City Council - Special Meeting

Good evening, everyone. We appreciate you being here on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026, to the regular, well, excuse me, this is a special meeting because it's on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. So here we are, and Clerk Rogers, will you help us with the roll call?

Thank you. We don't have to excuse any council members. Thank you for all that. And now we're on to Pledge of Allegiance. At the last minute, I'm going to ask Council Member Samuel, would you be willing to lead us? Thank you. Thank you Now may I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda I move to add an item of business to the agenda concerning the extension of public comment time Okay May have a second on that adjustment second All right. And now could I, well, and we have a consent vote. All those in favor of adjusting the.

I think we need a motion to approve the agenda as amended.

Yes, that's what I was just about to say.

Vote for this change. Okay, we got to vote for the amendment. Yeah.

May I have, this can be a consent vote. So all those in favor say aye. Any opposed? Nay. I oppose. So, may I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I move to approve the agenda as amended. Second.

Any opposed? Hearing none, motion passes. Next, we have presentations. We are going to introduce the video of new hires and retirements with Lacey Paulson, our HR director.

Yes, congratulations and welcome new hires. We now ask Clerk Rogers if she would read the script for the public hearing and public comments.

Thank you, Clerk Rogers. I hereby open up the public hearing at 6.06 p.m. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to provide testimony on this item? Seeing no one, this public hearing is closed at 6.06 p.m., and we now open it up for public comments. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to provide a public comment? Please raise your hand and I'll call on you. Yes, in the black.

Thank you, Ms. Phillips. Is there anyone else that would like to speak at this time? Please raise your hand. Yes, in the turquoise.

Thank you, Ms. Williams. Is there anyone else that would like to speak at this time? In the back row.

Thank you, Ms. Tran. Anyone else? I don't see any further comments at this time, so Clerk Rogers, would you please read the consent calendar?

Thank you. Council members, do you have any items that you would like to pull for further discussion? If not, may I have a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar as published?

I move to approve the consent calendar as read. Second.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is items of business and this is to discuss ordinance number 2026-17. I have a script here to read. This evening's closed record review hearing concerns a request to rezone approximately 10.26 acres identified as Revised Parcel 2 of the Record of Survey for Boundary Line Adjustment No. 6250, From Agriculture to Suburban Agriculture to Retail Business. Since this review is to be conducted on the record produced by the hearing examiner, it is important to note the materials and information that comprise the record. The record for this matter consists of all document

Thank you, Clerk Rogers. I'll be opening the public hearing now at 619 and invite city staff to present, I believe, Ryan Nelson. Welcome.

Council, do you have any questions at this time? Seeing none, is that the conclusion of your presentation?

Thank you, Mr. Nelson. I'd also like to invite the applicant if that person is available or here in this room at this time. I don't see that person. So council, one last time, do you have any questions or comments for the staff? Seeing none, this public hearing closes at 622. And I'll entertain a motion and a second to begin deliberation on this item.

Council, do you have any discussion? Seeing none, a roll call vote is required.

Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. Now we move on to ordinance number 2026-18, amending the 2026 budget to provide for additional appropriations in various city funds. This is a first reading and presentation with Finance Director Allen.

Thank you for your presentation. Counsel, do we have any questions or comments? Council Member, Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke.

Thanks, Brandon. Just a few things. I was happy to see the investment in our public safety staff and leadership. That's fantastic. always support any investment in our city staff. I'm a big fan of an integrated LMS. It can make that kind of barrier to entry of training that can sometimes be painful, a little easier for staff to get to. So that's great. I also wanna, I guess, commend John and the rest of staff to, taking a really good shot at being flexible to adapt when, you know, budgets are a guess, usually an estimate's a guess, and trying to, it sounds like there's great things that you're

Thank you. Not seeing other council member questions or comments, I'd like to make a motion to amend 2026 budget ordinance number 2026-18 to provide for additional appropriation in various city funds. May I have a second? Thank you, and a roll call vote is required.

