City Council - Regular Meeting

I'll try that again. It is now 06:30 and the meeting will come to order. Good evening and welcome to the 02/17/2026 Kennewick City Council meeting. Will the city clerk please state who is present and whether a quorum is established?

Good evening, Mayor McShane. All council members are present with the exception of council member Cliff ord who did give advance notice that he may not be able to attend. Then mayor Pro Temcarelli is joining remotely via Zoom. A quorum has been established.

Thank you. Will council member Beacham please lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Will Thank you.

Council member Clipper provided advanced notice of his absence. Absence.

Mayor McShane. Yes.

Council member Trump.

I make the motion to excuse the absence of Councilman Brad Clippert this evening.

Thank you. Is there a second? Mayor. Yes.

I second that.

It's been moved by Council Member Trumbo and seconded by Council Member Anderson to excuse the absence of Council Member Clipper. The floor is open for discussion. The motion has been properly moved and seconded to excuse the absence of Councilmember Clippert. Will the city clerk please start the vote? Are we withdrawing the motion? Sorry.

Two things. One, council member Clippert has joined on Civic Clerk, but not in Zoom.

Okay.

So I see that he's partially here. And then mayor pro tem Charlie has raised his hand. And now Do you want me to lower it, mayor Pro Tem Trolley? Okay, so does somebody want to try to get in touch with council member Clifford?

I certainly can.

Or we can we can excuse his absence. He's able to join, then he can join. Okay.

That would be great.

Okay. So with that.

Do you have a telephone number you'd like him to call?

Anybody?

I was gonna say I have access for like I said, I've got Brad's number. I'm just saying who would you like him to call? As much as I would be happy to take that

phone call, I'm

probably not the right person.

Chase. Okay. Chase can help him.

Chase, will you help

him? Can

you guys hear me at all? Because I cannot hear anybody.

We can just hear you. If you're seeing me I'm waving at you to hear you. Is the joys for all those that are keeping track this is the joys of hybrid meetings.

Appreciate

everyone's patience as we're working

this time.

But we do have the projector working this time. You win some, you lose some. Okay let's see. And can you contact mayor pro tem trelli as well mayor it may be worthwhile to also excuse council member Torelli just or Mayor Pro Tem Torelli just in case he can't get the audio working back and forth.

I think that that sounds fine.

Is there

a motion to excuse council member Torelli in the event he can't join us?

Mayor, I move to excuse Council Member. Is there a second?

No.

Okay, it's been properly moved by Council Member Anderson and seconded by Council Member Trumbo to excuse Mayor Pro Tem Torelli in the event he can't join us. Is there any discussion? No discussion with the city clerk. Please start the vote as it has been properly moved and seconded to excuse council.

Tell me

who moved and seconded it yet.

That would be council member Anderson and seconded by council member Trumbo.

Perfect. Thank you. Start to vote. Okay. And then I am gonna send an email to mayor pro tem Torelli.

Yeah. Know that both both of them would like to be here this evening so that we have a full cancel. So, if we can, if we make that happen, I think that would be great.

Okay. That is done. Okay. Let me see.

Oh, sorry. That motion did pass six to zero.

Okay. Well Which

is interesting then.

Because council member Clipper voted. So Yes.

That's Did he vote for his own excusal also?

No. He sure didn't. The minutes are gonna be great for this one. Okay. So

Well, it's nice that we could laugh at ourselves.

Right. Exactly. Alright.

Next on the agenda is visitors. If we're if that's okay. Yeah. You ready? I'm ready. So next on the agenda is visitors. As we have a number of members of the public here joining us this evening, I'll just run through a few things. First of all, testimony regarding item 6A, which is an easement vacation, will be heard later during the public hearing. So visitors are welcome to state their opinion on any topic except for item 6A. The city clerk has informed me there are no online visitors signed up to speak.

And if someone in the audience wishes to speak, I will ask you to raise your hand. As we're getting ready for that, the public comment period is not an opportunity for mutual conversation with council members or for posing questions with expectations of an immediate answer. Council members will listen closely to your comments but will not directly respond to you. The city clerk's business card is on the table near the door. If you need follow-up after the meeting, reach out to her and she will help connect you to the person or persons who can best help you with those things.

When it's your turn, come to the podium and state your name and city of residence before beginning your remarks. Each person is permitted to speak once for a maximum of three minutes. And a three minute timer will be displayed on the screen and we'll start when you come to the podium. A total of thirty minutes is allocated for visitor comments and the city clerk can start the thirty minute timer now. So please raise your hand if you'd like to speak. Jeanette?

My name is Jeanette Romero and I'm a resident of Kennewick. I understand you guys cannot answer my questions, but I do have a couple. First one being, I know you guys are passing a resolution today with the school district. So what does this joint resolution accomplish exactly and what action does it take on this current proposed LRA? And to go on to my On February 9, Kathy Delquist, President of Save Our Children Inunclaw and previous state legislators sent an email to council members, mayor and city clerk with a draft ordinance on how to zone these LRAs into a light industrial zone.

While I understand that the city may not ban or discriminate towards these LRAs, you can definitely try zoning them to a safer area for both them and the citizens of Kennewick. And while I have heard over and over on caution in passing this ordinance due to a civil lawsuit, I cannot think of a better reason to get sued for, and that is for protecting your city and your citizens. Another concern that I also have is the lighting down on 8th. I know that people have brought this up in the past. Know how is the city gonna help with that?

Is that something that us as residents on that street have to pay for? I just got a quote for a perimeter around my property, a CMU fencing for $50,000 That doesn't take into consideration the depreciation that my home will take if this LRA goes through. So those are just some things that I would really like you guys to consider. Thank you.

Thank you. Please.

Let me hold on just a sec. Let me make sure you get all the time that you have.

Okay. And just reminders, state your name and city of residence for us.

Mhmm. My name is Jillian Dempsey and I live in Kennewick, Washington. My house where I live with my husband and two young daughters is right next door to the proposed LRA facility at the corner of 8th And Edison. I would like to spend my allotted time tonight listing the crimes on Joe Fields' criminal record. This list does not include any charges that may have been expunged from his record or sealed within his criminal record.

I acknowledge that mister Fields served time for these crimes, and I do believe that everyone deserves a second chance. But I do not feel that someone with such an extensive criminal record is the best fit for reintegrating these sexually violent predators into our communities. One count of theft in the first degree, seven counts of theft in the second degree, one count of theft in the third degree, five counts of burglary in the first degree, seven counts of burglary in the second degree, two counts of robbery in the second degree, three counts of forgery, three counts of delivering or manufacturing of a controlled substance, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of being under the influence of a controlled substance, one count of abuse slash endangerment of a child, two counts of criminal mischief, two counts of fugitive complaint, and one parole violation. Thank you.

Wendy. My

name is Wendy, and I'm from Kennewick. I would like to talk about since January 17, SOCT has held peaceful organized protests every Saturday regarding the LRA facility. In all that time, we've had zero incidents. Our protests have been focused on education and outreach. We have taken it upon ourselves to inform our neighbors about LRA's housing, what it is, who will live there, and what rights we have as a community.

This past weekend, however, something changed. I was notified by a community member that the LRA house on West 8th was egged. She did exactly as what a responsible resident should do. She called the nonemergency line and was told that the owner would be notified. By the time she dropped her child off and returned, Joe Field, the operator of the LRA facility, had was already on the street corner yelling accusations at a completely different neighbor.

