City Council - Regular Meeting

It's 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20th, 2026, and I call this regular city council meeting to order. Um, I want to thank any everyone for joining us this evening. Would you please join me in the flag salute, and uh, Council Member Hall will be leading us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty for all. [clears throat] Uh council um council member Cedar is uh has is absent this evening and he's asked to be uh excused. Can I get a can I get a motion if anybody would like to excuse council member Cedar?

Did you do it? No, no, no. I was trying to hear what you're saying. I'm missing move to excuse council member Cedar. Second. It's been moved and seconded to excuse Council Member Cedar. Uh all in favor? I. Any opposed?

Motion carries. Um also for the record, um as far as staff present, we have uh planning manager Stalcker, u police chief Hernandez, public works director Madden, and um interm finance director Roe. Um on to number item number three, citizen participation. Uh only those who have signed up get to speak. Um is there anyone that wishes to speak that hasn't signed up on the signup sheet? Okay. Uh the purpose of the public comment period at this meeting is for those wishing to address the council on any matter. It is not intended for debate and discussion with the public. Uh, please state your name and city for the record. Uh, lastly, we kindly remind you to limit your comments to three minutes. The first person on the list is Chad uh Chad Atwater. [clears throat] last week member of the planning commission um spoke about the um storm drain problem and she was basically um [clears throat] asking to see if there was uh permits for some of the storm drain or if that was part of the city. Um, do we do we know yet if that was is that part of the the city uh conveyance the storm drain system that was

Excuse me, Mr. Yeah.

Oh, I see. Okay. Um so and and she was talking about the problem that was downstream that where the um the pipes uh the coverts that were put in um restricted the flow and um she made a uh she made she had sent a letter to Dustin and then and then talked about it in the council meeting. And um so I'd like to talk about some of the problems that are upstream and a possible solution. Um so um in the um in the school administration uh what is now the school administration they have some detention ponds and it's also it was part of the school district and that was uh the old Endeavor elementary school and uh so now They've have some um additional infrastructure that was added on [clears throat] uh since it's been converted into the administration building. and uh they've um and I had some some pictures to show but we're not able to show them at this time and a map so you could kind of get a visual of what I'm talking about with the there's two detention ponds uh that are about couple hundred feet 250 ft and um and uh and we had we have talked about this before um with the uh the pipe and uh you know right down on the ground of the and so uh when uh those parking lots

which are downhill and all the surface drains and the catch basins all the new infrastructure from the administration building the new uh drainage system that they have the downspouts and um and all of the you know from all the roof water. It all goes into the detention ponds and then it goes into the second detention pond and then down uh between Queen Street and Redwood and then from Redwood.

Can you finish your thought? Your your three minutes is is up. Uh so um it's basically like a flash flood and so um we have a solution and um and I'll pass these out and Bruce who's in the in that business um will kind of touch on the solution possible option of a solution. Okay, great. You can you can give it to our city clerk here and she can pass it off to us. Thank you, sir. Uh, the second person on the list tonight is Bruce Turnis.

Hi, I'm I'm Bruce Turnis and uh just wanted to address that detention pond issue a little further. um worked in commercial construction for 40 years and um and ground stuff was uh probably a good 20 you know 20 years of that. So just working putting in fire hydrants and and uh detention systems and things like that. And so it just would um struck me as a little odd that they didn't have like an oil water separator on there and that the purpose of a detention pond is to detain the water when they have a big gully washer, right? And that that those two ponds do not do that. They just let everything exit the pond, you know, on the based on the size of the the pipe basically that's going out of it. I believe it's 12 inch, but I'm not I'm not sure about that. But um if you a simple uh little thing would fix a large uh portion of that would would just be putting an oil water separator in there, which most ponds do have cuz most of them are coming off of highways and and parking lots and things like that. So they don't want the oil eventually getting down to Puget Sound, right? Um so what they do is restrict the orphice on the bottom of a tea. you you just have a tea and it's all solid, but there's a small hole there. And if it ever backed up enough to where the water level got so high before it cascaded over the top of the pond, it would go into the top of the tea, which would be full diameter of the size of the pipe that's, you know, exiting the pond. And it's a simple little thing. I I called uh HD Fowler just down here um down Jovita and they had I just said I did give me a price, you know, and they had a fancy one and this thing was like 1,400 bucks and I

said, "Well, if the existing pipe right now is um at grade level, the at the bottom of the pond, well, you're going to have to have a a catch basin." So, I said, "Throw me a price of a of a catch basin." And that's what you're going to see on the paperwork. So, it's a price of a a oil water separator and and you guys could probably get the labor. You have the if the city has a backhoe and and a couple of guys, you could probably dig that in, put a type one catch basin in there and have this installed in a day and it would sure help retaining that that water level, having those ponds served the function that they were intended to. I don't know why that that was that part of it was never put in. But anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads up that it could be fixed. That portion of it could be fixed and would help in future, you know, downpours when we're getting, you know, an inch a day or, you know, whatever it is. I know back in was it September, we had two days there where we got a lot of water in two days. So anyway, God bless.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. insurance. Uh the third person this evening is Frank uh Karuchi.

Hi, my name is Frank Karuchi. I live up on 23rd and I just wanted to go over something I brought up last time about the city and uh the sidewalk project on 23rd where the city of Milton actually created the traffic problem that's there now and they've allowed it to go on for several years. Um we're experiencing loss of property there and people are driving in the in the gullies. I got a big tire track in my gully in the front yard that that I guess they're a lot of times they move out of each other's way or there's big trucks. There's semis coming down that road. Um, and the the uh the city of Milton's desire is to widen that street and make make way for more traffic, bring more traffic in and by buying up the land in in front of our houses along 23rd there from Alder down to just about Diamond where the new project has gone in. And um I had proposed to turn that thing into a oneway going north, get rid of most of the traffic because most of the traffic is coming at the later part of the day. So that would take probably 75% of the traffic away. Um I know that at the very least the city's going to spend $100,000 to buy up the land there. So, I know that part of the concern is redoing the plans. Uh, aside from actually getting it approved, but I can't imagine it's going to cost $100,000 to redo those plans. I mean, they're already set. All you got to do is chop off the extra lane. They're already putting in sidewalk curb and gutter. They I know they want to do the water line and that's all well and good, but uh the city's fix is just to bring more traffic in when they've already created a traffic problem. That doesn't make any

sense to me. And I'd like to keep my front yard and I'd like to have less traffic. I can't imagine that anyone who lives at that area would say, "Yeah, pay me to bring more traffic in and take land away from me." No one's going to agree to that. So, I don't know what the new plans are, what they're doing. I' I'd like to try and get someone to I don't know if you guys are in the process of working on that. Haven't heard anything. So, I'd like to find out. But the other one problem is that new complex that is from Diamond to the uh 300 block, the 302 house there. They widened that street already and they put a line in the street. So, people coming northbound at night is the worst time. They think that that is wide enough to keep on going. They're just driving through the front yard of this guy's house. There's already a ditch there that the city has tried to fill in and it's not working. I mean, there are softballsized chunks of asphalt being thrown into this guy's front yard. Walking my dog there the other night and there was a truck pulling a big trailer and he had to slam his brakes on. So, something needs to be done about that. Some lights or something. flashing lights in the ground off into the uh away from the street so they're not running over the lights if they happen to. But uh the cheesy little two cones that they have up there right now are not doing the trick. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Kurichi.

