[10:43] Okay, it is it is 6:30

[10:49] everyone and welcome and welcome tonight.

[10:56] We heal. >> We heal. I have a

[11:00] warm water >> and I'll let I'll let [clears throat]

[11:03] you do your >> Yeah.

[11:10] [clears throat] >> Can you hear us? Okay.

[11:14] » I'm going to assume that you can hear us.

[11:18] » Wait a minute. Maybe we've had these problems before.

[11:22] » It's the owl. I think I think it looks like

[11:27] we are >> select speaker

[11:31] » microphone is this.

[11:37] » Okay.

[11:45] Well, um I didn't mean to zoom in like that. Here we go.

[11:53] Good evening everyone. Um, thank you for being here. My name is Chhating Chen.

[11:59] Uh, you can also call me Ting. I am visiting from HDR, which is a civil

[12:05] engineering consulting firm, and I'm based in the Seattle area.

[12:10] Um, and I'm here to present you the work that we've done on the stormwater

[12:15] comprehensive plan, which is the first one that's done for city of Cosmopolis.

[12:20] And this effort was um supported by the grants funding from office of Shahala

[12:27] Basin. Um and oh and my role is a storm water

[12:32] engineer. So I'm a civil engineer by training

[12:36] and many of you probably are sitting in the for the first time listening in on

[12:41] stormwater planning. So I want to first give you some background on what that

[12:46] actually means. So storm water planning, we think about it as a guide to manage

[12:52] your rainwater and runoff. So when rainwater hits hard surfaces, it's going

[12:58] to go somewhere. And what do you do about that?

[13:01] And the goal for storm water planning overall is to minimize the negative

[13:07] impacts on the environment, on your infrastructure, and on your communities.

[13:13] And here in uh lower Shahes Basin and also in Cosmopoulos, flood reduction is

[13:19] our number one goal. And that's kind of what we're going to go into focusing on

[13:24] flood reduction as a part of the storm water planning.

[13:29] So to be able to do that, we first try to figure out what are the biggest

[13:34] flooding issues that we're seeing. And once we identify those issues, we go

[13:40] on and do the engineering analysis to figure out what are the potential

[13:45] solutions and which ones to go first. And lastly, the the million-doll

[13:51] question literally is how do we actually fund these solutions?

[13:56] And uh this is kind of the steps that I'll go through when we're talking about

[14:01] the storm water comprehensive plan is also the step that uh we've done these

[14:05] plan. So we go from talking about existing flooding issues and then we go

[14:10] to proposed solutions and lastly we'll go into the financial analysis that we

[14:15] performed as a part of this comprehensive plan

[14:19] and that's also the agenda for today. So first going over to the bigger

[14:26] picture of storm water planning. Um in United States clean water act tells us

[14:32] how we should regulate and protect our water resources.

[14:36] And in state of Washington state uh department of ecology usually regulates

[14:41] that. But for uh municipalities that's small like cosmopoulos the municipal

[14:48] storm water permit which is a part of the clean water act actually does not

[14:52] apply. What we have here is local ordinances that help us uh regulate

[14:59] storm water and tell us what to do. So there's one ordinance uh for developers

[15:05] focusing on storm drainage. Uh and then there's another ordinance that is uh

[15:10] applied for storm water and surface water management and that has to do with

[15:15] collecting storm water utility fees for greater surface water protection.

[15:22] And it's important to talk about cosmopoulos in connection with Shahal's

[15:26] basin because the river connects all of us together.

[15:31] So for the for this area Washington department of ecology has set up the

[15:36] office of Shahala's basin and there are three major goals. The first one is to

[15:42] protect communities from flood damage. Second one is to restore habitats for

[15:48] salmon and other aquatic life. And third one is to prepare the communities for

[15:52] more major and potentially more frequent flooding.

[15:59] Uh what's really great is that the office of Shahala's basin the OCB

[16:04] administers state funding to these different communities

[16:08] and the as I mentioned before the efforts to produce this plan were

[16:12] completely funded by that state funding and we received it in 2025.

[16:18] So with that background I'll go into the analysis that we perform in our

[16:23] engineering firm and um and then the solutions that we come up with. So first

[16:28] I want to start by talking about existing infrastructure.

[16:33] So we review some old drawings of the city system and identified about 220

[16:39] patch basin and manholes. You drive by them every day. There are about four

[16:43] miles of pipes. For this specific um uh study, we focus on two outfalls. Uh

[16:50] there's a Shahalis River at East Street, so that's the one over here. And then

[16:56] Mil Creek at Second Street, so that's the one closer to the Mil Creek at over

[17:01] here near the Thai gates. We did not consider the J Street alpha

[17:07] and this and this other alpha near the Mil Creek Dam.

[17:12] » [clears throat] >> So what are the known flooding problems?

[17:16] And I think you know this better than I do. Um being in cosmopoulos there's

[17:21] lowlying topography especially where we are right now. There's just not enough

[17:25] of a slope to send water to river when it's flooding. And of course the

[17:30] proximity to Shahala's river also leads us to a lot of known flooding problem

[17:34] during especially during high rainfall event during king tide where you have

[17:39] both flooding locally and also the water cannot get sent out to river because the

[17:45] water level is so high at the river. And lastly this is the problem that

[17:50] every single utility faces is that we have aging infrastructure that's

[17:55] underground. We don't see them. we don't know how what their conditions are. We

[17:59] only know them when they collapse and that's that's a little bit too late and

[18:03] that's usually really expensive to replace. So [clears throat] that's the

[18:07] problems that we have in this area and from the interviews that we've done

[18:13] we identify that Mil Creek is the highest priority area for flood

[18:18] reduction in Cosmopolis. So, yes, >> but this is not a big deal, but if we

[18:25] minimize the zoom box one more, then we can get the full picture up there.

[18:30] » Let's >> click over to the one farthest to the

[18:32] left. There we go. >> Great. Thank you.

[18:35] » See, I thought I was a zoom expert, but you're the zoom expert.

[18:39] » No, no, no. [laughter] >> Let me move it to this over here.

[18:42] » There. Yeah, perfect. >> Okay. And hide this maybe.

[18:47] Hide fold and med. Okay, great. That's much cleaner.

[18:53] So, yeah, the picture here I'm just showing from a 2022 report that was per

[18:58] uh that was done and that's showing covert uh flooding along Mil Creek.

[19:06] Okay. So, I want to first situate us um in Mil Creek along Mil Creek and

[19:12] focusing on the main in uh biggest infrastructure here. So starting most

[19:17] upstream we have the Mil Creek Dam. Uh it was breached in 2008 and it was

[19:23] replaced by 2019 and my firm HDR actually also applied for state funding

[19:28] at that point and designed and constructed the the dam.

[19:33] And then going from Mil Creek further downstream we have all the covert

[19:37] crossing I was just talking about. I'll come back later and we'll go to the

[19:41] confluence point with Shahalis River and that's the Mil Creek tide gates. Uh

[19:46] right now the tie gates are controlled but we don't really know how it's

[19:50] operating. They're boxes with locks on them and there's no way to really go

[19:54] back uh go and and uh adjust any of the setting. But we think that if we were

[20:00] able to actively lower the water level before storm roll in that may help us

[20:06] reduce flooding in Long Mo Creek because that's creating additional source for

[20:10] water to go to. Uh here on the right I'm showing some of the photos um that's uh

[20:16] of of the Tigate structure um that's along the uh Shahalis River

[20:24] and in this like downtown low-line area we have six culverts crossing

[20:30] [clears throat] Mo Creek and photo showing here again these six often get

[20:35] flooded during high uh rainfall events.

[20:40] So those are the three main area along Mo Creek. And now I want to talk about

[20:46] some inland flooding that we also investigated. So first this is flooding

[20:50] the spot near the gas station near F Street and First Street in the parking

[20:55] lot. There's flooding and we've identified from camera inspection that

[21:00] it just collapsed pipe. So pipes need to be replaced and catch basins need to be

[21:04] replaced. And we've also investigated a flooding

[21:09] at J Street and Fourth Street um right outside of the county roads maintenance

[21:15] yard. Uh there's a sag in the road that also sometimes see flooding.

[21:20] So to summarize the major issues that we investigated, we are looking at Mil

[21:27] Creek Highgates. We're looking at the six covert crossing along Mo Creek and

[21:32] then two inland flooding issues kind of in the lowlying area downtown.

[21:39] And now that we've identified the flooding issues, I want to go in and

[21:43] talk a little bit about the solutions that we've come up with at the very high

[21:48] planning level. And addressing those four separate

[21:53] issues, we come up with six different projects because sometimes you need two

[21:57] projects to target one issue. So at the tight gate we have in mind that we'll

[22:04] start with a study of how the tig is actually operating and what are some of

[22:08] the options that we can actually that does for improving [clears throat] the

[22:12] and then once we use that study to identify the best cost-saving option we

[22:18] will go in and do the construction and improvement. So that will be the second

[22:22] project. And you notice that I started kind of

[22:26] talking about Mil Creek from the downstream near the river before moving

[22:30] back up because if we have the downstream bottleneck having that issues

[22:35] addressed, hopefully that opened up more space that the upstream issues are not

[22:39] as severe as they have been before. So for the covert replacement, we focus on

[22:45] replacing the downstream coververts first, the first three and then we move

[22:49] up and to kind of look at it at the as a series and then for the two inland

[22:56] flooding project we also looked at some of the alternatives there and I'll go to

[23:02] project one by one and going back to the map.

[23:06] So for the Mil Creek study and design uh we have applied uh Mayor Mayor Smeir and

[23:14] I have worked together and we applied for grant funding for uh at office of

[23:18] Shahill's basin again to study the actual operation and what are the

[23:23] options to improve our tie gates and if this uh the decision will come out

[23:29] actually any point now in August they're just in the final stages of picking the

[23:33] projects um and if we were to receive the fund funding, the design will begin

[23:39] or the study will begin in um 2027 and that will go for probably a year or two.

[23:46] And what's really great about this OCB opportunity is that they are readily

[23:52] available to support your shovel ready design to go into construction. So if we

[23:57] present them a plan and say hey we got money from you to do the design, they

[24:01] would say basically you can go ahead and do the con construction. So, it's a

[24:06] really good pipeline for our community to do projects with OCD funding. And

[24:12] that will be looking at 2029 to 2031. And moving upstream, as I said, um like

[24:20] the salmon, we are going to talk about the cover replacement. So, there's 20 uh

[24:25] the downstream portion is going to be looking at 2030. the further upstream

[24:31] portion closer to the dam is going to be looking at 2035

[24:36] and then the inland and flooding are lower on a priority because we want to

[24:40] go to Mil Creek first. So we identified that the parking lot uh drainage problem

[24:46] is going to be the the fifth project that we can address. So that included

[24:52] some catch basins replacement, upsizing broken pipes, that type of work.

[24:58] Similarly, um the last project that we looked at is upsizing pipe along J

[25:05] Street going into that outfall. And part of the hope is that with all of

[25:11] the um Mil Creek flooding problem solved, you can see that that that

[25:16] triangle, the outfall is going straight to Mil Creek. So, if we actually can

[25:21] solve some of the flooding issue here, maybe the water level at that triangle

[25:26] will be lower. So we don't see a lot of flow backing in. So that in itself will

[25:31] release some of the flooding and we don't actually need to go back and do

[25:34] this project. So everything is tied with Mil Creek. If we address the issue in

[25:38] Mil Creek, there are a lot of opportunities to do something else.

