City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Uh it's Thursday, April 23rd, 20 uh 26. Uh I'm going to call the session of the Richfield City Council to order. Would you please rise and join me for the pledge of allegiance led by Mayor Pomp Chipman? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Miss Julie, would you please call the role? Council member Davis present. Council member Favlla here. Council member Wells here. Council member Burkel. Council member Hamilton here. Mayor Prom Chipman here. Mayor Cole present. Thank you very much. Uh council I'd accept a motion to excuse councelor Burkel from tonight's meeting.

So moved. It's been second. Moved by Davis, seconded by uh Chipman. Any any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. All opposed. Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Steuart, any late changes to the agenda tonight? Yes, mayor. We have one late change that is under business Roman numeral 6. Item number one or item number two, sorry, the motion to approve the Sanderling Park phase 4 final plat. And we're moving that from the agenda, bring it back to you next meeting.

Sounds good. Thank you very much. We will strike that from the agenda tonight. Um, okay. We have a couple of proclamations tonight. So, we're going to uh we're going to read these and then have our uh the there's several individuals here to receive those. The first one is uh lights up for birds um for bird migration. The proclamation is on the screen. It says, "Whereas Ridgefield is on the Pacific Flyway, which brings millions of birds into our airspace during spring and fall migration seasons, during peak migration, April 15th through May 19th. And September 19th through October 19th, as many as 5 million birds travel over our area and may stop to rest at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in a single night. And whereas many birds begin their flight just 30 to 40 minutes after sunset using the moon and stars as guides. As birds pass over bright lit cities, sky glow can disorient them and lure them into urban areas where they become disoriented and confused, collide with buildings or fly around in circles and until they collapse from exhaustion. And whereas Lights Out programs help reduce the impact of light pollution on birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, plants, and humans, they also save energy and money, reduce our carbon emissions, safeguard our own human health, and preserve our view of the night sky. And whereas the city of Ridgefield has adopted policies directed at protecting migrating birds, preserving the nighttime environment, and minimizing light pollution while permitting reasonable amounts of lighting for the nighttime safety utility enjoyment. Now therefore, I, Matt Cole, mayor of the city of Ridgefield, do hereby proclaim the uh the spring and fall migration season as lights out Rididgefield and encourage residents and businesses to join a communitywide lights out effort by extinguishing unnecessary exterior lighting every night during the migration and getting outside to view the night sky dated this 23rd day of

April, 2026. Signed by me, Mayor Mitch Mitchfield. And for that we have Miss Jean Stemp here tonight from Friends of the National Wildlife Refuge. Please come forward and we'll receive this. There you go. Congratulations. Yeah, I'll come down. We'll do a quick photo. Do

you guys want to stand up? I just don't want you guys have to do the back and forth.

Cheers. Here, I'll do it here. My name is Jean Stemp. I am I am vice president with Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. And I want to thank everyone for I want to thank you for declaring lights out for birds migration in the city of Ridgefield. The friends and the refuge appreciate the city's recognition of the millions of birds that fly over our heads every night during both the spring and fall migrations. We're thankful that the city has already implemented various initiatives to support bird life, including enacting dark sky ordinances. We encourage residents and business owners to reduce sky glow, especially during these critical migration times. One simple action to take is turning off unnecessary exterior lights after 11 p.m. Dark skies are healthy for people as well as birds, and this simple action can support wildlife while potentially enhancing the overall well-being of our community. Thank you so much again for the recognition.

Thank you again.

Okay, we have a second proclamation this evening. This one is to uh proclaim mental health awareness month. The proclamation reads, "Mental health challenges affect millions of Americans every day, impacting their ability to work, maintain relationships, and enjoy life. According to recent studies, approximately one in five Americans experience mental health issues annually. Understanding these challenges is important for those directly affected and for building compassionate communities equipped to provide proper support. And whereas mental health awareness has grown significant significantly in recent years, yet the prevalence of conditions like depression and anxiety disorders continue to rise. And whereas mental health awareness month is observed each year to promote education and raise public awareness about mental health conditions, encourage open conversation about mental illness in workplaces, schools, and communities, improve early intervention and access to treatment, and reduce stigma around mental health conditions. And whereas the 2026 theme for mental health awareness month, more good days together, emphasizes the importance of mental wellness for all individuals, it encourages us to all reflect on what a good day looks like for both ourselves and for our communities. Together, we can use that insight to develop more effective systems and connect people to the right support at the right time. And with that now, therefore, I, Matt Cole, mayor of the city of Richfield, Washington, do hereby pro proclaim the month of May 2026 as mental health awareness month and encourage all residents to educate yourself and others about mental health conditions. Help ensure that mental health support is accessible and stigmaree. And in a world where feeling overwhelming or or uncertain, remember to focus on creating your own good days dated this 23rd date of day of April, 2026. And for that we have uh is it captain?

No. Oh, I'm St. Louis. Okay. Just Sam. Just Sam St. Louis from CCFR. Good. Good to see you, sir. And we'll present this to you.

Thank you very much. Yes. Hey, council. If you please join me in the front for this one. It's okay. Mayor, city council members, thank you so much uh for the population uh mental health. I'm Sam Lewis. I'm the program manager with our CARES program. So on behalf of CARES and Clark College Fire Rescue, uh we appreciate it. Uh our team is uh we have a behav team team here today which is our behavioral health crisis team. Um, so with our paramedic, Seth and Aiden, our mental health professional, um, they actually go on 988 calls, 911 calls, and calls from the crisis hotline, on behavior health calls throughout the day, um, and through the night. Um, so on behalf of them, we know the importance of really uh, having mental health awareness and being uh, dropping the stigma of it, lowering the stigma, and having folks receive help um, from all over kind of the behavioral health spectrum. um and anything that we could do to help support that and support the the community within that uh we appreciate it and um just call for help.

Thank you. Thank you again. We appreciate you being a resource.

Okay. Um we're going to go into public comment. Uh as we do, I do realize that there are uh a few people here today to give public comment. And uh if if you have never given public comment here before, uh we definitely enjoy getting input from our community. So we are glad you're here. I just want to stress that there is no back and forth between the council. And so the fact that we can't respond is is not because we don't want to. It's just because we're here to listen and not necessarily interact. So, uh, anyone, uh, wishing to address city council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward at this time to the podium or use the raise hand feature located at the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press star 9 for raise hand and press star six to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes. And again, tonight, because I think we have quite a few people, we're going to enforce a strict three-minute rule for public comment. So, uh, with that, I would like to open the floor to public comment. Is there anybody wishing to go first? Mr. Bowar, good to see you, sir.

I'll try to set a good example, Mr. Mayor. Uh, good evening, mayor, members of the council, city staff, and members of the public. First, I want to thank you for your work in making this city the best place in the world to live and raise our kids and find true community. I'm here tonight on behalf of the Ridgefield Main Street Organizational Committee, and I want just a quick raise of hands for our board members and committee members are here. So, uh, big shout out for their work. um to give you an update on what we talked about since I last spoke to you in February of our tax credit incentive program and with a request to the city for your uh supplemental budgeting process. As a reminder, through the state program, cities can pledge supporting funds to a main street program and receive a credit on their state utility tax liability for 75% of that contribution. Our request is for the city to match the pledges we've received so far, which includes pledges from 23 businesses that total over $70,000. That would bring back $52,500 of tax dollars that the city is currently sending away to the state. The reason we're bringing this to you tonight is because as of April, uh the remaining credits have gone into a statewide pool that will only be available while they last. Last year, all of the credits were snagged by the end of the third quarter, keeping uh much uh much needed funds from uh bringing tax dollars home. Over the past four months, the board has worked hard to inform businesses about this opportunity, and over 400 160 businesses were contacted, first by email, then phone, and in person for targeted businesses. We held several meetings with first-time pledge business owners and CFOs to help them better understand the process. And in addition to the mailers, we did broad outreach through the Greet Richfield magazine, email campaign, social media, and flyers. Pledges came in from a variety of business types from large construction and healthcare companies to small food carts including Dick Hannah, Vancouver Clinic, Tapony, Inc., Nutter Corp, CRC, Riverview Bank, Stellar JC Corp, American Underwriting Insurance,

Richfield Physical Therapy, Windy Hills Winery, Waste Connections, Nest, Nest Restaurant, Integrity Bookkeeping, Northwest Access, Richfield Raptors, Go Raptors, Wig Studio, Shirt Space, who's here tonight, M Foster, uh, Space Solutions, uh, PNW Public Affairs, Lava Java, Richfield Ladscape, and the Neighborhood Refuge, who actually held a rally for us as well, too. So, thanks to the neighborhood refuge, uh, RMS has prepared additional details about our outreach effort along with responses to other questions that were asked in February uh, of Main Street that we'll be sharing with council and staff after this meeting. Thanks for considering our request and for helping us keep D tax dollars local by participating and spreading the word about this great tool. 25 seconds, I'm done. Thank you. Hello,

my name is Travis Goodwin. I'm a district 3 resident and a business owner.

I'm someone who's deeply invested in the future of this community. I want to start by acknowledging something important. You're the final line of accountability to the upcoming project of the port. I was asked to come speak tonight regarding the port project. You guys have the appro approval to approve something or not approve something. Tonight, I'm asking you to use authority carefully because what is in front of you is not just another project. It's a long-term decision that will impact this community for decades. Right now, there's too many unanswered question. The Port of Richfield is asking for support and alignment, but has not provided the level of transparency or financial clarity that this council and this community deserves. You've seen roughly $2 million tied to the Gley building project, and nothing has been done. Where is the clear, measurable return to the public? Where is the detailed reporting demonstrating that this was the best use of funds and that future projects will be handled differently. We've also seen discretionary spending like approximately $20,000 for meals at $76 a day. Again, this isn't about one item. It's about what it signals. It signals a need for stronger oversight. And that brings me to the core issue. Trust without verification is not good governance. You as council members should not be put in a position where you're expected to prove major decisions without independent validation of how the public resources are being managed. So I'm asking you to do two things before moving forward. First, require a full independent financial review of major port expenditures. Not an internal summary, a third party review that the public can see and trust. Second, require clear ROI metrics, public reporting for any project syncing approval. If a project cannot distri dist demonstrate value to the community, it should not move forward. Third, pause approval of this project until those standards are met. This is not obstruction. This is the responsible leadership. Now, I also want to address something broader. Many of the decisions being made today will shape the Richfield, my children, and many of your constituents children will inherit. And right now, there's a growing concern in this community that those long-term impacts are not being fully considered. We need leadership that reflects not just the experience, but current active investments in the future of the city. People raising families here, people building businesses here, people who live here with the consequences of these decisions that some of you won't even be alive to see happen because the perspective matters. It's

not consistently showing up in the outcomes we're seeing. It's not about being anti-growth. I support smart strategic growth, but growth without accountability is not progress. It's risk. And its risk is ultimately falls on the taxpayers and the residents of this community. So tonight, I'm asking you to step in your role, not as a rubber stamp, but as a safeguard, as the hard questions demand real answers. And if those answers aren't there, don't approve the project because once these decisions are made, they're hard to undo. And finally, I want to share that I'll be running for position three because I believe this community deserves leadership's accountability and transparency aligned with the people it serves. But tonight, it's not about my campaign. It's about your decision, the opportunity to have you right now to ensure the right one. Thank you for your time.

Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment this evening? You can come forward at this time.

Mayor, council, city, fellow citizens. Uh I'm Merily Ace Liy. I'm one of the founding members of the Ridgefield Art Gallery and I'm here to give you a quick update. We opened in January and the public has been very very supportive of us. We're very grateful. We're busy painting in your behalf. We're busy trying to learn how to run a business because that's not necessarily the artist strong point. But we're doing well. Our best month, we made $5,800. Our worst month, we've made over $2,800. So, people are showing up for us. I especially want to thank the Port of Ridgefield, the city of Ridgefield. Without you, too, and all the work you've put into supporting the Ridgefield Art Association and the Ridgefield Art Gallery, we would not be in a position to get this, we will soon be able to offer classes to the public. So, thank you Port, thank you city and thank you all citizens who are coming in. And remember the Ridgefield Art Gallery, every piece of art in there is made by a member of your Ridgefield Art Association. It is local and our meet the artists and our receptions are tied to the first Saturday of the month, 5 to 7 p.m. So come in, have a little glass of wine and enjoy the art. first Saturdays 5 to 7 pm. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We appreciate the update. Is there anybody else here wishing to give public comment?

I got it. Uh Tim Shaw. I mostly just Sorry, can you say your name one more time? I apologize. Tim Shaw. Tim Shaw. Thank you.

Been a resident for a while. Painted half of Richfield. Uh, I want to back the gentleman that was just up. A lot of his comments fit what I want to say. Uh, not sure where to start this, but it's all the the plan that was a uh offered to us or shown to us by the port is totally unacceptable. It's it's not anywhere near anything good. Uh, and I just think we need to at least step in and and slow it down, see what we can do. Uh, the roads are not even they're not acceptable now. They're they don't hold the traffic now. If you build anything down there, it will not hold the the traffic. Um, and that's kind of pretty much just where we need to go. We just need to slow that down. There there there's too much build down there. Everybody wants an open space. Everybody wants a nice place. And there's plenty other space out here for everything. That's about all I got.

Thank you, SIR.

