City Council - Regular Meeting

I think everyone in our neighboring jurisdictions also heard that. Welcome. We have all made it to Tuesday, May 5th. Meeting has now been called to order. We will start with roll call. Tracy. Council member Brandon Weeden, present. Council member Angela Jefferson, present. Council member Joan Cathy, Council Member Eileen Sworth, present. Council member Megan Sullivan, present. Council member Peter Agabi, present. Council member Kelly von Holtz, present. Mayor Lea Dha,

I am also here. Please join us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. I'm going to thank everyone in advance for your patience with us because I have a feeling we're going to have a few chuckles in this uh meeting. We are now on to item number four. Look how fast we are. Special items. First, we're going to start with Council Member Sworth reading a proclamation for Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month for May 2026. Thank you, mayor. Whereas, Asia-Pacific American Heritage Week was established by Congress in 1978 to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7th, 1843, and to honor the critical contributions of Chinese laborers to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10th, 1869. And whereas Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was officially designated in 1992 to celebrate the historical and cultural contributions of the AAPI communities across the United States. And whereas in 2000 the year 2000, the Washington State Legislature officially proclaimed the month of May as AsianPacific American Heritage Month in recognition of the state's vibrant and diverse population, which includes representation from 48 Asian and Pacific Island nations. And whereas Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month provides an opportunity to reflect on the systemic dis discrimination, exclusion, violence, and other challenges faced by

AANHPI communities while renewing our commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable society for all. And whereas the city of Tumbwater proudly embraces the cultural diversity of our community and honors organizations, families, and individuals of Asian Pacific and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, AAN, HIPP descent in appreciation of their invaluable contributions that enrich and sustain us as a community. And therefore, Leetta Dha, mayor of the city of Twater, does hereby proclaim the month of May, 2026, Asian-American, Native, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and calls upon the people of the city of Tumbwater to celebrate the contributions of Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders in our community and across the nation.

Thank you, Council Member Sworth. We have one of my favorite peeps, Lynn Crowley, president Asian Pacific Islanders Coalition of South Pedro Sound and some other amazing peeps. Lynn, would you like to take the mic with your friends and share a few words with us? Thank you so much for the opportunity to address the whole council and again my name is Lin Crowley. I'm with the AsianPacific Islanders Coalition of South Pisan and with me we have uh some of our members here. I just finished uh you know talking with uh City of Olympia. So I may sound like I'm you know breathing really hard because of that. I apologize, but I do want to take this opportunity to say thank you uh for offering this wonderful proclamation uh to recognize all of the AA and HPI's um members of our community, their contributions, but also recognizing their um you know struggles in the past. And we are hoping that through our join together to put together some celebration events, we will be able to really help people to get to know each other more and also to uh you know know each other as neighbors, not just strangers. Uh because I know there are a lot of folks who still say well you know are they strangers? Are they foreigners? All of those kind of things can be dissolved if you get to know each other on a personal level. And therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to say

that we are very glad to have had the opportunity to put together a api heritage month celebration and it's going to be happening on May 23rd uh at the South Pisan Community College Lacy campus. Uh it's a free event. Everyone is invited. So uh you are all welcome to join. There will be all kinds of arts and craft resources, information as well as uh performances and food to enjoy. So I really hope that you will have an opportunity to do so and also get a chance to witness all the vibrant uh communities we have uh in our bigger communities. Uh there are a lot of organization in this area. Uh so the few people you see here are only a few representative of our community. uh because really when it comes to having uh our community to be represented as you already share there are 48 of those groups around. So we have a lot of uh different countries folks uh that are in this area. However, different people come in different time. I myself is uh someone who comes for my education and then I got married. So I stay. So uh there are a lot of different people for different reasons uh that are in our community. So I certainly hope uh yeah get to know us a little bit more and we would love to get to know you more too. Thank you so much again for the opportunities and I hope all of you got a chance to get a copy of yeah of the event and I was going to say uh we have a website. So for those of you who don't

have a flyer, who would like to find out a little bit more about this event, you can just go to APIC Southpan or you spell out the full name of course, AsianPacific Islanders Coalition of South Pisan uh.org org and then you will see the event link that shows all the different events that we are organizing uh including this one that's happening and then there's another one um that one of our groups are going to also be hosting uh which is a guest chef night uh it's on May 30th that's going to be happening at Asho Center which is located right here in Tomato. So, uh I also want to put in a plug for them. Um again, uh if you do have any questions or like to find out more information, I will stay for a little bit extra time later so we can get a chance to share more information with you if you like. Thank you.

Lyn, you actually do have a question. Sure. From Council Member Jefferson. Yes. Okay. Yes. Are there any opening ceremonies or are we just going to come and just enjoy the food? And that's a very good question. We do have a little opening ceremony during the event. Uh so it's going to start at 11:00 and then go until 4 and our 11 to about 11:1520 is our opening time. Okay. And we usually like to invite uh dignitaries including all the city council members. You are all going to be getting a invitation directly from me. Okay.

Um to invite you to join us. Obviously we love to see you there. Uh but we are also going to be sending some invitation to the county and to the state too. Uh so there may be congress members that will join us too. Okay. Uh they did last year. So just for your information. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. Is there any other question? No. No. Okay. So do you want to say a few words about your event? Okay. Go ahead. If you don't mind. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Please. I'm not going to say no.

Good evening. Um Miss Mayor, council members and staff and visitors. My name is Dr. Usha Sahadiva Brooks. Um I too came here to study 46 years ago and got married, had children, so stayed otherwise I would have gone back to England. Um I I am happy I am really I feel very honored that the council has uh come together and given us the proclamation. Um along with that I brought I'm have we're having an event at our show and I know I've seen a few of you at our show. Um it's a guest chef night and it's all it's a mixture of um American well a Bengali food as well as southern Louisiana food. So please stop by and uh there is a QR code. I gave a flyer to the recording um secretary. You could get your tickets there and we'd like to see you. Unfortunately, it's not a free event, but I came to tell you that there was an event and please and the same to everybody else. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Um again, uh I was going to say this event is completely free the May 23rd. So, I just want to make sure you know that. And uh is there any other question that I may be able to answer? Okay. Thank you so much.

Yes. Can we all awkwardly walk down and take a group photo with you with a proclamation? Yeah, let's do it. Okay. What else do you want? almost. Okay, nice. This is like

Thank you very much. Bye. See you after the 30th. There you go.

