City Council - Regular Meeting

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Happy birthday. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

I thought I was yelling pretty loud. I'm so sorry. I'll call the meeting of April 6, 2026 to order at 6 p.m. Will you please join me in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance 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. And we have David Barnes here to do the invocation for us.

Please bow your heads. Father, Father, we uh just are so grateful for your mercy and your grace and your love and uh God, thank you for your grace upon this town. And we uh we want to praise you for the amazing weekend that we got to have with the daffodil parade. And and so we just lift that up to you and thank you for the amazing weather. And so God, tonight we we uh ask for your presence as decisions are being made for our beautiful community. We lift up all these people that uh have given their lives to serve this community and we are very grateful for them. Um God, may you give them wisdom and discernment. Um may the communication that goes on in here, may the um dialogue that uh we listen, we communicate, and God, we lift up our country to you. And we've lifted up our brave soldiers in the midst of um the war. Um God um may your will be done through this. So God, we just um we are very grateful and we declare you are a good God. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Will the clerk please call the role? Elers here. Evers here. Oxtter here. Kenna here. Malcolm. Council member Malcolm is absent. Ranky here.

Wilsey. Council member Wily is absent. Thank you. So tonight we have two members absent and one member attending virtually. Council member Kenna is virtual and council members Malcolm and Wily are absent. All members notified the mayor and city administrator as per council rules. Is there a motion to excuse council member Malcolm from tonight's meeting? I'll make a motion to excuse council member Malcolm to tonight's meeting. Is there a second?

Second. So moved by council member Ranki and seconded by council member uh Evers. So we'll vote. All in. All in favor? I I Okay, thank you. So pass. She's asking me something. Is there any opposed? Oh, thank you very much. Any opposed? None. So, passed. Thank you. Is there a motion to excuse Council Member Wilsey from tonight's meeting?

Yes. I make a motion to excuse Council Member Wily. Second. I will second that. So, moved by Council Member Hawksteader, seconded by Council Member Ranky. So, we need to uh vote. All in favor? I all opposed pass. Thank you.

All right. So, tonight uh we have a proclamation. So, the Sumar Rotary Centennial Celebration uh from the Rotary to accept the proclamation. The members are President Ron Mccoral and chair of the centennial committee Barbara Batetto. City administrator Jason Wilson will read the proclamation. Thank you, mayor. I'll invite members of Rotary to come forward. All right. Whereas Sumar Rotary Club was formed on March 4th, 1926 as the 85th Club of Rotary International, only 21 years after Paul Harris founded the organization. And whereas Sumar is now one of over 46,000 clubs that now unite over 1 million members across 200 countries. And whereas here in Sumar, Rotary has helped build key projects including Scout Hall at Loyalty Park, the Performing Arts Center at Sumar High School, the Bill Heath Sports Complex, the Sumar Food Bank, the Gordon Family YMCA, the picnic shelter at Rineer View Park, the community center at the new Sumar Library, and soon the stage at Ruben Canabok Heritage Park. And whereas through the Courage Classic, Summer Rotary joined other local clubs in building an award-winning center at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital to establish new ways to support and care for children who had experienced trauma. And whereas for a hundred years, Sumar Rotarians have joined this tradition to help eradicate polio, build sanitation facilities, send shelter tents after disasters, and bring medical care to rural Africa. And whereas through Rotary, Sumner leaders continue to fund scholarships for local students and ensure that every student receives a dictionary to discover words like service and given. And whereas Rotary's Early Act and Interact clubs in the Sumar Bonnie Lake School District help future leaders

discover ways to serve their community. Now, therefore, the city of Sumar proclaims that the Sum Rotary Club has reached a significant milestone in celebrating its centennial, marking 100 years of service above self and a rich history of giving that has shaped our community and connected Sumar to efforts to bring peace and health to communities across the globe. Dated the 6th day of April, 2026. Signed, Mayor Carla S. Bowman. So, Ron, I'll give you that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, it'd be nice to take a quick photo of Miss Palmer. I just want to go up towards the front there.

I don't I don't want to be in the background. Photo bomb. You got to get as many in as I can. I'm a Rotarian, so I guess I can be in the middle. You should be in there. Thank you. Thank you you guys. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, we will say something or Would you like to say something, Mr. Evers?

I would just like to say u thanks to Barb and Ron. Um I've been in Rotary for I don't know how long. It escapes me, but Barb just I mean every group has a somebody that does everything and or most everything and that's Barb Potato. And then Ron Mccoral. Um, usually we have presidents for one year and this is Ron's second term. Um, so that's uh going above and beyond Dr. President Ron. So, thank you guys both both of you. Thank you. Thank you. So, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Will the clerk please read the consent agenda?

Item number one, resolution number 1746, Recreation and Conservation Office grant authorization. Item two, planning commission reappoint, Rob Healey. Item three, lodging tax advisory committee reappoint, Charles Hendris. Item four, lodging tax advisory committee reappoint me Anderson. Item five, lodging tax advisory committee reappoint, Dean Burke. Item six, granular activated carbon media exchange purchase authorization. Item seven, resolution number 1748, planning commission work program 2000, excuse me, 2026 through 2027. Item number eight is approval of the minutes from the 16th of March 2026 regular council meeting and the 23rd of March 2026 council me study session. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Alpers, would you please make a motion to adopt the consent agenda? Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the consent agenda of April 6, 2026.

