City Council - Regular Meeting

having that project show up on their state tip so they make us move it to the later years so it's outside of their four year time frame that they're required to report on and inside our six year time frame that we're required to report on that's a very complicated one that i don't agree with but they make us do it anyway um so those are like the three examples of why you see a bunch of projects sort of hitting the back end of of the tip I don't know if that's a satisfactory answer, but it's an answer. Yeah.

It's a difficult answer.

Yeah. Okay. Continuing on. So new projects in the tip, Snively Road and SR 240 Snively Road intersection. Those have been added because of the Veterans Cemetery development. That's a road and an intersection they'll be required to construct. part of that development they need to be in the tip because they'll likely receive some level of funding um from any from a federal or state grant so we're putting it in the tip um just for transparency reasons central active central richland active transportation improvements may break up in discrete projects in the future someday um if it does happen in 2027 will likely have an amendment that we need to bring forward to council to amend the TIP with some new projects. And the two things that are not shown in the TIP are the citywide transportation system plan I said adoption plan in 27. Adoption is planned in 26. But the new projects that would come out of that plan wouldn't be included until the next tip comes before you. So that would be the 2028 to 2033 tip, which we would bring before you in 2027. And the annual pavement preservation program, this is an annual maintenance program. We don't know what projects we are doing at this point in time for next year's pavement preservation program, so we don't put it into the TIP. One, because it's a maintenance program, but the other, because we don't actually have projects to show or know what the funding is. And all the funding that comes into that pavement preservation program is local only. on and then the remove projects that are there mostly because construction happens we get them off the tip because we're delivering those projects or at least starting to deliver those projects in 2026 so they won't show up in the 2027 tip there's a big project list and the tip map and which you've had in your packet. So the path forward, we've posted this on our website for the public to view. We had the planning commission workshop and today's the meeting to solicit the recommendation to council. Then council will have a public hearing and their meeting to hopefully to approve the resolution adopting the TIP. all this to happen so we can submit the our tip before june 30th so that our mpo bfcog can do their regional public process so that they can submit the regional tip to the wash washington state dot to put into the state tip uh also we can get funding in 2027. Yeah. So I have a recommended motion before you. If you have any questions, this is the time to ask.

Thank you, Carlo. Any questions from commissioners?

Just one more on the calendar. So basically, like, maybe the next three years, just because you're talking about funding for 2027, so what do the dates mean? I mean, like, so I understand, like, there's a pool, and that's limitations by the state, but which ones are real? I mean, like, is it, I mean, of your list, of your priority list, like, what ones, you know, are these really going to happen in 2026, 2027, 2028? But then when you get past that, They're placeholders? Is that more what it is?

Essentially, yeah. The ones that are real, I would say, are the ones that have secured funding associated with them. We can't really deliver a project that doesn't have secured funding anyways.

I didn't understand all the notations on the tip and stuff, so I couldn't tell which ones were actually funded or not. I mean, I saw the cost, but I couldn't tell.

So there's a notation where there's an S. S means the funding is secured.

I needed a key.

And the other notation is a P, which means planned. And so if it's planned, it means we don't have funding yet. There are certain funding sources that are identified that say planned. like one will say HSIP, which is a city safety program funding source, but we may not have that funding source secured or awarded to us. But when we say planned, that means we do plan on asking for grants from that funding source in the future.

Welcome, everyone, to our Richmond City Council. Let's start today by a roll call. Jennifer, can you help us with that?

Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke.

Present.

Council Member Holton. Present. Council Member Jones. Here. Council Member Meyer. Council Member Samuel.

Present.

Council Member Witten.

Here.

Mayor Richardson.

Can I have a motion to excuse Council Member Meyer and Mayor Richardson? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Let us start with our Pledge of Allegiance. I've asked Council Member Witten to help us with that today.

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

I am very excited for the presentations we have today. They're wonderful. We're going to start. Chief Pilcher, I believe, is going to introduce. Pardon me. I love the agenda. You know, that's a good one. Let's approve our agenda. Can I approve our agenda?

Second. So moved. Sorry. Second.

Great. Let's see. And we'll need a consent vote on that. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great. OK. Now, because I'm really excited about the presentations, we'll get into those. Chief, come on up. We'll start with the first one.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem and City Council. It's my pleasure tonight to introduce a number of officers, including a four-legged one for the police department. So I'll start this evening with Officer Smith and his partner. Officer Smith has been in law enforcement for 11 years and has served in various roles, including patrol, field training officer, street crimes, and as an instructor in numerous different positions. His partner, K9 Cody, is a two-year-old Belgian Malinois raised in the Netherlands, selected for his high drive and sociable demeanor. For the past several months, they have been living and training together and have logged over 400 hours of training as they prepare to certify as a patrol K9 team. I'll also add two other things. This is a commitment not only by Officer Smith, but his family, because Cody lives with them all the time. So he's now part of their family. Another thing I'd like to point out is the cooperation, another example of the cooperation between our organization and allied organizations around here. We do not have a significant cultural history within our organization for canine handlers. And so going down and choosing the proper canine was an important step. And the Pasco Police Department was kind enough to volunteer one of their experienced canine handlers who flew down to Southern California and spent a few days down there while they made the choice in helping us out. And that's just one example of the cooperation that we do get from our allied agencies and hope we always reciprocate in that case. But again, that's Officer Smith and his partner, Cody.

Thanks, Matt. Thank you and welcome.

Next I'll start with officers that we've recently hired, and then also five of those you're gonna meet this evening graduated from the academy this morning. So they're very excited to be out of that. It's now my time to tell them that the hard part comes FTO, not just the academy, but perhaps they know that. I'll start with Darius Bunch. Darius grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and Beaufort, Georgia, and went on to earn his bachelor's degree from West Liberty University. A dedicated athlete, he competed as a collegiate wrestler and became a three-time All-American. After completing his degree, he spent four years coaching college wrestling and continues to give back to the sport as a volunteer coach with Kamiakin High School Wrestling. Darius moved to the Tri-Cities in 2025 to be closer to his girlfriend and is enjoying building his life in the community. In his free time, he enjoys walking, weightlifting, and spending time with family. Thank you, Darius. Leo Gallardo. Leo was born in Argentina and later moved with his family to Mattawa, Washington, where he attended high school. After graduation, Leo relocated to Utah, where he spent more than 15 years in the oil and gas industry before transitioning to education. In addition to a civilian career, Leo proudly served in the Air Force Reserve as an emergency and training manager. In his role, he worked as part of a team that directly responded to emergencies and managed training for more than 130 military personnel. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and children and grandson. He is also actively involved in his church where he serves in various roles. Thank you, Leo. Clayton Rice. Originally from Vermont, Clayton moved to Washington at age 16 and went on to proudly serve five years in the United States Marine Corps after enlisting in 2008. After his military service, Clayton made the Tri-Cities home in 2013 and built a strong professional background in the heavy equipment industry, working as a diesel mechanic, low-boy driver, and in equipment sales. Now a Richland resident, Clayton lives here with his wife and three children and is excited to return to public service and give back to the community he calls home.

Thank you, Clayton.

Jay Ioama. Officer Ayoama was born and raised in Kennewick and has called the Tri-Cities home for most of his life. He brings four years of experience from Coyote Ridge Corrections and is a proud United States Marine Corps veteran. Jay has lived in the Tri-Cities with his wife since 2019 and enjoys road trips, camping with family and friends, and bringing their dog along for adventure.

Thank you.

Mason Martinelli. Mason grew up in North Bend, Washington, and recently made the move to Richland. He brings experience from working as a security officer at a Swedish hospital in Seattle, along with hands-on work as part of a crawl space and attic cleanup and reinstallation crew. Outside of work, Mason enjoys fishing, golfing, camping, and off-roading with friends, and he's excited to explore everything the Tri-Cities has to offer. Thank you, Mason. Cassie Martinez. Officer Martinez began her public service career in 2020 with the Department of Correction, serving as a community corrections officer before pursuing her goal of becoming a police officer. In 2021, she joined the West Richland Police Department, where she proudly served the community for more than three years. Cassie brings a strong educational background to the Richland Police Department, holding a bachelor's degree in social sciences with an emphasis in criminal justice, psychology, and business administration. When she's not serving the community, Cassie enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and seeking out new outdoor adventures and experiences.