I wanted to write it all down, so I'm going to have to wing it. Um Matt Hagerty been a Ridgefield resident for about 21 years and I know Lee pretty good but uh it's about the meeting the other night that the port put on. Um it was uh some of the main comments were sadness about the the new port development in 2024. We were all given three choices uh and there were I think 1300 respondents. This port project looks nothing like what was even proposed to us. Um it has residential um a five-story hotel and I sadness was I think one of the key things that I walked away with. You know people who walk down there I walk down there at least three to four times a week along that path. And to think that there's going to be four large apartment complexes and uh a hotel down there, let alone uh the boat ramp will probably end up going away. But there's been no apparently no uh attention paid to the traffic that backs up from that boat ramp all the way into downtown Ridgefield. and then anyway um so I think that to to mirror the gentleman's comment about transparency this was the first that anyone knew about this level of project and it was in a day and a half of a Facebook post there were 42 people in this room and one of the gals there said something very interesting she said probably for every one person in this room there's at least 10 that mirror the same uh uh same opinion And I imagine after this meeting, there's probably going to be 20 people for every one person in that room. It is a horrific uh addition to a city that that just uh had a a special occasion for lights out for bird migration.

I mean, there's going to be four apartment complexes, you know, um, right next to the Richfield Wildlife Refuge. All those white geese and white stors, they're not going to be there anymore. And not only going into that, but, you know, with the contaminated soil, there's probably eight or nine different chemicals in the soil that only has a two-ft uh cap on it. You're only going to be able to do slab on grade. You cannot put uh pillars in the soil. And I was I I did not confirm this myself, but I was told that Scott's son is the primary project manager for the company, the uh ecology company doing the soil samples. If that doesn't represent a little bit of impropriy, I don't know what does, but they waited until the very last minute. This thing was six weeks from what they said it was. they have already uh got a bid from the developer and it's six weeks away from signing this. So, you guys are the one that can can do something. Like I said, uh if you can't stop it, slow it down because this is not at all what any of the Richfield residents want.

Thank you, Mr. HAGERTY.

OKAY. SO, just start right. Okay. So, I'm going to start my timer so then I can see. So, uh, my name is Shauna Fischer. I am a Ridgefield resident, obviously, right? So, I wouldn't be here. Um, and the reason why I'm going to try not to cry because it's really like, wow. Um, so I moved to Ridgefield because of the wildlife refuge, right? Like, and because of the downtown, right? The quaintness of the downtown, all the cool businesses, the community, kind of like Mayberry, right? Just the the sense of community um down there. And my concern is I love that path. I walk it with my dogs. I walk it with a walking group that I'm in. And it's so beautiful and peaceful. And with all the growth, we need that time to reconnect in that nature. And to have a hotel down there and then an apartment complex right up against the refuge. I mean, like this gentleman said, we have talking about lights out, bridgefield, and the birds and oh yeah, let's just put all this growth there and all the air pollution, the noise pollution, the light pollution. And I don't think that's good for that environment down there. And just think there could be better ways that they could um you know the port could do it. Like if you look at the port of Kalama, I'm sure you guys have seen that. It's beautiful what they've done with that um that Kalama market that they have there, right? And all the local artisan stuff they have in there and the walk and the pathway. It's still beautiful yet, you know, it's grown up a little bit. So, I think that would be nice if they looked at that here to just preserve that um downtown and not just overbuild and overgrow because I think that comes with more just more problems and more issues and got to got to protect the birds and the and the wildlife down there because it's so important. And I've noticed too, you know, since with In and Out, um that's created more garbage, right? So, and then also to the trail behind Legacy

Trails, you know, that trail that goes behind Kinder Care, there's more garbage now and a trash can that is like overflowing and there's garbage everywhere. So, I just worry about, you know, all of that with doing too much growth down there in a beautiful area. So, there you go. Thank you. Thank you, MR.

HELLO. My name is Robin Knight. I'm also a Richfield city resident. Uh I did not prepare my comments, so this is just off the cuff, but I also uh am very concerned about the growth uh proposal for down at the waterfront um and I share many of the concerns that have been expressed. I moved here in 2020 um for work and um thought that I had just landed in this perfect little jewel of a small town that was right off of I5 so I could get everywhere easily but it was also felt like a rural sort of farm town. I mean, granted, we were in the midst of COVID most of that year, so people were staying home, but it still just felt so quiet and peaceful and perfect to me, and the the wildlife refuge was one of those perfect, quiet, peaceful places. And uh with the you know proposed project bringing a hotel, apartments, restaurants, more businesses down there in that quiet, peaceful, perfect area, it's going to completely change it forever. I mean, we might as well remove the osprey cam because those ospreys aren't going to be nesting there anymore. Um it, you know, like this gentleman here said, sadness is a a very, you know, perfect word for the way I feel and I think many of us feel about that proposed project ruining a place that is so near and dear to our hearts. Thank you. Good evening. Um, my name is Peggy Qu and um, I've been a resident of Ridgefield since 97. So, first of all, I'd like to say how grateful I always was for the time and

money the port spent on clean cleaning up that super fun site. I've been looking forward to seeing what careful plan they would put down there. So, what's come out is just so disappointing. Um you I also remember going way back there was a core group of ritual citizens who saved the refuge for all of us. They spent years raising funds and it's now the jewel in the crown of Richfield and it's such a unique and beautiful site including the port property. Um um The whole community worked hard for that and I just have to say those people had such vision they really saw into the future and that's what I'm expecting of the port. You know what they put now is going to be there for a long time and it should be carefully thought out for a vision down the road that a lot a lot of us won't even be around to see. Um the port water front should be an extension of in a sense of the refuge. Um it should reflect the value and the beauty of that. And um I'd like to see I know there are plans for some community spaces, but that should be one of the primary things that it should be a place where people can still come and be on the waterfront, enjoy the nature, the refuge being the primary concern and the focus of that property. Um about 10 years ago I was on a stakeholder committee for what was going to go on down there. It was about the

time they finished the cleanup somewhere in there and they had a plan at that time and it was it seemed considerably more um careful than what they're proposing now. Um, and it just seems like apartment buildings are inappropriate when you consider I don't know how many units they're going to put, but statistically each household represents like eight trips a day. and multiply that by however many units and that's that's a lot of people going in and out not only on the roads but just how disruptive that is to a fragile ecological system like the the wild the national wildlife refuge. I mean this is a really special place. Um so again I would hope that the port property would really give more thought to it and consider Okay, my time's up. Um anyway, just respect for the refuge, dark skies. We've always been promised dark skies. I don't see how we're going to have dark skies with big parking lots.

Thank you, ma'am. So, thank you.

Hi, my name is Jamie Kaiser and I know all of you are on this board and take your time because you want to do something great for Ridgefield and now's your time. So, this is something that your name's going to be stamped on. Um, whether you think it is or not, people are going to wonder who made these decisions. And the port needs to stop. I say reverse because in that survey from 2024, the majority of the people said, "No, we want nature. We want walking spaces. We want things that are non- apartment buildings." In the 2024 Reflector article, I think it's close to 200 apartment units and a 58 room hotel. They also had at that point in time that was um eight spots for van camping um and other things. And I I don't think the new site reflects that, but the new site does not reflect what the community said that they wanted. Um and so think about what you are leaving your legacy. Think what you're leaving for your children. Like everybody has said, when this is done, it is done. There's no going back. I think you need to stop because Paladrome that they've chosen has had some questionable um things happen in the past. If you go to their Albuquerque uh lawsuits, um have they worked with a site like this? You know, there's going to have to be mitigation because of the toxins that are under the soil. Have they ever dealt with anything like that before? I don't think they have. Um they haven't even drawn uh done a traffic study. So, how can they propose all of this growth without even knowing how it's going to impact traffic and safety? As we know, that two-lane ramp road to get down there barely can handle the boat traffic. And if you're looking at pushing out the boat traffic, well, now add all those hundreds of people that are going to be coming and going. That can't handle that. If there's an emergency, there's really no place to go. Um, so I think you need to do your job and put this on pause, back it up, and there needs to be transparency. I know I've done a public records request. I want to see what the land lease looks like. Somebody brought up, you know, that's a lot of stuff. That's so

paladrome can make money because it's a land lease. So, how much money are they looking to make? How much are you leasing this land for if they need to have this many buildings and this much stuff that they're making money on? And then my question to the port was and I'm asking I've asked them and I'm waiting for a response is what are you asking for this? And how why is that something you should be asking? because the poor can't make money. The money has to be invested back into the community and pay for salaries. So why would you be allowing somebody to do a land lease where it's going to be for them enough profit to make it work? And it looks like it would be lots and lots of money. So I think you need to listen to the community. We are just I know understand I understand a small snippet of the whole population of Ridgefield, but again this is your legacy. This is what you're leaving for your your children and your children's children. And you really need to think about what you're doing. And I think there's no harm. This whole port revamp and redesign and rebuild has been going on for many, many years. So, you have the time to do it. There is no rush. Thank you.

Thank you, M.

UH, YES. Come on up.

Hi, Kaylin Cook. Just taking a quick look around. I'm probably one of the youngest people here. Um, so speaking on behalf of your children and your children's children, this is extremely disappointing. And I know the word sadness has been used quite a bit. I'm going to use rage. This is enraging. I pay a lot in tax dollars. I know you guys pay a lot in tax dollars. It's not acceptable. I grew up here and to see that this is going on. We have Vancouver waterfront right down the road. We have Kalama right down the road. Why do we need to be like them? You take pride in having the refuge. It's posted on the freeway. You drive into Richfield, the roundabout. It's right there. And I'm sorry, but I'm looking at your faces and it seems kind of blank, but you guys don't get it. There's emotion here. And we just talked about mental health. And the lights out. Nature is a huge part of mental health. My generation, my siblings generation, I know my kids are going to struggle with it. We need the nature aspect. We don't need more buildings. AMEN.

Going off of the infrastructure, not only is the roads not big enough, I almost hit a kid on electric bike outside of the golf cart zone because he wanted to cut in between me and a semi around the roundabouts. What do you think is going to happen down here because we don't have the roads? Do you know how terrifying it is for a 24-y old woman to see this kid on a dirt bike riding around with just a bike helmet easily going 40 around the roundabouts? I could have killed him and I would have lived with that. Do that at the waterfront, you're going to see it a lot more. We're already not doing anything about the infrastructure or the electric bikes. What's going to happen when you add more people? When you add no infrastructure to support that, it's just not healthy for our community. the money isn't going to go back to the community because we haven't seen any money coming back. So, please take that into consideration. Do your job and vote no. Thank you.

Thank you, M.

Uh my name is Ruben Greer. Um, I moved to Rich Herfield about 5 years ago, uh, with my wife of 20 years and three kids. Um, fell in love with the area, originally from Spokane. Uh, so when we, uh, when I rented a house sight unseen in 2021, uh, came into town, saw the Rosars, a little bit of home for us. So, um, I know there's probably mixed feelings on that. Um, so but we fell in love with this area. I've been looking at in places like Cameas and and around. We fell in love with Ridgefield, the quaint one little red blinking light downtown. Uh, the the, you know, the coffee shop and the little theater there, the wildlife refuge, uh, you know, we're members, you know, we buy the annual pass. We live for that. Going down to the waterfront now. the waterfront, not the little sliver, the whole thing. We've been doing that. And so when we saw this plan on a Facebook page, my wife saw it. She said, "You need to go to those meetings." And that's how passionate and upset she was to send me here to do this, which I've never done. So, um, a little background for me. Um I currently work as a corporate environmental manager for inland ter uh inland marine uh company that's grown in into uh here in Vancouver. Before that uh I was 15 years as an environmental project manager uh working on uh international uh or I'm sorry uh national and EPA super fund remediation sites as well as creassota and pole treating sites as well. So um I've got some experience in this. I wasn't fully aware and still not fully up to speed with the environmental uh remediation uh that that's happened. Um but before I get into that, I wanted to to to read something. I read this in the meeting uh a little bit ago. This is from the Port

of Vancouver uh master plan for the waterfront. And this was part of their engagement work to see what the community was and what they wanted to promote. This engagement work led to three guiding principles. respect and enhance the natural setting, support recreation, and reflect Ridgefield culture, art, and history. Now, I assume you will all have seen the plan, and hopefully you can muse about where you see those guiding principles in this design. Um, my time is running out. I had a lot more to say. Um, you know, there's issues of of traffic. If we have increased traffic main or pine pioneer can't handle it. So the option is either to to widen the street or get rid of the parking I mean security the bird refuge I mean lights out. How are we going to handle all of that? So just appreciate some really consideration. We've been here for five years. We know the heartbeat of this community. You guys must as well. and you know probably in your heart this is not what what we want and what we need. So appreciate the time.

Thank you, Mr. G.

HI, my name is Morgan Rumble. Um like much many of the people here, uh after Tuesday, I was devastated. Haven't really slept well since then. It's it's pretty um not only because of the plan, but also how the public's responses were met with a level of smuggness that was uh infuriating and upsetting. Um I'm going to share something, a direct quote I heard from a port employee who still works there about whatever a year when we were talking about the waterfront plan in here. I came because I was concerned about what any development there would do to the refuge. So I came and to my great relief before because I was before I was really more involved like tons of people were out here talking about how important the refuge was and that that should be the priority at the waterfront. The port employees were here listening. Yes. Smiling, nodding, all that. I say to this port employee the next day, "Wow, that was really great to see how many people came out for the birds in the nature." And they said to me, "What people don't understand is that it used to be really polluted down there and the animals adapted and they'll adapt again." Oh,

now I don't I understand that what somebody says in a moment in time might not be, you know, you can't that's why I don't need to out them or anything, but based on the plan that has come out, based on the responses of the port employees and commissioners who were responding to us, um I think that that shows a the uh culture of the place is all about is not about the refuge, is not about the wildlife, it's not about Ridgefield, a hotel, none of that does anything for for the citizens of Richfield that that's for other people. This is our little corner. And you know what? There doesn't have to be a compromise. We don't have to build down there. We don't we can make that decision. And I don't care if econ I don't care economic reasons. We are at a critical point. And a Guardian article yesterday said that half of US children are living with like high amounts of air pollution. How is building and paving over freaking paradise helping our climate goals in the city, our children's quality of life? I see everybody down there from people, older people, mobility, uh, disabled people with their walkers down there, kids riding their bikes, kids throwing. It's accessible and it's free and there's hardly any spaces like that anymore. And and I'm tired of people I grew up here and I'm tired of people telling me that it's it's not a big deal if I can't afford to live here anymore. If I can't afford to be here anymore and do things in my community. This is our third space and we need to protect it at any rate.

