City Council - Regular Meeting

That's right. It is for everybody. It's Sharon.

Hold on.

Oh, there it is. Okay. Everybody ready?

Well, good evening and welcome to the Federal Way City Council meeting for Tuesday, May 19th of 2026. Would you all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, I will excuse our good friend and colleague, Melissa Hamilton, out of state on vacation, on a regularly scheduled vacation, and also she was excused for the executive session that we had prior to this meeting. So the record should reflect our city clerk that she is excused on both counts. And, okay. Also, when we get – we've got a recess a little bit later for a very, very special – I see you over there, John Hutton. We've got a very, very special reception that we're going to be having. And, yes, that means cake. But when we reconvene, let's have the two – since Councilmember Hamilton is not here, we'll have the two councilmembers go a little close so it doesn't feel lonesome over here.

All right. All right. Very good. Thank you. We'll do that after the break.

Okay. With that, why don't we go ahead and get started? We've got proclamations and presentations. First, under 3A, is the National Police Week Proclamation, May 10th through 16th. Council Member Sessoms.

Mayor, I am honored to present this proclamation, National Police Week Proclamation, to Federal Way Police Chief Andy Wong. Whereas there are more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers serving federal state and local agencies, including the hundred and 45 dedicated members currently serving in the federal way police department. And whereas the city of federal way police department was established in October of 1996 to protect and serve the citizens and residents and visitors to the city. And whereas National Police Week was established in 1962 with President Kennedy proclaiming May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which it falls as National Police Week. And whereas each year National Police Week recognizes the officers that are serving have served, and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, including two officers of the Federal Way Police Department. Now, therefore, we, the undersigned mayor and the city council members of the city of Federal Way, do hereby proclaim May 10th through the 16th, 2026 as National Police Week and publicly declare salute the service of law enforcement officers in our community and the communities across the nation. Signed, this 19th day of May, 2026. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. On behalf of the entire police department, I want to sincerely thank Mayor Farrell and the City Council for this proclamation in honor of National Police Week. This recognition carries deep meaning to the dedicated men and women of our department who serve with unwavering commitment each and every day. National Police Week is a time to reflect on the sacrifices and the contributions of law enforcement professionals across the country, and we're truly grateful to have our efforts acknowledged here in Federal Way. It is both humbling and encouraging to know that our work is seen, valued, and supported by our city's leadership. This gesture not only honors our department but also reinforces our shared commitment to the safety and well-being of the Federal Way community. We remain steadfast in our mission to serve with integrity, professionalism, and dedication. Once again, thank you for your recognition and for your continued support.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Chief and members of the department and our officers at Council Member Sessoms. Thank you very much for the work you do each and every day. Appreciate it. Okay, now we are on to item B, the Public Works Proclamation Week, May 17th through the 23rd. Council Member Walsh.

All right, it's my honor and privilege to present this proclamation. Mike, please. All right, it's my honor and privilege to present this proclamation. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are vital and important, important to sustainable and resilient communities and to public health, high quality of life, and the well-being of the people of the City of Federal Way. And whereas these infrastructure, facilities, and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals, who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government. and the private sector who are responsible for building, improving, and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and the children of the City of Federal Way to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works, works programs in their respective communities, and whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week, sponsored by the American Public Works Association, themed as Rooted in Service, Powered by Community. Now, therefore, we, the underside mayor and city council members of the City of Federal Way, do hereby proclaim May 17 to 23, 2026, as Public Works Week and urge all residents to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers, and employees. Signed, this 19th day of May, 2026.

Thank you, Council Member Walsh, Mayor, Council President, and all the members of Council. As Council Member Walsh said, this year's theme is rooted in service and driven by the community. So every day our staff shows up and works hard, whether it's clearing the streets during storms in the middle of the night or picking up litter during the regular hours. managing traffic operations, which is done both in the field and in City Hall, designing new capital projects, and outreach and education related to many of the environmental stewardship programs that the city and public works sponsors. On behalf of the department, thank you for this recognition. We have them all hung back from many years in the public works department, and it's one of those things that staff always looks at and smiles when they see on the wall that they were recognized by the city council. So thank you. Thank you, AJ.

And EJ, I can tell you what we smile about all the time, and I think I can speak for everybody is, and I don't know if people get an understanding or get their arms around this, whether it's a tree blocking a road in the middle of the night, something that's happened in which maybe somebody's run into a pole or maybe the power goes out at any time of the day. on any day of the year, whether it's starting to look like it's going to snow or whether we don't know, it is the public works people that are on duty, ready to respond. And this city is truly in your debt and the people that work in that department for you. So thank you so much for all you do every day.

Thank you, Mayor.

Okay, now we are on to Item C, the Affordable Housing Week Proclamation, May 18th through the 22nd. Council Member Assefa Dawson will present this proclamation.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to invite three different organizations. And by the way, this is Affordable Housing Week. The theme is charting the future. And so there have been several activities and events going on within King County recognizing Affordable Housing Week. And so I'm going to invite Kristen York and Amanda Santos from MSC. Maria Arns, who's a Federal Way resident representing SCIP and Dorsal Plants representing HDC. So I'm going to read the proclamation and I'll join you when I'm done. Proclamation Affordable Housing Week, whereas safe, stable, and affordable housing is foundation to the health, economic stability, and overall well-being of individuals, families, and the broader community. And whereas the city of Federal Way is home to approximately 103,000 residents, and nearly 47% of households are renter occupied, reflecting a strong reliance on rental housing options across the city. And whereas renter household and Federal Way are disproportionately affected by housing instability, being nearly twice as likely to be cost burdened compared to homeowners, highlighting the ongoing equity and affordability challenge. And whereas Federal Way is projected to need more than 11,000 additional housing units by 2044, including a significant share of affordable to low and moderate income households to meet projected growth and prevent displacement, And whereas, the city of Federal Way adopted a housing action plan to promote housing choice, preserve existing affordable housing, encourage mixed income development, and support equitable access to housing opportunities for residents of all income levels. And whereas, Affordable Housing Week recognizes the importance of partnerships among residents, housing providers, nonprofit organizations, developers, and public agencies in addressing housing affordability and stability throughout the community. Now therefore, we that understand Mayor and City Council members of the City of Federal Way do hereby proclaim May 15 to 22nd as Affordable Housing Week and commit to actions and efforts to ensure that the City of Federal Way remains centered on opportunity, building a community where residents can thrive in safe, healthy, and affordable homes.

signed this 19 day of may 2026. so as i come down if somebody wants to start speaking we'll save time thank you thank you mayor and council members my name is amanda santo i'm the chief operations officer at multi-service center msc is a social service non-profit affordable housing agency and social service provider headquartered right here in federal way since 1971. Thank you for acknowledging the need for affordable housing in our community. Affordable housing is the foundation of a thriving community. It makes everything else possible. Job stability, children succeeding in school, health and well-being. MSC owns and operates over 1,100 units of affordable housing across King and Pierce County. Four of those projects are right here in the city of Federal Way, representing over 500 units of our portfolio. This would not be possible without the City of Federal Way's support, and so I want to thank you for acknowledging affordable housing and committing to affordable housing in our community. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I'm Kirsten York, CEO of Multi-Service Center. We're just acknowledging that this is not done alone, right? We do this in partnership and in collective collaboration with cities like you all. We are grateful for the support, as always, and the leadership that you take in this proclamation. So much appreciation.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone. Okay, and now for a very momentous occasion. John, please approach the podium. Hello, everyone. I want to share, you know, we... We talk a lot about the future of this city, the past of this city, major accomplishments. We recognize individuals in our community that have had a major impact. There are few people in this community that have had and will have the lasting impact that John Hutton has had in our community. I've had the chance of working with John for the past I think we're in our 23rd year working together, first as a council member and then as mayor. And I want to tell you guys a story. Right when I became, I won't take that long, I promise. And right when I became mayor a few years ago, there was a time after 2008 in which we went through the Great Recession. And there was a really difficult time in the city. And during that time, this is 18 years ago, we laid off, I think, up to like 80 people at the city. And there were different things that we had done in order to save money and economize. And one of the things we had done, which was born out of necessity at the time, was to take parks and join it with public works. And so there was a time in which we didn't have a stand-alone parks department in our city. Shortly after I became mayor, I became convinced that we really needed to separate that out, that the mission of public works was wholly and fundamentally different than that of public works. And I had one name written on a piece of paper. And it sat there for about a day, day and a half. And I kept looking in that piece of paper and thinking about, are we going to do a national search? How are we going to go about? But I had one name on a piece of paper that I was considering. One. John came into the room completely unaware of this. And he wanted to talk to me. And he had got himself on my calendar. And he sat down. And as he starts talking, he starts talking about the vision for the parks department. And he said, I'd like to be your next parks director. And the name that I had on that piece of paper was John Hutton. And it was really just a profound moment in which the moment met the person. And I can tell you that John and I have had tremendous fun. We all have had fun with John. We call the Parks Department the Good News Department. Most of the events that we have in this community, I would say, are connected to the Parks Department, whether it's arts or parks, whether it's movies in the park, whether it's Fourth of July, whether it's Touch a Truck. It's all these different departments. John's department has been at the very core of that. And we've had some very special moments. So during the course of John's tenure as the parks director, not only did we put the finishing touches on the community center and making sure that we got it just the way we wanted it and the launch of the Silver Sneakers program, but we literally launched our town square park, which will be there hopefully for the next hundred years. We then, during the course of John's tenure, We renamed a long-standing park Kana Park, the only park in the city of Federal Way named after a family that was critical to the history of this community. But it was the countless times that, you know, when we were working on the development of Town Square Park or we're planning for the Fourth of July, the Red, White, and Blues Festival. Now, I want to let you know that one of the things I've gotten to do that's kind of funny, you may have heard about this, is that as the mayor, I select the music that the fireworks go off to because I had just the right idea of how I'd like to do this. Well, my partner in crime in this has been John Hutton. So early every year, John Hutton, usually about February, March, says, Mr. Mayor, we need to start thinking about a soundtrack. I said, John, I know. I'm working on it. I've got to see it. I don't quite have it. By April or May, John would go, this is getting critical. You need to make up these decisions. I'm like, well, come on. Let's go on the calendar. We would shut the door with the computer, and we would pick out the music, and we'd thematically figure out the music that when the When the lights go out for 10,000 to 15,000 people, the music that we would play for the people would have the maximum impact. I would have to say that, John, with all that you've contributed, whether it's Town Square Park, all of the parks, all of the personnel, helping us transition to making sure that we got the community center on the right track and repaired, Your legacy will truly be the assets, but also the goodwill that you've created. And with that, I have a plaque that I'm going to read it down there. But I have to tell you guys, I think about late last year, he started talking about retiring. I thought, yeah, whatever. That's not going to happen. And it still doesn't feel real. It will not feel real for a while. But, John, the city of Federal Way owes you a tremendous debt. And thank you so much for all you've done for all these years.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

All right. So we've got a great plaque for John. To John Hutton, on behalf of the City of Federal Way, thank you for 34 years, from 1992 to 2026, of dedicated service to our community. The 33 beautiful parks in our community, our thriving community center, and your dedicated leadership to the Parks Department is the legacy that you will leave behind. Best wishes and thank you.

