This conference will not please start the recording.
Good evening. Tonight is uh what are we? We're uh July 12th, 2026. And I'd like
to call tonight's work session to order. Or is this August? It is August. I'm
already I'm way off in my date. Look at that. August 12th, 2026. And I'd like to
call tonight's uh work session to order. Um, clerk, can I get a roll call vote on
this?
» Council member Ravaro >> present.
» Council member Casper. >> Uh, Council Member Casper and Bole are
both out of town, but we're going to be calling in or trying to call in for the
workshop. Uh, if not, they'll be in on the council meeting.
» Is he okay? >> Yeah, sure. Um um
» you just need a >> council member Bole
» present.
» Oh, he muted. >> Council member Bole, can you hear us?
» Yep, I can hear you guys. Okay. Can you hear me?
» Perfect. >> Wonderful.
» We're in the middle of a roll call. Council member.
» Yep. Present. >> Council member France.
» Present. >> Council member Cerviny. present.
» Mayor, Mayor Tom. >> Yeah, I'm here.
» Thank you, clerk. >> All right. Tonight, we do have a
presentation. This is a comprehensive plan elements prior to final adoption.
Uh, we do have WSP presenting. Do we know who who from WSP is presenting? Is
it Marty? It is. Marty, are you with us tonight?
» Yes. Can you hear me? >> I can. How are you?
» Okay, good. How about you guys? >> Great. Great.
» Good. I also have Alec Agarola joining me. We're going to tag team the uh slide
deck that we've got teed up for the work session.
» Perfect. All the way from New York. >> He's from New York. Yes. And I'm from
downtown Vancouver. >> Hard to get away this afternoon.
» Sounds good. All right. Well, the mic is yours.
» All right. Great. Um, I'm gonna have somebody get to this slide deck and I'll
probably one of us are gonna be we're going to be saying next slide, please.
Um, so next slide, please.
So, we just wanted to brief the the mayor, city council, and planning
commission on the cl the comp plan update that we've been working on for
before my time at WSP, which has been about a year and a half. Alex been
through uh this plan update since its inception. Uh we want to review the
community engagement and vision portion of the uh effort. Uh kind of call your
attention to some of the plan elements, specifically the new plan elements and
some sticking points to a few of them. Uh we have made some uh code amendments
to implement
to implement your comp plan and uh want to touch a bit on the preferred land use
alternative which has been around and around and around uh with uh Clark
County and other folks. So, um, I'll jump down to the next slide and
I think Alex's going to do a little bit of, uh, a refresher on all the community
engagement and outreach that he's been a part of since the beginning.
» Thanks, Marty. Um, I'm assuming everyone can hear me. Okay. Um, thanks for having
us again. Um, it's been a minute since I've uh, been virtually or in person in
the center, so happy to be here. Um but want to touch base on community
engagement for the comp plan. Um from the inception of this comp plan um
there's a public particip participation plan that was drafted um with city staff
and vetted through the planning commission and city council back in
2023. And this plan set the framework for all the events and um public
engagement methods as shown here. Um as you can see there's been two open
houses. um one in March of 2024 and then another in January 2025. A handful of
tableabling sessions um at various uh city events like uh our days and um the
farmers market at the listener church and then um the city's website had a
dedicated web page for the comprehensive plan update um just giving you the who,
what, how, and why for the comprehensive plan. And then um we also had several
fact sheets, physical printouts that were handed out at community events. Um
I believe there's a stack at one point at the front desk there at city hall um
to provide details about the comp plan with a QR code to the web page. And then
um as several of the planning commission members and the city council members
know, a lot of workshops were held with um this whole planning process with the
various elements, the land use alternative and so forth. Um and so um
we're finally getting to the horizon of this project. Um and all this engagement
was used to establish the vision for the cent's future and inform and update the
various comp plan policies and the preferred land use alternative which
we'll be going over here briefly. So I'll go on to the next slide and hand it
back to Marty. Yeah, very quickly to the um just the
the highest level uh primer on this is we're updating this plan
because it's a periodic update required under the law and Clark County kind of
drives the plan update um calendar, if you will, with first
starting out with a 20-year growth allocation of population and employment
and at a very high level. Um the county allocated 20 years of growth to the year
2045. Currently, Lent sits at about 4,200
people and the growth allocation is to um accommodate growth to about 8,800
people and the jobs number you have currently is between 800 and a,000 jobs
and we're planning for roughly 2100 in the year 2045. So,
we're part of the region that updates all of the cities of are updating uh
plans along with Clark County. Uh two um critical pieces I wanted to mention.
There are new affordable housing requirements under the law. So, the
housing element has some treatments um and provisions that that I'll kind of
speak to on this next slide. Uh there's also a new climate resiliency chapter
that um all of the cities are uh required to to adopt. Uh because the
center doesn't meet the threshold of I think it's 6,000 people. Um the climate
element speaks to climate resiliency only and not greenhouse gas and vehicle
miles traveled reduction. So the climate element that you have will be for
climate resiliency. Um this slide here kind of gives you a
sense of what uh the housing piece looks like. And the um
the the requirement is to is to provide a land supply for enough affordable
housing in these various income bands. And I kind of call I call this attention
uh the commerce income bands that they've called out in the in the
guidance is uh based on area median area median
income AMI and it's 0 to 30, 30 to 50, 50 to 80, 80 to 120 and then over 120 of
AMI. So, we're looking at uh housing numbers that would um
would t these income bands. Um so, you had a uh a housing needs assessment
and strategy u put together um that informs the the housing element. So,
um you'll see plan policies and some directions in that that element that uh
come out of these out of these reports
and I'm going to have Alec pick the next slide.
Thanks, Marty. Um so, the first element we're looking at is chapter one, the
land use element. Um, this is probably the most important and foundational
element of the comp plan and it kind of sets up the foundation to all the other
elements of the comprehensive plan. Um, and the land use element serves as the
community's blueprint for how and where future growth should occur in the
center. And the element establishes land use designations, de development
policies, and strategies to accommodate um projected population and employment
growth in the center while also maintaining the city's small town
character. Um the land use element was updated for the latest latest city
demographics allocations as Marty discussed for housing population and
jobs and also the preferred land use alternative.
Um and then with the impact fees, um there's or I should say I should preface
um there's some development code related elements to this um per state
requirements or the growth management act GMA. Um we updated impact fees in
the code to allow deferral for for multifamily housing so they can defer
impact fees until later into like building permits and so forth. um to
just uh provide a mechanism for them to develop and then um requiring short plat
subdivisions to establish adequate public facilities and update approval
expiration periods. And then another piece is uh providing clear and
objective design standards. Um this is a state requirement where any design
standards have to be um concrete and not subjective and loose to interpretation.
And so we went through the code and helped clean that up. And then next
slide um is the preferred land use alternative. Um and so this is the
city's preferred land use alternative that was reviewed and approved by the
council some time ago. As Marty hinted at, this has gone through a long process
with Clark County. Um but thankfully and gratefully Clark County uh recognized uh
the city's preferred land use alternative and it was adopted by the
council um earlier this year for assessment in their um final
environmental impact statement for growth management. Um and the county
council recognized recognized the need for urban growth expansion areas which
I'll highlight here in a second. Um so with all the input we got from the
citizens and land owners and all the visioning through the open houses and
tableabling events while also um engaging with the city council and
planning commission and city staff. Um we've landed here with the preferred
land use alternative. Um and also during this process the land
use alternative recognized the sub area planning effort we did with Tim Tim and
Landing and downtown. Um and then this has gone further
environments between the county and city staff. Um so to highlight some of the
areas we have area one and two. Um those two areas were are currently zoned um
low density residential and they're planned to be zoned as medium density
residential to accommodate those lower income bands. Um I I believe a few
properties in area 2 have already been reszoned recently um and approved by the
city. Um area three, this is a couple properties uh within the urban growth
area but um not annexed into the city yet. Um, and as we were massaging
numbers, um, we just want to recognize once that's annexed into the city, it
will be low density residential, um, just to, um, balance out our housing
numbers. And then areas four and five, um, these are some of our expansion
areas. Uh, they would be expanded north and south of the junction plan with the
junction plan zoning, which is shown in that beige there. And then as you go
southwest across I5 is area six. And this would be expansion area for
employment or light industrial zoning.
And then on to the next slide please. So we move to chapter two the
transportation element. Um this was largely informed by the transportation
capital facilities plan which the city council recently adopted a few months
ago. Um so again that informs this element and this was using uh the CFP to
update existing conditions for the trans transportation network. So roadways uh
trails uh bike paths, transit and so forth. And
then uh detailing the future conditions and demand for these facilities as the
city grows. and then establishing six and 20 year capital improvement plans or
current and potential funding sources. Um and the projects that were identified
included widening of the center road, pedestrian roadway improvements along
Pacific Highway and um the planned round roundabouts throughout the city.
