City Council - Regular Meeting

Council member Kypers, can you unmute yourself so we can test your microphone?

Can you hear me? We can hear you now. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, it is 700 p.m. And I call this meeting of the Battleground City Council to order. Please stand with us for the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat] I 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. That was genius. Oh, all right. Liz, if you could uh please call the role. Mayor Overholzer, present. Deputy Mayor Vale, present. Council member McCoy,

here. Council member Ferrer, here. Council member Mson here. Council member Kypers here. Council member Bowman here. New clerk is present. That concludes the the role. All right. Thank you, Liz. And uh we'll go over the uh agenda approval. Uh does any council member wish to amend the agenda this evening? Move to approve as presented. Second. All right, we have a a motion uh by council member McCoy and a second by council member Ferrer. All those in favor?

I I opposed hearing none. The motion passes unanimous and we will move on to summary reports and presentations. Are there any council members uh this evening with any reports? All right, we got a quiet evening. We'll take it. All right, moving on. We have the mayor's report. [clears throat] And uh tonight, it's my pleasure to issue two proclamations this evening. Um, proclamations are not statements of policy, but are means by which the city can recognize an event, group, or individual. Proclamations can be issued at the discretion of the mayor and may be for organizations, individuals, or businesses within or outside of Battlegrounds jurisdiction. Individual council members will not issue proclamations, and requests for a proclamation should be directed to the mayor or the city clerk. uh February. Oh, sorry. So, the first proclamation we have is uh to proclaim February 2026 is Black History Month. Um and we have Paul Porter here from the NAACP uh to receive this proclamation. And I'll go ahead and uh Mr. Porter, can you please stand and uh come up to the podium? [clears throat] I'll read it off and then I'll uh come down and present it to you. Whereas the city of Battleground takes pride in joining Americans throughout the country in recognizing February 2026 as Black History Month. And whereas Black History Month pays tribute to the contributions that African-Americans have made to American history in their struggles for freedom and equality and deepens understanding of our shared history. And

whereas the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History has named the theme of Black History Month in 2026 to be a century of black history history commemorations. This theme celebrates that which began as a week-long observance of black contributions to history and modern culture in 1926 and has over time become the Black History Month that we know today. And whereas inequality and injustice still linger in our cities, states, and country, and it should be the aspiration and responsibility of every citizen to advance the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. We encourage all to recognize and confront continuing issues by eliminating barriers with fearlessness, and determination to empower black people to promote and protect their health, wellness, current endeavors, and history. And the city of Battleground is proud to honor the history, contributions, and achievements of the black community locally, nationally, and globally. We uplift our black community leaders, educators, business owners, professionals, and all others who promote well-being and knowledge throughout the many facets of the black community as part of our whole inclusive community. We remain committed to honoring diversity, equity, inclusion, and mutual respect as the fundamental principles of the city government and work to promote these core values throughout our community. Now therefore, I, Eric Overholzer, mayor of the city of Battleground, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim February 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Battleground, Washington, and encourage all residents to observe this month throughout appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies. and witness whereof,

I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of battleground to be affixed this 17th day of February, 2026.

[clears throat]

Go ahead and say a few words, Paul. Good evening, mayor, council members, and community. Like the mayor, like the mayor said, my name is Paul Porter. I sit on the board for the NAACP, and I'm honored to accept this proclamation on behalf of the NAACP Vancouver. Now, this is an honor I do not take lightly. Black history is not a chapter we visit. It is a current we live inside. We are not here just to remember courage. We are here because courage refused to die. Generations before us were denied doors, so they built pathways. And now the question is not whether history was hard. The question is whether progress will be intentional. Black history is not only about who marched. It is about who benefits from the road they cleared. We honor the past when opportunity stops needing exception. Equity is not charity. And I'm going to say that twice. Equity is not charity. It is overdue infrastructure. The NAACP exists because freedom without protection becomes temporary and rights that must be defended repeatedly were never fully granted. So tonight, we don't just receive recognition, we accept responsibility to make sure a child growing up here doesn't have to be extraordinary just to be treated normally. Because a community proves its values not by statements, but by outcomes. Thank you to the city of Battleground for choosing to participate in building that future with us. History History remembers moments, but justice remembers action. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Paul. All right. My second proclamation is to proclaim February 15, 2026 as National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day. Um, and [clears throat] tonight we have uh school resource officers from Battleground and Brush Prairie. Can you please come to the podium? I'll go ahead and read this and then I'll present you guys and I give you an opportunity to speak. All right. Whereas the National Association of School Resource Officers, the NASRO, is dedicated to making schools and children safer by providing the highest quality training to school-based law enforcement officers. Whereas school resource officers, SRO's bridge gaps between youth and law enforcement and embrace a triad concept of school policing serving in informal counseling, education, and law enforcement roles to support students and communities they serve. Whereas by training law enforcement officers to counsel, educate, and protect school communities, the men and women of the NASRO continuously lead by example and promote a positive image of law enforcement to school, children, and school communities. Whereas SRO programs across the globe are founded as collaborative efforts by police a agencies, law enforcement officers, educate educators, students, parents and communities to create safe learning environments,