All right. Uh from now on after we read a commercial two council members will automatically switch chairs each time. We are moving on to proclamation for bicycle month and we have mayor prom von holtz reading it. Okay. Whereas bicycling is one of the most energyefficient forms of transportation and is a mode of transportation well suited to urban environments. And whereas bicycle commuting reduces energy consumption, pollution, and congestion. And whereas it has been demonstrated bicycling improves people's health, well-being, and quality of life, attracts tourism and local business spending and fosters community. And whereas the national nonprofit bicycling safety and education association, the League of American Bicyclists, has declared the month of May to be National Bike Month for the 70th consecutive year. And whereas the city of Twater supports healthier alternatives to inefficient drive trips, particularly for travel around the city by building bicycle infrastructure and participating in the commute trip reduction campaign. And whereas Inner City Transit with many sponsors including local and regional businesses and organizations is hosting the 39th annual bicycle community challenge during the month of May 2026. Now therefore, Leetta Dhhof, mayor of the city of Twater, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 bicycle month

bicycles month in the city of Tumbwater. And in recognition of National Bike Month and Clean Air Month, I encourages all residents to put forth their best effort to use active modes of transportation. Thank you so much. We have Ally Fuller from Inner City Trans. And I don't want to make assumptions, but I do see someone else in the audience wearing a bicycle helmet. Would they what would you also like to engage? I mean I mean

Hi. Hello. My name is Ally Fuller and today I am representing Inner City Transit's walk and roll program and the Thirstston County Bicycle Community Challenge. And here we have Bonnie Blessing. Hi, Bonnie. Good to meet you.

So, thank you so much for welcoming us here tonight. And of course, thank you for once again proclaiming May to be bicycle month in the city of Tumbwater. I am a new face here, but bicycle month and our local celebration of it, the bicycle community challenge is far from new. The BCC, as we call it for short, uh has now entered its 39th year, which is pretty special. So, next year is the big 40. We'll celebrate big. The VCC is always fun, free, and open to people of all ages and abilities around Thirstston County. With the primary goal of getting more people bikes on bikes during the month of May, we invite people to cycle for any reason. But here are some of the reasons our past participants have provided. Many choose to cycle in order to lower their transportation costs. During a time of sky-high fuel, vehicle, and insurance prices, cycling prevent presents a lowcost alternative. Others site environmental impacts as a leading motivation. Cycling can dramatically reduce an individual's consumption of fossil fuels. The US Department of Energy sites that about 51% of vehicle trips are six miles or less in length. So these are the trips that we could really cut with bicycle use. Um and others choose cycling for its numerous benefits to both physical and mental health. And finally, cycling is just a whole lot of fun. People enjoy cycling to new places, meeting new people, and just enjoying the ride. And when asked the question, what would lead you to bike more frequently? The answer is almost always the same, and that is safer and more connected bicycle infrastructure. When we create more spaces for pedestrians and cyclists, we improve roadway safety for every user group. And this year's theme is enjoy the scenery along the route. I too brought flyers for everybody. So, I'll leave them um over at the check-in table when I'm done. Um, so on that note, to celebrate the theme, I just want to take a very quick journey through Walk and Roll's path through 2025. Uh, we grew in size and scope over the past year. We have more staff. We're expanding our events to new places such as the city of Tom Water. Yeah. And so throughout Thirstston

County in 2025, Walk and Roll taught over 2,600 people bicycle safety skills. We taught 433 people about bicycle maintenance. Uh we distributed 277 new and refurbished bikes to community members and participants logged over 76,000 miles in the bicycle community challenge. So we're very excited for all the next year has in store. And the good news is the BCC already started on May 1st. So you can get on your bike and log your miles now through May 31st. And it truly is as easy as hopping your bike, going for a ride, and then logging those rides on the website because that is how you earn prizes. You can compete as an individual or on a team and you can also participate in some of our free and fun events throughout the year throughout the month. Um we have Bike Anywhere Day on May 14th and the city of Tome Water is a proud station host. So between 7 and 9:00 a.m. on May 14th, stop by City Hall for some coffee, snacks, bicycle resources, and other goodies. And Tom Water City Hall is also a starting point for our May 20th bike month celebration ride. We will cycle to Tom Water Historical Park and enjoy a nice picnic lunch together and we have ebike demos and other things going on there. Um, we also have a youth bike summit ride on May 31st. So, invite all the young bikers in your life to come out to that as we cycle up and down the Chias Western Trail and so much more. So, please go to our website bcc.initytransit.com and please bike during May. I hope to see you out there on two wheels. Thank you.

I dig that. Thank you, Ally. I'm looking at our communications director, Jason. Do we have like scheduled social media posts about some of the elements that Ellie? Yeah, we're on it. Ally. Awesome. Yes. A shout out to Alyssa Jones Wood who is coordinate. Ally and Bonnie, would it be awkward if we took a photo with you with a proclamation? Never. Thank you so much. Let's do it. Maybe water sprin Ally, what's your favorite bike route?

Just need to make sure that the jolt is here for that moment. It's like Ally, can we have the mic? Can I get out of it?

My gosh, you can have to go side. Look at that. Thank you for coming. We are moving on to the proclamation for emergency medical services week. Do I need to invite all of you in to awkwardly stand?

Yes. Okay. You are all welcome to come and randomly stand there while council member Sullivan will read the proclamation. Thank you so much. Whereas emergency medical services is a vital public service that provides life-saving and supporting care to the people of Twater 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And whereas the emergency medical services team consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and others out of the hospital medical care other out of hospital medical care providers. And whereas the members of emergency medical services teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills. And whereas the people of the city of Twater recognized the need for and initiated a countywide emergency medical services system since 1974. Emergency medical services has grown to fill a gap by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care and access to tele medicine. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize, honor and promote the value of the accomplishments of the of emergency medical services providers and thirsten county medic 1 emergency medical services system by designating emergency medical services week. Now therefore, Leetta Dhhof, mayor of the city of Tmwater, does hereby proclaim May 17 through 23rd, 2026

emergency medical services week in the city of Tmwater and encourages all people to join in the observant in this observance to recognize those who give so much of themselves and consistently rise to the challenge for the safety and health of others. Thank you, Council Member Sa AC. I'm sorry I don't have walk-on music for you, but next time if you could just submit that in advance, we'll have that ready for you. Bates, I promise. Did you just call me ma'am? How dare you?