This is where my concerns begin. Mister Field has cameras on the property. If he was actively monitoring them, then why did he need to be notified by the police that their that the house had been egged? And if he did review the footage, why was he publicly and aggressively accusing the wrong person? This incidence was minor vandal was minor vandalism, and our group has nothing to do with it.

The community that SOCT represents does not participate in or encourage such an act. Yet, Field's reaction was extreme and targeted and based on the accusations and rather than evidence. This leads me to be concerned that if mister Field is willing to jump to loud public accusations over egging, how will he respond to serious incident in a real retaliation. Is this the judgment that we want to be operating such a high risk facility? The protests have been peaceful and incident free, but mister Field is quick to presume guilt and confront neighbors.

I am concerned that on how he may respond with our lawful demonstrations. I do not want to see peaceful community members harassed or blamed for things that they did not do. Kennewick is a place with a strong community standards and a strong connection between neighbors. When we talk about placing a facility like an LRA in a neighborhood, we are not evaluating a program. We are also evaluating the people who are intended to operate it. Based on his conduct this weekend, I believe that mister Field's character and judgment should be questioned, And I am asking the council to look closely over the incident this weekend over eight at 8th Avenue and to consider if mister Fields' behavior reflects the standard that we expect for someone running a facility that carries this level of risk and community impact. Thank you.

Tina Gregory, our city has failed us when the laws were put into effect and nothing was done. Our chief, as much as I love him, failed the community's safety. There isn't any law stating a certain distance to transit stops like we were told. We have been given half truths from day one. We need accountability, and we need to rebuild trust.

I know all of you received that email that Jeanette just spoke about on 02/09. It was sent to every one of you. And our former thirty first LD state representative, Kathy Dahlquist, wrote up a proposed changes for you. Have any of you read it? It had a clear plan to achieve Washington's adjournies Washington State General I can't even think Attorney General.

It was his opinion, and the case MC code changes in RCWs. Now, Joe Fields, I am the citizen. Joe Fields violently harassed me. He yelled obscenities, cussing the f word nonstop at me, and I just ignored him. I kept putting up my signs because I wanted to do this peaceful protest. He didn't stop. He had to just keep on. So finally, I looked across the four lane road and said, are are you talking to me? No. And I said, oh. And then he goes, I know you, LumiMan did this. I got you on camera. I know you did this. And I'm like, I don't repay evil for evil. Well, I know you did this.

And I'm he's going to show everybody the camera footage. Then he goes to tell me that he's going to rip down every one of my effing signs. Right there, that's violence. I tried to get a restraining order today, and the judge did not sign on it. So this shows you the violent man that is gonna run this facility. You got his crime sheet. You got all the issues going on here. And for us, you failed us. I want to know what are you going to do. This resolution, it looks good, but what is it going to do?

And if it doesn't, well, you look at this thing that they showed you already that DollQuest sent you. It was a straight path. It has codes, and other places have done these things. There's three other places that have shut these facilities down, and we need you to step up. So now I want you to know something with my talk. I get to live in fear now, not only from the LRA, and I can't sleep every night because my grandbabies are right there, but now mister Fields, mister Violent Man. What is he gonna do next? So I'm just asking you to please do something about this. And those oh, the I'm running out of time. But those brand new federally funded safe paths for our school walk right next to this house.

You have to do something. This is not just a resolution. This is we're fighting back. And if it has to be a civil lawsuit, then so be it, because we need to have our local action. So I'm calling on you to please just step up for that. And also, it'd be really nice if you'd have agendas because I had to hand them out to everybody here. And when you said six a, nobody knew it. So if we could please have agendas, it would be nice. Thank you.

Hello Lisa Joelsson Kennewick. I am first off going to repeat a concern that I had last time in regards to the ability to see when you're going to turn from 8th onto Edison Street. This code person was out there earlier and today they were there and I guess I spoke with him last week and he actually said that one of the concerns that he had was about the poll and my understanding is that's a public works issue so public works if you guys can look into that please that poll will have to be moved back. Also I wanted to bring up there's been a couple of police officers thank you Chief Guerrero for having them come around and they were unable to answer some of our questions in which I was able to find some answers from some paperwork that was given to us at the town hall meeting and one of the questions I had is what's going to happen if it's an escape. According to the police officer that came to our home, he had said that well it's like as if they were to have had a parole violation and that they couldn't do anything.

According to the paperwork I have in front of me, according to RCW seventy one point zero nine point one three zero, it states that escape from LRA is a felony offense. If a resident is found to have traveled outside the approved routes and cannot be contacted, the community corrections specialist is notified in real time. DOC and local law enforcement immediately begin the search for the resident. Additionally, well that talks about who it gets to, but at any rate I want to let you know that maybe we can get this information to your police officers so the rest of the people can get that. Thank you so much.

Hi. I'm Michelle Fleming, Kennewick resident, mayor, councilmembers. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you for your time. I'm here to speak on behalf of the SOTC and the neighbors surrounding the LRA facility at 5304 West 8th Avenue.

Tonight, Tonight, I wanna talk less about this one house and more about how Kennewick will handle the facilities like this in the future. We all know that this LRA is not going to be the last high risk or high impact facility proposed in our city. Whether it's another LRA, a different kind of supervised housing, or another state driven program, these issues are going to keep coming. The problem is we've seen this LRA is not just what it is, but how it came into our neighborhood. Little warning, limited opportunity for residents to be heard with no clear visible role for our planning commission and our local boards in shaping where and how it would be placed.

That is not how we want to handle other major facilities or high impact land uses in this city. Normally, when a significant use is proposed, whether it is public facility, a large development, or change affects neighborhood characters, it goes through a planning process. It is reviewed by planning staff. It is discussed by the Planning Commission. There public notice and an opportunity for residents to speak.

There is a clear record of how and why decisions are made. We are asking that any future high risk facility be treated the same way. Specifically, we are asking this council to commit publicly that when facilities like LRAs or other high risk residential programs are proposed in Kennewick, they must work hand in hand with the planning development and planning commission. No more quiet approvals that bypass the normal planning process. These proposal should come to the Planning Commission just like other high impact uses so they can be evaluated in the context of zoning, neighborhood character, and citywide planning goals.

Be subject to a transparent public process. There should be clear notice to nearby residents. There should be public meetings where neighbors can ask questions, raise concerns, and hear directly from operators and city staff. The decision making process should be recorded, recorded, visible, and understandable. Involve multiple points of oversight and influence.

When planning staff, the Planning Commission, City Council, and law enforcement are all part of the conversation, you get better sitting decisions and stronger accountability. This is how we ensure that safety enforcement, traffic access, neighborhood impacts are all considered before a facility is placed, not after the fact. By committing to this planning based approach, Kennewick can acknowledge that facilities like LRA are not going away, ensure that they are not dropped into neighborhood without thoughtful review, provide better oversight for many city officials and law enforcement from day one.

Please.

Mitch Kinnellick. The government said a lot of things, and they're right. When numerous conversations brought to Kenil police in January, our chief said, like I said, stated last time, he was told last year this was gonna be brought. And it wasn't just him. I mean, DSHS. When he knew, other people knew even through October. K? Known through October, we don't know until July 12. You gave our legislation literally. Two days, they had to come up with a solution to try and help us out.

How we post the trust to chief? How we post the trust to DSHS? How we post the trust? Any of you guys when if that legislation get anointed in October, if he would have said something, or DSHS would have some said something, guess what? That's almost four months. The registration of those four people or three or four who it was at Highland stood by our grounds, know you how much work they could have done a little better? It should have passed no no matter what. That lady's a piece of trash. They're sending out there who had the balls and call them gentlemen. But you but the the drop the ball like he did, DSHS, not giving the legislation the time they needed.