provide valuable resources to school staff members and foster positive relationships with the students and develop strategies to resolve problems that affect youth with the goal of protecting all children. so they can reach their fullest potential. Whereas SRO's are valuable and essential members of the education community and deserve unwavering respect and support from the public in the pursuit of keeping schools and students safe. Now therefore, I, Eric Overholzer, mayor of the city of Battleground, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim February 15, 2026 as school resource officer appreciation day in the city of Battleground, Washington, to show appreciation for school-based law enforcement officers and encourage all residents to show their gratitude with displays of support and personal messages. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of battleground to be affixed this 17th day of February, 2026. I didn't have a beautiful speech prepared like he did. Um so I'll just speak from the heart. Um I have been with the sheriff's office for six years. Um this is my second year as a resource officer at Prairie High School. Um serving 10 total battleground district schools. Um, before that I was an educator and so this has been a great opportunity for me to kind of marry the two, law enforcement and education. Um, and it is just allowing me to show every day that relationships matter.

This will be my 20th year with Battleground. It's been quite a ride. This will be my ninth year as an SRO. Um, thank you. You guys are great. Thank you to the other officers in the department, our sergeants, our admin. They're the ones who have supported me, who've supported us in our ability to be at the school, our staff members, and our admin at the schools. Um, couldn't ask for a better environment, but it's all about the kids. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. And then I have uh just one more thing is the mayor's report and that is to update council on the uh most recent CRAN board of directors and the uh CRAN comprehensive um committee board. Um, as far as the comp committee goes, uh, we actually had no decision made and we wanted to, uh, kind of wait, um, because of some of the presentations that will be going on or did go on at the CRAN board of directors meeting, we wanted a little bit more information on that before we, uh, proceeded any further with u any, um, composition recommendations back to the board of directors. Um, and the thing that we were curious about, uh, was a presentation of the high-capacity transit subdist. Um, couple, uh, notable things about this opportunity for a subd district is it's a voter approved up to.9% sales tax additional to the 7 or 0.9 that they already have currently available. 2 well additional 0.2. Correct. Um is an opportunity to form a geographic boundary on the tax i.e. um the city of Vancouver uh main thoroughfare corridor for travel or the urban growth boundary of Vancouver. [clears throat] It would basically set the geographic boundary on the taxable uh people or constituents of that boundary. And so that could potentially

um set that boundary to avoid the small cities. Um and so excluding potentially battleground and some other small cities that might not want to participate in being a part of the sales tax being tied to operation and maintenance of light rail. Um it would require establishing a regional policy committee um consisting of a cat board members and the washd uh members. So it it would be a a fairly large policy committee that would have to meet and be established and uh come up with a game plan on what that would look like. But, uh, apparently the last time they did this, it took about 2 years to form this committee. And so, uh, and actually come up with something in place. Um, some notable things that came up in the CRAN meeting, I'm not sure if a lot of people know this, um, but basically based on the current funding and taxing that they have at the 7%, we've got about five more years of current operation, the way it sits right now. That does not include any other additional um operation and maintenance of light rail any other additional um incurrences of of expenses. Um and Scott Patterson from the CRAN uh stated that to carry on after the 5 years they would be needing the other at least 0.1 to try to carry them out for probably another 5 years. And at 10 years they'd be looking at that additional 0.1 for the total of 0.9%. Um so basically to summarize uh at the current funding rate the CRAN is at they cannot operate uh the way

