City Council - Special Meeting

All right, can I have people's attention, please? Thank you. It is six o'clock. Welcome to the June 16th City Council meeting here in the city of Lake Stevens. We are live at the mill and recording on Zoom for folks that aren't here in the room, which there aren't a lot. We've got a lot of folks here tonight. So thank you so much for being here. Let's call this meeting to order and please join me with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Thank you. Deputy Clerk Weaver, can we get a roll call, please?

Certainly. Council President Jorstad? Here. Council Member Donahue?

Here.

Council Member Packard?

Here.

Council Member Edwards? Present. Council Member McManus?

Here.

Council Member Shipman? Present. And Council Member Araya?

Here.

Thank you. Seems like at this time, we would like to call Mr. Curt Hilt and State Rep Sam Lowe to the front of the podium, please.

All right, we're going to go ahead and do the oath of office. Exciting night. Go ahead and raise your right hand. I state your name. I, Kurt Hilt. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support the Constitution. That I will support the Constitution. And the laws of the United States.

And the laws of the United States.

And the Constitution laws of the state of Washington.

And the Constitution and laws of the state of Washington.

And the laws and ordinances of the city of Lake Stevens.

And the laws and ordinances of the city of Lake Stevens.

And that I will faithfully and impartially. And that I will faithfully and impartially. Perform and discharge the duties. Perform and discharge the duties. Of the office of mayor.

Of the office of mayor.

According to the law, to the best of my ability.

According to the law, according to the best of my ability.

Congratulations, mayor.

Let me just sign this.

we're going to take a five minute do you want to say something first or you want to no i won't be in spot we're gonna take a five minute pause we're gonna do pictures for a minute we'll come back and we'll get the meeting started at 608 all right

I do want to say something real quick.

So real quick, my family, and then all my brothers and sisters in the fire service.

Yeah.

There we go.

All right. There is all.

yeah. yeah. yeah. they're going to have to

And then if there's any other friends and family that would like their picture as well, neighbors, that's fine too. Getting out of your message, Jake. There's a walk in there. I think it's ready. I don't think so. Okay, you're available. Thank you. Oh, yes. That was awesome.

Oh, I think that's okay. Mayor Hilt, before you sit down, we do have a tradition. We do need you to run the gauntlet, please. Thank you.

Watch out for the courts. Watch out for the courts.

Thank you.

All right, we will continue our meeting with item number five.

Thank everyone for coming out tonight. We'll let Mrs. Hill wrap it up over there.

All right, thank you. Item number five, approval of the agenda. We do have some changes that we'll have Deputy Clerk Weaver discuss.

Yes, so we're asking to pull item eight from the agenda and to move item nine to the end of the agenda, so right after Mayor's business.

Is there a motion to amend the agenda?

Move to approve the agenda as amended.

Second. Properly amended. A motion and a proper second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All right. Okey-doke. Tonight we have some guest business. We've got Troy Stevens. He's going to introduce a new employee.

Hi, there.

Good evening, Council, and good evening, citizens of the greatest city in Somerset County. I had the pleasure of introducing Sharif Shabazz. So he is new to our department. He's part of our application services team. And Shabazz has quite a journey in IT. So he graduated from Cornell University. It's a degree in operations research and information engineering. This is where he learned how to use his math and computer science skills to solve business problems. After interning with Microsoft, he later landed a job full-time role with Microsoft, helping to build out their Dynamics ERP system. I think it was part of the help desk role.

It was in the platform team.

The platform team. Okay. And so then after that, he basically wanted to change. And so he started his own consulting gig, managing IT and creating custom software for a family investment office. And then after that, he wrapped that up and he kind of moved into Starbucks for their Seattle headquarters office where he designed tools and then joined the Gemini space station as a senior software engineer, leading projects in crypto and FinTech. If you don't know what FinTech is, It's financial tech. Kind of like cryptocurrency. And then after that, the company went through a major downturn. And after that, he started to look at how he can bring his experience in software development and agentic AI to the city of Lake Stevens. And so I really happen to have him. He's really got a lot of experience for us. But he is a local. So he does live local in Lake Stevens. He's been here since 2020. He's married, he has two kids, and when he's not spending time with his family, he enjoys playing board games, basketball, and specifically building AI-gentic automations on his daily operations on his personal computer. He sees a future in AI where local agents and automation will help people perform actions on your laptops, where you can spend more time doing what you want to do without actually operating with the software. That's his vision. If you can welcome Sharif to the team.

