2026-09-22 - City Council Study Session

00:00is there.

00:03So, I'll turn it over to Hartha to kick

00:05off the general fund um forecast and

00:08then I will be back.

00:12>> Good evening, council. Thank you u

00:14director Cochran. Um so this um I'll

00:18just dive into the slide over here. This

00:21is the uh line curve graph that is

00:23showing our total revenue of the general

00:26fund. Uh I would like to point out that

00:29um this particular graph does not

00:31include the development revenue as Kelly

00:34had stated. We are showing that

00:35separately in later slides. Um this um

00:39so the black line that you see over here

00:42is the total revenue including the

00:45one-time revenue that is generated and

00:47also um the blue line excluding that

00:50one-time revenue. Um historically you

00:54can see that gap uh little higher or

00:58bigger uh in 2122 and 23 time frame

01:02primarily because of uh the development

01:05activity that we have seen in the city

01:07and the sales tax on construction that

01:09is generated due to that. So these are

01:11all uh one-time and also we have

01:14received uh our per money uh federal uh

01:17grant funding uh during 21 and 22 time

01:21frame. So that's why that gap is um high

01:25um u big in 21 to 23 time frame. Then um

01:31and you can see that slowly that gap is

01:34kind of closing down by 2024

01:38and um that is again primarily because

01:40of um the development activity kind of

01:43slowed down in the city and also um you

01:47know the ARPA money is not included into

01:49that um in those years. Then in uh 2025

01:54we do see a significant increase in our

01:57revenues um which is uh again

02:01significantly due to the sales tax. Um

02:05um for some of the major uh both in

02:07ongoing and uh primarily in the ongoing

02:11because uh some of the uh increases that

02:14we are seeing is in the

02:16informationational uh technology sector

02:18and wholesale.

02:21um from 2026 through 2029. Uh one of the

02:27um estimates and forecast that we have

02:30uh uh uh estimated or forecasted here is

02:34uh uh sales tax revenue that is coming

02:37um um uh with the sales tax base which

02:42is SP 5814.

02:45Um so we are as the um that revenue is

02:49going to sunset or end in 2029. You see

02:52a dip in uh 202030

02:55and then we have projected a moderate

02:58growth from 2031 in 2031 and 2032 uh

03:02about 3.4%.

03:08These are some of the key assumptions

03:10that we have uh included and when we are

03:14forecasting our um revenues. So we will

03:18go through this individually in later

03:20slides. So I'll just skip through this

03:22and hand it over to um Kelly uh director

03:25Cochran to give us more information on

03:28sales and use taxes.

03:30>> Sales tax. [clears throat]

03:34>> Thank you.

03:35I'll get the hang of it someday.

03:39Sales tax is the city's um largest

03:42general fund um revenue. I wanted to

03:45point out um to new council and remind

03:48existing council as well as community

03:50members that of the sales tax that is um

03:54collected in Redmond, 32% of it is um

03:58received by the city. significant

04:01portion goes to the state and a small

04:04portion goes to the county. Um I've

04:06shown the city's transportation benefit

04:09district as its own um entity here, but

04:13we are talking about um 32% of the sales

04:16tax collected.

04:22There are two components to the sales

04:25tax that is received in the general

04:27fund. It's referred to as ongoing and

04:30one-time. Our ongoing revenues are used

04:35to offset the cost of general

04:38operations. It is sensitive to growth to

04:42the economy and um to policy decisions.

04:46You can see decreases due to um the

04:50pandemic or st it's kind of leveling off

04:53due to the pandemic and also some

04:56significant jumps due to policy

04:58decisions that we have made. We

05:00increased the ongoing amount via council

05:03decision in that was effective in 2023

05:06to recognize an ongoing consistent

05:09amount of funding that we were

05:12receiving. We also made a pol policy

05:15decision in the last budget to utilize a

05:17different funding source for city hall

05:19debt, freeing up more sales tax dollars

05:23for ongoing sales ongoing general fund

05:25obligations.

05:27The one-time sales tax is largely

05:32historically related to con construction

05:36sales tax. The activities that are

05:38driven by um one-time efforts and then

05:43isolated to one-time expenditures.

05:46priority order of spending um what we

05:49call general fund surplus

05:52um is to beef up um any deficiencies in

05:56our reserves funding for one-time

05:59service enhancements and primarily to

06:02fund improvements or investments in the

06:04capital investment program.

06:08We are um or were expecting uh our

06:12opportunity

06:14um for one-time sales tax um to be sort

06:17of over with the completion of Sound

06:20Transit and the Microsoft refresh

06:22project. passage of the millionaires tax

06:25is making some of the recent legislation

06:28that passed um temporary and we will be

06:32identifying um those sales tax revenues

06:35as one time going um forward until they

06:38sunset. We'll get into a little bit more

06:40detail on some additional slides.

06:43One of the things that I wanted to um do

06:47um is spend a little bit more time

06:50talking about the primary categories of

06:54sales tax revenue that impact the city.

06:58Um so we'll be talking about the six

07:01highest categories

07:03um how they are recovering and how they

07:05performing and how we are forecasting

07:07them. I'm going to start with

07:10accommodations and um food services. So,

07:15wanted to really be able to kind of

07:17expand um the time frame, show you how

07:20significantly

07:21um or we were booming. We called it it

07:24was a hospitality boom from 2017 to 2020

07:29where we saw the development of not only

07:31six hotels but more than um two dozen

07:34new new restaurants. obviously that this

07:38portion of our sales tax revenue was the

07:41one that was primarily impacted by the

07:44pandemic and I'm happy to report that we

07:47are seeing um ourselves at full recovery

07:52um and a decent uh uh pace of growth in

07:58um future years.

08:00when um looking at the sales tax on

08:04construction

08:06um again breaking this down into two

08:09components. First want to just touch

08:11base on the one time that forecast is

08:15largely staying the same. We're not

08:17asking or suggesting any um additional

08:20increases to the portion we consider

08:24ongoing but it is growing annually by um

08:27CPI.

08:29The portion um that is um also uh well

08:34the portion related to one time is

08:37performing as um we expected. We've seen

08:40a very sharp um drop off in our revenues

08:44received from uh construction

08:47and um are expecting it to normalize

08:50really as of um 2728

08:54time frame. There is still a very

08:57healthy development pipeline as there

09:00was prior to Microsoft and Sound

09:02Transit, but we won't we're not seeing

09:05anything at this point that is at that

09:08level. So, we return to a more

09:10conservative forecast um but still are

09:14anticipating onetime revenues um in the

09:16future.

09:19There are two um categories that are

09:22largely impacted by Senate Bill 5814.

09:27Again, this is a sales tax that expanded

09:30um the services that can be taxed. It is

09:33suns setting in 2029.

09:37We were um I guess lucky enough to have

09:40knowledge that these revenues would be

09:44um repealed or sunsetted in 2029 when

09:48the millionaire's tax um passed. And so

09:51we had not yet made any decisions to

09:54allocate those new revenues in an

09:57ongoing basis. So um what we have done

10:01is for our information category

10:05we have been able to um isolate so far

10:11um the revenues that we have received

10:13related to the new um tax and uh

10:18forecasted that out. those revenues we

10:22will be um ensuring are used for

10:25one-time expenditures and that we're

10:27careful that we don't grow our ongoing

10:29tax base because of it. The other um

10:33category that is experiencing a need to

10:36um kind of look at it differently is

10:40professional and technology services.

10:43the increase in this category is not as

10:46much but over um the period of time that

10:49this sales tax will be in place it will

10:52accumulate a few million dollars. So we

10:54want to make sure that we are thoughtful

10:56about forecasting it but also the

10:58programming the use of it so we don't

11:00lose any um opportunities to be uh

11:04strategic or forward thinking.

11:08Retail trade is one of the um others

11:11that I wanted to focus on. It um has

11:15definitely some variances along the way

11:18but for performing very well and um seen

11:23increases um above normal levels um so

11:27far as we have seen um light rail open.

11:32We have not anticipated that growth to

11:34continue. It's still sort of new to us.

11:37So, we're trying to be um careful about

11:39it, but we are seeing um some very

11:41healthy growth due to more people coming

11:44into the city as well as the level of

11:46development um that we've created here.

11:51And I wanted to then um just lastly make

11:54a note about our wholesale category. We

11:57saw some really big bumps in um 24 and

12:01early 2025.

12:03really anticipated to folks getting

12:05ahead of anticipated tariff impacts when

12:09it comes to technology

12:11um related equipment needs um or things

12:14that were being ordered um from out of

12:17the country. we have um returned um to

12:22normal um levels and we're um not

12:25anticipating a big bump like that again,

12:27but we did isolate those dollars as one

12:30time in the allocation or the funding of

12:32the upcoming preliminary budget.

12:36So, um, taking that all into, um,

12:40account, it leads to a pretty, um,

12:45modest, um, growth of our retail um,

12:50sales tax compared to how we've been

12:52growing in um, the past. It is a

12:55conservative approach because it is very

12:57difficult to isolate all that is going

13:00on in the city all at once. So um if

13:04there are opportunities um we will bring

13:06them forward during the bienium um for

13:09decision making. If it means you know we

13:11can recognize additional uh funding to

13:14move programs along we will look for

13:16those opportunities for you. The other

13:19component of our sales tax uh forecast

13:21has to do with criminal justice.

13:24This is a sales tax that was put in

13:27place in 1990. It is a sales tax that is

13:32um administered at the county level and

13:35they provide us with a share of those

13:37revenues. It is um a consistent source

13:41of revenue but it does not do much in

13:44terms of growth. It is our however one

13:48of the requirements to the

13:50implementation of House Bill 2015 which

13:54is the criminal justice sales tax that

13:56we will be discussing during um budget

13:58deliberations. It is a requirement that

14:01we already have a sales tax in place and

14:04this is the one that qualifies us. Um so

14:08then moving on to our property tax

14:12forecast.

14:14Property tax is our second largest um

14:18funding source for the general fund. Of

14:21the property taxes collected in for

14:23Redmond um property, the city receives

14:27um 11% of those revenues.

14:31the um growth that we have experienced.

14:34Again, I wanted to provide you with a

14:38long-term outlook so that you could see

14:41how significant the recent level of

14:44development has been on not only the

14:47city's assessed value but also on um our

14:52um levy um rates. So when we are um

14:57looking at uh projecting growth there

15:01are three different elements that we are

15:05looking at. We are looking at the

15:07optional increase that is um limited to

15:111% or what is called the implicit price

15:14deflator. It's sort of a emergency break

15:17for inflation. And there are years where

15:22um we will be uh provided with a

15:25implicit price deflator which is less

15:27than 1%. The city has the option of

15:30coming forward with a resolution of

15:33need. We have not chosen to do so during

15:36those time frames and allowed the

15:38implicit price deflator to be our um

15:44increase for those years.

15:47The portion of property taxes that is

15:51more difficult to forecast is the

15:54portion that's related to new

15:56construction. It can take a while for

15:59new development to hit the tax bill. And

16:03so we are very um conservative again

16:07when it comes to how much growth we um

16:10expect to anticipate. That is why

16:12sometimes we are um either over or

16:15underolcting. It's really because of

16:17that growth factor that we've built in.

16:20We do not factor in any annexations into

16:24our factor or into our uh forecast,

16:27excuse me. They are too infrequent and

16:30really kind of nominal in their impact.

16:33Um we tend to do just kind of a catch up

16:35in the next bianium if an assumption or

16:38an annexation is occurring.

16:44So, our property tax um forecast taking

16:48all of those growth elements into um

16:50place is growing at a rate of a little

16:53over um 3% um going forward. Um again,

16:58this is a conservative uh estimate

17:00giving all of that the all of the um

17:04development that is occurring in the

17:06city. We are expecting our first um

17:10official tax assessment um notification

17:13in early October. We will let you know

17:16at that point if there is um an

17:19extraordinary amount of growth that we

17:22can um factor in for 2027.

17:27Utility taxes um have been a little less

17:30dramatic for me in this last bianium

17:32than they've been in um the past. We've

17:36been sort of watching um the dwindling

17:39of cable and um telephone and cellular

17:44taxes and seeing significant increases

17:48when it comes to uh energy. So related

17:52to PSC for energy or for um natural gas

17:56a little bit more um minimal increases

18:00but um that's really the shift that

18:02we're seeing and that's continuing

18:05the um you can see in 2526 the

18:08implementation of the uh the utility

18:11taxes on um the city's own utilities and

18:16those are incorporated into um our

18:20six-year year forecast.

18:22The um amount of revenue that is

18:25generated from the city's utilities is

18:28dedicated or committed to um the

18:31addition of four firefighters that were

18:32added at fire station 17. I know that

18:36there is some interest in looking for um

18:40additional different solutions um or um

18:43you know discussions around um moving

18:46backwards on this tax and we certainly

18:48can facilitate that. The amount of

18:51revenue that we're looking at is roughly

18:53between 1.3 and 1.5 when we when we get

18:57to those um discussions.

19:01gonna turn it over to Hartha to walk you

19:04through um business licenses through the

19:06rest of um the wrap-up of general fund

19:09and then um give you an idea of what

19:11we're seeing for development related um

19:13activities.

19:17>> Thank you uh Director Cochran.

19:20Um so city business license fees is

19:23largely um driven by the number of

19:25employees working in the city and also

19:28the number of licensed businesses in the

19:30city. So in this graph you can see the

19:33ups and downs of our employment growth.

19:36It shows our actual business license

19:38revenue and also our licensed FTEEs and

19:42our licensed businesses. Um this data is

19:46historically this data uh shows how the

19:49city has grown in the business license

19:52revenue with the new businesses that are

19:54coming in into the city and also some of

19:58the uh bigger current um existing

20:02businesses. Um so you do see we do see

20:06some uh kind of dips and ups in some of

20:09the areas. Some for example one of the

20:12biggest example is uh during pandemic we

20:15do see a a downhill in the number of

20:18licensed FTEEs but um the businesses

20:21stayed the same um and then it kind of

20:24caught up um in the number of licensed

20:27FTEEs over the uh few over the years um

20:31since pandemic

20:36um as you have seen even in previous uh

20:40slides. Uh technology is one of the

20:43biggest uh generator of revenue in um

20:47sales tax and also we see that in

20:49business license. Um since I have joined

20:52in the city the business license revenue

20:55has um grown quite a bit um in general

20:59because of the number of businesses that

21:01are being opened in here and also our

21:04technology business is also growing. Um

21:08that being said, I do wanted to show you

21:11here is the diversification of um the

21:15revenue in business license with other

21:18uh sectors like uh professional

21:20services, retail, manufacturing, health

21:23and um other smaller uh organizations.

21:30Um this is another way to show our

21:33licensed um FTES by industry. Again, as

21:37you can see here, the technology is the

21:39biggest uh um factor and um that dip in

21:442021 is primarily because of COVID and

21:47then it kind of um um kind of caught up

21:52in 2526 time frame.

21:57Um I would like to um kind of bring uh

22:01update council on our business license

22:04audit. Um in 2526 we have uh conducted

22:09in uh well economic development in

22:12planning uh department has led this

22:15process where we have done a

22:17comprehensive review of the full

22:20business license um program. Um some of

22:23the uh phases that have been completed

22:26by our consultant is they benchmarked um

22:30compared eight peer cities with our

22:33licensing structure and also provided

22:36the data that showed that there are

22:38several 30 to 40% of the businesses in

22:41the city of Redmond are non-compliant.

22:44Um and we are working uh well economic

22:48development and also we are working with

22:51uh the consultant to build the pro pro

22:54policy and procedures and monitoring

22:56methods of the business license and also

22:59they're developing KPIs and um and uh

23:04suggesting and recommending some of the

23:06uh reporting tools that will benefit us

23:09in a longer run after this which is uh

23:13estimated to be ending In 2025 or 2026,

23:17uh we are proposing to do a business

23:20license fee study to ensure and make

23:23sure that we are uh collecting the right

23:26um revenue [clears throat] for the ser

23:28cost of services in the city for

23:30business license.

23:36Um this is our this graph shows our

23:40forecast again. Um, you know, um, one of

23:44the thing that I would like to bring

23:45council's attention is when we

23:48forecasted business license, we really

23:50looked through our, um, uh, local

23:54economy and employment that Kelly had

23:57shown in the earlier slides when she was

23:59presenting the economic update. Um, one

24:03of the factors that we have included is

24:05the current layoffs that are going on

24:08and also uh how our local econ economy

24:12and uh employment um is um going uh or

24:17performing. Um we have um sorry I can't

24:22see that. So we have uh one of the other

24:24thing that I would like to point out in

24:272025 you see that spike is primarily

24:30because during the 2526 bianium we have

24:35uh updated our license fee to catch up

24:38or tred up our license fee to catch up

24:40with uh the inflation and also this is

24:44the um we also have through this these

24:49funding or this revenue we have also who

24:52funded an MHP uh position. Um with that

24:56uh increased revenue

24:59overall um you can see that um we were

25:04we are very cautious. We are very

25:06careful in how we are budgeting

25:08forecasting this revenue. uh primarily

25:11because um we want to make sure that we

25:14are leveling it with the uh other

25:17economic updates that we are seeing uh

25:19in the county and state level. Also, uh

25:23we have incorporated

25:26um some of the increased revenues here

25:30that we are anticipating through um uh

25:33the compliance uh audit. uh and we kind

25:37of staggered that over the next four

25:40years instead of assuming or forecasting

25:43a one-time increase in one year. Um and

25:47then in later years uh very moderately

25:51we have increased our revenue by uh from

25:543 to um uh 6%.

25:58Do you want to add anything? I was just

26:00going to sort of explain that we we've

26:02assumed that um the 30 to 40% estimate

26:07is perhaps a little bit high as we have

26:10started to um filter through some of the

26:13data. So we have um brought down um that

26:18assumption and also assumed that not all

26:22non-compliant businesses will become

26:25compliant immediately. Um so we have

26:28some one-time revenues that are um

26:31projected we will be you know we will

26:34need to collect for um past due amounts

26:36and we've assumed that that is one time

26:39and we've built in a slow increase to um

26:42business license assuming that we are

26:44able to get people compliant over um

26:48probably two bianiums.

26:51>> Thank you for the clarification Kelly.

