Board of County Commissioners - public_hearing

Good evening Board of Commissioners and over to you Chair Herrington.

Thank you, Clerk Moss. Welcome, everyone, to the Tuesday, July 28, 2026 Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting. We apologize for the fact that the room is so warm tonight. Thank you for being here in person with us. We've opened both of the side doors to try and get more cool air coming in, but we are with you and feeling it being quite warm this evening. So, Clerk Moss, could you do us the formal honors, please?

Certainly, Chair Harrington. The Washington County Board of Commissioners also meeting as all other county service districts this regular session, July 28th, 2026. Commissioner Fai?

Present.

Commissioner Treece?

Here.

Commissioner Snyder? Here. Vice Chair Welley? Here. Chair Harrington?

Here. For all of you who are able to stand up, please do so and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to our first public communications section for tonight's meeting. This is an opportunity for members of our community to come and share their thoughts with us for up to two minutes an individual. Clerk Moss, who do we have who wishes to do so tonight?

Thank you, Chair Harrington. We have Mr. Dale Feek. Mr. Feek.

I got here without falling back and stumbling, so.

Chair Harrington and commissioners, Dale Feek. I'm chair of the Washington County Citizen Action Network. I'm also a spokesperson. I'm speaking for our organization, Washington County Citizen Action Network. I have two topics. One is ACRE, Advisory Council for Racial Equity and Save America Act. In reading through what you're going to have an action plan on, a decision to make tonight, I just want to say two things. Clearer leadership. A chair and vice chair selected by members to replace the former co-chair model. One commissioner serves as liaison rather than co-chair, as you did, Commissioner Treece and Snyder. I agree with that. I think that's a good plan.

I think all these are good plans, good actions.

Relationships clarified. The county administrator is Acres Primary Advisory Connection. One commissioner serves as a non-voting board liaison. Day-to-day staff support is coordinated through the county administrator and is led by the Office of Access and Opportunity. one minute for that so and i really appreciate you not decrease in the budget even though the topic is the name is change but the intent is the same appreciate that second comment has to do with what i learned today in the workstation dear senator white and mark lee on behalf of the west county board of commissioners we're writing to urge you oppose the save america act is currently written as attached to the pros house requisition beck reckons reconciliation bill while we were sure congress's comment to secure akron transfer elections this legislation post severe unworkable burdens on washington and you've read this bit what people in the audience and maybe watch this have not so i do we encourage them to get on and read this doc email sent to or sent to him. So, save the American Act would fundamentally restructure how counties carry out these functions while providing no new federal funding to do so. The proposed legislation raises significant concerns for Washington County. Please, audience and other people, read the letter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Feig. And I would ask, I know that the signed letter is being added to or updated in our work session packet. And I would ask Clerk Moss if he could also include it in tonight's packet as well, given the public testimony. Thank you. Do we have anyone else who wishes to testify?

I did not see anyone else sign up before this session at two minutes. Is there any other member in the auditorium that we should probably public comment for two minutes on any calendar related topic? Raise your hands, start coming forward. Not seeing any in the room. Is there any member on Zoom? We should probably public comment to the board on any calendar related topic for up to two minutes. Give you just a moment to utilize raise hand function. Not seeing any hands. Chair Harrington.

Now, this would be a time, if anyone wants to testify with regard to our two action items, this would be a time for you to speak about that, if you would like. Just as a reminder. Anyone online, Clerk Moss?

No, madam chair. There is no hands.

Okay. Thank you very much So then we'll move on to tonight's consent agenda which consists of seven different items One set of minutes one item from housing services one item from human resources two items from facilities fleet and parks and two items from land use and transportation What are the wishes of the Commission regarding tonight's consent agenda? I?

move for approval of the consent agenda as presented. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor please vote by raising your hand or saying aye. Thank you everyone. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously five to zero. That brings us to public hearings and we have one. to consider the annexation of two tax lots, portions of six tax lots and right-of-way totaling 12.3 acres to the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District. And we have our staff experts here for a staff report. Please take it away.

Good evening, Chair Harrington and members of the board. My name is Carol Johnson. I'm the Planning and Development Services Manager in the Land Use and Transportation Department, joined this evening by Tricia Gorisco, who will provide a brief presentation.

