City Council - Regular Meeting

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We can call the meeting to order. Welcome everyone. Thank you for being here, taking the time to engage with our beautiful city work. Your voice matters and we are glad to hear from you. Uh, before I go to the roll call, can I have a motion to excuse councilor in your own house? He's not going to join this evening meeting.

Second.

It has been moved and being seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. With that city clear, are you ready for the roll call?

I am. Mayor Malakoutian?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton?

Here.

Council Member Bargova? Council member Briar here. Council member new in house. Council member Robinson here and council members who would aware. Yeah.

Deputy mayor, would you please lead us in the flag salute?

Please stand if you're able.

Thank you so much. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I move to approve the agenda.

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. Any opposed? The motion passes. City Clerk, are there any speakers signed up for the oral communication?

Yes, Mayor, thank you. This evening we have reached the limit of ten pre-registered speakers for oral comms. Before I start calling names, I will just mention that the council does appreciate members of the public engaging and contributing their perspective and supports everyone's rights to express themselves. However, comments shared during oral communications are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of the council or the city. So if you have the rules for tonight, the total time for oral communications is for a period of not more than 30 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 the agenda will be called. In both of those categories, the presiding officer is authorized to give preference to those who have not spoken to council within the last 60 days or who will be speaking to items that will come in front of the council within the next 60 days. Each speaker will be allowed to speak for up to three minutes, and only a total of three speakers will be allowed to speak to any one side of a particular topic. Additionally, in compliance with Washington state campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities during elections, no speaker may support or oppose a ballot measure or support or oppose a candidate for election, and that includes one's own campaign. People beginning to speak on these topics will be asked to stop. So with that, our first speaker. is Eric Brand. Should I approach?

Yes. Please.

Can I sit? Yes.

Welcome. Good to see everybody.

Good evening. My name is Eric Brand. Can everyone hear me OK? I live in Woodridge and serve as a board member at large of the Woodridge Community Association. I support thoughtful housing policy. Bellevue should plan for growth, but growth should be coordinated, transparent and respectful of infrastructure, aging in place needs and recorded neighborhood expectations. Woodridge is a long established neighborhood with many recorded plats and covenants. In recent weeks, neighbors have had to organize quickly and contribute substantial private funds to enforce those covenants. That sends a clear message, residents are not indifferent. They feel their neighborhood is being managed through permit by permit conflict rather than through a coordinated planning process. Bellevue's own middle housing materials explain that the city changed its code to allow more housing types and up to four to six units per lot in many circumstances with ADU pathways that may further increase the practical unit count. Bellevue also still controls many implementation details, including height, setbacks, lot coverage, parking, and site design. So Bellevue still has choices in how this is implemented. Our concern is not no housing anywhere. Woodridge already has multifamily areas. The issue is that the city permits are colliding with recorded private covenants. When that happens, neighbors are forced into expensive civil litigation and after plans are already far along. Because private covenants are often more restrictive than city zoning, the practical solution is early notice and early communication. Developers should identify and address applicable CCNRs first before investing heavily in plans that may later create conflict. We are asking for a better process, a clearer disclosure that city permits do not override private covenants, better public information for covenant-restricted neighborhoods, visible on-site notice for proposed middle housing projects, mailed notice where appropriate, and neighborhood-level approach that accounts for infrastructure, parking, sewer capacity, sidewalks, views, and age-in-place housing. The Woodridge Community Association does not enforce covenants, but WCA can educate and communicate, posting CCNR permits, search tools, permit maps, public records links, and helping residents understand which plat applies to their property. Thoughtful housing policy should not require neighborhoods to spend tens of thousands of dollars resolving every permit covenant conflict in court. Bellevue can do better. Please help create a process that balances housing goals with infrastructure readiness, private recorded covenants, early communication, fair notice, and neighborhood trust. Thank you.

Thank you. You can go back. Thank you. I appreciate all of the enthusiasm, but we cannot clap hands. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Marcel Van Houten.

Sorry, I misheard.

Welcome.

Thank you. It's like old home week. Good evening. My name is Marcel Van Houten. I'm treasurer of the Woodbridge Community Association. I served eight years on the Bellevue Planning Commission, including two terms as chair, and I've served on several Citizens Advisory Committees, including Critical Areas Updates, Main Bower Bay Master Plan, and Sound Transit Light Rail Station Planning. I'm retired now, but I was a permitting consultant for clients such as Puget Sound Energy, City of Redmond, and Pierce County, to name a few, so I'm familiar with permitting issues. Woodridge is experiencing a growing disconnect between Bellevue's new middle housing permitting process and the longstanding neighborhood covenants that homeowners relied upon when purchasing their properties. I recognize Bellevue's responsibility to implement state housing laws, and I understand the city does not enforce private covenants. However, those covenants remain legally binding. When permits are issued for projects that may conflict with recorded restrictions, neighbors are often left with only one option, costly litigation. We're not asking the city to enforce private covenants. We're asking for a better process. Bellevue's already demonstrated that growth in neighborhood character can coexist. Through Ordinance 6929, the Council discussed neighborhood-specific standards for Old Bellevue to ensure new development is compatible with its established character. That approach offers a useful model for considering how established covenant-governed neighborhoods like Woodridge can accommodate growth while preserving the qualities that define them. We respectfully ask the council to direct staff to evaluate for improvements and return with recommendations. Clearly state that city permit approval process does not override recorded private covenants and require applicants to acknowledge their responsibility to determine whether private restrictions apply. Two, develop a covenant awareness information program for older, platted neighborhoods. Three, improve public notice for middle housing projects through visible on-site signs, mail notices where appropriate, and clear online project information so neighbors can become aware of projects early. Four, consider a neighborhood-level planning process for communities while extensive recorded covenants, infrastructure constraints, and established neighborhood character. Our request is simple. We support thoughtful implementation to state housing policy. We're asking for greater transparency, better communication, and earlier public awareness so conflicts can be resolved before they become lawsuits. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speakers are Diana Leo and Brady Nordstrom.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Take it away.

Good evening, Mayor Malakoutian and Council Members. My name is Diana Leo. I'm the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Bellevue Chamber. I am here today on behalf of the Eastside Housing Roundtable sitting alongside my colleague Brady Nordstrom. The Eastside Housing Roundtable is a coalition of business, housing, and community organizations, including the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and the Housing Development Consortium, working together to advance housing production and affordability across the East Side. The Chamber strongly supports the MFTE Catalyst Program for HOMA. Today's financing conditions have made it difficult to get new housing off the ground, and this four-year supercharger program, paired with two-year look-back to evaluate production and fiscal impacts, strikes the right balance. is first near-term development while holding the program accountable for its results. We also support the proposed changes to fee-in-lieu eligibility and application timing, allowing projects that pay a fee-in-lieu to still participate in MFTE as long as they're otherwise eligible, removes an unnecessary barrier without weakening the program's affordability goals. The clarified application timeline simply give developers and staff the time they need while preserving the Office of Housing Director's discretion to grant exceptions. Thank you for moving quickly on this. It is a meaningful step toward keeping Bellevue's housing pipeline strong and our city competitive. We look forward to continuing to partner with staff on this and future housing initiatives.

Great well, so greetings council greetings mayor. My name is Brady Nordstrom on the associate director of government relations and policy housing development consortium. I'm here alongside Diana and we're here to share our support for the ongoing East side housing roundtable agreement with the catalyst and some of the other cleanup items that staff is bringing with the program. So, Diana's correct. There's. Residential development is facing economic headwinds at the moment. The four-year catalyst, it strikes a balance between two goals, increasing affordable housing and supporting robust development through these difficult moments. And so we have recently seen a lot of examples. You can just imagine in your head all the predictability that exists in the world. So through the look back, the city is going to be able to reassess how the program's doing, and how the economic conditions are changing. As for the other elements of the draft ordinance, we support the staff proposal. That's the correcting the fee-in-lieu language with allowing paying projects to participate with MFTE benefits. And then clarifying the application timing, we just appreciate staff's proposal to fit compliance predictably within the permitting process. So, I just like to thank you all again for this is these are tough conversations of trade offs. And we appreciate you engaging with us in the wider community to find a balance. So we look forward to the ongoing conversation with. With ourselves, staff, you and others with the East side of housing round table. So thank you. Thank you both.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Nava Carlisle.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Nava Carlisle, and I'm the government and policy affairs intern at the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the Bellevue Mobility Coalition, which is a group of employers, nonprofits, and land use experts, as well as mobility advocates. Our comprehensive plan added significant housing and job growth, but the current transportation funding cannot deliver the infrastructure that growth requires. Without action, key intersections are modeled to fail, putting Bellevue's economic competitiveness at risk. The Bellevue Chamber supports a transportation benefit district, but believes it should be targeted, not spread thin. Concentrate funds where growth is greatest. High impact intersection and corridor projects, priority bike and pedestrian connections that fill real network gaps. And please, keep supporting vehicular throughput alongside our multimodal investment. Most people still drive to and through downtown and will for years to come. The Chamber also asks Council to direct staff to model TBD revenues and the costs alongside a full 20-year horizon, matching the comprehensive plan through 2044, not just the standard six-year CIP window. Finally, we'd like to ask that the Transportation Master Plan keeps receiving the funding it needs. This work ensures new development doesn't preclude future investments. This isn't just a business ask. The Bellevue Chamber's vibe check survey and the city's own budget survey both show strong resident support for exactly this kind of pragmatic, congestion-relieving investment. The Chamber remains committed to working with staff ahead of the September budget transmission. Thank you for your continued attention to Bellevue's transportation future.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Carol Schiller

Welcome.

Thank you. Brought my glasses just in case. Okay. My name is Carol Schiller. I live in Woodridge and I've been a Bellevue resident for 24 years. I'm here to talk about the issues that have arisen between middle housing and existing covenants and to ask for your help. I'll start with permitting. The city recently accepted and processed permit applications for a multifamily project in the middle of our single family neighborhood on a lot that is governed by covenants limiting it to one single detached home. These covenants are well established and professional developers have built dozens of homes in compliance with them. When the city processes permits on covenant restricted property, with no mechanism for resolving conflicts up front, the practical effect is that residents are forced into court at their own expense to protect property rights they relied on when they bought their homes. That means legal fees, stress, uncertainty, and conflict that could have been avoided. That money is far better spent improving homes, supporting our schools, maintaining trees, and strengthening our community. I'm not here to oppose multifamily housing. Bellevue has major multifamily housing in its high density areas. I'm here to tell you where your constituents think it belongs, which is where parking roads, transportation and stormwater capacity can actually carry it. Anyone who's driven through Wallingford knows what parking traffic and road safety look like when multifamily development is squeezed into a neighborhood built for single family homes. So I'm asking for three things. First, build a better permit process that respects existing covenants so residents are not forced to resort to the courts. When the city is notified that a conflict exists, permits should not be issued until it is resolved. Second, revisit the parts of last June's code that went beyond what the state required in middle housing. Bellevue should be pushing back on these policies, not doubling down on them. Third, as you build housing policies, please communicate honestly and frequently with residents about the practical impacts of what is being discussed and planned. We are counting on you to do what is promised in the voter pamphlets and protect our beautiful community. Policies that shoehorn multifamily developments in the middle of single-family neighborhoods miss that mark. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Christopher Randles.

Welcome. All right, get situated.

Okay, good evening council members, staff. Chris Randles, Complete Streets Bellevue. And since I ran over last time, I'm gonna try to keep brief-ish this time. We'll see how I do. I just wanna thank you all for your hard work on the transportation benefit district discussions. I've had the privilege to have conversations with many of you over the last couple of weeks. I felt repeatedly reassured about the amount of significant values alignment between you all and what the Safe Bellevue Coalition is proposing. I love staff have called public engagement around this proposal about moving Bellevue forward because that really makes clear the opportunity that's present right now with new transportation funding. Many of the outcomes we're seeing today, from congestion to mode share splits to worsening safety outcomes, are because of the historic car-first policies and design choices that have been central to our planning and budgetary decisions. But we, or more specifically, you all, choose how we grow. And with different choices, we can get different outcomes, one that are in line with our mode shift, sustainability, and safety goals. I don't wanna belabor the stats or the data or the studies tonight because you all have heard them both from testimonies here from other members and from things that we've sent like the letter the coalition shared with you all yesterday evening. So what I wanna impress upon you all is that through the Safe Bellevue Coalition and our community partnerships, we really have arrived at something that we truly believe is going to work at the systems level necessary to achieve the outcomes we all want to see. The projects and programs we put forward build in large part upon great work already undertaken by transportation staff and will put us on track to bringing deaths and serious injuries down on our streets through proactive, best practice approaches that have worked and will work for Bellevue. For tonight's more general discussion, our main ask is that you continue to underscore the need for prioritization of true safety in our transportation program. It is undeniable that not every transportation project, not every program contributes to safety equally or even positively. And if we want our values to lead to material changes and outcome, then this fact must be reflected in our policy. We ask that you encourage staff to prioritize the rapid, cost-effective, multimodal infrastructure that will keep the people of the present safe, not increase throughput for the vehicles of the hypothetical future. Thank you for your work to make Bellevue better, and we look forward to staying engaged in this process.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Mariah Frost.