My I'm not allowed to say I'm not allowed to call you anything other than Mayor Dollof, I think, tonight. Um council, thanks for having me. Um yeah, my name is AC Bates. I'm the medical services officer next door at the fire department. Um yeah, so uh in preparation for tonight, I looked up the history of of EMS week. I was curious and uh I learned that it uh was originated in 1974 by by President Gerald Gerald Ford. Um and now the National um uh Association of EMTs and the Association of Collegiate Emergency Physicians carry the torch forward to recognize EMS professionals and uh the work we do. Um, which I thought was funny that it dates back that far because in 74 EMS was 8 years old. Um, and today Lieutenant Fox could put a a ultrasound probe on my abdomen and tell me what I ate for dinner. Um, and I think in ' 74 it was like a Chevy Cavalier station wagon with like gauze and Vaseline. So, it's kind of interesting just to think about the Bumpion in just just a couple decades. Um, anyways, uh, I prepared some remarks. So, I'll stick to that. The default imagery for most people when they think about fire department is probably a a big red fire truck spraying water on a rip and two alarm commercial job, which is dope. Um, but the fact of the matter is that 4,766 times in 2025, at least one Tom Water Fire Department unit was requested for EMS, emergency medical services, which is over 85% of the calls we ran in that time. Um, so please don't tell the engine guys I said this, but we would be more aptly named the Tumb Water EMS and Fire Department. Um those numbers mean that 13 times a day in our community someone calls having

you know these meetings are recorded right. Okay. Keep going. Keep going. It's okay

for next time. Um so 13 times a day in our community someone calls having the worst day of their life. whether someone's dead or dying, sick, injured, entrapped, lost, overdosed, confused, in crisis, hurting themselves or someone else, or a litany of other uncomfortable uh possibilities. Uh the remarkable men and women next door respond to each and every one of these calls, no matter the circumstance. So 13 times per day, our paramedics and EMTs perform as emergency physicians, grief counselors, crisis clinicians, addiction specialists, social workers, and many other capacities, some of which we couldn't even think of. EMS is truly just a catch-all term for the people that show up uh to save the day when it's your worst, whatever that might mean. Um, under the guidance of Thirsten County Medic 1 and medical program director Dr. Larry Fontinella, your city EMS department um employs and fire department employs the most capable and heroic men and women you can meet, and I'm honored to work for them and support their mission. What's most remarkable is that after each encounter, uh while the rest of those involved recover from whatever they've been through, um these incredible human beings head back to the station, dust themselves off, and get ready for the next call. Um because there'll always be a next call. and the Tom Water EMS and fire department will be ready. Thank you.

Does anyone behind you want to speak? I mean, I'm looking at Ryan. No. Okay, that's not Okay. Okay. Anyone else want to say anything? No. Awkward. Okay. So, we can we make it more awkward and do a group photo? Thank you so much. One second, Council Member Agabi. So, 13 calls a day. 13 EMS calls per day. I mean on average an on average calls a day. Correct. In 2025. So for 365 that's a lot of calls. Quite a few. So 4,766 last year. So you're smiling and you're having fun. So what do you how do you how do you

Well, these these guys got to stay here tonight and run the calls. I got to go home and go to bed. So I'm smiling. Thank you. Thank you, Council. Any other questions for AC to drag this out longer? Let's make him stand up there. Anyone? Oh, yeah. Councilor Schworth, what's your favorite shift? Uh, mayor, what's my Excuse me. Uh, I would have to ask shift day shift. I would have to ask Madre. She's seen them the most. She's seen all of them. As I Thank you all for coming to my house and saving my mother's life.

Yes, all of them. There's five shifts, right? ABC D. Four. Four. ABCD. Right. Yeah. I've seen them all. They're all amazing. Yeah. That didn't come out. That that we should have planned that better. That was really awkward. Any any other questions? No. Photo time. I was wondering what the word was. I stole it. Ma'am,

I received instructions. That that was a good one. That all right. Uh we have gotten our steps in for this evening. We are be sitting for the rest of the time. Tracy, do we have anyone for public comment in person or online?

We do not have anybody online. I have two people that have signed up um on the sign-in sheet, but let me go ahead and read the rules around the public comment. At this time, we'll receive public comment. You may comment on items relating to city business not scheduled for public hearing. When I call your name, please come up to the podium, speak into the microphone, and state your name and contact information for the record. Each individual will be limited to one three-minute period to make their remarks regardless of the number of topics they wish to address. Speakers may not comment upon, promote, advocate, or oppose, or speak against a pending initiative, ballot, measure, or candidate. All comments shall be directed towards council as a whole, not individual council members, and not to members of the audience. Please refrain from disruptive behavior such as booing, hissing, audible comments, cheering, or clapping. So, the first person I have on the list is Lynn Crowley. I'm not sure if she's still here. Okay, that could be the case for Miss Shand Shander Brooks. Nobody here. So, is there anybody else in the audience that didn't sign up on the signup sheet that would like to speak? Come on, Bonnie. Hello. How do we do that? My name's Bonnie Blessing. Um, I'm trying to help a land owner at 6138 Kersop Road, uh, who offered me her property today, um, maintain habitat for one of the rarest species that you guys are trying to manage for, the Oregon spotted frog. And it's been extremely difficult to manage habitat there. They need a very narrow water table fluctuation thing. And uh, I have concerns and the landowner has concerns about all this upcoming stuff going on. There's impervious surface. There's new storm water ponds. There's a proposal to possibly pump a lot of water

from the brewery wells. As much as 7,000 acre feet, I believe if it's 43 43 gallons per minute, that's a lot of water. And there's an old geological report that says that her property and the property west of Trosper of Trosper Lake is uh is connected to those wells in some fashion. And um and then there's possibly other water type projects going on. And our concern is that will ex make managing habitat at this particular property much more difficult. And so what I'm asking is for massive amounts of monitoring. And I'm looking forward to any Tom Water staff that can advise on issues going on on private land and on other properties where people are trying to actively manage for listed species in that area.

Bonnie, thank you for coming in. And I'm looking at assist administrator Simmons and assistant administrator Adams. Who would like to swap contact information or share contact information? Who wants to All right. So Bonnie, thank you for bringing that to our attention. And do you mind going out into the lobby with administrator Simmons and swapping some information so we can circle back with you? And that circle back was just for council member Kathy that I said circle back. That was for you. Thank Tracy. Anyone else?

No, nobody else. That's perfect. Thank you. We are moving on to item number six, consent calendar. Is there any item that council would like removed from the consent calendar? If not, I would entertain a motion. You got you got so moved. Wait, I have to un Oh, second. Thank you. I I am delayed today. Okay. I am delayed at everything. So, we have a motion from council member Weeden, a second from council member without any discussion. See none. All those in favor, please say I.

