[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:02] Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the City of Pasco City Council meeting. First meeting of
[0:08] 2026. We hope you had a great holiday. The City Council, thanks you for being part
[0:14] of the city government at these meetings. And at these meetings, the City Council takes
[0:19] formal actions and holds public hearings and conducts as other business of the city.
[0:24] Agenda packets are available at the City of Pasco's website at www.pasco-wa.gov-agenda.
[0:35] And there's also Agenda back in the back table.
[0:39] This meeting is also being televised live on PSC TV channel 191 on Spectrum Cable in Pasco
[0:49] and Richland, and it's streamed on the city's Facebook page, website, and YouTube channel.
[0:56] This in previous council meetings video is available at the city's website.
[1:01] Lastly, the public may submit their comments and or questions by contacting the city manager,
[1:07] City Clerk, or by using the Ask Pasco app.
[1:11] So with that, I'd like to do the roll call.
[1:16] Council Member Campos.
[1:19] Councilmember Grimm.
[1:20] Here.
[1:21] Councilmember Thiccarillo.
[1:23] Present.
[1:25] Councilmember Hernandez.
[1:27] Present.
[1:29] Councilmember Grimm.
[1:31] I'm still here.
[1:32] I'm sorry.
[1:34] No.
[1:35] I'm here.
[1:36] I just want to make sure you really were here.
[1:39] And Councilmember Parallels.
[1:40] Here.
[1:41] Great.
[1:41] All six are here.
[1:42] Let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
[1:44] I
[1:49] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which
[1:54] it stands, one nation under God, indisisable with liberty and justice for all.
[2:04] Thank you.
[2:06] As you may have noticed, I'm the city clerk and I usually do not sit up here and address
[2:10] the public but tonight's a special night because we have the opportunity for presiding
[2:18] officer that's what we're going to be doing next, selecting a temporary presiding officer
[2:23] and at that point then the council is going amongst themselves, going to elect a mayor
[2:28] and a mayor pro tem. So, there'll be a little shifting, I just want you to be aware of that of
[2:34] seats for a little bit and then after that process the mayor and the mayor pro tem are elected,
[2:40] then we'll take a ten minute or five minute break for receding for the council.
[2:45] So, thank you again. So, the first thing is since there is no elected mayor, Mayor Pro Tem at this time, the City Council will select a temporary presiding officer to chair the next section of the meeting.
[2:57] The nominations for the temporary presiding officer are now open.
[3:03] Madam Clerk, I move to select Dave Millen as the temporary presiding officer to chair the beginning of this meeting.
[3:08] Thank you. So we have Mary Mill, David Mill. Okay. Great. Thank you. Are there any other
[3:15] nominations for the temperature? I'll ask one more time. Are there any other
[3:20] nominations? Great. That makes three times and we'll close this. Thank you and
[3:27] Council Member Mill, you are the temporary deciding officer. Thank you.
[3:48] Will it
[3:48] Let me read this.
[3:51] So we're going to go over what the mayor is and the mayor pro-tem.
[3:55] So the election of the mayor and mayor pro-tem occurs every two years.
[3:59] Pasco operates under the council manager form of government.
[4:02] Three, the duties of the mayor position include the mayor is the leader of the council and
[4:07] city figurehead.
[4:08] The mayor resides over the council meetings.
[4:12] The mayor determines the council member assignments to boards and commissions for the two year period.
[4:17] The mayor appoints members of the city's various volunteer boards, commissions and committees
[4:22] with the council's approval.
[4:23] The mayor also issues proclamations, attends ribbon cuttings, and attends other key community
[4:28] events presiding representing the city and city council.
[4:32] The duties of mayor pro tem are to reform the mayor's duties when the mayor is unavailable.
[4:36] And lastly, only the city council may select the mayor and mayor pro tem positions.
[4:41] So with that, any council may nominate any member or the many nominate themselves for mayor.
[4:49] No second is needed. And so with that, I would like to start off and I would like to be my honor to nominate Charles Grimm for the position of mayor.
[5:02] So do we have any other nominations for mayor?
[5:10] I'm not seeing any, so we'll do the second call for mayor.
[5:14] and we will do a third and final call for mayor. So with that with no other
[5:19] nominations, I close the nominations for mayor and so let's skip the
[5:26] roll call.
[5:30] Thank you. And this is before nominating Charles Grimm as the mayor of
[5:35] the City of Pasco. Great.
[5:38] Council member canpos. Yes. Council member Grimm. Yes.
[5:44] Council Member Figuerella. Yes. Council Member Hernandez. Yes. Council Member Milne. Yes.
[5:54] And Council Member Perraos. Yes. Great. It passes unanimously. Congratulations, Mayor Grim.
[6:10] Thank you, everyone. It's very honored to have the confidence of the council and the support of my
[6:18] family and others. Just pray that the good Lord guides me with wisdom as we go forward
[6:24] as a city. We are now going to open up the election of the mayor pro-tem. Any council
[6:30] member may nominate another member or they may nominate themselves from your pro-tem
[6:35] position and no second is needed.
[6:41] Council members can now make their nominations.
[6:43] I
[6:48] would like to nominate Council Member David Mill.
[6:52] We have a nomination for David Millen for Mayor Pro Tem.
[6:57] Are there any other nominations?
[7:05] Second call, any other nominations for Mayor Pro Tem.
[7:12] Third and final call for nominations for Mayor Pro Tem.
[7:18] With no further nominations for Mayor Pro Tem, I will close the nominations and go to a vote.
[7:26] In this sense, since there's only one individual nominated, we'll just confirm the election
[7:32] by a voice call vote, so Councilmember David Millen has been nominated to serve as the
[7:38] City of Paschal Mayor Pro Tem through December 31st, 2027, Council, please confirm this action
[7:44] by saying aye.
[7:47] No.
[7:50] Let it be recorded that the vote was 5 to 1. At this time, I am now going to call
[7:58] a 10-minute recess for the Council's receiving arrangements, and the meeting will convene
[8:03] at 7.19. We are in recess.
[8:14] All right. We will call this meeting back to order.
[8:21] Thank
[8:22] We'll now move on to number eight, the consent agenda.
[8:25] All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the City of Pasco and will be enacted by a roll call vote as one motion.
[8:32] There will be no separate discussion of these items.
[8:34] A further discussion is desired by council members.
[8:36] The item may be removed from the consent agenda or the regular agenda and considered separately.
[8:41] Would any council members like to remove an item?
[8:44] Hearing none, A is approval of meeting minutes for December 1st and the A, B is bills and communications approving claims in total of the amount of $23 million, $46,718.81 cents and right off totaling $2,500 in delinquent bad debt.
[9:04] And may I get a motion, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem?
[9:08] Yes, Mayor, I move to approve the consent agenda as read.
[9:12] We have a motion by Mayor Pro Temmelon for the consent agenda as red. Do we have a second?
[9:23] Second. Seconded by Council Member Figueroa. All in favor say, or I guess we need to take a roll call for this.
[9:29] Ms. Clerk, if you would do a roll call please. Yes, thank you. Council Member Campos? Yes.
[9:35] Yes.
[9:36] That's a member of Figaro.
[9:37] Yes.
[9:38] That's a member Hernandez.
[9:40] Yes.
[9:41] That's a member of prowess.
[9:42] Yes.
[9:44] Mayor Pro Temo.
[9:45] Yes.
[9:46] And Mayor Grimm.
[9:47] Yes.
[9:47] Passes unanimously.
[9:49] Thank you.
[9:50] We'll now move on to number nine.
[9:51] Proclamation is in acknowledgment.
[9:53] Seeing none.
[9:55] Moving on to number ten public comments.
[9:57] The public may address the council on any items.
[10:00] Unless it relates to a scheduled public hearing,
[10:02] this item is provided.
[10:02] or this item is provided to allow the opportunity to bring items for the attention of the City Council to express an opinion on an issue.
[10:09] Its purpose is not to provide a venue for debate or for the posing of questions with the expectation of immediate response.
[10:16] Some questions require consideration by Council over time and have deliberative process with input from a number of different sources.
