20:14] and also collects data and reports um
[20:18] all of the data to the administrative
[20:20] office of the court so they can track
[20:22] everything that we are doing in the drug
[20:25] court.
[20:26] And then the other position that we've
[20:28] been um contract that we can contract
[20:31] and hire that we have funding for is a
[20:33] peer specialist. And what a peer
[20:36] specialist is is a recovering addict
[20:39] that has been trained by DSHS to work
[20:43] with um
[20:45] people that are going through the drug
[20:46] court process and be their advocate and
[20:51] support them in their treatment and
[20:53] their struggles and
[20:55] um
[20:56] reach out with the group and the court
[20:57] team to be their advocate and support
[21:00] them.
[21:04] So, what we need from council
[21:08] and mayor
[21:10] is for you to um accept the pass-through
[21:14] funding from the contract with AOC that
[21:16] has been executed.
[21:19] Um we need to create the necessary
[21:21] funding buckets so we can properly track
[21:24] the funds that are coming in and out.
[21:27] Um we need to work with the city of
[21:30] Puyallup to amend the contract with the
[21:33] city of Puyallup to um add the drug
[21:36] court in.
[21:38] And we also need to approve um
[21:42] my amended contract that allows for the
[21:44] addition additional funds for operating
[21:47] the drug court. And approve the
[21:49] amendments to the contracts for the
[21:52] public defenders and the prosecutors.
[21:55] So, there's a lot of work to be done
[21:59] um and a lot of things that I need help
[22:02] with from the city in order to get this
[22:05] to move forward.
[22:07] So,
[22:09] I'm happy to answer any questions and
[22:12] I've got Allen here as backup if you
[22:14] guys have questions that I don't have
[22:16] answers to.
[22:18] >> Yes, Councilmember Reed.
[22:19] >> Thanks for being here, Judge. Uh for the
[22:21] AOC funding, is there any time
[22:25] that they placed on that? By which I
[22:27] mean, you know, if we approve
[22:29] pass-through funding this year and kind
[22:31] of can have our contract amended so that
[22:33] it's reflecting that when we renew it
[22:34] every year, could AOC pull back the
[22:36] funding and thereby create a situation
[22:39] where we're funding the drug court
[22:40] directly?
[22:42] >> The funding for this year is guaranteed.
[22:46] Yeah. So, and each year they do a
[22:48] renewal and they've simplified the
[22:50] renewal process. I know that all of the
[22:53] courts that were prior
[22:55] um that had been funded prior got funded
[22:57] again for this year. And we would know
[23:01] um
[23:02] we would know if our funding was going
[23:04] to be terminated.
[23:06] But I would expect from past years that
[23:09] it
[23:10] they're supportive of it. Do you
[23:16] » So every year they look to continue to
[23:19] support the courts that are already live
[23:21] and going. So um if the funding if the
[23:24] state continues to get the funding for
[23:26] therapeutic courts, then Milton will
[23:29] continue to receive that funding. Um the
[23:31] contracts that are being submitted um
[23:34] with the amendments have to do with it
[23:37] um
[23:37] being sunsetted if for some reason
[23:40] uh Milton did not receive the funding.
[23:43] Um but the intent and the idea behind it
[23:45] is to continue to support more and more
[23:47] courts um to have a successful
[23:49] therapeutic court model um because as a
[23:51] state they notice that it is an
[23:53] epidemic that needs to be treated. Um so
[23:57] while there is a potential, um it's it's
[24:01] less likely. Um I can tell you for uh
[24:04] Puyallup I think this is our
[24:07] fourth year of having um money supported
[24:10] uh for therapeutic court. Um and so
[24:14] their push is to get more people live.
[24:15] So one of their main things is to get
[24:17] Milton um going successful for their
[24:20] Milton Drug Court program.
[24:23] >> Yeah, that's great. Uh thank you for
[24:24] that. Uh and I'll just just to grant
[24:27] that I don't have any more questions,
[24:28] but I just want to say I also understand
[24:30] that AOC has that goal of implementing
[24:33] um and I think this is a very important
[24:35] funding priority statewide. Even if it
[24:37] was Milton funding I would suggest we do
[24:39] it because in my experience
[24:41] which is limited, but drug court has
[24:42] been very successful. Um but I I did
[24:45] that when I was in law school, I helped
[24:46] with that and that was
[24:47] 16 17 years ago and it was successful
[24:50] then. It's only proved more successful.
[24:51] I'm aware of various various studies on
[24:53] the issue. It's very good. So I really
[24:54] appreciate you doing this and getting it
[24:56] working for Milton, because those 240
[24:58] cases those aren't
[25:01] other people. Those are Milton
[25:02] residents, and we should be helping
[25:03] them. So, thank you for bringing this
[25:05] forward.
[25:06] >> Thank you.
[25:08] >> Yes, Councilmember Mounts.
[25:13] » Thank you for being here.
[25:14] >> Thank you.
[25:15] >> I just wondered if you would speak um a
[25:18] little bit to the budget allocation. It
[25:21] looks like there's almost 26,000
[25:24] going to housing, food, bus passes,
[25:28] and hygiene, evaluations, treatment, and
[25:30] testing, which
[25:32] I just looking at the looking at the
[25:35] goals of the program,
[25:37] I would think that
[25:39] the bulk of the funding would go toward
[25:41] those things, but it's 26,000 out of
[25:44] 204,000. So, if you could just speak to
[25:46] that a little bit, is that enough money
[25:49] for those services?
[25:53] » A lot of the um budget money that we use
[25:57] is to supplement
[25:59] um what the uh participants will have. A
[26:03] lot of them we help them get their um
[26:06] identification. We help them get medical
[26:09] insurance. And so, it gets them the
[26:12] evaluations that might not be in covered
[26:14] by insurance, but the majority of the
[26:17] services that they will get will be
[26:20] covered by their medical insurance for
[26:22] the alcohol and drug treatment. And so,
[26:24] this is used to supplement that.
[26:27] >> So, this is like the state um
[26:30] medical
[26:32] insurance. I I'm assuming that a lot of
[26:35] the participants aren't working and
[26:37] getting
[26:39] insurance coverage from their employers,
[26:41] right?
[26:41] >> Yeah.
[26:42] Um so, I will tell you that a lot of
[26:45] this budget is based um modeled off of
[26:47] Puyallup's as well. Again, we've been
[26:49] successfully doing Puyallup for a
[26:51] handful of years now. Um and then we had
[26:53] a grant when we launched in PUALP. Um,
[26:55] what we're finding is the majority of
[26:57] folks once they get support with the
[26:59] insurance that we don't end up covering
[27:00] it under um, our funding um, because
[27:03] they are eligible for the state's
[27:05] insurance to get the evaluations and
[27:07] treatments. Um, so far we have yet to
[27:09] have to stand in to do that piece. Um,
[27:11] the additional pieces that we have to
[27:12] get do is more of the support function.
[27:15] Um, that is getting them to treatment
[27:17] facilities, getting them to court. Um,
[27:19] that's where the bus passes come in. Um,
[27:21] doing the random UAs to help keep them
[27:23] accountable. Um, doing other sorts of
[27:26] classes for them. So, it's more of the
[27:28] other support um, where you see the cost
[27:31] in there. Um, so the bulk of all these
[27:34] programs is always personnel um, because
[27:37] it's it takes close management um, of
[27:40] this money and to make sure that
[27:42] participants are held accountable and
[27:44] can be successful through this program.
[27:46] And so hence that's why the majority is
[27:48] through that personnel. And yes, it
[27:50] while it might seem low, we just do our
[27:51] best um, to be um, good stewards of the
[27:55] public funds and um, we try to just, you
[27:58] know, be
[28:01] utilize the funds available to support
[28:03] the participants. And so that money will
[28:05] probably grow um,
[28:08] cuz and you more people will start to,
[28:11] you know, we start filing more people
[28:12] through this program. Ideally we will be
[28:15] able to help more folks. So,
[28:19] » Does that answer your question?
[28:20] >> Yes, thank you.
[28:23] » Yes, Council Member Hall.
[28:26] >> So, how do you rate how the system's
[28:29] going? Say you come back in a year, what
[28:32] kind of statistics can you um, are you
[28:34] going to show us um, what we've done?
[28:38] >> [laughter]
[28:38] >> Administrative Office of the Courts
[28:40] requires us to keep statistics. Um, so
[28:44] we will keep track of the number people
[28:47] that enter, the number of people that
[28:50] entered into treatment, the number of
[28:53] people that reoffended or commit new
[28:55] offenses, a number of people that
[28:57] dropped out of treatment. Um those are
[29:00] all statistics and the number of people
[29:02] that graduated, hopefully a lot.
[29:06] Um those are the statistics that we will
[29:08] track, that we're required to track with
[29:10] the administrative office of the courts.
[29:13] Are there other things that we
[29:15] Uh so those are we we're mandated when
[29:18] we're using those funds to keep track
[29:20] and so we will be able to come back and
[29:23] present that data to you also to
[29:25] hopefully show our successes.
[29:28] >> Yeah, I look forward to that.
[29:31] » Any additional questions? Comments?
[29:35] >> Comment.
[29:37] >> Yes.
[29:38] Chief.
[29:39] >> Um
[29:40] first of all, let me say that I I um
[29:42] support drug courts. I think they're a
[29:44] great thing and I want to thank Judge
[29:45] Allen and Ellen
[29:47] for doing their
[29:49] this work and going to AOC and
[29:50] soliciting and and making us eligible
[29:52] for this program.
[29:54] And then one of the things that I want
[29:55] to talk about because I also have
[29:58] helped start a drug court in my previous
[30:00] jurisdiction where I was the elected
[30:01] sheriff and um
[30:03] one of the things that we look at, of
[30:05] course, is the
[30:07] um
[30:08] if you want to see how healthy your
[30:09] population is, go and look at your jails
[30:11] and try to figure out why incarceration
[30:13] and recidivism is occurring.
[30:15] And uh
[30:17] one of the things is there's a some
[30:19] facts out there and this is estimates uh
[30:22] that six out of 10 people are dealing
[30:24] with some kind of substance abuse issue.
[30:26] And 41% of those people will have a a
[30:28] coexisting condition, meaning mental
[30:30] health and substance abuse.
[30:32] And one of the things is is this program
[30:34] focuses on treatment rather than
[30:36] incarceration because I can tell you
[30:37] that incarceration is one of the most
[30:39] expensive
[30:41] ways to deal with uh individuals that
[30:44] are struggling
[30:45] um in society for a variety of reasons,
[30:48] whether it's substance abuse, mental
[30:49] health, socioeconomic, or just plain old
[30:52] uh deviant behavior and lack of
[30:54] accountability. And so,
[30:56] my experience with the drug courts has
[30:57] been very positive, and
[31:00] I can tell you that again, estimation
[31:02] that you look at, the recidivism for
[31:04] drug court is 11%
[31:07] to 46% versus 34 to 79% when you look at
[31:11] people that are not getting any kind of
[31:13] treatment. So,
[31:15] our uh jail population just here at the
[31:18] misdemeanor level is about a quarter of
[31:19] a million, and we're probably maybe hit
[31:21] 250,000
[31:23] um because uh we're having a a lot more
[31:26] people that are in need, and we have not
[31:28] had the tools to be able to focus on um
[31:32] providing resources to these individuals
[31:34] that are suffering with mental illness
[31:35] and substance abuse. And the coexisting
[31:38] condition, meaning what it means is is
[31:40] that either maybe they were mentally ill
[31:42] and they started doing drugs to deal
[31:43] with their mental illness, or maybe they
[31:45] started
[31:46] doing drugs, and it was voluntary, but
[31:48] then it moved into the realm of creating
[31:50] a mental a permanent mental illness. And
[31:52] so, by having drug court, we can
[31:54] identify these individuals that are uh
[31:57] good candidates that we can provide some
[32:00] rehabilitation services and focus on
[32:02] treatment rather than incarceration. And
[32:05] then, if you were to take the numbers,
[32:06] and you were to to loosely subtract the
[32:09] 46% recidivism rate from the 79
[32:12] uh percent uh recidivism rate um at the
[32:15] both highest levels of recidivism
[32:17] between the two um in our current
[32:20] budget, uh that's potentially about
[32:22] $70,000 that we would save on rather
[32:25] than incarceration and providing
[32:26] treatment, and hopefully reduce these
[32:28] individuals from being habitual
[32:30] offenders. So, I just wanted to remark
[32:32] that I'm a big proponent. I've seen it
[32:34] work. It's been a very successful,
[32:36] and I'm very proud to be a part of a
[32:38] city that is
[32:39] uh
[32:40] considering this and I'm very uh proud
[32:42] to be a partner with the courts and with
[32:44] the judge to be able to
[32:46] hopefully facilitate this program. So,
[32:49] it makes sense and my recommendation to
[32:52] council is that you should support this.