I. Those opposed? Same sign. Motion passes. Thank you so much. We are moving on to item number seven, council considerations. We have 2026 community develop block grant funding recommendations and that is assistant city administrator Kelly Adams. What do you need from council tonight? Good evening, council. I'm Kelly Adams. I'm your assistant city administrator and I'm here to circle back with you on community development block grant funding. So first I just want to welcome our guests who are online. We have Alex Pur and Share Hosine from the public health and social services department at Thirstston County. They serve as our administrators of the community development block grant request for proposals and also the administration once awards are are awarded. And then I also wanted to thank Brad Madrid and Sharon Labontabing for helping coach me through this process in my first year. So, on our last episode of City Council in January 27th, we went over the definition of this program. And this is an annual grant program from the Housing and Urban Development Office that is awarded to states, cities, and counties to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities principally for low and moderate income persons. And so, We share this funding on a two-year rotation cycle with our South County sisters uh and thirsting county. Lacy and Olympia have their own entitlements and they're not part of our two-year rotation. And this is a program that we have participated in in years prior.

So for this year, the program year 2026, the amount possible is around $911,000. Thirstston County, right off the top, they retain 20% administrative costs. And these administrative costs are not limited to the first year of service. Uh these are long-term administrative costs. Many of the projects and programs actually can take several years. So, for example, if it's a home purchase or a home renovation, that's more than just one year of work. Kelly, would you like questions during or would you like council members to wait?

I love questions anytime. Perfect. Council member Jefferson. Okay. Thank you, assistant city administrator. So, can you tell me what was the total two years ago? Have you seen a reduction compared to that 911? 107. I can't tell you the exact number that's in your uh packet, but I can tell you the number has reduced. Okay, that that'll work. Yeah, number has reduced. Council member Weeden,

you referred to um Then County is taking 20% of the total overall budget for administration cost. Do we know how much they will allow for allocation to these other grants for their administration costs? uh 20% is the standard rate. So we have an interlocal agreement with the other cities and with thirst county. Okay. So going back towards these recipients of these grants, they can ask for 20% administrative costs. Is that correct as well or do we not know that?

Could I ask you to phrase that just a different way? Um, so like rebuilding together the Habitat for Humanity, is there a limit to how much they get for their administrative costs? No. So when they apply that would be part of their whole project package is that they're considering their overhead and costs and their costs for their program. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. And so something that council talked about and discussed in January and agreed to was that we would take advantage of the 15% of the total annual funding to go to public service projects. And so here's a brief screenshot of the program year award amount, the administrative fee, what is available for capital projects, and what's available for public service projects. And so at the April 24th budget and finance committee committee members looked at the different took in different inter excuse me presentations. Each applicant had a 10-minute presentation and time for question and answers from the committee and these were the different applications that were looked at. So in the first column you see these were the request amounts and you see the request amount was more than the actual funds available. And so I've made once we remove applicants who did not were not awarded funding. So this is a some simpler tables to show you applicants who were recommended for funding. And so after this council approves a recommendation then this goes on to thirsten county staff. And so the final authority for these decisions are the Thirstston County Board of Commissioners. And once you approve a recommendation, um Thirstston County Public Health and Social Services staff, that's Alex and Sheree, they will prepare an annual action plan, hold a 30-day public comment and public hearing, present the draft to the county commissioners for approval, and submit the plan to HUD for approval.

And you can see here where we are in our calendar. So in the light green we have the different meetings from Tumbwater. And so now we're at the final Tumwater action which is our May 5th meeting today. And so the staff recommendation is to approve the budget and finance committee funding recommendation. Council member Kathy.

Yes. I was wondering uh Kelly if you could go back to um the first table that you showed that everybody worked off of. Yeah. Um I I'm just wondering what was what was behind giving Boys and Girls Club um a full amount. Is there something going on there that we're um connected with or is that just a decision? Would any of the budget and finance committee members like to speak on that? Council member Jefferson.

Yes. Um the priorities that we looked at was homeless and houseless prevention. So there um youth experiencing uh homelessness. There was um a briefing on that. So, and we looked at food and nutrition and also looked at shovel ready projects. So, for example, if they were looking for a house for a certain nonprofit. Now, if they had a house found, that would be different than we're going to take the money that you have and we're going to save it until we found a house. So we were looking for shovel ready projects looking for um retired senior workers for example we had rebuilding together. They had I believe a total of black backlog of about 50 big ticket items like roofs. So they help veterans and they help uh retirees low income mostly. So, we were just looking at homeless and houses prevention and that was a big portion of preventing homelessness for those youths.

Great question, Council Member McCathy. We also have uh Mayor Prom Von Holtz and Council Member Sworth I'd like to answer as well. Council member Ron Holtz. Thank you, Angela.

Thank you, Mayor. Um the Boys and Girls Club, the Tom Water scholarships for youth experiencing homelessness. Um this is a program that will not only allow for afterchool activities but even when school's not in service and it also um allows for transportation and they kind of go later into the evening. So parents who maybe need child have issues with child care, this will help them as they are trying to regain their foundation with employment. And so it just it it's new to Tom Water and um we were just really excited for the opportunities for these youths that would be receiving these scholarships.

Thank you Mayor Prombon Holtz. Council member Sworth out and I in my notes I had written down that u they identified 149 to students and secure and so the money that uh that we awarded them will uh go to 25 youth scholarships that will uh work uh for the school year and also for summer camp. So they'll provide um them with with summer camp access as well. So, so all of the kids are homeless. That many kids in or housing insecure as far as housing in secure depending yeah that term could be couch surfing just a how they describe that term.

Council member Gabby would like to contribute. So I did uh encourage the voice and guest club to apply and this is based upon a firsthand experience of what they do and how they provide services. Um my kids when they went to the elementary school here uh in town will go to guest club after after hours and I would pick them up and then one day I went in there and there were some kids doing homework. I came in very late and I asked how come they're not being picked up. I was told that they are homeless so they don't have a place to go to. And uh at the time that didn't make too much sense to me so I just picked up my kids and I went home. So but uh 3 months ago I ran into Felicia who is I believe the u in charge of u the kids area and I encourage her to tell the director that need to apply. So in terms of the comprehensive services that they provide, the 62,000 that they given is to me it's just too small. They should be giving like $100,000. They do homework, they do transportation, they do daycare. But here in Tom Water, I have been told that our homelessness, the reason why we don't see them is because they are mostly families with children in schools. That's why you don't see him walking the street.

Oh, thank you, Council Member Gabby. Council member Kathy, did that provide more explanation? Yeah. I mean, I I for years was on the group that made decisions on this. I know very much about the Girls and Boys Club. We started Girls Without Limits there. Um I just This is new, right? This is some a somewhat new. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. and uh I just didn't know about it and I I just thank you. I mean I wanted to hear about what it was that um you know caught everyone's heart and mind and yeah great question council member Kathy.