Thank you. Thank you. The vote is unanimous. That leads us to the additional item that Councilmember Meyer wished to add. Councilmember Meyer, would you like to comment at this time?

Sure. Thank you very much. I wanted to add this to the agenda. It's kind of a small issue, but it's one that's been consistently brought before me as long as I've been on council. The fact of the matter is Folks in the area are accustomed to a three-minute rule. I have yet to hear a compelling reason that Richland citizens should have less time to express themselves to their council than surrounding communities. I don't feel it's appropriate for us to put arbitrary barriers in front of our citizens in the interest of saving our own time or encouraging them to become better riders. I've seen me

I don't want to get in front of somebody else that wanted to speak, but I did do some research on the topic and what other cities are doing. And so it doesn't, it's not that we don't care. We do care. We want public information. Other than some small towns like Benton City, I think that's been pointed out, West Richland that had three minutes. The only major cities that I could find that have three minutes with no limits are Everett and Pasco. Kennewick has come up numerous times, but they have a total limit. And what usually comes hand in hand with three minutes is a 30 minute or some kind of

Thank you. I don't see any other council comment or question. I would like to just add.

I wish to comment on this. Okay, thank you, Mr. Sam. So I'm in favor of what Councilman Myers proposed. I think a three minute limit, an increase of a minute to really signal to citizens of Richland that we want to hear from them. We value what they have to say. I would be completely opposed to any limit on how long we have the community input. But increasing from two minutes to three minutes, I completely support it. MS.

MR. Yeah. I'm glad we're talking about it. In general, I would be supportive of a three-minute with an overall constraint or a two-minute with no constraint.

MS. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Then I'll comment. Oh, Councilmember Houghton.

Yeah, as much as you say, yeah, we want three minutes, I think we're putting ourself in a situation where it will move to limiting because sizable cities, just to include Pasco and Everett, are the only ones that have three minutes with no limit. Other than that, the tendency is to put a limit on it. And so I think we need to be cautious. I think one thing we could consider is postponing. And I could make a motion on that to the next meeting, taking a vote to get feedback from people.

Pat, are you making a motion to postpone, or are you just putting it out there?

I would like to move to not take a vote tonight and put it off to the following meeting so that people can talk to people and get feedback and vote on it the following meeting. So, yes, Attorney Kinsley.

Yes. Before I go back to Councilmember Holton, Councilmember Meyer.

Yeah, I think that trying to put an overall cap is trying to solve a problem we've never had. The whole time I've been on council, the highest number of public comments we've received the difference between two and three minutes for each of those comments wouldn't have been that big a deal in the circumstances where there are a ton of comments being made I think that we can be a little bit more insistent procedurally about folks just saying they agree with the previous comment rather than taking the whole three minutes unless they have a substantive addition to make And I just don't think that

Councilmember Whitten, I saw you wanting to press your button, so I don't want to go through repeats until everyone has a chance to speak.

I'll just say that I seconded the motion because I wanted to make sure that the people saw us have this conversation because it's been brought up multiple times and they deserve to see this. Personally, I could go either way. I think two minutes is quite a long time. I think it's sufficient there is also no limit to the amount of length that you of a comment you can give us via email that link is on the website we can send us I've read very very lengthy detailed emails you can also print out your statement and give that to council so if you don't get all the way through your your statement you

Okay, thank you. Council Member Meyer, I've already come back to you twice, so I think we need to let other people speak, to be fair. That's fine.

