City Council - Regular Meeting

November, he took

Thank you.

It was awful. I really can't miss that medicine. I'm supposed to take it four times a day, but you have to do it on an empty stomach and

Yeah, that's hard to do. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's some antibiotics.

But then it was working, and so Sunday I felt good, so I just didn't take it because it tastes gross.

Yeah. Oh, okay.

And then by Sunday night, like, I woke up at, like, well, I guess Monday morning, woke up at, like, 2 o'clock in the morning, agony. And it never went away, and I kept, like, I took that medicine every four hours.

And that wasn't taken care of at this time, huh? Because I screwed up.

No, and when I started taking it, it helped immediately. So it was just weird that I couldn't get it.

I feel like I'm getting a lobotomy.

Oh, okay. I have a massive headache.

Oh, my God. Okay. Got some of our weed in. Weed in's at the very end? Yeah.

Esperanza came over and shot it. Okay, is it enough love?

Are we ready to begin? Tracy, what if I said no? welcome everyone you have made it into the burr months it is september 1st tuesday 7 p.m meeting is now called to order tracy can we have roll call please council member brandon whedon president council member angela jefferson president council member joan kathy

Present. Councilmember Eileen Swarthout. Present. Councilmember Megan Sullivan. Present. Councilmember Kelly Von Holtz. Present. Mayor Lieta Dahlhoff. And I am still here, yes.

And I am here.

My apologies.

Councilmember Peter Agape.

Present.

We are ending with... Peter Agave, who we also call Saint Peter. Please join us in the flag salute. Thank you, everyone. I'm also going to do a little preface of thank you for your patience. I am not feeling well today and have a splitting headache. So if I'm making a facial expression, it's not to you. It's that I have a really bad headache. I'm just going to put that out there. We are on to special items. We have Proclamation National Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 through October 15, 2026. We have Councilmember Sullivan, who's going to read that proclamation. Thank you, Mayor.

Whereas each year Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15 by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, And whereas the observance began in 1968 when Congress passed public law 90-498 authorizing and requesting the President to issue an annual proclamation of National Hispanic Heritage Month during mid-September. And whereas Hispanic Americans have made exceptional contributions throughout our history in areas including science, medicine, business, law, sports, education, government, and military. Our culture has been enriched by the art, food, music, literature, and creativity of Hispanic people and whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor the many ways Hispanics, Latinos, and Latinx contribute to Tumwater, celebrate diverse cultures, and work towards a stronger, more inclusive, and prosperous community for all. And whereas, understanding the lived experiences of Hispanics in Tumwater is critical to the creation of city services, development, infrastructure, programs, and investments with mutual benefit for all who reside in our community. Now, therefore, Lieta Dahlhoff, Mayor of the City of Tumwater, does hereby proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 to October 15, 2026, and urges people to join us in learning and participating in events that celebrate the rich Hispanic cultural traditions. Signs in the city of Tumwater this first day of September, 2026.

Thank you, Council Member Sullivan. We have some special guests here tonight. We have Olivia, Paulette, and Bonnie. Do you three feel comfortable coming up to the microphone and sharing anything? Any comments, words? And then would you be okay if we did an awkward photo shoot afterwards? Okay, thank you, Bonnie, appreciate you.

Well, good evening, mayor, council members, city manager, and community members. My name is Olivia Salazar-Debro. And I'm so honored to serve as the vice president of the Hispanic Roundtable of South Sound. I'm also a public servant. You may know my face from the city of Olympia. Yeah, so I'm very honored to be here. And I'm joined tonight by our vice president elect, Bonnie Hale, who you may also know as a City of Tumwater employee, and also our board member, Paulette Perez Burgos. And we're so grateful to be here as we receive the proclamation recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month in the City of Tumwater. Thank you so much for inviting us and for your continued commitment to uplifting the diverse communities that call Tumwater home. So the Hispanic Roundtable was founded in 2002 as a nonprofit to improve access to community resources, services, economic development, education, and employment for Latinx people in the South Sound community. Our mission is to strengthen the Latino community through partnerships, education, community building, and cultural representation. Our board includes 11 members with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ages. And our diversity is just one of the many special things about us and our strength. You don't have to speak Spanish or even be Hispanic to be part of our group. We welcome everyone and anyone who cares about our mission and wants to support the Hispanic community. And my connection to this work began in 2003 during the Latinx, the very first Latinx Youth Summit when I was invited to join the planning committee. And from the start, the summit's purpose was clear, to provide tools, encouragement, and meaningful connections to students historically and currently facing barriers to higher education and to career opportunities. That purpose remains at the heart of the summit today. Over the years, it's grown into an annual event that serves more than 500 Latinx youth high school students from five counties, and that's every single year. And it's hosted at rotating college campuses. And it's a day centered on college readiness, career exploration, and health and wellness workshops, each one culturally informed and celebratory of all of our identities. The summit thrives because of strong partnerships with colleges, educators, businesses, and community members who really believe deeply in our young people and in their futures. And so this past year and a half, we made a very difficult decision to shift the summit from in-person to virtual. This was very heartbreaking for us, as the magic of this event is the fact that we get to be in community, that these students get to be welcomed onto a college campus by people that look like them. And this was in response to troubling political and social climates in which the students and the families we serve have been increasingly targeted for harm. And that's right here, right in our own community. and their safety remains and has always been our highest priority. And this reminds us why it's so critical for our local jurisdictions, including Tumwater, to keep doing everything possible to ensure the well-being of all our community members, especially those that are the most vulnerable. And it is also very vital to protect spaces of joy, places where culture is honored and community is strengthened. So celebrations like Lula Fest, which is led by Miguel Pineda and the Pineda family, who are longtime residents of Tumwater, by the way, it shows the powerful things that happen when we come together to celebrate our vibrancy. At a time when Latinx and Hispanic communities are being dehumanized by harmful rhetoric and practices, one of the strongest responses that we can provide is connection, human to human. So please keep showing up. Please keep supporting these cultural gatherings and local businesses and protect our ability not just to exist but to experience joy. As we accept this proclamation, we do so with deep gratitude and with a call to continue fostering a community where everyone can feel safe, connected, and able to thrive. So muchisimas gracias. Thank you all so much. I also have LulaFest flyers with me, and I'm happy to leave them. But thank you again for this opportunity. We really appreciate it.