All right. Wow. Thank you. Council President, I have a favor to ask. If you could make a motion to extend the meeting past 10, I'm going to be up here a while. So Jim said a lot. Stick around. Yeah, it's going to get long. No, I'm kidding. I'll keep it short. But seriously, I want to express my deepest gratitude to so many people, from the mayor and the council, for entrusting me with such an awesome job. It is incredible to lead such an incredible department. I'm forever in debt to this city for giving me such an awesome career, helping me grow and learn, And I've enjoyed being even a small part of seeing the city grow, change, and thrive. I've spent well over half my life as a city of federal employee. Pretty cool. I met Les Sessoms in about 1993 as he coached his little girl who's now, I believe, out of college and doing thriving well as a... as a very successful adult. Pretty cool when you see people's children grow up and thrive through Parks and Recreation and all the lessons that that teaches. I could not be more grateful. When I started with the City of Federal Way, it was roughly 75,000 people here. Since then, we built Sahali Park, Celebration Park, Coronado Park, Cedar Grove Park, Laurelwood Park, Town Square Park, Panther Lake, and Honrui Garden, among others. In addition to that, we made massive improvements in every single park over the years. We built the Federal Way Community Center. We got a new city hall, the building we're in. And we built the PAC. Also, we added over 25,000 residents. It's a lot of change. It's been really cool to see all of that change. I have several people to thank. First, the management team. This team is the most gifted, smartest, and high-character group of individuals that I've ever had the honor of calling my friends. Each of you has been a friend, a mentor, and a confidant. And in no particular order, I want to thank Ryan, EJ, Thomas, Steve, Andy, Brian, Keith, Meredith, Heather, Julianne, Kevin, Ben, Bill, the mayor, and Pam. Each of you have made a positive impact on our city every single day, and each of you have helped me and our department succeed. To the citizens, thank you for your support, your kindness to me and my staff over the years. You're the reason the parks employees work so hard every day to provide you with programs, spaces, parks, trails, and facilities to enjoy. We love what we do for you and your family. This is harder than I thought. I think the last time I cried was when my kid was born. Anyway, so, my first kid. Second kid, too. She's watching, so I'll be in trouble. To the employees here at City Hall and all of the other places that I come and bother you, and I'm kind of known for showing up in your office. And you've always shown good humor as I pop in. I can think of several that I'm looking at right now. Heather, who I pop in, and she says, what's up? I go, I got nothing. And I sit down and waste 10 minutes of your time. But that's an important part of my day to check in with people. But to all of those other employees, thank you for your friendship, your humor, your character, and your dedication, making things better for our citizens and visitors every day. Getting tougher. To my department, wow. I'm the first to admit that I am biased, and I'm proud to be biased. But you, all of you, are the absolute pinnacle of talent, heart, creativity, kindness, and can do, refuse to fail professionals in this state. You care about each other and everyone you work with and for. Exceptional is an understatement, a massive understatement. You have met and exceeded every single challenge, no matter how daunting, flawlessly, over and over and over again, and the city is fortunate to have you. So thank you to my staff, the most phenomenal group of people you could ever want to know. I joke all the time that I could give every one of my full-time staff my PIN number and I would sleep like a baby. Three of them would put money in just to see if I was paying attention. They know who they are. Lastly, to my family. My beautiful wife of 40 years and my best friend, Danielle, who's here tonight. My amazing, talented, super successful daughters, Shelby and Bailey. Shelby is here. She's a third grade teacher and is doing great work. Gave me two grandsons, Archie and Hank. Absolutely love them. Took them to their first ever ball game Saturday night. It was a blast. My other daughter, Bailey, is in a lab at UW finishing up nursing school. Couldn't be more proud of her. And their husbands, Seth and Chris, who along with my daughters, chose careers of service to others. They make the world a better place for children, seniors, animals, and people in need of emergency medical help. A teacher, a nurse, a zoologist, and a mental health professional who specializes in senior citizens. How could a dad want more? Thank you, Federal Way, for 34 great years. I look forward to seeing you in a park or at the community center or at one of our great events during my retirement. Thank you very much.

Council, let's do a picture out in front, and then everybody after the picture, there's cake in the back. Bill, you need to guard the cake. Do not let me have a piece. But we'll have come up, do a group picture, and then absolutely. Jack?

Yeah. Hey, I want to thank John. I've had the privilege of working with him starting 20 years ago as a citizen and then for more than five years on the city council, and it has been an honor and a privilege to see his dedication to the parks, to the people of Federal Way, and we are going to miss you, John. Thank you.

Appreciate it. Yeah, I am honored to have been one of your volunteers, John. Hats off to you. I've always admired your leadership. And as a basketball dad, I've coached many kids. right there in the community center, and I always saw you as an example of being what a true leader is supposed to be, working with parents, organizing the players and the leagues and everything. So hats off to you, and I like how that Sean Connery look is coming in.

That's great.

Got the hair, but not the face.

Council Member Sefford-Austin. Council Member Moore. Oh, okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. To Mrs. Hutton, God bless you. And to your daughters, God bless you as well. But, John, you... You're a good man. Thank you. And I have nothing but respect for you. We've had so many conversations over the years. I think our paths crossed when I worked for the Parks Department during my college years. And I know that we've had spirited debates. And John, I want you to know I highly respect them. Thank you. And I have valued a lot of our conversations because I know that you're a person of wisdom. and everybody can learn from you. And so I hope to God that we see you around and for you not to be a stranger in our community. I really do mean that. I know I'll find you in Milton somewhere, but in speaking of Milton, I'll say this. When I worked for the city for three years, it was completely evident that you had left a mark in that region, in that area, with the school districts. And the amount of time, talent, and treasure that you've poured and the wisdom that you've poured on thousands of kids, it is very clear. And I just, you need to be celebrated. And I just, I really hope that we find a way to stay connected. And if I need to find the truth, I'll just come to you. And with that, this is weird, Mayor, because I know that you've been around for so long. But I just wish you nothing but success, peace, and just a sense of joy as you go turn the next chapter of your legacy. Thank you. Thank you.

Congratulations. Thank you. And just had two stories to share. One is when I first started working here, I worked for a couple years for the city of Federal Way, and then I left. And prior to leaving, I had asked you, I think you had a Parks sweatshirt or something, and I left with that before getting it. But you had it for me, you saved it for me, and you gave it to me. I don't know when. We had run into each other, and you said, I still have your shirt, and... So I was very appreciative for not forgetting. But I do have a funny story where my kids loved soccer and they would jump, Celebration Park where the fence is locked, them and their friends would jump and play soccer and go home. And so one day I was driving and I saw my kids and I stopped just as they were being yelled at by someone who just, she wouldn't even let them talk. They were all apologizing and she's still, you know, it's like, this is not okay. It's illegal. You shouldn't be jumping this. And I didn't even know how to defend them because they were wrong. They were standing there and you showed up and you saw me, fortunately. It's like, what happened? And she's like, well, they did this. She was angry. And they were ready to leave. She wouldn't unlock it for them. They didn't want to jump back out. But anyway, you kind of defused the situation, told them not to do it again, had her unlock it for them, and they were able to leave, and they didn't come back, by the way. But you did also understand that they needed a place to play or hang out, and this was a great way to pass their time. So thank you for doing that, because I honestly didn't know what to do. And she was not happy, so I don't remember who it was. But thank you. You came to the rescue just at the right time. Thank you. And then, of course, when we went on the trip to Sister Cities, I think I got to know you better then. And we had a wonderful time, good conversations. And I just want to say thank you for being human. And, yes, we've laughed a lot. You're funny.

and so thank you for that and i wish you the best and like martin said hopefully we'll see you around here don't be a stranger thank you i'm not going anywhere we're sticking around so thank you all right council president oh thank you one of the reasons we incorporated was to build parks and protect our open spaces which you've certainly done it's amazing when you list the number of the parks that we've built and are maintaining. It's amazing what you've done, and we certainly appreciate that. Wish you well as you follow Bruce Springsteen in his concerts around the globe.

That's the goal.

That's wonderful. And you have a wonderful, mellow personality. I hope that is the same at home.

I'm very mellow, right? Don't seek a second opinion.

You're right. We've really appreciated that. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I remember the day when I was chair of the Arts Commission, and you became our head staff person, and you went from recreation to learning about the arts. Thank you for when you did that and for taking the time to learn about the Arts Commission and what we were supposed to be doing. I appreciated that. Happy retirement. Thank you. I hope you have fun traveling. Thank you. Good luck to your wife.

She's going to need it. It's a true story. You guys, there's one thing I want to say, is that there is nobody, and I'll use a diplomatic word, there is nobody more frugal that I have ever met in my entire life than John Hutton.

Only with city money. Your money.

I have to tell you, in the conversations we've had, and just in regard to, he's got me to where when I'm walking around the house at home, I'm turning off this light, this light, this light, this light, because John Hutton had got me on that, and it's like he has got certain personalities. So I want you to know that millions of dollars are put into the infrastructure of our community, but one of the best stewards of our resources, our time, and our energy, our love for this community has been John Hutton. Let's give him a big round of applause. Thank you. And I would ask that we get the council down here in front, but also management team and John's family. Let's do a big group picture, and this is certainly something we want to make sure. So let's have John's family come up, council, and management team come on in. I think we can get them all in. What do you think? Ben? Yes, please. All right. And then we're going to have cake, and we'll be in recess for about 10 minutes. Let's get everybody over here.

You want to see them there as well? Where do you want to see them? Let's get you right there. These two gentlemen over here? Sneak in right there.

It really bothers me we're not sitting.

No, I'm closer, Andy.

This way, guys.

Get a little tighter. Get a little tighter. I'll make sure I can . OK. Did you do that already? All right. They're one.

I'll get the link to myself.

get some business to attend to it let's get back to the record Oh, did we move the name tags? Oh great, thank you very much.

Oh, great.

Thank you.

All right.

Exactly. Okay. I'll call the meeting to order. Thank you very much. All right. We are now back. Again, congratulations, John. And let's go ahead and move to the next item, which is item 2E, Federal Way Library Makerspace Presentation. Felicia Wilson, Regional Library Manager with the King County Library System Soundview Region, will present this item. Ms. Wilson.