Okay, then I'll speak and then you'll be able to speak again. When you say the whole time, I've been here a little bit longer and there have been two occasions where the meetings could have gone on for a very long time. Council chambers were full and so that has happened. I find it interesting that Tonight, for example, everyone got in what they wanted to say in less than two minutes, and I find it curious that we have a history with staff members that have been here for over 26 years. The issue has never been brought up. I have canvassed and spoke to over 7,500 homes in the Richland area, and

Thank you. I was chatting with our city manager and he brought up a point which I believe we have discussed before, but another element we can do to compromise on the amount of time taken up by lengthy public comment. Currently, and I don't want anybody to feel called out, There is a bit of a habit of either applause or jeering after certain public comments are made. And if we instituted a rule kind of limiting how much post-comment festivities occurred, we may be able to reclaim a little bit of that time and efficiency without having to institute a cap. I would also be open to, for instance,

I think those decorum rules are already in place and we haven't been enforcing them and it's very frustrating as a speaker. when you have people commenting when you're trying to speak. So I think they are already in place, is my understanding. And as much as I agree with you, we'd like to have everything nice so that we don't have a lot of public comment, we are looking at a lot of people having a lot of strong opinions about AI. And you see that everywhere. And it hasn't been a specific item on the agenda. But I think if we have that on our agenda, I would anticipate a lot of people being her

Thank you. Councilmember Meyer, excuse me, Samuel.

Yes. You know, it's been brought up by, so I just went through a campaign, visited over a thousand doors. Three topics came up over and over again. One of those topics was why is Richland two minutes and Pasco and Kennewick are three minutes. You know, I did not have a good answer for that. So I said I would bring it up. And so I really just feel like it's an easy thing for us to signal to citizens, you have as much time as people in Kennewick or Pasco have. If you're here in Richland, we care about your input. We want to hear from you. We don't want to limit that input. It's very, very valuab

sure I'm glad we're having healthy debate on this coming back to my thoughts would be a two minute with no minimum but when I say a three minute with a minimum or a constraint I agree I don't think 20 minutes is reasonable at all I would say something that would be reasonable let people go through things of something like 45 or 60 minutes that there should be plenty of time for people to get through and I don't know that we've had a lot of trouble with that Coming back to the enforcing the after party, if you will, I don't think that is plausible. I don't know how that could be done reasonably

The motion is to extend the public comment time to three minutes. Okay. Now, next in the queue, I have Councilmember Holton, but I'm not sure if you just left your light on. No, I turned it on. Okay, but Councilmember Holton, I'd like to get through the others before we have you speak again. So, Councilmember Whitten, you're up next.

I'd just like to echo what Mayor Pro Tem Van Dyke stated in that we do have these rules on the books already, and they're not very well enforced. Even the two-minute rule has been repeatedly extended for people who are in the middle of a comment that they needed to get out, and I think the mayor has been very polite when she's reminded them that their time was up and to finish their thoughts. And so even this two-minute rule, as it sits right now, I think is more of an informality. And I'd rather it be the way it is than extend it to three minutes and put a cap on it and then try and, you know

Okay, I see some lights coming on and off. And so, Joanna Jones, Councilmember Jones, we haven't heard from you. We'll take you next.

I think that, you know, nothing's set in stone. If we change the rules today, and for whatever reason, things just don't work out, we can always change them back. It's not the end of the world. I think that given, you know, conversations that I already have with some people, I think that maybe... For me, I will be voting yes in this case because I want to show the residents that we do care. We want to know. We want to hear from you. And if that means three minutes is what's important to you, that's what we're going to give you just for the purpose of really showing that we do care more than an

Councilmember Samuel, I would respectfully say if you had, when they had said Kennewick and Pascoe do this, if you had posed the question that Kennewick does have a limit, and if you had to choose between three minutes and 30-minute limit, which is very, very common, the most common thing, or two minutes with no limit, What would your choice be? And I think that is pretty much the choice before us. I don't agree with that. But that's a different question. What I'm saying is that's different than just saying, well, Kennewick and Pascoe do it this way. The good comparison is that's not exactly h

And you don't have to answer me. I actually didn't pose the question. It's just when I asked the question to citizens, when I go up to a door and knock on the door, I said, what's on your mind? And they say, why does Richland have two minutes? I wasn't able to answer that question. Oh, yeah.

Councilmember Holton and Samuel, I'd appreciate it if you wait until you're called on to speak so that we don't get into a messy argument. Thank you.

