Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'm going to call to order the Pierce County Council. Today is August 25th, 2026. The time is 3 p.m. If the clerk could call the roll.

She is joining online, but I do not see her yet. Council Member Iombe? Here.

I am here. You have six members present. So we have six members present, which is a quorum. Thank you all for joining us today. In a moment, I'm going to ask the Vice Chair to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and read a land acknowledgement. Following the pledge, I'll ask that you remain standing in a moment of silence to honor the men and women serving overseas in our military. If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Herrera.

We acknowledge 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 this land acknowledgement is one small step towards true allyship and we commit to the uplifting the voices, the experiences and histories of the indigenous people of this land.

Thank you, Vice Chair, and for the record, Council Member Ayala has now joined us online. Thank you. We are at the approval of our agenda. Are there any objections to approving our agenda as presented this afternoon? Seeing none, our agenda is approved. On today's council agenda, there'll be multiple opportunities for public comments on the consent agenda. You may provide comments on any final action item. This does not include items that are placed on the agenda for scheduling. Then during section eight and nine of the agenda, we'll take public comment for each ordinance and resolution indivi

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not going to ask to move it, but I do want to make a statement regarding the food grant from World Wildlife Fund.

Is that permissible? I guess my question for clarification is you're going to vote on it, though, because a consent agenda requires seven votes.

I understand that, but I'm going to vote on it, but I have an objection to it that I wanted to make public on it, but I don't know if you'll allow that.

Yeah, it might be easier just to pull it in that way, because if you're going to object to it, but vote yes, I feel like that's confusing.

Well, it is confusing, but I'm looking at time-wise, and I understand that whether or not I pull it or not, it's going to pass. But I just wanted to be able to voice my objection, or perhaps I can do that in open public comment.

or after I'll say are there any further comments you could put it there. So I'll go that route. Okay, so we aren't pulling any of the items. So, but we have five different appointments. So I am not seeing any of these individuals in our chambers. So if you are here to be appointed to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission, Transportation Advisory Committee, the Housing Authority or the Veterans Board, please raise your hand and zoom. Okay, so now I'm looking for people. Claire, you are being appointed to the transportation advisory. If you'd like to unmute yourself and you

Thank you. We also have Patrick who's being appointed to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Like to introduce yourself and say why you'd like to serve.

Thank you very much. Okay, and Vice Chair, I skipped a step. I needed to look to you for a motion, which I think is what you were trying to do, and then I just went on looking for appointees.

Semper Cumbi. Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda as presented.

It's been moved and seconded that we approve the consent agenda as presented. Were there any other appointees that snuck in as we were going back in time and doing the thing I was supposed to do? Not seeing any. So I'm going to open this up for public comment. Again, there's no members of the public in chambers. If anyone would like to actually, Ms. Price, I'm just going to turn it over to you to do the Zoom thing.

And I'm not seeing any hands at this time. Seeing no hands raised, I'm going to close public comment, bring it back before the council. And is there any other discussion on the consent agenda? I already know I'm going to Council Member Krueger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have some issues with taking money from World Wildlife Fund through EPA. And, you know, the government should be focusing on protecting land, waters, and farmers and the infrastructure that markets need to produce a reliable food system and not on managing what people do with food in their homes. This behavioral change or remediation, I think, goes beyond the scope of what we as a government should be doing for people in their homes. Our food system right now in Washington state and nationally is being, I want to say, predatory on farms where we have the cattle i

Okay, thank you for your comments. Any other comments on the consent agenda? Seeing none, I'm going to ask the Clerk to call the roll on the approval of the consent agenda.

Aye. Council Member Hitchen? Aye. You have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to item number six, which is messages from the executive. We have the executive transmitted the following ordinances that were approved and signed on August 13th, 2026. Ordinance O2026-539, establishing a prohibition on the use of compression brakes along the Ording-Capausen Highway East. Congratulations, Council Member Rau. Ordinance O2026-540S, which is ratifying a 2026-28 collective bargaining agreement reached with the Prosecuting Attorneys Associat

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move for approval R2026-179.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. And this afternoon, we have our Chief Counsel, Susan Long, to brief us on this item.

