City Council - Regular Meeting

16th, 2026 to order. We recognize that this meeting is being held on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people. We pay our respect to those past and present. Tonight's invocation will be led by Pastor Andrew Lawson from Living Word Foursquare Church. If we could all please stand for tonight's invocation.

Let us pray. God, we thank you that we get to gather together and serve our community in this way. Lord, I thank you for the leaders that you put before us, the leaders that have been voted in. And we just ask that you would bring wisdom to their minds and to their hearts, that you would lead us to do the right things for this city and this community. It is in your mighty name, God, that we pray. Amen. Please remain standing and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance. All right, a reminder that this will be both a physical and a virtual meeting. The meeting may be viewed on YouTube and following the meeting on Facebook. All members are present and accounted for, I believe, so we don't need to do a roll call. And next is approval of the agenda. Are there any suggested changes to the regular agenda as presented? If not, I would request a motion to approve as presented. Yes, Council Member Stuckey.

I guess just a procedural change. I see on contracts and agreements, we're going over the HR director employment agreement. But that seems to contain language that would be relevant to item C under ordinances and resolutions, serving at the discretion of the mayor. And so it seems like it's out of order.

I can answer that question, and legal can help support that. So we are changing the code so that all of our directors have this requirement for a contract. However, we can do the contract without having it in our code. And Hillary's online and can explain that in more detail, but we are able to do the one action before the other.

So if you could just, I mean, I don't see there being an issue, but what if hypothetically the second item doesn't go through, but the first item with the contract does? Does the conflict pose an issue?

We still can do it because we can still do a contract. It's not, the code is just making it a requirement, but we could still, the mayor could still create a contract to have that in place.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. Do you want any further explanation from Hillary, though?

Only if she's on convenient, but if not, it's... Hillary, you want to chime in?

That's exactly right. We can always enter into an employment agreement with any employee, regardless of our code.

Okay, thank you. Just fine. Okay. Are there any other questions? Yes. Council Member Peterson.

I don't have a question. I was going to make a motion to approve the agenda.

Okay. So we have a motion to approve the agenda as presented, seconded by Council Member Wittgenstein. Is there any further discussion? All right. All in favor, raise your right hand. All right. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much.

all right we do have a couple presentations this evening so we have a couple proclamations first it's national public works week here to introduce that is our public works director steve schuler hi hi good evening mayor wright and city council members thank you for letting us celebrate briefly national public works week i just have a short statement when people think of public works they think of trucks my visibility vests and hard hats But if anyone ever asks you what public works really is, tell them this. Public works is the foundation upon which civilization is made possible. Public works is not just maintenance. It is the invisible infrastructure of human connection. Every road we pave connects a family. Every drop of clean water we deliver sustains life. Every pound of waste we treat protects human health and restores our environment. Public works builds the stage on which everyday life unfolds. And our work belongs to one of humanity's oldest and most sacred traditions. From the ancient aqueducts that build empires to the New Deal cruise that lifted this nation from our darkest oppression, we carry that same torch today. We take raw nature and transform it into safe, thriving environments. So what is Public Works? It is a promise that your city will work for you today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Our staff are the quiet force that keeps a community moving, the steady hand people depend on without ever needing to think about it. And when we do our job right, the city doesn't just function, it flourishes. Thank you.

All right. And then here to read the proclamation is Councilmember Stuckey.

Time for the whereas and wherefores. Proclamation reads as follows. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are vital, important to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of the city of Oak Harbor, And whereas these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government and the private sector. Who are responsible for rebuilding, improving, and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. and whereas it is in the public interest of the citizens civic leaders and children in oak harbor to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and the key fundamental role that it serves in their prospective communities and whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual national public works week sponsored by the american public works association NOW THEREFORE WE MAYOR RONNIE WRIGHT AND COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF OAK HARBOR DO HEREBY DESIGNATE THE WEEK OF MAY 17TH TO 23RD, 2026 AS NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEKS. WE URGE ALL CITIZENS TO JOIN WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN ACTIVITIES, EVENTS, AND CEREMONIES DESIGNED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO OUR PUBLIC WORKS PROFESSIONALS engineers, and managers, and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our national health, safety, and advancing quality of life for all.

Great. Thank you very much. So we are also going to recognize that this month is, the month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And here to introduce this topic is our city administrator, Sabrina Combs.

Thank you, Mayor. We just wanted to take a moment to thank Councilmember Wiggenstein for reminding us about this proclamation and the need to recognize this as mental health awareness. We also want to thank you for your advocacy of this topic because it is very important to us and our community. And it's just a reminder to all of us that if there are things in our community that we know we need to share and highlight, this is a great opportunity to do that and share resources and information. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, thank you. And here to read the proclamation is Council Member Wittgenstein.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Sabrina. Proclamation, whereas Mental Health American founded Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949 and has led the effort every May to promote mental health awareness nationwide. And whereas the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America promotes Mental Health Awareness Month to focus on breaking the stigma of those experienced mental health concerns, increasing access to care, and supporting community well-being under the theme for 2026, more good days together. And whereas the 2026 initiative emphasizes actionable steps to create supportive environments and identify factors that contribute to mental health and encourage community members to share resources and participate in advocacy. Whereas, this year's theme, More Good Days Together, encourages us all to reflect on what good day looks like, both for ourselves and for our communities. And whereas, together, we can use that insight to connect people to the right support at the right time and shape. and shape advocacy, education, and community engagement to make more good days possible for all. Now, therefore, we, Mayor Ronnie Wright and the council members of the City of Oak Harbor, do hereby observe and proclaim May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month in the City of Oak Harbor, and we urge all residents to turn awareness into action and use their voice to create a better, more supportive world for mental health.

Yes, thank you very much. All right. We are going to move on to public comments. Comment on consent agenda items or subjects of interest not listed on the agenda at this time. Opportunity to comment on the remaining agenda items during the meeting as appropriate. Please note we have received a number of comments regarding a proposed ordinance that was discussed at the April 14th Council Workshop regarding parking of vessels, trailers, recreational vehicles, and oversized vehicles. The council had noticed a public hearing on the proposed ordinance for this meeting on May 5th, but issued a revised notice and rescheduled the public hearing on this item to the council's June 2nd regular meeting to allow time for more input. We have also scheduled this item for an additional workshop discussion on May 26th. We invite those wishing to speak to that item to attend the public hearing on June 2nd or to submit their comments online or via email to the city clerk to be included in the record. Julie, do we have anyone that has signed up for public comment today?

Yes, Mayor, we do. First on the list this evening is Cynthia Mason to speak on behalf of the Oak Harbor Music Festival.

Welcome.

Hi, everybody. Hi, Mayor. Hi, Council. The Oak Harbor Music Festival Board thought it important that I come here tonight to share a response into a comment that was made last month. The Oak Harbor Music Festival appreciates and supports the buy local, stay local spirit that helps strengthen our community. As a nonprofit organization, we make every effort to utilize local businesses, vendors, and services whenever possible and practical within the needs of producing a large-scale, nationally recognized event. The festival welcomes thousands of attendees each year and works to provide a safe, professional, and high-quality experience for our community, visitors, sponsors, artists, and volunteers. In selecting vendors and service providers, considerations including product quality, capacity, reliability, timing, availability, specialized equipment, and overall value to the nonprofit organization is made. Whenever local businesses can meet the operational and quality standards required for a world-class event, they are strongly considered and often utilized. Over the years, many local businesses have contributed significantly to the festival through sponsorships, services, partnerships, donations, and volunteer support, and we remain grateful to those relationships or for those relationships. As a volunteer-driven nonprofit, the festival continually evaluates opportunities to expand local partnerships while balancing budget responsibilities and event expectations. We welcome constructive conversation with businesses interested in collaborating, encourage early engagement as planning begins early each year. THE OAK HARBOR MUSIC FESTIVAL REMAINS COMMITTED TO SHOWCASING THE BEST OF OAK HARBOR, INCLUDING THE PEOPLE, BUSINESSES, ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT THAT MAKES THIS EVENT POSSIBLE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU.