Welcome.

Mayor Malacutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, and council members, my name is Maria Frost, Vice President of Government Affairs at Kemper Development Company. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the budget, the CIP, and the proposed transportation benefit district on this unacceptably hot day. Our ask tonight is straightforward. Keep this budget fiscally disciplined and don't add to what residents and businesses are already paying. Bellevue has absorbed two county sales tax increases this year alone. A TBD on top of that would bring our sales tax to 10.5%. Before reaching for more revenue, the city should be confident it's gotten everything it can out of what it already has. If a TBD does move forward, it should go to voters with a specific list of projects attached. A list that has to survive a public vote gets built differently than one that doesn't. Every project on it has to justify its cost because taxpayers will actually be asked to pay for it. A TBD with no public vote faces a different set of pressures. Building the coalition needed to pass it on the dais can mean adding projects to earn support rather than building the list purely around cost and impact. Putting it to voters removes that pressure and lets the list stand on its own merits. For the project list itself, we ask that you allocate the money where it does the most good. That means local match dollars for the regional corridors Bellevue depends on, I-405, I-90, SR-520, where a relatively small city contribution can unlock a much larger state investment. It also means finishing Spring Boulevard, which works for drivers and for people walking and biking. And it means fixing the intersections we already know are failing or are soon headed for failure if we do nothing. We appreciate the Transportation Department's previous comments that aim for a balanced, multimodal approach. It shouldn't have to be said, but vehicular mobility is a critical part of that. This balance reflects how Bellevue residents actually get around and what they want to see, as shown in the City's Budget Survey and in the Chamber's Vibe Check Survey. A well-functioning road network isn't in competition with transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Buses run on these same roads, and safer, better engineered intersections benefit everybody using them. On safety, our view hasn't changed. Focus on data, not ideology. Most serious crashes come down to a handful of driver behaviors, largely failure to yield and distraction. Bellevue's engineers already have strong tools for that, real-time signal adjustments, video-based detection, and better intersection design. Reach analyzation and road diets should remain a last resort as they worsen traffic congestion and introduce new safety hazards in other parts of the network. We ask that you stay disciplined with this budget, follow the data on safety, and if new revenue is truly needed to deliver targeted mobility improvements, please give voters the opportunity to weigh in. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Victor Bishop, who is joining us virtually. Mr. Bishop, can you hear me? Mr. Bishop, can you hear me? Mr. Bishop, I believe you may be muted. Can you hear me, Mr. Bishop?

Yes, I can.

Okay, great. Your time starts now.

All right. Thank you. I've got a real echo going on. I hope that's not for you. My name is Vic Bishop. I live on the parkway. I come to you tonight with a heavy heart. I'm concerned that the construction crisis facing us is not being taken seriously. I urge you to think boldly and give Bellevue's anticipated growth the transportation support it's needed. When I served on the Transportation Commission a decade ago, we learned that the city had a billion-dollar unfunded projects. Tonight, you will hear that the backlog is going to a billion and a half, excluding the Grand Connection. Current base taxes only cover just over 40%. To staff credit, you're being asked to explore a transportation benefit district. I ask that you be aggressive about that. Be bold and ask the voters to approve a bold plan. Recent budget surveys have shown that traffic congestion is high on the minds of residents. Not surprising when we understand that over 80% of all trips in Bellevue are in cars and we have multiple failed intersections and corridors. We have a traffic congestion growth crisis on our hands. Bikes represent a half a percent of trips. Pedestrians are under 10 percent, trans just over 10 percent. Those ratios have not significantly changed in the six decades that I've been engaged in these issues. You are expecting a massive growth in car trips. The transportation is not prepared. Under the fiscal impacts of the gender It suggests that a transportation benefit district proposal will provide a sufficient quote funding for the city to be ahead of or concurrent with the significant growth projected at the compound. I suggest that the councilman at TBD will continue to result in dramatic underfunding of the infrastructure. I request that you Instruct the staff to return on September 15 with three options of funding. Base funding, B, base funding plus the 0.1% sales tax, and C, base funding with a voter-approved TBD at 0.2% taxes. Include a project list for each of these. It's time to initiate a serious discussion on the acceptable level of congestion. Your TR20 policy instructs you to aggressively plan, manage, and expand transportation investments to reduce congestion and expand mobility opportunities.

Mr. Bishop, your time is up.

Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Cameron Kast.

Welcome. Can everyone hear me? I can. Perfect.

My name is Cameron Cass and I live and work here in Bellevue. And today I'm speaking out in concern for street safety. I'm also coming today with a little bit of a heavy heart, because someone's life was changed forever in Bellevue over the weekend. On Saturday, while my wife and I were taking the light rail into downtown Bellevue to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we noticed a concerning scene. As the light rail pulled into the station, at the intersection of 112th and 6th Street, In the road, in the intersection, blocked off from everything else, there was a bike on the ground with police evidence markers showcasing that there was a bit of a scene here. As someone who bikes around Bellevue, this was quite the disturbing thing for me and my wife to see. Seeing the bike on the road and later learning that the cyclist was taken to the hospital with serious injuries indicates that Bellevue streets need improvement. I believe streets that should be for everybody, no matter their mode of transport, whether you're in a car, walking along the street, crossing the street, rolling across the street, or riding a bike. They should be safe, and they should be for everybody, not just effective. Effective in a safety way, but also in a monetary way. Bellevue should be investing in transportation infrastructure that directly benefits the people that live in Bellevue today. The scene on Saturday indicates to me that there's safety improvements to be made for those that are traveling on our streets. Because I don't want my wife to be the next person to receive a phone call from the hospital.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And we've reached ten speakers at this point.

Do we have additional time or the time also expired?

We do have some additional time.

So let's just use the time and go to the next person.

Okay. Our next speaker on the list is Joe Koonsler, who is also joining us virtually. Mr. Koonsler, can you hear me?

Can you hear me? Because I need to do a couple of things.

Yes, we can. Your time starts now.

Thank you. First, on the agenda item, I do support the new Main Street and 12th Park, the Dr. Wayne Robertson Park, to thank her for her contributions to the community. But we have something we need to deal with here. I had a, I'm not going to excuse it, There's no excuse for that kind of rhetoric towards our public officials. I want to apologize to the deputy mayor and city council for my inappropriate remarks towards them last week. There's just no excuse. I know some might quote Victoria looks like S-H-I-I-T on Facebook may like it, but I don't. Our public servants spend a lot of time away from their families. And for them to be abused by that Nazi bastard, Alex Zimmerman, is never okay. Never has been, never will be. And I'm absolutely disgusted by what came out of my mouth. I'm embarrassed, I'm humiliated, and I'm not going to hide behind my disabilities on the matter. I believe in zero excuses, especially when you fly with some of the best people. I'm not going to name them because I don't want them associated with that kind of rhetoric out of my mouth last week. That said, just as the warning was on the Bellevue City Council for my interpretive remarks, they should also be on every single time Alex Zimmerman gets to talk. I find his rhetoric absolutely, positively, definitely hateful and unwelcome. As such, the Bellevue City Council is a standards problem. And I do have a few other thoughts, but I don't think tonight's the night to discuss them. I want to yield the balance of my time and thank you for your public service. And again, I apologize for last week. Thank you. Thank you.

And that brings us to the end of oral communications.

Great. Thank you so much, everyone. As always, we are hearing and we thank you for sharing the comments and we assure you that we are listening and we follow up if and when necessarily. City Manager, we have reports of boards and commission.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council. As you are aware, the Bellevue Council serves as the legislative authority for both the Bellevue and the Redmond zones of the tourism promotion area. And this means that you as a council receive an annual strategic plan AND A BUDGET RECOMMENDATION FROM THE TOURISM PROMOTION AREA ADVISORY BOARD EACH YEAR. THAT HAPPENS IN JULY. AND IN THAT PLAN THEY IDENTIFY IN THE RECOMMENDATION THEY IDENTIFY A RECOMMENDED BUDGET WITH REVENUES AND EXPENSES AS WELL AS THE ACTIVITIES THAT THEY PLAN. through their strategic plan. So we're here tonight to share the update on the good work that the tourism promotion area has been doing, as well as looking at the proposed or the recommended budget and strategic plan. We have from the Bellevue Redmond Tourism Promotion Area Advisory Board, the Chair, Wade Hashimoto, and then also our staff from Community Development, Lori Hoffman, who's our Arts and Creative Economy Manager, and Lizette Flores, our cultural tourism specialist. And with that, I will turn it over to Lori.

Thank you so much, City Manager. Thank you for having us tonight. We're very excited to present on this topic. We're going to have a pretty concise presentation for you today. I hope we have some room for questions. We do want to ask the council, please consider accepting the BRTPA Advisory Board's recommendation and direct staff to return with legislation as part of the 27 budget process to support expenditure consistent with the annual budget strategic plan as recommended by this advisory board. And with that, we're going to get right into it.

We'll hand over to Liz. This presentation will cover an overview of the TPA program, a review of 2025, and a summary of 2026 progress so far. Finally, the overview of 2027 annual budget and strategic plan. And now I'm going to hand it over to our BRTPA Advisory Board Chair, Wade Hashimoto.

Thank you very much, Mr mayor and honor council members. Thank you for taking the time tonight to listen to our presentation. So, just for your knowledge, tourism is a significant driver to our local economy. Not sure if, you know, overnight visitors contribute more than a 2.5%. spend and over and above their lodging cost in our local communities so helping sustain restaurants local businesses attractions and entertainment venues beyond its economic benefit tourism also contributes to a higher quality of life not only for these visitors but for our residents The amenities that appeal to visitors, dynamic culinary options, cultural and recreational experiences, as well as well kept public space and local activities are equally appreciated by all people who live and work here. The Bellevue Redmond TPA Advisory Board is actually made up of eight members, four from Bellevue and four from Redmond. These are local stakeholders and industry experts and the board gives shares of their expertise in developing this plan and tourism has grown with the sustainability measures, exciting programming and transportation options being added thanks to the TPA. We really take it into consideration. Future outlook for a robust growth in our tourism market here in Bellevue. Here's how this works. Lodging establishment collects 2 dollars and 50 cents per night fees from every overnight guests. And then we submit those funds to the Washington Department of Revenue. The department then transfers the revenue to the city of Bellevue, which serves as a legislative authority for the BRTPA. All funds are held in a dedicated account, completely separate from the city's general fund.

Can you just pause for a second?

Sure. Would you please ask them to just move five feet that way, or close the door maybe, one of them? Please go ahead.

Thank you. Mayor. Thank you very much. The city also maintains district financial accounts for the Bellevue and Redmond zones. Dollars generated within each zone are reinvested solely in tourism promotion for that specific area, ensuring that local contributions directly support local benefits. Now in our third year, the TPA is currently undergoing a financial and administrative review, ensuring that TPA dollars are spent appropriately and in line with the interlocal agreements between both cities.

Now we'll go into some highlights showing what TPA fees can do for their communities. And we can see exciting developments in both zones. In the Bellevue zone in 2025, TPA funds have helped bring 2.2 million overnight visitors to the city, generating over 2 billion in economic impact and supporting many local jobs. The Bellevue Airport Shuttle takes visitors to and from SEA Airport from convenient locations at 11 hotels in Bellevue. Bellhop recently welcomed its 250,000th rider. Yes. Our welcome kiosks present in many hotels are translated into many languages, allowing visitors to access up to date information on where to go or what to eat in the city in their own language. Culinary tourism has grown with the growth of themed food weeks. With the World Cup happening this year, hotel packages have helped keep spending local by offering local promotions with overnight stays. TPA investment has played a key role in this growth. There are several notable highlights from the Redmond zone as well. Based on 2024 occupancy data, the city of Redmond welcomed over 400,000 overnight visitors, reflecting strong overnight tourism growth. The Redmond Zone has invested in enhanced data analytics, key in understanding the efficacy of its tourism marketing and programming. Understanding what works best will allow for smart investment of future funds, driving decisions in a focused way. In 2026, tourism programming continued to grow with Pupchella taking place recently. Yes, Pupchella. Dog-friendly hotel packages welcoming visitors with pets to Redmond. Without TPA funding, this growth would not be possible. And before we get into the strategic plans, here's the budget that was developed for 2027. The board has been deliberating for months and has carefully considered the allocations to each category before coming to what you see before you. Both zones have a healthy reserve balance to draw from, and the Redmond zone is drawing $138,033. The differing amounts allotted to each bucket after the Department of Revenue and the City of Bellevue's administrative fees reflect the individual needs and priorities for each zone. For example, while the Bellevue zone invests in festivals and events, the tourism structure in Redmond has this covered by their lodging tax committee. These numbers are a projection on our maximum amount for the 2027 calendar year. Any additional revenue will go into each zone's reserves.

