City Council - Regular Meeting

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Would you like to take roll call, please? Thank you, Mayor. Heather Watland here. Rob Toyer here. Michelle Bllythe here. Nathan Seth here. Tim Abrahamson present. Yavon Gallardo Van Orornum here. And Lisa Novak here. Thank you.

Okay. Hey, I'd like to start off our meeting tonight reading a brief little statement for the public. The city of Arlington is in early discussions with a company about a possible project near 172nd Street. The site is located in the Cascade Industrial Center and includes property in both Arlington and Mary'sville where warehouse and distribution uses are allowed under current zoning. No building permit applications have been submitted at this time while discussions are still preliminary. How's that? Is that better? Okay.

Okay. The city of Arlington is in early discussions with a company about a possible project near 172nd Street. The site is located in the Cascade Industrial Center and includes property in both Arlington and Mary'sville, where warehouse and distribution uses are allowed under current zoning. No building permit applications have been submitted at this time while the discussions are still preliminary. I can confirm this is not a data center. The project is being considered as a warehouse and distribution center. Data centers are not allowed are not an allowed use under the current zoning for this property. No application has been submitted and no proposal is being pursued to allow a data center at this location. Tonight we'll have a public comment period. The entire comment period we'll open it up for public comments, but the the comment period is limited to a 30-minute period. So we'll try to get as many in as we can. Each comment will we'll have to limit anybody's comments to three minutes or less, preferably less if we want to get everybody in. Okay. Thank you. I think we'll move on to back to our agenda.

Mayor Vany, I move for approval of the agenda. Second. Discussion. All those in favor? I I. Any oppose?

Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. We'll start out our meeting tonight with introduction of special special guests and presentations. The first one is the mayor's volunteer award being presented to Maxine Jim. Janf. Um, it is my honor to present this award to Maxine in recognition of her 15 years of dedicated service as a police volunteer. Maxine has consistently demonstrated the kind of steady behind-the-scenes commitment that keeps public safety services running smoothly and strengthens trust between the police department and the community we serve. Over the years, she has shown up reliably and handled sensitive tasks with professionalism. She approached every assignment with a genuine desire to support Arlington residents and the staff who serve them. Her long-standing service represents not only an impressive investment of time, but a sustained standard of excellence and integrity that reflects well on the city. Police volunteers are vital in extending capacity in the department while maintaining high service levels. Maxine is a standout example of the impact one volunteer can have when they lead with consistency, care, and accountability. We recognize Maxine with this award and highlight the value of volunteer service in Arlington and honor this person who has quietly made a meaningful difference for many years. Maxine, if you'd like to step up the speakers,

I don't think so. That whole is not interesting. Okay, our next recognition and president for airport commissioner Ruth Gonzalez. I'll turn this one over to Marty. Thank you, Mayor. Um, airport commissioner Ruth Gonzalez is stepping down from her u commission seat after 14 years of service. A lifelong resident, Arlington resident, Ruth helped define and guide the direction of the airport during her tenure as airport commissioner, taking on complex decisions and challenges. Ruth's professional background and historical knowledge of the uh Arlington Municipal Airport Assistant Commission and airport staff to guarantee decisions were made with the airport and city's best interest. Uh Ruth leaves the position as one of the longest serving airport commissioners in airport history. her service to the airport and community have been invaluable. The air, the Arlington airport and the city of Arlington are forever grateful for her contributions. Uh we wish her nothing but the best on her future endeavors. And just a side note, Ruth always asks the hard questions and she was also the voice of reason many many times. So thank you Ruth. Ruth, would you like to step up?