[32:55] >> Thank you, Chief.
[32:57] Anyone else?
[33:00] Judge Allen, thank you very much for for
[33:02] coming this evening.
[33:03] >> Thank you. I appreciate it.
[33:05] >> and staff will be working with you, I'm
[33:07] sure, uh going forward.
[33:09] >> Okay.
[33:10] On the next steps and the so on.
[33:12] >> yeah.
[33:12] >> Okay.
[33:13] Um
[33:16] Perfect.
[33:17] >> [laughter]
[33:17] >> Thank you for your time.
[33:17] >> Thank you. I appreciate it.
[33:19] >> We've got the paperwork, we're preparing
[33:21] it, and bringing it forward to council
[33:23] as an agenda item. And we'll let you
[33:24] guys know when that happens if you
[33:26] decide you want to be here for
[33:27] >> quick question. Who should be the
[33:29] contact person where No,
[33:31] um
[33:32] >> [laughter]
[33:36] » Everybody's pointing fingers.
[33:38] >> [laughter]
[33:38] >> Um to work with the city of Puyallup on
[33:40] amending the contract. I don't know who
[33:42] that would be the
[33:44] um
[33:45] the key person that would get with them.
[33:47] Is it our city attorney? Are they
[33:50] >> It's usually the mayor, city attorney,
[33:51] and myself that we go over review the
[33:54] contract. Um but uh Michelle is on the
[33:57] finance end of it, so.
[33:59] >> Right. So, okay, well, we'll talk off
[34:02] record about next steps of who's going
[34:05] to be working with Puyallup and getting
[34:07] that
[34:08] >> Yeah.
[34:08] >> done.
[34:10] All right.
[34:11] >> Perfect.
[34:11] >> Thank you so much for having me. I
[34:12] appreciate it.
[34:13] >> Thank you very much.
[34:16] » Thank you.
[34:18] >> All right, the uh next item on our
[34:20] agenda is another presentation um
[34:22] on the state of the Pierce County
[34:24] Library.
[34:27] I'm sorry, I don't have any names. So,
[34:28] if you could please introduce
[34:29] yourselves.
[34:30] >> Happy to do so. Good evening, Mayor,
[34:32] council members. My name is Gretchen
[34:34] Caserotti. I'm the executive director of
[34:36] Pierce County Libraries.
[34:38] Um and with me this evening is Chad
[34:40] Harper, who's the library operations
[34:42] supervisor at our Milton Edgewood
[34:44] branch. And Steve, our regional services
[34:46] manager, is helping to pass out copies
[34:48] of the presentation, which I understand
[34:50] you all have print copies of this
[34:52] evening.
[34:53] Thank you so much for giving us some of
[34:54] your um time on the agenda this evening.
[34:57] Uh it's with great pleasure that we get
[34:58] to come out into the various
[35:00] incorporated cities that are annexed
[35:02] into the Pierce County Library system.
[35:04] Go ahead, next slide.
[35:05] Um and just share a little bit about
[35:07] what's happening in the library. Uh I
[35:09] started in this role in 2022 and um have
[35:13] had the chance to work across Pierce
[35:15] County, the 2,000 square miles from the
[35:17] mountain to the sound of our service
[35:19] area. If you're not familiar, Pierce
[35:21] County Library system is a junior taxing
[35:23] district. Um similar to the way school
[35:25] districts are structured, we have a
[35:27] governing body, a board of five
[35:29] trustees, and um we we serve the annexed
[35:33] cities within and the unincorporated
[35:35] areas of Pierce County. Not Puyallup uh
[35:38] and not Tacoma, um but the other cities
[35:40] within. So, pleased to be able to come
[35:42] out and share what's happening, meet the
[35:44] elected representatives, and answer
[35:46] questions that anyone might have about
[35:48] the the happenings in the Pierce County
[35:50] Libraries.
[35:52] Um go ahead, next slide.
[35:53] So, when it comes to finances, um we've
[35:56] been working hard in recent years to
[35:59] ensure that the library is increasing
[36:00] our transparency around um the taxpayer
[36:03] funds that fund the organization. We are
[36:06] about 97, 98% funded completely by
[36:09] property taxes. Um by state law, there
[36:11] are very few revenue opportunities for
[36:13] library districts in the way that
[36:15] municipalities enjoy.
[36:17] Okay, you do have copies.
[36:19] Um
[36:20] and uh so, we are very heavily reliant
[36:22] on that. And as you are all aware with
[36:24] the 1% property tax cap in the state of
[36:26] Washington. Um, our revenues are limited
[36:29] while expenses continue to grow. And
[36:31] similar to your um,
[36:33] drug court, um, the majority of our
[36:34] costs go to personnel. About 66% of our
[36:37] annual budget each year is to the people
[36:40] who make the magic happen. We would
[36:41] otherwise just have buildings with books
[36:44] uh, around the Pierce County. And um, we
[36:46] all know that you can uh, you can have
[36:49] access to things, but then when you have
[36:51] meaning, context, and support is where
[36:53] um, people really have more value uh, to
[36:56] what the library can bring to a
[36:57] community. Um,
[36:59] we uh, also have um, invested in more
[37:03] transparency around the platform. So,
[37:05] not just coming out to share with our
[37:07] um, our representatives in this in the
[37:09] county, but we have launched using
[37:10] ClearGov. And so now anyone can view the
[37:13] library's um,
[37:14] funding in the budget uh, budget brief
[37:16] documents that are available on the
[37:18] website. And also through the um, SAO
[37:21] for the state of Washington has a
[37:22] financial intelligence tool. So, you can
[37:24] also see where the money went. Um, and
[37:27] um, really excited to continue to move
[37:29] in that direction. Currently we're at 33
[37:31] cents per thousand of assessed value.
[37:33] And since I've been here that number
[37:34] hasn't changed. We've been really
[37:36] working to control expenses in the
[37:38] ever-increasing environment um, and
[37:41] knowing that we have no new revenue to
[37:42] accommodate that. Um, so we've currently
[37:44] held at 33 cents uh, for the recent few
[37:47] years.
[37:48] Uh, let's see. Next slide, please. The
[37:51] small bit that is self-generated um,
[37:53] we're really grateful to have such great
[37:55] supporters in in um, formal structures.
[37:59] So, we have a Pierce County Library
[38:00] Foundation. And every October we do a
[38:03] fundraiser which is actually fun. It is
[38:06] a trivia bee um, where we all get
[38:08] together and you get to nerd out um, for
[38:11] a good cause. Our foundation provides
[38:12] the support for book giveaways to
[38:14] children in the summer as well as a
[38:16] variety of other supports at the local
[38:18] level in the individual branches as well
[38:20] as for the system. And then we also have
[38:22] uh Friends of the Library groups um and
[38:25] Chad will tell you a little bit about
[38:27] ways that community members can get
[38:28] involved at our local branch here with
[38:31] the Friends group.
[38:35] » Hello. Um we have a really amazing, very
[38:38] active uh Friends of the Library
[38:40] organization that we share with the Fife
[38:43] branch. We're the Fife Milton Edgewood
[38:46] um Friends of the Library. We do um
[38:49] periodically we have a book sale. People
[38:52] uh people from the community come in and
[38:53] donate uh books that people can come
[38:56] into the branch and it's a little bit on
[38:58] the honor system. We have a little box
[39:00] for people to put in cash or a QR code
[39:03] if they want to Venmo the Friends of the
[39:06] Library to um
[39:07] to buy used books. And then we uh the
[39:11] librarians pull the money together and
[39:13] work with our uh our volunteers with the
[39:17] Friends of the Library to support um
[39:20] various programs. People if we want to
[39:22] have a speaker or a presenter uh come in
[39:25] to one of our programs um and if they
[39:27] have a speaking fee of some kind the we
[39:31] are able to pay them from the Friends of
[39:34] the Library funds.
[39:37] Next slide.
[39:40] Um sorry.
[39:41] Um just a little bit more about the
[39:43] Milton Edgewood branch. We were built in
[39:46] 2011. I think we're one of the newer
[39:48] branches in the system. Um last year we
[39:52] had a little bit more than 60,000 people
[39:54] come through our doors and check out um
[39:59] almost 83,000 books and materials.
[40:01] That's books, music CDs, physical
[40:03] audiobooks, DVDs, um as well as
[40:06] magazines as well. We have 11,677
[40:11] card holders and last year we had 48
[40:14] classes and events and almost 500 people
[40:18] in our community attended those events,
[40:20] as well. And then
[40:24] » And and excited to see the system
[40:26] growing that number overall. So, many
[40:28] libraries in America um in the
[40:30] post-pandemic environment are still
[40:32] working to return to pre um pre-COVID
[40:36] use. And in the time that I've been
[40:39] here, we've worked really hard with the
[40:40] new strategic plan in particular to
[40:42] build an internal system around
[40:44] programs. Um a lot of folks will come to
[40:47] library programs, even if they don't
[40:48] have a library card. You might have a
[40:50] grandparent who's helping to watch the
[40:51] kids on the weekend come to a storytime,
[40:54] or um a senior that works at a uh lives
[40:57] at a facility, and they bring a group in
[40:58] for a program. Um and so, we look at a
[41:01] variety of metrics, and programs is an
[41:03] incredible strategy for people to come
[41:06] and discover new things at the library
[41:07] and connect with their community. So, we
[41:10] are going to be very excited to come
[41:11] back next year and let you know that
[41:13] those numbers are increasing uh in 2026.
[41:15] And as a system, that new strategic plan
[41:17] um was a refresh with our mission,
[41:19] vision, and values. The Board of
[41:21] Trustees approved that in 2025, and
[41:23] we're continuing to work forward and
[41:25] implement that in our operations and
[41:27] annual plans. Um I want to especially
[41:30] call out the um organizational value of
[41:33] transformative hospitality. And just um
[41:35] Council member Cedar, what I was hearing
[41:37] from you, for example, is we really want
[41:39] everyone who walks through our door, no
[41:40] matter where they come to from where
[41:43] they're at in their life, to feel
[41:44] welcome, to feel valued, to have a
[41:46] really personalized experience um where
[41:49] the staff are really meeting that
[41:50] person's needs, and that looks different
[41:53] for everybody. Every person who walks in
[41:55] the door is has got a whole life outside
[41:58] of this one interaction. Um and so,
[42:00] we're really leaning into that as an
[42:02] organizational value and how we want
[42:04] that to inform the services that the
[42:06] staff deliver every day.
[42:08] Next slide, those major goals include
[42:11] strategic partnerships, which is another
[42:12] reason why we're here.
[42:14] Um really looking to um break down
[42:16] siloed walls and and silos
[42:19] uh across the county where um you know,
[42:22] we're also working with peer navigators
[42:24] in some of our library branches. Um and
[42:26] in fact uh looking to be bringing in
[42:29] social work and to our practices and um
[42:32] partnering with law enforcement across
[42:34] the county. So, we really want to be
[42:35] purposeful and intentional in the way
[42:37] that we approach our partnerships um
[42:39] from everything from nonprofits to local
[42:42] governments, um as well as looking at
[42:44] important things to people across the
[42:46] county around environmental goals,
[42:49] practical financial goals um to make
[42:51] sure that our library operations are
[42:53] going to be able to be sustained into
[42:54] the future. So, that's just a snapshot
[42:56] of our of our new strategic goal areas
[42:59] and couple of things coming up we want
[43:01] to tell you about and we'll get out of
[43:03] your hair.
[43:05] >> We try to have our librarians work
[43:07] really hard to
[43:09] Sorry. Try to have programs that meet um
[43:12] all age groups and all interests. Um we
[43:15] have an adult Medicare awareness class
[43:17] that is coming up. I would expect that
[43:19] to be very very popular. A few weeks ago
[43:22] we had a sort of an intro to estate
[43:25] planning. Uh we had an outside group
[43:27] come in and we were able to provide the
[43:30] space for that. Um
[43:32] but by the time the library branch
[43:34] opened we had a line that snaked kind of
[43:38] around the shopping mall where we are
[43:40] located. I think we had 50 people
[43:41] waiting to come in and then about
[43:43] another 20 came in shortly after the
[43:45] program started.
[43:46] Um so, I would expect this to attract a
[43:49] similar number of people. We do have a
[43:52] very active and robust book club that
[43:54] meets once a month and I don't remember
[43:57] what this month's book club book is. I
[44:00] should have looked it up before I came
[44:01] here.
