City Council - Regular Meeting

If you tell me your hat size, I'll probably know.

Okay, I have six o'clock Tuesday, July 28th 2026 welcome everyone to the City Council workshop the evening appreciate you being here and First off we on the agenda. We have a presentation regarding hydro and into Excuse me industry update with Clint Whitney and Clark Mather. I was reading your statement, your mission statement of the organization that you represent, and welcome. Glad to have you here.

So just a question, just to clarify that this increased spillage has not just had an adverse effect on the amount of energy that we produce, but it's also had an adverse effect on the cost of irrigation because all that water that spilled out is not used for irrigation. And that's increasing the costs on farms, and that's an added cost to the reason why these farms are having such a hard time being productive or profitable?

It does. And for context, you mentioned 1,200 megawatts of lost energy. That's the equivalent of losing Columbia Generating Station. Exactly.

Thank you for being here. Council, I think I saw Pat's light on first.

Just a comment. My husband's a big fisherman, and there were years that many, many, many salmon coming up, lots of pictures of salmon that he caught. And then like zero years, and the dams have not changed. Something else has changed. It's not the dams, but huge variety. Would you agree with that? And what is causing this big variety of numbers?

What about netting, Indian netting on the Columbia? I know that's massive when the salmon are running, and also fishing off the coast. And we don't seem to be getting numbers from how much those are taking. Would you agree with that? Is it kind of uncontrolled?

We need Ozempic sealants. Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke.

Thank you for being here. I appreciate it and I appreciate the cause, if you will. Thank you. I love that you use the word battery. That's something I talk about. I think that really resonates with people that the potential energy behind the dams is some of the largest renewable energy that we have in the world. I think there's something that goes along with this when we talk about a carbon-free portfolio, if you will. And if we want to change the ratios of dams, that new nuclear has to be part of that conversation of that portfolio. And it's something that, to me, goes hand in hand with this

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. I don't have a dog in the fight. I don't mind hydropower. I'm a supporter of it by and large. But as an elected official, I get people giving me the business about it all the time. So I'm going to repeat some arguments and questions that I've heard over the years. Okay. The dams are very old and there is they're not maintenance free. There is a finite service life on some of these turbines. Do we have readily available information on where we are in that life cycle and when we're going to have to make some serious investments to keep those dams running

And so where in a nutshell can I go to find information about that side of things, the maintenance and operations side of hydropower?

I don't need to be that deep in the weeds.

Okay. Next thing is you mentioned you had an infographic up there between 2015 and 2024 retail power up 5.7% in Washington. I didn't write it down. 2.05% nationwide, I think you said. Yeah. A lot of numbers. So Lawrence Berkeley National Lab tracks average wholesale price of power. Unfortunately, they don't have data going back as far for specifically the mid Columbia region. Everybody's focused on ERCOT and all the other places where there are constant disasters. But average wholesale price, with the exception of a couple years of natural gas getting expensive, hasn't really risen at such a s

And so that's a perfect segue. Please. I believe on the previous slide, or maybe it was just out loud, the sentence was that the total returns have tripled since the federal dams have been operating.

With the 1999 ad highlighted in a previous slide. Yeah. I have a degree in data analytics, and when I look at those two things next to each other, I see that the total returns have tripled since the 1999 ads talking about potential extinction. You see what I'm saying? Because it's pretty much a flat line until you get to the late 90s, and then all of a sudden, something caused something to change. Yeah. So I'm wondering... what we're trying to glean from this chart if it's, because what I hear is that that advertising campaign was super effective.

Okay, and then my last question. In the beginning of your presentation, you talked about how your organization didn't feel that these studies are necessary, that we've had enough of the studies, the ones that the governor is... Yeah. And then later on, just before I started harassing you, You said that we needed further studies, but somewhere else. Can you clarify which ones you think we don't need and which ones we do need?

So you brought up something that I thought was important. It's the issue with the temperature in the waters, marine waters increasing that has affected marine life. And this is not just Obviously salmon, we're talking about whales and everything else in between, as well as the fact that we have sea lions as well at the very entrance of the Columbia River waiting for the fish to come through. So are we really adding those variables to those studies as well? Because... Yeah, we may be saying it's all fault because of the dams, but we're not looking that this is a very complex problem that many p

The last one I have was in regards to the study. You know, based on what you said, it appears that we're fishing mostly for a study that answers the question that they want to get, not the actual answers that we're getting, which is there is really that dams are not really affecting the passage of the fish. Is that what I understand to be correct? Because it seems like a lot of studies, we're looking for a specific study that meets our needs more than anything else.