Uh the final uh person for this evening is uh Jackie Strader. [clears throat] So, first I want to start out with a big thank you to the water department and how quickly they responded to my call regarding brown water today. I noticed East Paris had stopped their fire truck in front of the fire hydrant across from my house. And around 10 and around 1, I decided to get my dog some water, turned on my faucet for the first time, and it was coming out looking like diluted coffee or tea. and I knew, uh-oh, they must have been doing something with the hydrant that affected it. So, turned on my bathtub, tried to self-help, ran it for 30 minutes, didn't clear it, called the city, and the utility supervisor, Patrick, um, super responsive, came out to my house to talk to me about it. made arrangements for the two two water department people to come out, stood there, they flushed the hydrant, waited till it ran clear, then made sure it was running clear in my house, and they left. It was I It was the reason why I love living in Milton. It was so responsive. Thank you. It was awesome. Um, the second part of my public comment is regarding the exempt employee policy. I appreciate that it's back for the third time and that this time we have a redline version comparing the 2026 proposal to the January 23 policy that council approved back in January of 23. But what's lacking is the previous mayor made changes to the 23 policy. For instance, she removed the policy regarding the use of leave only when it

exceeds four hours a day. Why that was removed, I don't know. It seemed like a reasonable thing for exempt people, but it was taken out. I don't know why. Was there a reason? We don't know. And it's not in the packet. Why isn't there information showing benefits from parody cities? Also, the sick leave payout policy is not in line with the police or the IBW contracts. It's more generous. Um, so why not move this to a study session? But if you decide to proceed tonight, I'll be back giving you more specifics. And what I suggest, and I'll suggest then, but since I speak after you guys, I'll make your have your discussion right before the vote. Why not just make it the same? So the admin people, the exempt people have the same policy as the IBW people. The police have the same as the police guild. it seems like a reasonable solution and it's how other cities handle it. And the third part is regarding citizen comment. In previous administrations, the signup sheet was only to assist the um city clerk doing the minutes and it wasn't like if you weren't on the list, you couldn't speak. There was always the opportunity. If someone's inspired based on what they hear that they could raise their hand like one last time, it'd be nice to go back to that.

Well, in that spirit, is there anyone else here that would like to add their name to the list before we move on? Yes. No. Okay. Seeing none, we'll uh Oh. Oh, wait. Oh. [laughter] Okay, you've been added to the list. Welcome

Jaclyn Whan on the same block as the previous speaker. That's the water. I ran my faucets for over an hour, cleared up a little and then it was back. So, I am also thrilled about how responsive our city is when stuff goes sideways, but there's still a problem on that street if after running water through a tub faucet for an hour and a half still doesn't clear the problem up. Adding to that, I thought there was an agreement, maybe it was a handshake, but an agreement with these peers that they were going to notify the city when they decided it was time to fill their truck or do a flush or a maintenance. Also, notifying the city, staff could be right there to take care of it. I thought that was arranged a year and a half ago. I hope the administration will now make a nasty letter about it because I have to change all the filters in my house. I went without water for a long time and I have a higher water bill because of what they did on our street and they know better. Secondly, I do second that idea. Please ask for folks to speak if their name isn't on the list. They do it at the county. It's I mean it's just a great way to invite people to add their comments and have a rapport with council. Uh [sighs] I was sorry to see on a different subject, sorry to see the study session cancelled. I I imagine there were wonderful reasons why, but I do hope the

council will look at study sessions as a golden opportunity to learn how to do their job better, to learn more about how the city functions and it would just be uh I think even beneficial to have a little citizen comment period in there too. Uh lastly, I sent an email. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I would suggest for all the updates and considerations regarding the exempt employee compensation, you move it to a study session and uh thank you for allowing me to comment.

Thank you, Mrs. Whan. In the same spirit, is there anyone else in the audience that would like to speak this evening? I think we've seen you. All right, we'll move on. Um the the next section is addition and deletions. Are there any requested additions or deletions to the agenda this evening from anyone on council? Seeing none, we'll move on. [snorts] Um item number five is the consent agenda. Uh, does anyone want to pull an item off the consent agenda for discussion this evening? Seeing none, uh, may I have a motion to accept the consent agenda, please? May I have a motion to accept the consent agenda?

Council member Hall, move to accept the consent agenda. Thank you. Second. Okay. It's been moved by Council Member Hall and seconded by Council Member Roberts to pass the uh consent agenda as presented. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? Motion passes. Uh six to zero. Uh item number six, presentations. We have two presentations tonight. The first is from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Uh you can follow along on page 19 of your packet and then Murray's disposal will present second.

Good evening everyone. They don't give me a microphone very often. So does that do I sound okay? Yeah. [laughter]

Feels loud. [gasps] Thank you first and foremost for allowing us to join your meeting this evening. We really appreciate the opportunity to engage with local governments and our goal this evening is to provide information about second substitute house bill 1515 or um commonly referred to as 1515 or the world cup bill um so that um you have the tools and resources that you need um in case you have licenses or other businesses in your jurisdiction that are interested in participating. and um you have everything you need to decide if this is something that your jurisdiction would be interested in as well. So u my name is Kayn Gooby. I am the mandatory alcohol server training and responsible vendor program manager at the liquor and cannabis board and I also have Janette Hull Martin here with me today. uh program specialist and really first point of contact for any questions about the bill and um Janette's also processing applications from local governments. Um we've got about a 10-minute presentation prepared, so hopefully just short and sweet and happy to answer any questions if there is time. Um the topics we'll be covering today, we're going to cover all of the three new temporary authorizations allowed under the bill, which include the expanded outdoor alcohol services authorization, civic campus events, and fan zone and host city events authorizations. We're going to focus our time on the expanded outdoor alcohol service authorization, which is the uh one that the city of Milton would be eligible for um participating in. So, we'll provide additional information there. We'll cover the application process and we'll share some resources and tell you how we're mapping any approved locations and

where you can find more information about rules and uh licensing resources. So to start, I just want to share the intent of the bill. So, the intent is to allow for event environments that maximize mobility for event guests um especially families and uh maintaining safe operations that ensure alcohol is not consumed or accessed by minors, over service is prevented and alcohol does not leave the premises. As mentioned, there are three new temporary authorizations allowed under the bill. First is the expanded outdoor alcohol services which is available to local governments. They may request um expanded outdoor alcohol service in public spaces in an area or areas of a city, town, county or port authority for an ongoing period through December 31st of 2027. Licenses that are eligible to participate are the ones you see listed here. So we have beer, wine, and spirit beer, wine restaurants, taverns, domestic wineries, breweries, distilleries, and snack bars. Also through the end of 2027 are the civic campus event authorization um where cities with a population of at least 220,000 may request authorization for expanded indoor and/or outdoor events on publiclyowned civic campuses. uh caterers and special occasions lences. So nonprofits holding a special occasion license can also participate in this authorization. Again, this is just for cities with a population of at least 220,000, which are currently three cities in Washington state.

And third, uh we have the fan zone and host city events with the FIFA World Cup being hosted in Seattle. The host city and designated fan zones may request expanded indoor and/or outdoor alcohol sales and service for one multi-day event effective June and or July of 2026 only. The fan zones have been designated by FIFA and those are currently listed as Bellingham, Breton, Everett, Olympia, Lacy, Tri Cities, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Yakma. And same as civic campus events, caterers and nonprofits with a special occasion license can participate in those. So, um just to reiterate, today uh we're going to focus on the expanded outdoor authorization as that's um the one that the city of Milton can apply for. All right, so diving in a bit more. Again, this applies to any local government. So, cities, towns, port authorities, and unincorporated areas in the county. Uh, local governments may request this authorization for an ongoing period through December 31st, 2027 in an area or areas of, um, that jurisdiction. So, um, the city of Milton could apply for the entire city if they are interested in allowing any licenses within the city to participate. They can also apply for smaller areas within the city that are designated as expanded outdoor service areas. The fee per authorization is $1,700 and that is to be paid by the local government, but um it's just per authorized area. So, it's just one fee paid at the time of application and that um is approved through December 31st of 2027.

