City Council - Regular Meeting

Um, and I'm going to start off with proclamations. Uh, proclamations are not statements of policy, but are a means by which a 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, first up, my first proclamation is to proclaim March 2026 as Women's History Month. And Bev Jones is here this evening to receive the proclamation. Miss Jones, can you please stand at the and come up to the podium, please? All right. Whereas March is recognized nationally as Women's History Month, a time to honor the achievements, leadership, and resilience of women throughout history. And whereas women have been and continue to be leaders, innovators, and change makers in the city of Battleground, where the city is committed to fostering quality, opportunity, and respect for all residents. And whereas our city thrives when every voice is heard and every person is empowered to reach their full potential, as evidenced by the history of the city of Battleground being enriched by the invaluable contributions, courage, creativity, and leadership of women who have shaped our families, our neighborhoods, businesses, government, and schools. And whereas Women's History Month provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made and the work still ahead to achieve true equity by recommitting and

advancing equality. Now therefore, I, Eric Overberholzer, mayor of the city of Battleground, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as Women's History Month in the city of Battleground, Washington, and encourage all residents to join me in celebrating the stories, accompl accomplishments, and ongoing impact of women in our community and beyond who inspire us every day. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of battleground to be affixed this second day of March, 2026.

Mayor Overhouser, thank you for this proclamation recognizing Women's History Month. The ones that have joined me here today to celebrate are making history. We are making history today and we stand on the shoulders of those who come before us. It means a lot to see the contributions of women acknowledged, especially the many women in our community who lead businesses, support families, serve in public roles, volunteer, and help to make this town what it is. Women's History Month is both a celebration and a reminder that progress happens when communities value opportunity, respect, and the voices of everyone who lives here. I appreciate this recognition and feel grateful to be a part of this community that continues working towards um this together. Thank you very much. All right. My second proclamation is to proclaim March 2026 as American Red Cross Month. And tonight we have Michelle Proser here uh with the American Red Cross. Can you please come to the podium, please? Thank you, Michelle.

Thank you for having me.

All right. Whereas in March, we celebrate American Red Cross Month by honoring our neighbors who make its humanitarian mission possible in the Cascades region, which covers Southwest Washington and Oregon. Every day, their acts of kindness change lives, bring relief, comfort, and hope. When help can't wait, this compassionate spirit runs deep in our community, just as it has for 145 years through the American Red Cross. And whereas in 2025 alone, they provided relief and recovery to over 900 households. They collected over 166,000 units of blood. They supported over 5,000 service members through the service to armed forces program. They also trained over 50,000 people in CPR, first aid, babysitting, and water safety. And today, those who serve with the American Red Cross Cascades Region light the way during emergencies, whether it's delivering shelter, food, and comfort after disasters, providing a safe, life-saving blood supply for patients facing conditions like cancer treatments, childirth complications, and traumatic injuries. assisting military members, veterans, and their families with 247 global support or empowering individuals with skills like first aid and CPR that save lives. And whereas these collected efforts collective efforts are a powerful reminder that the strength of our community lies in our shared commitment to one another. As we mark Red Cross Month, let's celebrate our local heroes and resolve to continue lifting each other up so no one faces an emergency alone. Now therefore, I, Eric Overhauzer, mayor of city of Battleground, by virtue of the authority

vested in me, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as American Red Cross month. I encourage all residents of the city of Battleground to reach out and support its humanitarian mission. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand in caused the seal of the city of battleground to be affixed this second day of March, 2026. Thank you.

Thank you, mayor. And I just really appreciate the opportunity for us to have this proclamation for March for this year. Uh we appreciate you deciding that to do that for the city of Battleground. One of our focuses for 2026 is to connect more with local leaders and citizens to educate to be more preventative so that we don't have as many disasters to respond to and to just see how we can work together to for the betterment of the city of Battleground and other surrounding cities in this. So that that's our plan. We're we're hoping to make a lot more connections this year and I'm I'm going to I'm going to help do that around this area. Thank you very much. All right. So, tonight I will make a several new appointments to the lodging tax advisory committee, ELTAC. The application submission period of these positions close on February 23rd. With the approval of councel, I as mayor have chosen to appoint Jessica Cole to serve in tourism generator position one on Eltac term commencing January 1st, 2026 until changed by council. I'll call for a motion to approve the appointment. Motion to approve the um appointment of Jessica Cole to the ELTAC.

All right, we have a motion and a second. And uh all those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Uh unanimously. Uh welcome to the ELTC committee. The appointment is now approved. Jessica Cole, welcome aboard. Would you like to come on up? Would you like to say a few words?

Uh, thank you very much for this appointment. I'll be honest, the postponement of this appointment was frustrating and disheartening for many in the community, myself included. For the record, I would have not applied for this ELTAC position had it not been had I not been directly encouraged over several months last year by city staff Alicia Smith, Megan Lowry, and Chris Swanson, and as well as um then Mayor Troy McCoy. I stepped forward because I was asked multiple times to serve. When the appointments were postponed without notice in January, a new application process was opened that that required additional staff time and public resources. I appreciate the professionalism of city clerk Elizabeth Haley and communicating with me during that process. It is discouraging and unconstructive when the council's actions undermine the work staff are doing to engage the community, build relationships, and recruit volunteers. Also during the January meeting, comments about the finance director's work undermined her credibility. In February, the finance department earned the certificate of achievement for excellence in finance financial reporting, an honor that has been received every year since 2002. That level of consistent recognition reflects professionalism and transparency and should not be casually questioned in a public meeting. Since the application was only reopened for the positions of John and I uh that we were name nominated to fill fill and there were only applicant we were the only applicants in the second round. The delay did not change the outcome. Um Mr. Trent I don't know how to pronounce his last name. His position was not reopened. So there was no procedural reason for his appointment to be postponed. As staff and counselors McCoy