[25:44] Um and this is the ranking and the planning level project cost. And I know

[25:50] these are big price tags. So I want to go into it one by one. Um I kind of

[25:56] talked already talked about how we are ranking these projects in terms of

[26:00] priority and came up with a planned construction year. So the project costs

[26:05] I want to I want to really emphasize with a giant asterisk around it is that

[26:12] these costs when we're looking at 2038 that's escalated to 20 $38. That's not

[26:18] looking at 2026. We're assuming 3% of inflation every year to get to that

[26:23] cost. And when we're presenting this analysis,

[26:27] because it's at the planning level, we assume the most conservative cost. So

[26:32] this is going to be probably the upper limit of what we will see on these. But

[26:38] even with that being said, this totaling is looking at $27 million, right? We're

[26:45] all wondering how are we going to do project like that? Um and grant funding

[26:51] is really the best best place to go. And this is looking at 10 years. And I just

[26:56] also want to emphasize again that we are actively pursuing grant funding to do

[27:01] some of these studies. And we just do them one at a time, one step at a time.

[27:07] [clears throat] And this is um yeah and then the TAGE study and design is the

[27:11] first one on the list. So this last part of the presentation I

[27:18] want to go into a little bit of detail of the financial analysis that we

[27:22] performed as a part of this project. We started by looking at the existing

[27:28] revenue uh for coy storm water utility here is exclusively funded through rate

[27:35] revenue. So that's the stormwater fee that you're paying right now. is a flat

[27:40] fee of about $7 per account per month. So that's per per parcel per month. And

[27:49] what I didn't include here is comparing it with what other utilities are

[27:53] charging in the area. We're at about $7 flat fee per month. And [clears throat]

[27:59] the second cheapest one above us is at $14

[28:04] per month, doubling what we're charging right now. So, I think it's fair to say

[28:08] that Col has a smaller revenue simply because we're not charging as much as

[28:14] some of our neighbors are. And even with that, uh, we are right now

[28:19] budgeting at approximately $70,000 annually for stormwater utility fees.

[28:26] And when we did this analysis, we assume there to be no customer growth over

[28:32] 10ear horizon. So the future revenue projection assume there's no customer

[28:36] growth distributed just at staying at the same population same amount

[28:42] and I will go into the weed a little bit here because I want to kind of step by

[28:46] step go through how we came up with these numbers.

[28:51] Um the first thing that we go in is to try to figure out how much money do you

[28:57] actually need to run your program to run your storm utility. So the number one

[29:03] thing that everyone spends money on is operation and maintenance just doing the

[29:07] bare minimum. And in this case in CI the 2026 O&M budget is about $44,000

[29:16] and when we are looking at future cost analysis we're escalating that at an

[29:21] average inflation rate of 4.2%.

[29:26] And [clears throat] to simplify the analysis you can see me crossing it off

[29:29] there. we assume that there are no additional revenue coming from taxes or

[29:36] from inter fund transfer. So we just we're just focusing on storm water

[29:41] utility on its own. And we also assume we also know for a fact that storm water

[29:47] utility itself does not have any debts. So that's also cross off of the revenue

[29:52] requirement. We don't have to pay any debts from stormwater utility.

[29:58] And the last piece of this puzzle is to figure out what we call rate funded

[30:02] capital. That is if we had savings, if we had a reserve

[30:08] um and if we had needs to go fix this project, how much would that cost just

[30:12] to do the basic repairs in addition your to your operations and maintenance? Just

[30:18] basic capital cost. So I will show you now the capital plan that we use to um

[30:24] to kind of look at the rate funded capital.

[30:29] So from the capital funding plan we started at a capital cost

[30:33] and that's what the system needs and based on the six projects that are at

[30:37] endify this is the astronomical number of $27 million over next 10 years. Um

[30:45] and uh that's that's the capital cost. But then when we're looking at how much

[30:51] money that we can actually pay for that, as I said, we're actively pursuing

[30:56] grants to actually pay for some of the capital costs. And to further simplify

[31:01] the analysis, again, we're assuming that we're not spending money on net reserve

[31:05] to fund any capital projects and there's no debt to pay. And the difference

[31:10] between what it costs to do all the capital projects and what we can get

[31:14] from grants ideally will be the rate funded capital. And even that is a big

[31:20] gap. So I I do want to give you the time to kind of think about

[31:25] that for a little bit. But coming from the race study, a number

[31:31] one recommendation is to continue pursuing grants and loan opportunities.

[31:38] Here in the purple highlight, I uh basically highlighted opportunities that

[31:43] have loans. And it's really great that in the state of Washington, hardship

[31:48] communities like Cosmopolis are often prioritized for loan forgiveness and

[31:53] also for grant funding. So this is really an advantage for us in that way

[31:57] to get that grant funding to do something with storm water management

[32:01] and with flood management. What's in blue are the um the grants that's

[32:09] available for storm water management and also with like office of sha basin for

[32:13] flood reduction. These are competitive grants that um every everyone in

[32:19] Washington will go for. Um as a consultant I I help other cities apply

[32:25] for these things. even if it's Belleview, even if it's um effort that

[32:28] have bigger bigger pot money. Um but but again, hardship communities are often

[32:34] prioritized when it comes to receiving these fundings.

[32:38] So that's the number one recommendation. And number two, and this is what I want

[32:45] to present as uh something for all of us to consider. This is not a thing that I

[32:50] want us to go in with the resolution today but is thinking about what to do

[32:56] to increase capital reserve. So I'm presenting two options here in the part

[33:01] of this analysis. The first option is to uh increase rates

[33:08] by face. Um, and as an example, uh, we're thinking about increasing the,

[33:16] um, rate by 5% annually for the first 5 years. So, we build up some of that

[33:21] reverse and reduce that increase to 2% annually, just as an exercise.

[33:27] At this rate, we're going to see a uh total reserve of about $20,000 by 2031,

[33:34] which is still a small amount for the kind of work that we need to do, but

[33:38] that is a 28% increase from what we have right now. That's pretty huge. And what

[33:44] that looks like to your monthly fee could look like is just putting a

[33:49] quarter and a dime in the piggy bank every single month. And that if everyone

[33:55] were to do that, that's $19,000. But this is this is just one option that

[34:00] we considered. The second option which is very common

[34:06] among stormwater utilities is to support uh to use a equitable rate structure.

[34:12] Meaning if you have a bigger parcel, if I own a bigger piece of land, I'm

[34:16] expected to pay more for storm water management just because there's more

[34:20] rain that land on my property than on single family home. So in this case, uh

[34:26] a lot of time the industrial parcels and commercial parcels could be charged more

[34:31] to offset that difference and the rate for the single family home and

[34:35] residential could remain the same. So, these are just two options that

[34:40] we've looked at for our uh for the comprehensive plan and something for us

[34:45] to kind of consider uh as we move forward.

[34:50] But I'm going to close it out by just talk about some of the recommended next

[34:56] steps. So, the first two I've already talked about when it comes to financial

[35:00] health. One is to continue pursue external grant funding. Two is to

[35:07] consider adjusting storm water rates to fund capital. Perhaps adopting a more

[35:12] equitable rate structure. And three, um I'm using some big words

[35:18] here, asset management plan for city storm water infrastructure. What it

[35:23] means is that I think it's important for the city to know what facilities we

[35:28] actually own and what's in our responsibility to maintain. That's what

[35:33] I uh mean by asset inventory to know what's in the system. And the second is

[35:38] because they're all underground most of the time, doing a condition assessment

[35:42] of these assets will give us an idea of if they need to be replaced in 5 years

[35:47] or 10 years to 50 years. So we have a way to plan for these upgrades.

[35:53] And the last thing coming up from that is to figure out how much do those

[35:58] replacement and renewal will cost. So that will help us get a sense of at

[36:03] least what is coming up next because like any of your home repair when it's

[36:09] broken it's going to be more expensive than replacing something proactively.

[36:15] And the last piece is to continue implementing engagement activities for

[36:19] overburden communities so that they know that there are different flood reduction

[36:24] initi initiatives going on in the region. Um, this is my last slide and I

[36:29] left my email uh my my work email on the on the slide for you if you have any

[36:34] other questions about the comprehensive plan. It's now on the city's website for

[36:39] you to also uh look at if you're interested, but I'll open the floor up

[36:44] for any questions.

[36:49] » In your um presentation, you you talked about low slope and not a big retention

[36:55] area. for water. One of the things historically is is the area by

[37:03] the the north end of town by the flood gates that property back in there. There

[37:09] there was we used to clean it out. We used to go in there and actually dredge

[37:13] that that creek uh take care of beaver dams, things like that. that gave us the

[37:20] capacity a lot of times in the winter >> to be able to store more water.

[37:25] » Yes. >> During that time, is that factored in

[37:27] here at all as far as that maintenance? >> That's definitely something that we are

[37:32] considering for the TAG study in the way that

[37:36] creating storage is the only thing that will make the tigate work. And one way

[37:41] to do that is to dredge it. And what we did not look into is um environmental

[37:48] permits that's required to do that. It can be it can be expensive and also the

[37:53] maintenance that's related to that. But another option coming out from that is

[37:58] to uh potentially looking at pump stations.

[38:01] » So instead of instead of judging it creating that storage year after year,

[38:07] putting in pump station and then pumping that water directly out to Shahalis

[38:11] could be another option. And that's uh that's pretty common in this area as

[38:16] well. So for the the funding that we applied, those are the things that we'll

[38:22] look into. >> And that's part of what's happened in

[38:24] South A. And they redirected a bunch of water to this system.

[38:29] » Okay. >> And so they put in pump stations

[38:32] upstream, but this they also [clears throat] redirected they ditched

[38:36] it. They put a lot of extra water into our particular area. And so,

[38:44] um, I was curious about that. The other thing I had a question about is at the

[38:46] headwaters of the Mill Creek, um, there are large parcels of property that do,

[38:51] you know, that's where that's where the water starts and comes in. Is there any

[38:54] kind of opportunity to collect from those land owners?

[39:00] It's in the county versus the city. >> Yeah. I think that's the tricky part of

[39:07] storm water management is water goes where it wants to go. Water doesn't care

[39:12] if it's in [laughter] right if it's in the town next door or

[39:17] and and the [clears throat] city only has

[39:21] agreement with its own residents and I think that's a really tricky part and

[39:27] that's where some of the kind of region level regional level efforts come in. I

[39:33] think when we talk about flooding, we really need to see each other as

[39:37] partners and talk about opportunities to work together.

[39:40] And I don't know the I I don't know the issues well enough to really answer your

[39:44] question, but that's where [clears throat] my mind goes first.