This allows liquor licences located within the approved jurisdiction to share outside to share an outside service area with other licences. Um what it does not allow is it doesn't create any mobile licenses. So let's say you approve an area within the city. It doesn't allow other licenses outside of that area to become mobile and participate in that shared area. uh licenses may also share use of the area with other non-licensed businesses that do not engage in the sale or service of alcohol. So what this creates is an opportunity for those eligible licences to participate in a shared consumption area with other non-licensed businesses. Um, so what we envision is, um, if you have like a restaurant, next to a winery, next to a bookstore, for example, I can go grab my glass of wine from the winery. My friends or family can go to the restaurant, grab a drink, and we can all meet outside, maybe in front of the bookstore at a shared uh, use space. Um, so that's kind of what we envision it. Um, some people have like called it the Vegas bill and it's not quite that. It it can be just a small area within a jurisdiction where you'd like to allow a group of licences or non-licensed businesses to participate in a shared outdoor service area. [snorts] I [clears throat] think I'll add here too. Um, for those familiar with the special occasion license, uh, which allows a nonprofit to sell alcohol at an event that's open to the public, um, that's how most, um, events, outdoor events, have alcohol, either a special occasion license or they hire a caterer. U, nothing changes under this authorization for those groups. So, they can still have an event with a special

occasion license, but they still have to follow the standard special occasion license rules where they keep their alcohol separate. They're the only ones selling the alcohol in like a beer garden style. All right. Next, we'll cover some of the responsibilities for the local governments when applying. After a local government has decided they would like to participate in the expanded outdoor alcohol service authorization, they must receive approval for the area by submitting a request to the LCB through the LCB portal, which we'll talk more about that in a minute. Um, application uh includes an operating plan and a site map submission, which we have templates available for both on our website, along with providing parcel numbers for the area. So, um, we can work with you on that. If it's like the entire city, we don't need parcel numbers for the entire city, we can accept maybe the parameter or the border parcel numbers. Um, or if you use GIS mapping tools and you can do some file sharing, we can accept that as well. So, there's a couple different options there, but we just need to know how you would like to map the area. Um, [clears throat] excuse me. Uh we must ensure that all the local government must ensure that all alcohol service areas use either barriers or demarcations to indicate the space that's authorized for alcohol consumption. And the local governments will determine the barrier height and distance between the entrances and exits. And they'll be asked to provide that information to us when they apply. And um also per the bill, they must report to the LCB how they will provide resources to ensure safety in the community, including law enforcement patrols and how they will provide services to keep those public spaces clean and free of litter. All local governments with this authorization must

conduct a public engagement review and submit that to the LCB se by September 1st, 2026. The public engagement review includes contacting individuals and groups within the community and examining whether adequate local resources were provided, whether services were provided to keep the area clean, and it includes a cost benefit assessment as well. As of March of last year, the LCB transitioned to a new uh LCB web-based services portal, which allows lences to do business with us online, and they can easily access their account information. Any local government or lency wishing to participate must have an active LCB portal account. Um, we've got lots of great resources on our website that can help guide you through uh registering in the portal and we also have you user guides specifically for applying for these authorizations. You can find that on our website. And uh next we'll just break down the application process um in a bit more detail. So um each authorization whether it's the expanded outdoor civic campus or fan zone all starts with an application in the portal. First the local government applies for the expanded outdoor alcohol service authorization for example. They'll submit a joint operating plan and a site map and they'll provide those parcel numbers so we know how to map it and they'll also submit payment upon applying. After the local government receives approval, licences can then log into the LCB portal to submit an added activity application. They can submit their own application or they can designate a primary lency for a shared area and list all of the participating licences. Um, this is where we highly encourage licenses to partner with their local governments to make sure they have any

local permitting requirements in place before they apply for the added activity to participate in an expanded alcohol service area. Every license that's listed on the application will receive a task in the portal so they can complete an attestation um to attest to joint responsibility. So um any licences participating in a shared area must accept joint responsibility if there's any violation or enforcement issue unless it can be demonstrated that it was due to one or more lences specific conduct. Once we have a completed attestation from all of the participating licences, we can then approve the added activity application. Um, given that all other requirements are met and if there's any changes to the application either from the local government after approval or from the lences, let's say the city would like to either reduce or expand their area. Um, you can absolutely do so by submitting a general request in the portal and and we're happy to walk you through that process as well. After approval, local governments and the licences um for both the licences and the local government, we will add the approved area to uh public facing geographical information system or GIS map. And there will be a different color-coded layer for each authorization that you see here. So, if a lency wants to quickly check if their local government's um been approved, if they're within that area, um they can easily view that on our website. Um this demonstrates here the city of Seattle has applied for and been approved for the expanded outdoor service authorization. All right. In closing, we'd like to share some information about current

rulemaking activity and where to find more resources regarding temporary expanded alcohol services. Um the board approved final rules implement implementing um second substitute house bill 1515 on January 7th. Um the rules are effective on February 6th, 2026. So, any questions about rules, um, where to find those rules or, um, any comments about them as well can be directed to our rules team at rules atlcb.wah.gov. And finally, we have a new page on our website for expanded alcohol services. Um, you can find information specific to local governments, um, some other authorizations that are available. We've got a frequently asked questions page and the resources tab there uh will provide links to the templates for the local authority operating plan and a site map that helps um provide information and and guidance on um the information that's being requested. And at the bottom of this page, it's kind of hard to see here, but there's a link to that GIS map that um we showed you a couple slides previously. And that concludes our presentation and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Does anyone have any questions? Council member Hall, define snack bars. Is that coffee houses? Is that Yeah. So, a snack bar is a type of liquor license. It allows them to sell beer only in bottles or cans, so no taps. So we see that in kind of um maybe in coffee shops there's like minimal food service requirements. So sometimes if there's like a paint and sip and they want to serve beer or wine that might be the license type that would be a good fit for them. So it's just a type of license that allows them to serve beer for on premises consumption. That was my next question. No drive-throughs. Correct. No drive-thru.

Okay. You got Yes. the Council Member Turnis. [clears throat] So, with the in regards to the outdoor space, would the outdoor space that they're applying for the permit for would it be attached to the space that they currently have or could they actually apply for the space to actually set it up in a park with their name being on a banner somewhere?

Yeah, that's a good question. So, I know it's kind of hard to visualize. Um what what we see with that is the licences that are interested in applying should be in close proximity to that um expanded alcohol service area. So it wouldn't allow a lency a couple blocks away to apply for an area that's like at the park a few blocks down like unless they are within that entire area entire boundary. So, uh, if there's licensed businesses like in close proximity to the park, I think that would be a more realistic, um, approach for some lences. Um, one thing that we didn't mention here, but the licences are required to have a mandatory alcohol server trained employee assigned to that area,

but they're not required to be physically present. And that's because of that direct line of sight that may not be possible at all times. So, it kind of depends on what the city wants to allow. If you want to allow like street use or sidewalk use, if if you want it to be that expansive, then it is possible that a business could be a bit farther away from the entire approved area. Um but still that whatever that shared service area is is required to have that boundary either a a permanent um demarcation or a movable barrier. So we as the city of Milton we're just over two square miles. Um, so the city, if we applied for this, would it encompass all of the businesses within the city? And then also, would it be available for businesses that are currently in operation that do not have a a liquor license, but they could apply for one in order to partake in like the World Cup serving?

Yeah. So to answer your first question, if the city applies for the entire city and that application is approved, that means any eligible licences within the city can apply for a shared service area. So um when they submit their application, they can tell us, you know, we're partnering with these other licenses in the area and these other non-licensed businesses and we're going to have our shared service area from First Street to Second Street. And so you could end up with like multiple smaller alcohol service areas. Does that help answer that question? Yeah.