This is why we don't trust cops. This is why we don't trust the system. You guys had all a golden opportunity to give the the legislation a chance to do bet to help us out more. So how do you answer that and you want us to have any faith in anything when you can indeed did the right thing, the morals, and values? Isn't your cop has a job to protect and serve the community?

I'm sorry. If I'm wearing a badge, and I know that's happened, I'm sure hell gonna have a lot more integrity and honesty to that badge. It's quite frankly, he don't deserve his job. Oh, DSHS, BS, they've been known, and you didn't give all that excuse enough time to help us out better. Oh, maybe you guys. I don't know who all didn't know, but clearly, a lot of people failed DSHS, the chief, in all this town. But you guys had plenty of time and sessions they could have been talking to that up there and got this dealt with. I said, it should have passed. It shouldn't have been that hard, but clearly, they don't care up there. And it kinda makes me think you guys don't care.

And I'm not trying to be mean. I'm not trying to be personal, but ask my boss. I'm a front runner, shoot shooter guy. I don't give her rats. When it comes to stuff like this, I'm gonna come at you and make sure you well known how pissed off I am and how you things should have been done better handled by communication, by the chief, who were well known long long time ago, DSHS, and other people in this store. Now wait till January 12 to let us know.

Rachel I am a member of Kennewick and this is a really tough deal for me because I'm a mother and I live 80 feet away from this house of 5304 West, 8th Avenue. And now my family is very concerned, especially my kids, because I homeschool my kids 80 feet away from this facility. And, man, this just is really, really difficult that we have to come here and plead to you about our safety. And just what this gentleman said about trust, it's gonna be hard to fill in that void of trust because my kids can't even go outside to check the mail without me. They can't take out the trash without me.

And especially with Joe and his violent, vulgar speaking and what he did over some eggs. The yelling and the threatening, we didn't do anything. We didn't do that. If anything, wanted to go over and pick up the eggs and clean it up, you know, and help. But he said it was us because I have a farm.

I don't know what it was. But this happened on the fourteenth, and with the way that this man acted over some eggshells, it was completely out of control. It was violent, and he just proved that he's unreliable to be able to run this facility. There's no trust there. With his actions, he clearly has shown me, my family, and my kids that safety is not an issue to him.

His personal agenda is. So with that being stated, the trust. There's safety is not a priority in him. I can't trust him with that. And I would like to see the footage of the video of of him, and I would like to know for sure that he's not doing video plus audio. I would like to make that I wanna know for sure because I can't trust the fact that he is doing both or legal legally, you can't do both. So I would like to request the footage of Joe in his outburst, and I would like you to know that with his actions, he the trust is burnt.

Tony Sabino, Kennewick, Washington. I just want to say, while I appreciate the gentleman's passion and I have passion about this, I think we all do I don't think attacking is the right thing to do. I think that the police chief, I think the council is doing what they can do to help us. I think in a lot of ways, their hands are tied. So for me anyway, and I don't think he speaks for all of us, I appreciate what you're doing.

I realize you got difficult job. I've been in similar situations on councils and things like that. So I just want you to know that we're behind you. We know you're behind us. Whatever can be done for you to share with us of more things that we can do as community, whereas protesting or things like that, we want to know. And clearly, a lot of people are speaking out of frustration and fear, which we have for our city, our community, and specifically our neighborhood. So thank you for your time. Thank you. My

name is Bill Root. I live in Kennewick, just about a half a block block down. And I want to tag on to what that gentleman just said. First, I understand the restrictions you have by the state on what you can do. I understand that.

And I felt all along that the process needs to be attacked because if it's not this House and this Joe Fields, it's going to be another House. It's going to be another Joe Fields if the state's allowed to do this. And I appreciate you attacking the process. I've read your joint resolution. I think it's an excellent beginning to attack the process and stop it one for once and for all.

If we don't attack the process, they'll bring in a different different Joe Fields or a different house somewhere in our community. We gotta shut down the process. This joint resolution is excellent in my opinion, and, I wanna thank you for bringing this all together resolution. And I, for one, would like to know what the community can do to push forward this joint resolution attack on the process. How can we help you? That's my question. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening counsel my name is Roxanne Tambrello and I live right around the corner from this crazy house. And it's not only a community issue but obviously I'm super passionate about it. I'm a widow. I felt super safe and secure in this neighborhood. My 10 grandchildren could come and ride their bikes and roam, know be in the community pool and that's not just been shattered for me it's been shattered for everybody so here we are and it's like we can beat up the problem all day long but obviously this has got to be problem and solution oriented.

So you know these individuals are still deemed that they need to be incarcerated basically this is what this is or civilly committed because they're dangerous. So we've got dangerous you know individuals allowed to be put in family neighborhoods. The problem is that the law is ambiguous so they don't require site restrictions or any of those things and that's where the City Council comes in. Because where other counties as I'm delving into this and seeing what they've done to first of all come behind these LRAs as they got placed and mop up the mess, part of the problem is our crazy state thinks it's okay for private individuals to profit from housing these individuals. That's a whole other issue.

But in those diggings I realize that there's no incentive for them to report these violations because there goes the paycheck, bread and butter is gone. So it's forced the community then to come in and you know kind of mop up this and come behind them and find the violations and finally get these things shut down. There are a couple of counties, Poulsbo is one of them, that they created amazing municipal codes that required site, they had to get permission to, they were placed in light industrial areas. The whole community around within a half mile radius had to be notified so that there was public input because part of the problem is there's not enough information, accurate information given to the courts to even make good decisions. So these municipal codes are super vital and I know Kathy has sent those to you.

I hope you're definitely delving into those. We got a window before. This is not even open yet. So we've got this window that if we can get something in place then they have to apply to be here. They don't just have the right to pop up anywhere because if we don't stop it as a community, they're going to continue to thrive and flourish and go other places. So we're asking the Council to do their due diligence and create these so that we can only keep our neighborhood safe but this becomes an issue all across Kennewick. We keep our all of our communities safe and then we become a model for the rest of the state until we can mop up Olympia. Thank you.

Please. Good

evening. A lot's been said tonight. I just want to speak specifically to the resolution. I Gabe Galbraith. Thank you. Kennewick resident as well as Kennewick school board president. I appreciate you guys working with us and collaborating on this resolution. I look forward to our discussion on the twenty fifth and signing on to it with you guys. And I know you guys are working hard to do what you can on on your end. Chief, I know you're working with us on the safety aspect of things, so we appreciate it. I mean, we look forward to work with you guys and we stand ready to fight this with you guys. So we're ready to do whatever we can to make our community safe. So thank you guys.

Thank you. I would say we have about two minutes left if there's one more. Yes, please. Oh, looks like we got two. I was going say I'm going to pause the timer

and go. Shelly Wilson, Kennewick. Of the things closer. Sorry. Short. Shelly Wilson, Kennewick. One of the things that I just want to make sure is being addressed is my property backs up to the Canal Road. And if someone was to go off property, it'd be a really easy escape because it also is not well lit just like 8th. And there's lots of bushes and trees and lots of little hidey holes, little sheds. So I just wanna make sure that that's being brought up because I have a one and a three year old and I'm afraid to put them in the backyard now. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. And

I think I'm going to make this the last one unless someone else has a compelling. Go ahead Katie.

