City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening. It's 7 o'clock. It's November 17th and you decide to spend your evening at the Battleground City Council. So, if you're able, please stand for the pledge. Call this meeting to order.

States to the republic. stands one nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all and roll call please. Mayor McCoy here. Your mic here. Deputy Mayor Bowman here. Council member Kypers present. Council member Ferrer present. Council member D. Roer here. Council member Davis here. Uh, Council Member Davis is attending tonight via Zoom. Council member Overhoser here

and the clerk is present. That concludes the role. Next up, agenda approval. Council, what's your pleasure? I'll move to approve the meeting agenda as presented. Mayor, thank you. Can I have a second? Second. Second by council member Overholzer. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Yeah. Is it really loud? Okay, that brings us to summary reports and presentations. This is where members of council report out any committees they attend on behalf of council. Anybody have a report? I believe Victoria.

Yes. For the uh I sit on the urban county policy board. At our last meeting, we were left with two options in regards to the Wick building. Those two options were to sell the Wick building to Seymar for a dollar, but then um with a fiveyear minimum restriction uh use of the covenant. Um but that means that Seymar would have to make all the renovations needed for that building, which is going to be over 1.7 million. The second option is for um they can sell it, the county can sell it at market value and then Seymar um will be able to find a different location with with some aid probably from maybe us or um county. that one. I'm not going to get into the weeds on that one, but um so the meeting left with Clark County has the ability to uh get a market analysis, an appraisal of the building. And so I'm just asking council to um maybe direct uh approve staff to um draft a letter to the county and um and see more with the intent to make them understand how we all benefit from the selling of the property at market value. Um it helps us towards our old town revitalization plan. It also provides revenue for the CDBG program and uh it it also helps protect SEAR's funds um because to spend over $1.7 million on repairs um for a dilapitated building that um it just makes no sense. The value of that property with the building right now is I think roughly about 400,000. Um, so yeah, that's where I'm at right now for council.

Uh, just a question on that. Did they talk about selling the parking lots with that? Would the county wrap that all together in one piece? I assume because there's three parcels there if I recall. And you know, it's interesting. Nobody's talking about it being three separate parcels. They're just talking about what the county owns and what Wick is using right now. So I would think those are three put together. I don't like assuming in this matter. Right. All right. Um do you want to does council have any thought on that? Do we want to give any different direction other than selling at market value?

I love the idea. So yeah, all in favor of Oh, I would like to say I did ask from Seymar and they and others did as well. Asked if Seymar would be open to that, looking for a new location and they said yes. You got one.

All right. Um so EMS Emergency Medical Service District Board 2 um met November 10th. Um the items that we went over uh mainly was the approval of the EMS interlocal cooperative agreement with the cities and the county. Um that was approved by EMS2. Um some of the uh update and discussion items that we had was amending the bylaws u to update to add two additional board members. We spoke about this previously. uh will be um it sounded like we're in full agreeance to do that. So, we'll be bringing that up in December. Um along with approval of the medical program director contract that's required as part of that and um amending uh I'm sorry, approving the AMR contract um in its entirety. We also uh went ahead and removed an exclusivity verbiage from the contract which uh will save the taxpayers 7% um on the total contract. Uh so instead of 53% increase from AMR, it's now 47% increase. So good news. Um we'll meet again on December 8th. Uh so anybody's invited to uh view on CBTV or or uh show up in person for a letter. Yeah, I think you got direction that we can you can work with staff to develop a letter to show council's approval for selling that at market rate.

Yes. And I I think one thing to keep in mind there when we draft that letter is potential city help and helping Wick find a location. However, we can help and offer our resources if what they may be. Uh any other council member reports. Seeing none, that takes us into uh proclamations. Tonight's my pleasure to proclaim November 20th, 2025 as International Transgender Day of Remembrance. Remember proclamations are not statements of policy but a means by which a city can recognize an event group or individual. Uh with that whereas transgender day of remembrance takes place each year to honor transgender, trans and gender expansive people whose lives have not have been lost not only to acts of brutality such as murder, assault and sexual violence, but also to the harm of silence through isolation, neglect, and suicide. Harms that should never be accepted in our community. And whereas being transgender does not make someone suicidal, but the mistreatment they endure often does. Rejection, bullying, and denial of care place crushing burdens on trans people, raising suicide rates with 46% of trans and non- non-binary youth seriously considering suicide and one in seven attempting it. with LGBTQ specific crisis services defunded from 988. It is organizations like trans lifeline and the Trevor Project that step in to save lives where society has failed. And whereas the reality remains that trans people of color, trans youth, trans elders, and disabled trans face disproportionate rates of harassment, denial of care, assault, murder, and black trans women and girls make up half of known victims of anti-trans violence. And whereas locally we remember Nikki Gunhousen, a teenage girl murdered in Brush Prairie because someone chose violence over recognizing her humanity and her right to live, Nikki's death is

a reminder that the anti-trans views that are still present today can and do cost trans people their lives. And whereas Teddor calls us not only to mourn those we have lost, but to accept our responsibility to build a community where every transperson can live, thrive, and be treated as fully human. Remembrance must be more than words. It must move us to action, empathy, and justice. Each loss demands that we do better and we commit to listen, learn, and act until our laws, our culture, and our communities fully protect and respect every trans life starting right here in Battleground. Now, therefore, I, Troy McCoy, mayor of the city of Battleground, by virtue of authority vested in me by the laws of Battleground and Washington, to hereby proclaim November 20th, 2025 as International Transgender Day of Remembrance. Jessica, would you like to come up and say some words or who who would like to talk or Simon who I am a trans young adult who lives and contributes here in Battleground. I want to begin by sincerely thanking the mayor for bringing forward this tear proclamation. Mayor McCoy, thank you for choosing to do what is right, even when it's unpopular. I put a great deal of time and effort into this proclamation, and I app I appreciate you recognizing its importance. Tonight, we remember the trans people who should still be alive.

people who should have grown old and lived full, beautiful lives. Their futures were taken before they ever had the chance to live them. Many woke up not knowing it would be their last day, unable to say goodbye. Some died terrified because someone decided their existence was unacceptable. Others were pushed into despair. Pushed into such despair they felt they had nowhere left to go. Too many died quietly in the shadows, treated as disposable. We remember our elder trans folks who survived decades of hostility only to face mistreatment or silence at the end of their lives. We owe them more than memory. We owe them a world where no one shares their fate. I don't want to be remembered in death. I want the chance to grow old in life. I wish I could stand here only feeling gratitude, but I'm also afraid. Living here as a trans person is incredibly hard, and some counselor's words and actions have made people like me feel unwelcome and unsafe. The tone set by leadership determines whether people stay in battleground or get pushed out. And the truth is, I'm terrified to be speaking here tonight. Being visible paints a target on my back. I never know if I'll get through the day safely or make it home without being harassed. And that is the reality for so many trans people. Still, I'm here. I'm staying. Whether you approve of me or not, this is my home, too. So when I say I'm trans, I'm here and you acknowledge it, it gives me a rare sense of hope that people like me can exist openly in this community. Trans people are all over Battleground. You interact with us every day in