Okay, we're now going to turn our attention to 2027 and that proposed budget and strategic plans budgets for both zones here to allowable use and follow the same formats. Revenues will be used in inheritance to the. Interlocal agreements for activities designed to create tourism and convention business. While the framework is shared, each zone's budget is independently developed to reflect distinct tourism priorities and the community needs. Please note that the full budget and high-level work plan have been provided as an attachment. Final scopes of the work will come to Council during contracting process later in the year. Here we present some highlights from Bellevue's own strategic plan. Visit Bellevue has a variety of programs and initiatives in the strategic plan, all of which aim to make the city a desirable place to visit. Many of these programs have started, but in 2027, we'll see significant expansion and new offerings within program areas. Visitor mobility has an exciting new addition. A cruise shuttle, which would now take visitors to Seattle cruise terminals, giving cruisers peace of mind as they travel and offer Bellevue up as a huge visitor market to the Puget sound. The destination stewardship development has exciting new programs, including. Sustainable tourism initiatives, which allow local businesses an opportunity to earn national recognized sustainability certificates. Something that is increasingly important to our eco conscious traveler and planners. Finally, signature events will put Bellevue on the map for a variety of exciting events and programs. You see an example of popular, on the slide is the popular cake picnic that is sponsored by Visit Bellevue. Here we see some of the overall goals for the Bellevue Zone by the end of 2027. In 2027, we hope to welcome a new goal, 2.5 million visitors, which would represent a 300,000 person increase from the 2025 benchmark. Exciting programming will entice visitors to stay during the weekend and increase weekend occupancies to a targeted 69% occupancy. By achieving these goals, we would support 14,000 local jobs and generate 142 million in state and local taxes. As illustrated here, Bellevue welcomed over 2.2 million overnight visitors in 2025, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Goals for 2026 and 2027 reflects a sustained trajectory of growth. Continued investment in the TPA will help us sustain and build on all the successful growth. Redmond's strategic plan, let's talk a little bit about Redmond. Redmond's strategic plan allows the zone to continue to growing with marketing and communication at the forefront of hoteliers in the zone. Investments in marketing will continue to develop the image of Redmond in the tourism market, attracting visitors who are interested in a well-placed city surrounded by nature. Destination sales remains very important with the intent of increasing group business and overnight stays. One exciting addition to Redmond or the Redmond Zone is Red Link, which is just like our bellhop initiative that we pioneered here in Bellevue. This is a free on-demand shuttle that will move visitors as well as residents alike around their city, capitalizing on the opening of the light rail and helping riders with their last mile connections. For the Redmond zone, the goal is to increase overnight visitors by 5% by the end of 2026, bringing in approximately 420,000 overnight visitors to enjoy the city and bringing an additional economic impact of $13.9 million. Doing so will take a multi-layered approach. With recent investments in data analytics, Redmond now has a reliable benchmark for its efforts. Improving on these benchmarks will ensure that marketing campaigns and programming remains effective. Redmond will continue to develop its specialized tourism programming while dog tourism has seen great success. Redmond is now looking into positioning itself within the wellness market with examples like forest bathing. I didn't know what that was at first either, but I figured out it's not really bathing. It's a wellness activity where you really become in tune with nature, and you're surrounding yourself with almost like zen meditation. A nature practice that invites people to slow down, immerse themselves in sights and sounds of the forest, and experience its restorative benefits. Wellness tourism can help bring a high-value visitor who stays longer, spends more on local services, and supports small businesses such as guides, spas, retailers, and outdoor recreation providers. It also helps diversify the tourism economy and creates year-round demand supporting the city's economic resilience.

All right. Thank you so much for your time today, and we are welcoming any questions that you might have.

Thank you so much. Great presentation. Thank you so much for being here, Chair. Let's just start with going around the room. Council Member Somadeviro, we'll start with you.

Thank you for the presentation. By the way, that cake walk was very exciting. I don't even eat cake. I look at it, it makes me so happy. Thank you for planning that. And I heard that was sold out right after release, right? It was. In seconds. Very quickly. Thank you. I just have a few questions, just I think actually two mostly. One of them, I was wondering, you know, the Art and Culture and Innovation Initiative, I find that very exciting. And how does it translate to exactly the dollar allocated to marketing and communication for, I say, the branding of the East Side?

The budget overall is fairly high level at this point. We do continue to refine before we come back with contracts later in the year. Although I'll look to Liz if you had any specific call-outs in your conversation so far.

As of right now, I think we, we're really looking to put something in that will excite creativity and also play upon what we're seeing as signature events for each of the zones. Well, Redmond should not try and be Bellevue and Bellevue shouldn't try to be Redmond. So I really feel that when you're trying to take a. You know, a leap of faith. We're opening ourselves up to, again, creative ideas. Again, this is more the ideation phase and not necessarily the building a formal plan. We'll come back with that.

I think, would there be any collaboration with our commission in here? Okay, great. Thank you.

Absolutely.

Perfect. Thank you so much. Let's see. I think that's all my questions. And I have other questions I emailed you guys already, so feel free to email me back. Thank you so much for your presentation.

Thank you so much, Councillor Massimo Deverio. Councillor Robinson.

Mayor, Chair Hashimoto, it's nice to see you. I was curious who was on the council. So it'd be nice to put everybody's names somewhere in this material.

I'd be happy to do a follow-up on that for you, Council Member Robinson.

That would be great. So I love what you do. I've been watching this for the two years that we've been funding this and Of course, I think what I really liked what you said about the benefits not just to tourists but also to the people that live in the area and The bellhop is a great example of that but you know, I'm really interested in supporting big events kind of like the rock and roll marathon and And I thought, gosh, we have one of the top bluegrass conferences or whatever events in the United States, if not the world, here right in Bellevue every year, and nobody knows about it. I'm wondering if Bellevue or this Council can take on Winter Grass and promote it and really make us proud of it because it's such an amazing event and so few people who live in Bellevue know about it.

Yeah. One of the things that could really support things like Wintergrass and other events that are starting to come up and develop is there's an arts and festivals incubator with Visit Bellevue. So if, say, Wintergrass wanted to expand, move into that second, third, fourth hotel, they could have access to additional marketing funds through Visit Bellevue, funded in large part, actually, by the TPA. So that's a program that's currently in place that could help organizations like Wintergrass. But there's also lots of levels to that fund. So organizations that are newer to large scale events and by large scale, I really mean events that drive heads in beds that have those overnight stays. They have some entry level for those grants as well.

Well, it just seems like it's been going on in our city for how many years now?

Yeah. 10? 20.

20.

A long time.

We stole them from Tacoma. And it's all people staying over in hotels. So I would really like to see how we might, without forcing them to expand, take something that already exists and promote it a little more to the people that live in this city.

To the local audience.

Yeah. Thank you.

Absolutely. Thank you, Council Member Robinson. Council Member Breyer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the fun presentation. I think we could all use a wellness bath. So thank you for teaching me about what that is. I just have no substantial comments. I think this is just fantastic. I'm very excited and on board. One thing I wanted to ask is if I'm able to informally or formally influence the programs. The only reason is, and it feels like a full circle moment, is prior to joining the council, I had bothered Lori and talked her ear off about this program and how Timbaland, the producer for Justin Timberlake, is interested in doing some sort of talent show. Rainn Wilson, Dwight from the office, had reached out about potentially getting involved as well. So if I can be of any help, please consider me a resource. Not sure if that dynamic is allowed, but I'm just going to set that on the table. If you pick it up, not my fault. And that's it from my end. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Council Member Breyer. Council Member Bargava.

Thank you, Mayor, and really appreciate the presentation and all the work that's gone in. It's definitely a win-win in every way that we can think of. So great work. Congratulations on what you continue to do for Bellevue and Redmond. Two really quick things. One, you mentioned something about cruise connections, which I think was really a great idea. This also came up during the pre-FIFA presentation that we had seen. And I was curious if you had any serious uptake on those cruise connections during FIFA and if that's been sort of an encouraging signal. Any data that we have on that?

I'm sorry.

I will say that it was brand new launched kind of right as FIFA was coming out. So I don't think we have a good benchmark against a pre-FIFA state. We were happy that that service came online in service for that event. But unfortunately, we didn't have that pre-look to see how there was a comparative. We will continue moving forward and we'll have more information as that exits its pilot phase at the end of this year and moves into what we hope will be a more regular operation in 27.

And one thing I can add, Councilmember, the catalyst to the cruise connection was the airport connection, which was also funded by TBA dollars. I don't know many places that offer a discounted visitor option, right, to go to the airport. And it's been hugely successful through all the partners, not just with our visitors, but I know there are some locals that take advantage of it, too. So that's where I think that natural connection growth would be to connect cruising because there's always been this desire for our, you know, it's a little known fact that the Alaska cruise is probably the more expensive cruise and the target audience has definitely capital to spend, want to spend it in Bellevue, right? So let's have them stay here.

I totally agree. I think this is a really great idea and we are the launching pad for many of those cruises. around the nation. So, you know, we have a captive audience that's coming here and leveraging that to come to bring them to Bellevue or our region is definitely a great opportunity. The only other comment quickly I'll make here is, you know, I spent 10 years almost in the, or seven years in the Midwest. And one of the things that, you know, I used to go to and I found was a very big national draw is the Jazz Festival in Chicago. We have a really great location here in downtown Bellevue. We've proven our ability to host large events. And so the incubation program you mentioned here, I would really encourage us to think as big as we can with the dollars we have in creating events that would have potentially regional and national draws. So just a suggestion.

Thank you. I know that Brad Jones from Visit Bellevue is a huge supporter of larger events, and he and I get together and discuss those things. So we'll keep that definitely in mind. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor. Thanks for the presentation, Chair Hashimoto. Appreciate all of the effort that you and the other members of the BRTPA have put into preparing this recommendation for us. Generally supportive of the tourism promotion area concept. I like how ours is run, and I think that the Bellevue Zone strategic plan is well-focused. and two and a half million visitors to Bellevue next year certainly sounds wonderful. So I'll appreciate seeing you back here and how well we've gone about accomplishing that goal. So thank you. Ready to move forward.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much again. Thank you for great presentation. I just have one quick question. Great comprehensive plan. Fast forward five years from now, what do you think Bellevue has the biggest opportunity to stand out from other cities that are competing for the same visitors that we are competing for?

That's a very good outlook question, Mr. Mayor. I do know that we, I used to work in Seattle. I was on the Seattle's STIA, the TIA, they have a tourist inclusion area. And they really compare themselves with Who are you trying to attract? The target audience. Seattle is not Bellevue. And we also want to make sure that we are focused on what we can attract capacity-wise. So I think that a lot of what we want to do is make sure that we're properly funded to continue to invest in unique activities. Things will make sure that we connect our visitors to things that are identifiable to Bellevue. and then we want to make sure that we have capacity to to host these events too we are at a shortfall we we don't have a lot of hotel growth planned for the immediate future for five years i know there's a couple things in the pipe um but we are limited as to total available room nights as a zone for ourselves and redmond so i think what the focus attention is to continue to lay lean into some of the things that we've seen momentum and success 1 of the things that I think our guests really relate to is culinary tourism and wellness. Those are things I think they're synonymous with where is growing and I'd like to see us continue to go and focus on those efforts right? Be a conduit to. Good business and really being partners to generating this. insightful curiosity where we get everyone to come to Bellevue because we've got the places to go and eat. I think that's a great, I don't even go to Seattle anymore. I just hang out down here in Bellevue. So just speaking.

We appreciate that.

Yeah. I'm a resident of Redmond, but we'd love to enjoy Bellevue.

Thank you so much. And I think as you all mentioned, tourism is about visitors, but it's about also supporting all of those restaurants, retailers, hotels, art organization, and all of them, and all of our residents who are working for all of these businesses. So I think it's a whole ecosystem. So I really appreciate the strategy and all of the comprehensive work that you guys did for our economy. Can I get the motion, please?

