City Council - Regular Meeting

yeah i was impressed yeah okay well and is it liz that was helping us is that cal's name or jessica that um carly's friend at college there was heather and rosa i think is the other one

Anyway, she said she was going to make a dance for us to do. And I said, I'll do that. Gives me a goal to work towards.

All right.

The time is 7 p.m.

On July 20th, and I call this meeting of the Battleground City Council to order. Please rise if you can for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge 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 All right.

Clerk, if you could call roll, please.

Mayor Overholzer.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Vail. Present. Council Member McCoy. Here. Council Member Ferrer. Present. Council Member Kuipers. Present. Council Member Bowman. Here. Council Member Munson will be absent this evening, and the clerk is present. That concludes the roll. Thank you.

Mayor moved to excuse Council Member Munson from the meeting. Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Hearing none, passes unanimous. And we will move on to summary reports and presentations. Are there any council member reports this evening?

Yes, Mayor, I have a report. The Governance Manual Committee has met a couple of times already. We're slogging through the details. We have... This last meeting, we decided that we need to get some more structure to kind of how it would present because there are so many changes we're looking at. A lot of them are grammar and a lot of them are, you know, kind of cleanup in terms of how the document was written. So we're trying to get that out of the way so we can get to the meat of what the document is. And so we'll be continuing to work through that. We have monthly meetings scheduled and we will be developing a side-by-side of what the changes are going to be. So it'll be easier for council to follow.

So more to come. Okay.

Thank you. Council member Kuypers, any additional council member reports? All right. I'm hearing none. We will move on to the mayor's report. Oh, one second. Let me back up just real quick. Under council member reports, I actually have a couple of things. I didn't want to be too rushed out of here. But we had EMS2. Let me here. I have my documentation. EMS2 met on July 13 at 1 PM. We approved the 2026 fall supplemental budget. We made an amendment to the bylaws to add a vice chair that will help to fill the role of chair if Chair Marshall is unable to attend. We also made an amendment to the interlocal agreement, and it was simply just to strike a balance I'm going to use air quotes here, participate in the county budgeting process that has been struck from the interlocal agreement. So that will come back to us to agree to again. We are doing it by committee for the budget. And so we still have administrative fees that we'll pay, but we'll still have a contract administrator overseeing that, Dan Cordes, currently. We still have legal fees. And so that's just a couple changes to the EMS2. And then we have CTRAN. They met July 14th. It was a very brief meeting, I was told, by Tim Hein. The only action item was the approval of the CTRAN safety plan. There is no meeting on August 11th as scheduled, but it was replaced by the CTRIEN facility and system tour. And that will be on August 11th from 1 to 4.30 PM. That will tour the 65th Avenue operations and includes a bus ride to key transit corridors. Council members are invited to attend by RSVP. And that email should have been sent and distributed. I believe it made it out. Liz got it pretty quick to you guys. So if you want to attend, you can RSVP and they will get you on the roster for that. It is limited capacity. So sign up early if that is something you are interested in. And that's all I have from council member reports. Now we will move on.

Can I ask a question about EMS2? Yeah. Did they talk about, I know it was brought up in our fire meeting, did they talk about an executive session or something like that, legal with executive session?

We didn't have any exec, or I don't think we had any.

I think it was like if they were going to have to do executive sessions, how they were going to do that, because...

I don't recall that being part of the meeting.

I was just wondering, I know it was brought up to us and from a fire standpoint, it's difficult. And, and I said, even from a city standpoint, because we represent other jurisdictions.

Right.

And if something's talked about an executive session, how do we go back now? How do we share that with the, share that with other jurisdictions?

Yeah. The legal representation was there and she did speak, but I don't know if I recall executive session being part of the talk on that. All right. So it would, would be i'd be curious to rebut that though is you know we need to be very careful yeah you're right i get it siri's always listening uh no yeah but it wasn't brought up during that meeting as part of the agenda okay i was just wondering because we we told it might be and

how all the legal was gonna weigh in on it from the different jurisdictions to determine how that was gonna happen potentially could be problematic.

Yeah, and we, as EMS too, we do have legal representation, but she also urged that for individual to go back to their jurisdiction for legal representation as well as, you know, in-house. So. Okay, thank you. Yep, thank you. Okay, mayor's report. Here we go. We have our Big Heart Citizen Recognition Award. And I just want to say good evening, everyone. Each month at our city council meetings, we take a moment to recognize the people and organizations who work hard to make Battleground a better place. Through our monthly Big Heart Citizen Recognition Award, we get to publicly thank those who have provided truly outstanding service to our community. Tonight, I am proud to present this month's award to the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund. This organization was created to honor the legacy of the late coach Mark Rego, who lived right here in Battleground for over 20 years. Coach Rego was known across Clark County for his dedication to youth sports and his commitment to mentoring young people. He believed that sports were a powerful tool to teach students about character, hard work, and responsibility. When he passed away in 2018, his scholarship fund was established to keep that mission moving forward. And since 2019, through steady community fundraising, the fund has raised over $375,000 That financial support has directly helped 233 student athletes across the Battleground and Evergreen school districts pay for college or vocational training. What makes this fund unique is its focus. These scholarships do not just go to the top scorers on the team, but they are awarded to student athletes who exhibit true grit, hard work, and a dedication to helping others. By backing these students, the fund is making a lasting investment in our community. And none of this would be possible without the hard work of Coach Rego's widow, Kimberly Roden. Following her loss, Kimberly refused to let his bright light fade. She stepped forward as the founder and program coordinator to help build this organization from the ground up, keeping the community united behind its mission. and directly supporting the board's vital work with our local schools. To Kimberly and the entire board, thank you. Thank you for your time, your dedication, and for showing our local students that their hometown stands behind them. As mayor of the city of Battleground, it is my privilege to present this month's Big Heart Recognition Award to the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund and to its founder, Kimberly Roden. And Kimberly, if you could please step up to the podium. And you were nominated by Kristin Parkin today. I'm going to read this certificate out loud. I'll present it. I'll come down and present it to you, along with the Big Heart certificates, stone, and a pin. And then if you feel like you want to, you can make a brief statement, but you are not obligated to do so. Okay. I want to leave that ball in your court to use sports terms. The Big Heart Certificate of Recognition presented to the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund. The city of Battleground is proud to present the Big Heart Award to the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund in recognition of your dedication to supporting the next generation of our community. Through your commitment to helping student athletes in the Battleground and Evergreen school districts pursue higher education, You are carrying forward Coach Mark Rego's legacy of leadership, perseverance, and service. And by investing in young athletes as they take the next step toward their future, you are creating opportunities that extend far beyond the playing field. Thank you for making a lasting difference in the lives of local students and helping build a brighter future for our community. Presented on the 20th day of July, 2026, by Mayor Eric Overholzer. Hey, that's me. Let me sign that for you. And I will present this to you along with your pin and your stone. All right, another round. Come on.