Thank you.

Finally, the Richland Police Foundation has some gifts for our new members this evening. We'll be giving them out in the lobby, but I wanted to give the president of the Richland Police Foundation a moment to just say a few words. So I'm asking Christine Ortega to come on up.

Thank you, Chief Pilcher. Good evening to the City Council and to the officers. On behalf of the Richland Police Foundation, we extend our warmest welcome and reaffirm our ongoing commitment to supporting the Richland Police Department. As a token of our appreciation and community spirit, the foundation is pleased to present each of you with a welcome basket filled with items generously provided by local businesses and organizations. We hope it offers a small yet meaningful introduction to our vibrant community. Thank you for your dedication to serving Richland. We look forward to working together to strengthen the safety and wellbeing of our community. Thank you.

Thank you again for this opportunity to make these introductions. We'll all step out so the council can continue with this agenda. Thank you.

Thank you and really welcome to the city. I hope that here and their graduation and the foundation, everyone has been able to express that we genuinely appreciate you being here and we support you and we care about you. Welcome to Richland. Thanks, Chief.

Thank you.

Isn't it wonderful to have all the families, especially the little ones? That just makes my day. This is great. The next part of our presentation is we're going to have a proclamation about America 250 and our month of proclamation. I'm going to bring this proclamation down to Wendy, I believe, here. Give just a moment. Come on up. I feel underdressed. This is wonderful. Yeah, more than that. A few of them. This is great. Thank you. And thank you. So this proclamation says, whereas on July 4th, 2026, the United States of America will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking two and a half centuries of liberty, democracy, and the enduring principle that all people are created equal. And... Whereas, following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established a framework for territorial governance and the admission of new states to the Union, laying the foundation for the eventual creation of the State of Washington in 1887. and whereas in 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson traveled along the Columbia River through area that would one day become Richland linking our communities to the earliest of the American Republic and westward exploration and Whereas the city of Richland was established as a town site in 1905 incorporated as a city in 1910 and attained a first-class city status in 1958 and And whereas as Richland holds a unique place in American history, having been selected by the United States Army in 1943 as the home of the community for Hanford Engineering Works, where scientists, engineers, and workers made critical contributions to the Manhattan Project that helped bring the end of World War II to a close. and shape the course of freedom for future generations. And, whereas the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, founded in 1890 in the non-political women's service organization whose members are lineal descendants of the patriots of the American Revolution, and whose Columbia River chapter was organized on March 17th, 1949, continuing a tradition of historic preservation, education, and patriotism within our community. And, Whereas the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence provides an opportunity to reflect upon our nation's history, honor the contributions and sacrifices of generations of Americans, and renew our commitment to the democratic ideals upon which the United States was founded. Now therefore, on behalf of Theresa Richardson, and by the power vested in her as the Mayor of the City of Richland, I do hereby proclaim July 2026 as America 250 month in the City of Richland. And the witness thereof, I have here unto, oh, yes. Actually, well, I have here to set my hand and cause to fix this, the official seal of the City of Richland on this Wednesday 16th of June 2026.

Congratulations. This is so exciting to celebrate.

This is wonderful. Great. Come on up. You can have... That's okay. Do you want a picture too?

Randy, could you take a picture of them?

Or Drew? Got it? Wonderful. It is a great day. Let's continue with our public hearing portion. Clerk Rogers, can you read the portion on public hearings and public comments?

The purpose of a public hearing is to give the audience an opportunity to address council members concerning the subject for which a hearing is convened. This process is an official on-the-record communication geared toward giving city council information and opinions to consider in its decision-making process. While Council welcomes hearing from you, please know that the public hearing process is not designed for interactive dialogue with Council members or for posing questions expecting an immediate response. Many questions require an opportunity for research and deliberation. For this reason, Council will not provide immediate responses to comments, questions, or concerns raised during hearing. To provide an orderly process, audience members who wish to speak should raise your hand and wait to be acknowledged by the mayor pro tem, approach a lectern when invited to do so, begin by clearly stating your full name and address for the official record, and after speaking, write your name and address on the record sheet. To ensure every participant an opportunity to be heard, public hearing comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker. The public comment period, where the audience is allowed to comment on agenda items or other topics, follows the same guidelines with a slight difference that speakers are to announce their full name and their city of residence before speaking. For this section, each speaker will be limited to two minutes to present their comments. The time prompter placed on the lectern will alert each speaker with an amber light when 15 seconds remain. To signal the end of a speaker's time to speak, a red light will flash and a buzzer will sound. In the interest of time, Council asks that you do not duplicate comments already made by another speaker. Instead, please confirm your agreements with statements previously made. Council also asks that speakers conduct themselves respectfully so that all participants feel welcome and have an opportunity to be heard. Please avoid interruptions, personal attacks, or disruptive behavior. When appropriate, the mayor pro tem may refer certain topics raised during the public comment period to deputy city manager for additional review and action. Please note that if a speaker intends to provide counsel with any documents as part of a presentation, the documents must be handed directly to the city clerk for distribution. And the purpose of tonight's public hearing is to is to consider the proposed surplus and authorizing relinquishment of a storm sewer easement lying within 608 Williams Boulevard, resolution number 202683. Thank you.

Thank you, Jen. So I'll open up the public hearing for 202683 at 617. Is there anyone here that would like to provide comment on this? Okay, we'll close that as at 617 as well. And now we'll open it up to our public comment portion. I'll open that up at 617. Is there anyone here that would like to provide public comment? Yes, go ahead first.

I'm here really tonight because I'm concerned about our dealing with Atlas Agro. And I wanted to go through everything we know that has happened to date involving this company. It was founded in 2021 in Switzerland at about the time that President Joe Biden was promoting the green hydrogen projects to the tune of about $7 billion. So this company that was formed at about that time had some executives had some people who'd worked on conventional fertilizer plants and they jumped right on it hey you know United States is subsidizing this and let's get over there and get part be a part of it so so all of a sudden you know we they turn up they also get at this point in time this company gets an investment from an Australian investment firm for three hundred and twenty five million dollars and as far as I can tell that's the only any money they've gotten I could find no other no other information in the internet about any other funding for this this this organization so Richland decides in 2024 this is booming along now hey let's go go go and decides to give them 20 million dollar tax break to Atlas Agro for this fertilizer plant And at the time, the firm didn't make any bones about the fact they couldn't even produce the fertilizer without at least a $1 a unit subsidy for everything they turned out. So it was totally dependent on subsidies and grants and all this to get going. So in 2025, we get a whole new president. He starts cutting programs, and that one was one of the first ones that went. Seven million, gone. So Atlas Agro in 2025, oh, also they have another project that's at about the same point in time as ours, exactly, in Brazil. And in December they were advertising for funding for it because it needs 1 million down there and they're in exactly the same spot down there that we are up here. They haven't advanced any further. So this company has never completed a project in its whole existence. So now they want 2.1. I want three minutes, please, because that's what everybody else in this town gets. $1.1 billion and $500 million for the data center. Right now they need $2.6 billion. Where is that coming from? I don't know. So anyway, are we going to go down the rabbit hole?

Thank you. Who else? Please.