All right, it's nice when we can hire our residents to work in our own city. That makes me happy. All right, our next item, 6B, is a Market Street mural with our representatives here from the Arts and Parks Foundation. And we'll have our former mayor, Spencer, lead that.

Hello, Council. My name is Kate McKenzie, and thank you for having us again tonight. This is my colleague, John Spencer, and we are on the Arts and Parks Foundation. We're here to share something that we're really excited about, and that's our first design concepts for the Market Street mural. So we can go to the next slide. So this project started as a response to a problem. The Wall Market Street Marketplace and Highway 9 is a persistent graffiti target. It requires repainting from the city and the HOA constantly. Thousands of drivers and neighbors pass by this corridor every day. So the foundation saw a real opportunity that instead of covering up an eyesore, we wanted to create something that would actually reflect something cool about our community. Next slide. So in March of this year, we published a request for qualifications. We received over 20 applications, many of the artists from right here in our local area. And the board took the selection process very seriously. We knew that this was the start of not a small task. It's a 300-foot wall. And this is our first major large-scale mural in Lake Stevens, and so we really feel the weight of that. We've approached it with real care, focusing on finding the right artist for the specific community and this specific wall. After thorough and an unbiased review, we landed unanimously on one proposal. Next slide. So our select artist is named Amanda Pierman. She is from Snohomish with strong family ties in Lake Stevens. And her family spends a lot of time here. This is her community. She comes to the farmer's market. She goes to the doctor here. They are very familiar with this area. This is a very personal space for her. She's completed public art installations across the Snohomish County, Washington State and the country. And you can see from her past work here that she brings real experience with large scale community facing murals. And she's excited, excited to work closely with the foundation and the community throughout this process. Next slide. So our concept right here, what you're looking at is Amanda's concept of Welcome to Lake Stevens. It has bold lettering that anchors the design with the letters and surrounding the panels, or the panels surrounding the letters, excuse me, are filled with scenes of everyday life here. You'll see a farmer's market, a school bus, the lake, neighborhood streets, and so much more. We do want to flag here, I put that in the yellow box, that this is not a final design. These are preliminary designs. We are working with Amanda right now on revisions to make the imagery feel especially tied to Lake Stevens. We want to have it more feel like a lake, have more of our local ecosystems, including trees and wildlife and the community spaces that are unique to us. So think of tonight as just a look at the direction and the energy of the piece and not the final product. Here's some examples of other panels that will go on either side of the lettering. So as you look closely at these panels, you can see that the level of detail Amanda brings. Each selection tells its own story. There's the farmer's market. There's the park. Horses that so many of us drive past every day without a second thought. These are moments that make Lake Stevens feel like home, and she's working with us to ensure that the final vision feels even more grounded in this specific space. So here's what's actually going to look like when you drive by it. This is Amanda's own mock-up. The mural placed into the real location, they're looking at it from Highway 9. 300 feet of color, life, and community right here on this stretch of road. It's going to be really hard to miss.

Thank you, Katie. How are we going to pay for this? We have received money from the city council, from the city for $20,000. And then the Arts and Parks Foundation is contributing another $10,000 to this. And Amanda has submitted a budget with the detail shown up here. that results in a $30,000 project. The interesting thing about it is that we have already reached out to a number of businesses in Lake Stevens who have been willing and able to donate materials to us, from paintbrushes and rollers to paint, matting that will go down to protect the sidewalk and so on. So we've made a lot of progress with that. Let's go to the next slide. So we have coordinated with the city. We didn't just parachute this idea in. We brought it to the city. We've entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city. That is... John Potter, A memorandum that identifies the responsibilities and obligations of the arts and parks foundation, as well as see responsibilities of the city of going forward. John Potter, The city did go ahead and secure and easement all this wall, so it is an easement that the city has and it's in perpetuity, so we have response, we have control of that and then. We have moved on to work with the city in terms of sidewalk and traffic management. And as soon as we're ready to start painting, we will be in contact with the public works department to put up all the proper security and so on. So the next slide. There's one more.