[39:48] » Um, Councilman Davis's deal Aberdine is building another a new pump station here

[39:56] in South Everdine off of Farragut Street. It's one of their proposed

[40:00] projects that will >> help reduce the amount of water that

[40:06] comes from that south not south what is it this well southeast side or south

[40:12] yeah southeast side of Aberdine south Aberdine [clears throat] they call it in

[40:16] the swamp area between the two cities here and um I'm part of the flood

[40:21] authority I'm one of the members of the flood authority and and I brought up the

[40:26] idea that eventually that we might look at a pump as well as what Aberdine and

[40:33] Hokquim have now put in and we're finding to be more and more because in

[40:38] my time here the creek floods and if it can't get out

[40:44] because the river level is as high as it is. That's why you got to have the pumps

[40:48] instead of a gate. A gate's just going to keep the water from the river coming

[40:52] in, but it isn't letting our water out. and and so I know that's one of the

[40:58] ideas that we've been passing around. Uh we have turned in um the paperwork for

[41:04] the project for the study and stuff. It has made and went through the first set

[41:10] of evaluations. It came back. >> You guys went through it a second time

[41:14] and sent it back in. And so it's been evaluated and now we're just waiting for

[41:19] it. It it didn't make shovel ready. So yes, it didn't end up hitting right now

[41:25] to be funded, but that next bianium is where we look like we'll end up with it

[41:31] in getting into the next bianium with that funding.

[41:34] » Okay. Yeah. And and exactly what you're saying, pump is a pump is an option.

[41:41] What Councilman was saying too, like dredging and creating additional storage

[41:45] is another option. And definitely we're looking at both short-term construction

[41:50] costs and also long-term maintenance, what that will look like.

[41:53] » And T, I hate to stop you here, but we do need to start our um council meeting.

[42:00] Yeah, >> you have the her email address. You can

[42:02] reach out and contact her. I've had the pleasure of working with her for several

[42:06] months and I see us continuing to work together. So, um, if you do have

[42:12] questions, please reach out. Okay. >> Yeah.

[42:15] » Thank you. Thank you J very much. >> Are you going to stay for the meeting?

[42:20] » Yeah, I'll stay for it. But >> you don't have to.

[42:22] » I don't know how to exit it. So

[42:29] » So do you have any other presentation which is

[42:33] » No, that that's the only presentation. >> I think then we leave it on and ask have

[42:38] people just start admitting that. Leave it this big screen on

[42:46] in case people want to ask questions. >> Okay. Uh what we want to do is have it

[42:51] as speaker. >> We'll have Chris and Casey on tonight.

[42:58] » Okay. I think it's still all working. >> Okay. Should we proceed then?

[43:02] » Y. >> Okay. Um

[43:07] Councilman Skinno, could you lead us, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag

[43:12] of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one

[43:18] nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[43:23] » Thank you. And Councilman Skinn, will you do roll call, please? Oh, this is

[43:29] Mayor Springo. It's Wednesday, August 19th, and I call the council meeting to

[43:33] order. Mayor Springer

[43:38] » here. >> Councilman Skinner here. Councilman W

[43:41] present. >> Councilman Spargo

[43:43] » present. >> Councilman Davis

[43:44] » here. >> Councilman Darcy

[43:46] » here. >> All accounted for.

[43:50] Um, before we vote, I'd like to add an addition to tonight's agenda, the

[43:55] boundary line adjustment ratification for partial A and B, block 24, which I

[44:02] would like to add as an item four under new business discussion and item two

[44:08] under new business council action. Is there a motion to approve the agenda for

[44:13] tonight's meeting as amended? >> So move. You need to have someone to

[44:18] make a motion that we add. >> You got to have

[44:21] » Okay. So, >> I make a motion that we a um

[44:28] a

[44:31] adjust the agenda to reflect the um new part. [laughter] Here we go again.

[44:43] amend >> to add

[44:48] the ratification of for parcel A and parcel B block 24

[44:54] to uh the new business and item number two

[44:58] take council action.

[45:02] » Is there a motion? >> That was the motion. Now you need a

[45:05] second. >> Thank you.

[45:07] » Seconded. >> All is in.

[45:10] » Any questions? Any questions? Where is that? Where are the uh what

[45:17] area are we talking about? >> Isn't this this piece of property?

[45:20] » This is part of the Oh, this part. Oh, okay. Okay.

[45:25] Any other discussion? >> All in favor?

[45:30] » I >> I

[45:33] Okay, moving on to the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent

[45:39] agenda? I make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[45:44] » Is there a second? >> Council me second that.

[45:47] » Is there any discussion?

[45:52] » All those in favor? >> I.

[45:55] » All those opposed. Okay. There'll be none. Council comments

[46:01] at this time.

[46:06] Hearing none. [clears throat] We'll move on to committee reports, auditing and

[46:11] finance. Uh we I didn't go over the um vouchers

[46:19] and also um Councilman Skinner and I the vouchers ourselves as well.

[46:28] [clears throat] Park

[46:39] uh our public safety meeting last night. Uh I will refer the reports from the

[46:45] Aberdine Police Department and the um Cosmopolis Fire Department to those

[46:51] committees when they move that direction. Uh we did have a little more

[46:55] discussion last night on what's going on across the street and the updates that

[47:00] have been uh uh shared with the community whether through the newsletter

[47:05] or the newspaper. Uh there's plenty of social media people out there reporting

[47:11] on what's going on across the street as well. Uh

[47:16] all different kinds of information. I think our best bet is to get our

[47:20] information from the EPA. um and go with what they're

[47:26] letting us know and how they're dealing with the issues over there. We can all

[47:29] see as we drive by that it seems to me that somehow even if it is August,

[47:35] there's less water right now sitting over there on the ground than there had

[47:38] been for the last few months. So either they um broke a a beaver dam or

[47:44] something happened over there to reduce some of it. they have taken chemicals

[47:48] away and they will proceed to or continue to do that for the upcoming

[47:53] months. So, uh that uh we discussed a little bit more about the traffic

[47:58] calming uh issues that we've uh identified and um uh we've tried I would

[48:06] say we're working towards getting them on the agenda. The agenda has been full

[48:10] of priority items and so that hasn't hit the agenda yet, but we hope to here real

[48:17] soon get that on the agenda. Um, other than that, uh, Councilman Davis, you

[48:22] took some notes. You got some more to add to it. I think you pretty much cover

[48:26] everything. >> Okay.

[48:27] » Okay. Public works. We did not have a meeting this month, so

[48:33] » Okay. >> Official reports. Um

[48:38] » if you could do that >> city administrator

[48:41] » uh council, first of all, this is my first council meeting uh that I've been.

[48:46] So it's been um I tell people I've been drinking drinking from fire hose uh to

[48:52] get that. But I really want to do appreciate you as council uh helping

[48:57] helping me understand kind of how that we're where we are with

[49:02] it. U because anytime you walk in something new, it's new. you just don't

[49:07] know. You assume stuff and you don't know. And and um but it's been a great

[49:13] it's been great being here and I've just been amazed with the citizens that are

[49:19] in Cosmopololis. I mean, they're just great people and the parks and and just

[49:25] just the whole town is just a is a great town. Um now, with that being said,

[49:30] obviously there's some big challenges that we have. Um, and you guys have been

[49:33] doing actually a pretty good job of of of managing it. I mean, with with

[49:38] limited resources, um, definitely a lot of stuff going on. Um, but I'm I'm

[49:44] excited to be here and um, and my door is always open, you know. So, um, if you

[49:50] need to track me down on something and if I don't know, I'm going to tell you I

[49:54] don't know. If I do know, then I'll probably, hey, this is what we can do.

[49:57] and and I and I'm I'm gaining some thoughts but of of the town. Um but

[50:03] understand that there's just a lot of things that my goal is to work within

[50:07] versus coming in and saying, "Hey, I've got the answers for everything." Because

[50:11] I don't. But, uh here at the [clears throat] table, I think that we

[50:14] can work together. Um so, with that being said, uh want to give some updates

[50:19] and one of the big things that obviously that we've been working on is Cosmo

[50:23] Specialty Fiber and the site cleanup. um that we had uh uh last week on Thursday

[50:31] uh we had held here at the city hall um uh meeting with the EPA or EPA basically

[50:38] it's a drop in you know um so people could ask questions there were 12 people

[50:43] that were there and they included representative from uh uh Congresswoman

[50:48] uh Randall's office um I was there we had a daily um world reporter um and a

[50:55] representative from the Kronalt Indian Nation. And then of course the three EPA

[51:00] employees that were there, one public affairs specialist and the two on on uh

[51:06] seeing um coordinators um and the EPA's goal um is to remove

[51:12] large quantity of chemicals stored at the site um over the next 3 to 5 months.

[51:17] Um, and they're going to be working Monday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to

[51:21] 5:00 p.m. Um, the funding, that was a big question that came up was where it's

[51:27] coming from. It's coming through the super fund authority. Uh, but the

[51:31] officials stressed that this is not a super fund site, you know, so it just

[51:34] that's the that's where the pot of the money comes from. Um, and the reason why

[51:41] the EPA is here is they have the ability to work on acute problems that are time

[51:48] critical, you know, so that's removing the chemicals. So that's there. What

[51:53] they don't do is they're not they're not going to do soil. They're not going to

[51:57] do, you know, whatever the structure is over there. They're they're just

[52:00] basically there for the chemicals. That is where ecology comes in, you know. And

[52:05] so that's going to be a bigger discussion of what happens next after

[52:09] the EPA is done. Uh they think there's between 700,000 and 750,000 gallons that

[52:16] have been confirmed. Um primarily uh the the red liquor um which contains

[52:22] magnesium bulfite. I don't know if I got that spelled right or said that right.

[52:28] Um but there's there's additional tanks that they haven't gotten to yet, you

[52:32] know, that they're going to work on getting there. So there could be there

[52:35] could be a lot more. Um the red liquor is going to be pumped uh using new

[52:40] equipment. So they're going to instead of using their existing equipment

[52:44] because there's no power over there. They're going to open up the top and

[52:47] basically suck the stuff out. Um and then they've got stuff that's going to

[52:52] neutralize it on site. So neutral pH. Um and then they're going to truck it uh to

[52:57] the licensed disposal uh facilities. Um they said that they're probably going to

[53:02] take it through the Blue Slooh area instead of going through town, but

[53:07] they'll do that. Um the Washington Department of Ecology, uh which was not

[53:12] there, but they're going to they are the ones responsible for the separate

[53:16] address oils and the smaller containers. And so you you're probably going to see,

[53:20] uh spill uh vehicles in there. It's not that there's a spill, they're there to

[53:25] clean it up. Um, so far the EPA has documented 8 to nine leaks mostly in the

[53:31] piping. Uh, and some of them are small leaks. Um, uh, but they said that the,

[53:36] uh, inactivity of the facility makes it less hazard than an operating mill, you

[53:42] know, cuz I know we've all been talking about what happened down south. Um, but

[53:46] it's no longer heated, no longer pressurized. Um but they've got concerns

[53:51] with aging tanks and they have no maintenance history of what what's going

[53:56] on. Um so it remains concern. They're going to be uh air monitoring. We'll

[54:00] watch for sulfur sulfur uh dioxide particulates vapors. Um and they're

[54:06] going to be publishing monitoring data uh weekly on treatment and shipping

[54:12] totals. Um right now they're using open uh treatment tanks. Um, and the reason

[54:19] why they do that because they can analyze whether or not it's happening.