Thank you miss long checking to see if there's any questions before we take up the amendment. And Council Member Morrell, I was going to bring the amendment motion to you, giving you advance warning. Not seeing any questions. Council Member Morrell?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move Council Amendment Number 1 to R2026-179.

It's been moved and seconded. Ms. Long, can you help us understand what this one does?

Not seeing any comments. All those in favor of adopting council amendment number one, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. So we now have R2026-179 as amended before us. Any further questions or comments? Not seeing any. So we'll open this up for public comment. There is no member of the public in chambers. So Ms. Price will go to you.

There are no hands at this time, Madam Chair. With no hands raised, we'll close public comment, bring it back before the council. Is there any further discussion? Council Member Morrell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to thank staff for bringing this forward. This has been an ongoing challenge. You know, we did the City of Roy, I think, a year, two years ago, and had multiple challenges there. This is the issue with small towns. I know a lot of you don't have small towns. Um, usually when there's a vacancy, you get multiple, multiple applications. In this case, uh, when your town's only 351 people, 30% of it is an RV park. Um, you know it is a challenge to get people to get engaged and involved fortunately they've been able to have four council members including the may

Not seeing any, so I'm going to ask the clerk to call the roll on the approval of our 2026-179 as amended.

You have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to ordinance. The first ordinance is O2026-553. Councilmember Krueger, to you for a motion.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to move proposal O2026-553 for approval.

Thank you. Are there any questions on this particular item? We are all going to be experts on lake management district. So at this time, I'd like to invite members of the public to provide public comment on ordinance 2026-553. Is there anyone in chambers that wanted to address the council on this one? Not seeing any, Ms. Price will go online.

With no other hands raised, I'll close public comment. And Ms. Fredhunt, can you address Ms. Giddings' question in case anyone else was curious?

thank you appreciate that is there any other comments from council members before we take this vote we're going to go to council member krueger thank you madam chair and thank you miss giddings for your support of this i can't believe it's this far past when we were dealing with this already and i am just very grateful for all the work that department staff has done thank you miss red hunt and all of the support that the council has given it was pretty um lighthearted when we had the picnic out in Enchanted Island with all the members there, and everyone was very pleased, and it was a good day

Thank you. Any further discussion on this? I too will add my gratitude to the department staff and then our council staff and then also elections that helped us manage the actual ballots this time so that we weren't counting ballots. That's not our skill set, though we did a great job the last time because it was the first time, but we figured out a better way and went to the experts. So before us is the approval of O2026-553 if the clerk could call the roll.

Council Member Hitchen? Aye. With seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. One more piece of legislation to go, and then we'll be official. Item number two is Ordinance 2026-545. Vice Chair Herrera, we're going to you for a motion.

Chair, I move proposal number 02026-545 for approval. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. And this long you'll be briefing us on this item.

Thank you. Ms. Murray, anything you want to add or just here for questions? Okay. Well, let's see if there's any questions.

Council Member Murrell. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I'll address this to legal. This doesn't kind of, it still allows transparency for the public to see these claims.

Okay, so we're not trying to kind of hide anything. It doesn't affect that at all. Okay, good. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Any additional questions or comments before we open this up for public hearing? not seeing any so at this time i'll invite members of the public to provide comment on proposal 02026 545 you have up to three minutes is there anyone in chambers not seeing anyone miss price will go to you for any member of the public that would wish to provide comment on proposal number 02026 545 you can press the raise hand icon on zoom or star 9 on your telephone keypad I'm not seeing any hands at this time, Madam Chair. With no hands raised, we'll close public comment, bring it back before the counc

Aye. Council Member Hitchen. Aye. Give seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to proposal number O2026-547. Council Member Denson for a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number O2026-547.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. And with us today, we have our principal policy analyst, Paul Boki, to brief us on this item. Mr. Boki.

Thank you. Ms. Arnold, anything unique or special about this particular agreement? No. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Any additional questions from my colleagues? Not seeing any, I'm going to open this up for public comment on Ordinance 2020, I lost the number, 2026-547. Is there anyone in chambers that would like to address the council on this item? Not seeing anyone stand up, we'll go online.

I'm not seeing any hands at this time, Madam Chair.

Seeing none, I'm going to ask the Clerk to call the roll on the adoption of O2026-547.