26:54Um

26:56this is our next slide um which is

26:59talking about our other licenses and

27:01permits. These are very um smaller

27:04licenses like animal license um and

27:08permits like gun permits and um

27:13I don't remember the other permits but

27:14very small permits and um so this um

27:19this also includes the franchise fees

27:21and as you can see here uh the franchise

27:24fee line kind of is declining because

27:27you can see that many people are getting

27:30off cable and kind going into more uh

27:33streaming and you do I do want to point

27:37out the jump of the safety and

27:39regulatory wages where um uh some of the

27:43gun permits and also

27:46um some of the new uh fire inspection

27:50fees that are being proposed uh to be

27:53adopted in 2027. So that jump is uh

27:58because of um an assumption of um new

28:02fees that will be adopted in 2027.

28:13Intergovernmental

28:14uh kind of uh has two different

28:17components. One is state entitlements

28:19and intergovernmental services. Um state

28:22entitlements are um the revenue that is

28:25distributed by the state whether it is

28:28uh some of the examples are um um liquor

28:33excise tax, cannabis tax or motor

28:36vehicle fuel uh tax etc. And then uh our

28:41intergovernmentals are the biggest

28:43component in this sector uh which

28:46basically is the revenue that is

28:49generated for the services that we are

28:51providing to other governmental

28:53agencies. Um so state entitlements are

28:57pretty stable. There is not much ups and

29:00downs here. But uh in the

29:03intergovernmental services you can see

29:05that spikes those slow growth of uh

29:08revenue that is primarily because of the

29:11cost associated of uh the reimbursements

29:15grow as um we

29:18go into later years.

29:27Um

29:29this is uh one of my favorite slide, one

29:33of my favorite graph. This kind of shows

29:36our ongoing revenues to ongoing

29:39expenditures. How this shows how we are

29:43um how we are um supporting our ongoing

29:47expenditures with our ongoing revenues

29:50as you can see. Um and I wanted to

29:52remind council again that this does not

29:55include the development revenue. As you

29:57can see here in 21 and 22 um we are

30:01pretty close. There is not much gap. We

30:04are pretty we are recover we are

30:06covering all our ongoing expenditures.

30:09As we are going into later years um

30:13especially in 2025 you can see that

30:15significant jump in the revenue

30:18primarily because of um the sales tax.

30:22Now um ju it's it's just that um the

30:29expenditures did not caught up or catch

30:32up to the revenue that has been

30:33generated. We are seeing increased uh uh

30:38expend uh increased cost due to tariffs

30:41and due to uh supply uh sorry uh fuel

30:45cost or um and also we have seen um our

30:50medical insurance rates have gone up. So

30:52there are a lot of costs that are

30:53contributing to our increase in um our

30:57expenditure curve over here. Um as we

31:01going into our 2728

31:04budget we have we uh you can see that

31:08there is a slightly difference between

31:10the how the revenue that we are

31:12generating to the expenditure but we

31:15have uh we were able to balance the

31:18budget in 2728 with some of the uh

31:21balances or surplus that we have um

31:25identified in 2526

31:28going forward this this particular ular

31:30graph. I really like it because it kind

31:33of shows us our financial outlook over

31:36the period of time and it gives us uh an

31:40ability to see um um what kind of uh

31:44future financial decision we can make to

31:48make uh to make sure that this gap is um

31:51not there.

31:57Um moving forward uh the development

32:00revenue um

32:03I just want to go to this slide. Um so

32:08the development user fees or the revenue

32:10is um generated by um

32:16for the services or the for the

32:18development services that the CD is

32:21providing. Um these uh some of the

32:24activities or the components of the

32:26development revenue is engineering,

32:28permitting, site planning, inspection

32:30that includes building permits, plan

32:32reviews, fire inspection permits,

32:34development engineering, roof of way

32:38permits etc. And um we use the cost of

32:42full cost of service uh methodology to

32:45calculate these fees and um and that is

32:49how uh the revenue uh is collected. We

32:53adjust these fees annually with the CPI

32:56or the inflation but we make sure that

32:59we are updating these fees every 5 years

33:02to ensure that the cost of service that

33:05uh that the cost of service is aligned

33:07with um the fee um so which is coming

33:12up. We are doing a development user fee

33:15study next year.

33:26Um this slide kind uh shows our uh

33:30picture from our development revenue um

33:34separated by building land use

33:36development, engineering and fire

33:37development. Um this kind of gives us

33:42if you see the line curve graph on the

33:44right you can see the ups and downs and

33:47that is primarily because of the growth

33:48that had happened in these uh in the

33:51Redmond city in uh 2017 2018 time frame.

33:57We have received two major projects in

33:5920 2018 2018 which is Sound Transit and

34:04Microsoft which kind of continued for a

34:07few years and that is why you see that

34:09full spike. Um you know nationally and

34:14countywise we have seen a dip in the

34:17development activity or the development

34:19revenue during CO but uh fortunately we

34:23did not see that dip in Redmond. We have

34:25seen a high revenue in 21 and 22 as

34:28well. And then um there is the growth

34:32has kind of slowed down in 2023 and 2024

34:35time frame. Um again in 2025

34:40um as you can see the growth in uh

34:43Redmond with uh on the mixed uh family

34:46development also uh the multif sorry

34:49mixed use and multifamily development.

34:52There is a lot of growth in the revenue

34:54in 2025

34:56and um and also the uh what we are

35:00assuming or estimating in 2026 also will

35:03continue that but not as much growth as

35:05we see in 2025.

35:08And uh one thing I would like to point

35:10out is this development revenue is um um

35:19what I would like to say um

35:25this revenue is dependent on some

35:28one-time projects and the so when we

35:32forecasted this revenue we really did

35:34not look into those one-time projects we

35:37really moderately or cas cautiously and

35:41carefully uh forecasted more at a 1%

35:45level in 2728 and moderately 3% uh

35:50later. Now um I would like to kind of go

35:54through the next slide um which is

35:56talking about more on the forecast. Um

36:01so what I would like to say is that um

36:05once we I know that we are also working

36:08on the proposal of a new department and

36:11uh once we know on uh how that goes, we

36:15would like to make sure that we reassess

36:17the um the revenue forecast and um if

36:22any assumptions that we made here uh

36:25reflects um differently than we would

36:28like to come and make those assumptions

36:30and changes or adjust those assumptions.

36:40Um

36:46so this slide again brings us just in

36:49the development revenue and expenditure

36:51uh cost together. Historically as you

36:54can see uh the relationship between the

36:57revenue and expenditure changes year to

36:59ear um and um

37:03again the revenue is obviously very

37:05sensitive with the development that is

37:07happening. it could be one time and uh

37:10so that is why there is a huge gap in

37:132025 because of the you know surge in

37:16development in 2025

37:18and in 2027

37:20as I said we are assuming like about 1%

37:24growth that is um again intentionally

37:28very conservative where when we are

37:30forecasting

37:32um so in the near term again revenue

37:35remains uh really above the expenditures

37:39uh but you can see that the two lines

37:42gradually closing together over the

37:44period of time. Um

37:50sorry I'm looking at my notes here.

38:07Um this slide doesn't give like the

38:10entire picture of the development

38:12revenue um trends but it's basically

38:15showing us our 2025 development revenue

38:19and the cost associated with it. Um at

38:22first glance it may look that we are

38:24over uh recovering the revenue but truly

38:27it is not. It could be that um some of

38:30the uh projects that come in and

38:33entering into the system we do do

38:36collect that revenue but the cost or the

38:38services associated with that project

38:41can kind of span into multi-year. So um

38:45this is this this this bar graph is

38:48primarily showing um just the 2025

38:51revenue but when we see the trends and

38:53over the period of time you will see uh

38:56the best uh kind of picture of uh the

38:59diluted revenue and the recoverable

39:01cost.

39:05Um

39:07that's all I have for the general fund.

39:10Uh I'll hand it over to Kelly to uh

39:13present the utility side of it.

39:17>> Thank you. Um so this portion of the um

39:20forecast is an update from um a

39:23preliminary um draft of utility rates

39:26that we shared with council at um the

39:28end of July. Okay. So, some of this

39:30information has been shared before, but

39:32wanted to make sure you had it as a

39:34reference as far as um the uh guidance

39:38um and governance of our um utility

39:42enterprise funds and um the tests that

39:46we utilize to conduct our rate setting

39:50and make sure that rates are fair,

39:52adequate, sustainable. um not only for

39:56the city but for our um community

39:59members.

40:01Um

40:02when um

40:05we came uh to you in July,

40:09we let you know that um we were going to

40:12do all that we can um to smooth um or

40:15lessen rate impacts for community

40:18members. And this has been um the result

40:21of that work. we've been able to bring

40:24down um most re recommendations anywhere

40:27from two to five um percent.

40:31The um wastewater city wastewater

40:34increase although it looks higher than

40:37the other um services which well it is

40:42um but it is a much smaller utility. So

40:44like a $40,000 increase is a 1% increase

40:48versus the water utility where you could

40:50add $200,000 to the cost space and it

40:54could equal um 1%.

40:57Some of the things that we did to um

41:00smooth out these impacts was first of

41:03all um address the sharp increase that

41:07we've seen in um medical costs. We did

41:10that across all of our funds. there is

41:13um the ability to phase in um those

41:16increases without impacting our medical

41:20self-insurance fund and allowing us to

41:22kind of build in those um increases over

41:26um time. We also took the time to um

41:30look at data collected through uh the

41:34middle of August where typically we cut

41:37off our review period a little earlier

41:40in the summer to allow us to capture any

41:42growth that had occurred than we weren't

41:44aware of. any growth in either our

41:47customer base or the amount of water

41:49that our customers are using on a

41:52consistent basis can help us um bring

41:54down the rate increases.

41:58The um utilities were were also um very

42:01conservative

42:03um when it came to uh recommending any

42:06service enhancements and most service

42:08enhancements that were requested were

42:11funded with one-time money as they

42:13supported plans that we um are needing

42:17in order to make sure that we have a

42:20very strategic um CIP in the coming

42:22years. Um, so this is where we've um

42:26landed as far as a recommendation goes.

42:29I'm going to walk you through again just

42:31at a high level what things are looking

42:33like at each utility. Um, again, we um

42:39compare very um favorably when looking

42:41at the city service area which is at the

42:44bottom. Um and even with these

42:48recommended um increases, we will stay

42:51um behind the other cities as long as

42:53they um increase at least at an

42:56inflationary level. Novelty Hill is

43:00higher than most um because it is a very

43:03small customer base and it has a very

43:07expensive um depreciation cost because

43:10infrastructure is so new. and our storm

43:13water rate um has continued to um fall

43:18as others have worked to get essentially

43:21caught up to where um we are. The city

43:25of Redmond was very proactive in the

43:27implementation of environmentally

43:30friendly solutions to address storm

43:33water and habitat concerns. There was a

43:35very aggressive rate increase in forever

43:38ago 2007, but we literally did not

43:42increase rates again until a couple of

43:43bianiums ago. It allowed us to get out

43:46ahead um of a lot of regulations and um

43:50infrastructure needs and keep that rate

43:53um stable over the last uh couple

43:56decades.

43:59Um looking at city water, wastewater,

44:02our assumptions really have um not

44:05changed um other than we've increased

44:08some of the growth um that we are

44:11anticipating and that's really coming um

44:13due to multifamily. So you can see that

44:18um

44:20our um well so here's our revenues um

44:23they are um growing um at pretty

44:30consistent levels other than the

44:33increase from King County. What they are

44:35projecting as an increase for 2728 is

44:37much more um aggressive than other um

44:41adjustments that we are making. But

44:44looking at our customer um base in the

44:48next slide um it's really our

44:50multifamily

44:52um class that continues to grow and we

44:56are at a point where our multifamily

44:59class is the biggest class that we have

45:01in our water and um wastewater

45:05utilities. So we were able to increase

45:07some of our projections there um to

45:10bring down um our rates

45:16So forecasted growth again was done at a

45:18very conservative level. You can see the

45:20factors um that we used um down below.

45:23We update those every um 2 years. But

45:27looking at the pipeline of projects um

45:30in available from our development um

45:33services

45:35uh division. Um I think that the

45:37projects are there to support these um

45:39assumptions.

45:41when it comes to the um amount of water

45:44um that our customers are using u

45:48multifamily customers are again um

45:51starting to take the lead there. We are

45:54not recommending um in this bianium but

45:56maybe recommending in a future bianium

45:59that we have a different rate structure

46:01for multifamily than we currently do.

46:04Right now it shares a rate structure

46:06with um the commercial class and we're

46:09finding that uh usage patterns and

46:12behaviors um among the two classes are

46:15different enough that it may warrant um

46:17looking at different rates and

46:19potentially um allowing us to address

46:22affordability from that angle as well.

46:25And we're um looking into that.

46:31Again, demand um forecasted very um

46:34conservatively and we keep irrigation

46:36line it is it fluctuates quite a bit for

46:40us and if we build any resilience on a

46:43revenue increase it could easily um lead

46:46to a revenue shortfall. So um we work um

46:50to keep that um as uh flat as we can.

46:58expenditures um for the um city service

47:02area has um a lot to do with the pass

47:06through rates that we're seeing through

47:07King County as well as increases from

47:11Cascade Water Alliance.

47:15In addition to salary and benefits

47:17always being a pressure, we're starting

47:19to see depreciation increases hit the

47:23city service area because of

47:25infrastructure that we have implemented

47:27over the last couple of bieniums. So

47:29done a lot to ensure that our lift

47:32stations are rebuilt. um all of our well

47:35supplies have been rebuilt and so um

47:39those depreciation costs are have been

47:41incorporated into our expenditures. So

47:45that is primarily what is driving rates

47:47from that side.

47:49Novelty Hill has the same level of um

47:54expenditure pressure. it shares um a

47:58portion about 20% of the expenditures

48:00that hit the city service area allocated

48:03to Novelty Hill and so the same

48:06pressures that we're seeing on the

48:08expenditure expenditure side is what

48:10they are seeing. Revenue um collections

48:14as well um are

48:18not increasing as much as some of our as

48:20like King County is. There is no growth

48:24in Novelty Hill. That service area has

48:26been at buildout. There is a couple of

48:30um spots available for commercial

48:32development, but nothing um enough to be

48:35able to predict predict any kind of

48:37growth or activity out there. The one

48:40thing that is um happening or is helpful

48:44to um Novelty Hill on the expenditure

48:46side as they're

48:49um we've seen these things before um on

48:52the expenditure side the positive thing

48:54that we have going for Novelty Hill is

48:56the decrease in depreciation expense.

48:59That is what is helping us to be able to

49:03um bring down rates there. So we have

49:06infrastructure that is coming to the end

49:08of its useful life. that is, you know,

49:10hitting the 25 year um mark. We plan to

49:13replace some of that um infrastructure

49:16soon, but for the meantime, it is giving

49:18um some relief from rate pressure for

49:20folks living in that area.

49:23For storm water, um there is really not

49:26much that has changed here from the last

49:28time that we discussed um the forecast.

49:32The um adjustments that we've made have

49:34really been on um the expenditure side

49:38um where we have brought down um medical

49:40which is impacting um salary and

49:43benefits but sort of very little else

49:46that we could um control here. You will

49:50notice um on um the debt portion for

49:54storm water that there was a spike um in

49:58this in our current bianium and that is

50:00because we um have retired um a loan

50:04from um the public works trust fund um

50:07or no from the department of ecology,

50:09excuse me. Um and so we paid off some um

50:12loans last year, but we have now

50:14returned to um a level where we are just

50:16making our bond payments.

50:21When looking at the ultimate um impacts

50:24from the

50:26rates um adjustments that we are now

50:29recommending our residential customers

50:34would be impacted on a monthly basis

50:36from the city's

50:38uh rates $3.56

50:41doubling to $7.11 for a bi monthly bill.

50:46The portion um for King County um is

50:48hitting $7.99 monthly, 1155 bimonthly,

50:54resulting in a 23 just over a $23

50:58increase on a bimonthly basis for incity

51:01um residential customers.

51:04One of the new um metrics that we have

51:08available to us is what's called a rate

51:11affordability evaluation.

51:13That was defined by APWA. And what it

51:17suggests is that if you can keep your um

51:22uh metric under 4.5%

51:26um your rates are considered affordable

51:29and sustainable

51:31um by

51:33uh the community. I um I don't know if I

51:37am totally bought into that yet. It's

51:39using, you know, median household

51:41income, which is sort of leaving um some

51:44of our lower income um residents out of

51:48that equation. But nonetheless, it is a

51:50metric that we now have to share um and

51:54can compare bianium to bianium. We have

51:57not seen any drastic um increases in um

52:02this metric. It has stayed pretty stable

52:05since um our last rate setting.

52:11Um, so

52:13last thing that we wanted to touch on is

52:16upcoming deliberations um or review

52:19sessions with council. I've built in um

52:22some time to discuss things that I know

52:25are um of interest and of importance um

52:28and wanted to make sure that council is

52:31okay with the flow um and the timing.

52:35Essentially um you will receive the

52:37preliminary budget on October 6th and

52:39our first discussion will occur on the

52:4222nd.

52:43First thing that we will touch base on

52:45is any changes to the forecast we've

52:47provided you tonight, any changes to the

52:50capital program or to our BTIP

52:53investments and then we would start the

52:55discussion of our service enhancements.

52:59If we are not done with conversations

53:01about um the new department, I would

53:04like to kind of get those taken care of

53:06and then start working our way through

53:09um the service enhancements by um budget

53:12priority. Really working to get through

53:14as much as we can um each evening. We

53:18have a lot less service enhancements and

53:21and service enhancement packages to

53:23review and they're a lot less complex

53:25than they were in the last bianium. So,

53:27I'm hopeful that we can get through

53:29information quickly. Um, but we have

53:32another um conversation on um the

53:35following evening that we are together

53:37the 27th to talk about um House Bill

53:412015 and some of the opportunities yet

53:44challenges that that brings. Um so it's

53:48possible that we may need to continue um

53:51that conversation into the 29th as well

53:54as anything else that council has

53:56identified that they would um that you

53:58excuse me would like to discuss. So I

54:01wanted to check in and make sure that

54:03that so far works um and we can adapt as

54:06we go.

54:09>> Great. Thank you so much Director

54:11Cochran and uh Deputy Director Nara. I

54:13should first um acknowledge that I

54:15probably should have handed the gavl to

54:17our budget chair for the forecasting of

54:19this conversation, but we'll we'll keep

54:21it going. Um this is uh this forecast is

54:26really informational as well as the um

54:29the schedule as it's laid out. I'd like

54:31to go around to see if there are

54:32questions either on the schedule or any

54:34of the content that is burning tonight

54:37um before we probably take a brief

54:39recess before we go to the next item on

54:41our agenda tonight. Okay. So, any

54:43feedback on the schedule or uh comments

54:45and questions related to the materials

54:47tonight?

