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.

Council Member Morrell.

I'm here.

Council Member Herrera. Here. Council Member Kruver. Here. Council Member Ayala. Here.

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

Council Member Denson? Here. Council Member Ayala?

We'll just keep looking for her. Okay.

Council Member Hitchen?

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.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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 individually. And finally, under community forum, there'll be an opportunity to address the council on any topic that was not up for final action. this afternoon and pursuant to state law, Pierce County Council may not accept public comment during the meeting that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure. This includes proposed charter amendments, statewide initiatives, referendums, levies, bonds, or any other measure appearing on an election ballot in the near future. For more information, please see the bottom of the first page of our agenda. in what we call the fine print. We're now at our consent agenda. On our consent agenda this afternoon, we have two sets of minutes, five appointment resolutions, and five grant applications. First asking, is there any item that somebody wanted removed from the consent agenda? Council Member Ayala. Nope. Council Member Krueger.

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 can, I believe, turn your camera on. We'd love to hear who you are and a little bit why you'd like to serve.

Hello, everyone, and thank you. Excuse me. I am out on the mighty Nisqually River at the moment. But thank you for having me. And I am very excited to have been appointed to be appointed to the TAC, the Transportation Advisory Committee. I live... in the very bottom of Pierce County, right on the Nisqually at the intersection kind of of Highway 706 and Highway 7. And in addition to being a farmer in this area, we're right next to the National Park and we've got many, many visitors as well as residents here. So it's an interesting time to be seeing roads and traffic and people moving from place to place as the place grows and I'm looking forward to being someone who can represent the area and the needs of our area while also welcoming in the change that is inevitably coming to Pierce County. So thank you and I'll stop there.

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.

Yes, good afternoon members of the Pierce County Council. My name is Patrick Nicholson and I appreciate your consideration for my appointment to the Solid Waste Advisory Council. I'll keep this brief. I have over 24 years experience in public safety in the last five in the private sector doing environmental health and safety for a recycling company here in Tacoma, Pierce County. that involves waste management and wastewater conveyance. Thank you for your consideration.

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.

For any member of the public that would like to comment on the consent agenda, you can press the raise hand icon on Zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad.

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 industry is at an all-time low. They're bringing in cattle from South America rather than our own. We've got farmland that can't get watered, and here we are worried about when people saving food in their household. I object to doing that, not to mention World Wildlife Fund has offices in Beijing and Shanghai and other Chinese country towns or cities, whatever, and they collaborate with them. And I just find it something that we should not be engaging in. We have so many things on our plate now, and more than just food. So I just wanted to be able to comment that. I find it very laborious to do this from World Wildlife Fund. Anyway, thank you, Madam Chair.

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.

Councilmember Denson? Aye. Councilmember Morrell?

Aye.

Councilmember Herrera?

Aye.

Councilmember Kruver? Aye. Councilmember Ayala? Aye. Council Member Yambe?

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 Association. Ordinance 2026-541, which was ratifying a 2026-28 collective bargaining agreement with Council 2, Washington State Council of County and City Employees. And this is through the Wastewater Treatment Plant Group, so AFL-CIO Local 120. And then Ordinance O2026-542, which was ratifying a 2025 to 2027 collective bargaining agreement reached with Council to Washington State Council of City Employees for Correction Lieutenants. I feel like I'm missing one, but I'm not. So that's it. So there are no proclamations, recognitions, or awards today. So we will go to section eight. We now have proposal R2026-179 before us. Council Member Morrell for a motion.

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?

Proposal number R2026-179, a resolution of the Pierce County Council initiating an appointment process to fill vacancies on the Town Council for the Town of South Prairie pursuant to Chapter 42.12, Revised Code of Washington and Chapter 1.28 of the Pierce County Code, Rules and Procedures, Pierce County Council, directing the clerk to the council to advertise the vacancies and appointing an ad hoc committee to review applications and select candidates for interview by the Pierce County Council.

