County Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the Pierce County Council. Today is September 15th, 2026. The time is 3.03. If the clerk could please call the roll.

You 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 going to ask Council Member Ayala to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and read a land acknowledgement. Following the pledge, I'll ask that you remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of the men and women that are serving overseas in our military. Please rise if you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

Thank you, Council Member Ayala. We are now at section four. We are now at section 4 approval of our agenda. Are there any objections to our agenda as presented this afternoon? Seeing no objections, the agenda is approved. On today's council agenda, there will be multiple opportunities to provide 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 scheduling or introduction. In addition, during sections 8 and 9 of the agenda, we'll take public comment for each ordinance and resolution indi

For the consent agenda? Yes. I move the consent agenda passes.

so close i like it there's been a motion in a second to approve the consent agenda as presented um i do want to um first pause and see we do i did mention that we have an appointment uh resolution that is for tricia migra for um i think council district two is the trisha here or in the zoom room you can raise your hand you're being appointed to the birth to 25 advisory board And it is okay if they are not here. Just want to make sure. Not seeing anyone stand up, so thank you. Anyone who says yes to one of our boards and commissions, we appreciate them because very important. For full transpare

No hands raised. I'm going to close public comment, bring it back before the council, and ask that the clerk call the roll on the approval of the consent agenda as presented.

We'll come back to you, Council Member Herrera. We can see you, but we cannot hear you.

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, let me turn the page, messages from the executive and there are several There are several ordinances that were signed and approved on August 27th. I'm going to read through these. The first one is O2026-545, which was updating our code claims and actions by and against the county. Ordinance 2026-547, which was a collective bargaining agreement reached with Pierce County Corrections, a detention center non-uniformed group. Ordinance 2026-548, which is a c

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a proclamation of the Pierce County Council and Executive designating September 17 through 23 as Constitution and Citizenship Week in Pierce County, Washington. Whereas on September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution of the United States, establishing a framework of government founded upon the principles of representation, enumerated authority, separation of powers, and the protection of individual liberty. And whereas the Constitution established a system of government in which power is exercised according to law, and t

Thank you. Let's give them a hand. So, Ms. Christ, we'll start with you, and I think I'm saying that correctly. Yes, Christ. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Shannon? You don't have to. They just gave me a list. Okay. He's also a member of DAR. I got that from the title. They said I had three speakers. I'm following the directions that I'm given. So thank you for being here, though.

Thank you for your comments and being here. We're going to go to Council Member Kruver for comments first. I'm going to do it that way from now on, everybody, and you're going to help me remember. Council Member Kruver. Thank you, Madam Chair.

This is always such a meaningful thing, and I want to thank you all for raising your children with these values. Renee, I'm not certain that you have children, but... Okay. Then they'll have those same values to carry forward. But I just want to note that the Constitution is more than just a historic document. It is the framework that limits government and protects individual liberty, establishes that authority of government ultimately that it comes from the people. and that to understand the Constitution, that we have to remember the Declaration of Independence, that it was the Declaration th

Thank you, Council Member Krueger. Other comments from my colleagues on this before we organize a photo? So I will just bring up, I have a pocket-sized constitution that I carry around in my purse. It's been a hot topic of almost contention in the last couple of years. And sometimes it's just good to be able to go fact check with the actual facts. So I appreciate they're giving out constitutions. I think one of the things that the founders really settled on was that we needed to have separation of powers and that we needed to have no one person in charge and so the supreme court's recent um ov

Okay, so we actually have two proclamations this afternoon. So for those of you that are here for business, we are going to also recognize and celebrate by declaring September 15th through October 15th. 2026 Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month in Pierce County, and I'd like to welcome and invite the following individuals to the podium as Council Member Ayala reads it into the record. I'm going to turn her mic on. So we have Aiden Espino, I always say your name wrong, who is a member of the Me Centro team and a fierce ally. And then we have two students that are joining him. We have Aleda Gutier

I'll begin. Thank you, Chair. A proclamation of the Pierce County Council and Executive designating September 15th through October 15th, 2026. as Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month in Pierce County, Washington. Whereas each year, Pierce County joins the nation in observing National Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of U.S. residents whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. And whereas the theme for 2026 is Unidos Somos Mas, Together We Are More, which cal

Thank you. Let's give them a hand. So thank you for joining us, Mr. Espino.