[10:23] Some questions are best directed to staff members who have access to specific information.
[10:28] This and comments will normally be limited to three minutes by the mayor those with lengthy messages are invited to summarize their comments and or submit written information for consideration by the council outside the formal meetings.
[10:41] Lastly, when called upon, please state your name and city or county of residency into the microphone before providing your comments.
[10:48] And with that we will open public comments.
[10:55] Thank you.
[10:56] come right up.
[11:03] Council members and new council members. My name is Amber and good evening
[11:14] council members and new council members.
[11:18] Where do we go?
[11:29] I will. I just sister campaign.
[11:31] Can you have no fucking money? First of all, you will. What you just heard matters because it shows
[11:36] you the reality behind my situation. After raising ongoing concerns where I live
[11:43] here for the past two years, I am now being displaced and my family is being
[11:47] threatened. That is not a personal squabble. It is an economic, excuse me, my
[11:55] words are not coming. Economic and housing stability here for Pasco. This one has
[12:00] been on notice. Some of you have been heard, heard resident testimonies yourself and
[12:06] And public attention has been brought here from local Pasco and beyond even we've got
[12:14] in a set or a call from Senator Cantwell's office.
[12:18] Pasco must not become a city where who hold, who has the goal to make the rules.
[12:25] My family has been helping to care of me and through that we have been helping to care
[12:29] of Pasco local economy between purchasing my home and paying rent in advance and paying
[12:35] the local contractors legal work and repeated repairs and upgrade my family has
[12:41] contributed roughly to a hundred thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand
[12:46] here locally to Pasco and Sky Cities. Those are private dollars circulating
[12:51] locally. But when the response to raising concerns is intimidation, displacement,
[12:58] Pasco shoots itself in the foot. Those private dollars stop coming in because the
[13:02] But people with resources step back, not because they want to, but because they are being
[13:07] targeted precisely because they have assets.
[13:10] And these are coming from dollars out of state, from Utah, from multiple of my house members.
[13:16] I want to be clear when private support is pushed out, the public inherits the bill.
[13:22] I'm on sole security and now have a section 8 voucher.
[13:25] That means where family was covering costs privately, taxpayers are now carrying a monthly
[13:33] public cost instead of private investments coming in.
[13:37] If this is what happens to someone with documentation and family support, it has been witnessed
[13:42] by many local people including Leo, Tracey's Harold, the Hispanic noon, news you have heard
[13:49] these comments over and over again.
[13:51] My request tonight is simple.
[13:53] Treat this as an economic and housing stability problem.
[13:57] Corne and follow-up through the appropriate channels
[13:59] and make it clear that residents and passcodes
[14:01] will not be punished for raising legitimate concerns.
[14:04] Thank you.
[14:06] Thank you, Mrs. Wade.
[14:07] And I just want to remind you another commenters.
[14:09] This is actually broadcast on TV
[14:11] and there's actually obscenity laws
[14:13] in everything for broadcasting.
[14:14] And so if we could refrain from that
[14:17] and the future would be very much appreciated
[14:19] and also for the order of this Dias. Thank you. Who would be next? Thank you, Mary,
[14:27] come on up.
[14:36] Is on. Yes, ma'am. Thanks, Ms. Mahoney. Mary Mahoney, Pasco resident,
[14:41] Animal Control Ben Ziggum stated he's taken in 3,000 animals in 2025 with only 300 returned
[14:49] to owners. Provide records for the remaining 2,700 animals, CKVU News 12, 18, 25. Animal
[14:57] Control continues to sell our dogs and calves.
[14:59] You
[15:00] To WSU for research, then they're killed, provide a permit to do so. Now Animal Control has
[15:06] devised a usage pay system, a bounty that requires a ransom to be paid to get our pets out
[15:13] of animal control. On 10625C Pasco City Manager report page 4 with 232 recent cases, provide
[15:22] those cases and for the 2,700 animals, the total for the usage pay fines to the number
[15:29] of due process violations as authorized by Pasco City Attorney Lee Kerr, 3, the number
[15:36] of dangerous fog and breed ban notices issued to pet owners with translators if needed,
[15:41] 4, the number of dogs and cats sent to WSU for research and the money, the money paid
[15:46] by WSU for our animals.
[15:49] 5.
[15:50] The number of dogs and cats euthanized at animal control with certified euthanasia training
[15:55] see botched in cruel euthanasia methods in the Zegan files.
[16:00] Pasco has never provided results for animal control regarding 1.
[16:04] The 48 counts of animal cruelty, 2.
[16:07] The stolen donation of $545,000 given by our veteran Thomas Ashby in his will to be used
[16:14] to help dogs and cats in need instead, number three, $300,000 of that donation was siphoned
[16:23] up by animal control Julie Chambers to buy a house, provide repayment.
[16:27] Number four, provide the missing and or stolen rainy day fund from animal control with
[16:32] rehire Angela Zyler, see Chambers Howard Hernandez and Zyler and the Char City Herald on 1126-25
[16:39] with the Attorney General file on $9.29.23 with over a half a billion dollars CIP budget made
[16:45] up by our tax dollars, Pasco gives nothing to our homeless people and no funds for a low-cost
[16:52] pay-neuter clinic for our dogs and cats, and yet the Pasco Aquatic Center exceeds $40 million
[16:58] and counting with three lazy river flumes costing millions and more while the East Side Memorial
[17:05] Corial pool scrambles for less than $2 million.
[17:09] Aquatics ex-Pasco mayor Matt Watkins has paid nearly $11,000 per month, plus his travel
[17:16] expenses, provide his passport and travel cost, and attorney leakers aquatic fees.
[17:24] Provided permit number 404 for the floodplain developments and fines for killing our eight
[17:28] floodplain American bond eglots and eglots, provide LID designs for my property with cost
[17:34] start dates, communications, harassment, retaliation,
[17:37] see files, all requests are for the record via RCW 4256.
[17:42] But notice the passcode.
[17:44] Thank you.
[17:48] Anybody else for public comment?
[17:59] Good evening and welcome again to our new councillors.
[18:04] State your name and.
[18:05] Oh, Laurie Thompson, passcode.
[18:07] Thank you.
[18:10] In welcoming our new council members,
[18:15] We're hoping that Council turns a new page, and so you know that a lot of citizens, your constituents, are holding faith that you will serve with the best interest of the citizens during your term in office.
[18:32] And I appreciate your service. Thank you.
[18:36] It's unfortunate we have to address this again.
[18:40] I bring your attention that our Christmas and for a two week period ending just this
[18:46] last Sunday was nothing of the silent night we should have been able to enjoy in this
[18:52] season of peace and good will.
[18:54] Instead over the holidays the blatant illegal, dangerous, toxic, repetitive and inconsiderate
[19:01] use of window rattling aerial and explosive mortars across the city in the
[19:07] night time and early morning hours seemingly continues to get a blind die
[19:12] from the city council and mayor. Much of the incitely refuge from this
[19:18] activity is still today lying in our street gutters making its way down to the
[19:25] street drains we the homeowners must pay the city to maintain. These kinds of
[19:31] fireworks are banned and those laws upheld in many other cities and states for very good
[19:37] reasons.
[19:40] I, hand on behalf of many of my neighbors, beg you to do something toward our quality
[19:50] of life here in Pasco by doing something to enforce this laws that we already have against
[19:57] such activity.
[20:01] Water and sewer rates, consult an analysis and recommendations are complete and I remind
[20:06] the Council that not all of the rate payers can continue to support ever increasing utility
[20:12] rates that outpace any cost of living increases to our income.
[20:19] Existing utility users and taxpayers should also not have to underwrite developer infrastructure
[20:25] and new housing for new housing and commercial ventures, including water and sewer hook-up fees.
[20:33] I commend the city on considerations to our landscaping modifications of boulevards and islands
[20:41] that will conserve water and reduce future labor costs.
[20:45] Thank you to our Pasco Police for hosting community meetings and attending public engagements
[20:52] that help personify the department and promote citizen accessibility.
[20:58] Thank you.
[20:59] Thank you for your comments.
[21:02] Anybody else for public comment going
[21:09] twice, going three times, closing public comment?