And then some code related requirements. Um, typically when a development comes
in, they have to assess traffic impacts on roadways and if those impacts cause a
level of service to decrease to substandard
uh levels of service, then they have to um develop mechanisms to offset those
and develop like a roundabout or impact fees or so forth. However, um per state
law, there's exclusions to these and I5 is an exclusion to that. So, if a
development a development will have to um study I5 for impacts uh for
transportation and level of service and then um a big piece here is also
electric vehicle infrastructure. I'm just updating language allowing battery
energy storage for electric vehicles and charging stations um as needed and
allowing these in the downtown commercial and downtown mixed use zones.
And then uh tandem parking and parking standards. These are related to
residential parking standards. Um just allowing these for residential uses and
up updating parking space dimensions per state requirements.
Next slide, please. Um, and I'll be handing over to Marty.
» So, the I mentioned earlier about the the housing element. So, there are not
only are there income bands that are required, but there's types of housing
that are required. Now, I can touch on some of the code amendments. They
include permanent permanent supportive housing and transitional housing.
that sometimes you'll hear that the acronym PSH which stands for permanent
supporting supportive housing. Um included in this requirement again is
the income bands that are you know less than 30% 30 to 50 50 to 80 80 to 100 80
100 to 120 this based on area median income and then over 120 uh 120 AMI.
There are code amendments that are part of this that that Alec can touch on
because he's been working on the more of the code amendment side.
Thanks Marty. Um so for permanent supportive housing PSH and transitional
housing um these must be allowed in any zone where residences and hotels are
allowed. Um but uh these are being conditionally allowed in the center with
specific use requirements. So if these are being permitted um they'll have to
meet specific standards. Um, some examples of permanent supportive housing
include apartments with on-site case management and behavioral health
services and veteran supportive housing. And then some examples of transitional
housing include family transitional housing facility and living apartments
for homeless youth. Um, and the second item here is
emergency shelters and housing. Uh, these have to be allowed in any zones in
which hotels are allowed. And on the center, this is just the junction plan
zone. Again, um if these are cited on the center, they'll be a conditional use
and have to meet specific criteria once if for citing those in the city. And
then lastly, it's co-living housing. Um this is housing uh where uh it's a
shared living arrangement where each person has their own room and like
lockable room. Um but they share a communal space. So usually the living
area and kitchen. Um, and these have to be allowed in zones where six units or
more are permitted. So that's essentially any zone that's not low
density residential that allows other residential uses. So your medium density
residential, high density, and mixed use.
Next slide, please. Chapter four is capital facilities and
utilities. Um, this is pretty much everything that keeps the city running.
Um so the city met with various service providers for future facility plans. Um
this included service providers like uh Clark Kelllets Fire and Rescue, Lester
School District, Fort Vancouver Libraries, CPU, the Clark County
Sheriff's Office. Um so we're updating various facility plans for sewer, water,
storm water, schools, libraries, etc. and updating the existing conditions of
these facilities but also um updating the future needs for these uh various
providers and services as the city is growing.
And then uh code related again another GMA state requirement is the central
public facilities. Um these are essentially uh
facilities that are larger in nature and more difficult to site just because the
types of uses they are like airports, state educational facilities and
regional transportation facilities. Um I'd like to highlight there's none of
these existing in the center as you you could imagine and there's none planned
but the state requires us to have some language in the code to support these if
these are to be cited in the future. Next slide. And uh looks like I'll hand
it back to Marty. >> So yeah, the economic development uh
chapter or element. Um key to this is the b the urban growth
boundary expansion to the junction where you have junction planning and mixed use
in that area that would both accommodate jobs allocation and housing for the
affordable housing segment. Um, we we also in this element recognize the the
two sub area plans that were adopted a year ago last summer and specifically
the downtown sub area plan. Um the uh the boundary expansion we I'll touch on
a little bit later in next steps, but it's been a big piece to the the work
we've been doing with Clark County and the city to
kind of dial in the right numbers for for jobs and and population because we
have uh kind of a goal of hitting the the allocation and not over capacity or
under capacity. So uh part of the the approach to is to
again to recognize the sub area plans that will um help on the job side as
well as some of the affordable housing side. So
that's for that's chapter five. Uh next slide please.
um the parks open parks rack open space chapter um really is just uh we're
refreshing that based on the recently updated 2024 uh parks plan. So we're
incorporating a lot of the goals and policies and the
the capital facilities pieces of the 2024 parks plan into this element of the
comp plan. So, um, some of some of you will have
seen this through the adoption of the 2024 parks plan.
Next slide, please.
We have a number of what we call minor minor elements. They're not um, growth
management has several mandatory elements that you have to have as part
of your comp plan, including like land use and housing and transportation.
Um some of these other chapters uh that we've got here 7 through 10 include
uh a historic uh historic archaeological and cultural preservation uh element. We
have an urban growth and annexation element. the environment element. Uh
Alec will touch a little bit on that because it has to do with the uh city's
requirements to protect identify and protect critical areas ordinances like
wetlands, steep slopes, habitat areas, floodways, uh critical aquifer recharge
areas and and the like. And then there's a a government element that uh I think
we touch on um uh the city's uh approach to good governance and public
participation and engagement. So those are the um the minor elements that we we
uh call out in this particular instance. and then Alex's going to go through some
of the uh critical areas uh ordinances that are part of the environment
chapter.
» Thanks Marty. Um we can proceed to the next slide please. Um so as Marty
indicated uh I'll be going over the critical areas ordinance or more simply
put the CAO. Um this is chapter 18300 of the city's code. Um critical areas as uh
identified by the state are geologically hazardous areas, critical aquifer
recharge areas, fish and wildlife habitat areas, wetlands and floodways.
Um and so we updated and added several definitions per new state definitions
from um just state mandates but also from various agencies that the state um
elects to uh put out regulations for these various critical areas. And then
we also updated the designations or buffers for uh various critical areas um
including the caras or critical aquifer recharge areas geohhazards organoid oaks
and wetlands. Um and just noting in the image on the right is an example of a
critical area which is a wellhead protection area. Um this is a pretty
large one this bullseye and covering um most of western the center. Going on to
the next slide.
Um a another piece of the critical areas ordinance or the CAO is um if impacts
are made to these critical areas um uh the state law requires no net loss. So
some sort of mitigation has to be put in play. Um and so we've updated the
mitigation requirements per guidance from WDFW
uh for Oregon white oaks and riparian areas along streams and then for
wetlands. Um this is per ecology guidance and then also uh typically when
a application comes through and they're impacting some sort of critical area
they have to provide a critical area report for those critical areas that are
impacted documenting um those impacts and then how to mitigate to ensure no
net loss. So we've updated those for a slew of these critical areas. Um and
then going on to the next slide, this is the final chapter of the
comprehensive plan which is the climate resilience element. This is a brand new
element per this periodic update. I believe was introduced as a new state
bill in 2022 or 20 I think it was 2022 for climate
resilience. As Marty Marty noted, um the center is not required to plan for
greenhouse gas reductions um just because it didn't meet the population
threshold, but has to plan for climate resiliency. Um and climate resiliency
planning is about preparing today for tomorrow's challenges. Helps communities
anticipate climate related risks, protect people and infrastructure, and
build a safer, healthier, and more resilient future for future generations
in the center. Go on to the next slide. Uh this covers uh updates we've done to
implement this new chapter. Um so starting um a couple years ago, the
county had a consultant perform a vulnerability and risk assessment for
the county and and its cities. Um and so this risk assessment identified specific
natural hazards in the center and how those would increase and impact the
center. Um and the highest ranking of these was extreme heat and extreme
precipitation and storm. Um but due to um
public engagement and also a recent wildfire a few years back um is
wildfires was also determined just locally as a higher risk as well just
due to again the imminent risk of that and a recent occurrence of it in the
center. Um and using uh and identifying this
information for natural hazards in the center helps us frame how to implement
goals and policies to uh reduce these risks and plan for um these to happen in
the future. And then going on to the next slide. Um the city has an overall
climate resiliency goal which is the center shall enhance community
preparedness, response and recovery efforts that build resilience to the
impacts of wildfires, floods and other hazards worsened by global climate
change. And then you see 12 different topic areas um related to climate and
climate resiliency that we have within the resiliency chapter of the
comprehensive plan. And these touch on various elements such as transportation,
uh, hazard mitigation, economic development.
