City Council - Regular Meeting

recording in progress. Good evening everyone. Jean, you leave just when I'm starting the meeting. We made it to Tuesday, March 17th, 7 p.m. Call to order. We will start with roll call. Council member Brandon Weeden, present. Council member Angela Jefferson, present. Council member Joan Kathy. Council member Eileen Su, present. Council member Megan Sullivan, present. Council member Peter Agab, present. Council member Kelly von Holtz, present.

Mayor Legetta Dhof,

I am still here. Please join me in our pledge of allegiance. We have a little bit of juzjing with item number four, our special items. We have a staff request to move 7B to 4C. And I feel like we're playing battleship now. And then we also are switching the proclamations. Does that and welcome Joan Kathy. Nice to see you.

We are moving 7B and creating 4 C and we are switching 4 A and B under special items. So, we will start with a proclamation for Black Wellness Week, April 13 through 17, 2026. And we have Council Member Sworthout, who is Oh, I got so excited about this about switching it all up. Uh, I would entertain a motion with the agenda. I'll second.

Okay. I got to also turn on your mics. You know what? Let's just start fresh. I'm going to reset. I would entertain a motion. So moved. Go ahead. Second. Kelly. I WAS GONNA LET BRANDON have it. Okay. I feel like that's a good agreement. So, we have a motion. Round two. Motion from It's going to be amazing tonight. A motion from Council Member Jefferson, a second by Megan Sullivan. Any discussion about the battleship moves I just proposed? No. No. All those in favor, please say I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. Thank you so much. So, our 4B now becomes our 4A. Thank you so much. Council member Sworthout, would you please read the proclamation? Thank you, Mayor. Whereas, Tumblr Water holds a unique place in Washington state history as the earliest American settlement co-founded in 1845 by George Bush, a free black pioneer whose courage, generosity, and vision helped establish the community that would become Tumbwater. And his eldest son, William Owen Bush, went on to serve in the state legislature and introduce the bill that established Washington State University. And whereas in 1915, Booker T. Washington established National Negro Health Week to spotlight health disparities affecting black communities and promote advocacy, education, and community-led solutions through the advocacy of elevate black wellness. Black Wellness Week celebrates the traditions, resilience, joy, healing, and culturally rooted approaches to the wellness within black communities. And whereas holistic well-being encompassing physical, mental, emotional, and social health is a priority for all communities. And addressing persistent health disparities in Washington state, especially within black communities, calls for initiatives that are both inclusive and communitydriven. And whereas a communitydriven approach focusing on leveraging existing resources and capacities is essential for the effective implementation of Black Wellness Week. And the city of Tumbwater has des uh demonstrated its commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging through its strategic priorities and community partnerships. And whereas in 2025, Governor Bob Ferguson proclaimed Black Wellness Week in the state of Washington and cities

and counties across Washington have joined in recognizing this observant. And now therefore, Leetta Dohof, mayor of the city of Tumbwater, does hereby proclaim April 13th through April 17th, 2026 Black Wellness Week in the city of Tumbwater, honoring the legacy of George Bush and the enduring strength of black communities and urging all residents to join in this special observance. Thank you, Council Member Sworthout. We have a representative from Elevate Black Wellness, Malikica. Would you like to come and share a few words and thank you for being here tonight?

Thank you, Mayor Dhof and rest of the council. Um, I just want to say that this is really like a full circle moment for me. I'm going to get emotional. Um, my daughter grew up in this school district and we ended up having to leave after 2018. But the hard work that this community has put in and people that I've worked shoulderto-shoulder with like Megan, Leetta, Angela um, in this community to um, make it better for everybody. I appreciate the effort and um I encourage us to keep on working in that vein um to make Tumb Water a welcoming and inclusive place for all of the people that are here and to uplift the accurate history of you know how this town began and the beauty that it still holds. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Does anyone have any comments? Malikica, before you go, can we do a photo with you in the front? Can we do a quick photo, everybody? Okay.

All right. Time to say, geez, Malikica, thanks for coming.

We make it really awkward, Malikica. Stand us. One more. One more. Superile.

Thank you. Mayor, don't let her leave yet. I have a couple words. Please. Angela has a couple words for you. Turn on her mic. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Council member Jefferson. Malikica. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you for this and full transparency. Um, Malikica and I served together on the YW.CA CA board of thirst county and we were we were in a meeting and she came to me and she said, "Angela, do you think that Tom Water will pass this proclamation? Do you think that Tom Water is ready to just say black wellness week?" And I told her, "Malikica, I think we're ready." So, for the first time, we are speaking these words in this proclamation in honor of George Bush, right?

And just thank you for asking me and asking my mayor to say, "Hey, are we ready for this?" And we're ready. Thank you. Thank you. I believe you. Thank you. Next, we have a proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month, and we have Council Member Weeden taking the lead on that.

Whereas, the city of Tumbwater recognizes our future rests in the hands of our most vulnerable and cherished assets, our children, and whereas all children deserve to live in safe, stable, and nurturing environments, which promote their healthy growth and development. And whereas child abuse, neglect, and other trauma are recognized as serious public health problems affecting both the current and future quality of life in our community. And whereas it is the responsibility of our community to ensure parents, caregivers, and other adults who influence the health and well-being of children have the support, knowledge, and concrete resources necessary to ensure all children thrive to their greatest potential. And whereas effective child abuse prevention strategies succeed because of partnerships among community agencies, schools, religious organizations, law enforcement agencies, healthc care providers, and the business community. And whereas we as city of Tom residents continue our commitment to protecting all members of our community and call upon all residents to join together to increase public safety and prevent the future abuse and neglect of our children. Now therefore, Leetta Dolhof, mayor of the city of Tumbwater, does hereby proclaim the month of April 2026, child abuse prevention month, and urge all Tumb residents, communities, state agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders, medical providers, educators, and businesses to increase their participation in efforts to support families, thereby preventing child abuse and strengthening strengthening the community in which we live. Signed in the city of Tumbwater,