Good evening. Thank you, Mayor Farrell and Council Members, for the opportunity to address you today. My name is Felicia Wilson, and I am the Library Regional Manager for both the Federal Way and the Federal Way 320th Libraries. And with me is Christine Smart, who is our Makerspace Librarian. And she will be sharing updates about the Makerspace. Before I turn the floor over to Christine, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you all to our Juneteenth celebration. which is June 13th from 1130 to 430 at the Federal Way Library. And we also have flyers that talk about our summer reading programs and our artificial intelligence community listening sessions that we brought so that you can see those. And we hope that people will participate in those. And so I'm going to turn it over to Christine at this time. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Felicia. As she mentioned, my name is Christine Smart. I'm the Makerspace Librarian for the Federal Way Library. I'm so grateful to be here today in order to speak to you about some of the cool stuff we're doing. We're also looking for some feedback from you. So at the end, I'm going to ask you for your help answering some questions for us. I've had the privilege of seeing many of our City Council members visiting the Makerspace over almost four years that we've been open. We're thrilled to get the opportunity to talk to you because the biggest question that we get all the time is, what is a Makerspace? First and foremost, the Makerspace is a free resource for our community. It's a workspace for making, collaborating, and learning. We provide public access to tools and materials and our goal is to provide an expansion on the learning economy, the sharing economy that the library already provides, and provide you access and information to tools like laser cutters, sewing machines, and ways to learn and grow your skills. The makerspace equipment is vast. We have over on the left, a cute little guy who's using a Cricut paper craft cutting machine. The next picture is our sound production booth. We have machine embroidery, sewing machines, photography equipment, and 3D printing, among so many others. On our website is information about the vast array of equipment that we have, along with resources to prepare for coming in to use the equipment. There are three main ways to use the makerspace. We have introductory classes, open lab, and independent study. And I want to kind of explain to you those three things. Intro classes specifically are where you provide step-by-step instruction. You learn how to touch a sewing machine and sew in a straight line and thread a needle. We're going to make sure that you knew how to use the laser cutter without burning the library down. Very important. We want to make sure that you're using materials that are appropriate for the item but also are going to get you the best results. Open lab is where you're going to come in and use the equipment with staff assistance. So today we had a whole line of people coming in and learning how to use different equipment. I spent half an hour teaching someone how to use an embroidery machine for the first time and she was making a stole for her mom who was graduating from college and she was making a a stole for her for her graduation. OpenLab, you get to get materials from us, but you also get to bring in your own materials and do something cool for yourself. So it's important to us in the makerspace that you never have the burden of cost to learning a new skill. So if you're learning something new for the first time, you're never going to pay for that experience. But you do, in the future, you might have to bring in specific materials, specific things, We're not going to pay for you ongoing to learn and use the equipment, but we are going to make sure that you can learn without any cost. And the last one that we do most predominantly is independent study. That's where you come in. You're using the equipment on your own without staff assistance. We have all kinds of fun programs, monthly programs, in addition to those main three types of programs that we do. Those monthly programs are things like Catterday Crafts, where we have a wide array of people coming in and crafting in the library. Sew Whatever, where you can sew a project we provide or bring in your own materials and sew something that you'd like. Fiber Arts Meetups and so many more. We also do a series called Branding Your Small Business where we want to make sure we teach small business owners how to utilize makerspace tools to promote and grow their business. We even work with the City of Federal Way. We have a mending fair with the Refugee Artisans Initiative and the City of Federal Way. We work with Chelsea Brown and Brittany McGrath, bringing a wonderful service to the community where you can not only learn how to use sewing machines yourself, but just bring in a couple of items and get them mended for you. We also offer some programming in Spanish. I don't know what happened to the pictures there. Looks like some of my things got lost in translations, but there are lots of lovely comments from our community. But the main thing that we want is to hear from you. We are looking at a community survey right now. We want to get input on the types of services, the types of programming that we've been offering for the last three and a half years. We want to hear what kind of equipment do you want to see. We want to hear Are you enjoying the types of programmings? Would you rather see it in a slightly different way? Uh, the library has a lot of cool things coming up in the fall, and we want to make sure that we are listening to our community before we jump into some new services. And so. 10 questions, just a couple of minutes. If you at home want to take the opportunity to scan the QR code and to take that 10 question survey, or if you in here have any questions, uh, we're so, so grateful to be part of the community and probably the number one thing that you need to know is that all of this is free. your library, the resources that are available to you, not just the makerspace, but well beyond that into all of the services and the people make the library what it is. So I am so grateful for your time. Thank you so much for having us. And we look forward to seeing you at the library.

Thank you so much. And thank you so much for the work you do. Thank you, Felicia. All right. Now we are on to Mayor's Emerging Issues and Report. Oh, let's go back to the picture at the beginning. That was at Touch a Truck. That's me and Sparky, the mascot for South King Fire and Rescue. And we were able to grab a picture real quick. Sparky's in high demand, so I had to wait in line to get a picture with the big guy. All right, next. Okay, we've had a lot of things going on here in the city of Federal Way. That's myself and the council members and a couple of junior council members and a stroller for the grand opening of the Federal Way Farmers Market. It was on May 9th, so not this past Saturday, but Saturday before, at our new location, which is on 316th, right between the Performing Arts at Event Center and Town Square Park. And we shut down that road and we've been planning on this for a long time. And actually we got a lot of great input from the community. We made some adjustments and so last weekend we were able to deploy a lot of those improvements that included more ADA parking, more amenities down at the at the street level and went really well and so big thanks to Once again John's department Kevin Hutchinson who is running things over at the at the market a big big big Development on in regard to having at that location especially with the with the beautiful view of the of the mountain and right next to it Town Square Park and Performing Arts and Events Center. Really just a great location and we're working our way through the different issues and it really is a very nice venue. So thank you council for being there. Thank you everybody and members of the public. Alright, next. OK, we had a symposium or a presentation. That's myself and the communications manager with the city of Kent. We were there for an AI presentation at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond on May 7. The Pierce County executive, King County executive, many of the mayors in the King County Puget Sound area were represented to talk about municipal applications of AI. It was a really good discussion. Brad Smith, COO of Microsoft, as well as former Governor Christine Gregoire, who heads Empower Seattle, was there. They actually brought in a group from Abu Dhabi with regard to applications that have been made to governmental software. Really a very interesting conversation about the future of AI and service delivery and how best to accomplish that and certain issues that go along with that. We are a service delivery organization, and we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can. But we also want to make sure that we keep the human element and make sure that the service delivery is the top of the mission. We also had the Senior Health and Resource Fair on May 12th, last Tuesday, at the Performing Arts and Events Center. We had over 80 vendors there. It was absolutely jam-packed. Big thanks to the council president, with the senior commission, and everybody involved, the council members, and it was an absolute packed venue. It was also good to see Sharon the dog there as well, who made it in the picture. I know, so sweet. I know, really sweet. And so it was really just an amazing event and a lot of resources, and it was good to see a lot of the folks that provide services in our community.

All right, next.

OK, then one of the great things I get to do as mayor is have students come, or either I go there or they come here. We had the Open Doors student visit at City Hall. That's a program at Truman High School. Really great questions by those students. And that's in my office. And we had an opportunity to talk about government, about service, about all kinds of things, books, and city government, and that kind of thing. And like I said, they asked some really good questions. Then, two days later, I was at the El Centro de la Raza open house, and Estelle Ortega and Comcast were there, and it was really, again, about training, computer training, use of computer and AI resources for the workforce, and we are so fortunate to have the work of El Centro de la Raza in our community. All right, next. Okay, then, like I said, we had touch a truck, and once again, the Good News crew at the Parks Department did a phenomenal job. That's me talking with one of our officers with South King Fire and Rescue, and it really was just a great day. And what was really cool was to see the, oh boy, Alberta, what do you call that? The hydroplane. And that was really cool. And we got, I think we were told, the hydroplanes go about, gosh, between... 180 to 200 miles per hour on the water. Absolutely fantastic. But the fire truck, dump truck, SWAT vehicles, it was great to see everybody, the buses, waste management. So a lot of fun, a lot of kids. It was a great day. I can tell you this, though. We were really worried Saturday. Well, we were worried about Friday about Saturday's weather. We got word that there could have been a potential thunder and lightning on Saturday. And so hats off to Kevin, Jason Gerwin, and Parks about really making sure we notified council of potential issues if we would have had to cancel the market or call off the market and touch a truck. Thank goodness that didn't happen. We were able to move forward. It was great weather, as it turned out. But I really just have to hand it to you. About mid-afternoon on Friday, that's how good our staff is. About mid-afternoon on Friday, A delegation from Parks came into my office with all kinds of things about protocols for lightning and thunder and how to handle that. And just a top-notch staff, next level in regard to planning ahead for everybody's safety. So that didn't happen, but it was still good, and I appreciate that. Next. Okay, now, Ben, you want to talk about, you know, we've been talking a lot about kicking it federal way and about FIFA, the World Cup coming on. You want to prep this or set the stage for this video, Ben?

Yeah, so we're very excited about kicking it federal way. It's going to be one of the biggest events we've had in the history of our city. And it is next month. And we want to make sure that we get as much of the community and really the regional community around federal way to come to this event. And so we put together a promo video that we've put out on social media today. We're going to be kind of putting it in ads on social media. It's going to be going out on some streaming services as ads. So if you watch things on Peacock and Amazon Prime, you might see this pop on your screen, a little bit shorter version of this. And so we just are trying to build up hype and get people excited about what we think is a pretty cool event. So we just wanted to show you the ads so everybody could kind of see what it is.

Play the games and ride the rides. See live music. Kick it with us.

June 19th to the 21st.

Woo!

All right. Great job, Ben. And also a big thanks to Meredith. Meredith, can you tell us a little bit about how would you describe what's going to be happening on those three days, Friday the 19th of June through Sunday the 21st?

Sure, so Kickin' It is a three day festival bringing the World Cup to Federal Way. The festival will be at the Performing Arts and Events Center. It includes a watch party for all of the FIFA World Cup 26 matches that are being played that weekend. There's going to be live music on an outdoor stage. There's going to be all sorts of carnival games and activities and other activities for families. soccer clinics, soccer tournaments, food vendors, and more. The park staff and the PAC staff have done an amazing job putting together a really fun and jam-packed festival schedule for the weekend, and all of the activities will be free to attendees. They can learn more at kickitfdub.com.

All right. Thank you very much. And if you haven't had a chance yet, I would really encourage you to go over by the Performing Arts and Events Center and see the new turfed field immediately next door to the Pack. Absolutely fantastic. On Saturday, there's a bunch of food trucks up there, tables up above, but also tables down below for the farmer's market. So all kinds of food vendors and that kind of thing. But check out the field. It's great. Okay, now we've also got the fourth annual Arts Explosion on May 29th through the 31st. That's not this Friday, but a week from this Friday. Next Friday at the Performing Arts and Events Center. Susan, what time does it get started? Like 6?

I'm not sure. 530, wasn't it, on Friday night?

I believe that's correct.

I believe it's 530.