Okay. Tonight we also have a proclamation for public works week which I will read here. Whereas public works public works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities and services that are vital important to sustainable and resilient com communities and to public health high quality of life and well-being of the people of the city of Arlington. And whereas the efficiency of the qualified and dedicated personnel who staff public works departments is materially influenced by the support of an understanding and informed citizenry and is vital to the efficient operations of programs such as water, sewers, streets, highways, public buildings, and solid waste collection. And whereas the quality and effectiveness of these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers and employees at all levels. And whereas and the health, safety, and comfort of this community greatly depends on these facilities and services. And whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Now therefore, I, Don Vany, Mayor of Arlington, do hereby proclaim the week of May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week in the city of Arlington. And further, I call upon all citizens and civic organizations to acquaint themselves with the issues involved in providing our public works and to recognize the contributions which public works officials make every day to our health, safety, comfort, and quality of life. Thank you. Okay. Now, at this time, I'd open it up for public comment for members of the

public who wish to speak to the council. Um, I do have several signed up that will be joining us remotely. I also have six individuals that have submitted written testimony for tonight or public comment. Um, we'll start with the first one here of Ivan Mendes. Ivan Menddees, are you online? Okay, it doesn't look like he is online. We'll move to the next one. Isaac Sha or Sha, are you online?

Curious what their questions are still. I'm still curious what our questions are. Are we They're not answering asking questions. They're They wanted to speak remotely. Okay, we'll move on to the next one. Hillary Maguire, are you online? Oh, you're here. Are you okay? Um, I'll call on you when we go to get up. Okay. Uh, Roseal Bravo Bagby, I'm here. Okay. Can you guys hear me? Yes, we can.

Um, I've never done this before. I'm sorry. Okay. Yeah, you go. You're feel free to speak whatever it was you would like to speak about. Okay. Um, uh, well, so to start, I've never done this before. Um, sorry if I stutter. Um, no problem.

I love my state, my home. I was born and raised here in Washington. I truly love uh my state. I believe this is the be most beautiful state in America. But we are killing it and not only here but this planet. Project Cascade will actively harm our amazing state. This proposed warehouse is owned by Pan Panatoni Development who has ranging projects but most importantly makes data centers. The project is estimated to use 9.5 megawws of power at peak. Data centers use on average 5 million gallons of water a day per data center. Enough to supply a town of 50,000 people. People in some states and cities are being told to take shorter showers and to let their lawns die out because of these centers. We have no federal regulations on these centers. They take our drinking water and kill our planet. And for what? Not money. They are actively losing billions of dollars a year. Billionaires playing with our drinking water like it's a game. It would cost us everyday people, people who already cannot survive. Um, sorry. Um, it would cost everyday Americans significantly more with their power and their water bills and our bodies. The waste these centers make makes people and wildlife sick.

Also, these data centers are mass surveillance centers. It is fascism. The fact that people are taking a stand to this and are being arrested, assaulted, and silenced is straight up fascism right on our right at our doors. People need to keep fighting and don't give up. Don't give up on our amazing state. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Okay, we'll go on to our next one. Shannidoa Utsler, are you on? Shannonoa, are you online? Not seeing. Okay, we'll move on to the next one. Uh, Cara Stock, are you online? Cara, are you online? Nothing there. Okay, we'll move on to Annie Fitzgerald. Are you online?

Yes, I am. Go ahead. Can you Can you hear me? Okay. Yep.

All right. Give me one second. Good evening, council members. My name is Annie Fitzgerald and I'm here tonight to call for greater public transparency and accountability regarding public uh project cascade and the ongoing industrial expansion proposals affecting both Arlington and Mary'sville. Residents deserve honest communication, meaningful public involvement, and full disclosure before decisions are made that could permanently reshape our communities, infrastructure, environment, and quality of life. The development connected to these projects, Panatoni, is aggressively expanding warehouse logistics and data center development across North America as part of the AI and e-commerce boom. Their own statements say they intend to develop up to a gigawatt of data center capacity, enough electricity to power thousands of homes. The public also deserves answers about reports that these projects could involve effectively unlimited access to Arlington water resources and approximately 9.5 megawatts of power capacity from the Snowomish County PUB. Residents have a right to understand what commitments are being discussed, what infrastructure impacts are expected, and whether local rateayers and public resources are being put at risk to support large corporate developments. And frankly, why are approvals moving forward when the public still does not clearly know what is actually being built there? If elected officials and residents are being asked to support major industrial expansion, then the community deserves complete transparency about the intended uses, tenants, environmental impacts, infrastructure demands, and long-term consequences before approvals are granted. So, I ask both Arlington and