And I will hand it back to Marty. We can go to the next slide.
» Marty, I believe you're muted. >> Yes. Sorry about that. Uh yeah, this
this slide puts in context the the city's plan update relative to Clark
County's lead on the environmental impact statement that was produced last
year, October 1st. Um aside from the city of Vancouver,
all the other cities and Clark County put together a joint
draft environment draft environmental impa impact statement.
uh the cities coordinated with Clark County and pro providing information to
to release that that draft EIS. There was a 60-day comment period that
ended uh toward the end of November. Um, from that, uh, the county went through
an a protracted, uh, process to narrow down a a preferred land use alternative.
from that preferred land use alternative which includes the city's urban growth
boundary expansion to the junction and west on the west side of I5.
They uh they produced the final environmental impact statement and that
was recently published uh July 24, 2026.
I will mention that intervening the October 1st dead uh
date of the draft EIS and the and the final EIS of July 24. Clark County, they
did undertake an agricultural resource lands uh study. They got a very very
late start. Um I think they started putting some things together last
Julyish. Um they produced a report in November
that informed um some of their efforts through
the uh final EIS. And as the mayor and coun some council members are are aware
that the county council held a number of hearings on the preferred alternative um
and whether or not the boundary expansion was going to be part of that
preferred alternative or not. Um in the end a majority of the clar county
council adopted a preferred alternative that does include the boundary
expansion. Um so we put together our our ef our
efforts relative to these you know October 1st July 21st uh uh due dates.
Um we have worked with Angie and your staff in putting together a seed
determination for the city's comprehensive plan draft comprehensive
plan. Um and it's going to be published I believe the 14th. Angie knows the
publication dates but it's it's happening now. Um this sea determination
is is out or will be out. There's a 14-day
comment period. Um we also have
um some commerce checklist. Next slide please.
These are the these are the next steps. Um mentioned the you know final EIS from
the county produced just you know really a few weeks ago. Um we've been kind of
toggling off that date to issue a city to a city sea um which has been done. Um
and then we have a commerce checklist which has a 60-day runout um meaning
that the the city cannot adopt a plan until after the 60-day
notice um and review period has been exhausted through commerce. We'll be
getting comments from them um as as we've submitted the the checklist to
there's a a checklist that that they have us uh all of the cities do. So um
we will be um scheduling with with work with your staff. We'll be scheduling
hearings with the planning commission and hearings with the county uh the city
council and uh we'll be adopting the comp plan sometime in the middle part or
latter part of October.
And that's uh kind of the 30-minute run through of of the plan update and where
we sit today. and Alec and I will be happy to answer questions that you might
have or issues that you might want to raise.
» Real quick, Marty, um I received an email today from the county and it was
an update on the I think it was an update on SEIPA
addendum. Do you know anything about that?
» Oh, yeah. >> Can you explain because I had through
and I I didn't quite capture >> Sure. They they they have um I didn't
get into the the nitty-gritty weeds of things, but they have what's called a
vacant buildable lands model where they run a land capacity analysis of you have
x number of acres and those x number of acres can hold y number of households.
Um, I think that addendum had some recalculations of of the housing counts
from what they originally published and it was like, oh, we need to make a
correction here. I think I have that same email. If I if I can find it here
real quick. Um,
» I'll forward it over to you, Marty, just so so you have it.
» Um, I think I have it. Does it show? >> It's It's coming to your inbox now.
Okay. Fortunately, we don't I don't see
anything in Lenner that made that made changes in the income bands.
There are some others that that get hit with uh changes to the to the um 80 to
100 and 100 to 120 and then the number of emergency beds that are for example
that are um planned for in this Vancouver UG which would be not city
limits but places like Hazel and Fida and Salmon Creek that are part of the
Vancouver UG. >> Okay. I'll look at your I'll look at
your email just to be sure I'm talking about the same addendum.
» I I believe you are actually. >> Okay.
Yeah. So, fortunately, you don't have a yellow box.
We have other we have other yellow boxes to to just it's really an it's a it's
probably as an addendum. It's it's a a point of clarification to
uh to make on these on these um >> Okay.
» on these income bands. So, >> okay. Thank you, Marty. Uh any
questions, >> council commission?
» Yes, I have a question. um on this um this little synopsis you
just gave us. Does that have to do with the 1500 pages? Is this just a synopsis
of that 1500 pages that the county just pass or put together as of July 26th?
» Yeah, the 1500 pages. I'm I'm sure you're referencing maybe the final EIS
that they published. >> Yes, that's uh from now through 20 uh
45. Yeah. Right. Right. >> And just just as a a bit of a
maybe kind of coming back from the beginning is um we did provide uh you
with a a memo that it's not a deep dive. It's kind of a like a shallow dive kind
of um outlining some of the things that are part of this plan. It's more than
this slide deck, but it's less than the comp plan itself because the comp plan
and related documents hundreds of pages more than likely. So,
but yeah, the county the county is I'm sure is voluminous and um it it also um
they will capture all of the comments that were submitted
into the draft EIS and then and then as they held their hearings on the
preferred land use alternative, I'm sure that they're capturing all of those
comments from the public and from others.
» Yes, I attended some of those meeting and I put in my comments
um when I hear talking about affordable housing, it was just a couple of weeks
ago at a city council meeting >> that I talked about and shared many many
things that happen when a builder is trying to build that adds on to the
expense of the building. So, I don't know, you know, like for instance, uh
this one builder because they had the white oak tree, they lost several lots
and it cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Um there's a whole list. I
don't need to go through all this because I just went through this list
two weeks ago when I was at city council. So, I I have concerns of what
how can a builder build affordable housing when there's all there's all
kinds of delays or there's storm water or there's the underground power. I
mean, the list just goes on and on. That adds to the project of the house. And in
Washington state, uh what's considered affordable housing
is 30% of what you what your income is for that year.
So um it's a tough question. >> It's a very tough it's a very tough
issue and there are no simple solutions. Um I I will say that you know land
supply has something to do with it. If you constrain land supply,
land values and prices will go up. Um that was one of the reasons you know the
city was so intent on expanding the boundary is to get a little bit more
land in the in its capacity so that and those lands that are served by public su
uh sewer and water you can get more lots on on on property. Um, there's also,
Alec mentioned this. Um, it's it's minor, but it's it's a step in the right
direction when you pay impact fees. As long as I've known impact fees, you
pay them at the time you you you pay for your building permit. Well, if it's a
six-month build, you're paying carrying costs on that six months, and you've
just added costs because you had to pay the impact fee. If you say, "Hey, we're
not going to require the impact fee to be paid until like occupancy,"
then you're not adding additional carrying costs onto onto that project.
So, there are few there are some things that can be done.
Um, I know some other smaller cities are are talking about whether or not a
housing land trust is something that would be considered in the future, which
means I've seen this actually recently where you basically buy the unit, but
you don't buy the land. And as you build equity in the unit, you can sell the
unit and and pull equity out, but the land stays with the trust.
So yeah um it's my editorial comment is I see the prices of homes
precoid postcoid and it's shocking absolutely shocking so um I think the
other is that if you you know when you have a development code that allows for
accessory dwelling units small lots um that helps as well you get more
housing choice and more housing units hopefully
staves off massive uh price increases.
» That's kind of I've kind of editorialized a bit, but I'll I'll
finish with that. >> I appreciate your comments. U my
» question I guess is or statement is that the key word there is the code has to
allow for it. We still need to have a seller, a buyer, a developer, and
somebody else that actually wants to put a project like that together. It's not
mandatory that it happens. The code just has to allow for it. Is that
» correct? Correct. >> Correct. Yeah.
» And the other piece very quickly is if you have a community that has good
paying jobs, that helps on the affordability side, too. I mean,
affordability is not just a a one-sided street. It's a two-sided street. You
want to have jobs that pay well so that people can afford. You know, younger
people, they get into a, you know, a rental situation first. They might have
rent a duplex and eventually get into home ownership. But the other equation
is to have jobs local in your community. And it helps with, you know, commuting.
My, as a again editorial, my older son moved out of my house and he lives
downtown Vancouver because he works in downtown Vancouver. And guess what?
you're saving a lot of money in gas and insurance. So, there's something to be
said of trying to attract local employment for your for your residents.
» I know that I have worked on that and I'm I think everybody on this council
has worked on trying to get uh jobs locally here.
» Yes. >> So that people don't have to travel even
just traveling uh you know a half hour drive to Vancouver or Portland. um this
the gas and and the time because of the traffic gets worse each year. So
» yes >> um there there's a lot a lot to consider
and um when I saw this in in our packet today I don't know if other people in
the planning commission here uh there's this title 18 development code which
that what we're going to have to follow. So I asked Peter to print off a copy of
that because I wanted to study that. What is it we have to that we have to do
that has been already been passed?