Is there anybody else wishing to give a public comment? Come on up. My name is Lisa Callum and I'm short. Can you say your name one more time? Lisa Callum. Thank you.

And I've lived here since 93 and uh the refuge has always been a refuge to me and a very special place. Um, I work for Oregon public broadcasting and I know that uh, Field Guide has done many stories at the Refuge and I would hate for them to have to come and do a story on development being done that will be next door to the refuge. Um, also I'd like to raise your hands for everybody who's opposed here. So maybe to every one of those people, there's a few more that care about the the refuge and care about the hometown feel that Ridgefield has and has always had. And I'm proud of what you guys have done. I mean, it's uh I I I understand that development has to happen. I understand progress is unstoppable, but maybe we can make some um choices that would that wouldn't impact the the wildlife and the way of life here as much. Um maybe local businesses. I have heard that the developer uh is a genius. Actually, I heard that they they not only will do leasing of the lands, but they'll own the LLC's that will be put there and so they'll make money off of the money and they'll make money off of the leases. So, um so if there's something that can benefit the public or not public, well, Ridgefield public, um that would be great. And that's all I have to say.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MY NAME IS PATRICK CARLSON. UH, I've lived in Ridgefield, at least in the area, since 1978. Oh, this is falling apart. And uh I don't have most of the people who have been before me here have said um much uh what I was going to say. I just want to make one more thing that that add one more thing that there's research around that you folks can do comparatively in the state. Uh these are called brownfields and there's small ones and there's little ones all throughout the state. And the one that comes to my mind right now and I I I it took me just a few minutes. I just researched it a few minutes so I don't have it all the details but there's a large one in the Wachi area and I believe their alternative there was an people aren't living there permanently and they don't have hotels. They have some kind of a like an outdoor market and that's about all I know about it. But please research the alternatives because they are throughout the state and there's people at the Department of Ecology. I haven't heard them name mentioned at all tonight, but there's people up there that may have been involved in in some of these and they can help you with that. They're they're amiable people. They're good people and they're very helpful. And um that's about all I have to say it right now. that that the transportation getting in and out of here. Uh the present proposal at the uh port uh is a development and you've got a lot of development on the uh uh I5 end out there needless to say and you got little old ridgefield in

between and you got people coming and going all the time. And uh last fall I was basically uh caught in a traffic jam right out here on Pioneer. I was coming out of the uh the uh launch with my boat and there was a school over here and the buses were coming out. The parents were lined up to pick up their kids on Pioneer. I don't know how far back and it was completely stopped. That's a safety issue. If you've got to get emergency people in and out of there, how in the world they going to do it? And that's all I have to say. And thank you very much. Please do your research. It's available.

Thank you, MR. CARLSON. COME ON UP. HELLO, I'm Crystal Holiffield. Um, born and raised in the area. I've seen a lot of changes. Not one to come to these meetings or chat about things, but this is something dear to my heart. And I took a couple years and lived in other cities, large cities, the Big Apple. And you know, even New York has Central Park. We have the refuge, but what do we have for the people? What do we have for the dogs? What do we have for the kids? When talking about mental health, it's a place you can go and breathe. If you're stressed or if you're sad, you can feel safe. Um, you know, we really need to have a space to stretch our arms. Richfield is building neighborhoods that are so tight you can only park on one side or uh Main Street in front of Sportsman. We have motorcycles that are in parking spots with the tires sticking out. So, we have to take turns passing by. The police station's only a block away. Is there not parking tickets? We're not taking care of things properly until we can take care of A, B, and C such as crime that's coming to our neighborhoods. Um, we know we've said yes, Costco's coming. That's great. We've had alen, but I think this one we have to let it go and just leave it as is or compromise and have parks because right now we have water issues. I can't water my lawn and I and they're during the summer and I live in the Northwest. There's a reason we live in the Northwest. We're surrounded by water. Um,

so we need a place where the kids, like you said, can ride the bikes. And I know this is about money. At some point, we can get money elsewhere. There's plenty of more land on the east side of Richfield. Let's save the west side. We have the birds, but we need someone for the humans and the dogs and the kids. So, one spot Battleground has Battleground Lake. It has Lewisville. Kama has the waterfront. We need our space. Thank you.

My name's Rick Gr. I'm a lif lifelong resident of Southwest Washington, 70 years. I've been using the boat launch for uh since July of 1966. It's the same two-lane launch, the same size parking lot, the paved area as what we had back then. And you can imagine the population growth and congestion that we experienced this last Saturday, the April 18th. The overpass was backed up from the boat launch all the way to the top. And I'm not sure how far into town, but I know it held on for quite a while. It started at six. And I I read that it lasted three three hours. Now, I find that hard to believe, but we don't even have a waterfront development down there at the waterfront yet. And I guarantee you, you will not stop motorized access to Lake River, no matter how hard the port resists to expand and improve our boat launch. Those vehicles will come up out of the boat launch and they will come into town and they will find places to park. And I don't care if you pass ordinances, make it tough to make single vehicle parking spaces with your painting. Those vehicle those voters will find businesses and individual residences to get permission from to unhook their boat trailers and park them in their yard or wherever they have to. But these people want to get out on the river. The Columbia River is special for our area. Um, and that's what makes Richfield special is the Columbia River and the Richfield National Wildlife Refuge and we have it all right there. And to to not provide access because of an inadequate facility like our boat launch is really u shortch changing the public and you don't have to be a Richfield resident to experience it and enjoy it. Um, I've been talking to you folks. I've been talking to the port and you have a

decision to make and it's I the deadline it was supposed to be must occur according to the port for this development agreement to be finalized so that they can start the construction down there at the waterfront October 1st of 2027. At the meeting the other night, I asked the question, if we extend out this development agreement decision beyond June 1st, it can be done. But then I asked, can the construction date October 1st of 27 be extend? And they said no. The port said no. They plan on starting construction October 1st of 27. So, what I'm saying is before I'm keeping my fingers crossed here that the six commissioner, the six counselors, and the mayor, do your homework know what you're finalizing because it's going to impact all the citizens here in Richfield and the people that come here from Southwest Washington to enjoy the water that we have down there leading out to the Columbia River. It's a major decision that you have and I consider it probably one of the most important decisions that you will ever make on this city council.

Thank you, Mr. GR.

Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment in the room?

Okay, I'm completely pushed out of my comfort zone. So, I'm gonna pretend all of you are not here. Sorry. But, um, I attended the meeting on Tuesday with the port. Can you please start with your name?

Oh, I'm so sorry. My name is Sasha Pradowski. I'm a resident of Richfield for seven years now. Love the town. Not going to list all the reasons why. You guys all know it. I I attended the meeting on Tuesday with the board and um extremely upset, beyond imaginable. You start approaching Ridgefield, there's a sign, sorry, National Wildlife Refuge. We all seen the birds on our new overpass screens. You start heading down to downtown. Two miles to our historic downtown. You take the escars. You see the downtown. You see the waterfront. This is a heart and a soul of this town. We've stood by throughout all these developments. and you promised that despite of all the developments, you will preserve the heart and the soul of this town. I'm here today to ask for your help, for your dignity, for your ethics, for your morals, to not ignore this matter. Please open your eyes. Please hear your residents. Open your hearts. This is our community. This is our families and yours. I cannot list all the problems with that development in a short three minutes. We were there for two hours. We didn't even scratch the surface of all the problems for ve there. I can't even tell you what is right about that development.

Please advocate for your residents. This is what you were chosen to do. Please do so. Don't ignore it. Develop the process where residents can be heard, where all the problems can be address. It is your legacy. It's your families. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Good evening, counselors. My name is Rob Aley. I live at 911 Main Street. Um, so you know, I started going to the port meetings when they were uh having holding the meetings in the red the red building down at the waterfront. And um they've been talking about development down there ever since then. And back when there was only five counselors and we were you guys were in the community center down there, Lee Wells was down there. Um they talked about it there too. So it's something that's been talked about for a long time. I I saw all the scuttlebutt on Facebook and I thought I wanted to come to the meeting and and just talk a little bit about it, you know, and going to I went to all those meetings back then. I a regular every two weeks they met. I know now they only meet once a month, but I went to all those meetings. You know, there's a that's only 32 acres right there. The waterfront is or the refuge is like 5200 acres somewhere around there. We're talking about 32 acre spot there. There there's still going to be a park in there. There's going to be an amphitheater in there. There's going to be um a paved area for the kids to ride their bikes through. That's not going away. Um I've uh uh quite frequently walk from the uh all the way down the refuge uh up to the uh brand new building they have up there at the visitor center. And then you can go across the foot bridge and you can go down to the plank house. And then that trail goes all the way around and dumps you out to the, you know, the red pump

house that's down there. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful walk. That's never going away. That that's always going to be there for our families and our children to walk. And um I'm I'm a proponent uh I'm in favor of the development down there. I think there's going to be a lot of fun things to do. Um I remember the developer talking about having view corridors in there so it's not just a wall of buildings. You it's not going to just block off the view. Yes. Some there's there's going to be view corridors for the residents that live back, you know, that have that view. Some of them will will be blocked. Growth is inevitable. I'm also have faith that the city and the public works department will as the city grows, it's going to grow no matter whether the the waterfront gets developed or not. They're going to figure out how to deal with the traffic. You know, maybe they have to eliminate the parking on uh on Pioneer going down that, you know, this has been talked about for years that something will have to be done eventually to to get the traffic to flow a little better. Anyways, uh thank you for your time. It's good seeing you all.

Thank you, Mr. Aley.

Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment in the room? Can we ask questions? No, I'm I'm unfortunately not. It's only public comment and and there cannot be any back and forth between the council. However, uh there will be opportunities to have discussion and we do encourage you all if you'd like to to reach out to your port commissioners and to reach out to us directly and we will be happy to respond. I have one comment that I forgot and I had a minute left is what if they did like a

I'm I'm I'm sorry. Yeah, we we did use your time so I I we we do have to keep going. Um any anybody else wishing to give public comment who has not spoken yet? Yes, come forward. Hi, I'm Belle Matthew and sorry, I'm gonna cry because we're one of the homes that is mostly affected by this. We're white up right up. When you're walking on the waterfront, you see the greenhouse with the copper gutters that we have spent a lot of time, energy, and love putting into. And after we bought that house, I was in a wheelchair like two weeks after for a year. And I sat out and I looked at that kitchen window day after day looking over that refuge. And I challenge every single one of you to please go at night and sit just sit down there in your car and just listen. Just listen. Listen to the birds. Listen to nothing except for maybe the conversation of somebody walking by. Because let me tell you, sound carries from that waterfront like nothing I've ever heard. I can hear conversations of people that are walking by from my backyard. I can hear every car that drives down that waterfront and every 17-year-old kid that has nothing to do on a Saturday night and wants to go drive in in their circles. We hear it all. I cannot imagine the amount of sound pollution. The noise pollution would destroy that waterfront, let alone the light pollution. And here we have our dark sky ordinance. There will be no dark sky. I challenge you to go sit in it for at least the last moments that you have. And you know the speaker before, he's right. For years they have talked about this, but this has been the wool over our eyes. You know, these meetings take place in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the week when we're working with parents going to pick up of

our kids conveniently cannot make it. So, it sits silent. Not that I haven't been to a few unheard. You know, this is something that is going to happen regardless. But we can do it. We can do it ethically. We can do it with integrity. And we can do it with the care and posterity for future generations. And I can tell you if anyone has looked at this plan, it is not. Over 200 new residential units, our dark sky is gone and everything that we love about that waterfront. That's all. Thank you.

Hi. Hi. Sarah Scott, 510 North Therapist Road. Do you still have to say your address? No.

Okay, got something new. Great. Uh, thank you. I love Ridgefield. We all do. And thank you so much because you guys are the reason I have to thank Bridgefield for being the way it is. Also, the port. Okay. I would like to applaud Joe Melroy, Scott Hughes, and Bruce Weisman because these men have completed more community service in their lifetime than most of us can barely fathom. I mean, if it wasn't for the city and the port, we would not have the cleaned up, wonderful open space that we have down there. So, thank you. I just really wanted to, you know, it's it's great. Thank you. I did hear some concerns the other night that I compassionately agree with. Corruption of of nature and land and detrimental to the refuge. The refuge is our draw, our gem. If you mess mess with it, um if you mess with its buffer, then you mess with it. There's safety, many safety concerns. Okay? safety about um that people's voices aren't being heard that public surveys are being ignored. Uh some of the ports answered disturbed me. Um we have they were the answers were we have to build something down there. I I don't think that's great. I I don't think in that area that uh actually the building is inevitable. Uh nothing will grow there. I I I don't think that's true. uh the old railroad crossing that can be that's padlocked. I was there today uh can be used as an emergency access. I I don't think so. And uh from this uh asking who who really benefits from

this, there were no answers or or numbers. some public uh some public suggested that hotel and houses um go on the other side of the freeway near Costco where the infrastructure is already exists and this is very important for affordable housing as well. Many people love the open space the raptor cam uh hoping you all can understand how open space can be so valuable and versatile and good for the common good extra ball game space uh event space. My neighbors My neighbors will be directly affected by this and so will wildlife. So I stand by them.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hi there. Hi. My name is Neil McDougall. Uh, I moved here in September of 2025 with my wife, who has been a Richfield resident since she was a kid. I'm from a large city. Moving to a place like this has been nothing short of a breath of fresh air. Uh, Mayor Cole, I met you briefly at the refuge collection day the other week. Um, and I was amazed when my friend who I was with told me that you were the city mayor. Um, you really don't really get that kind of community city touch point where I'm from. So, I was really appreciative of that. Uh I want to I want to share a really quick anecdote with you uh on my first time here. Sure. Sorry guys.