[44:03] Personal librarian. Thank you. Yeah.
[44:06] Thank you.
[44:07] That entirely unplanned, I promise.
[44:10] Um
[44:12] >> [clears throat]
[44:12] >> Yeah.
[44:13] We have a couple STEAM programs. Um one
[44:16] geared for um
[44:18] younger kids or kids of all ages um for
[44:20] a kids discovery lab program on
[44:22] Wednesday the 26th, and then one that's
[44:24] geared towards the teens in your life.
[44:26] Uh it's called a fantasy job board. And
[44:28] then we uh we have
[44:31] weekly story times every Monday from
[44:34] 10:30 to 11:15, story time for babies.
[44:37] Um come in with your little ones and
[44:39] hear a really fun story. And then we
[44:41] also have a master gardeners uh program
[44:43] for teens as well that's focused on
[44:46] sustainability.
[44:50] No close?
[44:51] >> This impact story.
[44:52] >> Oh, sure. Uh I'm going to share an
[44:54] impact story that I thought of on the
[44:56] way here because it happened just this
[44:58] past Saturday, and I think it's kind of
[44:59] cool. Um we had on Friday we had someone
[45:03] come in who I'd never seen in the
[45:04] library before. They came in with a very
[45:07] um
[45:08] uh
[45:09] very haphazardly collected group of
[45:12] papers in a torn envelope and said,
[45:14] "Someone dropped these outside of the
[45:15] library, and I have no idea whose they
[45:17] are, but they seem important because
[45:19] they have things like birth certificates
[45:21] and a driver's license and other things
[45:23] in it."
[45:24] And so I thanked them for that, and then
[45:27] another staff member and I went through
[45:29] it to see if we recognized a name.
[45:31] Fortunately, because we didn't recognize
[45:33] the name, uh we found the driver's
[45:36] license in the pile.
[45:38] Um we recognized the photo of the
[45:41] patron, and I said, "I know who this
[45:44] person is because he comes in almost
[45:46] every single evening." And so the next
[45:48] evening, Saturday evening before I had
[45:50] left, he was in uh sitting at one of the
[45:52] tables in the branch just like he always
[45:54] is. And I went over to him and I said,
[45:56] "Did you happen to lose something very
[45:58] important outside the library?" And he
[46:01] says, "Well, what do you mean?" And I
[46:02] said, "Well, someone came in and said
[46:05] they had found this sitting laying on
[46:07] the sidewalk from outside the branch."
[46:09] And he says, "I'm not sure." And I said,
[46:10] "Well, let me go show it to you." So, I
[46:12] brought it out of our safe and I said,
[46:14] "Does this look familiar?" And he said,
[46:15] "Oh my god, this is filled with super
[46:18] important documents that I needed to
[46:20] send down to California to get my
[46:22] passport, blah blah blah blah blah." And
[46:25] so, we were able to reunite him with
[46:27] driver's license, bank cards, uh a lot
[46:30] of checks to be deposited, his birth
[46:31] certificate, and a lot of very important
[46:34] uh applications. And so, I like to
[46:36] think, yes, we're building with books
[46:38] and DVDs, but at the end of the day, I
[46:40] always think libraries are there to help
[46:43] people first and foremost. And so, um
[46:45] that was one of my more favorite
[46:47] stories.
[46:47] >> people turning it in.
[46:51] >> Thank you, Jen.
[46:52] >> Thank you all so much. We'd be happy to
[46:54] stand for any questions that you all
[46:55] might have. Um appreciate your time.
[46:58] >> Yes, Councilmember Roberts.
[47:01] >> Thank you, Mayor. I just had a question
[47:02] about the uh fantasy job board. What is
[47:04] that? It shows a teens uh teams STEAM
[47:07] program. I'm just curious what that is.
[47:11] >> Go ahead.
[47:12] >> I'm honestly not too sure.
[47:14] >> [laughter]
[47:15] >> I I know that the teen programs do a lot
[47:18] with envisioning futures and youth
[47:20] development. So, while I don't know the
[47:22] details of this particular program,
[47:24] similar to like a fantasy football
[47:26] league, um they do a lot of really
[47:27] active programming with youth that make
[47:29] them like I don't What's the term?
[47:31] Gamify?
[47:32] >> Okay.
[47:32] >> Um and so, like our youth volunteer
[47:35] programs are also looking at what, you
[47:37] know, what are you good at and what do
[47:38] you want to do with your life? So, my
[47:40] assumption is that it's in that vein of
[47:43] making it fun to envision a future.
[47:45] >> Okay. Um do you know the age range? I
[47:47] mean, it says teens, so I'm assuming 13
[47:49] on.
[47:50] >> Yeah.
[47:50] >> I'm just curious for my own personal
[47:52] sign, that's all.
[47:53] >> [laughter]
[47:53] >> To get them off the screen, that's all.
[47:55] >> Yeah. Because it's a STEAM activity and
[47:58] it's a fantasy job board, I'm going to
[48:00] make an educated guess pulling from my
[48:02] school librarian days and say maybe it's
[48:05] an activity where
[48:07] STEAM science, technology are
[48:10] coming up with ideas for
[48:13] fantasy science-y jobs that might exist
[48:16] in the future that they might want to
[48:18] invent or apply for someday. I don't
[48:20] know.
[48:21] >> [laughter]
[48:22] >> Sure, why not?
[48:22] >> But generally teen programs are yeah, 13
[48:24] to 18. And no one gets carded for that.
[48:27] So if they're like 12 and a half,
[48:29] they're probably going to be fine.
[48:31] Parents get to choose or 19.
[48:33] >> Thank you.
[48:36] Any additional questions or comments?
[48:40] Thank you very much for coming this
[48:42] evening.
[48:42] >> a great evening.
[48:42] >> Thank you.
[48:48] All right. The next item on our agenda
[48:50] this evening is a public hearing
[48:53] uh for the comp plan amendment and
[48:55] zoning map. It's on page 15 of your
[48:58] packet and planning manager Stollsteimer
[49:01] will be presenting this item.
[49:03] >> Thank you. Um
[49:04] >> [clears throat]
[49:04] >> this was introduced at the last meeting.
[49:07] Um to this is for the public hearing
[49:09] portion that is required.
[49:11] Um there will be It is on the agenda if
[49:14] there's any discussion, it won't be on
[49:16] for adoption until the first meeting on
[49:18] October. Just a quick recap. Um so the
[49:23] comprehensive plan, this is a joint
[49:25] hearing because there's a
[49:28] um
[49:29] comprehensive plan future land use map
[49:31] change and the corresponding zoning.
[49:33] They are tied together, so the comments
[49:36] can be received together. There's two
[49:37] parts to the comp plan. The first is the
[49:40] map proposal and it is tied to the
[49:43] private um request for 2801 Redwood
[49:47] Street to change from urban residential
[49:50] multi-family to uptown mixed use on both
[49:53] the future land use map and the zoning
[49:55] map. Just a refresher, it's currently
[49:58] zoned for
[49:59] multi-family which is apartments. But
[50:03] it's more at the density of 12.
[50:06] Where if it goes to the mixed use, it
[50:08] would be more of a density. It could go
[50:09] up to potentially 30.
[50:12] It also would have the potential of
[50:14] commercial uses if um
[50:17] the applicant if the current applicant
[50:20] is looking at housing but by changing it would change.
[50:24] It would give those options at some
[50:25] point. Just a quick
[50:27] point out
[50:29] for the council, their application forms
[50:33] is on page 73 and 74
[50:36] where they basically they're kind of
[50:38] making their argument. The idea that it
[50:40] does allow for
[50:42] a variety of
[50:44] um
[50:45] housing. There is a charge in the state
[50:48] as well as the comprehensive conference
[50:50] of plan to look to make sure that we
[50:52] have a mixed variety of both types of
[50:54] housing and pricing range of housing.
[50:56] And so um
[50:58] you know, there are parts of the
[50:59] majority of our city is single family
[51:01] homes. There's also some parts that are
[51:04] intended to be the more mixed use, the
[51:07] more apartments, a little bit higher
[51:08] density.
[51:10] Um and so there they have kind of worked
[51:12] through their how they feel like they
[51:15] meet the criteria for that. Um the
[51:17] second kind of half of the conference of
[51:20] plan amendments is the six-year capital
[51:23] improvement plans. I did go through and
[51:25] we should have um as at last time
[51:29] it sort of should have the most current
[51:31] numbers. I was thinking there was a
[51:33] question related to that. I was thinking
[51:34] Dustin will be back by today but Dustin
[51:36] is not back till Wednesday. So if there
[51:38] is any specific questions about the
[51:40] capital improvement plan, we can get
[51:42] those answered before October.
[51:44] Um
[51:45] so there is that. So at that point I
[51:48] will stop and we're able to open up the
[51:50] public hearing. And then, like I said,
[51:52] after the public hearing, the first
[51:53] agenda item is discussion if the council
[51:56] has anything they wish to discuss or ask
[51:58] questions on.
[52:01] » Okay. Um it is 7:51
[52:05] p.m. and I uh open the public hearing.
[52:08] Is there anyone
[52:10] uh in the audience that would like to
[52:11] speak on this item? Yes, please come
[52:13] forward.
[52:14] Please give your uh your name and city
[52:16] for the record.
[52:17] >> [snorts]
[52:19] » Good evening. My name's Taylor Wyman.
[52:23] I am
[52:24] real estate advisor for Roy Skinner and
[52:27] his family. I'm here on behalf of the
[52:30] land use comp plan change.
[52:34] So, any of you guys are familiar with
[52:36] what we've requested. Obviously, the
[52:38] Skinner family's owned this property for
[52:41] since 1986.
[52:45] And I know I've been in real estate for
[52:47] a little over 10 years now. Obviously,
[52:49] housing development can always be a
[52:50] little
[52:51] contentious, kind of depending on where
[52:53] it is.
[52:54] New development, not everybody loves.
[52:57] Um so, I understand
[53:00] Ted's position.
[53:01] Um obviously, if you have lived
[53:02] somewhere for a while,
[53:04] own a single family home, maybe you
[53:05] don't want new development next door.
[53:09] I think, obviously, looking at this
[53:12] from kind of the city's perspective and
[53:14] the comp plan, reviewing that,
[53:16] you know, over the next 20 years,
[53:18] looking forward,
[53:19] I don't see the city's
[53:21] determined
[53:22] that this area along Meridian Avenue
[53:25] is designed to be the mixed-use kind of
[53:29] center of the city.
[53:30] All right, you want the retail, you want
[53:32] it to be walkable, you want apartments,
[53:34] you want people to have a place to live,
[53:35] go out to eat, um you know,
[53:38] entertainment of that sort. So, I see if
[53:40] you, know, if you're looking at the map,
[53:41] you can see down, all right, if you look
[53:43] down 28th Avenue
[53:45] all the way down to Taylor Street,
[53:48] right, it's a pretty straight line.
[53:50] And then, this property in question,
[53:53] I'll see it would if that line continued
[53:55] would go right through it. But, I'll see
[53:58] with the map zoning and how you design
[54:00] it,
[54:01] you're not going to have two zones for
[54:03] one parcel. So, it went around it, you
[54:05] know, if it had gone through or if it
[54:07] was multiple parcels, you know, you
[54:09] probably would have maybe 2/3 of that
[54:11] parcel would be the Uptown mixed-use
[54:14] zoning versus the urban residential.
[54:17] Um so, and obviously like one of the
[54:20] main concerns would be impact to
[54:23] neighboring properties. I'll see to the
[54:26] east, you have already you know, Uptown
[54:29] mixed-use to the south, it's Uptown
[54:31] mixed-use. To the north, you have both
[54:34] Uptown mixed-use and then one
[54:36] kind of similar older single-family home
[54:39] that's URM. Uh and then you have the
[54:41] dock at Surprise Lake,
[54:43] which is obviously a large 330-unit
[54:46] apartment apartment complex to the west.
[54:48] So,
[54:49] you kind of you know, it's designed, you
[54:51] have the huge apartment complex. I think
[54:53] it would make sense
[54:54] um
[54:55] to increase the density from right now
[54:57] it's 36.
[54:59] You go to 90 units, I'll see it brings
[55:01] in, you know, more homes, more families,
[55:03] more people that are going down Meridian
[55:05] Corridor, spending money, going out to
[55:07] eat, kind of improving that. Um
[55:10] and also it's one of one of the few
[55:12] developable developable parcels along
[55:15] that corridor that's not already retail
[55:17] or um some buildings already on it.
[55:21] Thank you. So, I appreciate it.
[55:23] >> Thank you very much.