MAYOR, NEXT SIGNED UP TO SPEAK IS LISA BERNHARDT OF COOTVILLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ART SCHOOL.

Good evening, everybody. Thank you for your public service. I'm here tonight on behalf of Coopville Pride. We are here to show support and allyship for Oak Harbor Pride. As the director of the Pacific Northwest Art School and the administrator for the Coopville Creative District, we sponsor the Coopville Pride Parade in Coopville and support it in that endeavor. My understanding is there is some discussion about Oak Harbor's participation at the city level. I urge you to support all your community members with respect and dignity. I believe this event, Oak Harbor Pride, is greatly deserving of a flag being raised or a crosswalk painted, much like Coopville does, just here as an ally and to show support for Oak Harbor Pride and the greater Oak Harbor community. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, next on our list is Mark Mooney of Oak Harbor regarding speeding in residential areas and increasing homelessness population.

Good afternoon. Nice to meet everybody. First time here. Going to have to cancel the homeless population one because I don't have significant information. I didn't get the email I was required. But speaking on the residential areas and speeding, recently here I've noticed that some vehicles within several of the residential districts, even the closed off neighborhoods, have been having vehicles come through there anywhere between 20 to 30 miles an hour, especially when there are children and other pedestrians in the area. I've encountered or witnessed myself slamming of the brakes to prevent hitting anybody and have been a near miss with with another vehicle Going forward since it's my first public meeting I was wondering if this has ever been addressed or brought up and if so any course is going forward to address it and If not, how can I assist in going forward and getting any type of request put in? The other piece of this is around our schools, both the Olympic View Elementary and forgive me if I forgot the other elementary school over near the high school district, possibly getting cameras like has put in to catch any of these speeding incidents. Because it's pretty significant, and I've already had several issues since I've been back. And I've only been back for a couple of months. That's about all I got.

Could you please provide specifically what neighborhoods you were referring to though?

The neighborhood over near Olympic View Elementary, that's where I had a near-miss crosswalk. Teachers are doing their best to have their stop signs and everything out, but there are still people, like the teachers, making their way out, and they almost get clipped by cars themselves on a regular. They're not stopping. They're coming through. They're speeding, even when the 20-mile-an-hour lights are showing. Okay. The other issue, Cordero Place. That's where I live. I live right on Cordero Place. We have several individuals that fly through there well above 20 miles an hour. We're hitting summer. My kids out there, there's about eight other kids out there. We've already had one person slam the brakes because obvious reasons. There's a kid coming from between two cars. Can't help it. But they're The fact that they slammed the brakes and skidded tells me they were going pretty fast. And if they hadn't hit the brakes, well, we'd have a kid in the hospital. And then I already mentioned the near miss over near El Carbo Elementary. Connected Street, 10th Avenue, that connects to Cordero Place. There's been individuals that fly down there revving up their engines, going as fast as they can before they hit the curbs. The whole area is an enclosed neighborhood. um and again with the other elementary school over near the high school i apologize again i don't remember the name of the place uh there's people who are taking that straight away and gunning it just absolutely gunning it all along that straightaway between the elementary and the high school um i've seen that more than five or six occasions because me and my family go over there to enjoy the playground right there at the elementary school uh But that's why I was asking if there was any way to request, petition, get sign-ups. What's y'all's policy? What's the best course of action to request and update speed limit signs within these areas and possibly get cameras put in? Because it seems like it's been an increasing issue. I'm returning here after seven years. I've been away with the Navy. I'm finally coming back to my hometown, and I've noticed an increase in problems. I'll bring them up over the weeks as I get my stuff together.

Great, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

Mayor, the last person that signed up to speak today is Greg Ballard of Oak Harbor. Subject is neighborhood.

Hi, good evening. I have a written statement that I'm going to read, and then I have copies of that for the mayor and the council members. Dear mayor and city council members, my name is Greg Ballard, and I'm a resident of Oak Harbor. I'm writing on behalf of my family to ask for your attention to an issue with my next door neighbor, Darnell Allen. He lives at 1520 Southwest 17th Avenue in Oak Harbor. I'm concerned about the potential of physical harm to my family due to his erratic and aggressive behavior escalating in the past few months. Darnell is well known to the Oak Harbor Police Department due to his behavior and conduct throughout the city. The police have been called about him due to noise, indecent exposure, and his aggressive behavior to my family and other neighbors. He has sexually harassed members of my family and has made verbal threats to my family and other neighbors as well. He recently spent time in Whatcom County and Island County jails due to indecent exposure charges. He was released because he was deemed not competent enough to stand trial. In requesting public records to the city and the police department, I've been told there are over 200 records on file related to Darnell or his home address. These records go back over 15 years. He is also well known with other members of the neighborhood for that extended period of time. I request a meeting with an assistance potential from the Oak Harbor Prosecuting Attorney's Office in dealing with Darnell's continuous and increasingly erratic behavior. And Oak Harbor, if possible, Oak Harbor police emphasis patrols for our neighborhood due to his erratic behavior. Other suggestions are welcome. My family and I feel like we are always on guard and have to be aware of his location. He is negatively affecting our neighborhood and an ongoing strain on the police department. Police records show Darnell has been and continues to be a threat to my family, the neighborhood, and the public. We are concerned that this could escalate into something violent, resulting in injuries or worse. Your help in finding a solution that keeps my family and the neighborhood safe is greatly appreciated. And I just want to put out that this is not just really about the neighborhood. He has arrest records throughout the town. And in Bellingham, he travels. So just looking for a solution. It's been going on. It feels like we're treading water. Thank you. Thank you.

Mayor, that concludes those who signed up in advance to speak.

All right, is there anybody else that is here with us this evening that didn't sign up to make public comment that would like to step forward and make public comment at this time? Yes, please step forward, state your name and address and then limit your public comment to three minutes, please.

Hello, thank you for this opportunity. My name is Christine Barnard. I live in Oak Harbor. I have two nieces that live in Portland and I'm here to speak in support of the Gay Pride Parade and hopefully the painting of the street. I have two nieces that live in Portland and they were so excited that they got to do that in Portland. We walked down, and they showed us where they painted and which sections. And my little nephew was just so happy about it. Anyway, I just think it's a good, it's always a happy event. And I would just appreciate it if they would be allowed this opportunity. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is on a leopard. I live in Oakland or Island County, not in Oak Harbor, but I just support Christine's request and hope that the city council will see clear to doing some painting and flags for pride month. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Is there anybody else that is here with us this evening that would like to step forward and make public comment at this time? All right, if there is nothing else, I will close public comment, or we will go to those public comments that we've received via email or electronically since our last meeting, and we will display those now. All right, so just as a friendly reminder, visit our website for methods to submit public comments. At this time, we will close public comment and move on to our consent agenda. Staff has requested to remove consent agenda item B, purchase authorization, copier contracts, which will be presented at a later date. Are there any objections or other changes to the consent agenda as presented? Yes, Council Member Peterson.

I'd like to remove item C. I have a question.

all right so council member peterson would like to remove item c council member stucky g and f you want to remove them yes please just pull them right yeah all right so we're removing items c g and f so far Poll, yes, that's what I mean. Anything else that we're polling for discussion? The proper order is to discuss these first or approve the agenda?

We can discuss them and then approve the whole slate, or we can approve it as amended and then approve the individual ones after we discuss them.

We can just discuss the ones that we've removed to discuss. The first item that was removed for discussion was item C, so do we want to discuss that first? That was Councilmember Peterson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Understanding that I don't understand all these contracts all that well yet, I noticed that with this particular item had a no greater than on the contract. And now they are asking for an additional $5,000 for something that the state required. So my question is, they will be going, they're going over their no greater than. And so I'd like to discuss what happens. The city will be reimbursed $4,190.80 at the $5,000, but that leaves us spending a little over $1,000. I'm curious, why are we even entertaining going over there not to exceed them out?