Can you hear me now? There. Sorry. Uh I want to share a quick anecdote with you on my first time here back in summer of 2022. Uh I met my wife. We flew over here for a visit to to to Sarah who just spoke there uh who's my mother-in-law. Uh after getting over the jet lag, seeing a few of the sites, going to Vancouver downtown, the waterfront, doing various things, one sunny day, my wife asked me if I'd like to go and do something fun. She loaded up the truck with a twoperson kayak. Lo and behold, she drove me down to the waterfront, which only take two minutes from my house. We had a beautiful day cruising down the river, met the Colombia, stopped off at a small beach area where the rivers join and I swear on my life I saw a bald eagle. You need to understand just how cool that is. You know, from a city from a city boy from Glasgow, Scotland, you know, that type of thing was like something out of a movie for me. This place is magical. The refuge is magical. And it was the moment that I decided that I could probably put aside my old life and live here. So, I've been really impressed with the passion that I've heard tonight to the point where I was actually encouraged to speak. I had no idea that I was going to speak until I was I was hearing people talk. So, um, as a complete outsider, you probably know that you have it good, but trust me, you really don't know how good you have it here. Um, and I I I fully encourage you to rethink the plans here. So, thank you everyone. Thank you, SIR.

Is there anybody else in the room wishing to give comment? I have another minute. I I'm afraid not. We do have a second public comment period, but no, that if you use your time, unfortunately, we have to you've yielded it. Can we use a second time or not? Second. Uh we you technically you can. Yes. Yeah. You said there would be time for discussion. When would that be? There there's uh I I don't have the dates in front of me, but there are several upcoming council coffee talks. Um and we will we can publish this again. Maybe I don't know if staff if you have those, but we can we can get those published for you. And you know, we'd encourage you to come to those.

Okay. Um, is there any other public comment? Go ahead.

Hello, my name is Trisha Hawinstead. Been a Redfield resident for over 10 years. Wasn't prepared to speak, but happy to do so after hearing some brave and courageous comments. So, thank you for those that have gone before me. Um, I live right um be my backyard faces Cardi Lake and it is a refuge for us. Um, the decisions, like many have said before me, that you're about to make and have an impact on is a legacy that will impact generations. I think the refuge is what makes us unique. Um, and as it is, a natural and open space is what the community strongly desires and wants to fiercely fight for. We do not have the infrastructure setup that's already been mentioned. Pioneer Street cannot tolerate it. um with increased um people comes increased so many other it's a ripple effect right of so many other challenges and issues that will negatively impact the wildlife refuge that we all here dearly love. Um and so I want to just fiercely advocate for that however I can. I was at the port meeting on Tuesday. I'm not a like I go to things that I are really really near and dear to my heart and I have tried to participate and share my voice in whatever way was made possible through the different surveys and I agree with before that I don't feel like any of our feedback from the community has been adequately heard and represented. I don't even know if the surveys I don't know where to find the results of that. I just don't know where all that feedback has gone. And so I just really appreciate you listening, actively listening to us, hearing us out, making a equitable, important decision that will help our generations to come and this very, very unique, fragile area

that we have down there at the waterfront to protect our refuge. So thank you. Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Sure.

Hello. Okay. Um, my name is Suki Boraval Key and I grew up in Ridgefield. I am a sputter. I have never attended a city council meeting. I will begin attending city council meetings. I promise. Um, I never had attended a port meeting. I just attended my first port meeting and I can't think of really much positivity that came out of that room. Um, that discussion other than the the discussion around how badly we want to keep downtown Ridgefield, small town downtown Ridgefield. That's why I moved my family here. I I grew up here. Um, I had the opportunity to buy a house and I said, "You know what? I can't live anywhere but downtown Ridgefield. That's so important to me. This is We have programs like Main Street Ridgefield that is supporting our small businesses. We have um we have so much growth up Pioneer Street and we're told that that growth happens and it's inevitable, but we have one little tiny chunk and it it holds so much um so many memories for so many of us. It's it's a place that we can go. I can take my four-year-old. He he has his own binoculars. He can identify birds. We do that all day long. Every single day we're down there twice. We walk up that huge hill twice a day. I'm pushing him in a stroller still at four years old up that hill. Like that is the one space we have. And we are being told over and over again that that growth happens, growth happens, growth happens. I've seen it. It's all along every cow field, every farm. I've seen

it. This is the one space we have. And we were told at that meeting that this was the first that they heard this level of opposition. This was the first meeting I could attend. They're all during the day when kids are napping, kids are at school, um parents are working, and I think that at this point, we would love to see this slow down. We would love to see the community have a say. We had a say in our survey. We were given three concepts of three concepts back in 2024 I believe and it didn't look anything like what we saw Tuesday night or what was published very recently. Um so I'm urging you I know so many of you grew up here live here grew up here in Ridgefield and care about this small town. Um this is what when I bring friends here and I say hey let's go walk the waterfront they're like you're so lucky to live here. how how lucky are you? And and I just think every day as I walk down there with my son, how lucky I am to have that opportunity to share with him

Smalltown Ridgefield. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Hello, I'm Calvin Bryant. Um, I just want to stand in support of the people here opposing this development. We've seen several proposals for the development down there, and frankly, every time it gets worse and worse, and our voices are not being heard as community members. One thing that I haven't heard anybody bring up is the fact that this is a flood plane. And another thing is that nobody's talking about the impact on the schools. And I just imagine this going as poorly as the splash pad.

Anybody else? Uh, Mr. Le, is anybody online who is wishing to give comment? I do not see anyone online, mayor. Okay. Okay. Uh, with that, we are going to close public comment. Um, I do want to thank everybody who came here, everybody who spoke. It's clear that there you all care about your community as we do all as well. And we look forward to future discussions as this issue progresses. But thank you very much for coming tonight and thank you for sharing. Okay. Um, with that we are going to move on with our consent agenda. Council, I would accept a motion. Motion to approve consent agenda as presented.

Second. Okay. It's been moved by Davis, seconded by Pavlla. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Thank you, council. Motion carries. And we have a presentation to start tonight. Start. Um uh the presentation is on the comprehensive plan amendments update. This will be led by our community development director, Claire Lust. Over to you, ma'am.

Thank you very much, mayor. Good evening, council, members of the public. Um first item on uh presentation item tonight is just going to be a short update on the ongoing work on the city's 20-year growth management plan, the comprehensive plan update. Um it's actually going to focus on some work that you you mayor have been um tied in very closely to as well as um our mayor's counterparts in both L center and CASS um on specifically a transfer of development rights program um tying into the county's overall land use planning um which has been an an ongoing project of of the county and its cities. Um, this is a program that presents a unique opportunity to preserve um, functional, valuable, commercially significant farmland throughout Clark County um, as part of the um, future land use planning scheme that the county and all of our jurisdictions have been working really hard on. Um, as I mentioned, this is something that, uh, Mayor Cole has been very tied into. Um but for the the benefit of the rest of our counselors and as well as the public here in this meeting, we just thought we would it was the right time to give uh a brief update on progress on this work. So with that um we have with us online David Toyer um consultant that is working with um the cities of Richfield, Le Center and Camas on development of this program to give the updates. U Mr. Toyer, I will hand it over to you. Thank you very much.

Yeah. Hey, thank you, Claire. Appreciate it. David Toy with Toyer Strategic Advisors. Uh, our consulting firm was uh hired to help out with this uh program concept uh and really work to help you in uh making a presentation of how this could work uh in Clark County uh to your county commissioners. Um wanted to give this brief update here at this point in time because there is a uh county meeting coming up next Monday and Tuesday uh on the comprehensive plan update and so this was kind of a good opportunity to kind of preview uh some of the information uh that would be discussed uh with the county next week. Um as a part of your preferred alternative for your comprehensive plan, um you have proposed the opportunity for your cities to integrate uh the use of development rights uh into your growth planning such that that would help uh protect uh agricultural lands uh in rural areas in Clark County. Um it's really kind of an extension of a prior discussion that occurred about 10 plus years ago in Clark County uh where transfer development rights were identified as a unique opportunity to be able to protect uh existing farms and uh agricultural lands of long-term significance. Uh and now you've got a another opportunity here with this major update to your comprehensive plan and the county's major update to their plan uh to to integrate a program like this. If you want to go to the next slide, please. So we started working on behalf of the

cities uh back in March and one of the things we first did was attended a joint meeting between uh the cities and the county council. That meeting was focused on transfer of development rights and some of the opportunities at how you would make a program like that work. primarily uh that would be through an interlocal agreement type arrangement. One of the things that the county will need to do in order for uh these transfer development rights as an option to be considered is they would need to adopt some goals and policies as a part of their comprehensive plan update in order to be able to establish the framework for a program that would be created. And as you are probably aware, the county is a bit behind in their comprehensive plan update and one of their concerns has been whether or not um they have time to consider a transfer of development rights program. So, what we did was present a an outline of a three-step process that the county could go through as a part of their comp plan update and then extending past that uh where they could adopt a transfer of development rights program that would work cooperatively with all three cities. And that would start first by adopting a policy framework to establish the policies for a transfer of development right program. The next piece of that would be to actually then work on the full creation of the program and then the third stage would be the implementation of that. Um since that meeting that we had with the county uh we have had some additional meetings with county and city staffs to discuss what those countywide planning policies and comprehensive plan goals and policies could look like. We've prepared a technical memorandum on

transfer of development rights that really looked at the program that be adopted in Clark County and compared that with other programs in counties and cities around the state of Washington that already have adopted similar policy frameworks for transfer development rights. Probably the two closest uh in this particular case would be Kitab County and Stoomeish County. Um although as we noted in our memorandum, King County's got probably the most specific policies out of all of them just as far as the level of detail that those policies go into. Ultimately, the the goal of the technical memorandum was to not only do a survey of what other TDR programs look like and what kinds of policies that they have put in place, but to develop some recommendations for how Clark County could have a policy framework as a part of this comprehensive plan update. And we've made those recommendations um initially last week to a a group of county staff and city staff. and we will be making an additional presentation on that as a part of the county's hearing process Monday and Tuesday of next week. Key aspect of making a transfer of development rights program work is going to be an interlocal agreement that would be between the county and participating cities. And that is something that your community and the other two communities have been actively working on with the county and presenting them with some options for that as well. So, just trying to give you a brief update on kind of what's happened here in the last couple of months, but be happy to answer questions that you may have about transfer of development rights or, you know, anything as far as,

you know, what analysis that we've done and what we've presented to the county. Great. Thank you, Mr. Tory. Uh, we do appreciate the update. Uh, councel, I would like to just turn it over to you all and uh to ask questions of staff or Mr. Toyer or to provide any commentary at this point. I know that this is uh something that as Miss Le said, I've I've been pretty embedded with, but um I want to make sure that you all have an opportunity to ask questions as well. So, I'll look to anybody here might have any questions right now. Start with councelor Davis.

I mean, I wouldn't say it's as much uh questions. I mean, I think we've been kept up to speed on, you know, the concept of this, but um I really appreciate the work that's gone into it and the fact that we've taken a leadership position um and finding a creative solution that allows us to accommodate the growth we've been assigned as well as protecting these critical national or natural environments. So, I just wanted to be able to speak to that about um really the work that staff's done, Mayor Cole's done uh to really uh be a leader in seeing this through. Great. Thank you, councelor. Councelor Pavlla.

Yeah. No questions. And thank you, Mr. Toyer, for being here. I, you know, this process with the county council and the comp plan has not been the easiest um to say the least. And I do appreciate this really creative and strategic um type of plan that can really help us uh with the vision of Ridgefield and protecting land and putting some parameters in place that hopefully county council can agree to um to do exactly that to protect. So I I really do appreciate that. Thank you.

Other comments or questions? Councelor Wells. I also appreciate all the time and effort that you and the city manager put in and us. We put in a bunch of time too trying to promote it and I just hope that the county council will turn around and accept it and we can make it part of the comprehensive plan. Thank you.