And then also in an outdoor space like that where you don't have a lot of people monitoring it, is the businesses is it their responsibility to monitor that monitor that uh say a 21-year-old isn't handing off to an 18-year-old the beer that's being consumed in this public outdoor space? Yes. Yes, they are. That would be the responsibility of the business. Mhm. Yeah, we do ask how the city will be, you know, providing additional um law enforcement patrols in the area, how they're going to, you know, promote public safety, but it really is up to the liquor licences to make sure they're selling responsibly.

And then also, is there a certain time period like how long is the process when you apply for that liquor license in order to it to be approved? Like is that is that within a week or so, or is it a longer process? Sorry, I missed the second half of your question. So to apply for a liquor license, it takes about 60 to 90 days, give or take. Um, but yes, it would take an application from a liquor license to trigger that smaller expanded alcohol service area. Um, and then they can share that space with other non-licensed businesses. Thank you. Anyone else? No. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

We're gonna head back to Olympia. So, we're going to try to quietly sneak away, but thank you so much for letting us join today. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. The uh Oh, sorry.

No. Okay. Uh the next presentation is from uh Murray's disposal. And I'm sorry I didn't get your name. Could you could you introduce yourself?

Yes. Uh Stephen Hopkins. Uh so first off, I wanted to go ahead and thank uh mayor, council, staff for allowing me to be here to speak. Uh my name is Steven Hopkins. I'm the uh district manager for Murray's Disposal. Um we're pr proud partners with uh the city uh proud community members. uh proud to help sponsor the um Milton days uh and any other areas that we can be involved with uh in bettering the culture and uh thriving nature of Milton. um with the new council members, new mayor, I wanted to go ahead and kind of go over a little bit of the um the adjustments and rates um that go along with the contracts um and and feel free to ask as many questions as you have at the end to make sure that we've got a clarified and and a good understanding of exactly what what um the contract looks like. Um the contract language is is gives two parts for rate adjustments on an annual basis. Uh the first part is section four of the first amendment that was uh signed into date in February of 2022. Uh it provides for an annual CPI adjustment of 100% of the change in the consumer price index for the water, sewer, and trash collection service. Um it's a federal uh CPI uh for that. The CPI change for this period is 4.83. Traditionally, we would have wanted to do October to October, but this year, the federal government did not post inflationary numbers for October. So, we had to go off of August to August. So, that's that's where those those came from. Section 8B of the franchise agreement uh allows for adjustments to be made uh for collecting rates for the increase um for the landfill disposal cost. Uh this year the landfill disposal cost is going up from 184.99

uh per ton to 195.32 per ton. This is uh approved through um the the landfill in the county and this is a county uh app approved rate that we got notification that on March 1st 2026 that would be the adjustment of those. Um, what we are requesting for council approval is is from section 8D of the franchise agreement that allows for us to uh contractor to um uh request adjustments for uh that reflect unforeseen costs. And the unforeseen cost that we're asking for is an adjustment to our BNO tax. uh the BNO tax was passed through um uh effective it it's been effective since October 1st of 2025 of a point 35% increase um in the BNO tax uh we've got to [clears throat] put it into terms of kind of what the BNO increase um pass through that we are requesting uh for our most common service of a 64gallon cart you would uh see an increase of 20 cents uh per month for the BNO increase. Um on a twoyard once a week um commercial service, you'd see an increase of 92 cents per month for that. Um the the adjustments in rates uh would go uh 64 gallon would be an increase of uh uh $4.3 uh per month um with the contracted rate adjustments. And for the two yard once a week would be a $1960 for the commercial two yard for that adjustment. And um so I wanted to go ahead and just take an opportunity to field any questions that you guys may have on any of those metrics.

Any questions from council? Council member Hall, what's the from 50 cents to 11.99 per month? Oh, um that's that's the BNO. So the the standard rate adjustments in contract language W was the um uh the 64 gallon. So the 64gallon would go up from 5570 to 5973. So that's a $4.3. If you allowed for the approved a rate adjustment for the BNO, that would go up to uh 59.93, which would be that additional 20 cents. And so that's what the that that if if that's the question you were asking. Anyways,

anyone else? Council member Roberts. So based on the wording in section 8D, are we legally obligated as a city to respect the rate hike for the new BNO tax or is this rather under the council's discretion to approve the specific BNO hike, not the CPI increase?

Yes. So yes, the it's a count council's discretion for the um the approval of the BNO increase. the contract language is is part of the contract language. But yes, that section 8D is a request from from us uh on that, but it is at council's discretion to approve or or disapprove. Um the contract language um just states that um it shall not be un um reasonably denied, but that that's at your guys's discretion in your opinion. Council member Turnis, when was the last time they did a rate increase?

So, the rate increases happen annually. Um, and so, normally we wouldn't be doing the increase on the BNO um or the request for that, but the annual CPI adjustments is an annual increase that takes effect March 1st. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Bob. Appreciate you coming. I'm sorry.

Once a year and it's always appreciated to see the facts and figures that you do have the um let's just just just stay with the front page here and so forth. Residential customers. I'm a residential customer. I have a very small trash can. So basically I'll probably go up five cents. Yes. Yes. Your your off the BNO increase would be would be about would be the smallest one. The small can. Now, if I have a larger one, of course, this doesn't mean they're always completely full. Yes. It means that that price. So, I'm going to go up a nickel.

Yes. Correct. and for um any rates here and so forth for other items that you get clippings and all of that, the rates go up proportionally to what you need to to survive and allow and they've always been very reasonable. Been sitting here on council for about 20 years, maybe a little more. um they've always gone up small increments and I think you're just coming to justify your costs in small increments for the service we get and I felt that we're getting a value for the money we spend with Murphy's

I I appreciate that very much that's uh that is our our goal to always be providing high quality and I'm in in listening to this we're following all the other times I've heard it and so forth and it's always been mildly incremental to make up for your costs and so forth. So, I appreciate you coming and the information is valuable and looking forward to doing business with you next year.

I appreciate that very much and and I do plan on um so we are adding an additional layer to our team of a more of a community outreach um and educational piece. Uh we do plan on trying to uh come in twice a year, once during summer to give updates on um things that we're doing, the involvement we have in your city, not just a time to talk on on on uh rates adjustments and things of that nature. We want to be a little bit more upfront and open with how we're involved with the city, how we're getting involved with uh uh different projects that enrich and better the community. Um so that's something you can expect from U. Murray's moving forward. Uh, I will also make sure that I get a count or a a email out to everybody with my direct contact information. So, if you have any questions or you have any concerns that come up throughout the year, I would uh I would hope that you take it the opportunity to reach out directly to me and allow me to have an opportunity to um address anything that may come up.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Hopkins. Thank you. [clears throat] All right. Now, we're moving on to uh the regular agenda. Item 7A is the Murray disposal tax rate uh uh adjustment and it is an action item and uh our interim finance director uh Robec will be presenting this item.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. As stated in their presentation, Murray's disposal is seeking city council approval to exercise section 8D of the franchise agreement with the city, proposing a rate adjustment to account for the BNO tax increase effective March 1st, 2026, which aligns with the regular annual rate adjustment period. The estimated monthly impact of this BNO tax tax pass through is for residential customers 5 cents to 28 cents per month depending on the level of service and for commercial customers 50 cents to $11.99 per month depending on the level of service.

All right. Thank you. Um, I would enter uh entertain a motion at this time. Council member Hall, I was hoping one of our new per people would do it. I motion to approve. Yeah, I think you have to read the whole thing. Oh, you have to read the motion. Page 31.