Pardon me? The HOA one.

OK. So the other thing I wanted to mention here, and I thought there was another slide, but that's OK. We're working with the HOA that actually lives next to and above this where this wall is, where this retaining wall is. We've also reached out to, besides the business we've reached out to, we're reaching out to other organizations to let them know what's going on. For example, the Rotary Clubs. and let them know what's going on. And actually it was at the Rotary Club that I received a lot of contributions for effort to help us out. So our community outreach has been very successful and it's gonna be ongoing. So with that, Kate and I would be willing to answer questions you might have. Oh, the timeline. The timeline is really quite short, July and August. We'll clean the wall and we'll get the painted white. And then after it's painted white, Amanda will project her artwork on there. She'll stencil it in and then we start. She will start the painting. She has also invited any budding young artist to join her. and learn what it's like to do mural painting. So we've already, Kate and others have already reached out to artists here in town, the high school and other organizations to see if there are young people that are interested in doing this. And they can go onto our website. If you have a young person who's interested, they can go onto our website, the Art and Parks Foundation and submit a statement of interest. Okay, that's it, all right. All right, any council members? No questions. Yeah, there we go. No questions, yeah.

I did have one. So if this location has been a graffiti target in the past, I saw protective coatings in the budget. Are we expecting that that will make?

Yes, graffiti coating is in the budget. We will do the graffiti application. Actually, our artist will do that in her bid. She has included the materials for that. And if I'm not mistaken, which I could be easily, I think there's a graffiti application that goes on early and then there's one that goes on in the very tail end after everything is in. The Art and Parks Foundation did the fish wall out here and the blue underneath that has a graffiti application on that too. So we have done that and have a little bit of experience. Excellent.

Thank you.

I don't have a question, just a comment. I'm just super excited about the high visibility of this project and the likelihood that the more of our citizens see public art in our city, the more that they're going to want. So start writing more grants. Let's get some more money. And I'm excited about the potential that this has for art throughout our city.

Thank you. This is a big lift for us, but we're really, really excited about it. And we feel the same way that once this gets going, There'll be more public art. And I think everyone knows the more art there is, the better people feel about their own city. Way back in my history, I worked for an organization called Seattle Metro. And one of the problems they had was graffiti on the bus stops. And the minute they started putting artwork in the bus stops, the graffiti disappeared. So I think that that's a good lesson for us, too.

All right. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. We'll move on to item number seven, citizen comments. And we're going to start with Darlene Salo. Did I pronounce that last name correctly?

Say no. Say no. Okay.

Excellent. Public comment is for three minutes to address the council.

Yes. First of all, congratulations. I picked quite the night to make a presentation. Congratulations to you. Yeah. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. With several new council members joining the council earlier this year, I'd like to say welcome and take the opportunity to introduce myself and North Cascades crew and provide a brief overview of our organization's work and community impact. My name's Darlene Salo, and I represent North Cascades crew. We leased the Joe Rance Boathouse at Davies Beach from the city. Since constructing the boathouse in 2018, we've provided both junior and master's rowing programs for the community. We're proud of our strong partnership with the city. Our members participate in weekly park cleanup and maintenance efforts, and quarterly we provide adoptive park. So we're a part of that program. Our junior rowing program is the only youth rowing program on the lake and has become a community success story. Over the past four years, our youth participation has increased by 40%. Our athletes have earned multiple regional awards and have gone on to several different collegiate level competitions. To date, our fundraising efforts have focused primarily on scholarships to ensure that every young person in our community has the opportunity to row regardless of financial circumstances. Today, approximately one-third of our youth athletes participate through a scholarship program. I run that program. As part of our long-term growth strategy, we've identified electrical service to the boathouse as an important facility improvement. We've begun researching the design, installation requirements, and associated costs for the projects. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself, North Cascades crew, to the new council and mayor, and to let you know that I'll be presenting this boathouse improvement project for your consideration at the July council meeting. So just wanted to introduce who we are and where we're at, and we've been there for a while. Thank you for your time. I look forward to working with you. And again, congratulations to the new council members and you, Mayor Hilt.