Mary'sville leadership, what exactly is being planned? Who are the intended tenants or corporate partners? How much electricity and water would these facil facilities consume over time? How would expanded industrial development impact roads, traffic, air quality, and emergency services? Will residents face higher utility costs or future infrastructure burdens? What agreements regarding Arlington water access and Snowomish PUD power allocation are currently being negotiated? What tax incentives, exemptions or development agreements are under dis uh discussion? And frankly, I want to include kickbacks in that. How many permanent jobs would actually remain after construction? And why has the public not been fully informed from the beginning? Communities throughout the country are raising concerns about massive warehouse and data center developments because of their impacts on infrastructure, energy demand, water use, pollution, and the lock the lack of long-term

uh economic benefit. Your time is expired. Thank you.

Okay, we'll move on to Jessica Rhodess. Jessica, are you online?

Good evening, council members, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Jessica Rhodess, and I'm here tonight because our community is being asked to absorb the impact of a development that will reshape our daily lives. Technology may be advancing rapidly, but our responsibility to the people who live here and to the land that sustain us must remain the highest priority. We are being asked to accept a project that will affect our utilities, our neighborhoods, our long-term cost of living, and the stability of families who have built their lives here. If this city is going to consider development of this scale, it must also consider the people who will bear the weight of it. Eminent domain was created for public good, not for corporate convenience. If the city ever were to take land or pressure families to give up their homes, then those families deserve real justice, not the lowest number on an appraisal sheet. A home is not just a parcel. It is memory, history, and generational wealth. That is why I'm calling for municipal standards requiring no less than three times market value for a property taken under imminent domain. If corporations will profit for decades, then families deserve dignity in the moment that they are forced to sacrifice. The compensation alone is not enough. We must also protect the land that feeds us and the people who rely on it. That is why I'm calling for clear ordinance restricting the use of eminent domain on essential agricultural land including farms, orchards, food producing acreage, and any land critical to local food security. These lands are not expandable. They are they are irreplaceable resources that support our economy, our resilience, and our ability to sustain ourselves. No data center, warehouse, or industrial project should ever be allowed to displace the land that feeds our community. Large-scale developments like data centers are consuming staggering amounts of electricity and water. They strain infrastructure. They generate constant noise. And too often the burden falls on the public through higher utility bills, reduced access to essential resources, and environmental stress that residents never asked for. So tonight, I'm calling for new ordinances that protect our citizens, our utilities, and our

essential land. First, corporations that benefit from eminent domain or major major land acquisition must pay long-term taxes, fees, and tariffs that reflect the true cost of their presence. They profit from our land. They must invest in our community. Second, public utilities must be prohibited from raising rates on residents because of industry and data consumption. If a facility uses massive amounts of water or electricity, they must pay the full cost, not the families who already struggle to afford basic services. Third, we need strict noise pollution limits, mandatory mitigation, and full transparency on water use, energy demand, and environmental impact. Whether the concern is the air quality, groundwater, or local ecosystems, residents deserve clear, honest information, not vague assurances. Fourth, every major development must undergo a human well-being impact statement and a community impact report. Not just economic projections, but real assessments of health, safety, and livability in a long-term sustainability. We are not anti-technology. We are pro people. We are pro community. We are pro-responsible development. We are not against growth. We are against growth that treats residents and essential agricultural land as expanded.

Miss, thank you. Thank you.

Excuse me, Mayor Vanny. I just want to jump in and say that uh applause or booing or um those kinds of expressions aren't aren't consistent with the council rules of procedure and uh also it takes time away from people's ability to comment and so um perhaps ask to thank you those comments.