Sorry. the recommended action. You would just read that. I move to approve Murray's disposal request to adjust its rates for all city customers in the amount of 5 cents to 28 cents per month for residential customers and 50 cents to 11.99 per month for commercial customers depending upon the level of service effective March 1st, 2026 pursuant to section 8D of the city's franchise agreement with Murray's disposal. All right.

Good job. [laughter] The first time's the hardest. Um, all right. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? No. Seeing none. Uh, it's been

Oh, thank you very much. Excuse me. I'm new. Um, this [laughter] this is an action item. Are there uh any comments from anyone in the audience? Seeing none, now we can move forward. All right. Um, it's been uh it's been moved by um uh Council Member Turnis and seconded by uh Council Member Mounts. uh to uh approve the Murray's disposal request to adjust its rates for all city customers in the amount of 5 cents to 28 cents per month for residential customers and 50 cents to 11.99 uh uh per month for commercial customers depending on the level of service effective March 1st, 2026 pursuant to section 8D of of the city's franchise agreement with the uh Murray's disposal. All in favor? I

I Any opposed? Nay.

All right. It um motion passes with uh council member Roberts opposed. The next agenda item is 7B, appointment of the park board. Page 59 in your packet. And I don't I don't see him here today, but uh Michael Vanderwalker has served on the parks board since uh 2022 and would like to continue for another term. Mr. Vanderwalker uh looks forward to improving our community parks and spaces and I believe him to be a valuable asset to the group. I recommend his appointment for another four-year term.

I would entertain a motion. I move to recommend the action. Hold on. Who was first? Council member. Yeah. Council member MS. Sorry. Go ahead. I move to approve mayor's reappoint of Michael Vanderwalker to the park board for a term to expire December 31st, 2029. Second. Um, it's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none. Um, it's Oh, yes. Is it an action item?

It is. All right. I didn't think this was that type of action item. No, all right. [laughter] Um, it's been uh it's been moved by uh Council Member uh Mounts and seconded by Council Member Roberts uh to approve the mayor's reappoint of Michael Vanderwalker to the parks board for a term to expire December 31st, 2029. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. All right. The next item is item 7 C, the planning commission uh residency requirement ordinance uh 2032-26 on page 61 of your packet. Okay, looks like this one's for me, too. Okay. A recent review of the uh city of Milton's municipal code 2.56.01 [clears throat] 010 has found that there is not a requirement for members of the planning commission to be residents of the city. Planning commission members are tasked with issues that represent the residents uh of the city of Milton and as such uh the members making those decisions and recommendations should be residents of the city. Are there um are there any uh is there a motion to approve the ordinance

or or Yes. 32. Okay. This should be what? 2132.

Council member Roberts. I move to approve ordinance 2132 26 as presented. Second. Any discussion? Yes. Can you just clarify that? Um, are we saying that they have to be a resident of the city of Milton? Correct. Okay. Yes. Any discussion, Council Member Roberts? Not necessarily discussion, but a question. So, are we also discussing the uh duration? We could. Okay. Discussing. I didn't hear that word.

What the duration? the how long should the individual be a citizen of Milton before they could apply for the position? [cough and clears throat] I have a very very hard time hearing you because you very distant from your microphone. Forgive me. I've got hearing aids in. All right. I'll try to get a little closer. Can you hear me? Okay. Now, Bob. Is that good? All right. Perfect.

All right. Excellent. Um, so based on some of the feedback from the community regarding the individual having to be here for more or less a year, I do agree with that just for the fact that the individual should be aware of how the city functions uh, etc. And I think would be a huge benefit for that individual to have those experiences when they are part of this uh, this board. So, I agree with at least one year and definitely agree with the fact that they should be within the city confines of Milton.

My thoughts as well, I really do think they should be here. I think that was an excellent um point that out. Okay. If if if that's something that the council would like to do, I would um I would entertain a motion uh for that amendment. I move to uh have the individual that will be part of the planning commission residency requirement have been a resident for at least one year in the city of Milton. I second that. Okay. It's been move been moved and seconded on the amendment. Um is there any discussion on that amendment? No. Uh, Council Member Whan,

I'm going to disagree with this because I believe there should be a resident for the full extent of their time on the planning commission. If not, somebody else from the resident, a resident in the city of Milton should be able to vive for that position. Somebody leaving, I'm not sure. Do I have your understanding that you want to just hold this for the first year? a res residence requirement. So the requirement I'm indicating is that the person be a resident of Milton for at least one year before they're applying for this.

Oh, so this is pre-application, but it doesn't mean that they can come to the planning commission, stay on for one year, and then move, but still remain on the commission. This is only a qualification. Correct. Correct. I'm sorry. I didn't hear all of that. Thank you for your clarity. Thank you. Any further discussion? So, just to also clarify, so they will have lived here for a year previously and then as long as they are on this position, they have to be a resident of Milton for the full six years. That is correct. Yes. Good. Yeah. Any further discussion?

Okay. Now, we're just going to vote on the amendment. So, um it's been uh moved by Council Member Uberts. seconded and and seconded by council member Mounts uh to uh in addition to the uh residency requirement to serve on the commission that um that that residency uh requirement uh include that the applicant have lived in the city for at least one year before application. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Now, we're back to the original motion. Is there any further discussion on that? This is an action item. Yes, please come to the microphone.

Thank you. Mayor Susan Johnson Milton are you addressing we're saying you have to stay on the committee and be in the city but where in the rule does it state you have to be a citizen once you're on it says you're is saying you have to be here one year before you can go on but I don't see where it says you have to reside in the city the entire time. I think it's a good idea that we have people that aren't committed to the city and and you can't I don't think you could say you have to attend a meeting or attend something. You know, we can't do that. I wish more people would be knowledgeable by either watching YouTube or coming to the meetings. But do look at are you saying with that statement and minutes you also must be required to stay in the city to remain on the commission. And I'd like you to look at it. I don't think it does.

Yeah, it's a I'm just looking at it right now. It's uh under section 1A. The last um the last sentence of item A is members of the planning commission must reside within city limits. So they would

yeah if they do if they do move uh if this is passed it would require that they resign if they move out of the city. Uh any further discussion? Oh, I'm sorry. Any any additional um comments from the audience? Jacqueline Whan, Milton, Washington, speaking as citizen and planning commissioner. And uh thank you for u uh if it was my suggestion to add a length of residency, thank you for reading my citizen comment. I appreciate that very much. Um, I wanted to bring to council's attention some wording that might be helpful in inserting the new concept of a year. Uh, this comes from the civil service. Uh, which refers to an RCW and this is just to give you a template. Uh, must be a citizen of the United States. Again, this is for civil service, but citizen of the United States, a resident of such city for at least three years immediately preceding such appointment. And that might help with the idea of someone, yeah, six years ago I lived here for a year and I'm back and now I want. So, if that's an important issue to council that you want somebody who's been a resident for a set amount of time before they apply, um I would suggest that language is the amendment. And uh another comment on this is um I think the administration might want to take a look at other portion portions of title two because uh in my quick review uh the mayor uh office Chapter 2.201. Uh it just says repealed by ordinance 1448. So that idea of a residency

requirement or other qualifications. Uh it's either you're going to refer to a state law or you're going to add on to uh what state law has and as well for council. Uh so just a note that there's more homework for the administration. Um but uh thank you very much for um adding the term of residency required. Uh I did not do any surveying to see what other cities have. I was just going off my memory when I applied. It was a year. But anyway, thank you. Thank you. Okay. Any uh further discussion after hearing public comment? I um was wondering, council member Turnis,

is this office, is it appointed by you or is an elected office? It's appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council. Okay. And it looks like it staggers where one drops off every year. I believe that's correct. Two years. Okay. again. Uh, can I ask my fellow council member to talk to the microphone and not to the side of it because I don't hear it all. I I'm going to ask the city for improvement for hearing aids of which we've done for another council member

because I'm not catching it all. So, it's it's got to be like direct. So, could you repeat what you were saying? So, I was just questioning. So it says here under section 1B, the terms of all seven members shall be staggered so that the term of one member shall terminate each year except for every six years when two members terms will expire.