Great. Other questions or comments at this point? Um, okay. If there are none, I'll I'll just add that I I you know, I do appreciate Mr. Toyer, you coming on board with this, uh, to Mr. Stewart, Miss Lust, and and the entire staff who've done, uh, countless hours of work on this. I this this is a big deal. And, and there's an important distinguishment here, I think, that that we do need to make. And that's that I think that there's been uh a perception that somehow in this process, this compound process that you know uh despite even comments you've heard tonight that that what we have all been about is the growth and expansion and growth and expansion and and and that's our only only motive and it's really not. It's it's really about accommodating the growth and uh and that we know is coming here and making sure that we hit those targets. In fact, you know, in 2016 we were given a density target of I think about six units per acre. We've hit since then nearly eight units per acre. That's quite a bit of density. And that's important. That's important distinction because uh the county council has tried to make the argument previously that we have not uh heated the density targets and that we've had a lot of leftover density. And that's really important because you know while while the the tension we experience with the growth is is real um it's also a a necessary thing because the state will say here's your allocation you have to grow. And what we have sought to do every step of the way is not grow for growth sake or just expand because we want sprawl. That's been quite the opposite. Uh and the fact that a lot of the advocates who are who you know who are pro- agricultural land, you know, um we've had discussions with those. I personally have had many discussions with with a lot of those people to assure them that we are not about necessarily uh snatch up all the farmland we can just to build more houses on it. uh rather we'd like to preserve farland where it is characterized by agriculture uh and a production and I think that's a really really important distinction once the a land here is gone it's gone forever and so our our motive our effort has always been to preserve a land where it makes

the most sense and so uh this is the the TDR plan the transfer developments uh proposal is I think a really innovative tool to do that because it allows us to keep agriculture land where it's necessary this is a plan that has been endorsed forced by the county's planning commission as well as the agriculture commission. That's not for nothing. This is something that um we have worked really closely with councelor Matt Little of the county council on. This is something he's been big on and uh as as a big conservationist himself, he understands the value of having preserving a land as well. And what it really comes down to is the argument that we have tried to make is is that we're at a crucial point. This is an opportune time. If we don't take action in a meaningful way now, then we may not have another opportunity to do that where the development community, the building community, the agriculture community, um have all aligned uh to to make a preservation here and that's really kind of what we're going for. So, uh two of my fellow counselors, thank you for your support. Thank you for being uh in in tune with us as we've gone along the way and uh we really do look forward to next week and having a positive outcome here because I think it really is one of those things where we want to tell you know where if you are serious about preserving a land. It's sort of a a put your money where your mouth is thing for lack of a better term. Uh to say, hey, let's work together to find a rare opportunity to do what we need to do to make sure that the natural scenery, the agricultural scenery here in Clark County does not go away, but we preserve it in key strategic areas and so that we can meet our our growth targets the state gives us while also preserving farmland. So again, thank you staff. Thank you Mr. Toryer for that. Um, if there's any other questions, I'd happy to allow council to ask those, but if not, we'll just uh we can move on. Okay. Thank you all again. We appreciate it. Okay. We have uh one item of business

this evening. This is the first reading of ordinance number 1480, 2026, budget amendments to uh this is going to be led by Mr. Kurt Johnson, our finance director. So, Mr. Johnson, over to you, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council and Richfield residents. Um Julie, if we can jump to slide four, we'll go ahead and jump right into the heart of the um supplemental budget for 2026. Um typically, as we get into the supplemental budget, we do have um projects that we are starting in 2025 where we have to uh forecast out how much we're going to spend and how much of the project we're going to complete in that year. And for the supplemental budget, sometimes we do have to come back to council and ask to um reallocate funding that was already set in 2025 because we didn't get as far as we thought we would in the project. So, the first um items um are because of that. Um I'm just going to kind of go over um each of those. splash pad, pioneer widening construction, and a couple different related items, which included some electrical work, and then the mitigation that we did for Clark Kallet's Fire Rescue to purchase property for their their new Westside um fire station. Um let's jump to the next page. Um next one was a parks revenue program. That's something that we're still working um towards with getting revenues for both the community and recreation center and then also ROR and different parks programs. Uh working on some studies there. Um our 88 transition plan um finalizing that we were hoping to be finished at the end of last year, but we did have some additional work and that's um uh finishing up here um currently. And um another study for the Pioneer and Hillhurst concept design that was for two different sections, one at Cardi Road and Hillhurst uh for a crossing and trail connection there. And then also

down at the corner of Pioneer and 9inth to review um a concept for future traffic um changes at that corner as well uh related to the two properties that we have there. And then finally, the Onslow Nature Play area. Uh we were able to get the demolition portion done in 2025, but we need to move forward this year to finish out the construction of that park as well. So on the next page are new requests for 2026. Um city attorney professional development and supplies. As you're aware, we had a new position where we moved our contract attorney to a full-time staff position. Um, at that time, we had not been able to um itemize what the training costs and and continued um uh fees for keeping the licensing and things like that. Um so that would be 25,000 in new funding um for this year um to help with that. And then um earlier this year, council approved a TIFF credit waiver. That's transportation impact fee credit waiver for um Cheeky Noodles um for $18,100. And as council was aware, um to do that, the general fund does have to pay those fees into the TIFF fund. Um next one was a public works openter energy plan for 20,000. This meets requirements um at the state level for our operations center. Any building that's 20,000 square feet or more, we have to have an energy plan um prior to I believe it's 2028 um to meet um any of the statutes that that are with that. And then we'll have to move forward on any um potential changes that we have to do for energy uh

savings. and then um professional services in the water fund as they're continuing to look for new water rights and um work on our uh water system. Uh there were several different uh professional service uh projects they would like to do this year to prepare for some of that in the future. So they're asking for a one-time increase in the water fund of $100,000 for a total budget of $125,000 in professional services so that they get those done this year. And finally on the next slide, u this is a project that was approved u can't remember it was last year or the year before u but it was for some downtown parking changes and this one was to stripe four street to make it a one-way street. Um that is estimated to be about 15,000. We already have a striping budget of 50,000 which has been set up for striping throughout the city and that's adding a one-time um amount of 15,000 to that budget for this year. And then finally in our transportation benefit district, increasing the existing $5,000 budget by 10,000 uh for professional services and that would add um bridge inspections which we are required to do and we have to do two of them this year. Um so that would actually be added as an ongoing cost in that particular fund. And then also um adding a new module that would look at our sidewalk similar to what we do with our pavement preservation where we can go out 10 years and plan what our pavement preservation program will be. This will add in a module that will do the same thing with sidewalks and um council you just talked about sidewalks here um recently and this will help with what we talked about at that time. Um,

and as we get to, um, the last page on this, um, it's a current project, but this is recognizing the private partner portion of the Richville Community and Recreation Center. Our existing budget was the city's portion for the community center of 15 million. And this request would be adding in 22 million with 22 million of revenue that would come from the private partner in the um partnership that we do have to build the community and recreation center. And um also to add $1 million for the Kennedy Well field and treatment design. Um that would be beginning this year as well. and then um design for another project that's been a long-term project, but we have not been able to start on it because we're still working through some granting um issues with the county um sergeant to main improvement design. Part of our our requirement for match on that is we have to do the design. So, this would begin that part of that project um to get that going. Um, with that the requests are for 26,393,100 with new revenue coming in at 22,82,000. Um, let me jump to slide nine. Um, and that will just kind of um, show what types of requests they are. The ongoing requests are $35,000 with the remaining portion of that one-time requests for this year. uh transfers from other funds will be um just over 1.3 million and uh 2.755 million will come out of the existing 2024 bond that we did for the Pioneer widening that will pay for those projects for the mitigation and the Pioneer widening related projects. The

fund balance impact including the the amount we already have in fund for the bond is 4.3 million and um how that will break out if I can jump to the next slide will be uh $181,100 from our general fund 275,000 from our transportation benefit district fund u the 2.755 million from the general capital fund that's the bonds 100,000 from the water operations and 1 million from the water system development charges. The rest of it is coming in from new revenue. So with that, sorry to go through it so quickly, but I did want to just kind of give the the top line of each of these and most of these are carry forward of projects that you had already approved. So if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Okay, great. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Uh we'll start with councelor Hamilton and we'll work our way right. Thank you, Mayor. Um so just looking thinking of the overall like projected revenue if any of that gets delayed or reduced like can you just speak to our contingency plan on that? So by delayed or reduced could you add a little more clarification to that?

If the numbers don't pencil out to what we were predicting and that's down does that affect? So, um, as far as the majority of the revenue is coming from our our private partner, and that already is in the works for the, um, funding, um, through the loan that they're getting. So, they do actually, um, have more than what they need. U,, we did have our bid opening yesterday. I can't go over the complete results, but we had six bids, four of them online, two in person. Very good bids, lower than the engineers estimate. So actually they probably will not need this full amount and we have all the confidence that they will be able to once the agreement is signed everything's locked in.

Great. Thank you. Councelor Wells we go back to slide eight. Yes. Now I got my mic on. Okay. Oh slide eight. Um up there on top the community center recreation center 2026 existing budget was 15 million uh now it has increased to 22 uh increased to 37. 22 million is the amount we're asking for to get to what the original engineers estimate was. Okay. I knew it was originally was supposed to be 37 total.

Correct. But but I thought we had allocated 15. We have. Yeah. And now we're increasing it to 22. So the 22 is the amount the private partner will be paying for the recreation center. The 15 is what we're paying for the community center. Thank you. That that answers my question. Great. Mayor Potm, any questions? I really don't have any. No. Thank you. Councelor Pavlla. No question. Councelor Davis. Yeah, there we go. Uh yes. Uh I just want to put it out there because it is a sensitive topic that made an appearance tonight. Uh the splash pad line item that is money that is coming from the developers bond. Correct.

That is correct. Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Um for me just looking at the uh I I just want to just confirm I think another answer here but the sergeant domain the CDBG project um if that it that so that doesn't have that is grant contingent right like that is something we need CDBG funds to finalize and go through before we do that. It's not something we're going to do either way but the revenue would come from from the CDBG program. So, that's a council decision. When they first uh approved this project, I believe two years ago, it was not listed as grant contingent at that time.

The information that we've gotten from the county is there is that potential they could have some of their funding rolled back. So, there is a possibility that we may lose that grant. We have not been told that. It's just a a caution that they have given us that it could be pulled back from the feds. H okay. Okay. My understand is that they had additional revenue that they were not going to be able to spend in the cycle. Is is this related to that at all? It is um partly related to that. If they cannot spend the full amount um that they had been allocated for this cycle, then they may lose money in the future, which

we haven't even gotten into the point where they've done the environmental um impact studies and things like that. So, we're not even at the point of beginning the agreement on this particular project. Okay. How much time do we have for that? That's a good question. We have not been able to get that answer from the county. They they keep pushing this one back because they have so much in the pipeline. Part of this is not necessarily any,

you know, whether it's our or other agencies fault or the county's fault. It's because there's a lot of slowdown at the federal level with the shutdowns with the the permitting processes at the federal level and because of that and they have those timelines they have not extended those timelines you still have to um use up that funding during that cycle or you lose it and then you potentially lose future funding as well. Okay, great. Thank you. Um, also another question on the city attorney professional development line item there. Uh, is that required training or is that going to be is that optional training? That's required training. It is. Okay.

Yeah. CPE to keep your license and continue with the the bar and things like that. And is Okay, great. And the same thing for the public works energy plan. Is that required? That is a requirement by the state. Uh, we could wait another year, but if we wait another year, we're really up against when the statute says we have to have this plan ready.

For sure. Okay, great. Um, okay, great. And then lastly, since nobody else mentioned it, I know that Main Street was has was here tonight uh with members of their board and their executive director and and you know, they are talking about the the tax credit program and our potential match on that. I guess this is more a question for my fellow counselors uh because this is first reading. Is this something that council would be interested in in having staff bring back for second reading and considering then? Yes, everyone's pretty thumbs up on that. Okay. Yeah.

And um just to clarify, the amount that I heard that they mentioned was matching what their current existing um donations have been. Is that where council wants us to go? Yeah, I think that we've talked I I I'm speaking for myself here and I'll look around, but I I I think we had talked about matching all along. That's been that's been the intent. I I think to clarify, we should define what commitment is. That was going to be my next thing is is I I still have a lot of questions for Main Street um about some of the things that we have asked for along the way as well as that commitment like what has been pledged versus what's been received and and how do we how do we track that

because I don't want I don't want to match something that's figuratively and then somebody like half of that doesn't follow through and then so mayor and council a couple of things with that. First of all, the Main Street Board and their staff representatives have indicated that they have information to provide for council between first and second readings. That would include the amount that they've already gathered uh as part of the BNO tax credit program and then answers to some to the questions that you had asked earlier this year. So, we'll make sure we provide you that uh with that. We'll also get the exact dollar amount that they were looking at. We'll make sure that we bring that forward to you.

Okay, great. And I know that Mr. Bar talked about that and we're we're expecting that report. Um, I guess along with that, I would love to make sure we have the opportunity between now and second reading or during second reading to answer any residual questions that are there as well because I think that's probably going to be necessary to We'll make sure we stay in communication with staff to get you those answers. Okay, great. Councelor Fabella, did you have something? Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just want to go back real quick to the professional development for the attorney. Do we offer this to other employees who have certifications that we pay for that or is this specifically for the attorney?

No. Um, for all staff that have a required certification to maintain their job, we do pay for that. Perfect. Thank you. Okay. Um, other questions or comments? Go ahead, councelor Davis. I was just going to say from like a like process standpoint, I think include the main street stuff and then if it doesn't meet the bar, then we we can strike it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As as with any of these, I I I think my my intent was to make sure that we had it come back. I I'm I'm interested in that so we can deliberate at the time and then decide if it's appropriate for us to go down that road. Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. Thanks. Okay.

Is there any any other questions or comments? Thank you. Thank you. I know I know that we were you you did move quickly on it, but you know I you know I think that we're pretty well apprised of of most of this stuff. So I appreciate it and uh we look forward to having another discussion in two two weeks. Okay. So with that three weeks um we have an extra week in at our next meeting. Yeah, we'll say it that way. Yeah. Okay. So with that because it's first reading, Miss Julie, would you please read the ordinance into the record? Ordinance number 1480, ordinance of the city of Richmond, Washington, amending ordinance number 1469 and ordinance number 1477 pertaining to the 2026 budget.