[55:24] >> Uh yeah. Happy to answer any questions.
[55:26] Um
[55:27] I don't know if I can do that.
[55:28] >> Not in a public hearing.
[55:29] >> Okay.
[55:30] >> All right.
[55:30] >> Well, I appreciate your time and your
[55:32] consideration.
[55:33] >> Thank you.
[55:33] >> Anyone else uh
[55:35] wish to testify in the hearing.
[55:39] Yes, please come forward. State your
[55:41] name and and uh
[55:44] city for the record, please.
[55:46] >> Jacqueline Whalen, Milton, Washington,
[55:48] speaking as an individual citizen.
[55:51] And just request uh
[55:53] and discussion from staff
[55:56] on a question that I didn't really hear
[55:59] answered, which was
[56:00] really clarifying the distinction
[56:03] between someone putting in an
[56:04] application
[56:06] versus a zoning designation. What is the
[56:08] guarantee that the application is what
[56:11] actually will take place?
[56:13] And uh if staff could please comment on
[56:19] could a zoning change be done with
[56:22] conditions? I'm just like a master plan
[56:24] kind of thing. So, those were questions
[56:26] that citizens were asking me and I just
[56:28] wanted to pass them along. Thank you.
[56:31] >> Thank you.
[56:32] Any Anyone else like to testify this
[56:35] evening?
[56:37] Seeing none,
[56:39] I close the public hearing at 7:55.
[56:45] All right, moving on to our regular
[56:47] agenda.
[56:48] Um the first item on our
[56:51] regular agenda is on page 47 of your
[56:54] packet. It's the comp plan amendment
[56:55] ordinance 2146-26.
[56:59] And
[57:02] » Um again, I
[57:03] >> And the planning manager stopped there.
[57:05] >> So, um Like I said, both um A and B are
[57:08] on here. If there's any um further
[57:10] questions or discussions, this is
[57:12] legislative. So, it means that um
[57:15] it is the planning commission um made a
[57:20] rec- makes a recommendation. Council
[57:22] gets to make the final decision. Um
[57:25] there is
[57:27] some recommended criteria to kind of
[57:29] look at, but in general, the the plan is
[57:33] the council's discretion. So, you get to
[57:36] make that decision on if you feel like
[57:38] this fits within the overall
[57:41] comprehensive plan and then follow up.
[57:44] Um and to the a couple of the one
[57:47] question that you know, I said I kind of
[57:49] addressed the other the
[57:51] first comment that was earlier tonight
[57:52] just the idea that um
[57:55] it is zoned right now for apartments. It
[57:57] would be a higher density apartments.
[57:59] Um
[58:00] under the what they're proposing. Um I
[58:03] will clarify that again.
[58:06] There is no you can't link it to that
[58:08] per se. If you make the comprehensive
[58:10] plan amendment change and you make the
[58:12] zoning change, it does allow whatever is
[58:15] in that use table under that zone. So,
[58:18] you can't condition it or anything. Um
[58:22] so,
[58:24] there is that. Um at that point, I will
[58:26] see if there's just any other further
[58:28] dis- questions for me or discussion
[58:30] amongst the council. Um like I said,
[58:32] it's not on for action. It'll come back
[58:35] in October for that. It's still under
[58:37] state review.
[58:40] » Yes, Council member
[58:41] McNally Martinez.
[58:42] >> I just have a quick question. Do you
[58:44] know why that property wasn't zoned that
[58:46] way originally being that it's right on
[58:48] the edge? Is there a formula that's
[58:50] used?
[58:50] >> No, it was um
[58:53] so, that kind of line right down there
[58:56] um
[58:58] most some of this was actually light
[59:00] industrial.
[59:02] And so, um
[59:05] the feeling was that didn't make sense
[59:07] to light industrial on the corner. This
[59:09] was already multi-family. So, we just
[59:11] left it as multi-family. It didn't it we
[59:14] just left that one. That wasn't one we
[59:15] were looking at changing. Um
[59:19] but we did change all of this to away
[59:22] from light industrial. Again, did not
[59:24] make sense to um match what was above
[59:28] which was sort of going to be that um,
[59:29] mixed use.
[59:31] >> There was no specific reason for that.
[59:33] >> no specific, it's just that's what it
[59:34] was and there was no um,
[59:37] you know, what we were looking at
[59:38] change, you know, there was definitely
[59:39] some some areas that just didn't that
[59:42] felt like needed to be changed. Um, but
[59:44] some areas if there wasn't a clear
[59:46] reason to, we didn't.
[59:50] » Any Any additional questions? Yes,
[59:52] Councilmember Mounts.
[59:55] » Thank you. And thank you for the
[59:58] really helpful chart on page 79.
[1:00:02] My understanding, and I think you just
[1:00:04] told me this, um, told us this,
[1:00:06] is it could be used for multi-family
[1:00:08] dwelling units, child care centers,
[1:00:10] religious institutions,
[1:00:12] adult family homes, restaurants,
[1:00:14] mercantile, personal professional
[1:00:16] services,
[1:00:17] and offices, those types of things.
[1:00:20] Would that,
[1:00:21] um,
[1:00:22] of course, logically require
[1:00:26] new roads to go in, coming coming out on
[1:00:28] Taylor, probably, so there'd be
[1:00:31] um, an exit onto Meridian and an exit
[1:00:35] onto Taylor. It's probably really
[1:00:38] premature for these
[1:00:40] kinds of questions, but I drove over
[1:00:42] there today and and I took a look at
[1:00:44] that area.
[1:00:45] Um,
[1:00:46] >> Yeah, so whatever, um,
[1:00:49] at this point, what you would be doing
[1:00:51] is simply saying, could those uses
[1:00:54] change? And yes, when we go to our use
[1:00:56] table,
[1:00:57] um,
[1:00:58] right now it's under URM,
[1:01:02] which for the most part is primarily
[1:01:04] just residential uses. It'll be moved to
[1:01:07] UMX, which is both residential and there
[1:01:09] are some commercial, quite a few
[1:01:11] commercials, because it is mixed use.
[1:01:13] Um, anything that they would still have
[1:01:16] to go through the four the full land use
[1:01:18] application process. So, depending on
[1:01:21] what it is,
[1:01:22] um
[1:01:23] in most most likely whatever they do,
[1:01:25] it's going to be a major um site plan.
[1:01:27] So, application's going to come in.
[1:01:30] Um it will be reviewed by, you know, and
[1:01:33] they will be required to have a traffic
[1:01:35] impact study. They will be required to
[1:01:38] show us all of where they're going to
[1:01:39] put roads, how they're going to deal
[1:01:40] with storm, how they're going to deal
[1:01:42] with parking, all of that. It gets
[1:01:44] reviewed by our engineers. Um notices go
[1:01:47] out um 500 ft to all of property owners.
[1:01:51] If there's enough interest, we would
[1:01:53] hold a neighborhood meeting. That's sort
[1:01:54] of an option depending on how many
[1:01:56] people are interested in that um if they
[1:01:58] want more information. And then like I
[1:02:00] said, it it uh um everything goes
[1:02:03] through the planning department, the
[1:02:04] community development department, but it
[1:02:06] um we're looking for fire to say yes,
[1:02:09] this looks good. The engineers to say
[1:02:11] yes, this looks good. Our traffic
[1:02:13] engineers saying yes, this looks good.
[1:02:15] Utilities. And then um and usually what
[1:02:18] they get is an approved site plan if it
[1:02:19] meets all the criteria. They may have
[1:02:21] some conditions. And then they then they
[1:02:23] go through civil, which is the fine-tune
[1:02:26] actual approving of exactly where those
[1:02:28] lines are going to go, and then building
[1:02:30] construction. So.
[1:02:32] >> So, thank you for that. And if I can
[1:02:34] piggyback on that, um given what Council
[1:02:37] member Cedar said last week,
[1:02:40] we're looking to strike a balance
[1:02:41] between affordable housing and urban
[1:02:44] development and commercial and canopy
[1:02:49] preservation. There's a lot of trees on
[1:02:51] that lot. It looks like that whole
[1:02:52] corner is wetlands. Um
[1:02:56] how would you how how would we or how
[1:02:59] would I
[1:03:00] strike that balance because it's a a
[1:03:03] large parcel given that that the
[1:03:05] Skinners own those three parcels
[1:03:07] together. And if it's zoned for future
[1:03:10] development, we're losing a big chunk of
[1:03:13] residential
[1:03:16] potentially. I mean, if we if we approve
[1:03:18] the zoning change, there's nothing to
[1:03:20] stop them from doing more commercial
[1:03:22] than there is
[1:03:24] residential, right?
[1:03:26] >> So, yeah, so um
[1:03:31] the
[1:03:33] just to kind of
[1:03:35] again
[1:03:36] until things are approved and final
[1:03:39] there's always things. But, the current
[1:03:41] proposals this right this property right
[1:03:43] here um
[1:03:44] is currently under contract with it is
[1:03:47] commercial and it's under contract with
[1:03:48] a commercial business and at that point
[1:03:50] I think that's going through. So, what
[1:03:53] this current um
[1:03:54] proposal is tied to would be this lot
[1:03:57] and this lot and this one is already um
[1:04:01] uptown mixed-use.
[1:04:03] Um so, yes, it
[1:04:05] you know, the current plan would be the current proposal
[1:04:09] is that it would be multi-family at a
[1:04:11] higher density than you can do um under
[1:04:14] multi-family. So,
[1:04:17] if but yes, once it's changed, if that
[1:04:20] deal fell through, somebody else could
[1:04:22] potentially look at it for something
[1:04:24] else.
[1:04:28] » Thank you.
[1:04:29] >> Councilmember Massie, do you have
[1:04:31] >> Thanks.
[1:04:32] Uh so, I think that the tool
[1:04:34] well, as I stated last week or whenever
[1:04:36] we talked about this, I'm I'm opposed to
[1:04:38] this.
[1:04:39] Um I I think the tool to guarantee that
[1:04:41] this is used for residence is is called
[1:04:43] a development contract under RCW 36.70B
[1:04:48] 170
[1:04:50] sequentially after that. Um
[1:04:52] that would guarantee that any rezone is
[1:04:55] under a contract that goes with the
[1:04:56] property and can't be used for
[1:04:58] commercial uses.
[1:05:00] But, even if we were to do that and
[1:05:02] guarantee that this is used for
[1:05:03] high-density residential in this area,
[1:05:06] you know, into the future, it still
[1:05:08] doesn't solve the problems that come
[1:05:10] with a rezone. And those problems, you
[1:05:13] know, we just heard some from
[1:05:14] Councilmember Mounts, but
[1:05:16] the other people around there, the
[1:05:17] setback gets reduced to virtually
[1:05:19] nothing, the building height increases
[1:05:20] exponentially. Um the the trees are
[1:05:23] going going to be gone. I mean, it just
[1:05:25] it's so counter to what we are trying to
[1:05:27] do.
[1:05:29] And I I don't see any compelling reason
[1:05:30] to do it. I appreciate, you know,
[1:05:33] um Mr. Skinner having a representative
[1:05:35] here. And I appreciate that he bought
[1:05:37] those three lots at I'm I'm sure a quite
[1:05:40] a deal back in the '80s. Um and that
[1:05:42] they're worth a lot right now, but
[1:05:44] that's not what our zoning code is meant
[1:05:46] to do. And as soon as we rezone, we lose
[1:05:49] control, even if we try to put something
[1:05:51] some attachment to the property.
[1:05:53] And frankly, with even with the best
[1:05:55] intentions right now,
[1:05:56] 15, 20, 25 years, if that turns in it
[1:05:59] becomes more profitable to make that a
[1:06:01] self-storage unit, then that's what
[1:06:03] it'll be. And I think that we have a
[1:06:05] duty, because I've never talked to a
[1:06:06] constituent who says they want more high
[1:06:09] density on the corridor reading quarter.
[1:06:11] That's what Edgewood has done, and I've
[1:06:13] heard nothing in the time I've been on
[1:06:14] council, but we don't want that. We want
[1:06:17] gentle density if we have to have it.
[1:06:19] And increasing the density there is not
[1:06:21] gentle density. So, I'm adamantly
[1:06:23] opposed to this. I've not heard any
[1:06:25] compelling reason to support it. Thanks.
[1:06:28] >> Any additional questions or discussion?
[1:06:33] All right, so this is going to be going
[1:06:36] to the planning commission?
[1:06:37] >> No, it'll come back to the council in
[1:06:39] October.
[1:06:40] >> Okay.
[1:06:40] >> For um action, which could, again, uh
[1:06:42] council has the authority to
[1:06:45] um approve, with, you know, changes or
[1:06:50] amendments, or deny.