[21:14] Thank you for everybody who takes part in their city government.
[21:18] We will move on to, excuse me, number 11, reports from committees or other officers.
[21:27] what you guys do over the holidays.
[21:33] Mayor Pro Temmel. Thank you, Mayor. I did quite a lot. We did
[21:40] we had the at the animal shelter. We had a Yuleana show walker and her family came and we're
[21:47] talking about ordinances but also how you can only have three cats but we had a little thing where
[21:53] we got a tour of the animal shelter facility and it was a really good interaction and so we try
[22:01] when you have young kids that they interact with the council and send letters.
[22:05] So I was my privilege to go down there and talk to her and her family on why we don't
[22:08] have three cats.
[22:09] But she could get involved with the animal shelter and volunteer and I again gave a nice
[22:13] little tour.
[22:14] So it was a good event.
[22:16] And then also I did a reach across America and also the Pasco Winterfest, which I thought
[22:21] was really well attended.
[22:23] I was shocked to see how many people were there and I had a lot of fun like in the Christmas
[22:26] tree.
[22:27] And I'm sure you'll get to do that next year.
[22:28] And so yes, and I was glad to see the different council members that were out there. I think Hernandez was out there. Yes.
[22:36] And, yeah, and I think Abel was out there as well. So anyway, it was good to see some of people participate in downtown City Pasco events.
[22:45] So I was glad to serve.
[22:47] Awesome. Thank you, Minister Millen. Appreciate your involvement with the city and Mr. Figaro.
[22:52] Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. So since being sworn in, which was December 1st,
[22:56] It's been an an event for rewarding start for sure and I've been looking forward to joining you all up here
[23:02] And so during that time the all that lapse of time I was invited to serve as a panelist for the Luleck high school student original conference here in CBC
[23:10] And it was just a really rewarding experience to be able to share my experience of first generation college student
[23:15] I'm some of the hardships and struggles. I mean just be able to impart some of the wisdom to the young young adults that are making big decisions about their future
[23:23] and also I was able to attend the AWC Elected Officials Workshop after being elected.
[23:28] And so that provided valuable training, lots of information,
[23:32] and it just acts as to numerous resources, and I was able to just network with folks online.
[23:36] Elected officials from different cities and building that connections.
[23:40] And I also participated in the meet and greet last Tuesday alongside council members at Nandis and Compos.
[23:46] And we had the opportunity to kind of meet with downtown members and introduce ourselves.
[23:50] and hear a little bit about what they have and the agendas for downtown businesses out there, listen to the concerns, and start to hopefully create good solutions for that.
[24:00] So I'm just looking forward to the important work ahead that we have, and I'm grateful to be here in a part of this.
[24:06] Thank you and happy new year to all of us.
[24:07] Thank you, Mr. Frigaro. Appreciate it. For everybody else, I know, yes, we haven't done much yet. We're going to be busy here real soon, so appreciate all your hard work and a lot of that in advance.
[24:19] So moving on, number 12 hearings and council action are ordinances, resolutions relating
[24:24] there to nothing listed, 13 ordinances and resolutions not relating to hearings.
[24:30] Number A is resolution 4692 setting time and date for a public hearing, for a right-of-way
[24:36] vacation, Tierra Vida, phase one, Westerly 20 feet, there's a five-minute staff presentation
[24:43] by Ms. Matson, where Mr. Raymond in her stead.
[24:48] Thank you.
[24:49] Thank you very much.
[24:50] Your honor and council members.
[24:51] Good evening and happy New Year.
[24:53] This is a request to set February 17th, 2026,
[24:57] as a public hearing date, to receive testimony on a request
[25:00] to vacate rights away that are associated
[25:02] with the Tierra Vita Phase 1 subdivision.
[25:10] As you can see on the map to the left,
[25:12] it's a little bit hard to see from here.
[25:14] The subject right away was included in the final
[25:16] on the Platte map for TRB to phase one,
[25:19] as demonstrated on the map to the right in 2023,
[25:22] there was a request to vacate this,
[25:25] along with other rights away.
[25:27] And it's unknown why the correct legal description
[25:29] was not included at that time,
[25:31] but the outcome of that is that this particular portion
[25:33] of the right of way, that was never formally vacated.
[25:36] The current request is that we clean up the record
[25:39] and formally vacate the subject right of way.
[25:44] In considering vacation of rights away requests,
[25:47] the City Council shall consider criteria outlined in PMC 12.40.07.0 that includes number one the
[25:55] proposed vacation will not adversely affect traffic accessibility within the city and will not
[26:01] impact circulation within the immediate area as this particular right-of-way has not been used
[26:06] for access and is currently landlocked. It is undeveloped and does not accommodate vehicular or
[26:12] or any pedestrian traffic.
[26:14] Number two, the portion of right-of-way proposed
[26:16] for vacations is not intended for future public use.
[26:20] Development to the West, dedicated Eureka Avenue
[26:22] and Sprig Avenue in Louis vacated rights of way
[26:26] through ordinance 46, 46.
[26:29] In fact, when you look at the map,
[26:30] there's a completely different development pattern
[26:32] that existed since the original dedication
[26:37] of the rights of way.
[26:39] That ordinance resulted in this particular segment
[26:41] being landlocked and this proposed vacation will correct that issue.
[26:45] Number three, northern property will become landlocked, nor will access be substantially impaired.
[26:51] All affected properties will retain both legal and physical access by a pause court.
[26:57] And number four, the public need will not be adversely affected.
[27:01] In fact, the vacation provides a public benefit by supporting orderly development and
[27:06] establishing a clear record for future reference.
[27:09] Additionally, the City Council need to consider a couple of more things, and that is to whether
[27:16] we should require the petitioners to provide a signed agreement covering the costs of
[27:21] an appraisal and compensating the city for the rights of way to be vacated.
[27:25] Staff recommends, in this case, waving the appraisal and the compensation requirements based
[27:30] on two considerations.
[27:32] And number one, the vacation is offset by the dedication of substitute public rights
[27:36] a way of equal or greater value as provided by the developers to the west. Additionally,
[27:41] this action corrects the omission in the legal description from ordinance 4646. And number two,
[27:48] the community benefit of the request of vacation outweighs the appraise value of the right of way.
[27:53] Given these facts, staff is not recommending requiring compensation for the right of way,
[27:58] or requiring a formal appraisal. As such, at this time, staff is requesting that the City Council
[28:04] Council adopt resolution 4692, setting February 17th, 2026 to conduct a public hearing and
[28:11] consider an ordinance vacating the subject right away.
[28:14] Thank you.
[28:15] Thank you, Mr. Raymond.
[28:17] Does any of council have any questions or comments?
[28:24] Seeing none, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem.
[28:26] Yes, Mayor.
[28:27] I move to approve resolution number 4692, setting 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, as the
[28:34] time and date for public hearing to consider the vacation of less
[28:39] relief 20 feet of terror Vita phase one as established by Otter's File
[28:43] number 1691585. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Temmelon. Do we have a second?
[28:52] Second? Seconded by Councilmember Hernandez. All in favor say aye.
[28:58] Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you,
[29:05] Mr. Raymond, we will move on now to B. This is ordnance number 4808A amended 2026
[29:14] administrative professional wages. This is coming from Miss Matson. Hi, is
[29:25] this on?
[29:26] Okay, good evening mayor. Congratulations and welcome new council members. My name is
[29:33] I'm the HR director. So nice to meet you. The item here is a technical correction to the
[29:41] 2026 administrative professional non-management wage ordinance that Council approved on December
[29:47] 1, 2025. There's no policy changes, no changes to the approved COLA and no additional physical
[29:55] impact beyond what was already presented and approved.
[30:00] After council action staff identified a small technical issues in the wage scale exhibit, including
[30:08] admitted reclassified positions, you'll notice that the engineering technicians are now on
[30:14] there in the correct classification. And there was just a calculation methodology that deferred
[30:22] from the city's longstanding rounding practice. This amendment aligns the wage scale with council's
[30:28] The original intent ensures internal consistency and avoids unintended wage outcomes.
