City Council - Regular Meeting

Great. We can start the meeting. Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. You are spending your time with us, and we love that. We love to hear from you. City clerk, can you please do the roll call?

Yes. Thank you. Mayor Malikutian?

Yes. Here.

Deputy mayor Hamilton?

Here.

Council member Bhargava?

Here.

Council member Breyer?

Here.

Council member Newn House?

Here.

Council member Robinson?

Here.

And council member Sumadhwaria?

Here. Thank you.

Council member Sumadhwaria, would you please lead us in the flag salute? Thank you so much. We have four proclamation. I am definitely not going to pronounce all of our guests who are receiving this their name or last name right, so please forgive me. But the first proclamation is Jewish American Heritage Month, It's going to be read by Councilmember Newnhaus.

I will invite Regina Freitland and Stephanie Schojman on the table. You guys are receiving the proclamation. And after councilman Newnham is done, we would love to hear your comments. Councilman Newnham, please.

Thank you, mayor. Honored to read this proclamation this evening. Thank you both for being here. After dinner. Jewish American Heritage Month is an opportunity to honor the rich history, culture, and contributions of Jewish Americans to our nation and to our state and our community.

And whereas for generations, Jewish Americans have contributed to the cultural, economic, scientific, and civic life of The United States, including right here in Bellevue. Through leadership in education, business, the arts, public service, and social justice, and whereas Jewish Americans have demonstrated resilience in the face of discrimination, antisemitism, and violence, and continue to advance the values of equality, of religious freedom, and human dignity, And whereas the city of Bellevue stands in solidarity with the Jewish community in condemning antisemitism and all forms of hate and remains committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and a welcoming city for all. Whereas Bellevue is strengthened by its diverse faith and cultural communities, including Jewish organizations, congregations, and families who contribute to interfaith understanding, civic engagement, and community life. And whereas Jewish American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to celebrate these contributions and to reaffirm our shared commitment to inclusion, to respect, and to belonging. Now, therefore, I, council member Newnhams, on behalf of Mo Malakutian, mayor of the city of Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Jewish, American Heritage Month in Bellevue and encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the history, culture, and ongoing contributions of Jewish Americans to our community and to our nation.

Thank you.

Thank you, councilor Nunez. Welcome, please.

Thank you, mayor Malakutian and members of the Bellevue City Council, with special mention to council member Jared Newnhaus. On behalf of AJC, American Jewish Committee, and part of the Jewish community, I am grateful to accept, co accept this declaration recognizing May as a Jewish American Heritage Month. This recognition matters every year, but this year as our country prepares to mark the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the United States, it feels especially meaningful. The Jewish story of America is not separate from the American story. It's woven into it.

Jewish Americans have helped build our cities, serve our country, strengthen our democracy, advance civil rights, support the arts, create businesses, care for neighbors, and give back to the communities that we all call home. And from the beginning, America offered a promise that was extraordinary in world history that Jews would not merely be tolerated but would belong. In 1790, president George Washington wrote to the Hebrew congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. In that letter, he said that The United States gives to, quote, to bigotry, no sanction, to persecution, no assistance. He went on to describe a country where people of all faiths could live safely under their own vine and fig tree with none to make them afraid.

That promise has often been realized and generations of American Jews have found safety, opportunity, belonging in this country. But today, that promise is being tested in ways we cannot ignore. Rising anti Semitism, growing extremism, and the normalization of hatred are threatening the sense of security that every community deserves. America's promise remains powerful, but it depends on people and leaders who are willing to defend it clearly, consistently, and without hesitation. Jewish American Heritage Month reminds us that America is strongest when it lives up to its highest ideals.

It reminds us that pluralism is not just a nice idea. It is a civic responsibility. It's how we build trust across communities. It's how we make sure that every person can bring their full identity into public life. Here in Bellevue, this declaration sends a clear message. Jewish history is American history. Jewish belonging is a part of Bellevue's story and standing against antisemitism is part of standing for the inclusive democratic promise of this country. Thank you for honoring Jewish American Heritage Month and for help helping carry that promise forward as we approach America's 200 birthday.

My name is Stephanie Schumann and I'm a board member at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. On behalf of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and the Jewish community, thank you. We accept this proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month during a season that is uniquely defined by both deep pain and profound hope. I stand here not only as a community leader, but as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who came to this country in search of a better life, a place where they could live freely and proudly as Jews. Their journey marked by loss and resilience is a testament to what is possible when the society makes space for people to belong.

That legacy of hope lives on in me, in my children, and the Jewish community here in Bellevue. We cannot celebrate our heritage without acknowledging our current reality. Today, the Jewish community is experiencing harm at levels unseen in forty five years. Following the horrific events of October 7, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, we have seen a staggering 300% increase in antisemitic incidents right here in Washington state. And this is not abstract.

Two years ago, as a kindergartner, my daughter was the victim of antisemitism by a classmate. No child should have to encounter hatred before they even learn to read. When Jewish American stories are absent from our city's collective narrative, a void is created, one that is too often filled with misinformation, ignorance, and prejudice. This is why proclamations like this matter. They are not merely symbolic.

They are foundational. They help people see themselves reflected in the communities where they live and work. They affirm that Jewish identity is not invisible, not peripheral, but an integral part of the civic fabric. Representation fosters understanding, and understanding builds belonging. Working toward true Jewish belonging in Bellevue means more than just proclamation.

It means listening to and believing these experiences. It means continuing to act like Bellevue has in adopting a definition of antisemitism and committing to the safety and well-being of Jewish residents. From that foundation of safety, celebration becomes not only possible, but meaningful. And there is so much to celebrate. Our region's Jewish community is one of the fastest growing in the nation.

We are home to the third largest Sephardic Jewish community in the country, and we grow more racially and ethically diverse every day. This diversity is our strength. For generations, the story of the Jewish people, one of resilience, faith, and hope in the face of adversity, has been woven into the fabric of our nation's story. That story is still being written. And despite challenges we face today, I remain hopeful, hopeful because of leaders like you, hopeful because every act of recognition, every step toward inclusion helps ensure that the next generation will grow up in a community where they are safe, seen, and proud of who they are.

Mayor and council, thank you for seeing us. By valuing our lived experiences and celebrating our history, you're helping to preserve the beautiful fabric of Bellevue. We are proud to be your neighbors, and we are grateful for your partnership in ensuring that the Jewish community can be vibrant and thriving today and tomorrow.

Thank you so much. If you hang out around after our fourth one, we come and take a picture with you guys, and we give you the proclamation. Thank you. The second proclamation is affordable housing week, read by Councilmember Robinson. I will invite Troy Drouse and Yi Jiao, Sahar Amini and Mary Kotterlakis to the table. Councilwoman Robinson, we read the proclamation, then we would love to hear from you. And please go ahead, councilwoman.

I don't see, but

I didn't see him in the audience.

Oh, okay. Good. Thank you, mayor. Whereas access to safe, healthy, and affordable housing is a cornerstone of vibrant, equitable communities and essential to the well-being of residents and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing for which a household pays more than 30% of its gross income on housing costs, including utilities, And whereas the Washington State Department of Commerce projects that by 2044, King County will need nearly 200,000 net new housing units for households at or below 80% of the area median income, underscoring the continued urgency of expanding affordable housing options. And the city of Bellevue is actively advancing solutions through implement implementation of its affordable housing strategy with a goal of producing or preserving 5,700 affordable homes over the next decade, alongside continued investments and partnerships to support housing stability.

And whereas Bellevue is increasing housing supply through actions such as making city owned land available for affordable housing development, supporting transit oriented development, expanding housing opportunities through land use, changes, and investing in services that support residents experiencing housing instability, and whereas affordable housing week is a time for communities across King County to raise awareness, promote solutions, and recognize the importance of ensuring access to affordable housing for all. Now, therefore, Eileen Robinson, on behalf of mayor Malikutian and the entire city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as affordable housing week and encourage all residents to recognize the importance of affordable housing in building a strong, inclusive community and to support efforts that expand access to safe, healthy, and affordable homes for all.

Thank you, councilor Robinson. Welcome, please.

Honorable mayor, council members, and community, my name is Troy Draws. I'm with Imagine Housing. It is an honor to be here tonight to participate in this proclamation for preservation and promotion of affordable housing opportunities in Bellevue. We'd like to express our sincere thanks for council's recent actions in supporting the Forest Edge Apartments, which you recently awarded a substantial financial commitment to, as well as your continued support of policies that make it easier to create new affordable housing. This kind of housing is absolutely impossible without partners such as the city of Bellevue and our other funders.

And speaking of partners, it's also very

impossible to

do it without land partners. So with that, I'll hand it over to our friends at St. Andrews.

Good evening. My name is Tom Getzinger. I'm the, council president at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church. Saint Andrews has been a strong supporter of affordable housing for over thirty years. The Forest Edge apartments, which, will provide over 100 units, affordable housing units, on a portion of our land is about the latest of those. And so we are looking forward to that becoming a reality very soon. But it would not have been possible without strong support from the members of Saint Andrews, without a strong partner in Imagine Housing, and most importantly, without the financial and other support that that you all and the city of Bellevue has provided. So from the hearts of the members of Saint Andrews, thank you so much for making this possible.

I'll add a few words. Good evening. I'm Sahar Amini with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat's mission statement is that we wanna build a world where everyone has affordable place to live. The city of Bellevue has been an incredible partner in getting closer to that mission.

Last year, we received funding from the city of Bellevue to help us move forward the Orchard Gardens Project, which have now started demolition as of a few weeks ago, and we are really excited to bring homeownership opportunities to the City of Bellevue, as well as the Office of Housing and Director Siegel's incredible leadership and housing strategy that the council adopted recently and including homeownership as part of that priority and investing money and time and prioritizing it as a policy objective. So we thank you very much and we appreciate your partnership.

And I'll say a few words as well. Mary Kutrolakos with SRM Development. We were awarded funds for our Alterra At East Main project in partnership with HopeLink. We are going to be building a 146 units of housing, 30 to 60% area median income with wraparound services in the building. And I mean, I think everyone has has spoken to this, but we're really appreciative of the city, city council and at a higher level, but also the, people that are on the ground doing the work, helping us get permitting or permitted, helping us with the fee waivers.

This work means a lot and it is really great that the entire city is on the same page about providing affordable housing. So thank you.

Thank you all. Please hang out at the end of the fourth proclamation. We will take a picture. The third one is bike everywhere month, read by Deputy Mayor Hamilton. I will invite May Ling Ho, Yoon Ji Ma, and Han Wen Yuan to the table. And after our deputy mayor is done with

the proclamation, we would love to hear from you. Thank you, mayor. Whereas across Washington state, thousands of people choose to travel by bicycle for transportation and recreation, contributing to improved public health, a cleaner environment, and more connected community, and whereas the transportation sector remains a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, making travel choices an important part of reducing environmental impacts and advancing climate goals, and whereas building bicycle friendly communities enhances safety, supports healthier lifestyles, and improves neighborhood connectivity while reducing air pollution, and whereas the city of Bellevue, through programs such as Choose Your Way Bellevue and in partnership with community organizations, actively supports Bike Everywhere Month each May, and whereas Bellevue continues to invest in safe, accessible and connected bicycle infrastructure, including regional trail connections and multimodal corridors to expand transportation options and support a more inclusive and sustainable transportation system and whereas Bike Everywhere Day on 05/15/2026 encourages residents to experience bicycling as a convenient, healthy, and sustainable way to travel. Now, therefore, I, Dave Hamilton, on behalf of Moe Malakoutian, mayor of Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as bike everywhere month in Bellevue and encourage all residents to consider bicycling for both transportation and recreation and to enjoy the many benefits it brings to our community year round.

Thank you, deputy mayor. Welcome.

Dear mayor Malikutian, deputy mayor Hamilton, and council members, thank you for inviting us. My name is Mei Ling Ho, and I have been volunteering with the Little Masters Club since I was 10. Little Masters Club is a youth led nonprofit based in Bellevue, serving over 2,000 Chinese American families across the greater Seattle area. Since 2015, the Little Masters Club has been organizing annual bikeathons in order to promote a healthy and eco friendly way of life, build up physical strengths for youths, and enhance parent child relationships. Over the past decade, on the October each year, 150 to 200 youth riders ages five to 18 bike along, their fam bike alongside their families on the beautiful Sammamish River Trail, choosing distances of either five, ten, or 20 miles.

Each year, around 50 to 80 high school volunteers worked on-site to ensure a smooth delivery of the event. We are honored to partner with the transportation team at City of Bellevue to promote biking as a family friendly mode of transportation and recreation. Biking not only helps reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, but also supports physical health and well-being. Let's bike together everywhere together. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other one of you want to say something?

I'm Han Wen Yuan. I was the Bikeathon lead for last year. And I think this event was one of the most fun and fulfilling event I've ever been a part of. I hope it continues from this year and on and on, and more volunteers participate.

Thank you so much.

Thank you to the Bellevue City Council. And I'm Yoon Chi Ma. I'm nine years old, and I bike 10 miles in the bike everywhere event of the Millennium Masters Club.

We are very proud of you. Thank you so much. If you hang out, we will take a picture after the last one, that is the next one. Please just sit, and then we will take a picture. The last proclamation is Building Safety Month, read by council member Brouillard. I will invite Jake Hesselgasser and Lauren Eck to sit down on the table. Please go ahead.

It's pleasure. Thank you, mayor. Whereas the city of Bellevue recognizes that our growth, resilience, and quality of life depend on modern building codes that ensure the safety of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure, consistent with development services mission to protect the quality, safety, and integrity of the built and natural environment for an equitable, inclusive, and livable city, and whereas building codes and standards safeguard the public from hazards and emergencies and support safe, sustainable growth of responsibility shared across Bellevue's development services line of businesses, and whereas our confidence in the safety of the buildings that make up our community is possible through the dedication of building safety and fire prevention officials, as well as architects, engineers, builders, tradespeople, design professionals, and city staff who work every day to ensure safe construction. And whereas, Building Safety Month, sponsored by the International Code Council, highlights the critical role of these often unseen protections and professionals who support safe, sustainable, and resilient buildings that contribute to Bellevue's long term prosperity. And whereas the twenty twenty six building safety month theme, built to last, emphasizes the importance of durable construction, disaster preparedness, forward looking practices that help ensure our community remains safe and resilient for generations to come, and whereas this month provides an opportunity to recognize and thank the professionals who dedicate their work to protecting lives and strengthening the safety of our community.

Now, therefore, I, council member Noreen Breyer, on behalf of mayor Moe Melakutian of Bellevue, Washington, and on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as building safety month in Bellevue and encourage all residents, businesses, and community partners to recognize the importance of building safety and support practices that create a safer and more resilient Bellevue.

Thank you. Thank you, council member. Welcome.