First off, in defense of Randy doing the three minutes, I was told last year when I asked about the whole three minute thing that if we asked for three minutes, we would be given that. So she wasn't technically entitled to that. That's what Mayor Richardson had told me. Anyways, my name is Connie and I'm a resident of Richland. Councilmembers, I am here yet again to say no to this Atlas Agro data center deal resolution number 2026-84. This project needs 350 megawatts. That's enough electricity for 150,000 homes. Where is all that power coming from? No one has fully explained that. If they take that much, what's left for us? Again, data centers use huge amounts of water in our dry part of Washington. We can't afford to waste on a company that has never built anything. Atlas Agro was founded in 2021. They have not built a single thing, not a fertilizer plant, not a data center, anywhere in the world. First they promised a fertilizer plant, then the grants fell through, and now they're scrambling with this data center as a backup plan. A local newspaper asked, If this is creative or desperate, I say it's desperate. How can we risk our power and our water for a company with a zero track record? I don't trust them and neither should you. They are promising less than 50 permanent jobs for a $500 million project. This is not a good deal for our community, but here's what really worries me. What happens when they walk away? This is a foreign startup with no track record. If they leave in five years because their real plan failed or because they find cheaper power elsewhere, who pays to decommission this facility? And who pays to replace the power and water they took from us? The city manager says we won't be on the hook, but a verbal assurance is not a legal binding contract. Council members, if this falls through after we have already spent money on the BPA engineering work, who pays for that? Or does that come back on Richland taxpayers like me? And one more thing, if they couldn't even get a fertilizer plant off the ground, what makes anyone believe they can run a 350 megawatt data center? I am asking you, vote no on this agreement. Protect Richland's power, our water, and our taxpayers. Show us that you truly care about this community. and not the money.

Thank you. Are there more comments? Yes, in the back there.

Hi, council. I'm Layla Kobiak, 1523 Haynes. I understand that council is excited about the proposed new fertilizer plant and funds for a new police station. I understand that data centers across the nation are considered to be necessary infrastructure. My concern is that data centers are being built rapidly and with very little regulation for quality control and environmental impact. Our city was built as a result of the wild west of the atomic age. We made a very big mess. We are still cleaning up this mess. Surely we know better than to rush into another big mess. I request that council slow the pace of the project to allow for regulation to be put into place with consideration for the quality of life of the residents. Bridgeland is an awesome community with a strong economy. Let's not be so hasty. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate your comments. Are there others? Yes. Let's go, sorry, in the back row first, and we'll come to you next.

Hi, I'm Natalie Williams, and I'm a Pasco resident and 99301. I will write my address on the paper. I'm wanting to come in to support everyone that is worried about the data centers coming in. I'm mainly worried about the future of our water and the pollution of our water. I'm understanding that there's way more other things, but that's the part that really scares me the most is that our habitats or our aquifers or whatever, I'm not sure all the things that could go involved, but there's wastewater that comes with these and there's high water usage. So I just want to make sure that we understand. Oh, and then the heat. There's a lot of heat that's produced. So I'm trying to follow along the science and trying to figure this all out. And there might be, maybe down the road, maybe 10 years from now, maybe there'll be safe ways of doing this. But for right now, it doesn't seem safe. Thank you.

Really appreciate your comments. Thank you. Yes, I believe you were next.

Hi, my name's Jamie Stayrook. I'm a Richland resident and I will put my address on there. Okay, I'm going to begin tonight with what may seem like off-topic history facts, but the parallels will soon be easy to draw. As early as the 1920s, manufacturers of asbestos knew their products caused negative health impacts, but there were millions of dollars of potential profit at stake and they said nothing. The EPA did not even do a sweeping ban until 1989. The continuing consequence of entrusting cutthroat corporations who care more for profits than people's lives each year kills 255,000 people who die from asbestos-related illnesses. Will data centers be history repeating itself? As you can imagine, what disturbs me most about data center development is the lack of long-term health impact studies. As our elected officials, not jeopardizing the health of your city's citizens should be a bare minimum requirement. Yet with all the potential negative health consequences data centers have shown nationwide, Atlas Argo is still being considered by you and there are no long-term health impact studies to be seen. Worse yet, Atlas Argo is a foreign company with zero experience building and maintaining a data center. Health consequences related to data center development from companies with experience include Memphis, Tennessee now has an F in air quality post Elon Musk data center, Amazon's closed loop system contaminated the water in Boardman, and Meta turned the water brown in Morgan County, Georgia. We in Richland have yet to hear a full detailed plan for water consumption and safety from Atlas Argo. An additional hidden hazard is the very understudied infrasound, which are sounds you can feel but not hear. They have been shown to cause depression, migraine, diminished cardiac function, hemorrhage, and developmental disorders. In Children, there's an apartment complex as well as a daycare roughly 1.2 miles away from Atlas Argo sites. These residents and children do not deserve to be guinea pigs for big tech, nor do any residents in our city. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Who else? Who else? Yes, go ahead.

Hello, my name is Heather Sheldon. I will be writing my address on that as well. Thank you for your time this evening, City Council. I am here to request you deny and turn away any data center applications or pushing for the production of data centers. Since I know you as a whole will refuse to do so, I would like to urge a minimum one year moratorium on data center building and planning. While I do not need to have a reason or statistics To request this, as I know our general population would side with me on this, I will give you a few as a courtesy. Agro Atlas has never successfully erected any building, much less a data center. Their intentions to build a fertilizer factory or a data center, or both, feels like a plot to poison our land and our people. We should not be forced to pick a poison from a company that does not have our community's best interests in mind. Our aquifers are struggling to support our growing population. And a data center should not be given access to what little potable water we have. We should also not be doing business with a company that does not have any successes to tout especially with Agro Atlas, as previously stated, being established since 2021. Five years, no successes. Why would we do business with that? What business is to be done with a company that has nothing to prove? May I remind you who your elected officials. The town of Festus, Missouri recalled half of their city council who decided to push through a $6 billion data center despite the general public's objections. If you too would love to be greeted with the opportunity of being recalled, then please go forward with the pushing forward of this horribly planned data center and or fertilizer factory, despite not knowing the environmental, economical, and health impacts this wonderful community that you serve will suffer. Otherwise, I strongly suggest you put forth and vote on a minimum one year moratorium. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. I see we have another in the back row.

Hi, I'm Paul Fraser, Richland resident. I'll write my address down. I also am opposing resolution 2026-84. And the one thing that no one's really brought up, they've talked about the power usage. But in data center communities across the country, utility rates have gone up between 8% and 242%. We're doing something that's creating very small amount of jobs that's going to make the cost of living for our whole community higher. And then also, there are environmental effects that a lot of people have alluded to, but the use of water seems deeply troubling for this project. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. They're appreciated. Who else? Are there others? Yes, in the back. Go ahead.

Hello, I'm Carrie. I'm a resident of Richland. I don't really have anything specific additional to add. In addition to the comments already made, but I would like to say that I also am here to oppose any data centers in Richland or its environs and the fertilizer plant as well. I think these businesses are creating very few jobs the money it that they will produce is going to benefit very few people and the risks are something that is going to affect all of us as richland residents especially our children and our grandchildren with the huge environmental impacts that especially the data centers carry so i think we need to really take a hard, hard look at long-term risk over short-term benefit for very few people.

Thank you. I appreciate your comments. Yes, over here.

Hi, my name is Donna Davis, and I'm a resident

If you were at the mic, people that are online can hear you better. That would be great.

I'm a resident of Richland. I own property. I own a number of investment properties. And I wanted to show you, if you can see this, this is my new grandbaby. And she's adorable. She is three months old. And this proposition that you guys are wanting to do is going to completely affect her. And all of you that have kids, it's going to affect your kids. And all of you that you have grandkids, it's going to affect your grandkids. Thank you.

Thank you.

Who else?

Yeah, go ahead in the back.

Hi.

I'm Angie Merlot. I live on Saint Street here in Richland. I'm a crier. I'm afraid these are just going to kill our property values. I have worked my tail off to pay off my house. This will kill the property value of my house. I've been a teacher for 25 years. For why? You're going to flush that down the toilet. All my money, all my hard work. Please say no. Nobody wants this. Nobody. Nobody. Thank you.

Thank you. Who else? Do we have more? Yes, please, right here. Yeah.

I'm sorry, I don't have anything prepared. I wasn't planning on speaking. And I'm from West Richland, but it affects me too. And I just want to remind everyone that if you vote for this data center, you have betrayed everyone in this community. And if you do this, you have put all of us at risk. You've put the kids at risk. We are the most toxic Superfund site in the country because of Hanford. I was born deformed. I know lots of people that have health problems. You are just duplicating that again for the next generation. I'm a millennial. There's nothing left life. And for me, we got screwed a long time ago. But we're trying to save the next generation. Please don't do to them. Part of what was done to us. So please, please vote no. And if you do vote for this, you've betrayed your office, your people, and the country.