Thank you, Olivia. That was perfect. Bonnie, Paulette, you want to contribute anything? I think she really .

That's pretty well said.

Yeah, Olivia, please feel free to leave those. And then we can also, Jason, maybe do a social media post as well. Yeah. Can we do a photo op in front? And we get...

We'll be thinking you in a second.

No problem. Laura. Laura. Like Lars.

Forget it now. Thank you. We should track how many steps we do. I'm going to keep going up and down, up and down, up and down. We are on to item 4B, Proclamation National Voter Registration Day, September 15, 2026. We have Councilmember Whedon who's going to read that.

Whereas registering to vote empowers eligible citizens to exercise their right to vote on election day. And whereas the City of Tumwater and Thurston County are committed to strengthening the democracy by encouraging voter registration and increasing participation in all elections. And whereas civic-minded people and organizations have collaborated to establish National Voter Registration Day on September 16, 2025. and whereas the goal for the 2026 national voter registration day is to create awareness of elections and motivate eligible citizens to vote in coming months and whereas the strength of our democracy depends on the willingness of our citizens to participate by choosing the people who lead us and voicing their opinions on important matters that will come before the voters on election day And now, therefore, Lieta Daloff, Mayor of the City of Tumwater, does hereby proclaim September 15, 2026, National Voter Registration Day, and encourages all eligible City of Tumwater residents to register to vote, to vote when they receive their ballot, and to encourage their neighbors to vote.

Thank you, Councilmember Whedon. We have a special guest from the Thurston County Auditor's Office, Laura Carlson.

Sorry. I'm Laura Carlson. I'm an election technician with the auditor's office. Thank you for recognizing the National Voter Registration Day. We appreciate you helping the auditor's office raise awareness of registering and participating in democracy. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy, and you can't vote if you're not registered. 2026 is the 13th National Voter Registration Day in Thurston County. Voter registration has never been easier. 16 and 17-year-olds can pre-register and receive a ballot as soon as they are eligible. If you have missed all of the ways that automatically register you, you can go to votewa.gov and follow the prompts to register online. You can also register all the way up until 8 p.m. on Election Day at either of our two voting centers in Thurston County. For everyone who is already registered, please take the time to make sure to update your voter registration when you need to. You can also sign up for text to be alerted with the status of your ballot after you turn it in to one of our ballot drop boxes. Thank you again for your support and partnership in this and so many other important issues.

That was perfect. Would you be comfortable with an awkward photo with all of us? I mean, you look pretty excited about it, so.

Let's get it done. Let's do it. Let's do it. You got to get your steps in tonight.

She already left, and that was fast. Thank you.

Public comment, Tracy. At this time, we will receive public comments. You may comment on items relating to city business not scheduled for a public hearing. When I call your name, please come up to the podium, speak into the microphone, and state your name and contact information for the record. Each individual will be given... limited to one three-minute period to make the remarks regardless of the number of topics they wish to address. Speakers may not comment upon, promote, advocate for, oppose, or speak against a pending initiative, ballot measure, or candidate. All comments shall be directed towards the council as a whole, not to individual council members and not to members of the audience. Please refrain from disruptive behavior such as booing, hissing, audible comments, cheering, or clapping. we currently do not have anybody registered online and we have one person registered in the audience and that is shauna stewart all right so good evening excuse me

Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Shauna Stewart, and I'm honored to share that I'm officially staying on as a permanent CEO at Experience Olympian Beyond after serving as interim since December. This is actually my third chapter with this organization, if you weren't aware, but it was my first job out of college, my first big girl job. Went away, came back in 2015 as the CEO and served in that position until 2020. Went away and I came back because I'm in love. So I'm back once again, and I'm really excited to help our entire region thrive by promoting tourism throughout Tumwater and Thurston County. Tourism, as you know, of course, is about attracting visitors, but it's more than that. It really helps to support our local businesses thrive. Really, our visitor market helps subsidize a lot of our local businesses. It strengthens our tax base, creates jobs, and helps people discover the places and experiences that make our communities distinctive. Tom Water has a really special story to tell and I look forward to continuing our work together to ensure visitors experience more of what this community has to offer. I also want to personally invite all of you to our annual meeting on September 30th from 3.30 to 5 p.m. at SPSCC, the Lacey campus. This year's theme has a little bit of a secret agent flair, so you can wear your trench coat if you want. We will begin with a mission briefing followed by our intelligence report on the state of tourism. You're going to hear field updates from our staff directly from them and get a preview of our next mission. You'll also get to help us celebrate our region's agents of impact through our annual tourism awards, which I will speak on in a minute. But one of the things I'm really excited about is we will have a classified launch of a super duper top secret project. And I cannot wait to share all the details. But in the meantime, what I will share is that it's really designed to help our frontline hospitality professionals work with visitors to keep them staying longer, exploring more, and giving them a little FOMO to want to come back and explore more in our destination. So, I do want to share that nominations are currently open for our tourism awards in three categories. Boldness of Tourism Award, the Excellence in Hospitality Award, and the Patrick Knutson Tourism Legend Award. We would love to see Tumwater well represented, so I encourage each of you to think of local professionals and businesses that really deserve to be highlighted and celebrated in this meaningful way. and submit a nomination i sent you an email earlier today so that link is available in your email but it would really mean a lot if you could submit a nomination and or share with your network so we can have this community celebrated honored and highlighted i'm really grateful to be back in this role i look forward to partnering with all of you and really helping to help tumwater and thurston county shine as a meaningful destination in the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you, Shawna. Council Member Whedon represents Tumwater on that board. Council Member Whedon, can you circle back with Jason on that info so Jason can maybe do a social media post? For those who can't hear online, it's already done. Thanks, Jason. You're too good. All right. You know what, Brandon? Cross that off. Thank you, Jason. All right.