Oh so so thank you all of you who commented. Thank you for you know enhancing this. Thank you. Thank you council member. This opens it up. Council Kathy started. Any other council members have any comments, questions? would like clarifying information from Kelly Adams or anyone who serves on that committee. I'm not acquainted with the first thing on the public service or the other section of that. Oh, homes for uh no the foundation for the challenged

who would like to take that from the kid. I'm just wondering how come they didn't get anything. Council member Jefferson would like to answer. Okay. So, um they were also firsttime um applicants

and and the challenge with that is it would be a group home for special needs um adults, maybe three or four. But the challenge was they didn't have a house or a home identified. So, um, we looked hard at should we give them this amount of money or should we use it to prevent that homelessness, right, to help fix up those houses with roofs and, you know, caving in and windows that need to be done. So, uh, that's our decision-m factor right there was there's no home identified. So we we couldn't just we justify giving them that money to just hold it in case they might find a house and they might need a couple more $100,000 to get a house because you know what houses cost here you know half a million dollars and more. So that was our our decision-m factor.

Thank you council member Mayor Pro Von Holtz wants to answer to council member Kathy. Thank you mayor. Yeah, council council member Kathy, I also had questions because I worked for several years at DSHS and there are a lot of entities that are provided funding through the state for these kind of homes and so um I just was unclear of what other funding were available for the state for the state. Um, so that was a question that wasn't clear to me also in part of my decision.

Well, thank you both of you for that. I I I really commend you for giving um the money to the the home repair. I mean, it says critical home repair. Critical home repair. It is exactly critical. I know a person who this year finally got a ramp for their um wheelchair and u that this group rebuilding together did that for them. So those are great programs. So good job good job in in uh in in this. It's hard, isn't it? It's hard to decide who to help with limited amount of funds. So good job. Thank you, Council Member McCathy, Council Member Sullivan, or Council Member Weeden, do you have any comments or questions as you were not on the budget and finance committee? Your mics are live.

I have a question about capital. Um, it looks like awards were higher than requests because excess funds were available. I also recall from the work session that there was the potential that we could in-house some funds if wanted or needed if we had plans or projects. I'm not saying we have plans or projects, but I wanted to just circle back to say this would have been an opportunity had we had plans or projects to take excess simply fund the orgs at the amount they asked and retain funds for those plans or projects. So, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to continue to plan with all of you for what this looks like because CDBG comes back every two years.

Two years. Yeah. Thank you, Council Member S. Council Member Weeden. I don't believe I have any questions, but I do appreciate all the work and effort that has gone into this. So, thank you and thank you council for being here too for it. Council member Sullivan would like to speak so that Brandon Weeden is not the last person who speaks. I think I'm supposed to say when we vote that I will be recusing myself, but I'll say now I will be recusing myself because I work for together. So I will not be voting on this as a package.

Perfect transition for this slide. I would enter like to entertain a motion, but please tell me if you want to make the motion so I can unmute your mic. Mayor prom von Holtz. I would like to move that we approve the city's 2026 community development block grant award recommendations to the thirsten county board of commissioners based on the budget and finance committees funding recommendation. Like to second that motion.

Thank you. We have a motion for mayor prom von holson a second from council member Jefferson. Any further discussion? Council member Sworth. Just on procedure, um, when you're going through it, as far as the timeline goes, it's not been my knowledge that the board of commissioners has not accepted our our proposal. Um, I don't anticipate that, but could that could they could they change what we did? I wonder if they could. So, and this is part of the presentation where I'm going to phone a friend. So, if Alex Purse or Share Hosine wants to come online and discuss what that would look like. Right. You're correct that historically that hasn't occurred. Okay. So that's good. All right. I will not jinx the process and I will that was it. Oh, thank you.

Now that they have that idea in their head. No, they are online. We have the time. No, let's go ahead. No, it's not happen. He came on video. We're going to listen now. They're off video and they don't speak. We're good. Well, I'm deciding and I'm saying we have the time and space, so let's hear. Okay. Alex, could you come back, please? Alex, come back. Alex, it's great to see you.

Yes. Hi. Thank you all. Alex Pierce with Thirsting County. I'm the affordable housing program manager. Yes. Historically, as that has not ever happened that the county commissioners have not approved what Tom Water has recommended. However, as the fiscal agent of these funds, it is yes, within their perview to do so. Um, but like you said, that has never occurred before. Great background, Alex. Thank you so much for joining us. Yes. Thank you. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Abstain. Abstain.

Motion passes. Thank you, Assistant City Administrator, Kelly Adams. Thank you for reading my very long staff report. It was great. Will the next staff report be longer, Brett? Next we have ordinance number 02026-002 20226 housekeeping amendments.

Good evening mayor, members of the council. Um I would like to start first with a comment. I know the uh the commission council had been briefed on this particular ordinance in detail at the work session. Uh so through the presentation I'll move rather quickly but if you have questions please stop me. Uh one of the discussion points at the work session was uh individual suggestions from council members and the mayor regarding amendments both to policy and to code. Uh just wanted to again reaffirm that it is the council's prerogative as well as the planning commissioner as well as members of the public and staff to offer suggestions throughout the year uh for what can and can't be considered as part of your 27 work program. Uh I've asked our deputy director Sharon Labing to present in the second meeting of August uh your work session before we get knee deep into the budget uh basically a check-in on the 26 work program to let you know where things are and also to start discussions about potential things for 27. So I just want to have you keep that in mind as you're thinking of things and so forth. you your choices are let let myself know or let Sharon know or we can also have further discussions in August about that. Um getting into the presentation. Next slide please. Uh this is a request uh for the council to adopt ordinance number 02026002 which is the 2026 housekeeping amendments. Recommendation from the planning commission is to uh for the council to approve the ordinance. Next slide please. Uh very quickly again as part of the housekeeping effort which is also part of this larger work program uh discussion uh staff has been gathering minor development code uh changes uh that can be cons considered collectively in this year. Again these are intended to make only very minor changes to the city's development regulations. Next