Thank you so much. And I didn't read all the way to the bottom of the page. So our ERG, Juntos is here. We have some staff that are part of that. Does somebody want to speak? Is there any member from county staff? There we go. I should read at the bottom of the page. I should know about it as a teacher.

Okay. So, Councilmember Ayala, I'm not sure if you participated in that. I couldn't hear, but do you have any comments?

I want to take a moment just first and foremost, there are so many people that showed up for this. So thank you for being here. But I think the speakers articulated this a lot better than I could have, where there are so many varied stories around what it means to be Latino. And no matter what your story is, there is a strong community and sense of almost siblinghood. Like we are all family at the end of the day. And so just want to say thank you for showing that here, but also showing that out in community and how how we just work with one another. And in many Latino cultures, you show love b

Thank you. Any other comments from council members? Council Member Yambe.

So I want to thank everybody for being here and I want to thank Council Member Ayala for this year's proclamation recognizing Hispanic and Latino heritage month. But I just want to give another shout out to Mucentro for all the incredible work that you do to build community and it doesn't matter what the political boundary is, it extends to everyone. whether you're Latino or you're Afro-Latino or Indigenous, just the amazing work that you do that transcends all of our districts. And your new director, Priscilla, has been a great call to leadership in the last couple years, and you've been doin

Thank you. And then I think we have someone from the University of Washington Tacoma staff. We had students speak, so I was confused.

Is there one person who would like to speak, or are you here just to celebrate and enjoy the...

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. And again, apologize for the clunkiness of going through this. It's all me today. Mr. Dominique, we have a lot of guests. How would you suggest that we potentially set this up?

Ryan, am I going to mess everything up if I go to the other side so we have three and three? Or does it not matter?

okay i was like we can put it in the script Okay, so Section 8, we actually have no resolutions this afternoon, so we will go directly to Section 9. We're now at Proposal O2026-526S4. Councilmember Denson, for a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I move Proposal O2026-526S4.

Thank you, Chair. I move proposal number O2026-526S4. Second.

Thank you. And this afternoon we have Mike Kruger, our principal policy analyst, to tell us what this is doing and walk us through several amendments.

Okay, so I know we spent quite a bit of time the last couple months, it feels like, on this, but I'm going to pause and see if there's any questions before we take up amendments. not seeing any, then I am going to look to Council Member Morrell for a motion on Council Amendment number one.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move for approval Council Amendment Number 1 to Proposal O-2026-526S-4. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Krueger, can you tell us what it will do?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think as the council has learned a lot about megawatts recently, I think this is a modest increase, moving it from five to seven. And I would urge the council to approve amendment number one.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions on council amendment number one? not seeing any then all those in favor of adopting council amendment number one say aye aye all those all those opposed say nay thank you motion passes thank you that brings us to council amendment number two council member thank you madam chair i move council amendment number two it's been moved and seconded mr krueger can you tell us what this one does

Thank you. Council Member Morrell to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think we're all aware that we're behind on clean energy in this state and we need to play catch up. I think this eliminates another layer of process. It also eliminates another layer of cost and unpredictability to utility providers. that need to have predictability and a timeline. So as it was indicated by our fire marshal in study session today, the evaluation, whether it's a permit or a conditional use permit, the evaluation's gonna be the same. and the fire marshal can deny a permit at any time if it doesn't meet safety standards. So I would urge the council to ap

Thank you for your comments. Other comments or questions on this one? Council member. Denson, sorry.

Thank you, Chair. I co-sponsored this amendment, and honestly, I 100% agree with what Councilmember Morrell just expressed. Policy-wise, I think this amendment is absolutely fine, and as Mr. Krueger explained at length to us during the study session, and he went over a little bit here, I think Some of the concerns that we've heard have been about residential communities, and I'll remind folks that in residential communities, other than those small systems to power things like cars, right, under 80 kilowatts, the only systems that would be allowed in residential areas would be those to support