and Bowman noted publicly, this committee is difficult to recruit for. Several of you were sworn in at the first January meeting with friends and supporters present. On January 20th, I also had supporters attend my scheduled appointment without forewarning. Five of you removed it from the agenda. I ask you to consider how would that have felt if it had happened to you the night you were were being sworn in. There are many in the community, including people who do not know me personally, who are concerned about how Eltech volunteers were treated. Moments like that discourage civic participation. I care about strengthening tourism, supporting local events, and contributing to Battlegrounds economic vitality. And I look forward to working with finance director Megan Lowry, and serving this community well. Thank you for the appointment. Thank you, Jess. All right. With the approval of the council, I as mayor have chosen to appoint John Enzinga to serve in tourism generator position number two on Eltech, commencing January 1st, 2026 until changed by council. And uh I'd call for a motion for that appointment.

I move to approve the appointment of John Idzinga to the lodging tax advisory committee, ELTAC, tourism generator position number two, term beginning January 1st, 2026. All right, we have a motion and a second and we'll call for the vote. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes unanimously. Welcome to the ELTAC. John, come on up. Like to say a few words. [clears throat]

Thank you for the appointment and the opportunity to serve the citizens of Battleground. Thank you very much. Thank you, John.

All right. And uh with the approval of the council, I as mayor have chosen to appoint Trent Narcos to serve in tourism tax collector position number two on ELTAC term commencing January 1st, 2026 until changed by council. And I would uh seek a motion on that as well. Move to approve. Mayor second. All right. We have a uh motion by council member Mson, second by council member Kypers. We'll call for the vote. All those in favor? I

I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes unanimously. Congratulations, Mr. Narcos, on your reappointment to the tax collector position number two. Would you like to say a few words if you are here? Thanks, Trent. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Give it up.

All right. Moving on. Um, the term for planning commission position number one, previously held by Ryan Heasley, expired on December 31st of 2025. Commissioner Heasley has expressed his desire to be reappointed. and I am seeking the council's approval to reappoint Ryan Heasley to PL planning commission position number one for a 4-year term commencing January 1, 2026 and ending December 31st of 2029. And I would uh seek a motion on that. So moved.

Second. Motion by council member Hoy, second by Mson. And I will uh call for the vote. All those in favor? I.

Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes unanimously. Uh Ryan Heasley could not be here tonight to join us. He had prior obligations, but uh we are happy to have him back on board for planning commission for another term. All right, moving on to uh the Crian proposed high-capacity transit subdist. Um, and I have it on here presented by Chris Swanson. Chris, would you like to weigh in on this? I No, that's what I thought. Um, and this was actually I brought this to council as I am really just seeking guidance from you guys as we had the presentation on the HCT subdist possibility. Um, and I wanted to weigh in and get some direction from you guys uh, as we're coming up on the CRAN board meeting uh, coming up next week. it's a possibility that this will become a topic of conversation and I wanted to make sure I had direct um direction, sorry, lack of words uh from council before I could weigh in on that on the board. Um, and so really I'm I'm just seeking guidance on if we are a fan of the HT HCT subdist or not and uh we can open that up to discussions. Um, Council Member Pipers.

Thank you, Mayor. I would just like to um understand more what would be um any uh unintended consequences or risk to battleground if we did not become part of that or if that was not part of the district if we didn't go with that uh proposal. So from my understanding um the pro or the upside is to create that uh geographic boundary for the taxation. Correct.

The con um in my opinion could only be um politically motivated to maybe cause some um heartache by other members that could represent that jurisdiction. Um but battleground can choose to be part of the jurisdiction or not. So I think my obviously if we were not then we would not have the implication of taxes but if we are not then what's the negative? The positive would be taxes. The negative would be we don't have any negative side to it.

Yeah. you know, as far as for the small cities and battleground uh as a council previously has been fairly outspoken that we are okay with light rail on the bridge. We're not okay with our taxpayers in battleground paying for light rail on the bridge. And so if the IBR project is to move forward with light rail, as they have the choice to do at this moment, as far as our representation on CRAN, this is a way to isolate us potentially from the implications from tax on the operations and maintenance of that light rail.

Okay. Uh I will like to note that this subd district has to be approved approved by the voters of that district. Yeah. And so whatever geographical boundary they put on it, whether it be a legislative district or a city um boundary,

those potential tax people will have to vote on that. and and so it's really about me wanting to get direction before I move one way or the other. Uh again, there's a lot of conversation that'll have to take place prior to anything really being put in motion, but we did have a presentation last meeting at Catran. It brought up some good questions there. I think it piqued the interest of some of the smaller cities and the representatives. And so I wanted to be prepared going into the meeting coming up that if it does go to that that I can say without a doubt that I have direction from my council on which way we want to go. Okay.