» Yeah. Yeah, please. Yeah. Do we have a microphone for Lance? Yeah, you can sit
over.
» Clerks, can we can clerks? Can we get a microphone over there? Thank you.
» Okay. This is not a complaint, just an observation more than anything else. Um,
looking at the comp plan, I looked at the 2100 houses we're supposed to be at
at 2045 plus or right now. Um, it looks like about 1131 of them or 53% are going
to be in the um, uh, the the area medium income of 80% or above. Um, and what
that does is it breaks down to 311 homes of 268 to 418,000
the selling price. 400 homes of 418,000 to 522,
234, 627 and up. So when I looked at that, it surprised me of how many town
homes and multif family units we're going to need to build based on the
current estate based on the current pricings of house houses. So just
something to think about. Then the other side of it is is you know Alec already
talked about the you know UG and the the the lower income and housing and etc
those. So, just wanted to point out there's going to be I was surprised that
there were more of the multi-medium density than there
would be low density homes. >> Why does that surprise you though?
» Um because of the the the raw number that
we have to grow. I thought that there would be more single family homes, but
based on where they talked about on the map and where they would be versus etc.,
it looks like this proportionate appropriately, but I just wanted to make
sure that we're aware of that. >> Right. And so during the process, we had
different uh scenarios that we had to pick out of
» and that happens to be the scenario that was chosen of it. So I I don't think
anybody here is surprised by those numbers, but Okay.
» Yeah. And if you notice, we're trying to keep a lot of those numbers on that side
of the bridge as well, too. >> Perfect.
» Yeah. >> Okay. All right. That's all I had.
» Thank you. Uh, any other questions or comments,
planning commission? Anybody else? Council.
Okay. Uh, well, Marty, I think that's good. I I appreciate the update tonight.
Um, I look forward to hearing when this is finalized and done because it's been
a very long and tedious process the last three years.
» Yes. Yes. Uh, I'll I'll commend uh the mayor and council and staff uh
enduring um a plan update that is more than a year past the due date of June
30, 2025. Um it's been a trying
uh collaboration I should say. Um and the fortunate thing is that uh regarding
the preferred land use alternative, you know, mayor and council did a lot of
yman's work convincing county council that the boundary expansion is the the
the right way to go for your your vision and your your growth. So, I'm I was
happy to see that. It was um touch and go as the mayor would know for a while.
And yeah, we'll uh we'll coordinate with uh Tracy and Angie on um planning
commission hearings leading to council hearings in October. So,
» it'll be nice to uh get this over the goal line.
» Well, >> and then we wait and then we wait for
the appeals. >> I don't mean to laugh. I don't mean to
laugh. >> Let's not talk about appeals now.
» I won't those alone. Let's get let's get it over the goal line and and we'll go
from there. >> Oh, you do.
» Uh to do to cover all these uh you know preparedness, response, recovery
efforts, build resilence, impact fires, floods, all that whole list. Then are we
going to hire more staff the city that because that's a lot of work to put on
Tracy and Angie? I'm It's just >> She wears an S on her chest over there.
Supergirl. >> This is Supergirl. That's a lot of stuff
to prepare. So, >> extra staff and extra workshops or lots
of things to prepare for that. >> Yeah, agreed.
» Um, all right. Well, thank you, Marty. Thank you, Alec. Appreciate tonight
» and we will be in touch and talk soon. >> Okay. Have a great evening everyone.
Thanks everyone. Have a great evening. >> Thank you again. At 6:19, I would like
to close the uh work session and adjourn it. Thank you,
» clerk. You can cancel the recording.
» This conference will now be recorded.
Clerk, please start the recording.
» Are we good? >> Okay, perfect. Today is Wednesday,
August 12th, 2026, and I'd like to call tonight's uh city council meeting to
order. If we could all please rise for the pledge of
» allegiance
to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
Thank you, cler. Can I please have roll call?
» Council member Ravar, >> present.
» Council member Casper, >> I'm here.
» Council member Bole, >> present.
» Present. >> Council member France,
» present. >> Council member Cerviny,
» present. >> And Mayor Strobin,
» I am here. Thank you, clerk. Thank you, everyone.
Clerk, can we please call up any public comments from the audience?
» Alco,
have you seen the Eagle come into town? Yeah. Sitting there in the roundabout.
Boy, have we got a lot of comments on that on Facebook. Boy, but you know what
I want to talk about is that, you know, whether you look or think it's great or
not great or whatever, you know, I I personally have my opinion. You know, I
you know, you know, it's an eagle. It's looks pretty good. But I was up at the
library and one of the girls there was reading the reflector and everything and
she turned around to me and looked and said, "Wow, how much does this cost?"
Well, you know, and so I asked around and I don't know, you know, I mean, who
decided to get an eagle? I mean, all these decisions were made and where'
this transparency go. You know, I you know, like I say, how much did it cost?
Nobody seems to know. And that that that kind of bothers me a little bit. And so
anyway, I'm bringing that down from just started with a conversation in the
library that he asking people. You know, we're just not very transparent about
that. Okay. Now that now on to something that's near and dear to my heart. The
other day I was looking on Facebook and somebody had a for sale sign for hay and
the city was pulling them up because it didn't have the little sticker on them.
Well, this if you if you walk up West 14th from the city limit sign, there's
all kinds of signs there that don't have the little sticker, you know, and you go
down on the Pacific Highway, there's one there with no sticker. And that's just a
symptom of the west. You live on the west side of town. You know, are we
getting the public service or the police protection that we need over there?
Because you never see them folks over there.
And you know, I don't know. You know, are we are we single? You know, what's
what's on a sign? You know, I I know that one sign's been there for at least
a month and the other one has been there longer than that. and they're pulling
signs for some farmer trying to sell us hay and you know leaving those alone out
there. You know, we're just not getting the service we need out there. Let's
see. Oh, this one was brought up yesterday just because
there just after you cross the crosswalk
to to what is that? Oh, what is that? Cedar.
There's a drainage there along the side and evidently it's marked out so it
looks like you are going to fix it. Well, somebody complained yesterday.
Well, they ought to put something around there because you know I hid it every
time and would somebody please say something at city council meeting. So
anyway, that's that's that's for Eric, you know, but I drove by there without
getting a hump, but for some reason he it's a pretty big drop there, but I'm
sure because it's marked out that they're going to eventually get to it.
Well, there's a concerned citizen that wants it fixed now. Thank you. God bless
America.
» No more comments from the audience. >> Thank you, clerk. Any of those uh public
comments from uh people calling in, please press star six to unmute
yourself. State your name and address for the record.
» Clerk, do we have any callers? None. Looking like it.
» Clerk, do we have any public comments to be read?
» Uh, no public comments to be read. >> Perfect. Thank you, clerk. That brings
us to the consent agenda. If there are no requests for any items to be removed,
can I have a motion? >> Second.
» It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor?
» I I >> abstain.
Motion passes. Thank you, council. Okay, mayor's report. Tomorrow, August
13th, we'll be hosting our blood drive at city hall. You can sign up to donate
online at redcrossblood.org. There are very few afternoon and evening
time slots available. Donors will be eligible to receive a $20 Amazon e gift
card on behalf of the American Red Cross. Our rescheduled National Night
Out date is Tuesday, August 18th at Holly Park from 4 to 6 PM. Stop by and
visit with our local law enforcement, first responders, and firefighters.
There will be free hot dogs, drinks, chips, root beer floats, and plenty of
exciting activities. And I'd like to extend a thank you to the PepsiCo and
Roser for sponsoring the drinks and hot dogs, as well as Free Delay and Lenter
Lions for providing chips and root beer floats.
And if anybody would like to know the cost of that, please give city hall a
call and we'll get you that record. The Lewis River Mobile Food Bank will be at
the Wheel Club Community Center on the 4th Sunday of each month from 2 to 4
p.m. The food bank is open to all. Their next distribution date is Sunday, August
23rd. And this coming Sunday, we do have the
Lenter Farmers Market, which will be at the Legacy Park. That's from uh 1:00
p.m. to 5:00 pm and it'll be from this Sunday through October 25th. All right.
Please come down, check it out. Uh maybe pick up some vegetables for the week.
That's all I have. Uh next up is the attorney's report. Beth, are you with
us? >> I'm with you. Hello everybody. I'll keep
it short. I don't have anything to add. I hope everyone is enjoying the rest of
the summer weather. Please always feel free to contact me if you have any
questions. Perfect. Thank you, Beth. Council, any
questions for the attorney? >> All right. Next up is council comments.