54:53>> Uh, Vice President Noea Camina, thank

54:55you. Um, just for the record, I've got

54:56several questions. However, I am more

54:58than happy to email them um in taking a

55:02look at the the time that we have and

55:03I'm fine emailing those. Thank you.

55:11Other comments, questions? Uh, Council

55:13Member Critzer,

55:15>> thank you. Um, I I would just one one

55:19item that I wanted to follow up on more

55:20as a comment. I do appreciate the work

55:23in particular in response to council

55:25feedback on looking at the ways we could

55:28bring down um utility increases. Um, so

55:32appreciate the the thinking on that. And

55:34I think as we can um have information

55:37when as the budget comes out on this

55:39topic because it is so uh a question

55:42that we're getting a lot from people um

55:44especially on kind of why we we need to

55:48increase uh the utility rates at all um

55:51and also kind of what are the factors

55:53that that we're using which I think you

55:55explained well to be able to mitigate

55:57some of those increases. um that that's

56:00just a helpful kind of more comment on

56:01the communication to the public as we

56:03look at this as well. Um and then I'll

56:06just note on the schedule that I I do

56:08think looking at this

56:11uh at the schedule right now I see on

56:14your slide you say 115 is a hold. I I do

56:16think we likely are going to be using

56:18that for deliberations just at the pace

56:20in which we're we're discussing things

56:22and especially I think what's what's

56:24showing up on 10:22. um we have 30

56:26minutes that you budgeted for some meaty

56:28topics. I probably I would guess was

56:31going to take us a little bit longer,

56:32but uh we'll see where we get to by the

56:34time we start that discussion and I'll

56:36look forward to doing that planning with

56:37you and council leadership in advance.

56:41>> Thank you so much. Um also related to

56:46um the schedule

56:49I and the the even how this is presented

56:52here. Uh Director Cochran, I wanted to

56:53confirm one of the improvements I really

56:56appreciated um your leadership on in the

56:58last bianium was the creation of the

57:01executive summary for um the budgets.

57:04Are we bringing that back again this

57:05year? Awesome. I'm seeing a headnod. Um

57:07I just really appreciate how that

57:09especially to community conveys the

57:11story of how it all fits together. So I

57:12really appreciate that. Um Deputy

57:14Director Nara I have one question for

57:16you. Um your favorite slide is in my

57:19opinion one of the most important

57:20slides. So um when it comes to the

57:22general for uh general fund forecast and

57:25where the expenses and revenues are

57:28crossing that is actually the the moment

57:32in time that we are always really

57:33focused on. I actually pulled up in

57:36during the course of this conversation

57:37the exact same slide from two years ago

57:40and you know the forecast was correct

57:43like this is when it was going to happen

57:44you know so we knew it was coming um but

57:46I want to clarify one thing that you

57:48said you said that um we were able to

57:51balance the preliminary budget with 2728

57:55uh excuse me with savings from this

57:59bianium

58:01um does that mean that the forecast in

58:03is in a sense out of date because you've

58:06borrowed and and maybe the crossing of

58:08these two lines has moved forward or

58:10could you actually clarify how the cost

58:13savings that were allocated impacted

58:15this?

58:17>> Um I think that what we're actually

58:18speaking of is sort of the rollover of

58:21some revenues that will be offsetting

58:22some of the expenditures. So some of the

58:25expenditures are related to like service

58:27enhancements that are carrying over. So

58:29that's what's creating the gap and

58:31additional revenues that I don't think

58:33we're in that graph will be offsetting

58:35them.

58:36>> Okay. Thank you.

58:37>> You're welcome.

58:39>> All right. Seeing no other hands, um I

58:42think it's been nearly three. Did you

58:44have an additional comment, Council

58:45Member Critzer?

58:47>> Yes, sorry. I just had one one

58:49additional comment. Um just recognizing

58:52I just wanted to to call out one thing

58:54which which you brought up as well about

58:56um the increase that we saw in some of

58:59the um one-time revenues um due to the

59:02Microsoft refresh and due to the Sound

59:05Transit projects. We're really like

59:07right at the end um of some of those

59:09those projects right now. Um and uh as

59:12you recognize that that we had

59:14recognized a certain amount of one-time

59:16revenues from uh construction was

59:19ongoing a while back and it was during

59:21the period in which we had those that

59:24increase. Um do we still feel and are

59:26you going to be bringing back any

59:27changed assumptions in that space? Um or

59:31>> um

59:33I've got my eye on it. I look at every

59:34bianium. I still think it's a

59:36sustainable um level of um forecast for

59:42um that revenue source. Um I was nervous

59:45when we increased it to the amount that

59:46it's at, but I do think that we are good

59:49um at least for the next six years.

59:52>> And we'll continue to work with our

59:54state legislative partners to develop

59:56diversified revenue streams so that when

59:58we hit the point that council member

1:00:00Foresight reminds us of so frequently,

1:00:02we'll have options. Appreciate that. Uh,

1:00:04with that, let's take a 10-minute

1:00:06recess. We'll reconvene at 9:20. Thank

1:00:08you.

1:00:26[music]

1:00:41>> [music]

1:00:43>> Heat. Heat.

1:00:50Heat. Heat.

1:00:57[music]

1:01:02[music]

1:01:21>> [music]

1:01:32>> Hey, hey, hey.

1:01:37Heat.

1:01:52[music]

1:01:54Hey, Heat.

1:02:04>> [music]

1:02:39[music]

1:02:44[music]

1:03:00[music]

1:03:26[music]

1:03:37[music]

1:03:42[music]

1:03:47[music]

1:03:57[music]

1:04:29[music]

1:04:33[music]

1:04:42[music]

1:05:18[music]

1:05:21>> Turn it up.

1:05:24[music]

1:05:37>> [music]

1:06:02[music]

1:06:24[music]

1:06:27>> Heat.

1:06:40Heat.

1:06:44[music]

1:06:48Heat. [music]

1:07:03Heat.

1:07:06[music]

1:07:10Heat.

1:07:27[music]

1:07:36Heat.

1:08:22Heat. Heat.

1:09:50Uh, welcome

1:09:51The third item on our agenda tonight is

1:09:53the 2027 2032 capital improvement

1:09:57program review. This is a continuing

1:09:59conversation uh with Kelly Cochran, our

1:10:01finance director, and per a brief

1:10:04conversation uh in the recess. I'll

1:10:06continue to chair this item. Um thank

1:10:08you so much to our budget chair, uh

1:10:10Council Member Critzer. So, Director

1:10:12Cochran, take it away.

1:10:13>> Thank you. We are going to um be picking

1:10:16up the CIP um review with uh the city's

1:10:21utilities. So, we'll be talking about

1:10:22water, wastewater, and storm water this

1:10:24evening. I have with me um interim

1:10:27director Chris Stanger from public works

1:10:30as well as Kyle Smith from the financial

1:10:34planning um division. Kyle will be

1:10:36providing you with the financial

1:10:38forecast for the utilities portion of um

1:10:41the capital investment program. and then

1:10:44um director Stinger will walk through um

1:10:47with you uh the projects um that are

1:10:50queued up for um our next CIP update.

1:10:54The other um thing that I wanted to

1:10:56mention um this evening is last um

1:10:59discussion we did start um a matrix to

1:11:02uh track uh questions um or responses

1:11:06that were um requested by council. We

1:11:11have two items that um landed on that

1:11:13matrix. One was to send out the project

1:11:17information sheets which hopefully you

1:11:18have all received. The other was to have

1:11:21discussions around um the teen center

1:11:24and I think we could probably give it a

1:11:26half a check off today. Um but we'll

1:11:28pick that back up and make sure that we

1:11:30land in um a comfortable spot before uh

1:11:33budget needs to be decided upon. So, I

1:11:36will um hand it over to um Chris to get

1:11:39us going on um the review of these

1:11:41portfolios.

1:11:50>> I think I'm actually starting.

1:11:51>> Kyle, I'm really paying attention. Kyle

1:11:53will get us started with the forecast.

1:11:55Thank you.

1:11:56>> Thanks, Director Cochran. Uh good

1:11:58evening, council. Um starting off with

1:12:00the uh utilities revenue forecast.

1:12:04um walking through each of these

1:12:05buckets. Uh the first is uh beginning

1:12:08fund balance. Um we're forecasting uh

1:12:12124 million uh for the combined

1:12:14utilities portfolio. Uh next bucket is

1:12:18our capital facility charges. Uh this

1:12:21includes the standard development

1:12:23connection charges for water,

1:12:25wastewater, and storm water. Uh all of

1:12:27which assume a 5% growth year-over-year.

1:12:31Uh we are also including additional

1:12:34charges for Southeast Marrymore. Um

1:12:36that's 500k a year that begins in 2029.

1:12:41Uh and then we are also uh including an

1:12:44additional charge for Redmond Town

1:12:46Center development. Um that is 917K a

1:12:50year and that in uh begins in 2027.

1:12:57Uh our next bucket is uh our

1:12:59depreciation transfers. Um that's 55.2

1:13:03million. Uh these are transfers from

1:13:05operating funds that uh allow for the

1:13:08recognition of the value of our capital

1:13:11assets uh within the capital utility

1:13:13funds uh to allow us to plan and pay for

1:13:16infrastructure and um asset replacement

1:13:19and repair.

1:13:22Um we've got just under 9 million for uh

1:13:25grants. Um the water portfolio uh

1:13:29contains um awarded grants from um EPA

1:13:34for uh AC water main replacement on

1:13:37Viewpoint uh at 2.9 million. Uh, and

1:13:41then we've got um a Washington uh

1:13:45Department of Commerce grant for about a

1:13:48million dollars for uh water

1:13:50infrastructure on Aendale Road. And then

1:13:53um on the storm water side, uh we've got

1:13:56a million from uh Department of Commerce

1:13:58for Evans Creek relocation. And then we

1:14:01also have included a placeholder um for

1:14:05future assumed awarded grants within the

1:14:08stormwater portfolio. uh that begins in

1:14:112029 and we're holding a million dollars

1:14:14a year.

1:14:16[snorts] Uh under the miscellaneous and

1:14:18other agencies, we're including in their

1:14:21um investment interest of uh surplus uh

1:14:25fund balance um amongst the the various

1:14:30uh capital funds. Um that's about 17.8

1:14:35million of that 37 million. Um we're

1:14:39also including operating transfers of

1:14:41surplus fund balance uh from the city

1:14:44and novelty hill water funds uh the city

1:14:47wastewater fund and the storm water

1:14:49fund. And then um lastly we are

1:14:52including uh 200k a year uh in

1:14:55contributions from Keller Farm Wetland

1:14:59Mitigation Bank for the storm water

1:15:01fund.

1:15:04Uh and then our final uh bucket for

1:15:07revenue. Um Director Cochran uh brought

1:15:10this up a couple weeks ago. Um we uh are

1:15:14including a placeholder for additional

1:15:16debt proceeds. Um to help us fund all of

1:15:20the utility projects that were included

1:15:22in the CIP. Uh this is about $35.5

1:15:26million.

1:15:27Um we've right now got it starting in

1:15:302029.

1:15:32uh and this will impact the city water,

1:15:34city wastewater uh and storm water uh

1:15:38CIP packages.

1:15:43Dropping down to our expenditures

1:15:45forecast, uh this shows year-over-year

1:15:47the expected expenditures uh for the

1:15:50utility CIP as well as the cumulative

1:15:54uh

1:15:55expenditure for the entire CIP window.

1:15:59um entire CIP window we're looking at 20

1:16:04or $255 million. Uh and then for the

1:16:08bianium the 27 and 28 time frame we're

1:16:10looking at about $72.5 million. Um you

1:16:14may notice the large gap in 29 and 30

1:16:18similar to what you guys saw uh a couple

1:16:20of weeks ago uh with the general um

1:16:25government presentation. uh that is

1:16:28largely driven by um the MOC

1:16:31construction costs largely taking place

1:16:33in the 2930 time frame. Um and then we

1:16:37will get into uh additional details by

1:16:40project uh a little bit further on in

1:16:42the uh presentation. So um if there are

1:16:46any questions for the financial side um

1:16:48I'll take those now.

1:16:55Uh, seeing no questions, let's continue.

1:16:57>> Great. Thank you.

1:17:00[clears throat]

1:17:05All right, I'll kick it off here. So,

1:17:08uh, as introduced, uh, Chris Stinger,

1:17:11and online with me tonight, I have Tess

1:17:15Wilkinson, capital planner,

1:17:18Steve Gibbs, capital projects manager,

1:17:22Ernie Fix, utilities manager uh, for the

1:17:25water and wastewater side, and Aaron

1:17:28Molder, utilities manager on the storm

1:17:30water and environmental services side.

1:17:34So this evening I'll provide a high

1:17:35level overview of our capital

1:17:37improvement program or CIP across three

1:17:40public works utility portfolios water

1:17:43wastewater and storm water. I'll focus

1:17:46on the overall purpose of each system

1:17:48the size of the infrastructure we manage

1:17:51our investment strategies and objectives

1:17:54and several of the capital projects

1:17:56including the six-year CIP. also touch

1:17:59on how these capital investments affect

1:18:01our long-term operations and maintenance

1:18:03responsibilities

1:18:05[snorts] across all three utilities. Our

1:18:08long-term strategies to maintain and

1:18:10replace existing infrastructure before

1:18:12failure, plan for future growth and

1:18:14regulatory requirements, and make

1:18:17capital investments that we can

1:18:18sustainably operate and maintain over

1:18:21time. for any detailed questions. Um, as

1:18:24always, you can email or we can ask see

1:18:26what we can provide here and uh our

1:18:29finance friends will keep a log and uh

1:18:32we'll pro provide you the best answers

1:18:34as possible

1:18:36and uh that's just a overview of uh the

1:18:39citywide projects and next slide.

1:18:43All right,

1:18:45so our first portfolio we'll talk about

1:18:47is the water utilities portfolio.

1:18:50Primary purpose of our water system is

1:18:52to provide safe and reliable drinking

1:18:54water as well as dependable fire

1:18:56protection for our community.

1:18:59This is a significant system. We have

1:19:01five water supply wells, approximately

1:19:04333 miles of water pipe and 33 million

1:19:08gallons of water storage.

1:19:11On an average day, approximately 7

1:19:13million gallons of water are used.

1:19:16We also operate 87 groundwater

1:19:19monitoring walls, 26 drinking water

1:19:23sampling stations, and approximately

1:19:254,328

1:19:27fire hydrants.

1:19:30Next slide.

1:19:33So, our water investment strategy is

1:19:35centered on maintaining a reliable and

1:19:37resilient water supply. That includes

1:19:40protecting the aquifer as an independent

1:19:42source of supply while also maintaining

1:19:45our membership in Cascade Water Alliance

1:19:47to provide regional supply options.

1:19:51We also coordinate with neighboring

1:19:52communities including Kirkland and

1:19:55Belleview on storage and system

1:19:57connectivity.

1:19:59So a significant part of our investment

1:20:01is focused on replacing and maintaining

1:20:04aging infrastructure including pipes,

1:20:06valves, pumps, electronic systems and

1:20:09reservoirs.

1:20:11We also invest in security and control

1:20:14systems expanding the system where

1:20:17needed to accommodate growth.

1:20:19So, our overall objective is to replace

1:20:22aging infrastructure before it fails,

1:20:25coordinate water improvements with the

1:20:27CIP investments, and meet our

1:20:29obligations with partnerships with

1:20:31Belleview and Kirkland.

1:20:33So, next up, uh we're going to talk

1:20:35about some several uh water projects,

1:20:38and I'll keep a high level overview on

1:20:40each ones. And next slide.

1:20:44There we go.

1:20:46So, uh, the 51st Street water man

1:20:49replacement project will replace the an

1:20:52existing 8-in water man that runs

1:20:54beneath State Route 520 with a new 12-in

1:20:57water man mounted beneath Northeast 51st

1:21:00Street overpass. This will address an

1:21:03aging connection and improve the

1:21:05reliability and capacity of that portion

1:21:07of the system.

1:21:09Next slide.

1:21:12Now, as touched on before, uh this is

1:21:14one of those grant projects. The AC

1:21:16water man replacements in viewpoint

1:21:18north and south will replace

1:21:20approximately 6,200 ft of asbestous

1:21:23cement water mane that has reached the

1:21:26end of service life. This project will

1:21:28also replace customer services and

1:21:31coordinate with storm water improvements

1:21:32where existing storm water

1:21:34infrastructure has been identified as a

1:21:36need needing replacement. That's part of

1:21:38our strategy of if we're going to open

1:21:41that ground up, we're going to take a

1:21:42look at those other utilities so we're

1:21:44um not um continually opening opening

1:21:48the ground up. So coordinated uh hydra

1:21:51is what I call it with the three on

1:21:53there. Next slide.

1:21:56All right. The booster pump station

1:21:59replacement project will evaluate the

1:22:01condition and performance of the city's

1:22:03three booster pump stations at Southeast

1:22:06Redmond, Education Hill, and Paraggo

1:22:08Springs. The project will use the

1:22:10assessment to identify equipment and

1:22:12facility improvements needed to optimize

1:22:15systems performance and resilience.

1:22:19Next slide.

1:22:21So we also have ongoing investments in

1:22:23our water control systems and telemetry.

1:22:26Phase two and three are currently in

1:22:27construction and focus on replacing

1:22:29control panels and telemetry

1:22:31communication systems at city water

1:22:34facilities. Next slide.

1:22:37Phase four extends that work to novelty

1:22:40hill water and wastewater facilities

1:22:42providing updated control and

1:22:44communication systems that are important

1:22:46to reliable systems operation.

1:22:50And next slide. So this one here um came

1:22:54about uh through our joint board with

1:22:57Kirkland and Belleview. Um the the

1:23:00reservoir south reservoir tank

1:23:02replacement there. Um took a look at it

1:23:06uh on the Kirkland side. It was up for

1:23:10some modification, but they looked at

1:23:12the opportunity for seismic upgrades and

1:23:15looked at it as we need more water

1:23:18capacity and storage. So, we took the

1:23:20opportunity of increasing that size

1:23:23there. So, on this project, the existing

1:23:26tank is jointly owned by Belleview,

1:23:28Kirkland, and Redmond. Based on the

1:23:29investigation, the existing facility,

1:23:32the current decision is to replace the

1:23:34existing tank with a larger new tank.

