City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. It is 700 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, and I now call to order the 2,174th regular meeting of the city of College Place City Council. [snorts] Madam clerk, will we please take roll call? Yes. Council member Green, present. Council member Cleveland, [clears throat] present. Council member Secland, present. Council member Peterson, present. [clears throat] Council member Williams, present.

Council member Sherman, present. Council member Bole present. We have a court. Okay. Can you um turn on so that we can see the zoom so I Yes, I can see um online attendance

is behind that screen. Did I hear council member Williams say present? She did. Okay, that's what I thought. Okay. Yeah. So, I can see her. in case she raises her hand.

Um, this is what able to do. Yeah, that's work. [laughter] That works. Thank you. All right. [clears throat] Will you all please join me in the pledge of allegiance?

[laughter]

I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. that I believe. All right, it's now time for public comment. Madame clerk, did anyone submit a written comment in advance or request to speak via telephone or virtually? We have received no comments.

Okay. Thank you. If there if anyone is in person who would like to speak, please raise your hand. Seeing none, we are going to move on to our consent agenda. which consists of the agenda for tonight, January 13, 2026. Approving the council regular meeting minutes from December 9th, 2025, which was so long ago. Approving the council, [laughter] there you go. Approving the council workshop minutes from January 6, 2026. Approving the reappoint of Gary Peterson to the Historic Preservation Commission. And are there any items any member of the council would like removed from the consent agenda at this time? And if not, is there a motion?

Make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Thank you. We have a motion to cons approve the consent agenda as is. Is there a second? We have a second. Council member Bole. All in favor say I. I. I.

Any opposed? Any abstensions? The eyes have it and the motion is passed. All right. I have one presentation tonight um which is I have the pleasure of presenting a Martin Luther King Jr. Day proclamation. Thank you. City of College Place proclamation. Whereas this month marks the 96th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth. And whereas Dr. King dedicated his life to advancing equality and social justice and challenged all Americans to participate in the neverending work to build a more perfect union. And whereas Dr. King taught us that we are measured not only by where we stand in the moments of comfort and convenience but where we stand but by the stands we take during times of challenge and controversy. And whereas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed each year on the third Monday in January and is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service. And whereas each of us can and must contribute to making our communities better with increased opportunity for our whole communities. Now therefore, I, Norma Alnandez, mayor of the city of College Place, do hereby proclaim January 19th, 2026 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the city of College Place, dated this 13th day of January, 2026. Thank you.

Next on the agenda is um Miss Nef and oh Miss Miss Amic which one's here [laughter] um from from citizens of city of co from citizens from college pace public schools will present on the educational programs and operations also known as EPNO levy renewal. Welcome. Hi good evening. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for being here. Um, I made hard copies of the presentation. Would anybody like one of those or you all are Okay, great. Um, I'm Marissa Wadell. Little confusion. My email is my maiden name, which is Nef. Uh, that, you know, that's circa. I don't even know when, but Burlington High School when we first got Gmail, it was Marissa F7. My number just stays that way.

So, uh, I'm Marissa Wadell and I am a member of the citizens for college place public schools. My counterpart Courtney Ach is not able to join us tonight. She's actually, which what I was watching on my phone before the meeting started, our high school varsity girls basketball team is playing right now and they were tied with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter. So, and it's it's a big one for us because when we went to Nachis Valley, they blew us out. So, um levy funded activity right there. Sports um are fully funded by levy funds in College Place public schools. So, happy to be here. Courtney is sorry she can't make it. Um I want to start off by first before I jump into the presentation just saying thank you to each of you for being council members. Um your public servants that's a thankless job and so we appreciate uh and college place public schools the um great support we've had from the city and the great um relationship we've had with our city. We feel really really fortunate. So thank you for that. Um I'll jump in before I just talk to you about the levy. Um, we like to share a couple great things that are happening happening in College Place um that are levy funded. So, we don't mean to brag, but here are a few of our accomplishments. So, uh we're really really proud to be able to say we're back to pre- pandemic levels of academic achievement um for our students in College Place public schools. This has been a real uphill battle for us and a real climb, but as you can see, we've surpassed prepandemic levels in English language arts, math, and science. And we're really excited to keep that trajectory going. Um, next slide, please, please. You can also see there our state uh data is in green and our school district data is in gray and we're above the state average in all three of those content areas as well. So really really great work by um our teachers, our parent educators, our