[54:23] Um, now if they're going to monitor it, but if something was to happen where

[54:28] there's more um fumes that are being released, I mean, and they're they've

[54:33] got sensors all over the place, then they can do um closed tanks instead, but

[54:37] it's hard it's harder to monitor it. Um EPA they over and over again said

[54:45] they're limited to removing the bulk chemicals and ecology is the one

[54:49] responsible for long-term investigation soil, groundwater, sediments, wetlands,

[54:54] overall site cleanup and and we've had conversations but we don't really know

[54:59] what the plan is. Um so that's that's going to be something that that we just

[55:04] got to keep pushing. unresolved issues which they don't know is the residue

[55:09] sludge because as the tanks as the tanks empty out there might be stuff that's on

[55:14] the bottom and then it might not be practical to remove it other than I mean

[55:20] if if you want to get someone in there to suck it out. So that's where they

[55:24] just have to figure out as they go whether that makes sense. And then

[55:28] there's uh a lot of pipes through the entire

[55:32] thing. And so some of the some of the pipes are like inch thick. Um and so to

[55:38] clean all the stuff out of there is probably going to be impossibility uh

[55:41] with it. Um but they're going to do once they get in there, they're going to have

[55:45] a better idea. Um, again, like I said before, it's

[55:49] taxpayer funded, but the EPA expects to pursue costs to recover from current and

[55:56] former owners, and they made that clear, but they they gave the current owner

[56:01] plenty of time to try to get the thing cleaned up, but there's been no

[56:05] response. Um, so they're they're pursuing um the legal legal aspect. Um,

[56:12] uh, EPA is coordinating with county emergency management, fire, law

[56:16] enforcement. We had a big meeting with everybody in there to understand what's

[56:20] going on. Uh, but there is no dedicated public siren. So, if something happens,

[56:25] you're not going to do that. But there is because there's no power in the side,

[56:29] but if something was to occur, energy management would handle the

[56:32] notification. So, it' be typically that we would do if a tornado came through or

[56:36] whatever, you'd be um, alerted. Um [clears throat]

[56:42] the I think the one feedback that I got was uh there was not enough notice for

[56:48] people to know and why it was so quick and the reason why it was so quick is

[56:53] the direct conversation we met with them is they were in town. We felt that it

[56:58] was important to get a meeting right as soon as possible, you know, so the word

[57:03] is out. They're talking about whatever it whatever it's going to be and we

[57:07] still had um good good representation in there, but the plan plan is to do um

[57:14] many more. I mean, so um it all depends what but there'll be greater more

[57:19] advanced notice. Um and uh you know if there's things that we can put the

[57:27] word out better um to get that you know we certainly would do that cuz really

[57:31] there they were um if you were there they were they were great people to talk

[57:36] to. I mean they just gave you gave you the facts. Um I said that you know what

[57:41] they could work on what they wouldn't u but they haven't actually done done all

[57:44] that stuff. So so the plan is to have more dropins. Um and then uh our plan

[57:51] from the city is also to create a web page with with all the information on

[57:56] there to keep people up there. But uh their their page that they actually have

[58:02] uh which is the um response.gov/cosmotc

[58:09] is pretty good. I mean it has has all the stuff and you can go to see some of

[58:13] the documents with it. So So our plan is to put that together. Anyone have any

[58:17] questions before I go on my next thing? >> And they have put security back.

[58:22] » Yes. Yes. I I mentioned they they as long as they're there, they are going to

[58:26] have security. Now, what happens when they go

[58:30] » Mhm. >> is is there because it's it's obviously

[58:33] it's a it's a great nuisance >> [clears throat]

[58:35] » um out there. But yes, yeah, they have that.

[58:38] » The time frame is 7 8 months. Is that what they said? uh they said about 5

[58:42] months, but they won't know until they start actually, you know, getting in

[58:46] there. But they're they're here and they're they're on site. Um and they've

[58:50] really been great to work with so far. >> Very approachable.

[58:53] » Yeah. With it. And and they have no problem if you've got if you got

[58:57] questions, you know, and they'll they'll tell you what's going on and uh some

[59:02] things they can't say, but um you know, but um they're they're a great a great

[59:07] team. And anything else?

[59:11] um just give you an update. I I don't know if you if the council knows or not,

[59:16] but you know, uh I'm still working on the fire museum water damage. Um and so

[59:22] uh we have the insurance company has not reopened the claim, but they've

[59:29] approved us to uh to go and do further investigation on the wall and have it

[59:34] open it up and see if there's any um water damage or whatever is in there.

[59:40] And then once we get that, then we'll see what our next steps are. So, no no

[59:44] promises, but at least we're um we're having the conversation. They're going

[59:48] to come back and take a look at that. Um tomorrow, we're going to be interviewing

[59:52] for deputy clerk position. Um they're scheduled for tomorrow. We've got four

[59:56] people that we're interviewing. Um and the administrative office is we're are

[1:00:01] going to be closed as there's three of us that are going to be interviewing.

[1:00:05] Um, so I'll update the the council as soon as we decide whatever whatever

[1:00:09] we're going to do. And then the building department coverage, I know that some

[1:00:13] people have have, I guess, talked about it, but um, but

[1:00:18] the building inspector, Bill Cider, is has been out. He's got he's got some

[1:00:22] issues that he has to uh take care of. Um, we expect him to come back. Uh, but

[1:00:27] in the meantime, Josh Padet from Aberdine is covering his position. Um,

[1:00:32] and he he's getting all of Bill's emails, uh, um, returning phone calls.

[1:00:38] He's been out doing inspections. Um, and, uh, so we're we're on track and

[1:00:43] we're not we're not dropping anything there. And, um, we talked to Bill

[1:00:47] [gasps] probably at least every other day about

[1:00:50] what whatever is going on. So, uh, uh, we hope to have him back and and get

[1:00:55] back up to speed. But, uh, we do appreciate, uh, the help that we've been

[1:00:58] getting from Aberdine, um, on on that, you know, and again, I I really do

[1:01:04] appreciate all you guys do as council members. I mean, that, uh, being a

[1:01:08] council person, it it's hard. I mean, you just from time to get the stuff done

[1:01:13] and um, and right now as a is a tough time in Cosmopolis and and to be on the

[1:01:18] council, you know, there's some decisions you have to make that are

[1:01:21] tough. Um, and it's hard, you know, but I really I really been impressed with

[1:01:25] the work that you guys do and especially for some challenges you're in there. I

[1:01:30] mean, I think that um uh you are guys are doing a lot with not a lot with it.

[1:01:38] So, so I appreciate it and I'm glad glad to be here and again my my door is

[1:01:43] always open. Um, so whatever I can do to help you guys or or just or you guys

[1:01:49] help me on figuring out how do we get get places, that's all I got.

[1:01:53] » Okay. Thank you. >> Police Chief Chief Green.

[1:01:57] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh, just to go out with the city manager said make sure you

[1:02:01] sign up for your [laughter] alerts to Gar County Emergency

[1:02:04] Management. There's a link on there to put your uh name and phone number to

[1:02:09] that they have your correct information. So if you have an alert, they can do

[1:02:12] that. They're able to do it um geographically based. We can do the same

[1:02:15] thing for our dispatch center. So that's very important stuff that has to make

[1:02:19] sure you guys keep keep updated on that. The city of Abin also has a notify me um

[1:02:24] app and a website too. Uh I would certainly encourage you to sign up for

[1:02:28] them too. Uh they're just you so it's important you get any emergencies might

[1:02:32] be going on with your neighbors. Uh last month in July we saw 54 calls. So it was

[1:02:36] down from June. uh the most of the calls, the highest call we had with was

[1:02:41] parking enforcement. I think that's a good thing that uh if people are calling

[1:02:44] our parking enforcement officer for some of the nuisance uh vehicles um you know

[1:02:48] when we started this I kind of talked about our goal with the parking is to

[1:02:51] just get people to comply and take care of their business and so George has only

[1:02:55] written two tickets out of 20 calls. So that's a good thing. I think most people

[1:02:58] are complying. That's about about the rate that we see in the city of 2. One

[1:03:02] out of every 10 persons doesn't want to comply. So, we think they get an

[1:03:04] interfaction later this year. Later this year, you'll get an update on the

[1:03:08] parking codes. Uh, city causes are kind of outdated, so we're just going to um

[1:03:13] make them current. Uh, you see the traffic data on the report, too. So,

[1:03:17] you're getting us just under uh 6,000 cars a day driving by the speed signs in

[1:03:22] the both directions. They're still still well below the speed limit. That's a

[1:03:26] very good thing. And uh the average speed is is staying very consistent

[1:03:30] which uh we also think that's a great thing too because sometimes people might

[1:03:34] get too used to it and start speeding up a little bit but we haven't seen that

[1:03:36] yet. [sighs and gasps] We were able to hire our 37th officer this last month.

[1:03:41] She starts police academy on September 15th and she'll be graduating uh next

[1:03:46] spring. Then we had Nash night out on the 4th just a couple weeks ago. were

[1:03:50] able to stop them both the one I ever site and then two both of the Kazy sites

[1:03:54] before we got stuck in our barricad call just down the road um really appreciate

[1:03:59] all the community coming out and helping us out and then we were on that call you

[1:04:02] know our priorities [clears throat] make sure everybody in the neighborhood's

[1:04:04] safe so that's why those things take time you know we're never in any kind of

[1:04:07] hurry to resolve the situations we want to make sure that everybody in the

[1:04:10] neighborhood's safe and the victims are taken care of and so those things just

[1:04:14] take time unfortunately and that's just kind of how it goes

[1:04:18] » thank you And at this time, our fire chief will be joining us by Zoom. Chief,

[1:04:27] » I uh good evening and uh my apologies for not being present tonight. I had a

[1:04:32] had a family uh issue that occurred. So, I normally would be there. Um, so it's

[1:04:38] been a fun start um for uh being your fire chief and um met a great group of

[1:04:46] volunteers on the first drill night uh of the month and kind of kind of got

[1:04:51] some understanding of people's needs and uh where we can grow the department from

[1:04:55] here. Um so current >> currently we are sitting at 216 calls

[1:05:00] for service. That's 34 calls since our last since the last report that you

[1:05:04] received. Um we saw a significant uptick in uh fire uh structure fires or FSRWs

[1:05:10] as they're listed. Um those were all mutual aid um with other departments

[1:05:16] predominantly at the city of Aberdine. Uh however uh still a significant uptick

[1:05:21] having 11 in a uh month's time. We did have some uh medical responses and 13

[1:05:27] aid responses. Uh four lift assists and two hazmats that were unrelated to the

[1:05:32] mill. Um just want to make sure that we don't it wasn't Cosmo. Um all the

[1:05:38] majority were handled um well by our own volunteers um with the assistance of

[1:05:44] Aberdine Fires paramedic unit and engine coming from Southside and we really

[1:05:50] appreciate that cooperation that we do have. Um with that we have two members

[1:05:55] that are in uh fire 2 academy. both are being reported doing really well and are

[1:06:00] representing um Cosmopolis fire um very well. Uh we have two um recent

[1:06:08] applications uh that one have gone out, one's already returned to add additional

[1:06:14] volunteers. Both have an interest in fire and EMS. Um so that is great. And

[1:06:19] we were able with the donation and mayor, I need you to say the family last

[1:06:24] name so I don't destroy it. [laughter] >> Okay. Hopefully I don't. Um Daryl Drewi,

[1:06:31] » thank you. Um with the charitable donation from their family, we were able

[1:06:36] to uh repair our uh two of our bay doors that needed had much needed repairs um

[1:06:43] with no cost to the city. So pretty happy to be able to um get that

[1:06:49] [clears throat] fixed so we have a safe uh environment that doesn't delay our

[1:06:53] response. Um, that's that's all I have for this meeting. Uh, I'm sure I'll have

[1:06:58] more in future meetings. >> Thank you, Chief Mac Binger.