Is there a second? I'll second. I'm going to give somebody credit. Council member Ranky made the motion to second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda. Would any council member wish to remove an item? Okay. All in favor? I I

opposed. Passes unanimously. All right. Thank you. So, tonight uh we're going to move on to our public hearing. So, we do have a public hearing tonight. Resolution number 1744-2027-2032, 6year Transportation Improvement Program Annual Update. So, uh, I will open this public hearing at 6:13 p.m. I call on Courtney Latrrell, assistant engineering manager. Good evening, Mayor Bowman and council members. My name is Courtney Latrell, assistant engineering manager. This public hearing is for the 2027 through 2032 six-year transportation improvement plan update, also referred to as the six-year tip. The slide you are seeing is the overall map of the six-year tip of which was presented at the study session held on Monday, March 9th. Per state law, the city is required to update the six-year tip annually and file a copy of the approved plan with the state department of transportation. The city must also hold a public hearing for the public to comment on the plan. There are a few quick projects that I'd like to highlight. Um, first is the Steuart Road bridge replacement. Um, construction is currently underway and is expected to be completed in 2028. Next, we have the Washington Street preservation project. Bids were opened last Monday and is expected to begin in the next few months. And our Maple Street pedestrian signal and citywide backplate project. Um, this project's currently suspended while we procure our signal poles and signal equipment. um and is expected to be completed in fall of this year. And with that, I will open up to the public.

Thank you. Anyone wish to make comments on Zoom? None. Thank you. Uh Michelle, has anyone signed up to make comments? No, mayor. No, no comments.

Thank you very much. All right. I will close this hearing at 6:15 p.m. So, let's see here. We'll move on to regular business. So, unfinished business. Ordinance number 2958, vacation of a portion of the Harrison Street Alley. Council member Kenna, would you like to make a motion? Yes, I'll do my best here uh on Zoom. I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance number 2958, vacation of a portion of the Harrison Street Alley.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Council Member Hawketter. So, it's been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2958, vacation of a portion of the Harrison Street Alley. I will now call on Deputy City Attorney Doug Ruth. Thank you, Mayor. And I am on. Yes. Um, so this vacation of the alleyway just south of Harrison was proposed by SJS Investments. Um, the owner of SJS Investments, Susan Susanovich, is here today.

Sorry, Janice.

Janice, sorry. Sorry. Whoops. Um and um we held a public hearing um on that as required by statute. Notice was provided in the form of a sign on the property. Couple signs uh notice to adjoining property owners. Um and we've received uh no objections to that uh proposed vacation. Uh it's a 69x 15 foot wide um rightway. You can see the overall location on the screen. We'll drill down and show you more closely the location as we did at the public hearing. I'll just quickly go through these slides and you've already seen them. Can I see Oops, I can do this. Um I can Yes, I can do that. There's you can see the drawing more in detail right next to Traffic Street. There's in color and this will show you the utilities in that vacation area. So, currently, as the pictures show, it's a parking lot. It has been a parking lot since 2007. Um, and the public works department has determined that um, it is no far no not longer needed for the city. It does have utilities in the rightway. Those would be need to be preserved and the ordinance does provide for reservation of an easement for utilities. Um, it has not been maintained by public works uh, largely because it has been serving as parking spaces in the parking lot. Um, and since it was dedicated to the city and it has not been maintained, there is no provision in the ordinance for compensation required to the city by the um applicant. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer those.

Well, since this was heard at a public hearing on March 16th, 2026, there will be no public comment taken. Any comments from the council? Great. Thank you. You're good. Thank you. Will the clerk please call the role? Hawketter. Yay. Alfers. Yes. Kenna. Yes. Ranky. Yes. Evers. Yes.

Pass 5. Thank you. Okay. We will move on to public comment uh with time limit of three minutes each. Michelle, did anyone sign up for public comment? Yes, mayor. We do have two people who have signed up for public comment. Would you like to read the rules prior to them?

Yes, I would. The purpose of these meetings is to conduct the important business of the city and that often means the city council is making difficult policy or budgetary decisions. With that said, I want to share a few rules and reminders that I will be enforcing to encourage respectful and orderly public comment. As a reminder, the public comment section of the meeting is a time for the council and myself to hear from members of the public on topics not on tonight's agenda. And while it may feel awkward, this is not a time for the council or myself to answer questions or engage in back and forth dialogue or debate. At the conclusion of your comments, I may request that appropriate staff an appropriate staff member may contact you for further discussions. So, one, please keep your comments relative to city business and about matters over which the city council has control. Two, all council members and city staff deserve respect and dignity. Please refrain from disorderly or disruptive speech or conduct, personal attacks, name calling, rude or offensive statements, obscenities, derogatory comments directed at individuals, and hate speech. If you don't comply with this rule, I will interrupt you with a reminder and then may choose to suspend you from continuing or have you removed from the meeting. We also have behavioral expectations. We will all model courtesy and respect. This includes those of us on the dis and members of the public are expected to do the same. Audience members, to ensure every speaker feels comfortable speaking, please do not clap, boo, or speak while another person is addressing the council. Please speak into the microphone. Comments are broadcasted and recorded via the mics. If you leave the microphone, your comment time ends. Now that I've reviewed the rules that will apply, I invite the first speaker to the microphone. Please start your comments

by stating your name in the city in which you reside for our records. You will have three minutes to speak. Thank you. And the first person that has registered or signed up, excuse me, is Ellen Israel from the SBA.