[30:36] Staff recommends adoption of ordinance number 4808A.
[30:41] The alternative would be not to adopt the corrective ordinance which would leave known technical
[30:46] errors in place and could result in unintended wage costs and administrative consistencies.
[30:51] If adopted tonight, the corrected wage scale will be implemented effective January 4th,
[30:56] 2026, consistent with the original ordinance and no further counsel action will be required.
[31:02] Okay, thank you. Any comments or questions from counsel? Mr. Hernandez was your light on from the last time.
[31:10] No comments, no questions. I guess you're off the hook, Ms. Vanson. Thank you. Mr. Mayor Pro Tem, if you want to make a motion.
[31:18] Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I move to adopt ordinance number 4808A, amending wages for a certain administrative personnel, non-management personnel for calendar year 2026.
[31:27] We have a motion by Mayor Pro Temmelon. Do we have a second? Seconded by Council Member Campos. All in favor say aye.
[31:36] Aye.
[31:37] Motion carries unanimously. Thank you.
[31:40] Moving on to number 14. Unfinished business. This is a presentation by or in regards to the Columbia River Shoreline Reconvance Update and I saw Mr.
[31:51] to die out there? Was staff going to begin or?
[31:57] Yes, good evening, Mayor and Council, Jesse here, presenting remotely this evening.
[32:02] But yes, this evening, Carl Dying, David Reefbogger, here to present an update on a long-term project involving multiple local municipalities and two of the different tribes in the areas, which is our Virtual Reconvince Project.
[32:15] I guess briefly that project is about the transfer of land that is currently owned by the Army Corps of Engineers but maintained by our local municipalities and other agencies back to the control of local government.
[32:27] So again, COVID-19 Replog will be presenting that presentation for you. Thank you.
[32:32] Thank
[32:38] you, Mr. Dijk, turn on your lights, sir.
[32:41] Thank you.
[32:41] You don't want me to just tell you.
[32:42] You're good.
[32:44] Thanks for giving us some time in the agenda.
[32:46] And this work has been ongoing, I've been here almost six years now, and it started
[32:51] way before David and I came into our position, started actually with dock ASTs with some
[32:55] legislation that was passed on behalf of the local municipalities to be able to get the
[32:59] short-line land back from the core of engineers from the federal government.
[33:04] David Reaclogger, vice president of federal programs, is going to get it in the details and
[33:09] give you a presentation on that.
[33:10] I just wanted to start off for the new council members.
[33:13] We are Tri-City Development Council or TRIDEC.
[33:17] This is our 63rd years here in the Tri-Cities representing all of the Tri-Cities together
[33:22] on matters federally and on economic development.
[33:27] So we really appreciate the partnership that we've always had with City of Pasco on economic
[33:31] development in combined with contract that the city has with Port of Pasco to do some of
[33:37] your economic development activities for you.
[33:39] Since we've been here, Dairy Gold was a huge win.
[33:43] We have more projects that we see coming down the pipeline.
[33:47] Pasco is obviously the shining star in the Tri-Cities.
[33:50] You know, right, you need to expect me to say that, I don't know.
[33:53] Thank you.
[33:53] Of course, keep your eye out Pasco if I've seen the bill board.
[33:58] There you go.
[33:59] Just wanted to give that brief overview.
[34:01] In the future, we'll work with City Manager Stewart and the rest of the staff
[34:05] to come and give regular updates to Council on projects that we're working on.
[34:08] We, so we can work together, I think, with Portipasco and our contract and then some of the planning development officials, one thing that we can look for coming up is some business recruitment and expansion opportunities where we'd kind of do a blitz of businesses, just like it sounds like some council members did with downtown businesses, understanding their issues, be able to work on solutions, bringing them back to council, doing things like that, we haven't had the chance to do that in the past, I think that's one of the things that we'll try to gear up this year to be able to focus on all the businesses, Pasco, not just the individual
[34:38] industrial companies that we work with.
[34:41] But that's kind of a brief overview.
[34:42] I wanted to give to be able to hand it over to David.
[34:45] He's going to get into the Schroeling Reconvance.
[34:47] And again, this is the first time that we've been
[34:49] in front of the council to explain this.
[34:51] We've been working on staff that David will get into details
[34:54] with Jesse's been there with us through this whole process,
[34:58] working forward, but we're really excited
[35:00] about the progress that we're making
[35:01] and I'll turn it over to David.
[35:06] All right, thank you, Carl.
[35:07] And again, good evening.
[35:08] Congratulations to the mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and to the new council members.
[35:13] We're very much looking forward to working with you on all the different things that
[35:16] Triedic does as we interface with the City of Pasco.
[35:20] And as Carl said, Triedic does economic development work, but we also work on things that are
[35:27] kind of of of regional significance or federal priorities.
[35:30] And the strong and reconvened probably falls into both of those two letter categories.
[35:36] I think we have provided some updates in the past to the council, but it's been a while
[35:41] and there are some new council members, so I might just provide a little bit of background
[35:45] and history of the shoreline and then talk about where we're at now and what the next steps are.
[35:51] So before the 1940s, 1950s, the majority of the shoreline, the Cumbria River shoreline,
[35:57] and the tri-sities was in private ownership or in local government ownership.
[36:02] Many of you might remember hearing about the massive floods that happened in the late
[36:06] 40s and early 1950s, wiped out the city of Vanport, you know, further down the Columbia
[36:12] River.
[36:12] But they also wiped out much of the shoreline here in the Tri-City area and inundated farms
[36:18] and businesses and houses and things like that.
[36:21] And so at the time, the Army Corps of Engineers came in and purchased condemned for a variety
[36:27] of different means took ownership of essentially the entire shoreline throughout the tri-cities
[36:31] from, you know, about the Snake River and Pasco and actually beyond that all the way up
[36:38] to North of Richland and then it became the Hanford side and that's a whole different topic.
[36:42] But the, once the core took ownership since then there have been several dams that have
[36:52] have been built above the tri-cities.
[36:55] There's also been levies that have been built
[36:57] throughout the tri-city area.
[36:59] And I think it was for all the right reasons, right?
[37:02] The core is really working to protect the community,
[37:04] protect from flooding in the future.
[37:08] But now since those floods have been built,
[37:10] I'm sorry those dams have been built,
[37:12] it really isn't the same kind of risk of flooding
[37:14] that we maybe had 60, 70 years ago.
[37:18] And it's become sort of a challenge
[37:19] to that we've heard from the local governments to kind of operate parks like Chioana and
[37:27] Wade Park, for example in Pasco, that when the city doesn't actually own the land and doesn't
[37:34] have the full control. And I'll just give an example in the 80s, in the 1980s, the
[37:43] The Corps had been operating long-term leases, for example, with Columbia Park and in Kennewick.
[37:50] They had a lease with Benton County and at the time Benton County just couldn't afford to keep
[37:54] Maintaining the park and so they kind of left the Corps know that hey, we just can't keep doing this. The Corps said at the time that well
[38:00] If you guys can't do it, we're just gonna have to padlock the park. We just, you know
[38:03] We don't have as a federal agency the capability to do it either
[38:07] Ultimately at that time for that part of the shoreline the state of Kennewick stepped in and
[38:13] and took over management of the park.
[38:17] But starting around that time, there's been this recognition that, again,
[38:21] the original rationale for federal ownership and court ownership of the shoreline
[38:25] has changed a lot. And maybe there's this
[38:28] an additional layer of bureaucracy that we really don't need.
[38:31] Plus, I think there's a goal and a desire to
[38:33] do more revitalization, more public use, public recreation, public benefit
[38:38] from the shoreline that is kind of hard to do.
[38:41] when, again, you have this federal layer bureaucracy that really is very restrictive on the things
[38:47] that can be done there.