students day in and day out in college place. We've also seen great increases in our attendance. So we were able to reduce our truency rates in the middle of the screen there. Try is 10 plus unexcused absences and we've been able to what we're projected for this school year for our middle school is only 4.2% down from 22%. High school 12.6% 6% down from 32%. So really reducing um our absences and that is due to a huge team effort from levy funded positions like school nurses, school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, all of those people coming together to team around our students to help remove barriers to figure out why aren't you able to get to school? What's going on in your life and what can we do to help you? So, attendance rates um are really improving, decreasing the truency rate, which is wonderful. And we're also seeing declines in our discipline data, which is really encouraging. Again, we've been able to provide some additional staffing through levy funds to help support some of our students. So, we've seen district-wide discipline incidents drop over 70% since the 2324 school year. So again, when you look at the support we've put in through uh school social worker, licensed mental health therapists, school counselors, school nurses, trying to address all those things that might be popping up in our schools as discipline, we get those other issues solved for kids and lo and behold, they can show up ready to learn and it's wonderful. So really, really proud of that work that our school district's been able to do in that area as well. And then I've already mentioned this, but it it really really is important in our school district. Um, our health and wellness services. So, our school district is funded from the state for less than two nurses. We're funded for about 1.88 nurses. We have two full-time

registered nurses, RNs in our school district, as well as two CNAs. The staffing that we have, anything [clears throat] over that 1.88, it comes out of our levy funds. And it is imperative for us to have those services. You can see we had over 10,000 student health visits last school year. 10,000 students were seen in College Place public schools for of course anything from a band-aid and ice pack to more serious um life-threatening things. Students have um allergies that are life-threatening. We have our RNs um helping administer medications to students that um only RNs can do in our state. So really, really wonderful support for our nursing staff. And then, uh, like I mentioned, we have a licensed mental health therapist on site to be able to serve students during the regular school day with parent permission, of course. Um, but being able to eliminate those barriers of parents needing to take time off work, to drive their kid to and from an appointment. We can do it right there at school with a licensed mental health therapist. And um, I don't know how aware you are, but we are um, in great need of more mental health therapists in our valley. And so to be able to have that right in our school district is it's just phenomenal. And again, that's all levy funded. And then the last piece of data before I jump into the levy stuff is the um center for educational effectiveness survey. We've done this the last two school years. So we did it in fall of 2024 and again in fall of 2025. And that measures u we ask our community, our parents, and our staff to tell us how we're doing on a number of different measures. So, communication, leadership, curriculum, do you think your kid is being challenged enough? And one of the really big areas that we like to look at is does your student feel safe and like they belong at our schools? Because we really believe in College Place that if we can make kids feel safe at school and feel like they have some group that they belong to, we're going to be able to get to the reading, writing, science, all of

that stuff. If you don't have safety and belonging, good luck getting to the curriculum and the those content areas. So, we're really, really proud of that. Over 90% of our families agree that our schools are caring, safe, and inclusive. And um that's up from last year. And we just want to keep inching those numbers up and up every single year. Get a little bit better every single day. And so then, how are we going to do that? How are we going to get a little bit better every single day? We're going to get this levy passed. So, now I'm going to jump into some information about our levy that's coming up. So, it's going to be on the February 10th ballot. Um, it's an educational programs and operations and you might hear that referred to as EPN levy. And it's a renewal levy. There's an existing tax and we're asking for a renewal of that existing tax. So, what is it? Sometimes there's um some confusion around what's a levy, what's a bond. Those are two things that we hear about with schools. So, what we're running is a levy. And an kind of an easy way to remember it is leveies are for learning. So LL buildings are bonds. BB. So if there's a bond on the ballot, it's usually for a building. If there's a levy on the ballot, it's usually for learning. Um again, this is our EPO replacement levy. So it replaces the already approved tax that will go through the 2026 um calendar. So something important that we like to point out too is that these local levy dollars stay local. They don't go to the state and then get maybe sliced and diced and sent back to us. These are funds that stay right here in the Walaw Wala County Treasury Department um for our school district. So local dollars that stay local and yeah hopefully I know the answer.

Um [clears throat] it's a replacement levy. Yeah. And that's good to know. Um is the total is the total amount what is the total amount though that the levy could be expanded by as far as total dollars? Do you know what that is? So there is a slide later. I think what you're ask So it's $2.50 per thousand and then the maximum collection rates. Is that what you're looking for?

Well, meantime, you know, you can characterize this as a replacement levy is Yeah. But on the other hand, maybe it um is off of assessed value. So at the end you're projecting a lot more funds potentially even though it's a replacement levy or is the could come up or later you're saying, but is the rate increasing uh per assessed value? So the rates staying the same. The current is $2.50 per thousand. It's staying $2.50 per thousand. Those total collection rates you'll see in a couple slides. We can't exceed those. Right. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.

Uh last thing on that slide, you're fine to scroll. Um is just that just a reminder, levies are passed at 50% plus one. So that's what we're going to be looking for in February 10th. Um, we already I shared a lot in those beginning slides about what kinds of things our levy funds, but just to reiterate, we're able to have smaller class sizes. We're able to hire more teachers than the state funds us for. We're able to hire more nursing staff than the state funds us for, and so on. You can see that list. Um, it also, like I mentioned, right, sports, everything athletics is fully funded from the levy. We got zero dollars from our state for any type of extracurriculars. Band, drama, choir performances, all of the extracurriculars, our gifted program all come straight out of levy funds. Our state doesn't fund us for those programs that quite frankly are really, really important for a lot of kids and sometimes some of the only reasons kids will show up. So, why are we asking um our taxpayers to pass this and give us some money, right? We are funded for about 80% of our funding from state and federal funds and the remaining 20% comes from our local levy. So you can imagine that if 20% of your um household budget, your household ex uh funding was cut, that'd be kind of a major hit to your budget. So 20% um it it does a lot for us.

