City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the Pierce County Council. Today is 05/12/2026. The time is 3PM. If the clerk could please call the roll.

Council member Morrell?

Here.

Council member Herrera?

Here.

Council member Kruger? Here. Council member Ayala? Here. Council member Yombe?

Here.

Council member Denson? Here. Council member Hitchin?

Here. We have seven members present? With seven members, we do have a quorum. Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. In a moment, I'm gonna ask the vice chair to lead us in the pledge of allegiance and read a land acknowledgment. Following the pledge, I will ask that you remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of the men and women serving overseas in our military. Please rise if you're able for the pledge of allegiance.

I. We acknowledge that we are on the traditional homelands of the Coast Salish tribes. Coast Salish people have lived on and steward these lands since time immemorial and continue to do so today. We recognize that this land acknowledgment is one small step towards true allyship, and we commit to the uplifting voices, experiences, and histories of the indigenous people of this land.

Thank you, vice chair. That brings us to item four, which is approval of our agenda. Is there any objection to approving our agenda today? It's very light. Seeing no objection, we'll consider the agenda approved. On today's council agenda, there'll be two opportunities. Again, I said a light agenda. Usually, there's more. But two opportunities for public comment. On the consent agenda, you may provide comments on any final action item that does not include items that are placed on the consent agenda for introduction or scheduling.

And then under section 10, we will go to community forum. There's literally no business before us other than a proclamation this afternoon that we're excited about. But there are no ordinances and no resolutions. So we will skip right to community forum, and I will review those rules once we get there. So we are now at section five, which is our consent agenda. The consent agenda as includes one set of minutes and two appointment resolutions. Is there any objections or any item needs to be pulled from a consent agenda? Seeing no one indicating any, I'm gonna go to the vice chair for a motion.

Sure. I move to approve the consent agenda as presented.

It's been moved and seconded. I would love to invite I saw Nicole Weber who is seeking appointment on the South Hill Community resident or being the South Hill Community Representative on the Thunfield Advisory Commission. If you'd like to turn on your camera, unmute yourself if you want, and introduce yourself, Nicole, We would love to learn a little bit about you. Hi. We can. Thank you

so much for having me, chem counsel. My name is Nicole Weber. I am currently the chair of the South Hill Sun South Hill land use committee, and I have been a part of the Thunfield master plans and updates for quite some time because of being on that. But I made a request of the committee and had some interviews, and I am interested in being a part of that for South Hill and appreciate your support in that.

Well, thank you very much for saying yes to additional organization. We always appreciate people. Are there any questions for Nicole? And we had another person, Kamal Sadu, which I do not see. They're joining online right now. Kamal, we're gonna move you to a panelist. Maybe. There we are. Good day, Kamal. If you'd like to and I'm not sure that I'm saying your name correctly, but if you'd wanna unmute and then you can turn your camera on too, I believe, if you want and introduce yourself. Hello.

Hi. Sorry, I had received a PDF for this, and for some reason I couldn't click that link, but I was able to type it in.

Well, thank you for the perseverance on that. If you'd like to just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about why you want to be on the Agricultural Advisory Commission.

So, my name is Kamal Sidhu. I am one of the owners of Sidhu Farms in Puyallup. We grow berries and pumpkins and produce in the Puyallup Valley, and we've been doing so for a little over twenty five years now. So we're long standing member of the agricultural community, and I think it would be important on my part to maybe embark impart some of my knowledge as it's required for, you know, what whatever's needed of me, I'd like to I'd like to help the agricultural community in in this area.

Well, thank you very much for saying yes and taking some of your precious time and helping advise both the council and the executive and department staff on on all things farming. Your voice will be invaluable as part of the board. Are there any questions for okay. I'm not seeing any. So thank you for joining us. We're gonna do a public hearing, and then we're gonna vote. And I have a feeling that you both will be appointed. It's just a it's a pretty good feeling. So thank you for saying yes. So I'm going to ask that if there's anyone who wants to provide comment on our consent agenda, please come to the podium.

Not seeing anyone in chambers because I think they're all here for our proclamation which is fabulous, so we'll go online.

Yes madam chair. For any members of the public who wish to provide comment on any final action items, press the raise hand icon on zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad. And madam chair, I see no hands.