1:23:36Redmond's portion of the project is

1:23:38included in our CIP as a part of our

1:23:40regional partnership. Um, and on that

1:23:43one,

1:23:45I can get back to you on it, but it will

1:23:47we have a deficit coming up in the

1:23:49future on there and um, it will provide

1:23:53a a good amount of that deficit. I I

1:23:56want to say 30 30ome percent, but I'll

1:23:58get you that that right right answer on

1:24:01there. [snorts]

1:24:03Next slide. It's the pressure reducing

1:24:06valve. So looking further ahead, the

1:24:08pressure pressure reducing valve and

1:24:09meter replacement project will replace

1:24:12or rehabilitate seven pressure reducing

1:24:14valve stations including the vaults,

1:24:16piping valves and drainage systems.

1:24:19These facilities are important to

1:24:21maintaining appropriate pressures and

1:24:22reliable operations through the

1:24:24throughout the water distribution

1:24:26system.

1:24:28Next slide. This is on water and sending

1:24:31that water on down Willows. Uh the

1:24:33Willows Road water man extension is

1:24:36currently under construction. This

1:24:37project extends approximately 1,300 ft

1:24:40of water man under Willows Road to

1:24:43support growth and improve fire

1:24:44protection. It's also being coordinated

1:24:47with sidewalk and storm water

1:24:48improvements along the roadway.

1:24:51And the next slide finally um this is

1:24:53one of our proactive measures here. Uh

1:24:56we started it with wells one and two

1:24:58back uh uh last year and uh part of this

1:25:02year, but it's the well three

1:25:04rehabilitation project and is targeted

1:25:07investment in one of our drink and water

1:25:08supply wells. So the work will include

1:25:11major maintenance and rehabilitation of

1:25:12the wells, pumps, motors, impellers, and

1:25:15other components as needed based on

1:25:17inspection. So essentially, we're going

1:25:19in there. It's uh it's a preventative

1:25:22maintenance measure where we take a look

1:25:24at that whole system um and and give it

1:25:27a give it a once over and

1:25:32from you know the reports on what we did

1:25:35with wells one and two on there

1:25:36production it it helps with production

1:25:39when you do that preventative

1:25:40maintenance on there. So it's a uh

1:25:44strategy that we have employed for our

1:25:46wells.

1:25:48So collectively these projects represent

1:25:50a combination of asset replacement,

1:25:52system reliability and operational

1:25:54technology, regional coordination,

1:25:57growth and source infrastructure.

1:25:59From an operations and maintenance

1:26:01perspective, these investments are

1:26:02particularly important because they

1:26:04allow us to move away from reactive

1:26:06maintenance and towards more planned and

1:26:08preventative maintenance. In other

1:26:10words, investing in the systems before

1:26:12failure generally give us greater

1:26:14control over the work, reduces emergency

1:26:16response needs, and helps us manage our

1:26:19long-term maintenance resources more

1:26:21effectively. Many of these projects,

1:26:23including the CIP, were identified

1:26:25through the water system plan,

1:26:27coordination with overlay projects,

1:26:29asset management best practices,

1:26:31industry standards, and regional

1:26:34partnerships, including our work through

1:26:36the Kirkland Belleview Joint Water

1:26:38Board. And additionally, our water team

1:26:40is working with a consultant to evaluate

1:26:43PAS mitigation and treatment options. We

1:26:46expect to bring findings uh and

1:26:48potential options to city leadership in

1:26:50the coming months. Depending on the

1:26:52outcome, this would be a result in a

1:26:55future project and that can stem from

1:26:58blending which is uh more more

1:27:00reasonable to to a potential treatment.

1:27:03[snorts] But they're taking a look at

1:27:04all the options and we'll be bringing

1:27:06that to council in the future. And that

1:27:08concludes the water port water

1:27:11portfolio. If I could go on to the

1:27:13wastewater, we could take questions for

1:27:15the water.

1:27:16>> Let's keep going, Chris. Thank you so

1:27:17much.

1:27:17>> All right.

1:27:19So, next is our wastewater portfolio.

1:27:21The purpose of our wastewater system is

1:27:23to provide safe and sanitary collection

1:27:25and conveyance of wastewater to King

1:27:27County for treatment. Our wastewater

1:27:30system includes approximately 233 miles

1:27:33of pipe, 22 wastewater lift stations,

1:27:367,200 manholes, and approximately 16,000

1:27:40sanitary sewer connections.

1:27:43Our strategy is focused on addressing

1:27:46critical needs within the system. That

1:27:48includes targeted upgrades at lift

1:27:50stations, replacing lift stations and

1:27:52pipes when necessary, and using

1:27:54development extensions to accommodate

1:27:56growth and provide opportunities for

1:27:58customers. Currently relying on septic

1:28:01systems to connect to the sanitary sewer

1:28:03system. We're also continuing to upgrade

1:28:06security and control systems throughout

1:28:08the system, just as we were with the

1:28:10water system. Our primary goals are to

1:28:12prepare for future growth by increasing

1:28:14system capacity and form targeted

1:28:18infrastructure equipment upgrades before

1:28:20failure occurs.

1:28:22>> [snorts]

1:28:22>> So, we're coming up on the projects

1:28:27and we'll start off with the connection

1:28:30to the King County wastewater system on

1:28:32Aendale Road where we replace an

1:28:34existing 18-in reinforced concrete pipe

1:28:37with a larger capacity pipe and install

1:28:39new manhole connections to King County

1:28:41sewer trunk line. This project will

1:28:43improve the connection between the city

1:28:45system and the regional wastewater

1:28:47system. Next slide.

1:28:50The lift station upgrades phase 2

1:28:52project is currently under construction

1:28:54and will replace pumps and associated

1:28:56equipment at lift stations 51, 52, 53,

1:29:00and 17. These are targeted equipment

1:29:03improvements intended to improve

1:29:04reliability and reduce the potential for

1:29:07operational failures. Next slide.

1:29:10The wastewater pipe rehabilitation

1:29:13project 2 will rehabilitate

1:29:15approximately 7,585

1:29:17ft of wastewater pipe in Aenddale Way

1:29:20and Redmond Woodenville Road using a

1:29:22cured in place piping or CIP lining.

1:29:26This is an example of using

1:29:27rehabilitation rather than full

1:29:29excavation and pipe replacement to the

1:29:33extend the life of existing

1:29:35infrastructure and restore system

1:29:37function while minimizing impacts and

1:29:40cost associated with traditional

1:29:42replacement.

1:29:45And looking further ahead, the Northeast

1:29:4751st Street sewer upgrades will replace

1:29:49approximately 1,800 feet of existing 8

1:29:53inch sewer main with larger 12-in uh

1:29:56pipe along Northeast 51st Street and

1:29:59West Lake Seamish Parkway. This project

1:30:01is intended to increase conveyance and

1:30:04capacity in this area.

1:30:07Here's one of the large ones. the

1:30:09Redmond Town Center lift station 17 and

1:30:11force main upgrades will increase the

1:30:14capac capacity of lift station 17 bring

1:30:18the facility up to current design

1:30:20standards and prepare the system for

1:30:22increased flows associated associated

1:30:25with future sewer main improvements in

1:30:27Bear Creek Parkway and Liry Way. Those

1:30:30improvements are uh coordinated with the

1:30:32the larger Redmond Town Center sewer

1:30:35upgrades project which will upgrade

1:30:37sewer mains along Bear Creek Parkway and

1:30:40Liry Way and improve conveyance to the

1:30:42King County Lake Hills trunk line. And

1:30:46let's say that is that one there and the

1:30:48next slide. All right.

1:30:51Finally, the West Lake Seamish Parkway

1:30:53and Education Hill wastewater pipe

1:30:55rehabilitation project will rehabilitate

1:30:58aging sewer pipe using CIP lining. The

1:31:02objective is to restore structural

1:31:04integrity, re reduce infiltration and

1:31:07extend the service life of the existing

1:31:10conveyance system.

1:31:12So taken together, these projects are

1:31:14focused on maintaining the existing

1:31:16system while preparing for future growth

1:31:18and increased wastewater flows.

1:31:21Similar to our water system, there is a

1:31:23direct connection between capital

1:31:25investment and our ability to manage

1:31:27operations and maintenance efficiently.

1:31:30So, targeted equipment upgrades at lift

1:31:32stations can reduce system failures,

1:31:34decrease reactive operational responses,

1:31:37and allow our staff to dedicate more

1:31:39time and resources to preventative

1:31:41maintenance. And many of the projects in

1:31:43this CIP were developed through

1:31:46combination of the general sewer plan,

1:31:48identified high growth development

1:31:50areas, coordination with overlay

1:31:53projects, asset management best

1:31:55practices, and industry standards. Onto

1:31:58our final portfolio,

1:32:02storm water.

1:32:04So I'll provide a highle overview of the

1:32:07storm water portfolio. And our overall

1:32:09objective is to build and maintain storm

1:32:12water infrastructure that minimizes

1:32:14flooding, supports growth, protects

1:32:16water quality, and supports healthy

1:32:18streams within an urban environment.

1:32:22The scale of our system is also

1:32:23significant. We managed approximately

1:32:26202 miles of storm water pipe, 400 storm

1:32:29water treatment facilities, and

1:32:31approximately 50 miles of streams.

1:32:34Collectively, our system manages

1:32:36approximately 11 billion gallons of

1:32:39rainfall annually.

1:32:41Our storm water strategy focuses on four

1:32:44primary areas. Regional facilities,

1:32:47watershed management, groundwater

1:32:49protection, and steam res uh stream

1:32:52restoration.

1:32:53So, our goals include improving the

1:32:55function of regional facilities,

1:32:57restoring stream habitat, protecting

1:32:59water quality, and repairing agent

1:33:00infrastructure.

1:33:02And these are several projects that we

1:33:04have to demonstrate there. It's a very

1:33:07uh next slide. Very popular project

1:33:11here. The Evans Creek relocation project

1:33:13is a significant stream restoration and

1:33:16infrastructure project. Project will

1:33:18reroute uh approximately 4,500 ft of

1:33:22Evans Creek that currently runs through

1:33:24multiple industrial properties where

1:33:26channel and buffer conditions are poor.

1:33:29project will relocate the creek into a

1:33:32more natural open area of its current

1:33:34location.

1:33:36So, as part of this project, we are

1:33:38continuing to work through the

1:33:40operations and maintenance agreement

1:33:42with with King County Department of

1:33:43Natural Resources and Parks, including

1:33:46the Department of Local Services staff.

1:33:49So, we anticipate the review of the

1:33:51agreement sometime next month. Um, we're

1:33:53awaiting uh it's called an O andM

1:33:55agreement. um county, we provided a

1:33:58first one, they do red lines on it, and

1:34:00now it's their turn to provide that. So

1:34:02once we get that back, we'll see what um

1:34:06they're asking for on our side. So we we

1:34:08anticipate that in October. And once

1:34:11that agreement is finalized, it'll

1:34:13provide greater clarity around the

1:34:15long-term operations and maintenance

1:34:17responsibilities associated with the

1:34:19project. Next slide.

1:34:23The 9200 ravine storm water bypass will

1:34:26install a new storm water pipe to convey

1:34:28high flows around the ravine area. The

1:34:31intent is to provide the more controlled

1:34:33conveyance path for high storm water

1:34:34flows. Next slide.

1:34:38The Willows Road culvert replacement and

1:34:40frontage improvements project will

1:34:42replace three culverts under Willows

1:34:44Road and include frontage improvements

1:34:46along the west side of the roadway.

1:34:49This is an example of coordinating storm

1:34:51water infrastructure improvements with

1:34:52other improvements in the corridor. Next

1:34:55slide.

1:34:57Storm water infrastructure replacement

1:34:59improvement at Sunrise View will repair

1:35:02an existing storm water pipe outfall

1:35:04adjacent to a landslide area that was

1:35:07stabilized in 2020. The project

1:35:10addresses the storm water infrastructure

1:35:12associated with that area and helps

1:35:14maintain the long-term function of the

1:35:16system.

1:35:17Next slide. The Bear Creek Elm Court

1:35:21habitat restoration project will focus

1:35:23on stream habitat restoration through

1:35:25invasive plant removal, native

1:35:28plantings, and instream improvements.

1:35:30Those improvements will include off-ch

1:35:32habitat and placement of large woody

1:35:34debris in the creek.

1:35:37Next slide. The Redmond Heights

1:35:39stormwater ponds rehabilitation will

1:35:41retrofit two detention ponds and

1:35:43associated conveyance systems near 166th

1:35:47Avenue Northeast. These improvements

1:35:49will collect and route high flows in the

1:35:52ponds providing additional detention and

1:35:54during high flow events.

1:35:57Next slide.

1:35:59Looking further ahead, the northeast

1:36:0198th uh 95th Street, my apologies,

1:36:04street storm water trunk line project

1:36:06will increase the capacity of the

1:36:08drainage system west of the Seamish

1:36:10River. The related 95th Street

1:36:13Stormwater mainline east

1:36:16project will install approximately 1,410

1:36:19ft of new storm water main along north

1:36:23east 95th Street and connect the that

1:36:26system to the existing trunk main near

1:36:29166th Avenue Northeast.

1:36:32Next slide. The Northeast 85th Street

1:36:36Water Quality Facility will provide a

1:36:38new natural regional water facility

1:36:41adjacent to the existing local treatment

1:36:43facility. This project represents an

1:36:46investment in treating storm water

1:36:48runoff before it reaches receiving

1:36:50waters and improving the overall

1:36:52regional approach to water quality. As

1:36:55with our other utility systems, capital

1:36:57investment has a direct impact on the

1:36:59long-term operations and maintenance

1:37:01requirements. So addressing these system

1:37:04deficiencies and repairing

1:37:05infrastructure proactively can reduce

1:37:08reactive responses to problems and help

1:37:10reduce cost and operational demands over

1:37:12time. You hear that theme through all

1:37:14three of them on there. So many of the

1:37:17projects including the CIP were

1:37:18identified through our surface and storm

1:37:20water planning process, NPDES

1:37:24compliance requirements, wershed and

1:37:26habitat priorities, asset management,

1:37:28and ongoing maintenance planning. So in

1:37:31closing before I hand it over um for

1:37:34questions,

1:37:36in summary, across uh the three utility

1:37:38portfolios, the CIP is focused on

1:37:41maintaining the infrastructure we have,

1:37:43preparing for growth, meeting regulatory

1:37:45and regional obligations, and reducing

1:37:48the risk of unexpected failures. As we

1:37:51evaluate these investments, we are also

1:37:53considering long-term operations and

1:37:55maintenance responsibilities that come

1:37:57with every new asset. That's through our

1:37:59asset management program. That long-term

1:38:02perspective is an important part of

1:38:04building a sustainable infrastructure

1:38:06program for the community. And for any

1:38:08detailed follow-up questions, we are

1:38:10happy to provide any answers.

1:38:13>> Thank you so much, uh, Director Sanger.

1:38:14We really appreciate, uh, you being here

1:38:16tonight and walking us through these.

1:38:18Um, I know that there were a couple of

1:38:20hands from the council, so I'm going to

1:38:21go ahead and open it up for questions.

1:38:25Council member Parcy, did you want to go

1:38:26first? Sure. Go ahead.

1:38:29>> Um I see a really um exciting I have

1:38:33many questions. I'll send most of them

1:38:34over to you um in the interest of time.

1:38:37But um on slide number um 102 I see Bear

1:38:42Creek Elmcord Habitat Restoration. Um I

1:38:45know that this area is very close to a

1:38:47potential segment of ERC and there is

1:38:51really fantastic opportunities for us to

1:38:55um extend this project and expand ERC.

1:38:58So if there is opportunity for us as we

1:39:01um do this habitat restoration work to

1:39:04also um extend a segment of ERC um that

1:39:07would be fantastic. Would love to see

1:39:10that.

1:39:10>> We will we'll take that into

1:39:12consideration. Council member

1:39:14>> an ERC is the East Redmond corridor

1:39:16project we were discussing in the last

1:39:18study session. Also other questions from

1:39:20the council. Uh council vice president.

1:39:23>> Thank you. Um thank you Mr. Stanger for

1:39:25for the presentation. Um I want to take

1:39:28us all the way back to the conversation

1:39:30about well number three rehabilitation.

1:39:33Um I understand that wells one or two

1:39:35are currently testing positive per FE

1:39:37for PAS. We also have a well that is um

1:39:42is out for right now uh and that we are

1:39:46already planning on purchasing surplus

1:39:48water from Cascade Water Alliance. Has

1:39:52uh well number three rehab been figured

1:39:55into the new purchase amount for surplus

1:39:59water? And just for the the the

1:40:01listening public, um the what what's

1:40:04what one of the one of the things that

1:40:06is driving this is that um Redmond uh we

1:40:10we produce our own about 40 to 50% of

1:40:14the water that that we use and the rest

1:40:16we uh we do purchase from Cascade Water

1:40:19Alliance as part of our membership.

1:40:22>> Correct. It's uh 40 40% uh for all five

1:40:25wells and and like you said, well four

1:40:28is currently offline. Uh the for well

1:40:31four just to give you an update on that.

1:40:32The team are researching some options on

1:40:35um getting that into back into

1:40:37production and taking a look at it. So

1:40:39we're you'll you'll hear more about that

1:40:43in the future. Um, as far as production,

1:40:48um, and I'll defer to Ernie, um, because

1:40:51he's he's deep in the deep in the water

1:40:53quality. Have we noticed

1:40:56as far as purchasing surplus water,

1:40:58Ernie, or production of the wells any

1:41:01change from uh having uh one or two of

1:41:05the wells offline?

1:41:09>> Yeah, thank you, Chris. Um so this

1:41:11project as Chris originally mentioned is

1:41:14is uh preventative in nature. So we

1:41:16haven't seen a production drop in well

1:41:183. Um this was we created this project

1:41:22on the heels of um a rehab project for

1:41:25wells one and two where we we were

1:41:26seeing decreased production. Um the the

1:41:29good news about uh doing this

1:41:31preventative maintenance project for

1:41:33well three is that it is a relatively

1:41:35small scale. We expect it to only take

1:41:37the wells down for a brief period of

1:41:40time um several weeks maybe a month um

1:41:42to um assess the pumps um replace

1:41:46critical components that type of thing.

1:41:48Um and we we time that outside of the

1:41:50peak production season which is in the

1:41:52summer. Um so it shouldn't have any kind

1:41:54of um sizable impact on our ability to

1:41:57produce water. Um it'll just make sure

1:41:59that we uh don't lose that production

1:42:01that we need.