Thank you, Carol. Good evening, Chair Harrington and Commissioners. For the record, I am Trisha Grisco, Associate Planner with Land Use and Transportation Community Planning Section, and I will be giving a presentation on proposed boundary change 26-11, which is a request to annex two tax lots, portions of six tax lots, and right-of-way into Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, or THPRD. The site is approximately 12.3 acres in size and is located north of Southwest Shoals Ferry Road, west of Southwest 175th Avenue, and east of Southwest Tile Flat Road inside the city of Beaverton. The subject property, the area hatched blue and white, it's in the center towards the top, is located inside the regional UGB in the city of Beaverton. The area in solid light blue shows the current extent of the TH purity boundary in the vicinity. This is a request by the property owner to annex the subject area into THPRD in order to serve future development. County staff has reviewed the request and found that it meets the criteria for boundary changes as outlined in the staff report. Staff recommends that the board conduct a public hearing, and at the conclusion of the hearing, adopt the resolution and order approving the annexation into THPRD, with the approval becoming effective today, July 28th. If there is any public testimony today, there is a brief statement I will need to read into the record.

Thank you. And with that, at this juncture, oh, sorry. Do you have any, board members, do you have any questions of staff? Okay, thank you. Didn't mean to run through that. At this juncture, is there anyone who wishes, I need to open the public hearing. And now, is there anyone who wishes to testify on this matter?

Thank you, Chair Harrington. I did not see anyone sign up in the room in advance of the meeting. Is there any member in the auditorium? We should provide public comment on this public hearing as you've heard from staff. Raise your hands, start coming forward. Not seeing any in the room. Is there any member online? We should provide public comment on this public hearing as you've heard from staff. Give you just a moment to utilize raise hand function. Not seeing any hands. Chair Harrington.

Seeing none, I'd like to close this public hearing and ask for a motion to adopt the resolution and order approving the annexation of these two tax lots, portions of six tax lots, and right-of-way totaling approximately 12.3 acres to the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, with the approval becoming effective today, July 28, 2026. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please vote by raising your hand or saying aye. Thank you. Commissioners, any opposed? The motion carries unanimously 5-0. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to our action agenda. And we have two different items here. And the first one is to approve the Advisory Council on Racial Equity, also known as ACERS, revised charter and bylaws. And we have our director of the Office of Access and Opportunity and Barry Johnson Smith, the ACER co-chair here with us tonight. So Alicia, please take it away.

All right, cool. Good evening, commissioners and for everyone here. My name is Barry Johnson Smith. I'm the current co-chair of the Washington County Advisory Council on Racial Equity. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. Over the past year, since the adoption of the Action Opportunity Resolution, ACRE has been thinking about how can we revise the work that we're doing so we can, you know, Strengthen our relationship with the council continue to work that we're doing but making it better and more impactful impactful experience for our members and that's what we're discussing today with the the revision of the bylaws and charter

Thank you, Barry. I'm Alicia Sojourner, Director of Access and Opportunity. Tonight we're asking for your approval of our updated ACRE charter and bylaws. These revisions are not about changing the purpose of ACRE. They're about strengthening the council, the way they operate, clarifying roles and responsibilities, as well as creating a stronger connection between community recommendations and county decision making. This work has been intentional and collaborative. Following the adoption of the Access and Opportunity Resolution in 2025, ACRE members recognized it was time to revisit the governing documents. Beginning last fall, we worked through several phrases that included an acre retreat, reviewing of draft materials, individual interviews with members, and multiple opportunities for feedback. Every significant revision reflects conversation with acre members, county leadership, and support staff. This was very much a co-design process rather than a staff-written document.