With no hands raised, I'm gonna go to council member Morrell first. If you have additional comments.

Yeah. Thank you, madam chair. I just like to say thank you to both these volunteers. I've known Nicole for quite a long time, very active in the South Hill area and I appreciate her work on multiple committees. And then Kamal, welcome.

Your farm is in my district. Your family's farm is in my district and I know that not only what you do as far as agriculture, you also do a lot of agri entertainment down there too. And I appreciate the opportunities that you give the community to come out to the farm and enjoy the activities out there. So thank you. Thank you family for that work too.

Thank you for the comments. We're gonna go to council vice chair Herrera.

I'd just echo what council member Morrell just said to both you and appreciate Nicole, all your work you've done and we are happy to have you on the team if we vote you in. Kamal, again, it's good to have someone new on there with a new perspective and we look forward to you for your perspective on that. So thank you.

Thank you. We're gonna go to council member Yombe.

I wanna thank everybody, all the volunteers who are, you know, showing up for our advisory boards and and commissions. The work that is done there is really important as, you know, Nicole, you know. And Kamal, I wanna say that your I think it's your dad chat. Yeah. Is is a, you know, icon and community booster.

And just I I have been very honored to be able to spend time listening to him. And so I'm excited that there will be representation from the Sidhu family on the advisory commissions and boards. And just put a plug in the fall, look out for Sudhoo Farms little slides and they have corn mazes and great things and it was a really fun thing. You know, check it out even though it's out in Councilmember Morell's district, know, I'll let that stop you from going out there. But it's great. Oh, and they they do have some land in in my district too, District 5. So yeah. Appreciate it.

Thank you.

We'll go to Councilmember Kruber.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Don't know if there's a whole lot more to say, but I'll just say with Ms. Nicole and how grateful I am that you are stepping up to do this again. I can always count on you when there's openings that you like to stay involved and active on what's happening. And Mr. Kwol, I have to say my husband's very jealous of the fields when we drive by, when you've plowed, and it's all perfect. And it's just it's got a great picture, and I'll just say the Ag Commission is one of my favorites. So I'll be interested in the input that you have put to give. It's a great group, and I'm sure that you will enjoy that. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you. At this time, I'd like to ask the clerk to call the roll on the approval of the consent agenda as presented. Councilmember Denson?

Aye. Council member Morell?

Aye.

Council member Herrera?

Aye.

Council member Cooper? Aye. Council member Ayala?

Aye.

Council member Yombe?

Aye. Council member Hitchin? Aye. You have seven ayes and zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Congratulations, Kamal and Nicole, and I know our department staff will be reaching out. Thank you for your service. Gotta turn some pages. So we now have section six, which is messages from the executive or other elected officials. The executive transmitted the following ordinances, which were approved and signed on 05/11/2026.

Ordinance o twenty twenty six dash five one one s, which is an ordinance amending chapter 8.88 of the Pierce County code watercraft regulations. Congratulations, councilmember. We got it over the finish line. And the second one is ordinance o twenty twenty six dash five one two, which was revising the qualifications for executive department appointed directors. So thank you to everybody involved there.

We are now at section seven, which is proclamations, recognitions, and awards. Our proclamation today is the council and executive designating May 2026 as wildfire awareness and Prevention Month in Pierce County. And I'd like to welcome and invite Executive Director for the Conservation District, Dana Cogan, the Deputy Fire Marshal, Greg Gentle, Katie Arthur from one of our amazing outreach coordinators for DEM, and Vivian Koop, who works within the Emergency Management in coordinating all things response. Actually, just this coordinator. Don't know what you coordinate, but maybe you'll let us know. We're gonna have anyone else but the four of you to the podium as Councilmember Cooper reads this into the record.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I think this might be in conjunction with Councilmember Morale because we have he's had the fire, but I've got a lot of the wood. So this is all very pertinent these days. So we have a proclamation of the Pierce County Council Executive designating May 2026 as Wildfire Awareness and Prevention Month in Pierce County, Washington. Whereas wildfires increasingly pose a threat to homes and communities throughout Washington State as more people are moving into the wildland areas.