Check this out. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

oh and the big heart award engraved on this side and then we have the city of battleground oh that's perfect thank you there you go yeah you guys want some photos hey let's smile because we look good together thank you

I just want to say thank you very much. And just to let you know that right now the Battleground School District needs a little bit more funding for a few sports because of the levy not passing. And so I know that the Rigo Scholarship Fund is going to be dedicating some money towards that. Anybody in the room, if you have people that you have that go to high school or know of grandkids or something, I would strongly encourage you to reach out and make a donation. Anything, $5 or anything is going to help our kids. This isn't for the Rigo Scholarship Fund. This is for our student athletes that are not going to be able to bowl, are not going to be able to golf, are not going to be able to swim.

and so forth so i would strongly encourage you to think about that and also the rego athletic scholarship fund is very blessed and very honored mahalo all right all right kimberly i'm not going to ask you to stand back up but i am going to read you your second certificate yes uh that one was from for the rego scholarship this is for you personally okay The city of Battleground is proud to present the Big Heart Award to Kimberly Roden, founder of the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund in recognition of your compassion, generosity, and unwavering commitment to our community. Inspired by your love for your late husband, Coach Mark Rego, you transformed his lifelong passion for mentoring young athletes into a lasting legacy of opportunity. Through the Rego Athletic Scholarship Fund, you have helped countless student athletes pursue higher education while carrying forward the values of leadership, perseverance, and character that Coach Rego embodied. Your dedication has ensured that his impact continues to inspire future generations. Thank you for leading with heart and for creating a legacy that will strengthen our community for years to come.

presented on this 20th day of July 2026 by me, Mayor Eric Oberle.

You don't need to get all those steps. Yeah, I was going to say that. Thank you again. Appreciate it.

One thing I also want to point out is the Big Heart Award. would not be possible without citizens making nominations for people that qualify for this award. And we are still trying to do this on a monthly basis, but the nominees have slowed a little bit. And so I want to encourage all of the public out there, if you have somebody that you think qualifies for this, Big Heart Award, please go onto the website, cityofbattleground.org and fill out the nomination. And I would be glad to have more nominees to choose from. So thank you. All right. We'll move on to presentations. I would like to first introduce Battleground Municipal Court Judge, Andrew Wheeler.

Good evening. Mr. Mayor, members of the council, it's my pleasure to be here this evening to introduce Brittany Peterson, our newest court clerk. I was part of the hiring panel for Brittany, and she completely blew us out of the water with her training and experience. She was with Washington County for five and a half years. we basically walked her through sort of what she did for Washington County. And it was like a template of what our court clerks do, whether it be interacting with the public, any of the court maintenance, technical aspects, and so forth. And I know a lot of it's different between Oregon and Washington. But she had a great basis and was just a perfect fit for our court. We're so glad to have her. She's a graduate of Clark College, Portland Community College. She has her EMS certification, so from what Mr. Mayor said. So if we ever need someone in that sort of capacity, we have Brittany with us. just an outstanding employee. We're so grateful to have her, uh, be part of, uh, our court team. So glad to be here tonight to talk to you and introduce Brittany.

Hi, uh, nice to meet you all. Thanks for having me. Uh, happy to be here, uh, like so far. And, uh,

Welcome aboard, Brittany. We're glad to have you. And I hope that you never have to use that EMS certification here in the court. But Shane heard that now and he might try to rope you into fire. So we better be sure to keep you on board. Welcome aboard. If you want to come up, you can. Yeah, come on. I can't.

And not to steal the microphone for too much longer while Brittany is shaking hands, we do have our one-year community court celebration coming up on July 30th. I think that we have extended, hopefully via email and invitation, to all the council members. It's at 3 p.m. on July 30th here in what we call the courtroom, what you call council chambers. Um, we'd love to see you there. We have some real success stories that we're going to be sharing some speakers and so forth. And, uh, it's been a great first year and we appreciate the council's support throughout and, and again, hope you can attend. So thank you all.

Thanks. And that is one more thing I can scratch off my announcements for later. And yeah. All right, next up, we have the Battleground Art Alliance presentation. I'd like to introduce Battleground Art Alliance President Joy Lynn Woodard.

Good evening, council members and city officials. I'm pleased to be here. On behalf of Battleground Art Alliance, our board, and our members, of which we have several here with us, we would like to thank you so much for affording us the opportunity to present to you who we are our mission our purpose and hopefully that we can collaborate and partner with the city to bring more art into battleground we also hope that not maybe one but maybe all our art lovers so that we can move our mission forward so thank you so much i'd like to introduce randy ahman and he's going to do the presentation for you thank you

Thank you, Joy Lynn. Greetings, Mayor and Council. First off, we are BGAA in abbreviation. The Alliance is a 501 nonprofit organization. We were formed in September of 2001. Uniquely, Lois Tucker, I'm not sure if you know her, but she was a member for many, many years, and she is Battleground's published historian. So we go back a long ways. Not me so much, but many others. Our membership profile, and as Joy Lynn mentioned, they're here, and they're supposed to waive. Our membership profile, we consist of currently roughly 70 artists and patrons. 30% have Battleground addresses. 70% have Clark County addresses. We represent over 2,000 years of experience. And I point out those addresses so that you know there are a lot of people that are not in Battleground proper that are supporting Battleground. I'm one of the battleground people. Artist members are talented artists spanning many 2D and 3D medias, including painting, glass, ceramics, pottery, jewelry, fiber, weaving, photography, lapidary, and no one blinked at that, no idea. Lapidary is rock. Art. And it's amazing what you can do with rocks when you string them together and glue them together. Photography. Oh, lapidary again. Digital and mixed medias. Patron members are supporters of the arts and our mission and our programs in this community and others. Come on, there we go. And this is our photographer artist, and he's got a unique one up there that I think is pretty cool, that rock photo that has been altered into a lady's face. So it's just a little different. Our mission. Come on mission, there we go. Our mission, connecting our community by supporting local artists and inspiring students as we are cultivating visual arts in battleground and surrounding areas. Our vision. A premier hub for visual arts, a permanent gallery spaces, creating profound transformative art, and empowering the next generation of creators. This is a little fun for you to look at. The artist for that pig is here. Onward. Why Art and Battleground? And there's a little resource there in fine print at the top. Why Art and Battleground? It is an economic engine. Local spending boosts merchant revenue by $38 per attendee and per each event. The tourism draw for art events attracts non-local visitors who spend about $61 per each event. There is a revenue retention by preventing cultural leakage as 51% of the residents stay rather than traveling elsewhere for art events. The tax base fuels the local tax revenue through every commerce event. And we need the money. Bear with me as I flip through correctly. Washington state creative realities. The sector revenue, creative industries generate $79 billion in Washington state revenue. The GDP impact represents 9.78% of the total Washington state GDP. Employment supports over 190,000 jobs statewide. However, there is a resource gap. Local alliances try to bridge that for the gap in our stage, which is currently ranked at 31st per person in art funding. So we're down there on our culture. The social impact and vibrancy. There is a civic pride, 89% of attendees view local arts as a primary source of community pride. Legacy value, 86% of the community view local art access as vital for future generations. Community identity, 86% report a sense of loss if local cultural venues disappear. And this has happened with our organization in Battleground, including Art in the Park. Connection. There is a connection that provides an essential third-party space for networking, collaboration, and social cohesion. This is one of our fabric artists who just does beautiful, unique things, kind of transformative, not necessarily profound. We try to get this done through quarterly art celebrations. We do spring. We like to call it art in the bloom. Summer, we like to bring back art in the park. Fall, of course, you're going to fall into art. And winter, a season your art. Throughout the year, we want to get back involved in harvest days, which I just missed this year. Sorry, I missed it. Open doors, our tours are fairly new and they are taking off good, which you can go to perhaps my garage in the near future and visit my studio. Merchant collaborations, art classes, student juried arts, art demonstrations, public art, and children events. And this is by a famous oil painter. And the one on your top left with the kids, they're looking at the angel over Battleground Lake. So here's kind of where we're at. We're looking for the city council to partner with BGAA. There are three key values that I want to point out to partner with us. Bricks and motor. We need a space for artists, students, children, and public. How we acquire that, we need some collaboration to get to that. Education. This kind of goes with that bricks and mortar. We want a place to meet regularly and open studio for the public, showing the artworks and along with the education. sharing and each one of you might, some of you might have an office here. We want city events to be known for city events benefiting residents with our art culture or any art cultural. Think of us when you have a city event coming up. Your municipality facilities, and this goes for your offices now, we would love to get art in your municipal facilities. Rotating displays, even here in the city hall. I don't know if you want something fun over there, but it would look nice for you. We want you to share your streets with us. If you have events coming up, we would like to have displays. If you have... the park benches famously painted. We would like to help with that. Benefits. Lower event center costs for the community. And I'm gonna probably rely on Sonny here a little bit. Currently it costs us roughly about $3,000 to get that event. That is so far out from what it used to be. And it is so cost prohibitive for ourselves. Thus, we're not at the event center doing our thing.