That's really all it's about. So, thank you,

Council Member McCoy. Thank you, Mayor. Um, yeah, I'm I'm in support of this. Um, I think we should not stand uh in the way of getting that bridge replaced. Uh, it's a huge economic benefit. If you were at the CRDC meeting this week, um, all the employers are extremely interested in uh, removing the only stop sign between Canada and Mexico. Uh, and this protects battleground from light rail uh, paying uh, the cost on it. So, I think it's a good compromise. Yeah, I will note that in the packet that was sent out of information on this, uh there were several businesses here local that were in support of the HCT. Um so without that being said, yeah, and I agree, Council Member McCoy, we do not want to get in the way of this bridge getting replaced. There's a lot of navigation that still has to happen, a whole lot of budget things that have to be worked out, but uh really us not being in favor of uh the interstate bridge replacement is pointless and really makes it stand out in a negative light. So, Council Member Bowman,

so what keeps Catran from saying we're going to make the entire Catran service area, the subdist to uh fund light rail and we're going to go out to a vote in that area anyways and they outvote us in Battleground. So what what keeps them from just saying, "Well, the subdist's going to be the CRAN service area." I mean, we we've said, "Yeah, we want our own subdist and carve it out." But what what keeps them This is similar to annexation. What keeps them from we say, "We don't want to be involved." And they say, "Well, you don't have a choice because we're going to throw it in and we're going to outvote you anyways." So is this just does it make it feel good? Does it make us feel good or does this actually have teeth in it that we cannot be? Because I don't think we as a council can say we don't want to be in it. I think that would be a vote of the people because we as a council could say we don't want Catran, but it was voted on by the people to have CRAN here. And so it doesn't matter what our opinion is on CRAN. The people voted it in. And so if Catran uses that same example and says, "We don't care. We're going to make it a subdist anyways." Um, you know, and could could they and Mr. McCoy, you might know this because you've been involved with this a lot. Could they could they come back and say it's going to be either or? So, we're going to go out for a vote and you're either going to vote for this or you're not going to have bus service and those type of things. Could they could they make it one whole thing and eliminate bus service for the city of Battleground if we don't support the entire district? I can take part of it, but I council member McCoy, go ahead and weigh in on this.

Yeah, practically practically speaking, you're correct. I mean, they could do this. However, I see this vote as giving our delegate on the cat board, if this comes to cat board, how to vote. Um, and I don't think CRAN will do that because there's a lot of no votes up here for that proposal. So, while it's theoretically possible, I don't I don't think it's probably on the on the deck because they're worried enough about getting the votes in the subdist. Um, and the HST subdist is the extra point, too. It should not affect the other it will not affect the other 7 as far as services.

So do you think the no votes are there's no votes in the city or there's no votes in North County because North County is not in the CRAN district? Yeah. Uh fair point. Um but the f Yeah, there there are more no votes up here than there are probably in the city of Vancouver, but that's just all conjecture. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. And it my whole purpose of bringing this up is just to have the direction. At the end of the day, the board will vote and and then based on that vote, there'll be a geographic boundary set and then those people. So, it's still many votes removed. Council member Ferrer.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I had the I think the same concern as you did, Council Bowman, is going forward, what what's going to change this later on? I mean, we'd be a fool not to vote on this right now. Obviously, we kind of don't have an option, but at the same time, I I did my due diligence. Like I said, I was going to I promised and I don't promise things even to my kids cuz I can't predict tomorrow. But I said I would do my d my due diligence. I watched that whole video, took six pages of notes, and there was a lot of information, a lot of great information that was going on on that talking about the HCT. And um if memory serves correctly, this isn't something that's easy. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Chris or um Council Member McCoy, if you know differently, but this they were saying that to do a subdivision, it was going to take two years. It could go up to take up to two years. This isn't something that can be just done overnight. So, I don't think it could be easily undone just as quickly. I mean, maybe later down the road, but there is the concern of the cap. um.9 and also this isn't sustainable. This this is not going to be sustainable. But looking that's not what this conversation is about. There's nothing we can do about that. So at this point I'm in favor of doing what's best for battleground at this point. And I know we did do a resolution here against the light rail, but this is got nothing to do with the light rail at this point either. It's about the IBR and it's making sure that our people don't get taxed um for something that doesn't bring any benefits here to the city of Battleground.

Thank you, council member for appreciate those statements. So, yeah, basically I'm looking for a any any additional comments, I'd love to hear it now. Otherwise, thumbs up or thumbs down. Yay. subdist is okay to move forward with as uh the delegate of CRAN or no want to tread lightly on that. So yeah, mayor, I'm good with it. Good, good, good, great. Thumbs up.

All right. Thank you for your direction on that. I will bring that back to the board. I thought at the last meeting you had two directions that you wanted us also the language I saw at that meeting in regards to what at the time was Mayor McCoy had brought up in the June agenda about some language. Are we going to be giving you direction for that or

on the language I brought it up to give you guys feedback on that I was planning on bringing back the language on that. We currently had direction from council on that language. That's why it ended up on the agenda in the first place. And so I was just going to move that back forward. It's kind of a fail safe as a secondary item to the subd district of adding that language. Which language would that be? Would that be the one where option A, option two, or the one that uh Council Member McCoy had put up saying shall not? No, the shall not. know it it basically stated that no existing sales tax would be used for the operation and maintenance of the light rail,

right? Except for the construction of the bridge tax and that um any additional operation and maintenance tax, sales tax that would be brought forward would be uh voted on by the tax district or jurisdiction by the people that's taxed jurisdictions. Okay. I just I didn't know that we gave you direction for that one already. Okay. Yeah. And that language was brought forward on my first meeting. So, I couldn't really rebut any arguments on that and I said I would bring that back after I sought council guidance on that. And so,

and that's what we're doing I thought tonight because at the last one you had sought guidance and I said I haven't seen that language. Could we bring that back to discuss at tonight's meeting? And that's what I was going to share that support of it but I didn't see that. Well, and I and it was in our packet. So, it it was in your packet as part of your We didn't miss that. I

No, you didn't miss it. And if anybody else wants to weigh in on this, I'm more than happy to hear it. But, uh, basically, I was just wanting to keep you guys updated on that because I agree with the language. Uh, I think it remains true. Um, and so bringing that back uh up at the CRAN meeting is really I think um I was looking for weighin or any difference that you guys had to that other than that I'm just willing to bring that forward again. So all right,

still good. All right, I will now open the meeting for citizens communication. Individuals are limited to 3 minutes to provide comments. The total time for public comments shall not 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 comments pertain to an item listed on the agenda as a public hearing, please reserve your testimony for the designated public hearing period. All comments should be directed to the mayor. The 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 cards at the podium. Please feel free to take one. If you would like to contact her with any questions. If you have handouts, please hand them to the city clerk directly to the right of the podium. Thanks for your understanding and participating in the council meeting this evening. Um, Miss Hely, are there any members of the public on Zoom who wish to provide public comment remotely?