I have a quick question. Um going back to the athletics and extracurriculars, are those u do those cost anything to the students or does the levy help with cost to families and students? So between levy funds and then also our college place boosters. Um yeah, those are no cost to students. So we're able to get students all equipment that they might need, uniforms that they might need, that kind of thing. Thank you.

Um I maybe this will answer your question, Council Member Peterson. Those are the total collection amounts. So, we can't collect any more than those amounts. But the tax the proposed rate is the same it is as right now $2.50 per thousand. Um, so when when would you start paying for this? So, the levy that we're running in February doesn't start until next January because we're still under the existing levy. So even though you vote on it in February of 2026, it doesn't come until into effect until January 2027. And um probably as you all know, but as College Place continues to grow, the total collection amount gets spread out across all the new homes and businesses, reducing that amount for everybody because this growth comes that lowers the amount for each individual. And that's just another graphic of what I just described. So, if your levy, it's $1,000 levy no matter what. If it's spread over four houses, it's 250. If it's spread over five, it's 200. Just those are just simple numbers, not exactly what you'll pay. And that's it. Any other questions for me?

We can go to council members. Council member Techline, any further questions or comments? No further questions. Council member Cleveland, uh, what's our success rate for getting these things passed? Has it been historically a challenge? Are we generally like, you know, batting a 10 out of 10 or? Uh, we're really fortunate. We've been successful in passing our levies. Um, I've been in the district 18 years and we've passed our levy uh every time that I've been in the district. In the earlier years, we ran a two-year levy. Um, now we're on a four-year levy. And, uh, yeah, we've we've been really fortunate to have good success with it.

Well, it's probably due to a lot of hard work. raising awareness. Thank you, Council Member Green. I don't have any questions. I just wanted to say thank you for a really thorough presentation. It really wraps it up nicely. Thanks, Council Member Peterson. No questions. Thank you, Council Member Williams. No questions. Thank you very much. Council member Sherman, this was my second presentation in two days. Thank you so much from from this topic and you did an excellent job. I will tell Jim that you far surpassed that. Thank you. But thank you. Thank you for being here [laughter] and council member Bole.

No questions. I just appreciate that you guys work so hard to help our community understand a that it's a replacement levy, not new dollars and the importance of what these dollars actually go to fund because I have been in communities where the levies have failed, right? And afterwards then you have to share with the community, okay, you no longer have athletic programs and art programs and they all go, what? That's your job. Well, no. So, thank you for spending your evenings going and spreading the information and helping everybody understand um why it's so important. So, thank you. Thanks.

Um I I actually would like a hard copy because that was a great presentation and it's um it'll help me answer questions if questions come up. So, I appreciate that. Um, and are you all asking anything of the city council? Um, obviously we're limited um by laws, but are you requesting anything from us? We'd love your support in any way that you can provide it if that's something that's allowable for you all.

Okay, great. All right. Um, well, thank you so much for this. Um, we really see I can see already around the city all the hard work that's being put in to inform our citizens that this is coming up. I myself have two signs in my yard. So, [laughter] one on each side. So, it's um I think it's great. Um, and thank you so much for helping um do this. If you have anything that you want to put in our newsletter, um please uh feel free to share that with our city clerk who can then pass it on to the appropriate um person who can put something in our newsletter to inform our citizens of of the ballot.

Wonderful. Thank you so much. Speaking of yard signs, if anybody wants one, we're happy to drop some off. So, if maybe they could let you know, Caroline, and you could reach out to me, we'd be happy to get those to you. Um please reach out if anybody has any questions. We're happy to help, happy to have anyone in our schools anytime. Love to love to tour you through our schools and so you can see the great work that's happening. So, thank you. And and Council Member Sherman did have something. Yeah, I just wanted to add yesterday I was looking up that the last levy pass 6040, which is fantastic, but I also don't want everybody to be complacent and just make sure that it it is, you know, the the fact that we passed it last time is why we have such great schools and great programs and kids are 65 this time. Yeah. [laughter] Yeah.

So, just make sure that people know to vote and it is very important for lots of reasons. And let's not forget that our school district put out an Olympium. [laughter] We sure did. So, right that makes that's importance of sports. [laughter] Thank you. Thank you so very much.

You have a great evening. All right. So, moving on. There's no public hearings. We're going to move on to action items. And if I looked at my if I saw it earlier, we only have one speaker all night long after this. [laughter] So, so where Mr. McAndrews is going to first present David, we'll present David Evans and Associates contract for the safe route for schools project.

Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, council. I will try to keep this short. Um, [clears throat] yeah. So, you may recall we've brought this to you guys in the past to accept two uh grants from um administered by the state through the safe routes to school program. Um they were for one for the Sager Middle School and one for areas around Davis Elementary. Um we were able to combine those two together to put out one RFQ request for qual qualifications to select a consultant. Um we had four proposals and David Evans and Associates was the successful um consultant. And so this would be to award the contract to David Evans and Associates to move forward with design and rideway acquisition for um both the Davis and Sager safe routes to school projects. Um with that I guess I'll turn it over for questions.

All right. Thank you, Council Member Stline. No questions. Cuffler over Cleveland. I suppose we have a map that indicates the the scope of the work. Handy.

Uh I do not on this one and I apologize. This this would be a complicated map because we'd be looking at a map of a lot of the city. Um it spans from all the way up on um let's see from on Ash from Sea Street to A and then Birch from 2nd to 4th and then Central from 12th to Valley and Lampertie to Walmart. So it would span kind of majority of the city and be a difficult map to put together. Um,

and there there's a few snippets here and there in the uh in the document. I was was curious if there's anything a little more uh condensed, but yeah, thank you. Certainly. Sorry about that. Council member Green. No questions. Council member Peterson, no questions. Thank you. Council member Williams, [clears throat] no questions. Thank you. Council member Sherman,

uh, no questions. I will say yesterday John and I had a tag meeting yesterday with Jim Fry and he was talking there about the number of students in College Play School District that take a bus that are eligible for the bus because there isn't a like a sidewalk for them to take. There's not a safe path for them to get there. And and he thought he said when he was interviewing that it was a joke that he was like there's no way that it could be that high. Um and we talked about where the sidewalk ends and how the book is based on college place. is the whole thing. But um Oh, and Jordan was there, too. Do you remember the percentage? Okay. Yeah, I think it was like I don't I'm not going to guess, but anyway, thank you, Council Member Bole.

No questions. Thank you so much. I I will say that I think it was earlier in the year, seems like so long ago. Um former city admin Yeah. Like last week, [laughter] former city administrator Rosatello and I walked um did a walk with Wash Dot around all the the routes that we were looking at. Um and there are some pretty gnarly roads, right? It was especially by Davis.

Yeah, it it really was. And and even as we were walking it, we had to like step aside for cars or, you know, watch um you know, it just wasn't safe if you were riding a bike, you know, things like that. So, um, it it really is significant and it is widespread. So, this is a a great project. Thank you for your continuing to work on it. Yeah, absolutely. I think it's going to be great. We're excited to be able to move forward on it and to get these sidewalks in and the crosswalks and [clears throat] RFBs and everything that goes with it.

Yeah, you don't realize all the little details of the roads until you're trying to walk it and then you realize how unsafe they are. [laughter] All right, any further questions or comments? Seeing none. Do we have a motion to approve a contract? So moved. That's council member Green. We have a motion from Council Member Green. Is there a second? Council member Williams. Second. [clears throat] All right.

Oh, do you want Council? Yeah. You know what? Actually, yes. Council member Green, will you please read the entire action that you're moving the action? Okay. Motion to approve the contract with David Evans and Associates and authorized public works director or designate to sign contract for professional services in the amount of $478,235 which consists of engineering and right ofway. All right. [clears throat] Thank you. I attend so many meetings and everybody does their meetings differently I forget. First motion. [laughter]

All right. Council Member Green's first motion and we have a second from Council Member Williams. Any additional discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion to approve the contract say I. I. I.

All opposed. Any abstensions? All right. The eyes have it and the motion is passed. Thank you. Now you're going to present the additional wastewater treatment plant cost for 2025. Yes. Uh again, you may recall every year um we come to you, we have a contract with Jacobs for um operating our wastewater treatment plant and sewer collection system and we come every year with an amendment. So the amendment for 2026 has already happened. Um, also what you may not realize is commonly the contract at the [clears throat] end of the year has come in under budget and sometime in the next the following year they uh Jacobs issues a rebate and the past several years it's been in the tune of 70 to $90,000 which is pretty nice. Um this year unfortunately due to costs in um power electricity costs that went up significantly um and then a little bit of additional sampling that was required through the um state regulations. The there was actually an overrun in the amount of $8,996.32. Um it's important to note with the upgrades we're doing at the treatment plant, the actual energy use is significantly lower, but the costs have gone up. And so, um that said, per contract, the city is obligated to pay those additional costs. Um, the kind of silver lining on this is I've got Royce Davis here from Jacobs who can help answer any questions you may have, but the silver lining is he and I were chatting earlier and there is still expected to be about a $50,000 rebate coming back to us um based on reconciliation from the repairs budget. And so that hadn't been factored in in

us needing to pay the the overages from 2025 and with the need to pay expenses from 25 before January 20th, we wanted to get this to you tonight. So, um if if all of that pencils out, we we're looking at, you know, ultimately having only paid about $30,000 instead of $80,000. So, um, with that, Royce, do you have anything to add? I'm sorry. Put you on the spot. Hit hit the button. Yeah, tip the button to the screen. A Yeah, there you go.