As members, we do appreciate having the multiple opportunities to give honest feedback. These opportunities allowed us to express what was working, what we saw challenges at, and what helped ACRE be more effective moving forward. I do want to give a shout out to Expel the Strategies with Darnell Bell and Lucy Hamer for the work taking our feedback and assessing the major themes, which we'll discuss in the next slide. All right, so here's the major theme that came from our conversation. One, from the feedback opportunities. The first thing is, like, Acre, we believe we have a strong foundation. I think the members, we really value the relationship that we have with each other, county staff. Leadership and we enjoy the discussions and the opportunity to advise kind of leadership I think what was confusing for us was with our role is how to provide meaningful advice on to the kind of government Where do we step in giving advice to county project initiatives and where can we like give recommendations? members wanted click greater clarity in our row which will the next team having clear direction and We wanted a clearer advisory relationship, a more intentional work plan, and a stronger understanding of how our recommendations move through the organization.

Another theme that was a desire for a stronger feedback loop. Members wanted to know what happens after recommendations are made. what actions were taking, what decisions were made, and where additional conversations is needed. Finally, members emphasize wanting to spend their time on work that has the greatest impact by focusing on a manageable number of county priorities each year while still leaving room to respond to emerging issues. The proposed charter reflects four major changes. First, it clarifies the advisory relationship. ACRE advises the county administrator with a designated board liaison serving as a direct point of contact to the board of commissioners. Second, it broadens ACRE's scope to focus on countywide priorities, plans, and investments.

Third, it established the annual work plan that helps focus the council efforts while maintaining flexibility when new pressing issues arise. It also finally creates a more transparent decision-making process by documenting recommendations and tracking responses of the council. From a member perspective, these changes give us more clarity about our role and greater confidence that the work we're doing is connected to county priorities and that our recommendations will continue to be part of an ongoing conversation. Next, we're showing the update in how ACRE will advise county leadership. So with ACRE, the main thing we discussed is our priority is serving the community, hearing the community, and giving that to county leadership. We want to make sure community input and perspective is taken into the development and implementation of county services and policies. Rather than changing who ACRE advises, we want to change to clarify how information flows through county leadership to support day-to-day operations and policies.

Within this model, ACRE's recommendations are provided to the county administrator who is responsible for coordinating work across county departments. The board liaison continues to provide an important connection between ACRE and the board of commissioners, helping maintain communication in both directions. This creates a clearer and more concise structure while preserving opportunities for collaboration. The bylaws update are largely operational. They clarify staff support roles, simplifying committee structure by retaining only membership subcommittee as a standing committee and provide clear decision-making process around quorum, voting, and documenting recommendations.

And also, we added a simple attendance makeup option so members who miss a meeting can stay informed and engaged. We want to make sure members are engaged with current activities and can still contribute if they are missing meetings. Overall, these changes help us spend less time navigating the process and providing more clarity on how we can conduct our work so we can focus more time on meaningful discussions and community priorities. All right. And that's our presentation. On behalf of ACRE, I'd like to thank all of our members who participated in this process. This revision reflects the voices and experience of our council members. This has been a year in the making, and we're glad we were able to develop these charter and by-law laws and share them with you today.

We appreciate your consideration this evening. These updates position ACRE to continue providing thoughtful community informed advice while strengthening accountability, communication, and partnership across Washington County. We respectfully request approval of the revised charter and bylaws and would be happy to answer questions. And before we completely finish, there are a number of ACRE members in the audience. I would just love for them to raise their hand. Thank you all for being here as well.

Thank you, Alicia and Mr. Johnson Smith. At this juncture, I'd like to open the floor to commissioners for any comments that you wish to make before I ask for a motion and a second. Go ahead, Commissioner Treece.

Well, first of all, I want to express my appreciation for, Barry, you being here and being the presenter, but for everybody that has come to show your support. It's hard to explain the fact that this is brought forward with a real common acceptance and thought and engagement by everybody in the room. And it was across the board. I've worked on a lot of boards and commissions, but nobody's quiet in these meetings. There's a lot of talk that goes on. There's a lot of engagement. But there's also the support that you see for ACRE. But the piece that I'd like to highlight is the support that I have been able to see over, I've been a part of ACRE since the beginning, the support for each other. and for the mission of ACRE moving forward. And everyone has kind of had to give a little, get a little, share a little, and it has been really a collaborative process moving forward. So I am really proud to have played a part in this, as well as be able to meet and function with this group. So thank you, thank you for bringing this forward. And Barry, thank you for calling out espousal But I think that even this puzzle was like, wow, this is really engagement from this group. And the support is there. So thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Snyder, go ahead.