I'm not trying to argue. He's my good friend. And I don't want to be characterized as not caring if I don't vote for three-minute either. I do care. I want to hear public opinion.

Okay. Councilmember Samuel, I'll give you a chance to respond to that if you wanted to say something further. You're good?

I don't see any other lights. I would just like to say that we care. At two minutes, I am concerned that Kennewick had occasions that it went on very long. And so that's why they added the timeline, the time constraint. And then that bothers me when you do that, you don't have the opportunity for everyone to be heard. So, I don't see any further comment. Let's take a vote on this, and Clerk Rogers, will you lead us? Okay. Mayor Richardson?

Okay, motion passes. At this point, we'll go into reports and comments and start off with our city manager, Amundsen.

Do you have a sense of the time for that? Should we allot 30 minutes?

Okay. Thank you. Council Member Meyer, let's start with you.

Okay, first from BFT, it is no longer July, and so we have exited the fare-free month for America 250. There is a grace period where operators are instructed to remind folks that we're going to be charging and checking passes and so forth again, and that grace period should run through the first week of August, I think through the 10th, but I could be wrong. So just to let folks know, the bus is now no longer fare-free. I also wanted to mention one of the in the very first presentation we got we got one of the people hired on was Phoebe Trask and I wanted to report that library staff is excite

Thank you. Councilmember Holton, I know that you wanted to be involved with the library. Is that where your light is on? No. No? I forgot it on, sorry. Oh, okay. Let's go with Councilmember Samuel.

Madam Mayor, City Council, one of the committees that I serve on is the Solid Waste Advisory Board. I know that doesn't sound very glamorous, but where the focus of discussion has been on that board has been here recently on the Moderate Risk Waste Facility located over on 1709 Ely Street in Kennewick. That's kind of in the neighborhood of Fred Meyer over in Kennewick. And that facility right now is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 o'clock to 5 o'clock p.m. But effective August the 10th, the facility operating hours are going to be Tuesday through Friday, 8 o'clock to 5 o'clock p.m., and t

Councilmember Holton. Thank you. I have paint. Unfortunately, I missed the retreat for the parks and rec. I was out of the country, but one of the priorities is shade structures, and of Richland is shade structures, and Greece has less shade than Richland, and so I took lots of pictures of shade structures in Greece, so I'm a year to bring those back to Parks and Rec. And also they did a tour of many of the parks and so my husband and I have been going through the list and we've found some parks that we didn't know were there and we're able to see activities there. So my husband and I are work

Just want to remind everybody that many churches and organizations here in the community are looking for donations for people in Spokane that lost their homes and everything else. So please locate those organizations, donate to them. They really need us now.

I would like to say thank you to Julie Piper for all the things that she's done for the city and I wish her well on her next adventure as she leaves the city of Richland. She has been a wonderful person to deal with as the city staff liaison to the Arts Commission and she will be surely missed. I'll also be out of town for the next meeting and the national night out and the next workshop. So I'll be attending the next two meetings remote as a heads up. That's all I have.

Thank you, Councilmember. Mayor Pretem Van Dyke.

Sure. Echo words on Piper. She'll be missed. Good luck to her in Alaska. Kurt, I was supposed to go camping tonight, and air quality and 100 degrees sitting in a camper was not something I wanted to look forward to. I'd be happy to cover a library tomorrow. That would be enjoyable. I had an opportunity to spend time with our original police department, voluntarily. Got to go be with them, and I was... very impressed with how respectful they were and how professional they were in both balancing enforcing the rule of law but also engaging well with citizens. Thank you for what you do there. Let'

Thank you. To tie into what we're doing regarding the data centers, I would like to just re-emphasize that we are all doing our homework here. And we want to get it right. We want to be a good steward. We all live in this community. We want to make sure we have good counsel. I think it was Miss Phillips. who had a question about who we're consulting with or what our process is, I would invite her to look again at the city manager's comments at our recent meeting a couple weeks ago. And he outlined that pretty well. And so that could be a good refresher. I had the opportunity today to speak at