Thank you Oscar. Yeah, if we can refrain from that that does take time away from those that are wishing to speak. So please please control yourself. Uh, Michelle Gisentanner, are you online? Michelle. Okay, it doesn't look like she's online. What? Okay, we'll now move to those that have signed up for public speaking. Ariana Henderson Hatfield to the mic. Hey Marty, can you make sure that's on for me?

Hello. Okay, perfect.

Okay, I'm going to be very quick. I am very concerned that in the Pacific Northwest where we are known for our forest and our wildlife that you guys are proposing to build a data center in the back door of it. Not only is this a harm to the wildlife in our forest by allowing this type of center in our community, it would cause great harm to the people of our community and we should stop calling them data centers and start calling them what they are. They are surveillance centers. This impedes our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, especially when we are constantly being surveiled for the benefit and the profit of local politicians and police officers. Not only is this going to cause wear and tear on our psyche, but also in Arizona, they have already diverted water from the residents to these surveillance centers. And in Utah, they have diverted energy resources and told them that they are responsible for finding their own energy resources. This is a problem because clean air, water, and electricity are right to life. In Arizona, they're discussing building a surveillance center the size of 1,000 Super Walmarts, which would increase the temperatures in that surrounding area by 13 degrees. I watched a lady talk about it in her community council meeting about this, and she said that if it were to be built, their temperatures would be at 135 degrees in the summertime. Now you combine that with the diversion of water and the diversion of energy and telling us that we need to find our own energy resources by not educating us on how to do that or allowing us to do that for free are you are causing harm in ways you cannot reverse. I have an audio engineer degree and these centers are measuring about 80 dB noise pollution. Although they may not be loud during the day, it is extremely loud at night because while everything else is quiet and sleeping, this 80dB never rests. We also see noise complaints coming out of Mount Pleasant in Wisconsin describing it as a persistent high-pitched humming. Some residents say that they have to sleep in their basements because they can hear it inside their homes. Not only that, but these surveillance centers require so much electricity that on the low end, it uses more than Ohio State's accumulated energy used in 2023. And on its high end, it uses more than the the whole state of Florida used in 2023. And because of how much energy it requires to operate, they have become heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which causes more air and water pollution. It is estimated to increase the annual public

health cost to 5.7 to$9.2 2 billion due to these pollutants. In Memphis, Tennessee, Elamas XAI and Grock said it would only need 150 gawatt of power, but it was a lie. His surveillance centers require much more energy and now using portable gas turbines, which are supposed to be used for remote and emergency purposes only. These require air permits, which they do not have because it violates the Clean Air Act. It also emits so much methane that people smell the gas in their homes, and they say they cannot breathe. I do not understand why we have to go the extra mile to have clean air and clean water. These are life essentials. Do you know anybody who has asthma? Because I have two children and they have asthma. So if you don't know what it's like, you could ask them. But a doctor would describe that it's like breathing through a straw. So I brought some here today so that you could try it out. If cities have redacted their information about how much water they are using and suing people to prevent that information from coming out, it cannot be a good thing. People will die and people's rights are being violated with the surveillance center. I thought we lived in a land of free, not the land of surveillance. If this proposal passes, the only reason I can see why that is is because you guys are greedy and you would rather line your pockets than actually do your jobs. Your job is to listen to your constituents and make your community a better place. If you are self- serving, then come November.

Thank you. You're out. Okay, next speaker. Alina. I just have Elina. Next speaker. E L I N A. Okay. We'll move on to our next speaker, Linda Jensen. I'm here.

Okay. Good evening, council members and Arlington community. I'm not going to be redundant on everything that everybody else talked about. Instead, I have questions about the confidentially confidentiality and the NDAs. Uh, Panaton currently has an NDA non-disclosure agreement. NDAs can be common in economic development, but confidentiality should not be should not prevent meaningful public understanding of impacts. If the final operator cannot be named yet, can the city still disclose the operational assumptions being used for review, such as utility demand, traffic, and facility type assumptions? On to parking and facility use questions. Can the staff explain how the proposed parking assumptions were determined and whether they align with the stated warehouse distribution use? If parking is lower or different than typical logistics projects, what operational model is being assumed? Specific questions for this meeting is the use classification. What exact land use category is being reviewed, utility assumptions, what electrical and water demand assumptions are uh informing review? Future flexibility. Could this site later change its operational use without new public review? Review stage. What future approvals remain where residents can provide input? Public disclosure. What information can be shared now about impacts even if the tenant identity is confidential?