[1:06:52] >> Okay. Will there be any more public
[1:06:54] hearings?
[1:06:55] >> There's not public hearings. Um the city
[1:06:57] I mean, council usually does take
[1:06:59] comment on an action item.
[1:07:01] So, and it is legislative, so it's it's
[1:07:04] like if you go through a hearing
[1:07:05] examiner, there it's quasi-judicial, you
[1:07:07] have to be very
[1:07:09] careful how you do things cuz it's sort
[1:07:11] of like a judge. With legislation, you
[1:07:13] are allowed to talk to constituents,
[1:07:14] even talk to the applicant
[1:07:16] as long as you're not doing a quorum or
[1:07:18] something, so
[1:07:19] it does have a little bit more
[1:07:21] flexibility.
[1:07:23] But yeah, it'll come back to council.
[1:07:24] And like I said, we always usually we
[1:07:26] take comment before action. So, if
[1:07:28] there's
[1:07:29] >> All right.
[1:07:30] Thank you. So, we will move on to
[1:07:34] regular agenda item B, the zoning map
[1:07:36] ordinance
[1:07:38] on page 77, and this is a discussion
[1:07:40] item.
[1:07:41] >> Is there anything additional or was it
[1:07:44] covered under comprehensive plan?
[1:07:47] We're all good.
[1:07:48] >> Are we good? Okay.
[1:07:50] Then let's move on to
[1:07:53] item C, which is an action item on page
[1:07:55] 85,
[1:07:57] budget amendment ordinance, and
[1:08:01] Finance Director Robeck will be
[1:08:04] presenting this item for us.
[1:08:06] >> Thank you, Mayor and Council. The
[1:08:08] proposed ordinance provides adjustments
[1:08:10] to the 2026 budget as adopted by City
[1:08:12] Council in December of 2025.
[1:08:15] This is the second ordinance amending
[1:08:17] the 2026 budget and reflects changes
[1:08:19] that have occurred since adoption of the
[1:08:21] original budget. These adjustments are
[1:08:23] detailed in the accompanying exhibits A
[1:08:26] and B.
[1:08:27] Exhibit A is a modification to the wage
[1:08:29] scale for one position title only. If
[1:08:32] approved, this amendment would change
[1:08:34] the position title of planning manager
[1:08:36] to community development director. This
[1:08:39] new title better aligns with the
[1:08:40] position's current duties and
[1:08:42] responsibilities,
[1:08:44] and more information regarding this
[1:08:45] position is included in the next agenda
[1:08:47] item 8D.
[1:08:49] This ordinance was presented at the
[1:08:51] study session on August 10th for first
[1:08:53] reading.
[1:08:55] And I'd be happy to answer any questions
[1:08:59] once And a motion is made.
[1:09:03] >> All right, would somebody like to make a
[1:09:04] motion? Yes, Council Member Roberts.
[1:09:06] >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh move to adopt the
[1:09:09] ordinance 2144-26
[1:09:11] amending the 2026 budget as detailed in
[1:09:14] exhibits A and B.
[1:09:17] >> Second.
[1:09:21] » Oh, okay.
[1:09:23] I'll give it to Council Member Hall.
[1:09:25] Is that right? Okay.
[1:09:26] Um Council Member Roberts, would you
[1:09:27] like to speak to your motion?
[1:09:29] >> Um I would not. Thank you.
[1:09:31] >> Okay.
[1:09:33] Council Member Hall, would you like to
[1:09:34] speak to your second?
[1:09:36] >> I appreciate this coming to Council.
[1:09:39] Um
[1:09:40] we're always looking to
[1:09:46] keep up with
[1:09:48] um what our workers are doing and the
[1:09:51] jobs they're doing um and make sure that
[1:09:54] um they align
[1:09:56] with with the city needs.
[1:09:58] Um I've personally worked with
[1:10:02] Angie Angeli uh for number of years and
[1:10:05] she's a hard worker and deserves
[1:10:13] » All right. Any uh additional discussion?
[1:10:19] Uh Council Member Cedar.
[1:10:21] >> Thanks. Um I I noticed that we dropped
[1:10:23] the economic portion of that. What was
[1:10:26] the decision for that?
[1:10:28] >> There actually wasn't a decision. The
[1:10:30] information that was provided to me when
[1:10:32] I created the budget amendment had the
[1:10:34] economic development in there and I was
[1:10:38] later corrected that um or that
[1:10:41] information was later corrected and so
[1:10:43] we we
[1:10:44] um
[1:10:45] I it was just it was a correction and not a
[1:10:49] conscious decision.
[1:10:51] >> Uh understood. Thank you. I I think it's
[1:10:52] a good title. I think it matches what um
[1:10:55] Planning Manager Stahlnacker and
[1:10:57] hopefully Director Stahlnacker does
[1:10:59] works very hard for the community.
[1:11:00] Um I have a question about on page 93,
[1:11:03] which is regarding fund 503, information
[1:11:05] technology fund.
[1:11:08] Um I notice here, and maybe I don't know where this originated, the
[1:11:13] adjust budget for new website hosting
[1:11:15] and AI agent services.
[1:11:18] $44,000. Can you tell me about that that
[1:11:20] line item?
[1:11:21] >> Um possibly the mayor can help me a
[1:11:24] little bit with this as well. Um we're
[1:11:26] transitioning
[1:11:28] to a new website host, and this is kind
[1:11:31] of the the front end for setting up that
[1:11:34] new website host. So, our old website
[1:11:37] hosting
[1:11:39] costs will go away and these will
[1:11:41] replace it. It's just that there's a bit
[1:11:44] of a crossover period
[1:11:46] in 2026, where where we have both the
[1:11:50] implementation of the new system and
[1:11:52] paying the remainder um
[1:11:54] of the old system. I don't know if
[1:11:56] there's anything
[1:11:57] >> uh
[1:11:58] there's been a lot of complaints about
[1:11:59] our website and about how hard it is to find things. And so, we have we have
[1:12:05] looked um
[1:12:06] out to other cities and what other uh
[1:12:11] vendors are out there. And we have found
[1:12:14] one. This is
[1:12:18] uh it's about What was it we just paid?
[1:12:21] It's about $28,000,
[1:12:23] I believe. Um
[1:12:25] that we're that we're it's an upfront
[1:12:27] fee in order to pay uh for them to
[1:12:31] design and
[1:12:34] implement. And it should take between 6
[1:12:36] and 8 months.
[1:12:38] So, it's it's a it's a one-time charge
[1:12:41] to to essentially rebuild our website. And
[1:12:46] part of that website is going to have an
[1:12:47] AI agent that will um, that will crawl
[1:12:51] the site and and you'll be able to ask,
[1:12:54] um,
[1:12:55] >> Um,
[1:12:56] I feel like
[1:12:57] >> English prompts and and it will be able
[1:12:59] to go through all of the ordinances and
[1:13:02] everything that's available on the
[1:13:03] website and give a, uh,
[1:13:06] an English answer
[1:13:07] to, um,
[1:13:09] to the query. So, if somebody says, "Do
[1:13:12] I need a,
[1:13:13] uh,
[1:13:14] do I need a permit to build a fence?"
[1:13:18] It will not just give you a link to that
[1:13:21] area of the code, it will actually tell
[1:13:23] you, um, what you need to do in the
[1:13:25] process you would need to do in order
[1:13:27] to, um, to do that. And it will also,
[1:13:30] uh, take away, um,
[1:13:32] it will, should, I'm hoping that it will
[1:13:34] take away,
[1:13:35] uh,
[1:13:36] the, the need for people to call into
[1:13:38] the city and, and use staff time,
[1:13:42] uh,
[1:13:43] to be able to walk people through this
[1:13:45] because, again, the biggest complaint
[1:13:46] that that I have heard from people is
[1:13:49] that they can't find anything on on our
[1:13:51] website and so they're calling in and
[1:13:54] asking staff uh, to tell them what to
[1:13:57] click on in order to get what they're
[1:13:58] looking for. So,
[1:14:00] um, I'm just trying to, uh, make the
[1:14:02] website, uh,
[1:14:03] much more user-friendly
[1:14:05] and, uh,
[1:14:06] and ultimately free up some, uh, some
[1:14:09] staff time. So.
[1:14:10] >> Okay. So, this wasn't something that was
[1:14:12] budgeted for in our original budget,
[1:14:13] correct?
[1:14:15] >> That's correct. Yes, yes.
[1:14:16] >> So, it, obviously, it's it's below our
[1:14:18] threshold for approval, but
[1:14:21] Right.
[1:14:21] >> Um, yes, because the it it is it's two
[1:14:24] pieces. There's the website hosting
[1:14:26] piece and then the AI agent piece. And
[1:14:29] so, each of those,
[1:14:30] um, the those are distinct individual
[1:14:33] pieces, um,
[1:14:35] and
[1:14:36] contracts or invoices that were under,
[1:14:39] um,
[1:14:40] the separate council approval level of
[1:14:42] 40,000.
[1:14:42] >> Yeah. I'll just note that, you know, I
[1:14:44] found that line and I went back and
[1:14:46] reviewed to try to figure out where that
[1:14:47] came from and I was a little troubled
[1:14:48] that it wasn't actually kind of briefed
[1:14:50] in here cuz 44,000 like it's not
[1:14:52] nothing. That's a big budget adjustment.
[1:14:54] So, you know, just moving forward, I
[1:14:55] would appreciate like having that right
[1:14:57] up front. Um
[1:14:59] it felt a little hidden here since it
[1:15:01] doesn't appear in the ordinance that
[1:15:02] we're passing
[1:15:03] and it doesn't appear in the previous
[1:15:05] ordinances for the budget. So.
[1:15:07] Thank you.
[1:15:08] >> Thank you.
[1:15:09] >> Sure. Noted.
[1:15:11] Um
[1:15:12] and it's it's not going to be that much
[1:15:15] in this budget year. The other half is
[1:15:18] going to be
[1:15:19] in next year. So, we probably didn't
[1:15:22] really even need to make it this big,
[1:15:24] but
[1:15:25] we weren't sure at the time
[1:15:27] um
[1:15:28] until we got the contract and found out
[1:15:30] that they
[1:15:31] were were paying for it in thirds. So.
[1:15:34] >> Yeah, sorry. And and I would note I
[1:15:36] think it's a good I mean
[1:15:37] modernizing our website's a good idea.
[1:15:39] Ho- hopefully get like a little clippy.
[1:15:42] >> [laughter]
[1:15:44] >> Let's hope not.
[1:15:48] All right. Um any further discussion?
[1:15:52] Okay, it's been uh moved by
[1:15:55] Councilmember Robertson and seconded by
[1:15:56] Councilmember Hall
[1:15:58] uh to adopt ordinance
[1:16:00] Oh, I'm sorry. This is an action item.
[1:16:02] Is there anyone from the audience that
[1:16:04] would like to uh
[1:16:05] comment to Council before this is voted
[1:16:07] on?
[1:16:10] All right. Again,
[1:16:11] uh it's been moved by Councilmember
[1:16:12] Robertson seconded by Councilmember Hall
[1:16:15] to adopt ordinance 2144-26
[1:16:18] amending the 2026 budget as detailed in
[1:16:21] exhibits A and B. All in favor?
[1:16:24] >> Aye.
[1:16:25] >> Any opposed?
[1:16:27] Motion passes unanimously.
[1:16:30] Okay, moving on to
[1:16:33] item D, title change to the community
[1:16:35] development director on page 95 of your
[1:16:37] packet. This is an action item.
[1:16:39] And looks like I am presenting this
[1:16:42] item.
[1:16:45] Um
[1:16:46] tonight I am asking for your
[1:16:47] confirmation of [clears throat] Angeli
[1:16:49] Stonelake
[1:16:50] as the city of Milton's Community
[1:16:52] Development Director. Angeli has served
[1:16:54] as our planning manager for the past 5
[1:16:56] years. And I'm requesting that we make
[1:16:59] this title change to formally recognize
[1:17:01] the level of responsibility she has been
[1:17:03] carrying and the leadership she has
[1:17:04] demonstrated.
[1:17:06] Uh this is not simply a change in title.
[1:17:09] This is a recognition of the expertise,
[1:17:11] experience, and leadership Angeli has
[1:17:13] brought to the city of Milton and the
[1:17:16] expanded role she will continue to
[1:17:18] provide with within our organization.
[1:17:21] Angeli brings a strong educational and
[1:17:23] professional background to this
[1:17:24] position. She holds a Bachelor of
[1:17:26] Science in Geography and Regional
[1:17:28] Planning with a minor in Political
[1:17:30] Science. She is also currently pursuing
[1:17:33] a Master's degree in Management and
[1:17:35] Leadership through Western Governors
[1:17:37] University.