Anyone else? Tracy? Was there anybody else in the audience that didn't sign up that would like an opportunity to speak?

Yeah. Yeah. Ryan, we don't apologize.

My name is Ryan Reynolds, live at 9020 Blomberg Street, Southwest, and I'm current president, Tamar Chamber of Commerce. And I'd like to address mayor and council and folks listening, folks here, about the importance of financial literacy, especially over the last couple of days with the school district and different things going on. And luckily, kids going back to school tomorrow, it looks like. But one of the big issues that we've seen as a missing link that isn't, in my opinion, talked about quite enough, but its foundation of development which lead to the things Sean was talking about, tourism, what draws people here, well, we have to also focus on retention, retention and recruitment. Part of that is making sure there are kids are getting, receiving that good financial literacy base that unfortunately hasn't been focused on or the schools haven't had the opportunity any longer to keep that as a big focus. Over the past couple of years, we've had several of our local banks, businesses and people participate through the Skills Centre and a couple other places. some programs. A year and a half ago we got a proclamation from the governor and also the state superintendent for a new program we put on with CTE and unfortunately this summer it was cut because we're depending on federal grants and we went ahead and volunteered to keep that program afloat. And we're hosting a big event September 19th on Saturday. It's a fun run. You will get bibs. It's a 5K, so people can run it. But it's designed for community people to come out. Everybody have a good time. Go ahead, walk the event, be there. The funds from that program are what we're utilizing, 100% of them, to fund this financial literacy program. Ten-week program through the summer. Last year when we did it, 100% of the kids successfully made it through. We were able to get each of those kids a check and hand it to them at the end of the program. So they got to learn what hard work and dedication rewarded them with. So I hope that an invitation to everybody in the community, especially City of Tumwater folks, staff, electeds, everybody, to come and participate. It'll be a good time. Thank you.

Ryan, one thing, I've seen that email, but Jason, have you posted about that? And I am redeemed now, thank you. And I know this is public comment, and Angela

You know, I'm going to go rogue tonight. Angela. No, it was just, I just wanted to ask Jason if that was posted.

Oh my God, look at you and I.

Yes, we're tracking.

Look at that. Ryan, thank you for presenting that.

Thank you.

And we'll do some social media posts. Yes.

Thank you.

All right, let's get back on track. I'm talking to myself now. Back on track. We are to item number six, consent calendar. Are there any items that council would like to have removed from the consent calendar? Seeing no one look me in the eye, I would entertain a motion. I got a motion from Council Member Jefferson. Do I have a second?

Second.

I have a second from Council Member Agave. Any discussion on those three consent items? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much. The summary of those three items is first, we are ratifying approximately 2.3 million in previously authorized city payments for services, equipment, technology, infrastructure work, and other operating expenses across city departments. Second, we are approving an addendum to the city's lease with South Puget Sound Community College. This provides additional office and meeting space for our growing water resources and sustainability team, while continuing a partnership that has helped relieve space and parking limitations at City Hall. The additional space increases the annual lease costs from approximately $61,300 to $70,450 and is funded through the city's water, sewer, and stormwater utilities. And finally, we are increasing staff's change order authority for the Percival Creek Fistpack fish passage barrier removal project from 10% to 20%. This does not automatically spend the full amount, but it gives staff the flexibility to respond efficiently to construction needs and maximize the grant funding available for the project. This important work will replace the fish blocking culvert beneath Sapp Road, improve the roadway and multimodal crossing, and restore access to thousands of feet of habitat for salmon, steelhead, and trout. Together, these items support the city's day-to-day operations, provide appropriate space for our employees, and move forward a significant environmental and infrastructure investment in Tumwater. And that is a summary of the consent calendar. We are moving on to item number seven, council considerations. We have economic development quarterly update from the executive partner, and we have assistant city administrator, Kelly Adams.