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

All right, thank you and good afternoon. So as stated in the title, the proposal initiates the process to appoint qualified individuals to serve in two vacant positions on the town council for the town of South Prairie in accordance with state law and county code. So there's a little bit of history on this. Positions three and five on the South Prairie Town Council became vacant as the result of the resignation of Ross Watkins, and that was back in May of 2025, and Mark Kuzlarich, effective May 14th of 2025. So it's been a while. The South Prairie Town Council was unable to appoint qualified individuals to fill either vacancy within the 90-day period allowed pursuant to Chapter 4212 of state law. The authority to appoint qualified individuals to positions three and five of the town council then transferred to the county council or the governor as set forth in state law as well. The governor's office was consulted recently regarding the vacancies and has deferred appointment authority to the Pierce County Council. So, the Council's Rules of Procedure, as set forth in the Code, address the process for filling a vacancy in a nonpartisan, nonjudicial elective office. The process requires that the opportunity to apply to fill the vacant positions be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation, also in the official county newspaper, and on the county's webpage. The application period will be open for 21 days from the date of the first advertisement in the official county newspaper and we anticipate that to occur on the 28th of August. The process also provides that an ad hoc committee be appointed to review all the applications received and select no more than five names of qualified candidates for each vacancy to submit those names to the council for review. So the resolution before you in Section 3, as you'll see, names Council Members Hitchen and Herrera as the ad hoc committee to fulfill this function. Under state law, to be qualified to serve, a person must be a United States citizen, At least 18 years of age, a registered voter within the jurisdiction represented have resided in the state county and town for at least 30 days immediately preceding the appointment and not currently be incarcerated for a felony conviction. So in addition to those requirements, the South Prairie Municipal Code at Section 210.020 provides for a one-year residency requirement to be eligible to hold elective office in the town. And so that more restrictive residency requirement will prevail. Individuals appointed to the town council positions will serve until a qualified person is elected at the next general municipal election at which a governing body seat is usually on the ballot. So towns are authorized to hold general elections in odd-numbered years under state law. So the individuals appointed by the council will serve until someone is elected to the two positions at the November 2027 general election. Each of the appointments will be by separate resolution at a later date following the application period. And those will be held in open meetings before the council. You may interview the candidates and you may go into executive session to discuss qualifications if you desire. The final, excuse me, this was a Heard in rules and operations on August 17th and received a do pass recommendation and there is 1 amendment to consider.

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?

Yes, so this will amend one of the recitals on the resolution, page two, beginning on line six. You'll see where it lists the... qualifications for serving and it states the 30-day residency requirements which is in state law and so because of the South Prairie Code requiring a one-year residency requirement the proposal or the amendment will strike 30 days and insert one year perfect any other questions on this amendment

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.

For any member of the public that would like to provide comment on proposal number R2026-179, you can press the raise hand icon in Zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad.

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 mayor show up and they've been able to do business but if someone misses they can't do business so trying to fill these two vacancies though it might be a challenge I think it's something that we could do and I'm really optimistic that the committee can get someone uh appointed to uh both these positions if not just one of them thank you thank you um any further questions or comments on this

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

Council Member Yambe.

Aye.

Council Member Denson. Aye. Council Member Morrell.

Aye.

Council Member Herrera.

Aye.

Council Member Krueger. Aye. Council Member Ayala. Aye. All right. Councilmember Hitchen. Aye.

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.

It's been moved and seconded. Can the clerk please read it into the record? Proposal number O2026-553, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council reauthorizing Spanaway Lake Management District number one, publishing the proposed role of rates and charges, setting forth certain administrative and noticing requirements, and establishing a hearing committee and appeal process.

thank you and we have one of our senior policy analysts erica hunt to brief us on this item thank you so much erica hunt council staff so um we are i feel like the council is very familiar with the spanaway lake management district this year because we've been going through the reauthorization process This is the third of four pieces of legislation that are needed to reauthorize. And so with the property owner vote approving reauthorization of the district, what this ordinance does is it actually states that we are reauthorizing the district. And then it does two specific things. Once the ordinance is passed and signed and effective, it starts an appeal process if someone wanted to appeal our reauthorization. That's one thing that it does. The second thing that it does is that it sets up a hearing process a process for hearing objections if people feel that there's something incorrect about the amount of assessment that we're planning. So within this ordinance we have the proposed rule of rates and charges. The property owners will receive a letter in the mail that says here is what your charge will be for your property based on your lake frontage and if someone has an objection to that they can file their objection in writing by the end of the month and then there will be a special hearing committee that is comprised of council members hitchin and herrera who will hear the objections and decide decide them on their merits so that's what we've laid forth here for you in this ordinance What will happen here is if this ordinance is passed, then we will proceed with sending out the notices and set up the objections, the hearing. Once the objections process and the appeal process are completed, we'll come back with the last piece of legislation that adopts the final tax rule and sends it to our assessor to begin collecting for the five-year authorization period.

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.

For any member of the public that would wish to provide comment on proposal number O2026-553, you can press the raise hand icon on Zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad. And first we have caller ending in 075.

Hi, thanks. This is Roxy Giddings. I have always wondered if the county is a member of the district and if they have to pay the assessment on the frontage of the park at Spanaway Park. It's very interesting to me. I really actually hope they do have to pay it because there has to be some way for this district to continue. They are trying to do good work out there. Thanks.

Thank you for your comments.

There are no other hands at this time.

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?

Absolutely. So the Pierce County Parks, which has quite a large frontage on on Spanaway Lake is, it does receive an assessment based on their footage. So Pierce County is the largest, Parks is the largest single contributor from this assessment. The public, private property owners are limited to a a cap on the assessment of $1,500 per year. So there aren't many properties that their assessment would exceed that cap, but the public land is not subject to the $1,500 cap. And the public, Pierce County also was not subject to the property owner vote. It was only for private property owners.

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. So thank you all for your support. Thank you, Chair.

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 Ayala? Aye. Council Member Yambe?

Aye.

Council Member Denson? Aye. Council Member Murrell? Aye. Council Member Herrera?