Which is why I'm saying we're looking for a specific result, not for the actual, you know, true. That's right. Yeah. Okay.

Thank you very much for your presentation and being here. I appreciate your work and the scientific data behind your presentation is helpful. I have a follow-up question, but I don't want to use the time now. If I queue on here, can I reach out to you?

Okay. It's not a question that has to do with the city, but something else that I was observing, and I don't want to take the time out of here. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you, Mayor. Enjoy. Next on the agenda is multifamily housing tax exemption with Director Rizzitello making his way up. And I think I saw your nameplate. Oh, you've got it with you. That's right.

Thank you very much. I would imagine council's got a lot of questions on this. Who would like to go first? Council Member Meyer.

Yeah, I've got a quick question. I appreciate the breadth of information here. I'm kind of curious if you happen to have any information about what made Walla Walla drop to 8-year and keep to 12-year. Is that specifically because of the affordable housing requirement?

Okay, and if... like what's the process for changing the program if you implement it right like if if let's say we picked two of them of the three and then decided four years later that we did it wrong and we needed to pick a different one what's is it just another ordinance or does it have to go through another comp plan how does that ordinance how does the program change

And how about for the actual definition of the targeted area? Is that something you do once and then you're, that's it? Or is that something that can also be revisited through the same process? That can be revisited through the exact same process.

So to follow up on that question, when you mentioned that we have the opportunity to customize it, could it be written in that customization that we want to review it in X amount of time to see if we're on track?

Okay. Councilmember Holden. Who owns the land under the river shore and that land, that empty land, that would be part of what we're considering as well as like where the old city hall was and Woodinville, have they done this?

And Woodinville, did you say you're not sure or they have done it?

And the River Shore, do we own under the River Shore? Who owns that?

No, my son picked up on that. He does a lot of hunting, and so he said, hey, the city owns that. I didn't know that, that we own that under there. Okay, Council Member Witten.

Yeah, so that this tax exemption or the property tax exemption would only apply to the taxes that the city collects, correct?

Okay. Yeah. And this is school districts? Yeah, that's held harmless. Okay. That's the only question I have.

Yeah, thank you for the presentation. Much appreciated that you bring this to us. Market rate, probably the eight year.

And I don't know if we, I mean, there's plenty of market rate type of apartment buildings being built in the city, so I don't think... that we may need as many. However, I do feel that we should have it mixed, just because right now we may not need it, but in the future we might. So it would be helpful for us to have that ability to just add them as we need them. The 20-year, which is the transit-oriented type of multifamily Would you suggest that that would be more geared towards the downtown area more than any other area simply because the requirement must be near a transit, even though tran

Now, in regards to the review, just to touch on the city mayor, is we can just determine every five years they have to come back and verify that those actually apartments are serving that specific community? Or do they have to come, you know, since we have to provide reports to the state on an annual basis, is that something that we can also ask in order to ensure that we're really maintaining the program, the integrity of that program by ensuring that, let's say, on the 15 year, which is required that 20% of those units be for affordable units to create that mixed income type of buildings. th

Okay. And then the other question is, it seems to me that based on what you're saying, the history based on your experience, at least with Walla Walla College City, is that this program has been a catalyst for a lot of new investment coming into the city. So why not? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yep.

So, Councilmember Meyer, I saw you twitch. I know you want to speak, but before we go to the second round, I'd like to give an opportunity for those who haven't spoken yet. Not yet?

No, I think this is a fantastic idea. I'm very supportive of it, personally, so I hope we move forward.

I'm going to get to Councilmember Meyer on the second round. So you haven't spoken yet, so you're on the first round.

Okay, I lost track. I haven't asked a question, so may I? And then we'll jump over here. I'm glad this opportunity includes home ownership. I think that is a huge factor in creating community stability. I like the idea of reviewing it. I'm wondering specifically about the uptown. It seems to me that that would be ripe for just exciting redevelopment in that area. So would that area qualify?