Great. Thank you. And last, once again, it is first reading only. Okay. Um, our second business item of the evening was was strict uh was removed uh and will come back to us at our next meeting as well. So, with that, we are going to go into our next public comment session. So, if you have anybody wishing to address city council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward at this time to the podium or use the raise hand feature located at the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press star 9 for raise hand and press star six to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comment to three minutes. Mr. Jennings, good to see you, sir.

My name is Michael Jennings. Thank you for your carefully logical management of Ridgefield. My example, here's an example of insufficient management. There is a credit union in Vancouver that is highly recommended, but the website lacks in lacks information in eight particular ways. Um, something new. Kathy Dorio, it has been good to have you as chief of police. A suggestion. Instead of retiring, you could retire. You could get a uh for your car new tires. New topic. The spring cleanup was excellent for us. We delivered maybe 400 lb of wood that had been damaged by water. It was excellent that we didn't have to do the work of unloading our car. And then the last thing, we paid $265 for Samsung Galaxy A36 cell phones. They are like computers. You can do a Google search while lying in bed. You can attach computers, uh, keyboards and monitors. So, it's amazing how technology is working going forward very rapidly.

Thank you. So, uh, I didn't know we were going to speak on TDR tonight, but I got home and, uh, found that. Also, uh, just to let you know, your doors lock outside, so people can't get back in. You might want to fix that. So, people want to attend meetings. I literally had to hop over the fence to get in. So, Oh, goodness. Okay. Yeah. So, I know I know I only have a few minutes. If you'll let me speak a little bit on the TDR.

Yeah. Yeah, you can. Uh, could you please state your name for the record once again? So I will um good evening. My name is Travis Goodwin. I'm speaking against the TDR program as it stands today. I want to start with a simple question. How much did the consulting cost of taxpayers and what's his representation of a farmer? Uh as a person who is a farmer in this county and as far as I manage about 10,000 acres across this country. I know what a big farmer is and I know what a small farmer is. Who's going to decide who's a hobby farmer? Who's a real farmer? The most money a farmer ever makes is when he sells his land. You're asking a farmer today to give up that that right for future generations, right? You want to preserve land, you got land right here at the waterfront you can preserve. You got land all around this area that you can preserve when you're picking and choosing which farmers and everything else and which crops. Is it a lavender farmer? Is it an apple farmer? Is it a cattle farmer? Or now we deciding which farmers are who and what what and I can tell you right now it was approved by Sue Marshall who owns a bunch of land here in Richfield, right? And she's got family that side. So who's going to say that now she's stepping down that she's not going to get money from this, right? Who's going to decide these things? And I'm not saying that I'm against it because any money that goes to help a farmer helps farming, right? But we want to support farmers. Actively engage farmers. Don't go out and politically put something out there on the internet, everything else, and then hold a meeting. And when I look on your meeting thing, it doesn't say TDR. It doesn't say anything about this, right? This is the first time hearing of it. And I know it's the first piece of it, but how you guys do things behind closed doors and how you decide what you want to do and everything else. It's not right. I had a whole speech written and everything else. I'm not even going to read that. You want to talk farming, you want to actually help farmers, you want to keep farmland, you want to protect and preserve land, you start with that waterfront down there. Have a good day.

Thank you.

All right. Um, I was not going to speak, but when the TDR thing came up, I'm kind of gonna segue on what he was saying. To me, oh, sorry, Jamie Kaiser. To me, it's really important, and I've brought this up before, as a rural land owner, that we should be allowed to have at least one seat on council. If you're making decisions about those of us that live in the rural parts of of Ridgefield, we should have a voice. And I know uh mayor, you were very happy that you allowed people in the urban development area to come on to councils and committees. Those are the people that are on the cusp, and it's a very tiny tiny percentage of all of us that live in rural Ridgefield. So I think again it's really important to change things so that we have a voice. I mean at least one seat on each council committee etc because we're important too. We're stakeholders as well. Um and it's our land that is being grabbed up for development. And I think we should have a choice. Some people like the gentleman before me seem to be a little opposed to telling you how you can restrict farmland. Um but I think those of us us in the rural community deserve deserve a say. So and I support what he said. you have your chance to preserve some green space with the uh with the waterfront.

Thank you, Miss Kaiser. Anybody else? Come on up again.

I wrote it down this time so I don't forget. So, there we go. So, Shauna Fisher. So, first I just want to say I love that new park with the new slide. It's so fun. It's amazing, right? Like all the parks, all the trails so great. Like it's nurturing nature that nurtures ourselves, right? But I just had a suggestion for the downtown, not the downtown area, the waterfront area. Wouldn't it be cool if we built more like family activities? Like I put in the park thing when you had the 2040 thing. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a labyrinth in downtown Ridgefield? So what if in that area where the port is, that green area, you built like a walking labyrinth? That could be a cool activity and a cool way to bring people that would still preserve the nature. And then also years ago, so my my aunt lived in Sacramento and they had this cool cement slide that you could go down. It was so much fun. So what about creating like more fun stuff like that? If you want to build stuff around the port, what about building some fun like nature activities and things like that, right? That would be that would be amazing, right? So, and also too about ways we can support the downtown businesses and drive people down there instead of to in-n-out like drive them to Starlininer and the wine bar and cool places you know downtown like that. Right. And then my last question is I don't know if you can answer this. When is the vote on the port plan? When you guys when are you guys doing your

We do not have a date and and unfortunately I mean again there's no back and forth at this time. I'm sorry. I know. Okay. I know. No, no worries. We'll just follow the city's website, right? I'm sure it'll be on there, right? Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thanks for all you doing. Thanks for keeping all the good walking paths and trails and the integrity of that. And if there was a way to connect some of them and really have a list of like, hey, there's this trail in this neighborhood, this trail in this neighborhood, and do more posts like that. So, there you go. Thank you. Thank you again.

Is there anybody else wishing to give pop a comment? Sorry. You know, since I'm here, I might as well talk again. Um, so there were some things that were said tonight that just made me think. Um, I heard a couple people say growth is inevitable. And my question to that in my mind is always why. And then people said we can't stop growth and development. And my question to that is why not? And it sounds like there are many aspects to that question that I don't fully understand. And maybe I need to start going to some county uh county and state meetings too to find out why there is such a thing as a growth mandate that you guys are required to fulfill. Um I said I moved here in 2020 but I didn't say where I moved from. I moved from South King County, a place called unincorporated King County when I grew up there, right outside of the cities of Kent and Ron. When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, it looked a lot like Ridgefield, felt a lot like Ridgefield, a quiet, safe community where people could raise their children without worrying about crime, pollution, things like that. Um, so that was one of the reasons why when I moved to Ridgefield, it felt so special to me because it reminded me of home. I moved away from home to go to college. And when I came back eight years later, it had completely changed. A lot of low-income apartments and housing had moved in. A lot of crime had come with it. A lot of pollution, trash, completely different than the place I grew up. So, the development that I've seen happen in Ridgefield that's happened since I moved here in 2020 has also

reminded me a lot of home and it's what scares me and worries me about the exponential rate of it and all the things that come with exponential growth. Um, my friend here mentioned the trash can over by uh Kinder Care and and Leswab, which we have both called the city about a couple times because we walk that trail every day and we see the trash that's scattered around there now that never was before. Uh when my parents come down here to visit me from where I grew up, Kent Ren, they always mention how they can breathe better down here, how things look greener, more colorful, brighter, because it really is different. And I hope that we can try to preserve more of that for ourselves and for future generations. Thank you.

Thank you again,

Peggy Qu again. Um, I just wanted I had mentioned that I'd been on a citizen committee a long time ago. Can you you say your name once more? Peggy Qu. Thank you again.

Um, but it it was so pre ridiculously premature and it seems like now would be a more appropriate time to have a a a citizen committee. I mean obviously a lot of people are concerned and I'm guessing most people who express their concerns are probably taxpayers property tax and so have a stake in this too. So um that was just a thought that maybe need more citizen input. Also I think it's hard to even envision when you look at just a flat plan like that and someone talked about view sheds. I mean, with apartment buildings built out on that uh eastern edge, how are you going to preserve, you know, viewed or have sight corridors when you have tall apartment buildings? Doesn't really make sense. Anyway, that's it. Thank you for your time.

Thank you,

ladies. Merely ace, I purchased a commercial building in Ridgefield 2002. It's the building that has a beautiful dragon boat mural on it. I started going to the city council meetings off and on. I started going to the port meetings and I I appreciate everything I'm hearing because I'm hearing people really care and they're concerned to keep the special place it is. And I really appreciate that. But I want to ask them also, are you one that is willing to leave? We have a mandate for growth. Our city is trying so hard to be responsible. The city does not control the port. The port has spent a fortune and worked with ecology in order to clean up a mess. If it weren't for our port and the effort they put in, that would right now the all the lake riverfront would be finished up at a super fund. It was so contaminated we came within inches of losing that period. And before then it was a it was an industrial site and no people were allowed on it. So we owe a lot to this port in order for them to get the money to clean it up and because they have the mandate of a port which is to help economic development jobs. Please come to their meetings. They will always say how do we get more people here? There'll be like three four of us. It's been open. Come voice yourself because it's really important. We

appreciate what you're saying. We're all of us love that area and we want to see how we can take care of it the best we can. But the information has been out there. Come to the meetings. Thank you.

My name's Rick Ren. Um when I started coming to the uh city council meetings here a few years ago, it was strictly about the boat launch. And after the last week or so, it's kind of expanded as far as my um focus on the waterfront development overall with what I've seen now and heard and the people that have shown up tonight and spoke about the waterfront and their desire to preserve that open space. I can totally understand that it means so much to him and it it's it's different than the feeling that I had three years ago when I started coming to a few city council meetings. There was apathy and when it comes to development throughout Richfield for the most part you're going to do what you want to do and I'm okay with it. I just don't eat up all our farmland but I can't stop all the subdivisions and you have to kind of pick and choose your ballots. this waterfront down here. I know there's going to be some development. That's that's just going to happen. But it's got to be it's got to be something that the community is proud of and is in agreement with. And they are not in agreement and they're not proud of what they saw two nights ago, especially uh when the port was presenting it. Um, if you sign this development agreement, finalize it, and the approving of what the their port plan is, you're going to have a lot of unhappy Richfield residents, people that aren't here tonight that I've spoke to. They are basically leaving it up to those that spoke tonight to hopefully make an influence and and difference. Um, and I can't say enough that those people that were here tonight, it's not it's not a comfortable thing to speak in public for a lot of folks. And I

understand that. That's where I've been. And um, for them to speak tonight, they overcame a lot to get up here in front and speak. And it means a lot to them. You can tell. And myself personally, I moved here to Richfield. I could have moved anywhere I wanted. And I chose Richfield because of access to the Columbia River and the recreational opportunities it presented myself, my wife, and future kids. I knew that I would be taking those kids out on the river, having a great time fishing, sunbathing, water skiing. We've done it all. And those days are pretty much behind me now. But I sure want to see it available for those future generations behind me coming forward to get out on that Columbia River because it is special. If you never been out there on Batcher Island shoreline, across the river at Warrior Rock, Sandy Beaches over there on the other side of the Columbia River, the Lewis River, we've got something special here that they don't have anywhere else up and down the Columbia. If you restrict us at that boat launch the way it is right now, you are doing such an injustice to the citizens of Richfield.

Thank you, Mr. Gr. I hope you guys really realize the impact you're having. Thank you again. Anyone else?

Matt Hagerty for round two. Um, I think, you know, I had a lot of things to say, but but a lot of it was spawned from the meeting at the port. And the thing that bothered me the most was that all the port members, including SC Scott was the one that somewhat championed it. He said, "We have a handshake deal from the environmental group and the city of Ridgefield, and we have to develop this." And I said, "Well, where's the proof?" It was a handshake deal. I don't believe that any environmental group would have an agreement with a city entity that isn't documented. And Scott said, "Well, we have to do it." If there's no proof of any deal, handshake or otherwise, then what Scott said about we have to develop this is not true. It would be the same as saying, "Hey, I was part of that conversation. They promised me a million dollars in 25 years." You know, where's where's my check, Mr. Port? The thing is is that that comment is both ludicrous and preposterous. If they don't have proof of an agreement, that is also ludicrous and preposterous that they're even bringing it this far. They took it up to a period of six weeks before they've already got the bid from the developer. They've made an agreement with them. All it's left to do is sign it in six weeks. You guys have an incredibly important job and that's both fiduciary for the citizens of Ridgefield and also ethical for the citizens of Ridgefield. And I sincerely hope that you guys at the very least put a pause on this because you know it just what I was saying earlier about transparency and impropriety. You know, somebody saying, "Oh, we've got to do it because it was a handshake agreement." That is to me ridiculous. And anyway, um I think that's it.

I'll I'll have more in the next meeting, the coffee talk, but council council people and mayor, thank you for hearing us all out. And I sincerely hope you do the right thing. At the very least, like I said, put a pause on it. and the citizen.

Thank you again, Mr. HAGERTY. YEAH. YEAH, check that.

