City Council - Regular Meeting

I call to order the Lakewood City Council meeting of Monday, May 18th, 2026 to order. Miss Schumacher, could you please call the role? Council member Brandsteader here. Council member Laurisella here. Council member Lindholm here. Council member Pearson here. Council member Talbo here. Deputy Mayor Bell here. And Mayor Boi here. You have a quorum. Could you please stand for the pledge of

allegiance? I 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. Thank you very much. There are no proclamations and presentations today. So, uh we are on to public comments. So, public comments are accepted by mail, email, or live virtual or in-person comment. Send comments in advance by mail or email to Briana Schumacher, city clerk at 6000 Main Street Southwest, Lakewood, Washington, 98499 or B Schumacher at cityoflood. us. Comments received up to 1 hour before the meeting have been provided to the city council electronically and the clerk will read the names of those who have submitted comments in advance and we did receive a few tonight.

Mayor, we received no public comments in advance. the items that we received in advance were public testimony for the public hearing that is later this evening on the agenda.

Thank you for that correction. So, we didn't receive any regular public comments, but we did for the public uh comments later or the uh public hearing later. I'd like to note that there is a public hearing this evening on and the public hearing is on the six-year transportation improvement plan or tip. If you would like to speak specifically to that topic, please do so under the public hearing portion of the agenda. So that's that's a little ways down the agenda. Please, I'd like to announce that members of the uh of the audience may comment on items relating to any matter related to city business under this public comments period. Comments are limited to three minutes. Virtual comments. If you would like to provide live virtual public comments, you will need to join the Zoom meeting as an attendee by calling by telephone dial 1253-2158782 and enter meeting ID 86872632373 or visit zoom. us and enter meeting ID 86872632373. Upon entering the meeting, please enter your name. Use the raise hand feature to be called upon. For those participating by calling in by telephone, to use the raise hand feature, press star 9 on your phone. When you are unmuted, please provide your name and city of residence. Each speaker will be allowed three minutes to speak. Outside of public comments, all attendees on Zoom will continue to have the ability to virtually raise your hand for the duration of the meeting. you will not be acknowledged and your microphone will remain muted except for when you are called upon. So before I call upon anybody, I'm going to ask Miss Walker, the city attorney, to explain the difference between the public comment period that we're currently in and the public hearing that we're going to have a little later.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and to uh we're doing this in order to avoid any potential frustration. a public hearing. A public hearing is its own separate item within the meeting. And so when your comments are made as part of the public hearing, they become part of the legislative history of that action taken by the council. If your comments come in at the beginning, you get to leave earlier, but your comments are not part of that public hearing. They're just public comments at that point. It's sort of like making a box. The public hearing is the box. When you make your comments during the public hearing, they go into the box. If they're made at the beginning of the meeting, they probably aren't going to make it into the box. So, at the risk of you having to sit through parts of the meeting that you're not excited about. If your comments are for the public hearing, please do be patient. We will get to everyone and then the mayor will be calling upon everyone in turn for as long as it takes. But that's that way we have a legislative history of that item before the council.

And the same goes for the Zoom and phone comments. So now we are in the general public comment section of the evening and we're going to start with the Zoom and the phone comments. Miss Schumacher, is there anybody who would like to speak? Mayor, first we have Judith Anderson. Miss Anderson.

Hi. Um, okay. Hang on one second. I don't know how to fix this. Well, just don't listen to whatever's going on in the background. Okay. I'm aware that a lot of people think that the climate catastrophe is a hoax and don't believe it. It is happening and it doesn't care if you don't think so. We are heading right now for a severe El Nino, extreme warming of the oceans. The temperature affects the winds which affects the Gulf Stream. It's complicated and you won't listen to me explain it anyway. Look it up. Pelicans are needing to be rescued because of starvation. Why are they starving? The water is too warm for the fish that they eat. The fish swim deeper to cooler water than the pelicans can dive. And they're not the only beings dying that are blatant climate caused deaths. So far, 20 mostly young gray whales have died along just the coast of Washington. That doesn't include the ones that died along Oregon's coast since the beginning of of the year of starvation. A fin whale also just died and a group of people were able to give it a burial at sea. The point is just because this is happening on the coast does not mean we who are more inland will not be affected. Cutting down trees and adding more concrete is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing. Please do not cut down trees to build a bridge. We need to be protecting the trees. They bring temperatures down meaningfully and measurably while concrete absorbs the heat and radiates it. And I have to say,

no matter how much money you're getting from developers or the feds to cut down trees, it will not be enough. It won't cool the people of your town. I doubt you'll use the money to lower their power bills to run air conditioning. In planning to cut these trees down, you are acting like selfish, uncaring, greedy people. The more trees you cut down for progress in quotation marks, the more you run the risk that your grandchildren will know what you did and they will despise you. No matter how much blood money you leave them, it will never be enough to fix the mess that you seem determined to leave them. That's it. Thank you, Ms. Anderson. Uh, James Dunlop. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yeah. I was uh listening to uh your last city council meeting and I would like to thank council member Pearson for pointing out the fact that the bus route 574 is going to be curtailed. I think that is uh quite disturbing. Now I was I tried to get some sort of extra detail and it does seem that the plan is that five the route 574 is going to now run from Lakewood Station to Federal Way. So it's not going to go through the tra the transit center. Now I I think that bus route 574 is actually pretty important uh for the city because uh you know Lakewood does not actually have a proper train service. I mean I know there is a train service from Lakewood station but by the standards of the east coast or of Europe uh there is no train service. The train service is simply in just during rush hour. I mean in you know for example when I was living in in the UK you know in somewhere similar distance to uh to Seattle as Lakewood is you know from but but in terms of London you know I was living you know somewhere say 40 miles away from London there was a train every half an hour to London running from 5 in the morning to midnight and both ways. So Lakewood doesn't have that. And that that bus 574 you could argue is the closest Lakewood has. I mean it goes from the trans the transit center. Okay. It takes 2 hours or something to get to to Seattle, but you can in theory without a car commute from Lakewood to Seattle. Okay. Yeah, it is a pain, but it can be done. I was, you know, and it may be necessary for many people. people who don't have a car, people who can't afford a car, students who want to, for example, get

to the University of Washington. And yeah, I think it is a major route. I believe something like 300,000 trips are taken on that route per year. I know that's not much, but that compares to I think 1.9 million on the sand on the uh on a train system, but that's a whole train system. So I think that it's not just a matter of convenience uh that that 574 you know the city council and the city are trying to develop Lakewood but a lot of building for example in the old Barnes & Noble which is a short walking distance from a transit center. You know, I think if you want Lakewood to be somewhere dynamic, uh, where people have easy access to Seattle, you want to encourage people to move to to move to Lakewood, I would have thought that the 574 is not just a matter of convenience. I think that five the 574 is really important to the city and I would urge you to do everything you can to keep the 574 in its existing format.

Thank you, Mr. Dunlop. Looks like we have Tikamir Dunlop next. Hello. Can you hear me? Can

uh I wanted to I was going to talk also for the the hearing later, but before that I just kind of wanted to comment on um some of the developments uh by Nyanza, like with the new sidewalks and all of that. And it's just um I I used to go to uh school by there and uh it's how to put it. You have all these like really big new sidewalks have been put there and it's just they're comically wide and you know you're driving around there and uh nobody is using them. Like it makes you wonder like before the sidewalks were constructed, was there any sort of survey of like are people walking here? Would people be walking here? It's already been a bit since they've been put here. And going down those streets, it's genuinely even on a nice sunny day, it's a rarity to see anybody walking there. Uh and it just like what is the point? And if that's all it was, then it's kind of whatever. But in order to put them there, many trees had to be cut down. Despite the sidewalks being substantially wide, there's no space within the sidewalks anywhere to to have trees. So, they're just kind of just blinding white concrete with nothing there and everything around them has been just kind of stripped out. Uh, and it's kind of funny, but just like looking at them, it kind of reminds me of um if you look at like North Korean roads in like Pyongyang, they make they make these like eight lane wide roads that nobody uses because nobody has a car. And looking at these sidewalks, it just kind of looks like a miniature version of that. Like you have this plan to make sidewalks. You kind of don't really care about what people actually need, whether people are actually going to use them. Uh, and then you build these things that there's no point in making them and

they make the neighborhood worse because you removed all the trees. And uh, yeah, anyway, that's um, those are my thoughts on the on the sidewalks there. Uh, one really should should uh, kind of weigh the costbenefit analysis of would people actually use this and is it worth destroying trees that take decades if not centuries to grow? Uh yeah. Anyway, that that's that's all. Thank you, Mr. Dunlop. Looks like we've got one more. Uh Miss Haley Ivy, Miss Ivy. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes.

Yes. Thank you so much. Um, I'm Haley Ivy, um, of the city of Lakewood, a resident, and, um, I just want to, um, express as a bus commuter and somebody that already has to walk at least, um, 23 minutes to get to my closest bus stop to get up to Tacoma to work. Um, I also rely on uh, 574. that bus route. I actually did use it and I've used it many times to come here uh to to my old city, Memphis. I'm coming back tomorrow, but I also have to piggyback on um these changes that are being made. So, it's it's it seems like there is a lot of push back from many people about taking down um trees and natural vegetation just to pave it over with something else in order to improve traffic. Um there uh there's deeper ways that we can fix the issues other than more pavement. And I just got to say again, as a walking commuter and a bus commuter, I was walking through the city of Memphis. Any time there was a nice neighborhood that didn't get their trees cut down, I did not feel nearly as devastatingly hot as I did when I got out onto all of those business roads and was being killed by the sun. And here it was 84 degrees. But right before I left uh Lakewood to get on this flight, I mean it I me walking 23 minutes to get anywhere. I I can only find respit in the trees and I can't ask you guys to put trees back where they were to to protect the wildlife, the people that are walking around here. I just it feels like there's a lot of explaining of basic education as to why we need these

things. So, I won't get into that, but I would say just as somebody that is like on high alert for all of the development that's being done in this city, which isn't really even that big in the grand scheme of things, and I'm watching my local park being like uprooted, trees, I just like I don't know what else more to say other than please acknowledge the importance of just things that have been here for hundreds of years that are supporting us. And you people are complaining out about the lakes. There's just nobody is addressing these things. We're just announcing that we're building another road or another business and and taking out hundreds of year old trees and then using a bunch of money on signs that are just too bright for people that have to sleep under one single tree near the CVS pharmacy. They have nowhere to go. and at the apartments next door. Huge field of nothing. They can't even go hang out in a yard with trees. Anyway, sorry. Thank you for listening. Bye.

Thank you. I don't I don't think this is working. Thank you, Miss Ivy. Is that all the online speakers? Mayor, there are no other virtual hands raised at this time.

Thank you. So, we're going to come into chambers and remember this is not about the the tip. That hearing is down the way a little bit. So, if anybody has any comments, uh, you've got three minutes to talk about any city matter. So, I'm just because I have a I have a list here, but it looks like everyone wants to talk speak to the tip. Miss Schumacher, do you have anybody who other than who wants to speak on the tip and then we'll just bring people down generally to to to speak to city matters first, the non-tip items. Mayor, at this time there is no one else signed in for general public comments. Okay. And these are all public hearing.

So, anybody who Okay, Mr. Margeli. Thank you.

Hello and good evening to the council member and the member of the public. Uh when I was here, I am Abraham Mir Jalidi. I'm a resident of city of Lakewood. When I was here too, my apology to all of you. Thank you. My name is Ibrahim Mir Jalili. I'm a resident of the city of Lakewood. And uh when I was here two weeks ago, I brought it to the attention of the council that regarding taxes and uh expenses and the public member of the public that 76% of them they're living paycheck to paycheck and uh really this is not sustainable considering that that level has increased within two years more than 10%. Uh considering that I also heard that the Trump administration is proposing $1.5 trillion in what is called defense budget which is going to be handled by the secretary of war. I I urge all of you who love peace to do whatever you can do to enable those who want to wage war. And one way would be not to provide them with the fund that they need to do it. Those money should be spent on these people who are living paycheck to paycheck. They do not have a place to live. They are homeless. and also they do not have a health insurance and they go to bed worry that if tomorrow they can have their kids a safe place to

live. I thank you very much. Thank you Dr. Marge Ley.

Hello. Thank you Dr. Marge Ley.

Miss Manetti. Hi everybody. Um, so I I uh I usually talk about some kind of environmental destruction um pollution or whatever and today I have a a different kind of pollution I suppose. Uh I've lived in Christina Manetti and I've lived in Lakewood for more than 50 years and I'd like everyone including those of you in decision making um positions obviously to value the quality of life in our neighborhoods. um it seems like a lot of the stuff in the code isn't really enforced or people aren't aware of it or they aren't sensitive, you know, to what it actually means. So, I was hoping maybe the city could um you know, uh promote knowledge of things like noise ordinance because I'd like to mention today about what seems to be a growing problem of noise pollution um and ask the city of Lakewood to enforce existing ordinances much more vigorously. So, for about six months, um, one of my neighbors, I mean, he's nice otherwise, but like he just seems not to like realize that noise is really bothersome. He's been operating an extremely loud old van that can literally vibrate my floor and my toes two houses away. The noise happens morning, noon, and night. He promised long ago that he would repair it, but nothing has changed. No resident should have to live with that level of constant disruption of the home. But you'd say, "Well, did you report it?" And I said, "No, because I don't want I mean, he's a nice guy. I'm I'm trying to deal with it, so maybe eventually I will, but not yet. We've also dealt with loud diesel pickup trucks speeding around the curve to Edgewater Park to put their boats in the water and back out or whatever they do. Um, racing car noise coming from the next block where somebody has a line of six racing car garages. Like it used to be the garbage dump, you know, uh, truck thing before Depot and now they have racing cars there. At times the revving and racing noises have been so loud and explosive lately. I think there's a new car that they startled and frightened

like people, animals, everybody um around. My family and I were passing by when one black racing style car uh you know was being revved like really loudly. A small boy was watching with fascination while older men nearby seemed delighted by the sheer volume of noise. They smiled and they thought we were admiring them too. So, like people just don't know, right? I mean, this is bad though. This is selfish. And um I'd like to ask the city to enforce the noise ordinance more aggressively. And like maybe could you you have that magazine, right? Could you like mention something in there? Like just like gently like maybe people don't really realize it, right? I mean, I try to be nice. Maybe you guys don't believe me, but like I actually am nice to my neighbors, so I don't want to turn them in, but like I'm getting tired of this. Um, they should also consider banning drive-thru service for gas powered vehicles because this is not noise. This is like air pollution. But we're noticing this a lot too. I mean, like, what the heck? Like, why should people be standing in their cars buying fast food, you know, polluting the air you breathe, Mayor Bokei, and all of us, right? So, if you could do that, we'd appreciate it. Now, second comment. Uh, this is uh me again, Christina M, but from the Gary Oak Coalition. This time this is more interesting.

I mean, not that the last one wasn't interesting, right? Okay. So, on Thursday, May 14th, we got an invoice from the city uh from the public records office at city hall for some public records we requested on February 19th of this year. So, three months ago. Sometimes it happens that there's an invoice, right? I've had to pay, for example, like $141 or something like that or $12, but it's never more than $20. I don't think when I get one I always wonder how much will it be this time and this time it was $8,000 $8,000 8 sorry $8,50 very kindly the city told me that we could pay in installments but that in order to get the first installment of documents we'd have to pay 10 10% or $85. Now, this was for records related to the city removing trees on its own public right ofways in on Nanza on Phillips Road in the park um and in Chilikum on that path. I thought, gosh, that must be a lot of pages of documents for that amount of money. And I looked, guess how many pages there were? There were 644,000 pages of responsive records. I mean, that's a lot. We were estimating that could be 644 gigabytes of documents. My my son was imagining like trucks coming up to the house, you know, with floppy discs and stuff. So, but just for tree tree related documents about halfozen or so uh city sponsored projects. I mean, really that much? It seems not very likely. So, this time the staff helpfully provided a list of search terms. They never do that usually. One of the terms was trees. Another one was tilum. Another one was Stilicum Park. and Nyanza. Really? I was going to be provided with every document mentioning the entire neighborhood of Tilkum, including their sewers and library and whatever else they got going on there from 2017 until the present. Every document that mentioned the word trees and the entire city database or whatever

it's called. Is this really reasonable? Was this to make sure that the maximum amount of documents were searched for to result in the maximum amount of pages and therefore the maximum possible fee? Or was it to request so many documents that I couldn't possibly find what I was looking for? Or was it that there simply aren't any documents about tree removals on public rights of way? No one contacted me about this request to ask that it be narrowed. I did not make it broad. I asked for like those five, six, I don't know, maybe maximum of seven projects. I only asked for the tree removal information, arbus report, like if they measured the diameters, you know, anything like that. Surely each project has documentation and the people involved in those projects should know how to find it, right? We were left only to wonder as to the real motivation behind this astounding public records request fee of $8,50 for a few tree removal related documents. My entertainment for the evening.