stores, restaurants, schools, workplaces, parks, places of worship, and at city events. I've even crossed paths with several council members outside this chamber, although I don't think many of them noticed. Most people treat me kindly until they hear the word trans. And then it's like a switch flips. Suddenly, I'm seen as a threat instead of a neighbor. That shift is deeply unsettling because it's proof the danger comes not from who I am, but from what people assume I am. Anti-trans violence never stays contained to trans people as you may have thought. It targets anyone who doesn't fit the version of acceptable that someone else invented. And when you step outside that box, no matter who you are, you learn how quickly the people you thought you trusted can turn around and harm you. I know some current and elected council members would rather people like me leave, hoping that making life here so uncomfortable and unsafe will push us out. But we're not going anywhere. When leaders respond to our presence by plugging their ears and closing their eyes, that isn't governance. It's a failure to lead and it's a refusal to acknowledge the very people you were elected to represent, including me. That's why this proclamation matters. Visibility shows there is room for us here. That we don't have to leave just to survive. Being dismissed or erased creates real lasting harm. And honestly, I'm deeply concerned this may be the last one I'm allowed to bring forward. A proclamation won't fix anything, but for trans people, even a moment of recognition can be the difference between despair and hope. Being here tonight takes a lot of courage, but I'm doing it because I

believe Battleground can be better. A city that chooses compassion, visibility, and community over fear and division. I'm here for those who can't stand here themselves. The ones we've lost, the ones still here, and the ones yet to come. All of us deserving a chance to grow old. Mayor McCoy, thank you again for your leadership and please let this city be a place where we can live, not just be remembered. Thank you. And next we have a possible appointment to parks and community advisory board. Is Naomi here? Can you maybe come up and introduce yourself and tell us why you're interested in this appointment? You can either stand or sit, whichever makes you more comfortable.

Um, hello, I'm Naomi Waters and I'm interested in helping the community. Sorry. I'm Naomi Waters and I am interested in helping the community by um I've grown up my whole life in Battleground and I've played on all the parks and done all the like activities and I hope I can help the younger generations come up into that by providing insight. Awesome. Thank you council. entertain a motion.

I move that we um approve well we uh the approval or appoint right Naomi Waters to the PACE advisory board. This is worded really weird. Sorry. Second. Have a motion to second on the floor to consider the appointment of Naomi Waters to the parks community engagement advisory board youth position unexpired term entering June 30th, 2026. Um, and I choose to appoint Amy Waters to this position with a motion on the floor. Uh, to approve this appointment, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? You have some more meetings in front of you, young lady.

Thank you for stepping up. Uh, look forward to seeing your contribution on that as you, uh, as you get your feet wet and understand what it's all about. There's a lot of great resources in the city to help you. So, don't be afraid to ask. anybody in the city or anybody on council if you have questions about what your role is or there's something you want to do. Okay. Thank you. Right. Thank you. Congratulations.

Uh council, we do have a council position. We need a liaison appointment for Le uh disability board position three. Um council member Kypers has expressed interest. start to entertain a motion. Um I move to approve uh council member Kypers as position three on the layoff one disability board beginning January 1st 2026. Second second by dep um by statute we have to have this done by December 1st. That's why this is kind of a different timing. So all in favor please say I. I. Any opposed?

Passes unanimously. I have a question on that one if you don't mind entertaining my my question. Um, what is that like a bylaw that's underneath that the layoff board or why that just seems really weird to me. Why would we do that right before a you know new terms of our something we can look at I don't know if that is within tomorrow sent me an email and said we need to have it done by December 1st and to be honest that was the extent of how much I looked into it. Okay. Okay. I think a lot of the boards going into next year so they know where they're at for the next the next term.

Yeah, I know. That like our own personal stuff are like that and I'm like really

it does make it difficult uh when if you have new counselors coming in to uh get everybody to grab an or row, right? Uh do we have any presentations tonight? No presentations. Okay, that brings us citizens communication portion of the evening. Uh citizens communication happens before any business of the council. Um we'll open the meeting for that. You're limited to 3 minutes, so will be a timer up there. It's an opportunity to hear from members of the public and a limited public forum. Uh please refrain from derogatory remarks unless you're making fun of the deputy mayor. Those are okay. Uh personal attacks, campaign speeches, and applause. Um please direct your comments to the mayor. Uh if you have any handouts, uh our clerk will take them and hand them out. Also, there are business cards up there of the uh city manager. So, thank you for your understanding on this. I tried to group them by subject. So, we'll start out with permits and Terry Carroll.

My name's Terry Carroll. Um, we moved my mother here from because she has cancer and we moved when they first moved they moved um in in the county in Battleground but not in the city limits and they have a um modular home and it took four months from the time they applied for a permit till the time they moved into their house. Um then recently they moved from out there past the firehouse to city limits and um applied for a permit to put that same home on their new property where they moved to cuz it's my my sister cares for my mother and they live on my niece's property and I don't know how long it normally takes but um it's been since June and So, my mother's living alone in an ADU, and I know this is none of your problem or whatever, but this is my reality. I have a mother in her 80s who's fighting cancer, but she's living in an ADU. Um, and my sister can't see her 24 hours a day because my sister sleeps inside of the house because they were waiting for this permit. So again, I don't know how long permits normally take, but I know that um two months ago, the builder's been going in to find out about the permit. And then um my sister went in two months ago to find out. And somebody was kind enough. He said, "Oh, I'm not the person who does that." But um it just needs one signature. I'll put it on his desk. And that was two months ago. And then still haven't heard anything. And every day, three times a day, you have my mother saying, "What about that permit?" Um, and again, so I went there today and she said, um, she she had it on her desk and it would be done today, but the little there's a

little clicker on the app and on the app it went from 3% it's been 3% since this whole time to now it it it's supposed to be done today to 5%. And I don't I just wanted it to be made aware that it seems like a really really long time to put a modular home that's is sitting in two pieces in the weather at this point for like you know we're going on four or five months. Um and that's all that I wanted to say. Thank you. Could you give your contact information? Maybe write it on the back of a card. We'll have somebody reach out. Sure. My phone number's on there on on this.

Yeah. Okay, thank you. Okay, I got it. Thank you. Thank you, Terry. Uh, next up, Tim. I'm not I won't butcher your last name. Not even try. Sometimes discretion, right?

Very good. I did provide the council a letter. I assumed that you would have gotten that today, but for the record, I'm here um under the with some other members of the community. We understand that the council is currently reviewing request by the chief of police for three additional officers. We certainly appreciate the council's um doing diligence and being a steward of our tax dollars and reviewing this request. We would like to ask the council to proceed with that request from the chief. We the residents here in Battleground live here because it's a safe livable community. We would like to keep it that way. We understand the minor costs to do this up front are a whole lot easier than the ones that taken up if we have to do this in the rear. So, um, we thank you for keeping this a safe and livable community today and in the future. While I see the chief is in attendance today, too, I'd like to make a comment to the chief. In just a short time that I've been here, chief, I've had two occasions to interact with your department. On both occasions, I was extremely impressed with the professionalism, the kindness, and the willingness to do the entire job that they were put forth. I was very impressed, and that's one of the reasons I'm standing here, and I really do look forward to seeing the next three people you get to hire on. That's all I have to say. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Tim. Thank you, sir. Uh, next up, Bev Jones. Hello, I'm Bev Jones, resident of Battleground and mayor. Thank you for that proclamation um tonight and thank you for sharing your story with us. The transgender day of remembrance is an important acknowledgement that our transgender neighbors matter to us. Their lives matter. my transgender friends deserve safety from violence and to be treated with kindness and this um uh proclamation reminds us of that and so I just wanted to come and acknowledge that. Thank you very much.