Okay. I'll be there at 6. I'm just kidding. All right. But around 536. You could miss the food then. Oh, exactly. Okay. I could do that. Unlikely, but it's a possibility. All right. So then we've got movies at the park. Disney's Zootopia 2. Wendy and my son say it's really good. So, again, free movies at the park. Big inflatable screen at Town Square Park, June 27th. And we normally do that right around dusk. What are you thinking, about 9 o'clock, 9.30, 10-ish? John? Yes, that is correct. Somewhere in there? OK. When it starts to get dark. So anyway, great movie, free movie, free popcorn. So come on by. Next. Okay, on July 4th, we've got the Miles Formiso 5K Walk and Run. That'll be starting at about 9 o'clock, get there at about 8.30. That's on July 4th in the morning. Then we've got the Red, White, and Blues Festival starting at 4 o'clock over there by the soccer fields. And then at about 10.15, the fireworks go off. And yes, John and I did pick out the music. Do we have the bagpiper this year?

I believe we do. We're just, I don't know that that's 100% confirmed, but we have like four in the pipeline, so we'll get one.

Very good. Okay. Sounds good. Okay. Yeah, it's not the 4th of July without the bagpipes. All right, next. Okay, movies at the park a little bit later on July 25th. It's the reboot of Superman. It's actually a really good movie. It's the DC version of the Superman movie. Again, Town Square Park, July 25th. We've got Kids Day at Steel Lake Park on August 5th. That's really a fun thing to do to watch the kids and all kinds of booths and that kind of thing. And that's where we found the corndog vendor. Just FYI. A community festival on August 8th, and that's going to be over at the Town Square Park and a very important event in our community. Okay, that's my report. Now let's move on to council committees and regional committee reports. First, let's go with Council Member Walsh with land use transportation.

All right. We had the opportunity of meeting on May 4th. Great discussions that evening. Items B through E on the consent agenda came out of that meeting. We also had a great discussion on the overview of the safe routes to schools. This on June 1st will be our next meeting at 5 o'clock right here. I would also just like to add that some of the events that the mayor just mentioned, particularly I took my two youngest grandsons to touch a truck. And every year they love that, and they loved it once again this year. What a great, great event. And with any of you that have young kids or young grandkids, it's a must do. And the Parks Department does such a great job of organizing it. And also kudos to everyone on the farmer's market as well. So that is my report.

All right. Thank you very much. Council Member Sessoms, Parks, Recreation, Human Services, Public Safety.

The committee met last week, and we had all members present. Our next meeting is June 9th, 5 p.m. Hope to see all of you there. We will be talking about many important issues. Tonight we'll be addressing items F and G on the consent agenda. So, yeah, that's my report.

All right, thank you very much. Council Member Kochmar, Finance, Economic Development.

Thank you, Mayor. Our next FEDERAC meeting, affectionately called FEDERAC for our Finance, Economic Development, and Regional Affairs Committee, will be May the 26th at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

All right, thank you very much. Council Member Sefa Dawson, Lodging Tax Advisory and Public Issues Committee.

Thank you, Mayor. Our next LTAC meeting is going to be July 8th or something. But what I really want to talk about more importantly is that Meredith Neal, who is our Economic Development Director, is leaving us on June 2nd to join the Economic Development Board for Tacoma and Pierce County as their Director of Economic Development. she's been here with us for about a year since last May and you'll be truly missed I enjoyed working with you the past year and you've brought a lot of wealth of knowledge and some changes to LTAC and I know the committee also loves you dearly and so thank you for everything you've done and I'm sorry to see you go but I think and but I also want to say congratulations and don't be a stranger come and visit especially during kicking it federal way I'd love to see you here So thank you and then with PIC, SCA PIC, my goodness we are we had very long very interesting meeting but just to highlight some of them one was around King County Regional Homelessness Authority and I know it's been brought up here at our council meeting and so they're still doing you know the forensic audit is being done and then there's going to be It looks like there's going to be a subcommittee that is going to be closely monitoring the authority moving forward. And then with the Sound Transit Enterprise Initiative, staff are tracking Sound Transit Enterprise Initiative and possible impacts to SCA members across the region with an expected vote at the May 28th Sound Transit Board meeting. and then the regional water quality committee there was also a long discussion and so we'll vote next week amending the draft letter and this draft letter went through nine amendments during that one meeting and it was really interesting and challenging especially when you're chairing so Mayor I do have a lot of respect for you and when we're making amendments and when you were there and it was a long meeting anyway to say the least and so I PICC members are also encouraged to share upcoming or recently approved city and special district levies and ballot measures with staff to share with the other cities and then there's a PICC work plan also that is being discussed so Housing Authority HGC also talked about the not Housing Authority I'm sorry HGC talked about the levy that they are working on, and they really want cities to be involved and to understand it. So we're highly encouraged to maybe have them speak during a study session or something to tell us what that is going to look like, if there's going to be a levy that's going to be proposed. So I think all cities knowing about that and understanding it would be great. So with that, I do end my report. Thank you, Mayor.

Great. Thank you. All right. Council President.

Thank you. So we've had, the month of May has a lot of special things that happen, and we've had six proclamations this month, which is quite a lot to do. The one thing we didn't have a proclamation for is National Military Appreciation Month. And, you know, it's a time to honor, recognize, and thank active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, veterans, and their families. It was established in 1999. And within the month of May, there are four special days that are recognized for military people and their families. For instance, Friday before Mother's Day is Spouse Recognition Day for military families. And I have to say, my dad was a veteran of the Air Force, but he never talked about his service. But my son-in-law is active duty army, and I have three little grandchildren with my daughter and my son-in-law, and they live most of their time in Asia. And I know military service is hard, not just on the active duty member who has to travel and be deployed, but also on families and especially grandparents. Because when they're in Asia, we don't get to see them hardly at all, except through our phones. And so it's National Military Appreciation Month all month. So thank someone in the service or a veteran, and I'm sure they will appreciate it. senior vouchers the at the farmers market we have a program called senior vouchers it's a ten dollar voucher and it can be used for uh vegetables and fruits and we have 56 vouchers each saturday Last Saturday, we unfortunately didn't give those all out. And so in the past, last summer, I was there every Saturday except one, and it could take 10 minutes to get through the vouchers, and we had more than 56 last year. So if you know a senior who could use $10 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables, please let them know. All we need is their name and their age. We don't ask for any other information. So we would really like to use these. I anticipate that as more seniors find out where the market is, because some don't know that the market's been moved and where it's been moved to, and when the weather gets nicer, because Saturday was not, the weather was pretty bad. We will go through all of our vouchers, but please let a senior know that we have that available for them. We also have a $5 voucher for children that they can get fresh fruits and vegetables too. And all we need is their name and age. Coming up on June 5th is Seniors Night Out. There will be live music, dinner, and dancing. Come as you are, dress up or dress down for a special 50 and older social evening. There will be pasta dinner, there will be dancing, and even Arthur Murray will be there to help you learn how to dance. The door is open at 530. The event is $15 per person at the Federal Way Community Center, and it's from 6 to 8. So if you want to go and have some fun dancing, please do that. As the Mayor mentioned, we just wrapped up our Senior Health and Resource Fair. The senior commission did an amazing and wonderful job. And Amy Glandon, who is our executive assistant for the council, did an amazing job also because she's the one who does all the contracts for us. We had 85 vendors. And one of the vendors was Sharon. So if you were here at council a couple of weeks ago, we had Sharon, who is a service support dog from St. Luke's. And Sharon was next to our table, the senior commission table. all day during the Health and Resource Fair, and she lets everyone sit down and pet her and talk to her. She's an amazing, very calm dog. But they had these little stuffed animals, and St. Luke's donated this to the council. So if you need to pet Sharon, she's here. She'll be here during every council meeting for us. Hi, AWC Council sent out an email today about 2.30. There are some opportunities to serve on boards, committees, and councils. Deadline is May 27th. And today we had a skateboard meeting, which is the South County Transportation Board. And we sent a letter to the Sound Transit Board asking them when they're making their financial cuts because they don't have enough money for all the projects. not to make those cuts in South King County. And hopefully they'll read it and they'll listen to us. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Okay, and now for the most important part of the meeting, to hear from the public that we work for. So we've got public comment. So if you'd like to make public comment, fill out the pink sheets, and I've got a number. What I'll do is I'll call out about four or five in a row. If you could sort of cue toward the back, and then we'll call out the next four or five. Everybody gets three minutes unless you have five people, including yourself, that are present. The first two, actually, that I have say they've got five. but they didn't list the names. So what I'll do is I'll ask them to have the people that are here raise their hand to comply with the rule. So everybody knows the rules. I'll just keep the comments germane addressed to the entire council. Okay, with that, why don't I call off the first four or five. Oh, by the way, timing-wise, green means go. You've got three or five minutes. Yellow means you've got 30 seconds. Please wind up. And red means please stop. Okay, so we've got Abacor Isaac, and this also says Laurie Stamp. And then we've got Robin Stevenson. Again, a five-minute, but didn't list the people, so we'll go to that in a minute. Crystal King. Bob Franks. Jeffy Tancredi. Juan Ruarez Ramos. Mike Abolich-Ziegler. Well, that'll do it for now. And then Avicora Izak and Laurie Stamp. Do we have five people that are here for you? Two. What's that, two? Yep. Okay, so it'll be three minutes. Okay, go ahead. A piece. What's that? A piece. Yeah, three minutes apiece.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Elkar Isaac, and I serve as the Economic Development Manager at the African Community Housing Development, known as ACHD, and I am a Far All Way resident. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Over the past two years, ACHD has supported 23 small businesses in Far All Way through a technical assistance grant navigation program. business stabilization support. This work has been made possible through previous City of Far Away CDBG investment and opportunities with the Washington State Department of Commerce. I first want to thank the City for investing in community-based economic development. Those investments are helping local businesses stay open, grow, and continue to serve our community. Many of the businesses we support are immigrant refugee, African diaspora, minority-owned Those entrepreneurs operate grocery stores, transportation businesses, child care programs, restaurants, and other essential services that contribute to the economic health of the city of Far Away. However, many of those still face barriers of existing funding and technical assistance and financial assistance. Over the last two years, ACHD has helped connect businesses to more than $90,000 in mini grants and business support funding here in the city of Far Away. But our work goes beyond helping complete applications. We provide trusted one-on-one support that help businesses navigate systems, stabilize operations, and access long-term opportunities. These businesses are more than small businesses. They are community anchors that create jobs, provide culturally relevant services, strengthen our neighborhoods. Councilmember, the need for culturally responsive technical assistance continues to grow. We respectfully ask our continued partnership and investment so organizations like ACHD can continue to support underserved entrepreneurs and build a strong local economy for everyone, far and away. Thank you for your time.

All right, thank you very much.

Good job, Daddy.

Good job, Daddy. Exactly. Wow, that's great.

I can't do that, so we can just...

Exactly. That's adorable. Robin Stevenson. Is that you?

No, I'm Laurie Stamp.

Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. Yeah, Laurie. Sorry. Laurie Stamp. Sorry. I knew three minutes. Sorry.