Thank you, Chair. I have never been involved in a community group or board or commission that is more engaged and having thoughtful, thought-provoking, and sometimes somewhat uncomfortable conversations in such a productive way. I realize that because of my conflicting meetings and how many of those have been scheduled, I have not been to a number of ACRE meetings that is not For me, that does not represent a lack of interest. The retreat was amazing. That was the last major event that I think I had the honor and privilege of attending and learning again so much from all of you. And just for all ACRE members that are in the room and those that are not, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart around the engagement and how you're helping now and into the future moving the county forward.

Anyone else?

Yeah, I think that was a great comment, Jason. I've only attended a few of these, but that was my takeaway as well. Very, very engaged. honest conversation, so it was good. And Pam, thank you for, you're the long-termer on this. You've been there from day one. Thank you for your commitment to not only this group, but this mission. And certainly, congratulations. Happy to have you.

Mr. Fai. Thank you, Chair. Barry, Alicia, good to see you both. I intend to support this action item in front of us, and I appreciate all the work that you've all done. You know, racial justice work is really hard work, not just mentally, but emotionally. And I appreciate you all bringing your whole self and having those hard conversations and really staying true to this mission and vision here. Washington County is one of the most diverse counties, so we're not hiding behind any trees. We're loud and we're proud that we are the most diverse counties and we are the economic engine of this county because of that. So thank you for your leadership and I appreciate all the work that you've all put into this and I will be voting yes.

Thank you. I appreciate the work that ACRE has put into taking the original foundational documents when we first established ACRE and evolving them to match where we're at with access and opportunity. So job well done there. I also appreciate the specificity with regard to the charter. and the areas of work and making sure that it is reflective of county government work. It's just really very helpful. And while the documents talk about updates to, for example, to the charter every couple of years, that will need to continue to come back to the board and the board anchoring. I'll also say that as the board chair, I have ensured that there is a commonly understood and available set of information about the county board work plan and priorities and that includes through our budget season, the ordinances that we consider, levies, our investments, and there is more that I think we can do as a board for helping ensure that ACRE has the clarity of that overall context and also what specific questions we would be asking them to consider in advisement to us. An example is that with regard to our budget season, we get in a pretty standard format, our five year forecast and the tools that we use as the board to provide budget direction to our county administrator budget office. And that includes our budget guiding principles and our budget priorities. as well as the budget calendar which provides for the public engagement opportunities. So that is information that I will continue to develop with Alicia's advisement and bring that to the board and work with the liaison from the board. At this juncture, I would like to ask for a motion to approve the Advisory Council on Racial Equities Revised Charter and Bylaws.

I proudly make that motion.

Thank you. Do we have a second?

Second.

Wonderful. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please vote by raising your hand or saying aye. Thank you. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously 5-0. Thank you again for participating in ACRE and for joining us in person this evening. You're not in the way in any way, shape, or form. Next, we have our second action item for today's meeting, and that is the annual presentation of the Washington County Administrative Manual and updates to the administrative policies since our last board review.

Please, Ms. Calvert. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Harrington and commissioners. For the record, I'm Erin Calvert, one of the assistant county administrators. Today's action before your board is to accept the Washington County Administrative Manual. And just as a reminder, the administrative manual and the update to the administrative policies are presented to your board annually. Your board had a work session presentation just last week on July 21st, where I presented the slide deck that's included in your packet this evening. And during that presentation, we reviewed and provided a reminder of the administrative manual and administrative policy process, an update about the new platform called PowerDMS that was launched in June, and will assist with policy administration, centralizing the policy lifecycle, and turning static documents into living, audit ready assets. It will also reduce administrative costs. In addition, we reviewed the list and content of updated policies and quickly reviewed a new policy. The packet and presentation also provided an updated organizational chart. So there have been no changes to the presentation that's included in your packet today and unless your board has any questions or wants a further detailed review, the action before you today is just to accept the Washington County Administrative Manual.

Board members, do you have any questions? How about comments? Thank you.

Good work. We went through this in a lot more detail in work session.