No, Mr. Mayor. All right, we will go to the crowd here. First up, we have uh Jason Maka or Mocha. Come on up, Jason.

Hi. Uh, hi, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. My name is Jason Mocha. I'm the resident at 24507 Northeast 146 A. Uh I am the CEO of uh seven different companies that offer internet services across five different states in the United States. I happen to also live in our backyard and I am aware that there's been some franchise agreements that were recently approved in November of last year. I'd like to get on that train as well. Uh my team and I have been working across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and Texas to build fiber optic solutions into smaller communities. My my career starts at 18 years old going into the military, never been to school, just worked my tail off the whole my whole life. So I am in a position now where I quite honestly have a very fantastic team that is eager to build fiber optic internet into smaller communities like battleground. Uh the name of my company is core fiber partners. It is comprised of seven companies currently. We are uh in the process of rebranding down to core fiber. My dream that I started in 2018. Um, I my uh interest here is to to make my um make you all know of my intentions here and to seek a rightaway agreement uh with the city of Battleground. My hope is is that I might be able to get on the agenda for the meeting of the 16th. If that's too soon, I certainly understand. Uh and um I'd be open to any questions or any comments around this. I like I said, I'm up the road and I think you have my information and I'd like to stay afterwards if anybody's interested in talking.

Thank you, Jason. Thank you, ma'am. Um, you can go ahead and grab Chris's card if you'd like, but uh, she'll put you in contact with the proper channels to do that.

Thank you. Right. Next up, Ally strap us on. Good evening, council. My name is Ally Strapazon and I'm a resident in the city limits. I want to thank Mayor Overholzer for supporting the Women's History Month proclamation this evening. Just like Black History Month and other heritage awareness and history recognitions, it is vitally important to the health and sustainability of our community to bring awareness, provide intentional inclusion, and celebrate the ongoing lives and contributions of the members of all systemically non-dominant groups who make up the beautiful and intricate tapestry of this community. To such ends, I would like to give the historical timeline of our continued work toward true equality. Please recognize the relative proximity of these dates to our current time in history. Most of them are within my mother's and or my lifetime, which should be a very sobering real uh realization for all. 1869 was women's first suffrage law was passed in Wyoming territory. 1900, women gained property and wage rights, though most systems required a male co-signer. Racial disparities were prevalent and still exists today. 1910, women were allowed to wear pants, but only for specific private duties such as chores, not necessarily in public until much later. 1920, white women were legally allowed to vote, though intimidation and other suppression tactics were prevalent. 1924, Native American women were allowed to become citizens in their own country. 1963, women gained legal equal pay rights, which is still questionable, and racial disparities still exist. 1965, black women were legally allowed to vote, though intimidation and other suppression tactics were prevalent and

remain so in many areas of the country. 1969, women were legally allowed to initiate divorce from their husbands without the burden of proof, though racial disparities still exist. 1972, women could legally get birth control without a man, though racial disparities still exist. 1974, women could legally buy a home and get a credit card without a man. Again, racial disparities still exist today. 1988, women legally could own their own businesses without a man, though racial disparities, you got it, continue to exist. 1993, women gained legal protection against marital rape, though this continues to be arduous and racial disparities absolutely still exist. 2015, women finally gained the legal right to marry each other. Since 2020, attempts at eroding legal protection gains for cis and transgender women and other systemically non-dominant groups have incre increased sharply. It is imperative that we all do what we can in the roles and with the platforms we have been granted to continue to lift up support and demand true equal protection not only under the law but in our collective society for each and every member of our community because no one is free unless and until each and every one of us is free to live our lives as we see fit. Thank you.

Thank you Ally. Hold your applause please. make uses. All right, next up, Jessica Cole. Come on up.

Hello, mayor and council members. I'm Jessica Cole. I want to thank the mayor for um recognizing Women's History Month and American Red Cross Month. Women's History Month reminds us that progress happens because people organize, advocate, and insist on being seen and valued. Women have shaped our local businesses, schools, nonprofits, and public service. I don't know what time I have. Often while facing barriers once considered normal. Thank you, Liz. This history includes LGBTQ women in government. Elaine Noble was elected [clears throat] to the Massachusetts legislature in 1974 as the first openly gay person elected to a state legislature. This was at a time when there was no legal protections for LGBTQ people and open hostility was common. Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender state senator in US history in 2020. I first learned about her through the documentary Or They Know Not What They Do, which explores how families of faith navigate their children's LGBTQ identities. That idea of progress brings me to the American Red Cross Proclamation. For many years, blood donation policies excluded gay and bisexual men regardless of actual health or risk. In 2023, the FDA updated its guidelines to an individual risk assessment model. The Red Cross was the first major blood bank to implement those changes and helped lead the advanced study that informed them. This research was made possible by thousands of LGBTQ participants. In the two years since, well, a little bit more, but that's all I have stats for. In the two years st since LGBTQ community partnerships have resulted in more than 3,000 donations with over

onethird firsttime donors. That matters. When we remove discriminatory barriers, our whole community benefits, hospitals gain a stronger blood supply and people once told you're not eligible are now able to help save lives. Both proclamations reflect the same truth. Inclusion strengthens communities. When we widen the circle, we are healthier, safer, and more connected. Thank you for recognizing these two important months. Thank you, Jessica.