Sure. Good evening. So I'm the volunteer blunt person of our organization. So to be blunt, too many of our activities go out of battleground. For instance, recently the city of Vancouver in their renovated library called Art Share gave us a space that's about twice the size of this room for $300. We wanted to do a similar event at the event center, and the fee for us is $3,000, which is not a possible fee that we can afford. So that's a problem for us. So we go out with BGA, the battleground name, and we venture all across Clark County But we would really like to have a home here and to do it. And the event center is a great space. And we would love to be able to hold quarterly sales and shows and events at the event center. So appreciate your time.

Thank you, Sonny. And so next on that list right below that is lower costs for nonprofit organization events. John Potter, I not familiar with how the city reacts for nonprofits to come in as one console probably a person pointed out, if you do it for one nonprofit you have to do it for others, but we are domiciled here, we want to be partnered in your events. John Potter, Grants grants that better the art culture and. I recently learned of some avenues for some grants. However, I'll point out a sister city and also a sister art alliance up in Ridgefield got a wonderful grant and they were able to establish a bricks and motor location. So they are off and running. So this kind of concludes my presentation. I would love to open it up for any question and answers. I'll probably defer to the more knowledgeable ones. And up on your screen is a thank you. And our president again is Joy Lynn Woodard, and her phone number and her email is there. Likewise, some QR codes so you can just look at kind of what we have going. Does anybody have any questions?

Yeah. Have you ever applied for LTAC funding for your event at the event center? Oh, what? So, uh, Ms. Megan maybe has a business card for you. There is what cued me into is that you mentioned some tourism and some people coming to the city. There is a grant funding mechanism dedicated exactly for that.

Yeah, I think that is the tourism one that I kind of reviewed.

And I think it's due by the end of August. It's called the Tourism Act.

I was thumbing through that, and I'm going, oh, my gosh. It asks what you want to do, what you want the taxes to be used for.

So you could use for the event space rental.

OK. So I will have to muddle through that as fast as I can. Thank you. Yeah. OK. Any other questions?

Yeah, you had mentioned 3,000. Is that with you using your 501c3? Because I know that we do give discounts.

Yes. Yes, it is. Yep.

Is that for the whole day in the big room or what exactly? Yeah, it's just one day, right?

24 hours. Yeah, it is an old while. And you're basically telling most battleground small businesses and groups like us, no go. But I hear it's booked quite a bit. So you're getting your money there. But if you have an empty spot, there we are.

Well, you had mentioned you want to know when we have upcoming events. We do have the National Night Out coming up.

Yes, and with that thought, I'm not sure who runs that or who leads it, but just, you know, if we know who that is and they reach out to us and or we can reach out to them, we would like to try to coordinate it. So, and I am also curious about First Fridays, I think it is, if that is a city-run thing or is it strictly merchants?

Yeah, Friday's is a merchant run.

And then also, from what I understand, there is the Parks Department might have some avenues for us too.

Yeah, I was wondering about the Parks and Rec Committee, or the Parks PACE Committee, sorry, PACE Board.

Yeah, so with that, getting our message out to you, and you hear of stuff, please plug that into your city worker bees, you might say, and just say, hey, have you considered Battleground Artelites?

Have you guys looked at what grant Ridgefield did get? Was it through the city?

Was it through... From what I understand, and I don't know a tremendous amount of details, it was through the city. And I think it had to do with a lot of the renovations that were going on.

Because there are a lot of different... Grants, sometimes they're hard to find and figure out, you know, and we don't have grant writers that work for us. We use firms to do that for us. But we could, I think we have in the past put that out to some of them to see if they know of anything federally from the state side, if there's any grants for this kind of stuff. I've been here just a little bit and with the community center, I'll give you just a little bit on that. That used to be when we first built that, we kept the prices really low and the nonprofits got really low prices and it turned into a nonprofit center. And it was ate up by all the nonprofits and anybody else that wanted to use it. couldn't get time in there.

That's interesting. Perhaps do a timeshare and just say, hey, you have to dedicate a day or two per month for nonprofits.

When I think we've changed it a little bit, how that was done, because it was, and it did, it became it wasn't, it's not a profit center and it shouldn't be a profit center for us. We're not looking for it to be a profit center, but it was a major loss for us for a long time because, you know, every, every 501c3 out there was like, you know, we're doing two meetings, you know, or meeting a week there and taking up so much time and, and, and that kind of stuff. And so we kind of changed some stuff around and made some differences there. And so the public could use it, but it would be interesting to see what you guys need. LTAC is a good source for that. I know that I think last year we only had like maybe five applicants for LTAC that we can use for that kind of stuff if it fits those parameters and where people are coming from. Those are good sources.

Yeah. And again, I'm not pleading, but I'm just going to say, you know, if you could look at how those fees are set, that if they could set aside some time for nonprofits. Okay.

Thank you. And first of all, thank you to the whole Alliance for coming and presenting. Second of all, I am a huge proponent for art thriving in the city of Battleground and being on display in creative ways that we can think of to do that. um and i think you have that card uh i would reach out and i'm sure our staff will be more than happy to give you what information we can from our our standpoint of a city as far as altac funding um and then uh you know you may want to reach out to some of the other local business owners as well that might help with some shared space kind of opportunities um Art in the park sounds amazing to me, and I for one have also been in communication with our staff about how we bring art more prevalent into the city and to distribute it throughout the city, whether it be murals, statues, lapidary I'm very interested in. But I just wanted to thank you guys for the work that you do and the contribution you make to our community. It is very much appreciated.

Yeah, and thank you so much for your comments. And if you look at Camas and or Ridgefield and other cities, they're moving forward and I'd love to have Battleground move forward. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, folks. Thank you. All right, that will wrap up our presentations for this evening. We will move on to agenda approval. Does any council member wish to amend the agenda this evening? Move to approve as presented.

Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, agenda is approved. And we will move on to citizen communication. Give a moment here.

How many do we have? Six.

Before we get started with citizen communication, we're going to just take a brief five-minute recess, and we will reconvene at 7.44 p.m. Thank you.