Steve? Steve?

Yes, I can address that, and also Wendy Horne, our grants administrator, is here also to provide more detail. But thank you for reviewing this in great detail and for your great question. So you're right. So I can tell you exactly what happened. So I've worked with Ecology for 30 years. They've got many positive things about them. One thing that I have not liked in my three-decade experience is that they often provide surprises. There's not a grant process I've been part of that has not had some sort of surprise. So we got a $200,000 grant from Ecology. And then working with Wendy and with Mayor Wright and others, we were able to leverage that and get another grant from the EPA. And we had a total $300,000 work effort. And so as part of that, we received $20,000 that was just from my time and Wendy Horne's time. So just to remind Council that we actually brought in revenue with this. So what I did at the beginning is we had three consulting firms that the council approved their agreements with, and I purposely did not obligate the entire grant amount. So I obligated $195,000 out of the $200,000 that we got from Ecology to keep the $5,000 exactly for surprises. And guess what? In the 11th hour of the 11th, 59th minute of the 11th second, Ecology says, oh, even though we reviewed your consultant's scope, even though we went over that with you two years ago, year and a half ago, we now have this thing, it's called this EIM database, and you have to enter all the stuff in the database. And I thought, eh. How long does it take to do a database? Apparently, and again, I'm not trying to default the state, but this is a very clunky, hard database that takes a lot of manual input and a lot of time working with ecology. So that's what that extra amount was for. So I would tell you honestly, and there's records to show it, that I was expecting something like this. I didn't know what it was. But fortunately, it worked out to about $5,000. And so you're right. We didn't bring in, let's call it $20,000. We brought in about $19,000 with that extra $1,000 expense. So that's how I'd describe it in broad terms. And here to provide even more detail as you wish.

My assumption is that for all the clunkiness, that the... the people that we worked with, and I'm sorry. Fowleron, yes. Fowleron, thank you. That they did the input?

Yes, and just so you know, I can provide more detail. We had a change in project manager during the RI. That was the first remedial investigation. That was the first part of their scope they would provide. And they said, Steve, we're going to need some additional money for that. And I said, I reviewed it. I said, our scope is not changing. You guys had a change in project manager. I don't owe you any more money, I feel, right? Because that's on your end. We haven't changed the scope. So there were some other requests that I denied working for the community and for the mayor and the council to make sure we stayed on budget. So those were denied. When we went over and saw this additional not in their scope database entry, that was something we worked out. And Wendy was with me. And it took us months to figure out the details and make sure that we were getting what we thought was an appropriate product. Did that answer your question?

If they, in this contract it says their clerical is $99 an hour. So if they want $5,000 and their clerical is $900 an hour, isn't that 500 hours?

So it was not a clerical person. It was someone on a higher level, like a junior scientist that has to enter this data, has to understand how this data talks to the ecology database. What this is all for in the end is some grad student at WSU or the U of W to take all this data and analyze pollution in general and its impacts on the Puget Sound. So it's very important. It's just getting it all in the right context. that ecology requires.

All right. Thank you. I appreciate that.

And thank you for your research, yes.

You're welcome.

All right. We're going to move on to items F and G then, and Council Member Stuckey had some questions on those items.

Not so much a question. I think these are... wonderful choices and looking at their backgrounds, both well-suited, although I always like to see a little more love for the Planning Commission. So I was a little salty that. But I do see we have at least one of those individuals here. And not to put them on the spot, but if they want to say anything, they're more than welcome to do so. This would be for Joseph Busick and Raymond Tenniel. I guess I should specify what the item was when I

Low Council. Can you hear me okay? Very good. Low Council, Mr. Mayor, members of the public, my name is Joseph Busig. I've lived here all my life. I graduated from Oak Harbor High School. I went to Skagit Valley College here and I graduated with a bachelor's in anthropology from Central Washington University, so lived here all my life, grew up here, proud to call this my home, and I just wanted to give back to my community in the way I knew how, and I thought it was a very unique way to use my degree. anthropology to contribute historic preservation and cultural preservation efforts as well as bring a holistic understanding to our city's history and understanding indigenous communities and also some of the first immigration waves that came through here and also understanding that in the settler context of how we had historic settler patterns here as well. So just, I wanted to offer that as well. Did not expect to be called up here on the spot, but I appreciate it. So are there any questions or anything that I might answer? Okay.

Thank you very much. We're happy to have you.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Is that it?

That's it.

All right. So we have addressed all items. Can we now approve the consent agenda as presented?

So moved. Second.

All right. We have a motion to approve it as presented by Councilmember Wittgenstein. Yes, Councilmember. Hold on. It's seconded by Councilmember Marrow. Further discussion? Why don't we pull B?

No. We did pull B. Well, we did, but we didn't.

It was removed from the agenda altogether. Yeah, that was addressed in the initial comments I made. Yeah, so. Okay, so can I get everyone to vote now, please? Raise your hand if you agree. All in favor? Thank you, unanimous. All right, we're gonna get through this one way or another. All right. Bear with me, I've got some comments to make. First of all, we want to extend our gratitude and gratefulness for the safety of our VAQ-129 pilots that were involved in the midair collision at the air show in Idaho. They are all safe and we are grateful for that and our thoughts continue with all of our military members. Our thoughts and respects are with the Wassinger family as they mourn the passing of Greg Wassinger this past week and his celebration of life with last week. Oak Harbor Public Schools on a better note and some good news. Earlier this month, I attended the superintendent's roundtable and appreciated the opportunity to discuss how we can continue strengthening our partnership. I look forward to continuing the conversation progress for our community. And then here are a few recent highlights from Oak Harbor Public Schools. Oak Harbor High School's Future Business Leaders of America students recently traveled to Spokane for the four-day State Leadership Conference, competing in business-focused events. Three students qualified for the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas. At the Congressional Art Contest, Oak Harbor High School students earned both first and second place honors. Olivia Hamm won first place for her drawing Sleepy and will travel to Washington, D.C. for an awards ceremony. Her work will also be displayed in the White House Cannon Tunnel. Jasper Christopherson earned second place, and Congressman Larson will display the artwork in his office. Crescent Harbor Elementary will host a closing ceremony on June 3rd at 6pm to honor the school's past and celebrate its future. Community members are invited to celebrate the history and memories of the current building and before it is demolished. Navy League Sailor of the Year. It was an honor to attend the Navy League Sailor of the Year recognition. And on behalf of the city, I want to congratulate the following honorees. Aviation Electronics Technician First Class Alberto Davila, the 2026 Reserve Sailor of the Year 2026. Hospital Corpsman First Class Fabian Santiago Morales, the 2026 Shore Sailor of the Year, and Cryptologic Technician First Class Shalon M. Sosa, the 2026 Sea Sailor of the Year. Oak Harbor is proud to be a Navy community, and it was a pleasure to celebrate your professional excellence, leadership, and service to our nation. As someone who has also served, I know the commitment and sacrifice that come with wearing the uniform, and I am deeply honored. appreciate all that you do and the opportunity to recognize you all. Congratulations again to each of you honorees. Thank you all for what you do and for the sacrifice that you make for our community and our country. Garden Club, I want to recognize the Oak Harbor Garden Club for what I hear was a very successful plant sale this year. Several members of our staff attended, and it's clear how much work goes into their community events. Kathy Chalfant recently spoke at the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting to share highlights from the sale and discuss upcoming events. We appreciate the club's continued partnership and involvement in our community. The Garden Club does a lot of work to help make Oak Harbor beautiful through their work with plants, landscaping, and community projects. Their efforts add pride to our city and I want to sincerely thank all of the volunteers for everything they do throughout the year. Public Safety Training Center. Last Friday we had the opportunity to celebrate the opening of the Public Safety Training Center. The grand opening was a reminder of what can happen when a community invests in long-term public safety and proof of our administration and staff's commitment to our community. This was truly a collaborative effort. I especially want to again thank Representative Dave Paul for advocating for Oak Harbor and helping secure the funding that made this project possible. I'm proud of what our team accomplished together, and I believe this project will have a lasting positive impact on our city for many years to come. Fire Academy graduation, yesterday I had the privilege of attending the graduation ceremony for our newest firefighters, and I tell you, it was a proud moment for our city. Seeing those graduates take that next step into public service was a reminder of the kind of people who choose to serve this community and help others on their worst days. What stood out to me most was the dedication of the graduates and the support of their families. We are proud to have them serving our city. Camp Windjammer, the city of Oak Harbor Parks and Recreation Department is proud to offer partial scholarships for Camp Windjammer and our after-school enrichment programs. Thanks to the generous donations from Island Thrift and Whidbey Royalty sponsorships from Ashley's Design and Astound Wi-Fi and funds donated through our Recreation and Reach sponsorship program, families can apply for financial assistance. Funds are limited and will be awarded in the order received as funds allow. To apply and see our catalog of youth, adult, and senior programming, go to www.oakharbor.gov.