Aye.

Council Member Kruver? Aye.

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?

Proposal number 02026-545, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council amending chapter 4.36 of the Pierce County Code, claims and actions by and against the county.

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

Thank you. So the proposal before you will amend chapter 4.36 of the code relating to the administration of claims and actions filed against Pierce County government in the following aspects. So it will increase the dollar threshold from $100,000 to $250,000 for settlement approval required. It changes the settlement approval authority from the council to the executive. It removes the mandatory reporting requirement to the council prior to denying a claim and following entry of judgments against the county in excess of $250,000. It removes language requiring the risk manager to audit and report on loss experienced under healthcare contracts to which the county is a party. And finally, it makes technical revisions to update the name of the Department of Finance and Enterprise Services throughout the chapter. So a little bit of background, the chapter being amended sets forth various procedures for administering claims and actions against Pierce County, including facilitating decisions to approve settlements and deny claims. Critical risk management functions for the county include keeping litigation costs low, limiting county exposure, and protecting funds. The substantive changes proposed in Ordinance 2026-545 noted above, or that I previously noted, are intended to facilitate the administration of claims and actions against the county in a more timely and efficient manner than under the current practices while preserving accountability, fiscal oversight, and transparency. This proposal was heard in the Rules and Operations Committee on August 3rd and received a due pass recommendation. And I'll note that Julie Murray is here from the Executive's Office who transferred this proposal to the Council for consideration if you have questions. Thank you.

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.

Oh yes, the claims, once a claim is filed, it is public information.

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 council. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, I'm going to ask the clerk to call the roll on the adoption of O2026-545. Council Member Kruver? Aye.

Council Member Ayala? Aye. Council Member Yambe.

Aye.

Council Member Denson. Aye. Council Member Morrell.

Aye.

Council Member Herrera.

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?

Proposal number O2026-547, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement reached with Council 2, Washington State Council of County and City Employees, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 3752, Pierce County Corrections and Detention Center, Non-Uniformed Group, Local 3752CN, amending the Pierce County Salary Classification Plan and permitting pursuant to Charter Section 6.80, payment of funds from appropriations in subsequent fiscal years.

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

Thank you, Chair Hitchen. This proposal is a three-year collective bargaining agreement running from January 1st, 2026 to December 31st, 2028, and covering 14 FTEs in the Sheriff's Corrections area. Positions include correctional technician, mental health evaluation specialist, and office assistant, too. The agreement calls for a general wage increase of 2.5% on January 5th, 2026, that's retroactive, 3% on January 4th, 2027, and 3%, on January 3rd, 2028. The fiscal note on that is $37,000 in 2026, almost 83,000 in 2027 and $132,000 in 2028. This was given a due pass recommendation at the August 10th, 2026 Rules and Operations Committee meeting. And Ms. Melissa Arnold is on the line to answer any of your questions.

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.

For any member of the public that wishes to provide comment on proposal number O2026-547, you can press the raise hand icon in Zoom or star nine 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 council. Any further discussion?

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

Councilmember Herrera?

Aye.

Councilmember Krueger? Aye. Councilmember Ayala?

Nay.

Councilmember Yanbei?

Aye.

Council Member Denson? Aye. Council Member Morrell?

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?

Proposal number O-2026-548, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement reached with the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff's Independent Guild Local 1889 Community Service Officers 1889-CSO amending the Pierce County Salary Classification Plan and permitting pursuant to Charter Section 6.80, payment of funds from appropriations in subsequent fiscal years.

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

Thank you, Chair Hitchin. This proposal ratifies a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff's Guild Community Service Officers Local 1889 CSO. The contract covers two community service officers in the sheriff law enforcement area. Both positions are in the general fund, and one is a contracted position, so actually outside dollars will fund the position. The agreement calls for the previous ones, a 2.5% adjustment on January 5th, 2026, that's retroactive, 3% on January, in January, 2027 and 3% in January, 2028. The agreement also allows for a one-time cash out of 40 hours of vacation time in 2028. The election must be made in writing by October 31st, 2028 and the payout will occur in the second pay period of December, 2028. This was given a due pass recommendation at the August 10th, 2026 Rules and Operations Committee meeting.

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

This is this is a non interest arbitration eligible contract. So, um, our. Interest are eligible ones those have been completed. There is this 1 with employees in the sheriff's office and then I believe 120 G, which you're also hearing today also has a few sheriff's office employees through animal control. And then the last, I think Sheriff's Office employees you will see is the Teamsters 117 contract, which we're preparing for council right now, which includes forensics employees.

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.

not seeing anyone get up so we will go online miss price for anyone that would like to provide comment on proposal number 02026-548 you can press the raise hand icon and zoom or star 9 on your telephone keypad and i'm not seeing any hands at this time with no hands raised i'll close public comment bring it back before the council is there any further discussion

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

Councilmember Morrell?

Aye.

Councilmember Herrera?

Aye.

Councilmember Krueger? Aye. Councilmember Ayala? Council Member Yambe.