[38:49] That was recognized even as early as 1995, 1996 time period where legislation was approved
[38:58] by Congress that authorized the Corps of Engineers to transfer ownership of the shoreline,
[39:03] all the shoreline throughout the tri-cities, but it requires going through the full National
[39:08] environmental policy act and several other federal regulatory processes before the
[39:14] land can be transferred. The city of Kenwick has been pursuing that for about 70 acres
[39:19] in Columbia Park. It's been a well over 10 year, about a million dollar process just for
[39:24] that 70 acres and so the time and cost associated with just doing it under the existing authority
[39:30] make it almost impossible which is very difficult for the local governments to do at scale across
[39:36] the entire shoreline. And so around 2015 or so, my predecessor tried at
[39:46] Kerry Peterson along with Brad Fisher who was the mayor of Kennewick at the
[39:49] time that the city of Kennewick took over running Columbia Park in the late
[39:54] 80s along with then Kennewick Mayor Steve Young and our now former congressman
[40:00] Doc Hastings came together and said you know we should work to introduce or work
[40:04] Congress of Newhouse to introduce some legislation that will, again, try to transfer ownership
[40:08] of the shoreline land, but also not require those federal regulatory processes to be done
[40:13] beforehand, because that's been the barrier. That's been what's really prohibited the transfer
[40:19] from happening. Not that those processes won't need to happen at some point, but more in bite-sized
[40:23] chunks when any proposed different use is considered for a portion of the shoreline and not all up front
[40:29] before any transfer would be made.
[40:33] Since then the process is sort of evolved, we partnered with the City of Pasco
[40:38] and Franklin County on this side of the river to do a public meeting.
[40:42] I want to say in 2018, but at the time we around that time
[40:49] we decided to kind of do a little bit of a reset with the process
[40:53] and really wanted to recognize the importance of the shoreline
[41:01] to the tribes in our region as well. Before the 1940s, the shoreline land was owned
[41:10] by the local governments by private property, but all this land is the historical homelands
[41:16] of both the yakimination as well as the confederated tribes of the Umatila Indian Reservation.
[41:23] And so, tried a con partnership with the local governments, kind of went back to square
[41:27] one with the tribes and began putting together what we call a shoreline reconvance working
[41:33] group. And I got so busy talking and kind of forgot to move this lives and I can move
[41:38] on to the next slide. But yeah, so we began working in partnership with the local governments
[41:44] and the tribes to pursue congressional legislation to transfer ownership of the core own lands,
[41:49] created a shoreline reconvance working group. And that working group has been meeting about
[41:54] Not a monthly basis since I want to say around 2020, maybe even before then, to develop
[42:00] the framework, recognizing that the tribes do have treaty rights that are guaranteed through
[42:05] their treaties with the United States government, dating to 1855.
[42:09] How do we pursue transfer of this ownership in this way, but also in a way that ensures
[42:14] that cultural resources and treaty rights remain protected?
[42:18] And so in that process, it's been a very long process, but I think it's really strengthened
[42:22] in the partnership and the relationship that we as a community have with our tribal partners
[42:27] and we like to sometimes call them tribal neighbors but they're still I think very much
[42:31] a part of this larger community so I'll pause there for a second just to point out that
[42:40] the city of Pasco has identified the lands in green the kind of neon green P1, P5, P6,
[42:46] P2, P3, and P4, kind of in order from left to right, as the land that the city would
[42:52] like to have transferred to local government ownership, and this was directed as directed
[42:59] by the Pasco City Council, I would like to say, in the early, maybe 2018, 2019, 2020 time
[43:07] period, and that's, and for the city of Pasco, along with all the other local governments,
[43:12] the transfer of whatever the local governments might like to have.
[43:17] So it really depends on the local government.
[43:19] Some want a large swath of land, some want a much smaller amount.
[43:23] But this is what the city of Pasco is.
[43:24] I don't know if I would also add that what we've heard from the local governments is that
[43:30] combined they're spending about $2 million on maintenance and operations of federal
[43:36] core on land every year and that's just been, again, it's tough to, so I'll
[43:44] sometimes paint that kind of money for land that you don't own but it's been
[43:47] done again for all the right reasons because these lands are very valuable to
[43:51] the community as parks and recreation areas and things like that and so with
[43:58] the Tron Reconvince Working Group the tribes, the local governments and
[44:04] try to put together three documents that we're hopeful will kind of provide the framework
[44:10] to move forward with legislation while also in achieving the transfer of the land.
[44:17] While also ensuring that the tribes do have those treaty rights and cultural resources protections
[44:23] in place, even when the land is no longer in federal ownership.
[44:26] There also could be an opportunity for some land to be transferred directly to the tribes
[44:31] or for them to partner with the local governments that would be on a government-to-government basis
[44:36] in conversation directly between one or more of the tribes and whichever the relevant
[44:40] local government is.
[44:42] And so the documents that we put together, we're very closely having them kind of in a
[44:47] near-final draft form that they'll be ready to take to councils and commissions for discussion
[44:53] and for ultimately hopefully for approval, but the documents are a memorandum of agreement.
[44:59] It's kind of a...
[45:00] We have an overarching document that just solidifies and establishes the relationship and the partnership between both of the tribes in each of the respective local governments here in the Tri-City area. Cultural practices, easement that will ensure that, again, in the absence of federal ownership of the land that cultural practices can still be carried out on this line that is currently federally owned. And then the input grant disturbing protocols, which is essentially a lot of this
[45:29] shoreline land is where the location of ancient campsites, burial grounds, things like that
[45:36] that you have to be very careful and considerate if you're doing any sort of kind of disturbing
[45:40] activities that could potentially discover any Native American artifacts and things like
[45:48] that from centuries ago.
[45:51] And so the protocols document essentially just establishes the protocols in which the local
[45:56] local governments have worked with the tribes to coordinate and again make sure that if
[46:00] any ground disturbing activities take place then the local government and the tribes are
[46:08] coordinated in that effort to make sure that all the right processes are being followed.
[46:14] And so I guess I think we're very close.
[46:17] We are not quite ready to have those documents release publicly.
[46:21] There's not quite ready for prime time yet, but we're I think within weeks we'll probably
[46:25] be back or city staff will be coming back to the council for review and further discussion
[46:30] of the documents. Like I said, I think the partnership that we've developed amongst
[46:35] the local governments and the tri-cities with TRIDEC and with the the accumination of the
[46:39] e-mantilla tribe, it's far beyond just the shawan reconvance, but it really is an opportunity
[46:45] for us to work together to and with the end goal again of being to transfer ownership of
[46:51] the land but really for still for that intention of having better public benefit and recreation
[46:59] and I think in the past there's been a perception that there's a goal to develop a whole
[47:05] bunch of condos and high rises, retail, things like that and that's not any of the conversations
[47:12] that we've been a part of with any of the local governments been the intent but rather
[47:16] or just to, you know, somebody said in a report
[47:20] that tried a commission a few years ago,
[47:23] it's like your community was built around the river
[47:26] and then you turn your backs on it.
[47:28] And we need to turn our faces back to the river
[47:31] and start really using it to the full capacity
[47:35] and capability and getting the benefits
[47:37] that we have the potential to enjoy.
[47:42] And so with that, I think that's my last real slide.
[47:45] happy to answer any other questions you all might have but we're really excited
[47:49] about the where things are at that we have this kind of momentum it's been built
[47:54] over several years now thank you mr. Replog mr. Dye appreciate you guys
[48:00] coming tonight mr. Mellon was your light on first day yes yes so David I
[48:05] think David Replog got we've been talking for the last eight years as somebody
[48:10] in the city of Pasco that actually has property that there's two pieces of
[48:14] property that actually boarded on my piece of property, so I deal with the core.
[48:19] And again, there's basically, as far as a homeowner, there's some dangerous things
[48:23] in that it's never cleaned up.
[48:25] It's, you know, again, trees, everything they fall down.
[48:28] And again, if it had dry season, or it happened, and one of those fields were to go up, my
[48:33] house would be in a lot of danger because of this.
[48:36] So this is why I'm so adamant that it would be nice to actually have it back in city control.
[48:41] So with that, I know you may be answered the first question.
[48:43] But my question is, is anyone at the federal level spearheading this?
[48:48] Is it just new house or is there anybody else that spearheading this initiative?
[48:51] Yeah, so Congressman Newhouse has continued to say he will strongly champion this effort.