Thank you for your comments. Who else? Yeah, we'll go here, and then we'll come next.

Hi there, my name is Sheldon Miller. I'll throw my address on there. I tried doing some searches for what this data center is gonna be all about, and it was very vague and hard to read through. And all I'm hearing about data centers going out throughout the US is mostly just AI data centers, which if you're familiar with coding, the more recent AI stuff is actually more inefficient. So the fact that they need these bigger data centers, it's like if you punch in two plus two on a calculator, it can just instant call it. But like an AI data center is like asking it what's two plus two and using the entire power in your home because instead of just giving you math, it searches everything in the data center. It's got like the worst written coding for call and function that like a lot of programmers have seen. So they're horribly inefficient. And I'm just generally opposed to if it is an AI dentist center, absolutely. But as far as normal data centers are concerned, we already have plenty. It's just not really efficient. I've heard the other side of the argument. The only positive thing anyone in the entire community I've ever heard say positively in this notion is it took us a few tries to get to the moon. But I feel like that's even a bad comparison because at least when we were trying to get to the moon people were forward thinking not leaning back on the ai asking the ai how to make itself more efficient watching it become less efficient and then just being like the ai said it's got to be right so i think it's a horrible idea for richland to try and pull on a data center so thank you so i think there was another here

OK. My name is Kayla Madsen, and I am a resident of Richland. And I'll write my address down on the form. And I just want it to be on the record that I agree with everything that's been said about the data centers. I strongly oppose them. And I would just like to ask all of you what the health and safety of our community, of your kids, your grandkids, your friends, what all of the beautiful you know, the things to do in our community from the river, from the parks, like what are those all worth to you? Our agriculture business is massive. It's beautiful and wonderful and what happens to that when that goes down the drain? When there's no clean drinking water, when the air is polluted, when our temperatures rise, when people's houses that they've worked their whole life to buy and are so excited about and have just paid off, what happens when they're useless and no one wants to buy them and the resale value is terrible. These are things that have massive consequences and I feel like it's not being thought through well enough. I think that there's not enough research being done on it and I strongly feel that this will negatively impact every single person in our community and everyone's just focused on short-term gain and not focusing enough on the long-term, the detrimental impacts that will have and will persist for decades hundreds of years. Just like people have said with Hanford, everyone pushed forward with that, didn't fully understand it. And then now we're still cleaning it up. And the cancer rates in our area are much higher than other places because no one understood that. And now we are having to deal with that. And that's going to be the same exact thing with this if you guys move forward with this. So I strongly urge you all to please think about the people who you are elected to serve and protect and just everybody's well-being in our community. And so thank you for your time.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Who else would like to speak? Yeah, right here.

Hello, my name is Adrian Davis. I live in Richland. I'll put my address down. Everybody's been, you know, commenting on the watering. I just want to expand on that. Our agricultural grow zone has become a zone hotter, which means we will be using more water. Our already struggling water table will be further stressed by this. With Hanford, we are consistently finding and cleaning up leaks, spills, things that happened long ago that we thought we'll fix it in the future. And we are trying to, but our water table is struggling. And what happens when you increase that workload on something that's already practically at its wit's end? The math doesn't add up. We are Richland. We have many neighbors that are farming communities. We can think about ourselves and we need to think as human beings about our neighbors. So please, don't put an AI data center here. Don't put a data center here. We know the trouble that they cause for the local water tables and rivers and lakes and the water pressures and the clean water and the tainted water. We already know this. Please don't bring it here.

Thank you. I thought I saw another. Was there another hand? I think he was up, and then we'll come up here. Yes, go ahead.

My name is Chad Williams. I'm a Pasco resident, but I feel very strongly about this subject, about the data centers. And frankly, we take water for granted. We're a first world country. I've been in third world countries and I've lived there. And the things that you have to do to be able to make your water potable is not something that I want my children to have to deal with. Right and so right now we don't think about those things because we have and we take it for granted. We've all talked about all the the resources that we have and that could be taken away as well as health and another big one was the was the financial aspects of this too and my one of my big thoughts to all of this is well who benefits from this data center? It's certainly not the residents. The residents don't gain much from this at all so who who really gains from this agreement right here and so i think that this particular agreement have followed through with would really be like treating a frostbitten toe by amputating an entire leg and so i don't think that this is going to i really don't think this is going to benefit the residents at all and i think this will be a be a stain on richland's history and i think it'll be something that is regretted or uh if if it's followed through with and so i'd urge upon the the well-meaning commissioners and council folks to be able to do what is correct for your residents, for your constituents, please, because we count on you guys to make good decisions and we appreciate y'all when you do good decisions, okay? Just think about your family and think about those people that'll come behind all of us. When we're dead and gone, the rest of our posterity are going to need to be able to count on you to have made decisions for them. Thank you. Thank you.

Yes, go ahead.

Marina Ronnie, Richmond, Washington. I used to teach my students in American history class to always follow the money. And I've always thought since this began that it was very interesting that Richland has said that they're planning to pay for the new police station headquarters with $20 million from the proceeds of a sale that's still pending. And I'm wondering what kind of motivation other than making money from the sale of that land. the City Council has. I would love to hear each one of you explain what your personal reasoning is for even wanting this to happen, but sometimes I imagine it's just money from the sale of the land. So that's all I had to say. And I just think it's interesting that you've already said, already earmarked the money from the sale of this land to go build the new police headquarters. I think that's putting the cart before the horse.

Thank you for your comments. Are there others? Happy to take more. Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke, members of the council, I'm Sean O'Brien. I'm a resident of Kennewick, but a proud former resident of Richland. It's good to be with you all this evening. I've been listening very intently to all of the remarks tonight because if I was just tuning in for the first time as a a member of the community, I would think that you all were deciding tonight on whether you were voting for or against a data center. It's my understanding that the resolution before you this evening is simply to move forward on what is actually a transmission line for economic development and power for the city as a whole. And it's simply an agreement process with the Bonneville Power Administration that you all are considering which would set the way for economic development, power growth, to power our community for many years to come. So I would just encourage you all to, I recognize there's a lot of strong emotions. I think it's really important that we have this community dialogue. And forgive me, I didn't identify myself. I am the executive director of the Tri-Cities Energy Forward Alliance, a subsidiary of Tridec, our local economic development organization. We have been strong supporters of the Atlas Agro fertilizer plant. an incredibly innovative project to provide clean fertilizer for our nation's farmers for years to come. Again, I hear a lot of emotion tonight. I think it's important that we have these opportunities to engage in this dialogue, but I also want to make sure that we recognize tonight is simply regarding a piece of the process regarding building a transmission line. to help power our community. And really, the data center conversation, I think, is one that's going to continue on for many years to come. I think we have an incredible amount of expertise right down the road at Pacific Northwest National Lab, where I think we could continue to lean on the experts when it comes to the actual scientific data and any impacts of that that kind of growth. So just really appreciate your consideration this evening of this important step forward on making sure that we have the power needed for our community, let alone all of the other projects that come with it. Thanks so much.

Thank you. Are there other comments? We have one back here, but I think I'll pass. I do like his enthusiasm. Okay, I think with that, we'll close our public comments at 649. Maybe just on a personal note, I appreciate community involvement. We don't see that enough of people that come and care and we really do genuinely appreciate you coming and caring. Thank you. We'll move on to city clerk Rogers, would you read our consent calendar, please?