[1:17:38] Angeli uh recently graduated from the
[1:17:41] Northwest Women's Leadership Academy, a
[1:17:43] leadership development program
[1:17:45] associated with the City and uh County
[1:17:47] Management Association. Uh this
[1:17:50] leadership training has further
[1:17:52] strengthened her ability to work
[1:17:53] collaboratively, manage complex issues,
[1:17:56] communicate effectively, and provide
[1:17:58] strong leadership in municipal
[1:18:00] environment.
[1:18:02] Uh most importantly, Angeli brings more
[1:18:04] than 20 years of professional experience
[1:18:07] in urban and city planning, long-range
[1:18:09] planning, and environmental design.
[1:18:11] Her experience gives her a broad
[1:18:14] understanding of how planning decisions
[1:18:16] affect not only the individual projects,
[1:18:19] but also the long-term growth,
[1:18:20] development, infrastructure, and quality
[1:18:22] of life of the entire community.
[1:18:26] Her expertise includes comprehensive
[1:18:28] planning, land use issues, development
[1:18:30] regulations, long-range planning,
[1:18:32] environmental considerations, and the
[1:18:35] many competing interests that come with
[1:18:37] a responsible community development.
[1:18:39] These are areas that require both
[1:18:41] technical knowledge and the ability to
[1:18:43] work effectively with residents,
[1:18:44] property owners,
[1:18:46] uh developers, elected officials, and
[1:18:48] other agencies.
[1:18:50] The community development director
[1:18:51] position is an important leadership role
[1:18:53] within our organization.
[1:18:55] This position is responsible for
[1:18:57] overseeing the city's planning and
[1:18:59] community development functions,
[1:19:01] supporting uh responsible growth and
[1:19:03] development, working with residents and
[1:19:05] businesses, coordinating development
[1:19:07] activities, and helping ensure the
[1:19:08] city's planning and development
[1:19:10] processes are uh conducted
[1:19:12] professionally, efficiently, and in
[1:19:14] accordance with applicable laws and
[1:19:16] regulations.
[1:19:19] In my uh it is my honor this evening to
[1:19:21] request the affirmation of council to
[1:19:24] support my decision to appoint Angely
[1:19:26] Stalnecker as community development
[1:19:28] director and approve the corresponding
[1:19:31] title change.
[1:19:32] During her five years as Milton planning
[1:19:34] manager, Stalnecker uh uh
[1:19:37] planning uh manager Stalnecker has
[1:19:39] demonstrated professionalism, knowledge,
[1:19:42] and dedication to our community. She has
[1:19:44] developed a strong understanding of
[1:19:46] Milton's unique planning needs,
[1:19:48] our community priorities, and the
[1:19:49] challenges associated uh with uh
[1:19:52] managing growth while maintaining the
[1:19:54] character and quality of life that our
[1:19:57] residents value.
[1:19:58] She has also demonstrated the ability to
[1:20:00] take complex planning and development
[1:20:02] issues and work through them in a
[1:20:05] thoughtful and professional manner. Her
[1:20:07] experience allows her to look beyond the
[1:20:09] individual application or project and
[1:20:12] consider the broader impact on the
[1:20:14] community and the city's long-term
[1:20:16] goals.
[1:20:17] Her contributions have not gone un- gone
[1:20:20] unnoticed.
[1:20:21] In uh 2024, Angely was recognized as the
[1:20:25] City of Milton's Employee of the Year.
[1:20:28] I believe that recognition speaks to the
[1:20:30] level of commitment, professionalism,
[1:20:33] and service she has consistently
[1:20:35] demonstrated to our organization and our
[1:20:38] community.
[1:20:39] In making this recommendation, I want to
[1:20:41] share that I have spoken with members of
[1:20:43] our senior leadership team, as well as
[1:20:45] members of our community.
[1:20:47] There is a high level of confidence in
[1:20:49] Angelie's ability, uh
[1:20:51] professionalism, and judgment. I believe
[1:20:54] it is important to formally recognize
[1:20:56] the leadership role she has already been
[1:20:58] providing and give her the appropriate
[1:21:00] title
[1:21:01] and authority to continue that work.
[1:21:04] On a professional level, I have had the
[1:21:06] opportunity to work with Angelie and
[1:21:08] observe her professionalism, dedication,
[1:21:10] and commitment to the city of Milton. I
[1:21:13] have seen firsthand her willingness to
[1:21:15] take on challenges, work collaboratively
[1:21:18] with others, and uh
[1:21:20] help move important projects forward.
[1:21:23] I also believe that Angelie's extensive
[1:21:25] planning background provides the city
[1:21:27] with an important level of institutional
[1:21:29] knowledge.
[1:21:30] As Milton continues to experience
[1:21:32] development and faces increasingly
[1:21:33] complex planning and community
[1:21:35] development issues,
[1:21:36] having a leader with her depth of
[1:21:38] experience is a significant asset to our
[1:21:41] organization.
[1:21:43] I believe this title change
[1:21:44] appropriately reflects the ability uh
[1:21:47] that the level of responsibility Angelie
[1:21:50] has been uh
[1:21:52] taking on and provides the city with a
[1:21:53] strong and experienced leader
[1:21:56] uh for our community development
[1:21:57] functions. As mayor, I am very pleased
[1:22:00] to have Angelie Stahlnacker as a
[1:22:01] permanent member of my leadership team.
[1:22:04] I believe the city of Milton will
[1:22:05] benefit greatly from her experience,
[1:22:07] technical expertise, leadership
[1:22:09] abilities, professionalism, and
[1:22:11] continued commitment to our community.
[1:22:14] Therefore,
[1:22:15] Council, I I respectfully request your
[1:22:18] affirmation and approval of my
[1:22:19] appointment of Angelie Stahlnacker as
[1:22:21] Community Development Director for the
[1:22:23] city of Milton.
[1:22:26] Yes, Council member
[1:22:29] >> Move to approve the confirmation of
[1:22:31] Angeli Stallnecker to the position of
[1:22:33] community development director.
[1:22:36] >> Second.
[1:22:39] » Uh it's been moved by Council member
[1:22:41] Hall and seconded by Council member uh
[1:22:43] Poor. Council member Hall, would you
[1:22:44] like to speak to your
[1:22:46] motion?
[1:22:46] >> Again, um Angeli is available. I mean,
[1:22:50] she has
[1:22:52] I've seen her work on Sundays. I've seen
[1:22:54] her work Saturdays. I've seen her work
[1:22:56] all this weekend um
[1:22:58] for multiple days talking to people. Um
[1:23:01] her dedication to the citizens and the
[1:23:04] city
[1:23:05] um
[1:23:07] is above reproach.
[1:23:11] » Thank you, Council member Poor. Would
[1:23:12] you like to speak to your second?
[1:23:14] >> Thank you, Mayor.
[1:23:16] That's twice you had to beat me to the
[1:23:18] uh punch there.
[1:23:19] >> [laughter]
[1:23:20] >> Sorry.
[1:23:20] >> Um
[1:23:21] Mayor, thank you for presenting that uh
[1:23:24] honor honored words and um
[1:23:27] everything that you shared on how hard
[1:23:29] she works and serves the community. Um
[1:23:31] all the hats she has to wear and thank
[1:23:33] you for um
[1:23:35] awesome endorsement.
[1:23:37] Hard to follow that.
[1:23:38] >> [laughter]
[1:23:39] >> Um I personally can attest that Angeli
[1:23:41] has been wonderful to work with. Um
[1:23:44] you know, the biggest thing I've worked
[1:23:46] with her on is the tree ordinance and
[1:23:49] she's been very kind, patient, um
[1:23:52] been able to come and compartmentalize a
[1:23:54] lot of the different questions and also
[1:23:57] uh helped me with different areas. Um
[1:24:00] and especially being a new council
[1:24:02] member, I feel that your presentations
[1:24:04] have been really wonderful in general
[1:24:06] across the board. And just really
[1:24:08] appreciate um how kind you are and and
[1:24:11] how hard it is to wear so many different
[1:24:14] hats and you probably do the work of
[1:24:17] several positions.
[1:24:19] Um and so I appreciate that you took the
[1:24:22] time to honor so much of what she does.
[1:24:24] Thank you.
[1:24:25] And thank you for your service.
[1:24:28] >> Any additional discussion? Yes,
[1:24:29] Councilmember
[1:24:33] » I just want to acknowledge with
[1:24:34] gratitude putting the job description in
[1:24:38] writing so that it becomes part of the
[1:24:39] record and it's a
[1:24:41] very complex job description.
[1:24:45] For sure.
[1:24:47] >> Councilmember Roberts.
[1:24:48] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um just on a personal
[1:24:50] note, thank you uh for all you do. Thank
[1:24:52] you for meeting on with me on Friday um
[1:24:55] when the city's closed. I really
[1:24:56] appreciate all you've done again to uh
[1:24:59] reiterate the sentiment of John uh
[1:25:01] Councilmember Poor, being a new
[1:25:03] Councilmember. I mean, you're a pleth-
[1:25:05] plethora plethora of knowledge. So, um
[1:25:09] using all your information, all your
[1:25:11] knowledge, all your extensive uh
[1:25:12] education, etc. has been extremely uh
[1:25:15] helpful. So, thank you for that.
[1:25:18] >> Any additional discussion?
[1:25:22] Seeing none, it's been moved by uh
[1:25:24] Councilmember Hall and seconded by
[1:25:26] Councilmember Poor to approve the
[1:25:28] confirmation of Angeli Salnecker to the
[1:25:30] position of Community Development
[1:25:31] Director. All in favor?
[1:25:34] >> I.
[1:25:35] >> All opposed? Any opposed?
[1:25:38] Motion passes. And I forgot to ask if
[1:25:41] the audience wanted to
[1:25:43] say anything.
[1:25:44] >> [applause]
[1:25:53] » ALL RIGHT.
[1:25:55] MOVING ON TO item E, the Salary
[1:25:58] Commission Ordinance on page 103. It's
[1:26:00] an action item and uh Finance Director
[1:26:04] Robeck will be presenting this item.
[1:26:07] >> Thank you again, Mayor and Council.
[1:26:09] Compensation for city council members
[1:26:11] has been fixed at $400 per month since
[1:26:14] at least 2002.
[1:26:16] Since [snorts] this amount has been
[1:26:17] unchanged for over 20 years, staff is
[1:26:19] proposing the establishment of a salary
[1:26:21] commission to review the compensation of
[1:26:23] elected officials.
[1:26:25] This ordinance was presented at the
[1:26:27] study session on August 10th for first
[1:26:29] reading. Some minor language changes
[1:26:32] were made and a requirement that salary
[1:26:34] commission member members be residents
[1:26:36] of the city was added based on
[1:26:38] discussion at that at this meeting. Um
[1:26:41] the primary language changes were uh
[1:26:44] changing wages and benefits to just
[1:26:47] compensation. I think those were the
[1:26:48] only um text changes other than adding
[1:26:52] uh
[1:26:53] the requirement that the residency
[1:26:55] requirement. Um I'd be happy to take any
[1:26:58] additional questions uh once a motion is
[1:27:00] made.
[1:27:03] » Would anyone like to make a motion? Yes,
[1:27:05] Councilmember Recede.
[1:27:06] >> Uh move to adopt ordinance 2145-26
[1:27:10] establishing a salary commission.
[1:27:14] » Second.
[1:27:19] » Councilmember Recede, would you like to
[1:27:20] speak to your motion?
[1:27:22] >> Rather than ask leading questions, I'm
[1:27:24] just going to say the things that I
[1:27:25] think are important, which is that
[1:27:28] the the council's pay, nobody here is
[1:27:30] doing it for the pay, and this is the
[1:27:32] alternative
[1:27:34] um to council setting its own pay in the
[1:27:36] future. So, this is an independent
[1:27:38] commission
[1:27:39] that the citizens can then have a
[1:27:40] referendum on
[1:27:42] if if they see fit. So,
[1:27:45] I I think this is a good thing for
[1:27:46] moving forward to hopefully increase
[1:27:48] council participation, more citizens
[1:27:50] willing to join without viewing it as a
[1:27:52] strain on time, and actually being
[1:27:54] fairly compensated for the work that
[1:27:55] goes into this. So, um yeah, happy to
[1:27:58] see this.
[1:27:59] >> Councilmember Roberts, would you like to
[1:28:00] speak to your second?
[1:28:02] >> Uh yeah, so I just reiterate the same
[1:28:04] sentiments as uh Councilmember Recede.