Mayor, council, nice to be here again. No, just I think it's important to note that really the I think the electrical usage was down about a,000 kilowatt hours per month, which is a big deal. Uh, mostly just the uh cost of energy. There was two significant increases last year that um we had an we were under budget last year and we assumed we'd be okay but the the obviously I'm obviously not so and there's a clause in the contract that talks about electricity so that's why we're here but any questions we hear about [clears throat] you what's driving that you guys are through it who's delivering your power specific Yeah, it's Pacific Power.

Yeah, Pacific. And did they do a couple increases? Did you Is that what you were saying? Yeah, there's two significant increases. That would be like for commercial customers or was that for all of us? I believe it was for all of us. So, if you have Pacific Power, I felt it in my bill. Yeah, my bill at home went up as well. So, it's interest uh I don't hear about it other places. [snorts] Well, I guess what I'm saying where I mean is outside of the college place, Walaw Wala Valley, right?

Yeah. I I have not heard of it elsewhere, but I also haven't dug into that. Um I know I believe Colombia REI has stayed more steady. Um so I can't really speak to why Pacific Powers went up as much as they did, but and why it impacted that plant so much. Uh I mean one of the main reasons the the wastewater treatment plant uses a significant amount of power um larger percentage of the whole budget. Yeah. Usually in your city they're one of the main power users. Oh okay. Yeah. Okay. I toured out there. So that would be part of it would be those it's usually the aation basin blowers. Um the ultraviolet disinfection. Those are two power uses.

No. And I I didn't doubt it. I was just saying it was interesting. This was an issue issue issue and I was kind of curious. Yeah. All right. Thank you. And those are areas we don't want to cut. [laughter] Council member Stline, question or comments? Uh, no questions. Council member Cleveland, I just had a comment that uh I've heard reports that like new construction of data centers are putting a pretty hard hit on a lot of uh uh infrastructure, power delivery, and the like. And it's causing a lot of customers to rate go up. I don't know if there's any projects here or in Washington that are are related to this, but yes, that could be a a component. No, there's one. There's looking at one over on over here. Council member Green, nothing. Council member Peterson,

nothing more. Anything further, Council Member Williams? Um, I'm sad to see this, but at the same time, I keep telling my students when we're designing these that power is the most expensive thing. So, you have to find ways to make the power usage less. So, this will be a perfect case study. Thank you. [laughter] See, you you you always give her give her something to teach. Council member Sherman, uh, no questions. Thanks. And Council Member Bole, no questions. Thanks, guys. All right. If there's no other discussion or question or comments, do we have a motion?

Sure. Maybe one more thought here is like we've we found some dollars for you know the uh the solar panel project and uh you know I I don't know if we have space out there for some some additional solar panels or other projects but maybe it'd be worthwhile to continue to keep an eye out for uh for dollars that could help supplement uh power use out there since it's uh clearly a a big uh big draw.

Good point. Good point. Council member Cleveland I mean Peterson. I just going to move to authorize payment to Jacobs in the amount of $80,996.32 for the cost incurred that exceeded the original budgeted amounts related to electricity and sampling for the operation of the city's wastewater treatment plant. Is there a second? I'll second. Council member Sherman has a second. And and um quick question uh Robert before we move on. Um, Bri, has Brian been made aware of this? I see it's not budgeted. Yes, Brian has been made aware of this. And he didn't see any big strain.

Yeah, we have money in the wastewater reserves, sewer reserves. Okay. He didn't grow hair all of a sudden. The stress. No, I wish I could do that [laughter] for him. Okay. All right. So, then let's vote. All in all in favor of the motion say I. I. I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? All right, the eyes have in the motions passed. Thank you so very much. We appreciate it. You have a good evening. All right. Next, Mr. McAndrew is going to present on the Department of Health funding for the planning and design of Southeast 12 Street reconstruction project. Tell us about that.

Yes. So, um, a few years ago, Mike Rosatello and I were, um, and JUB engineers were at the IACC conference, Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council in Wan that met with a bunch of funding agencies to talk about strategies and funding for the 12th Street, Southeast 12th Street project. Um and the feedback we got from [clears throat] the funding agencies was to uh tackle it with the underground infrastructure first, go for funding to take care of all the underground infrastructure and then move to the above ground infrastructure after that. So that would include at a later date the roundabout at 12th and Larch and then road and sidewalk and bike lane and landscaping improvements throughout the entire corridor from College Avenue Myra. Um so with that feedback we went for grant funding from the department of health for the water infrastructure um as well as uh department of ecology for sewer and storm infrastructure. We have not heard back from department of ecology yet but we were awarded um funding for from department of health for the water in the amount of a $500,000 loan with a $10,000 loan fee. Um, and it's low interest loan. It's uh I thought I had that interest rate handy. No, I'm not seeing it.