I move to accept the BRTPA Advisory Board recommendation and direct staff to return with legislation as part of the 2027 budget process to support expenditure consistent with the annual budget and strategic plan as recommended by the board.

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. Thank you so much again for being here, Chair. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Honorable Council Members. We appreciate your support.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent calendar.

Second.

has been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Council Member Brouillard. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes. Let's just go through our first study session. City Manager, would you please introduce that to us?

Deputy Mayor and Council, so one of the most exciting milestones in the evolution of a park is its formal name. And tonight, staff are seeking direction from council on a proposed name for the park at the corner of Main Street and 112th Avenue Southeast. We're joined this evening by Chair Rowena Klima. She's chair of the Parks and Community Services Board. Cameron Parker, our assistant director in Parks and Community Services. And Betsy Anderson, a senior planner. And with that, I am going to hand this over to Cameron.

All right.

Thank you so much, City Manager Carlson, and good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council Members. Certainly, naming a park is an honor and privilege that few people get, so it is with excitement and gratitude that we are here as staff and along with the Parks and Community Services Board to make a recommendation and seek the Council's preferred name for this park at Main Street and 112th. to guide us through um betsy will talk a little bit about the background and uh go over the park or the city's park naming process as well as the community engagement that occurred as part of that and then chair klima will talk through the board's recommended name and some of the reasoning and conversation that the board had in coming to that recommendation and then we'll end with next steps and turn it back to you for discussion

Great. Thank you, Cameron. And good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council Members. It's a pleasure to be here with you this evening to be discussing this park site again. And you'll remember that we brought the park to you back in the May 19th study session presentation. So we'll be providing a bit of background context summarizing what was covered in that presentation and then dive into the naming process itself. City Council Chambers, You can see here on the slide the location of the park on the corner of main street and 112th avenue southeast we are just to the north of the east main light rail station and just as a reminder from the may study session presentation. The park was acquired and constructed by Sound Transit as part of the two-line light rail project and was transferred to the city in 2024. So it's somewhat unusual for us to obtain an already constructed park. And so that's why we're undertaking the naming process now while the park is still developed. And you can go out and visit it if you haven't had a chance. There's a wonderful accessible pathway winding through the site with a large open lawn area that you can see here. Oops, I went one too far. So this image also gives a wonderful feel for the current conditions on the park site itself. And as Council will remember from the May presentation, the site has also been identified as a location for a commemoration project to honor Japanese American heritage in Bellevue. And for some context on that project, the city has been working closely with the community organization, ESOM Bellevue, for the past few years to identify a suitable and feasible site for this project. ESOM Bellevue is an organization that is devoted to commemorating and celebrating Bellevue's Japanese American heritage, as well as building understanding of the impacts of the World War II incarceration on the Bellevue Japanese American community. The Council in 2023 allocated funding to Bellevue Parks and Community Services to develop a feasibility study and a concept design for the park site, working in concert with ESOM Bellevue. And so in the May study session presentation, Council had the opportunity to take a look at this concept in a little bit more detail. You can see it here as well from above. ESOM Bellevue has committed to fundraising for design and construction for the project. And it was the design that you see here was wrapped up in late 2025. So as the city's collaboration with Eson Bellevue was taking place, staff were also working closely with the community to identify a name for the park site. And Council Resolution 10151, which you see summarized on this slide, outlines the city's park and facility naming process. And you can see the first four criteria identified here on the slide define the types of names, different types of categories that park names may fall within. And then the fifth criterion is an overarching requirement that states that names should also meet other city priorities, including diversity, equity, and inclusion. The council resolution also states that council shall designate the names for public parks and facilities and that council may also seek a recommendation from the Parks and Community Services Board that's informed by public input. And to seek the public input for this park naming process, staff initiated a community survey beginning in spring of 2025. And that survey is typical way we kick off these naming processes. It was released in the six most spoken languages within one-third of a mile of the park. And it was also promoted in a neighborhood news article on a project web page. We also used social media posts, postcards, and some yard signs that were posted in the park and in nearby areas. And you can see an image of one of those signs up in the right-hand corner of the image with the QR code. For the community survey process for this park, we had a large number of responses, so it was very successful. We received 258 different name suggestions, which is quite high for us, from 157 different respondents. So that was exciting, and park staff had the opportunity to screen those name suggestions against the city's naming policy criteria. And kind of using that filter, we arrived at a shorter list, still had 30 different name options included. And then staff conducted additional research on those 30 name options to arrive at a shorter list of nine options to present to the Parks and Community Services Board. Those name options were presented at the May Park Board meeting, along with background information on the park site and also the Easton Bellevue Partnership. And this next slide shows those nine options. And you can see that they're grouped into five categories. A lot of the community suggestions represented variations on a theme. So for example, there were a large number of respondents who, suggested names that referenced the park's location on Main Street. Similarly, there were a large number of commenters who suggested names that connected to Bellevue's history, heritage, and also legacy and tradition, and actually some of those name suggestions were provided in English, and then we also received the suggestion of the word Isan, which is the Japanese word for legacy or heritage. The third grouping is pretty self-explanatory, but those names that reference the mountain were inspired by the view of Mount Rainier that can be enjoyed from the park on a clear day. And then the last two speak more specifically to Bellevue and to the Japanese American community. So the Bellevue Japanese American Legacy Park, Proposed name is a specific reference to the commemoration project and Bellevue Nikkei Park refers, Nikkei broadly refers to people of Japanese ancestry outside Japan on a worldwide level and the Bellevue component ties that more directly to the city. In addition to preparing these name options for park board review, staff also provided background research on each of the names and also some information about how commonly and widely used the names were in other communities, either locally or nationally, because we always try to be as unique as possible with our park names. And so with that, I'm very pleased to hand the floor over to Chair Kalima, who will describe the park board deliberation and recommendation.

Thank you. Thank you, City Council, for giving the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Board the opportunity to provide a recommendation for the name of the park located at Main Street and 112th Avenue Southeast. After careful deliberation of the nine name options presented during the board meeting on May 20th, 2026, the board unanimously recommends the name Eson Park to City Council for consideration. The board recommends Isan Park because this name greatly reflects the voice of the community. Isan, which means legacy and heritage, were suggested in both English and Japanese by community members who responded to the naming survey. The board appreciates the community's suggestion to select a name that would provide an opportunity to share an important part of Bellevue's history, honor the local Japanese community, and support the Japanese American Legacy Project. Easton meets city naming criteria three and five as a name with historical and cultural significance. Oh, thank you. And as a name that reflects the city's values, including diversity, equity, and inclusion. During the discussion about the name, the board clarified that naming the park Easton Park would not be naming the park after the organization Easton Bellevue, but emphasized instead that The park name selection, like the organization name, is intended to communicate a strong sense of Bellevue's heritage and connection to the Japanese American community. In addition to the meaning of the name, the board liked how Isan Park is a regionally and nationally unique name. There are no other Isan parks, and so there would be no confusion with other parks. The name Isan is one of the shortest park names in Bellevue. And finally, if you squint at an aerial map of the park carefully, some say the existing pathways already spell out Yusan. Thank you again, City Council, for considering the board's recommended name, Eson Park. I'll now turn it over to Betsy Anderson for next steps.

Great. Thank you, Chair Kleeman. Just have a quick timeline slide to share with Council, which shows where we are in the naming process and other key milestones for this park site. And want to thank you for your time this evening and the opportunity to share this naming process. We look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you so much, both Cameron and Betsy. I see Meredith on the backs. Thank you for being here, and welcome again, I guess. Chair Kilima, thank you so much. Representing the Parks Board, I see Eric Drever also. Audience, thank you for all of your work and everyone who participated. It sounds like there was a very, very thoughtful public process, and I really appreciate the effort to find a name that reflects our community input and also our future vision for this park. Councillor Biryar, we'll start with you.

Thank you, Mayor.

This is the best part of being on the council is getting to approve really amazing things like this. I think the name that the board has recommended speaks directly to the site's future as home to the Japanese American Legacy Project commemoration led by Esan Bellevue. And it reflects on our history, quite honestly, and reconciles it. I think this name sets the tone for what we're going to build there. Like I said, a public space that honors its history, but also includes artwork that enables metaphysical reflection. And in this case, a metaphysical reflection of the name and the path now, which is very cool and comprehensive. So I just want to thank the Parks Board for the thoughtful deliberation and the community members who contributed suggestions. I think the biggest concern I had back early in spring was just making sure that Japanese American residents also had a say in this. And so I'm happy to support this recommendation and move it forward. It's with great honor and pleasure. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Councillor Brewer. Councillor Bhargava.

Yeah, I just have to say thank you for all the great work. I love the idea of the park. I love all the things the park has come to represent. And I'm fully supportive of the recommendation. Thank you for the work to the commission. So no more comments from me. Just gratitude.

Thank you so much. Councillor Robinson.

I was trying to look up the name of this book I read. It's called A Cold Wind, and it's by one of our Japanese American community, I think a son of somebody who was interned in the camps. And it's such a powerful story of the generational impact of that experience. And so to celebrate our heritage, but also to remember what happened, I can't think of a better way to do this. And I just want to thank you, Chair, and the Parks Board for their strong, I'm sure, discussions and thoughts on how best to commemorate and name this park. And I think it's a wonderful name. And I do hope that we continue to celebrate and remember and never forget. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mayor. And first of all, I love this name. Thank you so much for picking it and for your hard work. By thinking about over 200 names, that just show how excited our residents are. And that's rare to find sometimes for 200 just for one park. And at City of Bellevue, we are a city, park in the city, city in the park, but any. The city with many parks we love, that's what matters. And I think that the part that we can actually honoring our Japanese American residents who's been here for so long. And I think it's overdue for us to honoring their heritage and culture. This just one of the many pieces our city is honoring their heritage and the contribution to our community, especially there's many leaders in our community actually have heritage tied, family tied to that unfortunate situation that in the history we wish we need to honor forever. So thank you so much. That's really heartfelt. I'm really touched. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councillor Maduveria. Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you. Appreciate the presentation, Chair Klima, Board Member Drever, and all of the Park Board members. I appreciate the effort put into this recommendation. I love the Japanese American Legacy Project that is planned for the new park, and I think the Park Board has recommended a name that perfectly suits a park that is designed to inspire education and reflection. The legacy of Japanese Americans in our city, our country, and in our defense of democracy in World War II is one we should reflect on, learn from, and honor. And this park with the name Esan Park helps us do just that. I appreciate all of the efforts of Esan Bellevue, the community, and the Parks Board. I'm fully in support and ready to move forward with the Park Board's recommendation. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much. I just have one quick question. It's kind of not related to this naming, but it's maybe related. You guys did a great job engaging with community. Has there been any lesson learned for the future naming of another park or in general our effort to be much better as a city to engage with our community? Has there been any lesson learned that you can share with us that we learned just through this process?

I can speak to that in part at least. We have begun to incorporate more deliberate research into our park naming processes, so both on the staff side and as we solicit community feedback, just to request additional background information as much as possible. from community members who are making those suggestions and also to the extent possible providing more information about the history of a site so that there could be some more greater awareness of that as a naming process kicks off.

Then hopefully we are going to share all of these great lesson learns with the whole city and our community engagement efforts. Can I get the motion please?

say the correct name of that book that I referenced? It's called A Cold Wind from Idaho and it's by Lawrence Matsuda. Thank you.

Thank you so much for that correction.

With great honor, I move to direct staff to prepare a resolution to formalize the name Ysan Park for the park site located at Main Street and 112th Avenue Southeast as recommended by the Parks and Community Services Board. Second.

It's been moved by Council Member Briar and seconded by Council Member Sommadevaraya. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Congratulations. Thank you. On this fun note, we are going to take a break. Thank you.

Thank you.

We are going to be back by 7.28, 10 minutes. We start over. Thank you so much. We are back and we continue with our second study session. City Manager, would you introduce that to us?

Yes, thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and council members. Leading up to the budget process, we wanted to provide a study session this evening aimed at really providing some additional information about the transportation needs and also some look at the transportation benefit district of funding. tool to provide additional funding for transportation. The intent really is to help get the community and the council more information about how we've put together the information that shares our transportation needs and also what our existing revenues can support and what the transportation benefit district will also allow us to support should there be support to move that forward. the staff tonight will outline the needs and our approach our new approach to capital delivery they'll also explore a little bit more detail about the transportation benefit district sources and then highlight how our public engagement process is being structured to help inform what we eventually come to present to you in the proposed budget in September So from the Transportation Department, we have our director, Andrew Singalakis, Mark Poe, our deputy director, Laura Milstead, who's the public information officer really working on this project. And in the audience, we have our chief financial officer, John Resha, who will be available as well to answer questions. And with that, I'll hand it over to Andrew.