[48:55] Ultimately he asked us collectively to come back to him with collective support and
[49:01] consensus between the local governments and the tribes.
[49:04] And then he is planning on introducing legislation.
[49:08] We've also spoken at length with Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray's offices and
[49:12] staff as well as with Congressman Adam Smith who is the ranking member of the House Armed
[49:18] Services Committee.
[49:19] One of the legislative vehicles we've been looking at pursuing this through is the National
[49:23] Defense Authorization Act that has always been the vision, and he's the ranking member of
[49:29] the committee that writes that bill every year.
[49:32] So we've spoken at length with this staff in the past as well.
[49:35] So again, I think if we if we continue to have the all the
[49:40] try city, the participating try city area local governments as well as the tribes
[49:44] together in support, then I think we're going to have strong bipartisan and
[49:48] bicameral support in Congress. Okay. And my second question was anything in the
[49:54] documents that precluding city from selling or dealing land to someone else, so
[50:01] I think that would block somebody that say has two pieces of property that aren't
[50:05] I mean, the city's actually has a budget, so I doubt the city wants to come in and clean up the property and cut down all the dead trees.
[50:13] Do you know if anything that would hinder this maybe futuristic ability to sell off the land to the homeowners in this area?
[50:22] Well, that's what I brought this map back up because you can't see that kind of thin sliver of land kind of to the left of the P1,
[50:30] which is where a lot of private property owners live and from my
[50:37] understand from well over a decade of working on this issue, we're wearing one
[50:40] hat or another that the core is sometimes a difficult neighbor to have,
[50:45] I understand. And so I think at minimum having the city of Pasco
[50:50] as a neighbor rather than the core would be a benefit but ultimately to answer your
[50:54] question in the three documents that I briefly described, there's nothing that
[50:59] prohibits it, but what we haven't, we don't know 100% yet, is what's the legislation
[51:03] going to say, and what's the process going to be for the legislation.
[51:07] Ultimately, we're working in the working group to develop that legislation, but then
[51:12] be handed to Congress, and Congress does what Congress does, and you don't have full control
[51:17] of that.
[51:17] So, I can't say for absolute certainty that the final legislation would provide for that,
[51:25] but I think there's a pretty good chance that it would.
[51:28] Okay, well that would be great news, I guess my final question was are we saying that 2026 will actually get in an appropriations bill or or I know there was seems to be delays eight years of delays since I've known you, I know you're working hard, but do you think this year will be the year that we could sing our hallelujahs or we can wait some longer.
[51:48] They're not just the optimistic, I don't, you know, and even, I think there's a pretty,
[51:55] I'm very optimistic that we'll have legislation introduced, again, it's hard to say with
[52:03] Congress that they can be a little bit unpredictable, but our goal, and I think we have a very
[52:09] realistic chance of having legislation introduced, and if, again, we maintain the coalition and
[52:14] the partnerships that we have, I think it'd be hard to find a whole lot of opposition.
[52:20] One thing I also realized I neglected to mention, but one of the other things, we just updated
[52:26] the Port of Pasco Commission last a week or so before Christmas and we are doing other
[52:33] updates to other City Councils and Commissions, and this is what we're kind of considering
[52:36] to be the beginning phase of a broader public outreach and engagement effort.
[52:40] So we're going to be working with your respective staffs and internally try to
[52:45] and with the tribes as well to do other public outreach and engagement.
[52:49] We really wanted to get to the point where these documents are ready to be kind of presented to the councils and commissions in their near final form, but then not closing the door to other public input or making modifications based on that as as the process moves forward.
[53:07] I just going to add to your previous question and to your current question number one,
[53:12] Dan who has already announced that he's got room for reelection.
[53:15] So he has been a champion that's our goal and so I think that might give a clear answer
[53:20] to you to 2026 question.
[53:23] On anything in the three documents, precluding the city doing, you know, changing the use,
[53:29] I think that's been a lot of what we've learned collectively from the travel partners
[53:33] and then what are included in the documents when you get the point where you'll review those is that
[53:37] from the tribal perspective, they know what it's like to deal with federal government because they're sovereign.
[53:42] So they know how does it work with the core, you know, how are their treaty rights protected?
[53:47] I think that's what collectively we've all spent a lot of time on in these documents, the same.
[53:51] Okay, the local jurisdiction is going to own the land now so the federal government.
[53:54] Here's the process that we'll go through to change that land use, whether it's ownership or whether it's zoning or whatever it would be.
[54:00] I think that's been good for us to understand their perspective and just, you know, I think
[54:07] some perspective on that as a community, I think we've been, felt like we've been able
[54:12] to establish a relationship there, realizing that City has a great relationship with Cal
[54:17] Guild Tribe.
[54:18] We have some land ownership, obviously, in City Pasco, and there's some interest there, and
[54:22] there's some might say competing interest, acknowledging that, just to be crystal clear.
[54:28] But one of the things that all of the tribes that we've been working with will say is, you know, through a federal process, like with CORE, at the very end of the process, we get 30 days to give you a comment back on your proposed change or something like that.
[54:41] And they basically have the position, which I think just we would all feel the same way if you don't involve us upfront and just wait till the last of the process and give us 30 days to make a recommendation or to give you our input, we're just going to say no to everything.
[54:55] And so I think I think that's been good for all of us to just to understand just to build that relationship and just to understand, hey, this is a different group of people that were here a long time before we were, how do we work better with them, how do we come up with some shared, you know, win wins.
[55:08] And I think that's David's been the champion for all of us leading that charge. I think we're we're doing better than we have in the past.
[55:15] And that's not a any type of political statement. I think it's just this people of people.
[55:19] You know, I think one thing that we've learned in this process, they say when we come to the Tri-Cities,
[55:23] everything that we see related to Native Americans is all about Sacchewia.
[55:27] She was named from here. She was on the other side of the mountains. Like, you know, we were kind of
[55:30] here when they came through. It would be nice. And I think that gives all of us an opportunity to have,
[55:35] you know, even some cultural markers, some historical perspectives, just talk about like, what was it
[55:40] like when they were here? And they're really excited. I think we've all seen the great
[55:43] place of the Pasco airport, the different tribes, you know, Buck does a good job of rotating
[55:47] them through, so that they each have a chance to do that, and I think this gives a better
[55:51] opportunity to tell that story of the people over here for us, so just want to have that
[55:55] perspective.
[55:56] I do appreciate that.
[55:57] I know I've always been an advocate at Chiawana Park, there's an area between the two
[56:01] parks and there's an open field, so it's always going to be cool to have like an Indian
[56:05] village, what it would have looked like back in the day, and then maybe you have like
[56:08] a field for lacrosse or something like that, something that kind of bridges the gap, but
[56:14] I do appreciate your work on this. Hopefully this will get done. Hopefully we'll get to see
[56:19] this over the finish line and I did actually have some paperwork they gave to Harold Stewart
[56:24] which talked about back in the area that I lived. There was 34 flats and it was actually the
[56:29] federal government's the average for each section was $82. I was saying it's amazing when you
[56:36] look at back in 1854, the low amount of money that they spent on that area, and then
[56:43] how much it cost, you know, the city, everybody else, millions of dollars is trying to get
[56:47] that back. So I was just kind of crazy when you look at numbers from, you know, 80 years
[56:53] ago, till now. But again, do appreciate your hard work. Hopefully we'll stay in contact
[56:57] and we'll have some good news. Thank you.
[57:00] Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor Proton, Council Member Parallels.
[57:02] Thank you. What's this made an annual cost for maintenance if we were to assume
[57:07] these 300 acres
[57:09] on the city of Pasco
[57:11] 300 acres specifically all in just on the recon vans. I mean
[57:15] Someone's we're going to have to do it right here trying to we're trying to reconvene to the city
[57:18] So what's that maintenance cost going to be?