We're getting there, guys.

The Right Blend, in celebration of Public Works Week, this month's Right Blend is all about upcoming projects from our Public Works team. Come by and learn about key city projects directly from the people leading the team. I will still be there with other members of my team to answer other city questions. The Right Blend coffee and conversation is this Friday at 10 a.m. at Orlando's Bar and Southern Barbecue. Upcoming events. Next Monday is the Memorial Day Service of Remembrance at Maple Leaf Cemetery at 10 a.m. Speaking of Memorial Day, we've been getting a lot of questions regarding the opening of the Shipwreck Shores Splash Park this year. We have confirmation from our Parks and Recreation Department that the Splash Park will open on Memorial Day weekend. June 6th is a community celebration as we open the new fire station, Station 82, free pancake breakfast at Station 81 starting at 9 a.m. We will have shuttles transporting guests to Station 82 for tours. More details at oakharbor.gov. There are still several openings for our advisory boards. Please visit the city's website to apply. Remember to stay connected, come to a meeting, a right blend, send us a question via email, give us a call, or follow us on social media. And now it's your turn, council. What are your reports on your commissions? Yes, council member Stuckey.

You threw me off with that question. I guess my report is tomorrow for the Luby Camino tourism, we have our first exec meeting. with the new county tourism manager. So things are progressing and then from there, pointing the advisory board and back off to the races. One comment, I applaud anyone who comes here and makes public comment taking time out of their day if they have a request or some way we can help them. And sometimes this body can help them and sometimes they can't, but there's staff here who can help them. One question that was asked And it was asked very specifically, how do I? And it was make a request. How do I? And so it's such a wonderful question because I see people on social media all the time who ask that. And I always refer them to our website where there's a form center. that you fill out the form and it goes directly, typically, to those that can help. And I was wondering if at some point, at the risk of getting overloaded with stuff, if Maggie could maybe put something out highlighting the form center on our website as the way to make, I mean, there's literally, one of the forms is reporting speeding in your area. And whenever I've referred people to that website, Not that it's always possible, but I'm always surprised how quickly staff calls them and either helps with their problem or at least explains the situation. So that form center is wonderful. And if there's some way we could kind of highlight it, because it always has been a little hidden on the website.

It is. And I know that in the past, our communication officer has promoted it, but we can definitely start promoting it again. Yeah. And I know that we're also looking at improvements we can make to it all the time.

Because it's truly, it's a wonderful resource and it... I THINK IT'S GREAT WHEN PEOPLE FILL IT OUT. STUFF GETS TAKEN CARE OF. SO THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU.

I THINK THAT'S GOOD FEEDBACK. SO WE WILL DEFINITELY SHARE THAT WITH MAGGIE. YEAH. THANK YOU. YES, COUNCILMEMBER ROMERO.

JUST NO UPDATES FROM THE ISLAND TRANSIT BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT HAD MEETINGS RECENTLY. SO I'LL GET BACK TO YOU LATER.

OKAY. COUNCILMEMBER ARMS.

It was a busy week again. They had Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Elise, our harbor master, many of the MAC board were there. I was there on Thursday and Saturday at the boat show. And Saturday was like, oh my gosh, where did all these people come from? I mean, we couldn't even take a break. There were so many people that came to ask questions about the marina. Elise did a knockout job. I mean, she had to set it up, she had to take it down, and she was constantly asking questions. I have never seen it, so much traffic. I mean, you know, you couldn't even get a break because here comes more people. So it was really one of the best turnouts I've seen from last year. So it...

it went really well people really interested in the marina so we'll see how that all goes thank you yes mayor pro temp thank you mayor my report from the clean air agency is they sent me a little bullet point here so i wouldn't mess it up it says national and state agencies are forecasting a potentially quote critical wildfire season NOAA is forecasting a hot, dry May to July period, while Washington's statewide snowpack is at its lowest level since 1985. So the Clean Air Agency's air monitor and sensor network is vital to assessing local air quality during wildfire smoke events, and wanted to remind everyone that Northwest Clean Air Agency has a really fantastic interactive user-friendly website where you can go to check air quality, um, track wildfires, stuff like that. It's a, it's a great resource. And if you just search, you know, Northwest clean air agency, we're based in Mount Vernon, um, cause there are several in the state, but the one based in Mount Vernon is for us. And then they will have all of the information that you could possibly need. And, um, wanted to echo Councilmember Arm's praise for Elise, our harbor master, and the Anacortes Boat Show. I got there, I missed Barbara, because I got there right after you left. But Elise did a really fantastic job with the booth and the information and the swag. Yeah, it was fantastic. And so I'm happy to hear that you guys had a lot of traffic. That's good. And I've got, I kind of have my own, bone to pick on the street racer thing, and that's something that I've been meaning to talk to Tony, our police chief, Chief Slowik, about. I have noticed lately, it just seems like there's an uptick and I've had been getting lots of comments. I thought maybe it's just me, but I've been getting lots of comments from others as well about the, not so much the speeding, but like the muffler noise, you know, that really obnoxious modification that people try to be louder than they have to be. It seems like every night around 1030, like clockwork, something's happening somewhere. And I live within earshot of the high school in Broadview and Ojai and just kind of up there. And so the public comment that we got tonight about the speeding vehicles reminded me that I've been meaning to talk to Tony about the street racers. When it comes to annoyances in our neighborhood or concerns What is the best way? Council Member Stuckey brought up the form on the website, which is fantastic. Other than filling out the form on the website, what do you suggest is the best way to bring issues to the police department specifically's attention?

Certainly. So just let's talk about the form really quick. When the form is filled out, it goes to both the police department, it goes to engineering, and then there's oversight by the administration. And so we work collaboratively as a team to figure out is this a traffic, what's the traffic calming plan for the issue or we also actively engage communication with the person that submitted the form. So a lot of times we get more information than what's just on the form and then we try to work out Is there an engineering design that we could do? Is there other measures that can take place to mitigate or eliminate the problem? Just for communicating with the police department, calling 911 is the best thing. I think the sooner we can get those phone calls, specific times of day, if you have a partial license plate or vehicle description, all that information helps the officers. We do have minimum staffing within the city, but if they're on different parts of the city, they might not hear the modified exhausts or any of those muffler issues. I will say, per our laws, anything that's over 20 years becomes a classic vehicle and is exempt from those muffler requirements, which then becomes this nuisance problem that we have. Okay. But all of those complaints have to be observed by a police officer. They can't go on hearsay from somebody just saying, hey, it was a nuisance to me.