Well, thank you, City Manager Carlson, Mayor Malacoutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, and City Council. Next slide, please. And as Diane mentioned, this study session is for information only. And we thought that it'd be a good place to help define transportation need in Bellevue and to take a look at our current financial situation and demonstrate how additional resources can move the needle in terms of capital investment in the face of significant growth that we will see in the next two decades. We also reiterate our new project management portfolio approach to the planning, which will be part of the upcoming budget process as well. And offer glimpses and insights to what you're going to see in September when this comes back to you again with Diane's budget proposal. And tonight we'll cover the system wide transportation that addresses growth, livability and safety in Bellevue. We'll also take a look at our base budget of the life of the along with additional revenues that could be generated through a transportation benefit district. Next slide. Again, here's the agenda. We will talk about the growth and mobility needs of the city, the transportation infrastructure needs, aligning revenues and needs, and the public engagement process and what you can expect for next step. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mark.

Thanks, Andrew. Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members. We'll go ahead and start with growth and mobility. And that really starts with our comprehensive plan, which outlines the growth that we'll have over the next 20 years. That includes 35,000 new housing units, 70,000 new jobs, 77,000 new residents. And that leads to more people traveling in more ways across our city. which leads to the need for safe and reliable access to schools, jobs, parks, also not listed there, regional transportation as well. And as the hub of the east side, we are also the hub for a lot of the transit that has been developed regionally to promote mobility in the region. Really our role should be to connect to that regional transportation multimodally through sidewalk improvements, bike improvements, vehicular improvements, And as we do that, we also make inner city connections as well for those that are connecting and traveling within the city limits. Another way that we can look at this growth is in terms of new round trips that we'll see in the city. And the way that we can do this is with our Bellevue-Kirkland-Redmond traffic model, our BKR model. This includes all the expected growth in the comprehensive plan. And then in turn, it forecasts trip making by mode in 2044. And the results are pretty interesting. This graph, a little busy, I apologize for that. But as you read from left to right, you can see the round trips both existing in the darker green bar and to come in 20 years with growth in the lighter green bar. As you read across, you can see the mode of transportation. I'm just going to point out three things on this graph. First of all, if you look at the first four modes from the left, Trip making that's either by non motorized need, or by high occupancy vehicle will consist of about two thirds of the trip making in 2044. so that's a lot of the trips that are made by something other than a single occupancy vehicle. I'LL ALSO POINT OUT THE LAST TWO BARS ON THE RIGHT, THE HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE AND SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLE, THAT WILL STILL COMPRISE THE BULK OF OUR TRIP MAKING. AND THEN FINALLY IN TERMS OF GROWTH BY MODE, THE FIRST THREE MODES ON THE LEFT, BIKE, WALKING AND MASS TRANSIT ARE GOING TO GROW BY FAR THE MOST. AND YOU CAN SEE THOSE INCREASES LISTED ON THE MAP. IF YOU ROLL ALL THIS UP, Today, we have about three quarters of a million round trips that occur on your average weekday. By 2044, that number will approach a million. And so that's about a 28% increase that is forecasted by our modeling. That's a lot of trips.

Next slide.

We can also look at the need in terms of system performance, and that's in our mobility implementation plan. We know from our MIP that portions of Bellevue have no walking or rolling or bike facilities. We also know that by 2044, about 17 of our intersections will not meet their vehicular capacity targets. Over on the right side of this slide, we look at the pedestrian and biking mode first for walking and rolling. And when we say rolling, I just want to explain that term. We're acknowledging those that use mobility assist when they're in the pedestrian mode, whether it be a wheelchair or a walker. So we want to recognize that that's an important part of what we plan for. So the darker or the green bar on the bottom indicates for walking the arterial streets in Bellevue that have a complete walking system. The middle bar, 30% have some sort of walking facility, but doesn't meet current targets. And on top, fully 28% of our arterial streets have no walking facility at all. For biking, not all of our arterial streets are on the bike network, but for those that are, 24% meet current performance targets and fully two-thirds have no facility at all. So now I'll talk about needs more in terms of some of the planning that we've done here at the city. And that starts with our Transportation Improvement Program. It's an important planning tool under the GMA. We get projects for this plan from multiple sources. It's required by state law. Projects have to be in the TIP to be grant eligible, which is important consideration. You may recall last month, Council adopted the 27 to 32 TIP. And it really is the best representation of the overall transportation infrastructure needs in Bellevue. The city manager and Andrew also mentioned our move to portfolio project management for how we manage our capital plan. That capital plan, again, is the six-year plan that's funded. It shows what we'll actually build and deliver in the next six years. It's updated every two years. And previous capital plans are really placed together, individual programs, a number of them, individual projects, kind of difficult to follow, not consistent with how we do capital planning in other departments of the city. And it's not organized by travel mode. So if you're looking for your project or want to know how many projects of a certain type we have, it's very difficult to follow. So with the portfolio approach, portfolio, just think of it as a folder. Open up that folder. That folder is named Transportation, Mobility, and Safety. We do view safety as something that all of our programs will address over time. Within that folder, there'll be five programs, and I'll introduce those programs on the next slide. What this does for us, it helps get our CIP more organized and understandable, more of a consistent approach for advancing projects, easier to show met and unmet needs. So here's our five program areas. I'll let you take a look at those. They're pretty intuitive. I'm not gonna give you project examples yet. That will come up a little bit later in the presentation. Ped bike mobility, major projects, vehicle mobility, neighborhood mobility, and preservation. All right, now let's talk about the needs in terms of the value of the TIP. So if you look at the TIP and all the projects in it, it rolls up to about $1.5 billion of need, and that's represented by this bar. Now that we've introduced those five program areas, we can take that same bar of $1.5 billion and break it up into how many of the projects fit in each of those five programs. You can see about a half billion fit into our major projects category, just shy of a half billion in ped bike, quarter billion in vehicular, and then 172 million and 158 million respectively for neighborhood and preservation. We also intentionally designed these five program areas to help us grow, but help us grow responsibly and keeping in mind safety and livability. So three of the five program areas are really more targeted at infrastructure growth. That's the major projects, and you can see some examples on your slide. A great example of this would be Northeast Spring Boulevard, our missing arterial link on Spring. In pedestrian and bicycle, making those connections, new sidewalks and bike lanes. Great example of that would be the Southeast 34th street gap in the sidewalk in the Boston neighborhood. And then the vehicular program that not only has the ability to widen intersections for vehicular capacity, but also to imply or apply smart mobility programs to get the most out of our system without widening the road. The remaining two programs are really targeted specifically at livability. We've done a great job planning for growth. We know where that growth is gonna go, downtown Wilberton, Bell Red. We have non-growth areas of Bellevue, some of our great neighborhoods, for instance. So we wanna make sure that we continue to invest in those areas as we grow over the next 20 years. That's what these two programs are really envisioned to help us do. Neighborhood speed management, Vision Zero project development, Safe Routes to School are some examples there. And then paying attention to the investments that we've already made in our system to make sure that they continue to be functional in our preservation program. All right, now let's talk about aligning revenues with those needs that we just went over. So again, back to the bar chart on the top bar there, that again is that need of 1.5 billion broken up by program. Now we're introducing what we anticipate the available revenues to be over the next 20 years for a base budget, balanced budget condition. That's about $686 million. And you can see how that is relative to the need. Meets a lot of the need, but not all of the need. And this is why I wanna reintroduce to you the concept of the Transportation Benefit District. Council did establish a TBD back in 2023, but it has not been assumed or funded. And just some reminders, it's an independent taxing district authorized by the Council. GENERATES FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS ONLY. SOME OF THE REVENUE SOURCES AVAILABLE INCLUDE SALES TAX AND A VEHICLE REGISTRATION FEE. HAS SOME ACCOUNTABILITY BUILT IN THROUGH ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL REPORTING. ONE THING THAT I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THIS EVENING IS THAT TBD'S ARE PRETTY COMMON IN OUR REGION. KING COUNTY HAS 19 JURISDICTIONS WITH TBD'S ALONE. All our neighbors, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Mercer Island, Seattle, all have TBDs. A little bit about funding the district. Again, I mentioned the sales tax increase. That would raise about $11 million annually, and then the vehicle registration fee would add about $2 million to that for a total of $13 million annually possible through the TBD. What's that mean for the average household in Bellevue? About $57 annually for the sales tax, and then simply add $20 to that for each registered vehicle at that household. All right, so now we can add the TBD as a possibility to that funding mix. TBD over 20 years anticipated to raise just over a quarter billion dollars. That gets us close to about a billion dollars in revenue. And that's reflective of a 90% of the TBD revenues going to transportation capital, the subject of tonight's study session, and 10% going to the Grand Connection Crossing. All right, with that, I'm gonna turn it over to Laura to go over public engagement.

I'll take the clicker from you. Yeah, good evening. Yeah, our next few slides provide just a brief update on engagement activities so far as a part of this effort. And really, our engagement goals are to build awareness among our community members on why these investments are needed in our transportation infrastructure, both to prepare for growth, but also to help us meet and advance our safety goals. We are also specifically asking the community to share their transportation priorities via a survey, which is going to help inform the preliminary program area allocations that you will receive later in September. This slide just provides a quick snapshot of some of the public events and community events that we've participated in. That's been a major focus of this past month. Just a quick plug for those listening at home, we do have our virtual information session this upcoming Thursday, as you can see, and that information is available on our on our webpage, but we have a few more events on the calendar here in the next few weeks, and we'll continue to add to these as we identify other opportunities or are invited to participate in all of the great community events that are being put on this summer by various organizations and city departments. This slide shows the preliminary results that we have collected through that survey. And again, the main question being posed to the community is asking them to rank their top three project priorities, or in other words, projects they would like to see delivered more quickly if new funding were to become available. Of these preliminary results, we're seeing the top three that are emerging in the responses are maintaining our aging streets, incorporating or adding protected bike infrastructure, and projects that help increase access to transit. And then I will end here on just a quick recap of ways to stay engaged with us through this process. We are asking and hoping and encouraging the community to share their transportation priorities via our survey through August 20 and or reach out to us if they would like to connect their specific community association or neighborhood group to have a smaller form briefing with transportation staff. on our growth needs. And we will be monitoring the moving forward at Bellevue.gov email inbox throughout the entire budget process for folks to direct comments, questions and concerns. And we will we will provide a response. And with that, I'll hand it over to Mark for next steps.

Last slide. So I just wanna give a glimpse to what to expect in September with regards to the preliminary budget. So the preliminary budget will contain the base transportation CIP, the balanced budget approach to the CIP. A TBD enhanced transportation CIP will be provided as an option for additional capital for growth. That would require your opt-in. Both the base and the TBD scenarios will include the projects programmed into the five program areas. That will be for the six-year CIP period. We're also planning to put together a 10-year outlook to illustrate overall project delivery better into the future, particularly the differences between a base and a TBD scenario. That preliminary budget will be delivered at the Council meeting on September 15th. And then just a reminder that transportation will be back to study session on October 6th to present our budget. And of course, this will be one of the main topics of that budget presentation. And with that, I will hand it back to the mayor.

Thank you so much, guys. Andrew, Mark, Laura and the whole transportation team. Great job. John, I appreciate you also as well. I personally think this new program structures makes it much easier for the council and our public to understand where transportation thinking and dollars are going and why and I think this makes sense of your growing and we need to plan ahead. Let's just start with our Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. I certainly appreciate you coming back to us with another information session and as transportation is a prime focus of the upcoming budget, having ample opportunities to learn and provide feedback is critical. Just have a few comments and questions. I'm curious, you know, we just lowered the speed limits here in the city on many of the streets. And wondering if you've had the chance to assess system performance targets and gaps in the context of our recently changed speed limits.

Yeah, right now, the Transportation Commission is actually working on that to see what a reduced speed limit means for level of comfort for the different modes. In the case of downtown, we found that a lot of the targets for the pedestrian mode was actually improved as a result of lowering the speed limit. So that is ongoing work that's happening now at the commission.

that be incorporated into your budget recommendation going forward? Are you going to have information soon enough to do that?

In some ways, they're independent of each other. Because when you're talking about sidewalks downtown, improving the level of comfort, there's no real improvement that's going to be necessary for that. So I kind of think that you'll see more of it with the update of the MIP, the Mobility Implementation Plan. also the transportation master plan that's gonna be forthcoming next year as well.