Thank you, Gary Oak Coalition. So, is there anybody else who wants to speak to the regular public comments tonight? Come on down. You got three minutes. Hello. Uh, I don't know how this works, but uh, is there any way to turn up the audio so we can hear it in the auditorium? We hadn't heard any of the com or in the back we don't seem to be able to hear any of the comments. Okay, that's all I

Thank you. We'll do what we can do. That it for anybody else here for public comment. Okay, I'm going to close public comment on that. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Miss Schumacher.

Consent agenda. A. Approval of the minutes of the city council meeting of May 4th, 2026. B. Approval of the minutes of the city council study session of May 11th, 2026. C. Motion number 2026-37 authorizing the execution of an amendment to the agreement with active construction increasing spending in the amount of 233,745 for additional work performed on the construction of the Stilicum Boulevard 87th Weller Road project. D. Motion number 2026-38 authorizing the execution of an agreement with Northstar CGLP in the amount of 297,739 for the demolition of industrial building at 291617th Street South E. Motion number 2026-39 authorizing the execution of an agreement with CPSM in the amount of $76,973 for a comprehensive police operational analysis and staffing study. F items filed in the office of the city clerk. One, planning commission meeting minutes of April 15, 2026.

Thank you, Miss Schumacher. Are there any items that a council member wishes to remove from the consent agenda? Mayor, I wish to remove item E. Motion uh 2026-39. Item E will be removed and we'll deal with that next. So, are there any other items? Okay. So, I need uh someone to move the approval of the consent agenda. So, moved. Second. So, it's been moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda minus item E, which is motion number 202639. All those in favor signify by saying I. I.

Opposed. Nay. The eyes have it. So the consent agenda is approved. So we'll now move on to motion number 202639. Miss Schumacher. Motion number 2026-39 authorizing the execution of an agreement with CPSM in the amount of $76,973 for a comprehensive police operational analysis and staffing study. I think we're going to go to Mr. Russell on this.

Yeah. Uh, mayor, deputy mayor, and council, this is one of the topics we discussed uh during the retreat and one of the topics that uh identified in terms of taking a look at the workload analysis. That's a primary uh component of the review. Um, CPSM is a nationwide entity that does a lot of these analysis really to give an idea of what the level of staffing is in emergency services. They do police, fire, and emergency medical services as well. Used them three times in previous uh locations. Come in and use nationwide benchmarks to really look at the level of policing, try and identify allocation of resources, also look at different components. Uh I know in previous studies we've used they've changed methodologies for evidence processing and storage for fleet management for uh policy development with nationwide standards. So they really go through and just kind of identify what is the best allocation of resources in terms of providing police services. They do a significant data uh review um for all calls for service to identify time on task, what those types of calls are really to give a view in relation to staffing because one of the big things you always see is are we at the correct level of staffing in our police department. Um I can tell you in previous locations it has led to um going out and getting additional funding for both fire and law enforcement in those cases. But also they'll look in terms of how are they being deployed in what fashion and really take a look at the current state uh within a community and really give different guidance in terms of what are the best practices across the country as it relates to it.

Thank you Mr. Russell. Um, any other questions for for Mr. Russell in this matter? Okay, we need a move. Okay, Council Member Ranset.

Yeah. Uh, Mr. Mr. Russell, um, that uh, in your experience and you've been in cities where such as such such analysis has been done about how frequently Is it really recommended or or do we find that that that analysis of just looking at at an apartment and how it's operating um compared to how the community has evolved? U is is that is that usually done? Yeah, I think well for example um the two for fire and EMS one was pre-COVID, one was postcoid obviously had a significant shift and change and also that community was a rapidly growing community and for example one of the recommendations they gave um well I'll go back to law enforcement that's what we're looking at was you know our growth continued on in some of the ways that work was had been being done forever and they identified ified that most of our sergeants, for example, were still heavily involved in in dealing with cases. And they said, "Really, you've grown to that point where those sergeants should be more of a managerial role, managing that respective shift rather than going case to case to be able to provide that operational support and that really stem from the growth and the evolution of that respective community. So I think as you see different shifts and changes uh within a community you can see some of those components coming into play. Um moreover as uh different shifts in society shift and change you know community policing drove a lot of changes in the early 2000s and how has that evolved. So it you know you kind of get a feel in terms of you know do you need a new analysis done. So to give a specific frequency of how you should do it kind of hard to say

but I think definitely as you see things evolve it's it's not a bad idea to do it.

So I noticed in the in the packet that CPSM has done these sorts of analysis for departments around the country to include a variety of other police departments and cities in in Washington state. um in in their work, what would the community expect during such an analysis to have an opportunity for for to provide input? Well, um so it's it's an operational analysis of the department. Um you know, they will convene stakeholder groups, but not necessarily communitywide components. you know, they'll reach out to different,

you know, groups and they may have some uh different components, you know, reach out to some of the industry leaders, some of the businesses they've done and and some of the partners through that. Um, it's not a full-fledged out in the community type effort in terms of holding, you know, multiple citywide open houses type component if that's what the question is. I I guess my M since we're going we look to go ahead and do this and and and the public would would sort of want to know is this going to provide opportunity for them to provide input or is it primarily an internal look?

Well, it's primarily internal but they do reach out into different stakeholder groups um in terms of the previous experience with them. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay, we need someone to move this. Council member Pearson,

I'll just make a brief comment. So, we we haven't ever um done a study like this. And so, I think that really in order to make informed decisions and understand best practices and be able to measure performance data um to set to set a set a set a bar somewhere, um a study like this is really going to be helpful in in in guiding us as we move forward. So, um, with that, I will, uh, make a motion to, um, approve motion 2026-39. Second.

It's been moved and second to do, uh, motion number 202639. Are there any other council member comments? Okay. All those in favor of motion number 202639 signify by saying I. I. Nays the eyes have it. So motion number 202639 is approved. So next is the uh public hearing for public hearing. Um so Ms. Schumacher could you uh introduce the public hearing and then we're going to have Mr. Pakaswinsky.

This is the date set for a public hearing on the sixth year 2027 through 2032 transportation improvement program. Thank you, Mr. Poxwinsky. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The subject matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, deputy mayor, members of the council, and that of the public. This is the the public hearing for the six-year transportation improvement program for the years 2027 through 2032, the six-year tip. It is required by state law that we bring this before you and the general public. Updating the program is also required for consistency with Trump transportation comp comprehensive transportation planning goals. The public hearing tonight is an important part of that process, affording the public an opportunity to speak to the improvements that are planned to be made over the next six years and beyond. The program outlies uh outlines approximately $157 million in improvements. Obviously, our six-year CIP is not $157 million, which will come uh later this year when we adopt the budget, the the uh six-year CIP. The program also does not include routine operations, maintenance activities, or washled projects. Those are done separately outside of the program. Uh the program is a planning level document and as such programs are not fiscally balanced. Um the draft program was presented to the council at its May 16th study session. The document is available online. Any comments received tonight from the public will be documented, reviewed, and evaluated by staff for incorporation into the final draft presented to the council on the June 1st uh regular stud planning, excuse me, council meeting. We look forward to receiving any public comments we have tonight. Thank you,

Mr. Box. Couple couple questions. Has this gone to the planning commission yet? It has. It was at the April 15th planning commission and they approved it or they just moved it on. They don't take action on it. Uh they just get a briefing of it and it's important to note that not all the and you made mention of it. Not all these are funded. Correct. Uh the lion share of these projects are not funded. There are only probably about 10% of the projects are funded.

Okay. Thank you very much. And that starts on page one. It starts on 131 the whole presentation. So thank thank you very much. Okay. So Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah, I will. I will. Thank you. But let's not interrupt, please. So, um, we're going to start the public hearing. And so, I'd like to call Amanda Mackey. You've got three minutes, Miss Mackey.

Thank you. Um, my name is Amanda Mackey and I am a resident of Lakewood here to express my deep concern regarding the proposed six-year transportation project and specifically the bridge project across Chambers Creek. Having previously lived on Silicon Lake next to the Silicon Dam, I am fully aware of the repairs that need to be made. I have also seen firsthand the negative impact that proximity to a major roadway can have on the local wildlife, including the water pollution, the loss of fish and bird populations. I am concerned that this new project will cause similar irreparable damage to the natural habitats in and around Chambers Creek. I would like to know if a comprehensive environmental impact study has been completed and what the specific justification is for this project at this time. In my daily commute through the area, I have not found the current traffic levels to be excessive. I am concerned for our water aquifer, erosion of the land, cutting of the native oak trees, pollution of the creek and lake, and the impact to the natural habitat of the wildlife. It is my belief that the environmental risks posed by this specific project far outweigh the potential traffic benefits. I will gladly drive west and extend my commute to St. Clair Hospital. While these repairs are being made, our community values the natural beauty and the native trees, the Oak Bird Sanctuary, Stilicum Lake, Chambers Creek, and Kobayashi Park. I urge you to reconsider this project to protect our environment, our wildlife, and the quality of life for your Lakewood residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Mackey. I'm I'm gonna ask you not to clap. Um and because if someone comes up and says something that, hey, I'm a bridge builder and I want to build a bridge. Um are you going to boo him? We don't want to do that. So, let's please, you know, let's keep the decorum. So, Amy Olrich, Ms. Alrich.

Hello. I'm a terrible public speaker, so I'll try to make this really brief. I live on Turquoise Drive, and I will be greatly affected by the six-year plan. It will be coming right across my property. It will be removing trees. This will compromise our living environment and sanctuary. You are recommending the construction of a road which would take away a field of old growth trees, a meadow and that the local wildlife rely on. Our serene neighborhood is now under threat from this. You propose the introduction of a road introduction of road noise, loud construction that will take years to complete. This would result in the destruction of our mental health, our privacy, our a major decline in our property values, a threat to nature, traffic hazards near our house. If you any of you were in this position, how would you feel? Well, what if it was your home being intruded upon? Would you enjoy looking at a bridge and cars passing by instead of a gre and trees? waking up to jackhammers daily, seeing litter on the ground from careless drivers, worrying about increased fire risks, also more public access that would potentially increase crime and vandalism. To all the people who are for this proposal, you are not going to be the ones affected by the extreme construction noise, losing your privacy, losing your property value, having old growth trees that you love ripped down in front of you, not hearing the sounds of nesting owls because their familiar habitat was destroyed for the slight convenience for drivers. Sorry, I'm emotional. This is Washington, our beautiful state. We should not permit road development on a pristine natural green belt. Let us preserve our privacy, our property values, our serenity, the natural resources and calm. We work very hard to reside in this location. Do not destroy it and the reasons why we love living there. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Alrich. Mr. Brian Olrich. It's just to um piggyback on what my wife was saying. We are vehemently opposed to the proposed overpass bridge near our residence. Should probably put my glasses on. Here we go. Construction of such a structure could result in significant decrease in our property value, compromise our privacy, and create unwanted noise pollution due to its close proximity to our home. Additionally, this project would have a devastating impact on the local wildlife that inhabits the exact area where the bridge is going to be built. This area serves as a foraging and bedding down site for deer and other wildlife and is also an access area for these animals to the creek. Notably, this area is also a critical nesting site for owls and for and a foraging site for various bird species. Furthermore, we have concerns regarding safety risks, including the potential for car accidents, fires, from tossed cigarettes, and litter. As a homeowner who has worked tirelessly to maintain our residents, we believe we deserve to enjoy our property in peace and quiet. I believe there are other options. I think there's other roads that could be connected. And I think it would be more cost-effective even to do so than to dump money into an an overpass going over the creek. We urge you not to proceed with this proposal which would undoubtedly harm our neighborhood. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Alrich. Miss Heidi Merrick, is that Do I have that right? Oh, okay. Miss Helen McGovern.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, uh, council, members of our community. Um, I'm here to talk a little bit about history. Um, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And what you might be repeating is what people wanted to do before we became a city. In 1992, I had the pleasure with my starter husband buying our dream home located right where that bridge is going to possibly go across. In fact, two of my old neighbors are here. And I went uh to a hearing about a of a group uh that were we were citizens of the county then and they were proposing this bridge. So in 1992, I went to a community meeting and left as a co-chair of incorporation. Um and I along with uh Skip Rash co-chared the uh 1994 incorporation that failed and then we immediately started 1995 and these kinds of issues were the reason we became a city so that this type of interruption would not happen and uh coincidentally that proposal for a bridge was eliminated um in our plan in our transportation plan for what our city was going to look like in the future. Um, and in 1992, Chambers Creek was filled with so many salmon. Um, I was high bank that you could smell them. I mean, you could look down and see them and you could smell them. It was horrible. And now we know what it looks like. And here, fast forward now, we're going to remove a dam that's going to allow more fish to spawn up Chambers Creek and hopefully get back to the way we used to be there. So, timing of this is interesting. And I realized having sat where you guys sat. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention after I became co co-chair, I was also on the city council for nine years and had the pleasure of uh being the deputy mayor

and the mayor when Doug was gone. Um and so I realize that right now you're just hearing all of this and when you look at it, it's not approved. And I question $16.4 4 million can build this bridge because the house I bought for $188,000 in 1992 is now taxed at $732,500 and that house would need to be removed as would the house that's next door to it that wasn't there then and the houses that are down on the creek that have also uh increased in value and then the wonderful people across the creek who will lose their serenity and their homes. So, um, I respectfully request that if you're even remotely considering this, that you go stand on my old old deck and you go down on the creek and you stand on these fine folks's patio and see how beautiful it is there and um, what a mess it would be if you made this decision. And I'm pretty confident that you won't. So, thank you for listening.

Thank you, Miss McGovern. Miss Liz Scott. is Scott. Got three minutes.

Hello. Um, my name is Liz Scott. I live in Rainwood Drive right on Chambers Creek about a half a mile from 75th Street. And I really oppose the idea of making that in a road and a bridge across to Oakbrook for four major reasons. One is it is not going to be a neighborhood road. It will become a major thorough affair automatically. It just will. And that traffic, the noise is going to affect the neighborhood and it will also be cutting up that part of Lakewood into pieces between major thoroughares. Another reason is Chambers Creek as was mentioned is a salmon spawning creek and research clearly shows that tire chemicals and dust are extremely toxic to sa salmon which will happen with a a bridge over the road over the river. Um also the construction itself will affect the salmon and the creek. Also, this would put a busy road through a wildlife area, destroying habitat and creating noise and disruption for many animals. And the fourth reason is, as far as I know anyway, there is no new development in Oakbrook that justifies such a road. our money would be better spent, our taxpayer money would be better spent making roads for areas that are already being developed and for businesses and areas that already have a lot of congestion. And I have to say I drive uh Stilicum Road all the time and there's no sidewalk between John Dower and Lockburn and I see children walking within feet of heavy traffic and I see people in wheelchairs going out into the road to go around. So I would rather see my money being spent for those kind of improvements. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Scott. So, I have some nos and I'm actually looking at that column now. So, uh Scott Shields, Mr. Shields. Thank you, Mr. Shields. You've got three minutes. Can everybody hear me in the back? I know it's really hard hearing. I'm Scott Shields. I live on the corner of Turquoise Drive and Phillips Road. might want to pull that thing up a little bit. Like can't hear me. Yeah, that would be better. Right. Is that better? You think y'all got me in the back?

That works. Good. Thank you. I concur with all the speakers that have spoke before me that are against this bridge being built across the creek. Uh I'll also concur with all the speakers after me that are going to non-concur with this bridge being built. It's not the right thing to do in my eyes either. Frustrating point that I have is I just found out about this this morning. I'm not quite sure what the notification process is. If there's something that I need to do is being smarter as a citizen to understand what's upcoming. I need to do it. A lot of people that are sitting out here are sitting here because I informed them. If I had more time, we would fill this audience in here, this arena. Uh, so we need to do better in notifying the public of what's happening to where they're not blindsided. Who is asking for this project to be built in the first place? I understand about the silicon bridge going over the water. I understand about the dam there at Stella Boulevard. Well, let's get those fixed. Why do we need to create a new problem that's going to have to be maintained years later down the road? Additionally, I don't see any additional major building that can happen west of Phillips Road that is going to increase the traffic in the years to come. You might put a townhouse in here or there, but you're not going to put any major major uh building in there that is going to increase the traffic from what it is now. The biggest problem we have now is the traffic that's going on uh in front of the Walmart right now and and that'll get fixed and and that'll that'll end

that traffic jam. What's the financial benefit to the city andor the public to have this bridge built across the water? Is there an advantage to that? I don't know. I'm not seeing it if there is. I see plenty of disadvantages to the public. Additionally, I want to take crime into account on this bridge and the avenue that it's going to create for crime. And as others have said, I think our tax dollars can be spent better than the way they're being spent on this bridge for $16.4 million, which I think is an understatement of what it would truly cost. As we just heard about the house values down Turquoise Drive and on 75th Street Southwest, not to mention the homes on the other side of the the creek.