Council member Varara. >> Um, well, I'll mention that I was in
Levvenworth uh for a couple of days earlier.
I think it was what day of the week is this? It was last week and it was for a
budget budget meeting put on by association Washington cities. It's
interesting to get together with people from other cities and hear how they're
approaching uh things. And I know we have at least one person in the audience
tonight that frequently reminds me that the budget is one of the most important
things I can pay attention to. So I was grateful to be there.
» That's it. >> Perfect. Thank you, Council Member.
Council member Casper. >> Thank you. I don't have anything for the
good of the order, so I'll pass my time along. Thank you, Council Member Bole.
» Uh, hello everyone. I don't know if you can hear me well or not, but um I did an
impromptu trip to Mount Reineer with the kids. We're doing some camping, but I
hope everybody's having a good night. >> Thank you, Council Member France.
» Well, July 13th, I attended the EMS um District 2 board, which is the one of
the committees that I'm on. I don't have anything to report from that, but I like
to bring that up. Um, also in reading this book, Little by Little, uh, 13 Ways
to Kill Your Community, and the reason I'm reading is because so
we can do the opposite of that. Uh, Doug Griffith gave a fantastic talk at the
um, AWC, Associated Washington Cities training that I went to the end of June.
And um one of the things that we this city does, I'm so there's a lot of
things this city does that I'm proud of to as a matter of fact, but one of the
things that they've started now is going to be the junior city council. I think
that's very important. This this book talks about involving young people as
well as uh involving older people in your community. Um, the other thing that
they talk about is that people don't they just don't communicate anymore
because they're just on their cell phones all the time. And so, um, eight
or nine days ago when I was invited to an open house, I attended and a lot of
people showed up for that. And I thought, what a fun way to get your
neighbors out and just come and sit around and visit and and everybody
brought some food and have some food. Well, then um just last week I got a
text from one of our citizens that said uh come on over to our block party and
I'm like, "Well, I'm not going to miss a party." So, I went to that and it was
awesome. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was an HOA party. It wasn't.
It's just a block party they have every year. And there was tons of food and and
desserts. And there was 42 people there that were just sitting around. They've
been doing this every year just having a great time. This is all stuff that I
want to foster that I think in our communities where you get to know each
other other than just texting or calling each other. Um I w I was really really
impressed. So I happened to bring my uh city council cards and pass them around
and I said if you have any questions or complaints or uh anything positive too
is always nice and email me at this address because then I have can keep
track of it. if you just call me then, you know, I don't have any way to track
it that, you know, this citizen complained about this or was happy about
that. And so, um, going around talking those those 42 people, a huge huge issue
is the electric bikes and the go-karts and where they live. There's this trail
behind their house and they just run tear up and down that road. And I I
walked out there and I could see you could see the dirt bike um you know the
the imprints and uh and one of them even showed me some pictures. There were some
impressive go-karts. Those things must have cost a fortune. Either that or
they're really good at building things. And I actually printed the picture off
and forgot to bring it with me tonight. So, I will be showing that to you
because um I don't know about having go-karts that you know running up and
down these streets and even the the dirt trail where people are saying they're
they're going out walking and they're almost getting hit by either electric
somebody on electric bike or by a on a go-kart. So, I know that if I got run
over by a go-kart wouldn't be so good, but um cuz I've
already had a couple car accidents that that was bad enough. But I was excited
that people are engaging and they're telling me the stuff that's going on so
that I can turn around and and report it. Uh because I think it should be
looked into or some ordinance is created, which we're talking about
doing. And um so I'm I'm glad about that. I got a phone call yesterday,
somebody with a complaint because the code enforcement hadn't gotten back to
them. So just things like this, our city council wants to be involved and we want
the city to be in the citizens to be involved with us too. The other thing
that I went to on uh this was a couple weeks ago. I don't know if you reme
remember a car Carol Landwear came here and gave a talk about community court.
Well, she had a community court at the battleground uh municipal courthouse and
she had all these people that have drug and alcohol addictions. they graduated
from their class and it was very impressive to see these people and me
being a retired jailer I love it when I see people are being successful in their
lives and getting either mental health or uh addictions getting help with that
and not have to keep coming back and forth through the system getting
arrested and in and out of jail all the time. So, it was very impressive and um
very thankful to get invited to something like that and see something
positive happening and I guess I can quit talking now.
But I just was excited about the things that I had to share. And uh you know I
just see really good things happening in our city and also of these 42 people
most of all all of them said really positive things about our days and about
the eagle and um really positive things about the park and make my milk and some
of them said what was that from and I explained that and now we've had our
third third cart coming in. a lot of positive talk about that. Very happy
because there's a couple negative things on Facebook, but you know, people get
really brave on Facebook. They just say whatever they want,
» but in person when they're telling saying you all these positive things,
it's pretty cool. So, that's it. >> You sure?
» Yeah. Well, I can talk longer, but >> thank you, Counselor Cery.
» I don't have anything to add. You know, it's it's nice to hear about
the the some of the positive. We get a lot of negative uh sitting up here um
from residents or people that walk in and talk at the podium. Um and it gets
it does wear on you. It wears on you, you know, because the city, the staff,
uh the volunteers, they're working their rears off and it shows. And for those
that just come up and just complain, which we have the chronic people that do
so, uh I hope for one day they open their eyes and actually take a look
around and see how beautiful this city actually is and the people and the
effort that goes into it because it's tremendous.
You know, our festivals are are growing bigger and stronger and better each
year. Um baseball is exploding. Uh uh we've got new parks. Um, we've got a
police force that does protect our city. Uh, you know, whether people want to
negate that or not, that's up to them. Um, we've got counselors that are very
involved in all aspects of city government. We've got a city staff that
puts in tirelessly amounts of work every single day. You know, when you were
saying that in our work session that uh we're going to have to hire more people
for all that. No, no. What we do is we just keep putting these hats on and we
keep going because, you know, I you can't raise taxes enough to to hire the
amount of people that it actually takes, right? Or you're not going to have
residents and you're going to have a line of unhappy people. So, you know,
hearing the the positive attributes that you just gave uh to staff in the city
itself, I I I got to thank you because that's that's amazing. And I I wish more
people would take a look at it. Sure, we're going to have our faults. Every
person has faults. We're human. Uh we're not perfect. We try our best and and we
keep going forward. But our city is stunning and the overall responses that
I see out there is people commending, boy, I wish I could live in Le Center.
So with that, >> don't forget the music at Stern Wheeler
Park. I know people that are coming from Bonavville down to listen to that music.
» Telling you, we live in a very fortunate community
and it's doing better every single day and we're going to keep it that way.
Okay, enough of my soap box. We do have staff reports tonight. We have public
works and community uh development staff report. Uh Miss Tracy Coleman will be
presenting. Tracy,
» thank you, Mayor Council. Okay, so in regards to uh public works operations,
our rideway mower is back in service. I'm so excited for that. So we can start
getting caught up on our rideway mowing. And if you notice, they're out there
doing that now. So, I'm excited to say that. We also ordered a new flailer and
that will be coming in in the next week or so. So, um we'll be able to play a
little bit of catchup. Road striping, if everybody noticed, has occurred this
last week and we're going to have continuing more some more road striping
with our safety project, our horizontal curve project. So, you'll see some more
striping coming on in the city. The construction of the new public workshop
is nearing completion. We did a walkthrough for the final punch list.
So, we're working on that. Staff, as you are aware, installed the 250th
anniversary com commemorative eagle statue, as everybody is aware. Um, we do
have an approved budget every year and that budget approval did include an art
project in there. the art project. There are multiple art projects in this budget
and um the purpose of the statue was to surprise the residents of Le Center with
something to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the celebration of
independence. And so if you wanted to see how much uh we can spend on art
projects, that's in the approved budget of 2025. And we have not exceeded that.
In addition to the Eagle, we have other art projects that are coming forward.
Uh, one of the projects that you can see is installed in Legacy Park and that is
the redo of the story pole. So, that's been done and then we have um grants
that are coming in as well for our art projects in the city. So, hopefully
people will take a look at the budget and see what we had budgeted for that.
In regards to the legacy park, as you know, we have two food trucks that are
already open. They're bringing revenue into the parks for us. We have another
one scheduled to come in this Friday and they will be in operation on the 17th.