All right. Thank you, Darlene, for coming this evening. Deputy Clerk, are there any comments online?

Thank you. Anyone that's online, if you'd like to address the council, please raise your digital hand and I'll bring you in. I don't see anyone.

Okey-doke, we'll move on. Next, do we have Steve Ewing?

Mayor, I think there's one other who was hoping, didn't fill out a green form. If I could get in just for three minutes.

Steve, are you okay with that? I'm preempting you, okay.

state your name and your address thank you uh my name is sam thompson i'm a lake stevens resident of 13 years i live about four blocks that way this is my local park two months ago my daughter bailey was bullied and violently assaulted here right outside the front door this wasn't a minor attack she now needs root canals on four feet due to the attack with an estimated immediate cost of twenty seven thousand dollars Future damages from this incident could easily top 100,000 as the teeth start needing replacement with implants, which will also come with long periods of missing teeth, likely while Bailey's in her 20s. Let that sink in. A kid goes to the local city park, gets bullied, gets beaten, then the video gets posted online. This event will impact Bailey's life for years to come. Thank you, Jean, for having the blood scrubbed off the sidewalk. I encourage all of you to get with Jean to watch the videos of the bullying that way and the beat down this way. It's about 10 minutes. Now, the young person who did this is responsible if she's held responsible. But the response from local government afterward has been unacceptable. Evidence wasn't secured quickly and the urgency wasn't there. And two months later, we still don't have a decision from the Snohomish County prosecutor on whether charges will even be filed, two months. Is someone from Lake Stevens following up? From a parent's perspective, this feels like a complete lack of accountability from every party involved. And I'm going to say this directly. When the city creates spaces like North Cove Park that attract large groups of teens, there is a responsibility to ensure those spaces are safe. Right now, that responsibility is not being met. The teens in our community are counting on the adults in charge to teach them right from wrong. I'm not just here to vent. I'm here with clear expectations. I'm asking for better gathering and preservation of evidence needed to hold these young troublemakers accountable. I'm asking for regular patrols and an increased safety presence at North Cove Park during peak use. I'm asking for additional resources and mentorship to be dedicated to the juvenile population in our city because they're struggling. I've raised two kids here. One's 19. And I'm seeking real accountability, not delays, not uncertainty and not silence. Because right now the message being sent is that something bad like this can happen and nothing meaningful comes of it. That's not acceptable to me as a parent and it shouldn't be acceptable to the council. I want to be heard, not just for my daughter, but for every family trying to raise kids in this community. Thank you. Please watch the videos.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for coming this evening. All right, Steve Ewing.

Steve Ewing, I live at 8600 block of 11th Street Northeast. Um, want to thank the arts foundation for the mural, which I drive by several times a week. Um, and just, it's going to be outstanding. I so appreciate the collaboration that's happening there. Um, so I shared something, uh, privately with president George's dad. I want to say it publicly. Um, I want to thank her for her leadership, uh, during the vacancy, um, when mayor Gailey was absent, um, that's no small undertaking. Um, on top of that, um, what happened and I don't know what happened in executive session to select mayor Hill. Um, but the fact that there was a unanimous vote, uh, to support him speaks volumes about her leadership and the leadership of the council to present a United voice that we want to work together with the council, the city staff, and the mayor to move the city forward, uh, with mayor Spencer coming in with Curt Hilt, uh, in 2015. Again, an unprecedented period of time in the city of Lake Stevens where the city staff, the council and the mayor worked together to perform some extraordinary work in our, our city. Um, so I just, um, want to thank mayor Hill, um, and his wife and his family. Um, so a couple of things I like, um, about mayor Hilton, his leadership, and I just want to share this publicly and I've shared it before. Um, he and I have had disagreements on different things and there's no expectation that there's going to be, um, The same opinion. but he can have adult conversations and disagree appropriately when the goal is that what's in the best interest of the city. I appreciate that his family is his top priority. Appreciate that he serves firefighters. I've seen him come to meetings after long shifts, well-prepared for that. And I expect him to bring that same work ethic to his role as mayor. He ran an outstanding mayoral campaign in 2019 and continued to support the city, even though the outcome was different than what he wanted. He stepped in to help full of vacancy with the untimely passing of Marcus Hadgett. And I was frankly surprised. I didn't think he'd throw his name in the hat for mayor. But I want to make sure that Um, I do my part as a citizen, uh, to support him and to support the council and the city staff, uh, to make sure that our city is a wonderful place to live, work and play. Um, so thanks again, president Jorstad for your leadership. Uh, thank you, uh, mayor Hilt and your family. Um, there's going to be a lot of sacrifice and you're going to take a lot of inappropriate and undeserved flack, um, for, for decisions. Um, but I want to make sure that I support you and provide a different balance, even if I disagree with you. because I want what's in the best interest of the city. So thank you, each member of the council, for what you're doing to help move our city forward. Thank you. All right. Thank you for coming tonight, Steve.