1:42:02>> Great. Thanks. Pardon me. Thank you,

1:42:04Ronnie. Thanks so much. Uh, Council

1:42:07Member Parkria,

1:42:10>> thank you. Uh, I've got kind of one one

1:42:13specific and one general question, but

1:42:14I'll try to be brief um for the sake of

1:42:17time, and I I will email to follow up as

1:42:19well. Um, but I was just wondering if

1:42:21you could speak to

1:42:24uh, okay, I I'll preface this by saying

1:42:27that um, the Northeast 48th Street, 148

1:42:30to 520 paving and shared use path. I

1:42:33just have a distinct memory um, from

1:42:36last year of knocking doors down on this

1:42:38street um, and hearing complaint after

1:42:40complaint about the sewer system on this

1:42:42road um, about how disorganized it was.

1:42:45Uh, so if we are putting in a p I'm just

1:42:47wondering when we are putting in a path

1:42:51how I know sometimes when we're putting

1:42:53in a sidewalk for instance we have to

1:42:55drill all the way down to the sewer.

1:42:57What kind of um can you speak to what

1:43:01kind of like infrastructure maintenance

1:43:03we have to maintain um when it comes to

1:43:07or or how how different it is is it to

1:43:10put in a uh how different is this

1:43:13project to a sewer project and is there

1:43:15anything we can do um to look into the

1:43:18sewer on that street? Sorry, I didn't

1:43:21phrase that very well. Um,

1:43:26>> and that's for the north northeast 148th

1:43:29shared use path. So, I'm assuming that

1:43:31was on the trans transportation one or

1:43:33I'm trying to figure it out on this one.

1:43:36Um,

1:43:37>> yeah,

1:43:39the northeast 40th um from 148th to 520.

1:43:42>> Okay.

1:43:46If I may, it's actually listed on um the

1:43:48delayed project list

1:43:51under the water utility.

1:43:54>> Okay. Uh council member, I can get with

1:43:56the team to take take a look at the the

1:43:58details in specific. I don't want to go

1:44:00off the cuff. Um

1:44:02>> top that makes sense. I will topography

1:44:04or uh you know will dictate um you know

1:44:08how how certain layers of pipe go in um

1:44:11in different areas. Um, so it's not a a

1:44:14one-sizefits-all uh where you go around

1:44:16Redmond if you if you see the topography

1:44:19of hills or where it's close by or what

1:44:21what's uh certain grounds or maybe

1:44:24>> Sounds good.

1:44:24>> So we we can take a look at that.

1:44:25>> Did you have another question? Council

1:44:26member Proa.

1:44:28>> Um I I did, but I think it's also better

1:44:29suited to to follow up offline.

1:44:31>> Okay, that sounds great. Council member

1:44:32Critzer,

1:44:34>> thank you. Um appreciate the update on

1:44:38Evans Creek. Uh just to put a fine point

1:44:40on it. Um, so it sounds like we're in

1:44:43some negotiations, but things are

1:44:45actually moving. Uh, can do are you

1:44:49anticipating right now we have it

1:44:50budgeted uh for the upcoming bianium to

1:44:53spend the money and do the project? Are

1:44:55you anticipating that we will actually

1:44:56be on on track for it um in the upcoming

1:44:59bianium?

1:45:01>> I will have a better answer for you once

1:45:03I see that agreement um in October,

1:45:06council member. Um

1:45:09now with uh

1:45:12the current window um of waiting this

1:45:16agreement I believe and correct me if

1:45:18I'm wrong Mr. Gibbs uh it would be

1:45:22construction start in the 2028 season on

1:45:25there so it would occur in the next

1:45:27bianium um but around the 2028 time by

1:45:31the time that they things get in to

1:45:34fruition.

1:45:36>> Okay. Thank you. And and just uh you

1:45:39mentioned briefly about PAS on a a

1:45:41different project. Um we have received

1:45:44quite a bit of public comment uh about

1:45:46PAS testing in particular on this

1:45:49project is in terms of what we have

1:45:51budgeted for this project. Does it

1:45:53include budget to be able to do any sort

1:45:56of testing on the site around that area

1:45:59>> for the uh

1:46:01>> around the Evans Creek uh project

1:46:04>> around Evans Creek? I can talk to the

1:46:05project team on there. Um, and from what

1:46:08I remember from the past comments, it's

1:46:11uh soil testing if I'm not mistaken. Um,

1:46:14but I can I can look into that.

1:46:16>> Great. Thank you.

1:46:20>> Thank you. And I um will just double

1:46:22down on that one. Again, we've heard

1:46:23lots of public uh interest in that, so

1:46:25to be able to have a clear answer would

1:46:26be great. Uh, anyone else? Council Vice

1:46:30President, do you have another question?

1:46:32>> I do. Just a very quick one. Um I'm

1:46:34there's several slides that that show

1:46:37this this term. I'm particularly looking

1:46:39at slide 106. Um when when we're taking

1:46:42a look because we are thinking about

1:46:44about the future um forecasting this

1:46:48particular project. It's the Northeast

1:46:5085th Street water quality facility.

1:46:52We've got numbers and the project

1:46:54starting in 2029 20 running through and

1:46:57and costs for 2032. Um, and then we go

1:47:01to 2033 and beyond. My question is, how

1:47:05beyond is beyond? And and perhaps this

1:47:07is for director Cochran, so I'm glad

1:47:09that you're still with us. Um, because

1:47:11we we start seeing, you know, as we're

1:47:13thinking to the future and future um

1:47:16budgets. You know, we're seeing this

1:47:17particular project roughly a little more

1:47:20than half of its cost coming in at $8

1:47:22million for that uh 2029 2032 time

1:47:26frame. And then 20 2033 and beyond is an

1:47:32additional 7 million. So my question is

1:47:35how far in the future when we say and

1:47:38beyond are we looking at

1:47:40>> for this project it's 2036.

1:47:44>> Okay. Thank you. And is it roughly you

1:47:47know four to six years when we're saying

1:47:49and beyond because that's such a broad

1:47:52stroke.

1:47:52>> Yeah it's it's no more than four to five

1:47:55years beyond.

1:47:56>> Great. Thank you. Yep.

1:48:00>> Wonderful. Well, uh, thank you so much,

1:48:02um, to the team. Just as a reminder,

1:48:05council, um, we received the project

1:48:07information sheets as director Cochran

1:48:10mentioned. Um, we there was a request to

1:48:13have further questions for the matrix

1:48:15submitted by the 18th. Um, please do if

1:48:18you have those still pending, I would

1:48:20say it's it's still worth the effort. Um

1:48:23and there's additional level of detail

1:48:25provided on those project information

1:48:27sheets. Um we will be back in this room

1:48:30a few times between now and then but one

1:48:32month from today when we uh kick off uh

1:48:35our budget negotiate or our

1:48:37deliberations. We will kick off by

1:48:39having an update on what has changed

1:48:41about the CIP. Uh so we won't be going

1:48:44back through the whole thing again, but

1:48:45we'll be focused on updates from the

1:48:47staff since we had this first pass at

1:48:49it. Any final comments uh from any of

1:48:52the directors?

1:48:54All right. Well, thank you so much.

1:48:55Really appreciate your work tonight.

1:48:57Thanks team.

1:49:00We will move on to the fourth item on

1:49:01our agenda tonight which is the housing

1:49:03and human services action plan. We have

1:49:06some uh staff who have extended their

1:49:09workday to be with us tonight and some

1:49:11of those who are extending their workday

1:49:13uh for this particular item will be back

1:49:15with the planning commission tomorrow

1:49:17night. So, I do want to say thanks to

1:49:18all the teams uh for staying online. Uh

1:49:22introducing the item for us here tonight

1:49:24is going to be interim co-director of

1:49:27planning and community development

1:49:29Saraphy Allen. Thank you for being here.

1:49:31>> Good evening, council, and thank you.

1:49:32We're going to try and be chipper to

1:49:34keep us uh focused. Um but uh as a

1:49:37reminder, um staff introduced this item

1:49:39on September 1 uh 2026, committee of the

1:49:42whole meeting. At that meeting, staff

1:49:44solicited questions to inform our um

1:49:47discussion or issue matrix um and the

1:49:50forthcoming presentation. So, the issue

1:49:52matrix with staff responses to those

1:49:54questions were emailed to you um last

1:49:56week and were included by the council

1:49:58clerk's office and the council packet

1:50:00links for the general public's

1:50:01reference. We just need a little bit

1:50:03more time than the twoe turnaround to

1:50:05get in uh the answers for you. And then

1:50:08um this action is currently requested to

1:50:10go on um October 6 business meeting for

1:50:14the consent adoption. I didn't want to

1:50:16note that I spoke with the council

1:50:18president earlier today and agreed that

1:50:20if council um uh has more feedback than

1:50:23can be revol resolved in this study

1:50:25session, then we'll work with council

1:50:26leadership to find a path forward for um

1:50:29ensuring council is ready for adoption.

1:50:31Uh so we're excited to be here tonight

1:50:33and highlight the successes and the

1:50:35impacts of the city's last human

1:50:36services and housing um action plan. Um

1:50:40the strong foundation that this has

1:50:42really brought us forward um to uh build

1:50:45a lot of great progress and um as you

1:50:48know this is kind of a refresh for the

1:50:49next five years. So, um, I'm joined by

1:50:52Ian Lefcourt, our principal housing

1:50:54planner. Um, Brooke Buckingham, our

1:50:56human services manager, and Allaric, who

1:50:58is sick, just so you know, and so is

1:51:00joining us remotely. Thank you for

1:51:01keeping your germs away from us, Alaric.

1:51:03Um, and so they've uh prepared a short

1:51:06presentation, and then we'll hold um

1:51:08space for discussion. So, with that,

1:51:10I'll turn it over to Ian.

1:51:12>> Thank you, Saraphy. Always easy to be

1:51:14chipper about this topic.

1:51:17We have our agenda in front of us and

1:51:19there's four highle topics. We'll look

1:51:21backwards and understand how we got to

1:51:24where we are. Some of the fundamentals

1:51:26that went into the plan. Uh we'll talk

1:51:28about how the various different inputs

1:51:32have influenced the plan, the city's

1:51:34role and the strategies that are

1:51:35associated with the roles and then of

1:51:37course how we're going to measure

1:51:39progress and have a discussion about uh

1:51:42the matrix.

1:51:44I really want to emphasize uh what

1:51:46deputy uh director Allan brought up

1:51:48about the success. We have done an

1:51:50enormous amount of good for our

1:51:52community in the last five years of the

1:51:55previous work plans and so many

1:51:58examples. Uh we recalibrated our

1:52:01mandatory inclusionary zoning to focus

1:52:03at 50% area median income. We uh

1:52:07invested a million dollars into the

1:52:09Overlike Village Station Todd to help

1:52:11buy down some of those familysized units

1:52:13for deeper affordability, a high

1:52:15priority for us. Um we increased our

1:52:19human services funding from 1.3 million

1:52:21to 2.6. This let us do 31 new programs

1:52:25focused on cultural needs. A lot of good

1:52:27stuff.

1:52:29And it's especially impressive because

1:52:32we did all of that during times of

1:52:35uncertainty and big curve balls. I've

1:52:39been with the city for almost 7 years.

1:52:41Every single bianium we have had a

1:52:43curveball come in that required us to

1:52:45adjust our staff work programming and we

1:52:49kept going. We've made about um 66% of

1:52:53the actions that were in our HAP and our

1:52:55HSP have been accomplished. about

1:52:58another fifth are either partially

1:53:00underway or they're a perpetual item and

1:53:03that just leaves the remainder to be

1:53:05ones that are being re-evaluated or not

1:53:07yet begun. So, it's it's really a lot of

1:53:10great work in very tumultuous times.

1:53:13Um, some of the conditions and needs,

1:53:16the themes are the same we've been going

1:53:18over for the last four years. We're

1:53:20growing quickly. We're doing a good job

1:53:22of producing housing, but there's still

1:53:25a lot of housing cost issues, lot of

1:53:28cost burden. Um, and this is especially

1:53:31important in terms of an equity lens

1:53:33where we find that racially disparate

1:53:34impacts of course still exist both in

1:53:37Redmond and the broader uh King County

1:53:39community. And we see that increases

1:53:42demand for uh available resources which

1:53:46are limited and they're getting more

1:53:48limited and more uncertain due to

1:53:51changing external macroeconomic and

1:53:54federal considerations. And so we

1:53:56realize that um we're going to have to

1:53:59be dedicated to continuing our efforts

1:54:02here and we will have to make hard

1:54:04choices. And as part of that, I'll

1:54:06remind that the allocation of human

1:54:08services dollars goes through the human

1:54:11services commission and then those

1:54:12recommendations go to council for the

1:54:14ultimate decision. So thoughtful,

1:54:16targeted city support remains essential

1:54:19to helping our community. And so that's

1:54:22a little bit of the context and Brooke

1:54:24will walk us through the plan itself.

1:54:28>> Great. Thank you, Ann. Um so I'll just

1:54:30be touching base briefly on the process

1:54:32um that we used to get here. Um the

1:54:35first is that we really saw an

1:54:36opportunity to look at the two plans

1:54:39housing action plan and human services

1:54:41strategic plan. Those planning periods

1:54:43are ending um this year. Um so uh really

1:54:47it's like okay let's look at how we can

1:54:49align these two plans and combine them.

1:54:52Um and we also acknowledge that a lot of

1:54:54the same population and outcomes for

1:54:57these plans, you know, serving um

1:55:00families and individuals at 0 to 50%

1:55:02area median income are shared values for

1:55:06both of these plans. So um certainly we

1:55:09believe this is an innovative approach

1:55:11but um also creating great efficiency

1:55:13where we could join efforts and kind of

1:55:16have um you know when we're going out to

1:55:18the community which we'll be talking

1:55:19about um asking them one time. Uh so

1:55:23we're excited about that. Um and all

1:55:26will be talking about the focus areas

1:55:27where we hope that will illustrate how

1:55:29these plans really are companions um

1:55:33companion actions. So um next slide

1:55:36please.

1:55:37So just to kind of recap the

1:55:39methodology, uh we wanted to use our

1:55:43past plans as really a foundation and

1:55:45baseline and looking at those a lot of

1:55:47those actions are still relevant today.

1:55:50So we evaluated each of those actions

1:55:52and looked at, you know, have we already

1:55:54completed them? Are they still relevant?

1:55:56And then of course there were some

1:55:57actions that are no longer feasible. And

1:56:00so that was kind of our baseline review.

1:56:04Then um we looked at other assessments

1:56:06and needs and data that exists. So we

1:56:09didn't do a robust needs assessment

1:56:12because we have community partners that

1:56:14have done this work. So HPLink for

1:56:16example has a very um detailed needs

1:56:19assessment report. Belleview also

1:56:21produces a needs assessment every two

1:56:24years. And um to be honest, it's not

1:56:27always a checkbox. So, uh, Alex and I

1:56:30are frequently having conversations with

1:56:32our nonprofit providers and feel pretty

1:56:34plugged into the on the ground, um,

1:56:36information that's happening. So, with

1:56:39that, we uh, took all of that

1:56:41information and, um, developed a draft

1:56:44set of actions and strategies. And once

1:56:47we had those, we went out to community

1:56:50stakeholders and said, "Here's what we

1:56:53have and um, how to try to get a

1:56:56reaction, a response." still just be

1:56:58moving into that process.

1:57:03So, uh just to recap, the prior plans

1:57:07had a significant um effort. We had a

1:57:11consultant. There was a budget attached

1:57:13to those plans that allowed us to do a

1:57:15lot of robust community engagement and

1:57:18certainly um Rein 2050 was a very um

1:57:22significant engagement effort for our

1:57:24city. So all of those things were part

1:57:26of that baseline um that we had kind of

1:57:29a foundation for you know what we report

1:57:32on what the community was saying. We

1:57:34then um took these draft actions and

1:57:37strategies and went out to we emailed

1:57:41all of our um community partners, 50

1:57:43community partners and said, "Hey, you

1:57:46have an opportunity to meet with us

1:57:48one-on-one. You can email the comment.

1:57:51You can fill out a let's connect

1:57:52questionnaire." So we were trying to

1:57:54make this very accessible and easy for

1:57:56partners to respond in a way that worked

1:57:58best for them acknowledging that they

1:58:00get a lot of these types of ask. So with

1:58:03those um uh with that we received 16

1:58:07that we met one-on-one with 16 community

1:58:10partner organizations

1:58:12and then uh parallel to this process we

1:58:16were um running our let's connect

1:58:17questionnaire which some of our

1:58:20community partners responded to the

1:58:22let's let's connect um questionnaire and

1:58:25we had um that was available to

1:58:27community members. We received 33

1:58:30responses.

1:58:31um we met with our human services

1:58:33commission, planning commission and also

1:58:36um wanted to get feedback from other

1:58:38departments where there's certainly

1:58:39overlap in our work. So uh that is kind

1:58:43of the process. Um one we were very

1:58:46focused on what we were asking. This was

1:58:48not a blank state. So we acknowledged

1:58:50that we had a fairly baked plan to share

1:58:54with the community and we wanted to hear

1:58:58does this reflect what you're seeing in

1:59:00the community. So kind of get an

1:59:02affirmation. What are the most pressing

1:59:03needs? What are priorities? What's

1:59:06missing? What's unclear? Do you agree?

1:59:09Um most of all of the uh meetings we had

1:59:12with our community partners, there was

1:59:15consensus that yes, this plan is on the

1:59:16right track. The um let's connect survey

1:59:20uh because that was open to the public

1:59:21with a little more mixed feedback. We

1:59:23had um 50% of folks who said yes, we

1:59:27need to do more in the homeless space.

1:59:30and then other residents who responded

1:59:32and said I don't want more permanent

1:59:34supportive housing in my community. So

1:59:36um want to acknowledge that um we

1:59:39receive different feedback via that

1:59:41survey. That is all in attachment B of

1:59:44the plan and um very a little more

1:59:46details are included in that attachment.

1:59:51>> I think I'm turning over to Aleric. Yes.

1:59:55>> Yeah. Great. So I think um as we think

1:59:58about some of the ways that we can begin

1:59:59addressing the challenges facing our

2:00:01community such as housing insecurity,

2:00:03food insecurity, and just affordability

2:00:06in general, I think it's really

2:00:08important to acknowledge that there are

2:00:09certain things that are outside of our

2:00:11control. For example, the broader market

2:00:13forces like job market trends and rising

2:00:15rents and construction costs. Um state

2:00:18and federal policies around eligibility

2:00:20for benefits like SNAP and Medicaid. um

2:00:22and and changes to immigration policies

2:00:25that seem to be occurring very rapidly.