Thank you Bev Rebecca.

Hello. Um, I want to start by thanking you for everything you do for our city. Um, really appreciate your time. I'm here also in support of the proclamation uh for the transgender day of remembrance. In these days of heightened anxiety and political turmoil, there's very little that I have control over. I can't control who's in office, what legislation passes. I can't control what my kids teachers teach. Couldn't even control the traffic lights on the way here. It's easy to get upset over these things because not having power is scary until I remember. I can't control my government, but I can vote. I can't write curriculum, but I can get to know my kids' teachers. And I was able to leave home super early tonight um to make sure I got here in plenty of time. I definitely cannot do anything about national anxiety or turmoil. But then I remember the foundational tenants of my faith. I can serve those who scripture calls the least of these. The folks who have way less power than I do and for whom every day is scary. If you grew up in church like I did, this call to action may sound familiar. I can feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe people who need it, look after the sick, visit folks in prison. To sum up, I can love my neighbor. I must love my neighbor. And that's why I'm supporting this proclamation, joining others around the world and remembering our transgender neighbors who have passed. We've lost too many of these neighbors through violence and neglect. We remember them first by grieving because one life lost to violence or neglect is one too many. We also remember them by becoming better neighbors to the trans folks who are still here with us, inviting them in and loving them in the myriad ways a good neighbor does. and by speaking up at times like tonight. This day of remembrance is important. It's important for the families of trans folks we've lost because they need to

know we're hurting with them. It's important to trans folks because they need to hear from us that their lives are precious. And it's important for non-trans folks because this is a wonderful way to put being a good neighbor into practice. There is definitely a lot I cannot control, but I can open my arms wide and love my neighbors as fiercely as so many of you have loved me in this community. Thank you for this proclamation. Thank you, Rebecca. David Terry, I can get that last name.

David Terry Battleground resident. I'd just like to reiterate the comments on the proclamation. Thank you, Mayor. That's a that's a good gesture and for our neighbors and it's stuff we need to keep doing here. Thanks again.

Thank you. Uh Simon, no, don't want to speak. Jessica. Hello, council. My name is Jessica Cole. Um I want to thank you, mayor, for issuing this proclamation. Recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance is a meaningful act of leadership and I appreciate those who choose to stand publicly against violence. As a parent who has raised my kids, including my trans kids here in Battleground, the Teor Proclamation matters because it simply says, "Our city condemns violence against transgender people and affirms their dignity. And as I've said before, we don't have to pretend that this violence is distant. A teen girl, Nikki Kunhausen, was murdered within Battleground School District boundaries. She was only 17. Her death is a reminder that anti-trans violence is real and has already touched our community. I um had the privilege of joining the Justice for Nikki task force after she was murdered. Um on it were trans teens and adults, moms of trans kids, and Nikki's own mother, Lisa. We supported Lisa through the entire murder trial. Watching her endure the watching her endure the pain was something I will never forget. For what would have been Nikki's 21st birthday, Lisa ended up sharing cake with unhoused people at the park in Vancouver that we had the uh party at. And that was because Nikki had a huge heart for the unhoused community.

That moment captured who Nikki was and the depth of the loss our community suffered. At the end of the day, what multiple trans people have said to me recently is that they simply they are simply people and they just want to live their lives like everyone else. And I want to thank you. And since this is comment time, I just want to say I support the tax on the agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Uh anybody else feel uh would like to speak up? Anybody on Zoom? No, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. With that, I'll close the citizens comments portion of the meeting. That brings us to consent agenda. Council, what's your pleasure? I'll move to approve the consent agenda. Second. Second by Kypers. Motion by Council Member Ferrer to approve the consent agenda as presented. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? None opposed. Uh now we'll open uh we do have some public hearings tonight. So uh Megan, do you want to give us a summary what we're what we're looking at here for this?

Absolutely. I have a brief presentation. Tonight is our public hearing for the budget. So things can still change as we go through. So what you had in your packet we do adopt on the fund level. However, the detail budget that you get gives you the specifics of what makes that up. And so, there was some changes since the last time we went over the preliminary budget. We updated our personnel expenses. We have the contract with Teamsters at a 3 and a half% cost of living adjustment along with the non-represented a 3% COLA based on the consumer price index. Medical premiums were updated with actual along with the new health savings cost sharing. And then we had some employee allocations that were updated as well. We also have the addition of the $8 million from the general fund for the street preservation projects which we discussed at the council retreat. And then we also have a couple grants that are revenues that come in that then go out for those grant expenditures. We have the Vancouver Housing Authority grant for 269,000 and then the climate action plan grant carryover of 141,000. And then we did have about $26,000 in increased costs for the contract prosecutor as well as the judge. Looking at our preliminary budget updated, there has been a few questions that have come from council related to why is the total expenditures increased by so much when we just talked about $8.5 million worth of changes. So if you're looking at this at the total expenditures, those transfers out and transfers in, that's like moving money between bank accounts. So you have your savings account and you move it to your checking account to expend it and we have to account for those ins and outs in each of those funds that we budget for. So when you take out those transfers, what we actually pay to vendors as well as our staff is about 75.9 million. So it's not $102 million

that we're expending outwards. Just wanted to make that clear. And then looking at what we included in this budget, we have the property tax. It does include taking the 1% leving increase as well as adopting the 0.1% public safety tax. It includes the two police officers along with the associated equipment training in the vehicle, the assistant court administrator, and then the project manager for engineering. And then we did get some updated numbers from the county related to property tax. Our assessed value is estimated to be 4.7 billion. We before we had it a little bit lower than that. So what that did is reduced our levy rate. So to not take the 1% it would be a levy rate of 94 cents and to take it would be 95. And so if you're looking at those numbers below that 2025 base highlighted in blue is what a home valued at 450,000 is currently paying this year. So $45120. And then in the third to last column from the right, the change from 25, so going from the levy rate of a dollar to the 94. If there was no increase in that assessed value, they would see a reduction of $26. Whereas if we took the 1%, they'd see a reduction of $22. So overall, the difference between taking the 1% and not is an average of $5. And that's the same as if you go all the way up to the 700,000 as was included in your packet

per year.