[1:07:05] [clears throat] Um, on to the mayor's report. I have a

[1:07:10] few updates to show this evening. So, coming up this Sunday is Festival in the

[1:07:14] Park. Um, Festival in the Park is August 23rd from 11 to 4. I want to note a

[1:07:21] correction. Our newsletter had a misprint listing Saturday at the correct

[1:07:26] the correct day is Sunday the 23rd. You can look forward to a free kids corner

[1:07:32] music featuring from 12 to 2 call engage who is a well-known musician in the

[1:07:39] community and very popular. We have five food vendors with a nice variety of

[1:07:45] food. 25 vendors plus several agencies that will be providing information that

[1:07:51] support our citizens. There'll be a cruise in car show. Prizes will be

[1:07:56] awarded. Citizens will be voting on the different categories. Um it'll be best

[1:08:02] in show and different as I said different categories. The midnight

[1:08:06] cruisers and push rods will be participating. also participating

[1:08:12] in kind of the community event [clears throat] will be the Dennis York

[1:08:17] Historical Museum will be open that day. They plan to bring one of the historical

[1:08:23] fire trucks to the festival. Um our chief will have also applications for

[1:08:30] that. Um volunteers can pick up there. Um and so there'll be a lot happening on

[1:08:36] the 23rd. get out, visit businesses, come to the festival, go up to the

[1:08:40] Dennis York Historical Museum. Um, we normally, well, we had started the

[1:08:46] pancake volunteer pancake breakfast. Unfortunately, we're not having it this

[1:08:50] year because our two volunteers that are very actively involved in it. They are

[1:08:56] the individuals that training and then our chief, um, Koko was also one of the

[1:09:02] volunteers last year. He is now working um full-time as a fire chief at a

[1:09:09] different department. [clears throat] So, also we have a blood drive that will

[1:09:13] be on August 24th. I think she still has a couple spots. We have information that

[1:09:20] if you stop by city hall, we can connect you. It's also on our city Facebook page

[1:09:25] and it's from 9 to 3. The blood mobile will be located on D Street on the curb

[1:09:31] next to the fire hall. So, if you haven't, you know, you have an

[1:09:34] opportunity to save a life and really help out because blood at this time of

[1:09:39] year, um Jane came in and spoke at the senior lunchon and gave a wonderful

[1:09:45] presentation about the need and there was a very high need for it. Um we did

[1:09:51] not have a public works meeting scheduling was interesting

[1:09:54] [clears throat] this but I will give you an update. Um, one of the things that

[1:09:58] public work has been working on, they did do all the alleys. Um, if they miss

[1:10:03] one, let us know. But all the gravel has been put in the potholes in the alley.

[1:10:09] They're contining to work on cold patching. Um, as you can see, if you

[1:10:15] take a look at First Street, it looks pretty amazing. Um, again, our seasonal

[1:10:22] help was brought on as a full-time employee. Um, and he's doing an

[1:10:26] excellent job keeping things trimmed and looking nice here in the city. Um, let's

[1:10:32] see how we move on.

[1:10:38] Oh, the other thing coming up is um I just the chief spoke about National

[1:10:44] Night Out. We had one [clears throat] there at Highland Park and one at the

[1:10:47] Dennis York um historical museum. Nice turnout for both of them. the police a

[1:10:54] police department, the cadets and the VIPs who are in attendance and we want

[1:10:59] to thank you. You had a excellent [clears throat] turnout and people

[1:11:02] enjoyed um seeing you and visiting. So that's my report this evening. So we are

[1:11:08] going on to new business at this time. Item number one, public hearing,

[1:11:16] closure vacation of Ali Row. And John, will you speak to this? Uh you want to

[1:11:23] do that? >> Oh. Oh. So at this time I will recess

[1:11:27] the regular council meeting and reopen and reopen the continued public hearing

[1:11:34] on the petition to vacate the alley right away adjacent to lots through 20

[1:11:42] block 49 rural NIMs addition as petition by the Cosmopoulos school district.

[1:11:50] » Okay. Uh if you remember on July 15th, the council um uh passed resolution 2601

[1:11:58] setting tonight uh setting tonight's date for the public hearing that we had

[1:12:04] on that special meeting uh to vacate the alley right away adjacent to lot 1

[1:12:09] through 20 block 49 rural news edition. Um the petition was filed by the

[1:12:14] cosmopoulos school district. Um and they're they're the property. It's like

[1:12:19] right in the middle of the school um with it. Uh we have not received any

[1:12:25] written comments and we only received two so far we've only received two um uh

[1:12:32] verbal comments and they were both in favor of doing this. Uh so at this time

[1:12:37] we'll take any any comments that anyone might have.

[1:12:44] » Okay. Then you can go ahead and close the hearing.

[1:12:46] » Okay. Seeing no further comment, I will close the public hearing. I will now re

[1:12:50] reconvene the regular council meeting. Item two, lease of the police station

[1:12:57] space. Um I'm excited we've had the um had alto be leased rented. Um we do at

[1:13:07] this time have an agency that is interested. the staff has put together

[1:13:13] um a we have a proposed rent um we put together for leasing the space at the

[1:13:21] police building. A summary is below and I'm going to go through it with you.

[1:13:25] There's a proposed rent of 25 to 3,000 a month with room for negotiation. The

[1:13:31] space is 2,444 square ft. That's the entire office

[1:13:36] space over there. Um the structured as modified growth leaf base rent plus

[1:13:43] prorate utility, water, zero, garbage, electricity. The term is a yearly

[1:13:48] contract agreement with no automatic renewal. Grant is based and approved

[1:13:53] upon square footage with the andor CPI adjustment. The city retains master

[1:14:00] access. Tenant is responsible for telecommunication, internet, phone, and

[1:14:05] property liability insurance. the city will pay for technology relocation.

[1:14:11] » Actually, they they agreed to change. >> Oh, that's right. They did agree to do

[1:14:14] that, which was very nice. For office or professional use. Um, so we really had

[1:14:20] to look at who this would be rented out to. So, for the office, it's only for

[1:14:27] professional use. No retail, food service, or hightraic public facing

[1:14:32] uses. Um, no use that conflicts with the city hall operations. No use requiring

[1:14:38] evening weekend public access. Tenant must pass background and security

[1:14:43] screening. Proposed ten tenant at this time is the crisis network support which

[1:14:50] meets with this which met with the city and we were very pleased with our

[1:14:55] discussion. See this as a very positive step forward for that youth. Um so the

[1:15:03] only um clients that they see is uh crisis support. They um it's very

[1:15:10] discreet, very confidential and um I think they'll be an excellent tenant. So

[1:15:16] is there any discussion at this time? >> Will they be using the same access as

[1:15:22] » No, they will they will use a police side.

[1:15:25] » Okay. >> Yeah, they will not be coming through

[1:15:28] the city side at all. Any other comments, discussion?

[1:15:35] Okay. Um,

[1:15:40] so um, moving on to resolution 2026-02-

[1:15:47] [clears throat] EMS fee. Tara, would you like to speak

[1:15:51] to this at this time, the EMS fee? >> Sure. Um, thank you, Mayor. Tara

[1:15:57] Dunford, finance consultant. Um, I just want to make sure that council

[1:16:00] understands how critical this is. Um, when council did approve the contract

[1:16:05] with Aberdine, this really should have happened at the same time. Um, the

[1:16:13] difference in the rate is $39.62 per month per customer. So, for your 751

[1:16:20] accounts, that equates to nearly $30,000 a month. If you don't adopt this rate

[1:16:25] increase tonight, the general fund has to pay the difference. The general fund

[1:16:30] simply does not have that money. That's as much as your entire police contract

[1:16:34] with Aberine is. We're already going to have to eat the one month since it

[1:16:39] didn't pass last month um correctly and and that already will hurt the budget.

[1:16:44] Uh the general fund had about $250,000 in it at the end of June. that money

[1:16:49] would be gone so quickly if you start eating it down with this. Um, I know

[1:16:54] it's very expensive. I know it's a big impact on customers. I absolutely agree.

[1:17:00] We should look at a rate study to see if there is some sort of subsidy option or

[1:17:05] a way to lower that rate, but we don't have the capacity in the budget to not

[1:17:11] adopt this rate at this point. Um, there's just no money there. Um, I was

[1:17:16] involved with Aberdeen's budget presentation and budget process when

[1:17:20] they went through this and and they had a lot of heartache over doing it too. I

[1:17:24] mean, it went through many, many, many council meetings. Um, it was a huge rate

[1:17:28] increase that they were subsidizing the EMS by the city's general fund and in

[1:17:32] fact in essence subsidizing Cosmopolis's EMS services through Aberine's general

[1:17:37] fund. Um, and their budget just simply couldn't sustain it. That's the reality.

[1:17:41] So, um I I just want to make sure council understands how critical this is

[1:17:46] and how important it is. And you're contracted now to pay this rate to

[1:17:51] Aberdine. If you don't pass this and collect it from customers, it has to

[1:17:54] come from the general fund and and cuts are going to have to come from somewhere

[1:17:57] because there's simply not money there to fund it.

[1:18:03] » Thank you, Terara. So this resolution would increase the monthly EMS fee

[1:18:08] charged on the utility count to 6754 as we discussed in a workshop

[1:18:15] meetings many times previously

[1:18:19] um amending resolution number 2023-04. Is there any discussion before

[1:18:26] [clears throat] they'll vote this evening?

[1:18:30] » I have a question for you Tara. You might recall Chief Folly brought forward

[1:18:35] an EMS fund or some sort of em EMS breakoff from the utility bill. That

[1:18:43] separate money was going towards the Kazzy Fire Department.

[1:18:48] What happened to that fund? That money or does this rate eliminate that fund

[1:18:54] now that the rate is in increased? >> That's a great question. So, you still

[1:18:58] have the new fund 110. So that was established last year for the EMS fund.

[1:19:03] Previously the EMS revenue was accounted for in the general fund. It's still in

[1:19:08] essence the same thing. The money comes in from customers and it goes out. We're

[1:19:12] just tracking it in a separate fund so that you have really easy visibility.

[1:19:17] um what was established last year when that fund went into play, there was a

[1:19:23] very small difference between the amount charged to customers and what was

[1:19:28] remitted to aver bucks and it equated to $7,500 in last year's budget. The goal

[1:19:35] of the chief at that time was to build up some money and have a little bit of

[1:19:40] resources to start funding your own EMS program. Being that now it's going to be

[1:19:45] a direct pass through, we won't have that additional $7,500 a year.