Good evening, mayor, deputy mayor, and council members. We're certainly humbled, to accept this proclamation this evening and appreciate the recognition that building and fire codes play when it comes to creating the high quality built natural environment that we enjoy in our community. So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good evening, mayor, deputy mayor, and council members. On behalf of all the professionals designing, constructing, inspecting, and maintaining the many thousands of buildings in Bellevue, I wanna thank you for this proclamation, recognizing your outstanding work ensuring that our buildings are safe and healthy for us all. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Let's take a picture with you all, and then we go reverse order. My god. He's done. Now we are all back.

Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I move to approve the agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

It has been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Neonhaus. Any discussion? All those in favor, aye.

Aye.

There is no opposed. The motion passes. City Clair, the best part, oral communication.

Thank you, mayor. So this evening, there are 11 preregistered speakers. So first, I'll mention that, of course, the council appreciates members of the public engaging contributing their perspectives and also supports everyone's right to express themselves. However, I wanna mention comments shared during oral communications represent the views of individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of the city council or the city. So a few of the rules before I start calling names.

First, the total time for oral communications is for a period of not more than thirty minutes, and all topics must relate to City of Bellevue government. People speaking to items on tonight's agenda will be called first, and then if time remains, people speaking to items not on tonight's agenda will be called. The presiding officer in both of those categories is authorized to give preference to those who have not spoken to counsel within the last sixty days or who will be speaking on items that will come in front of the council within the next sixty days. Each speaker is allowed to speak up to three minutes, and only three speakers are allowed to speak to any one side of a particular topic. And then one final reminder that in compliance with Washington State campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities during elections, no speaker may support or oppose a candidate, for election or a ballot measure.

If anyone begins speaking about those items, you will be asked to stop. So with that, I will go to our first speaker on the list who's Tim Carr.

Welcome. Evening.

Mayor Malkusian, deputy mayor Hamilton, counsel, city manager Carlson. My name is Tim Carr. I'm the CEO of the Bellevue Convention Center Authority that operates Maidenbauer Center, Maidenbauer Theater, and visit Bellevue, Washington. I currently serve as chair of the board for the Bellevue Downtown Association. I'm also on the steering committee for the Friends of the Grand Connection, and I'm here to express strong support for the Grand Connection Crossing project and the tax increment financing as a funding tool.

Maidenbauer Center and Maidenbauer Theater are long standing examples of successful public projects. Drawing on that experience, we recognize a tax increment financing which captures increased property tax revenue from surrounding development, provides a proving funding strategy to move the Grand Connection Crossing forward. Exercising sound financial stewardship and signaling our collective investment in the region. From my role with the Bellevue Downtown Association, we see the ground Grand Connection Crossing as a way to reconnect our city, increase mobility and accessibility, and provide a critical link for the overall Grand Connection Corridor, Bellevue's signature place making initiative linking people and places. The vehicle free pathway across I 405 linking Downtown Bellevue to the 42 mile Eastrail regional trail system and four light rail stations will allow residents throughout King County to reach jobs, services, amenities without relying on personal vehicles, helping Bellevue meet its long term livability, economic competitiveness, and environmental sustainability goals.

The Grand Connection Crossing is a vital project that will unlock Wilburton, spurring new businesses and residential usements. We truly see this project as a strategic equity investment with impacts well beyond Bellevue by connecting thousand by connecting affordable housing, employment centers, transit, essential service, and recreation through a car free pathway. The crossing advances our commitment to ensuring every resident connects us economic opportunity and healthy connected lives. Thank you for your time, consideration, and leadership advancing the TIF and the Grand Connection Project.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And the next speaker is Catherine Ollis.

Welcome. Thank you.

Hello, mayor Melakoushin, deputy mayor Hamilton, council members, and city manager Carlson. I'm Catherine Hollis, executive director of East Row Partners and Executive Committee Member for the Friends of the Grand Connection Crossing. On behalf of Eastrail Partners, I'm here to express strong support for the Grand Connection Crossing project. Eastrail partner partner is a nonprofit stewarding the 42 mile East Trail, the rail to trail project running from Renton to Snohomish that connects two counties and six cities with direct connections to light rail, upcoming Stride Rapid Ride stations, and our wild wider regional trail network. The Grand Connection Crossing will create a protected car free pathway across 405, linking where we are right here in Downtown Bellevue to the 42 mile East Trail and other direct connections to our regional trail system.

The crossing and East Trail are integral to each other forming a seamless regional active transportation network that will serve communities from Bellevue and beyond for generations to come. This connection is especially transformative for households without car access by providing safe walking, biking, and rolling routes connecting to four light rail stations along the East Trail. The crossing removes a major barrier to economic mobility giving residents an affordable housing, which we heard about earlier proclamation, direct access to employment, education, health care, and child care. The Crossing, much like East Trail, will function both as transportation infrastructure and public green space, unlocking access to King County's 175 mile regional trail system. From Downtown Bellevue via the crossing to East Trail, users will be able to reach the Mountains Of Sound Trail running East West through Bellevue as well as a five twenty corridor in Bellevue and beyond.

This dramatically enhances our region's interconnected trail system and ensures that communities historically underserved by parks and recreation infrastructure can more easily enjoy equitable access to outdoor spaces and nature. And let's not forget the proclamation from just a few moments ago that May is National Bike Month. The Grand Connection Crossing will be one piece of still much needed pedestrian and bike infrastructure in Bellevue. At Eastrail Partners, we know firsthand the benefits of public public private partnerships, having worked with RAI, Meta, and Amazon for direct investment in Eastrail and Bellevue. For the Grand Connection Crossing, tax increment financing, TIF, which captures increased property tax revenue from surrounding development, offers a powerful mechanism to advance the Grand Connection Crossing project.

Thank you for taking steps tonight to make the Grand Connection Crossing a reality.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Arman Vilga.

Welcome.

Hi, everyone. I'm mayor Melakushian, deputy mayor Hamilton, council members. On behalf of Eastside Urbanism and Complete Streets Bellevue, we're just so excited, for the proclamation that this is, bike everywhere month and, upcoming bike everywhere day. Of course, I cannot it was such a sweet story, from the about the Little Masters Club. I did not know about that.

It was I'm I'm so excited to hear and learn more about what they're doing and their their bike ride. But I wanted to tell my own small story, was I did my first Bike Everywhere Day two years ago and it happened to fall on my birthday. And I have to say, it's a really great way to spend your birthday because you get to be out. It was a beautiful day. You get to go to these different stations and, there's like snacks and, lots of really cool apparel from projects like Choose Your Way Bellevue, all these things.

But most of all, you get to meet your friends. I was just running into people. One of the people I ran into besides my friend was actually Emil King who is your community development at the city and so it's just this amazing community thing like what a great thing to be just going around where you live and running into your friends and running into people you know and like this is really what like this is what biking is about and the community building we talk about. Another thing I ended up doing that day was there's a project called Pedaling Relief Project. This is something Cascade Bicycle Club runs and I wanna mention it because they did their first ride in Bellevue recently.

It was actually a partnership I understand between Amazon and HopeLink where they rescue food and bring it to to HopeLink or other food banks to make sure it can be distributed to the people who need it most. So it is really cool that they do this on bicycles using trailers and cargo bikes and it's just amazing to me. In two years, this is where Bellevue has come. Cascade is expanding this important program to our city as well. Congratulations to all of them.

I think that's amazing. And, yeah, thank you to all of you as well for your strong support for projects for bicycle infrastructure and on all users, pedestrians and people of all abilities. It is so important. Thank you for your emphasis on safety, especially as we head into the next budget cycle and planning. Complete Streets Bellevue and Eastside Urbanism are part of this coalition, Safe Streets are for Everyone.

And we're working together and we're excited to work with you and 20 community organizations across Bellevue and the Eastside. We're really excited to work together to advance the projects that will really make a difference in advancing safety for all members of our community and bringing people together in all these different ways in our neighborhoods and in our wonderful city. So yeah, thank you to all of you. Thank you to our partners like Israel who spoke a bit earlier. And yeah, look forward to seeing you out all on bikes this month.

Thank you.

Thank you. And the next speaker is Petterberg.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Petter Burke, and I am the president and CEO of KidsQuest Children's Museum, a nonprofit currently located at 116 108th Northeast here in Bellevue. And in mid twenty twenty nine, we will relocate to 510 Bellevue Way, the building previously known as the Bellevue Arts Museum. I wanna thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. KidsQuest strives to be the community's museum and not just a museum in your community.

Our move to smack dab in the middle of Bellevue is an exciting opportunity located amid some of the greatest retail opportunities right on the Grand Connection and accessibility to the amazing newly opened Cross Lake Connection. Our expansion is the answer to the call from our community. We need to be able to serve more visitors in our exhibits, more children in our classrooms, for field trips, camps and workshops. Kids Quest never turns anyone away because they cannot afford to pay. We work or afford to play.

We work diligently with our human service partners to ensure that this is a reality. We are a hub within our community highlighting multigenerational educational opportunities and most importantly sparking joy right here at Bellevue. Thank you mayor, council members, city manager, and deputy managers, all of you for your belief in us, we are excited to do amazing things now and in the future. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Kevin Willis.

Welcome.

It's nice to be here. Nice to see all of you. Glad you're feeling better, council member Breyer. Kevin Wallace. I live in the Lakemont neighborhood, and it's a great honor to get to talk to you tonight about the tax increment financing opportunity that you have in front of you.

I'm sure that I don't need to twist your arms too hard to support it, but I kind of wanted to talk about a few different things that are kind of related to it. One is this is a really high degree of difficulty thing to do, and I really want to congratulate and thank the staff, your staff that have really done an incredible job in putting this complex proposal together in front of you. Second, it requires a commitment from our partners in the region, especially King County, who doesn't always do all the things we want them to do. But this time they did. So I'm really grateful they all came together and supported this opportunity for the city.

The second element is the overall transportation budget. We learned a couple weeks ago that you guys have a massive ball of transportation projects in front of you, and this project, the Grand Connection Crossing, is one of them. And so for the community, what's important to understand is this is a fairly painless way of generating a lot of tax revenue that can be applied to the largest project within that transportation pot. And every dollar that you can take from the tax increment financing opportunity to apply to the transportation budget is $1 that gets freed up to get spent from other sources on those other projects. So it's a really important reason why, assuming we're going forward and doing all of the projects that and we do need to do them because the density has been already authorized to require really the projects the other projects in addition to this Grand Connection Crossing project, it's important that we support this funding source to free up the dollars for those other projects.

And I look forward to continuing to talk to you and Armand and everybody else about that great multimodal transportation package that doesn't just address bikes but also addresses all the other modes we need to address. And so overall, really grateful for this opportunity that you all have in front of you. Looking forward to you establishing the legacy you have. Think from my perspective as I look back when I was on the council, the thing I remember most are the infrastructure votes that we took, whether it was parks or roads or the light rail alignment. Those are the things when I drive through the city now and I think back on my time that I remember the most.

So it's cool that you guys have the opportunity in front of you to participate in creating a legacy of your own by approving these great projects that we need to approve for the next generation. And I look forward to this playing out over the course of the year and you guys ultimately doing it. So support the TIF.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Jessica Rowe, who I believe is joining us virtually. Miss Rowe, can you hear me?

Yep. I can hear you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members. Jessica Rowe, attorney with McCullough Hill, speaking tonight on behalf of the plush committee. Wanted to express our support generally for the downtown livability two point o initiative and say that we're looking forward to working with you as always, you and staff on this initiative. We, as you probably saw, submitted a more detailed letter on this, but I'll just recap our ask at the end of the letter, which is respectfully urging the council to direct that the initiative include express enabling language for pedestrian connections between private spaces above the right of way with objective design standards and a clear permitting pathway, updated and streamlined standards for compact parking, build two line departures, parking reductions, active use definitions, weather production, and weather protection to reflect the realities of modern urban development. Third, downtown is a special place.

As I'm sure you agree, do not simply align the downtown code with the mixed use zones, but please give specific direction that downtown should be treated directly in many respect differently in many respects. Old Bellevue is a particularly special place. Please incorporate rational and functional design standards that reinforce that sense of place without creating inconsistency with state law regarding landmarks. And finally, apropos to the above the prior bullet, but broadly speaking, ensure that the use of incentives to encourage the outcomes council is looking for. Again, really value our ongoing partnership and thank you for the opportunity to comment and looking forward to collaborating with you all on this.

Thank you. The next speaker is Matt Jack.

Welcome.

Good evening mayor, council members. My name is Matt Jack and I'm here on behalf of the Bellevue Downtown Association to voice support for the launch of Downtown Livability two point o. In addition to support for Downtown Livability two point o, I would like to promote five themes that are sourced from our past work on the downtown code. And those themes are one, seek to improve clarity, predictability, and usability. Two, ensure that the updates translate well into an efficient review process.

Three, maintain flexibility as a means to ensure high quality design. Four, support housing production and project feasibility. And five, integrate calibration tools that allow for an iterative update as needed. So that's the the core of my message and now I'd like to use the remaining bit of my time to tell a short story about the last time the BDA engaged in a downtown land use code update. And, it was in 2017.

Now, it's the one year that we don't wanna remember and it was in 2020. So, you recall, there was that weird moment where we couldn't meet and we all had to buy cameras and figure out how to use teams and that was a period where the planning commission stopped gathering for the time because they had to figure out how to get those members to talk to one another and then transmit recommendations. Just like the city, the BDA was trying to figure out how to convene stakeholders. We had to redo our work plan. And so, at that time, we thought it would be useful to gather our members to talk about the downtown land use code.

It had been about three years since we had adopted livability one, and we thought this would be an appropriate time to bring those developers who had built out downtown since that period, tell us like what worked, what didn't work, and gather those insights and then bring it forward to the council. Well, it was it was an effective gathering. We even worked with the development services, and we talked through many different aspects of the code at that time. And by the time we had completed this body of work, planning commission was up and going, city council was meeting on screens, and we realized it was not an appropriate time to transmit that work before council because there was a backlog of land use code initiatives that you had to work on, East Main, Wilburton, the periodic comprehensive plan was coming up. So, we decided to take that work and and turn it into a memo and we provided that memo to city staff.

And so, the gist of it is that there was this one message, one theme that we want a periodic update of the land use code to avoid thirty year overhauls of the code. And I think that's a really important part. And the city staff is doing that.

Mister Jack, I'm sorry. I have to cut you off.

You should. Thank you so much. This is a positive note.

Good job.

Thank you. Thank you.

Paul Rood is next.

Welcome. Thank

you, counsel. I want to give you a history of noise regulation and enforcement in Bellevue over the past thirty years. This is my perspective. In about 1997, vehicle exhaust modification kits were put on the market and Bellevue became noisy. The police enforced on the modified exhaust law and Bellevue became noticeably quieter.

Then several things happened. Manufacturers began offering cars designed to be noisy. Rather than enforce noise on manufactured cars, the police stopped enforcing noise on all vehicles. Second, gasoline powered leaf blowers became much more prevalent. And third, in 1998, there was an apparent event of regulatory capture of city hall.

Regulatory capture is when the offenders gain seats on city council or gain influence at city hall and eliminate regulation of their offenses. While this can never be proven, you need to look no further than the display of deference by counsel to the noise makers on 04/23/2024. Example, in 2003, I worked an explicit noise violation up BPD to the captain level. The captain spent three hours reading the regulations, then we read them together. He could not refute the clause I was quoting, but closed the conversation by saying, when you take the regulations as a whole, this clause does not apply.