slide please. Uh four categories of amendments were considered. First related to housing for state department of commerce comments. Uh the second were child care centers. Third was signage and fourth were essential public facilities. Next slide please. Uh the first set of comments were from the state department of commerce that were uh delivered to the city in January. Uh and this was immediately after the adoption of both our comprehensive plan update and our development code update. Uh they wanted some clarifying language about uh accessory dwelling units into the language. We've made some amendments to address their comments as part of this process. Next slide, please. Child care centers is in uh regard to some changes in state law in 2025 uh which would mandate the city allow uh child care centers in residential zones as an outright permitted use. Currently, it's a conditional use in the city. Next slide, please. So, our proposed amendments would allow uh child care centers as permitted uses in all our zone districts except for our light industrial and our airport related zones where there continue to be conditional uses. Uh the reason for that is obviously there are also employment centers but there are also other things that need to be accounted for when locating such facilities and areas uh that have more challenging land uses. Next slide please. Next slide. The third set of amendments deals with our signage code. First one was to narrow the type of conditional exemptions uh in the sign code. The second part was to uh clarify when an increase in allowable square footage uh for both wall and monument sides for multiple building complexes or multiple tenant buildings uh that have frontage on Interstate 5 can be approved. Uh currently the number of wall size and the square footage of allowed wall and monument signage is not related to the

size of the building or location relative to Interstate 5. Next slide please. Uh council member Jefferson asked for an example what this could look like. Uh this slide shows a 150,000 foot building that could be divided into multiple tenants. Uh please don't this is not industrial design is not my strength. I tried to soften it by the red lines. Uh this is about 600 feet long. Uh but the example of the maximum side that would be allowed facing Interstate 5 would be 30 by 10 a 300 square foot sign. And that's what that blue rectangle saying sign represents. That's the total area. Uh that would be as you get smaller in building size uh you you still deal with that maximum. Next slide please. And lastly, the uh some changes were made again in the state legislature in 23 and 25 regarding essential public facilities. And so we wanted to make sure our code was updated to reflect what the requirements in the RCW are. Next slide. Again, the request on behalf of the planning commission is that the council considered tonight's ordinance and move forward with passing it.

Thank you, Brad. Any additional questions, comments from council? Your mic, sir, open. If not, I would entertain a motion. Second, council member Agabi. So, this is a loan through Department of Ecology, right? Is a loan, right? I don't quite understand the question. Would I'm reading in here. It says it is a loan to recipient. the recipient being a city of T water. We're doing our ordinance updates. I don't then I'm not tracking. I think

item 7B 7B if we have a loan through ecology for this work I'd be more than happy to ask.

Okay. So you guys um so okay I was looking at this. Okay, go ahead. You have me briefly excited about the funness of this. You guys just have to be on the same page as me. M. I love that Peter's keeping us on our toes. Thank you, Council Member McGabby. Any other questions regarding 7B? I'll make a motion. Council member Sworth. Uh, mayor, I'd like to make a motion uh to adopt ordinance number zero26-002, the 2026 housekeeping amendments. I'll second. Thank you. You have a motion from council member Sworth and a second from Mayor Proton Bon Holtz. Any additional discussion? See none. All those in favor, please say I.

Opposed, same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much, Brad. Now, everyone's favorite employee benefits policy update. Michelle. Michelle. Michelle. Michelle. Okay, it's too much. That's too much.

Good evening, Mayor Council. Um I'm bringing to you tonight an employee benefit policy update um as the last item um from staff on the agenda. Um Washington cities um are currently competing increasingly for talent and to retain employees. Um so when we're looking at um us being um in competition with our very close competitors here even though they're not comparable cities. Um so Tom Water is an employer of choice. what can we do if we can't quite compete with salaries um to off be able to offer benefits um that will allow us to compete for that same talent. So flawless handoff Okay. So, Tom Water being the employer of choice, um, as I said, we compete directly for municipal talent. Benefits are a primary recruitment driver that we have found. Um, turnover and vacancies impact service delivery and budget. And if we align um, our benefits, um, it improves our stability, culture, and the performance of our staff. So um this proposal supports the council value of people and supports the council priority of Tumbwater excellence. So the strategy for us to be an employer of choice um is to offer competitive positioning. So let's align our benefits with the market or um as I said we compete directly with two of our our larger neighbors. Um what can we do to improve our benefits to compete with that same talent? Um modern benefits. So um have a leave structure

um focus um on work life balance which we found really matters um in recruiting employees and retaining them. Um workforce investment. We're investing in the growth and retention um of the city of Tomwater staff. Um it'll improve culture. We're a people- centered um environment and employer here and the outcome is to attract, retain, and develop talent here at the city of Tumbwater. Um so to close the gap um Tom Water versus our city market comparables. Currently we offer 11 fixed holidays, one floating holiday. Our leave schedule for annual leave acrals starts at 8 hours per month. Um finding looking at all of the comparables, we are below market when it comes to employee benefits offerings. Um what we'd like to propose is 12 fixed holidays instead of 11. That would be an addition of Christmas Eve. Um I've outlined all of these in your um packet as well. Um moving to two floating holidays instead of one. Um the third offering I think is something that's fabulous. It's a community service day. So, what that allows is it allows Tom Water staff to participate and volunteer at local nonprofits, schools, um things of that sort, um Habitat for Humanity, just doing different projects either on their own or with a group of Twater staff. Um we'd also like to improve our annual leave schedule and start that at 12 hours, which does align with the market or um be slightly increased. Yes. Go ahead, Council Member Jefferson.

So, so for community day, it says one. Um, so it's eight hours. So, it can be, let's say, for Arbor Day, which is 4 hours. So, they can take four hours for Arbor Day and four hours for another day or 3 hours go to the food bank or is that how that would work? Yes, they would be able to take that in 1 hour increments. In one hour increments. Okay.

Thanks. Um so what changes with this proposal? Um from below market to a very competitive alignment um with our market comparables. Um from below market benefits to increasing the market benefits and the employee work life balance from recruitment challenges to a very competitive advantage. Um, and from reactive hiring to a proactive workforce strategy. Council member Jefferson, can you go back to the previous slide, please?

Yes. So, as our HR director, have you ran into many um recruitment challenges where people have said, you know, I don't want to come to Tumb Water because of, you know, these amount of holidays or they left because of that. Um I have had some employees um say, you know, I'd really like to go somewhere else. They offer a better work life balance. Mhm. While I'm not aware of anyone leaving at this time because of that reason, I do know recruitment wise um our leave um acrruels and holidays don't compare to our closest neighbors. So we have lost talent.

Okay.

Yeah. Uh organizational impact. Um this is an indirect cost. We're not asking for um additional monetary appropriations. This um request is managed within current departmental budgets. Um it's uh more of an operational management and um working with different leave scenarios with the department directors, the department managers and planning ahead to make sure services within the city are covered. Um, it improves recruitment competitiveness, reduces turnover risk, strengthens our long-term service delivery um throughout the community because we're maintaining the same staff. Um, it aligns Tom Water with the market, um, strengthens our workforce stability and our employer of choice culture. Um, and I think supports overall long-term organizational excellence. So, the requested action for council this evening is to approve the employee benefit policy updates, align to Tom Water with the comparator market, um, strengthen our workforce stability, and support our long-term organizational excellence. Um, did anyone have any questions?