Right. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Council Member Wittgenstein. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to piggyback on Council Member Hison's statement about the speeding and whatnot. We all know Whidbey Avenue has that. Problem, period, right? About 9.45, I hear the pop-pop that you're talking about, starting up around midway, up by my house, right? Midway and up there. And it goes, they drop every night, you hear it. And it sets off the dogs in the neighborhood, it's fun. It's a good time, yeah, yeah. So yeah, you know, we're going to be dealing with those all the way along and whatnot. I also wanted to kind of comment about for a second about all these different aspects of what we do to help make our community better and fix the things and the issues that are there. And it's very broad, because that includes the physical structure of the infrastructure. That includes the admin piece that goes on. It goes us up here, mayor separate. and all of us come from our own little pieces and bring our own little puzzles. It's like a great big circus. And so I just want to, again, compliment the staff and the mayor for their ability to navigate the circus and give us some great stuff, right? And it's very appreciative in that way, so thank you for that. In regards to dealing with Individuals that are repeat offenders in our community, when it's beyond just the criminal aspect, it's more of a behavioral aspect due to mental health concerns, most likely. And we can't forget that the impact of the people around it, they're also experiencing some trauma through that experience. And so anything we can do as a community to come together as citizens to help make sure that our youth are safe and provided in those so they can grow up without having to have these little traumas throughout their life like the rest of us did. Yeah, so that's kind of what I'm at there. So thanks for sharing and coming in and telling this stuff. Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I was really delighted last night to attend the graduation ceremony of our first ever local firefighter school and to get to congratulate our five newly minted EMTs, firefighter EMTs. So I would say well done, Chief Anderson, and thank you for looking forward to where we can take our city. I attended my first ever Board of Health meeting today. It was quite interesting and I learned a lot about even more governmental things and how slow the wheel turns. And I wanted to say Tuesday at two o'clock, the Arts Commission is going to be meeting for a workshop where we will be talking about inventory and maintenance and placement and how we gather pieces and decide on them. And I'm looking forward to seeing what the Arts Department is going to present there. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, is that everybody? All right. We are going to move on then to contracts and agreements. And up first, I am very excited to announce the Human Resources Director Employment Agreement contract. And here to introduce that topic is our city administrator, Sabrina Combs.

So I'm going to do my presentation from here. So Christina can be at the podium for all of you just to make this easier. And so what I want to do is I, too, am very excited about this. First slide. Next slide, Tim. So Christina Hines, some of you may know, she is the selected individual to serve as our next HR director. We had advertised the position. We did a new process where we even created a nice brochure that we put out working with our consulting firm and really just trying to find the best candidates to meet the needs of the city. And as part of that, There were 21 applications received, five were selected for interviews, and then two were selected for a second interview, and out of that, Christina Hines was selected. So she is a very talented individual, as most of us already know. We've experienced being in different meetings with her. We did provide all of you on the dais a copy of her resume and her cover letter, so you could see those details. But for us, she brings a lot of experience not only in her degrees, her work experience, her knowledge, but also her expertise in conflict and working with employees in different situations. So with all of that, I want to turn this over to all of you with the suggested motion that we have to approve her contract.

All right. Well, before we get to that, I will first confirm that no comments have been received on this matter.

That's correct, Mayor. No public comments were received.

All right, and is there anyone here with us this evening that wants to step forward and make public comment on this matter? All right, I'm going to close public comment, and then I'll call upon council for their comments. Yes, Council Member Stuckey.

It's going to sound negative. I don't mean it in a negative way. It seems like we're having a knack from getting great people from other governmental organizations on this island, between Maggie, yourself, I think this is a wonderful choice. A little sad for the EDC, but I think this is wonderful. Welcome, maybe prematurely, but welcome. The one comment I have is we did get the resume, but because there was nothing in the packet, I assume we'll have a little bio that at least lists some of her background and qualifications for the public, for those who may not know her.

Yes, once we do this process, then we usually do a press release as well.

Sure. OK. Well, that's all I have. Good to see you here. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. I had the exact same reaction my first response. I was like, oh no. What's the EDC going to do? So I'm delighted for us, and for you, and welcome. And sorry to the Economic Development Council. One of the things that especially pleased me was that someone with a front row seat to everything that the city is doing and how staff works together and all of that was interested in joining the team. It's one thing to apply for you know, some anonymous 2000 miles away position. But when you're very aware of what you're walking into, and you're still like, sign me up. To me, that's a good that's a good sign that that says something. And I'm really excited to have you join and contribute to the team. And thank you for being here.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Anybody else? Yes, Council Member Romero.

I've frequently stated, actually not frequently, but regularly stated there are some things that are meant to be and some things that are not meant to be. And I think this is definitely meant to be. So in the strongest terms, I support Christina Hines for this position. And I'm just absolutely delighted because she's got the relationship piece involved as well as the technical expertise part because she's in from our area. So with that, I'm willing to make the motion if the mayor would allow it.

Sure.

You're the chair. I move to approve the mayor's appointment of Christina Hines to the position of human resources director for the city of Oak Harbor and authorize the mayor to sign the employment agreement.

Second. OK. So we have a motion as presented by Council Member Marrow, seconded by Council Member Wittgenstein. Before I call for a vote, I just want to first say, Christina, you know how I feel about you. I've shared with you in talking with you. And since you've accepted the position, I'm never going to apologize to anyone for taking someone who's talented and adding them to my team. I only surround myself with the best people, and I have done that with you. So I have no regrets, and I'm looking forward to you being a part of my leadership team. And with that, all in favor, raise your right hand. Passage unanimously. Thank you very much. What would you like to say to council now?

Well, Mayor, council, thank you, and friends, thank you so much. I am really excited to get to work and to serve the city of Harbor. So I appreciate the opportunity, and I'm looking forward to working with everybody.

Thank you. All right, so we're going to move on to Resolution 2608, waiving state competitive bid requirements and authorizing the mayor to amend the existing Moffett and Nickel Professional Services Agreement for Consultant Services, Amendment Number 4. And here to introduce that topic is our Public Works Administration Manager, Sandra Place, and Harbormaster, Elise Henry.

I'm going to take most of it. If you guys need Sandra, I'll be happy to pull her in, but I told her I'd take the lead for tonight. So thank you guys for having us. I did present you with the fee breakdown and the scope breakdown as well. Those were submitted after the agenda item went in. So we have been working with Moffitt and Nickel since 2022. And originally the contract was signed to address the dredge and break it down into four different phases. The first phase was our feasibility plan. Second phase was preliminary engineering and permitting, which is where we are currently still setting because permitting is taking significantly longer than we had expected. Phase III, Final Engineering, and Phase IV, Construction Period Services. So the phase two part of what is slowed that down was the government shutdown last fall. And we've been getting some additional comments on the permit and there's a new endangered potential species that since the permit is for 10 years, we want to make sure that we take into consideration the fact that that could become an endangered species in that time. And we don't have to delay and go back and do another permit modification when that happens. So the first amendment was passed back in March of 2023. It was for an additional $188,230,000. And that was for some additional information in the feasibility study. The amendment number two was to get the engineering and the permitting started, and that increased that contract $361,837. Amendment number three is one that you just passed earlier this year for the emergency permitting, design, and contracting of North F Dock after the Straight Line Wind event in December. That amount was $98,523. And that brought the contract total to $837,861. So amendment number four is going to be our final design plans for the dredge and the mitigation construction, which is the larger lift in that entire process, the preparation of the regulatory permits for the breakwater rehabilitation that we've been talking about, and the design plan for any features that we are going to do in that repair and rehabilitation. So the fee is expected to be $378,496. And as I mentioned, that is combining both of those projects. And we needed a budget amendment for that. We will be funding it using our $1 million rural county economic development infrastructure grant. And we already have that in and we can start spending. So it is in our best interest to go with Moffett nickel because of their expertise in the Marina itself. We are the only saltwater Marina with our particular breakwater design. That waffle was only put in at two marinas. We are the only one left in Washington state with that. And Moffett and nickel has worked with us on multiple breakwater projects and especially learning what we learned after The emergency repairs in March, they have knowledge that any new firm would have to gain through me and hopefully I could speak engineer terms well enough to them. The resolution is using the special facilities and it is RCW 39.04.281B and that we found in the city bid book. It's also in the municipal code or off the MRS website and the city of Issaquah did this previously. And with that, I have a suggested motion and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have this evening.