Thank you, Mr. Shields. Next up is Bob Jensen. Okay. Again, I did that. I missed that. Thank you. Uh Ria Baker is Baker. I would like to know why there weren't any flyers distributed around the area which involved the roundabout. I heard about this about an hour and a half ago. Our computer didn't work. I have not seen any flyers. would be nice to have a meeting and the people who live around the creek and 75th Street could have put their word in and I think there should be in vote whether we should approve it or not because this is very expensive. It will cost our wild wildlife and I think uh it will also increase the crime and the pollution. That's all I have to say.

Thank you, Miss Linda Farmer. Miss Farmer, welcome back.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, I serve as the Pierce County Auditor, but I'm here tonight in my capacity as a private citizen impacted by the proposed 75th Street extension. My husband Jimmy and I have resided at 690975th Street Southwest for the past 23 years, and we oppose this project. I understand that in the future, Silicon Boulevard will hit capacity. I applaud your efforts to get ahead of future growth needs. I truly do. As a former Lakewood City Council member, I know the challenges you are facing. There are five times as many needs as dollars. Infrastructure projects take years, if not decades, to get funded and completed. The sooner you can get a project in the hopper, the better. However, this is not the project you want to put the full weight of the city behind. This project will drop a busy thoroughfare through the middle of two quiet deadend culde-sacs. It will put a complex, expensive, motorized bridge over an environmentally sensitive and salmonbearing creek, one that we've spent decades preserving and rehabbing. I have a literal front seat to this project. My house is the last one right before the edge of the hill. The area is blanketed with mature trees and is almost completely built out. There are no sidewalks, no street lights. My neighbors are almost outnumbered by owls, squirrels, and deer. I share a driveway with a Pierce County sewer substation and a very long power line right away. Both utility arrays would have to be relocated at considerable expense for this project to go through. I agree with city staff that you should be planning for alternate traffic routes. However, this is not that project. Other options must be developed. This one comes at much too

high a cost for the people who live there and for the environment. Not to mention the literal cost of this project. As you know, bridges are major pieces of infrastructure that come with a lifetime of maintenance needs. I suspect that 16.4 million is a drastic underestimation for this project. I urge you to remove it from the tip and reconsider your options. I invite each of you to visit Jimmy and me so you can get a personal sense of the neighborhood and what's at stake. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Farmer. So, the next folks are there's two names, Chris and Teresa Fruit Rich. Yes. Okay, Mr. Fruit Rich got three minutes.

Okay. We were going to come up here as a tusome, but um it uh most of what we have to talk about is is already been spoken to. Um I would like to say that of all the people who are going to have who are going to be affected by this particular project, um we are probably either number one or number two. And for your edification, I have some fine Photoshop work here that shows our house before and our house with a big old bridge over the top of it. So, you can you can hand that to the clerk if you'd like us to see it. You or you can do your comments first. That's fine. Thank you. I know what it looks like.

Um, we bought our house 11 years ago and we have enjoyed living in Lakewood the whole time. Now, sadly, it sort of appears that somebody's idea of a new roadway uh is going to have us lit literally living under a bridge, which I did not expect at this stage in my life. Um, our house abuts the right of way where this bridge and roadway is going to go. And if the project has designed goes through, this bridge will soar somewhere between 20 and 30 feet above our house and be maybe 50 feet away. I'll give you 75 ft tops. our property abuts that sewer line project. Mr. Mayor, you look confused or

Yeah, I got it.

Okay. Um we just wonder uh one of the things uh we are both in our 70s. Uh we've been looking forward to moving to a retirement community before long. Um we had really looked forward to using the proceeds of the sale of this house uh to finance all of that. And if this bridge is built before that period of time, and I understand that'd be a long shot, um I think we're going to lose a good deal of of the equity that we have in it. And I just asked the people in the room, I wonder how many of you would like to buy uh a ringside seat at the new uh 75th Street motorway. Uh more importantly, um this would go over Chambers Creek. We have been very good stewards of the Chambers Creek. We've helped clean it up. We've worked with city staff and fisheries people when we see possible threats to it. The major reason uh a major study around the Chesapeake Bay found that auto emissions and vehicle uh use significantly impact creeks and and streams through direct air to water disposition and storm runoff. Um here's a statement. Chambers Creek, which flows directly between Lakewood and University Place, is a prime example of a Pacific Northwest waterway actively battling the exact vehicle related threats described above. And that comes directly from the city of Lakewood. Thank you all very much.

Thank you, Mr. Fruit Rich. So, next I have Patricia and Tyson Fishbach. is fishback. So, you each get three minutes if you'd like. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, as per our marital arrangement, I'll be speaking for both of us um forever. Uh, my name is Patricia Fishbach. Um, my husband Tyson and I live on the corner of 75th and 68th Avenue West with our four children. Um, we will be directly affected by this bridge project. um as our property backs up directly onto Chambers Creek. Um and we are in extreme close extremely close proximity to the proposed roundabout and the bridge. We moved to Lakewood nearly two years ago after Tyson was just assigned to first special forces group out of JBLM. Prior to purchasing our home, we knew that we had a few of non-negotiables. And when we looked to multiple places in Lakewood, we knew that at the top of our list was that we needed a quiet and safe neighborhood where our four kids could live and play, and we didn't have to be directly by them at all points in time. My husband has often gone on deployments for months at a time, and as soon as we found our home, we knew that that was where we wanted to be, fit the bill. Um after seeing that home for the first time and spending time down at the creek which is directly behind our property for um you know amongst trees that have been there for hundreds of years, we knew we wanted to continue raising our children there. Tyson has served honorably in the army as a special forces soldier for over 13 years and has struggled with PTSD throughout that time. I'm an attorney and I work for a DSO assisting veterans and assisting their disability benefits. My job is nowhere near as hard as him, but we both have really chaotic chaotic days. Um, the silence, the the quiet and tranquility of our home brings solace and the nature surrounding our property has been healing for all of us. Now, we are concerned that this will be taken from us and upon hearing about this project also just in the last couple weeks. So,

thank you to the neighbors who were diligent in sharing this information. Um, now we're concerned and for the first time since moving to our home, we've started talking about possibly selling. Um, we thought this would be our forever home. We respectfully request that you consider the impacts that this project will have to our family's life and to the families of our neighbors as well, not to mention all of our property values. The proposed project would almost certainly negative negatively impact our quality of life by increasing the traffic to our home, by disrupting our peaceful sanctuary. over six years of reconstruction or six years of construction and potentially force us to consider relocation. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Next up is Annette. Is it Huffler? I don't see a vowel there. So, and I'm a bokei, so you know, it's good. Go. My name gets hacked up, too. So, please can everybody hear me? Yes. Okay. Um, first of all, please introduce yourself, then we'll

Oh, my name is Annette Alfalter and good evening, council members. By the way, um, I live in the neighborhood that would be directly affected by the proposed bridge and road expansion over Chambers Creek. I do understand the need for transportation planning and improvements, but I am asking the council to carefully consider the long-term I just found out about this yesterday. It was pretty tough. Um, considering the long-term consequences this project could have on the environment and the people who already live here, this proposal is not just about adding about adding a bridge. This would fundamentally change the beauty and character of our neighborhood by increasing traffic volume, noise, speeding, and cut through driving on streets that were never designed to function as a major transportation quarter where families and childrens reside. My concern is that this project transfers regional traffic from Philips Road into residential area. This will create backups at Bridgeport, which are already bad enough, and going all the way up until H&L Produce to try to even get on Lakewood Drive, which is already bad enough. I know people who live near Bridgeport and already affected by the noise and now are proposing a project that would sandwich us in with noise and traffic from other both directions. I'm also concerned about the environmental impact of the creek itself. Once a natural corridor is disrupted, the effects can last for decades or a lifetime. The creek supports an abundance of wildlife. Like everybody has already said, even small changes to their habitat can feel unsettling when you know what lives there.

Storm runoff from roads we know can include oil, metals, and toxic chemicals washing into the creek. I lived in Lakewood three different times in my life. And each time I have found myself drawn back by its quiet, natural beauty, the trees and the water, and the sense that nature still has room to breathe. But coming back also means noticing what's changed with each return. More open space seems to disappear under development, and it hits me like a punch in the gut to see land turn into something else entirely. It raises an important question, I'm sure, for all of us. At what point do we pause and decide that enough of this place has been reshaped? Development decisions made today will affect this neighborhood and environment for decades. Thank you.

Thank you, Elizabeth Davis. Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Davis and I prepared to say quite a few things that a lot of people have already said tonight. I live at 710572nd Street Court Southwest. I live in a home where there's 21 homes in a green belt. My neighbors next door to me are right where the roundabout is due to come out on 75th. I chose my home 32 years ago because it was in an area that was beautiful, pristine. I knew there weren't going to be any um apartments, condos built, and I wanted to raise my children there and I did. And now I'm working on the next generation. And it just disheartens me to see that we're going to uproot wildlife, damage the stream, but for what? Who's asking for this? There's nobody I know in Oakre or on the other side who's asking for a shortcut. We don't want a shortcut. We have a hard enough time zipping down to the creek and back up with people that like to speed late at night. I just don't think this is the answer. I think that there's other ways to alleviate traffic and going through our neighborhood that we put a lot of time and money into our homes and their value. It I I ask you to reconsider, please.

Thank you, Miss Davis. Is Mary Moss. Mary, welcome back. Good evening, mayor, deputy mayor, and council members. My name is Mary Moss and I live in Lakewood. I'm here to talk about the 75th 75th. Can you hear me? I'm here to talk about the 75th Street project and to avoid being redundant. I will not repeat what has already been said but I will add that at one point that was a priority and the concern at that time was there was only one way out of Oakbrook in case of an emergency and that's how it ended up that was the comments that we got when we initially started this program when people realized that they could avoid I5 by going down Silicon Boulevard through the town of Stilicum that traffic beca there that was a traffic problem on Stilicum Boulevard and the decision was made at that point that those funds would be better used by providing Stilicum Boulevard with with necessary changes and there is still work to be done. I'm not in support of continuing the 75th Street project. However, I think those funds could help in the additional work that is needed on Stilicon Boulevard. Thank you.

Thank you, Mary. Mi Mr. David Rickery. Did I get that name right? Rickery. Okay. Mr. Joel Glover. Hello, council members and community members. I'd like to address the proposed construction of a bridge to connect 75th from Phillips to Kuster. I live on 75th right along Chambers Creek with my three kids and my mom and this project would go right up next to my house. Chris and Theresa are my next door neighbors. Um, we live in a beautiful community and I've been there for almost eight years. I've gotten to know many of my wonderful neighbors, many of whom are in the room this evening and they've been a blessing to my kids for years as they've walked from their bus stop uh back to our house. Many families on 75th Street have lived here for decades. It's a safe community for walking and for riding bikes, which my son and I do together. But all of that will change with this project. While construction will cause significant disruption for months or for years, the aftermath is worse. Our neighborhood will see a massive influx of traffic, making it less safe to walk and ride bikes, more difficult to live in our homes, and harder to sleep at night, not to mention the negative impact on our property values, and the need to widen the street. I recognize that cities have changing needs over time, uh, including managing traffic flows. I realize that sometimes the needs of a community are greater than the needs of an individual. But what is not clear to me is what the actual benefit of this project is and whether

it's really worth the cost. For instance, has a feasibility study actually been conducted yet? Are and are you aware that the electrical infrastructure and the sewage for all of Oprah flows directly through the easement? Um that would be that would all be affected. This project would likely require a major, highly expensive reworking of that infrastructure. I want to speak for the needs of our neighborhood tonight in hopes that the city will pause and reconsider this project. Please look at the true costs, both financial and human, before moving forward. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Lever.

Uh, next, and I have one yes by the next two or three names, but AJ Taylor Taylor, can you hear me? Okay, cool. Yep.

Um, yeah, my name is AJ Taylor. My wife and I have two little kids and we live uh on 75th Street as well. Uh, Chambers Creek runs in our backyard. Um, a lot of my neighbors are here as well. Good to see you guys. Um, obviously here to discuss the concerns that this can bring. Um, our kids are both under two, so I apologize. I'm pretty exhausted, but wanted to be here. Um, some of the key concerns that this does bring up, uh, there's a few, and they have been mentioned, but I want to kind of double down on a few of them. Uh, you know, one, no sidewalks or safe pedestrian infrastructure for any of the children, families, walkers, and and cyclists. Uh, increased speeding in commuter traffic, especially once GPS navigation apps begin routing drivers through the neighborhood. Uh thirdly, safety concerns for emergency vehicle access on a lot of these narrow roads. That's a a major concern, especially for those of us who have young um families and and kids. Um noise, headlights, pollution, loss of privacy for nearby homes. We've we've touched on the environmental concerns, you know, related to the unnecessary construction over what's proposed to be over Chambers Creek. um you know next potential impacts to of course we said property values and the peaceful nature um of our neighborhood and to you know summarize a few other things you know I feel like there's been a lack of clear evidence that this project is is really necessary enough to justify the long-term impacts on the residents we're not you know against thoughtful transportation planning but we do believe residential neighborhoods and especially creek corridors should not become commuter shortcuts without substantial safety protections and community support. Uh we do encourage the neighbors to respectfully ask you and and the city you know what traffic

and pedestrian safety studies have even been completed. How much additional traffic is even expected? What protections are planned for children and the pedestrians and why are existing major roads not being actually improved instead. The goal is to of course protect the safety, livability, and character of our neighborhood before any of this irreversible changes could be made. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. So, next is Dan and Regina Gardner. Gordon.

Gordon. Gordon. That makes sense. Gordon. Thank you. All right. Thank you for having us up here, mayor and elected officials and community members. I'm here to speak about the bridge that's proposed over 75th. I know we say this a lot, but it seems like common sense is not so common anymore. I am a realtor and I specialize in Lakewood homes as well as I'm a resident that lives off of 75th right along Chambers Creek. The Creekide communities, they're almost like hidden gems offering privacy, tranquility, trees, and communities where you can stroll with your grandchildren and you can walk after dinner safely. And we all bought into that community when we chose to live there. It was our choice based on the beauty and based on the serenity of that landscape. We get to see wildlife and hear birds, chipmunks, raccoons. We get to see salmon spawning. Sometimes I feel like snow white when I step outside. All of the residents that bought along that corridor bought for that reason. The three rules of real estate, location, location, location. And it makes no sense that someone should call an improvement to put pavement and traffic where there is none. To add noise and imperous surfaces and remove vegetation, vegetation, trees, fresh air, and add impact instead of preservation. To bring headlights and homes through their windows, which are an evasion of serenity and straight up light pollution. Why? to add racket and chaos

to sanctuary under the ridiculousness of improvement. Noise does carry down that corridor and canyon and we often hear Harley's at night or a rev revved race car motor and distant distractions. I can't imagine the disruption that it would be when the road is actually next door. Why not just improve the roads that currently serve these communities? Why would anyone think of punching a hole through paradise where there isn't it really isn't necessary and have the audacity to call it an improvement? I implore you as city leaders not to let the lining of somebody else's pockets disrupt our lives, our safety, our well-being, our homes, our wealth, and our legacy. Use common sense and say no way. and please put this idea to bed.

Thank you. A little bit time, Mr. Well, we'll restart it here for you. You get three minutes. So, okay, Mr.

Thank everyone. Um, this is more from the heart. I just really can't believe that this is even being proposed. At the risk of sounding selfish, I apologize, but I think we're all in the same boat here. My wife and I moved into the neighborhood at the bottom of 75th, um, next to a couple neighbors, AJ being one of them. Um, we love the home. I mean, I can't tell you how happy I've been, the happiest I've been my whole life. Um, our daughter moved up just the street and now she moved to a home just next to us across a piece of property that we purchased. It's an absolutely amazing neighborhood. We've got great neighbors. I love seeing the deer. And again, this may sound a little selfish, but we've actually spent the thousands of dollars doing the proper thing, the right thing about development, but on a much very low scale. Um, we've worked with the city, with the planners. We've paid all the money. Um, and it's little to no impact, but we've respected the laws of what the city has required us to do. and I just think that this is um should not be considered at all. So, thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Jordan.