Aye.

Council Member Denson. 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 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?

Proposal number O2026-549, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement reached with Council 2, Washington State Council of County and City Employees, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO Local 120 Juvenile Court Unit, amending the Pierce County Salary Classification Plan and permitting pursuant to Charter Section 6.80, payment of funds from appropriations in subsequent fiscal years.

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

bargaining agreement with 73 full-time equivalent employees in the juvenile court. The following positions are covered, Juvenile Probation Counselor, Drug and Alcohol Counselor, Juvenile Diversion Coordinator, Case Aid Monitors, Office Assistant, Legal Assistant, and Juvenile Court Services Assistant. And you can see all those in Appendix A. So the agreement calls for a general wage increase of 2 and a half percent effective January 2026. That's retroactive 3% effective January 2027 and 3% effective January 2028. The fiscal impact of this is 190,380 dollars in 2026. $427,100 in 2027, and $670,920 in 2028. And those positions are all on the general fund of the juvenile court. This was given a due pass recommendation at the August 10th, 2026 Rules and Operations Committee meeting. Thank you. Any questions for either staff or?

Ms. Cavanaugh, are you leading this one? Anything you want to add to this proposal?

Nothing to add. Thank you.

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.

Excuse me for anyone that would like to provide comment on proposal number. Oh, 2026 test 549. you can press the raise hand icon and zoom or star 9 on your telephone keypad.

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 Morrell?

Aye.

Council Member Herrera? Aye. Council Member Kruver? Aye. Council Member Ayala? Aye. Council Member Yambe?

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?

Proposal number 02026-550, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council ratifying the 2026-2028 collective bargaining agreement reached with Council to Washington State Council of County and City Employees American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 120 PAO, amending the Pierce County Salary Classification Plan and permitting, pursuant to Charter Section 6.80, payment of funds from appropriations in subsequent fiscal years.

Thank you. And Mr. Boki, we're back.

Thank you Chair Hitchen. This ordinance will ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME 120 PAO. That's in the prosecuting attorney's office. Covers 87.44 full-time equivalent employees. Positions included are Crime Victim Advocate 1, Investigator Process Server, Legal Assistant, Legal Interviewer, and Paralegal. You can see Appendix A for details on that. The agreement calls for a general wage increase of 2.5% effective January 5th, 2026. It's retroactive. 3% in January 2027 and 3% in January of 2028. The fiscal note on that is $194,760 in 2026, $431,840 in 2027, and 671,070 in 2028. This was given a due pass recommendation at the August 17th Rules and Operations Committee meeting. Thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Boki or department staff?

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

And I'm not seeing any hands at this time.

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.

Council Member Yambe.

Aye.

Council Member Denson. Aye. Council Member Morrell.

Aye.

Council Member Herrera.

Aye.

Council Member Kruver. Aye. Council Member Ayala. Aye. Council Member Hitchen.

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?

Proposal number O2026-551, an ordinance of the Pierce County Council ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement reached with Council to Washington State Council of county and city employees american federation of state county and municipal employees afl-cio local 120 general unit amending the pierce county salary classification plan and permitting pursuant to charter section 6.80 payment of funds from appropriations and subsequent fiscal years thank you and we have mr boke to brief us on this last one

Thank you. So the collective bargaining agreement covers 399 full-time equivalent employees, so this is over 10% of all the county employees today. There are numerous positions in a variety of departments in the county, and the departments include the district court, finance, auditor, planning and public works, human services, the sheriff's department, and the juvenile court. And I've listed on the back, on the second page of the staff report, all the positions that are in there. There are 11 addendums to this collective bargaining agreement and those all have to do with covering all those positions and their specific nuances. So the general wage increase is 2 1⁄2% on January 5th, 2026, that's retroactive, 3% on January 4th, 2027, and 3% on January 3rd, 2028. And the fiscal note on this, and of course this goes across a lot of general fund items, but it also includes a lot of special revenue funds, is For the general fund, it's $1,167,480. In 2027, it's $2,433,060. And in 2028, it's $3,800,290. This was given a due pass recommendation at the August 17th, 2026 Rules and Operations Committee meeting. Thank you. Are there any questions on this one?

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 this time with no hands raised we'll close public comment bring it back before the council is there any further discussion on this item Not seeing any, can the clerk call the roll on the approval of 02026-551? Council Member Ayala? Aye.

Council Member Yanbei? Aye. Council Member Denson. Aye. Council Member Morrell. Aye. Council Member Herrera. Aye. Council Member Krueger. Aye. Council Member Hitchen.

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.

Thank you, Chair Hemsworth. I move proposal number 02026-557 for approval.

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

Proposal number 02026-557, an emergency ordinance of the Pierce County Council adopting a development moratoria pursuant to Revised Code of Washington 36A.70A.390, prohibiting the siting, expansion, or establishment of certain data centers, adopting a work plan to establish appropriate development regulations for data centers, setting a public hearing, adopting findings of fact, and declaring an emergency.