And I'm Katie Perry and I'm from Kennewick. And again with the events of this weekend my kids were scared before. I have five kiddos on that street and they're even more scared. So, it it's very definitely very concerning. Kennewick's current motto has been is leading the way and I ask that we strive to continue to do that.

The city of West Richland is working on or was able to move forward with the ordinance 12 dash two three and Pasco has their emergency moratorium that they are putting forth to try to help with zoning LRAs and hoping to keep their eye out for communities. And we understand Kennewick is working on their joint resolution, and that is important, and we appreciate that. And we just ask for transparency and accountability with that. And but a resolution and asking for answers is not the same as a local plan for solutions. So my question is what is Kennewick doing at the city level to protect our neighborhoods not just from this LRA but from the next something that is forced upon us by Olympia.

We know that this won't be the last time that the state makes decisions that directly impact our community, and we want to know that Kennewick is not just reacting but is preparing for any decisions that are like this in the future. So I would ask that the council consider the zoning and land use protections will Kennewick be following West Richland's lead on the.

We'll finish your statement.

Okay.

Yeah. Just if if we could work towards creating zoning for that to help zone LRIs appropriately and keep the community safe.

So you. You. Alright. So that closes our public comment period for this evening. Next on the agenda is approval of the agenda. If a council member would like an item removed from the consent agenda, please be recognized by the mayor and state the item number you wish to remove for further discussion. That item would be considered separately. At this time, I'll entertain a motion. Mayor? Council Member Millbauer.

As presented.

There a second? Mayor. Yes.

Approve the second to that motion.

It's properly moved or it's been moved by council member Millbar, and seconded by Council Member Trumbo to approve the agenda as presented. Floor is open for discussion. There being no further discussions been properly moved and seconded. A move by Council Member Millbar and seconded by Council Member Trumbo to approve the agendas presented. Will this clerk please start the vote?

That's past five to zero. Next item is the approval of the consent agenda. All matters listed within the consent agenda have been distributed to each member of the city. Kennewick City Council for reading and study are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion of the council with no separate discussion. I will entertain a motion. Mayor McShane. And Council Member Trumbo.

I make the motion to approve the consent agenda. Is there

a second? Mayor. Council Member Millbar. I'll second the motion.

It's been moved by Council Member Trumbo and seconded by Council Member Millbar to approve the consent agenda as presented. Will the clerk please start the vote? The the adoption of two separate resolutions. After each staff report, we'll have a council have an opportunity to ask questions or to ask a request clarifying information. We'll wait for general discussion and debate until after a motion has been made.

First on the agenda or first resolution is a joint resolution with the Kennewick School District regarding less restrictive alternative housing facilities for sexual offenders. And mister Rowe, may we have a staff report, please?

Good evening, mayor McShane and council members. Before tonight is a proposed joint resolution with the Kennewick School District regarding less restrictive alternative facilities for sexual offenders. The joint resolution opposes the placement of an LRA housing facility for sexual violent And that's that's directors and directors and school district has expressed significant concerns about proposed placement and its potential impact on student safety. Concerned residents, as you see tonight, have been at several council meetings, reached out to city staff regarding the lack of local input in this process. The proposed joint resolution raises several key factors or concerns, first of which is public safety, lack of local authority, absence of notification requirements, and jurisdictional responsibility without authority to enforce.

The joint resolution calls upon the Washington legislature and DSHS to one, halt the use of this currently proposed site, reconsider policies allowing LRA placement without of of Directors the Kennewick School District. That concludes my presentation. Of Staff stands for any questions that the council may have. Thank you. So I have questions from council.

Mayor. Council

public doesn't think that. Counsel. We are in opposition. Problem that I run into. Question I have for staff is. Formerly calling upon essentially Olympia. To immediately halt the use of this site. Can we reasonably expect that Olympia is going to respond? We want them to stop?

I don't know what the outcome will be for efforts made by the city of Kennewick and Kennewick School District. What I do know, if you don't make effort, it's not the approach we're trying to take is be proactive, trying to get out ahead of this more so than we have already. So I don't think there's any guarantees, but I think it's a good start in trying to address the issue.

It is a start. I will have more to say at the end of the meeting under council comments. Thank you. Questions?

So I have a couple of clarifying questions. So as we've been learning about these LRAs and really trying to understand what rules there at the state level versus rules available to the city. Do we do we know of any rule that allows for us to prohibit these from coming into our city right now? That's So,

I

So,

able

able to to

do prohibit the less restrictive alternative from opening. The rules that exist are limited to secure community transition facilities and there are only two in the state at this point.

And so making sure I we're a going

going to

get

Kennewick, which is permitted to be operated in a sense residence. That's a distinction. So most of the RCWs that require public comment and notice are limited to secure community transition facilities.

And so could we commonly call the part of So I

seventy one zero nine zero two zero subsection 17 broadly refers to them as secure facilities, which include residential facilities. So in this case It's a very broad definition. It includes total confinement facilities, which do not apply that exists on the new island. Secure community transition facilities, which also does not apply. And any

the

other do to that. That. Housing. You were much more eloquent than I was. Does it provide for us the ability to exclude those through zoning?

We're still researching that. It's not definitively clear. It's not captured by any of the RCWs or WACs, let reason

that. To that's

able

the why I

because. It's unclear how frequently we're these are being proposed, let alone opened or operated throughout the state. And so it signposts for the legislature that it is a priority for communities like Kennewick, but Unfortunately, we haven't located additional information I searched for County and city codes at most those that make reference. To less restricted alternatives are limited to secure. Community transition facilities.

With which are essential public facilities in the state preempt cities and counties. From regulating those. And so they cannot impose more restrictive alternatives. There is a public common comment period where DSHS is permitted to account for counties or cities comments, but not required. To do more than what it sees fit with them.

So nothing can prevent one of those facilities from Opening or operating within a county or city. Unfortunately. The facility that we're dealing with is not as clear because there are RCWs or wax explicitly addressing it. So we continue researching and exploring our options to see if perhaps communities throughout the state have been faced with similar residential facilities and how they've dealt with them. But so far still a work in progress.

Thank you. Yeah, and I will take just a second to opine that I have struggled to find where all of these are located in our state, how many, and how many people have been placed in these. I don't think that that's been very transparent for where these are located. It would be awfully nice if we just had that public information as open as we seem to be. So

you said that it's not clear in the RCW, it's not made clear this specific type of facility. Coming back to the resolution, which is at hand, we support this resolution. However, it's nonbinding on any party. It simply states our opinion and our position. Because you say it's not clear in the RCW specific to this facility, would it be feasible for us as a city to pass a resolution or to pass a KMC or something like prohibiting such a facility as a litmus test for the state to say, okay, prove that you can do what you're saying and the law has passed.

Is that something that is open for the city to do?

Resolution is distinct from an ordinance. There's really no risk associated with the resolution.

Correct.

Simply council's position. There are risks associated with ordinances. And so that would require the city to discuss those risks because there are risks. The problem is Since it's unclear whether or not other cities or counties despite what's been represented have gone to that step because those that were aware of did not go that far. It's Represented as going that far, but they didn't quite go that far.

I reviewed their codes. And at most it includes the same definition from the RCW for secure community transition facility. But none of them have gone so far as Regulating the placement of those because they're essential public facilities. Now, if there's an example that I didn't locate. I mean, I'd happily review that example and see how far they went, but all of those that I located didn't quite go as far as what we'd like them to go.