No worries. My name is Laurie Stamp. I am the education manager at African Community Housing and Development. We're a nonprofit based out of SeaTac, but we serve all of Greater King County in primarily the African diaspora population as well as the BIPOC population as a whole. My department is phenomenal. We host after school programming during the school year for students kindergarten through 12th grade. We just recently this school year were able to bring that programming to Federal Way, which has been really phenomenal. We currently have programming at Lake Doloff Elementary School, Sacagawea Middle School, and Taft High School. We've been able to send staff and resources and programming to students in their home school, and we're able to meet students and parents and families where they are in a way that we haven't been able to before. It's been really great to connect with these families and be able to provide them the wraparound services, the ACHD, prides themselves on providing. So that's been really wonderful. We've been really fortunate to have partnerships with Federal Way School District and the schools mentioned above that have really helped us build relationships, connect with those families, and really make us feel like part of the school community when we're there. We are really excited to see what a full year at these schools looks like starting in the fall, and we hope to expand to other schools in the district because we are hearing a need from it from a lot of schools within Federal Way School District, not just these three. Our after school programming focuses on three main pieces. It focuses on hands-on STEAM education, social-emotional learning, and outdoor education. We really try to tie in all the aspects of holistic learning into one. We focus on academic achievement, but we also place a really big emphasis on building confidence and collaboration. We want to build a sense of belonging and help these students get a lot of emotional awareness and resiliency that is missing across the board. One really unique thing about our programming is how we connect STEAM and social emotional learning through outdoor programming. so we take students outdoors often and they're not just learning science or engineering or outdoor ed concepts they're also learning perseverance and teamwork problem-solving and leadership they're learning how to regulate emotions in new and sometimes challenging environments through this school year we serve roughly 250 students through our after-school programs and Saturday trips serving in about 20,000 hours of educational programming a year In the summer, we spend a lot of time taking families outdoors. We take whole families on campouts overnight, and it's often their first experiences as a family to do that. It lets them rest and connect in ways that is so inaccessible in a lot of our communities today. I'm really excited to see what will come from our experience and our exposure here in Federal Way, and I'm excited to rally with the education team here to do so.

All right. Thank you, Lori. Thank you, Abacor. Okay, Robin Stevenson. Robin Stevenson. Oh, and Robin, I see you checked five. You've got five people here with you? Okay, there we go. All right, five minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and council members. My name is Robin Stevenson, and I'm here tonight as an advocate for veterans and their families living at the William J. Wood Housing Complex for Veterans. Over time, I have worked closely with two of the veterans, Mr. Daniel Weaver and Ms. Crystal King, who have shared concerns regarding their housing conditions, well-being, and treatment within the community. I am here because I believe the voices of these veterans deserve to be heard. Earlier this year, residents received notices to pay or vacate. The amounts reportedly varied among tenants. According to Ms. King, her notice stated that she owed over $1,800 despite having no income. The payment amount due has changed twice since the first notice. Receiving a notice demanding payment or facing the possibility of losing your home can create a significant stress and uncertainty, especially for vulnerable veterans already dealing with financial hardship and other challenges. Ms. King is here this evening and will share her own experiences and concerns directly with you. I want to bring to your attention a letter issued by a community housing director with the Puget Sound Healthcare System to the property manager in 2024, and I have this right here. The letter described an unnamed tenant as presenting a safety concern, and as a result, on-site services that many veterans relied upon were paused. For many veterans, they are critical support tied to recovery, stability, mental health, and overall well-being. Residents have reported serious negative impacts after those services stopped, including increased struggles affecting their recovery and daily function. I am also concerned that this document was later used in a protection order proceeding involving Mr. Weaver and Ms. King, even though, and based on the document itself, neither individual was specifically identified in the letter. When critical support services are interrupted and broad allegations are later used in actions affecting residents, there should be transparency, accountability, and careful review. Veterans deserve support systems that protect their well-being and due process that protect fairness. Veterans should not have to choose between remaining silent protecting their housing stability, they should be able to raise concerns about living conditions without fear of retaliation, harassment, or being treated differently for speaking up. What I and those who reside at William J. Wood would like to see is the restoration of on-site services, a stronger support structure for the veterans who call this complex home. That includes a dedicated and properly trained case management team, wraparound care services, mental health and substance abuse counseling, an experienced benefit navigator, peer support services, child advocacy and youth services, and family counseling resources. I would also like to see health care support strengthened, including nursing services that are able to fully access and reach residents throughout the building so veterans can receive appropriate care and support where it is needed. I would also like to see an independent audit of oversight processes that help ensure the integrity of housing eligibility requirements and program operations. I would like to see trained and certified security personnel available consistently throughout the day and evening to help create a safe environment for residents. I would like to see property management teams receive veteran specific training, trauma informed training, extensive education regarding fair housing laws and their amendments so they can better understand the unique needs, rights, and challenges faced by the veterans they serve. Veterans deserve more than a place to live. They deserve a community built around support, dignity, stability, and respect. Before I conclude, I would like to again extend an invitation to the mayor and council members to attend our coffee check-in on June 4th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the William J. Wood Housing Complex. This gathering is not about conflict. It's about connection. It's about creating a welcoming space where veterans can reconnect, feel supported, and experience a sense of community. Sometimes one conversation, one act of support, or simply showing up can make a meaningful difference. Your presence would send a message that these veterans are seen and that they matter and that the community cares about their well-being. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Okay, then we've got Crystal King.

Thank you. I apologize. I haven't done this since high school. Please bear with me. As Robin said, my name is Crystal King. I live at William J. Woods. I've been there since 2018 with me and my son. I wanted to talk about some of the problems we've been having this past March. We have a company, Trader Joe's, who drops off food for us because we have people with low incomes struggling. We woke up one morning to find notices on our walls on each floor saying that services were paused until April. The only explanation we were given was that, you know, because there was some difficulties, somebody was arguing or whatever. Our advocate, doing what she does, called the company. They were unaware that the services were stopped. They were still making deliveries, but yet they weren't getting to us. One of the other problems we have is with receiving our medical. The letter that she spoke about that was written, The services were paused, and when they did come back, they're not allowed to go past the first floor. Before our HUD-VASH person would knock on your door, because some people, you have to knock on the door to physically see them to make sure they're okay. You can't do that if you can't go up past the first floor. We have to go into a room that's right next to the property manager's office that has a peephole. I have been in there with my HUD-VASH case manager in the middle of an appointment and speaking about my concerns and hearing the staff on the other side. He had to walk through the door to basically let them know, like, hey, you know, I'm in here with somebody, for the talking to stop and then for them to leave the office. Because of that, people tend to not want to talk. because of the retaliation. I can personally speak of the retaliation until the end of this month, the 27th. I have a protection order against me that was made by the property manager. Ms. York and Ms. Santos, who was here, I've been asking them for a year, a year, for all the accusations and the so-called paperwork that they have against me. They won't answer me. I mean, I shouldn't have to be able to go and talk to somebody and try to get things solved about the things in my apartment, whether it's maintenance or dealing with another resident or dealing with staff, what happened to worry about calling the police. And speaking of the police, I would like to say to the chief that's over there, I want to thank him and his police department because every time that those police officers show up, They talk to the staff and then come talk to us because of their police work and because of their due diligence. There's only two protection orders that we were able to go and talk to a judge. And he, Judge Tinker, he called into question those protection orders. So I want to say thank you for hearing me out.

Thank you very much. Bob Franks.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, City Council. My name's Bob Brinks. I'm a veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps proudly for 26 years. I'm now retired, but what I do is I spend my free time to assist fellow veterans, brothers and sisters. Well, on March 27th of this year, I visited William J. Woods Complex. I delivered bottled water that was donated to me so I could donate to veterans. Once I got it delivered, I walked out, got in my car. I made it five freaking blocks before I was pulled over. I don't know if it was a policeman, but I just saw the little red and blue up on the dash kind of dig. Said, you made a disturbance at William G.? For what? Delivering water? delivering water to my veterans. When I told the officer that, even if he was an officer, I don't know. He just sent me on my way. I'm bringing this to your attention because this should not be happening. All I want to do is help. Help. Who would report something like that knowing that was not the truth? When somebody knowingly reported a false emergency or provide false information about a disturbance to the law enforcement, it's a serious offense in the state of Washington. And I'm determined to find out who did that. Thank you, Mayor, City Council members. I appreciate it. I'm a Marine Corps veteran. I never give up. Never. I'm looking forward to helping out this community again.

Thanks, Bob. Thank you. Jeffrey Tancredi.

Good evening, Mayor, Council President, Councils. Good to see you all. Thanks for letting me speak. Mayor, I had some comments that I had prepared for tonight, rehearsed it over and over again. But after listening to these veterans, having served in the United States Army for many years, two tours in South Korea, what a beautiful country that is, really is. Also, one small tour in Mogadishu. But what I had planned to talk about tonight, it's not relevant. It's not relevant at all. So I just wanted to You know, let these individuals know that I hear them. I'm concerned about them. You know, when you serve in the military, it's quite a sacrifice. You've got to go all over the world. Sometimes they tell you at the last minute, I don't know what it is, Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving Eve, you're going to such and such a place. Oh, okay. So it's quite a sacrifice, and I hope that all of these issues get addressed, and I'm sure they will. But I think it's important that people are coming to speak because that's how things get resolved, by coming forward and continually bringing these things to the forefront. But I know we have a great council and a great mayor and great city staff, but I just couldn't talk tonight about what I was going to talk about because it's meaningless. It's irrelevant. You know, after listening to these great patriots. They are patriots. They're Americans. So I salute them. I salute all of their service and whatever we can do to make their life easier. Please, let's do it. So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Jeffrey. Thank you for your service. And thank you for the service of the individuals who are at William J. Woodhouse. Thank you for your service to our nation. All right, Juan Ruiz Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor Ferrell. Thank you, Council President Honda, Council Members. Before I start, I want to do a shout out to John. Back when I was 18 years old, it feels weird saying it so long ago, but it's only two years old now. I'm only 20. The gray hairs may say different wise, but I'm only 20, as of May 1st. Back when I was in the Youth Commission, We were thinking about projects of what to do for our community and the youth. And as a senior, I noticed there was really no community-wide effort for a senior send-off in the city. So we've worked with our other commissioners and staff here. We brought the idea of a senior send-off at Steel Lake Park with lanterns. And the first person that we had to talk to was John. And we spoke with John about it, and he liked the idea, and he helped us the way. So, John, thank you so much for your mentorship towards the youth. Now, today I want to talk about infrastructure on 288th and Pack Highway. Now, during the break, I spoke with E.J. Walsh about this, and he gave me a more clarified idea about this, and so my speech that I wrote this morning is kind of out of context now, so I thank EJ for giving me all the better facts. So, you know, there's an old saying that the most terrifying words in the English language is, I am from the government, and I'm here to help. Well, I think the residents of South 288th Street now know exactly how that feels. Not long ago, this city made a decision. It took a road that worked, two lanes in each direction on Pack Highway and 2D8, and redesigned it to one lane to make room for bike lanes and for safety concerns. And what did we have to show for it? From Pack Highway all the way past to Thomas Jefferson High School, nearly a mile of gridlock every single day. I will tell you, what it looks like for where I live. One afternoon, I was going to a board meeting at a water and sewer district, and the traffic was all the way backed up to my own house. My house to Pac Highway should only take three minutes. It took me 20. The back lanes sit empty. And I say that not to sound unkind, because I may be a little biased on health, as many of you kind of see. I say it because it's true. Good government listens before it acts. Good government measures results after it acts. And good government has the courage to say, we got that one wrong and fix it. Federal Way is a great city. Let's make decisions worth it. Again, I want to shout out to E.J. Walsh for discussing this with me earlier today, and so I give him a full applause. Thank you, Mayor Farrell. Thank you, Council.