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, Chair Hitchin. Good afternoon, council members. The proposal before you would adopt a development moratorium for up to one year, prohibiting the filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of a permit application for a new or expanded data center exceeding 10 megawatts of total electricity capacity and IT load throughout Pierce County, throughout the unincorporated portion of Pierce County. The proposal also includes a work plan for evaluating development regulations to address data centers within the unincorporated county. I would note that the Department of Planning and Public Works is working on data center legislation currently. If you were to go to the Planning and Public Works Department's website, you would see their detailed work program. This proposal before you this afternoon within Exhibit A includes a summary of a work program very similar to what the department is currently operating under with a similar timeline for preparing legislation for Council's final consideration next year. I would also note, Chair, that this afternoon you could take public testimony concerning this proposal. That is optionable for the council. This proposal does set a public hearing for October 20th, at which time you would take public testimony, and so that's at the council's discretion. And I'm happy to take any questions. Thank you.

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?

We do have staff on Zoom. I believe Tanner's available for 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?

Councilmember, that's correct, and I apologize. I should have identified myself for the record. Josh Diekmann, Director of Planning and Public Works.

Okay.

so does this passing this ordinance do anything to your workload uh council member it is complementary to our workload insofar as that we were already doing some of the work as as mentioned by mr krueger okay okay thank you thank you manager thank you are there additional questions for staff or mr krueger

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.

For any member of the public that wishes to provide comment on proposal number O2026-557, you can press the raise hand icon and zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad. And we do have some members of the public. First, we'll go to HP. Okay.

Timer. Madam Chairman? We can hear you.

Oh, okay. Watching the flipping pictures in front of me. This is a contentious issue that's been raised throughout the country, and I've listened to many both political and people, people, excuse me, Persons talk about having them too close to a population center, the amount of noise they take, and the tremendous amount of electricity. They create work for the people who build the center and then a small labor crew to keep it functional. I'm very pleased that you're taking the time to put together a concerned effort to look at what data centers actually do for or against their communities. A lot of people from what I've read online for the last few months talk about the amount of noise, the amount of heat, and the amount of electricity that they use. Now, I realize that we're blessed here in Pierce County by having a lot of rain that creates hydroelectric for the Columbia River and other local Tacoma power. But the idea of that public power should not be tightened off for the uh benefit of a business that for the most part creates no jobs and just a minor tax revenue please continue with the work on looking at the pros and cons of a data center i know i would not like to have one across the street uh kind of like the people that are across the street from the frederickson industrial center So please consider the amount of noise and what it's going to take to support. Thank you very much.

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

My, I'm Terry Hurd. Sorry. That's okay. I don't know why HP keeps coming up, but I've learned to understand it. I don't know where the P came from, or am I hearing wrong?

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

Okay, say DT or something. I'm David Terry Hurd, so thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hurd.

okay and next up we have sean uh good evening council um my name is sean erin i'm a resident of tacoma i'm a community organizer and the current board president of the clover creek restoration alliance um i'm here to speak strongly in favor of a county-wide data center moratorium really enacted as soon as possible I grew up between Roy and Lakewood, and over the years, I've seen countless oak groves, forests, farmlands, single-family housing paved over, in large part due to the speculative warehouse rush that was brought on by the COVID pandemic. And this has contributed greatly to the further decline of aquifer recharge in the Chambers Clover watershed, and therefore streamflow in Clover Creek. This has gotten to the point where Clover Creek is now dry most of the year and has totally thwarted efforts towards salmon recovery. And it also reduces the availability of well water in the watershed. Today, some of the biggest forces on Wall Street, Blackstone, BlackRock, and others have committed to pooling their resources to invest over $100 billion to the development of new AI data centers. AI is being integrated into nearly every digital system we use, and data centers, particularly in eastern Washington, are firing up diesel generators, experimental nuclear reactors, and just tapping directly into the hydroelectric power that we rely on at an alarming rate. Fredrickson, South Hill, and areas of unincorporated Pierce County are not safe. The headwaters of Clover Creek and Fredrickson have been subject to immense development from Boeing and Amazon and groundwater withdrawal from Mountain Mist in Niagara. It's been used as an industrial sacrifice zone. And around the country, communities are rejecting data centers. In Washington State, Seattle, and Skagit County have taken action, and it's time for Pierce County to stand proud and join this movement. With unprecedented levels of investment going into data centers and virtually no regulation at the state level, what we need to do is buy time and demand that our state legislators take action to require these new data centers to, one, pay higher rates for electricity and water. but two, to actually power themselves using new renewable energy rather than putting online new diesel generators and dangerous and unstable nuclear reactors in our communities. So I really applaud the Council for taking action on this and encourage its swift passage.

Thank you for your comments.

And next we have caller ending in 075.

Hi, this is Roxy Giddings. Yes, Sean and Terry have it exactly right, and I agree with them, and I will not bore you with the same thing again. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Roxy.

And next we have Andra Lynn.