Okay, good. In the presentation, in the agenda memo, it notes that 28% of arterial streets have no pedestrian facilities. And I'm curious to know what that number is for local and neighborhood streets.

So we got that number off of the mobility implementation plan that doesn't address local streets. We're not saying that it shouldn't. It probably should, and that's something I'm going to be working toward. I think I could get you an estimate on what that number is, but I don't have it at the top of my head right now.

Okay, great. Yeah, I'd appreciate that. And then, too, I wanted to... I think as we move forward, I would like us to be clear about our plans to not only improve pedestrian facilities in neighborhoods, in near local neighborhood streets, but to add new facilities there as well. And 64% of our arterial streets don't have any bicycle facilities at all. And I think that is an attention grabbing figure. And I hope it remains in focus as we move forward. There's plenty of work we need to do to address the lack of bicycle facilities around the city. I think maybe, and you kind of maybe alluded to this, but something along the lines of a bike facility master plan of sorts. Might be a good way for us to take a significant step forward.

Yeah, that would be a step within the transportation master plan. And 1 of the issues there is going to be identifying these major gaps. And then also costing them out and turning them into things or projects that could be developed later.

Okay, good. And this was already mentioned, but you know, certainly the focus on projects that help folks access light rail and transit without needing to drive, I think should remain a priority and to focus on projects that improve access to existing bike facilities, which was also mentioned. So appreciate that. I just think we need to make new strategic investments in our transportation infrastructure that help maximize investments that have already been made. Focusing on improving connections to existing infrastructure is critical. Appreciate the additional information and clarity regarding the transportation benefit district, how it functions and potential impacts. On our Transportation Benefit District webpage, we let folks know that a TBD would support our planned growth, shorten project delivery timelines, update streets to support all modes of travel, and help fund the construction of the Grand Connection Crossing. I think there's overwhelming support for those efforts. I would like to get just a little bit of clarity on the funding options. I know we can choose either or both, but I want to be clear. Slide 21, those are at the councilmanic level, right? That would be what we would do independently without going to a vote.

Yeah.

Okay. And two, Bellevue residents would pay approximately 30%. of a 0.1% sales tax and 70% would be paid by everyone else and then 90 to 95% of the $20 license plate fee would be paid by Bellevue residents, is that right?

Let me turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer.

Deputy Mayor, roughly speaking, we think about, as you're saying, about a third is paid by residents, about a third of sales tax is paid by businesses, including construction, and about a third is by visitors to the community. And so we do think about it that way, yes.

And then the TAB fee would be 90% to 95% paid for by residents.

That is a true statement as well.

Okay. So I know we have a ways to go, and I want to keep learning, of course, and collaborating with community members and my colleagues. But I'm inclined to believe that now is the right time for us to fund a TBD and get out in front of building transportation infrastructure that will make our neighborhoods safer and more functional, better support all modes of transportation needed in a modern city like ours. maintain what we've already built, and stay out in front of supporting growth. The level of detail in the program area examples suits me. The examples help us all understand that projects that are likely to move forward and don't lock us into early decisions that slow or stop us from making the progress we want to make to the system at large. We also have, and this was mentioned, also have the TIP inventory of projects to make it even more clear what specific transportation investments we're planning to make. With that again just appreciate the study session tonight to look forward to Seeing what makes it into the preliminary budget in September and then having you back to dig into the details in October Thank you.

Thank you deputy mayor till John you are here and the slide is that it just asked the clarification question So the 30 percent of 11 million is paid by Bellevue resident comparison 95 percent of 2 million

because the bulk of the vehicles are residential vehicles and we don't have a whole lot of fleets, corporate fleets.

100% of 2 million versus 30% of 11 million.

About 95%, yes. As Deputy Mayor was suggesting, it's about right, yes.

And then the sales tax would be still bigger from the Bellevue because 30% of 11 million is larger than 100% of 2 million. Is that correct? That is correct. Great. Council Member Robinson.

OK, thank you. I have so much to say. I've got all these notes. So first of all, with the funding, I would like you to next time bring us back a model that's just the sales tax. and then one that's a sales tax and the vehicle license fee, so we can see the difference in the numbers. So currently, we have some safe routes for bikes in our city, and we have some routes that are not safe at all. But not everybody knows the difference between the two. There's no signage that says if you're going from here and you want to end up there, you should take 1 10th, or 1 8th, sorry, 108th. And if you're going east-west, you should go this way. So I think we need to have a lot more signage. But it kind of makes me wonder, are we just going to make some routes safe, and we're going to keep other routes unsafe, and we're OK with that? I thought at public comment, we had a really good comment that said streets should be safe for everyone, regardless of the mode of transportation. So I agree with that. So on April 17th of 2025, you presented that the most vulnerable road user crashes occur at intersections. And tonight on slide nine, you illustrate the lack of infrastructure that we have. And so my recommendation is that number one, regardless of the budget, we identify and prioritize high risk network intersections. I just can't imagine if we know that that's a problem, we're not going to do that. So I'd really like to see that done. And then look at the budget. And I think that if we do a transportation improvement program, it should add protected bike lanes and multi-use paths with signage. I think we should get the spring district gap done, and we should definitely prioritize West Lake Sammamish Parkway. So those are my top items for using that type of funding.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Are you done?

I am.

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

Thank you for the presentation. As our city grows, this is so exciting to see what we can do. I really appreciate the way that you're improving the process where it's like, I don't know which slide was, it was just really, I think it's very effective how to break it down to the single portfolio versus so many different ones. So it's going to be really transparent and clear for our residents to understand.

Can you please go to that slide, please, if you don't mind? It's 12. Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Number 12. I just have a few questions. And let me see. Actually, one of the questions, it was not the one I shared, but I just wanted this out of curiosity. So I read somewhere. So we are doing the $20 on the vehicle registration, right? I just read the other day that about 10% of the Washington state residents don't pay their tab. That's about 600,000 vehicles per year. Do we know a percentage in Bellevue how many yes we don't pay tab? Ooh, yes.

Well, we, Council Member, while we don't know how many don't pay tabs, our estimates are based off of the number of vehicles that are actually paid and registered in Bellevue.

That's good. Thank you so much, because I was looking at them. I was like, okay, what are we going to do for the people? We're going to be projecting the budget, right? So thank you. That answer, the... But the first actual question was, so when in April we were talking about the 60% budget and then the 40% to major projects, and I see there's a shift to 90 to 10% TBD revenue. Can you kind of walk through that, the funding assumption now behind the 10% for the grant connection? And then like, how did they change through the process?

Councilmember, I appreciate that. We've been listening and we've been sharpening our pencils and we've been learning a whole lot through over the last few months. We started with our preliminary projections and have been refining that over the last few months. And by the time we get to September when we have the full package, you'll actually get to see the full financial stack at that point in time. But we've been very carefully listening and learning. really sharpening the pencil to make sure we've got the best approach to be able to bring forward both a no new revenues and a transportation benefit district scenario for your consideration.

Thank you for listening. That's really important. Thank you. I appreciate you. And my second question is, under the new portfolio management structure, because there's a lot of neighborhood that's underserved, you know, like Vasa neighborhood. There's so many neighborhoods out there. When I walk the side way, there's a lot of projects could help the resident and the kids feel safe. How are we going to track the progress in these underserved community versus like a bulk as a whole portfolio?

That is really a function of the mobility implementation plan, which was based upon some equity considerations in how we rank and projects. And then knowing where those areas are as well, and then mapping it on an ongoing basis so that we have a current inventory of what's actually out there. Then we can know whether or not those areas are being served or not. But there is a built-in rating ranking factor to try to address that issue.

Thank you. Can I ask one more question? Yes, absolutely. OK, one last question, I promise. So my last question is, so far, I really appreciate there's so many engagement sessions. I read we have about 171 survey response so far Okay, correct me if I'm wrong. So for September 15th, do you think that we were gonna have enough engagement for a really sound data to share with the public? I feel like especially the renters and lower income families.

Yeah, we definitely are intending to continue on and increasing our engagement efforts. We definitely intended today to be a preliminary snapshot and anticipate that 171 number will increase by the time we get to the September 15th date. I think also keeping in mind that when we present our engagement report, it will be inclusive of other things beyond just the survey responses. It will include sentiments shared to us via our shared email inbox, sentiments that rose to the top in our conversations at tabling events. So there will be a few other data points to look at beyond just the survey results. but in response specifically around engagement for some of our more underrepresented groups for the survey. I think now that we've transitioned from this first wave of tabling events, which has been our focus, it opens up a little bit more opportunity for direct engagement with some of our community organizations. The city, there are groups of the city that have been working really hard and putting a lot of resources into thinking through how we reach either renters and or low income households. A few examples that have been used recently that will probably leverage in this next phase. Our Bellevue Essentials alumni have been so gracious as to offer up their personal networks with their multifamily housing connections, their neighborhood connections to help us spread engagement opportunities. And then our neighborhood enhancement program and great neighborhoods teams have, in their recent projects, done a great job of pulling together some property management contact lists. And that's what we find is kind of the most, kind of the needed ingredient for reaching renters is those direct relationships with our property managers. So we'll be tapping into some of those lists that have been recently created in this next phase and more to come in our next report out.

I really appreciate you meeting the neighbors and residents where they are. That's really important. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Councillor Rosamundi-Verea. Councillor Brouillard.

Thank you, Mayor. On the point of community outreach, I was actually interested in this point. I know that you're doing tabling events. It'd be really great, if not already, to look at social media. The Bellevue subreddit page on Reddit will always let you know what they're thinking. They're an incredibly passionate community. Of course, we're going to run into the verification problem, but I do think it'd be reasonable to request names and addresses and then provide assurance from the city that that data will then be aggregated and anonymized and not retained for longer than 27 days or whatever GDPR wants. I think that could be a great way to do it, very grassroots way of doing it as well. We got so many people mobilized for various different end goals just by looking at the Bellevue subreddit. So that's my first point. And I try to be really Socratic about my thoughts here, but they're very chaotic and a bit disorganized, so bear with me. But the first question that I had is, I believe it was slide eight, that says walk-in transit is going to grow the most. Just a simple question I had was, how is this forecasted, or how are you able to forecast this growth, rather?

I'm going to turn it over to Mark to talk about the transportation model, which is where we got this data. Mark?

Yeah. We have a sub-regional model with Kirkland and Redmond. Bellevue runs that model. We have a professional group of four strong to do our modeling. And they use a model called the BKR-CAST. and it's able to forecast trip making by mode. So those professionals take the information from the comp plan, the growth that's contained in there, do that magic that they do with their modeling, and that's the type of data that we get out of it. Typical four-step modeling, trip assignment, mode assignment, trip distribution, but it's a very effective model for giving us a glimpse into what to expect 20 years from now.

Excellent, okay, thank you for that. One trivial point is that I have friends in Bellevue and Redmond and Kirkland, and our group chat is named the BRK. I feel like that rolls off the tongue better than BKR, but that's just a, you don't need to write that down. That's just a me thing. Okay. Next is one thing that I saw was, oh, okay, we're investing in large multimodal projects. Okay, I think this is interesting because we've got 10% allocation. The increase in property values that this provides for everyone, including the people who might oppose the project or funding it, it happens anyway, so I think it's a net positive there. Weird question that I have is if we allocate more than 10% of it, at what point do we tip the scale where we're at risk at not having sufficient funds for other projects? I think my sort of lack there or ignorance of understanding here is I want to give 100% to Grand Connection. And then I want to give 100% to the neighborhood. And obviously, this is not possible. So I'm curious what is the guiding balancing principle here.

Do you want to take that one? I'll kick it off. Councilmember, we actually spend quite a bit of time of looking at the different kinds of revenues and sources and the different kinds of deliverables and trying to match them up in the process. One of the reasons why the new portfolio approach to transportation has really enabled transportation to look pretty deeply at that balance and the distribution of types of projects And so we are looking at the legacy of the Grand Connection Crossing plus the other projects to find what is generally that right balance and which is why the community engagement is so critical because we take the data plus the engagement plus a variety of other inputs. Transportation does their great work through the prioritization process to bring forward the right sets of investments at the right time. And I hope I'm getting close to the questions that you were seeking an answer to. But it really takes a bit of art and science to find the right balancing of that. And that's what we're attempting to do in a very transparent way. And by the time we get to September, when you see all of the projects layered below each of those spaces, it should give you a better understanding of the types of things that are being specifically delivered to meet those variety of needs and can actually be delivered by the capacities that we have available to us of staff.