Yes, yes. Great. And I really appreciate how the improvements to the administration manual occurs through your leadership, Ms. Angie, that the board has visibility into it and that we take the actions. So it really goes towards having a healthy workplace and continuing to evolve our best practices now and into the future.

I move that we accept the Washington County Administrative Manual as presented.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor of accepting the Administrative Manual for 2026, please vote by raising your hand. Thank you. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously, five to zero. Please continue to go forth and prosper in our great workforce. All righty. Next, we have our second public comment opportunity for tonight's meeting. This is an opportunity for members of our community to come and testify for up to five minutes an individual. Kirk Moss, who do we have to do so?

Thank you, Chair Harrington. We have Leif Eccles. Leif, please come up.

Good evening, Mr. Echols. Please go ahead.

Hi, my name is Leif Echols. My pronouns are they, them. Tonight I wanted to talk about the Century Boulevard Extension Project. So I'm sharing just a little bit of background that I've been researching. So the Tualatin River Basin includes North Rock Creek and Beaverton Creek, which run through Noble Woods Park. This area is a migration pathway, foraging region, and spawning ground. ground for salmonid species, including the threatened steelhead. This wetland and forest area includes bottomland riparian forest, which is priority habitat in the Oregon conservation strategy. The Willamette Watershed Council's strategy for the Tualatin River Basin includes preventing stormwater runoff and maintaining stream canopy cover. This focus area has been in place since DEQ designated this region as a water quality limited area due to low dissolved oxygen concentration. So the removal of 267 established trees around the newly constructed road will reduce shade and increase water temperatures in summer months, increasing the likelihood of toxic algal blooms. This project will also include dewatering during construction, which has the potential for significant harm to the habitat and water quality in Beaverton Creek. Drying out the riverbed will cause loss of aquatic life and critical habitat for threatened species. Then pumping water back into the waterway and wetlands during that event can add sediment into the waterways, altering water temperature and increasing nutrient load. The final design of this project was not shared publicly until May 2026 open house, and this includes the location of the Stormwater Mitigation Facility, or SMF. Measurements of the detention facility compared to the FEMA floodplain map shows that 65 feet of this will extend into the floodplain. Winter flooding is a common occurrence in Beaverton Creek and Rock Creek that run through noble woods. So I'm wondering if there was an assessment done of regular and extreme flooding depths when considering the design. Also posted 6-29-2026 on the CBEP website is a document responding to concerns about the noise study, which states this project did not require an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment. I got an email from Renis Kelfkins today saying that this wasn't required because no federal dollars were being used for this project. But given the impact this project has on critical habitat highlighted by the Willamette Watershed Council, And given overwhelming public concerns about the impact packs to wetland wildlife and habitat Why did the county not request an EA or EIS that's environmental assessment even if it was not required by law? Some other questions I have does the county work with the Willamette Watershed Council or Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and building infrastructure that impacts wetlands or riparian forests that are part of their conservation strategies and Given that the Tualatin River system that includes Beaverton and Rock Creeks are habitat for threatened steelhead and other critically endangered species, why did the county not request an environmental assessment? Has a study ever been done to confirm that the total maximum daily loads of discharge into waterways that are not captured by the SMF during yearly winter flooding events in Noble Woods will not exceed the established limits set by the Clean Water Act? ALSO, I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW COMMUNITY CONCERNS WERE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION DURING THE DESIGN AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. THE COUNTY ENGAGED IN THE INPUT APPROACH TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN 2019 AND 2021. IN THE OPEN HOUSE ON MAY 14TH OF THIS YEAR, THEY USED THE INFORM APPROACH WHICH DID NOT PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY FEEDBACK. From a summary that we got from the county of impacts this project would have on Noble Woods and summarizing community concerns from that open house, it stated that mitigation strategies would be used to reduce speed limits to 20 to 30 miles per hour. But we've now heard from county commissioners that Century Boulevard will be 35 miles per hour. ODOT specifies that speed limits in residential districts should be 25 miles per hour. Additionally, this road goes near four community schools. I live in this neighborhood. Kids walk to school every day. My kid is going to be walking to Century next year along Century Boulevard. And this plan also doesn't include enhanced pedestrian crossings right at Century High School. SO INTERESTINGLY, A LOT OF COMMUNITY CONCERNS WERE NOT REALLY INCLUDED IN THE FINAL DESIGN. THE DESIGN WASN'T MADE PUBLIC UNTIL MAY AND SINCE THE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT HAS CHANGED SINCE 2021, WHY WOULD THERE NOT BE AN ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THIS YEAR? We've been asking for traffic studies to be provided to justify this entire project. Those were not uploaded until today. Today. AND THAT TRAFFIC ANALYSIS WAS DONE IN 2021. I ALSO KNOW FROM THE RESPONSE TO THE NOISE STUDY THAT THERE WAS A TRAFFIC MODEL THAT WAS USED FOR THIS PROJECT THAT WAS PROJECTING WHAT TRAFFIC VOLUMES WOULD BE IN 2040. IF THAT WAS ALSO DONE IN 2021, IT'S OUT OF DATE. I WAS JUST AT THE HILLSBORO CITY COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY MEETING. THERE WAS A REPORT THAT Basically traffic volumes around here have stayed flat over the last decade and arterial road volumes have not recovered since the pandemic So the traffic analysis that was created in 2021 is out of these wrap up Thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. Look Moss. Do we have anyone else?