Yeah, I got so tied up in trying to ask about implementation details, I forgot to say that, yes, I also support moving forward with investigating this. And I agree that a mix of homeownership and rental opportunities would be key toward this being successful. We want it to still be breadth of opportunities. We don't want to get too restrictive about what we encourage, but I think that there's a lot of folks who might be waiting for the right development opportunity and they might find it with a program like this. So I'm strongly in support of moving forward.

Yes, I would echo those comments. I also support this and had a couple of questions about the eight-year, the 12-year, and the 20-year. So the state program would give us outlines of like minimum requirements for those, and then we can modify them, make them more restrictive if we want. So I would be in favor of the 12-year and the 20-year. Because with the 20-year lease, like you said, you have that in your pocket. Whether or not anyone utilizes it is one thing, but you can't utilize it if you don't authorize it. So I would be in support of those two options.

Councilmember Holton, I didn't recognize you with your sunglasses.

Oh, sorry. They're prescription. So I do see better to see slides. It's complicated to me, very complicated. So lots to think about. So kind of the basic purpose is to encourage Housing in the core area, that's kind of what's driving this.

Yeah. It gets complicated, like I say. I live in the core area. And so we have all kinds of different housing. And people like to... My son was talking about that. He has friends and they want to buy out instead of core. So a lot of things that affect those decisions. Like I said, it seems very complicated to me.

You mentioned at the beginning of your presentation that this could include historic housing. Yeah. So for the central area of Richland that has the alphabet homes and maybe people coming in and restoring them, could this apply in that case?

Does it have to be a minimum of four units to be able to qualify?

Yeah. So going back to, I think it was Councilmember Myers who mentioned Target. So we want to incentivize certain areas right now more than others. There's many areas where they're doing just well, a lot of single family housing, which obviously more than enough. But it's programs like this, want to hear your feedback on this, will be better served by having initially in the downtown core area to really bring that investment just initially to the downtown to really make sure that we have the highest density possible within those areas. Once we get that almost halfway through, then we can move

So you'll be advising us on, you know, based on research, what the areas should be that we should be implementing?

Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke, you've been quiet. Is there anything on your mind that has to do with this?

Yeah, I think we're all excited about it, and you're seeing that. I think we're a little bit into the weeds. I think staff comes back with maybe a recommendation and potentially a phased approach to this on what we can evaluate, and we go from there. But I think you're hearing from everyone that we're interested and excited. Okay, great.

Can I ask one more question? Yeah. So for government housing to take advantage of it and to have four or three, four? Four. Four. So you, practically speaking, it would just be A houses, correct? And turning a former duplex into four units. Yeah. So they're little. OK. And Mayor Richardson mentioned the Uptown. Would that be like building above?

But it wouldn't be housing at the uptown?

Okay, anything else you need from us? You got clarity? All right, thank you for your presentation. We'll move on to item number three, presented by our city manager, Amundsen. Background on, how do we say that, Creighton? Creighton.

Thank you very much. That was a good presentation, thorough. Council Member Whitten.

I don't think a 21-year-old ban would be that effective. It would have to go with something more like the Spokane's recommendation or their Sunset Clause model or just a 7-0-H ban, but even that I feel like would be very difficult to enforce. So I would be in favor of this Spokane ban, style ban, if we did one at all. But that's all.

First, John, that was, thank you. I mean, we just spoke about this. That was incredibly comprehensive. That's, to me, another example of being really responsive. Thank you. Another part that I really liked was you helped with us. You set an expectation in the beginning, like bottom line up front. Hey, I need a decision from you guys, and here's what it is. For me, that helps keep me on track, and that's a model I'd love to see more. That would be great. Thank you. One thing I found, side note, so disturbing and sad is the 26 cases in the zero to five category on that histogram. That's, boy. Yo

It's indefensible to me that we have, as a council, have prohibited the sale of marijuana in the city while this is allowed to be sold. This is life-ruining crap in a way that weed is not. Part of the problem with Kratom is the stuff's strong enough that no matter how responsible you were when you bought it, you weren't after you took it. And that's how I would imagine a lot of those underage exposures are happening. Having said that, we also do have a problem locally with underage purchases of all kinds of crap, including vapes, as anyone who has entered a high school in the past five years c