[1:19:50] » Gotcha. It's a great question. I do recall that we talked about being more

[1:19:54] of an accounting. >> I mean, even if it lowered that fee to a

[1:19:59] $66 instead of 67 per month, it would help the citizens. Um, you know, it's

[1:20:06] just a it's just a heavy rate on our utility bill.

[1:20:09] » Uh, thank you, Tara. I was curious about that.

[1:20:12] My questions are still the same that I've had is the uh is

[1:20:19] in the contract it says utility hookup um what utility we talked about it

[1:20:26] whether it's sewer whether it's water >> it water utility so it's the 751 water

[1:20:32] connections there are roughly 630 I can't remember if it's 631 or 633 sewer

[1:20:38] connections um so those that are on wells obviously don't pay sewer. Um so

[1:20:43] it's a 751 water connections.

[1:20:49] » Um so the other part of that question is

[1:20:54] there is exemptions available and are we using or do we know what

[1:21:00] those exemptions would be? So my question is my math says we're we're

[1:21:04] paying 759 connections based on the fee to be paid

[1:21:10] and uh I'm just curious about the the city buildings. Are we including those?

[1:21:18] Because we didn't used to in the water connection. It was exempt from the

[1:21:23] contract. So, we went from 730 a few years ago to 700 I have 759

[1:21:34] um water meter connections.

[1:21:37] » I'm just looking at the July report right from the financial system and 751

[1:21:42] connections were built were build >> um in July. Uh whether those are where

[1:21:49] the city ones are, I'm going to see if I can find that. I am not an expert in the

[1:21:53] utility billing system. So, let me see if I can find that answer quickly. I may

[1:21:57] or may not be able to.

[1:22:01] But yes, the city in theory should pay the

[1:22:06] flat monthly 6754 per water meter connection.

[1:22:11] » So, the so the city so like the parks each park each pump station each

[1:22:17] » each hug. Yes. And [clears throat] u you asking how many meter connections the

[1:22:22] city has? >> I'm trying to find out why our meter

[1:22:25] connections went up that much because we didn't have 20 new connections in the

[1:22:30] last two years. >> And so I would think that would be a

[1:22:34] spot where the city would be able to get an exemption from the city of Aberdine.

[1:22:39] I agree that the fee does need to be paid. We do need to get it and it does

[1:22:44] need to go out to the citizens unfortunately. However, the city itself

[1:22:50] shouldn't because we're already funding, you know, our fire department. We're

[1:22:54] already funding EMS fees. So, there should be a blanket where all of the

[1:23:00] municipal buildings we shouldn't have to pay that because I'm assuming I don't

[1:23:04] know 10 how many connections do we have? But that's something we can do. We can

[1:23:10] ask for an exemption down the road after that. after any of this other stuff

[1:23:16] happens after we have to get this resolved now and then any other ideas

[1:23:20] that come up or ideas that you may have need to be handled after and then start

[1:23:27] form a committee and make it happen >> and I don't disagree with you at this

[1:23:30] point because of the time frame but all that stuff should have been handled

[1:23:33] previously well >> before we got into this whole thing so

[1:23:36] » well there's a lot of things that should have happened I mean like I said all

[1:23:39] these ideas people could have showed up at Aberdine commit, you know, council

[1:23:44] meetings and nobody did. So, >> well, actually they did and they did

[1:23:47] email council members. >> Yeah. And I watched them.

[1:23:51] » Yeah. But Aberdine is doing what they need to do for Aberdine and

[1:23:54] » I understand do what they do for our cos on

[1:24:00] » I I recall that we were using a discounted rate where the city was

[1:24:04] essentially subsidizing these bills >> correct

[1:24:07] » for a while. Is that now just being passed on to Aberdeene? That so we've

[1:24:12] transferred the subsidy that was provided from our general fund and now

[1:24:16] Aberdine's been doing it. Is that >> we used to get a 20% discount from

[1:24:22] Aberdine and now we're being charged the full rate of 100%.

[1:24:25] » So they were actually giving us a formal discount

[1:24:29] » because we had our own fire department. We're handling some of the EMS calls

[1:24:33] » and uh the problem is that we didn't have enough volume. Our our staff didn't

[1:24:38] respond to enough volume of calls and so they wanted to raise it to 100%.

[1:24:43] » Okay. >> There is a there is a a hope that we can

[1:24:48] get more active and be able to respond to the calls. And then at that point

[1:24:52] they they said they would consider lowering it back down to an 80%.

[1:24:56] » Right. I recall that by a chief Goldberg kind of good presentation on it.

[1:25:00] » I was under the impression though that part of the you know the kind of

[1:25:05] discount to our citizens was being paid um well basically just being covered by

[1:25:11] the city of Cosmopol. >> It was but the last administration

[1:25:15] » I would have to remember when

[1:25:18] » Yeah. the previous Yeah. They stopped doing that cuz when I first moved here

[1:25:23] there was a sub this city was subsidizing and there was a council

[1:25:27] meeting I came up I believe in like [clears throat] 2022

[1:25:31] probably like around 23 end of 22 23. >> Yeah. But that's a different thing.

[1:25:35] » They axed out the city subsidizing any of that. Yeah.

[1:25:43] anything. >> Only comment I'm going to make and and

[1:25:46] this probably not make some happy, but we voted and passed this resolution

[1:25:54] over a month ago. And then we came back and found out that we had to or passed

[1:25:59] this ordinance to raise the rate. And then we came back because we found out

[1:26:04] that we had to pass a resolution to pass the bill or to pay the bill.

[1:26:11] And the action of the meet of the council that night cost the city $30,000

[1:26:19] of our reserves even though it had already been voted on

[1:26:24] and passed to try to make some point about not having process procedures or

[1:26:32] doing things in the past. We just threw away $30,000

[1:26:38] that should have been passed on to the residents. We're all residents.

[1:26:45] I'm not saying that I was exempt from paying it. I had to pay it, too. And I

[1:26:50] understood that I had to pay it. But to hold hostage the bill [clears throat] to

[1:26:56] try to prove a point was not good policy.

[1:27:02] Well, I respect your opinion. However, I I disagree. I think the good policy

[1:27:07] would have been to answer these things. We brought it up in February, January,

[1:27:11] and February, and tried to get answers to these questions, and they weren't

[1:27:15] answered, and they're still not answered tonight. So, tonight we're going to call

[1:27:19] for a vote. There's still questions to be answered, but I do agree again, we're

[1:27:24] put under the gun of the urgency of we have to do this now. the policy should

[1:27:30] be done previous to the vote. So you want to blame the cost of $30,000

[1:27:37] to the city, you know, look look around. >> So I'm just I'm going to step out of

[1:27:46] mayo throw for a moment. Um which I can do and I'm going to speak to this.

[1:27:52] Aberdine took this before those citizens numerous workshop

[1:27:57] as to other people can and Sue who attended those meetings council meetings

[1:28:04] they did not resolve it until March this wasn't a rush through last minute

[1:28:11] we had workshops we had meetings we had a town hall meeting had to go back and

[1:28:18] forth politics doesn't happen overnight It would be nice if we could get things

[1:28:23] passed quickly. It didn't. And overall, it has cost.

[1:28:29] And thank you for pointing that out. We came, you should have been educated.

[1:28:35] You should have understand instead of pointing fingers, you have a

[1:28:39] responsibility to the citizens to make decisions that

[1:28:45] keep this city moving forward. The last two and a half years have been hard

[1:28:49] work, sacrifices that have moved this city forward to to

[1:28:59] make that kind of vote that set us back 30,000

[1:29:04] was very disappointing because there's a lot there's council

[1:29:09] here that work that volunteer to make a difference and then to see what happened

[1:29:17] last council meeting was very disappointing and that's the last I'm

[1:29:21] going to say on it.

[1:29:25] [clears throat] Any other comments at this time?

[1:29:29] Okay, with hearing no other comments, John, where do we go from here?

[1:29:34] » Number four. >> Okay, moving on to item number four,

[1:29:38] boundary line adjustment, ratification, parcel A, parcel B, block 24, John

[1:29:45] Martin and Chris Koko. Well,

[1:29:49] » so the reason why this is here uh that is we have on further down um a proposal

[1:29:56] to sell a piece of property um and uh went through uh digging to get some

[1:30:05] information on uh a boundary line adjustment uh that was it was done. So

[1:30:12] it was surveyed, it was done, the boundary line was submitted to the um uh

[1:30:20] the um uh the board the assessor's office or

[1:30:27] what whatever the uh that makes it. So it's been it's been filed. Now one of

[1:30:32] the things I went through and I could not find any documentation that was

[1:30:35] brought before the council for approval. Um, so,

[1:30:41] uh, what we need to do is obviously before we sell the property and the the

[1:30:48] correct property description, everything is in the sale

[1:30:54] package correctly. But one of the things that if you're in a city and you make an

[1:31:00] adjustment to a property property line adjustment, the council has to approve

[1:31:05] it. It has to become the and it didn't. And I don't know why, but it just

[1:31:10] didn't. And so um in advice to our um attorney that his suggestion is that to

[1:31:18] make it legal, what we need to do is bring it before the council, make it um

[1:31:24] basically backdate that we approve it. Um and because

[1:31:29] well, it it needs to be approved. I mean, from from a council point of view.

[1:31:33] So that's the reason why it's here. ask what is the reason for the property line

[1:31:38] adjustment? >> You know, I was not here when you guys

[1:31:46] talked about it. So, I I don't know. I can I I can make some assumptions with

[1:31:51] it. I mean, if you look at the what the original property was and what the

[1:31:55] property is now of being buildable, but I don't know. I mean, I I'm guessing.

[1:32:00] So, the reason it got brought up was uh the new building was supposed to be over

[1:32:07] on that lot, right, and all that. So, the idea was was to ensure that there

[1:32:12] was enough room for the rideway at the end of this building to be able to get

[1:32:16] to the street so that the property line was surveyed. So, we knew we had enough

[1:32:22] access in there. and it ended up moving the property line on I believe like 18

[1:32:27] ft close >> but there's still 30 ft in there

[1:32:31] » which should be plenty >> the idea was to be able to get a fire

[1:32:34] truck through there you have the sallyport

[1:32:37] » lid out there and stuff like that that's why it got brought up

[1:32:40] » and so >> okay essentially we we're selling the

[1:32:44] property we had some allotted on this parcel that we're on right now that we

[1:32:49] no longer need >> that is correct yeah

[1:32:52] » okay so that's the reason why it's here Very nice.

[1:32:57] » So, moving on to item five, sale of city property 1312 First Street, John.

[1:33:06] » Okay. And this is the property we just talked about right next door. Um there's

[1:33:11] uh buyer uh David Mill. Um uh county assessor appraised the value is 39781.