Washington and recognized on the 17th day of March in the year 2026. Thank you, Council Member Reed. And we have Shelley Willis from Family Education Support Services. Would you like to come up with your pin wheels and say a few words? Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Dhoff and council members. Washington state has never had the level of child harm and fatalities that they are facing this year. We have to do better. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today on behalf of family education and support services. Each April across the country, you'll see small pinw wheels planted in front of courouses, schools, and community spaces. And they look simple, but they are a powerful message. The pinwheel represents something every child deserves. a safe, healthy, and joyful childhood. It's not a symbol of harm. It's a symbol of hope, of what's possible when a community comes together to support families before challenges become crisises. At FEST, this happens every single day in homes and classrooms, in courtrooms, and in conversations like this across the country. Because prevention doesn't belong to one agency, it belongs to all of us. We'll be planting pinw wheels on March 31st at 1:00 in front of the fountain at the cap. We invite the community to join us. And we thank you for your leadership for this proclamation and for being a part of the village that keeps Tumbat's children safe and thriving. May I bring you pin wheels? Yes. Thank you. Or do you want So can we do you want to

come down and I'll hand them out? Can you hold them and then when we do the photo shoot, we'll hold them. Council member Jefferson, you had you want to start us off? Um, Shelley. Yes, ma'am. I just came up to you earlier and I was just like, you are everywhere. All right. You are the powerhouse of this community. You're just so humble and I just thank you for your leadership. We saw you two weeks ago and just just keep keep leading. We need we need people like you. I appreciate you.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Jefferson. Any other comments, questions? Compliments for Shelly before we do our photo op. Um Eileen just whispered, "We love you." All right, let's uh all go down to our photo shoot with your pin wheels. Want to be in the picture? Yeah. Thank you, Shelly. Everyone gets a pin wheel. You get a pin wheel. You get a pin wheel.

Did anybody get one for me? Oh. Thank you. We will now be doing 4C, which used to be 7B. So, Jean and Kyle, you have the floor.

Thank you. Uh, look, I have a real treat for you today. Um, as economic developers, we always have this specific challenge. How do we attract the types of investments? Second. Are we all on 7B? Okay. Making sure we're on the same page. Thank you. Go, Gene.

Uh, how do we actually attract the types of investments to our communities that we want to see here? And as you know, here in Washington State, we actually have a relatively limited number of incentive programs that we can offer investors and people that do want to bring their capital here to the city of Tom Water. But we do have a new opportunity that comes to us by way of the feds and they're called opportunity zones. And really, this is a capital gains incentive program that allows investors to invest here in our community instead of paying a capital gains tax to the feds. I have been speaking to a lot of our development community and they are very excited about the idea that these types of zones can come to the city of Tom Water. This is one that has real legs. Um, and I am very excited that we have a local expert in opportunity zones, Kyle Whesi. is the founder of Opportunity Zone Investments and he has given uh his time here to speak to us about opportunity zones and really get into the weeds of how this incentive works and how the city of Tumbwater can take advantage of it. I'm very happy to introduce Kyle. He really is a recognized local expert on this topic. Kyle

All right. Thank you all for having me here. Um really appreciate the opportunity to come and chat to you about opportunity zones. Kylie, I have one question. As you present, would you like questions throughout from council or would you like council to wait? That's a great question. Um feel free to ask away. Yeah. Okay. All right. And full disclosure, Kyle and I were in Leadership Thirst County together. So keep going, Kyle. It's great to see you. Good to see you.

Um yeah. Well, again, thank you for having me here. um feel inspired to be in this room by what's been presented already. Um so thank you for for the opportunity to be here. Um so as Gina had mentioned um opportunity zones comes by way of a a federal tax incentive. Um when I launched Aussie um which is opportunity zones uh zone investments for short. Uh I was actually working at the Thirstston Economic Development Council. Uh and the thirst EDC was involved in opportunity zones round one to um help our communities here in Thirstston County uh identify and um essentially nominate their opportunity zones that became opportunity zones today. So we'll get into a little bit more of um the There we go. So just general agenda obviously why we're here today is Tom Warner has a couple opportunity zones. Going to talk a little bit about kind of the the highlevel 101 of opportunity zones. Uh give you a real example project in our community that we've done. Um and then just kind of open it up to just some general ideas on opportunity zone strategies. There we go. So what you're looking at on the bottom left is uh Olympia lacy tum water. Um and then on the right obviously is zoomed in on Tumb Water. So um based off of the new regulations and opportunity zones 2.0 uh Thirstston County has a total of seven eligible zones. Um Tumbwater has two of those. So you've uh and those are um um separated by uh Capitol Boulevard there. So uh one couple numbers you see on the map there is uh the median family income and then also the poverty rate. So that is how um opportunity zones are identified.

Council member Jefferson. Okay. So where exactly is the opportunity zones? Is it all in blue?

Yes. So the blue are the opportunity zones. Yes. Thank you for that question. Yep. That's a good clarification to make. Um so essentially opportunity zones 1.0 they were a little bit uh more lenient on what could be um opportunity zones uh based off of the uh median family income in opportunity zones 2.0. Um they um kind of increase that threshold if you will. Um, so, uh, as a whole state and as a country, there's less opportunity zones to be identified. But, um, you know, in my opinion, I think that was a good thing because it's really, uh, intended to spur economic development and investment into communities um, that uh, that have that fall underneath uh, uh, these regulations. So, any other questions on this slide here?