That is a Thai uh food truck which will be good and a little bit more variety
here within the city. Our bathroom doors, we do realize uh they are metal
doors and they do get hot when they're facing the sun. So, we're looking at
some alternative paint to put on those to keep those from getting too hot. So,
we're kind of working out some of the quirks at the park right now and kind of
getting everything finalized. So, kind of bear with us as we go. If you notice
over there right now, we installed a new other piece of artwork on the top of the
building. So, if you haven't seen that, go over and look at that. I think it's a
great commemor commemorative statement as to the Makeine Milk building. We
installed fans. Uh the fans are remote controlled, so we're trying to get those
wired up so you can flip them on with a switch. Every time now you flip it off,
you have to go and turn the fan back on. So, we're working on that. We're also
working on putting in, we've had a lot of complaints about the park, so we're
putting in a split rail fence next to the playground so people maybe don't
have to watch their children as much to go out into the road. Uh we can help
protect them from that. The um let's see, the other things we're working on
is uh a mop room for the food carts. We do have one that's in the building
itself that we're using temporarily. Um, we're also working on installing a large
propane tank so we don't have multiple propane tanks out for the food vendors.
And we um, yeah, that's about it for for there on
public works. In regards to storm water, we applied for a grant for a storm water
pipe uh, over there on the frontier. As you know, we have the storm water pipe
that has uh, failed and we've been trying to get money for that. That's a
about a $1.4 million project cost. We applied for a grant. It's kind of a It's
partial grant, partial loan. So, um we're not sure if we're going to get it.
We didn't get it last year, but I just want you to know that we have applied
for that and we're we're working towards trying to get that fixed, but it's a
it's a big cost in our budget, but we're doing the best we can to try to move
forward on that and hopefully hoping that the good Lord stays with us and it
doesn't fail in the interim. Uh swailes and wetlands are being mowed as time
allows as well because a lot of those have to be weed eated. we can't use our
rightway mower. In regards to the wastewater treatment plant, we have also
applied for two grants there to help with some of the funding. They're very,
very low interest rate loans. They're about a half a percent. Uh public works
trust fund and I think the Department of Ecology are the two. So, we've applied
for grants there. I think they're totaling about $3 million. But all the
plant parameters remains well within the compliance of the NPDES permit. Our
influent number two screen has been disassembled and rebuilt. Our ultrasonic
sensor level sensor failed and at pump station number two. And so the new
sensor has arrived and we'll replace it this week. We're almost done with that.
Utility water pump 2 has been reinstalled and returned to service. I
reported on that last month. And two pumps from Riverside Lift Station and
the process basin have been pulled and being rebuilt.
We have a follow-up replacement for our variable frequency drive that's been
installed in the ASSB blower and has now returned to full operation. An
engineering report has been submitted to the Department of Ecology on July 22nd.
They have 60 days to respond. The deadline is September 26th. When they
respond and they give us approval, we can proceed with ordering the MBRS, the
screw press, so on and so forth once we have approval from them so we can move
forward on the capital projects that were approved in our general sewer plan.
In regards to engineering, as you guys know, Four Street project is ongoing.
You you uh drive by it every day and you get a little bit of delays in there, but
we thank you for your patience as we uh continue to work on that project. and
also for the four street widening Breezy Creek. Same thing. So, they used to be
the same project, but now they've been separated as you know. One's one's for
the the um signal itself on Ivy and Fourth and then the other one is actual
widening including a new covert replacement across the creek
shared use path. Uh that is we are interviewing engineers next week for
wash dot so we can go out to bid. Once we get the engineers and we select the
engineer, we can actually go out to bid on that project. We're still hoping to
go out to bid later this month and have an award at the September council
meeting so we can start that project. The safety grant is in going on right
now in the city of Le Center. As you can see, there's additional signs being
added. There's additional guard rails being added. We have increased
reflectors um that are be going to be going on in the roads. Uh L center road
will have a nice uh it's not going to be a torch down. It's um what's the name of
it? If it's not torch down, somebody help me out here. No, let me think here.
It's uh same thing I did on my crosswalks.
Come on, you guys. I reported on this >> 88.
» Yeah. What is it? >> The ADA?
» No, I I'll come back to it. But I'll remember it. I'm having a brain fart.
Okay. And then also if you notice when you're turning off of Le Center Road and
you go on to Timmans Road, there is a curb that is has been placed there. That
was part of the safety project because people are turning off of Lenter Road
and turning wide on Timmans Road or trucks are coming off of Timmans Road
and turning wide on Lenter Road, cutting traffic off. So we have a curb that's
been placed in there. Uh let's see. The tribe the roundabout design is on hold
right now. We're waiting to hear back from the tribe. They are looking at the
their property whether they're going to allow us to build a retaining wall or if
we're going to slope back that property which is where the make milk building
used to be. Uh let's see downtown 2.0 the archaeological cultural resource
study right now is out and uh DAP came back. Everything was good with that.
It's out with the tribal. There's four different tribes it goes to. We should
hear back from them in a couple weeks so we can move forward on that. May I speak
in regards to the groundbreaking? Okay. So, we're going to have a groundbreaking
ceremony on September 17th at what time, Mayor?
» It's going to be between 3:30 and 5. >> Okay. Between 3:35. We'll give you
another update this next month, but put that on your calendar to be out there.
In the building department, Steven Hillside has 13 homes under
construction. Lockwood Meadows has 10. Urban Meadows has eight. Golden Grove
has 11. And exit 16 Sips and Scoops is in the final stages of completion. and
Paradise Park Fairfield Hotel foundation and pool concrete are completed for the
first floor and flame flaming framing is in progress. Make my milk building is
completed. We actually have the roofing done and like I said the art piece on
top of there. You want to go out there and take a look at that. And then we
have um recognition coming for the arts council that'll be installed this week.
And then we have the gutters going down next week going on the building next
week. Code enforcement. There were 23 new cases opened. Of those 15 of outside
of the 23 that were open, we had 15 that we closed and there are currently 14
open cases. In regards to the community development, we have received new
applications in June, changing the total amount this year to 25 land
applications. And we have in residential a total of 37 this year in other 49 with
a total of 115 to date. And just so you know, the July numbers represent about
90% of on track compared to last year. And we received a large subdivision
application and three other applications that will be in next month's reporting
that should put us on target, if not over budget for our revenue that we're
expected to receive. That's all I got. >> You sure?
» I think so. I can keep going, but I only read about a quarter of the report.
» All right. Thank you, Tracy. Uh, council, any questions or comments for
Tracy? I remember you talking about that application,
but I cannot remember what it is either.
» It'll come to me. I'll just blurt it out. Just give me some time.
» Well, let's hope you don't do it during the WSP contract.
All right. Any questions, comments, concern for Tracy Council?
» Just thank you, Tracy. I I really appreciate all the work that you do.
That park's looking amazing, isn't it? >> Oh, man.
» Yeah. Yeah. Did we get the uh plaque for the museum? Yep.
» Uh we have received it. We'll be installing it this week. All right. Yep.
We have two different things that we're putting up there for the museum.
» Okay. Uh, oh, and just a reminder, if anybody
sees the photos of the mayors on that board at the Make Mind Milk building, if
you guys know of anybody that has the missing photos of those mayors, please
contact city hall so we can get those photos up there to give them the
recognition they deserve. Okay, next up we have the WSP contract amendment.
Tracy Coleman will be presenting again. Tracy,
» thermoplastic. Thermoplastic is what's being put on the
roads, which is better than torch down or paint. Look that up. Okay.
» So, she did it right during the WSP thing, like I said. Right.
» All right. It was before, mayor. It was before. So, this basically this is a
contract amendment to WSP for the scope of work on the comprehensive plan and
development regulation periodic update. Uh, I want to give big kudos out to
Angie Morurell who has applied for a second grant for us. H that has allowed
us to pay for some of the contract costs for WSP. The first one she got last year
of 36 and this one she got this year was $22,000. So that's and that's what this
contract amendment is going to be paid for if council approves it. So thank you
Angie for doing that. The city signed a professional service agreement with WSP
in February of 2000 February 12th 2024 and it was for 241,498.
The agreement was for them to provide project management, community
engagement, public involvement periodic update, seer review, planning commission
and city council coordination adoption for that comprehensive plan. They
represented tonight. So you can see the update of the final comprehensive plan
that we're hoping to adopt. The amendment number one that we had for
them due to delays because of the county was in June 24th of 25 for an additional
89,917. This totally came out of our our uh
general funds and that made the new contract total of 331415.