It says zero. Oh, yeah, it is 0%. This is 0%. Sorry. I deal with so many of these, they all start blaring. I hear you. [laughter] Uh anyway, so yeah, 0% loan. Um, which is good. [laughter] Um, so anyway, in order to accept that loan, we need council approval. So, I'm here tonight to ask for approval. I did include a map on this one. I was just going to say that. [laughter] If it helps. Thank you. So, it's the water infrastructure all the way from college to Myra. Um, pretty simple math, but hopefully you get the idea.

Any questions? All right, Council Member Stline, questions or comments? Uh, no questions. Council member Cleveland, no questions. Thanks for the map. Council member Green, so this being a loan, how does repayment on this factor into, you know, the future? Obviously, this is not a grant, but rather a loan. So, it's money that still has to come out of future planning in the budget.

Yeah. So the the loans funds for utilities get factored into the the utility reserves and uh Brian or finance director um puts a plan together which I can't speak to but who you and I have talked um about how it gets repaid. So it gets programmatically repaid over the course of the the loan and this is a 10-year one. So correct. It is built into the right structure. No further questions. Council member Peterson. No, this is really exciting. Yeah. Thank you. Council member Williams.

No questions. Thank you for putting together this crazy quilt of funding. Council member Sherman. No questions. I'm excited for this one. And Council Member Bole, no questions. Thanks. So, Robert, um, seeing the map, um, going east from large, is that is it are we going to be able to address the area where some of our sewer systems going underneath residential homes or yards?

It's actually the water lines that are in backyards. And and yes, I should clarify this 500,000 is for design only. Um it's common that after they fund design, when you come back with the design report, they often fund the construction as well. But yes, the part of the goal of this is to get those water lines out of the backyards and into the ride of way, which will be extremely nice for operations staff and maintenance. And uh I'd venture to guess that most of those property owners would rather not have a water mane in their backyard as well.

Okay. I just wanted to make sure that that was in mind because I recollect that that was a correct there. Thank you. All right. If there's no other questions or comments, do we have a motion to authorize? I'll make a motion uh to authorize public works director to sign a loan or have to say or designate to sign loan contract with department of health accepting a 500,000 loan with a $10,000 loan fee for the planning and design of the Southeast 12th Street reconstruction project. I'll second.

We have a first and congratulate Council Member Stickline on your first motion. And we have a second from Council Member Bole. Is there any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? All right. The eyes have it. The motion is passed. Robert, you convinced us all of all of all three. We're we're we're going to move on to administrative reports and city administrator Ray Burn will present on that.

Thank you, Mayor. Folks, I have a short list offormational items. Um they are arranged in no particular order. They're definitely not in arranged as far as size or importance. It's just general information for your knowledge. Um I've started a series of one-on- ones with all the department heads. We meet typically once a week. um every week um for about an hour to talk through what's going on in their department, what we're working on as a whole as a city so we can continue to move projects and topics of conversation forward. Um financials, we're tightening up um our financials um reporting process or I should say requests for financial approvals as I am the final person who um approves the financials. um a lot of the information that I was receiving was just a dollar amount and there was really not much else. And so we're asking um departments and people who submit requisitions and things to provide backup documentation like receipts or um invoices or agreements or contracts and things like that. Um and then an explanation within the um description section of the requisition form so that um if somebody needs to access that information in the future or we're ever audited, it's much cleaner and we have access to it readily as opposed to having to go find it at the 13th hour. Um Walaw Wala University is having a big um convention or conference come August, mid August. I think it's August 17th through the August 23rd. Um they're having I believe is pronounced um or titled their national um convention. Um they met with the mayor and I this this last Friday afternoon um and we have assured them that just like they want to showcase Walaw Wala University, we want to showcase the great city of College Place. And so we be we will be working with the public works operations team um and other um city staff to make sure that the city looks great and is safe

and accessible. And that has included not just Robert with public works and John from a permitting perspective in community development, but police and emergency services. Um, can I quickly add they're expecting about 2,000 PE people coming into the into college place for that week? Yes. August 17th through the 23rd. Um, and they will also have, you know, spouses and children that are going to be coming. So, we're we're starting to think ahead of what we can do. Yeah. Um during that week as a city as well.

And it was great for the university to give us this sort of, you know, advanced heads up as opposed to learning about it in June or something. [laughter] You know, August is an ugly ugly [snorts] month. That's what they were. They were like they had to pick August. Yeah. The milkweeds are Yeah. So, it's going to be a fun for everyone. Yes. Robert and I have talked through that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And can I chime in? Do you mind if I chime in? Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah. And I've already chatted with our operations folks and we're strategizing on how to [clears throat and snorts] adjust some of our um our scheduling, which is a challenge to be honest with you. There's certain things that we have to do at certain times of the year. And so there may be um we may forego crack sealing this year because that eats up a significant chunk of our summer so we can focus on doing some of the other things in advance to this. So um we are ahead of the game I hope in planning to make sure that we have a clean and beautiful city for everybody that comes into town.