Thanks. All right, the time is 7.44 PM. We will reconvene the meeting.

and move on to citizens communication portion of the meeting. I will now open the meeting for citizen communication. As authorized under the council's adopted rules, the mayor may adjust both the individual speaking time and the overall length of the constituent comments period to ensure the orderly and efficient conduct of the meeting. Due to the number of individuals wishing to speak this evening, each speaker will have three minutes and the total public comment period will last 30 minutes. This portion of the meeting is a limited public forum for receiving input from the public. It is not intended for dialogue with the Council. To help maintain an orderly and efficient meeting, please avoid conduct that disrupts the meeting. This includes speaking out of turn, exceeding the time limit, creating loud or coordinated demonstrations such as applause, cheering, jazz hands, or other visible or audible interruptions, calling out from the audience or otherwise preventing others from being heard. While all viewpoints are protected under the First Amendment, obscene language, derogatory remarks, personal attacks, or campaign speeches can create disturbances that interfere with the orderly conduct of the meeting. Speakers are therefore asked to present their comments in a manner that allows the meeting to proceed efficiently and respectfully, threatening behavior, intimidation, or any conduct that substantially interrupts delays or interferes with the meeting may result in removal from the chambers to protect the safety and order of the proceedings. If your remarks relate to an item scheduled for a public hearing, please wait to provide your public comment during that designated hearing time. All comments 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. If due to time constraints, you are unable to provide verbal comment this evening, please submit written comment to the city clerk's office with the title public comment for disbursement to council. The city manager has placed her business cards at the podium. Please feel free to take one if you would like to contact her with any questions. If you have printed materials to submit for the record, please hand them to the city clerk seated directly to the right of the podium. Thank you for your cooperation and participation in the council meeting this evening. And Liz, are there any members of the public on Zoom who wish to provide public comment remotely?

No, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. All right, we will move on. We're just going to go from the top down. And first, I would like to call up Judy Blevins.

This year, July 23rd, is the 34th year that I've lived in the house that is six houses away from Captain Strong Elementary. And it's just been a marvelous adventure getting to know what this part of the country is like. And in this room tonight, Each one of us says that we're a citizen of this country, the USA. Everyone here in our various weirdnesses knows we're each a citizen. Many of us grew up thinking as an adult that it's both our duty and responsibility to vote for those who seem best able to uphold our laws and care for our needs. It is our duty and responsibility to keep our children and all of us from being sexually and in other ways exploited from the least of us to those who were drawn in by Epstein and others like him. We've all grown up knowing we'd often be disappointed with the results of an election. We've tried to love others as we love ourselves, but often society rejects our weirdness and informs us we're not normal, we're not lovable, because we're not like you. And unless we all accept that exploitation of everybody, of all that our creator creates, because it's too expensive, too difficult in the short run to make any changes, just because some of our leaders say this doesn't mean that it's inevitable. We are going to be a peaceful country.

Thank you, Judy. Next up, Terry Carroll. Terry, come on up.

Hey there. So I drive by the community center several times a day. But I take my mom to the senior luncheon there and Once I had to call the, have them call the police for a guy who was sleeping in his car with it running in the parking lot, taking up a space that a senior citizen couldn't park in. And then, um, now, so there's that guy lives there in the parking lot. And then, um, now another car's joined him. And then now a woman, an elderly woman with her dog lives there too. So I had called the police like three times and, um, never heard anything and so then i went by again and there happened to be a city worker in the parking lot and the woman was playing with her dog without a leash you know what i mean it's right by the skate park and that's what's worrisome too because kids go there we don't know who these people are not the old woman but you know the other people that are sleeping with their car running in the middle of the day but um so the woman somebody i didn't know if it was a woman then but There was a woman playing with her dog, not on a leash. And then there was a city worker guy. So I was going to go talk to the city worker to let him know that, hey, I've called the police several times because people sleeping in. And he goes, oh, it's just her. She's fine. I told her she could stay here. Wait, what? And it's not her, but what happens when it's an RV full of people on meth? What happens when the whole parking lot's full of camping? So then I went and spoke to the people in the community center and then the parks and rec person told me that she read me the municipal code and I guess it's not strong enough. It doesn't say that you can't camp there. It doesn't say you can't camp in a parking lot and you can't camp in any city parking lot. Is this what she said? And so I guess I talked to the chief of police twice about it too. And he said, somebody's living in the park over here by Walmart. So that's what he, and he gets it. You know what I mean? But there's nothing he can do about it because our municipal code isn't strong enough. So I emailed him. Three times to you guys, and I never got a response so that's why I'm here, because I just want to see what I can do or what we can do to make it stronger so and maybe there's a million churches in this town, maybe a church can offer that woman a place to park safe. because that's not a safe place for her to park. An old woman, she's older than I am. And like, I would let her live in my house, but I have three dogs. Her dog can't go. And the chief of police said she's not willing to give up her dog even for a little while to go to a safe place. And I get it. But at the same time, I just wanted to see what we can do together to make it better. And that's all.

Thank you, Terry. John. It's a go. I think I feel like I said that wrong. And I always saw an N in there.

Everybody says John Idzenga.

Okay.

And I am a citizen of the city of battleground. So first of all, to staff, you know, I want to, I just want to say thank you for everything that you guys do and everything you've been going through. And that's why I'm here. So proclamations create divisiveness. And I wrote this down because I didn't want to carry it away and go on for an hour, but it's, Because of these proclamations, you've had the biggest audiences that are in recorded history. So that's probably a plus. But one thing I noticed that during those two meetings, especially those two meetings, during the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag, you should turn around and take a look at the audience. And audience, you should be ashamed of yourself if you are one of those people that needs to sit down during the Pledge of Allegiance. I think that is terrible. You know, 12 million men and women have given their lives since World War II to give them a right to sit down. But what a disrespect to, you know, the men, women and their families are flag in our country. I just I just can't get over it. People are they want to rebel against the divisiveness and that's how they're doing it. And that's the wrong way to do it. And now I want to talk about the 75th anniversary of the city of Battleground and the 250th anniversary of our great country. I know Alicia did a lot and I'm happy for that, but Consul is working on the defensive and not doing city business. I think you guys should have got together and said, you know, we should have a barbecue. We should do a Friday night thing where all the people, all the whole community can get together and enjoy a celebration, bringing people together and said, Yes, we had some things. I think we should have lined the street with flags. I really do. Could have done a barbecue, a lot of things like that. Time's running out and I'm only... I'm going to skip some stuff here. Last meeting, late in the evening, one of our counselors called for the question because she didn't want to hear what another council member had to say. I hope you're listening. I want to know why, you know, people have a choice to say that, but they don't want to listen to what other people have to say. And you want us to listen to you. I think that's really wrong. And then mayor, you threatened term limits on top of that. I think that is totally out of line and uncalled for. Listen to all the people, your constituents, but also all your council members without threatening them. I think that's wrong, okay? Good stuff. We've got a lot of good stuff going on in Battleground. So we just got over Harvest Days. Harvest Days, to me, was a complete success. We had a great cruise in with about 290 cars. We had a car show on Sunday with about 150 cars. We had a great parade with 108 entries. Way more entries than we can handle on that parade route, so we're going to have to start doing things different.

Thank you, John.

Yeah. Vendor fair, I'm going to finish. Vendor fair, we had something new this year, and I think it's great. So we want to keep doing things that bring people together.

Thank you. Thank you. Ma'am, after we're done with the people that have filled out the list, I will call you up, okay? Holland Martin.