Council Member Denson took all my talking points unexpectedly. I do think we need, I mean not just do this, but I think we need to do a lot more than this. I don't believe we're quite there yet and my trepidation around this is that Um, I wouldn't want us to get too eager, have an accident of some sort and then have to backtrack and also deal with, um, some severe consequences. So I, I do want to move in this direction, if not more ambitiously. Um, but to do that with a bit more caution. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments. So Council Member Denson, I appreciate your comments and was going to speak along the same lines of I've kind of, not waffled, but learned and reassessed. And I do want to thank both Mr. Krueger and the clerk's team, because I know there was a whole lot of tables that you've been messing with for this one. So, but I'm just, I feel like initially in this first year, for a public process more public through the conditional use permit will allow us to see what the concerns are so that we can really design the policy when we come back and create it again in a year wh

Thank you Madam Chair. I move for approval council amendment number three. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Krueger, can you tell us what this one does?

Thank you very much. Council Member Morrell to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think this is, of all the amendments, is probably the best amendment. So I urge the council to support amendment number three. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Morrell. I also sponsored this amendment and I'm supportive of this amendment. I think this is a great example of the many times the department actually, as well as our staff and some of my colleagues met with stakeholders to to. really go through the nuts and bolts of this ordinance and see, in real life, does this work? In real life, does this make sense? And stakeholders gave us some great tweaks that are gonna make this just a lot more logical in real life. Mr. Krueger explained that a lot of these batteries come in like conics containers, big sealed boxes, and th

not seeing any um i too appreciate the the level of detail that both the stakeholders have been doing behind the scenes to get us and then to the members of cdec uh you really dug into this uh multiple times um and appreciate where we've landed with this so um seeing no other comments all those in favor of adopting council amendment number three say aye aye any opposed Motion carries, thank you. We are now at council amendment number four. We're gonna go to you, Council Member Cooper.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to move amendment four for adoption.

It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Krueger, can you tell us what this one does?

Thank you Madam Chair. This amendment corrects a technical weakness in the ordinance by distinguishing the power capacity and energy from the energy capacity. That megawatt and megawatt hours measure different things. That a best facility the megawatt rating tells the county how much electrical power the system can deliver versus how much capacity that is actually stored. And I would say that the difference can affect the number of battery containers, the size and configuration of the facility, how long it operates at full output, the emergency response requirements, and the potential conseque

Thank you. Are there questions or comments from my colleagues on this?

Councilmember Ayala. Thank you, Chair. One quick question, and please forgive my ignorance on this. I'm curious if the use of this language is consistent with where we see best definitions in other spaces, not just in the county, but in the state and in industry.

The differentiation, so considering what our definition was in the original ordinance and how it's redefined, just want to make sure that we have alignment with definitions across industry and in other spaces.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I did a search on the terminology to look and see how that is in... I see different policies or codes within the state, and yes, they are used in it. It may not be on this particular ordinance that we are working on. However, it is, I would say, a forward-looking in having these definitions here, which I said they can still be tweaked to that point. But yes, there are some that are used in energy storage systems, the aggregate, the abandonment, that Washington has abandonment concepts and other regulatory concepts, but maybe not specifically for BESS, but having the meg

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I don't know if there's anyone on staff from the department that could comment on this language. I've looked at it, and it is new to me. I think everyone else, all the other jurisdictions that I've looked at, They don't use this type of language. So I'm just kind of curious if anyone has come across This type of language in any of the best Proposals Planning and Public Works staff to the rescue

Okay, then I guess my follow-up question is when you come back in roughly about a year, this terminology may be more familiar to you and at that time could you implement some of that language into some kind of ordinance or some kind of a guiding document?

right right and there again a lot of this terminology as you said working with grid works and those engineers is way up here versus kind of the language that is universal right now so um yeah i just don't want to get too far ahead of us on that so thank you thank you madam chair thank you thank you we're going to go back to councilmember cooper

I'm wondering, do any of these definitions impede or create an obstacle?

But wouldn't it make sense to have a definition if the occasion comes up and they're like, oh, we didn't anticipate that this would be needed in our code? our policies and does it not also create kind of a, oh, I've seen that word before and now I have an idea of what it is. So wouldn't it be more prudent to have the definitions there for when and if they come up and if it doesn't happen at all, then they can be removed at the next opportunity.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.