Good evening, mayor and council. All right. I'm Kelly Adams. I'm your assistant city administrator and one half of your economic development team, which includes Mr. Gene Angel, who is in the audience with us this evening. So about once a quarter, we like to come to you and click the clicker. And there we go. And so first, I want to start with congratulations to our Tumwater organizations, who in the Olympians Best of South Sound magazine, which you can also go to bestsouthsound.com and look up Tumwater businesses, you can see the different types of businesses who have won gold, silver, and bronze medals. We actually have a gold medal winner in the room this evening, Mr. Ryan Reynolds. And so just starting on that high note of sometimes it can be really easy to do economic development and business promotion in Tumwater because we have so many great organizations. And so on our agenda tonight, we're going to talk a little bit about local business news, brownfield funding, an update on the brewery, the curb grant. We're going to circle back on that. We're going to talk about the planned action EIS and the comp plan element. And so as you can see on our new slides, we're keeping that agenda up in the corner so we all know how far there is to go. And so we want to highlight some recruitment work that we've been doing in our office and we are so excited to announce that Fog and Fern is expanding from their Lacey location to the craft district market building. So we're circling back because you had concerns about the former French restaurant that was in that building. And now we're going to have a morning time activation in that space. And so an update, so we have community-wide assessment funding available from EPA that we provide to local landowners. And so for those who haven't been to a brownfield redevelopment presentation, this is related to sites that have the perception or actually have contamination. And so perceptions of contamination or actual contamination can slow down redevelopment and interest in our properties here in Tumwater. So that can look like industrial sites, dry cleaners, gas stations. We are actually providing funding right now to a former engine shop on Capitol Boulevard. So we have just approved funding for a phase one and phase two assessment. And so they have a history of knowing that they have tanks in the ground from former operations. And so because we have relationships with realtors now, that realtor reached out to us and let us know, hey, we would love to use that funding. And that can be a considerable, several thousand dollar expense for folks who want to redevelop property. And so as part of our brownfield redevelopment work, we identify and try to keep a good, healthy inventory of sites that we can use this funding on. We're doing engagement with EPA and Ecology, trying to connect the dots, making sure that our processes respect their rules and regulations so that any assessments that are done are actually useful to the landowners, trying to help with reuse planning, and also performing these ESAs for our own projects such as the brewery and so our update tonight we are proud to announce that our phase one and phase two assessments are all complete so for the knoll site which is up on the hill and for the warehouse valley site which is down in the valley we now can say with a certain amount of confidence that there are no additional severe environmental factors that are barriers to redevelopment And so that's one less layer on the problem cake for redevelopment. Kelly.

Are you open to questions or would you like to wait? Absolutely. Council Member Jefferson.

Yes, Kelly. Our number one concern for a lot of our community members is that Olympia Brewery site. So can you tell me how long did it take for that phase to be complete? And for years?

So for the assessments, the assessments have been taking place over a number of years. And so it's a bit of a stop and go process with getting the funding to do the first phase and then submitting applications to EPA because there is a very long and drawn out process for ensuring that sites are eligible and that these processes are being conducted in the correct way by professionals who are qualified.

So it's not an easy process. It's long and drawn out and it takes a couple of years, maybe decades, right?

And I think, I believe that the first ESA on this property was 2024. Okay. So it has taken a couple of years.

All right. Thank you very much.

And I wanted to share with you just what the phase two sampling can look like here on the valley floor. And so we wanted to circle back with you on the curb grant application. And so thank you so much for resolution R2026-011. It was very helpful. And so we are happy to say that we have a presentation scheduled on September 17th, and we will know immediately at that meeting whether we were awarded or not. And so just as a reminder, this is to help us develop a redevelopment roadmap for permitting so that we can say with certainty what sort of infrastructure challenges are there, what does it take to build new infrastructure, and how can we get our permitting process to be clearer for folks visiting the permitting counter. And then the last two items are future items. We want to give you a preview of what you are going to see in the coming months from us. And so we are reinvigorating our planned action environmental impact statement. This is going to focus on the brewery district only. And we are using a contractor that we have experience with, Burt Consulting. We are going to bring a professional services agreement before the general government committee, and then to council with their blessing. And so we have $290,000 left in the budget for this specific effort. And so we look forward to sharing more information with you on this. Were there any questions on the planned action EIS?

Great.

The second item is what the bulk of our time has been going for, which is the Comprehensive Plan Economic Development Element. And so thank you to Dana, Sharon, and Brad for all their wonderful shepherding and support in drafting this document. So this document has two parts. It's an amendment to the 2025 Comprehensive Plan, and it is currently in review with the city attorney it will go to planning commission for three different meetings you are absolutely welcome to participate in those meetings and to give feedback it's in draft form right now it still has a a bit of cooking to do but we're excited to get your feedback it will then go to general government committee if planning commission approves and then on to city council considerations Any questions on the comprehensive plan? Any questions? That is the end of my presentation.

That was awesome. Just a little feedback. I love showing where you're at. I'm getting nods for tracking that. I love that. Because it's not just right now in the moment for council. It's for anyone watching the commissions, our public staff. That was perfect.

I love that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Michelle, I don't know how you're going to go after that. No, her slides are actually good, too. All staff slides are good. 2027 to 2029, collective bargaining agreement with the Tumwater Police Guild. Michelle.