Good evening, city council members and city officials. I'm here to speak on my behalf and the city's behalf and the county, and I'm very concerned about ICE being present in our city. I saw one the other day, and it was circling around the alleyway right by Playmakers, and I'm very concerned about their presence, and I don't know what to do. And also, we have to revoke the ICE permit. They've been committing federal crimes on our US homeland. And we have to put a stop to it. And I already sent a document to the city clerk about what they have committed. They have committed heinous crimes that is so unbelievable, unnecessary, and unprovoked. They have no reason to take away our constitutional rights, our freedom, and our homeland. And also, I'm really concerned about there's not very many bike lanes. I almost got hit by a bus a month ago. And we need to add more bike lanes to keep the streets safer for pedestrians and our bike bikes and our e-bikes. We need to have more accountability in our city. And with the ICE presence in our city has been a really big concern. And it's putting me in fear because I don't know what they're going to do. Because I could be walking down the street by myself and I could be snatched away because of who I am or what have you. So we have to end the ICE permit. It's the only way to hold them accountable federally. We cannot continue to allow this to happen in our beautiful cities. We have, there's families, our hardworking families, there's There's refugees that came from overseas that need a fresh start, not take them away and put them in detention centers for several months and leave them starving. We have to hold ICE accountable. And that's not how they're supposed to be trained like that. And I'm embarrassed with how they're doing it to our U.S. homeland. And thank you for letting me speak. Thank you, Helen.

All right, next up, Wynne Gershage.

I came here tonight to give one of your councilwomen a good kudos and thumbs up, because she was the only person who spoke out against your redevelopment and having HOAs. I belong to an HOA, and I'll tell you, it's been nothing but trouble. And today, on this hot day, I was out washing my garage doors, because we got a notice that if your house faced south, you have to paint your garage door. My house is six years old. And there was nothing wrong with that garage door. But we have to paint them. And if you don't paint them, they'll fine you. And if you don't pay the fines or do what they say, they can take your property, even if your house is paid for. And these HOAs, when people don't realize what property rights are, you know, they tell us last year, my house was five years old. I had to paint the backyard fence. Five years old, a fence. And then they said you had to put two coats of paint on, which they didn't when it was built. And it was always the hottest times of the year to be doing this stuff. You know, if it's 80, 90 degrees, that's when they want you to paint. And actually, you're not supposed to paint in that kind of weather. But it really amazes me because people don't realize what these HOAs do. If you belong to the Epoch Times or take a subscription to that, they talk about Philbrook's Farms being the big landowners. And I'll tell you something, when you start reading about this, it would scare the heck out of you. And the last thing you want is an HOA. Because every time you turn around, if your flowers blow into somebody else's yard, you have to pick up your yard till it's pristine and there's no weeds, even though the chemtrails are spraying these seeds on us. I have weeds and moss in my yard I've never had until this year. And the bad thing is, is everybody's house is like that. Plus we got Bill Gates, his kissing beetles and his ticks. I've never had that in my backyard before either. So when you're out there picking these weeds up all the time because it has to look pristine from your HOA, you get bit up by these bugs too, which is even worse. But one thing I do want to suggest is that this city council, this thing, I think you should make a mass ordinance. This is an article from Dr. Russell Blaylock, who is a brain surgeon, plus he wrote this, I'm putting this on public record. This was during 2001 in March. In addition, wearing masks for prolonged periods of times can impair oxygenation to the heart muscle. It increases risk of development of atherosclerosis and heart failure. The lack of oxygen makes the heart more irritable and increasing risk on arrhythmias, which is one of the most common causes of heart-related deaths. The policy of wearing masks will be significantly increased incidence of hypopoxia. and there's low oxygen supply. In effect, some doctors already reporting dramatic increase in heart attacks and heart failure since the mask mandate started and were enforced. If people need to wear a mask, stay home and call up on the screen.

Thank you, Wynne. Next up, Nancy Tarr.

Mayor, I would like to express my disappointment that you refused to sign a proclamation celebrating International Friendship Day, a day of loving kindness in Battleground on July 30th. The proposed proclamation was intended to celebrate the values shared by many faiths, philosophies, and ethical traditions, compassion, respect, service, and care for our neighbors. It encouraged residents to choose understanding over division and to strengthen our community through everyday acts of kindness. Although the mayor declined to issue the proclamation, its message remains an invitation for all of us to help make Battleground a more welcoming, compassionate, and united community. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy.

Next up, April Hall.

Good evening. I want to express my disappointment that the International Friendship of Loving Day kindness was not adopted, either. It wasn't a political statement. It didn't endorse a party, an ideology, or a policy. It simply affirmed values that have united communities across generations with kindness, compassion, respect, and caring for our neighbors. The proclamation recognized that Battleground is made up from people from all different backgrounds who want the same thing, a safe, welcoming community where every person is treated with dignity. It called on us to choose understanding over division, compassion over indifference, and hope over fear. As a Christian, I believe these values reflect the teachings of Jesus. to love our neighbors, care for those in need, and show mercy even when we disagree. But these principles are not uniquely Christian. They're shared by people of many faiths and those with no religious traditions at all. Passing the proclamation would have cost nothing, yet it could have reminded every resident of Battleground that they matter and that kindness is something that we can agree on. I hope the council will consider what message was sent by rejecting to adopt or affirm the simple universal values and that we will continue looking for opportunities to bring our community together rather than allow our differences to pull us apart. Thank you.

Thank you, April. Jessica Cole.

Hello, council. My name is Jessica Cole. I wish you would have given John more time because he did help put on the biggest event in town that brings in lots of people. I understand the parameters around citizen comments, though. And I do agree with him that it was inappropriate to call the question on fellow counselors and also threatening term limits. I am glad that you respected my wish to not issue the proclamation I requested for June, the unity and belonging proclamation, because it would have been hypocritical considering the other proclamations that were given. Speaking of proclamations, from the last meeting, one of the counselors had motioned to fix some problematic wording in the governance manual so that a mayor themselves could not change it to a policy, which the way it is written, that can happen. I reached out to the four counselors that declined that motion. And I'm very disappointed that you, Mr. Munson and Ms. Ferrer did not respond to my email, even though I did a follow-up And I am surprisingly, I don't know, startlingly, it was startling that Deputy Mayor Vail, she did respond to me, but she said, no, she doesn't want to change the problematic behavior, or I'm sorry, the problematic proclamation wording in the governance manual. Sorry, I'm not reading, I'm thinking. Lastly, I would request that you do not approve giving invocations. I've talked to a lot of people in the city across a lot of different demographics and all kinds of spectrums. And with the strife that has been brought up in town, turning down the temperature i think that's wording that we've heard and used a lot we just want that turned down the proclamations have caused a lot of problems for a lot of people not just people from one area a lot of people of faith are dealing with all kinds of issues fear backlash All the people I've talked to do not want invocations. They do not want unkindness. They don't want division. So I'm asking you, please, please, please, hold off on that. I prefer never, but could you please, please, for the sake of our city, hold off on that for a long time, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica. Simon, you're up. Go ahead, Simon.