Council member Gabby. So, I'm looking at uh current holiday times and proposed times and if I'm reading this correctly, it seems that it's just that one day that is different, right? Christmas Eve. Yes, Christmas Eve.

So then the question is if you're comparing this to Bground or even to um Port Angeles comparable city, where do we fall? Um so uh proposing Christmas Eve day that would align with the city of Covington, Bonnie Lake, Maple Valley, Monroe, and Port Angeles in our comparables. But but populationwise is bigger than Coington, right?

Uh yes. When we're looking at comparables, we actually look generally um 50 to 60% above our population and 50 to 60% below our population. We also look at sales tax revenue and other comparator factors. So I know that you're not com you don't want to compare with the state. The state does have a personal holiday that you all are located to every year and it's lose you use it or lose it. It goes uh kind of like that. Yeah.

Might it not be advisable if the if someone was doing the same sort of December 24th? So that way you're not tied to that December 24. You could use it any time of the year. It goes from on the calendar you could use any time. Uh yes. Um we did propose Tom Water currently has one 8 hour floating holiday and we're proposing two 8our on top floating holidays on top of the addition of Christmas Eve to be more in line with cities like Arlington, Bonnie Lake, Oak Harbor, Lacy, and others. Gotcha. Yeah. Yes, this is non-represented staff only. Okay.

Thank you, Council Member Gabby. Any other questions for Michelle? If not, I would enter Council Member Jefferson. So, this is for all employees included the non-union and the union employees or is this just for um this is for non-represented staff um vacation acrruels and holiday acrruels um with the bargaining um agreements that's negotiated. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Dress for that clarification. Any other comments, questions, compliments for Michelle? If not, I would entertain a motion. Council member Sworth out.

Um, I request that the council approve or I'll make a motion to that the council approve and adopt the employee benefits policy update. I second. Oh, council member Jeff, your mic was still open. Look at that. That worked out naturally. That was perfect. That was amazing. We have a motion from Council Member Soro and a second from Council Member Jefferson. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you. We have now come to the time for the mayor and city administrators report. Administrator Simmons. Oh, there you go. I have no report. Thank you. It helps if I turn on your microphone. Uh, noting the time. I have no report as well. So, let's move on to council member reports. Let's start with council member Kathy. Let's circle back with council member Kathy.

I'm not quite as dizzy tonight as I was the other night, all the circles. So, that's good. Um, I don't have a report. My meetings don't start until this week. Thank you, Council Member Kathy. Council member Sworthau, what is good with you?

I do have a few things I want to share. So, on uh April 29th, I did do the tour for Sterling Pines, and that really was something to see. Um, they really I had a friend that lived in those apartments back in 1979, and so it's really amazing to see the transformation. And I didn't realize there was another portion too that they converted. And so it's it's really going to be an awesome addition to our to our community to be able to have that new housing. And so I also had a chance to talk to um not Craig but the other guy um about because we did use some of our CDBG money once before um to do a septic conversion. Um so anyway, and we were interested in in the Sequoia project. So, we were talking about u two years from now perhaps like looking at some housing that doing something with housing. So, and I appreciate what council member Sullivan talked as well that we could look at something that we could do. So, it was it um and then on May 1st um I had TRPC uh the most important thing that we did again was to review the call for projects. Uh there's $16 million in federal transportation funds out there. uh 11 million for se uh surface transportation block grant and five million for the congestions mitigation air quality applications are out now. Uh they'll be accepted from May 4th to June 5th. Um and so there's a whole um schedule and so eventually we'll the when they go through the process we'll be seeing them TRPC will have an opportunity they'll go to the transportation policy board for first review in September. uh TRPC will review them in October and uh by November we TRPC will make the the project selection and awards approval. So I expect to see hopefully we'll see Tom Water in there. I haven't had a chance to talk to Brandon yet about that. Um and then on uh on my other hat that I wear Tom Educ

Education Foundation we um have our scholarships. will be distributing our scholarships on Wednesday, May uh 13th and Mayor Dahhoff will be speaking to our graduates. Um so she'll be there uh we'll be at New Market at noon and then um I did we do have a gayla coming up and so the Tom Education Foundation is doing a gayla, our very first gayla at the uh flight museum. It's going to be really fun. It's all flight themed and we're going to be eating on airline trays and we have stewardesses and we have Captain Dave who will be there um as well. And so we have dinner and drinks and music and raffles and all kinds of fun things. So it's going to be full-on airline themed. So Eileen, what is the date for that?

That will be Friday, May 15th at 5:30 at the flight museum.

More information on our website. And then on May 16th, my other thing, we are going to be dedicating markers for the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trials Committee. Uh the there's there's a marker down there now uh that we've replaced and we're retelling the history and and sharing the information about um how a lot of people here don't even realize how Marathon Park became named Marathon Park. And so we are telling the story again and just sharing how four jurisdictions came together and put this together. This is to me as an elected official realizing the cooperation of four jurisdictions and that race really did go through Tumbwater. a lot of the race really did and we've got one of the photos is of people sitting on top of Brewery City Pizza watching the race go by and so um they had over 5,000 volunteers 50,000 people were there at the race watching it ABC News um Joan Benoy won she was the uh then later went on to the 1984 Olympics and she was the only woman um US woman to win the uh the gold medal and since then it's in 1984 so it was really it's just a lot. And so the fact that it happened in our back in our own city, our own town, our own little hometown, Olympia, Tom Water, Thirsten County is really a story to tell. So we just wanted to share that with people. So that's the other thing I've been working on. And 2:00 May 16th down at the lake and I want to thank Tom Water for providing the podium and chairs for that event. And I've got Olympia providing uh tent. So, it's going to be hopefully a sunny day and we invite people to come down and and share in the celebration.

Thank you. I will see you there as well. So, I'll see you three more times. Thank you, Council Member Sworth. How council member Sullivan, what's good?