they're operating for much longer. Um and uh so that brings me a little uh that brought trouble to my mind thinking that um you know the first thing they'll cut from their operations is less service lines and um smaller cities and uh so that that is a little unnerving but nonetheless um we also approved the supplemental environmental impact statement for the IBR project. Um, and we have one more meeting coming up uh early next month. Um, and I'm coming to council basically to ask you guys what your thoughts are on um [clears throat] getting some more information or navigating that subd district and reintroducing the language that uh council member McCoy had already had placed on the agenda. it would have been my first meeting so I couldn't really respond to it but I think the language uh as I sought further counsel uh the way it was written actually stands pretty solid um and so I'll be looking for guidance from you guys on whether we want to reintroduce that language and uh whether we want to look at a subdist plan for taxing um that language uh and I' be remiss I didn't write it down. So, uh, but we can revisit it again, but and actually Troy, you might be able to quote it word for word, but it basically said that any taxed jurisdiction that would uh be taxed additional sales tax towards light rail on&m would be by the vote of the people. Um, I think that was the gist of what I understood. So, um, couple things to

contemplate and ponder. Um, I'd like to get a thumbs up or thumb down. Are you guys interested in, you know, going down the subdist uh route? And, uh, what are your thoughts on reintroducing that language? I got a thumbs up down there. Mr. Would you like to Yeah, I'm interested in looking at I'd like to see some of that material.

Yeah, I I can't give you a thumbs up or a thumbs down on on which direction to give you right now. Not having seen the language or anything. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. So, I definitely would want to look more into that before I can give you a a direction, mayor. Yeah, fair enough.

Yep. Um the other pressing thing is we have a you know some current lawsuits going on from the uh Washington Department of Transportation towards the CRAN um board and that composition committee is uh running out of time to come up with a composition. Um it it's been recommended from washd that the 432 is acceptable by the judge. Um, and so it's more about how can we protect our small city while losing our uh a little bit of a piece of a vote as representation on CRA. So, just give you that little piece of info. Go ahead.

Has there been any discussion about maybe doing a 432 in a different layout? like potentially because it's I I thought at one point it used to be four like all the county councils. Does anybody remember that? If it used to be all the county councils that were on it. Okay. Cuz I I thought it was that. So I was wondering if it would if anybody's discussed maybe doing a 432 in the sense that you could have four county counselors on there, three for Vancouver and then two for the little guys.

Yep. Um and I can't speak too much on that. There were some recommendations from uh public comments that were made. Um but uh Council Member McCoy, I I can tell you just how the population lays out that the 432 with four City of Vancouver, three Clark County, and two small cities is almost to a thousand as far as representation and how the language is written in the RCW that was passed. It's proportional representation. So that's what they're going for. But you are correct. At one point the whole Clark County Council did sit on CRAN when it was only three county counselors.

Yeah. And I I would really recommend trying to give direction so that mayor can go back because uh I think it's better to negotiate before a lawsuit's finalized. Uh and there's no timeline on that. That's just I'm just saying that sooner the better. Yeah, I would definitely feel comfortable doing it next. I I would have a direction for you meeting. Okay. I can definitely I'll do my due diligence to research that and if that's okay with council. Yeah. Uh Council Member Kypers, I see your hand up. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Um yes. I uh also don't feel like I can give direction right now. I would like more information, but my my question was what is what is the timeline that we're up against? Do we have time to bring it to the next meeting or um I'd like to understand a little bit more about what council member McCoy said about, you know, maybe making a decision sooner so that we can set direction. Uh trying to think back of what was discussed in exec versus public. Um let's just say that there may be a timeline. Um based on uh the legal opinions that we did receive there definitely is a timeline and when discovery starts um they have a deadline set for that. So um I don't know if I can disclose the actual date currently based on the meeting that was in exec but the next CRAN board meeting is the second Tuesday of March. No second Tuesday.

Oh so we meet on So we could do that. Have you already March 2nd? Yeah, and we can provide you with the information on the the presentation that was on subd districts as well as the language that I recommend proposing again. Um, and give you guys that information to look over, but okay. Otherwise, I feel like I have fairly good consensus. Um, but I want to give you guys that information. Um, so we'll go ahead and get that to you. All right. And that basically summarizes the CRAND meeting. All right, we we go to uh presentations now. Uh we have a new employee introduction. Uh Chief Dennis Flynn, you're up. It's a wonderful night because uh one we got to see our SRO's be honored uh but two for Kelly's family to see that uh both of our lieutenants on their time off came in uh supervisors on their TAM off and of course our officers here to uh watch you start your your journey. She started 10 days ago with us. Uh this is Kelly Tpadino. Uh she grew up in Battleground uh in the area. Uh graduated from Prairie High School, earned her bachelor's degree in business management from Washington State University. Uh she has 11 years of law enforcement experience. She worked at the Clark County Sheriff's Office as a corrections deputy in Minnesota and in probation and jail services. So, uh, just before she came here, she spent nine years working