Good afternoon council members. My name is Angelina. I'm from Pierce County District number 2. I'm coming down proposal number 02026557. On the emergency moratorium for the data center development. Since we are still in the early stages of the plan for the data center, according to the. Agreeing with the other commenter initially on creating a pros and cons list on the development of the data center is ideal. To make sure we have a thorough enough plan. Also adding renewable energy structures to keep up with emergencies. I think it's a plus to just add in something that does not require as much money as well for ideal backup. There's also restrictions on time usage of data. So restrictions as in how internet usage is during these days can get a little out of hand. And even in a professional environment, to be monitored and also part of the regulations for the process of regulations for the centers that they're working on. It would be nice to see that added into there. It will also go into prioritization of privacy. So, so important with identity theft on the rise. And there's data breaches everywhere. I've received so much mail from different centers, from different agencies, institutions and such having data breaches everywhere. So our data just goes all over the place. So it'd be nice to have something a bit more structured, more planned and more secure, having cybersecurity as a priority, as well as public safety. It'll be good for the community as well. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments.

And there are no further hands at this time.

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 9th of 2026, basically said the power dynamics of a small city. Back in the day, I don't think any of us were sure what Microsoft in our community would mean, Quincy Mayor Paul Worley told a crowd on a May 28th celebration. But looking back now, it's incredible to see how many ways we've been able to partner together and what those partnerships have made possible. Microsoft first Quincy Data Center opened up in 2006. Since then, there have been at least 26 other facilities serving a variety of companies that have followed. More than 10% of the town's population is directly employed at the data center, The poverty rate of Quincy has been cut in half and there is a new middle class that has emerged out of that agricultural hub. Quincy in many ways is the fulcrum of the data center debate as technical revolution has fueled the town's growth over the last two decades. and it is changing again. Along SR 281, a sign advertising Quincy says, opportunities unlimited and a place where agriculture meets technology. Glenda Bishop, the CEO of Quincy Medical Center, there is always going to be a question about power, Bishop says. In the last 20 years, Quincy has opened up a new hospital, a new police department, a new city hall, a new water refuge system, a new wastewater treatment plant, and a new public market and a new fire station. Soon construction will begin on a soccer facility that officials are hoping will attract hotels and tourism. It's the opposite of small towns that are just dying. Bishop says data centers brought a big difference to our tax base that allows our voters to say yes. Since 2026, the assessed value of the top 10 taxpayers in Grant County, where Quincy is located, has risen from $6.13 billion, a 196% increase. The state found data centers resulted in Quincy property owners paying 71% less in property taxes. The total property tax paid in Grant County has climbed from 4.24 million in 26 to 54.2 million in 2025, much of that coming from data center landlords. The mayor often points to a new high school that's made possible by a $110 million bond that was passed by its citizens. If you want to visit probably the nicest high school building in the state, Washington State, you don't have to go to the neighborhoods where Microsoft headquarters is based. You don't have to go next door to Amazon. You go to Quincy, he said at the event. Quincy's population is, yes, up 57%. Without the growth here, I can tell you that you would not see young people who have said, I want to raise my kids in Quincy. Buildings and running these type of data centers help transform Microsoft from a company that focus on software primarily, a cloud community giant worth $2.85 trillion in market capitalization. Microsoft has spent $190 billion this year on capital expenditures. Amazon will pay $200 billion with similar efforts. Microsoft has pledged to pay all the cost of data centers, promising it would not let electrical rates increase, it would not use much water in places where it operates, The company's new data centers end up using the same amount of water as a restaurant does in one year. But even how data centers are powered could be changing. I think a few people alluded to this. Investing in alternative energy sources is critical to meeting the demands of the data centers. 36 miles northwest of Quincy, Microsoft is partnershipping with a fusion energy company, Helon, for the next generation of data centers. Helon is building a commercial fusion power plant that is expected to open in 2028. Howard Van Baugh of Public Work Employees of Quincy moved to the town in 2000. He's raised three kids there and has seen firsthand how data centers have changed. He hasn't seen much of a change in his electric or his water bill, but he's confident that data centers will evolve on demand. Seeing how data centers have evolved with everything evolving, it's going to recycle water, get away from water cooling and refrigeration cooling. Yes, there is a power demand to get there, but this is something of the future, and we're going to end up having it. I just read this article because these are facts, they're not fiction. And also, and I know a lot of you saw the article in the TNT by Becca Most, which was on August 25th of this year, talking about the city of DuPont, their six months ban on data centers. Also diving into the data centers that are in Pierce County, two in Tacoma and one in Puyallup. But one of the things that I think is interesting is there again, they did interview Tanner Fuller, the senior long-range planner for Pierce County. He told the TNT on Friday the county only regulates data centers in Oregon. unincorporated areas. Fuller said there are no hyperscale data centers in unincorporated Pist County, nor is there any colocation facilities, even though some universities and hospitals do have their own server rooms. And there is no applications under review. Executive Mello directed the county staff to study the potential of benefits and the drawbacks of all sizes, varieties, and data centers to inform officials in the future. Fuller said the study will continue throughout the next year. Residents are encouraged to share their thoughts about data centers by completing a survey that's on the county website. As of Friday, the total, and this is reported by Rebecca Best, as of Friday, the local Tacoma and Pierce County Democrat Socialist of America chapter has sent 2,500 letters to the county urging officials to pass a one-year moratorium barring the construction of data centers. I bring these articles up because in emergency ordinance, it bypasses the normal legislation process where we get to debate pros and cons with public comments through multiple meetings. I think there again, this is abuse of the emergency process. There is no emergency. The world isn't gonna... meltdown if we don't allow the current process to happen, which is indicated by the planning director that is currently going on. I do not understand why we're going through an emergency. I would support an ordinance that went through the normal process, but I will not support a made-up emergency in this way. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