And our final speaker is Mary Swenson.

I'm Mary Swenson, 514 Riverview Drive, Aranda, Washington. And you may be wondering why someone from Aranda, Washington, would be coming to speak at a Lake Stevens City Council meeting. First, I would like to congratulate Mayor Hilt. I was a resident of Lake Stevens for about 40 years, and I retired and moved to eastern Washington. During the time that I lived here, I actually served as the interim city administrator at the time when John Spencer came in as mayor. and Sam Lowe was on the council and Curt Hiltz was on the council and prior to Jean coming on as city administrator. And the staff that you have here is fabulous. When I was here, we actually met as a council in the school district building. So I haven't been back here for a while, This is unbelievable what has been accomplished here. So kudos to the staff, to Jean, Russ, and everybody else that was involved in that. I've been in city government for years, and what you usually see is a bunch of studies happen, and everybody looks at them, and they get put on a shelf, and nothing comes of it. That didn't happen here, and kudos. I remember... dealing with a consultant and them saying, boy, you know, you have this great lake, but nobody can get to it. And, you know, look at what's going on out here today. I'm blown away. So congratulations to everybody that was involved previously, to the staff who pulled this off. This is not an easy task to do something like that. And I hope you all continue doing the really tough and courageous things that are needed to make a city move forward. So thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you for coming tonight, Mary. Okay, we are ready to move on to the next item, which is the consent agenda.

Motion to pass the consent agenda. Second.

All right, we have a motion properly first and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Okay, excellent. All right, item number 11, city department reports.

Good evening, mayor and council. I have a brief report from the clerk's office. I just wanted to share our agenda planning schedule with council and discuss our meetings coming up. So I'm going to go ahead and share screen. So looking at next week at the 23rd, staff has advocated that we cancel that meeting due to several council members being at the AWC annual conference. And also we didn't have anything pressing. So we wanted to just bring that as a discussion to this group. If you guys want to kind of speak about that, I can move on to the next week's.

I think canceling next week's council meeting makes really good sense.

All right. So we'll go ahead and do that. We have three more meetings until you are on break. So anticipate that if they're not a regular meeting, if they were workshop, we'll probably make them a special meeting so we can get business and work done and take action. We have some pretty full looking meetings. I won't go through each and every item, but we've got some great presentations coming up. We're going to be talking about the internship program, introducing our new interns. We're going to look at a strategic plan update. We're going to meet our new finance director, which is really exciting. We've got a critical area ordinance, potential public hearing. We've got some discussions around retreat planning for the fall and the coffee with the council member. And then looking at the last meeting, that probably will get much more full than it already is. We have some pretty standard business and ILA vouchers and minutes right away hearing, but I anticipate there'll probably be a couple last minute things that will sneak there. And then you will be on break until the 25th of August. We will be sending updates and communicating with council, but we also advocate that you enjoy your family and enjoy the community and that staff does the same. And then we'll all come back together to do the hard work in the fall. So do you have any questions for me or any input for that? Just want to thank you.

I know how hard you all work on that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. Any other staff reports? Kind of winging this part because I didn't have this conversation with them today. We talked about a lot of stuff, but we didn't talk about this. Okay. Then we will move on to item number 12, council business. And we'll just roll way over to Angie. And then I will do mayor's business after that. I don't think I have anything tonight. Okie doke.