All right, thank you very much. All right, Mike Bullidge-Ziegler. And as Mike makes his way up here, the next comments will be from Stephen Field, George Houston, Harold Booker, Rachel Jones, Paul McDaniel, Nathan Orth, Anna Patrick, Dara Mandeville. All right.

Mike. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Council. My name is Mike Balik-Ziegler. I'm a resident here in Federal Way. I'm here to comment on the Affordable Housing Proclamation. Housing is not affordable. The rent is too high. And I'm glad to see that the city is recognizing that. I also wanted to repeat a few things mentioned in that proclamation because I think they're really important. First, it said nearly 47% of households in our city are renter-occupied in Federal Way. So many people in our city rent, and I so rarely hear those neighbors lifted up or acknowledged in this room. Second, it stated renter households in federal way are nearly twice as likely to be cost burdened compared to homeowners. There are a lot of cost burdens right now. And last year, King County's eviction rate hit an all time high. Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking about rising energy and gas costs and how those costs could be the accelerant that pushes more families and residents from unstable housing into predatory housing or no housing at all. I'm not currently a renter, but I was at one point in researching what protections federal way offers renters today. I came across a federal way mirror story back in 2023 about residents who came before our mayor and many of our current city council members at public comments asking for protections that neighboring cities already have a cap on late fees and more notice before rent increases. The city has not acted on those protections and our mayor is even quoted at the time saying they do not seem reasonable. They seem very reasonable to me and leadership in nearby communities clearly agree. Ironically, residents in the unincorporated King County areas the city is looking to annex currently have stronger renter protections than Federal Way residents do. If they are annexed, those folks would lose protections when they become a city resident neighbor. Too often our city relies on outside organizations to support our most vulnerable residents while hesitating or refusing to develop its own policies to protect working families. Words are good, but protections are better, and they will go further to keep people in their homes. The city should put your policies where your proclamations are and protect renters by capping the late fees and requiring more notice for rent increases.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Is Stephen Field on Zoom? Oh, he's not? Okay. All right. George Houston.

Good evening, Mayor Farrell and Council President Honda and Council Members. My name is George Houston speaking on behalf of the Diversity Commission. We appreciate the Parks, Recreation, Human Services and Public Safety Committee's continued engagement on the flag policy and the opportunity to again share the commission's perspective and to provide a possible way forward. At the May 12th committee meeting, the committee excuse me, the community showed up again. Residents provided public comment and their voices reflected what we know to be true. Federal Way remains deeply divided on this issue. The Diversity Commission has followed this conversation closely and also hold a range of perspectives. This division is not a problem to be solved by a vote of law, but it's an invitation to lead. We're concerned that the current discussions frame this issue as a choice between keeping the current policy or returning to the previous one. We believe there is meaningful space between those positions that has not yet been explored. We believe creative community informed approaches may better reflect the complexity of this issue and build community trust and demonstrate effective good government in practice. The diversity commission serves in an advisory capacity to the city council. on matters affecting diversity, equity, inclusion, and community trust in Federal Way. In that role, we are prepared to engage residents across perspectives, identify options, and bring these recommendations to the council. This would not delay a decision indefinitely. It would give your final decision a stronger foundation. We renew our request tonight. Authorize the Diversity Commission to lead a community engagement process and bring forward a set of recommendations for the council consideration before a final decision is made. We remain ready, willing, and committed to this work and to this city. Thank you.

Thank you. Harold Booker.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor. My comment was for the ordinance section. So I think you've read that.

I will. Oh, OK. You were right. It is for the first. You bet. OK, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Rachel Jones.

Hello. My name is Rachel Jones, and I have lived in Federal Way for 26 years. Tonight I wanted to address two things. First, I would like to address the reality that ICE is picking people up in Federal Way. We have photographic proof of this happening now, and one of the officers in the photo is wearing a face covering, by the way. I know that we kind of discussed that previously. You can argue all day whether it's okay or not, but I think it's important for the police and the board to acknowledge that it is a fact. rather than kind of the denial that we've been getting of we are not aware of anything that's going on. We have proof of that now. So that was first. Second, it may seem like beating a dead horse, but it's important that we don't let the flag discussion get pushed off to the point that it's just ignored. At the Parks and Rec meeting, the general feeling I was hearing was that we've been talking about this for too long, since the original discussion in 2019, and that it's time that we move on. There is also talk from even the people for changing the rules that City Hall is not the best location. I agree. Personally, I would like to see the flags displayed in the area around the PAC. I feel like they could be seen from 320th. It's a good spot. But my fear is that even if it's decided that the rules can be changed, we will then kick the can down the road to have discussion about where might be the best spot. And then we'll be having to look at the budget and everything like that. My fear is that in 10 years, we will still be discussing this and have no flags anywhere. Waiting on the location is not a good excuse for not displaying anything. So I would ask that we fly them at City Hall until we figure that out. And that way, yeah, we're not going to let this go. You can't just sweep the marginalized communities in the city under the rug. On that note, we heard a city council member at that Parks and Rec meeting say that marginalized folks have more to worry about than flags, like housing, food, et cetera. I'm not sure if the council is unaware of what constitutes a marginalized community or what, but the definition is having marginal social or political status relegated to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group. So while yes, that can definitely include the poor, and maybe we should address why anyone would be struggling to have enough food or a place to live here, using that as an excuse for why folks shouldn't care about representation in their city is gross. And so I challenge you all to think about the messages you are sending going forward.

That's it. Thank you. Paul McDaniel and then Nathan Wirth.

Good evening. Paul McDaniel, resident since the 1990s. I'm going to start off by shouting out a simple five to the brothers who are here today. If you haven't noticed, Marines never give up. You will see us consistently here for the rest of our lives. So with that said, I'm also going to shout out a thank you to Tony from the community center. He looks up in the weight room, very pleasant person, always nice, and works really hard. So John, if you hear this, let him know. I also have a request. If you guys could put a handicap sticker on the cabana downstairs that has a little handicap sign on it. I got called out for not noticing the sign by somebody from the handicapped world. So please do that. Strong mayor. That's the form of government we have, and that's kind of what I'm going to talk to you today. My main focus is going to be on the Parks and Rec Committee and what's been going on. The meeting lengths should be no longer than two, maybe two and a half hours. Four hours is ridiculous. Keeping staff here until 9 o'clock is completely disrespectful to the staff. The agenda size, I feel the agenda size has gotten pretty large. I feel like we need to consolidate them or either make them a little bit easier to handle for staff. which also we had time limits. My understanding was that if you put time limits on your agenda, you're required to stick with them. There was a 20-minute agenda item on the last meeting that went for over an hour plus, not 20 minutes, an hour plus. If there's a minister on there, I'd like to know if the legal standing is that they're required to stick within them. Agenda items. We had an agenda item that's been on four of the council meetings for that committee. And in the meeting that we talked about, there was no motion really made for it. And the motion that was made was not accepted because it was not a true motion. Four people mentioned they were nay for moving forward with it, three were yay for it. But there was no plan with the three. The Open Public Meetings Act allows three of you guys to talk together. You three did not talk together. By the end, the legal staff didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do for motion. You guys could talk. You guys won't even plan for it. You had it on the agenda four times, and you guys did not actually come forward with a plan, a set motion to make it worthwhile. It's a complete waste of time if we're going to do it that way. In the meeting, I cited in public comments multiple breaches of policy in the last one. Most were not even addressed in the conversation. The one that was addressed was mentioning that one flag was allowed to be up because Pride is a month. Well, black history is a month. And I don't think it's fair that one flag, the pride flag, was up when the Juneteenth flag was flown. I don't believe in second class flags. If you guys allowed the flags to be flown because they raised them, they turned in the paperwork, then you should have flown separate, not together. And then I'll mention the fact that on the record was mentioned multiple times, knowing that the thing would not pass because four would vote against it, they still wanted to push it forward. That is a partisan political move. You are non-partisan. Either work together or don't. But don't sit there and try to make it a political move. Jim, it's a strong mayor, former government. I'm going to ask you to step up, support staff, and squeeze on that. It's not fair to the staff, and it's completely just not fair to staff. I'll leave it at that. Thank you.

Thanks, Paul. And I'm working on it, Paul. I'm working on it. Thank you. All right. All right. Nathan Orth, sir.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Nathan Orth. I've been a resident of Federal Way for nine years. I know at this point we are all dealing with fatigue in discussing and hearing about this issue, but I'm here again to talk about flags. The reason some, but not all, groups have flags and days or months set aside to remember and acknowledge them is to respond to past wrongs and hopefully steer us away from committing them again. The pride flag is hung to acknowledge the constant attempted erasure of our LGBTQ community members, like the recent murder of UW student Juniper Blessing. We acknowledge the Stonewall riots. We acknowledge the Pulse nightclub massacre. I think we can all acknowledge that committing violence against someone or some group because of who they were born as is wrong. The purpose of the Juneteenth flag is to acknowledge the wrongs of slavery after it was finally outlawed following a bloody civil war. June 19th, 1865. It was the first day that everyone was at least theoretically free here in America. And I think that is worth celebrating. These flags were raised following proclamations like the three that we witnessed tonight, like the six total this month that was mentioned earlier. If the government's speech of making a proclamation is constrained enough to allow for proclamations that are celebrations and acknowledgment of specific groups without endangering the city to accidentally proclaiming White Nationalist Week, then constantly raising the specter of what if that happens just rings hollow to me. When the flag policy first changed, it seemed like a majority of the council agreed they just didn't want extra flags hung at City Hall. My reading of the policy, and my readings have been corrected over and over again, is that it's specific to city-owned property, not city-managed property. I would propose that if the city leased a piece of land with flagpoles on it, then those flags could still be raised by the city without it being at city hall or on other city property. I have heard some locations suggested. I would throw onto that list the flag pavilion at the lake outside of the old Weyerhaeuser building. I believe the property management company frequently rents out pieces of that property for events already, so the structure is there. It appears to be well kept and ready, thanks to the property management company's groundkeepers. And while time is low, a short-term lease or rental could solve this issue, at least for this year, while the city decides whether they want to build another pavilion at Town Square Park or some other location. Thank you.

Thank you, Nathan. Anna Patrick and then Dara Mandeville. Excuse me.