Nice. Hello. Uh my name is Ellen Israel. I am here representing the US Small Business Administration. Um, I'm from out of town, so I didn't put my city of residence down. Uh, but I'm just here to let you folks know about the disaster assistance we're offering in the area as a result of the storms that occurred in December. Um, our assistance is available to homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits throughout the area who were affected by the disaster. Um, so not just businesses. Um, it could be pretty much anybody who is affected by the disaster. Um, our assistance comes in the form of lowinterest fixed rate loans straight from the federal government. Uh, for homeowners, those rates start at 2.875%. Uh, businesses start at 4% and nonprofits start at 3.625%. Uh, businesses can qualify for up to $2 million. Homeowners up to $600,000, renters up to $100,000. Um, homeowners and renters can use the funds to repair and replace any uh disaster damaged property. So, uh, any damage to real estate or damage to, uh, personal property, including cars, uh, or anything that you would really pick up and take with you when you move. Um, for businesses, the funding can be used to again repair and replace equipment or damage to a building. But we also offer for businesses our economic injury disaster loan. So, uh, in the case that a business may not have experienced much physical damage, uh, they still might have some sort of economic injury. Um, they could have could be experiencing a loss in revenue. Um, maybe they're seeing less traffic. Uh, I once spoke to a business in New Mexico that applied for a loan because uh, a wildfire had knocked out power to their fridge and

their freezer and they lost all of that inventory. So, uh, yeah, the economic injury disaster loan is designed to help with that sort of thing as well. Um, we do have a couple of deadlines just to take note of. Uh, for physical damage, that deadline to apply is April 27th. And for economic injury, the deadline to apply is November 24th. And there are a few ways to apply. Uh, first is going to be online at sba.gov/desaster. Again, that is sba.gov/desaster. And we also have our uh disaster loan outreach centers where folks can come and apply and get one-on-one assistance from a staff member who will walk you through the whole process. Uh and the closest one to here will be at the Auburn Library and it is currently open Mondays through Saturdays, I believe. Um I encourage people to apply. Uh don't count yourself out just because you think maybe your credit isn't great. Uh we don't look for a magic number. We look at your credit history as a whole and uh you do have to have an ability to repay. So there's that as well. But um that's all I have for you folks.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's nice.

The next person has signed up is Randall Adams of Sar Washington. Randall Adams, Senator Washington. Let me start off by with thanking our mayor for speaking up at the last month. At the last meeting I was able to attend and opening up a dialogue regarding my comments suggesting my comments are not correct. Thank you for trying to correct for the record where you disagreed with it my comments. Let us return to those comments for the sake of clarity. What I was saying is the city staff approved the site for the Daringer best site without consulting with or including the city council or citizens prior to their approval of the permit for that project. I was 100% correct in that statement as the first time council heard about it was in a committee meeting after the permit was issued and when discussion ensued, council members were told that the change of to change direction after the permit had been issued was to expose the city to a lawsuit. At no time prior to the permit being issued was the council or citizens consulted on the permit requested to allow open discussion to consider other thoughts or information prior to making the decision completely on their own. It was suggested that the city handles numerous permits every year without opening those up for outside comments. Yet, one has to be tonedeaf to compare a permit for a kitchen remodeling versus a best site that are very controversial and potentially damaging sitting on top of our aquifer within feet of the Daringer well. Also, it is suggested that if the city did not directly approve the permit that the state of Washington would have taken over and do exactly what the city did, suggesting there is no opportunity to do anything except approve the best site. Other areas in the state do reach out to their constituents for input, have robust robust and open conversations, place moratoriums for more time to learn about the risk and the options regarding the best sites. Yet in Ser none of that happened. Sar approved the permit at

stage 1, two, or three of a possible 10-step process. The city used uses the overused fear of loss close or the chicken little the sky is falling thoughts to justify their actions to do anything other than what we did was to allow the state to take over our our decision. This is patently incorrect and is trying to insert a squirrel diversion into why they jumped to step 10 to ensure that there was no input from council or citizens prior to making their decision. I did offer one possibility as to why stop staff operated as they did, suggesting the city would receive over 40 million over 40 years as to one possible motivation as to why council and citizens were not allowed to contribute because that may have risked not getting that revenue. That is merely one supposition, not a fact. We clearly do not know because there has been no open discussion regarding that. Yet we do know that the reasons stated by the city do not hold water nor are validated with the facts. I did not question that the city did not do a seipa because had I done so previous seas would have been called into light and the one that acknowledged even though the Ryan house was on a national registry historic registry that sea concluded that there was no historical significance to the city of Sar.

There are no other uh people who have signed up for public comment. Thank you. Is there anyone on Zoom who would like to make a comment? If so, please use the raise hand feature or press star 9. All right, we see no one. Okay, so we'll move on to new business. First of we have ordinance number 2957 amend amending Sumar Municipal Code 2.10 personnel policies. Council member Ranky, would you like to make a motion? Oh, yes. Thank you.

Yes. I'd like to make a motion to approve ordinance number 2957 amending the Sum Municipal Code 2.10 Personnel Policies. Thank you. Can we get a second? Second. Second. Thank you, Council Member Hawksteader. It's been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2957 amending Sumar Municipal Code 2.10000 personnel policies. So I'd like to call on human resources manager Adrien McNell.