at the Clark County Jail. Uh, this woman was working 15 and 16 hour shifts. Uh, the feedback that we got during the hiring process, uh, truly, uh, she's living up to all of that. uh this woman that can come in and put in that many hours and still not have a a brain that's already turned to jello. She's doing absolutely amazing. She's here tonight uh with her fiance Tyler. Uh both of her parents and her soon to be uh in-laws. In Kelly's free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, spending quality time with friends and family and said she's excited to begin her journey with the police department. said she's already felt a very warm welcome by the team and her addition, what she brings to us uh just continues to raise the bar of uh what the police department I look forward to accomplishing and she's already tucking to it, taking to it like a duct water truly. Uh outside agencies already come here and uh just truly people talk about hitting the ground running, but that's what Kelly's absolutely done. So, Kelly, welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Um, I have really enjoyed the whole hiring process and onboarding. Everybody's been extremely welcoming. Um, I'm glad to be kind of back to my home roots and I'm excited for this next chapter. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, council members.

Welcome aboard, Kelly. Thank you. Hey, Kelly, you want to come on up? Shake our hands. Welcome to the team.

Yeah. And uh I'd like to invite family up. If you'd like to get some photos in front of the dis and in front of the seal, you are welcome to do that. Mom, dad.

No, they're coming. Here we go. Okay. Now, come up. All right. Uh, city manager Chris, we have a presentation on echo.

I guess mayor, just something very brief. Um we have a request from Echko which is ending community homelessness organization. This consists of leaders and um which from Clark County, the cities and other key stakeholders uh including city battleground which council member Ferrer attends these monthly meetings. Um echo exists it was actually in 2022 there's anou that was created for chartering echo. It's it exists uh as a forum for affected agencies to address homelessness collaboratively with the goal of identifying service gaps and recognizing opportunities for partnership and collective action. Um ECHKO has been meeting I think for a year and a half on this um request for proposals to do what they call a systems um gap analysis. They sent a request to all cities um and would like a response by March 1. basically inviting us to join in an effort that uh would provide for us system gap analysis of um areas that that they think have not been studied so far. Um they are chartering ahead with this with or without the support of cities. I will tell you that I talked to all of the city managers from the cities in this county except for one and they're all um going to get behind this, support it, and fund it. And so, um, staff is recommending approval of the cost share proposal and participation in the study. And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

What is our cost share on that? It's just roughly 7,400 of a $200,000 study. So, it was charged out proportionally by population. Any additional questions? Council member McCoy. Um, you said all the other cities are going to take part in this. Yes. I spoke with all of them last Thursday except for L Center, but my understanding is they're all getting behind it.

And the outcome of this is a study to see what next to study. Um the when I asked some questions about this, there was a systems analysis, so to speak, by uh Council for the Homeless last year in their update of the 5-year um homeless plan, but the the study is really just the basics of what's required by the state department of commerce. And so they feel like there are areas that have not been studied. For example, the number of social services um that we have in this county and wanting to study whether there's duplicative services and overlap.

But they're not going to study that. They're going to determine whether to study that. I'm trying to get what's what's this money? What's this dollar get us at the end of the day? They want to look at this holistically, which wouldn't be the first time there was a system analysis that did that, but specifically evaluate how the systems interact, where gaps exist, and what coordinated improvements can prevent homelessness. And they feel that previous uh studies have not necessarily done that. And there are several social service providers. I will tell you that the executive director for council for the homeless does sit on echo and is in support okay

of this analysis. Okay. Thank you. That helps. Council member Ferrer. Oh no. Go. Oh dryf fired in.