Keep your applause. Thank you. All right, moving on to the consent agenda. Does any council member believe any items need to be withdrawn from the consent agenda tonight? Move to approve. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Move to a vote. All those in favor? I.

Okay. Any opposed? Hearing none. Consent agenda passes unanimously. Moving on to business. Uh Liz, was there any communications uh submitted regarding business items? No, Mr. Mayor.

All right. Thank you. And we'll move on to ordinance 2026-04 um amending battleground municipal code 17.135.150 presented by Lieutenant Jim Keller. Welcome. Thank you. So the report uh is going to cover the amendment language for storage of recreational vehicles and trailers and residential districts. Uh the updated code is going to give a definition of what is considered a recreational vehicle or trailer. And it's defined as travel trailers, folding tent trailers, motor homes, truck campers removed from the truck or pickup, horse trailers, boat trailers with or without boats, or other recreational vehicles, and utility trailers and boats. Uh the code has been vetted uh by the city attorney just to let you know ahead of time. Uh off streetet parking of any recreational vehicle or trailer is allowed in residential districts provided the following conditions are met. No more than three recreational vehicles or trailers may be parked outside on a single family lot. Recreational vehicles and trailers should not be parked in the front yard. However, one RV or trailer is allowed to be parked on a legally established driveway. Uh, and then the code 17-133-030 defines what the driveway is.

Thank you, Rob. And according to the code, it says that

permanent surface including but not limited to asphalt, concrete, brick, or masonary. That's what the definition of a driveway is. Uh, recreational vehicles or trailers must be currently licensed and registered. They shall not extend into the public rideway or obstruct sight visibility and they have to be entered the lot via an approved driveway approach. So, that is the updated uh code that we're going to be presenting.

Thank you, Lieutenant Geller. Um I will note that uh this is simply a call for a motion to set the public hearing and then we will uh have the opportunity for further discussion after the public hearing. So um just wanted to note that. Go ahead.

I don't understand why we can't make changes now. Why do we have to wait until afterwards? like because Elite this to me was a rough draft and that we would have time to weigh in on some changes that we would like to see then move forward with those changes and then um citizens would have time to have a letter at least a better glimpse or understanding that if you leave it like this you're going to have people coming and they're going to be upset and we might we might be fixing it afterwards. So, why wouldn't we try to tailor it now and then bring it forward with a a better one to try to prevent all of those disgruntled citizens?

Well, I think we still have the opportunity to have discussion on that. It's Okay. Sorry. I thought you said we're not discussing this. No, no. I just said I'm just wanting to be clear that what we're going to be seeking tonight is a motion to move to public speaking. Okay. Okay. Uh Any further discussion? Council member Mson.

Chris, will we be seeing based off of the bi-weeklies we've had, will we be seeing any other options brought into here, for example, I brought up at the last bi-weekly where we talk about recreational vehicles or trailers must enter the lot via an approved dropway drop. I know we're only discussing the motion tonight, but are we going to see more options put in here? Because as I discussed with you, there's certain parcels that maybe don't have that option for that extra driveway, but have plenty of room on other approaches of their property without damaging curbs. Are we going to see some other options, too, so we can be a little more flexible with this?

I think, and I might have Mark chime in on this. I think what you're asking is if someone would have the ability to to drive a recreational vehicle over the curb and over a sidewalk that's not on an approved driveway and that's actually violates code right now. So if council's looking to change that, that's something we would need direction on.

But as it stands, this is this is yes, a draft. I wouldn't say a rough draft. This was language that was worked up with staff and then reviewed by our city attorney. So any substantial changes, I think we'd want to discuss that and given direction tonight. Not at a, you know, a detail level, but if there's something that's missing or something you'd like to add to this language, I think tonight might be a good opportunity to let us know that and give us direction.

So let me give you just a readback so I understand correctly. You're saying that as we discussed with parcels that have larger loss sizes on the opposing, you know, on the same side as their front door. You're saying that the to drive up over the curb that's on a different part of the code. So, we essentially need to look at another code to allow for more freedom for them to park their vehicles in the back. Is that correct?

I mean, Mark, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just vehicles, whether it's recreational vehicles or not, are to, you know, come into a single dwelling f a single family dwelling lot on an approved driveway. Is there the ability to obtain a second driveway? Yes, but it's going to have to be um certain reasons that we wouldn't just go and approve a second driveway because someone needs to pull in their recreational vehicle on the back side that's over a curb and over a driveway. So, it is a separate code though. There's Well, there's a code that says you have to bring in vehicles on an approved driveway.

Yes. Sounds like a an affirmative on that. Council member Kypers, that you Sorry, I withdraw that. Okay. Withdraw. Undo.