We're going to go to Council Member Ayala. Thank you, Chair. I appreciate it. I'm a huge fan of defining terms, especially when we talk about regulatory work, because we don't want to put staff in any position where something is misinterpreted in any way, but as you stated, nothing precludes us from using terms in other spaces that exist, not necessarily in the code. I'm in a where I can go either way on this amendment, but I do feel if this does not pass, that at least there's an internal document that does inventory the terms and we have some reference point for quick support of staff, wheth

Thank you. I appreciate Council Member Krueger's thorough thinking and investigation and research. I really do. But I used to draft legislation for the state and we would never put a definition in if we weren't using it in the statute. It was just not good practice. And I remember many times amending a statute and removing definitions because all of a sudden probably the code reviser looked at it and said you're not using this term anywhere so we are going to learn a lot this year and not only us but other counties and other states are going to be learning a lot and i have no doubt that the de

Thank you. Any other comments on this one? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting Council Amendment Number 4, say aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Nay. Motion fails. Council Member Krueger, we're going to you for Amendment Number 5. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to move Amendment 5 for adoption. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Krueger, can you explain what this one will do?

Thank you. Council Member Kerber to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This one does align with code terminology with the physical reality of the modern battery storage project. So a modern best site is not simply a box that's containing batteries. It can also include the transformers, inverters, switchgear, power conversion equipment, HVAC or thermal management equipment, fire suppression and life safety equipment, communications and monitoring systems, and interconnection equipment. And the distinction eliminates uncertainty whether a particular development standard applies only to batteries or to the entire facility. And we need to be c

Thank you. Are there other comments on amendment number five? Not seeing any, so while I appreciate the research, I feel like, oh, Council Member O'Hare, are you just turning on your camera so you're ready to vote? Okay, I appreciate the proactiveness. That, again, we're setting forth this code with all of this research and the work we've done and the stakeholdering, and thank you, department staff, and thank you to our staff and the committee members. But I think we need to kind of leave it approximately where we're also tweaking it but leave it where it is as far as some of these definitions

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to move. I'm just going to withdraw the amendment. I like that one. Okay, I'm going to say it again. I'm going to move amendment six for adoption, please.

It's been moved and seconded that you approve council amendment number six. Mr. Krueger to tell us what it does.

Thank you. Council Member Krueger to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is looking at the project as collectively of all of the pieces there, and it is establishing clear definitions for the regulatory classification, the accessory versus grid scale use, the expansion, continued operation. Well, it's improving consistency and closes potential loopholes in administering the code. And so... It's distinguishing systems intended for primarily on-site use, but without a clear definition, applicants could disagree on what primarily means. And so it's basically counting everything that is within the system towards how it is being used so they

Thank you. Council Member Ayala to speak. Maybe. There you go. Sorry.

Thank you, Chair. I do like the amendments. I do... One particular aspect of this around being phased, I'm curious about whether or not this amendment would prohibit someone who maybe is unable to afford the whole project and maybe is trying to do project phase one. today and project phase two next year, let's say for financial reasons, I'm interested in making sure everything is put together and we're not necessarily looping those as two separate systems, but they're two separate projects of one system. Would this amendment prohibit someone from phasing a project?

It's a nice and simple answer. We like that. We didn't get a lot of those today. Council Member Krueger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I was trying to find my main sentence, which is, it prevents one large project from being divided into smaller pieces simply to qualify for a lower regulatory category.

Perfect. Thank you. Any other council members on this one? so i know um i too support this one this was one of my concerns when we were putting them in residential areas and i know that people can lease part of their parcel and then potentially larger entities could lease six different homes in theory and put them and i know that our code would the fire marshal probably have a lot to say about that, but I just want to be clear that it's not allowed. And so they don't go chasing that down as a potential pathway. So Council Member Krueger, I appreciate it. And I continue to just call it the dais

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to move Amendment 7 for adoption. I do have an oral amendment to that.

Okay. Then Council Member Kruber, we will go to you first.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With my oral amendment? Well, to speak to your amendment. The amendment is to improve... Because there are three recitals. It's to give clarity to the whereases and... more precision to align with what is in policies with the wording. Mainly in that the source statistic concerning emissions attributed to electricity use in buildings is confusing. And that is not the same as saying that 14% of Pierce County emissions came from electrical generation. I'm like, well, what does that mean? And so then I was defining what that actually meant. then in August of 2022 the Puget

Okay. So you said you had a potential amendment. I'm not seeing anyone. Well, do you want to amend your amendment?