I'm not here opposing development automatically. I am asking for early transparency so residents understand what is being planned before major infrastructure and jurisdiction decisions are made. As said over and over again by everybody that's commented call uh been online. Panaton has an NDA. They are known for industrial products projects and data centers. A lot of this information came from the Everett Herald who has tried to talk to Project Cascade and Panaton only being roadblocked from giving any information to the Arlington Snomish County Mary'sville community.

Thank you. Thank you.

Uh, next speaker, please hold your applauses as I asked. Thank you. Uh, next speaker, Julie Winchell. So, I'm um I've been researching this rumor about the data center near the Arlington airport, and the puzzle pieces seem to be falling into place. Seem to be falling into place to indicate that Project Cascade could actually be a data center rather than a warehouse. Please let me explain. Puzzle piece number one, future data centers often pose as another business and require NDAs with their developers. Two, North Po North Point owns the Project Cascade parcels. North Point's website says it builds data centers. Three, the developer of Project Cascades Panaton, as we've talked about, you may not know that they're the developer that built the Amazon building here in Arlington with an NDA. So, it was a big surprise that it was Amazon. So, um, and if there's an NDA, why is there an NDA? If it isn't a data center or something unpleasant, what are they hiding? Why do we have an NDA? And I'm wondering how you can confirm that it's not a data center when you have an NDA that doesn't doesn't drive. Amazon could be the mystery tenant of the project cascade that once again has insisted on an NDA from Panatoni. Amazon Web Services could take advantage of having a data center right down the road from their distribution center, couldn't they? Number six, the Mariusville City Council Council was told that Project Cascade applicant has an aggressive timeline. Data centers always have aggressive timelines. Project Cascade is estimated to use nine and a half megawatts. We know the PU tell PUD tells me that's much more than a warehouse would need, but it is enough for a mediumsiz

data center. According to the newly submitted plan, the larger warehouse is going to generate less traffic than the smaller one originally proposed. That doesn't make any sense. What does make sense is that data centers employ very few people, thus they have less traffic. Number nine. In front of you is a slide from your PowerPoint presentation last week about Project Cascade. The last bullet admits that there could be a change of use for this so-called warehouse. That change of use is typical for a data center company to make. Number 10. Mary'sville City Council wasn't optimistic about Project Cascade at their May 4th work session session and they even discussed executing a deanexation of their parcel to avoid being involved in this at all. They spent 47 minutes talking about it and I would suggest that you spend more time than the seven minutes you did last week here and really critically analyze it. So if my puzzle pieces are accurate, and I believe they are, Project Cascade could turn out to be a data center. Even if it isn't, this council should pass an ordinance now prohibiting data centers in our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Jim Havner.

I uh I'm gonna be really quick because I I I I I'm not a good student, you know. I was one of those in uh any teachers are out there. I'm the one you didn't want to see, me and my buddies. Couple of things jumped out and I'm not a great researcher, but it it became really apparent that this was something that was kind of lighting on fire. This is from the Everett Herald. Arlington doesn't know which company would operate the facility or for what purpose. And then there's another one here. What do we lose by changing the boundary in reference to Mirsville just letting that small portion that they've got come over to Arlington? Let them have it. At some point it would become Arlington's and not our problem. So I guess who wants more problems? Are we inviting them? I hope not. Uh and transparency. There's enough lack of uh transparency everywhere. Uh coming at us from all directions. So it'd be it'd be nice to know what what's really going to happen. Thanks.