Mhm. The Office of Financial Management OFM designate as some uh counters in Washington as underserved areas that if I follow your opportunity zone, those will kind of following those patterns. Say for example, Grace Ao and uh Louis County, you familiar with those two? Down south and then south. Uh well, this will be my west. So in order for a business to be sourced to Dustin County, the issue that uh we were running into when I had my discussion with Michael Cab who is the um the head of our EDC is uh is that uh businesses were reluctant in coming to Twater. because of the our unique uh issue which is the golfer issue. So how do you marry that issue with the opportunity zone?

It's a great question. Um so opportunity zones is strictly um designated federally. So all local thirsten county and you know twater uh regulations would apply. So, um, whatever's in place today would need to be followed, um, uh, in an opportunity zone just like the rest of the community. Okay. Thank you. Yep.

Okay. So, quick timeline. Um, so, as I mentioned, opportunity zones round one came out in 2019. That's when I started Aussie. Um, we at that point in time, that program was meant to sunset. Um in the uh recent federal designations uh they uh created an opportunity zones around two which is more of a permanent uh opportunity zones which is going to be redesated every 10 years. Um, and so right now, uh, one of the reasons why Jane had reached out to me is, uh, Washington State, just like every other state, um, is going through a process of identifying their opportunity zones, and that's based off of information that comes from us from the Treasury Department. Um, and then there's a process you work through. the the the process here and throughout the state and the nation is that um you're only allowed to as a state qualify 25% of your zone. So it's a competitive process. So even though thirst county has seven, I'm not saying that you're guaranteed 25% as a state. Um you're looking at 25% and the governor has the sole authority to make that designation. So that process is happening right now in terms of just general engagement from the Washington State Department of Commerce and then um they will start accepting applications on April 1st. That'll end May 1st and then commerce will do their ranking and propose those opportunity zones um that make it through their criteria to the governor. And then new opportunity zones will be in place um on January 1st. So and then as I'd mentioned uh 10 years later we'll go through this process again and it will happen as it's written right now. It will happen every 10 years. Any questions here before I move on please?

So it looks like it's for uh like distressed areas. So if distressed areas, so if we were looking at let's say um like our brewery area or the brewery area down below, I is that the type of thing that we're looking at that someone could invest in. So I got shaking heads back there. So um so that's the type of thing that if we could have investments. Okay. Exactly. Yep. And we'll dive a little bit deeper on that in the next slide as well. Thank you. So that investment would be like Sorry. Just takes me a few seconds to find out where you sit. The microphone button. Now you got it, Council Member Jefferson.

So that investment can be someone wanting to fix the brewery property or someone wanting to open up a new business, a small business. Is there an income level? So we want to designated an opportunity zone. And so what type of businesses can can be cultivated, can grow there.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for the question. Yeah. So, um, opportunity zones can be used to invest in real estate and also businesses. Um, throughout the nation since opportunity zones 1.0, uh, the vast vast majority of investment went to, uh, groundup real estate investments. There are some cases where businesses were invested in um but there's additional rules and regulations of substantial improvement and certain um kind of benchmarks that you have to hit. So it makes it a little bit uh more challenging from an investor perspective than you know kind of a real estate deal that they're used to investing in. So uh yes it could be both real estate could be brewery property it could also provide investment into businesses in t water.

Okay thank you. So it be more like um like an investment group or a group of people that might be looking at those properties that it would appeal to someone like that that would be able to get the tax benefits. Is that what we're is that what this is all about? Yeah. Yeah. Let me um go to the next slide here and then we can talk through that just a little bit more. Just remember, Kyle, you said Oh, yeah. Ask questions throughout. Just remember that's what you said.

No, I love I I love being able to have the back and forth. It it I enjoy presentations much more that way. Um so, yeah, just a little bit more of kind of the the high level, you know, as we get into more of the nitty-gritty details of certain real estate and certain businesses. There are obviously additional rules and regulations. Um but uh you know as as called out here it it it wasn't uh meant to spur economic development in um what are technically economically distressed areas as outlined by by the the regulations. So um it is solely a capital gains tax incentive. Um, and I have that uh bolded uh highlighted and underlined because that is a common misconception and folks um you know start to think of other local incentives or other things which you can absolutely stack. Um but this is solely an uh incentive for investors who sell an asset and would have a capital gains um um reporting to the IRS. So, uh there's a couple main benefits. The first one, if uh if somebody invests in an opportunity zone, they get a 10% step up in basis. Um meaning that they owe essentially 10% less on their tax bill 5 years after after it was um realized. So, you get a a decrease in a deferment. Um and then the biggest incentive is that after 10 years, um you owe no capital gains tax on that investment. So, it's meant to be at least a 10-year hold. You can hold it for longer if you'd like. Um, so an example I have at the bottom here, um, and I intentionally use Bitcoin as an example because also a common misconception of opportunity zones, uh, especially in the real estate industry where like kind exchanges are um are a common practice. This can really be any capital gain. you sell a stock, you sell um you know investment,

you sell Bitcoin, um you can take that capital gain and roll it into a qualified opportunity fund. So the example here is um you know if somebody uh was smarter than me in 2017 and bought Bitcoin for maybe $10,000 and was able to sell that um for $100,000, you've got a $90,000 capital gain. So, you can take that $90,000 and instead of paying it to the IRS, um you put it into a QF, which is a qualified opportunity fund, and that fund invests in a uh business or a real estate development. Um so now 5 years down the road after that deferment period ends, then you owe capital gains tax on essentially 10% less than your $90,000. to the $81,000 there. Um, if it's an amazing investment, um, you know, in in 5xs, uh, after 10 years, it could be year 10, could be year 20, um, you sell that investment for, you know, $500,000 or any other number, you owe no capital gains on that investment. So, that's the big incentive here in the opportunity zone program. Any questions,

council member Schworth? So, how does that Bitcoin thing apply to Tumb Water? I mean, we're we're not doing Bitcoin. How does that apply if we're looking at we have land, you know, if we want people to invest in our um the brewery? What does that have to do? Where where does that example fit? How how do you how do you sell that to us? Yeah. Well, the the Bitcoin um is just an example of anybody in our community who may have invested in Bitcoin and wants to sell that and invest in an opportunity zone and keep that those that investment local here. Mhm.