Hi. Good evening. U Mayor Bowman and council members. Uh tonight ordinance number 2957 proposes minor updates to chapter 200 of the sar municipal code relating to personnel policies. These updates are primarily administrative in nature and are intended to ensure our policies remain current, consistent, and aligned with best practices. Uh, specifically, the ordinance includes four key changes. First, it updates our compensatory time language to acknowledge federal law. Second, it revises leave acural provisions to clearly address permanent part-time employees who work fewer than 20 hours per week. This primarily applies to one employee at our senior center who's only scheduled to work eight hours per week. Third, it makes minor adjustments to payday scheduling to account for situations when city offices are closed but banks remain open, such as the day after Thanksgiving. And finally, this establishes the authority for the mayor to implement a policy on branded clothing, allowing the city to order and distribute Sumar logo apparel for employees and council members. uh because this can be considered a taxable benefit, it must be authorized in the municipal code. Uh we're currently developing a policy uh to address this benefit and we'll share it once it's approved. The goal is to formalize and streamline the process so that the bene the benefit is consistent and equal for all staff. These changes have no budget impact and were reviewed by the finance and personnel committee on March 11th where the recommendation was to move forward. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Do we have uh any comments from the public? Anyone on Zoom? Thank you. Any comments from council? All right. Will the clerk please call the role?

Kenna. Yes, Hawkstutter. Yes, Evers. Yes, Ranky. Yes, Alers. Yes. Pass 5. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Okay. Ordinance number 2959, civil service amendment to Sumar Municipal Code, chapters 2.86 and 2.96. Council member Hawksteader, would you like to make a motion?

Yes, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance number 29 59, civil servants amendment of Sumar Municipal Code, chapters 2.86 and 2.96. Thank you. Can we get a second? I'll second that. Council me Deputy Mayor Alers made the second. Thank you. So, it's been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2959, civil service amendment to Sumar Municipal Code, chapters 2.86 and 2.96. So, again, we'll call on human resource manager Adrien McNell.

Okay. The next item is ordinance 2959 and this ordinance appends uh amends Sumner Municipal Code chapters 2.68 and 2.96 to exempt police chief position. the police chief position from civil service. Um, currently city code states that all positions within the police department are governed by civil service rules. However, this is not common practice and state law permits this exemption and many jurisdictions have adopted a similar structure. The police chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor and operates under an employment agreement making civil service protections for this role unnecessary. This is an appropriate time to make the change as the city is um moving between police chiefs. The incoming chief has been made aware of this amendment as has expressed no concerns. There's no budget impact associated with this ordinance and the public safety committee reviewed this item on March 18th and recommends approval. I'm happy to answer questions.

Thank you. Any comments from the public? Nobody's on Zoom. All right. Any comments from the council? Council member Ranky. I would just say that uh it came to public safety and we gave it a due pass. We went through more extensively some things, but uh Adrian hit the gist of it all. So, we gave it a due pass through the committee. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Will the clerk please call the role?

Kenna. Council member Kenna. Yes. Thank you. Alers, yes. Hawketter, yes. Rankie, yes. Evers, yes. Pass50, thank you. Thank you. All right, moving on to ordinance number 2956, franchise agreement with Easy Fiber. Council, well, this isn't Deputy Mayor Elers. Would you like to make a motion? I would. I'm still green, though. Oh, you'll get there. Just wait a minute. There you go.

All right. I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance number 2956, franchise agreement with Easy Fiber. Second and final reading. Thank you. Can we get a second? Second. We got a pusher button. Second. Second. Seconded by council member Evers. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2956, franchise agreement with Easy Fiber. We're going to call on city admin city attorney Andrea Marquez. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, as the mayor just stated, ordinance 2956 is a franchise agreement with Easy Fiber, a Houstonbased company planning to install fiber telecommunications throughout the city. A franchise agreement is a license to use public right-of-way to construct, operate, and maintain telecommunication facilities to provide services to the public. These are very common, fairly formulaic agreements. One generally looks like the ones that have preceded it. PSSE, Comcast, Fatbeam, Ziply, and Astound are all common examples that council have adopted in the last couple of years. The term of this proposed agreement is 10 years. This grants a non-exclusive right to use city right ofway and that is standard. Being a franchise holder requires that easy relocate any of their infrastructure if a city CIP project or right-of-way expansion requires them to move and all of those relocations will be at their cost. Each installation or expansion does require a separate permit. So each portion of the buildout of the telecommunications infrastructure uh will be reviewed by the city's planning staff and will require separate bonds and permits. State law requires two readings of this ordinance. That's why this may sound familiar. I was before you back on March 16th with the first reading and tonight's opportunity uh or tonight's reading is the second opportunity for the public to make comments before council ultimately votes. Happy to answer questions. Thank you. Any comments from the public? Anyone on Zoom? Okay. No one. Thank you. Any comments from council?

All right. Will the clerk Oh, it's all right. Council member Ranky. Oh, just Evers. All right. I thought I had to do that vote, right? Yes. You will in a minute. Yes. Okay. Thank you. No worries. Will the clerk please call the role? Yes. Evers. Yes. Alfers. Yes. Kenna. Yes. Hawketter. Yes. Ranky. Yes.

Pass 5. Thank you. Okay. We're on to ordinance number 2960. Parking code amendments. Sumar Municipal Code 10.36. Council member Evers. Would you like to make a motion? I would love to, Madame Mayor. Um, I'd like to make a motion to approve ordinance number 2960, parking code amendments. Can we get a second? I'll second that.