Thanks. So, so I see that for this study it's $200,000 and that's divided by cities within Clark County of which we would be responsible for $7,4741. Um, but as to council member McCoy's question, if this has been completed before, um, I'm wondering what else are we trying to gain if studies like this have already been conducted? and and I understand Battleground's only on the hook for 7500 here. Um, but I'm just curious what we're looking for gaps in coverage to find out what can be offered, but as you stated as well, this has been done before. These studies have been concluded. Do we know when the last study of this type has been done? I don't, and this is just from asking my own questions, but I don't believe a study like this has been done. I'm not exactly sure exactly what the requirements are for counties who have to update their 5-year homeless plan. Um, but it's really basic requirements that are outlined by the state department of commerce. And I don't think they go into a depth like this analysis um is planned uh to do a lot of it is I think revolves around duplicative services right and so they want to figure out you know a have they covered every type of services out there how many services are duplicative right because all of them get funding for the most part and the funding for homelessness is decreased increasing. And so I think that they're just trying to figure out in what services are covered, how many of those services um per area such as health care, mental health, affordable housing, um you know, employment opportunities

and just as a whole try to figure out if there's you know, misalignment and that type of thing. That's that's really the extent. And I've only talked to two individuals on the inside with this, but um those individuals I feel have been in these positions long enough to provide me the information and give me um you know the feeling that this is something that will be valuable. They are going to go ahead with this analysis and or I mean this RFP that they're going to issue with or without funding from the cities. So, I did meet with almost all of the city managers last week just to get a feel for where they're at out in all of them except for the center attended and are going to be supportive of the request for the funds.

Thank you, Council Member Fer.

And I'll just add to that since I sit on the board. Um again looking at this as a whole in Clark County um a lot of council for the homeless they're they did a homeless action plan but the way I see council for the homeless is they really more their job is more focusing and attacking the homeless issues kind of like the crisis you know how just answering it and this is actually going to allow us to look at the system as a whole and see where are there potential gaps. Are there gaps between services? Where are people falling through the cracks? Trying to to find that out. Um and also like um our city manager Chris Swanson had mentioned, it's you know uh for the health care, mental mental health um a lot of different areas. And also it'll I the thing that I thought was interesting what I liked about it is because we are the counselors. We're the elected officials. That's us legislative. We we're sitting on those boards coming together and I like the idea that this will also be looking at policies and trying to find gaps and where policies could be that could be helping this issue that we're faced with collectively in Clark County. I

have a couple questions. First of all, do we know who recommended this study to be done? it derived from echo. Yeah. Do we know the individual that recommended like I've only attended two or three meetings. I probably defer to council member prayer on Victoria. Do you know?

I would say, but don't quote me on this as I'm on it. No, I do know that. I mean, I sat in on a lot um it seemed to be a spearheaded um or at least a lot of the work was taken on through Vanessa at the um uh what's her name? Um is it Vanessa who's always on Zoom? She's and they're taking on the 100,000 from uh Vancouver community, I think. Um and then also maybe uh well, I guess I shouldn't say who spearheaded it. I just know who's taken on a lot of the role on, you know, helping put this whole thing together in regards to the RFP and the letter. And that would also be uh Miss Perez from Vancouver um city council as well. But I don't know who exactly was like, "Hey, I can't remember those."

And sorry,

I'm going to ask a question I probably already know the answer to. Um what about the document recording fees to pay for this study? Oh, um that the question was asked about utilizing document recording fees for the study which would be an appropriate expense. However, those are it's a sharply um declining revenue source due to the housing market. But with that, the document recording fees are already dedicated to services. So, it'll be stripping services of funding in order to pay for this. half of this study is being paid for by Clark County themselves and I think a quarter of it is well more than a yeah about a third in Vancouver. And so um you know those ones are those entities are really primarily dealing with all of the social service providers and the funding. But to answer your question, sharp decreases in document recording fees and they're already allocated to services. Yeah, my only hesitation on this is uh that I get duplicative services. I understand that like trimming the fat so to speak and seeing where we have overlapping service providers to um better allocate funding towards actually solving homelessness. But I also fear that the study will come out with, oh, you guys all need to be paying more money to help our homeless problem. Um and uh yeah, so that's just my two cents. Uh council. Okay, who do we have here?

Two questions. Uh the first one is are this is this is done through echo with the different cities, but is there been any conversation with any of the school districts because homelessness as we know is not just adults on the streets? You know, you got kids couch surfing because they don't have a home. So, what is the school districts around the county? Are they getting any of these conversations? I'm I'm not asking if they're footing any part of the build, but are they involved with this?