[57:21] I would suspect that it'll be less than it is now
[57:24] Like I mentioned before
[57:26] Collectively all the local governments and I don't know specifically what the city the Pasco is maintenance cost are for
[57:33] Pasco ownership, or the core land in Pasco, but collectively, it's about $2 million, but part of that cost is every time you need to, literally every time you have to change the sprinkler line, you have to first contact the Army Corps of Engineers in Walla Walla, who then has to contact the State Historic Preservation Office in Olympia, then engages with it, and you still have to work with the State Historic Preservation Office, but the process and the bureaucracy of engaging in a time that it takes to engage directly with the Corps first,
[58:02] goes away so it actually would take less time. But otherwise I don't know if it would
[58:09] significantly change the costs one way or the other, I don't believe they don't like.
[58:13] Okay. I guess one thing I'm worried about, I mean there's always an angle, right? Try
[58:17] to act as about economic development, so you guys want to reconvey this. I guess I would
[58:21] hate for us to get, for this the way to get reconveyed and all of a sudden there's condos
[58:25] in front of people's homes. Or there's just no public access. So in those documents
[58:31] is to talk about what the long land use, I guess, what you guys are envisioning for that land use,
[58:42] or is that up to the city if it's reconcade?
[58:45] It'll ultimately be up to the city.
[58:47] And there are guard wells here, again, hopefully within a few weeks we'll have the documents in a place
[58:53] where the you and the rest of your council members can take a look at them.
[58:58] But there are sort of guardrails in place where any and all kind of developments,
[59:03] there needs to be that engagement like Carl was talking about with the tribes first.
[59:06] But ultimately, who's more answerable to the constituents than the local governments?
[59:11] And the local governments will determine what the land use is into the future.
[59:19] Generally speaking, that's the plan.
[59:22] And so again, there couldn't be condos or any massive developments,
[59:26] It's at least without the City Councils and county commissions you are approving them.
[59:33] But even if there was that effort, it would be kind of difficult to do given the garbules
[59:38] that are currently in place.
[59:40] Thank you, ma'am.
[59:42] Anybody else?
[59:44] Mr. Mayor.
[59:45] Can I jump in?
[59:47] Thank you.
[59:47] Yes.
[59:48] Go ahead, Mr. Rice.
[59:50] Thank you.
[59:50] So two quick points.
[59:52] The current exhibit was, has a land request for in like 2018-19, if you look in your council packet about two years ago, the city
[1:00:00] We did expand those land requests to ensure the continuity of the shoreline and try to avoid a patchwork of ownership in those areas. So, if you take a look at your council packet, that exhibit does basically show paths to go asking for almost the entire shoreline from, let's say, Schlagel Park out to the 82 bridges a little bit further than that. Actually, we've also updated it as a regrowth boundary and city limits as expanded as Franco County had some overlapping requests as well. So, that was the first thing I wanted to point out with that.
[1:00:29] And then secondly, the packet also includes an itemized list of those lands, but it does include
[1:00:35] verbiage of what the city had been asking for, which for all the land, which other than
[1:00:42] flood control, which remain, let's see, which basically operate these lands with continued
[1:00:48] operation.
[1:00:48] It's a public park and recreation area or other such purposes determined through a public
[1:00:52] planning process subject to terms and conditions of a forceful agreement and ratified and executed
[1:00:58] by local legislative action. So I think it's David outlined that whether they stay a park or
[1:01:04] recreation area or we choose to do otherwise would be as we're writing it currently would be
[1:01:10] up to the city council to decide on how that maintains. And then to the question of maintenance basically
[1:01:17] we currently maintain those areas as we are tasked with maintaining along the recreational path from
[1:01:24] and as well as with Wade Park,
[1:01:26] Shoagel Park, and Shia Wana Park.
[1:01:28] So those are part of our current budget.
[1:01:30] I don't know if I can speak exactly to what those are,
[1:01:33] but we are basically maintaining those entire areas
[1:01:35] as they are now, as they are part of our current lease.
[1:01:38] So hopefully that helped provide a little bit
[1:01:40] of clarifying information as we move forward in the project.
[1:01:43] Thank you.
[1:01:45] All right.
[1:01:47] I guess we're good.
[1:01:48] Happy New Year, gentlemen.
[1:01:49] Appreciate you guys coming out.
[1:01:51] Thank you.
[1:01:51] Yes.
[1:01:54] Okay. Moving on to 15 new business council appointment process for council position number four loading district number four. And this is coming from our clerk.
[1:02:09] Yes. I believe our city attorney. Mr. Kenny has a statement first.
[1:02:17] Yes. Thank you so much, Daniel. Kenny, City Attorney. First of all, great to meet you all.
[1:02:21] I'm happy to be part of the team here for a little while. The only thing that I wanted to say
[1:02:25] is that I have a request that the Council pass a motion to declare a position for vacant via motion
[1:02:33] here tonight. The oath of office has not been taken by Mr. Serrano and so it would be available
[1:02:39] to be deemed vacant before you then proceed forward with a process to fill that vacancy.
[1:02:44] Thank you.
[1:02:48] Thank you. I appreciate that. I guess we could do that part of the process
[1:02:54] now and then I guess everything kind of falls suit after that if you would, Mr. Mayor
[1:02:59] Pro Tem. Thank you, Mayor. I move to declare Pasco City Council position number four serving
[1:03:04] City Council District number four vacant. We have a motion on the floor by Mayor Pro Tem
[1:03:10] to declare position number 4 vacant. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilmember
[1:03:17] Figaro. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:03:28] Thank you for that. So we've done this a few times in my six years. We've done it six times.
[1:03:35] So, this is now a vacant position, and obviously, you know, the story with Mr. Serrano.
[1:03:43] He had vacated his, you know, resigned from his position back in August, and we, you
[1:03:52] filled that position with Joe Cotta, who happens to be in the Council audience tonight, and
[1:03:58] that was in September.
[1:03:59] So now with Mr. Serrano's election and him not taking on that position, we're now faced
[1:04:12] with another vacancy and for those new council members, there's a couple of laws that
[1:04:18] we have.
[1:04:19] One is the Paschal Municipal Code Section 1.15130 that when a vacancy occurs, the remaining
[1:04:27] meeting council members shall appoint a qualified individual to serve until the next
[1:04:32] regular general municipal election and it's the anticipation or the expectation that
[1:04:38] that appointee would then run and fulfill the unexpired term.
[1:04:45] And in this case, it would be this whoever is appointed would run until 2027.
[1:04:53] I mean, would be appointed until 2027 when that general election is finalized and certified,
[1:05:02] and hopefully they have ran for that position and possibly win it or not.
[1:05:07] So, and then that position would go on for another two years.
[1:05:12] So, it's a four-year position broken up into two parts.
[1:05:15] Another part is that if Council chooses not to appoint a person within 90 days, then that
[1:05:24] appointment authority transfers to Franklin County legislators.
[1:05:29] And if they do not appoint somebody, then the state at 180 days shall have the opportunity
[1:05:36] to appoint this vacant position.
[1:05:38] So, with that, the eligibility requirements for this position is that the person should
[1:05:46] be a registered voter and residing in council district, voting district number four.
[1:05:56] Those are the two requirements.
[1:05:57] So, what we're looking for as staff is we're looking for council direction on whether you're
[1:06:08] would consider the possible reappointment of Mr. Cotta,
[1:06:11] or if you would like to open up the recruitment
[1:06:16] for persons living within Council District 4.
[1:06:21] And if that's the case, then we would open the,
[1:06:24] we'd need some dates on when you are expectations
[1:06:26] of going through the time frame for the interview,
[1:06:31] accepting the interview, I mean, applications, excuse me.
[1:06:35] And then schedule an interview date,
[1:06:36] and then the appointment date. So I turn it over to you.
[1:06:41] Thank you, Ms. Clerk. Mr. Codd, I see you here in the audience. I haven't talked to you actually since your last meeting here.
[1:06:50] I would be fair to assume you are here because you would be interested in this appointment.
[1:06:55] Would you come to the podium and give you a reasons for doing so?
[1:07:03] Yes, thank you. Yes, I'd be honored to be reappointed to the City Council.
[1:07:07] I've enjoyed working with all of you that I've been able to work with so far.
[1:07:11] Yeah, I care about the community.
[1:07:13] I appreciate the position of influence to lead it, to do its best for Pasco.