So, next up is Michelle George. George got three minutes. All right. Can everyone hear me? Okay. Um, I want to talk about, of course, the 75th Bridge. Uh, one of the things, and I'm say my name is Michelle George. I live in Lakewood on Phillips Road. Um, I lived there or moved there two and a half years ago. And one of the non-negotiables for me in moving there was a walkable area. And since I've moved there, I walk every day in that area. Um, I'm concerned that this bridge will compromise the safety of the Oakbrook residents on my side by adding arterial roads um into the neighborhood which will add to the traffic in areas particularly without sidewalks. Uh the environmental impacts I was told when I moved on my property I could never cut down an oak tree without uh permission from the city. And now the city is looking to cut down beautiful oak trees in that area, which makes me sad. Um, and the residents of Oakbrook and probably 75th Street did not look to move to these areas for the convenience of having an arterial road there. The convenience that this arterial road is proposing is not one that we asked for. We didn't ask for it. So, I want to ask, how will the city prevent the new road from being a cutthrough that encourages speeding? And will the project trigger any unexpected property assessments or require acquiring parts of land from existing homeowners? People here on both sides of this creek

move to these areas for the quality of life afforded by these surroundings, for the peace, the quiet, the natural beauty, and for the lakes and the woods that create uniquely beautiful Lakewood. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss George. Mr. Margeli. Hello again to the member of the council and the public. My name is Ibrahim Malidi. I'm a resident of city of Lakewood. I wanted to discuss this uh proposed 75 street bridge. I have to admit when you look at it, assuming you are in central Washington, that would make sense honestly. But as you look at that more closely, you see that area is encircled by the chamber creeks. Meaning the people who are going to benefit from this, they're not that many. Why? Because most of the people who are in Oak, they are much more closer to the Stilicum road than to that bridge. So really spending the money is one thing and there is more. There is a wildlife and fishery in that area that you are going to disturb and in addition to the creek uh you know the zone that is protected by that. So all of these things it amounts to an environmental catastrophe while not too many people are going to benefit from. Yeah, thank you very much.

Thank you, Dr. Margaly. So, that's everybody who signed up tonight. Is there are there is there anybody who would like to speak to the six-year traffic improvement plan as presented in in chambers and then we're going to go electronically. Is there anyone else who would like to come on down both of you? You can line up. Yeah, just head down be because we're we're going to go to as soon as we're done here, we're going to go online. So, does Manetti please speak to the transportation improvement?

Um, so uh the Gary uh Christina Manetti Gary Oak Coalition, the Gary Oak Coalition urges the city to reject or substantially revise this transportation improvement program. In its current form, it reflects an outdated and destructive approach to transportation planning that repeatedly sacrifices mature trees, gary oak habitat, neighborhood livability, and sensitive waterways for roadway expansion and oversized sidewalk projects. Again and again, this document proposes more curbs, sidewalks, lighting, drainage systems, widening pavement with little meaningful discussion of ecological costs, if any. Residents do not want endless grant-driven infrastructure expansion disguised as safety improvements. The plan continues. The city's disturbing pattern of destroying mature Gary Oaks for projects that are often redundant on Kuster Road between Dower John Dower uh and Bridgeport. The city proposes another sidewalk and roadway mo modifications even though there is already a sidewalk on the opposite side built decades ago by Pierce County which managed to preserve Yes. Should I wait? Should I wait? Um to preserve the oaks during construction. Residents have watched centuries old oaks disappear one after another. The ancient oak cut for the tilicum path. The large oak removed 570 years for that one on Telum Path. The large oak removed for the Hipkins roundabout. Multiple oaks lost on Phillips Road. Interlock in 112. The iconic welcome to Lakewood Oak on Nanza. And now we're more threatened at Daer Elementary uh school uh near it. A 400year-old Gary Oak cannot simply be replaced with a sapling. We are also deeply alarmed by the proposed extension of 75th Street uh across Chambers Creek, a salmonbearing creek undergoing restoration. Um the proposal includes a

new bridge, roadway connections, sidewalks, lighting, drainage, and roundabouts. You know, all through a sensitive watershed. Um, new roads and additional traffic mean more contaminated runoff, including the tire derived 6PD quinone, a chemical now known to be acutely lethal to salmon. At a time when salmon populations are collapsing, Lakewood should not be planning projects that increase pollution adjacent to critical habitat. As you all should realize, the environmental costs will be permanent. While the transportation benefits are really questionable, nearby residents will also face more traffic, noise, lighting, and loss of neighborhood character, as you just heard. Um, I just want to again say that once you destroy these things, they are gone forever. You've heard this before, but it seems that the truth has fallen on deaf ears. So surely if you look, you will find grants for protecting and saving, too, not just for paving. And now a second com second comment from me, uh, Christina Manetti Lakewood. Um, you heard all of these people, um, from Oakbrook and across from Oakbrook. Um, and I'm here to defend their neighborhood, even though I've never lived there, but I had friends there when I was a kid. Um, you know, the bridge proposal is really a symptom of a city out of control. If you look at the rest of that whole packet, you wonder what the heck are these people doing? Why do you think everything has to be paved with sidewalks and infrastructure and gutters and bicycle lanes that nobody uses? I know some people might use them once in a while, but um I I think that this um plan should not be approved as presented. It should be substantially revised before approval so that it's really environmentally responsible and does not foreseeably

damage one of Lakewood's most important established neighborhoods. Oakbrook, you're supposed to that's what your own documents used to say at least that you want to preserve established neighborhoods and their character. Like obviously slamming a bridge through somebody's backyard and you know maybe some people are going to have to have their house eminent domain like Dr. Mir Jilley did. So watch out for that. Um, I'd like to ask the city to stop uh allowing Gary Oaks to be cut down for sidewalk projects. You know, the legally recognized best available science is supposed to guide your city policy. No, Gary Oaks are to be cut down west of the Cascades, it says. While, you know, it might be difficult to stop removals on private property, the city absolutely can choose to protect oaks in public rights of ways. So, you know, I'm worried about the bridge, but I'm worried about the trees. You know, yet more trees are going to be cut down for these sidewalks. Um, please do not allow the oaks to be cut down by Daer. Um, you know, I also would like to say that I was shocked when I drove down Nyanza for the first time after its reopening last week or so. I mean, well, not when it reopened, but that's when I first drove down it. This was a street we'd always bring guests home on because it gave such a nice impression. One always used to think, "Wow, what a lot of trees in Lakewood." Now one thinks, "Wow, what a lot of concrete. Is this what we really want?" What was once shaded and welcoming there is now dominated by vast expanses of blinding concrete. Literally, when I was there, it was like blinding me. With no room left for trees along the road, pedestrians will be in the burning sundown. Why do you need eight foot sidewalks and 10 I think at the planning commission somebody pointed out eight and 10 foot sidewalks? Why? City of Lakewood, please stop doing this. You know, revise your plans and put environment and quality of life first.

Protect the things that actually used to make Lakewood livable. Our trees, our water, our air, and our neighborhoods, not to mention, of course, the wildlife. Thank you, Miss Manetti. Hello, mayor, council members. My name is Paul Bryce, 20 plus year resident in Lakewood. Um, I would just like to share some of the cannabis facts with a lot of the recreational other drug. Mr. Bryce, un unfortunately, this isn't the the first public comment section. This is has to do with the six-year transportation improvement plan.

Well, then let me switch to that then.

As being a 20-year resident here in Lakewood, um, and a real estate agent for 14 years, I agree with everyone in here. Oprah doesn't have a lot of population to warrant cutting through that way to make a bridge for very few. And you would think very few would want that that live in that community. Uh it's overwhelming without a doubt. None of them have no problem going down Phillips or Silicon Boulevard to get to their community that obviously Oakbrook is one more prestigious areas in this community. So yes, I agree with all of them. Cutting a bridge through that way makes no sense, especially when it's overwhelming like there's not a a huge population that lives there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bryce.

Mr. Mayor, council members, my name is Mike Galvin. I live at 7215 Phillips Road. I concur with what has been said and I oppose this project. I found out about it Friday night. However, 34 years ago when I first moved into my residence, the same issue was alive, but it was squashed. Somehow, it just went away. And now it's resurrected its ugly head again. Now, uh I don't know much about the bridge. I've never been down there. My kid my kids and his buddies used to float the creek in the summertime, right? All the way down having a good time during the heat of the day. I've never been there and I don't plan on going there. I go out the other way. I go to Stelligan Boulevard, right? I go out that way. I got no I got no use to going down roundabouts. Thanks to the British, we have all kinds of roundabouts in this area. And now there's one proposed I guess right up by my house. So that means how much property are you going to have to take from me to widen this road or whatever happens. It comes right in the back. Wildlife. The deer love my place. They love to come up there and sleep at night. They put the back to my house and they look out over the condominiums below me. They enjoy it there. I raise my family, my grandkids there. Now it's my wife and I. I just can't see. I I I look out my my my deck and I'm trying to visualize what in the world how how I can't visualize because it just don't make sense. Don't make sense of me. Okay.

An issue is crime. What about crime? You know what? I I don't know the stats. I don't know what goes on in Lakewood. I mind my own business. I stay out of trouble and I keep my kids out of trouble. But I'm kind of wondering the bad See, the bad guys don't come in the Oakbrook because they can't figure out how to get out. So we we we do this little road up the 75th and coming up in they're going to have a straight shot. They're going to figure it out. They'll become very smart real quick. All right. And they'll figure it out. They'll come in, do the do the crime, and head out. All right. I don't know. It just don't make sense. I don't know who the proving the approving authority is. I don't see you guys. I don't know. Right. But come on, guys. This just don't make sense. And I learned a long time ago, 24 years in the military and 10 years in the Department of Corrections, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Galvin. My name is Jeff Dylan and uh I might have the privilege of being the closest person to this potential catastrophe. Mickey and I bought this wonderful home from Regina three years ago. Had no idea that this conversation would be taking place after that because it was an investment also. And we're 10 ft. So our builder is very clever. were very good but clever in the way he positioned the property 9 ft from the line the 10-ft line that you're allowed which ab butts directly to the path of this bridge so obviously you're buying our home I think on a more serious note I want to just take a different angle on this I had the luxury of talking to Troy last Thursday who is the planner of this just so you're aware And Chris, I'm glad you're here because it was great having your wife watch us what we were trying to do in the new build to make sure we were under Lakewood requirements. But Troy shared with me. I said, Troy, what is the impetus for this bridge? He says, well, part of my job is to find an alternate pathway. So he educated me on the interlockan bridge, the 99y old bridge. He then educated me on the dam bridge, the silicone bridge, and it would cost $80 million because it's a bridge and then there's a dam. There's two different things we got to do here. This is very expensive. Okay. And so what are you saying? Are one of those two bridges going to be out of the game? It sounds like the wooden bridge probably interlocking on its last legs. But my wife made it very clear to me. She says, "Wait a second. What happens to all the businesses

along the silicone corridor if that thing is not functional? They're going to be the ones that are raising holy hell on the lost income and what's already established. So independent of all the good stuff about the deer, the owls, the wildlife. I'm all there. That's why we bought it. But I'm hardpressed to understand and I try to understand his viewpoint. I had to come up with an option to present to them and then he shared with me he says it's most likely not going to happen. So this is my interpretation and even if it does it's going to take 10 to 15 years before this thing would actually start to rock and roll. So I'm 72. So and also investment income. I like to maybe go into a re retirement place, but if this thing is still listed in any type of document and anybody in this room tries to sell, they are not going to be able to get fair market value. So, what I want to say in closing is out of all of this, if you do make a decision, I hope it's sooner than later and you drop this this advertisement that we have to disclose as sellers because right now you've already nuked our property values independent of everything else. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Exel Laxina. I live on 7103 72nd Street, uh, Lakewood, right on Phillip. And I just found out this morning from my neighbor that the roundabout is going to come out right behind our backyard. I commute every day, 37 miles each way. I work in Randon. I love coming home because it's quiet. You hear the birds, you hear the birds, uh the river, you hear the water, and it's a nice place to come home and and relax and just distress, work on the yard, but now you got to think about all these cars that are going to be coming behind you. Not only that, there's uh on Kuster and 84th Street, there's a house in the corner that you always see cars going into that house. They will even put cement barriers in there. So now I got to worry about putting cement barriers behind my back jar so I have to be so I can sleep consciously that nobody's going to come into my backyard, a car because somebody's drunk and coming through the neighborhood. And then not only that, you're going to bring violence and now you're going to bring people that don't know that area. So you're going to bring, you know, who who knows what kind of people are going to come around our area. So it's like we should think about what are we doing and other ways to improve what we're trying to do because at the end of the day, who asked for this bridge? What are we trying to solve? who's gonna benefit from this? And then it's like communication. We just found about it this morning. You know, when you guys need vote for us to come and vote, you comes knock on the door. Here's my pamphlet. Vote for me.

I'm on the same side as you are. But now that you that you guys don't need us, don't want to hear from us. We don't hear no doors knocking. So you guys need to communicate better when it's impacting our lives, our neighborhoods and our our you know our homes. We work hard for our homes so we can leave something to our children and now you're going to impact by putting this bridge in there. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else? Come on down. No, no, no. You you can you can come and speak and introduce yourself. You've got three minutes.

I'm Bob Jensen. I live on 71st Avenue Court Southwest. Is there going to be another public hearing on this? There probably will not be another public hearing on this. Okay. I mean, you can speak the night that it comes up. Okay. Thank you. In the regular public hearing then. Okay. Do we know when that will be? I don't. Right off handhand. Okay. It'll be pub it'll be published. I I I don't know when that date will be. I don't offhand. Do we know? Do we have a final set for this?

I I guess the other I get is what date do we have? Do we have a final publish for this? Mayor, this item is tenatively scheduled to come forward for council action on June 1st. June 1st. So, it'll be on the agenda and you can speak at public comment again if you'd like on June 1st. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Are there any other individuals here who would like to speak to the transportation the six-year transportation improvement program? Okay. So, we'll go online now. Miss Schumacher. Looks like we got a few folks that want to speak. Mayor, first we have Irene, Miss Squiz.

Irene. Um, we got three minutes. Irene, you got three minutes. Irene, please provide your name and city of residence. Can you hear us? Yes. Okay. Uh, I'm here with my husband. He's I had my hand raised so he could speak. So, here he is. His name's Alexander Machev. Okay. So, I understand I

We have three minutes. Okay. This bridge is a bad idea. I don't know whose idea it is. I don't know where it came from. Um, habitat disruption. damaging salmon. Water pollution, sediment, fuel, concrete runoff, and debris from construction destroys the salmon's eggs and juvenile fish. Blocking fish passage. Ecosystem impacts. Salmon support broader ecosystems including birds, bears, forests, nutrient cycles. We have bald eagles, blue heron, coyote, oh my goodness, raccoons, and deer. Legal. legal. Have you even thought about the burden that you're going to create? Salmon are protected under laws from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Fisheries. Not to mention the number of attorneys that are living in the neighborhoods that are going to sue. Think about this. You guys were voted in to represent us businesses, not construction, construction, construction. All we're seeing is you're tearing things down. Trees are falling. Wildlife are dying. This is you. This is on you. Indigenous and cultural concerns. You know, salmon are indigenous and cultural concerns just because they're in that creek. Flood and erosion, noise and vibration, pile driving, heavy machinery, long-term maintenance costs for these bridges, climate resilience concerns. If you are that flush with money, buy some cops or lower our taxes. Lower them. Do not go through with this bridge. That is a bad idea. It is on you guys. I'm done.

Thank you very much. Uh, Alexander Mchvitz. Oh, he just spoke. So, Tikamir Dunlop. Mr. Dunla, Mr. Dunlop. Let's go to Mr. The next person, Jake Veroni. Yeah. Hi. Uh, so I'm I'm with uh a lot of these other people. Some of my uh many of my neighbors uh the fruit riches among them are uh folks who've been on the call or in person there today. Um my wife and I love living here along the creek. We're probably eye level with where the bridge would be. Uh

we're at the end of Turquoise Drive

and um it it's just we can't imagine the serenity and uh joy that we have in in our uh home here being disrupted by something like that. Uh I I'd basically just be repeating things that everyone else has spoken to. the environmental impacts, the noise, the pollution. Um, it's it's inconceivable having this uh intrusion into uh an area that we've enjoyed so much. So, um I I don't really have anything beyond that to say, but it's it's something we definitely cannot get behind. Okay, thank you. Uh, we're going to try Mr. Dunlop again.

I'm sorry, could can you hear me now? Yeah, plenty.

Uh, so I made already made my comment previously about nans and sidewalks, but you know, in terms of this plan, like I think everybody who's already spoken has already said a lot about why this bridge is a bad idea. So, I'm not really going to rehash that. And I I think I understand that there's, you know, there's some other things in the plan, too, uh, like sidewalks and and things like that. And I've been just trying to think like how is it possible that things like this, uh, even get proposed? And, you know, like looking at sidewalks, it's like being on the other end, like what what is the thought process uh, behind proposing things like this? And um it just makes me think cuz like I think everybody can agree that you know in abstract a sidewalk is a good thing, you know, like if you don't have to cut down any trees to do it, if you have the space, like if you had, you know, a plot of land that is just an empty field and you're going to build a city there, sure, build sidewalks. And I'm sure all of the the recommendations that the the sidewalks are uh being built according to are kind of like this. You know, if you're going to build a street and and there's nothing there, you know, sure, build sidewalks. Um but the reality is that, you know, all of the the roads and the houses that that are are in Lakewood um have existed for a long time before such recommendations uh existed. Um that's why we don't have sidewalks in a lot of the city. Um and and because all of this already exists here, we already have trees, we already have roads, we already have houses. Um we can't just like look at the, you know, only uh make our plans based on recommendations. We need to also like

look at what's already there uh and and make a compromise. Um, and I I feel like that's really at the at the root of why such stupid things are being suggested. It's all being looked at in the abstract, but nobody's actually going there on the ground and thinking, "Oh, to do this, we would have to cut down x many trees and this bridge would like screw up the neighborhood of this many people." No. Like, nobody's thinking that. Like, is not a flat stretch of grass where we're going to build a city. there's already a city here and you have to make your plans in accordance with that. Um, so I really urge you to be more grounded and when these plans come up, don't just think in the abstract, oh, it's good to make a bridge, it's good to make sidewalks, this is an improvement. like go on the ground like look where you're going to build this thing and like actually reason out like what is a balance between uh you know state guidelines or or whatever and what's actually on the ground because if you do that you'll realize that stuff like this bridge is just ridiculous and shouldn't be done. Um thank you.