So we have this resolution here. Is that something that we can pursue as a city is to say maybe we have to be on the bleeding edge of this issue and make a statement. Is that something that you are researching the possibility of what we might or might not do?

Yes. We've been working as a city on this for an extended period. It's Premature to comment on What we've learned and I've admitted today we haven't located something that permits us to do that. But we're still exploring options and if that ever becomes a possibility. It will be presented to City manager and the deputy city managers.

Perhaps this is just me not fully comprehending the last paragraph of this resolution. It's basically two thoughts in one sentence For the benefit of those who are hearing and watching, it reads, Be it finally resolved that this resolution affirms our unwavering commitment to maintaining safe, secure, the

Directors

decisions of the this magnitude must not be made without those most directly impacted. For some reason, there seems like there's a missing word there. Am I reading that incorrectly?

A

what

of

I'm if

future. That's

question.

Most directly impacted. Would that be appropriate? Yeah, think I think that is. It's a minor point, but I thought it should be.

Would look at Lorencio to give me a thumbs up. That seems like an obvious.

All I have. That works. When

the time comes for emotion, I'm capturing that right now and you could always make a motion. Got that.

Released, are there any laws that would have to make notification for them to come live with their relatives in, say, Kennewick or some other town in Washington?

The judge that place is not case. It's a a case. Essentially this results in a court order. That's why there is risk associated with it if. Kennewick or any other city or county deviates. They're essentially. Violating

a court order. Okay, let me rephrase that. So they go through the LRA treatment for one hundred twenty three years, whatever that time frame is to where they can be released. Back into the public. And they go. Four blocks away to a relative's house, and that's where they're going to reside.

Not quite. The judge determines what conditions are appropriate for that. Offender. And They're only

think think that's the and are criminally incarcerated for a period of time. They've And completed that period of time, and now they're civilly committed because the state has determined them to be too dangerous to be released to the public as a general registered sex offender. What I think council member Milbar is asking is, in the event that one of these individuals is able to be released because they have fulfilled whatever rehabilitation is necessary to be no longer deemed to be dangerous, too dangerous to be released, and are now a registered sex offender who is now no longer civilly committed? I think that's what you're

asking. In length, yes.

Good job. And what

is the notice requirements for that person that is a registered sex offender that's no longer civilly committed?

Who's required to be notified?

Mean Mr. Fields made the statement of one to three years of someone living within one of his homes after that term ends and they're released at some point. I'm sure they are to be become civilians again, guess. Referring notification where they're going to live, whether it's in Kennewick or Benton County or in Spokane.

DSHS and DOC is required to. Inform the law enforcement agency within that jurisdiction. So in our case it would be. The chief. If it were the county, it'd be the sheriff. That's required to be the case now as a transition from. Sexually violent predator. To a formerly sexually violent prayer. So those that were referring to here that are now placed on restrictive alternatives. And eventually unconditional release.

Unconditional release is not guaranteed no different than being placed on a less restrictive alternative. They're entitled to request that they be reviewed I And ir point. Point. A that think do it. Other We We it. It. Information that would contextualize a lot of our questions. But unfortunately, that's not publicly available.

Way it's set. Thinking of our zoning codes and how we go about it, they have this in place, are we able to I know we can't make it any more restrictive, or that's the way it's worded. Are we able to come in with a conditional use permit, at least so notification happens? Maybe we're not saying, hey, this has to happen just in industrial, not that I disagree with that would be great sounds like. Right now we don't have any telling us we can restrict to certain zoning areas but can we request it to be done through a conditional use with.

And then it's just a list of criteria that we come up with it's not restricting them. But then it's notification. You know you have your check conditional use in my opinion if you have anything we want on there is a checklist correct.

Yes that's what works for

without without making it restrictive to a certain zoning area. Then at least the public knows what that is. We know what it is. Right now is nothing. In all reality, they didn't have to ever tell us they were coming here. And so are we able to pass something that says we put this but you have to come through a conditional use permit to put in our is that

We're researching that because it's clear that we can't impose stricter requirements. But it's unclear if we could impose additional like conditional use permit.

That's what I mean. A lot of requirements isn't restricted requirements. I would say as a developer, I have lots of restrictive things that you would say that are not restricted. We've had these conversations for years and rightfully so. In this one, I would say how many of those can we have because I'm hearing from the public that boy they would like to have a lot more information than what any and we would like to have a lot more information than we were ever given on this too through a conditional use process. I don't know if that would go through a hearing examiner or would that be through Planning Commission or how would that work?

Well, complicates this is this is considered a residential use. And that's why it's not as straightforward as simply stating yes, we could require a conditional use permit and have these additional.

If you

you

dealing with. This one might be set that we can't do exactly the same thing that we're trying to do in the future. The future, let's head it off too. We want to solve two problems here. I'm not trying to put this first one down at all. I'm just trying to think how do we resolve this so this doesn't happen down the road. Think a gentleman made a very good comment that this is going to happen. Somewhere else, but doesn't happen here. We have to solve two problems with this. But not be restrictive. But be informed. Yes. So however, the wording is you're the attorney. I just play one up here sometimes.

And that's what we're trying to identify what other cities and counties have experienced because what's being communicated isn't representative of what

good good

that's

that's

out. And I felt the same way. I haven't reached out to you yet, but I've that's said I don't see where they're restricting this. They're talking a big game and it makes us look bad that we're not doing the same thing because I can guarantee you if West Richland passed that and Pasco passed it and it worked. There would be a motion very first thing. The first day. So I'm glad saying right now it hasn't been proven that they've done that yet.

Not okay. It's a creative interpretation. What they're referring to is. Let me and secure community transition facilities. The heavier light industrial areas. Those facilities are comparable to gels, for example. Which are not Operated in residential areas. And so I think that's what frustrating is that Proponents are not distinguishing between the two. We're not dealing with one of those facilities. We're dealing with You know, one of these Broader residential facilities.

And so

good

I that's I think realize think it's frustrating, but it's important that we have a comprehensive understanding of what we're permitted and prohibited from doing before acting.

Mayor and I would suggest. I always. Don't wanna to move too fast on on this because I want legal to give us the right advice. I don't know if it'd be. You know, maybe a workshop on this and we update ourselves where the public can be here. Just where we are. Kind of this conversation we're having the workshop sooner than later might be nice to where the public will be able to hear what we're working through and what the problems that we have are. So I'd request that we kind of look to see if that's something we can do and get back to us.

Yeah, have have a few more things to say after we go to the question section.

I don't know if I'm really asking questions, I'm doing a lot of comment questions, but I do that all the time anyway. No, thank you. I started with a question and comment, so sorry. But thank you. Yes, I'm good.

Any additional questions for staff? I do have one more question that I think would be worth a while. And since Crystal is operating the computer for us, can you go to the last paragraph on the first page? In light of Council Member Trumbo's comments, think there is one more edit that we should do here. And it seems like we should be calling on the governor of the state who actually runs all of the state agencies, not just one of his cabinet DSHS. And so think I would like to see us add that we formally call upon the governor of the state of Washington, the Washington State Legislature, DSHS, and all other relevant state agencies. And that would be something I would like to add. And so Crystal, if you don't mind

Having that addition as well.

Is there other comments? To that before. Any additional comments? Yeah, I like of the state of Washington. I'll wait and make that comment on.

Motion. Mayor? Council Member Millbauer. I'll give this a shot.

Motion to adopt the resolution as presented and struck as amended and instruct the city manager to transmit to the state legislator, the governor's office, and DSHS leadership. Thank you. Do I have a second?