All right, here we go. Um, thanks for letting me speak again. My name's Ruben Greer. Um, we brought uh we had some friends come from Seattle. We brought them down to the to the water. Sorry. Um, man you Yeah. Um,

so we brought them down to the waterfront and this is just kind of kind of a story that really sums up Ridgefield. Uh, so we were we were walking them around and you know they just were amazed that that we had this open space. Um, and they looked uh at the boat launch at the life preservers that were hanging on on the posts there and they were like, "Don't people steal those?" We're like, "No, it's Ridgefield." you know, um that's that's the kind of stuff that's going to go away. You know, the Osprey camp is going to go away. Um we have an opportunity for a Keystone communitydefining project and we're turning it into a throne for the Port of Richfield to put their new headquarters in and develop it. No one is asking that. No one's going to say, "Let's go to the Richfield waterfront so we can look at the new port headquarters and some apartments." They want to go down to a place where there's community. They want to launch their boats with their family. They want to fish. They want to fly kites. They want to walk their dogs, walk the path. That's the stuff that defines this community.

That's the stuff that will draw people in, not sprawl. And I will say too that that that that design there's no incorporation of any kind of green design or or any kind of anything that would even coincide with consciousness of of of pollution or climate change or environmental concerns especially next to a wildlife refuge. And I will say this, there was discussion about a handshake deal with ecology. I've been working with ecology for 20 years. I know them. There is no such thing as a handshake deal with a regulator. It is an enforcement action is a restrictive covenant institutional controls. There is no handshake deal. And that was brought up and it may have been miscommunicated, but that the fact that they're using ecology for that monstrosity of a design is is ludicrous. And so that's when I had to speak up because I know them and I know how they work. Um ecology anyway. Ecology would be a partner in this, you know, for us if we work on it. And speaking to that institutional controls, we want 75 foot buildings down there on a two-foot cap that has a restriction. We cannot. There's a cap. We got pentaclorophenol. We've got vapors, contaminants that are seeping through the ground. Active vapor intrusion is going to be a factor in any kind of development. And we want to put high density communities in that. Who on the city's part or in the Richfield's part is providing the engineering and environmental expertise to say, can we really do this or are we relying on the ports developer? And that's about all I can say. Thanks for the time. It was nice meeting you at the at the um the guard thing. It was great. Appreciate it.

Good to meet you. Thank you, Mr. G. OKAY. OKAY. Anybody else wishing to give public comment in the room? Seeing Thank you for listening to us. Thank you. Just a quick one. Tim Shaw, uh, how do we get go about me, the rest of the community, the city, get more into discussion with you guys about this? Stick around. We'll talk after the meeting. How about that? That'll work. Um, Miss Julie, anybody online? Not seeing anyone online, mayor.

Okay, great. We're going to close public comment for the evening. Again, thank you everybody for your passion, your involvement, and your commitment to this community. Okay, we are going to move into our council and staff reports. Can I can I ask? Yes. And we're going to start with M Prom Chipman. Thank you. So, I have a question for the city manager. Does the council actually have the authority to stop the port from doing what they're wanting to do now?

So, Mayor Brom, I think there's a couple ways to answer that. So, the first question that you ask is, do we have the power to stop a development? There is zoning associated with every property in Ridgefield within the city. And that zoning specifies the rights of every property owner to develop that property. that if you go online to our website, you can see in the municipal code what the zoning allows and doesn't allow on every property, including the port's property. And we have a waterfront mixeduse zone that was created many years ago when Miller's Landing was the project that was being considered by the port at that time. That is the structure, the zoning structure that is that defines what's allowed, what legally is allowed, what rights that property owner has to develop the property. So that's one piece of the puzzle. The second piece is is there's a development application that occurs with every uh with every property as it gets ready to develop. There is no application that has been filed by the port or any developer for the waterfront property. There is no application that has been filed thus there is no decision being considered by staff which is where that occurs is council sets the zoning sets the restrictions within that a development application occurs. Then that development application goes through a full review. The developer has to do a variety of uh of application reviews including traffic impact analyses, environmental impact analyses. Um how do they meet the the zoning code? that then goes to a hearings examiner. A hearings examiner is a quasi judicial body that it's a judge that actually says does this development proposal meet the zoning that was set forward by council. So again to your question of what decisions do you have? Your decisions lie within the zoning that is allowed in every area within the city. And then once that is set is policy

development application occurs. Review occurs at a staff level. Quasi judicial review occurs from a hearings examiner who is an expert in these matters to decide whether an adequate analysis has been done. there are appeal opportunities for anybody um that has uh has a willingness or a desire to appeal that development proposal and those appeals are heard and they actually move up through the judicial uh levels. So the decisions that are generally made by counselor in that now that's one piece of it. The second piece of that is, and I'm going a little bit long on this, but it is a little complex,

is that the second piece of this is if a development proposal does not specifically meet the requirements of the zoning of the code that you have already adopted, then one of the processes that can be discussed is what's called a development agreement. A development agreement has been mentioned a couple of times this evening, several times. Um there is conversation about a development agreement between the port, their developer and the city because the developer has needs, the city has needs as a public to meet the public's needs for whatever gets proposed and the port has needs. So the question becomes, how do you meet the code and make it and actually go above and beyond what the code requires? You can't require someone to go above and beyond the zoning code. um if they can meet it, they meet it. Uh and then they are approved by the hearings examiner. However, if they want something more, then the public gets something more. We've done that quite a bit. Someone mentioned the park with a cool slide uh at Paradise Point on the north side of the city. That was a development agreement. a development agreement was created with the city and the developer where the developer said, "Okay, well, we have these baseline rights, but um we would really like to come in the city and activate those rights." The city said, "Well, if you want to come in and activate those rights, you're going to give 15 acres plus the pond to the city and you're going to build a park." And that's what they did. So, the council exercising your authority contractually with the developer was able to push the developer to go above and beyond. And we've done that in I can point to at least a half dozen off the top of my head of where council has pushed a developer to go above and beyond when the developer needed something that they couldn't do within the code. If they can do it in the code, they don't need you and they don't need a development agreement. If they can't do uh what's required in the

code, that's when they come talk to you. So there is a development agreement that has been discussed preliminarily. There is no deadline for that. that's been mentioned several times that there's some deadline. There is no deadline. It's a contract. A contract gets decided whenever a contract can get created and can get brought forward to all the bodies that actually have to review it. Um there is nothing for you to review at this time. I hope that answered your I'm happy to answer a little bit more for you council and again for anybody that's outside of the dis that has questions for him happy to stick around a little bit and answer questions for them as well. No, no, I'm afraid not.

Okay, thank you. So, because my feeling is is that, you know, like 50 or 60 or 70 people came here tonight thinking that the council that the council's responsible for this, which could not be farther from the truth. And we are being blamed for what the port has has put out there as their plan. And um and I think that the public should be aware that the council and the port are two separate entities. The port has their own board. They have they're a separate entity from the city. Now everything that the city manager said is exactly how it's supposed to work and whatever and which is why I asked him the question so he would say that. Um, so if you can spread the word to your friends and your neighbors and all the other people that are so unhappy with us, um, please do um, and keep going to those port meetings and let them hear what you know what you want to say and make sure that they hear it.

We were under the impression that you had you were the governing body that could sir, I I I really hate to do it, but we just can't have a discussion in this manner. But again, like the city manager said, we would be happy to stick around and have a answer some questions after that. So, Miss Mayor Prom, any other updates from you? So, for my report for things that happened this week that um I think that um going to the civics be was one of the most interesting things I have done as a council member. Um watching those middle school kids answer the questions. Um fabulous. It was just it was just great. Excuse me, Miss Kaiser. Could I could I ask you to because Mayor BM is talking. You can go in the for if you need to, but thank you very much for your for your cooperation. Go ahead.

Anyway, watching the middle school kids and seeing how smart they were and how much they knew and just watching the, you know, watching their answers and and the whole process was just very very um rewarding seeing how you know how well trained they were. So that's it for me. Thank you. Thank you. Are you wanting Okay, Councelor Hamilton, we'll go to you next. Thank you, mayor. Um, I just want to acknowledge that this was an emotional evening for everybody and our lack of facial expression does not mean we didn't hear you, right? We you are being heard and this is a very important process for you to come in and do this. This is the most people I've ever seen in a meeting.

And so if we don't hear from you, we don't know how you feel. So I appreciate and want to tell everyone that we love fe all of us love feedback. All of us want to hear from you. Every single one. We live in this community obviously and we deeply care all of us. So I know tonight was hard for people and I want to tell you thank you and you are heard and we are going to have all kinds of conversations on our end on your behalf and I just wanted to make sure and read the room with that because it is important and it is hard and we hear you. Um, I also I don't I lost my train of thought on that. Got a little emo there myself. Um, I want to give a shout out to the chief.

Yes. On announcing her retirement and the service that she has given this community for almost four decades. So, I think that is we we we appreciate everything that you've given us. Um, and I just want to thank the city also for um a wonderful spring cleanup. I know how much work that must have been, how hard it was. I had by far the easiest job of the day. So, I do need to acknowledge that I was just the clicker, but I was there in spirit with all of you that were thrusting trash into receptacles. Um, thank you so much. Thank you everybody for coming. Thank you, counselor. Councelor Wells, would you like to go next?

Sure. uh for the audience that's left here. Normally I in this little book I fill up maybe a quarter of a page during the meeting of something that related. This evening I got one, two, three notes of different comments that people have made. There's not number four. So you did spark my interest more than normal and things were um I could see some of the concerns of the community. Uh the other thing I did want to turn around and thank the chief too. That's a part of it, Megan. I really appreciate that. Appreciate uh you bringing that up. I did not have that on my list, but it should have been there. Okay. Uh on the 16th I attended the uh comp plan workshop here and then last Saturday was our cleanup day and it was tremendous. I really really enjoyed it. Uh we went I hope we get a report of how many people went through it. Um Mr. Burkel and I were on the far end. We had the easy job and you tell the the cleanup started and everybody come in the back door instead of the front door and we talked to more people and was horse before the end of the day and I don't know I don't think the city manager he didn't come down there so he really doesn't know how hard we really worked

but anyway uh that's it. I've really enjoyed the meeting this evening. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. I appreciate you. Okay. Um Roshambo, or you just want Councelor Dav. We'll go with you and we'll go to Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Uh got to say as a uh as a social studies teacher, I uh it warms my heart to see people uh exercising their first amendment right to petition the government. So, uh, I do appreciate I would echo what, uh, councelor Hamilton shared about you, uh, your message definitely is coming across loud and clear. Um, Civic Spe was awesome. Two of those kids on stage were, uh, my students, which was which was really cool to see.

Great.

Um, they were very excited about it and, uh, yeah, it was it was just really cool to see. um the depth of questions that they had to tackle was it was something else. So it was really cool. Uh I did have cran meeting on Tuesday evening. Uh two big ticket items. They did approve the board composition uh that we have been working on for let's round up and say a year and a half. Um and so we are in the midst of working out um what the interlocal agreements are going to be for our representation on the CRA board going forward. Um the other piece was uh we got an update uh on the interstate bridge replacement project and um a lot of focus on timelines, budgets. They did a lot of uh what we used to call value engineering where they had to cut it back to to save a few bucks. Uh, and so the process continues. One of the things, actually, I'll pass this on to staff because I I I wrote it down in my notes. They're doing what's called a progressive design build where the design of it isn't like a fully baked cake. They don't say, "This is what it's got to look like. We're going to take your bids." It was like, "It's kind of got to look like this." And then when they get the, you know, contractor on board, then they sort of design it together based on the best practices that that contractor has experienced. I thought that was really interesting. I was like, you know, I'm sure that you guys have heard of that, but I thought that was um really neat. Maybe we could do that on a much much much smaller basis than that project. Um, oh, I guess one more thing about Catran. The purple vine is um under construction and so that's bus driver transit that's going to start the northern terminus is going to be uh WC Vancouver on the campus. It'll go past um Legacy Salmon Creek and

kind of weave its way down then go um all the way down Highway 99 and end at the Vancouver waterfront. They said that that would be a roughly 40 minute bus ride. Um, which I think, you know, it it's hard to park down there. And so hopefully that becomes a resource for um some of the people in Richfield. I think it's pretty cool. Spring cleanup. Um what uh last night I guess I did a community connection uh open house with uh Jake Bredand from um the Richfield school board over at Little Kaneo. And since I am such a fan of chips and salsa, councelor Favlla and I will be there on Wednesday next week. So um that's what I got. Appreciate it.

Great. Thanks, Councelor. Councelor Pavlla.

Thank you. I feel like I have a lot and I want to fast, but not too fast. First, Chief, you're amazing. I'm not going to say all the things because y'all know I like to cry and I'm not going to cry tonight. Um, you're going to still be here, so it's not goodbye. It's just see you around. Um, you know how much I love you and how much you have done for this community. You are incredible. Um, and what a powerhouse of a woman to be a whole ass chief of police. Um, So, thank you. Um, I have spent this week in Washington DC with city manager Mr. Stewart and Mr. Mayor. So, I'll talk about a couple of things that we what we were working on and I'll let Mayor um talk about the rest so I don't eat up all the time with that. Um the purpose of this trip going to Washington DC is really looking at the growth that Ridgefield has and funding opportunities that we can get federally and having also our state representatives um really advocate for Ridgefield. So when you go there in person, you can advocate and bring and talk about this special place of Ridgefield that we have and why it's important for us um well important for them to pay attention to us and help us out. So, one of the projects we talked about was the division street multimodal crossing. When we put in the overpass, the only atgrade um entrance into the waterfront was closed. So, we only have the water p or the overpass. So, this would allow um a secondary entrance into that that is at grade that is more accessible. We also spoke about the bridge replacement at Abrams Park. Abrams Park has 10 wells that feed the city of Ridgefield's water. That bridge is failing right now. It is at a weight capacity. If an emergency happens, we cannot get a fire truck over that

bridge. That is why a fire truck does not attend National Night Out. It's really important that we get help getting that bridge replaced. We met with Department of Justice, the cops office. Um that is not, you know, just to say cops, that's the community oriented policing services office. talk about fundings for and grant opportunities for our police department. How do we ensure that we're growing our department and and supporting our officers um as we grow to make sure that our city does remain safe? We also met with Department of Fish and Wildlife to advocate for staffing at the beautiful facility that you see um at the refuge. How do we get that staffed so that that investment can be used to its full potential? Um, so I the meetings went really well. It was great. I'd never been to Washington DC before. So I was like just doing wild thing. I rode an electric scooter for the first time in my life like downtown Seattle and I got on a subway. That was wild. Yes, I know you heard it all here on record. Um, but yeah, it was um it was a great time and I Oh, and garbage clean up. It was great. We threw away a lot of trash and uh I learned that chief can spin a basketball on her finger.