Items on the consent calendar have been distributed to the City Council in advance for reading and study, are considered to be routine, and will be enacted by one motion of the Council with no discussion. Council members may transfer individual items to items of business for deliberation before voting. Starting with the minutes, we have the approval of the June 2, 2026 City Council regular meeting minutes. There are no ordinances for first reading. Ordinance for second reading and passage include ordinance number 202613 rezoning approximately 8.38 unplatted acres identified as parcel number 134982010595008 from agriculture to medium density residential small lots and limited business. Ordinance number 202614 amending the 2026 budget to provide for additional appropriations in various city funds. Under Resolutions for Adoption, we have Resolution Number 202679, Accepting Surface Transportation Block Grant Funds for the Gage Boulevard and Leslie Road Intersection Improvements Project and Transportation Alternative Program Grant Funds for the Systemic Pedestrian Crossing Safety Improvements Phase 2 Project. Resolution Number 202680, Authorizing a Service Agreement with InfoSend, Inc. for Utility Bill Print and Mail Services. Resolution number 202681 awarding commercial facade improvement grant funds to the Downtown Business Improvement District for improvements to 710 the Parkway. Resolution number 202682 authorizing a grant application to the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office for improvements at the Horn Rapids Athletic Complex. Resolution number 202685, authorizing an interagency agreement with the Washington State Department of Ecology for waste tire removal funds. Resolution number 202686, authorizing addendum number three to the 2017 Metro Interlocal Agreement. And then lastly, expenditures for approval. We have the expenditures from May 1, 2026 to May 31, 2026 for $41,007,129.21. Thank you.

Thank you. Council, are there any items that we would like to pull for further business? Okay, if there's no items to be pulled, I need a motion and a second. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Second.

Wonderful. We'll need a roll call for that. And Jen, can you help us with that?

Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke. Aye. Excuse me. Council Member Holton. Aye. Council Member Jones. Yes. Council Member Samuel. Aye. And Council Member Whitten.

Aye.

Thank you.

Thank you. That was a unanimous vote, and that concludes our consent agenda. We would now like to move on to items of business. Our first item is ordinance number 202615, amending chapter 9.12 of our original new municipal code related to miscellaneous crimes to add to RMC 912.140, failure to supervise a child unlawful. I think Chief Pilcher is here and has an opportunity to answer any further questions. We did discuss this in our last meeting, and this will be a second reading, but it's an opportunity to just see if there's any clarifications. Counsel, are there any further questions or comments?

Go ahead, Ryan. I would just like to say that I fully support this. My position hasn't changed. I still see that, in my opinion, 912.140A, Section 2, the first half of this sentence, the failure to exercise proper parental control of a child 12 years of age or younger by leaving a child without adult supervision for an unreasonable period of time is a little bit ambiguous and causing quite a bit of consternation amongst the public and our constituents, and I think it's unnecessary. I would gladly support this with the first half of that section stricken. That's all I have to say.

Are there further comments? Pat?

Well, people who have contacted me have worried about getting arrested for their children walking to school, things like going to the park, going to the grocery store. But it clearly says the child violating any law of the United States. And so I think for the most part, they are satisfied that people that are responsibly allowing their child to do responsible things are not a concern.

going to be arrested for this. Sure. Chief, do you have any responses or any clarifications to what's been expressed?

I do have some clarification. And actually, the reasonable standard is used very commonly throughout law. And I can read some wording from child neglect from the RCW. Under Washington state law, child neglect involves a pattern of conduct, behavior, or inaction that demonstrates a serious disregard for consequences. and poses a clear and present danger to the child's health, welfare, and safety. The legal system evaluates these factors to assess the reasonableness of a parent's action. I do believe it's important to have a reasonableness clause in this because the amount of time a child who's 11 years old can be left unattended and unsupervised is far different than the amount of time that a two-year-old can be left unattended and so this allows officers to and requires officers to present some context as to why they've taken this action. This is very common in law enforcement in both the use of force and another example are vehicle pursuits. The RCW mandates restrictions on vehicle pursuits, but does allow them. Within law enforcement, however, it's incumbent upon an officer and a supervisor to then explain why they continue to pursue. And there's a wide variety of circumstances that influence that. It could be everything from weather to traffic to the severity of the offense. The same applies here, taking into context why a child and under what circumstance a child was unsupervised. And again, as I say, that's very different between an 11 year old and a two year old. And so placing some sort of very specific timeframe on it would, let's say hypothetically, it was 15 minutes. I'm not advocating that or saying that's reasonable. I'm just saying that that would be an example. Then the question would be what changed between minute 14 and minute 15? And then at that point, an officer would have to provide an explanation. Instead here, that is written into the RMC that an explanation, context, reason for the action must be articulated so that the reasonableness standard can be met. And so I do believe it is important under these circumstances.

Thank you, Chief. Further comments?

Yeah. Brian? We can assure our constituents that this unreasonable standard isn't just something that's going to be a whimsical. This is something that is applied throughout law enforcement and is established by case law and other procedures. So this isn't going to be something that's just a seat of the pants on the whim of whatever officer is there at the time. So our constituents can be assured that they're not going to be arrested for allowing their kids to go play at the park, or like I was when I was a kid, allowed to bicycle all over town with just a bunch of my friends completely unsupervised, even though we probably did put ourselves in some less than safe situations. I just want to be able to ensure to our constituents that those fears are invalid.

That is correct. We are not going to be arresting people for allowing their children to go play in the park. And as the RMC states, it has also a connection with criminal activity. An example, a child is unsupervised and is committing an act of graffiti. then we would then take that child, recontact the parents, and also issue a warning to that parent. And that warning will have a clear explanation of why, but also will have resources that can be provided to that parent to help them under those circumstances. Further, we've had lengthy conversations with our city prosecutor to ensure that indeed this is properly worded, they are prepared to take steps and enforcement if necessary, but also a clear understanding that it has to be a reasonable act and enforcement action and arresting a parent because their child's playing at the park is inherently unreasonable.

Chief, is it possible to give a few more examples just for context of what things it would not be or would be applicable to? There has been a lot of understandable passion about this. Maybe some more examples of what wouldn't this be applicable to or what an officer probably wouldn't pursue in reasonableness.

Well, for instance, the discussion of a child walking to school. Again, there is no criminal connection to that whatsoever. Actions by children that are normal, reasonable, that we're all accustomed to, and that do not entail any kind of criminal action. And the fear that the parent is going to then be arrested is not our intent. we would then recontact that parent or contact that parent and issue the warning so that they would understand why we're making contact, why we've taken the steps we have, and so that they can then be aware of it and then comply. And that is our goal, is not to either issue citations to children or to arrest parents.

Are there further comments?

I would just like to say I think my questions have been satisfied.

Okay, great.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved. Second.

This requires a roll call. Jen, can you help us with the roll call, please?

Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke? Aye. Councilmember Holton? Aye. Councilmember Jones? Yes. Councilmember Samuel? Yes. Councilmember Whitten?

Aye. Thank you, Chief, and thanks, Council. I appreciate it. All right, we are on to item of business number 202683, and this is declaring surplus and authorizing relinquishment of a stormwater easement lying within 608 Williams Boulevard. Carlo is here with this. I'll turn it over to you, sir.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem and Council. So this resolution is to authorize surplus and relinquishment of an easement. just as a matter of background earlier this year council passed a resolution authorizing a stormwater reimbursement agreement with hapo at this location for them to install a stormwater line in order to avoid or in order to move the stormwater away from their building that they were planning on building. There is an existing easement there that allows a structure to be placed on top of some critical infrastructure, being the stormwater line. And part of this was sort of correcting the mistakes of the past and getting that stormwater out of from being under that building. So in that stormwater reimbursement agreement, the city said we would relinquish the existing stormwater easement at that location upon completion of the relocated stormwater facility and that HAPO would grant us an easement for the relocated stormwater line. So the stormwater line is still staying on the property, just not under a building. And now HAPO has installed that line and the city has accepted its installation and the abandonment of the old line. And this is the location. In yellow, that's where the old line was, right under that building. And even though it was demolished and a new building put in its place, it was put in that exact same location. And the new line is the one highlighted in blue around the building. That is the location of the new stormwater line. So the public hearing was held this evening and no comments were heard from the public. The new easement has already been prepared. So in conjunction with this relinquishment, when we file the relinquishment with the county, the new easement will also be filed with the county at the same time. So staff is recommending declaring surplus and authorizing the relinquishment of the stormwater easement line within 608 Williams Boulevard.