They're asking for an additional amendment as we're getting close to the
dollar amounts being spent. the update of the city of LA center comprehensive
plan and development regulations to meet the mandated update requirements which
were required now by the department of commerce. Additionally, there have been
county delays still in adoption of the comprehensive plan and with the land the
preferred land use alternative vacant biddable lands model that we're working
with um for updates in GIS and envir and an environmental impact statement which
Clark County just sent out and is currently in the comment period. So the
county is more than a year behind which has caused cost increases for all the
cities not just us. So this additional services that they're asking for uh to
complete was in the paragraph that I just read above. They're sk see seeking
to increase their contract amount to the maximum amount of what we received in
the grant which is 22,219. And that contract would then not exceed
353,634. So we're nearing that home stretch and
we're hoping that the county adopts us by year end. But that's basically what
this amendment is for. They wouldn't exceed that and um the budget impact
wouldn't be in in effect as far as we go from the general funds because of
Angie's grant that she obtained for us. >> Thank you, Tracy. Thank you, Angie.
Council, any questions, comments?
» If not, I will entertain a motion. All move to authorize approval of an
increase in the WSP comprehensive plan and development regulation periodic
update contract not to exceed an additional $22,219
with contract contract maximum price of $353,634
contract expiration date to remain December 31st 2026.
I'll second. >> It's been moved and seconded. All those
in favor? >> I I
» I didn't hear council member Bo's vote.
» He's going to say >> council.
» I I Okay, thank you. Uh opposed. >> Abstain.
Motion passes. Thank you, council. Thank you, Angie, for going out for that
grant. We appreciate it. We really do. Uh, thank you again Tracy for the
report. Hey, that moves us to ordinances, resolutions, and public
hearings. We do have a public hearing ordinance 2026-10 MDR16 code update. Mr.
Brian Cast will be presenting. Brian, are you with us?
» I am. Mr. Mayor, can you hear me? >> I can.
» We can hear you loud. >> Mic is yours.
» Very good. Uh so before council this evening is a
proposed code change to the city's MDR code uh MDR16 code. Uh currently the
code states that um in order to foster an opportunity for the creation of a
variety of housing products and to promote housing affordability,
architectural variety, and unique neighborhood character. uh MDR projects
which are over 10 acres or more um must include uh 75 no more than 75% of one
housing type. Um so for example, if you have a 10acre project um you're trying
to do a detached single family uh you have to have at least 25% of either
multifamily uh like apartments or uh town homes like
an attached product or something like that. Um we've heard feedback from
property owners, from developers um at both the planning commission and city
council meetings that um it can be a challenge to meet this requirement on
smaller projects sort of in that 10 to 20 acre size. Um you know for the most
part they're trying to focus on one product type for those size of
developments and then you end up with sort of this required 25% of just a few
units of this other type which often doesn't seem to really fit the
neighborhood character. Um, also, you know, we've heard from neighbors that,
you know, they prefer to kind of just see more of a uniform project, um,
without, you know, sort of this mix of product type. And also, um, we've heard
from developers that, you know, these sort of required few units, um, that are
put in there can be difficult to market and sell. Um so at um not last night's
planning commission meeting but two uh last month's planning commission meeting
uh we also had some public testimony and at that time planning commission asked
that um some code uh revisions be proposed. We brought those uh this
proposed revision to the planning commission last night and they voted
unanimously to recommend to council to uh approve this change and the change is
really very simple. Uh the only change to the code language is to change that
uh number 10 for 10 gross acres to 20 uh gross acres. And this change will, you
know, allow basically um projects that are required to meet this mix of housing
types to have a little bit more units um so that they can better integrate them
into the neighborhood and um you know have a a project that is more in line
with what the city uh council and planning commission would like to see.
So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that the council may have u
before uh opening the public hearing. Thank you, Brian. Uh, council,
» we got feedback. You got feedback. >> Council,
» I have a comment or two. >> I think what's being proposed makes
sense, but I have a couple of questions regardless. I'm curious. Are there any
pending projects currently being contemplated
that will likely go forward with this change and perhaps would not if the
change were not made? Um we do have one project that's
underway, but I believe that they um this code change will not apply to them.
They're already vested to the old code and will be um you know it's a little
bit larger project I believe. So they will be uh providing that 25%. at
planning commission uh last night. Uh Angie, our planner, pulled up a map. And
I think the other property that this uh potentially could apply to that's
currently zoned MDR16 is out there at the Timman uh landing sub area. Um
there's, you know, part of that that's zoned, I believe, high density
residential and a portion of it that's zoned medium density residential and I
believe that the medium density portion is exceeds the 10 acre threshold. So, if
this code change goes forward, that MDR portion of the Timmans Landing uh sub
area um you know wouldn't be required then to have this mix of of product
types. The other areas that are zoned MDR16 are under the current 10acre
threshold. So, this change wouldn't really apply to those properties.
» Okay. Thank you. U have one other question. Uh
the threshold going to 20 sounds fine to me. Uh the the mixture of housing types.
I'm wondering if there is some way anyway that it makes sense that perhaps
swaps could be done where one developer might develop land that's extremely high
density and another then would be freed up to do more of what they want and not
have as high a density. um rather than having to put the same
standard against every
project that comes in, would there be a way that one project could help offset
the requirement of another project? >> I don't know if that even
» Yeah, I mean I think there is a potential to do that. Um you know, it
requires some additional code revisions. I think something else that was noted
last night at the planning commission meeting is, you know, up until very
recently here, this MDR16 zone was really the most dense zone in the city.
And so, you know, the types of products that you can put in that, you can put,
you know, sort of smaller detached homes. You can do, you know, attached
town homes like a triplex or a duplex or a quadplex or you can do apartments. Um
however now the city also has a highdensity residential zone which is
you know intended for you know intended for apartments and so you know we do
have the ability and the zoning now for some you know some more dense products
um that previously would be you know sort of fitting into this MDR16 zone.
» Okay. Well thank you for your comments. Appreciate it very much.
» Yeah. Thank you. >> Hey this is uh Council Member Bole. You
guys hear me? All right. >> Yes.
» Um, so with this new zoning change, is it going to be a requirement that there
is a mixed >> use of
different styles of houses, town homes, single family residences, or is it going
to be just at their own discretion? So the code already currently requires
this mix um for projects that exceed 10 acres. So all all we're simply doing is
changing that threshold where the mix of product types applies to moving that
from 10 to 20 acre um size 20 acre or larger projects.
» And just kind of shooting from the hip here. I mean I feel like the spirit of
the city is kind of less is more. We want growth, but we want it to be
consensual to what CIA's, you know, our history is. And
how is that going to affect what we've been trying to do from years
past? >> Sure. Well, I I think some of the
feedback that we've got from developers is, you know, that they've developed
under this current code language. um you know so they have a you know a 10 to 15
acre project they're putting in you know generally um you know single family
detached seems to be you know sort of what the market is is demanding in L
center so that they'll do the 75% of that and then they have to do 25% of
something else they're generally picking in an attached like a duplex or triplex
sort of project and they said they've been getting a lot of comments you know
from the public and even from you know planning commission members of like how
come you're putting this you know these town homes here, you know, we'd rather
just see it be um, you know, more, you know, detached that sort of fit with the
rest of the character of the neighborhood. And, you know, their
answer is, well, that's what the code makes us do. Um, so, you know, it's sort
of that kind of feedback that we've been receiving that's prompted uh the
proposals here uh this evening to to change that threshold and raise it up to
20 acres. Brian, I believe last night at the
planning commission. >> I'm sorry.
» I was just going to say, so does this kind of like meld us between the current
MDR16 and the highdensity residential? Yeah, I mean the probably the result of
this code change will be that you know that these you know projects that are
below 20 acres you know I'm guessing will be largely
you know building only detached single family so you know sort of like you know
just we have the LDR code uh LDR 7.5 so those are sort of your larger lots and
your larger detached homes and then on the MDR you know on these again 20 acres
or smaller projects You'll probably see, you know, smaller detached single family
homes um as we, you know, continue to, you know, have um lands come into the
city in the future, you know, and there's larger parcels, you know, that
are over 20 acres, you know, that they will be required to to continue to do
this mix. Um and now again, we have that um highdensity residential zone as well.
So, um, you know, we'll see more sort of the apartment sort of product that
people, you know, had been putting into, uh, this MDR zone. Um, you know, think
like on the north side of town there. Um, you know, that will probably be more
focused in that high density zone that's more out towards the junction.
» Oh, yeah. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh my question I last night at the
uh planning commission meeting I believe Dennis Seal brought up how many 10 to 20
acre pots in the city limits do we have that that would be affected by that
» and I don't remember the answer. >> Yeah. So I think you know we looked at
that zoning map last night and I think the the main area as the zoning map
currently sits that this would apply to is the the Timman Landing area.
um with a portion of that that's zoned MDR. There is, you know, there's another
um parcel that's zoned MDR that's in this size range, but I believe that
already has a an approved proposal on it. Um and so this code, you know, there
wouldn't be vested to this code. They're vested to the the current 10acre
threshold and would be required to do the mix. And then there's a a piece of
property sort of south of the high school that I believe it was under the
current 10acre threshold as well. So regardless of this code change, they
would not be required to do a mix of product types there.