Hello, Eric. You are still not being fair to all of your constituents. As far as you have communicated to me, you have no intention of taking any meaningful actions to make amends or change your unequal treatment. I'm against the council adding invocations. You have shown that when you are in full control of making the decision of being equal or choosing favorites, you will not be equal. Since you have broken Battlegrounds Trust, tell me, what actions would you take to ensure without a doubt that invocations would be fair and equal? Or is it just going to be another example of you showing how you potentially don't actually care about fairness and equality of all? I have noticed that so many of the proclamations you have denied are queer related. That is not at all the way a mayor should be acting and treating people. Do you think it's all fine and dandy for one group of people to be specifically suppressed? I bet you wouldn't like it if a group you are a part of was being suppressed. So why do you think it's okay to do that to anyone else? The only thing you keep bringing up to me referring to proclamation guidelines is that it has to be broad-based. However, you have given a proclamation for Tourette's. So clearly it doesn't have to actually be a broad-based topic that you keep telling me. You're doing the opposite of what you say. You bend your rules when you want and blame your rules instead of taking responsibility. As mayor, you volunteered to represent all people. You are getting paid as well as medical benefits that my tax dollars are going to. Yet you won't do this one little action. It's a piece of paper that you don't even have to write. and it takes maybe 10 minutes of a council meeting. You know it's important to people just as you knew the prayer proclamation and the traditional nuclear families proclamation were important to people. You issued them because somebody asked for it despite others not wanting it. So why won't you do this for other topics too? When you don't have clear guidelines, it clearly causes confusion and frustration for people.

Thank you, Simon. All right. Ma'am, I didn't forget about you. Come on up. And if you could, kindly just state your name before your statement, because we don't have you on the roster here.

My name is Betty Kerfee. There's a reason that I don't stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance. And it's not because of this. I refuse to say it or stand up and sing the Star Spangled Banner as long as our federal government is run by Mr. Trump and his cohorts. That's why I don't stand up. I can sing America, they're beautiful all day long because I love my country. But I don't love its government right now.

Thank you, Betty. And that includes our citizen communication section of the meeting. We will move on to the consent agenda. Does any council member believe any items need to be withdrawn from the consent agenda?

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. And on to business. uh miss clerk are there any communications submitted regarding business items that have not yet been provided to the council no mr mayor thank you ma'am and i will now present our finance and information services director megan lowry take it away

good evening council tonight we're going to be going through quarter two of 2026 hard to believe we're halfway through the year so some information for you we have four months activity of sales tax for our general sales tax and our transportation benefit district sales tax we saw a 3.2 increase which is fantastic considering we were expecting a decrease and based upon what some of our Neighbors are seeing up north. We are actually in a little pocket of economic positivity because other jurisdictions up north are seeing some negative trends, including our state. For our county as a whole, our public safety sales tax, as well as our criminal justice sales tax, also saw some significant increase, 5% for the countywide public safety sales tax and 7.6% for the criminal justice sales tax. We have collected one month of our local Councilmatic public safety tax and collected 55,000 for that month of April. Looking at our overall revenue, we are well on trend. You can see between 22 and 25, we've been hovering around that $6 million mark. Whereas prior to that, we were under 4 million. So what we thought was a blip in time has continued to be more of a norm and we hope it continues as such, but nobody has a crystal ball. I wish I did. We did add, well, not necessarily we, the county as a whole added 0.3% sales tax. So our rate went from 8.6 to 8.9 effective April 1st. 0.1% of that was our local councilmatic public safety tax, which we collect 100% of that. And then there's the county public safety tax that they collect 100% of that 0.1%. And then there's also the county housing tax, which is another 0.1%. The chart got a little out of control now that we have so many different sales taxes, but you can see the overall, we sent $14.6 million to the state with local revenue of sales tax collected. Total gross receipts were about $224.6 million worth of sales within the city of Battleground, which is pretty amazing. Looking at where that's coming from, we see an increase in our retail trade of 4.8%. We are seeing a decrease in construction, but it's minor at this point of time. There was a significant uptick in public administration, which that's your vehicle sales, which you would think that has to do with McCord's, but not necessarily so because it's still destination-based. So it's still based upon the purchaser's address, not where the dealerships are. So folks appear to be buying vehicles and or recreational vehicles, which again... not what you would expect right now. And then moving on to development activity, we again continue to see significant single family residential home builds. We're at 151 single family residences compared to 112 and 25. Multifamily, we have six compared to two. Commercial, four compared to three. So what does that mean dollar wise? Overall, we're up $4 million in our development, various activities, permanent revenue, 951,000 compared to 590,000. That's in large part due to the multifamily as those are significant dollar amounts for building permanent revenue. Building plan checks, 570,000 compared to 406, which means those building permits are going to be incoming more. And then development review, we're at 131,000 compared to 425,000, which we are slowing down a bit on that side of the house, which those then turn into the subdivisions that then turn into building permits. So we'll see if that follows through to the building permit side, but we still have a lot of plans in the hopper of plans that have already been approved for subdivisions. Transportation impact fees were at $830,000 compared to $951,025. The reason why that is decreased is we have a couple of deferrals happening. So with both Eaton and Deakin, those impact fees have been deferred until their improvements are done, and then they'll be using credits for those. So that's why that's decreased when everything else has increased. And then as far as credits, there has been $119,000 worth of impact fee credits, which again are credits happen when folks do improvements that are in our transportation plan on our behalf. And then they get credits on behalf of us versus us having money change hands. Park impact fees is at $1.5 million compared to $601,000. Again, that has to do with the large multifamilies that came in. So positive in the development activity that things are continuing to grow in Battleground. General fund overall, we're at $16.2 million budget to actual for revenues. We're at $13.9 million expenses to $36 million budget. So we're well within our target ranges for both revenues and expenses for our general fund for being halfway through the year. Looking at our real estate excise tax, we're at $894,000. Last year, at the same time, we were at $1.1 Well, $1.037 million. So we've seen a 13.7% decrease in our real estate excise tax, which is not necessarily concerning. Again, we'll see how the year ends, but we're definitely on trend to still be up in the $1.6 to $2 million range. Looking at our major funds, our street funds, we're at 49.1% budget to actual for our street revenue. Our street expenditures, we're at 21.3%. I'm sure you've been out and about and seen all of the preservation work starting to take place. That has all been scheduled and... If you have any questions, Ryan is here and he's in charge of those projects, so he can answer your questions. But those are on track to be completed this year as well. In our parks fund, we're at 52.3% budget to actual for our revenues. We have seen an uptick in our senior center revenue. We're actually seeing quite a bit of rentals happening since we handed that over to the senior group, which is actually fantastic. And since the improvements were made, which is more than we've received in prior years. So that seems to be going very well with the remodel that happened. Our event center revenue is also up as well. So we're doing well in those rentals. Looking at our expenditures, we're at 46.8% budget to actual. We're on par with where we should be this far through the year. Looking at our storm drainage fund, we're at 27.9% budget to actual for revenue and 22.9% for expenditures. Keeping in mind, we have a large property purchase that we're in process of or a capital improvement project related to the culvert down on Eaton. And then looking at our water fund, we're at 31.8% in our revenue, budget to actual, and then 31.8% on our expenditures, which I am excited to say we are almost done with our ARPA funds. We only have $1,472 left, and I'm very excited about that. The reservoir is about 90% to completion, which is fantastic, which overall that will save our taxpayers money as well as it'll be able to store water. So we won't have to purchase so much from Clark Public Utilities. I will also say with our water purchases, we're down significantly to the point I may have done a little dance. We're about 50% less, even with the rate increase that they did. And it has large part to do with well six being up and running and producing, which is fantastic. We're still in process of that whole review of water rights. And as far as wells go, we're definitely on trend in the right direction now. And then our sewer fund, we're at 43.3% budget to actual for revenue and 44.8% for sewer expenses. There was only some minor capital projects in the sewer fund, which is why we're so close to the 50% target. Looking at our debt outstanding, we have Scott and Way bonds still outstanding at 2 million, our water revenue bond at 1.1 million, and then our sewer bond at 4.4 million. And then looking at our interest income, it continues to be a significant source of revenue, which is fantastic. It's only down slightly from 25, 1.8 million across all funds compared to 2 million and 25. And then our average earnings across all funds is about 3.3% compared to 3.8 and 25. And then our cash and investments, again, the majority of this is restricted for specific purposes, but most of our funds are with LGIP, some with the county pool, and then we have some long-term investments as well as our funds in the bank. And with that, I'll open it up for any questions.