Um so it's not tied to Bitcoin at all. It's just an example of somebody acquiring an asset, which in this example is Bitcoin, and then selling that asset at some later date for a higher price than what they bought it for. They would owe a capital gain on that to the IRS. So, it's taking that capital gain in investing. So, and it uh an example I have on the next slide, um let me pause here because we can I think I can get into that a little bit deeper, okay? um on the next example. But before I go there, any other questions? Yes, one moment. I got Council Member Jefferson.

So, can cities take advantage of this? Let's say if they're working with a private party. Let's say we have um because I was speaking to Ryan Reynolds um full transparency. So we he's in the room right now in the back, right? So let's say that Ryan might want to get into some sort of business relationship with us for a brew master's house. Maybe turn that into a a coffee shop, for example. H

might that relationship work? How how would that look? Uh so yeah, so it would be solely focused on private um just private the private the private equity side of things. So think of it so it would have nothing to do with the city of Tom Water because we own that property. Yes. It Yeah. So if so couple things. So, if the city of Tumb Water was looking to um sell the property and somebody had an opportunity fund, they could come with that and acquire the property from you. If you want to own the property, but you're looking for businesses, they could do the same thing but invest in the business.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Jefferson.

Okay. All right. So, I wanted to give an example. um locally that that we actually did. So um Aussie LLC is its own entity. I've got four other partners um backgrounds in development, engineering, um and investments. And um our first fund that we did back in 2020 um may recognize this building. This is in downtown Olympia across the street from the 222 market. Um had just opened recently. It was the one that burnt down actually. Um so one of the things that we did is we had some of my partners and some of some of their friends um had sold some assets um and they had capital gains and we and the sole reason why I wanted to start Aussie is to provide an avenue for local investors or outside investors even to be able to invest in our community. So, we pulled together um about a million dollars, talked with the uh the developer who owns and manages this asset. We were just an investor in it. Um and you know, this this asset is is in our community now today. Uh we've got a couple other funds, not locally. Um a couple other projects that we've done as well. Um but this is an a very stereo stereotypical um example of how the opportunity zone program is used today. Groundup real estate development mostly multifamily maybe some commercial on the bottom um although it is open to all assets all asset classes. So, um, to my knowledge, and I know that there's probably more, um, others, developers who have taken advantage of opportunity zones, um, there's at least 10 plus projects in Thirstston County that I'm aware of that you pull them together, probably about $200 million of leverage investment in our community. So, it it really can be a powerful tool. Any questions from here?

No. Great. Keep going, Kyle.

All right. Last one. Last one. So, so it's kind of the the so what, right? And kind of where where do we go for next steps? So, um actually I just got invited to a meeting with um Jean's counterparts uh throughout the county happening here in a couple weeks to talk more deeply as an economic development group about you know how do we respond? Um previous in opportunity zones 1.0 is very clear the economic development council was to do the applications. this process is not so clear. So, kind of coming together and working through how we how we approach that as a community and look at it as a larger picture. So, again, as I mentioned, only 25% throughout Washington doesn't guarantee thirst county will get any. Um, but I think it's reasonable to to think that we will. Um and obviously letters of support from council and other um partners and developers who might be having projects that they want to do um brewery master planning things like that would be would be beneficial in application. So and just a reminder this is a 10-year strategy. Um so once you do designate your zones um you want to move forward and build a strategy around that around current growth planning um that you already have in place. Um, as an example, downtown Olympia was an opportunity zone in one in the first round. It's not the second round. And so, if I go back to um this slide here in the upper right, it's pretty small, but you see the medium family income is 68%. Um, and that is it. You kind of look that upper right, um, with Capitol Boulevard being the split. Um, that is its own zone and then the other is its own zone. So, um, as an example, the threshold is 70%. So, as things trend, um, likely within within our community, that that number will continue to grow a little bit, um, it might get pushed past 70%. So, just an example where that

might be a zone that's eligible today, um, but might not be eligible 10 years from now. We got one more question. I kind of want to wrap this up because we have Thank you, Kyle. Council member Sullivan,

thanks for clarifying that there's going to be some regional conversation. I guess my curiosity is based on what you just said about this threshold and seeing we're right under the 70% if there was a lot of interest from Twater to prioritize this northeast of the two properties as what Twater would like to see the most development in. Uh what would next steps look like and how do you anticipate regional prioritization happening in our community? That's a fantastic question. Um, yeah, so next steps, um, continuing to work with the economic development, um, uh, individuals throughout the community. Um, I have not met with that group yet. I know that they're also kind of looking for education opportunity zones and how to approach it. So, I imagine that will be a robust conversation of how do we come together as a community. Um, I think, you know, it would Tom is well within their right and ability to submit an application for both zones. So, I would encourage folks to do so. Um, and then that will go to Commerce. Commerce will make their decisions based off of their ranking. Um, so it's a it's a great question. I'm not sure I can fully answer it at this point.

You're happy to follow up with Yeah, Kelly and Jean. Yep. That'd be great. Thank you, Council Member Sullivan. That's awesome. I was curious about the process. Council member Sworth out. Sorry. We would become a zone then if we get we apply that we could potentially become a zone. That's that's correct. Yep. And then and then developers could apply to Okay. Jean's going to talk. Okay. Just curious. You got us thinking about this now. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate your time. Thank you, Kyle. Sorry. I'm sorry. You got me.