What we need to do is buy gigantic fans so that we blow all the wildfire smoke back away from us. Right. so that our city is nice and and clear. And I don't know everybody who's on council. I don't know who you know at the university, but if the opportunity presents itself to say thank you for the advanced heads up, say thank you because that's a big plus for us.

Yeah. Um me as city administrator meeting with the individual council members. Um, I've reached out to all of the council members um with regards to scheduling time to meet and get to know one another and for me to learn about what's important to you. Um, I've met with council member Bole and um, Heather and I have time scheduled, I believe, with Naen and Justin and possibly Michael. Did we chat? Nope. Okay. Yeah. Check your Jordan.

Jordan, my apology. Um, so please check your city email inboxes. There's emails in there um to all of you from me to schedule time to meet. And I one of the most important things for me as one of the new guys is to learn what is important to you. Um the mayor and I have been actively working with our federal lobbyists to um finalize um our federal um legislative agenda. Just so you folks know at like a 35,000 foot elevation what's on that, what our priorities are. We have a new police station that we're developing a one-page information sheet for. So when our lobbyists meet with our US senators and congressional delegation, um they have information that can they can share with that. The mayor has been very helpful with, you know, um refining the information points. So have the department directors. Other things are the roundabout which is right up here on College Avenue. Robert, help me with my location.

Uh yeah, so College Avenue and the future east west road. um it will run into College Avenue just south of the high school and College Avenue. So again, another informationational sheet with a map on the back. Um that map hopefully will communicate the connectivity that is um that this roundabout will achieve the new reservoir which is um out um on the property um by the public works um yeah near the wastewater treatment plant in the police up above the police gun range.

Yeah. And then um moving on um Stone Creek Development, the large residential development out here. I called and introduced myself to the senior project manager. Um that application has been refined a little bit. Um they've gone from maybe 900 residential properties to 700. The reason being is that they would like to include in their development um assisted living facility and all of the facilities that come with an assisted living facility. Um so we're asking her um to come to college place with her team so that um all of us can you know get together and know each other a little better so that we can continue to move that forward. Um the shooting range the existing shooting range um I was notified by the police chief um that they're looking to expand their ability to practice firearm safety. um they have a short range which I think is about 50 yards and they want to expand that to I think maybe 150 yards but we are actively working with um John and community development and planning regarding permitting and with um Robert because his public works crew is out there quite a bit.

Um let's see 25 deliverables. I got into Mike Rosatello's um files and found um a spreadsheet um titled 2025 deliverables. I've coordinated with all of the department directors. Um the good news is folks, I can report to you that your department directors have all of those things achieved and they're checked off the list and there was an extensive list. Um Christmas decorations are coming down on Monday. [laughter] Tuesday. Tuesday. They're coming down on Tuesday. So that's the good news. Thank you.

I've been invited What was that? [laughter] I've been invited to a number of regional meetings with various regional u my equivalents at various organizations and entities and um folks have been very welcoming and hospitable and um showing me the ropes and that sort of thing and just some random things um the MO, the executive alliance, the ports meetings, the list goes on, but those meetings are taking place. Um, I want to recognize real quick our new city clerk because she just jumped into this without anybody here to help her. There's no deputy city clerk um here because Red is taking FMLA. Um, as you know um Mary Elizabeth um is no longer with us, so she's not accessible. But um Carolyn has jumped in um and she uses um Shawn and I as a sounding board. And sometimes Sean and I joke like poor Carolyn. [laughter] But thank you for everything that you're doing and you're doing a really good job.

Um with regards to going back to the development out here, um Robert and I meet with Michael Mccieran. Um I think it's the 30th. Yeah, that's correct. On January 30th.

Yes. We're meeting just kind of a you know introduction. Hello, I'm Troy. Hello, I'm Michael. um and get that relationship solidified so hopefully we can continue to move things forward. Um let's see here. Where did I leave off? Um UG John and I drove to the Tri Cities today and we met with um JUB, our land use planners and had some good informational meetings with regards to our urban growth boundary area. I want to compliment John in front of all of you because John and Michael, our principal planner um and myself attended um the Walawwala County Planning Commission last Wednesday, almost a week ago already. And they did an made an excellent presentation and case for the city of College Place before the Walaw Wala Planning Commission. And to be fair, because I've heard Jim Fry's name mentioned up here today, Jim Fry also did a great job. So if you know Jim, say thank you. Yeah. Um, let's see here. Um, Sean and I are um the police chief are actively doing our level best to wrap up the police union negotiations. Um, so far so good, but I don't want to jinx it, so I'm just going to leave it right there. Um, the moment those police union negotiations are done, um, Sean and I jump into the police sergeant contract and, um, finalizing the, um, new contract for the sergeants. And that is my short list. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Mr. Rayburn?

All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate all your hard work. Um, you know, and while you gave that high level, I know there's a few lines in between every one of those lines. So, um, thank you so much, uh, for the work you've been doing. Really appreciate you jumping in. My pleasure. I'm enjoying it. It's hard work, but it's really good work. And I'm very fortunate to work with some department heads that actually know what they're doing. So, that's wonderful.