Thank you chair Harrington Is there anyone else in the auditorium that we should probably public comment up to five minutes on the encounter? Really topic us anyone raise your hand start coming forward not seen please come ahead. I

Please state your name for the record, and then afterwards you'll need to give the clerk your contact information.

Okay, sure, yeah. Hi, I'm Talon Bevin, give my contact info. I live on Century Boulevard in Arenco Station. I'd also like to comment on the Century Boulevard extension and its effects on Noble Woods Park. Noblewood Park is very close to me. I would walk to it, but I don't feel that I safely can due to the high amounts of people speeding on Sentry and Main, which is a problem I anticipate getting much worse once the expansion is made. But I'd also like to spend some time focusing on another concern I have regarding the project. Noble Woods used to be known as a significant natural resource, SNR, that is a Washington County designation for other significant natural resources in the county. That designation is given to areas that include land along waterways, water areas, wetlands, fish and wildlife habitats, and other areas significant because of their unique features. That's taken from the Washington County website. Also, SNRs provide benefits to our community. As I mentioned, the parcel of land that is currently slated to be raised for this project was given the SNR designation originally a while ago. And it still has all of those things that I listed. Conveniently, the SNR designation was taken away to build the road. Forgot to mention that. The other reason, well, one of the reasons SNR designations are given is to protect that land from development. It's to help conserve it. So because the designation was removed to help build the road, I'd just like to know what's the point of labeling any land as an SNR? I'm not saying we should get rid of it, it's just I would like to understand more about what is the process that went into that? Is it worth damaging a parcel of pristine forest for a road? I trust that it was done through the plan amendment, but I'd like to see some transparency as a voter. Why, what is the justification? And I understand that the justification for the expansion is to help people in South Hillsborough drive north. But in my opinion, as a resident, Cornelius Pass already does exactly that. I think it does it quite well. I also know that the extension is done with the idea of helping to ease traffic on Brookwood Parkway and Cornelius Pass, but studies have shown that road expansions don't actually help with traffic or the volume of cars on the road. Another thing I find concerning about this plan is that the proposed extension and the new Century Boulevard will cross through quite a few school zones. naturally they'll have to slow down and so a potential commuter taking this road to commute would be slowing down to the school zones we hope and also stopping at the arenco station max intersection which is right where i live and so i'm not even sure it'd be particularly great as a commuter route to help save you any time As well, I just wanted to mention that I'd really like to see more bike transit planned. I do appreciate that there is a bike path planned with this extension, but I really do think that we should be prioritizing bike transit from South Hillsboro and Reidsville up to the northern part. of Hillsboro and Arranco Station. I know already that South Hillsboro has some great bike paths. I think it would just be better to focus on connecting them. Anyway, thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Madam Chair, the last one we have in person is Pam Cote.

Last name of Cote? Code. Thank you very much. You can go whenever you're ready.