2:00:29Um on the county level, systems such as

2:00:32uh coordinated entry uh determines who

2:00:35has access to housing within the

2:00:36homeless system. We we don't have any

2:00:38control over that. Uh these are

2:00:40important to consider when thinking

2:00:41about how we can respond most

2:00:43effectively. In addition, the

2:00:45comprehensive plan has policies for how

2:00:48we implement our vision. We often hear

2:00:50from community members that the city

2:00:53needs more affordable housing and I

2:00:55think it's important to acknowledge that

2:00:57the city we don't build housing

2:00:58ourselves. Uh we don't build housing uh

2:01:01so we can't promise new homes but we can

2:01:05make development easier by setting clear

2:01:07rules and removing barriers in our role

2:01:09as a policy maker. And similarly, the

2:01:12city's not a direct human services

2:01:14provider, but we do fund nonprofit

2:01:16organizations to provide the services in

2:01:19the community. So, I won't go through

2:01:21each of these roles, but you'll see um

2:01:23that many of the proposed actions are

2:01:25framed within this context.

2:01:27Next slide.

2:01:30The plan is organized across three focus

2:01:32areas. So, get and keep people housed,

2:01:35uh build more housing faster, and

2:01:37connect and strengthen communities. And

2:01:40within these areas, we have um highlight

2:01:43strategies and then actions under each

2:01:45strategy. Many of the actions were

2:01:47written to allow the city to be nimble

2:01:49and responsive. Um for example, the

2:01:52action develop a coordinated strategy to

2:01:54address subregional shelter capacity

2:01:57challenges, particularly during severe

2:01:59weather events, touches on many of the

2:02:02city's roles. So, planning and tracking

2:02:04utilization numbers of local shelters,

2:02:06uh, convening cities and shelter

2:02:08providers, funding programs, and

2:02:10identifying needs, and also

2:02:12collaborating with the King County

2:02:14Regional Homelessness Authority to

2:02:16identify regional solutions and best

2:02:18practices.

2:02:20While we aren't going to go through each

2:02:21action since it's already 10:12 at

2:02:23night, we're happy to discuss questions

2:02:25about actions at the end of this

2:02:27presentation.

2:02:28Uh, next slide.

2:02:31So the focus area two uh the plan

2:02:34includes actions that depend on work

2:02:37across departments and we'll need really

2:02:39tight coordination with other teams to

2:02:41move these items forward. Some actions

2:02:43may also need more resources.

2:02:46We'll define the details as we build our

2:02:48annual work plans and as we learn more

2:02:51about what exactly is needed. These

2:02:54items will come forward to you in future

2:02:56budgets. The build more h build more

2:02:59housing faster focus area guides how the

2:03:01city can increase both the amount of

2:03:03housing and the speed at which it's

2:03:05built and this includes market rate and

2:03:08affordable homes. Examples of ways to

2:03:11move this forward might be direct city

2:03:13investment um increasing land capacity

2:03:16for new development, improving

2:03:18development review by ensuring proper

2:03:20staffing and streamlining of the review

2:03:23process.

2:03:25Next slide.

2:03:30Next slide. Oh, there we go. Okay. So,

2:03:33connect and strengthen community focuses

2:03:34on ways in which we can break down

2:03:37access barriers and encourage more

2:03:40community connection and stability and

2:03:42proactively plan for emerging needs and

2:03:45emergency events. And this will be

2:03:47critical as we anticipate many changes

2:03:49due to federal policies being

2:03:51implemented within the next few months.

2:03:53So number 42 we flag this particular

2:03:56example action partner in and lead

2:03:58efforts to improve processes and systems

2:04:01as we have a budget asked to hire a

2:04:03consultant to identify system

2:04:05improvements for programmatic rental

2:04:07assistance.

2:04:09Next slide.

2:04:12There were some questions from council

2:04:14about how we're going to measure

2:04:15performance and the plan doesn't add new

2:04:18metric add new metrics for each action.

2:04:21Uh, and this is intentional because we

2:04:23want to really streamline and focus our

2:04:25attention on fewer and clearer metrics.

2:04:28So instead, we're going to rely mainly

2:04:30on the adopted budgeting by priorities

2:04:32performance measures. And we're also

2:04:35guided by the King Countywide

2:04:38King Countywide planning policies,

2:04:41growth targets, and estimated housing

2:04:44needs for all income levels. Uh, these

2:04:46benchmarks were included in the Redmond

2:04:482050 comprehensive plan.

2:04:51Some of the proposed metrics include um

2:04:53things like the number of affordable

2:04:55units. Uh Redmond will be working to

2:04:57increase significantly increase units in

2:05:00the below 50% AMI levels and um also

2:05:03measures track measures tracked through

2:05:06the city's community health program.

2:05:08We'll be reporting out to council at

2:05:10least annually on the status of our plan

2:05:12and these reports will identify

2:05:15successes as well as challenges in

2:05:17moving things forward. And the plan is

2:05:19really intentionally flexible to allow

2:05:22the city to repri re reprioritize based

2:05:24on changing needs, conditions,

2:05:27resources, and opportunities.

2:05:30Next slide, which I think is thank you,

2:05:33which concludes our presentation. We're

2:05:35excited to hear your reactions and

2:05:37thoughts regarding the plan and happy to

2:05:39answer any questions you might have

2:05:40about the plan or any follow-up

2:05:42questions in response to the matrix

2:05:44document. Thanks.

2:05:47>> Thank you. Thank you so much team. Uh

2:05:49council, what questions do we have this

2:05:51evening? Council member Sony.

2:05:55>> No, recently uh because of the what we

2:05:58heard for an emergency shelters uh you

2:06:02know with the King counties Casey like

2:06:06not moving ahead and we discussed that

2:06:08this is now going to be work together in

2:06:11conjunction like you know in a

2:06:13partnership with the neighboring cities.

2:06:16Do you think it is it makes it makes

2:06:18sense for us to also run through this

2:06:20thing with our neighboring cities

2:06:22specifically for that or or are we

2:06:26already working on that piece like you

2:06:28know what's happening with that because

2:06:30I think that is a part of this

2:06:31presentation. So I'm just very curious

2:06:33to know more about that.

2:06:37Um yes. So uh that particular item is a

2:06:40high priority and um certainly one that

2:06:43I would be adding to 2027, but we are we

2:06:45are already having those conversations

2:06:47about shelter capacity and um that will

2:06:51be continue to exist with KCHA. Um they

2:06:54have access to real-time data about how

2:06:57shelters are being utilized. So we need

2:06:59to take advantage of that information um

2:07:02in King County as well. So um nothing

2:07:05concrete has happened but that is a high

2:07:07priority item.

2:07:10>> Go ahead council member Sony.

2:07:11>> So just any tentative timeline for that

2:07:14to happen.

2:07:17>> Um

2:07:19oh I was just going to say I think

2:07:21there's I think our hope would be so we

2:07:23have also as part of the budget process

2:07:25we did a pilot where we were able to do

2:07:26a severe weather expansion. So we have

2:07:28some success from there. So I would say

2:07:30that we will spend those dollars and so

2:07:32that part will be done. How we do more

2:07:34regional collaboration depends on the

2:07:36availability of other cities and their

2:07:38willingness to add funds to the pot that

2:07:41we already are going to have hopefully

2:07:43available um that Belleview has

2:07:44contributed to. Um so it's a little bit

2:07:46more dependent on what other parties are

2:07:49interested in partnering um with us for

2:07:51that part of it. So I hope that answers

2:07:53your question that we will have

2:07:55something specific that we'll spend and

2:07:57do but how big that pot can get will

2:07:59depend on um other collaborations.

2:08:03Ju just again a follow up on that like

2:08:05you know if when we talk about some of

2:08:07these grants I know there could be lot

2:08:09of faith-based organizations that can

2:08:12also uh step up to help and if there is

2:08:15some kinds of a grants that can be also

2:08:17provided. not only working with the

2:08:19cities but also working it locally

2:08:21within our city with some of these

2:08:23organizations those who are willing to

2:08:26help and some grants can be extended to

2:08:28that. That was just consideration.

2:08:33>> Okay. Uh council member Pria.

2:08:39>> Uh thank you for the presentation and

2:08:40and thank you for being here um so late.

2:08:43Uh one area that uh we as council um and

2:08:47particularly um the subcommittee of

2:08:49which I'm chair that we've had to deal

2:08:51with is regards to tenant protections.

2:08:53Um we're dealing with a lot of um

2:08:56inbound advocacy in my almost now year

2:08:58on council on that issue. I I would love

2:09:03to see um incorporated into our work

2:09:05plan and I'm not sure if this is the

2:09:07right place uh to do that but

2:09:08incorporated into our work plan in the

2:09:10next 3 years you know staff capacity uh

2:09:14to evaluate some of the proposals that

2:09:17we are receiving um because you know I

2:09:21think that this is the job of staff

2:09:23rather than the job of council um and

2:09:25right now there has been some uh tension

2:09:28where uh council is largely We have uh

2:09:32for instance the the members of the

2:09:33subcommittee um have had to go around

2:09:35doing some of the stakeholdering um for

2:09:38uh issues like um legislative issues

2:09:41like the right to continue tenency right

2:09:43to move proposals that have come to us

2:09:45uh and [clears throat] then um we have

2:09:48kind of tried to do the stakeholdering

2:09:49ourselves. I would just love to see that

2:09:51capacity for stakeholdering being put

2:09:53into the work plan for um the planning

2:09:56department rather than on a subcommittee

2:10:01if there is um agreement from from my

2:10:04colleagues.

2:10:06If if I may, Council Member Proria, um

2:10:09I'm going to to chime in to say I

2:10:11support the intent of the um of exactly

2:10:15what you're bringing up, which is that

2:10:18we hear from our community about the

2:10:21unique instability that renters face

2:10:25versus homeowners and others in our

2:10:26city. And um I hear you on on needing a

2:10:30solution that involves having more

2:10:32resources dedicated to monitoring and

2:10:36solving for those very specific pieces

2:10:39of instability. I do think actually that

2:10:42that is the work that we're doing here

2:10:43tonight. So um for for my part um when I

2:10:48asked that same question of of the plan,

2:10:51I I see an opportunity in the first

2:10:54focus area to make sure an additional

2:10:57action um is added that further

2:11:00addresses

2:11:02um the need to to again to monitor and

2:11:05solve for those challenges. I don't want

2:11:09to o use this moment to overprescribe

2:11:12any particular solution, but I do think

2:11:15from for my part at the at the pl place

2:11:18and elevation that a functional plan

2:11:20exists. It would be really important to

2:11:23me and this was something I was hoping

2:11:24to speak to tonight. So, I offer my um

2:11:27my support of your idea is is that we

2:11:31work toward having an amendment um added

2:11:34here that make sure when we adopt the

2:11:38housing and human services uh strategic

2:11:41plan, it has very clear direction from

2:11:43the from the city uh that we we know

2:11:46about these issues. we care about these

2:11:48issues and we want to dedicate time in

2:11:51in the coming five years and capacity uh

2:11:54to be solving for them. So that is

2:11:57something that's important to me and and

2:11:58I agree and um looking forward to uh

2:12:01feedback from from others on that. I see

2:12:03a hand in the room. Uh Council Member

2:12:05Kitser, thank you. And I'll just comment

2:12:07on that briefly and then I'll make one

2:12:09of my other comments. But I I think um

2:12:12under strategy 1A uh number four might

2:12:15be a good one for us to look at if we

2:12:16wanted to add some language in

2:12:17particular around kind of the policy

2:12:19development since it it talks about

2:12:21education for land landlord tenant

2:12:24rights, legal recourse resources that

2:12:26support housing stability, but

2:12:27potentially adding in that intentional

2:12:29policy development um support piece

2:12:32might be good. Um so anyway, just a note

2:12:36there and look forward to that following

2:12:38up on that as well. Um before we pass

2:12:40this um I think from my perspective one

2:12:44thing that I brought up I remember when

2:12:46we passed the human services strategic

2:12:48plan in 2022 was the question around um

2:12:53the funding and staffing of of this

2:12:57work. Uh I think at the time I said

2:12:59Brooke and all Alaric do an amazing job

2:13:01but if we see a growing need and and

2:13:04we've seen that in these recent years

2:13:06where sometimes we we could apply

2:13:07funding but could we get it to the

2:13:09organizations because do we even have

2:13:10enough staff capacity to be able to

2:13:12support that? I think I see it in number

2:13:1425 in here. But I do but I feel like at

2:13:18the time we said when we implement we'll

2:13:20discuss this but I just want to

2:13:22encourage tying this plan to budget asks

2:13:25if we internally need more staffing

2:13:28capacity to be able to support this

2:13:29plan. I'd really love to to see us

2:13:32invest in that. Um and want to

2:13:36especially uh just appreciate the work

2:13:38of our amazing human services staff. Um

2:13:42uh and but uh also that that I think um

2:13:45if we see a growing need uh that looking

2:13:48at what's the right size scaling for our

2:13:51city's um budget around uh support for

2:13:55this work um is something that that I

2:13:58continue to be very interested in. Um,

2:14:01so I I it's not necessarily maybe a

2:14:04change on this plan, but I would be

2:14:05interested in hearing how you think

2:14:07about it being tied to our upcoming

2:14:10budget decisions. Um, as if you have any

2:14:13any thoughts on it tonight or we could

2:14:15follow up as well. Yeah, I can uh jump

2:14:17in there and if it's all all right, I'll

2:14:19I'll address this one. And I'd actually

2:14:20like to go back to council member

2:14:22Pchioas and make sure that the kind of

2:14:24amendment you suggested um uh answers

2:14:27kind of what council or council member

2:14:29you were looking for um with calling out

2:14:32policy development maybe specifically as

2:14:34a either an additional action item or an

2:14:36edit to um uh one A4 on there. Um, and

2:14:42then in answer to your question about

2:14:44budget overall, I mean, this is true

2:14:46with like all of our functional plans,

2:14:47right? We're s and with Redmond 2050, we

2:14:50um have these kind of overarching goals

2:14:53uh that we'd like to be able to

2:14:54implement all today and we can do what

2:14:56we can do with the capacity that we

2:14:58have. And so I would say with um a

2:15:01number of these items, there are some um

2:15:04some of them will be budget um proposals

2:15:07that are coming through in this bianium.

2:15:09We this is also a five-year action plan.

2:15:10So we might also be coming um with

2:15:12budget requests in future bianiums as

2:15:15well. Um and so to uh answer your

2:15:19question in a somewhat circumspect way

2:15:21uh I would say some of these action

2:15:22items we'll be able to address with

2:15:24current staffing capacity and if we were

2:15:27trying to address all of them at once in

2:15:29this next bianium we would of course

2:15:31need additional staff capacity. But we

2:15:33recognize that that is a need that all

2:15:35of our departments have and so that is

2:15:36why um I think it's better taken up in

2:15:39terms of a budget question as you all

2:15:40look at the budget holistically um in

2:15:42this upcoming uh time.

2:15:44>> Yeah. Thank you. I guess I would just

2:15:46say because I I do think that we

2:15:48certainly look at at the budget as a

2:15:50whole. Um uh and uh I I just want to

2:15:55call out for my colleagues that I feel

2:15:56like we have had several budget cycles

2:15:58where we've said it will be upcoming and

2:16:01this is an area where we we kind of come

2:16:04up against it especially in the

2:16:05investments that we make in in this

2:16:07space um to to get out to our partners

2:16:10but it it takes a lot of staff work to

2:16:11be able to do that. So um I'll just

2:16:13underscore that one more time.

2:16:15>> Yeah. And and I can add I mean you there

2:16:16will be we heard from the council there

2:16:18was an interest in a housing navigator

2:16:23position description that's still still

2:16:25being determined if you if we're

2:16:27thinking about this holistically. This

2:16:29team is answering across the board a

2:16:31number of those questions. So, if we're

2:16:32adding staffing capacity to help with

2:16:34the policy development related to some

2:16:36of the more um rental services scope of

2:16:39work, that also helps to reduce the

2:16:41strain that's um on other staff who are

2:16:43doing things existing like helping with

2:16:45grants and so it um helps to add a

2:16:48little bit more as we kind of the team

2:16:50this team uh does a lot of different

2:16:52things and so as we add staff it helps

2:16:54them to be able to have more um work

2:16:57scope and so Brooke I don't know if you

2:16:58want to add to that. Yeah, and I just

2:17:00wanted to acknowledge and um express

2:17:02gratitude for the community health

2:17:03manager position which will be adding

2:17:05capacity of this team. I already think

2:17:07there's a number of actions that I'm

2:17:09that will be their um role to take that

2:17:11on. So um while it won't be directly in

2:17:14the grant administration, there's a lot

2:17:15of overlap and kind of those

2:17:17conversations that we're having with our

2:17:19partners. So that is going to be a great

2:17:21asset and um we're interviewing for the

2:17:23final candidates tomorrow. So just

2:17:25wanted to add that.

2:17:26>> Oh, that's a wonderful update. Thank

2:17:28you. Um before we move on, uh bit of

2:17:31housekeeping. Could I get a motion to

2:17:32extend the meeting by 15 minutes in

2:17:35order to allow for this conversation to

2:17:38be completed as well as to enter a few

2:17:41important items into council talk time?

2:17:42>> So moved.

2:17:43>> Second.

2:17:44>> It's been moved and seconded. All those

2:17:46in favor say I.

2:17:47>> I. I.

2:17:48>> I.

2:17:49>> I.

2:17:50>> And passes unanimously. Thank you so

2:17:52much. Uh who would like to speak next?

2:17:54Council member Parsy. Um I have a couple

2:17:57of items in terms of what I would love

2:17:59to see on this plan. Um for one, I would

2:18:03love to learn about what is being

2:18:05dropped by combining the two plans. So

2:18:08if there is anything worth highlighting,

2:18:10I would love to learn about that. Um but

2:18:14an a different category of area that I

2:18:16would have loved to see but I didn't see

2:18:18as much was keeping the community

2:18:21healthy. Um and that was inspired

2:18:24partially by the comment from council

2:18:26member foresight earlier um about the

2:18:29nutrition quality of our foods. So um I

2:18:33would love to know if we have

2:18:34opportunities around having healthy

2:18:37communities uh that could look in terms

2:18:39of partnership with local farmers. We

2:18:41currently have partnership called that

2:18:43with local nonprofits. Um but if we can

2:18:46bring um high quality um um food um to

2:18:51our community that would be really

2:18:53fantastic at low cost. Um and then other

2:18:56things that are top of mind in terms of

2:18:58keeping the community healthy are

2:19:00providing youth um opportunities and

2:19:02supporting youth. Um as we're investing

2:19:05in the teen center, I think we have an

2:19:08opportunity to you know for example I

2:19:10foresee providing mental health services

2:19:13there. I pro I foresee um supporting

2:19:16youth with providing um different types

2:19:18of activities and support. So I would

2:19:20love to see if we can strengthen um and

2:19:23add a um health component to this plan.