Per year. This is annual, correct? And so we also put this together. It shows the city of Battleground historical levy rate at the top. So back in 2015, our levy rate was $183 compared to the dollar it is in 2025. And then a lot of folks tend to think that the levy or the property tax they pay to the county goes directly to your local city and it does not. So your property tax is made up a variety of jurisdictions. So this gives the levy rate history for all of those jurisdictions. So the city's portion of what property taxes is paid is about 12% in total. So the example home which we presented previously and that's a real life example in the city of Battleground in 2025 it paid $3,918 in total property tax. $483 of that came to the city. Now that same home back in 1993 paid $1,3454. So it's a 63% reduction 30 years later. So, and I will say that 1300 is based upon a CPA cost adjustment. So, 20 $25 back in 1993. The follow-up items that we had from our previous discussion. So, we were talking about police radios and how much that would be. So, for the radios that are needed for police, it' be 265,000. We're still waiting to hear on the federal grant. there's a strong likelihood of us receiving it for 2026 based upon our lobbyist. Um, and then options for budget eliminations to fund police officers without the public safety tax. There is the project manager. We spoke about that previously or the council member brought it up as an option. That would be 78,000 from the general fund. And then for the street preservation, the portion not funded by the transportation benefit district tax

is 152,000. And then police overtime would not be an option to fund positions as we budget a fraction of what actual overtime costs are. So we're already taking into account those savings. So there wouldn't be any additional savings to take out of the budget. So the options to follow up on those if you have any more questions or want to dig deeper as we could hold a special meeting to receive council direction in which programs and services to eliminate to fund those positions. And just as a reminder, we do have to have a budget adopted by December 31st of 2025. So this is the budget hearing tonight. So I would suggest we open that budget once we're done with this presentation. And then we have the motion for property tax ordinance later this evening, which has to be adopted this evening. And then we have the motion for the fee schedule resolution. And then we have the final budget hearing December 1st, which would be the motion for the 2026 budget. And that is all I have.

A lot of numbers, but we've seen them before. Uh, any questions from council? Um, I just want to make a couple clarifications. Uh, in the budget, it shows two more officers, one of which was already hired this year. So, that's where we get the three for those that are wondering. Um, we showed $8 million in street repairs, but I'm under the understanding that next meeting we will have a a better number on that. That is correct. And um I I know all of council's looking forward to that as we put some money into what that survey told us, which was streets and public safety.

Yeah. So, um that's an incredible investment in our streets. So, um, when I look at those budget numbers and I see one of the potentials is reducing our maintenance on streets, I wonder what the long-term cost of that is because that's why we have that $8 million check to write is because the council was not in as good a position financially and had to make those cuts on maintenance and slurry seal.

And I think the ROI on that is is worth the investment. So, um, to have both of those on there at the same time, I think is is very instructive. Uh, with that, we'll open the public hearing at 7:39 p.m. for public testimony. Individuals are limited to 3 minutes and and your subject must be to provide testimony regarding ordinance 2025-18, fiscal year 2026, operating and capital improvement budget. Please direct your comments to the mayor. Clerk, do we have anybody on Zoom wishing to speak? No, Mr. Mayor.

Any members of the public wishing to speak on the proposed budget? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing at 7:39 p.m. So for those that are not aware, additional public hearing will be held on the 2026 budget at the December 1, 2025 regular city meeting, regular city council meeting. Final action will be taken at that meeting after the hearing or at the very least at the following meeting. Any other we all good? All right, that brings us to the business portion and ordinance 2025-17. Miss Megan.

Hello again, council. So, tonight you have the opportunity to consider adopting ordinance 2025-17 to implement the 0.1% sales and use tax for public safety. By adopting this evening, it would not take effect until April 1st of 2026. Mr. Mayor, go ahead. What? What's Oh, there we go. What? No, that was me. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Do I have to request to speak? No, go ahead. Sorry.

The rules. I'd like to move to uh adopt ordinance 2025-17 the 1.1% public safety sales and use tax in its entirety as presented. Second. Second by droers and clerk thinking about this since we have somebody remote we can't use the voting pads. Uh deputy mayor

bigger. Yeah, because you got older. Um, so one of the things that I think is important with this um and has been brought up is um making sure that this is dedicated for police. Um I know the state has said there's a lot of different areas that we can use this courts and different things like that. I understand that. But um I think it's important that it gets used for police and for police services um and that we're not using this as a um opportunity to say okay well we raised onetenth of a percent here so we can take equal amount away out of the general fund to supplant it. I know that we don't like to hear that word supplant but but it should be an an add-on to the to the current funding level that we have created. Um you know as we look at this and we look at the next one we're going to look at well no it's not the next one though

further down

further down the onetenth of a percent or the 1% um lid lift or the 1% um they call it a tax increase. This is not a tax increase pot of money increase. I will say um when we look at this, we as a council have um invested in our public safety. And one of the one of the things that we had an issue with a couple years ago was the county didn't they never took their 1%. And they always banked it. and and you can see when you bank it how it diminishes and and 1% becomes 3/4% half percent and they never took that stuff. And so um you know they have to come out and and ask for these these giant lid lifts that we pay for that you know the the the law enforcement tax county put on our citizens paid for and we already fully funded our police officers. And so this is the way we continue to um take the number one priority which is public safety and livability and the reasons that that we want to be um live in a community that's safe and keeps our home values up and all those type of things. Um this is how we support that. And so I I'm in full support of it. I just want to make sure that we dedicate that solely to law enforcement and the services that that they provide. So whether it be cars, training, those type of things that it that it all goes to to that and we don't we don't funnel it off into a different department. So that's my only my only thing with that.

So I do support this. Um, I really appreciate that it's not just going to be our citizens who pay it. It's everybody who comes and spends their money in our city. They're paying their fair share towards police services. So, I really appreciate that. And then I also really hope that there is a lot more public information put out, social media, things like that. People don't understand why we're doing this and we haven't really given them a good explanation. So, it's a little difficult to make these decisions up here when um people don't full have all the information in front of them. So, I would really appreciate if we could make sure that we're putting out clear messages to people about what we're doing and why we're doing it and um how it's who's paying for it and uh what it's going to buy the citizens of battleground. So, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Good. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um yeah, the 0.1 public safety sales and use tax. Um I mean we've heard today in public comment, we want more police, we want more safety. Uh we heard today, we want better roads. Um we want to be a better community in Battleground. And there is not, as I've heard from uh other people that I've talked to who claim there's plenty of fat to trim off the city's budget, uh I can assure you that is not the case. Um if we want better roads, we want clean water, and we want safe streets. Um inflation affects the city the same way it does every taxpayer in this city. And I think that our um survey that we did earlier uh showed those same things that we want better roads, we want uh good clean drinking water and we want to keep it that way and we want uh safety. And I think this is um an important thing to utilize um to utilize the public safety sales tax, but also the grants that are uh potentially offered to us as a city to um help bolster and help chief do a better job uh of a job he's already doing a great job. But I think it'll save money over the long term by minimizing um overtime. So overtime is time and a half or double time in some cases. So um I think it's important that we give uh the city and the taxpayers what they've asked for and I think this is a way to do that. That's all I have.

I can't see Trisha on there. So council member for so I don't know. Thank you mayor. Yep.