Implicitly, he had been instructed that there will be on any construction activity, even explicit violations. The last two violations I called in '24, 20 '5, the police simply said, call the nonemergency number, we'll check on Monday. Catch 22. We will enforce noise regulations, but only when noise is legal. When it's illegal, we won't investigate.

After twenty eight years, we now have a cohort of police who think noise enforcement is not their responsibility, do not know how and will not take initiative. For noise, Bellevue is not service first, Bellevue is service never. Couple months ago, I redlined the noise regulations for you. This would give Bellevue Police unambiguous criteria on which to enforce, restore quiet in residential zoning areas in the evening and allow sixty hours a week for necessary noise. I wanna call out to the three new council members.

Don't be shy. You can introduce updates to the noise regulations, and I think there are several members on council that would support you. Council please get this done. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Arlen Nordhorn.

Welcome.

So thank you, really, Mayor Herndy and all of you. And, before I start, Gerard, I would like to, make an observation about you. This is our second visit before you people. And both times we've been here, you've been a proponent of the Jewish community. And I understand that you do have a background of the Jewish community in Denmark. Is it true or not? Netherlands. Yes? Yes. Okay.

So, therefore, you're probably aware of a family in Europe called the Elenbogens. Very famous family. That's that's Frieda's heritage. Her father was at Ellenbogen. So, I think we we thank you.

Okay? So, the subject, discount programs for a 100% disabled veterans. We spoke about that, what, three or four months ago. And other than a visit with the mayor, not much has happened that we're aware of. And does that mean that there's apathy on the on the council?

If nothing happens, I don't know how to interpret that. Now, I've spoken to the assistant two ladies that you have and the last memo I got was several months ago and she says, at this time, this is what I know of the progress that has made since you came to speak to our console, which was in February. Number one, utility department staff are actively reviewing the program and has stated that they will be reaching out to connect with you. Never happened. Number two, the Environmental Service Commission will be included your request to review and update the utility rate relief program.

Once discussions have been made, the policy will alter to come back to counsel for review, direction and adoption. Has that happened? Has anybody from anybody spoken to any of you about this program?

Yeah. We don't just engage with you. You finish your comments and the staff will get back to you.

Yeah. So I have been told that the it's called the ESC. They have a meeting like this this coming Thursday, which is also limited to a three minute discussion. And so we will go there, and I'm just hoping that you people will give this some more serious thought, honestly. And I've been advised, Jared, that I should ask to get on your schedule to come in and talk to you and somebody will come. Okay? Thank And thank you.

Thank you so much.

Speaker on our list is Evan McWilliams.

Thank you, counsel people.

Thank you.

It doesn't look like Mr. McWilliams is here. So we do have a few minutes left. I'll make a call out to see if there are any others who would like to make a comment to counsel this evening. If there are, please raise your hand. That goes for those online. I will note that we have already had three speakers in support of the Grand Connection TIF item, we can hear no more speakers on that. Okay. No hands, mayor, I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you so much. And thank you, everyone, again, who took the time to share comments with us. You all should be assured that we are listening, and we follow-up if and when necessary. We have council business and new initiatives council liaison recommendation for appointment to the Human Service Commission. Councilwoman Robinson, do you want to talk about it and make a motion?

Yes. Thank you, mayor. I'm going to be nominating Carolyn Bassana to fill a partial term on the Human Services Commission. The Human Services Commission is about to embark on the grant process, which is very involved. And Carolyn has tremendous experience in public benefits with Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

And so she comes highly recommended, and we know she'll be able to hit the ground running. So I move that we appoint I don't have the motion in front of me, I'm sorry, but I'm just going make it up. I move that we appoint Carolyn Bassana to fulfill the partial term, remaining term of the Human Services Commission.

Is there a second? Second. It's been moved by council member Robinson, seconded by deputy mayor Hamilton. Any discussion? All those in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Before we go to public hearing, we have a city manager.

Okay. You're going back.

Thank you.

Great. It was not in my word document. Just saying. We go back to the city man city manager, reports. Please go ahead.

Thank you, mayor, deputy mayor, and council members. Before you get to your consent calendar, I would like to highlight one item on the calendar for tonight. That's item d. It's ordinance sixty nine fifteen. This includes a funding agreement with kids kid kids quest children's museum to provide up to 10,010 million in funds over the next two biennia to be used by kids quest to open a new facility in Bellevue.

And the second, component of that ordinance is amending the city of Bellevue twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six general fund budget to increase the appropriation by 4,500,000 from the long range planning reserve to fund the initial installment of this agreement. Kids Quest Museum is a vital community asset, serving over 200,000 visitors annually with their STEAM centered learn through play. And having grown their current outgrown their current facility, you heard earlier about. They are planning for a new facility. It will be very much in the heart of our city downtown in the former Bellevue Arts Museum building.

And having this larger facility will certainly allow KidsQuest to serve more more people, more families, more children, and increase public access to arts and the sciences. In late twenty twenty four, during our biennial budget process, council supported identifying long range planning funds in the in the biennial budget for this potential investment in a new Kids Quest facility. And I want to thank you. That allowed us to start these conversations with Kids Quest. We have taken appropriate steps in the proposed agreement to secure the public investments through deed of trust restrictive covenants.

And we've also identified a range of public benefits that will be required by KidsQuest in return for those public funds. In addition to the direct public benefits, there are also significant economic benefits and social impacts generated by the expanded facility. I would like to thank the Kids Quest leadership, board chair Mike Hubbard and executive Putterburt for their efforts, to engage with us in this agreement and also John Carlson, president of Kemper Development Corporation. We had a we had very deep collaborative discussions, to secure the agreements making this possible. I also would like to acknowledge some, very significant efforts of our staff.

Courtney Popp, our city attorney's office, and Lori Hoffman, our arts and creative economy manager. This is a very exciting next step for Kids' Quest, for the city, for the children, and the families, who will benefit from the larger and expanded museum in the future. So thank you, counsel, for your consideration of this ordinance. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you so much. Indeed, very exciting, and I cannot wait to celebrate this big event in a very exciting and more fun manner at some point later. Now we can go to our public hearings. We have two of no? You're you don't have something else? Consent. Council on great. Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent

calendar. Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. Now public hearing, city manager, please introduce that to us.

Thank you, mayor, deputy mayor, and council members. We have two partial easement releases, being brought to you this evening. They do require two separate public hearings, and they represent two different properties in the redevelopment process. Happy to welcome Lauren Matlick, our real property manager, to describe these properties and also the partial easement releases and to then turn it back to you council and mayor for the public hearings. With that, Lauren.

Thank you, miss Crosson. Good evening, mayor, council members. Our staff report this evening is on a request to release portions of two easements. One sidewalk and utility easement and one sidewalk utility and wall easement, both located at 14251 20th Avenue Northeast. On March 17, council declared these portions of two easements as no longer necessary to the city's needs and set today as the date for holding the public hearing. Purpose of tonight's hearing is allow to allow public an opportunity to comment. Oops. There we go. I hit it a couple times. Hope it stays.

The property is located on 120th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 12th and Northeast Spring Boulevard. The subject property is being developed into a four phase master development plan that will construct life sciences office space, residential units, retail, and dining. Oops. There we go. For consideration this evening are the releases of portions of two separate easements.

The first, shown yellow, as part of a sidewalk and utility easement that will no longer be necessary upon development. A new easement will be granted to the city addressing the needs of the redeveloped site. The second, shown in red, is a sidewalk utility and wall easement. For release is the wall portion of the easement, which will no longer be required as the property will be developed to back of sidewalk, replacing the necessity of the wall. Following public hearing, staff request council action on the proposed resolution authorizing partial release of these two easements. This ends the staff report. I can answer any questions following the public hearing.

Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to open the public hearing? I move to open the public hearing. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. We are in public hearing.

Thank you, Mayor. So this evening, there are no preregistered speakers for this public hearing. So I would do a call out and ask if anyone joining us would like to make a comment, please raise your hand. No hands, mayor. I will turn it back to you.

Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to close the public hearing?

I move to close the public hearing.

Is there has been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, aye. Aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. Any further discussion? Can I get the motion, please?

I move to adopt resolution number 10 629 authorizing the execution of documents necessary to release portions of two easements, one sidewalk and utility easement, and one sidewalk utility and wall easement located at 1425 120th Avenue Northeast, which have been determined to no longer be required for continued public service.

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Everyone said aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. Thank you. Let's go to the second one.

All right. Sounds good. Okay. Our second staff report for this evening is on a request to release a portion of a water easement located at 12835 Northeast Bell Red Road. On March 24, council declared this easement a surplus to the city's needs and set today as the date for holding the public hearing in order to be allow the public the opportunity to comment.

The property is located along Bell Red Road near the intersection with 130th Avenue Northeast and is being redeveloped into a 31 unit market rate townhome community. The existing facilities within the easement shown red will be removed. A new water easement will be acquired from the property owner at no cost to the city, avoiding, new roads and reconnecting to the existing remainder of the waterline that extends beyond this parcel to adjacent properties. Following this public hearing, staffers request council action on the proposed resolution releasing this easement.

Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to open the public hearing?

I move to open the public hearing.

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, aye. Aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. We are in the open public hearing.

Thank you. Again, no preregistered speakers for this public hearing, so I'll do a call out for those that want to make a comment. Please raise your hand. And no hands, mayor. I'll turn it back to

you. Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to close the public hearing?

I move to close the public hearing.

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by Councilman Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. Any further discussion? Can I please get a motion?

I move to adopt resolution number one zero six three zero, authorizing the execution of documents necessary to release an existing water easement located at 12835 Northeast Bellevue Redmond Road, which has been declared surplus to the city's needs and is no longer required for providing continued water service, the granting and recording of such release being deemed in the best interest of the public. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, aye. There is no opposed. The motion passes. Lauren, thank you so much for always being here and doing this kind of easement. We can jump into our first exciting study session item, Bellevue Grand Connection Thief and City Manager. Please introduce that to us.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council Members. It seems like it's been a long incredibly short year, maybe ten months of active work on tax increment financing proposal. This tool was provided via the legislature last year and it is a key component of what we have proposed for the Grand Connection funding. Staff is here tonight to review the proposed structure in Bellevue and I wanna give significant thank you to our taxing jurisdictions who have agreed to participate in this. You'll hear more about this in the presentation tonight.

And I must take a moment to offer just great appreciation to our staff and consultant team that worked on this. And much thanks to Genesee Adkins and John Reesha and Katie Halsey for really incredible, as you heard, difficult detailed work, and strategy to, get to the point of bringing this to you tonight. So I wanna thank them, the office of the Grand Connection team for their support also in working through this. I will notice here that we have Genesee Adkins, our deputy city manager, John Riese John Riese, our chief financial officer, Nathan Torgleson from the office of Grand Connection, and Bob Stowe, who has served as our consultant through this process. So with that, I will hand this over to Genesee to kick off the presentation.

Great. Thank you, city manager Carlson. Mayor, deputy mayor, honorable council members, it's a pleasure to be with you tonight, with an update for you on tax increment financing and the Grand Connection Crossing. Alright. We'll just move right into it.

There we go.

Alright. So this evening, we're hoping that we will receive your direction to, consider having us come back to you, with an ordinance that would establish the tax increment finance area for action at one of your upcoming meetings. Our one there we go. Alright. Our agenda for this evening is a brief recap of the Grand Connection Crossing.

And then we're going to talk for a little while about tax increment financing to make sure that that tool is understood by everyone. And then we will also talk briefly about the adoption of TIF and our status with the taxing districts. And with that, I will hand it over to my colleague, mister Torgleson.

Hey. Good evening, mayor and deputy mayor and council members. I just wanna recognize that Bellevue City Council has been instrumental in creating the vision for this really exciting project, and I'm thrilled to be part of that. I'm going to walk us through the vision and the anticipated impacts of the Grand Connection. And I just want to thank you, Mayor, for providing public comment earlier today before the Metro King County Council about this project.

So thank you. So since 2012 the city has been advancing a vision for a 1.5 mile civic corridor stretching from Maidenbauer Bay on Lake Washington through downtown Bellevue. And then across Interstate 405 to East Rail and Wilburton. And the East Rail Trail spans from Snohomish and Woodinville all the way to Renton. And we know that the Port Of Seattle has made a significant investment in the East Rail Trail.

The Grand Connection creates a cohesive civic experience by linking spaces across the corridor and furthers Bellevue's long term livability, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability goals. The project helps to decrease the anticipated uptick in auto traffic in Bellevue, which is significant. While there are other crossings across Interstate 405 in Bellevue, this one will be much friendlier for walkers and for wheel crossers and one that will be not next to car traffic. In many cases, this project will allow people to cross I-four 05 faster than getting into your car and having to find a parking space. And the actual crossing will be a little less than a half mile long.

It'll be more like 2,000 feet long. The city began early design work in 2021 for this project with support from key stakeholder Amazon, which cumulated in the selection of a design firm, WSP, to perform 30% design, which was completed in 2023. The city further committed to this program with the creation of the Office of the Grand Connection last year and furthermore received state permission to pursue an alternative form of construction delivery for this crossing known as general contractor construction manager project delivery.

Torboson, I'm sorry. I'm gonna stop you for a second.

We're having a problem with the clicker. If you could indicate next when you want the slide, we'll run

it from here.

Absolutely. So this is a rendering from the 30% crossing design for the Grand Connection. This is a community shaping investment. It will support people choosing new ways of getting around. It will encourage them to step out of their home office or their daily routine and make it easier for visitors to weave Bellevue into their weekend plans.

It provides a healthy and sustainable travel option. The improved connection makes a new development possible in Wilburton and in Downtown Bellevue. And we project that that growth will translate into more than 2,500,000 in new property tax revenue every year. These resources will help pay for services, parks, safety and transportation that benefit all of us in Bellevue. Many people who live and work in Bellevue use transit or light rail.

And in many cases, using the Grand Connection Crossing will be faster than driving. In many cases driving across 405, it may take too long to drive and to find parking. Next slide. Interstate 405 has long been a major barrier between two areas, both poised for substantial growth. The crossing is the infrastructure that finally removes that barrier so that these districts can function as one connected community.

The 2025 Wilburton Up Zone, which was your land use code update as a council in 2025, allows heights up to four fifty feet, significantly increasing housing opportunities and transit oriented development opportunities. The crossing will directly connect Wilburton to two high capacity light rail stations and to the 42 mile East Rail Corridor, which spans from Woodinville to Renton, giving people access to the entire region by transit or by wheel. With a two line cross lake connection of light rail over Lake Washington and to Sea Tac Airport, this expanded network connects our region for more seamless work, play and travel opportunities. This is the kind of infrastructure that attracts major employers whose workforces value healthy, sustainable travel options over long car commutes. Now I'll pass the mic over to John Riesha, the city's Chief Financial Officer, who will continue with the presentation.