Yes. Would you like some staff assistance? Yes. That'd be awesome. [laughter] So, the planning commission are six-year terms and there's seven members. So, it sort of works out that most years there's just one that either reappoints or drops off. Um, and then because you have seven, but it's every six years, one of those years you're going to have two um if they serve the full six years. And we have members that serve multiple six-year terms and we have members that serve three years. and life changes and they go off. So, thank you for clarifying that. [clears throat]

Anything else? Any further discussion? Um, if I forgot who who moved this, sorry. Oh, okay. It was uh it was um moved by council member uh Roberts and seconded by council member Hall uh to approve ordinance 2132-26 as presented. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion passes 6. Question. Yes.

Is it as presented or as amended? So, we're approving it as amend. We're approving it as amended. Okay. Thank you. Sorry. We do it again. Okay.

All right. Moving on to item 7D, the exempt policy update. uh on page 65 of your packet and let's see a recap of the proposed changes uh needing council approvement uh approval uh longevity pay. This uh this change is being proposed to remove the need for an employee to be at the top of their uh their scale to receive longevity and to add years of service to bring it in line with uh what the two other city agreements provide to their employee groups. Vacation leave. This change is being proposed to uh provide the exact same benefit as what is provided by the other two agreements uh to their employee groups. This change also provides ease for payroll processing as all employees would be following the same vacation acral schedule. Uh sick leave payout compensation is a new benefit that is being proposed. Uh the payout of the sick leave would only happen upon the layoff or separation of the employee and at 25% of their total acred sick leave. Upon an employes retirement, they would receive 50% of their sickle leave acrual. uh nothing is paid out when an employee is terminated for cause. The police and IBW agreements also provide for sickly payouts for their employee groups. So this would bring the exempt policy in line with them. Um also um uh our uh finance uh interim finance uh uh director Robeck has uh some additional information to share. I believe

um I I I did prepare some additional or research some additional information. Um but if if someone would like to make a motion for discussion, maybe I can address you can answer their questions. Yeah. Okay. So, I would entertain a motion. Oh, got one. Oh, Council Member Roberts. I move to approve the 2026 exempt policy as presented. Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Yes, Council Member Roberts.

Um, I just well a question rather. So, when we make a motion, do we have the opportunity to speak to our motion? Yes, you're supposed to, but there's a new guy sitting in the chair.

Okay. [laughter] I'll I'll speak to my emotion then. Um, so being in the city of Milton for 11 years, I can appreciate all the things that all the employees and staff do. Um, obviously I've only been on council for what about two weeks now. But regardless, I already appreciate what they do and have done. So, anything we can give to the staff to show our appreciation regardless, I mean, I think it's well worth it. No matter what we uh we offer them, I I think they deserve that. and then some. So, I I think they do a great job and we should show our appreciation for that. All right. Thank you, G. It's the last item of the day. Would would would you like to speak to your second?

You said exactly what I was going to say. So, yes. Um, anything we can do to support our staff is absolutely essential. This is a 24-hour 360day operation. Um, and I know for sure that I've had to contact staff after hours and they're always always available for emergencies. Um, any further discussion? Well, yes, I have a question about it. Okay. Or question

on page on page 70. The sick [clears throat] leave of approval. What does 4 hours per day uh at the rate of four hours per day pay period? I'm I'm a little confused by it. Is it for every day that they're here they acrew four hours of sick leave? Is that the um I the suggested the suggested change is to remove the current language of one day per month. Yes. um and and change that to four hours per pay period. Um so each pay period every roughly two weeks.

Every two once every two weeks they're credited four hours. Yes. And and that um it's kind of just restating the previous language, but because we've moved to a 99 work schedule um that it it's just better stated as four hours per pay period. But prior currently we are all employees do earn four hours of sick leave per pay period. It's just re rephrasing that that language. Okay. It's it's clearer than it had been in the past.

And I just wanted to be sure I was reading it correctly and you know look eight hours a month whatever it turns out to be two pay periods a month eight hours and 80 hours if whatever it is at the end of the year. Thank you for clarifying that for me. Thank you. Uh, Council Member Mounts,

I have a question. On page 67 under merit pay, it appears that the um language was changed from a written performance evaluation shall be conducted to may be conducted for merit pay. And I was wondering why that change was being proposed. I I believe that was just to give some flexibility, not necessarily for um whether a performance evaluation would be done every year, but that a written performance evaluation has to be done. That that could be a verbal um a verbal performance evaluation and being an exempt staff member. we we are all in communication with the mayor like on a daily basis, definitely weekly basis. So, I think that that is the um the the reason for the change just that that it's it doesn't necessarily have to be a written performance evaluation or not requiring a written performance evaluation.

And this evaluation is tied directly to the merit pay. So, the bonuses that are being proposed then on on page um 66. So, it or is it maybe maybe I'm mixing apples and oranges. Is it It says under merit pay. So, would a bonus be related to an evaluation whether it was written or verbal?

Um yes. a merit pay increase would be related to a performance evaluation either verbal or written. Um and the other section, the cost of living adjustment, that would that would not be necessarily considered merit pay. that that would be something that um all of the or it is something that all of the exempt employees receive is that um CPI increase, but then anything in addition to that CPI increase would be tied to a performance evaluation. So the mayor could say, "I'm going to give you a bonus." And there wouldn't be any written record of merit to justify the bonus.

Sorry. There there's always any any sort of um any sort of non CPI increase would cause a payroll change notice to be generated. And there is usually a letter or an email or something attached to that that payroll change notice um to justify that increase above the inflation increase. Is that codified? You said there's usually So, oh, sorry. Is that is that codified? Is that something that always happens like shall be instead of maybe or is it typical or usually or [snorts] for the above? Yeah,

there's always a payroll change notice always. Um, and I guess I would say there is usually a a written some some sort of written document attached to that payroll notice or a a note included on the payroll change notice in the memo field. Um, I don't know if you can if city clerk summers can speak to anything additional or Yeah, there's a there's a box at the bottom of And we'll say there's always a reason.

Is it a hardship for the mayor to do a written performance evaluation for merit? Is there a reason not to do it?

I I think it was I think that the ch I think the change was made to offer flexibility. Um I don't believe we've we've all necessarily had written um documented evaluations. Um but we all have had um various verbal um u evaluations. So I think it was just it was just for flexibility. Um although if if there is something in this proposed um proposed uh document proposed [clears throat] policy that you as a council would would like to modify that can be done just like the the previous um the previous one. So if if you all as a council would prefer to not make that change, we could bring it forward without that change.

[clears throat] I don't want to get on your bad side. [laughter] Oh, no, not at not at all. Not at all. So I just I just want I mean because we we are suggesting a lot of changes and there have been a lot of um comments and uh so I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that that um we can that this item can move forward with with change changes in addition to the ones that we're suggesting or not making some of these suggestions.

Any further discussion? Council member Roberts. Um I do agree with the uh phrasing of may granted on the fact that it does allow for flex flexibility because I think it should be under the discretion of the supervisor or mayor to give that evaluation based on flexibility. You work closely with that individual. So you should know if it's necessary to do an evaluation or not. So in my opinion I think the the May is okay. I yield back. Any [clears throat] further discussion? Uh this is an action item. Is there anyone from the audience? Yes, please come.