I'm not sure if we've had anyone at Echko to speak to this. I can tell you that school districts use a different kind of count. They call it the McKenna Bento count. So they view homelessness as anyone who doesn't have a home whether they're living with family, friends, couch surfing, not simply unsheltered or unhoused, if that makes any sense. So I know that they um do a lot of [clears throat] work and track those numbers on a regular basis. Whether they've come to Echo um to collaborate on this study um I don't have the answer to that. Okay. And then the second question I had was the cost was 74 and some change. Where are you going to pull that money from

Rob's paycheck? Um sorry very generous Rob. Thank you.

Um we'll pro probably find balance. I think it's something that we can absorb um and pay for. This is this is something that I question quite a bit and talked to representatives not only the county but um the city of Vancouver council members as well as the city managers to better understand this because I was skeptical of repeating another system gap analysis. But um through my conversations and digging a little bit deeper into what this analysis was actually going to entail versus the one that's mandated by the state, I think it's uh beneficial. But you're saying it's going to you're just going to pull it from the fund balance. So we're not going to be pulling from other departments,

but or some unspending. I don't think that $7,400 is going to necessarily require any kind of budget amendment or something we couldn't deal with. Council member Kypers.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, yeah, I had some hesitations about this, but if I'm understanding correctly, the premise is that the analysis would really tell us um where we are today. Um, it they may have done analysis previously, but the world is changing quickly. So I would work under the assumption that they're looking for where are we today in this changing environment and as funds continue to be more and more restricted with the analysis I would anticipate that they would be able to guide directions on what is going to be funded where they're going to put their emphasis um where the top priorities might be. So with that, I would be in favor of us participating and having um a part of that information and you know continuing to be active on that committee as Victoria uh council member Victoria is. And so I would like to make the motion that we go ahead and support the uh portion of our um our budget portion of $7400. $7,400 to participate in that analysis.

All right, you have a motion. Uh, I would second that and friendly amend the motion to the exact dollar amount requested. Sorry, did I have the wrong amount? You need a motion since it's just technically me. I just need a thumbs up. But we have it here now. We have a motion. So, all right. Uh, we have an emotion. Uh we have a motion by council member Kypers. We have a second by council member McCoy uh with an amendment to uh basically pay the amount that would be due from the city of battleground towards that analysis. Uh Jeannie, do you agree with that amendment? Yes. Thank you. I agree.

Have a motion and we have a second. Second. All those in favor? I I. All oppose? Nay. Nay. Can we get a roll vote on that with the two members online? I.

Council member McCoy, how do you vote? I. Council member Ferrer, how do you vote? Hi, Council Member Mson. How do you vote? I, Deputy Or apologies, Council Member Kypers, how do you vote? I. Council member Bowman, how do you vote? Deputy Mayor Vale, how do you vote? Nay. Mayor Overhozer, how do you vote?

Nay. Motion carries 5 to two. Thank you, Liz.

All right, moving on to the citizen communication portion of the meeting. Uh, I will now open the meeting for citizen communications. Individuals are limited to three minutes to provide comment. The total time for public comment shall not receive exceed 30 minutes unless extended by the mayor. This is an opportunity to hear from members of the public in a limited public forum, not an opportunity for extended comments or dialogue. Please refrain from derogatory remarks, personal attacks, campaign speeches, and applause. Although the city council desires to allow public comment, the city's business must proceed in an orderly, timely manner. If your comment comments pertain to an item listed on the agenda as a public hearing, please reserve your testimony for the designated public hearing period. All comment should be directed to the mayor. The council may not be able to respond to individual comments and may refer citizens to a staff member for assistance. The city manager has placed her business cards up at the podium. Please feel free to take one. If you would like to contact her with any questions. If you have any handouts, please hand them to the city clerk directly to the right of the podium. Thank you for understanding and participating in the council meeting this evening. Liz, are there any members on Zoom?

No, Mr. Mayor.

All right. Thank you. All right. First up here in the crowd, we'll take uh John Polos. Come on up. citizens, thanks for letting me speak. I lived on the I live on the same street for 55 years at Battleground. I'm going to talk to you about a serious problem Battleground has, but I've got the solution as usual. Uh first, I'm really sorry for the passing of U. Jesse Jackson and Robert Dval, a couple of people I respected. And um I'm going to be talking tonight on the proposed high voltage power line that's going to go right by the eastern boundary of Battleground City. And I'm sure a lot of you might already know about it. If not, you're going to learn about it tonight. Um, I made a mockup of power lines, explain what's going on solution. You don't mind me not using the microphone or you wish that I used.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure how.