We don't apologize, but we just we got to keep the cadence of this meeting going. So ju just just a quick answer for what you're saying. So we are working with our partners at the economic development council and the other jurisdictions and we are applying as a group for each of these different zones. So the department Washington state department of commerce has put out draft criteria for us and so there's a bunch of steps and we fill out all those steps. We get the most number of points. We get the most number of points. We have the most competitive application for each census track. So that's really the next uh step for us is to convene those partners that we have. make sure that we get all of our letters in, make sure that we understand um where we're actually going in terms of strategy, that it's aligning, that we get council support, that we get the mayor's support um if it's offered. So, that's really where we're going next.

Thank you. Thank you. Anything else before we move on to public comment? I can see all your noggin working, which is great. So, more to come, right? So it all tracks with all the other stuff we're doing, right? And the economic development plans, right? And so it's all coming together. Council member Weeden, I'll make it quick. I am super excited for this. I do know of these opportunity zones prior to this and I think it's a great tool for our community to try to go ahead and put in for it. So um I am super excited to continue that process and hopefully we can continue the conversation. Thank you, council member. We didn't council member Swortho.

I'm sorry for kind of giving We don't apologize. Okay. She keeps telling me that for kind of giving you a hard time at the beginning, but connecting the dots now and just want to commend you for investing in the community. Um it's really exciting to see the the you know the projects that you've invested in. So, thank you for investing in our community. So, really more to come, Kyle. We'll see you again soon. Thank you so much. I'd love to be back. Okay. Well, you're going to you're going to come back, so that's great. That helps. Okay. Thank you. Oh, Kyle, you're not going to stay for the rest of the meeting. I gota get back to the kiddo. Yes. Yes. You get dibs. You get dibs. Nice to see you, Kyle. Yeah. Good to see you, too. Thank you. We are now on to the portion of our agenda for public comment. Michelle,

at this time, we will receive public comments. 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 threeinut period to make their remarks regardless of the number of topics they wish to address. Speakers may not comment upon, promote, advocate for, oppose, or speak against a pending initiative, ballot measure, or candidate. All comments shall be directed towards the council as a whole, not to 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 this evening we have um uh two for public comment. Um the first will be William Penn followed by Henry Val. William Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you, city council. I'm an advocate for a public swimming pool and in Thirstston County, and that's what I'm here for. And rather than go back in time of my association with Tom Water, I'm just going to get right to the point. Approximately two weeks ago, we were informed that Evergreen State College was closing their facility permanently. So, we went into action, a few of us, and then more as time gone on to see if we could salvage and keep this pool open. Two of your high schools swim there and two, two Olympia high schools swim there. They also have public swimming, swimming lessons. It is the

only public pool that you can walk up and pay for in our county. We don't have Tom Water Valley as a public institution, nor do we have the YMCA, which is very crowded and very small, and it's become impossible for everyone to be able to swim in those two facilities. I am a physician. I'm presently retired. I'm 73 years old. No, 74 years old. And you're probably wondering why I'm up here and not in a home in Palm Springs. Because I'm an advocate and I'm also an educator and I'm assistant coach with Coach Valts for the girls and boys team at Olympia High School. I also coached track and field and cross country in Elm High School where I practiced medicine for 38 years. I'm I feel it's more important to help build this community and give back what the community gave to me than it is to go on vacation and to go on cruises. That's just my prerogative. That's not my wife's prerogative. That's my prerogative and she's been very patient with me. But that being said, the school was told that they would probably have a shortcoming of $2.7 million, which didn't happen. The state legislator came through and gave them the money they needed. So, they were told us that they needed $175,000 to keep the pool open. So, we're looking for an extension for another year or two. We can come up with a permanent solution. We had recently had a um a ballot agenda that came up and people signed up for this to save the pool. We had approximately 4,000 people that signed up within 2 and 1/2 weeks. If everybody gave $10, that's $40,000 right there, which is amazing. This community

needs a pool for a lot of reasons. And I'll just go over them briefly. You have 9 seconds, Williams. Thank you. training, swim lessons, competitive swimming, and physical rehabilitation, and cardiovascular rehabilitation for all that cannot afford a public facility. Thank you very much, William. That was very impressive, and you look great for your age. Well, can I give you my city card? Just come up here. Um, I would like to learn more about that proclamation or the Thank you. And I can share it with council. So, I'd like to learn more. say one thing about this community or do you don't have time? You don't have time.

If you want to, you're going to testify next, right? Henry, will you give your real quick? I moved here from Southern California to Tom Water and lived in Barnes Lake for 2 years and this community totally embraced me and I became the medic director for Thirsten County back in the 1980s and worked with medic one for the last 40 years. So, this community means a lot to me and that's why I'm still here today and that's why I don't live in Palm Springs. William, you can come back anytime you want on a Tuesday and testify. That was great.

Next, we have Henry Bells. Um, 30 years ago, I stood in this room. Uh, the lectern was more centered and the room was brighter. uh and advocated for uh a public facing facility. Uh it is it's been a long 30 years. Uh I've had co-workers uh friends uh co-orker son drown uh out at Black Lake. Um I've had children who now swim for me uh over at Olympia High School. Um, it is exceptionally hard to build a facility and I know that the city has long-term goals of of building an incredible facility someday, but um, Evergreen is there now. It's a functional facility. To be honest, it's it's incredible. It's it's a beautiful facility uh, that needs a little bit of work. It's it's a classic car that needs a break job not to be thrown out. And so I really hope that the city um reflects on the last 30 years and says we're no closer than we were. We're a little closer. Actually, that's not true. We're a little closer.

Henry, we are a lot closer.