And whereas, the Washington State Department of Ecology, acting under the authority of RCW 43.83B405, issued a statewide drought emergency declaration on 04/08/2026, due to record low mountain snowpack and exceptionally warm winter. And whereas approximately 88% of wildfires are caused by human activity, often stemming from preventable actions like unattended campfires, equipment sparks, and the use of fireworks in high risk areas. And whereas, the historical impact of fires, like the twenty twenty Sumner grade fire, which burned seven fifty nine acres and forced the evacuation of thousands, serves as a vital reminder of the need for community wide vigilance. And whereas, local, state, and federal agencies work together in Pierce County to ensure communities are prepared and resilient to wildfire. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed on this May 2026 by the Pierce County Council and the executive, that May 2026 is hereby recognized as Wildfire Awareness Month in Pierce County, Washington.

Be it further proclaimed that all community members are encouraged to take the following preventive measures during this high risk 2026 season. One, utilize local resources. Schedule a free home ignition zone assessment or forest health consultation through the Pierce Conservation District. Recreate responsibly. Refrain from using fireworks, exploding targets, or outdoor pyrotechnics in or near dry vegetation.

And always ensure campfires are dead out and cool to the touch before leaving. Three, maintain equipment. Avoid parking vehicles on dry grass. Ensure trailer chains aren't dragging on the pavement, which can create sparks. And use spark arresters on all gas powered tools. Four, harden your home. Use metal mesh that is one eighth inch or finer to cover all attic and crawl space vents to prevent embers from entering your home. Five, create defensible space. Maintain a non combustible zone zero to five feet from your home's perimeter by removing dead leaves, pine needles and mulch. Six, register for alerts.

Ensure every household member is signed up for PC alert by texting p c a l e r t to 888777 to receive immediate evacuation notifications. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you. Let's give them a hand. So director Coggin, do you wanna start? Or not Director Cogan, but introduce yourself for the record so we know who you are.

Certainly. My name is James Moore. I'm with Pierce Conservation District. I'm their climate resilience manager. I work with several agencies around Pierce County regarding wildfire home hardening, wildfire ready neighbors visits, and as well as the Firewise program.

That is more of a community program versus the singular home visits. I just want to say thank you all for supporting this proclamation. We have made a good amount of progress to say the least this past year. I'd like to give a special shout out to the McKenna Forest Reserve down between Roy and Eatonville. They're our newest Firewise addition and that community has already worked towards hardening their homes as well as making their streets safer for evacuation and overall a well rounded emergency plan is for me.

Other than that, I'd just like to say that we have a lot of demonstrations, workshops, council talks coming up in May. Check the Pierce Conservation District website. And of course, a special thanks to our friends at the Department of Natural Resources, Pierce Emergency Management, and of course Pierce County as well. So thank you all very much.

Thank you very much. Greg, would you like to oh, no.

Go ahead. We're gonna switch it up on you. Okay. I don't know why you didn't recognize me in the form of James. We we look so similar. So Dana Coggin. I'm the executive director of the Pierce Conservation District. Just wanna say thank you all very much. I know that fire is maybe not what is on all of our minds at this point in time because it doesn't look like there's maybe lots of fuels out there. But if you look at a lot of the beautiful prairies and everything that's happening right now, one of the things that is recognizable to some of us who put our glasses on and look at what's happening out there is that there are a lot of fuels that are available out in our areas right now.

As was stated in proclamation, thank you very much for for pointing out that it is our due diligence as community members to make sure that we are ready for the next fire because we know it is coming. 2020 was not that long ago, and many of us have the same memories of being here for that time. I know I was actually called in to help my nephew and his wife's family evacuate from their home during the Sumner grade fire. So definitely personal opportunities for us to make changes, but also remember what we have seen in the past and recognize that it takes each and every one of us to prevent the next forest fire as Smokey the Bear says. So thank you all very much for your work in this.

Definitely reach out to the Conservation District. We are a non regulatory process. If you call us, we will come out and we will look at your property and help you be ready for the next fire. Thank you.

Thank you.