[1:33:19] uh listed price we put up at 79,500. Buyers originally offer was 65,500

[1:33:27] and then we countered and this is where it 76,000 with it. Um you know and so

[1:33:34] the the key the key is one if the council accepts that when we go in there

[1:33:40] but uh we kind of need to do both of them if we're going to uh proceed

[1:33:44] forward as far as the boundary line adjustment and this. So,

[1:33:48] » we could probably do. Yeah. So, I just have a question about the um agreement

[1:33:53] that's on here. Is it expired? Cuz it says that this that his offer was made

[1:33:59] in July and that it's only >> we there Well, no, it's not expired

[1:34:04] because we >> did the counter.

[1:34:06] » We Well, we did the counter. It said that. And then it also is on there that

[1:34:11] it's um for council approval. >> So, and we had this is our first time

[1:34:15] that we've met. >> Oh, right. Okay, sounds good. I just

[1:34:18] wanted to double check on that. Yeah, >> other than that, it's just your basic

[1:34:23] land deal, you know. >> Yeah.

[1:34:26] » So, only other question I have is where does the $76,000 go? I would earmark

[1:34:32] that to go someplace specifically. >> Sure.

[1:34:35] » That's going to go to the city's general fund. You could earmark it specifically

[1:34:39] to go to some specific purpose if you wanted to.

[1:34:45] That'll be good to help make up for the EMS fees that we just lost.

[1:34:48] » Mhm. [laughter] >> Yeah.

[1:34:51] » Be a good year to mark. >> Yeah. The appropriate time to do that

[1:34:55] would be during the 2027 budget process. >> Process.

[1:34:58] » Yeah.

[1:35:03] » Do we know if he what plans he has been around?

[1:35:06] » Yes. So, I'll go ahead and speak to that. Um,

[1:35:10] his plans are to build a twostory building with a residence or apartment

[1:35:16] up above with some type of retail down below, possibly a restaurant or offices

[1:35:23] down below. >> Nice.

[1:35:25] » And he understands it cannot be storage units or anything like that. That would

[1:35:29] make very clear. >> Not another coffee shop.

[1:35:32] Well, [laughter] he actually said he wanted a not and he was thinking about a

[1:35:37] coffee shop and offices and I said, "Well, we have two coffee shops within

[1:35:41] two blocks." And he's like, "Oh." I said, "But you know, it was interesting

[1:35:45] cuz there was information put out because we have another piece of real

[1:35:49] estate and people have talked about a restaurant, a number of things, and I

[1:35:52] shared that with him." So he seemed very excited to move forward not with a

[1:35:57] coffee shop but maybe a restaurant something sandwich shops and off other

[1:36:02] offices. [laughter]

[1:36:05] » So you said that that's been very clear but is that in the contract at all?

[1:36:09] » Yes it will be under contract. It will be

[1:36:14] » that it is. I talked to the realtor and he said it would it is.

[1:36:24] » No. >> Okay. Moving on to ordinance six number

[1:36:29] 1406 vac.

[1:36:34] » Yes. So [snorts] this is what we've been talking about. It's the um school the

[1:36:41] school district that wants it vacated. Uh

[1:36:44] we uh no one has spoken against it. Uh the

[1:36:50] people that spoke for it, you know, the comments were why haven't we done it

[1:36:54] before? Um [laughter] >> 75

[1:36:57] » 75. >> Yeah, cuz there's a um there's actually

[1:36:59] part of a building on on the rightway. uh we are not giving up uh our easements

[1:37:05] when it comes for water, sewer, storm water, etc. with it. So, we still have

[1:37:09] the rights uh there. Um it it really has no impact to the city because it's

[1:37:15] really all school property that that it's there. Um and uh um you know that

[1:37:24] the >> I don't I really don't have much more to

[1:37:27] say. I mean, it's it's it's something, you know, I I'm pretty sure the reason

[1:37:32] why that it was never brought up before is back in the day, people didn't have

[1:37:37] computers. So, to look at >> plots and things like that were very

[1:37:41] difficult. They probably didn't realize it. And then when they started this

[1:37:44] construction project, their their team goes, "Hey, you know, you know that you

[1:37:48] don't have, you know, uh, right access, and this is the time that we should fix

[1:37:53] it." So, I'm sure that that's why it came to

[1:37:55] us and and again, it's the right thing to do.

[1:38:00] » Okay. Um, so moving on to item 7, 2026, our

[1:38:07] budget amendment ordinance number 1405, second reading, Tara Deford, our CPA.

[1:38:14] » Uh, thank you. So, no changes to this document since council saw it last

[1:38:18] month. Um, just to go through the items quickly. Uh in the general fund, there's

[1:38:22] $192,115 for museum capital improvements. This is

[1:38:27] 100% um funded by insurance money that was received partially in 2025 and

[1:38:34] partially in 2026. Um the reason we need a budget amendment

[1:38:38] is council still has to give expenditure authority to the general fund in in

[1:38:44] whole and there's not enough cushion in there to absorb $192,000.

[1:38:50] uh but it is truly a net zero in terms of revenues and expenses. Uh the next

[1:38:55] two items go together. So the bond fund is getting $242,91

[1:39:03] um coming from the real estate excise tax fund. Um this is related to the

[1:39:09] shortfall on the city hall project. Um the comprehensive plan was adopted back

[1:39:16] in April and um included the project in the comp plan which allows the city to

[1:39:22] use real estate excise tax funds to pay for debt service and project costs on

[1:39:28] this building. Um again that one is really there are no other options. There

[1:39:34] are no other funding sources for this. Um it it really is administrative

[1:39:38] cleanup and and the only only available funds um that the city has at this time

[1:39:44] to solve this problem. Um in the sewer fund, increasing

[1:39:48] intergovernmental services funds uh 273,000 to reflect partial payment to

[1:39:53] Aberdine uh for 2025 services. Um, back when we did the

[1:40:01] original budget, we didn't include any payments to Aberdine because we didn't

[1:40:04] know what the payments were going to be and what the um agreement was going to

[1:40:09] be. Uh, lastly,

[1:40:14] amending the FTE schedule, uh, removing the position of police clerk, and then

[1:40:20] adding the part-time city administrator position. Um, again, back when we did

[1:40:25] the 2026 budget, we kind of knew we might be moving towards uh contracting

[1:40:29] over police services, but we did not reflect that in the dollars budgeted.

[1:40:34] Um, [clears throat] net savings for 2026 are approximately $58,000 for the police

[1:40:40] department switch. Um, there were a substantial amount, about $92,000 of

[1:40:47] leave buyouts, insurance, and other expenses incurred in 2026, which will go

[1:40:51] away in 2027. So uh the total annualized savings is about 150,000 from

[1:40:58] contracting the police department. Uh part-time city administrator on an

[1:41:03] annualized basis will be approximately 75,000.

[1:41:07] Um that can be allocated across uh all funds. So the utility funds can pick up

[1:41:12] a piece of that. Um [clears throat] cost for the remainder of the year is

[1:41:17] $36,500.

[1:41:21] Those are all the items included in the in the budget amendment.

[1:41:24] » Does that take care of the rest of the building? Finally, that

[1:41:27] » Yes. >> Okay.

[1:41:28] » It takes care of the rest of the building [clears throat] except for the

[1:41:32] interesting fact that the mill >> is behind on property taxes now. And to

[1:41:37] your point, Amy last time, it's other others as well that are put on property

[1:41:41] taxes, but their property tax bill is so substantial

[1:41:45] » um that it's it has caused that fund to go in the negative because when the city

[1:41:50] levies for the debt service payment, their piece of the pie is so

[1:41:53] substantial. So >> that's going to hang out there as an

[1:41:57] issue until that's resolved, >> right? What u what would we be able to

[1:42:00] do with the remaining funds in the real estate excise? Um so anything that's in

[1:42:05] the comp plan and and also complies with state law regarding spending a real

[1:42:09] estate excise tax um you can spend on that. So think parks, capital

[1:42:13] improvement, street projects, um a new city hall if you want to [laughter] go

[1:42:18] that route and just general administrative um and

[1:42:22] general government capital improvements typically.

[1:42:25] » Save it for a rainy day. >> Yeah, it's interesting. You cannot use

[1:42:30] it for uh police services. You can't use it for EMS. You can't use it for

[1:42:33] anything like that. It's it's strictly capital improvements.

[1:42:38] » We need some of those, too.

[1:42:42] » Okay. So, moving on. Item eight, policy and

[1:42:47] procedure committee. Councilman Davis, did you want to speak to that?

[1:42:52] » Yeah. I'd asked to have the uh policy and procedure committee brought

[1:42:58] up. I think it's necessary in talking with u several other council members

[1:43:03] over the time. We've asked I've asked for policies around things and we don't

[1:43:09] have written policies in a lot of cases and even even the council meetings

[1:43:15] change from time to time as far as what how we handle it, how how public comment

[1:43:22] periods are handled, who's addressed in the uh [clears throat] how the how the

[1:43:27] public is recorded in the uh minutes uh has gone from their name to a citizen.

[1:43:36] And it's really hard when you go back and try to research something when it

[1:43:40] just says a citizen said or a group of citizens said made a comment and and if

[1:43:48] somebody really has the courage or has the stamina to get in front of a council

[1:43:52] and speak, I think respectfully their name should be put in there. But those

[1:43:56] are some of the items. um hours of city hall, the use for this building, uh lots

[1:44:02] of different things that we really don't have any policy, any written policy on

[1:44:07] that we should have policies concerning. I felt like it's a good there's probably

[1:44:11] 10 or 15 things off the top that we've talked about at the council that we

[1:44:15] don't have policies on. That was the goal was try to put together a committee

[1:44:19] that would actually address each of those and bring those policy suggestions

[1:44:22] to the council to be fulfilled. >> Okay. Thank you. Any comments?

[1:44:28] » Well, I think our ordinance specifically says that the forming of account of a

[1:44:32] committee is at the discretion of the mayor. So, it seems like it's a not a

[1:44:37] decision that we need to make. It seems to be an administrative issue. So,

[1:44:42] that's what our ordinance states. So, it's nothing that we really officially

[1:44:46] vote on to happen. You seems like something you should be sitting down

[1:44:49] with the administrator and the mayor if you want to create a committee because

[1:44:53] they're the ones who do that. which I have. And so what I'm doing is I'm

[1:44:58] asking the council [clears throat] to work together

[1:45:02] on creating helping the administration understand the need for a policy

[1:45:09] committee.

[1:45:15] » Got it. All right. Moving on. Um, council member Wyn, would you like to

[1:45:23] speak to your street tree planting? >> Sure. I'll try to keep it very brief,

[1:45:29] which is edging out my forte. [laughter] >> Okay.

[1:45:32] » You don't have to laugh that hard. Um, you know, I I uh presented the

[1:45:38] ordinance a couple meetings ago and uh invited any comments, concerns, and I

[1:45:46] really did not get any uh feedback. I did have a chance to meet with Bill

[1:45:51] Cedor about it and we spoke about you know any kind of lingering concerns that

[1:45:55] he had. He uh overwhelmingly the concerns are we plant trees what about

[1:46:00] the maintenance issues. So that is all, you know, stuff that I've been mindful

[1:46:04] of for 3 years in drafting this ordinance. And I feel very confident

[1:46:10] that, you know, whatever guidelines we develop, they will be incredibly

[1:46:14] sensitive to maintenance concerns and actually will alleviate some of the um,

[1:46:20] you know, other issues that the city has. Um as we talk about storm water and

[1:46:26] trees is um you know a strategy that many cities are using to combat storm

[1:46:32] water runoff. Um but I'll just clarify quickly that um you know this city

[1:46:39] street tree ordinance that we are um going to be voting on I think at the the

[1:46:45] September meeting um is uh it's limited to so first of all it only says that

[1:46:52] we're going to develop a plan. It doesn't contain the plan itself.