I just want to thank everyone who gave their public opinion and feedback throughout the whole mayoral choice process. Obviously, not everyone's going to be happy with every decision that we make, but I do appreciate those who reached out and shared. their ideas and their opinions. And I thank Mayor Hilt for putting his name in the hat. And I really just look forward to the next three and a half years and seeing, you know, hopefully run another run in November and seeing how much good we can do for our community. So thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, I just want to echo a little bit. I want to thank everyone's involvement during the mayoral process. We always appreciate not only feedback from our community, but when our community takes time to come to our meetings. I thought it was absolutely amazing how many people were here to see the swearing in of our new mayor. Definitely shows some good positive support and I just want to congratulate Mayor Hilt and So I look forward to serving with him. And I would also like to take a moment to thank Council President Jordstad. She did an awesome job standing in for mayor while we were going through the process. And she always does a great job as president, so I wasn't shocked, but she kind of wore two hats. So, and she wore them well. So I just wanna thank you both and welcome our new mayor. And then on a side note, I don't really have anything to report other than my personal business has gotten really, really busy. So my workload personally outside of council has increased significantly, and it's affected my ability to attend the senior center board meetings. They're held the second Monday of the month from 10 to 11 a.m., and Monday mornings have always been tough for me to pull away, but more recently, impossible to pull away. Literally, I miss the meeting. I'm going... Because I'm just so swamped on Monday mornings. So I'm looking for a volunteer that might be able to step forward as our liaison with the Senior Center Board. I have to tell you, they're an amazing group of seniors and it's a lot of fun, a lot of fun to go to these meetings. It's just reached the point where I'm not available at that time during the week. So if anyone would like to step forward and be the liaison, that would be awesome. Like I said, they're a great group of people.

I'll jump in and say that I am available during that time and would be interested, but want to give everyone else a chance to weigh in as well.

I would love to do it, but I do have my day job during that time that I would not be able to get away from.

I mean, I feel like, are we going to vote on that?

Well, I think, you know, Angie, I appreciate you stepping forward. I've actually been going for the last two and a half years. And like I said, I can't say enough good things about these people. I mean, they pour their heart and soul into it. They do a lot of good things from our community. They literally gather seniors from all of our surrounding areas, not because we have the largest space by any means, but because of all the good works that they do. So thank you, Angie. Yeah, that's exciting.

So nothing for me tonight on council business, but I would just echo the comments that came before me about this whole process, everyone involved. And then I wanted to in particular mention Gene amongst everybody else. In the past, I've jokingly referred to him as our shadow mayor, but when we have a vacancy like that, he is much appreciated and his experience is incredibly valuable. So thank you, Gene. Thank you, Angie, and welcome Mayor Hilt.

So I'll echo the echo. It was, you know, I'd like to say the same thing. I think, Angie, great job stepping up and stepping in. I thought council had a really unique and challenging thing to point to there. I thought you guys did a great job and you made a great choice. So congratulations, Kurt. And Jean always stepping up. It seems like you never stepped down. I think is really where you kind of by the foot ahead of everybody. So I want to thank council for making a great decision and, you know, it's a tough choice and a tough process. So you did a great job. Thank you.