Thank you Mr. Dunlop. Uh Miss Mr. Bicker got one more it looks like. Mr. Bicker, are you available? You getting any response, Mr. Steve Bicker? Oh, he dropped. Did he drop or did you Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. U and that's everybody. So, thank you very much for all your comments. I appreciate that. I I do want to, you know, before I close out, I will say this. Um the council does have the right to amend. We don't have to pass the tip. Well, we do have to pass a tip for for state law purposes. We can amend it and we can amend it at any any at uh at the June 1st meeting if in fact it is on June 1st. I do want to defend our staff. Um there's nothing nefarious about this proposal. There was no plan. I live in Oakbrook. There's no plan to like there's nothing nefarious about that. The one speaker did speak to this because he actually spoke to Mr. Pacwinsky. Mr. Pwinsky spoke to us at our study session a week ago and went through the reasoning of why he put it on the proposal. That doesn't mean the proposal will survive in its in that way, but he had his reasons because he has his job to do. So, I want to make sure that we understand that our staff in planning and public

works were doing their job. Our job is to figure out on the policy side what's important and for the reasons that you brought out today. This would be a fabulously expensive project compared to the other roads that we do. We could do a lot more roads. It would also take a ton of time. It would also take for the environmental things that you've just talked about tonight. All those things are true. So all those challenges remain in that and that's what we have to decide. We we actually have to go through all these projects, right? And decide whether these some of these projects are worth pursuing. So we can make those amendments when when we get to when we get to actually consider this in its in its form. But I want to make sure that we all understand that we're all on the same page that miss that that our planning and public works staff was doing their job as they saw it on transportation related issues including you know emergency access and various things like that. And there are long-term concerns long-term concerns about the bridge there at Spano Lake at Stilikum Boulevard. So, I want to leave it at that. The plan right now is to go forward on June 1st. We'll look for some amendments to be proposed at council at full counsel. You do get to speak publicly one more time on that on the date that it's on there. In fact, you can come to any meeting you want now and speak at the public comment section of the meeting. So that's that time is available for you and I suggest that you come on June 1st and and and do that. Um and ask that it that project number 2027-3 be amended out of the proposal. Okay. So thank you very much for being

here tonight. I we really appreciate it because it's very important that that that uh you take the bull by the horns and thank you very much. So, with that, I'm going to close and then I'm going to go to a 10m minute I'm I'm going to close the hearing and I'm going to go to about a five 10 minute uh break. Thank you very much.

Yeah, I'm going to call Okay, thank you very much. I'm going to call us back into session for the regular meeting on uh the May 18th, 2026 meeting. And now we are at ordinance number 851 amending the 2025 2026 budget. We had a study session. We've had several discussions surrounding this and I'm going to ask uh deputy city manager Ta Krauss to provide an overview and then we're going to ask if there are any council questions and then we'll we'll move it and have a discussion and that become comes on page 208 of the of the p the online packet. Miss Krauss.

So good evening mayor, deputy mayor and council members. Uh this evening is the night for your review and consideration and adoption. This item was presented and made available to the public since April 20th. We held the required public hearing on May 4th and since the original uh presentation at the study session, there have been no changes to the request. And that concludes my brief overview. So no changes since the the LA since we had our study session. Yes, since the study session, nothing during the public hearing. We didn't have any public comment. Are there any questions for Miss Krauss about the budget changes?

Okay. So, um could we move this and get it get it on the table here? I second motion to move uh adopt ordinance number 851 and I will second that motion.

Thank you. Ordinance number 851, the amending the 2025 2026 bianial budget and these are just updates for folks. Uh has been moved and seconded. Any council member discussion. Okay. Thank you. So all those in favor of the amendments to the 2025 2026 banial budget, please signify by saying I. I

I all any oppose? Nay. The eyes have it. Ordinance number 20, Ordinance number 851 is approved. So now we are into resolutions. Miss Schumacher. Resolution number 2026-03 authorizing the city manager to seek grant funding assistance through the Washington State Historical Society Heritage Capital Grant Program. Thank you, Miss Miles. parks and recreation and community services director to provide an overview and answer any council questions and that is on 248 of your packet.

Absolutely. Thank you, mayor. Uh deputy mayor, council members, this is a resolution in order to apply for a heritage capital grant. This grant would be in support of the HBR project. The grant can be up to a million dollars. that is the maximum ask in their terms is that there's basically a 1:3 ratio. So as long as the project size is at least 3 million and you know that it is uh then that's an eligible ask size. So the grant itself uh the final stage of the grant is due June 5th and requires a resolution of the council authorizing the application and acknowledging that there is a match requirement and what that minimum match would be. There any questions for Miss Miles? Council member Bransstead or did you get your questions earlier today answered? Yeah, Mr. Mayor, I got it answered by an email that u indicated that there was some language that would be substituted into the resolution. Uh, and if that is in fact the case, then then I'm fine. If if I I I understood the answer to be that it would be uh substituted in without a need to amend it during the session.

Okay. Has that been done, Miss Miles or Mr. Russell? Yeah, I think you would probably want to amend it and Okay. If if you want me to offer an amendment from what was in the agenda packet. Yeah, I think that would be the appropriate way to Okay, so let's see if there's any I do have a couple of questions for Miss Miles. So, Council Member Laura Cell. Uh, thank you, Mayor Bokei. Uh, just looking in the packet. Um, just to confirm, this essentially gets us to about 11.2 million towards the H barn,

correct? For the construction budget. And so, that has been established as the maximum budget. Um and the direction of the council was provided back to the consultants and they are working on that redesign and updated budget which we will also have by the time of the grant submission.

Great. Thank you. So, Miss Miles, I just these are one of these grants where like a lot of the parks grants we've received. You take the the June deadline is really we you present these somebody for the city probably you present these to a committee and then they score them and then those go to the legislature. Is this the same process that we're going to go? So this is not through the recreation and conservation office but it is through the state historical society. Okay.

But similar to that uh they do evaluate the grant applications. It is a competitive process. They do come up with a ranked list and that list should be available by October and then they present that list to the legislature and then they determine how big the pot of funds are and so kind of let you know based on the ranking where the standing should be. So based on this this fall, we should know where we stand in that ranking and our likelihood of being funded. Okay. Thank you very much for that explanation. Okay. So I need someone to move and second uh resolution number 20263. I will move adoption of resolution 2026003.

Second. So it's has resolution number 20263 has been moved and seconded. Council member Brandansteader, you have an amendment. Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Mr. I I I I move to amend section one to read commitment of the required cost share of a minimum of $2 million through through city provided and acquired resources towards the rehabilitation of the Fort Stilicum Park HBO restoration project for the $1 million grant request given a minimum project cost of $3 million.

Second. It has been moved and seconded on the amendment. So, just to make sure, I have it on page 251 of the packet in the resolution itself, section one, and you're you're changing the the 3 million to 2 million and you're adding a number at the end

and and and adding a clause that says that that that that be a minimum project cost of 3 million. minimum project cost, which of course we're already over and we've already committed more than than the amount that we're talking about. So, is everybody understanding that? Okay. Do you want to speak to it, Council Member Brandstead, or you just I think everybody understands it. So, actually, actually, no. It's just that I I was looking to get the the 3 million changed to 2 million because that would be more consistent with the request for console council action narrative.

Okay, good. Thank you for that, council member. So, uh there's no other discussion. We'll vote on the amendment. Uh all those in favor of the amendment signify by saying I.

I. Any oppose? Nay. The eyes have it. So with that, are there any other amendments to the resolution? Any other and then any other discussion surrounding the resolution? Good. So, good luck. We'll wish ourselves luck. Um, so all those in favor of resolution number 20263 as amended, please signify by saying I. I. I. I. All those opposed? Nay. The eyes have it. Thank you very much, Miss Miles. Okay. So, uh, no unfinished business, Mr. City Manager. No new business. So, we do, we're now moving to the study session portion of our evening uh, review of the downtown transportation feasibility study draft public participation plan. So, thank you very much for bringing this. This is Miss Angie Silva, assistant director, planning and public works.

Thank you, Miss Silva.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, deputy mayor, council. I'm here tonight to walk through the downtown transportation feasibility study, one piece of that larger process, which is the draft public participation plan. So, the study area is the downtown sub area plan. This is not intended to be a transportation plan citywide. The grant specifically funded the downtown sub area plan and that boundary is outlined in several federal as well as state um agreements. In addition to this, the plan will look at uh analyzing multimodal safety, developing uh transportation alternatives as well as looking at a local road safety plan that positions the city for the future. uh grant funding opportunities and I want to highlight this particular piece of the overall project that uh road local safety plan again is strategically important but we're going to get into those deliverables uh later and how we can turn into a more of a competitive application for construction dollars. So this effort is broken out into four uh study phases. uh study runs into roughly about 2027 and is organized in phase one which is currently underway and that phase is focused on traffic demand modeling, crash and safety data analysis as well as pedestrianal bicycle gap analysis. Phase two will focus on developing multimmodal design alternatives, bringing them to the public for feedback, then return to council to identify a preferred alternative, which will be a critical decision point. Phase three and four turn the preferred alternative into a concept design with cost estimates then a full implementation and funding strategy. Council will be engaged at every milestone. So be please be be sure

I will darken your door at many stages in this process through 2027. So just highlighting those key deliverables again tonight we're talking about a public participation plan before we engage throughout this entire effort. We spoke briefly about the uh safety plan but also looking at travel demand analysis alternatives evaluation the pros and cons of those alternatives and how to weigh that and score it. conceptual design, including renderings of what that could look like, as well as cross-sections of those transportation alternatives, planning level cost estimates, how to set us up for the future, as well as looking at rightaway needs, tree removal needs as part of those alternatives. And last but not least, a strategic implementation plan, how to fund this through a number of different funding sources. And last but not least, all these technical analyses and outreach efforts combine into a draft and final report for review. Tonight's study session purpose, we have essentially three goals tonight. To overview the draft public participation plan, uh kind of confirm are we on the right track for outreach approach as well as receive any council feedback at this time before we launch. So included in your packet is a draft public participation plan with three objectives. Part of that objective is to look at state law verse the growth management act ensure alignment. We need to be clear with the public that the community already approved this vision for downtown sub area plan and the environmental review process. This study is the technical implementation not a restart. Second objective of this is safety and

walkability of data. Public input on where people feel safe or unsafe walking, biking or driving isn't just outreach. It's weighed criterion in the safety plan. This input has direct uh technical relation as well. Third goal, preventing fatigue. build off of number of residents and community members giving their input and time in previous downtown suburary plan efforts, but also more recently as part of the citywide uh comprehensive update which did look at the downtown area. We're not asking folks to start over. We're asking folks to help us refine and implement what they've already told us they wanted. Those audiences and partners include but not limited to the general public audience which you see on the lefth hand screen, our community partners as well as groups well established. The general public outreach targets downtown residents and businesses, JBL personnel and families, cultural and community organizations, youth, vulnerable road users, including those with limited English proficiency. Community partners include, but not limited to those who are active in previous planning efforts, but including the Korean Women Association, Pierce Transit, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Chamber of Commerce, Clover Park School District, the Nquali Tribe, and many, many others. One thing um kind of feedback we're seeking here, are there is there a group or someone that we need to reach out and engage throughout this process? We want to build that in right now and throughout this. So, please feel free to pro provide feedback there. Outlined in the draft uh public participation plan kind of runs under three multiple phases of this effort.

Two per periods of of engagement. Period. One is building the base. This runs uh parallel to the phase one analysis and starting with an online survey we hope to launch in June. The survey is intended to do two things. collect safety hazard data, near misloss, discomfort zones that supplements technical crash data we see receive from the state. In addition, ask folks to rank counter measures. What should we consider as part of alternative designs? That ranking will ultimately be weighed and scored as part of the safety plan. In addition, the survey will be available in Korean and Spanish, but also other demogra uh demographics that live and reside within the city itself. Following our initial launch of the uh survey, we're looking at holding in period 2 presenting the alternatives in two different formats. One in person, but also simultaneously online for those who can't make it in person. So period 2 comes after the preferred alternative is selected roughly about late 2026. This would be present what we developed and ask folks to respond and provide us feedback. The in-person openhouse we're looking at visual exhibits, 3D renderings, safety counter measures for folks to provide direct feedback and structured uh feedback stations with our project team on site. Simultaneously, we hope to run a digital open house uh same materials online, but people can drop specific uh comments directly on concept maps, but also help translate that into a number of different languages found within the city. Uh running both at once, uh we hope to uh double our outreach while making it as convenient as possible for those to engage

ongoing. So engagement doesn't stop with online open houses or an online survey for a distinct period of time. There's additional opportunities for folks to get informed, provide feedback, reach out to the project team. And one is that is the form of the planning commission. They have a transportation lens as part of their mission and focus. So similar to council, they will be be receiving milestone briefings at regular public meetings throughout this study. Council will also be receiving check-ins at every milestone, including the survey results, alternatives, the safety plan results, alternatives, how to select the preferred alternative, and ultimately the final report. In addition to that, we're looking at ad hoc task force um issue specific working groups that would convene quarterly around targeted project elements, whether that's multimmodal safety, economic and implementation strategy, and community and cultural integration. These are not open-ended standing committees. They're intended to be focused, timelmited, and advisory. Final direction ultimately will stay with this body. on the compliance. I think I mentioned this before, but it's important to keep all of these venues and digital tools for folks to communicate with the city and the project team that is ADA accessible as well as again title six non-discriminative. So if we need language assistance, we are here to provide that. And I mentioned previously, this effort is intended to go into 2027. Our funding round concludes um by the end of 28. So we do have a short period of time to make sure this all gets done in an efficient and transparent manner. So on the screen you have there is just a tenative project schedule. We are early in this process but there will be some upcoming public engagement in June as well as more events and unfortunately

this body will see my face again on a major milestone including the survey results. With that said, sir, um, happy to answer any questions, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Miss Silva. Are there any questions for Miss Silva? Council member Pearson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, back on your slide about uh, community partners. Um, one of the things that I think would be helpful to include as part of the outreach would be um the the businesses along the proposed routes of where the Green Street loop is actually proposed. Um, if we could reach out to them and see if they have any ideas or comments or concerns. Um but ultimately with the goal of of getting increased foot traffic, um maybe how we can better incorporate either their onsite parking or potentially off-site uh parking in you know in in the in the right of way. um any sort of connectivity uh you know between businesses or between the rights of way um the streetscape itself um you know if they think there' be anything to help promote um increased foot traffic in that area. That's my only comment on this part of it. I do have another general comment about um this project as a whole. Um I I would actually I will save.

Okay. Anyone else? Council member Talbo.

Yeah, I thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you Silva for this presentation. Uh, I would like to agree, but also add on that to Council Member Pearson's comment that the property owners and the businesses along Bridgeport Way, Graly Lake, uh, maybe even 112th and through the Colonial Center are huge because we need their support and buy in for this plan and to to make this plan successful. excuse me, along so not just Bridgeport, but along Grally Lake, the assisted living facilities that are just nearby uh the senior population. However, the however we are making um however we can make outreach and headway with uh the transit writing public the the um senior and um mobility impaired is a huge contribution to this project. Um I think I just have one question about the listening sessions or uh ad hoc committee. What is can you just detail a little more how that is envisioned? Are you is it envisioned that the ad hoc committee will is an option and can be exercised throughout this process as you see it or excuse me will be exercised with specific key recruitments from or participation from um members at a specific time point. the latter. Ma'am, we're looking at quarterly meetings but topic focused. Some of these will be technical experts from Sound Transit, Pierce Transit, etc. But there's going to be folks within the community. We also need to be hearing those voices, especially when we bring up the topic of safety data says this, but what is your perception? What are

you feeling? Does that feel safe to ride that boat bike down gravity? Like we need that feedback to help craft those alternatives and what we'll be testing throughout this process. Thank you. And the the last thing that I would like to offer is that it's a very important to the community and for this plan, I think, to understand the messaging of of that this is a downtown transportation plan and that our transportation system includes all modes, but all the streets within the within the downtown. And so I know that a big piece of the scope of this plan is the Green Street loop because that is the concept that that's identified in the um downtown plan. But I from speaking from experience, I can I know that what often happens with these plans is people want to know what's happening to their street and when is something happening to their street and when they don't live on the Green Street loop, but they do live in downtown or they do work in downtown, when does the thing happen that they want to see on that street, whether it's a local neighborhood street, a minor collector or or the green street loop itself. So please I I guess just just as caution suggestion and ask just and I know that you will be mindful along with your consultants but when we are looking at the ultimate alternatives for the for the for the transportation plan that it the that the alternatives are a con conceptual network a multimodal network and that residents and folks can see how their street is

affected or would be affected or where they have input or excuse me where they have opportunity to make change for the street that they want to see. Um I would just also close by also suggesting that uh I would include um reaching out to all the schools not just the Clover Park School District. Um, in the downtown sub area, we have several um private preschools, uh, private um, private schools. So, please in please include them, too. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I'm going to go over here. So, Council Member Laura.