Thank you, Nathan. Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council Members. Next slide, please. And next slide. As we get into the specifics of tax increment financing, it's really important to start from remembering that the state legislature provided us with a unique opportunity.

The underlying tax increment financing statute provides for a base assessed value for a district of up to $200,000,000 They've provided us with a special section of code that allowed us to go up to $500,000,000 But in exchange for that, they did request that for any of the participating jurisdictions to participate, they must take a legislative action. That included King County with King County EMS, the King County Flood Control District, King County Library System, Port Of Seattle, and Sound Transit. We've had a wonderful few months working with these jurisdictions and have really come to a very positive conclusion. But this section of code was part of what the legislature provided Bellevue with as a unique tool. Next slide.

As we think about tax increment financing, the easiest way to think about this is when an increment area is formed, the assessed value is frozen. So that theoretic up to $500,000,000 stays frozen, and all of the existing taxing districts continue to collect taxes on that base assessed value. But all of the growth above that, with the exclusion of school districts and schools, all of that assessed increment value is accrued to the City of Bellevue's project, and we receive those tax revenues. And at the end of that increment area, or the payoff of the debt associated with the project, then those underlying districts receive all of that full economic value. So this is really a tool where we capture the taxes that are being paid by everyone, but we capture them locally instead of shipping them off to other jurisdictions.

Next slide. You'll notice in this drawing many of you have seen this is not a rectangle or an oval. It's not a simple looking drawing because we were very thoughtful and careful because we have competing policy interests. We wanted to respect and encourage the housing and the multifamily housing tax exemption supercharger that you brought forward with the last set of Wilburton work, and at the same time wanted to work very closely with the developers to get those properties that were ready for development. And so in that process, we literally talked to all of the developers and property owners and said, what is your likelihood of developing?

And what type of development are you anticipating? It was a very simplified approach to get at the market of what could be. We then used those data to create three scenario a full phased out we're going to do all the things that we heard a phase where we're going to do some of those along the way, or the limited build out or the most conservative of those where we think these are the ones that are likely to pop, if you will, and get into development within this twenty five year period. We did that analysis. Mr.

Stowe and his company did the work for us. We got that analysis to the state treasurer who has gone through a process of certifying that we have followed state law and met all of the statutes. And we have used that methodology that stands up to that test. So the but for analysis we believe that this project will actually spur this development to happen or happen earlier. And so all of that came forward, and we met all of those tests.

And we ended up with a district of 33 parcels, 64 and onetwo acres. It's an odd shape, but this is what it looks like. And it does not overlap with that anticipated housing. Next slide. As we looked at those scenarios, each one of them was estimated to generate different levels of property taxes.

We carried our philosophy of being very careful and cautious and being conservative about our general fund. And we chose to utilize the most conservative of those, the market responsive limited build out, which we anticipated to generate up to $84,400,000 of tax revenue across the total of the twenty five year period. There's less in the early years. There's much more in the out years as that property begins to accumulate its value. We wanted to be very careful.

And this is we said, let's not assume a high or aggressive or highly speculative approach, but we chose the most likely scenario for the development. Next slide. So as I was starting to explain, if you think about the property taxes and about the TIF, if we think about it in year one, imagine you are paying about $100 in property taxes. The TIF gets established. We're doing the work to construct it.

You do a remodel of your property, and now your property taxes are $300 Well, that underlying $100 continues to go where it used to go. But the additional $200 are now coming to Bellevue and to the project instead of going out to those other locations. So this simplified is way to think about how we capture that value. Next slide. So a few of our frequently asked questions is there's some really wonky parts of this legislation.

And I will share with you, we have gotten really technical about things. But if we boil it down, is it an additional tax on Bellevue property owners? The answer is no. Everyone pays the same rate. We just capture more of that. Does it divert tax revenues from schools? And the answer is no. It does not. Those are outside of the purview of apportionment, and they continue to go where they were always intended. What happens if the development happens sooner?

That means we pay off the debt sooner, and we actually close-up the TIF early because it can only be used to pay for project costs, and the economic value is returned or moved back to the underlying districts. So it's here for a single purpose to help us fund this project and the debt associated with it. Next slide. So what does that mean? Well, all of our districts have come together and have said yes to their participation.

And that totals, including Bellevue's own property taxes within the district, about $67,700,000 or almost $68,000,000 of revenue coming in to help fund project. Million This is a very welcome piece of the funding. It follows some of the policy guidance of trying to draw growth paying for growth and really tying that in. But this is how the participation pencils out. Next slide, TIF adoption timelines.

All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Risia. So we'll talk for a moment about the timeline and next steps ahead of us and just recently behind us. So this is the adoption timeline that we have been moving along for a little less than the last year.

We came before you last July on the heels of the legislative session where we got this very unique form of authority and sought your green light to move forward with trying to work with the taxing districts and to perform the project analysis. That really kicked off our process. One thing that we wanted to really look at pretty clear eyed was the, typical length of time that it takes to, implement, tax increment financing. This is only a law that we've had available to us in Washington for less than a handful of years. And in a standard TIF process or what I will sometimes call a unilateral TIF process, we know that that has often taken about eighteen to twenty four months to execute.

And so knowing that we had less than 12, it was going to end with the additional requirement of getting a legislative action from each of the other taxing districts who had never done something like that because it had never been a requirement previously. We knew it was a lot to bite off. We moved through that process into the fall really trying to draw that map very carefully and informed by what we knew from developers and property owners about which parcels were likely to develop as housing versus commercial and mixed use. It was in mid October that we gave the official notice after informal conversations districts to say, Okay, we now really believe we are moving forward to explore this with the Office of the State Treasurer and with all of you. We gave them that notice in mid October.

And then as we started to put together the project analysis, which is required by the underlying state TIFF statute, it's what we brought on Mr. Stowe and his associates for, we submitted that in its final form to the state treasurer in January. And we did hear back after their review period with a positive affirmation of our assumptions and our projections the March. And what is important here in that kind of hatched box in the bottom left is that all along the way we kept giving updates to the taxing districts and continued to say, we really are asking very humbly for your consideration to take an action to participate in this, which we know really requires a lot of consideration of some details and impacts on their long term finance plans. So we knew that by state law, our special authorization required them to act before we act.

And so we said, hey by the April that's really when we would like you to try to get that consideration before your governing body. Next slide. So this is the current status of our engagement with the taxing districts and I'll just walk through them very briefly. So first on this list is the King County Library System. We had a long conversation with King County Libraries.

They were very excellent to work with. They had every one of these taxing districts. I want to give thanks to the boards, commissioners, supervisors for each one of these because each one of these has their own obligations and responsibilities to think about their long term budget, their long term financial plan, and how this affects it. For the libraries, they have a levy lid lift that they want to do out in the future. They wanted to really understand how this might affect them.

So we went through a number of scenarios with their financial planners to really make sure that this would not have an unsustainable impact on their budgets. They voted last Wednesday to fully participate in the TIF. The Port Of Seattle, the commission considered this first earlier in April and then on April 28 voted to fully participate in our TIF. They see a lot of shared goals and principles here for sustainability, connectivity. As Mr.

Torglensen said earlier, the port played a really critical role in piecing together the East Rail Corridor. And so they take a lot of pride and ownership over us being able to maximize that, through the completion of the crossing. Sound Transit, took this up initially through their executive committee and on April 23 adopted its resolution to fully participate. This maximizes stationary access around our light rail stations and will help us in Wilburton really drive to reality a lot of the transit oriented development that Sound Transit wants to see to maximize its ridership. Additionally, TIF is on the long term financing plan for Sound Transit to explore to really help consider all the different ways that they might try to meet their goals for their system.

So they have an additional interest in this, seeing how this goes and having this go successfully. King County Flood District, board of supervisor, they took this up earlier in April and then last week on Tuesday, passed the resolution to participate fully with a cap, that is at, just above the maximum that we were expecting to receive from the King County Flood District. And then next slide. And then hot off the presses, we're very happy to report that earlier today, King County, on behalf of the King County General Government and King County emergency medical services did take their action unanimously to adopt their participation in the tax increment financing proposal as well. As you heard Mr.

Rischia explain on that table of the level of participation, there are some mitigating factors to provide an upper limit of the full participation or the total participation of King County. And there were some amendments at the full council today that we worked on with their staff. We feel very positive about their action today to participate. And then next slide. So we are coming to you for your questions, feedback, and direction to have us formulate an ordinance for you to consider acting upon at a future meeting. And we are happy to entertain any questions that you might have for us. Thank you.

Thank you so much. This is a real win for Bellevue. And as you, Genesee, underlined and you underlined, that would happen just today from the King County. So this is a real momentum. First, I want to thank the staff: Genesee, John, Nathan, Bob. Bob, we haven't heard your voice. Do you want to say something before I give you praise?

It's very great to be with you here tonight. Great. Thank

you very much. Thank you. And everyone who carried the details, finance, legal, technical work, partner coordination, you all made this happen. This simply would not have happened without you. You brought professionalism, technical debt and real discipline to a complicated process.

You took something that could have been confusing and made it understandable even for me, for partners, for decision makers and for the public. And I know a lot of that work happened early mornings, late nights, and in the in between hours when nobody is watching. So Bellevue is really, really lucky to have you. I also wanted to recognize the team that helped us navigate this over the last year. Our partners in Olympia, Brianna, I wanna thank her for helping to get us the senate bill five eight zero one.

I also wanna thank our regional partners and the taxing district who lean in and help get this across the finish line, King County Executive Zahala, the County Council, King County EMS, Sound Transit, the King County Library System, the Port Of Seattle, and the King County Food Control District. Councilmember former Councilmember Lee would say we are all in a row, and we are we need to all row in the same direction. And I think in this case, he was absolutely right. This only works when a lot of different entities decided to row in the same direction. So thank you, all of them.

I also want to thank the community champion who have pushed for this for years, friends of the Grand Connection who we have heard. We really need to thank them, especially Amazon for their support and partnership. And I also want to finally thank this body, our former mayor Robinson, my colleagues and former council members, thank you for your vision. And here why this is so important. The crossing is only half a mile or even less you mentioned, but it fixes a real problem.

It gives people a safe, all ages way to get between downtown, Israel, Wilburton and Light Rail. It connects where we work to where we are building the next neighborhood. And it helps make Wilburton work, including affordable housing that we are counting on. This is a huge milestone, and I'm very, very proud to sit at this chair and say all of this. So thank you. We go with deputy mayor at next.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you all for the presentation. Thank you all as well for all the hard work you've done and will do to make the Grand Connection Crossing a reality. I feel like you deserve to take the rest of the year off just for all of this work, but there's too much more to do. So you deserve it, but you can't have it.

Tax increment financing is challenging for folks to understand, but you have done a fantastic job of educating decision makers here and in overlapping partner taxing districts about TIF generally and how their involvement works. You have had a condensed timeline to make it all come together, but you have risen to the challenge and so far have a perfect record. Actually, I should correct that. You have a perfect record in making our case with the overlapping taxing districts. The support from other taxing districts is a recognition of the value that the Grand Connection, and specifically the Grand Connection Crossing, represents for the entire region.

It's a recognition that the Grand Connection Crossing is truly a win for Bellevue and a win for the region. More housing, more quickly, more transportation connectivity, more recreation, more jobs, and more economic activity that enables us to do so much more for our community. The Grand Connection Crossing is an investment that I think is a no brainer. It will have a tremendous payoff for our community for a long time to come. So I'm a 100% moving forward with this. Appreciate your efforts, and thank you, mayor.

Thank you, deputy mayor. Councilman Robinson.

Thank you, mayor. I I I appreciate all the thanks, and I I I echo all that. But I do wanna do a special thanks to King County executive Zalahi because he gave this a chance. You know, we came out, and this is all new. He's new at his job.

And this is a pretty big ask. And I think to for him to be very thoughtful about how we could make this successful and all the different taxing districts and the people representing them on the boards commissions, all the thoughtfulness that they gave this. And at the end, to have their support means so much. This is truly a regional project. And I feel like the winds that Bellevue will have with this will be spread throughout the entire ridge region, including Seattle, especially now that we have light rail.

It'll be easy to go from this beautiful connection crossing down to the Seattle Waterfront. So you'll be Seattle Waterfront and then Maidenbauer Bay. So I'm just really excited at the progress and success of this. I can't wait to get it going, and I think it's going to be true benefit for everybody. And I hope to pay it off early. You.

Thank you, councilwoman Robinson. Councilwoman Newnhams.

Thank you, mayor. And, yeah, I don't know if I can say it better than, my colleagues have said it already before, so I'll be brief. But don't take me being brief as, you know, lessing the the the amount of work that you have done and my appreciation for how quickly, and for me, that was a big piece of it, the speed that you had to to move in order to to to meet meet the deadline. And, Genesee, always appreciated the the the constant text and updates as we moved along here. And I was a little bit worried at first, but we just made it under the wire.

So it's a great accomplishment for all the reasons already listed by my colleagues and being able to really simplify a very complex topic and then work with all the different, I guess, taxing districts and elected staff, etcetera, etcetera, to bring all of this together is quite an accomplishment and this gives us the ability to further pursue a real iconic infrastructure for the city of Bellevue moving forward. So thank you all.

Thank you, council member. Council member Bjorg.

Yes. This

is one of those rare moments, where you have given me the opportunity to support something where both conservative and left wing members or community are supporting. So thank you for making me popular with everyone, one. You know, I think local politics and the diligent work that you're doing is really one of the only avenues to bring community members together. And so I thank you is just not enough. You've given us nearly $68,000,000 without introduce introducing new taxes.

I would be remiss to not support such a great tool. And deputy manager Atkins, you and your team, according to the digging that I did, managed to move districts who were absolutely repulsed by the idea of contributing to a TIFF. From no, we will not do this to, oh, yes, you're right. Let's do it. And that is a skill set that I desperately want to learn. So a thank you again is not enough.

Thank you so much. Council member Sumadhavirya. I

like my colleagues. I think my heart is full of gratitude. From the first moment, I was part of the the Friends of Connection Committee before I was on the council. I was I think it was like a little kid looking at a project, thinking it's gonna change the world, and you made this happen. And I think to to this and also with, I think, adding distress to our taxpayers, that is magical.

Right? So we are making we're not only creating a work path from this side to the other side of 4405. It's more like you're creating opportunity for people who may not able to afford a car, able to walk to Bellevue downtown. And they come to City Hall where they can see the magic, where you rally the whole community, not building a pride for Bellevue, but this is gonna be a amazing global project for the whole region because your hard work. So I'm just full of gratitude and excitement. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Council Mubaragawa.

Yeah. So benefit of going last, lots has been said in appreciation. So I'm just going to say ditto. That's really remarkable. You took And I mean, I have to congratulate you on this process of creating shared ownership for an asset that's going to benefit not just Bellevue, but many, many of our taxing districts who have shown that they believe in your conviction.

And I want to congratulate you on actually taking this process through in such urgency with such expediency. It's really quite a remarkable job getting this done. So congratulations to all of you. Congratulations also to my peers on the council who have helped work this through the process and get the alignment across many of our regional partners to get this done. This is going to be a huge win.