Thank you, Carlo. Are there questions or comments from council? I have one, actually. These happen every so often. How is the process for our citizens to be able to go through and request this? How's that going?

It's going okay. So one of the things that we've changed from previous years is that we've now combined as trying to combine as many relinquishments into one council meeting as possible. So on a quarterly basis, we're bringing all of our relinquishment requests that happened in that quarter that staff can reasonably recommend to council. We're putting them all together. So sometimes some residents need to wait We get a lot of relinquishment requests and a lot of times we cannot recommend relinquishing it one because there is an existing utility in the easement and we still need that authorization to be there and or we do have a future project planned that requires us to keep that easement for some reason. And so those are times that we would deny it at the staff level and not even bring it to council because because of those reasons. And in the cases that we can approve it, we do cycle it around all staff that have utilities for their comments. And then we do bring it to council if we do get affirmative answers from all of the utilities.

I understand the batching quarterly. What's the typical timeframe of a citizen expressing a concern about an easement to resolution-ish?

It could be in a matter of days if we get a really quick turnaround from staff. It could be a few weeks if there is a more complicated issue at play. This one was, in particular, this one was more complicated because it required some actions to be done before we could recommend a relinquishment to council. between the time we get the request and the time that we actually say yes we can bring it to council it it's usually within a couple weeks thank you appreciate that other thoughts other comments from council all right can I have a motion I move that we accept resolution number 2026-83 second

Wonderful. Roll call vote is needed. Oh no, this is a consent, excuse me. We can do consent on this one. So all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That's unanimous. Thank you, Carlo. Clint, I think you're up. We're going to address resolution 202684. I'll let you read through it. While he's going, it's okay, I'll read the name of this one. This one is authorizing reimbursable agreement with Bonneville Power Association for engineering procurement activities associated with the line and load interconnection request on number L0534 Atlas Agro and a BPA second cost allocation agreement with Atlas Agro Data Energy LLC.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Council members, yes, tonight this item, business item, is on two agreements. They pertain to transmission line agreements with Bonneville and Atlas Agro, and they are identified in Resolution 202684. So how did we get here? In 2015, there was a DOE land conveyance of 1641 acres from the city to the excuse me, from DOE to the City of Richland to the Port of Benton and an additional 300 acres to Energy Northwest. 2021, we also identified this Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park as part of the targeted urban area for the city's strategic priorities of economic development. Where is the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park, NASEP? It is shown here in yellow, and this comprises the 1,641-acre area. And then on the right-hand side also, you can see the area in the red and black dashed area, that's the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park within the city limits and urban growth area. The three areas down below in green are the areas that two on the left, Atlas Agro has land option on, and the one on the right is the one that is identified for the Atlas Agro's Pacific Green Fertilizer Facility, and that's on Port Abenton land. This is not the first reimbursable agreement for transmission that has come before Council. In 2023, Council considered a preliminary engineering agreement with Bonneville, and that was to do the 5% engineering as well as a a partner agreement between the city and Atlas Agro for the cost allocation of that preliminary engineering. With that, Atlas Agro has paid $6.2 million towards the reimbursable agreement. And tonight we have the second engineering and equipment procurement agreement for consideration. And these agreements total of $51.3 million. There's some additional numbers that are identified in the staff report, but they are to continue advancing the transmission line design and order the long lead item materials. That's the extent of the agreements. They don't build a data center and they don't put the parameters on the data center. Why do we need to consider these agreements? You'll recall that electrical equipment has had significant supply chain disruption and the timeframe for receiving electrical equipment of this magnitude for a 500 kV or 230 kV equipment is 200 weeks. So if the equipment was ordered today, it would take 200 weeks, almost the end of 2029 before that equipment would arrive. And so there's a significant amount of time between now and then for additional planning and discussion. So the two agreements tonight the first one is the BPA reimbursable agreement and it's between the city and BPA and then the second companion agreement is the second cost allocation agreement between the city and Atlas Agro. There will be future agreements for funding additional funding for the transmission line construction and design and there'll be additional planning planning agreements as well and I'll talk about those here in a minute. So this slide provides an identification of a draft route for the 500 kV transmission line coming down to the city's northwest advanced clean energy park. It would consist of two 500 kV lines, substation transformers, 500 to 230 kV transformers. And that substation's been identified by Bonneville as called Triton substation. And it would provide 1,300 megawatts of capacity for the city to do economic development and serve loads in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park. So how do the costs flow between these agreements between BPA and the city? So this diagram is supposed to help clarify that. There is a $51.3 million payment that would be made over time, and I'll break down the costs and the timeframe on that, but those would be made as a third-party payment directly to Bonneville. Those payments and those costs would not flow through the city. So the city's costs to Bonneville for these agreements would be zero dollars. We're not planning to pay anything towards these to BPA for these agreements. They are considered a reimbursable agreement with Bonneville and when load is applied If this equipment is all built and constructed and load is applied, if there's enough load that's applied, transmission credits would come back from Bonneville to the city and then the city would plan on reimbursing Atlas Agro for that investment. So what happens if the city or if these payments are not made? That's a question that comes up on this. The way these agreements were written with Bonneville and with Atlas Agro is that they're prepayments. If the payment is not made, the work doesn't get done. The work from Bonneville and the ordering of the materials only happens if the payments have been made. So the city's obligation is only for the work that has been paid, not for any work that hasn't been paid. And I'll pause on that, and I'm sure there'll be some questions on that, but it is, so the whole intent is to eliminate the risk to the city for costs. These timelines are strictly showing for the transmission line and the agreements that are here. The top portion is June 2026, are the two agreements that are being considered by council tonight. And the long lead time materials, LLTM, they are the critical path for all construction going forward of any Atlas Agro data center, any fertilizer, any construction in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park. That timeframe to order for the materials to come in sets all the critical path for anything going forward. And that's why these agreements are before you tonight. The bullets below the June 26 are how the progress payments are to be made, the prepaid progress payments on these agreements and how they're split up between the long lead time materials and then the engineering design portion of it. Bonneville is projecting that they could complete, them and their contractors could complete the design in November of this year for 30% design. But there's additional agreements that will need to come forward before council to continue the design from 30%. to 50% to 100%. And that's the third bullet down. There are going to be future steps for consideration. And I'll talk more about these on the next slide. Last two bullets are talking about the future on this. There are some contingent projects that need to be built and finished before any of Atlas Agro or any of this Triton substation could come online. And that is the South Tri-Cities Reinforcement Project. Bonneville is building that in the Horse Heaven Hills for Weber Canyon substation. It will provide the reinforcement to the Tri-Cities Transmission 115 network that is overloaded. during heavy loads. And so for Triton to come on, Tri-Cities, South Tri-Cities reinforcement needs to be completed and that's scheduled to be completed by Bonneville December of 2028. The last item on the bulletin is what I'm penciling in is if we ordered the equipment today, this is approximately when the long line, excuse me, long lead time materials would arrive. So we're almost talking 2030 time periods for this. There are future agreements that are going to come before us, as well as the definitive agreements that I've mentioned before. Chevrons on the left, you know, they call them chevrons, but, you know, before it kind of looked like a shovel to me, but before that chevron could go in the ground, there's a lot of steps that need to be completed. And what we're talking about today is the transmission line. and that's that first chevron and specifically the first bullet is the cost allocation agreements for the first 30 percent but there would be additional cost allocation agreements that would need to complete the 30 to 100 percent design and then ordering the remaining equipment There would need to be facilities agreements for the construction of it. Power. Power is a big one. And as has been mentioned, the whole Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park is predominantly going to be large loads. And Bonneville has some language that restricts them specifically on large loads. And that's a new large single load and is defined in the 1980 Northwest Power Act. And that was identified as anything over 10 average megawatts. And this this three green areas down there, they represent 350 megawatts, 300 megawatts and 300 megawatts. in them. So they're all well well into the new large single load category. And the Northwest Power Act 1980 Northwest Power Act prohibits any of those any of that power to being provided by or from the the federal hydro system or excuse me for them from the federal resources. And so the power itself can't come from Bonneville, and it can't come from the FCRPS, Federal Columbia River Power System. So each one of these customers that would occupy or build in that NASEP Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park system, would have to bring their own power contracts, provide their own power contracts, and it cannot come from BPA. And the advantage on that is it helps to insulate our customers, our residents from any cost subsidies or cost increases. There are additional retail electric service agreements. Of course, it'd have to be financial security agreements for any power contracts. And then I did want to add this third Chevron over on the left-hand side. There are water agreements, sewer agreements, solid waste agreements, transportation agreements that are all going to have to come before council with regard to development in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park. So there is time to and there will be plenty of council action for consideration on those. There is SEPA, there's NEPA, there's permitting. So many more steps coming. So in summary tonight, we have two agreements, transmission line agreements, one between Bonneville and the city, and the second between the city and Atlas Agro. They're identified by resolution number 2026-84, and I'd answer any questions if there are any.