» Thank you. Thank you. >> I think to me what this shows is that
it's really not the city that's driving the development, right? Somebody has an
idea. Clearly, they have a piece of property in mind. It's not the city that
said, "Hey, there's this piece of property that you could come and ask for
a reasonzoning for. Somebody has an idea." It's not the city that that gets
to determine whether or not somebody wants to sell property or or develop
property. So, um, either way, we're still going to get blamed for being in
the developers pockets and looking for, uh, you know, every every reason in the
book to add more people to the city to clog the roads and things like that. So,
I I think we should just get on with it. >> Well,
» let's open the public hearing. And before I do that, I just council also
knew that this is stuff that you guys have talked about in previous meetings,
right? You guys wanted to do away with having to have condos and apartments and
and kind of get back to the single family dwelling units and this opens
that back up, right? They're not required to put a mix small compact kind
of like the man meadows area. >> So, this this opens those doors. So,
» I think this counts as being more business friendly,
» doesn't it? >> Is that what your conclusion?
» That's what I'm going to say. >> I love it.
» Ask reflector to >> All right. Um, if there's no more
questions to Brian, I I am going to open this up. Have any more questions or
comments?
» Okay. At this time, 7:15 p.m., I'd like to
open up the public hearing. This will uh public comments. They need to be limited
to the ordinance 2026-10, please.
» At this time, is there any public comments from the audience that would
like to speak?
I was waiting for Al.
Alfella 36016 Northwest Connecticut Road.
You know, Casey, you might be right. That might be considered business
friendly. You know, I'm glad you caught. You've
done your due diligence. So, good job. So, that's my positive
thing to say tonight.
And the museum is open this Saturday from noon to 4, but I can't say that.
» Thank you for not saying that, Al. I appreciate that. Any other public
comments? Uh, please step up to the podium.
» All right. Are there any comments from those calling in? Please press star six
to unmute yourself. Please stay to the limited or limit yourself to the
ordinance 2026-10.
Do we have any callers? >> No callers at this time.
» Are there any public comments to be read?
» No public comments to be >> No public comments to be read.
» Okay. Last chance. Anybody would like to step
up to speak.
» Please step up.
My name is Jim Newell and I'm um at 1518 West Aton Place the Center and uh I'm
basically close to that gravel
walkway or where you can take dogs and and
down into the trail. My concern is I see a lot of kids and I
know that this is summertime and kids will be kids, but I'm seeing a lot of um
kids on the electric bikes, electric scooters,
even the big wheels and u go-karts. That was new last week. um
they don't have helmets on, you know, so safety is concern. But one of the things
that bothered me was last year there was a posted no electric
bikes. And I don't know what happened to the two signs that I was aware of,
but the beginning of the summer, those were removed. I don't know if those were
removed by the city or if they were removed by
kids that didn't want to see that or adults, whatever. But
safety is concerning. >> Parents with or kids, I mean, adults
taking their dogs for a walk. Um, it's not safe. It really isn't. I've got two
little ones myself and uh I've seen kids come ripping down, crossing the bridge,
and uh I've got a dog running this way and a
dog running that way. and barely have time when they're skidding to a stop to
get my dogs close at hand. And I just I worry about that. You know, if there's
an older older person than I am, can they get out of the way? And there's
places that are runners on that gravel road that get concerned. And so anyway,
that's that's my concern. Especially the signs that were there are not there
because I sit right on the corner and if I could do something about saying, "Hey,
listen. Watch what you're doing." And if there's
a cop sitting on the corner, he just sits there and says, "Well, there's
nothing I can do." So, thank you for your time and what you're doing.
» Thank you very much. And the city will look into that. Appreciate it. Okay. At
this time, 7:20 p.m. I'd like to close the public hearing and turn this back
over to council. >> Council, any questions, comments, any
further? If not, I will take a motion.
» Mayor, I move to approve ordinance 2026-10
updating the MDR16 code as presented.
» I'll second it. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, can
I please get a roll call vote? >> Council member Ravaro,
» yes. >> Council member Casper,
» yes. >> Council member Bole,
» yes. >> Council member France,
» yes. >> Council member Cerebony,
» yes.
» Okay, ordinance passes. Thank you, council.
» Thank you, Brian. Uh, good job. Appreciate you staying up late tonight.
» Thank you. All right, next up we have the public
hearing again. Ordinance 2026-09, the MIR annexation and reszone. This
Angie Merrill will be presenting. Angie, >> good evening.
» Tonight we have the Mir annexation and um they are requesting to annex
approximately 10.1 acres into the city of L Center on May 12th. uh 12th a 10%
notice of attent intent was accepted by the city council. The applicant
submitted a 60% petition on May 13, 2026.
Perent municipal code 18.290. It allows for parcels outside the city
limits to annex into the city of L center. Um to be eligible for the
annexation, a property must be contiguous to the existing city limits
and within the urban growth boundary. The project parcels due above the city
limits to the north. The property to the east was recently approved for
annexation. The Larsson property um and then the property to the west is
in Clark County. The mirrors are the mirrors are the property owners and
they're the full owners of the property. Thus, they exceed the 60% requirement
and their parcel is located totally within the urban growth boundary.
There's availability for the city of Le Center utilities to this parcel.
Um upon annexation, the property will be zoned LDR 7.5 with an urban holding
overlay until there's some kind of um development request if there is any kind
of development request at a future time. And um at the hearing last night, the
planning commission hearing, planning commission um recommended approval of
the mirror annexation. And uh staff recommends to city council opening a
public hearing to accept public comments for the proposed annexation.
» Okay. Thank you, Angie. >> Um any questions for Angie? Council,
» I have a question. Um could you kind of explain a little
bit more what you mean by residential density transfer transfer from a
critical area uh shall be in accordance to this uh the
center municipal codes code but so you're taking a residential density and
transferring it to or from a a critical area and I think you know maybe some of
the people in the audience would like to know with more what that means. too.
» So that proposal tonight is this is just for an annexation. There's no density
transfer for that. But >> yes, that has nothing. We're not
requesting that this evening, is there? >> Okay, I get it.
» Okay. Thanks. >> Thank you.
» Thank you. >> Any other questions for Angie?
Okay. Uh, so at this time 7:24 p.m. I'd like to open up to public hearing.
Public comment should be limited to ordinance 2026-04.
Are those in the audience please step up to the podium
and state your name.
All right, seeing how there is none, uh, any callers calling in, please press
star six to unmute yourself, state your name, and please stick to the ordinance
2026-09.
No callers, clerk. >> No callers.
» Are there any comments to be read? >> No comments to be read.
» Okay. >> Uh at this time, 7:25 p.m. I'd like to
go ahead and close the public hearing and turn this back over to council.
Council, any questions, comments, conversations?
If there isn't, I would definitely entertain a motion.
Mayor, I move to approve allowing the owner of parcel number 209692-0000
to proceed with the annexation process to bring said property into the list
under city limits.
» Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, can
I please have a roll call vote on this? >> Council member,
» yes. Council member Casper, >> yes.
» Council member Bole, >> yes.
» Council member France, >> yes.
» Council member Cerviny, >> yes.
» All right, ordinance passes. Thank you, council. Thank you, everyone. Thank you,
Angie, for the work into that. I'm sure there's going to be more to come. Um,
at that point, uh, we don't have any unfinished business. Council, we do have
a new business, uh, to discuss real quick. Council uh councelor Caspber and
myself will not be attending next uh meeting at the end of August will be
unavailable. Um I have actually asked councelor Bole to chair the meeting with
you as a council since it is his last meeting. I wanted to see if there was
any objections to that or any concerns about that.
» Okay. >> Councelor, are you with us?
I am. >> Are you up to the task?
» Absolutely. I'd love to. >> Be your last meeting.
» I know. I'm sad you guys aren't going to be there.
» There are no parties allowed. All right. >> Oh, well, I will cancel all the
all the things. >> All right. Okay. Well, then uh that
concludes it. Um at this point, I will uh take a motion for adjournment. So
moved. >> So moved. It's been moved and seconded.
» Uh, yeah. Did I get a second or both of you guys did that? It's been moved and
seconded. All those in favor? >> I I
» opposed. Abstain. Motion passes. Meetings adjured. Thank you for
attending.