So a lot of that has been said, and I truly believe this is going to be a resigning success for Belvieu. That said, I just have a few two simple things I want to clarify to better understand, if you may. One is, I know you've taken a really conservative approach, really appreciate that thoughtfulness, three scenarios developed. Is there any downside scenario for TIF revenue that if development for any reason was to happen slower than expected, how would we meet our debt service obligations?

Thank you, Councilmember. We've actually been thinking about the question of contingency. And in fact, as part of our submission to the state, we actually talk about the contingency approach of what happens if things don't manifest the way they are. The first thing I'll tell you, we have capacity within our general fund should we need to supplement in different places. Tonight is not a funding decision for the whole of this construction project.

That'll be work that will come with the budget, where you'll see much greater detail on the stack and the variables that we've got within that. We're thinking very closely about the redundancy. And if the worst comes to worst comes to worse, we actually have taxing capacity that we could come back to you and discuss if we needed to. But we've worked through a variety of scenarios. We also are really looking at how much debt are we issuing and what are going to be the conditions of it. So we're being very careful. You get to see all those pieces.

So I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer by any means, but I'm just sitting here. It's always hard to imagine that the optimistic view of development that has happened over the last fifteen years is going to be a forever cycle. So just I'm very glad that we're thinking about those contingencies in our general fund. I'm really glad that we will keep that as sort of ace up our sleeve in some ways because hopefully we will never need it as council member Robinson said, hopefully we will be faster than our expectations. But financial conservatism is really, really important, especially when we're taking monies away from other sources other places.

So one more question really quickly. And this is probably not going to happen at all. But is it possible that one or more of our participating districts change their mind midstream? If that happens, then what happens?

I'll answer, and Bob can keep me honest on this one. This is a unique piece of legislation from the state. It gives them an opportunity to decide whether they were going to fully or partially participate. Each of those jurisdictions took

action

to participate, and in one case, partially participate. That is spelled out in their legislation, all of which their certified copies will go in as part of our submission when this all comes together. They actually, under this legislation, don't have an opportunity to opt out.

Okay. Great to know. Appreciate it. That's all the questions I had. And again, congratulations. This is really great.

Great. Thank you so much. Is there any other remark? Can I please get the motion?

I move to direct staff to prepare the TIF ordinance establishing the tax increment finance area for final action at a future meeting.

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor Hamilton and seconded by council member Robinson. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? There is no opposed. The motion passes. Congratulations again, and thank you, and we appreciate you. On that note, it's 749. We assume 750.

805, please be back. Great. We are coming back. We have the second study session, DTL two point zero.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council Member. DTL, Downtown Livability two point zero. Staff is here this evening to initiate the downtown livability two point o land use code amendment process. This is an update to reinforce, improve the code to ensure its continued success, To review the scope and the timeline and the engagement that's planned for this work, we have from our development services department, Nick Whipple, our code and policy director, and Matthew Menard, our senior planner. And, they will be looking for your, consideration to initiate the work. So with that, I'll turn it over to Nick.

Great. Thank you, and good evening, mayor Malikutian, deputy mayor Hamilton, members of the council. I'm excited to be here tonight to talk about downtown Livability two point 0. One point o happened in 2017, so this is now the two point o. That DTL acronym was born in 2017.

We're just gonna roll with it if that's alright. So our agenda this evening, we'll provide a little background and context again on where we've come since 2017, and then really focus on what's the intent of this update for for d t two point o and the scope that we've included thus far. We'll also talk about our outreach approach and then the schedule that we're planning. So for our direction, we are asking, for you all to consider initiating this work and directing the planning commission to review and process the land use code amendment or LUCA. We'll we'll first start with the downtown livability one point o.

That was the 2017 policy and code changes. So this was an update to the comprehensive plan and then a a really meaningful update to the downtown code and the land use code. So this was one of the kind of overhauls that happened. You heard in public comment, let's not wait till, you know, another thirty years before the next overhaul. This 2017 update really did represent kind of a pretty significant overhaul of our downtown code.

We included building heights now in our core of up to 600 feet, and we've seen two projects now that have completed construction that are meeting that height. And then the downtown livability was really looking at how can we make downtown a viable, livable, and memorable, and accessible place. And we were also acknowledging a lot of our residents were moving to downtown, and we were starting to see this become more of a true neighborhood, not just an area where office work happens. So with that, the need in 2017 was to focus on how do we support this vibrant neighborhood. So a real focus on open space, overhauling our amenity incentive program, focusing on the opening of light rail, which just recently happened, so doing some stationary planning, and then really being thoughtful on how we wanted to see building design happen in the downtown.

So Matthew will walk us through kind of some of the context since 2017, and then the scope.

Thanks Nick. Nick covered a lot of this slide already, so I won't belabor the point. But 2017 major code changes for downtown have really enabled what you see downtown as today. As Nick mentioned, major height increases, building scale increases, which is why you see the acceleration in how much high rise development we have in downtown right now. It has really solidified downtown as sort of the major regional employment center of the East Side, the primary regional employment center of the East Side, and very much increased the amount of housing and people living in downtown as well.

As everyone is very well aware, the light rail just opened, so this got ahead of that by several years, and we were now moving forward with the new light rail being open to try to leverage some of those changes and make sure we continue to improve the code so we can leverage these large scale regional infrastructure investments. Significant amounts of Grand Connection planning has happened. You've heard a lot about Grand Connection already this evening. We wanna make sure that we support that planning and support the completion of the Grand Connection through this process, and a lot of that has gone on since 2017. And there has been a significant increase since 2017 in the amount of public plazas, and the quality, and how nice those plazas are to spend time in.

So since 2017, there's about 3,500 new residents in downtown. Downtown does make up about 10 and a half percent of Bellevue's total population. With that, there are about 2,200 new homes that have been constructed, 6,000,000 square feet of new office, and 12 and a half million square feet of new commercial space. So huge growth in our downtown core in the last almost ten years. We've also seen 6,000 new jobs in downtown and about a 100 new businesses.

I'll talk a little bit on the next slide about why that number is quite a bit lower than you may expect. And we have seen about 50,000 more visitors annually to the city. Most of those will be downtown with a lot of new hotel construction that we've seen since 2017. We didn't speak pretty extensively with our economic development department about the economic development context in downtown. So since 2017, we've seen a huge growth in ground floor retail space.

Much of that space is too large for small business, and there has been difficulty leasing those spaces. We have heard from public comment that there are concerns from the developed community that we are requiring too much ground floor retail space. So that is certainly something we will look at through the code amendments as well. Bellevue downtown continues to be a very desirable location for office and pulls very high rents for both office and retail. We have seen a trend of small business loss since COVID in 2020.

Some of that can be attributed to those high rents, which small businesses cannot maintain that level of high rent and that can outcompete larger corporations and nationwide corporations. And there is still an opportunity with all of our new public plazas to program those to make downtown more vibrant and enticing. Our planning context, so we are looking for just under 15,000 new housing units and 37,000 new jobs by 2044. So that's our comprehensive planning framework. As Nick mentioned, the current comprehensive plan speaks very heavily towards vibrancy downtown.

We are still missing some of that vibrancy downtown, especially after 5PM. As I mentioned, downtown is very much an employment center, but residential has grown, but we still are seeing that sort of vibrancy population drop off after 5PM when the office workers go home. And again, evening and weekend activity inconsistent, very much event driven at this point. So Downtown Louisville 2 will be looking at how we can increase that vibrancy both after 5PM and on the weekends. The public realm and especially connectivity is still evolving downtown, but has improved over the last ten years.

There are still some notable gaps in things like sidewalks and bicycle lanes, as well as the overall completion of the Grant connection. So Downtown Livability two point o won't directly fill those gaps, but it will make sure that as we move forward with the land use code, that the land use code works closely with other departments such as transportation to make sure that those are fully implemented by the time downtown is fully built out. And as we've all heard, rapid development has changed the character of Old Bellevue, especially on Main Street. So we do want to make sure that that identity is maintained. This council did adopt an intern ordinance of control in February to reinforce that character.

We will be looking at several options to try to maintain that character, especially around sort of the small business sizing of those ground floor retail spaces on Main Street. As you've heard from comments tonight, I think the preferred method from the development community at least would be an incentive based program for that. So the Luca intent is to reinforce current policy guidance. So we're not planning any comprehensive plan or downtown plan specific changes with this Luca. So if there are policy guidance changes that are needed, that is considered outside of the scope of this land use code amendment.

We are looking at quite a quick turnaround with this, trying to complete it in about a year. So having to do comprehensive plan amendments would extend that timeline pretty substantially. A lot of what we've heard already in the scope of this project has been informed by what we heard through the HOMA Luca. Much of the HOMA comments towards the end were around downtown and the proposed changes to the downtown code. So we have taken those into account as we have set out this scope.

We also heard input from you all through the HOMA, Luca, and have worked closely with internal stakeholders, especially our development review teams to put this scope together. We do want to continue to prioritize that open space and neighborhood vitality. And there, we are looking at modest changes and refinements to building form and scale. From public comment that you've seen, we've heard some concerns around build to lines, floor plates, weather protections, and other small building items such as that. So the proposed scope is to enhance evening vitality after 5PM, revise code provisions that are adversely impacting housing.

We do have quite an aggressive housing goal for this area, we wanna make sure we meet those targets. So if there aren't code provisions or code rubs that are negatively impacting housing production, we wanna identify those and see what we can do to address those without massively impacting the form or scale of those buildings downtown. As I mentioned, we are looking to preserve the historic development patterns on Main Street and Old Bellevue. We're always looking to support the implementation of the Grand Connection. We will be looking at refining building design and active use requirements as well as other code rubs.

So you heard from the BDA comments earlier that we are they would like us to look at streamlining and simplifying the code. So we do want to do that. We've been working with our internal review teams to look at areas where enforcement of the code or review of the code or the public's understanding of the code has been difficult in the last nine years, and how we can make that either clearer or streamline those provisions to make it easier to both administer and understand as the public. Another area of concern that we have heard from the public is the number of departures that we're requiring and also granting. So we'll be looking at those and seeing how we can limit the departure.

Essentially, a departure is a sec another process step that you need to get permitting. We did clean up one that was mentioned in one of the public comments around compact parking through the HOMA process. So looking to continue that and see what other departures we can look at removing and just setting standards in the code for. We do want to strengthen the effectiveness of the amenity incentive program, and we'll be speaking closely with our development community on how we can do that, as well as looking at incentives for things like affordable commercial space as we have heard concerns over that small business loss in downtown. And we always want to ensure a welcoming pedestrian environment, so making sure that our building standards, with things like weather protection and sidewalk requirements are welcoming for, those people that are going to be downtown year round.

We have planned engagement that, we would hope to kick off in June. If we have your blessing this evening, that would kick off with an in person and virtual kickoff event to essentially spread information about the LUCA and let people know how they can get further involved with the LUCA. We will continue to have meetings with community and developer stakeholder groups. We have already had a few meetings with developer stakeholder groups, especially around the Old Main IOC, as well as previously through the HOMA LUCA. We plan on attending city events, taking advantage of some of the warm weather we have over the summer and some of the sunshine, and tabling throughout downtown, especially in those areas that are going to have high foot traffic.

So for example, right out in front of City Hall here at the new Light rail station, we can table there and get inputs from people passing by or in the park, for example. We will always take meetings with any individual or group as they request them. We generally do not turn those down. So anyone that wants to speak with us can always reach out to us, and we will hold meetings with any group that asks us to. I expect there to be a few homeowners associations around downtown that would very much like to speak with us, as well as some of the other groups in downtown, such as the Old Bellevue Merchants Associations.

We will have our standard Luca Council and Planning Commission process, which gives the public another opportunity for input. And we always have a digital outreach process, which includes a website, email, reach out, and social media blasts. The schedule for this project, we are launching today, so in May. And we have done some preliminary outreach, as I mentioned, both through HOMA and some concerns and discussions with the development community over the old main IOC. Once we complete this initiation, we will head into phase two, which is our outreach phase that is planned to last throughout the summer before we move into the PC review, planning commission review in the fall.

So a pretty extensive outreach process, but this is a relatively quick turnaround for Oluca. We are hoping to wrap this up with you all in 2027. And with that, happy to answer any questions that the council may have.

Thank you so much both for being here and your presentation. Presentation. We will start with you, Councilman Barkaba.

Okay. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you both for a really good presentation. Downtown Livability two point zero, really important DTL two point zero, really important work, and it's going to have a massive impact on our community. It's the heart of our city. Broadly, really encouraged by the framework that you've laid out.

One of the things that I would there's a couple of questions that I have actually looking through the materials that I had. One is, there is obviously many issues that you've listed here that you're going to try and cover in this. If you were to think about whether it's housing constraints, whether it's activation of our spaces, design standards, code clarity, these are all complex topics. I'm curious as we go from one point zero to two point zero as we're doing this work as a refinement exercise, what would be the one or two things that you think are preventing us from achieving our vision in downtown today that really need to be addressed?

I don't think there's anything necessarily preventing us. I think, you know, we're moving towards that vision, right? It's a long it's a long term process, and we've certainly moved towards that vision. I think what we've heard, things that may be slowing us down potentially are some of those code provisions that are confusing or hampering to development or overly restrictive. So we've heard about floor plate sizing, especially for residential, that may be overly restrictive to residential development, which is gonna hamper that residential development.

Some sort of very technical aspects of the code, such as build two lines, where we're very strict on the build two lines, and there's no flexibility in that space. Whereas in, for example, the Wilburton code, we have some flexibility on where you can place your building at the back of sidewalk. So those are probably, from the development side, going to be the most impactful on fully having a full build out of downtown. On the vitality side, I think it's it's more complicated, and it's probably more complicated than just the land use code. But, you know, what we're hearing is that we should be looking at reevaluating some of those standards to make sure that those standards work for the the current retail environment and the amount of retail we actually need on the ground in Downtown Bellevue.

We don't want empty spaces. That's a that's a hamper to Vitality. And then, you know, the secondary hamper to vitality, if you don't have people living in downtown, you're not gonna have people being in downtown after 5PM. People will go home. So making sure that we can encourage residential and affordable housing as as much as possible as we've been doing with all of our past Lucas will really help that vitality. And then finally, just making sure that nothing in the land use code is hampering the completion of the Grand Connection, is sort of that centerpiece of downtown. I think that's going pretty well. But coordinating with internal agencies to make sure there's nothing that we can tweak a little bit to make sure it comes to completion as quickly as possible.

Okay. Great. I do think the first point you mentioned code clarity and the second one which is broadly around flexibility in process, things like that we've heard from non stakeholders also in terms of administrative departures and allowing for those kinds of flexibility that would grease the wheels for development, I think are really important parameters to keep in mind. In addition to sort of the retention of our character and some of the unique spaces that we're trying to preserve in downtown. I think those would be three things I would call out as you think about the evolution and how you develop the framework.