Thank you, Carrie Bulmini. Sorry if I

Good evening, city council members and um thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. So um I I appreciate all the others who have gone before me and mentioned all the um awful environmental impacts and community impacts that a data center will have. And I ask for what? Why? weapons, surveillance, AI slop for disinformation, and um porn porn pornography, chat bots that are operated by CEOs with little regard for human life. So much so that it takes lawsuits and the courts to make them consider reprogramming their algorithms so that their bots will tell someone in crisis to dial 99988 for the suicide hotline. They have addictive algorithms designed to keep young people hooked on their social media accounts rather than going outside and play. Data centers are job takers, not makers. I don't think any robots out there are going to be paying social security so I can retire someday and cryptocurrency. What will the United States look like? What will our what will happen to our economy when then there's the money that the Federal Reserve oversees and the nonregulated cryptocurrency, how is that going to affect our economy? So I ask you to please consider if data center centers mean growth, what kind of grow is that the kind of growth we want for future generations?

Thank you. Our next one signed up. Stuart, are you wanting to public speak? Stuart Anderson.

Thank you, council. And for the uh benefit of time, I'll email you the facts and figures I was going to send to you. I'm Stu Anderson. I'm with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. I'm not here to talk about the subject you've been talking about. I'm here to remind people that have um had losses during the December floods. You've got till June 10th to to sign up and possibly get some help. Again, I do have some figures of what's going on. I'll email them to you for the benefits for these folks so they can speak. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Okay, next one is R. Mian. Oh,

the R is for Rita. Will each of you council members give us your word that the data center that we are talking about or any other data center will not be allowed to open anywhere in Arlington? Thank you. Thank you, Jennifer Homie. Oh, thank you.

Good evening. My name is Jennifer Hume and I have a small amount of acreage just outside of city limits. I initially heard the council was going to discuss a large load mega build that was post posited to be a data center. I also saw the council's followup that the proposed project is for a warehouse or distribution center. Whether or not this particular project will ultimately be a data center as server farms can and do operate out of warehouses, I wanted to get my opinions on the record with the council regarding data centers in general. Community comment is important here because while I do not live within city limits, a data center that operates within city limits will still directly affect me and my neighbors. The most obvious concern is cost of electricity and its availability. We are seeing data center operations spiking energy costs for residential users across the nation. Regarding availability, this week news broke that 50,000 people in Lake Tahoe are facing the loss of power in 2027 when the main electricity provider for that region will redirect capacity to serve AI data centers. Then there is the water usage. Data centers use millions of gallons of water daily to cool their servers. The cent's depletion of surface water and aquafers results in a lack of adequate fresh water for other residential, business, and agricultural customers. However, my biggest concern about any potential data centers in the area is long-term health effects. As data centers use groundwater, water contaminants increase in concentration. In eastern Oregon and Mororrow County, we are seeing the start of the long-term effects. Amazon opened Mororrow County's first hyperscale data center in 2011. In 2022, a Republican county commissioner named Jim Dohy tested the water quality of six wells in the area. He found that all six exceeded federal limits for the concentration of

nitrates. He then tested 70 more wells across a wider area of the county. 68 of the 70 wells were over the federal limit for nitrate concentration and the average nitrate level across all of the wells was four times higher than the federal limit. Excessive nitrate exposure is directly linked to a number of chronic and fatal health conditions including miscarriages, birth defects, type 1 diabetes, reowed syndrome and cancers including non-hodkkins lymphoma, nasoperinx, stomach, bladder, colon, prostate and thyroid. I recognize that data centers or warehouses that may become data centers in the future are attractive financially to the city, but the introduction of one anywhere in the general area will hurt all of us, not just your constituents, but surrounding communities as well. And if that doesn't matter to you, please remember that this will also directly affect your health and the health of your immediate family. Thank you.