Council member Ferrer. Yeah, I would want Yeah, thank you, mayor. I'd like to look more into that code, too, because I know that we have a code right now that specifically states that it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain the sidewalk, that planting curb, everything up until the road. So, and I know specifically in our code, which I forgot my phone to to share it, but it was in the first chapter, that any damage that's done to the curb or the sidewalk is the responsibility of the owner. So they easily if there was cuz I've never seen any damage and I I've seen a lot of homeowners doing this already with their um with their trailers using the curbs to to get up and over and I've seen them bring specific equipment ramps and whatnot to bring it in. But um if they were to do that um and there was damage, heaven forbid, that there is in our code specifically already stated that it would be the property owner's responsibility to repair that damage and um you can have a code enforcement go out and write it because of that code is what I saw. But I'm moving on with the other concerns that I see with this. I'm I there's a lot that I'm not comfortable with on this to be honest. I don't like restricting. There's a lot of restrictions on just private property that I don't feel comfortable with. Um for C right there with C, recreational vehicles or trailers must be currently licensed and registered. I just don't see how we can enforce that when it's behind somebody's gate where a police officer, how are they going to see that? I don't I don't understand how we could

put that in our language and hold our police officers accountable to that. Um I do agree with D. I um obviously e I'm wondering if there's a way that we can change that refer back to uh the code that I just mentioned that if there is damage done it's preferred not to but if there's damage done then city has every right to you know um charge you to fix to repair the damage that you've done to that property. Um, I don't like the fact that there it states a number and letter A, no more than three recreational vehicles or trailers may be parked outside on a single family lot. I can tell you we've got a lot of lots in our neighbor throughout our city that have very long uh you can call them private roads, you can call them driveways. We haven't discussed what exactly a private road is. There is very wide there's three car um threecar garages, some with even a huge trailer with also another extension of their their driveway. And for us to say that you can only have three. I don't like being I don't like fact that we would be telling property owners you can't have this. Maybe we can put an exception on there like if you're an R seven or higher or you have less than so many square feet on your property or when it becomes quote unquote a nuisance or a safety hazard, health or safety hazard. I agree with be that we should not be, you know, restrict, we should be restricting from parking them on the front yard for obviously um erosion, but and even potentially some damage to our um our storm waters or something, but to just tell somebody, "Oh, but you can only have one RV or excuse me, recreational vehicle in your driveway."

when we have very long driveways, we have very wide driveways. Um I I don't support that either. That's it for me. Council member Bowman. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Mark is on Onsdorf and we can use all the way down Onsdorf. We could use um eaten who takes care of the sidewalk on onstof is it is it the property owner that is or are those taken are are those ours?

So the there's a difference. The planter strips there's a series of planter strips that are taken care of by us and on's a good example of one. Um the sidewalks are the abuing property owner. Um so essentially the people who have double frontage technically have um responsibility for both sides. The one that's in the front of their house and the one that's in back. Um because we're responsible for the landscaping piece of it. if there's an issue with the tree, we'll often deal Rasmuson's a good example like between Parkway and Grace uh where we took care of those sidewalks and because we're responsible for the landscaping there and a lot of the issue was the trees we we addressed that so technically it's the it's the ab budding property owner but we have addressed it.

Okay. So, I I understand where, you know, some of the council's coming from with, you know, curb cuts and and I have a piece of property that allows me to have RVs. Um, it has enough room to have RVs and it's been paved. Um, does not have a curb cut, but I can get into it without a curb cut because of my driveway. Um, the the thing I would throw back to council is we did a study How long ago was our sidewalk study, Mark? Couple years. Mhm.

Two, three years ago, we did a study in the city about sidewalks that are popping up, sidewalks that are broken, sidewalks that need to be fixed. And guess whose responsibility that is? You all said it. It's the property owners. And they haven't fixed them. And so, guess what they say? The city should fix them or the city sidewalks. So we we can show we can show throughout the city areas that citizens are responsible to fix sidewalks and they haven't fixed sidewalks. They want the city to fix them. And so when you when you don't have curb cuts, I I don't have a problem if if if we wanted to put in there if you would like to park in your side parking, you're required to come in and apply to have a curb cut done, pay for the curb cut and and put it in. But the problem is is when we say it only affects me, it doesn't affect me because my entire neighborhood walks through my neighborhood. I got I got a elderly gentleman that walks with a walker every night when people quit moving around and he goes out there and walks. And if I've broken the sidewalk, guess where he's walking? In the street. And so I understand that and that that yeah, it's it's people's property and they should be able to do it, but but there's other ways to to do that and curb cuts would be one of them that we could put in there and have them come in and apply and make sure that they meet the standard. Um the challenge with that is though is how many curb cuts do we want on a piece of property? Um we got property uh that you can take aerial photos of and you can see 10 cars in the backyard. Is that what you want next to you in the city? Now, you may say, "Well, I want 10 cars in my backyard." But when you go to sell your house, you don't want your neighbor to have 10 cars in your backyard. And and because those are all things that get looked at. So, I think none of this is ever going to be perfect, but you live in a city. If you

go just right outside of the city, in fact, across the street from me, you're in the county, you can see all kinds of different zoning and you can see people that have multiple um you know, cars and trucks and broke down stuff and you can see people that have really nice houses. You know what? What's keeping someone from like Mr. Inzinger that lives on an acre from storing eight of his buddies RVs there and charging them $100 a month? I wouldn't want that if I lived on that acre in the city of of of battleground. So, I think there's some there's some things that we can do, but it's never going to be perfect and you can't just say, well, you know, if you got the room, do whatever you want to do because um you know, I I love to shoot bows and I love to shoot firearms. Guess what I'm not doing in the city, either one of those. I like, you know, I I don't necessarily want to be on city water. I should be able to punch a well on my property. Guess what's not going to happen? Me punching a well on my property. So, when we moved into the city, there was there was a set of rules when we moved here. Now, whether we enforced them or not is different, but there was a set of rules that we agreed to when we signed for that house. And we can change some of those things and I think we should look at them and and there are things that are different. Um, you know, I have when I bought my house, this was an issue. I bought my house purposely where it was because I needed RV parking for my trailers for my business, but I also have rented two RV units now to put my additional vehicles because I can park on the sidewalk in my neighborhood, but guess who will let me know that you shouldn't be parking? I mean, park on the street in my neighborhood. Guess who will let me know? All of my neighbors that you shouldn't park on the street. And and the last point that I'm going to bring up that that nobody thinks about is public safety. There's a public safety component to this from a fire standpoint that and from our police