We're a little closer. Um we're sure um but uh we have a great facility that needs that needs a little bit of work and um my hope is that we don't lose uh this classic we throw away this Monae because it it needs a little bit of a restoration is a nice way of putting it. And as many people in this room know, I will be the first one out there uh with a sign saying vote for a Tom Water Pool or a Thirsten County pool or Olympia pool or a or a combined regional aquatics facility cuz I was at the corner of of Capitol Boulevard and uh and Trosper on election day on 1996. It was very cold and it was me and Derek Travis standing holding our signs for the Olympia pool proposition or tumb water, excuse me, tumb water pool proposition one. And I'll be there again and again and again until it passes. But right now, we're in an e situation, which is we need help to save the aquatic facility we have that is working and now. And thank you very much for your time. I hope to speak to you all again about how we can do both of those things. Thank you.

Thank you, Henry. Henry, can I also give you my business card because I'd love to pick your noggin and she said yes to the pool and to water. Thank you, Henry. Come anytime you want. Thank you, too. Oh, wait. Henry, are you Did you guys drive from Toner High School? Maybe. Yes. Wait, same year as Megan? No. Yeah, we were in AP biology together, I think. We took the AP test. Okay. So, Henry, I know I've already been told by staff I have to stop replying back in public comment, but I got it. What year? 98. 98.

94. The best year. 94. 94. The best year. 2000 2004. Uh, Chief the worst year. 1990, right? 94 the best year. 90 the worst year. Yeah. Got it. Okay. Thank you so much. Anyone? Any Michelle, help me. anyone online that wants to testify? We do not have anyone online today. Okay, we'll look at that. Thank you. We are moving on to the consent calendar. Do any council members have a request to pull an item? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion. Oh, I move we accept the consent calendar as presented. I

Okay, so I got a motion from Council Member S. I got a second from council member Marina. I got a third from council member Jefferson and I got a fourth for mayor promoltz. That's amazing. Thank you so much. Any discussion? See none. All those in favor please say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much. We are moving on to item 7A. Council considerations. Who is that? It's Dana. Dana, what do you need from us today? The world. All right. Thank you both. You're welcome. Every time. Every Tuesday. We're here at 7:00.

Thank you so much, Mayor Delhof, and thank you, council members. I'm excited to be here today to present uh an adoption, which is the last of a series of actions you've taken for an annexation. So, if the presentation is available, and if it's not, I will motor on through. I do not have a presentation. Oh, okay. That's we'll we'll make it work. Dana will act out the slides now. So, just imagine yourself 93rd Avenue Southwest and Case Road. You can picture it, can't you? We're there. Right on the precipice of Tom Water. Right on the border. Got it.

Right here. two property owners have approached Tom Water to request being included in our amazing city. So, we said yes time and time again as they've requested, filled out the applications, done the process. So, big takeaway number one, they want to be with us. They filled out the application, it's owner initiated. Number two, they accept uh they agreed to accept the fair share of the city's indebtedness, which is part of the process for annexations and to accept the city's zoning. Okay. We also um this is part of the urban growth area which matches the um growth management act requirements. So, we're not annexing county land. We're annexing UG property. And like I said, 93rd and Case Avenue. You can you can just see it, right?

They do have the slides in their packet, Dana. So, they're They're following along with you. I mean, it's you're on page four. It's amazing.

Fantastic. Actually, let's let's take a little side note on page three because I really want to reiterate and have you see the map. We do have um like the UG marked out in the red section and then we have the current city limit. So, you can you can see that you know the UG is is there and that the two parcels are there 11.8 8 acres and um so it's not a large portion of the UG but it's um it's what these uh land owners would like to do. Um it's undeveloped aside from a house and some accessory out buildings and it's currently within East Olympia Fire District. So that will change with the adoption of the annexation and uh it's currently zoned light industrial. All right, moving on to page four which is the timeline. This is a quick breeze through of all the actions that we've taken. I count four times before this that we've come to council and council has decided that this is something that um they'd like to move forward with. So, starting in February 2025 when we received applications, we were at the general government committee in April, we um sorry, staff came to the general government committee in April and uh the appell uh applicants um presented their information. They um you met the council met with a petitioners in May 2025. Then in July 2025, the council set a public hearing. The hearing was held in August 2025 and then um and accepted. Sorry, the hearing was set and the um resolution was accepted. So for this process, we need to have a resolution accepted before we can do the ordinance because we also have to have boundary review board approval. So, Boundary Review Board um got the petition in September, sent it out to the review board in November, and in January, we got a letter that they approved it. So, the

next step after we presented to the general government committee, a general government committee on um March 11th, 2026, is for you to adopt the annexation. So, I'm looking for a motion to adopt ordinance number 2026-001. It's 93rd Avenue Southwest and Case Road annexation. Thank you, Dana. What a great presentation. I was visually looking at the slides, so that really helped. Anyone ready to entertain a motion? I would entertain a motion then we can have discussion. Council member Sworth, I'll make adopt or make the motion. Second. Got

a second from Council Member Sullivan. Now we can have a motion. Council member Agabi. So for geographical reference, 93rd across I5 or 93rd on the east side of I5. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Great question. Council member Agabi. Any other questions in the discussion portion? Are you ready for a vote? Yep. All those in favor, please say I. I. All oppose, same sign. Motion passes. Dana, you got your motion. Thank you very much. The applicants will be very pleased. Have a good night.

Thank you. We are now on to 7C service provider agreement with Rice Fergus Miller for the fire station T2 expansion project.

Good evening, mayor, council members.