If you could uh speak into either microphone just that way we can pick up the audio uh online, that'd be great. While I'm doing that, um, I'm a registered civil and electrical engineer. There's seven of us in the state of Washington. I spent 28 years at Bonavville Power running high voltage power operations. I brought in a couple of helmets because these are common to all utilities in the world. You see a white helmet, he's a groundskeeper. You see a yellow helmet, he's a certified electrical worker. Okay? Um and again I did bring my credentials. I am a registered civil and electrical in the state of Oregon and Washington. Um PPNL proposes a high voltage 230 KV power line just outside of battleground city limits along the uh eastern boundary. How many has anybody in here heard about it or know about it? Okay. They're going to start construction next year. Voltage is the big issue. Voltage is the water pressure of electricity. It's what pushes current. There are only four levels of voltage and high voltage. 115,000, 230, 345, which I don't show, and 500 KV. So that's the electrical pressure equal to water pressure. You multiply that by current and amps and you get power. So if you got 12 volts with 2 amps, you have 24 watts of power. Watts of power are like miles per hour. Energy is like miles. So miles per hour and miles aren't the same thing. And power and energy aren't the same thing. One's a rate. Okay. So extremely high EMF,

electric and magnetic forces with 500, moderate with 230, low with 115 KV, which you can see is along 259th Street, Battleground Lake. I'm almost done. Uh I propose that they switch from 230 KV to 115 and all the citizens are happy with that. We have far less EMF. So that's my solution. Thank you very much for listening. I'll leave a couple of cards here and uh in case you wanted more information on that or the uh I-5 bridge subject I talked about a couple weeks ago. Thank you for listening. Thank you, John. All right, next up we have Simon. Hello.

We got you. I just wanted to say thank you for issuing this Black History Month proclamation to the Vancouver NAACP. It helps highlight the amazing things that black people have done and continue to do despite facing facing push back and violence. Stating proclamations for more for marginalized people is the least you can do to help the larger community be more aware and accepting of each battleground resident that this council was elected to represent. Thank you, Simon. All right, Jessica.

Hello, city council. I'm Jessica Cole. I would like to talk about two things tonight. First, mayor, I want to thank you for issuing the proclamation recognizing Black History Month. I also want to acknowledge the passing today of Reverend Jesse Jackson, a major leader in the civil rights movement who continued to work for racial and economic justice in the decades after Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. One civil rights leader that I highly admire is Bard Rustin, a close colleague of Dr. King. Rustin was a Quaker, which is a part of a Christian faith tradition that strongly emphasizes peace and nonviolence, and he helped shape the non-violent strategies that became central to the civil rights movement. He is best known for organizing the 1963 March on Washington for jobs and freedom, where Dr. King delivered his I have a dream speech and Bard organized that a massive event in less than eight weeks. As a gay man, Bard um faced significant discrimination which often pushed him into the background despite his critical leadership role. Recognizing leaders like Rustin reminds us that progress has often depended on people whose contributions weren't fully acknowledged in their time. Second, um I'd like to read to you what my pin says. It says um this is my costume and um you would have had to been at the last meeting to understand that. Anyways, um I want to take a moment to say that I appreciate some of the people who were at the last city council meeting. Ally Strapazon, Neil Butler, John and Sigma, Pastor Ed Stanton, Chief Flynn, City Manager Chris Swanson, and councelor Tor McCoy. I really appreciated their kindness.

It's been great and honestly a bit surprising to find community here um for myself at the city council meetings. Thank you. Thank you, Jessica. All right, next up, Ally. Come on up.

My name is Ally Strappon. I am a city resident. Thank you for this opportunity to speak tonight. from Marcus Lopez, the first known black man to step foot in the Pacific Northwest in 1788, or James Douglas, assistant in charge of Hudson's Bay Company in 1838, to early pioneers like George Washington Bush and George Washington in the mid 1840s and 50s that helped establish the community of Bush Prairie in modern day Tumbwater and the city of Centriia or George Bush's son Owen who was the first black man elected to the Washington State Legislature in 1889 and instrumental in the passage of the state's first civil rights act and the establishment of Washington State University. My alma mater go Cougs in 1890. Our region, state, and local community has been inspired, created, and nurtured by incredibly talented, generous, and humble black Americans who until more recently were often a side note mention, if even mentioned at all, in the historical narratives taught in and about this area. As someone who has privilege that is granted me simply by being born into the systemically do dominant culture of this country, it is my duty and responsibility to know, appreciate, and honor the stories, histories, contributions, and influences of my fellow neighbors who are from systemically non-dominant ancestries. I thank you, Mayor Overholdzer, for supporting this proclamation tonight to highlight and celebrate Black History Month in Battleground, Washington. And I encourage and challenge not only the whole council, but our entire citizenry to intentionally and continually seek the knowledge, understanding, and assimilation of black history and culture in our town, region, nation, and world, past and present, the NAACP Vancouver chapter's website, Clark County Historical Museum, Fort Vancouver Regional Library, and the City of