All right. So before we get to that, I'm going to first confirm that we received no public comments on this issue.

That's correct, Mayor. No public comments were received.

Great. And is there anyone here with us this evening that would like to step forward and make public comment on this issue? Hearing, seeing none, I will close public comments and now call upon council for their comments and questions. Council Member Peterson.

What did the city of Issaquah do? They used the special facilities, which is that RCW 39.04.28, which precludes the normal bid process because of the expertise that a consulting firm has and that would continue us moving forward.

Council Member Marshall. Thank you, Mayor. Elise, you mentioned in one of the slides that has Moffitt and Nickel at the top, you have four phases identified here. This amendment addresses which of those four phases?

Phase three and four and the breakwater.

Phase three and four and the breakwater. So do we anticipate there's going to be additional change orders in the future, or do you anticipate this to be kind of the end of?

We anticipate this to be the end. We expect, in your scope language, you'll see that this should all be complete within 12 months, as far as the Moffett nickel piece of it. The actual project itself will wrap up February of 2028. OK. Perfect.

Thank you.

Yes, Council Member Romero.

Just for point of clarification, My understanding had been that the breakwater is not just going to be remove and replace parts of the existing breakwater, but that there were going to be engineering changes that would improve the design so that we would not have the failures that the current one had. Or to put it another way, maybe it was designed for 30 years, but if the replacement rework can be done so that we get another 50 years out of it, if you understand my question.

I do understand your question. So back in July of 25, when it was voted on as far as the funding options and what you guys wanted to do moving forward, it was voted for a major rehabilitation and repair, not an overall replacement. So there's not going to be a lot of different engineering design to this. We'll be going in, replacing rods. And the dredge is the big thing that's going to help keep that breakwater in good standing. If we keep up on our maintenance dredging, that breakwater won't have the issues that we are seeing now.

You still have the floor.

OK. Because it is, in my history, in my work with county government previously, is that whenever there's a contract that goes out, that the contractors are, there's an incentive to cut corners or to find any way to reduce their costs to improve their profit margin, which I'm not faulting them about wanting to make money. But the practical truth is, more money, more money, more money. So I'm requesting just as a matter of public record that as you go forward, as we go forward, that there be enough quality control so that that the corners aren't cut and that and that we're getting so-called our money's worth with regard to this What's that? Rework, shall we say. And that's just for a matter of public record because, I mean, the rod, it was said the rods, some of them were narrow and some of them were wider. And for all intents and purposes, that was a savings for the contractor 30 or 40 years ago, however old it was.

That would be my guess because the breakwater was put in in two different phases. So you are correct. The north end has one inch rods or three quarter inch rods and the south end has one inch. So there are varying rod sizes and that was something that was done late 80s, early 90s, depending on which section.

And I did observe that the repairs have been done with synthetic engineered panels or boards. I mean, this makes good sense in the new age. So anyway, I'm just describing this to you that just have to be extremely scrupulous about holding them to the standards. That's all I got. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes. Yes. Council member Peterson.

So are you able to speak to what wonderful little creature might become endangered?

The sunflower sea star. Oh, and we have? There are some in the area, but I've never observed one in the marina. Yeah. I've seen ochre sea stars, but no sunflower sea stars.

Thank you. And since no one else seemed like they wanted to have a question.

Did you have a question? Oh, OK.

I won't. You can.

Mayor Pretzel, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to speak to also Councilmember Marrow's concerns, always valid. And one of the reasons I'm confident supporting this is because of our history with Moffitt & Nichols as a firm and the relationship that we've built with them. If this was someone I was unfamiliar with, I would have a lot more questions and some hesitation. But because they are who they are, and we have the history that we do, then I'm confident in moving to approve resolution 26-08, waiving state competitive bidding requirements pursuant to RCW 39.04.280, parentheses 1, parentheses b, and authorize the mayor to amend the existing contract with Moffitt and Nichols to a total of $1,216,357. Strongly second.

Okay, so we have a motion as presented by Mayor Pro Tem, seconded by Council Member Merrow. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? Hearing seeing none, all in favor raise your right hand. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much, Elise. Thank you. All right, we are going to move on to the next item, which is Resolution 2609, Supporting the City's Opportunity Zone Applications to the Washington State Department of Commerce. And here to introduce this is our Grants Administrator, Wendy Horn, and Community Services Director, Stacy Pratchner.

right good evening Mr. Mayor and City Council so this evening the Community Development Department we would request that the council consider approving resolution 2609 and this is in support of the city's Opportunity Zone applications to the Washington State Department of Commerce so in summary the city is applying through the state to designate two census tracts in the city as Opportunity Zones included in your packet in advance is the previous presentation from the April 28th workshop so there's the map showing the two potential opportunity zones. Council will recall that this designation provides private investment opportunities to business owners in the tracks in the form of tax benefits. Again Council will recall that on April 28th of this year we held a workshop and and along with the Economic Development Council of Island County. We reviewed the federal creation of the OZ program in 2017, its modifications in 2026, the potential economic development benefits that could result for business owners through those potential city designations. We also walked through together the application process and the timeline. Again, that presentation is included in your packet. The draft resolution before you, resulting from the guidance received by this body in April, if approved, Council, this would serve, that resolution, approved resolution, would serve as part of the application packages to the Department of Commerce for both of those designations. And just a reminder to Council, the applications are due to Commerce at the end of May, which means that the Community Development Department, the grants team in EDC, we are all currently coordinating as long as Christina previously with EDC are currently coordinating on collecting letters of support, filling out all the questions, providing the narratives, and also gathering the necessary data to make for a complete applications to commerce. So, of course, I appreciate your time. Happy to answer any questions. You've got a recommended motion included in the agenda bill in the packet, a motion to approve resolution number 2609, supporting the city's Opportunity Zone applications to the Washington State Department of Commerce. Happy to answer any questions.

All right. Thank you for that. And I'm going to first confirm that we received no public comments on this issue.

We have received no public comments, Mayor. Thank you.

Great, thank you. And then I will confirm that there, or I will ask, is there anyone here with us this evening that would like to step forward and make public comment at this time? Hearing, seeing no one, I will close public comment and call upon council for their questions or comments at this time. Yes, Council Member Stuckey. Sorry, didn't even see your hand.

It's all right. So the previous Opportunity Zone, as you mentioned, to your knowledge, was not utilized.

That's correct.

Yeah. And that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't utilized. It's just not that we know of as a government agency. So it's possible, but we don't know of anybody. Correct. It's confusing, the opportunity zone. The information out there that describes what an opportunity zone is is pretty lackluster, even looking like on the EDC's website. I mean, I have a business background. I understand accountants need to be involved and stuff. I get that. But how are we going to... promote this other than some tiny link on a website with a paragraph? Like, how are we going to educate people on what this is with the hope that it might get taken advantage of? What's going to be different from the first time where, to our knowledge, nobody used it?

Sure, sure. I'm going to take a look and see if our grants man. no she is not and so I think that's a that's a great question councilmember Stuckey I think that the city could employ plenty of different tools to help engage folks as you said I think it is a program and I think as Christina mentioned this previously it's a program where folks will need to employ you know potentially their own attorney or a broker etc to understand the program so I would imagine maybe something that links on our website that provides access to financial materials etc that could help folks get support and explain that program

Yeah, I think that, I mean, even something simple for something like real estate, commercial real estate agents, you know, there's some commercial real estate agents I talk to that it's in the opportunity zone. What does that mean?

Right.

Okay. So just a simple handout or something that I guess just makes it a little more obvious the benefits and what it does. Because I don't want this to be coming up and be another, well, no one that we know utilized it.