Good evening Mayor, Council Members, and Michelle Sutherland, Administrative Services Director. So this evening we're bringing to you the 2027 to 2029 Police Tentative Guild Bargaining Agreement. This agreement is a strategic investment in the Tumwater Police Guild and the police force recruitment, retention, officer readiness, and the Tumwater community. And I do have Chief up here if we have any additional questions or if you want to add anything. So Tumwater faces a very competitive labor market. Where we're positioned demographically, we have actual comparable cities that we utilize for salary and compensation comparables. But we also have to look at our backyard comparables, which are Olympia and Lacey. So we are mainly concerned with recruitment in Tumwater. We want to recruit qualified candidates and they have a lot of regional competitive choices here. So retention is also very critical. We want experienced officers that are, we don't want our officers to go anywhere to pursue other stronger benefit packages and pay packages. And readiness, vacancies, and turnover in the police department make staffing stability harder to sustain. And circling back to Councilmember Jefferson's question, we will come to the numbers in one of the slides coming up. So this agreement makes Tumwater more competitive. The package modernizes the employment value while supporting dependable police services for the city of Tumwater. We want to recruit exceptional candidates to be able to compete more effectively for high quality entry level and lateral applicants. It's very important for us to retain our experienced officers and recognize their experience, specialty responsibilities, education, fitness, and the service they've provided to the city. We want to reduce vacancies and turnover by limiting the operational and financial disruptions that vacancies and separations cause and maintaining operational readiness. We want to support stable staffing, clear assignments, wellness, and sustainable leave practices for our bargaining unit. And we also want to protect service quality to continue the professional police services the Tumwater community expects from our police department. So the pay increases use CPIU, which is Consumer Price Index Urban, with negotiated guardrails that we're using. So the annual increase for 2027 in this collective bargaining agreement will be 4.5% as a cost of living adjustment, and that's based on the number from this year's June 2026 CPIU. In 2028 and 2029, we have a floor and a ceiling that we're using. So the COLA increase for the Guild will never be less than 2.5% or greater than 5%. So every June when that CPI-U comes out, we know what the increase, the COLA increase will be for the Guild for that next year. The city deferred compensation match in 2026 was 2.5. In 2027, it's 2.5. 2028, it's 3%. In 2029, it goes to 4%. So all of the proposed changes to this contract are covered by the public safety tax, along with currently budgeted general fund dollars. So incentives that recognize skill and responsibility. And I'm going to let Chief Keylace speak on this.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. So this is an important part of the contract and why it's important. For our premium pays, our high liability areas where we need the best instructors to teach areas of patrol tactics, defensive tactics, And the others is to get these folks, since we don't have dedicated training department, these officers take these areas on as additional duties, which is additional hours, additional work on their days off. And we have to incentivize folks to want to come do this work because it's so important. So we looked at the areas of the department where this is extremely important. We assign those premium pays so that we retain the best instructors in this area. And one of the things we recognize is you can be good at your job, but teaching it to others is a completely different matter. So finding these folks and getting them to stay is why we focused on this.

Chief, Councilmember Jefferson has something. So, Chief Keillor, is this like an additional duty, whereas if we had a bigger, huger police department, that would be their specific job?

Yes. Most larger police departments have a dedicated training division. which has instructors and that they come to work and that's what they do every day. All they do is provide training to the other officers in the department. At Tumwater, this is a collateral duty. So we ask them to do their police patrol duties or detective duties. And then in addition to that work, they take on this role. And oftentimes that has to be done either before they come to work, after they come to work or on days off.

Okay. So it's called collateral duty. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes.

Sergeant assignments. In the PD, we have three specialty sergeant assignments. That's our administrative training and detective sergeants. And they're paid a 5% differential because they're leaving their patrol sergeant duties, learning a new job and being tasked with a significant amount of additional responsibility than a patrol sergeant. So the work they do is different and we recognize that. And we wanna make sure that they're getting compensated appropriately for the additional responsibility they're taking on In the education phase, we talked about this a lot. And we really value education, and we wanted to incentivize folks to seek either a degree or advanced degrees. And so we thought of a creative way of how to structure this to make it appealing for someone, even though that you're hired as a police officer, that education doesn't stop. And it's really important, and the value that you get from AA degrees, bachelor's degrees and master's degrees is important and it brings a different skill set to the department. And that's what that area of the contract is addressing. Physical fitness. Right now, officers aren't eligible for the physical fitness incentive until they're here a certain amount of time. And we kind of look at that as an officer wellness piece, that officer wellness and staying in shape and staying mentally fit and healthy is not just something that should start at five or 10 years, that should start on day one. And so in order to get folks to want to do that and express the importance of that, since this is something that most of the department already gets, we want to extend that to all of our officers the minute they're off probation and really start instilling that good habit from day one.

So, Council Member Jefferson. Yes, Chief, I have a question. So how is that measured? Is it a PT test? Just talk to me about that a little bit.

So the physical fitness incentive does measure your physical fitness, and that's administered in two ways. Officers have the option of either doing the RO test, which is administered in March and September, and that measures your body's ability to process oxygen and your level of fitness. as well as the traditional Cooper test that's held in September, which is your traditional 300-meter sprint, one-and-a-half-mile run, and a number of push-ups and sit-ups. So we offered a different test for those that are either older, have back injuries or knee injuries, maybe can't run as far anymore, take the impact off the body, but still be able to properly measure an officer's physical fitness level.

So is that done in-house by a master fitness trainer, or do they have to go somewhere externally to get that measured?

We administer that in-house, and so we proctor the test. Both the lieutenants are tasked, and they're the only ones that can administer the test to make sure that the standards are being upheld and that the officers are passing at the required level. Okay. Okay.

I think what I hear Councilmember Jefferson saying, she'd like to have a challenge of council versus officers. I think that's what I'm hearing, right? I think Councilmember Jefferson, is that a challenge?

I'd have to have that one with the bad knees and the bad back, so. Thanks, Chief.

You're welcome. So I'll turn it back over to Michelle to talk about the rest of the items.

Thank you.