Go ahead.

Two things. One, I'd be really interested in seeing the breakout of that water usage and how it relates and how it affects our rate payers with the less use of the CPU water. I know that's a project that's ongoing right now. And then the second more important thing, is there any video of this dance?

no okay no it was in the privacy of my office i did i did call mark and chris and i got very excited i was like is this real this is real for you any other questions for megan just thank you i'll just say thank you megan for all that you do you're awesome we're lucky to have you agree thank you megan thank you uh you rock that's all i have to say

All right, let's move on to ordinance 2026 dash one five. And I'd like to present and introduce city engineer, Ryan James.

Oops, excuse me. Good evening, City Council. Joining the city today is Powell Lowe, who is a representative for LightCurve. He's on by Zoom, excuse me. A few words to say about LightCurve. They are a local fiber internet provider serving Washington communities for over 114 years. They currently provide service in several communities in Washington State, including Tacoma, Ellensburg, Centralia, Chehalis, Yelm, and Sela, and many other smaller communities with network expansion underway across the region. And they are headquartered in Tacoma. Light curve is okay with our standard agreement, except for one section that didn't, excuse me, that did not apply. So it was not applicable to the agreement. And as I mentioned, Paolo is in attendance via Zoom should council have any questions.

Feel free to chime in. Any question?

Hearing none. I'll just say thank you, pal, for attending this meeting. We're glad to have you in this agreement with us. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor and the council members, appreciate it and look forward to serving Washington residents.

Thank you, pal. All right, we are on to administrative reports. Are there any administrative reports from staff this evening?

Yes, Mayor, I have a few. Well, first, Judge Wheeler stole my thunder about the one-year anniversary of community court, which is July 30th at 3 PM. I hope some of you can make that celebration with us. And since somebody touched on this, well, Megan did, touched on this a little bit. I had Joanna Martin, who is our recreational manager and works out of the event center, run some stats for me on the first six months for rentals. And one-time rentals from January to June of this year compared to last year, one-time rentals have more than doubled. Number of hours spent with those rentals is up 89%, and fees have increased 55%. But collectively, total all rentals, this is one-time and long-term. And that's just the event center, not the senior center. I can't do a comparison on the senior center because if you remember the first six months of last year, we had it closed down and we did the grand reopening of June. So when we get some appropriate data to compare, I'll let you know what those are. But all rentals, which include the one-time and long-term, comparatively speaking for the first six months of this year compared to last year, That increase is 20%. Number of hours has increased 34%. And the fees associated with that that we collect is up 26%. So they are definitely busier than they have been last year. And I also, someone brought this up about, I think we were talking about the wells and what's being produced out of each one. There is a spreadsheet that I think when Mark gets back, we'll have him update. But we did hire a hydrologist that you all remember. It is taking some time. We hired a consort to perform this work, but they have assured us that the work and the report should come by the end of the year. I'm looking at you, Ryan, to make sure that that's correct. And then just real quick, the anticipated council retreat that was planned for July 1 is going to be rescheduled, but there is not a new date. set yet for that. We're trying to find one in August that will work for everyone on council. But having said that, we are trying to schedule some of the topics that we discussed for the retreat and try to stick them on to a regular council meeting or study session if that's appropriate. So stay tuned for that. That's all I have for my update.

Thank you, Chris. And I refute The term retreat, I say it's a work session. It doesn't feel like a retreat. I hear some of the individuals over in Ridgefield, they go to Skamania Lodge for their retreat. I'm like, oh, well, that's a misuse of city funds. But nonetheless, the word retreat. All right. Moving on to council communications. And I'm actually going to start. And I know, Troy, I got you right here on cue. Just a couple quick things. I'll try to keep it brief and quick. August 4th, National Night Out. I know we've already talked about it briefly, but I want to touch on it one more time, that the city is going to host National Night Out from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4th at our new location, Chief Umtuk School, which is on 700 Northwest 9th Street National Night Out is a keystone of the summer season and always well attended by the community. Volunteers are welcome to assist with a variety of event activities, including the bike rodeo, food distribution, hot dogs are always a welcome thing, helmets and items giveaway, and assisting event vendors. And yeah, you should be able to find that information on the city's website or social media accounts. But it's definitely a good night to be had by all. And another thing we can look forward to in the community to bring us together. One other thing I have. Actually, I have a couple of things, but I'll just try to keep it brief. I have to issue an apology and I didn't know that I'd ever have to do this officially, but. I made a statement last meeting and it was very end of the meeting towards the end. And there was some questions brought up about potential ethics violation. And there was a word that I guess kind of triggered me and that was sexual harassment. And I probably did not use the proper tone in addressing that issue. And so I regret the tone that I had and just wanted to announce that to everybody that I could have handled that much better. And I formally apologize. I will not take anyone outside. And the last thing, and this is something that we do have, I didn't want it to gloss over But a while ago, I had made a request to staff. And it was surrounding something that I suppose if I didn't bring this up, it'd probably die down. But I did want to continue to seek information. There was a report that was put out. And it led me to have some questions that were, the report was asked based on public comment. about the time and money that it was costing the city to have some proclamations or to field the meetings during these proclamations. And I do not question in any way, shape, or form the validity of this. And so I'm not coming from a... an aggressive stance on this. I'm actually coming from a very inquisitive stance. I do understand that this report was pulled from January 1 to the time when the report was pulled, which makes sense to me. The question that I have, and I'm still hoping to get an answer from staff on, is how many public records requests were requested and issued during that time period of January 1st to the time the report was pulled. And don't get me wrong. It's the public's right to pull a public record request. It's more than fine. It's well within their right to do so. But to... hammer our staff public records requests and then turn around and say that it's the council that's costing the city money is ridiculous, in my opinion. And I just wanted to find that information out so that we can just say, hey, we had 30 public records requests, 40, whatever it is. I don't know the number and I would be guessing if I threw a number out there, but I would like to find the answer to that just so that I could find some closure in that, I guess. That's all I'm asking.

So number of all public records requests, all?

Well, my guess is, and just to clarify, whatever this amount is tied to, that's the number I'm looking for. So there was a lot of exhausted effort by many staff members And in those line items have to do with public records requests, some five hours, some much, much more. And so whatever this report is pulled from, what amount caused this report? Data. Yes. So as related to proclamations is what it states here.

From January 1 to June 1.

Yes, ma'am. Ish.

Okay.

Ish.