Yeah, I wanted to strike recital number one. So it would just be two and three.

Okay, so the language change that was happening in number one would not happen if this is adopted? Correct. Is there a second to that? Okay, it's been moved and seconded that we amend the amendments. Council Member Krueger, do you want to speak to that?

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's just an item that didn't need to be in there at this time. Okay. And then we're just leaving it with the clarifying community-wide greenhouse gas and its definition. And then the CETA. Okay. That it is not a mandate.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions on now amended Council Amendment No. 7? So I believe we have to vote on amending the amendment first, and then I'll ask that question again. So all those in favor of accepting the amendment to the amendment, which is removing the change to section one, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. So we now have council amendment number seven as amended. Is there any further discussion on this particular item? Not seeing any. While I appreciate the thoughts about kind of tweaking some of this language, I feel like it was done with intentional thought by

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move for approval of Council Amendment Number 8.

It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Krueger, can you tell us what it does?

Okay. Council Member Morales to speak to your amendment.

Thank you Madam Chair. I think this is just common sense that we put in there that the fire districts get notified. I think there again and with this type of technology they need to be aware of what's going into their communities. So I agree with Council Member Denson on this one and urge your support.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Would that simply mean just signing up to be on the notices of, because I believe you can sign up for notices when things are applied for and then emails are sent out to that. There's a public list. Would that just be a matter of being on that list or is there another step that has to be created? Does anyone know?

But isn't there already a system set up like notify me that when somebody applies for or this subject comes up to let me know of anything that's being applied for?

I don't object to it. I was just thinking there was already a system set up that when applications are made, interested parties that sign up for that are notified. So it would just be a matter of the department Signing on an interested parties list and they would be automatically be notified and it was kind of already done You know, that's not how that's not how it works currently.

Thank you. Thank you manager. Thank you I have a couple lights up that fire marshal Rice wanted to speak any my colleagues instead of asking questions Can I go to him and then maybe he'll answer your questions or concerns? fire marshal rice

Thank you. Okay, so I still have two lights up. So we'll go to Councilmember Morrell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, with the notification. We're telling you to notify. So anyway, procedural process, is the Scribner error okay, or do we need to make a verbal amendment? Okay, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

thank you and councilmember ala thank you just wanted to make sure from a amendment perspective and a legislative perspective um knowing and thank you so much for addressing that that was my original question around what it looks like when the first one responding is not of that jurisdiction do we need to do anything to our amendment knowing that amongst the different districts there will be a policy? And I don't know who that question should go to.

Got it. So regardless of Tacoma gets it, if West Pierce gets it.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Any further conversation on this one? So thank you, Council Members Morrell and Denson for working on this. I think this is one of the things with new technology. I appreciate making sure that we're letting our fire chiefs know because it may require them to respond in a different way or with a different type of engine. And once they get there is not the time to find that out. So that was, I appreciate making sure. And again, as we look at this policy holistically over the year, we may think of a different way of doing this. Don't know what it is yet, b

Thank you for your comments. Barbara followed by potentially Sally. Okay, not Sally. So then Jonathan, not Jonathan either. Okay.

Thank you very much. Anyone else on this item?

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else in chambers to speak on BESS? Okay, we're going to go online, Mr. Dominique. I see we have a couple hands raised.

No other hands. I'm going to close public comments and bring it back to the Council. Is there any further discussion on Proposal O2026-526S for as amended? We will go to Council Member Denson.

Thank you, Chair. I am really, really proud and excited to support this ordinance to promote renewable and distributed energy sources in Pierce County. I want to thank again, Planning and Public Works. This has been a huge project for you all and I really, really appreciate all of the work that you've done internally and talking to stakeholders and talking to all of us and going on tours and really digging in to create the best legislation possible. I want to thank the stakeholders, some of which are here or online today to make sure that this legislation, this code actually works in real life

Thank you. Thank you for your comments and thank you for your work on this. It was not done alone, but you were definitely behind quite a bit of it. We're going to. Council member is your light on or off? Okay. I go to council member.