Deputy Mayor Elers. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2960, the parking code amendments, Sumar Municipal Code 10.36. I'm going to call on community and economic development director Ryan Windish.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the city council. The ordinance before you is uh it's really a needed cleanup and update to our parking code. We have a new parking code enforcement officer, community service officer who's been going around town finding a lot of things that needed to be adjusted. So, uh, it relates to 4-hour truck parking, streets where parking should be prohibited, but maybe it's not right now, time limits for loading zones, and then the backend angle parking continues to be a challenge. So, uh, that's also addressed specifically in the ordinance. Um, this went to the, uh, community development committee is think was already spo spoken about, uh, March 25th with the due pass recommendation. So, happy to answer any other questions. Thank you. Any comments from the public? Anyone on Zoom? Okay. No, thank you. So, any comments from the council now? I Michael, I I see you, but you can't I won't let me on. Okay, there you go. Thank you.

Okay, hang on. Now you're on. There you go. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I I serve on the uh community development committee in this game and uh we we did a due pass. Uh it was it was really interesting to learn a lot of it has to do with cleaning up um uh in the in the industrial park. A lot of the semis need places to park and how do you manage how's the city best do that and Ryan helped help us understand that and so we gave it a due pass to clean everything up. Thank you very much. Will the clerk Oh, sorry. Deputy Mayor Elers,

I wasn't at the committee, but I would love to hear a little bit more. The angle backend angle parking is pretty new and I'm assuming you you have gotten some feedback. Can you just give us a little bit of I'd love to hear just what what the feedback is and if this what this does. Yeah,

thank you. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Elers, for the question. Yeah, backing angle parking. Uh there was specifics needed to be in the code regarding alignment and the fact that backing in is if the if the sign says back in angle parking, that's what it means. And so the code need to be adjusted with some specifics around that. Uh and the alignment section of the of the ordinance. For your information, the alignment section also deals with which way you can park on the street. If you're on the opposite side of the street parking the wrong way, then you're you're also out of compliance with the code. But so somebody could if they pulled in, not backed in, they could get a ticket. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Thank you for clarifying.

Any other comments? Council, I have a question. Council member Ranky, is that enforced very much in this? I mean, because I see a lot of cars parked the opposite directions. I do see a lot of forward and back ends, but I think I see more people parking in front of their homes facing the opposite way. Yeah. And I've never seen anybody get a ticket cuz but I was just wondering if that's happening or not. I have a bad habit of occasionally parking the wrong way from my own house. And uh I I don't do that anymore because our uh community service officer said that's one of his most common tickets. So now I parked the correct way. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Will the clerk please call the role? Fox, yes. Kenna, yes. Rinky, yes. Yes. Evers, yes. Pass 5. Thank you. Moving on to ordinance number 2953, zoning code text amendment, co-living housing. Deputy Mayor Elers, would you like to make a motion? I would. I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 2953 zoning code text amendment co-l livingiving housing. Is there a second? Second.

Council member Hawksteader gave us the second. It has been moved and seconded to approve ordinance number 2953 zoning code text amendment co-living housing. Again, I'd like to call on community and economic development director Ryan Wendish.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this ordinance went in front of the council at a study session here in February. So, I'm just going to kind of hit the the high points. Uh, it would amend our zoning code to allow for co-living housing, which is defined in state law as a residential development comprised of independently rented sleeping units with shared kitchen facilities. It's kind of a rebranded um boarding house or rooming house type of an arrangement and it was adopted into state law and requires all cities to allow for co-living housing in all zones where you allow for at least a single structure to have six units. So really it applies to our multif family residential areas, medium density residential, highdensity residential, as well as the town center and all of our commercial areas where we allow for a mixed use of a mix of multif family and commercial uses. The uh amendments included changes to some adopting some new definitions are in the ordinance around uh co-l livingiving housing, sleeping units, shared kitchens and then it made as I mentioned all the zones where uh I went I went through for multif family housing and commercial zones with mixed use. So co- livingiving housing is outright permitted in those zones now. And it's also enters into the definition of multif family housing. So all the design standards that would normally apply to multif family also apply to co-l livingiving housing. So the the planning commission took this uh to a public hearing January 8th and came away with a unanimous recommendation to approve. Uh the planning commission in the

recommendation, it also included a recommendation to council to conduct a traffic study that uh the ordinance, excuse me, though the state law does allow for. And that was also discussed at length at the study session uh with a staff recommendation that a parking study not be uh required or at least definitely not at this time be taken into consideration. That's all I have. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any comments from the public, Mr. Beerman?

Name and address, please. All right. Is it starting?

All right. You're on. Nick Beerman, 5802 Parker Road East. I live here in Sumar. Um, so greetings, mayor and council members. Uh, as you consider this co-living housing ordinance on tonight's agenda, I'd like to offer some insight from the perspective of someone who has lived in co-l livingiving space uh, most notably in Seattle for about a period of 5 years. Note that I'm not speaking necessarily against or in favor of the ordinance. I just wanted to share some of my lived experience for the council. I've submitted some of my comments previously by email uh and during private during prior public comment periods, so you have that information before you, so I won't repeat all of it here today. Um, but I do want to hit a few high points in the 2 minutes and 15 seconds remaining. Uh, first, the size of the units. Um, we're talking about units that vary from about 150 ft² to about 400 ft². So, we're talking dorm room size, less than most hotel rooms. I'm talking about very small units. Um, they're advertised as micro studios. That's the unit that I lived in. And, uh, one of my fellow residents called it a tiny ass apartment. So, just so you know what we're talking about. We're talking about very small units. Um, most units do not have cooking um, capability other than like a microwave or hot plate, something that you can fit on a countertop and then you can plug into a regular wall outlet. You won't have the ability to have uh high uh high capacity voltage refrigerator or ovens, things like that. Um, so we're talking about space that's for living quarters or for sorry for sleeping quarters and not much more. Um, I mentioned that because the type of residents who are going to be seeking this type of housing are generally going to be younger single people. It's not really conducive for families. It's not really conducive for even single people with kids. I've heard