Thank you, Clint. Are there questions from council? Pat?

Just to clarify, our agreement, are we just saying that they can build these lines on the city property? Is that essentially what it is?

These agreements are to fund Bonneville to design a transmission line and a substation and order the equipment. It doesn't even get into where the transmission lines would be built across the Northwest Clean Energy Park.

But if we're not funding it as a city, why are we voting to fund it?

We are funding the design of the transmission line and the long lead items. We have identified transmission corridors across the Northwest Clean Energy Park for this infrastructure that would be served from the Triton substation to our customers. So this is what allows the transmission to come down to our area, and then we have plans and corridors identified for the transmission lines to be served from the Triton substation to our customers.

But I don't understand, since we're not responsible for funding why we're voting to fund, I guess.

Maybe I'll answer this. The reason why is Atlas Agro cannot be direct served by Bonneville. That's another thing that was eliminated in the 1980 Northwest Power Act is direct served industry. And so for Atlas Agro, data center for anything that's going to go in that Northwest Clean Energy Park. They have to be served through the city of Richland. So we will be the utility that serves those customers and we buy that transmission or that connection through from Bonneville. So we're kind of the middle person between Bonneville and the customers. the serving utility so do we need to pay out this money and then they pay us back or yeah so the money would be would be paid as a third party from atlas agro directly to bpa and then and and then in the future when load is put on as that as that load is is added the bonneville would would reimburse the city with transmission credits. Will it reimburse all of it? Maybe not. It depends on how much load is added. And then those credits would be returned to Atlas Agro through the power bills and transmission bills that we would provide to Atlas Agro and others. Does that make sense?

I'm still a little confused. But the other question is, if they can't get power from BPA, where would they get their power?

That's up to them. I talked with Representative, I think it's Senator Ybarro now, and he lives in Quincy, and he spoke at the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting recently, and he spoke about Microsoft's data center and Quincy, and that they obtained their power from BC Hydro through PowerX and a hydroelectric dam in Canada. So these entities, whether it's the fertilizer facility, whether it's data center, whether it's another entity, they're very creative on where they obtain their power from, and that's their requirement is to obtain the power. cannot come from BPA.

Are you done there? Okay, great. Joanna.

Thank you for the presentation. I think that Maybe it would be easier to explain that we're talking about two different items in here. One is the infrastructure, which is what it's needed to bring in the power. And then the other is the actual power. That's right. Very different things in here. And I think that maybe is a confusion by a lot of people is that here we're just talking about the infrastructure, the poles that we need, transmission that we need to bring that power over to the park. Without those, we cannot bring any power.

That's exactly right.

Now, with Atlas Agro, we don't really care where they bring their power from. All we're trying to do is to have the infrastructure for them to be able to bring that power to their location. Yeah. And so this is the reason why we have to sign, the way we have to sign the documents is because we're not mixing those two things. And I think that maybe is misunderstanding by a lot of people in the community, including me at one point, is the fact that we're thinking it's one and the same, and the power and the infrastructure are very different. We're only talking about what we're building in order to bring the power over. And I think that I hope it helps explain maybe a little bit better.

That's correct. And there are parameters that are on the power. The state has requirements for Clean Carbon Free Commitment Act, the Climate Commitment Act. And it requires low or generate resources, power resources to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2030. and then 100% carbon free by 2045 time period. And so the power that these customers would have to obtain do have to meet the state's requirements for carbon free. yeah and so there are some parameters on that and and we're very fortunate to have we're approximately 90 carbon free now and so it's uh those those requirements the state requirements uh will help uh limit uh where that power comes from it absolutely cannot come from goal coal Coal was eliminated as a power resource for customers in 2025, and so there are other choices, but those are some restrictions on some of the power. But yes, you're right, tonight what we're talking about is transmission, and it is completely different than power.

Yeah, so the other question, the one question I have is, Since we're talking about the infrastructure that we're being, you know, that is going to be designed and built, and let's assume worst-case scenario, something happens and they decide they don't want to go through with the project.

Yeah.

Now we have all this investment that they have paid for because all these items have to be prepaid, as you explained initially. But we have now benefited from all these new wonderful infrastructure to bring in the power to develop our Tua Park and create the economic development that we need. Does that mean that the City of Richland at that point will have to basically pay for that or reimburse them for the cost that they incur for the infrastructure that they will not be utilizing?

there's no reimbursement unless there's the transmission credits okay and so if there's no load then there's no reimbursement yeah and if they don't use it then we benefit goodbye to you thank you very much move on exactly so so what happens if they get to i don't know 30 percent and say yeah we're tapping out we're we're out of here okay um then then the 51.3 million has been invested in this by them and then we can decide whether we want to continue forward. Maybe there's a third party, another entity that comes in and slides in and says I'll finish it or we could do nothing with it.

So there's mostly benefits for the city taxpayer at the end of the day because we could benefit by acquiring or bringing in infrastructure that otherwise we couldn't afford to do over such a short period of time, I guess.

That's the way I see it, too.

OK. So the other question that I have is, this is not related to this. It's mostly in regards to the power load. So they bring in their power. Now we are the ones that are transferring that power. We're going to be, in a way, making taxes on this power that they're bringing from whatever it's coming from. So we're benefiting that way, even though we're not providing the power. BPA won't be providing the power. they are bringing it from, let's say, Texas or California, wherever that may be, we're still going to charge them taxes because we are delivering that to them through the infrastructure that they pay for. Correct.

Yep, you're absolutely right. With us being in the middle on this, if they go out and buy power, they have to reassign it to us so we can put it on the BPA, our contract with it. And I went back to the Chevron here, the second one down, power. There's a retail electric service agreement that had come forward. And so the power that gets sold to or delivered to these customers, we will have a utility occupation tax on that, and that comes into the city.

Yeah, okay. I think that's all. I have questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Ron. Yeah, so from my understanding, Richland is just a middleman because they cannot integrate with BPA. So we have the agreement, but they're making the payments. If they don't make the payments, BPA doesn't do the work. if they decide to back out that's on them and BPA because BPA has the option to absorb the long lead items if they so choose and for other projects that they might use it for so there's no financial liability to the city of Richland and this is just for the design the 30 percent design and long lead items for the power line itself this does not in any way shape or form further data centers specifically.

This is exactly right. You summed it up the way it should be on that. And if the equipment gets ordered and delivered, Bonneville has a couple options on that. They could apply it to another project. There could be another customer that comes in. But this equipment is standard for Bonneville. And there will be many customers that would be happy to take that equipment and not have that long lead time to deal with. Yes. Thank you.

Are there further comments?

So I'm correct in saying that we've been given, Richland has been given this land from Department of Energy. There's basically nothing out there right now. And that these companies will pay to put the transmission lines in to this vacant, very vacant piece of property out there.

That's what we're in the process to do, yes.

Sorry. Good.