Uh, thank you, Mayor Bokei. Uh first to answer the question about other entities to include if it hasn't already been mentioned uh the Pierce County Library System since they have the old Tensler site as well as their current interim in quotation marks uh library which doesn't seem that interim these days but maybe they work in the same sort of timelines as Lakewood Water District where they have 50 and 100year plans. Um so I'd include them if we can. Uh, additionally, uh, as I look at the map of the downtown sub area plan, uh, there's a area along Bridgeport where it looks like it's between 100th and 59th, um, where the road itself looks like it's part of the plan, but the areas south of it is kind of that gap. Is that correct that the road is part of the sub area plan? We will have to get back to you because I'm not wearing glasses to see that.

Yeah, it's highlighted yellow on the map. Uh much like the other yellow area or Golden Rod or whatever we want to call it. Um, I asked because when we previously talked about the Green Street Loop, uh, we had discussed the possibility of expanding it, um, to include sort of the the downtown circle of 112th to the south, Bridgeport to the east, and Grley to the west. Uh, and I understand changing the downtown sub area is probably an act of Congress. Um, but at this stage, yes,

and I understand that. But it may be something that we can put in the hopper for some point in the future or if it's less work to just include the roadways themselves as Bridgeport is shown here. Um, that might be more digestible and enable us to uh expand what we're trying to do for a a loop around liquid. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Member Brandsteader.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Yeah. Yeah. I um you know I I I appreciate the fact that we're initiating um this this study to take a look at it and and and make sure that we're making um any corrections or addressing areas that we hadn't thought of when we first approved the sub area plan being able going forward. Uh I I think the first of all, one one group of folks that doesn't seem to be specifically called out to be interacted with are property owners. And you know, most of the businesses in the town center are occupants in property they don't own. you know they're uh and and and many property owners are not local. So that the concept of interacting and seeking their input or the nature of the questions on a survey to them might be different than the general one that you do to people that are present on a daily or frequent basis here. uh and and and actually doing active active business and if there could be a way to uh at junctures to call them out. Um the um the other thing I that I'm wondering if you could just address um the section here that is on city council engagement um and um in section and I'm actually looking at the packet that we had but on on on on it said I'm looking at 7-2 to the local

road safety plan review and it says the city council will have a specific role in the development of the downtown local road safety plan and I'm wondering if you could clarify what specific role actually is.

Yeah, great question. It's really looking at weighted countermeasures. So, we're going to bring forward a lot of data, but also input from first responders in the community, but also public input and how to craft that plan and how we look at counter measures, which oftent times their ideas set forth at the federal and state transportation levels and how to reduce uh uh impact to pedestrian safety when it comes to pedushions or even the signals. there's different design elements, how to rate that and weigh that based on all the feedback and data we'll bring forward to you. So that's one of those key policy feedbacks will be a touch point with this body.

So the the Lakewood Road safety plan that's going to be a specific document that is created through this process. That's correct, sir. Okay. and but it's not one that the council will have to approve. It's just one that the council will review and provide input before the final version is put in place.

That's correct. One of the things we were talking about because a feasibility study you don't really enact or codify but how to set forth the strategies right once an implementation or a feasibility study it out outlines a number of implementation steps that requires additional work focus time and energy one of the things we've been talking around at the final document stage in 2027 do I come back to this body after all this input here's the preferred alternative here's the funding strategy ies here may be some things we need to amend in the sub area plan for example go forth planning and public works could that be recognized formally in a resolution for example those are the things that we're tossing about but again this body doesn't need to adopt a resolution or enact an ordinance to comply with our grant requirements

so when we get to 2028 after this has been completed that and there are some specific strategies or policies in the the feasibility to study discloses and affirms. Um then the process of getting those policies or strategies into the comprehensive plan would start in 2028 with the planning commission looking to see which of them were appropriate to to embed in the comprehensive plan

if that's one of the recommendations for strategies. I do anticipate because this is looking at transportation feasibility and funding is to also set forth some ideas in your future six-year transportation improvement plan as well.

And then in the feasibility study, are there any uh potential environmental things that we're looking at? And I'm speaking about environmental in the the broadest sense like an environmental impact statement would consider such as which doesn't just doesn't just relate to trees but it relates to impacts on people and things like that to the extent that it might influence the existing planned action ordinance. depending on what those recommendations are. That may be one of those implementation strategies. I don't want to foreshadow whether this plan will trigger an environmental impact statement. We have to look at what the existing plan action uh sea already adopted the maximum intensity of growth that that in projected for the downtown area and how maybe looking at an alternative alignment to the green street loop that ultimately comes the preferred recommendation out of this effort. Maybe it's less environmental um impacts to the community that requires less public or rightway to be acquired etc. I can't foreshadow that. That could be a possibility, but we'll have to assess that the pros and cons of those alternatives and what it takes to implement.

Okay. And then the only other thing in the document that we had about it, there was no mention about the the uh nonpublicly owned streets. And I would assume that they're within the the physibility study would at least would be would be looking at that, but we have streets in the town downtown that that that are not city streets.

Yeah, that's correct. We'll be looking at everything from the capacity improvements outlined in the plan action ES, but actually the green street loop, which is largely on private property and the feasibility of that. Right. Thank you. Thank Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Brandsteader. Council member Pearson, we're going back to you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, Mr. Laurel kind of lur kind of talked about it for a minute, but I I really wanted to just touch back on the concept of of expanding this to beyond just the scope of what's currently shown in the Green Street loop. And is there any way that we can actually do something like that? Um, not completely through this grant, but through um our own funds as like a change order or a an add-on to the project scope or or process at all. So, I I'd be I think that a number of folks up here are are interested in expanding that to something more than just what's in the town center essentially and and connecting out to 100th. Um to really enhance the whole kind of almost surrounding the downtown really. Um so just a general comment and and question about is that really a feasible thing or could it be feasible or um if it's not feasible to do exactly that then what are our other options as far as exploring that?

Yep. To amend our contract it has to go through state and federal approval. So if I'm outside of that bounds I have to amend my federal agreement with US DOT as well as wash agreement. So that takes time, energy, whether or not that's feasible, even if we brought local dollars to the table. So that's one piece. Probably a faster route if this body wants to look outside of the downtown, we solicit through a public solicitation process, consultants to help look at that outside and get it outside of the our wash contracting parameters. how we fund that. That'll be a future conversation uh with our city manager as well in part of the upcoming budget process.

Thank you for that. And and I guess if it's going to be a totally separate thing, then it it wouldn't you wouldn't want to run it simultaneously because theoretically we have a bunch of work that we're getting done through this grant process that that would be good information to have for someone else to come in and and expand it. Ideally, you want to uh run it tandem, but just again, we're already kicking off. We're trying to move forward with public outreach and then you factor in if we are funded to do something like this, I still have to go through an a request for proposal process and and solicit uh professionals to help with that. The benefit of that is the data that's coming out of this can feed into that much broader study. But that's something where we would want to scope this effort with the city manager and and this body and how to fund it, too. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Talbo. So tagging on that, I guess I I think it's it I think what we're trying to really get to is the alternative of a green street triangle, if you will, as an alternative in in addition to the green street loop because there really is um the need along those major arterial streets for improvements. So the grant award that we are contracted with WASHDOT is in the 900,000s

plus the local contribution the local match that we're putting forward. But if we don't spend all of the grant amount, we also don't end up contributing the entire local match amount either, right? There is no local match. It's city staff time. Oh, so there was no local match. That is correct. Okay. Um, then we still need a funding source for that.

Correct. And have we consulted with either Wajdot or DOT as to whether the alternatives analysis allows for alternatives on streets that are not that green circle.

I can get into a very specific conversation with that, but I part of our contracting which took us a year to get to this place. So that's why I'm cautious of opening it all up again. Um it was explicit that this was for the downtown area. So even when we look at the local road safety plan, we know that data is valuable citywide, not just in the downtown area. How can we use this effort to garner what that sliver is, that share of that safety data, that crash data to help inform future decisions? How do you compare that to citywide? how to be strategic but also connecting to the original scope of this effort.

Thank you very much. Is any other comments, questions for Miss Silva? So, we'll be hearing from you in a couple months, I guess it sounds like. And I apologize in advance for that. Okay. Thank you, Miss Silva. So, uh, next up is Miss Walker, the city attorney to review of automated traffic safety programs. So, this went to the the PAC, the public safety advisory committee. Um, and they've come up with their we've asked them for the recommendations and they have now come up with their recommendations. Is that what I'm to understand here?

Mr. Mayor, deputy mayor, members of the council, Heidi Walter, city attorney. That is correct. And um the map is a little hard to see from where you're sitting, but it has been sort of transcribed into some graphs in your materials. And if you look at the materials, what we did was we took the first graph for schools is PAC feedback. It correlates to the dots on the map. What we did was we gave them red, yellow, and green. Uh each had a finite number. And the idea was red where you really think we really really really need a camera, yellow where you think it would it's a really good idea to have a camera and green where it might be nice to have a camera. And generally uh the feedback that I've gotten has been positive from the PAC in terms of doing this exercise being asked to give feedback. They seemed appreciative that they were consulted for this. I when I I went to the first meeting that I attended before we did this exercise, there is one individual on the PAC that does not like cameras at all, but the rest of them seemed pretty positive about the idea. And so that first graph, as I said, is the PAC feedback. Second graph that you have for schools and for parks respectively, has to do with collision data at some of these locations. And the third graph, you have feedback from Vera Mobility. They put out speed studies, traffic counts at uh the locations as they're indicated there. So, you've got information now about your PAC, which are your citizen subject matter experts, if you will, and from your uh service provider in Vera Mobility, and then just from the police department, the the actual collision counts. Um, I want to clarify something and it it was in the materials. There was a point at the end of the legislative session where it looked like the legislature was going in a different

direction as far as what part of the revenue they were going to take and so forth, that did not go through. And so all of the information you were previously provided in terms of if we expand the program, there are constraints upon how the money is going to be spent. After four years, 25% goes into the Cooper Jones Transportation. uh fund. All of that is what holds true. Now, I'm going to quickly and as clearly as I can put it. Currently, you get revenue from the cameras that exist. We pay for the cost of the cameras and then everything that remains from that goes into the general fund for us to do with what we will. That's about $350 to $400,000 a year right now. The general fund in turn has to cover any other costs that occur to the program might be diffused through the budget because that money can really be used in whatever way we want. It's general fund money. Under an expanded camera program, you take the revenue from the expanded number of uh cameras minus cost of cameras minus court costs minus community service officers. All of the costs that are associated with that program can be taken out of the revenue. Everything that's left after that can only be used for roads. So under the current setting, there's extra money that we can do with whatever we want. Under an ext expanded program, there's no extra money, but absolutely everything can be absorbed as far as paying for the program. and the remainder goes to roads which if you remember Troy Pacwinsky at one of our previous meetings on this said some of

the road situations that we have are not going to be addressed by state grant money. So um there's a displacement feature there right so currently some of it's coming out of general fund that will later come out of revenue. The additional consideration financially is right now if you get um feedback that we have a speeding problem on a given road, we have to deploy police officers there. We don't have to, but we tend to want to be responsive. We deploy police officers there to do as much as they can do with the time that they have taking them away from other calls. under a camera program, at least on those roads where the cameras exist, you won't have to do that kind of a deployment. The cameras should be picking up the offenders. I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you may have.

Are there any questions for Miss Walker? Council member Laura Cella. Uh, thank you, Mayor Bokei. I'll I'll get into the details the feedback I got from PAC later, but um just for some clarity on the funding piece of it. So the the cameras if we add them pay for themselves first before money goes to the state or elsewhere, including the staff time to work on those.

Correct. They pay it. You pay not only the cost of the cameras, but any cost that we can say is part of our camera program. So, right now you have two community service officers and we've received some theories that it might take more community service officers if we have lots of tickets that have to be reviewed. All of that cost is allowed to be expended from camera revenue. Have we done the research or do we know of any other municipalities that have overdone it on cameras and not been able to pay for the expenses that go with those?

I'm not aware of any. And when you drill down, I think what we came up with was I want to say somewhere between 3500 and 4500 per camera per month is the cost. So, as long as you're breaking that, you have something beyond that to pay for the system. And I don't think there's any penalty for removing cameras. So, let's assume that you have a road where suddenly no one's ever speeding or we decide to put in a speed bump or there's some other reason that the speeds just precipitously drop and the camera is not going to pay for itself. Um there may be another camera that's doing significantly better and can absorb that cost or you can remove the camera.

Um last question and this will probably be more of a later piece but do we have the ability to as you said we could shut some down that theoretically we could turn some back on or rotate which ones are active within city. I think once you go to the extent of expanding your program beyond that one camera because there was a little buffer room in the legislation, right, where you could kind of stay within your footprint if you only added one camera. I think once you've decided that you're flipped over to this expanded program, I don't think there are limitations at that point. If you have a speeding problem in your city, you can ask add additional cameras. The only um caveat I would make to that is that the legislature did make a run at changing the legislation again this year and they might do that again. I I just don't know what that new legislation would look like.

Sure. We can't necessarily anticipate that. Thank you. Any other questions for Council Member Brandsteader? I I had a question about the the data and the prioritization data that the PAC distributed to us and it particularly it it talked about the PAC prioritizes Harrison Preparatory School as a location and then there's a notation that says Harrison Preparatory Store already has traffic cameras. They do

that. But that's not clear to me because Harrison Preparatory School is actually on Lakewood Boulevard. The

Okay, there are no traffic cameras on Lakewood Boulevard. There are traffic cameras on Stelum Boulevard that run from sort of in they run through that intersection all the way down to Lockburn Middle School, but there aren't any cameras there on on Lakewood Boulevard that actually passes for Heroes and and Harrison Prep. Um, and so what were they what street were they really talking about or were they looking at both? Uh, Council Member Brandstead, I do not know and we could certainly drill down a little further to get specific as far as their particular feedback on that. We could also um get more specific about exactly where any collisions are happening near any of these places, which I don't think Harrison Prep had any, but we can get more specific about some of that data. What we asked the PAC to do is put dots on a map. Basically,

yeah, I guess I'm concerned about Lakewood Boulevard because my observation is is that there are more students jaywalking crossing Lakewood Boulevard right there by the the entrance to the driveway than than then goes on, which is inside of Mark School Zone. Both streets have mark school zones to be able to go into that. And uh but um so now that we have this, what's the timeline to do something? Well, um I don't know that there's a deadline. Council member Brandansteader, what I would tell you is if there is something more that is needed in order for the council to make a decision, uh we can certainly field that. If the council's just not ready to make a decision and wants to look at it again someday down the road, we can certainly do that. If you want us to bring it back sooner rather than later, we can do that as well. I I think the the bigger issue is if you were to act at the very next council meeting and say you want this to go forward, um what would it take us to actually make that investment in those cameras? You might want to, and I'm going to obviously the manager will pipe up if I'm getting out over my tips here, but you might want to look at what the budget allows as far as installing the initial cameras.

Okay. So, I I guess my my concern with that there there isn't any risk that the legislature will do something that changes reality if we wait until we make this decision as part of the budget. to 20 next bianial budget discussion.

The legislaturator is not meeting between now and then. So I think you're safe to do your program. Um what I would say about that is that there was a debate when there was this um new legislation that people were concerned about among cities about whether the existing programs we we've been around since the beginning. We are a pilot program for cameras in Washington state. So we tend to get grandfathered in. There are a number of cities that were later waves of cameras and um including after this latest legislation in 2024 and so the debate was can those cities be grandfathered in at the 2024 legislation which is what we may be joining if we expand our program and the consensus was you're not grandfathered unless you're really grandfathered the way Lakewood was. So once we go to that expand expanded program, we could be at risk even if we've established a program for a change in the state law. But that's kind of always the case with almost anything we do.

Okay. But we're But but you think that that in terms of not at our next session, but that we ask the city manager to look at the level of expansion in the next bianium as a part of the next bianial budget is is is a reasonable course of action. Well, that's completely within the policy parameters of the city council. If it depends on what degree of urgency you feel about the camera system and where we would find the money to fund the initial installation of the cameras and not completely did the PAC opine on that

timeline the most that Pack opined on was they um had opinions about where they would put cameras except for the one person who really doesn't like cameras at all and number two they really appreciated that this wasn't in another survey about public safety. That's the feedback that I got from PAC. Thank Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. And before I go to the next round, I'm going to ask a couple of questions. So, we have one at Park Lodge, right? Right now, and apparently we have at least one at Harrison Prep, but on Silicon Boulevard, not on So, but those are just school zone cameras. Correct.