Jackie Strader. First, I want to remind you that, and some of you are new to council, this proposal was first brought to council at what was supposed to be our previous mayor's last meeting right after the non-exempt employees contract was signed. So, just keep that in mind. So, I agree with the administration that exempt employees should receive some form of sick leave payout like the non-exempt employees. But I don't believe what is in front of you is appropriate. So, let's look at the data. Note that exe an exempt employee who is laid off after one year will receive 25% of their sick leave balance and non-exempt employees will receive zero regardless of their length of service. Also note that for death and disability, non-exempt employees only receive 25% of their sick leave balance if they have 10 years with Milton and exempt employees receive 100% after one year. With retirement, exempt employees receive 50% of their balance after one year and their retirement policy has no conditions. The way this is written, they could just say, "I'm retiring." the non-exempt employees receive verification from the state of Washington that they are collecting their state retirement. So now let's look at some examples. Two employees, both with 960 hours of sick leave, which is the maximum, and both have worked for the city for 14 years. One employee is exempt and earns the highest exempt salary of $179,885. Employee two is non-exempt and earns the highest non-exempt salary of 175,000. Employee one decides to retire and based

on this policy will will receive a 50% retirement sick leave cash out of $480 hours totaling 41,511.92. Employee two, a non-exempt employee, receives nothing because they are one year short of the 15-year sick leave or sick leave cash out requirement that's in their contract. Or instead of retiring, they've both been paid off. Employee 1 will receive a payout of $20,755 plus three months of severance, which is $44,000 for a total of $65,72645. Employee 2, the non-exempt employee, will receive nothing because they don't get sick leave payout if they're laid off and they don't get severance. So the math clearly shows this to be unequitable and you've provided no documentation to justify why the disparity exists. I respectfully request that you pass a policy that is the same as the non-exempt employees for their group. That would be fair. Uh is there anyone else from the audience? Yes, please come.

Jaclyn Whale in Milton, Washington. We all Well, for those of you who don't know me, I've been paying attention to city council since 1995. Uh got more involved early in the 2000s. Our community really appreciates the work of staff and the non-exempt employees. You are making decisions without a comparison as the prior speaker just demonstrated. How are you getting a vision, a picture of what is fair for everybody who works here? That's how you build morale. That's how you build future hope, truth, trust. So, I'm I'm really encouraging you to really get the data in front of you. And I hope that's the culture of this administration and this council that you don't make decisions based on lobby. Hey, they're in line. Well, yeah, I live in America, but do I live in Nevada or do I live in New Jersey? You build trust in the community when you make an informed decision. And I really would encourage you to help bolster the morale of everybody that you see a total picture of what's being offered as compensation to all of the employees and see a balanced picture. I'm up here saying it again and again. I appreciate our staff. They work under some tough situations, but you need to be fair. This is a tough conversation because we love our staff,

but you have to be business people. You have to manage our money smartly. We're counting on you for that. It's it's it's only what you have to do as the chief executive well, you're not chief executive officers, but you're the you're the legislative chiefs. As far as merit pay, thank you for making the distinction. Shall may Do you don't know the history of how many public records requests are done and when people look at what's there? Why did so and so get that bonus? Oh, I don't know. Box was checked. It should be a shell. There has to be a record. You're not going to be here forever. Neither is the mayor. There needs to be a record. Audits happen. They take a long time to get processed. But don't you want to know as a citizen that things were done right and that there was a documented trail of reasoning for it? So when I say to you, like I said in my email, get the data. Know where you stand. Who are we comparing to? Let's be fair. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Yes,

Susan Johnson. And I'm going to talk very calmly. I have faith in you all that you are doing your research. Um, and we don't have much to do with the unions and what the unions do. And it's not a council decision, I don't believe. Am I correct in that? when the union votes come. I'm just questioning. But I I agree that uh we have to look at our employees at all levels. But unfortunately in in our country, we do see the exempt employees getting much better benefits than the non-exempt. And so I I have faith in you and that maybe you want to table this or just put it the next time. I see a lot of validity in the exempt one. Um and data can be skewed. Data can be misinterpreted. Statistics are meant to lie. So, it's just being calm about it and trying to do the best and not putting fear into our non-exempt employees that the exempt are taking the city. I do not believe that was the intent of this proposal. Any uh further comment from the public? Michelle, do you have any uh any response to any of the questions

um or comments? I I think I think most of them have been focused on this the sick leave cash out. Um we've we we did compare with um some similarly sized cities and there were a couple that had sick leave cash out. They um they v they vary. Um but so I I I guess I guess I really don't have have a lot um to add there unless anyone has any specific questions or um proposed changes.

Any additional questions based on the public comment? I sorry I I guess I can just add that if um I did do a calculation if the sick leave was was cashed out at today's balances at today's rates at 25% um for all of the employees the total would would equal about 22,000 um that's for all employees at their balances today at their current rates at the 25%. I don't know if that figure helps a little.

Okay. Uh any additional discussion from council members? It's been uh it's been Oh, yes. Oh, sorry, Council Member Roberts. So based on public comment regarding the um the reviews and whatnot. So based on what Miss Whan was saying, I do agree with what she's saying just for the fact that we do we do have audits. We do have things of that excuse me, we do have things of that nature. So, we need to have a paper trail. And again, I think it can still be up to up to the uh supervisor supervisor under their discretion to have a evaluation when they feel it's necessary. But when there's merit increases of that sort, I think there needs to be that that paper trail. After second thought, after uh public comment, I yield back.

Okay. Do you do you wish to move to do something? I'm sorry. I I would like to table this conversation actually um to a further date to have additional information as they were suggesting additional data to make a sound decision regarding all this. Okay. So, I move to table this uh this action item. I'd second that.

Okay. It's been moved and seconded to table this item. Would moving it to a uh a uh study session? That's what that's the that's the meeting I was looking for. Would would you like to amend your uh motion to move it to a uh a study session for further? Uh yes, I would move to amend uh my movement to move this to a study session um for the future. Okay. Is that is that acceptable? Is that acceptable? Yes. Okay. Okay.

All right. Um, it's been moved and seconded to move this item to a future study session um by uh Council Member Roberts and seconded by Council Member Hall. Um, yes. Do are there any suggestions? Should do do I guess suggestions for what to bring back or are we just going to discuss what changes to be made in the future to bring it back? I guess [laughter] Uh yeah, we'll just discuss at the study session the changes that need to be made. Okay. Yes. Perfect. Okay. All right. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? All right. The item has been tabled. I'd just like to add a question to this and so forth. Is there additional information that the finance committee could review prior to our next study session just to get a better idea? Now, who are the members of the finance committee? Um, we have Council Member Cedar, Council Member Mounts, and Council Member Turnis. Um, that's actually, I think, a really good idea. Um, we are scheduled to have a a finance committee meeting um about a week from today or or next next Wednesday. Um, I think that would be a great I think that's a great suggestion.

Solve a few things. I don't know. Okay. Okay. Sorry to interrupt. I Okay. Now we're moving on to council reports. Um how about we start with Council Member Roberts tonight.