You're good.

Councilmember Herrera.

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 several decades. The one data center that is in my district, which is in the city of Puyallup, so we didn't have anything to do with it, was benefited from those tax breaks, and probably the only reason why it was built, because it benefited from those tax breaks. Those tax breaks, I think I heard on July 1st this year, have ended in Washington State. So the incentives seem like they have ended, and the state has taken a 180 on that. But I have concerns on the... You know, having moratoriums on private business, but I'm willing to support this moratorium as a council or the Pierce County is already working on policy right now. And, you know, a formal pause is. something we can i can live with um allowing time for that policy to develop and it's already underway so um just want to touch on some of those and i'll be supporting this thank you chair thank you any additional comments councilmember krueger thank you madam chair i thought perhaps councilmember aiella had comments are you waiting

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 that were not told and it was First, I'll go with the things that weren't told, is that the Grant County PUD is seeking to condemn private property for a 31-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line to supply hydroelectric power to data centers and other customers in Quincy. There are eight landowners who are appealing the condemnation, arguing that the PUD chose a route across private farmlands instead of shorter, less expensive alternatives through... through a state wildlife area also that could have been shorter using state land, county land. They also contend that the proposed line would disrupt farming and irrigation and that the compensation offered is inadequate. And so this particular dispute underscores how a data center growth can require infrastructure beyond the facility itself, imposing costs and impacts on surrounding property owners and communities. The project's estimated cost has risen from $40 million to $86 million, with construction expected to begin in 2028. But Quincy is actually, you know, a great story and it's also one that we can learn from. So it was 20 years ago when the small agricultural community, they had cheap hydropower, they had industrial land, they had fiber infrastructure and favorable taxes attracted Microsoft and other tech companies. So today it is one of Washington's largest data center hubs demonstrating both economic benefits of data centers and the importance of understanding them, understanding their long-term consequences before development occurs is crucial. The benefits, as Council Member Murrell cited, is that they expanded the tax base. The Washington Data Center Work Group found that the assessed value of Grant County, the 10 largest taxpayers, increased from about $313 million in 2006 to $6.14 billion in 2025. But what I didn't hear mentioned is that seven of those taxpayers are data centers. sequences property tax you know as was reported as it was accurate and they have helped to improve all of the amenities that counties and cities want to have but uh... The Quincy shows that the data center impacts can have costly solutions. The cooling strain local water and wastewater systems prompting a $31 million industrial water reuse system that offsets about 138 million gallons of annual demand. So that was quite an expense. And the grant PUD reported that data centers accounted for about 37% of its electricity consumption last year. And the grant PUD limited data center load growth while transmission capacity was expanded. And the utilities Quincy transmission expansion plan is designed to increase the amount of electricity that can be delivered to Quincy from 372 megawatts to 750 megawatts. And the PUD has budgeted $97.3 million for the expansion plan slated this year. So this expansion illustrates the consequences that go beyond a data center's original permit. So it's the... So, okay. just cutting to like the end of it so that you know the moratorium is not an argument being made against the data centers it's an argument for that we have informed government that once a billion dollar facility is permitted electrical infrastructure is committed transmission corridors are established and neighboring land uses are affected many consequences cannot be easily reversed We need to know if this type of development will make living in Pierce County more or less expensive and improve or not improve the quality of life for our constituents. Quincy's experience shows that data centers can bring major benefits, but also transform communities beyond their sites. A one-year moratorium gives the county time to determine whether the centers belong and establish rules to power transmission, rules for power transmission, water emissions, noise, environmental impacts, infrastructure costs, tax revenues, jobs, cumulative impacts, and decommissioning. On top of that, with Quincy, I didn't get to listen to the webinar today, but The MRSC, the Municipal Resource Service Center, had preparing for large data centers, insights from local governments. I don't know that there really is land in Pierce County that can do these mega systems. I'm concerned Fredrickson already has a water load, issues with the water resource, maybe down by the port. And maybe out in, I don't know if even Eastern Pierce County is a place for the big ones. We do have an allowance for the smaller systems. But it's imperative that we understand the cost and infrastructure implications of this next generation of facilities before we start approving them. And I just, you know, having watched so many different things on these centers, I'm really not interested in building out these digital prisons because these data centers can be for good, for really good things, but they can also be abused and for really bad things. And we wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for the policies of the state. We have to use inferior delivery systems for power, which requires a build out of other things. And it's like the state... leaders love the regulations more than they love their people. And that's, you know, that's why I am in supportive among the many reasons of this moratorium. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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 ordinance. This does require a two-thirds for adoption. So will the clerk call the roll on O2026-557. I'm saying that slowly so I can turn on mics.