Evening, Mayor and Council. I would like to speak about the housing, affordable housing issue. And I know I've talked about this before, but since we were on the topic tonight, I would like to address the need and inquire about what the city is doing to keep track of how much affordable housing, how much housing in each of the income brackets that the Washington State Department of Commerce requires every city to maintain now. They have now this measure of how much each city is supposed to have, and I think the county had done a measure of how much each city had, and and kind of looked at what we should all fulfill for our city. So I want to know how we're keeping track of this, and are we including the subsidized, we're looking at the different models, housing models, like MFTE, LIHTC, and then how much is subsidized in each of those units, because some cities have those models, but they have more subsidized versus less subsidized, and I think that makes a difference. And I want to know how we're keeping track of it, And I saw that Skip is now looking for bids. And so are we going to be thoughtful in what city is going to be getting the next housing? And I hope we're also keeping track of how much market rate housing And I'd also like to address the conflict of interest that some councils might have regarding discussion of nonprofits when they serve on boards. And it's very evident when those discussions occur and those individuals get up and leave. And this is an example of where I think conflict of interest can really impact somebody's service to the city as a council member. And I think they should actually excuse themselves if they're going to get up during these discussions by the public about issues related to those facilities, such as William D. Woods. I think it's really disrespectful to get up and leave. And I notice there's a trend of some councils, and I'm not going to name names, but council members getting up and just leaving during discussions. I've never seen that before, so... Just wanted to bring that up. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Dara Mandeville.

Good evening. So I wasn't even going to talk tonight. I know, shocker. But a few things. So I want to go in the way, way back time machine, back to 2021. I know it seems forever ago. When Erica Norton was on the council, she's not here anymore, so I can, not dead, she's not here. I know I can say her name. So when I first got involved with stand-up, I was at a town hall meeting that we had at the community center, and Erica spoke there about her words, not mine, the trap house that the William J. Wood home was then. This was five years ago. She spent a lot of time there with her business and personally, and wow, we got an earful. So to know several months ago we heard that things were still happening there, and then to hear this tonight as the wife and the daughter and the mother of veterans, it makes me sick. It is absolutely ridiculous that we're still having these conversations. We asked as the public several months ago, last year, for an update. I haven't heard anything. We have to be making this a priority. If that means we take it away from multi-service center, Let's do it. This is absolutely ridiculous that a multimillion dollar nonprofit is treating our veterans like this, of all the people. And then, I'm glad that I'm not the first one to bring it up, but I'm also asking, again, I've brought this up before, when community members email the council, you should email back. Even if it's a thumbs up, hey, I got your email, I'm really getting tired of not getting responses to my emails. I'm also going to ask, I'm going to kind of echo Anna's comment that when the public takes the time, we all have jobs and families and lives and, and, and, and. We don't get paid to be here. At the town hall meeting, after the town hall meeting, I sent an email and didn't hear anything, well, from somebody. And then I noticed it again tonight. We're here to talk to you guys. We're not here for fun. We don't get paid to be here. When our community members are here discussing things, stay in the room. Be respectful. We don't get paid to be here. And then real quick, John, oh, did he leave? Okay, I'll get him later. And then thank you, Mayor Farrell, for putting pressure on King County Regional Homeless Authority. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, as to follow up with regard to individual items, Bill Vadino, our policy advisor and public outreach, has done some outreach with the multi-service center and this issue. Bill, will you touch base with the folks that are here from William J. Wood, and then what he'll do is we're going to look into this, report back to the council. and report back about what the current status is and what potential role the city could have in this issue. But, Bill, if you could touch base with them, make sure they've got the contact information with the people that are here, and then also let's touch base tomorrow about following up. Also, E.J., if you could, with regard to Commissioner Ramos, if you could follow up with a report to the council about that potential issue. We don't need to get into it today. Sure. But follow up about that, and then we will analyze whether we want to have a follow-up issue before the before the council in fact we may want to we may want to because of the the commissioners and i i want to i do want to say um our commissioner was not here on behalf of the lake haven commissioner but out of respect uh i want to make sure that he's recognized as a as a elected official here uh let's pretend let's discuss whether we want to have this as a separate follow-up item about why we did at that location so let's let's analyze that okay and then also um With regard to housing, housing update, Keith, why don't we plan at the next council meeting to have a discussion about the inventory housing, what the results of the last housing action plan were, and how we keep track and report those distributions of housing on the affordability spectrum. Okay. Okay. And Heather, please help me remember that. And then obviously the council presidents here will remember this agenda setting. Okay, so those are the follow-up items. And I thank you, everybody, for your comments. Very much appreciate it. And now we are on to the consent agenda. These items have gone through committee and can be passed all at once. I'll go ahead and read the items and ask if a council member would want an item pulled for separate consideration. All right. Item A, approve the minutes for the May 5th, 2026 City Council special meeting and regular meetings. Item B, authorize the interagency agreement amendment number one, pollution prevention assistance partnership with the State Department of Ecology. I assume that's the State Department of Ecology. Is that right? Okay. It just says Department of Ecology. Item C, authorize applying for transportation grant SS4A, demonstration and supplemental planning grant program. Item D, approve resolution setting a public hearing date for the 2027 to 2032 transportation improvement program. Item E, authorize entering into takeover agreement citywide pedestrian safety improvements. Item E, excuse me, F. Approve the interlocal agreement, the 2026 to 2027 school resource officers. Item G, reject the RFB submission request for, what's RFB? Request for bids. RFB submission and authorize re-soliciting the project city hall elevator modernization. Item H, approve the incentive fee payment global spectrum LP OVG 360 fiscal year 2025. Council, after having read those, are there any items you would want pulled for separate consideration? Council President?

I move approval of the consent agenda items A through H. Second.

Second. It's been a motion. A second. Is there any discussion with regard to those items? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. The matters are approved unanimously. Item 6, Council Business, Authorized Award, 21st Avenue Southwest Preservation Project. We're going to have Christine Mullen, Engineering Manager, will present this item. Welcome.

Hi. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Christine Mullen. I'm the Engineering Manager for City and the Public Works Department. The policy question tonight is, should the Council authorize the award of the 21st Avenue Southwest Preservation Project to the lowest responsive responsible bidder? So we opened bids on May 12th for this project and we received five bids. The lowest responsive responsible bidder is icon materials with a total bid of just over 2.3 million. So here shows the budget for the project with our estimated expenditures, which include the design costs, construction costs, a 10% construction contingency, and then our cost to provide construction management and inspection services. So the total estimated project cost is just over $2.9 million. And then for this project, we have a federal NHS, which is National Highway System, grant for this project of $2.59 million. And then we have some 102 overlay funds, which are matching local funds to match the grant requirement. So we have $3,090,000 for this project. So it is fully funded. The options before you tonight are option one, which is to authorize the award of the 21st Avenue Southwest Preservation Project to CPM Development Corporation, doing business as Icon Materials. They are the lowest responsible bidder in the amount of $2,302,838 and approve a contingency of $230,283.80 for a total contract authorization of $2,533,121.80 and authorize the mayor to execute the contract. Or option number two would be to reject all bids and provide direction to staff. And the mayor's recommendation is option number one. And I'm available if you have any questions. All right. Council, any questions for Christine?

Councilor Rousseff-Vadasa?

Yeah, not the last slide, but maybe two slides before that one. I think it's just a... Can we get the slides back? Okay. Nothing major. Heads up. one more the other direction no keep going okay right there of the budget one the budget one so available funds and it says estimated project cost that's not what we mean right oh correct yeah that should say estimated or additional available funds so there's so the money left over from this yes thank you for that so does that Do we hold on to it until the project is completely done? Or since we have contingency of 10% already included, does this money go somewhere else for another project?

We usually wait until the project has completed and been accepted before we put those funds back onto another project. Okay. Just in case.

Okay. Council President Honda?

Thank you. Do you have a map of? How much of 21st Avenue Southwest is going to be worked on?

I do. Can we get the slides back again?

Did I miss it?

No.

Oh.

It's a hidden slide we have at the end if this question comes up.

OK. And when will the work be done?

So we're hoping that work will start in early June, like as soon as we can get the contract over to the contractor and get it signed. So probably about the second week of June. And I believe they have 80 working days to get it completed. So it should probably be completed by around October.

so then we'll have 21st being worked on and 320th being worked on and those are major roads for anyone in that part of federal way to get out of uh that area yes what are the suggestions going to be to get people out of the area 312 and 356.

uh 356 could work for some yeah and 312 yes um there will be two-way traffic maintained on both the streets at all times um because we do understand those do have a lot of traffic on them um you can see here on the map on 21st we're going from 320th to basically fred meyer's area just south of campus drive there so it is an extensive area big area yeah a lot of the preliminary work that we'll be doing will be um like concrete work ada curb ramp replacements and such then when it comes to doing the actual like pavement grinding and repaving that will be done pretty efficiently and pretty quickly for the contractor so that portion will be limited to probably just maybe two weeks do you think it'll take the entire 80 days to do this to do the whole project yes with all of the work but the actual part where you guys are gonna be most impacted with the paving that'll be a like I said probably about two weeks of the project all right thank you

All right. Any other questions? All right. Let's see here. Kessler Walsh, do you have a motion?

I move to authorize the award of the 21st Avenue Southwest Preservation Project to CPM Development DBA Icon Materials, the lowest responsive responsible bidder, in the amount of $2,302,838 and approve a contingency of... $230,283.80 for a total contract authorization of $2,533,121.80. Second. A motion and a second.

Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? May it pass unanimously. Great job, Christine. Okay. Item B, authorized settlement. Odeshenko versus the City of Federal Way.

Good evening, Mayor, Council President, and Council Members.

I've been practicing all day to say that last name correctly.

Can you say it again?

Onushenko.

Kent Van Alstyne, Assistant City Attorney. I'm here to present the Onushchenko v. City of Federal Way Settlement Authorization Item. In May 2025, the Onushchenkos initiated a quiet title lawsuit against the city seeking to vacate portions of the public right-of-way on and around 2nd Avenue Southwest, which is in the far southwestern to southwestern area of the city. The city counterclaimed and asserted that the city had a public right-of-way interest in portions of the disputed property, which needed to remain public right-of-way to assure continued access for many of the other homes that also access off Second Avenue Southwest. The proposed settlement quiets title to a portion of the historic alley adjacent to the Onoshenko property, as well as a small portion, 10 feet of the western half of Second Ave Southwest, while confirming that the city has an ongoing right-of-way interest in the remainder of Second Ave Southwest. Onoshenko has also agreed to pay the city its costs incurred to date in the lawsuit as part of this settlement. And the Mayor's recommendation is to authorize settlement.

All right. Council, any questions? All right. Let's see here. Council President Honda, do you have a motion?

I move authorization of the proposed settlement.

Second. It's been a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? All right, it's unanimously approved. Thank you very much. Thank you, Kent. Thank you. Okay. All right, ordinances. We've got item A, second reading and enactment, Council Bill 935, ordinance conditional approval to vacate a portion of 16th Avenue South. And the first reading occurred at the April 21st, 2026 City Council regular meeting. Assistant City Attorney Kent Van Ousten is available for questions. Would the City Clerk please read the ordinance title?