Okay, we will see another increase with the uniform allowance from 1250 to 1450, simply with the cost of uniforms these days that needed to increase. And again, I did go over the salary, the deferred compensation and being in line with the market around us. So we did build in some wellness and leave provisions to support sustainable careers here in Tumwater. This adds recovery service and time off tools that really reflect the demands of modern policing. We added critical incident paid leave, which provides dedicated paid leave for officers or staff following qualifying critical incidents. We also added the same thing we added to nonrepresented in Teamsters, the community service leave day. We added an additional floating holiday and revised the annual leave schedule to also match nonrepresented and Teamster employees. So together, these provisions improve wellness, the work-life balance, and career sustainability for here in Tumwater. Dedicated funding supports this public safety investment. So the estimated cost of the three-year package is $16,628,749. And we do have that broken down by year. 2027, we're fairly confident of that number, being that we do know that our COLA is going to be 4.5%. So for 2028 and 2029, we don't know that exact number yet. We won't know that until June of every year. So we did use an estimated percentage point of 3.5. So that should get us fairly close. So that is the cost of the total package. The difference in the package... from the last one is approximately a $1.4 million increase.

Michelle, before you go on, Council Member Whedon has something.

With the numbers that you're showing here, is there any increase in officers or increase in multiple staff, or is this just current numbers?

That is current staff. I don't have what would be approved in the budget that you look at this fall yet. Right, because you haven't seen the budget. Good question, Brandon. I mean, Council Member Whedon. Yeah, you have not seen that budget yet, so... So this evening, we are requesting council action to authorize the mayor to sign the 2027-2029 collective bargaining agreement between the city of Tumwater and the Tumwater Police Guild. And if you have any questions, we're open to questions. We do have Chief here and Officer Rodriguez, president of the Tumwater Police Guild. Council, thoughts?

Your mics are hot. Council Member Cathy has her hand up.

Thank you, Mayor. I just kind of have a general question. You know, we talk about the issues of recruitment. I mean, every single year, you know, difficult to recruit, small department, competition, all of that. It drives what we've been talking about here. And I'm just wondering if We think it has to do with our police department or our city or whatever, or if this is kind of a general feeling about policing right now that is basically across this nation. You know, is it either people really want to be a police or they don't? Or I don't know. I'm trying to figure out how come we always feel like we... have a hard time recruiting or it seems like we have fairly good retention. But I'm thinking, you know, we have to remember that across the United States right now, the whole police thing is in an uproar.

Great question, Council Member Cathy. Chief Keeles.

So to address that question, I would say it is true we don't have as many applicants as we used to. That is for certain. And what that meant was we just had to change the way we looked about recruiting officers and how we reached out. And we've done that. So historically, you are correct. We have not had a lot of recruiting efforts that we did here at Tumwater PD. This year, we changed that focus and we made it our primary goal to put us out there, put the Tumwater Police Department out there, who we are, why you want to come work here. And that's changed a lot. We started the year with eight vacancies. As of this morning, I had names for all we have hired And we have five in background. We're hiring two this month. That's going to drop us down to three vacancies. We're going to hire another young lady in October. That's going to drop us down to two vacancies. And unfortunately, we had to discontinue the background process on two people this morning. But that's what the process is for. But we're still on track and goal to meet our departmental goals. need of having all positions filled by the end of the year. Why this contract is important is that the few number of applicants that they are is we want to attract the best and most qualified here to the city of Tumwater. And we are competing with other good agencies in this area, the Sheriff's Office, the Olympia Police Department, and the Lacey Police Department. And if a new applicant, a good qualified applicant, applies, they don't necessarily know what's different between Olympia Lacey and Tumwater. Oftentimes, that decision is based off of who provides the best health care and who provides the most amount of money. And even though that doesn't tell the whole story, quality of life and quality of the workplace experience is extremely important. We do need to close the gap so we make that decision a little harder to go with the other agencies before we have a chance to show them what Tom Water is about. Because once they come to Tom Water, we can show them what they're about. They pick us. Does that answer your question?

Thank you for that. That's great. That's way different than different times we've asked, we as a council have asked questions about the police department and I didn't necessarily feel satisfied. I think that's wonderful. You're doing a great job and we, I choose Tumwater. I came in those two years.

I just, our approach is we're open. We're transparent with everything. We need everyone on board and we need to tell our story because it's a great city. We're a great department. We just need to let people know, you know, that we're out there and we need you to come, come to Tumwater PD.

Yeah. Yeah. Good. You tell them what a great council it is. Of course. Oh, okay, just checking.

Thank you, Council Member Cathy. Anyone else from Council? Any comments, questions, discussion, or motion? Council Member Swarthout.

I just want to thank Michelle through this process. I remember before when we've been on council that sometimes it takes longer than a year sometimes to be able to approve a contract. And so I just want to commend the union and also our staff here for being able to come up with an acceptable contract that everybody agrees upon. And so I appreciate that. I just wanted to say thank you for all your work on that.

You're welcome. It's about building those collaborative, respectful, trusting relationships.

Thank you, Council Member Sorja. Anyone else? Your mics are hot. I would entertain a motion.

I move. We authorize the mayor to sign the 2027-2029 collective bargaining agreement between the City of Tumwater and Tumwater Police Guild.

And I second that motion.

I have a motion from Council Member Sullivan and a second from... You said it first, your brother. Council Member Jefferson, I ask a third, don't put that on the record, but a third from Mayor Pro Tem Von Holtz to authorize the mayor to sign the 2027, the 2029 collective bargaining agreement between the City of Tumwater and the Tumwater Police Guild. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Great slides, Michelle. I mean, or do a diagonal. I mean, you got some options, right? Like, don't do it the same. Like, maybe do the other side. Keep it fresh. Keep it fresh, Chief. We have item number, man, I'm fading. Item 7C, lease agreement with Lacey Fire District 3 for shower trailer. Never thought I'd say that in a council meeting. Well, you said keep it fresh. What are you?

Yeah.

Chief, what do you need from council tonight?