Councilmember Krueger? Aye. Councilmember Aiella?

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

Say it one more time.

There you go.

Council Member Yambe.

Aye.

Council Member Denson. Aye. Council Member Morrell.

Nay.

Council Member Herrera.

Aye.

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.

For anyone online that would like to participate in community forum, you can press the raise hand icon in Zoom or star nine on your telephone keypad. And first we have HP.

Madam Chairman, council members, a couple weeks ago I asked that the vegetation on Military Road around the corner where Military Road meets 38th Street be addressed. I was shocked to find that you had a bunch of people out there. Sorry about that, family. They addressed the other side of the road, not the one I was speaking about, for the people coming down the hill trying to see if people were going to cross in front of them. Thought I'd bring that up. the other thing i have and i'm glad you're talking budget is my understanding that the franklin pierce school district and the bethel school district are suffering under the disconnect of our growth management system with the state of washington not providing money for buses they're talking about having to have fundraisers to operate their bus system These two systems represent some of the biggest, if not the biggest, Bethel bus systems in the country. And it's very awkward to turn around and say that the state's doing a wonderful bang up job. I can't, and I won't. They're only doing 25% of their matching funds, where it should be 100% on school. so we're tearing down schools building new schools and they don't have the money for the bus system question comes up is who's going to come up with that money because franco pierce is talking about getting permission to do fundraising issues what about pierce county are you people going to get stuck for the failure of our state government to adequately fund schools because out here once you leave the city limit It's a county issue and it should be a state issue because of the population that they're trying to support. Please help me to understand why the state is stubbing their nose at supporting rural school districts. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Angela.

Good afternoon, Council members. My name is Angeline Esquerdo from Pierce County District 2 Human Rights Activists. A day just passed as this message is for the awareness of it. On August 23rd of the year 1791, the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade was recognized and is observed annually in Saint Domingue, now the Republic of Haiti. I came across this piece of important history on the United Nations social media page referencing UNESCO. I am grateful for this recognition as it has to be mentioned more. Being anti-slavery, this day is commemorated as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its abolition. Slavery is tough, rough and all that stuff. This day and event is relative to our modern day slavery within our country, including the state of Washington. Many women in particular have been cuffed, covered, and chained to their beds or desks in a room of a house or apartment, or even a small business. whether it be in person, using the heavy material around their necks, ankles, or wrists, denying resources and essentials, or a way of living their lives, or with the use of technology and the software along with hardware associated with all of it, such as human trafficking parts. I recently mentioned information about some of these parts in a blog post article I wrote on my website called Andrewman's Truths, dot wordpress dot com with the title how a victim feels also from today's grant applications i thank you for awarding the world wildlife funds the u.s department of housing and urban development and u.s department of education on their projects and programs thank you very much thank you for your comments and next we have caller ending in 075.

Hi, this is Roxy Giddings again. Every time I go between Parkland and Lakewood through the middle of the place out there where they have all those great big warehouses, I think about two things. I think about the detention centers that are always being proposed everywhere all over. And I think we should have a moratorium on that. And I think we should have a moratorium. Well, maybe not. No, not the moratorium. We should have a rule that says every big building, no matter what's inside it, will have solar powers all over the top of it. And there's no exception. And it's just got to happen. And it's behind the times by 25 years at least. And we could have had all this solar power working for us for a very long time. Our time is up for working on climate change. And we may be at a tipping point where we're going to all just turn into crispy critters and take everything else on the earth with us if we don't get on the ball and do something about this. And I can't do it by myself. I've tried. I have an electric car. Fuller Power is on my house and I am trying to solve the water problem. I wash my vegetables and throw the water out on my plants instead of pouring it down the drain. I just can't do it alone and neither can anybody else. We have to do this all of us together. and we need to put some pressure on the people that can do it all together as a community we are we anyway that's enough of that but solar powers go for it thanks thank you for your comments and there are no other hands at this time with no other hands raised i'll close public or a community farm bring it back before the council is there any other business or announcements

Councilmember Krueger.

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 Crate. Crate Field, Mrs. Crate, I met at the picnic for Spanaway Lake, and she had mentioned that, because that is who the school bought the land from, was the Crate family, and she was wanting to have a memorial, a veteran's memorial, and Casey was there, and it was really very nice. And great ceremony. Big school. Big field. Lots of parking, kind of. Still not enough.

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 see you all there.

Thank you. And Council Member Yamabe.

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 your calendars for September 18th, 2026 and Suicide Prevention Summit for Pierce County. So just noon to seven, so.

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