On the stand in for fire marshal Rice, my name is Greg Gentile. I'm a deputy fire marshal at Pierce County. I'm one of the four investigators that, serve Pierce County. Wildfire is something that, speaks to my heart coming from Southern California over a decade ago, so very familiar with it. And, you know, we've been in a drought up here in Western Washington, significant drought in the last four years. So the fuels that were alluded to, light fuels, moderate fuels, are becoming more and more significant. So I can answer any questions anybody might have, but we really appreciate the proclamation. That's nothing that I can't add to. Beautifully done. And so we'll stand on that, but we look forward to working in partnership with the community, DEM, and the Conservation District.

Can you remind us what happens on June 1?

June 1 is our first phase burn ban, our stage one burn ban. So what that limits is basically any outdoor burning regarding vegetation. Weed burning is something I always try to educate people on usually after the fact as a fire investigator, be but people can be far removed from their residence or be it their garage conducting weed burning activities, and it'll actually migrate underground. So risks that they don't know that are out there and things that we definitely need to solve through public education, and today is a great step towards that.

Thank you very much. Kabe? Great.

May I please have the PC alert slide back up, if that's possible? Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you for recognizing wildfire awareness today. While many people think of wildfire as an Eastern Washington issue, wildfire is a very real risk for us here in Western Washington.

The good news is that preparedness makes a difference. One of the easiest steps that we have available for people living and working and playing in Pierce County is signing up for PC Alert. It is our free emergency notification service. When you sign up online, you're able to put in your address of any of those locations where you live, work, or play to receive geo specific notifications around those addresses. You can decide if you want to be alerted either by email, text message, phone call on your cell phone, and yes, even to landlines.

Let's see, so Pierce County spearheaded Department of Emergency Management with partner agencies' evacuation language. And that goes as be ready, be set, go now. That same language has now been adapted by 13 surrounding counties, so we're all working together to say the same thing so that there is not confusion when people receive evacuation notifications. In conjunction with signing up for emergency alerts, this is also a reminder to pack a go kit so that when you do receive alerts, you're ready to go. Thank you.

Thank you. And Vivian?

Thank you all for your

proclamation today. My name Vivian. I'm a hazard mitigation planner. So all I do is to try to reduce long term risk to hazards, like wildfires. And I'll just leave the community with this reminder that hazards are natural, disasters aren't. There's a lot of really impactful small things we can do to reduce risk to them, like everybody's talked about today. So thank you.

Thank you very much. I'm going to look to see if my colleagues have any questions or comments. We'll start with Vice Chair Herrera.

Thank you, Chair. Appreciate the council bringing this up. It's important. Know, Ms. Kogan was talking about how everything is fuel. I remember using this excuse of when I was a drill sergeant and I would inspect the barracks and I'd find dust and I'd tell the privates that that is a fire hazard because that's fuel and they'd get in trouble. Well, anyways. Yeah, everything is fuel. So, and we have high risks. I'm also a kid of the 70s and 80s, and I remember the public education of Smokey the Bear, and I remember I just would listen to all those things.

I don't know if the county has their own Smokey the Bear. I don't know if we could have Sparky the Raccoon, Amber the Owl, Sizzle the Squirrel, or Flame the Fox. I mean, I think people would listen more than council members doing a proclamation or some other adult. I don't know. I'm just saying. But I think it's Basquatch. Yeah, well, yeah. He's used a lot in this area. But, well, it's real important stuff to continue the education. And there's new ears hearing about it, and we have more risks more than we did a few years ago. And it's a good thing. So thank you, Chair.

Thank you for the comments and the potential costume suggestions that I heard there. We will go to Councilmember Denson.

Well, the District 7 office, in addition to Sasquatch, does have a raccoon costume. That could be a winner. So great ideas. I do think getting the word out in a fun way is important in a way that people remember. I just want to thank you all for your good work.

In my area, we have a lot of trees, and we have a lot of peninsulas, and we have areas where there's one way in. And it's very difficult for people to get out in the event of an emergency. I know Katie's been out a lot talking to the community, and Katie's staff as well. And I know Ken Rice has been out talking to the Key Peninsula community. I want to just mention that this year this isn't just for District 7, but throughout Pierce County Ken and his team have developed signs to be put on all of the firework stands now when they go and inspect and give their licenses.