I will be brief. Um, on the 22nd of April, I attended regional housing and um economic development. And over that weekend, I went to the NAACP of Thirsten County meeting. Um, not an official committee assignment. Uh and then on the 30th of April, I attended regional housing ad hoc education committee workg group. Um in my interest to learn more about housing, I um opted to attend the South Sound Housing Affordability Partnership meeting, which is an intergovernmental body like regional housing council but structurally different up in Pierce County. Um learned about their work plan and their draft budget that they were working on. So um that was informative. And then on the 1, I attended and participated in day one of the thirst and forward DEIB, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging summit, which city of Tater was a um co-planner and co-sponsor of uh along with my seatmate, council member Jefferson and um communications director Jason Wetstein and four members of our equity commission, I think, were there. Um and if I didn't name anyone else who was there, uh sorry I missed you. And it was um a wonderful uh day one. I was unable to attend day two. But um what I will say my one report out from that is paddle to Nisquali 2026 is um canoe journey which is ending in um Nisquali and there was an invitation and request by Nisquali tribe representatives. Um anybody who's interested in volunteering there's a form on their website on how you can sign up to volunteer. Um many hands make light work and that is a a large undertaking to do many days of ceremony. Um, and if folks are not interested or able to volunteer, um, there's also open invitations to the public to attend portions of, uh, protocol, which is, um, cultural celebrations. So, if you don't know anything about that, um, check that out online or ask around or learn more

because, um, canoe journeys are really beautiful. And that is all.

Thank you, Council Member Solan. Mayor Prom Van Holtz, what is good? I attended um Thirstston County lead and when I first I think I took over used to be on lead and um there were zero referrals from Tumbwater Police when I first started on that committee and now um we are up there with the sheriff's office for referral. So this is when um someone becomes justice involved and an officer um decides to coordinate with members of LEAD which is um law enforcement assisted diversion. Um so they don't necessar they don't need to go to jail. They need wraparound services and so our police officers connect them with that. And so we have gone from no referrals to

say when no I'm I'm actually gonna when you had back in the day but I am going to give props to acting chief Carlos Keelis because um he and I became like I was just like do you know about these meetings and he started going and now he has a lieutenant that's going. So Twater is becoming more and more involved on the police side. I also didn't tell No, you I think you need to wrap this up.

It's not It's not going how I intended. Anyhow, good job. Um I also I attended day two with Council Member Jefferson and three of our equity commission and Kelly Adams and Jason. Um, we were at the DEIB conference and I will just say that I got to attend several of the planning meetings um to get that event off and running and there was a lot of work and it was a really good event. I got to see I wanted to go to day one but I couldn't but I got to see the youth panel and that was very eyeopening. um our youth are asking the grown-ups in the room to ask to act like grown-ups and um I hear that. Um, and then next week we have public health and safety and I have lot and that is all

council member Agabi. What's good? So I don't have anything currently there in the future. I have a TR BB president county transportation board on Wednesday the 13 and then potentially maybe the disability board because that always get cancelled if you don't have anything to discuss and then for the open abatement uh we move that to June 3rd. So that is all I got. Perfect. Thank you so much council member Gabby. Council member Jefferson what's good?

Yes. On the 23rd of April, the public works committee met and we discussed the 2026 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. It was an information briefing only. We also discussed acceptance of Barnes Lake Management District budget and work plan. It was uh we voted to place it on today's consent calendar and resolution number R2026-00005 receipt authority for the water quality combined financial assistant agreement and we also voted to place it on the consent calendar for today on Thursday we're going to discuss the inter local agreement with the city of Olympia city of Lacy and Thirstston County for implementing this south green program the canopy the equity program and additional construction funds request with Active Construction Inc. for the Second Avenue pedestrian and bicycle improvement project. On the 23rd of April, the EMS committee met. It was uh we had quite a few topics. The highlights were EMS contract approval process update, conflict of interest policy clarification. We had an extensive conversation on that and conflict of interest and contract negotiation. Um, and I wanted to share with the team here, uh, staff and parks and wreck. um a positive comment that I received in my my inbox from one of our residents and it was about the new council uh corner that the mayor when she came on when she was elected she said she wanted us to communicate with our residents to let them know what's going on as a council. So I wrote the first one on term on tap. I believe it was last month. So uh this

is going to take maybe about two minutes. mayor. As a military retiree and transplant to Tomwater, Washington, I didn't know how the rich history of our beautiful city was. Since serving on city council, I've learned and discovered so much about our unique and special city. Do you know who Michael T. Simmons, Peter G. Schmidt, and George Bush are? They are not just names of schools. They are founding members of the first European-American settlement in Washington State. Twater has always been a warm, welcoming, and inclusive city. My goal is to tell this history and promote Tumbwater to become a vacation destination. One can easily spend several days here in Tumbwater, discovering our unique spaces and historic places like the Schmidt House, Historic Park, Brewm's House, Union Pioneer Calvary Historic Cemetery, Brewery Park, and other spaces. As a board member on Experience Olympia and Beyond, our county visitors convention bureau, I recently proposed and created a tour to widely share our history. I'm happy to report that it was accepted and posted on their website. And Jason added a link. So Suzanne wrote me and she said, "Dear Angela, this is Suzanne Kofur. Do you remember meeting me with Peter KT at the cemetery some time ago?" go. This was 5 years ago. I remember you sharing your vision with me about bringing greater public attention to Tumblr's exceptional history. Today, I read the city newsletter and learned about your accomplishment. I was thrilled and had to send you a message. The site where the public can do a digital search. This is on the city website of the cemetery is to find a grave is amazing to me. I am so proud of you and know hours were spent bringing about the re realization of your dream. It is something many in our broader community also have dreamed of. Many

thanks for your focus, your dedication to achieving this goal. Uh will there be signage coming to the I5 corridor announcing the historic sites in term water? And I also read on the city website that a grant was awarded to to the city to make further cemetery improvements. What are the details and timeline for this work? If volunteers are needed, let me know. I am 77 years old now, but still have a little left to help my community, especially a project I spent a great deal of time working on while I served on the council from 1990 to 1994. So to the parks and wreck, to staff, and to this team here, congratulations. That was a great I just had to share that with everyone in the community.

Thank you, Council Member Jefferson. Now, Council Member Gabby would like to say something. So the city the city of Twater is not the first European settlement city of Washington. Vancouver Washington is is named after Captain John Vancouver a British explorer. But we keep saying that Vancouver is the first settlement in the state of Washington. It's not water. Arrest my case. Okay. Well, um, you know what, Council Member Weeden.

I'm going to keep it very short. I did not have any committee assignments. Um, Jazzcom has cancelled theirs and so has the VCB. Um, I did attend Rebuilding Together on May 2nd and I got to work alongside Pete Kit and uh was attacked by all kinds of blackberry bushes. So, I that's it. That's all I got. I mean, I think that's a great way to end. Any additional business or any other clarifications on anything else? I think council member Gabby said it best with his microphone off. He's done. So, meeting adjourned at 8:27. Thank you so much, everyone.