Is that all, Pat? Yeah. Okay, good. Todd? Clint, talk just a little bit about the usefulness of the property right now without an additional power resource out there. So is it true that, for the most part, because we're maxed out with regards to capacity in North Richland, that any kind of economic development that we might want to do with the 1,600 acres that we were given it would be really pretty challenging to do that if we don't get some infrastructure out there that enables us to have more electricity infrastructure regardless of whether for whatever kind of economic development we want to do we need to have additional infrastructure otherwise we can't do anything with that that that space is that true

To an extent, yes. It all comes down to what load is going to go in that space. And so that determines what we can do with it. If it was going to be, I don't know, a garden or agriculture, you know, whatever the I'm not sure what the restrictions are on that land use out there. But if it's something that doesn't take load, then there's opportunity for development. But the parcels and the customers that have approached the city have generally been very large loads. And that's the interest in these parcels is large loads. Washington Energy is just north of of this atlas agro area their loads are a little less and and that they they are planned to interconnect to the 115 network outer rather than the 500 or 230 kv network so it really depends on the size of the loads and but they still have restrictions on on being able to interconnect before the south tri-cities reinforcement can be completed

There's been some discussion about trying to build out some additional solar energy generation resource out there. Does that require additional infrastructure? Do we have the infrastructure right now to be able to accommodate a significant increase in solar generation if that was to go forward?

It's a great question. So one of the customers or one of the entities that land was transferred over through the DOE land conveyance was Energy Northwest. They received 300 acres. And I don't know if the mouse works on this. Okay. So you can kind of see it over here, the gray area coming down. So this corner is 300 acres. And that's Energy Northwest parcel that they're identifying for solar. And they're currently working with Bonneville and a developer for solar there. It's about 125 megawatts of solar. And to integrate that in, they had to have to build a new transmission line. and that's been a struggle for them to be able to get it designed, approved through that area, but it's a separate process that's going on in that area. So to answer your question, there is not the infrastructure out there now.

Clint, can you go back to the Chevron slide for a moment? Thank you. As we talked about the 10 average megawatts and the new single large load, can you talk to us about what that means to the electrical rates for our citizens?

Yes, I will. And so above 10 average megawatts, it's considered Bonneville considers it a new large single load. Again, that's identified in the 1980 Northwest Power Act. The customer has to obtain their own power for that load and it The Northwest Power Act explicitly prohibits the Federal Columbia River Power System, FCRPS, from supplying that power. And when a customer has to go buy that power, it's not the city buying the power. And so it would not affect our customers' rates. That customer, Atlas Agro, would have to go buy all that power and then turn it over to reassign it to the city so that we can apply it to their load and as as the middle utility on that so when they bring their own power it's not the city going out and buying it and it does not affect our utility existing utility customers

thank you just staying with that for a minute clarifying my understanding this is an infrastructure agreement to if you build it they will come if you will for all the targeted urban area yeah and then yeah should there be a data center should there be other concerns that we have whether it's I mean and we are listing power usage heat and thermal sound and vibration water intake and effluence are our opportunity to impact that to make no-go no-go decisions and mitigating that risk is further down in that process once we understand what the scope of those of those could be whether it's a data center or whether it's the other industries going out there my understanding is we don't have the scope of what they're doing yet so we can't exactly mitigate the risks of what they're proposing to do because we don't know what they're proposing to do yet is that a reasonable understanding that's my understanding too on this okay and so this is strictly for the transmission line and equipment are there other comments or questions from council Do we have a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second. This is a consent vote. So all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that is a unanimous vote. We are now on to reports and comments. We have our upgraded city manager, Joe, would you like to report out?

Thank you, Upgraded Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke. Two items tonight on behalf of City Manager Amundsen. One is a housekeeping item. I think a note was sent around regarding this month's workshop and there being a lack of agenda items. So that workshop you know having not heard from other council members in objection will be cancelled we can hold this the fifth Tuesday in September which is the 29th as a future workshop item should we decide there's agenda items to consider so we could put that in as a placeholder and depending on workload we can use use that date My second final item is a sponsorship opportunity that's been presented to us from the REACH Museum. They're having their regular free community days this summer, and they're celebrating America 250. And they're offering sponsorships to other agencies, sponsorship would be some inclusion of some advertising, printed materials, a company banner displayed at the events, and 10 general admission passes that we could make available at the library for distribution to residents. And this is for free admission for local residents, exploration of tribal history displays, and several America 250 education programs and family-friendly activities centered on an anniversary theme. There's a $1,000 sponsorship opportunity within City Manager Amundsen's discretion, and if any council member has any concerns about that, discuss them now or email me or John later. Thank you.

Let's start at the end. Council Member Samuel.

City Council, I just, you know, I was thinking about, you know, summertime is starting right now, and it's anytime summertime is here in Richland, it's an exciting time because there are so many things going on, right? And so just I wanted to touch on just a couple things that are going on right now. You know, the 75th anniversary of the Summer Reading Challenge at the Richland Public Library started this month, and which is a long-serving activity, very exciting. You know, George Prout Pool, our pool here in Richland just reopened for the season. The Farmer's Market just restarted this past week. We've got the Cool Desert Nights activity that's coming up. The Party in the USA celebration coming up at the John Dan Plaza. And the Boat Regatta activities also. So, man, just a lot of things going on in the city of Richland for summer. It's a great place to live.

My husband and I attended all the activities for Bob Larson who is a personal friend and worked with my husband for many many years and also hadn't realized 27 years on the port of Benton and responsible for getting the submarine here which I didn't realize the importance really to Richland of that submarine which was because of the nuclear power of that was the first to go around the world underwater. So, yeah, great memorial service for Bob Larson, great citizen. Yeah, lots, Parks and Rec, thanks so much to Parks and Rec and all the things that we've got going on, and the pancake breakfast. And next weekend is Cool Desert Nights. Let's see. The parks and rec meeting has been delayed because they're working on their six-year plan, which will be coming up, I believe, next month at the, did I say six-year or six-month? Six-month. Six year plan, sorry. My mouth and my brain always connect. And so they're working on that and will present that end of July, I believe. And there was a resignation from a commissioner that was being relocated. And so there's an open position if you know someone who's interested in applying for parks and rec. And got a thank you from a constituent for maintenance on the Jason Lee Park. They play pickup soccer there on the great job that they're doing on that. And also that his water main broke and he called the emergency line and five or ten minutes they were there to shut off the water. And so kudos to the citizens or the staff of Richland and the great job they're doing, parks and rec and utilities and all of that. Thank you. And also, I'm going up, and you're going up, too, to the Association of Washington Cities next week. So hopefully we'll be learning a lot up there.

Council Member Jones.

So I, you know, we have seen so many fires so far this week, and I want to remind everybody to be extra careful. Cigarette butts, you know, when you drive, things like that, please keep an eye. one spark can cause the whole entire neighborhood. So I'm asking the community and our city to maybe put out a statement out there to really encourage people to be more on the lookout and to keep an eye open. I know there has been a lot of fires really close to our neighborhoods. Most of them are wildfires, but I think we can all do something to prevent these things from maybe even burning our own houses, so please.

Thank you. Council Member Wooden. Yes, I would just like to say congratulations to K-9 Cody for joining the force and I extend congratulations to Officer Matthew Smith on the selection and his participation in that program. I know taking care of a Belgian mountain lion is no small order. I'd also like to say thank you and congratulations to the Basic Law Enforcement Academy Class 937 graduates that we met today. Welcome to Richland. We take a lot of pride in our police force, their wonderful service. And I hope you guys have a long, safe career. Also, being that it's the 250th anniversary for this July 4th, there's going to be a lot of pressure to go out and celebrate extra hard, be extra safe. It's really dry out there. We always have a lot of fires. This year, I think, is not going to be an exception, but if we can all be diligent about safety this year, hopefully we can reverse that trend a little bit. Also, the Arts Commission is doing a tour tomorrow. So that should be, if I remember right, it should be on the agenda for the Arts Commission. Yes, we do have an Arts Commission tour for Wednesday, June 17th. So that is on the City of Richland agendas in minutes. If you'd like to join along, feel free. I'll meet you there. That's all I got.

Wonderful. Continue to be impressed and really happy about all the reporting out and for the commitments that you all make and time commitments and sacrifice to go to the boards and commissions and meetings. So thank you. I don't have anything further to add for tonight. So we will finish at 747. Thank you.