[1:28:06] Uh it's been a long time since anybody
[1:28:07] in councils uh got an change, but again,
[1:28:10] we're we're all doing this uh you know,
[1:28:12] because we love to help out the
[1:28:13] community, etc. So, um this does allow
[1:28:16] the opportunity to potentially have any
[1:28:19] kind of increase or decrease for that
[1:28:20] matter. So, uh yeah, it's it's uh it's
[1:28:23] due. So, thank you.
[1:28:25] >> Any additional discussion? Council
[1:28:27] member Hall.
[1:28:30] » I agree we all deserve it. Um we work
[1:28:34] hard.
[1:28:35] Um I feel like this was premature. I
[1:28:38] really think it should have happened
[1:28:39] after budget or
[1:28:41] at least we knew what the budget is for
[1:28:44] next year. Um because this will not come
[1:28:46] back to council.
[1:28:49] This will be enacted, correct?
[1:28:53] And
[1:28:55] that
[1:28:58] gives me pause, um because our first job
[1:29:01] is really the budget.
[1:29:04] Um
[1:29:06] and we have no way of knowing what the
[1:29:07] costs
[1:29:09] could be.
[1:29:10] Um but again, you can't do it without it
[1:29:13] because you can't do the budget. So,
[1:29:15] it's
[1:29:17] it it makes me nervous.
[1:29:21] Um
[1:29:23] we could cause
[1:29:25] farther deficit to the budget.
[1:29:28] >> Finance Director Rubik, um
[1:29:30] I I believe [clears throat]
[1:29:32] that if anything were to happen, it
[1:29:35] would happen prior to the budget
[1:29:38] being enacted, correct?
[1:29:40] >> Um yeah, well, the the budget I I'm I'm
[1:29:43] not sure how quickly the I've never been
[1:29:45] involved with the salary commission
[1:29:47] before. I'm not sure how quickly um
[1:29:50] people could be appointed and a decision
[1:29:52] could be made. Um the budget is due to
[1:29:55] be adopted um
[1:29:58] set to be adopted either the first or
[1:29:59] the second meeting. It's usually at the
[1:30:01] first meeting in December. Sometimes um
[1:30:04] it has been the the meeting. Uh so, if
[1:30:07] all of that could happen before that, I
[1:30:09] could incorporate it into the 2027
[1:30:11] budget
[1:30:14] for approval.
[1:30:15] >> I I believe I saw it's 60 days
[1:30:19] >> once once appointed. Yes.
[1:30:21] >> Once appointed, 60 days.
[1:30:23] >> Mhm. With the option to extend that with
[1:30:27] council approval.
[1:30:29] >> Oh, we could extend it.
[1:30:33] Okay. All [clears throat] righty. Thank
[1:30:34] you.
[1:30:36] >> Any additional discussion?
[1:30:40] This is an action item. Would anyone
[1:30:42] from the audience like to speak on this
[1:30:43] issue before the council votes?
[1:30:46] Yes, please come forward.
[1:30:51] » [laughter]
[1:30:54] » Um okay. I have some comments on it. So,
[1:30:59] I dislike the timing of it. I'm not
[1:31:01] against salary commissions. Um I looked
[1:31:04] into it when we were going through the
[1:31:06] salary thing back in 2020.
[1:31:09] Um what concerns me is because there is
[1:31:13] no guardrails on this, the state doesn't
[1:31:17] limit um like it does with Pierce County
[1:31:20] or with counties, the increase.
[1:31:23] Um
[1:31:24] since it's been so long, if council
[1:31:27] would be willing to at this point do
[1:31:31] something, at least you know within your
[1:31:33] budget what you're willing to do, and
[1:31:36] then next time appoint a salary
[1:31:38] commission, just to bump it up somewhat.
[1:31:42] Um to me that seems more reasonable.
[1:31:45] And the other concern I had is with the
[1:31:48] ordinance, under duties and process,
[1:31:51] item C,
[1:31:53] the salary increase shall be effective
[1:31:56] on the next payday for city employees
[1:31:58] once it's confirmed. Shouldn't it
[1:32:01] acknowledge the referendum process?
[1:32:04] Meaning you have to wait the 30 days
[1:32:07] and then it would be on the next day.
[1:32:12] Cuz you I don't know can you claw back
[1:32:15] if it if the referendum happens. I
[1:32:18] wasn't sure.
[1:32:20] So, cuz this this ordinance doesn't
[1:32:23] mention the referendum process at all.
[1:32:26] So, thank you.
[1:32:30] » Yes.
[1:32:32] Please come forward.
[1:32:35] » Susan Johnson did I said Ditto. That's
[1:32:39] not my last name.
[1:32:40] Ditto. I agree. Um I don't think this is
[1:32:44] the time. I understand that we are under
[1:32:49] in the city for our council many many
[1:32:52] years. And I'm not opposed to a raise.
[1:32:55] I'm opposed right now because we do not
[1:32:58] know what the economy is going to be. We
[1:33:00] don't know what grants are going to come
[1:33:03] in. I I I think because there's so much
[1:33:06] uncertainty in our economic condition in
[1:33:10] the United States right now, this isn't
[1:33:12] the time. Wait till 23. If you're doing
[1:33:16] a three-year budget proposal concept or
[1:33:19] two-year,
[1:33:20] we don't have enough data right now with
[1:33:24] what's going to happen economically in 2
[1:33:26] years.
[1:33:27] So, I agree that maybe if y'all want to
[1:33:30] give yourself a little something, but
[1:33:32] we've got more increasing in this coming
[1:33:34] budget
[1:33:36] than income and different things
[1:33:38] happening. It looks like the cost to
[1:33:41] drug that the drug courts were going to
[1:33:43] get money, but there's still going to be
[1:33:44] costs associated with everything.
[1:33:48] This is not the time. We're getting
[1:33:49] taxed more. The people are we have to do
[1:33:53] the public safety tax.
[1:33:56] And I think regular citizen
[1:34:00] understands,
[1:34:01] you know, you've given your time and
[1:34:04] your effort and believe me, I've done a
[1:34:06] lot of years in this city since I moved
[1:34:09] here in 2009.
[1:34:11] And I remember being [clears throat] on
[1:34:12] council at 400 and I said, "Gee, with
[1:34:14] the hours I put in, hmm, that comes down
[1:34:17] to a cent a minute."
[1:34:19] Because I'm committed to the city. So,
[1:34:21] don't get me wrong. I understand.
[1:34:24] But I think
[1:34:26] the common person says, "I'm not getting
[1:34:29] anything right now, either. It's just
[1:34:32] hard right now economically for so many
[1:34:35] people."
[1:34:36] So, I'm asking to say yes, I agree. I
[1:34:38] think we should have had one before.
[1:34:41] And it didn't happen. I'm saying, go
[1:34:44] ahead and do one, but put it for a year.
[1:34:46] Again, the ref
[1:34:47] referendum's very important to note and
[1:34:50] documentation.
[1:34:52] So, I'm just asking you to delay it.
[1:34:55] Let's see what 27 is like
[1:34:59] and try to set it for 2028.
[1:35:03] I I think it's really important because
[1:35:04] I think we're going to be
[1:35:06] really hit, and that's just my bias,
[1:35:09] more with costs, taxes, and economic
[1:35:12] stress. Thank you.
[1:35:17] » Yes, anyone else? Yes, please come
[1:35:18] forward.
[1:35:23] » Jacqueline Whalen, Milton, Washington.
[1:35:25] Thank you for the opportunity to
[1:35:26] comment. I'll do the word
[1:35:29] text issue
[1:35:31] on page 106 of 114.
[1:35:34] I'm curious to know what an official is.
[1:35:36] Does that mean someone from the Civil
[1:35:38] Service Commission can't be on the
[1:35:42] salary commission? Just a question.
[1:35:44] There's nothing in there that talks
[1:35:46] about grounds for removal from the
[1:35:48] commission. Some cities do list that.
[1:35:52] Uh
[1:35:53] duties and process uh paragraph A
[1:35:57] um there should be some better wording
[1:35:59] in there.
[1:36:00] Um it's missing uh well, I'll just go to
[1:36:03] the sentence. The salary commission
[1:36:05] shall convene and determine the
[1:36:06] compensation paid
[1:36:08] to the mayor and city council within 60
[1:36:11] days of confirmation
[1:36:13] by the city council. It just there needs
[1:36:15] some extra words like
[1:36:17] the city council their confirmation uh
[1:36:20] for the I can put it in there later.
[1:36:21] It's it's equivalent to what is in C
[1:36:26] where it talks about
[1:36:28] a date within the time frame of when the
[1:36:31] commission
[1:36:33] was confirmed by city council.
[1:36:36] So, sorry about my muddied uh comment
[1:36:39] there.
[1:36:40] Uh but C
[1:36:42] um
[1:36:42] this these two paragraphs don't jive.
[1:36:45] If you're saying that the review and
[1:36:47] determination time
[1:36:49] uh has to happen in 60 days
[1:36:52] and C says within the 60 days
[1:36:57] the turn determination has to be turned
[1:36:58] in, you still have a whole legal
[1:37:00] process, you still have the referendum
[1:37:01] process. There's no real due date.
[1:37:05] I've seen some cities that talk in terms
[1:37:08] of the commission shall meet at such and
[1:37:10] such a month. They shall meet on certain
[1:37:12] days. Their work shall be due by such
[1:37:14] and such a date. That gives time for
[1:37:16] legal that gives time for a referendum
[1:37:20] process because referendum as I
[1:37:22] understand it is limited to certain
[1:37:24] elections. So, there's there's just a
[1:37:26] lot of
[1:37:28] I know this is based on some another
[1:37:30] city's code but uh there's just a lot of
[1:37:34] open space in there for me.
[1:37:36] Um
[1:37:37] the premise that more money's going to
[1:37:39] make more candidates, I don't know.
[1:37:41] Where's the proof? How much money is
[1:37:43] that going to take? The people who are
[1:37:45] going to be on the salary commission,
[1:37:46] where do they get their education? What
[1:37:48] I mean is it just look around? There is
[1:37:50] no competition here. You can't say,
[1:37:53] "Well, I'm going to go be the mayor in
[1:37:55] such and such a city." You are mayor
[1:37:57] where you reside. So, competition isn't
[1:37:59] a factor if that's the thinking of
[1:38:02] here's why we should be doing more.
[1:38:04] Um
[1:38:06] who's the staff liaison? There's just
[1:38:08] there's been no real presentation of how
[1:38:10] this thing is to work given the fact
[1:38:13] that we've never done it before. It'd be
[1:38:14] kind of nice to know what we're getting
[1:38:16] into. Thank you.
[1:38:18] >> Thank you.
[1:38:20] Any additional
[1:38:21] public comment before the vote?
[1:38:25] All right, seeing none.
[1:38:28] It's been moved by Council Member Cedar
[1:38:30] and seconded by Council Member Roberts
[1:38:32] to adopt uh ordinance 2145-26
[1:38:36] establishing a salary commission. All in
[1:38:38] favor?
[1:38:39] >> I.
[1:38:40] >> Any opposed?
[1:38:42] >> Nay.
[1:38:43] >> Okay.
[1:38:45] It's
[1:38:46] passed. What do we have? Uh 5 to 1.
[1:38:53] All right.
[1:38:54] The next item on the agenda is item 8F
[1:38:57] on page 109 of your packet, the police
[1:39:00] vehicle surplus resolution 26-2006.
[1:39:04] And uh Chief Hernandez will be
[1:39:06] presenting this item for us.
[1:39:09] >> Good evening, Council and guests.
[1:39:10] Tonight uh bringing before you a
[1:39:12] recommended action to approve resolution
[1:39:15] 26
[1:39:16] 2006 declaring obsolete police equipment
[1:39:19] to be surplussed and authorized and
[1:39:20] disposed.
[1:39:22] Um many years ago uh we went through an
[1:39:25] amortization process and uh we agreed as
[1:39:29] a
[1:39:30] you agreed as a legislative body
[1:39:32] that it made more sense when a car's
[1:39:34] value um depreciates to the point that
[1:39:38] the repairs are more than the value of
[1:39:40] the vehicle that we go ahead and surplus
[1:39:43] those vehicles and this vehicle has
[1:39:45] reached that service life. It's 12 years
[1:39:47] old, has 83,000 miles on it. And so
[1:39:50] tonight what I'm asking is the
[1:39:52] authorization to go ahead and dispose of
[1:39:53] this vehicle.
[1:39:57] All right.
[1:39:58] I'd entertain a motion at this time.
[1:40:02] Council member Cedar.