[1:07:17] I know we've got a lot of challenges in regard to how we manage our dollars
[1:07:21] and those challenges coming up and be happy to help with all of that.
[1:07:25] And we're together to create a cohesive team to do its best for the city.
[1:07:30] Lots of them, thank you.
[1:07:31] Thank you.
[1:07:32] So, I guess we start their council, what do you guys want to do, would anybody be interested
[1:07:37] in re-appointing Mr. Carter? Do you want to open this back up? Mayor Pro Temmel?
[1:07:43] Oh, yeah, I've known Mr. Carter for actually over eight years and I know the time that he
[1:07:47] served on the council. I thought he did an excellent job. He was always at meetings. We had a
[1:07:51] couple meetings where it was just him and myself. So, I did appreciate him doing the meetings
[1:07:57] and again I'd seen a different event so I thought he was very active in the council.
[1:08:01] He had good input and I appreciate his leadership and it would be my honor that if you'd come back on the council
[1:08:07] but again we are a six-body group and so I'm willing to go along with what everybody else wants
[1:08:13] but I would love to see Mr. Codd to come back on pass with the council.
[1:08:18] Thank you Mayor Pro Tem. Anybody else?
[1:08:23] comments for against I mean we just oh go ahead miss thank you mr.
[1:08:32] her open the position up for applications you'd like to see it open back up okay
[1:08:36] any others
[1:08:41] well I guess yes mr. Figaro this isn't something that we can do like
[1:08:50] an executive session for to kind of further talk more on most ourselves or would
[1:08:56] would that be looked down upon?
[1:09:00] Oh, I'll refer to the city attorney,
[1:09:02] but I think at this point,
[1:09:03] you're just talking about the process
[1:09:04] that you want to go through.
[1:09:05] You're going to executive session
[1:09:07] to talk about the qualifications of the candidates
[1:09:09] once you have that information.
[1:09:11] So I recommend that this discussion stay out here
[1:09:13] in open session.
[1:09:19] OK, well, I guess I think the best way to do this
[1:09:23] is I guess we could take a motion to reappoint
[1:09:28] and if it passes.
[1:09:30] Oh, Mr. Pearls?
[1:09:31] Yeah, I was going to say I'll make a motion to reappoint Joe Connor to the Pasco City Council.
[1:09:37] Okay, there's a motion on the floor to reappoint Mr. Cotta to the Pasco City Council position number four.
[1:09:42] I'll second that.
[1:09:43] Seconded by Mayor Pro Temmel.
[1:09:46] If you'd be so kind as to a roll call vote.
[1:09:49] Thank you. Council Member Campos.
[1:09:52] Yes.
[1:09:54] Council Member Figaro.
[1:09:58] Figaro.
[1:09:59] Yes, sorry.
[1:10:01] Thank you.
[1:10:03] Councilmember Hernandez?
[1:10:05] No.
[1:10:08] Councilmember Pralice?
[1:10:10] It's a yes this time.
[1:10:14] Mayor Prushin Mill.
[1:10:16] Definitely yes.
[1:10:18] And Mayor Grim?
[1:10:19] Yes.
[1:10:20] That passes five to one.
[1:10:23] Okay.
[1:10:23] Well, you have been reappointed.
[1:10:25] Congratulations.
[1:10:27] Councilmember Cotta.
[1:10:35] I suppose he takes a seat right away.
[1:10:37] We see him, don't we?
[1:10:40] Okay, I'm going to declare a very short recess till 825 to receipt Mr. Cade. Oh,
[1:10:49] yes, we need to
[1:10:49] swear a minute.
[1:10:53] Yeah, we'll need to do an oath of office next time because I wasn't expecting
[1:10:56] that. Okay. Well, he gave us an option there. Yeah. Come on up, Mr. Cade.
[1:11:08] Just be on the end
[1:11:10] down there.
[1:11:34] Still, we're going to put you at that end, so we're not lost sighted yet.
[1:11:55] Let's
[1:11:55] give it 30 more seconds here. We'll come back.
[1:11:57] and I'm
[1:12:04] thankful that my wife rejoined us for a picture afterwards.
[1:12:26] All right, we are back in
[1:12:27] session with our newly appointed Councilmember, Councilmember Cotta, who is going to take his
[1:12:31] oath of office next week. Thank you, everybody. Moving on to number 16 miscellaneous discussion,
[1:12:41] Mr. Stewart. Yes, good evening, Mr. Mayor, Council. Welcome to 2026.
[1:12:47] looking forward to working with all of you this year we're going to have a
[1:12:50] busy year a lot of things to do and I've been looking forward to having a fully
[1:12:53] seated council I think for the four months that I've been here I think this is
[1:12:58] the first time that I have a fully seated council so I appreciate that and look
[1:13:02] forward to working with all of you there's a couple of things real quick as usual
[1:13:06] within the council packet is memo prepared by myself and department heads it's a
[1:13:12] little brief this time because of the holidays it was kind of quiet but I'd be
[1:13:16] The happy to answer any questions the council may have with regards to that same Andrew
[1:13:18] report at this time before I make a couple of their announcements.
[1:13:23] Not here any, just a couple, one, some very positive news.
[1:13:28] This Thursday, January 8th at 9 a.m. at the police department, Officer Phil Hanks will be
[1:13:33] presented with a purple heart medal for his courageous service.
[1:13:36] So invite you and the public to come and help honor him for his faithful service to the community
[1:13:41] of Pasco.
[1:13:42] Again, that's this Thursday, January 8th at 9 a.m. at the police department community
[1:13:46] room. I'd like to introduce a new face to the Dias here from a staff
[1:13:53] perspective. We have Kevin Hebden, our new finance director, is here for his
[1:13:58] first city council meeting this evening and we had our new city attorney
[1:14:03] introduce himself earlier this evening as well. So some fresh faces and hopefully
[1:14:08] some new energy and new insights and perspectives to provide to us as we move
[1:14:13] for some important decisions and conversations
[1:14:15] over the coming year.
[1:14:17] I do regret to inform the council that Griselda Garcia
[1:14:20] has standard for resignation with the city.
[1:14:22] Her last day will be this Wednesday, January 7th.
[1:14:24] I did want to publicly thank her for her faithful service,
[1:14:28] including serving as the interim finance director
[1:14:30] for the last several months.
[1:14:32] I put in a lot of time sweat and tears serving this organization.
[1:14:36] This community should have phenomenal jobs you will be missed
[1:14:38] by doing understand her reasoning
[1:14:40] for making that difficult decision.
[1:14:42] but I can just wanted to think her publicly for her service.
[1:14:45] And then, just so the Council is aware, we were directed as staff previously to do developers
[1:14:52] outreach meeting with regards to the water and sewer connection fees and rates of that
[1:14:56] meeting will be this Wednesday in this room.
[1:15:00] At, over the lunch hour at 12 p.m. So, if council would like to attend that, we'll be going through the information and hearing questions and concerns and answering those with the developers on Wednesday. And that is all I have to report this evening. Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Welcome, Mr. Hepdon to the Dias. Any other council members? Have anything I want to talk about? Councilmember Parallels? Yeah, just real quick. I got contacted today by Joe Thorin with Big Bro Joe and he would like to come.
[1:15:29] to the city council and do your presentation.
[1:15:32] He's looking to move his organization
[1:15:33] to the city of Pasco.
[1:15:34] And so he just wanted to give a good five to 10 minute
[1:15:37] presentation about how his organization
[1:15:39] can partner with the city.
[1:15:40] So I'm just looking for support
[1:15:41] and may in the future put it on the agenda
[1:15:44] for a five to 10 minute presentation at a workshop.
[1:15:48] Do you have a general idea of what date
[1:15:50] he was looking for to do that?
[1:15:52] If we let him know, then he'll be happy to coordinate that
[1:15:55] with him if he's like, no.
[1:15:57] Yeah, I'd love to hear from him too.
[1:15:58] would thank you. Anybody else? All right. Well, that's it. Executive session. I see
[1:16:06] nothing listed. That would leave number 18. We are going to adjourn this first meeting
[1:16:11] of the year. Thank you for participating in your city.