Thank you. Please, please hold your applause. Next speaker, Holly Sloan Buchanan. This is on a much much lighter note. I wanted to thank the police department for their coffee with the cops. That was such a special time. There were two events and it was just a treat to be able to meet police officers that I had not met before and to have wonderful discussions and discuss issues that don't always come up. So, thank you. Thank you. Uh, next speaker, Hillary Maguire, how are we doing on our 30 minutes? Yeah, I think we're close to

I think we're getting just 639 to 640. Okay, we'll have enough time for your testimony then we'll have to unfortunately stop there. Oh, yes, of course. My name is Hillilary Maguire and I really don't have much to add. Um, a lot of people have done a lot of research.

Oh, thank you. Um, a lot of people have already done a lot of research on it. Um, and a lot of our discussion has been what could be, but if we look at Flint, Michigan, we look at what has happened and the devastation of that. And that was a 10-year debacle and it cost 600 million, more than that much to make it right. And we can't put the genie back in the bottle. So, how about we just don't let it out? That's all. Thank you. Okay, that's it for our public comment. Appreciate everybody that came and got the chance comments out of that those comments are out of order.

Yeah, sorry. Those are out of order. Well, would you I don't know. Would you Jonathan would you like to maybe remove him? Yes, if we could. If we could Obviously, but I think that you guys should be held responsible for the blatant lies you told. You obviously don't care about your city. You don't care about your family. Thank you, gonna lie to us. Okay, we'll move on back to the original agenda. Do we have a consent agenda? Mayor Vany, I move for approval of the consent agenda as noted. Second. All those in favor? I.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we will move on to our new business. First item, ordinance approving amendments to Arlington Municipal Code, chapter 20.98, State Environmental Policy Act, SEIPA. read the wrong one. New business, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA memorandum of agreement. That one is Marty.

Yeah. Thank you, Mayor and Council members. Um this uh this is a Federal Emergency Management Agency, a FEMA man memorandum of agreement or an MOA. Um the attached me uh memorandum of agreement is entered into between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city of Arlington. Under this MOA, the city authorizes FEMA temporary use of Arlington Municipal Airport to establish and operate an incident support base, uh, federal staging area, uh, responder, uh, support camp, personal mobilization center, manufactured housing, stage a unit staging area, or, uh, a field medical station. uh city currently has an agreement with the Washington State Department um state military department and historically the airport has made its staging area available for use in the event of a major emergency or natural disaster uh including the storage and staging of emergency supplies and equipment on airport property in support of response and uh relief operations. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions, Nathan? Um, Marty, how long has this been uh I mean since the beginning of FEMA or is this historically been something that the government federal government uh allows since the beginning of our airport as well? Historically, are you asking how long we've had an agreement with FEMA? This is this is sort of a renewal. There was a little bit of a lapse, but we typically have an agreement with FEMA and um and Washington. So pre-COVID times as well because I know we pre precoid times as well because they used it during Exactly. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions, Tim?

Yeah, it's more of a comment. Um Marty, again, I appreciate the fact that we have the Washington military department and the and the clause in here that shows that prior to activation, any potential issues will be resolved, you know, prior to them, you know, FEMA coming in. So, I appreciated that. Uh do you foresee that we would need to have any third party arbitration just in case there's some turf war between those two departments being on that site at the same time?

No, I don't see any I don't see any issues with it. We they uh FEMA has we we did a pretty extensive uh site study and and they have identified the locations that they would use and possibly for what use. Um this identifying the situ the the locations was kind of the primary thing to make sure we had room. and they're very excited about it. So, thank you. Any other questions? None. See? Thank you, Marty. Okay, we'll move on to item two. Update council rules and procedures and code of ethics. Mayor Oh. Oh, sorry. Sorry.