Correct. So, what we're talking here is either I guess we could make more school zone cameras, but the parks ones would be 24/7 365. Correct. And I will tell you based on experience working with some of these in through municipal court when I've been running around down there is that the school zone cameras are set and unset based on when school's in session. So, like in the summer they deactivate the school zone. So, what kind of fines are we looking at? I know the school zone fines are non-negotiable. They're

I I would be taking a guess. I think it's about $150, something like that. What I will tell you is these tickets are different than a regular traffic ticket. If you're pulled over by an officer and you get a ticket and you uh you can decide to contest it or whatever, if you're found to have committed that, it goes on your insurance record. You're paying the fine, full freight, everything. Speed enforcement tickets, you can um sign an affidavit, hopefully you're being honest, saying that you weren't the driver. And in that way, you're not going to be held responsible for the ticket and you wouldn't have to appear in court or anything like that. But also, if you are found to commit it and you pay for the ticket, it doesn't go on your insurance record. So, you can do a fair amount of these photo violations and not have an insurance ramification. And I say that as a leadup to the fact that we don't get a lot of contested hearings on photo infraction cases. police officer cases. We're constantly battling about the radar certifications that because the officers use the radar to test the speed. We have to certify the tuning fork that's used to calibrate the radar gun. I mean, there's a whole thing that goes along with it and a lot of requirements about what we have to provide in terms of discovery. Um, the photo tickets just are a different animal that way. So, so we're going to start the next round kind of timing of this and and extent. So, that's where I'd like this to go. So, I'll start with a personal observation um in the city of DuPont, which we also handle their court. Um I think my spouse and I got caught twice in the city in the same day or within an

hour or something. It was like 4 in the afternoon that and it was a school zone. Oh, and under the law they could do school zone. You can do the city can determine the school day. Oh, there were no kids. Trust me, there were no kids within a mile of that school. And and fortunately, I wasn't the driver, right? My spouse was. and she went into our municipal court and it was mayhem over the Dupont stuff because everyone had the same experience.

You don't have any students there. You're just doing this purposely. Of course, this isn't the court's fault, but people quickly figure this out that this isn't anything to do with speeding. It has everything to do with getting money. So, we need to be very careful when we place these things because otherwise it just looks like all we're doing is trying to drive the fiscal note. And I would just and I always say this, be careful how much you raise in fines.

The city of Lakewood went this route and I tell people the story, so I won't repeat it. I'll just repeat it this one time. go back to Ferguson, Missouri in 2015 or 2014 when a young man was shot and killed. Not going to speak to the incident, but they started doing people started doing studies that these small towns in in Missouri raised an inordinate amount of money on fines,

like 25% of their budget. I remember looking at Lakewood's budget and at the high point Lakewood at one time before the whole changes and when the Supreme Court made the ability to pay as part of the deal, Lakewood was as high as 15% or more. So be careful, right, that that we're just chasing dollars because people know and and the other thing be careful with is this is mainly going to be our citizens.

This people who live here. This is going to be us. It's going to be people you know. It's going to be family members. So, how you calibrate it, how you what hours you use it. If it's 247, great. If they catch somebody at 2 in the morning going 80 down some street, which they do,

great. Thank you. But if it's you and you're going 42 in a 35 at 2 in the morning and there's not anyone in sight, you're going to hear it, right? You're going to hear it. It's clearly just about the Benjamins. And once someone says that, they're never going to not believe you when you say, "No, this is about public safety." They will never believe you. So just keep that in mind. I need we kind of need a consensus here. Do we want to go forward now? How many are we willing to go forward with? What kind of locations are we looking for? So, who would like to go first? I'll take Council Member Tal will go first.

Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, so this so state law does also allow for portable cameras and and rotatable cameras, and that is a big piece and a big a big key. Um, state law also requires that when you when we for jurisdictions that want to flip over to this expanded camera use that that you also have to do an equity analysis which speaks to exactly just that because that's what the state law is trying to address in some form and for many reasons that is why many cities in Washington state have taken on Vision Zero plans because that plan does the homework and the leg work of identifying your high injury locations, the the causes and the risk factors, the counter measure, the safety counter measures that you're that that you're supposed to do. Maybe the remedy is a speed camera. Maybe the remedy is a geome geometric design in the street. Maybe it's something else. Maybe it's it's the addition of sidewalks. And so we have yet to get there. Um I the you the feds have had two calls so far for federal safe streets for all programming to make to be made available because they are trying to get as many jurisdictions as possible to take to to do vision zero plans. And from what I have heard and experienced is that these federal funds have been unders subscribed for like the last four cycles. So if there is an open call, we should apply we, you know, we should try to apply for those grant funds. And anyway, that's

that's that. But but the cameras have a little bit of legs to here's the legs to be aware of. So it's not just the cost of the safety camera. It's that typically these safety camera vendors come with a minimum five-year contract. And so that's the cost of of adding additional cameras, but we also have the ability to be to to rotate them. And that's what jurisdictions are trying to do. Kenmore, the city of Kenmore is the only one right now that I'm aware of that has successfully passed an ordinance to rotate its speeding cameras. And the reason why that's more effective than fixed cameras is because once you put the fixed cameras in, people know where they are. They'll just take other streets. When you when you rotate the cameras, you're concentrating on the numbers of speeding because speeding infractions change over the course of a year or time period. And so when you target the, you know, the highest infraction streets, uh, and then you rotate those throughout the city, that's where you are trying to, that's where you're best positioned to mitigate and address speeding and and enforce it from that angle. So my what I would like to see is that's the I'd like to see us take that direction, but I think that that's going to take a little bit more leg work. um to get to an ordinance that that gets us there because we need we need the locations from we need the safety analysis combined from PD and from engineering from engineering who's looking at the 85th percentile um excessive speeds and then from enforcement who's looking at the most frequently um you know find streets or whatnot.

We've gotten some of that in this, but um I'm aware that Lakewood Lakewood PD has a license for street vision. This is a this is a telematics software that the Washington State traffic commission has made available for free for a free license to cities that request it. There's a there's a work group that we should be part of that our enforcement should be actively and if not our engineering staff should be a part of too. But this is all within the the umbrella the framework of of a vision zero lens. And although we haven't formally we don't have that planning framework, that doesn't mean that we can't try to get there in in these actions. So I'll stop there.

I So it sounds like you know, do we have a vision zero plan? No, as far as I'm aware, we don't have a vision zero plan. I believe there's three grants going forward to the county council tomorrow that have to do with the state streets for all that are federal. I I believe I looked at them today. Yeah,

I think they're going tomorrow, which sounds like this year's cut off is very soon. The local road safety plan that Miss Silva just talked about is is a specific type of plan with specific type of criteria that you have to include. Um but that the intent behind that plan is really so that you can position yourself for uh federal HIPP grants, highway safety improvement grants. And the highway doesn't necessarily mean highway, it means roads as well. Um, it means roads that are on the National Highway Network, which include local roads and major arterials in Lakewood, but it doesn't include the roads in on like minor neighborhood streets. And so there are some shortcomings with the local road safety plan is in that it doesn't include the equity analysis that's that's necessary. And it it um it it also doesn't include a a public engagement process that is required in the vision zero safety plan.

Thank Okay. Thank you for that, Council Member Del. Okay. Council member Pearson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And uh thank you for your comments about the the funding element of it. That's that is certainly um you know as we talk about all of this that is certainly not my desire at all is to make this a money grab. Um, and and really when I'm looking at at these sorts of cameras, it's um there was a lot of need identified at at Harrison Prep and some of these other high school areas um where people, you know, may be jaywalking, but I think that's even jaywalking. You know, I would trust a a 16-year-old to jaywalk much more than I would trust my 5-year-old to like stay on the sidewalk, right? So,

um so so I think that I'm I'm much more sensitive to targeting elementary schools where little kids are walking around rather than people who have been walking the streets for a little while and and kind of understand how traffic works a bit. Um the other the other part of that is um as we look at the parks. So, Fort Silicum was identified as a really high um what's it called? Potential citations per month, like just super high, east, westbound, doesn't matter. Like you could get a million citations out there. There's also no pedestrians that walk along the road. So, to me, that like just drops off of the list. Like that's not a safety thing to me. You have a whole parks network of trails that goes through the park. There's no need for people to be walking out by the road. And so what are you really stopping? You're just stopping speeders. Speeders that are speeding, you know, that's not the end of the world. It's when they really get involved with bikes and and people and stuff, that's when it starts to get a lot more dangerous. You know, speeding obviously is dangerous, but that I guess that's where I'm saying that like th those wouldn't be my um big priorities. Even though I think that if you're looking at it from a money perspective, you would put one on silicon because you could generate a ton of money on silicon because there's a ton of traffic there and lots of speeders, right? I mean, that's what that's what the charts show. So, I would not put one there. I would focus on um you know, the downtown area where we have a lot of traffic um but we also have like at Cababrini, you know, we're going to have a lot more traffic over there that's leaving the town center and coming and going to the town center. and you're going to have little kids there that go to daycare and elementary school and stuff. And so those are the areas that I would be targeting when we set this up is is focusing on elementary

schools and then parks that actually have um a pedestrian need directly adjacent to it. Uh not like Fort Silicon where you have a huge network of trails in and within the park that people walk on. So, and then I had one comment um about the the cost in our packet here. The upfront cost to me looked like it was actually the construction costs were that was included by the contractor bears those and we just pay the monthly expense. Is that not correct? I stand corrected. You're right about that.

Okay. Thank you. So, so we basically just tell them where to put them. They go install them and then we pay 3500 bucks a month. And so there's not a whole lot of upfront for us to get them in. So, um I think at this point we need to figure out which spots we want and those would be the areas that I would be focusing on. Um the downtown area um and then park, you know, with elementary schools and then parks where there's a higher pedestrian um use. So, thank you, Council Member Loris Cell. Uh thank you, Mayor Bo. So, you were going to tell us about what the piece says. Okay. Thank you.

That's what I'm going to speak to. So, as that uh public safety advisory committee liaison, I was there for the exercise and

uh I felt some of the some of the frustration from some of our our folks who are part of that group. Um they were given a certain number of red, a certain number of yellow and a certain number of green stickers. And when you run out of red ones, and we said there were some more available, but not everyone got the message. So, um, it was frustrating because you're asking them to say which kids are more valuable than other kids, right? Which is not what we want to do. Uh, and to your point, uh, to your point, Mayor Bokei, uh, this is all about making our city safer, especially for the kids. It's not about revenue generation. Uh, it's about making things safer for people to to get around in our city. And the overall or overwhelming majority of folks on the PAC that I talked to wanted these in all school zones and in front of all parks that have kids in them. Um, and I'm not sure how feasible or not feasible that is to undertake everything. Um, but maybe we have a phased plan that we roll out that eventually gets us there or it's a rotation of cameras um that we have the ability or the facility set up to move stuff into. And maybe you've got in those spots that don't have a camera yet, you still have a flash of the camera to let people know that they shouldn't be, you know, speeding through there at that rate, right? So, um, the the thought from the PAC was they want to protect all kids in our community, and I I agree with them. So, thank you.

Okay, Council Member Branded. And so, I'm looking for And it sounds like you have some idea of the timing that you would like. I need to really get the discussion rolling. I need someone to take possession of a time frame and andor number of cameras or I'm just going to end up doing it. I'm thinking I'm honestly thinking now letting everyone draft their own camera. So you're on the hook. Well, one camera if you want it.

So So So my thought would be that for the next bianial budget that we um add a camera on 84th Street near Wards Lake Park. That's a new park. we've just intuitive things but most of the people particularly children who will come from that come from the other side of 84th Street or or come along there and that would be the place that I would want to put a an a a parks a parks camera to be able to go and do that that for a school camera. Okay. I I would like to put a camera on Lakewood Drive along the in the school zone that fronts Four Heroes Elementary and Paris and Prep where where there where where where there is not one. And then I would like to put a camera there uh on on Kuster in the by Der Elementary. I would avoid putting the camera on and and and those would be the three cameras I'd want to do in that bianium. I agree with council member Pearson that we'd just be ca we'd just be chasing speeders by putting a camera on port on Silicon Boulevard outside of Port Silicon Park and and and we'd be targeting eventually all the employees at Western State Hospital that that do that. And for parks cameras, although school zones, we close the cameras down when there is no activities going on at the school. And it doesn't mean sometimes school zones keep their cameras open if they having like athletic events or something. But for parks, I think given that all of our parks have closure times that I think we

should close down parks cameras. um at at the appropriate times of when the parks are closed. Uh and if if they there ought to be programming to do that essentially it changes a couple of times during the year because it's based on dusk and and dawn but but but that would be be a way a way to do that. And respectfully, I would avoid a rotating camera policy because I don't think that this is a uh I think permanent places people know them. Yes, they will. They'll start driving other routes, but that changes driver behavior in the place we want to change it. Um, and I if we say that they're rotating, then people will take their chances.

Thank you, Council Member Brandsteader. Uh, Council Member Talbo, you know, Council Member Brandstead drafted. Apparently, he had three first round draft picks, but you you can pick one of the other ones.

Sure. Sure. I will say uh so part of part of the caveat that is that state law does you do have to you do have to publish the locations of where of where the rotating of where you set the the cameras. So, and some would even say, well, that seems counterintuitive, but it is written in state law in such a way that has to do with um I think the concerns for equity and those those aspects of it. Um, I will say I do recognize that getting to a rotatable program is is harder to get to and can take longer, but for the sake of um for the sake of I think getting these getting this off the ground, uh, we should still aspire to do that, but it's perfectly fine to just get cameras rolling. Um my I do think that when I look at the map of where the safety advisory board commented on, I think um Silicon Boulevard between Kuster to Lakewood Drive, even South Tacoma Way is a notorious drag racing speed trap and even Bridgeport Way from Kuster to or 75th um south to Gral Lake Drive is another notorious speed trap. So, I think there are two there's one suggested at Lockburn, but I think you still need another camera on Silicon Boulevard in that stretch. Stilicon Boulevard in the Blockburn area.

And you mentioned Bridgeport. I would say near Kowanas Park. Any either one of those streets near Kowanas Park. Okay. Any other council member Lorisella?

Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Boi. Uh, I don't think now is necessarily the time to be drafting the spots without each of us taking our time to identify which ones are most critical. and and if we're only implementing in some areas instead of all the possible ones as we were um guided to do by the PAC, then I think maybe we need to come back and say each council member gets to pick three or four or one or whatever makes sense in terms of the city's volume that they're able to take on. Uh and then we can be more purposeful about where we put them instead of ad hocing it at this point. Okay. So, that means we're kind of kicking the can forward, I guess, with a little bit more of a plan. I'm going to go crazy if we pick 20 of these. No one will be able to drive anywhere in this city without getting a ticket. I I mean, it will be insane. And this and and let me let me throw out another warning. This is where the legislature will step in. You want to know when they're going to step in? They'll step in when they start hearing from people like, "Oh, Lakewood has it'll it'll be some city." And they say they have 30 of these cameras and they make, you know, some great for streets, right? We'll have all sorts of money, but again, it just looks like you're grabbing, right? So, I understand that there's a speed problem. We really need to determine where the speed problems are and be very deliberate about where the speed problems are, where the accidents are and and and where the danger lies, right? Because this thing could get out of hand really quickly and I really don't want to be on top of a city that that known

for, hey, we got traffic cameras right now. I get it. the the red light cameras have been, I think, very effective. Um, people don't seem to gripe about them, but we have three or four of them, right? Not 10. So, and they're red light cameras, which is different than speed cameras. So, let's just, you know, think about the high end here, right? That it's not I get it. the PAC would love them everywhere and we we have citizens that would that think they would work by having everywhere but but we're a policymaking body and we there's a downside to this right of really jumping in on both feet. I mean, we get criticized for flock and the flock safety cameras have been incredibly effective, right? So, so you haven't spoken all night, so do you want to speak? Are you getting ready?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a just a thought. It seems to me like the policy here is that we want these in Lakewood. Um, and I would really appreciate staff's input on where they think the best locations are given traffic patterns and and all the expertise they bring. Okay. Council member Lauris.

Uh, thank you, Mayor Bokei. Uh, to continue what I was saying, uh, first, Council Member Tabo talked about telemetrics. Um, they're already in use. Captain Johnson spoke to data that the police department has on what speeds people are going throughout the city. Uh, and I would also point out that we can set what limit it tickets at, right? If we want to set it for 40 over, we can do that. Not recommending that we do, but we have to figure out what safe and sane is, right? Um, and recognize that it's not a money grab. We want people to be safe. Uh, if people are speeding on Stilicum Boulevard, it's not just protecting people who are walking across the road, but it's also people in their cars. Uh, and there are a number of accidents out there that conceivably would be reduced by reducing speeds. Thank you,

Council Member Pearson. And I think we're going to wrap it up because spoken three or four.