some discussion that seniors might be attracted to this type of housing. Uh, having lived in this type of housing, I would say probably not. Um, the limitations on space, the limitations on the bathroom, the limitations on what you can do for your own cooking in your own unit probably won't appeal very well to uh most seniors. Um, accessibility is an issue, too. I don't believe the ordinance requires uh elevators in multiplestory buildings. I lived on the fourth floor and I had to walk up the stairs. I also had a friend who lived there who asked for a first floor unit because of his needs and it was subject to availability. Parking is another thing too. I would say if you limit the parking spaces to uh a very small percentage of the people who live in the co- livingiving space which you might be required to do by state law. I guarantee you though even if you do that people are still going to bring their car. So they're going to be parking on the street. So if you don't have spaces for them to park they're going to park on the street. I really believe a parking study would show the impacts of that and it doesn't have to show that it's unsafe, just that there is.

Thank you, sir. Your time is up. Y Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments from the public? Anyone on Zoom? Okay. Any comments from the council? Council member Hawksteader.

Thank you, Mayor Bowman. Uh this came to the community development as well as we've got an opportunity with the study session. Um, I think it's just it's just it's just really important that we know that these are coming from the state and their mandates. And I just want to say I appreciate the city staff as they comb through it and we adopted as a city. They did their best to make it fit our city, our needs, and what we want this community to look like. Um, so many times, you know, with these mandates that come down, um, there's not much we can do one way or another but to do our best to make it work for us. So, I just want to thank the staff and Ryan Windish for for doing their best to comb through this and make it much better than the original thing that came down.

Thank you, council me Deputy Mayor Alers. Yeah, I was going to say similar. I just think it's important to note just that this is a state mandate. This is not something that's communitydriven. Um it may be something that fits Seattle more than Sar, but u that's the way the laws are happening in in Washington state right now. So, thank you Mr. Beerman for your comments and your insight what this is like from somebody who's lived in it. I appreciate that. Anyone else? Mayor, may I make a comment from Zoom? Yes. There I see a hand. Hi. Hi. See, I can I can subvert the microphone rules here by just speaking on Zoom. So, this is great. Um,

you're hiding behind Ryan's head. Um, I also wanted to, yeah, just make a comment say, uh, thank you to, uh, Nick for sharing his experience because oftentimes these things come in front of council and our staff do a great job of explaining things and giving us um, the 411 is uh, as in-depth as you can believe, but it's always great to have somebody's experience, lived experience that is um, in whatever issue or topic that might be. So, I I for one appreciated uh Nick your attention to detail there. Um Ryan, you and your staff for you know combing through this as well as council member Hawkstead explained too. Um I I do think I want to reiterate first I think the impacts um will likely be very very very minor. Um you know it's going to take a lot to um develop this type of housing in some of these these areas uh with the restrictions requirements that type of thing and then you know have it meet um people's needs. But I do think it's an important tool in our tool belt that does provide one um level of housing uh that can work for some individuals and that maybe um works for them at a certain time in their life and maybe it's a stepping stone to something else else. But you know part of the the housing issue that we're facing right now in the community and in the larger state is just the lack of housing, the lack of variability of our housing. So, this is one piece of that that can help us provide something to uh folks in our community. So, thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else on the council? Thank you. Thank you very much. Will the clerk please call the role? Excuse me. Alers, yes. Rankie, yes. Evers, yes. Hawketter, yes. Kenna, yes. Passed 5-0. Thank you. All right. We will now move on to reports. And so we will start with council member Kenna. He's frozen. Wasn't ready for

Can you hear me? Yes.

Okay, great. I'll I'll be uh quick as my connection goes in and out here, but I did want to say um thank you uh as well as to Nick who I mentioned earlier. Um thank you to Janice Susanovich who came and spoke on the vacation issue and I really appreciated her perspective um recently on that and informing the council. I think it's great when we have members of our community um providing their perspective how things might affect them. Um I really think it's fantastic we have engaged folks in our in our uh city. Um, also wanted to say thank you to the planning commission folks and uh, Eltech folks who are um, going to be back on our commissions. Um, and uh, that's Robert Healey, Charles Hendrickx, Miley Anderson, and Dean Burke who got announced. We really appreciate your service and bringing your expertise um, to our community. So, thank you, Mayor. That's all I've got.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Elers. Yeah, I don't have too much to say. just uh I hope everyone enjoys spring break whichever week it might be. I think we hires last week and then I think the summer district has theirs this week and then uh just really enjoying the sunshine. Missed the daffodil parade but I was able to be outside uh that but I heard it was really really well attended and I'm sorry I missed it. And then um yeah, everyone just I took my son to uh to look at some colleges. I just and so I think that's just an interesting and exciting and exhausting uh thing that everyone hopefully gets the opportunity to do. So I again I missed that but it was good learning experience for me. Thanks.

Thank you Council Member Evers.