Okay. I'm I'm going to out you a little bit on something I didn't even tell you. Um I was on the phone the other day with Mr. Raber and he was asking me a question and as you know, we said goodbye and as we were hanging up, I hadn't hung up yet and I'm sure he was just talking to himself, but he said, "I love this place." I could before he hung up. [laughter] That could have gone so badly for you. So before before I hung up, that's what he said on his way hanging up. I love this place. [laughter]

I I do want to say your report and giving us kind of just a rundown of what's happening really is appreciated because I that's not something that we're used to getting. And I think there's so many of those little things that I mean we know that everybody in each of our department heads, you guys work so hard, but mostly because we see great things happen in the city. Not because we actually generally usually know what you're doing. Um, and so actually hearing kind of some of those things that are in the work and what you guys are doing is kind of nice to hear. So, and this is just a fraction of that. Oh, I don't. So, thank you for that.

I should just add No. Yeah, echo that. I think as we go along in the future, it's um nothing is more I think embarrassing as a a council member when something significant is happening in the valley and you have no idea what is it, why is it, and just I think it doesn't have to be necessarily written down even yeah what you've gone through in this process which would really help us. Thank you. All right. So, we are now um heading on toformational reports which there are none. So, that means quickly going to closing items. Um is there any other business for go to the order from any council members?

Um I'll share that today um Brian had Brian Carlton had the exit interview or we participated with the exit interview for the 2024 um fiscal audit and once again he passed with flying colors and everything's looking good. Oh, that's good. Sorry, I missed that meeting. And and and as we all heard, if you recollect um that there was an enormous amount of last minute request or an additional documents that he had to scramble to get and him and his team. So, that's great news. Thank you for sharing that.

Yeah. Well, they I I really appreciated them thanking Brian, understanding that we had for a time didn't have a city administrator, then we had a new city administrator, and then he was out. Brian was out on medical and all of the other pieces that went into it. And so, you could tell that he still showed up for them and was still providing everything that that was needed. Um, and just I mean in the way that that Brian does everything, right? But it was really nice to hear them acknowledge all of that. And our meeting was supposed to be a couple weeks ago, I think, when Brian thought that he was going to be back sooner than than he was. And so they've just been very accommodating. Um, and he did say, but remember, we're going to do it earlier in the year next time, right? So that is um that should will hopefully help. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you for Thank you for uh saying that, John. I'm sure um Ryan and we all appreciate knowing, you know, what's happening on the inside and the recognizing of the difficulties of some of the day-to-day work that we don't get to see. All right. So, if no one I have one.

Oh, yes. Cine, please. Um, so last meeting, um, well, I've I gotten questions about the detour and so I looked up online and Malaw Wala has a great, um, so sorry, the, um, [clears throat] um, 12th and what is it? Um, large. Is it 12th and no? Thank you. My 125. And so I went on the Walaw Wala website and saw lots of really great information and maps and things like that. I know it's not in our city, but it is affecting people like going to work, you know, if you wanted to go to a to the plaza or somewhere. Is there any way that we can um put any information out on our social media, even if it's a link to that project update website or something like that? That was one thing.

Yeah, absolutely. That's a good idea. Um maybe it'll also deter people from using some of our streets as as unauthorized detours. And I'll just add to that, they did add a specific really nice like overview photo with some additional like what the And then at noon at um Whitman College, there's going to be a poster making. And then at 1:30 at Giza Powerhouse, there's going to be a um a keynote speaker u entitled When the Songs Change from Selma to the Cell, uh presented by the Concrete Mama podcast. And then um the service part is at 3 pm. Folks are going to gather to assemble bags for BMAX backpack to bridge program. Um and there's I think there's a flyer. Each of the schools is kind of putting out a flyer, but I just love to see when all of the schools come together for these kinds of things. And as you had the proclamation today, I think it's um imperative that people check out what is going on in our community. And um not only is it a day off, but it's a day to give back.

Thank you. That's that was some great information. I I knew of some of it, but I didn't know of all of it. So, thank you. Any others? All right. Here. Oh, we are going to um I hope you all brought your your best suits because we're going to take another group photo at the end of this meeting since we have some new council members. That's Peterson. Um so so please um stick around just for a bit so we can um get a new picture as our new group has come together. Aside from that, do we have a motion to conclude?

I just want to add that I wanted this to be my first motion but you know I jumped into something else earlier but move to [laughter] a journ just wanted to you know some important stuff right. All right, we have a motion to conclude from Council Member Green. Is there a second? Second. Second, Council Member Williams. All right. Okay. We have a second from Council Member Williams. Thank you, Council Member Bole. So, if there you Okay. So, if there's no objection from Council Member Peterson, [laughter] the meeting is concluded at 7:59 p.m. Thank you everybody. So we don't have

right. Did she already leave? Um because Lauren Yeah, cuz you know