And the only other question that I would have today is, I think it'd be really important for us to lay out early as we can, not sort of in hindsight, but what are going to be the measurable outcomes that we would like to hang our hat on for DTL two point zero? Is it going to be increased housing production? Is it going to be activation, design quality, permitting efficiency? Like laying out those things in terms of what we expect to achieve so that we can then anchor the evolution that you're doing, whether it's in core clarity or increased flexibility and measure them against those objectives, think would be really important and make it more measurable as we go through this process would be my suggestions. I would love to see that.

And then if you already have thoughts around that, I would happy to hear.

Yes, that's helpful feedback and we can certainly think about that. We certainly defined the outcomes that we were driving towards. But yes, I agree having some way to measure how we're achieving those outcomes is really critical. So we'll give that some additional thought.

Okay, awesome. Look forward to this. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilor Berger. Councilor Berger.

Thank you for the work that you've conducted. Know it's interesting, you touched upon something really coincidental. I I had a follower on Instagram message me yesterday from Sweden who was like look at this viral reel about Bellevue. Why don't you have nightlife? Why don't you have culture?

Why don't you have this? And I didn't respond because I won't tolerate Bellevue slander, obviously. But you know there's a discernible gap that is recognized internationally which I don't even like and I appreciate that we're working on activation programs and policy oriented solutions instead of sort of reactive event based attempts at making this culture. I think it's something that's built up from the bottom up and you know not top down. But I want to know specifically under scope and intent you had mentioned pedestrian oriented, I think, safe infrastructure, something along these lines.

But how do we anticipate doing this? And I ask because and perhaps what I'll say is maybe a little bit controversial, so I want be explicitly clear. I'm speaking strictly on behalf of myself. But several cities around the world have city squares where they're pedestrian oriented, no cars, they have cafes, people have breakfast, people come to gossip, there's a fountain in the middle, someone's playing the saxophone, someone's playing chess, someone's arguing. You know, how do we enable these kinds of environments?

I think we need to be more bold and aggressive with our pedestrian infrastructure. You know, even if memory serves me correctly, it was it was the Bellevue Chamber of biz the the Bellevue Chamber released a poll not too long ago that said that more than 70% of our residents, some who get engaged in council elections, some who do not, are wanting walkability. They're wanting pedestrian oriented spaces. So I I would just urge us to be a little bit more ambitious here. And the question was how do we enable that space? Sorry. I know I rambled on for quite a bit.

Yeah. Some of that would not be through the land use code. I'll be quite frank. Something like having a a closed street or a, you know, public square in in the right of way or through an easement is probably not a land use code issue. It's more of a transportation issue. I think the land use code has been very effective at promoting open plazas. Not necessarily open in the way you're talking about, which is sort of as a street open or as a public plaza. Obviously, Downtown Park has been a very successful open space. And again, a slightly different way where it's not that sort of paved square with people playing chess. Where the land use code is gonna become effective on transportation is what we're requiring for sidewalk and sort of sidewalk amenities.

And if you walk around downtown where you see the new construction, our sidewalks are are relatively wide. They're generally well maintained and, have those amenities. It's something we can obviously take a closer look at and make sure we have that dimensions right and the amenities right. It's also something that's quite hard to change after the fact. You want that consistent infrastructure. So if

we were

to say, oh, we need wider sidewalks now, you sort of end with this I don't know how to explain it. Sort this s shaped sidewalk, basically, where it gets wider and skinnier where development has happened. There are certainly places in downtown where development hasn't happened. I think Main Street, as you sort of head up the hill there, is a great example, where the sidewalk is very narrow and is certainly not walkable. So making sure that when we do get development, that we get that infrastructure that's that's proper, that's walkable and bikeable.

You can see some of that bike infrastructure happening as development happens up on the other minute, on this end Of Main Street. Where development's happening, they're building a bike lane, a separated bike lane up the hill. Right now, it's half a block long. So making sure that we have code in place that says, you know, this is very important to us. So when you do do development, you need to put this in or provide some funding to this. Nick, don't know if you have anything you want to add to that around plazas, public plazas.

Yep. The public plazas piece, I mean, as Matthew noted, a lot of that comes down to programming and how we can encourage folks to really activate it. And some of that relates also to permitting, and so there is sort of a separate effort that's looking at ways to activate our public spaces. So that effort is kind of running separate, but is also going to be these projects will be talking to each other as well. And then to speak to some of the pedestrian realm piece with the frontage improvements, some of the less exciting things to talk about relate to even our trees that we require.

We have certain trees that are in the code that just don't do well in our downtown, and we have experience with that. And so we're just now updating our tree palette and figuring out what are the right kind of landscaping makeups that we wanna have in our downtown. So and then also, as Matthew noted, we'll be taking a closer look at where we're requiring active uses and if we have to be so prescriptive in getting retail in some of these locations because what it's it's creating is some issues where tenants are not or they're not able to tenant these spaces, and that's creating these dead zones. So trying to figure out how we can offer some of the flexibility but still kind of promote a safe, friendly, walkable environment, but maybe figure out where the flexibility can really help in achieving that outcome.

Okay. So it seems I was wrong and misconstrued some items. So I appreciate you clarifying that. And I'm really excited to hear about the different things that are happening on your end. In terms of the commercial space that's not affordable, so I know that there's a lot of commercial space like for example near Plaza Center that are big and not getting sold. What is and forgive me if this is already stated, what is the potential solution to this? Is it breaking it down into smaller pieces, incentives to enable affordability? What do we think that will look like?

I think incentives for both of those things. So incentives for smaller spaces and then incentives for affordable commercial space like we have done with Wilburton. Houma did did one as well. So looking at that and adding that to the amenity incentive system, I think, will be will be some options. We'll also reach out to our our business community, our development community, and see if they have any other options for us as well. Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, council member Brewer. Council member Robinson.

Okay. Thank you, mayor. So I have about 10 little points. They might be redundant, but just to think about, and none of this is very new. Love to incentivize unique independent businesses in Old Main, and actually throughout downtown.

And looking at affordable retail incentives, maybe smaller storefronts is something to look into. This is kind of, you know, it it can be peppered throughout all of downtown, but especially in Old Main. Make sure that Old Main is not lumped into the downtown core when when we do land use changes that we think about it separately. Five, make incentives on Old Main, commensurate with the wedding cake theme. So I feel kind of bad that we gave incentive of two stories in Old Main when it's on the edge of the wedding cake.

I'm feeling like that was mistake actually. If you can, in the tallest part of downtown, get a two story incentive. It should be smaller on the edges, but I think that's already sailed. Somebody well, Matt Jack recommended putting in periodic updates to the codes, which I love that idea. We probably are gonna do that anyway.

Here's this is I think I've already said that, but examine retail space requirements and look at small retail incentives. Do retain the wedding cake for edges to honor the adjacent single family neighborhoods. We still have Surrey Downs. We have Northtown. We have Viewcrest.

I think those are the only ones that are right adjacent to across the street from downtown, and that's why the wedding cake configuration went in. So I support that. And I'm looking forward to seeing the interactions and hearing from our neighbors in downtown and Old Main, from the property owners, from the business owners, from the people who live there, the people who work there. It'll be great to engage and have a real conversation. And the wine walks on May 14, that might be a great place to start. Okay. I think that's it. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Robinson. Council Member Smadavaria.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Like, you know, I always I think downtown is something very special to me. When I moved here, we used to have JCPenney. That's how old I am. And we back then, it was literally only we only had the Bellevue downtown Bellevue Square. It's not even Bellevue collection. Right? And then Downtown park and and Old Main. So I think with council member Robinson, like, I would like, plus one on, like, how to nurture especially Old Main because it's such a special place. Couple of things I want to ask is, one thing is about I see there's focus about how to limit a number of departure. So just to clarify that, is that like focus on business?

Oh, sure. So the departure process is in the land use code, it's basically a path to deviate from a of a strict standard in the code. An example is if we require weather protection to be 10 feet above the sidewalk, and someone's design says, I need to be 12 feet to accommodate whatever, we put them through a departure process. And so we have been working with our land use staff, and we've heard a lot from the development community. There are several departures that we initially thought that should be reserved or held back.

They have to go through a process to get that thing. And we found that we've routinely granted these departures. And so maybe it's time to adjust the rule a bit so that there's less paperwork for something that we are just granting on a routine basis. And that's typically available at the entitlement phase, so not necessarily when a tenant is kind of trying to occupy the space, though that has come up for, like, restaurants, for example, that need to move their mechanical venting up higher than our code or lower rather than what our code would require.

And I I really appreciate that flexibility just because I think, you know, for business, our developers and different stakeholders have different needs. Right? So having that flexibility. And then also the, you know, the focus about losing businesses, I would say, I think to what I'm understanding the best way of not losing business is really welcoming them when they come here. So it doesn't I think that should apply to small business like, I mean, a coffee shop or cafe or versus a big company like Amazon.

Right? So, like, when they come in here, I think welcoming to creating a process for them to able to establish their community engagement faster versus worrying about other things like coding and building, I think, will be really helpful for us to for them to be engaged. So that's my, I think, suggestion. And then another thing is I'm asking I'm wondering so I love actually remember, I talk about the coffee shop. So in Europe, there's a coffee shop called Good News Coffee.

What they do is they give out free coffee when you tell gossip. And so and I would say, like, you know, things like that will be super exciting in the city of Bellevue. But if small business like that able to come here, we have to welcome them with more activation and things like for affordability. So in that that's like that's I think that is let me see what else. I think everything else is very exciting.

I love that when we folks about, you know, vacancy and affordability. And One thing that I would ask just from the small business side, how what are you doing what are you thinking about planning to do to make it very accessible to the small business community, help them to have the space to able to engage with you authentically and also like, you know, honestly, what do they need for help and how can they thrive?

Mhmm. Yeah. I think we'll work very closely with our economic development department who has those connections, especially in downtown and has those lists so we can reach out to those groups directly and hopefully engage them in in some sort of group settings so that we can hear from them and what they need. And especially what we wanna hear as we work through land use code amendments is where they've had challenges in the land use code, maybe putting their business into a space. Or as Nick mentioned earlier, we we've heard some comments already about our requirements for venting being higher than the building code, and that's causing problems for businesses. So little things like that that we can tweak to make it easier, and we really wanna hear that from that community. So we'll certainly do that work with our economic development department to make sure that those voices are heard.

Is there any way for us to make a multi channel kind of communication? So not only they come to the in person and then virtual, but also they have surveys Or we even have people, we can visit them on-site. Because I think it's really hard for a small business owner to be off-site to go attend a meeting, even if it's virtual, right? So just Yeah.

I appreciate that. We can certainly add different modes of engaging with folks. Also wanna note, we do have a small business support kind of office in our department that's been Steph Collier is kind of leading that effort, and she's been really engaging with our stakeholders, our small businesses to understand, you know, what are some of the challenges that they're facing. So that's also feeding into this process and into the scope as well. So we'll continue to use Steph as kind of a helpful outreach tool, as well as surveys or other kind of modes to kind of engage with those small businesses.

Yeah. She's really pleasant. She actually met a lot of businesses. So thank you for that. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Councilmember Newhouse.

Thank you, Mayor. What makes downtown special?

You want to take a crack at that, you want me to take a crack at that?

Oh, I mean, I think it's kind of in the eye of the beholder in a lot of ways. I mean, I work in downtown. I've been at the city for fourteen years, so I have a lot of fondness for the downtown. I think a lot of the open space that's been generated over the years, the plazas that the city's been able to develop, and then I'm a cyclist, so now the new bike lanes to get me to City Hall more easily. But, yeah, there's a lot of, you know, the businesses, the people, daytime activity, I think, is what's really attractive about the downtown from my perspective. Love the good restaurants around. Excited about the wine walk I learned about this evening. Yeah. I would ask you that question

as well. It's a good question, and I and I I think you you touched on it. It's it's the people, and it's the people who purposely decide that I wanna have my business in Bellevue. I wanna put roots down in Bellevue. That those are the true stakeholders.

Those are the ones that actually have skin in the game, which leads to my bigger question about engagement just to ensure that because I think downtown is one of the the the neighborhoods where it's it's it's difficult to at least my understanding has been difficult to, to actually engage at times because majority who are living there are multifamily. You can't actually maybe get up to the 10th Floor to knock on their door right and ask them their opinion on DTL two point zero. So that makes it challenging. When you're talking to somebody who's just getting off light rail, you don't know where they're coming from, right? Or those that even come to a wine might be.

Now, could they add some interesting context or ideas to the conversation? Sure. But I would stress that it's really important, more than ever with this, that we actually talk to those that live in Bellevue, that have a stake in Bellevue, to really, understand why they think Bellevue is special, or sorry, the downtown, area specifically is special, and how we maintain that. I think that's, a really important conversation to this as well. You know, is is it maintaining the the wedding cake framework that council member Robinson mentioned?

In a lot of ways, it is. When we start talking about how different parts of downtown, their character could change, or their their shadows from taller buildings, it could change the the makeup of the neighborhood or even housing development. There's a lot of things that go into that. This is really big, and I know you know this, work ahead to ensure that even though we continue to grow, that we continue to develop and attract more people and more jobs, etcetera, that we hang on to those key tenants that have made Bellevue Bellevue special. And it's more you know, it's going wrong.

All the things you listed off, and I totally agree in terms of the restaurants and the open spaces, etcetera. But it's it's it's the people that have take a lot of pride in their city wanna be there, want to to to engage and to ensure that Bellevue remains that, you know, that shining city on a hill that it is, and we wanna we wanna keep it that way. So we'd love to, as as you go in this process go through this process, keep a close eye on especially the small businesses that council member mentioned about those small businesses or restaurants, etcetera, that might not be able to. We have to go to them to get their input. I truly believe that.

On the other hand, looking at the letter from the chamber and the plush committee, my first take on it is that we're kind of far apart right now. When I went through all the, what, four pages of concerns or recommendations that they have. And I understand, you know, we're just initiating the work. But have you spoken to the plush committee already? And if so, how did those conversations go? And how has those conversations impacted the work thus far?

Yeah. So, we did solicit a lot of feedback through the HOMA process, the housing opportunities that makes you serious, because it did touch downtown. And at that time, were a number of suggestions that that group had that were really provided through a lot of the downtown developers. And we had put some pretty clear scope boundaries in place for HOMA. And so what we had committed to was we will take a look at those and potentially look at ways to address those through the downtown livability two point o process.

So much of that list is actually what they have discussed with us in the past. There are some items on there that we'll wanna have some follow-up with them on. I did see an additional item that wasn't kinda previously disclosed that may potentially require a comprehensive plan amendment. So we do want to just understand specifically what that ask is. This morning was the first time I saw that specific ask.

It relates to pedestrian bridges in our downtown. So I do want to have some follow-up just to understand if I'm understanding to ask correctly because there might be more process and a pretty big kind of policy change that that's asking for that we didn't contemplate previously. So Right. I'll get clarity on that. But otherwise, I don't know if your assessment of the letter was that we were that far apart. I actually felt like a lot of that is what we had discussed. Same with the BDA. They had engaged with us as well.