Yeah, I appreciate that. I guess, are you able to explicitly state the principles? Of course, one of them was community engagement. I had missed the other contention you had stated while you were speaking. Like, is there a list somewhere of the inputs? It's fine if not, but just curious.

There is, and we'll actually provide it via the memory bank, and that way we can give you the, there was actually some extra slides and some other information that we could provide for you.

Excellent, okay, and if there's a prioritization method included in that as well, I'd love to see it. No worries if I'm getting too granular there. Okay, and slide 16 also includes multi-purpose paths. The portfolio groups bikes and pedestrian infrastructure together. I was just curious about what this looks like. I think it's slide 16, yeah. Okay, pedestrian bicycle, new sidewalks. Okay, multipurpose paths. What is this? I've not seen an example of this, so just curious about what this is.

A multipurpose path is one where both pedestrians and bicyclists are walking generally in mixed traffic together.

Andrew, I might offer a really timely example of one. It's the one on Main Street that's being constructed adjacent to the park we were just discussing this morning. It's a 12-foot wide path to accommodate both modes, both bike and walk and roll.

Okay, so it's not what's visualized on the image underneath? No, that's a sidewalk example. OK, that was a wrong conflation on my end. OK, because I was getting nervous. OK, great. And then slide 19, with the TBD, personally, I had campaigned on not increasing taxes. But the base fund versus what the TBD can offer, I can understand why this is being proposed. And not sure if you can answer this, but can you say for certain that with a TBD by 2044, is it? Correct me if I'm wrong. 46? By 2046, that all neighborhoods will have excellent pedestrian infrastructure. Is that a guarantee that can be served right now?

all residential local streets? I don't think so. That there'll be sidewalks on every local street in the city within that timeframe, just because there are other priorities as well. I mean, hopefully we'll have within the local neighborhood street network, clear paths to get to schools and other attractions. But I would have to say that that would not get sidewalks in every local street, if that's the question.

So if we compartmentalize that even further, could you then guarantee safe paths to school by 2046 in all neighborhoods?

You know, a guarantee. Again, we absolutely strive toward that. That is our goal.

Okay. Okay. Thank you for that. I guess just to wrap things up. You know, I cannot emphasize how I personally want to see the safety of our children prioritized. The neighborhoods that have no pedestrian infrastructure, Vasa Neighborhood Park that had kids that cross a 30 mile per road, 30 miles per hour road that is informally used as a highway off ramp to wait for their school buses in the midst of the winter. I mean, this is, it makes me very nervous. I want to make sure we're being as proactive as possible here and not reactive, God forbid, if something ever happens. You know, I want to see a sincere shift towards multimodal transportation. That quote that was brought up in the public comment that Council Member Robinson had touched upon, which is that our streets should be safe for every mode of transportation, is something that is really resonating for me as well and something I'd like to re-emphasize. And with that, Mayor, I'll hand it over to you. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Council Member Brouillard. Councilman Borgo.

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Andrew, Mark, Laura, and John for the presentation and for the ongoing work. I really appreciate the work to move us towards a more strategic outcome-focused approach to transportation investments. One of the lessons from Bellevue's past growth is that infrastructure needs to be delivered concurrently with growth, not after the fact. And as we look ahead in the next 20 years, there's a few priorities that I would like to highlight. First, safety needs to be and needs to remain the foundation of our investments. Whether someone is walking, biking, driving, taking transit, our transportation system needs to be safe. I would like to see safety outcomes reducing serious crashes, improving intersections, addressing pedestrian conflicts, continue to be a key factor in the way we're thinking about our prioritization framework. So that's the first. Second, we need to focus on neighborhood to transit connections. The value of our major investments like East Link depend heavily on how easily residents can access them. That means neighborhood connections, sidewalks, safe crossings, and first mile, last mile improvements are really critical. So I would use that as another prioritization sort of pillar as we think about what projects we're going to push forth in this process. We need to make sure communities in East Bellevue, like Crossroads, have safe and convenient multimodal access so residents can fully benefit from our investments in transit. We should also prioritize the missing connections like has been said on Spring Boulevard. A lot of public testimony has come in from the Vassar Park neighborhood. A number of my council members have spoken about that. But these things are infrastructure elements that I would like to see prioritized as well. Third, I want to ensure that our investments expand multi-modal choice. I continue to strongly believe enabling choice is what drives community empowerment, and our future system should think about residents being able to choose what works best for them for that trip, whether it's walking, biking, transit, shared mobility. And one of the things that I wanted to ask is, will we have modal overlays, or is that part of the transportation master plan, maybe, and it's getting ahead of our skis? By mode, like walking, biking, driving, do we have modal overlays in their connectivity? Or would we have that? So when we look at the project list versus the modal overlays, we can see what the gaps are more clearly?

I'm not sure I quite, I think I understand the question a little bit. Part of the thing that we do, again, with the mobility implementation plan, again, is really take a look at what is actually being constructed every year and understand what it is. And we have an ability in that regard to understand what the best treatments would be to get people in different locations.

Yeah, where I'm going with that, maybe I can just explain a little bit more clearly, is imagine if you're looking at pedestrian or bike or any mode you want to choose. Can we see that with the investments in our CIP and then extended beyond that, 10, 15 years, if you have a 10-year window and maybe beyond, When complete, what our infrastructure network will look like by mode, that's the model overlay so that we can see where our biggest gaps are to make sure that the desire lines that we have in the community are being addressed and prioritized in our investments.

Yeah, and a big part of this as well, and we have a commitment to go ahead and do a transportation master plan next year, next couple of years. The MIP does a good job of identifying where the gaps are. What we need to do as a next step is to identify what street cross sections look like and kind of further develop some of these bike ped projects that don't have at this point a level of engineering planning going into it. So I'd say that the answer to that is it's an ongoing thing that happens and needs to continue to happen into the future as well. But the transportation master plan will be a really good place to really get that going.

Okay. A couple other things to reiterate, and I do have a couple of questions. I want to also reiterate sort of my earlier request from the budget workshop a while back about a clearer view of sources and uses over a longer-term horizon, beyond just the six years in a CIP. I would like to see a more granular list of the projects beyond the broad categories, if possible, that would be funded, including the additional revenue sources associated with them. We have a few choices that we have to work through, including the TBD choices. So we, and actually the community at large, also has higher confidence in terms of what we're getting for the investments we're making, whether it's councilmatic or to a vote. Those are really important ways for us to have clarity on what we're getting for it.

yeah and you know just uh one thing that's going to have to happen next year after in if we do get a transportation benefit district and the revenue associated with it a reprogramming of the 20-year transportation facilities plan and you know you did see you know the the $1.5 billion of need out there. It's not for a lack of projects to bring into that 20-year plan. So that really is going to be one of the first things that happens next year is to update it based on this new information.

Yeah, and it's more not just the $1.5 billion of projects, but how you stack them based to your framework, which was a prior question, which I think is more relevant to that longer list. What you're putting above the cut line is where I think most interest would be. And then lastly, in terms of the revenue sources from the TBD, I would like for us to come back with a more clear view of separated options. I think this is maybe what Council Member Robinson was also saying, of what you get with the baseline, what you get with just the sales tax, and what you get with the potential vehicle tabs. And so that we can see what each of those components can separately fund, because they can be separate choices. We make, we don't have to plug them all together. And you haven't already plugged the baseline, but what I mean is about the other two.

And you will be seeing that in September, definitely.

Okay, and just a couple, three quick questions. Thinking about the urgency of the need for multimodal infrastructure and the possibility of councilmatic action versus taking it to the vote, what is the cost from your perspective of waiting versus investing quickly?

The cost of an election?

No, what would be the impact of waiting versus moving faster potentially?

It really is a matter of how much you want to get done in a time period. So really, the implication is that it'll take longer to get to those projects.

If I might add to that, Councilmember, in addition to that, you will also want to consider the timing, some of the expiring levies that are coming up, and the timing of when you would, what it would take to mount a campaign associated. All things that we can help in that process, but there are trade-offs throughout it, and we'll be happy to, as you're wrestling with that question, help you think through some of those trade-offs.

Okay, that's helpful. That's kind of what would be helpful, is to understand those trade-offs, and anything you can do to support The decision in that process would be helpful. Quantification as much as possible. Excellent, thank you. Two, how will safety performance be weighted in your new project portfolio framework?

Can I take that one?

Sure. When we develop projects for the five programs, we do have some scoring criteria that we will use. In fact, I will have a backup slide that might help with this. In your understanding here, sorry, it takes a second to get to it. You'll see at the bottom of this slide, Councilmember, some of the scoring criteria that we'll be using as we transfer projects from the various planning sources into the portfolio project management. The top weighted criteria is the first one you see there, safety and Vision Zero. That's weighted at about 25%, whereas some of the other criteria that you see there have slightly less rating, all adding up to 100%, of course. And this scoring criteria will help us get to an initial project list. We'll look at that for no scoring criteria or process is perfect in and of itself. So we'll add staff knowledge to that community input, council input, and come up with that project list that you'll see in September.

This is very helpful, Mark, actually. So be great if you don't mind sending this out with those percentages and weights associated with them. I think it's really good background material to have. So at least for me, and it might be for others, to understand the mental model you're approaching this with. Because if you said 25 out of 100 is safety, that's pretty good. But I don't know what the other weights are, but would love to see it. OK. And the last question for me is, how are we ensuring the investments today are preparing ourselves for possible future changes in how we move around, specifically for autonomous transportation options?

Yeah, autonomous vehicles, obviously a big part of our future. One thing that I want to make you aware of, and we probably should be a little more proactive with you, is we did complete an autonomous vehicle strategic vision back in 2023. I'll make sure you get a copy of that. I think autonomous vehicles and how we prepare for that is also very important with safety because it allows us to take some of the human side of collisions out of the equation and I think it can help us move the needle there as well. Just a couple other things on autonomous vehicles. We have been a testing ground for Google's Waymo efforts. You can see them driving around occasionally. I saw one last week. We get a lot of praise from them about our condition of our infrastructure. It makes their machine learning and LIDAR systems that run the autonomous vehicle work a lot better. So we support in that way through good infrastructure. And we do advocacy for legislation. We are part of a regional connect group so that we can discuss where we're at autonomous vehicle wise in the region and just try to stay connected that way. But we do see it as a big part of our future.

And just really one thing to stress as well, and it's really unique, I think, to Bellevue, and it's really advanced, is 100% of all our traffic signals are adaptive to each other, which is a really important thing to advance autonomous vehicles. I think the biggest hindrance at this point right now is just a lack of a statewide platform for it, which is what the providers are looking for.

Yeah, I think it's just a matter of time that we will need not just things like Waymo and Zoox and others, but privately owned vehicles need to talk to each other and talk to these traffic management systems. So if there are specific investments we need to be thinking about, we should be calling them out at least. Even if they stay below the line, it's important to just get visibility.

We will definitely be considering that for September.

Okay.

Thank you so much. Do you want to go? Yeah, please, go ahead. Council Member Briar.

Mayor, sorry, really quick question, because Council Member Bhargava brought this up. Are we doing any data sharing with Waymo or any of the private companies that are operating here in terms of helping them fine-tune their ML models with particular city infrastructure data?

Probably are, but I couldn't answer their question right now. So maybe you could go into the memory bank, unless you know more.

I don't know off the top of my head. What I can tell you is we do have people that will know the answer to that. And we will get that to the memory bank.

That'd be great because that particular data is not publicly available if memory serves me correctly. And it can generate a lot of revenue for the city if that's something that we ought to pursue. But this is something like Anthropic and OpenAI and others are really interested in acquiring because that specialized data is not on, you know, it's not available on the internet. Anyway, sorry Mayor, thank you. That was my last question.

Great question. Do you want to go? Okay, great. No, I was asking for more. Great. I always say this, that I am so honored to serve with my colleagues because they are a bunch of smart, passionate, compassionate human beings that They are doing an amazing job representing the City of Bellevue, so I wanted to thank them. I am going to just do some plus ones for the sake of time. On the slide that we have that I think both Council Member Biryar, Council Member Bargavo, and maybe even Council Member Somadeviria talked, so in the memory bank, you are going to elaborate more on this and put maybe something, again, I understand it's art and science or however you describe, but more details how you're going about that would be benefit. This is on the project level, do you have the same thing on the portfolio level? Like if the budget of transportation is one big number, and then we have those five portfolio, that three of them are related to growth, two of them are related to maintenance, and I don't know, preserving, that's the wording used. Do you have the same kind of scoring mechanism for allocating that big budget through those portfolio?

Yes. And the thing is, though, that within each of the different program areas is what the mode is being judged against.