Thank you. Uh I guess I would just like to say that I I had a great time, great weather at the parade on Saturday and it looks like we have just a handful of people in the audience. Nobody may be on Zoom, but I attended the parade in Palol be frank. It was the first time ever, but um my my son uh class summer high class of 2016 and his his new bride had just moved to Pialup. So we walked and I wanted to experience the parade with her first parade. So, and um so it was it was a great parade and even in Palop and um I ran into a for a summer high grad who was on the council and now he's the police chief in Palop and I had a nice talk with Scott Angel and he's doing great and for those that remember Scott he's wanted me to tell everybody hi in Sumar. So hello

nice thank you. Now, next year they need to come here, right? You gave you gave them that year. They're coming here next year. Okay. Uh, Council Member Ranky.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, just a few things. Um, Wednesday, March 18th was public safety committee. Uh, had our monthly reports from both fire and police chief. Nothing really um riveting or out out of the ordinary. Standard call volume for both. Uh we did discuss the ordinance 2959 on the uh police chief removal of the civil service. We went over that tonight and voted on it. It passed. Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 15th at 4 p.m. Uh the next meeting I attended was Pierce County Regional Council on Thursday, March 19th. Um this was a small cities action or roundt discussion month and um we have no action items, mostly discussion. I would say the top three uh things that most cities were talking about of course are uh traffic, parking, apartments, and economic development, how to get more money for these uh cities. So, and most cities were all on board with pretty much the same things, just kind of networking and talking about um how to improve some of these things. What affects one city affects the others uh on the area. So, the next meeting will be Thursday, April 16th at 6:00 p.m. And we will have two keynote speakers for that meeting. Uh Ryan Melo, the county exec, and also the Pierce County Sheriff, Keith Swank, will be guest speakers at that meeting. Um Tuesday, March 24th, I went to the Tacoma Pierce County Economic Development Board in Tacoma. Um we had several reports on several different things, but just a few things I'll bring up. It was a couple hour meeting so I won't bring up everything but we had a a five board panel on the FIFA the soccer coming in and it was really interesting to listen to all them talk and um for anybody out there listening in the audience uh they're going to have three weeks of

events and things going on all free and actually it's being sponsored by the P tribe of Indians so they're paying for a lot of that stuff and uh they have a website you can get on a FIFA 2026 website and it'll give all the particulars, how to get to the events and what they are and what what's going on. Also, another one that was interesting to me was the new Mary Bridge Children's Hospital annex is going to open in um May. So, it's right across the street apparently from uh Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma there, which is a good thing. Um and then Thursday, March 26th, I did attend Pelp Summer Chamber of Commerce economic forecast meeting. We had several speakers. Our own Ryan Wendish was there. uh city of Palp had their um person there for all the things going on in Palop sumar. We also had Pierce County Council Dave Morell there and then also a port commissioner um Dick Marzano was there gave a lot of updates what's going on in the whole county for economic development. And last thing I guess I'll went April 1st we moved our personnel finance committee meeting up to that. um just basically went over most of the uh income tax stuff and we did go over a water storage tank for the um water system on Zender there. Uh last thing is the the April 4th did the Easter egg hunt with the East Pierce firefighters in the morning at Sunset Stadium and then did the parade at 2:30 and drove to Kenworth in the parade. So that was beautiful day. Well turned out for everybody for the parade and the Easter egg hunts. Beautiful weather. So that's it for me.

Thank you. You've been busy. All right, Council Member Hawksteader.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I serve on the community development committee and uh our last meeting we talked about combining some commissions to increase efficiency. The other thing that we talked about was um the planning commission work program. It laid it out nice and neat what's going to come in front of them and when over the next kind of year and a half. That was really really helpful to see. Um that uh speaking of the commissions, I just I want to say thank you to the commissioners that serve on our commissions. That really is the ground floor. Um and the committees, the commissions committee and then council. Um so if if you're if if you're a resident, you want to get involved, look look for a way to apply for um commission. That really is important roles and it it really does help um um um comb through the things before it even comes to councils. And it's good it's good to know what your recommendations are. Um, yeah. And daffodil parade, it was great. Daffodil Parade is great. C, Council Member Ranky, thank you for driving us on the the fire engine. Um, I know I'm in good hands when you're driving. Um, the sunshine being out. I I It was great. Um, I have two little kids and you know, sometimes you might think, "Oh, it's just a parade." But rituals are important and traditions are important and it's what binds communities together, which creates memories. It's what your kids remember. It's what I talk about, what I did when I was a kid. So, I just like seeing people get out, get involved, get in the sunshine, wave the parade, and just have fun. So, it was a good day. It was a good day.

Summer as well as Thank you. Uh, city administrator Jason Wilson.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, coming up at next week's study session, we'll have our community partners here to provide an update on what they've been doing over the last 12 months. As a reminder, as part of the budget process, council awards money to several community partners that perform different services for the city on our behalf and in our community. So, they'll be here next week to to talk about all the great work that they've been doing. Uh April 20th at the regular council meeting, another full agenda. We'll start off with a proclamation for Arbor Day and then on you'll be confirming the mayoral appointment of a new police chief. uh Heritage Park remediation design consultant contract award on our Washington Street preservation project be awarding that contract as well as uh the construction management consultant contract and a design consultant amendment. The uh 2026 payment chip seal application uh construction contract award uh will be for your consideration as well as the six-year transportation improvement program. An ordinance uh vacating 63rd Street East. You'll hold a public hearing on that. several other commission appointments. An ordinance uh amending the 2026 compensation schedule, an ordinance repealing the Cultural Arts Commission, an ordinance amending the Forestry and Parks Commission, and an ordinance amending the Historic Preservation Commission. That is uh the commission consolidation that uh Council Member Hawket referenced in his report. Uh one other thing I want to flag for you on April 28th, which is a Tuesday, the we'll be holding our annual community summit. That's a partnership between the Sumar Bonnie Lake School District as well as the city of Bonnie Lake. Um, more details will be out on that soon, but I wanted to flag it for your calendar and hope that you can attend. Starts off at 4:15 with a coffee with community leaders and then we'll have some breakout sessions at 5:00 and then dinner and a program from 6:00 until 8. So, look for more information on that in the coming weeks and uh not only for you electeds, but every member of the public is welcome to attend that as well. So, happy to answer any