So yeah that was going to be one of my issues. Um, Deputy Bowman was making sure that we narrow the scope of what we can actually spend those funds on. I remember listening to the the prime supporter of that bill who wanted to broaden the language of public safety and what we could use those funds for. So, I'm that made me a little nervous listening to that. So, I'm very thankful that we are talking about at least narrowing that language to focus on only police officers since that's the reason why we are trying to initiate this public safety tax. Also to Councilman D. Roers. Um, I appreci What? What? What? What? Oh. Um,

um, I already hate speaking in public, so

Oh, okay. Sorry, Council Member um, D. Roers. Um, it wasn't easy. I mean, when I first I'm going to be transparent. When I first heard about this bill, I was excited. I was like tenth of a percent. We got to keep 100% of it and we're going to support three police officers. Let's give them it. Let's give them it. I can't tell you what happened. Just like last week, just all of a sudden, I'm like, "Whoa, hold on. Hold on. Let's do some reach. Let's just make sure." You guys heard it on the last Monday meeting. I was like, "Let's make sure our citizens are fully aware that we are trying to look at every avenue." I tried slimming the fat, too. It was hard. Yeah, I don't think there was there's definitely not enough to to keep this fully funding um these three police officers. If you ask me, you know, to vote on this, you know, I would say yes, let's do it. Um but I also I want to be careful because and take a look at what my position is cuz I was trying to think what is my issue with this? Why? I'm like it's for our police. if we want to give them everything that we possibly can. But then I also what comes to me the past couple days is what? Oh

oh okay sound like okay I'm hearing things. Um I started reflecting on what is my role as a council member and my role I believe is to be a good steward with the citizens funds that they've allowed us to tax not to create new ones. And so I started looking. I I watched the AWC training video and it says that there's, you know, a lot of good information. Thank you, AWC. There's three underneath the public safety, you know, tax. There's three underneath that umbrella, which we already know is counselors up here. You've got the uh CJTC, right? The criminal justice, um, and you've got the P, which we're already getting funds for, over 350,000 from the county. We also have the public safety tax and this tax right here that after looking at the engrossed Senate House Bill 2015, it's the same that's really it's mimicking another tax. Yes, it's got two parts to that to that where you get to do the CJTC and it talks about how that all you know and then you have to implement this tax which we've already implemented it through the CJTC. So, it's already been implemented. So, we already have met the requirement to go after that CJTC grant funding. So, we're safe with that. But then the other part of that bill, the second half, is just a mimic of chapter 8214 section 450, which already allows us to take this same tax. Now granted, we don't get 100% of it if it goes out to the vote of the people, but so what this bill allows us to do is do council manic. So that all that to me, I can't that's where I think I had the biggest

problem is this new bill just allowed us to go around the tax the voter and say, "Hey, we don't have to ask you for this anymore. We can just go after it ourselves." So, I think that's the biggest problem because I'll go right back to where I said is I feel like my job is to be a good steward with our citizens funds that they've already allowed us to tax and not to create a new one. Now, I know how this board feels about going after a ballot and I checked with AWC and if we were to go and take this to a vote to the people, we would only get 85% instead of the 100%. So I'm asking this board if they would be open to the idea to at least do a survey. I know the center has done this for the seat board with great success. So at least gives all of our citizens an opportunity to have their voice heard because I I'm going to tell you I knocked on the doors of the lowincome households when the snap ended. I was like I thought I had this great idea. Let's go knock on the doors and let's talk to the citizens that this is going to affect the most. Unfortunately, it wasn't such it wasn't the outcome I thought it was going to have. A third of them supported it. Cool. Great. That's what I was hoping. I was hoping for an overwhelming like, yes, we support this. I'm like, okay, I I will, you know, I I will vote the way you want me to. But then there was another third who was like, nope, we don't support this. And it the other third that was upsetting is here I am a counselor at somebody's door saying how do you want me to vote and they're like we're not interested. I'm like oh oh okay. So that's why I'm hoping to have support from the council and the staff who can reach more voters than I can knocking on doors. Um, I know that Le Center for the Street board,

they had it out for only a week and they got 10% of their voters who said yes or no for that for that Catran, the light rail. Um, so I was hoping that's something that the board would be willing to entertain. Um, and then we vote on this the next one cuz we'll have those numbers um to see what what the citizens do they support this or not. Thank you.

Uh before we go back around again, I'll just chime in. Uh I'm not interested in a non-scientific uh internet poll. Um, you know, we all ran, we all uh we saw the public survey results, which was a scientific poll, uh, that cost us a lot of money. And scientific polls are not cheap. And what were the three things that rose to the top? Public safety, parks, police. Um I don't I don't need another uh poll or survey uh for political cover. Uh this is something in a retreat that five of us said yes go forward with maybe six I think. Uh we hired an officer based on the word of this council that we would do this. The time for reflection was before giving our city manager and our police that go ahead. I'm not saying anybody should feel committed, but I'm saying we should be careful about what we promise if we're not actually promising. Um, so personally, I'm not in favor of of waiting and doing a poll. Deputy Mayor,

you Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I you hit a lot of of what I was thinking. Um the the other thing that is grant funding is not sustainable. Grant funding is one-time funds. Sometimes you can apply for them multiple times and get them multiple times. We need something sustainable and and um a sales tax is more sustainable because people um and we've seen that even even through CO when you when you thought that sales would be down, sales went up through CO. So, we're talking about something that's more sustainable. Um, the survey was already done when they elected us. Um, someone sent us here to go represent them. And, uh, not to turn around and ask them every time I have to make a hard decision what they want me to do. Um, they will let you know that every four years what they want you to do. Um and and even along that same lines, um you can't get I I if I go ask all the people that I know that don't want this, I can make it fit my narrative. If if I go ask the people that actually voted in this city um in the last election, which was somewhere around 30%. um 30% I I remember talking to the Boy Scouts one time about how many people it takes to get you elected in this city and the total is about 1.5 people out of every 10 to elect a city council member because only three of them voted and so that if people aren't going to engage we we've done all the work that we can do we we've put out surveys we put out a scientific survey we only got 420 people to take that. Is that correct?

Somewhere in there. And and we paid thousands of dollars to do so. Um and so for me, it's not I mean this is this is why we got put here is we have to make these decisions. And and I will tell you, we've made this decision before with the the one/10enth for for roads or we wouldn't even be discussing any of this stuff because we didn't have enough money with the TBD the way it was to to do very little. And Mr. Herszag remembers it was like 200 and something thousand a year. We we couldn't do anything. We to maintain our roads and and keep them from going to $8 million projects. And so we did that and it raised us to 680700,000 somewhere in there and we're able to to fix our roads a little bit more. This is what we have to do to be sustainable. We just got our policing our department back to 2014 levels and we don't have enough time to go do surveys and then wait around and try and get on this bandwagon again. We're already behind. And so I think that that, you know, asking the people again is is the the wrong thing to do. They already told us that, like the mayor said. Thank you.