Right. We didn't even know we were in an opportunity zone. Thanks. Correct.

So, I mean, again, no objection to it. I just think the education piece needs to be highlighted.

And I think as we move forward in this project, one of the things we can do is work with our communications officer on some outreach materials, some information that we could put out there to help with that, as well as our newsletter and other things that we can share the information.

Yes, but we just need to be careful when it comes to providing legal advice. Correct. We are not providing legal advice. No, we're not providing legal advice. Yes, Council Member Romero.

With regard to advancing and promoting something that would be a benefit to businesses, at least dealing with Main Street issues, The problem of having it too general to be specifically useful. So I would suggest that when it comes time to familiarize businesses with it, it needs to be granular enough so that it can have a direct applicability. Because people who are in business, they don't need hand-waving about general ideas. They need to know about the nuts and bolts of the dollars and how it really benefits them in tangible numbers. So I would just state that as a matter of public record that we can't neglect the details because we don't want to deal with it.

Thank you, Council Member.

Anybody else for the good of the order? All right. Hearing no further questions, comments, discussion, I would entertain a motion that's on the board. Council Member Marshall.

Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve Resolution 26-09, Supporting the City's Opportunity Zone Applications to the Washington State Department of Commerce.

We have a motion as presented by Council Member Marshall, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? Hearing seeing none, all in favor raise your right hand. Passes unanimously. I have a request for us to take a very brief recess, so we're gonna take a 10 minute recess to 6.56. All right, it is 6.56. We are back in session. The next item on the agenda is Ordinance Number 2044, renaming Oak Harbor Municipal Code Chapter 2.40 to be entitled Community Development Department. Introducing this is our City Attorney, Hillary Evans.

Good evening, Council. Oh, my goodness.

It is the voice of...

Good evening, Council. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Your staff has decided to rename a department, and as a consequence, there are a whole bunch of persnickety-nip-pickety code amendments that need to be made. You will see that really the only thing that's changed in this chapter, aside from a few updates regarding the department's configuration, is simply the naming. So I'm happy to take any questions. It should be a pretty easy one, though.

All right, I will first confirm that we received no public comment on this issue.

That's correct, Mayor. No public comments were received.

I will confirm, or I will ask, is there anyone present with us this evening that would like to step forward and make public comment on this issue? All right, hearing, seeing none, I will close public comment and call upon council to ask questions or make comments of Hillary. If not, read the motion. It's on the board. Oh, Council Member Peterson.

I'd like to make a motion, Mr. Mayor. Mm-hmm. I move to adopt ordinance number 2044, renaming Oak Harbors Municipal Code Chapter 2.40 to be entitled Community Development Department, amending sections 2.40.010 and 020 and 030, repealing sections... 2.40.4040. I must need to go back to kindergarten. 2.40. Why did I say I wanted to do this? .050 and 060, providing for severability and establishing an effective date.

Second.

All right. Thank you.

We have a motion as presented by Councilmember Peterson, seconded by Councilmember Wittgenstein. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? Hearing, seeing none, all in favor, raise your right hand. All right, Pastor Giannasoli, thank you very much, Hillary. Next up, ordinance number 2045, amending Oak Harbor Municipal Code section 2.304.055 relating to management and mayoral support and amending Oak Harbor Municipal Code section 2.34.060 relating to the position of director of human resources. And guess who's back? Here to introduce this is our city attorney, Hillary Evans. Hi.

I never left. This is also a relatively clean one. It became an issue when our most recent human resources director role became open that in this list contained in 2.34.055, that you have this list of directors who are all subject to employment agreements and the human resources director was not. And so firstly, as a matter of sort of parody, it made sense for that to happen. In conjunction with noticing that it was, you know, we reviewed the language and it became clear that the mayor was not the supervisor of the HR director, which historically has been the case that the HR director typically reports to the mayor and or Sabrina, but typically in the chain of command, it's the mayor who's the supervisor. So we changed that as well in that section two of your ordinance. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them or I'm sure, Sabrina, the mayor can speak to the structural change. But I think, you know, from my perspective, if you're going to have a list of directors who are all subject to employment agreements, it makes sense for all the directors to be subject to that same criteria. So that's what this ordinance does. And I'm happy to answer questions.

Thank you, Hillary. I will first confirm that we have received no public comment on this issue.

That's correct, Mayor. No public comments were received.

Thank you, Julie. And then I will again ask, is there anyone here with us this evening that would like to step forward and make public comment on this issue? Hearing, seeing none, I will close public comment and call upon council for their comments at this time. Council Member Stuckey.

I love that we have, I'm going to put her on the spot, Council Member Heisen here, because you have a lot of institutional knowledge having been up here for some time. So I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, and you're probably one of the few people that could correct me because you probably remember. This position used to be the same as all the others under a contract, but then was switched, I believe, due to some turmoil or something like that. Can you elaborate a little bit? I'm wondering why the switch was made in the first place, if you remember.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you. Yes, I can't speak to the whole history about it, whether or not it used to be and then was or wasn't, but I can say that several years ago it was a point of contention that all of the department heads didn't have the same set of standards basically. It made a lot of sense to bring everybody in line and so that the contracts were the same and that was I think always, just speaking from my personal perspective, that was always the intent for some of us but it was a point of contention that there were exceptions made. I don't remember if there were positions that exceptions were specifically made as in their status was changed, but they were deliberately not included in the list when the whole contract was, or the ordinance was updated. And yeah, that was an issue for some of us. I don't recall the justification for that. I think it was turmoil related. And I think that At the time, there were just some people wanted exceptions to be made, which I personally didn't agree with. And so I'm happy to see that what's on the table now is to bring everybody in line and being held to the same parameters. But I don't have the scoop in terms of whether or not there was a really valid technical reason to make an exception for one or two department heads versus another.

Cause I was, and again, I did not firsthand. I was under the impression that I can understand a certain separation with HR due to its uniqueness, but I'm assuming Hillary, this is pretty much how it is at most strong mayor cities that all department heads are contracting. This is, this is pretty much how it's done. Is that correct? Or am I incorrect?

You know, it varies wildly, but I can say that those who use employment agreements use them more extensively for a lot of employees and those who don't just never do so while it's not i don't i don't think that there's a standard per se to use them or to not use them but if you use them you like to use them uniformly if that makes sense is there is there any advantage to leaving things the way they are or not really Um, flexibility. If you hired another HR director and you didn't want an employment contract, you wouldn't need one. But no, I mean, not really.

Okay. Thank you.

Council member Peterson.

Hillary, you could probably explain to me what's the difference in a contract employee and an employee who serves at the pleasure of the mayor?

Oh, geez. Well, you just approved a contract, so you have a very good example in front of you of the types of uh, restrictions and benefits that are encompassed in such an employment agreement. Typically it, it guarantees them certain types of training, certain vacation banks on the office. You know, usually a director is, um, not coming in at a level one step one type thing. So they'll get a vacation bank. Um, it provides for termination at will that, that parrots your employment policies, um, And it says that if we fire for cause that we would not owe them a payout, but if we terminate them because they're at will and we just want to, we would probably have a smaller payout. So many different provisions can be included, various kinds of benefits. Trying to think of what else. But no, I mean, it offers them a little security. Typically, when you're hiring a director, as we see tonight, you're hiring them away from a secure job. So, you know, the higher you get, I don't see city managers ever hired without an employment agreement. City administrators certainly similarly usually have an employment agreement. Then as you're getting through that top tier of executive staff, they typically enjoy an employment agreement because it provides them security. A lot of these people are moving areas and leaving a secure job, so they like that security in their next position.

Anybody else? No? Okay. There's a motion on the board. If somebody would like to make it.

Yes, Council Member Rogenstein. I move to adopt ordinance number 2045, amending Oak Harbor Municipal Code section 2.34 to .055, relating to management and mayoral support positions, and amending Oak Harbor Municipal Code section 2.34.060, relating to the position of director of human resources, providing for severability and establishing an effective date. Thank you.