[1:46:56] [clears throat] It simply uh establishes that that's how we're going to uh

[1:47:01] approve or [clears throat] not approve planting trees um in certain areas in

[1:47:06] the city moving forward. Um it doesn't apply to citizen-owned property that is

[1:47:13] managed by citizens. It doesn't really apply to city- owned property that's

[1:47:18] managed by the city. It is almost exclusively addressing what are called

[1:47:23] the parking strips or planting strips or they're called different things

[1:47:25] depending on where you [clears throat] are. But it's that very narrow strip

[1:47:29] between the sidewalk and the street. So you pull up your car, park on the side

[1:47:32] of the street [laughter] and you see a bare strip of grass there between your

[1:47:36] car and the sidewalk. That is the area that we're talking about. Many of those

[1:47:41] are actually owned by the city, but it's the citizens respons responsibility to

[1:47:48] maintain it. if you have if you own the adjacent property. [clears throat] So,

[1:47:51] that's mainly what we're uh talking about. It it gives citizens some right

[1:47:55] to plant things on that city- owned property um but with very, you know,

[1:48:03] kind of strict approvals to ensure that, you know, it's it's handled um

[1:48:08] responsibly and sustainably doesn't create a burden on our infrastructure,

[1:48:12] our maintenance workers, [clears throat] and a lot of other things. Um, so I I'll

[1:48:18] just sum up to say that I I think that, you know, in talking with uh various

[1:48:23] folks around the city over the past few years, I I think everybody has been

[1:48:27] satisfied with the plans that we have for ensuring that this is done

[1:48:32] responsibly and it doesn't become a burden on the city. Um, the only thing

[1:48:37] that materialized in my conversations with Bill Cedor was he had some

[1:48:42] enforcement concerns um, which I thought were very um, very fair concerns about,

[1:48:49] you know, how would we if somebody plants something inappropriate, how

[1:48:53] would we know, how would we address it? Um, and so we have a a pretty good idea,

[1:48:58] I think, of how we'll address that as well. But all the details will be coming

[1:49:01] in a later thing before the council. This is just basically us agreeing we

[1:49:06] will develop a plan that will be brought before the council.

[1:49:10] » Okay. Thank you, Councilman Wyn. Um at this time, public comments limited to

[1:49:17] agenda items only. I will now open the floor. Um you will have three minutes.

[1:49:23] Please state your first name. And

[1:49:28] are there any public comments at this point?

[1:49:32] I I'm Mary. Um I just want to make a comment on the

[1:49:39] sale of the property next door and Steve asked about for [snorts] what the money

[1:49:46] was earmarked for. Well, my lack of recollection recogn

[1:49:52] um was at the meeting when it was discussed that we needed to do that

[1:49:57] because of the budget overreach for the building and that type of thing that um

[1:50:03] it was talked about of that it should be earmarked for

[1:50:09] paying on the overage of the building which if it's paid off and it's fine

[1:50:14] then that's one thing but that's what was discussed. at the time that it would

[1:50:19] be used to pay towards the building since it was part of the whole

[1:50:24] situation. Okay.

[1:50:28] Any other comments at this time? Okay. Hearing none, we are going to move

[1:50:36] on to council action items. So we will move on to item one to vote to approve

[1:50:43] resolution 2026-02-

[1:50:48] EMS fee. Is there a motion to approve resolution 2026-02

[1:50:56] increasing the monthly EMS fee to 6750 per per account.

[1:51:04] » So moved. >> Is there a second?

[1:51:06] » Second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I.

[1:51:12] » I. >> I.

[1:51:14] » Any opposed? The motion passes.

[1:51:21] Item two, motion for council consideration, boundary line adjustment

[1:51:26] ratification. Is there a motion to retroactively

[1:51:31] approve and ratify the boundary line adjustment between parcel A and parcel B

[1:51:39] block 24? >> I Councilman Skinner I move that the

[1:51:45] city council retroactively approve and ratify the boundary line adjustment

[1:51:48] between parcel A and parcel B block 24. >> Councilman Spargo seconds.

[1:51:56] » Okay. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? I.

[1:52:03] » All those opposed. >> The motion passes.

[1:52:07] Item three, vote to approve the sale of city property 1312

[1:52:13] First Street. Is there a motion to approve the sale of city property at

[1:52:17] 1312 First Street? Um, tax parcel 0310 024001

[1:52:26] 00 to David Malik for 76,000. >> Councilman Spargo moves to go forward on

[1:52:32] topic. >> Is there a second?

[1:52:34] » Councilman Skinner second. >> Is there any discussion?

[1:52:39] Hearing none. All those in favor? >> I

[1:52:42] » I [clears throat] motion passes. Item four, vote to

[1:52:48] approve ordinate 1406 to vacate alley row. A motion to approve ordinance

[1:52:55] number 1406 vacating the portion of the alley

[1:52:59] rightway adjacent to lots 1 through 20 block 49 rural ns addition of petition

[1:53:07] by the cosmopoulos school district. >> So moved. Council Spargo seconds.

[1:53:12] » Is there any discussion? All those in favor?

[1:53:17] » I.

[1:53:20] » Any opposed? The motion passes. Item five, vote to

[1:53:26] approve the 2026 budget amendment ordinance number 1405.

[1:53:31] Is there a motion to approve ordinance number 1405 amending the 2026 budget

[1:53:38] adopted with ordinance number 1402? Councilman Skinner makes a motion to

[1:53:44] approve the 2026 budget amendment. >> Council Garcia will second that. All

[1:53:50] those in favor? >> I I

[1:53:53] » I >> I'm sorry. Is there any discussion?

[1:53:58] » Okay. All those in favor? >> I.

[1:54:01] » Any opposed? >> The motion passes. Item six, vote to

[1:54:06] approve final storm water comprehensive plan with HDR.

[1:54:11] Um, is there a motion to approve the final storm water comprehensive plan as

[1:54:16] presented by HDR incorporated? >> Council Darcy will uh move that the

[1:54:23] final uh to approve the final storm water comprehensive HDR.

[1:54:26] » Councilman Spargo seconds. >> Any discussion?

[1:54:32] All those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed?

[1:54:36] Motion passes. At this time, public comments for city business only. The

[1:54:43] floor is open to the general public for comment. Please state your first name.

[1:54:48] We ask that you be respectful and keep your comments to three minutes.

[1:54:56] Okay. Hearing none. Moving on. Council

[1:55:01] comments. the council member.

[1:55:06] » I guess I'll start us off. Um, first I want to apologize for not making it to

[1:55:10] your presentation. Um, most of the council knows and most of the the

[1:55:14] community knows. I'm a big part of uh most of the community sports. If kids

[1:55:18] play this play the sport, I normally coach it or I'm participating. This time

[1:55:22] of year is football season. It is started. Bobcats are playing football

[1:55:26] over there at Steuart Field. I will be [snorts] limited for the next two months

[1:55:30] as budget season is started. I will be doing my best to arrive for meetings,

[1:55:34] but presentations may be difficult to attend for the two meetings going

[1:55:39] forward. Um, my apologies. I will try to make myself as available as possible.

[1:55:44] Second thing I do have to say, um, I'm an open book. Um, the community members

[1:55:50] and of this town, they elected me to stand up and raise my hand when there's

[1:55:55] questions or concerns. I've had citizens stop me at the gas station. I've had

[1:55:59] citizens come talk to me at the Hong Kong restaurant while I'm having dinner

[1:56:02] with my family. I've had people come to my house. I live next door to the

[1:56:05] school. I'm easy to access. If anyone ever has a problem or the concern of the

[1:56:11] things that I say or do as an elected official of this community, please reach

[1:56:15] out. I am happy to discuss anything that I am saying, doing, or voting on. Um,

[1:56:21] fellow individuals at this table, please also feel free to communicate to me. Um,

[1:56:26] there was one individual that reached out. They were concerned on what was

[1:56:30] done last meeting and we spoke on it and I feel that we left it in good terms and

[1:56:34] she understood where I was coming from. Um, so I am not out to make enemies. I'm

[1:56:39] out to try to stand up for the community and the citizens of Cosmopoulos as they

[1:56:45] elected me to take this position. So that is all I have to say. I appreciate

[1:56:49] everyone that's came out and I appreciate everyone sitting at this

[1:56:52] table. >> Thank you. Okay.

[1:56:54] » Any other comments from council? >> In the spirit of uh apologizing, I don't

[1:57:00] I don't know that apology is is strictly necessary. Um you know, it has been

[1:57:04] noted to me uh by folks that um you know, they would like to see me more in

[1:57:10] person and less on Zoom and um and I've missed a few more meetings than I would

[1:57:18] have liked to. Um, and I I just want to acknowledge that and, you know, be very

[1:57:23] transparent in that I' I've always struggled with having the capacity to

[1:57:26] serve on the council. I think in general, all all of us who are stepping

[1:57:31] into these public service roles, we have a finite amount of capacity for them. We

[1:57:35] can't all give as generously of our time as the mayor does. Um, but, uh, you

[1:57:42] know, I I do want to assure everybody that I I really am doing my best. you

[1:57:46] know, I often feel that I'm not um able to fulfill the the duties of this role

[1:57:53] to the extent that I personally would would like to see, but I I ran

[1:57:59] unopposed. Um so, [laughter] I don't feel too bad about it either. Um

[1:58:06] so, you know, uh and we've had we've had a difficult time filling committee seats

[1:58:11] and and even just standing up committees at times. I I think that we all um owe

[1:58:17] each other grace when it comes to um you know recognizing the the sacrifices that

[1:58:24] our public servants are making. So I I want to say thank you to you all as

[1:58:27] well. >> Thank you.

[1:58:31] » I'd like to make a comment with uh with attorney Chris Coker and John Martin. I

[1:58:36] appreciate your endeavors and uh for the for the information, the

[1:58:41] returned phone calls, the returned emails uh for a long time. You know, I

[1:58:46] have I have questions and they go my emails go unanswered at times, but you

[1:58:51] both have been very uh forthright with information. I appreciate that. It helps

[1:58:56] a ton. Uh I appreciate each council member and what they do. Some do more,

[1:59:01] they spend more time, they have more opportunity. But there is five council

[1:59:05] members at this table and so that information should flow freely amongst

[1:59:10] all five. And I appreciate John. [clears throat] I appreciate you working

[1:59:13] towards that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other comments this

[1:59:17] evening? >> No, I'm quiet tonight.

[1:59:22] » Okay. So, is there a motion to adjourn? Councilman [clears throat] Spargo moves

[1:59:28] to adjourn meeting >> and council virtually second that.

[1:59:31] » With there being no other business for the meeting, the meeting is adjourned at

[1:59:36] 8:20. Thank you everyone. Sun is sinking

Workshop & Regular Council Meeting 8/19/26

Transcript