Good evening, council and mayor. Sean Kerman's deputy fire chief. So we got through the cops stuff now and the important showers and bathrooms for firefighters. So with this agreement, just a little backstory and apologize that we're coming to you guys instead of going through the committee, but we're in a little bit of a time crunch because we have impending, not a remodel, but some work being done to T1 as far as the bathrooms and the showers. So T1 was built back in 2000, so since that time, we've done a bunch of upgrades. We did the kitchen remodel back in 2023. We did the, for those of us that remember that remodel, it was exciting. We just got done doing toning and alerting a couple years ago, which was a huge benefit to our members. And now we do need some improvements with our bathrooms. Currently, the showers are leaking. We need to do some work on raising the shower heads because apparently our firefighters are getting taller. So some work needs to be done. So with that, facilities has worked out a plan to do the work here in a couple weeks. But we won't have any showers. We did find out Lacey Fire actually has an eight stall facility. trailer, if you will, that they utilize for the fire academy, some other situations, potential emergencies. So what this lease agreement is for is to temporarily lease that shower for potentially a month, we hope less than a month. If it's within a month period, it'd be about $2,250. If it's under a month, it'd be $75 a day. So we're really looking at about $2,500-ish probably what it'll cost. This has already been allocated in the current budget through capital facilities plans, so no budgetary impact because it was already planned. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions if anybody has any. Otherwise, just looking for action to authorize the mayor to sign the shower trailer lease agreement with Lacey Fire District 3.

Your mics are hot. Any questions? Council Member Swithout. Where are you going to put this thing?

Excellent question. Because there's not a lot of property over there. No. We're looking at a couple options. One would be where currently our staff parking is, kind of on that south entrance door for staff. I would love to put it in the bay and so that way they could walk in and out, but it will probably be in the staff or even in the drive-through area where we have the wash rack.

Because of all the construction, I haven't had a chance to drive over there because I was curious. So do we have the portable up? This is for T1. This is right here. Oh, T1.

T2 is up.

I was like, what construction is up there? Yeah, OK. Never mind.

That's a whole different animal. Yeah. But that's what I thought. I'm sorry.

We don't apologize. Great question. Got my T's wrong.

Sorry.

Any other questions regarding T1 shower stalls? If not, I would entertain a motion. Your mics are hot.

I move we authorize the mayor to sign the shower trailer lease agreement with Lacey Fire District 3.

Second.

I have a motion from Council Member Sullivan and a second from Council Member Whedon to authorize the mayor to sign the shower trailer lease agreement with Lacey Fire District 3. Any discussion? Seeing none.

If I drive by there.

Council Member Cathy, do you really want to finish that sentence?

If I drive by there and find out that this trailer is out a little bit and we get word that there are firefighters whizzing back and forth in their towels, we'll have to look at this again.

Well, we'll make sure we're taking care of that.

Okay, yeah, you got it.

We'll circle back with you, Council Member Cathy.

Okay.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much, Chief, for this wonderful opportunity to talk about showers.

all right i am past being faded we are on to number item eight mayor city administrators report thank you mayor really briefly uh i will be out of the office on vacation for the remainder of the week kelly adams will be acting city administrator also wanted to remind everyone that monday is a holiday so city offices will be closed on monday thank you

My report is, I got nothing. I got nothing. Okay. Council member reports. Where should we start? You know what? Council member Kathy is on a roll. Let's start with council member Kathy. What's good?

Well, what's good is that this past whatever, month or so, I had a council, I mean a committee, and It was the SWAC committee, Solid Waste Advisory Council, and Thurston County won the... Let me get it exactly right here. Won... the green municipality of the year. And some of that has to do with the work that we do in solid waste and the recycling and all of the things that we count on the cities to, you know, back up and do and we are doing a better job as a county in recycling and collecting things and also in environmental areas and so forth it was a really positive thing and and people were were really very excited that some of the work that's been on again off again through solid waste um is now moving ahead and i think is good um mayor did you ever get back a satisfactory answer to the things that you were asking about paint

Yeah, didn't the port and the county and Tumwater come together to do the paint drop-off? Is that September? Is that October? Did we already do it?

I know we were working on it. I can get back. I will circle back.

Circle back. Oh, dear. Yeah, you're welcome, Council Member McCarthy. Yes, that is being addressed, and there is a partnership working to figure out. We've got a location on Port of Olympia property in Tumwater working with the county, so thank you for pushing that forward.

Okay, okay. Thank you. And I will not have this meeting with the SWAC this month, but I will be attending the ORCA meeting, Olympia Region Clean Air Agency meeting next week. And that's my report.

Great report, Councilmember Cathy. Thank you. We're going to next go to Councilmember Whedon.

I'd like to thank Chuck over in our parks department, first and foremost. He had two great events this summer that I went to both of them. We did Chrome on the Range and Brewfest. They were both great events, brought together a ton of community. Economic development was there. Parks was there. It takes a whole group. Police, fire, everybody. So thank you very much for everybody that came to that, participated in that. Staff, thank you. We had a VCB budget meeting with Shawna. on August 5th, went over those, updated that, and that was approved. And then I had a joint Animal Services Committee meeting. Passawas Safe Haven is going to be coming into Tumwater. It's a low-cost, no-cost spay and neuter. I'm looking forward to that. And there was also discussions there about having to increase our utility costs because of unexpected rate increases with puget sound energy there was also talk with all the jurisdictions there too and i would like to go ahead and see if there's a way in which we can get pse to come in and do a work session so we can update our residents on what they can expect for utility costs in the future because i know that it has a lot to do with the cost of living i think it kind of ties back into the multi-family tax exemption credit and just overall costs that are adding up for our community. And then on August 14th, I got to go ahead and tour a little bit of Purcell Creek project. So thank you, Dan and Colby for having me out there, walking me through the project. It was awesome to go ahead and see that firsthand and see the development of it. And then this week I have public health and safety coming up and the following week we have general government, that's it.