2:19:32>> Um I I'll chime in a couple thoughts um

2:19:35if that's okay. Uh thank you so much

2:19:37Council Member Parcy for um your

2:19:40thinking on this. I um

2:19:45there are some additional information

2:19:46that was there was a a response to kind

2:19:49of the question about combining the

2:19:50plans in the matrix um that was added on

2:19:53to the council packet. I share I share

2:19:56the tension there that it's it's still

2:19:58hard to fully grasp um when it comes for

2:20:01uh food and particularly um youth and

2:20:04youth mental health services. These are

2:20:07things that we're currently funding in

2:20:10our human services. This is work that we

2:20:13do. So I I'm interested in clarifying.

2:20:16Are you proposing a new type of work

2:20:18where whereby the the city itself

2:20:21provides mental health services or are

2:20:23you asking for us to clarify better in

2:20:26the details of the plan um that this is

2:20:29a priority in the in the human services

2:20:32delivery? Yeah, I see that as a um not

2:20:36something that city would deliver on its

2:20:38own but a partnership to provide that

2:20:40service to the community. Um so part of

2:20:43the goals that we would part of

2:20:46strategic goals and priorities that we

2:20:47would set would include supporting youth

2:20:49and I know we are lightly touching on

2:20:52food security and supporting youth but I

2:20:54would love to strengthen those

2:20:55components.

2:20:56>> Can I ask a clarifying question? So um

2:20:59first uh thank you council president.

2:21:01Yes, we do. I we we're just all

2:21:02messaging. I don't think we have any

2:21:04items that we dropped. There's items

2:21:06that we dropped because they were

2:21:08completed and I believe that was in um

2:21:11uh and we talked about this. We can

2:21:13include I know we've provided this in

2:21:14the past when we've given the annual

2:21:16reports to council, those old plans that

2:21:19have the lists of what was accomplished

2:21:20or not accomplished. So, I know Ian did

2:21:23a good job saying um what was

2:21:25transferred over from the old ones in

2:21:26the issue matrix, but if you would like

2:21:28to see those old plans, we can attach

2:21:30that into either the consent or

2:21:32[clears throat]

2:21:32whatever we determine is the next

2:21:34process just so you can see the actual

2:21:36documents. Um and then in terms of the

2:21:38uh other question you had around food

2:21:40insecurity, we do have um strategy 3D

2:21:44and action 37. That's the engage in

2:21:47regular convenings and conversations

2:21:48with nonprofit partners to monitor

2:21:50emerging community needs, evaluate

2:21:52service gaps, and coordinate cross-

2:21:53sector responses for strategies included

2:21:56monitoring policy shifts, Medicaid,

2:21:58SNAP, and continuum of care or um what

2:22:02I'm assuming that language is not enough

2:22:03for what you'd like. So, you're

2:22:05suggesting maybe a recommendation around

2:22:08um

2:22:10and I'm trying to think more like

2:22:12working with partners to address food

2:22:14insecurity as a whole. Is that kind of

2:22:17what what would be be looking for?

2:22:19>> Would it be helpful if I follow up with

2:22:21a proposal for what I will address?

2:22:23>> Yeah.

2:22:27>> Um Allaric, did you have something you

2:22:28wanted to add?

2:22:30Yeah, I just um so I just wanted to note

2:22:33that we do actually and we we just

2:22:35finished um putting together a list of

2:22:39uh funding recommendations, preliminary

2:22:41funding recommendations that are going

2:22:42to go to the human services commission

2:22:44next week, but they will be coming to

2:22:46council on um October 27th. And we are

2:22:49we do fund a number of of uh food

2:22:52programs as well as youth mental health

2:22:54programs. And uh I was just looking at

2:22:57the um the guiding principles uh that

2:23:00the human services commission identified

2:23:03this uh funding cycle and there were

2:23:07four uh one is food insecurity and basic

2:23:10needs. Um and another one is behavioral

2:23:12health services. And we do have a um

2:23:16counselor from youth east side uh youth

2:23:19east side services at the teen center

2:23:21now uh one day a week with plans to

2:23:24increase that as the um uh participation

2:23:29expands. Uh right now there aren't a

2:23:30whole lot of youth there. Um so they're

2:23:34continuing to do outreach uh out in the

2:23:36community and in the schools. And the

2:23:38plan is that when there's more of a a

2:23:42mass of massive bodies, when there are

2:23:44more um people at the teen center, they

2:23:47will continue to increase the number of

2:23:48groups and um counseling sessions that

2:23:51they're able to offer.

2:23:53>> Thanks, Aler. And I think maybe to your

2:23:55point and maybe also what the council

2:23:57president was saying is there's a lot of

2:23:58items we tried to keep them more scoped

2:24:02so that because there's a lot of items

2:24:04we do in kind of an ongoing way or maybe

2:24:06more of a light touch. what I'm hearing

2:24:07from you is maybe looking at um further

2:24:10expansion than what our grants are

2:24:12already um working on. So, I think we

2:24:15can be open to that, but I think I'd

2:24:17also like to hear maybe from the council

2:24:18whether there's an interest in

2:24:20holistically adding that to the plan or

2:24:22not. And we'll we'll also provide the um

2:24:27language that maybe is presented.

2:24:29>> Yeah, thank you. And I I do see we have

2:24:30another hand. So to confirm um just cuz

2:24:33there's head nodding and um I can only

2:24:35look in one direction at one time. Um

2:24:37council member Parsey is it is the

2:24:39director correct in that you are um

2:24:42proposing an expanded program area. Um

2:24:46would it be possible for you to

2:24:48articulate a little bit to the council

2:24:50tonight so that we can um understand if

2:24:54that is a is a proposal that um we'd

2:24:56like to see in the next iteration.

2:24:59It doesn't have to be final language or

2:25:01anything. Um, yeah, you could articulate

2:25:03it one more time.

2:25:04>> Yeah. And actually, I saw a couple of

2:25:06hands. I would love to before I kind of

2:25:08get too specific in the articulation, I

2:25:11would love to hear from the rest of the

2:25:12council to see if this is a general

2:25:14direction that um um has support and if

2:25:17there's other ways that others are maybe

2:25:20thinking about it, I would love to hear

2:25:21it before I kind of be more specific.

2:25:23>> Okay. So, we're going to circle back to

2:25:24you. So there are kind of two on the

2:25:26table then actually um two potential

2:25:30directions. Um one is related to tenant

2:25:34I'm going to call it tenant protections

2:25:35for the moment. Um and expanded

2:25:39uh programs to keep community healthy.

2:25:41Um so as we go around council member for

2:25:44you are next.

2:25:45>> I will say yes and yes.

2:25:46>> Thank you.

2:25:47>> Both of those. Um, I just do want to

2:25:49remind that we do have in this budget

2:25:52cycle, we are looking at adding a uh

2:25:54youth mental health crisis responder.

2:25:57So, we are expanding in that arena. Um,

2:26:00so just keep that in mind as we're

2:26:02working towards this. I'm fully in

2:26:04support of adding more youth mental

2:26:06health support um and especially the

2:26:09food access. We're about to see a giant

2:26:12cliff in the funding from this in the

2:26:13federal level. So I think um enhancing

2:26:16these is is very interesting to me on

2:26:19both fronts.

2:26:20>> Thank you.

2:26:22Other comments,

2:26:26council member Kitzer.

2:26:29>> I guess it seems to me like uh number 35

2:26:34does um cover some of this. So, it may

2:26:37be that we just want to enhance some of

2:26:39the language uh on number 35 um

2:26:42specifically around youth mental health,

2:26:43which I I totally support enhancing um

2:26:47strengthening that um in [clears throat]

2:26:50particular.

2:26:55>> Thank you. Other comments?

2:27:00How about the um additional proposal

2:27:04that was uh maybe kicked off by council

2:27:06member Proria and um uh to to have a

2:27:12second look at

2:27:14strengthening a strategy around

2:27:17monitoring and solving for the needs of

2:27:19tenants in the city of Redmond. Council

2:27:22member Parcy,

2:27:23>> I support that. I don't know if we want

2:27:26to be specific or prescriptive in that

2:27:28way, but I see an opportunity for, for

2:27:30example, um supporting funding for um

2:27:34ESITE legal assistant program that could

2:27:36potentially go in that direction. Um but

2:27:39generally, I support it um in different

2:27:41ways that we can.

2:27:45>> Great. Thank you. And we we do fund uh

2:27:48ELAP at the at the moment as well. We do

2:27:50for for a certain um income requirement

2:27:53versus for any tenant.

2:27:55>> I I see. Okay.

2:27:57Other comments

2:28:00uh or reflections. Council member

2:28:01Kitser,

2:28:04>> just um I know we're getting late here,

2:28:06but um I'll just put a note in there in

2:28:09here on two things. Um, one is that we

2:28:13uh, it's mentioned in some of the

2:28:15feedback um, about in particular our

2:28:18immigrant community members, immigrant

2:28:20and refugee community members being

2:28:21concerned about sense of safety and um,

2:28:26uh, support. And in in the response to

2:28:28that, it notes uh, number 36 as

2:28:30responding to that. But the specifics of

2:28:33what number 36 talks about is the

2:28:34LGBTQIA community um, and creating safe

2:28:38spaces for them. but doesn't doesn't

2:28:41necessarily specifically call out

2:28:42immigrant refugee community. Um I

2:28:45totally support number 36 and and

2:28:47specifically supporting um expanding

2:28:50safe supportive spaces for LGBTQA plus

2:28:53community, but um we might want to

2:28:56either integrate there or have a

2:28:58different call out. I noted that it said

2:29:01as kind of the preface that that we're

2:29:03going to be integrating this throughout,

2:29:04but we don't have any strategy that

2:29:06specifically calls out our immigrant

2:29:07community. Um, and it seems like that

2:29:10was an important piece of feedback. The

2:29:12only other thing that I'll flag as well

2:29:14is that we did get a um a public

2:29:18commenter last week who noted um about

2:29:21the lack of uh specific strategies

2:29:24around um inclusive early learning and

2:29:26child care. There is a mention about

2:29:28parent education in one of the

2:29:30strategies, but um we might consider um

2:29:33just including that within I I can't

2:29:36remember which strategy that is, but um

2:29:38that would be my other suggestion.

2:29:44>> I'm going to take them one at a time um

2:29:46and and try to u make sure I capture it.

2:29:50First, I'd just like to ask it looks

2:29:52like we're going to have another touch

2:29:53on this topic. I'd like to make sure

2:29:55that we um are able to leave the staff

2:29:57tonight with the the short list of

2:29:59things that we'd like to circle back on.

2:30:01So, um on the suggestion to take another

2:30:03look at how the plan specifically

2:30:06addresses the needs of the immigrant

2:30:07community, can I see a round of just uh

2:30:10thumbs for support of just having staff

2:30:11do a double check on that particular

2:30:13one? Okay, seeing support for that one.

2:30:16Um early learning was was also mentioned

2:30:20by Council Member Critzer. We have the

2:30:22um healthy community, food security,

2:30:25mental health. Um at this point, I've

2:30:28heard uh three speakers um on that one.

2:30:32So I I think that that one is headed

2:30:33toward the list um having a second look,

2:30:36maybe some word smithing support from

2:30:38council member Parsy. Is there support

2:30:40for having council member Parsy and the

2:30:43staff work on a refinement of language

2:30:45related to that?

2:30:49Seeing uh sufficient thumbs. Okay,

2:30:51great. How about let's go back to the um

2:30:53the tenant protections and addressing

2:30:54the needs of renters, seeing support for

2:30:57that. Okay, great. Uh early learning

2:31:01thoughts on early learning as was

2:31:03referenced by a speaker last week.

2:31:05>> A quick Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I think

2:31:08I um based on the discussion, I feel

2:31:10like there's some easy ways for us to

2:31:12incorporate some of the uh requests

2:31:15we've heard ac across those various

2:31:17topics. Um that wouldn't um be too too

2:31:20much work to turn around and maybe have

2:31:22um council's feedback on. Um the I did

2:31:25want to share I think the early learning

2:31:27is something we could incorporate. It

2:31:29also feels like a much larger scope

2:31:31that's different than what our current

2:31:33kind of like we do some amount of grants

2:31:35related to that but and I know this is

2:31:38been a a priority of the council and

2:31:40we've done some work on the planning

2:31:42side for um uh increasing daycarees and

2:31:46schools and options like that but

2:31:48provide getting more into the work scope

2:31:50of early learning feels like a much

2:31:52bigger uh lift that I just want to be

2:31:54honest around like if this is a

2:31:56five-year plan um I would of concerns uh

2:31:59about accomplishing that uh goal in the

2:32:02same way. So just wanted to share that

2:32:04thought and feedback.

2:32:06>> Thank you. Appreciate that. Council

2:32:07member Critzer,

2:32:08>> I just say I mean maybe separate

2:32:10separating early learning from child

2:32:12care, but just if we are looking at

2:32:14things that that are um in particular um

2:32:18concerning for folks in terms of

2:32:20affordability. Um if we talk about

2:32:22housing, I think child care is a part of

2:32:24that conversation. And so uh just

2:32:27recognizing that um within this plan I

2:32:30think even if it it maybe it is further

2:32:34off um but identifying that that we want

2:32:37to look at at ways which we already have

2:32:39done some things in recent years to be

2:32:40able to expand um accessibility of of

2:32:44child care and whether we could can look

2:32:46at ways to be able to also address

2:32:47affordability

2:32:49um or or you know for example some of

2:32:51the things that we've done to make it

2:32:52easier for more childcare facilities to

2:32:54be built. Um, that could be something I

2:32:56could see happening in the next five

2:32:57years. So, that might be just the area

2:32:58to work on.

2:33:00>> Okay. Yeah, I that I think it could

2:33:02makes I can see that within kind of

2:33:03staff's current work plan or scopes of

2:33:05work. Um, I just would want to be

2:33:07mindful not adding kind of a different

2:33:09scope to um the what the department

2:33:12covers already, but I think we could add

2:33:13an action or incorporate an action that

2:33:16um make sure that we're kind of

2:33:17continually assessing and making any

2:33:19anything that's within our power

2:33:21permitting otherwise that we're helping

2:33:23to make that access easier.

2:33:27>> Is there council support for the

2:33:28direction that was just stated

2:33:31to make that modification to the plan

2:33:33and and see it come back to us? to

2:33:36reflect the work that is currently

2:33:38ongoing.

2:33:39Okay, seeing that around the room. Thank

2:33:41you so much.

2:33:43Uh thank you, Director Allen. Um yeah,

2:33:47Council Member Parsy, before I call on

2:33:49you, may I have a motion to extend uh

2:33:51the meeting by 10 minutes?

2:33:53>> So moved.

2:33:54>> It's been moved.

2:33:55>> Second.

2:33:56>> It's been moved and seconded. All those

2:33:57in favor?

2:33:58>> I

2:33:59>> I

2:34:00>> I

2:34:01>> Thank you, Council Member Parsy.

2:34:04Um I wanted to see if we have

2:34:06opportunity to add one more component to

2:34:09this. Um so we currently are not doing a

2:34:13whole lot. So I what I heard from um

2:34:16speaking with the fire department is

2:34:18that we have an increasing a large

2:34:21population of rising a rising population

2:34:23of seniors coming [gasps] up. And I

2:34:26wanted to see if in the healthy

2:34:28component we could consider adding uh

2:34:31similar to number 34 where we have

2:34:33foster activities that help individuals

2:34:35and families building skills. It could

2:34:38write something like foster activities

2:34:40that help individuals age um in a

2:34:43healthy way. Um so I would love to see

2:34:46if that's there's interest for that.

2:34:56Um, thank you. I'll I'll admit my

2:35:00familiarity with the document itself is

2:35:02is waning with the hour. Um, but are

2:35:06there uh any comments from the staff on

2:35:08where um support for aging seniors may

2:35:11already exist in the plan?

2:35:13>> Yeah, I I think we Brooke and I were

2:35:15just confirring. I think we could maybe

2:35:17add that into item 34 or you know also

2:35:21thinking about the um we were we were

2:35:23careful not to try and make things too

2:35:25specific on each kinds of populations in

2:35:27this and so there's kind of references

2:35:29to where we're giving kind of examples

2:35:32but like like 36 where it did um didn't

2:35:34mention um refugee and immigrant

2:35:37communities specifically but does have

2:35:39other um populations raised that would

2:35:41be an area could just that we could als

2:35:42but um to your point I think um some of

2:35:45these they're also uh can can focus on

2:35:49seniors more specifically or we can add

2:35:51that in. Sorry B go ahead. I might just

2:35:53have a different perspective. So um I

2:35:55just want to acknowledge that there are

2:35:57a lot of needs. So the this plan doesn't

2:35:59cover everything. You know we have um a

2:36:02number of programs that we're funding

2:36:03and so it being absent is not a

2:36:07reflection that we're not doing anything

2:36:09in that space. Um so it is it's very

2:36:13intentional in the actions that we have

2:36:15here as we see at the highest priorities

2:36:18and consistent with the feedback that we

2:36:20receive in the community and the only

2:36:21thing I would add with aging healthy

2:36:23communities without actually having

2:36:25conversations with Chief Shepard about

2:36:27kind of what fire is doing and what the

2:36:29senior center is doing is there may be

2:36:31other departments and there may be an

2:36:32opportunity there but there are other

2:36:35organizations that are more um steeped

2:36:39in this space. So I'm thinking of, you

2:36:41know, aging and disability services.

2:36:43There's other coalitions that are very

2:36:45focused in this area. So trying to think

2:36:49about the city's role and what we can

2:36:52accomplish and are we more kind of

2:36:54participating in those conversations or

2:36:55are we leading those conversations? So

2:36:58um I take the feedback, but also I'm

2:37:01just pondering that about kind of how

2:37:03much of a role we're going to have in

2:37:05that space recognizing that there are

2:37:06other entities that are doing this type

2:37:08of work.

2:37:11Yeah, thank you. That's a really good

2:37:12reminder that all of these functional

2:37:14plans um are are kind of couched

2:37:16together. Council member Sony.