It's going to be very clear the kind of fireworks that are allowed and not allowed, the dates and hours that discharge is allowed. So they're doing a lot of education with the firework stands. But he's also said that he's available and prepared to do enforcement as well. Education first, but definitely prepared to do enforcement. And we do have fines around that, and it is serious. And we've had young people get killed with fireworks. We've had homes burned down with fireworks. So we have to make sure that we're being good neighbors and protecting each other and each other's property. So we really appreciate the fire marshal working on this. This.

And I know you all take it very seriously. And of course, the Conservation District. I've worked with James with a number of neighborhoods, and probably need to get you connected with a few more that have gotten engaged with DEM, with Katie, in public safety, particularly around issues like this. So they're excited and they want things they can do. And like Ms. Coggins said, especially in the county, it takes the neighborhoods, it takes the communities coming together and working together. And we're here to support as much as we can, but we really need their partnership as well. So thank you all for your good work.

Thank you for your comments. Looking to this side of the room. Okay. Councilmember Morell.

Thank you, madam chair. Thanks for everyone coming out to speak about this important proclamation in my area. It's course Central Pierce, East Pierce. And then I got Greenwater Fire District, Crystal Mountain Fire District who all engage in the Firewise program and then DEM for their work. And then Ken Liftmore Rice from the fire marshals department, that's an inside joke.

He does a great job and, you know, he's been posting more than just fireworks things on doors lately. So I know I know he's been busy. So but thank you for keeping a diligent lookout for everything and making everyone aware that fire is no longer a rural issue. It is a suburban urban issue. And so we'll just continue to work towards making sure everyone understands it, educating everyone, but also understanding the impact that it has on both humans and animals out there.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you for the comments and thank you to my colleagues for the work that I know each of you do in your communities to help elevate and educate and spread the word, especially as we move into firework season. But it really is year round that the potential impacts of wildfires exist. So we have a lot of beautiful green stuff that doesn't stay green year round, and so fire is always a danger. So appreciate spending some time on this. We're gonna take a picture. And council member, do we wanna be at the die which is working better?

So since we couldn't have, mister Rice with us in person, we have his photo with us. So we're gonna come down, if you don't mind, in front of the dice, we'll take take a photo. Make sure we get hit.

Okay,

so we do not have any business under sections eight or nine. So that brings us to community forum. During community forum, members of the public are provided opportunity to address the council on any topic of interest or significance to Pierce County government that did not appear on the agenda for final action. There is a three minute limits, and you are welcome to state your name if you'd like it on the record. We'll start in Chambers. Does anyone in Chambers have anything for community forum? Is this a nose goes? Is that what we're trying to indicate? Okay. Thanks, Ryan. And we will go online.

Yes, madam chair. For any members of the public who wish to provide comment, press the raise hand icon on Zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad. And Madam Chair, at this time looks like we have one hand. Name is Ellie Claus. Please state your name for the record. You have three minutes.

Hello. This is Ellie Klaus McGahn, and I'm sorry that I'm not there in person to support the wild wildfire proclamation. I just wanted to share that as chair of the Alliance for Sustainable Climate Action, We held a wildfire workshop on Friday to help council members and their staff figure out more on how to share protecting their communities from wildfire, what's what's needed in that. And it was a very successful workshop. And I'd also like to add that, the Department of Emergency Management has been working on, for at least a year now, a community wildfire preparedness plan, and that is coming to a conclusion.

So that's that's been on top of my mind. I've been engaged in that as well. I'm really pleased that that you did this proclamation, included all the information, and that it's getting out to the community. Wildfire is a risk, and it's just nice to see so many working together on that same effort. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

And Madam Chair, I see no other hands.

With no other hands raised, I'm gonna close community forum and bring it back before the council under section 11. Is other business? Is there any other business from council members? Well, I will just add gratitude for attendance and participation in my in district last week on Thursday. I thought it was a great meeting.

It was exciting and fun to celebrate the work of both our Youth Action Board and our department staff that worked so hard to succeed in this youth demonstration project that is going to bring in continued funding to the county to really work on youth homelessness, along with all the other information. So thank you for coming to Parkland for a little while. Appreciate that. Seeing no other business before us, we are adjourned. Thank you, everybody.