Great. Thank you, counselor. Real quick, so I do want to thank you all for coming and and every person that spoke. I mean it because I had not heard any of these reactions before at all. And so I do really appreciate that you came and spoke to us tonight. And like like councelor Hamilton said, the person that said that we looked like we weren't interested. Believe me, it's hard to keep your face calm up here when you're listening to everybody because, you know, people have I mean, we want to react, but we can't and we can't talk back to you. But anyway, thank you for coming and letting us hear all of your concerns.

Great. Thank you, counselors, for your updates. I I'll try and go fast as well. I have a couple of things I just want to talk about. Uh, first and foremost, just to again echo member Potam and and the rest of my colleagues up here and thank you all for coming tonight. I I say it frequently and and I really do mean it. Like this is a community that shows up every time whether it be a first Saturday or it be public comment or any other time when we have something, you know, you all show up and you do it with such care and sincerity and and I really do appreciate that. And while it always while it often can be under circumstances of concern or um you know that are not favorable to you or it's a very emotional thing I I we totally get it and so for all of your sincerity I just want to say that that sincerity is also shared here on the dis as well as with our staff. Um, you know, I think these are all people and and I'm really encouraged that we all care so much about our community that we would that we would spend the time on a Thursday evening when you could be doing a multitude of other things. And you came to a city council meeting and listened to comment after comment and applause after applause for one another. That's what makes healthy communities uh not agreement or disagreement. It's it's it's the uh it's just showing up and being committed to the process. So, um, I'm proud to be a resident alongside you guys all because it really is an important part of the process and and so thank you. And and to that end, I will say this, too. I had a brief conversation with Commissioner Melroy this morning as he served pancakes and bacon for almost 50 young people who are uh who are who are children of our city staff. And he's he did that by getting there just shortly after 6:00 this morning and was grilling and and cooking for everybody out of the goodness of his heart. and and in talking to him, I I will say also that I do appreciate the sincerity that, you know, whatever is driving their decisions that they're trying to do the very best they can for this community as well. So, uh it's an important thing. Um to councelor

Favlla's remarks earlier, we did just get back from Washington DC last night. Um we we do go out usually every single year and spend some time meeting with our congressional representatives and their staffs as well as different agency partners and advocating for our federal legislative agenda. And I cannot tell you how much ROI there is in a trip like that when we go there. And what we hear from our state delegation, from our congressional delegation frequently is that um Ridgefield does such a good job of in our advocacy and our planning. And what we do to make sure that we uh get secure funding for for all the things that we need here to run a city that is growing like ours. We cannot do it on our own. Um often times what you hear from people is they say, "Oh, you're growing. you must not have any problem. You must have all the resources you need. It's not true. We're still a small city and we still have a lot of big needs. And you know, just run through them real quick. They're all related to infrastructure usually. So 11 Street over overpass. Uh you know, that's the ones just south of of uh I exit 14 right there as as Tim Road comes out. Um that's one that we've been advocating for uh with our congressional representatives. We need $3 million for a $25 million project that would help connect the two sides of our town. As you all know, we have one overpass right through our town. And it does get congested because we are growing and we do have to mitigate that growth. And so that links the two industrial sides of the town. It links um access between the west side of town and the new Clark College campus and bridges those two sides of our community together. I think it's a vital project. Um councilor Villa talked about the AB road bridge, Abrams Park Road Bridge. That's another important one. Another big one that you will probably hear more about in in the coming in the coming weeks and months will be uh the south I5 access. If you ever drive down I I5 south and there's the the battleground exit right there. There is plans to look at that to explore ways that we can connect that so that our residents have another way in and out of town connecting from Hillhurst and going and connecting to

that interchange as well. So that's something we've done. Um we've been successful. We have the Kennedy well that we secured $1.5 million through congressionally directed spending for last year. That was much to the things of Congresswoman Marie Guzen Camperez. She really went to bat for us on that and so that is something that does have ROI on it. Um also there is um there is the south uh south royal road with the last part of Royal Road where it kind of dips down and it's it's the last part that's unfinished. That is something that uh Senator Patty Murray who worked really hard to get us funding for that as well. So we we are going to be able to move into u the next phase of that project soon as well. So so those are things that are really important to all of you as residents that we get to go do on on your behalf and it takes quite a bit of effort on the state level on the federal level and it's always a great trip. So uh really glad to be able to participate in that. Real quick spring cleanup. We did that last week. That's always great. This morning like we said it was take your kid to work day uh all across the county. Uh different jurisdictions were doing that. We got to do that here again. almost 50 kids were there. Um I got to bring my 10-year-old and do it. Got to do the whole day. I had um one kid in particular, we went to city hall and he said he's going to challenge me for mayor. So I have some some opposition, I guess, in the next election. He's really serious about it. And when we found out that one of the playground pieces was was not functioning earlier today at um Abrams Park, he said, "See?" He pointed his finger. He said, "See?" And it's because because somebody said the mayor can't get it done. And so he said, "Well, he'll get it done." So, there's already campaign promises from 10-year-olds. So, um, but yes, it was a great day to do that. And then lastly, Chief, I know that we're going to have plenty of time to do that, but I I just words are not enough right now, and I'm not going to waste them all right now, but I do want to say that there are fewer people in this community who I rever more than you and the legacy that you will leave behind here. So, um, an early early thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your dedication for, uh, uh, you know, nearly 40 years of service

to this community. It's proud. I'm honored to know you. Thank you very much. Um, yeah, with that, that's it for me. I'll turn Oh, uh, real quick, just real quick, April 29th, council chat. Uh, May 16th will be a council chat and June 3rd will be the next council chat. Those are all, there's a link to that on the front page of the city website if you are curious, you want to engage with us, we would love to see you and have this conversation continued there. So, please, please check that out and we hope to see you there. And with that, city manager, over to you, sir.

Thank you, mayor, members of the council, and the community. Just a few other things to add. First of all, thank you, mayor, for joining us for Take a Kids to Work Day. Um, it was amazing to see so many young people uh with so many great employees of this city who give a lot every day to make sure that this is a great place to live, work, and play. So, many thanks to our employees who put that all together and all their kids that were running around and grandkids that were running around and having a great time. But, thank you for your involvement in that. Uh secondly, the question was asked for our cleanup day. What were the numbers on it? While we do not have the tonnage yet from waste connections, what we can tell you is in 2025 the clicker clicked 382 vehicles. This year we served 452 vehicles from 9:00 a.m. to 100 p.m. And that I was there actually from 8:00 a.m. to about 1:30. So, I'm not sure. I saw you like 14 times, counselor. Well, so I'm not sure why you didn't see me, but um I put a lot of steps in that day.

I got a lot of steps into your head. Just trying to you to get get you to do your job.

All right. So, we did 452 vehicles. Um Clark County had 357 vehicles come through household hazardous waste. And then Neighbors Helping Neighbors collected 945 lbs of food along with $260 in cash donations. So great stuff for Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Yeah, that was good stuff. A few events, you'd already mentioned them just as far as people coming out and being involved. Um it was mentioned earlier the county council is having public hearings on their preferred alternative for the 20-year growth update. Um it is their decision to make as to where we grow, how we grow. Um once it comes into the boundary, it is the city's uh city council's purview to decide how we do from there. The county's plan would have us densifying every one of the neighborhoods in our existing boundary. Period. The city council's vision as per the city population is to preserve the integrity of our existing neighborhoods and target the growth that we're required to take in areas that make sense. So that's the difference. That is the clear difference that will be discussed on the 27th on Monday at 4 pm at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday and they will be making a determination as to what their the county council's preferred alternative is for our city and the other cities around the county at that time. Um the other event I wanted to make note of is a fun one and that is on the 3rd of May at 100 p.m. will be the ribbon cutting for the community and nature center, the beautiful facility at our national wildlife refuge. Uh you talked about the ROI for those trips to DC. It was about a decade ago that our city council went to Washington DC uh stating that a new uh administrative building and visitors center was a top priority for the region as we were in singlewide trailers out there trying to serve 150,000 kids every year. Um this the people at the national

level uh said you are not on any list anywhere. you are not a priority because you haven't even started your design. That started a decadel long process that the city council went back every year banging the drum to get funds to get the work done. Uh worked with the local refuge system, got the design done, got over $10 million from the federal government with a $15 million na nationwide capital budget on an annual basis. We're able to get $10 million to put to the administrative office and the community nature center that are now completed. So, it took a decade of getting back there and getting in their faces to get it done, but it's done. And on the 3rd at 1 p.m., they'll be cutting the ribbon on that and uh enjoying the opportunities that come along with that to connect people with the nature that is truly part of who we are. Um, with that, I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Uh, council, any questions for the city manager? Councelor Vlla. Mr. Stuart. Um, about a year ago, I believe it was, give or take, the port had come to a council meeting to do like a pre preliminary design of some concepts. And I won't speak for anybody else, but I know I had some strong questions and some uh feelings about what we were seeing and uh they never came back. So, do we know if that's on the agenda? Do we know when the port is going to share this idea that they're sharing with the community when we will get to see it?

It is not something I have exact dates for as far as the concept plan, the development concept plans. I know that obviously there was conversation a couple of nights ago. I honestly am not sure. We were in DC. I'm not sure exactly what plans were shared on that. As I said, there is no development application that's been filed, but as far as concept plans, I can certainly reach out to port staff and figure out where are they on the development proposals uh and the concepts that would be wrapped into a development application. And uh and if it is, you know, if it is the city council's will, I can certainly work with them to get a work session together on that. I'm looking at all of you on that. Yeah. Okay. I'm happy to work on that. Okay. Of course.

Great. Any other questions for the city manager? All right. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, sir. And we'll that we'll go to public works. Mr. Thur.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, last week the public works department was uh or received an award for the Pioneer Widening Project for project of the year for the 5 million to $25 million category. Uh it was an exciting night at the awards ceremony and I got to watch our project team receive the award. And as I was sitting there, I was thinking about all of the time and energy that our staff put into the project, but I was also thinking about the council and the community and how much uh money the community put towards the project, but also the patience that the community put towards uh the project and all the weight wait times and delays. Um, and it was just great to see all of our peers at the American Public Works Association uh also recognize uh the project and uh the success that the city of Ridgefield um had during the project.

Wonderful. You guys got to quit all the winning though because every week you come back with another award. Somebody does and I can't keep track of them all. So, congratulations. Kirk's going to get jealous. He's not the most recent. I was going to say I got to keep up with finance for sure. Hey, speaking of finance, Mr. Johnson, we'll go over to you next. Uh just a quick reminder of the the best upcoming event. Next Tuesday will be the audit uh entrance conference. Uh we have heard from a couple of the council members who might be able to attend. Uh please let us know whether you can or cannot attend so we can get the link out to you. Thank you. Do appreciate it. Any questions for the finance director? Okay. Community Development, Miss Lust.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't have anything to report this evening, but happy to take questions. Great. Council, any questions for Miss Lust? All right. Thank you, Miss Naerys, our deputy city manager. Um, just a quick reminder that May 1 Saturday is coming up. It is the 11th anniversary of First Saturdays. Um, and since she's here, I want to recognize Peggy Quall as one of the five founding organizers of First Saturdays. And there's more. Wait a minute, there's more. She designed our logo um that we are still using after 11 years. So, thanks you so much for everything that you did to help make this happen. That was a fun committee. Yeah. Yes, it was

pretty cool. Great. Um but anyway, May 1st Saturday, um it is our spring festival. We will have vendors for the first time in the year at Davis Park. Um the garden club will have their plant sale back in the Gley building. So they will be downtown and Overlook Park um will be full of entertainment on the stage and lots of kids activities and oh Splashbad. I was saving that for last. It's not not last. We'll have lots of other stuff going on. um art shows, a Kentucky Derby party, a comedy night, and the splash pad will be open.

And that's all I have. Thank you. Right, Chief Dorian.

Wow, it's hard to follow the splash pad. Um, first of all, thank you for the kind words. You all know I'm a crier, too, so we're not going to go there. But um I did want to just let you know and make you aware that tomorrow there is going to be a evacuation reunification drill by the school district which is going to involve the Ridgefield school district up at the high school but also the Clark County Sheriff's Department, the Ridgefield Police Department emergency services. So you're going to see some activity. We're going to be um having students evacuate from the high school out to the 7th Day Adventist which is going to be the reunification site. So if you see all that, please be aware that it is a drill. It is only a drill and that's hopefully to build our skills so that if the need ever arises we have practiced some community coordination with all the emergency services. So thank you. That's all I have to ask. Thank you.

Great. Any questions for the chief council? Okay. All right. Thank you again everybody. Thank you staff for all of your hard work. Thank you council for being present and staying locked in all the evening. And with that this meeting is adjourned.