Okay. That's good to hear. The one thing I wanted to pull away from that I couldn't agree with more is just that we don't simply just want to align the downtown code with mixed mixed use zones like Wilburton or like Bell Red. I'm not saying that's what you want to do or that's but I think that would not be the right approach. We need to approach it as downtown being its own neighborhood, its own special place, and again, ensuring that it stays that way for everybody who calls downtown home or Bellevue home or everyone who enjoys coming there for work or play or you name it.

So anyway, so those are my comments. I obviously want to push forward on this and I want to initiate this work and look forward to getting updates as we move along. But we'll also push a lot on that engagement piece and how that's coming along getting the right voices in in the room, either real or or virtual, however you're going to do it. But also just wanna stress that piece that we are doing that right outreach, and we're we're actively going out and seeking their opinion. So thank you so much.

Thank you, council member Newhouse. Deputy mayor Hamilton. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you for the great presentation. I appreciate it. Looking around downtown and seeing all the positive changes that have occurred since the completion of the downtown livability code change process in 2017 makes me all the more excited for the update of DTL two point zero. I'm excited to see what can be done in this process by building on such a original plan. I think the planning context that was on Slide eight provides a lot of important guidance.

So I would just encourage a lot of attention to that. I think the project scope looks good. I appreciate the extra attention that will be given to identifying tools for incentivizing more affordable housing. I'm glad to know that your engagement plan in this process anticipates a lot of community and stakeholder interest. Even with the high level of interest, it is good to see that you will also be very proactive with your engagement efforts. This was mentioned, and I know we're going to it's going to come back to us for another touch and an update. But I'm just curious when I didn't see it in here when we might expect you to come back to us with an update on your work?

Yes. So right now, our approach was to do some preliminary outreach over the summer and then head to the planning commission with that first draft and to have their review begin. And then it would be after they hold a public hearing and are ready to make a recommendation that will be back to counsel. This project we were not at least initially planning to do a midpoint check-in. Oftentimes we'll use that if things are starting to get a little hairy and we'd like to keep you all close and get any sort of refinement on scope or guidance. So we can always play that by ear as well if that works.

Well, I would just like to encourage us to have some kind of midpoint check-in. I'm not sure that it needs to be a study session. It could be a memo. Any it could be series of briefings, however you might like to do it. But I do think it's important that we are able to touch base with you at some point in the process. Again, all very exciting, ready to move forward with DTL two point zero. Thank you, Mayor. Of course,

just echo everything that we have heard, great timing. I think 2017 was a different time to now. I appreciate that we are not redoing everything. We are just make everything works better, fixing the stuff, housing constraint, ground floor activation or parts of the code that are complex. And I'm sure you guys are very, very experienced after Wilburton, HOMA, and now this and the Planning Commission, such a great commission, and now under the leadership and liaison of Councilman Bergamo.

I am very excited about this and wish you all the luck in your engagement. Thank you so much. I know we really wanted to finish this, but I think we are going to get a quick break. It's 08:50. Let's just be back by nine. Thank you.

We're not giving directions?

Oh, yes. We need to do good direction. Yes. Yes. Just sit down. Thank you so much. Can I have a motion before we go?

I move to direct staff to initiate work on the downtown livability 2 Luca and direct the planning commission to review and process the Luca.

Is there a second? Great. It has been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member Robinson. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. The motion passes. Now good luck. Great. Let's just have a ten minutes break. Be back by nine, and then we continue. Great. We are all back, thirty second even early, and we have our last study session, twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven federal agenda. City manager, please give us the introduction.

Thank you, mayor, deputy mayor, and council. I will keep this short since it's the last item. What you have before you today is a, consideration for an updated federal agenda. And this agenda as you know serves as the document which includes our highest priority items for federal conversation and it's a guide for our legislative engagement. So with that, Katie Kassemblehalsi, our assistant director for intergovernmental affairs and Genesee Adkins, our deputy city manager are here to give you an overview and to seek your direction. With that, I'll hand it over to Katie.

Thank you, city manager Carlson, mayor, deputy mayor, and city council members. It's great to be here with you today. We are gonna go through the federal agenda today and I'm looking for your direction. Now you can give me direction or give us direction to approve this this evening or we can come back at a later time if there's amendments or issues that we need to continue to work through. The one thing I will note is that May is a great time to approve the federal agenda, so it'd be good to keep this on a good clip, because there is a trip to Washington DC that is city led in June.

So let's start with what is the federal agenda and why do we have one? First of all, our federal agenda is our compass. It's our roadmap. It helps to really define where we wanna take our advocacy work back in DC but also regionally and with our partners when we're talking about federal issues. It helps us to communicate our priorities to congress and federal agencies administration and it also helps to give us a framework for federal funding, what we would apply for, what we might consider, what we would want request letters for and it also helps us to strengthen that relationship with delegation members and staff or federal agencies.

We typically draft this around this time of the year, typically in the second quarter and I'll tell you a little bit more about the reason why in just a moment. So the federal timeline is pretty cyclical. It's not perfect every year. Sometimes the president releases his budget early in February, sometimes it's in April like it was this year but this is just a reference for how we typically look at the timeline and why we approve a federal agenda right about now. First, before May, we like to gather a lot of information.

We go back to the NLC conference, city conference to learn a lot of information, gather some intellectual property from our congressional delegation members. And around that same time, we're also considering our congressional appropriations requests. We also hear about what's in the president's budget that's a proposal, and all of that helps us to put together a federal agenda and then we use that federal agenda for a lot of advocacy work that happens both in DC and also here within the city or regionally. So even though we have several different meetings back in DC with delegation members, three actually that we could do, the city led trip, the chamber fly in and then also those NLC conferences, I want to stress that it's not just about those three interactions. It's really all year long including grant tracking and funding opportunities and then also engagement with delegation, federal agencies and partners and staff.

Oops. I clicked it too many times. So I thought it'd be good to tell you a little bit more about some of the outcomes and successes from last year's federal agenda which was the 2526 agenda. Last year we submitted two congressional funding awards. These are also known as earmarks, that was the old outdated term or congressional funding is another way of thinking about this.

We submitted one for the Lake Washington Lake lines, We were awarded $500,000 for that and then also for Bellevue Grand Connection and we were awarded $2,000,000 for that. Our entire delegation was really rooting for Bellevue through the appropriations process. So it's a great opportunity for us to thank them. But it wasn't just about projects and funding, it was also about policy and advancing projects for future funding. Bellevue was there in DC and also locally making sure that we communicated to our delegation about the impacts of funding programs that could have been lost such as the community development block grants.

We were here showing opportunities or example examples of the importance of multifamily affordable housing financing projects also known as LITECH and then also really trying to position some of our projects for future funding opportunities which you're going to hear more about. So as we develop the agenda, not only do we think about it from term in terms of what issues we want to prioritize but we have to put it into a federal context. We look at it from the impacts of the last budget, the look looking forward to the f y twenty seven budget and then also some key policy issues. The f y twenty six budget did have some pretty major impacts not only to cities but also communities across the country. In fact, it was just last week that we resolved the congress resolved a partial shutdown, of the government through the Department of Homeland Security.

So we are very mindful of the negotiations that are happening at every level. Congress did retain key local programs such as CDBG, and that's many thanks to congress who really advocated for programs that would impact not only local communities but really importantly residents that really need that funding. So as we look forward to the f y twenty seven budget, the president did propose his budget on April 3 just last week. That is just the starting point. As we saw last year, congress made a tremendous amount of changes between the time that they received the budget and then when they eventually passed many seven pieces of that budget.

So the negotiations really start right now. They're going to be hearing more about what they are going to be thinking about in terms of financing and projects and programs and policies. Speaking of policies, there are some major reauthorizations that are up for renewal this year. They are technically up in September 2026. We'll see if that happens.

I'm not a betting woman. One of the reauthorizations are for surface transportation transportation and then another is for water infrastructure. And then something else that's notable is housing is a big issue happening in congress right now. Both the house and the senate have approved different housing affordable housing policies and legislation so now they need to come to conference committee in order to be further approved or advanced but this is the first time in almost two decades where some real significant affordable housing policy has been introduced and is moving forward. So with that context and knowing that our departments and you all and our community has a lot of interest in seeing how we're going to weigh in at the federal level.

We're really looking at this from two different perspectives in terms of how to put together a federal agenda. This is very similar to how we put together our state agenda. We have key priorities and then a policy statement. Those key priorities are going to be the issues that we work on day in and day out. Bellevue will really likely lead those issues or champion them with other individuals or associations.

Whereas the policy statement will be those issues that we still care about and we still will weigh in if given an opportunity but they may be led by other associations or organizations, we may not be the primary voice on those issues, but we certainly have an opportunity to weigh in given your direction today. As we look at the key priorities, I wanted to focus on trans I wanted to have you focus on transportation mobility, including safety programs and key regional investments like rapid ride and Eastrail, essential water infrastructure with a focus on long term systems reliability, regulatory requirements and impacts on rate payers, housing and safety net programs and that's supporting both housing supply and services and promoting stability for residents. And altogether, these will be the priorities if you approve where Bellevue will focus most of our time for both funding and policy engagement. In the policy statement, we'll include statements that really relate to public safety, immigration, economic development, emerging technologies, and energies and energy. So these statements will provide that framework for engaging on federal policies and issues.

They are intended to be flexible but with clear direction for staff so that we can respond on evolving policy issues at the federal level. Wanted to note that there is one important request in many important requests that one in particular in our draft federal agenda and that is a request for federal funding. This year we have one request for federal funding, it's for the safer signals program also known as the real time traffic signal real time traffic signal safety interventions. Now that might be familiar to you because we had submitted a federal grant through the smart grant program and we had been awarded money for a pilot, a phase one program that deployed technology at signal or in intersections and really to help reduce vehicle and pedestrian conflicts at high risk intersections. It was great work.

We were really excited to submit a phase two request through the federal government, through US DOT, through SMART until the administration no longer is funding the SMART grant program. So we had to think on our feet, how can we use this wonderful information and pilot that we were successful in while keeping US DOT and our federal partners engaged so that we can continue to receive funding and implement what we had learned. And so we we thought, okay. Well, let's do a congressional earmark request or congressional funding request. We did submit a $1,000,000 request.

We've submitted it to representative Smith, representative DelBene, senator Murray, and senator Cantwell. Senators representative Smith and representative DelBene worked together, and they decided that representative Smith would lead the, proposal, and representative DelBene would support it. I want you to know that that has been advanced in the house and we'll find out if it's been included in the appropriations bill. Over on the senate side, we also hope for the same progress, but they're a little bit on the slower side so we won't know if that will be included for another few weeks. So let's talk through some next steps.

I mentioned that city led federal advocacy trip in June that mayor and deputy mayor will be on with Genesee, and then we'll be tracking that appropriations process. It's a great time when you're going back in June, it's a great time to talk about the success of that first pilot and why it's so important for them for future funding. We'll make sure and do some congressional recess tours and briefings in the district. That's really popular in August but we can do it all year round. Continuing education with delegation and federal partners and then I also just wanna stress that just because we're not in DC doesn't mean that our federal advocacy needs to stop.

You can always use these policies or this framework when you're in regional boards and committees or when we're thinking about opportunities to connect state policy with federal policy. There's a lot of different ways that we can connect this. So with that, I am asking for your direction and consider potential adoption. And Mayor, I'll give it back to you.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate everything you do. And I think we didn't mention your name on the TIFF. Katie, you are a very important key person in that success, so I just wanted to mention that here. I think the way that we are going to do, to make it even more complex, in three steps.

The step one is going to give each council member opportunity to make overall comments about the federal agenda, but please do not bring any amendments that you see here on your desk. There are nine of them. And after the general comments is done, we go to step two, that is the five amendments that, to me, are just word smithing. So if you all agree, just nod your head and then we can just accept. It's the number one, three, four, five and six.

And then we go to step three, that there are four kind of amendments that are more than Ward Smithing. They are more substance. So then I will ask those people who those council members who has those amendments talk about that, and then we can vote and see if we agree with them or not. So let's start with step one. Councilmember Newhouse, we will start with you.

Thank you. Yes, Katie, you are a very important person, so thank you for being here tonight. Gen to see you as well. Thank you. Great work as always. Very supportive as is. But I did want to get your thoughts on one aspect of this federal agenda. You know, so often when you step into those rooms, is what do you need? What do you need? Very specific.

What does Bellevue need? How can we help? Tangible things that they can work on. I love the example of pivoting and and how our delegation can can work together like that. But so often, time and time again, it's very specific. I feel like the first half of this is very specific. The second half of it, while important, it's very generic in some ways. I'm not saying there's not a place for that. I'm not sure it should be here though. When I hear from our delegation again, it goes back to specifics.

But not only is some of it generic, and I'll give you an example, like Bellevue supports investments in our environment and community health. Well, I would hope every city in America would would would support that. Right? So I'm not sure that helps us. Second of all, I wanna get your thoughts on some of this actually potentially hurting us if it's seen as a bit of a critique of congress or critique of the administration or critique in terms of what we feel and we're urging them to work on?

Could that end up hurting us by coming out too strongly in favor of any one of these types of policies? Just like to get your your your take on that.

Yeah. Let me first start by your comment about some of it being quite generic. And if I may, I'm going to go back to this slide, which talks about the key priorities and then the policy statement. For those who either have gone back to DC or have engaged in our state legislative process, we tend not to bring the entire document. We tend to bring one page, in this case, just the key priorities that has exactly that, our key priorities.

That's intended to be our position paper where we say exactly what we need. So in this case, I'll highlight we we need money for safer signals. We've asked for $1,000,000 Yep. But we'd like to continue to receive federal funding to implement that. We need support for safe streets and roads for all.

That that's a grant a grant program that has a due date of, I believe, it's May 28 this month. And we need congressional support so that we can try to achieve success in getting about 8 to $9,000,000 hopefully for that grant program. We need for congress to hopefully come around and approve small starts which would allow that's a transit funding program, which would allow for the k line to receive federal funding.

Mhmm.

We also would really like for federal for the federal government to continue to fund Eastrail. They have an award of $25,000,000 they need to have executed. Mhmm. Then moving into essential water and infrastructure, we need oh, I'm gonna go back. So sorry.

For transportation and mobility, we need congress to approve a surface transportation reauthorization. That helps to fund all the programs and projects including projects that are funded through PSR PSRC, through that federal funding program. Same same line of thinking, we need congress to approve water infrastructure reauthorizations. So that would be through these drinking water state revolving fund and then also through WIFIA, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act. Those are all really tangible things that we need.

That helps us to then fund projects or advance conversations about projects that would receive federal funding like our Lake Washington Lake Lines project that we might have had a nice down payment of $500,000 for some planning. That is not going to do enough for us to actually build the project. So it's continually telling that story. And then I'm just gonna keep on going on one more. We need congress to approve of an affordable housing policy and we need them to see how important lie tech is in that policy and to come to consensus on the approach on that.