So I think Council Member Denson said everything that I could possibly think about and more, and so I will keep my comment brief. I do want to say that this particular piece of legislation got to show, I think, When my colleagues are at the best that we are working together to really bridge some challenges, and I think this got to highlight some of the best of what we can do when we're working together. I do want to say that, like Chair Hitchen said, it was a lot of people doing a lot of work. And I do want to compliment particularly Council Member Denson and Council Member Morrell. On a coupl

Thank you, Madam Chair. I too appreciate all of the work that has gone into this. I just wanted to be able to turn on a light switch and know I had power. I never dreamed I would ever be going this deep of a dive into something. But I do want to point out that Washington State is number one in the country in greenhouse gas reduction or usage. It's 68% lower than the national average. And I say that because here we are in having to put battery systems out there because we rely on intermittent power. And that leads me to looking at the system, and I'll point out with PSC, not that they're the ba

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think a lot of it has been said from my colleagues, you know, I don't think it goes far enough, but there again, no legislation is perfect out of the gate. Like the comments that were made, I wanna appreciate everybody involved in this process. It's been a huge education for me as it probably has been for you. I still don't understand all the terminology and technology involved, all I know is, you know we we need this renewable energy storage and uh you know it's it's one of the ways that we can move forward and that way we can move our county forward also not only in

Thank you. Nothing left to say, but I'm really excited to get this off of our work plan. We've been working on this for a long time, but I think it's been as council member Denison said, it's been thoughtful. We have done an iterative process where we've gone back and we've looked at instead of like. Off the cuff, just changing something we paused and we did the learning that we needed to do. We did the stakeholdering and that's good policy making. And we're going to go back and we're going to check in and see how it worked. And then we're going to look at it again. So I think that's the way i

Aye. You have seven ayes, zero nays. With seven ayes and zero nays, the motion is adopted. I feel like we need to clap, everybody. Okay, so item number two is an item that we are going to look at potentially rescheduling. Council Member Krueger, I'm going to go to you to make a motion.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to make a motion to move to continue this proposal to the September 29, 2026 regular meeting for final hearing and action.

It's been moved and seconded that we continue proposal O2026-552 to the September 29th, 2026 regular meeting. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries, thank you. So we are now at community forum. Community forum is an opportunity for members to address the council on any topic of significant to or affecting Pierce County government that did not appear on our agenda for final action today. There is a three minute limit. Please state your name if you'd like it on the record. And I'm gonna start with the two that signed in for this. And I read their na

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else in chambers? Okay, Mr. Dominique will go online.

No, their hands raised. I'm going to close community forum and bring it back before the council for other business. I'm just going to remind, I assume the two council members at each end potentially have announcements. Council Member Kruver, for your in-district, I'm assuming you want to remind people. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I almost forgot.

Next Tuesday, we will be in Eatonville for my annual in-district meeting, and it will be at the auditorium of the high school. I think I have a good lineup. It's on community values. They're small-town values. I forget what I originated as. But we have speakers from the fair, from the Eatonville Business Association, and the mayor and the executive will be there. We have a final presentation is from Heath Heikela, who is from the American Forest Resource Council on the value of the timber that is out there and what that means to the area, to the district and the county. And so be there. Thank

Thank you. And I will just reiterate what she said. So we will not be in these chambers next Tuesday. So if you're one of our friends that like to just come show up at our council meetings for fun, we won't be here next Tuesday. We're going to be on the road in Eatonville. We'll still have our Zoom options if you don't want to travel. But just be aware our normally scheduled 3 o'clock meeting is being shifted to an in-district that night. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. in the Eatonville High School. I'm going to go to Councilmember Denson.

Thank you, Chair. And this will be my last time pitching, at least in this chamber, the first annual Pierce County Suicide Prevention Summit and Bridge to Hope 5K. I want to thank a lot of county departments, actually, that have come together, especially Human Services and Parks, and especially help Council Assist—or thank Council Assistants Nicole Jones-Vogel and Cynthia Banuelos, who have just done the lion's share of the work. It's going to be amazing. It's this Friday. It's from 12 to 7.30. That's everything. There's something for everybody, whether you're a provider, community member, or

Thank you for your work on that and Council Member Herrera and your two amazing assistants. Are there any other announcements from my colleagues? Seeing none, there is no other business before us. We are adjourned. Thank you, everybody.