2:37:19Um actually I've been thinking about

2:37:21this but then I do see domestic violence

2:37:25covered to a certain extent um as part

2:37:28of the specialized

2:37:30um

2:37:33you know u I I'm a big advocate for uh

2:37:36the domestic violence prevention and

2:37:38awareness and I believe this needs a lot

2:37:41of a preventive actions and the the

2:37:44challenges that I have seen it's like

2:37:46you know that's what is also leading to

2:37:48homelessness That's what is leading to

2:37:50lot of other challenges. It's like you

2:37:52know it's just it's there is a cascading

2:37:54effect also that's coming from there and

2:37:57the biggest challenge that exists right

2:37:59now is the legal support because this is

2:38:02pretty expensive. You may get initial

2:38:05proono lawyer you may get initial

2:38:07support but the the journey for that is

2:38:12long. It may take one full year, two

2:38:14years till them some resolution has been

2:38:17provided.

2:38:19This is one of the areas that I believe

2:38:22like you know there's not much has been

2:38:24done like you know we talk about an

2:38:26advocacy we talk about providing an

2:38:28immediate help at that moment but

2:38:32dealing with some of these um situations

2:38:35it takes much longer and much more

2:38:37efforts than what just an immediate help

2:38:39can provide and I believe like you know

2:38:41if there's something that we can do as

2:38:43an an extra as a part of this that would

2:38:45be a kind of a thing that I may want to

2:38:47highlight

2:38:49And uh like you know we have seen that

2:38:52our data has shown that that's one of

2:38:54the biggest like the crime that is still

2:38:56high and any kind of a situation comes

2:38:58that's one of the the the kind of a

2:39:02situation that will always go to the

2:39:03peak whether it's COVID job situations

2:39:06or any of these.

2:39:10Uh, thank you, council member. And yeah,

2:39:11I um I'll look um if there's I feel like

2:39:15there's maybe a couple items that maybe

2:39:17reach that. I would also say that I

2:39:18think in terms of domestic violence,

2:39:20it's represented in to your point in our

2:39:23housing work and in prevention dollars

2:39:25and in the grant dollars that we already

2:39:27contract um uh with. And so it's

2:39:30represented holistically in the same way

2:39:32that senior services are represented

2:39:34across different departments and work

2:39:35that's kind of um going on. and but

2:39:37absolutely see it as a ongoing kind of

2:39:40priority for work. But Brooke, you

2:39:41wanted to add?

2:39:42>> Yeah, [snorts] so I would just say

2:39:43broadly um I know that it's hard to see

2:39:46things missing. Um one of the options in

2:39:49here that I think really captures it.

2:39:50Well, there's a couple, but um one in

2:39:52particular is that um we really want to

2:39:54be intentional in our regular

2:39:56conversations with our agency partners

2:39:58to identify the system gaps. So, I think

2:40:00through those conversations there could

2:40:02be a that could result in like we really

2:40:05need to think about what the access

2:40:08barriers are for um survivors of

2:40:10domestic violence. And so, while it

2:40:13doesn't call out all the Pacific

2:40:14providers, but that action is um the

2:40:17city's role of convening our providers,

2:40:20planning, tracking data, how do we

2:40:22respond to that data? So I don't know if

2:40:24that and you know convening and um

2:40:26having community meeting about issues

2:40:28that our community is facing. So while

2:40:30we don't have detailed um because we

2:40:33could do that for every topic. So I want

2:40:35to acknowledge and certainly reiterate

2:40:37that we are seeing a lot of concerning

2:40:39trends in that area um and particularly

2:40:42uh with how um victims are accessing

2:40:46those services. So, those are

2:40:47conversations that we're having right

2:40:49now. Um, but it's it's not called out,

2:40:51but we'd be open to that feedback if we

2:40:53we need to be more specific.

2:40:56>> Thank you. I appreciate that. And I I do

2:40:58think that um from for my part, action

2:41:0043 does actually name um the system

2:41:03improvements and process improvements to

2:41:05support uh victims of domestic violence

2:41:08pretty explicitly. Um so, for my part, I

2:41:11I do see that there. Um but again, we're

2:41:14going to see this plan again. We've I

2:41:17I'm trying to also um be somewhat of a

2:41:20competent chair here to say we

2:41:22definitely have more conversation to

2:41:24have. I think we've identified a few

2:41:26areas where maybe we'd like to um see

2:41:28some proposed new language next time we

2:41:31see it. Um but this item is still open

2:41:33and I would encourage folks to uh confer

2:41:36with staff on individual um questions or

2:41:39word smithing or just to get greater

2:41:41context. I realize it's it's late here

2:41:43tonight. Is that somewhat satisfactory

2:41:46uh to the staff at the at this moment?

2:41:49>> I think I would just get I think I feel

2:41:51like I have an avenue to address most of

2:41:53these uh comments that have come up and

2:41:57um and ideally we would recruit those.

2:42:00If there are more, we would like to know

2:42:02what those are so we can address those

2:42:03and then ideally still bring this

2:42:05forward on consent. Um, so my my hope

2:42:08was that if we could have some of this

2:42:10language, we could share this revised

2:42:12language at like a 2P or 2 TPW or PSHs

2:42:15or upcoming committee meeting and then

2:42:17it could go on consent um after that

2:42:19rather than needing a whole another

2:42:21study session because I think we're

2:42:22we're pretty close is what I'm hearing

2:42:24besides some

2:42:25>> Exactly. And one more um nuance might be

2:42:27as you're developing or identifying the

2:42:30language that addresses a particular

2:42:32council member's area of concern u feel

2:42:34free to run that language by them you

2:42:36know and make sure that they're feeling

2:42:37good about it but so that when we get to

2:42:39that committee we really are feeling

2:42:41like we're we're bought in. So um any

2:42:44comments further comments on the council

2:42:46side? Seeing thumbs up. All right we

2:42:49have two minutes remaining in this

2:42:51meeting. With that, we'll go ahead and

2:42:52close this item and open up council talk

2:42:54time, which is our last item of the

2:42:56night. Thank you so much uh once again

2:42:58to all the staff who are hanging out

2:42:59late with us tonight. Um there's quite a

2:43:02a few things to that are on the list for

2:43:05council talk time tonight um from

2:43:08council leadership. I will condense a

2:43:10few things. Also, we were planning to

2:43:12kick it off um by having council member

2:43:14Foresight share with us a bit about her

2:43:17recent tour with the housing development

2:43:18consortium. um this was a council funded

2:43:21um research trip um that she represented

2:43:24us on. So, council member Foresight, I

2:43:27do realize it's late, but if you'd have

2:43:28a few words to share and how you might

2:43:30share more. Sure. I will try to be very

2:43:33quick. Um it was an amazing trip next

2:43:35year. I really hope that someone from

2:43:37staff can join. I think it would have

2:43:39been amazing to have Deputy Director

2:43:40Allen with us this year. Um so, I'm

2:43:42hoping that can happen when this trip

2:43:45happens next year. Uh, we visited

2:43:47Translink, which is their version of

2:43:48Sound Transit. But the really

2:43:49interesting thing about their

2:43:51>> Sorry, could you say where you went?

2:43:52>> Sorry. We went to Vancouver, BC, and

2:43:54studied housing there because they have

2:43:56a very strong condo market. We do not.

2:43:58We have a very strong rental market.

2:44:00They do not. So, it was a lot of

2:44:01information sharing. Um, so we went to

2:44:04the Translink, which is their version of

2:44:06Sound Transit. And one major difference

2:44:09between the two entities is that they

2:44:12have a mandate to support land use and

2:44:15planning and um building housing which

2:44:18was very cool. So they land bank and

2:44:20then they um try to future plan around

2:44:24station development and hopefully the

2:44:26future planning that they're doing

2:44:28allows for housing development or other

2:44:31sorts of development along with um

2:44:33transit. They are 21st in the in North

2:44:37America in size of population, but they

2:44:39are third in transit use, which was

2:44:41pretty incredible. Um, real quickly,

2:44:44just a couple other highlights. They

2:44:46have something called a strata property

2:44:47act, which allows um people to pre-by

2:44:52into condo properties. Um so a couple of

2:44:56the takeaways from our workg groups um

2:44:59that is something that we will be

2:45:00looking at for the 2029

2:45:02legislative session of ways that I

2:45:05identified it as a way um for

2:45:08millennials and younger to potentially

2:45:09be able to buy into the housing market

2:45:11that seems so unattainable right now. So

2:45:14we did walk away with um four workg

2:45:16groups and actionable items for policy

2:45:20for um next year and beyond. There's a

2:45:23condo workg group. There's an off-site

2:45:26building workg group. Um, and that was

2:45:28about kind of prefab ways to build

2:45:31housing. And it was identified that some

2:45:32of that could be useful for the folks in

2:45:36Spokane and rebuilding. Um, and then

2:45:39there was a TOD um, workg group as well.

2:45:42I'm currently on three of those. I might

2:45:44take myself off of to that is one that

2:45:47everyone piled on to. Um, but I will

2:45:50give further updates as I have them

2:45:52through those work groups.

2:45:55>> Awesome. Thank you so much. And if

2:45:56there's anything the group can read

2:45:57about particularly the legislation that

2:45:59you shared, um, that'd be really

2:46:01helpful.

2:46:01>> Not yet, but there probably will be. And

2:46:03I will forward the packet because there

2:46:04was a really amazing um, project that

2:46:08was being developed on tribal lands that

2:46:10the tribes fought to get back from the

2:46:12government. Um, and because it was

2:46:14tribal land, there's no regulation. So,

2:46:17it's really cool. and I'll happily show

2:46:19you videos of it.

2:46:21>> Wonderful. And thank you for taking um

2:46:23the time to do that work and to report

2:46:26back and we'll I'll follow up with um

2:46:29you for um more. Okay. Uh a few other

2:46:33things. I'm going to put some

2:46:34information in council inboxes related

2:46:36to the new legislative coordinator. I

2:46:38was hoping to be able to say this uh

2:46:40candidates's name out loud. We're just

2:46:42waiting for a couple last processes uh

2:46:44to to take place, but we are hoping

2:46:46October 7th as a start date for the new

2:46:48legislative coordinator. Um a couple of

2:46:51the things I'll put in your inbox

2:46:52include um this candidates's um

2:46:55qualifications and resume um and also uh

2:46:58some of the thinking council vice

2:47:01president and I started our day in city

2:47:02hall this morning working with UNI on

2:47:04some of the um ideas and projects that

2:47:07we think are coming up for uh this

2:47:09position over the next year. and would

2:47:11love to have your eyes on it to help us

2:47:14identify some of the new ways. I know uh

2:47:16Council Member Proria has has a a list

2:47:18now that he's been on the staff side in

2:47:20DC. So, uh we'll get into that a little

2:47:22bit. Uh quick reminder to send Chief Low

2:47:25your questions related to the study

2:47:27session on the Office of Airspace

2:47:29Management proposal. Um that study

2:47:31session is scheduled in November. I will

2:47:33acknowledge that council leadership um

2:47:36does have concerns about this date and

2:47:37that it's scheduled after the budget.

2:47:39staff are confident that it doesn't need

2:47:41to be moved sooner. Um, so as questions

2:47:44arise during the budget process on that,

2:47:45we will handle them, you know, as they

2:47:47come up, but please do. I I think the

2:47:49new deadline for that is October 1st,

2:47:52which is next week. Two of the big

2:47:54topics that are in front of the council

2:47:56that are incomplete at the moment. Um,

2:47:58the first I want to acknowledge the HR

2:48:01assessment conversation that we had in

2:48:03new business last week. Um, Mayor Bernie

2:48:06sent a note to the council on Friday

2:48:08that responded to some of the council

2:48:10feedback, particularly on the sole

2:48:12source nature of that contract. She and

2:48:14I spoke over the weekend and, um, where

2:48:17we landed is that, uh, she really would

2:48:20like to keep the two assessments, HR and

2:48:24payroll, uh, separate because they are

2:48:27operating, um, I'm going to call it at

2:48:29different elevations and in different

2:48:31process areas. Um but since we are

2:48:34having an RFP committee that includes uh

2:48:37staff and council leadership for the

2:48:40payroll side of things um that we have

2:48:42an opportunity here to actually use the

2:48:44same RFP committee for the HR assessment

2:48:48as well. This would give um it's it's

2:48:50rare to have this amount of staff and

2:48:52also council representation on those RFP

2:48:54committees. this um could help identify

2:48:58also um opportunities for these two RFPs

2:49:03to be synchronous with one another and

2:49:05not duplicative. I think that one of the

2:49:07concerns when we're talking about this

2:49:09amount of dollars is um that we might be

2:49:12duplicating work in some way. So, um at

2:49:15this time, and this is what Mayor Bernie

2:49:17and I discussed, is I'd like to get any

2:49:19council feedback on on where that

2:49:21proposal stands at the moment. Um, and

2:49:25if or if possible to kind of be able to

2:49:28give direction that that sounds like a

2:49:31good plan for a next step. Um, so that

2:49:34when we come back to this process, we're

2:49:37we're feeling confident. So interested

2:49:39to hear folks's feedback on that one.

2:49:41Council member Parsy.

2:49:43>> Yeah, I'll just um add something because

2:49:46I originally raised some of the concerns

2:49:48with this item. Um, I would be very

2:49:50interested to see if there's a

2:49:52possibility of us knowing when we are

2:49:55going to have a new HR director because

2:49:58I would very much love to see an HR

2:50:00director be involved in the uh selection

2:50:03of the consultant who will shape their

2:50:06department. So, I think it would be

2:50:08really great to have that opportunity

2:50:11versus us hire um the city hire a

2:50:14consultant and then that consultant

2:50:17giving the new HR director feedback. Um

2:50:20so, that's something that I would love

2:50:22to see and learn about if it's possible

2:50:24for us to know the timeline um for HR

2:50:26director hiring.

2:50:28>> Sure. It's not my my place to speak for

2:50:30the administration at this point, but I

2:50:32I given how the timeline would work out,

2:50:36I would say your wish would come true on

2:50:38this particular one because as we've

2:50:40heard, the hiring process is underway

2:50:42right now for that director. And since

2:50:45the RFP wouldn't be even going out the

2:50:48door for a little while, that's probably

2:50:50how how things would end up.

2:50:55other feedback or questions

2:51:00or information that would be helpful.

2:51:08Council member Kitzer,

2:51:10>> I guess I'd say if at this point they're

2:51:12going back for RFP on this, um I think

2:51:16that was, you know, that that's one way

2:51:18to address what we're currently what

2:51:21were some of the concerns. Um I I do

2:51:24wonder whether it could since it seems

2:51:26like we already were at the precipice

2:51:29if whether the the RFP might be more

2:51:31quickly at least for the first one um

2:51:34distributed um since you know we're

2:51:36already basically at the point of hiring

2:51:38someone um

2:51:41but that would just be my question but I

2:51:44think um

2:51:45>> not I just want to be really clear in

2:51:46your question because I'm uh trying to

2:51:49problem solve. So is is your question

2:51:51like could the HR assessment go first?

2:51:56>> Yes. Well, maybe I misunderstood. So it

2:51:58would be simultaneous RFP for both

2:52:02or it would be still HR assessment

2:52:05first.

2:52:06>> Um the we would have to check the email

2:52:08from

2:52:10Mayor Bernie on Friday.

2:52:13I can pull that up to confirm.

2:52:21It says, "We plan to release two RFPs.

2:52:26They can be done at the same time."

2:52:31If there's a nuance in there, um I I

2:52:34think maybe you're offering a nuance

2:52:35that if one is ready to go sooner um on

2:52:38the HR side that you would be

2:52:40comfortable with that.

2:52:41>> Yes.

2:52:41>> Okay. Thank you. Other comments or

2:52:44thoughts?

2:52:49is doing an additional RFP for the HR

2:52:52assessment

2:52:53um

2:52:56an appropriate next step

2:52:58given the concerns what we had last

2:53:01week.

2:53:03Okay, I'm seeing a couple head nods. Um

2:53:06appreciate that and thank you Council

2:53:07Member Critzer on the the feedback. Uh I

2:53:11will connect with the mayor on on that.

2:53:14Um, additionally, the other big topic is

2:53:17the reorganization of development

2:53:19services. So, um, Mayor Bernie

2:53:21reiterated in her email on Friday that

2:53:24staff are preparing an issue matrix

2:53:26related to our our questions. Um, I

2:53:29spoke with her over the weekend

2:53:31regarding some of the additional

2:53:33analysis, maybe maybe more than just a

2:53:35matrix, um, but the analysis and

2:53:38preparation of the business case, uh,

2:53:39that council had been asking for. uh she

2:53:42let me know that in fact um she was

2:53:44expecting to receive those materials

2:53:46midweek. Um I just want the council to

2:53:48know that I offered to also make myself

2:53:50available to like preview materials um

2:53:53before they end up in our packets for

2:53:55the study session to make sure that our

2:53:57you know the the level of questions that

2:54:00we're asking for are being covered. Um,

2:54:02but it sounds like uh there is a bit

2:54:05more than was just referenced in the

2:54:06email. And so I wanted to follow up and

2:54:07let the council know. Our study session

2:54:10on that is October 13th. And again um as

2:54:14she said in her email if there are

2:54:16things that have come up for you that

2:54:17would be helpful to know. I know I

2:54:19zipped off an email the other day

2:54:20because I think we'd been asking for

2:54:22examples on um how much more quickly

2:54:25certain things could be permitted and I

2:54:28came up with an additional example. Oh,

2:54:30I'd actually love to know about one of

2:54:31our own capital projects. So, if those

2:54:33things are coming up for you, um small

2:54:35things like that, please do um send them

2:54:38over to the staff. And finally, there is

2:54:39a fifth Tuesday next week, so there will

2:54:41be no council meeting. Are there any

2:54:43other items for council talk time?

2:54:46Council member Sony,

2:54:48uh I think everybody has received an

2:54:51email. There is our uh there's an uh

2:54:54housing tour by Ash on September 30th

2:54:57between 1 to 4 p.m. If anybody's

2:54:59interested, I think you know, please do

2:55:01sign up for that.

2:55:02>> Absolutely. And and council member Sony

2:55:03is already attending. Um so we can have

2:55:05two more attend without a quorum issue.

2:55:08>> Yeah. And then there is another session

2:55:10which is going the another two which is

2:55:12happening on October 17th. So just in

2:55:15case if you're not able to make it for

2:55:17this one, there is going to be another

2:55:18opportunity.

2:55:20Thank you.

2:55:22All right. Seeing no other items for

2:55:24council talk time, we are adjourned.

2:55:26Thank you so much everyone.