Yeah. Thank you for the presentation. I This is a really difficult subject to really discuss. I believe everybody's affected by drugs one way or another. I do agree that minimum 21 should be what we target. However, if we have a complete ban, if they don't buy here, they'll go to the town down the street where it's still legal. So we're really not moving the item off the table, we're just making them drive further. So I don't know if maybe a ban for 21 and over until, fingers crossed, the state or the federal government actually do something in which there is a complete ban. But I'm in agreeme

I don't see anyone else's light on, so I'm going to comment. I would support a total ban. If Councilmember Meyer is talking about it not being good for anyone, let's make it a total ban in our community. I believe that it is important to act now and not wait for the legislators, because We can do that. We're a little bit more nimble. We're smaller. We're more accountable to the community. We can act now. But I do like the statement in there that we would yield to state regulation when it finally would happen. But I would support a total ban mirroring regional cities who have done that. Council

I'd just like to clarify, when you say a total ban, you mean of all Kratom products, including the natural leaf product, or a total ban of the 7-OH concentrated stuff?

A total ban of the 7-OH, but was that option A that you gave us?

Yeah, because there's a not immediately poisonous natural leaf product that I think...

The leaf product that's been around for centuries. Right, yeah. Yeah, it's the 7-OH.

Thank you for that clarification. That's where I'm at. Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke.

Yeah, just to clarify, great conversation. I lean more towards the total ban just for a lot of reasons. The thought I was pushing is as if and as we go forward on this, let's try and learn from others, whether it's language implementation, how it all worked out to make it as efficient and as effective as possible to support our community.

So one of the expectations that citizens have of City Council is to create an environment in Richland where we're safe and and that we're protecting citizens to the best of our ability when we identify a concern or hazard that we're taking steps to try to address that and so I think this has been a case where Before this got brought up at a public meeting, I hadn't even heard of it before. But then to see the statistics of the number of people who have been affected, even here in Richland, it's been brought to our attention that there's a hazard, and I think we're responsible for addressing it

I'd also want to, like, if we need to do a total ban to get the stuff away from kids, then that's what we got to do. So I'd be behind that. But I also want to make it clear that You know, there are advocates who, like right there on the cons side of this slide, I encourage anyone who has those concerns to reach out because I will lend my voice to talk to our state reps to get something comprehensive put through in the state infrastructure. I think that's the piece that has to come with a ban, right, is we need to let our reps know that this is an issue that, honestly, the state needs to deal w

I agree with that. I think that the total ban is just kind of preventing us from splitting hairs between the 7-0-H and the natural stuff because there's just limitations to I don't think that there's a lot of regulation around how this has to be labeled so how do you even tell if it's what it is without having to take it to a laboratory or contact the manufacturer and this just kind of makes it easy that it's all banned and hopefully then after doing this with the sunset clause we can advocate to the state and our local representatives there in Olympia to do something that will address this an

My high school cafeteria had a smoking section.

I don't know if a sunset clause really matters at the end of the day. If the state or the federal government comes up with a regulation, we automatically, you know, their law, you know, their bill supersedes whatever we do and say, so that kind of becomes not a boy at that point. Or we just need to do a you know, set up a paper to show that we're now compliant with what the federal and state law ask us to do. Because to me, it seems like once the state or the federal government, especially the federal government, comes up with the law,

is done that's correct it would supersede ours but I think the sunset clause would specifically remove that ordinance automatically from the book so we wouldn't have to go back and remove an ordinance that isn't effective yeah I'd like to remind of my favorite legislation that we recently passed getting rid of the teenage dance hall regulations that would prevent another occurrence of us having to root out obsolete parts of the code if we have a sunset clause

That's where I'd go into sorry let's let the pros do that find out best practices on it and come back to us with some.

I think there's a sense of the direction to take. However, Councilmember Holton, we haven't heard from you. If you'd like to comment. Don't want to force you if you don't.

Yeah, I agree. I wish there was some way that you could buy like the leaves or something and make some tea and get some very low doses. That seems beneficial, the natural low dose that they've been using for thousands of years. But what I'm hearing is that there's not an effective way to

know buy the leaves and make tea or something like that but okay you have directions so thank you for that presentation at this point the time is 7 50 unless there's further comment