Um, ditto. Welcome there. Uh, thank you, Jean and Caitlin. Um, process was, was, uh, was intense. Thank you to everybody that commented. I was so sad to hear about the assault that happened here and concerned about safety. So thank you to Mr. Thompson who shared that with us. And also thank you to the ex city administrator and nice to see the previous mayor involved in the community. I would say that you can only build on what has been done before. So I think it's good to acknowledge all the good work that laid the foundation to where we are so we can do good things. And for the things we cannot take credit for, thank you to those that have done all the work so far. I have one update from the Community Transit Board of Directors at their June meeting. They presented the transit development plan. It's the 2025 annual report and a six year look into the future. The plan is available for review. It's online. Comment period ends July 2nd. So I would invite anybody that would be interested to review and comment on their plan. Thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you. As Deputy Clerk Weaver mentioned, three of us are going to the Association of Washington Cities Conference next week. I'll be accompanying Council Members Araya and McManus. I'm always really excited about the Association of Washington Cities. They have workshops and conferences that are so relevant to cities throughout the state of Washington. And aside from the conferences or the workshops, there's opportunities to really learn from other cities and engage in those conversations. struggles are not different than other city struggles and we can approach them together we can put our heads together and often come back with some great ideas and solutions so super excited about that just want to thank um thank the city for supporting council to be able to attend this conference i think it's incredibly worthwhile we'll be in spokane it's going to be 90 degrees so we'll be excited to be warm um It's not a secret that I'm excited to hand the reins back over tonight. But I will say that the last eight weeks have been really remarkable. I've learned a lot. And this job is, as thankless as it is, it's so much easier when you have the support of the people around you. And I really just want to thank each of my fellow council members for your trust in me and for your support and for believing in me. um, that goes a really long way and it made a hard job much easier. So thanks to every one of you for being here and being beside me and helping me through the hard times. Um, uh, really want to thank, uh, Jean and your leadership and your guidance and your support and just being there, just whatever I was like, I don't know what to do. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing. You were there and you were helpful and, um, um deputy clerk weaver and and clerk shellen also just i felt like you were you were there to catch me when i fell and there to sort of light the way so um it it's definitely not something that i anticipated doing or wanted to do and i'm really really glad i had the opportunity and glad i had the support so thank you all super excited to welcome mayor kurt hill and glad to sit next to you for the next couple months and i'll turn it over to you thank you all right thank you council well we'll move to the next item which is the mayor's business uh

lake stevens has a lot to be proud about and i think the top of my list is the comportment and the maturity of our council uh that was a curveball it could have been very acrimonious and divisive and mean-spirited but it was not um that sets the tone for our community on what we want our public discourse to be, may not agree, but we work to a common solution and we support each other. So thank you very much for your leadership, each one of you in that. I'm off running already. I've already talked to the chair of the State Senate Transportation Committee. I will see him again on Saturday, as well as Congresswoman DelBene on Saturday. And we are going to discuss, of course, our transportation needs as well as other things. I think our We're in a good spot. The US2 trestle is the second priority in the state. And my goal as the discussions you've probably seen on Como and Cairo and the news about the state of Oregon and Washington having the discussions on how they fund those number one priority, which is the Columbia River crossing. My goal is to make sure that The other communities that envy our position as number two do not get that position and that we remain number two so that we move to number one when that bridge gets funded. So that is my commitment. And I'm going to drag you guys along with me getting that done. This was sudden on me and my wife, this appointment. So we do have a vacation coming up that has been long planned and I'm not going. My wife asked me, so are we still going? And I said, yes, we're going. So we're empty nesters. We've been planning this trip. So we'll be gone for about two and a half weeks starting the end of next week. So just wanted to let you know. And the meeting's canceled. So I probably shouldn't miss any council meetings. Staff has already told me that I'm not taking my phone with me. So there we go. And I think that is good to say too, because we need to model what we expect staff to do and what we'd like our community to, and that's take care of ourselves, take care of our families so that we in turn can be healthy and turn around and take care of the community and fulfill our oaths and the job that we've taken. All right, with that, we will move to executive session. How long do we need?

I believe we're going to start with approximately an hour. Um, but that is, there's no action to follow. So if you end early, you went early, but it gives you plenty of time to get your business done. So looking at the clock, let's say, um, coming back at seven. 750. Is that right?

Yeah. Okay. All right.

Okay. Sorry. The council is going to break into executive session per RCW 4230110. The topic is collective bargaining with no action to follow, and it will be for approximately an hour. So we're live. Yep. So you're looking to extend for 15 minutes.

Do a motion. Okay.

Looking to extend our regular council meeting past the time of 8 o'clock, and the proposal is to extend executive session for 15 minutes. I'm looking first for a motion to extend the council meeting.

I'll make a motion to extend the council meeting to 8 o'clock.

I think we're looking for 15 minutes. Great. It's up to council.

Second motion. Let's go to 8.10. Motion to go to 8.10. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

I will be returning from executive session at 8.10 with no action to follow. council's requesting more time for executive session. How much more time would you like 15 more minutes? So returning at eight 30 with, okay.

With no action to follow.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you. The floor is open for a motion to adjourn.

Move to adjourn.

Second.

Motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. Motion to adjourn. Meeting adjourned.