Uh yeah, I have some uh reports and some information. Um so at the PCRC, the Pierce County Regional Council, Ryan Melo, the Pierce County Exec, discussed the importance of the PIT or point in time count for Pierce County. And this is occurring January 29th through the 30th. And the reason and importance of the PIT count is to literally count and interview individuals experiencing homelessness. And this better provides resources and opportunities for homeless populations in Pierce County. So I encourage anybody that's available. Um so if you or somebody you know wants to volunteer, you can go to pierce countywah.gov gov and search for point in time count and sign up or you can email me directly um at my city mail. Um also too um the legislative session for Washington is currently occurring and there are quite a few little tidbits that uh do and potentially will affect the city um moving forward. So, there were a couple House bills that I just wanted to comment on, and these these are just interesting to me how they potentially would impact the citizens of Milton. Uh, for example, House Bill 2332 addresses driver privacy protection relating to license plate readers such as the flock cameras. So, I know we have that camera installed. So, I wanted to um understand whether that is a actual flock camera that we have. It is not. Okay, good. Because I did ask mayor about that and I just wanted to confirm that is the case. So that's that's good to hear. Um but this house bill uh 2332 basically is putting regulations on how they can use this data. So um it will be required for law enforcement agencies to maintain

data. Um and also they will have retention limits and they'll uh prohibit indefinite storage of non-evident vehicle data and ensure public transparenc public transparency through reporting on system usage and privacy safeguards. And there was a public hearing scheduled today actually this morning for this and I'm not sure how that uh that went. Um, also House Bill 2374, which regulates eass assisted bicycles. As I know, this has been a thorn in our side for quite a while here in this town. So, this House Bill 2374 basically um makes a differentiation between um ebikes and then e motorcycles. So, apparently there's not a true discrimination between e-motos and ebikes. And basically what this bill does, it's going to have a clear differentiation between those two. So, uh, regulations and laws can adhere to, um, ebikes and e-tos properly. As such, um, Senate Bill 5729, uh, that aims to encourage affordable housing construction by streamlining the permitting process. So through local government with no centralized state agencies directly implementing the change, cities, counties and other other uh planning um [clears throat] jurisdictions under the growth management act will handle the core implementation of this. Um so the streamlining process is obviously going to affect Milton um dealing with with permits and whatnot. So, I just wanted to provide counsel and the rest of the uh the folks, the public on some of these bills. And I do encourage everybody to um see what's going on basically with our our legislation right now at the uh Washington Hill. And

that's it. All right, Council Member Turnis. I attended the South King County Leadership Volunteer Recognition at the Federal Way Performing Arts on Thursday, January 15th. And being new to this governmental position, it was just interesting to go and be in a venue where there are other mayors, council members, and recognizing other um volunteers that are sewing into their communities and the things that they're stewarding like food banks and uh outreaches, etc. So, I was just really encouraged and they all spoke fondly of of Mayor White and the council. So, that was just it was just really encouraging to be there.

Thank you. U Council Member Mouse, [laughter] nothing to report at this time. Thank you, Council Member Hall.

Um there's still some concern down at the trail. I ran into a gentleman tonight um about the trees and whether it's safe to be down there. It's ongoing. Weather is not helping. Um but that's the third person that's approached me. So um maybe we need to be looking at those just to make sure everything's buttoned up and as much as we can. And I know you can't predict a tree that's going to fall, but I see several tonight that are questionable. Council member Wayland.

Oh, thank you. I do have a question for uh Mr. Madden. Okay. It has to do with uh dirty water, of which we've had an experience today. [clears throat] I had to use quite a bit of water from my house to flush my lines because every time I turned it on, I couldn't use the water. But I'm paying for that water that I'm running through my system. How do I how do I get recover my cost for that? One question. The other is in a situation like that, is there a a downline hydrant that can be used to open up and flush the system completely without it stressing um a homeowner and so forth for a day, mostly the daytoday uh with water issues. Now I've got filters in my refrigerator I got to replace. There's filters elsewhere in my house I have to replace only because I'm not trusting in them anymore with that amount of water went through that amount of dirty water. So, how do we just not make not make a residential customer pay for the water we had to dump? What what can be done in that? Is there specific areas in a hydrant line that the city can design or see? That's the one to go to, open that hydrant and get the most of the water out or so forth instead of going majority of the day with dirty water. And there isn't that much use on on 13th, but that's where I guess the the hydrant was identified

on 13th. And was that identified up near where the new house is where the house is being restructured [snorts] rebuilt?

No, I believe it was on uh the quarter of Taylor and 13th. Oh, no. Okay. Okay. There it was the hydrant in a little bit. Um we've got significant amount of dead ends in our system. So, I'll need to look at a a utility map to see if there's another area to flush and then uh we will take that question back regarding um regarding usage and credits uh back to leadership and I think that's a valid thing to discuss and I know you're doing the best you can to get rid of it as fast as you can and so forth but [clears throat] uh today was a little unusual that it was earlier in the day and late in afternoon, he had surges of dirty water.

Mhm. [snorts] As a matter of fact, it uh I think I took a dirty shower cuz I had no choice. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. I wasn't going to say anything. I'm sorry. [laughter] I said I wasn't going to say anything, but since you did. I mean, sometimes you turn the water on and you can't, you know, it looks great until you turn your back on it. Okay. I have I made a fool of myself right there. [laughter] No, just talking about it. It's

But the but theire public works is doing a great job a great job in the city. Thank you. Uh director reports u no comment tonight. Okay.

Uh we uh the only comment is is that we're currently looking at developing a CIP project for that storm discussion uh that has been brought up. Um thank you for coming and speaking to it again. Uh that event that occurred and flooded out um those those homes on that storm line and it was mostly in the street but homes were impacted. that was an over a hundred-year event. So that was beyond anything that you know a standard engineer would design for. Um and so we are looking at how we can improve. Um and we'll continue to talk about the oil and water separator and uh that current system looks more like a retention pond meant to retain and distribute the water for you know short-term uh solutions rather than a long-term detention pond. And so we'll need to look back at the the documents, but we are currently reviewing that and we're forming up a CIP project that will be coming forward uh in our next council adopted CIP program.

Thank you. And uh no other no other uh items to discuss today. Thank you. All right. Thank you. No comments,

Chief. Just a quick update on our murder investigation. Uh the individual was found mentally competent. So, we continue to have our murder investigation ongoing and uh we anticipate that that'll end up going to court in the near future, but just wanted to let you know that that had been done. Also, a little bit of an update on our camera program. Uh fines generated so far is $163,540. infractions issued. Currently, the count uh as of uh January 13th was 5,239. Out of those infractions issued, 4,813 had been processed. Uh and then we started looking doing a deeper dive at the total uh speed violations. And what we found is 6 to 10 mi over the over um was responsible for 89% of the uh speed violations. Uh 404 violations were 11 to 15 m over uh the uh posted speed limit and that was 9%. 16 to 20 m an hour there were 58 of those individuals and that was accountable for 1.3%. And then 21 plus that was 0.5 and there were 22 of those violations issued. And then uh other uh violations that we had in the um the uh park zone or the uh actual school zone. 6 to 10 miles over was 354 violations and that was accounted for 83% in the school zone. 11 to 15% um that was 65 violations that accounted for 15.3%. 16 to 20 miles hour in the school zone that accounted for seven and there was

uh that percentage was 1.6. Then on the red light violations we had 303 and out of the total violations the red light cameras uh accounted only for 5.8%. uh and we did a deep dive uh and uh provided some information to King Five. I don't know if anybody saw that data on King Five, but um so anyways, just wanted to give you an update on the camera systems and they continue to work and as I always say, if you see something, say something because crime continues. So,

thank you, Chief. And um I would like to thank you uh uh everyone watching and and all uh uh council members and people in the audience for uh for uh putting up with my uh with my errors as I learn this uh I learned this job. I think I did a little better than last time. Hopefully uh hopefully that's evident. U but uh I'll get it down. I promise. [laughter]

But um the only thing I have is just to remind the public that we have a vacant position five and that uh anyone that's interested in applying for that position that application needs to be in by I believe 900 a.m. on the 27th. That's a t next week Tuesday. So, um if you have uh uh any inkling uh about wanting to be a city councilman in uh uh in your city, please do uh please do apply. The information uh is uh and the application is available on a link on our homes uh homepage on the website. And uh with that, unless there's uh any else to discuss, this meeting is adjourned.