Vancouver's Black Community in Vancouver webpage, which shares an amazing regional black history timeline, local blackowned businesses, and other resources are great places to start. Or there is the first families of Vancouver's African-American community book documenting the stories of black individuals and families that migrated here during World War II. Or the incredible work of Heather McGee in her book, The Sum of Us: Why What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Wherever and however you start this journey, be intentional. Be consistent. Open your heart and your mind to another way of knowing and experiencing things. Be prepared for and embrace the uncomfortableness that is part of the process of understanding from a systemically non-dominant point of view. Because when we know better, we can be better. So, let's choose to be better together for our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Ally. All right, that completes our citizen communication portion of the meeting. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Does any council member believe any items need to be withdrawn from the consent agenda? Move to approve as presented. Second. All right, we have a motion by council member McCoy, second by council member Ferrer. All those in favor? I I I

hearing none, motion passes unanimously. Uh seeing no business on the agenda tonight, we'll move on to administrative reports. Are there any administrative reports from staff this evening?

Uh just two quick items. I sent an email to all of you this afternoon updating you on the Northeast 92nd Avenue uh closure uh in the remainder of the construction project out there. If you have any questions, please just reach out to me. Um in the next week, we will have more information including dates on um construction timeline and notices to residents and other stakeholders out there. Um, and next week, uh, Mayor Overholster, Council Member McCoy, and myself will be headed to Capitol Hill to meet with our federal delegation, as well as, uh, some federal agencies to advocate on the federal legislative agenda items that you just um, approved on the consent agenda. Um, but with our absence, the bi-weekly meetings will still take place in the city manager's office and they will be facilitated by um the deputy city manager. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Swanson. All right, we're moving on to council communications. Are there any council member communications this evening? Council member Mson, you have the floor. Thank you, Mayor. Uh we in two weeks from Friday, we have our council retreat. Are we going to be seeing an agenda sooner than later so that we can see what we like, what we don't like, what how we're going to tweak it? Do we have a date when we're going to get that?

I usually try to get that out one week ahead of time. I will be in DC at that time. So, no later than Monday, it will come out with a final um version of that agenda. Monday of the week that we have the retreat. Yeah. I mean, we could probably send out a the

I think by Friday we could send out a draft agenda, but it should be pretty close. I just don't want to send out the final um but agenda as well as the documents that I want council to take a look at until probably Monday of that week. Well, we can certainly get a draft out on Friday. Thank you, Miss Swanson. All right, a couple things I wanted to mention before we uh move on here to the close. Um, I think a couple congratulations are in order. Uh, first of all, Megan, uh, and Battleground City staff, congratulations on, um, being awarded, uh, the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting by the government finance officers association. How many years running is that? believe it's 24. It's been since 2002.

What I'm talking about. All right, let's give it a I would usually say, "Hey, hold your applause." But well done. Well done. And I'm going to misquote Chris on this, but that doesn't happen by accident. Basically,

I'm just very much paraphrasing that, but another job well done, another good year, Megan. Thank you very much. Um, second congratulations is to our very own Chief Dennis Flynn, uh, awarded the Reflector Person of the Year. Congratulations on that, uh, Chief. All right. And I think this just highlights how outstanding uh our staff is um as a whole, but also individual recognition for the people that are just doing the work. And uh as I congratulated you personally, I will say the first thing you did is uh say it was the men and women um of the police department that you owed the gratitude towards this award. And so that is uh a sign of great leadership. So just want to thank both of you guys for your hard work for the city. It's a great example of uh why we are where we are. So thank you guys. All right, moving on. The next regular city council meeting will be held Monday, March 2nd at 7 p.m. No study session is scheduled. This meeting is adjourned at 8:02