Mayor. Council Member Anderson.

I second.

Has been moved by Council Member Milvauer and seconded by Council Member Anderson to adopt the resolution as amended and instruct the city manager to transmit it to state legislators, the governor's office, and DSHS leadership. The floor is now open for discussion. Have a few things I would like to say. I want to just express appreciation for the work the staff has been doing. I do not think that we have seen a lot of transparency from the state agencies.

I've heard lots from our city attorney this evening on some of challenges associated with getting just information regarding this subject. That should not be a problem in our state. Our state talks about open government. We have open public meetings. You're all here enjoying that open public meeting this evening.

There's a Public Records Act, which allows for us to request public records. And this has been as opaque a process in my twenty plus years of working in local government. I think our resolution does well to start this action. And for those that haven't had a chance to read this yet, I think there's a couple of comments in here that I think are really important. It is a resolution, so this is the city council and the school district as they hopefully accept those amended changes as well.

Having a chance to officially state that we oppose this, but that we also call on the government, meaning the governor of the state, to immediately halt the use of this site. As was stated I think earlier tonight, I think we do have a lot of work ahead of us. I think that the use of this site is inappropriate for a facility of this nature, but quite frankly I don't think the facilities of this nature are appropriate in any housing throughout the state, not just locally here. And so I think that this resolution does begin that activity. I think the other thing that I wanted to point out for those members of the public that are here today, as well as our council members, is just to remember that what it is saying is that we are calling upon our staff to advocate for policies that place student community safety first with this resolution.

That's a call to action and a call from our council and like I say, it's the school district accounts towards this on Wednesday of next week to call on our staff to spend city resources to make sure that we are not doing these things in the state. And this is a long road ahead of us, and I think it starts right here in Kennewick. I did have a chance to say this the other night, I think that if we have to be the tip of the spear to stop these things from continuing on in our state, I think that's what it is. I did have opportunity to provide testimony at a hearing at the state senate's office. I had ninety seconds. They didn't give me an extension. They didn't

give

me another opportunity to speak. In fact, they had less than thirty minutes of next next next years. Make sure that we recognize that this isn't anybody individually that we're looking at. We're looking looking at at this as a whole wholesale placement issue and a policy issue that the state needs to resolve. With that said, I think it's also important to recognize that it's not fruitless and the efforts that we have do have to be able to be heard at the state legislature level.

That And the changes to the law are going to be necessary in order for us to protect communities, not just here but across the state. I that as I have done a significant amount of effort, I put a significant amount of effort to try to understand what other counties have done and where they've been successful, I would suggest that the state laws have some significant challenges. While we are fighting in Olympia, there were a number of bills that were proposed in Olympia this session. Most of them were focused on transparency and communication. They were about notifying communities that this was happening, not stopping this from happening.

In the same token, in Olympia this year, we also had several bills being proposed to reduce the level criminality for other crimes that are being committed. For example, failure to register as a sex offender after the second time is a reduced penalty in the state legislature. It's being proposed. They're proposing at the state legislature level this year that if someone is soliciting for an underage child for sexual activities, that if that's part of a sting, meaning the person representing themselves on the other side is a police officer, that it's not going to be as looked at in the same way as if it had actually been someone. I bring these things up because I think we need to understand that what we're working on right now is about transparency and communication so that we can know they're doing something in this community.

But on the other side of this coin, they are trying to reduce the penalties that even lead to people being incarcerated, and they're taking away and eroding the protections that were so valiantly fought for by victims of these crimes and the survivors that were left. And so resolution is strong. I think it does a good job. I don't think that we're we're able to do enough. I think we're trying to do everything we can. And that's all my comment on this. Thank you. Councilmember Trumbo.

There's one thing I would add, and it is a total agreement with all that I've heard here, but it hasn't been emphasized, I don't think. And that is that there were at least four versions of resolutions were brought before this council, this being one of them. And I want all of you there to recognize that the language in this resolution that says things like,

formally

called, unequivocally opposed, demand, the we could what we want the leaders in Olympia to do. I'm not saying that other resolutions were milk toast, but what I'm saying is what you are hearing tonight is the strongest people these are the people who who are are doing Doing the the job with Your money. Don't dismiss them as having failed.

That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. If

there's no other discussion, it has been properly moved by council member Milbauer and seconded by council member Anderson. Got him. Forgot to write that down. Alright. To adopt the resolution as amended and instruct the city manager to transmit it to state legislatures, legislators, the governor's office, and DSHS leadership.

Will the clerk approving the Shoreline Reconveyance Memorandum Agreement with local tribes and municipalities. Mr. Rowe?

Thank you, Mayor. I prefer to unite its proposed resolution approving the Memorandum Agreement, or MOA, for the shorelines reconvenience project. This proposed resolution follows the workshop held on 01/13/2026, during which Tridec presented the historical background on the shoreline reconvenience project and provided an update on the collaboration work completed with the local districts and tribes to advance this project for congressional consideration. The proposed resolution will adopt MOA. It's kind of the overarching document.

And with the MOA, which will be approved by the participating jurisdictions and tribes, it also includes exhibits relating to the cultural practices easement. This is exhibit to the MOA for the understanding that this is an agreed upon template. Once the properties and legal descriptions of the easements are finalized, they will be recorded with the reconveyance process. The Naptuit, if I'm pronouncing ground disturbing protocols is also an exhibit to the MOA to be effective when the MOA is upon reconveyance. By way of background, these represent extensive negotiations between jurisdictions and the tribe.

I'll note that I think there's been more progress made in the last year than maybe the prior 10. And that's encouraging. The jurisdictions retained a specialized tribal attorney to represent our collective interests throughout the negotiation process, ensuring our concerns and requirements were appropriately addressed. And I would note the hiring of that specialized attorney was very helpful in making progress with the tribes. The next steps, all parties would adopt the MOA. I believe the MOA is in front of Richland's council tonight, like it is here. Of

of

returned to each jurisdiction and associated tribes for adoption. Directors And finally, a step to record the easements upon completion of the reconveyance. I will note that in your packages, I attended a working group meeting this morning on city manager Erdmann's behalf and the CTR group had indicated they were going to make some changes to the MOA. I good question.

On the screen, I think

that's you that's may have it in your package as well. And so I would encourage the council to consider. And the purpose of the revised motion is to provide some flexibility. So if there were minor changes that are not material in nature, don't change the intent of the document. Would not have to bring them back for council approval. That will be a determination once we see the proposed changes. We'll work with legal counsel to see whether it rises to material changes. If it does, we'll need to bring the agreement back. If it does not, the action tonight would allow the agreement to move forward. That concludes my presentation. Staff would be happy to answer any questions that council has.

Questions? Yes, please.

Addition language about allowing for non substantive modification post adoption of this resolution, which is set for tonight to be adopted. I'm a little uneasy about that. I am. I just don't like things to be left untied. It has nothing to do with my suspicions of people trying to do something that would be behind the curtain, if I can say it that way.

I don't like this. Certainly wouldn't sign a contract. This has been an issue. I don't think the people here really understand how long this thing has been going on. It's not a decade. We're talking twenty six years as long as I've been here. This has been a bone to pick. And it's a point.

I

that's think important that this that's MOA moves forward. Point. Also, we're just being proactive. When the CTR group indicated they were going to make changes, both the deputy city manager proposed changes, we haven't seen them yet, but when we get them, if they go beyond material change, the agreement will have come back for council's consideration and approval. There is something I would have noted in my review of the MOU.