I would just say that I I um would second Mr. Bransetters's comments about selecting three as a group um for this bienium but I I would like the opportunity to have all of us select like their top three and then however if we have them in common you know something like that where okay five people said that they had this one as their top one and then so on and that's how we can kind of collectively um pick our top three but yeah I don't want to have 20 cameras I I I want to you know start off with a few cameras. I think three is a reasonable amount. Um, and we have some data here. If we can get some additional uh support as needed from from the city on on other recommendations, that's fine, too. Um, but I can I can put together my three recommendations and send them to city manager. Um, and we can kind of collect them that way if we want to do that.

Thank you, Council Member Person. So this is this is if somebody has a big objection. We have the recommendations from PAC and I think they did a nice job. It looks like they did a very thoughtful job and I I appreciate their efforts on this. So now we need to stack these somehow by where people are speeding. I don't know if we have those numbers where speeding where the accidents although accidents have been falling at the same time speeds have been increasing I guess. Um so let's come back take you know and then and then we'll we'll figure something out. We'll maybe figure out the number if we're going to take the top three top four and place them and we'll decide on the timing on that. Does that sound okay? you come back in a month.

They're looking for a future study session. You want them paired down is Yeah. But where we're actually looking at a list here, this is staffs 1 through 15 in. Well, maybe we some kind of grid between that the difference between what staff's recommending and between what the PAC's recommending.

Yeah, we can come back with something. Um just in general from an enforcement perspective always viewed as traffic enforcement for what purpose and that purpose is for safer streets. And so I tell you if you're asking me I would look at where crashes are. But I can tell you already from what I've heard that's not where some of the council members want to put them. Well, I mean like Stellome Park that I think that was a height for Yeah.

for collisions, but that's, you know, just historically whenever I've been talking with anyone, we could put speed traps anywhere in the country and a lot of times that's places where we'll get complaints of there's people speeding out my door, you know, day all the time, but there's never accidents. Just from a health and safety perspective, that's where throughout my career, we've tried to focus traffic control measures on where there are accidents to make it safer for people. So, that's what I would look at and that's probably what we'd recommend coming back with. Now, if you want to tie in, you know, the higher levels of speeding incidents, we can incorporate that as well because that generates probably the more public feedback, but we can come back with an analysis and also based on what objective.

Yeah, I think the Stilum Park one is just a there's just a lot of traffic right there, right? And so per thousand cars, it may not be any higher than anywhere else in the city. This gets back to we we're kind of flying a little bit blind, right? There's a lot of there there's a lot of kind of like but we asked PAC to just do schools and parks.

Yeah. I just back up on the discussion. The discussion emerged from public comment and talking about speeding in respective neighborhoods. At that time, council identified, okay, should we have the discussion on enhanced uh photo enforcement component? And that quickly said, well, let's send it back to prioritization. So, we didn't even hit a lot of the different discussion points that are being brought up. Some of them have been floated out as it relates to funding and where that goes. But some of those components not really discussed because that's how the discussion has progressed from really initial public comment going there when speeding out in my neighborhood along this and then it was quickly moved to getting recommendations from public safety advisory committee. So kind of what my takeaway is bring it back. We've had good discussion tonight. Bring further discussion with a specific areas of where we think they would be effective at.

And I would look at the I would use the PAC numbers as a base because we've we asked them for their opinion and we can't ignore it. So, and I think that they had some really good ideas. So, um but we we need some way of kind of putting it in a column format so we can make some decisions about how many cameras we want because even tonight we don't have any agreement on how many cameras we want. So, um, and and then Council Member Talo talking about mobile cameras, and I and I don't know about that, although that seems intriguing to me. I'm also, um, just as an aside that we don't have a vision zero plan, and I'm thinking maybe we need that, but maybe we haven't done it because we don't feel like we don't need it or or it costs too much or something like that. But that's a that's a different discussion. So, let's work with this list and come back and recommend I guess a top three or four or something like that. Okay, thanks. All right. Um, it's really late and I really want to talk about all the great things that we did in Washington DC. Um, so and we have an executive session. So, reports by the city manager. Do you want to talk about DC or do I just let Council Member Bell, Deputy Mayor Bell Tie, she hasn't talked all night, so to introduce it or to defer to anyone that wants to speak to it. Um, essentially.

Yeah. Why don't you speak for us then?

Yeah. So, uh, returned from our trip to DC, we were able to meet with, uh, much of our delegation, specifically with, uh, Congresswoman Strickland and Senator Murray, uh, directly. Um, had good meetings related to that and then staff from, uh, Congressman Larson's office and also met with, uh, the DC office for our our governor. um focused areas on uh federal appropriations request on the medium city set aside which takes uh segments of all the different grant programs be it raise uh the MMPG or multimotal discretionary grant program safe streets for all of all those different areas and has that medium set aside dedicated a certain amount to all those medium cities related to that um also discussed status of where our federal grants are uh currently such as the raise um project, South Tacoma way and then general about uh our relationship with the JBL and how that all fits into it and then of course different various things that came up in various discussions. also met with the League of Cities, National League of Cities, which we are not a member of, talked about the potential for that, where some of the things that we're doing aligns with some of their initiatives. And really uh the discussion between the three of us was, hey, is this uh you know, consideration as uh really for membership by the city of Lakewood and to participate in some of their conferences, some of their activities, and that I'll defer more to the mayor and deputy mayor in terms of of where it's at. So, I I'll hold off from there. And uh just as a reminder and some of the other things that we do have neighborhood association meetings this week, um elected officials, council with SSMCP and also I know tomorrow um council member Pearson and myself are joining the civic leader tour at McCord Field for some of theirs. And that's all I

have. Great. Thank you, Doug. Um yes. Well, let's just go around really quickly. Council member Laura Cell.

All right, I'll I'll try and keep it under three minutes. I'll be quick as I can. So, first, thanks everybody for covering last week. I watched the meeting on my trip home from Fort Worth. Uh, and it was you guys all did great. Um, speaking of, I traveled to Fort Worth last week for a public safety conference and I really appreciated getting back to the fresh air in the Pacific Northwest. Uh, especi especially coming back to Lakewood. Every time I travel, uh, I'm more grateful for what we have here at home. So, uh, nothing bad to say about Fort Worth, but it's not Lakewood. Um, in response to some public comments about sidewalks on Nanza, I see them used all the time. I love them. Uh, it's great. We now have a safe route around Gral Lake. It's a three-mile loop, and lots of people are out there with their dogs, their strollers, their kids, everything. Um, they also allowed us to narrow some parts of Nyanza, which reduces traffic speeds. U, I'm looking forward to them finishing up striping this week. Um, and in theory we could put a camera there in front of the uh, Gravity Lake Loop, as they call it as a park that our parks director called it. Um, really quick talk to talk about the planning commission joint session a couple weeks ago. I really appreciate what they did for the NCC task force teams to really balance between residents, climate experts, and developers. Uh, quick touch on the baseball league stuff you guys talked about last week. I'm really excited about the possibility, but I want to understand the financial projections. Who carries the risks and the circumstances behind the team's departure from their prior city? I guess I understand there was a contested thing about funding some stadium work there. Um, so I don't want to be the guy who killed baseball in Lakewood, but I want to be good stewards of our city funds. Uh on the tip, uh I heard from the meeting last week that Sound Transit had some underruns of about a million dollars on projects so far, and I want to know how those get reappropriated and could they serve as another item on the tip that's adjacent to a Sound Transit project. For instance, there's a Clover

Creek crossing. We have on the tip of Park Drive, getting a pathway through there. If that's eligible, I'd like the city to look into that. um on public comments. I love when we get so many residents coming out to speak, when we hear their voices, we're better at serving them. So, if they can keep showing up, I would enjoy that even though we stay here till 10:30, 11 o'clock. Um last, uh I want to note on cameras, uh in front of hospitals I believe is also eligible. So, in front of St. Clair on Bridgeport where there are a number of accidents, we might consider that. Um, and last question on the tip, uh, question for the city manager and staff. When's the deadline on when that has to be completed and approved?

So, uh, I believe it's July 1st has to be submitted. Now, in addition, and talked about last week that any of these projects can be amended out, you can also submit last year's if you want to diver refer back to what was done last year and just use that as a prior approval. So, they have options related, too. All right, I will defer my other tip questions to other folks who I think will address them. The last thing is if we're talking baseball team names, I like the Lakewood roundabouts. Thank you. Great, Council Member Pearson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, yeah, also excited to join uh city manager tomorrow with the 62nd Airlift Wing to take our little tour. Um I have my first meeting with the sewer general plan um review committee coming up on Wednesday. So um interested to see what goes on there. And then I uh you'll see Thursday SSMCP elected officials council meeting. Um yeah busy week baseball games uh included. And then next Thursday is um the Puget Sound Regional Council General Assembly. So uh go into that and have our Inerson meeting for the year there. Um so yeah, that's it.

Thank you, Council Member Pearson. Council Member Lynholm. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I just want it to be known that uh there's a thought out there that sometimes we don't appreciate lots of public comment. We do. Um, I'm really thankful that we had the showing tonight that we did and I and I hope it happens every single meeting. Uh, as so long as our schedules can accommodate. Uh, I see your Lakewood roundabouts. I I raise you Lakewood Llamas. I'm a fan of Lakewood Llamas. Um, several great meetings this week, uh, including including the CESAB. I'm looking forward to that. That's all I have. Thank you, Council Member Brandsteader.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. um that on on Wednesday I'll be going to the Southside 911 board meeting that's scheduled and on uh Thursday I'm be going to the elective leadership group meeting for the unified approach to homelessness uh committee that I've been working on. um the um the the public comment that we had today. First of all, the the all the comments about sidewalks that no one's walks on. We have u heard that for almost every project that we've had that we put on sidewalks and and and and then six months later that that that that's not true to be able to go and do that. uh and uh and I was I had I had mixed reactions to the u unonymity of the at the public hearing.

Okay. um that uh I one I I I think the way to roll out that we have to look in our comp plan to resolve the issue of too few east west corridors should be looked at in the transportation element of the comp plan and then roll out possible decisions from that rather than floating voting an idea in the tip. Uh and and the people in the audience didn't seem to get realize that we didn't get any more notice about that that was going to be in the tip than than they did. Although most of the comments were were I'll be inconvenience personally. Okay. uh there were but there were some folks that that took a longer view to realize that it was a traffic planning uh issue to be able to go and do that. But I think that this is uh this is an idea that maybe isn't ready for the tip, but it isn't an idea to be forgotten because it needs to be evaluated against other alternatives for east for for east west mobility. and I I had uh a very successful trip fishing in Canada. So, thank you,

Council Member Talbo.

Well, thank you, Council Member Branset. I appreciate that comment because that is exactly how the best practice of marriage between SEIPA and the Growth Management Act works is that you analyze your network through the transportation element. you identify uh those failing deficiencies and you would identify the mitigation as as you would as you would want to propose it before you bring those under the tip. Nonetheless, um I think it's worth mentioning that um Oakbrook Neighborhood Association meeting is meeting tomorrow and then Kuster Neighborhood Association meeting is association is meeting on Wednesday. So, for anyone who wants more information that didn't get to show tonight or would just like to talk more intimately with our staff um and council members, those two opportunities are available for that. I believe that is a agendaized item at both of those meetings. Um the public comment tonight about route 574. Again, just underscoring the importance of trying to keep this route as direct as we can from Lakewood to the SeaTac airport because for as as long for the number of times that I have ridden that route, it's definitely a major piece of transportation for the airport employees and airport employees that drive all the way from Yelm to Puallup to park at the 512 uh park and ride and get that route to get to the airport for work. So, um I did attend uh the PSRC's housing mini academy last Friday. That was an interesting um half-day workshop. Um it featured a uh information from a

group called Civic Commons um which is B has done a lot of homework and leg work leg work on the concept of off-site construction. In other words, fancy name, fancier name for um pre-fabricated modular housing and ideally the concept of bringing a factory to Washington state to build these um you know modular housing part pieces and parts specifically to get middle housing built faster. So I think this is something that we are going to hear about more in the in the state legislative session um that we should I think take have some awareness about.

Um so I have some information I'll copy the city manager to distribute to the rest. Thank you. Thank you Deputy Mayor Bell. Yeah. Your turn. Very memorable.

No I'm sorry. Thank you mayor. I'm quiet today. So, um, a couple really quick things. Yes, Washington DC was wonderful. Uh, city manager did a great job of recapping. We met with our legislators, had a great meetings, very positive. They support and love Lakewood and they knew a lot about us and very connected here. Uh we also met with the National League of Cities which I do think is a very great organization that we should take advantage of um and leverage our our council our city and connect with different cities that deal have military communities. Uh other ones we spoke with mayor I guess it would be about arts in the community was another part a group that would be really good and then it's just seems like a very good resource for all of us. So if you guys want to look it up or we could get you a link sent out that would be great. I think it's very beneficial. I also today I went to the youth council end of year celebration. They were just having pizza and having a great time at Fort Silicon Park. So that was wonderful. And I too live off of Nyanza like council member Lauraella and I see people walking on the extra wide sidewalks which they are extra wide. I don't know the name of them. Maybe my transportation lady would. But I know that they're larger because they want people to ride their bikes on those sidewalks. They want people to walk on those sidewalks. And they also want them to be ADA compliant on those sidewalks. So, that is another way that we are making sure we're in the year 2026, too. So, I think it's great. It's a great path all the way around the lake and um I think it's being used quite a bit. And my last thing, I loved that everybody was here for public comment. It's always

great to see the the room full and to hear everybody's comments and hear from our residents. The one of the things that did stand out is that they would love better notification. So that was rang true is making sure that they get their information. Everybody gets it in different ways. It's great times for all of us that are trying to communicate with our residents. But in any way that we could reach out to our residents um a little bit more in advance and in different forms. I think that that would be great since we did hear that quite a bit. And that's it for me, mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. So just a couple of things. Um, Saturday I went to the uh the fishing event and man, that is a lot of fun. I mean, kids freaking out every time they I mean, just pure joy, right? It's just I standing there and it's just pure joy. These kids are just so excited. One girl hands her bowl to her dad and starts jumping up and down until he brings it in. And it was just it was just a a great event. and I and I got a chance to meet the South Sound Angler guys who work at it and all the people who really who who really work at it. So, I I'm just really pleased. And then the Rotary event uh Saturday night and uh they were their raise the paddle was for the Nourish Food Bank and and Sue Potter is closing in on uh coming up with enough money to um to build that. and you know she recognized that Lakewood had played a major part in that. So uh SSMC Southound uh SSMCP meeting this Thursday on Arlington project f or uh Wednesday at 4. Planning to be at that. I've got a couple other meetings also scheduled. So it's really really busy uh the rest of the week. I do want to advocate for the National League of Cities. I didn't know what to expect. The dues are about $6,500 this year and um we do get a chance to get on committees. I mean, we talked about the defense communities committee. Um and you can call into them. You don't have to be on them necessarily. We did talk about arts quite a bit, too. So, I think there's some real opportunities. There's also some training opportunities and learn and network. So, I I think it's it's

worth looking into. Um, you know, I I was I was really impressed with all all the things they're doing. And I will say, and this is just this is just a hanging curveball, the the stuff about sidewalks. Council member Tabo, come back me up. Nobody's fixing a street inside the urban growth areas in the state of Washington without putting in a pedestrian amenities. We would never ever get any money for anything if we said no. We have no intention. We just want to make it a white line and gravel. No, that's not how it works. We wouldn't want to live in a city like that anyway. So the folks that are like advocating for this, the only thing I can tell them is they got to move outside the UG because anywhere the county's building roads within the UG and any of the other cities, they're going to be doing this. So, you know, and we and we have a long history in this city of of saying we want to improve pedestrian amenities and it and it and has been pointed out here by the members, those are recreational amenities now, right? Pe people go and walk on these things. I see the same thing in Oakbrook on on what we have. So, I'll just leave it at that. But it's just like, no, this is not I I mean I I can't break in and just say it's not going to happen. Just stop, you know, go come up with something, but I kind of almost am there. Um I do appreciate all the public participation and and passion tonight. I really do. Um because there's a lot of times, as you well know, that we're all sitting here and nothing's going on. So it's it's nice to have that and it's nice to have people passionate about it. So with that, Ms. Walter, you're going to give us the site and how

much time we need because we have to come back, right? Miss Schuma. I do not anticipate asking for Thank you. asking for action after that. Um, it's RCW423110 sub1 sub1 to discuss with legal council representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body or a member acting in an official capacity is or is likely to become a party when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in adverse legal or financial consequences to the agency. Thank you. And how much time do we going to need? 30 minutes.

How much? 30 35 minutes. Um, we can't adjourn. Okay. Yeah. If if we stay too long, I have to sit here, right? We're going to say 25 minutes, which would make us out at 20 10:20. Um, we can leave our stuff that here.