Good evening. So, uh, what I bring to you tonight is the service thread agreement with Rice Fergus Miller and, uh, I'll wait till my presentation is ready here. So, you've probably seen this a couple times at this point. This is where we stand in our, uh, design process. This is the conceptual design. Um, we're looking to do now is just move forward in our process, move on to schematic design, and all the way through um, completion of the project. So this agreement will carry us through all the design stages as well as um you go ahead and click onto the next. I have a clicker here so I will click on. So this uh covers a little bit. Oh here here we go. Purpose of agreement uh provide architectural and consulting engineering services for the T2 remodel project. Rice Fergus Miller has completed the initial conceptual design process. This agreement begins with schematic design of the project and supports all phases of the project through closeout. And ultimately the goal is the completion and delivery of a fully functioning expanded facility for the city. And this slide we I won't go too in depth with this. This just kind of covers the project phases. So uh the next stage of our design would be schematic design development construction documents that we then uh bring forward through the permitting process and then we'll we'll use those construction documents will be the basis of our bidding and then 700's construction administration which is essentially the actual build stage of the of the project close out and then allowance reimbursibles. So, agreement fee details. Um, the total cost of this is $776,375 and that covers all of the architectural

and engineering fees to carry us through the rest of the project. And just a little bit of background on this, um, the agreement is broken out, you know, to to backtrack. um if if at any point in this process we decide we didn't want to move forward, it's not like we um are are whatever phase we're at. So, you know, if we get to design development and for whatever reason we say we don't want to move forward um we we only pay for what we're um as far as the process we've gone through. That that's obviously not the goal. Just trying to

Got it. Can I pause for a moment? Can someone bring our city administrator back into the room, please? Thank you. Keep going. And our request tonight is to authorize the mayor to sign the service provider agreement with Rice Fergus Miller for the fire station T2 expansion. Any questions? Council member Agabi. So you said depending upon where timeline which we at if something happened that's when the cost will occur not the whole cost.

Yeah. So we we we pay as as as um services as we reach certain stages of the project you know we we pay X amount of dollars um okay in the fee exhibit that was provided in the packet. So um that's just to say we're not responsible for that full amount. Gotcha. And we have an agreement to that effect. Right. What was that? We have an agreement to that effect that that's what that that's what will happen. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Yes, Mayor. Council member Jefferson. Thank you, Council Member Agabi.

Yes. Um, this item did not come before the public works committee. Um, due to time constraints, we have to get this moving. So, we didn't want to wait another month to make it happen. So, we just brought it to the council. That's perfect. Thank you for that background, Council Member Jefferson. Any other comments, question? Council member Sullivan. Thank you, Council Member Jefferson. No questions. I was going to move that we authorize the mayor to sign the service provider agreement as presented.

Thank you. I It's hard. The challenge is I don't know who's going to make the second, right? So, I don't know how to turn on your microphone if I don't know who's. So, maybe we need to practice like eye contact. Okay. Okay. Motion from council member Sullivan, a second from mayor prom von Holtz. Any further discussion? Seeing no one make eye contact with me. All those in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Next is reimburseable agreement with Washington State Department of Transportation for the Dashes Valley Trail Project. Uh, good evening, council members. Uh, so my Wait, who's that speaking? All I hear is a voice coming from a speaker, Brandon.

That's the next thing I was going to say. Uh, for the record, my name is Brandon Hicks. I'm the transportation and engineering director for the city. Um, I'm here this evening to bring forward a reimburseable agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation for the Dashes Valley Trail Project. I don't have a presentation for y'all tonight. This is just a minor agreement that you normally wouldn't see. However, uh due to time constraints, we had to come straight to council. Um and so, and this is also within the dollar threshold that I would normally approve myself. However, it is an intergovernmental agreement. So, uh Mayor Dolof has to sign it, which means it needs to come to council. Um and then I do have I'm going to pull up an image. I don't have a presentation, but I at least have an image just to kind of help orient folks as I'm talking. I'm not going to ask if everybody can see that cuz we've been doing this long enough that I know you can. Um, so on this map here, you can see, can you see my cursor?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. So, the entire trail, uh, it goes from to Tom Water Historical Park, which is on the very top of the screen. You can't quite see it. Um, but it goes all the way down to Pioneer Park. It's a 2 and 1/2 mile uh trail. Uh, we have already completed this segment here that brings the existing trail system that's in Tom Water Historical Park to Brewery Park and then the rest of it uh remains to be constructed. We are currently uh designing the entire uh trail alignment. So all segments that remain um and then so all of this remains to be constructed. This smaller section here uh is going to be constructed by the craft district as part of the development agreement. Um and then uh schedules to be determined um right now. So so why am I here? Uh normally, again, you wouldn't see this just based on dollar amount or the fact that we would take it to committee and it would usually be on consent because it's only a $10,000 agreement. Um we didn't even actually anticipate having to have this agreement on this project because we only had state funding. Um we didn't anticipate uh securing any federal funds for the remainder of the trail. However, this blue segment here, uh, trail segment C, uh, TRPC awarded the city about 2.6 million for construction of that segment a little over a year ago. And what that means is it invokes uh a uh national permitting standards instead of state. And so in order to go through that through that we have to uh reimburse Washington State Department of Transportation uh for their staff time to complete the review. And so this this agreement is strictly for review of our environmental permitting documents. Um it is for $10,000. However, I would be shocked if

it was over 5,000. And the only reason that we set it higher is um in the unlikely event that they went over um we would have to come back to council and and do another agreement. And it's um from a cost effectiveness standpoint, the the amount of staff time that goes into doing this, it it it didn't make sense. So realistically, we're looking at about 5,000 or less, but the agreement is for $10,000. Um and then I I don't have like I don't have a planned update on the trail project for you this evening. We were here just a few months ago and gave an update and we're actually going to be back in 2 to 3 months uh to do another project update. Um I'm happy to answer any answer any questions on the project if you have any right now. Um but I'm also willing to set up uh time to to go over the project with with any of you individually particularly council members uh Sullivan and Weeden uh since uh you weren't here the last time that we came to discuss the project. Thank you, Brandon. Do you have does anyone council have any questions for Brandon before I make a comment? No. As we move forward, just there's an opportunity for the mayor to sign this. If we could avoid saying, well, it doesn't have to go to council. It doesn't have to go to council. If we could just avoid that terminology because there's a lot of scrutiny right now. So, if we could just watch our framing that this is an opportunity to be informed and have the mayor sign, I would appreciate that.