Think the public needs to know it if I can find it again. I may have missed it. In the interest of time, is there anyone here who can name all of the tribes who are part of this tribal group? It's not just one. It's more than that.

I looked for it, but I shot past it. Cayuse is one The Confederation of the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla tribes. That's CTUIR, federally recognized Indian tribes. Those three. So we've had to go to various places, so to speak.

All those of these tribal representatives had to be. Involved. It's not as simple as party a is talking to party b. It's everybody has to be.

I think that's accurate. Would add that the Yakima Nation into that conversation as well.

That's all I have at this moment. Okay.

Thank you. Any other questions of staff? That's my rule of our.

You kind of answered my question. Richland has the same language being incorporated into their MOU as well.

That's correct.

How about the other entities like Port Pasco? Is it all the same?

At this point, until I heard that that

we

we

do.

Can And

probably in our best interest. Okay. And we there's

been no discussion with other entities that this may not work for them or it's all incorporated and they're ready to vote on it as well.

As I understand it, I've been doing this job for forty years. Any time you've an agreement that's going to be signed by multiple agencies, you run into these kinds of problems. There's a timing aspect. You're bringing something forward. You think it's solid and then there's a change by one of the participants and it makes you go back and restart again. So we were just trying to mitigate that potentially. But again, if the changes are significant, it will have to come back for council's approval. Thank you. You're welcome. Yes.

Comment or question?

No, it's a comment.

You want me to wait? It'd be mine.

I will. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Rose, so I think to Council Member Bilbaher's question, just when we talk about this agreement, we are not anticipating that so there's a lot of parties, jurisdictions that will be entering into an agreement just like this with CTU IR and the accommodation with their municipality.

We anticipate that all those agreements will be the same. That's correct. And I think that that's our goal is to have a common methodology so that we can address these issues. Quite frankly, I think to be able to move things forward faster would be my expectation that we have an understanding between us and CTU IR, us and the Ackman nation that would be very similar to Richland's same understanding.

That's correct.

And I think that makes sense. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. If there are no other questions, is there a motion? Yes, Council Member Mobar.

I make a motion to adopt the resolution as presented along with the acceptance of the memorandum of agreement and its related exhibits for the shoreline reconveyance project with approval to allow for minor modifications to incorporate the final versions of the documents which will reflect feedback from the tribes provided that the language does not materially alter the terms and conditions of the documents presented today.

Do I have a second?

Mayor. Second.

Councilmember Trumbo. Thank you. It has been moved by Councilmember Millbauer and seconded by Councilmember Trumbo to adopt the resolution as presented along with the acceptance of the memorandum of agreement and its related exhibits for the Shoreland Reconveyance Project with approval to allow for minor modifications to incorporate the final versions of the documents, which will reflect feedback from the tribes provided that the language does not materially alter the terms and conditions of the documents presented today. The floor is open for discussion. Mayor. Yes, Council Member Robar.

Just to clarify my earlier question was, this was late in the game that this happened. And you explained it very well. It's concerning to me that those words were added and what is the exact meaning of it. Appreciate your explanation of it.

I don't think I heard in simple language that there's a timeline we're trying to meet. That

is correct.

That is why the urgency is now. I believe it is correct that all these years the city of Kennewick has been mowing the lawn and taking care of things and what we just generally refer to as Columbia Park. But we don't own it. We do not own that real estate. And this will provide City Of Kennewick.

With what's spelled out in the documents on exclusions. And that means we can do do what we want to. For the terms of the agreement. I asked a question in the council meeting. Workshop. I'm not sure where it was. Said, So does that mean we can sell it? And the answer to that question was yes. Is that the intent? I certainly don't think so. I hope not. It's no when this goes through, it's no longer the federal government's dirt. It's the city of Kennewick's dirt. And you should be very happy about that.

That's all I'm saying. Thank you. Any additional comments? Did you another did you have okay. I just had I had a couple of comments.

And having been through and dealt with a lot of these agreements Directors first question of with from the trust that our city manager with our both local council as well as the additional councils been hired to do this can make sure that that is maintained. And I think that that makes sense to move forward with this. I do think that it's a great thing that we're able to do for the city. It's been something that folks have have been working on for a really long time. The idea that I mean when I took my first tour of Columbia Park with our parks department and on that tour I found that we have a park that cannot get irrigation water to water the trees and everything that have been put in.

Beautiful basketball courts down by Duffy's Pond near Clover Island for anybody that wants to go see a dried up park. And we can't repair the sprinkler line because it costs $15,000 just to get the permit from the Army Corps to repair a small sprinkler line. One example. I think that's a minor example actually. If that one seems significant, you should see the rest.

So I'm excited for this to move forward and appreciate everyone's willingness to consider this. Any other additional comments? If not, it has been properly moved by Council Member Milbauer and seconded by Council Member Trumbo to adopt the resolution as presented along with the acceptance of the memorandum of agreement and its related exhibits for the Shoreline Reconvenience Project with approval to allow for minor modifications to incorporate the final versions of the documents, which will reflect feedback from the tribes provided that the language is not material all through the terms and conditions of Documents presented today. Will the clerk please start the vote? Next on the agenda this evening is a public hearing for vacation of a portion of a 20 foot waterline easement located at Thousand 77558035831 West 28th Place and 5748 West 28th Place or excuse me, West 28th Avenue with a permanent number designated ENG-twenty20Six-one.

After the staff report, counsel will have an opportunity to ask questions or request clarifying information. Following the conclusion of those questions, individuals interested in testifying in favor of or opposition to the matter will be invited to speak. Please let's wait for general discussion or debate by counsel until after a motion has been made as we want to be able to hear both the public information as well as our presentation this evening. Mr. Cowley, may we have a staff report please?

Thank you, Mayor and time

talk

we

about

of a 20 foot

exclusive waterline the easement. This was agreed upon with the city and the developer during the development of this project. We had an existing waterline in this And with next next next with

I

at to agree with vacation the of of this next easement. I'd be happy to take any questions.

Alright. Any questions from council? Hearing none, we'll move to the public hearing and I will open the public hearing. Is now open. City Clerk has informed me there are no online visitors signed up to testify for the public hearing. If there's someone in the audience that wishes to speak to the proposed easement vacation, please raise your hand. As I see no one wanting to speak to this, public hearing is now closed. And I will entertain a motion. Mayor. Council member Anderson.

I move to adopt the resolution as presented and authorize the mayor to execute all necessary documents.

Do I have a second?

Mayor. Council Member Millbauer. Second the motion.

It has been moved by Council Member Anderson and seconded by Council Member Millbauer to adopt the resolution as presented and authorize the mayor to execute all necessary documents. The floor is open for discussion. Alright. There's no discussion. Additional discussion has been properly moved and seconded to adopt the resolutions presented and authorize the mayor to execute all necessary documents.

Will the city clerk please start the vote? That is past five to zero. Thank you. Alright. Next section is council the We're the to be

Still pending in some investigation out there. So until that is done, it sounds like that's getting postponed now until possibly April. Been hard to Get the correct people. Over there to do that. But in the the meantime, general managers on paid administrative leave. And so we'll just continue on and see where that goes from there. As far as tonight, don't know I have anything great to add from where we've met for the past past while on there. One thought I did have and I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way to everybody is I hope you feel that we're involved. This is the city of Kenilick. I grew up here.