And I apologize, uh, Council Member Davis. I didn't see your hand raised.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, first I want to thank staff. Um, we directed them to go back and and dig and they dug and they were gracious for all of our questions um because none of us take this lightly. Um, I of course would prefer to go out to the vote, but I understand that this is councilmatic and is provided for us. One question that I always think to myself is what would we be doing if this tax wasn't available? Would we be trying a little bit harder? Um would we be doing with what the best with what we have? Um, I kept going back to that, uh, trying to look at anything that we could ek out, um, so we would not have to vote in this tenth of a percent. I agree with council member Overholdzer, inflation, everything costs more. Um, I agree with the gallery of citizens who thanked Chief Flynn for all that he does. I understand our survey said streets and safety. I understand our town is growing. Um, I also understand all of our wallets have less in them than usual. So, this is this is a hard pill to have to do knowing that there's going to be more more safety taxes coming down that are out of our control as city council. So, as I sit here and I listen to my team on there, uh I can't disagree with a lot of it. Um I I didn't know today what I would be voting up until this point. Um, and it pains me to think that uh I might

not have a choice but to uh go with this this evening. So, I just I want to thank you all for taking the time and showing that we do do our due diligence and that we don't take this lightly. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Davis. Council member Pipers.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to reiterate, you know, great comments from everyone, but just reiterate the appreciation um the seriousness that everyone takes on this subject. None of us want to raise taxes. Um we all pay them. You know, we're not exempt. Um, I just feel like this is the one opportunity that we have to garner um garner uh revenue for the city that is spread across people beyond battleground. And there are many of those things are not just things that people are purchasing um groceries, you know, things that you need to have to live on. But there's also the additional things that people make choices on. So if I'm buying an extra cup of coffee, I'm, you know, I'm paying an extra cent. Okay. Um it's not simple. It's a difficult choice, but I also don't want us to be in a spot, like we've said, where in a couple years we're behind the eightball. The city's grown, we have issues. Um, we potentially had, excuse me, we've potentially had, you know, something happen within department that needs to be addressed. I want us to be able to have a sustainable u path for the police department. It's the foundation of our um ability to have a safe community no matter what else we're doing. So that's why I am in support of it. Thank you council for the thoughtful discussion. I just want to touch on something uh council for that uh and well and deputy mayor Bowman brought up. Um the only way to make sure this money is targeted to police officers is going to be the seven of us. So and that's every year when we get the budget. Uh so I I don't want to just um sugarcoat that at all and that will

be something that is incumbent on all of us to do um as we go forward. Um I think one of the other things is OT overtime and we touched on that last time and the quality of life for our officers and the burnout for officers is high. Um and I I take that very seriously. Somebody who worked a lot of OT in my youth um I couldn't do it now and I don't know how some of those guys work some of those hours. Um, but I appreciate all the thought. Um, council member Fer, last comment. Oh, Trisha has something.

Well, I had a question. Uh, this is our ordinance, so why can't we put that language into the ordinance right now stating that where these funds can be allocated, which is specifically for police officers, i.e. training, new hire, retaining equipment and and and you're not wrong. You could do that. My point is like any council can undo that. You can't really bind a future council. That's why I'm saying like literally every year at budget time, that's the time where it's incumbent on us to make sure that that's where it goes because anything that we can do can be undone. That makes sense. Council member Davis,

if you're Mr. Um uh I was going to ask the same question that council member um Fer asked is how specific can we be in our um ordinance?

And I I would throw that back to staffer or legal uh can we put in there something along the lines of this money will be used to support two officers and equipment or what kind of flexibility do we have? Uh my response to that is the minutes could reflect that. It's kind of like when you pass a piece of legislation, it's really unclear. You go back to the legislative intent by reading sort of the staff report and minutes that come out of that. So I don't necessarily think it needs to be codified um in an ordinance. I think this discussion, the minutes um will reflect the intent and certainly it's been the discussion since um the retreat started in February. It's noted in the retreat minutes of June 3rd that it's specifically for officers and equipment and a vehicle and things that go along with that.

I will add to that as well that when you look at the total cost of those two officers, I mean, we're already pretty much at what an entire year would be. So with that third depending upon if we do get that CGTC grant unless we were going to cut officers this funds are directly tied to those additional FTEES. So if we came to you and said we're in a budget deficit we need to cut those positions. That's when at that point you'd say well no those funds were dedicated to those. So this is already tied to that by the fact that we're adding those two officers with the intent of the third later to come because we can't budget for it right now due to the the cost of that and the cost of officers just continues to go up each year.

In other words, we couldn't afford to board more officers without the point one. Okay, with that, I think we've gone through twice. Uh, so let's go ahead and do a roll call vote. We can't use the fancy dancy uh voting pads, so we'll go ahead and start maybe online. Council member Davis, how do you vote? Yes. Council member Kypers, how do you vote? Yes. Council member Ferrer, how do you vote? Yes. Council member D. Roger, how do you vote?

Yes. Council member Overholzer, how do you vote? Yes. Deputy Mayor Bowman, how do you vote? Yes. Mayor McCoy, how do you vote? Yes. Motion carries unanimously. And again, council, um, I've said it many times over this year. I really appreciate the thoughtful uh, discussion and the respectful discussion. It's, uh, really testament uh, to your character. So, thank you for that. Uh, brings us to Christian.

Good evening, council. Um over recent months we've presented to you all related to our multifamily tax exemption or MFTTE program. Um and I am back in front of you this evening because we have received an application for the Eaton Park apartment project to excuse me enter into a multif family tax exemption agreement. This project is eligible per the requirements outlined in our municipal code. And in front of you is a draft contract that we would like council's review and direction to consider authorizing the city manager to sign this MFTTE agreement for the Eaton Park project. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Mayor, Mr. Mr. Mayor, I move to authorize the city manager to sign a contract agreement with Eaton BG LLC for the implementation of the multifamily tax exempt program in connection with the Eaton Park Apartments. That was a second by Council Member Ders. Any questions? I know we've seen this quite a bit. This is I'll just say um that obvious I was against the whole 12-year thing, but since council's already voted on it, I will be moving to approve it.

Okay, understood. Thank you for that explanation. With that, let's um go do a quick roll call.

Council member Davis, how do you vote? No. Council member Kypers, how do you vote? Yes. Council member Ferrer, how do you vote? Yes. Council member D. Roer, how do you vote? Yes. Council member Overhozer, how do you vote? No. Deputy Mayor Bowman, how do you vote? Yes. Mayor McCoy, how do you vote? Yes. Motion carries. 5 to2. six. Oh, sorry. Uh, no. Oh,

oh, Trish Buddha. No, I'm sorry. I got that wrong. That's why everybody's checking on me. Okay, that brings us to resolution 2512, fee schedules. Megan, yes, council has the opportunity to consider adopting the proposed 2026 fee schedule. Move to adopt the 2026 fee schedule. 25-12 2026 fee schedule in its entirety is presented. Second by D. Roers. Any questions or concerns for council? Seeing none, all in favor?

I. Any opposed? Okay. So, next up we have ordinance number 2025-9 property tax levy for 2026. The recommended tax increase is 1% over the 2025 levy, which is a 5 cent decrease in the levy rate from 2025. So, council has the opportunity to consider adoption. You can adopt as presented or at a lesser amount. Mr. Mayor, I move to adopt ordinance 2025-19 2026 property tax levy as presented.

Second by ders question.

Yep. Question council fur. So, I was looking at the I think I I don't know if you're able to pull up this slide, but it shows from what the it was in 20 oh gosh, was it 2020 all the way up to 2025 and it was the um Well, yeah, I guess we could just go jump straight into the millage rate. So, well, and it shows how it's been going down for us over the since 2015. Thank you. Thank you, brain. picturing it in my head. 2015 and it keeps going down and I just uh and I I don't know why it hit but I'm like wait what else was going on at that time is our assessed values you know for our property and our homes were going up. I mean mine is double the rate that it was in when I purchased my home in 2016. So, so I'm thinking about this the millage rate and how I just and please correct me if I'm wrong cuz this is, you know, I'm trying to wrap my head around this. I just couldn't help but think that there's other ways for that millage rate to drop. It's not just increasing that 1% um levy cap. It could also be well, if our assessed value keeps going up in our homes, then that would change the mill rate and make it go down. And the other one was I was thinking about what about if we annex, right? We're talking about doing annexation out to the west. That gives us a bigger pool that gives us a bigger total number of our assets. Uh assess can somebody say that for me? Assess value. Thank you. Um start working for me mouth. But um and so right there that would also lower our millage rate. Can you please correct me if I'm missing something here? So when it comes to the millage rate, the levy rate, it is strictly a product of the calculation.