Council Bill 935 ordinance, conditional approval to vacate a portion of 16th Avenue South. An ordinance of the City of Federal Way Washington relating to conditional approval of a street vacation for a portion of 16th Avenue South to Federal Way Public Schools.

Okay, before I call for the motion, Mr. Booker, I see that you, we've got the second reading with regard to 935, but the next item is the first reading on Council Bill 938. So is it the next item that you were here for first reading that you want to speak to? Just want to make sure before I ask for a vote. Okay, so as to, the clerk has read the ordinance title. Council Member Walsh, do you have a motion with respect to Council Bill 935?

I move approval of the proposed ordinance.

Second. There's been a motion to second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Matter passes unanimously. Okay, now we are on to item B, first reading, Council Bill 938, ordinance, final approval to vacate a portion of 16th Avenue South. We'll hear from Kent Van Alstyne, which will present this item, and then we'll get to the public comment.

Kent? Good evening again. So the ordinance that was just passed on second reading in the previous item was a conditional approval to vacate a portion of 16th Avenue South, which is located next to Federal Way High School. That ordinance essentially says that the vacation is granted as soon as the school district complies with the conditions within that ordinance. The two conditions were payment of the fair market value of the property, and the second was execution of a public use and access easement to continue using the school bus turnaround. for public turnaround at the end of the piece of right-of-way there and also an easement to allow for use of the parking spaces there at times when the school district didn't need their usage. So I'm pleased to report that the payment has already been received by the city at this time from the full fair market value of just under $400,000 and Was hoping to be able to report that the easement had been executed today as the superintendent intended to execute it today But he could not find a notary, but I'm informed by his legal counsel. He will be executing it tomorrow. So based on that We will have both conditions fulfilled and therefore The mayor is recommending that we pass the final approval vacating the portion of 16th Avenue South Which is the ordinance that is this item we passed that to second reading at the next council meeting

Okay. Council, any questions? All right. Now, Mr. Brooker, for public comment.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, City Council. First of all, I'm in support of this activity, but just wanted to take a moment to pause and think about the history of this spot. I moved to this city in 1963, and the closest public swim opportunity was getting on Highway 99 and driving to Highline Community College. The forward thrust pool was opened in 1971 and named after Ken Jones, a former superintendent of the Frederick Public Schools, and that was a revelation. People of my skin tone were able to swim together in this community for the first time. It was, we could get on our bikes, ride the mile and a half up there, and have a grand time. It was a piece of property that meant something to this community. understand it's transitioning and it's good, and the world moves on. But I just thought it was an opportunity to pause and remember that that piece of property, that project, the forward thrust pools, that pool was the second one in the county that was available. And it served this community for 30 years, both the broad community and the school district. There was a lot of good times and histories that have been made there. And I just thought it was worthy of pausing a moment to consider and think and remember that these parcels of land have meaning to folks, have memories for folks.

And thank you for your time.

Thank you, Harold, for that historic perspective. Okay, do we have any other public comment? All right, thank you very much. Would the city clerk please read the ordinance title?

Council Bill 938, Ordinance Final Approval to Vacate a Portion of 16th Avenue South. An ordinance of the City of Federal Way, Washington, vacating a portion of 16th Avenue South in Federal Way.

All right, Council Member Walsh, do you have a motion?

I do. First, before making the motion, I'd like to thank Harold Booker for his comments. Very heartfelt and significant, I think. I move to forward the proposed ordinance to the June 2, 2026, council meeting for second reading and enactment.

Second.

It's been a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The matter passes unanimously. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Kent. Thank you from the school district. Thank you very much for being here. Okay, now we're on to council reports. It's the second meeting of the month, so we will start at position number seven. Council Member Coachmark.

Well, I just want to say thank you. We've got a lot of events coming up. Staff has been preparing for a long time. We have transition of staff at the moment, so this is going to be challenging. And I'm going to say thank you for our staff for all of their hard work. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Council Member Sessoms. Before I went on bereavement, Last week I had a chance to participate in opening day at the Federal Way farmers market outstanding job Mr.. John Hutton I also attended an awards luncheon sponsored by the Puget Sound Business Journal as a guest of the fusion organization and Had a chance to interact with several members of their board learned quite a bit about fusion through them I Attended the pic meeting last evening or last week to learn more about regional issues that impact our city And today I had a coffee chat with a local community action Organization that is working to build a better federal way community for all of us. So I'm Going to continue my discussions and dialogue with them and hopefully we can see them more active in the community.

That concludes my report. All right. Thank you very much. Yes, at that luncheon, we actually sat at the same table. Could you believe how many people were there? It was absolutely phenomenal. Yeah, a lot of great contributions there at the Puget Sound Business Journal. Councillor Walsh.

I already made some of the comments in my committee report. Once again, I'd like to thank John for the great work that he's done. Merida, thank you for their service this last year. Also, those who made public comment. I mean, some of your comments I agree wholeheartedly with. Some of the comments I disagree with. But I thank all of you for coming and sharing your comments, sharing your perspectives. I think that that's one of the great things that we have here in Federal Way is that we do have, you know, just people know that they can come and their comments can make a difference. And I appreciate that. And looking forward to a great summer with many, many activities kicking it and so many other activities. Once again, you should have seen my two little grandsons at the touch a truck. And my five-year-old grandson, I don't know where he learned the horn for the big trucks were up here, but he got up there and immediately, honk. And, I mean, it was fun. And I noticed a lot of other kids knew exactly where the horn was too. There was a lot of honking at that activity. But anyway, Federal Way is a great place to live and a great place to be. So thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Moore.

Thank you so much. As it was stated by my colleagues, there is a lot of exciting things that are happening. And obviously stay tuned on our Facebook page, the city. And I will say that Ben and Meredith are doing a great job on working together to do more videos. So that's fantastic. I love what I'm seeing on there. Mayor, I wanted to acknowledge that we got a lot of feedback on the farmer's market. And I want to say thank you, because I know you acted pretty quickly and convened the team and you enacted on those concerns. And so I know that we'll continue to make improvements. The farmer's market, I think, I just, I love the changes. I love the modernizations and I love, I just, I think it's great. And of course, you know, we have to all give our respects to Rose Eel who had it started and the farmer's market committee that worked tirelessly to make it successful. But this is just a new chapter and I'm really excited about the farmer's market. Also, wanted to share something personal. Tonight's kind of hard because my son went to his first kindergarten info session. And we all here in the audience have had kids. And up here in the dais. And that's a pretty big moment. And so I had my wife take pictures and take videos so I can kind of see... all that reactions. And apparently it's the one time that he was really locked in and focused. So that's always a good sign. But being here is obviously always important and whatnot. So with that, I will end my report. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Council Member Sefa Dawson.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. And Linda, I'm glad to see that you're not wearing your brace anymore and speedy healing for you. And sitting right here actually is kind of awkward, Mayor. I've never been this close to you, so it feels different. And I just want to say thank you to the people who are sitting here. I'm glad you're still here. I really enjoy seeing you. And every time people leave the room, it's kind of... you know, I feel abandoned. So thank you for still sitting here and thank you for always coming and being a part of it and for your engagement. It means a lot to me and us, all of us. So thank you. And I think with that, Mayor, I end my report. Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you. All right, Council President report.

Thank you. I wanted to talk a little bit about the King County Transportation District. This is made up of our King County Council members and last summer they met and they proposed a sales tax increase in King County of 0.1% for 10 years for roads and transit. It has been, it went to the pick last summer. We overwhelmingly as a pick Sent a message back to the King County Transportation District, no thank you, please don't do that, we don't need another tax increase at this point. The money would go to roads in unincorporated King County, but all the cities in King County would pay the tax. Anyway, it was paused. They listened to us. It was paused. It's come back. And the SCA, Sound Cities Association, has done a lot of good work meeting with the Transportation Committee, Transportation Board, excuse me, and to get some of that tax increase back into the cities that are going to be supporting it. It was initially asked for 25% and it may be 12.5% that may come back. They had a meeting, the board had a meeting last Friday afternoon from I think 12 to 2.30. I watched it. Several cities spoke about it. The board did not make a decision as several new amendments had just been proposed within the last 24 hours ahead of that meeting, and they needed to talk more about those. I do thank SCA and the PIC for the work that they've done on this. However, I think 12.5% if that's what we're lucky enough to get back from this isn't enough. I just want to be on record for that. We don't even know if the unincorporated roads in our area will be repaired. There's a lot of talk about the bridges and roads up in North King County that are in bad condition. So anyway, it's for 10 years. They are having another meeting. I think it's May 27th, but I'm not sure on that. And it would be... would probably be voted on at that point and the tax would take effect uh i think in january so uh it's not it's not coming from the city i want people to know that it's coming from your king county transportation board which is your king county council members uh let's see and uh I attended Blue Poppy Days at the Rhododendron Garden this weekend. That started many years ago when I was on the Arts Commission, and it has continued. And the blue poppies are this beautiful blue poppy instead of orange. They're stunning. But what I want to say is if you've never been to the Rhododendron Garden or the Bonsai Garden, What's wrong? I mean, we are so lucky that we have both of those gardens in our community. In Washington, DC, they have a bonsai museum. And I have to say, ours is, well, I like ours better. But they're both amazing. But there's only two in this country, one in Washington, DC, and one in our community. And it's free. They ask for a donation, but you can go through there anytime it's open for free. And they change the exhibits several times during the year. They have probably 2 thirds of the trees not on exhibit. So you will see new things every time they change the exhibit. I would really encourage if you have people coming in to visit you this summer or you see people here for kicking it and they don't know what to do after they leave the community or the pack, tell them to go to the Bonsai Garden. It's free and it's amazing. Rhody Gardens you have to pay to get into but once again there are some rhododendrons there and some flowers there that are nowhere else in the world. And we are so, so fortunate that the Weyerhaeuser company, that Mr. Weyerhaeuser said, let's do this, let's give this land to this organization so they could develop these gardens, because it is such an asset to our community. So if you have visitors coming, take them there. It's amazing. And the rhody gardens, even though rhody's only bloom a certain time of the year, it's beautiful all year round. With that, I think that's all I have to say. Graduation's coming up. Congratulations to all of our seniors that are graduating. Oh, and one more thing. I want to thank Commander Thaddeus Hodge with the police department who is going to be moving on to a new job. As I've often said, he's my second favorite police officer because the first one is my son. Thaddeus Hodge is my favorite officer in Washington State. Katie from the clerk's office is moving on, and I'd like to congratulate her and say thank you. And Meredith, I have so enjoyed working with you. Congratulations on your new position, and don't forget us. Come back and see us. Thank you.

OK. Wish everybody a happy Memorial Day, and thank you to our veterans who have done so much in our community to make this a safe and happy country and a free country. With that, we are adjourned. Thank you, everybody.