officers. When we go to a residence and it's full of garbage or trailers and we can't get around and we have an issue now that affects not just them, but it affects the neighbors next to them. And so you can't say, "Well, it's my property. What happens on my property?" No, because it could it could go on to your neighbor's property when you have these trailers and things like that. You got propane in them, you know, someone's living in them. Um, so we need we need to make sure that and and from a licensing standpoint, I don't I don't think it's necessarily that we're going on their property looking to see if they're licensed, but it gives us the ability to enforce it if we have an issue. And so when when the neighbors call and say, "Hey, they got 18 motor homes parked in their backyard, three broke down cars," we can start to enforce that stuff. And say, "Hey, it's in our code. This is why." Um, so I think I mean I think there's some there's definitely some things that we've done that allows people to have RVs and trailers that they don't have to have them behind their house. But I I have seen ones I I've seen ones on Ensdorf where a guy cut put a gate on the back of his driveway and he was blocking traffic on Ensdorf driving an RV through the back of his over the sidewalk and putting it in the backyard. So that's not really the intent either. And and I think we have to balance livability, what it looks like, but also listen to those that have come in. You know, my concern is is what about all the people that went and already did all the things and spent the money to do all these things and then we say, "Oh, just kidding. We're changing the rules now because, you know, we want to." And and now, you know, I mean, I paid I paid [clears throat] extra money for my house

to purposely have that. And and you know, if I'd have known this, I'd have just bought a house in the new subdivisions and parked them on the front lawn because I've seen them parked on the front lawn and nothing was done for them for years. So, I think we have to find that balance. It's not going to be perfect between property rights, you know, watching out for the public. There is not one thing in our code that was put in because we had nothing better to do. It was all put in there because somebody did something and we had to make a law against that and say, "Well, you can't do that." And so, if everyone was perfect, we wouldn't have these issues. And so, we got to find that balance. But, I think curb cuts is the way to go. Make them put in curb cuts. It's going to cost you a little bit of money. Um, you know, you can make it look nice. it lines up with your property and and it would give you the ability to to move it in and out without uh going over the sidewalk and and breaking the sidewalk. Um, but the other stuff I I mean I think we've done a good job and I think legal's looked at it and we we have made some concessions and I think that um you know if you got four trailers uh sitting on your property um maybe you should be looking at you know places to store things and and put them where it's not encroaching in in uh other people's lives. Thank you,

Deputy Mayor Veil. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, as to other council members uh comments, I am in agreement with the majority. Um, however, there's a couple comments that I just want to clarify. It's my understanding that a second driveway or curb cuts would be difficult to approve and aren't typically done. Am I understanding that correctly?

That is correct. So, if that's difficult to obtain um and not often approved, I would like to ensure that we have um other parking pad ideas that could even be um on the side of the legally established driveway. Maybe it could be a gravel parking pad that again is immediately either to the right or the left of the current existing driveway that an RV could be parked upon. Um I know that having uh a permanent surface per the Battleground municipal code I believe from memory it is asphalt it is cement I want to say it is brick and paver stones um which are all extremely um costly. So, I am hopeful that we can improve this in a way that not only ensures um that our neighbors are happy with the way that the RVs are parked and that it's not detrimentally affecting our home values in a negative way. Um although it is still cost-effective for the owners of the property because I agree also with council member Ferrer in the fact that um I want to protect private property rights. I think that that is extremely important and I think that um though we can open up the municipal code multiple multiple times, we don't want to. So, we want to try to do the best job we possibly can get this as as good as we can. I know to council member Bowman's uh comment, it's not going to be perfect. Um we are seven people that love this city very very much and are doing our darnest uh to represent our community fully and and and doing so well. Um, and so I think that there can be some things that are amended um and are stricken to help that be done. Uh, something else I wanted to point out is just in the opening description of this um of this code

right where it says 17.135 uh.150 at the very end is the word boats. And I know that boats are mentioned uh in the paragraph prior when it states boat trailers with or without boats. I have not seen and it could just be that I live in a in a in an area that doesn't participate in this but a dry docked boat in a backyard. So what I don't want to do is create confusion with a code so that uh community members believe that if they have a boat parked on a boat trailer that that would now count as two items uh because the boat is listed separately. Um, so I just want to ensure we've got a boat on a boat trailer. It's parked, let's say, in a backyard. That, to my understanding, would only count as one item, even though it is two separate items listed. Um, I appreciate the way that this is laid out, and I believe that the majority of it is very easy to understand. Um, the other suggestion I would make is the lot size. I think that we can make an amendment or exclusions for lot sizes, let's say an R3 or even larger than 10,000 square ft, uh potentially having um them allowed to have more RVs stored or simply not held to the same standard of only having three. Um, again, I believe that there are municipal codes that prevent against junkyard type yards. If we had, you know, a hundred trailers and in different statuses of disrepair on a backyard full of mice and rats, that I think that there is a municipal code in which we could uh ensure that that doesn't continue. Um, but those are my suggestions.

All right. Before I go to council member Kypers, council member McCoy, you have not spoke on this yet and so I want Oh, you haven't yet? No, not on this. Oh, I'm sorry then. Go ahead, Council Member.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I agree with um the comments that uh Council Member Bowman made. Uh, I think there's indeed a fine balance in um allowing private property to be used the way people want to use it. Um, and yet I think that there is a balance between those who live outside city limits and have more space versus those who are in community and have neighbors and have um competing property values, safety potential issues, visibility issues. So, I do think that the way this is written is is getting us very close to a really good compromise. I know um Council Member Ferrer, you mentioned um concerns about people coming back and being upset. So um I guess I in listening to the comments made um across the council tonight, I I think we have a good sense of some of the potential language changes that we're looking at. Um, and then I think when it is open for public comment, that's when we'll really find out, did we hit the mark for the community? Did we hit the mark for the majority of people who are trying to deal with this themselves, trying to do the right thing, um, don't want to incur any more expense, but yet want to do the right thing um, with what they have on their property, and yet provide some guard rails for those who don't always follow the rules. So, um I think that we've had some good uh conversation and comments and things that need to be looked at. So, I just look forward to seeing what the next version is going to look like.