Second.

We have a motion as presented by Councilmember Wittgenstein, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem. Is there any further discussion before I call for a vote? All right. Hearing, seeing none, all in favor, raise your right hand. Passage unanimously. Thank you very much. Last item on the agenda for the night is reports and discussions item. And we have a transportation benefit district annual report. And here to introduce that is our finance manager, Chas Webster.

Good evening, mayor and council members. Tonight I'll be presenting the TBD annual report. And I'm Chas Webster, finance manager. The Transportation Benefit District was originally established in 2018. The purpose of the TBD is to provide dedicated funding to the preservation and improvement of local residential streets within the city. And in 2019, Oak Harbor voters approved a ballot measure authorizing a 0.2% increase to the sales tax for a period of 10 years. The financial summary shows an ending fund balance of about $3.3 million. Projects completed in 2025 include asphalt overlaying of Southwest Lopez Drive and Southwest Kirk Lane. The total project cost was approximately $528,000. And looking ahead to 2026, TBD funds are planned to support paving of Southeast Glencoe Street, Southeast Second Place, Southeast Third Avenue, Southeast Fourth Avenue, with estimated funding at 578,000. And if you have any other additional questions, let me know.

Great, thank you very much. Is there any questions or comments from council? Yes, Council Member Stuckey.

Could be a Public Works question. We never hear the comment, fix the roads. That's something we never, I'm kidding. That's probably the comment we hear the most often is fix the roads. Fix the roads, fix the potholes. I don't, I mean, you say, I'm rounding here just to make it easier, 3.5 million. I don't think that goes as far as people think it goes in city government, but it's still an amount, and It doesn't seem like we're spending as much as we're taking in, which leads me to believe, are we holding on to that nest egg and let it grow a little bit for a certain reason? I mean, there was a comment about possibly using some of it for Pioneer. I'm just looking for a little bit more of the game plan besides just what I see here. As we continue to accumulate, we're not spending as much as we're taking in. What's the plan long term?

Thank you. I have a five-hour answer to that excellent question. Well, try to keep it to four. So let me keep high level, and then you can decide where to go from here, council member. One, starting about four years ago, we identified that the city had never in, I think it was 20 years, had gone after state money that can be used specifically for preservation. And so working with the mayor and the council, we've been able to now get a state grant only used for preservation for four years in a row now. So we've been, and it's a competitive brand, but four years in a row, we've been able to competitively go get that. So that's the good news. The bad news is we're being so competitive that they got to spread the peanut butter at some points, right? So it gets harder and harder each time you win. So we've been using that money for what I want to call our basic annual update. So we're using other people's money number one number two yes we know that as we start to prepare and we're going to come to you at our workshop right with the presentation to redo our transportation call plan our utility comp plans our master infrastructure plan we're in the middle of an eis for our call plan we are really with council at a very key point over the next couple years of determining where this city goes And a lot of those decisions are going to be about where council wants to invest its limited resources. So you're right. The good news is that money that we have could be used for a project, which we've heard from council, like Pioneer, or something that's larger than just doing a typical overlay. And usually when we do an overlay, we look at projects that have utility issues, because we've got so many of those, too. So we've been combining those. So yes, that looking forward. We do have this additional money because we've been using the state money and we've only had to provide a match. So now we've got some money to do something else. And then lastly, I have talked to numerous people and nobody has answered this question that I've heard. So if you come across an article, please send it to me. We as a nation have been facing construction inflation on an unbelievable scale. It exceeds all the inflation headlines that you normally read about with all the inflation, now with the gasoline inflation. Construction inflation has been astronomical for about 15 or 20 years. And as all of you know, that curve line of 3% year over year versus 5% year over year really starts that compounding, starts to make a big difference. So we and everyone else, including the state that has talked about this a lot where they've had economists do special reports, is going to impact us tremendously. I can tell you that the city in 2018 authored a report, and those costs are like triple since 2018. When you do the percentages, you just can't believe it. You think I must be wrong. And again, just in my time here, we did, I know I've told council this story before, but I think it's just worth a good anecdotal. So I'm hoping I remember this correctly. So looking at you council member Stuckey, we did West would be in what year was it two, three years ago now? That's correct. And the price was for the water line was $200 per foot. And then we did seventh street the next year and it was $300 a foot. And that's a foot, that's one linear foot. So multiply that by a half mile or a mile and you just realize what's going on. So I'll leave it at that. What I'm trying to leave you with is we're gonna have a lot of big discussions over the next two years as we come back to you in next workshop and talk about building the foundation for the city with the information we have.

And then final question, the short version, because I know you're passionate about this stuff. We up here make the final call, but as staff, you noodle over a recommendation, and we typically go with a recommendation of what roads to take care of. From a technical perspective, what's your mentality of what roads that we fix? Is it the worst ones, or is it the one that the most amount of people drive on? What is the overarching thought when you bring something to us that that is the road?

Yeah, so I know the process that Mayor Wright has started is, you know, our Finance Director and Deputy State Administrator David Goldman is going to meet with us on Thursday. And we're going to start really getting into details about the 2027-2028 budget. So you're going to have a chance to really review specifically what roads we get to or not. And then to your specific question. In a city that does this correctly, and this is repeated over and over again, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. You generally want to be overlaying that road before anyone thinks it has a problem. That's when you repair it. That is what the studies have shown for decades. So we have roads in Oak Harbor that don't need to be preserved, they need to be reconstructed. Those reconstruction costs are about 10 to 100 times more per square yard than if you would just preserve them. But don't act like Oak Harbor is unique. This is happening all over the nation. And even on the West Coast, where we're all new cities, you can drive around and you can experience what happens after just a few decades of not preserving when you should. So we're not in that state where we can just only go and preserve what we have. I think what you're going to get the most demand for from the citizens is to go do those reconstructions, which is pioneer, which I can tell you up from here, I have no idea what that cost is going to be. and I know I'm gonna be blown away, but I hope I'm just not blown away where I fall out of my seat, because that's the state where we're at. So I think that's where you're gonna get that pressure, but really, I guess the balance you're gonna have is do you wisely use that money to spread it out over more roads, or do you concentrate it in some of these bad areas? And then I'll try to end on this. I feel strongly, and you'll hear me repeat this over and over again, What happens in almost every city, not every city's different, is your core starts to degrade and you build outward, right? Oak Harbor's not that big, so we're not like a big rust belt city where you can see a core that clearly needs a lot of help and you can see all the brand new suburbs out there that are newer. But Oak Harbor follows that plan. Our core is degrading. It is 75, 85 years old, and we need to invest in it. What we need to do, the answer to this problem is we need to attract private investment to the wonderful upzoning that the council has set in action as part of the EIS. And that is going to bring in that private development. It's going to bring a lot of other positive things, new housing, housing. uh... new businesses it new investment and so that's going to help you solve this problem but that's a very complicated discussion that will will have over and over again but that's how you get through this It's anybody's guess whether the feds are going to come to the table or not. Again, it's still 18, I might be wrong, but it's still 18 cents per gallon, which was last updated in 1995. So the feds have been out of this game for a long time. They did a trillion dollar package. The problem with that is that it causes such great inflation that there's questions about whether the inflation, There's not the engineers and the contractors to do all that work all of a sudden, right? So it creates a bunch of construction inflation. And especially the state is seeing that. And so the feds are out. The state, we know, is going to be having big discussions about what to do. And they don't have enough revenue. They have to come up with some other new form of revenue and been talking about it for 15 or 20 years to replace the gas tax. And I think all of you, the ones that went down to Olympia recently, know much more about that than I do as far as where they're trying to take us.

Thank you so much.

Anybody else? Questions, comments for Steve? Or Chaz. Or Chaz. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much to the two of you. There being no further business, is there a motion to adjourn? All right, we have a motion and a second to adjourn. All in favor?