Thank you, Council Member Whedon. Are you requesting Christine Rampa with Puget Sound Energy come for a work session, or do you want her to come to a council meeting? Either way, you want PSC to come, and you want to have a discussion with them.

Yeah, I think a work session would be great if that's possible. Paul, Kelly, get it?

Thank you so much. Thank you, Council Member Whedon. Council Member Jefferson, what's good?

Yes, I had two short meetings. One was our public works meeting on the 20th of August. And we discussed both items, which was on our consent calendar. lease agreement with south puget sound community college and the percival creek fish passage burial removal project request for increase to change order and on the 27th of august i had the ems council meeting And we discussed the medic unit replacement update and the arrival of the last three units by September. We also had a discussion on the opioid abatement funds of $315,000 was granted. for our referral and Suboxone programs. Let me give you just a little detail. It's gonna be about two minutes. So we learned that Thurston County Medical One received the funds for 315,000 for their referral and Suboxone programs only to be used for that. The funds will be distributed from mid-2026 to the end of 2027. Now, this is not a one-time funding. The settlements are spread out. over 20 years with ongoing funding expected.

That's all I have. That was good. Have you talked to Council Member Agave about that? Because he represents, he serves Tumwater on the Opioid Abatement Council. We'll chat. Yeah. Great update. Smooth transition as well to Council Member Agave. What have you been up to?

So my daughter, who was born the other day, is going to be a fresh woman, is a fresh man, fresh woman, in high school. Wow. Yeah, so it was just like yesterday when she was born. So she's going to be a fresh woman in high school.

Wow.

Yeah, so back to summer was very, very busy at work. With my commentary assignment starts tomorrow with our Thurston County Opioid Abatement and then the following week is when the heavy lifting starts with our TRPC and the Disability Board and I think our Law and Justice is scripted there somewhere. So that's my report.

That's great. Thank you, Council Member Guy. Maybe you can give props for what Council Member Jefferson shared for Medic 1 at your opioid abatement. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Von Holtz, what have you been up to? Well... Sing it like Dr. Pepper.

I can't. I'm not going to.

Well, I had August pretty much off, but did have a lot meeting, and we are working on small... presentations about the budget um which has been nice because it makes it easy to digest um tomorrow we have a new time for public health and safety it's our first meeting at our on wednesday so it doesn't bet right up against um work sessions so that will be great and then i have lot again and then lead and i just wanted to say what while we were over our break um for council i had the opportunity to attend National Night Out. And what a great treat for our community. I think there were 10 neighborhoods that took part. Both Councilmember Swarthout and I got to ride along with police. They didn't let us drive, but we did get to Just see the excitement of the community members when police and fire showed up in their neighborhoods for not an emergency. And it was just really an awesome opportunity to see how our public safety folks and community really enjoy each other and how hard we work together. So that was awesome.

Thank you so much, Mayor Pro Tem von Holtz. Council Member Sullivan, what's good?

Thank you, Mayor. With the summer recess, I had a little bit of extra time to meet with community stakeholders and learn more about some housing related topics. I attended a regional housing council education work group meeting and also regional housing meeting. And my committee assignment of EDC economic development is on summer recess restarting next month. public health and safety meets tomorrow and I wanted to also give a shout out to some Tumwater staff outside of my role on council I was at the Tumwater Valley golf course and not only did the golf course staff take really good care of the group that I was there with but also there were non golf course staff out on the course working on the wellhead project and they entertained questions not knowing that I was a member of council and I thanked them for my questions and they directed me to see on the ground where brush is being cut down to cut a path to move forward with wellhead work. So just wanted to say shout out to Team Tumwater, which is an amazing team.

Thank you so much, Council Member Sullivan. Council Member Swarthout, bring us home.

Thank you. Mayor, we're supposed to also report on our committees and forget about that part. So the General Government Committee will be meeting on September 16th. And on that agenda, we have ordinance number 02026-011, Black Lake-Belmore annexation. And then another ordinance will be number 0206012, comprehensive plan amendments. So. We'll be doing that. And then on Monday, September, excuse me, on August 24th, I represented Tumwater at the quarterly County Climate Mitigation Executive Committee meeting. On the agenda was the VMT gap analysis. And for that acronym, VMT stands for Vehicle Miles Traveled. And so in 2023, the legislature passed House Bill 1181 that aimed to improve the state's response to climate change. This included the requirement for jurisdictions to reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled, again, AKA vehicle miles traveled. So the targets that have been set for us to reduce the capita VMT by 27% by 2040, reduce per capita VMT by 41% by 2050. And so here we are at 2026. Those numbers are sounding closer. And at the TMC retreat in 2024, the committee selected a gap analysis of the VMT as their 2026 regional initiative. And the reason I'm bringing this up, because this is another one of the initiatives that's not unlike the Home Energy Score. And so we will... Just reminding the councilmates that we also have part of our comp plan. We have a number of goals ourselves, 16 goals. And then we have sub goals. And so I think this will be factored in. So I just want to bring that to your attention that this may be coming back. I'm not sure what kind of work we'll be doing policy type of things that I'll need your support on. But I will keep you informed. So do a better job of that.

Well, you're doing a great job. So it's hard to do better when you're doing great. Any other