Great. So if you can get, again, in the memory bank some more elaboration, how you are thinking about the framework of first portfolio programs and then project in each programs would be great. Council Member Somadevirio brought the 60% to 90%. I would love to see also more kind of context. And again, you see that that even can change when you come to the budget is a moving needle, I understand. But I think it still is a huge shift. What was your thinking and what is some of your maybe in your word, innovative way of funding. If you can have more context in the memory bank on that, I would appreciate that. Councillor Hamilton, can you go to slide eight, maybe? And I have one fundamental... Oh, is that 32? Shoot. Sorry. If you come out and then...

I'm looking at my helper over there. Maybe we can get there a little quicker. Yeah.

Thank you. They are not helping you. Great. Can I ask you one question? So if, as my colleague mentioned, we improve the safety of last mile with walk and bike and rolling and transit and bus stop, if we improve the connectivity of them, Is it possible that we move some of the number of the last two columns, the high occupancy vehicle and single occupancy vehicle, and we shift them through the three buckets or maybe the two buckets on bike, walk, and transit?

I think so.

Maybe not terrifically significant, but as you increase safety for alternative modes, people are going to be more apt to use them. As there's more congestion in the system for smaller vehicles, people are going to seek different ways to travel. When that happens, we want them to seek the safe ways to travel. And so it's just a forecast. It's proven to be pretty accurate over time, but it's just a forecast. So yes, these numbers can change based on a number of things.

And if we change some numbers, from the single occupancy and by having more safe, more connected to the bike and walk and public transport, if we have connected the last mile and my colleagues brought first mile, everything, do we help the congestion?

Yeah, taking away small vehicles from the system helps congestion. Think about a train's capacity. What do you do to add capacity to a train that's already there? You add a car. It's really easy to do. What do you have to do for a single occupancy vehicle? You have to add a lane. That's very difficult to do. I don't have to explain that to you guys.

So in summary, to address congestion, I think we have maybe two methods. One is maybe increase the intersection capacity, that's one way, but the other way is help the other modes to be more popular, more safe, more connected, that people hopefully change their habit. Okay, great. John, you wanted to say something, I was interrupting you.

No, I was just gonna offer one of the things that you're also, that doesn't exist in the model today, there are gaps in the system. and as the transportation program fills those gaps and creates the connections, you'll see the trips flow differently, but today because those are gaps and there isn't a connectivity, it limits how many trips go into those other modes or other opportunities. And so that's where they're being very thoughtful in the planning about how do we invest in the gaps and why that next slide that shows the gaps is very important because you fill the gaps in, people can use them, and that allows for you to have more robust trip making in all modes.

And that's exactly my next question after all of this. This now projection of increase, 49,000 in walk, 54,000 in transit, and 5,000 in bike, are these projections after filling the gap or as what it is?

It's based on the growth in the comp plan and also the facilities in our transportation facility plan, our 20-year funding constraint plan. That's what we use as the network for the modeling.

I got the growth, but for example, that number of growth for the bike, 5,198. IS THAT CONSIDERING THAT WE ARE GOING TO DO THE SPRING BOULEVARD CONNECTION AND ALL OF THE OTHER GAPS OR IS NOT SEEING THOSE?

SO I'D HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE TFP TO SEE EXACTLY WHICH PROJECTS ARE IN, BUT THAT'S THE NETWORK THAT'S ASSUMED FOR THIS TYPE OF MODELING. If we're able to advance more projects more quickly, then that's what's in that plan, which a TBD scenario would do. It stands to reason that you would close more gaps sooner and you'd attract more modes.

If we can see any of those modeling a little bit for our and for public, that would be great. Thank you so much. I think overall we are going to the. hopefully right direction, making transportation planning more transparent. I think we are doing that with the memory bank. And if you can address all of my colleagues there, that would be great. And when we move to the budget discussion, I think It is challenging to finding revenue, but also make sure that every dollar is tied to clear priorities and measurable result, I think, as much as we can, I think would be great. This is just information. Am I right? Yeah. Yeah, I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much for being here and for all of your effort to make this process more clear for us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Just a nod if you guys need a break. Or should we take a break? Great. We take a break, 8.34. We just make it six minutes to be very considerate of everyone. See everyone back at 8.40. Thank you so much for your patience. We have our last study session. City Manager, would you please introduce that to us?

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council. This is a study session on the multifamily tax exemption and the catalyst program for mixed use areas. As you know, Bellevue has been considering some temporary adjustments to the multifamily tax exemption program, including the catalyst that would be a four year supercharger that would promote affordable housing development and also some catalyzing market rate in our up zone mixed use areas so the program has been presented to you several times in May the council gave some direction the purpose of tonight's study session is to bring back to you the specific direction that you gave in the draft code so that will be reviewed by our staff tonight and then they are seeking council direction to bring that back for final action Bianca Siegel, Director of Office of Housing is here to present along with Hannah Bondmiller, our Senior Affordable Housing Planner. With that, I'll turn it over to Bianca. Thanks. Good evening. I'm going to turn it straight over to Hannah to present.

Thank you, council members. Tonight we'll be providing some high-level background on the MFTE program, but really diving into the direction that we heard from council that the strike draft is responsive to, and then overviewing those recommended changes. We have brought this item to you several times before, but just as a reminder for the general public, MFTE, it's an incentive program that provides a property tax exemption for multifamily properties that qualify and provide a certain portion of units as affordable. One of the main recommended changes today is for a supercharger catalyst in HOMA areas, excluding downtown. Those areas are represented on the screen, but that map does include those downtown areas which are excluded from our recommendation. And as a reminder, the term supercharger, we're referring to an exemption from an existing requirement for projects that double count units in both MFTE and land use code. programs from a lower affordability requirement. And so this item has been in front of you a couple of times this year. In February, we advanced a package of MFTE changes that included a new eight-year MFTE option that gets activated in cases where inclusionary requirements are. That also included some amendments to align the covenant process that we'll talk to in just a moment. Later in February, we advanced a MFTE recommendation alongside the HOMA LUCA. Council directed us to look at exploring the supercharger catalyst option, which we returned with in May, overviewing some of the potential impacts of a catalyst program, including affordable housing development, taxes shifted and foregone, and the cost-benefit ratio for renters and developers. At that meeting, staff presented a recommendation for a time and unit limited catalyst option, and we included information on potential impacts of a four-year option as well. Council ultimately provided direction to move forward with that four-year supercharger for catalyst for non-downtown areas of Houma, and also provided direction to include a two-year look back at impacts and performance. A portion of that direction was also to concur with a staff recommendation to modify code language around MFTE and fee and loop payments. I will quickly run through our four recommended changes. There are some additional technical amendments included in the strife draft as well. So the three major changes that we'll be advancing are so that that four year catalyst program the use of fee and lieu. And then finally, staff are recommending some changes to application timing and procedure. These are clarifying amendments from that February 3rd meeting in which we advanced code language to align MFTE and land use code covenanting processes. And I'll dive into that in just a second. So first, direction from council did direct staff to establish that four year exemption. This exempts projects from that typical requirement to reduce the AMI of onsite double counted units. For administrative simplicity, we are proposing an expiration date at the end of 2031. So this is slightly longer than four years. We identified the land use districts that apply to those non-downtown areas of Houma, which are listed on the screen. Again, this supercharger catalyst exemption would not apply to downtown areas or areas of Bell Red and Wilberton. Council also gave us direction to amend language to allow projects that pay a fee in lieu to also fully participate in the MFTE program. Staff had identified language in the existing code that prevented projects that pay a fee in lieu from participating in MFTE at all. So the intent of this amendment is to correct that so projects that pay a fee in lieu can still fully participate in MFTE. And then finally staff are recommending some changes to application timing and procedure. The 2025 MFTE changes that were adopted in February included amendments to align the covenanting and contracting process for both MFTE and land use code affordable units. So both would be that you need to record the covenant prior to building permit issuance. These amendments were proposed acknowledging that the Office of Housing Director has the ability to provide exemptions to that application timeline. Staff have identified the need for some additional amendments to clarify that application process and the exceptions. This includes language that applications should be submitted at least 60 days advance of the building permit. This gives staff and the developer the time to review the application, approve it, and then record the covenant before that building permit deadline. We're also advancing language to the exceptions that are already in code, allowing the Office of Housing Director to adjust the application timeline. Originally, we would require that complete application be received at least 60 days prior to issuance of occupancy. We're proposing two changes. First, that there was some circular logic in which the exception required that you have a building permit recorded prior to building permit issuance. And so we're correcting that. And then under the exception, we're requiring both complete application and a covenant to be recorded within 60 days of occupancy. So just adding a little bit more time for that covenant to be recorded and administrative processes to be complete before the project closes out. And so if directed, we would return with an ordinance as explained and in line with council's request, we would continue to track and monitor MFTE program performance to come back in two years and to report out. And as a reminder, that program report out would really focus on unit outcomes. At that time, we wouldn't have exact fiscal impacts to be reported out. This is because of the timing of the assessor's assessment of exempted value really happens at the end of project construction. We will not be at that point with these projects that are coming in under the Catalyst program at the two-year mark. And that concludes our comments.

Thank you so much, Bianca and Hannah and the whole team. Hannah, I would remember you as the MFT queen. So thank you for all of your efforts on this journey that we have had. Appreciate that you all. come back, listen to all of our comments, to listen to all of the community comments, and came back with this more targeted proposal. Let us go around the room. Council Member Robinson, we'll start with you.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank you both for all the work you've done on this. You've been very responsive to many different groups. And I just want to clarify what I understand here, that a developer can have a fee-in-lieu exemption from the mandatory inclusionary housing requirement and can still participate in the multifamily property tax exemption if they provide 20% of their units at 80% AMI. Yes, that is correct.

They fully participated.

Spent all day understanding that, and so I'm good with it. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Council Member Bargava.

Yeah, thank you also for all the responsive work and continued effort in this. I'm generally supportive of all the changes you've made. Really appreciate the, like Council Member Robinson said, listening to stakeholders, evolving it, and bringing it forward. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Council Member Villar.

I just wanted to extend my gratitude and recognize your patience and ability to be extremely responsive. It doesn't go unnoticed, so thank you both.

Thank you so much, Council Member Somerville.

Oh, everybody's so concise. Thank you so much. Plus one to everyone. I do have a very, just ask. So is it possible when we do the look back, can we see the NEMPR breaking down by the AMI level when they come back to your look back?

Yeah, thank you, Council Member. So within that two-year period, all of the units produced under the supercharger catalyst would be at that 80% AMI level. So there won't be any difference in the breakdown of units. We would see those lower AMI units start to come online at 2032 after the catalyst program expired. Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. Thanks for all the work you've done on the MFTE Catalyst Program for Houma since our last meeting. Hannah, do I understand it right that your time with the city is kind of drawing to an end here? Are you moving on? yes deputy mayor my last day with the city is going to be this thursday me and my spouse are relocating to pittsburgh to be closer to family all right well good for you made a real impact here so you'll be missed and of course wish you all the best on what comes in your future we asked for some supercharger options back in february and i appreciate you bringing them forward tonight what we have to consider tonight is the result of a significant amount of engagement and collaboration As occurred in Wilberton, we have a recommended ordinance that will ensure that we keep our foot on the gas for housing production. and it supports our community's desire to increase our supply of affordable housing. As in Wilberton, we have strong alignment from the entire spectrum of housing suppliers on the best path forward, and I think the community supports this ordinance. And we know that the Eastside Housing Roundtable supports it, which is critically important to me. There are no more impactful recommendations than those that come from EHR. I'm fully supportive of moving this ordinance forward.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much. My question is the same I think I asked when we talked about this last. After the two years, what circumstances would you guys come back and recommend scaling back, or we need to end this catalyst, or let's just add another two years? How are we deciding this after two years?

So that would really be based on participation within the program and the anticipated impacts of that. While we wouldn't have exact financial numbers at the time, we would be able to provide some context as to what the impact would be of higher or lower than expected program participation over our modeling. So, for example, if we had higher participation in that four year period, Council would need to weigh the decisions between the benefit of continuing to get more supply and more affordable units with the greater potential fiscal impact of that participation. And if the participation was lower than expected, we may want to consider some tweaks to continue to make that more attractive to developers.

Thank you. If you all Agree. We can bring this as a consent calendar. Any objection to that? Great.

So can I have the motion, please? I move to direct staff to finalize the ordinance for final action on the consent calendar at a future meeting.

Is there a second? Second. It's been moved by Deputy Mayor Hamilton and seconded by Councilor Bargaba. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No, the motion passes. Thank you so much again, both of you. I think at that point, we can adjourn the meeting. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you so much, everyone.