Do you have that number? So this is the clerk. So the number that you were provided with was solely... proclamations related. However, there were a great many other requests that were council related that staff were working on. And the clerk's office will be more than happy to compile that information for you. Additionally, staff work on other requests that we receive that are related to all sorts of things. So I could pull together a report for you, Mr. Mayor, that includes keeping in mind that this information that was provided to you was beginning January 1, 2026, was the beginning of that time period. So I could pull together a report for you that gives you how many over that time period plus...

um a breakout of council related and other sir thank you miss clark megan i was gonna say she provided that information because it was actually asked by a news channel so i just pulled up the email from it so For her specific hours, the proclamation-related public records request, there was nine. However, just because it's one doesn't mean it's not significantly large. So keep that in mind. One can be a lot of hours versus one that takes five minutes. They're very dependent upon what people are asking for. But as part of that, she did respond to over 1,457 emails and letters received as part of that as well, which also takes a significant amount of time. So they don't necessarily go through the public records process, but those are responses that she is responding to. Again, from January 1st until the date. And this was something that had been asked of another council member for us to compile, which is why we had the information to compile for that however you are correct folks took that as june 1st it was not just related to june 1st it was january 1st through the date in which we and i think it included june 1st and so yeah it kind of got all plumped together and that was never the intention it was how the question originally was how much is the staff time taking for proclamation so Again, we don't, as exempt staff, we don't track our time based upon task. So folks were asked, how long have you been, how much time do you spend on proclamations that are related? The primary folks who do that would be your clerk, and then, of course, your executive staff and your communications person. And that was where the primary hours came from, as you saw from the report, and then the coverage of the police for that meeting specifically.

That is exactly what I'm looking for, Megan. Thank you. And thank you, Liz. And I just wanted to have some closure on that information because the narrative painted is the proclamation costs the city money. And in all reality, it's the reaction from the public to the proclamation and the tactics that are used by individuals to flood our staff and inundate them to respond to 1,400 emails and nine exhaustive public records requests, which again is all within their rights, but it's a tactic used to bog down our system and cost the city money so that they can turn around and say, you're costing the city this money. In all reality, the narrative is skewed and I believe it's slightly twisted. So just wanted to bring that point up. Last thing I wanna point out, battleground harvest days. I just wanted to take a moment and thank the Battleground Festivals Committee and three key individuals that are a part of that, one of which I have the pleasure of sitting on the dais with, Shane Bowman, John Einzinger, and Kendra Lerata. Those are three individuals. that stepped up and filled the gap for this community, started this committee. They are all individual business owners of their own right who sacrifice and spend their own time that could be generating revenue for their households and their families to put together this festival. And I've got to say, I wasn't part of all of it, but I was there for the cruise. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I got to see the race start. I got to help plant some roses for our Battleground Citizen of the Year. I got to be a part of the parade along with other council members who I feel like we were blessed to be able to be a part of the community in that way. The carnival was... Loved by many children. There were events going on all day long. Pie eating contest. Some wild stuff. 4x4 show. And an amazing firework show to wrap it all up on Saturday evening. And another car show, which I don't know if that's even you guys.

Is that you guys?

Yeah, so another car show going on on Sunday. All of that is coordinated by three individuals and their team of volunteers that help support that. And if it wasn't for those three people, we would not have Battleground Harvest Days. And so I just, I have to take a moment to thank everybody personally, but as a public, we should be appreciative of the work that they put in just so our city can have that. And so thank you, I appreciate that. All right. Troy McCoy, you're queued up.

Yeah, I wanted to draw attention to, on that consent agenda, the amount of right-of-ways, the amount of work, the amount of stuff that is going on. I still think there's a secret meeting where city, county, state, and federal people got in a room and decided to have construction on every single street. I'm not convinced that you guys all didn't communicate and plan that. It's just way too convenient. I mean, you can't even get down 179th. You can't go anywhere. But next year will be better. So, but the work is seen, the work is appreciated. Uh, and although it's just a line on a consent agenda item, that's a lot of work that goes into that. Uh, I want to, uh, add on to the mayor's comments, uh, the other people that helped with the harvest days, public works, police, fire, our executive teams, uh, a lot of, a lot of people help out in that. And, uh, Just for next year, I'd just like the community to really step up from a volunteer aspect. Those three people could use a lot of help, and they silently do that, and they take a lot of criticism. I don't know why people criticize them, but I think it would be great if we had more people stepping up to help those three individuals who take time away from their small business, which costs them money to do for the love of this community. uh and finally i want to selfishly give a shout out to the first ever 5k i think our city manager was a top 10 finisher but prairie cross country helped out a lot and there were 144 people that signed up for the first 5k. So they learned a lot on the first one. But so next year will be even better, I'm sure just like everything else. So thank you for everybody who took part in our police that helped keep everybody safe during that event. Thank you all.

Jane Bowman, you are up. Thank you, sir. I just wanted to just thank the city for the help that they gave on harvest days. It was a lot of work. We definitely need more volunteers. I wish my phone was off during that event, the amount of calls that we get trying to deal with stuff and trying to put on an event and deal with stuff. And when you're wiring four-inch mortars, you shouldn't be taking calls about a sidewalk or a... a barricade that didn't get put up right. And, um, so it, it's, it's definitely something that we need more support from the community. We've got bigger things going to happen next year. Um, potentially, uh, the, the, the car show that, um, happened on Sunday was, uh, just phenomenal it was kind of so relaxing to go to and just like well it was probably because the weekend was almost done but um but it just the the people that were there that were out um we had great weather we didn't have um We may have had an accident on 502 in Maine that was caused by the finale of the fireworks because apparently it happened right after the fireworks went off. And so I'm sure some people weren't paying attention and caused an accident. But the city, the fire, the volunteers that we did have, we had one volunteer that got about three hours of sleep from Friday morning to Sunday morning. And they don't live here. They're not even in this community. They live about 45 minutes away. And so it takes a lot of work to do it. But the community showed up. We get great. They don't see the failures, which is good. And we'll do it again next year, hopefully. And we just need a little bit more help, and we can make it even bigger and better. And I appreciate all the help that we got from the city.

Could you direct them, Shane, to who they should get a hold of? Yeah, sure.

They can get a hold of Battleground Festivals Association, probably .org. I don't know. I don't check emails. So Kendra is a good source there. At Inkability. And we'll take, yeah, Inkability. There's a lot of places for people to serve that like even behind the scenes stuff that we can have done. So if you don't want to be out front and you don't want to, get yelled at and put a safety vest on and have everyone scream at you and especially when mr mccoy hit it i mean i don't think we could have closed more streets in this city that at the same time during the year um than we did this year. And so, um, and then just, you know, you deal with a lot of that and we don't expect people to deal with that. Um, but there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff. And then there's a lot of stuff that, you know, people that, Hey, if they're willing to step up, we'll put you in places where you're going to have a lot more interaction with the community. But yeah, Kendra, Kendra, or, uh, reach out to the battleground festivals. Um, Facebook or on her web page.

All right. Moving on. Pursuant to RCW 42.30.1101G, the city council will enter an executive session to review the performance of a public employee. The session will last one hour, commencing at 9, or I'm sorry, 8.52. and ending at 9.50 with no action to follow. And after the executive session, we'll call the regular meeting back to order. We are extending the executive session an additional 30 minutes to 1020 please clerk. Thank you. Clerk, we are going to need to extend the executive session an additional 20 minutes to end at 1040pm. Please. Thank you. All right, the time is 1040pm.

And we will reconvene the city council meeting.

And Oh, shoot.

August, August, August 3 will be the next regular city council meeting with no study session scheduled.

And that concludes this meeting.