[1:40:05] >> I move to approve resolution 26-2006
[1:40:08] declaring obsolete police equipment to
[1:40:09] be surplus and authorizing the disposal
[1:40:11] of same.
[1:40:16] » Council member Cedar, would you like to
[1:40:17] speak to your motion?
[1:40:19] >> No. I always appreciate you bringing
[1:40:20] this forward and our robust discussions
[1:40:22] about the fleet. Thanks, Chief.
[1:40:24] >> Council member Moss, would you like to
[1:40:25] speak to your second?
[1:40:27] >> Thank you for keeping track.
[1:40:30] » Any additional discussion?
[1:40:32] Council Council member Hall.
[1:40:35] >> Chief, that is one of the best cars
[1:40:38] to drive
[1:40:39] because when you sit in it, you go down
[1:40:42] into it, you feel like you're in a cage
[1:40:45] and you it it is very comfortable. Um
[1:40:47] but yes, they do get squeaky and wonky
[1:40:51] and steering is
[1:40:54] hard to drive.
[1:40:55] Um but
[1:40:57] it was a good car.
[1:41:00] » It'll be available for sale.
[1:41:02] >> [laughter]
[1:41:03] >> What was that?
[1:41:04] >> I said it would be available for sale.
[1:41:07] >> No, it would be available.
[1:41:08] >> yes.
[1:41:09] >> [laughter]
[1:41:10] >> Okay.
[1:41:11] Uh Council member Roberts.
[1:41:12] >> When?
[1:41:14] >> [laughter]
[1:41:15] >> When will it be for sale?
[1:41:17] >> Uh what we usually do is we invite um at
[1:41:20] least five people
[1:41:22] or five companies. We put out an
[1:41:24] advertisement to place a bid and so
[1:41:28] um
[1:41:29] then whoever the highest bidder is is
[1:41:30] the one who gets the bid.
[1:41:32] So.
[1:41:34] >> Yeah, anyone out there interested, uh
[1:41:36] feel free [laughter] to
[1:41:37] contact the city.
[1:41:39] Any additional discussion?
[1:41:43] It's an action item. Is there anyone in
[1:41:44] the audience that would like to speak on
[1:41:46] this issue?
[1:41:48] Okay, seeing none. It's been moved by
[1:41:50] Council Member Cedar and seconded by
[1:41:52] Council Member Mounts
[1:41:54] to approve resolution 26-2006
[1:41:57] declaring obsolete police equipment to
[1:41:59] be surplus and authorizing the disposal
[1:42:02] of same. All in favor?
[1:42:03] >> Aye.
[1:42:04] >> Any opposed?
[1:42:06] Motion passes unanimously.
[1:42:09] All right.
[1:42:11] Moving to council reports.
[1:42:14] Council Member Roberts.
[1:42:16] >> Thanks, Mayor. I just like to thank the
[1:42:19] events committee for a great showing of
[1:42:21] Milton Days. I'd like to thank Kylie
[1:42:25] personally for all that she's done for
[1:42:26] that.
[1:42:28] She worked a lot with the vendors and I
[1:42:29] appreciate all the work because I mean
[1:42:30] we had great food, great vendors, etc.
[1:42:33] So, we put on a a good show. And I've
[1:42:35] been living in Milton for 12 years and
[1:42:36] this is the first time I've had the
[1:42:37] opportunity to actually attend Milton
[1:42:40] Days. So, it was a a good time.
[1:42:43] So, yeah, thank you
[1:42:44] to to everybody that was part of the Milton Days.
[1:42:48] >> Council Member Mounts.
[1:42:50] >> Ditto. Can I do that?
[1:42:52] >> [laughter]
[1:42:53] >> Ditto. It was It was uh
[1:42:56] very interesting to go to Milton Days
[1:42:58] and I enjoyed the bouncy houses and the
[1:43:03] kids. They all had a good time. I agree
[1:43:06] with some of the earlier comments,
[1:43:08] public comments that were made for
[1:43:11] points of refinement. And
[1:43:13] just nice to see the community
[1:43:16] come together.
[1:43:18] >> Thank you. Council Member Cedar.
[1:43:21] >> I Milton Days was great. Thanks so much
[1:43:23] for everyone
[1:43:25] putting together, being there. Just
[1:43:26] great to see the community come
[1:43:27] together. A lot of great comments.
[1:43:30] >> Council Member Poor.
[1:43:32] >> Nothing.
[1:43:33] >> All right. Councilmember Hall?
[1:43:36] >> I'd like to thank the city for National
[1:43:38] Night Out. Um police department
[1:43:42] um
[1:43:44] great job, bouncy house,
[1:43:47] um the touch-a-truck.
[1:43:50] Um that is probably the most kids I've
[1:43:54] ever seen at any event for City Milton.
[1:43:58] Uh events was fun. Um yes, there is some
[1:44:01] room for refinement. Um I think we
[1:44:03] probably need to go through um jobs for
[1:44:07] who's responsible for what.
[1:44:11] Um and
[1:44:14] so the volunteers understand that the
[1:44:17] city employees are the ones
[1:44:19] they go to.
[1:44:22] » Councilmember McNally-Martinez?
[1:44:24] >> Um I just want to ditto on the Milton
[1:44:26] Days. I was very impressed with the
[1:44:28] vendors and the volunteers. Um
[1:44:30] I work for a city that has a lot of paid
[1:44:32] staff that does a lot of the jobs that I
[1:44:35] saw volunteers doing 100% by themselves,
[1:44:38] and I appreciate that, and um thank you
[1:44:41] for doing that for our community.
[1:44:46] » All right. Moving on to director
[1:44:48] reports. Uh
[1:44:50] I was going to say planning manager
[1:44:51] Stallnecker, but uh
[1:44:55] I'm sorry. What is your new title?
[1:44:57] >> Director.
[1:44:58] >> [laughter]
[1:44:58] >> Director. I'll just call you Director
[1:45:00] Stallnecker.
[1:45:04] » Um
[1:45:05] a couple things real quick. Uh following
[1:45:07] up for Milton Days, um
[1:45:10] since Dustin's not here, I will do a
[1:45:11] shout-out to the crew who was there
[1:45:14] early, was there late. They set up, they
[1:45:17] tore down, they were there throughout
[1:45:19] the day picking up garbage and doing
[1:45:20] stuff. Um they were really helpful, and
[1:45:23] um and they
[1:45:26] and that's sort of a volunteer I mean,
[1:45:28] we need people to do it, but we sort of
[1:45:29] start with who wants to do it. And I
[1:45:31] appreciate all of them that were there.
[1:45:33] Um, yeah, there was some
[1:45:35] um
[1:45:38] some adjustment at the last minute that
[1:45:39] had that kind of got us tucked in the
[1:45:41] corner
[1:45:42] um
[1:45:43] between the fish and the stage and
[1:45:46] um
[1:45:47] it was fine. I mean, it was loud.
[1:45:49] >> [laughter]
[1:45:50] >> And um it was you know, we probably
[1:45:52] didn't reach as many people as we would
[1:45:53] have liked. We did get to talk to a lot
[1:45:54] of people in line for the fish. So, that
[1:45:56] was good. A lot of kids came over. Um
[1:45:59] Framework was there kicking off the um
[1:46:03] the climate's information um
[1:46:06] and so we got surprise surprise the
[1:46:08] number one thing people definitely
[1:46:10] always care about is sidewalks and bike
[1:46:13] connections and then obviously
[1:46:15] um
[1:46:16] trees and safe parks and all of that.
[1:46:19] So, we will kind of process some of that
[1:46:22] um
[1:46:23] and we'll be looking at um
[1:46:25] some an outreach or a
[1:46:27] We're working on
[1:46:29] um a committee that will sort of
[1:46:31] cover a lot of the different, you know,
[1:46:33] getting the Puyallup Tribe involved, um
[1:46:36] different agencies involved, different
[1:46:38] residents involved to help guide some of
[1:46:41] that work. So, that's all coming.
[1:46:43] Um we just switching to Planning
[1:46:45] Commission um
[1:46:47] I we just heard today that it's not on
[1:46:50] YouTube. Um
[1:46:52] it is a new person that's running it.
[1:46:54] She is pretty sure it recorded. Her fear
[1:46:56] she didn't click the thing that launched
[1:46:59] it onto YouTube. So, we have an email
[1:47:02] out to our tech people. They will look.
[1:47:04] Sometimes it defaults and saves it on
[1:47:07] the computer and if you don't hit the
[1:47:09] right button to make sure it gets
[1:47:12] posted. So, fingers crossed we have the
[1:47:15] recording um
[1:47:16] and that we can post it later. Um and
[1:47:19] her and I will go through it again and
[1:47:21] make sure we're hitting all of those
[1:47:22] boxes. So, apologize for that. Um and
[1:47:26] then we are another thing with planning
[1:47:27] commission. I will be gone the week of
[1:47:30] September 8th for a conference and
[1:47:32] that's when the next regularly scheduled
[1:47:34] planning commission is. So, the planning
[1:47:35] commission is basically moving that to
[1:47:38] August 26th. So, a week from Wednesday
[1:47:40] we will do
[1:47:42] um
[1:47:43] that meeting will sort of take place of
[1:47:45] the September meeting. Um we are talking
[1:47:47] we are um reviewing some the kind of the
[1:47:50] next proposal for trees that the city
[1:47:53] council kick um sent back to them, as
[1:47:56] well as looking at some um
[1:47:59] updates to definitions and table of uses
[1:48:01] and stuff. So, that'll all be coming
[1:48:04] back in September. So,
[1:48:07] um I think that's it. And then thank you
[1:48:08] for all the nice words.
[1:48:11] » Thank you. Um Finance Director Robey.
[1:48:14] >> No comment.
[1:48:15] >> Chief Fernandez.
[1:48:16] >> Uh just want to reiterate National Night
[1:48:19] Out was great and really want to thank
[1:48:21] Jessica and Nils for all the hard work
[1:48:22] that they did and it's the biggest
[1:48:24] turnout that I've seen in 12 years that
[1:48:26] I've been here. So, we'll continue with
[1:48:28] that tradition every year
[1:48:30] and make it bigger. And it was nice to
[1:48:32] meet and greet with the community.
[1:48:33] Milton Days was great and want to thank
[1:48:36] all the volunteer staff and all the help
[1:48:38] that they provided, the events
[1:48:39] committee, and a special shout out to
[1:48:42] Jessica, Nils, and Tim for their
[1:48:44] tireless effort on the staff end of
[1:48:47] coordinating and working with the events
[1:48:49] committee to get this all pulled
[1:48:51] together.
[1:48:52] And uh we have a tentative agreement
[1:48:54] with the guild where we're waiting their
[1:48:56] vote and so I'll be bringing the uh
[1:48:59] hopefully a completed uh and ratified
[1:49:02] agreement back for council's
[1:49:03] consideration. And uh we're quite
[1:49:05] pleased with uh
[1:49:08] the bargaining and how fast it was able
[1:49:10] to happen.
[1:49:12] And
[1:49:13] if you say something, if you see
[1:49:14] something, say something.
[1:49:16] And together we're stronger.
[1:49:19] >> Thank you, Chief.
[1:49:21] Um
[1:49:22] I noticed that we do have one of the
[1:49:24] members of our events committee here,
[1:49:26] and if
[1:49:28] you'd indulge me, I'd like to give her a
[1:49:31] hand for
[1:49:33] >> [applause]
[1:49:37] » for putting together a great Milton
[1:49:39] Days, and
[1:49:41] six of the seven members were brand new,
[1:49:44] and so
[1:49:45] they
[1:49:48] I'm impressed. Thank you so very much.
[1:49:51] Um
[1:49:53] I was a chauffeur on for most of the day
[1:49:57] for Milton Days. I was
[1:49:59] taking vendors back and forth uh
[1:50:02] to parking at the in the morning and
[1:50:04] also in the afternoon.
[1:50:06] And
[1:50:08] the comments that I got in the afternoon
[1:50:10] were that the repeat vendors were saying
[1:50:13] that it was the the best Milton Days
[1:50:16] that they had experienced so far.
[1:50:20] And that uh
[1:50:23] that they were looking forward to next
[1:50:24] year. And so
[1:50:27] yeah,
[1:50:28] the events committee and the city staff
[1:50:30] that supported them
[1:50:32] did a wonderful job. And thank you so
[1:50:34] very much, and thank you to the
[1:50:35] community for making it such a success.
[1:50:38] Um with that is there
[1:50:41] anything else for this evening?
[1:50:44] Okay. Uh seeing that all agenda items
[1:50:46] have been concluded, I adjourn this
[1:50:48] meeting at 8:00