Council member McCoy, I just have a question for staff. Why is it difficult to get a curb cut? Is it because how the code's written? Is there a reason to make it difficult? Help me out. Yeah, it's the code specifically outlaws a second driveway unless you can meet a road mod and the road mod is strict about conditions that have to be met to get it. So, your typical single family cannot get a second driveway.

Is that something other cities have amended? Is that something you don't see amended a lot? Is that that's normally not touched? Is there a reason not to touch it? um our code is based on um when it back when it was written back in the day even before me but um one of the kind of main drivers was ensuring parking on the street. So when you have more than one driveway it eliminates that street parking. So that's the sort of basis of it. Not to say that it couldn't be changed but that's that's why it's written the way it's written. There's also a driveway width restriction for the same purpose. Got you. I had not thought of that. Thank you for that information. Um, with that, Mr. Mayor, I'd like to move to set a public hearing for ordinance 2026-04 amending BGMNC 17.135.150 RV boat and trailer storage for April 6, 2026.

Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. We'll go to a vote. All those in favor? I I.

Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes unanimously. And we're moving on. Administrative reports. Are there any administrative reports from staff this evening? Um, just briefly, I sent an email to all of you this afternoon regarding the council retreat this Friday, um, with a final agenda and some links to some documents that I think would be beneficial for you to review before we um, arrive at the retreat for discussion purposes. Uh, there's if there was a question, uh, Weaver Creek project, I'm sure you're all familiar with that. I just wanted to announce that they had their financial closing last Friday, which was a big hurdle and a big deal for them. So, they're on their way um with that project. I didn't know if you'd mention our trip to Washington DC last week. I would just like to offer that I thought it was very productive. I've been back to DC a number of times throughout my career and typically when you meet, especially with your US senators, they are not present. You are meeting with senior staff. So, it was fantastic to have a meeting not only with our congresswoman but also the two US senators um spent time with us at our meetings when we were back there. That's not typical. So, um that was exciting. Uh we met with some federal agencies also about our um federal agenda asks and learned a lot about opportunities that we have um in front of us. But uh and then this week, last week and this week, what we're seeing is the congressionally directed spending request, often referred to as earmarks. Um those portals have opened up. So, um we are going to be applying for those for our asks. And so, this was good timing since our travel and our meetings

in DC were last week. Um, and one last thing, today we had um a call with the Association of Washington Cities on our legislative session. It's 10 days left in counting. Um, we'll probably do a final report out after the session, but at this point, there are some pieces of legislation that are not really good for cities. Um, the public works assistant account is still facing sweeps. Um there's a reduction that we're facing in transportation funding and some other issues that could affect revenue for sales tax. So we'll have more on that um after 10 days if they adjourn on time. That's all I have. Thank you.

Can I ask a question to that? Yeah, go ahead. Are they going to be doing the post um legislative? Okay. Just making sure anything I've seen other council already see and I haven't I haven't seen anything so I didn't know if we were gonna Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They're always good about doing a post session recap for us. Okay. Cool. Yeah. The uh Greater Vancouver Chamber will do a legislative wrap-up and and just to that council, please RSVP sooner rather than later if we're going to go. Don't wait till last week so we can post a quorum. Well, and get a table.

And yeah, get the table. Some of us have already put in our responses. Thank you. Those that have much appreciated. Um, I want to [clears throat] touch on that just real briefly. Uh, I kind of glossed over it in the mayor's report, but I wanted to touch on it in the council report. I wanted to personally thank um first of all Chris and uh Council Member Troy McCoy for joining me on that trip to DC. It was I thought very beneficial, very informative, my first trip back uh for legislative to visit our delegates and I uh pray that it was beneficial for the city. Um, and I also just a special thanks publicly uh to Marie Glus and Camp Perez for uh hosting us so graciously. Uh got us tickets to the White House tour. Um gave us a uh had staff do a guided tour of the capital, US capital. Also invited us up to her office for uh viewing of the State of the Union address. all that uh felt very welcoming and I was humbled by it all. Um also, Senator Canwell, an amazing discussion. Looking forward to her coming back here to Battleground and uh enjoying some Allen Ernie with her. Uh and also uh Senator Murray as well. I I thought it was a great thing that Alicia put together and Chris dreamt up of the gifts that we brought them. Um, it was very different and you could tell by their responses, but it was also very welcomed as it was a [clears throat] a display case with dirt to represent the projects that they had helped uh get funding for to get us over the hump. So, Battleground Senior Center, 502503

intersection, different projects that they had been a part of and uh it caught them a little off guard. I thought they they thought it was a very cool gift, something very different, and hopefully that leaves a lasting impression in their minds. But I just wanted to thank our delegates personally uh for taking the time to meet with uh all of us and be so welcoming. DC is a beautiful place. It was a little wild uh being there during the State of the Union. Tuesday was a little crazy, but uh also had an amazing experience. So just thanks to everyone who was a part of that. Uh, with that I want to move on to uh, council member reports. Are there any um, council member communications this evening? All right, hearing none. Uh, the next regular city council meeting will be held Monday, March 16th at 7 p.m.