I would also entertain a motion. Council member Sullivan. I move that we authorize the mayor to sign as presented. I'll second. Thank you. I have a motion from council member Sland and a second for mayor prom von Holtz. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much, Brandon. Thank you. We are now on to the mayor city administrators report. My report is there is a budget committee next Friday at noon virtual. Thank you so much. Administrator Simmons.

Nothing to report. Thank you. Thank you. Council member reports. We will start virtually with council member Cassie. I uh I I have no report. I mean, I do, but I don't. So, I'm Okay. Well, that's crystal clear. Got it. Okay. That's fantastic. Thank you, Council Member Kathy. I figured you were liking short or very little response cuz we're in a hurry. I don't know where we're going, but we're in a hurry.

Are you sure you don't want to give a report, Council Member Kathy? Like one nugget for us? One nugget. one nugget.

The one thing I'm happy about is that um we are going to be able to hear all about the Olympic Region Clean Air Authority finally. The first time I think they've been to council in a decade. Um and that's going to be at a work session in um I believe April or or May. And I'm I'm excited about that. and uh Jeff Johnson, the executive director, and I talked about it. And next Monday, I will be meeting with the representatives. This is on the on the ORCA board. Um I will be meeting with the representatives from uh Lacy and from um Olympia. We are having going to put together some ideas for a presentation for the three local jurisdictions to present um how we work with Orca and um what things are going on in our community or whatever. And so I'm hoping to um have a chat with either the mayor or Paul uh the excuse me, the administrator. Um hopefully that some way before uh before Monday so I can make some contributions to what Tomwater would like to see in this um kind of presentation. So that's my main thing that

that's perfect. That's a great nugget. Thank you. And noted on your timeline. Thank you, Council Member Kathy. Uhhuh. We're going to go to Council Member Schwarz how because she's closest to Joan on the screen. Oh, hi Eileene. Hey. Hey, council member Kathy. So, on uh March 11th, the general government committee meeting uh met and we were um we talked about the ordinance which was on council considerations number A and we also changed the meeting and so we will now be meeting the third Wednesday of the month at 11:00. That's my report. That's great. Thank you, Council Member. Council member Sullivan,

I'll be very brief. I've been meeting with uh department directors and learning a whole bunch which has been incredible. More to come on that and all of my committee assignments are coming up so I will report later. I dig that. Thank you. Council member Sullivan. Mayor Prom Bon Holtz.

Yes. On March 10th we had our public health and safety committee meeting where we had a presentation um on body worn camera on the body worn camera policy. We talked about theou of understanding with twater school district. Um which we approved this evening on our consent calendar. Um we talked about the interlocal agreement with for opioid abatement council independent subcommittee and we also changed our time in order to make room for our new member council member Sullivan. So, we will be meeting the second Tuesday at 4 PM. That work for everyone. Um, also on the 11th, I was at the lot meeting and what we're doing at lot right now is really um getting ready to digest the budget. So, it was a lot of learning about what we're going to be hearing about. So, more to come.

Great update. Thank you, Mayor Proton Von Holtz. Council member Agabi, what's good? So on the 11th I attended the uh TPB transportation uh policy board uh meeting and at that meeting which was primarily umformational talk about our projects. So we did a cover project for 2026 and we receive update on the East Martin way gateway project and then we also talk about the regional multimodia level of service and then to break to break those down as it relates to uh each part of the uh jurisdictions. There was um it wasn't necessarily a call for project but just so we know what is in the pipe work. So the big decision are 88 800,000 to be set aside for rural community support program and where should that set aside come from is it banan or banan large or flexible so we're not we're not sure should you go either or no and who should serve on the TPB grant review subcommittee we're trying to they're trying to set up a subcommittee of five members and looking for who would who is qualified to serve on that committee Okay. So, um pretty much wrap up action will be um forthcoming on our April 8th meeting. So, that was that. And for tomorrow, I have my very first uh I believe is criminal justice meeting at 4:00.

Nice. Thank you, Council Member Gabby. Appreciate that. Council member Jefferson, what's good? Yes. The public's works the public works committee met on Thursday, March 5th. Uh we discussed reimburseable agreement with Washington State Department of Transportation for the Tumbwater Boulevard and I5 interchange project and also acceptance of work with Northwest Cascade for the Lynwood Avenue sidewalk and Sustaina Lane to Second Avenue project. We will have no meeting this Thursday due to no agenda items and that's all I have to report. That's great. Thank you, Council Member Jefferson. Council member Weed and bring us home.

Um, today I met with the VCB board. Um, they are asking for a letter of support for a new port hotel. Um, so they should have that to us here in the next week or so. So, I will be bringing that to our mayor and Paul, city administrator for that. Um, Paul and I also met with Todd Cuts with Olympia Toner Foundation and went over their project. So, that's awesome to see that progressing. And I think that's about it. I got nothing. That's it.

That's great. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much, everyone. We are now going to go into executive session. The council will now meet in executive session like I just said, to discuss real estate acquisition pursuant to RCW42.30.110 parenthesis 1 parenthesis B. The council will be in executive session for 20 minutes until 8:34. The council is not expected to take further action following the executive session. Thank you so much.

Council is extending the executive session for a period of 10 minutes until what is it? Council is extending the executive session for a period of 10 minutes. So that would be 8:44. Thank you.

It is 8:44. We are back from executive session. No action was taken in executive session. Is there any other business? I'm not looking at any of your faces. So, there is no meeting is adjourned at 8:44. Thank you so much.