questions. questions. Thank you. Okay, so uh on the theme of commissions, so I'm still interviewing for a few of our commissions. So we still have that going on. Um I would like to talk about Metro Animal Services. Carmen, do we have a slide for that? Okay, thanks. So, oh, so next week is animal care and control appreciation week. Uh, I'd like to thank our staff, volunteers, and donate donors who help us run Metro Animal Services. Just so folks are aware, we provide animal care and sheltering for Sumar Ampolip as well as Bonnie Lake, Edgewood, Milton, Alona, and Pacific. Uh, it's a big area, and they do so much work for the people and the pets of those communities. Last year, they responded to over 200 calls for service. They adopted over 300 pets to new homes, returned 173 lost pets to their owners, and served over 4,000 human visitors to our shelter. Within those numbers, they handle the best of times when worried owners are reunited with their frantic pets or animals find a loving home for the rest of their lives. So, there's a lot of goodness that goes on there. At the same time, our staff also have to deal with the most difficult situations, including abandoned pets, sick animals, and investigating situations where animals may be in distress or even abusive situations. So, it's a big job that these people have. I'd like to thank Lauren Wallen, who manages the program out of our Sumar Police Department. She is quickly becoming a leader across our region for discussing solutions to animal control needs. Thank you to Nikki Thosch, our supervisor at Metro, and to our animal control officers, Katherine Baldwin, and

Casey Alban, and to the rest of our animal control staff, Denise Boserman, Lincoln Fowler, Belinda Hudson, Samatha Samantha Cheman, and Mackenzie Suite. And also a special shout out to all our volunteers and everyone who donates kitty litter and dog food to help our staff serve as many animals as possible at the lowest cost possible. So, I just really wanted to give a shout out to these folks. It's a it's a very important job. And so, myself being an animal lover, and I think there's many other people out there that love animals as well. Um, it's needed. It's needed and they cover a huge territory. So, then I want to move on to the parade. Uh, the parade, uh, it was a wonderful parade on Saturday. It was sunny, it was hot, he got sunburned, my nose got sunburned, Michael was taking pictures. It was really good. Nicole Wilsy joined us. Apparently Mark Evers, sorry, council member Evers was in Pua, but that's okay. And uh Andy, Andy was down going to colleges, but we had a great time. Um Oh, there we are. Uh the float c our float summer float celebrated Heritage Park, a place that's truly blooming uh where it's planted. That is a great picture right there. Um the marching band bands were spectacular. Uh it's so much fun the morning of the parade watching the day before and the morning of the bands coming around the neighborhood. It's like, "Oh boy, which one's that?" You know, so that's very enjoyable. And the downtown was full of people enjoying a great day together. So whether you marched, waved, attended, ate, or shopped, we appreciate your participation. It was truly enjoyable. Huge crowds. I I don't know how many more people there were this year, but the streets were lined all the way from up here at Heritage Park almost down to uh McDonald's. I mean, they were they were all over the place having a great time. So, it was really fun.

Then, I would like to uh share something that I am truly pleased about. Uh, I want to announce that last week our own city administrator, Jason Wilson, was officially certified as an ICMA credentialed manager. So, what does that mean? Well, ICMA stands for the International City County Management Association. And to earn this designation, leaders have to demonstrate that they have a certain level of education and experience and that they adhere to high standards of integrity and an assessed commitment to lifelong learning and professional development. In short, it means that we have one of the best of the best running our city and that's more than just our opinion. So, he is also one of only 27 people in this state to hold this certification. So we talk about setting the standard of excellence here in Sumar and this is what we're talking about. So congratulations Jason. It's quite an achievement and we're lucky to have you here. So with that being said

oh boy council member Evers. Yes. It's going to be very quick. I promise. But um some some trivia from the parade. But you may have noticed I was my son was a four-year Joe Carl band member. And if you watch the parade, um it was Bunny Lake and Summer combined. Combined. Wasn't that cool? And with And I go, "What the heck's going on?" What? No. And anyway, um I talked to a parent who helps out Joe. And apparently, um the bigger the combining of the two, at least for a little bit, is because Joe's trying to get into the Rose Parade.

And apparently maybe the numbers help him with that. I know that I went down to the Rose Bowl in 97 and uh the summer band was there. So that's that's why apparently they combined FYI. Thank you for that trivia tip. All right. So again, I'm going to congratulate Jason Wilson on his accomplishments. It's much needed here. So we really appreciate all your hard work and your dedication. It just shows that you truly care about the city that you work in.

Thank you, mayor. It's my pleasure. With that being said, we do have an executive session tonight and pursuant to RCW42.30.110 one I to discuss with legal counsel pending litigation there will be no action to follow. So this executive session will last 15 minutes. So, this regular uh meeting is now adjourned into executive session at 7:08 p.m.