Aye. Council Member Hitchen? Aye. You have seven ayes and zero nays. With seven ayes and zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to proposal O2026-548. Council Member Denson for a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number O2026-548. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. And Mr. Boki, you're briefing on this one as well.

thank you are there um any questions from committee members or council members miss arnold i think um one question that i have is is this the last sheriff's office contract are we done

Okay, we're getting close. Thank you. So I'm going to go ahead. I'm not seeing any other indications with questions or comments. So I'm going to go ahead and open this up for public comment. If anyone would like to address the council on Proposal O2026-548, please come to the podium.

Seeing none, I'd like to ask the Clerk to call the roll on the approval of O2026-548.

Council Member Hitchen. Aye. You have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to item number five. We now have proposal O2026-549 before us. Council Member Denson for a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number O2026-549.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. And Mr. Boki is back to do this one as well.

Ms. Cavanaugh, are you leading this one? Anything you want to add to this proposal? Okay. Well, then I'm going to open this up for public comment at this time. If anyone would like to provide comment on ordinance 2026-549, please come to the podium. Not seeing anyone jump up, so we'll go online. Miss price.

And I'm not seeing any hands at this time with no hands raised. We'll close public comment. Bring it back before the council. Is there any further discussion? Not seeing any, I'm going to ask the clerk to call the roll on the approval of O2026-549. Council Member Denson?

Aye. Council Member Hitchen? Aye. We have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes, zero nays, the motion is adopted. We now have proposal O2026-550. Council Member Denson for motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number 02026-550. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

not seeing any so at this time i'd like to open this up for public comment uh on proposal 02026-550 if anyone in chambers would like to provide comment not seeing anyone ms price will go online for anyone liking to that would wish to provide public comment on proposal number 02026-550 you can press the raise hand icon in zoom or star 9 on your telephone keypad

No hands raised. We'll close the public comment. Bring it back before the council. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, I'm going to ask the clerk to call the roll on the adoption of O2026-550.

Aye. You have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes and zero nays, the motion is adopted. We are at item number seven, which is proposal O2026-551. Council Member Denson for a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number O2026-551.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

This was an interesting read as you were looking through all the different appendices, just the nuance between the different bargains and yet there was definitely a similar flavor to them all. Not seeing any other questions come up, so we'll open this up for public comment. If anyone would like to provide comment on Ordinance 2026-551, please come to the podium. not seeing anyone stand up so miss price will go to you for anyone wishing to provide comment on proposal number 02026 desk 551 you can press the raise hand icon on zoom or star 9 on your telephone keypad i'm not seeing any hands at th

Aye. We have seven ayes and zero nays. With seven ayes and zero nays, the motion is adopted. Thank you. We are now at item number eight, which is proposal O2026-557. Council Member Ayal, I'm going to you for a motion.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record?

Thank you. This afternoon we have Mr. Mike Krueger, Principal Policy Analyst, to brief us on this item. And I thought I turned your mic on, but I actually did not. There.

Thank you. We will see if there are questions from council members.

Council Member Morrell. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Krueger, how long have you worked for the County Council? I think 18 years. In your 18 years, have you ever heard of an application, a permit being requested for a hyperscale data center in Pierce County? No. Okay. Is there anyone in public works other than the director here that can answer questions?

I don't see Tanner. Director, I'm not seeing Tanner, so I don't... I'm not seeing others that I would call on.

Thank you. You're probably... experienced to step in for tanner so my question to you is in your knowledge has there any permit application for a hyperscale data center been requested while you've been here uh councilmember not to my knowledge okay and you and as Councilmember, or excuse me, I lowered your status. As Mr. Krueger indicated, you're in the process of developing criteria code regulations for data centers right now, right?

Not seeing any, so at this time, I'm gonna go ahead. I would like to open up for public comment in case anybody caught this being on an agenda. We will have a public hearing that's been set, but just in case, because the internet's amazing at how quickly you can find out information. So does anyone object to me doing this, just in case anybody's here? Okay, so we'll start in chambers. Is anyone here to address the council on ordinance 2026-557? Nope, we'll go online.

Would you like to put your name on the record? We all know who you are, but just formally. I think he hung up.

No, you were hearing correctly, and it does say HP, and we knew it was you, but.