I grew up in East Kenilick, Eastgate Elementary and Park Middle School and Kenilick High School about as Kennewick as you can get. That's why it's the only reason I ran is to try to make what we have better. This is probably the worst thing I've seen in six years. Everything else we kind of deal with up here is a lot of land use stuff and it can get emotional. But it's not what we're dealing with on this.

And so hopefully you feel that we're taking it very serious. The part that I wasn't sure was going to come off right is I hate that you all are involved in this, that you're But I'm also glad there's people like yourselves that are showing up to fight the fight, as bad as that sounds. Don't roll over. I feel like our hands are tied in a lot of ways. And unfortunately, you're the first ones that have to face it.

I'd say as a city, we did drop the ball. I don't know at what point and where and when the zoning came in. I don't think half the staff or most of the staff probably wasn't even here when the state put that in. It was probably something that got put on the back burner and nobody ever thought the state was stupid enough to actually release these kind of criminals into our society. But here we sit and completely unfortunate, but I'm proud that you keep showing up and how organized you are and what you're sending to us that we read it. We do. It helps us. I know Lorenzo sees it and so continue to do it, but we're with you as far as we can everything we can do. You can see the mayor. He's passionate about it. He can't get through talking about that crying. That means he loves it and he's trying to fight. So just keep it going. Appreciate you guys for what you're doing.

Councilmember Bill Barr. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Beecham, I echo your words. I do appreciate each and every one of you coming in tonight and voicing your concerns. It does not fall in deaf ears. I have lived in Kennewick for approximately thirty years. And that time as a resident, a six time sitting on a console, I've not had anyone from staff and any issues as a citizen, especially working with them now as a council member to where I would be concerned with trustworthiness, whether it's staff, fellow council members, KPD, Kennewick Fire Department, and all the employees that have not had that opportunity. So I do trust them. They are working very hard in this situation.

I know it's emotionally charged, and I appreciate your patience as we all get educated on this situation. And I thank everyone that's involved for what they're doing so far. Thank you.

Just my two cents on this. The way we vote has consequences and I feel like we've got a pretty good representation in our area. Think we've got a good I think we've got good representatives to the state and I think they're taking this seriously. They're over there now. I've talked with a few of them personally on this issue.

But unfortunately, we live in the state of Washington, and there are actual literal communists who wanna go soft on crime and don't really care about us over here, and which is why they would love to see criminals sent to our communities. It's in my opinion, it's actually insane, this rule and this law that has been passed. So I think we owe it to our community to fight with every avenue that is presented to us. I very much trust Lorencio and his legal expertise. We've also got our deputy city manager with her legal background in our community and all the rest of the staff.

I think we're gonna do what we can to fight this. I actually believe it's insane. A lot of times we we look over and say, oh, Olympia's kinda crazy compared to the way we live here. I think this is a perfect manifestation of that is actually true, that you would take criminals, violent sexual offenders, and and pass a law that allows them to live in a residential neighborhood with the regular citizen, with children. And all the things that have been said, I 100% agree with.

I think our city staff is going to do everything they can. I think we've got a phenomenal city staff here in the city of Kennewick. Appreciate those who have shown up. Keep doing everyone just do what you can. Let's keep looking for opportunities and avenues and and let's fight this. This is absolutely unconscionable. And I think the the resolution, I think, is a good start and it just shows we mean business.

So anyway thank you to everyone for being here. Thank you. Council member Trumbo.

I don't know but just a few of you, maybe a dozen people I've met and spoken with. And this is very impressive to me how hard you work. The money you've raised. The signs you've placed after paying for them. Some of you have.

I don't want to embarrass or name anyone. But someone who gets up at three in the morning, grabs family members, including grandchildren, and drives to Olympia to make a morning hearing and stays there impressed. And I'm hearing people say, if this goes through, I'm leaving this city and this state. That's how serious this is. I am impressed.

And I think the resolution is a start. And the language is better than what I originally saw. But I'm not stopping. And I'm encourage those of you who have the heart and energy to go to push for temporary restraining orders or ordinances that open the path to moving this kind of residential activity out of residential areas and into light industrial areas. Okay, so the lawyers and the experts say it can't be done.

Well, I think a lot of people in this country over the last two hundred now, almost fifty years, are able to say, and we still push. Encouraging you. And I'm grateful that there are people who stand for doing the right thing. And if you can't get past the law, then what you do is you change the law. I'm encouraging that because change is important if you're going to stand for what you believe is the right thing.

I think the people who spoke someone, I'm not going to pick any people out. I heard it in various ways. But it was. Where was public notice. At what point even now? You know, how does a judge have input from the people who are being affected? How does that happen? If that's what's going to happen, does the public have a voice before that judge? It's something that has to be addressed. I also want to share something.

I hope I'm not crossing any confidentiality lines, but I want those of you who are here to understand. That. The city councilman. About. Opposed idea. Months ago. And I learned about it. There's something called an executive session. I could not. Council members.

But I did inform one citizen. Not what it was. But I told them there's something coming soon.

Far Sorry.

Sorry. I'd be happy to stay afterwards and chat with anyone else that would like to speak.

Think that's really all I want to say.

Deputy City Manager Roe, do you have anything you'd like to close us out with tonight? Then I have a few comments.

I do not, other than city manager Erdmann is anticipated to be back in town Sunday afternoon. Do you have the number of hours and minutes counted down No, I don't. That's teasing a little bit. Thank

you. And thank you all for this evening. Thank you all who have come and are fighting on this fight. I do want to point something out that we really kind of passed by. So for those who aren't familiar with consent agenda on these meetings, consent agenda items are things of a routine nature, things that have been studied before and things that are approved in one action.

So consent agenda has lots of stuff on it. One of the things that's on that is the authorization to move forward with the project to enhance and improve the former Kennewick Irrigation District canal right of way, which is a pipeline, right? So we call it a canal, but it's a pipeline, starting at Edison Street just north of 8th Avenue headed And that has been approved this evening. This morning, for those that are unaware, this morning the Kennewick Irrigation District approved an agreement with the city of Kennewick to proceed forward with that path. I think it's an important thing to recognize under the law and we focused a lot on sexually violent predators tonight, but under the law and definitions related to these less restrictive alternative housings, there's a section called risk potential facilities.

And it includes among other things public and private schools, school bus stops, licensed daycare and licensed preschool facilities, public parks, and publicly dedicated pathways. Excuse me, trails, I think is the word that it uses. This project has been in the works for quite some time. The city of Kennewick and the Kennewick Irrigation District work jointly with other entities to develop a trails and pathways master plan, as the council knows about and got approved over a year ago. Last year under CDBG funding, so community development block grant funding, there was money appropriated to this pathway.

And it just so happens that this is the pathway that I think we probably needed to have done. And so that work will begin. I know that the city staff are working right now on that. We're excited to see that in action. We'll start to see some of that coming into fruition in the coming weeks.

And then the bigger project will come along. And I know that there was some comment made made earlier this evening regarding some of the what are those safety improvements and so forth and be happy to have you touch base with our city staff as we build these. Not just here near Edison and Kellogg, but across the city as we continue to develop out this trail and pathway master plan. It's an important thing. It's something that I personally have been working on for probably more than twelve years and excited to see that there's some benefit to our community from it.

I'm excited to see the city taking action tonight to help take a step towards things that help protect our community. We've seen that throughout the West when people have been able to do these pathways and specifically hopefully here in Kennewick as well. So with that, I will there's no further business on tonight's agenda. It is now 08:16 and the meeting is concluded. Thank you all.