Thank you Kevin for passing out the papers and getting them printed for me. And thank you Board of County Commissioners for being here tonight and listening to us. I wanted to bring to your attention to begin with that My community members, including those sitting among the audience, have collected over 600 comments against the construction of the CPEP on environmental grounds in less than two months. starting in early to mid June. I think that really speaks to how people are continuing to feel about this issue. Another matter that I want to draw your attention to pertains to the comments from 2021 that we uncovered. within the past week. So we finally received from the county the wildlife assessment study that was conducted in 2021. A part of that was 55 comments, none of which were in favor of the CBEP. 54 were explicitly against it. So I'll draw your attention to the third comment from the bottom of page one because I think that really captures the essence of what everybody has been saying as they have sadly essentially begged for this not to move forward. So third from the top on page one, or I'm sorry, third from the bottom on page one. I really must protest the addition of a street running through this area. We need more spaces for wildlife and people to coexist, not fewer. A road there is going to bring noise, exhaust, and ruin the livability for wildlife and neighbors alike. Looking long term, we need to put our resources into reducing the use of cars to stop global warming. Why wouldn't you put your money, and I'm sorry that it is cut off now at that point. The fact that in 2021, Abundant comments were harvested None of them were in support of this project yet instead of being used as a decision point to continue assessing whether to move forward with it or not and Instead just moving forward with it raises a lot of questions that I have personally been asking Over and over since I started pursuing this issue my first City Council comment on the CBEP being early June and What bearing does the results of public engagement efforts have on decision making in the county? And who lays eyes on these comments? We're... continuing our efforts to try to prevent the CBP, or at least what we can given how far the destruction of the forest or surrounding forest has taken, has happened so far. If I could please also refer you now to my second packet of papers containing the color photos. These are photos demonstrating the kind of physical changes to the built environment that I hope for. um it feels awkward to speak to this because i have absolutely no idea which might be you know standard protocol or understandable where you all are where the city is in terms of making safety changes and recommendations the first here are ballards easily recognizable types of like really really strong barriers placed in public meant to protect pedestrians from cars. So just like solid objects that when a car hits it, the car is damaged and the pedestrian would be protected. We just heard over at, or I just heard over at the Transportation Committee meeting how important it is to be proactive and so although this would not have prevented the recent fatality, I think it's something we could consider going forward. I will stop here in terms of my suggestions for changes to the built environment and also just want to bring up real quick that we also discovered today that the traffic analyses were uploaded to the webpage and they showed that traffic has not significantly increased or not recovered since COVID on arterial roads. County roads if I'm not mistaken. I apologize.

Thank you Thank you very much All right madam chair that concludes in the room is there any member online which is assumed that which pray public comment for up to five minutes on any County topic give you Just a moment utilize raise hand function not seeing any hands chair Thank You clerk Moss Next we have board announcements

We're approaching the month of August already. Next Tuesday, we will start our board meetings with the county board work session at 9 o'clock. We will pause that in order to go to the Housing Authority Board of Directors meeting at 10 a.m. Then immediately following that, we'll convene as the Washington County Board of Commissioners in our business meeting at approximately 10.30 a.m. And then after that, we will continue our board work session no later than 1 p.m. On Thursday, August 6th, the Washington County Board of Commissioners will have their roundtable, which is really an extended work session that's board-driven, starting at 9 a.m. On Tuesday, August 11th, we'll start our day with a board work session at 9. We'll pause that at the lunch break and then reconvene in our work session by 1 p.m. On Tuesday, August 18th, we'll start with our board work session. We'll pause that, convene in our board business meeting at 10. Then after that, reconvene in work session no later than time certain 1 p.m. And then on Tuesday, August 25th, we will have our work session starting no later than 2 p.m. And then our board business meeting such as tonight 6.30 p.m. And that is our upcoming business board announcements. Are there any other announcements that I'm not aware of? Okay. At this juncture, I'd like to ask for a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting.

So moved.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please vote by raising your hand or say aye. Thank you. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously five to zero. Thank you very much. Have a good evening and thank you for putting up with the hot temperature in tonight's room. Thank you.