So in my world, we ignore that and it is the the budget base. So the 4, if we go back up with slide 55, I think it was.

Yeah. So the 4.3 million, we're allowed for law to increase that budget base by 1% or the IPD, whichever you can't exceed 1%. So if the IPD comes back and that's the implicit price deflator at a half a percent then you could max increase at half a percent. So then new construction also increases that budget base and then when you annex you also increase at that budget base. Now the thing to remember is when you have new construction they come into the city based upon the prior year's levy rate. And so as soon as they come in it automatically makes that levy rate lower. And again, the levy rate is a product of the city assessed value by divided by that le budget levy base. And so that's how you get the levy. But what we look at is that levy base of what you can control is increasing that by the 1% which gets us $43,000. Does that help?

Sure. And when we're say 43,000 just doesn't seem so so like much at all to be honest. And that's the piece that that's why there's been bills up at the state to increase that. It used to be 6% and then the initiative came out to max it at 1%. And you ultimately you you can't even fund a position for 43,000. I'm not sure what you can do for 40. And that sounds really bad, but when it comes to contracts and what we do, it is a drop in the bucket. I mean, our general fund alone is multiple million.

So, but by doing this, what this does is it keeps our levy rate, what our new construction is coming in at, at least as high as we can get it. We aren't getting the $3 or the $4.50 that it was back in the '90s where now less than a dollar. If we don't take that 1%, we're now at 94 cents. And I know it's only a penny, but that penny on a new construction home at least at least makes them come in and to pay their proportionate share of that pie. I guess I'm my question I keep running back to is why are they locked in at the 2025 rate the last time we took on this cap? But what is up with that language?

It's based upon the Department of Revenue. So they set how new construction comes in. So when they look at new construction and they're looking at your the calculation they do for property tax, they bring them in at the prior year rate as if they were already here and then they become part of our city total a city assessed value and then they're divided to then that's essentially what lowers that rate. But by taking the 1% it at least gets you that additional percent to make them come in at a rate that's a little bit better than if you didn't either. But then even if we didn't take it and we they were locked into the 2025 rate with the amount of development that's still coming in with new businesses with the subdivision with the two new apartments coming in. We're still going to see an increase in revenue. However, we wouldn't be seeing as much as we could if we were to take that 1% cap.

Correct. Okay.

I think a good question. I think the other way to look at this, and the county is definitely a great case study in this because they didn't take their 1% for 12 years or 10 years and bank some of it. Now they're in a structural deficit. For me, all the 1% does is it delays how long it will be before we have to go to the voters for a lid lift because at some point, just like buyer did last year, um we will h the city I don't know if I'll be here. I don't know if any of us will be here, but at some point there will be a lid lift. They'll have to be because as council member Overholzer brought up, it turns out inflation's greater than 1%. And and so we're taking a haircut every year um on that. And so all this does for me is is delay that inevitability or some other well I'm not seeing anything else coming down to save us. Uh Santa Claus is no longer putting gold coins in my socks. I don't know about you guys. Um so for me that's all it does. It just delays that inevitability of the lid lift cuz it like Megan said it's it's not really funding a position. And uh so we can delay paying for a a ballot measure. Mhm.

Uh mayor, thank you. Mr. Mayor, can you go to the slide that shows what our what our property uh taxes were from 15 to I think it's the one right in front of this maybe. Yeah, that one's good.

Yeah, that one there. So, I think I think what's important is like the mayor said, um we're there's a lot of cities in this state right now that are having to do lid lifts that that are or are making cuts and and I know of one personally that that I talked to quite often and and uh they've had to make cuts and we'll have to continue to make more if they don't go out for a lid lift. The only thing that saved us was was the fire annexation to to allow us to go further out. But if you look in 2015 um you know at a $183 what what some people don't know in 2015 we were paying $150 of that to fire. So, so we when when we talk about um like the ability to do the things that we've been able to do, the ability to get our policing back to where it was cuz because our levels that we're at now were 2014 levels. So, these are all because we had a voted in lid lift, we could say, by annexing into the fire district. And so that all that did was buy us some time, but like the mayor said, it we will have to go to the voters eventually to to ask for a lid lift and to bring this back up because um you just can't keep up with the 1%. But but it has it has hurt the county and and I don't you know for us I don't I don't want to be in that situation um because it really it doesn't hurt us it's going to hurt a council 5 years from now and they're going to have to make tougher decisions and we had to make some of those decisions even back in 2015 and 16 because of stuff that had happened. We had this city hall, we had the parks, we had the community center, we had all

these different things that we had huge debt and and not enough money at the end of the month to pay for them. So, it was difficult. So, it's while it doesn't keep up with inflation, it puts us a little bit less behind and it just prolongs that that time that we have to go ask. I guess I'll just say that it's it's it's upsetting. It's upsetting to see how much money the state gets from us.

We only get 10%. I just want to put this out to our citizens. Anybody who's at watching, it is insane that they get like 80% of all of our taxes and we're we would have if we could if they really wanted to help us, I would go back to that public sales tax. I mean, if they really wanted to help us, rather than create this bill that allows us to come back and tax people more, it's like, give us a 10% of what you're taking from us, just give us 10% of it, you know, um because we would have the funds to take care of ourselves. This is the upsetting part. I'm like, why can't we be lobbying to, you know, to them up there and be like, give us some of our money back. We're hurting down here. We're barely scraping by because of Yeah. Sorry. It just it's infuriating.

It's very upsetting. It's a lot harder up here than it looks when you're not up here. You got to the root cause. My Philip Johnson's over, you know,

but they will tell you. The state does tell you, and this is the sad part about the state because you go up and you lobby to get money back, right? And and I remember sitting there a few years ago when we were talking this with the TBD and the state two legislators in the hallway said you guys aren't using the tools we gave you. And the tool is we just gave you this onetenth of a percent. You're not using it. So why should we give you anything back? So while the tools are, you know, they're giving us a crescent wrench when we need a 9/16. It'll work, but it it's not the best thing. And I know the mayor knows nothing about wrenches, so I'll explain. But no. Um, but that's that's what the that's what the state says to us. They give us stuff that isn't really favorable, but then they say, "Well, you don't use it, so why should we give you anything?" And it's it's tough to do that. It's easier. I wouldn't say it's easier, but when we go up there and we say, "Hey, we've done everything you guys have asked us to do, but we still need help." It makes it a little bit easier to to get stuff back from them. I like my Phillips wrench.

Any other questions? Okay, there's a motion on the floor uh to adopt ordinance 2025-9. Roll call, please, for the ordinance. Council member Davis, how do you vote? No. Council member Kypers, how do you vote? Yes. Council member Ferrer, how do you vote? No. Council member D. Rogers, how do you vote? Yes.