No other hands raised. I'll close public comments, bring it back before the council and see if there's any further discussion on this item. Council Member Morrell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to ask permission from you to read from a couple of articles. about data centers because I think we're only getting one side of the story here. And this is my concern about running an emergency ordinance on this. But anyway, The Puget Sound Business Journal ran a very lengthy good article about power dynamics in a small town. The backlash against data centers have been a public relation nightmare for operators and developers nationwide. But in one central Washington town, residents have welcomed these facilities. Nick Passion, who wrote this article on July 9t

Thank you, Chair. I agree with a lot of, Council Member Morrell, he brought up a lot of good points. One of them is, you know, any type of development moratorium on private business is something to really take a hard look at. Some people would say that government doing that is kind of like a king thing, you know. When you put a moratorium on private business, it's kind of the ultimate, move of power to limit things. But with that, You know, and also the state of Washington, just not recently, I mean, they had huge tax incentives to bring data centers to Washington state. I think it's been seve

okay I appreciate all the comments being made and I'll say doing a moratoria at this point is moot in the sense that there is nothing in in the queue but also that's now and there could be something next week and if not then it doesn't matter that there's a moratoria if there's not going to be anything that is going going to be filed and I put a lot of thought into this and seeing what has been happened in Virginia and hearing what has been happening in Oregon it validated my decision to co-sponsor on this legislation and Quincy is quite quite an anomaly I want to say and but there are things

Thank you for your comments. Any further comments? Well, I will just conclude with gratitude to my colleagues Councilmember Ayala, Krueger, and Yanbei for sponsoring this and to the staff that did this quickly. And I, like Councilmember Krueger, A permit could get dropped and then I feel like it's in bad taste to go ahead and do an emergency ordinance. So we're doing it ahead so that nobody gets into this business while we figure it out. So that's where I am. Um, but I do hear my colleagues. Um, so at this time, I'd like to ask the clerk to call the role on the. approval of this emergency ordi

Do you want to say that one more time? She said no.

Council Member Hitchen. Aye. You have six ayes, one nay. With six ayes and one nay, the motion is adopted. Thank you. That brings us to section 10, which is community forum. Community forum is an opportunity for members of the public to address the council on any topic of significance to or affecting Pierce County government that did not appear on the agenda for final action. And there is a three minute limit starting in chambers. I don't think we have any members of the public. So we will go online, Ms. Price.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just was going to share I had attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Bethel High out in my district. And the place is huge. It's like an airport. They almost filled the stadium with people for the ribbon-cutting. Former Superintendent Tom Siegel had come back with his lovely wife from Denver or wherever, Colorado. I don't know if they're in Denver or not. And so it was really pretty cool. They had all the kids were getting ready for school and they had booths where they could join clubs and get shirts and whatnot. And there was a nice memorial for Casey Crat

anyway it's one of my favorite places is driving out that way to see the sunrise and now there's a giant school there but I think I can still see the sunrise in the mountain it's great thank you for attending and sharing we're gonna go to council member Denson

That is wonderful for that community. And talking about airports, this weekend is Airport Day on Saturday at the Tacoma Narrows Airport from 9.30 until, I'm actually not sure when it ends, probably around, I'm just going to say 4. Come early, just in case. There are free flights for kids. There will be flyovers of planes. There's antique planes. I'm sure our Sheriff Department plane will be there. Booths, it's really, really a cool event. It's completely free. Just come and walk around the airport. You don't always get an opportunity to do that. And it's just a lot of fun. So hopefully we'll s

So just two little things. One was there with Council Chair Hitchen in the audience as well with Council Member Krueger and it's like 285,000, I think between 285,000, like 300,000 square foot, the new Bethel High School. And it's the largest now high school in the state. It surpassed Mount Tahoma and Tacoma, so. It's a beautiful, beautiful facility and just it was a privilege to be there. I was walking around and was telling the superintendent, hey, this would be a great emergency management type gathering place. And so they were like, you're thinking like a municipal person. And then mark yo

in case that wasn't plugged today it's been plugged a couple times i think it's going to keep getting plugged until we pass the date so thank you for doing it um not seeing any other indications to speak so um thank you all for your time this evening and seeing no other business before us we are adjourned thank you