So I agree that it is a little confusing when we have a document that is key federal priorities and federal policy statement, but that's actually the intent is that we really use the singular key or key federal priorities when we're going to congressional offices. Yep. And the federal policy statement is really for Genesee and I to make sure that we are advocating or looking at issues in the right way under your guidance and leadership. I hope that helps.

It does. Although I never said confusing. Said does it help us or hurt us. So, but I totally appreciate that explanation. That makes complete sense.

So, the one thing that just, came to mind to me today, and it's not an amendment per se, but I'd just like to get your thoughts if we could get support for it or even attempt to get some money for it. But, you know, we've launched this drone as first responder program. We have some money towards towards it, but it doesn't capture the entire, budget needed to launch that program, that would be used by both police and fire. Do you see an opportunity for us to perhaps carve out a little bit of space on this to make an ask to help support that program?

My professional opinion is no. Not yet. Okay. But I think that will come. We have talked about that particular program and whether it would be germane for funding. Mhmm. The federal funding through the appropriations process has already been wrapped up.

Okay. We

cannot submit any additional requests

Okay.

This year. But we could next year. And that's actually something NLC has been Yep. Working with cities to try to talk exactly like what you said, the drone as as an additional component, I think we can gear ourselves up for the future.

I

also wanted to I didn't respond to your critique of if we're critiquing Congress or the administration. And this is your document. I am just your vehicle to make sure that it gets complete. I really wanna pay really close attention to that because we want to be proactive. We want to demonstrate our support. I think that if we were to take a oppositional stance against either the congressional delegation, larger congress at whole, agencies, or the administration, I think that could be looked at in a negative light. And what I've really tried to do for you today is really have that proactive, supportive document so that we can weigh in on those issues.

Thank you for that. And agree. Supportive. So please, the future, then keep that in mind. Yeah. Because I'd like to see it added to this. If it doesn't make sense this time around, maybe next time around, it will make sense. So thanks for that.

And I

appreciate your professional opinion. Thank

you. You. Councilwoman Newhouse. Councilwoman Robinson.

Okay. Just gathering my my thoughts here. So I do appreciate all the work you've done on this. And it seems to ring true with all the things that we have discussed. And I appreciate council member Newnhouse bringing up the drone as first responder program. So knowing in advance that when we get the chance, we will want to advocate for that. I would support that. So I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Great. Council member of some other video.

Oh, thank you. I don't wanna come, but I just wanna tell you sincerely gratitude to our staff. I think, you know, the work is is May it seems pretty short, but also the time, the advocacy, the follow through. Like, there's so many multiple steps after relationship building because we know that even though we're a little I mean, we're not a little, but we are a city in Pacific Northwest. We do need your support actually engaging with our supporters at DC so we can be seen in national stage. So I'm just full of gratitude, and I'm excited for us to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you so much, councilor Smadaviria. Councilor Mubaragaba.

Yeah. So I wanted to say thank you. This is really educational for me. The briefing that you had as well as my more updated understanding of the work that we do for our legislative agenda, federal agenda is a really great mix of tactical and strategic thinking and being able to maneuver and be advocates for our needs. So I just wanna say thank you.

I really appreciate the work you do, and you're quite the experts at it. So really grateful that you're here and being advocates for us. That's the first thing. Second is I do have a couple three suggestions, but I think I'm gonna hold those because that maybe you described three rounds of conversation. I'll come back to those. So right now, just wanna say, I feel like I'm generally aligned with the broad structure of what you've laid out. I don't think it's fundamentally missing anything, and I really feel thankful for the work that you do. It's you're great at it.

Thank you.

Thank you, council member Vargava. Council member Yar.

In the interest of saving time, I will say thank you and ditto to my colleagues and what they said.

Great. Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. Katie and Genesee, a lot of hard work has gone into this already. I've had the chance already to provide some feedback and appreciate seeing that show up here in the amendment tracker. I know we're going to get to more specifics on this in later rounds.

Really like the draft agenda that we got and started off with, and I'm confident that what we come up with is going to serve us well as we work with our federal delegation, as we continue to make the case for our priorities. As you noted in the presentation, we've been very well supported by our federal delegation. Senators Murray and Cantwell, along with representatives DelBenny and Smith, have consistently been helpful collaborators and strong advocates. I certainly feel like we're very fortunate that way. Again, great work and just look forward to conversation moving along. Thank you, mayor. Great.

Thank you for everyone to be very concise. I also wanted to say thank you. Great job. I really appreciate that you have a very specific project here because that makes our life easier. But I also wanted to maybe echo what councilmember Newhouse was saying.

I think it is a very strong agenda, but it would be helpful in this environment that we are we can focus. Like, if I have twenty seconds with one of our amazing delegation in a room, I cannot just say safe signal, safe street for all rapid ride K Line, Eastrail, utility funding, emergency. They don't even know how to explain all of that. So if I have twenty seconds, one minute, what would be the number two or three projects out of these key priorities left side of the screen that I can give that page that are the most money that we need or the most impactful project. Again, I don't know how you are going to do that waiting.

But to me, we should be more focused, have clear things to kind of have the order to ask. Again, we should ask for all of them. But again, if you have one minute in a room, I would love to have that priorities instead of having a big list that it is all important. This is, I think, step one. Now let's just go to step two. So you have this do you have the slide of this somewhere in the screen for the people on can we share this slide? Because so as I mentioned, we are in the step two. So there is some kind of amendment that is just basically board meeting. Great. It's a little bit small, but I think it is.

It is quite small.

Sorry. Basically, it just has the additional wording, Bellevue urged Congress to approve or yeah. To me, they are all minor wordsmithing. Just nod head if and have some time to look at it because I know maybe it was sent to us last night or yesterday. So take a look maybe in one or two minutes, and if they are all okay with you, nod your head. If there is one that you wanna talk about it, we can spend some time on this.

Mayor, while you all are reading, I might explain this to the viewing audience at home, who I'm sure is very excited to be watching this right now.

85 people. I think

there's 85. For those who are at home, this describes the location within the agenda. So either a key federal priority or federal policy statement. It includes the page number that you could find where this amendment would go. It has the amendment number and for counsel that's related to your tracking document.

And then it has the specific reference within the federal agenda. And then, so that's on the left hand side. On the right hand side is the proposed amendment. The text in red is the new proposal, and there are a few areas where there's strikeout. And that is the list of what I'm calling tone refinements. These tone refinements oftentimes are either amplifying what our action may be or explaining how we may want to weigh in. More than just Bellevue supports, it might be Bellevue urges or Bellevue encourages.

Any council member has any issue with any of those red that has been a suggestion to make it that Bellevue has a stronger position. So a nod and some thumbs up or a nod, head nod or something would be great. I see everyone. I'm waiting for just Councilman Newnan to finish and I think after that we can go to step three. You're fine? Great. Nod, head, thumbs up This is good. Now we go to step three. Can you go to the next slide?

Yes. This slide is also a list of amendments. There are four on this slide. These are proposed amendments that have a bit more of content changes. I wouldn't say that they are wholesale changes. In some cases they are adding some additional perspective and in one case there would be a new bullet.

Okay. I so you can start reading, but I wanted to start with council member Robinson. Please mention which one is your suggestion. Maybe talk about it, why you feel to add or to modify, and then please make a motion, and after the motion we have time to discuss this.

Okay, so I am Amendment eight, and in the history of this is that in March 2026, president Trump announced the White House's rate payer protection pledge. And it's a voluntary nonbinding agreement between the US government and major tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI aimed at ensuring that the rapid growth of US data center infrastructure and a cornerstone of the Internet, cloud computing, and AI does not lead to higher electricity costs for American households. And so I move that we add this amendment that says, Bellevue supports policies that ensure large scale energy users, including AI data centers, fund the electricity infrastructure needed to serve their operations, reducing rate payer impacts, and supporting reliable, sustainable energy systems.

Great. This has been moved by Councilman Robinson and seconded by Councilman Breuer.

And I'll just say that it's consistent with what a policy that's already been put forward, I should say a pledge. And I'm just underscoring support from our city for that.

Great. Any discussion? Council Member Bargava?

I really like this suggestion that you make, Council Member Robinson. Only question or not a question, really, a refinement or a suggestion of thought is the words on reducing ratepayer impacts, is it do we need to be stronger than that and saying mitigating or something like Eliminating. I don't know if it's eliminating, but like mitigating or something like that that says it's not just a reduction in rate per impact. So that suggests that there will be some and we're okay with that, but we're going to try and reduce that impact.

So we have one small word or something that we can leave it to you all to see how that can be the best.

I'm fine with mitigating. We accept that mitigating kind of indicates that you resigned to it. Yes.

I don't know the right choice of words.

Don't think mitigating is what I want. Can somebody come up with a better word?

And I think let's just not do the voters meeting right now in the dais. We can just as an overall, let's just see overall policy aligns with us. What do you before I go to other council members, what do you guys think about this?

I I think this is a policy that will attract a lot of attention in DC, and I think it's appropriate that we weigh in.

Do you when I read every other policy and contents that you provided, this to me feels it is much more specific than the rest of the agenda. Is do you all have the same feeling I'm asking you to, or is it just to me? And this is the one that maybe is kind of outlier, doesn't match our overall federal strategy, or am I reading too much into stuff?

I'll give I'll I'll provide the same answer to you that I actually provided to council member Robinson when we spoke about this is that originally we had spoken about the actual legislation and the actual rate payer protection pledge. And my recommendation at that point was that we keep a broad statement because sometimes things change names or bill numbers as we saw in Olympia. And so this was intended to be intentionally broad. I think that it stays in line and in tune with how we have the rest of our agenda, but I welcome your

I think that it is consistent with the it it it a little bit bridges the level of specificity between the priority statement and the policy statement.

Exactly.

It is not as specific as to name the legislation around the repair protection pledge. But it is an area of policy, is really trying to say, we want this to not have undue burden on other taxpayers. And so I think that is at the policy level. It's not specific to a project or a particular business or even to it includes data centers, but it's not exclusive of others. And so I think it is not too specific to be out of step.

Great. Thank you for your answer. Councilwoman Robinson.

So to clarify, I originally wanted to start with consistent with the White House's rate payer protection pledge of 2026, comma, and I was asked not to be so specific. So this is more general, but we could replace reducing or whatever it is with avoiding. I'm okay with that, and I think that's a stronger

word. Any other comments? So there is no further discussion?

Not for me.

Great. So we have a motion that has been seconded. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

There is no opposed. Great. The first one, gone. Deputy mayor Hamilton, you have, I believe, two of them. Am I right? Can you please go one by one, tell which one is yours, and then give your justification, and then we vote, and then we go to your second one.

Okay, great. So the one there at the top of the list, central water infrastructure, I'm just proposing that we add the language without increased federal partnership, rising infrastructure needs and regulatory requirements will drive significant cost increases for ratepayers. And the point there that I want to just be sure that we emphasize is, you know, considering all of the upcoming rate increases for various utilities, I really want to focus our delegation and others on the fact that, you know, this is a big impact on ratepayers, and we should be really sensitive to that.

Can you also please make the motion?

I move that we add the language without increased federal partnership, rising infrastructure needs and regulatory requirements will drive significant cost increases for ratepayers to the key federal priorities of essential water infrastructure.

It has been moved by deputy

It's different than what's written here. What you just said is a little different. So we'll drive significant cost increases for ratepayers period here, and you added something. So I'd like a resolution of the two.

Okay. I was just reading off of the

I don't know why it's different.

Where is the difference? Do you want to read your motion one more time and see if then I can find where is the discrepancy, I guess.

Yeah. I don't see the difference here. What you said was different. Okay. Go ahead.

So I move that we add the language, without increased federal partnership, rising infrastructure needs and regulatory requirements will drive significant cost increases for ratepayers to the essential water infrastructure key federal priority.

I think the rest is just the name of the key. The essential water infrastructure is the name of the policy, I guess. Okay. So it's already been moved. It's already been seconded. So we are good to go. And now it's time for discussion.

So I just wanna add, is that how we read it? Is that how you recommend we read it?

Yes, council member. Deputy mayor added in at the end in essential water infrastructure, which I believe is in reference to the bullet underneath page two amendment two, just to reference where it would be located.

Perfect. Any discussion? What you two think about this at?

I think this is very consistent language with other locations within our current agenda. And I will say that it is consistent with the way that we have been coordinated with King County and Cascade. We have shared with them the draft federal agenda, and they have shared with us how they plan to advocate in DC, and this is consistent.

Great.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. There is no opposed. Great. Your second one, sir.

So the thought behind this was just to kind of take another step to ensure public data privacy. And so I wanted I I moved to add the language, Bellevue supports responsible data sharing for public safety purposes that is consistent with state and local laws and protects privacy and civil liberties to the public safety and first responders policy statement. Second, please.

Second.

It has been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by councilor Brouillard. Any discussion? Councilor Brouillard?

Thank you. What's responsible? How do we define what's responsible?

I do not have PD here, but, I feel like feel like I'm going to look to you on this one. Let me actually let you know that responsible would be something that we either currently do or we endeavor or want to do that is in alignment with existing protocols or federal policy. And certainly we could remove the word responsible. Bellevue supports data sharing for public safety purposes that is consistent with state and local laws, that would also be a fine way of of moving that forward as well. Sorry to be looking at you as always.

Council member Newhouse, did you get the response?

I got a response.

Do you have a follow-up?

Well, this is one that, for me, it kind of falls into the critique category. I understand the intent. I also understand the importance, though, of those partnerships and the intelligence capabilities and the important tools that are used for public safety. In fact, there was just an example last night in Seattle about how this type of data sharing was really important in order to capture a couple of individuals. Yeah, that's more of a comment than a question, but I'll leave it at that.

Member. Question on building on council member point. And a question for you as I don't know the answer. Is isn't there federally established standards for responsible use in place already? Would this just be alignment with federally established standards for responsible use?

I believe that some individuals may disagree with how data is being used or shared. That is a that is an opinion of how information is shared, and I would welcome refinements to this language because, again, this is your federal agenda. I am here with Genesee to ensure that it matches what your direction is.

Okay. So I take it that we don't have federally established standards for use responsible use right now then. So that's what would become the issue.

I think if we need to, we can do some homework on it. I think this came to us rather recently, and so I think we can do some more vetting if that's necessary. There is a I think what I'm comfortable probably saying is that there is a somewhat complex interrelationship of state and local laws around the use of data, how and when it is collected and shared by different public and private agencies for different purposes. I will tell you that Katie Kusimba Halsey and I are not subject matter experts in what that intersection of laws look like. But we can certainly do some additional vetting if necessary.

Thanks. Councilwoman Brouillard.

Yeah. I just wanna say having worked in data privates privacy, it's my understanding that the federal government has made a commitment to no regulation actually when it comes to privacy and when it comes to regulation in general. Actually, if if I'm memory serves incorrectly, large tech companies have much more constrained privacy laws than our federal government currently has. So I do think reasonable is a high level word enough that'll allow for that sort of jurisprudence to take place. The way that I read it is that it comes across as legal justification, reasonable legal justification as opposed to virtue signaling rather. So I would opt in for keeping this word.