Council member Overhozer, how do you vote? Yes. Deputy Mayor Bowman, how do you vote? Yes. Mayor McCoy, how do you vote? Yes. Motion carries 5 to2. And Christian, comprehensive plan update. Good evening, council. I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to Sam Kman, our planning supervisor, just to give you a brief update related to our comp plan and then the release of the much awaited county's agricultural land study. So Sam,

good evening council and interested citizens. Uh the county has published their agricultural land study. They held a work session on it last week and uh this uh Thursday I'll be meeting with county staff to weigh in on a process for decision- making surrounding that agricultural study. Uh ultimately that'll be the CIC council who decides any decision making on the egg study. On behalf of Battleground, I will advocate that we get through this decision making process as quickly as possible. As you're aware, our comprehensive plan update involves an urban growth boundary expansion and uh any decision regarding our comp plan has to be done concurrently with the county. So, so uh timing is important. Uh the state has stated that we need to be complete with our comp plan by December 31st, 2025. Uh because the county is behind schedule, that puts us behind schedule. Um so we will be advocating to get through this as much as possible to comply with the growth management act. Um, I'll take any direction that you have or any just comments or questions you have in general regarding our comprehensive plan update. Um, and then just a couple uh kind of scheduling things to be aware of. We are hosting an open house for our citizens for our comprehensive plan update at the Battleground Event Center this Wednesday, November 19th from 5 to 7:00 p.m. And then uh public hearing is scheduled for our next regular council meeting on December 1st. At that time, we'll uh you'll be able to hear any questions or comments from our citizens and uh I'll present the plan commission

recommendation at that time as well. I'm here for any questions. Sam, I don't know if you have the A study available, but uh looking at exhibit 10, page 27, uh it shows the land north of 502 out to Duth is prime farmland. Correct.

And I know that that's where we saw our jobs. Um, I know it's not currently designated, so they would have to, I'm assuming, designate it just as like Ridgefield and the center's asking to desegate. I believe it's the same process. Does that study slow us down? Put a wrench in it where what does that do to us?

I don't think so. I don't think that the county or the state is re is necessarily recommending us to what I would just say go in reverse of the work that we've already done. Um, even though countywide all of our soils are, you know, roughly 98% could be farmed, but much of that is either under county rural residential zoning, which is a lot of the territory we're going into with our dollars corner expansion. We are not proposing to convert any agriculturally designated land in that area. So, I'm not concerned.

Okay. Yeah. Go ahead, Sam. What do you think the in your opinion, and you're probably going to say 50/50, right? Uh, of us getting out to Dollar's Corner, do you think that they're going to allow us to expand that far? Yeah, I think it's like um really good like maybe, you know, um boy, if you want to percent like 90 above 90%. Um, good.

We have when we tried, I don't know if you remember, but when we tried to go out to that area incrementally at our last during periodic review, we were just asking for 80 acres and we didn't get that because the state essentially said we didn't do our homework. I'm just summarizing more technical information, but we've since done our homework with that land use master plan outdate. Um, we've had a lot of conversations with stakeholders, those that might have concerns with an expansion like that. Um, I think we can justify it. Good.

So, yeah, I think we're in good shape for um going out that area and I haven't heard any negative feedback from the state, from the county, or even from citizens in that area.

Well, that's a good job. Um, I know that was my only concern because I know when we did the one they wouldn't even give us the 80 acres and I'm like it always seemed like we were fighting trying to get any bit of property that we could get that and I think that's a good that's a good corridor for us and I think it fits and um hopefully we can land that as soon as the county figures out what they're doing. So, but good job on our staff for getting all this stuff done and and not not being the problem. I'm glad we're not the problem. So, thank you, council. Any GMA questions?

I just know it's key and I I know uh the tax issue is always a struggle and I I go back to it a lot. Without employment lands, it's always going to be in our residents. And so, this is the first step in taking a load off or another step in taking the load off. uh in my opinion. Okay. Is that the end of your p you good, Sam? I'm good. Thank you. All right. Thank you for that update. When do we think we'll hear next uh from the county? Is they have anything on the schedule? We don't know yet. I'll probably know more within a week and we'll be happy to share that one way or the other.

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Hersik. Good evening, council. Give me a second to pull up PowerPoint. All right, I'm going to quickly talk about uh Kinder Care and a easement vacation uh request we received from them. Uh so Kinderare recently constructed a facility over at Scottenway Plaza. essentially that's the northeast corner of Scotenway and 503 and they've requested to vacate a sewer and water easement that existed on the site. Um there's no specific process in state law or city code for uh easement vacation. Uh so with in discussions with legal we thought that following the street vacation process would be uh the best way to process it. Um essentially how that process works is the owner's petition the legislative authority i.e. council. It has to be signed by twothirds of the owners. Uh council then sets a public hearing by resolution that has to be more than 20 days from when we uh uh talk or from the resolution date. Um but no more than 60. Uh at that time, city council holds a hearing on the petition and then council may accept or reject the easement vacation request. Uh so a little bit closer on the site. Um up on the north side there, you can see where there was a sewer and water easement. Uh there were city sewer and water utilities in that. Uh when Kinderare did their construction, they moved it a little bit to the south where you see the uh sewer and water easement

to be added. So at this point, the utilities have been moved. Um and there are no longer any utilities in that existing easement. Uh so for tonight I'm just asking for approval of resolution 2513 which would set the public hearing for January 5th. Council, can I get a motion to set a public hearing? I'll move to approve resolution 2513 setting a public hearing for January 5th, 2026 for um council meeting to hear public testimony regarding the Kinderare utility easement vacation.

Go ahead. Second by council member Jerus mouth is working now. Very well done council member Fer. Any discussions, questions. Uh all in favor of setting the uh public hearing for January 5, please say yes or I. I. Any opposed? Carries unanimously. Brings us to administrative reports. No reports this evening. Which brings us to council communications. Not seeing any there. We'll go ahead.

We'll still have time to talk about the tree lighting, right? At our next meeting, December 1st, our next meeting, the tree lighting's the 5th. Should we maybe mention that? Let people have not mentioned it. No. Mention the event itself or Yeah. Talk about it now so we people get a head start. Yeah. Go ahead. Do we know when it is? I haven't looked that far ahead. Friday, December 5th. At what time? At 5:30 at the event center. And I will let you know that I have like 7 to 800 glow stick bracelets that I'm going to be passing out to everybody there because I have them and it's going to be dark and it's going to be fun. So, just for fun.

Uh, seeing no more. Um, council's going to enter an executive session. I'm hoping for 10 minutes. Pursuant to RCW423110 parthesis 1 parenthesis I, the city council will enter executive session discuss with the legal council representing the agency. A potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body or member acting in official capacity is or likely to become a party when public knowledge regarding discussion is likely to result in adverse legal or financial consequence consequence to the agency. Session will last 10 minutes commencing. Anybody need a break or we can go straight in? commencing at 8:40 and ending at 8:50 with no action to follow. No, I gave you five.

go. It is 8:50. We're back in session. Uh there's no action. Uh the next regular city council meeting will be held Monday, December 1st at 7 p.m. with no study session. It is 8:50. We're adjourned. Thank you.