Can't skip over me. Um, I move to approve the memo memorandum of agreement between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city of Arlington and authorize the mayor to sign it. Second. question. All those in favor? I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Thank you. And now we'll move on to item number two, update council rules and procedures and code of ethics. Paul,

thank you, mayor. This is a housekeeping item. Uh back in October of 2022, uh council's changed uh our regular meeting times from 7:00 to 6:00 beginning January, the first meeting in January of 2023. Um we we did that by ordinance. So we updated the ordinance. However, we missed updating the council's rules and procedures and code of ethics. So this is just a housekeeping item to align that um with the ordinance that we put into place. This is an item we talked about at the council retreat earlier this year. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions? Unseen. Oh, do I have a motion? I move to approve the change to the city council rules of procedure and code of ethics to update the meeting times to 6 pm. Question. All those in favor? I

I. Any opposed? Unheard. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to our third item. Soul source resolution for procurement and servicing of Wheelo pumps, mixers, and associated support equipment. Jim Kelly. Thank you very much, Mayor Vany and council members. Uh this item before you is uh looking for sole source resolution for the procurement and servicing of Wheelo pumps uh and equipment. The city of Arlington uses Wheelo pumps in many of its processes over at the water treatment plant and the wastewater treatment plant. And the procurement of parts, replacement parts for these wheelow pumps and for the servicing of the wheelow pumps and motors can only be performed by a licensed wheel representative. The license representative in our area is correct equipment. Uh they have a geographical region that includes Arlington. So we are looking to wave bidding requirements so we can contract directly with correct equipment to service and to procure parts for wheelow pumps and accessories. Thank you. Any questions, Jim?

Yeah, Jim, just a real quick question. Uh, even though we we've identified them as a sole source, do we have a way to uh work with the Wheelo company just in case this sole source is not meeting our standards? Um, yeah. Well, if correct equipment does not meet our standards of service, then we have and we have in the past um when we did not get uh good service from local reps, gone directly to the company and uh it the company basically turns around the uh lack of service very quickly because they know that they will lose a customer if they don't have good service to us. Thank you.

Any other questions? Okay, none scene. Do I have a motion? I move to recognize Correct Equipment as the authorized agent for purchase and/or related services pump systems and approve a sole source resolution allowing the city to contract directly with Correct Equipment Inc. Second question. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? None heard. Motion carries. Thank you. At this time, do we have any comments or reports from council members? Ivon,

I just have two quick ones. Um, I just want to give a shout out to the I I know of two groups that were out this weekend um doing some amazing community service. So, thank you to the Rotarians that um braved the rain and were out there and um it was just it was a great weekend to just kind of do some fellowship. So, thank you to everybody who helped make Arlington beautiful. Great. No, thank you. Any other comment, Tim?

Yeah, I just wanted to kind of second that. I actually was out there with the Rotarians and the uh Lions Club working out there helping out beautifification for Howler Terrace and the cemetery. Again, uh really appreciated it, but as Chief Kraky says, he doesn't know an epic day of volunteering that it didn't rain. So again, it's great to see all the the community come out and put a little bit of effort and making sure that this community uh stays good. Volunteering is a good thing. So keep it up. It is great to see all the community come together in these different projects. Okay. Any other council members? Oh, Nathan.

So, as you all know, yes, it's been pouring and that that goes with the farmers market. They brave the rain, they brave the sleet, the hail, even the snow because it does snow around here and weird weird times. But I believe this was the second weekend that we started the farmers market with the Stilly Valley Chamber of Commerce. And so there were few but mighty uh farming communities that came together this weekend and brave the rain and the hail. And so I appreciate all of those farmers for helping um come and give us some great opportunities to buy their produce and do fun things with kids like all these little projects and those who are also food truck vendors cuz um they have some pretty good food. And so I just doing a plug for the chamber of commerce for doing that every year. Um cuz when I was a little kiddo, we did not have a thriving uh public farmers market as we do now, thanks to our community. So every Saturday from here on out, you should look into coming downtown and enjoying all the shops and the farmers market because it's a great place to meet everybody. So just making that little plug.

Great. Thank you. Any others? Okay. None seen. Paul, do you have any administrative reports? Nothing else this evening. Thank you. Okay. I have nothing. We do not have a executive session. So, I think we are ready for move to adjourn. Second. Question. All those in favor? I I Any oppose? Motion carries. We are adjourned. Thank you.